by Van © 2020
			Chapter 3

Elke was blushing, and not because she was embarrassed to be seen wearing a snow-white string-bikini that provided only minuscule coverage for her breasts and, uh, "bikini area;" and certainly not in anticipation of the dressing down she was about to get from their hostess for letting herself get talked into locking Mikki in multiple handcuffs, fetters, shackles, etc., plugging her big, fat, stupid mouth with a ball-gag, and locking her in that weird trunk/damsel-prison back in the guest bedroom.  No siree! she thought.  I'm not embarrassed.  Not at all.  I'm blushing because...

Okay, Elke was embarrassed.  She knew the bikini in question was kinda one-size-fits-all, like the Prussian-blue little number (emphasis on "little") Donna had been wearing.  That's the thing with string bikinis.  The strings allow for infinite size adjustment.  The problem was, of course, that while Donna's blue bikini had been scandalous... the white bikini Elke was currently wearing was also scandalous, and Elke didn't do scandalous.

Also, Donna's bikini top hadn't so much covered her breasts as made a valiant attempt to stretch over them.  Donna had a truly magnificent pair of hooters, hence the stretching.  That said, Donna's boobs were in no way freakishly large, but they were unarguably magnificent.  Fortunately, Elke's white top afforded more coverage, but that was because her boobs weren't as generous as Donna's.  Elke's mounds were less... volumetric; however, they were definitely there.  Like her BFF, Elke was most assuredly not a member of the itty-bitty-titty-committee.  No siree!  But neither one of them was Donna.

Anyway, left to her own devices, Elke preferred a nice, demure, one-piece tank-suit that afforded significantly more coverage.  It was a style choice.

Elke heaved a tragic sigh.  She knew that push come to shove, the real reason she was embarrassed was that she'd revealed herself to be... less than sensible.  The bare naked truth (in a manner of speaking) was that Elke knew she had, indeed, let Mikki talk her into locking her in multiple handcuffs, fetters, shackles, etc., plugging her big, fat, stupid mouth with a ball-gag, and locking her in that weird trunk/damsel-prison, and she was mortified.  The white bikini was just the snow-white icing on the chagrined and abashed angel food cake that was a nearly naked Elke Björkqvist!

Elke screwed her courage to the sticking place (to coin a phrase) as she padded through Abby's Magnificent Modern Mountainside Mansion (as she'd decided to officially designate Mikki's cousin's home), and arrived at the deck overlooking the pool.  Finding her way hadn't been difficult.  Elke and Mikki might have not yet received the full tour Abby had promised, but she'd absorbed enough of the floorplan to find the deck without difficulty.

The blushing, nearly naked blonde was the last to arrive for breakfast.

Lilly was at the cook-top of the outdoor kitchen built against the mansion at one end of the deck and was wearing a black bikini, a hunter-green cook's apron, and a welcoming smile.  She was busy flipping pancakes on a large griddle.

Abby was seated at the head of the deck's metal and glass-top outdoor dining table, wearing a jade-green string-bikini.

Donna was at her spouse's right, still barely wearing the aforementioned Prussian-blue swatches.

Finally, Mikki was seated on Abby's right, wearing the cherry-red bikini Donna had mentioned back in the guest bedroom.

"There you are!" Donna exclaimed with a welcoming smile, then patted the seat of the empty chair to her left.  "Sit here, my Elke."

"Good morning," Abby added with a friendly smile.

The way Elke was feeling, her hostess' smiles might also have been characterized as leering and/or diabolical, rather than welcoming and friendly, but she decided to be charitable (and less paranoid).  "Good morning," she responded as she settled into the chair.  The chair in question was black, powder-coated steel, like the table's legs and frame, and was cool against her ninety-something-percent bare skin, but thankfully, like the morning air, it wasn't all that cool.

"Morning," Mikki added, smiling (and blushing) at her BFF.

"Yes... it is," Elke answered with an even stare.

Mikki's blush intensified.  Abby and Donna smiled, but they managed not to laugh.  It was a near thing.

"Coffee?" Abby offered, lifting the insulated carafe in the middle of the table.

