Last night was awesome. Thomas could not believe that it actually happened. He wanted to believe that it was a mere dream, but he knew, the moment that he woke up that morning, with Gloria laying besides him, her awakening and greeting him with a rare smile, and a "Morning, Tiger", he knew that it was real.

Gloria, a fairly attractive young woman who swore to look after him, who he actually feuded with for a short while, but reconciled, who traveled with him to discover the truth behind Bruce's absence, finding Melissa's lost family in the process, and now who was planning their escape from this house, had taken his virginity.

However, an hour and a half had passed, and Gloria was back to her normal self. She was waiting outside, waiting for Thomas to finish preparing himself.

Today was the day.

The day they put their plan into motion.

Thomas walked out of Bruce's tent, finding Gloria standing outside.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Of course," Thomas said. "I'm a little scared, but I know that we can pull this off."

"...How can you know that if you don't know my plan?"

"Well..."

"Let's go... I'll tell you as we're walking."

The two then began to walk out of the campsite, turning on their flashlights as they departed from the light from the campsite's hanging lights.

"Okay," Gloria started, "here's what we're going to do. I believe that we have some time before Sayuko comes, so what I'm going to do is find the hole to the master bedroom that Bruce mentioned. I'll slowly make my way towards Melissa's room, and wait behind the wall. After Sayuko leaves, I'll run inside and distract Melissa for as long as I can."

"Wait." Thomas turned towards her. "You mean that we have to split up?"

"Yep. That's really the only way this'll work."

"What about you-"

"Let me continue," Gloria interrupted. "What you'll do is make your way to the hole in the kitchen. You'll wait in the kitchen until Sayuko comes, and both her and Melissa go upstairs. Then, you'll wait at the front door, out of sight until Sayuko comes running down the stairs like she usually does. That's your cue to call for her. If all goes well, she'll look down and notice you, and take you out of here."

"Why can't we trade? I'll be the distraction."

Gloria shook her head. "That won't work. Sayuko doesn't know me, so she would most likely ignore me. However, she would be more likely to stop for you, and rescue you. Trying to be chivarous, huh?"

"Yeah. Call it home training."

"Don't worry about me. When Melissa catches me, she'll most likely put me in there with the others."

"I see... What then?"

"Well, maybe you could get Sayuko to contact Mr. Cruz, inform him of what's going on. If all goes well, he'll come here and put a stop to it, and we'll be restored to our normal sizes."

"That makes sense... But you said that this plan was risky, and that we have next to no chance of succeeding."

"That's right."

The two had reached the bathroom's hole. The light from the opening shone on them as they walked past it.

"There are many ways this plan could get fucked up," Gloria said. "If Melissa happens to come down with Sayuko as she's leaving, it's a failure. If Sayuko happens to ignore you, or just doesn't hear you, failure. If Melissa spots Sayuko from the balcony talking to you, or taking you, most likely a failure. If I happen to not get Melissa's attention, or if she kills me on the spot and moves on, failure. And, of course, if Sayuko tramples you instead of rescuing you, failure."

"Damn," Thomas said. "But wouldn't Sayuko notice me?"

"Maybe, but you've seen how she leaves this house. She rushes out, probably crying. She may just run past you, without looking down for one second."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Thomas sighed.

Gloria looked towards him. "What's the matter? Having doubts?"

"No. It's just that all of the ways this plan won't work have me a little uneasy. But I'm not turning back now."

Gloria smiled. "Good."

"So, what if we fail, what then?"

"We'd meet back at the campsite, and we'll try again next week. If I'm not there, wait for me. If I don't show up, assume that I'm dead or have been captured. Then, it's up to you on what you'd want to do next."

