A Binding Contract · Part 2 (2/2)
Previous
rself up against the wall again & try to pull the cloth away. Unfortunately, this will reveal that the window has steel mesh covering it. Once more thwarted, you collapse exhausted back onto the floor & begin whimpering & crying due to the perceived hopelessness of your situation. Have you got all that?”
Lucy nodded unconvincingly.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I’ll be here to prompt you if you forget anything. Just try to get into the character of a helpless damsel in distress & I’m sure you’ll be great.”
Standing up, he gently manoeuvred Lucy into the centre of the mattress so that she was lying on her side, facing the camera. Retreating, he took his position behind the banks of lights.
“Are you ready?”
Lucy made a sound that she hoped conveyed that she was.
“Ready guys?”
Andy & Mike grunted in the affirmative.
“Okay. The Kidnapped Heiress, Scene One, Take one…. Action!”
Lucy took this as her cue. She closed her eyes & lay still for a few seconds, before opening them, blinking & making out that she was just waking from a deep sleep. After maybe half a minute, she opened her eyes wider in mock horror, as the full extent of her predicament supposedly hit her. Then, as instructed, she thrashed & struggled for a while, trying to get out of her bonds. How long she actually wriggled & squirmed on the mattress she wasn’t sure, but one thing she found out for sure during this time was that Rob had succeeded in his desire to make this an authentic scene, inasmuch as she really was bound securely & without hope of getting free without assistance!
With occasional prompting from Rob, Lucy followed the storyline she had been given. She found sitting up more difficult than she’d expected with the use of her arms severely restricted, but once she was in this position, found it relatively easy to use her legs to propel herself forward & thrust herself off the mattress & across the floor in the direction of the door. Rather embarrassingly, however, she found her dress riding up around her waist, with no way to smooth it down & cover herself up again.
It didn’t take her long to traverse the few yards of bare concrete to the door. Getting herself up into a standing position, however, caused her some major problems, & she began to fear that the length of time it took her to stand with her back propped against the wall would count against her in her bid to land the part. Rob, however, seemed to sense her growing frustration as she struggled to hoist herself up onto her feet, & softly cajoled her to carry on.
Once upright, Lucy reached out to grab hold of the door handle, only to discover how much the rope lashing her arms to her body inhibited her movements. Shuffling her feet an inch or two to the left, in order to get nearer to the handle, almost resulted in her falling, & she let out an entirely involuntary squeal as she felt herself beginning to topple forward. Luckily she managed to steady herself. She was mortified, also, to notice that her dress was still caught up, almost to the waistband of her tights; she had hoped that getting to her feet would allow it to fall back into position & restore her modesty. But there was no time to worry about that now. At least this was just an audition, she thought, & not for public viewing.
Trying the door, she found that it was indeed locked, & as directed she then slumped back to the floor. Letting out the best scream that the extremely efficient gag would permit, she swung her legs out & kicked at the metal; causing a hollow, reverberating sound to echo throughout the room.
After her near fall, Lucy was wary of trying to hop across the floor with her arms bound behind her, so elected to make the journey over to the window the same way as she had reached the door. The window, once she’d hauled herself to within a few feet of it, was actually slightly higher than she’d first imagined. Having learnt from her previous attempts the most efficient way of getting to her feet, the procedure took a lot less time & effort this time.
Grasping & then moving the filthy piece of sacking that covered the window, however, proved more problematic, & it was with some difficulty that she finally managed to pull the material aside sufficiently to see outside. What greeted her was a grimy, dirt encrusted glass pane, protected by a covering of steel mesh. There was no way anyone in Lucy’s state of bondage could have broken that window, or tried to pull the mesh away, & she realised that, had her captivity here been for real, then there was no way in the world she would ever have been able to get out of this room. Authenticity again, she thought.
Slumping back down to the floor, Lucy acted out her final scenario by pretending to sob uncontrollably. She didn’t need to act exhausted, however, as the effort she’d put in traversing the room & struggling to her feet really had tired her out.