"Thank you," Elke answered and held up the mug from her place setting.  She had to admit, even next to her spouse, Abby Clarke was no slouch in the bikini-clad good looks department.  Her peachy-pink, fair complexion was stunning (like Mikki's pasty, freaky, ginger-skin) and she was in excellent shape... in an excellently shapely manner.  Granted, her tits weren't as big as Donna's, but they were bigger than her own... or Mikki's for that matter.  Elke made these observations in an entirely objective manner, of course.

"Don't be angry with Mikki,"  Abby purred as she refilled her own mug.  "Enthusiasm for the kind of unconventional fun you two engaged in last night runs in the family."

"At a full sprint," Donna purred, sipping her coffee.

Abby favored her spouse with a sideways look.  Donna smiled back

Elke and Mikki exchanged a look of their own.  Abby might as well have said "I'll deal with you later," even though she'd said nothing.  There had been a definite teasing-the-tiger vibe to Donna's remark.

The BFF's silent exchange, however, was more on the order of—"That explains a lot."—"Please forgive me."—"Not likely."—"Pleeeeease?"—"Eventually."

"Eggs," Lilly announced as she carried a platter of pancakes to the table.

Eggs? Elke wondered, staring at the inviting stack of pancakes.

Lilly pointed at Abby. "Fried," she stated, then shifted her finger to Donna. "Scrambled."  Her finger shifted to Mikki.

"Fried," Mikki stated.  "Over easy."  She then nodded at her BFF.  "Scrambled."

Lilly smiled at Elke.

Oh, she's taking egg orders, Elke realized.  Of course.  "Yes, scrambled please" she confirmed, and Lilly returned to the outdoor kitchen and began cracking eggs into a bowl.

"Eat 'em while they're hot," Abby advised as she forked pancakes onto Elke's plate, then did the same for Mikki, Donna, and herself.

Butter and syrup were deployed and the meal began while Lilly cooked their egg orders.

"Elke, darling?" Abby said as she passed around a platter laden with crispy bacon and browned sausages.

Elke quickly swallowed her first bite of pancake.  It was delicious, by the way.  "Yes, ma'am?"

"Ma'am," Donna chortled (which earned her another dirty look).

"Please, call be Abby," Abby stated, smiling warmly at Elke.

Elke nodded.  "Okay, Abby."

"When we've all finished eating," Abby continued, still smiling, "you and I need to have a friendly talk."

Mikki assumed the worst, swallowed the bite of pancake she'd been masticating, and rose to her BFF's defense.  "It was all my fault, Abby, like I told you.  Don't be angry with Elke.  Please."

Oh, that's sweet, Elke thought, and she meant it, but she managed not to smile at her BFF.  Maybe I'll only kill her a little.

"I'm not angry," Abby chuckled, then refocused her smile on Elke.  "I'm not.  But we still need to talk."

Elke nodded, then forced what she hoped was a smile.  It may have been some sort of bizarre grimace.  "Yes, Abby."

Eventually, Lilly carried over the egg orders and joined the meal.  Elke and Mikki exchanged a look as they sampled their eggs, then nodded in unison.  Lilly was a damn fine cook, and they told her so.

By the time they finished breakfast, daybreak was giving way to early morning and the air was beginning to warm.  The sky was blue and and cloudless and the vista of mountains and valleys spread before them was magnificent.  Songbirds flitted from bush to bush.  There were trees down in the valley, but the slopes were rocky, grassy, and sere, far from the green and mossy cedar forests Mikki and Elke were accustomed to in the western part of the state, but it was very scenic, in a could-use-a-good-soaking-rain sort of way.  On a distant mountain peak they could see a tower bristling with antennas and microwave dishes, but there were no other distinct signs of human habitation.

Donna started piling the empty plates together.  "My turn to clean up," she announced.

"I'll help," Mikki offered, gathering the tableware.

"I'll clean up the griddle," Lilly added, nodding towards the outdoor kitchen.  She then focused her smile on Mikki.  "Then, I'll show you around, like I promised."

"Cool!" Mikki gushed.  "I can't wait to see your workshop."

Elke rolled her eyes, then smiled (shyly) at Abby.  "Uh... I guess we're gonna have that talk, right?  After I change, of course."

