Flicking through a celebrity gossip magazine, Melissa Webb reclined back on a pink leather cushioned chair, waiting for the Senior Hair Stylist to become free.
Her appointment was supposed to be ten minutes ago, but Salon 404 seemed to be busier than the usual Thursday afternoon.
Cheerful pop music and chatter between the staff and clients filled the air, as Melissa looked at the articles of glamorous celebrities showing off their wealth and success. The pretty 22 year old brunette lived with her parents near the Essex town of Basildon, their modest semi-detached house was not a match for the impressive Hollywood mansions on the pages of the magazine.
Staring down at the magazine, Melissa smiled to herself as she started to daydream of how wonderful it would be to become famous, the beautiful dresses, designer shoes, parties, film premieres...
"Miss Webb, Miss Webb?"
Melissa's thoughts were suddenly disturbed by the voice of the Hair Salon's receptionist attempting to get her attention.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Miss Webb, we should be ready for you in a couple of minutes."
Melissa nodded and lifted her hand to brush her fringe away from her eyes. Placing the glossy magazine on the table in front of her, the young woman reached further forward and picked up a local newspaper.
The stories in the paper seemed to be dull and depressing, as Melissa turned page after page. She was about to put the newspaper back on the table as the football and sport sections were of no interest to her either, when she saw a page full of small adverts.
One in particular stood out. Melissa became more than a little excited inside as she read its words from the page.
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FAME SEEKERS WANTED!
We are looking for contestants for a new live streamed TV game show where an international audience will see everything you have to offer in a chance to win some big prizes. 18+ only. Email photo and details, and we will respond to you.
-
Melissa glanced up and saw the Salon's receptionist walking towards her. Quickly, she pulled her iPhone from her handbag and took a picture of the advert.
Getting up, Melissa smiled again at the receptionist as she guided her towards her usual Stylist Mark's chair.
As she waited for him, Melissa looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes bright as her mind raced through the possibilities an appearance on TV could bring.
"Hi there Melissa," Mark rested his hand on the barbers chair, "What look are we thinking of today?"
****
Light rain splashed into the pavement, as Melissa opened the glass door of the Salon and waved goodbye to Mark.
Holding her handbag above her head to partially protect her new hairstyle from the rain, she moved as quickly as she could in an effort to avoid the small puddles now forming on the road.
Pressing the key button with her slender fingers, the indicator lamps of Melissa's pale blue Fiat 500 flashed as it unlocked. Pulling at the chrome door handle, she briskly got inside the small car, before putting her handbag on the passenger seat and closing the door shut.
Melissa reached inside her handbag to take out her mobile. She was still thinking of the newspaper advert, and how exciting it could be if she made it on the show.
She eagerly started to type out an email, saying how she had seen the advert and wanted to apply, and how it was her dream to appear on TV. Melissa looked down at the casual loose fitting top, leggings, and Adidas trainers she was wearing, deciding that despite her new hairstyle, a better picture was needed than just a simple in-car selfie.
Looking hurriedly through her old Instagram posts, Melissa saw a picture of herself looking fabulous in a dark colored Pinghe neoprene dress that was taken at a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago, and she knew immediately that this was the one to attach to this important email.
Soon her index finger tapped 'Send' and the email was gone. Melissa smiled broadly to herself as the rain fell more heavily and ran down the blue car's windscreen. She hoped so much that this would be her big break at last.
Slowly driving away, Melissa decided to herself that she would keep quiet about the game show. She had previously completed application forms before for X-Factor, Big Brother, and a number of other television shows. After weeks of talking to her friends and family non-stop about them, she discovered each time that she had been turned down for every one.
After a short drive from the town center, Melissa steered her Fiat onto the driveway of her home to where she could see her father Stephen was standing, holding open the front door with his body. As his daughter got out of her car he spoke to her sounding a little impatient, "You're back at last, come inside your mother is just getting dinner ready."
"Sorry Dad, I'm coming now." Melissa hugged her father as she passed, before making her way towards the kitchen. Sitting down at the dining table, she felt her iPhone vibrate. Looking at the screen she saw she had a new email.
Upon opening her inbox Melissa saw it was a reply to her earlier mail. Her heart beat quickened as she clicked on the message and started to read it.
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Good Evening Melissa,
Thank you for your application to appear on 'Keep Your Eyes On The Prize!'
I am pleased to say that after considering your application we feel that you are just the ideal fame hungry and beautiful young woman, with the apparent required level of intelligence, that we have been looking for in this special one-off European edition of the show.
Please read the attached material release and other relevant documents, and then reply to this email as your agreement of these.
We will forward details of the filming location when we hear back from you.
Yours,
Kieran King,
Director and Presenter,
I.F.H. Productions.
-
Melissa wanted to scream and shout out loud in happiness at being selected. With her mind now completely caught up in the excitement of this amazing opportunity, she started to type a reply to the email, but was almost immediately interrupted by her mother placing a plate of potato mash, peas, and sausages in front of her onto the table.
