#borrowedspace

Kent Reed couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this afraid. He’d had his fair share of close calls over the years, being spotted from afar by a human as a teenager, almost falling off a kitchen bench once in his haste to get out of sight, even having part of his ear nicked off by a rat when he was in his twenties. But none of those instances came close to how he felt now, trapped in a jar and at the mercy of Susan and the unfamiliar human she’d brought in to deal with him, a man who couldn’t be any older than he was, but made all the more imposing by the fact that, judging from the size of his silhouette in the doorway, he stood over six feet tall. Susan had said he was from a company called “BRD” when she’d called him earlier, not that Kent knew what that meant. He could only assume the B stood for Borrower, but as for the other letters, he had no idea. 

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Kent cursed himself for his carelessness. If only he’d been more diligent with checking Susan had gone down for her nap as she usually did, and not just assumed her routine would be the same as it had every other day. If only he’d not left his hook and line out in plain sight, then in his panicked haste to retrieve it, gotten himself seen. If only he’d been more nimble, snapped out of his frightened daze quicker, so that she wouldn’t have been able to trap him, snatch him up with those thick, powerful fingers, and snuff out any opportunities to escape by taking his climbing rope and stuffing him in a jar. 

Now, the borrower could only watch, knees trembling and eyes betraying his fear, as Susan and the new human decided his, and by extension, his family’s fate. Susan, whom Kent had always assumed would be curious but understanding if she or her husband ever did find out about the borrower family living in their walls. Boy, could he have been any more wrong. The two of them strolled into the kitchen, the man giving off an air of casual confidence that made Kent shiver under his steely gaze. 

“So this is the borrower you mentioned?” He enquired, setting the carry cage he was holding on the floor beside the kitchen bench and gesturing to the jar containing Kent. He bent down slightly, no doubt wanting to get a better look at the trembling borrower inside, who immediately backed up to the far side of the glass. Kent winced. Not that there was anywhere to run. “Huh. Not registered.” The man muttered, so close that his breath fogged up the glass. He straightened up, turning to face Susan again. “Is he the only one you found?” 

Kent watched, cringing, as Susan nodded a little too eagerly. “Yes. Little thief was tryin’ to take some of the bread I left out to cool.” She paused, seeming to realise what the other human was implying, and her face contorted in disgust. Kent hated that look; the casual dismissal of his personhood, based on nothing but his size, his species. Despite his fear, he couldn’t help but clench his fists indignantly against the glass behind him. “Wait, you don’t think there’s more of ‘em crawling around in my walls, do you?”  

“It’s hard to say.” The man answered, shrugging. He gestured to the borrower in the jar. “Mind if I let him out and ask him a few questions?” 

“Let him out?” Susan gawked. “Are you out of your mind? I just caught the damn thing; I don’t want him gettin’ back into the walls.” 

“Don’t worry, he won’t be going anywhere.” The man assured her, clearly used to these kinds of conversations with his clientele. He reached over to the back of the wall behind the kitchen counter and ran his hand along the bottom of the wall, pausing behind the toaster. Kent felt his insides turn to ice all over again as he watched the man pull the appliance away to reveal the hole in the wall he had used to enter the kitchen. “This is where the little guy comes in and out of the wall. If I block it off,” with his free hand, the man pushed a full jar of coffee beans directly over the entrance, “he’s stuck out here with us.”

Kent felt faint, probably a combination of both the air in the jar running low and the fact that this new human was experienced enough with his kind to know exactly where to look for an escape route. The revelation brought with it a new surge of powerlessness. He felt like nothing to this man, just an unruly pest that needed to be disposed of. It probably wasn’t far from the truth. 

As if punctuating that further, the borrower gasped as the new human picked up the jar in his impossibly large hand and unscrewed it in one fluid motion. Kent scrambled to stay upright, bracing himself as his world was jostled and the cold outside air rushed into his glass prison. He’d never wanted to be confined in a jar in the first place, but at least it had offered him some form of protection against the giant beings outside. Now, he was completely exposed and at the mercy of this stranger. That thought alone made him want to be sick.

