Heather
had never imagined she would see so many giants at once.
When
Emily said they were going to throw a party for Halloween, Heather
had assumed that the giant girl meant some kind of small spooky
gathering where they sat around, watched horror movies, and ate
candy. She had almost envisioned a relaxing night, draped across
Emily's lap while the girl's friends occasionally cooed over her. It
would have been embarrassing but ultimately good.
Even
after Emily had started to hang up decorations, Heather hadn't
thought anything of it. She simply sat down on the floor, struggling
to pass even a ball of fake spider webbing up to the giantess, which
only seemed to bring a smile to Emily's lips.
It
wasn't until Lex came home the day beforehand with two bags filled
with clanking bottles and then Emily went out to Lex's car to grab
the cases of beer that Heather realized just what kind of party it
would be.
And she
also remembered the leash that Emily had bought.
She
stood trembling behind Emily's tall Victorian-style boot, hugging the
blue suede while a collar of black leather sat around her neck. It
chaffed in a way that the soft black velvet of her 'pronoun pin'
never did and the thin narrow lead of matching leather rose all the
way up to Emily's beringed fingers, which were wrapped around a red
solo cup. There was only just enough slack for her to not be choked
when Emily took a sip, but any sudden movement forced her to run or
stand on the tips of her toes if she didn't want to risk
asphyxiation.
Past
the pillars of midnight blue suede that sat before her was a redwood
forest of gigantic legs.
It
would have been intimidating at her previous height, but now she was
utterly petrified. There was a constant low-level quake rumbling
through the floor and while she wanted to believe it was the powerful
bass thump of the music, Heather knew that it was just as likely to
be the casual footfalls of the enormous party-goers.
She
knew that the house wasn't jam-packed, she could see vast empty
spaces between the circles of conversation, but she had quickly given
up trying to count how many gigantic attendees were present. Once the
count had surpassed ten, it had simply been too many giants for her
to fathom, and her body began to naturally cower behind Emily's legs.
Most of
the attendees were in costume, even if they were obviously hastily
thrown together, but Heather didn't recognize any but the most
generic or well-known, like the giant who had shown up in a Michael
Myers costume. The sight of the classic slasher blown up to dozens of
feet tall had made her yelp and the quakes his boots produced had
been what had first sent her scurrying behind Emily for protection.
Heather
truly hadn't been expecting there to be so many men in attendance.
After
weeks of only seeing Emily and Lex, she had almost started to forget
that the pair were not that big to normal sized people. Lex, who
towered over their roommate, was still dwarfed by most of the men in
attendance and looked positively dainty beside the Michael Myers.
After her recent shrinking bout, she had started to notice that both
Lex and Emily's voices sounded a little deeper and a little louder,
but as the enormous men started to speak and then project over the
music, Heather realized just how quiet and high-pitched their voices
were. Even Emily's smoky alto was nothing in comparison to the bone
rattling basses and baritones of a man.
If it
had just been one behemoth of a college guy, Heather might have even
been able to enjoy it. She couldn't help but think about her own
husband, how he would look to her now and how his deep, commanding
voice would shake her little body. But there were so many monstrous
giants stomping about that Heather could not escape into any fantasy
about Jason, she was left staring up in fear at them while they
didn't even seem to notice her presence.
Unless
Emily was showing her off as part of her costume, none of the giants
seemed to spare a glance down at her. They simply walked through
Emily and Lex's house without a care in the world, each of their
footfalls hitting the floor with enough force to maim someone as
small as her or utterly crush anyone smaller.
“And
this is my ghoul.”
Heather's
yelp turned into a gagging sound as Emily flicked the lead forward to
drag her out from behind her leg. She landed on her hands and knees
in front of a pair of shiny patent leather mary-janes. Her head
craned back as she took in the long white stockings that disappeared
into a plaid skirt, a field of white rose above it and then she
noticed the short red cape that was draped over the brunette's
shoulders with its hood currently tossed back. The girl's eyebrows
knit together as she struggled to make sense of what Emily had just
said.