"Okay..."

~~~

After nearly an hour, the two had descended two levels within the walls.

"Well, this is where I get off," Gloria said as she released her grip of the string from the level above.

"You sure?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah. This floor has holes that lead to the second floor of the house. I'm sure that I can find my way to the master bedroom in no time."

"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll be going lower, then. I'll see you later."

"You remember the way, right?"

"Yeah." Thomas began to turn away from her.

"Wait."

Thomas turned back towards her. "What is it?"

Gloria reached behind her neck with both hands, and unlatched her crucifix necklace, pulled it from around her neck, and held it out towards Thomas with her open palm.

"Take it," she said.

"What? Why?"

"Consider it a good luck charm."

"Are you sure? Does it have any sentimental value to you?"

"Yeah, it does. That's why, when all of this is over, you're going to give it back." She gave him a sly smile.

Thomas stared at the necklace for a few seconds, before reaching for it with his right hand. As his hand curled around it, Gloria brought her other hand on top of it, and squeezed it softly between both of her's. Thomas blushed as he looked at her face, and saw her dark eyes looking directly into his.

"We're going to do this," she said, smiling. "I know that we're going to pull this off!"

Thomas gave her a smile of his own. "We sure are!"

She pulled her hands back, and Thomas brought her necklace closer to him, and examined it in his palm.

"I promise you, I'll give this back to you," Thomas said.

"I know you will," Gloria said. "I believe in you." She then turned and began to walk the other way. "See ya later." She made a flail with her wrist as she was walking.

Thomas turned back to the way he was going to walk before, and headed down in that direction, stuffing her necklace into his right pants pocket. Why did she give it to him? It had to be for something more than just "good luck." Not only that, but there was the night before, too. Was it possible that Gloria was falling in love with him? If so, and assuming that they could be able to make it out of this house, he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life with her.

Such thoughts drifted through his mind as he made his way lower through Melissa's walls.

~~~

Melissa walked to her dresser, and opened the shoebox sitting on top of it. She looked down at the four tiny, scared faces that looked back up at her.

"Good morning," Melissa greeted. "Today's your day. Brady, Logan, Larry, Oliver, as I said yesterday you all are going to love what's going to happen. But first..." She grabbed the box. "I have to get you all cleaned up."

She walked out of her room and into the bathroom, carrying the box all the way. Once inside, she closed the door behind her with her foot, and set the box onto the closed lid of the toilet. Then, she knelt near the bathtub and turned on the water. She reached into the box and, one-by-one, pulled out each of the men and placed them in the bathtub.

"Take off your clothes," she ordered. "And while you're in there, pee or shit. I don't want any messes later."

Melissa stood and turned away from the four men inside of the tub. She walked to a drawer on the opposite side of the room, and pulled it open, and pulled out two washcloths. She waited there a few minutes, before walking back to the tub. The water inside was up to their knees, though not rising higher because of the drain not being plugged.

"Are you done?" she asked. "I don't see any turds. Don't tell me none of you had to go number 2."

The men shook their heads.

"Well, alright. If you all say so." She grabbed a bar of soap with one of the washcloths, and rubbed it within it under the running water, creating soap foam all over the cloth. She released the soap from her grasp, allowing it to fall into the tub below, grabbed Oliver with her other hand, and brought him closer to her.

"This is your lucky day," she said. "I bet you haven't had a bath in years."

She laughed before starting to wipe his body with the soapy cloth. She made sure to get every small nook of his body, even if it seemed to be too small to fit her comparibly large fingers. She delighted in wiping the small man's face, as she knew that at least some of the foam would get in his eyes, even if he had them closed.

Not even a minute later, Oliver was finished with his "bath." She held him under the running water of the faucet, and let it wash the foam from his body. She then placed the wet cloth on the edge of the tub, and grabbed the other cloth, and began to dry his body with it. Finally, when she was done, she placed him back in the shoebox.

"Now," she said, turning to the remaining three, "who's next?"

Less than ten minutes later, Melissa was done washing the remaining three men, who were now back inside of the shoebox, naked, and being carried back into her bedroom. Once there, she placed the box back on top of her dresser.

