‘God I hate this fucking airport, you can never see the planes landing; the windows are all on the wrong side. You’d think an airport would have thought of that. Still at least it blocks out some of the light.’

She pulled the strings on her hoody tight, so just her nose and eyes glared out. The bus ride had been long, 5 hours of rain and traffic, but the bag had made it all bearable. Just thinking about what was inside made her shiver in anticipation.

‘I can’t wait to get home’ she thought shifting the weight on her arm and grimacing at the pain. The burn had gone right up to her elbow. She remembered his smiling face as he’d drawn her sleeve up, slowly. Nothing at first and then the searing shooting pain. She hadn’t screamed, she refused to give the arrogant prick the satisfaction. Besides she’d had worse and it would be worth it when she got back. He’d called it a ritual, whining that ‘everything has a price’ or some bollocks, but she wasn’t interested in that shit. It was just another transaction. He got some sort of sick satisfaction and she got...well she got what she needed.

She shook herself from her daydream and wandered over to the only shop open at 5.30am to get a mug of coffee and a bacon sandwich. The bacon as usual just tasted of burnt meat. Shed tried ordering it rare at a coffee shop once, but the girl had just looked at her, rolled her eyes and ignored her.

And now she was getting twitchy. It had been 48 hours already and her body cried out for something fresher. She could smell the contents of the bag, sealed in three layers of airtight bags and a locked case. Her fingers subconsciously clawed at the packaging.

The sun was creeping up slowly. 25 minutes til boarding and then home. But then something caught her eye. ‘And I was being so careful’ she thought. ‘too late to run now anyway, and they won’t try anything here it’s a major airport for Christ sake.’

She looked around. The airport was empty. She could have sworn there were other people waiting but now just empty seats. Every inch of her body was alert, poised, coiled tight. 30 seconds passed. A minute. Maybe more. Then she smelt him. Her throat let out a low growl. She looked for something to hide the bag in and spotted a wheelie bin stuffing the bag inside.

Then He was there at the entrance to the gate area. She looked around but still abnormally empty. The sun was shining across the hallway, but with no windows here she knew it wouldn’t be any help. She could run for it but there was nowhere to run to. He walked towards her. ‘I believe you have something of mine’ he spat. She sighed, lowered her hood and dropped into a crouch. ‘Let’s get this over with she said. ‘God I hate this fucking airport.’