"I wish you would stop playing with that phone of yours?" Her mother Gemma's voice quietened in volume as she stepped into the kitchen to retrieve another plate of food. Melissa resolved to stay silent about the show until after it was filmed. She giggled quietly a little to herself at thought of keeping her chance at fame a secret.
Melissa finished typing her reply and sent it just as her mother came back into the room and sat down. "Do put that thing down, just eat your food." Gemma gestured towards her daughter with a fork. "Have you been at work today Melissa?"
Her phone vibrated again as another email came through. "No mum, I was out of the office today. I went to, err, the Salon..."
Melissa's words tailed off as she picked up her iPhone and read the latest email. It simply stated that filming was starting at Saturday 8pm, the following night, and gave an address and postcode which sounded like some sort of business address.
Looking up, Melissa saw her mother shaking her head. Putting her phone down, Melissa picked up a fork and placed some of the mashed potato into her mouth.
****
Saturday afternoon soon came, and with her parents out shopping at Bluewater, and then meeting with friends, Melissa had the house to herself. Loud dance music echoed through her home as she came out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around her moist skin.
Wanting to look her very best for the show, Melissa had already decided what to wear. Glancing at the bed, laid out on it was the same black Pinghe pleated neoprene dress she wore in the picture she had sent. Next to the dress was her favorite matching black and grey lace detailed bra and panties, and a pair of dark colored tights. Melissa's black peep-toed Michael Kors' high-heeled pumps sat next to the bed ready for her to put on.
Sitting in front of her mirror, Melissa carefully applied her make-up. Dark eye-shadow and bright red lipstick completed her look.
The front door of the semi-detached house opened, and finally Melissa was ready to go. She took one last look at herself in the hallway mirror. Her short black hair framed her pretty face, make-up immaculate, and the tight-fitted dress followed the curves of her young body perfectly. Its classy design had a high neck line, and it's pleated hemline was just below the knee.
Melissa's high heels clacked on the concrete as she walked towards her car. Getting into the little Fiat, butterfly's in Melissa's stomach grew as she knew she was now only less than an hour away from being on TV for the first time, a dream she had held so close since she was just a small girl.
Following the sat-nav instructions, Melissa drove her pale blue car away from Basildon, along the A127 and towards the East End of London. The address she had been given seemed to be in a large industrial estate near the river. The businesses Melissa drove past where closed and deserted on this dark Saturday evening. Doubt started to creep into her mind over if she was being led in the right direction, when suddenly her sat-nav spoke and said that she had reached the address.
Turning off the road, Melissa parked her Fiat next to a large white van which seemed to have foreign number plates. Switching off the engine, she looked up at the anonymous looking grey industrial unit and thought it hardly had the appearance of a television studio that she had been expecting. A pair of large roller shutter doors dominated most of its frontage, but Melissa noticed a smaller door within one of them.
Stepping out of her car, Melissa looked around before making her way to the door, nervously clutching her black tote handbag to her chest as she walked.
The small door opened just as Melissa approached. "Come on in Miss Webb, we have been expecting you." A strong American accent spoke the words unseen from behind the roller shutter.
Melissa ducked a little as she came through the doorway, before being greeted by a smiling man wearing a black tuxedo, crisp white shirt, and a black dickie-bow tie.
"Hi Melissa, I'm Kieren King!" He looked in his late 40's, clean shaven, with his greying black hair neatly combed.
"Thanks for coming, you look so amazing! " Kieren continued as he took Melissa's hand and guided her further into the building towards a side room a few yards away.
"OK, so you've read the material release form and those other documents too then Melissa?"
Kieren looked around at her awaiting a response, as Melissa suddenly realized that in her excitement at getting the email she hadn't read a word of them.
Melissa stammered a little, "Yes, I, err, did read them a bit?"
Kieren smiled again, showing even more of his perfect white teeth. "Aww, Melissa! I love it when you girls are so excited about being all famous, you forget to read all those silly legal things hey?"
Melissa giggled awkwardly, "I am so sorry, I'm just so grateful you've invited me onto your show, I just can't wait!"
"I just love that British accent of yours, we are just going to have a great Euro show tonight. Just quickly sign these two forms and we can get ready to start." Kieren spoke as he gestured for Melissa to sit on a plastic chair, passing her a pen and the paperwork that had been sat on a small table in the corner of the room.
Kieren continued speaking, "I'm sure you will be great tonight Melissa. You seem just the English rose our viewers all around the world will want to see plenty of I'm sure!"
Melissa looked up at Kieren, her nerves easing a little at hearing his nice comments. "I've not heard of this program before, is it going to be on television abroad then?"
Kieren laughed a little before answering, "That is a good question indeed Melissa. Well, it's an internet based show, that we usually film in locations like the Balkans, Russia, or Central America. That is where we find usually find out most talented contestants and ideal candidates for future projects too."
