Caitlyn Dennings was out of this world. Not literally, of course, but anyone who had the good fortune to even pass her in the halls of her high school would tell you she could go anywhere in life on looks alone. Back then, she had light brown hair, which she since dyed a tasteful light green in streaks. Her bright blue eyes and wide smile gave her a mischievous air. To her despair and to her liking, her looks had always kept people at bay, no one willing to embarrass themselves by floundering in front of—as she was used to being called—the prettiest girl of all time. The rumor was, when she applied to Harvard, her grades—stellar though they were—contributed less to her acceptance than her athletic build and beautifully clustered freckles, the admissions officer she talked to happened to be very fond of those features.

Success was always a closed case for Caitlyn, so on the night before finals began in her last quarter of freshman year, she decided to check out a local house show. As she danced and drank, three drunk and confident guys saw her from across the room. The three guys, Eric, Jared, and Michael, were tall, athletic; members of the basketball and rowing teams. Eric was looking for some fun, and the music was way too loud for him anyway. He approached her with a belly full of liquid confidence. He had talked to pretty girls before, but she seemed different somehow.

“It's a bit of a dump right now, but we can crash at my place if you don't want to walk all the way across campus to your dorm.” Eric said, the schmaltz in his voice nearly leaving Caitlyn with a layer of grease over her ears.

When she spoke, he didn't remember any of the words she said. All he could recall was the sharp cadence of her voice, like good jazz or scotch. Looking back, he wished he remembered anything she said, anything that might help him out of what would soon be the worst three days of his life.

...

When Eric woke up, he was in an unfamiliar place, and there was a strange scent in the air. Looking around, he could see nothing but tall walls in every direction, stretching as tall as buildings. There was barely enough light to see, but he thought he could make out two other figures in the distance. He made his way over as soon as he could orient himself. When he got to the figures, he was shocked to see Jared and Michael lying on the strange floor, passed out.

“Jared? Michael? Wake up you guys! I think something is seriously wrong. C'mon, get up!”

After some pushing, all three of the boys were standing.

“Where are we?” Michael asked with a quiver in his voice.

“No clue. I just woke up over there a little while ago and I can't make heads or tails of it.” Eric replied.

“It's way too dark to see anything.” Said Jared. “Do you guys remember what happened after the party last night? I remember walking Caitlyn back to Eric's place, and then we were all sitting around drinking beers and then...”

“And then there was some weird light, I think it came from outside.” Michael finished the thought.

“Yeah, you screamed 'UFO!!' We were all pretty out of it.” Eric stated, matter of factly.

“Well, wherever we are, let's find a way out.” Suggested Michael.

As the boys rummaged around, they soon found that there was little in the way of texture on either the walls or the floor. Smooth surfaces for football field lengths in any direction. Just as Eric was about to yell out in frustration, a distant thumping noise sounded off in the distance.

“Shhh, do you guys hear that?” Asked Eric.

“Yeah, what the fuck is that?” Jared and Michael both looked like they could wet themselves, the noise was getting louder and coming seemingly right for them.

In a blinding flash of light, the whole roof of wherever they were was torn off by some force. When their eyes adjusted, the boys looked up and couldn't believe what they saw.

“Caitlyn!?” The trio yelled in unison.

Caitlyn towered over them, a hungry look in her eyes and smiling widely. As soon as they could see their surroundings, they realized they were in what appeared to be a giant shoebox.

“Good morning boys, I hope we all had a good night's sleep?” Caitlyn asked with a smile, not seeming to register anything odd about the new difference in size the group found themselves in. “I would hate for y'all to be too pooped to enjoy the first day of your new job.”

“How the--, what the fuck is going on? What do you mean 'new job'? Where are we? You gotta help us.” Eric pleaded.

“Haha, slow down there boy, I can barely hear you.” Reaching down, Caitlyn picked up the three in one hand and brought them closer to her face. The spell she cast was supposed to get them down to four inches but it looked as though she overshot it, they couldn't have been taller than one. Eric repeated his questions, his heart still beating out of his chest. When Caitlyn responded, her breath flowed over them like a strong ocean-side breeze, carrying fragrances of mint from the gum she was idly chewing.

“Well, as you can see, I kept you in a shoebox for the night. This is my room, it's a small cramped dorm room but at least it's a single, so I don't have a roommate to worry about. I just couldn't have you three running off on me, so I thought the shoebox under my bed would keep you three settled.”

“How did we get so small?” Jared asked, wondering why this wasn't the most immediate thing Caitlyn responded to.

“Well see, that's interesting. I meant to make you guys four inches tall, that's what the book recommends for the first time, lots you can still do at four inches. But I think I used too much pond root or something, you guys look like you're about an inch tall each.” It was incredible to all three of the newly tiny boys how well she could avoid answering a direct question. Eric was still blown away by how beautiful she looked, even when he was terrified of what she might do, standing in her hand like this. As she put her free hand under her chin and grinned, each knuckle looked perfectly round on her slender fingers, they seemed like great agile snakes, ready to constrict.

“You see, I'm learning to be a witch right now! All my classes are so easy, a girl gets bored! And when a girl gets bored, she just has to check out the occult section of the library. The shrinking spell I used was in the beginner section and I still managed to screw it up, ugh. I'd grow you back, but when I just want you at four inches, it's hard to control it that minutely. I might make you guys a few feet tall, or even close to your original size! So I think I'll learn to have fun with you guys like this.” She said, her voice giddy with excitement.

“Why did you shrink us?” Jared asked, hoping to get a reasonable answer out of an increasingly sociopathic sounding girl.

“Well, for fun, really! I could have any guy I wanted on campus, all I'd have to do is look at him and flutter my eyelashes a little.” She demonstrated this and the guys admitted to themselves that this would have worked instantly at normal size, at their reduced size it was only giving them more reason to be scared as she continued: “So this way, I get to have three boys! Something like that is tough to manage at a normal size, even for a girl like me, there's always jealousy and fighting whenever I think I'm interested in someone. So this way, there's no drama. It'll be fun for you three too! Don't think I wasn't thinking about that, you guys are in a position that any guy would die to be in. We are gonna have so. Much. Fun. Eeeee! I can't wait!” She said, bouncing up and down and nearly dropping her captives on the floor.

“So, the job I mentioned. Let's get started shall we?”

The three boys looked at each other and couldn't imagine hearing words any scarier than that. They wondered if everything would be alright, if they'd ever see their families again, just who was this girl they met last night?

“My first final is in an hour, and you are gonna help me out on it cause I like, didn't study at all. I think the professor likes me enough to pass me anyway, but my mom will flip if I don't get a good grade in this psychology class cause she's super into that and so I have to pretend to be too. I need one of you to sit up here in my ear and look out at Devon's paper and whisper me the answers. Devon is this super smart chick that I'm gonna sit next to. Since everyone looks at me all the time, I can't risk looking over myself and getting caught, so I need one of you cuties to do it for me!” She winked as she said this last part, and Jared thought he was gonna collapse right then. As much as he hated to admit it, he was totally ready to do anything she asked. Pleasing her seemed more natural by the second.

