Alone in the dark, curled up on the bottom stair, she waited.
She had managed to find a comfortable position on the cool bare wooden step though it had taken a long while and a lot of shifting. Her wrists, bound together with a silken dressing gown belt that was tied firmly to the banister, made it difficult to change position. Her ankles had been left untied this time for which she was grateful – it helped to be able to stretch her legs and ward off cramp. The central heating had been left on, but despite this she felt cold, a draught from somewhere cooled the skin on her naked body. She drifted in and out of sleep until in the still darkness of the night she was suddenly alert. A sound from outside. She heard a car pull away, its engine growling then fading as it drove off.
She listened intently. Was it him? Was he back?
She held her breathe so she could hear better.
Footsteps at the back door, then a silence so unexpected she thought for a moment she was imagining things. But no.
The jangle of keys. The metallic scrape of a key inserted and turned.
He was home.
He was back.
She realised she was trembling – was it the draught? Fear? . . . Excitement?
He was in the kitchen now. She heard him pouring a glass of water from the tap. The scent of alcohol wafted down the corridor to where she lay. She waited apprehensively. There was an unexpected silence from the kitchen. She thought she could hear him breathing but was unsure if it was her imagination. Finally more sounds - his footsteps, heavy as he walked down the corridor. He would be upon her any moment now. It was not completely dark where she lay for some street light from outside filtered through the front door windowpane. He would see her. She held her breathe, her heart beat faster as he drew near.
He stopped at the foot of the stairs, as though puzzled. She looked up at his imposing black form, like the grim reaper come to steal her life. The smell of alcohol was much stronger now.
His voice when he spoke was thick, guttural, slurred by the drink. 'What have we here?'
She looked up, wordlessly.
'You've displeased mistress?'
She nodded, then realising he might not be able to see the motion in the darkness spoke up instead.