He lifted his right hand, running it through his hair as he watched Melissa sign the front page of each document, with her ignoring the other pages stapled to them.
"Our viewers love what we do so much that they pay to see each episode. We let them email in some comments and questions too of course."
As he finished speaking, a large, well built man with a weather beaten face came into the room. "I must leave you now Melissa to get ready and speak with the other contestant, but Alexi here will take care of you."
Taking the pen and documents from her, Kieren purposefully walked out of the room, leaving her and Alexi together.
"I am Alexi. My english bad. "He pointed at Melissa's handbag. "You have bag, car keys, and phone to leave here in room, yes?"
Alexi stepped forward and took Melissa's bag from her, placing it gently on the floor.
The man looked at the chunky silver watch on his wrist, before meeting Melissa's eyes again.
"OK showtime! You come here." He scowled a little as he said the words, before lifting his right hand to his shaven head to scratch it.
Alexi then beckoned Melissa to her feet, ushering her out of the room and towards another door. The noise of her high heels as she walked echoed around this part of the cavernous industrial unit.
Stepping through the doorway, Melissa looked on at the set of the game show emerge as she walked towards it. Spot lights were directed on a plain stage on which three dark blue podiums were placed. An electronic scoreboard was attached to the front of both the outer ones, their display currently reading zero.
Off to the side of the stage in the darkness, Melissa could see the outline of some other equipment. Male voices speaking in a foreign language could be heard by her just beyond.
"You stand there, we start soon." Alexi pointed to the right hand podium. Melissa walked toward the blue rostrum and stood behind it. Looking down, a bright red button sat on top of it.
Melissa started to become nervous again as she sensed the show was about to begin. She could feel her mouth become dry, and felt a sense of worry rise in her as she realised how little she actually knew about what she had agreed to appear in.
Her eyes darted around as she saw Alexi behind a camera pointing in the stage's direction. Looking to her side, Kieren walked out of the gloom and made his way to the central podium.
Looking beyond Kieren, another man then stepped up behind the other podium. The middle-aged male raised his right hand and waved at Melissa. He was casually dressed in a purple patterned shirt and jeans.
Before Melissa could take in any more of what was happening, a voice from the darkness started to shout out, "Cinco, Cuatro, Tres, Dos, Uno!"
Suddenly lights behind the stage started to flash and cheerful upbeat music began to play loudly.
Melissa started to take shorter breaths as she looked around, her eyes struggling to focus between the darkness off the stage, and the bright spot lights shining at her. Squinting slightly, she could just make out the shape of Alexi behind a camera now pointing at Kieren, a red light illuminated on it's front.
A pre-recorded voice bellowed then from the speakers around the stage as the music's volume dropped slightly. "Ladies and Gentleman, Welcome to another edition of 'Keep Your Eyes On the Prize!' With your host, Kieren King!"
The music faded away slowly, as canned applause was played for a few moments.
"Oh thank you, thank you, you're so kind!" Kieren smiled broadly as he waved his hand to a non-existent audience in front of him.
"You join us tonight in London, England for a special Euro edition of 'Keep Your Eyes On The Prize!', where we meet two contestants ready to do battle for the ultimate prize!"
"Let's meet our first contestant, please introduce yourself?" Kieren theatrically waved his right hand in the direction of the purple shirted man.
Adjusting his spectacles slightly he started to speak, "Hello, I am Oskar Torsten. 35 years old. I live Germany, in a village near Munich, and I am an electronics engineer."
"Thank you Oskar, thank you!" Kieren then turned towards Melissa. "I know so many of you have been looking forward to this edition of the show, as we have a very special young English woman here tonight as our second contestant. Please introduce yourself my dear?"
Melissa listened to Kieren speak and saw the camera turn towards her. This was it, her chance to make it at last. She had to be as enthusiastic as she could despite the increasing nerves inside her.
"Hi everyone! My name is Melissa Webb. I'm an Office Worker, I'm 22, and from Basildon in Essex!" Her words gushed out before she waved at the camera excitedly.
The host down the camera, "That's great Melissa thank you so much. It's great to have you both here. Let's start the show with the best of three round, the fastest on that button gets to answer."
Kieren picked up a stack of cards from this podium and turned towards Oskar.
"As we are in London, the questions are about England. What is the capital city of the Untied Kingdom?"
Melissa quickly pressed her right hand down on her button. Despite it being depressed firmly, nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly she heard a loud electronic chime and looked across to see the front panel of Oskar's illuminated brightly.
"London!" Oskar shouted out with a gleeful expression on his face.
"Well done Oskar, That's five points. Let's ask another." Kieren shuffled his question cards and looked back at the camera.
"Who was the English Monarch between June 1377 and September 1399?"
Melissa had no idea of the answer as she looked over at her opponent who appeared equally puzzled by the question. Suddenly her podium made its own noise and flashed brightly without her hand having touched the button.
