What If... Seventies Games (MF/Fmf)

[KP Presents]

“So just run it past me again,” the captain said as he sat in the office, “two people hit five apartments in the brownstone in one night, robbed the families there – and they didn’t try to raise the alarm?”

“I know it sounds stupid chief, but that’s what seems to have happened – and all last Saturday morning.”

“How did they do it?”

“Well, they all tell the same story. Seems they started on the first floor, while the kids were watching Saturday Cartoons – the man who went in there even made it part of the robbery…”


“Remain calm,” the man said as he looked at Delores, “and everything will be fine.” She had opened the door to her apartment to see him standing there, smiling as he made her walk back in, the gun in his gloved hand pointing at her. He was dressed in black – a roll neck sweater, pants, shoes, and a stocking pulled down over his head as he slipped the knapsack off from over his shoulder.

“Now, is there anyone else at home?”

“The kids – oh god, please don’t hurt them…”

“I’m not going to hurt them,” the man said with a smile, “but we’re going to play a little game. Turn round, and put your hands behind your back.”

Delores felt she had no choice but to do as he said. She was wearing a white sleeveless cardigan over a lone sleeved red jumper, a tartan skirt, and white knee length boots that laced up the front.

“What sort of game,” she said as she looked over her shoulder, and saw him cross her wrists before her lashed them together with thin cord.

“What are they doing?”

“Watching Saturday morning cartoons…”

“Well, we’re going to get them to be like the damsels in distress in those cartoons,” the man said as he tied the ends of the cord off out of reach of her fingers. “And what’s more, you can watch the cartoons with them.”

Delores slowly nodded as the man said “Just one more thing before we go in…”


“Hey kids – I have a big surprise for you.”

The two children were lying no their stomachs on the floor, watching the screen, but they turned and gasped as they saw the masked man walk in with their mother, a white scarf pulled between her lips and her hands behind her back.

“Who are you,” the boy said. He had short light brown hair, and was wearing a checked shirt and pants. His sister was wearing a blue gingham petticoat dress with a red top and short puffed sleeves.

“Well, your mummy has asked me to help you all be the family held hostage in the adventure series you watch – haven’t you Mummy?”

Delores nodded as she sat on the couch, the kids looking at the man as he said “so, keep watching and I’m going to make sure you are both tied up and gagged just like your mummy. Then you can all watch together.”

“Mummy?”

Delores nodded to her daughter as she looked at her brother, and then they both put their hands behind their backs, feeling the thin cord as the masked man bound their wrists tightly together, and then bound their ankles together as they lay there.

Delores then watched the man bind her own ankles together, before he lay her on her side and used two more scarves to gag her children.

“Have fun – watch these for an hour, and then try and get free,” he said as he slipped out of the room…


“Okay – and at the same time his partner was hitting the apartment on the same floor opposite them?”

“That’s right, she…”

“She?”

“Yes sir – she interrupted the son when he was doing his assignments…”

Billy was concentrating on finishing his report on Tom Sawyer when he heard his bedroom door open and close.

“I’m nearly done, Mom,” he said without looking up.

“That’s good – because you mom is waiting for you to join her.”

The voice was one he did not recognise, so Bobby put his pencil down and turned slowly in his chair. The woman was wearing a tight brown sweater and ski pants, with a pair of short white boots – but she also had a brown stocking pulled down over her head, pressing her hair down as she smiled at him.

“whhhhhh who are you?”

“Me? Well, I’m the one asking you to play a game of robbers with your mom,” the woman said with a smile. “she’s already playing, and now it’s your turn. There’s a film out where a man holds the wife and daughter of a supermarket manager hostage.”

“I’m not a girl…”

“No – but your pops does manage a supermarket,” she said as she held up a roll of white tape, “and so you and your mom are the hostages. Your assignment can wait a little while – I want you to stand up, turn your back to me, and put your hands behind your back.”

