The Decadence Club - Part 1

It was a beautiful sunny mid-summer afternoon in Toronto; the colourful, vibrant city buzzed beneath its blanket of eclectic architecture, a collision of styles with skyscrapers bursting through the undergrowth of the historic British colonial buildings below.

Nicole Trahan did not look her best. She had just returned from a five-kilometre run through Riverdale Park, she was hot, sweaty, and desperate for a glass of water. The stranger standing outside the door to her apartment was an unwelcome surprise.

“Hi!” said the stranger, a slender woman with frizzy dark hair and mixed-race facial features. She was wearing a stone blue shirt dress, semi-rimless cat-eye sunglasses and had a large khaki canvas bag over her shoulder. Nicole estimated that she was around thirty years old, her attention was drawn to her perceptible mid-pregnancy bulge. Immediately her thoughts ran to her on-off boyfriend, what had the lying bastard been up to now? With a pretty pregnant woman on her doorstep, she feared the worst. “Are you Nicole Trahan?” The woman asked intrepidly, flickering a smile.

“Who are you?” Nicole responded tersely.

The woman held up her hands in an apologetic posture and smiled back, “sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you. My name is Brielle Paquette, I’m a journalist,” she unzipped a pocket at the front of the bag, removed a card and offered it to Nicole.

Nicole accepted it and scrutinized the small rectangular card. It read Brielle Paquette – Freelance Journalist with some letters representing qualifications and memberships of professional organisations, underneath was a link to a website, a telephone number, and an email address.

“Ok, so what do you want?” Nicole enquired unimpressed, relaxing a little but folding her arms assertively.

Brielle smiled; she had conquered first base. Nicole was prepared to listen, for now. “I’m investigating the Lucy Chen case.”

Nicole froze. Hearing that name pierced her emotions, it drilled into her anxiety and self-loathing. She glared back at Brielle contemptuously, “I’ve been through this already. I’m done with talking about it. Look, I don’t know what you’re writing, I don’t care but could you just leave me out of it, my family has been through enough,” she stepped forward brushing Brielle aside, took her key from her jogging pouch and inserted it in the apartment door.

“I believe you,” Brielle announced before Nicole could turn the key. “I think she’s a serial killer. Please just give me five minutes and I’ll explain. I need your help. There are others. Others like Zara.”

Nicole turned and looked Brielle directly in the eyes, “serial killer?”

Brielle nodded, “I want to catch her, and I think I know a way to do it.”

Nicole turned the key and pushed open the door, she stood against it and gestured to Brielle, “Ok, come in. Five minutes and if you’re just another hack looking for a cheap story, you’re out!”

“Thank you,” Brielle replied appreciatively and stepped inside.

Three Years Earlier: Toronto, Canada, 2024 - two years before the International Vore Competition North America Final

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to Vore Con!” declared Zara, bubbling with excitement as the car entered the freeway. “Thanks for taking us, Lucy.”

“Oh no, the pleasure’s all mine,” she replied. The pretty woman of Chinese Asian descent at the steering wheel grinned cordially.

In the car were with her were, in the front seat; Zara Trahan, a twenty-one-year-old native of Riverdale to the east of the City. She was an undergraduate in her final year of studying Art History at the University of Toronto. In the back were: Zara’s boyfriend, Jonah Ross whom she had met while studying, his major was Digital Enterprise, also at Toronto. He was from East York. Joining them was was Zara's elder sister by three years, Nicole.

The sisterly connection between Nicole and Zara was physically evident, they shared the same champagne blonde hair, green eyes, and delicate features. However, the similarities stopped there. Zara was prone to splashes of flamboyance and impulsiveness, she liked to wear her hair loose and decorate it with bands and clips. On the other hand, Nicole was inherently more sensible and kept her appearance conservative. Her hair flat and straight with a tidy fringe covering her forehead.

***

Zara had met Lucy while working in part time at a motel a short distance from the university campus. The job was unglamorous and unrewarding, changing bed sheets and cleaning the rooms in preparation for incoming guests. It was only a few hours a day, but she needed the money. Student living in Canada’s premier city was a drain on financial resources and she hated begging her parents for hand-outs.

Initially, she had not noticed when Lucy started working at the motel, there had been a consistent flow of employees from Asian backgrounds, which did little to help the image of stereotypes in the low-income employment sector. Nevertheless, the owners of the motel were of Chinese descent themselves so it made sense that they would employ people from their own community. They were good hardworking people, so Zara had little reason to distrust their recruitment.