“I'll do it!” Jared piped up. The other two looked at him, shocked that he was giving up so easy.

“Yay! That's what I like to see, some good old fashioned manly initiative.” She picked him out of her hand and brought him up to her left ear, dropping him in a little carelessly. “Can you find a comfortable spot to sit in there? I don't think anyone is gonna see you at your size, but you still gotta be a little discrete. If anyone knows I actually went through with this spell, they'll freak.”

Jared adjusted himself in her inner ear, looking like a soldier staring out from the trenches. “Ready madam!”

“Ooooh, I like that! I hadn't even thought about what y'all should call me. Since we just met and all, I think it'd be a little rude to just call me Caitlyn. That name is so flat and boring anyway. How bout we spice it up a little, what do you think of Goddess Caitlyn? Or just 'Goddess' is fine too, I'll know who you're talking about.” She smiled and laughed at her own joke, causing Jared to flip over in her ear. “Oops! I'm sorry little guy, you'll have to hang on a little tighter than that if we're gonna walk to the test together.”

Still down in her hand, Michael and Eric were both frustrated with Jared's immediate surrender and a bit jealous of all the attention he was getting from the beautiful goddess above them.

“Jeez Jared, you always were the first one to give in to a pretty smile and some nice tits.” Eric said angrily.

“You shush, I will not have my boyfriends fighting like this.” Caitlyn said, pouting. “You could learn a thing or two from Jared here, those who please me always get their rewards.”

“So what are we gonna do? Just sit around while you go cheat on your test?” Michael replied, sincerely intimidated and intrigued by what she meant by 'rewards'.

“Of course not sillies! I need you two to help me on the test too!”

“How are we supposed to help? Your plan sounded pretty much made-for-two, what could we do?”

Caitlyn sighed. “Boys and their total lack of imagination, I swear it gets worse the more I talk to you. I've got to be comfortable while I take the test, right? I won't be able to think if I have an itch on my leg, or a hair in my eyes, now will I?”

“We're gonna do all that?” Michael asked. “Sorry if this sounds rude, but it's a bit much to get to all those places when we can't even get out of a shoebox.”

“Well, I can't expect you to do everything, a girl's gotta be independent after all. No, I just need you to do one simple thing” She said. “You see, my toes get a little uncomfortable sometimes in these shoes, oh how we all must suffer for fashion, but not when I have you two cuties down there!” As she said this, she stood up and sat down on her bed, peeling off her socks one at a time with her free hand.

“You want us to do what?” Eric shouted, not sure if he believed what he just heard. “That's crazy, there's no way I'm getting in your shoes.”

“Eric Eric Eric...” Caitlyn pouted. “All you've done is removed your choice, I was going to let you and Michael decide amongst yourselves which set of my lovely toes you wanted to keep company. But now Michael gets first pick, you could learn something from a good boy like him. So what'll it be Michael, right or left?”

Michael was oddly quiet this whole time, he had a secret foot fetish that he really didn't want Eric to know about. But truthfully, he was the most excited he had been in a while, he was thinking this might not be so bad after all. On her left foot was a fuzzy pink sock with white stripes, and on her right and green and blue polka dotted sock.

“...I'll take the right sock Goddess Caitlyn.” Michael said, trying to sound embarrassed in front of Eric.

“Oooh, that's my favorite one too! Great minds think alike after all.” She grinned and set down Eric on her bedside, pushing together the blankets so they would make a little hill around him should he try to run away. She didn't very much trust him yet, she was wondering why her size and beauty wasn't bending him to her will as quickly as the others. “Oh well.” She thought. “We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

Caitlyn grabbed her right sock and held it beneath her hand, turning it over slowly to drop Michael in. “It might be a little bumpy in there! I felt some lint, but that just means you'll be extra cozy, doesn't it?” She cloyed. As Michael fell in he was immediately surrounded by the greatest smell he had ever smelled. Caitlyn must take very good care of her feet, for even her socks to smell heavenly. When he was snug in the bottom, Caitlyn peered in and smiled at her willing tiny boy, saying “Here goes!” like a ship captain about to leave port before sliding her long soft foot in. From Michael's point of view, five indescribably huge and cute toes smothered him, it was all he could do to try and wedge himself comfortably between her big toe and second toe. He was suddenly worried about what it would feel like to get stepped on, but his panic left as soon as he took another smell of Caitlyn's glorious scent.

“And as for you...” She said, looking back over at Eric who was trying unsuccessfully to sprint up the blanket. “Hope pink isn't too girly for you!” She brusquely grabbed him and stuck him at the bottom of her other sock, right where her big toe would go a second later. Eric had never smelled something so foul in his whole life, he couldn't even think, his nostrils felt like they might singe and fall off and he had only been in the sock for five seconds. As Caitlyn's toes pushed him around, he felt very bruised and knew this would be a very long day. He was still thinking of how to get away, but for the time being at least he felt trapped and lost. He started crying, from the smell or the sudden loneliness of being separated from the other two and all his friends in his past life, he couldn't tell.

Caitlyn stood up quickly, flexing her toes to feel the boys in their new spots. “Ahh, this is just what I needed. I bet I won't even feel tired walking over there. Now Michael, kiss once if you can hear me, I have something special for you to do.” She felt ecstatic as she felt a tiny pair of lips kiss her big toe. “Yes! Just like that, I want you to keep kissing my toes while you're in there. If you can move around, try to get to all of them, though if you can't there'll be plenty of time for you to get acquainted. As for you—Eric, kiss if you can hear me.” A similar rush went through her legs as she felt a tiny kiss planted on her other foot. “Eric, I want you to lick between my toes and get all the lint and crud out of there, I of course am a proper lady, and I do take care of my feet, but I imagine there's quite a lot at your scale that someone at my size might miss. I want them to be spotless by the time the test is over. And don't think I won't feel you trying to wriggle your way out, though I doubt you could make it. If I feel anything but licking and crawling to my other toes, I have ways to remind you who's in charge here.” Caitlyn smiled, though she didn't like to be tough with anyone, she had to admit it gave her a certain satisfaction in seeing Eric rebel and quashing it. Jared and Michael had almost given in too quickly, though she supposed it was only natural at their size. “All right, boys, let's do this!” She felt a rush as she went to put on her shoes and she felt two kisses for good luck, one in her right sock and one in her ear. She was so happy to see that her tiny men were learning quickly.

