Endless by Curse Crazy
Past Featured StorySummary:

A creepy college student uncovers a book of curses, and the depths of her wild personality come to life. By conducting a ritual to shrink people, she is able to hold in her hands the target of her obsessed affections, along with other victims that cross her hexed path.

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Categories: Young Adult 20-29, Adult 30-39, Crush, Entrapment, Fantasy, Humiliation, Lesbians, Slow Size Change, Violent, Vore Characters: None
Growth: Amazon (7 ft. to 15 ft.)
Shrink: Minikin (3 in. to 1 in.)
Size Roles: F/f
Warnings: Following story may contain inappropriate material for certain audiences
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 22 Completed: Yes Word count: 168220 Read: 248924 Published: June 25 2018 Updated: May 02 2019
Story Notes:

The world could always use more creepy-obsessive-yandere type giantesses. Ideas of this stuff always come to mind so I'll be using this story as an outlet. Melanie is largely a culmination of all the creepy-cute traits I love so she'll be especially adaptable to whatever I want to add into this story. Hope you all enjoy it and I would love any feedback~

This is my first time submitting a story, so if the tags are all messed up... My bad! I'll figure it out eventually. In fact, any help would be appreciated, for example, explaining how to remove the amazon tag! For some reason, it won't let me de-select it. Any help here is super welcome.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

1. Chapter One by Curse Crazy

2. Chapter Two by Curse Crazy

3. Chapter Three by Curse Crazy

4. Chapter Four by Curse Crazy

5. Chapter Five by Curse Crazy

6. Chapter Six by Curse Crazy

7. Chapter Seven by Curse Crazy

8. Chapter Eight by Curse Crazy

9. Chapter Nine by Curse Crazy

10. Chapter Ten by Curse Crazy

11. Chapter Eleven by Curse Crazy

12. Chapter Twelve by Curse Crazy

13. Chapter Thirteen by Curse Crazy

14. Chapter Fourteen by Curse Crazy

15. Chapter Fifteen by Curse Crazy

16. Chapter Sixteen by Curse Crazy

17. Chapter Seventeen by Curse Crazy

18. Chapter Eighteen by Curse Crazy

19. Chapter Nineteen by Curse Crazy

20. Chapter Twenty by Curse Crazy

21. Chapter Twenty-One by Curse Crazy

22. Chapter Twenty-Two by Curse Crazy

Chapter One by Curse Crazy

 

“I c-collect… cute girls…”

Adrian opened her mouth to speak, but her lips slowly sealed back around the edge of her soda in a submission of silence. She wanted to digest that justification a little further to make at least some sense of it. She took a sip, then nodded. There was a lot of sense that needed to be made, something she remembered in this awkward scene.

“Cute girls?” Adrian stammered, swaying slightly with the drink still close to her mouth. “You collect them?”

She asked this to Melanie, the shy girl before her. They were classmates in the same college course, but beyond that, Adrian knew nothing about her. She had her assumptions of Melanie, all were fair to make; she was quiet, introverted to say the least, and it was easy to call her goth in an age where the goth lifestyle was a little less extreme. In truth, Melanie’s gothic features were limited to her long black hair, riddled with messy waves, and an attire that favored darker colors, though the skirt was a more energetic touch -- it was something Adrian commented on to Melanie, once, in passing. The more she thought about that in the moment, the more Adrian realized how far and few their conversations had been over the past four months.

Somehow, that was enough to signal to Melanie that Adrian was approachable, at least from Adrian’s perspective. Both girls had found themselves staying late after class, working on computers just opposite of each other on the same lonely table. Some casual conversations lead to Melanie asking to be escorted home. Adrian replied with a positive smile and a thumbs-up. She understood that it wasn’t comforting to walk home, not with reports of girls going missing in the area, and Adrian was regularly willing to service herself out to others in need. A simple favor like this, and for someone who looked so innocent and weak, was nothing to think twice about.

“D-Do you mean like, on social media?” Adrian chuckled. That silence had lasted for several seconds too long, and it was worrying that Melanie never clarified herself. “If you wanna friend me, I’m down, b-but I don’t really go online much--”

“You do,” Melanie corrected. Adrian blinked in surprise. “Y-You’re online a lot, actually. A lot of the time. I’ve noticed.”

“H-Have you?” Adrian bit her lip, then forced out another chuckle. “You got me! I am on my phone a lot. I don’t-- Err, I-I’m not proud of that, is what I mean…”

“Not just your phone…” Melanie’s voice was weaker, and though she smiled, it was a weak expression that she angled away. Adrian felt a bump in her throat, realizing she had been caught in a lie, and yet perplexed as to how her lie was so confidently called out.

Adrian spun the remaining soda in the can she held, unable to come up with something else to move the conversation along. She looked to her left and right, acknowledging the walls on either side of them, cramping her spatial options. A pitstop to a convenience store along the way home had taken the two on a short detour, and now Melanie, having been the lead in the duo’s walk, had guided them into an alley lit with only a single light from one of the buildings. Adrian denied that she felt trapped, well aware she could turn around and dash off whenever she wanted, assuming first that she couldn’t somehow overpower Melanie and trample forward, and assuming second that it was going to be necessary to flee.

“Alright, well… I think I’m feeling a little bleh right now,” Adrian said, still maintaining a sense of humor. She massaged her upper stomach. “Are you ready to keep going?”

Bleh?” Melanie replied. “How bleh? I-Is your stomach and head spinning?”

Adrian was losing patience, but her lips were stuck in a polite grin. “Actually yeah, a little bit of… both, yeah.” She had meant to lie, but she was soon convincing herself it was real. She lifted the soda up to her head, pressing its cool surface to her brow for just a second. “A-Actually… I really am feeling kinda out of it…”

“O-Oh, oh,” Melanie took a step forward and placed hesitant, gentle hands on Adrian’s shoulders. “Sit down-- Y-You should take a seat, b-before we go on.”

“I’m okay,” Adrian said, but found her balance weak enough that Melanie’s gesture was actually enough to move her. She stumbled slightly, but found her back against the brick wall to her side. It didn’t take any more force for Adrian to scoot down and sit along a low-level ledge, just barely wide enough to hold her. She took another drink, then sat the rest down on the pavement at her feet, a movement that made her feel more sick.

“Are you sore? Tired?” Melanie leaned in over Adrian, her face only inches above. “If you’re tired, we shouldn’t walk. I-I can watch you, while you take a… a breather, or…”

“I’m not--” Adrian winced, like something cold and sharp had sunk through the core of her body. “I just want to… g-get to bed. C-Can we…?” She tried to lift up, but between Melanie remaining right where she stood and her own fatigue burdening her, she was unable. Instead, she let out a deep sigh. It was getting warm.

Melanie continued to watch. She fidgeted and swayed, she would look to the sides to make sure no one was eavesdropping, but otherwise her eyes never left Adrian. She watched her classmate go from idle twitches to semi-delirious squirms. Whatever sickness was plaguing Adrian was bringing a subdued excitement to Melanie, and Adrian, in a flickering state of consciousness, was catching on.

“Collecting… girls…?” Adrian repeated that point from minutes ago. Melanie’s expression didn’t change, but Adrian did note that her lips were quivering. “Heh, okay, was that a joke? Maybe this whole thing is just-- I-I’m a little freaked out, Melanie, w-what did you mean by that? Just tell me.”

“I…” Melanie looked down, her face hidden until she brought it back up with a more confident smile, a little hectic look in her eyes added as well. “I collect girls. I find girls I like, that are cute girls specifically, and I shrink them. I make them a few inches tall, a-and then I collect them. I can just pick them up, and they look so cute, and t-tiny…”

Adrian’s expression grew more desperate with every reveal in Melanie’s words. She was quiet for awhile, then she worked up the energy to laugh, even through her discomfort. “Okay, s-sure,” she said, “you… think I’m cute? I-Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Melanie nodded, “I do… which is why I’m… I’m shrinking you. Right now, I’m making you tiny.”

Adrian shook her head and covered one half of her face. “That’s not-- It isn’t happening. I’m not shrinking,” Adrian affirmed. She didn’t open her eyes, fearful that she could be wrong. In doing this, a careless movement from her foot knocked her soda down, but she ignored the spillage entirely. “Damn, Melanie, d-did you do something to me?”

Melanie’s smile was bigger than before. “I told you already,” she whispered, bringing her face closer to Adrian, but only as close as it had been just moments ago. “You’re getting smaller. It’s because of my curse. I-I put a curse on you, and the other girls, i-it shrinks them. It’s from a spellbook.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Adrian chuckled, one last time. “Melanie, whatever the hell is happening, please… can we…?”

Adrian, through a gap in her fingers, finally looked up. What she hated to imagine was right in front of her. Melanie was there, but no longer was she a short woman that could be blown over with a moderate wind. Though Adrian still denied she was the one changing, she saw Melanie now as a beast, a formidable wall that hovered completely over her. Adrian had taken to leaning on the wall for support, but now she felt cornered, overwhelmed with the girl in front of her that had now, spontaneously, doubled in height.

“See? It’s very obvious from here,” Melanie giggled. “You’re becoming smaller~”

Adrian huffed. She twisted to one side and made a dash to leap away, to make some distance between her and Melanie, but she was cut off just as quickly. A thick arm blocked her path forward, and a hand the width of her shoulders had firmly grabbed her from behind as well. The touch wasn’t rough, more of a precaution, to help manage the tired motions Adrian committed to in her dazed state.

“L-Let me go!” Adrian ordered. She even tried to kick at Melanie, but she missed, just shy of hitting the shins. Again, she attempted to escape, but Melanie could restrict her while still having the humor to laugh.

“You’re becoming weaker, too,” Melanie said. Her blocking arm shifted to help hold Adrian as well -- as wide of a difference in strength between them, Melanie still estimated well how Adrian could realistically get away if she was careless. “P-Please, I understand you’re scared… You don’t have to be! Y-You really don’t!”

“Y-You’re shrinking me, Melanie!” Adrian shouted, unaware of how her changing size was diminishing her volume as well. “Stop it! Whatever this is, stop it! Stop it now! Th-This is scary!”

Melanie cooed, much to Adrian’s dismay. The creeping horror of her predicament was all for Melanie’s entertainment. Acquaintance or not, Adrian was beyond trying to understand and reason with the situation, yet struggling wasn’t doing anything, except pressing out more and more giggles from Melanie overhead.

Soon after, Adrian ceased to put up a fight. It wasn’t from submission, but from the lack of energy. The entire time she argued with Melanie, the swirling sensation deep in her stomach, her mind, and even her center of balance was only getting worse. There was no value in trying to ward off Melanie now, especially when Melanie was getting equally larger and stronger. Adrian had refused to look up at Melanie again, and to admit once more that she was dwindling away, but inevitably she would catch a glance of her classmate and become sicker knowing that the effect had brought her to knee height.

“Th-That’s right… Keep shrinking... “ Melanie offered wispy words off encouragement, as if Adrian’s problem was a lack of confidence. “Keep-- Keep shrinking… Breathing helps, probably. Breathe…”

Adrian growled, but it wasn’t unsound advice. Eventually she did resort to just breathing, sliding back more against the brick wall while her face was flushed red. She draped an arm over her forehead, using the sleeve to wipe away a line of sweat. Her support behind her was giving out, but more specifically, she was finding herself shrinking beyond the ledge she sat on. Now, the height at where she once rested was overhead, acting as another reminder that she was shrinking -- actually shrinking, becoming smaller, losing something as unappreciated as her normal, human height. And all the while, her only options were to squirm helplessly under Melanie’s watch.

“Ahh… I really don’t want you to… a-actually be sick or something,” Melanie went on. Even though she was quiet, her words were echoing in Adrian’s head, and not because of any size difference. “Uhh, you’re taking this pretty rough… Worse than… the others…”

Adrian flinched and rolled her head back. “The… others…” She managed to mumble that much, then swallowed to say the rest, “The other girls… Y-You kidnapped them…? You’re gonna kidnap me…”

Melanie chortled. She didn’t need any reason now to continue holding Adrian down, there was no way her short legs would actually break enough distance between them, especially with her classmate getting weaker by the second. Melanie stepped back, as if to appreciate her work.

“Kidnapping… Uh, err…” Melanie blushed at Adrian’s accusation. It was impossible to lie about her own actions when spoken about so bluntly. “Well, y-yes, but I’m nice. I’m so nice! I-I love tiny things. I’ll treat you really…”

“Bullshit! M-Melanie, please!” Adrian looked up again, she wanted to wish that this time would be different, and that her eyes would bless her with a mundane scene and reveal it was a twisted daydream. She was hit with the same reality she feared, even smaller than she was seconds ago. “Why are you doing this?! H-How is this even fucking possible…?”

“I… already said, I-I like cute girls…” Melanie’s fingers pressed against each other. If Adrian didn’t know better, she would have thought Melanie was the victim here. “And you… I like you the most… I like you a lot, a-a lot more than the others… Oh!”

Melanie turned away from Adrian in order to reach around to the bag at her waist. While she shuffled through it, Adrian naturally tried to engineer an escape. Her captor was distracted, and so easily too, it felt like the only opportunity she had. Freedom was such a privilege in that moment, it was hard to not have the drive to fight for it. Yet, when she went to dash forward, it was only a step. A shakey, unbalanced step that lead right into a tumble. A messy dance took her right into the soda can she had been enjoying just a few minutes earlier. It was a barrel now, which a puddle of black fluid had seeped out of. This waist-high can on its side was now the new form of support for Adrian to lean on, doing so while she gasped for breaths, but even this would fail her. The can slipped from under her weight, and it rolled aside, leaving her to trip forward into the ground. She whined, curling her body close together.

The sound of a can being rolled brought Melanie’s attention back to the latest victim at her feet. Melanie wasn’t frightened by any of this, expecting Adrian to have tried as much, and she was accurate in estimating how far she would even get. The results made her smile, even though the target of her affection was laying on the ground, bent in pain.

“Be careful, now,” Melanie warned. “You’ll get hurt sooo easily! Th-This is why you need to stay close to me…

“Look at what I have, by the way.” Melanie squatted down. She sat on her haunches and leaned over Adrian’s form, casting a long shadow over both her and her toppled beverage. “This is what I was going to show you. Sit up, look.”

Adrian despised this attitude, being told what to do, but she despised her own obedience twice as much. On command, she worked to push herself up, at least enough to be laying on her side, and she focused her vision to clear up. She squinted up at what was overhead, the enormous Melanie taking up the sky. Adrian’s breathing became colder and more ragged, just witnessing Melanie’s gigantic shape was enough to get her worn body to spasm in fear. To her left and right were loafers that could rival semis, which were only the roots to legs as thick and sturdy as adult red wood trees. Even Melanie’s long black socks could blanket over Adrian’s entire body, several times. Behind said socks was a glimpse up and inside Melanie’s skirt, but in her shrunken state, that glimpse of white panties was more like an outdoor theater’s view. Adrian struggled to process an appropriate emotion, overtaken only by the fear that she was shrinking seemingly out of existence.

Yet, with all that effort just to look at Melanie, she hadn’t even seen what she was told to look at. Unable to stretch out any further to better her perspective, Melanie leaned in more to meet her halfway. Propped up in front of Adrian was a clear, plastic container, and inside it was another person. Caged within the otherwise ordinary box was a woman, completely nude, shaking in the corner furthest from Adrian. Measurements seemed meaningless to Adrian now, but to her, the plastic container was just shy of her current height, and the lady imprisoned on the inside took up less than half its allotted space.

“This is someone else… that I shrunk,” Melanie explained, but Adrian had figured as much. “Look how cute she is~! I wanted you to appreciate how small you’ll become, b-before you actually become that small.”

Melanie’s words had grabbed Adrian from the inside and twisted, hard. Adrenaline was kicking in just enough that Adrian could move again, and she spent that burst of energy to get back to her feet. Maybe she thought to escape again, but all her body would allow her to do was to look at the woman. Finally on her feet, Adrian approached the container, still only as tall as she was by the time she leaned against it. She couldn’t believe what she saw, and neither could the other woman. Adrian was nearly twice her height, providing a whole other layer of fear in how she calculated how much bigger the world was bound to become.

“She’s an office worker,” Melanie said. “Err, she was, anyway. She’s now my… second test. She’s older than me and you, and she’s still smaller than you! A-And really small to me…”

Adrian put her hand against the plastic, looking deeper inside while her breathing fogged the surface. The woman, who certainly looked like a woman in her thirties, was only half the size of Adrian, but that difference was closing. Adrian could feel it, the way her fingers’ grip on the plastic shifted as fractions of her remaining size just disappeared. When she looked at the woman again, with an expression drained of hope, she saw a reflection, an outlook of what she, too, was going to become. Compared to this prisoner, Adrian was so much stronger, an appreciation for a fact that was fleeting.

“You’re almost done~” Melanie giggled. This entire time, her attitude had only improved. She became gigglier, lighter, her smile free of anxiousness. “You’re the cutest one so far, d-definitely! I-I’m not just saying that. I always thought you were cute…”

“Please!” Adrian backed away from the small container, unable to look at its contents any more. She dropped to her knees quite hard, and she begged, like a servant forfeiting everything before a goddess. There were no regrets, even with the naked stranger sitting nearby. “Please, Melanie! This is fucked! I’ll g-go out with you, I’ll do anything! I-Is this what this is about?! D-Did you just--”

“Ah, I-I wouldn’t be happy with… just that,” Melanie interrupted. She didn’t care how calm her words were, nor how they cut into Adrian’s desperate pleas. “I don’t just like you. I love you. W-When I first saw you, my… heart throbbed.” She giggled, blushing just like the school girl she was. “That sounds stupid, d-doesn’t it? It sounds so stupid…”

Adrian shivered and her body became limp again. She had been stricken of all her power as an everyday human, and the justification behind it was only now being challenged by her captor. Her degrading new position in life was just to entertain a fellow college student, a creepy girl that everyone avoided on instinct, and even she was berating herself for how silly this all truly was, now that it was far too late to correct anything.

“Ahh, I’ve confused you, probably,” Melanie said, addressing Adrian’s silent response. “But it’s true. I want you. I-I want you entirely. I feel it’s more like a need, actually… Like I need you to be super small, s-so I can have you everywhere… Everywhere I go, I can keep you around, a-and you’d make me feel better. I get so nervous, but just seeing you in class, or walking back to your dorm… o-or texting your friends, or eating! Everytime I see you, my blood gets… really hot! Like, like something inside me wants to explode out and consume you!”

Adrian was beyond the point of shivering in panic. Melanie had transcended beyond being just overwhelming. She felt like everything to Adrian, every facet of reality now was connected to her. She whimpered again, but she knew it was fruitless to argue. She had to endure these words, all of which were just unveiling more dark truths about their relationship and how unexpectedly deep it had apparently been. In hindsight did she find so many moments where she swore she was being watched or studied, and all this time, those suspicions were right.

“And after I found this weird book, I knew it was fate.” Melanie continued, not missing a beat. “I could put curses on people… It looked like little things, um, like sneezing, coughing, m-making hair fall out… But when I found this shrinking curse, even if it was kinda complicated, I knew I could do exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I wanted! I-I never realized how much I wanted this, and now it’s-- it’s here, it’s happening! Heheh... ! Ahh, it’s actually, really happening! I have you tiny and shrunk, and no one can stop me from doing a-anything to you!”

Adrian screamed. All at once, a new flood of energy, from the deepest of pits within her, had flared to life. She scrambled, back up to her feet and charging off, choosing to head right only because that’s where she had ended up facing. She had gotten smaller since the last time she had compared herself to the soda can, which had grown into a cylinder matching her size even while tipped over. She had just enough strength to get it to roll an inch out of her way, but just a second later, it was crushed completely, only a few paces behind where her run had taken her. Melanie’s foot had been stomped down, and between the thundering quake it made and the crippling sound of the car-sized can being flattened, Adrian was tripped back to the ground. Even then, she tried to crawl, but that second wind had already faded, its precious energy depleted in an instant -- a footstep, if even that.

“Sorry, sh-shit,” Melanie stammered. She then giggled, lifting up her foot to look at the damage. One soda can, crushed just enough that it remained stuck to her shoe’s sole for a brief moment before it was kicked aside. Adrian flinched again, only able to wish that this stumbling giant would at least try to comprehend how huge she was.

Melanie waited for a second, expecting Adrian to get up again and try to run. When Adrian didn’t and she remained on the pavement, Melanie didn’t hesitate to dive in and snatch her prey. One hand was all it took to lift up the limp body. Adrian whined in protest, trying to ward off even just one finger, but the boney tendrils overpowered her with casual ease. Her body was wrapped up in a fist, picked up from the ground like a lost trinket. She desperately tried to reach out for something to hold onto, but she found nothing, not even the slightest possibility of escape.

“Haah, heheh… You’re sooo small!” Melanie brought Adrian up close to her face, perfect for observing her latest victim. “You feel really light… Are you hungry? You can eat all the food you want now! D-Doesn’t that make you really happy? I can buy your favorite burger, it’ll be so big now, won’t it? And I know you don’t like onions or pickles, it’ll be exactly how you want it!”

That was Adrian’s life now. These were the events she had to prepare herself for now. She had to admit it, she told herself to accept it and to force herself to accept it. But for now, it was too much to swallow. She wondered if that despair would ever go away, or if this depression was permanent, that she would never come to terms with her new role in life.

She was moved again, this time closer to Melanie’s stomach. Still trapped within the fist, Adrian had no say in the matter, barely able to yelp in response to being so casually repositioned while so high in the air. Melanie shifted her fingers around so that Adrian was pressed right against her belly. Through the fabric of the black shirt, Adrian could feel the wide surface of Melanie’s stomach. A moment later, she heard it as well. Just beyond that bouncy, warm wall was an organic engine that could digest a house, and there Adrian was, being massaged into it from the outside.

“Hah, I’m hungry, too~” Melanie laughed, embarrassed by her stomach’s growling yet unaware of how monstrous it sounded to her shrunken crush. “Let’s go home, I-I’ll order us that food. You’ll have lots to eat~”

Melanie stood up. Even that act brought a new world of sickness to Adrian’s fatigued system. Melanie was infatuated with her latest addition to her collection, especially a target she had prized from the very beginning. Her obsession nearly made her forget her previous target, the office woman whose only crime was accepting overtime, and how she had displayed the miniaturized worker for Adrian earlier. While Melanie offered Adrian a handcrafted, personalized traveling experience, she discarded the other shrunken victim back into her bag, locked up in the container all the same and practically forgotten once out of sight.

For the first time that night, Melanie’s smile was beaming. She couldn’t hide her joy, it was written all over her face. She practically sang aloud the plans she had in store for Adrian, grateful for how empty the streets were. She bragged about how she would personally feed Adrian, and play with her, and her eyes and lips flared with excitement at just the teasing thoughts of what else she would do to Adrian.

“Endless.” This single word was etched into both Melanie and Adrian’s minds as they separately readied themselves for their new futures together.

 

Chapter Two by Curse Crazy

 

Dust covered the tome much as it did the rest of the library. It was also old, abandoned, and smelled like just the same. But this wasn’t a fault, from Melanie’s perspective, of the book she held. It was a familiar scent, a welcomed one. She associated it with safety, privacy, and that little chill of danger. Anders Library wasn’t a space open to the public, and neither so was the book she ran off with.

Anders Library was an active campus facility long ago, but after some issues with its own unstable infrastructure, the dean decided to simply close the building down. It was planned to be stripped, wrecked, and replaced with a new library, but the budget was always lacking. For the time being, Anders Library was locked up, fenced off, and stripped of most anything valuable. This left the library’s shelves empty, making the building purposeless.

Not entirely purposeless. It had its uses, if only among the reckless and brave. As college students were known to be, many paid no mind to the littered “KEEP OUT” signs posted all over the fences and even on the library’s walls and doors. An abandoned, isolated location such as Anders Library was the perfect place for rebellious types to hang out, a place where even campus security rarely patrolled. Anything could be gotten away behind the library’s walls and within the maze of shelves and desks.

Melanie had less nefarious uses. She noticed Anders Library on her own, in the midst of her own nightly explorations. She had heard of the building in passing, but it would eventually become her home away from home. Upon realizing just how abandoned the abandoned library was, she immediately began to use it as a hideaway, a sanctuary she could retreat to when she needed privacy or a place to slink to when it was dark. Melanie never verbally admitted it, but many of her traits were suspicious qualities -- sneaking, eavesdropping, stealing, and more were just “quirks” that often got her into trouble.

Before long, Melanie had made the place her own. She found herself to be the most frequent occupant, allowing her evenings and sometimes entire nights to be spent alone. It was exactly how she wanted it. Soon, too, did she have the layout memorized, and had she familiarized herself with a fascinating detail of the library; the number of remaining books.

She was never quite clear when she had added the tome to her collection, but one had eventually caught her attention. While flippantly searching the books once more with keener eyes, Melanie had noticed a bizarre emblem etched into one of the covers. It practically glistened in her vision, as if gravitating towards it. She thought she was kidding herself, that she felt an energy from the book.

Not doubting that gut feeling for long, Melanie had opened the book. She discovered it to be an occultic writing, a list of recipes for all sorts of mysteries. She kept joking with herself to read on, feeling the next spell or curse to be even more laughable than the last. That attitude changed when she next blinked, and hours had vanished. More obsessively than she thought had she been flipping through its pages.

Melanie’s evenings had regularly then been to reside at Anders Library and research more about the book. One of the curses described in the book had looked especially enticing, and even relatively easy to make. Many of the ingredients, once understood, were simple alchemical components -- nothing too complicated that she couldn’t steal from a chemistry lab elsewhere.

Am I really going to try this? Melanie wondered. It can’t hurt to try. It would be a fun story to tell people…

For the past two years, there was a student that had tugged at her heart, even though the two had almost never spoken. Melanie was too shy and terrified to speak up about her feelings, so instead of ever approaching her, she would follow her from afar, in the shadows as a stalker. She dreamed of a way to truly express her desires, how she wanted total dominion over everything this woman was, and now, she was on the verge of finding a way. Jokes or not, Melanie was putting her trust in the book to provide that power. A hex for shrinking a specific target, reducing their height and weight to a pygmy, so it claimed.

The ingredients were gathered into Melanie’s bag, quietly stolen from an unsupervised chemistry lab. Salts, minerals, acids, and a bowl of wine -- she had everything, except the wine. Her roommate back home would certainly have something to make due, but for now, all Melanie sought to do was bring the ingredients to the library and double-check that she had everything right.

“A strand… of hair?” Melanie read the book from her own private corner of Anders Library. She had the recipe for the curse still in her bag, and while almost everything had checked out, there was one detail she had overlooked. “A strand of the target’s hair, ahh.” Melanie took a deep breath. If there was any real hurdle before her now, it was getting that piece of hair from her crush’s head.

Footsteps made Melanie alert. Someone was walking around in the library, close to her corner that was so distant to reach. Without warning, the source of the steps appeared; another college student, a young woman with an unamused scowl, fashionably dressed with cool colors that contrasted the sunset hues which painted the walls and bookcases.

“O-Oh, what the fuck are you?” the girl gasped, smartphone in hand and at the ready. “Hey, oh, you must be another student. Are you trying to scare the shit out of people, creep?”

“Wh-What? I wasn’t--!”

“You zombie-looking freak!” the girl cut Melanie’s stammering off sharply. She gasped again, fanning herself with her free hand. “Yeah, good thing I’m dusting this place out first or else we would have had you fucking creeping people out.”

Melanie stuttered, her anxiety intensely flaring up. This was a nightmare scenario for her, to be suddenly ambushed like this in a place she considered safe. What’s this bitch doing here? she thought. Who does she think she is?! This is my territory!

“God, you’ve got this shit organized and everything,” the student said. “You must come here everyday, don’t you?”

Melanie’s face was red with embarrassment. She bit her lip hard, backing away deeper into her corner. If an escape was needed, she had her hands at the ready to grab her bag and run. However, there was one thing she wouldn’t be able to snatch in that situation, and that was the occultic book.

Her eyes had been drawn to it, and the other girl noticed. “You read in here?” she said, semi-curiously picking up the book by a corner.

“Scarlet! D-Don’t-- Please put it down!” Melanie barked. Her panicked voice made the girl wince.

“Whoa, okay,” Scarlet rolled her eyes and placed the book back on the desk where it was. “How do you know my name? I’ve definitely never met a girl like you.”

Melanie paused. There wasn’t an easy way to admit that she kept at least some tabs on everyone she crossed paths with. In Scarlet’s case, the two shared a writing class last year, but only for a brief two weeks before Scarlet transferred out. Despite the limited interactions, this was still enough time for Melanie to dedicate Scarlet to memory, along with only a small handful of facts; she was a sorority girl, she liked to drink, and she had a boyfriend at one point.

But those facts did little to aid Melanie in the moment, and her silence wasn’t an appeasing answer for Scarlet. At the very least, Melanie did manage to get Scarlet to let go of the book, but in doing so, she had invited Scarlet to inspect the corner more thoroughly.

“Are you… planning something…?” Melanie asked.

“Yeah,” Scarlet nodded, “me and some guys are looking to throw a big party. Like serious stuff. This old place is perfect, so, you should grab your things and go. How old are you, anyway?”

“T-Twenty…” Melanie stuttered out that answer, instinctively submitting herself to Scarlet’s orders.

“Yeah, you’re definitely not invited,” she laughed, “especially looking like that. They weren’t kidding when they said this place was fucking haunted.”

Fuck off, you stupid slut, Melanie thought. She wouldn’t dare let those thoughts escape her mouth. “Um, okay,” she hesitantly replied. It stung to just ignore Scarlet’s insult, but she was used to this kind of treatment. “W-When’s the party? I’ll just stay out of… your way, if that’s--”

“Friday,” Scarlet said. “Tomorrow I’ll be coming by again to clean up, and the day after this place will be poppin’. Fuck,” Scarlet fanned herself, opening up the collar to her blazer to vent out some hot air, “this library sucks-- it’s so hot!”

