Part 1

The notion of being tied up had always held a strange fascination for Lauren, although until now her curiosity had lain dormant within her. Now, however, when the hint of an opportunity to actually participate arose, something stirred within her & she found herself desperately hoping that she was going to be able to experience firsthand something that had so far been merely a flight into fantasy.

The nineteen year old slim, attractive brunette was staying the weekend at the home of two of her old school friends, Jade & Jasmine. Their parents were away for a few days, so the identical twins had invited Lauren to stay over until Monday at their house in the country. Not so much a house really, as a small mansion, with old creaking stairs, rambling corridors, cellars, an attic, & more rooms than Lauren had ever bothered to count. The house was set in several acres of its own grounds & boasted an orchard & a walled garden. Reached only by a long driveway from the road, the idyllic setting was peaceful, isolated & secluded.

Saturday 8:30 am: Lauren, Jade & Jasmine were sitting eating breakfast in the kitchen. They had been discussing what they were going to do this bright spring day, although so far had failed to come up with any definite plans. Lauren had just got up to pour herself another cup of tea, when she happened to notice, laying on the floor under a chair in the corner, two lengths of white rope, neatly coiled. She hadn't noticed them there before, so casually enquired as to their purpose.

"Oh, those are just for a hobby that Jade & I indulge in every so often. No need to worry yourself about them."

Lauren was intrigued, however, & decided to delve deeper.

"What sort of hobby?"

The twins glanced at each other with looks that seemed to say 'should we tell her or not?' The unvoiced answer seemed to be that they would.

"Well it's like this Lauren. Do you remember us talking about our Great Uncle Harry who passed away a couple of years ago now?"

Lauren did vaguely recall some mention of him, although Jasmine & Jade's family seemed to be blessed with such a plethora of strange, eccentric characters, that she couldn't remember much detail about him.

"Was he the magician?"

"That's right. He travelled around the country in various fairs & circuses with his stage act. And part of his repertoire involved escapology. Although neither of us ever saw him perform, he would tell us about how he would tightly tie up his glamorous assistant - who later became his wife - with ropes, shut her in a coffin & screen this from view behind a curtain. Seconds later, he would pull the screen back & to the amazement & great delight of the audience, she would be standing there as free as a bird. Anyway, to cut a long story short, when we were young he would visit every so often when he wasn't touring, & he would teach us how to tie various knots & hitches. He taught us not only how to tie someone up, but also how to escape if we ever found ourselves in a situation like that."

"And ever since then we've both become fascinated by escapology." interjected Jade "And every so often, we tie each other up & try to escape from whatever bonds the other puts us in. Our parents don't approve though - they think it's dangerous - so we have to keep the whole thing a secret from them."

Lauren had been listening intently to what her friends had been saying, & it gradually dawned on her that her heart was beating faster & she realised that the thought of being tied up was stirring something within her. She tried to ignore these feelings, but as the twins continued with their tale, the sensation steadily increased in intensity.

"So what we do now," Jasmine chimed in "is we have a thing that we call our 'Escape Challenge'. We each take it in turns to tie each other up as tightly as we can. So, for example, if I was to tie Jade up now, I would then leave her for one hour to try to escape. If she can get out of her bonds, then that's fine: end of the game. But if she can't, I'm allowed to add more ropes & ligatures then leave her for another hour. Then, if she still can't release herself, I add even more restraints, & so on."

"It gives us an incentive to escape," piped up Jade "otherwise we keep getting tied up ever more tightly & securely. As Jasmine said, Uncle Harry knew all about how to tie ropes, & he was a great teacher & passed on all his knowledge to us. Without wishing to sound boastful, I think it's fair to say that we're both pretty good at tying each other up now."

"But equally, we're both good at getting free," continued Jasmine "so we have to keep trying to come up with more secure & inescapable bonds to keep each other in check. And that's the problem for us now, because almost anything that one of us comes up with, the other manages to get out of. Last night, for instances, after you'd gone to bed, Jade tied me up good & tight & left me in the cellar. I was in a really strict hog-tie & I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to escape within the allotted time, but after about fifty minutes or so I managed to break free. Much to Jade's frustration, I hasten to add, as she was looking forward to adding more restraints & keeping me captive all night. You can still see the marks now."

Jasmine held out her arms & Lauren could see the remnants of rope marks ingrained on her wrists, even after all these hours. She had no real idea what a strict hog-tie was, but the way Jasmine had spoken made it sound exciting.

"I'll tell you what Lauren, would you like us to give you a demonstration of what we get up to? It's my turn to tie Jade up this time."

Lauren tried to sound as noncommittal as she could, but deep down she felt a massive surge of arousal at all this talk of tying people up. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Okay, if you like."

Jasmine got up to retrieve the ropes, but suddenly she seemed to have a brainwave. She stopped & turned back towards Lauren.

"Unless, of course, you'd like to try a stint at being tied up Lauren?"

Lauren was now faced with a huge dilemma. On the one hand, she didn't want to appear too eager to accept this chance to try out an activity that she was clearly being drawn to. But on the other, she didn't - couldn't - simply let this golden opportunity pass her by.

"Well, alright, but remember I've never tried this sort of thing before."

"Don't worry Lauren," Jasmine reassured her as she picked up the two coils of rope "we'll go easy on you to start with." Then as an afterthought she added "It will be fun having someone new to play with."

9 am: After a brief discussion, it was decided that, as Lauren was an escapological novice, she wouldn't be tied up in the dark, dank cellar, but instead would be afforded the luxury of being allowed to lie on a bed for her initiation into the world of bondage.

The grandfather clock in the hall struck the hour just as the trio began to ascend the stairs. As they neared the top, Lauren felt a shiver run down her spine, although whether this was born out of fear or anticipation she wasn't certain. Probably a combination of the two she decided. Jade led the way to the guest room that Lauren had been assigned for the weekend, with her twin & Lauren following closely. Each twin carried one of the lengths of rope.

"Okay Lauren, slip your shoes off & sit on the edge of the bed."

Lauren pushed back the bedclothes that were still lying in a dishevelled mass from her night's sleep & complied with Jade's request.

The twins now swung into action, with Jasmine kneeling at Lauren's feet, whilst Jade jumped on the bed behind her. Lauren's hands were gently pulled back behind her & placed together palm to palm, whilst her ankles were held side by side. Simultaneously the ropes began to encircle her, loosely at first but then tightening sharply as they made their first circuit of her wrists & ankles. Three times each rope passed around her limbs, before the ends were cinched & the bonds became tighter still. As if they had deliberately synchronised their efforts, both girls finished their work at the same time with secure knots. Lifting Lauren's feet upwards, Jasmine swung them onto the bed, whilst Jade bade her lie down on her back. They then stood up & backed off, but with their eyes fixed on their now helpless friend.

A quick pull on her wrist bonds told Lauren that getting free was not going to be an easy task. Her ankles, too, seemed well & truly tethered.

"Okay Lauren, you've got until ten o'clock to escape from those ropes, or we'll be back to make things a bit more difficult for you. I think we've been pretty lenient. If it was Jasmine that I had been tying up now, she'd have been far more restricted in her movements than you are. Good luck."

"And try to enjoy yourself." Jasmine added.

And with that they were gone, closing the bedroom door behind them.

Lauren rolled over onto her side & tested the rope around her wrists. Trying to pull either wrist out of the binding proved impossible, & the knot that held the whole thing in place proved elusive to her stretching fingers. Prising her feet free of her ankle bonds also proved a fruitless mission, as this bond too held her firmly within its restrictive grip. But Lauren didn't care about that. The ropes were tight & secure, but not uncomfortably so & she would, she now realised, have been disappointed if she could have simply slipped out of them. In fact, the whole experience was causing strange but wonderful sensations to course through her & she found that, the more she wriggled & struggled, the greater the intensity of these feelings. It was a delightful situation to be in; tied & helpless, yet safe in the knowledge that she was in good hands & would come to no harm.

As she wriggled & writhed on the mattress, she found herself trying to guess exactly what Jade & Jasmine had planned for her when they returned. Whatever it was, Lauren was certain that it would be more restrictive than her current plight. And if this first taste of being tied up was anything to go by, she was in for a treat. She found herself smiling at the prospect of having her bonds added to. And with a sigh of contentment, she lay back on the bed & waited with anticipation for her friends' return.

10 am: Only a minute or two after the clock downstairs had struck it's reminder of the passing hour, the bedroom door opened & in walked the raven-haired twins. From her prone position, Lauren noticed that Jasmine was carrying a large hold-all bag.

"Well, Jade, looks like our prisoner failed her first challenge. I guess we weren't as easy going on her as we thought."

"Maybe she likes being tied up, Jasmine. She doesn't look too distressed to me."

Lauren was in two minds as to whether she should admit to enjoying her bondage, or whether she should put up some show of defiance. After all, admitting you liked being tied up was a bit embarrassing, wasn't it? But if she took the latter course of action, would they take pity on her & let her go? She certainly didn't want that at the moment. And the fact that she giggled when Jade made the remark about her enjoying herself was probably a bit of a giveaway.

Jasmine unzipped the bag & produced three lengths of rope similar in appearance to those already in use. Once again, Lauren was manoeuvred into a sitting position on the edge of the bed & the twins got down to business with the ropes. This time it was Jade who attended to Lauren's legs; securing in quick succession a tightly cinched rope just below her knees, then another just above. While this was happening, Lauren found her elbows being forced into as close proximity to each other as Jasmine could manage, before a tight rope was wound, cinched & knotted around them. Once more she was lain out on the soft mattress & given a few seconds to test these new restraints. She had never realised until now just how supple her arms were, but now she found that her elbows were almost touching each other & couldn't be parted, no matter how hard she strained. The latest addition to the bonds on her lower limbs, she discovered, also significantly curtailed any thoughts she might entertain of using her legs for standing or locomotion.

Having momentarily observed their captive's struggles, Lauren was expecting to see the backs of Jasmine & Jade, as they left her to her own devices for another hour. They had, however, one more surprise up their sleeves before departing. From out of the bag, Jasmine pulled what looked like a pair of tights that had been neatly wrapped up into a ball. She came & sat down on the bed beside the bound woman.

"You seem very calm Lauren. We were expecting you to be begging to be released by now."

Lauren laughed & felt herself blush.

"Actually, I'm quite comfortable here. I really don't mind being tied up at all. In fact I'm quite enjoying it, in a weird sort of way."

Jade & Jasmine exchanged glances.

"In some ways that's great, Lauren, but in others we're a bit disappointed. You see, we had this gag all ready to use on you, to stop you protesting about being tied up further. It would be a shame to waste it though, so if you'll just open your mouth for me..."

Lauren found herself submissively obeying, as Jasmine brought the tights up to her mouth & gently but firmly slid them past her lips & into the cavity beyond her teeth. As she was ensuring that the soft ball was in position, Lauren happened to glance over Jasmine's shoulder to where Jade was peeling the end away from a reel of grey duct tape. Seconds later, this was being placed over her now filled mouth & smoothed down onto her cheeks. Then, with Jasmine lifting Lauren's long brown hair out of the way, Jade wound the tape around their prisoner's head & brought it back around to her mouth, before repeating the procedure a further four times & finally ripping the tape from the spool. Both girls now pressed the grey strips down onto her flesh until satisfied that the whole mass was stuck firmly & securely.

"Okay Lauren, that should keep you quiet for a while. I know you said you were enjoying the whole experience, but don't forget that you do need to try to escape, or you'll end up in even more trouble when we come back in an hour's time."

The closing door was Lauren's cue to really see how securely her bondage had been administered. And to her delight, she found that she was really now in no position whatsoever to get herself free. It seemed that the more helpless she became, the greater the pleasure. And the gag was the icing on the cake. Awkwardly, she rolled onto her side & gazed absentmindedly at the wardrobe on the far side of the room. Then she had an idea. The wardrobe door had a large mirror on it. Wouldn't it be a good idea to take a look at herself in all her bound up glory? With great difficulty, she managed to swing her legs over the edge of the bed & sit up, before shuffling along the mattress until she was in line with the mirror. From her sedentary position, however, she found that she was able to see the top half of her body but not her legs. In order to get a full view of herself, she realised, she would need to be standing up.

The process of getting to her feet was a greater trial than Lauren had imagined, but after two failed attempts she found herself balancing precariously by the edge of the bed. The image that now stared back at her was of a slim young woman wearing leopard-print tights on slender legs, which had been bound with white rope in three places. Further up, the tights disappeared under cut-off denim shorts that barely reached down to her thighs. Above the waist she was attired in a tightly fitting but too short white t-shirt, that not only exposed much bare flesh at her midriff, but also served to show off - in collaboration with the unnatural way the elbow bond forced her shoulders back - her firm rounded breasts. Above this, her now tangled & tousled brown hair cascaded around her shoulders, with the bottom half of her face & head completely invisible under a sea of grey tape.

But that was just the front view. What she really craved was a look at her bound arms. Carefully shuffling around the necessary 180 degrees, she turned & craned her head back over her shoulder, to view elbows held in close proximity to each other &, lower down, wrists securely stymied by tightly coiled rope.

Twisting around whilst balancing precariously on closely bound feet, however, proved to be Lauren's downfall... literally. Still gazing awkwardly over her shoulder, she felt herself begin to sway & automatically tried to rectify the situation by shuffling her feet to regain her balance. This was a grave error, & with a muffled squeal she found herself hurtling downwards face first. Luckily, the soft bedding broke her fall. But despite the shock, Lauren found herself laughing uncontrollably at her mishap. The fall had brought home to her just how immobilised she actually was, & she found herself becoming even more aroused by her whole predicament. She rolled over onto her back again & began playfully pulling on her leg ropes, to see if the sudden movement had loosened any of them. It hadn't.

But then a strange phenomenon occurred. As she toyed with her leg bonds, it was almost as if the constant rubbing together of her tights generated the build up of a static electrical charge, which suddenly & violently manifested itself in a current of energy which surged through her with such force that her whole body visibly jolted. A low moan of pleasure escaped from behind her gag. She found herself becoming wet between her legs & desperately wanted to touch herself down there, but her hands were useless in this respect. Then she hit on a plan. Grabbing the waistband of her shorts with her fingers, she pulled them upwards into her crotch as far as they would go & began rhythmically jerking back & forth. Moments later, her orgasm exploded in her. For several minutes she kept this motion going until, exhausted but elated, she relaxed back into the mattress.

She lay there motionless but contented for a while, her mind reeling. If anyone had said to her yesterday that she would find herself helplessly bound & gagged today...& enjoying every minute of it, she would never have believed them. Yet here she was in that exact situation. And all she could do was lie there in a state of high expectancy, to see what the twins had in store for her next.

And with thoughts like these running through her head, she found her eyelids becoming heavy, & within minutes she was in a deep, contented sleep.

11 am: When she once more opened her eyes, Lauren's gaze was returned by two almost identical faces staring back at her.

"Hello Lauren. Hope you enjoyed your sleep. Unfortunately, it looks like you neglected the most crucial part of the Escape Challenge, & that is to try to escape from your bonds. There's a clue in the name if you think about it."

"So," Jasmine now took over "we're left with no alternative but to restrain you to a greater degree."

Jade grabbed Lauren's shoulders & began manoeuvring her up into a sitting position, & as she was doing so, Lauren noticed that neither of them seemed to have brought any more ropes with them, but that there were now two pairs of sheer black tights lying beside her on the bed. In her hands, Jasmine held a third pair, & she was busy scrunching one of the legs up, as if she was about to put them on. But why would she be doing that? It took Lauren's brain, still slightly befuddled by sleep, a few more seconds to comprehend the twins' intentions. She watched as Jasmine sat down beside her & began to insert both of her already bound feet into one leg of the tights. Working quickly now, Jasmine eased the clinging mesh over Lauren's bound ankles, up her calves, over her knee ropes & onward to her thighs. At this point, Jade stood their captive up & held her there, whilst her sister continued the upward journey of the thin yielding material over her hips & up to her waist. Lauren could only gaze down in amazement as the whole lower half of her being was now encased in the extremely tight stretch fabric, with the other, unused leg of the tights being wrapped around her & secured with a knot.

Sitting their victim down again, Lauren had no visual knowledge of the girls' next action, as it took place behind her. But with Jade holding her arms away from her back, she anticipated correctly what was to come, as she felt the leg of another pair of tights being slipped over her hands & gently eased up her arms & over her shoulders. Unlike the pair now encasing her legs, however, the twins had already planned a use for the second leg of this pair.

It was a tight fit, but somehow or other Jasmine managed to stretch what was normally the waistband of the tights up over Lauren's head & began guiding the still empty leg over her long flowing hair & down her face. Lauren's vision blurred somewhat, as the descending mesh continued over her nose & gagged mouth, then down passed her chin to her neck. They made no attempt to force her head right down into the foot of the tights, however, but simply tied a knot in the remainder at the top of her head, to stop it flapping around.

But although her limbs were now encased in slender avenues of silky soft fabric, the twins still hadn't finished. Taking the final pair of tights, Jade now eased one leg of these over Lauren's already covered head & pulled it down over her shoulders & torso, until it reached her waist. Whilst that was happening, Jasmine explained that they had bought several pairs of these extra large tights specifically with the intention of using them in encasement bondage.

Extra large or not, with both limbs forced into a sheath designed to merely house one, the tights lived up to their name in holding her in a tight constricting grip. But despite this, Lauren found her excitement levels rising once again. Why being rendered ever more helpless was doing this to her, she had no idea. But the simple equation was that, if she had been unable to escape before, then her encasement in what amounted to a second skin of nylon & Lycra, was definitely not conducive to making things any easier for her. So why did this feel so right?

"That should keep you nice & tight, Lauren. I know how much you're enjoying this whole thing, but this time you do need to make a concerted effort to get out. Otherwise things will really get out of hand. See you at 12 o'clock."

Lifting her head & looking down her body, all Lauren could see, through the slight blur created by the mesh of two pairs of tights, was a limbless shape encased in a tight black sausage-skin like sheath. Briefly, she considered attempting a repeat performance of her 'standing-up-&-looking-at-herself-in-the-mirror' routine. But the latest additions to her bonds made standing even more precarious a feat than it had been before. And besides, her vision was now impeded to a certain extent, which would mean the image she observed wouldn't be anything like as clear now. She therefore decided not to be too adventurous. She considered Jade's parting words, & for a minute or two entertained the idea that she should make much more of an effort to free herself. But the trouble was that she had no great desire to get away. The cocoon of the tights was extremely tight & restrictive, but also very comfortable & warm. And besides, she already knew that any escape attempt was doomed to failure from the start, so why bother? Best just to lay back, relax & savour the moment, she concluded. After all, this had to end soon didn't it, as there seemed little more that could be done to further imprison her? And when that time came they would have to let her go, wouldn't they?

Midday: Lauren's third hour as a prisoner finally came to a conclusion with the reappearance of her two friends. Lauren was expecting some remark to be made regarding her not having made any headway against her bonds, but no such comments were forthcoming. Jasmine was carrying what appeared to be a carrier bag in her hand, the contents of which she promptly emptied onto the bed. Although her vision was no longer perfect, Lauren watched as five rolls of grey tape - similar to that which held her gag in place - spilled onto the mattress; one of which rolled towards her & came to rest against her left thigh. Only then did either of them speak.

"Hi Lauren, glad to see you're still here. I expect you can guess what all this is for, can't you?"

Before Lauren had a chance to contemplate this latest development, Jasmine answered her sister's question.

"Do you remember that project we did in school about ancient Egypt? Well we thought it might be fun to try a little experiment in mummification. And we hoped that maybe you'd be willing to help us out with this."

It was apparent to Lauren straightaway that her willingness or otherwise was actually irrelevant, & that the twins already had their minds set on accomplishing this feat, regardless of her opinions. And really, there was nothing she could do about it anyway.

Even so, she wasn't too fazed by the whole thing; she'd been in captivity for three hours already, so one more wouldn't hurt, would it?

As protest seemed futile, Lauren offered no resistance as the roll of tape made its first circuit of many around her bound & sheathed ankles. With Jade holding Lauren's legs clear of the bed, Jasmine rapidly wound the strong grey tape up her calves towards her knees; making sure that, apart from her feet, every square inch of the her tights clad legs was covered. It took maybe two minutes before the first reel of tape was all spent, but by that time Lauren was encased almost to the tops of her thighs. Now Jasmine helped Lauren to her feet & held her upright while Jade took over taping duties, beginning from where the first reel had left off.

Far more than the tights had done, the applying of the tape over her hips, waist & midriff, as well as incorporating her arms into the bargain, caused a sensation of claustrophobia to overtake Lauren, & for the first time she felt a certain unease about this whole Escape Challenge game.

"I thought you said you would go easy on me."

These were the words her vocal chords tried to utter, but the sound that emanated from her filled mouth came out ridiculously garbled. Miraculously, however, Jasmine seemed to get the drift of what she was trying to say.

"I think you'll find that what I actually said was that we'd go easy on you TO START WITH. And that's exactly what we did. You should have been able to get out of those first ropes easily enough, but you chose not to take advantage of our goodwill. So now your chance has gone & the rules of the game now allow us to do exactly as we please with you."

By now, the tape had reached her breasts & Jade was just starting on the third reel. This quickly covered the rest of her upper torso. Once her shoulders were reached, instead of simply encircling her body, the circuits began to follow a more diagonal route; from her right shoulder, crossing her breasts down to below the left side of her rib-cage, then rising back behind her to the starting point, only for the process to repeat several more times. To maintain the symmetry, her left shoulder was soon to suffer a similar fate.

With her whole being from shoulders to ankles now covered in a sea of tightly bonded grey tape, the wrappings continued up her neck & over her chin, supplementing the identical tape that sealed her mouth beneath the tights. Once her mouth was covered, a gap was left around her nose & eyes, before the winding recommenced around her forehead. With the top of her head almost reached, Lauren assumed that the mummification process must now come to a conclusion. But she should have known by now that Jasmine & Jade were nothing if not thorough, & she watched in shocked amazement as more tape found its way onto her tights-enmeshed skull, this time running in a vertical direction, beginning at the top of her head & then making its way down under her chin & back up the other side; restricting the movement of her jaw in the process. This operation was repeated several more times until her whole head, save for her nose & eyes, was encased in a makeshift helmet.

But even now the twins weren't entirely happy with their handiwork. Lauren looked on helplessly as Jasmine cut a piece of tape around eight inches in length from the spool. The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion, as Lauren watched this strip looming larger & larger, until it was within an inch of her eyes. And then everything went black.

Lauren whimpered as her sight was removed from her. She bucked & writhed for a few seconds, but no one came to her aid. Instead, the twins bade her farewell with their now familiar promise to return in an hour's time. The sound of the bedroom door closing was followed by silence.

Lauren found herself glad now that she had been encased in the tights, as these prevented the tape adhering directly onto her skin. She was especially grateful for the protection they afforded on her head, as having to extricate her hair - whenever her salvation eventually came - would have proved a painful & deeply distressing operation.

But there was very little else for her to be grateful for right now. The tape was far more restrictive than the tights had been, she soon discovered, as simple movements such as the bending of her knees were now almost impossible. Moreover, now that she couldn't see, moving around on the bed would be a far more hazardous endeavour. How close to the edge was she? She had no idea, but the thought of plummeting over onto the hard floor held no great appeal. But worse than anything else was the fact that, now that her hands were immobilised within the tights & lashed to her back with tape, she could no longer grasp the waistband of her shorts & attempt to rekindle that glorious episode from this morning.

So, with all these factors taken into account, Lauren decided that the next time Jade & Jasmine returned, she would try to persuade them that they had had their fun & it was now time to set her free. They were her friends after all, so surely they wouldn't continue to hold her against her will. At least that was her theory.

1 pm: The opening of the bedroom door informed the sightless young female of the return of her friends-turned-captors just as the clock struck one. Immediately she sensed their presence, Lauren began to struggle; both to show that she was trapped beyond measure, & that she wanted out. And for a second or two she thought that it might be working, as she felt the strip of tape being peeled away from her eyes. Lauren blinked in the light & tried to focus on the scene before her. As always, she was greeted by Jade & Jasmine standing over her, the former having something black draped over her arm.

"Still stuck then Lauren? Bad luck. It looks like this is going to be a long day for you."

Jasmine took hold of one end of the mystery object & together they laid it out on the bed beside Lauren's prone form. Turning her head to one side as best she could - not an easy manoeuvre given the unyielding tape - she could see that this was what looked like an elongated sack of some description, & it didn't take a genius to work out its intended purpose. Pulling back the zip that seemed to extend its entire length, Jasmine picked up Lauren's feet & placed them in one end of the bag, before her sister helped her to lift the rest of their captive into the interior. The zipping up of the bags was almost instantaneous & gave Lauren no time to resist her inevitable envelopment in yet another layer of confinement. The sack, it turned out, was made of resilient stretch material that hugged her figure & compressed further her already cocooned form.

"No!! Let me out. Please don't put me in anything else. I can't get out of this!!"

This was Lauren's plea for mercy, but her inability to articulate her needs & desires to two people who were set on accomplishing their task as swiftly as possible, meant that her cries were either misinterpreted or unheeded....or possibly both.

The zipping of the body bag over her face, to complete this latest affront to her liberty, caused the loudest scream yet to force its way into existence.

"Don't worry Lauren, you won't suffocate in there. The sack's made of darlex, which is like spandex, but thicker & much more hard-wearing. You'll be able to breathe without any problem."

Porous enough to breathe through it might have been, but seeing through the dense mesh of the black fabric was impossible.

"So there you are Lauren, yet another layer to keep you out of mischief. You really are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes, you really have taken to this whole bondage scene like a fish to water, haven't you?" her sister continued.

Lauren tried to counter this argument by shaking her head & writhing around in her encasement as best she could, but her antics failed to stir any sympathy in the watching duo.

"Right Lauren, our lunch should be ready by now, so we'll leave you to it."

And once more Lauren found herself alone with her thoughts.

2 pm: By the time Jade & Jasmine next entered the room, Lauren had come to a decision. It was no good, she realised, simply pleading to their better natures to let her go, she had to start being more forceful & demanding. So as soon as she heard the door opening, she shouted for all she was worth.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

But the message now had to negotiate its way through a rolled up pair of tights, several circuits of tape, two layers of tights, more tape & a sleep-sack, before reaching the outside world.

There followed a few seconds of silence, during which Lauren wondered whether they had turned tail & abandoned her again. But then Jasmine finally spoke, & although her comments were meant for Lauren's ears, they were actually addressed to her sister.

"Did you hear something just then Jade? I think Lauren might be trying to communicate with us. The trouble is I didn't quite catch what she said. It could have been 'let me out of here', but on the other hand it might have been 'leave me in here'. What do you think?"

"I think it was definitely the latter Jasmine. She seemed so content earlier, so I can't see why she'd be asking to be let out. It would be a bit ungrateful of her anyway, after we've spent so much time & gone to all this trouble."

"I think you're probably right. And anyway, it would be a shame if we were to let her go when that wasn't really what she wanted."

Lauren felt her legs being lifted again, before something tightened to a significant degree around her ankles; a belt or strap, she guessed. Another similar fetter soon found its way around her thighs. Then a third that encircled her waist, followed by a fourth around her chest & upper arms. She squealed in anguish as each of these latest bonds was securely buckled to prevent them from slipping.

For a second or two, nothing more happened, & Lauren assumed that this was it for another hour. But she was wrong. Suddenly, the darlex fabric in the vicinity of her neck compacted around her throat & she felt something being tightened. At first she thought she was being strangled, but soon deduced that this was another strap - or more correctly a collar - which one of the twins was buckling securely into position.

As the sound of the duo retreating reached her ears, Lauren screamed.

"YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE LIKE THIS!"

But they could...

...and they did.

3 pm: The straps, although tight & constricting, actually added very little to the overall state of the already inescapably bound young woman, & she spent most of the hour that followed in a state that combined fury with fear; fury that they were now seemingly unwilling to let her go, & fear as to how long this whole ordeal was going to go on for. So when the door opened again, she found herself telling the twins that she'd had enough of this game & they just had to let her go now. The twins, however, showed no sign of comprehending this message, let alone complying with her demands. In fact, they didn't speak at all, but instead picked their prisoner up & began transporting her to...where?

Standing her up on her feet, Lauren felt herself being urged forward; a manoeuvre she was able to accomplish only in short jumping motions. Although she couldn't see a thing, she sensed that she was being lead out of the door & along the landing, & this was confirmed when this strange procession reached the top of the stairs & they began easing her down one step at a time. The question "where are you taking me?" failed to illicit a response.

Once the ground floor was reached, Lauren was made to hop along the hallway & soon found herself in the kitchen. She worked this out by the feel of the floor, which until then had been carpet, but had now given way to cold tiles. Momentarily she found herself being lent up against something; probably one of the kitchen units. Then, without warning, the zip of the body bag was heard & her vision returned. But the sight that met her gaze was not in any way one that she would have wished to set eyes on; far from it, in fact. For lying open on the kitchen floor, with its lid beside it, was a solid oak coffin. Boasting a padded interior, the casket seemed to be about five & a half feet in length. The perfect fit for herself, Lauren thought grimly.

For the first time since their descent from the bedroom, Jasmine spoke.

"This was the coffin we were telling you about, that Uncle Harry used in his stage act. It's been gathering dust in the cellar since he died. But we thought that we'd resurrect it today, just for our guest."

The 'guest' at this point, decided that enough was enough. Although she knew that she wouldn't get very far, she decided to make for the kitchen door. Two hops in the direction of the exit, however, & she stumbled & began to fall. Luckily, Jade was on hand to steady her.

"You are a feisty one, aren't you Lauren? I think we'd better get you in the coffin before you hurt yourself."

Lauren resisted as best she could, but quite simply, her best was no match for the twins, who within thirty seconds had her lying on her back within the walls of the box. As she'd guessed, there was very little space to move around in - even for a slim young woman like herself - with no more than an inch or so to spare on either side of her.

Jasmine now picked up the lid & held it up for Lauren's inspection.

"You see this device on the top, Lauren? Well this works the mechanism that keeps the lid in place."

She gave the knob a turn through 90 degrees & immediately, with a loud crack, bolts shot out at various points all around the perimeter.

"When the lid is shut, these bolts align with the holes around the rim, which results in total lockdown."

Lauren desperately tried to lever herself up out of the coffin, but extricating herself without the use of her hands was never going to happen.

"Don't worry, there's a little hole here for you to breathe through, so you won't suffocate."

Jasmine leaned into the coffin & pulled the zip up over Lauren's protesting face, & within a few seconds she felt the wooden board being placed over her. She tried to push upwards with her knees, but she guessed that the twins were probably sitting or standing on it to thwart her thrusting herself upwards. Then the sound of the bolts slotting into their appointed holes reverberated around the now sealed box, & Lauren knew all hope of halting her entombment was doomed to failure. From above, Jasmine or Jade - she could no longer tell which - was speaking again.

"In his stage show, it used to take Harry's assistant about thirty seconds to get herself free from here. I'm guessing that it might take you slightly longer than that Lauren. The good news is that there's a special mechanism that releases the lid from the inside."

She paused briefly to let this revelation sink in.

"The bad news is that you have to pull a little lever down & rotate it to the right, & to operate it you would need to have your fingers free."

Lauren responded to their taunts with a long pathetic whine, followed by pleas that she hoped would convey the message that she was deeply unhappy about being sealed in a coffin. But still there was no sign that the twins were about to relent.

"We've got a bit of work to do in the garden now Lauren, so we'll see you in an hour or so."

4 pm: Lauren had no idea what this parting remark implied, but she paid it little heed, having far weightier problems to contend with; namely how to convince the twins that letting her go was in their best interests. So when she once more sensed their presence close at hand, she began again to beg for her freedom, but with the same result as before.

Then, to her surprise, the head of the coffin lifted up briefly, followed a second or two later by the foot. Then it began to move slightly from side to side & this, together with the sound of two people struggling & straining to carry the heavy wooden structure, told Lauren that she was being moved. But what destination they had in mind, & for what purpose, she could not determine.

The journey lasted perhaps two minutes, before the casket was lowered & placed on the ground with a loud thud. A few more seconds elapsed before, to Lauren's surprise, the locks of her tomb snapped back & she felt the heavy lid being removed. Another few seconds of silence ensued until she felt a hand touch her head & instantaneously the zip opened to reveal the outside world to her once more.

Through the mesh of the tights, Lauren perceived blue sky above her, interspersed with tree branches that swayed in a slight breeze, which meant, she assumed, that they were in the orchard. But what caused Lauren's latest outburst of screaming & writhing was the view closer to home. For above the rim of the coffin were walls of freshly cut earth, rising to a height of probably fifteen to eighteen inches on all sides. And it didn't take an Einstein to figure out her intended fate. At ground level & to Lauren's right, Jasmine was busy fixing a long, thin metal tube to the breathing hole in the coffin lid, confirming her deepest fears. They were going to bury her alive!

Jasmine caught Lauren's gaze, & must have noticed the panic in her eyes. She smiled.

"Don't worry Lauren, you'll be quite safe. You should be flattered that we've gone to all this trouble just for you."

From the left, Jade appeared in Lauren's line of vision.

"Ready Jas?"

"Ready"

Without ceremony, Jade lay down beside the hole they'd dug & stretched the hood back over the head of the protesting bundle of bound female, before zipping it shut.

The lid crashing down & the locks clicking into place all happened so quickly, that Lauren had no time to react; not that she was capable of more than token resistance. Then the sound that she had been dreading filled her ears; the sound of earth being shovelled against the roof of her tomb. For several minutes this mournful sound continued, gradually becoming muted as the soil piled ever higher above her. Then finally a thumping sound, as if from far away, which the now buried damsel in distress interpreted as the twins stamping & compressing the earth down with their feet.

Thinking that she had now been abandoned, Lauren fought to stem the rising tide of panic that threatened to overwhelm her. However, suddenly from out of the blue, a voice echoed loudly & clearly around the cramped casket. It was one of the twins speaking down the breathing tube.

"Hi Lauren, hope you're okay down there. We're really glad you decided to accept the Escape Challenge this morning. We've both enjoyed it immensely. I have to say though, that you haven't exactly covered yourself in glory so far. But there's still a chance to redeem yourself. Anyway, Jade & I have been having a discussion & we've decided that, seeing as this is your first time, it would be unreasonable of us to expect you to extricate yourself from there in one hour. So we've decided to give you until tomorrow to get out. That should give you ample time to perfect your escapology skills."

She paused briefly, seemingly for dramatic effect.

"Don't worry though. If you still can't get out, we'll come back to visit.....if we can remember where we buried you, of course!"

Another pause ensued, before the final taunt reverberated down the metal pipe.

"Goodnight Lauren....or maybe that should be 'Rest in Peace'."

There followed the sound -ever so faintly - of laughter, which quickly receded into the distance.

And then there was deathly silence.

Limbs bound with rope, mouth gagged & sealed, encased in tights, cocooned in tape, sheathed in a compressing body bag, strapped & collared, shut in a coffin & buried alive. Had any woman, in the entire history of the world, ever been so completely & utterly trapped as Lauren was right now?

Her thoughts drifted back to this morning. How had such an innocent enquiry as to the use of a couple of pieces of rope led to this? Okay, so she'd agreed to be trussed up at first - welcomed it in fact - but she'd had no idea that the twins would take things to such extremes as this. The first couple of hours had been very pleasant & had seen her working herself up into a state that had culminated with that glorious climax. But it had been all downhill from there; from ecstasy to despair in a few short hours.

In frustration, Lauren briefly kicked out at the walls of her tomb, but when the box shuddered & creaked alarmingly, she thought better of it. She had no idea how well the breathing tube was attached to the lid, & if that became dislodged...well the consequences didn't bear thinking about. But what if something outside her control was to interfere with this, her only lifeline? What if the wind blew something onto the tube & blocked it? What if the weight of soil fractured it? What if it rained & the casket began to fill with water? Random acts of nature such as these, she was powerless to prevent.

With difficulty, Lauren managed to push these thoughts to the back of her mind, only for other worrying concerns to thrust themselves to the fore. The twins had said they'd return tomorrow, but when? Morning?...afternoon?...evening?...late at night? As no time had been specified, she had no idea how long she would be interred here. She knew that Jade & Jasmine were habitually late risers on a Sunday, so she guessed that it would be at least another eighteen hours before she would hear from them again, & possibly anything up to thirty two.

And another nagging doubt was their use of the word 'visit'. Not "We'll come back to let you out" but "we'll come back to visit". What did that mean exactly? To Lauren the word 'visit' represented the idea of turning up, staying a while & leaving again. The notion of release or liberation was nowhere implied in the word.

There was only one crumb of comfort - & then only the tiniest of morsels - in an otherwise bleak outlook. And that was the fact that there was now very little else the twins could do to make things any worse.

Unless, of course, they decided to seal the coffin in concrete, or something of that nature.

Suddenly Lauren recalled that, on her arrival yesterday, she'd seen several bags of cement stacked up by the side of the house. She hadn't paid much attention to them at the time, but now, as her mind shifted into overdrive, their presence took on more sinister overtones.

They wouldn't do anything like that, would they?

But after the events of today, Lauren wouldn't put anything passed them.


Part 2 (added: 2015/07/05)

Lauren stopped and looked up at the old house with some trepidation. It was more than six months since she'd last been here, but the memories of what had occurred over those two days were etched indelibly into her mind, and would forever remain so. The house and surrounding grounds were almost exactly as Lauren remembered them, except that now the first green buds and shoots of spring had been replaced with the russet brown, red and yellow hues of autumn. The setting was peaceful and remote; idyllic in fact. But for the twenty year old female making her way up the long driveway, the sight of this rambling building, with its uneven tiles, crooked chimneys and ivy-clad brickwork, held mixed emotions. For it was here that her friends - the twins Jasmine and Jade - had subjected her to an ordeal that, she had assumed at the time, was to read as the final chapter to her short life on earth.

The events of that day came flooding back to her now as she approached the ramshackle house. The discovery that the twins were into tying each other up in ever more severe states of bondage; the fact that they'd offered to tie her up - and that she'd consented to this; the fact that she'd agreed to the rules of the game they called their 'Escape Challenge', whereby, if she hadn't released herself from her bonds within the hour, they could tie up tighter; the fact that she was aware from the beginning that this process would be repeated hour after hour, until she had no chance of moving a muscle, let alone escaping, yet had still gone along with their scheme. But what had started as a game - just a bit of fun between friends - had spiralled completely out of control until, seven hours after her wrists and ankles had first been loosely tied, Lauren had found her limbs bound securely with rope and her mouth gagged and sealed with tape, before her entire body had been encased in tights, cocooned in tape and sheathed in a compressing body bag, after which straps and a collar had been applied to her helpless form. But it wasn't these restraints that had caused her the greatest anxiety. Nor was it the solid wooden coffin that Jasmine and Jade had then imprisoned her in that would register as the cause of the worst of her grief. No, the single event that had made her fear that her death was imminent, was the fact that the twins had then gone out into the spring sunshine, dug a hole in the ground, placed the coffin - and its human captive - into the makeshift grave and shovelled the soil back on top. The fact that they'd attached a breathing tube had been scant consolation to a terrified damsel-in-distress who thought her final hours had arrive; especially when they'd informed her that they were leaving her there overnight. For what had seemed like a geological age, Lauren had languished in this claustrophobic hell; her status as the most completely and utterly trapped woman on the planet going unchallenged. The twins had finally dug her up and released her from her bonds of course, but only after nearly twenty four hours of interment. When she had left the house that day - traumatised but relieved to be alive - she had vowed never to return, or ever again make contact with the evil duo that she had once considered as her best friends.

For several minutes, Lauren hesitated. Should she continue up the driveway towards the house that had been the scene of this emotionally scarring series of events? Or should she turn on her heels, make her way back to the road and catch the next bus back into town? She glanced at the sky, heavily laden with dark storm clouds which presaged rain in the not too distant future. She had no umbrella with her and the jacket she wore would offer little protection if she had to stand out in a deluge for any length of time. The buses only ran infrequently - one every two hours or so at the weekends - so the chances were that she would have a fairly long wait until the next came along. But it wasn't only the thought of standing out in the cold and being drenched and chilled to the bone that swayed her decision to continue on her original path towards the twins' home. For despite the ordeal that she'd suffered that day earlier in the year, the shiver that convulsed her every time she remembered these events was only partially attributable to fear and dread. For hadn't she, when the notion of being tied up had first been mooted, experienced a surge of anticipation coursing through her veins? Didn't she also, having willingly submitted to the wrist and ankle ropes that Jasmine and Jade had bound her with for her initial excursion into the world of bondage, find great delight in this new found feeling of helplessness that now engulfed her? And hadn't she, once the first hour was up, found herself desperately desiring the application of still tighter bondage, together with the gagging process that accompanied it?

And then there was the climax - quite literally - as she'd worked herself up into a frenzy during that second hour, and experienced something truly earth-moving. So much so that, when the twins had once more appeared and used pairs of tights to encase her and further stifle any bid she might make to get away, there had been no opposition or protest from the now helpless young captive. Try as she might to deny it, Lauren knew from that moment on that she was hooked on this thing called 'bondage'.

After a few days spent getting over the trauma of being buried alive, Lauren had begun making tentative attempts to recreate some of those feelings that had so enraptured her during the first hours of her captivity. In the safety of her own home, she'd commenced practicing something that she now knew to be called 'self bondage', in an effort to replicate those memorable sensations. Up to a point she had been successful, but without reaching the heights experienced at Jasmine and Jade's hands, and she realised very quickly that tying yourself up - with the knowledge that you had to leave the way open to escaping at some point - just wasn't the same as being kept bound and helpless by someone else and not knowing when -or if - you were going to be set free. If she wanted an action replay of the thrill she had experienced that day, it had become apparent to her, then she would have to find a third party or parties to tie her up. And the only people that she knew who were in any way qualified to do such things were the twins.

The emailed conversation she'd instigated with Jade only a week ago had begun awkwardly. It soon became clear, however, that both Jade and her sister were full of remorse for the ordeal that they'd put their friend through.

"You'd been so contented in those first few hours" Jade had written "that we assumed that you didn't mind the additional bonds that we kept burdening you with. Even when you started begging to be released, we assumed you were only play-acting. And then we got completely carried away and shut you in the coffin and buried you. We thought that, as you'd willingly agreed to being bound in the first place, you'd be quite happy being entombed all night. But we misread your mood completely, and we're both extremely sorry for the terrifying experience we put you through. You're our best friend and we miss you. I know you're curious about bondage, so come over to our house next weekend, when our parents are away again, and we'll show you what fun it can be. No burial this time, we promise."

Lauren had baulked at the idea for a few seconds, but had soon given in and agreed to meet up with her estranged friends again. Jade had been correct of course; her appetite for bondage had been whetted, and the thought of getting back into the ropes was more than a little enticing. And as it seemed that the twins had now learnt their lesson about taking things too far, any misgivings she might have entertained about returning to the house were overridden by the desire to once more experience that delicious sensation of complete captivity.

Shunning any lasting doubts from her mind, Lauren strode up to the front door of the house and rang the bell. Within seconds, the heavy door began to creak open to reveal the smiling Jasmine standing there; the long black hair that cascaded around her shoulders in sharp contrast to her pale blue eyes (which was the only way Lauren could tell the pair apart; Jade's eyes being a deep green colour). She was dressed in a skin-tight black cat-suit with plunging neckline that highlighted the slender body, perfect figure and long legs that most men found irresistible. Apart from the shiny spandex suit, her only other attire was a wide black leather belt that cinched her waist, and high heeled leather boots that came up to just below her knees. She ushered Lauren inside.

"It's so good to see you again, Lauren. I'm sure Jade explained in her email just how sorry we are now about leaving you in such dire straits for that prolonged period of time. Come through to the kitchen and I'll make us a cup of tea."

Jasmine led the way into the kitchen. Lauren half expected to see the coffin lying open, just as it had been the last time she had been here, but the floor was bare, with nothing to remind her of her last view of this room. The whole house seemed silent, and of Jade there was no sign.

Having made tea, the two young women sat down at the kitchen table and exchanged small talk for a while. As they sat there, the bizarre nature of the situation suddenly hit Lauren. She was desperate to be tied up and rendered helpless, yet here they were - the would-be prisoner and her potential captor -sipping tea and gossiping. It was an almost surreal and very English scenario. After a few minutes, however, Lauren could contain her curiosity about the whereabouts of Jasmine's identical twin no longer.

"Where's Jade?" she asked as casually as she could.

"Oh, she's umm - what shall we say - a bit tied up at the moment."

Lauren knew straight away that this was no figure of speech, and she felt a shiver of excitement rush through her. And her host seemed to recognise this.

"Finish your tea" Jasmine continued "and I'll take you to see her."

Lauren followed Jasmine through the rambling house with its creaking floorboards, rickety staircases and meandering corridors, until they came to the entrance to the cellar. Unlocking the heavy wooden door, Jasmine switched on the light and led the way down the stone steps to the windowless subterranean chamber. The single, low-watt light bulb was dim and totally inadequate for the large cellar, and with so much old furniture and junk lying around, the light failed to illuminate the many dark nooks and crannies, leaving whole areas in impenetrable shadow. For several seconds, as her eyes adjusted to the twilight, Lauren could see only packing cases, an old rocking horse and other debris strewn across the floor. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to sense movement. On closer inspection, she noticed, in one of the darkest recesses of the room, a mattress lying on the ground. And on this she could just make out a dark human-shaped form - now motionless - that seemed to be lying there. Had her eyes been playing tricks on her? No, the form shifted its position again, this time accompanied by a low, almost inaudible sigh.

