For the Love of Thrift
Josie smiled as
she looked at herself in the mirror – she had no classes that day, which meant
she had the time to indulge herself and visit some of the local second hand
stores again, and see what was available to add to her wardrobe. Like many girls of her acquaintance, spending
ten pounds on a stylish dress, or a nice blouse and skirt.
And certainly,
today, Josie felt she had chosen the right outfit. She had bought the dress a few weeks ago, for
a tenner, and the store owner had thrown in the cardigan as part of the
deal. The dress itself was made of light
blue linen, a row of buttons on the front at the chest, and a round
neckline. The sleeves were short, and
the skirt came to just above her knees.
Over the top she had the pink cardigan, while an old white leather belt
was fastened round her waist. Add the
black hose, and the flat black shoes, and she looked – and felt – like a true
star.
“All it needs
is a finishing touch,” she said as she put into her red hair a thin black
hairband with a large grey fabric rose attached to the right side, and then she
felt she was ready.
Picking up her
brown woven handbag, also found in the thrift store, she smiled as she
collected her purse and keys, and set off to the centre of town.
As she entered
the store, Josie looked round at the racks and shelves, and walked to where
some of the new items had been placed.
As she did, she noticed another young woman in the store – one who
reminded her a lot of Zoey Deschanel, with her long light brown hair. Like her, she was wearing a cardigan, pale
blue dress and belt – but this woman’s dress had a higher neckline, her belt
was a wide black one, and the cardigan was purple. The sleeves still only came a ways down her arms,
just as Josie’s did, and she was also wearing black flats, but her legs were
bare.
“Cute,” Josie
thought to herself as she took out a floral print dress, and held it against
herself as she looked in a mirror.
“That dress
suits you – the browns go well with your hair.”
Josie turned to
see the woman standing next to her. “I
could never get away with something like that,” she said in a Nottingham
accent, “but I think you could.”
“Do you think
so,” Josie said as she twirled from side to side.
“Yeah – I do,”
the woman said with a smile. “You should
buy it if you can.”
Josie nodded as
she took the dress to a changing booth, the woman smiling as she looked at some
more items.
“So I see you
bought it then.”
Josie turned
and smiled as she saw the woman standing next to her. “Yeah – good advice on your part,” she said
as she looked at the dress in her bag.
“I’m Josie – you’re?”
“Zara,” the woman
said with a smile. “At any rate, it was
nice meeting you Jo…”
The sound of
screeching tyres made both of them look to the kerb as the side of a grey van
opened, and two men jumper out, grabbing Zara by the arms and lifting her
bodily into the van. As Josie grabbed
her phone and took a picture, one of the men looked out and said “damn” before
he came out again, throwing Josie over his shoulder and getting back into the
van before she had a chance to call for help.
“Who the hell is
this,” the second man said as the van door was slammed shut, and his partner
called out “DRIVE!” He then dropped
Josie onto the floor of the van, as he said “she took our picture – I had to
bring her in.”
“Don’t say a
word,” the second man said as he grabbed two zip ties, using one to secure
Josie’s wrists behind her back and a second one to secure her ankles. As she looked to the side, she saw Zara, her
wrists and ankles secured as well, and the edge of a rolled piece of cloth
sticking out of her mouth.
“Open up.” As Josie did this, a rolled cloth was pushed
into her mouth as well, the two women looking at each other as the first man
produced a gun.
“Keep quiet,
don’t push them out,” he said, Josie nodding as she tried to process what was
going on…
She looked over
at Zara, who looked at her with eyes that said “I’m sorry”, almost as if she
had been expecting this…
“Sit down in
those chairs.”
Josie and Zara
were pushed into a room – the van had stopped inside a warehouse, and now the
two captives were been shown into what looked like a hotel room at a
Travelodge. There was a double bed, and
two wooden deck chairs to the side of the bed, as well as a television attached
to the wall. The zip ties had bene cut
away from their ankles before they had been marched in here, and as Josie sat
down she wondered what they were going to do next.
The answer to
that came quickly as the plastic strip was cut away from her wrists, put her
wrists were held down to the arms of the chair by the two men. A third man, who must have been driving,
picked up a roll of silver tape and wrapped it around her wrist and the chair
arm on each side, and then knelt down, taping her ankles to the front legs of
the chair. He walked over and did the
same to Zara once her wrists were freed, before the rolls of cloth were taken
from their mouths.
“Who are
you? Why have you kidnapped us? My friends will be…”
“Lady,” the
third man said as he looked at Josie, “if you know what is good for you, shut
up.”
“IT’s all right
Josie,” Zara said quietly, “they’re not going to tell you who they are. They just want one thing – hopefully.”
The three men
said nothing as they left the room, closing and locking the door behind
themselves as Josie watched. “What did
you mean by that,” she said as she tried to twist her arm free.
