Chapter 3: The Council

Grace Hedley, 30
Beth Hedley, 48, mother
Alison Rayland, 30
Chloe Larsson, 25
Freya Hart, 40

Freya called it a council meeting, saying the three of them as Grace’s closest friends, were the council whose job it was to help their friend in her lifestyle choice. ‘Help’ and ‘lifestyle’ was quickly coming to mean making sure Grace was in some sort of bondage. They slowly began to agree on things.

The three women, under the unopposed chair of Freya, who at least had seen this sort of thing before in her work, began to talk and listen to each other as they spent a good hour navigating the subject of just how they might keep Grace in bondage in her own home. The first act was to have a formal vote on which of the three options Grace had put in her letter they would support.

There was no way they would walk away and leave Grace as she was restrained and silent in the garage, even with the lawyer ‘safety net’, they couldn’t be sure it would happen. In any event, ten o’clock Monday morning was almost 48 hours away and if the lawyer didn’t take action on Grace’s request immediately, it would be another several hours beyond that before she was released. None of the three sat round the table in the small dining room thought Grace would be in any kind of good state if left for so long. Grace’s letter had not said when she had eaten and there was no evidence she had that morning before restraining herself. Freya thought as Grace was healthy she could survive for a while longer than that but no one was willing to take that chance.

The vote was unanimous that option two was out. Grace would not be abandoned.

That left the other two options of releasing Grace now and apologizing and then seeing how their respective friendships would fare afterwards.

“Despite the tone of her letter, she may not want us to be her friends going forward,” warned Freya before they voted on that.

“I don’t want to lose her friendship,” replied Alyson. “But I can’t just drop everything in my life to spend everyday here. I have a life and interests outside of work.”

“I agree,” echoed Chloe. “I have things I have to do today, places to go. As much as I love Grace, I can’t spend every waking moment here.” Chloe paused. “However, here we are and I suppose if Grace has done this now she could do it again, but without us being aware. Maybe, no one being aware.” Chloe gulped. “I mean, what if she gets more desperate and goes too far. We wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves if she did that.”

“That’s why you know about this type of thing, don’t you, Freya?” asked Alyson. “Things going wrong for people into this lifestyle.”

“Yes,” replied Freya, darkly. “I do.” Freya paused looking down at the table. “I too have a life and other interests. But there has to be a solution.”

“Well, its clear to me then. We cannot trust her not to put herself at risk again,” said Alyson. “If she needs us, it’s because we can protect her and help her live this lifestyle, even if she does want to be all tied up. I hate to say it, but in a weird sort of way we’ve become her guardians.”

“Prison warders,” replied Chloe fidgeting with her fingers.

The vote again was unanimous. Grace couldn’t be freed and left alone.

The third option, that of some sort of permanent bondage lifestyle, was the winner by default, though the actual vote in favor was 2 to 1. Chloe dissented and explained why.

“Of course I want to help,” she said. “I don’t want to see Grace suffer or be unhappy. But what if we aren’t the right people to do this? I mean what do we know about bondage or the bondage lifestyle?”

“Go on,” said Freya.

“We all agree that we have life outside of work.” Chloe paused. “Maybe I can’t do it. Maybe none of us can. Not for however long it takes. What do we tell our family and friends because we can’t do something with them because we’re always here. Also, permanent, if that what she means, is a very long time. How can we three given our work and other aspects of our daily life, devote time to looking after Grace every moment? Already we’ve been in the garage twice to check on her, see if she is showing signs of distress. Are we all going to have to do that twenty-four seven?” Chloe paused. “And that includes Christmas Day and all holidays. None of us will get any time off. We’d be just as much a captive as she is. Also,” Chloe added, “we all need a’ get out’ clause so we can leave if other things arise, like if we move away because of a job change or we get tired of doing this or maybe we meet someone.” She was thinking of the dating ads she placed online, but they hadn’t yielded anything so far. “And work. We don’t know if she has given notice or not. If she hasn’t, we can’t give notice for her, she has to do that herself.”