“Well, th-there’s no AC, after all…”

“Obviously.” Scarlet rolled her eyes dramatically. She pushed the book aside, clearing a space for her to sit. Just that touch to the book was enough to make Melanie twitch. “People will be too drunk to notice how hot it is, right? Like, the drinks will be really cold, so…” She looked to Melanie, as if she was an expert that could verify that plan, but there was only silence.

“Shit, whatever,” Scarlet grumbled. She unbuttoned the top layer she wore, exposing a white top underneath. The overshirt was then laid back onto a nearby chair. “Anyway, are you on your way out? Get your shit and go. I’ve got to dust this place out at least a little bit to make sure we all don’t die partying in here. Not gonna get done if I’ve got you hanging around.”

Melanie continued to hold her tongue while her thoughts raged. Once again, she found herself being walked over by other people. Worse yet was that she was being attacked by this normie, some party-crazed deviant that was worth a dime-a-dozen around the school. What gave Scarlet any right over her to own Anders Library, much less to be used for some alcoholic meet and greet?

Melanie listened, however furious she was. Confrontation was not her strong suit, and so she forfeited the library without any fight. She swiftly picked up her belongings while Scarlet vaguely looked busy inspecting the rest of the library. Melanie would shoot her nasty looks when her back was turned, a gesture that almost made her forget to grab the tome.

God forbid a bimbo like her got her fingers on this, Melanie said, half-joking to herself. She grabbed the book, but she froze. In the corner of her eye, Scarlet’s blazer had caught her attention. Scarlet herself was still distracted, leaving the blazer vulnerable, and Melanie curious. There was especially one fine detail that intrigued her intensely; a thread of brown hair, pressed into the collar with a dab of sweat. It had an enticing shine, it was so clean and well kept much like the rest of Scarlet’s hair.

Melanie was still frozen. When she snapped to, her next action was already in motion. Before she acknowledged it, she had the single string of hair wrapped around her finger, so tight that it could cut off circulation.

The hair relaxed in Melanie’s palm when she had finally made it back to her apartment. She locked the front door, made no comment to the roommate passed out in front of the television, and then locked her own bedroom door -- but not before quietly helping herself to a simple bowl and a bottle of red wine.

Her heartbeat was pounding. It had suddenly dawned on Melanie that she was actually committing to this arcane ritual. Her real, actual intent with gathering these ingredients, separating them into specific proportions, lighting candles, drawing sigils with chalk on a blank mat, and putting a bowl of wine in the center to provide an offering of hair was to shrink another human. Shrinking another human was a part of her checklist.

Melanie laughed, openly laughed at herself, convincing herself again that even if the experiment flopped, she could say it was all in good fun. “At least I’m learning something,” she told herself, looking down at the set up she had made on her floor. The preparations were complete.

Opened to the relevant pages, the book lay not far to her side. Melanie traced the archaic words with a finger, highlighting to herself that it would take “one full cycle of the rotating moon and sun” for the effects to begin -- twenty-four hours, she assumed. Melanie looked at the time on her phone. It was almost 7 pm, and this limited how long Melanie could hesitate to begin the ritual.

She looked at the hair one last time. The candles were lit and the wine was still. Melanie’s green eyes grew wide, flaring up in excitement as she unpinched her two fingers. Softly, just like a feather, the brown hair fell. It touched the surface of the wine, stood there, and then slowly sank into the red-black depth. It was gone.

The next step was a prayer. Melanie hated this part, she had despised memorizing the necessary chant, but after clapping her hands together, folding her fingers over each other, she felt possessed. Not by a spirit, but her body was manipulated by a demon of obsession, one that lived in a pit inside Melanie. She was much more dedicated to this ritual than she gave herself credit for. All of her being was put into making sure this curse -- to shrink a person to the size of a doll -- was going to work.

 

Scarlet had arrived at Anders Library, and Melanie was not far behind. Melanie had been following her that entire day, as far as she could, and she was pleased to see that Scarlet was true to her word. Indeed, that next day she had returned to the library to continue fixing it up. The sun was setting, just like when they had confronted each other before, and best of all, she was alone. Melanie giggled to herself, but she didn’t let her humor get too loose. After all, this was going to be immensely embarrassing to herself if the shrinking curse failed, and there was also a lingering possibility she would be caught by Scarlet sneaking around.

Fortunately, there were no surprises to get in Melanie’s way. Shortly after Scarlet entered the building did Melanie come after her. She knew the best places to keep out of sight, and so she kept a close-eye on Scarlet, and on the time as well.

Melanie anxiously watched each minute tick by, hidden behind a tall bookcase. Her heart was racing between being full of excitement and being hollowed with doubt. Scarlet was still there, moving perfectly according to how Melanie envisioned it. The minute changed, and it had then been exactly twenty-four hours since Melanie cast the curse.

Scarlet yawned, then coughed. “Fuck all this dust,” she snarled, “shit.” Then, she continued to move a desk to one corner so a space could be cleared.

Melanie was on edge. Why am I so damn stupid? she asked herself, immediately passing doubt over the curse and the book in its entirety. People can’t shrink, idiot! You really thought this was going to work, Melanie?!

Interrupting her usual self-berating was a thud. Melanie perked up, and she saw that Scarlet had tripped, just slightly did her knees give out and she found herself supported by the table with both arms. She brushed some hair out of her eyes, then looked around with a second yawn. Melanie cowered more behind the bookcase, spying on Scarlet through an empty shelf. Was it actually taking effect after all?

Scarlet ignored the sensations plaguing her, focusing instead on her work. She grabbed two chairs and began to drag them across the tiled floor. She panted, “What the hell?” Earlier she had been able to pick up a stack of chairs, at least three at a time, but now she found herself struggling to drag just two of them. This fact was noted not only be her, but by Melanie as well.

Scarlet winced. After giving up on two chairs and limiting herself to one at a time, she felt a sickeningly warm spike drill through her head and into her stomach. She breathed heavily, constantly wiping away at sweat that beaded her temple. “This library… I-Is it really gonna be this hot?” she whined as she collapsed into one of the chairs she had been moving. “Fuck, dude, we need… some fans, or…”

Melanie’s eyes continued to widen, as if they knew no bounds to how expressive they could be. Her mouth was left agap, It’s working… She’s actually shrinking…

It was true, though only Melanie herself recognized what was happening. Scarlet, having become delirious soon after the effect took hold, wasn’t going to guess first that she was supernaturally being reduced in size. She tossed around in her chair and opened her shirt down a button to help cool off, but she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. Each passing second was another slither of height being stolen away into nothingness, and even the chair she sat in was becoming comically oversized for her without her ever realizing.

Scarlet slowly picked up her head, holding it still with both hands. A migraine was now inflicting her, and she decided then that the library was not going to be worked on. “Fuck this shit,” she told herself, rising to her feet. But when she did start to move, it had finally hit her. She noticed right when her feet touched the floor that something was different, and when her eyes were only inches above the seat of the chair she had been in, it was clear what had been happening to her body.

Right away, Scarlet gasped and shivered intensely. She swayed away from the chair and closer to a desk, but the sight of even that being so giant made her panic again and stumble the opposite way. She spun around, wanting to understand her shifting surroundings, but the turn only increased her sickness. She nearly fell, tripping over her own two feet but managing to stay standing -- standing in a world that had tripled in size in just a couple precious minutes.

“Wha-- Holy shit, holy shit,” Scarlet stammered. She bit her fingers, aimlessly trying to find some answer to her predicament. “W-What’s happening?! Is someone there?!”

Melanie flinched. Was she caught? Then, she giggled. Did it matter? That was a more fun question to her. The more Scarlet dwindled in size, the less resistance she could put up to anyone, even Melanie herself. The anticipation was volcanic in her heart.

Scarlet threw reason out the window. She started yelling for help, hoping someone could stop this disease or at least explain to her what was happening. Her tiny voice, even when trying as best as it could, was only as much of a chirp to Melanie, the only person that could hear her pleas. It made Melanie want to bust into laughter, but she remained silent, having bigger plans to make her debut than to be caught giggling maniacally.

Melanie couldn’t hold herself back any further. She stepped out from behind the bookcase, her eyes immediately targeting the shrunken Scarlet. Uncertain of just how small Scarlet would get, Melanie decided best to act sooner rather than later. Fortunately, as far as the book had described, the effects of the curse were permanent, so she had no other time limit restricting her fun.

Scarlet jumped when she heard the creaking of a footstep. A terrifying image came to her mind, the simple sight of a giant human towering over her, but the reality was so much more horrible. As she slowly rotated to face Melanie, her arms hugged at her gut, still wrestling with the queasy sensation of a more conventional illness. All of her ailments doubled in intensity when she looked up at Melanie. The creepy, awkward student that she had only just met the day prior was now an unparalleled monster, a massive demon that was once mistaken for a mere ghoul.

Melanie didn’t slow her approach. Scarlet screamed and stumbled back, unable to look away from the awe-inspiring sight of someone so huge coming directly at her. In a panic, she tried to run away, but the impending sound of footsteps trailed her so much faster. Her sprint only carried her weary body as far as under the chair she had been sitting in, its legs now thick poles of wood that held up an impossibly big slab of a seat.

Any feeling of safety for having gotten that far was fleeting. It was no protection against Melanie, her eyes still locked on her prey. With one hand, Melanie held the chair and tipped it aside. Scarlet shook and curled down to the ground, bracing for impact. When the chair hit the floor, she jumped, the quake and its sound popping her into the air for a split second before she fell to the ground. She was a crying mess, having felt the equivalent of several buildings being demolished just beside her.

“That was my seat,” Melanie said. Her teasing was dark and stoic. “This was my library… You thought you could… take it away from me?”

Scarlet was pained just to lift her head up. Tears streamed down her reddened cheeks as she tried to comprehend Melanie’s size. It was almost impossible to consider this the same girl as yesterday, the girl that was so timid and weak that she could be knocked down with a little push. No longer was this the case. Shrinking had put Scarlet in a whole new perspective to view, and fear, Melanie.

“W-Why?!” Scarlet shouted. “How did this happen to me?! W-Who are you?!”

Melanie tilted her head. The only way she was going to hear the shrunken Scarlet was if she paid close attention to her. Had she not been listening for a tiny voice, she never would have heard her questions. “Who am I?” she asked. “Who are you? To me, y-you look like… a tiny slut. A bug in my way.”

Scarlet shook her head violently, exaggerating her gestures so that they could be read. “I-I’m not a slut! Or a bug!” she cried out. “For the love of fucking god, please! Un-shrink me! Please, I’m going to die like this!”

“Are you?” Melanie’s face went plain, but then a smile was shocked onto her lips. “Is that your plan? To die pathetically like an insect? Well,” Melanie giggled, and raised one foot into the air, “let’s make that… happen.”

Scarlet shook her head again, she raised her arms in protest, but as the long shadow of Melanie’s loafer creeped over her form, she knew this was nothing she could talk her way out of. She had lost that ability right with her size, and now, just like the bug she denied being, she had to scurry away. She turned around and ran, ignoring the tipped over chair and focusing only on creating distance between her and the titan.

Melanie blushed as that smile persisted. She relished in how much fear she could generate in one woman by simply raising her foot. Truly, she had no intention on crushing Scarlet, certainly not this soon into her shrinking. She toyed with her for now, letting her run off along the floor while she stomped her foot behind her. Each of her footsteps made Scarlet shriek, quieter than the time before but always genuine and desperate, weaker in volume only because she was quickly running out of breath. Scarlet panicked as much as Melanie was amused.

Scarlet came to a halt, quickly glancing backwards to see that Melanie was still hot on her trail. All of her running was matched by just a few simple steps forward. That fact was one more stresser racing through her mind, clouding her decision making. She had run straight into an obstacle; a wall, a flat dead end. No escape seemed reachable by just going forward. She turned right; another wall, a corner. She turned left; Melanie’s shoe slammed to that side just then, cutting off that exit. No matter where she turned, there was no outrunning the giantess.

Without somewhere to run, Scarlet resorted to begging. She turned to face Melanie, much she would a person, but in front of her were two godly legs that soared into the sky. Instead of yelling and crying like she had planned, she was only stunned before the immense sight. Her legs became stiff, taking her backwards several more steps until she was just shy of touching the wall.

“Y-You can have the library!” Scarlet shouted. She wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. “I’m fucking sorry! You can have the fucking library, fuck the party! J-Just let me go! Don’t-- Please don’t crush me!”

Melanie rubbed her chin, her grin still as wicked as ever, like a promise she was making to Scarlet down below. She really wanted to be witty in that moment; she wanted to say something clever, funny, preferably both. Despite the power high, Melanie hadn’t become any cooler, much to her own disappointment.

Having drawn a blank, Melanie only blinked and continued to pick up her foot. She licked her lips; little squeaks poured out of Scarlet’s mouth, tickling Melanie’s ears, and she could hear those squeaks get louder the longer she left her foot suspended.

“You’re worthless,” Melanie deemed, “so you deserve to die.”

Scarlet screamed incoherently and buckled down. She crawled, but she knew there was no escape, and eventually lay still with her head tucked deep into her arms. Like a rocket charging right at her, Melanie’s loafer was crashing down upon her, its shadow darkening to consume Scarlet’s pathetic form.

Melanie’s foot landed. For Scarlet, there was a deafening slam from all around her. She spasmed, and all the air in her lungs was choked out. The earth shook like it had been impacted by a meteor, and Scarlet was in the dead center of it.

She cried, then became hollow and silent. She shivered again, opening her eyes to see darkness all around her. Scarlet twitched severely while rotating her body to peer upwards; right above her was the ridged surface of the shoe’s sole, wedged precariously between the floor and the wall. Scarlet whined, shivering back away from the bottom of the giant shoe.

Melanie tilted her foot to the side, allowing her to peek down at Scarlet and observe her intense reaction. The shrunken classmate looked traumatized, so badly horrified that she could easily die from choking on her own tears. Melanie laughed, but muffled her amusement behind a pale hand.

The foot rose again, and its movement inspired a new wave of spasms and shakes from Scarlet. “Please!” she screamed again. Her words did nothing to slow down Melanie’s second stomp, or her third. Over and over she raged, bashing her foot into the corner with as much strength as the strike before it, but always making sure that Scarlet wasn’t in a position to be crushed. She wanted to torture this weakened person, and she could only imagine how terrible it had to be, reduced to a pitiful size and reliving a cataclysmic experience repeatedly, an earth-shattering ordeal happening on tempo for what had to feel like an eternity, and knowing, too, that at any point, this titan of a young woman could make one wrong step and completely end the life she toyed with. Her imagination was not far from the reality Scarlet was enduring.

Melanie stomped one last time, just slightly off beat. Her foot now stood flat on the tiled floor, its edge only inches from Scarlet. Her grin had eased, but it was still electrified with amusement. Scarlet’s expression hadn’t changed, but she no longer had any voice. Even her whimpering was gone, as lifeless as her eyes had become. The only sign of life she maintained was her violent, fear-induced shaking.

“Do you know why… I didn’t crush you?” Melanie asked. There wasn’t a response, at least none that Melanie heard. “You’re worthless, but out of all the whores on campus, you are pretty cute.”

“... C-Cute…?” Scarlet coughed. It was the first word she had managed to form clearly from her tongue since the stomping first began. She had to say it aloud, to believe that this was actually a deciding factor in whether she lived or died as an insect.

“Cute in a… an abusable sort of way,” Melanie said. She had tried to remain cool and plain with her tone, but she was pressured into a giggle at the tail end of her words. “Like, someone should put this dumb bitch in her place kind of cute.

“That’s the only way you can live. You have to entertain me now.” Melanie slid her foot toward Scarlet. She actually had to show some control here, it would have been terribly easy to move her foot too far and kick the tiny person without meaning to. “Lick this shoe. You’re so tiny, I bet you can even find a clean place to lick.”

Scarlet didn’t understand at first. She wasn’t trying to play dumb, but the concept of dragging her tongue across the edge of a leather shoe was so foreign and unexpected. What kind of humiliation did this college student have in store for her? She understood just enough to correctly guess that this was only the beginning.

“Lick!” Melanie demanded. For emphasis, she adjusted the angle of her shoe, aiming the toe directly at Scarlet. “For fucks sake, I really will crush you, you know? I’m giving you a fucking chance here. Lick.”

Scarlet finally felt some motivation to move. Her entire body was shaking, as if she had just stepped off a roller coaster, each step only slightly more certain than the step before it. Her body moved like a shambling corpse, practically falling on top of Melanie’s loafer. Am I really doing this? she wondered. This is what I have to do to live.

Yet, even with such a strong reason to comply, Scarlet still found herself hesitating. Her tongue was held back by her teeth, just past her lips but hovering over the broad surface of the shoe. Like being forced to eat something vile, she knew she could only commit to the act by force. She plunged forward and dragged her tongue across the leather material -- it was bitter, dry, with a dusty taste that tainted her mouth. She licked again, even more dedicated than before. The last thing she desired was to fail at this one disgusting job and be crushed for it, a penalty that she never imagined would hang so realistically over her.

“Huhu…~ I can kinda feel it,” Melanie whispered. She wasn’t sure if that was meant to encourage Scarlet or to belittle her, but she did admit that she was surprised. “Even with such a tiny tongue, I can barely feel you… Licking away, like a dog. Ah, you’re much more pathetic than a dog now, aren’t you?”

Scarlet shook her head, but she said nothing. Melanie’s taunting weighed heavy on her, but she didn’t stop to argue. She licked, and each time she did, Melanie felt a tiny tickle up her spine. It would actually start there, at her toe, and then ride up her body. She relished this sensation of being superior, ultimately above this other human in every way. Her eyes closed, and a loose finger shivered anxiously.

This is turning me on, Melanie duly noted. She bit her lip in shame. I’m getting turned on by having a tiny woman clean my shoe with her tongue. Why am I like this?

She smiled. Her own thoughts were, if anything, entertaining in their own right. She wondered if Scarlet had noticed, and she wondered what Scarlet would think. What would her opinion be of this unnerving college student that had stolen her height and was tempted to masturbate to her suffering? Melanie didn’t deny she was creepy and had appropriately weird tastes, but even this made her second guess herself.

That shame washed away when she remembered another crucial detail about this situation. Her eyes lit up, like being awoken from hypnosis; the curse worked. All the salts and acids and wine, the lone piece of hair, the chanting -- it actually was able to shrink someone, true to every last word in the recipe. An occultic spellbook hadn’t deceived her, it actually did empower her exactly as intended. In all the fun she was having with Scarlet, Melanie hadn’t even taken a moment to appreciate this success.

As that knowledge came rushing to mind, so did Melanie’s other priorities. Her heart went cold, then extremely hot at a singular thought. She remembered Adrian, and she remembered why she wanted to experiment with such a wild curse in the first place. She wanted to own Adrian, to hold her against her body and completely envelop her with love. All she needed was to repeat the ritual with a strand of Adrian’s hair, and it would be complete.

But this, too, was fascinating. Torturing a random woman as payback for bullying her. Melanie looked down at her victim, still dragging her tongue up and down the point of her shoe. She was perceiving a painting, a masterpiece, an art she had worked on and every detail was falling into place, almost too conveniently. Everything felt right about this, how there was a human soul bound to being her obedient servant.

Scarlet’s body was unexpectedly wrapped up into a fist. She gasped and fidgeted, but with her depleted strength, there was no resisting Melanie’s giant hand. “You’ll be my toy from now on,” Melanie explained, carelessly handling Scarlet while she stood up to her full height. She held Scarlet only a short distance from her lips, making sure her wispy words were thick and heavy over the tiny woman. “You are worth nothing to me… so you better do everything you can to at least fake some value.”

Melanie wasn’t confident that her words had the exact impact she wanted, but when Scarlet’s reply was frantic nodding and desperate agreement, she figured she had said enough. A creak echoing from elsewhere in the library drew her attention away from Scarlet, further reminding Melanie that she had to wrap up this encounter. Her first test with curses was a grand success, and it was only the beginning.

“Hey, Scarlet? Where’re you at?” someone called out from the library’s entrance. “We got everything you asked for. You still cleaning up?”

Melanie looked back to where the voice came, then back to Melanie. There was no longer any time to play there at the library. Melanie hastily grabbed her bag, as well as Scarlet’s purse which had been set on a desk earlier. She deposited the purse into her messenger bag, then did the same with Scarlet herself, discarding her into a pocket and expecting the college student to adapt. Everything was collected, and an exit out the back doors made for a quiet getaway into the night.

 

Two evenings in a row, Melanie entered her apartment with a drumming heart. Just as she had the night before, she clutched her bag, knowing it to hold something irreplaceable; before, it was the book, but now, it was the results of the book. Her roommate was still passed out on the couch, none the wiser that the girl she lived with had successfully kidnapped and dehumanized a fellow student. Melanie herself couldn’t believe it either; she was a criminal, empowered by occultic mysteries.

Focus had to be maintained, Melanie knew she could get distracted with this ability. What if it was a coincidence? she pondered. Maybe it wasn’t my curse. Maybe something different happened to shrink Scarlet…

Her bag was dropped onto her bed, and she swore she heard a tiny chirp of protest from inside. Melanie’s face became warm, glowing red in the shadowy bedroom. She could hardly wait to inflict this curse onto Adrian, but there could be no errors with the love of her life -- everything had to be perfect. Her vision fell onto the spellbook, still sitting on the floor where she had left it. It would have to be tested at least once more before she could confidently aim her dark magic at her deepest obsession.

 

Chapter Three by Curse Crazy

 

Sunlight leaked into the bedroom through just the smallest separation of Melanie’s curtains. Those few morning beams were just enough to stir her, flickering her eyes into consciousness. For a few moments, she felt out of place, in the wrong bed or in the wrong clothes. Did last night actually happen? She wasn’t sure what truth she wanted.

Melanie rose groggily from underneath the large, heavy sheet. Her hair was messier than usual, and despite the longer sleep, the bags underneath her eyes still remained. On routine, one hand wiped at her face while the other stretched to her phone. It was 7 am, the usual time she would be waking up. It felt wrong, still. After what happened, could a morning like this really proceed it?

Then, she saw her. On the nightstand was a tiny woman, a student named Scarlet, shrunken to a mere three inches tall. She used to be tall and in charge, with a blunt personality that bossed Melanie around. Now, the scene said differently. Her entire body was tied up by a black-and-green shoelace, the other end of which was rigged around the nightstand’s lamp as to leash her to it. It was a simple set up, Melanie knew, but she was exhausted by the time she had gotten back to the apartment. It didn’t matter now; it worked, Scarlet hadn’t run off.

It wasn’t long after Melanie stirred that Scarlet also awoke. It was actually due to Melanie’s morning movements that Scarlet was disturbed from an uneasy sleep. Her eyes shot open and her body spasmed in an effort to be free. To her dismay, she couldn’t move an inch. It was painful, and only then did she realize how carelessly restricted her air flow had been this entire time. It wasn’t as though Melanie was concerned with how comfortable her knot was.

Despite the bonds, Scarlet curled forward and tired to get up. Her heart was beating wildly from just one glance at the giantess. She couldn’t live with herself, in that moment, if she didn’t at least try to break away. Maybe she didn’t fucking tie it, she wished, she desperately hoped, Where would I go, though?! This girl shrank me!

Melanie managed a smile, like a normal grin, looking down upon her captive. “Man… You didn’t even try…?” she questioned aloud in a sleepy voice. Scarlet shivered into a stillness, freezing in the position she was in. “Are you already this obedient? Mm… This was easier than I thought, at least.”

Scarlet said nothing. Melanie was fine with this; she swung her legs off from the bed, suddenly energized enough to get her out from under the sheets. In her exhaustion, she had collapsed into bed with that day’s clothes still worn. Everything from last night had blended together, everything from beyond the point she had picked up Scarlet and left Anders Library. She unzipped her hoodie and let it fall behind her; she remembered hugging her messenger bag closely while hustling to the next bus. She grabbed the edges of her t-shirt and pulled it off overhead; she remembered returning home, kicking off her shoes, and tip-toeing to her bedroom. She felt her black bra, debating briefly whether to remove it; she remembered roping Scarlet up to the lamp, and then barely anything else.

Something was so eerie about last night, Melanie thought. My heart still feels tired from just beating so hard. Maybe that’s why I fell asleep so easily…

A whine came from Scarlet, breaking Melanie free from her trance. Scarlet had tried again to worm her way out of the shoelace, but still to no avail. Melanie cackled, “Y-You should have been trying that last night, S-Scarlet...”

Scarlet stopped, frozen as though touched by a ghost. Was she supposed to laugh? Was it funny that she was kidnapped? Kidnapped, no less, by someone who couldn’t even confidently say her name.

Melanie’s hand moved towards the shrunken woman. Scarlet gasped and then shouted in protest. Melanie winced this time, her hand flinching back in response to these little sounds. “Hey, quit that,” she said, the amusement from her tone having quickly faded, “I’m trying to free you, anyway. Would you rather I make it tighter?”

Scarlet’s shouts were then reduced to quiet cries. Melanie wanted silence, but she would make do with this. Her hand continued and she picked up the light body in front of her. Scarlet’s voice pitched up again, the feeling of weightlessness being a frightening one when she had no ability to move. It was uncomfortably easy for her body to be manipulated, twisted and turned around as needed for Melanie to undo the shoelace. It actually was a simple knot made tight, so it was equally simple to unravel it. Once done, Scarlet was left gasping for air, so grateful then that she could breathe freely and naturally.

However, the feeling of a palm’s skin under her hands and knees was unsettling enough to sour the relief. That feeling of freedom was only briefly lived before she remembered that critical change in her life. Her eyes were still and empty, the life drained from her expression as she could only worry about what lay ahead.

Melanie sat back down into her bed with a bounce. Scarlet hugged the wide palm during this move, shaking in terror from the idea of being dropped at this height. When the motion stopped and she could look up, what was before her was a wall of pale skin, the bare stomach of her massive captor while being held casually in front of it. Her eyes were pulled upwards, to the two hill-sized breasts that were held by a comically huge bra, and beyond that was Melanie’s face, smiling down at Scarlet with a deceptively innocent gleam in her eyes.

“P-P-Please,” Scarlet coughed. She didn’t care if it was her place to talk or not, the words just desperately spilled from her lips. “Let me go… I’m so, so sorry…”

“You’re sorry?” Melanie repeated. Her tone wasn’t devilish or mean at all, but that absence was just as concerning. She whipped some loose hair out from the edges of her vision; a mundane act that, to Scarlet, was like a waterfall of ink being redirected. “... Who are you sorry to?”

“I’m sorry-- To you!” Scarlet nodded. It was one of the few things her body could do besides shiver. “I’m sorry f-for what I did, a-and how I acted!”

To who?” Melanie leaned in closer, hauntingly overhead of Scarlet. “What’s my name? Do you remember my name?”

Scarlet gawked without a name coming to mind. How the hell should I know?! How the fuck do you even know my name?! Scarlet mentally raged, her limit pressed to its absolute. “Your name… Your name is…”

“We had a class together, Scarlet,” Melanie complained, her grim expression unchanging. “Don’t you think I’m unforgettable? Shouldn’t you be ashamed to not remember it? I’m a god-- b-basically a god to you… Doesn’t that ring a bell?”

Scarlet shook her head. This one test to be rewarded with even a minor amount of mercy, and she was failing it. “I-I don’t fucking remember…!”

“It’s Melanie,” she replied finally, “but that’s rude. I had to tell you. You’ve really wasted my time, and my day has only begun. That’s annoying…

“Since you fucked up my name, you have to redeem yourself.” Melanie stood up. It wasn’t very quick, but it did leave Scarlet scrambling to stay safe in the giant hand that held her. “Jump off my hand and kill yourself. Either that, or I can give you a new name…”

Scarlet was paralyzed. Was she just asked-- told to kill herself? She contemplated that, actually committing to the act of suicide. It would be disgustingly easy to do, just tripping off the edge of Melanie’s hand, only a few steps away. She berated herself for even considering it, and yet, she still lingered on the idea. It was hard not to, how her life had been brought to this unusual fork in its path; does she willingly die, or allow her name to be changed by this wicked, immature goddess?

There was no answer. Melanie waited, for she had made herself perfectly clear, and when silence was her answer, she accepted that. “You’re too scared to kill yourself,” she sighed. “Maybe you don’t want to fall to your death? That is kind of scary. You really are obedient, then, aren’t you?” She grinned like a flicker of candlelight. “A new name… Now you’re bothering me to think of one…”

Melanie, f-for the love of god,” Scarlet ached, “I-I don’t want a new name. Please, Melanie, my name is Scarlet. D-Don’t make me choose this kind of shit, please…!”

“Wormslut!” Melanie laughed, but Scarlet despaired. The response she got from begging for her life was an awkwardly joyful cheer, an exclamation of two combined words that Scarlet herself didn’t even comprehend. Melanie figured that was the case, and repeated it, “Wormslut is your name. I think it’s funny, pretty appropriate too. You were just a slut before, b-but now you’re a tiny slut. Only worms would want to fuck you and I bet you’d come around to liking it…”

Scarlet melted where she lay. Her brain was being torn in a battle between accepting this fate and allowing Wormslut to replace her given name, or refusing that humiliating fate, as though it could be feasible in her current state. In the background of this mental divide was the grotesque image of exactly what Melanie was describing.

“Whoring yourself out to worms… so that you can get off,” Melanie continued, sitting down at her desk while she made this idle comment. “I’d rather kill myself,” she laughed.

 

The last monitor dimmed to black. “That’s enough,” Kimberly whispered. She rolled back in her chair, making some distance between her and the work computer. A deep sigh containing hours of overtime escaped her while her head rolled back. All the lights were off except the few needed to keep her cubicle lit, and even those were on a low setting.