"Don't be silly, darling," Abby chuckled, then lifted the carafe and refilled both her mug and Elke's.  "We'll chat down by the pool.  Come with me."

"Yes, Abby," Elke sighed, then noted her BFF's beaming smile.  There was another silent exchange.

("Keep it up, you orange-haired freak!"—"What?  You look lovely in that mini-micro-teensy-tiny-bikini!"—"I'll deal with you later."—"Promises, promises!")

Lilly padded to the outdoor kitchen and began her cleanup.  Donna and Mikki finished clearing the table and carried the dirty dishes, platters, tableware, and napkins towards the mansion.  Abby and Elke carried their coffee mugs to the stairs winding down to the pool.

The pool in question was kidney-shaped and, like the mansion, undeniably magnificent.  It was built into the slope, and style-wise it bridged the natural mountainside with the Modern mansion.  Also, it was surrounded by a ten-foot fence of narrow, vertical iron bars.  A pedestrian gate gave access to a foot-trail that descended into the valley to the left and climbed towards the mountain peak to the right.  Elke detected a faint whiff of chlorine.  It was in no way overpowering, but it was there.

"This is really nice," Elke said as they padded to a small iron cafe table and settled into a pair of comfortably padded chairs.  They were protected by a tautly stretched, brown, rectangular shade-sail that provided semi-shade, or rather would provide semi-shade once the sun climbed a little higher in the sky.

"Thank you, dear," Abby purred.  "The pool is large enough to allow lap-swimming, but small enough to blend into the mountain.  The fence keeps out the wildlife, so..."  She pointed to a water feature on the far side of the bars.  "...we added a watering hole and birdbath.  Its water comes straight from the well, rather than the pool system."

The feature in question was a shallow, rock-lined pool fed by a trickling waterfall that dripped down a tasteful pile of specially selected boulders from a shallow basin and fountain.  Elke assumed there was a recirculating pump hidden somewhere, but the arrangement looked very natural.

As Elke watched, a robin-sized, yellow and gray bird swooped to the basin/birdbath and began to drink.

"Western Meadowlark," Abby said quietly.

Elke nodded.  She wasn't a birder, but she knew most of the common species.  "We have them on the west side of the mountains too."

Abby sipped her coffee and focused her smile on Elke.  The meadowlark continued dipping its beak into the water, then tipping back its head to let the water slide down its throat.

"I have no objection to you and my cousin playing innocent games," Abby said.  "However, I consider it my duty to make sure you're up to the task of being my young cousin's..."

Elke blushed and took a sip of her coffee.  "Accomplice?" she suggested.

Abby chuckled.  "That'll do for now.  Anyway, tell me: how would your assess your skill level as a rigger?"

Elke blinked uncertainly.  "Rigger?"

Abby grinned.  "A wrapper of ropes.  A knotter of knots."

"Oh."  Elke heaved a sigh.  "Adequate... marginally."  She sipped her coffee again, then focused on Abby.  "Okay, I'm lousy.  Mikki always escapes when I tie her wrists.  We had to switch to handcuffs... the fuzzy pink toy kind, not the solid and for real handcuffs in your collection."

Abby nodded.  "I see."  She retrieved her mug and took another sip.  "I guess I'll have to teach you."

Elke narrowly averted a spit-take.  "Say what?" she gasped, wiping her chin.

"It's my duty," Abby said with a smile.  "I'll teach you."  She reached out and patted Elke's hand.  "When I'm finished, you'll be a first rate rigger.  It's a promise."

Elke's blinking and blushing problem had returned.  "Uh..."

"But you have to promise something to me, as well," Abby continued.  "You have to promise to do everything I say, to follow all my orders to the letter and without question.  Will you do that, Elke?"

This was all happening very quickly, but Elke managed to nod and force a weak smile.  "Sure.  Yeah.  I mean... I guess so."

Abby smiled and set down her coffee mug.  "I'll hold you to that," she purred as she climbed to her feet.  "Wait here."

Elke watched as Abby—in all her fit, toned, fair-skinned, jade-green-bikini-clad glory—padded to a nearby pool shed, opened the door and reached inside, then returned with the handles of a large, bulging, hunter-green cloth shopping bag clutched in her left hand.  She set the bag on the stone flags, reached inside, and pulled out a small, neatly coiled bundle of light brown, natural fiber rope.

