Nathan stood in the front hallway, near the large coat rack near the front door. His eyes were set upon an object that hung via string from one of the lower hooks. This object was none other than the headless body of Percy, who had been massacred by Tina earlier. True to her word, she had hung his corpse for all to see. As expected, it was a very gruesome sight. And yet, Nathan could not stop looking at it.

He heard someone approaching him from behind. He turned and found Peter walking towards him. He too glanced up at the hanging cadaver.

"It's horrible, isn't it?" Peter asked. "To think... That could have been one of us."

"He didn't deserve to die like that," Nathan said. "He just wanted to get us out of here. Is that so bad?"

"To Tina, yeah. Very. As you saw with your own eyes."

Nathan sighed. "One day, I'm going to find a way out of here, and I'm going to run for it."

"Well, good luck. Tina has already blocked off the hole that Felipe made, so you're going to have to start searching again if you're serious about leaving."

Nathan fully turned towards Peter. "Peter... You sound like you're... content with being here."

Peter shook his head. "It's not that I'm 'content' with being here. It's that I've come to accept that as of right now, there's no way for us to get out of here."

"We just need to get her Shrink Ray," Nathan suggested. "Then we can turn the tables on her, and do to her what she does to us. ...Or at least get the police to come here."

"This house does not have phone service," Peter said. "Tina relies on her cell phone to talk with the outside world. And she never invites anyone over here, either. Except for when she intends to keep them here."

"...Evil bitch," Nathan muttered.

Peter reached out and placed his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Nathan..." he said in a calm, comforting tone. "I know it's hard being here, and no one is expecting you to adapt right away. But just know that you have a support group here in case you need us."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

"Mm." Peter retracted his hand, and looked back up towards Percy's body. "Percy set out to find his brother, but now his family has two reasons to grieve. No one should have to go though that..." He looked at Nathan again. "I'm sure your family is worried sick about you, too."

"...Yeah..." Nathan replied.

"Hopefully they won't have to wait too long." Peter smiled, before departing from the hallway, heading towards the living room.

Nathan watched him leave, and then became wrapped within his own thoughts. "Family..." Perhaps he could consider them--the people he grew up with--his family; though they did not share blood, they shared experiences. No doubt they too were frantically searching for him.

He hoped that if they were indeed looking for him, their search would bring them to Tina's vicinity. Wherever it was located.

~~~

Tina laid upon her bed, her eyes closed and her mind still a mix of emotions. She was still agitated over her men's failed attempt at escape, so much so that a part of her did want to slaughter each and every one of them. There was another part of her, however, that fought to suppress these urges. A part that tried to convince her that they had learned their lesson, and should leave them be for the time being.

She sighed.

She was not willing to listen to her benign side. At least not just yet.

She still had a mind to spill blood, any kind of blood. Percy's death was not satisfying to her in the least, due to the circumstances behind it, and despite their earlier actions, she found killing one of her men at that point to be a waste. That left her with one choice.

She was going to go out and hunt for someone new.

Standing up from her bed, she walked to her closet and opened its doors. As she shifted through the clothes that hung from the racks inside, she pulled out two articles that she found worth wearing: a teal tubetop and black mini-skirt. After carrying them to her bed, she changed out of her work uniform--her white blouse and black skirt--and into the clothing that she had picked out. She also pulled off her nylons and tossed them onto her bed, and while there, she reached under her bed and pulled out her heeled thong sandals.

She located her black purse, which was already on her bed. After which, she walked to the head of her bed and pulled out her Shrink Ray from underneath her pillow. She smiled mischievously to herself before placing the gun inside of her purse.

She looked outside through the window. The sun was setting, casting an amber hue to the world outside, and inside of her room as well. She did not want to be out for too long; after all, she did have to go to work in the morning.

Slipping her feet into her sandals, she grabbed her purse and walked out of her bedroom.

~~~

As Nathan continued to sit at the coat rack, he heard footsteps approaching from the floor above. Heavy footsteps that sounds like wood knocking against the floor with each step. He looked behind him, and as expected saw Tina standing at the upper level before making her way downstairs. The knocking sound that he heard turned out to be from the heels of the sandals she wore.