“I’m sure you’ve been listening in just now.” The man said in a softer voice, and the borrower stiffened, realising with a jolt that he was addressing him directly. “Sorry to startle you. I’m gonna take you out of this jar, but you’re gonna leave your bag behind, and if you try to run away, I will be able to catch you. Do you understand?” 

Kent’s hands gripped the strap of his bag, white-knuckled, as he tried to process the request. Leave it behind? Was he crazy? It felt like a death sentence, losing his last line of meagre defence against the humans towering above him. “I-I—” He tried to form a sentence of protest together, but his words morphed into a yelp at the sight of a human hand descending from above, clearly ready to speed up the process.

“No, wait—” Kent gasped out, glancing left and right helplessly as the hand coiled around his middle, locking his arms at his sides. He struggled weakly against the fingers around his torso, heart pounding in fear, as he felt himself being lifted out of the jar like he weighed nothing. He probably didn’t; not to a human. The borrower stumbled when the man let him go, his boots squeaking on the marble tabletop as he caught himself from tumbling to his knees. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he glanced across the room, eyes skimming over the spot he knew the peephole he and his family used to see into the kitchen was. He could only hope they weren’t witnessing this. 

If only he knew.

Taking advantage of his distraction, the human man reached down to pinch Kent’s borrowing bag between his thumb and forefinger and lift it smoothly over his head. The borrower’s survival brain kicked into gear, and he made a desperate, unsuccessful grab for the handle of his bag as it was lifted easily out of reach, an indignant “H-Hey!” escaping his lips. 

“That’s better.” The man muttered, looking satisfied with his work. “Now we can talk.” 

“T-Talk?” Kent stuttered, wincing inwardly at how much quieter, weaker he sounded compared to the giants above him. Gone were the age-old borrower rules never to interact with humans; his kind were common knowledge to them now, after all. Still, that didn’t stop his voice from wavering, betraying his fear. “W-what’s there to talk about? You’ve already caught me, haven’t you? Just get on with it.”

“Get on with what?” The man asked with bemusement, before shaking his head with a chuckle. “Oh, no, you misunderstand. I’m not here to kill you. Quite the opposite, actually.” He straightened up, towering even more imposingly over Kent as he did so. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Paul, and I’m with the Borrower Rehoming Department; BRD for short. We’re called out whenever unregistered borrowers such as yourself are found living in human homes. My job is to take you back to the centre with me, get you registered, and if you still desire the traditional borrower lifestyle, match you with a human tenant who’ll take you in.” 

His speech sent a chill down Kent’s spine. It sounded practised, matter-of-fact, rehearsed. Like this was a conversation he had every day, no doubt with other borrowers, as trapped and as terrified as he was. Before he could open his mouth to respond, the man, Paul, continued. “Can I ask your name, little fella?”

Little fella? Kent felt his skin crawl. He glared at the human before he could stop himself, wondering for a moment if this was all part of his game plan to get his captives to share their names, if anything but to avoid a patronising alternative. Whatever the case, it worked.

“I… It’s Kent. Kent Reed.” The borrower said gruffly, arms folded across his chest. He felt so vulnerable, so exposed without his gear, like a bug under a microscope. 

“Kent. It’s nice to meet you.” Paul smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “How long have you been living in this house?” 

Kent frowned up at the human. Straight to the point, isn’t he? “Why does it matter?”

“Well, by the looks of it, you aren’t a registered borrower. Which means Susan here had no idea you were living here with her until now.”

The man’s casual response made it sound as if he and his family were committing some kind of crime by taking up residence in the walls of her house. To a human, Kent supposed, it was. That fact almost made him hesitate as he replied. “I’ve lived here for thirteen years.” 

“Thirteen years?” Susan’s reaction was immediate, and the borrower took an involuntary step back, heart pumping with a new surge of adrenaline. “You’ve been mooching off of us for thirteen years? The nerve of you!” 

“That’s quite a long time.” Paul agreed, ignoring the homeowner’s distress. “And you’ve never been seen by a human before now?”

Kent stiffened at the question. “No.”