“Okay, cut. That’s all we need for now”
Lucy sat on the floor, breathing heavily through her nose. All in all she was pleased with her performance, but how had it looked to Rob? She was expecting him to begin untying her now, but neither he nor his two colleagues seemed to see this as one of their priorities. Instead, Rob removed the camera from its stand & began heading towards the door. He must have realised that Lucy was shifting uneasily in her position by the window, for he glanced over at her.
“We’re just going to take a few minutes to review the footage now. Then we’ll make a decision on whether you’ve got the role or not. If we’re not certain, we may require you to do another scene for us, so we’ll just leave you here like that just for the time being. Don’t worry, you did great. Hopefully we won’t be more than about ten minutes or so.”
All three men left the room now, shutting the door behind them. More worryingly, Lucy then heard the key turn in the lock. Why had they locked her in? Probably just force of habit, she guessed.
Although it is somewhat difficult to accurately assess the passing of time when you’re waiting for something to happen, Lucy felt sure that ten minutes & more had elapsed, with still no sign of their return. She knew, from her recent screen test, that she was well & truly bound, but even so, as time passed the urge to try to work her hands out of their bonds grew stronger. As the minutes ticked by, her sense of unease grew ever more acute. Where had they gone? Was this some kind of test? Had they, in fact, abandoned her here?
She allayed her fear of the latter being the case by the fact that they’d left all the lighting rigs & various other pieces of equipment behind them. Gazing past the glare of the bright lights, Lucy could just make out her shoes & handbag close to the wall. Her mobile phone was in the bag, & she briefly contemplated dragging herself over to retrieve it. She was sure that, even with her hands bound behind her, she would still be able to make a call in an emergency. But no, she decided that this wasn’t necessary yet. She was sure that they’d return in a minute or two & everything would be alright.
And anyway, to get to her bag she would have to negotiate her way through the lights & wires, & she didn’t want to knock over & break some piece of expensive equipment in her clumsy state. Wait a few more minutes, she told herself, & then, if they still haven’t returned, try to retrieve the phone.
It must have been a half an hour or so before Lucy finally heard voices from beyond the door. Seconds later, the sound of a key turning in the lock preceded the return of Rob, Mike & Andy. As always, it was Rob who did the talking.
“Well you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s good news. We’ve scrutinised the footage & we would like to offer you the lead role in The Kidnapped Heiress. I assume you will be happy to accept the part?”
Lucy nodded & tried to say that she was, although the sounds that emerged from behind her gag were virtually unintelligible. All of a sudden any fears she’d had about being left tied up evaporated. This was it! She really was on the ladder to success!!
“Good. But before we finish today, there’s one more scene we’d like to shoot if you’re agreeable.”
Lucy “mmmphed” in the affirmative; her delight at being given the part ensuring that she would have agreed to almost anything at that moment.
“Okay, so the next scene is where two of the kidnappers return, find that you’ve moved away from where they’d left you on the mattress, & decide that you need to be immobilised a bit more.”
As he spoke, Rob came over to her & placed one arm around her waist & the other beneath her knees. Picking her up, he took three or four steps back towards the centre of the room & placed her back on the mattress.
Lucy’s mind was reeling with the excitement of it all. So much so that she hadn’t really taken on board what Rob had said about being immobilised still further. As far as she was concerned she was completely trapped already, so what more could they do to her? The answer was soon forthcoming.
With the bright lights shining directly in her face, Lucy had difficulty seeing what was going on in the dark space beyond, into which Rob had now retreated. So was shocked when he, together with one or other of his colleagues, suddenly appeared before her with balaclavas covering their heads, slits cut out for their eyes & mouths, but with the rest of their features obscured. Lucy noticed simultaneously that they both carried reels of tape in their hands – identical to that which presently covered her mouth.
“The Kidnapped Heiress, Scene two, Take one… Action!”
Before she knew what was happening, Rob grabbed Lucy’s feet, & she found her already bound ankles being wrapped up tightly in tape. At the same time the other man – she couldn’t by now recall which one was Mike & which one Andy – had taken hold of her shoulders & was doing a similar wrapping job that incorporated her breasts & upper arms. Lucy squealed & tried to hinder the process – partly because she felt that this was what was required of her, but also partially involuntarily, due to the whole process beginning so suddenly without warning.
