Prop Room II: On Location

A Weekend Trip

“So when am I going to find out where the surprise destination is?” Darlene asked. She and Joe Riordan, the owner of the movie prop company, were the only two left in the building on a late Friday afternoon. She was sitting at her desk in the rear of the building, in the accounting department behind the warehouse. Joe sat on the edge of her desk.

“Not just yet. I do have some coming attractions though. Want to hear the trailer?” Joe had taken over the family business a few years ago from his father. The main line was providing various props to movie and television production companies. A lucrative sideline was selling old movie memorabilia, primarily on the Internet. Darlene, an aspiring art director, had been hired to catalog props when they were used in order to document the provenance, the proven history, movie fans demanded.

Joe and Darlene had become close friends, and lovers, since Joe had rescued Darlene when she had been accidently locked in the warehouse one weekend. Darlene had been the proverbial damsel in distress when Joe had shown up as the impromptu White Knight. Since then they had grown close and usually spent weekends together.

“Yes! Show me some thrilling scenes that will make me come back for more.” Darlene laughed as Joe shook his head. She loved the movies, especially the technical and production side. The job in the prop company had been a dream come true for her. Joe’s stories about his and his family’s experiences with the studios were as much a treasure as the old movie scripts and props she handled each day.

“Okay, remember the movie that got you in so much trouble that night we met?” Darlene nodded, remembering how she had mistakenly found the box for Babes in Cages, a 60’s women in prison exploitation movie. She had tried on the female lead’s costume, including the handcuffs and leg irons, and wound up trapped in them when the keys were accidentally picked up by a customer. Joe had come to her rescue, driving out to the movie location in the middle of the night to find the box with the keys she needed.

Joe continued. “Well, I found the sequel. I didn’t know there was one until last week. We recently won a bid on acquiring the inventory of a bankrupt company. That’s where I’ve been this last week. It turns out the building for this company was often used for location shooting by low budget producers. I obtained a list of movies made there from a collector friend of mine. Imagine my surprise when I found Babes in Cages II: Insanity Plea on the list. Knowing how involved you were with the first movie, I had to get a copy of the second one.”

“Joe, now you know it was pure chance I even watched that movie. I am not obsessed with it. You’ve made me curious though. Do you have a copy?” She leaned back in her chair and looked up at him.

“The same collector made a copy for me. For the finale,” he paused for effect, “we are going on location this weekend. I want to go over what we’ve bought in more detail. It’s supposed to be full of specialty items stretching back over a hundred years. I think we’ll get a lot of period set work from it.”

Darlene was puzzled. “I don’t get it, what’s so special about this place? Is it an office building?”

Joe laughed. “No, it’s definitely not an office building. Trust me; you will have a good time. And don’t ask, because I’m not going to tell you what kind of business it is, or was.”

She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. She could tell he was leaving out some crucial details. “Okay, you talked me into it. When do we leave?”

At the Gates

After the turnoff from the highway the drive down a narrow, twisting two lane road had been long and boring. Other than a few farms Darlene had seen no signs of civilization, not even lights in the gathering dusk. For the last twenty minutes she hadn’t even seen a car on the road. She looked over at Joe. “How much further?”

“Patience, we’re almost there. Isolation was a necessity, given the line of business they were in. You’ll see why in a moment.” He reached over and patted her knee. “I’m looking forward to this.”

She put her hand over his. “I can tell. I admit I’m stumped. I have no idea where we are or what this place is.”

Joe slowed at a curve in the road. In the headlights she could see why. A large iron gate set in high brick walls barred the way. He stopped the car in front of it. “I have the gate key. Just a moment while I let us in.” He opened his door and got out.

The car lights answered one question when Darlene read the large sign on the gate. New Ashford Institute for the Criminally Insane it read. Below the name was another placard warning passersby that no one was allowed inside the gates. A guard shack on the left side of the road was closed and dark. She watched as Joe swung the gates open.

Back in the car he pulled forward and got out to close the gates. Further up the drive Darlene saw a large brick building, from the architecture apparently dating back over a century. The front was dark except for lights at the front entrance. Now it made sense why Joe would bid on the inventory. If this was an old hospital the basement and storerooms would be a treasure trove of rare and unique antiques.

