Murder, She Wrote - Love's Deadly Desire (Completed) (F/f and F/ff).

[Headmistress]

Hello, all.

Last year, I wrote a story on here that was based on the TV show, "Murder, She Wrote". I had a lot of fun writing it, so after some thinking, I decided to write a sequel.

I have managed to watch some more shows of my set and my favourite episodes are the Cabot Cove ones, so after some thought, I took some elements of a Cabot Cove episode that I particularly liked and some elements of my first story to create this. I decided to call this story "Love's Deadly Desire" because that was the name of the episode that inspired me to write this. I hope that people will enjoy it.

The small Cabot Cove library was usually almost deserted during the evenings because most people usually borrowed their books in the day. While the library was cheery and bright during the day, at night, it looked smaller and darker because most of the lights were turned off apart from the essential ones. The evening visitors usually chatted briefly with the librarian and then disappeared into the depths of the library and didn’t emerge until after several hours with their latest reading choices bundled into their bags.

However, the nights also made the library very cosy because the library was a small one that was lined with row after row of wooden bookshelves that were stacked with every kind of book imaginable, large plush chairs and round fuzzy rugs in different colors. There were also several beanbag chairs that sat in every corner of the library and a few tables and chairs for people who wished to work or study.

On this particular night a small group had taken refuge in the library and on this evening, a roaring storm was thoroughly soaking Cabot Cove. Rain, wind and thunder were pelting down outside in large sheets that raged and blew continuously. Occasionally, they battered at the library's door and windows as if they were trying to come in, but that didn't matter as the windows had been locked and the wooden library door had been closed.

However, the group of Cabot Cove residents in the library were sitting comfortably on several plush chairs that had been arranged in several rows. The library was a solid structure, so the storm's noises were muffled and the librarian had turned on the heat for them, so it was lovely and warm. The library was dark for the most part, but the large pools of light from the lamps that the librarian had switched on illuminated the group while the rest of the library was hidden away in the darkness. However, this did not close the library in, it opened it up. It was like a small hideaway that only a few select people knew about.

To add to the ambience, she had also lit several small candles and placed them on the mantlepiece that surrounded the library’s fireplace. The candles flickered and sent small rings of orange light around the room while everyone’s attention was directly on one woman.

This was because a very good-looking woman had taken centre stage, so she was standing at the front facing the group and was reading from several typed pages in a low husky voice. She had shoulder length silvery blonde hair and very pale and creamy skin with lovely delicate features that made her look gentle and soft. Her slender figure was clad in a long black coat over black pants and a burgundy silk blouse with black high-heeled boots. Her only makeup was very pale matte lipstick and black eyeliner. However, she was so good-looking that she wouldn’t have needed much.

This was Sibella Stone, a best-selling author, who had agreed to host the latest Cabot Cove book group. The pages she was reading were an extract from her latest book. She was also a good friend of Jessica Fletcher’s who was sitting in the front row with Seth Hazlitt, her best friend and the town doctor. in fact, it had been Jessica's idea to invite Sibella to host the book group this time around.

Sibella was a writer of thrillers, which went perfectly with the library’s current atmosphere. She also had a wonderful low and sultry voice that resonated through the room and everyone was paying attention to her every word.

Everyone except Jessica.

Jessica loved Sibella’s writing and she loved the book groups. However, she was busy thinking about the situations that had recently arisen.

It had all started when Jessica had decided to “kidnap” May Browning, a local school student, who had been pranking her. She’d used it to assist her in writing a novel about kidnapping.

It had worked very well. The novel had become a bestseller and people had loved it so much that her editor had begged her to write some more in a similar style.

However, when Jessica had tried to write another one, she had discovered that she just couldn’t do it. Every single time, she had gotten stuck. And, after some time, she had worked out that what had made her first book so good was the sheer thrill of actually becoming a “kidnapper”. It had been the experience of doing it that had helped her to write so well.

That was when she had realized that if she was going to write more novels in the same vibe, then she was going to have to “kidnap” more people.

It had taken some time, but Jessica had done some research and purchased all the supplies she had needed. She'd also established a consistent supply of the drugs that she needed. Then she had worked out a game plan because she knew very well that if she didn’t want to be caught, she needed a consistent plan.

The first thing she had established was the ground rules. Jessica had stuck to the same rules that she had used with May. No-one would be kept for more than two days and nights. Nobody would ever be compromised or put in any danger at all and everyone would always be released and returned safely and unharmed (after being drugged, of course). Jessica also always played fair and she never lied. If any victim succeeded in a challenge or game that she set, then they would be let go early or rewarded in some other way. Every victim also had to be of legal age.

Jessica also made sure to choose her victims carefully. She always selected girls from the high school who she usually thought needed a bit of “discipline”. She sat on many of the town committees, so she knew all the gossip about who would be home alone for the weekend or who wouldn’t be missed for a day or two.

It had been surprisingly easy when she thought about it. She’d used different tactics. Chloroform and drugs in a few cases. Getting them to “do chores” for her at her house. Inviting them for a walk with her in the woods. Sometimes inviting them for tea late at night. Oh, yes, she had used all sorts of tactics.

Jessica had to admit that after May, she’d probably developed a bit of “a taste” for kidnapping. It had also been interesting to see the range of reactions that she had gotten. Some girls had been like May and submitted to her almost immediately while others had tried to be a bit more rebellious.

However, when they had realized that they were under her control, they had become more and more submissive. There had even been one or two girls who had seemed to like or enjoy what she had done – until they had forgotten it, anyway.

Jessica’s brown leather gloves had also become like an old friend that she used in every single kidnapping. Sometimes, she would use her gloved hand to gag people or to force someone to open her mouth, so that they could be gagged by her.

In Jessica’s mind, it was a very convenient business arrangement because she always paid people for their time, they were always unharmed and returned safely, she’d got great material out of it and several bestsellers to go with it. The fact that people didn’t remember meant that there was no trauma or issues. And it kept Jessica out of trouble. Jessica also had to admit that she rather liked the new position of power that kidnapping gave her. This was because one of Jessica’s flaws was that she was sanctimonious and having a higher moral standing or pretending to have one gave her the opportunity to enjoy the control and superiority.

But, none – none of her victims had quite been quite like May or exactly like May. Maybe it was because May had been her first. But, Jessica knew that she had an overwhelming desire to kidnap May again, just so she could do it again. She had been planning it for some time now.

There was another reason, too. May had been nice to her for a while, but she had gradually reverted to her old behaviour. Jessica had even caught her stealing apples from the orchard – again. Jessica thought that May could probably do with a bit of extra discipline. Being tied up and gagged for a while would probably be good for her.

“Jessica!”

Seth’s hard nudge jerked Jessica out of her reverie. “This is a fantastic book. Aren’t you listening?”

Jessica guiltily looked up at Sibella in an effort to pay attention and was rewarded with a brief smile before Sibella resumed her reading. Once again, Jessica was struck by Sibella’s eyes. They were large and dark and expressive. Sibella always outlined them with black eyeliner that emphasized them even more. Somehow, she always managed to get both sides perfectly even and it never smeared or smudged. Jessica had no idea how she did it – it was one of the few mysteries that she couldn’t explain.

[Headmistress]

Sibella resumed reading, ”Fiona wandered down the lonely dark road, wondering why on earth she hadn’t accepted a lift back to the manor. What would she find there? Rain pelted down on her long, blonde hair, plastering it to her head and soaking her long black coat through, but she hardly noticed. Lightning crackled in the dark as she quickened her pace. Up ahead, she could see the manor coming closer and closer. Breaking into a run, she noticed that the hard, wooden door with its metal ring knocker was closed. Fearing the worst, she grabbed the door and swung it open….”

That was when the library door swung open with a bang.

A gust of wind promptly zoomed in and immediately extinguished all of the candles on the mantlepiece and at the same time a flash of lightning illuminated the figure in the doorway.

Several people screamed and Sibella gasped, dropping several pages.

A lone figure with long blonde hair wandered in and said “Completely dead! Dead!”

That was when everyone recognized her. It was Hannah, a member of the book group who hadn’t turned up, so everyone had assumed that she had decided not to come and forgotten about her.

She was wearing a flowered dress over black Doc Martens, white socks and an open unzipped grey hoodie over the dress and carrying a brown purse. All of them were soaked through.

Hannah was a pretty girl with blue eyes, freckled skin and her long waist-length hair, but with her streaked makeup running down her face, her hair hanging down in a long sodden wave, her wet clothes and dripping purse, she looked very much the worse for wear.

Jessica automatically stood up, extended her arms and Hannah rushed into them. It was always her first instinct to comfort someone who was upset or in trouble and, right now, Hannah looked like she might be both. Jessica sat Hannah down in the chair that she had just vacated and said, “Calm down. Now, you need to explain. Whatever do you mean – completely dead?”

