Ebony slammed the front door shut. She was glad to finally be home after a long day at work.

“You’re back late,” Tasmin pointed out the obvious as Ebony threw her bag and coat on the sofa.

“Tell me about it,” she said, grimacing.

She kicked off her shoes and headed into the kitchen to grab a glass of wine.

Pulling out the biggest glass she could find, she filled it to the rim and downed half of it in one go. She topped it up again before returning to the living room with the bottle of wine in hand.

She planned on having a nice hot bubble bath and a chilled night on the sofa in front of the TV. Looking after a bunch of toddlers all day long was hard enough, but then having a staff meeting afterwards that lasted for two hours was just taking the piss.

Two whole fucking hours!

Don’t get her wrong, she loved her job, but she didn’t like her boss. The woman could talk the ear off an elephant, she talked that much. What made it worse, it was mostly crap she’d been talking about.

Nobody wanted to know about her family holiday in a staff meeting. That shit was meant to be kept out of work. After all, it had absolutely fuck all to do with the nursery or the children.

“Long day at work?” Tasmin asked as she eyed the bottle in Ebony’s hand.

“You could say that,” Ebony replied.

“Are you going to keep on with the cryptic answers, or are you going to tell me what happened?” Tasmin asked.

“Just that silly cow talking about shit again.” She didn’t need to say who she was talking about, Tasmin already knew who it was. “Can you believe she called a staff meeting and then spent nearly the entire time talking about her holiday?”

“After what you’ve told me about her, it doesn’t surprise me,” Tasmin shook her head. “I don’t know why you don’t just get another job. You’re not happy there, and haven’t been since you started. So, just get a different job. Problem solved.”

“It’s not that easy,” Ebony said.

“Of course it is,” Tasmin countered. “With your experience, you’ll get another job in no time. Just go in work tomorrow morning and hand in your notice.”

“And what about paying the rent and bills?” she asked. “What am I going to do about money while I’m looking for a new job?”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Tasmin told her. “I’m more than happy to help you out. All you need to do is ask and I’ll help, you know that.”

As great as it was for Tasmin to offer, Ebony couldn’t take her up on it. She wasn’t much better off than Ebony was, so it wouldn’t be fair to put all the bills and rent squarely on her shoulders.

She wouldn’t be much of a roommate if she couldn’t pull her own weight when it came to the finances.

“I’ll be fine tomorrow,” she said. “I just need a bottle or two of wine to help me unwind.”

Ebony placed the bottle of wine on the coffee table and then curled up on the sofa.

“What are your plans for tonight?” Ebony asked as Tasmin sat opposite her.

“I’ve got a date,” she said, smiling proudly. “What about you?”

“I’m just going to stay in and watch a movie,” Ebony said.

Other than having a bath at some point, she didn’t plan on moving until bed, which probably wouldn’t be too late because she still had to be up early for work.

“I don’t blame you,” Tasmin said.

“What time are you going out?” Ebony looked at the clock.

“David should be here in about half an hour. In fact, I should get ready.” Tasmin jumped up and raced into her bedroom.

It was no surprise she’d left getting ready until the last minute. It was always the same no matter what she was doing. Her motto was ‘better late than never’.

Ebony was the complete opposite, she hated being late and always aimed to be at least ten minutes early. That wasn’t the only thing they were complete opposites about.

Tasmin was a messy roommate, her bedroom floor was barely recognizable through the clothes that littered it. Whereas, Ebony was a clean freak, she hated mess and clutter.

For that reason, Ebony was in charge of keeping the apartment squeaky clean, which she did happily. Thankfully, Tasmin kept her mess in the bedroom where Ebony didn’t have to clean or tidy up after her.

She didn’t mind cleaning the rest of the place, but Tasmin’s bedroom was her own to keep on top of, which is why it looked like a bomb went off in there all the time.

Tasmin ran through to the bathroom just as there was a knock at the front door.

“Grab the door for me!” Tasmin shouted from the bathroom. “Just tell David I’ll be ready in a minute!”

“Okay!” Ebony shouted back as she climbed to her feet and made her way to the door.

As soon as she turned the handle, the door was kicked in from the other side. The force was so hard that it ripped the door from its hinges, hitting Ebony in the face in the process. Pain shot through her face as the impact knocked her off her feet.

Her ass hit the floor first, followed by the back of her head as the momentum sent her rolling backwards. As her head bounced off the floor, even more pain shot through her, turning her vision black for a moment.

Before she knew what was happening, a group of men rushed into the apartment. Two of them grabbed hold of her. Viciously flipping her on to her stomach, they pinned her to the floor. The rest of them scattered in all directions.

She could hear Tasmin screaming from the bathroom. She tried to do the same, but one of the men pinning her down quickly placed a hand over her mouth.

Within seconds, the screaming stopped. Ebony’s heart sank as she feared the worst had happened to Tasmin, but a moment later relief filled her as Tasmin was carried out of the bathroom.

From what Ebony could see from her position on the floor, a great hulking man had one arm wrapped around her waist while his other hand covered her mouth. Apart from being extremely pissed off, Tasmin appeared to be in one piece and relatively unharmed.