“But you know that we humans have known about borrowers for quite some time now.”

“Of course I know that.” 

“It was just a question,” Paul assured him, before getting right back down to business. “Now, tell me, Kent. Is it just you living here?”

“Why should I answer that?” Kent felt himself taking another step backwards, not that there was anywhere to run. A glance side to side was all it took to know he’d be within easy reach of either human, no matter where he tried to flee to.

“I understand your cautiousness, trust me, I do,” Paul said, holding his hands up in the air in a show of innocence. The action made Kent wince; like he needed another reminder of how damned massive those hands were. “But part of my job is making sure that when we find borrowers in a human’s home, we do a thorough search of the property, just to make sure we’re not missing anyone. That way, if you do have a little family waiting for you inside those walls, we won’t be separating you from your loved ones.” 

“Right, because you care so much about our wellbeing,” Kent said bitterly. “If you really gave a damn, you’d let me go.” He turned to Susan, trying to appeal to her, as useless as he knew it would be. “Susan, you have my word. If you let me go, I’ll leave this house by tonight, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

The human woman stiffened, almost looking surprised that he knew her name. “Let you go? So you can go and start leeching off one of our neighbours? Bet you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” She snapped, and Kent winced. Right. Probably should’ve expected that response. The woman’s reaction to learning that he had been living in her home for thirteen years was telling enough.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” Paul agreed, sounding solemn. “The law states that any unregistered borrower who is found living with an unaware human host must be taken in by the BRD and registered as a citizen of this state.”

The unregistered borrower in question squared his jaw. “Yes, but that’s a human law, not a borrower one.” Kent protested, trying to keep his voice steady. “Why should I be registered into a system made by you humans? I didn’t decide to be caught today. If Susan hadn’t found me, she and her husband would have had no idea a borrower was even here.”

“That is exactly my point, Kent,” said Paul. “Up until this point, Susan and Bill were unaware that they were housing a borrower in their home. By our human law, it is their right to decide whether borrowers are permitted to live with them, and if that is not the case, the BRD comes in.” 

“And what if I don’t want to be registered with your system?” Kent argued, fists clenched at his sides. “What then? Will you just dispose of us, like the rodents you humans seem to think we are?”

“Dispose of you?” Paul almost looked amused. “We’re not barbarians, Kent. If borrowers do not wish to be registered, we will drop them off in the nearest stretch of bushland. Last I checked, there are a few outie communities there living completely separated from us humans. They would gladly take you in, I’m sure.”

Kent bristled. “So that’s it, you’d just dump us defenceless in the woods?” He said indignantly. “If you know what an outie means, then you should know we’re innie borrowers. We live indoors, in human houses. It’s how we were raised. You can’t just expect us to go and live out in the wild! That’s suicide!”

“You said ‘we’ just now,” Paul noted, ignoring the borrower’s plight. “Does that mean there are more of you living here?” 

Kent froze, along with the rest of the Reed family, who were listening in from the walls. His sudden silence wasn’t lost on Paul. “Listen, Kent.” The man’s voice softened. “Even if you don’t tell me the truth, my colleagues and I are still going to have to search the property. They’re outside as we speak, sealing off all of your exits around the property. We have a diverse team, too. Humans and borrowers. Whether you like it or not, we’re going to search this house and its walls for any other borrowers that might be living here. But I’ll give you the choice here to come willingly. You always get a choice.”

“That doesn’t sound like a choice to me,” Kent said coldly, wishing he could look the man eye to eye, give him a piece of his mind for treating the topic of forcing he and his family to leave their home so casually. “You come in, trap me, and then give me the options of getting registered or living in the bush? You’re forcibly taking my family and me out of our home, can’t you see that?”

“I know it seems cruel.” Paul acknowledged. “I don’t blame you for thinking that way. But the reality is, this property belongs to Susan and Bill, not you. Which means, just like we evict human tenants when they don’t pay their rent on time, we can evict you.” 

“Yes, but you don’t dump those humans you evict into the bush to fend for themselves like animals, do you?” Kent pointed out. “Just because we’re not human doesn’t mean we aren’t people too.”