The camera focused on the young woman's surprised expression, as Kieren turned to her, "So Melissa what's your answer?"
Confused, she desperately tried to come up with a response. "Errm, I don't know? Queen Katie?"
Kieren looked on at her shocked face, "I'm very sorry Melissa, it was Richard II I'm afraid. You lose 5 points."
Kieren moved his hands to pick another card, "Next question. Where does the British Prime Minster live?"
Before Kieren had even finished his words, she pressed hard down on the button this time with both her hands. Melissa immediately heard Oskar's buzzer sound, with him then shouting out the answer loudly.
"Downing Street!" The German laughed to himself after he gave the answer.
Kieren smiled at Oskar, "Well done, that's correct and it gets you another 5 points. You win the round, ten points to minus five."
"Melissa, not such a good start for you, no?" The host turned to her pointing with the question card in one hand.
"I think my button is not working properly?" The young woman's eyes darted rapidly between Kieren and the camera now pointing again at her.
She continued on, "I pressed it and ..."
Kieren abruptly cut across her words, "Melissa, I think Oskar just straight up beat you in that round."
He smiled at the young woman, but Melissa could not believe that he spoke over her so rudely.
She watched on, her eyes narrowed in frustration, as Kieren picked up an iPad from within his rostrum and studied its screen, his fingers swiping and tapping at it as he was speaking.
"Our next round will be about England's medieval history, but first let's look at your emails and messages coming in. Tito from Minsk says he thinks how pretty Melissa is, Leon in Detroit says he wants to see more of her too, and Marek from Slovakia wants to see Melissa get to all the way to the end of the show."
He took a couple of steps away from his podium towards Melissa, the camera swivelling on its base to follow him.
"You seem to have lots of fans out there already, what do you think of that Melissa?" Kieren confidently rested his hand on her shoulder.
Despite feeling a little annoyed and confused from what had just happened, the attractive brunette's mind now started to race with excitement as she heard of the comments about her from the people watching the show being read out.
"Thanks everyone, I love your support and kindness so much!" Her natural Essex accent more noticeable than before, she again waved enthusiastically into the camera.
Kieren moved his hand down her back, "OK, keep those messages coming in."
As he spoke the final words, he walked back to behind his podium. "The next round is about the medieval England. The Kings, queens, knights, castles, of old. Deep in those castles there were dark dungeons."
Kieren moved his hands in a theatrical manner, "We bring a taste of that to the next part of the show, and I'm afraid a small forfeit for the loser of the last round Melissa, which I am sure her fans will enjoy."
The final few words from Kieren made her heart almost skip a beat at the idea of pleasing all these people right around the world.
Suddenly, Melissa's attention was taken by Alexi stepping up on the stage from the darkness. In his right hand he was carrying what looked like at first a thick wooden plank, about a metre long in length. As the light from the spot lights fell upon it, she could see it had three holes in it, two smaller ones at the ends, and a larger one in the centre.
As the muscular man drew closer, she could see the shaped wooden object was split along its length with a hinge on one end, and some sort of bracket or clip on the other end.
"Lady, put hands up." Melissa watched on as he opened up the device and moved in front her.
Holding the yoke, he moved part of it over her head, placing it behind Melissa's neck, before pressing it close to her skin. Alexi's strong, rough fingers first took one hand, and then the other, pushing her slim wrists into the semi-circular cut outs.
Stepping back, he swiftly rotating the front part of the wooden yoke to meet the rear, it clicking loudly as it locked shut.
Alexi turned and walked off the stage, leaving Melissa with her fore arms now trapped in a raised position parallel to her torso. The wooden yoke's weight pressed down on her neck and shoulders, it somewhat heavier than it's appearance when Alexi was carrying it.
"Wow, you look just the damsel in distress yes?" Kieren held his hands together, as the camera zoomed in on Melissa's face, now a picture of confusion and puzzlement.
"I'm sure Oskar will be your knight in shining armour as he works on your behalf and answers a question to release you."
Melissa looked over to Oskar, as he stared transfixed back at her, his eyes wide, and almost open mouthed at what he was witnessing.
Kieren picked up another card. "Let me ask the next question. Oskar, who was the magician on King Arthur's Round Table."
Melissa instantly knew the answer, and watched as Oskar's eyes looked up as he tried to think of a reply himself.
Mentally she willed Oskar to answer the question, as he put his index finger to his chin as he thought further.
"Merlin, it's Merlin." She whispered the words, but still at a volume where it was picked up by the microphone on her podium.
Kieren suddenly turned to face her, "Merlin you say Melissa? That is the right answer, but in this round Oskar was answering for you don't forget."
Melissa was flustered and tried to instinctively move her arms as she spoke, but was restrained by the yoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it out loud. It was a mistake!"