“Hmm,” Freya replied. “You’re right.”

“What if we bring someone else in,” asked Alyson, though she admitted she didn’t know who. Nor did she know how one would even begin to interview someone for the job of being in charge of a silent, tied-up woman.

“It would be a matter of great trust,” said Freya. “We trust each other as Grace’s friends and obviously she has trust in us. I personally don’t know of anyone who would be willing to help and as far as I know, we’re her only real friends. If there’s anyone else close to her, she’s kept it from me. But I agree, we have to look after ourselves in this. To that end we need Grace to sign, not under duress, a document in which she takes full responsibility for her actions. We have to be excused if things somehow go wrong or one of us wants out.”

Both Chloe and Alyson fell silent, each contemplating just what ‘wrong’ might mean.

“We wouldn’t hurt her,” said Chloe.

The others agreed they wouldn’t, but added they could not yet know what might hurt her. Everyone has limits, it was agreed.

“I suppose,” said Alyson after a short silence while they thought of their own willingness to endure things, “we also don’t know what Grace needs. I mean, we can’t keep her like she is right now, keep her in that position more or less for years, even if we spent 24 hours a day looking after her. So what does permanent mean, really? Will she be happy just wandering around in chains, or tied to a chair, or maybe strapped to a bed? Are there restraints she can wear under her work clothes? She’ll need exercise. Food, drink, fresh air ... she has a smart phone, but does she need it?”

“I would think ‘yes’ to them all,” replied Freya. “But I think variety is the key here, no pun intended. If we are her jailers to put it that way, we have to make sure she is safe, fed, watered, exercised and restrained according to her needs. She will need to be kept clean, use the toilet, and she may have health issues. Dentist, doctor, all that. Plus, like Chloe said, if we’re going to do this, Grace has to go into work on Monday and give notice. Or maybe she doesn’t give notice but adjusts her lifestyle to meet her work needs. She’ll certainly need an income.” Freya paused. “I think on some level she has to take responsibility for herself and we’ll help her along the way.”

“She’s in rubber right now,” said Alyson. “Is that how she sees her life? No sunlight on her body? But you’re right, she has to take some kind of responsibility.”

Neither of the other two knew the answer, though Freya thought if they took charge of Grace they could do as they wished as far as clothes were concerned. If the three decreed, Grace would wear nothing but a fur coat and bib-front overalls and Wellington boots.

“If she gives herself to us, we do what we think best,” said Freya. “It’s our choice. But she should have some autonomy when we’re not here.”

“We mustn’t forget Grace’s mum, Beth, I think her name is.” Alyson added. “She may want to see her daughter one day. May need to see her,” said Alyson. “Then we have to either explain to the old dear...”

“Careful, Alyson, Beth’s not that much older than me,” replied Freya as she squirmed in her chair.

“Sorry,” Alyson smiled. “Figure of speech. But she would have to be told. It would be harder in a way the longer it is left.”

“Fuck,” said Chloe quietly. “This is big isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” snorted Alyson. “It’s like Grace really hates us and this is her clever way to make us suffer. The jailers being jailed along with the prisoner.”

The use of the word ‘prisoner’ went a long way to focusing the minds of the three women. Prisoners needed certain things, and one of them was human contact. Right now, they all acknowledged, Grace was in an extreme form of bondage. She wouldn’t stay that way under their care, but perhaps if she craved it, extreme rubber-clad bondage was a sort of a treat or reward for good behavior.

“Okay, try this on,” Chloe said sitting up in the chair. She looked at Freya and Alyson. Alyson was swiping away on her smart phone. “If this is going to be permanent and we don’t have the time to constantly look after her, not to mention her job. We keep her in some sort of bondage or restraint during the week as she goes to work. I don’t know anything about restraints that can be worn under clothes, but there has to be something. Then during the weekends, one or all of us, put her in the type of bondage she desires, like she’s in now.” Chloe was smiling at the others.