Kevin sat silently in Paige’s soft hand as he waited patiently for what was to come. He heard the door open and Paige’s footsteps as she walked barefoot across what sounded like a hardwood floor. In his mind he had faith that Paige would protect him from anything. Rolling backward onto his stomach, Kevin began to think about all that had happened that day and what was surely to come next.

               “I wonder what Angela’s doing?” Kevin thought as he laid down in the warm darkness of Paige’s palms. He heard her walk down what sounded like wooden stairs and past what sounded like a television, but seeing as how small he was it could just as easily have been a home theater.

               “You sure took your sweet time with him! Did you get the blood sample?” said a menacing and familiar voice to Paige in a passive yet cheerful tone.

               “Yeah the sample and the report are in the upstairs bedroom. Also you should probably clean up there; Priya had her way with him before I came in.” Paige said casually with a hint of annoyance.

               “*sigh* I did it last time, can’t you do it?” the voice said angrily.

               “Why don’t we just make Priya do it?” Paige asked with genuine annoyance.

               “Paige you know that even if we ask her, she’s just not going to do it, it’s better if we handle shit like this ourselves.” the voice said disappointingly.

               “Well I got another one of Priya’s little problems in my hand right now! This one’s named Kevin Myers, If you take him down to the high priority area for me I’ll be glad to fix the bedroom.” Paige negotiated with the other person.

               “Sure! Let me have the little guy” the malicious voice said eagerly.

      “Unfortunately I’m really good at fixing the mental messes that some of the younger ones make.” The voice said again with anger.

               “Just be careful he’s a little fucked up in the head and… I promised him I’d protect him.” Paige said lovingly.

               “Jeez Paige your too nice for your own good, you should try being mean.” the voice giggled. “I’ll put him in the HP area then I’ll debrief him later”

               “Ok. Thanks again for this. And by the way I finished my story.” Paige said.

               “Well at least you’re in the right place if you want to write those kind of stories.” Said the voice.

               Kevin felt the soft floor beneath him collapse as Paige opened her grip and tipped her hand over thus dumping Kevin gently into the vicious sounding girl’s hand. Kevin landed on his stomach and was to tired and too afraid to move. Something about this girl didn’t sit right with him, maybe he was just paranoid, but it seemed as though her very touch pained him on the inside.

      Unlike Paige’s hands this persons hands were cold and minty smelling, but none the less gentle. Within a few seconds he was gripped firmly yet carefully by her strong fingers which pinned him police takedown style on her open palm. His arms were held firmly behind his back, and his head was secured against the cold yet soft pad of her open palm. Kevin struggled violently as this new person manhandled him without regards to his personal space.

               “There, there its ok. Heather’s gonna make it all better.” The voice comforted in a soft girlish tone as she petted his disheveled head with her pointer finger.

               Kevin stopped struggling at the mention of that name. Pure fear and anger welled up inside him and memories filled his head with thousands of instances of unjustified cruelty.

      “Heather? No it can’t be!” He thought to himself his eyes beginning to tear up at just the mention of such a bitter name.

               “You’re fucked.” Said an amused voice from deep inside him.

               “Ok hang on small stuff were almost there.” she teased light-heartedly as she opened the door to a basement. The second her hand was removed He leaped up to his feet and stared her down, but what he was not prepared for is what deep down he already knew.

               “Hi there.” Heather Wade said cheerfully with a genuine but unsettling smile which only served to sadden him further.

               Kevin looked upon the face of Josh’s former tormentor with absolute horror. Not only was he now at the complete mercy of the very same person who conspired to make life a living hell for anyone who crossed her, but in his shrunken state she could kill him without even breaking a sweat.

               “Your dead. Nice knowing you pal.” Said his subconscious bitterly.

               “Ouch that’s not a happy face at all” She joked, tilting her head to the side as she walked down the stairs to the basement.

               Despite her face being completely free of any form of malice he couldn’t help but feel threatened by the way she smiled down upon him. For some reason he was unable to make eye contact with her, it was as if his body feared the repercussions if he did.

               “Hey now, there’s no reason to be scared, I promise your much better off here than out there.” she reasoned as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

               As she walked across the hard cement floor of this surprisingly large basement he noticed that the entire room was filled with row after row of filing cabinet. The area was dimly lit and as he looked at the modified filing cabinets he noticed small pipes and
wiring attached to the sides of them.

               “Ok your high priority so you go over… here” Heather said pointing to a row of model houses sitting on a large shelf and encased with glass.

               “Alright little guy I’ll see you in a little bit I gotta go do shit, so… yeah you make friends with the locals.” She joked as she lowered him onto the ground and allowing his naked body to roll onto a fuzzy green surface.

               “Oh yeah here’s some clothes” She said tossing him a long-robed poncho made of light brown fabric and a pair of light brown pants before she walked away without another word. Her menacing building sized figure casting a massive shadow on the field of green as she walked away.

