Sensus Supra: The New Girl - C.4

***Part 4 of 14. Alicia finds herself with a fresh opportunity.***

“Stop squirming,” Alicia instructed firmly, scooting her knees up under her to get comfortable on the bed. Bayley, at six inches tall, was putting up all the fight she could, and Alicia was sure now that if they’d got in a proper scrap, at the same size, her muscle-bound roommate would’ve thrashed her. She probably would’ve got loose when Alicia had her pinned, if not for being gripped by the Hiccups. But instead, Bayley had shrunk, and now she was in Alicia’s fist her strong little arms were only good for niggling punches that barely registered.

Bayley stopped to catch her breath, resting both hands on top of Alicia’s finger, glaring daggers up. She shook her head vehemently and said, “You better put me down. Get my Buddy and pray, pray that you can walk away from this.”

“I wouldn’t be making demands if I were your size,” Alicia replied lightly. “We’re alone here, you know. In the dark. And I’ve heard girls go missing in St Fiacre’s all the time. Gone without a trace. And isn’t it true the school doesn’t do much to follow it up? What can they do, after all?”

“Please,” Bayley snorted, meanly, “as if you’d have the guts.”

She yelped as Alicia brought her closer to her face, expression firming. “You don’t know me at all. You never gave me the slightest chance – you don’t know what I’m capable of.”

The tiny woman shied from her, an arm protectively above her head, and Alicia pulled her back a little to get a clearer look. Bayley had changed clothes after her shower, now in just an oversized cotton nightshirt and shorts, and her hair was a frazzled blonde mess from being tossed about by Alicia’s attack. She was still gorgeous though, a proper little doll, the sort that set unfair standards.

Alicia raised her other hand, not thinking about what she was doing, and pinched one of Bayley’s hands between her thumb and finger. Bayley tried to pull back, snapping, “What the hell are you doing –” but Alicia ignored her and gave a light tug, stretching Bayley’s arm out. The little woman shrieked as Alicia played with her arm, rotating it, pivoting it in and out just to see the small limb working. Satisfied, she let the arm go and ran her index finger over Bayley’s hair, patting it down. Bayley reeled away from her touch, slapping both hands against her finger, so Alicia gave her head a little push. Then she lifted her up and marvelled at Bayley’s bare kicking legs, her tiny feet, all of her so pretty in miniature.

All for Alicia, to do whatever she wanted with her.

“This isn’t funny!” Bayley shouted, her voice too small to be taken seriously. “You’re dead, Vincent! Dead!”

“Sure,” Alicia said. “What did you say? If I shrank in here, you’d eat me?”

Bayley went still in her hand, face grave, as Alicia’s lips stretched to a wicked smile. She ran her tongue over her upper lip playfully, and Bayley sunk further in her grip, all the retreating she could do. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe just a taste?” Alicia joked, and opened her mouth wide, giving Bayley a good look in. It must’ve been big as a doorway to her, and Bayley cried out with genuine panic as Alicia raised her towards her lips. The small woman thrust her hands about, pushing against Alicia’s fingers, slapping her lips, and Alicia felt her hair on her teeth.

Alicia lowered her again, laughing. “I’m just teasing, Jesus.” But she frowned, seeing how Bayley was breathing heavily, in recovery. “You seriously thought I’d eat you? What the hell.”

Bayley gave her a challenging look that said fuck you.

Alicia brow furrowed as she realised Bayley was seriously scared. If their roles were reversed, Alicia might’ve been in genuine danger. Bayley at least believed others were capable of that kind of brutal behaviour. Girls went missing in this college . . .

“Put me down,” Bayley said, one more time, weakly, almost as a request.

“I think we need to reach an understanding first,” Alicia said carefully. “If we’re going to live together, we ought to get to know each other, like I wanted from the start. Why don’t you start – is this the first time you’ve shrunk? What happened when you got the Hiccups before?”

Bayley gave her typical glare again, no interest in talking.

“Alright, I’ll go first. I grew, only about two or three times my usual height. I was mad at my dad, he’d just been having a go at me for not being in to cook dinner. Because I was out working a shift at the bar. I got big and I only got madder, I broke a load of things and they all freaked out – my mum and dad and my sister. By the time I cooled off, and finally shrank down, they’d already made arrangements with this damn school. I didn’t want to come here, but it wasn’t just my parents that thought it was a good idea. I got a call from the police, too.”

“I don’t care,” Bayley said, quietly. “Don’t care where you came from or who you are, you’re just another idiot girl in a school of idiot girls, and you need to get your dirty hands off me.”