"It won't be long now," she said to them. "My friend should be arriving any minute now." She smiled, before closing the lid on the tiny men inside, and walking out of her room.

~~~

Inside of the shoebox, the four men stood there, staring up at the closed lid seconds after Melissa had closed it. Thanks to two handle holes on the long ends of the box, there was at least some light flowing inside of the cardboard prison.

"Her 'friend'?" Brady said. "Does she mean that Asian girl... whatever her name was?"

"Saya?" Logan said. "Sayo? Sayu?"

"Yeah! Sayu! Sayu... something..."

"Either way, that's the least of our worries now." Logan sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. "No doubt that we're going to be killed by Sayu-girl. I guess we should make our peace with our demons while we have the chance."

Brady sighed. "I wish she'd just get it over with. And I also wish that she'd at least not left us naked. I don't want to look at anyone else's Johnsons. Especially not their's." He looked towards Larry and Oliver.

"Then stop looking," Logan said.

~~~

Thomas emerged from the hole in the kitchen. After being in darkness for nearly two hours, the light that suddenly shone on his face nearly blinded him. He looked around. No sign of Melissa anywhere.

He then made his way to his left, away from the hole, but staying as close to the wall as possible. This way, the chances of Melissa seeing him would be decreased slightly. He heard footsteps on the floor above. They did not sound like they were approaching the stairs. He was safe, at least for that moment, and he hoped that she would stay that way, at least until he managed to leave the kitchen.

As luck would have it, not only did he manage to leave the kitchen without incident, but he was now nearing the entrance/exit of the living room to the main hallway. However, in the main hallway were the stairs leading to the floor above, and if he crossed now, he would be in serious danger of being spotted by Melissa from the balcony above.

Instead, he waited behind the wall, occasionally peeking into the hallway. He had no idea how long he would be waiting there. He had to wait until Sayuko arrived before he made his next move.

He did not have to wait long. Several minutes later, he heard the doorbell sound throughout the house. Seconds later, he heard footsteps from the floor above making their way towards the stairs. He peered out towards the main hallway, and saw Melissa walking down the stairs, wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and blue jeans, and her black flip-flops making a slapping sound with each step. Upon reaching the door, she briefly looked through its window, and opened the door.

"You're late," she said.

Thomas watched as Sayuko walked inside of the house. He noticed that she was wearing a white T-shirt, a denim skirt, and the same red platform sandals from two weeks ago, as well as the same small red purse hanging from her hand. Thomas could not help but stare at her for several seconds as she made her way further into the house. Sayuko had always been a very cute girl in his opinion, and after what Gloria said the day before, he could not help but think about what his life would be like if he got involved with her.

He quickly snapped himself back to reality, however. He had a job to do.

Melissa closed the door. "So, are you ready?"

"...Yes," Sayuko answered.

"Good. Let's get started then. This way, please." Melissa began to walk towards the stairs, being followed by Sayuko.

Thomas slowly crept from behind the wall, and peered from its corner, watching as two giant women walked up the stair and onto the floor above, and disappearing from sight.

"Okay." Thomas said to himself. He looked around the room, searching for any thing to use as a suitable hiding place, but close enough the the path that he predicted that Sayuko would take when she leaves the house. He spotted a table, but it was set up on the opposite side of the room, near the stairs. Unfortunately, there was nothing there he could use to hide near.

He had no choice. He made his way towards the wall to the left of the front door. He backed as close to the wall as he could, and laid down on his stomach, his head turned towards the stairs.

He hoped that Melissa would not notice him should she come out onto the balcony.

~~~

Gloria stood with her ear against the closed door of the master bedroom. She heard two sets of footsteps coming up to the second floor. No doubt that the second set belonged to Sayuko.

She waited a few seconds after the footsteps disappeared, and then crawled under the door, and into the hallway on the other side. As always, Melissa's door was closed.

Gloria took a deep breath, and ran towards Melissa's room.

~~~

Sayuko looked at the four small men inside of the open shoebox that Melissa were holding. They were all naked, though two of them were rather young, compared to nearly all of the other people she was forced to kill in the weeks before.