               Looking around he saw a row of about 10 shrunken houses all interconnected by a sidewalk. Making sure to put on his pants and poncho he reached for the ground only to realize that he was standing on artificial grass made of some kind of plastic material.

               “What the fuck is going on here. Why is Heather being so nice?” he said to himself as he pulled up the pair of pants and made is way over to the sidewalk.

               Walking around Kevin noticed that there were even plastic trees and flowers in addition to the grass. Looking around the homes each numbered one through ten he almost felt like he wasn’t shrunken. In the distance was a park with a swing set and a
small multi colored plastic jungle gym. It was almost like home, almost. In the distance beyond the glass he could hear the muffled cries and screams of what seemed like other people. The noises were un-nerving and as he walked over to the park bench he swore that he was being watched by somebody.

               Taking a seat on the obviously plastic park bench he stared out beyond the thick glass wall at the rows of filing cabinets bewildered by the sheer number of them.

               “What’s good bro, you gonna sit on that cold ass bench all day” A voice said from behind him.

               “AHHH” Kevin screamed expecting danger, but was instead met with the smiling face of somebody his own size.

               “Yo chill out man, haha I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare the shit outta you.” The blonde haired teen said, his strained smile appearing to be genuine as he grabbed Kevin by the shoulder.

               “Who are you and where the hell am I.” Kevin said earnestly to the only other person his size. He hoped that maybe this individual, although clearly suffering from mental strain could shed some light on the situation

               “Well ahh… Mah names Pete, and umm this ish! Is called ahh… I don’t know to be honest.” He said absentmindedly before taking a seat on the bench.

               “Holy shit dude, the fuck happened to your face!” Pete yelled surprised by the enormous burn on Kevin’s skin.

               “I was burned by a cigarette By my ‘Best Friend’.” Kevin said mournfully as he took a seat next to Pete. “So you really don’t know where we are do you?”

               “Nah man, no fuckin clue, but if I had to guess it would be Fuckin Shitsville, USA. Population? A buncha crazy-ass poncho wearing smurfs!” He said angrily as he adjusted his sleeveless poncho. He was clearly not only mentally unstable, but also not
particularly bright as well.

               “So I take it your waiting for the ‘initiation’ from Heather?” Pete said emotionlessly as he stared out into the distance.

               “Yeah I guess so.” Kevin said thoughtlessly not entirely sure what was going on.

               “Well you’re a lucky man. She’s one of the nicest giant bitches around here.” Pete said, his words completely contradicting the mental expectations in Kevin’s head.

               “Say, what’s your name?” he said curiously.

               “Kevin Myers” he said blankly.

               “hahahaha… No it’s not” Pete said accusingly his fist clenched with barely concealed rage.

      “What do you mean that’s not my name!” Kevin said out of confusion and genuine curiosity as well as a fear that Pete saw through his disguise.

      “Because the person I once was knew Kevin Myers, and so I know you’re not him.” He said critically.

      “what’s your real name” he said angrily, the strained look on his face suggesting sinister implications should he fail to respond properly.

               “I honestly don’t know. I was told that I wasn’t anybody. So I guess I’m nobody really.” Kevin said minding his words carefully around the obviously deranged man.

               “I know that. I mean whose memories do you have? Cuz I got the memories of some douche named Peter Huang. He said insanely.

      “So I shortened it to Pete.” He reasoned. Now what’s your name?”

               “Well…” Kevin said “I thought it was Josh at some point so…”

               “Great! ‘Kevin’ Your name is now Joe. Joe the bro haha” Pete laughed maniacally.

      “Ahh… sorry about the jokes by the way it’s the only thing that keeps me from FUCKING KILLING EVERY LAST FUCKER IN HERE.” he screamed at the top of his lungs while turning around and glaring angrily at the houses.

               “So I take it you need a place to stay?” He said as the expression on his face suddenly switched from pure rage to happiness in a heartbeat.

               “Umm yeah I guess.” Said Kevin.

               “Yesss! That’s tight dude, you can totally crash with me.” He said with a crazed wide eyed smile.

               Suddenly the door at the top of the stairs opened and the booming footsteps of Heather could be heard from across the room.

               “Shit! I gotta go, but remember dude your only Joe to me. If anybody else asks your name is Kevin. If they found out you lied they’ll kill you in a second.” Pete said as he took off sprinting towards one of the houses.

               “Hey there Kevin! Are you ready for your initiation or debriefing? its whatever really?” Said Heather awkwardly as she approached the glass structure, her seemingly genuine smile still unable to convince him that she wasn’t going to hurt him.

               Then with the same cold hands that she used to threaten and beat Josh with she gripped him and lifted him up to her devilish lips whose flushed red color reminded him of spilled blood. Even though she had an admittedly beautiful face Kevin couldn’t help but cringe in fear and look away from her.