With each step she took, Eric and Michael's whole world felt like it was shattering. Her toes pushed them deeper into her skin against the bottom of the sock. Michael was practically in heaven but even he had to admit to himself, the toe gunk and he was picking up with his kisses burned his mouth and his throat, and he hoped his goddess would feed them real food at some point. Eric was licking out of fear, but his mind was a million miles away. Why did Michael and Jared fall so easily under her spell? They had all been shrunk, but he felt like he was the only one who wanted to escape. Not like an opportunity had come up yet, but if they were ever left alone for even a second, Eric knew he could talk some sense into the other two. Even living out there at one inch tall with no hope of growing back had to be better than this, he thought between gulps of sweaty feet.

Jared meanwhile was enjoying the view from above. He thought that by endearing himself to Caitlyn early, he could avoid any trouble later. He had enough common sense to realize she wouldn't treat them as equals. How could she? When her smallest toe could put up more than a match for the three of them combined? He didn't care if the other two thought poorly of him, this was survival of the fittest, and right now the fittest was the one who pleased Caitlyn the most.

As she took her seat in the large Psych 101 classroom, Caitlyn looked around to make sure her plan would go off without a hitch. As far as she could tell, no one had suspected a thing. She hadn't overheard anyone talking about the disappearance of three boys the night before, she felt a little sad that not one person out of 300 in the class had been good enough friends with them to notice they were gone. “Gone, but not forgotten” Caitlyn thought to herself with a satisfied smile.

Devon finally entered the room with just two minutes left until the test began, her long blonde hair in bangs, framing her small rectangular glasses. She had a new nose ring in her left nostril, Caitlyn noticed. Most of the students already had papers, with the last few being passed around the back rows. With an open seat next to her, Caitlyn felt calm and ready to ace this test.

“Hey, Devon! Come sit over here, I got something to show you after class.”

Josh, Devon's on-and-off boyfriend of the last year or so, was sitting a few rows down from Caitlyn, near the front of the room. “Shit...” Caitlyn whispered under her breath. If Devon sat that far down, there'd be no way for her to get the answers off her paper. She had to think quickly, Devon had already made eye contact with Josh and was on a direct course for the empty seat to his right. Panicking, Caitlyn tried to fake a sneeze, anything to get Devon's attention off of Josh. Unfortunately, not being a very talented actress, the sneeze failed to do much more than get some confused looks from the people sitting around her; Devon hadn't even turned to look. She was about to stand up and do something more drastic when the professor called out “The test starts now. Eyes on your own paper, turn it in to the front when you're finished.”

With a disheartened look, Caitlyn sat back down from her half stand and started to write her name on the test. From her ear, Jared had felt the biggest impact of the fake sneeze, and had fallen deeper into Caitlyn's inner ear. His legs and one arm were trapped in some kind of ear wax, he was afraid to move because Caitlyn would obviously hear him, and he couldn't get very far from the ear anyway. From his new vantage point, he couldn't see out beyond the end of the ear, except to stare at the ceiling. Jared panicked, with no way to get the answers from Devon he would surely be punished.

Caitlyn meanwhile, was silently fuming. “That stupid Josh, who does he think he is? He treats Devon like crap anyway. He's always at parties trying to be the funniest guy there, talking all over everybody just to be the center of attention. I bet no one would even miss him if he disappeared.” She thought to herself as she scrunched her toes around Eric and Michael. The bruises on both of them were slowly but steadily getting worse, they made note to later work out some kind of emergency signal to Caitlyn to let them out when things got hairy

There were 30 minutes left in the test, and Caitlyn had barely made a dent in the multiple choice. The short essay section was going a little better, but much of the vocabulary was still new and confusing to her. Looking down a few rows, Devon looked to be writing the finishing touches on her essay, surely ready to turn in what should have been Caitlyn's perfect test. In her gaze she caught something strange; Josh was nowhere to be found. She was sure he was sitting right next to Devon and now there was only a half finished test on the desk where he was. “Maybe he went to the bathroom.” Caitlyn thought, slightly worried about a sinking suspicion in her gut.

Devon handed in her paper and left out the side door of the room, playing on her phone while she waited for Josh to finish the test. The clock quickly ticked towards 10:50 AM, when the test would be called over and Caitlyn would have to turn in the meager attempt she put together for a third of her overall grade. The moment inevitably came, Caitlyn looked down at her paper and the three sentences she had written for her essay: “The brains of men and women, though nearly identical, contain some important differences. Men tend to harbor more aggressive and negative emotions, if those even show up at all. Women, on the other hand, have less control over their physical impulses, but greater emotional control and stability.” Defeated, Caitlyn and the other two students who took the whole time walked down the row to turn in their tests. Caitlyn's was the last to be turned in, the top of the pile. As she walked out of the classroom, she saw Devon sitting on a bench just outside, nervously scrolling through something on her phone.

“Wasn't Josh supposed to meet you out here or something?” Caitlyn asked.

“Ha, that asshole. He probably just wants to fuck me again so he can throw me out.” Devon looked on the brink of tears.

Sitting down next to her, with a supportive hand on her shoulder, Caitlyn reassured her: “Devon, you don't need to keep going back to him. There are plenty of guys around here that would die if you gave them a look. You have the power to do whatever you want with these guys, so don't let one pushy asshole ruin all the fun for you.”

“Easy for you to say” Devon scoffed, “You're pretty, so you just get whatever you want without any effort. I try, but all the skincare and makeup in the world can't do anything to fix this lumpy face of mine. The glasses don't help either.”

Caitlyn tried to stay positive, “Well, I happen to know that some guys like the way glasses look on a girl. Say, do you wanna come over for a movies and ice cream night tonight? I don't have any finals tomorrow so if you're free you're so welcome to come over.”

“Thanks, I just need to know what Josh wants to say first. God, where is he? Everyone's out of the room and the test is over and I haven't seen him leave the room at all. At some point in the test he must've gotten up without me realizing it, just before I finished I looked at the clock and noticed he wasn't sitting next to me anymore.”

“I'll go back in there and check, he's probably hiding from you cause he's afraid of how confident you'll be when you turn him down.” Caitlyn laughed as she headed back towards the room. The professor had left, leaving Caitlyn totally alone in the room. Making sure she was alone first, she reached into her ear and dug Jared out with her index finger. Holding him in her hand, she explained what happened on the test and that she wasn't mad at him.

“I hope you didn't worry about not being able to help me out! Next time I'll just have to come up with a better plan.”

Eric could barely hear her from inside her sock, but he thought studying might avoid this confusion in the future.

“Say, do you know Josh Lewiston? Tall, lanky guy, short black hair, always wears band tees?” Caitlyn asked Jared.

“Oh Josh, yeah I know him, real party animal kinda guy. Last I heard he was in trouble with the law for things getting out of hand at some dude's party downtown. Say, he's in this class isn't he? He's always complaining about some kinda psychology whenever I talk to him” he replied.

