Strapped in a cunningly tight canvas (with leather trim) straitjacket that provided zero slack, no matter how she struggled and squirmed, Mikki languished in the total darkness of the tiny cell in the depths beneath her cousin's mansion.  Black leather straps bound her big toes and ankles together, as well as her legs, above and below her knees.  She knew the straps in question were black, but in the total darkness, they might as well have been international orange.  She couldn't see the damn things.   But she could certainly feel them.  She could also feel the black rubber ball stuffed in her mouth and the black leather panel/muzzle pressed against her lower face from ear-to-ear and nose-to-under-her-chin.  Only her hair was free.  It fluttered and flounced as she struggled and squirmed on the soft mattress cushioning her helpless body.

And adding insult to injury (metaphorically), Lilly, the author of her predicament, had absconded with her borrowed cherry-red string-bikini!  Supposedly, it was so the villainess in question could do the laundry this afternoon, but c'mon!  Naked?  (Not counting the straps, straitjacket, and gag, of course.)  Naked?  That's just... rude!

Okay, granted, this was an example of one of Mikki's Damsel-in-Distress fantasies on steroids!  Also, before abandoning her to her current abysmally dark fate, Lilly had strongly implied she was going to stuff her in that escape-proof milk can back in the Chamber of Milk Can Doom—which would have been a Damsel-in-Distress fantasy overdose!  Thankfully, Lilly hadn't stuffed her in the escape-proof milk can, but clearly she'd enjoyed Mikki's reaction to the possibility.

Mikki was seriously considering downgrading her initial assessment of Donna's little sister from slightly older, stunningly beautiful, nice person—to slightly older, stunningly beautiful, mean girl.

At least an hour had passed since Lilly had locked her in the cell... and Mikki had languished the entire time.  It was not how she'd thought the day would be going when she woke up.  Granted, she'd woken up stuffed in a metal-lined trunk in her guest bedroom wearing several pounds of various kinds of genuine steel handcuffs and with her mouth plugged with a ball-gag—until she was "rescued" by Lilly—but still, her current predicament was... unexpected.

Just then—Thunk!—the bolt barring the door slid back—Click!—the deadbolt was unlocked, the door opened, and bright, dazzling light flooded the cell.  Objectively, Mikki knew the light from the hallway was actually somewhat dim, but in the opinion of her totally dark-adapted, blinking eyes, it was dazzling.  Silhouetted in the open doorway was... someone.  Mikki continued blinking until she recognized Donna, her nefarious kidnapper's older sister.  (The one with the big boobs).

"I should have known," Donna huffed, then entered the cell, knelt on the mattress, and unbuckled Mikki's leg, ankle, and toe straps.  "I'm gonna kill her," Donna huffed, then helped Mikki sit up.

Mikki assumed (meaning desperately hoped) Donna was talking about Lily, her sister.  Meanwhile, Donna had parted her ginger curls and was unbuckling her muzzle-ball-gag.

"I'm kidding, of course," Donna sighed as she eased the rubber ball from Mikki's mouth.  "I'll just make her wish I'd killed her."

Mikki licked her lips and swallowed before answering.  "Lilly?  Can I help?"

Donna smiled.  "Yes, dear; and no, dear.  Up you come."  She helped Mikki plant her bare feet and stand.

Mikki could have stood on her own, but she appreciated the kindness... and hoped Donna's kindness would extend to the obvious next step in the rescue process: unbuckling and extricating her from the wickedly tight straitjacket.  Apparently, however, that wasn't on Donna's immediate agenda.  She watched as Donna gathered her former leg, ankle, and toe straps, and the muzzle-gag, then draped a friendly arm over her straitjacketed shoulders and led her from the cell.

Donna was wearing sneakers, jeans, and a white cotton blouse with the sleeves rolled up.  By contrast, Mikki remained straitjacketed and otherwise nude.  Donna strolled and Mikki padded through the sinister maze that was Abby's basement... passing door after mysterious door and making turn after mysterious turn... then climbed the spiral staircase to the mansion overhead.  Mikki was reasonably sure it was the same staircase Lilly had used when she dragged her down below, but wasn't absolutely sure.  Her impression was the basement was at least big as big as the main mansion over their heads and quite possibly larger—only divided into lots and lots of smaller rooms and with lots and lots of interconnecting hallways.