“They want a
ransom for my safe return – my dad’s a fairly well to do financier,” Zara said
with a sigh as she wriggled her fingers.
“How come they took you as well?”
“I… I took a picture of them when they snatched you. But I don’t have any money and neither do my
parents…”
“Which means
they were scared you would show their faces before they got their money,” Zara
said with a sigh. Josie looked over, and
said “it sounds as if this is a common occurrence with you?”
“Well, I think
this is the fourth – no, the fifth time.
Three times they got caught before any ransom was paid, and once was
with my mother when I was twelve years old.”
“You’re
joking!”
“Nope – they
hijacked our car when she collected me from school, and forced us to drive to a
cabin in the woods. They tied us up,
gagged us with scarves, but at least they fed us and let us go to the
toilet. But, been tied up for two days
in a school uniform – not fun.”
“Two
days?” Josie looked round as she tried to
prise her wrists free.
“Listen,
Josie,” Zara said, “I’m sorry they got you as well – you’re a cute kid, and my
advice is just to go with the flow.”
Josie stopped
struggling and looked over, before she said “I’m twenty two.”
“Okay – you’re
a cute young woman,” Zara said with a smile, “but seriously – it’s not worth
hurting yourself over. Best just to see
what happens next.” She looked round the
room, and then said “I’m guessing you’ve never been kidnapped before.”
“No,” Josie
said quietly, “or tied up before.” She
looked own at her wrists and said “do you think we’re stuck in these seats for
the duration?”
“Nope – not
with the beds there…”
As the door was
unlocked and opened, both Josie and Zara looked over as the three men came in,
one of them carrying two Subway bags, another two bottles of water.
They watched as
the third one cut their arms free form the chair, and the bags and bottles were
placed on their laps. “Eat, drink,” the
man who had driven them there said, “then you can go to the toilet. After that, we need to make sure you stay
where you are, but can relax.”
“That’s funny,
relax,” Josie said quietly as she took the sandwich from the bag, and started
to eat. At least they had got them a
chicken sandwich…
“So I presume
you have sent a ransom demand,” Zara asked after she had taken a drink from her
bottle. The driver nodded as Josie
watched the other two men sorting out differing lengths of rope and laying them
out on the bed. Zara glanced across at
her, and said “hey – don’t worry about them.
Eat, drink – it’s important you make sure you are all right as well.”
“Yeah, I can
see that,” Josie said quietly, “but at least I’m not alone.”
Zara smiled as
she said “no – you’re not alone, not in this one. I meant to ask – anyone going to worry where
you are?”
“I live alone,”
Josie said quietly, “and – well, there isn’t a significant other, if that is
what you are asking. My parents won’t
expect me to call today either.”
“Well then,”
Zara said quietly, “I’ll just have to make sure you get through this, won’t
I?” She smiled at Josie, the young girl
feeling strangely happy as she did that.
She wasn’t sure why, but the feeling was there.
Zara then
looked at the men, and said “my friend here – Josie – you’re not going to get
any money for her. So what are you going
to do?”
“Nothing – she
gets released when you do, after we have collected the ransom and got away,”
the driver said quietly, Zara nodding as they continued to eat.
“Finished?”
Zara nodded as
she put the empty bottle and other rubbish into a bag, then watched as her legs
were cut free from the chair. One of the
men took her by the arm and walked her out of the room, while Josie was
released from her chair and stood up, rubbing her wrists while she waited.
“Your turn,”
Zara said with a smile as she came back in, Josie nodding as she was led down a
short corridor and into a bathroom.
Sitting down, she took a deep breath, considering her position, wondering
why she felt so warm when she looked at Zara, especially when she smiled…
As she was
escorted back into the room, she saw that the other man was standing behind
Zara, and her hands had bene taken behind her back. “I guess we’re going to be on the bed,” she
said with a smile, “I hope you don’t mind sharing?”
“We have a
choice?” She smiled as Zara laughed
softly, and then said “no, I don’t mind sharing a bed with you.”
“Good,” Zara
said as the Driver picked up one of the lengths of rope, and walked behind
Josie, guiding her hands behind her back and crossing her wrists as she felt
the cord been pulled tightly round both of them, forcing them together as he
took the length around and between her arms.
She looked over at Zara as her binder took a longer length of rope, and
wrapped it round her body, pulling her arms into her sides under her chest.
Zara looked at
her and smiled, as she said “I guess we’re really not going to be able to move,
are we?” Josie just nodded as she
watched the rope going round Zara’s body, framing her chest as it was forced up
and out, her cardigan pulled to the sides as he continued.
She was barely
aware of the fact her own binder had started to wrap rope around her upper body
as well, forcing her arms into her sides, until she felt the rope on the bare
part of her chest and looked down. Her
own cardigan was been forced to the sides as well, but she looked so different…
“Hey.”