“You’ve got me there.” The human man chuckled. “But we might refer them to a homeless shelter. Which, if you really think about it, is exactly what the BRD is for borrowers. We take you in, register you as citizens, grant you protection from humankind and allow you access to human education and employment opportunities, among other perks, and then once we allocate you to a human who is happy to have borrowers living in their home, your life can continue almost exactly as it has been.” 

Kent gritted his teeth, listening to what the man was saying. He hated that it was all he could do in that moment, stripped of all other options. “What do you mean, protection from humankind?” He asked tentatively.

Paul smiled again, that wide, artificial smile of his that didn’t reach his eyes, like someone who worked in customer service. Kent supposed that was all this position was to this man; just a job, earning his livelihood by taking away borrowers’ freedom. “It means we humans cannot interfere with your lives like this again. You won’t be targeted by exterminators or forced out of hiding. Once you’re registered and settled into a new home, you have my word that no humans will ever pose a threat to you again.” 

Kent glanced across at Susan and then back at Paul, his mind a whirlwind of grief, fear, and uncertainty. The borrower’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as he considered the man’s words, that dreaded sense of powerlessness hitting him all over again. There really was nothing he could do to change his family’s fate. Unless there was a slim chance Paul was bluffing, which he doubted was the case, his colleagues would have already blocked off the family’s exits outside, meaning they couldn’t even make their escape if he tried to stall for time. Paul seemed to notice it too, and he offered a faux sympathetic smile. “I know this probably isn’t an ideal outcome for you, but trust me, it’s far better than things used to be. You’ve been caught, yes, and we can’t let you go, but you have options now. All borrowers do.” 

“You call these options?” Kent growled, the human’s condescending tone making his blood boil.

“Such an ungrateful little thing.” Susan snipped, wrinkling her nose. “Honestly, next time I won’t even bother calling someone humane. I’ll go straight to an exterminator. Least that way I wouldn’t have to put up with all of this whining. How can you be so patient, Paul? Just listening to this is doing my head in.”

“It’s all part of the job, ma’am,” Paul said good-naturedly, before shifting his attention to the borrower on the bench once again. “So what’s it going to be, Kent? Susan’s right, we haven’t got all day. Are the rest of you going to come out willingly, or am I going to have to get my team to search the place? It’s up to you.” 

Kent shuddered at the harsh finality of the man’s words. There really was no way out of this. All he could hope to do was negotiate for his family’s safety, which felt like an impossible feat in and of itself. These were humans after all. What kind of negotiations could possibly be had when they clearly viewed his kind as inferior? He took a slow, steadying breath, hating that he was reduced to this. To entertaining what the man had to say for no reason other than because he was smaller than him. “If… If I agree for us to go with you, what happens next?” 

“That depends,” Paul said simply. “How many of you are living here?”

Kent hesitated, the bile rising in his throat. No amount of conversations with his wife could have prepared him for this, for the sheer horror of having to sell out his own family to keep them together. “F-Five.” He stuttered, the words tasting like acid on his tongue. “My wife and I, and our three kids.” 

“Kids?” Susan shrilled, her disgust starting to wear down on the borrower. “You’re raising your filthy little offspring in my home?”

Paul actually seemed to agree with him on that, as he ignored her once again, giving Kent his full attention. “Thank you for making me aware.” He said, almost sounding genuine. Almost. “What happens next is, I’m going to call in some of my colleagues, and they’re going to escort you inside the walls to pack up your things. Once you’ve done that, you and your little family are going to come out quietly and get settled in here for the trip back to the closest BRD centre.” Paul pointed to the carry cage down on the floor beside him. Kent couldn’t even see it from this angle, but didn't really want to. Anything to make this nightmare seem less real. “The rest will be explained to you on our drive.”

The human didn’t bother waiting for his response, slipping out his phone and typing a quick message. The borrower’s unspoken questions bubbled away like overcooked stew until yet another human, a woman this time, strode into the room. The sight of two borrowers sitting in her upturned palm made Kent feel sick to the stomach all over again. He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but there it was, the undeniable truth. His own kind was helping to uproot borrowers from their homes and turn them over to the humans. Kent scowled at them with eyes full of betrayal as they stepped off the human woman’s hand and onto the counter a few inches away from where he stood. 

