Swapped

Tammy and I had become regulars. The woman on reception smiled sweetly, handing us a keycard each, and we were escorted by a few people in white coats along what felt like hospital corridors. Glass and chemicals. My boots squeaked slightly on the shiny white floor.

We reached an intersection and were directed up a small flight of stairs. I heard shouting at the top. Disagreement. Crying. The staff bundled a thrashing girl away from another, who went into her cell calmly. The screams made me feel sick. I’d seen the situation play out a few times by now and it never got any easier to stomach. We checked our cards almost in sync.

With a swallow, Tammy said, “That one’s mine.” The girl she pointed at bit deep into one of the men in white coats, drawing blood before being violently thrown into the room. The automatic lock buzzed shut with a small light going from red to green, and she batted the heels of her hand against the small window until she was numb. When it didn’t budge - when the tears slipped freely from her eyes and the wild animal quelled into a sobbing child - she slipped down out of sight.

We glanced at one another and I shook my head. I took her card and replaced it with mine. “Think that might work better?”

“You sure?” she asked, though it was the kind of reluctant question you asked like a game of chicken.

I stroked her shoulder. “It’s cool. I’m good with people.”

“Good luck babe.” She hugged me briefly, “Although I think that’s killed my appetite.”

I shook out my hair and tied it back in a loose ponytail. “You’ll be fine.”

The men were all much taller and better built than me. I held up my card and they accepted my presence like the promise of a new child to the household. “You might be better off replacing that at reception,” one said, but I held up my hand and he said no more.

I got up on my toes to see through the window, and the little banshee had stuffed herself safely against the back wall. I scanned the card with a bleep and the door only wide enough to slip my narrow frame inside. These cells were soundproofed. I could hear my own heart working.

A sniffle. “Are you the one that’s going to kill me?”

Pulling my arms free of my leather jacket, I folded and cradled it in my arms. Unlike the corridors connecting, this space felt like a living room. A dull, purply red carpet lined the floor and there were bookshelves full of titles I’m sure had never been read. Fluffy pillows sat on a bed covered over in a thin blanket for show more than practicality. That’s where I put my jacket, before sinking down to her level at a safe distance, resting my back against the mattress.

“Mhmm.” I nodded.

“I want to be with her,” the girl blubbed, looking towards the door. I followed the gaze.

“Your… friend? She seemed a lot more accepting than you.”

The girl wiped her eyes with her fingers, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation. “She just doesn’t fucking get it. I don’t want to die alone.”

I let the silence breathe for a moment. “What’s your name, pet?”

“I’m not your pet,” she growled, but broked against the kind smile I watched her with. “Claudia. I’m Claudia.”

“I’m Beatrice. Can call me Bea if that’s nicer for you. Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“I don’t want you to.”

“I’m going to anyway.” I scooched over and planted my bum against the wall beside her. Although I’m admittedly quite small, I was still bigger than her. “I swapped with the woman who was given you because I thought we’d be a better match. She’s in there with your friend at the moment and I know for a fact they’re having the best time. Tammy’s really fun; but I feel like you don’t need fun right now.”

“I need to go home. I want to be home.”

“That can’t happen, Claudia. This is real. This is where we’re at.” In the quiet I manufactured, we both heard the small growl just under my ribs. I took her hand - reluctant at first, before submitting - and placed her palm against the crisp white surface of the tee-shirt I had tucked into my jeans. “That’s your home now.”

She shook her head, trying desperately to pull away from my vice-grip.

“You’ll be in a different belly to your friend, but you’ll digest together. And you won’t die alone; you’ll be with me. I’m not all that bad, am I?”

“You eat people,” she spat, “you’re a monster.”

I hardened. “And what’s the alternative? Hmmm? You’d rather they left you out on the streets to be used, to die in the cold, alone, at the whims of hunger in a world that doesn’t give a shit? This is the best possible outcome for you.”

Silence.

I wove my arm around her neck and pulled her into a hug where she lay neatly against the small flesh of my boob. My stomach rose and fell with each relaxed breath, and I felt the damp creeping beneath my top as it flooded from beneath her closed eyelids. “It won’t be that bad, pet,” I said kissing her gently in the forest of hair, before making lunch of her.

Neither girl struggled much and, by the time we got down to the subway I’d already belched Claudia’s last breath.

“...but apparently they can’t afford to bring in any new hires - which is bollocks - so I’m just stuck picking up all the shitty stuff.”

“If it’s that bad, why aren’t you looking for something else?” I said through a yawn. We got to the turnstiles and I let Tammy struggle her way over the top of one for at least ten seconds before smiling to the man at the buggy gate and sauntering his way.

“I just take it as a challenge, the money’s sort of worth it. How was that girl by the way? She sounded like an animal.”

“She was okay,” I said. When we hit the stairs, I angled my hips a little to relieve myself of a silent fart before catching up. “Just nerves.”

“You’re silly good with them,” Tammy muttered, almost to herself. “Worry you could convince me to slip down inside you one day.”

“One day maybe…” I leaned in close and pecked her on the cheek before whispering, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you~?”

She pushed me away, enough that I almost lost balance. Laughing as hard as I was didn’t help. I felt a small bulge in the top of my belly and, massaging it with potent fingers, I worked the bubble up in a messy, “BWoOoOouuurhp!”

“Jeez, you’re a pig.”

“Pig needs coffee,” I said tugging at her sleeve. “Buy me coffee or I’ll eat you too.”