However, she did notice something different about Lucy to the others. She was an outstanding beauty, with exquisite facial features with a lighter skin tone than her colleagues. Apart from this, what made her stand out was an obvious supercilious attitude. At first, this could have been perceived a plain arrogance, but one day Zara was placed on a shift with Lucy and the two began chatting.

Zara’s opinion of Lucy changed dramatically when Lucy recounted the story of how she ended up working at the motel. She had explained that the father of her children had absconded from the family home with the nanny, and with no source of income she was evicted by her unscrupulous landlord with no choice to work long hours to cover the cost of living. At the same time, she was trying to raise money for the services of a lawyer to grant her a divorce and half of the alimony to which she was entitled.

Although there was an age difference of about fourteen years between them, Lucy and Zara quickly became friends.

During the following weeks, they had many conversations and met outside of work in between Zara’s studies and Lucy’s parenting, for coffee and lunch. One of these meetings in particular would change Zara's life forever.

While the two women were enjoying a late breakfast after finishing an early shift at the motel, they were interrupted by a woman who recognised Lucy. Zara estimated that the woman was in her late thirties or early forties, she had long fiery auburn hair and was dressed in business attire. However, her appearance didn’t really matter, it was what she said that made her take notice.

“Hey, I saw you at the party on Saturday, it’s Lucy, right?” asked the woman. “It’s Jade, by the way, in case you’ve forgotten who I am,” she introduced enthusiastically.

Lucy seemed quite alarmed and uncomfortable by Jade’s unexpected approach but humoured her. Then Jade asked Lucy as question which made Zara almost spit up her coffee.

“So, did you eat that hot guy you were dancing with?” asked Jade lasciviously, playfully slapping Lucy’s arm.

“Er,” stumbled Lucy, “Yes, I did actually.”

“Good on you!” encouraged Jade. If you didn’t have him, I would have been happy to gobble him up. I ate one or two, but he was definitely the finest on offer.”

The conversation continued briefly before the Jade had to rush off “see you at the next party!” she said ebulliently as she departed.

Zara was understandably astounded by the conversation and with her curiosity piqued, had to probe Lucy. “What was that about?” she asked.

Embarrassed, Lucy winced, “um…have you heard of vore?”

“Of course,” replied Zara, “who hasn't? You do it?”

Lucy nodded, her guilty secret exposed, “yeah, I go to vore parties.”

Zara was surprised by her friend’s confession but was not judgemental, people had their kinks and vore was certainly one of the more acceptable ones.

And that was how it started. The discussion about vore continued while Zara listened to Lucy talk about her experiences, she was fascinated by the older woman’s account of her years on the vore scene. It was a real eye-opener for the young undergraduate.

“You know,” Lucy began, “Vore Con will be in Toronto in next month. If you want to try it out, it’s a good place to start. It’s where the Vore Community meet about all things vore-related. There’s lots to do, and they have a restaurant there that serves shrunken people.”

Zara was unsure, she was intrigued by vore but eating someone was a scary thought. Having a living person inside her. “Is It possible to eat someone and not…digest them?” she asked.

Lucy raised her eyebrows, “I don’t know,” she answered, “I’ve never really thought about it. Why would you not want to digest them?”

Zara gave the idea some thought, “I will speak to my boyfriend,” she said, “I might come along for the experience, but I can’t say that I will eat anyone.”

“That’s fine,” Lucy replied. “ There’s no rules saying you have to eat anyone but when you’re there you might find you can’t resist! Vore does strange things to people.”

***

Later that day when Zara had broached the subject with her boyfriend, Jonah, she was expecting him to be against the idea of attending an event with vore involved. Like a lot of men his age, Jonah outwardly disparaged vore. To admit a taste for it would be an affront to his masculinity. However, secretly he was attracted to the idea, although his sexually underdeveloped brain was giving him mixed signals which manifested itself as a defensive denigration.

Before she had met Lucy, Zara and Jonah’s exposure to vore in the real world was limited to the infrequent media stories of attention-seeking celebrities or occasional gossip from casual acquaintances. In summary, they knew that people practised vore, but she had never personally known anyone who had been eaten, or eaten anyone.

