Karen had gotten this job as church secretary a few years ago and it was working out well. It was only a few blocks from her house and it was a great supplement to her husband’s truck driving income. She had been working at a school, but that was halfway across town and she really liked this much better.
There were many things Karen liked about this job. She liked the pastor and the staff at the church and things were always happening which made the job interesting and exciting. The church was family oriented which Karen liked. She had two older children, despite her relatively young age, and liked being able to devote time to family.
Even though Karen was getting a little older, she had retained an attractive figure. She had nice, strawberry blond hair which extended just past her shoulders, and an engaging personality. People really liked her, and she liked the church. No job is perfect, however, and occasionally she had to work past the time everyone else left the building. On this Friday, the pastor had left town for a conference and nothing was scheduled on Saturday, a rarity. Still, she was not alone in the building as Jeanne, a counselor who helped church members and non-members alike, was still in her room next to the church office.
Jeanne and Karen were about the same age. Jeanne had never married and had also retained a slim figure. She couldn’t talk about her clients much, but Karen knew she saw quite an array of people, some of whom would probably make some interesting stories if Jeanne could breach confidentiality and tell them. However, Jeanne wouldn’t do that and neither woman had a desire for the stories to be shared.
Jeanne had mentioned that her evening client had cancelled, so she and Karen had agreed to leave at the same time that day. They commonly did this since, even though the church was in a nice area, they felt safer walking out together, especially during these cooler months when it got dark fairly early. Karen was busy finishing things up in the office. She had just put the phones on night ring when she heard her door open. She looked up and saw Jeanne’s last client of the day, Mike, enter the office.
Karen knew Mike had some issues, and had even been arrested in the past, although he was not thought to be dangerous. Mike was athletic and strong, enjoying regular workouts in the gym. Mike greeted Karen and told her that Jeanne needed some help in one of the meeting rooms. Karen told Mike she was just getting ready to go down to see Jeanne anyway. Mike told Karen that Jeanne was already in the meeting room and would meet her there. Mike then said his goodbyes and exited the office.
The meeting room Mike referred to was on the lower level of the church. It was a nice room but had no windows since it was actually below outside grade. Karen switched off the office lights, locked the door, and made her way downstairs to meet Jeanne. This one last trip downstairs to help Jeanne would not interfere with anything since Karen’s husband was driving over the road and would not be home until later in the weekend. While he and Karen talked frequently on the phone, she had no plans until church on Sunday.
Karen saw that the light was on in the meeting room so she walked down the hall and into the room, then froze. Jeanne was there as she expected, but nothing else was as she thought it would be. Jeanne was seated across the room in a four legged wooden chair. She was obviously tied to the chair facing Karen. Her arms were pulled behind her back and her ankles were each tied individually to each leg of the chair. As soon as Jeanne saw Karen, she yelled, “runâ€, but it was too late. Mike had been waiting for Karen behind the door and stepped out behind her, shoving a Tazer in her side.
Despite having the weapon, Mike knew Karen was quick and athletic, so taking advantage of the element of surprise, not to mention his own strength and athleticism, he had prepared a rope with a couple pre-tied loops to quickly get her secured. He shocked Karen with the Tazer, immobilizing her, then quickly yanked her arms behind her and slipped the loops over her wrists, pulling the slip knotted loops tight before Karen could even think to resist. He knew she could escape from this pretty easily, so he then set to work getting his new victim better secured.
Mike had a duffel bag with plenty of rope in it. He set to work intensifying Karen’s bonds as she assessed the situation. She was quickly recovering from the shock of the Tazer. "What are you doing, Mike?â€, she asked. “Right now, I’m tying you up,†Mike responded. “I can see that,†she said as she felt loop after loop of rope wrapped around her wrists and she winced as the rope tightened. “Mike, what have I done to you?â€
Karen looked at Jeanne. She could not believe this was happening. “What’s going on,†she pleaded. Jeanne looked at Karen and replied, “Mike is upset about how things are going with counseling. He blames me. I’m sorry he had to involve you.â€
Mike continued to work on Karen’s bonds. Neither woman had ever been tied up before, except maybe in a childhood game, so they really didn’t fully appreciate what was being done to them or how. Since her wrists were being tied behind her, Karen could not see how the ropes were being tied. She only knew Mike was using a lot of rope and wrapping it in several directions, knotting it frequently. Occasionally, he would wrap rope in a third direction between her wrists but around the outside of the other rope loops. When he pulled the knot tight on this loop, the entire tie would tighten around Karen’s wrists. When he finished, it felt like her wrists were locked together with rope. However, because he used a lot of rope, it did not cut into her wrists much.