Kimberly could have fallen asleep right there, it wouldn’t even be the first time since she worked at that office. She glanced at her phone and blinked; 9:30 pm, almost five hours after she was scheduled to leave. “It is Friday again,” she joked to herself, ruffling a hand through her long, blonde hair.

Kimberly wasn’t particularly proud of her job’s position, but she was proud of the work she put in. The job of an accountant for a simple business wasn’t the life she dreamed of, but it did pay off college debt and paved ahead of her a stable future. Her positive work ethic extended to everything she did, but an unfortunate side effect of this was that others often left work for her to pick up. To her, an unfinished task, whatever the reason, was like abandoned trash in the break room; “If I don’t clean it up, who will?”

And despite the long hours that bled into overtime, she still managed to smile afterwards. She didn’t hate her work, and the late hours didn’t bother her, other than the fact that she would have to wait for a ride. Her desk was tidied for the next day and the lights were completely shut off behind her exit.

Kimberly’s heels could be heard from across the hall as she approached the fourth floor lobby. As she turned the corner, already planning to hit the water cooler, she had noticed a familiar face. “Good evening, Melanie,” she greeted.

Melanie glanced up from her phone, instinctively hiding her screen away. A polite smile shivered across her lips. “H-Hi, Kim,” she replied quietly. She breathed, hoping to calm some of her nerves like she did before any conversation.

Kimberly casually passed Melanie, who was seated in a beige sofa, on her way to the water cooler. She began filling a green-tinted bottle and asked, “They had you stay late, too?”

“S-Sort of,” Melanie chuckled. “I offered…”

“That’s good, and also the worst thing you can do.” Kimberly laughed, and Melanie quietly did as well, to some extent. “Keep that up and you’ll be a floor mat like me in no time. Though, I guess if you’re a temp, making that good impression is really important.”

Melanie nodded. It didn’t phase her at all to juggle these lies, how she was a temp from a college work program that worked on the sixth floor. As elaborate as that set-up was, it was all necessary. It excused her enough to enter a poorly protected building without question, even at unusual hours, and to wander its lobbies. This had made the office building, and specifically that lobby, her original hideout -- before she discovered the abandoned Anders Library.

“Seriously,” Kimberly went on, pausing just to swallow a chug of water, “don’t work too hard. You’re still young, and college is a pain. Are you waiting for your mom?”

“Yeah,” Melanie whispered, “sh-she’s late again.”

“If you ever need me to, I can always get my friend to take you home,” Kimberly offered, sitting opposite of Melanie in a plain waiting chair. “Someone went missing, like, just a week ago, didn’t they? I don’t really remember, but a young girl like you should be careful. Seriously, ask me and I’ll try to arrange something.”

“Thanks, I-I will, if it comes up,” Melanie said.

“Yeah, so long as it isn’t in the next week, that is.” Kimberly chuckled. “I’m going on vacation! Starting after tomorrow.”

“Oh, wow,” Melanie awed. “That’s… perfect. That’s really nice, you must be excited.”

Kimberly laughed and exaggerated a nod in agreement. “Oh, Melanie, you have no clue! I barely get a weekend around here, but finally, a whole week to just relax…”

“D-Do you have any plans?”

“Hmm, well, of course,” Kimberly opened her phone to keep her eyes busy. “A few things, you know, but mostly I’ll just be happy to not be here in the office.”

Melanie felt guilty, staring through this woman’s lies. She had stalked Kimberly well enough to know that she was a single, childless 33 year-old. She hadn’t dated anyone in years, she worked far too much to maintain many friendships, and she had no wild interests or hobbies that took her anywhere exciting. Even her family connections were weak, with most relatives living out of state and out of touch. Melanie looked up at Kimberly, focusing on these secret and mundane details of Kimberly’s civil life, and how intriguing it was that someone who looked so mature and adult was actually quite worthless. Melanie closed her eyes; she wasn’t really one to judge.

Kimberly’s phone lit up with an alert. “Ah, she’s here.” She stood with a stretch, double-checking her person to make sure nothing was being left behind. She answered the call and addressed it quickly before pocketing the phone. “Alright, Melanie! Tomorrow’s Saturday, so the next time I see you will be after my time off, right? Don’t miss me too much!”

Melanie giggled nervously. “I-I’ll try not to,” she muttered. Her wave goodbye was motionless as Kimberly hurried into the elevator and descended to street level. Melanie breathed and sat patiently. She refused to move until she could hear the elevator’s hum come to a complete stop.

She waited an extra minute. Then, Melanie stood up and grabbed her messenger bag. Her heartbeat was starting to kick up again; she swallowed and ignored it. The halls were silent save for her soft footsteps which lead her to Kimberly’s work space. She grabbed the door knob tightly and jimmied it open; a trick she picked up from Kimberly herself, when she had forgotten her keycard one day.

The office was dark, illuminated faintly only by the glow of sleeping electronics. It proved to be all Melanie needed, stealthing through the rows of cubicles until she found Kimberly’s. Her racing heart was calming, eased to know how unchallenging this would be. She dug into her bag and retrieved from a pocket an everyday lint roller.

 

The last monitor dimmed to black. “Done!” Kimberly announced to no one. She rolled back in her chair, making some distance between her and the work computer. A deep sigh containing hours, days, and weeks of overtime escaped her while her head rolled back. All the lights were off except the few needed to keep her cubicle lit, until Kimberly cut the power to even those lights on her rush out.

Kimberly closed the door with a restrained chain of giggles. She had made it, alive and in one piece, to her well-deserved vacation. It may have been later into the evening than she had liked, but it wasn’t abnormal for a Saturday to stay late. Besides, she figured, what better way to start a break from work than knowing everything on her end had been completed? The week was forecasted to be stress-free, and Kimberly was getting giddy.

Kimberly laid back into the closed door, sighing in relief. She wiped some sweat from her brow; it made her feel accomplished. I worked for this, she thought. Time to go home.

But Kimberly’s feet wouldn’t move. She smiled, standing there against the door, unable to take a step forward. She sighed again, thinking she must be so exhausted from all her work. I really was wearing myself out too much, she thought, imagining that all the stresses from work were perhaps hitting her at once. She chuckled, only finding more reason to continue leaving the building, but her feet still didn’t move.

“Whoa,” she muttered. A wave of sickness befell her. She still couldn’t walk, but she could at least lift up her phone and look at the time. It was 9:30 pm, and it was usually out the door that she would text her ride to be picked up. She didn’t want to wait that long, of course, so her thumb fumbled to write up the message. She blinked, and realized her attempt at writing a text made for a jumble of words.

Before she could question it, a pain inflicted her. It was something hot, almost as if something was melting from her head and down the rest of her body. Her smile was challenged enough to disappear. Kimberly was starting to worry if she was now, of all times, catching a sickness.

“Kim?” Melanie had popped into vision. Kimberly gasped, spooked enough that she was able to move again. “A-Ahh, s-s-sorry…”

“Melanie,” Kimberly said to herself. She panted, taking one big breath to compose herself in front of the college student. “You startled me a little. W-What’s, uh, what’s going on? You waiting for your ride?”

“You look sick, Kim,” Melanie noted. Kimberly awkwardly smiled, realizing she was ill enough for it to be visible, apparently. “How are you feeling? W-What’s it feel like?”

Kimberly closed her eyes and held her head weakly in one hand. “It’s… probably nothing,” she replied. “I feel a little… faint, actually.”

Melanie stepped forward and put a hand on Kimberly’s elbow. Her grip was surprisingly serious to the office worker. “Can we sit down?” she suggested, glancing at the office door. “Y-You should sit, before you fall.”

Kimberly didn’t refuse, but she didn’t accept either. When Melanie reached for her keycard, she didn’t do anything to stop her. The door unlocked and she was escorted into a chair just beside the entrance. Even words were starting to fail Kimberly, struggling to come to mind and be said.

“Can you say anything, Kim?” Melanie asked, flicking on the lights. They blinded Kimberly, who vaguely gestured an arm up to block some of the illumination. Melanie took note of this weakened state of vision.

“Y-Yeah, I can still talk,” Kimberly replied. “I-It’s kinda hard to think…”

“Hard to think? Hmm.” Melanie bit her lip, looking over Kimberly’s body with studious eyes. Her hands felt the collar of Kimberly’s coat, then reached up to her forehead. “A-Are you feeling warm? You have a fever…”

“Do I? Ahh, crap,” Kimberly giggled weakly, though she were on the edge of passing out. “Now that you mention it, I am feeling pretty warm…”

“Where?”

“M-My head, but also kind of… my stomach, too…”

“Go on.”

“Mmm…” Kimberly swayed in her seat, making Melanie have to hold her up somewhat. “Like something-- a needle, going through my head.”

Melanie tugged down on Kimberly’s jacket. “Let’s get you undressed,” she forced out of her mouth. “You’re way too hot. You need to cool off.”

Kimberly’s eyes were closed, but she still raised a brow. Somehow, it didn’t seem that illogical, and she found herself being stripped without resistance. Her jacket was taken off from her sleeves and her blouse was unbuttoned. One after another, her articles of clothing were being removed, organized into a pile. Her tops, followed by her heels and then her leggings, then her skirt. She sat in the chair, now almost completely naked, and having practically fallen asleep during all of it.

“Let me get b-behind you,” Melanie urged, hoisting Kimberly to lean forward. Her fingers hesitated before the back of Kimberly’s bra.

At this touch, Kimberly became more conscious. She jumped up slightly and even put a hand against Melanie’s to push it aside. “W-Why am I getting naked?” she asked, unclear of how she ended up like this now, back into the office wearing only a white colored set of underwear.

“Y-Your fever…” Melanie repeated. “T-Trust me.”

“Melanie…” Kimberly shook her head. “Please, c-call a hospital… I think I need an ambulance.”

Melanie stared at her, then said, “I’m not calling for an ambulance…”

“Why… not?” Kimberly panted. She felt too sick for this, for a college student to be giving her this kind of difficulty, even if it was an acquaintance. Then, a totally different thought came shocking into mind. “Melanie, h-hey… Why are you here at the office...? It’s… Saturday. You don’t ever…”

Melanie was silent, and her expression matched. Kimberly looked up at her, and in her pursuit to discover what had gotten into Melanie, she had come across a more vital realization. The girl before her was growing. So was the chair she sat in, shadowed by Melanie’s increasing form. An odd question blanked everything else in her mind: How tall am I?

Melanie adjusted her posture, then reached again for Kimberly. This time, she didn’t have any reservations about just lifting the woman where she needed her to be. She forced Kimberly to lean forward, exposing her back. She wedged a finger under the bra strap, that one digit now almost becoming too thick to manage it.

“Hey! W-What do you think you’re doing?!” Kimberly gasped. She swatted at Melanie’s arm, but the blow was deflected. It was too weak, so Kimberly struck again, this time with a fist. Even that bounced off of Melanie, forcing Kimberly to observe herself. She really was shrinking.

The bra snapped. “Fuck,” Melanie winced. It had shrunk too small for her to cleanly take off, and by accident she had broken it loose.

“Get off!” Kimberly shouted, trying again to ward off Melanie’s advances. One arm thwacked at Melanie where it could while the other juggled to keep her breasts covered. Her breathing became hectic. “Someone! Anybody, help!”

“Shut up,” Melanie demanded. She tightly clutched Kimberly’s right arm and left leg, able to hold each entire limb confidently in her hands. Kimberly struggled, but at a quarter of her normal height, it was impossible to stop even a younger woman from holding her down with ease. Despite Kimberly’s pleas, Melanie continued to undress her, eventually sliding her panties cleanly off her legs.

Melanie giggled, she salivated. She didn’t want to get distracted with something so simple, but she had a naked woman in her hands. This mature woman, who surely had been looked up to by her peers, was dwindling in size every second. She wasn’t just weak, but she was exposed, vulnerable, and unable to fight back. Melanie stood up, still holding Kimberly precariously by two opposite limbs. The sensation of Kimberly’s size draining in her hands was ticklish, like sand sifting through her fingers.

“What is this?!” Kimberly screamed. She still pushed and pulled, trying to break free, even if it meant freefalling to the floor below. “Why are you doing this to me, Melanie?! Why?! I-I’m shrinking! I need help!”

These shouts broke Melanie out of a trance. She stumbled into an answer, one she had vaguely planned ahead of time; “B-Because… you’re cute…”

Kimberly continued to squirm, not even hearing that answer. “Why, why, why?! Melanie! Stop this now!”

“You were also… easy,” Melanie admitted, feeling cocky. It wasn’t as though anything could stop her now from kidnapping this woman, just like she had Scarlet. “You trusted me, so it was really easy to, err… do this to you.”

Kimberly’s resistance was slowing to a halt. This was a matter of trust? Kimberly didn’t want to believe it, that the awkward girl she happened to make passing conversation with after work was now holding her hostage -- or something, she still didn’t understand how any of this was real. In the midst of all the chaos, she did make a vow to herself, that she would never trust someone again, not if this was the cruel consequence.

But despite making such a hardened commitment, Kimberly was crying. She was still shrinking and the feeling of losing so much power, helpless to stop it, was more depressing than anything else she had lived through. Soon, she found herself wishing to be any amount taller than she had become, even if it meant having her leg and arm held still by a college student’s grasp. That was gone now; Melanie had her gripped into one singular fist, her entire body fitting perfectly between all five fingers.

Melanie’s thumb greedily crossed over Kimberly’s chest. Kimberly winced and tried to shake away, but she was a mere toy in Melanie’s hand. “B-Big,” Melanie muttered aloud. She positioned Kimberly in a way so that her breasts lay on top of the broad side of her index finger, then used her thumb to squeeze down on one. The texture of one nipple was exhilarating to feel under her finger. “These used to be pretty big, huh? You had a really nice rack… I-It was probably your best feature.”

The touch was more painful from Kimberly’s perspective. She shivered and whined, critically embarrassed for being abused so pathetically. She doubted that Melanie, in her position of power, understood just how rough her grip was on her boob. “Let me go!” she cried. “I-It hurts!”

That was ignored. Melanie ceased on her own terms, bringing Kimberly closer up to her face so that she could prod at her from different angles. She had become slightly obsessed with feeling this more mature body. Wormslut has some good boobs, Melanie compared, but this is a woman. She really does look nice, and she feels… really soft.

“You’re kind of fat,” Melanie giggled, sliding a finger around Kimberly’s legs, hips, and stomach. Despite Kimberly being tickled, it was Melanie that ended up laughing after each touch. “You’re so soft, in all the right places… Didn’t your fiance see this? What an idiot…”

Kimberly cracked at the mention of her ex. She was bemused; how did Melanie know so much about her? She never once talked about her ex to her, she was positive. That deep question only made Kimberly despair more, adding a whole other layer of weakness to this increasing power gap.

“He was lucky,” Melanie continued, adjusting a finger so that it was between Kimberly’s kicking legs. The tip of her finger brushed against the modest collection of hair there. “Imaging getting to grab thighs like these, and then fucking the woman they belong to afterwards. That’s ideal. Ahh, so soft~”

“Fuck you! Fuck off!” Kimberly stomped hard at the edges of Melanie’s curious finger. No matter how Kimberly twisted her body, Melanie only ever needed to bend her finger differently to be back into position. It was utterly impossible for this grown woman to prevent this singular hand from molesting her.

“He left you because he didn’t appreciate older women,” Melanie said. “That’s what I think, anyway. You were engaged for so long, and he really saw something better than your… milfy thighs?” Melanie laughed, wishing someone else could find the humor in using the term “milf” in this situation. Kimberly, of course, wasn’t amused.

“He probably just… wants to fuck college girls for the rest of his miserable life,” Melanie theorized. She brought her lips close to Kimberly. Her voice quieted to a chilly whisper, but her breath was so near to Kimberly that it blanketed her with a wet warmth. “Don’t worry, Kim… I’ll appreciate you from now on.”

Kimberly cried, looking into the mouth of the monster that had stolen everything from her. She still couldn’t accept this fate, but at only a few inches tall, there was nothing she could do. Her body was too weak to even be considered human, and Melanie’s words, as hard as Kimberly tried to refuse them, had a poisonous sweetness to them. In the despair and disgust of this turn in her life, there was something enticing about Melanie’s promise, a manufactured hope that was certainly designed to mentally screw with her.

Melanie wanted to leave. She had plenty of time to do as she pleased with Kimberly, and that Wormslut too -- she had something infinitely more important than them to seek. She remembered this passionately as she dug into her bag to pull out a plastic container, the perfect size for containing a shrunken person. She popped off the top, which had already been given a hole for air, and let Kimberly slide into the makeshift prison cell. Melanie observed her trophy while the trophy stared back in horror.

Melanie then went to the pile of clothes that had been left behind. The truth of Kimberly’s situation was that she was merely a test. When shrinking Scarlet, Melanie hadn’t known what to expect. She doubted the spell would even take effect. But after seeing its success, there were areas she wanted to specifically explore. If she wanted to target anyone else in the future, she wanted to be prepared. Fortunately for her, Kimberly made for a perfectly disposable subject, one that could easily be cornered, and whose removal from society would largely go unnoticed.

Kimberly’s discarded outfit held a discovery. They were shrinking, just like Kimberly had been, at exactly the same rate. However, once taken off, they had stopped changing. Whatever the laws of occultic curses were, they seemingly played uniquely with objects that happen to be on the afflicted person. Another discovery, too, was Kimberly’s phone, which had ceased functioning after only shrinking a small percentage. Electronics, Melanie figured, must not respond well to shrinking magic. Or, fucking whatever, she added, none of this makes sense…

Regardless, she couldn’t leave evidence behind. Although it was a chore to drag another woman’s clothes around, Melanie didn’t complain, picking up each article and observing it for a few seconds before placing it in her bag. Kimberly’s jacket hadn’t shrunk much at all, having been removed so soon after the curse started, but her panties were now a prop for a doll, and yet still too big for Kimberly now. Whatever their size might be, all the clothes flooded around Kimberly and her plastic prison within the black messenger bag, including Kimberly’s own gargantuan high heels.

Another person had been shrunken, and as exciting as that in itself was, Melanie was entertained by a whole new series of fantasies. She knew now how her target would feel, and how she would respond. She knew how the curse worked and how to plan it. She was losing track of her own breathing, trembling before these enormous possibilities, the grand potential the tome and its curses had.

 

“U-Umm, uhh, A-A-Adrian…”

“What’s up.” Adrian peeked her head from over the opposite computer, but she still stared at her screen. It was another night the two were sharing passively with each other in a campus computer room. “Do you need something?”

Melanie fidgeted. Even this little amount of attention from her crush was crippling.

“Melanie?” Adrian asked. Melanie’s heart wanted to erupt for having her name said aloud by her. She glanced up, just in time to see Adrian’s precious look of minor concern. One trait Melanie obsessively loved about her classmate was how she was always so eager to help others, no matter how simple the favor.

“C-Could I… b-borrow your hairbrush…?”

 

Chapter Four by Curse Crazy

 

“What the hell happened last night…?”

A groggy groan followed those mumbled words. “Fuck, my head. Fuck…”

The apartment was always dimly lit, even in the brightest hours of the morning. With only a few windows available, and those few being hidden by dark curtains and closed blinds, barely any light ever leaked into the living room. The place was messy, but not outstandingly so; empty beer cans and bottles, overflowing ashtrays, and discarded mail could all be found on the coffee table and the kitchen bar counter, but most everything else was in decent shape. That was only because the two inhabitants didn’t use those corners of space almost at all -- Melanie and Juniper were loners, and they lived their separate lifestyles.

Juniper twisted around in her bed. The thin blanket had already been kicked off hours ago, along with one of her pillows. She wore only half a set of pajamas, her bare legs left to chill in the open air like usual. A freckled face lifted from the pillows and stared blankly towards a windowsill that acted more like a nightstand. In a reach to find a bottle of pills, her fingers found instead a half-open soda, then her cell phone, then finally the medicine.

The bottle was opened and two pills were popped. The hours-old soda washed it down. Juniper groaned again, then slugged out of bed, taking with her the corner bedsheet off its corner.

Her routine took her first to the kitchen. From one addiction to another, her drunken nights had to be met in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. Footsteps lazily slapped at their regular rhythm through the narrow floor plan of the apartment, but stopped just outside the kitchen. Juniper rubbed at her eyes, “What kind of mess…?”

The stove top was a mess of splattered beige and sticky brown. Along one counter, a set of spices had been pushed aside, presumably to make room for Juniper’s waffle maker, which itself was the biggest disaster. Stuck to both sides were thick layers of crispy, burnt waffle remains. Beside it was a plastic mixing bowl, and beside that was a beater which had just been abandoned right there on the countertop, its residue of waffle mix having dried and effectively glued it there. Even a cabinet door was left open, which would have taken zero effort to close on one’s way out.

Juniper studied, and after a long moment, sighed and rolled her eyes. She grabbed her mug-- no, that one has syrup on the bottom, it pooled over there. She huffed and grabbed her other mug, fortunately untouched, and after setting it up to have coffee brewed directly into it, Juniper turned out of the kitchen and towards the second bedroom.

“Melanie?” Juniper knocked on the door lightly. Seconds passed, but rustling could be heard from the other side. The door cracked open just enough for a green eye to be seen from the shadowy room.

“Y-Y-Yes…?” Melanie asked, cowering on the other side of the door. Juniper sniffed the air leaking out; mixed in with the mild smell of Melanie’s usual scent was something sugary.

“I, uh,” Juniper yawned, “I saw the kitchen. The waffle maker was out… Did you make some waffles?”

Melanie blinked. “I did. Yeah…”

“Ah,” Juniper nodded. She leaned back, peeking over at the kitchen. There was a few seconds of silence.

“Y-You said, um, th-that I could use it… if I wanted to…” Melanie pitifully went on.

“I did, yeah.” Juniper nodded again. She dragged fingers tiredly though her reddish hair. “Okay. Well. Just checking.”

Juniper turned to leave, not expecting the conversation to produce much else, but Melanie squeaked in some last words. “I-I’ll clean that up,” she said, “I-I promise. Sorry…”

Juniper comically frowned and shook her head. “Nah, I understand,” she said. “Yeah, just tidy up, I guess.” She continued to leave, hearing the bedroom door just as quickly click to be closed.

As she went to retrieve her coffee, she thought about how long it had been since the two last talked, and why all of a sudden Melanie was in the mood for making waffles. Rarely did her grim roommate cook something, but little did Juniper expect that her breakfast would consist of waffles. She inhaled the aroma of her fresh coffee, So long as she pays rent, not my problem…

 

Help us!! Fucking help us!! Please, please help!! She’s got us fucking kidnapped in here!!

Screaming as loud as she could, Scarlet’s begging went unheard by anyone that could aid them. She was at the edge of Melanie’s desk, hopping up and down without shame of how embarrassing she looked. Her hands were cupped over her mouth to project her pleas even further, and she leaned out as much as she could, hoping that extra little distance would be the inches needed to be heard.

Please fucking help us!! For the love of shit, just fucking hear us!!” Scarlet had specks of tears forming in her eyes, but full out streams poured from them when she overheard Melanie’s roommate dismiss whatever their conversation was about. This was their chance, she had thought, this was maybe their chance to break free and get someone to help her and her two fellow victims in this supernatural crime.

“We’re… We’re too small,” Adrian said. “Even Melanie can just barely hear us most of the time…”

Scarlet violently shook in response to Adrian’s voice, but she refused to look back at her. She fell to her knees painfully, almost falling off the edge of the desk. She whined, and it crescendoed into a scream. “HELP US!!!

There was no answer. Scarlet’s voice had been almost completely spent on that final scream for help, and it still achieved nothing. She had sourly expected Adrian or Kimberly to comment about all her yelling, to tell her to stop trying. Even that lack of noise bothered her. Was she silenced, too, by a curse? Maybe she couldn’t speak anymore, and no one could hear her desperate cries to be saved? She wanted to hit herself to physically eject that paranoia.

Adrian hated the scene. The hue in her eyes had been fading since last night, and she could tell so much of her life force had been depleted over the course of just twelve hours. It really hadn’t even been that long, and that taunted her, how only half a day ago she was living in a normal world at a normal size, never conceiving the possibility that she would one day, randomly, be turned into a doll that was watching another woman-turned-toy painfully cry out for help.

Kimberly also hated the situation, but on a grander scale. Her annoyances piled on top of her, sitting alone in a more distant corner of the computer desk. She hated Scarlet’s screaming, she would have in fact been the one to tell her to stop if she had the energy to get up and say something. She hated Scarlet’s logic, too. What if they were heard? What had convinced Scarlet that this other person -- a roommate to Melanie -- would even rescue them? It made more sense to her that any friend of Melanie was equally cruel and unhinged.

And she hated Adrian, too, just like Scarlet did.

The three despaired. Whether they believed in that chance for freedom or not, it was far from achievable, and disappointment racked at their spirits. And in the middle of all this gloom, was a giant stack of waffles, dripping with butter and syrup.

Adrian was fascinated with the food, but not because of any appetite -- that had been lost since the beginning, back when she was cornered in the alley and initially shrunken. She couldn’t think at all about eating, and that had concerned Melanie, enough so that this morning, she was inspired to cook. It would be Adrian’s favorite breakfast, according to what Melanie said. She wanted to laugh about that, but it was too gross to humor. It really wasn’t anything she had the stomach to think about, how Melanie had been stalking her and memorizing every detail about her.

And now, she was shrunken, by that very woman, and she was standing on her desk alongside two others. Innocent women that she had yet to really meet who were also wrapped up in this college student’s mystic rage. She knew only what Melanie had explained to her when they had first arrived at her bedroom, which wasn’t much, only a vague idea of how long the two had been held captive, along with a number of facts Adrian hadn’t the heart to commit to memory right away.

Though she knew little about Scarlet, Adrian had thus far been moved by her. She could sense just how wild and panicked this other student had become. It felt horrible to think about that, how they were students at the same college, how Scarlet’s face was just barely recognizable enough in a crowd that Adrian was sure they had passed by each other before. Neither would have guessed that they would both be reduced to only a few inches tall, and then kidnapped by their shrinker.

Adrian hesitantly approached Scarlet. She offered a hand towards her back, wanting to pull her away from the ledge. “H-Hey…” She bit her lip before going on. She didn’t know her name; she knew Melanie’s name for her, but not her name. She swallowed, “Y-You’re making me nervous… sitting by the edge so close, a-and hopping around. Come on, come back here--”

“Oh fuck your mouth.” Scarlet whipped around, her adrenaline spiking suddenly out of fury. In a flash, she had stood back up and was stomping up to Adrian, pressuring her to back up several paces. “I don’t want to hear bullshit from you, you fucking favorite. You piece of shit! Don’t tell me to fucking give up on getting out of this hell!”

Adrian stammered, her rise in anger being countered by her flood of nervousness. Scarlet had gone from distressed to enraged in just short of a second. “I-I’m just-- Calm down! I’m l-looking out for you!” Adrian explained, her hands up defensively. She didn’t know how or what to argue against from Scarlet’s spat-out words, some of which had been forced into her own mouth. She was hopeful, too, that somehow Scarlet would be heard by Melanie’s roommate, but she had been realistic enough to also be doubtful.

“Look out for your ownself, you bitch,” Scarlet warned, pressing a hard palm into Adrian’s chest to push her back. “I guess you don’t fucking have to, though! You’ve got her to just fucking do anything for you!”

“I-I don’t know her!” Adrian scrambled out a response. She couldn’t let this accusation go by uncontested. She glared, “I’m just as fucked as you about all this! I-I don’t know who she is; I’m not on her side or something!”

“I don’t give a shit,” Scarlet growled, “fuck you. Fuck your ass.”

A meteoric force crashed into the surface just beside Scarlet, but it was no celestial object; Melanie’s fist had slammed onto the desk, straight down like a real punch to where Scarlet had been. The resulting quake that resonated over the desk forced all three women to stumble and shake, regardless of where they were; they shivered in place not unlike the small collectible items that happily decorated the small shelves, or the fork and knife that rested on the same plate as the waffles.

Scarlet had almost blacked out. Her heart had raced to an impossible beating, and she hadn’t the stability to get back on her feet. Adrian had been blown away and responded in time with a scream of horror. She had scared herself terribly, imagining that Scarlet had been squashed, right in front of her, by this fickle college-aged god.

“I’m letting you be free on my desk,” Melanie judged, “and you use this privilege to talk back to Adrian? I swear I explained this to you both…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Scarlet rapidly apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!”

Try as she might, Scarlet was not able to word her way out of punishment. She was grabbed by Melanie, pinched roughly between two fingers. Scarlet’s little arms and legs wildly kicked, and Adrian even tried to reach out to grab one of the flailing limbs to no avail. Scarlet was picked up and carried with a light, careless sort of grasp, hovering at chest level to Melanie.

“And I made food for us, too,” Melanie remarked. Her tone was dark and unamused. “Are you ungrateful? Are you ungrateful because it’s delicious waffles? What would you rather eat, Wormslut? Do you want to eat some worm cock? Do you want worm cock for breakfast?”

Scarlet, again, found herself in this humiliating position. She could beg for her life and safety, but it would just get ignored under these immature, disgusting insults. Her life mattered less than Melanie’s desire to degrade her, and all the while she had to fear that she could be dropped from this height, or crushed right between her fingers, or murdered in some other nonchalant way.

“Being allowed to even interact with Adrian should be an honor,” Melanie said. “If you’re going to act like you’re tough, then maybe I should put you in your place. Should I push you around, too? Just like you did Adrian… I could push you with one hand, too, that would be fair… Really fair.”

To emphasize her threat, Melanie raised her other hand into the air, held flat high overhead of Scarlet. Scarlet cried again, raising one arm over her head in some pitiful defense against the decisive palm. “Please, p-please don’t fucking kill me…!” she begged.

