A Womans Place Ch 01

4 WEEKS AGO

"Are you absolutely sure about this Prime Minister? Once we start there's no going back and the decision we're making is, well, groundbreaking to say the least."

"I know. It's been weighing heavily on my mind for weeks now but I can honestly say that we have no other viable alternative. This country is in economic freefall and we have to do something drastic to stop it. There aren't enough jobs for people by half, the housing situation is critical and we have far too many students wanting to go to university even though the new fees are astronomical. No – there's no other way. It must be done." The Prime Minister looked around the sound proofed room at the 22 other men. They all nodded in silent agreement. He could see trepidation tinged with excitement on all of their faces. This was a momentous occasion that would go down in the history books and be remembered forever. "Right then - set the wheels in motion gentlemen. We'll give them 4 weeks notice so that they have time to, er, make preparations or they can get their families out of the country if they have good reason to."

"4 weeks! Will they be able to keep it quiet that long? Will any of us?"

"We'll start the process early if we have to but let's be honest – if you heard it, would you believe it?"

PRESENT DAY

"Are you warm enough? I've got an extra jumper in the tent if you want it?" asked Ben as he plonked himself down next to Ellie on the fallen log beside the campfire. They had been looking forward to this trip for a few weeks now. They tried to meet every Sunday for a catch up and mutual counseling session but Ben had been too busy for the past few weekends and he had promised to make it up to her with a trip to the coast. Ellie didn't like camping. If she couldn't plug in her hair straighteners and there wasn't a flushing loo, it was a non-starter. However, if it meant spending time alone with Ben, she'd do it. She'd missed him so much and needed to get the male perspective on a number of issues that had cropped up lately.

"No, I'm fine thanks. This hot chocolate is warming me up nicely – well done you for remembering to bring it. I think I've packed everything I don't need and left the essentials at home!" Ellie joked.

"I'm just impressed I managed to get you here at all – I never thought I'd convince you to spend a night in a tent in the middle of a field!!" Ben bumped shoulders with Ellie as they gazed into the fire. It felt nice to have him so close and she was sorely tempted to cuddle up.

"Yeah well, you've been so hard to get hold of lately so I've got to take what I can get!"

"I know. I'm sorry I've been so busy – I've had a bit of a project to do at home but the builders should have put the finishing touches to it today."

"Really? What have you been doing?"

"I'll show you tomorrow when we go home – will you have time to pop in before I run you back?"

"Sure. I'm not in a hurry – I managed to get all my paperwork up to date before I left on Friday so I've got the whole weekend to myself for once! Actually, my boss was a bit of a slave driver last week – I don't know what got into him but he insisted that all new cases went through him and we all had to get everything else up to date or finished off. A whole week of solid paperwork – dull, dull, dull."

"You work way too hard. Do you envy Lisa now that she's a stay at home Mum? It must be nice to lounge around all day watching TV and meet friends for lunch whenever you feel like it."

"I don't think it's quite that easy!" Ellie laughed. "Her kids are a real handful – I think she's run off her feet half the time. Every time I see her she looks completely knackered!"

"Good – a woman's place is in the home." said Ben with a mock serious look on his face. Ellie took a swipe at his head which Ben easily ducked, chuckling as he did so.

"Thank you Hunter-Gatherer. Next thing you'll be clubbing girls over the head and dragging them back to your cave I suppose." Ben just raised an eyebrow. "Mmmm – I've got a feeling you'll never have to do that, will you Ben. Even the most stunning women seem to fall at your feet."

"Well, what can I say? I suppose it's all down to my rugged good looks, sparkling wit and endearing charisma."

"Not to mention your modest and humble qualities."

"That too." Ellie had known Ben for years. They'd gone to uni together and even house shared at one point. He made her laugh every day and he was the one person she relied on to get her out of sticky situations, rescue her in the middle of the night or just be a sympathetic ear. Their relationship had been purely platonic but Ellie admitted to herself that she secretly wanted more. Ben was confident, funny, popular and way, way out of her league so she'd never flirted or hinted in any way how she felt. "Have you seen the time? – it's nearly midnight!" Ben exclaimed.