Hannah looked at Jessica and the other members of the group who had now surrounded her in a circle.”

“My car, of course! I was coming here and then it just died. This is the only place that was open, so I had to run all the way down here in the rain! I’m soaked!”

Everyone sighed in relief.

10 minutes later…..

Hannah still sat in Jessica’s chair. She was dried for the most part and the librarian had given her a wooly blanket that she was now snuggled up in. The heat had also warmed her up and she looked a lot better. Seth had taken Hannah’s car keys and left in his car to take a look at Hannah’s car to see if he could get it started.

The storm had worsened, so the other members of the group had decided to end the group. A few of the members were starting to disperse and were collecting their coats and possessions to leave.

Jessica had stayed behind to wait for Seth as he was her ride home and also to look after Hannah.

Sibella was one of the few people remaining and she had packed up the pages that she had been reading and was busying herself packing up the rest of her possessions.

That was when Seth returned, shaking droplets of rain off his tweed jacket.

Hannah looked at him hopefully. “Sorry, Hannah. Your car is well and truly f**ked. I did try, but I can’t do anything with it. The mechanic won’t be open until tomorrow morning. I can give him a call then, but I’ve had to lock up your car and leave it where it was as I can’t get a tow truck or anyone out at this time. Listen, Jess…”

Jessica looked at Seth.

“Hannah lives on the same street as me. Would you mind if I drove her home? I’d take you too, but the backseat is full of old files that I’ve been clearing out of the office.”

“Of course, Seth. I can always get a lift with someone else.”

“She can go with me.”

Jessica turned around to see Sibella standing behind her, clearly having heard the conversation.

“Thanks, Sibella, but won’t it be out of your way?”

“Not at all. I’m staying at Hill House and that’s fairly close to you. It won’t take more than ten or fifteen minutes.” “That would be good," Jessica said gratefully.

Things went smoothly after that. After Seth and Hannah had left, Jessica and Sibella said goodbye to the librarian and the remaining group members, then exited the library.

Fortunately, Sibella hadn’t parked too far away and both of them had bought umbrellas, but they still had to run to Sibella’s car, which was a small sports car in a shade of burgundy that almost perfectly matched her blouse.

Jessica had dressed nicely for the book group in a long black coat, black blouse that tied up at the neck with a bow, black pants and high-heeled boots. The only thing that didn’t match her outfit were her brown leather gloves, which she had slipped on before leaving the library. Sibella had also put on her own gloves, which were also leather and identical to Jessica's apart from the colour, which was burgundy.

Jessica and Sibella got into the car, and placed their wet umbrellas on the floor of the passenger's seat. Sibella started the engine and they drove off. Sibella said, “By the way, Jessica, would you mind holding my purse on your lap for me? I’d put it in the backseat, but it’s full." This was true – the backseat was full of various pieces of luggage. Jessica nodded and placed Sibella’s purse in her lap with her own purse.

Jessica said, “So you’re staying at Hill House?” “Yes, I am – number one.” “You’re lucky – that room’s got the best view by far. By the way, I was sorry you didn’t get to finish your reading.” “It’s all right,” Sibella said breezily. “I was almost finished, anyway. The real thing will be out in a couple of weeks, so no harm done.” “Well, if the rest is as exciting as that chapter, then I can’t wait to re….”

Jessica never got to finish her sentence because Sibella abruptly slammed on the car brakes and swerved to the right. In shock, Jessica was flung forward and dropped both purses on the floor of the car. Both purses were black leather purses with zips, but Sibella had left her purse open after she’d taken her car keys out and Jessica had also left hers open as it was a habit to do so. As a result, items from both purses fell out and scattered all over the floor of the passenger seat.

“Shit!” Sibella said. “I’m sorry, but there’s a tree branch in the road, so I had to stop and I’ve got to drive around it now.” “It’s all right. I'm OK.” Jessica fumbled along the floor of the car, collecting the scattered items and placing them back into the purses before zipping them up again.

As she sat up with both purses intact again, something outside the car window drew her attention and she said, “Sibella, do you know what that is?”

“Yeah, we’re down by the docks. It’s a boat.” “Not the boat – that.” Jessica pointed. “What am I meant to be looking at?” “That light. It’s not there now, but it was before.” “Light?” “Yes, it looked like there was a light coming from that ship. But it kind of went out and then came back on, then went out again and then it was on again, but for a little longer.” “It’s probably some poor fisherman or deck hand waiting for the storm to clear up, so that he can go home. We’re the only ones who’d be willingly out in this.” “I suppose so, but it looked too small to be a beacon and it also looked like it was moving.” Sibella laughed, “Jessica, not everything is a mystery that has to be cleared up.”

“I suppose. Still, if I see it again, it might warrant investigating.” “You’re an interesting person, Jessica.” “Hardly, I’m just a small-town mystery writer.”

Both women laughed and then drove the rest of the way to Jessica’s house in silence. Jessica said “Tomorrow you’re speaking at the school, aren’t you?” “Yep.” “I’ll come and collect you then as I’m speaking there as well. Do you want to meet at Hill House at say about ten?” “Ten is perfect.”

Jessica placed Sibella’s purse on the car floor, took her own purse and umbrella, slung them over her arm, said goodbye and ran up the small path to her house.

By the time she had unlocked the door and let herself in. Jessica placed her umbrella into her umbrella stand, then deposited her purse and gloves on the coat rack. She wasn't soaked, but still wet enough to warrant a hot bath and dry clothes.

However, there was one thing that she had to do first.

Jessica walked into her small living room.

The TV was playing in the corner, but it had been muted, so it was very quiet. There was a plushy and long pink velvet couch that sat in the corner of the lounge room. A girl sat on the couch. What made this unusual was that the girl had been tied to the couch. Her body had been spread out, so it was lying horizontally on the couch and thick brown rope had been tied around her shoulders, upper and lower breasts, waist, thighs, knees and ankles. In turn each of these ropes had been tied around the couch and secured to the back of the couch, so she was unable to move from her position on the couch and was forced to lie down completely straight with her legs together.

The girl was wearing tight black jeans, black lace up ankle boots, a white tee and a faded denim jacket with a hood. A long yellow piece of terry cloth that doubled as the belt from Jessica’s bathrobe had been tied firmly between her teeth and it was holding in a wadded-up ball of white cloth. She had also clearly been struggling, but it was useless as her hands had been folded behind her back, so that her arms were in a parallel position with her left hand touching her right forearm and her right hand touching her left forearm. Her wrists had subsequently been tied together with several cinches and loops that were all knotted. The knots and ropes weren’t too tight, but they were firm.

When the girl saw Jessica she tried to scream, but nothing came out.

Jessica smiled.

“Hello, May. We meet again.”

[GermanTUGFriend]

[mention]Headmistress[/mention]

definetely an excellent and great new chapter of your story about Jessica and her "victim". It's great to read that May is back at Jessica's house, tied up and gagged of course. But how does she come there and who tied up and gagged her ? That'll be a very interesting part of the next chapter I suppose And maybe Jessica will buy some more bondage supplies for her "victim", I have something in mind about that

Best regards from Germany !

PS: The TV series with Jessica (Angela Lansbury) and all the other people from Cabot Cove was very popular here, too.

[Caesar73]

I already enjoyed the first Story very much - but I have the feeling I will enjoy the sequel even more [mention]Headmistress[/mention] and I am glad that your are writing a sequel.

[JulieG]

Once again an excellent start.

[Headmistress]

Thank you for the kind comments.

I' wrote the next chapter tonight, but it is somewhat long and needs a fair bit of editing, so I will edit and correct it tomorrow and then put it up tomorrow night.

[mrjones2009]

Looking forward to further installments of this story!

[Headmistress]

Jessica had to admit that despite the storm and bad weather, she was on a high. The book group reading had been great fun and having a new “kidnap victim” was fun too. It was all very thrilling.

However, the evening had been very taxing and tiring, too, and Jessica decided that it was time to begin to wrap up the evening. First, she would have a shower and change, then she would read through her notes to prepare for tomorrow’s reading and after that she’d go to bed.

Jessica briefly wondered if she should put May to bed first and then changed her mind. The couch was quite comfortable, so she’d be fine.

Jessica said, “May, normally I would put you to bed upstairs, but I can’t be bothered untying all of those as it will take a lot of time and then I would have to spend more time retying you, so you can stay down here tonight. I’ll get you a blanket, so you won’t be cold. In the meantime, I’ll turn the TV off.”

Jessica picked up the remote control from where it laid on the coffee table next to the couch and glanced at the screen. A show called “Murder, She Wrote” had just gone to the commercial.

