Note: an older Emma story.
Emma cleaned the widow Adrianna’s house on Wednesdays and Fridays. It helped supplement her income. The older lady was nice enough, but she was bigger and taller than Emma.
The little Japanese house-cleaner always felt the woman’s eye on her back as though keeping close tabs on her whenever she was cleaning. She wasn’t about to steal anything from the woman as that wasn’t her style or personality. But she did have a habit of being curious, and her propensity for snooping around frequently got her into a lot of close calls.
Adrianna had given her limits on what she was to clean. One of the places off-limits to her was the cellar. It made Emma want to sneak down there and snoop around all the more. It was like a moth to a flame. Telling her she was to stay out of a certain room only made her all the more curious.
Emma showed up for work in her French maid’s outfit. Her employer seemed to enjoy watching her closely. So she figured she would dress the part on this particular visit.
She sensed the widow wasn’t paying close attention just to make sure she was doing it right or making sure she didn’t take anything that didn’t belong to her. She strongly suspected the woman enjoyed looking at her little Asian body. The French maid outfit she wore should attract even more attention.
When she arrived, Adrianna admiringly looked her up and down before telling her to go work on the second floor. Meanwhile she was going to spend some time taking a hot bath in the bedroom on the main floor. But the cellar was calling to Emma. She figured the widow would be in the bathroom long enough for her to finally sneak down and have a quick peek.
She came down to the main floor and listened outside the door to the main bathroom. It sounded like Adrianna was humming a tune while the tub was filling. Emma figured this was her opportunity.
Quick as a wink, she snuck over to the door leading down the stairs into the cellar. The place looked dark and foreboding. She descended the steps and began to move stealthily, her eyes trying to pierce the darkness.
The lighting was dim. She saw boxes and narrow spaces to slip through. But she had to move cautiously.
She watched where to brace herself. She didn’t want to knock anything over that would alert her employer to her nosiness. She just had to know what was so special about the cellar.
She listened intently for any sound that might indicate Adrianna might be coming to look for her. But she heard nothing. Who knows what kind of trouble she might be in if she got caught.
She knew she shouldn’t be down there. Even now her inner voice was warning her to get the hell back up to the second floor where she belonged. But Emma couldn’t help herself. She just had to know what was down here.
She squeezed down an aisle, peering into some boxes. There wasn’t much to see other than the natural accumulation of years and years of collecting things. Still, she thought she might get a few interesting insights into her employer if she looked around a little more.
She squeezed into another corner, only to send a couple of boxes swaying crazily. She stopped them from toppling over just in time, noticing they were kind of heavy. What was the widow hiding down here?!
Emma paused to catch her breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The whole damned cellar seemed like it was booby-trapped or something. Going down an aisle was like crossing a minefield, making her wonder what might leap out at her or might tumble down from her carelessness.
Her inner voice was screaming at her to get back upstairs where she belonged when she spied a closed door at the end of the room. It would have been much better to leave it alone. But she just had to know what was behind it.
Emma crept up to it in the semi-darkness and tried the knob. It was locked. Damn!
Emma looked all around until she spied a skeleton key hanging from a hook by a little piece of twine. She pulled it off the hook and inserted it in the keyhole under the knob. The key turned and the lock clatched open.
Emma turned the knob and then carefully pushed the door open a crack. The room inside was pitch black. She couldn’t see a thing.
She was tempted to fully open the door. But she was spooked and felt the need to remain cautious. So she slipped inside, standing there peering intently into the darkness.
Light switch… there had to be a light switch on the wall. Maybe it was near the door. Emma carefully felt around until she found it.
She was about to flip it on when she heard a moan. The sound was distinctly human and it made her freeze in her tracks. Was there someone in the room?
She still couldn’t see anything. She had no way of knowing what she might be up against in the darkness. The only way to defend herself was to see what she was up against.
She made sure the door was closed before she flicked the light on. She hoped it would blind whoever was in the cellar with her. Then she braced herself for the unknown.
A solitary bulb in the middle of the ceiling came on. In an instant she realized she was not alone. She nearly cried out in alarm.
Instinctively she covered her mouth, staring in surprise at the lone occupant. A woman was hogtied on the thinly carpeted floor. A cloth was in her mouth.
The woman appeared to be of Pakistani or Indian descent, similar to her in size. She was in a French maid outfit – very much like hers. She grunted and writhed about, pleading with her eyes for Emma to set her free. Against one wall sat a cushioned chair and a small end table.
In an instant Emma’s heart was in her throat. She’d stumbled on something quite sinister. What the hell should she do?
Her first instinct was to free the girl. But trying to sneak her out of the house might get the both of them caught. Perhaps her best course of action was to slip back out, get out of the house and alert the police.
“I’ll go get help!” Emma told her with an anxious nod, trying to keep her voice low. “I’ll be right back with the cops, ok? But I gotta lock you back up in here or she’ll suspect I found you! Then I’ll be in trouble too! Just hang on a little longer, ok?”
The girl grunted and shook her head. Emma winced as she put a finger to her lips. She mouthed, “I’ll be right back!” Then she turned the light off, causing the Indian girl to grunt and whimper anxiously.
