25 year-old Clara tossed her long blonde hair back from her face, reveling in the appreciative looks being sent her way as she strutted down the street. She was in the rough part of town – the part her husband always warned her not to frequent – but it was a much quicker way of getting to the designer shops where she so often enjoyed spending money on her platinum credit card. Her mini skirt, high heels and classic sexual looks made her look young – it was only the gold band on her ring finger that suggested she might be older than she looked. She tensed, sensing a presence behind her, and recalled her self-defense classes, but that wasn't enough to save her from the strong man behind who grabbed her instantly, put a hand over her mouth, and pulled her into an alleyway. No-one even gave it a second glance.
"Unless you want blood spattered all over that nice new Versace top, you'd best stay quiet."
Clara laughed, her natural poise showing through. "Get lost, creep. It's not Versace, it's Gucci. And don't you even know who my husband is? He'd have you put away before you'd even had time to --"
"Such brave words from one so young. But we know that Peter is out of town. For a month, isn't it? Anyway, you can blame your husband for this little predicament – he's the lawyer that sent me down, and now I'm going to send him a little gift. You, a broken and tortured shadow of the woman he loves. Well – the woman he lusts after, anyway – we all know he could never love a slut like you."
Clara immediately became fearful. "How the fuck do you know who I am?"
"We know everything about you. Now, if you give in and don't make a fuss, maybe you'll just get out of this alive. If you don't..." He trailed off, leaving it to her imagination. Clara looked around, almost expecting someone to help her. But everyone who walked past the alleyway was too occupied with their own business to notice what looked like a girl and her boyfriend having an argument. "So, are you going to play nice?" In answer, Clara lowered her resistance slightly, and the man pushed her towards the end of the alley. Two bigger men grabbed her, and the first tied a blindfold round her eyes while the other gagged her. She felt herself being thrown somewhere, and then the motion of a moving vehicle.
She didn't to speak for the entire journey. She had no clue where she was going, or even how long they had been driving. Eventually, the original man spoke. "Get up." She stood up, and allowed herself to be pushed along, and then into a chair. Her arms and feet were tied to the chair, and she felt a rope being passed around her waist, restraining her further. The blindfold was removed. She looked around and saw that she was in the kind of place she had always done her best to avoid. A single light-bulb hung down, washing the room in a harsh, bright light. The walls were covered in cheap and tacky paper, and the carpet was rough. Those thoughts soon left her mind, though, when two big men appeared at the doorway. The first man smirked at her, and then turned to his companion. "So, you want to tell her, or shall I?"
The other man grinned, and walked up close to Clara. "You know, Trey, I think it would be much easier just to show her. Don't you?"
Trey looked at him, and then at her. "God, poor girl. Look Paul – she's terrified." Clara looked up in surprise at the sound of Trey's kind sounding voice. "Don't smile at me, bitch. I can make you a lot more scared than that. Just be glad the boss isn't here yet." Unable to speak, unable to move, Clara's eyes darted about, searching for some kind of escape. There was none. Trey blocked the only doorway, and both men would be able to kill her with their bare hands, if they wanted to. "So, you reckon we can play a little?"
"I don't think that would be wise." Both men stepped back, at the sound of a voice that Clara recognized – it was the smooth, sinister voice of the man that had kidnapped her. He appeared in the doorway, and Clara got her first look at him. He was tall with dark drown hair and average features. Average except for the ominous glint in his eyes, which made Clara tremble far more than anything that had happened so far. "You know that I want her first. Do you want to disobey me?" Both men shook their heads, obviously very much under the power of their Boss themselves. "Good. Because I should hate to have to let one of you... go."