Luckily, Elke's mug was safely resting on the table next to Abby's and nowhere near her astonished mouth, or there would have been a spit-take.  "N-now?" she demanded.

"There's no time like the present," Abby chuckled.

"Y-you're gonna... t-tie me up?" Elke gasped.

"No, dear," Abby chuckled as she pulled out a second small coil and set it on the table.  "You're going to tie me up."

Elke was speechless.  If her brain had a carburetor, at the moment it would have been suffering from severe vapor lock.

"How else am I going to objectively assess your skill level?" Abby inquired.  Smiling sweetly, she released the retaining hitch in the first coil.

Elke hated to admit it, but Abby was being eminently logical.  However...  "This is nuts!" she objected.

Abby's smile widened.  "Entirely."  She tossed the now loose tangle of rope to Elke.  "Let's get started."

As it amounted to little more than loading the dishwasher,  Donna and Mikki's half of the cleanup didn't take very long.  They didn't start the appliance, however.  Lilly still had to arrive with her contributions to the load.

While they waited, Mikki turned to Donna with a slightly worried expression.  "Uh... she's gonna be okay, isn't she?"

Donna smiled.  "And by 'she' you're referring to...?"

Mikki affected her patented Petulant Scowl.  With her full, expressive lips, Petulant Scowl was one of Mikki's go-to looks.  She'd practiced it in front of the mirror for years.  "Elke," she clarified.

"Elke is going to be just fine, darling," Donna reassured the pouting, bikini-clad redhead.  Donna reflected that Mikki reminded her of Abby when they first met.  Abby also had a world class pout.

They were interrupted by a thumping rap at the outside door.  Actually, it was a thudding, barefoot kick.  Lilly had arrived, wearing her black bikini and burdened with the dirty utensils, bowls, and other paraphernalia she'd used to prepare breakfast, hence the need for her to kick the base of the mostly glass door.

Mikki quickly padded over and opened the door so Lilly could enter.

"Thank you," Lilly muttered as she carried her burden to the still open dishwasher.

"You're welcome," Mikki answered.  Her eyes were on Lilly's firm, shapely butt (as they had been often while the slightly older brunette was cooking out on the deck).  Lilly's legs, back, and keister were nice.  Also, Lilly's bikini-bottom (unlike the others) was not only skimpy, but was of the thong variety.  The firm keister in question had been and currently was 98-99% on display.

Donna loaded the remaining items in the dishwasher, added a pod, closed the door, and turned it on.  It was an ultra-modern, exceedingly quiet model, so it in no way impeded conversation.

"Well, I'm gonna change," Donna announced.

Mikki gazed at Donna's nearly naked body.  "Uh... I suppose I better change too," she said, "then—Oh!"

Lilly had grabbed Mikki's right hand and was dragging her from the kitchen.  "No need," she advised.

"You girls play nice!" Donna shouted after them as the brunette and redhead completed their exit.

"Bite me!" Lilly cheerfully called back over her right shoulder.

Mikki smiled as they made their way through the mansion.  Actually, she wasn't a big fan of Lilly's nearly-naked, domineering attitude... but Lilly was in charge, right?  "You guys don't wear bikinis all day every day, do you?  You weren't wearing bikinis yesterday when we arrived."

"You noticed that, did you?" Lilly purred.  "No, we don't wear bikinis all day all every day."

"Oh," Mikki responded, as if she was slightly disappointed.  Lilly was still dragging her by the hand, but they were going deeper into the mansion, not to an outside door that would lead to Lilly's shop and the other outbuildings.  "I thought you were gonna show me your workshop?" she demanded.

"Later," Lilly huffed.

They arrived at a nondescript door, which Lilly opened.

Mikki peered inside and realized the semi-dark space beyond was the top landing of a spiral staircase leading down.  The walls were poured concrete and the stairs prefabricated steel sections, all painted black.  Mikki also noted that while the mansion side of the door was of stained wood, the landing side was a featureless sheet of steel painted a dreary, institutional shade of dark-gray.  Lilly started padding down the stairs, and as she was still holding Mikki's hand and the hand in question was still attached to Mikki, she followed.  The steel treads under her bare feet were textured for traction and somewhat cool.

