Public Purchase - Part Eight

Groaning I pull the sweaty boots off with a huff, wriggling my delicate toes as I grumble under my breath at Aurelia's distaste for socks and underwear. Clambering over to the computer I heave my lithe frame up onto the seat, slumping over slightly as I feel my heavy chest hang forward with me.

My eyes shift to the papers, my gaze locking to homework that seemed to be weeks and weeks old at this point.

"Has she not done anything since we..." I grumble, my eyes narrowing as I wonder whether she even looked at this homework since we agreed to the swap. reaching over I snatch the top item from the pile, a series of questions relating to Romeo and Juliet as my eyes begin to dart between my questions.

Despite my poor vision I slowly begin to read the work I would be expected to complete. As I sit down to try and tackle the overdue homework I quickly find myself making short work of it the questions largely just requiring a surface level reading in various texts of English Literature and basic knowledge of historical events. I worry for a moment that the wine slowly seeping into my system would ruin my handwriting, my already terrible scrawling likely to decay to an illegible mess. However, as I lose myself to answering the mind numbing questions I soon find my handwriting shifting to a neat and cursive script with cute loops and flourishes that leave me a giggling mess.

"Did Meredith make her learn..." I chortle, watching in amazement as I draft the fancy yet barely legible text.

Before long I soon exhaust all the humanities subjects in the pile, my delicate hand cramping after writing more about Macbeth and Hamlet in the past hour or two than I had done in the past decade in academia.

Public Purchase - Part Seven

My gaze slowly drifts as well, slowly falling to a small wine rack resting atop the counter at the far edge. With a giddy grin I point at that, a knowing smirk soon forming on my lips.

"Can we start with that?" I ask, Meredith whipping around to look at what I'm pointing at. Her hands quickly fly to her hips before she twists back around, her gaze narrowing behind her glasses to a glare.

"Aurelia Marigold-Prim..." she begins to snap, her shouting of my extended name coming to a stop as she bites her lip and her eyes drift up in thought. "I suppose... You do have a fully formed... well at least the part that counts for present purposes..." she mutters, walking over and pulling a bottle of red from the top of the rack.

"Okay, we can share" she states, pulling two glasses from one of the open cabinets. "But one, I need to hear more about my new daughter, and two..." she states, placing the glasses down before uncapping the wine and pouring the glasses. "We still need to go over the ground rules, before Sammie gets home at least."

Naughty or Nice - Nice - Part Two

"Whaaa..." I wheeze dreamily, my body reacting and waking far slower than my panicked mind. Reaching once more for the curtain I snatch at it, pulling hard as I try to clear my vision only to let out another yelp. My scalp aches as I tug at the strands, the gears slowly grinding through the early morning malaise as the fact I was pulling on my own hair dawns on me.

Blinking rapidly, clearing hair and sleep from my eyes I begin to take in the room around me. With my gaze darting around I find myself laying in a lavish king sized bed, the wrought iron frame sitting in a spacious and well decorated room. The bed frame is a solid and heavy design, the black burnish iron sitting with thick sturdy legs accented with delicately formed filigrees. Blanket after blanket is piled top the bed, the thick and heavy begging practically pinning me to the mattress beneath.

With a howling wail the window rattles, the thick glass framed in iron with antique accents and hinges holding them in place. Snow races past in the wild and frenzied gusts of wind beyond, piles of the white flakes building up on the outside of the frame. The window is a surprising distance away, the room at large being far more expansive than any I had lived in in the past.

Looking up I'm met with the sight of a high vaulted ceiling, old and fresh wooden beams stretching out in the rafters while the sky lights above reveal only the white powder snow accumulating beyond. The walls around me are painted a deep dark red, the color of which is tinged with purple to make it almost a delicious shade of wine. A large antique wardrobe rests along the far wall, a door sitting open beside it as the hallway beyond begs for further exploration.

Naughty or Nice - Nice - Part One

As the doughy old man places the small gift box on my coffee table a mug is jostled, the ceramic soon tumbling to the floor with a loud crash.

I lurch up from my strained and light sleep, the smashing of the mug against the wooden floor ripping me from a dream already fading from my mind. The footfalls quicken in pace in the living room down the hall, the soft steps soon disappearing out the window before the sound of bells begin to pull away and into the distance.

Despite the freezing temperature I leap from my bed, pulling open the draw of my bedside table as I grab out the heavy metal torch sitting within. Armed to the best of my ability and with a stream of harsh light in hand I begin to tentatively pace towards the bedroom door.