The most they had was a rumour that a girl from Zara's school had eaten a boy from out of town but that was all it was, a rumour. Similarly, at High School Jonah knew a boy whose father was eaten. Between them, this was the sum total of their encounters with vore in the real world. Lucy Chen was the first person either of them had met who had actually eaten people, it opened them up to the curiosities they could never have imagined.

It took Zara by surprise when Jonah agreed to visit Vore Con. “It sounds like a laugh!” he said. “I’ll have fun watching all the vore freaks and it’ll be good to tell the boys in the poker club about it.” He did not show it, but he rather excited about Vore Con.

“Would you have a problem if I ate someone?” asked Zara, timidly.

“No way, Babe,” he replied emphatically, “I’d love to see you eat some loser.”

***

Following Jonah’s resounding endorsement, Zara informed Lucy that she would like to accompany her to Vore Con and started making plans. She spoke with her sister, Nicole at least once a week so it was inevitable that she would disclose the upcoming event.

Nicole, being the eldest, had landed the unofficial role of her younger sibling’s protector. Zara respected this and held her sister’s opinions in high regard, if it suited her, although she would often enforce her own role as the rebel. This was such an occasion.

“You are not going to Vore Con!” commanded Nicole. “If you go, I’m telling Mom and Dad.”

“You can’t stop me,” Zara retaliated. “I maybe your baby sister but I’m an adult.”

Nicole sighed, “I know but I still worry about you.”

“What’s there to be worried about?” Zara challenged.

“What if you get eaten, huh?” confronted Nicole. “What then, who has to tell Mom and Dad? Me!”

“Relax,” Zara responded dismissively, “I’m not going to be eaten. I’m just curious about it that’s all. You have to consent to be eaten and I have no intention of visiting someone’s guts.”

Nicole growled and in her best big sister voice said to her, “all right but if you go, I’m going too because I want to make sure you don’t do something stupid!”

“Urgh, fine!” replied Zara, defeated. “You can come but if you cramp my style, I’m abandoning you.”

***

That series of events had culminated in Lucy, Zara, Jonah and Nicole heading for Vore Con. It was being held at a private venue in Richmond Hill, just off Highway 404 in the north of the city. The group travelled in Lucy’s old but reliable hatchback through Toronto’s gridwork of roads as they contemplated what awaited them.

Nicole, in her capacity as the responsible sibling, maintained her outward disapproval of Vore Con, however even she could not deny she was compelled by it. She and her younger sibling had quite a sheltered upbringing. She knew about vore, in the same way she knew how babies were made. She did sex education like all other teenagers, and found it as hilarious and awkward as her contemporaries. She remembered watching the silly animations to teach them about consensual vore and the girls teasing the boys in the aftermath.

But Nicole never understood why anyone would outwardly express their vore fantasies, except to someone very close to them. To her, open displays of vore were tantamount to sex in public. Nevertheless, she considered it her duty to ensure that her younger sister did not disgrace herself, if one photo or video on social media reached the attention of their parents, she did not want to be caught in the crossfire.

In addition to her wariness of her sister’s habit of diving into things on impulse, Nicole was cautious about her friends, especially those she had just met. She was still apprehensive about her boyfriend Jonah, she felt she could do better but apart from being a typically overconfident and brash young male, he treated Zara well, so she was content not to intervene.

On the other hand, this sudden friendship with Lucy, a woman much older and from a vastly different background was out of the ordinary, even for Zara. Nicole was naturally uneasy about Lucy’s presence in her sister’s life. Encouraging her to engage in vore only embellished her mistrust of the relationship. Zara, of course, attributed Nicole’s grumbles as envy because her friends were dull, and only talked about houses and babies.

***

Arriving at the venue, they parked up and were directed by a friendly black woman in a fluorescent orange jacket who gave them the obscure instruction of, “head towards the big mouth.”

The entrance was spectacular, the main doors were situated under an archway designed as a giant pair of lips with a set of perfect teeth hanging like a portcullis above, the words Vore Con were displayed in neon pink capital letters above it.

“Wow, that is so cool,” said Zara in amazement. They were surrounded by people displaying their love of vore in a variety of ways. There were men and women in cosplay from various computer games, television and movies franchises, a group of women dressed as cat-girls with cute fluffy ears and erect tails wandered past followed by a herd of lollipops, and in front of them was a man with the word eat me in bold letters on a T-shirt. Then he was joined by a woman, dressed provocatively with the words I swallow displayed on a tight top across her ample chest.