Mikki frowned.  "Where are we—"

"Hush," Lilly ordered.

They came to another landing.  The stairs continued spiraling down, but Lilly led (dragged) Mikki to another steel door.  This one was painted steel on both sides and led to a decidedly dreary corridor.  The walls, ceiling, and floor were more of the same poured concrete, broken only by the fossilized seams left by the forms used during construction.  There were also galvanized steel electrical conduits linking the dimly glowing industrial light-fixtures overhead.  The ambiance was... grim.  A thrill of delicious dread rippled between Mikki's legs and up her spine as she padded along.  Lilly had shifted her grip from Mikki's hand to her wrist.  It was... horribly and deliciously ominous.

They passed door after door, on both sides of the hallway, and made turn after turn.  Letters and numbers were stenciled on the doors in a slightly lighter shade of gray, like "W2-15C" or "S3-05D," but the labels meant nothing to Mikki.  Also, each and every door they'd passed so far had a deadbolt lock, and some had a deadbolt and a heavy-duty steel bolt.

Obviously, Lilly knew where they were going; but Mikki felt like a mouse being dragged through a somewhat labyrinthine maze that she didn't even know was a maze until she'd been dragged into it.  Finally... they stopped at a door, apparently at random, Lilly opened the door, and led (dragged) Mikki into the room beyond.

The chamber was about ten-by-ten and lined with gray metal lockers on three walls.  Lilly closed the door behind them, opened one of the cabinets, and lifted a coat of natural, off-white canvas with brown leather trim and dangling canvas straps with steel, spring-loaded, friction-type buckles off a heavy steel hanger!

Mikki's eyes popped wide.  "Oh, shit!"  It was a straitjacket!  A bona fide and for real straitjacket!  The genuine article!  The real McCoy!  And it looked heavy, and there were a lot of straps and loops and rattling buckles!

"Language, young lady," Lilly chuckled.  She gripped the jacket by the shoulders and smiled at the flustered redhead.  "Arms!" she ordered.

Mikki took a step back.  Her eyes were still wide.  "Huh?  What?  Arms?"

"Those long, gangling things between your hands and armpits," Lilly explained, then gave the jacket a shake.  "Arms!"

"Y-you want me to w-wear that thing?" Miki demanded.

"Don't you want to?" Lilly purred, giving the jacket another shake.  The buckles rattled enticingly.

"No!" Mikki objected.  "I..."  The jacket looked tight and close-fitting, and not baggy, like all the models Mikki had seen used on damsels wrongly incarcerated in insane asylums by unscrupulous doctors in movies and TV, and it was clearly designed for a female wearer.  It had... boob-cups in the front to accommodate the shape of a pair of breasts.  She swallowed nervously and tried again.  "I... no?  No!"

"Liar," Lilly chuckled.  "Of course you want to try it.  Who do you think you're kidding?"

Mikki took another step back... and bumped her bikini-clad rear against the steel door.  "No."  Her eyes were glued to the jacket, which was hanging open in Lilly's hands... in a seductive manner.  "I mean..."  She pursed her lips and shook her head, causing her ginger curls to flutter.  "No!"

"Enough of this nonsense," Lilly purred.  "Lift up your arms or I'm giving you a spanking."

"A spanking?" Mikki objected.  She didn't want to try on a freakin' straitjacket (not at the moment, anyway), but on the other hand, she certainly didn't want to receive a spanking.  Mikki lifted her arms with her fingers together and her hands forming a pair of flippers, and she let Mikki slide the jacket's sleeves up her arms and settle the coat onto her shoulders.  It was... horrible!  It was also as heavy as it looked, and the sleeves were tight.  Why did I do that? Mikki wondered, I mean... spanking aside.  Her upper limbs were a pair of traitors!  That was it.  Her brain and the rest of her body were outraged!  "Nooo," she objected one last time (in a rather pathetic whine).

