chapter 20

The servants were very accommodating and each time I emptied the bowl, another was waiting for me. However, after only a couple more of the puddings I knew that I could not eat another thing. I was almost passing out and I had to refuse as they passed another of the lemon and mandarin sponges through to me. The Duchess nodded in satisfaction and told Abigail that she could learn a lot from me. She waved at the servants and they all moved to exit the building.

"Somebody will be in soon for your leblouh massage," said the Duchess as she closed the door.

Already the warm glow of the juice was wearing off and I felt terrible. My stomach was stretched tight and there was no position in which I felt comfortable. I thought about Carolyn and realised that she must feel like this all of the time. I told Abigail how I felt, although it took me some time as I was struggling with the pain, the stuffed belly and gasping for breath. I was hoping that the doctor would know a way to make me feel better, but she just looked at me with tears glistening in her eyes.

"We are being fattened now," she said softly, and although she had not eaten anything like the amount I had, the tears began to roll down her cheeks. "We are going to feel like this permanently. The Duchess is ruthless and will make sure we are stuffed to our limit constantly. The massage will help with the discomfort though."

I nodded, and still not able to speak properly I motioned for Abigail to continue as I laid on my back, knees bent and rubbed my bloated belly.

"Leblouh is a ritual used in some African societies to fatten girls," Abigail said. "I studied it and introduced it into the feeding routine for our visitors here; never once did I think it would be used on me! The force-fed victim is kept stuffed and given regular massages which break down the fat and distribute it around the body, making sure the fattening is not all on the belly, bum or thighs. I am sure you saw Frank using the wood on Carolyn? It would look like a rolling pin."
I nodded and as I continued rubbing my own stuffed stomach and the effects of the juice continued to wear off, the reality of the situation began making its way to the front of my foggy brain. With each passing minute, I began to feel worse: in pain, uncomfortable and sick. I also did not like Abigail's use of the phrase 'force-fed victim'!

"Why are we being fattened?" I stammered.

Abigail shuffled up to the bars and reached through, taking my hand. Once again, I saw tears welling in her eyes as she began to explain.

"Most of our clients are very wealthy and buy the women at auction. The price varies depending on youth, looks, size and of course the quality of the fat. Carolyn is going to fetch a very nice price and you will get a commission from that sale as her 'provider'."

"So we are going to be sold?" I asked in disbelief.

"I will," replied Abigail. "If I am lucky, I will be bought by Prince Khalid or somebody like him. I will be kept in a villa somewhere, living a life of luxury. I will be given a constant supply of the best food and will no doubt gain a lot more weight, but to be blunt - I will be a sex slave; kept fat and used for my buyer's pleasure." Abigail wiped a tear off her cheek and added again, "That's if I am lucky!"

"As for you," she continued, "well, most of our clients are male so will not bid for you. We've never really had much of a market for fattened men. The Duchess will probably just keep you."

"Could be worse," I muttered. The Duchess was quite attractive, despite all the makeup and from what I could tell, had a shapely body beneath her Victorian style of dress. I sat up although the pain from my still stuffed stomach made me wince as I did so. "Provided I don't burst!" I added

Abigail squeezed my hand and made me turn to look at her.

"You don't understand," she said. "The Duchess doesn't want you for a sex toy! Remember who her ancestors are?"

I just shrugged - I could vaguely remember Abigail making a joke about it when we saw her on the island, but was not able to recall the specifics. The doctor looked at me and shook her head.

"I knew you never listened to me," she said with a sigh. "The Duchess believes she is descended from Countess Bathory and the witch from Hansel and Gretel. She will take you back to her castle, deep in the Black Forest and continue to fatten you until she feels you are big enough. Then, she will hang you by your feet and slaughter you by slitting your throat. You will be drained of blood, which she will use for weird rituals and for her skin care routine, and then your body will be butchered and eaten. For you, leblouh massage is a tenderising process!"

