Darkness...pain....fear. These were a few of the things Marian experienced as she regained consciousness. A stale musty scent filled her nostrils and the only thing her ears could pick up was the sound of a dripping faucet. As she struggled to sit up, she felt her hands and feet to be bound by a cloth or a rope. Lifting her hands to her face, she removed the blindfold that covered her eyes.

It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She found herself on a small cot in an unfamiliar room. The room had only the two cots and a metal table as furniture. What was strange was the absence of any windows in the room. A small grate near the ceiling was the only source of ventilation and through it moonlight poured inside. There were two doors, a large sturdy one with no handles or bolts. The other one was smaller in size and it appeared to be a restroom door. Marian had no memory of how she ended up in this room and it filled her with a feeling of dread.

Slowly she climbed out of bed onto the icy cold floor. Her head started throbbing with a splitting headache and it felt ten times worse than any hangover she had ever had. Standing motionless, she waited for the pain to subside. A thin nylon was wound across her wrists and feet. She hobbled over to the table and used its sharp edge to cut the rope around her arms.

Flashing lights... loud music...the fruity taste of liquor.

Trying to recall the past few days seemed futile and it worsened her headache. A few minutes later the ropes came undone and she untied the ones that bound her feet. A soft moan startled her and her gaze shifted to the other cot in the corner. Thus far she believed she was the only occupant of the room but she was wrong.

"Is someone there?," Marian asked in a shaky voice.

She slowly stirred her head felt as if someone put 10 pounds of potatoes in a 2 pound sack. As Ambichousness slowly regained her wits she realized she was in a some unknown location. The room was dark except for some minor natural light from the moon shinning into the small room from a vent in the ceiling that let the moonlight in.  She blinked her eyes to adjust the light and winced the gentle motion made her left eye sting a bit, she blinked several times and then moved her hands to feel it. Only to find out her hands were bound behind her back.  What the fuck is this shit she thought as fear rushed through her like a flood on the plains. This fear didn't last long turning into anger rather quickly as she grunted and tugged at the rough bindings. The bindings irritated her soft flesh as she twisted and turned her hands trying to loosen the bindings.  She didn't remember much from the night before, only that there some party involved she still had the taste of liquor in her mouth to prove it.

Then she heard it....

Another voice she wasn't alone in this small dark room. She twisted and turned on the small bed  making it squeak and rattle as she made laboring sounds from her movement.

Someone there?  her voice filled with curious trepidation as she craned her head to see a silhouetted form of another woman. It was too dark to see any features , but she knew it was another female by the sweet smell of perfume on the air.

Suddenly Ambi's mind seemed to clear as she sat up and using a elbow she pointed the girl as if she could her movements in this dark. She had to figure where the hell she was and how to get out of here wherever here was, well they were, there was two of them now.

Hey you mind helping me out these bindings dollface?

Marian cautiously approached the figure sitting on the bed. The woman appeared to be not much older than her and she was wearing similar clothes, the type one wears to a club or a party. Fumbling in the dark, Marian managed to find the binding that secured the woman's hands. 

"What is your name? Do you have any idea how we ended up here? My mind is drawing a blank," Marian pulled on the ropes trying to undo the knot around the woman's wrists when a metallic sound caught her ears. Someone was outside the door trying to open it and the odds were that it was their captive. Furiously she worked on the knot trying to untie it but before she could fully free the other woman, the door swung open. Bright yellow light filled the room and a silhouette of a man was standing at the door.

"You two are finally awake I see," said a deep croaky voice. The man advanced towards her and noticed that she was free of her restraints. "How the fuck did you free yourself," he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently. 

"Please stop, you are hurting me," Marian pleaded with him. She pushed him and tried to back away but the man lifted his hand and slapped her with the back of his hand. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth and her head started ringing. She crumpled down onto the floor in shock.

The man took a step towards her and grabbed her by the hair. " You are a feisty one. Come here."

Marian struggled against him in vain. Her hands brushed up against an object laying on the floor which she picked up. It turned out to be a black high heeled shoe which she presumed to be hers. As the man pulled her up on to her feet she thrust the shoe at his face, the sharp heel impaling his eye.