“I have a hunch, and if that hunch is correct, he's in a lot more trouble than the law can possibly put him in.” Walking over to the row where he had been sitting earlier, Caitlyn crouched down to look around the chair legs. She was crawling on all fours which gave Eric and Michael a little more breathing room, which even Michael appreciated very much. She grabbed around the bottoms of the chair legs and felt nothing for the whole half of the row she was sure Josh had been sitting in. “Maybe he really did leave for some other reason. It wouldn't surprise me that that kind of scumbag would lead a sweetheart like Devon on.”

Just as she was about to get up, she thought she saw something moving in the outlets on the floor for students to plug in their laptops. As she slowly opened the safety lock on the case a smile formed on her face as she thought about what might be behind there. That smile quickly faded and turned into a scream when a moth flew out of the case, however.

“Jesus! How long have you been stuck in there little guy? It must have been so cramped” she said to the moth as she walked towards the window to let it out. On her way back towards Devon outside, she thought she saw something else on the floor.

“Oh my God...” as another smile mischievously spread on Caitlyn's face, seeing a one inch tall Josh Lewiston hanging on a carpet fiber of the row above his seat.

“Caitlyn!” Devon sounded worried as she burst through the door. “Are you okay? I heard a scream.”

Taken by surprise, Caitlyn quickly scooped Josh up and stuck him in her pocket. Jared, still standing in her hand, went in the other pocket.

“Hey! I'm fine, a bug just surprised me is all.”

“Oh, thank goodness. So, umm, did you see Josh at all?” Devon asked, not trying to sound hung up on anything.

“He was just leaving when I cornered him. This guy's a total jerk, he didn't want to admit that he was setting you up and using you, but when I pressured him a bit his story totally fell apart. I'm so sorry you have to hear it from me, I can't know how you feel right now but I'm on your side. You should have seen him squirm when he realized I wasn't falling for his bullshit.”

Devon sat down in a chair and covered her eyes with her hands, pushing back her long hair behind her ears. After a few moments, Caitlyn sat down next to her and the two sat in silence for a few minutes. Caitlyn kept her hand in her pocket and she could feel Josh squirming around, trying to break free. “None of that is true, Devon! She's just trying to turn us against each other for some reason” he thought, still adjusting to his new perspective. Jared climbed up to the edge of Caitlyn's pocket and saw how distressed Devon looked, wishing he could do anything to help.

“The next class is coming in soon, let's talk outside” Devon told Caitlyn.

The two talked for a while about all the ways they would get Josh back, Caitlyn trying her hardest to not drop too many bug-and-squishing related jokes. Still being held down in her pocket, Josh was trying to pry Caitlyn's fingers off his ears so he could hear what the girls were talking about, but it was no use. Since Devon had another class soon, they agreed on an ice cream and movie night at Caitlyn's that night and went off their separate ways.

…

For the rest of the day, Caitlyn was beaming. Not only had she acquired another cute pet to play with, but she had done it completely unintentionally. She found a secluded corner behind the environmental science building and gathered all four boys in her hands, the original three in her left and Josh in the right. Upon taking him out of her pocket and releasing his grip on him, Josh immediately made a run for it. Even sitting down, however, Caitlyn easily stopped him in his tracks by picking him up between her recently de-socked feet. Eric admired his guts, but he already knew it was futile to try and run from Caitlyn while she was paying any attention to you, her reflexes and size gave her way too much of an advantage.

“Uh-uh” she nodded, “You aren't getting away that easy, my little Josh.”

“What the fuck is your problem?” Josh snapped back, “Did you do this to me? Why did you lie to Devon back there? Change me back right now, you can't do this to me.”

“Turns out I already did. Yes, Josh, I did this to you—at least I think I did—though I myself am not sure how. When I cast the spell, only these three were my targets. I just had a thought like, 'I bet no one would mind if that annoying brat Josh disappeared', and suddenly you were small! No incantations or ingredients or anything, I just thought about it and it happened! I'm just as shocked about this as you are, promise.” All four boys found this hard to believe. Caitlyn continued, “As much as you believe the world revolves around you and your needs, it simply isn't true, and for your own good I'm going to teach you a lesson and put you in your place. Devon doesn't know you're like this yet, but we already discussed all the things we would do to you if we had the chance.” She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his whole body, she loved the feeling of him squirming in between her feet in response. “And you three have just been so wonderful, I think you deserve a reward too!” She said as she kissed them all individually. Let's switch the socks on you two, I think you'd better get acquainted with both of them. And Jared, I have a special place for you, didn't I say volunteers got the better rewards?” Jared looked puzzled and she picked him up out of her hand, but perked up when he saw he was going right between her breasts. He slid down until he was stuck between them, her bra supporting him from below.

Josh yelled up at Caitlyn, “You're crazy, this is all some kind of weird practical joke, and I demand that you turn me back now or else...”

“Or else what, pipsqueak? My toes are holding you in place right now, I'm not even putting much effort in on my side. I own you now, and I'm gonna take good care of you until I can hand you over to Devon. Unless you'd prefer to go to her now? She seemed pretty fired up when we were just talking though, you might wanna give her some time to cool off” speaking slowly now, “I just don't want you to get hurt is all” she said with a slight smile.

With her free hand, Caitlyn grabbed Josh from between her feet and tied him up in a hair tie, before sticking him at the bottom of her pocket. She then stuck Michael and Eric in the opposite socks, saying “Break time is over! We have to go get ready for tonight,” as she did.

…

When Caitlyn got back to her room, she started getting ready right away by downloading some movies on her laptop.

“Rush Hour 2, that looks like a good one. Is Bonnie & Clyde too typical? Eh, I'll throw it in anyway” she decided as she idly took the hair tie from her pocket—with Josh still in it—and tied her long light green hair into a ponytail. The other three had been stuck back into the shoebox and were talking amongst themselves.

“Really, I just don't think this is as bad as it could've been” Jared was saying, “She could've just eaten us, or thrown us out for a cat—hell, a rat could've devoured us with the shape we're in. She's taking care of us, at least she's trying to, and I think we'd be stupid not to accept that.”

“Sure, it could be worse” Eric replied, “But god damnit man, I had a life out there, so excuse me for not just lying down and taking this like a pussy, the way you two are”, shooting a look through both Michael and Jared.

Suddenly, Caitlyn grabbed Eric and lifted him up to her face. It seemed as though all her freckles were staring him down, as well as her eyes. She wanted to make a statement to him, “Eric, I can hear every word you guys are saying. I know this isn't easy for you to process, but I need you to trust me completely or this is gonna be a lot harder for both of us.” Her warm breath washed over Eric, he felt like he was in a sauna of her breath.

Not a second later, Caitlyn opened her mouth and dropped Eric right on her tongue. Michael and Jared could see just enough of what was going on, and they were terrified.

“You let him go right now! Jesus, she's eating him!”