She slipped back out the door, closing it softly. Then she took the skeleton key and locked the door before hanging it back where it belonged. All she had to do was come up with some reason to be excused early from her duties so she could go bring the cops back to rescue…
“Didn’t I tell you not to come down here?”
She whirled in horror, only to see her employer standing there eyeing her dangerously with a white cloth in her hand. Emma’s voice caught in her throat. Her heartrate skyrocketed as she stammered, “I was just… I was… I, uh…”
Adriana sighed in frustration. “You tell a nosey little slut not to go somewhere and what does she do?” I swear they’re drawn down here! No matter. I’ve been meaning to replace Kalini in there with another one anyway.”
An arm shot out and grabbed Emma who yelped in alarm. Beyond the door she heard the Indian girl grunting. Could the young woman hear their voices on the other side of the door?
Emma was spun around until her back was to her employer. The white cloth suddenly covered her face. “I was getting bored with her anyway,” the widow stated matter-of-factly. “Actually this will turn out to be a good thing! You might actually provide me with some amusement before I have to dispose of you too.”
Emma cried out, struggling mightily. Then she got a whiff of the noxious fumes. Her strength suddenly ebbed away. She struggled weakly, her eyes rolling. Then she went completely limp in the widow’s grasp. The last words she heard were, “Nighty-night, you stupid little slut!” Then she descended into blackness as consciousness faded away…
—
Emma felt weak and disoriented as she struggled to regain her senses. But something felt wrong. She was in an uncomfortable position.
Her eyes fluttered open. She tried to look around to see what was going on. That’s when she found herself lying on a carpeted floor on her stomach, her legs bent at the knees.
She quickly discovered she’d been tied up with rope. Her wrists and ankles had been tied together. There was a cloth in her mouth; she couldn’t speak or cry out.
She lifted her head, only to see she was not alone. The captive girl was lying right in front of her, facing her with wide, frightened eyes. She still had the cloth in her mouth and she grunted at her in helplessness.
“Are my pretties awake now?” a familiar voice asked. Emma turned to see Adrianna sitting in the cushioned chair, a half finished drink sitting on the small end table next to it. Emma grunted in fury, trying to yell at her through the cloth in her mouth.
“Now – now,” the widow scolded her. “I wasn’t the one who came down here sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. You did that all on your own.”
Emma cried out in fury, wriggling and squirming like mad as her captive companion whimpered in warning. “No, honey,” the widow explained. “I could have you arrested for criminal trespass. Who do you think the police would believe? An innocent widow? Or some nosy Asian slut who probably has a rap sheet a mile long? I’m sure the police would know exactly whose word to take.”
Emma screamed into the cloth again. Her heart pounded in her chest. Just who did this perverted bitch think she was anyway??
“No one knows you’re here, honey. And your vehicle can be easily hidden. Truth be told: I don’t think anyone is going to miss you should you suddenly turn up missing. After all, no one has come looking for poor Kalini here.”
She motioned at the Indian girl who wriggled and moaned. Emma cried out into her gag again. “Oh, I can do anything to you that I want, honey,” the widow explained. “Once you came down here you broke the rules. That gives me permission to do whatever the hell I want with you. And should an unfortunate accident befall either one of you? Honey, I have internal access to my septic tank. I just drop your bodies in there and no one ever hears from you again. You’ll dissolve right along with the rest of the organic material.”
Emma shook her head in horror, crying out into her cloth gag again. This couldn’t be happening to her! “Honey, you’re in no position to make demands. You’re also in no position to make bargains with me either. You see, I know what I want from you two. I want to watch you squirm. And now that I have one too many of you, I get to watch one of you die. Now which one shall it be?”
Both girls cried out into their gags, whimpering and squirming helplessly. Adrianna watched them for a while, casually taking a sip from her wine goblet. Her eyes flashed excitedly as she sat there, allowing her two former maids to wriggle about.
She finally stood up and came over to them. “I see you ladies are determined to put on a wonderful show for me. How thoughtful. Allow me to make it easier for you both to perform.”
She knelt down and removed both cloth gags. Instantly both girls started begging to be released. But Adrianna would have none of it.
Grabbing a loose length of rope lying on Kalini, she looped it over the Indian girl’s neck. Instantly her eyes went wide as she began to gawk. She unwittingly choked herself as her legs tried to unbend.
“You first, honey,” the widow breathed excitedly, lovingly patting the Indian girl on her back. “After all, you’ve been with me the longest.”
She moved over to kneel next to Emma. She grabbed a coil of rope attached to her ankles and looped it over the Japanese girl’s head as well. Emma gawked as she felt the rope begin to choke her.
“You’re next, honey. I want you both to put on a show for me. The rules are simple. The one who lasts the longest gets to avoid the septic tank for another day.”
She rose up and calmly walked back to her chair. Then she sat down and smiled at them. Casually she raised her goblet to them before taking another sip.
Emma felt the rope tighten around her neck as her legs instinctively tried to unbend. With her head tipped up by the noose she now had a disturbingly close-up view of the horrified expression in the face of her partially asphyxiated companion. They were both in the same predicament.
“Enjoy yourselves, ladies,” Adrianna said, lifting up her wine glass in a toast. “I know I’m sure going to.” Then she took another sip before sighing pleasurably, settling in to watch the show…
2010; 2019 (written Oct 13 ’10; ed. Mar 27 ’19 by riwa)