She wasn't sure what had roused her from her troubled sleep. Her dreams had been impure; the kind that always left her with a familiar stickiness between her legs; the kind that Father Murphy demanded she tell him every detail of in Confession. And the kind that always resulted in a heavy penance from her breathless priest.
She had more to worry about right now though, as she reluctantly opened her eyes, trying to remember the details of her dream in vain. As her vision began to adjust to the darkness she saw a figure standing beside her bed, and just as she was about to scream in terror, he covered her mouth and held a knife to her throat. He was wearing what she thought was a ski mask and his eyes were all that he could really see of his face.
Her mind was screaming, "No! Let me go!" but her mouth could make no more than a few unintelligible sounds. She struggled to free herself from his hold but that's when she felt the tip of his sharp knife press against the skin at her neck. She froze.
"Do as I say; don't make a sound and I won't harm the others. Do you understand?"
His menacing whisper frightened her almost as much as his knife, almost, but she knew she had to protect everyone else. With a look of sheer terror in her eyes, she nodded her assent.
"Now I'm going to take my hand and the knife away. If you do as you're told no-one else will have to be involved. Ready?"
Again, all she could do was nod and his hand slowly relaxed its grip as the point of his weapon left her throat.
"Get up and get dressed."
She almost fainted in relief as she was sure he had intended to rape her but, if he wanted her dressed he must have other ideas. Perhaps this was just a simple robbery and she had been the unlucky one he had chosen to assist him.
As she got out of bed however she wondered how she was going to be able to put on her clothes without exposing herself to the intruder. Thankful that she was wearing an extra-large T-shirt as she always did in bed her hopes that she might be able dress in the darkness were shattered by the sudden explosion of light from the overhead bulb.
Not daring to look at him, she walked almost crablike to where her clothes were waiting neatly folded on the solitary chair. Keeping her back to him she wondered just how much she could put on while her T-shirt still hid her modesty and reached first for her black tights. It was not too difficult pulling them up, but she soon realised that she was about to reveal her panties to a man for the first time ever, even if it was just a quick view from the back. Once again, she was secretly glad that the rules stipulated that panties were always worn in bed, and big ones at that.
Her bottom was fully covered but she could still feel the weight of his stare on her. What she didn't know was that he had replaced the knife with his camera, the camera that was recording every moment of her embarrassment. He smiled at her trying to protect her modesty and felt his cock straining for release, but he could be patient for a little longer.
She had come to the point when she knew her T-shirt would have to be removed and, taking a deep breath, she pulled it up and over her head. She stood there for just a second as his camera feasted upon her almost naked body before she grabbed her bra and put it on. Unfortunately, as she bent down to retrieve it from the chair the sight of her round breasts had been momentarily captured by his camera and his cock twitched again in response.
As soon as she fastened the clips behind her back she grabbed the rest of her clothes and pulled them on, pleased that her Order still retained the old-fashioned, full-length black habit and, placing her veil on her head, she turned to face him for the first time. Her slight sense of relief at being dressed was shattered when she saw the camera in his hand and her face burned in shame at what he had seen. Seen and recorded.
"Perfect, Sister. Just as I've always imagined. Now lie on your bed."
She hadn't expected him to say this as she thought her purity would be safeguarded now that she was clothed. She had always felt protected when she wore her habit; now she felt very vulnerable. And how she wished he would put down his camera. Her prayers were answered as he proceeded to do just that. But then she wished that he hadn't.
She watched in fear as he put the camera down next to his bag that she had only been vaguely aware of until now. As he opened it she saw the glint of his knife's blade and shuddered when she thought that was what he was going for. But it wasn't. Instead he produced a bunch of handcuffs and, as he straightened up with them in his hands, she trembled anew.
"Now, Sister, remember our deal. You remain quiet and we don't have to worry about the other Sisters. Stretch your arms up, please."
She momentarily wondered why he was always whispering. Was it because he didn't want any of the other nuns to hear him? But he wasn't exactly being quiet in anything else he did. Or was it because he thought she might recognise his voice? That thought terrified her even more than any other so far. That someone she knew could do this to her. That someone she knew had seen her practically naked and had recorded her shame. That someone she knew was about to handcuff her to her own bed and leave her at his mercy.
As these thoughts ran through her mind, and as she raised her arms obediently over her head, he took her right wrist and encircled it with his first manacle. As she had feared he then attached it to the old iron bedstead before walking round and doing the same with her left. She didn't want to think about what he intended to do with the other pairs of cuffs that he had lain on the bed, but it soon became obvious with his next words.
"Spread your legs, Sister."
She didn't think she had ever heard a more obscene command and yet she knew she had no choice but to obey. As she hesitated for just a second, he took her left leg by the ankle and fastened a metal cuff around it. It wasn't that he was being rough; it wasn't that he was fastening the cuffs particularly tightly, but she knew, once he had attached it to the footrest that she would only have one free limb remaining before she would be spread out before him.
"Please don't do this," she pleaded quietly, earnestly, not wanting to waken anyone else and yet not wanting to provoke him in any way.
"Don't be frightened, Sister. I think you're going to enjoy this."
With that he took her right leg in his hand and, pulling her legs apart, secured it just like the left one. He looked down on her, smiling, before he reached again for his camera and took some pictures of her as his prisoner.
Sister Maria had never felt so ashamed, so vulnerable and so frightened as she did at that moment. She still didn't know what he intended to do. If he still intended to molest her, why had he ordered her to dress? If he still intended to rob the convent, why had he taken the time to secure her to her bed. And she knew her body had been designed and created by the Almighty father but why was there a damp feeling between her legs? That more than anything that had happened so far failed to make any sense to her.
Her questions remained unanswered as she felt rather than saw him climbing on to the bed, the coils of her old iron bed frame creaking under the weight of two people being on the bed. Maria's heart was thudding so hard she was surprised neither of them could hear it and she would have been very surprised to know that his was too.
He made no more sound, nor issued any other commands as she felt him moving up the bed, ever so slowly inching towards her. The sight of his face hidden behind the mask only served to heighten her fear and anxiety even more. She couldn't have believed it was possible to feel any more scared than she already did but his anonymity reminded her that he could do anything he wanted to her and she might never know who he was.
Adding to this was the fact that she was practically immobile, secured to her bed like a rabbit caught in a trap. She knew she couldn't fight; she knew she couldn't scream and put her Sisters in danger and it felt like she was in the middle of a living nightmare that she could only pray that she would wake from soon. But as the man leaned over her, she knew she wasn't dreaming.
As she lay as still as possible, she could almost feel the blood pounding in her veins, every nerve tingling in a way she had never known, her whole body more alive than it had ever been before. Was it fear? Was it anticipation? She didn't know but she knew it was wrong when she felt his hands begin to roam over her body.
They had rested on her sides for a few moments as he had seemed content to look down on her and savour the vision beneath him. But when his hands started to move upwards, upwards to her breasts, upwards to breasts that no man had ever touched, her body seemed to freeze. Her mind was screaming but she could feel her nipples growing as he kneaded her breasts forcefully.