by Alta Hensley
“Deep in the woods of the Sierra mountains. The land has been in our family—on his daddy’s side—for many years, but nothing was done with it until Pope. He built a glorious two-story house. There’s a wrap-around porch just like I had as a child. He even added some rocking chairs to remind me of those days.” Pride beamed from the woman as she gushed like nothing was out of the ordinary. As if there wasn’t a tied woman sitting right the fuck in front of her!
“Vivian,” I swallowed back my fear and tried to regain my composure the best I could, “why am I here?”
Her eyes widened, and she tilted her head. “Well, to marry my boy of course. What a silly question.”
“You kidnapped me to marry Pope?” My head pounded and my heart threatened to jump right out of my chest. The drugs from the water still blurred my thoughts so the insanity of this situation couldn’t fully set in. What the fuck was going on?
“Kidnapped? No, of course I didn’t kidnap you.” She began pacing again, each click of her heels setting a loud staccato rhythm.
“I’m tied to a chair. You drugged me.” I wasn’t sure why I had to state the obvious, but the woman appeared to not notice she had a woman bound to a chair in a cellar before her.
She smiled. “Well, yes. I suppose I did drug you. But a momma has to do what a momma has to do sometimes. I knew once I got you here, all would be just fine. Yes, just fine.” Walking toward me, she once again reached for my hair and ran her fingers through the tangles. “Now that you are here, we can begin.”
I scrutinized her eyes. The same eyes that I had looked into so many times as she shook so hard before me that she was unable to even lift a fork. “Begin? Begin what?”
“Well, we have to teach you the ways of a proper wife. It takes training to be a good wife. To be the kind of woman my boy deserves.” She patted me on the head. “But don’t you worry. Lucky for you, I’m a mighty fine teacher.” She paused and took a few steps back and then clasped her hands in front of her, giving off a prim and proper aura. “I don’t always have the best patience, but I have no doubt you will be a quick study.”
“Where’s Pope?”
She looked up as if listening for him. “He and the movers just got done unloading the plane. So now Pope is flying them back to the airport. It won’t take long for him to return. It was so nice for the boys to be willing to help us get all our possessions here. And we had to have a few months of supplies as well. Even with the plane, it doesn’t make sense to fly into town often if we don’t have to.”
The way Vivian spoke to me was as if nothing was wrong. As if I weren’t kidnapped, tied to a chair, begging for answers. She spoke as if it was simply another ordinary day. Had she lost her mind? She clearly wasn’t all there. She was a mad woman, and yet, how did I not notice this before?
“Please, let me go. Please.” My voice was so weak that I wondered if she even heard me since she didn’t respond for several moments.
“There’s going to be a lot of work to do once Pope returns. We have to work extra hard at making this house a home. It’s been neglected and requires some construction.” She smiled and clapped her hands. “But the good news is, Pope is handy with the tools. He is such a man. He knows how to build and fix things like a proper gentleman. You will be lucky to have him as your husband. Not all men are good with their hands. But Pope is. He’s a true man.”
“Vivian, please listen to me.” I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “You don’t have to keep me here. You don’t have to. Untie me, and I’ll run. You can tell Pope I got away, and you couldn’t stop me. He won’t blame you. It won’t be your fault. And like I said, I won’t tell anyone. I just want to be free. We can all pretend this was a big misunderstanding.”
A look of confusion washed over her. “Now, why would I do such a thing, child? After all the work and months of planning to get you here? Oh gracious no. Getting hold of the drugs to put in your water in the apartment and then again in the box was hard enough. I was simply terrified I would kill you, especially when you muddled my plan by drinking wine and taking sleeping pills.” She played with the pearls around her neck nervously. “I was so worried you had messed up all my planning. But we were leaving for the airport to fly to the Sierra mountains that afternoon, so I had no choice. I had to act then.”
“You drugged me?”
