Librarian Perils #7 - Peril and Puzzlement

As I began to wake up I realized that my head hurt so badly that I would have been better off staying asleep.

No… not asleep… I had been unconscious. The back of my head was throbbing and pulsing with pain. Someone must have hit from behind hard enough to actually knock me out!

I was lying face down on the carpeted floor of my office, but I had no idea how long I had been lying there. I tried to prop myself up but my limbs didn’t want to work properly. The best that I could manage was to slowly roll myself over onto my back. The overhead lights were excruciatingly bright and seemed to stab even more pain directly into my brain. I tried to raise my hands to shield my eyes, but my arms were too heavy and uncoordinated and they just seemed to flop uselessly against my body. I was completely out of it and so dizzy that I thought I might throw up. I could taste blood in my mouth and my lip felt puffy and swollen. I think I must have crashed face-first to the floor when I fell.

I suddenly realized that I was almost entirely naked. Someone had stripped me of my blouse, skirt, pumps, bra and panties. They were scattered all around me on the floor. I was still wearing my white stockings for some reason. What had happened to me? I tried to assess my injuries, but only my head seemed to be in pain. I didn’t feel as if I had been molested other than the disrobing. Perhaps my assailant had been interrupted? Whoever he was I hoped that he was gone…

That’s when I heard a loud thump in the hallway outside of my office accompanied by muffled voices and I knew that I was not alone and definitely not out of danger.

I remembered that I had stayed late this evening to finish up some of my administrative paperwork. The library had been closed for several hours and I was the only person here… or so I thought at the time. I was gathering my purse to head for home, my back was to the door… that’s when I was suddenly struck from behind. Whoever had attacked me must have broken in to the library, but the main doors were supposed to have been locked and the alarm should have been set, so these intruders must either have had help from a library employee or they were professional thieves.

But who would want to break into a library?

We did have a few rare books in the basement archives, but this group seemed to be doing something in the administrative wing. It sounded like they were shuffling around inside the Regional Manager’s office. The Regional Manager was almost never around. I had yet to meet her myself. No one was ever allowed to go into her office... even I didn’t have access and I was the Head of Acquisitions. For a brief moment I wondered what these thieves might be after, then I decided that I really didn’t care and I needed to call for the police immediately.

Once again I struggled to rise, but my body felt impossibly heavy. My cell phone was on top of my desk. I managed to use the side of my desk to support most of my weight and tried to push myself up on my wobbling legs. If I could just reach the phone…

“Yeah, yeah… I’ll be right there... Lemme just check on something...”

The voice was gruff and masculine and it was accompanied by heavy footsteps that were heading towards my office door. Someone was coming! The rush of adrenaline and panic gave me a burst of strength, just enough for me to get one of my arms on top of my desk and pull myself up.

My office door opened and light from the hallway spilled into the room. A long silhouette cast a shadow over me from behind. I was in no condition to fight whoever it was... I had to reach that phone!

Strong arms with hands clad in black leather grabbed me from behind and hoisted my torso roughly up onto the desk. My breasts pressed against the cool surface and my legs dangled uselessly over the edge. I was bent over with my ass in the air, completely vulnerable and exposed… but I could see my cell phone just within arm's reach. I was about to grab for it when he yanked my hair back painfully, covered my mouth to stifle any chance I might have had of screaming and growled into my ear….

“What do you think you’re doing? Calling for help? No one can help you, little lady. Not tonight...”

I clawed at my phone, but it was just out of reach. My desperation just made my assailant laugh. I was completely at his mercy and I struggled not to surrender to my feelings of helplessness and despair. I had to do something.

I was surprised to hear a female voice shouting from down the hallway.

“Matteo, where the Hell are you?!?!? Get back here and help us get these boxes unloaded!”

Matteo’s grip on my hair slackened just a bit as he turned and shouted: “Be right there! Just gimme a minute!”

He was distracted for just that brief moment, but I knew it was the only chance I might get. With a desperate strength that surprised my attacker I lashed out with my legs and arms, momentarily shaking him loose. I scrambled for my phone and managed to get my fingertips on it, dragging it towards me as I knocked over a small vase that shattered loudly on the floor.

I had the phone!

But then Matteo grabbed my hair again, jerked back my head and slammed my forehead down onto the top of my desk hard enough to make me see stars. I was passing out, but I struggled desperately to keep my awareness focused on the phone in my right hand. If I could stay awake just for a few more seconds…

I heard the female voice again, this time much closer:

“Matteo, I said get your ass… Oh my God!!! ...What the Hell are you doing?!?!?”

