A Friend In Need

“Are you sure this is what you want me to do?”

Evelyn was sitting with her flatmate, Zoë, discussing what to do to make sure they had the rent money available for next month.

“Unless you have any better ideas,” Zoë replied, “then yes I want you to tie me up and make it look like we robbed the place.”

“You’re crazy, you know that don’t you?”

“Are you in or not?”

“All right, all right – so how do you want to play this?”

“If you go into the kitchen cupboard, you’ll find a length of rope and a roll of white tape.  You tie me up and gag me with the tape, make it look as if the place has been ransacked, go out for half an hour then come back and find me.”

“It sounds simple, but do you promise me there won’t be any comeback.”

“Of course not – now are you going to do it or not?”

“I’ll go and get the stuff – you make yourself comfortable somewhere.”

Evelyn got out of the cushions and made her way to the bedroom, while Zoë went to the toilet.  She figured it may be a while before she gets there again, so why not?  Having completed her ablutions, she went into her bedroom and changed into a purple knee length sleeveless dress.

She heard the door closing behind her, and turning round in the expectation of seeing Evelyn she was surprised to see a complete stranger standing there.

She was the same height as Zoë, with long dark curly hair, and was dressed in a short sleeved blue dress that came to just above her knee.  The top of her black stockings was just visible below the hem line.

“I’m sorry, but what are you doing in my room?” Zoë said, only for the girl to bring her hands around from behind her back.  In one hand she had the rope and tape, and in the other a Lugar pistol.

“Your friend is – sleeping at the moment,” the intruder said, “So please do as you are told.  Lie face down, hands behind your back, and I’ll make this quick and painless. Fight me, and you will suffer.”

Stunned, Zoë lay down on her stomach, and the girl climbed onto the bed beside her.  Taking Zoë’s wrists, she calmly wrapped the rope around and across them, pulling it tightly until Zoë winced with pain, and then placing the pistol on the bed beside Zoë’s head she took a pair of scissors from the bedside table and cut the rope just above the knot.

“Where’s Evelyn?” Zoë said as the girl then pulled her feet behind her legs.

“My friend is dealing with her at the moment,” the intruder said as she made a small loop in the rope and placed it over Zoë’s left ankle.  Pulling it tightly, she then methodically wrapped the rope around and between Zoë’s ankles, before doing the same to her bare feet.  Snipping the rope again, she then cut a small length off and tied Zoë’s big toes together.

“You mean this is a real robbery?  You won’t get away with it!” Zoë shouted, only for the intruder to take the roll of tape, tear off a long strip and stick it over Zoë’s mouth.  As she tried to scream and protest, her ankles were pulled further behind her back and linked to her wrists so that it was impossible for Zoë to do more than roll over.

“Now,” the robber said as she knotted off the last piece of rope, picked up the pistol and placed it against Zoë’s head, “I want you to just lie still, try not to panic, and this will all be over soon.  I’m going to have a look around, see what my friend and I can take, and then I’ll come back in and see you.  Understand?”

Zoë nodded, and the blue clad girl left her alone in the room.  She immediately began to try and move her legs and wrists, and to roll around on the bed in an attempt to try and break free form the ropes.

Sweat formed on her brow and back as she continued to roll around, but as she did so she realised that it was becoming more and more difficult to breath.  She tried to breath through her nose, but she then began to cough, and realised with a startling, sickening shock that she couldn’t get rid of the phlegm that she was producing!

She felt like she was about to choke, when the girl re-entered the room.  Seeing what was happening, she knelt in front of Zoë’s head and peeled the tape away.  Zoë coughed and retched for a few minutes, before managing to croak out “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet – that was a very stupid thing you did.  I’m not going to leave you to call out, so the gag will go back on, but do you promise me that you won’t do anything that sill again?”

“Let me see Evelyn,” Zoë cried, and with a nod the girl opened the door to the corridor and then the opposite one to the front room.

Evelyn was sat in a chair at the dining table.  There was rope visible around her chest and breasts, holding her to the chair back, and Zoë could see one of her ankles tied back against the chair leg.  Her mouth was filled with a napkin which had been rolled up and tied in as a gag, and she was crying with her head bowed down.

“So,” the intruder said as she turned back to Zoë, “Time for the gag to go back on.  Try and breathe normally through your nose.”

A strip of tape was torn off, and kneeling at the foot of her bed she smoothed the new gag over Zoë’s mouth.  Two more strips followed and were placed on top of the first.

She stood up and looked down at the gagged and helpless girl.  “My friend has already loaded out van, so we’ll be on our way now.  You just lie still, and we’ll call the police once we have a chance to get far enough away.”

She placed her hand on the gag to smooth it down further, and Zoë looked up as if to say thanks.  The intruder then departed, leaving Zoë and Evelyn to try and get free.

A task that proved to be futile – when the police arrived after a few hours, both girls were as firmly bound and gagged as before.

Some days later, Evelyn was sat in a bar near the university when she was surprised by a tap on the shoulder.

“There you are,” she said to the new arrival, “I was beginning to wonder where you’d got to.”

“Well, it takes time to sort these things out.  How did the move go?”

“No problem – she bought the story 100%.  Her only concern was getting the insurance money.”

“Well, here’s your share,” and Evelyn picked up an envelope that was left on the counter.  Looking inside, she pocketed it with a smile.

“And my stuff?”

“You can come round and pick it up any time you like.  I’m amazed you finally persuaded her to try that idea.”

“No, no.  She had to be led to suggest it to me.  It took a while, but it worked in the end.”

“Thanks, Evelyn – you’re a true friend.”

“Any time,” she said as the other girl walked off, her long dark curly hair flowing in the breeze.