"You know it's what you want," Lilly chuckled as she spun Mikki around, pulled the jacket together behind her back and threaded the strap at the small of her back through its matching buckle and pulled out the slack.  Vrrrip!  This was followed by the strap just above the small of her back.  Vrrrip!  Which was followed by the strap just below the small of her back.  Vrrrip!  She then spun Mikki back around and threaded the buckle and strap at the ends of the sleeves through a loose vertical strap running down the front of the jacket.

Lilly spun Mikki around yet again, and threaded the sleeve-strap through the sleeve-buckle and pulled out the slack.  Vrrrip!  "Hey!" Mikki complained.  Her arms were now folded across her stomach and under the loose vertical strap, in the traditional straitjacket self-hug.  "This thing is tight," she complained, and it was true.  Her initial assessment of the jacket's lack of bagginess was confirmed, in spades!  It wasn't exactly skintight, but was a very good fit (if "good" was the appropriate term).  And then—Vrip!  "Hey!"—Lilly tightened the strap again, pulling out every bit of remaining slack, and Mikki's self-hug became even more enthusiastic!

Mikki waited for Lilly to buckle the rest of the straps, but instead, she felt Lilly's fingers tugging on the bows securing the strings of her bikini-top, both at the nape of her neck and behind her back!  "Lil-ly!" she whined.

"Quiet," Lilly purred as she pulled Mikki's cherry-red top free from under the jacket and dropped it on the floor.  "I'm doing the laundry this afternoon, and you don't need this thing anymore anyway."

Unfortunately, Lilly's logic was impeccable.  Mikki's boobs were now pressed against the canvas, including her nipples, and although the fabric wasn't exactly coarse or rough, it was coarser and rougher than the cherry-red cotton of her now missing bikini-top, that was for damn sure.  Her nipples stiffened in response... but it wasn't like she was excited or anything.

Now, Lilly began tightening the remaining straps—Vrrrip!  Vrrrip!  Vrrrip!—so not only was Mikki hugging herself with her canvas-encased arms, but the Jacket was hugging her like... a straitjacket... a very tight straitjacket.  She decided to make one more attempt to assert control of the situation.  "Lil-ly!" she whined.  "Hey!  Hey!"

Lilly had pulled the bows securing the bikini bottom!  And then she snatched the cherry-red cotton from between Mikki's legs and dropped it on the floor next to the bikini-top!

Mikki was now nude, not counting the jacket, and Lilly was still tightening the straps!  Vrip!  Vrip!  Vrip!  Vrip!  "This thing is... tight," Mikki huffed.

"Tight is better than loose," Lilly purred as she buckled the final pair of straps.  They ran between Mikki's legs—Vrrrip!  Vrrrip!—framed her labia, pulled down the jacket's lower hem, and tightened the jacket even further.  "Loose leads to wrinkles and folds," Lilly continued, "which could lead to ugly red crease-marks on your pretty pink skin."  And then, taking tightness to a level Mikki hadn't thought possible, she tightened the strap running down the front of the jacket and across her folded forearms!  Vrrrip!

Lilly took a step back and watched as a frowning, pouting Mikki twisted at the waist, squirmed, rolled her shoulders, and did her best to pull off a Houdini and escape the jacket.  Her tousled ginger curls flounced, fluttered, and fell across her pouting face as she struggled.

It was pointless, the damn thing was like a layer of canvas-colored body-paint!  Mikki shook the curls from her frowning face, pursed her full lips, blew a final, errant strand from her face, and glowered at her bikini-clad captor.

Obviously, Mikki had been wasting her time, but Lilly let her make the effort so Mikki could savor the straitjacket experience and she could enjoy the floor show.

"I see you're a natural redhead," Lilly purred, focusing her gloating gaze on Mikki's neatly trimmed, triangular, curly, ginger pubic bush.

"Very funny," Mikki huffed (and blushed), then watched as Lilly opened another locker and pulled out... a muzzle gag!  Micky wasn't what she could call experienced in the bondage department, but she had browsed enough commercial websites to recognize the product in question.  The gag dangling from Lilly's hand was black leather with steel buckles and a chamois-thin, mask-like panel that would cup the wearer's chin and cover her mouth and lower face from ear to ear.  There was also a spherical rubber mouth-plug attached to the inside of the panel.  It was also black, like the leather.

"Nooo," Mikki whined as she backpedaled until her jacket-clad back and naked butt pressed against the closed steel door.