It was
a look that Heather had gotten used to whenever Emily explained what
she was supposed to be, since half the party-goers seemed just as
confused as she was when Emily had cinched the leash around her and
happily said, “And you're my perfect little ghoul.”
She
rose to her feet and then gave a slight bow to the enormous Little
Red Riding Hood, before looking back nervously at Emily.
Her
owner was wearing a long dark dress with purple undertones and a
ragged asymmetrical hem. The dress's neckline plunged enough to
reveal her cleavage, where several droplets of 'blood' had dribbled
down from her chin. Heather could easily see the deep red blood that
coated Emily's lower jaw, which was made to look like it was flowing
out of her mouth, where she had slid in a set of vampire fangs over
her own teeth.
She had
put contacts in over her eyes to make them a deep crimson rather than
their usual brown and Emily had also dyed her hair pitch black after
her natural brown had started to show through the purple.
“So
you're a vampire,” Red Riding Hood said and then she pointed down
at Heather, “And your shrinkee is a ghoul.”
“My
ghoul,” Emily tugged on the leash, making Heather stumble back and
land on the tip of her boot. She looked up pleadingly but Emily was
simply smiling at the girl she was talking to.
“But
aren't ghouls like, a thing that hangs out in graveyards and eats
people or something?”
“I
mean, yeah, but this is a Vampire: The Masquerade thing, cause I'm
dressed as my character, she's a Toreador and...” Emily's smile
faltered high above before she sighed, “It's a tabletop gaming
thing.”
“Oh!”
Recongition dawned on Riding Hood's face, “You're Emily! Lex's
roommate.”
“Yes,
I am, I guess you have a class with Lex or something?”
“Oh
no, I mean, maybe we did in freshman or sophomore year?” She
shrugged and then held up her basket, which had been hanging at her
side, “I'm Izzy and I'm actually friends with Kelsey and she told
me to bring something special.”
Emily
suddenly perked up and her free hand drummed across the top of the
basket, “Wait, did you bring edibles? I haven't had any edibles
since sophomore year when someone brought some gummies back from
Colorado...”
“Uh,
no, this is a different kind of special,” Izzy then smirked,
“Though they are edible.”
“Oh...”
Emily then started to giggle, “Oh!”
Heather
stared up at the two giantesses, trying to understand what they could
possibly be talking about.
“I
probably only have enough for you, Kelsey, and Lex, so we'll probably
want to enjoy them somewhere in private...”
“Yeah,
Lex and Kelsey are around here somewhere,” rather than look for her
roommate, Emily simply slid her phone out from where she had tucked
it into her bra and started to text them. A second later, her phone
buzzed, “Lex says we can go up to their room and they'll both meet
us there in a second.”
“Cool,”
Izzy bounced once with excitement, which made the floor shake extra
hard.
Emily's
fingers were suddenly grabbing Heather and with a giggle the giantess
said, “Up we go, Hot Mom.” She was rocketed into the air so
quickly she swore that she could feel her ears pop and then Emily
began to walk, each step making her little body jiggle in the
giantess's grip.
“Aw,
Hot Mom?” Izzy cooed and a finger with bright red nail polish
rushed in. She tried to reel away but the fingertip caught her
beneath the chin and gently scratched at her while she squirmed, “Is
that her name?”
“Yeah,
she actually used to live in our neighborhood, so it's what we used
to call her, you know between me and Lex,” Emily explained as they
moved up the stairs, which thankfully resulted in Heather being out
of Izzy's reach. The giantess's red eyes landed down on her and her
'blood' stained lips spread into a grin, “Though I guess she
technically does still live in the neighborhood, just in our house.”
Heather
blushed and squirmed in Emily's fist as she thought back to how she
had foolishly turned herself over to the giant girl, which only
seemed to make the giantess giggle.
They
strode into Lex's room and Heather could hear a faint yelp from from
the closet, where Siggy sat diligently working to clean her master's
Air Force 1s. Lex seemed to regularly wear the pair and they
obviously demanded that the white sneakers constantly look brand new.
Emily
settled down onto the floor and a moment later, Heather found herself
set down before the girl with a red solo cup that came up just below
her waist.