Hunched low I slowly open the door with a painfully long creak, my bleary sleep filled eyes straining to see in the darkened rooms despite the harsh stream of light pouring from the powerful torch. Creeping down the hallway I careful step into the combined living room and kitchen. The window sits up, snowflakes slowly falling in as a harsh and painfully cold breeze billows inside.

Whipping my head around I soon find my torchlight pointed towards the shattered pale green coffee mug, my attention soon turning to the coffee table on which it once sat. My eyebrow cocks in confusion as I aim the torchlight at the object sitting in the center of the old low wooden table, my eyes squinting as I stare at the bright white and red striped present.

The scent of peppermint and sugar cookies hangs heavily in the air, an undertone of gingerbread wafting up to me as I inch towards the box. I swear that in the harsh light of the torch and the striking shadows of the dim apartment around me the box appears to shift, the pristine cardboard sides bulging and almost breathing like the thing is alive.

Public Purchase - Part Six

A small stone wall wraps around the entrance to the clearing, the older woman bringing the pickup truck to a stop close to a cute little wooden gate. Flower beds and trees dot the landscape beyond the fence, creating an extensive garden in front of a rustic stone cottage sitting beyond.

With a click of her seat belt the older woman turns to climb out of the driver's seat, pausing for a moment to look back at me with a more serious expression.

"Come on, we have to get this thing planted before Sammy gets home" she states, hoping down to the path below before stretching a little. "Besides, you and I need to have a talk. Don't think you can just take over for Aurelia without any ground rules."

I sit in the large and heavily worn seat for a moment, my hands fidgeting with the hem of my lime green polka dot sundress as I try to wrap my head around what the dark haired woman had said. I blow some of the red hair from my face, the gears inside my skull whirring as I find the sudden thrusting of myself back into living under a parent's thumb difficult to parse.

Suddenly, a loud thumping rings through the cabin of the pickup, the loud drumming causing me to jump with a loud squeal.

"Come on!" barks the dark haired woman, opening my door as she continues to hammer the roof of the vehicle. "I carted this thing into the truck without Aurelia's help, you can at least help me get it to the house."

Public Purchase - Part Five

Taking a deep breath I watch as the bus pulls out, the warm sun above me feeling almost heavenly and deeply distracting as I feel it on my arms. I hold them out a little past the brim of my hat, taking in the warmth and taking a deep breath of fresh mountain air as a warm smile creeps across my lips.

"Okay... I'm home... I guess..." I giggle, shimmying my hips from side to side with glee as I look over the quiet early afternoon streets. While likely bustling and full on the weekend and holidays, the town seemed largely dead without tourists and visitors to fill the cafes and stores lining the shopping district.

Swallowing hard, running my tongue along my slightly crooked teeth, I try to remember what Aurelia had told me about getting home.

"Up the street?" I mutter, looking around at the intersection I had found myself in. "She said something about a dirt road right? Yeah... I mean..." I huff, struggling to remember everything that happened in the rush to make the bus after our surgery.

As I wander down to the corner, glancing up and down the streets in the hopes of getting some sort of insight into where to go, I spy sight of a tall and lanky young woman waving at me excitedly from down the street.

Witness Relocation - Part Six

Before I can even start my search I find my notification bar practically overflowing with messages. It's almost overwhelming, the idea of searching through them all while I sit in the car seeming all to daunting. However, I quickly notice the most recent message being only a few minutes old and decide to start there.

Tapping at the screen I quickly open the latest message finding it a part of a long an emoji laden string of excited texts back and forth. Focusing up I hold the phone up, avoiding glare as I read the text from ' <3 Mea-Bae <3'

 

<3 Mae-Bae <3:  On our way 2 the lakehouse... BONFIRE BIRTHDAY 4 MY FAV GIRL

Witness Relocation - Part Five

"Th...thanks" I croak, slowly pulling out and turning into the straightaway before applying some more gas. As the car rapidly accelerates I try to brake, hoping to slow down to a more manageable speed.

As I apply the break another sudden shower of parts erupts from me, the car filling with little motes of flaming light as my keys dig into my ass and my rear and hips erupt in a shower of sparks.

It comes in waves, my ass popping like a balloon before my hips soon follow suit as the massive addition of material rips through my paper-like skin. As my flesh begins to bulge in odd ways against my jeans, the material both loosening before tightening in various places, I finally feel the denim rip and explode into a dense sea of amber motes of light.

Witness Relocation - Part Four

"There we go" Carl chirps, please with himself as he marvels at the badge. "Now everyone will know to say Happy Birthday!"

Gasping with shallow breaths, unable to inhale deeply lest I cause my body to break and reveal more of this new person beneath, I hand back the forms with a shaky hand. Carl barely seems to notice my distress, either lost in thought about his 'good deed' or by some other means. He quickly takes back the forms, squinting a little at the signature as he passes the card back to me.