"You bitch, I'm gonna kill you", he growled while covering his bleeding eye.

Ambichousness leaned forward so the girl  could get  to her ties easier. She seemed to have issues with the knot which made Ambi assume automatically that this gal must be from the city. Maybe if the gal quit asking so many questions she would get the knots undone Ambi thought.

Name is Ambichousness,  don't know myself. "

Just as she answered the door came open and a large man came . She watched as the man slapped the woman around. Ambi struggled at her bindings not able to get them loose she weaseled her frame through her arms, thank  god her mother made her go to those awful gymnastic classes when she was younger she thought fleeting .

Just as Ambi had managed to get her arms in front of her  she looked up seeing the man lunge at her unwilling roommate. Without thought Ambi jumped on his back and pulled the rope around her wrists as tight as she could around his neck leaning back to put as much tension on the rope around his throat as she could . He started swinging from side to try dislodge her from his back just as the other woman plunged a spiked heel  into his face.

He involuntary reached for the eye squirting blood. Giving Ambichousness a  slight  advantage that she took as she hung down the mans back trying to put as much tension on the rope around his neck as possible. The man unable to breath started crumpling at his knees. When Ambichousness felt this she readjusted her  weight and helped him fall to the grown with a loud urmpf coming from her as they hit the ground. She kept the rope around his neck taunt as she stood then used the leverage of the rope and jerked it as tight and hard as she could making the room fill  with a cracking sound as she snapped his neck.

 She looked up to the girl with her and blew a wayward hair from her face as she said rather dryly through a panting breath.

"Nice moves dollface,except," Ambi paused and looked to the woman whose name she didn't know yet, "never leave a man you injured alive, he will always come back for revenge."

"You killed him.." Marian stared at the lifeless body of the man who lay on the floor with his eyes wide open. She looked at Ambichousness in awe. "Th.. thank you for saving me. If you hadn't done that he would have," she shuddered at the thought.

"The name is Marian," she moved closer to Ambi and started working on her binds again. It was frayed from the scuffle and it didn't take her long to undo the knots. After freeing her, Marian took a moment to collect her thoughts. She moved her hands to her lips to wipe the blood off, they were sore and swollen.

"We need to get out of here before more of them show up... but first," she bent down beside the dead man and rummaged through his pockets. A pack of gum, a few dollar bills and a business card was all she could find in them. Strapped to his waist, behind his back, she found a knife with a curved blade. Taking it in her hands she looked at the cold steel before offering it to Ambi. "I'm no fighter, I think it's better if you hold on to this," she stated and got back to her feet. "Let's move."

She crept towards the door quietly and looked outside tentatively. Finding the coast to be clear she nodded towards Ambi and stepped out of the room with Ambi right behind her. They were in a narrow corridor with three metal doors on either side, the last one on the right being the one they were imprisoned in. At the end of the corridor was a larger door that was left ajar. She hurried towards it and peered into the larger adjoining room. Small wooden crates and rusted metal pipes were strewn around on the floor. From the looks of it, they were in an abandoned warehouse.

"I don't see anyone arou.." she was cut short by a faint whimper from the nearby room. Looking at Ambi she whispered, "Did you hear that?". She slowly turned to face the door from beyond which they heard the noise. Quietly she pulled open the latch and pushed the door open. It was pitch black inside and smelled musty.

"Hello.. Anybody in here?" she asked quietly.

Adalynn groaned feeling her head pound and her body sore. The whole room felt as she was on a carnival ride that was spinning in circles with no end. She went to grab her head hoping it would ease the pain even in the slightest but as she went to move she realized something was holding her back. She thought maybe it was just whatever had her feeling this way but as she went to sit up she felt it again. Seeing that her hands were bound she snapped out of the fog that was clouding her. She tugged at the ropes binding her arms and legs to what seemed to be an old cot of some sort. Starting to panic she trashed around trying to flip the make shift bed, only to find it was bolted to the floor. The room was cold and the only light was coming from a small lamp in the corner.