“I have a nice seat for you over here,†Mike told Karen. He motioned to a seat like Jeanne’s but at the opposite side of the table. It was odd for Karen to walk with her hands bound behind her, and awkward for her to sit in the chair. Mike pulled up on her hands and pulled her arms over the back of the chair. That way, her arms were not between her and the back of the chair. Karen knew her options were being taken away with each step, but she was helpless. Mike used more rope to secure Karen’s arms to the chair, tying rope around her arms above each elbow, knotting it, then looping it around the back rails of the chair. He tied each of her ankles individually to the legs of the chair, wrapping the rope around each ankle several times, tying it off, and then tying it to the leg of the chair.
Mike stepped back and admired his handiwork. Karen looked at him pleadingly and asked, “What are you going to do now? Are you going to rape us or kill us?â€
“Come now,†Mike replied, “I don’t do things like that. Jeanne screwed me over with this counseling and I’m sick of it. She needed to be taught a lesson. You just happened to get in the way. Besides, Karen, you’re really cute all tied up like that. No, I just wanted to give Jeanne time to think about how she hurt me. This should give her plenty of time, and someone to talk to as well,†Mike said cheerfully.
Karen had blushed when Mike said she looked cute like this. It certainly didn't feel much like a compliment when he had done this to her. She felt kind of embarrassed that she had walked into this although she had no idea how she could have avoided it. She wondered to herself, 'now what.'
“So how long are you going to make us sit here while Jeanne ‘thinks about it’, as you put it?," Karen asked.
“I have no real plan in that regard,†Mike answered. “Actually, I do. My plan was, and is, to tie Jeanne up and just leave her. I figure that would give her plenty of time to contemplate how she hurt me. A little tit for tat!â€
Fear struck Karen. She had not really been thinking beyond the present. “You can’t just leave us like this,†Karen said. “How are we supposed to get out?â€
“You’re not,†Mike replied, simply. “Well, actually, I suppose sooner or later you may free yourselves, or someone will find you, but I don’t suppose that will happen too soon. Anyway, I have no plans to harm you, just leave you.â€
“So you’re mad at Jeanne so you devise this plan to tie her up and leave her, then you decide to invite me to the party,†Karen said. “How nice of you. And…you can’t just leave us. We’ll die in here.†Karen was beginning to realize just how helpless and vulnerable she was. She also knew it would be a long time before they would be missed or found.
“You won’t die,†Mike said. “I have no intention of having you die. There are pretty stiff penalties for that, you know.â€
“I think kidnapping has stiff penalties as well,†Karen said.
“Actually I do need to leave,†Mike said, matter of factly. He had no intention of staying around much longer, but he was enjoying the situation. While it was good revenge to have Jeanne tied up, it was a wonderful bonus having Karen tied up like this too. He liked Karen, always thinking she was cute as he entered and left the office. He had never seriously considered doing anything like this to her. The problem was, it was the only way he could figure out to keep Jeanne here. Now that he had Karen, he couldn’t help but think about how much fun it was to have tied Karen up like this. The whole process of tying her had been exhilarating, and seeing her utterly helpless was just plain fun. He enjoyed that. Still, he had to go.
“You can’t just leave us,†Karen said forcefully. Karen was a strong woman with a fiery will. Being bound and helpless like this was beyond what she could take, and she struggled angrily against her bonds. Mike enjoyed watching her struggle. He knew how to tie and was certain she could not escape, yet her anger and vitriol while bound like that was just fun to watch. Karen had a strong will and it was showing. Finally, sensing that Karen was losing it, Jeanne spoke up in a calm but stern voice, “I’m afraid he can leave us, Karen. What are we going to do to stop him? Look at us. Besides, we’ll be OK. Don’t make Mike angry.â€
“You’re finally making sense,†Mike said to Jeanne. “As for me, I’m already angry. This is finally helping to settle the score a bit. I want to get a mental picture of this before I go. Wow, you’re both really hot all tied up like that. Especially you, Karen. Oh well, gotta go.†With that, Mike pulled the door shut, locking it on his way out. Karen yelled repeatedly after Mike for him to free her, but she merely heard him laugh as his footsteps were heard walking down the hall. Karen broke down and cried.
Now the women were alone, tied to separate chairs at opposite ends of the room with a table between them. They were thankful Mike had left the lights on. Jeanne looked at Karen who had stopped crying at this point, “I’m so sorry you had to get involved in this. If there had been any way for me to warn you, I would have. Mike ambushed me the way he did you. He’s had me down here for over an hour.†That made sense to Karen. Jeanne had already been brought here when Mike made his way to the office earlier.â€
Now that Mike had left, the reality of their situation began to settle in. Here these two women were, along in this room, tied up and helpless, and nobody was likely to come through here until Sunday. Furthermore, nobody expected Karen home. Her husband might try to call, but he often just left a message. And Jeanne had no husband and lived by herself.
