Erin's Living Nightmare - Ch 6

I wish everyone could see what…

Erin was still at last, holding herself steady in place, eyes closed. She was standing, the floor solid beneath her feet. There was something hard in her hands, holding her in place.

She opened her eyes, forcing herself to relax, and found the woman standing before her was herself, reflected in the mirror of the sterile ladies’ washroom. She was leaning on the sink, and frowned, looking down to her shoes on the tiles, then left and right. The room was empty, with the two cubicle doors open, and it was quiet, just the hum of an overhead light.

She looked at herself again. Terribly tired, with dark rings under her eyes, hair out of place, woollen sweater frayed from being jostled about. And that nose. It wasn’t a petite nose, somewhat wide in the bridge and round at the tip, but it wasn’t massive. Was it? Why had Chloe said that about her? Was it something so bad that her tormentors kept it for themselves, Erin with her big nose?

As she picked lint off her chest, though, the reality of her situation crept back in and Erin checked the mirror again, appreciating how her body filled it (her nose maybe too much).

“Oh, thank God!” she said, leaning closer to the mirror to better check. Yes, she was all there, ordinary, the right size. Her last clear memories jumped back at her, being in the canteen and seeing the harmless receptionist suddenly devoured, being grabbed by the giant intern and tossed in a pocket. Where had they gone afterwards? Back to work? How long had it been? Maybe Chloe had come in here and left her when she regrew. This damn wish, it was making everything a blur.

Erin ran the tap and splashed water over her face, freshening up. The details didn’t matter; at least part of the nightmare had been reversed, which meant there was hope. Fingers crossed, she’d go back into the office and find Janet returned to her ordinary annoyingly tall instead of extraordinarily tall. Erin left the washroom smiling, and pulled up abruptly in the hall, that hope immediately dashed.

Janet’s huge form was blocking the hallway ahead, seemingly even bigger than before as she sat with her back against a wall, knees up, and a man’s torso hanging out of her mouth. Her lips were stretched impossibly around his abdomen as he reached feebly forward, barely clinging to consciousness, and her jaw shifted to the side and worked up with an awful crunch. The man groaned as blood spilled from Janet’s mouth – more blood; Erin noticed now, the giantess’s chin and chest were soaked red. She chewed again and pressed a hand against the man’s face, forcing him further in. He whimpered and patted her fingers with little strength, and gave a pained bleat as Janet’s teeth dug in again. Slowly, terribly, Janet chewed his chest down and sucked him into her stretched gullet, until his arms squeezed against his head, then only his face and hands stuck out from the hole of her mouth, his desperate eyes rolling Erin’s way. That final pleading look utterly chilled her, before Janet’s jaws closed with one final crunch, and the giantess gave a last loud gulp.

Erin almost collapsed, and had to support herself against the wall, breathing heavily. Janet’s head turned towards her, apparently just noticing she was there, and the massive woman grinned, face and teeth slick with blood.

“What… Who…” Erin tried to get a question out, some way to make sense of this, but couldn’t form a sentence. Janet pushed back against the wall and stood unevenly, struggling to carry the weight of her hugely bloated belly. She swayed down the hall with slow, thudding steps, to lean over Erin, breathing hotly on her face, and Erin cringed fearfully. Janet was wheezing slightly, strained by her cruel snack, and as she caught her breath she lifted a giant finger under Erin’s chin, tilting her head up.

“So I have you to thank for this, do I?” Janet said, husky and harsh. Erin bolted, had to get away – but the giantess caught her chin in one hand and swung her back to the wall, holding her in place. “Don’t worry. I like it. And it’s good to see you back to size. I’ll get to you eventually, and it’d be a shame if you were barely bite-sized.”

Erin whimpered with no more resistance than the half-eaten man had managed, feeling tears in her eyes. Janet brought her face even closer, big eyes roving madly. She was worse than ever, a vile and twisted monster, and wouldn’t stop until she’d destroyed everything Erin cared about. Eaten everyone she liked. Or more. Would making everyone see Erin’s nightmare eventually mean she’d eat them all?

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Janet purred, rotating Erin’s head to inspect her. “I’m not going to kill you. This office would be no fun without you.” She frowned. “It really is quite big. I hadn’t noticed before.”

Erin tensed, realising the woman was staring at her nose. Just what she needed. Had she overheard Chloe earlier? Janet tutted, unimpressed, then released her and retreated slightly, making Erin slump with a breath of relief. But the giantess added, “That is, I’m not going to kill you yet. Not until we see how far this thing can go.”

“Janet, no,” Erin managed at last, shaking her head, but the giant woman merely nodded in return. She licked blood from her lips and winked, then crouched through the washroom doorway, bum swinging into the door frame with a crack as she went.

Only when the door swung shut, blocking her off at last, did Erin let herself breathe. She took in big gulps and ran down the hall. She skidded on the blood left from Janet’s meal and went flying around the corner, right into someone coming the other way. Erin shrieked and jumped back as a suited man did the same, holding his hands up.

“Whoa, where’s the fire!” Xavier laughed and Erin felt her cheeks flushing as she realised who it was. Of all people to run into – but he held up a folder, sensing what she might be asking. “Needed to run these up here. Our photocopier’s bust. Are you okay, Erin? You’ve been having a day, I hear.”

Erin paused, rethinking the last hour or so. Or however long she could remember. She realised Janet was still in that tight cream dress, so it was the same day as earlier. Had Xavier been in the canteen, witness to her humiliation there?

“It’s getting better, I think,” Erin mumbled, not very convincingly. It might’ve been, with her regular size back and a chance encounter with Xavier, except she could still see Janet’s trail of blood in the corner of her eye, and she now had a lingering concern that the giantess might’ve been less likely to trouble her when she was smaller.