Her facial expression was rather serious and determined; he doubt that she even noticed that he was sitting on the floor near the rack.

"Where are you going?" Nathan asked as she approached the front door nearby.

"Piss off," Tina coldly replied. Without another word, she opened the door and exited the house.

Nathan stared at the closed door for a few seconds. "Whatever." He shrugged before turning his attention elsewhere. There was little activity from the others in the living room. After what happened earlier, Peter suggested that they all stay in the same area for the time being.

"...Sorry, pal," Nathan said, addressing Percy's body. "I gotta go back over there now."

He stood up and headed back into the living room, where his companions were gathered some distance away.

"You're finally back," Peter greeted as Nathan reached the couch that the others were underneath. "Looks like Tina's gone out again."

"Yeah..." Nathan said. "What's her problem, anyway? She still mad over what happened today?"

"No doubt," Edward answered as he approached them. "It's times like these where she goes out to blow off some steam."

"She won't be gone long, I imagine," Peter added. "But knowing her... I feel sorry for whoever falls into her web."

"...Homicidal bitch," Nathan grunted. "What are the chances that whoever she tries to take this time turns the tables on her and shrinks her instead? Give her a taste of her own medicine?"

"...Not as low as you think," Edward answered. "She seduces guys she meet in clubs and bring them to her car. She drives them off to a secluded area, and that's where she makes her move, usually while they're distracted somehow. ...I should know, because that's how she got me."

"When you think about it," Peter said, "it's a very dangerous strategy. If she were to pick up the wrong guy, that could be the end of her, but so far it's worked well for her. I think she's gotten a bit overconfident in it, even."

"But the thing is," Edward started, "if she dies, then we'd most likely be trapped in here forever, with no food or anything."

"Someone could just bust us another way out," Nathan said. "In fact, why don't we do that, anyway? I mean, now that we know what's out there, we can prepare for those things."

Peter and Edward briefly glanced at each other, and then turned back to Nathan.

"I don't think anyone's going out there anytime soon," Edward said. "I mean, I want out as much as you do, but it's pretty much certain death out there the way we are now. Plus, we don't even know where we'd be going, and it'd probably take us months to make it somewhere."

Nathan sighed. "So that's it? We're just gonna wait in here until she decides to finish us off?"

"Nathan..." Peter said in a calming tone. "I'm sure something will some up. Have faith."

"I'll try," Nathan replied. He then walked past the two of them and headed further underneath the couch. Behind him, he heard Peter and Edward's conversation shift to the subject of food. He looked around as he walked; Geoffery and Guy were playing cards once again, D'Marco and Larry were talking with each other far to his right, and as usual, Stephen was sitting down against one of the couch's legs, off in his own world.

There were only eight of them remaining at this point. Within mere hours, they had lost two companions; one to carnivorous lizards, and the other to a woman with more than a few screws loose.

As he found his spot further away from the others and sat down on his sleeping bag, he could only imagine what kind of guy would fall into Tina's trap. He hoped that he would sense that something was suspicious about her, and would avoid her like the plague.

...However, if that happened, she may come back to the house angrier than ever, and this time may just take her rage out on them after all.