“You and Kim only exist to be Adrian’s friends,” Melanie went on. Her hand was lowered a little, then stopped, just enough motion to make Scarlet squirm delightfully in her grasp. “I know she would get lonely, being tiny on her own, but if you’re not going to treat her nicely, then you have even less worth than I initially gave you. Somehow, Wormslut, you’ve reached negative worth.” Her two fingers pinched tighter around Scarlet’s body, choking out another series of pained spasms.  “It would be beneficial for the rest of humanity to kill you like this, and wipe your remains on a tissue paper so you can be forgotten. Even if somebody found your body, they would just think you’re a pathetic stain. Even that is giving you too much worth--”

“Melanie! Stop screwing with her! Put her down, right fucking now!” Adrian had unleashed all of her anger out towards the goddess above her, but with it also was all her courage to do so. Any ounce of bravery she had was spent, and anything left behind was evaporated the moment Melanie’s huge eyes befell her. Under her sight, Adrian quivered, and even regretted speaking up.

But Melanie was not aggravated. She was impressed, actually, and she smiled at Adrian when yelled at by her. Her expression wasn’t as callous as it was when handling Scarlet; it was pleased, even appreciative. Melanie closed her eyes, her blush taking over her face. She’s talking to me, Melanie thought. She’s tiny and yelling at me! She’s so cute!

Melanie giggled, and the threatening hand far up above was gently lowered. It traveled down to where Adrian was, and though the tiny girl flinched away from it, she couldn’t escape from its touch. Its tender touch, Adrian noted, wasn’t at all what she expected. It was like a pet, two fingers firmly petting her side and her back. Despite the comfortable treatment, the weight of Melanie’s aura had still forced Adrian into submission.

“Aww, Adrian~ I’m not scaring you, a-am I?” Melanie asked, her tone sickeningly genuine. “Maybe you shouldn’t watch… I bet it will be gruesome, seeing Wormslut’s pulp explode over my finger--”

Scarlet screamed at the image put into her mind, but she was shaken out of it -- literally shaken by Melanie. “Yep! J-Just like a bug. Ugh… Maybe I should grab a tissue…”

“Melanie, for god’s sake, you’re scaring her!” Adrian yelled again, desperate to resolve this tension. Her voice was riddled with more cracks and hesitations. “Don’t kill her! Sh-She didn’t even do anything to me! I promise!”

“I saw her,” Melanie corrected her, instantly. “I saw her push you, Adrian. Thank god I did, too. She won’t be allowed to do that.” Her eyes went astray from Adrian, focused instead on Scarlet. Her grip loosened, but only so she could tighten it again and spur another pain out of her captive.

Then, Scarlet was dropped. Adrian gasped, and even Kimberly perked up in fear from her distant side. Scarlet screamed, but the fall was quick. She landed with a soft lump, into a surface that was both plush but ridged. She tried to stand, but she found it far more challenging than expected, like she was being held down. Something sticky had encased much of her body, and her vision eventually cleared enough to see a cube of melting butter not far from where she laid.

Scarlet realized where she was, and tried again to get at least to her knees. Through the thick syrup, she succeeded, but it was nothing she could cherish. All around her was a pool of maple syrup, washed around the tiled ground that was a homemade waffle. Her surroundings were hot to touch, with the only coolness coming from the sticky syrup that was quick to coat her entire body.

Another force from out of this world crashed in front of Scarlet. Yards away, a massive fork pierced the land, digging through the crisp exterior of the waffle. Scarlet panicked, realizing she had even less of a chance than usual to try and escape Melanie’s ploys. She watched the fork like it was an enemy, but soon after it was met with an equally massive knife. With its sharper edge, it divided the world Scarlet sat on, trimming away one part of this edible island, edging even closer to where Scarlet was than the fork had been. She cried out and tried to pull away, but fortunately, the knife had no intention of cutting her.

Melanie giggled while she did this. I’m playing with my food, she maniacally joked with herself. Should I tell Adrian that one? “I shouldn’t play with my food, should I, Adrian?” Would she find that funny? Her giggling stopped only when that section of waffle was lifted and brought to her mouth as a bite of food. She hummed for dramatic effect, even touching her cheek while she ate.

Adrian was agasp. From her perspective, she had assumed only the worst. “Y-You didn’t…”

Melanie blinked, feeling the heavy amount of attention from Adrian. She blushed an even darker red and her heart thumped like a real drum. It was such a special feeling to be looked up to by the one she loved, especially when that expression was so preciously terrified.

But she did understand Adrian’s fear, and she smiled, still chewing her food only now in a rush so that she could speak. “No, no,” she assured Adrian. “I didn’t eat her. Come, you can look!” With that said, Melanie kneeled down so that her head was directly level with the desk. From there, she opened her mouth wide, “Ahhww~”

Adrian looked from afar, but the sight was atrocious. She had moved to look away, but Melanie’s hand swept at her and pulled her closer, despite all attempts to stop the approach. She was scared of the real possibility that she was being wiped into Melanie’s mouth, like just another bite of food, but she stopped just short of the moist cave. Now, there was no way she couldn’t focus on Melanie’s mouth. She saw its wetness through the shimmering off her gums, she could see the pools of saliva mixed in with bits of waffle and strings of syrup. The breath of the giantess washed over her like a fog, carrying with it the sweet stench of a typical breakfast, so sugary sweet that it was beckoning for someone to just walk forward onto the tongue in curiosity. Adrian, however, was not tempted in the least, pressed into Melanie’s wall-like hand as far as she could just to be as distant as possible from the maw.

The mouth closed with a bite, displaying just how powerful Melanie’s jaw was to her tiny prisoners. Then, playfully, a grin formed on Melanie’s lips, concealing the white set of teeth. Adrian flinched at the sound of Melanie’s bite, but Melanie’s words, so close to her tiny frame, were much more overpowering.

“See? Did you see anyone in there?” Melanie asked. “Trust me… I wouldn’t eat that thing. That’s too gross. What kind of diseases does a worm fucker have?”

Melanie moved away, freeing Adrian from the close-quarter interaction. As soon as she was allowed, Adrian dashed closer to the center of the desk, gravitating towards the huge plate. What she had seen flashed in her memory like a strobe light, unable to get away from the concept of a gigantic mouth. She was able to see so deep inside it, and it reminded her critically just how vulnerable she was. Plagued by such a thought, she stumbled, using the rim of the plate as support.

“Ahh… You got scared…” Melanie shifted so that she was finally seated, rolling the chair up to the desk. She picked up her fork and knife again, cutting away into another piece while Scarlet remained trapped precariously in the middle. “I’ll make it up to you,” she said. “Open your mouth…~”

Hoisted towards Adrian was the very tip of the fork, carrying with it a crumb of waffle that had partially been dipped into syrup. The sight made Adrian’s stomach turn again, and she recalled how her appetite had still been missing during all this. How could she eat at a time like this, especially something so sweet? And then she had to ask herself, could she refuse? To this point, Adrian still didn’t comprehend Melanie or her goals.

Adrian turned down the food, deciding for a riskier response. “I-I can’t eat,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’m… not feeling good right now…”

The fork drooped closer to the desk, like a sunken head of disappointment. “Aw, but Adrian~” Melanie said, bobbing the fork in time with her words, “you have to eat eventually. You can’t not eat. Please…” The fork stopped moving, which Adrian was subconsciously grateful for. “Please, eat. I made it special for you, Adrian.”

Adrian was still. She did not want to eat. How could she make that clearer? Her head ached from having to struggle with this simple concept. Why did Melanie like her? That was the crux of all this confusion and madness. Adrian couldn’t understand why her, of the three victims, she was receiving special treatment. Why was she stalked? Why does this classmate of her’s think shrinking people is alright?

Melanie was expecting an answer, but Adrian was flustered. The fork was raised again, coming closer to Adrian’s head. “Eat. Come on,” Melanie said, more serious than before. “You have to eat. I don’t want to, but I’ll force you to eat.”

“F-Force?” Adrian repeated.

“I can hold you down if I have to,” Melanie explained. “I refuse to let you die, so I will do what’s needed. How could I do… anything but that? I love you, after all. I’d hate to hurt you…” Melanie’s glance fell, trading Adrian for Scarlet, who had managed to tread only a short distance in the sticky meal. “I could find other ways to force you, though…”

Adrian understood her implications well enough. The last thing she wanted right now was to feel responsible for the death, or torture, of another person. Scarlet and Kimberly, regardless of who they were, didn’t deserve that, much less if it was over something as simple as eating a waffle. That’s the balance our lives are in, she thought. Eat this waffle or someone dies…

She stepped forward, unable to say anything else in fear that it might trigger Melanie to commit to something. She held the fork by its sides so that she could control the bite of food, and then ate. Just that one crumb was three bites worth of food, notably tasting plain where there wasn’t syrup to compensate.

Melanie’s free hand went to her cheek, overcome by how cute Adrian was. She cooed, wanting to reach over and pinch Adrian’s expanded cheeks, if they weren’t so differently sized. Her hand even twitched, wanting to touch Adrian so badly, but she resisted. Instead, her hands went back to cutting up another small chunk of waffle.

“Thank you, Adrian,” Melanie said. She managed a bright smile, even if it was cracked from years of never really doing so. “You’re adorable… I-I hope you know that.

“Hey. Kim.” Melanie’s voice was starkly different when addressing someone else. “Your turn. You have to eat, too.”

Kimberly looked up, her arms crossed over her legs and pressed into her chest. She rested not far from the desk’s drawers, which were small plastic cubbies occupying a corner of the space. There were six in total, each one colored brightly with its own tint, making them slightly transparent. This was where Melanie was having them sleep, and Kimberly found no reason to travel far from this place if she didn’t have to.

The fork went to Kimberly next. She stood up; she didn’t argue with Melanie, having learned better than that. Without a word, she took the waffle piece into her hands, then sat back down. She wasn’t hungry either, but she forced a bite down to at least keep Melanie content.

And content she was. Melanie smiled at Kim too, but it was far from as vibrant as the one she offered to Adrian. Her attention then went to Scarlet, which was accompanied by a cocky chuckle. Scarlet had managed to make it to the edge of the waffle stack, somehow having broken partially free from the syrup’s stickiness. This only amused Melanie, who effortlessly undid all of Scarlet’s progress by lifting her up with the fork and dragging her back to the middle. Scarlet would have screamed, but the pressure of the fork’s points jabbing under her ribs took away her breath. Again, she found herself splat in the middle of a pool of syrup.

“This must make you feel at home, huh?” Melanie asked. “Laying on your back, naked, and covered in something thick and sticky. Right, Wormslut? Does it remind you of what it’s like to be normal?” She leaned in close to Scarlet, whose response was only mild crying, then laughed right over her. “It’s only been a couple weeks. Can you not remember what it’s like to eat breakfast, and not almost being a part of it?”

Scarlet whined, but it did nothing. She couldn’t even force herself to attempt to flee, she knew it was too pointless. She could only endure as Melanie returned to eating the very meal she was laying in, cringing everytime she felt the fork penetrate the ground and then be cut away by a terrifying butter knife.

“You better be eating,” Melanie said, her mouth half-full with what remained of a bite. “This is all you’re getting for today. Can you even pretend to be as worthwhile as a pig? Put your face into it and eat like one, then.”

Against how humiliating it was, Scarlet was trapped to obey. She turned her head towards the syrup-coated ground, located a ridge she could gnaw into, and bit down. She chewed while tears leaked over her lips. On her hands and knees, eating from the ground she was on, it truly did feel like she had been degraded to a barn animal.

Adrian, meanwhile, could only watch Melanie. She studied her every movement, having a question for each action she did. She wanted answers but the fear of what terror lied behind those answers forbade her from asking, even when she knew she could get away with it. The most major concern that drenched all of Adrian’s other thoughts was how Melanie had the conscience for this. Did she not realize what horror this was for her victims? Even something as simple as eating breakfast, the first step in any normal person’s routine, had become a trial; Melanie’s humble meal that she had proudly put so much effort into was an unbelievable sight to the shell-shocked victims at her desk, always on edge with the worry that the next bite the giantess took could include one of them.

Melanie’s legs kicked from under the desk until both stood solid on the floor. She pushed aside her plate, and Scarlet along with it -- still stuck on what was now only a tiny circle of uneaten waffle. “First, I’ll clean you up in the sink,” Melanie said, pointing at Scarlet before looking more broadly at everyone else. “And then, w-we get to have some fun. Some more fun! Now that Adrian is here, we can do… anything that I want!” She weakly veiled some giggles behind a limp hand. “Anything… Anything…!”

Adrian shivered down to her soul, looking up at the goddess that had selected her, above the billions of other people on earth, to specifically include in this ordeal. The woman that had secretly been stalking her had successfully shrunken her to a helpless state, and one morning’s breakfast had only just ended.

 

Chapter Five by Curse Crazy

The bedroom didn’t feel like a bedroom. Adrian couldn’t conceive it as so, not when a trip from one corner to another was the same as being airlifted across several city blocks. The desk and all the rest of the furniture felt like tall buildings, complex in shape and design, impossibly shaped and awkwardly distant from each other. Even if her or one of the other two shrunken prisoners were able to make it to street level, what then? This city and themselves by extension were isolated here by encompassing walls that were occasionally plastered with posters of nerd media, an insulting reminder of how mundane the world they were trapped in was.

Adrian was taking in the sights as she waited at the nightstand. She had approached one of the edges, but kept distant from it still, wary of the fall. There wasn’t much on the table’s surface to keep her entertained, just a lamp, some crumpled receipts, and a shoelace for some reason. She wondered briefly if there was a chance she could escape using that, but even Melanie had teased her about it before leaving her there. According to her captor, the string was far from long enough to reach the floor, and Adrian was bound to agree judging by its coiled-up length.

At the very least, Adrian could appreciate the quiet, but even that came with an eerie chill of loneliness. Melanie was absent for the time being, having gone away to clean up Scarlet, a classmate whose name Adrian still did not know. The thought of being drenched under sink water to remove layers of syrup was one she pushed to the back of her mind, as best as she could. This was a moment of peace and quiet, and her instincts told her it was best to cherish it, even if there was little substance to cherish.

Where am I going to go? she asked herself. Her eyes anxiously but calculatively glanced over the giant room, as though her escape were a puzzle to be solved. Getting out of here like this just isn’t an option. How am I going to be normal again? What happens when I’m out of this room?

Adrian’s heart was swallowed into a dark pain. Hopelessness physically infected her. She looked to the computer desk, far away in the other corner. Locked away into one of those tinted drawers was Kimberly. What of her, too? Adrian didn’t recognize her, not even passively like she did Scarlet. Both women were also victims in this. What was she to do about them? Was she going to try and rescue them, too?

Her chest hurt, but differently this time. It remembered how Scarlet pushed her, and that brought on memories of what she had said. Favorite. The word cursed Adrian’s mind when she repeated it. A twist of different thoughts bothered her then, but she was confused on how to decipher them. How could she realistically hold a grudge against someone stuck in this situation? But at the same time, how cruel did Scarlet have to be, to imply that this was something that didn’t affect Adrian? She shook her head, shaking with an intense anxiety. Was she actually a victim here? Or was Melanie’s different and nicer treatment of her making her excluded to that?

I don’t want to be fucking tiny, Adrian asserted above all else. I need to get back to normal. I have to do that first. I have to.

Those thoughts chanted repeatedly until the door opened. From the entrance came Melanie, slurking back into her domain with a purple washcloth draped over one hand. Adrian jumped to her feet, feeling the shockwaves ride through the room even as far as she was, as though she were called to attention. Melanie had immediately set her eyes on Adrian, and just as quickly did she smile gently, relieved that her love hadn’t somehow ran away.

Melanie continued into her room, locking the door behind her. She unveiled Scarlet from underneath the washcloth, still wet from having been held under the rushing water of a sink. She was panting heavily in Melanie’s hand, her body far too sore to be moved manually. Despite this, Melanie handled her quite poorly. She had little regard for her health when she popped open Scartlet’s drawer and deposited her, only to close it back up again. In passing, Melanie checked on Kimberly as well, happy to see that the older woman was still maintaining her silence. She poked Kimberly’s drawer roughly, just to jump her into movement; she shivered and became alert, only to hear Melanie laugh before walking away.

Adrian quaked as Melanie started to approach. Something else was in Melanie’s other hand; it was set down just beside Adrian with a slam, and standing there like an idol was a can of soda. A hard cold resonated from the aluminium surface, implying it had been recently taken out of a fridge. Adrian backed away from it, intimidated by its size and too familiar with how easy the car-sized object was crushed underfoot all too easily by Melanie, just one day earlier.

“I-I got this… for you…” Melanie said. “Uh… well, us.”

Adrian said nothing. One question was on her mind, and even that was answered before she had to speak. Placed next to the can was a disposable shot cup, a modest bucket or perhaps closer to a basket when compared to Adrian. It received an uncomfortable look from her, judging how effective it could possibly be, and weighing that against how little she wanted to drink anyway.

“It’s your favorite!” Melanie made sure to note. “H-Here, you can’t open it, so…”

Melanie sat on the bed with a casual hop, but it was much more extreme for Adrian. The simple act of sitting down was earth shattering, though completely contained to just the gigantic mattress. Still, it forced Adrian to wonder how catastrophic that would be, if Melanie was actually a giantess and if she instead sat down somewhere, like a field or a neighborhood. Could lives really be lost just because this college girl sat down carelessly?

Ksssh-kuhn.Shit!!” Adrian dropped to her knees fast. The explosive sound of the can being opened had shot her senses out. She hadn’t expected the can to be opened so quickly, nor did she expect the sound to have such impact.

“Whoops, s-sorry…” Melanie whispered, her hands refraining from the soda in response to Adrian’s reaction. Instead, she went to aid her love, offering man-sized fingers as support for Adrian to get back to her feet. This “support” came in the form of forcefully lifting Adrian off the ground and returning her to a standing position.

Adrian lashed at the fingers, finding their touches to be an assault on her body. “S-Stop!” she shouted in a panic. The burst of noise had really rattled her, enough that she didn’t care that she was tiny. She kicked the giant hands away, and surprisingly, she successfully warded them off. Melanie’s arms retracted, forfeiting the struggle after Adrian was up again.

“Ahh, you’re so strong, Adrian!” Melanie giggled, pretending to massage one hand with the other. “Y-You really are strong!”

Adrian desired to retort, but it manifested only as a growl. Logic was trickling back to the forefront of her mind and she remember her place. All it would take is one wrong word to set Melanie off, she worried.

Melanie giggled over the silent reply. She then jumped back to the can, lifting it up and pouring some of it into the shot cup. She had to be careful, managing such a small amount, and she made sure to only fill it halfway. Adrian watched with an annoying expression, her hesitation having prevented her from declining the drink.

It was too late to stop her, and out of curiosity, Adrian stepped up to the shot cup. Within was the dark liquid reflecting her tired and confused head, bubbling and popping as it settled. Melanie observed closely, her legs excitedly fidgeting just from being able to watch Adrian.

“I-I’m… Sorry, I’m not thirsty, right now…” Adrian said.

“That’s fine,” Melanie replied. “You don’t have to drink it right away.” She lifted up the can and brought it to her mouth, inadvertently showcasing her otherworldly strength in front of Adrian. She set the can down, this time with a notably less heavy slam. Adrian shivered at the idea of how much one person can drink in relation to her.

Melanie repositioned herself so that she was laying down, her head sideways but leveled with the nightstand’s surface. She had a smile on her lips, more emboldened than ever before. “Are you… okay?” she asked.

Adrian wasn’t sure how to respond to a question so silly. “Err, y-yeah, I’m… okay.”

“Do you want anything?” Melanie asked. “I can get you anything, b-basically.”

“Why are you being nice to me…?” If there was anything Adrian wanted, it was some answers -- finally some answers. Melanie hesitated to respond, giving Adrian more room to ask. “You’re… so mean to the other two, b-but you’ve been really kind-- well, c-careful around me… D-Do I know you? I mean, out of college, I guess...”

Melanie winced at that. “No…” she whispered, her voice almost too soft for even the shrunken woman to hear her. “Y-You don’t. I only just met you when… we started college.”

Adrian nodded, but she was actually confused. “I only met you this semester, though.”

“That’s true…!” Melanie giggled. “I-I remember when we first met… like, a-actually met, face-to-face. You were sitting in front of me, a-and I had to tap your shoulder to pass a paper up… Do you remember what you said?”

Adrian broke a cracked grin. It felt like a romantic partner had just asked her what their anniversary was and she had foolishly forgotten. “I… I don’t,” she said, choosing an honest path over a more awkward one.

“You said my hands were cold!” Melanie laughed. “Th-They do get really cold! Y-You apologized, though. You didn’t mean to sound rude, but I wasn’t offended…”

Adrian stood there, unsure if that was the truth or not, and still as perplexed as she had been. Was that one interaction the source of all this? “This was in class, right? But that was… this semester.”

“Right…” Melanie shifted slightly. “That was when we first met. But I met you at the beginning of the year… during orientation.” Her expression melted with a light redness, softening her edges. “I saw you in a crowd, h-headed to the north auditorium. You were with high school friends but you were talking to other people, too. You wanted to make a lot of new friends… a-at least, that’s what you said on your blog. I found it that night, along with all your social media. I couldn’t sleep! I-I had to catch up on everything I had missed! All the years I spent away from you, I… I couldn’t forgive myself for not having been born closer to you.

“Maybe that’s why I felt inclined to do this…” Melanie closed her eyes, rolling slightly more onto her back and away from Adrian. “It was wrong. It was disgustingly wrong for us not to have been born closer to each other, so I had to do something disgusting to make up for it. I had to kidnap you and shrink you like this. I had to--”

“Y-You didn’t,” Adrian blurted out. She panicked herself into a chuckle, “You can undo this now! I-I’ll-- We’ll hang out from now on! We’ll do whatever you want! I promise!”

Melanie smiled, eyes still closed. “I would like that,” she said, inspiring a flicker of hope in Adrian’s chest. She blew it out that next second, “But I love this. I love having you… entirely all to myself. I can make sure nothing bad ever happens to you.”

You are what’s bad for me, you fucking…! Adrian looked away, boiled by her piling frustrations. She couldn’t remain quiet about the issue any longer. “Melanie,” she breathed, “I… I have to be normal again. How long are you going to keep me like this?”

“Well… forever, I figured,” Melanie answered truthfully. “Besides, I never looked into a cure. I’m not actually sure if there’s a way to reverse the curse…”

“You-- You haven’t?!” Adrian shouted. “Come the fuck on! H-How did you cast this curse to begin with?! Didn’t you say there was a book?!”

Melanie nodded, unphased by Adrian’s apparent anger. She lifted up slightly out of bed, reaching over towards the nightstand. Adrian flinched away from it, but it wasn’t aimed at her at all. It grabbed the knob to the nightstand drawer and pulled it open, causing the surface to vibrate under Adrian’s feet. Withdrawn from the drawer was the occultic book in question, as thick as Melanie’s victims were tall.

“This is the book,” Melanie explained, showing off its mysterious cover to Adrian. “I found this at Anders Library. It was the only one like this.” She flipped to a random page, not that unfamiliar with its contents, but it was all bizarre and arcane to Adrian, who looked up at the giant pages in awe. The tome responsible for enslaving her like this was right there in front of her, and yet its secrets would remain sealed away, just out of reach.

“Th-This still… doesn’t make sense,” Adrian said. “Magic isn’t real, is it? W-What kind of curse was this, did you sacrifice a cat or something?!”

“No, no!” Melanie shook her head, defending herself from the idea that she would murder cats. She also found the idea funny, if only because it came from Adrian’s mouth. “I-I told you a little before, but… it takes a strand of hair to shrink someone. Some other things, too, I-I have to set up a whole ritual and say a prayer, but… it works. Obviously.”

“Why the hell did you do it?” Adrian asked. She was getting a lead, but it was only taking her deeper into the hole. “Why did you shrink someone?”

“Mm, w-well, the first person I shrank was because… I was angry,” Melanie admitted. “Wormslut was being a bitch, so I stole some hair from her shirt. I just wanted to try it out, but I was so happy when it did. That whore became nothing, right in front of my eyes. I really badly wanted to stomp her out, b-but then I remembered you. You would give people a second chance, so I gave Wormslut one. I feel like she’s been reincarnated, from a filthy cumdumpster to a cockroach.”

Adrian nervously looked off to the faraway desk. She wished Melanie would at least try to control her volume, knowing that it was possible they could be overheard by the very people they gossipped about. “W-What about Kim? The other one,” Adrian inquired. “Why her? Why didn’t you just come after me?”

“Ah, I-I had to test it again,” Melanie said. “I wanted to make sure it would work again, a-and to study some things before I went after you. I didn’t want you to get hurt…”

“Why Kimberly?”

“I know her from this office I pretend to work at,” Melanie said. She frowned, “Th-That’s a bit to unpack… I found this office I could enter and no one would kick me out, because I would just pretend I worked on another floor. That’s how I met Kim, we would talk sometimes. I saw her a lot, and she just sort of… worked out. I knew I could track her and shrink her without any problems.” She bashfully rubbed at one cheek. “I feel a little bad for her. She’s a nice woman.”

“How can you…?!” Adrian had to stop, disgusted by the black pit growing in her stomach. “How can you say that… and still have her trapped here? D-Doesn’t she have a family?! Friends?!”

“No!” Melanie said quickly. She sat up, enthusiastic to explain. “That’s the best part! Sh-She has almost no one that cares about her! So she’ll just go missing! In fact, sh-she went on vacation right before I shrank her, so not even her coworkers will notice she’s gone until after this weekend…”

Adrian felt faint. There was no callous or cruelty in the way Melanie talked about Kimberly, yet everything she said was still heartless. Scarlet was being tortured and toyed with, and that made enough sense in Adrian’s mind, but not this. By her own account, Melanie thought Kimberly was kind and friendly, and yet she still shrunk her, just because it was convenient. Even acquaintances weren’t safe from Melanie’s rampage, but she should have assumed as much earlier, considering she too was shrunk and she barely knew Melanie at all. She felt that this was some divine punishment for her generosity, for not only offering to walk Melanie home, but for doing so little as offering her a hairbrush when asked.

“Can’t… you let them go?” Adrian muttered.

“Huh?” Melanie leaned in closer to compensate for Adrian’s quieted voice.

“Earlier, y-you said… you said they were only here to be my friends. They’re trapped here just to keep me company. B-But… I don’t need that-- I don’t need them. They can leave. Seriously, I-I’ll get over it. So…” Adrian nervously played with her fingers, too afraid to look up and see Melanie’s reaction to her request. The longer the silence went on, the heavier the atmosphere got.

“Uh…” Melanie stuttered, then chuckled at her own lack of response. “Sorry, A-Adrian… I can’t do that. I don’t have a cure, like I said--”

“Then find one!” Adrian begged. “Find a cure, there has to be one in that book!”

Melanie flinched in face of the truth. Though she had earnestly not found a way to undo curses, she also hadn’t been actively searching for one. She glanced at the book nervously, a cue Adrian picked up on, and wanted to press. “Don’t you want to know more about the book?” Adrian questioned. “S-Seriously, even if it’s not a cure… Shouldn’t you know everything there is about this thing?”

Melanie bit her lip, feeling lost to argue back. “Well…” She fidgeted, eventually picking up the book and holding it on her lap, as though it were about to slip away from her reach. Without anything to say, she anxiously opened up a random page and flipped through a few more.

“This is important, Melanie!” Adrian scoffed, soon realizing herself the magnitude that she had been trying to express. An occultic book full of real curses that really worked -- and it was being handled by a careless girl with an uncontrollable crush. Adrian feared the cryptic possibilities of the book just as much as she feared the gigantic monster that was Melanie. “What if there’s some fucked up thing that happens with curses?! Wh-What if this kills us?! I mean… shit! You’ve already shrunk us, but what the hell else can that thing do?!”

“H-Hey…!” Melanie whined, her legs stomping just slightly. “I-I dunno! I-I wouldn’t let anything kill you, though! Not you, Adrian…”

Adrian broke loose. “Well you’re doing a hell of a good job so far, Melanie! You’re running around shrinking people like they’re just fucking objects! And you don’t even know how it completely works? You saw a magical book and your first… your first instinct is to fucking kidnap people?!”

“I…” Melanie’s lips twitched, and then her neck followed. Her eyes were falling into a blank stare, and her breaths appeared hollow.

“Melanie…! Ugh!” Adrian groaned. The more she looked up at the mountain-sized woman, the more her frustrations manifested. “You have to do something about this, Melanie! It’s what you have to do, Melanie! Don’t you know how this book works?! You don’t really know anything about it! You’re just--”

Melanie slapped the book to the ground. The sharp noise of its back cover slamming against the carpeted floor echoed through the room, a sound that shook even Kimberly and Scarlet at the desk, and that made Adrian immediately tremble hard to her knees. Adrian held her stomach and looked up, unsure of what had even happened, but Melanie’s posture was flat and emotionless. She didn’t look at all like she had just thrown the tome down.

Adrian opened her mouth to say Melanie’s name, but her voice was completely gone. Melanie’s expression filled with energy, but it didn’t seem occupied with life. Her face represented something dark and empty, the way it grimly turned to Adrian and glared down at her. Had Adrian the voice to talk, she would have refrained anyway, struck back swiftly into her position of submission.

Melanie shifted so that she leaned closer to Adrian, hovering over her. This cast a shadow over Adrian, and with it came a chill that unnerved the shrunken woman. There was still only silence, neither girl having a remark to say as this strange scene played out. Melanie only stared down, and Adrian weakly observed back, overwhelmed by the size of Melanie’s frame; the way her arms were like pillars holding up this temple, how her breasts hung nearby like creatures of their own, and how her face overhead was like a pale cloud ready to storm.

