"Now, kneel behind it," he said.
I knelt down on the tiles, behind the cup, the refrigerator to my right, the table, with the men seated about it, in front of me.
They sipped their coffee.
"You may drink," said the man.
I reached for the cup, before me, on the floor. I lifted it.
"No," he said. "Do not hold it by the handle. Hold it in your hands, as a bowl." I then sipped the coffee in this fashion, the cup warm in my fingers. I then put it down. They were using the handles of their cups, I noted. And, too, of course, they were sitting at the table. Why should they be sitting, and I kneeling, I asked myself. Are we not the same? Are we not identical? I watched them drinking in the customary fashion. Then I, again, sipped coffee from the cup, holding it in both hands, like a small bowl. I felt an urge to put the cup aside, tear off the towel, and put my body naked to the cool tiles before them, at their feet. I wondered what the tiles would feel like against me, against my breasts, my belly, my thighs.
The men finished their coffee. he "Have you finished your coffee?" asked he who. seemed in charge.
I finished the coffee, holding the cup as I had been instructed to do. "Yes," I said.
"You may clear the table," he said.
I rose to my feet and put my cup in the sink. I then went to the table. I began to gather together their cups. "What is in the metal box?" I asked, lightly. "I told you," he said. "Nothing."
I stacked the cups and carried them to the sink. "Really?" I asked.
Yes," he said.
"I thought maybe you were delivering something to the apartment," I said. "No," he said.
I rinsed off the cups.
"Is it really empty?" I asked.
"Now," he said, to one of his fellows, "we need not listen to her blithering." I felt my bead pulled back. There was apparently a ring at the back of the leather pad now pressed so closely into the back of my neck.
I shook my head. I whimpered.
The man then jerked the towel from my hair. I looked at him. I shook my head. He then jerked away the towel I wore on my body. I was then turned and thrown on my belly, on the table, the two assistants pressing me helplessly against it, holding me tightly down by the arms. The men, when I had been stripped, had not even paused to look at me. They had seen, I gathered, many women.
I felt a piece of cotton or cloth touch my back, above and behind my left hip. It was wet. The area then felt cool. Then I whimpered. I felt a needle being entered into my flesh, in the center of that chemically chilled area. Tears sprang to my eyes. The needle was then withdrawn and I felt the area swabbed again with fluid. I was then drawn from the table and, by the arms, carried into the combination living and dining room of my small apartment. Their leader then, be who had ankleted me, opened the side of the stout, metal container. It had a heavy door. Inside were various straps, and rings.
I tried to struggle.
"Resistance is useless, Miss Collins," said the man.
I looked at him pleadingly.
Then I was thrust, in a sitting position, into the box. The ring at the back of the gag, doubtless sewn into the slotted leather pad, was snapped about a ring mounted at a matching height in the box. My head was thus held in place. For a moment the room seemed to go dark and then I gathered my wits again. My left wrist, to my horror, was fastened back, and at my left side, by straps attached to a ring. My right wrist was then secured similarly. In moments both of my ankles, too, had been fastened in position. I fought to retain consciousness. Then I was thrust back further in the box. A broad leather strap was then drawn tightly about me. I winced. Then it was buckled shut. I could hardly move. I looked at the men, from the box. My eyes pleaded with them.
"She is secured," said one of the men.
The man in charge nodded. "Close the container," he said.
I looked at the door. There was no handle or device for opening it on my side, and, even had there been, I could not, restrained as I was, have begun to reach it.
I whimpered piteously, as an utterly helpless, restrained woman. I looked at them, piteously. They must show me mercy Then the door was closed.
I was plunged into darkness, save for the tiny bits of light coming through the two small, round holes on my right, near my face.
When the door had closed two snap-fastenings had shut, one near the top of the door and one near its bottom. I then sat inside, helpless. I heard ten screw bolts twisted shut, unhurriedly. Three were along the top of the door and three were along the bottom of the door; two each were at the sides of the door, two between the hinges and two between the locks.
Earlier I had asked the man if the box might have been a safe. I had gathered from his response that it was not really a safe but that it might, indeed, upon occasion, be used in the securing of valuables.
I struggled in the straps, helpless.
I wondered if I might take some bitter consolation in his laconic response, which now seemed so ironic. Perhaps I, now so well secured within the box, might, at least, count as a valuable.
I pressed my head back against the iron behind me. I heard the movement of the two rings.
But how valuable could I really be, I asked myself. I doubted, frankly, that I could be of much value. If I were really of value, of much value, I did not think I would be fastened like this, strapped naked in a box.
I tried to peer out the small holes in the door.
I could see very little, a part of the upper wall in the apartment, a small framed print, of flowers, which had been there when I bad rented the apartment. The box was then lifted, apparently by handles.
I suddenly felt extremely faint. I fought against the loss of consciousness. The box was then lowered into the cardboard carton.
I turned my bead, moaning. I heard the clink of the two rings. I tried to move my wrists and ankles. I could hardly move them. The broad leather strap, buckled shut, pressed, too, deeply into my belly, holding me in place.
Outside of the two small holes now tay the' cardboard. I could see a little light from the overhead lamp.
I turned my head and struck with the side of it against the iron behind me. "Do not be stupid, bitch," said the man outside the box.
I sobbed.
I fought more fiercely to retain consciousness.
Because of the rings and straps, and the closeness with which they held me to the wall, I could gain little leverage. I could do little more than tap or rub my head against the iron.
I had indeed been stupid. Even under ideal conditions, fully conscious, and with an abundance of possible rescuers in the vicinity, any girl confined and gagged as expertly as I was would be able to do very little to call attention to her captivity. It was unlikely that even her fiercest and most desperate signals would be audible more than a yard or so from her tiny prison.
I began to moan and whimper. They must show me mercy The top of the cardboard carton was then closed.
I struggled, fiercely, for a moment, but then felt exhausted.
I heard a segment of sealing tape torn from a roll and then, apparently, the top of the carton was sealed shut.
I put my head back against the iron. The two rings made a tiny sound. I became very conscious of the feel of the leather straps binding me. I pressed back. This eased the pressure of the strap at my belly. I felt my hair, still damp from the shower, between my back and the iron. Beneath my body, where I sat upon it, the iron felt cool, smooth and hard. I felt it this way, too, beneath my heels.
Then the carton was lifted, and was being carried. It would appear to be a carton in the care of professional moving men.
No one would think twice about it.
The thought crossed my mind that it was Tuesday evening.
Tomorrow would be Wednesday, my day off at the store. I would not be missed until Thursday.
I then lost consciousness.
3 Corcyrus
It was warm in the room.
It seemed a lazy morning.
My fingers felt at the red-silk coverlet. I lay on my stomach on the soft, broad, red-silk surface. I tried to collect my wits. I moved my body, a little. I felt the soft silk move beneath it. I was nude. Too, I felt the warm air on my body and legs. I was not covered. I was lying nude, uncovered, on my stomach, on a wide, soft, silken surface.