The Body Shop - Part One

My hand traces across the exposed red bricks as I descend down the narrow stairwell, the rain slicked concrete steps feel all too dangerous to walk down without some means of support. The tiny passageway is made even more precarious thanks to the limited light, the old iron lamp hanging above the plain wooden door at the bottom of the steps being all that illuminates the space at this time of the night.

However it was precisely due to it being this close to midnight that I had come out to this otherwise deserted part of the city, the old run down buildings which once housed all manner of ship fronts now sitting empty and mostly vandalized.

With a stumbling step, sliding slightly as my foot plants awkwardly on the ground before the door, I reach out to juggle the door handle. The rusted and rough metal grips at my palm, the heavily worn knob creaking slightly as I try to turn it to avail. Biting at my lip slightly I look down at my watch, my heart skipping a beat as I note that I had made it to my destination just a little bit early. I watch with baited breath as the numbers on the digital display snap to the beginning of a new day, my building anticipation ebbing away as I find myself still simply standing in the gloom and cold at the bottom of the stairs.

As if sensing my mounting disappointment a loud thud comes from the door, the aging swollen wood suddenly pushing out towards me as something presses at it from the other side. Warm air rushes out from any gap that it can find within the door and its frame, a faint warm light quickly seeping through the same gaps. As the racing wind from behind the door begins to ease a slight click emanates from the handle, the door inching open as I'm forced to step to the side.

"Please come..." grunts a croaking feminine voice from within, her words cutting short as she seems to struggle with something. "Come in dear customer, and welcome to The Body Shop!"

As I step beyond the threshold I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, a static sensation creeping over me as the chill from outside seems to be entirely wall off from creeping into the dimly lit storefront.

Plumes of smoke rise up from incense burners around the long room, the air being filled with the scent of sage. Large brass bars hang from the dark red walls, each one obscured by similarly crimson velvet curtains that hide the contents of each rack. A large sign sits above each of the brass bars, each adorned with a single faintly glowing number ranging from one to ten.

Resting well above the rest of the racks sit a long line of ornate wooden shelves, a series of black curtains hiding what sits atop the shelves overhead.

My attention is drawn to the center of the room, a series of soft lounges and piled boxes making a somewhat disorganized line dividing the store in two, as the sound of a loud crash followed by a series of mumbling curses rips through the otherwise quiet space.

"You useless bloody..." coughs out a spluttering voice, the slender and tan woman clutching at her ribs in pain as she hunches over beside a stack of wooden creates. Her lithe frame twitches beneath a set of black robes that seem all too ill-fitting, the bottom hem resting high above her knee as she staggers to the side. As she looks up towards me I nearly jump out of my skin, my face contorting in shock as my mind tries to make sense of what I was seeing.

While the woman's body could not be any older than twenty-five her face appears closer to fifty than anything else. Long strands of black hair hang about her wrinkled and pale face, slight hints of gray forming in her roots as they shimmer in the warm candlelight. Her neck acts as a painfully obvious divider between the two halves, a rough and haphazard split between the warm and healthy tan young body and the pale mature head above.

"Useless bloody cow..." the woman coughs out, her soft and youthful voice sounding all too wrong coming from her far older head. Her accent seems off too, the obviously English verbiage coming out in a dim valley girl tone.

The strange woman smiles up at me weakly, straightening herself up as she continues to clutch at her side. Her leg continues to twitch and shift beneath her as she shifts to pinch at it, the jerking motions ceasing for a moment as she lets out a sigh.

"Sorry deary" she sighs, staggering over towards me on uneasy footing. "This one dropped one of the customers after trying to make off with them. I had to..." she mutters, pausing as she suddenly lurches to one side before pinching at her exposed and now reddened thigh again. "Teach it some manners."

Glancing behind the woman my eyes go wide, my gaze falling on the sight of several headless bodies striding through the dimly lit room. Some stumble about almost robotically, each struggling set appearing as though they are inches away from falling to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Others move more organically as they prance, stomp, and race around the room without any care for whats around them. Thankful for those blindly staggering forms, a small group of seemingly aware bodies race after them, grabbing the mindless bodies and guiding them to less destructive paths around the limited space.

Each bears a simple necklace, a thin chain ending in a wooden tag with a series of words burned into the simply panel. Squinting at them I try to make out some of the words, my eyes straining in the low light as I fail to make out much beyond a hyphen or two.

"So are we here for business?" the strange woman coos, bounding closer to me as she looks up at me from her five foot eight frame. "Tall one aren't you? What are you... one meter ninety something?" she asks, her deep green eyes narrowing at me as she seems to begin an appraisal.

"Um..." I mutter in confusion, watching as the woman darts around behind me. "Is that like six foot..." I mumble, my words ceasing with a wheeze as I feel the woman push me from behind. Staggering forwards I tumble onto one of the sofas, sprawling out on the seat as the woman turns to rummage through one of the boxes.

"There's about sweetie" the woman coos, huffing slightly as she digs through the box before pulling free a small black collar. Her gaze quickly returns to me, a mischievous glint in her eye as she quickly paces over with the black leather strap in hand. Her free hand twitches as she draws near, the long tan fingers quivering as if trying to make a move before she can get too close.

"I mean of course you're here for business" she coos, her gaze darting behind me before nodding to someone or something. Suddenly I feel a set of hands grab my shoulders, two firm grips forming around my shoulders and arms. Before I can even attempt to shake myself free the woman lunges forward, her hands wrapping around my neck as the collar seems to click into place.

