“So are you like… a psychopath?” Lyndsey whispered, leaning conspiratorially over her coffee.
Over Lyndsey’s shoulder, Madeline watched the service counter, where a Mini barista was taking orders from customers of both sizes. Madeline wondered if dropping her into a hot coffee would melt the flesh from her bones. She smiled.
“Of course not. Torturing people would be a lot less fun if I didn’t have empathy.”
They were an odd pair. A study in contrast: Lyndsey’s studded boots versus Madeline’s slingback pumps; worn jeans against a high-waisted pencil skirt; messy pastel pink hair to flowing hazelnut curls.
“You really haven’t killed any?” Madeline asked.
Lyndsey shook her head. She was reserved in a way that some could have mistaken for cynicism, but Madeline recognized the quiet intensity in her eyes when she looked at her. Or at the window, where a bar for normal-sized people had been converted into an area for Mini’s.
“Came close once,” Lyndsey said. “Back in high school, there was this girl. A Mini. We were… friends. We used to experiment.”
Madeline grinned and leaned in excitedly.
“One time we were messing around and… she got hurt, freaked out, told her folks about it. They got our school involved. I had to go to counseling for a year. A month later she transferred and I never saw her again.”
“What was her name?” Madeline’s smile had faded.
Lyndsey imagined answering, extrapolated how the rest of the conversation would go, and what Madeline would do with that information.
Madeline smirked.
Lyndsey shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “But it’s sweet of you to ask.” She meant it.
“My first was an accident,” Madeline said. “When I was a kid we used to have cleaners come to our house every other week. They were all Minis. I loved watching them work. I’d make a mess in my room the day before so they’d stick around longer.” She laughed. “One day I’d left so much stuff on the floor that I didn’t see one of them down there. Aaand… squish.”
“Did you get into trouble?”
“There was a bit of a kerfuffle, but my dad’s a lawyer. He threatened to sue the company for… I forget what exactly, but the whole thing got swept under the rug.”
“Fuck.”
“Oh, and the best part, my mom demanded that they come back and clean the stain out of the carpet.”
Lyndsey stared. Madeline was the first to crack before they burst into laughter.
“Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re joking,” Lyndsey said.
“Oh and I’m the psychopath?” Madeline teased.
They laughed again.
Lyndsey looked over at the Minis sitting in their tiny tables and chairs. She imagined herself striding over and sweeping them onto the floor, seeing them flee in terror before stomping them out. Madeline would join. She looked at her.
“Was it really an accident?”
Madeline smiled, sipped her coffee. They smiled at each other.
“I need the Mini-girl’s room,” Madeline said, standing. “To… see a Miniature man about a miniature horse.”
“Only a psychopath would say that,” Lyndsey said.
“Damn, and I was passing so well.”
Lyndsey watched Madeline walk away. She thought about her former friend. She still remembered the feeling of her body in her hand, the excited look in her minuscule eyes, the way she squirmed with arousal as Lyndsey started to squeeze, and how it slowly turned into terror when she forgot to stop. She remembered the sound she made as she pressed the breath out of her, the way she struggled with all of her negligible strength. And she remembered the feeling of her sternum cracking against her index finger.
Madeline returned from the restroom wearing a tight-lipped smile. She sat down and rested her head in her hands. Her eyes gleamed with a secret that she needed to tell. Lyndsey leaned toward her.
Madeline opened her mouth. Lyndsey’s eyes widened.
There was a Miniature woman there. She struggled and gasped for breath, drenched with saliva. As she was about to scream for help Madeline’s lips snapped shut. Lyndsey wasn’t sure if she could hear the woman’s cries or if she just imagined them. She glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed. No one had.
Madeline stifled a laugh. She swished the Mini-woman around her mouth with her tongue, shoved her into her cheek. “Do you wanna see a trick?”
Lyndsey nodded. She watched Madeline’s jaw move as she manipulated the Mini inside her mouth. She pursed her lips and spit out a pair of shoes smaller than her fingertip. Then Madeline brought her fingers to her mouth and slowly pulled the Mini-woman’s shirt out from between her lips. A moment later and she did the same with a miniature pair of jeans. She crumpled the clothes into a napkin and slipped it into her purse. Madeline smirked.
Lyndsey stared. Madeline's eyes locked on hers as she leaned across the table. She grabbed Lyndsey by the collar and pulled her into a kiss. She didn’t have to pull hard.
Lyndsey’s eyes widened as she felt Madeline’s tongue slip into her mouth, along with something else. Lyndsey gasped as she felt the Mini-woman stumble across her tongue and thrash against her palate. She felt the woman scream, a pleasant buzzing against her teeth.
“Restroom?” Madeline purred.
Lyndsey nodded and hurried off.
Madeline didn’t follow immediately. Instead, she went to the service counter.
There was a Miniature man there, waiting for his order. Madeline examined the pastries on display. As soon as the servers turned around, she snatched him up with the precision of an expert pickpocket. He didn’t have a chance to shout before being smothered into her palm. Madeline smirked as she walked away. As she rounded the corner, the servers hadn’t even noticed he was gone.
When Madeline entered the ladies room, Lyndsey was leaning into the mirror, staring into her mouth. The woman was still there, crying and floundering with every movement of her tongue. Lyndsey enjoyed watching her struggle.
Madeline came up from behind and pressed herself against her. Lyndsey pressed back. Madeline kissed her neck, traced her fingertips down her body.