Even before Jasmine had flicked a switch to turn on a conveniently positioned spotlight, Lauren knew, as she took a few tentative steps forward, that this bundle in the corner must be Jade. She was lying on her side facing the wall, attired in what appeared to be an identical cat-suit and belt to that worn by her twin. The only difference was that Jade wore no boots or shoes; her mesh covered feet betraying the fact that she was wearing a pair of black tights beneath the clinging suit. But it wasn't her clothing that really caught Lauren's attention, but the fact that Jade's prone form had been tied up with a plethora of ropes. From the view that Lauren had of her raven-haired friend, she could see that her wrists were bound together extremely tightly. Further up her arms, her elbows had been forced so closely together that they almost touched, before being roped and cinched with similar severity. Her legs, too, had been subjected to a tight binding regime in several places from her thighs to her ankles.

With the turning on of the spotlight, Jade awkwardly rolled over onto her back; her green eyes reflecting back cat-like in the intense glare. If the white rope and black cat-suit contrasted sharply with each other, then the grey duct tape that covered her mouth and much of her lower face seemed to be a compromise midway between the two. And when Jade attempted to speak, it became instantly apparent from the muffled sounds that Lauren took to be some sort of greeting, that the tape was not acting as the gag itself, but was merely a preventative measure to stop her spitting out some other stuffing that had been forced into the cavity behind her teeth.

None of this was a shock to Lauren of course, as she'd been made aware of the twins' bondage games on her previous visit here. But seeing her friend now in all her bound up glory mesmerised her. It took a second or two to realise it, but then it dawned on her. She was envious of Jade, and all she wanted right at this moment was to be tied up, gagged and left to struggle helplessly.

"Well Lauren, it's been more than an hour since I bound Jade up and she hasn't managed to escape, so I think it's time to make her a bit more secure."

Jasmine's announcement woke Lauren from her daydream. This wasn't what she wanted to hear. She'd come here because she wanted to be the victim of the twins' bondage schemes, not to watch someone else having all the fun. The disappointment that registered on her face must have been evident to Jasmine.

"Don't worry Lauren. As soon as we've made Jade all snug and secure, we'll get around to putting you into something nice and tight. Now help me stand her up so I can wrap this film around her."

Jasmine lifted her sister up into a standing position and, while Lauren held her shoulders to ensure she didn't fall, produced a roll of catering industry grade cling-film from a large trunk situated close at hand. Starting at Jade's ankles, she began to wrap her in the thin but durable translucent film; completing several circuits of her lower legs, then gradually working upwards over her knees, thighs, buttocks and hips, smoothing out any wrinkles or kinks as she went along. Reaching Jade's bound hands, Jasmine incorporated these within the encircling process, before continuing up passed her waist, over her breasts and finally reaching her shoulders. By the time Jasmine had ripped the end from the now depleted reel, every inch of Jade's body, from ankles to neck, was completely cocooned in at least five or six layers of film. But Jasmine wasn't yet finished. Taking a spool of the same grey duct tape that sealed Jade's lips, she wound this around her sibling's helpless form at several strategic points - ankles, knees, thighs, waist and chest - to ensure that the cling-film remained in place. The mummification process having been completed to Jasmine's satisfaction, she gently lowered her sister back onto the mattress.

"Okay Lauren, now it's your turn."

These words set Lauren's heart fluttering. She'd watched in awe as Jasmine totally incapacitated her sister with such expertise, all the while wishing that it was herself and not Jade that was being immobilised. As Jasmine pulled a length of rope out of the trunk, she needed no coercion to turn away from her would-be captor and place her hands together behind her back. She marvelled at the short length of time it took from the rope first circling her wrists to the final knot being secured; no more than thirty seconds or so. Yet in that time the rope had been wound around several times, then cinched and secured so that, when she tried to pull her hands apart, she found her wrists inescapably trapped, with the knot well out of reach of her stretching fingers. The binding of her elbows, ankles and knees followed in quick succession. It was then that it suddenly dawned on Lauren that she was being bound in the same manner as Jade had been prior to the application of the cling-film. And the theme continued when Jasmine produced an already rolled up pair of tights from the trunk and pushed these between Lauren's willing lips; the winding of several circuits of tape around her face and head completing the sealing of her mouth. Easing her latest work of bondage art onto the mattress beside her earlier creation, Jasmine prepared to leave the cellar.

"There you go Lauren. I know you were aching to be tied up, so hopefully this meets your expectations. Jade is an hour ahead of you, but knowing how good she is at escaping, I would still put money on her getting free before you."

She turned off the spotlight, plunging the bound pair into semi-darkness.

"Anyway, I'll be back in an hour to see how you're getting on. If you're not out by then, I'll have to think of something else to put you in. That applies to both of you, of course. I do so hope you don't succeed in escaping."

Jasmine climbed the stone stairs and exited the cellar; the sound of the key turning in the lock informing Lauren that she'd locked them in. The dim overhead light remained on, however.



Almost immediately, Jade began to struggle. Lauren could only watch in fascination as her fellow prisoner tossed and turned in her tight cocoon. She wriggled and writhed in what Lauren could only think was a hopeless struggle to get loose. After all, Jade was in a far worse - or better, depending on your point of view - state than she was, and Lauren had deduced from the moment that they'd been secured, that her own bonds were unbreakable. Jade, however, seemed keen to prove this prognosis inaccurate. After stretching and struggling for around twenty minutes or so, accompanied by much frustrated grunting and "mmphing", she rolled over onto her stomach and, to Lauren's complete amazement, she suddenly noticed her partner-in-bondage's fingers sticking out through the cling-film. Seconds later, Jade had managed to push both hands out and, although they were still bound together, she began working on the rope that held her wrists in check.

Several more minutes elapsed, during which she seemed to twist and contort her shoulders and body into every possible - and even some seemingly impossible - positions. And slowly but surely, Lauren watched entranced as Jade released her wrists from the rope and began clawing at the layers of tape and film that encased her.

Getting her elbows free proved the toughest trial that Jade had to face. But after another quarter of an hour or more of wrenching and pulling, this rope too finally loosened. From then on, it was a relatively simply, although somewhat time consuming task to unpeel the tape and unravel the cling-film from her torso and legs. Finally free from all her encumbrances, Jade gingerly peeled the tape from her face and removed the rolled up tights from her mouth.

"You see, Lauren, it's easy to get out when you know how. If I'd wanted to, I could have escaped easily enough before you arrived. But we decided that you might like to see how it was done for yourself. But, as you haven't been struggling at all, I guess you're not really into escaping, are you?"

"Lauren tried to comment on Jade's remarkable flexibility and escapological skills, but the words that forced their way through her gag came out as meaningless sounds.

"Anyway," Jade continued "it shouldn't be too long now until Jasmine returns. Then we'll bind you up a bit tighter and leave you to your own devices for an hour or two. I know that's what you came here for."

As if on cue, the sound of the key in the lock preceded the opening of the heavy cellar door and the reappearance of Jasmine. She showed no surprise at the fact that her sister was now free. As with many sets of twins, the pair didn't seem to need dialogue to convey their thoughts as they set to work on supplementing Lauren's bonds, but appeared to communicate on a telepathic level...either that or they'd already discussed in advance the plans they had for their captive.

Lauren was expecting that, as she'd been tied in almost identical fashion to Jade, that she was now to be treated to the same wrapping process too. This proved not to be the case, however. Instead, from the trunk, Jade retrieved an item fashioned from black leather with laces and straps attached to it, the likes of which Lauren had never encountered before. Seeing the bemused look on Lauren's face, Jasmine set about enlightening her friend.

"This is an arm binder, or single sleeve mitten. Once we get you all strapped up in this, your chances of escaping will decrease dramatically."

To prove the point, Jasmine held Lauren's arms, whilst her sister guided them into the leather mitten. With her hands pushed unto the sealed tunnel as far as they would go, the twins began to tighten the laces, so that Lauren's already bound arms were now tightly packed from fingers to shoulders into the constricting soft leather tube. Once the laces were tied off, the attached straps were wrapped around Lauren's shoulders and buckled to ensure that sliding her arms out of the sleeve was no longer a viable method of escape. More straps were then added around her chest and waist, to pin the ever more helpless young woman's arms to her body. With the arm binder secured, Jasmine and Jade prepared to leave. However, at the last moment Jade seemed to have an afterthought.

"Hang on a minute Jas, we're being very thoughtless here. If Lauren's going to stay trussed up here for several hours, the least we can do is give her something to occupy her time."

She retrieved a length of rope from the trunk and began uncoiling it.

"You're right Jade, but first we'll need to get rid of this."

With their victim lying on her back, Jasmine grabbed hold of Lauren's tight mini skirt whilst Jade lifted her legs away from the floor. Then Jasmine proceeded to unfasten the zip, pull the skirt down her legs and discard it in a bundle on the floor; leaving Lauren's pert buttocks and slender thighs exposed, albeit still sheathed in sheer black tights. Immediately the offending item of clothing had been removed, Jade pulled Lauren up into a sitting position, grabbed her encased arms and attached the rope to the lowest of the straps. The thing that made Lauren squeal with surprise, however, was the sensation of Jade's hands threading both ends of the rope between her thighs, and Jasmine plunging her hand into the gap to retrieve them. Grasping the rope, Jasmine pulled it as taut as she could, brought the ends up to the strap around Lauren's waist and tied them off tightly. Easing Lauren back down onto the mattress, the twins bade her farewell.

"See you in an hour Lauren. I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun experimenting with that crotch rope."

The twins mounted the stairs and locked Lauren in the cellar. This time, however, the light was extinguished prior to the closing of the door; plunging the helpless young female into a world of darkness.

Having already been in a state of high anticipation, the fixing of the crotch rope was enough to up Lauren's excitement levels to extreme heights. One quick pull on the taut cord was enough to cause a warm, wet feeling between her legs. Pulling harder caused further jolts of pleasure to surge through her, the intensity of which she hadn't experienced since her last visit here. Slowly at first, then getting progressively faster, she began rhythmically pulling the rope as far into herself as possible; arching her back as her whole body began to jerk violently up and down. Groaning with pleasure into her gag, she worked up to a state of rapture. Then suddenly, an internal Vesuvius seemed to erupt within her, sending what felt like molten magma surging through every vein and muscle of her entire being, igniting every nerve with a jolt of electricity. For a few minutes she writhed in a state of pure ecstasy, as shockwave after shockwave pulsed through her.

All too soon, however, the fire burnt itself out and she collapsed back into the mattress, exhausted but fulfilled. She rested for a while - the passing of time not registering in her tired but elated state of mind. Very little sound permeated the confines of the cellar, and Lauren found the silence, coupled with the complete blackness, both comforting and disconcerting at the same time. After what must have been half an hour, she began exploring the efficiency of her bonds again and, to her great delight, found herself becoming aroused once more. But nothing could beat the ecstatic sensations of that first orgasm, could it?

Within a few seconds she'd answered this question in the affirmative, as another climax of equal intensity coursed through her. At that very moment, she wouldn't have cared whether the twins did plan to bury her again. Just as long as that crotch rope was left in place, they could keep adding all the bonds they wanted and do just about anything they liked with her.

By the time Jasmine and Jade re-entered the cellar, Lauren was lying in an exhausted but calm and tranquil state of semi-slumber.

"Well Lauren, did you have a good time while we were gone?"

"Looks like she did Jade. See how damp the crotch rope is."

Lauren felt her face flush. She hadn't realised that the wet patch had seeped through her panties and tights, and was obviously visible to anyone observing her.

"Anyway, Lauren, as you witnessed earlier, Jade's new party trick is to escape from beneath several layers of cling-film. As you seemed quite fascinated with watching her get out, we thought that perhaps you'd like to experience firsthand what it feels like to be wrapped up like that."

Whilst Jasmine spoke, Jade retrieved a new roll of film from the trunk. Then with Jasmine lifting Lauren to her feet and holding her upright, Jade began the task of dishing out the same treatment that only two hours ago she had been the recipient of.

The film proved to constrict around her body much tighter than Lauren had expected it would, leaving virtually no leeway whatsoever to move her arms. And the circuits of grey duct tape that the twins then applied to prevent the loose ends of the film from coming unstuck simply added to this sensation of compression. Luckily, one tentative pull on the crotch rope was enough to inform Lauren that she would still be capable of pleasuring herself in the hours to come.

With their task completed, the twins once more prepared to leave; suggesting as they went that, in contrast to Jade's earlier Houdini impersonation, Lauren would be fortunate indeed if she were able to overcoming the increasing trials and obstacles being set for her. Lauren couldn't have cared less, as there were, of course, two factors they weren't taking into account when they made this claim:

Firstly that, unlike Jade, Lauren had the added burden of the arm-binder to contend with.

Secondly - and far more importantly - that at that very moment, Lauren had no desire whatsoever to fight for her freedom; finding the lure of what she could achieve with the crotch rope enticement enough to remain bound for the foreseeable future.

With the twins now gone once more, Lauren tried to roll over onto her side, in order to alleviate the discomfort caused by lying on her back for long periods with her arms trapped beneath her. Although the last time she'd been here she'd been encased in several pairs of tights then taped from head to toe, the cling-film wrap that she was now experiencing seemed much more constraining and movement inhibiting. Rolling over onto her stomach should have been a seemingly simply manoeuvre, but without the use of her limbs, took several attempts to achieve. Having her mouth sealed and having to breathe through her nose also made any change of position an exhausting operation in itself, and this, when added to the energy expended on her two recent romps of pleasure, all conspired to send her into a deep, untroubled sleep.

The next thing Lauren knew, she was being woken by the sound of the cellar door opening. As soon as she'd regained full consciousness and her eyes had adapted to the light, the images of the twins came into focus, standing over her in their tight black spandex outfits. It took Lauren a few seconds to realise that Jade was carrying something draped over her arm, but once this item had registered in her brain, she experienced a sense of déjà vu. For this was, she knew instantly, the same darlex sleep-sack that she'd been sheathed in on her last visit here. The sensation of being eased into the stretch material, the swishing sound that it made as it glided over her tights and gradually made its way over her knees, thighs and hips, and the way it clung and moulded to the shape of her helpless form once zipped up, were all familiar memories that came flooding back to her as she slowly disappeared into the tightly fitting body-bag. With the insertion of her head into the sack, the indescribably unique smell of the darlex provided another sensory reminder of her previous experience of this garment. But as her olfactory nerve was being treated to this not unpleasant aroma, the functioning of another of her sensory organs was being severely diminished.

The darlex that covered her face and head, which was then zipped up to form a second skin, plunged Lauren into a world of almost complete blackness. As she had found out previously, darlex was breathable, but the density of the knit ensured that her vision was impaired to the point whereby she could just make out the distinction between light and dark, but no other detail of her surroundings could be discerned. The extinguishing of the overhead light, therefore, made very little difference inside the walls of her newly formed cocoon. The cellar door being shut and locked also had a more distant sound to it now. But the newly acquired deprivation of her senses caused Lauren no great concern. The sheath was tight and restrictive, but at the same time comforting. The whole purpose of darlex was to keep the wearer warm in a cold environment and cool in the heat, which, in the damp, unheated cellar - even taking the stifling cling-film into account - ensured that Lauren's body temperature remained at bearable levels.

Lauren spent the next hour dozing and luxuriating in her layered bondage. All sorts of fantasies ran through her head, and any thoughts of being released from her captivity were seen as unwelcome intrusions and were swiftly banished from her mind. The next visit from the twins was short and sweet, and followed a pattern familiar from Lauren's last visit - several months ago now, but still so vivid in her memory. The application of tight straps around her ankles, knees, thighs, waist and chest all added to the feeling of helplessness that Lauren found so wonderfully appealing. And the icing on the cake was the collar around her neck that pulled the sleep-sack ever tighter around her throat and somehow seemed to convey the feeling of total submission; as if this was the final affront to her liberty, the bond that finally proved that she was past the point of no return.

With the exit of the twins again, Lauren decided that it was time to once more enjoy herself. Although her hands were severely restrained within rope, mitten, cling-film and body-bag, she found to her delight that working the crotch rope was still a relatively easy task to perform. If anything, her climax this time around proved to be even more intense and inspiring than her earlier triumphs, from which she concluded that more restraints equated to heightened levels of pleasure.

But there was one small nagging concern on the horizon now, which, as she lay exhausted on the mattress in the wake of this latest orgasm, she couldn't seem to push from her mind. Much as she was enjoying her bondage, and had no desire to be released any time in the near future, Jade and Jasmine's actions on the previous two visits had followed a familiar - or maybe even sinister - sequence. For on her last visit here, hadn't the application of the sleep-sack, followed by the straps and collar, been the precursor to her being shut into the claustrophobic coffin, which in turn had led to her burial? Okay, so she'd received independent reassurances from both twins that she wasn't going to be interred underground again - in Jade's email and verbally from Jasmine - but could she trust them to keep their word? Although she wanted to believe them, the doubt gnawed at her and simply wouldn't go away.

But it would soon become apparent that being buried in the ground was to be the least of her concerns.

At first, the door to the cellar being unlocked and opened, followed by the sound of footsteps descending the stone stairs, seemed to follow the routine of the previous few hours, although Lauren sensed that only one of the twins seemed to be present on this occasion. She had no idea why this might be, unless one of them had tied the other one up somewhere else in the house, which, knowing the twins' propensity for such antics, was a distinct possibility. However, when the zip of the body-bag was opened an inch or two to uncover her eyes, Lauren found, as she blinked and tried to focus in the light, a total stranger standing over her.

For several seconds Lauren was frozen with surprise. If her lips hadn't been sealed, she would have gazed open mouthed at the unexpected female visitor who stood astride her now, arms akimbo. She wore knee-high clinging boots of shining leather with six inch heels, and was dressed from head to toe in a skin-tight black cat-suit. Unlike the twins' attire, however, the newcomer's outfit was fashioned from latex. But what struck Lauren most of all was the clinging hood - also of black latex - that almost completely covered her face and head. Almost, that is, aside from openings for her eyes, nose and mouth. There must also have been an aperture at the rear of her head, for from this area sprang a ponytail of long blonde hair. The woman's lips were coated in a deep red gloss, and her eyes were dark brown pools, with a penetrating stare that met and returned Lauren's own. She was smiling, but it wasn't a particularly friendly smile; more of an evil "I've got you where I want you and there's nothing you can do about it" smirk. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, she spoke.

"Well, I see now that those two bitches weren't lying. They really do have a cute little thing bound, gagged and packaged down here, all ready to be shipped out. It's time we took a little trip, just you and I honey."

The woman knelt down and quickly zipped the darlex back over Lauren's eyes.

Lauren screamed. She had no idea whether this was all part of some joke on Jasmine and Jade's part, or whether something more sinister was afoot, but she wasn't particularly happy with this turn of events. And then, when she found herself suddenly being lifted up and carried across the cellar floor towards the stairs, she found herself becoming panic stricken. At only five feet four inches tall, the sleek and slender Lauren was no great burden to a woman who must have been, at a guess, a good five or six inches taller than herself. Lauren wriggled and squirmed. She knew that she couldn't escape this woman's clutches, but at least she could attempt to relay her disquiet at this latest turn of events.

"Try to resist me again and I'll make life very difficult for you." was the woman's menacing response.

Trembling with fear, Lauren resisted the urge to disobey. Soon they reached the top of the stairs and seemed to take a left turn which - if Lauren's recollection of the layout of the house was correct - was the direction of the kitchen.

After a minute or so, the journey ceased and Lauren found herself being propped up against a wall. The next thing she knew, the sound of the zip opening was followed by her sight being restored to her once more. As she'd guessed, she was now in the kitchen, but the sight that greeted her made her gasp in horror. All of a sudden, the idea that this was all some sort of stunt by the twins to frighten her seemed to be dispelled once and for all.

For there, sitting on upright wooden chairs, were Jasmine and Jade. With both still in their identical spandex outfits, it was impossible now to tell which was which, as both wore silk scarves tied around their heads as blindfolds. Both had been bound from ankle to shoulders with copious amounts of strict ropes that held them rigidly to the sturdy items of furniture; their lower faces being adorned in grey duct tape similar to that currently sealing Lauren's own lips. One of the girls sat facing Lauren, but the other had her back to her, and Lauren could plainly see that the latter's hands had been manacled in metal handcuffs that she was desperately trying to extricate herself from. A sporadic clicking sound could be heard every time the other twin attempted to struggle, making it obvious that her hands were also held in bracelets of unbreakable steel. Lauren had seen for herself how adept the girls were at escapology, but were they able to break free from handcuffs? Their futile struggles suggested not.

"Right then, I think I can safely say that you two won't be going anywhere for a while. Say goodbye to your friend, as I'm taking her on a little journey and it might be quite some time before you see each other again."

As both twins tried - unsuccessfully - to communicate, the woman once again secured Lauren's facial covering. Then she found herself being picked up again and transported towards the door that led outside into the back yard. Lauren's scream was piercing and prolonged, and completely drowned out the sound being made by her two bound and helpless friends. She heard the door open and was then manhandled - or womanhandled - out into the open. She screamed again.

"You're wasting your time making all that noise honey, there's no one around to hear you. Now shut up or I'll shut you up."

After only a few more paces her abductor stopped and Lauren heard what sounded like the boot of a car opening. Almost immediately, she found herself being tipped headfirst into the confines of the car's luggage compartment. She screamed again and began to writhe around, but within no more than thirty seconds the woman had put paid to her struggles by tethering the strap around her ankles to the interior wall of the boot. A clinking sound that Lauren attributed to a the links of a chain now reached her ears, and seconds later the woman's hands could be felt attaching this to her collar. The faint click of a padlock being closed soon followed, and when Lauren tried to lift her head from the floor, she found that movement in any direction was now limited to a radius of no more than six inches.

The slamming shut of the boot's lid reverberated around Lauren's new place of confinement, and within no more than a few seconds, the car engine burst into life. The journey itself wasn't of great duration; probably between twenty and thirty minutes maximum. But to Lauren, being bumped around as the car manoeuvred along the winding country roads and pot-holed lanes of rural Suffolk, it seemed to go on for an eternity.

Kidnapped, that was the word that kept going around in her head. But for what purpose? Where was she being taken? What did this woman want with her? When would she be released? Would she ever be released? Lauren's stomach was a tight knot, and she found herself trembling with uncontrollable fear as the many possible scenarios - none of them good - circulated around in her brain. She tried to kick out at the walls of the boot, in the hope that someone out there would hear her, but with her feet anchored to one side of the vehicle and her necked fettered in close proximity to the other, it was impossible. Trying to attract attention verbally was also a lost cause, as the gag ensured that any sound she did make was effectively drowned out by the noise of the engine. At that precise moment, the thought of being buried underground by the twins didn't seem so bad. In fact, in comparison to this, it became almost desirable.

When the car eventually stopped and the engine died, Lauren listened intently for any sound that might indicate where they were. To her dismay, aside from a strong breeze and birdsong, there was no sound; nothing to indicate any other human presence in the immediate vicinity.

Although cocooned in the body sheath, the waft of a cool breeze still penetrated the darlex around Lauren's face as the boot of the car reopened. The click of the key in the padlock and the clinking of metal coincided with the loosening of her neck chain, followed swiftly by the removal of the bond holding her legs in check. Then she was being lifted up and transported in the same manner as before, only now the journey seemed to be in reverse, insofar as this time she was being carried into a building, rather than out of one. This Lauren deduced not only from the cessation of the breeze on her face, but also the sound of a door opening and the distinct change in the sound of the woman's footsteps - a transition from the scrape of leather on gravel to the hollow thud of boot on floorboard. The sound of heavy bolts sliding open and the turn of a key preceded the opening of a further door. And now the woman seemed to be traversing a flight of stairs in a downward direction. Where were they? Had they simply made a round trip and returned back to the twins' house? Or was this some other underground chamber that she was about to be incarcerated in?

Lauren didn't have long before the answers to at least two of these questions were revealed. Having reached the bottom of the stairs, she found herself being laid down on what felt like a cushioned surface. She had had no sense of being lowered to the floor, so she guessed that this must be a bed, couch or possibly a table. The soft squeaking noises that reached her ears as she was eased into position suggested that the fabric of the padding was leather. Before more than a few seconds had elapsed, she felt something being placed around her ankles and tighten dramatically, so that an involuntary shriek issued from behind her gag. Then a similar sensation occurred in the area just above her knees, followed instantly by a third at the top of her thighs. Moving her legs even an inch up or down, or to either side was now impossible, and Lauren grimly concluded that she was being strapped to whatever item of furniture it was that she had been placed on.

These latest additions to her ever increasing state of bondage, however, weren't restricted to just her legs. Three more straps - one at her waist, another just below her breasts, and a third directly above, were all quickly fastened around her. With the securing of each of the buckles, Lauren found herself squirming and wriggling in an escape bid that she knew to be no more than a token gesture.

"Struggle all you like my dear, you're trapped and there's nothing you can do about it."

Lauren knew that the woman's words were only too true. But if she thought her plight could get no worse, then she was soon to be proved wrong.

All too briefly, the sleep-sack once again parted above Lauren's eyes and was pulled down around her neck. For the first time now she was able to view her new surroundings. It was a windowless room just like the one she'd been incarcerated in before, but this was most definitely not the twins' cellar. A quick glance to the left showed a wall with chains fixed to the rough brickwork at various points. Turning her head to the right, Lauren noticed a large 'X' frame with straps hanging from each arm. A stout metal chair, with straps attached on the legs, arms and back, was also visible. There were other devices too that Lauren also glimpsed briefly in the few seconds that her eyes were allowed to roam around, their functions incomprehensible, but all of which she could guess were used as restraints or implements of torture. It didn't take a genius to work out that this was some kind of bondage chamber.... and that she was about to become its latest resident.

But before she could really take all this in, her attention shifted to the woman whose facial features remained hidden. She was holding something that looked like it was made of black leather. As it was brought towards her head, Lauren screamed into her gag and tried to turn her face away, as the nature of the hood and where it was about to be placed suddenly became apparent to her. But being immobilised on the bench, she had little hope of avoiding facial encasement in the soft yet strong fabric. Unlike the hood that her captor wore, the one that quickly found its way around Lauren's head had only two small apertures, which the woman lined up over her nostrils. There were no mouth or eye holes, and once pulled down to her neck, the hood fitted like a second skin over the contours of her face. Lauren felt hands tightening something around her neck, before the click of a padlock that told her that, even with her hands free, this claustrophobic addition to her bonds would still not be removable. The sensation of a strap being placed under her chin then being brought up over her head and buckled tightly, was the catalyst for a further bout of pleading and begging for her abductor to show her some leniency. But it transpired that this latest strap now inhibited the movement of her jaw, which further confounded her attempts to utter anything comprehensible. Just to add insult to injury, she felt the sleep-sack being pulled over her head again and heard the zip close once more.

For several seconds no sound reached Lauren's ears, save for that of her own desperate, almost hysterical breathing. Then, through the tightly fitting hood, Lauren heard the woman's voice; which seemed distorted and to now come from far away.

"There my dear, your bondage is now complete. Feel free - if 'free' is the right word - to test the efficiency of any of your restraints at will."

Lauren attempted to move, but knew already that her limbs and entire body were completely immobilised.

"Now" the woman continued "I expect that you're wondering exactly what's to become of you."

She paused for a second, seemingly to let Lauren digest this latest statement.

"Well, as far as I can see, there are only four possible scenarios open to you. Firstly, you manage to escape from your bonds."

Again, a short pause, accompanied by the clicking of heels, as the woman paced the stone floor.

"Of course, as you've already discovered, that will be impossible, as you're wrapped and strapped up so securely that you'll never get out of this of your own accord."

Lauren attempted to move her arms again, which only served to reaffirm this latest utterance; not that confirmation was really necessary.

"A second possibility is that you could perhaps try to attract attention to your plight by making as much noise as you possibly can."

The now familiar pause followed.

"But this too would be doomed to failure. That gag is wedged tightly in your mouth, and the combination of the tape and hood around your head will severely restrict any commotion that you might plan to make. You're welcome to try of course, but it really is a hopeless cause."

Lauren knew, from her earlier protests, that this was also an undeniable fact.

"Thirdly, you may think that you'll be lucky, and that someone will simply chance upon you and come to your rescue. But alas for you, this too is unlikely to happen. I'm sure you observed a moment or two ago that this room is windowless. I'm sure you also realise that, having descended the stairs from ground level, that we're in an underground cellar - or what I like to refer to as my dungeon."

Although Lauren couldn't see, she was sure that the woman was smirking at her; gloating at the power she now wielded over her helpless victim.

"As you will also have deduced, the door to this room was locked and bolted before we came in. I'm sure you've already guessed that it will be similarly secured on my departure; not only to stop you from leaving, but also to deter anyone else from entering and setting you free."

The voice became clearer and louder, as if the woman's face was right beside Lauren's.

"And on top of all that, this house is derelict with the windows boarded up, so why would anyone come here in the first place, especially as we're in such a rural, out-of-the-way location? No, I think that any thoughts you may be entertaining of being discovered and released can be totally wiped from your mind."

Another pause - the longest yet - allowed Lauren to let out a low moan of despair.

"Of course there is one other possible way out of here for you, and that's if I decide to untie you and let you go. Unfortunately, however, this is not something that is on my 'to do' list any time in the foreseeable future....although, who knows, in a couple of days, or maybe a week, my priorities may have changed. For now though, I will leave you to ponder your fate. I would suggest that you don't overdo the struggling or screaming, as neither of these activities has the remotest chance of getting you out of this predicament."

The sound of retreating footsteps was followed by one final remark.

"I will be back to check up on you, but it won't be for quite some time. Enjoy your stay my dear."

The sound of footsteps ascending the stairs and the heavy door slamming shut coincided with Lauren's latest concerted effort to beg for mercy. But if the woman heard, then it obviously cut no ice, as the sound of a key turning in the lock and two bolts sliding into place informed Lauren that she was now alone in her tomb. Seconds later, the sound of another door - fainter and further away - let her know that she had been abandoned. Struggling to move her arms within the tightly strapped sleeve proved impossible and the mummifying cling-film and tape that lashed her arms to her body, plus the sleep-sack, ensured that her arms would remain useless to her. Her legs too were sealed together with rope, film and tape, and no amount of attempting to pull or wrench them apart had any effect. And the combined effect of the cloth in her mouth, the duct tape, the skin tight leather hood and the strap around her jaw all added to the feeling of claustrophobia and total helplessness. The woman had been correct in everything she'd said: escape was out of the question, calling for help unviable, and being stumbled upon extremely unlikely. That just left her at the mercy of her captor, who, it appeared, had no plans to return her freedom to her for a long time...if ever. There was nothing for it but to try to remain calm and wait.

For hour after long terrifying hour, Lauren lay in her silent tomb, hoping and praying that release would come...somehow. But there was no sign that this evil woman was still around. The straps, which lashed her body and legs in total immobility to the bench, made shifting her position impossible, and the fact that she was lying on her trapped arms all made for a very tortuous experience. But it was the mental turmoil that really caused her the most anguish. Why had she been kidnapped? And by whom exactly? How had the woman overpowered both of the twins? Would she ever be set free? She cursed the twins for enticing her back to their house. She cursed the woman for putting her through this torment. But mostly she cursed herself for being so gullible. How had a pastime that had been so much fun at first, turned - yet again - into a life threatening scenario that she was powerless to get out of on her own?

After spending what must have been all night in this hellish state of solitary confinement, the sound of a female voice - seemingly in the far distance - broke the gloomy silence Lauren had found herself drowning in. At first she thought that her mind might be playing tricks on her, allowing her to hear that which she most eagerly desired, namely someone coming to her rescue. But gradually the voice got louder and Lauren recognised it as that of her kidnapper, although it was not immediately obvious who she was speaking to, as the conversation seemed to be one-sided. The sound of the door opening, however, was followed by footsteps, and it was apparent that the noise created was that of at least two, and possibly more, pairs of feet.

"Stand there and don't move. I'm keeping my eye on you."

As these words were uttered, Lauren heard the sound of the zip and felt the darlex being drawn back from her face, before a pair of hands began to loosen the strap around her jaw. Then the padlock that held the hood in position was opened and she felt the tight leather slacken around her face. It took her at least thirty seconds to adjust to the bright light that greeted her after so long in a sea of darkness, but when the images before her focused, she gasped into her gag with surprise. Her abductor was there, still masked and dressed in her tight outfit, but standing only a yard or two away to Lauren's right were two other instantly recognisable figures. Both still dressed in black spandex cat-suits, Jasmine and Jade stood side by side in enforced silence; their mouths and lower faces swathed in the familiar grey tape. Each wore a studded collar of black leather around their neck, with a chain, perhaps twelve inches in length, dangling loosely down over their breasts; obviously the method used to lead them down into the vault. It was clear also that both had their hands bound in some manner behind their backs. With Lauren's sight now returned, the woman turned to Jade and quickly ripped the tape brutally from her face, then removed the bundle of cloth that had been sealed within her mouth. She then performed an identical procedure on Jasmine.

"You've got five minutes" was all that the woman said as she made her way back up the steps, shutting and locking the door behind her.

Lauren was glad to see the twins. As a matter of fact, after hours of blackness, she was grateful that she could see anything at all. Okay, so the twins were bound and helpless too, but at least she took some comfort in the fact that she was not alone. And the fact that they were less restrained than her, coupled with the knowledge that they were skilled escape artists, all seemed to make the future look slightly less bleak than it had just minutes before. But she wasn't at all prepared for the revelations that the twins were about impart.

"Well Lauren, how have you been getting along with Amber?"

The look of confusion must have been apparent in Lauren's eyes.

"Amber is our cousin, you see. Or 'Mistress Amber de Sade' as she likes to call herself."

Jade now took up the story.

"You see, like us, Amber is into bondage in a big way. But whereas we like tying and being tied, Amber is strictly dominant. In other words she just likes to tie people up and do as she pleases with them. She often comes around when she knows our parents are away, overpowers us and leaves us helpless. And she's fathomed out that, although we're pretty good at getting out of ropes, tape and suchlike, if she handcuffs us then we're basically trapped there until she decides to let us go."

"Which is usually not for several hours at the very least." interjected Jasmine.

"Anyway," Jade continued "she turned up yesterday completely out of the blue, and within minutes we were both as you saw us in the kitchen before she whisked you away. She was going to bring us here and keep us prisoner overnight, until Jasmine suddenly decided to blurt out about you being all trussed up in our cellar."

"Amber's very good at getting information out of you, especially when you're tied up and she's threatening you with all sorts of punishments." Jasmine said, by way of mitigation.

"So, when Amber heard about you being our willing prisoner, her devious mind went into overdrive and she came up with a plan to use the situation to her advantage. She decided that, instead of us, she'd kidnap you and keep you here. We tried to tell her that you might not be too thrilled at this prospect, especially as you had no idea what was going on, but considerations like this don't really come into Amber's thinking. Once her mind is set on something, there's not much you can do to dissuade her. Especially if you're all tied up and gagged."

"And the thing is that Amber, as her name suggests, is a bit of a sadist. Once she has you all tied up and trapped, there's nothing anyone can do to persuade her to set you free until she decides it's time to let you go. And that can mean a really long stretch of serious bondage for you... We're not talking hours here, but days"

"But then we knew how much you were enjoying being tied up," her sister chimed in "so we figured you wouldn't be too upset if she abducted you and held you in her dungeon for a while. And so here you are, in her underground chamber. It's in an old ruined house that she 'acquired' somehow. It's all boarded up and it's in a very secluded spot, so no one ever comes here."

Lauren could only lay there in stunned amazement, not quite believing the bizarre nature of her situation. Having thought she'd been abducted by some unknown female intruder, it now transpired that she was simply part of an ongoing game that the twins and their cousin indulged in from time to time; a cousin who shared their obsession with bondage, and indeed seemed to take the whole thing to another level of cruelty. And now the prospect of being held here for days on end loomed large before her. Although she knew it was futile, she struggled in her layered bondage; a verbal tirade - albeit a muffled one - accompanying this show of displeasure.

"Sorry Lauren, but it's really out of our hands now. Amber made sure that we didn't tamper with any of your bonds before she brought us down here."

In one synchronised movement, Jade and Jasmine turned around so that Lauren could view their arm bonds. Both had their wrists manacled with steel handcuffs, but below this, their hands could be seen to have been wrapped up tightly and securely in duct tape, forming a solid mitten from which neither could extricate their fingers.

"So you see Lauren, we couldn't help you get out of there, even if we wanted to."

"And not only that, but she's threatened that if we tell anyone about her keeping you here, then she'll let our parents know what we get up to while they're away. As I'm sure we've told you, they don't like our bondage obsession; they say it's weird, not to mention dangerous. She even has pictures of us all tied up that she uses to blackmail us. So unfortunately we're going to have to keep quiet about this."

As Jade was uttering these words, the sound of the door being opened signalled the return of the woman that Lauren now knew to be the twins' cousin Amber de Sade.

"Time's up girls. I need to get you two back to the house before your parents return. Wouldn't want them to find out about our strange little games now, would we?"

Turning her attention away from the twins, she walked slowly over to where Lauren languished.

"I'm sure my cousins have explained the little arrangement we've entered into. Hope you're not too unhappy at the prospect of being my guest for a while. I know I'm going to have a lot of fun with you when I get back here later. But for now, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay all tied up here until I return."

As these words were reaching Lauren's disbelieving ears, Amber took the hood and began to encase her victim's head into the tight leather cladding. Lauren's screams had little effect as the jaw-restricting strap was once more buckled firmly and the padlock clicked into place. This was immediately followed by the sound of the sleep-sack being zipped up over her head for seemingly the hundredth time.

As if from a great distance, the voice of one of the twins reached her ears.

"Don't forget Lauren, you've always got the crotch rope to keep you company. I'm sure you'll...."

But her words suddenly became muffled and incoherent as a result of the gag being stuffed back into her mouth.

It was left to her sister therefore, to deliver the verbal coup de grâce prior to her own gagging.

"Don't worry Lauren. Amber will let you go......eventually!"


Part 3 (added: 2015/09/23)

Lauren peered out through the tiny peep holes of the leather hood and sighed contentedly. The dim light from the single dusty bulb that hung from the ceiling cast shadows around the cellar, revealing only vague images and blurred outlines in the junk filled space beyond. Nothing moved and there was no sound, save for Lauren's low breathing, which of necessity had to be through her nose alone. It must have been an hour or so since the twins had taken their leave and returned to the upstairs world, leaving Lauren to while away her time in a state of immobilised solitude. This was the third occasion on which she'd allowed Jasmine and Jade to experiment on her in this way and it felt so good to be back in the bonds again. Even though the previous two occasions had been fraught with fear and dread at times, the pleasurable side of being bound and totally out of control outweighed any misgivings that Lauren might have entertained about a return visit. She was a glutton for punishment, she knew that only too well, but the occasional dangers and pitfalls which she'd experienced before paled into insignificance compared to the wonderful feelings that accompanied the quality time that she'd spent here. In short, she was addicted to the thrill that accompanied this wonderful pastime that the twins had introduced her to, even if they did tend to get carried away and take things a bit too far at times. But surely nothing untoward would befall her this time.

Having been invited back to the old manor house that the twins' parents owned in rural Suffolk, Lauren had sought reassurances that there wouldn't be a repeat of the treatment she'd been subjected to on her last visit. On that occasion, Jasmine and Jade had bound her in ever more restrictive layers of bondage over a period of a few hours and left her in the cellar. That had been fine with Lauren, but when a latex-clad woman, who Lauren had never seen before, suddenly burst into the subterranean chamber and carried her upstairs, before whisking her off in the boot of a car, she had received one of the biggest frights of her young life. The fact that this woman had overpowered the twins, then handcuffed and gagged them before leaving them all trussed up in their own kitchen, all indicated to the stricken Lauren that she'd been kidnapped. And when the woman had promised, once she'd deposited her helpless captive in her own underground dungeon, that she had no intention of setting her victim free for a very long while, this simply compounded Lauren's sense of dread. The fact that the woman had eventually turned out to be the self-styled Mistress Amber de Sade - the twins' cousin - did very little to quell Lauren's fears, as it seemed that Jade and Jasmine were powerless to prevent their wayward relative from carrying out her threat to keep her imprisoned indefinitely.

Amber had let Lauren go eventually, of course, but not before she had spent forty eight hours or so in the clutches of this seemingly compassionless dominatrix. And, as Amber had implied at the time, the only reason she was being released was because the dungeon was needed for a paying customer whose arrival was imminent. Although Lauren was growing to love the feeling of tight bondage, two whole days in a situation where she had been completely immobilised and abandoned for periods of up to twelve hours at a time, were just a little bit too much... even for her.

But this time, the twins had informed her, she would have no cause for concern with regard to their cousin turning up and spoiling the party. For Amber, the twins stated with some certainty, had a paying customer booked in for the whole weekend, and would therefore be too busy tormenting this client to have time to come over to the house and interfere with the bondage games that Jasmine and Jade had planned. They even knew who Amber's intended victim was.

"A guy called Steve who writes short bondage stories and publishes them on the internet. He's a regular client of Amber's. He can't get enough of being tied up and kept in a state of complete captivity for the whole weekend, so Amber tells us. Apparently that's when he gets most of the inspiration for his stories."

The knowledge that Amber was otherwise engaged, was all that Lauren needed to hear in order to agree to a third weekend at the twins' house; as she relished, more than anything else in the world, the chance to get back into whatever bonds the twins had in store for her.

And so it was that Lauren found herself in the cellar of the rambling old house that belonged to Jasmine and Jade's parents. The latter were away for a week or so, Lauren had been informed, staying in their Spanish villa to get away from the wet and damp of a late autumn in England. Ironically, as it turned out, the weather had been sunny and unseasonably mild in Suffolk recently, with the forecast predicting this trend continuing for the next few days at least.

Lauren had taken a leaf out of Jasmine and Jade's book in regard to her attire on this latest visit. The last time she'd been here, she couldn't help but admire the black spandex cat-suits that the twins had both worn; skin-tight outfits that highlighted every curve of their svelte young bodies. Lauren knew the moment she'd cast her eyes on these stretchy costumes that she had to have one. Once she'd acquired a cat-suit of her own, she'd spent hours admiring herself in the mirror; loving the look of the way it clung to every inch of her lithe form from neck to ankle, as well as getting a thrill from the smooth feel as it caressed her flesh. Gently letting her hand glide over the drum-tight fabric on her thighs, her buttocks and her breasts, she found herself becoming aroused. How much more would be the pleasure, she wondered with a shiver of anticipation, if she could be bound and gagged whilst wearing this gorgeously sensuous costume? Another source of satisfaction was the faint swishing sound that accompanied every step as she paced across the room.

Not that she would be doing much walking once she arrived at the twins' house.

Lauren tried to move her limbs but, as she knew already, there was no chance of either her arms or legs slipping free from the strict ligatures. Her bonds, as always, were secured ultra tightly; indeed Lauren felt that, if anything, she had been bound even tighter than on previous visits here...if that were at all possible. For a start, the twins had used far more rope than they had done in the past, leaving her trussed from ankle to shoulder with... well, how many lengths of rope was it? Lauren began to count, although at this stage it was difficult to visually check their number precisely. There was one that held her ankles in check, two more that coiled tightly around her calves, a third just below her knees, another just above, then two more that ensured her right thigh remained in close contact with the left. That added up to seven... and this was only her legs!

It went without saying that Lauren's hands were bound tightly and securely behind her back, with the finishing knot well out of reach should her fingers become inquisitive as to its whereabouts. Her elbows too had been pulled back until they almost touched, before having a length of cord wound around just above the joint, effectively holding her arms in check. Then there was the intricate body harness, fashioned from three separate lengths of rope, which wove an extremely snug lattice-work pattern around her arms and torso from waist to shoulders.

But the pièce de résistance, as far as Lauren was concerned, was the crotch rope which the twins had lovingly threaded between her legs and pulled ultra tightly into her, before securing it to the rope around her wrists. All Lauren had to do was pull lightly on this particular rope for the seeds of her arousal to kick in. The mere sensation of the rope biting into her tight spandex outfit as it slid into her was an experience that, she'd learnt on her previous visits to the twins' house, couldn't be beaten.

Of course the cessation of ropes at her shoulders didn't mean that her neck and beyond had been neglected. A rolled up pair of tights - seemingly the twins' gag of choice - had been stuffed into Lauren's mouth, before a copious amount of grey duct tape had found its way around her lower face and head, in order to seal her lips. After this, the leather hood had been applied; a skin-tight contraption that laced up at the back of her head and buckled at the neck. There were four tiny holes in the facial area, two located at the nostrils, and two for the wearer to view their surroundings. There was no opening in the region of the mouth.

Then, to supplement the hood, there were the straps - two in number -the first of which was placed across Lauren's lower face, pulled tightly around her head and buckled securely at the back of her neck. The second was positioned at right angles to the first; being placed under her chin, then pulled up to the top of her head and secured in similar fashion to its counterpart. The rolled up tights, the tape, the mouth-less hood and the jaw restricting straps, all conspired to ensure that Lauren was well and truly incapable of making anything but the faintest, most muffled of sounds, which would, even if she had been trying to attract attention to her plight, have been inaudible on the other side of the cellar, let alone to anyone beyond the confines of her underground prison cell.