"Someone help me, please!" She screamed. 

She could hear some commotion going on but wasn't sure who or where it was coming from. The noise made her hurry in her attempts to get free. She began rubbing the ropes against the cot trying to break them, only to rub her wrists raw. After several more minutes she gave up on trying to break the bonds and cried out a few more times for help. Realizing it would do no good and the pain in her wrists were nearly unbearable, tears rolled down her face.

They should have left the door closed the girls shrill screaming from inside the dark room was bound to draw more guards. Ambi didn't know if it was best to knock to frightened woman out or try reasoning with her. She chose the latter due to not wanting to carry out an unconscious woman.

She entered the darkroom and hollered at the girl, if there were any guards around they already heard her screams.

"Hey doll-face, shut up before you bring down this house of cards on our heads." 

It came across a bit more callous than Ambi had intended but they couldn't have some dame screaming her head off if they were going to escape this place. Wherever they were, Ambi was having some suspicions that it was some slave ring or something along those lines. Where they kidnap women and sell them to the highest bidder.

"What made ya think screaming like that would get ya help in this joint anyways dollface?"

Ambi asked the captive girl as she cut her ropes with the knife Marian had handed her just moments earlier she .  The girl sat up giving Ambi the stink eye for talking to her that way. Just then a large man  came around the corner and saw Marian standing outside the door.

"HEY YOU.."

he yelled.

"WHAT ARE YOU DO OUT OF YOUR ROOM?"

He bellowed as he lumbered towards Marian and the opened door.

Marian stood watch while Ambi darted inside to free the girl. She could hear Ambi's voice trying to reassure the frightened woman. Every second she stood there felt like an eternity, she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. "Hurry up you two," Marian looked inside and hissed at them. 

"HEY YOU," the booming voice of the man nearly made her jump out of her skin. He was a giant of a man and he stepped through the door into the narrow corridor blocking the exit. The light fell on his face and Marian spotted a nasty scar running across his face.

A pair of large boots... the ground was moving. Marian was being carried like a rag doll, slung over someone's shoulder. She turned to look at the one who was carrying her and she saw a face with a ghastly scar.

"You brought me here didn't you. What do you want with me, what is this place?" Marian asked him, putting on a brave face while taking a step back.

"Oh you remember me do you. What else do you remember little girl?"

"I can't remember," Marian felt her headache return. "Why can't I remember. What is wrong with me?"

"Ah heck why not. Telling you won't change anything," he guffawed and continued. "It's a new drug called Fantasy. I think he added three or four pills to your drink. Might have been a bit too much if you ask me. It messes with your mind. Oh don't worry, your memory might return... eventually, " he snickered and moved closer to her.

Marian took another step backward and she literally had her back to the wall, the room she was imprisoned in was to her right. The guy was too engrossed in his story to notice that the first room, the one with Ambichousness and the new girl, was open. "Story time is over. Get back in your room," he placed his hand on her shoulder and herded her back into her cell.

Ambi suddenly heard voices and singled with a single finger to her lips to the new girl to be silent. She walked heel toe in her bare feet towards the door to hear what was going on. The knife held firmly in  the grip of her right hand as she scooted as silently as possible towards the door.

Just as she neared the door she heard a gruff males voice say something about a new drug. Suddenly she remember  the bar she had been at the night before. She gripped her throbbing head as she remembered she had let some stranger bring her a drink. Well fuck she thought she knew better than that. What had led her to accepting that drink . Her head was so foggy about the last 24 hours she decide it was best to stay in the present and rubbed her temple with her left hand for a second as she regained her wits.

She was furious with an indignant attitude toward their captors now. Who the fuck did these guys think they were.  She thought as her anger  boiled in her veins and pumped through her heart. Well she was gonna show them who the fuck they weren't. Thinking surprise would be the best tactic here she stepped out of the doorway boldly and yelled at the huge man pushing Marian around.

"HEY", that was all she had to say it surprised him enough,as he turned towards her snarling.

"So both ya bitches woke up and got out eh?"