Josie looked
over suddenly to see Zara smiling, as the man walked in front of her, taking
the rope over her shoulder and passing it under the lower band at her chest,
and then pulling it back over her other shoulder as he walked behind her.
“You know I
said you looked cute?”
“Yeah,” Josie
said with a smile.
“You look even
cuter now,” Zara said as she smiled in return, Josie blushing as the rope was
taken under her arm on one side, up and around the back of her neck as her red
hair was moved out of the way, and then under the other arm. She wriggled round as the ropes were tied off
– it was tight, she could not move her hands or arms, but it felt as if it was
the most natural thing in the world to happen.
It wasn’t uncomfortable, she actually felt – safe, if that was possible.
“Penny for
them?”
“I… I don’t know if I can say it,” Josie said as
they were both walked over to the bed, and sat next to each other.
“Something
tells me we may not be able to say much for a while,” Zara said as she watched
her ankles been tied together, “so might as well say it.”
“Is it… Is it wrong to say I’m actually excited by this
now?”
“Nope,” Zara
said quietly, “because I think we’re sharing the same feelings. By the way – and I hope you don’t take this
the wrong way – but seeing you tied like that just seems to make you – cuter.”
“Just
cuter?” Josie looked at Zara, as she
felt the rope round her own ankles, before she said “seeing you like that – it
makes you look so much more… no, I can’t say it…”
“Go on,” Zara
said quietly, “you can say it.”
“Helpless – in
need of protection, and I want to be the one to protect you,” Josie said, then
she blushed again as she realised what had come out of her mouth. Zara closed her eyes and turned her head to
the side, before she said “well, that is a very forward thing to say…”
“I’m sorry…”
“And a
beautiful compliment to pay,” Zara continued as she turned her head back and
smiled. She then gasped as Josie watched
the man bind her legs together below her knees, stroking Zara’s legs as he did
so.
She then
watched as her own legs were tied, the black tights seeming to lighten under the
bands. She moved her feet up and down
before the two men stood up, and looked at both of them.
“Well,” Josie
said quietly as she looked into Zara’s eyes, “I meant it.”
“Make sure they
both stay quiet.”
“Open your
mouths,” one of the men said as he held a folded cloth in his hand, Zara
nodding as she opened her mouth and allowed him to push it in. Josie looked at the other man, and allowed
him to push the cloth into her mouth, while the first man tore a long, wide
strip of white tape from a roll, and held it in both hands.
She watched as
it was pressed firmly over Zara’s mouth, seeing the shape of her lips
underneath as it was smoothed onto her face.
Zara looked over and winked as she felt the tape over her own mouth, seeming
to form to every contour of her jaw and lower face as it was pressed into
place.
As she was
helped to lie on her side on the bed, she watched Zara lying opposite her, her
eyes smiling as she lay with her head on the pillow. She could feel more rope been tied between
her ankles, and then her legs were stretched out as she looked down to see the
rope been tied to the foot of the bed.
Zara was soon secured in the same way, as the Driver said “your daddy
has until noon tomorrow to pay up. We’ll
make sure you get some breakfast.”
They both
watched as they walked out of the room, closing and locking the door behind themselves
again, as Zara wriggled round, the ropes moving on her chest as she did
so. Josie looked at her, before Zara
said “Whlll, ghsswhrsthckkhrr.”
“Vreefneee,” Josie said as she felt herself blush again, and
she wriggled as well, feeling the upper band of rope rubbing on her chest as
she did so. It was sending little shocks
through her, and she had no idea why…
“Uhllhhkshnssthrr.”
She looked at
Zara, and nodded as she mumbled “Sddhhuuu.”
“Stlllschrd?”
Josie shook her
head as Zara looked at her, and said “cmmmffrrrhhrrr.” She shuffled slightly over, as Zara seemed to
smile at her, and then rested her head on the brunette’s shoulder. She could feel Zara rubbing her head with her
cheek, as she looked up into her eyes.
“Hsllhrrhtt,” Zara said quietly as Josie looked up at her,
and then rubbed her own head on her fellow captive’s chest. There was a gentle pressure on her head, and
she looked up again as Zara looked at her.
Their eyes met, and Zara gently lowered her head, pressing her taped lips
on Josie’s forehead.
“Thtwssnss,” Josie mumbled as she looked at her.
“Whlddulhknffrrrhn?”
Josie slowly
nodded as she moved her head up, smiling under the tape as she felt Zara’s
taped lips on her own. Zara moved her
head back, and said “Ehehndhrrddd.”
“Shddhdhh,” Josie said quietly as Zara let herself slip down
a little, the two women looking into each other’s eyes as their lips came
together again…
When Josie opened
her eyes, she looked down and saw Zara, her head resting on her chest as she breathed
slowly in and out through her nose. The
cloth in her mouth had absorbed all the saliva, and she felt like she needed to
visit somewhere, but somehow she was happy, as she gently pressed her covered
lips on Zara’s head.