With their captive thus bound, Jasmine and Jade had laid Lauren face down on an old mattress on the floor, before pulling her legs up behind her so that her feet were in close proximity to her hands. Then they'd applied one final rope, taut and severely restrictive, to connect her ankle and wrist bonds, thus leaving her in an inescapable hog-tie. Then they'd taken their leave, locking the cellar door on departure, but leaving the light on; whether the latter was by design or through oversight, Lauren was unsure. Their parting shot, as they'd climbed the stairs, was that when they returned they would have a surprise for her.

Lauren had luxuriated in her bonds from the moment the cellar door had slammed shut. She was eager to use the crotch rope to get herself off, but had decided to hold back for the time being and not peak too soon. Instead she toyed tentatively with this, the most pleasurable of her bonds, tantalising and teasing herself with a prelude of what could and would be achievable when she finally succumbed to temptation. Just as she was working herself up to a stage where she could wait no longer, however, the sound of the key turning and the creaking open of the door distracted her from her endeavours. She cursed under her breath at the twins' bad timing, consoling herself with the fact that, once they'd subjected her to the next round of even stricter bondage, they'd once again leave her in peace.

From around a pile of packing crates, the twins appeared, both dressed in cat-suits identical to the one worn by Lauren. Each wore a broad leather belt, which accentuated there thin waists and curvaceous hips. Both wore knee length high heeled boots. In her hands, Jasmine carried several reels of duct tape, whilst her sister was holding three enormous rolls of cling-film.

"Well Lauren, I think it's time we made your bonds that little bit more interesting for you."

Without another word, Jasmine released the rope connecting Lauren's wrists and ankles, then lifted her to her feet, while Jade took one of the rolls of cling-film and began to wrap it around Lauren's rope-bound ankles. If Lauren had been slightly dismayed at being released from the hog-tie, the thought of being immersed under a sea of compacted film more than made up for her loss. Slowly but surely, the flimsy yet tightly compressing wrap worked its way up Lauren's calves, over her knees and onwards to her thighs; each circumnavigation being smoothed down to ensure maximum efficiency in its capacity as an immobilising agent. Over her buttocks and hips it climbed, supplementing the smooth spandex with another skin-tight layer. With her arms being incorporated into the overall wrap, Lauren soon found the transparent cocoon passing over her breasts and continuing up to her shoulders, finally finishing just below the hood's securing buckle at her neck.

With the cessation of the cling-film encirclement, Jasmine grabbed one of the reels of duct tape and began sticking this down around Lauren's ankles. If past experience was anything to go by, this would merely amount to a few strategically placed circuits to stop the cling-film from peeling away, after which Lauren would have expected to find herself being lowered back onto the floor and left to her own devices for the next hour or so. So it came as some surprise when this initial orbit of her lower legs turned out to be the commencement of a full body encasement that covered every square inch of the recently applied cling-film, leaving her in what could only be described as a double cocoon.

The mummification process took several minutes, and eventually led to Lauren being ensnared in a rigid grey shell that allowed very little movement whatsoever. But even now, Jade and Jasmine still hadn't yet completed their intended tasks. Manoeuvring their bound friend across the floor in short hops, Lauren found herself being positioned with her back to a sturdy water pipe that ran from ceiling to floor in one darkened corner of the cellar. To Lauren's surprise and, she had to admit, great delight, she watched as yet more of the grey tape was wound around her legs, only on this occasion, the strongly adhering strips encircled not only her body, but also the pipe; anchoring her to the spot in the process. Circuit after circuit of tape on top of tape followed over the next few minutes, until Lauren found herself lashed securely to the stout mooring post. Moving even an inch in any direction was now impossible.

"Okay Lauren, that ought to keep you out of mischief for some time, while Jade and I indulge in a little bit of bondage experimentation."

Something in Lauren's demeanour or body language must have alerted the twins to her puzzlement at this cryptic remark.

"Don't worry though, this is a little game that we play sometimes when we're on our own. It doesn't directly affect you, but we thought you might like to see what we get up to when you're not here."

"Well I suppose in a way it does affect Lauren" Jade corrected her sister "as the outcome of this little game will dictate just how long she'll have to remain tied up for."

The twins exchanged glances and giggled.

"You see Lauren, what we're going to do now is play a game that we call our 'Endurance Challenge'. Have you locked the cellar door Jade?"

Jade showed her sister the key, and walked across to the other side of the room, where a shelf protruded from the wall at a height of around six feet. Reaching up above her head, she placed the key next to some tins of paint that looked as if they had been there for several years. Whilst she did this, Jasmine continued her tale.

"What happens is that we both get ourselves tied up and gagged, then handcuff ours wrists behind our backs. Then we wrap ourselves up in cling-film as best we can, so that we're cocooned - a bit like you are right now."

"But what Jasmine has forgotten to mention" Jade interrupted her sister "is where the keys to the handcuffs are during this game of ours. You see the handcuffs that Jasmine will be wearing are a different type to the ones I'll be locked in, which means that they have different keys. So what we do, before we get ourselves into our bonds, is fix the key to the particular set of cuffs that we'll be wearing to a dog collar, which we then place around our necks."

"In other words" Jasmine broke in "the key to the cuffs I'll be shackled in will be around my neck, and the key to Jade's will be around hers."

She paused for a second or two so that Lauren could take this all in.

"Which means" she continued, just in case Lauren hadn't grasped the significance of their intended actions "I can't reach the key to my cuffs and Jade can't get to hers."

"But" Jade once more chimed in, obviously warming to her role as storyteller "we can get to each other's key... if we want to."

Whether it was the prospect of getting themselves all tied up that was a turn on for the twins, or whether just telling the story to a captive audience was exhilarating in itself, Lauren wasn't certain. But it definitely seemed that, as their story progressed, they were becoming more and more animated and excited by the whole picture that they were painting.

"And that's where the endurance part comes in, you see? We both know that, if we want to ever get free, one of us will have to release the handcuff key from around the other's neck. Which means that whoever succumbs first knows that she won't be the one to get out. And of course, as you've probably guessed, the rule of the game is that, whoever gets free first can keep the other tied up indefinitely and keep adding to her bonds as long as she feels like it."

"So the trick is to make sure that you're not the first to give in, which is why it's a case of endurance; to see which one of us cracks first. Of course, you know what we're like Lauren. We're both comfortable in extreme states of bondage, so it can be hours and hours before either of us submits."

"And the added difficulty is that, as the key to the door is up on the shelf, we can't get out of the cellar without one of us letting the other loose. So you see, it could be some time before any of us gets out of here. But I know how much you love your bondage, so I'm sure it won't cause too much grief if you have to stay here for the rest of the day...or maybe even into tomorrow."

The twins' story came to an end, and there followed a few brief seconds during which they both stood looking at Lauren, as if they were expecting some sort of response - whether it be to condone or condemn their 'Endurance Challenge' scheme. Even if she could have spoken freely, it was obvious that Jasmine and Jade would have paid little heed to her utterances, as clearly they had already made up their minds that they were going ahead with this. So Lauren simply "mmphed" into her gag in a non-committal kind of way. Deep down, however, the thought of being tied up here for the rest of the day gave her a warm, contented feeling. She had no wish to be free, so whether the twins were capable or otherwise of releasing her from her bondage was quite irrelevant right now.

Lauren watched in fascination as both Jasmine and Jade placed the heavy, studded leather dog collars around their necks and fastened the buckles securely at the nape. From a 'D' ring on each, Lauren could see a tiny key hanging. With the chokers in place, both twins took their boots off; their stirruped feet revealing that they were wearing black tights beneath their cat-suits. Having removed their footwear, both sat down on the recently vacated mattress, and Jasmine began to tie her sister's legs with soft white rope similar to that worn by Lauren beneath her cling-film and tape cocoon. After winding, cinching and tightly securing the cords around Jade's ankles, calves, knees and thighs, Jasmine allowed her sister to reciprocate, so that within minutes both had their legs strictly bound. Each now tested their sibling's handiwork by straining and wriggling as hard as they could for a minute or more, until they were content that none of the ropes would in any way come loose of its own accord.

Whereas the twins had tied one another's legs together, the gagging process found each attending to her own vocal restricting needs. Almost as one, Jasmine and Jade picked up a ball of rolled up tights from their stash of bondage paraphernalia and stuffed these into their mouths. Then came the tape, dexterously self wound around their heads (whilst holding their long dark, tresses out of the way), replicating exactly the method used to silence Lauren. Only when each had completed this task, did the other become involved; smoothing down her sister's efforts, to ensure that the adhesive bonded firmly and efficiently to the soft flesh on their faces. Awestruck by this spectacle of mutual bondage, Lauren could only marvel at the way the twins went about their tasks. But what she witnessed next made her gasp inwardly, as Jade tied a length of rope extremely tightly around Jasmine's waist, created reverse tension and deftly threaded the ends between her sister's legs from back to front, then yanked it as tightly as she could; so hard, in fact, that Jasmine squealed with what seemed like surprise and delight in equal measure. With the loose ends knotted adroitly on Jasmine's stomach, the girls swapped roles once more, as Jasmine treated Jade to the same high standard of crotch rope. The sight of these pleasure-inducing bonds being applied, brought the existence of her own crotch rope back to the forefront of Lauren's thoughts; a rope which, so far today, she had still to take full advantage of. But there was still plenty of time for that sort of thing. A quick tug on the rope, however, was all Lauren needed to remind her of the potential ecstatic experiences that were to come later.

Jade's next move was to take her pair of handcuffs and swiftly shackle her wrists behind her back. This, Lauren guessed, would be a signal for her sister to do likewise. So it was with some surprise that she watched as Jasmine, instead of attending to her own wrists, picked up a roll of cling-film and began wrapping this several times around her sister's lower legs. As with Lauren's first layer of mummification, this process slowly worked its way up Jade's body, with the compliant recipient helping Jasmine out by lifting her hips away from the floor and balancing on her heels and elbows whilst Jasmine coiled the film around her lower torso and arms. Once she was encased to the neck, Jade giggled as her sister playfully rolled her onto her stomach, and it seemed to the onlooking Lauren that there was no way in the world anyone should be able to get out of that. She knew, however, that both twins had mastered the art of escape, and she had witnessed firsthand in the past how Jade had fought her way through a similar multilayered mass of film.

Now satisfied that her identical twin was bound to the preset standards for their game, Jasmine began the self-mummification process on herself. Only on this occasion, once her legs and hips had been subjected to a similar transparent caress, she stopped the winding process, with the unused film dangling from her waist and still attached to the spool. Now she took up her handcuffs and placed her left arm into the awaiting bracelet, before closing the ratchet down onto her wrist. Once satisfied that the steel circle was no longer of sufficient circumference to allow her to extricate her hand, she rolled onto her stomach next to her motionless sister and reached around behind her back to grasp the still vacant manacle with her right hand. The closing of this cuff seemed quick and effortless to Lauren, which led her to believe that Jasmine had performed a similar function on herself many times in the past. This came as no great surprise, but what did startle the relative novice was the spectacle of Jasmine rolling over and over, to allow the remaining cling-film to wrap itself around her torso, embracing and encasing her in the process. For several minutes Jasmine persevered in her endeavours to replicate the upper body cocooning that both her current cellmates enjoyed. Lauren wouldn't have believed, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, that anyone could self-mummify to the same high standards that could be achieved by a third party. But once the remainder of the film had been exhausted, Jasmine seemed to have attained the impossible, with her arms lashed to her body beneath several layers of tight cellophane.

Snuggling up next to her twin on the mattress, Jasmine murmured something into her gag which Lauren didn't catch. Jade, however, shook her head and giggled. Jasmine giggled too, and for half a minute they seemed to be sharing some private joke. Then Jade said something - again incomprehensible to Lauren - in reply to which Jasmine nodded. Lauren had been watching placidly until now, but suddenly both Jade and Jasmine began to jerk their hips up and down, almost in unison; gently at first, but gradually building up until their movements became much more vigorous. It was clear to Lauren that they were both pulling rhythmically on their crotch ropes, and Lauren needed no invitation to join in. Yanking the rope up as high as she could, she immediately felt a warm moistness between her legs and within seconds her hips and thighs were straining against the tape that held her to the pipe, as she joined the twins in their search for sexual nirvana. Whether it was just coincidence, or whether each of the trio had subconsciously synchronised her rhythm to that of her fellow pleasure seekers, would probably never be known. But the fact that all three of the bound and cocooned females reached her climax at almost precisely the same second as her playmates, coincided with a cacophony of moans, gasps and sighs emanating from three very excited gagged mouths.

If sexual energy had been a bottleable commodity, then that generated by the three nubile women at that moment, would have stocked a reasonably sized wine cellar. Alas however, such energy is both fleeting and elusive, and within seconds had dissipated into the ether. Now elated and sated - temporarily at least - all three lapsed into silence, as they relaxed in the afterglow of their shared experience.

For what must have been at least half an hour, none of the cellar's three occupants made any attempt at communication. Just as Lauren was pondering the prospects of a repeat performance, however, a sound echoed through the underground cavern which made her freeze. It was obvious, from the way two heads stirred from their positions on the mattress and turned in the direction of the door, that Jade and Jasmine had heard it too. But that couldn't be! Jade had locked the cellar door from the inside and, as far as Lauren knew, nobody else had a key. And even more worrying was the fact that no one should have been in the house. Had the twins' parents returned from their overseas jaunt unexpectedly? That had to be the answer...didn't it? In which case, how would they react when they found their offspring, plus best friend, in such embarrassing circumstances?

But it wasn't the twins' father or mother whose voice echoed around the dimly lit windowless space a few seconds after the door had creaked open, although it was a voice that Lauren had encountered before; a voice which, once heard, sent a shiver of fear shooting through her. Although from her position in the corner, Lauren's view of the exit and the steps that led down to the stone floor was cut off, it was clear without visual confirmation that the new arrival on the scene was Jasmine and Jade's cousin Amber. The very same Amber de Sade who had abducted her from under the twins' noses only a month or so ago and kept her in a state of perpetual bondage for two whole days.

From their more central position on the cellar floor, both Jade and Jasmine were better placed to view the entrance/exit, and almost immediately both squirmed in their bonds, as each knew that their cousin's arrival spelt trouble for all of them. The click of Amber's six inch heels on the stone steps became louder as her descent neared its conclusion, and seconds later the unmistakable form of the dominatrix sauntered into view. Dressed as she had been the last time Lauren had had the misfortune to encounter her, Amber's outfit consisted of an ultra tight shiny latex cat-suit that glistened in the light from the dim bulb above. Her head was covered in a matching hood, with her long blonde ponytail spouting from an aperture high on the back of her head like the spume of a fountain. The facial portion of the hood fitted closely to the contours of her face and accentuated her high cheekbones and slender nose. Through the mouth aperture could be seen a pair of sumptuous lips painted in brilliant red lipstick. From the eyeholes, two deep brown fathomless pools reflected what light there was back into the room.

Amber walked towards the twins and bent down by the side of the mattress.

"Well, well my dear cousins, you really do look as if you've excelled yourselves this time. I was looking forward to tying you up myself, but it looks like you've taken that pleasure away from me. Still, I'm sure that I can find other ways to have fun with you."

She stood up and made one complete circuit of the mattress, never once glancing away from the two girls shifting nervously at her feet, and it became apparent to Lauren that Amber had yet to register her presence in the shadowy corner of the room.

"You see girls" Amber continued "I'm at a bit of a loose end today, as my intended sub had to cancel his session with me at the last minute. Claims he's got a killer story lined up that he just had to get written before the moment passed. I'll make him pay for messing me about when I next have him in my clutches. But there I was, all geared up for a bit of bondage fun, but with no one to play with. So I immediately thought of my two adorable little cousins."

Amber paced across the room, her eyes still not straying into the corner where Lauren stood motionless but inwardly trembling, almost daring not to breathe lest the sound of her inhaling or exhaling was picked up by Amber's keen hearing.

"And as I knew that mummy and daddy weren't going to be around to protect their sweet little darling girls," she continued in the same mocking tone "I figured that I'd whisk them away for a few days at my place. I don't have another client until Wednesday, so there's plenty of time for the three of us to bond - if you'll pardon the pun."

Amber bent down beside Jasmine and examined the key hanging from her collar, before removing it from the ring.

"I don't think we'll be needing this for the next few days, will we?"

Jade, who had been watching this wide-eyed, tried to slither away from her cousin, knowing that her key too was about to become unavailable. Amber, however, simply laughed, reached over and retrieved the key with ease.

"Nice try Jade, but there's no way you're going to get away from me now. It's time, I think, to get you all packaged up and ready for transporting back to my dungeon. I hope you didn't have any plans for the next four days, because if you did they've just been cancelled."

Lauren realised now that she had a big decision to make. If she remained still and silent, Amber might not even realise that she was there. But in that case she would have to remain all alone here, bound, gagged, mummified and helpless for four whole days. But on the other hand, if she did make her presence known with some sound or movement, then it seemed inevitable that... she would have to remain bound, gagged, mummified and helpless for four whole days!

Seemingly caught between a rock and a hard place, it was a dilemma that she mulled over for a few seconds, before realising that being abducted by Amber - however hideous that might prove to be - was better than being abandoned in an empty house for days on end. At least Amber would allow her food and water once a day - or even twice if she was lucky. And the other thing that swayed Lauren's decision was the fact that she wouldn't be alone; that, even though there would be no chance of escape, she'd have Jasmine and Jade for company. And it was this comforting 'safety in numbers' consideration that finally caused Lauren to "mmph" pathetically into her gag.

Amber turned quickly at this sound, a look of surprise on the visible portion of her face. But that surprise soon transformed itself into a smile; not a warm, pleasant greeting, but more a mischievous yet delighted look of glee that stemmed, Lauren realised despondently, from the fact that she now had three, rather than two captives to make life miserable for.

Slowly, her hips swaying, Amber sashayed over to where Lauren stood, the tip of her tongue gently caressing her top lip as she approached.

"Well, well, if it isn't my little friend, what's your name again? Laura or something like that, isn't it?"

From behind her, Jade tried to correct Amber's error, but the word was muffled and unrecognisable.

"What was that Jade?"

This time, both of the twins tried in harmony to enunciate Lauren's name. Neither word sounded remotely like "Lauren". Amber turned back towards the twins momentarily.

"Laura, Lauren, Lori...whatever your name is, it doesn't really make any difference to me when you're all tied up and under my control. Plaything One, Plaything Two and Plaything Three, that's how you'll be known to me from now on."

She turned back to Lauren, pressed her body against the cocooned and trembling young woman, and whispered in a low, husky voice,

"And you, my sweetness, are most definitely my number one plaything."

Lauren watched in shocked silence as Amber's bright red lips approached her masked face and gently kissed her left eyelid through the tiny hole in the leather hood, before doing likewise to her right. Still in a low voice, so that the twins couldn't hear, she breathed softly

"Now, my darling, how would you like me to take you into custody for the next few days?"

It was a rhetorical question.

Amber paced slowly across the room, as if pondering her best course of action. After no more than a few seconds, however, she seemed to come to a decision.

"Right ladies, here's what's going to happen. We're all going for a little ride in my car as it's such a nice sunny day. It's a shame that none of you will be able enjoy the view, but I'm sure you'll find other fun-filled ways to occupy your time. I'm meeting some friends for lunch in Ipswich, then getting my hair done and doing a bit of shopping, before we all head back to my bondage studio, where the fun will really begin. First, though, I need to get you all parcelled up and ready to be shipped out of here. You first, Jade."

From out of the trunk that held the twins' stock of bondage equipment, Amber produced a black object that she draped limply over her arm and made a beeline for the mattress. Bending down so that the latex that covered her buttocks and thighs stretched to its ultimate limit, she lifted Jade's legs and began to sheath her in the tightly fitting spandex bag. Jade's protests were as half-hearted as they were short-lived; either, Lauren surmised, because she knew dissension to be futile, she was scared of incurring Amber's wrath, or she was actually not too bothered about her cousin reinforcing her bonds. Unlike the sleep-sack that Lauren had worn during her previous stints of layered bondage, this particular restraint had no zipper, but was, in effect, a single body stocking that was long enough to encase Jade up to the neck but no further. To stop her prisoner wriggling out of the skin-tight swaddling garment, Amber swiftly coiled leather belts around Jade's ankles, knees, thighs and waist, before adding a final strap just above her breasts.

With one twin thus secured, Amber wasted no time in repeating the same procedure on Jasmine. She, however, put up more of a fight than her sister; although whether this was play-acting or a real show of defiance, Lauren wasn't entirely sure. But it made no difference whatsoever, and within no time at all, Jasmine too had been enrobed in spandex and was held firmly within the grip of tightly buckled straps. Next came the leather hoods, identical to the one worn by Lauren, with the attendant jaw restricting straps criss-crossing their faces.

And then it was time to go.

Lifting Jade up in her arms, Amber made for the door and out of Lauren's line of vision; the 'click-clack' of her high heels on the stairs gradually getting fainter, until the sound of the door opening and closing signalled her departure from the cellar. Less than a minute later she was back, however, removing Jasmine in the same manner.

For several minutes now, Lauren found herself alone in the cellar. She desperately tried to free herself during this solitary interlude, but deep down she knew that she had no chance of success. Then the sound of heels on stone grew louder again, and moments later Amber's latex clad form came into view.

"Right, my little angel, what are we going to do with you then?"

Lauren let out a low whine that she hoped would help to portray the fact that she really didn't want to be kept tied up continually for four days, even though the fact that she had allowed herself to be willingly bound might suggest otherwise. But it cut no ice with Amber, who began to strip away the tape that held her rigidly to the pipe. But that was the only concession to freedom that she was going to allow. In fact, as Lauren was fully expecting, her bonds were about to increase. In keeping with the twins, Lauren found herself being encased in a black spandex body-bag, before being strapped up as tightly as the stretch of the leather belts would permit.

The familiar pattern continued still, with Amber placing one arm under Lauren's knees, and the other around her upper torso. Holding her tightly against her breasts, she negotiated the clutter on the cellar floor and began ascending to ground level. At the top of the stairs she turned towards the front door, which Lauren could see was standing ajar. A car could be seen outside in the driveway, its rear end no more than a couple of yards from the porch.

Setting Lauren down on her feet, Amber held her captive upright with one hand whilst opening the boot with the other. The lifting of the lid revealed Jasmine and Jade lying within. There was barely room for the two of them in the small car's luggage compartment, but it quickly became obvious that it was going to have to fit three. Gently, Amber tipped Lauren headfirst into the confined space, pushing one twin further into the boot's interior, while ensuring that the other stayed nearest to her. Lauren, Amber had clearly decided, was going to be squeezed into the gap and sandwiched between the two of them; each facing the front of the car, their legs bent at the knees in the cramped conditions, so that they were stacked together like spoons in a cutlery drawer.

"I know how Jade and Jasmine will try to tamper with each other's bonds if I let them, so I'll use you as a barrier to keep them apart."

Having squeezed Lauren into the tight space, Amber gave the trussed up trio a two second warning to keep their heads down, before the boot slammed shut and extinguished the light. About two or three minutes elapsed before the sound of the heavy wooden house door slamming shut was followed by that of the metal driver's door opening. The car's suspension dipped slightly as Amber got in.

"Okay girls, here we go. Hope you enjoy the ride."

The slow speed at first, accompanied by the crunching of the gravel on the driveway, was followed by a rapid acceleration once the road was reached. They journeyed at a steady speed for several miles, before the constant slowing down, stopping, turning of corners, together with the sound of heavy traffic, informed Lauren that they were now approaching Ipswich town centre.

Throughout the ride, the twins had been attempting to communicate with Lauren, and with one another, but very few words could be made out due to a combination of the layered gags and the low rumble of the engine. One thing that Lauren did comprehend, however, was that both Jade and Jasmine were finding this whole escapade enjoyable; giggles frequently punctuating their efforts to speak. Lauren was comforted by the presence of her friends, and the fact that they weren't too fazed by the whole episode went some way to allaying her fears. But still she felt uneasy. For a start, Amber seemed to have taken quite a shine to her. What exactly was she going to do to her when they eventually reached her dungeon?

The car ascending a steep gradient, then seemingly turning back on itself, before once more climbing a slope or ramp, tore Lauren's thoughts away from what was to come in a few hours and helped her focus on the present. This alternating sequence of upward motion and sharp turns was repeated a further four times in quick succession, before the car finally came to a halt and the engine died. After about half a minute, Amber got out and seconds later the boot opened and weak autumn sunlight poured in. Lauren raised her head as much as she dared and gazed out onto the roof of a multi-storey car park.

Although the sound of motors manoeuvring below could occasionally be heard, apart from two cars away to the left and close to the 'Pay and Display' ticket machine, the roof was devoid of other vehicles. Amber stood over her captives, smiling. It was the first time that Lauren had ever seen Mistress de Sade without the latex hood obscuring her features. She must have been a few years older than herself and the twins, Lauren guessed; probably in her mid to late twenties. Her smooth, unblemished, milk-white skin betrayed a sun-starved existence spent in dungeons and subterranean torture chambers, and contrasted sharply with her vivid red lip-gloss and black eye make-up. Her long blonde hair blew freely in the stiffening breeze. She was wearing a long black leather coat, under which, Lauren noticed as one side flapped in the wind, she was still attired in her latex cat-suit. She also still wore knee-length boots, but had changed into a pair with slightly shorter heels; the six inch ones she'd worn earlier really not being practical for walking any significant distance.

"Okay ladies, I'm off now. Lunch, hair, retail therapy in that order. It's just gone midday now, and I'll probably be back around six o'clock, so you've got plenty of time to amuse yourselves however you see fit. I wouldn't make too much noise and draw attention to yourselves if I were you though, as it might be a bit embarrassing trying to explain to the police how you came to be all tied up in the boot of a car. Anyway, I must dash now. I suppose I'd better get a ticket before I go...wouldn't want them to tow you away while I'm gone!"

Without further warning, the boot closed again and the sound of Amber's heels gradually receded, only to return less than a minute later. The car door was heard to open, then quickly shut once more, as presumably the ticket was affixed to the windscreen. There then followed two light taps on the metal just above the girls' heads, as Amber rapped her knuckles on the boot as a parting shot just prior to her departure towards the stairs that would take her to street level and the town centre.

"Be good girls. I'll see you later."

For a few minutes, all three bound females remained motionless and silent. It was Jade, lying directly behind Lauren, who eventually seized the initiative. At first Lauren assumed that she was merely trying to get into to a more comfortable position, but after a few seconds it became clear that her movements were anything but random, and that her hips had begun thrusting back and forth rhythmically. And the mood appeared to be infectious, as Jasmine almost immediately began to imitate her sister's actions. There was nothing for it but to join in. Pulling her crotch rope tightly, Lauren found herself getting carried away in the heat of the moment, and soon all three were moving as one in their desire to achieve orgasm. The car's suspension rose and fell to their rhythm, and if anyone had been on hand outside, they would have noticed a car rocking almost violently up and down. And to accompany this, the sound of three young women moaning with pleasure, even through multi-layered gags, would undoubtedly have been audible from several yards distance.

As with their earlier endeavours, Lauren, Jasmine and Jade all managed to synchronise their climaxes to within a second or two of each other. With all their energies spent, three deep sighs of satisfaction issued from their throats and each relaxed and fell motionless within the now quite warm environs of the compact space. Lauren now found herself feeling far more relaxed about the whole situation they found themselves in, and the prospect of spending the next few days in bondage seemed far less daunting than it had before. With her friends at her side, Lauren knew that the twins wouldn't let her come to any real harm, and the joys that could be had in their shared state of imprisonment would, she decided, outweigh all other considerations. All in all, life seemed quite good at that moment.

But all that was about to change...

For what must have been an hour or so, there was very little movement within the boot and only occasional attempts at communication between the trio. Outside, the sound of car engines seemed to increase, as the car park filled up with Saturday afternoon shoppers. As the sound of an engine ceased, voices would be heard, as members of the general public passed by on their way out, completely oblivious to the human cargo within an ordinary, nondescript car parked only a few yards from their own. At one point, the clatter of a child's footsteps could be heard just on the other side of the walls of their metal tomb, and then the high pitched chattering of a small girl - only inches away - before the sound of her mother's voice called her away.

So it was of no great concern at first, when the conversation of two approaching men filtered through the tight leather hoods that each of the boot's occupants wore. Until, that is, the sound of their footsteps ceased only feet away.

"Try this one."

The voice was followed a second or two later by someone tentatively pulling at a car door handle. And it was obvious straight away, from the clarity and closeness of the sound, that it was the car in which they languished that was being tested. And what's more, the door was heard to open!

"This one's unlocked. Quick get in."

The sound of the passenger door also opening was followed by a dipping motion in the car's suspension, as the two men climbed in. Amber, it seemed, had forgotten to lock the doors!!

"Quick, get it started before anyone sees us."

Lauren had heard about people hot-wiring cars to get them to start, but was amazed at how quickly this seemed to occur, as within no more than a minute - after a brief commotion as the panelling was removed from the steering column - the engine spluttered into life. Seconds later, after reversing a few yards, the crunching of the gears was followed instantly by the car accelerating away. Down the ramps at what seemed like great speed, with the wheels screeching at every turn, they soon reached ground level and pulled out into heavy, stop-start traffic. Although the conservation up front was muted by the constant drone of the engine, the men seemed agitated, as if they wanted to get as far away as possible in the shortest space of time. Their agitation, however, was nothing compared to the shock and fear that Lauren felt at that moment. And it was clear, from the way that the twins had begun to react by struggling and writhing in their bonds, that they too shared Lauren's disquiet at this latest turn of events.

What should they do? Was it in their best interests to make their presence known to the car thieves? Should they try to alert someone - anyone - out there as to what was happening? Or was it best to keep quiet and sit tight for a while, to see how events unfolded? Maybe they were just a couple of joy-riders, who would abandon the car after a few miles. Or perhaps there was something more sinister in their mission to steal a car.

Now out of the town and onto less congested roads, the vehicle picked up speed. But where were they headed? And what, if they were discovered in the boot, would become of Lauren, Jasmine and Jade?


Part 4 (added: 2015/11/29)

A shiver surged up Lauren's spine. But in stark contrast to the warm jolts of pleasure that had been coursing through her not much more than an hour ago, this shudder brought with it an icy chill and was born out of gut-wrenching fear. And if the nervous vibes given off by Jade and Jasmine were anything to go by, as they squirmed against their bonds in the tightly compacted space in which all three were trapped, it seemed that they too were experiencing the same levels of dread as their co-captive.

And the cause of the trio's state of disquiet was the fact that they were now the victims of a strange kind of kidnapping. Strange, insofar as the two men who had stolen the car were blissfully unaware- as yet - that they had abducted anyone. As far as they were concerned, all they'd done was steal a car; although their motives for committing this crime were as yet unknown to the three boot-incarcerated girls.

And to think that this Saturday morning had started so well, with Lauren willingly being bound, gagged and mummified in the cellar at the twins' house, whilst Jasmine and Jade tied each other up in a game they called their 'Endurance Challenge'. It was then that the twins' cousin, Mistress Amber de Sade, had turned up and decided to whisk them away to her dungeon. The trouble was that, having transported the trussed up trio into Ipswich, she'd left them in the boot of her car whilst she went on a lunch and shopping spree. And it was then, whilst they'd lain helplessly in their metal prison, that two men had taken the car; Amber seemingly having forgotten to lock the doors.

"What are we going to do?"

Lauren's question to her fellow travellers came out as no more than a whimper through the layered gags that she'd been wearing for some hours now. There was no answer from either the frantically struggling Jasmine in front of her, or the equally active Jade at her back, although whether this was because they couldn't comprehend the muffled nature of her query, or that they were too engrossed in their battle to extricate themselves from their bonds, Lauren couldn't be certain. One thing she was sure of however - although she took no comfort from this piece of knowledge - was that the twins were unlikely to succeed in their frenetic endeavours. For although they were experts at escaping from ropes and all manner of other bonds that they put themselves in, they had one more restraint than Lauren to contend with; namely that, under the cocoon of cling-film and the spandex sheath, as well as strict ropes they were also hampered by unbreakable steel handcuffs. And the handcuff keys were unavailable; presumably either left behind at the twins' house, or more likely in Amber's coat pocket. But Amber, of course, was no longer around. And if the twins couldn't make good their escape, then Lauren knew that there was no way in the world that she would be capable of getting herself free.

So Lauren's question was a good one - what were they supposed to do now? It was, however, only one of a number of similar quandaries that were running through her head at that moment. Such as, what would these men do when they found out that the vehicle they'd commandeered harboured a strange cargo of bound and gagged females? Should they make their presence known? Or simply keep quiet and hope to remain undetected? But if they chose the latter option, what would become of them? Although there again, if they were discovered, would their fate be any better? If the thieves were nothing but joy-riders, then they might well simply dump the car after they got bored. But on the other hand, didn't joy riders sometimes set fire to the vehicles they stole? Or push them into rivers or lakes? The thought of ending up being drowned in Alton Water Reservoir didn't really appeal at all. Although the girls' multiple gags precluded any meaningful whispered conversation taking place, all three seemed to have reached the conclusion that they would sit tight just for now and play it by ear as to when they made their presence known.

Mercifully, after having left Ipswich town centre, the journey through the Suffolk countryside lasted no more than a half an hour or so, although in Lauren's state of anxiety, it seemed like much longer. The car coming to a brief halt - with the engine still running - was followed by the sound of heavy metal doors being opened. Then the car surged forward again for no more than about ten yards, before once more braking. On this occasion, however, the engine's repetitive drone ceased and for a few seconds there was nothing but deafening silence from outside. The twins had, temporarily at least, put their fight for freedom on hold, as all three of the helpless occupants of the boot held their breath and waited to see whether they were about to be discovered. The silence was soon to be broken, however.

"Nice work guys. Just the sort of reliable motor we need for a getaway car. Any problems?"

"No it all went like clockwork. We didn't even have to break in, as the owner obviously forgot to lock the door. They're in for a shock when they get back and find it gone."

The conversation continued along these lines for a few minutes, and it was clear that there were now three men outside; the two who'd taken the car from the multi-storey car park and another, seemingly older man, who appeared to be in command, as the other two referred to him as 'Boss'. He, in turn addressed the two younger men as Carl and Al. The gist of the conversation seemed to be that the car had been stolen to act as the getaway car for a raid on a jeweller's shop that was to take place on Monday morning, although the precise location of this planned heist wasn't discussed.

From within the boot, Lauren and the twins listened intently, as this information filtered through the metal walls of their tomb. Aside from the sound of three young damsels in distress breathing into well applied gags, their silence had been admirably maintained until now. But having gone over their plans in some detail, one of the men asked a question, the answer to which would inadvertently turn out to be the girls' undoing.

"So Boss, what do we do with the car after we've stashed the stuff?"

"Take it somewhere remote and torch it, that way they'll be no forensics left to pin anything on us."

This remark sent a shiver of dread coursing through Lauren's veins. She'd been in a state bordering on panic ever since they'd been whisked away from the car park, but the fact that the eventual plan was to set fire to the car - with them possibly still in it - resulted in the terrified young woman involuntarily breaking their unofficial pact of silence. Although her outburst wasn't particularly loud - her gag made sure of that - it became apparent almost immediately that she'd been heard.

"What the hell was that?"

"Sounded like it came from the boot of the car. Go and have a look Carl. Perhaps there's a cat got itself locked in or something."

The sound of footsteps approaching the girls' hideaway was almost immediately followed by a creaking sound as the lid opened, accompanied by a dazzling light that caused Lauren to squint into the unfamiliar brightness.

"Fuckin' hell! Take a look at this!"

"What is it?"

Although her eyes were still adjusting to the light, Lauren looked upwards as the silhouetted outline of one man quickly became three.

"Strangest cats I've ever seen, Boss."

"What have you two idiots done?"

"Honest Boss, I swear, we didn't know they were here."

"Well how the hell did they get there then?"

"No idea, they must have been here all along."

"That's just bloody marvellous. Of all the cars to pick, you go and choose one that's got three women tied up in the boot."

"Sorry Boss. But the question is, what are we going to do with them?"

By now Lauren's vision had compensated sufficiently for the increased light to enable her to take in her surroundings. Jade had taken it upon herself to try to sit up, and Lauren took this as her cue to do likewise, although in her restrained state this was not an easy manoeuvre, and she immediately found herself falling back to the floor of the boot. Raising her head a few inches, however, allowed her to view the stark, empty cavernous interior of a deserted and derelict warehouse; the heavy doors that the car had entered by now standing shut only a few feet away. Jasmine was trying to communicate with the three startled men, although her plea for help seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"What are we going to do with them?"

The man who had initially opened the boot - presumably Carl - repeated his earlier question. He was in his late twenties, Lauren guessed, thin and gaunt with a shock of black hair and a wild-eyed stare.

"Shut up, I'm thinking."

The older man - the 'Boss' - stood glaring at the unexpected sight before him. He was probably in his early fifties, unshaven with greying brown hair. He remained silent for what seemed an age, during which time Jade reiterated her sister's plea for assistance in getting out of her bonds. Ignoring this, he finally spoke.

"Well we can't just let them go. They've all had a good look at us now and they'll be able to identify us. And my guess is that they heard us talking just now and know what we've got planned."

"Yeah but we can't keep them here indefinitely. They've obviously been kidnapped by someone, so how do we know the cops aren't on our trail right now? They'll think we abducted them."

This was Al, the other younger man, speaking now; well built, in his early twenties, with a chubby, red, blotchy face and a skinhead haircut.

The older man strode thoughtfully away to a distance of around ten yards, then turned and walked back again; a perplexed look on his face.

"What I don't understand is this. If they've been kidnapped, then why leave them in a public car park? Surely, if they were being held against their will, they'd have been screaming blue murder and kicking out at the walls. But you didn't even know they were there, right?"

The two younger men nodded in confirmation.

"So that suggests to me that they haven't been abducted. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they're here because they want to be. In other words, this isn't a kidnapping, but part of some kinky game."

A hoarse chuckle could be heard coming from the older man's throat as he finished speaking, which was the signal for his two sidekicks to join in the laughter.

"So, if they're into being tied up, who are we to spoil their fun?"

More laughter ensued for a minute or two, until the Boss seemed to decide that the joke was wearing a little thin. He frowned.

"But seriously though, we can't just set them free and let them go blabbing to the police. Get them out of the boot, see how they're tied up and make sure they can't get themselves loose. We'll keep them here overnight and then decide exactly what to do with them in the morning."

Lauren could only watch helplessly as Jade's shoulders were grabbed by this Al character. He quickly pulled her out of the confined space and held her upright while his partner-in-crime examined the straps that coiled around her from ankle to chest. It must have been apparent to both of them almost at once, that these weren't the only things encumbering her.

"She must be tied up within that bag thing. Take the straps off for a minute and let's have a look."

Whilst the Boss looked on, both of the younger men began undoing the tight belts, then eased the skin-tight spandex sheath down as far as Jade's waist.

"Bloody hell, look at all this stuff she's got wrapped around her. Whoever did this certainly didn't want her to get away."

"And look" the other suddenly exclaimed "she's tied up with rope underneath...and handcuffs too by the looks of it."

From her vantage point within the boot, Lauren too could see Jade's rope bonds and metal shackles through the transparent wrap. She was somewhat dismayed however, to see that Jade's fingers hadn't made any headway in prising an opening through the film in her bid to get free. She knew the twins to normally be adept in the art of escapology, so if Jade was incapable of making any progress - and assuming Jasmine was in the same boat as her sister - then the twins really had met their match this time. Which, Lauren grimly surmised, meant that all three of them were in big trouble right now.

Having satisfied their curiosity as to the state of her bonds, the order was given to pull the sheath back up to Jade's shoulders and administer the belts again "as tight as you can get them". After which, Lauren and Jasmine watched as the straps around Jade's face were removed, before the hood was loosened and eased up over her head. In what seemed like an avalanche, Jade's jet-black hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and filled with fear as Al examined the tape over her mouth, pressing it down firmly, even though it didn't appear to be in any way coming loose.

"She's really pretty. I wouldn't mind spending a bit of time alone with her."

He pulled Jade towards him as he uttered these words, which prompted her to attempt to squirm away. She had no chance of escaping from his clutches of course, but fortunately for her the Boss came to her rescue.

"You haven't got time for that sort of thing now. We're got far too many other arrangements to make if we're to be ready for Monday. Now get that hood back over her head and we'll secure all three of them so that there's no way they can get out of here. If my hunch is correct, they'll enjoy that."

Reluctantly, it seemed, Jade's would-be molester let his grip on her relax somewhat, before pulling the hood down over her head, lacing it up at the back, buckling it at the neck, then applying the two straps around her head again.

"Get the other two out and make sure they can't get free either. Then tie them to the pillars with that twine."

The Boss pointed to a table a few feet away, on which could be seen, amongst many other things such as hammers, crowbars and cutting implementing, several reels of what looked like nylon twine. Exactly what the original intended purpose of this cord had been, Lauren hadn't a clue, but it appeared that it was now going to be used to supplement their already not inconsiderable bonds. Once manhandled out of the boot, Lauren could now view the vast expanse of what had once clearly been an enormous storage area. At regular intervals across the floor, several sturdy concrete support columns rose up to the ceiling; the 'pillars' that the Boss had been referring to. It hadn't been many hours since she'd been taped securely to the plumbing in the twins' cellar, and it looked as if she was once more going to be moored to an immovable object. Only now, of course, rather than this being an exciting prospect, Lauren felt only dejection at the thought of what was to come. For it seemed that whatever fate their abductors had planned for them, it was very unlikely to be anything particularly pleasant. They'd inadvertently overheard plans for a robbery and could identify the thieves, so what options did the men have? Lauren was banking on the fact that these men, despite their criminal tendencies, were not in the habit of killing people, although there was no way of knowing for certain. But she had to cling on to this notion, as the alternatives didn't bear thinking about.

She shivered inwardly as Carl undid the top two straps around her chest and stomach, before proceeding to unsheathe her to the waist.

"This one's wrapped up in duct tape, Boss. Don't think she'll be getting out of that any time soon."

He turned back to Lauren and once more enclosed her upper body within the spandex; pressing his body against hers, his hands lingering much longer than was strictly necessary over her breasts, whilst eyeing her up with a sly grin on his face. His breath smelt of stale tobacco, and Lauren felt completely repulsed by his presence so close to her.

"Come on, hurry up and get them fixed to the posts. We've got plans to go through if we want this job to run smoothly."

With great reluctance, Carl complied, whispering in her ear "Maybe we can have some fun later, eh?" as he pulled the straps extra tightly around her upper body. This remark sent another shiver of fear coursing through her veins.

Lauren had been distracted for some minutes during the inspection of her bonds, so when she finally looked out across the room, she could see that Jade had been taken to one of the pillars and was currently being bound from shoulders to ankle by Al, with what looked like never ending swathes of the coarse twine. Jasmine - whose bonds had presumably been subjected to a similar level of scrutiny as her own - had been left propped upright against another of the identical columns; as yet unsecured but helplessly awaiting her turn. Through the small peepholes in Jasmine's hood, Lauren could see her friend's frightened eyes darting around the room; desperately seeking a means of escape but knowing deep down that none existed. From the furthest column, a stifled groan of pain came from Jade, as the thin twine was stretched around her to what looked like near breaking point. But it was obvious that it was resilient and hard-wearing, and the chances of it snapping were close to zero.

Lauren was made to hop across the floor to the column closest to the car and was placed with her back resting against the concrete. Then the winding of the twine commenced, and she felt herself being compressed ever tighter against the pillar, until she too was nestling in as close proximity to the cold surface as was humanly possible. Although already submerged under layers of spandex, tape and cling-film, the tight embrace of the twine could still be felt as it harshly dug into her flesh. Finally, after what seemed like the thousandth circuit of this unforgiving ligature, the final knot was secured, leaving her rigidly fixed to the extent that she couldn't move more than a fraction of an inch in any direction. Tuning her head to the left, she was just in time to see Jasmine's matching bondage being finalised, and she realised that their fate was sealed.

"Well ladies, we're going to have to leave you here for the night. I know you kinky little mares are into all this bondage malarkey, but I think it's only fair to let you know that if you do consider screaming for all your worth once we're gone, that you'll only be wasting your breath. This warehouse is situated in what used to be an industrial site, but now most of the buildings have been pulled down and those that are still standing are surrounded by high fences topped with barbed wire. Nobody can get within several hundred yards of here without wire cutters - unless, like us, you have a key to the gates, of course."

The Boss smiled mockingly and held up a bunch of keys, before turning to his companions.

"Right, we'll leave the getaway car here and I'll give you two a lift back to town. Make sure you secure the door properly. I know that the chances of them escaping are minimal, but I don't want to take any chances."

Reaching the doors, his final remarks before departure were once more addressed to his three motionless prisoners.

"We'll be seeing you again bright and early in the morning. I hope that Carl and Al's binding skills are up to your undoubtedly high standards and meet your approval. Enjoy your stay here tonight."

The doors slid shut, accompanied by the harsh noise of grating metal across stone floor. Then the sound of bolts slamming into place was followed by the clicking shut of three padlocks. Half a minute later, a car engine spluttered into life, revved up for a few seconds, reached a crescendo, then gradually died away into the distance.

The passing of time is a strange phenomenon. When you're happy, relaxed, excited, or just simply enjoying life, it passes in the blink of an eye, however much you try to hang onto the moment. On the other hand, in a situation that brings only pain, fear, boredom or anxiety, the seconds drag on like minutes and the minutes turn into hours.

And it was at a speed verging on the static that Lauren and her two co-captives found time crawling now, as they languished in the fading light of a late autumn afternoon. What little illumination there was emanated from a few small, mesh covered and dirt encrusted windows high up on one wall. And as day gave way to evening, so the darkness increased in intensity, until after what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality probably around two hours, the three captives were enveloped in a sea of blackness that perfectly matched their moods.

