Roger McClaire, a man who preferred to be called "The Artist" had been waiting for this package to arrive Monday morning. The delivery men carried it into the sprawling mansion by two hand holds cut into the side of the box. They commented that it was rather heavy for a relative small cardboard box. The man explained it was special art supplies for his latest photo exhibition. The delivery men sat it down in the open foyer of The Artist's house. As soon as they left, Roger eagerly found a box cutter to slice through the tape holding the box closed. Carefully, he slit the box down the sides. Inside was another smaller box wrapped in shiny silver wrapping paper with two small holes where the hand holds had been in the outer box.
The Artist grabbed a bag from a shelf and pulled out one of his cameras and a tripod and set them up so he could videotape the unboxing of his present. He slid the box cutter under the silver ribbon around the box and cut it loose, letting the ends fall to the floor. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, he hurriedly tore off the wrapping paper. He repositioned his camera so it was now pointing directly at the top of the box. Using his knife carefully, he slid it through the tape holding the box shut and slowly opened the cardboard flaps.
Sitting inside the box, wrapped tightly in a ball with thick strips of black bondage tape was the naked body of Susan Mitchell. The Artist's friend, Stephen Krutz, had agreed to loan him West Valley's prized pupil after The Artist had explained his plans for his latest photo exhibition. Using the knife, the man carefully slit the edges of the inner box and folded the sides flat to fully expose the gift inside.
The young girl had black tape covering her mouth and eyes with the tape wrapped around her head. Her bare skin was glistening with sweat after being trapped inside the box for several hours. Her ankles were taped tightly together with the thick black tape. More tape had been wrapped up her shins and around her back to turn her into a tight ball. Her wrists were taped in front of her to her ankles and bound to her legs so she could not move them. There was tape around her neck that pinned her head to the top of her knees. The Artist stepped back and checked his camera to make sure he was getting good coverage,
The man started unwrapping Susan by removing the tape from her eyes and mouth and cutting her neck loose from her knees. She looked up at the man, who introduced himself. "I am 'The Artist'," he said, "and that is how you shall refer to me." Susan rolled her eyes but if the man caught it, he gave it no notice. "I specialize in a certain type of photo art, focusing especially on the nude female form. Thank you for volunteering to assist me in my latest portfolio." Susan had not volunteered for any of this, she thought to herself, but what else was new. She was now thoroughly defeated. After months of abuse and torture, she had given up all hope of finding a way out of her predicament. She knew once she released the millions of dollars of drug cartel money that her mother had stolen to Krutz, she would either wind up dead or remain his plaything forever. She went back and forth on which fate was worse.
The Artist used the box cutter to slice away the tape binding Susan's wrists and ankles and then helped her peel away the remnants. She stretched out her arms and legs, which were cramping after several hours inside the cardboard box.
The man spoke again. "Let's start today with some still life." Susan had no idea what was in store for her, but she knew it was not likely to be enjoyable. The Artist led the naked woman to a corner of a large room off the foyer and told her to sit down and cross her legs. He wrapped rope around her ankles and shins and tied her hands behind her back. He walked over to a table and picked up a potted plant and balanced it on her head. He stepped back to the foyer and removed his camera from the tripod and returned to snap photos of her from several angles. "This is still life, Art", he said, "so please remain still. If that plant falls, you shall not be happy with the consequences." Susan knew all about consequences and tried her best to keep the plant balanced.