Kieren shook his head as he placed the question card on top of his rostrum. "I'm sorry, but that means you lose another five points Melissa, and Oskar gets five more."
Waving his hand towards himself, Kieren continued. "So, that's now minus ten for Melissa, and in the lead, Oskar with fifteen."
The German raised his right arm in celebration as Alexi stepped up onto the stage again, moving her blue podium away to the side and out of the spot lamp's glare.
"Alexi has another forfeit now for Melissa to match her first." Kieren watched on as his assistant came back and knelt down in front of her.
Melissa felt real concern as he appeared to be holding another stained wooden yoke, this time a shorter one, with only two medium sized holes in it spaced about five inches apart.
"What are you doing? Please no!" She protested as Alexi tightly grabbed at her left ankle, pulling her high-heeled foot closer to the other one.
Swiftly he moved the restraint around her lower legs, squeezing it shut with both his hands, it locking securely.
As Alexi got back to his feet, Melissa swayed unsteadily on her expensive shoes, unable to properly control her balance due to the shaped planks now preventing her arms and legs their natural movement.
Melissa looked down to the ground in front of her, a fearful expression on her face at the sight just visible below her breasts of the yoke now resting on the top of her ankles. "I don't think this is right? I feel like I am going to fall over."
Talking a couple of paces towards her, Kieren stood next to the visibly worried young woman. "Alexi will make sure you stay on your feet. Don't worry at all my dear. Shall we hear what the folks at home have messaged in?"
Going back to his podium, Kieren picked up the iPad, while Alexi stood next to the wobbling 22-year old.
"OK let's see. This English girl looks so sexy. That's from Demetri in Russia. Stuart from Cambridge, right here in England too. He says you must have lovely legs, and it's a shame that they are hidden under that boring dress. There are more messages, but maybe later?"
Kieren eyes Melissa up and down, before nodding at Alexi. "Let's see if Stuart from Cambridge is right?"
Melissa gasped loudly as Alexi leant down, his left hand grabbing tightly at the neoprene fabric of the costly Pinghe dress covering her upper right thigh.
Her eyes caught the light reflecting off the blade of a hunting knife that Alexi was holding in his right hand as he plunged it into the black material. Without hesitation, he pulled the knife roughly around her, the dress' fabric jaggedly separating as the serrated cutting edge of the knife tore through it.
"No! No! No!" Melissa screamed helplessly unable to resist in any other way. "My dress, you're ruining it!"
In just a few seconds Alexi had cut the garment completely around at the top of her thighs. Dropping the knife, the man gripped the now separated lower part of her dress and ripped it apart at its seams, before throwing the remains off to the side of the stage.
"You bastards! What have you done?" The camera focused on Melissa's long and shapely legs. Her stilettos and dark tights accentuated them, especially as her dress's roughly cut hemline now barely covered her buttocks.
Kieren laughed to himself. "I think Stuart was right. You do have a fine pair of legs there Melissa."
"You've destroyed my dress!" Melissa was shouting whilst still awkwardly trying to maintain her balance.
Her mind was filled with an equal mixture of anger and disbelief. "Get these things off me, I want to go!"
Melissa attempted to pull her arms down and out of the yoke, but this action merely caused her to yelp in pain and fall forward slightly. Alexi took hold of the wooden restraint around her neck and pulled her back upright into her heels.
"I'm sorry Melissa, the game is not over yet." Kieren picked up the tablet again.
"Let's read some of more of our viewer's messages?" He swiped and tapped again at the screen.
"More of your fans here Melissa. Jose from Mexico City says how stupid you are, and that you're only fit for sucking on old men's cocks. Ahmed from Egypt, he has messaged in to say that we should cut your tongue off and feed it to a dog, all to stop your horrible squeaky English voice."
Melissa's heart pounded rapidly, beads of sweat forming under her fringe and running onto her face as she heard what was being read out.
"They can't say things like that about me! It's wrong, so not right." Again she rocked around as she excitedly spoke.
Kieren's attention transferred to Oskar who had been watching Melissa's discomfort with glee. "Well, after that interruption, we are just a round away from the finale to the show."
"OK Oskar, with a now unbeatable lead of 25 points over Melissa, I need to ask you that big question. Have you kept your eyes on the prize tonight Oskar?" Kieren beamed as the German contestant stared intently at the immobile young female opposite him.
"Oh yes, I'm ready to go for the prize. 5000 Euro would be so amazing, I just hope the English girl cannot win it for herself now?" As Oskar spoke, Melissa's anxiousness increased to an even more desperate level.
"This is so not fair! What are you saying? What do I have to do to win this game?" The frustrated Melissa started to move rhythmically around in an impossible attempt to move herself away, but not tumble to the floor.
She continued shouting as the camera focused in on her rantings. "This show is fixed! Let me out of these things right... Nrrgh! Urrgh! Mrrugghh!"