All three spent a great deal of this time trying to get free of their bonds; Lauren knowing that she hadn't a cat in hells chance of success, but still holding out some hope that the twins' Houdini-like skills would miraculously come to their rescue. But it seemed, as she gazed on in increasing despair at their futile efforts, that this was simply a forlorn hope. They were trapped here and no amount of struggling would ever get them out of this potentially fatal mess.

Understandably, they paid no heed to the Boss's advice concerning the futility of trying to draw attention to their plight. For as soon as the car engine had faded, all three had let rip with a caterwaul of sound, ninety percent of which had been soaked up in the layered gags that each wore. But he'd been correct of course, as no help had been forthcoming. Every now and again, each of the trussed up trio would occasionally reprise this desperate bid at seeking assistance; sometimes solo, whilst at other times as a duet or an improvised three-piece choir. But the only reply that reached their ears was the sound of the wind as it whistled through the old dilapidated building and occasionally shook the heavy metal door, or caused a window to rattle or part of the building's structure to creak.

At what must have been well after midnight, however, Lauren made a strange discovery. During one of the many brief but increasingly half-hearted attempts to get free, she inadvertently found herself pulling on her crotch rope. Since the theft of the car this afternoon, all her time had been taken up fretting over the worsening situation that they'd found themselves in, and she'd quite forgotten about this bond that had been placed upon her as an aid to pleasure. It was a strange situation, and one that caught her quite unawares, but there was no doubting that this unplanned rubbing of the tight rope between her legs had stirred something within her. Even taking into account the desperate circumstances in which she found herself, this brief accidental jerk on the rope had planted the seeds of sexual arousal within her. Why this should be, with her fate in the balance, Lauren had no idea, and part of her brain was repulsed by the realisation that she could be experiencing such emotions at a time like this. But another part of her brain seemed to overrule this more rational consideration, and a voice in her head seemed to be whispering "if you can't get out, you may as well get off".

Whether it was simply a release mechanism; a safety valve to ensure that the pent up fear and horror brought about by a grave situation was given an outlet to alleviate the tension and let off steam, Lauren couldn't be certain. What she now deduced, however, was that the failure to free herself from her bonds didn't mean that she couldn't find release in another way. Pulling the rope as far up into herself as she could, she settled into a rhythmic series of movements that began to send a warm tingling sensation coursing through her. Within a minute or two, she found herself once more vocalising into her gag, although now her cries were of elation rather than desperation. And although they were no more than vague shapes in the darkened warehouse, she sensed that the twins - Jasmine around ten yards away to her left, with Jade a further ten on the other side of her sister - had picked up on the mood of the moment and were also attempting to ensure that a bad situation was allowed to become just that little bit more bearable. Although the future of all three girls was in the balance, at least they might as well all go out on a high.

As before, all three bound and helpless females seemed to have an uncanny knack of synchronising their climaxes almost to the second. After the explosion that found her whole body straining against her bonds, Lauren, despite the uncertainty hanging over her and her friends, found herself relaxing for the first time since the car-jacking had taken place; her attempts to recapture the reason for being bound in the first place having been a success.

How long this sense of well being would have lasted if they'd been allowed to rest undisturbed, Lauren had no idea, but it can't have been much more than a couple of hours after the helpless females had shared their third group orgasm since yesterday morning, that the sound of a car engine - faintly at first, then gradually getting louder - broke the silence of the warehouse. It was still dark outside, although when she looked up at the windows, Lauren thought she could possibly detect the first light of dawn beginning to tint the blackness. Was this the kidnappers returning? Or was rescue at hand?

The clatter of the heavy doors being drawn back revealed it to be the former, much to Lauren's dismay. The shapes of the three men appeared in the open doorway, beyond which, she could make out the shapes of two vehicles in the dim early morning light.

"Well ladies, it's time to embark on a little trip to the coast. Everyone loves going to the seaside, don't they?"

The two younger men sniggered at the Boss's comment.

"Sorry it had to end like this" he continued "but we just can't have you opening your mouths to the cops. Try not to worry too much, it will all be over and done with nice and quickly."

He turned to his cohorts.

"Cut the twine and get them into the boot of my car."

It was at this juncture that Lauren noticed, as Carl came towards her, that he was carrying a large pair of shears in his hand. His colleague, who was making a beeline towards Jasmine, also carried a similar cutting implement. It took neither of them long to snip the still tightly restraining twine in several places, then unravel their captives from the remaining coils. As soon as he'd done so, Carl picked Lauren up and carried her in his arms out of the warehouse towards where the cars stood. There was a faint orange glow on the horizon, and the wind had now dropped, which suggested that there was an unseasonably warm autumn day in the offing. But for Lauren, the fineness of the weather was not something that she could take any great pleasure from at present, as it seemed that this might well be the last sunrise she would ever witness. She found herself tearfully pleading through her gag to be spared whatever gruesome fate the men had in store for her; promising that she and her two friends wouldn't tell a soul about the planned jewellery raid, or divulge anything else that might incriminate their captors. But her muffled words went unheeded, as within a few seconds she found herself being dumped unceremoniously into the boot of one of the waiting cars. Seconds later, Jasmine was thrown in next to her, followed a minute or so afterwards by the protesting Jade, who had put up quite a fight during the short journey from pillar to car, and had managed to kick out at Al as he carried her; catching him, it seemed, in a rather delicate region of his anatomy. When he finally wedged her into the confined space between Jasmine and Lauren, his face had become even redder than normal, and he had a severely pained expression on his face.

"Bitch!"

He spat the word out and raised his fist as if about to hit her, but the sound of the older man's voice directly behind him seemed to dissuade him from meting out any physical violence.

"Now now Al, calm down. You'll have your revenge on her soon enough. You and Carl take the other car and get going. Start getting prepared when you get there. I'll follow on in a few minutes, once I've shut this place up."

Al looked down at the three girls crammed into the tight space and hissed the word "bitches" through gritted teeth, then turned and headed towards the other vehicle, the engine of which was already running. Seconds after getting into the passenger seat, with a squeal of the tyres - which seemed to be Carl's signature style of driving - the car roared away. While the noise and the exhaust fumes gradually dissipated into the still morning air, the older man stood and watched as it disappeared into the distance. Then he turned back to his captive audience.

"I'm sorry that it all has to end so badly for you girls, I really am, but what alternative do we have? I guess that you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The problem we have is that you know our plans and can identify us, so really you leave us with little choice. Our hands are tied, metaphorically speaking... sorry, I guess that's in bad taste, given your circumstances."

Despite his apology, he seemed pleased with his pun, and a slight smile creased the corners of his mouth. Lauren, Jasmine and Jade, of course, were in no mood for jokes or wordplay, and all three began screaming for mercy - or failing that, praying that someone would hear their cries and come to see what the fuss was all about. But alas, there was no one in the vicinity, and the boot being slammed shut over them ensured that their gagged outbursts were further stifled by their encapsulation within the metal tomb. And after a minute or so it also became a mobile tomb, as the car bursting into life was accompanied by the sensation of motion.

The early morning roads of England's most easterly county must have been relatively free of traffic, as the car seemed to have hardly any need to stop or slow down during the journey. And although all three of the boot's inmates at some point or other during the journey attempted to kick out at the confining walls and ceiling of their prison, it seemed a forlorn hope that anyone would hear them. For around three quarters of an hour - at a guess - the car sped onwards, before slowing down for the final few miles as it seemed to wend its way through winding country lanes. Even before the boot was raised, Lauren could tell - from the salt-tinged air and the cry of the gulls - that they were close to the coast.

All three girls lay in silence now, as if knowing that there was no point in causing a commotion. Lauren found herself both wishing that the boot would open so that they had at least a chance of being spotted, and dreading it at the same time, due to the unknown nature of the chain of events that were to follow. She could sense Jade trembling beside her, and heard Jasmine whimper into her gag just a few inches away. She knew exactly how they both felt.

The boot opened to reveal a clear early morning sky, with the moon and a few brighter stars still visible and only a few scattered clouds in the distance. Overhead, gulls circled and screeched; the only sound other than the rapid breathing of three very frightened young women. The older man stood over them, and within seconds Al and Carl reappeared.

"Everything ready?"

Carl nodded.

"Good, we'll each carry one of them."

Carl needed no other prompt, and immediately reached into the boot, grasped Jade around the waist and hoisted her out, before slinging her torso over his shoulders and holding her legs to his chest. Without further hesitation, he began to walk away. No sooner had he disappeared than Al performed an almost identical procedure with Jasmine. This just left Lauren shuffling nervously towards the back of the now less cramped luggage space.

"Now be a good girl and I'll try to make sure this is as painless as possible. Try to fight me though, and things could get really nasty."

The Boss's ultimatum was delivered quietly and calmly, but the look in his eyes showed that he wasn't bluffing; if Lauren did anything to provoke him, a bad situation would be made far worse... if that were possible. As he lifted her out of the boot, Lauren gazed around through the tiny holes in her hood, in the hope that someone might be around to witness what was happening and raise the alarm. Away to the left she could see the ruins of a large church. Instantly, she recognised the location. For within the remaining crumbling walls of this ancient building stood another, smaller church, and Lauren knew that she'd been here before. This was Covehithe, once a thriving medieval town, but now, due to coastal erosion, no more than a small hamlet situated on a remote stretch of the Suffolk coast a few miles north of Southwold. As they passed the church gate, heading in the direction that Lauren knew led to the beach, a blue sign confirmed the location.

The Church of
Saint Andrew
Covehithe
Services each Sunday at 9:30 am

Although this was Sunday, it was obvious from the dim light that 9:30 was still more than two hours in the future, and there were no signs of life in or around the few scattered cottages in the vicinity.

The distance to the sea was, as Lauren knew, only a few hundred yards, and the journey took no more than a couple of minutes. Arriving on the beach, Lauren found herself being deposited on the sand, with the waves breaking on the shore around thirty yards or so away. Although the sea didn't look particularly rough at present, now that they were on the strand, a stiff breeze was blowing around the grassy dunes and eroded cliffs. To the south, the white structure of Southwold lighthouse was just visible in the first rays of the new rising sun; its beacon flaring out into the dawn twilight every few seconds. But what caught Lauren's attention and chilled her to the bone, was the scene immediately in front of her.

For there, newly excavated in the yellow sand, were three holes; each one around five feet deep. Carl and Al, shovels in hands, were putting the finishing touches to the pit nearest the waterline.

"Well ladies, I'm sure you can guess what these holes are for. The boys and I had a long chat after we left last night, and we decided that this was the easiest way to dispose of you. We're not violent men, you see, and none of us could face the prospect of actually physically killing you. So we came up with a plan. We're going to let the sea take care of that for us. Call us cowards if you like, but it was the only way we could think of that we didn't have to pull a trigger or tighten a noose around your necks. We could have just left you to starve in the warehouse, of course, but that would be a slow lingering process that could take days. At least this will all be over in an hour."

One of the twins began to scream, but her stifled cries seemed to be lost instantly in the breeze. Although Lauren was sure that she was experiencing the same emotions as her friends, for some reason the shock that seized her seemed to render her dumb, and she meekly whimpered into her gag at the prospect of a certain watery grave. This couldn't possibly be happening, could it? It must all be part of some horrific dream.

But unfortunately, the salt spray that stung Lauren's eyes and the clamour of the gulls as they squabbled and screeched in the encroaching surf, forced her to the conclusion that this was all for real.

The digging had stopped by now, and Lauren could only watch helplessly as Carl strode up the beach and grabbed Jasmine, before returning with this struggling, screaming bundle of bound female back to the site of his recent labours. She looked on in horror, as her friend was placed in a standing position in the hole furthest from the water. Her revulsion at what was happening increased by the second, as Al began shovelling the recently excavated sand back around the wriggling, spandex-sheathed woman, whilst his cohort held her upright. Slowly but surely, the sand filled the space around her, gradually thwarting her struggles as it packed around her thighs, her waist and her chest. After only a few minutes, the sand passed her shoulders. It seemed that Carl and Al had correctly judged their captive's height almost to the inch, for once the shovelling had ceased, the two men could be seen stamping down the recently replaced sand around their victim's neck. All that now remained visible above ground was Jasmine's hooded head. It was clear from the way she was straining, that she was desperately trying to thrust her body upwards and extricate herself from the now filled hole. But it was equally apparent that, in her state of extreme bondage, she was incapable of gaining enough momentum to be able to exhume herself.

This time, Al was the one to make his way up the beach and pick the next candidate for burial. He chose Jade. She too put up as much resistance as possible, but like her sister, she had no means of halting the two men's progress as they laid her to rest in the nearest hollow to Jasmine and began sealing her into what was, to all intents and purposes, her grave.

As Lauren watched the ever worsening situation, she found herself struggling with more gusto than she had ever done before. How had something that had started out as such a pleasant experience, turned into this life or death scenario? She silently cursed Amber for leaving them in the car park and forgetting to lock the car. She cursed the twins for introducing her to bondage in the first place, and getting her into this situation. But mostly she cursed herself for finding the lure of the ropes so enticing that she kept coming back for more.

For seemingly the thousandth time, she tried to wrench her wrists out of the tight ropes that had been her constant companion now for almost twenty four hours; simultaneously tugging on her leg bonds in an effort to find some means of getting away from these men who intended to leave her to the mercy of the sea. But, as she already knew, the combination of tight ropes, cocooning cling-film, duct tape, spandex sack and strict leather straps showed no sign of relinquishing their grip.

"You're a feisty one, I'll give you that much. But I'm afraid you're wasting your time."

Lauren had forgotten about the Boss, who, when she turned around to look, was sitting on the sand a yard or two away, watching his colleagues as they finally completed burying Jade up to her neck in compacted sand.

"Looks like it'll be your turn soon."

How could he be so claim when he was effectively sentencing them to death? Especially taking into account his earlier claim that none of them actually had the stomach for murder. But this conundrum was irrelevant now, as Lauren watched Al walking slowly up the beach towards her, with Carl visible behind him, resting on his shovel as he awaited her arrival. Although she knew evasive action had no chance of success, Lauren was determined that they weren't going to bury her without a fight. As he bent down to pick her up, she attempted to kick out at him. But unfortunately, having been caught unawares earlier, he was wary of another such attack, and simply grabbed her bagged feet as she swung them in his direction. Instead of picking her up, he simply began dragging her down towards the shoreline; Lauren's cries and pleas to be spared failing to make any impact on his conscience.

The chasm into which Lauren was pushed, feet first, was the closest one to shoreline, which meant that she came into close proximity to the hooded heads of both Jasmine and Jade, sticking out of the sand. She caught the eye of both of them as she was dragged passed, but neither could offer any sign of encouragement that they had dreamt up some great master-plan of how they might survive this ordeal. While Al held her shoulders steady - ensuring that she was facing out to sea - Carl began piling the soft damp sand into the crevice around her. She shivered as her knees became packed solidly into the surrounding beach, and could only beg for her life to be spared as the closely compressed grains adhered to the spandex sack. The sand piled ever higher by the second, as Carl went about his task with relish, until Lauren, like her two doomed friends, was encased to the neck. She watched as both Carl and Al's boots pounded the fine crystals only inches from her face. Once they were satisfied that she was solidly packed in, the voice of the Boss, from somewhere behind and therefore no longer in Lauren's range of vision, was heard again.

"Well ladies, this is it I'm afraid. We'll be off in a minute. Any last requests?"

Resigned to her fate, Lauren made no sound, as she recognised that this was just another cruel taunt. Jasmine and Jade remained silent too, presumably realising that nothing they could attempt to say would have any positive bearing on their situation.

"I'll tell you what we'll do. So that your last few minutes are that little bit more bearable, we'll take the hoods off and allow you to take in the nice fresh, bracing sea air. How does that sound?"

Almost immediately, Lauren saw Al kneel down in front of her and begin to remove the jaw restricting straps. Once loosened, the buckle around her neck was undone and the laces that had prevented the facial covering from slipping, gradually slackened until the hood could be pulled with ease over her ears and away from her head. The cool breeze hit Lauren's face immediately, and caused her long dark hair to stream out behind her. Craning her neck as far around to the right as her sandy tomb allowed, Lauren could just see that both Jasmine and Jade's hoods had also been removed, with their long dark tresses blowing uncontrolled in the wind that was blowing in off the North Sea. The tiny particles of sand hitting her face, and the coolness of the air around her head, made Lauren realise just how claustrophobic the tightly fitting leather had actually been, and if circumstances hadn't been so life threatening, she would have found herself feeling grateful to her captors for the removal of this head restraint.

"Right, we're off now. I hope that you don't suffer too much."

These were the final words uttered by the Boss, as he sauntered off in the direction of the church. Carl and Al followed him and within seconds all three had disappeared from view.

The sound of three helplessly buried young women wailing into their gags filled the air. But the breeze was getting stronger and their muffled calls mingled with the screaming of the gulls that circled and wheeled overhead in the early morning sunlight. From her low vantage point, Lauren watched the waves lapping at the shore around twenty yards or so from where her head protruded from the landscape. The fact that the flotsam and jetsam strewn from earlier high tides was on the landward side of their burial site seemed to prove that the tide was out at the moment, and this was confirmed after a few minutes as the water gradually crept, wave by incessant wave, towards where the three distressed damsels lay entombed.

Lauren tried desperately to propel her body up and out of the tight cavity, but the men had done an efficient job of packing the sand around her, and she found that she couldn't seem to obtain any upward momentum in her thrusting motions. The damp sand held her rigidly in an effective cast, from which there was no way of moving even a fraction of an inch in any direction; making her immersion in the ground the final supplementing strata of her layered and inescapable bondage. She turned her head as best she could to where the twins were similarly entrenched behind her, but it appeared they too could make no progress in their endeavours to extricate themselves. Another bout of screaming had no more effect than the first, and Lauren found her eyes by now brimming with tears. These were partially attributable to the wind-blown sand that was whipping into her face, as well as the salty air. But mostly they were as a result of an acute fear of imminent death by drowning. She watched helplessly as a bevy of lesser black backed and herring gulls came to rest in the surf; squabbling and squawking over the small crustaceans and other sea creatures being flung to shore amongst the seaweed and other detritus brought in by the tide. On the periphery of this melee, black headed gulls - smaller than their more querulous cousins, and now in their winter plumage - strutted across the strand; occasionally stopping and cocking their heads at the three unusual objects jutting out from the surrounding landscape. Lauren scoured the shoreline in each direction, hoping against hope that a dog walker or early morning jogger would chance upon them in their hour of need. But the beach and cliffs were devoid of human presence...

...or were they?

As the tide made its way irreversibly towards them, Lauren thought that she maybe heard the sound of voices. It was only for a second, before it seemed to fade away, and she began to fear that her mind was playing tricks on her; allowing her to make out, amongst the crash of the waves and the whistling wind, a sound that she most desperately needed and wanted to hear.

But there it was again. Closer this time it seemed. And if this was an aural illusion, it must be a shared one, because, from their renewed plaintive cries for help, it seemed that both Jasmine and Jade had heard something too.

Stretching her neck backwards as far as she could, Lauren gazed in the direction of the path that led back to the church, which was also the direction from which the sound seemed to be emanating. At first, the sand that stung her eyes, coupled with her recent tears, made focusing on the objects that appeared over the brow of the dunes difficult. Then, as the figures came closer, she thought that perhaps she was hallucinating. But no, these were real, flesh and blood human beings approaching, and there were four of them. But as their features became apparent, Lauren wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. For three of the four approaching party were males, and recognition quickly set in that this was Carl, Al and the Boss, returning to the scene of their crimes. But what made Lauren gasp with surprise - and not a little relief - was the identity of the fourth member of the group. For there, striding down the beach - leading the way, in fact - was a woman in an ultra-tight black latex cat-suit and knee-length leather boots. But although she wore a black hood over her face and head, which left visible only her eyes, nostrils and ruby red mouth, plus a long blonde ponytail which blew wildly in the breeze, Lauren was in no doubt at all as to the identity of this woman...

...It was Amber!


Part 5 (added: 2016/01/03)

The party of three men and their female companion walked - casually, it seemed - over the low sand hills towards the spot where Lauren's and the twins' heads poked out of the ever diminishing strip of beach. When they reached a point around ten feet away from the three stricken young women, the men stopped, leaving Amber to approach on her own. Lauren watched as the black boots of the dominatrix approached and halted right by her head; so close, in fact, that the scent of the leather mingled with the salty air. As she moved, the soft creaking of Amber's skin-tight latex cat-suit was audible over the crashing waves that were only a few feet away now...and getting nearer by the second. Amber looked down at her three helpless captives, a smile on her face as she surveyed the mayhem that - it was now obvious - had all been part of her devious plan.

"Well girls, how did you enjoy the little 'damsels in distress' scenario that I put together for you? I thought, as you all enjoy being tied up so much, that you wouldn't mind being 'kidnapped' and held captive by my associates for the night. The whole burial thing was a nice touch, don't you think? I hope it didn't stress you out too much. At least now, it should make being kept as prisoners in my nice warm and cosy dungeon a much more appealing prospect."

Lauren, who had in the past endured an extended period of time trapped in Amber's underground prison, knew it to be anything but warm and cosy, but at this precise moment she really didn't care. After staring what seemed like certain death in the face only minutes ago, the thought of being exhumed and held in bondage in any environment that wasn't life threatening, did indeed have its appeal.

A large wave crashed onto the sand and rolled up the beach to within around five feet of Lauren's head; causing Amber to avert her gaze seawards for a second or two, before turning her attention back to the three tape gagged heads that protruded from the sand.

"I guess we'd better be thinking of getting you out of there before the water gets any closer."

She called across to the men, who had been standing silently a few feet away.

"Ok guys, better start digging them out."

Carl and Al approached and - randomly, it seemed - chose to first excavate Jade and Jasmine out of their sandy tombs. Lauren squirmed nervously in her interred state. She was the one buried furthest down the beach, and therefore nearest to the inrushing tide and in more danger than either of the twins, so why dig them out first? Amber seemed to sense her unease and slowly crouched down in front of her, the shiny black latex on her thighs and knees seemingly stretching almost to breaking point in its tightness. She reached out her right hand and began stroking Lauren's furrowed brow; whispering in a hushed voice that was barely audible above the crashing waves and whistling wind.

"Don't worry my dear. I could never forgive myself if anything bad happened to you. We'll get you out of there soon enough, get you all cleaned up then have some fun back at my place. How does that sound?"

In all honesty, Lauren had mixed feelings about the sequence of events that Amber was suggesting. Yes, of course she was eager to be out of this restrictive sandy hell that she'd been in for the best part of an hour now, but what exactly was Amber proposing? Both yesterday, whilst in the twins' cellar, and now again this morning, Amber seemed to be paying a lot of attention to her, and making unspecified promises - or were they threats? - in respect of what she was going to do with Lauren once they reached her dungeon. What exactly was it that she was implying?

Another roller came crashing down only a few feet from Lauren's head; the sight of the surf rushing up the beach towards her face temporarily distracting her from the contemplation of Amber's intentions. All she was concerned about at that moment was being dug out before the water actually reached her. Luckily, this surge of frothing water peaked a few inches from her head, although she knew that the next one - or maybe the one after that, or the one after that - would eventually wash over her. She screamed long and hard into her gag, but still Amber showed no signs of urgency. To the right of her, Lauren now noticed another pair of boots stride into view, at which point Amber stood up from her crouching position.

"Where are my manners? I forgot to formally introduce you. This is Dave, he's...well not exactly a friend... let's just say that we help each other out from time to time."

Dave - the man Carl and Al had referred to as 'Boss' - bowed theatrically to the three captive women.

"I'm very pleased to make your acquaintances, ladies. I do hope that the service my colleagues and I provided was up to your usual high standards."

He took a step back and allowed Amber to continue with the story.

"As I said, this whole thing was set up to make you appreciate how wonderful your impending incarceration in my dungeon will be, compared to what you've just experienced. As soon as I left you in the car park, I phoned Dave and told him what was required. Everything you've experienced since then has been staged for your benefit, from the moment the car was taken from the car park yesterday afternoon, right up to your burial this morning. There was never any jewellery robbery being planned, of course, and Carl and Al were well aware that you were in the boot. You have to admit, these guys are pretty good actors, aren't they?"

Lauren had to concede that she'd been totally fooled by the whole thing, but was incensed at how Amber could have been so cruel as to put them through all this. But she had already drawn the conclusion that nothing that Amber did would surprise her anymore, which made the unknown nature of the day ahead even more unsettling.

Behind her, Lauren could sense that Jasmine had now been lifted from the sand, whilst Jade, too, was on the point of being pulled clear. With the waves encroaching ever closer, Lauren's anxiety grew by the second, as the exhumation of the twins seemed to have taken an eternity. It seemed, Lauren surmised, that digging someone out of a sand filled hole was a far more time consuming process than initially burying them.

Another big wave crashed down on the increasingly saturated sand and rolled up the beach at Lauren's eye level. This time it almost baulked and receded prior to reaching Lauren, although the last remnants of its momentum trickled into the slight trough around her neck and soaked the top of the spandex sack. It was obvious that she would soon be engulfed. Luckily Amber seemed to finally sense that time was running out.

"I think you'd better start extricating this one Carl. She's getting a bit nervous, what with the water about to ruin her hair and makeup."

She knelt down behind Lauren now, so as to be out of the way of the incoming breakers.

"And besides, the water might loosen that tape gag of yours. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

She patted Lauren gently on the head, as Carl dutifully pushed his spade into the sand only inches away from her face. Within seconds - with the twins now both exhumed and laid out higher up on the beach - he was joined by Al, as they worked in tandem to free the last remaining burial victim from her sandy encumbrance.

The next big roller - the biggest yet from Lauren's perspective - crashed down onto the beach only feet away from her head, surged around the two workmen's boots - almost knocking Al over in the process - before rushing into the hole that they'd dug. Lauren involuntarily screamed, as the cold liquid washed around her breasts, before gradually seeping through the spandex sack, oozing through any gaps in the duct tape and cling-film and finally saturating her cat-suit. As quickly as it had rushed up the beach, the water retreated, although for a few seconds a residual pool whirled around Lauren, before slowly draining into the surrounding sand. The two men redoubled their efforts now; although whether this was to ensure her safety, or the fact that they didn't want to be wading in ankle deep water, it was impossible to know. After only two or three more spadefuls of sand having been cleared, however, the next wave crashed into the hole with such force that the two workers recoiled for a second or two, to avoid the worst of the water's thrust. Lauren, though, took the full assault of this latest tidal surge, and briefly found her head submerged in the stinging brine. As the remains of this wave ebbed, she found her now saturated hair falling lankly around her face, sticking to her cheeks and temples. The waterproof properties of the tape that covered her mouth, however, stood up to the test, as even after being drenched, it showed no sign of releasing its grip on her flesh.

Carl and Al began frantically shovelling once more, and finally - after two more gigantic waves had washed over her - excavated deeply enough to allow them to grasp Lauren's shoulders and drag her out of the hole and onto dryer ground.

Lauren found herself being laid out beside the twins, neither of whom had been allowed out of the spandex sacks. Amber, who along with Dave, had been viewing the drama of the last few minutes from the vantage point of a tussock grass topped dune, now slowly wandered down to where all three of her captives lay.

"Well girls, that was exciting wasn't it? I guess you'll all be eager to get back to my place now."

She turned to Carl and Al, who stood to one side, seemingly finding great amusement in the spectacle of three bound and forlorn women.

"Okay guys, you've done a great job in teaching my young friends here a valuable lesson, namely that being in my clutches is not such a bad option after all. Would you just do one more thing for me? Take the twins up to my car and stash them away in the boot. I'll deal with this one."

Her eyes fixed on Lauren as she spoke the final sentence, a smile playing on her glistening red lips. She waited, however, until Carl had picked Jade up, and Al had done likewise with Jasmine, before they, led by Dave, had disappeared back towards the church and cottages of Covehithe. Only then did she crouch down on her haunches beside the soaked and shivering Lauren.

"That was quite a close thing back there. I was getting a little worried that the guys wouldn't get you out in time. Still, all's well that ends well, as they say."

Lauren visibly shuddered; partly from the cold water that had chilled her to the bone, but also partly due to the uncertainty surrounding her immediate future.

"Poor darling, you must be really cold and uncomfortable in all that wet bondage. I'll tell you what we'll do."

She bent forward and gently swept the straggly wet hair away from Lauren's eyes.

"We'll drive back to Jasmine and Jade's house and get you all cleaned up and refreshed. Then we'll head back to my dungeon where we'll have some fun. I'm sure after last night's little ordeal, you'd welcome a bit of bondage pampering, wouldn't you?"

She stood up and lifted Lauren into her arms, before beginning back along the pathway towards the church.

"Don't worry my darling, I know just the thing that will get you all warmed up."

The walk back to the church took only a couple of minutes. By now the sun had banished the netherworld of dawn, leaving a perfect autumn morning in its stead. As they approached the cars, Lauren was half expecting to encounter some unsuspecting passer-by out for a morning stroll, but the inhabitants of the hamlet still seemed not to have stirred. As they approached the church, Lauren recognised Amber's car, the boot of which was standing open with Carl and Al loitering close at hand, whilst Dave stood leaning against his own car nearby. As they reached the boot's gaping chasm, Lauren's downward gaze was met by two pairs of eyes - Jade's a deep green colour, with her sister's a pale blue - looking mournfully up at her from their resting place in the tight confines of the luggage space. Gently but deliberately, Amber laid Lauren in between the twins, with Jade at her back and Jasmine in front.

"Don't they look so cute and vulnerable?"

Al simply grinned and nodded, whilst Carl confirmed verbally that he was of the same opinion as Amber.

"Anyway, thanks for all your help yesterday and this morning guys. As promised, I've given Dave the money for your services, which I'm sure he'll be sharing out with you later."

She turned back to her three captives, as the men sauntered off.

"Say goodbye girls. I know you can't really express yourselves very well at present, but I'm sure you're very appreciative of all they've done for you."

And with that, the now familiar sound of a cat boot closing over their heads echoed around the metal chamber, simultaneously plunging them into darkness.

The drive through the Suffolk countryside must surely have been a pleasant one that bright Sunday morning. At least it would have been for anyone able to view the coastal heaths and ancient woodlands in all their autumnal finery, plus the quaint, timeless villages with their 'picture postcard' thatched and painted cottages. To Lauren in the cramped and windowless car boot, however, there was little to focus on save the monotonous hum of the engine and the aftermath of their seaside escapade; sand that seemed to have found its way through the layered bondage to act as a skin irritant, salt that still stung in eyes and nostrils, and residual water still sporadically gurgling in her ears. The twins had got off lightly, Lauren mused, as at least they had only been buried up to their necks in relatively dry sand. She, on the other hand, now also had to endure the journey in a near frozen state due to the saturation of her cat-suit in the cold North Sea. Together, these factors all added up to a not particularly pleasant journey.

Mercifully, due to the body heat generated from being wedged in close proximity to both Jasmine and Jade, by the time the journey came to an end - after around three quarters of an hour by her own rough estimate - Lauren had begun to warm up slightly. As the boot opened, she could see the familiar back door of the twins' parent's house standing open a few feet away. For several seconds Amber stood over her three young captives, a slight smile on her lips as she surveyed the bedraggled trio. They must have looked a sorry sight, Lauren imagined; spandex sacks encrusted in semi-wet sand, with hair unkempt, tangled and matted.

"Right let's get you inside girls."

She reached in and picked Jasmine up, then shut the boot down on the two remaining occupants.

"Bet you never thought you would see this old house again, did you?" she was heard to ask as she carried Jasmine into the house.

About five minutes elapsed before Amber returned, during which time Jade squirmed and wriggled in her bonds; still believing, apparently, that a Houdini-like escape was on the cards. Her efforts must have been sufficient to make the car shake slightly, for as soon as Amber reopened the boot, she was aware of her cousin's antics.

"You never learn do you Jade? Still, it gives me an excuse to add another layer or two to your bondage, just to make certain that you don't get lucky with all that struggling."

She reached into the back of the boot - her tight latex clad body gliding smoothly across Lauren's wet spandex - and hauled Jade out. She glanced back at Lauren.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'll just deal with this one, then I'll be back for you."

The boot slammed shut, leaving Lauren alone in the darkness. For what seemed like ten minutes, she waited in the long, drawn out silence; both fearful of Amber's return and anxious to be out of this now rather damp and musty confining space. Hadn't Amber promised her the chance to freshen up and get out of her wet attire? The thought of being out of the sodden cat-suit was really most appealing, although she knew for certain that her time in bondage wasn't likely to end any time soon.

At last, the boot opened and Amber lifted her final captive out and held Lauren's bedraggled form closely to her as they made their way indoors. The house seemed warm and inviting as they headed for the kitchen, where Lauren was once more reunited with her friends; the reason for the delay between the twins being taken inside and her own release from the boot, now becoming evident.

Both Jade and Jasmine were now lying on the kitchen floor. Shorn of the leather straps and the spandex sacks that they'd been interred in, and with the layers of cling-film now removed, their wrists still retained the steel handcuffs that had been the stumbling block to their escape attempts for almost twenty four hours. The ropes around their legs also remained, as did the crotch ropes. To compensate for the loss of their outer layers of bondage, however, more rope and duct tape had been added. But the major difference between the last time Lauren had laid eyes on her partners-in- bondage and now, was that before, the twins had been able to struggle and squirm independently of each other, whereas now they were no longer able to function as individuals, but had now been melded together to form one single, writhing entity. In other words, Amber had placed them face to face, then set about roping their legs and torsi together, before encircling the duo in yards and yards of grey duct tape. The end result being that they were lashed in close proximity to each other. And just to add insult to injury, she'd forced their heads into tight leather hoods. Unlike the headgear that both they and Lauren had been wearing during their kidnap ordeal, these latest hoods lacked eye holes, thus leaving both twins visually incapacitated. The muffled moans coming from beneath these leather enforcers of sensory deprivation, hinted that their gags had been left in place.

Lauren was given no more than a fleeting moment to gaze upon her closest friends, however, before Amber carried her into the hallway and headed for the stairs.

"We'll leave the twins there to ponder their fate for a while, shall we? In the meantime, I think I'm right in saying that you'd probably like to get out of those wet things and enjoy a nice warm bath."

It took Lauren several minutes to realise that, for once, Amber wasn't playing mind games, and that she really was going to be allowed to relax for a while. And even more incredibly, she was to be afforded the luxury of being free from bondage...well almost.

Having set Lauren down on the bathroom floor, Amber set the water running and poured in an ample measure of bubble bath liquid, before slowly beginning to remove the leather straps and unsheathing her from the wet, sand encrusted body-bag. This having being achieved, Amber then set about cutting away the layers of duct tape and cling-film that had been her cocoon for the previous twenty four hours. Once this was discarded, Amber began untying the ropes that held Lauren's legs in check; her hands intermittently stroking the soft spandex fabric on Lauren's thighs. She licked her lips playfully as she released the crotch rope; her fingers lingering longer than was strictly necessary between her helpless captive's legs. Lauren shuddered, but whether this was through distaste at the intimate nature of Amber's advances, or in anticipation of the same, even she wasn't certain. But it seemed that Amber was merely teasing her - for the time being at any rate - as she soon retracted her hand and turned her attention to other, more practical matters.

With the expertise of someone accustomed to working with ligatures and knots of many differing types, she quickly loosened and removed the strict latticework of rope that encircled Lauren from shoulder to waist, before also setting Lauren's upper arms free from the elbow bond. Now with only her wrists still tied, Lauren felt Amber's hands sneak under her armpits from behind and gently caress her breasts. She whispered softly in Lauren's left ear.

"Okay darling, the bath's just about ready for you. Now I'm going to untie your hands in a minute, but you have to realise that you're still my prisoner, and if you try to escape...well, you're an intelligent girl, and you know that upsetting me isn't a particularly smart thing to do. Am I making myself clear?"

Lauren nodded, and made a sound through her gag that she hoped would convey that she understood. Amber walked over to the bathtub, tested the water, seemed satisfied with the temperature and came back over to where her subdued captive still sat on the floor. Pulling her to her feet, she swiftly untied Lauren's wrists and allowed her a few seconds to exercise her stiff limbs.

"Okay, you can take that nasty damp cat-suit off now and get into the bath."

With fingers still tingling as the blood began to course freely to her extremities after so long in bondage, Lauren fumbled with the zipper that would allow her to remove her skin-tight garment. She was grateful that she was about to be rid of the wet fabric that clung to her, but also self-conscious at the realisation that she would soon be naked in Amber's presence. Although she deliberately avoided eye contact with her captor, she sensed that Amber was watching her every move. Finally, with the spandex in a crumpled heap at her feet, Lauren turned towards the bath, one arm across her breasts, the other covering her crotch.

"Come on sweetie, don't be shy. Get into the bath and have a long soak."

Lauren complied with Amber's request...or was it an order? She was pleased with the fact that the bubbles acted as a screen once she had immersed herself, which made most of her anatomy invisible to her onlooking admirer. The water was warm and soothing, and the scent from the bubble bath made her feel drowsy almost immediately. Instinctively, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. But suddenly she was alert again, as she felt a hand grab her right ankle. Her involuntary squeal made her realise that she was still gagged, and she watched wide-eyed as Amber placed one bracelet of a set of handcuffs around her ankle. Several clicks followed as the steel closed tightly against her flesh, before her tormentor pulled her foot towards the far end of the tub and clicked the second bracelet shut around the base of the cold tap; thus ensuring that Lauren was unable to get out of the bath.

"Okay my little plaything, I'll leave you to relax and get yourself cleaned up for about twenty minutes or so. There's shampoo on the side to get the sand and salt out of your hair. Don't go away, I'll be back soon."

She blew a kiss as she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

Lauren peeled the tape from her mouth and spat out the rolled up tights that had seemingly filled her mouth forever. She washed as best she could, then worked the shampoo through her hair and submerged momentarily beneath the rapidly decreasing bubbles, in order to rinse the lather out. It was a relief to get out of her wet clothes, and also to find herself - temporarily - free from her bonds. She knew that she was going to be bound again - that went without saying - and she had no problem with that. In fact, even after the shock and despair of last night, she found the lure of being once more tied up a turn on. Her only worry now was the Amber's unpredictability. Was she really interested in her sexually, or was this just a game? At this very moment, the ambiguity of the situation was the one thing on the horizon that was, more than anything else, giving her cause for concern.

The creaking of the door signalled Amber's return.

"Well kitten, I hope you're feeling all nice and refreshed now."

She pulled the plug out and allowed the water to drain away, leaving Lauren sitting in the rapidly emptying bath, her ankle still shackled to the tap. Once the water had all gone, leaving only a residue of bubbles, Amber finally released Lauren's foot, helped her out of the bath and wrapped her up in a large bath towel.

"Dry yourself and get dressed. I've brought you some fresh clothes, as that cat-suit of yours will need a wash before you can wear it again. I hope the costume I've brought for you will be to your liking."

Lauren noticed for the first time that Amber had deposited two items of clothing on the floor. One of which she could see was a pair of black tights, the other - also black - seemed to be made from the same material as Amber's outfit.

"You've got five minutes." She gestured towards the garments. "That cat-suit belongs to one of the twins, but as you're about the same size, it should fit you like a glove. Once you're dressed, I want you to handcuff yourself behind your back. Don't try anything stupid, will you? I want those cuffs to be nice and tight around your wrists when I return."

She placed the cuffs on the edge of the bath, kissed Lauren gently on the forehead, then beat a hasty retreat, closing the door behind her again.

Lauren dried herself on the soft towel and pondered her next move. For the first time in more than a day she was unencumbered by any form of bondage. Should she try to escape? As far as she could tell, Amber hadn't locked the door, so what was to stop her making a dash for freedom? But what if she happened to be waiting just outside? Was Amber, in fact, hoping that she would make such a move, in order to give her an excuse to mete out some form of punishment? Having quickly weighed up all her options, Lauren decided to comply with Amber's commands. And besides, the idea of placing her hands in the bracelets of steel and hearing the ratchets slowly click shut around her wrists had sent a thrill rushing through her. Even though she still had misgivings about Amber's intentions, the thought of once more being a helpless prisoner seemed quite an appealing prospect.

Lauren slipped the tights over her feet and pulled them up to her waist, before holding the one piece latex suit out in front of her and examining it for a few seconds. Inserting her left foot into the leg, she slowly eased the alien garment up to her thigh; the latex gliding over the tights effortlessly. Having executed a similar manoeuvre with her right leg, she eased the strangely textured outfit over the rest of her body and manoeuvred her arms into the sleeves. Once ensconced up to the neck, she dexterously reached around and pulled the zipper up behind her. She turned and gazed in the mirror. The cat-suit was an extremely tight fit, and moulded to every curve of her slim young figure. She ran her hands over high thighs and gradually worked upwards over her hips and up to her breasts. Her spandex suit had been tight and comfortable, but this was an entirely new sensation for her. The way that the tight latex seemed to constrict and squeeze her all over made her realise that this was in effect a form of bondage in itself. She could see now why Amber habitually wore such attire.

The thought of Amber- and specifically her imminent return - broke Lauren's reverie and caused her to focus on the matter in hand; namely to get herself into the shackles that her been provided for her. Slipping her left wrist into the bracelet then securing it was easy enough. Getting the second ring of steel to shut around her right arm whilst holding both hands behind her back, however, proved more of a trial. After three or four attempts, however, she finally managed to correctly align the two arms and push with enough force to allow the ratchets to slide irreversibly into their intended socket. And not a moment too soon, for just as the last metallic click had signalled her inability to pull her wrist free, the door opened and Amber once more appeared. Immediately she bid Lauren turn around, to enable her to view her victim's self bondage efforts. She grabbed and inspected the handcuffs and, finding them secured to her satisfaction, turned her captive around to face her again. She smiled.

"Okay darling, I'm just about to help the twins get washed and cleaned up, and I thought perhaps you'd like to witness the event. This will show you just how privileged you are to have been allowed a nice hot bath."

Lauren had no idea what Amber meant by this, but within seconds she was powerless to ask. It was obvious that the rolled up tights that Amber held up to Lauren's lips were not an option that she could accept or reject, so she meekly allowed the ball of material to be packed into her mouth. Duct tape being wound several times around her head completed the silencing process.

Fixing a dog collar and chain around Lauren's neck, Amber led her compliant detainee out of the bathroom, along the corridor and into a room that Lauren had never been in before, but which she knew to be Jasmine and Jade's parent's bedroom. This wasn't their final destination however, as leading off this master bedroom was an en suite shower room. As they entered, Lauren gasped as she noticed that the twins were already ensconced within the small cubicle. They were no longer bound to each other or hooded, but had been stripped of their cat-suits and stood naked in the tiny confined space. They still retained the handcuffs, as well as being gagged in similar fashion to Lauren. Their legs were also bound in several places, and each leant against the wall of the cramped space, their hair rat-tailed and tousled. As their cousin appeared, their eyes widened with what could only be described as fear.

It was obvious to Lauren that the method of cleansing the twins was going to be in stark contrast to her own bathing experience. However, as Amber slid back the Perspex shower screen, Lauren could only watch in horror as the temperature dial - until now set half way between the blue and red extremes - was turned to its fullest extent towards the blue - and therefore cold - end of the spectrum. Turning the water on, Amber quickly retracted her arm and closed the door, which coincided with two simultaneous screeches of anguish emanating from two well gagged mouths. As the freezing water struck, both twins tried desperately to take evasive action by cowering as far into the corners of the booth as they could. But it was impossible to elude the freezing spray that cascaded onto their bare skin, chilling them to the bone and causing goose bumps to rise on their breasts and their nipples to quickly stand to attention.

Now standing beside Lauren, Amber spoke softly; seemingly amused by her cousins' discomfort.

"Aren't you glad now that you didn't have to go through this procedure? I hope this shows you just how honoured you are, and makes you realise that I don't favour everyone with such special treatment."

Lauren wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

For what must have been fully five minutes - but undoubtedly felt like ten times longer to Jasmine and Jade - Amber allowed the torrent to gush unabated onto the helpless duo. Finally, however, she seemed to decide that the decontamination process had run its course and reached in to turn off the incessant flow. By now, Jade was crouched and quivering in one corner, whilst Jasmine stood on her tiptoes, squeezing her body as close to the wall as was humanly possible. With the cessation of the deluge, Amber pulled the screen back to its fullest extent and helped her two shivering and bedraggled relatives out of the cubicle. Nonchalantly, she threw a bath towel around each of them, before grabbing Jade by the shoulders and forcing her to hop back into the bedroom. Attached to the wall beneath the window stood a sturdy radiator that was pumping out heat into the room, and Lauren now noticed that, attached to the pipe-work, Amber had locked one bracelet of a set of handcuffs. Forcing Jade to sit on the carpet with her back to the radiator, Amber reached behind her shivering and dripping wet prisoner and swiftly secured the empty bracelet of this set of cuffs to the connecting chain of the set she already wore, thus anchoring her to the building's heating system. For an action replay, she performed an identical procedure on Jasmine; securing her to the far end of the six feet long radiator from the spot where her sister was moored.

"There, that should get you both dry in no time."

She turned her attention back to Lauren.

"We'd better think about getting that hair of yours dry before we take a little trip back to my place. Wouldn't want you to catch pneumonia now, would we?"