But
then she heard the thunderous footfalls of Izzy crossing to the
closet and smiling down at the shrunken girl. “Well, hello there,”
she boomed before bending down and snatching Siggy up. The shrunken
girl went slack as Izzy carried her across the room and dropped her
right down in front of Heather. The brunette turned her attention
back to Emily as she spoke, “I didn't realize you guys had two
shrinkees.”
“Mhmm,”
Emily nodded as she lifted her cup to her lips while unclipping the
leash from Heather's collar. The tiny woman breathed a sigh of relief
as she stepped away from her owner and dug at the collar that
remained, wishing she had the strength to undo the clip holding it
together. “Lex has had Siggy for years and then I got Hot Mom a few
weeks into the semester?” Powerful fingers came down and scratched
at Heather's skull, making her stumble.
“That's
so cute,” Izzy cooed as she set her basket down a few feet away,
“Are they friends?”
Both
Siggy and Heather looked at each other at the question. Their
enormous owners had made it quite clear that they were to get along,
but she could still see the distaste that simmered behind Siggy's
eyes. Heather reasoned that that was at least an improvement though,
since the girl no longer seemed to shoot her death glares.
“They're
getting there,” Emily said, setting her drink down between the
pair, “I think Siggy just misses being our only pet.”
Izzy
laughed, “I didn't think Shrinkees could be like that.”
Emily
shrugged and took another pull from her drink. The cup landed down
closer to Heather, and though the cheap booze of the giantess's
'blood punch' made her eyes water and nostrils sting, the tiny woman
found herself staring down into the bright red liquid, her little
mouth watering at the thought of tasting alcohol or even just the
overly sweet juices that Emily had mixed into the big vat of jungle
juice that afternoon.
Booming
footfalls echoed up the stairs and a moment later, Heather could feel
the floorboards quake at Lex's approach. They entered first, dressed
like Ryan Gosling in Drive, and Heather again found themselves
entranced by how well the costume fit their tall lean frame. Behind
them came Kelsey, who Heather had only seen in passing over the past
few weeks.
Most of
the time, the short Asian girl was dressed in fairly normal, almost
plain, attire; jeans, hoodies, and sneakers. Tonight though, she was
wearing what Heather could only assume was some kind of
professionally made Sailor Mercury costume, a character she had been
somewhat surprised any of the giants were familiar with. She was
giggling, her cheeks already reddened from drinking, as she came to a
short stop at the sight of other people in the room.
“Uh...”
She began but when she saw Izzy, she jumped up with joy, which
released a quake strong enough to knock both Siggy and Heather to the
floor, “Izzy! Oh my God! You made it!”
Kelsey
tackled the other girl in a hug, which kept Heather pinned to the
floor while the pair's booming voices filled the air. When they
finally untangled themselves, Heather could make out Kelsey's final
question, “Did you manage to find enough?”
“Definitely,”
Izzy opened her basket and all four giant college students leaned
forward.
A
chorus of screams erupted from the inside and Heather's jaw dropped.
“Holy
shit,” Lex muttered as they hovered their hand over the basket,
which elicited frightened pleas for mercy that sounded high pitched
to Heather's shrunken ears.
“Where
did you find them?” Emily asked, her question becoming a giggle as
she counted them up.
Kelsey
beamed with pride as she spoke, “Izzy's the best shrinkee hunter I
know!”
Heather's
eyes widened and her heart leapt into her throat as she turned to
stare up at the gigantic girl. She tried to imagine what Izzy would
look like to her at her original size. Since the girl was probably
around Emily's height, Heather realized quickly that she would have
written the petite brunette off as a sweet college girl, the kind of
young woman she hoped Zoe would become. And she would have again,
much like with Emily and Lex, been horrifically wrong.
“Oh
stop, shrinkees are always around if you pay attention,” Izzy waved
her hand, “I found most of them on campus, one at the Kroger, and
another came up to beg me for food when I was on my way over here.”
“Do
we owe you anything?” Emily asked and Heather shook as she watched
the girl take out her phone, “I can venmo you.”