Jessica shook her head. “May, can you believe the things that they invent for TV? I mean a small town like that going through all those things. It’s too fictional. As a writer, I have to say that it would be a stretch of my imagination to write things like that. Anyway, are we agreed?”

Jessica turned off the TV, put the control down on the coffee table, then leaned over and untied the dressing gown cord around May’s mouth. May immediately spat out the sodden wad of white cloth.

“You crazy b***h! Let me go!”

“You said something like that the first time, you know? Not much changes with time, does it?”

“I’ve never even been here before! You’re making things up!”

“Well, there’s a good reason that you don’t remember, but none of that matters now. Now, here’s the deal. I’m going to have a bath and then do some preparation for tomorrow. I’m quite happy to leave the gag out until you go to bed. But you have to be quiet, behave, and promise not to struggle. If you can promise me that, then I promise not to put your gag back in until I go to bed. Keep in mind that I can hear you from upstairs and from here, so it would be a good idea if you kept that promise.”

“You b***h! You’re insane! I’m not staying here!”

“I’m afraid you are, May. At least, until I finish the research for my latest book. I explained all of that to you before. Besides, look at the situation you’re in. You won’t be able to escape and before I go to bed I’m going to give you a sedative. But, since you obviously don’t want to be quiet, this means that the gag goes back in.”

Upon hearing this, May broke out in a string of swear words that would have shocked any sailor.

Jessica shook her head, went out into the hall and took three silk scarves that she had left draped on the coat rack next to her purse and gloves.

Bringing them back into the lounge room, she approached May who tried to scream, but was promptly silenced by Jessica wadding up one of the scarves and stuffing it straight into her mouth before tying a thick knot in the second one. She forced the knot of this scarf in between May’s teeth and tied this scarf tightly behind the back of May’s head before folding the third one into a long strip, putting it over May’s mouth and tied it off at the back of her head tightly.
She was pleased to see that the three scarves silenced May and made a very effective gag. It was much better than the last one. She would have to make a note of that for her novel.

May started to struggle, but had very limited movement because of all the ropes binding her.

Jessica decided to ignore her for the time being and went upstairs to have a hot bath.

For the next thirty minutes, Jessica soaked herself in a comforting warm bath that was filled with bubble bath and delicious soap. She also washed her hair thoroughly.

After she got out, she dressed in one of her favorite outfits – a white T-shirt, then a pale blue oversized fisherman’s sweater that was made out of thick knitted material that was warm and cosy. Under that, she donned slightly tattered and baggy jeans that were a faded medium blue colour. They were old, but perfectly worn in and comfortable. She also donned thick white socks and a pair of flat brown leather lace up boots that she wore for fishing. After brushing and drying her hair, she put on her watch and returned downstairs.

Retrieving her purse from the hall, she went into the kitchen where her computer was all set up on the wooden counter. Jessica had always liked writing in the kitchen as it was her favorite spot in the house and had set up all her equipment as a makeshift writer’s nook that she used continuously. As a result, most of the counter was usually covered with pens, notes, books and her computer.

She placed her purse on the table, plucked the wad of notes that she had written out of it along with the case that held her glasses, opened them and put them on, then smoothed out the pages and started to read.

That was when she stopped. Something was peculiar here. For starters, all the words were funny and blurry. The computer font didn’t look like the one she usually used. Secondly, the notes didn’t seem to resemble the ones she had written.

Jessica wondered if she had been more tired then she thought. She took her glasses off and all the words suddenly came back into focus. Now, she could make out the words at the top of the page:

“Love’s Deadly Desire – Chapter 1”.

She flicked through a few of the pages and saw the lines:

”Fiona wandered down the lonely dark road, wondering why on earth she hadn’t accepted a lift back to the manor. What would she find there?”

Jessica groaned. Then she took a look at the glasses in her hand. While the glasses case was the same as hers and the glasses looked similar, the frames were a slightly different colour and shape, so they were obviously a different prescription.”

That was when a sneaking suspicion came over Jessica. She turned the purse over and shook it out. Several items tumbled out onto the kitchen table. While about half of the items belonged to her, the other half didn’t. Her call phone, wallet and a few other items were missing while a few items that weren’t hers such as a lipstick and a tube of black eyeliner, a fancy silver pen and loose coins and cash were among her things.

Jessica thought she knew now what had happened. When Sibella had stopped and swerved so abruptly, everything in their purses had spilled out. Because it had been so dark, Jessica had picked up things and put them back into the purses judging on how they felt. Their purses were very similar, too, which meant that she had Sibella’s notes, her glasses and so on, which meant that Sibella must have hers and they’d ended up with part of each other’s notes and possessions.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem for Jessica, but they had a reading tomorrow and Jessica hadn’t reviewed her notes. Furthermore, she needed her wallet and the other items she’d lost.

That was when a thought came to Jessica. She got up and drew the kitchen curtains aside and looked out of the window. The storm had quietened and from what she could see, the rain and wind had stopped. What was it that Sibella had said? She’d said she was staying at number one at Hill House.

Jessica thought quickly. She didn’t own a car, but she did have her bicycle. She also knew all the shortcuts around Cabot Cove. If she took her bicycle and used all of the shortcuts, she could make it to Sibella’s room in roughly forty minutes, perhaps a little quicker, if she didn’t delay or waste time.

Jessica glaned at her watch. Almost midnight. It was late, but not that late. Sibella was a night owl and frequently stayed up late, so the chances were that she’d still be up. With that, Jessica made up her mind.

She made her way out into the hall, went to the hall closet, took out a blanket and then went upstairs to her bathroom where she retrieved a small syringe filled with a clear liquid, and a clean sterilised cloth that had been pre-prepared earlier that afternoon and slipped back into the lounge room.

May’s eyes widened when she saw Jessica with the syringe.

Jessica said, “Relax, May. This is a mild sedative and it won’t harm you. I’ve just got to go out for an hour or so. This is just to ensure that you stay calm. It will make you feel groggy, but nothing more. I’ll be back soon.”

Jessica turned May over slightly, so she could roll down the sleeve of her denim jacket, carefully cleaned her skin with the cloth and then injected her with the syringe. After a couple of seconds, Jessica felt May’s muscles relax and knew that the drugs were taking effect. One less thing to worry about.

Jessica stealthily slipped back into the kitchen where she gathered all of the items on the kitchen counter and put them back into her purse.

She carried the purse out, grabbing her leather gloves on the way. While the storm had stopped, it was still very cold, so she had decided to wear her gloves on her bicycle to keep from getting too cold.

Jessica wheeled her bicycle out of its storage spot in her garage, slipped her gloves on, put her purse in her bicycle’s basket and rode down the little path in front of her house, turned left and went on her way. She left just as her hall clock struck midnight.

Cabot Cove now looked very strange in the night. The storm had been almost like a living thing with all the noise and wind and roaring, but now that it had stopped, there was no sign of life. Jessica’s only companion on her journey was the string of round street lights that ran along both sides of the road. Even then, they looked foggy because the rain had left a light mist on them.

Every house was deserted and dark with the lights turned off, and, in comparison, the road was slick and shiny with a glossy surface that reflected everything back at her. With a slight shiver, Jessica thought of Sibella’s story. She’d talked about a town much like this one and her gift for atmosphere had been the perfect setting for dread. While Jessica didn’t scare easily, Cabot Cove looked very spooky right now.

As Jessica rode down the empty roads and turned down eerily silent street corners, she thought that she was going to be glad when she got back home. Cabot Cove was just a bit too quiet for her liking right now.

Jessica turned left and that was when she felt her bicycle wheels hit wood and she checked her watch. She had made decent time – she had now arrived at the docks, which meant she was about halfway to Hill House.

The Cabot Cove docks begun with a long wooden path, which Jessica was now on. After that, you went over a curved covered bridge where the docks then spread out. They were made up of several fishing shops, restaurants and interwoven wooden decks, which were woven together to create multiple intercrossing paths. Several of these paths split off from the docks and branched off into individual piers where all the boats were docked. Large wooden ropes and mooring equipment were wrapped around each pier post that everyone used. At the beginning of each pier, there were large wooden posts that had white numbers painted on each one – one to ten.

While there was only one route - the covered bridge that you could take into the left side of the docks, there were multiple routes you could take through the docks and at the right side of the docks, you could either opt to take another covered bridge to leave, or to exit into the woods and come out there, or to take a rugged dirt path back to the road.

The route that Jessica had chosen was to go off the wooden path and turn right, which would lead her to the shops. She would then thread her way through the shops and restaurants using a series of S bends, then turn right and ride from Pier 1 to Pier Ten before leaving via the woods. This was because this was the quickest route and the woods had a path that came out at the back of Hill House, which was where Jessica wanted to be.