I could tell by Abigail's tone that she was telling the truth and I felt ill; not just because of the pain in my over-fed belly and not just the dread of knowing why the Duchess had been so generous with all of those puddings. The real pit in my stomach had opened when I thought about all the women I had previously sent to this island, some of whom must have ended up on the Duchess' roasting spit while I sat back counting the money. I could not speak, and suddenly my thoughts turned to Carolyn. Whatever she had concocted with Abigail, whether she had planned to use me or had just taken advantage of the situation was irrelevant; I did not want her to end up on the Duchess' menu.

"We have to get out of here!" I said, crawling across to the cage and trying to open the bolt by stretching my hand round between the bars.

"Not like that," replied Abigail sadly. "These cages are designed to hold people in, so the bolt is covered and only accessible from above. These are for the third stage of fattening; we use them to finish off the process prior to the auction. Sadly, our visitors get shipped out afterwards, so I have never actually made anybody gain to their full potential."

I looked at some of the hugely obese women in the other cages, mindlessly grazing on the cakes and pastries piled beside them. Again I felt a wave of shock and revulsion as I remembered the Duchess measuring their fatness with callipers. I wondered whether they were aware of their situation, or whether they would even care. Was filling their stomach the only thing that mattered to them now?

Abigail saw me looking. "They will be fattened even more if Prince Khalid gets them," she said. "Not necessarily intentionally, but because they will need to eat so much to stop the hunger pains of their stretched stomachs. On top of which, they will barely be in a position to lead an active life so will just continue to gain at a steady rate. I have always wanted to see how big one of my fattened girls could become before her weight plateaus; or even if it would at all."

We sat there lost in our own thoughts for a while, still holding hands. The pain in my stomach had decreased slightly, but I still felt sickened by what I had heard. Suddenly, the door at the end of the barn swung open and I felt Abigail squeeze my hand, fearing another feeding. Instead, Frank sauntered into view and looked into the cages.

"I've been sent to give two new visitors a leblouh massage!" he said. "I was not expecting to see you in there!"

"Oh! Thank God it's you!" gasped Abigail, clearly relieved. "Quickly! Get us out of here before the Duchess comes back!"

Frank nodded and opened Abigail's cage. He helped her out and she fell into his arms sobbing. I felt a wave of jealousy and anger at Frank; first Carolyn and now Abigail had rushed to him at the first opportunity, on top of which, he was about to save me from my fate at the hands of the Duchess. Even knowing what she had planned for me, I almost refused to crawl out of the cage when he opened the door; although whether that was my pride or a desire to live this carefree, over-fed life, however short, I cannot say, but Abigail hissed that we had to move fast, leaned in and grabbed my arm almost yanking my shoulder out of its socket. The jolt of pain brought me back to reality and I quickly scrabbled through the door.

Before long we were heading back to my cottage, but keeping to the trees. I was never so relieved to see the armed guards on my path, and they quickly ushered us into the house.
The first thing I noticed was Carolyn, wearing a long cotton dress and white cardigan. Her hair was held back from her face with a black Alice band and when she smiled at me, she looked like the perfect girl next door. In her left hand, she held a cigarette and took a deep inhale. I could tell that Katherine had ensured Carolyn was keeping to the deal. Even though we had only been gone a few days, she was noticeably wider across her hips and her stomach bulged larger than before. With a smug glance at Abigail, Carolyn finished her cigarette and turned to Katherine.

"I am ready for my next snack, please Kate" she said politely. Without hesitation, Katherine unloaded several trays of cupcakes, covered in thick, creamy icing, onto the table and without ceremony, Carolyn picked one up and took a large bite. I watched as she licked the frosting from her lips and took another mouthful.

"We have to get her out of her," I whispered to Abigail, but the Doctor just looked at me as though I were insane.

"You know what we just went through!" I said in disbelief. "We need to stop that happening to her!"

"Why?" asked Abigail, as she watched Carolyn stuff the remains of a cupcake in her mouth, suck icing from her thumb and pick up the next one. "Our experience is not relevant to this situation. Carolyn is here to be fattened and sold on, either as a fetish object or as meat. If she is happy to over-eat and forcibly fatten herself, I see no reason why we should stop that." She turned her cold eyes to look at me and asked, "Do you?"