“Will it hurt,” Bobby asked quietly. There was something exciting about this happening to him…”

No – so long as when you join your mom, you sit nice and quietly,” the woman said as he heard the tape coming away from the roll, and then on his skin as his wrists were held together.

“Why?”

“Well, I’m going to put some of this tape over your mouth,” she said, “and that means you mustn’t struggle, because you may start coughing – and that is a bad thing. So you’re going to sit nice and still, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he whispered as he heard a ripping sound, and then her gloved hands on his wrists as he pressed the tape down. The woman looked at him in his striped jumper and brown pants, before she said “good – come with me.”

She opened his bedroom door and allowed Bobby to walk in front of her as they went into the main room – and he gasped as he saw his mom lying no her back on the couch. She was wearing a short sleeved mini dress, white at the sides and blue at the front and top, with a leather thong lace laced through the front, and white boots that came to just below her knees. Her hands were behind her back, her head resting on the arm of the couch and her ankles held together with the white tape – and she had a strip of the white tape over her mouth.

Bobby swallowed as the masked woman walked him over to an armchair and sat him down, before he used the roll of tape to secure his ankles together, the white band clearly visible over the brown material of his trousers. His mom watched as she then tore a strip of the white tape from the roll, and pressed it down over his mouth.

“Now, remember what I said about not struggling?”

Bobby nodded as his mother looked back at him, and then relaxed as the masked woman said “remember – your pops does what he is asked to do, you both stay safe” before she left the room.


“Neither family tried to raise the alarm?”

“No – the kids all thought it was a game, and their mothers did not want to panic them. Anyway, somehow the two of them went upstairs – and whoever the woman was, she managed to get three generations in on apartment to play the game.”

“They really believed it was a game?”

“No that time, no – but they did make it one so they could cope…”

Agatha was in her early sixties, her brown hair held in place with hairspray, and was wearing a white tunic top with a thin silver belt round her waist and white pants. Her daughter Susan was just forty, and she had long brown hair – as well as wearing a red blouse with a blue girdle round her waist, blue denim hot pants, and white knee length boots with pompoms on the front.

Then there was her granddaughter, Cathy – fourteen years old, her blonde hair platted into pigtails, and wearing a pink dress with sleeves that flowed out from her elbows, the skirt coming to just above her knees.

“This is a robbery,” the masked woman said as she stood in front of them, the gun in her gloved hand, “but it does not have to be frightening. I have no intention of harming you, but I do need to make sure you cannot raise the alarm – so I propose we make it a game to see which generation makes the best hostage.”

“A game?”

“A game,” the woman said as she looked at Cathy, taking from the large shoulder bag she was holding several lengths of brown cord. “So, I am going to start by making sure the youngest and oldest are secured - with your mother’s help – and then she comes with me for a few minutes before she joins you. Now, both of you, kneel in front of the couch and put your hands behind your back.” Cathy and Agatha looked at each other, and then knelt down as the woman handed a length of cord to Susan.

“Double it over and do what I do,” she said as they both knelt as well, and then Susan watched the intruder cross her mother’s wrists behind her back, pass the cord round them and then pull the ends back through the loop. She did that to Cathy, both women working until they had secured the wrists of the other two tightly together.

“Good – now we’re going to secure your ankles together in the same way.”

Susan nodded slowly as the woman bound her mother’s ankles together, taking the cord between her legs again, and she did the same to her own daughter. The two were then helped to sit back-to-back, Agatha holding Cathy’s hand to comfort her as they secured watched the woman and Susan secure their legs together below their knees.

“Very good, Mommy,” the masked woman said as she took from the bag a longer length of rope, and wrapped it round Agatha and Cathy, holding their upper bodies together as she did so. “Now, promise not to try and call for help, and we’ll leave you like that for a few minutes.”

“We promise,” Agatha said as the woman took Susan by the arm and walked her out of the room. “Are you all right, Cathy?”