She held up a lock of Lauren's rat-tailed hair for a second or two, before allowing it to fall back limply around her shoulders. Without further ado, she grabbed the chain that hung over Lauren's breasts and immediately began to lead her out of the bedroom and back downstairs. Reaching the main living room, Lauren saw that there was a log fire burning in the grate. Gently coaxing Lauren down onto the fireside rug, Amber produced a silk scarf and quickly fashioned a blindfold that she tied tightly at the rear of her head.

"Don't go away. I'm just going to get something to bind your legs with. I won't be moment."

Lauren was left sitting in the warmth of the fire for less than a minute, before she felt her feet being placed side by side and, true to her word, Amber proceeded to bind first her ankles, then her knees, with what felt like soft rope.

"We'll be leaving in about an hour, so try to relax and get some rest."

The warmth from the fire, plus the fact that she'd had very little sleep the previous night, conspired to lull Lauren very quickly into a state of slumber. When she awoke, the raging fire in the hearth had subsided down to mere embers that crackled every so often as they slowly cooled. But it wasn't the noise of the disintegrating logs that prompted the disturbance of her period of rest, but a sound that she recognised - once she'd regained her senses - as that of duct tape being ripped from a reel. Almost immediately, she felt her legs being surrounded again and again, as the tape adhered to the tight latex of the cat-suit. For several minutes the tape continued to encircle her lower limbs, gradually working its way up from her ankles to her waist, via calves, knees and thighs. Lauren had been expecting that the tape would continue its upward journey to her shoulders and encompass her arms within the developing cocoon, so she was surprised to find that her abdomen was the limit of the mummifying process.

A second surprise was the sensation of her blindfold being removed, although she guessed - wrongly as it transpired - that this might merely be a temporary measure.

And to complete the hat-trick of surprises, Lauren watched as Amber picked at the end of the tape gag with her fingernails, before beginning the slow and somewhat painful process of stripping the tape from her face. With her lips stinging as the final piece came free, Lauren instinctively tried to spit the tights out, but Amber's hand, backed up with a softly spoken but firm rebuke, dissuaded her from this course of action.

The amount of time Lauren's mouth spent unhindered by clinging tape, however, could be measured in seconds rather than minutes. For lying on the rug beside the kneeling Amber, as well as the several customary reels of grey duct tape used for the mummification process, Lauren spied a cuckoo in the nest - a spool of tape different in colour which, when Amber began to loosen the end, proved to be transparent. This tape - comparative in width and adhesive quality to its grey relative - instantly found its way across Lauren's mouth and around her head; leaving her capacity for vocalisation once more severely muted. Lauren was perplexed by this seemingly unnecessary change, but Amber seemed to sense her confusion and obligingly explained the situation for her.

"I've decided, for our next little jaunt in the car, that instead of you riding in the boot with my two cousins, you might like to sit beside me in the passenger seat. This means, of course, that having ugly grey tape smothering your face really wouldn't be a good idea. What if someone was to see you like that? This clear tape will be a bit harder to detect."

She gently but firmly smoothed the tape down over Lauren's mouth.

"There's just one more thing I need to do to make your face look realistic."

Amber produced a tube of bright red lipstick - the same colour, by the look of it, as she wore herself - and swiftly began drawing the shape of a mouth on the tape. After admiring her artistic design for a second or two, she pulled Lauren to her feet.

"That's perfect. See what you think."

There was a mirror situated on the far wall of the room, in the direction of which Amber now made Lauren hop until she was in a position to see her own reflection. The image that stared back at her was of a young woman whose face was clearly taped up, with a bright red and, quite frankly, grotesque caricature of a smiling mouth painted over it. This would, Lauren knew for certain, fool nobody. Amber must surely have known this, but still seemed pleased with her efforts.

"Okay, I think we're just about ready to go. I put the twins in the car while you were asleep, so it's time we made a move."

Lauren, with Amber's arm to steady her, was made to hop out of the room, down the hallway, through the kitchen and out into the sunlight. Amber's car stood directly outside. She briefly opened the boot to reveal Jasmine and Jade wedged inside; now attired in latex cat-suits that matched her own, and with tightly fitting handcuffs adorning their lower arms. These had then been supplemented with so much rope from shoulder to ankle, that the abundance of the white bonds seemed greater in visual proportion than the shiny black garments beneath. Their heads were once more hidden beneath leather hoods that rendered them sightless. Whether Amber's purpose, in allowing Lauren this insight into the trials and tribulations that the twins were being forced to endure, was to make Lauren feel grateful or flattered, was not clear. Perhaps, it was a warning that, although she was being treated more favourably, the punishment - should she choose to disobey or in any way upset Amber - would be to have her privileges revoked and to rejoin her friends.

Whatever the reason, Lauren's view of her friends was fleeting, as after only a few seconds, Amber slammed the boot shut and promptly ushered Lauren into the front passenger seat of the vehicle, before stretching the seat belt across her chest and fastening it. Having assured herself that Lauren was secure in her seat, Amber came around and eased her latex clad form behind the wheel, before securing her own belt and removing the leather hood from her head. She started the engine.

"Okay honey, here we go. If we encounter anyone on the road, just smile sweetly at them."

It was now late morning, and the day's early promise - from a meteorological perspective - hadn't disappointed. Even so, the sun-soaked country lanes were relatively devoid of human presence. On only one occasion did Lauren think that her taped face and unnatural smile might have been noticed, and this was when Amber had to stop briefly at a crossroads to give way to a cyclist. The woman -probably about the same age as Lauren - turned momentarily to stare through the windscreen directly at her. Eye contact was made, but instead of the shock that Lauren had expected, the woman merely smiled and raised her hand in acknowledgment of them having allowed her right of way, before turning her attention back to the road ahead.

Although she had been imprisoned in Amber's dungeon on one previous occasion, and she had gleaned - from the twins - that it was situated in a derelict, boarded up manor house somewhere in the wilds of rural Suffolk, Lauren had never actually seen the building before. Nor did she possess any idea of its precise location. Hidden from the road by thick woods, the once grand exterior was now crumbling and dilapidated. Part of the roof had caved in, and what had once been an elegantly manicured front garden was now overgrown and strewn with fallen masonry and tiles. The downstairs windows had all been secured against intruders with sheets of solid metal, whilst those upstairs - many of which were broken, or missing their panes completely - gazed out like empty black eyes into the surrounding trees. Amber negotiated the pot-holed track that led to the front door then manoeuvred the car between the larger pieces of fallen brickwork and other debris, before stopping within a few feet of the metal obscured front door. Lauren watched as Amber killed the engine and, now that there was no one else around, once more squeezed her head into the contour hugging confines of her black latex hood; adjusting her long blonde ponytail so that it sprung fountain-like from the back of her head.

The way in looked impassable, but Amber clearly knew otherwise and within seconds the entrance restricting metal obstacle had been removed to reveal the original sturdy oak front door - once painted dark green, but now dirt encrusted and peeling. Amber selected a key from a huge bunch that she retrieved from her bag and within seconds Lauren witnessed the door swing slowly open. Inside, the view was one of impenetrable blackness.

Their passage into the house now free from obstructions, Amber came back to the car, opened the passenger door and released Lauren's seat belt. After being hauled into an upright stance, the chain around Lauren's neck received a sharp pull as Amber began leading the way into the house, leaving Lauren with no option than to hop forward in her captor's wake. The floorboards creaked as they journeyed along the hallway; the darkness becoming ever more enveloping by the second. After a few steps/jumps however, they stopped beside a door on their right hand side. Sliding two heavy bolts back - one at the top, the other close to the floor - Amber somehow located a key from the overcrowded ring in the darkness, and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, she flicked a switch on the wall just inside and instantly a dim light pervaded the blackness ahead, revealing a flight of stone steps leading into the bowels of the earth.

"The benefit of having your own generator installed." Amber informed her captive, just in case Lauren happened to be perplexed about the presence of electricity in an otherwise uninhabited house. But in reality, she had far more to occupy her mind than power sources at that moment. As Amber walked backwards with her arm around her bound victim's waist, the helpless Lauren was eased down the steps one jump at a time, in what was to prove a nerve-wracking few moments, as there was no safety rail on their right to prevent either or both of them plummeting into the dark cavern below, should one of them stumble. To her relief, the bottom was reached with no mishaps, however, at which point Lauren was lead over to the far side of the chamber. There she was eased onto the stone floor and left in a sitting position with her back against the wall.

After the warmth of the log fire, followed by the unseasonably warm autumn sunshine streaming through the car windows, the significant drop in temperature in this subterranean hovel caused Lauren to visibly shiver. Although her next actions had undoubtedly been planned in advance, Amber used this as an excuse to further encase her already helpless detainee.

"Aw! Is my little plaything getting cold? We wouldn't want you to catch a chill now, would we?"

Even as her rhetorical question was being uttered, she was seen to grab a black darlex sleep-sack from her stash of bondage supplies, before taking hold of Lauren's taped legs and deftly shepherding them into the snug but yielding sheath. Encasing Lauren as far as her neck, Amber supplemented this latest affront to her victim's liberty with several strategically placed leather straps; the lowest embracing her ankles, with further ones clinching her tightly at the knees, thighs, waist and chest. But still Amber hadn't finished.

A strong metal ring could be seen protruding from the stonework just to the left of where Lauren sat, at approximately the level of her neck, and it was through this immovable mooring point that Amber threaded Lauren's chain several times before securing it in place with a padlock. The length of chain left between her neck and the wall couldn't have been more than six inches or so now, which effectively meant that she was unable to move her head more than this distance away from the cold stone. Amber now stood back to admire her latest bondage creation, slowly walking from left to right to view her work of art from every perspective. She seemed pleased with her endeavours.

"Right, I guess I'd better get those two cousins of mine inside before they begin to think that they've been abandoned and start trying to draw attention to themselves. Don't go away, I'll be right back."

She smiled and winked at Lauren, before heading towards the stairs.

The interval between Amber's latex clad derrière disappearing into the cellar's gloom and her return with the first of the twins slung over her shoulder, couldn't have been much more than two minutes. Another similar time-span would also elapse whilst she repeated the journey with the second identically trussed up young woman. In these interludes, however, Lauren had taken the opportunity to explore the restrictive qualities of her latest diverse array of bonds. Ropes, handcuffs, duct tape, chain, darlex body-bag and stringent belts all conspired to assure her that she had no means of escape. But that didn't worry her one iota. The experience of being tied up in as many layers as this had now become something she craved, and the chance to test her bonds to their limits by struggling and squirming never failed to instigate the first stirrings of arousal. So what if Amber's attentions seemed to be getting a little out of hand? Being in bondage was, for Lauren, the thing she now lived for. Amber had been negligent in one crucial department however, and that was in her failure to secure any kind of crotch rope. But maybe this was deliberate.

Maybe Amber planned to...

Her daydream was interrupted as Amber dumped the second of the bound pair on the stone floor. Without delay, she began to release the lacing on the back of the head of the first twin, before easing the hood off. A cascade of still not entirely dry raven-black hair tumbled around the young woman's shoulders; the pale blue eyes that blinked in the unfamiliar light indentifying this as Jasmine. Amber knelt down beside the still sightless Jade and reached around the back of her head, in what was presumably intended to be a similar hood removal. Her plans were to be unexpectedly interrupted, however.

A faint sound of creaking wood first alerted Lauren to the possibility that the four women were not the only people occupying the premises at that moment. Or was it just the wind that had inched the door open slightly and caused that noise? The latter theory would almost instantly become redundant, as the sound of footsteps descending the stairs reached her ears. And it was obvious, from the way Amber swiftly rose to her feet, that she too had sensed the proximity of the intruder. The blurred outline of a figure appeared at the foot of the stairs, his features gradually sharpening as he approached the end of the room in which all four women were assembled. The noise that emanated from Lauren's taped mouth was both a gasp of surprise and, to a certain extent, a sigh of relief that this wasn't someone completely unknown that had invaded the cellar. For she now recognised the man who had advanced to within a few feet of Amber; it was the kidnapper/ actor Dave - or the 'Boss' as Lauren had originally known him. Her relief at seeing a familiar face, however, was tempered by the fact that he appeared to be rather unhappy about something or other. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a brown envelope, from which the tops of a substantial wodge of banknotes could be seen protruding, and held it out to within inches of Amber's face.

"What the fuck is this?"

His voice was low, but clearly conveyed a barely concealed anger. Amber looked at the package, then back at Dave.

"That" she said, with what Lauren interpreted as an air of arrogance "is the five hundred pounds I promised for the work you and your cronies carried out yesterday and this morning."

Dave's temper was clearly boiling over, and his face reddened.

"Each! It was supposed to be five hundred each! Five hundred for Carl, five hundred for Al, and five hundred for me!"

Amber met his belligerent stare with disdain.

"Don't be absurd Dave. You know as well as I do that what you did wasn't worth that sort of money."

"But that's what we agreed woman! And now you're trying to short-change us? Now give me the rest of our cash, or I swear you'll regret this!"

The decibel levels of his voice had now been upped to what could only be regarded as within the range commonly known as shouting.

"Really Dave? Do you have anything in writing to back up your claim? Of course you don't. Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to leave. I've got more important things to do than quarrel with you all day over a pittance."

Amber's contemptuous riposte was followed almost immediately by the click of her heels, as she turned her back on her verbal sparring partner. But this was to prove to be a grave error on her part; one that was about to lead to her downfall.

The events of the next minute or two seemed to pass in slow motion to the watching Lauren. For as Mistress de Sade turned away, she saw Dave reach over to the table that harboured much of Amber's bondage equipment and grab hold of a pair of steel handcuffs that just happened to be lying open. With lightning speed, he grabbed Amber's left arm and sharply twisted it up behind her. The shriek that emanated from Amber's mouth as he pulled her hand high up into her back was, Lauren imagined, partially due to the pain that this move inflicted, and partly related to the shock of the sudden assault upon her person. A split second later Amber was on her knees, as he applied more pressure to her unnaturally twisted arm. Then his knee seemed to push into her back and within seconds she was lying face down on the floor. Almost immediately, Dave was sitting astride her, his left hand still with a vice-like grip on her wrist, whilst his other hand grappled with Amber's right arm as she attempted to thrash out at her assailant. It did her no good, of course, for although she fought like a tigress to break free, less than ten seconds after this whole wrestling match had begun, it was over; the loser now finding her wrists shackled inescapably behind her back with her own cuffs.

"BASTARD!! GET THESE THINGS OFF ME!!"

She tried to lash out with her now useless hands, but by now Dave had already begun to get to his feet. With the pressure relieved from her back, Amber rolled awkwardly over and tried to stand up. But as she did so, Dave grabbed a second set of handcuffs from the nearby stash and took hold of her right leg, forcing her back to the ground. Despite her attempts to kick out at him, he held her feet together and calmly began removing her high-heeled leather boots.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET ME GO!!"

The second, or demanding, part of this shouted utterance was ignored, whilst the first was answered without hesitation.

"Teaching you a lesson, that's what I'm fuckin'doing."

Lauren could only look on in ever greater shock, as Dave now clicked the arm of one bracelet down onto Amber's latex covered right ankle, before quickly locking the other around the left. Although these were actually designed as wrist restraints, Amber's slender ankles fitted perfectly within their circumference, and the chain that linked the two rings of steel was of such short length that walking, or even standing, would now be impossible.

With his grip on her legs released, Amber bucked and writhed on the floor for a few seconds, as Dave searched for something amongst the assorted bondage paraphernalia spread out on the table. He soon found what he was looking for.

"DON'T YOU DARE, I'LL ..."

But the remainder of Amber's words were muffled and unclear, as a large ball-gag was thrust into her protesting mouth, and no amount of shaking her head and trying to spit out the well chewed mass of rubber did any good. Within seconds, Dave had buckled the attached strap at the rear of her head, ensuring that it was as tight and secure as it could be. Amber continued to scream, but her words were now unrecognisable, and Dave was taking no notice anyway, having located the next piece of equipment he required.

Being a bondage dungeon, the fixtures and fittings required to suspend victims and submissives from the ceiling were already in place, so it didn't take a great deal of effort on Dave's part to attach a chain of one of the winches above his head and wrap the other end around Amber's ankle cuffs, before making this arrangement permanent with a padlock. Although Amber tried to squirm away towards the stairs, she was in no position to counter Dave's superior strength and mobility, and Lauren could only watch in both fascination and horror as he dragged his victim to a spot directly beneath the pulley and began hoisting her upwards by her feet. The clanking of the chain did nothing to drown out Amber's screams as her legs were drawn towards the ceiling. As her body slowly lifted off the ground, she twisted her legs and torso as violently as she could, in a frenzied act of desperation. But all this achieved was an oscillation of the chain, which caused her - once her head had left the floor - to spin helplessly in mid air. Taking her up to a height whereby the top of her head was roughly six inches above the ground, Dave fixed the other end of the chain to one of the anchoring hooks in the wall on the far side of the room, and secured it with a stout padlock.

Amber's violent thrashing and contorting of her body may have looked spectacular, but it achieved very little other than to accentuate the swinging process to a significant degree. Finally, after several minutes of this activity, she seemed to sense that her efforts were futile and gradually the furious swaying motion calmed down. This cessation of physical defiance also coincided with a verbal change of tack, insofar as her screamed demands to be let down were now replaced by pitiful pleas for freedom. Once the swinging had died down, Dave knelt beside Amber's head.

"Now, are you going to cough up the rest of the money you owe us, or am I going to have to leave you here?"

Amber's response came out in a muffled shriek, but the message was clear. She couldn't pay up because she didn't have that amount of cash.

"Well I guess that means that you're going to be 'hanging around' here for quite some time."

This was the signal for Amber to start struggling violently again. But it cut no ice with Dave, as he stood up to his full height and walked across to the side of the room where the twins and Lauren languished.

"Right then girls, my initial thought was to let you go. After all, you've been through quite an ordeal these past two days."

Deep in thought, he walked across to the table.

"But then I realised something. Amber kept telling me about how you all love being tied up, so I figured that perhaps I'd just leave you here to enjoy yourselves."

He looked at them each in turn - Lauren chained to the wall, Jade still sightless beneath her hood, with Jasmine wide-eyed beside her - as if waiting for some sort of response. When none was forthcoming, he continued.

"And of course, if I let you go, one of you might take pity on this lying, cheating creature here and set her free."

He pointed to the upside down and wildly gyrating Amber, who was now grunting and groaning as she tried to slip the manacles off her wrists.

"No, I'm afraid you're just collateral damage in my dispute with Amber, which means you're going to have to stay as you are and keep her company. I'm sure she mentioned something about her next paying customer not being until Wednesday. So I guess you'll just have to wait until he or she turns up and finds you here. Sorry for the inconvenience."

He uttered a harsh laugh and, without further ado, headed for the exit. As he passed the swinging Amber, he slapped her hard on her latex covered thigh.

"How does it feel to be getting a taste of your own medicine? It serves you right for ripping me and the lads off like that. Bye Amber. I hope you enjoy the next few days."

And then he was gone. Lauren listened, fearful of hearing the door being shut and locked. Mercifully no such sound materialised.

Almost as soon as Dave's footsteps had faded, Jasmine swung into action. For several minutes she clawed at the mass of tight ropes around her body and contorted her shoulders in an effort to get herself loose. She failed to make much headway though; the knots - as Amber had intended - being situated out of her fingers' reach. She had another plan, however. Sliding herself up so that she was back to back with her sister, she made an attempt at communication which seemed like gibberish to Lauren, but which Jade evidently understood. Although unable to see, seconds later the latter's fingers began to probe the multitude of ropes on Jasmine's back, until finally they chanced upon one of the knots. Unpicking this tightly secured impediment took her only a few seconds, and Lauren could only marvel at the skill involved as Jasmine, now with one encircling rope loosened, soon managed to twist, rotate and shake her arms until she was able to slither out of the worst of the rope bonds around her torso.

That was all very well, of course, but she still had the handcuffs to contend with. Using the wall to lever herself to her feet, she hopped on her still tightly bound legs over to the table where the diverse variety of bondage equipment lay in disarray. She seemed to know exactly where she was heading, however, and, upon reaching the table's edge, she turned around and grabbed Amber's shoulder bag. Turning it upside down, she tipped the contents onto the floor. Seemingly a thousand diverse items cascaded out, including lipsticks, mobile phone, coins etc . Amongst the pile now scattered at her feet, Jasmine spied the very thing she was after and eased herself onto the floor to retrieve it. With a stifled noise of triumph making its way through her gag, Jasmine picked something up, which proved to be a set of keys. Lauren's hopes rose. These must be the keys to the handcuffs.

It took Jasmine a minute or more to insert the key into the lock on the left bracelet with her right hand, but once she'd completed this task the cuff instantly loosened and her hands were free. She cautiously stripped the tape from her mouth and spat her gag out with a sigh of relief, then set to work untying her legs. As soon as she was free from the last of her bonds, Jasmine headed straight over to her twin, released her handcuffs and helped her to remove the hood from her head. With her sister's hands now free, Jasmine left Jade to free herself from her remaining bonds and remove her gag. Although Amber's stifled cries had intensified as she watched the twins expertly extricating themselves, Jasmine chose to ignore her and instead came over to where Lauren sat chained to the wall.

"Will you be alright if we leave you there for a while Lauren? Amber's tied and tormented us so much in the past, so now it's payback time. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show."

Jade was by now bond free, and had walked over to where Amber hung from the ceiling; begging and beseeching the twins to help her out of the undesirable and unexpected predicament she found herself in. It was clear that neither Jasmine nor Jade had any intention of acceding to her wishes, however.

Both of the twins carried the pairs of handcuffs that they'd so recently been wearing, and whilst Jasmine held their upside-down cousin steady, Jade preceded to place her set of cuffs around Amber's already fettered wrists and click them shut. Jade and Jasmine then swapped roles and within seconds Amber's lower arms were trapped in no less than three sets of steel bracelets. As the sound of the ratchets informed her of her ever worsening situation, Amber's appeals for leniency grew ever more pathetic. At one point, her eyes and Lauren's met briefly across the room, and the pitiful and pleading look on the once self-assured and domineering face almost - for a few brief seconds - persuaded Lauren to feel sorry for her erstwhile captor. No longer fighting like a lioness for her freedom, Mistress Amber de Sade was now reduced to a meek and frightened little kitten.

Of course, knowing the twins penchant for adding increasing layers to already inescapable bondage, it came as no great shock to Lauren that Jade and Jasmine hadn't yet finished punishing their now subdued relative. Working in unison, both twins helped themselves to reels of duct tape that, no doubt, had once been earmarked for the encasement of Lauren and themselves. Now however, with the tables turned, the twins wasted no time in the commencement of what was to become Amber's mummification. With Jasmine standing on tiptoes and wrapping the grey sealant around her protesting captive's legs, and Jade simultaneously beginning at her shoulders and working upwards, the wrapping and packing process progressed apace until, after only three or four minutes, very little of Amber's tight and shiny latex outfit remained on show.

"There you go Amber. See how you like being left helpless for hours at a time. Not so keen now that you're on the receiving end, are you?"

Amber screamed as Jade grabbed her cocooned torso and shoved her playfully but forcefully, so that she swung back and forth for a minute or more; her momentum gradually slowing until she once again returned to her original position. Both twins seemed to take great amusement from this event, but after a couple of repeat performances, they seemed to tire of this game and suddenly seemed to recall that they'd temporarily forgotten their bound friend in the corner.

"So what do you think Lauren? Should we just leave Amber to 'hang around' here tonight?"

Lauren glanced across to where Amber's upside-down face mournfully stared back at her; the desperation in the latter's wide eyes seeking a sympathetic response. For a few seconds, Lauren found herself feeling sorry for Amber again, and was on the point of trying to communicate the fact that maybe the twins should forgive and forget. But the memories of Amber's devious schemes were still too vivid in her mind, and she soon banished all such thoughts of leniency. And besides, she was still in the hands of the twins and, she reasoned, if she went against their wishes, she might find herself strung up and left here overnight alongside Amber. Through her gag, she did her best to confirm that leaving their former tormentor to face the consequences of her actions seemed like the right thing to do.

Jasmine retrieved the key to the padlock that held Lauren in thrall against the wall, whilst Jade undid the straps around her body, before slipping her out of the body-bag. Removing the duct tape and ropes from her legs left Lauren merely handcuffed and gagged, with the chain still hanging loosely from the leather collar around her neck. But no further release was planned. Helping their friend to her feet, Jade grabbed the chain and began leading Lauren towards the stairs, with Jasmine following a few paces behind.

Jade's right foot alighting on the lowest step was the signal for Amber to once more begin her desperate clamour for clemency. But if she was hoping for an eleventh hour reprieve, the consequences of her latest outburst actually had the opposite effect, and in fact ensured that her dire situation worsened still further. Jasmine stopped in her tracks and addressed her sister.

"You know something Jade? I'm getting a bit fed up with seeing those pathetic 'little girl' eyes staring at us. And that constant wailing and bleating is getting on my nerves."

She turned back to Amber, grabbed one of the reels of tape and tore off a length of around eight inches. Placing one end on the latex hood close to Amber's left ear, she quickly slapped it down over the disapproving woman's eyes. Smoothing the sight restrictor down, she followed this up by sticking more tape over Amber's ball-gagged mouth, before winding it around the back of her hooded head and returning to the front. She repeated this encircling process three more times.

"Okay Amber, you'll have plenty of time to contemplate the error of your ways now. We'll come back to visit tomorrow, just to see how you're getting on. If you're not out by then we'll probably add a few more ropes, chains, straps or whatever else takes our fancy. It will all depend on how considerate or cruel we happen to be feeling at the time."

And with that she walked towards where Jade and Lauren waited at the foot of the stairs. As they ascended, Lauren glanced back down to where Amber's form had begun to twist and gyrate in her feeble fight to attain a freedom that she must have known to be beyond her; her head only six inches or so from the ground, with her long blonde ponytail sweeping the area of floor directly beneath.

Once the cellar door was closed and locked, Amber's mournful pleas became significantly fainter, and by the time the trio had exited the dilapidated building, they were no longer audible. They reached Amber's car; the boot of which Jasmine was in the process of opening. She motioned for Lauren to climb inside.

"Well it's certainly been quite an eventful weekend, hasn't it? Don't worry about Amber. It'll do her good to find out what it's like to be bound and helpless for a day or two. Now, let's get back to the house and get you all comfortably tied up for the evening...

... Oh, by the way Lauren, did we mention that we'd ordered a new leather straitjacket? I'm sure it will be a perfect fit for you..."


Part 6 (added: 2016/01/03)

Lauren sighed contentedly and curled up under the duvet. The warm bedding she'd been snuggled up in for the past few hours was in stark contrast to her experience of the night before, and she was grateful for the sense of security and wellbeing that she could now savour. It was still dark outside, although the first signs that daybreak was imminent could be seen peeping through the gaps between the curtains. Her vision, however, as she gazed out into the twilight of the bedroom, was not as sharp as it would have been under normal circumstances.

Lauren rolled awkwardly onto her side and stared at the alarm clock on the bedside table. The green light from the digital display showed 6:41 am. She doubted that the twins would be in to see her for at least another couple of hours. A soft swishing sound accompanied the attempt to stretch her legs, as the mesh of the tights she was encased in brushed across the sheets and duvet cover. Apart from this, and the sound of her light breathing, the house remained in total silence.

Having left Amber's lair the previous afternoon, the twins had bundled the handcuffed and gagged Lauren into the boot of their cousin's car and driven back to their parents' house, situated deep in the Suffolk countryside. With their father and mother away for the foreseeable future, Jasmine and Jade had the run of the rambling old building, and had taken full advantage of this by planning what could only be described as a marathon bondage session; with Lauren the 'victim' of their expertise with all things restraint orientated.

Not that the submissive Lauren had any complaints about the ongoing situation. Ever since being introduced to the fine art of bondage earlier that year, her previously latent interest in the subject had exploded into a full-blown obsession, from which she had no wish to escape - either metaphorically or physically. Being bound and helpless was, she had come to understand, her natural state. Every waking hour, it seemed - whether she was at home, at work, or out with friends - she would find herself daydreaming about the next time she would be able to experience that indescribably exquisite sensation of being unable to move; whether this was achieved through her frequent self-bondage sessions or - better still - at the hands of her friends Jade and Jasmine.

After the ordeals of the past two days, the twins had, Lauren felt, gone rather easy on her that Sunday night. Having allowed her to remove the latex cat-suit that she'd been wearing, they'd tied her - naked - to an upright chair with ropes and spoon-fed her, before once more stuffing her mouth with rolled up tights and taping the lower half of her face and head. The rest of the evening had been spent tightly trussed up to that chair in front of the television, whilst the twins lazed in armchairs and made plans for the following day. It was a good job that she'd taken a few days off work this week, Lauren mused, because the nature of some of those plans suggested that she wouldn't be doing very much at all of her own freewill in the near future.

At around about midnight, the twins had decided that it was bedtime. Releasing Lauren from the ropes that had restrained her all evening, they'd led her up to the guest bedroom and made sure that she was snug and secure for the night. The final rope was then removed from her wrists, but had been immediately replaced by several circuits of grey duct tape that stuck to her flesh and held her hands, palm to palm, behind her back. Further tape had been used higher up her arms to keep her elbows as close to each other as possible; which for the supple and pliable young Lauren, meant that they almost touched. Her legs too had succumbed to the effect of multiple layers of tightly wound tape; at the ankles and both just below and just above the knees.

Then the cocooning process had commenced, utilising three pairs of black tights. One leg of the first pair of the silky soft hosiery had been eased and stretched over Lauren's already inseparable legs and pulled up to her waist; with the other, redundant leg being allowed to hang, for the time being, like a tail behind her. The first leg of the second pair was then used to sheath her arms up to her shoulders, before the second leg was pulled over her head and forced past her breasts and down as far as it would stretch; almost, but not quite, meeting with the waistband of the first pair.

But that wasn't the end of the binding process. More tape was now affixed to Lauren's limbs, mirroring precisely the position of the now obscured first layers around her wrists, elbows, ankles and knees. This was supplemented by further circuits being wrapped around her torso, at waist level and both above and below her breasts, incorporating her arms within its adhesive caress and effectively lashing the latter to her body. Her gag was also enhanced with a further circuit or two of tape.

Finally, the third pair of tights had been coaxed down over her already mesh-covered hair and pulled down past her neck, over her shoulders and down to her waist. Jasmine then took the spare leg of this pair and wrapped it around Lauren's body as tightly as the pliable fabric would allow. She did likewise with the 'tail' from the first pair of tights, before fastening the two extremities together with a tight knot; thus neatly tidying up the loose ends.

The twins then gently urged their now completely encased friend to lie down on the bed, before throwing the duvet over her.

"Goodnight Lauren. I'm sure you'll be nice and comfortable for a few hours. See you in the morning."

The light being extinguished and the closure of the door plunged Lauren into darkness and silence.

Lauren laid there in her warm cocoon, half asleep and half awake in the semi-light of dawn, waiting on the return of the twins. She stretched out and noted, with some delight, that the tape - both that adhering to her skin and also that affixed over the tights - had held firm during her slumbers. There was, she knew, absolutely no way she could escape, which was exactly as she wanted it. There was only one niggling thought that kept her from being totally contented with life right at this moment; one thing that, try as she might, she just couldn't quite banish from her mind. And that was the fate of Amber.

Amber had caused her much anguish and distress in the past. It was Amber who had kidnapped her and held her prisoner in her dungeon before Lauren even knew that she was the twins' cousin. It was Amber who, two days ago, had bundled the trussed up trio of Jade, Jasmine and Lauren into the boot of her car, before staging a mock car-jacking which had culminated in the helpless girls being buried up to their necks on a rapidly vanishing beach. It was Amber who, yesterday, had taken Lauren and the twins back to her dungeon, with the view to keeping them imprisoned there for... well, who knows how long? And it was Amber who, it seemed, had a crush on Lauren, and had, without ever being explicit, hinted that she would like some sort of sexual relationship. Lauren didn't mind the bondage, of course, but she baulked at the thought of anything further happening between them. She had only ever had sexual fantasies that concerned the male of the species, and had never had the slightest interest in other members of her own gender. So why was she feeling sympathy for Amber now?

Having double-crossed Dave, the leader of the gang that had staged the fake kidnapping, he had taken his revenge on the dominatrix; overpowering her, handcuffing and gagging her, then hoisting her up with a chain attached to her ankles, so that she was left swinging helplessly upside down from the ceiling. And just to add insult to injury, this had all taken place in Amber's own dungeon, utilising her own handcuffs and other bondage equipment. Then he'd simply left her there. Not wanting Lauren and the twins to tamper with his handiwork, he'd decided to leave them in their bound state also, just in case they took pity on Amber and decided to let her loose.

But of course, with Jasmine and Jade, there was absolutely no chance of that happening.

The twins - once they'd managed to escape their own bonds - had shown their cousin no mercy, by increasing her bonds, blindfolding her and leaving her locked in the confines of her isolated domain for the night. Lauren had been led from the cellar with Amber's pathetic cries ringing in her ears; the sound not of the cruel, heartless woman that was her usual persona, but instead the pleading whine of a little girl desperate not to be abandoned and incarcerated in her own underground tomb.

Yes, Lauren had to admit that she was worried about Amber. Unlike herself, Amber wasn't used to being tied up and kept that way for hours on end. How would she cope with being chained and taped up all night, swinging upside down with no hope whatsoever of either escaping or being found and rescued? Although Lauren loved being tied up, she also had firsthand knowledge of just how frightening it could be if things got out of control. She only had to think back to the time when the twins had sealed her in a coffin and interred her in the ground, or far more recently when she'd been buried up to her neck in sand with the sea fast approaching, to realise how the uncertainty of a situation could be a most terrifying experience.

She had a pretty good idea of how Amber, who had no control over her own destiny, must be feeling right now. It was somewhere in the region of sixteen hours since she'd been left to swing helplessly in her subterranean den, with the prospect of an even longer stretch still ahead of her.

She deserved it. That's what the twins had told Lauren when she'd tried to communicate her unease over the plan to leave their cousin overnight.

"And after all that she's put us through, you should be thinking the same way." This was how Jade had put it to Lauren.

And she was probably right. But even so, Lauren just couldn't seem to find it within herself to be so cruel and heartless. And now, being so comfortably bound under a nice warm duvet, brought home to Lauren the contrast between her situation and that of her former adversary. She would, she decided, try to get the twins to go easy on their cousin. It would be an extremely daunting task, as both Jasmine and Jade, once they'd set their sights on something, especially in anything pertaining to bondage, were single minded and stubborn, and would be unlikely to give in easily. However, Lauren's conscience dictated that she simply had to try to convince them to show Amber some compassion.

Having dozed off again, Lauren woke suddenly at the sound of the bedroom door opening. Even through the mesh of two pairs of tights, she could tell that it was much lighter now, and when she glanced at the clock, the display indicated that it was 8:56 am. Only one of the twins stood before her, and with her vision impaired, it was impossible for Lauren to see the eye colour of the raven-haired young woman who stood by the bedside, which made her unidentifiable until she spoke.

"Jasmine's in the process of trying to solve a knotty problem just at the moment."

Jade announced, answering the question which she must have known would be on Lauren's lips, if she had been capable of coherent speech. It was clearly just a way of saying that she'd tied her sister up. Pulling the covers off the bed, Jade helped Lauren sit up.

"We originally looked in on you an hour or so ago, but you looked so peaceful and contented, that we decided to let you sleep for a while. We would have left you longer, but Jasmine and I have got a few things to sort out this morning, and we thought you might like to come along with us. It's going to be fun."

This, Lauren guessed, referred to the ongoing situation with Amber.

"But first" Jade continued "we'd better get you fed, watered and suitably attired."

She eased Lauren's legs over the edge of the bed and pulled her up into a standing position, before guiding her still helpless friend towards the bedroom door. Lauren's limbs were stiff after being taped up so tightly for nearly nine hours, and the abnormal effort needed to hop across the floor, allied to the fact that her mouth was sealed and she was therefore forced to breathe through her nose alone, conspired to make her breathless very quickly. With Jade ensuring that she didn't fall and hurt herself, however, they had soon traversed the length of the landing and descended the stairs. Once the ground floor was reached, Jade steered her nylon clad friend in the direction of the kitchen.

As they entered the room, Lauren's attention was immediately caught by a shape writhing around on the floor on the far side of the room. Even through the mesh of the tights, it became obvious, as Jade urged Lauren closer, that this squirming object was Jasmine, and that she was in the process of freeing her hands from ropes which had - until very recently - held them in strict bondage behind her back. As soon as her hands were free, Jasmine unbuckled the huge ball-gag that Jade had forced into her mouth. She smiled.

"Hi Lauren, hope you got a good night's sleep."

She looked at the clock on the wall, then at her sister.

"Twenty minutes. That's all it took me to get free. You really are slipping Jade. Next time you need to make sure those ropes are a lot tighter."

She quickly untied the tight cords around her ankles and knees, before getting to her feet. Both she and her sister were dressed identically in figure hugging shiny black spandex cat-suits, and Lauren couldn't help noticing a similar garment draped over the radiator. This, she guessed, was her own cat-suit that the twins had very kindly washed for her and left to dry overnight.

"Sit down Lauren, and we'll get you some breakfast."

Awkwardly, Lauren jumped to within a few inches of one of the chairs that were strewn haphazardly around the kitchen table. As soon as she was seated, Jasmine began to work the outer pair of tights up over Lauren's breasts, shoulders and head. She then began to peel the first layers of tape away from her face, arms and body, although the bindings around her legs remained untouched. Next, the second pair of tights was stripped from her torso, face and arms, leaving the upper half of her anatomy bond free, except for the first layer of tape at her wrists and elbows. The final gagging tape had then been carefully peeled from her face, allowing her, with a little help from Jasmine, to spit the rolled up tights out.

Lauren was under no illusion that she was being released from her bonds in their entirety, of course, and so it proved, as one set of bonds was swiftly replaced with another. These took the form of several lengths of rope that Jasmine, with an expertise honed from years of practice, utilised to secure her friend to the chair; creating a strict harness that would, Lauren was in no doubt, keep her and the sturdy piece of wooden furniture in inseparably close proximity for the foreseeable future.

Whilst this was going on, Jade, had been preparing breakfast for all three of them. The fare of steaming hot porridge followed by warm buttered toast with marmalade - fed to her by each twin in turn - was most welcome, and made Lauren realise that she'd eaten very little in the past forty eight hours. All this was washed down with a refreshing mug of tea.

With breakfast over, Jasmine and Jade released Lauren from the chair-tie, before helping her upstairs and into the bathroom. There they released the tape from her wrists and handed over the cat-suit, which was still warm to the touch from being on the radiator.

"Get yourself washed and dressed, then we'll be back to get you ready for our little trip."

Lauren stripped the first layer of tape from her legs, rid herself of the final sheath of the tights, and then gingerly removed the tape that had bonded to her skin around her ankles and knees. Now completely free of all bondage, she exercised her stiff limbs, before taking a leisurely wash. The last vestiges of the warmth from the radiator were still apparent as she slowly sheathed her legs in the tight spandex outfit; an activity that never failed to excite her, as the clinging fabric glided across her smooth flesh. For a minute or two, she admired her slim, svelte image in the mirror, before the door opening broke her reverie. Lauren noticed instantly that both Jade and Jasmine carried items that were, she knew at once, about to be used to bind her again. And this realisation was enough to send a shiver of anticipation through her. Without being asked, she turned her back on her friends, placed her hands in the required position behind her back and waited for the familiar feel of the soft white rope to caress her wrists once again. Within seconds this task had been completed and she was once more the twins' prisoner. Her period of freedom had lasted no more than fifteen minutes.

"Right Lauren, let's get you gagged and ready for our visit to see Amber."

Jasmine held the rolled up tights towards Lauren's mouth, expecting that the latter would be as compliant with the mouth filler as she had been with the wrist restraint. Lauren, although she had no problem with the gag - indeed was quite looking forward to once again being silenced - had decided that now was the last opportunity that she would have to coherently air her thoughts on the matter of Amber's continuing incarceration. Instead of opening her mouth to accept the gag, she recoiled slightly.

"Look, about Amber. I really don't think that you should keep her like that indefinitely. I know she hasn't exactly treated us very well, but...."

That was as far as she got with her speech, however, and with hindsight it occurred to her that Jasmine and Jade had almost been expecting some sort of dissent, and had a contingency plan ready for just such an eventuality. Whilst Jade grabbed her by the shoulders and held her steady, Jasmine forcibly inserted the ball of fabric into her mouth. As soon as this part of the operation had been successfully carried out, Jade, who already had the tape in her hand, hurriedly began wrapping the grey adhesive around Lauren's head, so that within no more than thirty seconds of her plea on Amber's behalf commencing, it had well and truly been stifled.

Jade turned to her sister.

"You know something Jas, I think Lauren must actually have begun to believe all that bullshit that Amber's been spouting about how special she is to her."

Jasmine laughed contemptuously and looked Lauren in the eyes.

"Do you honestly think that Amber has any feelings for you? Do you really believe that she cares about you? How naive are you Lauren?"

"There's only one person that Amber cares about" Jade chimed in "and that's herself. All that crap about how you're her favourite is just her playing mind games with you. She has dozens of people paying for her services, both male and female, and I know for a fact that she says exactly the same to all of them. So don't believe for a second that she's in love with you, or she wants some kind of relationship, because it's all a complete sham."

"And even if she did have a crush on you" continued Jasmine "how long do you think it would last, eh? Amber doesn't do long term relationships with anyone. She'd soon get bored and dump you when someone else caught her eye. Sorry to disillusion you Lauren, but you're nothing to her."

"You know what Jas? I think poor little Lauren here may have become smitten with our dear cousin."

They both giggled at this notion.

Lauren tried to convey the message that this wasn't the case, and that her reasoning for wanting to alleviate Amber's suffering was based on altruism not affection, but her words came out as unrecognisable gibberish.

Jasmine sighed, took hold of Lauren's arm and began to guide her towards the door.

"Anyway Lauren, whether you like it or not, Amber's going to stay tied up for the foreseeable future, and we're going to get a lot of enjoyment from seeing her humiliated."

"And you're going to get to watch the fun unfolding." Jade interjected. Then she looked at her sister, as if she'd suddenly had a brainwave.

"You know what Jas? Maybe Lauren would like to be part of the entertainment."

A knowing smile lit up Jasmine's face. It often seemed to Lauren that Jasmine and Jade were in telepathic communication with each other - as identical twins are often assumed to be - and it appeared that now, even without anything specific being uttered, they had both had the same idea simultaneously.

"I think you're right Jade. It looks like this day is going to be even better than we first thought."

In contrast to the day before, Monday morning had turned out dull, overcast and much cooler, with the prospect of rain being hinted at by the bank of dark grey clouds on the horizon that seemed to merge with the bleak autumn fields. Before leaving the house, Jade had slipped Lauren's feet into her ankle boots then secured a black leather collar and chain around her neck. Amber's car stood outside in the driveway, but to her surprise, Lauren found herself being led past this in the direction of the large double garage which stood separate from the main house, across the courtyard to the left. Jasmine had gone ahead and the heavy sliding doors had already been opened, revealing just one vehicle within; the twins' parents' 4x4 Land Rover complete with bull bar on the front and rooftop luggage rack. Lauren noticed that, lashed to the latter was a roll of old carpet, although the significance of this was not to become obvious until later in the day. As Jade and Lauren approached, Jasmine was in the process of manoeuvring the vehicle out into the driveway.

Jumping out, Jasmine reached the rear door of the car just as Jade arrived with her captive. With the door opened, Lauren was made to sit on the edge while first her ankles, then her knees were securely bound with ropes. This was followed by her immersion inside the darlex sleep-sack that she'd come to know and love on her previous bondage adventures. As was now customary, this was then supplemented with straps that were pulled tightly around her and securely buckled at various points from shoulder to ankle.

But these weren't the only straps that were to be utilised to secure Lauren for the duration of the journey. She had noticed that several straps were hanging loosely from the panel that divided the luggage compartment from the seating area beyond, as well as from either side of the interior into which she was now being manoeuvred. Being made to lie flat against the partition, she could only watch as Jade and Jasmine employed these straps - normally used to prevent luggage and other transported goods from being buffeted about during transportation - to fasten her sheathed body and limbs firmly and securely into place. Lastly, a scarf blindfold was applied, before the sound of the Land Rover's rear door slamming shut was shortly followed by the revving up of the engine and the sensation of motion.

Lauren tested the efficiency of the straps that held her rigidly in place, finding that rolling forward even a fraction of an inch was not an option open to her. This was, she was soon to discover, a blessing, as the narrow winding lanes with their numerous potholes would, if she hadn't been so tightly fastened to the perimeter walls of her mobile prison, have seen her being flung around the enclosed space with great regularity. Some of the driving seemed a bit erratic too; a circumstance, Lauren guessed, born of the fact that whichever twin was driving would probably be unfamiliar with their parents' vehicle.

Mercifully, as Lauren by now knew, the journey to Amber's hideout wasn't too far, and soon the Land Rover had slowed down as it negotiated the uneven track that led to the once grand but now abandoned mansion that Amber had commandeered as her bondage headquarters.

No sooner had the vehicle come to a halt, than the sound of footsteps outside was quickly succeeded by that of the door opening. Immediately, two pairs of hands were at work, loosening the straps that had helped keep her from sustaining any serious injury during the rough passage through rural Suffolk. Lifting their helpless victim out of the car, the twins quickly removed the blindfold, extricated Lauren from the straps and skin-tight darlex sheath, and untied her legs so she was able to walk. Grabbing the chain that still hung from her neck, they urged her towards the semi-ruined building at a rapid pace, and at that moment it occurred to Lauren that the twins seemed to be in a hurry; anxious, she surmised, to get inside and inflict further torment on their unfortunate cousin.