Caitlyn was swishing Eric around in her mouth, the way she might take her mouthwash at night. She had no intention of biting down or swallowing him, she just needed to put the idea into his head that his life was in her hands. Or in her mouth, as it was. Her powerful tongue pushed him into the corners of her cheeks, scraped him across her teeth, and lay on him as an impossible to fight weight as she browsed her laptop for more movies. Eric tried to fight back, but Caitlyn could feel his every movement and so could stay one step ahead of him whenever he tried to get away from the tongue that was pushing him around. She pushed him into her cheeks with strong juts of her tongue, to anyone looking at her it might have looked like she was reluctant to throw out a piece of gum that had outworn its flavor. Eric was worn out, his whole body drenched in saliva limited his ability to move even more than the large tongue battling him. Caitlyn was trying to imagine what it felt like to be Eric right now, giving up his flavor to please the only woman who would be in his life for the rest of it. She knew she forced him in there, but in time she hoped he would come to enjoy her games. She idly lifted her hand and ran her fingers through her hair, squeezing Josh a few times. “And you, I gotta love you while you're still mine. Devon's supposed to be here soon, but I wouldn't mind if she took her time a little.”

Five minutes had passed, and with all four of her captives thoroughly freaked out by what they were seeing and experiencing, Caitlyn held her tongue out and picked up Eric between her slender fingers. Held before her face once more, his clothes shredded and his skin bruised, Caitlyn explained herself to Eric and the others, “Do you realize what could have happened to you? Without a second thought, my powerful mouth could have chewed you up and swallowed you, you'd be nothing more than a quick snack I have before class. I want you to love me, I know you did when you were human sized, so why is it so much more difficult now? Guys have always wanted to bend over backwards to do anything I ask, it should be even easier now that I can literally bend you backwards if I wanted to. But I don't want to, it's just so one sided that way, and it's boring and unfair to you guys. No, I want you to come to me on your own terms. If you really wanna go so bad, I'll let you go after tonight. But I think you'll want to stay, I really like having you all around. It's not just the attention, really, though that is nice. It's knowing that I can not—WILL not be denied love and happiness because of my looks ever again. Nobody would ever talk to me because they were afraid of how I'd respond, I would've dated anyone. But no, I was always some forlorn beauty in the tower, just a beautiful painting to admire from behind velvet ropes in a museum. It was so lonely...” Eric was almost feeling sympathetic for her, but he knew she was just trying to manipulate him, even if her story was the truth.

“But now that I'm in college” she continued, “things are gonna be much different. If I can't get any guys to come to me, I'll just have to force myself on them. I deserve to be happy, I deserve to have a loving man, or four or five, or ten by my side. I've treated you right, and if you treat me right I really think we have something special here. I've never loved anything as much as I love my little boys, and it hasn't even been a full day yet! Just think of all the fun things we could do together. But I need you to trust me, got it? I'm sorry about what I did just now, but if you don't start shaping up, I'm gonna have to do something much worse...” Caitlyn finished, kind of regretting finishing with a threat, but feeling too drunk with power and anger at her previous classmates to care much.

With a knock on the door, Caitlyn's eyes lit up and she set Eric down in the box with the others, closing it and shoving it under her bed after a quick “She's here!”, much to the boys' despair. Eric silently hoped that Devon would have some reason and help them get out of here, she had to see what a psychopath Caitlyn was. He was taking this as a great chance to escape, even though he didn't have much of a plan besides crying to her for help. Josh was struggling as hard as he could to escape the hair tie but it was no use. He was buried in hair and unable to see much of what was going on around him anyway. The girls sat down and chatted a little, and finally started their first movie.

Sounds of car crashes and booming thunder shot out in stereo from the television. Caitlyn had prepared some popcorn and was eating it piece by piece, occasionally looking towards something beneath her bed and smiling. She didn't want to admit it, but it really was very difficult for her to get over the taste of Eric in her mouth. Feeling his little struggles and his soft skin against her taste buds made her feel extremely powerful and desirable, like a goddess. She didn't really want to hurt her boys, but it was becoming harder and harder to resist that feeling of power, like nothing she'd ever felt before. As the movie went on, the girls began to talk about school.

“It's just like, the dumbest class, right? All the tests are about is vocab, like if I can memorize this random list of words I'll be smarter?” Devon went on, “And the professor is such a jerk! Can you believe he marked off half the points on my lab because of a couple typos? It was still totally readable.”

“I think the TA grades the labs, I'd hate him a lot too if he wasn't so cute.”

“You like anyone that has a pulse, he is so not cute. He's got an above average ass but his face is so greasy. I bet he only showers like once a month.”

“Well,” began Caitlyn, slightly offended “I guess we just have different tastes. I hadn't even noticed his ass.”

“Yeah right, it's better than most of the girls I know. You had to have taken a peek at some point.”

“Is it better than Josh's?” Caitlyn asked mischeviously.

“Ugh, I hate that fucking liar. I don't even wanna see him in the halls, it's like making me anxious thinking about running into him and being dumb and falling for him. I just can't see him.”

Josh meanwhile was looking out from the top of the shoebox, hoisted on the shoulders of his three companions.

“Can you see anything?” Jared asked from just below Josh.

“They're still just talking, Caitlyn looks back towards me sometimes but she doesn't seem worried that we might escape. Either that or she's waiting until Devon isn't looking to do something.”

Caitlyn had stopped watching the movie momentarily and was looking past Devon. Finally, she said “Hey, Devon. I think I have a way we can get Josh back for all the shit he's put you through.”

“If you wanna egg his place, it's not gonna make much of a difference. He lives like a pig already.”

“I have something better than eggs in mind.”

“Shoot, I'm all ears.”

“Okay, you have to promise me you won't freak out though. It's a little unorthodox.”

“Jesus Caitlyn, what is it? You're making it sound so mysterious.”

With that, Caitlyn breathed a small sigh of relief and reached under her bed to pull out the shoebox where her captives were scrambling to hide in the open space. She held it away from Devon for a second and smiled at the boys, her teeth were shining white and made a shiver run through Eric's spine. She slowly tilted the box until Devon could see what was inside.

“Oh my... what are those? Are those... people?”

“Not just any people, Devon.” Caitlyn picked Josh up with her free hand, “I've got a boy here who very much wants to apologize to you.”

Devon leaned in closer, confirming it was actually Josh.

“Caitlyn, this is... this is so fucked up. They were in a box under your bed! What do you do with them? Do they even want to be here? Oh my fucking God Caitlyn.” Devon had an expression of shock plastered on her face, she didn't know how to react.

“Well, what would you do with them Devon? They're so adorable like this, they can't cause any damage like a full grown man can. Plus, they love me. You would not believe how good it feels to play with them. Just try it out with Josh, try not to hurt him too badly” Caitlyn grinned as she handed Josh over to Devon, placing him in her cupped hands.

“Devon, please, you gotta get me out of here.” Josh pleaded, “There's at least three others in that box, I don't know how she does it but she stole me, she stole the other guys' lives away. We don't wanna be here, it's like a nightmare.”

