The narrow door

Thinking the door might lead to a closet--which, in a perfect world might contain the box of jewelry that was her main goal here, or failing that, some other valuables--Ada stepped forward to try the knob on the narrow door. Like the one in the entrance, it gave way with barely a touch, revealing a steep flight of stone steps leading down into the darkness.

After a moment’s nervous hesitation she directed her light down the steps, revealing nothing but more steps that eventually disappeared into inky blackness. She gulped, hardly reassured, but gamely started downward, being careful not to stumble.

She seemed to be fairly deep underground when the stairs abruptly ended, terminating at another door identical to the first, this one protected with a heavy padlock. An iron key hung on the wall just to the left, and she lifted it off its hook and tried it in the door, which tried to stick but grudgingly opened with a rusty screech of protest when she gave it a shove.

Shining her flashlight inside, she gasped and nearly dropped it when the beam played over a figure seated in a chair.

“Who...who are you?” the figure, who now appeared to be a young woman, asked in a scared voice.

In fact, she sounded more frightened than Ada was, and this combined with the fact that another sweep of the light revealed the woman was actually TIED to the chair, nearly naked, and blindfolded to boot, did a lot to calm her immediate fears.

“I’m Ada,” she said, looking the girl over with concern. She was a slender redhead with long curly hair and pale skin, and the tiny black panties and bra she wore left little to the imagination. Currently she was bound to a heavy chair that seemed bolted to the floor, and a black blindfold covered her eyes. There were two puncture wounds on her neck, but that was to be expected, and otherwise she seemed unharmed.

“Are you all right?” Ada mentally kicked herself, taking in the girl’s helpless position. “I mean, of course you’re not all right. Here, let me untie you...”

She stepped forward, then halted, catching sight of the thin gold chain and diamond pendant that hung between the young woman’s pale, heaving breasts. A pendant she recognized. It had been a gift from her grandmother to her mother, and was one of the many pieces her uncle had stolen.

“Where did you get that?” she demanded, her voice suddenly harsh.

“What? What are you talking about?” the woman whimpered. “Please untie me! I want to go home!”

Ada hesitated. Her first instinct was to rescue the woman, who from all signs was here against her will, but the pleading suddenly seemed like bad acting, and either way, maybe it would be better to question her first? She couldn’t imagine her uncle giving such an expensive necklace--not to mention one that had once belonged to HIS mother, and her mother before--to just anyone. Maybe there was more going on here than met the eye...