She stood there the knife  held sideways with the blade facing out.  She was scared and her mind was foggy, but they got this far out , and she wasn't going  to stop till they were completely out. She stood her ground as he  turned towards  Ambi pushing Marian towards the  open door of the room the two women had just escaped.

Adalynn lay there trying to get her head together, it seemed as if nothing made sense. She didn't know how she got here and even normal memories of the past she could no longer remember. Her door swung open and a woman stepped in speaking gruffly at her. She shot her a look of contempt but understood that if she wanted out of this place she needed the help. As the girl cut Adalynn's hands free she noticed that she was similarly dressed and wore no shoes. 

As she threw the ropes off of her she could hear a man's voice speak over what sounded like a another young lady rushing them to get a move on. He gloated about a new drug and how they captured the girls. 

It was the first time in a long time that Ada decided to go out on the town. She had been buried in work for weeks and needed to just dance. She was 3 drinks in when she was approached by a man who had offered her a drink. It was then that the world became diluted and fuzzy. 

Hearing his voice made her head throb even more and her determination to get out heighten. The girl signaled for her to remain quiet and gripped the knife she had used to free her. Ada knew that this wasn't going to be an easy fight. The man from the night before was rather large and forceful. She couldn't quite remember the specifics but it came in flashes of blurs. 

The girl stepped into the hallway and distracted the man momentarily, looking like she was ready to fight. Ada looked around for something to use as a weapon and finding only the lamp that was in the corner not bolted. she grabbed it. peeking out the door to where he stood she took a deep breath, lamp in hand, and ran as fast as she could towards him. She knocked him over the head just hard enough to stun him for a moment, giving Ambi the opportunity to make her move.

The large man  flailed his hands in front of him  trying  to block the impending lamp. He took a couple steps back trying to avoid the lamp that the girl Ambi had just rescued was waving madly in his face. Ambichousness watched as the man reached for his abused skull, seeing her chance Ambi lunged forward kneeling in a spin as she used  the knife in a slicing motion across his hamstring. The large man bellowed out.

You damned bitches." As his large form  hit the ground with a loud thump.

Ambi jumped on top of him and with a a deep guttural growl, "I'll show you bitch."  and with a  swift decisive motion she gave the burly scar faced man a red necktie.   She pushed herself off him and looking to  the new girl she smiled as she cleaned the knife off  on his shirt.

"Not a bad swing on the lamp there dollface."  She gave the girl a wink and continued to where Miriam had been tossed.  You can call Me Ambi . So what's your name?  she asked the new girl as she took the several steps towards where Miriam was stirring from being thrown.

Miriam was just coming back consciousness as Ambi knelt near her.

"Miriam ya hit the wall pretty hard . How you feeling? We need to get out of this place.

Marian slowly regained consciousness and she was shocked to find her attacker dead on the floor. Thick red blood pooled around under his neck and the blade in Ambi's hand was crimson. "Thank you for saving me," she muttered and with the help of her new friends she got back on her feet.

"You are right we need to get out of here quickly. Who knows how many of them there are," she stepped over the dead man's body and the three of them hurried towards the door at the end of the corridor. They paused for a moment before heading into the large adjacent room. A large wooden crate was near the door and Marian signaled towards it. Quietly they scampered towards it and hid behind the crate.

Open tiles on the roof let moonlight pass through, illuminating parts of the warehouse. "I see a door over there," Marian whispered and pointed to the far end of the room where a large metal door was visible. "Its quite far, maybe there is a window through which we can climb out."

Marian took a step towards the side of the crate to check the other end of the room. "Ahh," she let out a muffled cry. Kneeling down she felt around near her foot to find something sharp impaling her foot. She took a deep breath and pulled out the piece of metal while holding back a scream. 

"I stepped on something, a nail I think. I'm bleeding badly," her eyes welled up and tears started rolling down her cheek as she felt helpless.

Adalynn watched as the girl made a quick lunge at the man. She slit his thigh disabling him and weakening his leg enough for him to fall over. She could only stand and watch in awe of how fearless this young woman was. She didn't hesitate in her movements and made it seem so effortless.