“Well, I had to. I do hope you understand. It was to ensure your trip was more comfortable. I had your comfort in my thoughts at all times. I truly did. And when he put you in the box, I told him to be very careful. I didn’t want your perfect little body all bruised. No man wants a woman with flaws on her body. No man indeed.”
“You helped Pope put me in a box?” How could I have been fooled by this woman for so long? I had trusted her. I didn’t think she was capable of hurting anyone. Fresh tears pooled when it became very clear that the little old lady I had grown to care for was in on this plan with her son to kidnap me the entire time.
“Oh Pope didn’t put you in a box, child. He’s a true gentleman and wouldn’t partake in such an act. So I had Richard do it.”
Shaking my head as if that would help make sense of this entire situation, I closed my eyes in hope I would wake up from this nightmare. “Richard?”
“Yes, Richard. He’s such a nice man. I hired him several years back to be my handyman while Pope was in prison. He eventually became a caretaker and a friend of mine. Anyway, he will do just about anything I ask of him. He’s a little slow,” she pointed to her head, “in the mind, but he loves me so. I’ll miss him, and it was a shame to see him leave on the plane with Pope to go back to the airport, but he has a bigger and more important job to focus on now.”
Remembering the knock on the door in my apartment, it was starting to come together. “Richard came to my apartment to help you kidnap me?”
“I do wish you would stop using the term ‘kidnap.’ It sounds so torrid.” Vivian walked over to a box and began searching the contents inside. “But yes, Richard helps me do whatever I need. In fact, he is helping you as well, so you should be grateful.”
“Helping me?”
I could hear items in the box shifting about as Vivian dug around. “He’s watching over your little Mexican friend and her baby.”
Fresh fear punched me in the gut. “Maria? What are you doing with Maria and Luis?”
She stood up with scissors she had found in the box. “Nothing at all… yet. But that’s up to you, of course. Richard is simply there to watch them in their day-to-day life. Unless, of course, I give him reason to do something else.”
She approached me again, carrying the scissors as one would carry a dagger. I watched the shears and wondered if this was the tool that would be used to kill me. Was talking time over, and death time next?
Vivian rested the scissors on my shoulder. The cool metal sent a shiver down my spine. “It’s a win-win situation for all,” she began as she caressed the skin along my collarbone with the scissors. “Richard will make sure that woman and her baby stay nice and safe. I will make sure you stay nice and safe. That is, however, if you remain a good girl. As long as you don’t give Richard or myself any reason to punish you, and then to punish Maria and that cute little infant of hers.” She opened the scissors, placed the strap of my white tank top between the metal blades, and cut the fabric in half. “If you are good, then all is good in the world.”
Maria and Luis! No!
“What are you doing?” I asked as she began cutting the shirt. As she mastered the scissors, I noticed her hands didn’t tremble once.
“Child, we have to get you presentable. No proper lady wears attire such as this. And you really are in need of a bath. We can’t have Pope seeing you in this condition, and he will be home soon. You must try to always be desirable for him at all times. It’s important for a healthy sex life. And for a successful marriage, you must have a healthy sex life. You don’t want his eyes wandering to another. Men are weak, but women are stronger. And if we focus on what
makes a man tick, we can prevent such a distasteful act as cheating.”
She continued to cut the ribbed fabric of my tank until it dropped off of me, completely baring my upper half. The cool air of the room hit my nipples, and the reality of what was truly happening began to set in. She then moved the scissors to my sweats and hacked away. The sound of shears slicing fabric echoed off the walls of my prison. I sat in shock as a woman cut my clothing off of me, and there was nothing I could do. I didn’t even resist—not that I could have since the ties were still so tight around my wrists and ankles.
When she finally removed everything except for my pink cotton panties, I pleaded again. “Please, Viv… Vivian. Please don’t do this. We were friends. Remember? We were friends!”
She brought the tip of the scissors to the edge of my panties and sliced through them effortlessly. “Which is why I chose you, child. You will be the perfect daughter-in-law. I knew the minute I saw you that you would be the perfect wife for my son. I just knew it.”