As much as Ebony tried to fight against the two holding her, it was all in vain. She could barely move an inch, the men were just too heavy for her to budge. Even if she hadn’t been face down, she would have struggled.

Tasmin didn’t have it much easier. Her feet were free, but it didn’t make a blind bit of difference. No matter how much she kicked shit out of the guy’s shin, it didn’t seem to faze him in any way.

“Well, well, well. Two for the price of one,” a man said from the doorway.

The sound of his voice sent shivers down her spine. And not the good kind either.

Ebony tried her best to get a better look at the newcomer, but all she could see was the damaged door and the floor.

“So, who do we have here?” he asked.

If he didn’t know who they were, then Ebony certainly wasn’t going to enlighten him. Tasmin must have had the same thought, as she kept quiet as well. Not that they could speak with the men’s hands over their mouths.

Even if she didn’t have a hand over her mouth, she wasn’t sure she would be able to get a word out. The two burly men were squashing her chest into the floor, making it hard to breathe.

Her mobile phone and house keys, still in her trouser pockets, dug uncomfortably into her thighs as she was pressed tightly against the floor.

Seriously? Do they both have to be on top of me? They weigh a goddamn ton!

“Nobody wants to talk?” the man asked. “That’s okay, you can stay silent if you want to. It makes no difference whether you talk or not, you’re both coming with me.”

As soon as the last word left his mouth, the men holding her down shifted positions slightly. She heard a clanking sound a moment before she felt cool metal against her skin as it encircled her wrists.

Not once in her life did she ever think she’d be in handcuffs. She wouldn’t mind if she’d done something wrong to deserve it, but she hadn’t.

“Like fuck am I going with you!” Tasmin shouted.

Ebony could just about see her struggling to break free. Not that it did her any good, her arms were pulled behind her back. No doubt she was handcuffed just like Ebony.

“Oh, but you are,” the man said calmly.

Tasmin attempted to scream, but it came out muffled as one of the men holding her placed a hand over her mouth again.

The hand was removed from Ebony’s mouth long enough for the men to stand up and pull her to her feet. Then it was swiftly returned before she could make a sound.

It was obvious they didn’t want anybody hearing Ebony and Tasmin, which could only mean bad things for them. At least she could finally see what she was up against now that she was back on her feet.

“Who are you?” Ebony mumbled. Her words garbled from behind the strange man’s hand.

The man who had spoken from the doorway walked over and stopped in front of her, giving her all of his attention. He nodded to the man holding her to remove his hand so she could speak.

“I didn’t quite get that,” he said. “Do you mind repeating what you said.”

“I said: who are you?” she repeated.

“Ah, I see,” he said. “My name is, Mr Smith.”

Ebony didn’t believe it was his real name, but she wasn’t about to call him out on it.

Mr Smith was such a common surname that he probably picked it for that reason. She could be wrong, but she doubted it. He seemed like the type of person who would hide his true identity.

“What do you want with us?” she asked.

Ebony flinched as he lifted a hand towards her face. He gently ran his fingers against her cheek as he brushed the hair out of her way. Ebony couldn’t help the shiver of revulsion at his touch, or the look of disgust.

“I want to transform you into a new and improved version of yourself,” he said.

“I’m happy with how I am,” she told him. “But thanks anyway.”

Ebony was proud of herself. Even though she was scared shitless on the inside, she somehow spoke without showing her fear. If she had been one of her students, she’d have given them a gold star.

“I’m pretty sure my friend feels exactly the same,” she added, nodding towards Tasmin. “So, you might as well just let us go. I’m sure there are plenty of women out there that’ll take you up on the offer, and you won’t even need to use handcuffs on them.”

He chuckled at her. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“I know I am,” she said adamantly.

“But that still doesn’t change anything,” he said, turning serious. “I’ll still be taking the two of you with me today.”

He nodded at someone behind her. Duct tape was slapped over her mouth a second before a dark fabric bag was pulled over her head. Instantly making it so she couldn’t see or speak.

“As I said,” he whispered menacingly near her ear. “You will be coming with me.” He inhaled deeply through his nose. “I’m looking forward to experimenting on you.”

Did he just sniff me?

Ebony would have burst out laughing at him sniffing her if the situation hadn’t been so dire. As it was, a lead weight sank in her stomach at his words.

As much as she told herself not to, she panicked as they guided her out of the apartment. Having her hands cuffed behind her back and not being able to see made it even worse.

As they led her down the hall towards the stairs, the thought that kept popping into her mind wasn’t what she thought it would have been. Instead of worrying about what was going to happen to her and Tasmin, she kept imagining what would happen if she suddenly tripped over and went flying down the stairs.

Would the men holding her arms stop her from falling? Or would they let her go so she face planted on the floor?

Ebony knew it was the least of her worries at that moment in time, but it didn’t stop her mind from picturing it. Luckily, she didn’t have to find out. With them guiding her way around, she made it down the stairs and out of the building without tripping over.

“One in each,” Mr Smith said when they reached the car park at the side of the building.

Her heart sank as she was placed in the back of a car. She had secretly been hoping they would be spotted on the way out of the building and that someone would come to their rescue. But as they strapped her into the car, she realized that wasn’t going to happen.

Squashed between two large men, she had no way out. With no other choice, Ebony waited for the first opportunity she had to escape.