The Games
Player - Babysitter
Looking back
now, I am glad the boys thought it was a game, but at the time I was really scared.
I’m Dorothy - Dorothy Gale, and yes I’ve
heard all the jokes, and no I still have not forgiven my parents for that. I’m seventeen, and I have two younger brothers ten-year-old
Ben and eight-year-old Simon. Which means sometimes I have to
do the worst job of all babysit for them.
That was
certainly the case last Friday night Mum and Dad were out on a dinner date,
which left me in charge and I had hoped to meet my girlfriends that night. As
it was, they were not going to be late, so I was ready in my white lace top and
vest, black leatherette pants and suede ankle boots, my hair up in a bun. Mum
and Dad had been out for an hour or so, and my brothers were playing upstairs
while I was reading a book.
So it came as a
complete surprise to me when the leather gloved hand was
pressed firmly down over my mouth, and I heard this female voice telling
me not to panic, to remain calm, and she was not going to hurt me.
I had no idea
what was going on, but whoever it was had a commanding
if soft voice, so I just nodded and then the hand was taken away, and she
walked in front of me. She was a young woman, with brown hair that was pressed down under the stocking that covered her head,
wearing a tan jumper and leggings with over the knee brown boots.
I remember
saying “what do you want?” She smiled and said “well, I’m going to take any
valuables find, but first I need to make sure you and your brothers cannot stop
me or raise the alarm.” She had a rucksack on, which she slipped off and
opened, my eyes widening when I saw the thin white rope she took out.
“You’re going
to tie me and my brothers up?”
“Yes, I am but
I need you to do something for me as well.”
“What?”
“Tell them this
is a game you have arranged for you all to play until your parents come home.”
A game? Was she
I then remembered something I had read and said “You play games? You’re her?”
“I am what is
your name?”
“Dorothy “
“All right
Dorothy I need you to stand up and turn round, and I’ll start with you, then we
talk to your brothers.” I had no choice, did I? I stood up, turned round, and
felt her hands on my wrists as she took them behind my
back, and then the rope rubbing on them as she bound them tightly together. I
knew she was going to do this, and yeah I was scared
but it was comfortable enough.
It was the rope
she passed round my body to hold my arms against my sides that took me by
surprise, as they were held at my upper arms and my stomach, but I knew she meant business by this. As she tied those ropes off, I tried
to move no chance and then she picked up the rucksack and said “right introduce
me to your brothers.”
“Do you have to
do this?”
She just nodded
as we walked out of the main room and up the stairs. I could hear Ben and Simon
playing a game on Ben’s PlayStation, as she opened the door and walked in.
They were
sitting on Ben’s bed, Ben wearing a grey striped shirt and light brown shorts,
and Simon a grey polo shirt with yellow stripes and brown shorts. They both
turned their heads to see what I wanted and then slowly turned them again as
they saw who was with me.
“Hey,” I said a
slightly as I could, “want to play a different type of game?”
“What sort of
game,” Simon asked.
“A game of
hostages this is someone from a drama club, who does this for those who ask. She’s already taken me hostage now it’s your turn.”
“For how long,”
Ben said.
“Until Mum and
Dad get home, I guess.”
“But we want to
finish this game!”
“Not a problem,”
the masked woman said. “Stand by the wall Dorothy I can start by making sure
they cannot walk very easily while they play.” She knelt down
out of view of the screen, took some rope from her rucksack, and then started
to bind Ben’s ankles together.
“Wow she really
is tying us up?”
“Yes she is,” I
said, trying not to smile too much as she secured his ankles, and then his legs
below his knees with two bands of rope. She then moved over and bound Simon’s
ankles and legs in the same way, both of them
continuing to play the game.
“Right,” she
said as she stood up and looked at me, “sit down on the floor Dorothy. I may as
well get you secured in here for the moment as well.” Both boys were
concentrating on the screen as I sat down, watching as the white rope was used to bind my ankles tightly together, as well as my
legs below my knees.
“We’re done,”
Ben said as he looked at us- and then saw the black tape she had just pressed
down over my mouth as I sat there. “Oh wow our turn now?”
“It is,” the
Player said as she took the controller, found the Disney+ channel, and started
to show Guardians of the Galaxy. “I need you both to kneel on the bed, and put
your hands behind your back.”
“Dhshsshhss,” I
mumbled through the tape as both of them knelt down,
talking to each other as she crossed and secured their wrists together behind
their back. They thought it was a game, and if that kept them calm, so much the
better for me.
I was amused by
the looks on their faces as the ropes forced their arms against their sides,
and the way their eyes shot open as the black tape was pressed down over their
mouth, but she smiled at them as they sat down to watch the film, and then
nodded to me.
She left us
there, and I could hear her searching the other rooms upstairs, but I had to
keep an eye on both of them to make sure they were not
scared, did not panic and I was glad they did not, as I sat still as well. The
tape was tugging on the skin round my mouth, but I had to make sure they
thought it was working properly.
I heard her
leave as well, but the boys did not, they were watching the film and when the
film finished, they both lay down and went to sleep as if it was the most
natural thing in the world to be bound, gagged, and yet safe?
I felt safe too
somehow, but I did try to get free with no success, until I heard the door open
and Mum say “Where are you, Dorothy?”
“Hpsthrrsss,” I
called out, and I have to admit I was glad to see my
mother then as she came in and screamed.
My father
removed the tape from my mouth and asked what had happened and I told him the
truth as the boys woke up and were released as well. I
was proud of how they coped and how I coped as well.
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