Chapter 2 β Captive
Slowly and drowsily, Emma woke from sleep. Normally after an evening of sex with Max, she would sleep peacefully and deeply, but last night had been marred by a succession of dreams β nightmares even - quite unlike her usual dreams. Dimly, she tried to remember. Strange faces appeared and disappeared, strange hands on her body, her hands and feet being bound, her body enclosed in a box β a coffin perhaps? Her head ached from a horrendous hangover. 'Strange,' she thought, 'I only had a couple of glasses of wine last night; two glasses wouldn't normally affect me like this. I must get up and take a couple of Alka-Seltzers.' She glanced at the alarm clock on the table next to the bed β 6.40 β another fifteen minutes before it burst into life.
She moved to throw back the sheets, and then stopped short. 'I'm sure I nodded off last night on top of the bed, in my bathrobe, but now I'm under the covers β and nude! Strange!'
She lifted the sheets and looked down her naked body. "What the hell?" she exclaimed aloud. Her pussy, once adorned with neatly trimmed soft, blonde hair, was now entirely bare. 'Max?' she wondered. 'Has Max been playing games?' Max had often asked her to shave her pussy for him, but she had always refused. 'Did Max creep back in last night after I fell asleep? No β he doesn't have a key!'
She looked again, and something glistened at her navel β a small gold ring. "Ugh!" she ejaculated angrily. Who could have done that? She hated the very idea of being pierced. Anxiously, she felt her ear lobes, and encountered two small studs in each ear. 'Horrible!' she thought, 'How cruel! Surely Max couldn't be responsible?'
Her anxiety increasing, she looked again at the alarm clock. It wasn't hers! She became aware of the faint hum of an air-conditioning system. She looked around the room, dimly lit by a night-light in a far corner. This wasn't her room! Much bigger, with tables, armchairs and a large sofa β but not her room! She rushed to the curtains on one wall, and pulled them back, revealing only a mirror, from which her own frightened face gazed back at her. She looked at her ears, and sure enough, each lobe was decorated with two small studs, capped with what appeared to be diamonds. She turned on the central light and tried the doors. One was locked, and she saw no sign of a key. Another led into a capacious marbled bathroom, with a large bath, separate shower, two enormous basins, a WC, and a bidet, all with gilt fittings. A door next to the bathroom led into a small toilet, with WC and wash-hand basin, matching the furnishing in the main bathroom. The fourth door opened to reveal an enormous walk-in wardrobe β a dressing room really, she supposed. A quick glance revealed some of her own clothes, and an assortment of new items, all with original tags, and all in her size.
Puzzled, and increasingly frightened, she returned to the main room. She noticed a telephone by the bed and picked it up. Dead! No connection whatsoever! She slumped into an armchair, trying to get her head straight, and made an effort to collect her thoughts. God! Her head still hurt! She noticed a sheet of paper on the table, and picked it up.
"Thursday 20th May, 1999
Welcome. We hope you had a good sleep. When you are ready for breakfast, please pull on the rope next to the bed. Breakfast will be brought to you within a few minutes."
'Yes,' she thought, 'breakfast might help me get my thoughts in order. But I'd better put some clothes on first.'
A long hard pee helped a little β her bladder was almost at bursting point. She found a luxuriously soft robe behind the door, and went to put it on. As she did so, she noticed in the mirror something odd on the side of her left buttock. She looked down and saw strange marks, enclosed in an ornate small rectangle, about 2cm deep and 1.5cm wide, apparently tattooed. She tried to make out the marks. The first line looked like a number β squiggleβ7β1β3β7. What could it mean? She looked again. 'Of course,' she realised, 'I'm looking at it upside-down! Try again.'
Using the mirror, and with a great effort to get her befuddled brain to work, she finally read L-E-I-L-A β LEILA β what could it mean?
Below the word 'LEILA' were some other characters, in what looked like Arabic script, and below that some characters in what she took to be Japanese or Chinese ideograms. Finally, at the bottom, was a letter, followed by a number β D297. Emma was mystified. She tried rubbing at the marks with soap and water, but to no avail. They did indeed appear to be tattoos. She hated tattoos! She loathed earrings, and especially navel-rings; thank goodness they hadn't given her nipple-rings as well! She even disliked her shaven bald pussy β it hadn't looked like that for over ten years. This had to be some sick joke. Surely Max couldn't be responsible for this!
She wrapped the bathrobe around herself, and went back to the table, again picking up the sheet of paper. Suddenly she noticed the date. Thursday? No β today was Wednesday, wasn't it? She thought back. Sunday, she had had a date with Peter. On Monday, she went to work as usual, and Max had called to make a date for the next evening β Tuesday. On Monday evening, she had stayed in, to wash her hair, bath, and do her nails. Tuesday was work again, and then an evening with Max. Yes β today was definitely Wednesday! Her mobile phone would confirm it!
Emma found the handbag she had used yesterday, placed neatly on top of a dressing table. Hurriedly she sorted through it; her wallet, purse, make-up, etc. were all in place, but her mobile phone had disappeared. She searched further β no credit cards, no driving license, and no diary.
She needed coffee. She pulled the rope as instructed, and sat in an armchair to await developments.
Less than five minutes later, she heard a door being unlocked, and two tiny young women, plump but quite pretty, wearing traditional black maids' uniforms with white aprons, wheeled in a large trolley. They pushed it to the centre of the room, next to the table, and curtsied. "Please. Enjoy," one of them announced. Emma thought she was probably Thai β Oriental anyway - as was her companion. They turned to go.
"No," Emma called out. "Please don't go! Please tell me β where am I? Why am I here? Who are you?"
They shook their heads, smiled, and left hurriedly, locking the door behind them.
Emma surveyed the breakfast trolley, and felt suddenly hungry. Orange juice (freshly squeezed), a vast array of fresh fruit (each piece at the peak of ripeness), muesli and cereals of various types, milk and yoghurt, cold meats and smoked fish, cheeses, hard-boiled eggs, rolls and croissants, butter, marmalade, jams and honeys, coffee and tea. She rapidly downed an orange juice, poured a large cup of black coffee, and started munching through a bowl of cereal and nuts with fresh yoghurt.
She finally noticed a neatly folded sheet of A4 paper, and read as she ate:
"Thursday 20th May, 1999
Please enjoy your breakfast.
You have been under sedation, and may be experiencing unfortunate after-effects. If your head hurts this morning, we suggest the pill in the blue box. If your stomach feels queasy, the pill in the pink box would be better. We do NOT recommend that you take both β the side effects can be most unpleasant.
No doubt, you have many questions. You will be interviewed at 10.00am, and we will answer as many as we can. You will be collected at 9.55; until then, we suggest you enjoy breakfast, have a leisurely bath, familiarise yourself with your wardrobe, and get dressed in something suitable for an interview.