Them

Janelle Stone wanted to be the first one they saw when they woke up. The guys assured her that they would come around at any moment. Janelle and even the guys burst out laughing at the thought of them waking up handcuffed and shackled to a cot, naked except for an adult diaper and a strange "necklace." "They must have really pissed you off," a guy named Charlie said. "Yeah, you could say that," Janelle said, glad the guys helping her didn't know who she was." She had done everything she could to keep her anonymity. This also meant gathering as many supplies as she could, knowing that the fewer trips out in public, the safer she would be. She would have all her groceries delivered once a week, but had enough food in stock to feed her hostages. She had actually purchased a two-month emergency food kit supply. That way, each guest got a month's worth of the crap during the time they would be her guest. Meanwhile, the guys were instructed to lie low and be available as needed and would be paid to buy what they wanted to eat, within reason. They agreed to work alternating shifts. All she wanted was for them to be as quiet as possible and not tell a soul who they were, where they were, or what they were doing until the end of the month, when they would leave the house. She falsely promised them a bonus in the end if they followed her orders properly. Janelle instructed the guys not to interfere with whatever she said or did to her guests unless asked, whom she planned to spend quality time with on and off throughout the day. She would ask them to leave the basement whenever she wanted to play with them. She figured that the less they knew, the better. If they were present while she was having her fun with them, they might pick up enough from the conversation to realize who she was. Then again, she wouldn't put it past Boris or Lauren to mention who she was. However, if they turned her in, that would be basically outing themselves unless they did it in a way that was anonymous. All she could do was hope they didn't give a shit about her history and had things of their own to hide. "Why don't you fine gentlemen go on upstairs into the kitchen and reward yourselves with something to eat? If you guys want to order a pizza, feel free to do so." The men looked at each other. "I could go for a pizza," the oldest one, named Harry, said. "Me too," said the youngest guy who went by the name of John. With Charlie's agreement, he followed his two accomplices up the stairs. Janelle took a seat and waited impatiently for the fun to begin. After a few minutes, she rose to her feet again—too restless and too impatient to sit still—as she waited with nervous excitement for Lauren and Boris to wake up. The cots lay side by side with just enough room for her to walk between them. First, she studied Boris as he lay with his eyes closed. He was aging and still heavy. Not hugely heavy, but he had enough of a gut on him. He was naturally heavy, as was she. Lauren, on the other hand, was bone thin. Janelle could see she had aged a bit, but still looked pretty good. She had the same slim body and plain face. Even her hairstyle was the same: brown, wavy, side-swept hair to the shoulders. It seemed like forever before she heard Lauren begin to moan. Heart rate speeding up in excitement and anticipation, Janelle stepped up to the bed and gently slapped Lauren's face. "Wakey, wakey. It's time to reap your just rewards." Lauren was still too out of it to realize what was going on. But all of a sudden, Boris raised his head as high as his restraints allowed him to. "What the fuck is going on? Where the fuck am I?" Janelle scrambled to a small table at the foot of the bed and picked up the remote marked B for Boris. "I'll do the talking and you'll do the listening," she said, placing a thumb on the proper button. He both clawed at the device around his neck and bucked against his restraints. He was thrashing about so much that the cot began to slide. Sighing with frustration, Janelle said, "I guess I'm going to have to tie you two together." Boris began to swear loudly, at which point she hit the button. Stunned into silence, she watched in amusement and fascination as Boris's body appeared to vibrate like a human smartphone. He looked at her angrily. "Think I was kidding, tough guy? Now I'm the one in charge, and you'd better get that straight. Otherwise, you're gonna get it again and again and again...and however many times it takes for you to get it through your bald head that you're no longer the invincible, untouchable big bad boss." "Everything OK down there?" one of the guys called down from above. "Yeah, everything's great!" At the sound of the basement door closing again, she resumed business. She grabbed the nearby key and uncuffed Boris's left wrist, since he was to the left of Lauren, who was still out cold. As expected, he tried to punch and grab at her, but she effortlessly warded off his attempts, all the while laughing her ass off as if they were horsing around playfully with each other. "Yeah, I know—you thought you were so strong and tough. I beat you once back at the hospital," Janelle said, remembering the time she shoved him off the ward, locking him out of it when the door shut after he'd managed to give her a black eye in the midst of it, but still hadn't been able to stop her. With him continuing to swear and strain against her, she effortlessly held his arm with one hand as she unlocked Lauren's right wrist. Then, instead of cuffing them to the rails of the cots, she cuffed them together. Again, Boris shouted. And again, Janelle zapped him silent.