Rebecca tried to fight with all her strength but as she already knew it was useless at her size. Melanie held her firmly with one hand as she brought the needle closer.

“NO! Don’t make me smaller!” 

she pleaded making Melanie pause and explain to her,

“Oh, you think I’m making you smaller?” her usual cocky grin was gone replaced by a somber look as she went on, “no, I’m making you bigger. After that all you need to do is one more thing for me and you’ll be free”.

All Rebecca heard was ‘bigger’ and ‘free’ and she was suddenly very excited to get on with it. Even if she had been paying attention she likely wouldn’t have bothered asking what she meant, all she wanted was to be big again and get out of here.

“Is it going to hurt?” she asked.

Melanie thought a moment then said, 

“I’m not gonna lie, at your size the needle is going to feel like a metal pipe being jabbed into your stomach and it’s going to be very scary at first but as you grow the wound will stay the same size and will eventually be nothing to you”

she then proceeded to stick her in the stomach and empty the contents of the syringe.

As she said, Rebecca looked down in horror at the gaping hole in her stomach and nearly passed out from the large amount of blood coming out but as Melanie lowered her to the floor she saw that it was already getting smaller, or rather she was getting bigger. 

Not wanting to take any chances she didn’t dare move from the spot Melanie had placed her, she just lay there and watched the once massive feet in front of her get smaller and smaller until they stopped growing and looked much more like normal feel and less like the monstrosities she had grown accustomed to seeing daily. But something still looked off. 

She knew Melanie was a petite woman almost a foot shorter than she was normally but for some reason her feet still looked rather large. In fact most of her looked larger than she should be.

As she stood up she quickly learned why, Melanie didn’t grow her back all the way. She was standing as tall as she could and her eyes were level with the bottom of Melanie’s breasts. 

While she was significantly larger than she’d been in months she was nowhere near as big as she should have been.

“What the hell?” she demanded, looking up into the eyes of the now smaller giant woman, “I’m not fully grown. What gives?”

Melanie squatted down in front of her so they were eye to eye and told her, 

“I know. That’s where your last act comes in. The restoration formula I injected you with will lock you in at the this size in two weeks”, she saw the look of fear on Rebecca and continued, 

“but I’m going to give you a dose of shrinking serum and let you go. If you find me another woman, inject her and call me then I’ll come get you and give you the rest. The new girl will then live with me until we part ways and the cycle repeats. Got it?”

So this was how she had gotten Tina to agree to subject her to this nightmare. If she didn’t she would have been stuck that size for the rest of her life. Still, she thought, was it right of her to put another woman through what she went through just so she could get her old height back? And knowing how things went with Melanie, whoever she did it to would be at risk of being killed. She may have blamed Melanie for Adam’s death but she still felt guilty for her part no matter how small and if it happened to her next victim she’d be much more at fault. She didn’t know if she could live with herself knowing that.

Melanie interrupted her thoughts, 

“I’m afraid you’ve been let go from your job. I couldn’t convince them to keep you after your unexplained absence but I’ve been paying your rent and having a maid service come twice a week so your apartment will be just as you left it, only you know, bigger” she added with the familiar smirk, “but don’t worry, I’ve deposited a good amount of money in your bank so you won’t need to deal with getting a job for some time. Hopefully when you’re back to your big old self”

She head a car horn beep and Melanie looked startled then said, 

“Oops, the cab’s here earlier than I expected. Here, get dressed and meet me outside while I tell him to wait” she handed her a child sized dress and shoes then ran outside.

As she got dressed Rebecca took one last look around, glad to be finally leaving this place but scared at the prospect of going out into the world at less than four feet tall (she would later learn she was 3’10” tall) and even more nervous about the choice she had to make.

When she got dressed she went outside for the first time in almost a year and was blinded by the bright sun. Even though it was overcast it was still more natural light than she’d seen in a while.

The crisp autumn air felt good on her skin and what little sun was out felt nice once her eyes adjusted. 

