Left in Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Don’t tell me you’re going out again tonight, Mum!”

 

“And so what if I am?”

 

Emma Cork shook her head as she looked at her mother.  The divorce had been finalised a few weeks ago, and ever since Diana had become a very different woman.  She had previously been quiet, mousey even, but now she was going out with what seemed like a different man or group of friends every night.

 

Even her dress sense had changed.  Previously, the most daring thing Emma could remember her mother wearing would be having the top two buttons on her blouse undone as she went to work, rather than just one.  Yet here she was, her dark hair falling down the back of her sixties style mini-dress.  The dress had a grey, white and black geometric pattern, the skirt coming halfway down her thighs, her legs encased in sheer black hose.  The lower half of her legs and her feet sat in a pair of knee length tight black leather boots.

 

“Well, I have an evening of Chaucer planned,” Emma said as she headed up the stairs, “try not to make too much noise when you come in.”

 

“I don’t know – you oldsters,” Diana said as she brushed her hair out, smiling as she watched her daughter head to her room.  She was very different, more relaxed than she had ever been.  That was reflected in the way her daughter dressed – today, she was wearing a pale blue gypsy style blouse, a floral pattern printed on it, faded blue jeans and knee length boots.  The boots were an unusual design with brown suede legs and burgundy leather shoes.

 

“Right, I just need to get my purse now,” she said as she walked into the kitchen, and collected her handbag from the table.  As she turned to go back into the hallway, she felt the soft breeze on the back of her neck, but thought nothing of it.

 

As she passed the door that led to the front room, however, she was taken by surprise as someone hooked their arm round her waist and pulled her into the darkened room.  She opened her mouth to call out, but before a sound could escape a damp, sweet smelling cloth was pressed firmly over her nose and mouth.

 

Whtsshpppnnnn,” she said, as the sickly scent permeated her nose, and she inhaled deeply, her mind immediately beginning to fog over as her eyelids started to droop.   She felt her whole body weaken, as she realised someone was using a drug to make her sleep.

 

Sleep....

 

 

 

“How long will she be out for?”

 

“Long enough – help me put her over there?”

 

The two men picked up Diana between them and carried her over to an old brown wooden couch, the cushions covered in a large yellow sheet.  Laying her on her stomach, they stepped back and looked at each other.

 

The two men were wearing black jumpers and jeans, with latex gloves covering their hands and stockings pulled down over their heads.

 

“So what now?”

 

“We make sure she stays here,” the taller of the two men said, “and then we go and make sure the daughter stays in one place while we rob the place.  Got the ropes?”

 

“In here,” the other man said as he opened a bag, and took out several lengths of thin white cord.  “Why did you chloroform her?”

 

“Stop her warning the girl, make sure she didn’t struggle, any other reason you can think of,” the first man said as he crossed her wrists behind her back, and doubled over a length of cord, passing it round her wrists as he started to bind them together.

 

“Steve, have you any idea where the safe is?”

 

“Yeah – upstairs in the master bedroom.  I saw it when I was doing the decorating a few months ago.”  The second man watched as Steve wrapped the rope around and between Diana’s wrists, tying the ends off before he crossed her ankles and used a second length of rope to bind them together.

 

“She’s a looker.”

 

“Eyes front Brian – we make her secure, keep her quiet, then deal with the younger generation.”

 

As he tied the rope off between her ankles, he gave one length of rope to the second man and used a second one to bind her legs together below her knees.  Steve then rolled Diana over and sat her up, as Brian wrapped the rope around her upper body and arms, making two bands that sat above and below her chest as he pulled tighter with each pass.

 

As he tied the ropes off, Steve folded a piece of cloth, and then gently opened Diana’s mouth, pushing it in and then closing her lips as Brian tore the end free of a roll of black electrical tape.  Sticking the end to her cheek, he wound it tightly round her head, sealing her lips as the black band encircled her.

 

“What if she’s sick when she wakes up?”

 

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Steve said as he laid the unconscious woman down, rolling her onto her stomach again before he pulled her ankles back and tied them to her chest.

 

“Right now,” he said as Diana rolled onto her side, and they heard her start to breath in and out through her nose, “leave her there.  We need to make sure the kid stays in her room.”