"What..." I croak, my mouth falling open as a chilling wave pulses through my body. Muscles twitch and quiver against my will as I crumple back into the seat, a pinching pressure quickly build just below my jaw and around my neck as the wild flailing grows more and more violent. The woman grabs at my legs, pinning them down as the two sets of mysterious hands attempt to keep my torso and arms in check.

Suddenly, with the wet snap and tear of sinew my head rolls back as my world spins around me. A gentle set of soft smooth hands quickly moves to cradle my head, my eyes darting around in a frenzy as I feel something warm and wet slide out from the rather prominent hole wear my neck had once connected to me.

"There... we... go..." the older woman huffs, pushing herself up with her hands braced to my old legs. As I'm slowly turned and righted I find myself sitting far closer to the floor than makes sense, the soft padding of the sofas armrest resting beneath me as I watch my collared and headless form twitch pathetically. The woman quickly begins to pat and paw at my limp detached form, her face shifting as her thin lips purse in thought.

"Hung... well so... Tall... Not too long in the proverbial tooth..." she mutters, snapping her fingers as the previously unseen headless assailants begin to help my body up int its seat. The collar sits split in half, the now far thinner leather band covering the stump from which I had been severed. My body lurches up but almost immediately begins to slump towards the floor, another few of the more aware headless bodies racing over to support the large frame before lifting it to its feet.

I open my mouth to speak only for nothing to come from my parted lips, my eyes going wide as the lack of breathe or heartbeat truly begin to sink in.

 

"What a lovely trade-in dear" the woman coos, folding her arms over her rather unimpressive bust as she watches my body begin to be dragged away. "I suppose you know where you are, but I will give you a short run down of what to expect now that you're in need of a new... you" she cackles, raising a tanned hand to cover her wine stained teeth.

"I'm still consider how much your former... shell is worth" she muses, placing a delicate hand beneath her chin as she appears to lose herself in thought for a moment before snapping back to reality. "But once I do, you'll be free to pick out a new one of equal or lesser value from anything currently on display or walking around my lovely little store."

I'm forced to watch from my immobile vantage point as the woman waltzes over to one of the red velvet curtains, whipping it back as she reveals a line of bodies hanging beneath the brass bar by a series of soft fabric straps. The range and variety of the bodies is almost mind-boggling, my mind racing as I try to think of just why each one could be considered a 'Six' despite the vast range of shapes and sizes between them.

"These are the newest to the collection" she states, patting one of the curvy women on the behind as the body twitches at the contact. "No lights on inside, and with nobody home it makes it all the easier for you to take the lead in your new life. Though I suppose that has some downsides with adapting to large changes and..." she mutters, musing a little bit before suddenly remembering something.

"Right, so once you pick a new body from my little collection and leave the way you came you won't be exactly where you would expect to be. The world beyond this place will shift and change, that wonderful head working to make anew life with the shoulders it rests upon. I can't guarantee just where you will end up, but of course if you have any issues my door is always open... somewhere."

I watch as she slides the curtain closed, her foot tapping as she thinks a little more before stepping out in front of one of the headless bodies skipping past. Grabbing the thing by the shoulders she brings it to a halt, the short pink clad body standing still as it places one of its dainty hands on its hip.

"These are one's that have spent a little longer in the collection" she huffs, a little winded from the effort needed to bring the energetic young form to a stop. "They're a little more full of... personality. It's had time to marinate and as you can see, it... remembers how it should move and act in a limited capacity. You'll find yourself in an uphill battle to behave like yourself, at least below the neck... and bellow the belt in some cases."

As the woman gives the body a slight shove it begins to skip around the room once more, the old woman rubbing at her neck and scratching at it slightly as the wavy line between her pale head and tan neck appears to shift.

Her eyes flicker as she watches me watch her, her tan hand shifting up to rub at her crows feet as they seem to fade ever so slightly.

"The body will however have an effect on you of course" she sighs, her gentle rubbing turning to a scratch as she moves to the itch around her neck. "The longer you linger in your new body the more you'll begin to blend in to fit it, the more important and drastic changes happened the quickest while subtler ones may takes days or weeks to even months before it all settles to..."

Suddenly the world around me twists and turns, my gaze becoming filled with a large wooden label as a set of hands clutch at my head.

"Put him..." the old woman snaps, a flash of blue light ripping across the room with a sharp hiss in the air soon following. My world tumbles around me once again as I fall to the floor with a painful thud, my gaze falling on a set of feet racing away before I feel another set of hands wrap around me.

"Sorry about that..." the older woman sighs, my vision spinning around as I'm held to look directly at her from across the room. Her face appears suddenly far more gaunt, the limited color in her cheeks having been drained. She shakes one of her tan hands, the once pointed nail on her right index finger appearing scorched as she blows weakly on the smoldering acrylic. "Once a body has been around long enough it gets a little bit of a personality to it" she mumbles, shooting a quick glare down at her body as her knees appear to shake and tremble.

"With enough time they tend to calm back down after a purchase, but in the mean time they can be quite the nuisance in getting used to your new..."

With a snap of her fingers her face brightens up, her eyes going wide as if struck by an epiphany.

"That's it!" she calls out, her fingers clicking over and over as she points towards a distant rack with her other hand. "That one! Yes yes to the left, you can hoist him up... Oh..." she states, pausing for a moment before looking back to me.

"Sorry, just realized where to stock that old body of yours" sh explains, waltzing towards me as I feel myself slowly get placed back down atop one of the many wooden boxes stacked around the storefront. She looks away from a second, giving a nod to one of her many helpers before musing to herself once more.

Musing for a moment, poking and prodding at the inside of her mouth with her tongue in thought, the witch finally pipes up to announce "I'd say your trade-in is...a..."