“No,” Alicia replied, lifting her slightly. “I’m an idiot girl who could squeeze you hard enough to pop. Do you want me to hurt you, is that it?”

“You should,” Bayley replied darkly. “You should do whatever you have to, right now, because once I’m free, you’d better believe you’re gonna pay for this. You dumb bi –”

Alicia squeezed her fist before Bayley could finish the insult, making the tiny woman yelp. Her roommate was taut and muscles firm, but still frail at this size; she wouldn’t be hard to break. The temptation arose, as thoughts crept into Alicia’s mind – she could flush her down the toilet. Pack her in a bag and take her anywhere. It would be so easy to get away with . . . To get away with what? Indefinite kidnapping? No, it was worse than that – Bayley would one day change back, unless she . . . Was she considering murder?

Alicia shook herself out of the thought with surprise at herself, then took a breath and lowered Bayley to the bed. She held her limply there, fist down by her knee, about to let go, but paused. It felt good to have the horrible woman’s life literally in her hand. She felt powerful – and something else. A hunger for it, some eager anticipation. Bayley twisted, pushing against her fingers to look up, watching her.

“Don’t,” Bayley said. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”

Alicia blinked, coming back to the moment. She tried to figure out what it was she was thinking, studying the now-worried look on Bayley’s face. The small woman had seen something that convinced her she was in trouble. Alicia was about to assure her she wasn’t – then the door rattled, a key in the lock.

“I’m coming in, Bayley, don’t worry!” a woman’s voice called from the other side.

Alicia jumped off the bed, sweeping Bayley around with her, and faced the door with the small woman held hidden at the small of her back. Bayley tried to shout, finding new energy to struggle, so Alicia closed her other hand over her head and torso, smothering her.

The door opened and an unfamiliar woman burst in, giving a quick glance side-to-side before punching the light switch. Alicia squinted against the light and stepped back as the woman bowled into the room demanding, “Where is she?”

Alicia shook her head in denial, shuffling quickly out of the way as the woman dashed to Bayley’s bed, scanning the sheets up and down, then the floor. Alicia noticed Bayley’s button, then, like the one she had been given, used to alert a Buddy. It had fallen down by the top leg of the bed, and it was flashing red. Bayley must have somehow hit it when Alicia had attacked her!

The woman saw it a second later and snatched it up, then spun holding it accusingly towards Alicia. “She was here. Where is she? What’ve you done with her?”

Alicia froze. The woman was a senior, at least in her twenties, and built with naturally stocky muscle that put Bayley’s little clan of athletes to shame. She had cropped short greyish hair and a grubby tracksuit on, definitely not one of Bayley’s friends, but someone worse: a responsible guardian. Her face had deep worry lines that indicated a stern character, and her low voice reinforced that. “You’ve done something haven’t you? What’s behind your back?”

Alicia tried to move for the door, then, because what else could she do, but the woman was on her in a flash, thick arms pinning her then probing for her hand. She released one hand from Bayley to defend herself and the tiny woman started shouting for help, “Dara, I’m right here! She wanted to eat me! Help!”

“Give her over you little shit!” the stocky woman, Dara, demanded, shoving at Alicia and making Alicia trip so she fell on the bed. Her arm came up holding Bayley aloft, and Dara was suddenly on her with both hands prying her fingers open. The newcomer snatched Bayley out from her hand and took two quick steps away. She cradled Bayley in both hands like an injured bird as the tiny woman pushed herself up and threw quick, terrible accusations, “She’s been telling me the awful thing she wants to do – places she’d put me! And pulled at my arms, threatened to bite off my head – she’s a psycho!”

Dara glared at Alicia like she was a madwoman.

“That’s not true,” Alicia replied weakly. “I didn’t – she was – she wouldn’t let me in the room, my own room, and –”

Dara shook her head, stern enough to say there’d be no reasoning with her. She said, “What the hell is wrong with you? Supposed to be all in this together. Keep telling them we should vet people coming in here.”

“Vet people?” Alicia cried, standing in protest. The action made Dara step back defensively. “You don’t understand, she –”

“I understand perfectly well,” Dara said. “Bayley shrunk and you were in here with her, without alerting anyone. That’s all I need to understand, isn’t it? Whatever way you want to spin it. You got anything else to say, it’ll be to Principal Muir.”

Discussion over, Dara marched for the door, and Alicia moved horrified after her, panic rising. She caught a last glimpse of Bayley peeking over the edge of Dara’s hands, looking back at her with a sick, triumphant smile.