Jonah was captivated as she waltzed past. Zara elbowed him, “Oi!” she admonished.

“Makes me a bit ashamed we didn’t make an effort,” he said in reply with a guilty expression.

He need not have worried. As they approached the ticket booth, they noticed that actually most people attending were in plain clothes, like them. Jonah was quick to observe the number of men milling about on their own, some were wearing Vore Con merchandise, most clearly hoping to be eaten by a beautiful woman with an appetite for tiny men. “Losers,” he muttered to himself, denying his own urges.

“Four please, name’s Chen,” said Lucy holding up the e-ticket on her phone screen. The booth attendant, a young man with a goth hairstyle and tattoos scanned them and asked, “are you all over twenty-one?”

Lucy confirmed, “yes, we are.”

“Okay then,” the booth attendant said. He printed off the pre-paid tickets and gave his scripted legal disclaimer. “The times of the guest speakers is on the back of the brochure. These are generally popular, so we recommend arriving early if you want to guarantee a seat. The technology exhibition is located at the back of the arena, there are live shrinking demonstrations throughout the day, and you have the chance to be shrunk yourself if you want.”

“Ooh,” exclaimed Zara, “that sounds fun.”

Nicole smacked the top of her arm with the back of her hand, “you are not getting shrunk!”

“Ow, why not!” squealed Zara. “Stop being a bully.”

Unperturbed by the interruption, the young attendant continued his harangue, “there is a restaurant where shrunken people are served, or you can be shrunk and eaten yourself if you prefer,” he announced flatly. “If you do decide to be eaten you will need to complete the consent process in full. You have the right to change your mind until you are inside the consumer’s mouth. I have to advise you that being swallowed will result in you being digested. Do you understand?” He asked with a bored expression.

“Yes, we understand but we’re not here to be eaten anyway,” replied Nicole.

The attendant did not respond to that and instead gave the group four pink wristbands, which they quickly applied, “enjoy Vore Con. Next please!!

***

As they stepped into the arena, they were overwhelmed by the options presented to them. The auditorium to their left was starting to fill up, the tables on the stage were unoccupied but there was a buzz of anticipation.

“Who’s the first speaker?” asked Lucy.

Zara consulted the brochure, “it’s someone called Cian Sheedy,” she read aloud, mispronouncing Cian as Sy-ann. “His show is titled Vore Film Showcase.”

“Sounds boring,” said Jonah.

“What’s after that?” asked Lucy.

Zara scanned the page. “Er. It’s Patricia Freimann ,” she replied. “That one is at two o’clock.”

“Should be interesting,” Lucy acknowledged, “she’s a double amputee and she’s won the IVC world championships twice. I’d like to listen to her. Maybe get a few tips.”

“That’s the competition you’ve entered?” asked Zara.

“It is, yes,” Lucy confirmed. “I have to get through the preliminary rounds first though.” She was about to continue when Zara was distracted by the next item on the itinerary.

“Look!” she proclaimed, bouncing with joy, “there’s going to be a live version of the Vore Quiz this afternoon. I want to see that!”

“The Vore Quiz?” asked Jonah.

“Have you not heard of it?” Zara derided. “It’s a general knowledge quiz where the winner gets to be swallowed by the host at the end. I've not seen it.” she explained.

“Sounds weird,” said Jonah. “What sort of prize is that?”

“Duh, the host is Anniki Jaaskelainen!” she reprimanded and showed him the picture of the glamorous Finnish presenter in the brochure.

He tilted his head to see the picture and nodded in appreciation at the Anniki’s beautiful Nordic face. Her enticing face stirred his desires but he quickly suppressed them. “Yeah, she's hot! I can see the appeal but it’s still weird.”

“Well, I want to see it!” Zara demanded.

Before they decided their next move, a lady approached them dressed a dark red pinafore with the word Shrinkies emblazoned on it in bright blue and pink letters written a nineteen fifties baseball style, beside the writing was a silhouette of a woman holding a shrunken figure over her mouth. She handed them a flyer, “two-for-one drinks at Shrinkies ,” she announced robotically before shuffling to the next group of people.

Lucy scrutinised the flyer with interest. “Let’s start at the technology exhibition,” she suggested. “I’m quite keen to see the live shrinking demonstration.”

End of Part 1...