Making their way into the dark house, they soon arrived at the cellar door. No one had spoken since their arrival, and when Jasmine did now break the silence, it was in hushed tones.

"Now the fun's going to begin. We're going to creep down the stairs and play a few games with Amber, so try to make as little sound as possible please Lauren."

As quietly as she could, Jade unlocked and then opened the door that led into the underground chamber. Flicking on the light switch, she began to descend, pulling Lauren along behind her. Jasmine brought up the rear. In the dim glow given off by the single light-bulb, Lauren could just make out a slender shape hanging down vertically from the ceiling; a plume of blonde hair bridging the gap between the lower point of this figure and the floor. The dungeon was in complete silence and the figure, which Lauren knew to be the upside down form of Mistress Amber de Sade, hung motionless in the stuffy atmosphere. Was she asleep? Had she fainted? Or was she - the thought suddenly hit Lauren like a hammer blow - dead? After a few seconds, a slight, almost inaudible groaning sound dispelled the latter theory. This low sound, coupled with a slight movement of the long-time captive's shoulders, made Jade and Jasmine stop dead in their tracks. They looked at each other and grinned mischievously. Tiptoeing to within inches of her suspended cousin, Jade crouched down and gently pulled Amber's ponytail. At once, Amber's body went rigid, and a sound that Lauren interpreted as a startled attempt to say "Who's there?" issued from the taped and ball-gagged mouth. Jade did and said nothing. Several seconds elapsed before Amber tried to speak again.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Still the twins maintained their silence, although it was clear that Amber had sensed their presence. After a few seconds, Amber spoke again, only this time the words uttered were a desperate plea for assistance.

"Please help me! Get me out of this!!"

Jade's only response was to lightly push her cousin, so that she began to swing from side to side.

"Jasmine? Jade? Is that you?"

Jasmine stepped forward and gave Amber a firm push that turned the moderate swinging motion into a forceful spiralling effect.

"Of course it's us. Who else did you think it would be? Some knight in shining armour come to rescue the damsel in distress and whisk her away into the sunset on his white steed, perhaps? Bad luck Amber, there'll be no "happily ever after" ending to this story. It's us and you're not going anywhere of you own freewill for a long time yet. Payback has only just begun."

Lauren could see that Amber was still well and truly cocooned in the duct tape that the twins had enmeshed her in. The black contour-hugging latex hood that almost entirely covered her head was still supplemented with the strips of tape over her eyes and mouth. From above, the chain that had been secured around her ankles clinked every time she swayed from one side to the other. The to-ing and fro-ing momentum that the twins had instigated was gradually subsiding now, but this was counteracted by Amber herself, who began bucking and twisting in a show of defiance that had no chance whatsoever of either getting her loose or persuading the twins to release her. The one token gesture of kindness that they allowed her was the removal of the tape from her eyes, and even this was done with such force as to cause a scream of anguish to issue through the gag. Blinking in a brightness that she hadn't known for nearly twenty hours, Amber's eyes were red with tears, and smudged black where her eye makeup had run. She gazed around forlornly, her eyes finally meeting Lauren's. Immediately she began whimpering, and Lauren realised that this pitiful sound was directed at her; as she obviously saw Lauren as the closest thing to an ally that she had at that moment. And Lauren did feel sorry for her, even after all that Amber had put her through. But what could she do? Although Amber must have known that she too was bound, instinctively Lauren half turned to reveal her securely roped wrists; as if to say "I can't help you, I'm tied up too."

While this silent communing was taking place, the twins had turned their attention away from their cousin, and were searching through her stash of bondage equipment; picking out whatever took their fancy and placing the chosen items into a large holdall. Lauren watched as leather arm-binders, hoods, ropes, straps and Amber's remaining sets of handcuffs were stuffed into the bag. Finally, several lengths of chain, plus numerous padlocks of various sizes, were placed on top, before the now bulging bag was zipped shut. Whether these bonds were intended for use on herself, or on the far less willing Amber, Lauren had no idea. She hoped it was the former, but feared that this wasn't to be their primary purpose.

As Amber saw Jade and Jasmine walking back across the cellar towards her, she screamed her most impassioned and despairing plea yet. Although the words were muffled and indistinct, the message was plain enough; she would do anything to regain her freedom, the twins just had to name their price. Crouching down beside her again, Jasmine was clearly taking immense pleasure from her helpless captive's misery.

"So you want us to let you down, do you? Okay then, your wish is granted."

Even as her sister spoke, Jade was releasing the chain that had kept Amber airborne since yesterday afternoon. Slowly at first, she gradually allowed the chain to slacken until Amber's head touched the ground. Inch by inch, Amber was lowered until her shoulders and upper body were once again on terra firma. But then, without warning, Jade suddenly released the chain from her grasp. There followed a rapid clanking sound as the chain sped through the pulley, and in an instant Amber's legs came crashing down to the ground with a thud. She groaned, more in surprise than pain, and began to writhe around on the dusty floor; perhaps hoping that the change from the vertical to the horizontal had in some way loosened her bonds.

It hadn't.

The twins moved fast now, and within seconds had hauled the squirming cocooned package to her feet. Even though Amber had no idea of their intentions, she fought for all she was worth to break free of their clutches; presumably because she guessed -rightly as it turned out - that whatever the twins had in store for her, it was unlikely to be anything that she would find particularly pleasant.

"Come on Amber. You took us on a trip in your car on Saturday, so now it's time for us to return the favour."

Holding their helpless cousin firmly, Jasmine and Jade forcefully encouraged Amber in the direction of the stairs. When they reached the bottom step, Amber baulked at their attempts to coax her upwards. A quick tug on her ponytail and an arm around her throat, however, seemed to convince her that resistance was futile.

"Look Amber, whether you like it or not, you're coming with us. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's entirely up to you."

Reluctantly, the softly whimpering Amber conceded defeat, and with the twins help began to jump up the stone steps. Lauren stood observing the unfolding scene. It felt almost as if she had been forgotten about, so preoccupied were the twins with making Amber's life a misery, and it wasn't until they were three quarters of the way up that Jasmine happened to glance back down into the cellar.

"Don't worry Lauren, we'll be back to get you in a couple of minutes. Don't go away."

Seconds later, the twins and their unenthusiastic captive disappeared from sight.

Lauren used the time that she was alone to test the efficiency of her wrist bond. Thankfully, she discovered that it was still as tight and inescapable as when it had been tied. It was this mock struggle for an unwanted freedom that brought home to Lauren that, although her circumstances and those of Amber were currently very similar, their attitude to the situation was one of complete contrast. Why, she wondered, couldn't Amber relax and be happy in her bonds? But there again, it always seemed strange to Lauren that the rest of the world didn't share her fascination with bondage in all its wonderfully deviant variations. Still, she would have expected Amber to have been slightly more open to the idea of being tied up long term. After all, that was what she inflicted on others all the time.

Jade's reappearance broke her train of thought on these matters. Grabbing Lauren's neck chain, she led her willing prisoner up the stairs and out into the open. Jasmine stood leaning against the Land Rover, the doors of which stood open, and it was obvious straight away that Amber wasn't inside. Where was she? Lauren's eyes quickly scanned the surrounding trees, but of Amber there was no sign. Had she escaped? No, that was impossible. Had the twins let her go? That was extremely hard to believe. So what had happened to her? A slight movement from the vicinity of the vehicle's roof suddenly alerted her to the whereabouts of the missing woman. Now the reason for the carpet on the luggage rack became clear. The worn and discoloured floor covering, wrapped up tightly and encircled in several places with taut strapping, was wriggling about somewhat. An almost inaudible moaning sound also seemed to be emanating from the same source. The carpet was of such length as to completely hide Amber's mummified form, and two things were immediately obvious to Lauren. Firstly, that Amber had been secured to the rack with the twins' usual efficiency, which meant that she wasn't going anywhere. And secondly, that this was the method of transportation that she was going to have to endure on the journey to...well, what was their next destination, exactly? This was something known only to the twins at present.

Lauren had been expecting to find herself bound and strapped into the rear luggage compartment of the vehicle again, but to her surprise, Jade led her to the back passenger seat, where she straight away commenced tying Lauren's legs in all the usually places. And for good measure, Lauren found her already bound arms being cajoled into a leather single-sleeve arm-binder, which, when laced up as uncompromisingly as Jade could manage, forced Lauren's elbows to almost touch. The final piece of the bondage jigsaw turned out to be the implementation of three leather straps, which were pulled firmly around her, then buckled at her stomach and breasts to lash her arms to her body. With Jasmine taking hold of her shoulders and Jade doing likewise with her feet, Lauren found herself being laid in the narrow foot-well between the front and rear seats of the car.

"Sit tight Amber, and try not to move around too much."

This shouted advice was given as the twins jumped into the front seats, and with Jasmine behind the wheel they were soon traversing the bumpy track that led away from the derelict house and back to the road.

As the Land Rover sped along the roads of rural Suffolk, Lauren could only imagine what sort of emotional turmoil Amber must have been going through. What if the straps came loose and she was flung from the roof and onto the road? Or worse still, into the path of an oncoming vehicle? Lauren took some comfort from the fact that the twins knew what they were doing when it came to making straps secure, although for Amber it must have been an ordeal of horrendous magnitude. And what would happen if someone saw the carpet squirming around on the roof?

Mercifully - for Amber, at least - they were on the move for no more than ten minutes, although from her position on the floor Lauren was unable to see exactly where it was that they had stopped. That is, until the twins climbed out, opened the rear passenger door and helped her onto her feet. Lauren did a 360 degree scan of the area. Aside from a stand of Scots pine trees immediately behind them, the outlook was of an open, flat, featureless landscape. The ground beneath their feet seemed to be a vast expanse of concrete, although as she gazed first to her left, then her right, it appeared that this stretch of man-made terrain - which seemed to extend indefinitely in each direction - had been left unmaintained for years, as the surface was cracked and crumbling, with grass and other stunted plants growing unchecked through the numerous fissures. It took her only a moment or two to fathom out the nature of this environment, however. What they were standing on was clearly the runway of one of the regions many long abandoned World War II airfields. The cloud-laden sky and whistling wind gave the deserted site an eerie feel. But why were they here?

Lauren's capacity to ask coherent questions was severely restricted at that moment, but even as she was contemplating an attempted enquiry as to the purpose of their presence here, she found herself being turned around and made to hop the thirty yards or so towards the trees.

The needles on the pine trees rustled in the strengthening breeze as she found herself being forced to stand with her back against the sturdy trunk of a mature specimen. Within seconds Jade had wrapped the chain that hung from Lauren's neck around the trunk and locked it with a large padlock. At the same time, Jasmine had made use of a length of rope to anchor Lauren's feet to the base of the tree. Any movement away from this arboreal mooring post was now impossible, and she discovered that she could no longer move her head more than a couple of inches in any direction, such was the shortness of the remaining chain between neck and timber.

"Okay Lauren, you just chill out here and watch the fun unfold. I think you'll enjoy this."

The mat of pine needles beneath their feet created a spongy effect when walking, although Lauren guessed, as she watched the twins walk the short distance back to the Land Rover, that this was not the only reason that they appeared to have a spring in their step. Whatever devious plans they had for their cousin, it was clear that they possessed a great deal of enthusiasm for the task ahead.

It took the two of them no time at all to release the roll of carpet from its fastenings and place it on the ground. Up to this point, there had been no movement from within the still tightly strapped tube, although once removed from its precarious perch, the bundle began to squirm and writhe - tentatively at first, but gradually building up into a full blown struggle for freedom. The twins looked on for a while, seemingly amused at the wriggling mass at their feet. After a minute or two, however, Lauren watched their spandex-clad forms kneel down beside their cousin and begin to unbuckle the straps around her chest, waist, thighs, knees and ankles, that had kept her out of sight within the long cylindrical encasement for the duration of the journey here. With the straps released, the twins positioned themselves at either end of the still rolled up parcel and grinned mischievously at each other.

"After three then Jade?"

"Okay. Ready? One...two...three!"

In one synchronised action, the twins unfurled the carpet with great force, sending it spinning across the ground. The carpet itself took no more than a second or so to spread out to its fullest extent, but Amber, in her helpless state, was propelled onwards, with no means of halting the spinning motion. For two or three further yards she hurtled on, before finally her momentum waned sufficiently for her to come to a standstill, face down. A loud groan forced its way through her gag, and she gazed around her, bemused by her sudden and unexpected reappearance into daylight.

Immediately, Jasmine and Jade were upon her, pulling her to her feet. Looking dishevelled and disorientated, Amber put up scant resistance as her tormentors hurried her around to the front of the Land Rover and rested her against the bull bar.

The tree-tethered Lauren watched in equal measures of horror and fascination now, as Jasmine produced a pair of scissors and began cutting away the tape that had held Amber tightly cocooned all night. Starting at her prisoner's feet, she slowly worked her way upwards, whilst Jade followed in her sister's wake by unpeeling and removing the now loosened strips from Amber's latex cat-suit. As the sharp scissors worked their way up over Amber's breasts, she watched the slashing blades wide eyed as they approached her neck; wisely refraining from any sudden movement lest Jasmine's hand should slip. Her lack of movement, however, didn't extend to her vocal chords.

"What are you going to do with me? Let me go NOW, or you'll be sorry!"

Her words, which had to contend with both the ball-gag and the duct tape, were only semi-intelligible, but their meaning was never in any doubt. These were the utterances of someone frightened out of her wits, yet determined to put on a brave face with an act of defiance. This was, of course, ignored by both Jade and Jasmine.

"Did you hear something just then Jade?"

"Yes Jas, I heard it, but I think it must have been the wind in the trees. Whatever it was, I shouldn't pay any attention to it."

The removal of Amber's adhesive sheath revealed her skin-tight latex outfit, which must, Lauren presumed as she watched the drama developing before her, have become pretty hot and uncomfortable when topped with that unbreakable tape armour. Amber, of course, was still restrained in no less than three sets of handcuffs around her wrists, with a fourth pair shackling her ankles.

Whether it was the sight of the chains and straps that caused Amber to try to make a dash for freedom, or simply because the twins - either through a momentary lapse in concentration, or maybe a deliberate act to see if Amber would attempt to escape - left her unattended for a few seconds. Either way, the chains being produced from the car caused Amber to thrust herself away from her position leaning against the bonnet and shuffle frantically by the only method open to her. She clearly had no particular destination in mind as she headed away from the car, and she must have known that she wouldn't get far, as within two or three seconds Jade had caught up with her and dragged the wriggling female back to her original position.

"That was a pretty stupid thing to do, Amber. You should have realised by now that you're not going to get away that easily."

Without warning, Jasmine pushed Amber back against the car and quickly encircled the helpless woman with a heavy chain that she threaded through the bull bar on the right hand side of the vehicle. A muffled scream of anguish split the air, but this dissipated almost at once in the strong breeze, as the chain was wound around her shoulders and under her armpits, until all the slack had been taken up. A stout padlock, placed neatly between her heaving breasts, secured the two ends of the metal restraint. Amber struggled against this latest setback, but she was powerless to wriggle free, and seconds later her situation deteriorated still further, as her feet were lifted from the ground and another chain, similar in length to the first, was used to lash her lower legs to the left hand end of the bull bar. Amber was now trapped horizontally along the front of the Land Rover; her feet over one headlight, her head covering the other. But the twins still hadn't finished, and for good measure began adding thick leather straps to further secure their victim to the rigid metal bars, at her knees, thighs and waist. The volume of Amber's screams grew in tandem with her ever worsening plight, as the nature of what was coming next became obvious to her.

"Hold tight Amber. We're going to take you for a little spin."

The twins jumped gleefully into the front seats, before Jasmine started the engine and began revving up. Seconds later, with a squeal of tyres and the smell of burning rubber, the car shot away at what, to the spectating Lauren, seemed like breakneck speed. She watched as a cloud of exhaust fumes and displaced stones and dust obscured the car's departure into the distance. After three or four hundred yards, a screech of brakes was heard, which coincided with the sight of the vehicle going into a wild skid. Seconds later, it was careening back towards its starting point, picking up speed by the second until, when almost in line with the spot where Lauren stood, Jasmine turned the wheel violently again and sent the car into a spin.

When it stopped moving, the Land Rover was facing Lauren, and no more than twenty yards or so away from her anchorage. She could see the fear in Amber's eyes and noticed that she was motionless, her whole body held rigid with dread. She was shivering uncontrollably. At a snail's pace, Jasmine drove the car over towards the copse of trees, until Amber was no more than three feet from Lauren's mooring post. Jade and Jasmine clambered out and, with the engine still running, came around to gauge how their cousin had reacted to her recent excursion.

"That was exhilarating, wasn't it Amber? Do you fancy a repeat?"

Amber shook her head wildly and pleaded into her gag for mercy. But it did her no good.

"It's my turn now" Jade announced, and moved towards the driver's door. "Are you coming Jas?"

"No you go on Jade. I'll stay here with Lauren and watch."

Jade whooped with joy, jumped in, revved up for several seconds, then sped away across the abandoned air field even faster - if that were possible - than Jasmine had done.

Powerless to intervene, Lauren, was shocked by the twins' brutality. Okay Amber had subjected herself and the twins to a nightmare ordeal, but this really was dangerous. As Jade skidded around 180 degrees and was about to begin her return, Lauren tried to convey her dismay at this worrying turn of events. Jasmine looked at her scornfully.

"You really do feel sorry for her don't you? Let me tell you something Lauren, that woman is pure evil."

The Land Rover hurtled past at high speed; the volume of noise causing Jasmine to pause for a few seconds.

"We know her better than you do, and if you think she wouldn't do exactly the same thing to you given half a chance then you're completely deluded."

Lauren was given no time to formulate a response, as away to the left Jade swung the vehicle around and hurtled back in the direction she had just come. As she neared the trees, she suddenly did an emergency stop. Lauren watched as Amber's latex-clad body tried to continue onwards with its forward momentum.

But the chains and straps did their job, and forced her back against the bars. Slowly, Jade manoeuvred the car under the trees and shut the engine off. Amber was visibly shaking and her eyes were bloodshot, although how much of that was down to tears, and how much was a consequence of the strengthening wind as it pummelled her face, it was impossible to tell. Through her gag, she let out a desperate plea for her torment to be brought to an end.

"PLEASE!! NO MORE!!"

Alighting from the driver's seat, Jade strolled around to the front of the car and knelt down beside her stricken cousin.

"You see Amber? This is what it's like being terrified. Not so great when you're on the receiving end, is it?"

Jasmine had now joined her twin.

"Looks like it's my turn again. I do so enjoy a pleasant drive in the countryside, don't you Amber?"

Despite Amber's whimpering, Jasmine strode around to the driver's door. She was about to get in, when the sound that emanated from Lauren's mouth intervened and stopped her in her tracks. Lauren was shaking her head and screaming for her friends to stop right now. She'd finally realised why she had been campaigning for Amber's ordeal to end. It had nothing to do with the latter's advances towards her. She knew that she and Amber would never be friends. And she knew that, strictly speaking, Amber probably deserved her punishment. No, the reason that Lauren was so disturbed by this ongoing spree of terror being meted out by the twins on their cousin was, she now understood, quite simple.

It was because, for Lauren, bondage was supposed to be fun; something to be looked forward to and, when you were participating in it, something to be cherished; something you didn't want to end. But this? What the twins were doing right now had nothing to do with pleasure - at least not for their victim. Amber may have taken the name 'de Sade', but it was the twins who were at this moment showing their sadistic streaks. And it didn't make particularly pleasant viewing.

Unfortunately, Lauren's attempts to convey these sentiments through her gag proved unsuccessful. Jasmine turned to her sister.

"You know Jade, Lauren's moaning is beginning to get on my nerves now. Maybe, as she's so fond of Amber, we should let her have a turn on the front of the car. Just so that she can share the experience. After all, that's what friends do, isn't it, share things?"

She turned back to her quivering cousin.

"What do you think Amber? Should we let Lauren take your place and endure a bit of our stunt driving?"

Without a second's hesitation, Amber began nodding her head, and the utterances that seeped from behind her gag left Lauren in no doubt that she had no qualms about putting someone else through this high speed hell, so long as it meant she didn't have to endure any more punishment herself. Jade turned to her with disdain.

"That just about sums you up, doesn't it Amber? A real friend wouldn't put someone they cared about through an ordeal like this. They'd take their punishment on the chin, wouldn't they? But not you. Oh no. The minute you see a way out, you don't care who gets hurt."

Despite Jade's taunts, Amber's eyes flashed with renewed hope, as the prospects of her ordeal coming to a conclusion suddenly seemed to take a step closer to reality.

"But then, if Lauren feels the need to step in and rescue you, then so be it. So, much as we would love to keep you there all day Amber, we're going to bow to Lauren's wishes and give you a bit of respite."

"Don't think that your ordeal's over and done with though" her sister continued "as we've still got a few more lessons to teach you before today's over."

The twins began releasing Amber from her horizontal position on the bull bar; firstly getting rid of the straps, then unlocking the padlocks and removing the heavy chains. Pulling their cousin up into a standing position, they began to walk her over towards the tree to which Lauren was secured. Amber seemed almost on the point of collapse after her ordeal, and her ankle chain meant that she was incapable of taking anything other than tiny steps. The ponytail of long blonde hair, once so sleek and glossy, now sprouted in a dirty, rat-tailed mass of knots and tangles from the top of her latex hood.

Reaching the tree, Jade released Lauren's neck chain and unbuckled her collar. Immediately these were used to anchor Amber to the tree. More rope was produced from the stash in the car, and this was soon being employed in binding Amber's legs and body to the sturdy trunk, to ensure that she couldn't wander off. Meanwhile, Jasmine had released the rope that held Lauren's ankles to the lower reaches of the tree, and was assisting her in making the few jumping motions needed for the short journey to the Land Rover.

Lauren, whose unease had been on the increase for several minutes now, began to panic as Jasmine wrapped the first chain around her breasts and urged her to stand against the bull bar. By this time, Jade had completed securing Amber, and was at her sister's side to help facilitate the shackling and strapping process. With her back only inches from the radiator grille, the heat given off from the vehicle's recent exploits was intense, which only added to her sense of trepidation. Lauren tried her best to persuade the twins that, actually, this wasn't what she had in mind when standing up for Amber, but her words went unheeded.

"You wanted to save Amber any further torture, didn't you? Well this is the price you have to pay for that kindness. Sorry Lauren, but you've only got yourself to blame."

Then Jade knelt down close to Lauren's ear and lowered her voice so that Amber would be unable to hear her. She reiterated her sister's sentiments of only minutes before.

"You'll see later on that your act of self-sacrifice will cut no ice with her. If you think she'll reciprocate the favour, then you've got a lot to learn about our dear cousin."

By now, Lauren was laying just above the Land Rover's bumper, chained around the chest and lower legs with strong chains that gave her no scope for movement. The straps that had lain where they'd fallen since being removed from Amber, now found their way around her; pulled so tight that they bit through the spandex fabric of her cat-suit and dug deeply into her flesh. And just to compound her misery, at that moment it began to rain; the first few spots splattering on the car, the ground around the vehicle, and onto Lauren. The twins, however, seemed not to notice this downturn in the weather conditions, and continued on with their intended course of action.

With the straps secured in place, both Jasmine and Jade tested the efficiency of their work by pulling at the restraints to ensure nothing was likely to work loose during the little excursion that they had planned. Satisfied, they proceeded to jump into the vehicle.

"Hold on tight Lauren. You might want to close your eyes and..."

The end of Jade's parting shot was drowned out with the sound of Jasmine revving up as hard as she could. The noise, from Lauren's position only a few inches away from the engine, was ear splitting. She gazed out in fear at the wide expanse of open wasteland in front of her. And then the Land Rover began to move; slowly at first, but swiftly picking up speed.

Lauren braced herself. She realised that her hands, trapped within the bondage mitten, were tightly clenched. She tried to console herself with the thought that it would all be over in a few minutes, although for some reason this did nothing to calm her nerves. For a second or two she took Jade's advice and closed her eyes, but this seemed to make the sensation worse and she quickly opened them again. By now the rain was lashing down in sheets, with the wind strengthening to gale force; soaking Lauren's spandex attire in seconds. As the vehicle picked up speed, she found her vision blurring, not only as a consequence of the rain, but also due to the vibration of the car as it juddered and jolted over the potholed and broken terrain. She found herself screaming as the seemingly out of control Land Rover bucked and shuddered as if it was about to fall apart. She watched as bushes and shrubs that had grown up through the decaying ground appeared to rush towards her, only to flash past in the blinking of an eye. How much longer would this nightmare go on?

Then, as if in answer to her question, a piercing squeal from the brakes coincided with a sharp careering movement to the left. For a second or too, the car spun around violently, before coming to a halt. A sickening dizziness overcame Lauren for a few seconds, as she tried to focus on an horizon which seemed to be swimming before her eyes. Then, just as her vision seemed to be stabilising, the car thrust forward again, heading back towards the wooded area in the distance. Those tall, elegant trees seemed to grow larger by the second, as Jasmine slammed her foot down and pushed the Land Rover to its limits. As the copse drew ever closer, Lauren could make out the shape of a blonde woman standing rigid against the largest tree. A second or two later, Amber's wide eyed features became discernible. There was no sign that Jasmine had any intention of hitting the brakes, or swerving away from what now seemed to be an imminent collision. Lauren's whole life seemed to flash before her, as what seemed to be her inevitable death - as well as Amber's - loomed ever closer. She shut her eyes and braced herself for oblivion...


Part 7 (added: 2016/03/09)

It seemed as if the world and everything in it had suddenly disappeared. Was this what it felt like to die? There had been a split second when the squeal of brakes had coincided with a swift slow down in the vehicle's momentum...then nothing.

Well, perhaps not quite nothing.

The rain seemed to still be falling onto her face and spandex covered body and legs. And there was a soft whimpering sound from close by. There was no pain, but as she tentatively stretched her limbs, Lauren found that she was still unable to move. She was most definitely still in a state of very strict restraint, she concluded. So that meant that either she had died and gone to some sort of heaven for bondage addicts...or else she had somehow survived what seemed like an almost inevitable collision. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. All that met her gaze was a sea of blackness. For a second or two, she could make out nothing in what seemed like an endless dark void. But then she sensed this black whatever-it-was moving slightly. As her eyes focused, it became apparent that the blackness wasn't quite so all-encompassing as it had first appeared, but seemed to have a slight shine or shimmer to it; as if some source of light, however faint, was bouncing off it. And then there was the smell; that familiar aroma of latex. Lauren cast her eyes upwards slightly, just as a low moan of anguish reached her ears from somewhere close at hand.

Then, suddenly, it all became clear to her. Miraculously, she wasn't dead. In fact, she didn't appear to have even been injured. The nature of the black vista that had first greeted her was shown to be Amber's black cat-suit; Lauren's eyes being no more than two inches away from her latex-clad thighs. Looking upwards, Lauren could see the overhanging branches of the tree, through which the leaden sky peeped and the rain continued to fall. Closer to home, the black fabric of Amber's attire writhed and contorted in her ever more desperate attempt to free herself from a state of bondage that she had been encumbered in for the best part of twenty four hours; the soft squeak of latex against latex competing with the pattering of raindrops all around. From her head, a mess of dirty blonde hair swayed to and fro as she wrestled with her restraints.

The sound of car doors opening and almost immediately closing again preceded the appearance of the twins within Lauren's line of vision. Jade crouched down and examined the gap between Lauren's face and Amber's legs.

"That was a bit too close for comfort Jas. You cut it a bit fine there."

She turned to the women chained and strapped horizontally across the front of the Land Rover.

"Sorry about that Lauren, but we needed to show you what an evil bitch our cousin can be. You tried to help her, and how does she repay you?"

She paused for a second, before answering her own question.

"She puts you through an ordeal that she knows will scare the shit out of you."

She stood to her full height and looked contemptuously at Amber, who stared back at her, wide-eyed.

"So Amber, as you've shown that you haven't an ounce of decency in you, your punishment has just increased tenfold. It's time you took another turn strapped to the front of the car."

Amber's response was to redouble her efforts to free herself, whilst pleading, for what seemed like the thousandth time, to be forgiven for her sins. The ball-gag and duct tape, however, made her words unintelligible, and were, of course, ignored by her tormentors.

As Jade was speaking, Jasmine had commenced unlocking the padlocks that held the chains around Lauren's legs and torso. With these removed, both Jade and Jasmine released the leather straps that had kept her immobilised, then set her down on the ground. Mercifully, the trees' canopy sheltered the ground directly below from the worst of the rain, and the thick mat of pine needles remained relatively dry. Still trapped in the bondage-sleeve, and with her legs still bound, Lauren could only watch as the twins began removing the ropes and neck chain that were anchoring Amber to the tree. As they were about to manoeuvre their cousin back into the position required to once more strap and chain her for another high speed caper, however, Jasmine stopped and turned her head. She seemed to be listening intently.

"Do you hear that Jade?"

Her sister, too, stopped and listened. At first, all Lauren could hear was the rain lashing down, the wind in the treetops and the whimpering that emanated from Amber's stuffed and sealed mouth. But then, ever so faintly, she heard it too. Far away, it seemed, the wail of a police siren could just be made out. Jasmine turned to her sister.

"Do you think someone's seen us and called the police?"

Jade dismissed the idea.

"You know how the sound from those sirens carries for miles. It's probably coming from the main road. The A12 is only a couple of miles away, after all. There's no reason to think this has anything to do with us."

She returned to the task of trying to get her wriggling cousin ready for her next ride. Jasmine, however, was less convinced than her sister, and maintained her vigilance. And after a few seconds, the monotonous wailing sound did indeed seem to become a bit louder.

"You know Jade, I don't think we should take any chances. Let's get out of here just in case they're coming this way."

Reluctantly, Jade conceded that her sister was probably right.

"Get Lauren in the car and I'll deal with this bitch."

Jasmine hurried over, grabbed Lauren by the shoulders and dragged her towards the Land Rover. Opening the back passenger door, she hauled her bound friend into the foot-well and left her lying there, face upwards. Lauren was glad to be out of the cold and rain as her spandex cat-suit was now soaked, which was causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Seconds after she was laid to rest, however, a layer of insulation was dumped on top of her in the form of Amber. In contrast to Lauren, Amber was pushed into the tight space between the front and back seats face first, which meant that, not only was she lying on top of Lauren, but they now found themselves eye to eye. Amber's skin-tight cat-suit glistened in the dim autumn light and she was shivering violently; whether from cold or fear was difficult to say. Probably a combination of the two.

The rear door slammed shut and the floor of the car dipped slightly, as the twins jumped into the front seats. Seconds later, they were on the move and accelerating away, although at a more controlled speed than the last time the car had been in motion. For several minutes the vehicle maintained a steady pace, until the uneven nature of the terrain seemed to ease, which suggested that they were now back on the public highway. From her position on the floor, Lauren could, if she looked upwards and to her left, see Jade peering over her shoulder between the car's front seats; checking the view behind them.

"It doesn't look like we're being followed. I guess it was a false alarm after all."

"Better safe than sorry though, Jade. It might have been a bit embarrassing trying to explain what we were up to if we'd been caught. And I bet Amber would have made sure that we were arrested."

"Yeah but it might have had its compensations though. Just think, being handcuffed by a couple of hunky policemen."

Both of the twins laughed. It seemed that they found this scenario quite an appealing prospect.

After a few minutes, the twins lapsed into silence as they made their way along the wet and winding country lanes of Suffolk. With Amber's weight on top, and with her arms trapped beneath her, Lauren found her position on the floor to be uncomfortable and verging on the painful. She contrived to manoeuvre herself into a more relaxed posture, and it was at this juncture that Amber decided to risk a stab at communication. Up to this point, Lauren had done her best to avoid eye contact, but now, as her fellow captive begged for Lauren's assistance in putting a stop to the nightmare that the twins were inflicting on her, their eyes met.

Despite all that Amber had put her through, which had culminated recently in letting her suffer on the front of the Land Rover, Lauren couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It was obvious that she had been genuinely terrified at the way the twins were treating her, and even more so by the prospects of what might still be to come. Her muffled "You've got to help me", however, was overheard by Jade, who turned between the front seats and looked down on the pile of bound women behind her.

"Now, now girls. No trying to communicate with each other. We can't have you two conspiring to break free can we? I know she wants you to help her Lauren, but all she'll do is tie us up and take her revenge on us all, including you."

From her position at the wheel, Jasmine chimed in.

"So don't even think about helping her get free Lauren. If you do we'll have no choice but to punish you as well."

Amber shrieked a curse at the twins, which simply made them laugh.

"Scream at us all you like, but we're in control now, and the chances of you going free in the next few days are non-existent.... Ah, nearly home now Amber."

This remark coincided with the vehicle bumping and jolting along a less even piece of terrain, which was obviously the track leading back to Amber's makeshift lair. And this assumption was confirmed only seconds later when the car came to a halt and the twins began to remove the two trussed and helpless women out of the foot-well. It was still raining outside, which encouraged Jade and Jasmine to get into the ramshackle building as swiftly as they were able to persuade their two ankle-bound prisoners to hop.

The chain hanging from the basement ceiling was a grim reminder of the way Amber had been forced to spend the previous night. But it wasn't towards this central point in the subterranean chamber that Jade ushered her handcuffed and frightened cousin, but instead she was guided, inch by reluctant inch, towards one of the darker corners of what was itself a relatively ill-lit, windowless cavern. Lauren, who had been helped down the stairs by Jasmine, was now gently persuaded to sit on the stone floor. She watched as Amber was forcibly lowered to the ground and compelled to sit with her back against a sturdy metal water pipe that ran from floor to ceiling, parallel with, and only inches away from, the damp, cold walls of this underground dungeon. With their victim in position, Jade was joined by her twin, as between them they set about ensuring that Amber and the pipe would be remaining conjoined for the foreseeable future. This they achieved by treating their protesting latex-clad relative to the bondage equivalent of a three course luxury banquet. As a starter, several strong leather belts were expertly wrapped around both their squirming cousin and the mooring post, before being pulled tight and buckled securely. The main course consisted of a multitude of ropes which, when tied around Amber's torso to the twins' satisfaction, left her smothered in stringently bound cords from shoulder to waist. So numerous were the coils that, from where Lauren was sitting, the whiteness of the bonds was in greater evidence than the black cat-suit beneath. And for dessert - the icing on the cake, so to speak - a generous wrapping of duct tape was applied, which supplemented both the ropes and the straps, and could have left Amber in no doubt about the hopeless nature of her plight.

"There you go Amber, all nice and tight again. Jade and I are going to leave you here for an hour or two while we decide on our next course of action. Rest assured, though, that the way you betrayed Lauren out at the airfield has added a considerable length of time to your sentence."

Amber squealed and did her best to pull herself away from the pipe, but she simply couldn't budge even a fraction of an inch. Jade now picked up and continued with the thread of her sister's latest utterance.

"Yes, Amber, we haven't decided exactly how long your captivity is going to last, but suffice to say that by the time we let you go, the concept of freedom will seem like a distant memory."

With Amber's feeble protestations falling on deaf ears, Jasmine and Jade returned to the centre of the room.

Lauren stole a glance over at Amber. Whilst the twins had been in the car for most of the storm, and therefore relatively unscathed by the deluge, it was clear that both she and Amber were soaked to the skin. And the freezing conditions in the depths of this ruined building were only going to make things worse for both of them. Luckily, for Lauren at least, respite was at hand.

"It looks like we need to get you out of that wet spandex and into something a bit dryer, Lauren. We'll take you back to our house and find a nice clean, dry cat-suit for you to wear."

This was music to Lauren's ears, but at the same time she realised that Jasmine and Jade had no intention of being so kind-hearted to Amber. And it occurred to her that, if they left her here for any great length of time - which seemed to be in their master-plan - she could develop hypothermia. As the twins helped Lauren to her feet, she tried to communicate these fears to her friends, but her concerns dismissed.

"Did Amber care about our wellbeing when she turned that cold shower on us? Of course she didn't. Well now she's getting a taste of her own medicine. And besides, struggling against all those coils of rope and wrappings of tape will soon warm her up."

Jade began guiding Lauren towards the stairs.

"She's not worth worrying about Lauren. We'll decide what to do with her later."

And with Amber's muffled cries of anguish assaulting their ears, the trio made their way upstairs and sealed the cellar door behind them.

In similar fashion to her initial journey that morning, Lauren found herself being bustled into the luggage space at the back of the Land Rover and strapped in for safety. Then the return trip to the twins' house began. Once back in the driveway of the old farmhouse, the still wet and quivering Lauren was helped inside. She was expecting to be allowed to wash and refresh herself in the same manner as this morning, but it seemed that the twins were wary of releasing her from her bondage completely now, as Jade explained as they entered the bathroom.

"As you seem to be taking Amber's side at the moment, we've decided that we can't have you trying to escape and attempting to get back to the house to help her. So we're going to have to keep you under restraint at all times at the moment. Sorry about that Lauren, but needs must."

"I shouldn't think Lauren's too bothered about that Jade." her twin responded "She never seems to tire of being tied up, so I don't suppose this will unduly upset her."

The 'this' Jasmine was alluding to turned out to be a leather hood, which was placed over Lauren's head and pulled down to her neck. The hood was small and fit snugly around her temples, cheeks and jaw. And it tightened even further when one of the twins buckled it up securely at the rear of her neck. Lauren soon discovered that there were no openings for either mouth or eyes in this sensory depriving headgear, but merely two slits that aligned with the nostrils for breathing purposes. Even through the soft but strong fabric, the sound of a padlock being fitted at her neck informed Lauren that taking the hood off, even once her hands were released, would be impossible.

With the head restraint fastened immovably, the process of getting Lauren out of her clinging wet attire commenced. Firstly the three straps around her waist, chest and shoulders were unbuckled and removed. Then it was the turn of the single-sleeve mitten to be relinquished; an act accomplished by one or other of the twins - being in darkness, Lauren couldn't deduce which - unlacing and then pulling the leather sheath from her arms. Next the pressure around her legs slowly eased, as the three ropes were released and removed in turn; beginning above her knees and working down to her ankles. Now all that remained was for the rope that still held her wrists together with such effectiveness to be released. She held her hands out behind her, in expectation of the removal of this ligature. For a few seconds nothing happened, and she was about to protest that she couldn't get out of her wet clothes without liberation from this final obstacle, when she felt fingers picking at the tight knot behind her wrists and the bond slackened and fell away; the gentle thud of rope landing on carpet being heard a split second afterwards.

"Okay Lauren, take that wet cat-suit off and we'll get you dried off and warmed up a bit."

Despite her eagerness to get the cold clinging material away from her skin, Lauren found her hands automatically reaching up to her neck, in an effort to remove the claustrophobic leather hindrance that smothered her head. Prising the tight leather upwards, however, proved out of the question, and invoked a strong rebuke from one of the twins.

"Stop trying to get the hood off. You've got thirty seconds to get out of the cat-suit, or we'll assume you want to keep it on. Now what's it to be?"

The threat worked, as the thought of having to spend longer in her wet spandex proved too much to bear. Starting at the shoulders, Lauren began peeling the damp stretchy material down over her breasts and past her hips. As she rolled the reluctantly retreating fabric down her thighs, the awareness hit her that the room was in total silence, and she became self-conscious about the fact that the twins were now able to view her nakedness. She needn't have worried, however, because as soon as the cat-suit had passed her ankles and she was purging her feet of the last remnants of this sodden garment, she felt a large, bath-towel being wrapped around her shoulders. This had clearly been left hanging over a radiator, and the welcome heat that this provided, she quickly maximised by pulling the soft fabric around herself and revelling in its comforting warmth.

"We'll be back in five minutes Lauren. There's a pair of tights and a fresh cat-suit by your feet. Make sure you're dressed by the time we return."

The heavy bathroom door slammed shut. Lauren waited for a minute or maybe more, savouring the last ounce of residual warmth from the rapidly cooling towel. Then she carefully crouched down and felt around on the floor until she located her fresh garments. She quickly sheathed her legs in the tights and pulled them up to her waist, before reaching down until her fingers came into contact with the familiar texture of smooth spandex. Working out which were the arms and which were the legs took half a minute or so, until she finally had the appendages correctly aligned. She tried lifting one leg to begin ensconcing herself into the soft garment, but found herself beginning to lose her balance. Whether this was down to her limbs still being weak from such a long stretch in bondage, or maybe the fact that she couldn't see conspired to make her lose her bearings. Or possibly it had something to do with the aftershock from the near death experience she'd suffered only an hour or so ago. Whatever the reason, the fact that she almost toppled over made her realise that sitting down and wrestling herself into the tight stretch fabric was probably her best bet. Even then, working blindly made getting herself into the constricting costume a testing experience, and she only just had time to stand up, pull the zip up to her neck and smooth the skin-tight weave down over her legs, arms and body, before the door opened once again. Without ceremony, she felt a pair of hands take hold of her by the shoulders and turn her around, whilst another pair grabbed both of her arms and pulled them behind her back. She experienced the cold metal embrace of the handcuffs around each wrist in turn, before the staccato clicking of the ratchets informed her that the descent into her next phase of bondage was well and truly underway.

Sitting her down on the carpet, the twins made light work of binding Lauren's ankles and knees, before helping her once more to her feet. Although now once again incapable of fleeing the scene, the hood remained firmly locked around her head. Making her hop out of the bathroom, down the stairs, along the hallway and out the front door with her legs bound, struck Lauren as a rather cumbersome way of getting her back into the car. Why didn't they allow her to walk to the vehicle and then tie her legs? But that was just the way the twins operated, she guessed. Making life easy - either for themselves or their captive - was of secondary importance. What mattered was that their victim had no capacity for either fight or flight.

Not that Lauren had any desire to entertain either of these options, as she had no complaints whatsoever about the treatment being meted out to her. As soon as the handcuffs had been placed around her wrists, she'd once more experienced that blissful sense of well-being that always accompanied being trussed up and rendered helpless. If only this ongoing situation with Amber could be put to rest, then she would have been one completely carefree young woman.

It must have been late in the afternoon by the time the twins bundled Lauren into the car and placed her, sitting upright, on the back seat. She felt a seat belt being pulled across her chest to stop her moving around during the journey - either by accident or design - before the familiar drone of the engine let her know that they were once again on the move. If Lauren's estimate of the time was correct, then it would be nearly dark by now given the time of year, which was probably the reason that the twins didn't see the need to hide Lauren's masked face from public view. Where were they going? It seemed a good bet that they were headed back once again to further torment Amber, and this was confirmed by the twins as they made the short journey back to the old house that had become their cousin's place of incarceration. The conversation was, inevitably, one sided, as her gag, together with the constricting nature of the hood that retarded the movement of her jaw, meant responding to the twins with anything other than the occasional muffled "mmph", was beyond Lauren's capabilities.

"So here's the plan. We're going to pay a fleeting visit to Amber and drop a few hints about what we're going to do to her later. We won't give her any specifics, of course. It's the fear of the unknown, and what we might do to her, that's really going to put the frighteners on her. Then she can spend the night worrying about how long it will be before we return and put our plans into action."

Lauren must have made some sort of sound at that point which conveyed the unease she was feeling at the nature of talk like this. Jasmine sighed.

"Yes Lauren, we know you don't approve of the way we're treating our dear cousin, so we've come up with an idea. Originally, we were going to leave you behind at our house while we went out for something to eat."

"But then" Jade took over from her sister "we thought that, as you're so fond of Amber, you might like to spend the evening with her. Just so that she doesn't get too lonely in her prison cell. You can share bondage tales and really get to know each other better."

The twins giggled at this concept.

Before long, the bumpiness of the journey signalled the imminent arrival at their destination. Still hooded, handcuffed and bound, Lauren was removed from the car and forcibly marched into the building. No sooner had they entered the dark hallway of the decaying ruin, than the sound of someone wailing, faintly and pitifully, could be made out. But as the cellar door creaked slowly open, the volume levels of these desperately mournful cries increased tenfold. The howling continued until Lauren had been guided to the bottom of the stairs.

"Shut up Amber, or we'll be forced to shut you up...for good."

This threat from Jade seemed to have the desired effect, as almost immediately Amber lapsed into silence, save for an almost inaudible whimper that seemed to issue through her gag involuntarily every few seconds.

Without warning, Lauren felt the padlock at the back of her neck being released, and seconds later the leather, which had been acting as a second skin over her face, began to slacken and the sensation of the hood being lifted from her head corresponded with the return of her vision. She blinked in the dim light while her eyes made the necessary adjustment to the relative brightness. The first thing that greeted her returning sight, was that the twins were no longer in their usual bondage garb of spandex, but had changed into their 'going out' clothes; Jasmine wearing a tight white t-shirt and even tighter jeans, with Jade in a clinging silk blouse, short skirt and tights, all in black. Both wore high heels.

But the twins clothes only briefly held her attention, as the next thing she saw made her gasp with dismay. Amber was still sitting where the twins had left her, roped and taped up to the nines. But even in this shadowy realm, it was clear that she was shivering uncontrollably. And then there were her eyes. Large dark circles rimmed with red that peered out from the holes in her latex mask and seemed to be pleading for release; for an end to her torment; for compassion to be shown. Indeed, the perilous nature of her plight seemed to suggest that she was actually pleading for her life, as it was clear that if she was left here overnight, she would be unlikely to still be alive in the morning. But what really worried Lauren was the fact that the twins didn't seem to notice this. Or if they did, they simply didn't care. Indeed, their attention at this very moment was focused entirely on Lauren; and more specifically, on increasing her bondage to a level whereby she would be powerless to help Amber out of her predicament.