“Yeah Gran – it’s tight, but it doesn’t really hurt,” she said as she gripped her grandmother’s hand. “Do you think she’s going to do something to stop us talking as well?”

“I think so – just remember, stay calm, and we’ll be all right. Got it?”

“Got it,” Cathy said as she looked at her own legs, and then looked round the room.

A short while later, both of them looked at the door as Susan came back in – her hands were now behind her back, and she had cord round her body to hold her arms against her sides. She also had a rolled up and knotted black scarf tied between hr lips, as the woman walked her over to the couch and helped her to lie down, then secured her ankles and legs in the same way as the other two.

“Your turn,” she said to Cathy as she rolled up a second black scarf and tied a knot in it.

“We’ll talk later,” she heard Agatha say as she opened her mouth and the knot was eased past her teeth, the band tied tightly round her head. Cathy looked at her mother, who nodded as they heard Agatha mumble, and then the woman stood up.

“Wait one hour, and then try and escape,” she said as she walked out of the room…

“Let me guess – her partner was at work in the apartment opposite?”

“Oh yes…”

“There – that doesn’t feel so bad, does it?”

Poppy shook her head as her mother and younger sister looked at her. The eleven-year-old was wearing a light blue dress with elbow length sleeves and a white yoke at the neck, knee length white socks and white Mary Jane shoes, and was siting at one end of the leather couch in her front room. Her mother had told her about the game the man in black was going to play with them, and she had been asked to go first.

He had started by taking a long length of rope, and making a lasso which he had put over her head, and then pulled tight so that her arms were held against her sides. He wound that round her three times, and then told her to put her hands together in prayer before he wrapped the rope round her wrists and between them to hold them together as well.

He had then taken it down and wrapped it round her legs above her knees, going between them as well so that her hands were now on her lap, before finally wrapping the rope around and between her ankles, and tying the end off there. She could wriggle round, but that was all she could do.

Her eight-year-old sister Pippa was watching as he did this, her eyes wide open as he finished off. “You are going to do that to me as well?”

“I am,” the man said, “and then I’ll do the same thing to your mom when we finish pretending to rob you. Ready?”

Pippa nodded as she sat next to her sister. She was identically dressed – and a few minutes later, she was identically bound as her mother said “will you two girls be all right?”

“Yes Mommy,” Poppy said, Pippa nodding as she twisted round as well. Heir mother was wearing a mini dress in the same colour, hers buttoned up the front with a deep neckline and wide lace lapels. She was also wearing knee length white boots, tightly laced up the front.

“Now, I need to take your mom for a walk,” the man said, “but we need you two to be quiet. So I’ll put the television on, and then I’m going to put some sticking plaster over your mouths – which your mom will also get later. Sit quietly, and you’ll be all right, okay?”

Both girls nodded as the masked man peeled strips of Elastoplast from a roll and pressed them firmly down over their mouths, before he turned the television on and took their mother out of the room. Poppy and Pippa both nodded as they watched Wacky Races start…


When their mother came back in, she also had her arms held against her sides with rope – two bands for her, and her wrists tied together in front of her as the masked man held the rope in his gloved hands. Pippa scooted across so that she could sit between her daughters, watching mutely as the man took the rope and secured her legs together in the same way as Pippa and Poppy. It wasn’t possible for her to say anything – he rh adpressed Elastoplast down over her mouth before she was brought back in, so all she could do was reach over and gently kiss the heads of her daughters with her covered lips.

“Now, remember – no trying to escape for one hour, all right?”

All three of them nodded as he smiled and left them to watch the film…

“Who were they, to get them to think this was a game – and to make them feel so confident they did not try to escape?”

“I have no idea – and neither did Tina Starr.”

“The singer? How does she factor into this?

“She lives in the top floor apartment…”

“Oh my god…”

Tina walked slowly backwards as the masked man and woman walked into the apartment, the woman smiling as she said “hello Miss Starr – I’m a big fan, and I think it’s a real privilege to come and rob you today.”