Nathan sighed. "...Eh... Better him than me..."

~~~

With an excited grin on her face, Tina led her newest interest out of the bar by the hand. He was exactly what she was looking for: a tall, young, and good-looking man who immediately showed interest in her the moment she engaged him in small talk. He introduced himself as Cliff. He seemed like a very nice guy, one that was very popular with the ladies.

It almost seemed like a waste, Tina thought. But the thought of splattering such a guy to a pulp made her want him even more.

"Where are you taking me?" Cliff half-excitedly asked her.

"I want us to go somewhere more private," Tina answered with a cheerful tone. "I really like you! I can't let anyone else have you!"

Cliff laughed. "But I've never had a girl pull me out from a bar before!"

Tina giggled as the two of them reached her car. She pulled out her keys from her purse--taking note of her Shrink Ray still inside--and pressed a button on her car key to unlock the car. She opened the driver's side door and stepped inside of the car. Cliff walked to the passenger side and stepped into the car as well.

Afterwards, she started up the car and drove off from the bar from where the duo had come from.

"I almost didn't come," Tina said as she drove. "But I had a bad day at work today and needed to cool down."

"Sorry to hear that," Cliff said, with obvious sympathy in his voice. "Where do you work?"

"I'm a waitress. You know Raymond's Diner in town?"

"I pass by it all the time," Cliff answered. "Never thought about going inside. I guess I should have; we would have met a lot sooner." He smiled.

"I know!" Tina agreed. "But my boss would have chewed my head off if she caught me flirting with a customer."

"Wait... I thought the place was called 'Raymond's Diner'."

"Raymond founded and owns it, but his bitch of a wife runs the place. The old bat is jealous of us young girls, but she knows that we're part of the reason why the place is doing as good as it is now. To be honest, the food there isn't that great."

"Oh I see..."

"...But enough about my life! I wanna forget about all that for now." As the car stopped at a red traffic signal, she reached out towards Cliff with her right hand and placed it on his jean-covered crotch. He looked anxiously down at her hand, and then back at her. She gave him a smile.

"I-I can't wait," Cliff said, somewhat embarrassed but also eager.

Tina giggled, and pulled back her hand as the traffic light turned green. She pressed down on the accelerator and continued for her destination. It was not far from their present location; she could already see fewer and fewer buildings and more vegetation around her.

The two engaged in small talk during the drive, and in a matter of minutes, Tina came upon where she was specifically headed for; a dirt path on the right side of the road that led into the thick forest. She turned onto this off-road detour and began to drive down this increasingly dark path.

Cliff took notice of where they were going. "...Are you going the right way?" He asked with a concerned tone.

"Mm? Of course I am," Tina answered. "I know this area pretty well."

"If you say so..." Cliff sounded as if he was becoming suspicious. Tina knew that she had to act fast. "Don't worry. Once we're done, I'll get you back to the bar."

Cliff nodded. "Alright."

After a minute or two of driving, she slowed the car to a stop. She had arrived in a somewhat wide clearing; one could easily see the dusk sky above them through the trees.

She pulled the keys out of ignition, and turned to face Cliff, who was looking back at her expectantly and curiously.

"I know you think it's weird here," Tina said, "but I like bringing hot guys here. It's so romantic being in the middle of the woods, with no one to disturb us." She smiled.

"...Ah, I get where you're coming from," Cliff said.

Tina giggled again. "So, why don't we go back there...?" She looked towards the backseat.

Cliff eagerly nodded, and climbed out of his seat and onto the backseat. Tina did the same, taking her purse with her. Tina sat on Cliff's lap, and after placing her purse on the floor besides their feet, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips against his. He embraced her as well, and laid back flat on the backseat, taking Tina with him.

'Just as planned,' Tina thought to herself.

The two continued their passionate kissing for several minutes. Tina saw that Cliff was all but lost in lust, and knew that now was the time. She turned her cheek to the left--letting Cliff bombard it with kisses--and unwrapped her arms from him. With her left hand, she reached for her purse, and with her right she reached into his pants.

As she began to fondle his stiffened member--garnering moans of ecstasy from him--her other hand also took hold of her secret weapon: her Shrink Ray. This was the perfect moment; while he was distracted by erotic bliss, Tina withdrew her hand from his pants and backed away from him as far as she could given the size of the car, and fired the ray gun before he could realize what was happening.

"Gotcha!!" Tina excitedly exclaimed as she watched his glowing body rapidly dwindle in proportions until the glowing disappeared and the shrinking process came to a sudden halt.

Tina leaned in closer and examined his now two-inch-tall body. He was unconscious, but she knew that it would not be for long.

"Tina, you are just too good at this!" she congratulated herself while laughing. "Guys are so stupid! They see a hot girl and start thinking with their dicks! They always fall for this!" She powered down the Shrink Ray. "...But I can't complain. More little men for me!"

After placing her Shrink Ray back in her purse, she scooped up the downed Cliff in her hands and opened the car's right rear door. Stepping outside, she closely watched Cliff in the palm of her right hand as he began to stir.

"Looks like he's coming to," Tina said gleefully.

Indeed, despite the limited light in the area, she could see his body move. She heard his tired moans and saw him slowly sit up and wipe his eyes. Seconds after he removed his hands from his face, Tina heard him scream frantically.

"Calm down, Cliffy!" Tina said.

"What the hell!?" Cliff exclaimed. "What happened?! Why are you so big?!"

Tina laughed. "Silly, I'm not big at all! I'm still the same size as always! You on the other hand, you're like a little itty-bitty bug!"

"What!? How?! What did you do to me?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" She flashed a smile.

"Change me back!!" Cliff angrily and fearfully demanded.