"All I have to do is kill them, right?" Sayuko asked. "And you will not hurt Taro?"

Melissa smiled. "Of course not. He and I are becoming close. I would hate to have to dash him against the wall."

Sayuko started to shudder. The mental image of her brother being killed in such a fashion almost proved too much for her to bare.

"Take one," Melissa said.

Sayuko gulped, and reached into the box. She grabbed one of the tiny men, and pulled him out. The man she held between her index finger and thumb was one of the younger ones, and had blond hair. He seemed to be flailing in her grasp, and shouting several expletives at her.

She knelt down to place the man on the floor. No doubt that he would run as soon as his feet hit the ground, but in order to ensure the safety of her brother, she would have to chase him down and stomp him to death. However, before she released him from her grip, Melissa stopped her.

"No," she said. "Not today. You have to do something else with them."

Sayuko looked up at Melissa face. Her smile was replaced with a sinister smirk.

"What do you mean?" Sayuko asked.

"...Eat him."

Sayuko's mouth dropped, and her eyes widened. "What?!" she said in shock.

"You heard me. Chew him, swallow him like a pill, I'll even get you a fork or knife if you want me to."

"But... why?" she said in anguish. "Can't I just kill him like before?"

"Yeah, you could." Melissa walked towards the locked cabinet. "Then I'll just have to kill your bro-"

Sayuko shot up from her kneeling position. "NOOO!!!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Sayuko began to shudder again as she looked at the man between her finger and thumb. He had given up on trying to free himself from her grip. She gulped, and brought the man closer to her face. She opened her mouth wide, and tucked the man inside.

After closing her mouth, she could feel the man's struggle continuing, as he was now flailing about inside. After hesitating for over 30 seconds, she finally mustered the will to swallow. She felt the very uncomfortable feeling of the man still fighting about as he was being pulled down her throat, and soon after, nothing. The man was now most like in her stomach, being digested. Afterwards, she coughed a few times, and wimpered.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked. "Gonna throw up?"

"N... no..." Sayuko answered.

"Good. When I swallowed one of these little bastards, I threw up not too long after."

"Oh, no..."

"Anyway, onto the next guy." Melissa held the box out towards her.

Sayuko peered into the box, and this time pulled out the brown-haired young man. Unlike the man before, this guy did not put up a fight. He held his head down, and his limbs were lifeless.

She shoved the man into her mouth, and this time, she decided to chew him. The burst of bitter blood, shattered bones, and organs made her sick, and she considered spitting it all out. However, remember what was at stake, she swallowed what used to be the body of the second man.

"Well done," Melissa said. "You're halfway done."

"Oh..."

Melissa looked into the box. "And looks like you have the two bums left. Maybe you should have saved the best for last? Or is that what you did? In that case, you definition of 'best' is severely flawed." she let out a short laugh.

Sayuko once again reached into the box, and snatched up both of the remaining men at once. Looking at them in her palm, they looked like so many of the other older men she had destroyed under her feet in the weeks before.

"Two at once?" Melissa's expression changed to a more concerned one. "Are you actually going to do that?"

Sayuko looked up at Melissa. "...Yes."

With that, she threw both of the men into her open mouth, and closed it on them. Again, she chewed, destroying the men's bodies with her white, but now bloodstained teeth. One bloody burst was hard enough, but two of them almost proved too much for her to handle, as she gagged and almost lost it all. With all of her strength, she kept everything inside, and swallowed the bloody remains of the final two men.

"Open your mouth," Melissa said, dropping the box onto the floor.

Sayuko did so, and Melissa examined inside, most likely making sure that she swallowed all four of them.

"Wow..."Melissa said. "I can't believe you actually did that. You're one sadistic girl."

Sayuko fell down to her knees, and held her belly with her hands.

"What's wrong?" Melissa asked.

"Could I... get some water?" Sayuko asked.

Melissa hesitated for a few seconds, before answering. "Sure." She walked out of the room, leaving the door open.