“You have more of those things working for you?” Susan spluttered, finding her voice after their swift entrance. “What’s gotten into you people?”

“Would you prefer they tore up your walls, ma’am?” The younger of the two borrowers piped up, clearly accustomed to this question. He had a distinctly British accent and was well-built, adorned in worn black boots, dark pants, and a long-sleeved khaki green shirt, no doubt intended to match the uniform of the humans he worked for, minus the BRD logo. Neither of the two borrowers carried any grappling equipment or gear with them, which unnerved Kent to no end. To his eyes, they were no better than domesticated pets. Was this what he and his family had to look forward to when they became registered?

His thoughts were interrupted by Paul’s sickly sweet customer service voice as he addressed his client once again. “I assure you, Susan, this is the most efficient borrower removal method. We’ll be out of your hair in no time.” He assured her.

Kent was so busy focusing on the human speaking above that he didn’t notice the two other borrowers until they’d stopped to stand right in front of him. “Kent, inn’it?” The taller man greeted, holding out his hand. He was dressed identically to his partner, with the same accent, sandy blonde hair, and rugged, muscular physique. Aside from the height difference, his only distinguishing feature was his scruffy beard. “Good to meet’cha. I’m Rod, and this is my brother, Cliff. You can think of us as yer moving crew.”  

Kent was too stunned to speak, let alone accept the handshake, his attention drawn to the black rubber cuff-like band around the man’s wrist. The other borrower, Cliff, was also wearing one, both bands glowing a faint blue from what looked like a tiny blinking light on the front. Kent had heard of these, but had never seen one in person, let alone allowed himself to believe they were actually real.

“Is that—” He started asking before he could stop himself. 

Rod didn’t answer him, returning his hand to his side and letting out an annoyed grunt. 

Beside him, Cliff sighed, folding his arms. “It’s an identification band.” He explained softly. “All registered borrowers need to wear ‘em. You an’ your folks’ll get issued ‘em too when we’re back at the shelter.”

“Shelter?” Kent scoffed. “That’s what you call it? Like we’re a bunch of stray animals or something?

Rod rolled his eyes. “Shelter, refugee camp, rehoming centre, all means the same thing to me. It’s the place you’re going, and it’s our job to escort you there.” Kent fell silent, processing his gruff words, and the larger borrower took that opportunity to shove him gently forward, towards the edge of the bench, towards Paul, who he realised had placed his hand, palm up, ready to ferry them down to the floor. “C’mon, then. Let’s not keep ‘em waiting.” 

“Just— wait a minute.” Kent protested, digging his heels into the bench, eyes locked on Paul’s hand like the threat to his bodily autonomy that it was. “I’m not… I’ll just climb down. The human… P-Paul has my gear, I can just—” 

“No time for that.” Rod dismissed, gritting his teeth in irritation as Kent immediately increased his struggles. “Cliff!” He hissed, keeping his voice low, aware of the three humans observing them from above. “Quit spacin’ out and gimme’ a hand!”

“R-Right, sorry!” The other borrower said, and Kent’s breathing intensified when suddenly a second set of arms was flanking his other side, helping Rod practically drag him towards the giant human hand in front of them. The rational part of him knew his struggles were pointless, in the same way he knew there was nowhere he could run to escape the humans looming overhead. Not anymore. But he couldn’t help it. His primal fear of humankind coursed through him like liquid fire in his veins, singeing his nerves. These two were borrowers like him, weren’t they? How could they expect him to willingly step onto a human’s hand? 

“Quit strugglin’, mate,” Cliff warned. “You’d hate for us to ask Paul or Lindsey to step in.”

Kent stiffened on the spot like he’d been electrocuted. He inhaled shakily, unable to stop his limbs from trembling at the mere thought of being grabbed again. His eyes darted between the two men, torn between betrayal and pleading, as if they had any say in determining he and his family’s future. Judging by the cuffs on their wrists and their resigned expressions, they clearly didn’t. 