As Jessica pedalled along the rough wooden boards, she suddenly felt something thump along the side of one of her bicycle wheels and then her back bicycle wheel abruptly made a funny squeaking noise that was all too familiar.

“Oh, no, not now!” Jessica groaned. She stopped and got off the bicycle. The good news was that Jessica was a cautious person who believed in always being prepared. This was why the basket of her bike was always equipped with an “emergency” kit, consisting of a repair kit, a drink bottle, fresh sandwiches, a torch and a few other essentials.

Reaching into the basket, she took out the torch and the box that contained the repair kit. When she shone the torch onto her bicycle, her worst suspicions were confirmed. A rusty nail was lodged into the back tyre of her bicycle that obviously had come off one of the dock boards.

Jessica carefully removed the nail, tossed it into the bicycle basket and just as she took the bicycle pump out of the repair kit to start mending the tyre, something caught her attention.

Jessica had stopped at Pier Three. What had caught her attention was that one of the smaller fishing boats that sat at the end of the dock that had the number five painted on the pole at the other end. Pier Five.

She hadn’t been sure before because of the storm, but now she could see it clearly from where she was positioned. Light was coming out of two of the little portholes that made up the boat’s cabin. It was a nice boat with a white squarish top with a smart navy stripe painted around the top, portholes and a curved dark wood hull. Not too large and not too small. Jessica had been on this kind of boat before. They were usually used as fishing boats, but were also equipped with offices and modest living spaces with beds and utilities. Most of the Cabot Cove fishermen and sailors opted for this kind of boat because it was where they could live and fish if needed to.

However, nobody in their right mind would be attempting to fish on a night like this. If someone was there, it might be to work, but even then, it was very late. Jessica’s gut started to tingle with a familiar feeling.

Another mystery might be at work here. And even if there was no mystery and Sibella was right, and it was some poor soul working late then it was very possible that if someone was there, they might be able to give her a lift or even to repair her bicycle tyre. Most of the dock people owned small trucks to carry their equipment, so they might even be able to put her bicycle into their truck if they could give her a lift.

From her position, Jessica could see that there were three lights and two of them seemed to be steady while another one was moving.

Jessica decided to abandon her bicycle for the time being. She grabbed her torch and made her way from Pier Three to Pier Five.

The wind and rain had turned into a steady, but icy breeze that made Jessica very glad that she’d worn her warmest sweater and her gloves.

When she reached Pier Five, she noticed that there was a payphone posted next to the numbered post like a silent and stern sentry. The silvery phone box and the black phone receiver were somewhat comforting. Jessica was the sort of person who always kept loose change in her pockets, so she reasoned that she could always use the phone to possibly call someone if the boat turned out to be a dud.

She carefully hurried down the long pier, feet pattering along the rough boards, using the torch as a beacon to light the way.

When she reached the boat, she saw that the tiny drawbridge that people used to board the boat was down. So, someone was there!

Jessica carefully stepped onto the drawbridge and walked across it to board the boat.
She had been right – there were definitely lights there and now she could hear faint voices too.
Relieved, she approached the door of the boat’s cabin where the light was coming from. The door was slightly ajar and she could see light coming from it and from the two portholes that made up one side of the boat’s windows.

That was when she heard the words, “Jessica Fletcher…investigation…never know what might happen…” The voice that spoke was also shockingly familiar. In fact, it was the voice of a writer who knew how to create atmosphere.

She was startled at hearing her own name. Carefully, Jessica pushed the door open to peek inside.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at what she saw.

Sibella Stone was standing at a small desk in the middle of the boat’s main cabin. Several cardboard cartons had been scattered along the tabletop and the floor of the cabin, so it was rather messy.

Jessica leaned in to try and hear better and realised that the steady lights were coming from 2 lamps on the office walls that had been switched on and the third was a torch, which explained why it was moving.

Sibella had changed out of her previous outfit and was now wearing a black high-necked jumper with tight black jeans and flat black boots. The only thing she hadn’t changed was her burgundy leather gloves. Furthermore, she wasn’t alone.

Eddie, a quiet boy that Jessica had used to teach was standing next to Sibella and he was the one holding the torch. He was a good-looking boy in his early twenties with soft brown eyes, floppy chestnut hair and was frequently tanned as he worked on the docks. He was dressed in his usual outfit which was an “uniform” of a checked flannel shirt over a plain T-shirt and faded jeans over black fisherman boots. Like Sibella, he wore gloves, but these were padded black ones that were more suited to working, fishing and heavy lifting. Jessica remembered him as being a shy sensitive boy who seemed to dream a lot. He was quiet, but had always been nice and polite.

The third and last person in the room was a heavyset boy who looked to be about Eddie’s age, but much larger and more muscular. Jessica had no idea who he was, but she’d seen him around town.

He was usually very quiet and sort of sullen. He’d never spoken to her despite her trying to be friendly once or twice. He had longish black hair, some stubble on his chin and he was dressed all in black too, but in dirty black jeans, scruffy boots, a black T-shirt and a black hooded jacket that had been zipped up all the way. When he turned slightly into the light, Jessica noticed that he had very dark brown eyes, rugged features and full lips so he looked slightly roughish. If she had been writing a book about him, she would have said that he looked like a modern-day pirate.

He was the first one to speak.

“I don’t know why we had to move this stuff tonight. Because of that Fletcher dame, innit?”

“No! Well, yes. Sort of.” That was Sibella. “We were in the car when she noticed the lights. I did my best to throw her off, but she was talking about investigating. There was also that other incident tonight. That’s why I called everyone for a meeting.”

“Why do you think she was going to investigate?”

“You know her reputation. Anyway, we’re both writers. I know how her mind works.”

Eddie spoke up, “Mrs. Fletcher seems okay. Anyway, we’ll be cleared out in a few hours, so there won’t be anything left.”

Sibella ran a hand through her blonde hair. “True. I suppose we were fortunate.”

Jessica’s skin was tingling. She had no idea what was going on, but this was a world-class mystery. However, she couldn’t handle this alone. Whatever this was, this was the tip of the iceberg. Her first thought was her cell phone, but then she remembered that her phone was in Sibella’s purse.

That meant she would have to sneak back to the pay phone and use her spare change to call Sheriff Amos to detain and arrest all of them.

Keeping a careful watch on the three conspirators, Jessica started slowly walking backwards intending to deboard the boat.

That was her undoing.

Jessica was paying so much attention to what was in front of her, she didn’t notice what was behind her until a gloved hand clamped over her mouth and something cold and hard gently pressed against her neck.

“Hello, Mrs. Fletcher. I see you’ve uncovered our little operation. Put your hands up and come back to the boat. Let’s go quickly and quietly and there won’t be any problems. Agreed?”

Jessica knew who it was immediately. She’d heard this voice very recently too.

The hand slipped slightly from Jessica’s mouth, awaiting her answer.
“Yes, Hannah, I agree,” Jessica said quietly.

Sibella, Eddie and the other boy were all extremely surprised when Jessica was marched back onto the boat by Hannah. Then they were furious.

“What the hell?” Sibella hissed. “I caught her snooping around the boat. It turns out you were right about her wanting to investigate.”

To get Jessica on the boat, Hannah had slipped her hand away from Jessica’s mouth, but used her right hand to take a tight hold on the back of her sweater to force her onto the boat while using her left hand to keep the gun on her. Like the others, Hannah had changed. Her outfit was a loose black leather jacket over a black T-shirt, black straight-legged jeans, plain black flat boots with laces and black socks.

Keeping her hands raised, Jessica tried to speak. She used the gentle, but firm voice that she usually used when she tried to reason with people.

“Please…I’ve got no idea what’s going here. But if you do anything to me, you’ll be in trouble.”

Desperation made Jessica decide to boldly bluff,

“I’ve called the police.”

“Frisk her,” Sibella ordered. The bigger boy went over to Jessica and roughly ran his hands over her sweater and pants. “Nothing.”

“So what did you call the police with as you don’t seem to have a cell phone.”

“From the phone box up there.”

To Jessica’s shock, Sibella laughed. “No, you didn’t.”

Jessica had no idea how Sibella knew that she was lying, but she tried to stay confident.

“Jessica, the pay phone up there has been out of order for several days. I should know. I tried to use it tonight when I was retrieving Hannah’s car. Fortunately, I found two cell phones in my purse. If you’d tried to use it, you’d have noticed that there’s an out of order sign on it.”

Jessica felt her heart sink, but she tried to be brave.

“Sheriff Amos will catch you.”

“Really? We’ve been at this for several months and that old fool hasn’t got a clue, but that’s because you solve all his cases for him. Well, no more.”