She saw Melanie standing next to the cab with the door open and a large duffle bag. When she reached her Melanie handed it to her and said, 

“there are some clothes for you to wear until you’re ready to make your decision and there’s an ATM card in the purse that will give you access to the account I’ve set up. I think you’ll be happy with it” Rebecca took the bag without a word and began the task of climbing up into the cab but was stopped when Melanie lifted her up under her arms and brought her in for a long passionate kiss. 

Rebecca wanted to resist but there was a part of her that realized she was going to miss her giantess so she returned the kiss and was set down into the back seat and Melanie closed the door for her after one more message, 

“My number is in the phone I left on your kitchen table. Call me when… well, you know. BYE!” she smiled and waved at her like a parent sending a kid off to school.

Rebecca didn’t turn back as the cab pulled away and began heading to its destination.

She sat with her back against the seat which left her feet just barely dangling over the edge in a way she wasn’t familiar with that made her uncomfortably aware of how small she was. She had expected to feel bigger even if she wasn’t full size but being stuck in a world of giants reminded her of just how small she was still.

“So, is this your first time away from home?” 

the cab driver asked clearly thinking he was talking to a little girl.

“No” Rebecca answered in as deep a voice as she could muster, “I’ve just been visiting a friend”.

It seemed to work because the cabbie replied in a normal tone, 

“Oh crap, I’m so sorry. I thought you were a kid”.

Rebecca felt embarrassed at this but told him it was fine to which he replied, 

“I bet you get that a lot, huh?”

She just nodded and muttered something under her breath that thankfully he didn’t hear.

As the ride went on she realized she hadn’t been far from home all this time. It only took 45 minutes to get to her place from Melanie’s which in city driving time meant it was only a few miles. 

The realization that she had been a short walk from her apartment all this time and there had been nothing she could have done about it made her feel as helpless as when she had only been three inches tall. She pushed the thought out of her head as the cab pulled up in front of her place and stopped. 

She thanked the driver and rummaged through the purse Melanie had left her looking for cash to give the man a tip but when he saw this he said, 

“That’s ok little lady. Your friend took care of it”, when she still didn’t get out he asked, uncomfortably, “Uh, do you need help getting out?”

Rebecca wanted to get offended but when she opened the door and realized how much of her strength it took and then saw the drop she was facing she was grateful for the offer but politely refused. She was going to have to get used to this for at least the immediate future.

The driver watched this strange little woman struggling to get out of the car and wondered how she managed on her own since she didn’t seem very capable of even something as simple as getting out of a cab. 

When he heard the door close (very lightly) he waited until he could see she was away from the cab before pulling away. He didn’t get far before realizing she didn’t close the door good enough and a warning beep came up so he pulled over and closed it before continuing. 

For once Rebecca was glad that city life was so impersonal since she was sure none of her neighbors had ever known her before so they wouldn’t question why she was suddenly two feet shorter or where she had been all this time, which was a relief as she was still unsure what her next move was going to be. 

Part of her wanted to go to the police and tell them everything but even with proof she didn’t know how much they’d believe. And then there was Melanie’s fortune, she was sure she had enough money to keep herself out of prison and facing no punishment possibly ever. 

And worse, what if she got mad and decided to shrink her again? Would she end up even smaller? And how would she punish her?

These thoughts were racing through her mind as she rode the elevator to the fourth floor. She had hoped the car would go all the way uninterrupted but it stopped at the third floor and a young mother with her five year daughter came in.

As expected the woman didn’t recognize her and was doing her best not to blatantly stare, but not the kid. The little girl, who was only a few inches shorter than she was wouldn’t stop asking her questions. 

“How old are you?”

“What grade are you in?”

“Where’s your mommy?”

It went on like this for what felt like way too long. The whole time she kept hoping the mother, who like everyone now towered over her, would say something but she never did. As she got out of the elevator and said goodbye to the girl with a big smile she saw the mother trying very hard not to laugh at what she has just seen. 

At her old size she would have been pissed but as she was she didn’t have the nerve to yell at a giant person. She hoped she’d learn to deal with them, or even better not have to after a few days but that was still undecided.

Although the woman she had just encountered had made the list of possible candidates, and was just as quickly removed when she thought about how that little girl would feel to lose her mother.

With a sigh she took the keys out of the purse and unlocked the door to her apartment.