DAY ZERO
Elaine had just gotten out of her car, at home, ready for the four-day weekend. She was startled and didn't know what was going on. Later she worked out what must have happened. A white van was going by. Two or three men must have jumped out of the van and put a bag over her head. They forced a gag into her mouth over the bag while they clamped her hands behind her and clamped her ankles. They put her in the van and drove off. All in seconds.
She heard voices. "Got the cell phone?"
"Yes."
"Break it and dump it." She tried to kick with both feet but it didn't feel like it was doing much good. They got her shoes off, and from the cold air it felt like they were cutting off her clothes.
"Now leave her alone long enough to get used to it. If you stick it in too soon you'll hurt her."
Once Elaine had gone with a group to buy fresh chickens from a farm. The farmer picked up each chicken and suddenly dumped it upside down into a big funnel. Its head poked out the bottom and it couldn't move, and it was upside down which had never happened before. While it gawked surprised the farmer slit its throat. Now Elaine was the chicken. She panicked. But there was nothing to kick. She rolled around a little. She was on the floor of a panel truck and she could roll into various things that hurt. The floor was scratchy on her arms in back and her chest. The air was already stuffy. She quit moving and waited. The panic subsided. She could only wait. The word for her feeling was resignation.
After a little while the motion stopped. She was dragged out of the van and carried somewhere else. More driving. Then her ankles got pulled up toward her head, so her knees were on her chest. She couldn't move much wedged in a corner. Something big came into her vagina. "Hey, she's all wet! She must like it."
"No, that just happens when a woman thinks she's going to have sex. It keeps her from getting hurt. They'll always do that if they have enough time." It wasn't actually all that unpleasant except that she couldn't breathe right, and her arms hurt under her, and she couldn't do enough to adjust the angle, and she didn't want it. She wavered between fear and anger. Fear won. The word was apprehension. But as it continued for a very long time, the feeling dissipated. It was uncomfortable and she didn't want it. Why couldn't it be over?
"Hey, you're taking a long time. Give somebody else a turn!" Laughter.
"OK, I don't have to come now, you go ahead."
They rearranged her. They tied some kind of strap from her ankles around her back so they didn't have to keep holding them, and picked her up and put her somewhere on her side, and the next time was somewhat easier. She surprised herself by starting to cry. "You got to stop now. She can't breathe." They took out the gag and adjusted things so she still couldn't see but her mouth wasn't covered. She gasped for air.
"What if she screams?"
"Then we persuade her not to. But it don't matter out here." Elaine could only take shallow breaths because of the way she was folded, but they were precious. Her panic was already less. The fucking started again.
The vehicle motion stopped and then the engine stopped. "We're here. Time to get to work."
"Hey, I'm almost done."
"You'll have lots of time to fuck off later. Get off her now."
The thing that held her curled up was released, and Elaine stretched out. She was sore all over. A voice spoke close to her ear. "I'm talking to you, cunt. If you hear me nod your head." She hesitated and there was a sharp pain in her nipple. She jerked and it hurt more. "Nod your head." She nodded.
"Here's the plan. We want to keep you for three days, and you'll do anything we want. Then we let you go completely unhurt. You might enjoy it and you don't have to feel guilty for anything. Nothing is your fault. Then you'll have a day to relax and get ready for work. That's how we want it to go. So we don't want you to see anybody's face. Don't take off the mask. Ever. We want to let you go, completely unhurt. Do you understand?" She hesitated and her nipple hurt again. She nodded. "Good. Now I'm going to open up your feet and you can walk. Remember it's only three days."
Soon her ankles were free. She was starting to remember. A month before she'd looked at a website for perverts. She had trouble imagining some of the things that people thought were sexy. There was a service that claimed to do pretend kidnaps. They would grab somebody and repeatedly "rape" them, for a fee. She had looked at it, trying to imagine somebody wanting that. There was a chatbot or something that explained something about how it worked and how to fill out the form, and she filled it out with a fake name and address and fake email address, trying to imagine what it would be like for real. She chose a safeword. They recommended the 3-day treatment, for $150. She did nothing to let them know who she really was, or her email address, and she ghosted on them when it was time to pay.
She got pulled to her feet, and at least two people held her up while she stumbled around. They partly supported her weight. She could feel something rough under her bare feet, and then gravel, and grass, and more gravel. Indoors. Down twelve steps. It was hard to go down steps blind without her hands, but they pushed her and held her.
"Leave her here." And directed at her, "Don't let the mask come off." And then it seemed like she was alone. She was on some sort of soft mattress. She turned onto her stomach so her arms didn't hurt as much, and thought. She couldn't do much without her arms or her eyes. Maybe she could rub off the thing covering her eyes, but she couldn't get it back on again. That was a big step to take. Elaine had intended a quiet evening at home. She noticed she was crying again.
After an indeterminate time they came back and freed her arms. She could hardly move them. They were cramped and sore and tingling from bad circulation. She was pulled up and partly led and partly dragged somewhere and sat on a hard chair. Her arms were tied to the back. "Hello. Let's talk." Long pause. "You're supposed to say hello back."
Elaine said,"Hello." Her mouth was dry.
"Let's introduce ourselves. What's your name?"
"Cindy. Cindy Kowalsky."
"Your drivers license says Elaine Richards. Which name do you prefer?"
"I guess Elaine."