“That’s good, I love to hear it.” Xavier beamed, perfect white teeth. He sounded genuine.

Erin’s thoughts slowed, heart calming, and she managed a smile in return. Xavier’s expression shifted, eyes flitting just briefly, and Erin got a tingle of alarm. Her hand came up unconsciously, pretending to scratch her nose, actually trying to hide it. He’d looked at it, hadn’t he? Was he always looking at it? Or had he heard something too? Had he been in the canteen?

“Things are getting strange, yes?” Xavier regrouped, restoring his smile, as he made light of the blood with a little nod. “Though, who are we to question the ways of the beautiful woman.”

“Are giant growth spurts and cannibalism part of the package being around someone attractive?” Erin blurted out, unable to hold it in anymore. She caught herself, wide-eyed in surprise at how she’d finally snapped back, and it had to be at Xavier. He looked startled. “Sorry, I didn’t – um.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Xavier replied soothingly. “Dear Erin, you have such troubles.” His hand came up then, touching her arm, and her heart jumped. “Things are not so bad. You tell me about it, maybe? You need a friend.”

Erin felt herself being torn in two. She was electrified by his touch, and this wild possibility that Xavier had at last taken an interest. Xavier might be her friend! Even more! But there was equal dread. It wasn’t safe around here for her friends. Hell, Shauna hadn’t even been her friend, just mildly helpful. She hadn’t even known the guy she’d just seen getting chewed up. It wasn’t safe around her, period.

“We’ll take care of you,” Xavier said and brushed off the sleeve of her tatty top. “Get you cleaned up, for a start.”

Erin smiled, cracking from the sense of care. Dust turned in the air from his touch as he continued to pat her down. Her eyes flitted to the washroom door, making sure Janet wasn’t about to return.

“Would you like a drink, perhaps?” he offered. “I can spare some –”

With a violent jolt, Erin sneezed, so hard she almost doubled over. Xavier pounced back with an expression as horrified as if she’d just sprouted a second head. She met his eye in horror, mortified at the sound, the sudden movement. The attention back on her big nose! But the dust from her top twirled, was in her nostrils, and she felt a tickle, another sneeze coming. She tried to hold it in, and inhaled deeply, pulling back. Xavier’s brow knitted. Oh, this was a new humiliation. Erin held up a hand, as if she could stay him, show it was okay, she was okay. Just don’t look at my nose! Her nostrils tickled, though, at the dust, and got worse the more she tried to avoid it. She drew in a hard, sudden breath. The walls rattled with the impact of a sudden gust of wind, pushing towards her, and Erin’s frightened eyes widened further as Xavier was pulled towards her. He gave the barest cry as he was sucked straight into her left nostril, his weight knocking her back. Erin spread her hands against the wall to brace herself, feeling the unnatural swell of Xavier’s head and shoulders shoved up her nose, a sensation without sense – her nostril had barely expanded in her vision, but it was fully blocked by him, and she saw his abdomen and legs, his arms, sticking out below, feet scrambling about for purchase. She heard his voice in her head, squeezed in small: “What’s happening? Let me out!”

Erin tried to stand up, tried to blow air back out through her nose to release him, but he was too heavy, leaning against her, and his arm swung up frantically, a hand clocking her with a dazzling blow to the temple. She got her own hands on his hips and tried to push back, to lever him out, but he was stuck, fully filling her nose.

“Don’t do it! Erin, please!” Xavier’s muffled voice took on a frightened, pathetic pitch.

She shoved again, tried to force him out, but her nostril was tingling again. She could feel his hair against the inside of her nose, and it tickled, it made her jerk in reflex against sneezing – another deep, instinctive inhale. Erin veered back with a great gag of breath, and felt a huge contraction from her nose, sucking Xavier the rest of the way in. His scream abruptly shrank off as his legs sped up her nose, his bulging form flung into the back of her nostril and right into her throat. Unable to stop it, Erin swallowed, gulping the man all the way down, whole.

She stood stock still, blinking. The hall was empty, and quiet, just her and the blood stains and pictures crooked from the earlier wind.

Xavier was gone. The only evidence that he’d been there was the file he’d been carrying scattered across the carpet.

Except… he wasn’t completely gone. She could feel him, somehow, inside her. She’d inhaled him, like she might’ve accidentally snorted down a fly, and there was a movement in her belly, the faintest sound of a man struggling for his life. He’d been bigger than her, strong and healthy, but that didn’t matter. Damn Chloe and her stupid comments about Erin’s stupid nose. The intern was painfully right: this wish was making her insecurities manifest, and Erin had inhaled a man alive through her big nose.

Slowly, the possibility came to her that she should run into the toilet, try to vomit and get him out again. She had a fatalist sense that it wouldn’t work, though. And Janet was in there. Another encounter with her was bound to make things worse. Besides, a more sinister thought slid in: she’d wanted Xavier for herself, hadn’t she? Now she had him. Completely.

Erin shuddered with a fresh shock for thinking that, and stepped quickly away, frightened. She looked down at her trembling hands and heard her own quick breaths. This was really bad. But there was nothing she could do. Not right now. Steadying herself, she straightened out her skirt and ran a hand over her hair to smooth it. Act natural, that’s what she had to do. It was done now, and the best she could do was continue as before. If Janet could get away with murder, maybe she could, too. Still shaking regardless, Erin walked away from the corridor of nightmares, and tried to hold her head high for her return to the office. Approaching the door, she felt another movement in her stomach, and nervously smiled.