Within seconds, Lauren found her arms - still in the handcuffs - being once more enveloped in the single-sleeve mitten that she'd been wearing earlier that day. The familiar tightness, as it was laced severely around her elbows and shoulders, was followed by the application of the belts around her limbs and torso, welding her arms to her back and restricting still further her ability to move.

"There, that should stop you tampering with any bonds; either your own or Amber's."

Lauren found herself being coaxed to sit down on the hard stone floor. Unexpectedly, Jade produced another piece of rope and deftly threaded it through Lauren's legs. Whilst looping the soft white cord around her waist, threading it through the lacing of her bondage sleeve, pulling it ultra-tightly and finally knotting it, Jade winked at Lauren and whispered in her ear.

"Just in case you get bored Lauren. It'll give you something to take your mind off our cousin's whining and whinging while we're gone."

With the crotch rope secured, Lauren's leg bonds were checked and tightened. Only then, after satisfying themselves that she had no chance of escape, did Jade and Jasmine finally turn their attention to their other, less willing captive.

"So Amber, it doesn't look like you've made much headway in getting yourself out of those bonds. Such a shame, as we were looking forward to punishing you for trying to escape."

Jasmine knelt down beside the still shaking woman and checked that the tape that surrounded her hadn't loosened or become unstuck in any way.

"I expect you're wondering exactly what we've got planned for you tomorrow, aren't you?"

She let this rhetorical question hang in the air for a few seconds, before continuing.

"Well the thing is, we couldn't tell you if we wanted to, because we still haven't made up our minds yet, although we've got several possible options up our sleeves."

"We could bury you up to your neck in sand, like you did to us." Jade suggested "Or perhaps we could take you down to the estuary of the River Orwell and find a nice spot of quicksand for you to wallow in."

"Or we could tie you to a chair and duck you in the river, like they used to do with witches in the old days."

Sowing the seeds of psychological turmoil in their victim's mind was a pastime that the twins seemed to take great satisfaction from at that moment. And Amber, it appeared, had now lost the will to fight back. Whereas earlier she would have put up a struggle and let rip with outbursts of semi-comprehensible outraged indignation, now the only sounds to make their way past the ball-gag and tape were low groans and pathetic sobs. After a minute or two more of verbal torment, however, the twins seemed to get bored of the game and turned to leave. But as they reached the foot of the stairs, from somewhere Amber summoned up one last ounce of strength and screamed as loudly as she could.

"LET ME OUT OF THIS!"

Simultaneously, she banged her handcuffed wrists against the pipe to which she was moored, causing a clanging sound of metal-on-metal to echo eerily around the underground chamber. Jasmine turned on her heels and looked back at her cousin, a devious grin on her face. She reached into the rear pocket of her jeans and produced a solitary metal key which momentarily sent a shaft of silver flashing across the room as the light from the overhead bulb caught it. She walked back to where Amber sat.

"I dare say you recognise this, don't you Amber? It's the key to all your problems. Well I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll leave it here for you."

Jasmine walked over to a spot on the far side of the room, where Lauren noticed the hold-all bag, which the twins had earlier used to transport all the chains and other bondage paraphernalia on this morning's jaunt, had been deposited. She held the key up over the open bag and dropped it from a height of six inches into the interior. There was a slight 'clink', as the key presumably came into contact with the chains within. Jasmine zipped the bag shut, picked it up and came back across the room; the click of her heels vibrating on the stone floor. She placed it on the worktop where even more of Amber's bondage and torture apparatus still lay.

"There you go Amber. If you can get to it, you can use it to get yourself free. If not...well I guess you'll have to stay where you are until we return."

She turned and walked towards the stairs, where her twin stood waiting for her. They began to ascend.

"Where shall we go to eat, Jade? I hear that The Unruly Pig at Bromeswell is supposed to be a very good pub for food these days. And it's close at hand."

"We can try there if you like, or alternatively Wilford Bridge is only a little further up the road...."

That was the last part of the conversation that Lauren heard clearly, although even after the cellar door had been slammed shut, the mumble of voices could still be heard for a few seconds, until they gradually faded away into silence. Lauren noted, however, that although the cellar door had been closed, she had heard no evidence of it being sealed; no turning of the key in the lock or bolts slamming into place. Nor had the light been switched off, as was customary. Either the twins had been too preoccupied with their dining plans and had become careless, or they were sufficiently certain that their two prisoners wouldn't be capable of getting up the stairs and out of the dungeon under their own steam.

And under normal circumstances they were probably right. But this was no ordinary situation. Lauren glanced over at Amber, who seemed to be shivering even more than she had been only a minute or two ago. Her eyes were closed and her breathing seemed shallow and sporadic. Okay, so the twins would only be gone an hour or two, but even then, the chances of them releasing Amber and allowing her to get out of her wet clothes were minimal. She just had to help her escape before she froze to death.

Lauren looked up at the hold-all on the table away to her right. All she had to do was get the key to the handcuffs and somehow manoeuvre it over to the corner of the room where Amber was tethered. But how was she going to do that with her hands stuffed inside the bondage mitten? She tugged and strained at her ankle bonds, but this tight rope, as well as those further up her legs, proved too stubborn to shift. She shook her arms from side to side, and tried to contort them into a position where she could slip out of the leather binding. But of course, as she already knew, the twins had done their job to perfection, and she was inescapably trapped. How she wished now that she'd paid more attention to Jasmine and Jade's escapology techniques. So with her arms out of commission, there was only one thing for it. She would have to retrieve the key by some other means.

Lauren shuffled across the floor on her backside, using her feet to propel herself forwards, until she was only inches from the bench. Getting herself into a kneeling position took several attempts, but she finally found herself balancing precariously on her knees and toes. Lifting herself to her full height proved a nerve-wracking experience, as the possibility of losing her balance and falling over at any second seemed a very real danger. However, with a 'mmph' of triumph, after a minute or so she found herself standing in front of the table, with the hold-all tantalisingly close at hand.

The worktop surface was situated at a height of around four feet from the ground, which proved to be the next obstacle in her path. With her arms lashed to her back, she had no way of lifting them up to a height whereby she would be able to push the bag off the work surface and onto the floor. Having her lower face covered in duct tape was also a hindrance, as this precluded using her teeth to grip the bag's handles and drag it towards her. There seemed only one other option left open to her. Leaning forwards, she placed her head over the top of the bag and used her chin to drag it back towards the edge. Being full of chains, padlocks and other bondage tackle, the bag proved to be extremely heavy, and consequently very difficult to shift. Gradually, however, Lauren could feel it sliding in the required direction. As it neared the side of the bench, she hopped to one side and gave one final push with her tape-encrusted face, so that the holdall crashed down onto the stone floor.

The noise that reverberated around the cavernous basement roused Amber from her apparent stupor. When she saw what Lauren was attempting, her whole demeanour appeared to alter in an instant, as the prospect of salvation suddenly became a reality again. Where only moments ago she had appeared to have given up hope of ever getting out of her dire predicament, now some of the old Amber spirit had resurfaced, and she began making encouraging noises through her gag; egging Lauren on to find the key and to shepherd it in her direction.

Lauren dropped as gently as she could back down to the floor. Getting the bag to the ground had been an exhausting process, but there were still major hurdles to overcome before she could get the key into a position where Amber could unlock her shackles. And the first of these obstacles was the zip on the bag. As with the recently achieved removal of the holdall from the table, the unavailability of both her fingers and her teeth was going to prove problematic in drawing back the metal fastener and getting at the contents enclosed beneath. That really only left her with one alternative - her feet. Being barefoot, save for the mesh of the tights, was a blessing in this respect, as she was able to grip the metal clasp with relative ease between the big toes on either foot, and slowly but surely, she managed to slide the fastener back and unseal the bag. Once a gaping chasm had been opened to reveal the chains and ropes within, however, another problem presented itself, namely how to rummage through the assembled binding agents to locate the tiny key. Once again her feet proved to be the answer. Grasping one of the handles with her foot, then swinging her legs upwards so that the bag turned one hundred and eighty degrees and spilled its contents onto the floor, took three or four attempts. But eventually, with Amber still making encouraging noises from her corner of the room, the stone surface became strewn with all manner of bondage gear. Now it was just a case of sorting through the jumbled mass until the sought after item revealed itself.

To say that pinpointing the key's whereabouts was like looking for a needle in a haystack would be an exaggeration... but only a slight one. With their flight from the airfield made in haste, the twins hadn't worried too much about the niceties of folding up the ropes into neat tidy bundles, nor cared about the order in which everything had been quickly tossed into the bag. Consequently, the ropes, chains and straps had become hopelessly entangled and interwoven, so that extricating any particular bond and laying it to one side was not an easy endeavour - especially with the sorter having no use of her hands to assist the process. Added to this was the fact that the key-ring, that had once kept the keys to all the padlocks in regimented order, had somehow come open and released its charges, which only served to make Lauren's task doubly frustrating. In the dim light, each key looked very similar to the next. After several minutes of trial and error, however, and with Amber getting more irritated by Lauren's failure to deliver her longed for freedom, she finally spotted a key that she was certain was the one to release her fellow prisoner from her manacles.

Shuffling back across the floor whilst pushing the key in front of her with her toes, Lauren soon covered the distance to her cellmate's anchorage. As she reached Amber's legs, for a second or two Lauren baulked at what she was about to do. This was the woman, after all, who had buried her up to her neck in sand and then left her in what had looked like being a watery grave. So why was she helping her now? Would Amber reciprocate and set her free? She doubted it. But what she did realise was that Amber's life was in danger if she remained here, and that she simply had to help a fellow human being in distress, whoever it was and whatever the consequences might be.

Behind Amber's back, at floor level, where the pipe disappeared into the floor, Lauren could just make out a gap of no more than two inches in the swathes of duct tape, where the fingers of a pair of shackled hands could just be seen. Slowly, to make sure she positioned it in precisely the right spot, she eased the key into this tiny space with her toes. For a few seconds, Amber's fingers stretched and strained, desperately trying to grab hold of the lifeline she'd been thrown. But then, with a high pitched shriek of triumph, she procured the tiny sliver of metal between her thumb and index finger. For what must have been fully five minutes, Amber contorted and wriggled - in turn grunting with impatience, or yelping with joy at each minor triumph - as she fought to get the three pairs of handcuffs unlocked. Lauren marvelled at her dexterity and flexibility as she seemingly twisted her bound body into impossible shapes to liberate herself. One by one, she heard the bracelets opening and watched as each pair of handcuffs became redundant and fell to the floor.

Even with all three pairs of handcuffs lying discarded at the foot of the pipe, Amber still had her work cut out to free herself from the straps, ropes and duct tape that seemed determined to hamper her getaway. Clawing away at the multiple layers of constraining ligatures with her finger nails, however, gradually produced a loosening of the tight wrappings, until she was finally able to wriggle free of the last of these stubborn bonds. For several seconds she rubbed her wrists and then examined them in detail, as if not quite able to believe that she was indeed free at last. Then she stripped the duct tape from her masked face, before reaching around to the back of her neck and swiftly unbuckling the strap that had held the ball-gag firmly behind her teeth for more than twenty four hours. She grimaced as the ball slid from her mouth, and massaged her aching jaw for several seconds, before reaching down to her feet and unlocking the cuffs from around her ankles. Now completely free of her bonds, she tried to stand up. For a second, it looked as if her legs were about to give way under her, and she grasped the pipe that she had so recently been tethered to for support. Gingerly, she bent her knees and stretched her legs, allowing the circulation to gradually return after such a long period of immobility.

Although Lauren had been sitting only a foot or two away from Amber during the latter's Houdini act, there had been no communication between the two women during this period. In fact, it was as if Amber had forgotten that Lauren was even there, so intense had her concentration been on getting herself free. Now, however, she gazed down at the still bound woman at her feet. From looking as if she was at death's door only minutes ago, the transformation was quite remarkable. Suddenly, the old, dominant Amber was back, and her anger at the treatment that her cousins had forced her to endure was plain to see.

And worse than that, it seemed that Lauren was going to be made the scapegoat for all her woes.

"Fell for it didn't you? My little 'help me, I'm so cold I'm going to die' routine. Maybe the twins haven't told you, but I trained to be an actress, and I'm extremely good at it."

She took a couple of paces and stood directly beneath the single light bulb, her tight latex cat-suit glistening in the pale illumination.

"This suit, you see, is virtually waterproof, unlike the spandex numbers that you favour. So I was never actually in any danger of shuffling off this mortal coil. And besides, wriggling around in all that duct tape has made me quite warm. My only concern was getting out of my bonds, and you've been so very generous in helping me out in this regard."

She smiled a humourless smile that sent a familiar shiver of fear through Lauren.

"But if you think that just because you helped me get free that I'm going to do the same for you, then you're very much mistaken. As you probably realise, I'll be out for revenge on your friends for keeping me tied up all this time, and you, my sweetie, might well come in handy as a hostage...or perhaps as bait to lure those two stupid bitches back down here. I haven't really made up my mind what I'm going to do yet, but one thing I do know is that there's no rush. Be it tomorrow or the day after, I will have those two begging for mercy. And when I do, I'll make sure you're there to watch, just so that you understand that crossing me is a dangerous game to play."

She smiled again and walked uneasily across the room to where a steel locker stood in the far corner. Opening it, Lauren watched as she retrieved a long black leather coat from within and flung it around her shoulders. She reached in again and retrieved a bottle of mineral water. Eagerly, she quenched her thirst with long gulps of the soothing liquid, which made the helplessly watching Lauren realise that it was a long time since her throat had enjoyed such luxury. But if she was hoping Amber would take pity on her and share her drink, then she would be bitterly disappointed.

"Anyway, I can't stand here talking to you all night. I'm going home now to get some sleep and plan my revenge. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when the twins discover that you were the one who set me free. If you do see them, send my regards and tell them that there's going to be a little surprise awaiting them when we next meet. I'll see you in the morning if you're still here. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to ring for a taxi. "

She pulled the latex mask from her head, before retrieving her phone from the pocket of her coat and studying the screen.

"No signal down here." she mused to herself, then slipped her high-heeled boots on and headed for the stairs without even glancing in Lauren's direction again.

Lauren squealed as the light in the cellar was extinguished, although she knew that protest was futile. She heard the door slam and two heavy bolts slide into place, although the sound of the key turning in the lock didn't materialise; presumably because this was still in the twins' possession.

So what possible conclusions to her ongoing captivity could there be for Lauren now? If the twins returned - which they inevitably would at some point - then how were they going to react to the fact that Lauren had let their arch-enemy get away. Lauren mulled over the possibility that she should perhaps try to convince them that Amber had escaped without her assistance, but she knew full well that the twins wouldn't buy that one. So what would their response be to her misdemeanour? Would they punish her? And if so how? She decided that it was best not to dwell too long on such matters.

But was being punished by the twins the lesser of two evils? If Amber returned, what fate would befall her then? And of course there was always the possibility that both parties would turn up at the same time. Who would be mostly likely to prevail? And what consequences would a clash of that nature have for her? Was Amber waiting to ambush her cousins at this very moment? If so, could Lauren redeem herself in the twins' eyes by trying to warn them? The questions seemed endless, but answers were few and far between.

It must have been around two hours after they had departed, that the sound of two familiar voices - seemingly in high spirits - reached Lauren's ears. The twin's first attempt to open the heavy cellar door met with failure, and a few seconds elapsed during which time Jasmine was heard to ask Jade whether she remembered bolting the door on their departure. Jade's reply was given in the negative. The sound of the bolts being withdrawn was followed by the creak of the heavy door opening.

"The light's been turned off!"

This situation was immediately rectified, and as Lauren's vision adjusted to the brightness, she saw Jasmine creeping cautiously down the stairs, followed two steps behind by her twin. Gone now was the frivolity that had been obvious as they'd re-entered the house. Now both were on their guard due to the altered circumstances that they'd encountered on their return. As Jasmine reached the foot of the stairs, Lauren attempted to make her aware that Amber was no longer under lock and key. But she needn't have bothered, because her attempt at speech coincided precisely with Jasmine's sudden enlightenment.

""Shit! Where's Amber? She's not here!"

Immediately Jade was at her sister's side. For a few seconds, both women gazed at the abandoned handcuffs, shredded tape and loosely coiled ropes and belts that haphazardly adorned the corner of the room where once Amber had been fettered and helpless. Finally, after what seemed like a geological age, but was in fact probably no more than ten seconds, Jade turned to where Lauren lay a few feet away.

"What have you done!?"

Lauren squirmed in her bonds and offered a sheepish "sorry" through her gag. But that was never likely to be even remotely enough to appease the twins, and her apology was drowned out by Jasmine's verbal onslaught.

"You idiot! What the hell did you go and do that for? We had her just where we wanted her and now, thanks to you, she's on the loose again!"

From her position on the ground, Lauren gazed up at her friend, whose face showed the extreme anger that this perceived act of betrayal had engendered. And it was clear that Jade's fury was the equal of her sister's, as she kicked the now empty hold-all across the floor.

"You know something Lauren? We were planning to take you back to our house tonight and let you relax in a nice warm bed, whilst Amber spent the night here in solitary confinement. But now? Your stupidity has put us all in danger, and you're going to have to pay dearly for that. Do you think Amber's going to just let you go? Of course she isn't. The chances are that you won't be seeing the light of day again for a very long time. But so be it. You've made you've bed, now you're going to have to lie in it..."

A sudden creaking sound from the top of the stairs stopped Jade in full flow. It was probably only the wind shifting the door a fraction of an inch on its hinges, but it caused Jade and Jasmine to look at each other, as if they'd both had the same thought simultaneously. It was Jasmine, however, who articulated their shared concerns.

"Come on Jade, we'd better get out of here. If Amber comes back she'll seal us in here and we'll never get out."

Both twins made a dash for the stairs and hurried upwards, taking two steps at a time. Once they'd reached the door, they paused momentarily.

"Goodbye Lauren. Enjoy your time with Amber. You're on your own from now on."

Blackness enveloped the room and the door slammed shut, but in their haste, the twins once more failed to lock or bolt the door.

For Lauren, the night was a long one, which gave her ample opportunity to reflect on how she had come to be here and to review her whole bondage life up to this point. It wasn't that she minded being tied up and left overnight in the cellar. In fact, taken in isolation, that would have been a pleasant - indeed welcome - phenomenon. But what she had become sick of was all the unpleasant crap and competitive nastiness that seemed to go with it where Amber and the twins were concerned. She had sussed out very early on that Amber was evil, but until today she hadn't realised just how spiteful and hate-filled the twins could be. Their actions, both towards Amber and herself during the past twelve hours or so, had really opened her eyes to their contempt and insensitivity towards others, and she vowed there and then that once she got out of here - if she ever did - that she would sever all ties with them. The writing should have been on the wall, of course, even from day one. The fact that her initiation into bondage had been a marathon session, which had culminated in her being interred in a wooden box and buried beneath the ground, should have set alarms bells ringing from the start. But the fact that she'd found being tied up in ever more restrictive fashion such a turn on, had blinded her to the more sadistic side of the duo's nature. Now, however, this malevolence had gone too far and she wanted no more to do with them.

But of course, this left her with a huge dilemma. She could give up being friends with the twins, but her kinship with the ropes, handcuffs and all other means of being securely and inescapably tied up, would be a far tougher metaphorical bond to break. In fact, as she knew only too well, it would be impossible. Now that she had sampled the sheer unadulterated joy of tight and multi-layered bondage, she knew she would never be able to give up on it. Okay, she could always indulge in self-bondage if she had to, but it was no substitute for the real thing. For bondage to be everything she wanted it to be, she needed to know that her ropes and other fetters were such that freedom could never be attained without outside assistance. And self induced tie ups, by their very nature, could never deliver that feeling.

So what was she to do? She promised herself that, as soon as she was free and back in the outside world, she would do whatever she could to find a play partner on her own wavelength; someone who would tie her up to the standards to which she was accustomed, but without the unnecessary spite that followed when Jasmine and Jade were involved. She had no idea how to go about this, but her resolve was strong. Where there's a will, there's a way, she told herself, and somewhere out there, my bondage soul-mate is waiting for me.

To pass the time, and to take her mind off more sinister affairs, Lauren found herself experimenting with the crotch rope that Jade had been thoughtful enough to apply. The sensation, as soon as she pulled the cord as tightly into herself as she was able, proved to be a familiar and very welcome one in otherwise uncertain times. By now she was well versed in the use of this form of stimulation, and she knew exactly what was required to reap the most bountiful harvest from this particular type of self-abuse. Working the rope rhythmically within her, she felt that warm, wet, blissful sensation stirring between her legs, and the pace of her endeavours slowly increased until her hips and thighs were thrashing wildly in an ever more frenzied attempt to attain the Holy Grail. As she reached her zenith, she moaned long and low into her gag, as her whole body spasmed and writhed in ecstasy. At that very moment, she couldn't have cared less what became of her. Just so long as she could recreate moments like this, she would be happy to stay here indefinitely.

Lauren was to repeat this performance at various intervals throughout the next few hours, and these intense and extremely enjoyable episodes, coupled with short bouts of sleep, helped her to make it through the night. But all the time, one question remained in the back of her mind. Exactly who would return first, the twins or Amber? She still wasn't sure which was preferable, but in the end she was to discover that someone else would beat them to it.

The first that she knew about her unexpected visitor was when she heard a knocking sound; three loud thuds on the wooden cellar door, which reverberated around the stone walls, floor and ceiling of her underground tomb. Having been asleep only moments before, Lauren at first thought that she must be hearing things; after all, who would be likely to visit this place? And even stranger was the fact that someone would see the need to knock on the door. Who would do that? Certainly not Jade, Jasmine or Amber. For a few seconds the silence returned, and Lauren began to think that she'd imagined the whole thing. But then, just as she was becoming resigned to her period of solitary confinement continuing, she heard the door creaking open. Seconds later, the light came on and Lauren, in her hypnopompic state, could just make out the indistinct shape of a figure moving down the steps. Involuntarily, she made some strange startled noise into her gag. The figure stopped, having descended approximately halfway down the stairs.

"Hello? Mistress de Sade? Is that you?"

Lauren froze.

The voice was that of a man!


Part 8 - Update (2016/04/03)

Cautiously, the figure resumed his journey into the depths of the cellar. It was obvious to Lauren, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, that he hadn't yet seen her but had been made aware of someone's presence by her unintentional yet stifled cry. She realised now that this part of the room where she lay, not far from the corner where Amber had been tethered, was in shadow, and that her view into the light was much clearer than his must have been peering into the darkness. He took a few steps further until he was standing in the middle of the room, directly beneath the only source of light, and to Lauren's surprise she noted that he was dressed from the neck downwards in tight black spandex that shimmered slightly as he moved. It was, she knew immediately, a cat-suit almost identical to her own. She gasped again and without thinking shifted her position on the floor, and these two actions combined seemed to alert the unexpected visitor to her whereabouts. Cautiously, he took a couple of steps in the direction of what must have seemed like a wriggling, murmuring bundle in the shadows.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Suddenly he stopped, as the nature of the object in front of him became apparent. He appeared startled for a few seconds then he smiled. However, unlike the last time she'd been smiled at - by Amber - this was not some devious smirk that spoke of evil intentions and punishments to come. No, his was more of a friendly greeting to a fellow traveller on bondage's obstacle strewn highway; a show of recognition that betrayed the fact that he understood the reasons that she was here and could relate to her state of mind. In other words, he assumed she was one of Amber's paying customers, who was here of her own volition - and probably loving every minute of it.

Slowly he approached her prone form and knelt down beside her, his spandex covered knee only inches from her shoulder.

"Hi there. I was hoping to find Mistress de Sade here, just on the off-chance that she was free at the moment. I thought maybe she could fit me in with a session now, but I see that you've beaten me to it."

His eyes scanned Lauren's body, from her toes along to her head.

"Wow, this is a great. You obviously like your bondage nice and tight, you lucky girl."

Although Lauren knew that she should be wary of strangers, especially given the vulnerability of her situation at that moment, for some reason she found herself attracted to this uninvited guest. Maybe it was her female intuition kicking in, but she seemed to instantly recognise in him a kindred spirit; someone who she could relate to and share her feelings about all-things-bondage. Could this be - she hardly dared to allow the thought to take shape - the soul-mate that she had so recently been dreaming of finding? And as his monologue continued, her hopes seemed to grow by the second that here, indeed, was someone very much on the same wavelength as herself.

"Sorry, I should have introduced myself properly. My name's Steve. I write stories about bondage and suchlike, which I then get published through the internet. Most of my stories are 'damsel in distress' type fantasies. The reason that I utilise Mistress de Sade's service is to get inspiration for my little tales. I love being tied up, as long as it's a woman doing the tying. But then again, I also love the other side of things; being the rigger and tying a woman up all nice and tightly. Just like you are right now. "

He stopped and looked into Lauren's eyes, a worried expression suddenly haunting his face.

"Always consensually, of course. Sorry, I realise that could sound a bit scary -what with you all helpless and everything. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Lauren found herself more fascinated than fearful. But she was in a bit of a dilemma here. At the moment he was assuming that she was tied up because she wanted to be, which was sort of semi-true. But equally she had to try to communicate the fact that she really wasn't happy being here any longer. How did she make him understand, without the full use of her vocal chords, that she really needed to get away from here before either Amber or the twins returned? She tried to convey this message in words, but her gag ensured that the sound emitted was a garbled jumble of grunts and squeals that bore no resemblance to anything remotely comprehensible. So, in lieu of her vocalising abilities being available to her, she furrowed her brow, shook her head and wriggled in her bonds as frantically as she could, hoping that this would have the desired effect of soliciting his assistance in helping her escape from the dungeon.

Steve's smile, which had been almost ever-present since he'd first laid eyes on her, now turned to a frown.

"You are here of your own freewill, aren't you?"

****

"Of course she is."

The female voice that echoed around the underground room must have startled Steve just as much as it did Lauren. Within a second, he was on his feet and Lauren watched as he took two steps back into the centre of the room; blocking, momentarily, her view of the stairs, from where the voice had emanated. But she needed no visual confirmation to be certain of the new-comer's identity, and as Steve moved further into the centre of the room, the unmistakable form of Amber entered her line of vision. As always, she was wearing a latex cat-suit, but unlike yesterday, this one was bright crimson in colour; making her appear, in Lauren's eyes at least, like some sort of red devil. If anything, this outfit was even more figure hugging than her black one, if that were possible. To match this attire, her latex hood was of similar hue. Her blonde hair, which cascaded in a plume from an opening in the hood at the top of her head, was now clean and shining again, unlike Lauren's last sight of her. Her lipstick and eye make-up had also been reapplied, and her dark eyes were no longer red-rimmed and bloodshot. She stood at the foot of the stairs, legs slightly apart and arms akimbo. She was scowling. In fact, this was the Amber of old; the one Lauren feared and hoped she would never see again. For several seconds the silence was deafening, before Amber spoke again.

"She's here because she wants to be, but the question is what the hell are YOU doing here?"

Steve shuffled nervously for a brief moment then seemed to recover his composure.

"I'm sorry Mistress de Sade, but I was at a bit of a loose end and I thought that perhaps, if you were free, we could come to some arrangement for the next few hours. Also I wanted to apologise for not being able to keep our appointment last Saturday."

On hearing this, Lauren remembered that the only reason that Amber had turned up at the twins' house that day was because her scheduled client had cancelled. And it was that one innocuous occurrence that had in turn set in motion this whole rollercoaster ride that she'd been involved in ever since. Her musings on this chain of events were interrupted, however, by Amber's response.

"Never, ever turn up here again without my permission, do you understand? As you can see, I'm busy with this creature at the moment."

She pointed at Lauren.

Steve looked sheepishly at the dominatrix, who had by now closed the gap between them and was staring sternly at him from a distance of no more than three feet.

"Yeah, sorry. It was just that I was in the area and I thought..."

"GET OUT!"

Amber cut him short with her barked command, and Lauren watched in dismay as her potential saviour meekly obeyed by heading for the stairs, with Amber's eyes following him all the way. As he placed his foot on the bottom step, Lauren knew she had to act now before it was too late. She screamed for all she was worth, in a renewed effort to make him realise that things weren't all as they seemed, and that she really wasn't happy with circumstances as they stood at present. And to a certain extent, this had the desired effect, as he stopped in his tracks and looked back to where she writhed in her bonds.

"Are you sure she wants to be here? She seems to be a little bit upset about something."

Amber already had her quick-fire response planned, however.

"If it's any of your business, she's fine. She enjoys role play and delights in playing the hapless heroine who gets kidnapped and kept in severe restraints. Don't be fooled. All this "save me, I'm in peril" routine is just an act. She loves it. If she didn't, why would she keep coming back here?"

Steve didn't appear one hundred percent convinced by this, but seemed to decide that arguing with Amber wasn't worth the effort. He shrugged and turned once more to leave. He had climbed only three or four steps, however, when Amber appeared to have a brainwave.

"Hold on just a minute."

He turned and faced her, looking down from his lofty position.

"Maybe I was being a little bit hasty. Perhaps I can fit you in for a while. And besides, I could do with the extra money at the moment. What shall we say, six hours for the usual price?"

Cautiously, as if not quite sure of her motives, he slunk back down the stone steps. He looked across at the now silent Lauren, who hoped that her eyes were wide and pleading enough to express her displeasure with her continued incarceration. Amber, however, was getting impatient.

"Come on, I haven't got all day. This is what you came here for in the first place, isn't it?"

Steve nodded.

"Okay then, assume the position."

Lauren watched as Steve turned around and placed his hands behind his back. Within seconds he was handcuffed. Then, with her new prisoner still standing, ankle and knee bonds of tightly secured white rope were added. Then a gag, consisting of a rolled up pair of tights, found its way into his mouth, followed by several circuits of duct tape around his head to stop them from being removed. As she worked, Amber decided to formally introduce Lauren to her new cell-mate.

"I'm not sure how far you got with the pleasantries before I arrived, but Steve, this is Lauren. Lauren, this is Steve. Actually, now I come to think of it, you've got plenty of shared interests, what with your love of bondage and spandex clothing. I reckon that you'll get on well together."

She looked across to where Lauren sat.

"Steve's a writer, in case he hasn't already told you; although, by all accounts he's not a very good one. But whereas you're only interested in being tied up, Steve here likes both sides of the equation. In other words, he not only likes being tied up, but he enjoys doing the tying as well. Especially when it comes to sweet little females like you. Isn't that right Steve?"

Steve confirmed that Amber spoke the truth by nodding and making a muffled sound into his gag.

Amber finished lashing Steve's arms to his back with more ropes, before turning her attentions to Lauren. Grasping her by the shoulders, she dragged her into a standing position. Making sure that she was steady on her feet and wasn't likely to fall, she pulled Steve towards Lauren and manoeuvred the pair ever closer, until they were face to face with no more than an inch between them.

"So what I thought I'd do, seeing as you have so much in common, is let you get better acquainted with each other for a few hours. I'm sure you'd both enjoy that."

As she uttered these words, Lauren watched as a length of rope was looped around them collectively. Seconds later this rope tightened dramatically, forcing her breasts against the chest of her fellow prisoner. This produced a soft swishing sound as their spandex outfits brushed against each other. As Amber cinched the rope between them, the stringency of this bond increased still further, so that it was clear to Lauren that she and her co-captive would be staying in fairly intimate contact for the foreseeable future. And this rope proved to be only the first of many such restraints, as more were added further down their now combined torsos, until they were trussed together from shoulder to waist in severely cinched and knotted ligatures. But even then, Amber's mission to make sure that every inch of their bodies remained inseparable continued, as their thighs, knees, calves and ankles all received enhancements to their existing bonds; thus ensuring that neither one of them would be going anywhere or doing anything without the other being inextricably involved.

Whilst this intricate rope work-of- art had been taking shape, Lauren's and Steve's eyes met on several occasions, and each time she could tell, despite the tape covering his lower face, that he was enjoying the whole experience of being lashed to her. Lauren felt embarrassed, and kept trying to avoid his gaze, but there was clearly another emotion mixed in with this. It took her a few minutes to admit this to herself, but she found being pressed snugly up against this man and unable to move away to be a rather exciting concept. She also took some comfort in the fact that, with Steve here, she was no longer alone and vulnerable in her bondage. For some reason, although he was as bound and helpless as she was, she no longer felt quite so frightened of Amber's intentions. It was as if he were in some way protecting her, and that nothing untoward could happen while he was in attendance.

Only once Lauren's and Steve's ankles had been lashed in close proximity to each other, was Amber finally content with her morning's work. And it was at this point that she gently eased their now conjoined forms back to the floor. She strutted around the bound and gagged pair, checking that all the ropes were secure and unlikely to allow either of her prisoners to escape, her heels clicking on the echoing stone slabs as she did so.

"Well my trussed up twosome, I guess it's time to leave you to get to know each other a bit better. I think we said six hours, didn't we? Although you know how notoriously bad I am at time keeping. But I will return at some point. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some unfinished family business to attend to."

And with that, Amber headed off into the outside world.

Lying side by side on the cold stone slabs, Lauren found herself once more staring directly at her partner-in-bondage. And he in turn seemed fascinated with gazing back into her eyes. The closeness of their bodies meant that every little movement made by either one of them could be felt intimately by the other. Lauren, as well as being able to hear her own heart pounding in her chest, could also detect his, seemingly beating in harmony with hers. She felt his chest gently expand and retract as he breathed; each inhalation causing their bodies to compress even closer together. From ankles to shoulder, the smooth yielding fabric of their identical skin-tight attire glided effortlessly against that of their bound colleague, and Lauren found this such an enjoyable phenomenon, that she began deliberately wriggling and shimmying her body against his, in an effort to heighten the pleasure. And it appeared that he found her initiative very much to his liking, as what could only be interpreted as a sigh of contentment issued forth from behind his gag. His eyes, too, were most definitely betraying an air of satisfaction. But the most obvious clue that alerted her of his fondness for her antics was the fact that, being in such close communion, she could feel his erection growing by the second, as it thrust against the tight spandex in an effort to get to her. At that moment, she would have gladly given herself to this man who she had met less than an hour ago, such was her need for human contact, comfort, reassurance and protection after so long in solitary bondage. She worked her hips and rubbed harder against him as she felt the excitement grow ever stronger. She giggled into her gag and nuzzled her head gently into Steve's neck, as he groaned with what must have been a mixture of excitement and frustration. For several minutes, the bound duo writhed in an ever more frenzied attempt to get themselves off. Lauren pulled on the crotch rope and found herself almost instantly exploding into orgasm, whilst her partner rubbed himself against her abdomen with as much force as his bonds would allow, until he too reached his climax.

Lauren sighed contentedly into her gag, and buried her head into Steve's shoulder. Although they had been unable to properly consummate their newly found kinship, she felt a wave of blissful wellbeing wash over her. And he too seemed at peace, as they lay motionless together, simply relishing their close proximity and the afterglow of their shared experience. Slowly, Lauren found herself falling asleep.

Some disturbance directly in front of her face made Lauren drowsily open her eyes. It took her a minute or so to remember where she was and who she was with, but as Steve's initially blurred features gradually sharpened, she saw that he was moving his head slightly from side to side and working his jaw up and down. It took her a while to work out the precise reason for these actions, but as she looked on she noticed that, slowly but surely, the tape that shielded his lower face from her view was gradually coming away from his flesh. After maybe two minutes of contorting his facial muscles in every direction possible, Lauren noticed a gap between skin and grey adhesive begin to appear just below his nose. And this gap gradually became wider, until the whole wrapping finally came away from his top lip. It took several more minutes before he was able to loosen the stubborn bonding agent sufficiently to create a chasm big enough to allow him to push with his tongue and spit the tights out, but his perseverance paid off and he triumphantly ejected the now sodden fabric onto the floor. Although the tape still adhered to his chin, Lauren marvelled at the achievement of a feat that she had thought of as impossible.

"Sorry if I woke you, but I just had this feeling that Mistress de Sade hadn't smoothed that tape down quite as securely as she usually does. She must be slipping."

Lauren made some noise that even she didn't recognise as intelligible speech. He smiled playfully at her.

"Sorry, I can't understand a word you're saying. But I think I may be able to find a cure for that."

He moved his mouth as close to Lauren's face as he could. At first Lauren thought he was kissing her through the layers of sealant, but it soon became apparent that his purpose was of a far more practical nature than this. Lauren could feel his teeth working at the tape that hid her mouth, biting and gnawing at a section which he presumably saw as a weak point. Every few seconds he would briefly stop and seek reassurance that he wasn't hurting her. Lauren would confirm each time that she was fine, and after a matter of a few minutes she heard a short sharp ripping sound, as the top layer of tape finally succumbed and came away from the mass beneath. Patiently, he stuck to his task and after about fifteen minutes he had worked all but the lower, skin bonding layer away from the area directly over her mouth.

"Try opening and shutting your mouth a few times."

Lauren did as he requested, and to her surprise she felt the sensation of the solitary strip of tape gradually slipping away from her lips. Even then, it needed one final effort from Steve's teeth to uncover her mouth to the extent that the rolled up tights beneath could be viewed from without. She tried to evict these from what had become an almost permanent residency within her oral cavity, but unlike Steve, she was unable to propel the defiant ball from behind her teeth. Once again, he came to her aid. Their lips touched briefly as he set to work relieving her of this final stumbling block in their desire to converse unhindered.

Gently his teeth scraped at the mesh of the wet tights, as he tried to find some purchase whilst ensuring that he didn't push the bundle further into her mouth. After only a minute or two, however, he seemed to have grasped a portion of the material, and he began to pull the gag past her teeth and lips. Suddenly, the bundle popped out of her mouth and he swiftly shook his head to one side and sent it flying across the floor.

Lauren gasped and took big gulps of air through her mouth for the first time in more than a day. She was glad to be rid of the vocal restrictor, not because she disliked gags as such, but due to the fact that she would now to able to more easily articulate her concerns to her bound companion; to let him know that she really did want to get away from here and that she would probably need his help to do so, as her prospects of either Amber or the twins letting her walk free seemed slim.

"Are you okay?"

His words were soft and gentle as he gazed into her eyes. Under less stressful circumstances, Lauren would have loved to have simply swapped bondage and spandex tales with this man who she had taken quite a shine to. But she wasn't sure how long she'd slept, and the knowledge that Amber could return at any moment meant that time was of the essence, and that she had to relay her message as quickly as she could. Taking a deep breath, she began to blurt out the saga of the past four days' events.

"Listen Steve, you've got to help me get away from here. What Amber told you isn't true...well only partly. I'm not here of my own freewill...not now anyway... although originally I was...but now, if you don't help me I might never get out of here...especially if Amber catches up with the twins and..."

"Whoa, calm down a bit. You're not making much sense. Who are the twins, and what have they got to do with you being here?"

Lauren realised that she needed to make sure she painted a more coherent picture of the events of the preceding days if she was to be believed. And so she began imparting the relevant circumstances that had befallen her since arriving at the twins' house on Saturday morning. She was careful to highlight the fact that she really did enjoy being tied up to a severe degree, and that the only reason she wanted to get away from this dungeon was that the whole episode had spiralled out of control between Amber and her cousins, and that someone was going to get badly hurt, or even killed, if things escalated any further. She finally brought him up to date with the events of yesterday evening, before ending her speech with the desperate plea "you've got to believe me...please help!"

It was clear that he was finding all this a bit bewildering. After all, he'd found her in the dungeon of a woman renowned for tying people up for pleasure, so the fact that she was now asking for assistance in getting away would have seemed rather odd. And then there were the seeds of the idea that Amber had planted in his mind, about how she liked to play the helpless bondagette to the full by really getting into the part and making out she was in mortal peril, when in reality she was quite content with her lot. Had she convinced him that her desire to get out of here was genuine and not just role play?

Whether he could be persuaded of her sincerity or not soon became a moot point, however. The sound of the door opening above them, followed by the clicking of those heels slowly down the stone steps, informed the bound pair of their captor's return. Lauren gazed up as the shiny red latex of Amber's suit hove into view.

"Well, well. Someone's been busy while I was away. Looks like I should have made those gags a bit more secure."

She walked around the two bound and spandex-clad figures until she was standing at Lauren's back, so that she could address her male prisoner to his face.

"I expect Lauren's been filling your head with rubbish about how she's being kept here against her will, hasn't she? Well as I said before, you can't trust a word that comes out of that cute little mouth of hers. She's a fantasist of the highest order, and after a while she probably even begins to believe all that nonsense herself."

With her back to Amber, Lauren couldn't see what was happening, although she sensed that she had crouched down behind her. Seconds later, she encountered the familiar taste and texture of the still damp rolled up tights, as they were once more inserted into her mouth. Lauren squealed and tried to convey with her eyes the displeasure that she felt at this latest turn of events. But Steve was powerless to help, and seconds later the familiar sensation of tape bonding with flesh was experienced all across her lower face.

"There, all back to normal again. You love it really, don't you sweetie?"

Lauren shook her head and looked at Steve in as pitiful a manner as she could muster, in the hope that he would perceive that she was the one telling the truth, and that their captor's words were a pack of lies.

Amber now turned to Steve again.

"I'm sure that you must have had something to do with getting those gags loose, and under normal circumstances you'd be punished for that. But I have other, more important matters to deal with right now. Your six hours are up."

With that, she bent down and began untying the cords that had kept Steve and Lauren in such close contact for the past few hours. Once the two had been separated, she released his leg bonds and allowed him to get to his feet.

"Aren't you going to let Lauren go too?"

Amber looked at him with disdain.

"It's none of your business what I do with my other clients. If you must know, Lauren's session isn't up for quite some time yet."

She turned Steve around and, reluctantly it seemed to the watching Lauren, released his hands from the manacles.

"Lauren and I have a few issues to sort out, so I'd like you to leave now."

Steve looked down quizzically at Lauren's bound and helpless form, as if not quite sure whether this was all just a game, or whether she really was in grave danger. He managed a half smile and winked at her.

"I really enjoyed our time together Lauren. I hope we can do it again some time."

Amber turned on him.

"Don't be so absurd. You'll never see her again. Now get out of my sight."

She spat these words out in anger. But then, as he started towards the stairs, she added, slightly more calmly.

"And don't turn up here again unannounced. Next time go through the proper channels - either phone or email to book an appointment."

Lauren made one last pleading whimpering noise, to try to make him turn around and come back to her, but Amber followed him up the steps to ensure he didn't hesitate. She was gone no more than thirty seconds or so, and when she returned she was alone.

"Now then my little angel, I hope you enjoyed your time with what's- his- name. Consider that as a little thank you for helping me escape last night. Now we're even, so don't expect any more favours."

She looked down on Lauren, as if daring her to put up some show of dissent. When none was forthcoming, she continued.

"So what are we going to do eh? I've searched high and low for those cousins of mine, but they've gone to ground at the moment. They're obviously running scared of me, as well they should be, given what's going to happen when I do eventually catch up with them. "

She paced across the room, her eyes never leaving those of her trembling spandex-clad captive.

"But no matter, I can wait. Eventually they'll come crawling out of the woodwork, and when they do I'll be waiting for them. All I need to do is set a little trap for them. And you, my darling, will make the perfect bait to lure them in."

She neared Lauren's head and crouched down, the tight latex squeaking softly as she bent her knees.

"So it might be some time before you get out of here, sweetie. But I know how you love being tied up, so I'm sure you won't have any problems with remaining here for a day or two longer."

But as she spoke, they both heard the door creak open again. Thinking Steve must have returned, Amber shouted over her shoulder.

"I told you to go. What the hell are you still doing here?"

It was, to both Lauren and Amber, obvious straightaway that this wasn't a male presence entering the cellar, nor a solitary visitor. As soon as she heard the familiar voice calling out from the top of the stairs, Amber stood up and her whole body tensed.

"Amber! We're back!"

Lauren watched the image of the twins appear in her line of sight as they descended the stairs; Jade in front, Jasmine one step behind. They were dressed identically in their habitual tight black spandex cat-suits. They wore broad leather belts that had been buckled extremely tightly to constrict their already slender waists and accentuate their figures. Black boots of leather that had been polished to perfection adorned their feet and legs to just below the knee. When they reached the flat surface of the cellar floor, they separated, with Jade taking a right turn and Jasmine slipping away to the left. Each taking up a position roughly ten feet from their cousin, they stood stock-still and gave Amber steely, hated-filled glares. Such was the focus and determination etched on their faces, that neither let their gaze waver for even a second. Their slim, lithe frames seemed to be taut like coiled springs, as if ready to pounce at any moment, should their prey try to make a run for the door. The tension in their arms was visible and their fingers twitched anxiously, as if spoiling for a fight.

"Hello Amber, this is where you finally get your just deserts. We're here to put an end to your reign of terror...permanently. Now we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."

But if they were thinking that Amber was going to be in any way fazed or intimidated by their threats or demeanour, they would be sorely disappointed. Amber looked from Jade to Jasmine, then back to Jade again and snorted with contempt.

"You two? What exactly do you think you're going to do? Overpower me? You got lucky last time when Dave did most of the dirty work for you. But now?"

She took a step towards Lauren, but kept her eyes on the twins, just in case either of them decided to make a move towards her.

"Just because it's two against one, you think that you can take me on and tie me up again? You've no chance. Come on then, let's see what you're made of."

"Make that three against one."