After locking the gates behind the car Joe drove past the front entrance to an open garage in the back of the building. “The caretaker told me he’d leave the garage door open so we could park inside. Figured it out?”

Darlene nodded. “A mental hospital, and by the looks an old one. Spooky at night; I can see why it was used for movies. What happened to it?”

“It was built in 1901 by a private medical company. They had a contract with the state to house mentally deranged criminals and violent mental patients. From what I’ve read it was a grim place, as bad as a maximum security prison except the inmates all had indeterminate life sentences. The state yanked the contract in 1974. It struggled along until last year as a private detox clinic for B-list alcoholic celebrities drying out between their stints on afternoon game shows.

“The building is going to be torn down in a few months’ time. Until then we get to take out anything we want. Whatever we leave behind gets bulldozed or sent to a scrap dealer. I have some idea of what’s in here from the books and a quick look around but I want to do a more thorough inspection.”

Darlene opened her door and got out. The garage was large enough for a school bus. Some of the overhead lights were burned out, giving the place an ominous feel. A massive steel door set in the rear wall was the only entrance into the building. “Is anyone still here?” she asked.

Joe closed the car door on his side. “Nope, all gone. The caretaker was the last one. He left this morning, off to retire and enjoy fishing with the grandkids. He sent me the outside keys. There should be a full set inside so we can explore anywhere we like.” He opened the trunk of the car and took out a large gym bag. “I’ll get the rest of our stuff later.” He closed the trunk.

“There aren’t any towns nearby and no neighbors, so we won’t have any visitors. Utilities will be shut off when we finish moving out all the goodies. For now it looks like it’s just you and me.” He took her hand and headed for the interior door. Next to the door was a switch for the garage. He pressed the button and turned to watch the noisy metal garage door rattle down. “At least it’s been maintained.” Joe used a key to open the door.

The interior entrance opened onto a small room. At one end a counter ran along a wall. The opposite wall contained reinforced glass windows into another room. Darlene could see wire embedded in the glass.

“This is where the ambulance unloaded the patients. The room behind the glass was for guards. The patient was processed here before being admitted to the rest of the hospital.” Joe dropped the gym bag on the counter and unzipped it.

Darlene shivered as she looked around the room. How many poor, tormented souls had passed through this room to spend the rest of their lives in the hospital? The grey paint on the walls and the beige tile gave the room an antiseptic, cold, impersonal feel. She turned back to watch Joe as he took something out of the bag.

The something proved to be a long white lab coat. He put it on and buttoned up the front. What was he doing?

Joe looked up as he noticed her watching. The evil grin on his face warned her something was about to happen that she might not like. He pulled out a videotape from the bag and dropped it on the counter. “This is the sequel. We’re going to see it, but not in the way you expect. For the next two days, I’m going to be Dr. Joe. And you,” he leered in a way that made her excited, “are the newly arrived patient Darlene, wrongly accused but recently exonerated in a sensational and gruesome murder trial by reason of insanity.” He took out a plastic bag and placed it on the counter.

“Welcome to the New Ashford Institute. Regulations require that you wear the approved uniform at all times.” He put a hand on the bag. She could see a light brown garment inside. “Please disrobe. It will be necessary to search you to ensure no contraband is brought into the facility.”

Eyes wide Darlene began unbuttoning her blouse. She looked at the tape, wondering what the plot line was. She suspected Joe, Dr. Joe now, was playing one of the characters, likely the chief villain. And he intended for her to play the part of the victim. It sounded like fun. “Yes, doctor” she answered in a meek, intimidated voice.

She took off all her clothes and carefully folded them on the counter. This was probably close to the real thing, which explained why the counter was on the wall. She turned away from the windows, imagining the guards behind the safety glass who would have been ogling her. She finished by placing her shoes on top of her clothing.

“Face the wall, place your hands on the counter.” Joe came up behind her. “Spread your legs.” He used his own foot to push her ankles apart and back. She had to lean against the counter in order not to fall. He began running his hands along her arms. She shuddered, excited by his touch and the erotic surroundings. The tile felt cold on her bare feet.