It turned out it was the same spiral staircase.  They passed through the same steel-on-the-inside-and-wood-on-the-outside door and emerged into the expensively and tastefully appointed Modern mansion.  They then continued on to Mikki's assigned guest bedroom.  She watched as Donna tossed the straps and gag on the neatly made bed, then pulled her into an embrace—"Mrrf!"—and planted a decidedly friendly kiss on her lips.

"Wait here, darling," Donna suggested (ordered), smiling brightly.  "Take a nap if you like."  She released her embrace.  "I'll be back."

"Uh..." Mikki turned and stared at the bed.  "Okay.  I'm not really sleepy, but... Hey!  Wait!"

Too late.  Donna had left.  The door was already closed, and—Click!—Mikki heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the lock.  It hadn't really registered until now that the door to her guest bedroom even had a lock... but it did... and now it was locked... and she was locked in.

"Uh...  Thanks for the rescue!" she shouted through the solid wood panel, then heaved a sigh.  "Or partial rescue," she muttered, "or semi-rescue, or... whatever."

Mikki shook the ginger curls from her face and heaved another sigh, but she didn't bother pouting.  There was no one there to appreciate it.  So, still a Damsel-in-Distress.  Cool... I guess.

Meanwhile, back at the pool...

Elke was tied up.

Elke was very tied up.

Elke was tied up with a lot of conditioned hemp rope, more conditioned hemp rope than she'd thought was even remotely required to render a person helpless.

Specifically, Elke's arms were folded behind her back, her wrists crossed and lifted slightly past the horizontal, then lashed against her spine by a complex web of ropes that pinned her arms to her sides and yoked her shoulders.  It was all very symmetrical and intricate, with hitches and cinches (or whatever you call such things) that snugged the ropes tight and locked everything together into a uniform, uh, harness.  Abby explained that the technique was called a "box-tie," and that one of its best features was its suitability for long-term bondage (which Elke didn't find to be at all reassuring).

Anyway, crafting the box-tie had involved pulling a lot of rope through rope, but Abby had proved up to the task.  Elke's bonds were tight, but not too tight.  Also, Abby had repeatedly tested the snugness of Elke's ropes by sliding a pair of fingers under the bands of hemp in question and against Elke's skin.  She explained it was called "the finger test," and that "uniform tension is important."  It required repeatedly rubbing the backs of her warm, smooth fingers against Elke's skin and all over her upper body (and "accidentally" and repeatedly nudging her white bikini-clad boobs).  It was a required exercise, necessary for proper rigging.  (Or so Abby assured her.)

Elke was not only quickly and progressively losing her freedom, but was receiving what amounted to an upper-body mini-massage as the rope strands were carefully positioned... tightened... their alignment adjusted... then readjusted... their tightness tested... then retested... then more rope added.

Elke was already familiar with the sound of rope slithering through rope, but what she wasn't familiar with was the sound of rope slithering combined with the feeling of rope slithering.  It was sensual, as was the gentle caress of Abby's sliding fingers, as was the close proximity of Abby's bikini-clad body to her bikini-clad body as the web tightened and Elke became progressively more and more helpless.  It was disturbing (in a non-threatening, sensual sort of way).  Elke was sure that if she didn't trust Abby the way she did (even though, when she thought about it, they'd only just met,) she would have been concentrating on struggling, getting away, or at the very least impeding the binding process as best she could.  But if she'd done all that, she would have missed the show, the skin-on-skin, rope slithering and vibrating, sensual, progressive loss of her freedom show.

This is Mikki's thing, Elke thought, not my thing.  Who knew?