“I don’t need to know how this book works.” Melanie finally spoke, her words a subtle howl that predicted much more behind it. “In fact…” She moved, relieving her pressure off the nightstand and focusing her attention down at her foot, where the book lay still where it had been dropped. “I don’t need this book, do I?”

Adrian raised an arm out, as if her tiny limbs could stop Melanie from doing anything. “Y-Yes you do!” she argued, making use of a desperate reserve of courage she didn’t know she had. “Th-That book has the cure, I bet! Y-You need it!”

You’re never not going to be tiny, Adrian,” Melanie said. “That will never happen. None of you, especially those two fucks, are going to be anything but mine…

“Unless I grow bored of one of them.” Melanie bent down and picked up the book, standing high over where Adrian was. “But you… I have you, Adrian. In love, that’s all that matters. So long as us two are together, like this, nothing else matters.” The tome was opened, split somewhere in the middle.

“Melanie,” Adrian said, forcing her tone to be as calm as it could be, “you need… to relax. J-Just set the book down, and--”

I’m not a slave to this book!” Melanie announced, and a claw of a hand emphasised this by tearing into its pages. “I don’t need this fucking book! I have what I want from it so it’s useless to me! It’s useless, just like that tiny slut and that tiny cow! All of you should be grateful to me for giving you some kind of fucking purpose!

Melanie’s arm reared back, and with it came three pages, torn in half from their book and thrown recklessly behind her. Occultic words and unearthly images were tossed into the wind behind her, left to drift randomly among her bed’s sheets. Adrian yelled at her to stop, but overpowering her voice was another rip; three more pages, from the opposite half of the book, torn away and harshly tossed to her side. Melanie said nothing, utterly speechless as she damaged the magical book.

Adrian watched the huge pages scatter across the room, wishing she could do anything to grab hold of them and keep the pages safe. There was another tear, and another set of pages left to float. “Stop! For god’s sake, stop this, Melanie!” she screamed, but she was ignored, even as one stray paper fell over her like a discarded curtain.

Melanie continued her destruction of the book, but not without growing louder. Her restricted breathing opened up, revealing a low growl that peaked whenever a new page was torn. One at a time she dragged out another page, or as much of that one page as she could get a grip on in that moment, leaving around her a pool of yellowed papers and their ink riddles.

I don’t need this! I don’t need this!” she chanted, ripping out a page so brutally that it left tear marks in the pages that remained behind it.

Adrian uncovered herself from the loose paper, only to return to the same nightmarish scene as before. That book was too important to lose, it was the only collection of information that could realistically take Adrian out of this surreal circumstance. Every page was a piece of a crucial puzzle, and Melanie was stripping the solution away, one tear at a time.

“That’s enough!” Adrian shouted. “Please! Please, Melanie! W-We could still use the book! We need it!”

Melanie hesitated, halting in the middle of ripping out another part of the book. Her empty eyes looked up from the tome, but not at Adrian. “We?” she repeated, her voice frighteningly soft for how untame she had acted.

Adrian’s tongue rushed to reply. An idea came to mind, unpleasant as it was to lie. “Us!” she clarified. “We need that book! Th-There’s so much we can do with this thing, y-you can’t just… ruin it!”

Melanie’s expression warmed, and although her next breath was slow, it did return some life to her green eyes. Her hand relaxed, providing some mercy to the page next in line to be pulled from its binding. Then, after a pause, she closed the book, now lighter than before.

“Hah… S-So…” Melanie muttered this as she composed herself, but her thought trailed nowhere else. It wandered, just as her eyes did at all the debris of her rage. She was at first surprised, and perhaps even embarrassed, at how her anger had lead to this, but then the sight tickled her. It made her flinch, and her lips coiled at their edges with a taste for the chaos she had strewn. That absence of weight in the book, which was held nonchalantly in the grip of three fingers, had also brought some dosage of joy and satisfaction. As Adrian read this shift in attitude, a sinking feeling wrapped over her.

Melanie moved, kicking away a couple remnants of the book. She positioned herself a foot away from her nightstand, her hips facing it directly with Adrian there in the center. Adrian paced back, but she knew moving was pointless on such an island of a surface. Even without seeing Melanie’s eyes, Adrian knew she was being watched.

“Hey…” Melanie spoke up with a whisper. It was just enough to get Adrian to look up, and to see how red her face had become. A few beads of sweat formed around her temples. “Th-That… That was kind of… fun…”

“... Y-Yeah? Was it?” Adrian asked, heavily concerned over this development.

Melanie nodded, her smile becoming wider. She slipped her hands into her soft pajama pants and pulled down. She crouched, stepped over, and was now pantsless -- completely nude from the waist down, though her black t-shirt stretched just far enough to keep herself concealed.

This was not so concealed for Adrian and her lower angle. She burned red with embarrassment when Melanie had stood back up to her full height, having suddenly stripped out of her pants and underwear. Not hidden underneath the tailends of Melanie’s sleep shirt was her pussy, located there among an even paler selection of flesh. It was impossible to look away from the behemoth bodypart, a breathtaking sight that Adrian never before imagined would be in front of her. The lack of fanfare or special emphasis towards it made Adrian shiver with a sort of anticipation, as though it were wrong to see Melanie exposed like this so forwardly. When time started to pass again and Adrian could move, she immediately turned up to Melanie, seeking some kind of context.

There was nothing Melanie wanted to say. She continued to smile, standing normally by her nightstand but cherishing the sensation of exerting so much onto another person without any effort. She giggled at Adrian’s eventual reaction, amused by her bashfulness. “A-Are you… intimidated?” she wondered aloud, a curious finger brushing up her thigh. “My... cunt… It’s bigger than you…”

Adrian knew that well enough, but she couldn’t fathom an answer, nor any English word. Her entire mind was washed with what she saw, and she could only wonder why the display of Melanie’s lips were so captivating. Was she aroused, or terrified? Was that disgust paining her chest, or was that the collapse of her dignity? She had never felt more pointless in her life before, and all that threatened her was the existence of a single woman’s pubic area hovering ahead of her.

Melanie giggled at being watched like this, well aware that she had the love of her life forced to look at the most private area of her body at a titanic scale. Her thighs closed together, yet another sight that twisted Adrian’s emotions, yet it was just a simple shift in Melanie’s balance. For the tiny woman in front of her, it was like watching two supersized walls hug into each other, swaying from side to side as if they were wrestling to topple the other down. The view of Melanie’s legs was making Adrian’s own quiver.

“That was really exciting… T-Tearing up that book…” Melanie said, panting slowly. “It… It really felt like something… popped inside of me. Hehe…” Her hand tugged down on her shirt, hiding away her crotch but in turn bringing more emphasis to the tightness around her chest. Adrian observed this too, tilting her head back even farther; far above her were Melanie’s breasts, big enough to knock someone off their feet, yet also soft enough to be pressed down and squished by their equally massive owner.

Adrian twitched as a thought racked her mind. Melanie, appropriately, brought that thought to words: “Don’t you think this is a blessing? Don’t you wish you could be squished there, between my thighs? You know… lots of people would murder someone to be in your shoes, even for just a minute…”

“I… N-No,” Adrian shook her head, adamant about her opinion. Her inner conflicts said otherwise, but she didn’t find a need to defend herself. Regardless, her reaction was what Melanie was fishing for, to make her embarrassed and question this position she was trapped in.

Adrian turned away without a word, looking back at the lamp, but she had forgotten that this was not her choice. Melanie grabbed her, but not with a ruthless grip. Her tendril-like fingers wrapped over Adrian’s lithe frame despite the resistance. In fact, despite Adrian’s struggles, it still only required a light touch to lift Adrian off her feet and gently switch her back to facing Melanie. And, while the fingers were there, they couldn’t help but greedily caress Adrian, smoothly petting her sides and her legs like she was a precious jewel.

“Let go! Stop!” Adrian winced. Every push was countered and every kick was ignored. A rush of instinct came over Adrian, taking her back to reality. She was being molested, and that reality shocked her into a spasm of movements that couldn’t be concluded. If anything, her squirming only entertained Melanie more, encouraging the giantess to play with her toy more and more.

But all of this excitement was building up, like a real pressure growing inside of Melanie’s gut. It was reaching its limit, and Melanie was too aware of it. I have to jack off, she plainly thought, but her smile widened another inch. I’m like a god to them, and their god has to jack off…! And they…! They just have to suffer through it…!!

Melanie’s grip changed, so fast that Adrian couldn’t react. No longer did the fingers just idly play with Adrian, they blanketed her like flesh chains, and she was forced into the air. Adrian coughed out a plea, but it went unnoticed. She could only wonder what was in her future, but the answer was sooner apparent than she expected. She wasn’t taken far, only directly to the face of Melanie’s crotch, exposed in its entirety as her freehand daintily lifted the front of the shirt.

“You see her?” Melanie asked, as though it weren’t obvious. “What does a giant pussy look like… to something as small as you?”

The hand maintaining the shirt tilted so that her pointer finger was freed, allowing it to explore the details of her area. Adrian’s eyes could turn nowhere else, so she studied where it pointed, hypnotized by how immense Melanie’s pussy really was. The wet folds of her labia were as thick as blankets to Adrian, and the collection of black, curly hair was like overgrown grass that framed the image together. Then, she comprehended the scent, as it had been lingering around her tiny body but never dwelled on. It wasn’t rancid by any means, but it was a heavy air, a gathering of Melanie’s leg sweat that created the unmistakable smell of a woman’s crotch, with a strong hint of the fact that Melanie was due for a bath.

“Is this what a dick sees? Just before p… penetration...” Melanie wondered awkwardly. She didn’t intend to belittle her captive, precariously positioned there as she was, genuinely distracted by her perverted sense of curiosity. “Mmm… I-It’s probably not accurate. You’re pretty small for a dick… n-not that I’ve seen one…”

Adrian stopped squirming. She mentally blanked, and the only voice in her head was screeching, What is this maniac talking about?!? I’m being compared to a dick?!? She gagged, and tears that just barely welled up under her eyes were shot into streams down her cheeks. Is a dick really bigger than me?! Is a dick stronger than I am?!

The despair between her legs went largely unnoticed by Melanie, too warped into her own playful ideas than to distinguish Adrian’s crying from the rest of her usual begging. She hunched forward, feeling a mighty need to relieve herself of this sexual build-up.

Melanie lifted Adrian higher, past her stomach and up to her chest. A hot breath escaped her smiling mouth. “Hold on,” she warned, and then pressed Adrian to the center of her breasts. As her fingers loosened their hold, Adrian was forced to cling to the fabric of the immense shirt. She kicked and cried out for help, but this only made Melanie tingle in anticipation, tickled by the way Adrian fought for her life.

“You’re so cute there,” Melanie said. The hand that had just abandoned Adrian returned, but only enough so that one finger could pet her back. “You’re like… a little necklace. Haha… Th-That’s an idea for later…

“But for now…” Melanie’s gaze lost some of its warmth as she directed herself to her computer desk. Ignoring Adrian’s struggles and pleas, Melanie moved towards the drawers, her gait slowed only by how turned on she was. The drawers were thrown open, no regard to Scarlet and Kimberly who were tossed forward by the sudden movement. Both prisoners looked up to see their captor hauntingly overhead, her expression more unhinged than usual.

“Please… Please…!” Scarlet begged, not hesitating to ask for mercy. Kimberly said nothing, only trembling back deeper into a corner. There was nothing to be said and nowhere to hide; Melanie grabbed them, one in each hand, pleased by the way the women squirmed in her unstoppable fists.

Melanie stood still for a second, appreciating the chaos she was forcing onto these innocent people. Then, she moved, tickled again by Adrian’s scrambling. She moved to the bed which her eyes surveyed like a battlefield. Very soon it would start to feel like one for her toys, but she saw it more as a playground to wreak havoc upon.

Scarlet and Kimberly were dropped onto the bed with little care, their tiny bodies landing into an uncomfortable but cushioned fall. They were separated by a small distance, left on their own to recuperate from the surprise change of scenery. Adding to their disorientation unexpectedly was Melanie’s foot, pressing down into the bedspace between them. Her weight caused the mattress to be suppressed, and in turn Scarlet and Kimberly were pulled towards it, stumbling closer to the giantess’s foot.

Just comparing the size of her foot to the two women was bringing a dark pleasure to Melanie, but she craved more. “This could kill you,” Melanie said in a forceful tone, “so kiss it. Lick it and worship it, because if you don’t, it will fucking flatten you!”

Scarlet hesitated. Her body was still sore and ragged from the washing Melanie had given her, not to mention her body hadn’t completely dried off either. In this pause, her focus went to Kimberly, checking to see how she would react. To her surprise, the mature woman caved immediately. She spared no time to forfeit herself to the foot, bowing in front of it and licking at the edge with slow, disgusted strokes. Scarlet watched, but she shuddered under the presence of Melanie. She joined Kimberly on the opposite side, shaking as she licked with a particularly light tongue.

Despite the natural reservations that her captives had, Melanie was pleased with this result. She laughed, not so much tickled by the licking but entertained by how pathetic they were. “This is too easy,” she thought aloud. “But I know you’re not doing your best…” To that remark, both Scarlet and Kimberly silently worked harder and faster in licking Melanie’s foot, emboldening her wicked smile.

“Adrian,” she said, “are you watching?” She glanced at Adrian, still hugging a fold of the black t-shirt with all of her strength, still begging to be released, still having her cries ignored. Melanie leaned forward, one hand cupped under Adrian as to catch her if need be. She stretched closer to her propped up foot, adjusting her chest so that it and Adrian were at an equal level with her calf. “Look at them,” she urged, “look at these two! Aren’t they gross for doing this? Look!”

By demand, Adrian turned her head. Her curiosity felt sick, but she couldn’t just not listen to Melanie. The scene beneath her seemed unreal, but once her eyes found Kimberly and Scarlet pitifully kissing Melanie’s foot, she couldn’t focus on anything else. Two adult women were groveling at a foot big enough to stomp them out of existence. Adrian’s grip felt loose from the sweat forming in her palms, but she refused to let go.

Melanie tilted her head, looking only at Kimberly. “Aww, Kim… This must really suck,” she said. Kimberly stopped, weakly looking up at the giantess. “You were expecting such a nice vacation… but what you got instead was a demotion. Now you’re just a lowly foot slave for a horny college girl.” She poked at Kimberly, her touch rougher than she intended. “Don’t you love working hard? You always worked late, so where’s that attitude now? Huh? Show me that good work ethic and put your stupid cow body to use!” She prodded Kimberly again, pushing her towards the front of her foot. “I want to feel your tits on my toes. Go.”

Kimberly had hate swallowing up all other emotions. Somehow, that hate was providing her fuel to obey and follow orders. She crawled forward, mounting Melanie’s foot so  that her head was at the big toe. She was frozen at first, but one shake of Melanie’s impatient foot kicked her into motion. She rode Melanie’s foot, grinding her whole torso into the long toes and marking the sensitive skin with an array of kisses.

“Yeah, that’s better,” Melanie said. “Good job, foot slave.” Her response was so plain that it pained Kimberly’s ears as an insult. Melanie moved back slightly so that she could better stare down at Adrian. “You’ve seen how stacked Kim is, right, Adrian?” Melanie asked happily. “I’m putting her tits to good use, now that they’re so small. Isn’t that exciting, Adrian?”

“M-Melanie, this has to end!” Adrian yelled. “This is… degrading! How can you do this?!”

“By being huge,” Melanie giggled, “or… I guess by just being normal. It’s their fault, for being so weak and tiny… Just like you! Hehe… B-But you’re different, though, you’re above them, too. If you ever feel like groping Kimberly, you can just do that, I-I won’t stop you. Though, y-you would agree that I have bigger tits, right?”

Adrian pulled at the shirt, trying to lift herself up higher. She could barely inch her way up, and she was puzzled to a halt by what Melanie said. It was a hard thought to dispel, how Kimberly and her mature build was virtually nothing compared to Melanie’s modest chest. Adrian couldn’t deny that one pair of breasts were big, and the others were completely overwhelming.

Melanie’s fingers twitched, another sign that she couldn’t wait any longer. She picked her foot off the bed, a simple action that threw both women carelessly onto a blanket. They weren’t given a chance to rest before Melanie climbed into the bed, each step causing the rest of the mattress to shift and the sheets to coil. Kimberly rushed to her feet and ran, tumbling over the twisting blanket and looking back at the alien sight of a monstrous human crawling over her. Scarlet tried to move, but her exhaustion prevented her. She only squirmed where she lay, praying that one girl’s misstep doesn’t lead to her death.

Melanie sat just off center in her bed, her legs picked up so that a foot was designated to each of the tiny women. “D-Don’t stop,” she said, wantingly at first but asserting her dominance with her glare. “Lick under my feet. Clean them or die.”

It was a simple command and her shrunken prisoners obliged. With Kimberly at her right foot and Scarlet at her left, the pair worked on licking the soles of Melanie’s feet. The sensation was even more wild for Melanie, a thrill that shocked her skin and made her breaths even heavier. She had to cover a gasp, feeling overloaded with energy. Of course, her fun was met with shame and disgust by her captives; Scarlet wept as she collapsed her entire body against the foot, forcing her tongue to brush through the wrinkles of skin, while Kimberly had a preference for pleasuring Melanie’s toes, suckling her middle toe with a humiliated, defeated stare in her eyes.

“Haha! Wow…!” Melanie moaned. “You two… are so worthless… Continue being toys for me and my girlfriend to use…! You’re such g-good toys…”

Melanie reclined, which allowed Adrian to finally have some sense of safety. With Melanie’s back arced the way it was, her breasts were held up more flatly, giving Adrian the chance to relax her grip slightly. However, she knew this ordeal was far from over. Melanie’s perverted expression said it all, and Adrian dreaded what she was in the middle of.

“That’s right… My girlfriend…” Melanie said, repeating herself for Adrian. Once her eyes befell the tiny woman on her chest, she couldn’t look anywhere else. Her face boiled to a heated pink. “We’re… l-lovers, Adrian. Your partner is someone… a girl that can make two tiny, naked women… lick her feet clean! She’s a giant, a-and she’s all yours! Ahh~ I-Isn’t that wonderful, Adrian?!”

Adrian had been surprisingly successful in blocking out Melanie’s words thus far, denying her the privilege of corrupting at least some corners of her mind. However, that was only when she was tightly clutched around a fold of Melanie’s shirt, maintaining a grip that was keeping her from falling to her demise. Now that Melanie had relaxed, that distress was mostly dismissed, and Adrian’s mind was freed to be played with.

In an effort to block out Melanie’s speech, Adrian had dug her head into the ground, forgetting in that second where she was located. The softness of Melanie’s breasts reached her only then, their plushness feeling so welcoming and nice despite the disaster happening all around her. In this moment of clarity, Adrian was calmed, if only partially. It didn’t feel right that the titan terrorizing helpless women could have such a gentle bosom, even despite her huge scale.

Distracted by this, Adrian was unalert to the shadow looming over her. Melanie’s hand cupped around Adrian’s body, inducing a whole new wave of spasms, but Melanie was unflinching. She pressed Adrian tightly into her chest, her own body shaking and quivering from the experience. All the while, Melanie had to muffle her laughter, afraid that her amusement would disrupt the erotic flow she was enjoying.

“Do you hear it, Adrian…?” Melanie asked in her ghostly voice. “Do you hear my heartbeat?”

Adrian shouted out of resistance, but all her strength couldn’t even oppose a single digit of Melanie’s hand. She was trapped there, and just as she was forced to listen to Melanie, so was she forced to listen to her heart. It was right there, loud and important, a drum that organically beat to an aroused rhythm. Adrian could feel the impact of each heartbeat, truly understanding how close and big the organ had to be.

“It’s big… It’s big with all the love I have for you~” Melanie chuckled, using the hand that blanketed Adrian’s body to pet her. “Think… Think of all the love that’s in there! All for you! A-All for you…!”

Adrian’s struggles slowed. Each beat of the gigantic heart rang through her ears, but not as painful tones. There was something actually relaxing about Melanie’s heartbeat, like a gentle calling, a mother trying to ease an upset child. These internal thumps wanted to cradle Adrian to rest, and they likely would have if the giantess’s heart rate hadn’t been so hectic, and if her giggles didn’t cast an anxious shadow over the warm scene.

Melanie couldn’t control that, however. Having Adrian pressed into her chest was only making the heat between her legs flare up with desire. She bit her lip -- her other hand was free to move where it wanted. Sliding down her stomach and to her crotch, Melanie’s hand instinctively found her hole once again.

Scarlet gasped, gagging on her own breath. Kimberly heard her and looked to where Scarlet gawked. Beyond the two arcs of legs, the two witnessed the fruit of their labors. All of their licking and kissing of Melanie’s enormous feet had aroused her sufficiently enough to start masturbating -- two fingers, each as tall as they were, discovering a motion that suited Melanie’s lust. In and out, in and out, the display ahead of them had shocked both Kimberly and Scarlet. Before them was a live porno magnified by a hundred, and they were just toys at her feet. Suddenly, their position had begun to feel more dangerous.

“Don’t fucking stop!” Melanie spat. Three words was enough to shake Kimberly back into action, kneeling down and licking the dead center of Melanie’s bare foot. Scarlet wasn’t as quick to respond, nor was Melanie feeling as merciful towards her. As punishment, her foot collapsed over top of Scarlet, binding her to the mattress with a casual stomp that completely held the woman in place. Scarlet screamed, it was all she could do, and even that was muffled beneath the flesh overwhelming her, wasting what little breath she had.

The more Melanie succumbed to temptation, the more the world around Adrian was rocked. She still couldn’t maneuver much under the giant hand, but the soft sounds of Melanie’s quiet moans had alerted her well enough of what her captor was engaging in. She had figured this would be the case, but the reality was terrifying to be living in. No amount of preparation could have given Adrian the nerves to comprehend how she and two others were merely accessories to a college student’s masturbation session. Though she had sympathy for Scarlet and Kimberly, there was still a twinge of gratefulness that she wasn’t there with them.

Whatever peace Adrian had was falling apart, and fast. Melanie’s breathing became more deliberate, strong bellows of air that Adrian could overhear even past the hand that held her down. The incline in Melanie’s position faded, and she laid back entirely with a hard fall. The little yelp she scared out of Kimberly made her laugh, and her own touching became faster as a result. Every tingle of power she could feel was a sensation she directed right to her loins, turning the severe power dynamic into a perverted gimmick for her own pleasure.

Melanie hummed and her legs quivered. She lowered her hand off of Adrian, but only enough that Adrian’s head could be free. She smiled down at her obsession, even though her obsession was doing everything she could to flee and escape her. Keep trying! she thought. Don’t give up! That’s what I love about you, Adrian~

“Nnn… Uh…” Melanie stuttered, a string of drool trickling down the side of her mouth. She licked her lips, realizing then that she hungered for more. Her hands traded, but instead of forcing Adrian into a locked position, she instead reapproached her with just her two fingers. A distinct fluid coated those fingers, and she sought to introduce that to Adrian by petting her.

Adrian, immediately, recognized the texture, though she was paralyzed with disbelief. She stammered just to shout, “W-What the fuck?!” With just a few touches, the entire back of her body had been soaked in love juices. She grunted, feeling the weight of such a thick liquid bear down on her.

“Ooh, Adrian…” Melanie cooed. “Do you like that? I-It’s… a gift! Please enjoy what I made for you~” Contrary to Melanie’s tone, Adrian responded with a kick and a shiver. Melanie giggled, “D-Do you smell it? Do you smell me? Ahhn…” She panted, briefly lost in her masturbation. “Don’t you love… h-having a goddess… as a girlfriend…?”

No!!” Adrian cried, pounding her fists pointlessly into Melanie’s chest. She tried to dash forward and make a desperate escape, but her crawl was too slow for the giantess, even while masturbating. Using those same two fingers, Melanie pinned Adrian down and slid her back between her boobs. Adrian tried gripping the shirt to resist, but like all of her struggles, this only entertained Melanie more.

“Ahh… This has to be so scary for you all…” Melanie muttered, making sure the others could hear her as well. “I bet you’re thinking… Please, please don’t kill us by masturbating! … Haah… T-To think that I could use any one of you… as a dildo, and crush you inside me…” Melanie’s wicked grin returned, just in time for the uproar happening between her legs. “Hhnn… W-Would you enjoy that, kn-knowing your life was lived just so it could jerk a girl off…? Some giant loser, too… A fucking pointless girl with no reason to live… That’s right, you two there… are worth less than a useless girl’s vibrator!

Melanie laughed and her legs spasmed in excitement. Whatever flood she was containing could hardly be contained any longer. Both hands were dedicated to this massive cause of bringing pleasure to the giantess, completely abandoning Adrian but not without a precaution -- a fun precaution, Melanie figured, which was positioning her arms at the sides of her breasts and trapping her obsession between them. The small window of time Adrian had to flee again closed before she could react, and Adrian now found herself in a new kind of trap, one that was significantly softer but had a much higher potential to suffocate her. That thought wasn’t lost on Melanie, who found the situation to be devilishly sexy.

“Kick and squirm, Adrian~ I love knowing how powerful I am… Th-This is where you belong, safe and sound, h-here… between my boobs…” A long, whispery breath interrupted her. In this pause, all parties could only hear the slopping sound of Melanie’s fingers diving in and out of her pussy. It was an ambient noise for Melanie, she didn’t even think of it, but it was much more intense for Kimberly, haunted by the grotesque sounds of a lustful ritual taking place not terribly far from her. Even worse was how she knew every kiss she gave Melanie’s toes was only adding fuel to that burning fire, and she had no argument to stop.

Kimberly wondered if Scarlet could even hear this, squashed beneath Melanie’s foot and likely forgotten. Just as she didn’t stop licking like she was told, neither could she stop worrying about Scarlet. She would glance in her direction, half-expecting her to be relieved of such a surreal punishment, but all she ever witnessed was a twitching foot, twisting and turning into the sheets. Kimberly winced as a dreadful concern crept over her, and still she didn’t stop worshipping the giantess’s sole.

“Aw, fuck… Fuck!” Melanie moaned, her body rocking back and forth to her erotic rhythm. It was as though the strength of her fingers was enough to move her body along with them. “Ahh-- A-Adrian? I haven’t c-crushed you, have I? Heh… My boobs are too soft, right? Are they?”

That much was true, but it was hardly a favor for Adrian. The pressure collapsed around her was suffocating and hot, and her movements had been restricted to just twitches and gasps for precious air. Melanie could hear only a quiet voice plead to her, “P-Please…! M-Melanie…! I’m… gonna die!”

Music to Melanie’s ears, another detail that she cherished. It was exactly what she wanted to hear from the love of her live, confirming that Adrian’s life truly did hang on her finger tips. She was at her whim, completely her’s, at least on this level. There was still so much in their future, Melanie predicted, and this climax was far from the peak the two could achieve.

“Adrian…! This is… This is only the start!” Melanie said, her breaths getting faster and appropriately making it harder for her to speak. “We’ll do… s-so much more than this! One day… w-we’ll actually fuck! We’ll become one, Adrian! Us! Us! Us!” She chanted onward, her moans bellowing over her pathetic captives. Short of a scream, she unleashed a restrained howl, a last second courtesy for Juniper, of all things. “Hah… Hahhhaahh… One… Us…! U-Until then…”

Melanie slowed to a stop, but her fingers remained deep inside her. She licked her lip, gathering up a loose strand of saliva that had been traveling down her cheek this entire time. Then, she rose up, back to an incline, and one arm weakly lifted up her breasts. Adrian was faint, her fragile body still wedged between the hill-sized breasts and yet still unable to writhe her way free. Even if she had the energy, Melanie wouldn’t humor the escape. Her plan, after all, was to have her positioned there.

Her lips pursed, and a bead of spit formed at the edge of her mouth. Her tongue slipped outward, pushing the saliva forward, while her head was aimed right over Adrian. Just as Melanie had hoped, Adrian had looked up just in time to see what hung overhead. A massive glob of Melanie’s spit slowly dropped from her tongue until the strand holding it broke. It splashed over Adrian’s body, who still lacked the stamina to even guard herself from the attack. Another fluid now coated her shivering body; a wave of warmth came with it, but then a chilly sensation painfully followed. This physical discomfort, however, paled in comparison to the mental injuries of these acts. Adrian was degraded, and in place of screams and shouts for this torture to stop, all she could do was whimper -- or rather, she gagged, choking on the gallons of saliva playfully dropped on her.

“Taste me,” Melanie whispered, the engine in her fingers coming back to life. Her eyes widened, her pupils so small as they focused on nothing but the wet Adrian stuck in her cleavage. “Let me inside you, Adrian!! Yes, just like that!! Drink it, smell it, b-become connected to me…! Exactly… Exactly…!”

Melanie choked. A deep inhale, like fanning the flames that were raging at her core. A squeak, the only noise she could manage as the built up intensity had transformed into an immeasurable pleasure. Pure ecstasy ran through her veins, undoing all the pent up stress her muscles had endured. In turn, her position slowly relaxed, but her breathing hadn’t stabilized just yet, only getting more untamed. None of it mattered, as Melanie had become locked in her mind as her orgasm ultimately distracted her from all other earthly things -- in her mind was a space dedicated to what she saw, and that was Adrian, trapped in a reality that could only be compared to the deepest fantasy Melanie could have concocted when she first obsessed over her.

Like a titan brought to sleep, Melanie fell back with a slump. The bed bounced, as did her light body. Kimberly was kicked away, tripped onto the floor of sheets. Scarlet was released, pushed aside as the giant foot stretched outward, and ruthlessly twisting her body along the bed. Regardless of such careless treatment, Scarlet saw the change as godsend. She could breathe, but every inhale was tainted with the scent of foot sweat, a smell forged into her naked body. Both women would eventually look up, cursed by a curiosity to check that the danger was over. Ahead, where the two massive legs led, was Melanie’s pussy, flooded with its own juices that shamelessly dripped onto the sheet. Neither could comment on it, but the sight of a woman’s satisfaction had brought them a terrifying reminder of what they were now, and what their jobs were. Could they be proud of that much?