She tugged at the fabric that concealed all that was left of my modesty and added the piece of material to the pile of my shredded clothing. I sat completely nude. Since my arms were tied behind my back, the position forced my breasts forward, putting them on full display. My legs were opened wide since each ankle was tied to opposite sides of the chair. I had never before felt more exposed and vulnerable.
Vivian gathered the pile of ruined clothes and then stood before me. Her eyes scanned my body from head to toe, and then from toe to head. “Yes, I chose correctly. I knew you would be a pretty thing beneath all those awful and unladylike clothes you wore. I simply knew it.” She smiled and obviously was proud of what she saw as her chin lifted and her shoulders squared. “Yes, indeed. Pope is going to be very satisfied with what you have to offer. Very satisfied indeed.”
She turned and made her way to the stairs leading to the upper level.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Panic attacked my core even more at the thought of being left tied to a chair naked by myself.
“I’m going to go get some warm water and a rag. It’s time for your bath, child.”
She continued climbing the stairs until she was completely out of sight. I then heard the sound of a door closing and the click of a lock.
7
I had never believed in God. Religion just wasn’t something I cared to invest any energy in. But right now, you sure as fuck better believe I would pray to anyone who was listening. Struggling against my ties again, I tried to see if I could make them budge even a little.
“Fuck!” I screamed, though I knew no one would listen or care. There was no escape. I was defenseless and in the hands of a deranged woman and her crazy son.
I needed my survival skills to kick in. I had watched movies and had read books. The women who survived situations like this were strong and resourceful. They didn’t cry and babble like a baby. They remained focused and always outsmarted the captor. But as tears ran down my face, and every single breath heaved from my chest, I knew that was all fiction. Fucking fiction!
No.
I needed to be strong. Strong.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to think about everything Vivian had said. There was another man helping them named Richard. He was on order to watch over Maria and Luis and hurt them if I did anything wrong, so I had to be extra careful. Two other lives were at stake beside my own. Vivian was smart—a complete whack job—but smart. She had been staking me out for months. She had to have known I had no one in my life besides Maria and Luis. My only weakness was those two innocent people who wouldn’t hurt a fly. They didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve this! Vivian had to know how sweet Maria was if she had truly been planning this for months. But where did Pope fall in this plan? Why was he new to the stake out? How had I missed him this entire time? Had he truly been in jail up until now? Could they have masterminded this plan while he was behind bars so that he would have a woman at his mercy when he was free?
My body trembled out of fear but also from the cold. Being completely naked in the bitterly cold cellar chilled me to the bone. My teeth began to chatter, and there was nothing I could do to warm my body. But I needed to focus. Focus.
Remembering Vivian’s words, I continued to put together that I was in a home out in the middle of nowhere. I had been drugged, stuffed in a moving crate, transported by U-Haul to a plane, and then flown to this vacation home. So now what? She said she wanted to train me. I wondered if she was planning to keep me tied to a chair the entire time. Would this cellar be my permanent prison? Looking around again, I didn’t see any windows or a way to escape. And even if I did, if this house was truly out in the middle of the woods only reachable by plane, where would I go? Vivian and Pope had clearly planned everything out perfectly. They even had an accomplice. This was not a rushed job done on impulse. This was executed exactly as they had planned. I was their victim, and it was clear this mother and son duo had preyed on me for a very long time.
“Demi?”
I looked toward the stairs, preparing for the worst. It was Vivian, but she sounded different.
“Demi? Are you down there?” The voice had no accent. It was the same voice I had grown to care for over the past several months. It was the voice that belonged to the little old lady I had considered a friend.
“Viv?” I squeaked, not knowing what to say or what to think. I was scared I was imagining the nicer version of Vivian in a desperate need for hope.