"You're not going to turn into a pumpkin are you?" Ellie sniggered "You're such a party animal. Do you remember when we were students and we could stay up all night, go to lectures the following day and just carry on as usual without any recovery time? What happened to us?!"

"Maybe we're paying for it now. That or it's old age my dear! Now get thee inside woman and warm my bed!"

"Oh har bloody har. You can warm your own sleeping bag thanks very much." Smiling to herself, Ellie marched into the tent accompanied by the sounds of Ben's rumbling laughter as he put out the fire.

That night Ellie felt comforted and serene as she listened to Ben's rhythmic breathing and the waves crashing against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. They'd spent the day at the bottom of those steep inclines scouring the pebbles for fossils. Ben managed to turn even the most boring activities into stories worth retelling a hundred times over and Ellie giggled silently to herself as she remembered Ben chasing her with clumps of smelly brown seaweed only to end up bellowing with rage when a disgruntled crab nipped his finger and refused to let go. Ellie closed her eyes wondering what Ben had in store for her tomorrow and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

She was woken the next morning by the glorious smell of bacon wafting through the open flaps of the tent from outside. Ben heard her stir and brought her some coffee.

"Morning sleepy-head. We've got a big day ahead of us so I think a decent breakfast is in order.

"Oh wow – if I'd known I'd get this level of service I'd have gone camping with you long ago! Thanks Ben."

"No problem. It's 9:00 and I want us to be dressed, packed up and ready to go by 10:00 at the very latest – think you can manage it?"

"Er, yeah – what's the hurry?"

"That would be telling!" Ben replied with a cheeky wink.

9:55 found Ellie washed, dressed and rummaging through her bag.

"Ben, have you seen my coat? I think it's going to rain."

"Um, I think it's in the back of the car. I'll bet those clouds will float through though and the weather forecast said today was going to be fine." said Ben stuffing the neatly folded tent back into its bag.

"Well you know my luck – if I don't take a coat it'll pour with rain and if I do take one, we'll get a heat wave."

"True. Here it is!" Ben said pulling it out from under the box of left over food and holding it for Ellie to put on.

"Well aren't you the perfect gentleman?!"

"You have no idea."

At that, a message beeped it's way loudly onto Ben's phone. Simultaneously, Ellie heard a siren going off in the distant village. Ellie turned towards the sound.

"What's that? Sounds like an old air raid siren! I didn't think they still existed." Turning back to Ben, Ellie was surprised to see the serious look on his face.

"Now don't freak out Ellie..." said Ben slowly pulling some handcuffs out of his pocket. "...you'll thank me for this one day, I promise."

"What?!" Ellie took an involuntary step backwards and looked at him incredulously.

"Just stay calm and everything will be alright." Ben advanced on her and gripped her wrist.

"Hey! Get off! What are you doing?! Is this some kind of... BEN!!" The first cuff had snapped into place.

"STOP! I MEAN IT! NO!" Ben had hold of her other wrist and was trying to force it behind her back.

"Just hold still Ellie. It has to be like this. Trust me, this is for the...OW! Shit."

Ellie's self defense classes had kicked in and she had driven her knee sharply into Ben's groin. Ben was now in a heap on the floor. Ellie hesitated for a moment – she'd just hurt one of her best friends. Maybe he'd been trying to play a practical joke on her?

"What the hell Ben? Are... are you ok?" she asked as he groaned at her feet. Just then, Ben made a grab for one of her ankles and the next thing she knew, Ellie was dashing across the field as fast as her legs could carry her.

"No – Ellie not that way! Come back!" Ben managed to croak out but there was no chance that Ellie was going to listen and all he could do was wait for the pain to disperse and hope he could catch her before someone else did.

Ellie ran towards the back of the field and headed for the cluster of buildings which she assumed was a farm. The blood was pounding in her ears as she ran but it couldn't block out Ben's voice behind her yelling franticly for her to come back. Then a new sound reached her ears. She could hear a woman, no, several women screaming. Ellie was just meters from the gate in the hedge when she saw another girl come crashing through it.

"HELP! HELP! I NEED THE POLICE!" Ellie yelled at her but even as the words left her lips she knew that something was terribly wrong. The woman's top had been torn and her eyes were as wide with fear as Ellie's were.

