FALSE ENDING

“I...don't know.” Holly said, barely, “He hurt me, but this seems like a lot. I don't know if I can...”

“I see.” Tess sneered, “I suppose I was wrong about you. Shame.”

“So, what-” Holly started, but she was quickly cut off.

Tess dropped her foot forward and crushed Jacob underneath, twisting it and scraping it backwards, leaving a small streak of red on the floor. Holly stared down at the tiny smear, the infinitesimal splash of red which was just a moment ago a person, and felt her heart beating hard against her ribs. She snapped her attention back to Tess, who had just stepped closer.

“This will be the end of our crossing, unfortunately.” Tess said, as she reached out with both arms, placing one finger on Holly's forehead and another on her sternum. It was as though thick, black smoke was pouring from Tess's fingertips directly into Holly's shivering body. It worked its way through every vein, every capillary, into every cell of her being, until finally, as quickly as it started, it stopped, and Holly lay on the floor, as small as an insect.

She gaped at the mountainous form of the witch, tall and wide, a human Olympus Mons on Earth.

'Is this what you saw, Jacob?' Holly thought to herself.

“You could have been a god among ants.” Tess thundered, shaking her head side to side, “But you chose to be an ant. I will never understand people like you.”

Tess lifted her foot again, her bare, dusty sole quickly overtaking Holly's miniscule form. There was nowhere to run, and Holly didn't have the strength regardless. She saw the remainder of Jacob, a stringy mess of viscera still hanging from the ball of Tess's foot, moving towards her.

'Were you scared?' Holly thought.

The soft underside of Tess's foot pushed Holly over and pinned her to the ground. Weight piled on and on; a podological peine forte et dure. In her last moments, Holly saw the eyes of that great, hidden beast again, but only for a moment. In another, Tess's sole met the floor, and Holly splattered like a bug.

 -The End-

TRUE ENDING

“I...I wonder what it'll feel like.” Holly whispered. She lifted her boot and hovered it over Jacob, before dropping the heel mere inches from him, pivoting the toe back and forth, watching the tiny person beneath appear and disappear from her line of sight. She began to breath harder, her cheeks flushing, as she took in the intoxicating feeling of completely overshadowing a human life.

  Jacob screamed, but it was an inaudible squeak to the giants above.

  “This still feels like a dream.” Holly said, unable to look away from her shoe and the body that lay beneath it, “But I don't want to wake up.”

  Tess smiled in response.

  “I...I'm gonna do it.” Holly breathed, “I'm gonna crush him.”

  “Go on.” Tess said.

  “Hold my hand.” Holly reached out her hand, and Tess's thin fingers clasped around it.

  Slowly, the thick tread of Holly's boot lowered onto the wriggling form of Jacob. Dried specks of mud bounced around his body as they shook loose. Light became dimmer as the shoe eclipsed the candle light of the witch's cabin. The cold rubber touched his tear stained face, and in another moment, it crushed bone and organ alike to a coarse paste with a distinct crunch.

  Tess felt the heat rise in Holly's palm and gripped her hand tighter. She looked at Holly's serene face, head lolled back, cheeks red, forehead sweating, lower lip bitten, air being pulled raggedly through her flaring nostrils, and grinned.

  “Congratulations, child.” Tess said.

  Holly barely heard Tess's approval. She lifted her boot slightly, and looked breathlessly at the string of red which stretched from her sole to the floor.

  “You've taken the first step away from your world, and into mine.” Tess continued.

  “Y-yeah...” Holly placed her foot back on the ground and twisted it, grinding away any discernible features of the man she had just erased.

  “I'm proud of you.” Tess suddenly wrapped Holly into a hug. Holly, broken from her trance, took a moment to recognize what was happening, but returned the embrace in kind.

  “Th-thanks.” Holly said waveringly, “What, um, what comes now?”

  “Now?” Tess said, breaking the hug, but keeping her hands grasped firmly on Holly's arms, “First, we should anoint you. But, before that, would you like to be fitted for a hat?”

“I'd actually really like that...” Holly smiled, “Thank you, Tess.”

  “Come, come, let us be quick about it.” Tess finally broke her grip and whirled around, “There is much to do to get you settled in as my new student. There is so much for you to learn.”

  Holly followed quickly behind her new teacher, but allowed her gaze to fall once more on the bloodstain, which was now drying to brown on the wooden floor, soon to be indistinct and forgotten. She felt the same pulse of pleasure radiate throughout her body, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she had made the right choice.

 -The End-