Struggle

story continued from part one Part Two For a few seconds, the sound of the closing door reverberated around the room, rattling the metal shelves on which were stored thousands of pairs of tights and stockings. But this cornucopia of hosiery in all its variety of styles, sizes, colours and deniers, was of no interest to Fiona right now, as her focus was centred upon the numerous pairs that had been taken from their packets and used to enshroud her. Just how many pairs was she encumbered by altogether? Including the pair worn in conventional fashion, she estimated that there were eleven. She may have miscalculated of course, such had been the whirlwind nature of her journey into this world of encasement, that she really wasn’t certain whether a pair or two might have slipped her notice. ...

(story continues from The Secrets of Shackleton Grange 25: Dolores Alone) Chapter 26: A Taste of Her Own Medicine It had taken Bethany a few seconds to cotton on to what Saskia had in mind. The latter’s instruction to the zombie-like servant to tie Bethany up again had been acted upon immediately, and with such ruthless efficiency, that she’d had no chance to even think about taking evasive action. In dumbfounded paralysis, Bethany had watched as the still dripping wet-suit that fit snugly around Crystal’s slim figure moved towards her. With her head enclosed in a rubber hood, from which only her eyes and nostrils were visible, the recently released woman was in Bethany’s face within no more than a second or two of Saskia’s surprise edict, her long red hair sprouting in a rat-tailed plume from somewhere at the top of her head. Her eyes remained fixed on her projected target, and showed no emotion of any kind as she grasped Bethany by the shoulder, turned her swiftly around, and pulled both arms together behind her back. ...

story continued from part five Part 6 For me, it all started off as just another routine Friday evening. The cellar of Ann-Marie’s house had, over the past couple of years, become quite a familiar haunt of mine. In fact, you could almost call it my second home – at least on most weekends. I knew every square inch of the walls, ceiling, floor, the wooden door and almost every storage box and discarded piece of furniture and other junk that lay scattered about the small, untidy windowless space. Not that I could always see this disorganised clutter, the plain, unpainted plaster that adorned all four sides of this underground chamber, or the bare concrete floor. In fact, I would have to say that most of the time – for me at least – the room was shrouded in darkness. There were two reasons why this could be the case. Either the overhead light was switched off, or else I was blindfolded or hooded… sometimes both. ...

(story continues from Long Time Bound 5) Part 6 For me, it all started off as just another routine Friday evening. The cellar of Ann-Marie’s house had, over the past couple of years, become quite a familiar haunt of mine. In fact, you could almost call it my second home – at least on most weekends. I knew every square inch of the walls, ceiling, floor, the wooden door and almost every storage box and discarded piece of furniture and other junk that lay scattered about the small, untidy windowless space. Not that I could always see this disorganised clutter, the plain, unpainted plaster that adorned all four sides of this underground chamber, or the bare concrete floor. In fact, I would have to say that most of the time – for me at least – the room was shrouded in darkness. There were two reasons why this could be the case. Either the overhead light was switched off, or else I was blindfolded or hooded… sometimes both. ...

story continued from part four Part 5 (The day that Carolyn and I got ‘kidnapped’) It must have been at least two hours since I’d been left tied up in the small windowless basement room. But the length of time that I’d been left to my own devices didn’t mean that I was any closer to getting myself free. In fact, the copious amounts of rope that bound and held me in check were still as tight and efficient in their assigned roles as they had been at the moment of application. ...

(story continues from Long Time Bound 4) Part 5 (The day that Carolyn and I got ‘kidnapped’) It must have been at least two hours since I’d been left tied up in the small windowless basement room. But the length of time that I’d been left to my own devices didn’t mean that I was any closer to getting myself free. In fact, the copious amounts of rope that bound and held me in check were still as tight and efficient in their assigned roles as they had been at the moment of application. ...

(story continues from The Secrets of Shackleton Grange 24: A Shift in the Balance of Power) Chapter 25: Dolores Alone Shackleton Grange basked in the shimmering heat of a languid spring afternoon; those ancient towers and spires standing proud against the gently rolling Suffolk landscape, as they had for centuries. And yet, today something was different. In the woods, a parliament of rooks held their daily conclave; their cawing that little bit more frenzied than normal, as they discussed the news filtering from the crumbling brickwork that a monarch had been dethroned, and debated the uncertainty of the interregnum. ...