"RUN!" the woman called tugging at Ellie's coat as she went past.

"What's going on?!" but a roar from behind them answered Ellie's question. She turned to see a well built man leap clean over the gate and bound towards them with a determined look on his face.

"KATE! GET YOUR ARSE BACK HERE!" He was upon them in no time and easily knocked the woman to the ground who was pleading with him to stop.

"Please Greg, please..." Greg lay over the trembling girl with a greedy look on his face. He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand and proceeded to tear what was left of her top from her body.

"GET OFF HER! GET OFF!" Ellie shouted trying to prise him away. He looked at her like she was an irritating fly and swatted her as such, full across the face. Ellie sprawled on the damp grass in shock holding her rapidly bruising cheek.

"HAND'S OFF - SHE'S MINE!" Ellie's heart stopped beating. It was Ben who had bellowed this outrageous statement.

"Take her then – I have my own to deal with." said Greg as he wrestled the sobbing Kate onto her stomach so that he could tie her hands.

Ellie began to get to her feet, slipping in the mud as she did so.

"Oh no you don't." growled Ben pushing her back down again. He steered clear of her flaying legs this time as he put her into the same position as the unfortunate girl next to her. There was a metallic snap and the other cuff was in place. Next Ben sat on the back of Ellie's legs and swiftly tied her knees and feet.

Ellie couldn't help but see what was happening to Kate at this point. Greg had succeeded in tying her hands and had flipped her around onto her back. He'd planted his knees between her legs so that she couldn't close them and had one of his hands inside her shorts. From the squeals of pain coming from Kate it was clear that he was being far from gentle.

"Yeah, you're mine now Kate." he snarled loudly in her ear. "I don't have to try to win you round with flowers and expensive restaurants any more, do I – I can just TAKE you instead or beat you until you do exactly what I want. I get to keep you forever and do this to you whenever I feel like it. I'm going to do a lot more than this though." Kate was sobbing heavily and trying to push him away with her legs. She managed to catch him with her heel on his back and Greg grunted in pain.

"Bitch!" he yelled backhanding her hard across the face. "You're gonna pay for that when I get you inside!"

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" Ellie fought against the hysterics that were welling up inside her.

"Sssshhhhh. I'll explain it all in a minute Ellie. Stay calm." Ben stroked her hair before rolling her onto her back. He helped her to sit up and then held her face still so that he could look into her eyes as she panted heavily with panic. He gently passed his fingers over her reddened cheek and glared angrily at the burly man still occupied with Kate. He switched his attention back to her.

"It's going to be fine. Trust me."

"FINE?! HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! YOU UTTER BASTARD! LET ME GO!!" Ellie screamed. Ben frowned and pulled her over his shoulder effortlessly.

"You've got your hands full with that one. I know exactly what she needs!" sneered Greg nastily. He had Kate on her feet and began dragging her back towards the buildings. Ellie could see that he had a harsh grip on her upper arm and he was forcing his thumb deep into her flesh to propel her forwards. Kate's face was contorted in agony and she had no choice but to comply like a puppet on strings.

Ben strode back towards the car ignoring Ellie as she bucked, squirmed and screamed. She could hear other women shouting for help in the distance and caught a glimpse of another girl running through the next field towards the cliffs. As far as Ellie could see, she wasn't being chased and she prayed that the girl could get away and raise the alarm.

Despite the stream of abuse that was flowing from Ellie, Ben was surprisingly gentle as he lowered her to her feet and sat her in the front passenger seat of the car. He carefully avoided her snapping teeth as he buckled her seat belt for her and refused to react when she spat at him as he tucked wayward strands of hair behind her ears. He then closed the door on her and continued loading the car with all of their camping gear. Once this was complete, he closed the boot and the back doors effectively muffling Ellie's screams, curses and threats. He then sank to the ground behind the car where she couldn't see him and tried to put his thoughts into some sort of order.

4 weeks of plotting, scheming, planning and preparing. 4 weeks of keeping it quiet and wrestling with his conscience. It had been hell. Now the day had finally arrived and he felt every bit as awful as he thought he would. He looked back towards the buildings that Greg and the ill-fated Kate had just entered. When he saw how she was being treated, his immediate instinct was to come to her rescue but he'd managed to subdue that side of him and concentrate on his own prize. Greg was doing what a lot of men would be doing right now and Ben tried to console himself with the fact that he had at least saved Ellie from that.