Swallowing the bile rising in his throat, Kent forced himself to cease his struggles and take one foot in front of the other, closing the last few inches of distance to Paul’s flattened palm. This close, he could see every detail of the man’s hand, from the swirling lines of his fingerprints to the slightest twitch of his pinky to the wedding band that could fit easily around a borrower’s waist. Against his better judgement, Kent felt his eyes trail up… and up… to Paul’s enormous face, staring down at him with that ever-present customer service grin and those intimidating, eerily calm eyes. His heart threatened to burst from his chest.

“That’s it, mate.” Cliff encouraged, as Kent took a shaking step onto the offered palm. He immediately wanted to throw up, the sensation of leathery human skin giving way under his boot as unnerving as he’d imagined it. Rod and Cliff remained on either side of him as he made his way to the centre of the man’s palm, gently helping him down into a seated position. It wasn’t hard; with his nerves shot, Kent could barely keep himself upright as it was. Cliff rubbed his shoulder comfortingly as he sat hunched over, arms wrapped around himself as though they would offer some semblance of protection. “We get it. It’s nerve-wracking, travelling in a human’s hands for the first time.” He soothed. “You’re doin’ great.”

Kent didn’t… couldn’t answer. It was all too much.

“Alright, Paul,” Rod said, addressing the human above. “You can take us down.”

Kent couldn’t suppress another full-body shudder as he felt the living platform beneath him rise up off the surface of the desk, hurtling its three passengers several relative stories into the air. He tried to remember how to breathe, the lack of control he had over his current situation crashing down on him all over again with full force. Meanwhile, Cliff and Rod barely reacted to the motion from their crouched positions on either side of him, seemingly accustomed to being handled by humans. It was something Kent didn’t ever want to get used to; didn’t want his family to have to get used to. 

Should’ve thought of that before you went and got yourself seen. The darker side of his mind reminded him, and he quickly shoved the thought away before it could continue to fester. 

“Where is the closest entrance to your home from the floor?” Cliff asked him as Paul raised them to chest level. 

“B-back of the couch. Lounge room.” He stuttered out—anything to get him out of the human’s clutches sooner. It was a place no borrower in their right mind ever wanted to end up in.

Rod repeated the location to Paul in a louder voice, who nodded, wordlessly ferrying his three passengers to the next room. Kent squeezed his eyes shut, though he could still feel every thundering footfall and hear the crinkling folds of the human’s clothes as he walked. They were sounds he’d grown used to over the years, but knowing he was currently being transported by those building-sized legs made it feel all the more terrifying. It didn’t help that he was also absorbing the vibrations of the giant man’s pulse thrumming under his skin, yet another reminder of just how small, how insignificant he was compared to a human.

Kent’s stomach leapt into his throat as he felt Paul crouching down, lowering the three of them to the ground. The second the man’s hand made contact with the carpeted floor, he immediately scrambled off, bolting under the nearby couch and leaning heavily against one of the legs to try and calm his pounding heart.  

“He’s a skittish one, isn’t he?” Paul’s voice rumbled from above, making Kent flinch.

“Give ‘im a break, hey? It’s a lot to process.” Cliff said defensively, and the human let out a ‘hmph’ in response, his joints popping softly as he rose back to his full height. 

“Just don’t take too long this time. We need to be back at the shelter by six for processing.” He warned.

The other borrower sighed. “Will do, boss.” 

Kent felt as well as heard the man’s pounding footsteps as he left the room, heading back into the kitchen. It was only then that he finally let himself relax, still braced against the couch leg. He glanced up wearily as Rod and Cliff stepped under the dusty base of the couch beside him, the older of the two needing to duck slightly to fit. 

“Why…” Kent stuttered out now that they were well out of earshot of the humans. “Why are you helping them? This is… it’s wrong. Surely you can see that.”

Cliff shifted uncomfortably, absently pulling his shirt sleeve over his wrist in an effort to cover up the identification band. For the first time since their brief meeting, Kent noticed the deep purple bags under both brothers’ eyes. Cliff sighed, and to Kent’s surprise, all he saw in the man’s expression was pity. “We know,” He said. “Trust me.”