Sibella looked at the biggest boy. “Duane. Do it.”

In shock, Jessica suddenly found her wrists being grabbed by Duane and before she knew it, her arms were being forced behind her back. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to mean business.

Hannah let go of her sweater, but kept the gun on her while Eddie put the torch on the floor and moved over to Jessica. When he tried to grab her ankles, Jessica tried to kick out at him.

In retaliation, Hannah moved over and placed one booted foot on top of Jessica’s shoes using her weight to pin her feet down. It didn’t hurt but there was no chance that Jessica could kick out now.

Sibella walked over to one of the lockers that lined the cabin walls and with dread, Jessica saw her open one and pull out a box filled with ropes.

“The good thing about having a fishing boat is that there’s always rope handy.”

Jessica tilted her chin up and tried to look defiant, but she was trembling inside as Sibella returned to her and tied her ankles together with tight loops and cinches that were then knotted off while Eddie kept hold of her ankles. When Jessica’s ankles had been secured, Hannah removed her boot and Eddie scooped Jessica’s legs up. He and Duane carefully lowered Jessica to the floor into a sitting position while Duane kept hold of Jessica’s arms.

Sibella went behind Jessica and started tying Jessica’s hands behind her back pulling the rope tight as she did so. Unfortunately for Jessica, while she had done a lot of research on tying people up and was good at tying them up the same could not be said about her escaping skills. This was because Jessica was arrogant and she had never dreamed that SHE would be the one tied up.

After a couple of minutes, Jessica’s wrists had been tied together palm to palm behind her back and she felt completely helpless. She tried not to be tense, but she felt herself go rigid when Sibella tied two more loops of rope above and below her knees and then one more loop secured her thighs. Finally, her elbows were pulled back and tied together behind her. Sibella’s tying was quick and efficient and Jessica knew that she was now tied up very well.

Sibella went back to the desk, took a rag and a clear roll of tape out of it and approached Jessica.

What Jessica said next was a complete cliché, but she couldn’t help herself.

“You’ll never get away with this!”

As Sibella knelt down next to her, she noticed that even though Sibella’s hair and clothes were slightly wet, her eyeliner was still perfect. But what drew her attention this time was that Sibella’s eyes were cold and dark.

“I’ll give you some advice, Jessica. When people tell you something doesn’t need investigating, maybe you should listen and mind your own business.”

As Sibella stuffed the greasy rag into Jessica’s mouth with her gloved hand and started winding the tape around her head in neat and precise circles, Jessica gloomily had to admit to herself that the advice was very appropriate given the situation.

What had she gotten herself into?

[GermanTUGFriend]

[mention]Headmistress[/mention]

Congratulations - the new chapter is really a great one again. It's interesting how things are changing for Jessica at this point....

[Caesar73]

What a nice twist in this Chapter - I surely did not expect that ... looks like Jessica is into trouble herself - and she left MAy tied up and gagged at her house. I wonder how Jessica will wiggle herself out of that one

[Headmistress]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I' wrote Chapter 4 tonight, but it needs editing, so I will edit and correct it tomorrow and then put it up tomorrow night.

[Caesar73]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I' wrote Chapter 4 tonight, but it needs editing, so I will edit and correct it tomorrow and then put it up tomorrow night.

No rush [mention]Headmistress[/mention] I am sure it will be a great chapter!

[Trammel]

I love this story. Looking forward to the next chapter. Nice twist. Should have paid more attention to escape methods

[Headmistress]

About one hour later….

It was safe to say that Jessica was miserable.

After Sibella had tied her up, she had produced a gun from the waistband of her jeans and forced Jessica to hop through the little wooden door at the back of the office and into the next room of the boat while the other three had occupied themselves with moving the cartons out of the office to another location. Jessica had no idea what they were doing, but she could hear them walking in and out every now and then.

This room was the living area of the boat and had been designed as a long and rectangular room with three main functions.

First, you went through the little wooden door. There was a kitchenette at this end of the room that was equipped with a basic stove, a sink, a few cupboards that held eating utensils, plates and the usual things that you would find in a kitchen and some basic food that you would use to cook with.

This area was made up of all white surfaces with warm-toned wooden cupboards apart from the sink and fridge that were gleaming silvery metal. There was even a small toaster and coffee pot next to the sink, so as far as basic kitchens went, it was
pretty nice and a more than sustainable set-up.

Next to that, there was the dining area where there were 2 identical eating areas. These consisted of 2 large booth-type curved seats that sat on opposite walls that were made out of soft brown wood. They were padded with red leather and looked rather like something that you would find in an 80’s diner. Each booth could seat about 4 or 5 people and sat directly opposite each other. If two groups of people had been sitting there, they would have been directly facing each other These booths surrounded 2 identical curved wooden tables that were for dining and were both supported by one large round leg that sat directly under the middle of the tables. Because these tables were on a boat, they had been bolted to the floor, which was the standard practice.

Next to that, there was a bunk bed that looked rather comfortable. It was made out of the same wood as the tables with a ladder at the end and was made up with with white linen and a checked quilt. That was where the room ended.

Sibella had then forced Jessica to sit under one of the two wooden tables with her legs stretched out in front of her and her back up against the leg of one of the tables. Then she’d gone to Eddie and Duane and asked them to give her the thick leather belts that they wore around the waists of their jeans. They had been surprised, but did as they were told.

Sibella had then returned to Jessica. One belt had been wrapped around the leg of the table that Jessica sat under and then pulled tight and buckled firmly under her breasts, so that Jessica’s back had been forced up against the table. The other one had been threaded in between her ankles, buckled and then the loose end of that belt had been tied to the leg of the opposite table.

Because of this, Jessica was now sitting in an extremely uncomfortable rigid and stretched out position and she couldn’t move. She wished that she had been tied up on the bed instead as it looked considerably more comfortable, but her comfort was clearly not the number one priority for Sibella. The rag that she had been gagged with filled her whole mouth and it tasted awful as it didn’t seem to be very clean. She’d tried screaming several times, but the tape Sibella had would around her head was so tight that it stopped her from moving or dislodging the rag and she couldn’t make a sound.

Yes, it was safe to say that Jessica felt completely humiliated and helpless. She had absolutely no control at all over this situation and she didn’t like it.

Jessica had dealt with groups of people and bad characters before. There had been Carla Thyssen, Justin Hunnicut and the Cambodian who had been art dealers…well, thieves really. Maggie and Julian whose love had resulted in tragic consequences. Mr. Keramides and his gang who’d set up an illegal casino in Cabot Cove. The list went on and on.

But what was different this time was that the law had been on her side all those times. They’d always been there to take care of her. They criminals that she had caught had all slipped up leaving her clues to uncover, so she had always known what she was getting into.

However, these people were different. They were professionals. She hadn’t even known that they were working together until tonight. She didn’t even know that much about them apart from the fact that they were now transporting some “goods”, which were obviously illegal and their business obviously required a boat.

Jessica didn’t even know how this group had formed or come together.

Sibella was obviously the leader, which made sense as she was the oldest one, the cleverest and by far the most cunning one. Duane was obviously the muscle while Eddie was a nice boy, but a follower. Jessica did know that Eddie and Duane both worked at the docks, so it was possible that one of them had recruited the other or both of them had been recruited at the same time somewhere along the way. Hannah – Jessica wasn’t sure where she fit in. It was an odd group to say the least as none of them had the same social circles.

Jessica wriggled against the ropes trying to loosen them. She didn’t know how long she had been tied up for as she couldn’t see her watch, but she guessed that it had been about an hour. However, she knew that it was no use struggling. Sibella had done an excellent job tying her up – in fact, her tying job could easily have rivalled one of her own. Her arms remained firmly pinned behind her back and the ropes were as tight as ever. To make things worse, her gloves stopped her from picking at any of them and she couldn’t reach any of the knots. The belt wrapped around her chest restricted her movement even more.

From the few whispers of conversation that she could hear, she knew that the other three had now finished moved all of the boxes. To where? She had no idea. Sibella had been left behind to guard her, but even if she’d gone with them, Jessica wasn’t going anywhere for the time being. Sibella had come in and checked on her from time to time, but had said nothing.

That was when Sibella came in once again. Without saying a word, she went to the kitchenette, removed a glass from one of the cupboards and filled it with water from the tap above the sink. Then she came over and knelt down next to Jessica.

“I’ve decided to give you some water. But if you scream or make any fuss that gag goes back in. Do you understand?”

Jessica nodded wearily. It suddenly struck her that Sibella was talking in exactly the same tone that she used herself when she tied people up. Slightly patronising, controlling and smug.