Devon backed up from Caitlyn and curled in a defensive stance, bringing Josh closer to her face, “What has she done to you? Don't worry baby I'm gonna get you out of here.”

Caitlyn was confused, “He's not your boyfriend anymore, he's your slave. I know he doesn't look like much but the little guys can actually do quite a bit when they set their mind to it.”

“Caitlyn, I always thought you were a little off but I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I was sure I just didn't know you well enough. But Jesus Christ, this is kidnapping. Actually, this is so much worse, I don't even wanna know how you did this. I want you to grow them back, now.” Devon's eyes were wide, her voice stern. Josh was surprised that Devon didn't immediately pull his arms off or eat him or something like that, but he was happy anyway that she was trying to talk some sense into Caitlyn.

“If you just gave it a try, you'd see. No woman could be happy with just one boyfriend, so I have three in here, it's not that strange.”

“Caitlyn, please grow them back. People don't deserve to live like this, I don't care what Josh has done. I don't care what the others have done, this is cruel.”

Caitlyn had tears in her eyes, she didn't believe that Devon would ever react like this. “...I can grow them back, but it'll take a day or so to prepare the spell.”

“Well, why don't I just take the box for the night and--”

“No way. You can keep Josh, I only shrunk him because I thought you'd like him better that way. These three are mine, and it's gonna stay that way even if only for one more day.”

The three boys in the box couldn't believe what they were hearing. Caitlyn would really grow them back because Devon didn't approve of it? Eric sensed it was some kind of trap, but he couldn't figure out what Caitlyn was thinking, exactly.

“C'mon Josh, let's get out of here. Caitlyn, let's talk tomorrow okay? Maybe clear our heads a bit and then figure this whole thing out. You made the right choice, but you need to prepare that spell.”

Caitlyn wasn't smiling anymore. She sat on her bed, looking down at her feet, “Yeah, I know.”

“Okay. I'll see you soon.” Devon said as she cautiously closed the door to Caitlyn's room behind her.

After a few minutes of silence, Caitlyn finally looked up and laughed a little, muttering “stupid bitch” under her breath. “If she thinks I'm gonna let you three out of my hands for a single second, she's got a surprise of her own waiting for her.” Caitlyn put on an 80s mixtape and began preparing a spell with the leftover material from the last one, singing along while her three remaining captives looked on in confusion and terror.

“A little of this, a little of that. Sugar, spice, everything nice! ...And just a pinch of chemical X!” Caitlyn laughed to herself as she poured a few herbs and dark liquids into a jar. She'd began drinking not too long ago but already appeared to be very light headed.

“What is she doing out there?” Michael asked, knowing the other two didn't know any more than he did.

Jared responded, “She said she would change us back, right? I'd think she wouldn't be so happy about it if that were true.”

Without warning the boys felt their world lifted into the sky. Caitlyn set the box down on her bed and lay down, cradling the box in her arms.

“Which boy wants to play tonight? I know a lot of fun games we could play. And it's going to be our last night together, we should make it special huh?” Even though she wasn't facing the box directly, the smell of whiskey came on like a monsoon to the boys, hot and burning to their nostrils.

She let her long hair down into the box, whispering to to her toys as much to herself, “Devon doesn't know what she's missing out on, love between a girl and her boys can't get any better than this...”

After about a minute of silence, Caitlyn began snoring. The boys looked at each other, wearily.

“This is it, our shot at freedom! Let's get out of here” Michael proclaimed excitedly.

“Wait, this has got to be a trap. She's too cunning to just give us an escape route like that.” Eric responded.

“You saw how tipsy she was getting. She's gonna wake up in the morning and we're gonna be out of here, long gone!”

Jared spoke up from the corner, “Even if we do get out here...” he began, “what do we do once we're out of this room? Are we just gonna be an inch tall for the rest of our lives? What if a dog finds us? What if we get swept away in the wind, or drown in a raindrop?” Slowly, he looked at Eric and Michael in the eyes, “What if someone way meaner than Caitlyn finds us?”

“She tried to eat me” Eric replied. “I'd rather take my chances out there, but this is just way too obvious.” Thinking on it, Eric suddenly gasped.

“How did we get here?” He asked. “I mean what were we doing before we woke up here.”

“Drinking. It was some wild party.” Jared responded.

“That's right. And when Caitlyn was making her spell just now, it sounded like she was pouring something.”

“You think she slipped something in our drinks?”

“It's possible. What if what she was cooking up just now is actually a way to grow us back?”

“Come on, you don't think she actually intends to do that, right?” Jared looked upset. “What if it's something else, what if it makes our blood boil--or we turn into toads? What then?”

Michael spoke up, “All this arguing is pointless. We gotta go before she wakes up or we're never getting out of here. I'd rather take my chances out there than spend another second in this smelly shoe box.”

Michael made a run towards Caitlyn's long brown hair. He was able to hold a few strands in his hands, and he began climbing up and out of the box.

“Idiot!” Eric shouted towards him.

As Michael was nearing the top of the box, Caitlyn began to shift in her sleep. Michael held on for dear life as the beautiful girl's hair toppled lazily out of the box and onto her bed. When she stopped turning, Michael was amazed to find himself in a pile of hair near Caitlyn's right ear.

After taking a moment to push the hairs off him, he began to climb down. He didn't get far though, before a misstep placed his foot in a grove of knotted hair. He fell, hanging on by a foot. As he tried to unravel the knot with his hands, Caitlyn slowly rose and yawned.

Upon waking, she immediately felt something in her hair. Pulling her hair apart, she felt one of her tinies and pulled him up to her face. Her stunning eyes locked with Michael's as he struggled against her grasp.

“Awww, looks like you wanted to play after all. Sorry for falling asleep there, being a witch is just exhausting sometimes.”

Michael was scared, there was something truly powerful in those giant eyes staring down at him.

“To tell you the truth, Michael, I've never been with a guy. Crazy right? All the boys I ever liked in school ran from me, I guess they didn't think I was very safe. I got called names a lot. My friends always told me how pretty I was, but they couldn't make me feel any better. Michael, do you want to make me feel better?”

Michael was still struggling, ignoring whatever Caitlyn was saying and focusing only on his escape plan gone sour.

“Tut tut. Even you won't listen to me. Not even when I'm the center of your universe. The prettiest girl you've ever come close to in your whole life, you're so close she's holding you in her hands, adoringly. And yet you still won't listen.”

Caitlyn reclined into the pile of pillows on her bed, careful not to drop Michael. He was paying attention now.

“Well Michael, let's say we play around a little. This game is called 'The Cavern of Mystery'.” She smiled to herself and laughed, “Can you guess where you're going?”

Michael had never been so scared in his life. Before he could say anything, Caitlyn pulled open her pajama bottoms and tight fitting underwear and dropped Michael in. A second later, two long and powerful fingers were pushing him inside her. Michael's vision was full of pink, he could vaguely hear moans from somewhere far above him, and he could feel Caitlyn's entire body shaking. He was completely inside her now, she had just put him there and there was nothing he could do or say to argue. This was his life now, all because she wanted it for him. Why me, he thought.