Heather
couldn't suppress the horrified gasp that came out of her as she
realized that Emily was talking about buying the shrunken
people from the other girl. As if the tiny people inside her basket
were no different than the weed-laced edibles Emily had originally
thought she had brought. Beside her, Siggy let out her own frightened
yelp.
“Don't
worry about it,” Izzy replied with a wave of her hand, “I only
charge douchey frat guys and people like that.”
Siggy
barely suppressed the sob that came out of her and Heather
immediately crawled over to wrap an arm around her fellow prisoner.
She half-expected Siggy to push her away but instead, the smaller
girl buried her face into Heather's chest while she whimpered.
“Ok,
so we have six,” Lex boomed, rising to their feet as they snatched
glassware and a bottle off of a nearby shelf. “We should at least
all do a shot.”
“Oh
yeah,” Izzy nodded as she leaned over the basket, “These three
and the Kroger one are all perfect for shots.”
Heather
wanted to look away, to bury her face against Siggy like the girl was
doing with her, but she couldn't rip her eyes away from the horrific
scene. Lex set a bottle of vodka down onto the floor with a heavy
thud and then handed each of the girls a shot glass. One by one, they
all reached down into the basket and pulled a shrunken person, who
couldn't have been more than an inch tall, out and dangled them
before their faces.
“Aw,
so cute!” Kelsey boomed as she dropped a tiny Asian boy into her
glass.
Lex
dropped a screaming black woman into their own shot glass and
immediately silenced her by pouring vodka down on top. The woman's
cries turned into a sputtering gasp as the force of the vodka knocked
her down, awkwardly wedging her near the bottom.
Izzy
said nothing as she dropped her own shrunken girl into the glass,
simply pouring vodka down on top of her with an eerily practiced
precision. Beside her, Lex dropped a squirming boy into Kelsey's
glass and then quickly covered him with vodka.
“Oh
man, I think I had a class with this guy in freshman year,” Emily
grinned as she twirled the screaming boy about in her fingers. He was
crying and begging her to spare him while Heather stared up wide eyed
at the gigantic girl, trying to comprehend how the giantess twirling
a boy about could be the same one that cuddled her every night.
“Maybe
I'd spare you,” Emily bared her fake fangs before she growled, “If
you hadn't talked over every girl in class.”
She
held her shot glass lower than anyone else's as she let him go, his
scream echoing through the air before he hit the side of the glass
and released a painful shout. He landed in a crumpled heap at the
bottom, crying and writhing as vodka crashed down around him.
“Cheers!”
They
all shouted it in unison as they clinked their shot glasses together,
which battered the shrunken people trapped inside even more. All at
once, the quartet of students tossed back their shots and each
shrinkee disappeared behind their lips in an instant. They all
shuddered as they swallowed the people whole, and Heather swore she
could see tiny forms writhe against their necks, undoubtedly fighting
their flexing throat muscles the whole way down.
Kelsey
let out a dainty burp and then covered her mouth as she giggled,
“Excuse me.”
The
sound earned a chorus of booming laughter from the other giants and
Heather shook as she watched Lex wrap an arm around Kelsey and then
kiss her gently on her cheek.
Above
her, Emily made a soft disgusted noise as she grabbed her cup and
took a long sip, “We should have done rum, vodka is so gross.”
“You're
not doing it for the shot,” Lex replied with a laugh.
Emily
rolled her eyes as she set her cup back down and then looked back
into the basket, “What about the other two?”
“We
could play a stomping game with them,” Kelsey suggested.
“Four
against two, no,” Emily shook her head while her fingers played
against the side of the basket, “They wouldn't make it more than a
few steps.”
“I
don't want to get my shoes dirty,” Izzy added.
All of
them nodded along with Izzy's statement as if it was the most obvious
reason not to crush a shrunken person they had ever heard. Heather
felt bile rise in her throat as she watched all of them eye the tiny
people with their alcohol glazed eyes and she tried to comprehend
where the giantesses felt the line was.
Staring
at the basket ahead of her, she wondered at what point she would go
from being 'Hot Mom' who was something between a pet and a slave to a
living party favor like the poor souls that Izzy had apparently
collected while walking around town.
