This is a while ago. You had crossed paths with him a couple of times before in this midnight Asda Local. He wore a long coat, scarf in all weather, and a brimmed hat. A man with a hunch or a hump, whose left leg dragged a little with each step. It was basically impossible to make out much more than his eyes, and he never made eye contact. His basket was conscientiously packed according to the food pyramid.

You wake into your body. Adrenaline high, settling down as other chemicals come to the fore. Deep, deep pleasure as teeth close in muscle. Tear away raw gobbet of biceps and gulp down like starving wolf. Eyes rove lovingly over ruined carcass. Chest hollow, other arm ruined humerus glinting ruddy and white. Face half gone, single green eye staring fixed at nothing You wake into your body. She’s still fighting your bite.

It was the Kung Pao that did it. I leant a little too heavily on the Szechuan peppers. You swallowed the last mouthful and pushed your plate away. “Tongue feels like it’s numb.” “Kiss it better?” I murmur. With my chin in my hand and my elbow on the table I regard you with a sleepy, happy smile. “Ooof. Rice made me… gassy.” You wince and shift your weight onto one cheek to give a path to a low, slow easement.

“Why a rabbit?” I look up, from the dishes I am setting out for you. Chicken balls heaped four layers high kick out steam. Prawn toast and Kung Pao chicken ring a fried rice dish containing beef, pork, lamb, chicken and prawn. This is no takeaway. I cooked it all by hand. That last dish is clearly me trying to outdo the rice special you tend to favour. “Hm? Rabbit? I don’t know.

She reaches with both hands to untie her ponytail. Angelic blonde waves pour free, draping and framing her face and shoulders. She tosses them back and lights a cigarette. “You aren’t getting out of this, honey. You may as well lie back and enjoy.” She’s mostly right. Your limbs are immobilised: hands crudely but effectively cuffed to a solid oak bedpost, legs likewise secured to a spreader bar keeping you from twisting your hips or closing your legs.

After a meal like that your whole body shunts its resources into digestion. You are lulled into torpor by the ebb of blood from everything except brain, heart and guts. I am lulled into a sort of fascinated waking trance by the sounds your body kicks out. Even over the car engine I can hear your guts purring around their denaturing contents. It took a lifetime for those two bodies to build themselves.

Harriet breaches the water and then freezes. Something in her subconscious sees the look in your eye, the roundness of your belly. Floating towards her like that, there is something of the crocodile about you. Sensing that your prey has become alert, you switch to breaststroke. Knives flash in your grin. Inside your stomach, her twin is just beginning to lose hope and strength. Frenzy rises, hot and lively in your chest.

“Hint.” We’re driving somewhere. I packed you a little bag. “Hmm. Okay. Pisces.” You go quiet, mulling over the riddle. “Water sign. So… swimming?” I nod, smiling. “And you’ve taken me swimming before, but you look smug, so it’s probably somewhere nicer this time. The Turkish baths?” I glance up from the road with a raised eyebrow, impressed. “I’m not smug.” “I’m right!” You giggle to yourself and shift your hips, snuggling down into the passenger seat.

You let yourself in. The hallway door opens before you’ve brushed through the doorway and removed your shoes. My face is illuminated with puppy-like delight verging on beatific disbelief. Sometimes I try to play it cool. Today is not one of those days. “Rey! You’re back! It feels like ages!” I step towards you and you basically have to abort bending down to unfasten your shoes or else I’m simply going to hug the top of your head.

She lasts almost half an hour. Perhaps she could have gone longer, but you kept grumbling out her air supply. At first it was from mercy. That was before her skin began to seriously lose integrity. Once your guts got their greedy, caustic surfaces on her raw flesh and really began to peel her apart, you began to belch for the sweet taste of her blood. In your frenzy you terminated her life and groped yourself sore.