"Yes," Lilly answered with a wicked grin, then thrust the ball into Mikki's sputtering mouth, spun her around, and buckled the strap at the nape of her neck.  "I love this thing," she purred as she pulled Mikki's ginger curls from under the strap, then tugged on the strap and secured the buckle even tighter.  She spun Mikki back around so her back and butt were once again pressed against the cool steel, then began combing her captive's red curls from her wide-eyed, thoroughly gagged face.  "When properly applied," she said quietly, "like now, the panel is like a taut tape-gag.  I can see the outline of your lips and the end of the ball plugging your mouth."  She leaned close and kissed the tip of Mikki's nose.  "You're very pretty like this, Mikki," Lilly purred.

I am? Mikki thought, blinking her big brown eyes.  Then she shook her head causing her ginger curls to flutter, once again.  I mean—Let me go!  "Mrrrpfh!"

Lilly chuckled, then opened a third locker, grabbed a handful of black leather straps with steel buckles, then opened the door, grabbed a convenient strap of Mikki's jacket, and led her from the chamber.

The jacket continued being tight, as did the muzzle-gag.  Mikki's ginger curls fluttered and streamed behind her gagged head as they padded along.  Lilly was setting a brisk pace.

Doors flashed by, they made two turns, one to the left and one to the right, then arrived at yet another door.  As before, Lilly smiled (a wicked, evil grin), opened the door, and led (dragged) Mikki into the space beyond.

The room was smaller that the "Straitjacket Dressing Room" they'd just left.  The walls were the same poured concrete, and a single industrial-style light fixture was shining overhead, but more brightly than the fixtures in the hallway.  And centered in the room under the light was... a steel milk can!

The galvanized cylinder in question was big.  It looked like it could hold... 40 to more gallons of milk?  It also looked like it could hold a bound and gagged damsel in a fetal tuck with her knees more-or-less touching her chin.  Mikki was pretty sure such cans were no longer in wide use in the dairy industry, but she recognized the container from Harry Houdini's famous Milk Can Escape.  And like the cans Houdini had used in his act, the seams of the can were riveted and its tight-fitting lid secured by multiple hasps and padlocks and two lengths of chain that passed through the lid's top handle and were secured by even more padlocks!

Mikki looked at the milk can... shifted her horrified, gagged gaze to Lilly... then back to the can.

Her lips curled in the same wicked smile, Lilly closed the door, sealing them in the Chamber of Milk Can Doom!

Overly dramatic?  Yes, but Mikki was in an overly dramatic mood.  Her heart was pounding and her breath coming in pants through flaring nostrils.  She watched as Lilly used a key to unlock and remove all the locks and chains, then pile them on the concrete floor next to the pile of leather straps she'd brought from the Straitjacket Dressing Room.  Where Lilly had been hiding the key Mikki had no idea.  It must have been among the tangle of straps from the Dressing Room.  Either that or tucked under her bikini... somewhere.

Lilly pointed at the floor.  "Have a seat, Mikki," she suggested (ordered) as she sorted through the straps.

Like any damsel who might happen to find herself in Mikki's current situation, all she wanted was to open the door and flee down the corridor in abject terror.  Unfortunately, the straitjacket currently embracing her otherwise naked body like a hungry python made this impossible.  She was about to lift her right leg and try to use her toes to turn the doorknob, but was preempted by Lilly grabbing a firm handful of her tousled curls, dragged her the two steps to the can, and ruthlessly (gently) forcing her first to her knees, then down onto her mostly bare butt.

In horrified resignation Mikki watched as Lilly pulled her feet together and used a specialized cuff/strap/binder to bind her ankles.  It had a doughnut-shaped pad to cushion her anklebones and keep them from grinding together (which she had to admit was rather nice), as well and a much narrower, secondary strap that bound her big toes together.  The narrow connecting strap prevented her from pointing her feet but served no practical restraining purpose (other than imposing psychologically devastating bondage overkill).  Next, Lilly buckled a pair of straps around her legs, first just above and the second just below her knees.  Mikki's legs were now bound firmly together.