Matteo released me and I slumped over the desk, completely limp. I fought with my eyelids, commanding them to stay open long enough for me to call for help. I swiped across the screen with my thumb to unlock it as Matteo argued with the female.

“I was just having a bit of fun. No big deal, Ms. Fox.”

“No big deal?!?! This is a simple delivery! We bust in, drop off a few boxes, and get the Hell out. We aren’t hear to have “fun” and we CERTAINLY aren’t here for you to assault one of the librarians!”

“Relax, Rachel… I’m wearing a mask. She ain’t seen nothing and she don’t know nothing.”

“Except for MY NAME now, you idiot! And yours! You’ve been watching this place all day! You said everyone left for the night!”

“Oh, uhm… yeah, sorry. Must have missed one.”

“Bullshit! You were hoping for a little alone time with the librarian here and you were just hoping I didn’t notice you slipping off to have your way with her. It’s bad enough that we’ve had that snoopy Amanda Jones on our trail since we smuggled this useless junk into the country, now I have to deal with Giuseppe sticking me with a crew full of amateur buffoons!”

There were too many names… too much information… and I was far too out of it to make sense of anything that I was hearing. Did they say delivery? So does that mean they were leaving something in the library instead of taking it? Why would they do something like that in the middle of the night?
I dialed a “9”… then a “1”… and then Matteo knocked the phone out of my hand and slammed my head into the desk once again.

“I’m really sorry... Look, Ms. Fox…. Don’t tell Giuseppe. I can fix this. Let me just…”

“Just stop! Stop thinking... stop talking... and just do what you’re paid to do… and do you remember what it is that you’re paid to do, Matteo?”

“Uhm… to do whatever you tell me to do?”

“Exactly! Now chloroform your naked librarian toy and let’s get back to work so we can get out of here!”

The word “chloroform” filled me with enough dread to fire off another adrenaline burst and I scrambled for the phone. I felt Matteo’s leather gloves grab me again and I lashed out with one of my legs, but he caught my ankle and lifted me off balance enough to throw all of my weight onto the desk. I had no leverage and my adrenaline was already starting to fade.

The white cloth was pressed against my lips before I could recover my balance enough to do anything to stop it. I started to gasp with surprise, but I fought my instincts and tried to hold my breath. I had caught the barest whiff of the chemicals on the rag, but even that was enough to send the room into a spin thanks to my already weakened condition.

The phone… where was my phone?

I grabbed at Matteo’s arm, trying to pull it and the cloth away from my face, but the brute was muscular and any strength that I might have had was long gone. I scrambled for the phone once again and managed to hook it with one of my fingers. I struggled with Matteo, trying to see over the cloth and the chemical fumes that were making my eyes water.

I pressed the “1” and hit “Send” ...just as Matteo slipped his leather gloved hand over my breasts and pinched my left nipple.

I couldn’t help myself... I gasped… and the chloroform fumes raced into my lungs. The room started to spin even faster and I just wanted to close my eyes to hide from the chaos, but I knew that if I did then the fumes would take me.

“That’s it… just breathe… breathe and sleep...”

I wanted to scream, but I had no air. I was barely conscious even before the chloroform hit me. Lack of oxygen, anesthetics, and several blows to the head… I could feel myself being snuffed out like a weak candle flame...

...going…

...going...

“9-1-1... What is your emergency?”

I could hear the mechanical voice of the emergency operator coming from my phone, but it sounded so distant and far away. I tried to scream for help! I tried to scream my location! But all I heard myself say was:

“Mmmmphh…. mmm…nn...”

My arms flopped limply onto the desk. Darkness seemed to sweep in on me from all sides. I felt Matteo gently lay me down onto my desk. I fought to keep my eyes open, but it was a losing battle. I was too weak to move and I was now too far gone to even whimper or moan, even though my cell phone was mere inches from my lips. I could hear the operator saying:

“Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?”

Matteo had released me and taken away the white cloth, but I wasn’t out cold just yet. I thought that I might still have a chance. If he thought I was already out… if he just left me there on the edge of consciousness… then I might recover in time to reply to the operator. Campus security could be here in a matter of minutes. I had a chance!

I felt Matteo slip something over my head. In my drug-addled state I thought it felt a bit like a hair net. He pulled it down so that it covered most of my face, and that’s when I realized that it was my lace panties. Matteo slipped the chloroform-soaked cloth under the waistband, using the elastic of my own panties to keep the rag held securely in place over my mouth and nose.
I had no chance at all.

Matteo’s footsteps faded away as he left me there to rejoin his companions.

The emergency operator’s voice faded away as I exhaled a last helpless sigh of resignation.

Consciousness faded away as the chloroform finally pulled me under...




Amanda Jones and Rachel Fox are the OC's of