Familiar Faces in Familiar Places

Simply attired in tight stretchy pants and a snug t-shirt, Madison padded across the bedroom floor, crouching down low, her face almost level with the plane of the bed.

Mirielle nodded, somber expression on her face. It was obvious Madison had forewarned Lucie of her plan. “I don’t understand,” she said, shrugging her tiny shoulders.

Madison nodded slowly, “I think it was your unbridled ambition to try and wrest the ability to shrink and unshrink people that first concerned me,” she said softly, laying her arms on the edge of the bed and lowering her chin down.

“But you understood,” Mirielle countered.

“That you wanted the ability, certainly. Why was the question I needed to ponder,” she stated. “I mean we both know the whole reason Michael was thusly reduced in stature was to instill some measure of humility into him.”

Mirielle turned and looked to where Michael was standing, near the center of the bed. Extending her arm, “Well, has he been humbled enough?”

Madison laughed, “Hardly. Let me ask you, when you woke up was he full of gratitude and contrition for his miscreant behavior?”

Mirielle shook her head slowly, “I suppose not,” she conceded.

“Exactly,” Madison replied, “His education needs to continue,” she stated.

“Okay, what about me?”

Madison smiled, “Hubris,” she said. “You thought you could glean millennia old knowledge out of what you presumed were simple old world village folk and there would be no cost.”

“Not true,” Mirielle protested, “I hoped I could garner the ability or use it for my own purposes, that is absolutely true, but I was up front about my intentions the whole time. I said to you ‘If this can be done and undone, is it possible to transfer the ability to do this to another person, or place it some kind of ingestible substance, or maybe in an inanimate object?’ that’s what I said. Do you remember?”

“Yes, you said that I was my father’s daughter and capable of seeing the broader strokes, but that I was blinded by my emotional attachment to see my brother brought low, all the while you had him tucked up inside your vagina,” Madison recalled. “You also said it was important to gain Lucie’s trust to try and find a way to get the ability to shrink people.”

“Yes,” Mirielle said, nodding, “Again I was honest.”

“True,” Madison conceded, “But it begged the question, why did you want the ability? Why couldn’t you just enjoy the uniqueness of the situation and take delight in the opportunity to play with Michael? Help him understand the impact of his behavior?”

Mirielle frowned. Had she gotten greedy? Blinded by lofty ambition to bring Mortimer low? What about the cop? Would she have shrunk him if she had the chance? Yes.

“I can see you are coming to understand,” Madison said.

“Yes,” Mirielle acknowledged. “So that’s why called Lucie and forewarned her about my intent?”

Madison twisted her head from side to side, “Lucie? No. When you left here with my brother in stow, I called Adelina and told her you intended to undermine her curse and try to learn how to use it for own purposes,” she said.

“And she told Lucie, who in turn did this to use,” Mirielle nodded.

Chuckling, Madison lifted her head and pushed herself up to a standing position near the bed. “No, it was never Lucie,” she said, turning her head toward the door.

“I’m sorry?” Mirielle said.

“It was never Lucie. You dealt directly with Adelina herself,” she explained.

“But, at my apartment?”

“Adelina,” Madison said.

“No, how?” Miirielle asked.

Bending forward, Madison placed her hands on the bed to either side of the strawberry blonde, “Do you not think perhaps it is possible for a woman who possesses the ability to actually shrink people down to maybe also have an ability to change the way she looks? Come on,” she encouraged.

Mirielle didn’t know what to think. Had it really been Adelina the whole time, masquerading as Lucie? Honestly she wouldn’t know, she had never really taken the time to speak to either and had no idea what they were like. Madison had. She had said so. She had said she had stopped and spoken to Adelina a few years back, even knew where the old woman had come from, when she was born. Nodding slowly, she understood, her presumption was inverted. Everyone thought the little rich girl, whose name was on the plaza was taking an indigent old woman under her youthful wing, when it was the other way around the whole time. The crone had been looking out for the girl. Madison had offhandedly said it was just one day, but it had to be more, had to be ongoing. Which would explain the call. “Adelina,” she murmured, replaying the interaction in her head. It made sense now. It was all about the lesson. Not just for Michael, but for her. He had been right, it was a trap.

Madison stood upright again, looking down on Mirielle a moment before her eyes drifted over to Michael, a smile parting her lips.

“So what now?” Mirielle asked, pulling Madison’s attention back onto her.

“Well,” Madison said, drawing the word out, hands sliding around behind her back as she shifted her weight from hip to hip and grinned down at Mirielle.

Michael let out a strangled cry and suddenly began to run toward the pillows, crossing the surface of the bed as quickly as his little legs would carry him.

Eyes catching the movement, Madison chuckled, “Oh Michael,” she said amusedly.

Mirielle turned her head to look at the fleeing form of the giant girl’s brother before looking back up at Madison. “Anyway,” Madison said, eyes falling back on Mirielle once Michael had concealed himself near the pillows, “What was it you said about me missing out? On the outside looking in? About my friends getting to experience sexual fulfillment and leaving me with nothing more than bittersweet vengeance?” she queried.

Standing there looking up at the gorgeous Madison Hearst, Mirielle had to admit the sense of perspective was truly intimidating. There was a certain feeling of insignificance, like walking in amongst dinosaurs or swimming with whales. She had been on the other side of the equation when she had possession of Michael and she wondered just what Madison might have in store. While she and the girl did not have the acrimonious history Madison shared with her brother, who knew? A thought suddenly occurred to her. If Adelina knew some trick to make her look like Lucie, could she also not pass herself off as Madison?