The woman descended the stairs and rushed toward me. Her eyes were wide, and her entire body trembled. Her lips quivered so much that her speech came out stuttered. “Are you all right? Oh lord. Oh lord.” There wasn’t the slightest hint of southern accent in her panicked voice. This woman was completely different to the one who just cut all my clothing off of me and revealed her maniacal plan as if it were something completely normal.
“Help me! Untie me!” I wiggled against the restraints, hoping to God that Viv would finally come to her senses. I didn’t have time to figure out what the hell was going on. I just needed to get her to free me before her mind flipped back to the southern belle from hell.
She looked at my naked body in horror as if she hadn’t seen it before. “Oh no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.” She closed her eyes and covered her ears with her shaky hands. “No, no, no, no!”
The sound of an engine in the distance outside caught both of our attention. Pope was landing the plane. I could hear it faintly outside the walls of my dark cell. I was frantic. I had to get free before Pope came down here. “Please! Viv, untie me. He’s here. Please!”
She looked up at the ceiling as if she could somehow see a plane descending from the sky with her son in the cockpit. “Pope is going to be so mad! He’s going to be so angry!” Her body shook so hard that I wondered if she would fall over. “Oh, I have no idea what he’s going to do. He’s going to be furious. So very, very furious.”
“The scissors!” I tilted my head to where they rested on the top of a box. “Grab the scissors, and cut me free. Hurry! We don’t have long.”
Viv started hitting her skull repeatedly as she screamed, “Please stop! Please stop!” She continued to pummel her head with her tiny fists. The insanity before me only fueled my desperation more. “Please stop! Stop! Stop!”
“Viv! Hurry!” I shook my body against my restraints as much as I could to try to get her attention. “You need to calm down. Look at me, Viv. Look at me! Untie me now.”
She finally stopped punching herself and froze for several seconds before lifting her head and staring at me squarely. And right before my eyes, she changed.
Her posture changed. Her shoulders squared. Her chin lifted. Her warm brown eyes darkened.
When she opened her mouth to speak, bile coated the back of my throat. “Calm down, child. You don’t want to damage your perfectly creamy skin. Men don’t like a flawed woman.”
The sickly-sweet southern drawl had returned.
Vivian had r
eturned.
“What the fuck is going on? Who are you?” I screamed at her. “Why are you doing this? Why are you acting like two different people?”
Vomit threatened to explode from my body. I had never seen or heard such a thing. It was as if a demon had entered Viv’s frail little frame. The demon was Vivian.
“Who are you? What is this?” I screamed again. I screamed at the top of my lungs. I didn’t care if Pope heard me. I didn’t care who heard me. I had no control over my blood-curdling scream. I was terrified. I was sitting helplessly before the devil himself. I screamed again and again as the shrill sound of my howl rattled against my brain.
“Shut your mouth, girl!” Vivian snapped, rushing to cover my mouth with her hand that no longer trembled as it had minutes before. “He’ll hear you!”
I continued to scream, her hand doing very little to conceal the sounds of my horror. Over and over, I screamed in desperation, in fear, and in realization that there was no escape from this insanity. This complete madness.
She pulled her hand away from my mouth and slapped me hard against my cheek. “I said be quiet!”
I stopped screaming, stunned from the blow. The momentary pause was just enough for me to hear the heavy boots of a man running toward the door that led to my hell. Pope was coming. He was coming. He heard my screams, and now hell would have to be paid.
Vivian looked over her shoulder as she heard the click of the cellar door opening. “You fool,” she spat in a hushed voice. “You fool!”
“Momma! Momma! Are you okay?” The man sounded terrified, as if it were his mother screaming rather than me.
“Yes, Pope. I’m fine. I’m coming up there. Don’t come down. I’m fine.” Again, the accent was gone.
She rushed to the edge of the stairs to try to prevent him from walking all the way down, but it was too late. Taking the final step, his head turned and our eyes made contact. I was staring into the eyes of the ultimate demon. I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry. I simply sat there and awaited my death. Death was dressed in a black shirt, black pants, and black boots. Death was all black as he should be.