Adrian was weak as well. Melanie’s drop into the bed had loosened her free from Melanie’s breasts, jostling her forward and closer to the neck. Shellshock had settled in, paralyzed where she had been tossed. Couldn’t that have killed me? she asked, her thoughts a despairing prayer to any god. Isn’t this over yet? Haven’t I gone through enough…?

Melanie thought only of herself, but that didn’t exclude Adrian from being on her mind as well. To her, they were now joined on a whole new level, but there was still so much more to do. With her orgasm came a state of clarity, much like her mind usually worked when going off the rails. She thought of that beautiful future, the days ahead of them and how it would lead to something more. The woman that attracted all of her affection -- she blanketed her right hand over Adrian -- would become closer to her, even closer than she felt they were now. An enticing prediction, she thought, one that was sealed back into her mind with a gentle sigh.

Melanie’s grip on Adrian changed, clutching her limp frame into a soft fist. She rose yet again, this time bringing her legs off the side of the bed. She now sat on the edge, her legs were weak but her spirit was alive. She opened her fist carefully, letting Adrian rest in her palm. She smiled, thinking of the fun they had enjoyed. As much as she wanted to play with her more, Melanie had remembered her other victims, and her attention went to them. Her grin widened with a giggle, observing the two specks sprawled out on her bed as though they were felled soldiers on a battlefield.

She slapped the bed. When Scarlet and Kimberly were both expecting mercy, a reward for their hard and shameful work, they were treated to more torture. The slap was loud and made the two flinch back to life, each immediately thinking that the other had been suddenly crushed with a single smack. There was no relief when they found that to not be the case.

Melanie crept forward, moving back onto the bed. Her mouth opened with an untamed smile, hungrily trading glances between her two pets. She lifted her hand again and brought it down, this time closer to Kimberly. It was a slow descent, but Kimberly had no reason to think of it as a weak attack, so she ran, dashing over the fold of a blanket to avoid the meteoric strike. The hand fell, inches behind Kimberly but shocking her nonetheless.

“W-Why?!” Kimberly muttered, twisting from a tripped position. “Please, for the love of god, w-- D-Don’t hurt us…! We did what you said…!”

Melanie didn’t hear her. Already bored with Kimberly, she looked to the other. “Wormslut…~!” she sang. “Did you enjoy that? L-Living under my foot? Are toes a good substitute for choking down bug dick?”

Scarlet cried, but even that was interrupted when Melanie lifted up her leg and aimed her knee at her target. Scarlet scrambled to her feet, tripped again, and then madly crawled from there. Just like with Kimberly, Melanie missed on purpose, just milking more fear out of her little toys.

“Did you two think you’d be done after that…?” Melanie wondered aloud, almost in a pitying tone. “Don’t even think about being that ridiculous. This never ends for you. You’re toys and toys never stop being toys! If you ever think you’re done, then you’re a broken toy that has literally no worth to anyone.” She lifted her free hand, forming it this time into a fist. A terrible laugh leaked from her throat, “Heh heh…! Hahh! Do you think I’m a monster?! I’m just a shitty college student! That’s how pathetic you are~! Haahaa!”

To the melody of their screams, Melanie continued to play with Scarlet and Kimberly, caught up in a post-orgasmic bliss. This truly was just the start of Melanie’s reign. Adrian might be her prized possession, but her ideal was to have more than that. To establish herself as the all-powerful being she pretended to be, she needed more. Her reckless playing was idle at best -- the inner workings of her mind concocted something deeper, a strategy to become more than what she already was. She would act true to what she told Adrian, and she would seek out more cute girls to add to her collection.

For now, her day was dedicated to fun, and she would work her slaves to the bone. All the while, she would let Adrian regenerate her strength, saving her obsession for what more she had planned.

Chapter Six by Curse Crazy

It was only bitter in her mouth, despite how sweet the chocolate-peanut butter cup was supposed to be. Adrian had lost her appetite on a long-term scale, and she doubted candy, of all things, was going to recover it. Her eating options, however, were limited only to what Melanie would permit her to eat. Lunch was thus a circular slab of chocolate, wide like an extravagant wedding cake but only as high as her knees.

“Not hungry again…?” Melanie asked. She hovered overhead, like she always did. One arm was propped up on the desk where Adrian stood, used to hold up her laid back head. She sighed, “It’s… your favorite…”

Adrian’s gaze was lost in the subtle ridges of her chocolate meal. She blinked back to life, looking weakly up at her captor. Her lips quivered before speaking, “I don’t want to eat.”

“You have to…” Melanie closed her eyes, softly pouting about Adrian’s stubbornness. “I told you -- I won’t let Kimberly or Wormslut eat until you start.”

Adrian twitched at the threat. Her blood boiled knowing that two others were connected to her like this, their hungers bound to her own. She held her stomach, and as unhappy as it was, she moved to eat. If just one bite was what it took to convince Melanie, she would make that simple sacrifice.

Melanie was pleased by this, and her smile expressed as much to her captives. She hummed happily as she went to open the prison cell-like cabinets of her desk. First she plucked Kimberly up, then Scarlet, setting them both beside the snack as if she were planting toys around an imaginary scene. However, she couldn’t help but note their dreary demeanors, a contrast to the fantastical concept of giant candy for lunch.

“Is there a problem?” she asked, her tone totally different when changing direction from Adrian to the others.

Kimberly limped up to the chocolate, activated by Melanie’s pressuring voice. Scarlet was not so motivated, choosing to sit down instead. Kimberly quickly glanced back at her, but she didn’t dwell on it, soon returning her focus onto the food and the handfuls of chocolate she was having to dig out.

“Y-You should eat,” Adrian said. Scarlet looked to her with a sour disposition. Adrian gestured towards their meal, “Seriously. Please?”

Scarlet glared in silence. She was the type to bark and snarl, she didn’t take kindly to those that stepped on her nerves, and thus far in her life only one person annoyed her more than Adrian. Her instincts to stand up and speak down on her, however, had been tamed and flattened. She knew better now than to disagree with Adrian, especially with Melanie present, looming over them like an observant goddess.

Scarlet turned her head away. “Who said I was hungry?” she asked. “Whatever…” She stood up defeatedly and approached the peanut butter cup, her glare now pointed at it instead of Adrian. She knelt down, but she lacked the inspiration still. Kimberly had no shame in diving right into the food, using her bare hands to pull apart chunks of chocolate and peanut butter. Scarlet had just enough resistance, left sitting right in front of the food with a blank face.

“Eat!” Melanie urged. “What’s the problem now? I can’t have you starving on me.”

Scarlet stuttered to speak, having been taught now that her voice only caused more problems. In her absence of a reply, Adrian stepped in, “I-I think it’s too big. It’s kind of hard for us to eat it…”

“Ahh, is that so.” Melanie reeled back in her chair. “I’ve got an idea…” She opened up one of the larger drawers beneath the desk’s surface, and from there she pulled out one of her favorite items. It was a pocket knife, basic in design but decorated with a shimmering purple color and designed with a cool, modern grip. She chuckled first before flipping the knife around between her fingers, a display that was meant to show off some expert dexterity. “Pretty cool, r-right, Adrian?”

Adrian shook her head, waking up from a brief trance. A knife had since been introduced since she had dazed out. “A knife? You-- Well…” I shouldn’t be surprised. Adrian sighed, “Can you just--”

“Whoops…” Melanie misjudged one twist of her knife and juggled it out of her fingers. She winced as the blade fell to the desk -- clung-clung, it hit the surface hard, first its handle and then bouncing once off the blade. Where it had fallen was also precarious, only inches from Kimberly and Scarlet, who reacted appropriately by stumbling to the side with their arms over their heads. Adrian, too, buckled down in response, but Melanie only giggled. “Forget that happened, please…” Melanie requested. “I-I’m usually pretty good at that…”

The scene de-escalated as the three shrunken women composed themselves. Kimberly massaged her temples and turned back to her food, while Scarlet scoffed but otherwise returned to what she was doing -- not eating.

“What was that?” Melanie asked. Everyone else froze. “What did you say, Wormslut? Do you want to speak up?”

Scarlet still didn’t move. “Wh-What? W-- I didn’t… I didn’t--”

“You talked back,” Melanie asserted. “Do you have something to say or not?”

“No! I-I didn’t speak at all!”

“She didn’t say anything,” Kimberly stuttered, coming to Scarlet’s defense. “She just--”

Melanie pounded the desk with her left fist, demanding an earthquake against the three. They shuddered. “I don’t need to hear anything from you either,” Melanie said, pointing a hard finger at the trembling Kimberly. Her other hand reached for the knife. “What the fuck did you say to me?”

Scarlet scrambled to form a reply, desperate to resolve the issue. “I don’t-- I didn’t say shit! I didn’t!” Still not an acceptable answer, her entire body was greeted by the sharpened point of a giant knife. She stumbled backwards and fell, only making it easier for the steel to hang over her small frame. She squeaked out pleas of resistance, afraid to bring any part of her closer to the knife.

“Huh? Are you afraid of some pocket knife?” Melanie asked, nearing the tip closer and forcing Scarlet to flatten herself out more and more. “Then just tell me what you said.”

“P-P… Please…!” Scarlet was too scared, even tears failed to form in her eyes. “I swear…! I-I didn’t say--”

“She didn’t say anything!” Adrian had picked herself up now, in place of Kimberly who had been stricken down instantly. “Melanie--”

“Should I fucking dissect you?” Melanie asked Scarlet, always emphasizing her most critical words with little thrusts of the knife. “I could cut your gut open. Or maybe I could just take off an arm or a leg? Why not all of them?” She laughed at that premise. “An actual worm-- I could make you like a real worm, Wormslut!”

Scarlet shivered, growing intensely aware of how her body was so delicate now that it could be playfully dismembered -- playfully, for the amusement of this maniac. When she finally found the heart to speak, all she could do was cry out a long whine. At its end, a surprise howl left her throat; “Just kill me!! Just fucking kill me, you bitch!!

Melanie was shocked, enough so that her cool and dominating personality had immediately shattered, if only for a split second. Her knife wavered in its aim.

Kill me!! Do it!!” Scarlet demanded, even lifting her chest up closer to the blade, yet too hesitant to get much closer. “Stop being a coward and do it! I don’t give a shit, just do it!

“A-Are you… fucking testing me…?” Melanie’s eye twitched, her expression being gradually absorbed by darkness. “I’ll gut you! We can’t have a normal meal around here with you, can we?!” She lifted the knife high into the air, angled straight down at her diminutive target. “You wanna act tough?! I’ll slice you open and let you bleed out--”

“Melanie! Stop, stop, stop!” Adrian shouted, again trying to intervene. She dashed to where Scarlet lay, but the shadow of the knife hanging over them made her chill to a stop still far away. Her begging didn’t cease, “Please, do not kill her! Don’t kill any of us!”

“Let her!” Scarlet spat. “I’m so tired of this! I’m tired of this!”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” Adrian yelled at Scarlet, trying to overpower her chanting with her own. “I’m trying to help you, damn it!”

Scarlet and Adrian breathed heavily, their throats hoarse from their combative shouting. They looked up at Melanie, trying to read her next action. Melanie looked ghostly, as she usually did, but with a more demonic flare in her eyes. An anger was clearly being held back, and both women feared that without a moment’s notice, she could turn and unleash a deadly fury upon any one of them. They flinched when the knife was moving again, but instead of coming down with tremendous force onto Scarlet, it instead stabbed lightly into the chocolate candy. It was split open into six fairly even slices, though there was a crudeness in every cut. Afterwards, the knife clapped close, and she lazily dropped it back into the drawer it came from.

“Adrian… You and Kimberly can eat.” Melanie’s voice was vacant, dismissed of even its usual hesitation and awkwardness. Before Scarlet could rise back to her feet, two fingers pinched roughly at her body and escorted her high into the air. “Wormslut is spending time with me for awhile.”

“Wait! Let her go!” Adrian demanded. “Please, I said to not kill her! She didn’t even say anything, Melanie!”

“I don’t care. She wants to die, doesn’t she?” Melanie gave Scarlet a wicked grin, one that drained the energy from her tiny victim. “You heard her! She wants to die. Who am I to separate her from that?” Still feeling the need for cruel emphasises, she shook Scarlet when needed, tight in her fist. All Scarlet could counter with were weak pummels against the gripping fingers, which were ineffective as always.

“Be reasonable, Melanie! We’re stressed the fuck out!” Adrian called upwards again. Creeping on her mind was the upcoming guilt of being responsible for some twisted death.

“Aww… Don’t worry, Adrian,” Melanie said softly. “She can’t die just yet. Believe it or not, this pathetic thing has reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to do. I suppose if she wants to hurry up and be crushed or something, then I can move on with my plan.”

Scarlet grunted, fearing now not only for her life but for what other atrocities Melanie was scheming. “What the fuck?! What are you going to do?!”

“Nothing painful,” Melanie said, brightening up her smile. “At least, not if you cooperate.”

“Cooperate--?! Ugh!” Scarlet groaned feeling the tightness around her waist restrict her even more. A mere flex of Melanie’s fist was all that was necessary to deplete the fight out of Scarlet. With her silenced and limp, Melanie rose out of her chair, towering even higher over Adrian and Kimberly. She left the desk, walking away from it and over towards the closet in the opposite corner. The doors were opened, revealing a slew of black clothes, boxed-up collectibles, old junk, and other random items that Melanie had collected and stashed away.

Melanie sorted through some of the things with her one free hand, careless in her search. “You’ll be with me for awhile, as I get this all set up,” she informed Scarlet. The green in her eyes lit up when she spotted it -- “Aha…! Doesn’t this look familiar?”

Scarlet looked to what Melanie held. She withheld a response, only less certain now of what Melanie was thinking. Held in front of her was her purse, an item she had long forgotten over the past weeks of torment. It was pink, stylish, and giant. Even the silly bunny decoration which attached to the zipper was as big as she was. But it wasn’t the size of the purse that was once hers that frightened her the most. It was the potential Melanie had, and what may be within it.

“Definitely a whore’s purse,” Melanie muttered, not even trying to direct her comment at Scarlet. “Remember this? Don’t you think you left something important behind? Hehe… I looked around inside after I took you. I found out something interesting about your life.”

Scarlet felt faint, realizing then what Melanie’s implications were. It was obvious now, and she felt nothing when Melanie unzipped the purse and withdrew from its pocket a cellular phone, old and traditional, a model from over a decade ago. She flipped the phone open with a snap, and a moment later, the screen and dial pad lit up with activity. Scarlet forced herself to look at it, acknowledging the number of missed calls and texts.

“I wondered if you were just poor or some shit,” Melanie explained, “like… why else would a snotty tramp like you have such an old phone? Then I went through some of the messages. You deal drugs.”

Scarlet blinked, having not expected such a blunt end to Melanie’s sentence. But, it was absolutely true. Shortly after starting school, Scarlet found an opportunity to start selling weed to other students across campus. It was a lucrative business, allowing her to feed her expensive tastes and live a carefree lifestyle. That life was far behind her, and being recalled to those memories -- just the fact that she was once normal, not tiny, and had a life with responsibilities and money and friends -- churned her stomach with something toxic.

Melanie was actually not entirely confident that her guess was right, and she judged her accuracy based on Scarlet’s reaction. Even with all the evidence, Melanie’s self-doubt had still prevailed. However, she was positive now that her accusation was correct, and she was excited to move onwards.

Melanie scrolled through the contact list, causing the old device to lag and stutter. There was a long list of names and connected to some were addresses. The depth of the predicament was dawning on Scarlet, as much as she tried to fight off that horrible realization.

“You want to die? Then find me a replacement.” Melanie turned Scarlet so that she was right in front of her eyes, her words spitting over the tiny frame. “This will be our little project. You’ll help me kidnap someone, and then I’ll consider just killing you off. You’ll do this, won’t you? I can really feel it, you know. You’re desperate to escape, so desperate that you’d choose another person to be shrunk down and taken, just so you can die quickly. That’s shameful… You’ve fallen so low, haven’t you?

“Don’t think you can back out of this,” Melanie added, forcing another shake to Scarlet’s already-disoriented senses. “It’s too late. I’m going to kill you, once this is done, and if you make this difficult, I’ll find a way to make things worse. I can always bring back that knife, or maybe I could dig up some actual worms and force you to breed with them. Huh? Does that sound better? Answer me.”

“Nnn… No…” Scarlet could only whimper, a soulless reply that was almost too soft to be heard by Melanie. “I’ll… do it…”


Two quiet days passed. Scarlet was never returned to her cabinet on the desk. She was kept instead by Melanie at all times, usually locked away in the night stand’s drawer. This left Adrian and Kimberly alone with their thoughts, which were plagued with concerns over Scarlet’s safety, as well as their own. During this time, Melanie told them very little, and in general interacted with them less. Even Adrian was unable to get an explanation from Melanie, other than that Scarlet was being “punished” for “something.”

In the end, Adrian and Kimberly were at least relieved that they were being given a break. Often times, Melanie would even leave them unobserved on the desk so that they could roam around. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see on the desk or out in the huge space that was the rest of the bedroom. Silence and boredom weighed painfully on the two captives, but it beat having to endure Melanie, who lounged in bed with her nose deep into her smartphone.

Adrian massaged her head with both hands. She was seated on the desk, hunched forward and trying to rub out the mental pains that burdened her. It was maddening for her to simply sit there, unable to do anything but watch and fear Melanie. Another minute of silence was going to be the death of her; she needed a distraction, something to keep her mind off all the worries. As things were, just thinking about problems was not going to solve them.

Back towards the multi-colored cabinets was Kimberly, sitting with her bare back against one of the cells. She never did anything, Adrian had come to find out. All Kimberly would do was listen to Melanie’s demands, and when not issued something to do, all she did was wait. Nothing had been said between the two, but Adrian did try to get a read on Kimberly from her interactions with Scarlet. However, even those moments were sparse, and mostly it was Scarlet venting to Kimberly.

Adrian approached her. She needed to talk to someone, otherwise her restless thoughts would never cease. She figured as well that Kimberly, too, needed to speak. The two were alone now, even from Melanie’s watchful gaze, and there was rarely another opportunity like this.

Before she could say a word, Adrian felt intimidated. Just raising her hand up in a friendly, gentle wave was seemingly pushing Kimberly’s boundaries. The older woman lifted her head up, revealing just how pale and defeated her expression was. More on Adrian’s mind was another thought, a memory of how when she first saw this woman, she was tinier than her, locked away in a plastic container. This, too, made Adrian hesitate again.

“What do you want?” Kimberly said.

“O-Oh, hi, Kim…” Adrian stammered.

“... Kimberly…” she corrected. “What is it?”

“I, err… I-I wanted to talk. It’s just us two here, and if we’re going to be trapped like this, we should--”

“I don’t like talking,” Kimberly interrupted. Dismissively, she turned her head back down to her knees. “Maybe you got the wrong idea.”

Adrian shook her head, insulted by this kind of response. Through all this trauma, her patience had truly suffered. “Alright. Is this because of how Melanie treats me?” She pushed the question, making transparent a concern that still weighed heavy on her mind. “I didn’t get to decide that I’d be her favorite or what-the-fuck-ever, I’m--”

“No, it’s not about that.” Kimberly groaned, adjusting her seated position. “Melanie’s just fucking with all of us. That’s all it comes down to. Her being nice to you now… Well, there’s only so nice a person can be when they’re willing to do this to you.”

Adrian stuttered to respond. Her impatience now felt uncalled for, and now an apology seemed more appropriate. “I guess… you understand, then.”

Kimberly shrugged. “Even if Melanie was being nice to us… What does it matter?” Her head bolted to the side, looking into the distance to make sure Melanie was still far away and preoccupied with something else. “She stripped us… of everything. I had a job, and a home… and she has the nerve to say it’s because I didn’t have family or friends. That’s why I get shrunk and tortured, I guess.” She looked back up again at Adrian, giving her the respect of eye contact at least. “And what about you? She shrank you because she loves you, apparently. You really won the jackpot.” She scoffed before Adrian could reply, “Some people would really think that, huh.”

“Yeah, I definitely didn’t ask for this.” Adrian took a seat across from Kimberly, unsure if that was welcomed or not. Kimberly didn’t object, so Adrian continued to get comfortable. However, that was difficult to do, considering not only their shrunken circumstances, but how Adrian herself was dressed in regular clothes, while Kimberly was naked and vulnerable. She tried to push those strange thoughts aside, “How did Melanie get to shrinking you? She said something about working at an office, or something.”

Kimberly first opened her mouth to explain more fully the situation, but the motivation to do so dropped. “Why does it matter to you? Do you just want to be entertained?”

“N-Not at all, trust me. I just want to get an idea of, you know… what the hell is happening! Like, what did she do to you? Why?” Adrian chuckled desperately. “I mean, maybe there’s some clue to getting un-shrunk that only one of us knows. Or maybe we can prevent this from happening to someone else.”

“I doubt it,” Kimberly said. “It’s not like any of this makes sense. It’s a curse, for god’s sake, it doesn’t make sense. But what’s scarier than that is Melanie herself.” She again looked to Melanie, ever cautious of that possibility that they were being eavesdropped upon. “She’s playing this whole game really smart, whatever this game is to her. She made sure I would be alone and could be picked up. She cornered me and she even admitted that I was just a ‘test’ or something. I got shrunk so she could better understand how this curse shit works.”

“Something about her is definitely… cunning,” Adrian said, taking a beat to find the right word. “She’s not just shrinking anyone she can get a hair from. It’s really calculated. She pulled me aside in an alley, when I didn’t know what was going on. I wish I had known what was going to happen.”

“You didn’t run?” Kimberly asked this sourly, but realized afterwards how cruel that was to question. “Sorry… I was in my office, when it happened to me. She took off all my clothes… I thought I could trust her. She felt like a niece, or something. I’d ask her about work, she’d tell me about her family… All those times, I was talking to a monster.”

“Yeah…” Adrian couldn’t add much more than that. She felt the same way, how someone she once generally believed to be an ordinary acquaintance was in fact a scheming kidnapper backed by occultic superpowers. “I still don’t understand her. She--”

The conversation was cut by the sound of Melanie rising up to her feet. Both women jittered to frozen positions, acting calm and quiet under the fear of Melanie’s fickle judgement. Adrian was the first to turn her head, desperately curious to watch the giantess’s movements. Fortunately, despite their worries, Melanie seemed none the wiser of their conversation, only approaching the desk with her usual gait. Adrian did notice, however, that Scarlet was still with her, rather than being locked up in the night stand once again.

Scarlet was placed on the desk. Immediately her balance failed her and she dropped to her knees, held up with one arm. Melanie smirked, “Did you miss them? I’m sure they were having such a great time without you. Sorry, Adrian, Kim.” But Scarlet said nothing, her only response being a weak, pitiful glare up at her fellow captives.

Adrian stood up to meet Scarlet, but Melanie’s voice beckoned her full attention. “I’m leaving for awhile. It shouldn’t take too long… When I come back, I’ll have a little surprise for all of you! W-Won’t that be nice?”

“What surprise?” Adrian firmly asked.

“Aha~ You’ll see, you’ll see!” Melanie giggled, clapping her hands together joyfully -- as joyful as Melanie could pull off. “Ahh… I’m sure you’ll guess, though. Now I feel like I should just tell you… B-But I won’t! Agh…” Melanie felt flustered, and Adrian and the others noticed, to varying degrees. Her little movements, her tone, her flushed face all felt different from the Melanie they had endured together just these past few days.

Adrian’s guess was on the end of her tongue, and she wanted to say it aloud. But, she realized, it didn’t matter. Her objections would never sway Melanie, the same way no choice words could push a mountain. She declined to say anything, only continuing her approach to a motionless Scarlet.

“Okay. I’m off.” Melanie grabbed a gray hoodie that had been cast on her desk chair and robed herself with it quickly. “D-Did… Uh, does anyone… want anything? From the store? S-Since I’m out, I mean. The gas station isn’t far away…”

“... What?” Adrian felt like laughing, and perhaps would have if she was just an observer to all this.

“Like… candy? A soda? I-I’ll get you some more candy, Adri--”

“No! P-Please, no more fucking candy.”

“Mm… Okay… Uh, Kim? Did you want something Kim?” Kimberly was completely silent. Melanie nodded, “Wormslut? Do you need condoms? Or do you just let anything cream inside of you?” Scarlet shivered, for everytime she thought she could withstand more verbal lashings, Melanie always found a way to get to her. Like Kimberly, she said nothing. “Okay, well, I don’t know if they even make condoms for micro-dicks, but I’ll keep an eye out.”

Melanie had everything she needed and had turned towards the door. She stopped, just short of the door knob, and went back to her desk with a couple long steps. Adrian hadn’t expected this, but Melanie had grabbed her, ignoring her astonished writhing and lifting her to her face.

“I’m n-nervous, heh,” Melanie explained, smiling with said emotion. Adrian flinched under her speech, but studied Melanie closely, reading the red all over her face. “A kiss for good luck… Please?” Adrian winced, knowing that without any way to prevent it, all she could do was prepare for the massive lips to rush into her. Indeed, that exactly happened a second afterwards; two pink ridges of flesh encompassed her body while she was unable to move, covering her body with a damp kiss that sucked a breath out of Adrian’s body. She was pulled away only slightly, so that only Melanie’s grin was in her vision, and then she was set back down on her feet.

“For real!” Melanie said, seemingly an ounce more confident than before. She waved goodbye only to Adrian as she went back to the door and left.

The truth of Melanie’s departure wasn’t believed for another minute. All three of her shrunken women were positive that Melanie was tricking them, and so they kept waiting, listening closely for the sound of the front door being opened and closed off miles in the distance. Once that was heard, an immediate sense of relief washed over the trio, like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders and they could finally stretch.

Scarlet felt a bubble of energy once Melanie was absent, but appropriately, that energy popped away the next moment. She had the strength to stand and step forward, but her stamina was lacking. Adrian had gone to meet with her again, but Scarlet kept one arm up to keep the distance between them, a warning that she needed space.

“What has been happening?” Adrian asked. “Are you okay? What did she do to you?”

“Shut up, just shut up,” Scarlet snarled in retaliation to such quick questions. She closed her eyes, disgusted by the sight of Adrian, still healthy and well. “And no, I’m not okay, because look the fuck around you, we’re still pathetic fucking toys for a psychopath bitch that’s going to eventually kill us. Are you okay? I’m sure you’re doing fucking fantastic.”

Adrian shivered, tanking Scarlet’s attacking comments out of sympathy for what she had been put through. “I’m… just checking up…” She shook her head. Scarlet would just yell at her, again. “Can’t you at least tell us what’s been going on? What is she planning?”

Scarlet opened her eyes in disbelief -- she had to see if Adrian was being real. She laughed, “Fuck off. You know what’s happening. Come the fuck on, Adrian, you know what’s going to happen!”

“Th-Then… you were helping her…?”

Helping her?! You--” Scarlet’s voice dissolved into a growl, intimidating Adrian enough to back off. Scarlet gripped her scalp, like trying to physically contain some leaking sanity. The same way her fingers itched her head, they too itched to strangle Adrian. “Like I want to help out this damn psychopath?! Ha, yeah! Yeah, that’s my plan, Adrian! You caught me!”

Adrian groaned. “Y-You know what I meant! Wor-- look… look, c-can we all just--”

“Huh? You were gonna fucking say it, huh?” Scarlet had snapped. In an instant, she was almost nose-to-nose with Adrian, their heights exactly equal. Adrian tried to distance herself, but every step of her’s was mirrored. “Call me what she calls me, I dare you. You think you’re safe because she’ll fucking kill me if I do something to you?”

“Chill out!” Adrian pushed Scarlet back. She feared immediate retaliation, and she sensed it too, but Scarlet was weak. Adrian felt it from her palms, how fragile Scarlet felt to push. Suddenly, if only briefly, Adrian regretted her outburst. It continued, however, “You’re still on this whole favorite shit, aren’t you?! I told you I didn’t ask for this, either! I don’t know what the fuck her issue is with me!”

“Who gives a shit if you know? Or if any of us knows?! Shit, does she know? She’s fucking unhinged!” Scarlet held her chest, where she had been struck by Adrian. “All that matters… is that she fucking adores you, and she does this all for you, supposedly. Fuck… how do we know you’re not a f-fucking spy or some shit!”

“Wha--” Adrian chuckled, but it was serious. “A spy? Are you joking?”

“Is it really that ridiculous? She’s a maniac, and maybe you are, too -- maybe you agreed to this, just so she could fuck with us more!” Scarlet scoffed. Part of her genuinely wanted to disbelieve her own accusations against Adrian, but there was a drive to act out, an impulse that wanted to be lived. “Either way, I bet if we fucked you up, that’d really get to her…”

“Do not start something over this.” It was Kimberly that interjected, though neither Adrian nor Scarlet turned to face her and her entrance into the argument. “Are you listening to me? You can jump off the desk if you really want to get yourself killed, go right on ahead, but don’t do something that’s gonna fuck us over with you.”

Us! Haha!” Scarlet immediately laughed, spitting on Adrian in the process. “You two -- ‘us,’ huh! So you two really fucking bonded when I was away!”

Kimberly approached them, engaged more with this conversation. “This isn’t about sides -- you both really are kids, aren’t you?”