“Hmmm – ghmmrnnn,” Zara said as she turned and looked at Josie,
then they both looked to the door as it was opened, and their three captors
came in. One of them putting some brown
bags and two coffee cups on a low table as the other two came over and started
to release them from the ropes.
Josie waited as
she was sat up, and her arms freed, before she slowly peeled the tape away from
her mouth and spat out the soaking wet cloth.
“Here,” the Driver said as he passed her a bottle of orange juice,
watching as she opened and took a long drink from it while Zara was freed.
“Have you heard
from my father,” she said after she had taken a drink from her bottle.
“Not yet – eat,
drink.”
“I need to go
to the toilet first,” Josie said, one of the mend taking her out as Zara
watched. Once she was in the room, she
looked at herself in the mirror, allowing herself a smile before she sat
herself down…
“Breakfast
wraps,” Zara said as she came back in, “no sauce, but hey, it’s food.”
“I have to
admit, I am starving,” Josie said as she opened hers up and took a bite from
the top. “Hmm that tastes so good after
last night.”
“About last
night,” Zara said as she put her hand on Josie’s. The redhead looked at her, and gave Zara’s
hand a squeeze as she silently nodded, Zara smiling in return.
“Give me a
minute,” the Driver said as he went outside, looking at a tablet as the two
girls continued to eat, looking at each other.
“Do you think
he is hearing from your father?”
“I’m not sure,”
Zara said quietly, “but listen, Josie – when this is over, I’d very much like
to see you again. If that is all right
with you?”
Josie smiled
and nodded as the driver came back in.
“Daddy’s agreed to pay up,” he said with a smile, “the collect is at ten
– but we need to make sure these two little ladies are ready to be found.”
Zara and Josie
looked at each other, and slowly drank from the coffee cups…
“Get in the
back of the van.”
The two girls
got in as the two captors followed them, coils of rope in their hands as well
as two more cloths and the roll of white tape.
“Right then,”
one of them said as he looked at them, while the second one put an old mattress
on the floor of the van, “kneel facing each other on the bed.”
“Why, what are
you going to do to us,” Josie said quietly, trying not to show exactly how she
felt about this.
“Keep each other
company and keep each other quiet – now kneel down, and put your arms round
each other.”
“Well, I guess
this means we really will be found together,” Zara said as they hugged each
other, Josie looking over Zara’s shoulder as her wrists were crossed and tied
together behind her fellow captive’s back.
“I guess so –
wonder how long we are going to be like this?”
“Not sure,”
Zara said as she felt her own wrists been tied behind Josie’s back, “but –
well, if I said I hoped it wasn’t for a little while, would I be naughty?”
“In a nice
way,” Josie whispered as the men then bound their upped bodies tightly
together, bands around their waists and their upper arms, and then held the
cloths in front of their mouths.
“Talk to you
later?”
“Count on it,”
Zara said with a smile before the cloths were pushed into their mouths, and
then the white tape wrapped round their necks, before they each felt the rope
around their ankles, and then their legs as they were secured to each other
above their knees.
“Ghntleee,” Zara said quietly as they were pushed onto their
sides on the mattress, their ankles pulled back and tied to the other’s wrists
before the van door was shut, and they felt it move off. Josie looked at Zara’s face, and then gently
nuzzled into her, Zara nodding as she let out a muffled sigh…
“Chnnuhrrthmmm,” Zara said as Josie moved her head
back. She nodded as they both looked to
the van doors, before they were opened and a police officer looked in.
“She’s in here
– and she’s not alone,” he said as he and a female officer came in, unwrapping
the tape from around Zara’s head and easing the cloth from her mouth.
“This… this is
Josie,” she said as she looked at the officer, “she was snatched with me
because she saw who did it, took photos – but they took her phone with them.”
“Are you all
right, Josie,” the female officer said, Josie nodding as the paramedics came
in.
“Your father is
waiting for you – we’ll get him to the hospital…”
Josie looked at
Zara as the ropes began to be untied, smiling as she whispered “don’t forget to
give me your number…”
Three weeks later
“I was right –
that dress does look good on you.”
Josie smiled as
she walked up to the roadside table at the café, sitting down opposite Zara as
the waiter came over and handed her a menu.
She looked at her friend, in her lemon sleeveless blouse, short denim
skirt and the black flats, and said “how are you?”
“I’m good,”
Zara said with a smile, “you? After all
– dark hair and glasses?”
“Yeah – I had
it dyed red for a while, but let it fade out – and I do need the glasses. My parents were a little upset, but they’re
all right now. So,” she said as she
looked at the menu, “what looks good?”
“Apart from
you?”
Josie looked up
and smiled shyly, as she said “yes, apart from you...”
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