Renting Ginny

“Please don’t do this,” I begged. “There’s no need to tie me up down here. I don’t want to leave you. I enjoy being with you, and I love our intimate moments. Really, there’s no need to tie up someone who doesn’t want to leave in the first place!” Anina hovered over me, face just inches from mine. “You know, you’re not a very good liar, Ginny.” “But I’m telling you the truth! Why would I want to go anywhere after you just saw how much I enjoyed every minute of our time in the shower and in bed?” “Sweet dreams, Ginny,” she said to me as she secured the ankle band and chain once again. “No! Don’t leave me down here! I want to be with you. Do you really, really want to sleep alone, Anina? Why don’t you get your money’s worth and take me to bed with you like you're supposed to?” “Nicht mehr!” “What?” “I said no more. Just shut up and go to sleep. After work tomorrow, we’ll figure things out.” “There’s nothing to figure out. I—” A cold hand snaked out and slapped me, knocking my head down on the worn-out pillow. “What part of shut up do you not get?” I was sobbing now. “I-I just thought you’d want some company. It’s lonely down here all by myself, and I always found basements to be kind of creepy.” “Just shut your trap and go to sleep!” she hissed one last time as she spun on her heel and stomped up the steps. “If you don’t take me up there with you, I’ll scream and scream until you do!” She turned around and hurried back down the stairs, my heart beating like a jackhammer in my chest. I was pushing her and taking some serious chances, and I knew it. Grabbing fistfuls of hair at the sides of my head, she said, “You utter one sound – one single fucking sound – and I will knock you out cold, you hear?” “O-okay,” I stammered fearfully. “Yeah? You got it?” she asked, shaking me as I’d never been shaken before in my life. “Yeah, I-I-I got it.” She released me with such force that it threw my head, once again, upon the pillow. “Now you shut the fuck up and don’t let me hear a sound from down here.” She stormed upstairs one last time, slamming the door at the top of the steps. The silence was deafening and the darkness foreboding as I sobbed helplessly that night on Anina’s torn, stained cot in the basement. After I cried and cried for what seemed like an eternity, I was finally all cried out. I actually wanted to keep on crying; I just couldn’t. My tears were like a well that had dried up and so they stopped completely despite the fact that I didn’t feel any better. But I did feel more determined. If I didn’t figure a way out of this lunatic’s place, I just may end up stuck in it forever if she didn’t kill me first. I began to tug viciously at the leather band around my ankle. I wished I had soap, baby oil, or something else I could use to make my skin slippery, but in the darkness of the room, I couldn’t see what was around me. I concentrated on tugging and wiggling the band as quietly as I could. Her bedroom wasn’t above where I lay on the cot, but I didn’t want to take any chances of being heard. I struggled and strained to slip the band over my heel and ankle. Just when I thought it was useless, my sheer will and determination finally paid off. I was free! I listened for any movement, afraid the psycho above me somehow knew I had pried loose of the chains that held me captive. When I didn’t hear anything, I slowly rose from the cot, careful not to let the chain slip off the bed and clatter to the cement floor below it. I grinned madly in the dark, wishing I could shout for joy at having freed myself. And then reality came and burst my bubble. Certainly, I couldn’t make my escape in the nude. This meant that I had to somehow sneak into the bedroom to retrieve my clothes and hope to hell I didn’t wake her up. Did the floors creak? I couldn’t remember. Another alternative came to me, and that was waiting until she left for work. I had no reason to think she would strip the covers off and discover I’d slipped free of the leather band when she came down in the morning to leave me coffee, donuts or whatever it was she was going to leave me. But what if she did? Deciding not to chance it and that the sooner I could escape, the better, I issued a silent prayer and began heading up the stairs. I hit the sixth stair up when it made a slight creaking sound. I cringed, stilled myself and listened for any indication that the telltale sound might have given me away. The only problem was that my heart was beating so loudly in my chest that I might not have heard any subtle sounds coming from above. My exhausted and sore body started to pitch backward in the darkened stairwell, but I swiftly caught and steadied myself. Steeling a deep breath, I quickly yet carefully finished climbing the stairs. Now I just had to hope the door didn’t creak. I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. It moved soundlessly on its hinges. Thankful that the place was modern, thus quieter, I stepped out into the area where the living room met the hallway. I waited a minute to let my eyes adjust to my surroundings. Upstairs, there was just enough light to see my way around due to the streetlights shining through the sides of the blinds. Then I froze in fear. I stood there, heart jackhammering, breath ragged, for what seemed like an eternity. My mind told my body to just go in, get my clothes, and get the hell out of this bitch’s place. But I couldn’t get my body to obey my mental commands. I was absolutely terrified. The tall, slender German woman with the light brown hair and icy gray eyes could break me in half in a second and I knew it. But I had come too far to turn back now. Issuing another silent prayer, I yanked myself out of my frozen state and made my way down the hall and to the bedroom as quickly and as quietly as I could. The bedroom door was open. Trying to get a hold of my ragged breathing and slow my pulse, I slowly peered around the corner of the doorway. I couldn’t see or hear anything. There simply wasn’t enough light to make out Anina’s form on the bed since she had heavy drapery in the bedroom windows. But where else could she be in the darkened condo? I looked toward where I knew the dresser would be. I couldn’t make out any detail; just the shadowy shape of the dresser itself. It was now or never, I thought, and I slowly crept over to the dresser and hoped to hell she’d replaced my stuff. With tremendous relief, I felt my bag in its usual place and decided to take the whole thing, not wanting to pull the wrong items out or drop anything. Too late. Something slid to the floor that I accidentally knocked off when reaching for the bag. I nearly fainted with fear, fully expecting the madwoman to rise from the shadows of the night and into my worst nightmares. But she didn’t. Holding the bag securely to my chest, I turned and headed out of the room. Then she coughed, nearly scaring me to death and making me fear I would literally have a heart attack that night. Now in the hallway, I had to think of where I wanted to take my bag and get dressed. I didn’t want to go back downstairs but I wanted to get as far away from the bedroom as I could. I crept through the hall, through the living room, through the kitchen, and to the garage door. Careful to turn the knob as slowly and as soundlessly as possible, I stepped out into the garage. It was darker there, but it was as far away as I could get from Anina without going back downstairs. I fished in my bag until I felt my jeans. I wouldn’t bother with bras and panties. I just wanted a shirt, pants and shoes. It seemed to take forever, but at last, I was finally dressed in jeans, a tee and sneakers. Setting the bag on the front of the Mercedes, I was faced with my next problem – how the hell to get out of there. I couldn’t go back inside the house and use her computer or her cell phone, if I could find it, because she would certainly hear me calling for help that way. Knowing the garage door was useless, I tried the door in back of the garage just in case it opened this time. Not surprisingly, it didn’t. As much as I hated to do it, I went back inside the darkened house, not bothering to close the side door behind me. I stopped to listen for any sounds. When I was satisfied that all was quiet, I made my way to the front door and felt the lock. Its key still wasn’t in it. I did the same for the back door. No key there either. I contemplated rummaging through the kitchen drawers in search of any keys, but thought it might make too much noise. Besides, I had no reason to believe the wacko when she told me she kept keys there. Tendrils of dread crept through my body as I realized I would have to smash my way out since this psycho’s windows just didn’t seem to want to open. And then I felt a cool breeze on my face. Outside air!Yes, it was really outside air! The small kitchen window above the sink was cracked open! All I had to do was climb up over the sink, push the window open wider, and then hope I could get both the screen and me out before she heard anything.