“I certainly don’t blame you, Jeanneâ€, Karen replied. “This is just crazy. What are we supposed to do?â€
“Well, for one, we can try to get out,†Jeanne said. “I know that sounds difficult, but if we think about this maybe we can figure something out. Do you think you can free yourself, Karen?â€
“Free myself?â€, Karen asked, dejectedly. “I can’t even move. It feels like my wrists are locked together with ropes. I’ve never been tied up before and I have no idea how to get out. What’s worse, getting angry before and straining against the ropes really hurt. My wrists are hurting.â€
“My wrists are hurting a bit too, but not too bad,†Jeanne said. “Maybe if we work on this, like a puzzle, we can find a way to loosen the ropes and free ourselves.â€
“I had thought maybe we could move our chairs closer to each other, but the way he tied my ankles, I can’t move anything. And, we’re on opposite ends of this table and room,†Karen said.
The women engaged in small talk and tried not to dwell on their predicament. They prayed together as well which brought them comfort and strength. During this time, they also continued to assess their situation and try to develop options. There were few. What neither women knew was that Mike enjoyed studying and reading about bondage. He had also been a boy scout and was well versed in knot tying. He enjoyed the challenge of devising a method of tying the women up so they could not escape and their options were few.
Jeanne spoke up, “I’m not supposed to talk about my clients, and I suppose this wouldn’t give anything away. I have a client who says he enjoys tie up games. I have never seen anything about what he describes as being wrong, so I did not discourage him, but he did describe to me how he is tied and for how long and I told him I would not enjoy such a thing. Still, I had never been tied up until now. I think I can now say I am sure I don’t enjoy it!†Both women laughed. It felt good to laugh despite their predicament.
“You know,†Jeanne said, “as I sit here, I’ve been trying to figure this out. My wrists are well tied. There’s no way to slip my hands free. It would seem to make sense to try to loosen the knots, but I can’t reach those either. I can move my feet just enough that I may be able to scoot the chair around a little. I can’t imagine getting it over to you, but maybe if I got it turned a little you could see how I’m tied and offer some ideas.â€
Karen liked that idea. She hated being bound and desperately wanted to do something. Anything. However, as a take charge type woman, she suggested she be the one to try to move her chair. Jeanne agreed since Karen’s athleticism and enthusiasm were obvious. Besides, Jeanne was a bit more cerebral and analytical and thought she could analyze the situation well.
For Jeanne, it was painful watching Karen in this situation. Karen had innocently walked into it and was now being punished as much as she was. Jeanne liked Karen, and admired her spirit and personality. Karen was a bright spot in the office, always cheerful and making a nice appearance. It seemed odd to see her in this situation, in the same outfit she had worn to work. Karen always dressed nicely, but casually, and today was no exception. She had on dark, full length slacks and a colorful long sleeve blouse with sleeves ending just above her wrists. She was fair complected and quite striking.
Karen felt similarly about Jeanne. She would not say they were close friends, but they certainly got along well. Jeanne dressed similarly but more conservatively. She liked to wear short sleeves, or half length sleeves which she had worn today. Jeanne, too, was fair complected but with dark, tightly curled hair which was shorter than Karen's.
Karen struggled to move her chair. She found that she could move her feet a little, and actually rock back and forth on the chair a little. She had to be careful, however. Rock too far and the chair might tip. This would be a good way to get seriously hurt, with no way anyone could help her. Jeanne would have to just sit and watch. So Karen very slowly was able to reposition the chair enough so that Jeanne was looking more at her back than front.
What Jeanne saw was not encouraging. Rope was wrapped around each of Karen’s wrists at least 6 times. There were numerous knots, all out of reach of Karen’s fingers. Since Karen’s sleeves ended just above her wrists, the rope was flush on her skin and digging into her wrists a bit. It looked as if the rope was formed around each wrist. Her hands would never slip free. The end of a rope or two did extend near her fingers, even though the knots were out of reach. The amount of rope Mike had used made it nearly impossible for either woman to move her wrists around and reach for any of the knots. Still, Jeanne had an idea.
“Karen, there is a rope end hanging near your finger. Try to reach it.†Karen tried, but she couldn’t see it and Jeanne had to talk her through how to reach it. Eventually, she was able to reach it with two fingers and even pull on it, but nothing happened. Jeanne encouraged her to keep trying since this seemed to be their only option at this point. Karen would work on the rope, then her hand would cramp a little and she would have to rest.
Karen grew discouraged, and tired. Jeanne tried to keep her spirits up. As Karen worked on pulling at the rope end, a new problem emerged.
“Karen,†Jeanne said, “I have been here a long time. My shoulders are aching, and my hands are getting numb. “Try exercising your fingers,†Karen said. That’s been working for me as I sit here. Unfortunately, the ropes are tight around my ankles and that hurts some too.
“Me too,†Jeanne said. “We’re quite a site right now, aren’t we?â€
“To think,†Karen said, “I was planning a nice evening at home with a book. Being tied to a chair wasn’t really much of a thought."
To be continued...