“Fuck yourself, and open your eyes, too, while you’re at it.” Scarlet flipped a weak bird at Kimberly, still holding her aching torso. “Are you mad because you told her a bunch of shit and now you’re afraid she’s gonna tell on you?”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about…” Kimberly groaned, truly disappointed with both girls in front of her. “I’m not going to suggest we have a group hug and start working together, but maybe we can try to just not screw each other over? Is that hard? Because trust me, I don’t give a shit about her.” She pointed hard at Adrian, who was now mixed with conflicting emotions. “But she’s obviously important to Melanie, and I’m not going to get killed here on some desk because you had a little tantrum.”

“I-I’m telling you-- I swear, I don’t fucking know Melanie!” Adrian said this, but Kimberly and Scarlet had moved beyond her. She was ignored underneath their escalating argument, caught between two women, shrunken and naked like lonely dolls, and only able to endure their distrust of her. Nothing she could think of would change their perspectives, nothing that could happen now. The chances of working together and finding a solution had dwindled to an even more abysmal state.

The only thing that ended the arguments was fatigue. Adrian lost her patience and exited the conversation early, leaving Kimberly and Scarlet to yell it out until their throats were sore. Nothing productive came of it, and all three went to their own corners to remain idle. All they could do was wait for their abuser to return.

Hours later, the bedroom door crept open. Melanie had come back, looking no different than before other than that her hood was up. Her expression was stoic and uninterested, as it usually was when walking out in public. Thawing this cold disguise was the sight of her pets -- but most of all, it was Adrian, providing a light in the dark fogs of her heart.

Of course, Adrian and the others were not as relieved. Adrian tensed up the most, feeling targeted by Melanie’s chilling eyes immediately. She was accurate to think that, as Melanie came directly at her, lifting her off the corner of the desk. Unlike how she treated the others, Melanie held Adrian as though her hands were a platform, allowing her obsession to sit, stand, or anything else.

“I’m home, Adrian…” Melanie sighed, loving even the little weight Adrian had on her palms. “It feels… so warm to say that. I really missed you. Did you miss me?”

Adrian didn’t want to say anything, but keeping Melanie amused seemed better than testing her. “You’ve… only been gone for, like, a few hours.”

“Mhmm! Th-That’s so long, isn’t it? Being away from you, even for a minute, makes me want to bleed out and die. After spending this time with you…” Melanie began to turn. She was conscious of her motions, aware of how a fast movement could throw the tiny person in her hands. “... It’s like taking an organ out, and trying to live without it.”

Unsettled, Adrian had no reply to that. She wanted to get to the point, though it was distracting to be moved while so high up. “Wh-Where have you been?”

Melanie giggled. “Busy, busy…! You want to know so much, don’t you?” She sat down in the bed and kicked off her shoes. “I’ve been following someone. You might be able to guess why…”

Adrian felt hollow. It didn’t feel good to be correct. “Then…” It was all she could mutter, as much as Melanie wanted to hear it from her. To confirm her suspicions, Melanie dropped one hand to retrieve from her pocket the singular hair. It was dark and short, about as tall as Adrian was. She saw someone in it, a blank image or silhouette of a person that had to be out there in society, blissfully unaware of what supernatural fate was ahead of her.

“I picked a cute one… I promise.” Melanie smiled brightly again. “I can tell you’re still scared… so I’m going to shrink someone who’s more relaxed. Kimberly is complacent, for now, but Wormslut is a bad influence. R-Rather… she’s making the atmosphere really stressed, isn’t she?”

Again, Adrian felt no motivation to speak. The truth on her mind was that it was obviously Melanie that was at fault for any “stressful atmospheres,” but what would it do to say that? Melanie really was a goddess with these powers, able to select almost anyone she could find and turn them into personal playthings. There was no contest to prevent her from doing so. In the drowning of her doubt, Adrian thought of Kimberly and Scarlet, and what pessimistic perspectives they’ve had and how right they’ve been.

Melanie stroked Adrian with tender touches. She went on, “Tomorrow, you’ll have a new friend. And I’ll have someone new to own~ Isn’t that exciting? Hehe… Maybe, one day, I-I’ll make a little village for the people I own…! Little houses, and little streets… I can’t wait… I can’t wait…”

Coming out of her fantasy, Melanie blinked and looked for the time on her phone. She twisted the hair, a cutting smile across her lips. It was a burning feeling to have this much power, all concentrated within a single strand of hair; something so forgettable was the key ingredient to casting a curse upon someone. A low laugh escaped Melanie before she stood up and moved to the center of the room.

The occultic book and the bowl of wine were gathered on the floor. Adrian returned to the desk where Kimberly and Scarlet had been waiting. Melanie had told them that they could watch, taunting them and their inability to interfere with the ritual. They were powerless to stop her, and she was effectively forcing them to watch her magic come to life. She wanted Adrian especially to observe, to possibly feel the same thrill she did when unleashing such wicked magic.

Everything was in place. Melanie took the hair and dropped it into the wine. Adrian flinched, like the hair touching the dark red surface had stung her. Was it decided then that this other woman would be shrunk? She continued to watch, mystified by Melanie’s routine. After the hair was dropped, she had begun a chant, a prayer that she couldn’t understand. Where Adrian expected a visual of magic, such as swirling blackness or bubbles of manifested evil, she saw something worse; nothing, no special effects or wondrous creations, just the mundane view of a girl who was deeply dedicated to using curses for her gain. The room was silent for all but the ongoing chanting. Kimberly watched, seated far from the other two with her knees tucked to her chest. Scarlet turned away, this being her third time now witnessing the dreaded ritual and she had no stomach for it anymore -- especially after the past days of torment.

The ritual ended without fanfare. Melanie opened her eyes and unclasped her hands. Each time she had committed herself to the ritual, there was always a puff of doubt that it worked. In the end, only time would tell, but her success rate was unopposed. She stood up, quite confident after a couple seconds, and looked to Adrian immediately. Embrace this, Adrian! This is who we are! This is our power!


It was a cold night. Adrian shivered; she had only a paper towel to blanket herself against the room’s temperature. That wasn’t why she couldn’t sleep. Having twisted around, laying on the nightstand, she faced Melanie’s direction, witnessing the slumbering giantess like a breathing mountain range. Melanie, too, had turned in bed, though she was completely asleep. Light snores made for ambient noise, and that still wasn’t what kept Adrian awake.

It was Melanie’s smile. She looked content, resting her head into the pillow and with the blanket wrapped well over her. Her sleep seemed so peaceful and relaxed, certainly her dreams filled with only pleasant scenes. Adrian watched her in a trance, but no thoughts ever came to mind, a blank stare that only comprehended the facts ahead of her. Even as her eyes grew weary and she was feeling forced to fall asleep, Adrian felt nothing. Sleep came to her silently as she became accustomed to this new, terrifying life.

Chapter Seven by Curse Crazy

Music alone wasn’t enough to soothe the stresses on Adrian’s mind. No melody could, not when her worries consisted of the knowledge that an innocent woman was being kidnapped. Someone was being lured away by an ordinary albeit creepy young college student, not expecting to be cursed and shrunk to the size of a doll. That metaphor, Adrian realized, was startlingly accurate. Her and the others were all just toys to Melanie, and her collection was growing, one by one.

A catchy rhythm took her mind off things, only temporarily. It was a familiar song, one of her favorites. She winced; of course it was one of her favorites, a song she blasted out her car windows when the mood was hyped, of course it was something she loved. It was Melanie that had arranged this playlist -- her “mixtape,” Melanie specified -- and it played softly from two purple earbuds, appropriately now the size of speakers, that connected to the computer tower below. They were a cheap quality, and the difference in scale had some distortion on the music, but Adrian had been attracted to the tunes nonetheless. At the very least, it would save her from death by boredom.

It felt wrong to even be bored. Adrian watched the distant door, anxiously awaiting for Melanie’s return. To think that she was in the midst of taking someone at that very moment made Adrian sick from powerlessness. She would intervene, she would call the cops -- or the FBI, something, anything to prevent this from happening to someone else. All she could do, however, was sit and wait. Her foot bobbed to the next song, another hit.

Kimberly and Scarlet, too, were free to roam the desk as before, and as always, they were isolated and silent. Without something to argue about, there wasn’t much to be said, and once again a meal had been offered to them, along with tiny bottle caps filled with water. Their food this time was much more nutritious; an orange, split into even slices and left atop its peeled skin. Even just one of the slices would have fed all three of her tiny prisoners, but Melanie hadn’t thought too deep about it. Her only concern was abiding by Adrian’s desire, to have something healthier to eat, and according to what Melanie had memorized about Adrian, it was no surprise that this was also one of her favorites.

Adrian could at least eat, and she had, not long after Melanie left on her mission. Kimberly took to eating as well, and she did so then, tearing off juicy chunks of fruit and eating with little regard to how it spilled over her body -- what good were table manners when no utensils were provided? It was only Scarlet that refused to eat, and this time around, Adrian had no drive to convince her otherwise. Scarlet was adamant about not eating, having made herself clear before either of her fellow captives could say something. “I’m sick,” she had stated, “so don’t even bother. I’d rather starve.”

Despite Scarlet’s stubbornness, Adrian couldn’t completely ignore her. She looked to her now, finding Scarlet to be brooding in her usual corner, furthest away from anyone. She was becoming thinner and more fatigued. Even when she had spoken earlier, it looked as though she could faint, but neither of the others were in much better shape. All Scarlet did during this time was stand up once to fetch some water, and after she did, she planted herself right back.

The three perked up when they heard a slam, a faded noise but distinct in what it meant. Not the bedroom door, but the front door to the apartment. It had to be time, they figured, it did match up with how long Melanie had been absent. All focus went next to the bedroom door, expecting it to open soon and for Melanie to reveal her newest addition.

They waited, but the door wasn’t opening. A voice could be heard, certainly some kind of conversation but the details were too obscure. It was possible, they each began to wonder, that it was someone else, perhaps Melanie’s roommate, or, in a glimmer of hope, maybe it was help, maybe someone had finally learned of their whereabouts and had come looking for them. But, they all knew, that seemed unlikely. This torment seemed eternal by fate.

“Is she... coming or what…?” Kimberly had asked. Her heart was racing; stress was a heat that thawed her otherwise frozen heart. She looked to Adrian, the only person that could even hear her, and sat down the handful of orange she had been ready to eat. “Maybe it didn’t work. Maybe the curse failed.”

Adrian swallowed, unprepared to talk. “M-Maybe,” she said. That’s wishful thinking… “But, I feel like there’s definitely someone else with her.”

They could agree to that, it was clear that at least one person in the other room was not Melanie. The voice was totally different, higher pitched and laughy, not at all like Melanie’s awkwardness. Adding to the mystery was how long the wait was. Minutes were passing without anyone entering the bedroom, casting more concern into Adrian and Kimberly’s hearts while time slowly, painfully ticked away.

Adrian jumped, just when she was getting lost into the music again did the door begin to creak. It was unlocked with a click, and then it opened. Right away, Adrian and the others knew that something was different, telling just by how the visitor was entering the door, the speed at which the door was pushed inward. A woman’s face peeked in, one they had never seen before; a shock to the three, but she hadn’t yet glanced to the desk to witness their shrunken selves.

“Y-You can go in,” Melanie said, her voice unmistakable. She was behind this new arrival, her volume just a nervous whisper. “Scarlet is… in there…”

“Really? Haha, I don’t see her!” The woman giggled as she opened the door all the way, looking to the other side of the room as she did, though only a wall was there to greet her. Scarlet, contrary to what she had been told, was nowhere to be seen. “Is she hiding…? What, is she under the bed or something…? Ah, your bed looks so~ cozy!”

Melanie urged the woman in further, now putting herself into view of the others. Right away, she flashed a glance at her three pets, a knowing look that was silent and still, all while the other woman blissfully looked around the dim bedroom and took in the mundane sights. She wasn’t aware that she had been recognized by the very person she had come there in search of; from the desk, the belittled Scarlet felt an intense realization of what she had trapped Nicky into.

Scarlet knew little about Nicky, but she had gathered enough info to satisfy Melanie’s desire for a new target. She knew she was a student at the local community college who, outside of school, hopped from part-time job to part-time job. Life was meant to be lived, Nicky believed, and Scarlet had gathered that much after bumping into her at a variety of different parties. She was impressed with how Nicky could be so carefree, with or without her soberness. A distinct laugh, a casual fashion, and a friendly smile made up Scarlet’s mental image of her -- she looked just like she remembered, wearing a backwards cap atop her head of brown hair, a loosened jacket made of soft material and with red sleeves, and acid-washed skinny jeans. Nicky even had the smile, completely ignorant of what was to come.

On Melanie’s desk, Adrian and the others said nothing. They didn’t pay any attention to Melanie, a ghost that haunted Nicky from behind. Their fixation was only on this woman, a girl certainly not much younger than Adrian or Scarlet. They had expected to see a new face, as promised by Melanie, but they hadn’t foreseen this outcome, being introduced to the next victim before she had been shrunk.

“Ugh, oh… She reeks…” Kimberly coughed and closed off her nose. It was the grassy smell of cannabis, a scent that clung to Nicky like another layer. The smell was fresh, carried over from the living room. The three had little doubt that Nicky had just smoked, and Adrian in particular had made a guess as to why.

She was right, and Melanie figured as much, delighted even to see that spark in Adrian’s eyes. Melanie had used Scarlet’s phone to pose as her; Nicky was none the wiser that Scarlet was even considered a missing person, having only ever contacted her drug dealer for business. Even those interactions were sparse, but the two did smoke together in the midst of these transactions, and this made it especially easy for Melanie to string her along into her trap. All it took was a few simple texts to convince Nicky that Scarlet had a new living situation, and that Melanie herself was her new roommate, as well as a partner in the same trade. What little danger Nicky sensed was ignored; that risk just came with the territory, she had figured, and she wouldn’t let that get between her, a couple free hits, and a fresh purchase.

Thus far, Nicky had walked right into the trap, exactly as Melanie had planned. And Adrian knew this, too, just by how confident Melanie looked. A cocktail of rage and despair was swirling deep inside Adrian, a sensation triggered by just how coy Melanie was. She had purposefully gotten this woman high, after already tricking her to fall right into her hands, just for her sick entertainment. She still couldn’t believe how heartless Melanie could be.

Inspired by that anger, or perhaps pushed to her limit, Adrian started jumping in the air and shouting. “Hey!! Heeeyy!!” she yelled, waving her arms and dashing to the edge of the desk. “Look over here! Please look! We need help!

Kimberly twisted, her head bolting in the direction of Adrian’s shouts. She rushed to her side and grabbed Adrian’s right arm by the wrist, forcing it down. “Shhh! Shut up!” Kimberly urged, shaking the arm and tightening her grip. “S-Stop! Stop it!” Adrian refused to stop, yelling over Kimberly’s urgent pleas. “What are you fucking doing?!”

The grip on her wrist was eventually too much, and Adrian stopped, only briefly and mostly to catch her breath. “Sh-She… can save us!” she explained, panting her words forward still. “Before… she shrinks…!”

Adrian yelled again, before Kimberly could counter her logic. Adrian’s actions worked, but there was little relief in getting Nicky’s attention. When the new giantess turned, both her heart and Kimberly’s sank into a cold deposit. There was a sparkle of curiosity in Nicky’s eyes when they befell Adrian and Kimberly. Her soft lips contorted to an unabashed awe, marveling at the tiny people that dotted the end of Melanie’s desk.

“... What. The. Hell.” Nicky stepped forward, unaware that even her lightest footfalls would cause the desk, and those on it, to tremble from the movement. She leaned forward, almost enough to be on her knees, her face quickly approaching the diminutive forms of Adrian and Kimberly. The two backed away, Adrian tripping over her feet; a distinct smokey smell overpowered them, emanating from Nicky’s mouth. “Whoa. Are these…-- No way, these aren’t people, right?” The shrunken women shuddered under the sluggishly paced question.

Melanie backed herself into the door, stealthily closing and locking it while Nicky was amazed. “They are,” she said. She stuttered to explain, “Th-They’re my pets… in a way.”

There was a pause before Nicky spoke again. “People pets? No shit…?” Nicky blinked, not as unsettled by this discovery as Adrian herself was when she first witnessed a doll-like Kimberly. Adrian tried to get back on her feet, the giantess in front of her was so close that she wanted to jump up and tell her to run and flee, get away from this maniac before the curse begins, but in her anxiousness, she could say and do nothing. When her voice picked up, it was casually overpowered, by nothing more than Nicky idly chuckling at the oddities beneath her.

Melanie crept up behind Nicky, placing a cold hand on her shoulder. Nicky didn’t seem to mind, spaced out like she was. “That one’s K-Kimberly,” she said, pointing at the victim and then to the other, “and this one… is Adrian.”

“Haah… She’s pretty cute, aww~” Nicky cooed. It never struck her how unreal this was, nor how her comment was such torture for Adrian to hear. Adrian, however, had little time to dwell on it. A finger from Nicky’s hand was approaching her, a log-sized digit that could crush her ribs with one careless touch. She crawled away from the finger, and Kimberly backed off as well, but from her position, Adrian was cornered.

“C-Can’t touch her!” Melanie said, but a warning alone didn’t stop Nicky. Her finger caressed Adrian, just enough to pet her torso with a curious touch, but the beast that was Nicky’s hand came under conflict. Another beast, equal in size but considerably paler and colder, came to strangle it away. At least, that was the scene for Adrian and Kimberly, who witnessed the minor physical contact as a fight between two monsters. The titans before them were pulled aside, but Nicky hovered over the desk still, unable to look away. “That one… is delicate,” Melanie added, maintaining a grip on Nicky’s hand. “Sorry…”

“My bad. They both look pretty delicate, honestly.” Nicky shrugged, trying to get Melanie’s hand off her back but failing. Her other hand, however, was still free to move, and it did so in Kimberly’s direction. “Is this one okay to hold?”

Melanie paused, but then a little smile crept over her lips. “Yeah, that one is fine. She’s soft.”

Kimberly gasped, realizing too late that she was being targeted by this stranger. She backed away only to bump into a wall of fingers, which then engulfed her body in a grasp very unlike Melanie’s. While their curse-slinging captor abused her understanding of how much power she had over the shrunken women, Nicky had no comprehension of how tight her grip was, or how quickly she moved Kimberly into the air. She paid little attention to the older woman’s squirming and cries, only enough to comment, “Hehe, she’s kinda tickling my hand…! So these things are, like, alive…?”

Melanie moved more to be neighboring Nicky, watching down on Kimberly and her perilous position from a better angle. Kimberly begged with her tiny voice to be let go, but Nicky’s grasp on her was restrictive, making it difficult to get any voice out. All the while, she had to endure Nicky’s stinging comments, innocent as they were humiliating.

The hand opened up, and Kimberly was released but with only a tilted ground to cling to. Nicky was careless with how she held Kimberly, only angling her more flatly when her high curiosity asked her to. “Eww, she’s naked…” Nicky whispered. “She’s not gonna pee on me, is she?”

“Ahh, umm… Maybe?” Melanie quietly answered, actually unsure herself. After all, that was more Kimberly’s choice, not her’s.

“Hmm. Please don’t pee on me.” Nicky poked at Kimberly, her turn now to be assaulted by the giant finger. Her touch was less gentle than what it was with Adrian, pressing down on her plush stomach with a weight that forced a dense air out of Kimberly. “Oof, did I hurt her? This is so weird… Ack--” Nicky winced and lowered Kimberly. Her other hand broke free from Melanie’s hold so that it could hover near her head, where a pain had hit her. She coughed a smoker’s cough, “God, I must be fucking up there…” She giggled, recovering quickly from this fatigue.

Kimberly was fascinating to her, and the two of them were even more fascinating to Melanie, but in the corner of her vision was another tiny person. Another girl, only this one was strangely familiar. She awed again, her mouth opening but hesitating to say anything aloud. Finally, she moved closer to that opposite corner, and she gasped, “Scarlet…?”

Scarlet felt her own name as something heavy, like a slime drenching her body and threatening to sink her into the ground beneath her. She kept her head down, almost like an act of being dead. This attention was cruel, she thought. She couldn’t look Nicky in the eye, especially when she still retained her normal size, for the time being.

Another long pause, with Nicky doing nothing. Just as Melanie grew concerned, the girl activated again. “This one looks like Scarlet!” Nicky laughed, which bellowed over the shrunken women. “How do you fuckin’... Do you buy these from somewhere? This has to be a model of Scarlet…” She nodded with clarity. “This is some 3D printer stuff. Am I right?”

Melanie stepped back again, alternating over to Nicky’s other side so that she could observe Scarlet. It was satisfying to see Scarlet cowering away, pathetically weak underneath two towering women. “Ah, n-not exactly,” Melanie said, keeping her hand on Nicky’s back. “Take a look at her.”

Down here! You have to help us!” Adrian shouted again, this time with adrenaline shooting through her veins. She had risen up again, her hands cupped around her mouth to carry her voice as far as possible. It felt like yelling up to someone at the roof of a building, and desperately asking them to be saved from enslavement. “We’re real-- We’re actual people! Get us out of here! Plea--

Nicky blinked, turning her gaze away from Scarlet and over to Adrian, the delicate one. She had heard her cries clear as day, but both her motions and her logic were slow. There was a lot to take in, now that she had just seen a tiny version of her drug dealer, and Melanie took up on that weakened perception to move back over to Adrian. She swept her obsession up into her palm, more roughly than she would have liked, but effectively silencing her.

“Look at her, seriously,” Melanie urged, using an elbow to point Nicky back to Scarlet. It didn’t take much to persuade her guest; Nicky didn’t care much for Adrian, not when someone she knew was there to keep her attention. Successful in her distraction, Melanie looked to Adrian, realizing seconds too late just how hard her heart was beating. I’m holding her! I’m holding Adrian... in front of someone! she thought. She unfurled her hands so that she could peek at Adrian, whose expression was desperate and riled. I feel so hot… Is this what it’d be like to hold hands with her, in public? With a witness to confirm it?

Nicky turned all her focus to Scarlet, even forgetting that in her other hand was Kimberly, held upside-down and thrown into a panic. According to Melanie, the woman sitting still on her desk was no replication of Scarlet. If that wasn’t the case, then what was this? Nicky fathomed the most logical and correct thought, but she considered herself too high for that to be true, that this was the real Scarlet but mutated into something helpless.

“Is that you? Really you?” Nicky pondered, leaning in especially close to Scarlet, so much so that she was nearly on top of the desk. She was absent minded to all other things, such as how her chest collapsed onto the desk and exposed a long cleavage for Scarlet to shiver in fear from. “Hey… are you alive?”

That’s a good question, Scarlet thought, and a hiccup of a laugh escaped her. The closer Nicky got, the more Scarlet was reminded of her impending fate. It was a blessing and a curse, to know that this would all end soon. Forcing herself to be content with that thought, she refused to acknowledge Nicky with anything other than a pitiful glance. A small action like that was just enough for Nicky to confirm that this was Scarlet, and she was alive, and she was tiny.

“Ha-haha!” Nicky laughed, tilting her head as to view Scarlet from different angles. More of her weight pressed down on the desk; she was getting tired. “This is so~ fucked up. How did you get like this? You are Scarlet, right? Y-You… totally have to be…”

“Ah, that’s not her name. Not any more…” Melanie’s words sounded teasing, but not for Nicky specifically. Melanie was ready to proceed, and so she pocketed Adrian, placing her gently into the collar of her black hoodie. Despite Adrian’s constant cries and her attempts to reach out for Nicky’s help, she was silenced in her new position. Adrian slid until she could fall no more, wedged between Melanie’s breasts and hidden beneath the hoodie’s fabric. Contacting Nicky now, and breaking her out of her high stupor, was impossible. Melanie giggled, tickled by Adrian’s placement. “That’s my pet, so I got to name her. Her name is Wormslut.”

“Hah… W-What? Worm slut?” Nicky had glanced up at Melanie, but she quickly put her vision back on Scarlet. Her normal pronunciation of Scarlet’s pet name, stated like two simple words, had thrown Scarlet into a boil. “Hmmm… Wormslut… Heh, haha,” she held back more laughter, “don’t tell me what she did to get that name--”

Scarlet growled, and it escalated spontaneously into a howl. “Fuck you!! Fuck you!!” She whipped her arms down to either side and punched the desk she sat on. “Wake the hell up!! How can you be so stupid?!

Nicky flinched from Scarlet, whose shouts were just enough to spook her. The playfulness her high had created for her had drained in the face of Scarlet’s panic. She stuttered to say anything in return, another haze overcoming her mind.

“You stupid fucking stoner!” Scarlet whined, moving up to be on her knees. “She’s going to shrink you! She shrank me and she’s doing the same to you!”

Nicky was quiet and still, but a weak laugh bubbled out. “Y-You’re kidding,” she said, now lifting herself off the desk. Even just a slight ascent had made her head spin, and she realized how stiff her back had become. Yet, there was still a strand of hope that this was wrong, and that this was her imagination. I’m just high, right? I’m high, right…? I’m just high…

She felt her arm growing weaker, but it wasn’t just a depletion of strength. What she held was getting heavier, and bigger. Kimberly was no longer as tiny as she had once been in Nicky’s grasp; she could wriggle more freely in the clasp of fingers, and the possibility of breaking free was more real, if only she had a place to escape to. It was her squirming that made Nicky come to terms with the surreality around her, though it wouldn’t register right away that she was, in fact, shrinking.

“A-Alright, I-I need to lay down,” Nicky chuckled. She backed away completely from the desk in a slow movement. Melanie stopped her short, putting both hands on Nicky’s back. Nicky felt weaker than ever, definitely in no position to push back against Melanie’s weight.

“Wormslut is right,” Melanie whispered into Nicky’s ear. “You’re shrinking. You’ll be next.” She giggled and relaxed some of her pressure off of Nicky. “Turn around and look~”

Nicky turned, but paused. She could already tell, and she hated to see it confirmed any more than it was already. The desk, the chair, the bed, the monitor -- everything was becoming wider and taller, a disorienting effect that Nicky couldn’t compare any high to. This was real, not just a dizzying hallucination. The light humor she had kept up before had now vanished, done away with now that she found herself trapped in some horror story.

“Hey, this isn’t cool,” Nicky said. She swallowed hard, “Not... cool at all…”

She turned completely, forced to as Melanie physically urged her. To her dismay, Nicky saw what she feared. Melanie, once only a couple inches taller than her, now had more than a head up on her disappearing height. Furniture and things were one matter to comprehend, but a human becoming larger was something new and terrifying. She felt her power slipping away, like it was being absorbed right into Melanie’s body to use against her.

Nicky couldn’t back away, not between the desk and Melanie’s imposing frame. She lifted up her hand, and Kimberly with it. The woman was even bigger now, and soon she required two hands to hold. Melanie would relieve her of that chore, gently taking Nicky’s hand into her own and taking Kimberly into her grasp.

“You’re getting smaller~” Melanie sang as Nicky reached a height that was only level with her chest. In the meantime, Melanie discreetly put Kimberly away into a snug back pocket. Kimberly’s attempts to break free were never even acknowledged, as though she were just an item to be stashed away. “It’s so funny that you’re high while this is happening. You must not understand what’s happening at all.”

“No… Th-This is a trick,” Nicky denied. “It has to just be-- P-People don’t just… shrink…”

“They do!” Melanie corrected, amused. “They shrink when I tell them to. I can shrink anyone, with a spell. Like a witch…”

“A witch…” Nicky repeated the title, as though that made the most sense out of everything occurring to her. When she looked at Melanie, she could see her shape twisting into something devilish. The woman responsible for shrinking her was taking on a more honest form, true to who she was, even if it was only in her frantic, unstable vision. “Th-This isn’t fair! Why me, man?! I d-didn’t do anything…!”

“Oh, it isn’t fair,” Melanie nodded, “it’s not fair at all. You should blame her -- Wormslut. She’s the one who set you up.”

Nicky turned her head back towards the corner of the desk. Scarlet was astonished, and she shook her head rapidly to signal her denial. “That’s--! Listen, Nicky, it’s fucking her--

“She chose you!” Melanie laughed. “She wanted to die so badly, being my little toy was too hard for something as worthless as her! So I made her a deal, where if she can find a replacement, I’ll kill her quickly and let her be done with it!” Nicky stammered as these horrors dawned on her, unable to grasp the magnitude of how horrible a predicament that had to be for Scarlet, and soon herself. “I looked through her phone, and she said, That one! That ugly skank is dumb enough to be shrunk!”

“Th-That isn’t what I said!” Scarlet shouted. “Nicky, do something! You have to fucking help us, you have to fucking help us!!

Nicky swallowed, still unable to talk. For a moment, her eyes lit up, Her phone…

A headache struck her like lightning, slowly phasing all of her body as though the shrinking curse had to wash over her. It was more dizzying now than before, feeling her size being stripped away from her. Her eyes shot open to see Scarlet, standing on the desk with a look of anger and concern. It was her, she thought, that allowed this to happen -- she believed Melanie, just like Melanie wanted.

The edge of the desk was slipping away. Before Nicky realized it, she was shorter than it was tall, making her unable to reach Scarlet like she angrily wanted. That fury burning inside of her, however, wouldn’t go completely to waste. The energy that was stored up burst all at once, and she dashed underneath Melanie’s arm and towards the bed.

Initially, Nicky was successful at getting out of Melanie’s reach, and a total of four strides were made to escape. Those bounds, however, were significantly smaller than she expected. All Melanie had to do to catch up was bend forward and clutch Nicky’s body from under her arms. At only two feet tall, lifting Nicky up was a breeze, and Melanie laughed at the sense of power flowing from this interaction.

“Nope-- No getting away,” Melanie grunted. There was still some weight inside Nicky, but it was slowly trickling away alongside her size, making the hoist easier to maintain. “It’s too late to run.”