Abby eased her down onto the mattress, then proceeded to bind her legs.  Elke's bikini-clad captor explained that she was using a technique known as the "ladder-tie."  A very long doubled coil of rope was looped around her upper thighs... cinched between her legs... the slack removed (with more pulling and sliding of rope and finger testing)... and what Abby explained was a "hitch to retain the tension."  And then, Abby repeated the entire looping, cinching, and hitching process a few inches further down Elke's legs and closer to her bare feet.

Abby's final act was to bind Elke's ankles and feet.  The ladder-tie now dimpled the smooth, fair skin of Elke's legs every six inches, more-or-less, from her thighs to said feet!

Elke squirmed and wiggled, confirming that she was completely helpless.  It hadn't really been an "assessment."  Elke already knew she was helpless.

Abby smiled and watched as Elke continued rolling and writhing.  Then, Abby stooped, reached into the shopping bag, and pulled out—a ball-gag!  Its black rubber, spherical mouth-plug was hollow and pierced by a dozen or so quarter-inch holes.  The strap was black leather with a steel buckle.  And it was a ball-gag!

Her eyes wide, Elke stared at the gag and swallowed, nervously (to say the least).  "Abby," she whined, "please don't gag me.  Please!"

Abby settled her bikini-clad rump on the bed (with the gag still in her hand) and gave Elke's tummy a "reassuring" pat.  "I'm not going to gag you. Elke.  But I do want you to begin appreciating the effect a gag can have on a damsel's psyche.  Here."

"No!" Elke whined.  Abby was buckling the ball-gag's strap around her neck!  But she wasn't stuffing the ball in her pouting mouth!  And then, Abby stood, took a step back, crossed her arms under her breasts, and continued smiling.

Elke swallowed.  She could feel the ball against her throat... and the strap against her neck.  It was loose, but she could feel it.  And she wasn't gagged.

"See how helpless you feel in the embrace of the ropes, Elke?" Abby purred.  "Feel the gag resting on your neck, ready to render you even more helpless?"  She sat on the bed, again, and rested her hand on Elke's tummy, again.  "I have all the power," Abby purred.  "You've given it to me, I took it, and I can do anything I want."

Elke shivered in her incredible bonds and stared into Abby's big brown eyes and beautiful, smiling face.  It's true!

"Are you beginning to understand why Mikki enjoys feeling like this?" Abby purred.  "Do you enjoy feeling like this, Elke?"

Elke swallowed before answering.  "No," she said, gravely.

Abby's smile became somewhat...  Skeptical?  Disbelieving?  Elke wasn't sure.

"Really, no," Elke reiterated, and it was true (mostly).

Abby chuckled, patted Elke's tummy, then stood.  "I'll give you some time to process all of this," she said.  "Perhaps you'll begin to understand what I'm talking about."  Her smile became a mischievous smirk as she glanced at her watch.  "An hour?  That should be enough.  I'm going to change."  And with that announcement, Abby turned and padded away, back to the stairs up to her Magnificent Mountainside Modern Mansion.

Elke squirmed in her bonds and watched her hostess and captor depart, trying her best to think of something clever to say, and failing miserably.  She watched Abby's bikini-clad, nearly naked, super-hot, and dominant form dwindle into the distance... climb the steps... and enter the mansion... leaving Elke all alone. 

Is this what Mikki feels when I finish putting her to bed for the night... all bound and helpless?  Elke tested her bound wrists with all her strength, but the only result was to cause the ropes to squeeze her arms and shoulders tighter.  The pressure went away when she relaxed, of course.  The hemp bands had also pinched her boobs, but just a little, and the pinching also went away when she relaxed.  Anyway, nothing shifted or loosened, that was for sure.  When I 'put her to bed,' does Mikki feel stupid?  'Cause I sure feel stupid.  I let Abby tie me up.  I sat here and let Abby tie me up.  And now I'm tied up.  And she can... do stuff to me.  Of course, Abby wouldn't do stuff to me and she isn't here, but she could do stuff to me if she was here.  Elke squirmed in her web of hemp bonds in frustration.  I'm helpless.  Helpless and stupid!

A robin swooped up from the valley and landed on the water feature's birdbath... drank... then started bathing.  Elke watched as a small cloud of water droplets flew in all directions as the robin flapped its wings and fluffed its breast feathers.  Elke reflected that a number of equations characterized the trajectories of the flying droplets... their energy, the height of the arcs, the dispersion pattern... etc.

