I really shouldn't have let Carin go to the restroom alone.
She has a habit of getting distracted by something shiny -- or some
one
-- and not coming back for hours at a time. Or for what seems like hours, anyway; the advent of the cell phone has made tracking her down much easier. A far cry from the college days when I'd find her sitting on the floor of Suncoast watching the last half of some unidentifiable anime title... or find her kneeling on the floor of the Service Merchandise dressing room, servicing the merchandise of one of the saleswomen.
Today, however, Carin wasn't answering the cell, so after I'd exhausted all possible opportunities for small talk with the pretty Hawaiian lady running the lollipop stand (who either missed or politely ignored all of my advances) I bade her
Adieu
. I don't think she was pleased that I failed to buy any of her wares, though I certainly had offered to sample some of them. I know I wasn't too subtle... I just know it. She couldn't possibly be straight. Could she?
At any rate, the nearest ladies' room was near the Sears, so I headed in that direction, all the while looking for stores and hotties who would catch her eye and prevent her return to me. I checked White House | Black Market (she claims she just loves the clothes, but I've seen the way she looks at the redhead behind the counter) -- no dice. No redhead either.
The same could be said for her other haunts: the aforementioned Suncoast, and Rampage, and The Bikini Store... I admit I stayed extra long there, surreptitiously eyeing a busty blonde who evidently did not need any help shaving, given the brevitude of her bottoms. I don't think she noticed, but her boyfriend looked suspicious and herded her out fairly quickly. He needn't have bothered; I don't try to seduce straight women, as a rule. Of course, convincing them that they're bi is completely fair play, and I refuse to feel guilty about it, despite the tsk-tsking I get from my male friends (and they only complain because I refuse to let them watch).
No Carin.
I finally got to the rest room and it was
under construction
, of all things. Looked like it had been for days... which meant she must have gone to another one in the mall. Which meant she could be
anywhere
. I tried the cell phone again and was unsurprised when I got her voice mail. I left a message haranguing her about not answering her phone and telling her to get back to me. I tried to keep it light, but I was getting angrier by the minute and I know it probably entered the tone of my voice.
I wandered over to one of the closer restrooms, by Barnes and Noble. It was mostly devoid of life, and completely devoid of Carin. I left and hit redial. No answer...
... yet I heard her phone ringing somewhere nearby. Or one with the same ringtone, anyway. I hung up and tried again. The ringtone stopped a second after I dropped the connection, and started up again when I called back. But where was it coming from?
I followed my ears to a nearby storefront, walled almost completely over with "Pardon Our Construction-- Coming Soon to the West Valley Mall: Candle's Place" signs. I could hear the ringer coming from behind the plywood. I made my way over to the other side of the storefront, where the edge of the wall didn't quite close the seam with the doorframe, and peered inside. It was too dark to make out any details, but I could see bare concrete floors and lots of debris from whatever it was the workers were not working on today.
The ringer had stopped. "Carin?" I called into the crack. There was no response. I dialed the phone again, and this time it went straight to voicemail. Someone had shut the phone off. Panicking, I pried at the edge of the wall, and it came free easier than I thought. Some other customers wandering the mall looked at me suspiciously as I grappled with something clearly meant to not be opened by other than Authorized Personnel, but I ignored them and went inside. Doubtless one of them would tell Security. Hell, it's what I would have done.
Hell, it's what I
should
be doing
was my last thought before the hand placed the cloth over my mouth and nose and everything faded to black.
***
I came to in an uncomfortable position, and unable to move properly. I was strapped naked to a table which managed to be halfway between medical and scientific equipment; it looked clinical, but there was a stainless steel arch which went from the head of the table to its foot, bristling with instruments and spotlights. My arms were stretched out above my head, and my legs were stretched in the opposite direction, keeping me taut. Neither arms nor legs were capable of much movement, as all were affixed to the steel frame with leather bands, locked in place with screws or something.
I was not in the mall.
An attractive brunette wearing nothing but a skin-tight silvery bodystocking stood in the corner, and apparently had noticed me stir. "Hey," I yelled to her. "What the fuck is going on? Where am I?"
I continued this tirade and she completely ignored me, lifting a phone, dialing a number, and speaking quietly into the receiver. She listened for a moment and then replied, almost zombie-like, "Yes mis-tress."
Mistress
? What the hell had I gotten myself into, here? She approached me with mechanical movements, checked my bonds, then spun on her heel and walked out the nearby door in the same fashion.
She never once met my gaze. Or flinched at the many names I'd called her-- and many of them were doozies. It was as if she couldn't even hear or see me, apart from the parts she'd been told to examine.
I pulled with my shoulder muscles, but apparently the brunette had done her job: the straps were firm and tight, not giving an inch and not providing me with an opportunity to slip out of them. It was not yet time to start panicking, I reassured myself. Not quite yet.
The door opened, then, and in walked a woman in a suit, flanked on the one side by the naked-except-for-lycra girl from earlier and on the other by her fraternal twin. The central figure, possessed of a cool, calm beauty, smiled widely at me, removing a case from an inside pocket of her jacket. There was a biohazard symbol on the case, and she opened it to reveal a small vial filled with a grayish powder.
Now was the time to start panicking.
"Who are you?" I demanded, but I could tell from the amusement in her eyes that she knew it was all bluster-- how could she not? I was virtually immobile, tendons aching with the strain... what was I going to to? Wiggle at her?
"She's even nicer than the other one," the woman commented to no one in particular. Certainly her companions gave no indication they had comprehended her speech.
I started to yell again, but she shushed me. "Would you like to be gagged as well? There's no one here but myself and my two 'bots, and we're on a substantial amount of acreage. So screaming will buy you nothing. Now, are you going to cooperate? ... I thought so."
"What are you going to do to me?"