Melissa's outburst was quickly reduced to just muffled and unintelligible nonsense, as Alexi had moved behind her and produced from his trouser pocket a bright red ball gag, his hands holding onto it's black leather straps.
Placing it over her head in a single move, he pulled it back by the straps causing the bright red rubber ball to fill Melissa's mouth and prevent her from speaking. Alexi then buckled the gag tightly, the leather straps pressing into her cheeks.
"Thank you Alexi, that is better. It is a shame you decided to speak out Melissa, as I was going ask you some questions for you to gain your freedom, and maybe have a chance at the 5000 Euro too." Shaking his head again, Kieren turned his back to her.
"Urrrghh! Murrgh" Melissa frantically tried to speak, but her tongue was trapped behind the large round red gag. The camera stayed fixed on her pretty face, now contorted in fear and shock.
The girl's eyes were wide open in terror, her lipstick smearing against the similarly colored ball gag as she hopelessly tried to talk. Starting to now dribble significantly, Melissa's saliva ran onto her chin, with a few drops falling down into onto the wooden yoke restraining her hands, and also onto the front of her dress.
"So Oskar, I know you're a fan of the show. So in this round are you ready to pick Melissa's next forfeit, as she sadly declined the opportunity to do so herself?" Despite the wriggling restrained woman standing next to him, the show's host chatted calmly as the camera turned in his direction.
Oskar Torsten had been a regular on-line viewer of 'Keep Your Eyes On The Prize!' for last few years and had often thought of deciding upon a young woman's fate so he could win the money available.
Hidden deep within the darkest corners of the internet, Oskar was always aroused and excited by the show's usual premise of seeing various attractive young women either humiliating themselves in a series of increasingly regrading tasks, or for the more intelligent girls, a slow reluctant slide into debauchery and hopelessness.
The show was usually staged in more rural parts of the United States, Eastern Europe, or in some Central American countries, but this was the first time it had been filmed in Western Europe and Oskar was so excited to be chosen to appear on the show himself.
Adjusting his glasses, he considered his response again as he looked at the choice of the three numbered cards that Kieren was now holding in his hands.
Oskar's gaze moved across to Melissa, her eyes now reddening and looking close to tears. "OK, I shall choose card number three."
Kieren stepped over and rested his hand on Oskar Torsten's shoulder as he spoke. "You chose card number three. So, that option means its time to see lots more of Melissa. I'm sure our viewers at home will take pleasure from this too!"
Kieren King turned and held his right arm out towards Melissa as the camera swiveled back in the girl's direction. "Alexi, please help our female contestant out of her remaining clothes."
Taking a step behind her, Melissa felt Alexi's fingers search for the zipper of her dress. Locating it, he pulled it down hard. The lukewarm air within the industrial unit touched the soft skin of her back as the dress separates.
Tucking his fingers under the folds of the dress' material at the base of the zip, he pulled his hands away from each other with great force causing the neoprene fabric to rip asunder and reveal Melissa's black and grey panties and the curves of her pert bottom beneath.
"Mrrgh! Urrghh!" Melissa's pulse raced at a tremendous rate as the horror unfolded further. Looking on, she watched helplessly as Alexi moved to her side and once again removed his hunting knife from its holder on his belt.
Sliding it under the right arm hole of her dress, it pulled it repeatedly outwards, the material cut and tearing until it met the neckline. As he did so, Melissa could feel the blade catch under her bra's shoulder strap, slicing through that too.
Alexi repeated this on her left side. As his knife reached her neck, the destroyed dress now split apart, simply fell to the floor. The camera paned out to take in the sight of Melissa stood in her underwear and tights, completely restrained by the yokes and gag.
His strong hands gripped tightly and tugged down her bra, it's shoulder straps already severed. Melissa's fair sized breasts bounced free of the supportive garment, as he pulled it to her mid-drift, twisting it around to release the clasp and then throwing it down onto the stage.
Melissa again tried to shriek her defiance, but was frustrated once again by the gag stretching her red lips apart. Nrrrgh! Mrrrgh!"
She felt the cool blade of his knife slide against her skin as it's cutting edge went under the waistbands of both her panties and tights. As Alexi pulled the knife down and outwards, her knickers cut clean through, and tights laddered and torn apart.
Roughly and repeatedly, Alexi's fingers tugged at Melissa's tights ripping them to pieces. He moved away, allowing the camera to see the terrified Melissa shaking and whimpering, her body totally naked except for the remains of the tights around her ankles, and the high-heeled Michael Kors shoes on her feet.
Melissa's mind could not take in what was happening. Less than an hour or so before she was driving to the studio, so full of excitement for an amazing future, and now she was naked and restrained, contemplating a fearful and unknown outcome.
Her imagination flashed with thoughts of the potential countless eyes staring at her nude body through their computer screens around the world. The idea that these people could take such pleasure from her desperate state made her even more frantic.
Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes again, as Melissa unsteadily lifted one foot, and then the other, in an ill-fated attempted to move away.