It was obvious that this latest contribution to the standoff was uttered by a woman, although Lauren realised instantly that this voice originated from neither of the twins' mouths. Nor did it emanate from close at hand, but seemed instead to have its genesis somewhere in the vicinity of the top of the stairs. Her eyes strained into the gloom to see who this new arrival could be, as slowly a figure made its way downwards, the click of her high heels seeming to fill the void left by the absence of speech. Lauren's gaze fell upon a woman that she had never seen before, although her clothes were all too familiar. For this latest visitor wore an outfit not dissimilar to that favoured by Amber, although hers was entirely in black. Like Amber, she wore a hood over her head from which sprouted a ribbon of jet black plaited hair that seemed to reach nearly down to her waist. Piercing blue eyes blazed from the two eye holes in the hood. She wore elbow length latex gloves and in one hand she carried a riding crop of patent black leather. Lauren also noticed that two sets of handcuffs hung from her belt, alongside a holster-like pocket that held another contraption, the nature of which was at present unclear.

The newcomer slowly approached the centre of the room, until she was no more than six feet from where Amber stood. She had a sly, not particularly welcoming smile on her face. For some reason, Lauren found herself cowering away from this latest addition to the gathering. She had, she realised, taken an instant dislike to this female. Maybe it was because, in so many ways, she seemed similar to Amber. And it was the latter that finally shattered the uneasy silence.

"Lady Hazel Paine. What a very unpleasant surprise. You've got one hell of a nerve just brazenly walking into my domain like you own the place. Get out, before I throw you out."

The woman now identified as Hazel took another step forward and stared at Amber with menacing authority.

"Your domain? Once, maybe, but not for much longer. You see, your cousins here called me last night. Said they had a problem that needed fixing and wondered if I could help. When I heard the nature of the assignment, I told them I'd be only too delighted to assist in getting rid of the cause of their irritation."

She took the riding crop in her right hand and whacked it against the gloved palm of her left, sending a sharp cracking sound echoing throughout the stone chamber.

"And as I'm sure you're now aware Mistress de Sade - or whatever you're calling yourself these days - that problem is YOU!"

Immediately, Amber went into defensive mode; feet apart, knees slightly bent, her open palmed hands held out in front of her, martial arts style. However, she had made the fatal error of thinking that Hazel's weapon of choice was to be the crop. Instead, her adversary reached for and instantly withdrew the item in the holster, and in an instant Lauren was enlightened as to the nature of the mystery object. A Taser! She'd seen a programme on TV only a few weeks ago explaining how they worked. But this was her first ever sighting of the real thing, and it was only feet away from her. And more importantly, it was being aimed directly at Amber.

Whether or not Amber had grasped the significance of the strange gun-like object being pointed at her, it was impossible to know. But she made the fatal mistake of picking that precise second to lunge at her opponent. There was loud snap, then a brief swishing sound as Hazel activated the device, and for a split second something flashed across Lauren's line of vision in the direction of its intended target. Being at such close range, the two small dart-like electrodes hit Amber in the upper body almost instantaneously; the resulting electric shock sending her flying backwards and dropping her to the floor around ten feet from Lauren's helpless form.

For a few seconds Amber lay lifelessly on the stone floor, groaning in agony from the voltage that had coursed through every fibre of her being. This was the cue for the twins to spring into action. With handcuffs at the ready, they quickly released the Taser's barbs from where they'd become lodged in the breast region of the red latex costume. Working in tandem, like a well oiled machine, they rolled the dazed and groggy woman onto her stomach, pulled her hands up behind her and snapped the bracelets down upon her wrists. Still reeling from the shockwaves that had temporarily debilitated her, Amber was powerless to resist as Jade began wrapping ropes around her lower limbs, whilst her sister concentrated on the upper part of their stunned prey's anatomy. Within a minute or two, Amber's legs were bound tightly and securely to each other from thigh to ankle, and her elbows and upper torso were encircled in a multiple criss-cross pattern of cords that pressed deeply into the latex of her garment, forcing her breasts outwards in the process. It took a few minutes for her to compose herself sufficiently to find her voice, but as soon as she did, Jasmine put a stop to any form of coherent protestation by ramming a pair of rolled up tights into her mouth and sealing the deal with several circuits of elephant-grey duct tape around her head. Lauren could only watch, as Amber, who had been free from her last period of captivity for less than twenty four hours, found herself being once more treated to the twins' over-zealous binding techniques.

Whilst all this had been taking place, Hazel had taken a leisurely stroll across the room, reloaded the Taser with a new cartridge - presumably in case another shock was necessary - and had placed it absentmindedly down on Amber's workbench. The reverse journey was taken at a similarly relaxed pace, until she was standing a short distance from the binding exhibition that was going on before her.

"At last Mistress de Sade, I've got you exactly where I want you. For all these years I've watched as you stole my customers and did everything within your powers to undermine my business. Well those days are now well and truly in the past. As you may or may not know, as well as my usual BDSM services, I occasionally dabble in the sex-slave trade. I've built up quite a few contacts and business partners all around the world, and I've supplied slavegirls to more than twenty different countries. It's quite a lucrative business, I can tell you. "

As she began to comprehend where this line of monologue was leading, Amber tried to kick out at the twins and started screaming as loudly as she'd ever done. But by this stage her bonds were unbreakable, and her gag reduced her decibel level to nothing more than a shrill whisper.

Hazel took a step closer to her old adversary and continued.

"So I expect you're wondering what exotic part of the world your one-way ticket is booked for, aren't you? Well your CV is the perfect match for a buyer I know who's in the market for a feisty bitch just like you, so you're going to be shipped off to the Far East.... and by that I don't mean Lowestoft."

By now Jasmine and Jade had finished roping Amber up to their satisfaction and had retreated to the sidelines, where they awaited Hazel's instructions. Amber took this as her cue to begin thrashing wildly in her bonds, which made Hazel laugh. It wasn't the kind of jovial laugh that spoke of shared amusement between friends, but more the spiteful evil chuckle of one who has got the better of their arch-enemy and can now pile misery upon misery onto their hapless victim. From somewhere she produced her phone and began filming the writhing and bucking woman at her feet.

"Keep it up Amber. My client - your new owner - likes to see his slaves struggling."

For about three minutes she continued to film, until Amber seemed to realise that no amount of wriggling and contorting was going to get her free.

"Excellent. That should be a good enough audition to get you accepted into my client's harem."

She turned once more to the twins and gestured towards their stricken cousin.

"Go on girls, you might as well have a bit of fun with her one last time. I know you're itching to add to those bonds and make her even more helpless than she is already."

Jade and Jasmine needed no more prompting, and immediately set about treating Amber to their multi -layered mummification routine. The first layer, it soon transpired, was to be encasement in several pairs of black tights. Hazel, meanwhile, was once more keeping her distance from the creation of this bondage masterpiece; standing aloof and detached as the twins became more and more engrossed in their labour of love. Almost by accident, it seemed, she caught sight of Lauren watching the unfolding drama. She came across to where the stricken woman lay and addressed her for the first time.

"My apologies for ignoring you darling, but as you can see we've been rather busy. It's Lauren isn't it? The twins have told me all about you. How you absolutely love being kept tied up for days on end. And now I can see that those tales were all true."

She looked up briefly, distracted by the twins, who had completed sheathing Amber in the black hosiery and were just beginning the process of wrapping her from head to toe in swathes of cling-film. Her attention was diverted for only a few seconds, however, before she once more concentrated on Lauren.

"I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself properly. I'm known as Lady Hazel Paine. As you probably already gathered, Amber and I go back a long way. We've been rivals in the B&D business for years now; always trying to get the better of each other. We were friends once, but then the devious bitch double-crossed me and stole some of my punters away with her lies and deception. Seems she was jealous and thought she could monopolise the scene. Well she got more than she bargained for when she made an enemy of me. Since then we've been at each other's throats continually. I've always known that, with her out of the way, I could clean up on the BDSM scene around here, but I've never had the chance to finally put her out of business...until now. So when the twins rang me and said they wanted their cousin liquidated, I was only too pleased to be able to offer my support."

She once more looked up to check on how the twins were doing. The roll of cling-film had been used up by now, and was being supplemented with circuit after circuit of duct tape that was gradually wending its way from Amber's already securely wrapped shoulders to her tightly parcelled feet.

Once more her gaze strayed back to Lauren. This time, she looked her up and down, surveying her bondage and taking in the spandex outfit. She reached out and placed her hand on Lauren's thigh and began gently stroking her leg.

"You know something? There are a lot of people out there who'd pay a great deal of money for someone like you. There's a guy out in Arizona who lives in a big, remote ranch, way out in the desert. He's got a whole team of ponygirls all roped, tied and at his command out there, and I'm sure he'd welcome a lovely young thing like you into his stables."

Lauren squirmed as this information reached her ears. Although she loved her bondage, the thought of being sold into a life of servitude halfway around the world was a step too far. Very occasionally, she liked to be free to go for long walks on the beautiful Suffolk coast, or through the picturesque wool towns of Constable Country; to feel the wind in her hair and the sun on her skin; to meet with friends and go out clubbing; to relax by the fireside with a good book; to watch 'EastEnders' on television; to go to Portman Road to cheer on the 'Tractor Boys'. Yes, bondage was her main passion in life, but it had to be interspersed with periods of freedom to allow her to enjoy a well rounded lifestyle. What Hazel was suggesting seemed to preclude any of these other activities.

Hazel, however, seemed rather taken with her idea. She turned back to the twins.

"Hey girls, how much do you want for this one? There's a huge market for submissives out there. In fact, you'll get a far better deal for a sweet, compliant thing like her want you will for that bitch."

She pointed at Amber, whose red cat-suit was by now completely invisible beneath several layers of expertly applied tape. Jade had hold of Amber's feet now, and Jasmine was busy feeding them into a darlex sheath that appeared much too small to fit her. However, Lauren watched as the yielding fabric stretched and then contracted around the contours of her figure, as her immersion within the tight fitting sack continued apace.

"Sorry Hazel, Lauren's not for sale."

Hazel wasn't going to give up that easily, however.

"Come on girls. Everyone has their price."

She stood up from her crouching position and walked slowly over to where Amber's shoulders were just disappearing inside the sleep-sack.

"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you double the fee that I'm paying for this bitch here."

With her riding crop she gestured at Amber, whose head had just been enclosed in the form hugging fabric. Jasmine pulled the zipper closed and looked across at her sister, and Lauren felt she could almost see the '£' signs flash in their eyes.

"What do you think Jade?"

"Tempting isn't it? After all, she did betray us yesterday."

Lauren's fear ratcheted up a notch as the twins appeared to be wavering. But she needn't have worried, as suddenly Jasmine seemed to come to her senses.

"But no, we can't. Despite her disloyalty, she's still our friend."

"And besides" continued Jade "she needs to be punished for her crime, and we're going to have a lot of fun teaching her a lesson. So sorry, she's staying here with us."

Hazel shrugged and held up her hands in resignation.

"Okay, if that's how you feel. But you've got my phone number if you change your minds in the next few days."

As they had been speaking, broad leather belts were being applied around Amber's ankles, knees, thighs, waist and breasts. Each was buckled according to the twins' standard 'zero tolerance' escape policy, causing an extremely muffled groan of anguish to emanate from somewhere within the still writhing package. A studded leather collar was also affixed around the victim's neck.

"Right, I think that little lot should hold her for a while. She's all yours Hazel."

The dominatrix smiled and knelt down beside the parcelled woman. She ran her hand over Amber's breasts, and continued downwards over her stomach to her crotch, then onwards to her thighs.

"Well Amber. It's time to say goodbye to your friends and family once and for all. I've got a nice strong metal crate back at my place which will serve as a holding pen for the next couple of days, before you're shipped out to your new home on Friday."

A long, drawn out, mournful cry could be heard from somewhere within the layered cocoon. Amber was still trying to fight her way out, but it was clear from the rather feeble movement of the outer darlex layer, that she was barely capable of moving a muscle.

"Thanks girls, you've done a great job there. I call this a win-win situation. We've put a stop to your cousin terrorising you, and I get rid of my main business competitor. In other words, we've both done away with a major annoyance in our lives. So everyone's happy....except Amber of course. Now if you'll just help me get her upstairs to my car..."

Once more, the twins swung into action. With Jade grabbing her cousin's mummified shoulders, Jasmine lifted her feet, and the two of them slowly transported their human cargo across the floor towards the exit. Hazel followed on in their wake. As the twins neared the top of the stairs, Jade called back down to Lauren.

"We'll be back in a minute Lauren. We've still got a few bones to pick with you."

The twins disappeared from Lauren's view, and she was expecting the latex clad figure of Lady Hazel Paine to follow directly afterwards. But instead she stopped in the doorway.

"You go ahead girls and put her into the boot of my car. I've left something downstairs. I won't be a minute."

Hazel hesitated a few seconds, making sure that the twins were clear of the building, before making her way cautiously down again on her high heels. Lauren had assumed that the item she'd been intent on retrieving was the Taser, but this seemed to have been forgotten about. Instead, she made a beeline for the bound woman on the floor. Kneeling down beside her, a hint of a mischievous smile played at the corners of her mouth. She turned to make certain that the twins weren't within earshot, before whispering.

"Just as soon as I've sorted those three out, I'll be back for you. I'm afraid your old life is over. You're going to be taking a little trip abroad very shortly..."

She stood up, turned her back and started her reverse journey out of the cellar. As she reached the foot of the stairs, she turned her head and their eyes met briefly. Lauren shivered. There was definitely something evil about this woman.

"...and there's nothing you can do about it."


Part 9 (added: 2016/05/18)

Lady Hazel Paine strolled slowly across the cellar floor and began climbing the steps back to the outside world, leaving Lauren feeling chilled to the bone by her final remarks. Was she just teasing or trying to scare her? Surely she didn't really sell people into slavery and have them shipped to the four corners of the earth, did she? Although Lauren knew she wasn't exactly in the twins' good books at this precise moment, they wouldn't really sell her to this decidedly creepy woman. Or would they? She'd seen what had just happened to Amber, and it seemed that the rivals really did hate each other. So Lauren couldn't rule out the possibility that Hazel would come back and whisk her away as well. She had to warn the twins. But that could prove difficult bearing in mind how efficiently she was gagged right now.

Within no more than a minute of Hazel's departure, Lauren's thought processes were interrupted by the return of the twins to the cellar. Understandably, given the fact that they'd just rid themselves of their hated cousin, they seemed in good spirits. Not good enough to show any mercy to the woman that they now perceived as a traitor, however.

"Well, Jasmine, that's Amber gone for good. Now what are we going to do with this one?"

Lauren sensed that this was merely part of a rehearsed dialogue, and that they'd already decided exactly what course of action to take in their desire to punish her for helping Amber out of her bonds yesterday.

"I think we'll leave her here for a few days Jade, just so that she realises how mad we are at her. I'm sure by then she'll be well and truly sorry for her wrong-doing."

Lauren tried to impart the information that she was deeply sorry that she had offended her friends, and that she'd already learnt her lesson. She also tried to warn the twins of what Hazel had in mind for her. But if they did comprehend any of her garbled utterances, they showed no sign of being in any way sympathetic.

"What's she trying to say Jas? I can't understand a word of it."

"I don't know Jade. But one thing I do know is that she's way too comfortable at the moment. I think we ought to make her stay here a little bit less pleasant, don't you?"

Jade was clearly in agreement with her sister on this point, as within seconds both had retrieved an array of fresh ropes and other bondage equipment, and had started to carry out their threat to make life less comfortable for Lauren than had it been up to now.

"I think a nice tight ball-tie would look good on her, don't you Jade? It will certainly stop her moving around the cellar."

Before Lauren could even think of trying to obstruct the inevitable process, Jade had grabbed her bound ankles and bent her knees back as far as they would go, so that her heels were in contact with her buttocks. She held her in this position while Jasmine fashioned a loop from one long piece of rope, slipped it over Lauren's knees and worked it up her legs until it incorporated both her ankles and her thighs within its circumference. This was then pulled tightly and wound around her legs three or four more times, before being cinched between her legs and knotted securely. Once they were satisfied that this bond came up to their usual high standards, the pair momentarily backed off, allowing Lauren to test this latest affront to her liberty. And, as feared, she found that her legs were now stuck in this position, and straightening them out was no longer an option.

But that was only the first stage in the process to make Lauren's bondage ever more restrictive and unpalatable. Firstly Jasmine placed a leather collar around her neck and pulled it so tightly that Lauren felt as if she was almost being strangled. Then, as they had done with her legs, Lauren found herself being forced to double up, so that her head was pushed down to meet her knees. A short chain, attached to the collar, was yanked down and twisted around the rope that had hours ago been tied just above her knees, before this was pulled back up to the leather choker again. A small padlock clicking into place informed Lauren that this chain was now secured, and any attempt to lift her face away from the shiny stretch spandex at her knees would prove to be out of the question. And to supplement this uncomfortable addition to her bonds, another length of rope was quickly passed under her armpits, before being threaded through the tight gap between her thighs and calves, then once more brought up to encircle her back and leather-sheathed arms. This encircling procedure was then repeated several more times . Pulling this rope so that it was incredibly taut, the twins lashed and knotted the ends in order to ensure that there was no likelihood of this latest ligature being worked loose.

Once again, the twins left Lauren to her own devices for a brief period of time. Her tentative attempts to flex her muscles and stretch out of this extreme foetal position that she found herself in, however, proved, as she had already guessed would be the case, to be a complete impossibility. In fact, she could hardly move at all.

For a minute or two, with the twins making no further move to add to her already dire predicament, Lauren began to wonder if this was to be the full extent of her punishment, and that this was the way she was going to be left for the foreseeable future. But of course, she should have known better than that; where the twins were concerned things were never going to be that simple.

Lying on her side and being so helplessly stuck, Lauren's field of vision was now limited to simply staring at her knees or, if she moved her head slightly to the side and cast her eyes upwards, a view of one corner of the room. So, with the twins behind her, she was unprepared for the next outrage that the twins were about to inflict upon her. Rolling their human ball over so that she was left sitting virtually upright, Jasmine began unwinding the end of a huge roll of cling-film. Starting at her knees, the first thin but durable sheet was wound tightly around her back and brought back to its starting point. Several more circuits soon followed, each overlapping the last, but gradually working their way either up to her shoulders and neck, or down to her feet. For what seemed like several minutes, the twins manoeuvred their one-time friend into various positions to ensure that every inch of her being was covered except for her head, until at last the film was all used up.

But running out of one particular type of binding agent was only ever going to be a minor inconvenience to the twins. Their mind-set in situations like this had always been that if one form of restraint was no longer available, then they would use whatever else was to hand. And in this case, the next best thing proved to be the seemingly endless reels of duct tape that they habitually carried around with them. As with the transparent wrap, the tape followed a similar path around her tightly curled body and limbs, circumnavigating her over and over again; each circuit seeming to make the overall cocoon tighter and more claustrophobic.

"There you go Lauren, all nicely parcelled up now. I know you like being immobilised, but a day or two of being all scrunched up like that, without being able to exercise your legs, is going to get really uncomfortable after a while. Still, that's the price you have to pay for your crimes."

Lauren once more tried to get through to the twins that Hazel was intent on coming back here to kidnap and enslave her, and that she wasn't in the least bit happy about the prospects of this theoretical situation being turned into reality. But as before, she found Jade and Jasmine in no mood to listen. And even if they did comprehend the stifled words, or take note of her highly emotional state as she tried to express herself, they clearly didn't believe her; assuming that this was merely a tactic to force them to relent on their threat to leave her here for an extended period of time.

"Right, we're off now. Tomorrow we're going to London for the day to see what new bondage equipment we can pick up in Soho, which means we won't be able to pop in and see you until Thursday at the earliest. But you've still got the crotch rope in place, so you should have plenty to occupy your time. Jade seems to have managed to misplace the key to the cellar door, which means that we're not able to lock it. I'll be punishing her for that when we get home with some extremely tight ropes."

"We will, of course, still use the bolts to seal you in." Jade cut in, seemingly unfazed in any way by her sister's promise of retribution for being so careless.

Not facing in the right direction to view the stairs anymore, Lauren had to rely on the sound of their slowly receding heels to tell her that they were in the process of heading for the exit. The fact that they'd reached the door was confirmed by the light above her suddenly being extinguished, and this was followed seconds later by the slamming of the heavy bolts into their staples.

By now Lauren had lost all track of time. Had her stint with Steve really been six hours, as Amber had suggested, or perhaps longer? Was it night-time already? Or maybe only early evening? The fact that neither sound nor light penetrated the thick subterranean walls of this isolated and derelict building meant that there was absolutely no clue as to what time of day or night it might be. One thing she did know for certain, however, was that if the twins said they wouldn't return until Thursday, they would be as good as their word, and were unlikely to be back any sooner - which pointed to the fact that she was in for a very long wait.

That is, unless Hazel decided to pay a return visit, as threatened. Lauren found herself shuddering at this possibility. With the twins unable to lock the door due to the missing key, anyone could, if they wanted to, simply pull back the two bolts and walk in. Before today, this would have been only a very remote possibility, and thus merely a minor concern. But now that Hazel knew of her presence here, the danger had increased a thousand-fold.

Lauren tried to change the position that she had been left lying in, but she could barely move at all, and the darkness and silence all seemed to contract around her until she found herself overwhelmed with a sadness that she had never known during a bondage session before. Without warning, tears welled up in her eyes and she wished more than anything in the world that someone would get her out of this mess.

And with this yearning to be saved, her thoughts turned to Steve. If only he would return right now and take her away from this quicksand-like madness, into which she seemed to be getting sucked deeper and deeper. But what were the chances of him turning up again? She hoped and prayed that she'd been convincing enough to at least plant the seed of doubt in his mind and realise that she was telling the truth about wanting to get out of here, and that Amber was being her usual devious self when she suggested otherwise. But no, this was just wishful thinking, wasn't it? Sadly, she resigned herself to the fact that the chances of someone - anyone - showing up to save this damsel-in-distress were virtually nonexistent.

But reminiscing about Steve had stirred something in her. It hadn't been many hours since Amber had let him go, and the memory of their intimately shared bondage was still very vivid in her mind. She found herself cherishing the memory of the way their bodies had gently caressed each other in their helplessness. She remembered his warm smile and caring eyes gazing at her from such close quarters. And most of all she remembered the sensation of his cock pushing hard against her abdomen as she simultaneously got herself off by means of her crotch-rope. She would have given anything for a repeat performance right now.

Lauren pulled as best she could on the crotch-rope - not an easy task considering her virtual inability to move more than a fraction of an inch - and did her best to recreate the earlier events with her new-found playmate. Thrusting harder and working up a rhythm, she could almost believe that he was there, tied and helpless beside her. Her climax was explosive and spectacular, as she imagined him inside her. She found herself calling out his name into her gag, and wept with anguish at the realisation that she might never see him again.

Her energies finally spent, Lauren once more lapsed into a state of motionless stupor. Okay, the memory of Steve had temporarily fortified her and revived her spirits, but it was merely a temporary respite from the overriding gloom that pervaded her thoughts; a fleeting mirage in a desert of despair; a will-o-the-wisp that dissolves into the mist as soon as you try to follow it. Lauren spent the next few hours the only way she could: immobile and helpless. At the slightest sound, her ears would prick up; a mixture of hope and terror mingling in her troubled head. Finally, fatigue overcame the dread, and she fell into a disturbed, fitful slumber.

The sound of the door banging loudly against the wall had Lauren wide awake in an instant. As her befuddled senses slowly cleared, she noticed that the light had been switched on. There was a sound also; the noise emitted by footsteps coming down the stone steps. And these were gradually getting louder as they approached. In desperation, she cried out, and tried to turn in the direction of the commotion. Could this be her saviour, Steve, come to rescue her?

But it was obvious straight away that the 'click-clack' on the stone was the sound of a woman's high heels. Could it be the twins? Maybe their threat to leave her for two days had just been a malicious lie in order to frighten her? Lauren desperately wanted this to be the case - the lesser of two evils, so to speak - but her optimism was soon shattered when a voice she had never heard before today, but that was now etched indelibly on her brain, echoed around the room. And she realised that her worst nightmare had come to pass.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Lauren. How extremely nice of you to wait here for me."

Hazel strutted right up to where Lauren lay and turned the helpless human ball around so that she was now facing outwards into the room, although all she could see at that moment was Hazel's boot within an inch of her face.

"I have to say Lauren, that I love your line in bondage. The twins have certainly excelled themselves this time. I was going to add a few more bonds of my own to your rigging, but it doesn't look like there's too much more I could do to enhance this wonderful cornucopia of restraints."

She paced back across the room, before turning to face her cowering captive once more.

"I thought you might like to know that the twins are - how shall I put it? - unlikely to disturb you again. You see, as well as having a ready buyer for Amber out in Thailand, I also have another client - a Russian billionaire, as it happens - looking for a couple of young slaves to add to his collection. He owns this dacha out in the wilds of Siberia, hundreds of miles from the nearest town. It has its own underground nuclear fallout shelter with reinforced concrete walls several feet thick ,in which he keeps his young ladies all tied and chained. Once you're in there, you're not getting out again. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've arranged for Jasmine and Jade to take a little one way trip to meet him."

She paused for a few seconds and looked down at Lauren, trying to gauge the reaction that this news was having on the parcelled woman at her feet.

"If I'd had to overpower both twins at once, then I might have had my work cut out. But they're so predictable...and stupid. I knew if I simply waited until an hour or so after they'd gone home, that the chances were that one of them would have trussed the other up and saved me the trouble. So I turned up at their house under the pretence of paying them their fee for Amber. Then, all I had to do was chloroform and bind the free one, add some handcuffs, ropes and various other wrappings to the one already conveniently bound, and put them both in the boot of my car."

Once more she began pacing the room.

"They're back at my house now, along with Amber. You saw the way they subdued their cousin, didn't you? Well that's more or less the same level of bondage that I inflicted on the pair of them; done up like caterpillars in nice tight cocoons."

She paused and looked thoughtful for a second.

"Although I guess that's about as far as the analogy goes. When they're finally released from their bindings, they're not very likely to be allowed to fly off on newly formed wings. No, the only butterflies they're likely to bear any resemblance to, are the ones you see in museums pinned and mounted in glass display cases."

She stopped speaking, a slight smile playing at the corner of her mouth, and it was clear that she was pleased with the lepidopterous comparison. After a few seconds, however, she resumed.

"Anyway, I'm digressing. All three of them are packed up in metal crates ready for shipment. Amber goes east on Friday, whilst the twins will be packed off in Saturday morning."

She came back to where Lauren lay and knelt down beside her.

"And you, my pretty one, are off to America on Monday. And the good thing is that you won't need to pack a thing...not even your passport."

Lauren tried to scream and beg for mercy, but it was obvious that Hazel wasn't the type to take on board the feelings or wishes of her victims, and so she simply carried on with her monologue.

"So, all in all, not a bad couple of days work for me. Whereas originally I was going to have to settle for the mark-up between the commission I was receiving for Amber and the fee I had to pay out for her to the twins, now I'll be getting paid for all four of you. And it will all be pure profit. They'll be nominating me for the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award if I carry on like this!"

She gazed into space for a few seconds, obviously extremely pleased with herself.

"But I do have a slight dilemma. You see having three items of cargo in my cellar already means that I don't have much space to accommodate a fourth. And besides, I only own three crates that are sufficiently escape-proof to hold a desperate woman in. So I've come up with a plan. This house is in such an out of the way spot that I don't imagine anyone is likely to turn up here in the next few days. So what I've decided to do is leave you here until it's time for your date with destiny. I'll bolt the door, so that even if you did miraculously escape from all those restraints, you'd still be trapped down here. I will, of course, come to visit you each day, just to make sure you're fed and watered and not in too much discomfort. After all, I do need to protect my assets, and you're no good to me dead."

She walked back to the stairs, and Lauren noticed for the first time that there was a rucksack sitting on the bottom step; presumably deposited there by Hazel on her way down. She unzipped the bag and pulled something out. It was black and seemed to have straps attached to it. Lauren couldn't immediately gauge the purpose of this item, but she guessed that its retrieval signalled that something of an unpleasant nature was about to befall her. And so it proved.

Hazel sashayed on her high heels back to where Lauren lay, wide eyed and trembling. She held out the offending article in front of her prisoner's face, so that she was able to both see and smell that it was made from soft leather.

"This is what I call my 'Three Wise Monkeys' hood. I'm sure you've seen the little ornamental statues and heard the old saying 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil'. Well when you've got your head enveloped in this little beauty, that'll be how you'll experience the world; unable to see, hear or speak any evil... or anything else for that matter."

She began to get the contraption ready to pull over Lauren's head.

"The twins did a very good job in binding you up all snug-as-a bug, but I just can't resist adding this one last piece of the jigsaw."

Although it was glaringly obvious that resistance was futile, Lauren offered a token gesture of defiance as Hazel slowly encased her head within the leather pouch. Once over her face, however, there was no going back, and Lauren felt the pressure of the fabric tighten as it was secured in position. It was clear straight away that the area around her ears was lined with foam padding, as almost immediately her hearing became muffled, and Hazel's voice took on an indistinct and faraway quality, which made comprehension of her words difficult. She also found her vision exchanged for a pitch black void that seemed endless and all-consuming. And to add insult to injury, there was padding around the lower part of her face, which pushed against her already gagged mouth. The one plus point in all this was that she could still breathe, which suggested that there had to be openings cut out around the nostril area of this otherwise unbroken barrier of leather . Hazel began tightening and securing the straps - firstly across her eyes, then her mouth, with the final one being wrapped under her chin to restrict the movement of her jaw. Lauren whimpered, but it was obvious even to her that the sound she produced would carry no further than a few inches from its source.

Whilst this was going on, Hazel continued to speak, but the meaning of the majority of her words was now lost on Lauren. Her final utterance, "Goodbye Lauren, she you in about twelve hours" did seep through the dense soundproofing fabric, however, which suggested that it was spoken from within very close proximity to her head.

And then there was only silence.

Those twelve hours were the longest and most terrifying of Lauren's young life. There was no chance of sleep overtaking her and allowing her at least some respite from the dire plight in which she found herself inescapably ensnared. Even the utilisation of the crotch-rope - on two separate occasions - did nothing to stave off the mood of deep depression that enveloped her. Unable to move, see, hear or speak, Lauren spent the vast majority of the countless hours in a state of what basically amounted to suspended animation; all hope of ever returning to her old life now lost.

So when the hint of a faint sound finally reached her ears, after being surrounded for so long in deathly silence, Lauren failed to react. Even as the first, jaw inhibiting, strap slowly loosened, her spirits still remained at a low ebb. This could only be Hazel come back to pile more agony on her; to gloat, to tease and to generally make life even more unbearable for her - if that were possible. The second strap was being released from across her eyes now, but Lauren's mood still failed to lighten. These were clearly only to be temporary measures; allowing her to take on food and liquid before being thrust back into the sightless, soundless black hell once again. The slackening of the third strap from her mouth soon followed, but the slight relief that this allowed in the movement of her facial muscles, fell short of lifting the feeling of despondency and gloom that hung over her like a relentless black cloud.

Slowly - gently even - the leather began to shift upwards over her chin, her nose and her eyes, until it finally slipped away from the top of her head, sending her hair sprawling across her face. She shook her head to clear the matted tangles from her eyes, and tried to focus on what she was almost certain would be the latex-masked face of Hazel.

But suddenly her heart fluttered with renewed hope. This couldn't be, could it? For several seconds, as the features before her gradually came into focus, she thought she must be hallucinating. Or had she fallen asleep after all and now found herself in some wish fulfilling dream? No, she was certain that she was awake. And everything else about the cellar seemed real enough. So in that case, it must be true. Steve really had come back to save her!

And her joy knew no bounds when he smiled and began speaking; obliterating once and for all any lingering doubts about the reality of the situation.

"Hi Lauren, I'm sorry I took so long to come back. After yesterday, something kept nagging at the back of my mind and I just had to come and make sure that you were alright. Once I'd left here, I realised that there was something in what Mistress de Sade said that just didn't ring true. I spent a sleepless night mulling things over, and knew that I had to make this trip to check that you were okay. If I hadn't, and something bad had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself."

Cautiously, so as not to rip her flesh, he began peeling the tape away from her mouth.

"The truth is I couldn't stop thinking about you after our little shared experience."

With the tape removed, he slipped the tights from her mouth. And it was at this point that Lauren's emotions got the better of her. All night she'd been on the verge of hysteria, but had known that crying would do her no good, especially as keeping her nasal airways clear was vital in order to breathe. Now, though, with her mouth no longer sealed, she was free to vent her feelings. Hence the flood of tears that rolled down her cheeks as she began sobbing uncontrollably, whilst at the same time attempting to articulate to Steve the critical nature of the situation she was in. There could be no doubt in his mind now that her desire to be away from this place was very real. Tenderly, he reached out his hand and touched her cheek.

"Hey, what's happened? Don't worry, you're safe now that I'm here. Nobody's going to lay a finger on you now."

The tears, coupled with the fact that her throat was dry and sore, conspired to make her attempted explanation fragmented and disjointed. But one sentence she did manage to string together coherently was "we've got to get out of here, fast!"

"Okay, calm down. I need to find something to cut you out of all this tape."

"I don't think so, somehow. Back off...she's not going anywhere."

For his second visit in a row to the dungeon, Steve was caught unawares by the unexpected arrival of someone behind him. And as with the previous occasion, when he jumped to his feet and spun around, he was greeted by the sight of a woman attired from head to toe in figure hugging latex. The difference was that on this occasion, it wasn't Amber whose image confronted him but her nemesis, Hazel.

"Who are you? Where's Mistress de Sade?"

The woman took two steps into the centre of the room. She was dressed much as she had been when Lauren had last seen her. This time, however, instead of the riding crop as an accessory, she carried a leather whip, five or six feet in length.

"My name is Lady Hazel Paine. But more to the point, who the hell are you?"

She didn't wait for her question to be answered.

"Mistress de Sade, as you call her, has been - how shall I put it? - otherwise detained. Her business has been liquidated and all her assets turned over to me...including her client list. If you wish to make an appointment, that can be arranged easily enough... but not right now."

She flicked her wrist and a sudden crack of the whip sent an echo ringing around the stone chamber. Dismissively, she added,

"I'd like you to leave now, as I have unfinished business here... as you can see."

Lauren was comforted to note, however, that the unexpected report from the menacing weapon didn't seem to have intimidated Steve.

"I'm not going anywhere without Lauren. I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but I know that she's in a great deal of distress and that she wants to get out of here."

Hazel glared at him, her eyes filled with fury. Vocally, however, she remained calm but menacing.

"How dare you speak to me like that? Get out now, while you still can."

The whip cracked again, the thong on this occasion being aimed at her opponent. He, however, was agile enough to avoid its sting by stepping quickly to one side. But this also had its disadvantages as far as Lauren's safety was concerned, which Hazel had quickly sussed out. Prior to the second crack of the whip, Steve had been standing directly in front of her prone form, guarding her against danger. But his compulsory evasive action showed Hazel that by further use of this implement of torture, she would be able to force him away from his sentry post and into a corner. And this she did effectively; by cracking the whip just to his left, he had to step sharply to the right in the direction of the workbench, leaving Lauren unshielded and vulnerable. Two further cracks of the whip and he was several feet away from her. But as the latest snap of leather split the air, automatically he put out his hand against the table for support. Momentarily, his fingers touched something that happened to be lying there, and for a split second he glanced down to see what it was that he had chanced upon. Almost immediately, he seemed to comprehend the nature of this strange gun-like object, and Lauren looked on as, without hesitation, he picked it up and pointed it at Hazel.

"Ah, I've been searching high and low for that. So that's where I left it."

This was Hazel's cool response to having the Taser - her Taser - aimed in her direction.

"Leave Lauren alone, or I swear I'll use this on you."

She laughed harshly.

"You? Use that? You wouldn't know how. Now give it to me."

Steve continued to aim at the black latex-clad figure, who took one step closer to where he stood.

"It's not a toy. Now give it here before you get hurt."

She held out her gloved hand; the stern expression on her face unflinching. He didn't move, but simply stared back at her.

"Hand it over, NOW!"

She cracked the whip once more and moved another step closer towards him.

If Hazel was thinking that Steve was either unwilling or incapable of unleashing the Taser's excruciating electrical charge, then she had made a grave error of judgement. And this ultimately proved to be her downfall.

For no sooner had the whip's latest outburst reverberated around the underground cavern, than another short, sharp sound was heard, accompanied by a flash of something flying at lightning speed in Hazel's direction. The electrodes hit her in the abdomen, throwing her backwards across the room with a howl of anguish, and landing her, like a ragdoll, in a crumpled heap on the floor.

As if he'd planned this whole operation, in an instant Steve had leapt into action. Grabbing a handful of ropes from the bench, he crossed the floor in seconds and was upon Hazel before she knew what had hit her. Turning her over onto her stomach, he pulled the incapacitated woman's arms behind her back and began winding one of the ropes around her wrists. Working with an expertise that the watching Lauren guessed must have been acquired through years of practice, he cinched and tightly secured the cord. Hardly pausing for breath, he picked up another rope and swiftly treated her ankles to a similarly well applied restraint. By now, Hazel was just beginning to recover from the initial shock and pain of the Taser's debilitating blow. However, now bound hand and foot, and with Steve sitting astride her, she was no match for his superior strength and freedom of movement. At a more leisurely pace now, he continued in his bid to ensure that Hazel could cause no more trouble; either for himself or Lauren.

In fascination, Lauren gazed on as he secured more ropes around the now squirming woman's elbows and upper arms. She marvelled at his proficiency in such matters, as he bound his victim's legs both above and below the knees, before moving upwards to secure her thighs. A thrill rushed through Lauren as she watched him manoeuvre his now helpless captive into a sitting position, in order to apply a rope harness that lashed her arms to her torso. But as well as a sense of wonder that his prowess in all things bondage-related awakened in her, there was another emotion that also stirred within Lauren at that precise moment; envy.

For she realised, as she watched Hazel's state of captivity pass the point of no return, that she was jealous of the fact that it was someone else, and not herself, that Steve was pampering in this way.

Not that Hazel was seeing things in this light, of course; quite the opposite, in fact. The realisation that she was now unlikely to be able to free herself didn't stop her, once the Taser's aftermath had finally subsided and she was able to find her voice, from unleashing a verbal tirade of threats and abuse upon her attacker.

"YOU BASTARD!..YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS!.. I'LL HUNT YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!..I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!..I'LL..."

Her rant was cut off in its prime, as a pair of rolled up tights - the same ones that had so recently dwelt within Lauren's oral cavity - proceeded to find their way unceremoniously into Hazel's protesting mouth. And these were soon augmented with duct tape to ensure that they couldn't be spat out.

But still the task of ensuring that Hazel no longer posed any threat hadn't been completed to Steve's satisfaction. Pushing her back down onto her stomach again, he took another length of rope and attached it to her wrist bonds, before running this down to the cord at her ankles. Bending Hazel's knees up behind her, he pulled the rope taut and wove it around the bonds on her upper arms, before returning for a second time to her ankles. Tying the final knot behind her feet, where her stretching fingers would be unable to reach, he completed the stringent hog-tie. To supplement this, he grabbed her long plait of braided hair and pulled this back to where her feet wriggled furiously in mid air. Hazel shrieked in agony as her head was pulled sharply upwards and backwards. But her strongly worded but muffled remonstrations, in regard to what she saw as the latest in a long line of atrocities being perpetrated against her, were ignored, as he twisted the ends of her hair around her ankle bonds and knotted the strands together.

So tight was the hair-enhanced hog-tie now, that Hazel's head and shoulders were forced away from the ground, as were her knees. For several minutes she lay on her stomach swaying backwards and forwards like a rocking horse, until she finally managed to tilt over and flop inelegantly onto her side.

"Well, Lady Hazel Pain-in-the-Arse, or whatever it is you call yourself. It looks like you bit off more than you could chew this time. Let's see how you like being left all alone and helpless without hope of escape for a few days."

He stood and watched for a few seconds, as she tried to attain some sort of relief from the uncomfortable predicament that she found herself in. After satisfying himself that she couldn't get free, he turned back to Lauren.

"Sorry I've been ignoring you. I don't think she'll be bothering us anymore. Now let's get you out of all those wrappings."

He crossed back to the bench and searched around for something to cut her free from her cocoon. Having located a pair of scissors, he returned to her and, against a soundscape of screams and groans from the other side of the room, began to release Lauren from the tape and cling-film. Once these had been discarded, he removed the collar and untied the ropes that had held her in a tight ball for countless hours, so that she was once again able to stretch her legs and ease her aching muscles. He was just about to begin loosening the bonds that held her legs together, when she stopped him.

"You don't need to untie me any further, I'm quite comfortable like this. Will you just carry me please?"

A huge smile lit up his face, and he bent forward and kissed her on the lips.

"I was hoping you were going to say something like that."

With her arms still strapped in the single-sleeve mitten, her legs trussed together at the knees and ankles, and the crotch rope still in situ as a reminder of triumphs past, she found herself being lifted into his arms. Slowly, to an incessant backdrop of caterwauling from the floor below, they climbed the steps.

"You know something, I've been mulling over all the things you were telling me yesterday about the twins and Mistress de Sade, and I think I could turn all that's happened to you into quite a story. How about we go back to my place and I'll begin recording all the trials and tribulations you've gone through?"

Lauren looked up at her saviour. His voice was calm and soothing, and his smile spoke of kindness and love. She couldn't believe how at ease she felt in his presence. And after a sleepless night, she felt her eyelids getting heavier by the second. Her dreamily whispered "aha" confirmed her acceptance of his proposition, and she found herself snuggling up against the warmth of his body.

"Good, that's settled then. Now let's get out of here."

As they reached the cellar door, he stopped momentarily and contemplated the stifled protestations coming from far below.

"Don't worry about her. I'll call the police anonymously in a day or two to let them know she's here."

And with that, he turned out the light and they exited the ruined building for the final time.

Two days later.

"...in his statement, the Chancellor said that there would need to be further cuts in public funding, in order to reach the government's target of significantly reducing the deficit by 2020.

Suffolk police today raided a house in Ipswich, where they found three women being held prisoner in the cellar. A police spokesman said that it appeared they were victims of a global organisation known to kidnap women and sell them into slavery. This follows the discovery earlier in the day, after an anonymous tip off, of another woman bound and gagged in a ruined farmhouse ten miles away, near Woodbridge.

And now the weather. Tomorrow will start off bright and sunny with light to moderate winds, but showers will move in from the east by midday. Temperatures will remain above average for the time of year..."

The writer stopped pounding the keys of his laptop and switched the radio off. For a few seconds he gazed into space, a wry smile on his face, before turning his attention back to the screen in front of him. The room was in semi-darkness, save for the desk light and the illumination given off by the screen itself. After a few minutes, he lay back in his chair, stretched and yawned. Standing up, he walked a few paces over to the well stocked drinks cabinet. Pouring himself a large whisky, he took a sip and crossed the room into the gathering gloom of an autumnal evening. Switching on another lamp, the room was immediately filled with light, revealing a young woman sitting on an upright chair.

The woman's long brown hair flowed effortlessly over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a one piece black spandex cat-suit that covered her from ankle to neck. Her arms were pulled rigidly behind the back of the chair and were lashed together with ropes situated at her wrists, forearms, elbows and shoulders. Many more ropes had been used to lash her body tightly and securely to the chair. Further down, her legs had been treated to similarly strict bindings, at her thighs, knees, calves and ankles. Her bound lower limbs had been pulled up as far as they could reach beneath the seat of the chair, and a rope from her ankles had been pulled taut and fastened to the wooden frame, so that even the tips of her toes could no longer touch the floor. The lower half of her face was swathed in an unbroken vista of grey duct tape. But her smiling eyes sparkled in the light, revealing the fact that this whole situation was of her own picking; indeed that she was a perfectly willing prisoner here.

He came over to her and gently kissed her on the forehead.

"Would you like a drink?"

Tempting as the offer was, Lauren decided to forego this pleasure. The rolled up tights in her mouth had a warm, familiar feel to them by now, whilst the tape felt like a second skin on her face, and she reasoned that the removal of either or both of these would disrupt the overall feng shui of her bondage. She therefore declined his kind offer with a shake of her head.

He moved closer to her, his skin-tight spandex outfit a perfect match for her own.

"I've just about finished the first chapter of your story, Lauren. I thought it would be a good idea if I read it back to you now, so that you can see what you think."

He straddled the chair and sat on her lap, but avoided putting his whole weight down on her.

"Then when we've finished that, we can have a bit of fun."

Tenderly, he cupped her breasts in his hands and began massaging them with his fingers. She responded by throwing her head back, closing her eyes and purring with contentment. Over the past couple of days, Lauren had become a convert to Steve's idea of 'fun', and she was keen to sample more of the same. He sighed.

"But first, I really want to get the initial chapter of this story finished and sent off for publication."

He kissed both her eyelids and rose reluctantly from the chair. Picking up his drink, he made his way back to the laptop.

"I've decided to the call the story 'Ever Increasing Bondage', as I think that works on more than one level. Not only does it accurately sum up your physical situation throughout, but it also alludes to the way you gradually get ever more entangled and entrapped in the machinations of Amber and the twins."

He sat down behind the screen and took a sip of the golden liquid from his glass. He savoured the taste for a second or two before continuing.

"Okay, if there's anything I've missed out, or if there are any inaccuracies that you want me to alter, just let me know."

His attention turned to the screen and he began to read:

"The notion of being tied up had always held a strange fascination for Lauren, although until now her curiosity had lain dormant within her. Now, however, when the hint of an opportunity to actually participate arose, something stirred within her and she found herself desperately hoping that she was going to be able to experience firsthand something that had so far been merely a flight into fantasy...."