The blue sky was still cloudless and with only a negligible breeze blowing.  The air at poolside was rapidly becoming hot.  At least I'm out of the sun, Elke sighed.

Languishing on the soft, comfortable, poolside bed in Abby's cruel (but comfortable) network of ropes was... horrible.  A long, interminable interval had passed since Abby completed her villainous act and abandoned Elke to her horrific fate.  Poor, innocent me!  And so far, the only thing to distract her from the tight embrace of the ropes and the feeling of the ball-gag loosely buckled around her throat had been one dirty robin splashing in the birdbath.  She had no choice but to complete Abby's homework assignment: contemplating the Damsel-in-Distress dynamic to better understand Mikki's fascination with bondage.

Oh, the drama!  Elke had been languishing at least... fifteen minutes!  Also, as Abby had "sadistically" announced that she was going to callously abandon Elke to languish in bikini-clad boundage for a full hour before returning to release her, something like forty-five minutes of horrible ordeal remained!  Oh, the drama!

Elke gazed up at the canvas canopy overhead.  Who am I kidding, she mused.  This is... educational.  Not something I would have sought out on my own, but I am learning stuff—like how to tie somebody up—and what it feels like—and what Mikki sees in it.  She heaved a sigh and squirmed in Abby's ropes.  Not that I see anything positive about being a helpless Damsel-in-Distress, of course.  This is... horrible.  That's how I'll remember today when I think back on all of this: 'horrible.'

Just then, Elke detected motion out of the corner of one eye.  She lifted her head (causing the perforated ball of the ball-gag around her neck to nudge the underside of her chin) and watched Lilly descend the steps from the mansion to the pool.  Donna's little sister had changed from her super-skimpy, black string-bikini and into work-boots, denim jeans, and a cotton, short-sleeve blouse, all in black.  Apparently, black (or at least "dark") was Lilly's go-to color.

Am I being rescued? Elke wondered.  Did Abby send her to untie me?  "Uh, hi," Elke said, greeting her brunette savior as she entered the shade and smiled down at the bound prisoner on the poolside outdoor bed.

"My oh my," Lilly purred.  "A helpless damsel."

Elke blinked and swallowed nervously.  Lilly was not acting like a sympathetic rescuer.  "Uh... Abby is teaching me how to... uh..."

"How to be tied up?" Lilly suggested.

Elke swallowed, again.  "Uh... yeah.  So I'll know how to tie up Mikki."

"I see." Lilly chuckled.  "Certainly a worthy goal.  If anyone around here needs tying up, it's definitely Mikki."

Elke watched as Lilly's smile widened and became somewhat sinister (in Elke's opinion, anyway).  The evilly smiling brunette sat on the bed.  "Did Abby send you to let me go?" Elke asked (whined).

"No, sweetie," Lilly chuckled, then reached behind Elke's neck and unbuckled the ball-gag's buckle.  And then—she crammed the perforated ball into Elke's startled mouth and buckled the strap tight!

"MRRRF!" Elke complained (understandably).

Lilly, still smiling her beautiful, sinister smile, used her fingers to comb Elke's blond locks from her wide-eyed, gagged face.  "I came looking for you 'cause I need to do the laundry."

Elke blinked.  The laundry?  What does the laundry have to do with—"MRRRRRRF!"  Lilly had reached behind her neck and pulled the ends of the bow securing her snow-white bikini-top!  "MRRR!"  Elke squirmed and rolled on the bed but could do nothing to prevent Lilly from untying the top's second bow, the one behind her back.  Lilly then tugged on the top and pulled it from under Abby's ropes—cups, strings and all!  Elke was now tied up and topless, with her rope-framed tits on full display!  "NRRRRRRRR!"  And now Lilly was removing her bikini-bottom!  Untying its strings and stripping it from between her legs was even less work than removing the top!  No ropes had been in the way!