Lyndsey pushed the Miniature woman half way out of her mouth before closing her lips around her midsection. She turned to face Madeline, and pulled her close. She ran her lips along Madeline’s neck. Lyndsey grazed her teeth along the Mini woman’s body. She reacted like she wanted, screaming and thrashing.
Madeline lifted her chin, arched her back. She sighed. She found Lyndsey’s lips with her own, and took the Mini woman’s upper body into her mouth. They smiled at the same wicked idea.
They kissed, their passion fueled by the Mini fighting for her life between them. They held her with their teeth, sucking and pulling in a deadly tug-of-war. Madeline was the first to draw blood, her lower incisors cutting a gash below the woman’s chest. She shrieked. Lyndsey moaned and bit into her legs. She felt something snap. Madeline couldn’t hold back any longer and sunk her teeth into the Mini’s abdomen. The copper taste of blood trickled into their mouths as they tore the woman apart with their kisses. Lyndsey chewed with each heavy breath. Madeline swallowed her half whole.
“She was still squirming on the way down,” Madeline whispered.
Lyndsey gasped. Warmth radiated from between her legs. She gripped Madeline’s hips and pulled their bodies together.
Madeline raised her hand and opened her fingers.
Lyndsey wasn’t surprised. Of course Madeline had more. She didn’t give a damn where this one had come from.
The Miniature man shouted obscenities at the two of them, demanded to be put down, threatened to call the police.
Lyndsey opened her mouth, dragged her tongue over her bloodstained teeth. The man instantly fell silent.
Madeline lowered him to the floor. She moved next to Lyndsey, embracing her from the side.
Lyndsey thought about how pathetic he looked. She lifted her foot, just to compare him to her boot. He flinched and collapsed to his knees instantly.
Madeline laughed. She kicked him. It was barely more than a flick of her ankle, but it still sent him tumbling in front of Lyndsey.
Lyndsey pinned him beneath her foot. She wanted to feel him struggle, but she could barely feel the lump beneath her sole. She pressed harder.
The man screamed, and begged. Actually begged. He pleaded for his life, said that he had a wife and children.
Madeline caressed Lyndsey’s body, undid the button of her jeans. “You’ll never see them again. But I might.”
The man wailed. Lyndsey moaned. Madeline slid her hand inside Lyndsey’s pants.
Lyndsey spasmed at Madeline’s touch. She pressed her foot down even harder, felt the Miniature man squirm, heard his screams turn to gags while Madeline teased her clit.
Madeline savored his pain, and the absolute power they had over him. She could feel Lyndsey getting close.
Madeline whispered, “Aaand… squish.”
A ray of blood spewed out of his mouth as Lyndsey crushed him. She came against Madeline’s hand.
Waves of pleasure erupted over Lyndsey’s body. She bit her thumb to suppress a scream. She stomped on what was left of the man, smearing him out of existence.
Madeline smiled in the silence that followed. “Mazel tov,” she said, sliding her hand out from Lyndsey’s pants.
Madeline used a tissue to wipe the mess off the floor, then walked into a toilet stall. A second later a loud flush echoed through the room. Madeline emerged with a wide smile. “And that’s how you get away with murder.”
They laughed, but then they noticed something on the floor.
There was a Miniature person, staring at them with a horrified look on her little face. She ran.
They chased after her. Lyndsey was quicker. She caught her in two strides and snatched her up in her fist. She held her up to her eyes. It was the barista from the counter.
Madeline appeared next to her. “Well. A dirty little voyeur.”
The Miniature girl protested, claimed that she hadn’t seen anything. She squirmed in Lyndsey’s fist.
Lyndsey’s breath quickened. “What should we do with her?”
“It’s not so much what,” Madeline said, “but how how long she’ll survive.”
They heard voices and footsteps in the hall outside.
“Where the hell is Allie? Her break ended fifteen minutes ago.”
“I haven’t seen her.”
“Can you check the bathroom? There’s a line out front.”
Madeline pulled Lyndsey into a stall just as someone entered. They crammed in together. Madeline looked at the Mini, and held a finger up to her lips. Lyndsey covered the girl’s mouth with her thumb. The girl struggled. Lyndsey started to squeeze.
“Allie? Are you in here…? … Fucking Mini-ass bitch always running late…”
Madeline suppressed laughter.
Lyndsey was busy watching Allie’s eyes widen with terror as she pressed her thumb harder, bending the girl’s neck back at a painful angle. She stopped squirming. Lyndsey kept squeezing. A little more and something would crack.
Madeline tapped her shoulder. The coast was clear.
Lyndsey loosened her grip and they stepped out of the stall.
Madeline smoothed her clothes. “That was exciting. But what do you say we go back to mine?” She held out her hand for the Miniature girl.
Lyndsey handed her over, almost reluctantly. She nodded.
“Great!” Madeline looked at the girl in her hand. “You know, I’ve been wanting to get my own espresso machine. You can be my coffee-bitch!”
Allie stared up at her, trembling.
“Or… I can just give you to my friend,” Madeline said, looking at Lyndsey.
Allie vehemently shook her head, shouted that she was great at making espresso and all kinds of coffee.
Madeline smiled sweetly and raised her to her lips. “If you think she’s scary, you won’t last five minutes with me.”
Madeline dropped her into her purse, and the three left the cafe together.