I get a look at my captors.

I had no way of knowing how long I lay waiting for the container I was sealed in to be opened. My watch, as with every stitch of clothing that I had been wearing was gone. Not that it would have done me any good if it had still been about my wrist. With my hands secured down by my sides I could not have checked the time anyway. I believe I was left for quite more than a few minutes, but less than an hour. In hindsight this was certainly deliberate, making a captive stew and worry about their fate is an effective method of showing control.

Finally I heard scratching on the outside of the container and after a few more seconds I could make out the whirr of an electric screwdriver as the lid of my container was unsealed. The lid was lifted off and away. I could see little of course, only the ceiling was visable to me. The sides of the container still hid most of the room and I was still strapped tightly to the container's base. A moment passed and then two upper bodies and heads loomed into view. From the perspective I could tell the crate was resting on the floor.

The two strangers were a man and a woman. The fact that neither had attempted to hide or disguise their features seemed ominous. They obviously were not anticipating that I would ever be able to give their descriptions to the authorities. The woman was in her early thirties I guessed. She had long black hair and a pretty face, which seemed prettier still when she beamed a wide smile at the sight of me.

"Ahh, an excellent specimen isn't she?" The woman commented to her colleague, her brown eyes roving over my exposed body.

The man nodded in agreement. He was younger and I already assumed him to be the subordinate of the pair. He was strongly built with crew cut blonde hair and blue eyes that gave him a distinctly nordic appearence. Both of my captors wore white suits, such as you might expect to be worn by hospital orderlies or others in the medical field.

"You can handle the unpacking." The woman said, though it was clearly a command rather than a suggestion. "I'll prepare the equipment."

The man produced a pair of surgical scissors from a pocket as the woman disappeared from view. He bent over me and reached down by my sides and snipped the restraints from around my wrists. I moved my arms slightly and felt the cut restraints. They seemed similar to plastic cable ties.

"Rub your wrists." The man ordered, a definate european accent to his voice. "Those thin ties can restrict the circulation."

"Where am I? What do you want me for?" I asked rubbing my wrists, though to be honest they were hardly marked.

The man made no attempt to answer, simply waiting and staring at me as I massaged my wrists. When he seemed to think that I'd spent long enough rubbing them he grabbed my right wrist and pulled it upwards. I pulled back of course, but my strength was no match for his. With clearly practiced ease and speed he slipped an object over my hand and down to my wrist. It was a cuff, padded on the inside with leather straps and metal buckles. He efficiently tightened it about my wrist and then fitted a small padlock that prevented the buckles from being undone.

"Other hand." The man said tersely once he had given the cuff an inspection and tugged at it.

I realised that it was pointless to try to resist and held up my left hand. While the blonde man fitted another cuff I brought my right hand up in front of my face to inspect the cuff that he had already fitted. It resembled those that I'd seen in movies featuring insane asylums, padded inside to prevent injury but tough leather on the outside. Metal rings were fixed on the strap and I knew that these were there so I could be easily restrained. The small padlock meant that once fitted the cuff couldn't be undone without the key.

"Is this a hospital?" I asked. "Or an asylum? Why am I here?"

Again the man made no attempt to answer or even acknowledge that I'd spoken. He cut the ties securing my ankles and deftly fitted cuffs similar to those around my wrists to my ankles. When he had satisfied himself that the cuffs were all tight and that I wouldn't be able to slip either my hands or feet through them then the man cut the ties around my waist and neck.

"Out!" He ordered.