With Melissa out of sight, Sayuko dropped her face into her palms, and began to weep.

~~~

Gloria heard the door open.

"Must be Sayuko," she said. "It's time to do this."

Gloria prepared to run towards the open door, but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Melissa walk out. She quickly ran back to the corner.

"Shit."

She knelt on the floor, and ducked her head so that her hair covered her face, hoping that, when Melissa returned, the dark-colored would camofluage her.

~~~

Thomas heard footsteps. However, they were the same slapping sounds from before: flip-flops. Melissa was coming. He moved as close to the wall as possible, and then laid motionless. He heard Melissa walk down the stairs, and then into the living room. Thomas looked to see that she was out of sight for only seconds, before coming back in the same direction, holding a bottled water in her hands. She walked back up the stairs, and onto the floor above. Before he knew it, she was once again gone from his sight.

"Thank God..."

~~~

Melissa's footsteps drew closer. Gloria did not move in the slightest. She waited. Waited for the giant woman to walk past her, and back into the room.

She did just that. Gloria looked up as the door to the room closed behind Melissa.

Gloria fell down, sitting on her bottom. She sighed deeply.

"Things are going as planned on my end so far..."

~~~

Sayuko untwisted the cap on the bottle water she now had in her hand. It was cold, unexpected, as she was sure that Melissa would have given her lukewarm tap water, which she would have gladly accepted. Anything to wipe the taste of blood out of her mouth. With the cap off, she brought the opening to her mouth, and began to chug the cold beverage.

"So, I bet you want to talk to your brother now," Melissa said.

Sayuko pulled the bottle from her lips. "Is he safe?"

"Of course."

"Then that's all I need to know. As long as he's unharmed..." Sayuko twisted the cap back onto the bottle, and made her way towards the door.

"Are you sure about this?" Melissa asked.

"Yes." Sayuko then turned the door knob, and opened the door.

"Well, see you next week, then."

Sayuko did not answer. Instead, she ran towards the stairs.

~~~

Gloria heard the door open again, and this time, it was Sayuko running out of the room.

With no hesitation, Gloria ran towards the opening. Inside of the room, she saw Melissa pushing the shoebox back under her bed.

"I'm going to have to lock that door now," she said, before standing upright and walking towards the door.

However, Melissa eyes were soon locked onto Gloria's small body standing in the middle of the doorway.

Gloria smirked. "Hello, bitch."

"You!" Melissa said in shock.

Gloria then ran into the room, running towards Melissa, though at an angle leading away from her. A shadow was soon over her body, and she looked upward. The black sole of Melissa's flip-flop was coming down on her, but she managed to avoid being crushed by making a sudden right angle turn to her right.

She ran towards Melissa's bed, avoiding several more foot falls, before Melissa slammed her foot right into Gloria's path. Gloria tried to run around her foot, but it rose and came towards her, hitting her in the face. Gloria was knocked back nearly a foot (Melissa scale), and onto the floor. She prepared to et up and run again, but Melissa's massive fingers wrapped around her, and she found herself within Melissa's grasp.

"Got you," Melissa said, giving her a sadistic smile.

~~~

Thomas stood as he saw Sayuko turn and prepare to run down the stairs, purse in one hand, and bottle in the other. He then ran in front of the door.

This was it. The big moment. Time seemed to slow down as she made her way down the stairs. Thomas wondered how he would get her attention. Would she hear him if he called for her? Or would he be yet another casualty of this unfortunate woman? He watched how fast she ran. With each passing second, it seemed more and more likely that she would pass him, and he would have to return to the campsite in failure.

Then, something happened.

As Sayuko left the last step, she tripped over her sandal, and fell to the floor. The bottled water rolled from her grasp and further away from her body.

"Oww..." she wimpered.

This was his chance. As fast as he could, he ran towards the giant woman, yelling as loud as he could.

"Hey!! Hey, Sayuko!! Hey!!"