Next, as Mikki watched in horrified anticipation (and appreciation), Lilly removed the lid from the can.  It gave a bell-like clang as she placed it on the floor.  And then... the inevitable happened.   Lilly lifted Mikki and planted her bound feet back down on the floor, so Mikki could peer into the dark void that was the distressingly small volume that was the can's interior! 

"MRRRRFH!"

"Calm down," Lilly chuckled as she embraced her captive's shivering, squirming body from the side.

Mikki's heart was thumping like crazy as she gazed into the depths of the can.  She's gonna do it!  She's gonna lock me inside that thing!  Mikki twisted and fought the jacket, but Libby controlled her with ease.  Mikki was more nervous than making a real (and desperate) attempt to break free.  After all, where could she go?  In any case, she couldn't just stand still.  How could she?

"And don't worry." Lilly continued.  "There are breathing holes rather cleverly hidden under the hasps—if I do say so myself"

Mikki continued squirming inside the tight straitjacket, tight knee, ankle, and toe-straps, and gazed with big, brown, tragically frightened eyes in abject horror at the close confines of the can.  She shifted her gaze to Lilly.  Strands of her ginger curls partially obscured her view, but she could still make out every gloating detail of Lilly's sinister smile.

"Do you know how Houdini pulled off his milk can escapes?" Lilly inquired.

Mikki continued blinking and staring, silently begging for the reprieve she knew she wasn't going to get.

"I'll take that as a no," Lilly continued.  "Not surprisingly, all of Houdini's cans were specially made.  The rivets were fake, there just for show.  Once the curtain was closed and the audience couldn't see, all Harry had to do was push against the lid with the top of his head and it popped right off."  Her smile became even more gloating and evil.  "I assure you, my can isn't like that.  All of my rivets are very real, and the seams are welded, for the sake of redundancy, of course."  She kissed Lilly's right ear through her tousled hair.  "Are you ready to see for yourself?" she whispered.

Mikki's response was a gagged scream!  "MRRRF!"

Lilly chuckled.  "I'll take that as a no as well."  Then, she lifted Mikki onto her shoulder in another fireman's carry—but rather than plant Mikki's bound, squirming feet inside the milk can, which the desperate prisoner knew with absolutely certainty was about to happen—Lilly turned and carried her to the door, opened it, then carried her out of the Chamber of Milk Can Doom and down the hallway.

"Mrrrf?" Mikki inquired?  No milk can?  A wave of relief flooded her helpless, naked, bound and gagged body... cautious relief.

It was a brief trip.

There was a pause.  Mikki heard a thunk she surmised was a heavy steel bolt being drawn, but with her head to the rear and her ginger curls in her face Mikki could see nothing.  The thunk was followed by a swish of air as Lilly opened a door and carried her helpless burden into what amounted to a tiny, cramped cell.  Libby eased Mikki off her shoulder and gently deposited her on a canvas-covered mattress resting on the floor.

Mikki squirmed and managed to sit up. then shook the hair from her muzzle-gagged face and watched as Lilly took the two or three barefoot steps to reach the cell's open door.  She could now see that she was, indeed, in what could only be called a cell.  The concrete walls, floor, and ceiling were painted flat-black, and the compact industrial fixture overhead was dark.

Lilly's lips remained curled in the same wicked, evil smile.  "Enjoy pretending you're Houdini," she purred, then closed the door!

"MRRRF!" Mikki screamed through her gag.  She could see nothing.  There wasn't even a bar of light leaking under the base of the door from the hallway.  Granted, her eyes weren't dark adapted, but still... no light!

Thunk!  ...  Click!

That was the sound of the surmised door-bolt slamming home, followed by a key turning the deadbolt, and now Mikki knew the cell door was locked!  "Mrrrf?"  Her gagged inquiry went unanswered as she stared into the darkness.  The least Lilly could do is scream something reassuring through the door, Mikki thought.  Not knowing what else she could do, she gave her jacket a halfhearted squirm... then lay back and settled onto her back on the soft mattress... and heaved a tragic sigh.

Nude nakedness?  Without clothes?  A straitjacket?  A muzzle-gag?  Leather straps binding my legs?  Including my toes?  A MILK CAN??  Locked in a tiny cell?  ...  The horror!  ...  The horror!

◄

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

►