At The Diner

Leda jecked awake in a cold sweat, aftershocks still wracking her body. Her fingers were bunched in the tiny blanket as she willed her frantic heartbeat to slow to a more natural rhythm.

The fantasies had come each and every time she slept since the night at Ceres House. More than seven cycles had passed and, instead of decreasing with time, the dreams had only risen more strong. It was becoming impossible to remember that they were only fantasy and not certainty.

She didn’t want to think about how many times she had woken in the last week with her desperate fingers buried between her legs.

Thankfully, she was alone in the apartment. Cythia had gone to the market, wearing the protective scarf that covered her deformed face, and Argus still attended the crucial education program during the day. He loved to call it government-sponsored indoctrination. But they compelled him to go, without finishing off primary schooling it was nearly difficult to get a work certificate.

Her sister had already commented on the loud moans that emerges from her room each night. She had grown weak of trying to explain it away. She already knew that there was something very wrong with her and she did not need another signal.

Leda rolled out of bed and steered for the bathroom, stumbling as her brain battled to fully wake. The tile floor was so cold under her feet as she worked at the faucet with shaking fingers.

Her twin strode with her as a reflection in the dingy mirror. The marks on her thighs and back were mostly gone, with only a handful of small black and purple stains in the shape of fingerprints remaining, but the memory remained as strong as ever.

She felt a spasm at the thought that soon the marks would vanish entirely. She would miss the physical reminder, it was the only reassurance that the whole thing hadn’t been a figment of her intuition.

The whoremonger had not called her again since that night. She could not decide whether to be dishearten or relieved. She didn’t want to carry this appetite to see the Alpha again, but it was impossible to ignore. And there was threat in obsession, it could lead her to a place that she would not come back from.

Leda dressed for work in the drab brown jumpsuit that denoted her as a service provider in the lower sector. She had more crucial things to think about than the Alpha that she wouldn't see again. It was a slow day at the diner.

She stood behind the payment counter, topping off bottles of condiments and studying the expanse of empty tables. Like most employees in the service sector, she received a portion of the day’s proceeds as wages, so no customers meant no dollar in her pocket.

“Another day in heaven, huh?”, asked the woman.

Leda turned to peek at the woman working next to her.

Selene was a more senior employee and appeared to derive particular pleasure from being hard to work with. She also liked to ask the kind of questions that Leda chose not to answer.

“Looks like it,” Leda replied, while organizing the items on the shelf in front of her.

“Hopefully, it picks up soon.”

Selene picked up a rag and sidled closer to where Leda stood, swiping erratically at the counter.

“Did you get your hair done?” she asked.

Leda resisted the desire to put a hand to the rough brown waves on her head that had not changed by so much as a curl.

“No.” Leda answered.

“There’s something different about you. I can’t quite put my finger on it.” She added.

“If you say so.” Leda replied

As leda moved to the fill station where food orders were processed and began stacking the clean trays. Selene followed her, whizzing in her ear like a stubborn fly.

“How is your brother, does he still have the flu sickness?” Selene asked.

Leda sighed and turned to face the other woman, who certainly wouldn’t allow her to evade the conversation.

“Yes, and he is about to get kicked out of primary for missing too many days of school.” Leda slid the trays back on the rack despite an irresistible urge to throw it at someone.

“This is the lower levels. Things are never better", the other woman smirked.

“Have I informed you that my daughter was just pairbonded to a guardian Alpha from the middle levels? Her mate said I can pack in with them once they’re settled.”

“How nice that would be for you.” Leda kept the mockery at bay, but only with an effort.

“It was a wonderful ceremony.” Selene added.

It was no secret that many families in the hovels hoped to unite their daughters with well-placed Alphas or Betas who resided in the higher levels with hopes it would raise their own stance.

If Leda still had parents, maybe they would have done the same thing although she liked to think that they would have left the choice of mate up to her.

Although she certainly was not above trading her body for money and comfort. Sickened with both herself and Selene, Leda turned back to her station, filching at the counter with hard strokes of a rag.

“I have never been to a bonding ceremony.” She said.

“It was lovely.” Selene throw her a triumphant smile.

“He paid for it all, of course. A decent Alpha always does, you know.”

Leda had no intention to ever see a bonding ceremony. The practice was atrocious, but very stylish among the citizens of the middle and upper levels who had all it takes to make a scene of themselves.

The pair bond was a bizarre thing and something she had only read about while searching the surfing the Net. Only Alphas were capable of inciting a true pair-bond, creating a literal soul rapport to their mate that moved beyond the physical and into the spiritual. It was said that a pair bond bounds two people to their very souls