Sayuko, apparently hearing him, looked towards the noise, and gasped as she saw him running towards her. She knelt up, and covered her mouth with her hand as he stopped mere inches (her scale) from her knees.

"Thomas...?" she said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Thomas answered.

"So... You've been here all of this time..."

"Yeah. Not to sound selfish, but you think you could get me out of here?"

"Umm..." Sayuko looked towards the balcony. No one was there. In a rush, she wrapped her fingers around Thomas's body, and unzipped her purse, placing him inside. She then zipped it back up.

It was dark inside, and a bit cramped, as there seemed to be quite a bit of stuff in here. Despite this, Thomas could not hold back his grin.

He had succeeded.

~~~

Sayuko could not believe what just happened. Someone that she had been acquainted with had been shrunken by Melissa, and was here within these walls. Not only that, but she was able to sneak him into her purse without Melissa knowing. She sat there, thinking about it for a moment, before she heard a voice from above.

"Hey, what happened to you?"

Sayuko turned around and looked upward, and saw Melissa standing at the balcony. She seemed to be holding something in her hand.

"I tripped and fell," Sayuko answered.

"Oh. I didn't notice. ...You didn't spill that water, did you?"

Sayuko looked towards the water bottle, which was across the room. "No."

"Good." Melissa then continued walking down the hall upstairs.

Sayuko exhaled deeply, and stood up. She walked to the water bottle, and picked it up. Afterwards, she walked out of the house.

She stood outside of the door for a few seconds, before starting to walk again.

It was another horrible experience for her, but at least some good came out of it.

~~~

Gloria was being held over the sink in the bathroom. She expected to be thrown in with the rest of the Refugees, but she figured that Melissa was going to torture her first. She braced herself to endure whatever Melissa would throw at her.

"Now," Melissa said, hiding her other hand from sight. "I have a few questions for you."

Gloria was silent.

"Where have you been?"

"Where do you think?! I was in the walls with the rest!"

"Then why didn't you come out with them?"

Gloria didn't answer.

"I think you better answer the question."

"I just didn't, all right?"

"No." Melissa shook her head. "No, it is not 'all right'."

Suddenly a sharp pain came from Gloria's right leg. Or rather, where her right leg was. Gloria screamed in pain as she pieced together what just happened. In Melissa's other hand was a pair of scissors.

"You bitch!! What are you doing?!" Gloria snapped.

"If you don't want to lose any more limbs, you better answer my questions."

Gloria gritted her teeth.

"Why did you suddenly come out like that?" Melissa asked. "After all of this time in hiding, you actually challenged me? How stupid. What were you hoping to accomplish?"

"...I can't tell you."Gloria foolishly answered.

"What a shame." Melissa then brought the open blades of the scissors to Gloria's left arm, and clamped them down on it, severing it from her body.

Gloria screamed again, and at this point, she knew what her fate what going to be.

"Alright, then," Melissa said. "Next. Do you know of someone named Thomas Kirkland?"

Gloria gritted her teeth again, and answered. "Maybe, maybe not."

"I see... Where is he?"

"Like I'd ever tell you!"

The blades then took off her left leg. She bit her lower lip, trying to distract her from the pain of her three missing limbs. Of course, it was a futile effort.

"I'll ask you again," Melissa said, becoming flustered. "Where is he?"

Gloria remained silent, making Melissa more angry. She took the scissors, and snipped off her right arm, her last remaining limb. She then held the open blades around Gloria's neck. As she looked at the giant blades, the only thing on her mind was whether Thomas made it out safely, and to protect his whereabouts at all costs.

"Last time," Melissa said. "If you want to live. Where is Thomas Kirkland?"

Gloria's vision started to blur, and Melissa's voice seemed to be slowly becoming fainter. Despite this, Gloria managed to smirk on her face.

"Go to hell, bitch."

Enraged, Melissa gritted her teeth. "I'll meet you there, then!"

The blades closed around Gloria's neck, and her world suddenly became dark and silent.