Tina Starr was wearing a purple paisley print dress, the long sleeves fitting her arms to the elbows and then flaring out, the skirt coming to just above her knees. A matching thin scarf was tied round her head, keeping her long black hair away from her eyes, and she was wearing a pair of knee length silver go-go boots.

“What do you want?”

“Your jewellery – the Grammys are safe,” the masked man said, and then they heard a young girl say “Mommy, who is this?”

“And this must be Stella,” the masked woman said as she looked at the seven-year-old girl who came into the hallway. She was dressed identically to Tina; except she was wearing white go-go boots instead of silver ones. “We’re here to play a very special game with you and your mom Stella – you are going to be Pop Princess Captives, and we are the bad kidnappers who have come to hold you hostage.”

“Is that right, Mommy?”

Tina looked at her daughter, and then at the two intruders, before she nodded and said “yes, that’s right – they have come to hold us both hostage until our manager pays the ransom, so we need to do as they say, all right?”

Stella nodded as the masked woman offered her a gloved hand. “I want you to come with me,” she said with a smile, “I will take care of you, while my friend takes care of your mom.”

“What is she going to do to her,” Tina asked as they walked back into the front room.

“Exactly what I am going to do to you,” the masked man said as he smiled. “Shall we go into your bedroom?”

“So if we are hostages, does that mean you have to tie me and mom up, like on the television?”

“That’s right Stella,” the masked woman said as she put her bag down, Stella hearing the clinking sound as she drew out some white rope, “does that scare you?”

“Not really.”

“Good – well, I need you to turn round and put your hands behind your back.”

Stella nodded as she slowly turned round, and felt the soft rope holding her wrists together as the masked woman made sure she could not move them apart. She then felt it force her arms against her sides as she wound a longer length round her body, forming two bands as she did so.

“Wow - that is tight – but nice.”

“I know – can you sit on that long seat for me, and I’ll tie your ankles and legs together?”

Stella pushed herself up and watched as the woman wrapped rope around and between her ankles, her boots squeaking as the rope rubbed on them.

“That sounds funny!”

“Well, wait until I tie your legs together,” the women said, “and then try to move them again…”

Stella watched as she wound the rope around and between her legs above the topes of her boots, and then twisted them round, giggling as they squeaked.

“This is fun!”

“I know,” the woman said with a smile, “but it’s time to be quiet now…”



“She is not going to hurt her?”

“She is not,” the man said as he pulled the rope tighter round Tinas arms, and then secured the ends behind her back as she flexed her fingers. Her wrists were already secured, as she told the intruder where her valuables are.

“So what happens when we go back in?”

“We make you both comfortable – and then we say you have to wait while we send the ransom photos. I hope you don’t mind if we use your Polaroid?”

“I have a choice?”

“Not really,” the man said as he tipped a tray of jewels into his bag. He continued through her collection, and then out the bag down.

“Time for you to be silent – out your lips together.”

Tina nodded as he peeled a length of white tape from a roll and pressed it down over her mouth, and then picked up his bag and the Polaroid camera before he took her back into the main room.

“Hllhmmhhmm.”

“Hhhrruhr,” Tina mumbled as she saw Stella sitting on the couch, white tape also covering her mouth as the masked woman stood with her. She sat at the other end watching as the man knelt and secured her ankles together, as well as her legs below her knees, before the woman helped Stella to lie down with her head on her mother’s lap.

“Look at me and try to smile.”

“Both of then watched the man as he took photos of them, and left them to dry while the masked woman checked their bindings.

“No, we need to deliver the ransom, so stay there – we’ll put the radio on,” the man said, Tina and Stella nodding as the masked couple left them…

“Some day – but nobody hurt?”

“Not really – some bruises, but they all said the same thing. It was a fun game to play…”

[rafeylovesbonds]

And a fun story to read! Thanks.