She shook her head. "Nah-ah. Remember what I said earlier? I can't let anybody else have you. I'm going to keep you. ...For now, anyway."

Cliff stood up and attempted to run; he immediately realized that there was nowhere for him to go from Tina's palm suspended high up in the air from his perspective.

With her left hand, she grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him off of her palm. She held him in front of her face, and eyed his small frame devilishly.

"You and I are going to have lots of fun!" Tina said. "But first, I have to put you somewhere safe."

Having said those words, Tina slid her left foot out of its sandal. She kneeled down and laid Cliff on the sole of the sandal, his head just an inch away from the thong. She pressed down on his chest with her index finger.

"Don't move," she ordered, before removing her finger and standing upright.

She lifted her left foot and began to slide it into its sandal. Against her wishes, Cliff did indeed try to flee. Seeing this, she quickly stepped into the shoe, pinning him between her sole and the sandal and gripping the thong with her toes. She pressed her foot against him, relishing in the feeling of his tiny body struggling to free himself.

"Well, Cliffy," Tina said. "Let's go home!"

She closed the rear door of her car, and then stepped into the driver's seat. After starting up the car, she turned it around and began to drive back down the way she had come; back towards the main road. Upon reaching it, she turned to her right and started the drive back to her manor. All the while, Cliff was still fighting underneath her foot, and she could hear his muffled cries for help and mercy. She giggled as she applied more pressure onto his body, causing him to flail even more frantically.

Tina looked at the sky. The sun had set long ago and the stars were starting to appear. She took this time to once again marvel at the countryside. There were few building around, and few streetlights as well; the most prominent features in this area were forests and farmland. One could clearly see the night sky in these parts. A nice ways away from the bustling town; the perfect place for Tina to make her home, away from the prying eyes of any curious people.

Soon, Tina began to approach her humble abode. Her gated manor that had been gifted to her and is maintained by her father. At first, she was skeptical of living far in the boondocks, but after receiving the Shrink Ray, she found that she would not have it any other way.

After pressing a button on a remote attached to her keychain, the gate opened to allow her inside. As she drove into her driveway, the gates closed behind her. She pulled up in front of her garage, but did not open it. Instead, she placed her car's gear in "Park" and pulled out the keys from ignition, as well as left her car's headlights on.

Opening the car door, she stepped outside and walked in front of the car, where the headlights were shining. She kneeled down and lifted her left heel inside of her sandal giving her enough room to reach inside and pull out Cliff. He was breathing heavily; he has stopped struggling minutes before she had arrived at her manor. Perhaps he had tired himself out.

"Well, we're home," Tina said.

"Please..." Cliff panted. "Please... let me go..."

"No, I told you. I'm not going to give you up."

She placed him on the concrete pavement as she stood upright. He laid on the ground as Tina looked down upon him.

"To tell you the truth," Tina said. "I'm a bit rough when it comes to my toys."

Cliff looked up towards her with a fearful look on his face.

"I see that look! You wanna know how! Well, I'll show you."

Tina moved her sandal-clad right foot over to Cliff's body, holding the front of her foot over him while balancing it on its heel. She heard Cliff scream once again, which she took as her cue. She lower her foot onto his body and began to press him against the pavement. As she applied more and more pressure, she could hear Cliff's screams of agony. Agony that would never end, as while she had shrunk him, she had also set the Shrink Ray to increase his body's durability, at least for the moment.

"Keep it up!" Tina taunted as she looked down at her foot covering Cliff's entire body. "I wanna hear you cry out in pain!"

Tina shifted much of her body weight onto her right foot, going as far as to even lift her left foot from the ground and stand on Cliff's body with one leg. She could only imagine what he was feeling at that moment; having tons of weight subjected upon his weak, pitiful body.

"If you think that's bad, then it's only just beginning!" Tina announced.

After spending a few more seconds on his small frame, her left foot finally returned to the ground's surface. Keeping her right foot on the small man, she twisted the foot from side to side, as if she was grinding out a cigarette or a small bug. As expected, his frantic cries only intensified.

Tina laughed manically. "That's right! You're nothing but a little bug to me! There's no escape for you, you miserable worm!!"

He must have wanted his life to end right there, she thought. The pain of being grounded against concrete by a heavy foot could not have been any less than excruciating.

After a minute or two of this, Tina brought her foot's twisting to a halt, and then stepped off of his body, applying heavy pressure on him in the process. She turned around and looked down at the twitching, tiny body below her. His clothes were a disheveled wreck, even torn in some spots. He looked as if he was in so much pain that he could barely move.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Tina said to him. Then, bending over, she added, "But there's still more to come." She smiled.

Cliff's torture continued on, as Tina subjected his tiny body to more abuse, including stepping full-weight on various parts of his body including his head and arms, pressing the high heel of her sandal onto his head and spine, and even jumping on him as if he were some kind of trampoline. She relished in his cries of agony with each action she took, and sought out more ways to prolong his torture.

However, soon her latent desire to kill him began to grow within her until she could not bare to prolong Cliff's painful but non-lethal ordeal any longer.

As she watched as Cliff attempted to muster his strength and stand, Tina gave him a swift kick with her right foot, sending him hurtling closer to the closed garage door. He rolled on the ground a few times, before his seemingly lifeless body laid on the pavement.

Tina then headed to her car and opened the rear door. She then pulled out her Shrink Ray from her purse on the backseat.