Caitlyn was stroking her clit rhythmically, being well practiced in this situation. She'd never had a tiny helper before, and it was an amazing experience. She could feel every tiny movement Michael made, even after she stopped pushing him in. She thought about how every movement of his was to pleasure her, whether he wanted to or not. She had never felt so powerful. Part of it was in revenge, true, but the thoughts she had now went way beyond that. She wanted every woman to feel this, every woman deserved to feel this.

Caitlyn was beyond wet now, Michael could barely keep his footing anymore. He was constantly being pushed around by the pink walls around him, her muscles were convulsing tighter and tighter as wave after wave of her juices flowed over him. He could barely breathe, and it was beyond hot inside her. Suddenly and violently, he was shot out. Stuck to the inside of Caitlyn's panties, Michael felt like passing out. Any struggle he could make now was pointless, he was stuck as if under extreme gravity. But he knew Caitlyn wasn't done.

Panting, Caitlyn slowly removed her underwear with Michael stuck to the inside. She held them up to her face and turned them so she could see Michael.

“Why'd you stop, boy?” She asked light-heartedly. “Was I too big for you? It wasn't your first time, right? A handsome guy like you, surely not.” She stifled a giggle at her own joke. “We'll have to make this a more frequent thing; I'd have you live in there if I thought I could stand it!” Another laugh.

She brought the panties right next to her mouth, dragging her tongue across Michael. Her breath still stunk of whiskey. “Why don't you come give my mouth some attention too, it's not fair that Eric should get all the fun.”

Michael was too tired to fight it. Caitlyn's strong tongue pulled him from his prison effortlessly, only to deposit him in another. He felt Caitlyn lay back down, swishing him around painfully. She clicked her teeth together teasingly, after making sure Michael was safe in the back of her mouth. She moved Michael to her cheek as she got up to get ready for bed. Stumbling off her bed, her tongue slammed Michael into her teeth and broke his left arm. She could feel him cry out in pain.

“Finally, a little action!” She exclaimed, not realizing why Michael was making any noise.

Her hot tongue had complete control over Michael's body, and she was loving every second of it.

“You know Michael, I always thought you were the cutest. Ever since I saw you at the party, I thought maybe here's a guy with some class. And Michael, you've satisfied me in ways I could only dream of. But it's time to move on, a girl like me has got too much to do in life to be caught on silly boys.”

Jared and Eric were listening from the shoebox, confused and terrified for their friend.

“What do you say we go out for one last dance, for old times' sake?” She laughed to herself as she put a classical record on, a waltz. As she moved in her 1-2-3 step patterns, she held her arms out and imagined a full size Michael holding her. As she danced she slowly thought of him getting smaller, and smaller... until he was at her feet and her toes were dancing with him.

“This is how it should be, we're in love and I've got every boy I ever wanted.” She quietly said to herself.

Meanwhile, inside her mouth, Michael felt strange. He looked around him and Caitlyn's already cavernous mouth seemed to be growing before his eyes. The tongue that could hold him before was slowly becoming like a hill, struck by fearsome earthquakes in what must have been only slight movements to Caitlyn. The saliva pooling in her mouth was like a lake to him, her teeth grew to incredible heights. Soon, he was not able to see the tops of them anymore, and he found himself deposited in her saliva. As Caitlyn hummed to herself, she innocently swallowed and the millimeter tall Michael went hurling down her throat, falling what seemed to him an infinite distance.

Caitlyn opened her eyes and frowned. “Control will come with time, I feel you've gone and left me. I know that's not true though, you're a part of me like never before. Your goddess has been so gracious.”

Putting her pajamas back on, Caitlyn placed the shoebox on her nightstand so she wouldn't accidentally knock it over, and she tucked herself in, a content smile on her face.

“I'm so sorry you ended up over there. I had no idea she was like this” Devon tried to reassure Josh.

“I'll say! What kind of psycho shrinks people? How does she shrink people?”

“I don't know, but she's probably the only one who knows how to make you and the others normal again” Devon sighed, “Even if it's you we're talking about, no one deserves this.”

“Caitlyn wasn't entirely lying, back when she said I wanted to apologize...”

“Funny, Josh, how it takes me being the size of a building to you for you to come to your senses” she scornfully remarked.

“I was gonna”, Josh protested, “I was just waiting for the right time. I'm serious.”

Devon sat up in her bed, leaning her back against the wall, “Look, when we go see Caitlyn tomorrow and you're all back to normal, maybe we can talk then. I had to get you out of there but that doesn't mean I'm forgiving you.”

Josh stood up in her hand, “Then why? You're no humanitarian from what I remember.”

“Maybe I have a softer side you just never got to know, dick.”

“Well, whatever.” A moment later, “...thank you.”

“Maybe I should've left you there after all.” Josh was about to protest until he saw a smile form as Devon turned away to try and hide it. “I appreciate it little man.”

Josh was stunned, how can she be teasing when he's stuck like this? But then again, she was an interesting girl.

Devon set Josh on her bedside table and grabbed her phone. “You're not allowed to leave that table unless I say so” She looked down at the ground, “not that you could get down without my help anyway.” She smiled at him and began scrolling through tumblr on her phone.

Josh knew there was nothing to be done, he looked around the table for anything to hold his interest. A stack of calculus homework, some pens, a lamp, and a mug that was way overdue for a wash. He sighed and went to sit under the lamp, where it was a little warmer.

An unknown amount of time passed when Josh felt a light poke on his stomach. He groggily opened his eyes and looked to see Devon staring at him. “You can fall asleep sitting? I'm impressed.”

She had changed into a light blue onesie with cartoon cats patterning it.

“Hey, what time is it?” Josh asked.

“Just after 1 in the morning.” Devon replied.

“So why'd you wake me?”

“Well, I was thinking...” she said as her face turned slightly red, “you're only going to be this size for tonight, right? Maybe we should take advantage of that.”

Josh knew where she was going with this, and played along.

“What kind of advantage were you thinking of?”

“Well, maybe you could... give me a foot massage?”

Josh practically fell flat on his face.

“You know, you're sounding an awful lot like Caitlyn right now.”

“As if! I just want to know what it feels like. I promise I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. You owe me anyway” she said defensively.

“Alright alright, I guess I do.”

“Perfect!” She grabbed him carefully between two fingers and set him down at the sole of her right foot. “You used to do this when you were regular sized too, remember?”

Josh began kneading her soft soles, “God, that was ages ago. You remember the weirdest shit.”

Devon felt a warm feeling bubbling inside her as Josh's hands went to work on her foot. She couldn't deny he had always been great at this, and now that he had two deft tiny hands instead of large clumsy ones, it felt even better.