               “Calm down.” She said passively, as she stared down upon him with anticipation.

               Her words appeared to have the opposite effect as Kevin squirmed in her closed hand desperate to get away from her.

               “We’ll sort this out when we get there” she said dejectedly as she quickly jogged up the stairs with him firmly held in the vise-like grip of her left hand, The sound of her cheap foam flip-flops slapping against the ground hurting his ears as she walked.

               “Ok. I got to make some soup for the dinner tonight, so while I make it I’ll initiate you, understand?” she said down to him.

               Kevin didn’t say anything he was too afraid to even speak. Heather picked up on his silence and her face quickly turned into a disappointed looking frown.

               “First things first you gotta talk to me little guy.” Heather said impatiently as she placed him on the surface of the polished marble countertop in the kitchen.

               “Well speak. Tell me your name, ask me a question, just say something.” she demanded impatiently as she began to stir the massive pot sitting on an electronic stove in the distance, her sharp predator-like eyes trained entirely on him.

               “I… I can’t. I Just… can’t speak when you’re looking at me” Kevin whimpered miserably.

               “Ok. That’s cool, I totally get that. If I was your size I would be afraid as well.” Heather said acceptingly in an effort to comfort him before turning her head towards the pot of soup.

               “Where am I heather, and why have I been brought here.” he asked quickly as soon as her eyes left his sight.

               “Well… you’re at what we like to call “The Compound”, and the reason why your here is because your genes and… that’s all I know.” Heather said as she pulled out a few small boxes of chopped vegetables and fruit.

               “You hungry little guy?” she said pulling out a carrot slice that was easily the size of manhole cover.

               “Umm… no thank you” Kevin said nervously.

      “I’d appreciate it if you just told me what’s going to happen to me” he said with less fear than before.

      “Well to make a long story short. You lucked out little guy, In more ways than you can imagine” she continued completely ignoring his request and placing the carrot slice next to him.

      “Just in case you get hungry” she said warmly.

      “Please answer My question” Kevin said bravely his whole body shivering with fear as he continued to test the boundaries of Josh’s enormous tormentor.

      “Hang on I was getting to that” she scolded in a gentle tone.

      “You’re going to live in the high priority area; you know the fake neighborhood in the glass box, for about… I’d say 3 days, and then you will be placed in the custody of Angela” explained Heather while she stirred the soup.

      “Angela!” Kevin said in a serious tone.

      “But…But I thought she didn’t care about me” Kevin continued as he touched the scar on his face.

      “If she asked for custody of you it means she clearly does.” reasoned heather who was displaying a level of intelligence that was completely opposite of the heather Josh knew.

      Then the electronic door to the kitchen made a whirling noise and slide open. A girl who he recognized from school entered the room; he believed her name was Olivia.

      “Hey Heather did you need me for something” she said shyly.

      “Yeah Olivia I’m Kinda busy can you go take this guy down to the high priority area?” said Heather both confirming his suspicions and sealing his fate simultaneously.

      “Ok. Can I play with him first?” Olivia asked innocently.

      “Well that depends on what defines ‘playing with him’.” Questioned Heather suspiciously.

      “I’m not like the other girls. I’m not going to do THAT with him” Olivia sputtered nervously towards the older girl.

      “I just wanted to you know talk with him. Seeing as I don’t have any friends at school, and the other girls around her don’t want to talk to me either.” Said Olivia somberly as she played with her short black hair.

      Kevin couldn’t help but feel bad for the soft spoken girl. In many ways she reminded him of himself; or Josh he really wasn’t sure who he was at that point.

      “That sounds like a good Idea. I can’t talk to him properly seeing as I have to make dinner for everyone, I think you should initiate him.” Heather said.

      “Now come over here and pick him up” Heather ordered.

      “Umm…Ok” said Olivia shyly.

      A minute passed and she had not moved from her spot. Kevin was becoming increasingly worried that she may not have experience holding someone of his stature.

      “If this girl drops you, were dead.” reminded Kevin’s subconscious. 

      “Well? Are you going to pick him up?” said Heather impatiently.

      “Of course I am, give me a sec.” said Olivia her face blushing red with embarrassment.

      The distant girl quickly walked over to the countertop and stood in front of him, Olivia’s massive body grew as she moved closer and in no time took up his entire field of vision. It was a chilling experience as he was once again reminded him how small he truly was, and that without any effort at all even this timid girl could kill him.

      Her arm which was as wide as a road lane reached up to grab him. The small hand which was balled into a fist unclenched and with a gentle slap landed open on the countertop.

      “Please get in my hand. I promise I’ll take good care of you” mumbled Olivia softly who was clearly just as afraid if not more so than he was of this situation.