Her beating heart skipped as Melissa felt a hand touch the small of her back, it moving down to cover one of the cheeks of her behind, gently squeezing at it.
"Well don't go anywhere young Melissa. I want you right here!" Kieren King was now standing close to her side, his other hand starting to caress her flat toned stomach.
As he spoke, Kieren's hand went upwards, lightly cupping her left breast, his thumb and forefinger playing around and over her nipple and areola.
"Such a pretty and obliging young woman you are Melissa. As everyone at home knows, we will have a winner either way tonight. If Oskar gets the next big question wrong, he will leave with nothing, but the star prize Melissa will make all your dreams of fame come true in your new career as an adult film star."
She groaned loudly as the TV presenter's hand moved down from her breast and slid between her slightly parted legs, lightly brushing over the neatly trimmed dark public hair surrounding her vagina.
The American continued on, "That's right. With the legally binding contract you agreed and signed earlier today Melissa, we are ready to transport you all the way to Poland, where you are set to star in a pair of forthcoming hard-core feature films 'Bound Sluts IV' and 'Handcuffed Cuties VII'. Wow! What a great prize on offer for either of our contestants tonight!"
Whimpering loudly at the disturbing content of the Kieren's conversation, Melissa thoughts were suddenly filled that of her parents, friends, and the fun life that she had enjoyed before this terrible moment. Everything she had known in her life was now at risk, her emotions overflowed as she thought of the disappointment and anger her mother and father would feel in her if they found out that their only daughter had somehow agreed to become a porn star.
Kieren left the panic stricken girl as he took his hands away from her and returned back to the central podium.
"So Oskar, I need to ask that question for you to win the 5000 Euro prize." Kieren paused for dramatic effect, staring straight into the camera lens.
"One lady that came to a sticky end in England's history was indeed Anne Boleyn." Kieren continued with a sense of increased drama in his voice.
"Who ordered the beheading of Anne Boleyn?"
"Nrrrggh! Murggh!" the silenced Melissa could only make more unintelligible noises in a desperate effort to give the answer to her opponent.
Oskar looked confidently across at her and seemed ready to speak.
"It's Henry VIII, I know it is!"
Again Kieren paused excessively before responding to Oskar's words. In the silence the microphone picked up Melissa's continued muffled cries.
Kieren held Oskar's stare for a moment more, as a large smile formed on his face. "Yes, that is the right answer. You win our star prize tonight Oskar!"
A sense of relief swept through the English brunette's mind that her future had been saved, but this was almost instantaneously replaced by the realization that something was badly wrong as Kieren continued to speak.
"Of course, we never like to see a loser on the show. So I'm very sure that all her fans at home will be excited too at Melissa's special prize."
She stared wide-eyed in disbelief at him, "You're still coming with us to the beautiful Polish countryside to become an actress in a multiple movie deal! Melissa Webb, your wish to be seen by almost every man in the world has come true as we promote your dirty BDSM films across the globe!"
Kieren continued to speak enthusiastically, "Come, let's take a closer look at our latest adult film star!"
The two men approached her, with Kieren raising his right arm. He placed it on her naked skin of her shoulder under the wooden yoke. Her head down, Melissa tried to speak again, but this only resulted in her making further incomprehensible noises, and dribbling even more pathetically then before.
The cheerful music that had started the show, now played again, this time at a lower volume.
"Wow! What a show?" Kieren spoke on, as Oskar joined the pair, his hand immediately started to grope at Melissa's derrière, causing the young woman to whimper further through the gag as she was unable to defend herself from his advances in any way.
"Our German fan of the show Oskar Torsten gets his dream realized of appearing here tonight and taking away our star prize, a whole 5000 Euro!"
Kieren grabbed a fistful of her black locks, and pushed upwards to show her now increasing reddened face to the camera. "Thanks for coming on the show Melissa, and good luck in your exciting movie career!""
Letting go of her hair, Melissa's head slumped back downwards. "We have a plane ticket for tomorrow morning just ready for you to jet off to you new life in Eastern Europe!"
The music started to increase in volume, as Kieren continued on. "Remember that you guys and gals at home can apply to be on the show just like Oskar and Melissa, and you too can... "
Pausing, Kieren waved his arms in the air before shouting "... Keep Your Eyes On The Prize!"
The music then became very loud, with both Kieren and Oskar waving to the camera before suddenly everything fell silent.
The lights in the industrial unit illuminated brightly, causing Melissa further difficulty in adjusting her eyes to the change. Frantically her eyes searched around for any possible salvation from her torment, as she saw two other men behind the cameras standing alongside Alexi.
"Thank you for playing the game today." Oskar lent over and kissed Melissa's forehead. "I look forward to seeing you manacled in chains in your bondage films soon!"
Kieren King touched Oskar's arm, "Come, leave the girl. I need to talk to her."