Josh felt like he was at the gym with a literal mountain of flesh in front of him. Moving it around took all his strength but at least Devon kept her feet pretty clean. His hands moved slowly up and down her feet, as high as he could reach.

30 minutes passed like this before Devon said “This feels amazing you know, but I'm getting pretty tired and I have an early final tomorrow. We'll go see Caitlyn first thing in the morning though, I promise.” Josh finally relaxed his sore arms and smiled up at her, too tired to say anything at the moment.

“We should probably get you a bed. Come here” she said as she again delicately grabbed him. She set him down on her pillow. “I don't want to accidentally crush you in my sleep, so how about you take this side,” she grabbed another pillow, “and we'll put this between us. That way if I roll over, the pillow will fall on you instead of me.”

Josh thought she was seriously underestimating how much a pillow could weigh to someone an inch tall, but he figured he could at least survive it if it did fall and he was too tired to argue. “That's fine, thanks.”

Devon beamed, “good night, Josh.”

“Good night, Devon.”

----

There was a strange silence throughout Caitlyn's dorm building. It was already 7, but it didn't sound like anyone was getting up to get ready for finals. Devon walked towards the tall reddish-brown building, Josh looking out from the pocket of her hoodie.

“There's no lights on” he commented.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. It's weird, you'd think there'd be at least one early riser.”

“It's probably nothing serious, maybe the power's out?”

“If that's the case, a lot of kids are gonna be pissed when their alarm clocks don't go off and they miss their finals.”

“You're gonna miss your finals if we're just gonna sit here and chat. I want to be able to walk places on my own again.”

“Impatient as always. You're right though, let's go see Caitlyn.”

Devon unlocked the front door with a key she grabbed from Caitlyn's room when they were watching movies yesterday. At the time she thought it could come in handy for next year if any of her friends moved there, she couldn't have imagined the purpose she was using it for now.

As she stepped into the front hall, she noticed no one was downstairs either. That wasn't too unusual for this time of the morning, but it made the silent building all the more ominous. She was about to start climbing the stairs up to Caitlyn's floor when she saw something scurry slowly across the floor. She leaned down to investigate.

“Please don't hurt me!” A small feminine voice cried out.

“What the fuck? That's Rachel,” Josh pointed out from his pocket view “what happened to you?”

Devon pulled Josh out of her pocket and set him down next to the crying girl so they could talk.

“I woke up 15 minutes ago, and I was under my blanket, except it was huge. I thought I was dreaming, but when I got out from under it I was just in my room, only it was also huge. I shrunk when I w—wait, you're small too? Do you know what's going on?”

“You know Caitlyn, from the third floor? She's a witch, she shrunk me and three other guys a couple days ago. I'm sure she has something to do with this.”

“Why would she do that to me, I don't even know her!” Rachel's confusion was quickly turning to panic and anger.

Devon spoke up, “Come with me, we'll go figure this out.” She held out her hand for the two to climb on. Rachel, seeing no other option, climbed on. Devon gently set them down in her right pocket.

Devon was panicking internally as she climbed the stairs. Why would Caitlyn shrink someone she didn't even know? And after agreeing to end this yesterday. Devon was furious with herself for trusting Caitlyn.

On the third floor, Devon rushed over to Caitlyn's room. She slowed to a stop in front of it, held her breath, and knocked.

“Come in!” A cheery Caitlyn replied from the other side.

Devon opened the door and immediately Caitlyn grabbed her and threw her towards her bed. Devon reached into her pocket and felt Josh and Rachel before sitting up. Caitlyn rolled her desk chair over so she could speak with Devon face to face.

“You must be pretty confused right now. There's no point hiding the bitch in your pocket, she can come out. Josh too, they should both see this.”

Slowly, Josh and Rachel climbed onto Devon's hand. She kept them both close to her chest as she nervously asked, “See what?”

Caitlyn stood up and began to pace, but slowly and letting her arms swing. “I thought about what you said and I even started brewing a growth potion, but I realized you have no idea what this is like. To have little people totally under your control. I realized your opinion on this doesn't mean anything to me, so I began mixing a new potion. I've known this for a while, that I've had the ability to change the size of things and people as I see fit. Ever since I was a little girl. My mom must have cast her own spell on me before she died. See, I've been alone for a long time, surviving on my own. Everyone at my high school thought I led this perfect life, but it was all smoke and mirrors. It was easy enough to convince some actors from the local theater to act as my parents when conferences rolled around, all I had to do was dangle this sweet body and innocent face in front of them and they were like putty in my hands. I could take an apple from the cafeteria and grow it to the size of a room when I got home, I stayed well fed without having to work very hard for it. But as I developed my powers, I realized it was only through an emotional connection that I could use it. When I met Eric and the others at the party, I had already been keeping my eye on them for a while. I knew they'd make perfect little toys, and I really felt like I knew them even before I ever spoke to them... Josh was easy, I heard you tell me about all the messed up things he did to you, how he tried to keep you all to himself. Yes, Josh, I see you now, and yes, she told me even though you tried to get her not to. It's just too easy to build trust, I just have that kind of face I suppose. Objects were sometimes tricky, I really only grew food for a while because I knew I would starve if I couldn't, I guess that was enough of a connection to make it work.”

Devon was staring wide-eyed, her heart rate was shooting up so much it started to push on Josh and Rachel.

“So that's where this new potion comes in. See, it takes me a while to know enough about someone for me to be able to change their size. That's why this... is a love potion. Now I can see all the love those years of growing up alone hid from me. I love everybody, Devon. Last night I dreamt that everyone in this building loved me too. I came home from class and everyone was there, all the faces I'd memorized. They threw me a welcoming party in the lobby, and as I hugged each one of them, they shrank before my eyes. They were all so eager to let me hug them too, a few started worshipping me. And can you blame them? When I woke up I had a good feeling, so I went door to door and...”

Caitlyn pulled out her shoebox where her first victims had spent so much time. Devon could hear a faint hum from the box, and she knew what was inside. Still, knowing that couldn't prepare her for when Caitlyn opened the box and revealed 43 girls, as well as Eric and Jared, each an inch tall and begging to be let out. Devon suddenly felt that if she didn't kill Caitlyn right here and right now, this could spread and shrink all of humanity.

She knew what she had to do, but the shock paralyzed her. She knew her friend could be controlling sometimes, but this was beyond anything she'd ever hinted at. Caitlyn had wrapped her arm around Devon and watched as her friend gradually became doll size. As she sat there alongside Josh and Rachel, she felt a strange respect for Caitlyn. A tingling reverence, she was the most powerful creature in the world, and it would only be a matter of time before she took her throne.

Caitlyn got off the bed and went back to her shoebox. “I'm going to need a lot more room for you all. I love you all, and I know in time, you'll come to love me too.” She left her room and began the long task of collecting everyone in her dorm. She idly daydreamed about what her future would hold, and couldn't help but smile the widest smile she'd made in years.