“Then let’s get out of here!” He urged, desperation clear in his voice. “Make a break for it while they’re not looking. It’s not too late.”

“That isn’t gonna happen, I’m afraid,” Rod huffed, and Kent let out a grunt as he was suddenly shoved forward again, further underneath the couch. “You heard ‘im. It’s not up to us. We’re just doin’ our job.”

Kent glared back at the taller borrower incredulously. “Your job?” He repeated in disbelief. “How can you call helping the humans enslave your own kind a job?”

Rod only rolled his eyes. “Don’t waste your breath, mate. We hear the same kinda shit day in, day out. Judgin’ us isn’t gonna work.” He grabbed Kent’s shoulder again in his meaty grip, nudging him forward another few inches. “Anyway, we need to get moving. You said your entrance is behind the couch, yeah?” 

Kent felt his lingering fear giving way to anger at the man’s casual dismissal of his question, and he wrenched his arm away. “What, so that’s it? You two are the first borrowers I’ve seen in years, and I don’t even get an explanation for why you’re choosing to work for the humans, to help them take my family away—” 

“It’s not a choice,” Cliff said harshly, cutting him off. After a few beats of silence, he took a steadying breath, exhaling through his nose. “We’re doin’ it ‘cause what’s the alternative otherwise, huh? What do you think those humans would do if they didn’t have us here to help getcha’ outta the walls safely?” 

Kent opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. He didn’t have an answer for that. It wasn’t a topic he’d ever wanted to consider. “Exactly,” Cliff said, taking his silence as an invitation to continue. “You wanna know how they used to do things before a few of us started to help ’em out? With gas, or water, or a crowbar to the floorboards. Same thing they did to our lil’ sister, back when we were caught.” 

He stared at Kent for a moment, a solemn expression on his face as he watched the older borrower process his words. “That’s why, when we were registered, we agreed to help the humans out. Not ‘cause we’re sadists, or traitors, or whatever you lot wanna call us, but ‘cause we don’t want anyone else to die.”

“I…” Kent began, glancing between the two brothers with a newfound understanding of their roles. There was a lot, he realised, having spent the entirety of the last eight years since his kind was discovered in hiding, that he didn’t know about how the humans treated the borrowers they caught. He could only imagine what perils would have awaited his family if the BRD didn’t have borrowers working on its team. It didn’t make him respect either man for their decision, but at the very least it did put things in perspective. “I’m sorry.” He said eventually. 

Cliff gave a small nod in acknowledgement, but didn’t reply. “Let’s go.” He said instead, continuing towards the back of the couch. Rod paused to scowl at Kent critically before jogging ahead to catch up with his brother. With a resigned sigh, the older borrower trailed along behind them, staring numbly at the dust motes and discarded knick-knacks that littered the floor. After what he’d just heard, trying to escape was the last thing on his mind. 

“You didn’t have to tell ‘im that.” Rod was saying to Cliff in a hushed voice, elbowing his brother in the side. “You’re too soft. We don’t owe ‘im an explanation. Not like he’ll think of us any differently for it.” 

“Oh, gimme a break.” The younger of the two muttered back. “He’s allowed to know the truth.” 

“Hmph.” Rod said, mumbling something about “private information” under his breath. 

The trio continued on in silence until they reached the wall the couch was pushed up against. Kent didn’t even need to tell them where his entrance to the walls was; Cliff’s trained eyes located the carefully carved-out section of plaster in seconds, and he tugged it loose, revealing a somewhat well-maintained corridor within. 

They did, however, need directions. “Which way to your place?” Rod asked, glancing back at Kent expectantly, and once again, he found himself hesitating. 

“If you can’t tell us, we’re just gonna have to search, which is only gonna piss off you know who waiting outside.” He pressed.

“Left,” Kent said immediately, his mouth dry. 

“Good lad.” 