~~~

Cliff was beaten and bruised. His body ached all over, so much so that even trying to move his arm sent a wave of pain throughout his entire body. He could not believe the turn that this night took, that he would end up the way he was at that point.

Something inside of him knew that it was suspicious that Tina--the woman that had seemingly been smitten with him--had taken him to a dark and secluded area. However, he was expecting her to rob him or something of that nature; he was certain that he would have been able to fight her off and escape in the woods should that had happened. In no way was he expecting this, to be shrunken and humiliated by that very woman. He had always thought that shrinking technology was make-believe child's play, or science fiction babble; never did he think that the technology would manifest itself in real life, let alone that he would experience it firsthand. He also wondered how his body had not collapsed into a pulp during Tina's torture; perhaps a side-effect of the shrinking, he deduced.

After being kicked away, Cliff laid on the ground, not moving a single muscle except to breathe, and rather heavily at that. He turned his head to his left and watched as Tina walked to her car and open the rear door. She then pulled out what looked like a strange gun. No doubt that that device was what she had used to shrink him in the first place. He wondered what she was planning next.

Tina then stepped closer, her heavy heels crashing against the concrete pavement. She pressed what looked like buttons on the device and then pointed it at him.

"What are you doing...?!" Cliff managed to yell out.

Tina pulled the trigger, and in an instant Cliff was blinded by a green flash. His vision returned seconds later, as he looked around. He was still the same size as before; Tina still towered over him, her figure illuminated by the light reflecting from the white garage doors, above her the growing dusk of the sky as stars could be seen flickering.

Tina stepped back from him and pressed a few buttons on the shrinking device, before she set it down on the hood of her car. She then removed the sandals from both of her feet, and walked back over to where he was.

"You're probably wondering what I just did," Tina said. "...You probably noticed that you didn't get crushed to death before, right? Well, I got rid of that, so now you really are as vulnerable as a bug." Tina giggled. "I wonder what you'll feel like when I'm bursting your little body...?"

Her malicious yet playful tone sent a shiver down Cliff's spine. Was she serious? Did she actually intend to kill him? If that was the case, Cliff knew that he could not stay there and give this crazy woman what she wanted.

Despite his severely aching body, he mustered the strength to stand to his feet, and then attempted to run.

"Oh!" Tina excitedly said. "I love it when my toys try to get away from me!"

Cliff heard Tina give chase. He knew that it was a foregone conclusion; at her size she would catch him in a matter of seconds. Indeed, that is exactly what happened, as Tina's bare foot stepped down in front of him. It then lifted slightly and brushed backward, its heel colliding with his body and sending him flying backwards away from the garage.