She had
expected the thought to bring tears to her eyes, especially as
Siggy's body continued to wrack with silent sobs, but instead Heather
just felt hollow. She had had a vague idea that this is what the
world was like, it was why she had run to Emily in the hopes that the
girl would be different. She had even begun to tell herself that
Emily was different and while she had never raised a hand against
Heather, she had never hidden the fact that she readily killed
shrinkees.
She
began to worry if this is what would happen to Zoe, might have
already been happening to her. All of her daughter's friends were
tall and Immune since they all played sports together. Was Zoe at
some unsupervised Halloween party in some other part of town, doing a
shot with a tiny classmate or playing a 'stomping game' or some other
horrible torture disguised as something fun for the tormentor. Worst
of all, she wondered if it had already happened and she had simply
never noticed the monster her little girl had grown into.
“Wishbone,”
Lex said authoritatively as they plucked out one sobbing young girl
and dangled her between them and Kelsey.
“Oh
my God, yes!” Kelsey groaned as she opened her mouth wide.
Heather's
vision came into sharp focus as Lex gently laid the girl's kicking
legs across Kelsey's lips. They then leaned in and their mouth
engulfed the screaming flailing girl. For a moment, it looked as if
the gigantic pair was kissing with the tiny girl trapped inside.
And
then the lips started to curl back to reveal that the pair's teeth
were digging into her waist.
The
girl's screams of pain were completely muffled by the enormous mouths
that trapped her, but Heather could almost feel her own midsection
burning as the teeth bit down deeper and harder. Blood started to
seep out of the wounds, flowing down across the pair's lips and
trickling down their chins.
It was
already the worst thing that Heather had ever seen and then they
started to pull away from each other.
The
origin of the game's name became horrifically apparent as they began
to literally tear the girl in half. Skin ripped and Heather swore she
could see tiny organs before Kelsey jerked back hard and swallowed.
Lex
made a low slurping noise and Heather watched as something that
looked like a strand of spaghetti but easily could have been entrails
or a spine disappeared behind their lips. They smiled, their teeth
blood stained, “I win.”
“How?!”
Kelsey pouted but the anger was clearly fake as she leaned up and
pressed her own bloody lips against Lex's.
Heather's
body reflexively gagged but nothing came up, not even a burning bit
of bile.
The
movement of Izzy's hand drew her away from the enormous couple, and a
writhing form was lifted into the air. “Wanna play?” Izzy used
the tiny person to gesture to Emily and Heather's heart pounded hard
in her chest.
Her
owner said nothing, merely leaned down low and opened her maw.
The
person's scream was so high-pitched and terrifying that Heather
couldn't tell if they were a man or woman. A giant mouth could be
horrific in general but between her make-up and the punch, Emily's
already looked like a blood stained cavern.
Before
Heather got a good look at the tiny person, Izzy's mouth was upon
them. Her bright pink lips momentarily pressed against Emily's but
then they began to pull back and bite down. Heather wasn't sure if
time sped up or if Emily and Izzy were just that much faster than Lex
and Kelsey.
It
ended with a horrific snap and they all could see the bit of spine
that landed on Emily's lip before her powerful tongue swept it up.
Real blood mingled with the fake on her chin but she didn't seem to
mind.
Emily
rose up and extended a hand down to Izzy, “Why don't I give you a
tour of the house?”
Izzy
giggled, her cheeks blushing as she rose to her feet and took Emily's
hand, “That sounds great.”
The
floor shook as the pair walked off while Kelsey and Lex remained on
the floor. Lex gently nudged their girlfriend and sweetly whispered,
“You sleepy, babe?”
The
giantess nodded and Lex gently helped her to her feet and then set
her down onto the bed. The girl curled into a ball as Lex gently
pulled a blanket over her and kissed the top of her head.
“Sleep
it off, babe,” they boomed before walking to the door, each step
shaking Heather's entire world. The enormous giant glanced back at
Heather and Siggy, who still clung to her while quietly crying.
“Don't
cause any trouble you two,” they said with a smirk and then the
light clicked off.
The
door shut and the sounds of the party became muffled.
Heather
finally felt a tear roll down her cheek.