When his hands lingered over her breasts she pushed into his grasp. When his hands dropped below her waist she had to stifle a moan. He ended his entirely unnecessary search by slowly running his hands down each of her legs. Darlene had to bite her lip in order not to cry out. If that part was in the movie, she thought, it must be X rated.

He left her in the awkward position as he picked up a clipboard on a nearby desk. “No contraband. Patient appears to be in good health. No tattoos or distinguishing marks.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see the grin on his face. There was no doubt he was enjoying the playacting. After his hands-on search she was beginning to get into the part too. He took hold of her arm and helped her stand up. “You may dress now.” He handed her the uniform.

It was a two piece outfit, white blouse and a skirt in a light brown color. She put on the blouse and buttoned it up. It proved to be tight fitting, sleeveless and with a low cut neckline. The skirt was short, not quite a mini but not office length either. It was hollywood‘s typical version of a female prison uniform, designed to show off the actress as much as possible. No underwear of course. Joe reached in his bag and handed her a pair of low heeled sandals. “Your shoes. The floor will be cold and dusty.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” That was sincere. He was right, the tile floor felt cold to her bare feet. She slipped them on. He closed his gym bag. What was he going to do next?

She stood next to the counter and watched as he crossed the processing room to a storage cabinet. When he opened it she couldn’t make out what was in the plastic bags on the shelves. He picked out several items and closed the cabinet door. When he turned around she saw what looked like a white jacket and a leather belt.

“I apologize for this, but since you have been judged to be violently unstable we have to take certain precautions.” The belt he dropped on the counter was a wide heavy leather strap with matching fleece lined leather cuffs on each end. Each of the cuffs had a metal buckle. The jacket he kept in his hands. It was white, canvas, with a red stripe around the neck. Straps hung from the closed sleeves. She knew what it was, a straitjacket. He unfolded it and held it open.

Darlene had never seen a straitjacket before, except fleeting glances on TV and once at a magic show. It opened in the back, straps on one side, roller buckles on the other. Two additional straps hung down from the bottom. The sleeves were long and closed at the end. She held out her arms, unsure how she was supposed to put it on.

Joe answered that question by sliding the jacket over her arms and then turning her around. She could feel the jacket tighten against her chest as he pulled on the rear straps. Her arms dangled at her side. When he finished in back he took hold of her left wrist. She hadn’t noticed a reinforced area in front until he guided her sleeve covered hand through it, followed by her right arm in the other direction. Still behind her he took hold of the straps at the end of her sleeves and pulled them tight. Her arms were pinned against her body, folded under her breasts. The wide strip of canvas in front prevented her from moving her arms up and down.

There were still two long straps hanging down in front. Joe studied them for a moment, apparently unsure as to how they were used. She could tell they were meant to prevent an attempt to pull the jacket up and over her head, but she couldn’t see how they would go over her skirt. Joe solved it by simple unzipping the side of her skirt and letting it fall to the floor. Then he passed the twin straps between her legs and pulled them up in back. She could feel the pressure on her shoulders as he tightened them. Finished, he pulled her skirt back up, over the bottom of the straitjacket, and zipped it closed.

Darlene started to turn toward the guardroom to catch her reflection in the glass but Joe stopped her. “Not yet, I have something more to add.” He grabbed the leather belt and knelt down next to her. Looking down she watched him open a leather cuff, wrap it around her left ankle snugly and then close it with the buckle. He pressed a button on the buckle to lock it. He repeated the procedure on her right ankle, securing her legs together. Finished, Joe stood up and wiped his hands on the lab coat.

“There, that should do it. Are you okay? Is the jacket too tight? Can you breathe? Try taking a few steps to see if you can walk.”

Darlene tried to move her arms around. The straitjacket was loose enough not to interfere with her breathing but she had little arm movement. With his hand around her arm she took a step. The leather felt stiff and restrictive but she could walk. “I’m fine, Doctor. I can walk if we go slowly. I don’t think I can climb stairs though.”