Kent felt hollow as he was led into the tunnel of the walls; his tunnel, towards the home he and his family had crafted over the last thirteen years. The pathway was dark, illuminated only by the twin blue lights on each of the borrowers’ wrists. They blinked almost in synch with each other, and Kent was once again reminded of the rumours he’d heard over the years, that they were devices used to track his kind, make sure no one could ever truly escape. He glanced up at the two brothers’ broad backs, at least a dozen questions still swirling about in his mind.

“Is the human… telling the truth?” He asked hesitantly. “Y’know, about being sent to a new human home once this is all over?”

“You mean Paul?” Cliff replied without looking back, his eyes fixed on the near pitch-black pathway ahead of them. “Pretty much. He’s a bit of a prick about it, I know, but he’s not lying. Soon as we take you an’ your family back to the shelter and put you on the registration list, you’ll be matched with a human tenant to take you in.”

“And… when you say ‘take us in’, will that human… leave us alone once we’re living with them?” 

Cliff shrugged. “Well, I don’t see why not. It… won’t be quite the same as before, obviously, ‘cause they’ll know about you an’ all, but if you wanna just keep goin’ on borrowing as normal, you can always ask ‘em not to bother you so much.”

Kent stiffened up at that. “But they won’t… know exactly where we are, right? You know, because of the…” He trailed off awkwardly. Luckily, the younger borrower understood what he meant, no doubt because it was a question he got asked every day. 

“Nah,” He dismissed with a sigh. “Sure, these things are fitted with a tracker; unfortunately, that’s not just a rumour. But it’s only the BRD that monitors us, not the humans you're livin’ with. So long as you and your family stick to the rules and don’ leave the home you’re assigned to, there’s no issue. You’ll get a proper explanation back at the shelter.”

“I… I see.” Was all Kent said. Somehow, even though he knew that Cliff was in exactly the same position he was about to be in, his comment still felt like a threat. 

“You’re doin’ the right thing, mate,” Rod chimed in, slowing down a little to pat the older borrower on the back. “For your family. Your kids. Things are changing with how the humans treat us; I’ve seen it. Once you’re in the system, you’ll be well looked after.”

“We didn’t need looking after in the first place,” Kent said testily. “You sound just like a human, spouting that nonsense.”

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Cliff assured him, making a right down the corridor of the wall at his reluctant direction. “He just means you’ll be spared from running into any genuinely evil human again and you’ll get to live without the constant fear of running outta’ resources or being seen. You gotta admit that sounds nice, right?” 

Kent didn’t answer straight away. It still felt wrong—vile, even—to agree with anything these two borrowers were saying, but he couldn’t lie to himself; the concept of living peacefully alongside humans wasn’t necessarily a bad one. If anything, it would mean his family would be safe from people like Susan, who had more than shown her true colours earlier. That was what mattered to him the most. 

“You two… truly believe this… registration… is a better alternative than our traditional lifestyle?” He asked.

Rod grunted, something he seemed to do a lot of. “You want my honest answer?” 

Kent nodded. 

“It’s a better alternative than gettin’ dumped in the middle of the bush.” 

“Or bein’ back in the hands of that old bitch.” Cliff quipped. It took Kent a minute to realise he was referring to Susan. 

He fell silent for a moment, considering both brothers’ words. At this point, what did he have left to lose? The whole mess of the afternoon, the harrowing situation he’d found himself in, being seen, it all felt inevitable, and his family knew it. They’d spoken about it at length for the past eight years, prepared as best as they could with emergency rations and spare packs. It had only been a matter of time before their stroke of luck ran out and they too, like so many other borrowers across the world, were discovered by humans. He supposed he should consider himself lucky that he was the one who’d been caught and not Cinder, or one of the kids. Kent honestly didn’t know what he would’ve done if their roles had been reversed. The thought alone shook him to the very core.

With a resigned sigh, the borrower father squared his shoulders, trying to muster the confidence he didn’t have. He had to believe he was making the right decision for his family and their future, if that decision had ever truly been his to make. He had to believe that good would come of this, even though the prospect of trusting the humans went against every fibre of his being. 

“Alright.” He relented, just as they turned the final corner to the Reed family’s home in the walls.