She was his and he would take care of her and protect her to the best of his ability. The cave man within him raised his club in triumph. Ben felt a deep stir of excitement and knew that the testosterone was flowing through his system stronger than it ever had. He had a woman at his mercy, his captive, his property, his slave. There was no greater thrill and he couldn't wait to get her home.

Ben pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his face. Feeling like he had regrouped somewhat, he made the decision to gag Ellie rather than listen to her abuse for the full 2 hour drive. He had come prepared and found the clean sock and duct tape he'd brought for the job. Opening her door, he wasted no time forcing the sock into her mouth and taping it in place. He didn't speak to her at all whilst doing this and made no eye contact but he couldn't help but notice the scared little whimpers she made – Ben had decided that the soothing words and reassurances would have to wait. Right now she needed to know he meant business.

The drive home was a silent one. Ellie had hoped that someone would see her bound and gagged in the front of the car and call the police but her hopes were soon dashed as she witnessed the chaos ensuing in the villages and towns they passed through. It quickly became very evident that every man in the country had decided to claim a woman for their own but Ellie couldn't fathom how they had managed to coordinate this without any female getting wind of it. How long had they been planning it? Was it some strange sickness of the brain that had affected them all at the same time? Was there one person behind it all – a mastermind? Why were they doing it – what did they hope to achieve? Ellie had a million questions but right now her main objective was to stay calm and keep a cool head. She needed to get out of Ben's grasp as soon as possible - before he has a chance to... don't even think about it.

Ben pulled up onto his driveway and switched off the engine. Sighing heavily, he looked at Ellie for the first time since they'd left the coast.

"I know you're scared and confused – after what you saw back in that field who could blame you? I also know you're furious with me right now but you have to believe that what I'm doing is in your best interest. I'm going to explain it all to you Ellie but first I need to get you inside and comfortable. I'm going to carry you into the house and I need you to be still – if you struggle, you'll end up banging your head or doing yourself some sort of injury. Once we're inside, I'll untie you and take off your gag. Do you understand?" Ellie nodded. She was shaking all over and had tears streaming down her face which Ben went to wipe away. Ellie jerked back, half in fear and half in anger. Ben sighed again – this was going to be a tough few months. He walked around to her door and gently lifted her over his shoulder. Locking the car behind him, he decided to unpack later.

Letting himself into the house, he bent his knees as he went through the door so as not to catch Ellie on the frame. She stayed still as he carried her up the stairs and she whimpered quietly through her gag at the thought that he was going to take her to his bedroom. She got a surprise however, when Ben continued up a further flight of stairs into a newly converted loft.

"Good, they finished it." Ben muttered to himself. Ellie felt him carry her over to the far side of the room and grab hold of something, giving it a good shake. She tried to twist around to see what he was testing but he held her too firmly. Ben bent down for a moment and Ellie could hear a clanking sound. At last she could see what he was doing as the barred door of a cage swung open into her line of sight. Ben lowered her onto a large double bed and closed the cage door locking it with a brand new shiny key which he immediately hung on a peg on the wall furthest from Ellie.

She looked around and tried to process this new turn of events. The bed was pushed into the corner of the room and there were bars running floor to ceiling all the way along the side of it going from one wall to the other. This left no floor space at all except for at the foot of the bed. Crammed into that small corner, there was a toilet, small basin, a shelf for toiletries and a mirror. On the other side of the bars, she could see a sofa, table and chairs, a chest of drawers, a coffee table, a few scatter cushions and a large sheepskin rug in front of a modern fire place which was set back into the wall. Pushed up next to the bars near the pillows, there was a small, three drawer bedside cabinet on wheels. On the top Ellie could see a radio alarm clock, a box of tissues and a lamp. The whole room was filled with sunshine which streamed in through 4 brand new roof windows. Each had a blind fitted over it which looked like they could easily plunge Ellie's prison into total darkness

Ben had walked back to her and was now crouched down, holding the bars near her head.