Leaning in, he scrutinizes the signature, finding something wrong with it. Reaching up he flicks the paper, brushing something off as the signature too explodes into a small shower of delicate confetti like flames.

As the tiny lights burn themselves out in a matter of seconds I'm left staring at the sight of what had been my altered signature, now fully replaced with a cutesy series of hearts and loops.

"There we go" Carl coos, fishing around in his pockets before pulling out a tiny bulging envelope. The sound of jangling metal reaching me in the otherwise quiet hallway. "Here you are Ms. Hale" he continues, passing me the envelope with a broad grin. "If you'd just follow me to the elevator we can head to the garage without getting lost again."

Witness Relocation - Part Three

My jaw drops as I stare at my feet, wriggling my toes in disbelief as I stare in awe at the familiar sight beneath me. Gone are the sweaty old sneakers, the only pair of shoes I had worn for the past few months suddenly being replaced with strappy sandals, the expensive slender leather bands in pristine condition.

I'm immediately forced to reach back, the padding on the makeshift bed thankfully straining at my hands but not causing them to pop like my feet had. I'm left teetering, the surface area and support I am standing on having diminished by multiple sizes.

The sandals have a slight heel to them, the solid block perfectly carved and curved wood causing my feet to point down as a tension builds in my calves. A pair of delicate sun-kissed feet rest inside the supple leather, the numerous light brown straps wrapping around the soft flawless flesh before being held tight with the occasional tiny gold buckle.

I let out a series of gasping breaths, my eyes going wide as I wiggle the cute toes at the end of the footwear. A shimmering layer of varnish catches the emergency lights, the freshly trimmed and professionally done nails being a far cry from what I had grown out over my months in the office.

Public Purchase - Part Four

As I go to say something more, holding up the bus pass, the driver just nods at me before tapping on a small device by the hand railing and then to a sign requesting that passengers don't speak to the driver while the bus is in motion.

Nodding to him, and more than a little desperate to sit down as I feel my shrunken frame jostle and shake thanks to the rough ride of the bus, I quickly scan my pass as I turn my attention to the bus at large.


As I reach the seats I find the bus a completely empty bus, taking a seat up the back for privacy.

Witness Relocation - Part Two

"Done" Wendy states, pulling the hard drive from the laptop. "I need a coffee. Once the volunteer gets here just press..."

"Enter, I can do that Ms. Hale" Carl huffs, obviously still frustrated at her previous comments. We both watch as the short technician shuffles out of the room, grumbling under her breath about this and that. "So, Mr. Hughes..." Carl chirps, his jovial nature returning in an instant "Climb on in, and do mind the edges."

Swallowing hard, I look between the device and Carl. My stomach sinks a little, the image of the three men from that fateful night flashing through my mind as I shuffle over to the device. My mind races struggling to come to terms with, or even full comprehend what was about to happen.

Public Purchase - Part Three

Sighing a little as I swing my legs over the bed I stare at the floor beneath me. It seems so much further away, the dangling slender yet athletic legs reaching far less further down than I was used to.

"We should probably..." I begin to mutter, only to be cut off by Aurelia.

"Get dressed?..." Aurelia muses, thinking for a moment even after talking over me. "Yeah, I mean sure. You do have to get the bus home, and that thing takes forever" she groans, throwing her head back and flinching slightly as the expected sensation of hair against her back simply doesn't come.

Public Purchase - Part Two

 "We're on the clock now" he chuckles, leaning into my room through the doorway. "You just sit tight, I'll be back soon enough once I've checked on... Ms. Aurelia Marigold-Primrose Augusta Alice-Elizabeth Daniels" Doctor Jones muses, cocking an eyebrow as he reads out the long winding name.

"That's going to be fun to write out... You sure know how to pick 'em" the doctor laughed, muttering under his breath as he leaves the room to check on the other half of the procedure.

Public Purchase - Part One

 Sitting up in the hospital bed I can't help but forget and shift in place. The sound of my paper gown fills me ear, the subtle beeps from nearby rooms grounding me in the clinical clean environment.

The coarse and crisp sheet shift against my exposed behind, the hairs catching on the material and acting as a constant reminder of just how little the tiny garment I wore really covered.

"Mr. Hughes?" Calls a firm yet warm voice from the doorway into the shared room, the other beds thankfully being empty for the time being.

My gaze snaps to the dark-skinned man standing by the doorway, his hand knocking at the frame in lieu of any real door to tap at. The man, in his late thirties, stands dressed in a pair of green scrubs beneath a practically glowing white lab coat that catches almost too much light from the fluorescent sitting the ceiling.