Sibella removed one of her gloves, so she could remove the tape that was wrapped around Jessica’s head. When she had finished, a grateful Jessica spat out the disgusting rag and Sibella held up the glass of water, so she could drink from it. Jessica took several gulps of water which made her feel a little better. When she'd had enough, Sibella removed the glass and rinsed it in the sink before putting it in the drying rack and returning to kneel next to Jessica again.

Sibella said, “Now, Jessica, this is how things are going to go. We need you out of the way for tonight, so we can clean up and remove all of the evidence of our wrongdoings. So, Eddie, Duane and Hannah are going to take care of that for me while you and I will go back to your house for the night. Unfortunately, you can’t be trusted. So, you’ll have to be tied up and gagged when I take you back and until we decide what to do with you.”

That was when Jessica suddenly remembered the second situation that she was dealing with. She’d forgotten all about it because she had been so caught up with what had happened to her.

“Sibella, you can’t go to my house. I’ll go anywhere with you, just not there!” Jessica said desperately.

Sibella’s black lined eyes narrowed. “You’re not giving the orders here, Jessica.”

“It’s not that. You just can’t go there tonight, that’s all.”

“Let’s be realistic, Jessica. I’m staying at a motel. Eddie and Duane live at the docks, which are full of people during the day and Hannah lives with her boyfriend. That only leaves one place to go. Now, enough. The first thing I want to know is where your bicycle is. We’re going to need to go out and get it. We can’t have anyone finding evidence of where you might be.”

It was a stupid thing to do, but Jessica stubbornly clamped her lips shut. The bicycle was the only clue to her whereabouts and she didn’t want them to take it away.

Sibella raised her eyebrows. “All right. I see you need some persuading.”

She returned to the fridge and removed an ice tray from it that was filled with ice cubes. She took several out and approached Jessica. Without warning, she pulled up Jessica’s sweater and T-shirt to reveal her black lace bra. Taking hold of the left cup of the bra, she pulled it open and put all of the ice cubes inside it, then let go of the bra, so all the cubes were now trapped in the cup. Jessica screamed in shock as the cold little cubes chilled her breast and nipple, so Sibella immediately covered her mouth with her gloved hand.

By the time all of the cubes had melted, Jessica’s bra cup was soaked and she felt chilly and miserable.

“Now, are you going to tell me or do I need to do this again?”

“Pier Three”

“Very good.”

That was when the other three members of the group entered the room. Hannah spoke first. “We’re ready”. With dread, Jessica noticed that she was carrying one of the pieces of Sibella’s luggage – a medium sized grey suitcase that Jessica had seen in the backseat of her car earlier.

She handed it to Sibella who opened it. To her shock, Jessica saw an assortment of gags, rope, packets of cable ties and handcuffs and several other things related to bondage had also been packed into the suitcase.

Sibella looked at her. “Don’t look so surprised. I write thrillers, remember, and I do my research.”

She removed something from the bag. It was a ball gag, but unlike your standard ball gag this was a large black ball that was fastened to the inside of a red leather strap instead of having the strap running through it. She said, “Open your mouth. Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

Once again, Jessica’s stubbornness got the better of her and she clamped her mouth shut. Sibella promptly pinched her nose closed. Jessica tried to hold her breath, but couldn’t and when she finally opened her mouth, Sibella shoved the ball into her mouth, then tightly buckled the strap at the back of her head.

“I’m going to untie you now, Jessica, so that we can move you, but Hannah is going to have her gun on you, so don’t try anything.”

Hannah withdrew her own gun and kept it on Jessica while Sibella removed the two belts binding her to the tables and then untied her wrists and arms. As soon as Jessica was free, Sibella positioned her wrists into a crossed position behind her back and secured them with one of the cable ties from the suitcase.

She then set about untying Jessica’s legs, but when they were free, Duane, Eddie and Hannah watched in puzzlement as she forced Jessica to lie face down on the floor, crossed her legs behind her and secured them with another cable tie, so that Jessica was now in a standard cross-legged position, but with her legs behind her instead of in front of her.

Eddie spoke first. “How’s she going to be able to walk to your car if she’s tied like that?”

“She’s not going to. If we let her walk, she’d try and run for it.”

Jessica bit down on the gag in her mouth. That had been exactly what she’d been going to try and do, but she should have known that Sibella wasn’t going to take risks. What worried her was what was going to happen was when Sibella found out what was at her house. But with the gag in her mouth and tied as she was, she was now completely helpless to stop her.

Sibella left the room and returned with a thick round piece of wood that was about the length of a broom handle and twice as thick.

When Jessica saw it, she knew what Sibella had in mind. She’d seen something like it in a movie, but she’d never actually tried it herself.

Sibella knelt down on the floor and carefully threaded the piece of wood between Jessica’s tied arms and legs, so that her ankles and wrists were now secured to the stick.

“There you go. Now, Eddie and Duane, what you do is to pick up one end each and you can carry her to my car. Hannah, Jessica’s bicycle is at Pier Three. Go and retrieve it and then after we get her into the car, you three can take our van and finish the job.”

Eddie and Duane obediently picked up one end of the wood and carried Jessica out between them while Sibella followed.
Jessica was so humiliated that she felt her face going red. She felt incredibly helpless being carried against her will.

Furthermore, dangling from the piece of wood like this was uncomfortable as she constantly swayed up, down, left and right. She was just glad that nobody was around to see her. The ball inside her mouth stopped her from making any noise.

Ten minutes later, Jessica was even more uncomfortable.

Because Sibella’s backseat and boot were full, she’d ordered Eddie and Duane to lie Jessica down on the floor between the front and back seats. Jessica was petite, but the space was slightly too small for her, so Eddie and Duane had “solved the problem” by literally and forcibly wedging her into the space. She couldn’t move at all. Sibella had then produced another cable tie and secured her ankles to her wrists with it, so she was now in an awkward and uncomfortable hogtie.

The other three had taken the piece of wood and left while Sibella had covered Jessica with a small plaid blanket from the car's boot and told her to sit tight.

Now, they were driving away into the night…..

[Caesar73]

That has been a most intriuging chapter To see Jessica on the the recieving end of bondage, not in control, but impotent to do anything. I have to admit, I don´t pity her much, after all was she had done to May. It will be interessting to see, how Sibella will react, when they will find May tied up and gagged at Jessica´s Place

[Trammel]

Intriguing, suspenseful. I love it. Great descriptions of bondage too. You are doing great. Looking forward to what happens next!

[JulieG]

[mention]Headmistress[/mention] this is such a great story. So much inner thoughts of Jessica and lovely descriptions of her ties. I'm wondering what the reaction at Jessica's house will be.

[Caesar73]

I'm wondering what the reaction at Jessica's house will be.

Me too That will be really interessting I think

[Headmistress]

Fifteen minutes later….

Jessica felt the car come to a stop and then the engine was switched off.

The next thing she heard was the car door opening and closing and then the door next to her was opened and she felt a rush of cool air against her face before the blanket was pulled off and Sibella said, “Home sweet home.”

Sibella then produced a small penknife and cut through the cable tie that hogtied Jessica before cutting through the one that bound her ankles.

Eddie and Duane had wedged Jessica in so tightly that Sibella had to struggle to ease Jessica off the floor, but she finally managed it after a few tries. When she had completely extracted Jessica from the floor of the car, she pulled her out of the car and stood her up. Sibella hooked one arm through Jessica’s left elbow while she locked the car and took a quick look around to make sure that nobody was about.

Jessica tensed, ready to make a run for it, but Sibella withdrew her gun and pressed it against her cheek. “Don’t even think about it.” Jessica froze.

There was nothing that Jessica could do as Sibella forcibly marched her though the gate that sat in the middle of her picket fence and up the tiny path that led to her front door. Looking around, Sibella reached under a small flowerpot next to Jessica’s front door and withdrew her spare key. “I guess it’s lucky that I know where you keep your spare key.” Jessica made a muffled protest into her gag, so Sibella clamped her gloved hand over Jessica’s mouth. “Not a sound.”

Sibella unlocked the front door and dragged Jessica inside.

Jessica had been hoping that Sibella would take her to the kitchen or upstairs. Anywhere apart from the lounge room would have suited her just fine. However, to Jessica’s horror, Sibella marched her straight down the hall and into the lounge room. “I have to say, Jessica, you’ve caused us a lot of trouble with your interfering and…”

That was when Sibella switched on the lounge room light.

After Jessica had given May her sedative, May had fallen into a kind of restless sleep where she had been drifting in and out of a dreamlike state. However, she had jerked awake when she had heard someone talking. She had assumed that Jessica must have come back like she had promised.