Joe put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. He stepped out of character when he said, “Tell me right away if you have a problem, okay Darlene? I don’t want you to get hurt. Be careful, medical restraints are just as effective as police ones.”

“Yes, Doctor.” She stayed in character, letting him know she wanted to keep going. She did know how well police restraints worked from the night she had spent locked in handcuffs at the company warehouse.

“Good, then we’re ready for the introductory tour. Here at New Ashford we take pride in our mix of new and old ideas, as you will see.” With one large hand firmly wrapped around her upper arm he led her toward the room’s exit.

Upholstered

“This room is something special,” Joe explained as they stood in the corridor outside a door. Like most of the patient rooms in this wing it had a large deadbolt lock on the outside and an observation window insert at eye level. Unlike the other rooms this one had a metal plate closed over the observation slit. “It’s been soundproofed with extra insulation. You can scream as loud as possible inside and barely hear anything out here. But that’s not the best part. Look.” He unlocked the door.

As the door swung open Darlene saw why. The floor and all four walls were covered in what looked like upholstery. “Wow! A padded cell! I didn’t know they really existed.” Even the inside of the door was covered with thick padding. Standing in the doorway she leaned in for a better look. The high ceiling, at least ten feet above the floor, appeared to be panels of translucent plastic covering fluorescent lights above. The wall padding stopped flush with the panels.

“Too bad we don’t have any way to save it. Take your shoes off and you can go in.”

Fascinated by the room Darlene forgot she still had the straitjacket on. She actually tried to reach down to take off her shoes but the jacket sleeves put a quick halt to that. She turned back to Joe. “Could you help me?”

“Sure,” he answered. He knelt down and slipped off her sandals. He set them on the floor to one side of the door. When he stood up he surprised her by picking her up at the waist and setting her down on the padded floor. “Try it out. You can even bang your head against a wall if you like.”

Darlene decided to take Joe up on his suggestion. She walked over to the far side and threw her shoulder against the wall. She bounced off with no damage but the uneven footing on the padded floor combined with the restraints on her ankles made her trip and fall. She landed on her back. Startled Joe took a step into the room but Darlene sat up and started laughing. “I’m okay, just a little clumsy. No thanks to this fashionable designer jacket.” She tugged on the sleeves that bound her arms.

“Feel Free to take it off if you want. I’m going to get the rest of our stuff out of the car. While I’m doing that you can spend some quality time here. Try yelling, you’ll see what I mean by the soundproofing.”

“No, wait…” She watched helplessly as the door swung shut. Awkwardly she managed to stand up and go to the door. There was no handle on the inside. She pushed against it but the door didn’t budge. He must have locked it. “Joe! Wait, take me with you!”

There was no answer. If he was still out in the hall she couldn’t hear him. She hit the door again, with her shoulder. Nothing happened. She tried to look out the observation slit but it was shut tight.

“Joe! Joe, open the door!” She screamed as loud as she could. The door remained closed. Darlene was locked in. Until he came back she couldn’t get out. In a single moment what had been a play room was transformed into a real prison. She went to the far wall and sat down so that she could watch the observation slit.

Leaning against the padded wall she could feel the buckles on the back of the straitjacket. Take it off if I want, he says. And just how am I supposed to do that? Darlene leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. How long would he be gone? How long had she been waiting so far? She touched the canvas covering her hands. Naturally none of the buckles keeping her captive inside the jacket were anywhere near her limited reach. At the magic show the escape artist had somehow managed to slip an arm over his head in order to Free his arms. The way this straitjacket was constructed she couldn’t move her arms up or down, much less over her head. Twisting from side to side didn’t help at all either. The straps between her legs, under her skirt, didn’t allow for more than miniscule movement.

Darlene struggled to her knees and then to her feet, using the wall to brace herself. Slowly she walked around the room, keeping close to the wall. Anyone who wanted to bang their head against a wall wouldn’t get much more than a headache. Curious, she lifted a foot and tried a backward kick. Her heel bounced off the padding. Because of the restraining belt between her ankles she couldn’t keep her balance and slid down the wall to the floor.