"I'm Ada and thanks you didn't do too bad yourself." she replied with a grin as she helped get the other girl up. Nervously they made their way through corridor and into a  large room where they hid behind a big wooden crate. It was cold and eerie. Looking up Adalynn noticed the panels above them were allowing spots of light to come through.

"Maybe there's a way up there and out those holes in the structure." She said.

Adalynn quickly turned her head at the sound of Marion holding in a cry of pain. She hurried over to her and helped her sit with her back against the crate. Ripping a piece of cloth off of her dress she motioned for Ambi to hold her foot.

"I'm going to wrap it pretty tight and it may hurt" she whispered, "try to be as quiet as you can." Marion nodded with a grimaced face preparing for the surge of pain. Ada looked over at Ambi who gripped the foot tightly. She wrapped the cloth around it a few times tying a knot at the top.

Ambichousness sat there a moment her racing mind irritating her pounding headache. She wondered if Marian would even be-able to climb up to the rafter, or if it would be better to slink across the room to the door.   The longer she was in this place the harder it was control  the burning rage that festered inside her because she let herself fall into this situation. She knew better than take a drink that she didn't watch get poured. She wondered how many other girls had the same fate or even maybe worse.  She looked at the other two women.

"Marian do you think you can climb with that foot?" She asked with some concern in her voice. It would be easier if they could go up rather than across the large room towards the door.

Under normal circumstances she would have had no trouble making the climb but with her right foot injured, Marian was unsure. Using the nearby crate as support she got back on her feet and looked up. The ceiling was at least fifteen feet high if not more. She would have preferred to try the front door but there was no way of knowing if it was locked or if they could get that far without drawing attention to themselves. 

"Alright let's do it. If the two of you think we have a shot of climbing out of here, then I'm in," she hobbled over to the wall and looked up. A small walkway ran along the length of the wall just above her head . "Mind giving me a boost so I can climb up there ?"

"Marian if you are going to live with me in Sherwood, you need to learn to climb trees my dear," Robin teased her as he played with her silky golden hair.

"But why? I don't wanna," she pouted.

"What will you do if a bear or a tiger chases after you. What will you do then?" he gave her a sly grin. "Its easy, I will give you a boost and you can pull yourself up." Robin knelt down and interlocked his fingers giving her a place to step. 

"Don't you dare look up my skirt Robin," she joked as she placed a foot in between his hands and pulled herself up onto the low hanging branch.

Marian offered her hand to Ada, pulling her onto the metal walkway and the two of them helped Ambi make the climb. The roof was still out of their reach and Marian had no clue as to how they would  get up there. "What now girls? Do you see anything that might help us get onto the roof?"

Ada nodded her head in agreement of what Ambi implied. “There has to be a way up.” She said looking around

She helped boost Marian up onto the walkway above them. Following after, Ada walked around looking for something that would help them reach the ceiling above. 

Ada giving up on looking up, looked down and looped the walk way again. She spotted rope, tape and a couple of hammers on the bench below. Laying on the walk way she inched her body over the side and hung a few inches above the work bench, a deep breath and an inwardly shouted "screw it" she let go landing on the edge of the bench off balance. Swinging her arms she managed to keep her balance just slightly.

With a sigh of relief and odd looks from the other two Ada collected the equipment she wanted, grabbing the tape and tossing it up to Marian and the rope soon followed to Ambi. Ada grabber the hammers one in each hand gave a small jump she hooked the walkway with the clawed ends and proceeded to pull herself up with the help of her companions. 

“We can use this stuff to make a rope to throw for the panels to climb out!”

Ambichousness smiled thoughtfully as Adalynn approached with her treasures. 

"Nice finds there Ada. do you mind?" Ambi asked as she reached for the materials. Adalynn let her take the items as the two women watched Ambi.

She took the two hammers and tied them to the ends of the ropes like grappling hooks. She then measured out an arms length of rope extending from each hammer giving some extra strength to hold weigh and tied a knot. She took the tape and wound it tightly around each of the knots she made reinforcing  them  she hoped at least she gave each knot a solid tug.  She  proceed to make knots several lengths apart down the rope for foot and hand grips. Then smiled holding up her makeshift grappling hook.  She stepped back and gave it a hefty swing feeling its weight.