May got the shock of her life when she realised what was in front of her. She really had not expected to see Sibella Stone standing in the lounge room with a gun in her hand. Nor did she expect to see Jessica Fletcher standing next to her with her hands bound behind her back with a cable tie and a ball gag in her mouth and a defeated look on her face.

May had met Sibella on several occasions and she knew who she was and that she was also a writer, so her first thought was that Sibella must be part of whatever game Jessica was playing or that she was in on the book research too. Did that mean the two of them were going to continue to tie her up? The thought of it made her scream into her gag.

However, the look of incredulous shock on Sibella’s face made it clear that she was every bit as surprised to see May as May was to see her.

“What is this?! What’s going on?”

Jessica made a muffled protest into her gag. May had no idea what she was saying, but one thing she noticed was that Jessica looked worried. That worried her too. Jessica wasn’t the type of person to lose confidence easily, so it was clear that there was something very odd going on here.

Sibella said, “All right, Jessica, you sit over there.” She marched Jessica over to the armchair that sat directly next to the couch and roughly shoved her into it, so Jessica now sat on May’s left.

Sibella then came over and leaned over May, so that she could untie the scarves around her mouth before removing the wadded-up scarf from her mouth. May’s mouth was quite dry from the gag and also from the sedative, so she found it hard to talk. Sibella left and returned with a glass of water from the kitchen. “Drink this.”

She held the glass up to May’s mouth and May drank it in several gulps. She still felt groggy from the sedative, but the water cleared her head slightly.

Sibella then sat down on the armchair opposite Jessica, so that the three of them were now seated in a triangle.

Sibella said, “Well, May. You’re in the company of two writers now. So, let’s hear it. How did you end up here? Must be quite a story.” Upon hearing this, Jessica made several protests into her gag. “It’s not your turn to speak yet, Jessica. Now, I want to hear this.”

May had no idea what was going on, but being tied up as she was and the gun in Sibella’s hand made it clear that she had no choice but to tell her story. So, she said, “Well, it all started when….”

The night that May was kidnapped…..

It was 8pm and May Browning was sullenly walking down the footpath in Cabot Cove that led to the town library.

May was feeling sulky because the day before Jessica Fletcher had caught her stealing apples from the orchard. Jessica had then insisted on telling her mother. Her mother had been going away for the weekend and May had been planning to spend it relaxing and chilling out.

However, when Jessica had told on her, May’s mother had asked her what a suitable punishment would be. Jessica being Jessica had been only too glad to interfere and to put her two cents in.
Jessica had insisted that May meet her in the library the next night to help her set up for a book group, which was being held the night after.

It was storming, just as it had been for almost the whole week, so the roads were drenched and slick. The trees looked dark and gloomy against the black sky and the wind was extremely frosty. The last thing May wanted to do was spend the night at the library, but she had to now, thanks to Jessica.

May had worn warm clothes to account for the weather, but the chill and cold had already seeped through them, so she was already shivering.

She hated spending time with Jessica and to her it felt like Jessica knew that, which was probably why she had been so insistent that May come and work with her.

When May finally arrived at the library, she wasn’t in the best mood and it was not improved by the sight of Jessica waiting for her at the front entrance. Like her. Jessica was dressed casually in a pair of jeans, a black sweatshirt, brown leather gloves and a red bandanna tied around her neck.

When May went up to the front door, she saw a poster of a smiling blonde woman had been taped to the front door. Below the picture, the poster had two lines of text written in a fancy printed font, “Sibella Stone is hosting the Cabot Cove Book Group tomorrow night from 6pm to 9pm. Please RSVP to reverse your place. Cheese, wine and light refreshments will be provided.”

To May’s surprise, Jessica was unlocking the front door of the library with a small golden key. “Where’s the librarian?” “She’s not coming. It’s her day off today. We’ll be doing the majority of the setting up. Don’t worry. It’s quite easy and I’ll tell you what to do, so it won’t take very long.”

May groaned inside. She had been hoping that the librarian would be around because she was quite good company and good fun at times. Sometimes she even put new books aside for May. Now it looked as if she was stuck with Jessica who would no doubt work her hard.

They entered the library in silence where Jessica relocked the front door behind them. That was when May noticed that Jessica had a large black duffel bag slung over her right shoulder.

The front door of the library opened into a small lobby where there were two rows of wooden racks set against the wall to place your possessions on. Jessica placed her bag onto one of the racks and said. “Do you have anything that you want to leave here?” “No.” “Perfect, we’re all good to go, then. OK, let’s get started.”

Jessica promptly hit the row of light switches next to the lobby door and the library lit up with several large pools of light all at once, so that it was suddenly much brighter.

“May, just so that you know, we’re holding the book group in that area over there near the fireplace. There are folding chairs stacked up against the wall over there and we’re having about forty people tomorrow night, but a few extras always turn up, so could you please get about fifty chairs and put them out in rows?”

“Yes, ma’am,” May said sullenly.

She dragged her feet all the way over to the other side of the library where the chairs sat waiting.

She began unstacking them and unfolded them before setting them out into several neat and square rows. May was so busy with what she was doing that it wasn’t until she was finished, that she realised that the library was silent. Too silent. It was eerily quiet with several corners tucked away into the darkness out of where the circles of light couldn’t reach.

May looked around.

“Jessica?”

She couldn’t see Jessica anywhere. Where had she gone? From where she was standing, May could see that the library door was still closed, so that meant it was likely to still be locked.
Maybe Jessica had gone to the bathroom? But the bathroom was off to her right and May would have noticed Jessica go past her if she’d decided to go there.

May decided to go back to the front door. Perhaps Jessica had gone into the lobby?

As May circled one of the tall bookcases to make her way back, something happened that gave her the shock of her life.

A figure jumped out from behind another row of bookshelves and landed directly behind her. Before she could turn around to see what was going on. a pair of hands pushed her hard into the middle of her back. In shock, she fell forward.

Unfortunately for May, the librarian had a book cart that was often left out overnight if she didn’t feel like finishing putting the books away that night. This same book cart happened to be directly in front of her. This meant that when she fell, she fell directly into it. It toppled over and several books spilled all over the floor with a crash.

May had no idea who was doing this, but she tumbled forward and tripped, landing on several novels as she did so. As she fell onto the floor facedown, she screamed, “Jessica!”

That was when a hand hastily crammed a soft ball of material into her mouth from behind. Before May could scream, she felt a gloved hand poking the material in further and something squarish was stuck firmly over her mouth to hold it in. It took her a second to realise that it was a large piece of white medical tape. It wasn’t the thin medical tape that you usually found in first aid kits. It was a large and thick adhesive tape that was several inches wide and very sticky.

May desperately started to struggle to try and pull the tape off. That was when something woolly and long was pulled over her head. It took May a few seconds to realise that it was a large knitted scarf – the sort that you wore in winter. Before she could register what was happening, the scarf was pulled over her face and tied behind her head, so it created a kind of loose hood. May started desperately trying to pull the scarf off because she couldn’t see and she was completely disoriented now.

That was when two knees came down hard into her back pinning her down onto the floor. To May’s shock, her left wrist was grabbed, forced behind her back and then she felt cold metal click around her wrist. The same thing was done to her right wrist. May realised that she had been handcuffed and that she was completely helpless now. Then she felt her elbows being pulled behind her back and heard the same metal clicks again.

May had no idea what was going on, but she started struggling in earnest. She was then rolled over. The scarf was pulled off her head and that was when she saw Jessica Fletcher standing over her.

“Hello, May” Jessica said pleasantly. “I’m sorry about the inconvenience, but I thought you might object if I told you about what I was planning to do.” That was when May noticed that Jessica’s bandana was gone and she realised that must be what she had been gagged with.

That was when May saw that Jessica had a roll of thick white medical tape in her hand and then she saw Jessica’s duffle bag lying on the floor, just around the corner of the bookshelf.

“She’s tied me up?! Why?!”

May tried to scream into her gag, but Jessica didn’t seem bothered. She simply tore off several more pieces of thick white medical tape and firmly plastered them over May’s mouth until the bottom of her nose to the bottom of her chin were covered. The tape was tight and stiff and May knew that she wouldn’t be able to scream now.

When she was done, Jessica took a deep breath and said, “Stand up.” May struggled as much as she could, but with her wrists and elbows cuffed, it was quite easy for Jessica to force her to stand up. When Jessica had May in a standing position, she reached into her bag and took out two lengths of chains with a padlock and key attached to each one. One chain was fastened around May’s chest, just above her breasts and locked into place while the second one was fastened under her breasts and locked, so that May’s arms were now pinned to her sides.

After that, Jessica took a small loop of rope out of her bag and tied one end to May’s left ankle and the other to her right ankle. She left some slack in it, so that May could walk but not run.

When Jessica was done, May felt completely helpless and realised that she was now a prisoner.