Elke was now tied up, ball-gagged, and nude!  She squirmed on the bed and stared up at Lilly... as Lilly smiled down at her.

"This makes for a better lesson," Lilly purred.  "Don't you agree?"

"Nrrr!"  In point of fact, Elke most emphatically did not agree.

"Let's see what else I can do to improve on Abby's efforts."  She started rummaging in the green shopping bag still resting on the stone flags next to the bed.  "Excellent," she purred, then straightened up holding a wide roll of white medical tape, a pair of bandage scissors, and two coils of thin brown cord.

Elke watched in horror as Lilly tossed the two coils onto the bed, one at the head and the other at the foot, then peeled a six inch strip of tape from the roll and snipped it free with the scissors.  The roll and scissors were then returned to the shopping bag.  Next, with the strip dangling by one corner between her forefinger and thumb, she climbed onto the bed and knelt atop Elke's naked, very tied up, and already ball-gagged form!

"NRRR!"

"Hush, Elke," Lilly chuckled as she held the tape between her two hands.  Her knees were splayed and resting on the mattress on either side of Elke's upper arms with a significant portion of her weight resting on Elke's breasts.  Elke kicked her bound legs and tried to struggle, but she was well and truly pinned to the mattress.  Other than complain through her ball-gag, Elke could do very little to resist as Lilly stretched and applied the tape over her ball-gagged mouth, then smoothed the tape with her fingers, making sure its adhesive had achieved maximum grip on the skin of her lower face and trapped none of her tousled blond hair.

"Mmmmfh!"  Elke had been gagged before, but now she was really gagged.  The volume of her complaints was significantly reduced.

Next, Lilly spun around and shifted position so her weight was atop Elke's knees.  She then picked up the coil of brown cord and... did something involving Elke's foot bonds.  Elke couldn't see what Lilly was doing as Lilly's back was in the way, but she could definitely feel the cord tightening around her big toes and being cinched.  Next, Lilly climbed off the bed, stretched the cord taut, and tied the end somewhere at the foot of the bed-frame.  Elke now had full visual and tactile confirmation that her toes were, indeed, tied together and tied to her foot-bonds.  Also, her feet were stretched on pointe, like a captive ballerina's!

And Lilly wasn't through!  There was one more coil of cord!  She strolled to the head of the bed, sat, then gathered Elke's tousled blond hair, divided it with her fingers, and began plaiting it into a three-part braid.  When she was finished, Elke's braid was folded back on itself and wrapped with at least a dozen tight coils of cord.  Unfortunately (from Elke's perspective), there was plenty of cord left, more than enough for Lilly to stretch the free end to the head of the bed, pull out all the slack—"Mrrrrf!"—and tie it off to the bed-frame, just as she'd done with the toe-cord.

The evil, wicked, and not-at-all-nice brunette stood, strolled to the side of the bed, and smiled down at her poor, innocent, and not-at-all-deserving-of-such-a-horrible-fate victim.

Elke was lying on her butt, back, and box-tied arms, trussed with way-too-much hemp rope from shoulders to feet, and stretched taut by the cords binding her toes and braided hair.  Her blinking, moist, blue eyes stared up at Lilly's gloating brown eyes.

"There aren't any nipple clamps in Abby's fun bag," Lily purred.  "Pity.  You might as well see what they're like as well.  I suppose this will have to do... for now."  She stooped and retrieved Elke's former snow-white string-bikini, then turned and strolled away, heading back to the mansion.  "Ciao!" she called back over her right shoulder.

Elke watched Lilly's departure, as best she could.  Her ability to lift and or turn her head was now severely compromised.  And assuming Abby was on schedule, she still had something like half an hour to wait until her original captor had promised she'd return.  Then, she assumed, Abby would release her from her "lesson," but what if she didn't... meaning didn't return or didn't release her?

Elke stared up at the canopy overhead, once again.  Abby, Donna, even Lilly... they all seemed so nice, and the Magnificent Modern Mountainside Mansion certainly is nice.  A pity that first chance I get I'm going to have to grab Mikki and flee in total abject terror.

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Chapter 3

Chapter 5

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