The Black Box - Part Three

With my tiredness mounting and my need to know peaked I flick open one of the boxes, watching as the lid flies off and the label tumbles to the floor reading...

Natural

Before I can even think about what I've done I feel an all too familiar static buzz begin to creep in beneath my skull. While for most it would likely feel horrifying and strange to me it was simply a reminder of life since I had the faulty implant installed.

The app plays a short video as the camera zooms closer to the black gift in the screen before hurtling inside, an endless shifting dark tunnel filling the screen as white text slowly begins to fade in.

     Please Find A Safe Location

1 Minute 59 Seconds Until Transference

The Black Box - Part Two

 

I quickly snatch up my phone, looking down to the thing that had seemed to fix my implant as I see the front page of the Black Box - Receiver app. A send large button sits at the center of the screen, a large bubble-like transparent object reading:

"Release Your Wishes"

Behind it, shrouded in shadows I can see what almost looks like balloons, the rounded jostling objects appearing to be trying to fly away while being held in place by the phone screen itself.

As I strain my eyes to read the text within I find it swirling and forming on each of the round colorful objects, as if they were reading and writing the sentences from somewhere.

The Black Box - Part One

Walking around my kitchen, watching the rain pelt down outside the window, I slowly make myself a pot of herbal tea. My phone rests on the nearby counter, a long line slowly filling as my internet chugs to download the large file to my freshly cleaned-out device. The kettle whines, plumes of steam erupting from the dinged red appliance as I quickly race to shut it off.

My head feels a little fuzzy as I hear the squealing of the whistle, a slight side effect of the poorly implemented implant at the base of my skull. The visual snow builds as I shut off the kettle, my vision rapidly returning as the noise subsides.

"Fucking..." I hiss, reaching up to the back of my head and running my hands through my short hair. "Hope this works" I huff, shaking my head, grabbing the kettle and pouring its contents into the teapot and over the various leaves and flowers I had placed within.

It had been months since I had this thing installed, months of subtle buzzing and the occasional headrush as it tested itself and the gray matter it monitored.

"Shouldn't have bothered getting an archive" I grumble, taking my teapot to the sofa to pour myself a cup. "My memory was fine, and now I can't even drink coffee without feeling weird."

The Life Note - Part Seven

Walking over I snatch up the nearby pen, my light-headed and flustered state leaving me barely considering what I was doing as I rewrote the entry.

26/02/2022​

Dear Diary​

Today has been so wild

I didn't wake up in my dorm today! It's not what you think though ;P

I fell asleep with Sarah in the tv place I guess, we are totally going to be 'the twins' aren't we?

Paul and Chelsea brought us food which was so fucking nice of them. Paul also remembered that I love energy drink and brought me a can, I think he likes me <3 Chelsea seems pretty cool too, super cuddly which is waaaaaaaay different than what I'm used to but I love it.

I just finished up with my shower and am about to head over to the 'cinema room', I hope it's nice.

OMG so the moment I got there Sarah and Chelsea were ALL OVER ME! It was kinda weird though, I know last night we kinda made out but I don't think I'm...'That way' Amazing!!! It was soooooooo hot, and I think Paul was jealous with Sarah being so assertive. Maybe I can think of something to show him I swing both ways later ;)

There were other people there too

Bel seems super sweet, if kinda loud.

Quartz was so...urgh! I don't know what's wrong with her! Why is Chelsea not backing me up? I guess we only just met but... I dunno... Showed her though, I can drink that stuff!

I just got back to my room and I'm not sure if I'm going back...

The Life Note - Part Six

As the movie starts I begin to focus on the introduction while I try to remember the plot from all those years ago, only to have my focus broken as Chelsea drops into my beanbag, with Sarah landing in my lap as Chelsea pulls a blanket over us.

I let out a harsh huffing exhale as the tiny brunette lands in my lap, her whole body weight crashing into me. Despite her size it still knocks the wind out of me, my weak and rake-like physique bit being able to resist and endure the force all too well.

"Sorry..." Sarah meekly mewls, wriggling in my lap a little as she gets comfortable. Her behind is rather firm and pert, nothing like the thick cushions I had to squeeze into my jeans. My face is filled with wet brown hair for a moment, the tiny girl quickly shifting to rest her head in my shoulder as she places her hair behind us.

"Already inseparable huh?" Chelsea chuckles, shuffling in the beanbag after having been knocked away by Sarah's sudden impact. Her voice sounds a little shaky, like her confidence had been rattled by something. Quickly seeking to get back into the movie she pulls her heavy blankets over the three of us, wriggling colder as she wraps an arm around my shoulder.