The two men worked quickly, one working his way up her legs, the other downwards over her breasts & towards her waist. The whole procedure could have taken no more than five minutes, before the two men retreated, leaving the now even more helplessly bound young female to explore her new bonds for a few moments.
Lucy tried to sit up, but found that the tightly wrapped tape made this almost impossible. Nor could she fully bend her knees any longer. Gazing down her body, all she could see was a sea of grey tape, with no gaps whatsoever, right down to where her panty-hosed feet stuck out of the bottom of what was, to all intents & purposes, a skin-tight cocoon. Although not prompted to do so, for about two minutes Lucy put up a futile struggle whilst the camera rolled, until Rob put a halt to proceedings.
“Okay, cut. That’ll be enough for today.”
He advanced to where she lay, the balaclava now removed from his head.
“That was great Lucy, your improvisation there proves that we’ve chosen the right person for the part. We’ll call it a day for now & begin filming again at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Lucy felt elated, but knew that she would have to tell him – once her gag was removed – that she couldn’t keep taking time off work like that. There would have to be some sort of compromise on the timings. However, the removal of her gag, or any of her other bonds for that matter, did not seem at this precise moment to be on their ‘to do’ lists. Instead, all three of them commenced dismantling the lights & camera, then packing everything away in crates – working by the beams of two torches once the last of the lights had been extinguished.
For a few minutes, Lucy assumed that this was simply a joke at her expense; leave the leading lady tied up & pretend that you’ve forgotten about her for a while. But as the minutes past, her unease began to increase; especially when, with all their equipment packed away, they began hauling the crates out, until finally the room was bare.
“Okay, we’ll be off now. See you first thing in the morning.”
Rob was standing in the doorway now, having picked up the one remaining torch. Lucy tried to speak; to tell him that this was all very amusing, but that the joke had run its course now & it was time to set her free. He seemed to take no notice, however, which made Lucy scream as loudly as the gag permitted.
“What are you getting so upset about? You signed the contract, so I don’t see what the problem is.”
“WHAT? LET ME GO!!”
Her demand came out severely muted & incomprehensible.
With that same smile on his face that he’d used to charm her all day, Rob came back towards her stricken form & crouched down by the mattress. In his hand, Lucy noticed some pieces of paper.
“If you didn’t like the conditions, you really shouldn’t have signed the contract Lucy. Let me just remind you of a few of the terms that you agreed to.”
Laying the torch beside her, he began scanning the page.
“Now where is it? Ah, yes, here we are. Read the small print.”
He placed the contract close to the mattress in the torch beam, then put his finger on the relevant section. Through eyes that were beginning to fill with tears, Lucy read the minute writing on the page.
“If I accept the role, I hereby consent to being kept tied up in whatever manner the director and the staff of Wrapped Up Productions decide, for a period of not less than seven days. I understand that, during this time, I shall remain in bondage & under lock and key at all times, without breaks or intervals of any kind. I also hereby agree that I will remain gagged at all times, except for one short break every twenty four hours for the purpose of taking food & water.”
Having allowed her a minute or two to read & digest this, Rob turned the page & pointed out one other key statement.
“The terms of this agreement are binding & cannot, under any circumstances, be broken or modified in any way without the consent of both Wrapped Up Productions and the signatory of the contract.”
Just below this was Lucy’s scrawled signature, so readily given not three hours before.
Too stunned to protest, Lucy stared at Rob as he got to his feet, picked the torch up & shone it down upon her.
“As I’ve been telling you all day, authenticity is the key to my film making. As I explained earlier, the part you’re playing is that of a young lady who gets kidnapped & held captive for a week. There will be scenes required throughout this period of incarceration, so we need someone who is prepared to be kept tied up over a long period of time. And as you signed the contract to say you were willing to meet that challenge, the lucky person is you.”