 

 

“And that...  Is that,” Emma said as she put her book down and stretched her arms up.  She was sitting on her bed, her legs crossed under her, as she wondered what she was going to do next.

 

“Perhaps I should get some coffee before I...”

 

“Don’t move.”

 

Emma looked at the door, and saw the two men standing there, dressed in black, their heads covered by stockings and one of them holding a gun in his latex gloved hand.

 

“Oh my god – MUM!”

 

“Your mother is safe,” the smaller of the two men said, “and so long as you do what we tell you to do, so will you be.”

 

“So,” the man with the gun said, “put your hands on your head, palm down, and do not raise you voice or try to call for help – understand?”

 

Emma could only nod as the two men walked in, slowly raising her hands and placing them on her head as the second man opened a bag, and took a length of white cord out.

 

“What are you going to do with that?”

 

“Watch,” he said as he doubled it over, and passed it under her ankles, Emma gasping as he quickly bound her ankles tightly together, the rope going around and between as they were forced together.

 

“What have you done to my mother?”

 

“What we are doing to you – except she is sleeping,” the taller of the two said as the rope around her ankles was tied off.  He walked behind Emma, pulling her wrists behind her back and crossing them before he started to bind them together as well.

 

“Now,” the man said as she felt her wrists being forced together, “I want you to open your mouth.”

 

“Why,” Emma said as she watched the second man take two lengths of rope, and use them to bind her lower and upper legs around her knees, while she also felt her arms pulled into her sides by rope wrapped above and below her chest.  She could see the blouse as her chest was forced out, and then her arms pressed against her sides.

 

“Because I said so,” was the only reply as she saw the folded cloth placed in front of her mouth.  Knowing she was left with no choice, she opened her mouth wide, tasting the cotton as it was placed on top of her tongue, and then closing her mouth ass he heard the peeling sound, saw the roll of black tape before it was wrapped tightly round her head.

 

“Go and check on Mummy,” the first man said as the tape was pressed firmly against Emma’s cheeks, “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

 

 

 

 

As Diana slowly opened her eyes, she wondered what had happened.  Someone had grabbed her, she had smelt something, and then...

 

And then...

 

She slowly opened her eyes, wondering why her mouth felt as if it had not had a drink for an eternity, and what was pressing down on her cheeks, as she flexed her fingers and tried to move.

 

When that proved to be impossible, she wondered what was stopping her, and she looked back over her shoulder.  As her eyes came into focus, she saw her crossed ankles, saw the rope running from them to their back, and tried to move them back.

 

Hmgdddd.”

 

As she tried to express her astonishment, she suddenly realised why her mouth felt so dry, why something seemed to be pressing on her cheeks – and why a man with a stocking pulled down over his head was standing in the doorway.

 

“MMMEE!!!”

 

“Your daughter is safe,” the man said as she started to thrash herself round, “do not struggle.  I do not want you to puke – it would not be a good idea.”

 

As Diana processed what he was saying, he walked over and stroked her cheek, the feel of the latex on her cheek making her shiver.  “My friend is emptying your safe now – so relax.  We’ll be out of here soon.”

 

She slowly nodded, hoping Emma was safe.

 

 

 

Emma could only watch as she tried to move, but the ropes were holding her too tightly, and the black band that encircled her head was keeping both her lips covered and the increasingly wet cloth in her mouth.  She dared not move, too afraid of what might happen if she moved and fell over.

 

She could hear the masked man in her mother’s room, and the sound of him searching, but there was nothing she could do – the ropes were too tight, and her handbag with her cell phone in it was out of reach...

 

 

 

“Are we done?”

 

Steve looked in the doorway and nodded as he put the bag down.  “I think mummy and kid need to stay together.  Give me a hand with her?”

 

Diana could only grunt as the two masked men lifted her up and carried her up the staircase.

 

“MMMMM”

 

Mmmeeurllrt?”

 

Emma could only nod as her mother was laid on her side behind her, the two masked men smiling as they left them.  Both women heard the footsteps, and then the door closing, as they looked at each other, wondering how they were going to get out of this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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