As Oskar walked away, the grief stricken Melissa remembered how nice Kieren had been to her when they first met earlier in the evening and how she was now left in this helpless state.
"OK Melissa, this is very simple." Kieren stared into her brown eyes, "I gave you a contract earlier this evening for this movie deal. It explained exactly it's explicit 'adult' nature, and I think the reasonable financial package you would potentially receive upon completion. You signed it, saying that you would appear as the star performer in each film."
He continued to look at her sternly, "Be at Heathrow airport tomorrow at 1130 am, or expect a lawsuit so large that it will bankrupt your family and leave you explaining to everyone why no one has food or a house any more because you can't keep your word."
He started to take a step away, and then stopped and turned. "I will see you tomorrow at the airport. Remember you're a grade-A porn star now, not some office girl any more, so I expect you to dress appropriately."
Kieren walked away and did not look back at her. Melissa knew that because of her reckless search for fame and stardom, she had now had potentially forever lost her parents, friends, and job that she had all held so close to her heart.
Left on the stage alone for a moment, her eyes darted around again. She watched on as Alexi moved towards her, "Time to go."
"Nrrrgh! Urrgh!" Melissa could only defiantly mumble, as she felt Alexi's strong arms reach first under her knees, and then across her shoulder blades, pushing her backwards, as he picked up her up off the stage.
With the wooden yokes preventing any movement of her arms or legs, and the bright red ball gag taking away her speech. Melissa was utterly helpless as Alexi carried her back towards the industrial unit's side room and then placed her on the plastic chair once again.
Bending down slightly, Alexi reached behind under her dark hair to undo the gag's strap. The cool air rushed into her mouth as he removed it, Melissa took deep gasps of oxygen filling her lungs.
"Mr King says this for you to wear." Alexi pointed to a short red dress hanging on the back of the door frame.
Melissa looked up at the garment, it appeared to be made from a sheer material and it's neckline was very low cut, with a halter neck style.
Still confused and panting for breath, she could at least finally speak. "Get these things off me now!"
Shaking his head, Alexi knelt down, pulling off her shoes and the remains of her tights. The man's rough fingers pulled at the lock to release the yoke from around Melissa's feet, before then moving up to undo the one surrounding her neck.
As he unhinged the device and lifted it away from her, Melissa sprang to her feet and rushed towards the red dress, pulling it from its clothes hanger.
With her back turned to Alexi, she tried desperately hide from any more embarrassment as she pulled the dress down over her head.
"It's too small!" Melissa exclaimed as she turned to face the grim faced man as she felt the article of clothing cling tightly to her body. The young woman stood with the dress barely covering her as it's hemline sat at the top of her thighs, and it's plunging neckline gave revealing view of her breasts.
"Not interested!" Alexi barked as he approached holding her handbag and shoes in either hand. "Go home lady, pack your bags, and be at that aeroport as Mr King wants you."
Alexi pushed the bag into her chest. "Get going, now!"
Melissa started to stutter a reply, but was lost for words. As she bent down to put on her shoes, the felt the dress ride up and uncover her buttocks and crotch.
Shaking in fear and disbelief, Melissa tottered uneasily on her heels as she walked past Alexi unable to meet his eyes. Stepping out into the darkness, in what was now nearly midnight, Melissa heard the door slam shut behind her with such force that it caused the whole roller shutter to shake. The metallic noise reverberated around the deserted industrial park.
Melissa gasped at the cool night air, as her fingers clumsily searched for the car keys within her handbag. Pulling them out, she moved to unlock the blue Fiat.
Yanking the door open in anger at herself and this crazy situation she was now in, Melissa stepped into the car. As she settled down into the driver's seat, she was immediately aware that the red dress was doing very little to protect her modesty.
Melissa huffed loudly as she gripped onto both sides of the hem of the dress to pull it down in attempt to cover her now exposed crotch. However, in doing so, it only revealed even more of her cleavage.
She pushed aggressively at the gear lever and reversed away. Steering the vehicle out onto the road, she then accelerated hard away, causing the tyres to squeal a little on the tarmac surface.
As Melissa drove along back onto the main road, the fluorescent street lamps flashed beams of bright light into the small blue car as she passed them.
She struggled to think of a way out of this mess. As the miles passed, her young mind flashed through every possible option she could think of, but all seemed to be lost.
She considered driving straight to a Police station, but Melissa was not sure that they would believe such an unlikely sounding tale, and they might even arrest her too if Kieren showed them the contract she had foolishly signed.
Still thinking of what she might say to her parents and boss at work to explain the possible sudden absence, Melissa manoeuvred her Fiat 500 onto the driveway of her home and slowly pulled up behind her mother and father's car.
Melissa looked up into the house hoping they were both in bed and would not see her in the slutty looking red dress that she was made to wear. Closing her eyes, Melissa knew she had to decide between going to the airport or not tomorrow, but this was a scenario in which the outcome of either option was almost too horrible to contemplate...