He walked towards the door, the torch beam still shining into her face.
“We decided to remove all the equipment because it’s going to be dark in here tonight & we thought you might get the urge to move around & knock the rigs over. Not only are they very expensive, but you might hurt yourself.”
He was standing in the open doorway now.
“Now use the next few hours wisely & try to keep in character. Shouldn’t be too difficult, seeing as how you really are going to be a prisoner here.”
And without further ado, he pushed the heavy door shut. The echoing clang of the metal, followed by the unmistakable sound of the key turning in the lock, coincided with a diminishing of the light within the room.
Lucy screamed in protest, but all in vain. Outside she could hear the three men talking, although their voices were getting fainter by the second. One of them laughed; a joke, she guessed, at her expense. Footsteps could be heard descending the first flight of stairs, then a similar sound again, only further away. Then nothing. Lucy was still hoping against hope that this was all a wind up, & that they’d be back in a minute to release her, but deep down she knew that this wasn’t the case. This was confirmed when another sound reached her ears, only this emanated from outside, not within the building; car engines revving up, pulling away, then dying away into the distance. Then she was left with only silence for company.
After a few minutes, Lucy’s eyes grew accustomed to the twilight that now enveloped the room. The only light now was from the edges of the window, which wasn’t entirely covered by the sacking that hung over it. She gazed over to the area where her shoes & bag had been whilst filming had been in progress, but they’d removed them too. Using her mobile phone – her only possible link to the outside world – was no longer an option. In fact, having scanned the room thoroughly, Lucy realised that, aside from the mattress, there was nothing left in the room at all.
The walls were constructed of smooth concrete, as was the floor, so there was nothing she could use to try to snag the tape of her cocoon on in an effort to break free. She had to face facts; she was trapped here until Rob & his cronies returned, which, if he was to be believed, wouldn’t be until tomorrow. It must, Lucy guessed, be around one o’clock in the afternoon now, which meant she was going to be stuck here all alone for at least another nineteen hours.
For much of the time during, the first few hours, Lucy simply lay in her bonds pondering what she had got herself into. She struggled & tried to attract attention to her plight intermittently, but knew that the former was futile & the latter unlikely to bear fruit. It was hopeless & she knew it. She cursed Rob for hoodwinking her into signing the contract. She cursed the ropes that bound her, the tape that held in a state of mummification & the gag that silenced her. But mostly, she cursed herself for not telling a single soul where she was going today.
But in the midst of all her doom & gloom a strange thing occurred. As night fell & the grey twilight of the room gradually turned to pitch black, the first seeds of a different way of looking at the situation began to emerge in Lucy’s mind. And as time went on, these seeds slowly but surely grew & blossomed. What if all this – the ropes, the tape, the gag & the incarceration – was actually a blessing in disguise, Lucy began to wonder. If this really did lead to a life of fame & fortune, then surely a week of immobility & discomfort was a small price to pay. After all, didn’t every budding star have to suffer for their art before they achieved celebrity status?
It took an hour or two, but slowly this positive mindset gradually banished all the negativity of her previous mood, & Lucy found herself accepting her situation. In fact, the tight tape cocoon in which she was trapped stopped seeming like a burden & instead began to feel like her destiny; one of the most important events of her life. By the time that the last vestiges of daylight had dissolved into the blackness, she was actually beginning to enjoy the tight rope & all-encompassing tape that had her wrapped up in a restrictive & unbreakable sheath.
For a while after this revelation, Lucy carried on struggling intermittently. Only now, the objective was no longer escape, but simply to get the feel of how real captivity felt &, more importantly, to keep in character for the forthcoming day’s shoot. As she gradually fell into a contented sleep, Lucy vowed that tomorrow she would be so immersed in the role that she would be capable of playing the part of The Kidnapped Heiress like no one else could. And it would all be down to authenticity. All she had to do was wait for Rob & his team to return.
Assuming, of course, that they ever did return….!?
You can also leave feedback & comments for this story on the Plaza Forum
A Binding Contract · Part 2 (2/2)
Previous