Jessica said, “Now, May, let’s go for a walk and I’ll explain everything.”

[Caesar73]

That was very nicely done [mention]Headmistress[/mention] ! Sibyls Surprise - I wonder what is in Store for May now, how will Sibyl this now?

And I liked the Flashback how May got ambushed by Jessica again.

Will Sibyl see MAy as Victim of Jessica? Somehow I doubt that May´s Situation will improve ..... but that remains to be seen

[Headmistress]

Thank you for the kind comment. I have just edited the last chapter.

I am writing the next chapter and hope to put it up soon.

[Trammel]

I like it. I have been waiting for this. Great descriptions and a great cliffhanger.

[Caesar73]

Thank you for the kind comment. I have just edited the last chapter.

Your are telling a fantastic tale [mention]Headmistress[/mention] and I do look forward where you will lead the Story next.

[Headmistress]

May had been completely helpless to stop Jessica from taking her arm and leading her out of the library. While she had struggled, the metal of the cuffs and chains were so stiff and rigid that she had known that she wouldn’t be able to get out of them. The rope around her ankles also stopped her from making a run for it.

She had expected Jessica to take her out the front door of the library, but instead, Jessica walked her around the chairs that she had finished putting out and then through the large shelves of books that made up the whole back section of the library. The shelves were dark wooden and identical and they formed two large and straight rows with a gap for walking leading straight through the middle.

This was the very back part of the library. Everyone knew it was where couples went for a quick snog or where someone went if they wanted to read by themselves when nobody was around. This was because the very oldest books of the library were kept there and they were so old that people rarely bothered checking them out. There were historical accounts and stories detailing the history of Cabot Cove, ancient editions of encyclopedias, dusty magazines and more stacked neatly on the shelves. The funny thing was that while this part of the library was always perfectly clean like the rest of it and the lighting was exactly the same as the rest of the library, there was something spooky and desolate about it.

Perhaps it was because the bookshelves were distinctly taller than the rest, so they were significantly closer to the ceiling, so some of the light was naturally blocked out. As Jessica walked May through the bookshelves, she was speaking perfectly normally as if what she had just done was nothing out of the ordinary. “You know, May, I’m really pleased that you’re coming to stay with me again. I had such fun the first time. There’ve been other girls since you, you know. But none of them were quite like you.”

May realized that Jessica must be taking her back to her house and desperately gave a hard yank against the chains that bound her. Unfortunately, she yanked so hard that she tripped and if Jessica hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen over. “Don’t be so silly, May. It’s only for a couple of days and you won’t be harmed. It’ll be just like before.”

May had no idea what Jessica was talking about, but she knew for sure that she didn’t want to go anywhere with her. She sounded like a complete lunatic.

There was no sign of the pleasant Jessica Fletcher that frequented Cabot Cove.

May tried to dislodge the bandana from her mouth. Perhaps if she could get the gag out, she could scream. Unfortunately for her, Jessica saw her do it and stopped. Carefully, Jessica bought her gloved hands up to May’s mouth and smoothed out the slight ridges in the tape, so that the gag was now stuck down perfectly evenly and smoothly. That was when May realized that they were now at the back door of the library. Jessica opened it and pulled May out. The cold air hit May and she felt herself shiver.

They were now in the back alley that ran around the back of the library. Nobody ever went there, though. The reason for that was because there was plenty of parking around the front and there was really nothing apart from parking in the back alley that people would find interesting. This was because the only other thing there were a bunch of deserted shopfronts and boarded up buildings that had been abandoned a long time ago.

Jessica walked May down the alley where a small white van without windows was waiting at the end. Jessica opened the back doors of the van and pushed May inside. When she was inside the van, May noticed that there was nothing but two large metal rings in it and some loops of rope – one was set into the floor and the other was set into the right back wall of the van. She wondered what they were for, but she soon found out.

Jessica forced her to sit on the floor of the van with her back up against the wall and then used one loop of rope to tie the chain that was around her lower breasts to the ring on the wall of the van. Another loop of rope was then used to tie her feet together and secure them to the ring on the floor of the van.

After that, Jessica had gotten into the driver’s side and driven May to her house in Cabot Cove where she’d given her something to eat and then tied her to the couch. Then she had told her all about her book research and her whole scheme.

She’d been there ever since….

As May finished her story, Sibella was staring at Jessica in disbelief. Without warning, she reached over and unbuckled the ball gag. Jessica promptly spit it out. It was a relief to have it out as it had started to make her jaw ache.

“Are you some sort of lunatic? Why would you kidnap someone and tie her up like that!?”

“You kidnapped me and tied me up,” Jessica said defensively. “Only because you were snooping and busted us moving everything. If you’d left us alone, then we wouldn’t have had to do it.”

May had no idea what was going on, but there was clearly something going on between Jessica and Sibella. Whatever it was, they were clearly not in on this together. That didn’t stop her from speaking.

“She said she did it because it was for her book research!”

Sibella looked slightly surprised, but then she smiled. “I did always wonder how Jessica made her books sound so realistic. I guess that I have the answer now. Unfortunately, May, while I understand that you are a victim of circumstances and I have nothing against you myself, I need to keep Jessica here until we decide what to do with her. Because you’re already here, I’ll have to keep you here too – at least, for a while. Now it’s getting late, so I think I’ll put the two of you to bed.”

“No! That’s not fair! It….!” Both May and Jessica protested at the same time. Sibella shook her head and then got up off the couch and left. Both May and Jessica looked at her in puzzlement. Jessica strained against the cable tie around her hands, but it refused to budge. “May, can you please try and undo this? If we work together, we can…”

“How? Look at me!” May nodded at the web of ropes that bound her. “I’m not getting out of this any time soon. You tied me up too well.”

That was when Sibella returned. With dread, May and Jessica noticed that she was carrying two yellow sponge balls from Jessica’s kitchen with a roll of duct tape. “You two need to be quiet now.”

“No, Sibella, you need to stop this now or you’ll be in real trouble with Sheriff Amos and the police and…” Jessica’s protest was cut off by Sibella stuffing one of the sponges into her mouth and winding the duct tape around Jessica’s head to hold the sponge in.

May could only watch. Being bound as she was, there was nothing she could do to stop Sibella who promptly gagged her in the same way.

After that, Sibella untied May from the couch and held her gun up to her face. “I know you must be cramped, so I’ll allow you to stretch for fifteen minutes. Stand up.”

When May stood up, she realized that she had indeed been cramped and her muscles tingled. Even though she felt silly with the gag in her mouth, stretching did make her feel better.

When she was finished, Sibella ordered her to sit down and wasted no time in pulling her hands behind her back into a crossed position and binding them together with one of the discarded loops of rope. Her ankles were then crossed together and tied together.

Sibella then pointed at the soft knitted rug in front of the TV. “Lie down on that.” When May did, Sibella carefully rolled her up into the rug, so her head and feet were sticking out of the two ends. The rest of the ropes that had previously bound May were then tied around the rig into identical coils that went around the top and bottom of her breasts, her waist, thighs, knees and ankles. When Sibella was finished, May was now cocooned into the rug. It was quite warm and cosy, so it wasn’t too bad.

Sibella then turned her attention to Jessica and then to the recliner that sat in front of the TV. She pulled out the footrest and extended the recliner, so that it was now in its flat position. “Lie down on that.” Jessica sat down on the recliner. “No, I want you to turn around and lie face down on it.”

Jessica managed to turn over, so that she was now lying down flat on her chest. Sibella left once again and came back with the bag of equipment that she had used to tie Jessica up with. She withdrew several loops of rope and also tied several coils of rope around Jessica in the exact same positions that she had put them on May, but these loops of rope tied Jessica into a stretched out position on the recliner where she was facedown.

“There. That should stop you two from getting into any trouble. Now I’m going to get a drink and watch some TV. You two should get some sleep in the meanwhile.”

Sibella left and returned with a rum and Coke that she'd pinched from Jessica’s fridge. She sat down and took a pack of cigarettes out of her pants pocket before lighting one. Jessica made several protests into her gag.

“Sorry, Jessica. I can’t hear you.”

What Jessica was trying to say was that smoking wasn’t allowed in her house, but there was nothing she could do.

Sibella picked up the remote control and switched on the TV. She was just in time to see a show start. “Oh, look. “Murder, She Wrote” is on. I love that show.”

She leaned back onto the couch and took a deep breath. “Goodnight. I’ll be sleeping down here tonight, so we can talk in the morning.”

[Caesar73]

[mention]Headmistress[/mention] the waiting was worth the while. So May, innocent bystander js in this together with Jessica. At least Sibilla showed some kindness to May. I already looking forward to part 7.