As he laid on the ground, he watched as Tina turned around and approach him once again. He tried to get up again, but his body denied him that action. There was nothing he could do.

"Aww... That's it?" Tina sounded disappointed. "I thought you had just a little bit of fight left in you." She shrugged. "Oh well. I guess it's time to put an end to this."

Tina moved her right foot over his body, and began to lower it.

"Wait, please!!" Cliff yelled out. "Don't kill me!! I'll do anything!!"

Tina's foot stopped and merely hovered over him. "Anything?"

"Yes!! Please!!!" He begged; it was all he could do to try to get her to spare his life.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I want you to do..."

Cliff looked up at her expectantly for his chance to save himself.

"I want you to die for me."

Cliff's heart sank. "Whaa-"

Tina's foot lowered, until it fell upon his body.

~~~

Once her foot hit the ground--and Cliff caught below it--Tina made her final move. She slowly applied pressure on Cliff's now vulnerable body. She heard him scream as first his legs were crushed by her weight. Then she shifted her weight upward, taking with it his waist and then chest; at this point his screams halted as she felt blood spurt from what she assume was his mouth. She felt his bones crunch and collapse underneath her sole, and blood spreading out from his body. Soon his head succumbed to her weight, flattening into a mess of bones, blood, and tissue.

Finally, her foot settled on the bloody mess, though she could still feel remaining uncrushed bones break underneath her weight. After grinding her foot slightly to further pulverize his body, she removed it from the lifeless pulp that was once a man and examined her work. There was no trace of any evidence that he was once a human being; his clothes were torn and soaked with Cliff's blood, and his hair was the only part of his body that could be recognized.

"Excellent!" Tina moaned as she stumbled backwards and fell down to the ground against the garage door. "You did your part well, Cliff. I feel much better now..."

She looked up towards the night sky, before closing her eyes. She then reached into her skirt and panties, and began to fondle herself. She moaned in pleasure as she relived her time with Cliff in her mind.

~~~

Nathan laid on his sleeping bag, still thinking about that day's earlier events. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the front door open, and the unmistakable sound of Tina's heels stepping on the hardwood floor resonate through the house. After hearing the door close, he listened as those footsteps approached the living room. From his position, he looked out towards the open floor and saw Tina's feet and legs standing halfway between the couch and the living room's entrance.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted in a cheerful tone. "I'm back, and I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I went out to think things over, and I'm feeling like my old self again!"

Nathan looked at the others, whose attention was all on Tina's presence.

"Oh!" Tina sounded as if she just realized something. "It's already this late! I need to get you all something to eat! I can't have you all starving to death on me, can I? Hold on, guys. Let me go change into something more comfortable!!"

Tina turned and walked out of the living room. Nathan watched as she turned slightly to her right, and suddenly stopped walking.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "I forgot all about you, Percy! I can't leave you hanging there... I guess I'll give you what they call a 'burial at sea'."

Tina walked to her right and kneeled down. Seconds later, she stood back up and walked up the stairs. Nathan could see that she was holding something in her hand.

Guy and Geoffery approached Nathan from their table.

"She's going to flush Percy down the toilet," Guy said. "Wouldn't be the first time she did it, except this time he's already dead."

"Tina's like a completely different person from when she was earlier," Nathan said.

"She probably killed someone," Guy said. "I think as long as we don't do anything, we should be good for now."

"Yeah, Peter and Edward told me about what she does."

"I kinda feel sorry for the guy, whoever he was," Geoffery said. "He talk to one girl tonight, and he ends up dying for it."

"I can't wait until all this is over," Nathan said. "I wanna get out of here. There's no telling when she'll lose it again."

Guy nodded. "Yeah. ...But I bet he wants to stay." He was referring to Geoffery.

"Of course." Geoffery grinned.

"Ugh..." Nathan sighed in disgust.

Tina's anger had been calmed. ...For the time being. Nathan knew that this woman was unbalanced in the mind, and in addition had a sick fascination with killing beings smaller than her. Guy was right when he said that they should stay on her good side, for if she were to be agitated again, there would be no telling who would make out of her wrath alive, if any at all.

Nathan at least wished that he was away from the manor should it happen again.

~~~