Smiling to both the other women.

" Well here goes nothing."

She said with hope in her voice as she swung the makeshift grappling hook. She eyed her target a beam that was above them several feet as flung the end with hammers towards her target. it missed and bounced off fling the weighted end wide as it almost pulled Ambi off her feet. She regained her balance  placing her feet squarely under her shoulders and hefted it again. It flew high and then arched down catching the beam it curled once as Ambi quickly pulled it taunt.  Looking to both the other women she smiled.

She gave the rope one last hard tug let her her weight pull on it satisfied she pulled her self up the rope using the knots she had made to pushed and pull herself up to the top. She punched her fist through one of the loose panels and pulled herself to the roof.

Looking down she  gave the all clear to Marian and Adalynn.

Marian rested, tending to her throbbing foot while Ambi and Ada worked on getting them out. With fascination she watched them create the grappling hook. When Ambi missed the target on her first try, Marian flinched as the hammers made a dull thud. Luckily for them, the noise didn't seem to alert anyone. Once Ambi was on the roof, it was her turn next. She grabbed the end of the rope and pulled herself slowly along it, using the knots as a foothold.

The cool night breeze caressed her face as she made her way onto the roof. The faint lights of the city could be seen in the distance. From the looks of it they were in the southern part of the city, in the warehouse district. Her home was on the other side of town, maybe one of the other girls had a place nearby. Looking down she saw Adalynn start to climb up the rope. She was halfway through her ascent when Marian heard someone shouting. "The girls are escaping, come quick!"

Marian noticed a figure running along the walkway towards the foot of the rope. "Come on Ada you are almost there," she called out to her. The dark figure was standing underneath the rope and he started tugging on it, making Ada swing back and forth. She was almost at the top when the hammers dislodged from the beam but Marian was quick to react. She leaned down and grabbed Ada by the wrist firmly. "I got you. Give me the other hand."

Ada watched as Ambi made a grappling hook out of the supplies she had found below. Once both ladies had made it up the rope she followed behind. She was almost to the top when it started swinging furiously. Looking down she saw a large man at the bottom pulling it and trying unloosen it from it's grip around the beam. She tried to hurry but the motion was making her slip. 

The strong pull from the man unhooked the hammers and Ada about to fall was caught quickly. Marain held her wrist telling her to swing her other arm up but the rope had gotten tangled on Ada's foot as it was falling. The man still held his grip on it and was pulling her down. Reaching down with her free hand Ada grabbed the slack of the rope, pulling it taunt. She wiggled free of Marian's grip and with  rope in hand and the man still holding the other end she swung to the ground.

Once she was on her feet again, she pulled the rope as hard as she could causing the man to lose his balance, flipping off the scaffolding above. Making a quick decision she ran over and grabbed the hammers before he could recover from the fall. With no hesitation she beat the man cracking his skull like an egg. 

She called up to them "Go get help, I will try to get other girls out and safe." With that she ran back behind the wood crate to hide briefly, before going back in.

Marian and Ambichousness watched as Adalynn fell and bludgeoned the guy to death with the hammers. They looked at each other as she shouted to them to get help and ran back in from where the three had just fought to escape. Marian and Ambi gave each other that knowing look her chances were slim to none of helping any other girls let alone surviving by herself.

Ambi knew there had to be other girls, it would be conceited of the three women to think it was just them. She also knew it would be futile to try and help any of them in the condition she was in.  She had none of her guns, she had none of her lighters and no cigars.  She could really use a cigar right now she thought, as she let out an exasperated sigh.  She had to get out of  this damn cocktail dress and into a pair of boots. Then they could take care of business. She wished Ada luck as they watched the brave woman slink back into the building.

She looked to Marian who although climbed the rope and nearly pulled Ada up on her own was in no condition for a real fight with her foot bandaged in that bloody cloth. She looked to Marian as she stood up and offered a hand to help pull her up.

Ambi walked as Marian hobbled by her side the scanning for away off the roof.