“Shit! Dammit!” Nicky cursed, trying to break free with that same burst of energy. Then, another reserve came to life, and she wedged a kick into Melanie’s stomach. She pushed as hard as her legs would allow her, trying to pry free, but Melanie came out as the victor. She wrestled Nicky back into submission, twisting her around and forcing her head into her chest.

“S-Stop! Agh… Th-That kinda hurt,” Melanie groaned. The pain in her gut passed quickly, and at the same time, Nicky was losing stamina. She still struggled, trying to perform the same maneuver as before, but with a smaller size and her face forced into her captor’s bosom, there was an even less likely chance of success. “Seriously, c-can you stop kicking? Breathe in… Y-Yeah, breathe. Take deep breaths…”

Nicky snarled, but she found herself inadvertently taking that advice. She did breathe, steamy air exiting her mouth and into Melanie’s hoodie. As her energy fell to an all new low, it became harder to keep up the resistance. Her mind was high, her surroundings were transforming -- and something was itching her nose, like a bump coming from Melanie’s chest.

Melanie felt the same sensation and giggled. “That’s her,” she said tenderly. “That’s the love of my life… I put her there, between my boobs. Imagine how big they must be to her…”

Indeed, the source of the movement was Adrian. She resisted her confines, but gravity had slid her partially between Melanie’s breasts. The fat mounds absorbed Adrian’s kicks and thrusts, nullifying her attempts to squirm free, not that she even had a place to escape to if she could. She couldn’t see beyond the black wall of fabric that covered her, so it was a sudden development when Nicky’s face had collided into Adrian’s world. Nicky was right upon here, her hot exhales ventilating through the hoodie. Adrian was more stuck than ever, and only vaguely was she aware of what was happening outside.

This was an opportunity, Adrian thought. She had to try; “Listen! Can you hear me?!” She kicked again at the face, or at least what she could feel was Nicky’s face. “Run away! Get out of here! Please, please get out of here!” It was a bitter afterthought that Adrian despised, forgoing the chances of her own rescue just to try and save one person, a person already bound to be disempowered and belittled, with or without Melanie’s cruel caretaking.

It made no difference in the squabble between Nicky and Melanie. Nicky had become still, whatever little motions she had were sloth-like and aimless. She was only getting smaller, and Melanie was whispering ideas into her thoughts; “Just submit,” Melanie said, stroking gently at Nicky’s back, “Doesn’t submission feel good? It’s so relaxing, so just let it go and don’t worry…

These words were like a second curse being cast. Nicky’s tiny grunts and sounds came to a stop, and her spirit to fight back had ceased. A question took over her mind: Why bother? It was inevitable, she could tell, that this was over. She wasn’t going to escape, she wasn’t going to beat Melanie. Everything the growing woman said was true, that giving up was the best course. Nicky closed her eyes, and exhaled another long breath. Adrian shouted in response, her body tickled by the gust of humid air.

To Adrian’s favor, the exhaust of Nicky’s breathing was not so strong as it had been only seconds ago. After all, the shrinking had yet to end. Adrian could only imagine what state Nicky was in now, but Melanie had the best perspective. The transformation was quicker than she remembered, if only because the fourth time around was a more familiar experience. Nicky continued to shrink, her head eventually dwarfed by the breasts on either side of her, and yet even smaller did she become. Dazed and defeated, Nicky was on track to join the others, the same group of women that she had originally approached like toys.

Nicky dreamed. I’ll wake up from this, and get sober, eventually, she thought peacefully. This nightmare she was in, and all of its weirdness, would melt away under the purifying light of the next day’s sun. Some restless sleep, and nothing else, would be the only lasting effect of this. I definitely smoked way too much, she joked.

Melanie became concerned, genuinely. All at once, Nicky had just stopped. Her eyes widened, Fuck, did I kill her? Please don’t tell me she died. Melanie lifted the doll-sized woman from her chest and peeked into her eyes. Red lines broke out around the glazed pupils, but they blinked with life. Melanie sighed, “You’re just high… Thank god…”

Just as before, Melanie had shrunken another victim successfully. There were now four women in her possession, truly a collection to be proud of, so she imagined. She felt a wave of confidence resonate from her chest, and that confidence turned to excitement. Not only did she own four people, but three of them were littered over her body, clinging to her as though she were their world. If she sat down, her ass would flatten someone in her back pocket; if she clenched her fist, another would be crushed; not that she would, but even crossing her arms and pressing her breasts together could suffocate Adrian. These were movements, everyday and mundane actions, and they were backed with a massive size that could only be compared to a god-like figure. Where each of these women were on her, a warmth tingled Melanie’s skin. Her heart was pumping, and she remembered Adrian all over again.

There was that fourth woman, though. Scarlet was still on her desk, and Melanie had nearly forgotten her. She turned, a coy expression prepared in advance to give Scarlet something to fear. Appropriately, Scarlet did shiver, stricken with a cautious anticipation.

“Are you expecting something?” Melanie asked. “Do you want to play, too?”

Scarlet cowered back into a shadow. She swallowed, and garnered all strength. “Y-You… p-promised… You said you’d do it, s-so just get it over with…” It hit her, just then. She was going to die. Friends and family would never be seen again. Her classes meant nothing. Her hobbies meant nothing. All because she wanted to have a party at a library; that’s why she wanted to die now, by the hands of this heartless giantess.

Melanie smirked, putting a finger on her lips as a tease. “You’re right. You fulfilled your end of the bargain…” Her gaze washed over Nicky, who she released onto the desk only a small distance out from where Scarlet stood. Nicky, without the mental fortitude to stand, was left as a slump on the ground. Scarlet didn’t reach for her, pretending that she didn’t exist. “Don’t you want to say goodbye to your substitute? Any advice you want to give Nicky here, before you go?”

“No! Just do it!” Scarlet stomped and thrusted her arms down. Her display of anger was cute to Melanie, who found the naked woman’s tantrum to be amusing. Melanie’s giggles were met with Scarlet’s growls of desperation.

“You really are ready! That resolve is… delicious.” Melanie hummed, taking another step up to the desk just so she could establish her titanic height over Scarlet. Her victim did just that, looking up at the human that was beyond the scale of any building or monument she had ever witnessed. This was the creature that would end her life, and at the peak of this mountainous killer was a feminine smile.

Sickness came over Scarlet. She was going to puke at this rate, aware of how close death’s door was. She turned her sights to anything else, but the only person she could look at was Nicky. She stumbled in her direction, like gravity was pulling her there, to do something. Guilt impaled her like a sword, stabbed into her core and released to be an iron weight in her gut. Faintness took over, and she fell forward.

Melanie caught her, pinching her body with a casual grip and reeling her into the air. Scarlet had lost even the will to scream from this rollercoaster movement, which disappointed Melanie. She brought Scarlet right to her face, that same smile now even closer and more threatening than before.

Scarlet gagged, choking back tears that she couldn’t keep choked back. She broke, and she cried. “I’m so sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Her chant had little direction, and certainly no audience. Melanie couldn’t hear the whispering last words of Scarlet, but they made no difference to her.

“I just want to be absolutely sure here,” Melanie said, “you want me to kill you?”

Scarlet was shaking, and her body was brought closer to Melanie’s lips. “Y… Yes…”

“That’s what you want me to do? You don’t mind how I kill you?”

“... N-No…” Every word was forced out, just as every question brought her closer to Melanie’s judgement.

“I could… just punch you. Do you want to die like that?”

“Nn… I-I don’t… I don’t care…!”

“Hmm. How about if I sat on you? Or, under my feet? I could pop your skull under my big toe.”

Scarlet mouthed another plea, no voice to bring it life.

“I could drown you in a sink, or cook you in an oven. You’ve been through a lot, Wormslut, I wonder what would be appropriate for my toy…”

“Please! P-Please…” Scarlet clasped her hands together in the truest form of begging she could express. “Please just kill me!”

Melanie’s smile was whisked away, and in its absence, a cold chill passed through Scarlet’s hollow heart. Melanie opened her mouth, so that her words devoured Scarlet, “What kind of toy tells its master what to do?”

Scarlet’s eyes opened in perplexed hopelessness. Her emotions were reduced to a desert, a wasteland of nothing but despair. She had taken the jump, she had expected death where she landed, but the fall continued, and it went deeper, and darker, and deeper still. Even if she could see through the shadows of this horrible destiny, at the bottom of the pit was Melanie’s amused grin, haunting her thoughts with a reminder: this never ends.

Melanie laughed and her laughter boomed directly over Scarlet. “You thought I’d just kill you?!” Melanie asked, shaking the limp figure between her fingers. “Because you told me to?! I decide when you die, you worthless shit. You’re my pet. If I want you to suffer, you’ll suffer. What in the world made you think otherwise?”

Scarlet said nothing, and she did nothing. Stuttering back to life, Scarlet felt tears running down her cheeks. “Y-You… promised… I just want to die--”

“I can say anything I want to worthless things like you,” Melanie said. “What makes you think you deserve the respect of a kept promise? Are you going to hold me accountable or something? I’d love to see you try to hold anything against me when your life is so purposeless that just getting the right to lick my feet should be a blessing for you!”

Melanie giggled with bubbles of strength fizzing to her head. A volcanic power was calling to her, an impulse to grasp her own satisfaction. None of these women could prevent her, so why would she hesitate to use them? If I’m turned on, they should be happy to get me off. Her wicked thoughts were unchained, and Scarlet was conveniently in her hands.

Scarlet started to kick. “N-No, no, no, no, n-no!” She wanted to die, no matter how painful, but Melanie had other plans. She screamed at herself mentally for not having seen this coming, and that regret followed her as she was being lowered.

“It’s good to know you’ll do anything if I promise to kill you,” Melanie said. She lifted up the bottom end of her hoodie, then pulled aside the front of her jeans and panties. Scarlet was aimed just above the newly formed opening, a drop into the sexual jungle that was Melanie’s gigantic crotch. “Find my clit and get me off,” she continued, “and try not to drown in there. You know how to treat a clitoris, right, Wormslut? Or is yours so bruised and beaten that you forgot how it feels?”

“Melanie! Melanie, I-I can’t--!” Ignored, unsurprisingly, went Scarlet’s screams. She was released, cutting off her words into a yell for help as she fell. The panties bounced her like a trampoline, and she was shoved into the thick of black pubic hair. The odor was intense, thick with Melanie’s scent and hormones, a nonstop smell that was like its own atmosphere. A second later, that air would become the only thing Scarlet could breathe, as the pants were snapped close and her tiny body was forced even closer to Melanie’s cunt.

Melanie’s smile was framed between two fire-red cheeks. There was now an entire person dedicated to pleasing her sexual desires, trapped in her underwear like an accessory. Immediately, she felt a shivering shock ride up her spine, and her hips swayed as Scarlet squirmed. “Haha! Quit struggling! It’s only teasing me~” Melanie chuckled, picking up Nicky from the table just like another toy. She took slow, careful steps back in the direction of her bed. “Get me off and you get to go free~ The faster you do this, the faster you can be let go…!”

Melanie put a hand over her chest -- Adrian was still there, writhing again for an attempt to become unloosened from her constraints. She gasped as a tickle touched her rear, no doubt from Kimberly doing about the same for herself. All of these people, all around her body, fighting for their lives in a situation designed to bring her pleasure. Melanie moaned, and sat down, though she hesitated to apply too much weight onto Kimberly.

Her attention went to Nicky. She was still passed out, laying flat in Melanie’s palm with only the slowest of motions. Melanie was amused by how insane the world must look to Nicky, and how the weed must be exaggerating the already-unreal situation. In the heat of her excitement, Melanie lifted a finger from her other hand and brought it down onto Nicky, stroking the entire front of her body.

“You have a cute laugh,” she murmured, uncaring of whether or not Nicky could understand her. “Do you have a cute moan…?”

The finger became perverse. She targeted Nicky’s crotch with the tip, a surface far too wide for conventional methods, but Melanie was certain she could get the response she wanted just from the sheer eroticism a gigantic finger must have. She twisted her finger at the tip and rubbed the delicate area, and in doing so she awakened Nicky from her slumber. Pitiful grunts escaped the tiny body as she tried to comprehend what was happening, but her vision was blurry and her thoughts just as much so. To her, all she could understand was that something was trying to fuck her, something huge and improbable.

“S-Stop it…! Cut it out…!” Nicky giggled, trying to twist away from whatever was after her. She couldn’t get it away, and yet it continued, so dedicated to this perverted effort. “S-Seriously…! Hey, hey…! Ahh-- Ah~” She breathed loudly, a smile sometimes flickering over her lips. As painful as it was to have her body pressed into, there was undeniably an arousing factor to it.

And Melanie was having fun as well. Her smile was cunning, entertained by this prospect. In her hand was a woman that she could sexually satisfy with just the curious tip of her finger. All the while, Melanie herself wasn’t abandoned, constantly tickled by the struggles of the others scattered across her body.

Introductions for Nicky would take a backseat, Melanie had decided, as the promise of a personal orgy, at her command no less, was simply too enticing. Melanie licked her lips while descending more into her monstrous lust, thinking to herself how everyday was going to be like this.

Chapter Eight by Curse Crazy

“Worship me… like a goddess…!” Melanie’s laugh was riddled with moans. She was touching herself, her panties halfway down her legs. At her feet was Scarlet, squished between her soles, overtaken by the scent of sweat.

“Drink my spit,” Melanie ordered, “or I’ll twist your legs off. Is that what you want?” Nicky buckled under the threat. With tears bubbling at her eyes, she lowered herself towards the puddle of saliva provided for her -- Melanie pushed her in, coating her in the thick liquid.

“If you let go, you’ll fall into my mouth,” Melanie giggled. Over her head, above her mouth, was Kimberly desperately clinging to a pen that Melanie playfully twisted, forcing the woman into a constant scramble for balance. “Do you feel my breath at your feet? Maybe becoming nourishment for my massive body would be the best use for you…!”

“Look, look, Adrian!” Melanie had the three women pinched between the fingers of one hand, hoisting them upside-down by their feet. Their squirms and kicks only punished each other, accidentally punching themselves while making no progress to escape this terrible treatment. “Hmm, hmm… Which one should I kill? Oh-- d-do you know that one game, Adrian? Marry-Fuck-Kill…? Is that it? Well, we could play that now! Haha, which one are you going to fuck? If you had to marry one of these three, it’d probably be Kim, right? She’d make a good wife. Nicky is cute, she has an ass that you just want to beat, don’t you think? I guess that leaves Wormslut to kill! You want me to kill Wormslut? She wants to die, so she won’t be mad at you! I’ll just grab her by the head, just like this, and a little pressure, and a twist, and--”

Adrian jostled awake. She breathed, clutching her chest where it felt like a hole had been formed. She winced, and remembered the thoughts that plagued her; another body-wide shiver. Turning around and facing the ceiling did nothing to calm her, the depth of space between her and the solid sky only serving as a constant reminder of how tiny she was.

Those were not dreams just concocted from a traumatized imagination. They were unfortunate memories that constantly welled up in Adrian’s head when she tried to sleep. Since Nicky had been shrunk, three days had passed, and none of them had gone by uneventfully. Melanie always had plans, there was always an itch that she would make the others scratch, and Adrian could never ignore it. She had no choice, Melanie made sure of that.

Despite being only recollections, they felt just as real as before. Adrian could vividly remember every shout and whine that the others made, their lives perpetually toyed with and belittled. That last memory, where Scarlet was chosen to die -- did she die? Or was the image of her head splattering so gruesome that Adrian had subconsciously deleted it from her mind?

She wasn’t dead, Adrian recalled. Afterwards, the four had been allowed to mingle, as Melanie had finished playing with her toys and had reverted back to that eerie casualness. Adrian scoffed at how Melanie’s personality could be so twisted; callously playing with human lives for her sexual amusement for one minute, and then the next she would be quiet and tender, in her weird way of showing kindness. It was during this mingling that Adrian tried again to speak with Scarlet, but she couldn’t get a word from her. Scarlet never talked anymore, not unless commanded to by Melanie.

Adrian rose from laying down. Her heart was racing and sleep had slipped from her hands once again. Every night is like this, she thought. I can’t even dream of escaping her--

“Adrian?” Her name had been said, breaking the silence that made the night so peaceful. Adrian leaped from fright, as though her heart had jumped into her throat. Of course, it was Melanie checking up on her, her titanic form stretched out across the field of mattress beside the nightstand. “Y-You look startled… You were tossing around a bit…”

“I’m fine,” Adrian said reflexively. Her voice was tired and unaimed, at least while she still woke up and gathered her thoughts.

“S-Something is on your mind…” Melanie’s expression was soft, like the pillow her head sank into. “You can tell me anything, A-Adrian…”

Adrian scratched at her head. She was groggy, and now her gigantic kidnapper was trying to convince her to open up. She sighed, What’s the point? She’ll just keep asking. A bitter look met with Melanie’s concern. “I’m just… I’ve been having nightmares. That’s all.”

Melanie frowned. “That’s not good…”

“Yeah, well…” Adrian bit her tongue, physically restraining herself from making an unwise comment. “Wait. W-What are you doing up? What time is it…?”

“It’s 3 am,” Melanie answered, rustling under the sheets to fetch the phone that she had checked not long ago. “And, well, I-I couldn’t sleep either… I don’t get a lot of sleep. Not when I have the chance to watch you sleep, hehe…”

“You’ve been... watching me sleep?”

Melanie nodded, though she became bashful immediately after her response. “You’re s-so cute… and your snoring? Extra cute…”

Adrian blushed, one hand feeling the side of her body, the body that had been observed diligently by this other woman. Her fingers tightened at her sleeve, distressed by this information.

“Since we’re awake…” Melanie rose, the bed groaning underneath her weight. Once seated, she picked up Adrian into her cold hands. A chirp left Adrian, but not much else. “W-Why don’t we… t-talk? A normal talk.”

Adrian could refrain no longer. “Ha, well, it’s a little hard to hold a conversation like this.”

Melanie smiled apologetically. She exhaled, parts of her breath messing with Adrian’s loose hair. “It’s been almost a week now… I suppose you’re still not used to this…”

“... Why do you have to keep them?” Adrian looked to the desk. As distant as it was, the neon colored compartments where Melanie kept her prisoners was visible, even through the dimness of the room. A normal perspective would imply the storage of regular desk items, like pens or scissors. Thus, it felt more cruel to remember that real humans were living in there, locked up like pets. “Whatever. Right, it’s too late, isn’t it? You don’t know a cure, anyway.”

This despair from Adrian made Melanie grimace. She looked down at her feet, where underneath the bed was a little corner of paper. She never did clean up completely after that spiral into rage. The ripped pages of the occultic book still lay around, discarded into little pieces. Most of the book was fine -- it sat on the floor, not far from the other ritual items -- but the pages served as a heavy reminder of what kind of power could rush through Melanie’s veins; a reminder for both her, and her shrunken captives.

Melanie had no reply, and Adrian didn’t want one. Truthfully, Adrian hoped that her question wouldn’t activate another fury from Melanie, and she was content to see that Melanie was remaining calm. Of course, as she also knew, that calm could shatter at any moment.

Melanie finally spoke, and her first words after such a long pause made Adrian shiver in suspense. “We… should go out.”

“... Out? Out where?”

“Mm… Y-You’re right,” Melanie shook her head, “very bad idea.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Adrian chuckled, almost falling into hysterics from just the idea of being able to leave this room, willingly no less. “We should go out! This room, it’s driving me crazy, I-I need fresh air, a-a-and space, a-and sunlight!”

“Ahh, hmm…” Melanie whined. Adrian could feel the huge body jittering from nervousness, little squirms that accompanied her noises. “I don’t know… Th-The world out there would be scary for you.”

Adrian’s heart burned, a fire that threatened to turn her emotions into ash if she didn’t convince Melanie soon. “You would keep me safe, wouldn’t you?”

“I… I would try, of course, y-yeah--”

“I believe you. I mean…” Adrian swallowed, finding the lie uncomfortable to commit to. “Look, y-you might do some… fucked up things, but you’ve always been nice to me. But… I haven’t been able to believe you. I just feel like-- You know, the same as Kimberly o-or, uh… Nicky, the same as all of them. Just another… object.

Melanie hid her expression this time, though it was hardly different from before. However, she did nod in agreement. “I see what you mean...”

“So…? C-Can we…?”

“I don’t know… I just randomly s-said that, it seemed like a good idea--”

“It’d be like a date.”

“Haaah…” Melanie choked. Her throat swelled at Adrian’s words, as did a warmth in her chest. She was glad to have been hiding her face upwards from Adrian, now that it was colored a deep pink. “A d-d-d… daaa…”

“A… A date.” Adrian smiled, genuinely enamored with how Melanie was reacting. Melanie was a merciless monster that used magic to shrink people, but she was also a college-aged girl with a real crush. A moment later, clarity came to Adrian; Melanie was a merciless college-aged girl that used magic to shrink people, including her crush. Her smile turned blank, dwelling on how such evil could blossom from an otherwise mundane type of person.

Melanie was still recovering from the shock. Little laughs left her lips, but she did well to control herself. She finally looked back at Adrian. “Th-That sounds… nice! Err, awesome! I-I’ve never… I’ve never gone on a date before…”

“Really,” Adrian said, unamused. She shrugged, “Where are you going to take me?”

“Ah~ I don’t know just yet… I-It was just an idea. You shouldn’t think of it like I’m just taking you somewhere, though… e-even if that is sort of the case. If you don’t want to go somewhere, I-I wouldn’t want to force you.”

“Sure,” I guess. “Well… You’ve never been on a date, huh? Most couples, uh, have their first date at, like, a mall.”

“I see that a lot,” Melanie said, in reference to movies and television shows, not personal insight. “Hmmm… Oh, I can see why. Th-There’s lots of stores, and other things to do. You can walk around and usually find something your partner would want…” Melanie giggled, some of her blush still in tact. “I have to admit, normies and their dating culture are pretty smart…”

What the hell does that mean? I guess she isn’t wrong…

“There’s an outlet mall near campus, isn’t there?” Melanie lifted Adrian a bit higher, closer to her face. “I-Is that a good place to go? There’s stuff to do there, right?”

The proximity of Melanie’s face added with her nervous questions made Adrian pressured to respond. She thought quickly, and decided that this was her best chance. Asking for anything more was a risk that Melanie might forget the idea altogether -- she had to strike now while Melanie was uncertain of herself. “Yeah, absolutely,” she answered. “I’ve gone there before, a couple times actually. I-It’s… fun.”

“That’s good! Fun… F-Fun is what we want to have, so that sounds perfect! Hehe…” Just slightly, Adrian was lowered away from Melanie’s overbearing expressions. Her eyes, dim as they were, flickered with the enticing thoughts of going out with Adrian, as well as figuring out the gritty details. How would she keep Adrian hidden, while still enjoying the mall itself? What activities could even be shared with someone only three inches tall?

Melanie returned focus to Adrian. She sat her obsession down back onto the night stand, then twisted back to retrieve her phone from the other side of the bed. “I-I’ll do research…!” Melanie chuckled. “I’ll make us a nice agenda… W-We’ll do everything worthwhile! It’s our first date, after all…”

Adrian had no reply, finding that Melanie was already lost from any conversation they were holding. As Melanie flipped through her phone’s internet browser, she muttered to herself continuations of what they discussed, comments that were under her breath but hearable for Adrian. She definitely likes to prepare, Adrian noted. Whether it’s a date… or kidnapping someone…


The sun rose, but barely did any of its light shine through the blinds of Melanie’s bedroom window. After an hour of looking into the options at the outlet mall, Melanie had a plan and the drive to take Adrian out. Motivation came when her eyes befell the tiny Adrian, a reminder of who she was doing this for.

Some precautions had to be taken. Transporting a shrunken person out in public had its natural risks, so Melanie sought a strategy to keep Adrian hidden. A few adjustments were made to her usual messenger bag so that Adrian could be stowed away, out of sight from strangers. One of the side pockets was modified to be more stable and comfortable, allowing a miniature person to travel along while seated, free from most types of bumps.

“A-Adrian, listen to this one… I’ve turned my messenger bag into a passenger bag…! Hehehe…” Adrian didn’t laugh.

This good mood followed Melanie to her desk. While she and Adrian would spend the afternoon away, the other shrunken women would be allowed out onto the desk, along with another simple meal and the return of Melanie’s speaker-like earbuds. It was the same playlist as before, the one catered to Adrian’s tastes; Kimberly and Scarlet may have avoided the music, but Nicky was pulled to the familiar rhythms and tunes, much like Adrian herself had.

“All of you, be good while we’re gone,” Melanie said, half of her tone being a warning. “Don’t kill each other, that’d be a shame to clean up after a long day. Though, I suppose if one of you strangled Wormslut, none of us would bat an eye.”

This wicked comment was what she left the three captives with as she concluded getting ready. Her attire wasn’t much different than usual, consisting of a long-sleeved dim-purple sweater and standard skinny jeans. The messenger bag completed the outfit, and with worried breaths, Melanie lead herself and Adrian out the door and in the direction of the outlet mall.

The confines of the side pocket were dark and fairly cramped. Adrian had little confidence in its stability; she sat down with her knees hugged against her body, perpetually on edge. The possibility of being crushed, suddenly and without warning, deeply concerned her, but just as heavy on her mind was the curiosity to see the huge world just outside the black fabric walls. She could hear the sounds of a giant reality, even making out familiar details like cars passing, people murmuring, and a bus squealing. It was their bus, she figured, as she could feel Melanie climbing aboard and eventually taking a seat.

The bus was in motion when light had then peeked into the pocket. Adrian readied to defend herself against an intruder, but it was just Melanie’s finger. It snaked into her enclosure in pursuit of Adrian’s flank, petting her side up and down with a gentle touch. Adrian tried to push the digit away and express discomfort, but the tight fit and lack of strength made it hard to do so. Adrian closed her eyes and ironed her patience. In the meantime, she took note of Melanie’s finger and its anxious shivering. This petting wasn’t for her own benefit, Adrian realized, but for Melanie herself.

The trip felt much longer than any usual outing to a mall, at least from Adrian’s angle. The bus stopped, Melanie departed, and a long walk followed. Eventually, the lack of distractions made Adrian antsy in a world where she could be unexpectedly killed, or worse; a sharp fear, like glass embedded into her head, was that this was all a farce, and Melanie was in fact leading her somewhere awful.

Tempted by this, Adrian stood up and reached for the pocket’s hem. It was buttoned close, and just slightly too high to manage anyway, but she was tall enough to lift her head above the edge. Her view was severely limited, she could only see straight down from a slither, and what she saw did not calm her. Down below, miles of land flew past like a raging river, demonstrating just how massive and unending this gigantic world was. Adrian understood for sure that she would not live out there, on the ground at the feet of many.

And there was many feet to be concerned of at the outlet mall. All different types of people shopped leisurely that day, crossing over from one store to another, many accompanied with friends or relatives but none wise enough to know that amidst the crowd was a kidnapper and her kidnapee. It wasn’t terribly busy, it was only noon on a weekday, but there was enough foot traffic that Melanie had to watch out for, especially if she wanted to unveil the shrunken woman in her pocket.

The rhythmic motion of Melanie’s walk ended abruptly, and Adrian felt the bag move and land somewhere with a not-so-gentle thump. She was unharmed, but it did toss her down from the edge of the pocket. A second later, the pocket opened up, casting in a ray of light. Two fingers then reached within, latching onto her body softly and slowly lifting her out into the open air.

Melanie released Adrian onto a dining table she had sat down at. Right away, Adrian absorbed her surreal surroundings. It really was the mall, but her new perspective made the scene feel strange in every way. She looked first for any other people, anyone that could potentially notice her. Escape was her plan, after all, but she couldn’t trust just anybody. Just as much was there the possibility of being freed was there the risk of getting trapped in an even worse environment. Regardless, that would have to wait; Melanie was careful in choosing on a corner table that would have her back turned to the other mall goers. There was nothing Adrian could interact with, other than Melanie.

Once Adrian caught her balance, she turned back to Melanie. Right away she noticed Melanie’s pale expression. She looked emotionless to the untrained eye, but Adrian was familiar with that look of paranoia and fear. Melanie looked straight down at Adrian only when nothing else was worriedly catching her attention. Sweat formed at her brow and at her neck, an almost sickly appearance.

Adrian looked around again, disturbed by the elongated silence. “So, we’re here…” she said, gesturing out to the table she was on. “Uh, didn’t you have an agenda for us?”

“I-I did,” Melanie stuttered. She whipped her head back, feeling the presence of somebody watching, but no one was there. “I’m… I’m nervous, heh… There’s lots of people around, i-it’s busier than I hoped…” She turned solemn, leaning in slightly closer towards Adrian. “Maybe I should turn around and go home--”

“We came all this way,” Adrian pleaded. She avoided sounding too desperate, but she really did want to stay here, for the sake of finding even a shred of help. “It’d be such a shame to turn back now. Can we get going, please?”

Melanie sighed, her breath dense with conflict. Her arms stretched onto the table, surrounding Adrian between them. It seemed Adrian’s reassurance was failing, with Melanie still seeming gloomy about being out in public. Though it pained her to inspire such empathy, Adrian understood she had to calm the giantess. She approached the two giant hands and messaged her own into their flesh. The skin, for once, was quite warm as she stroked up and along the twitching fingers.

“The point of going out is to relax,” Adrian said. “Let’s have fun together. Let’s focus on just that. Okay? So, what’s first on our schedule?” She chuckled, “If I’m being honest, I’m definitely scared, but I’m also excited.”

Melanie managed a smile, and just slightly did her temperature go up from Adrian’s tender touch. “Ah… Hearing that you’re scared… It sort of makes me your protector, doesn’t it? Hehe… I’ll keep you safe. Don’t worry. I have to be responsible… This is our date. It has to be fun.”

With this motivation in mind, Melanie lifted her head with just an ounce more spirit than she had before. “I wanted to visit this little place… Have you ever had boba tea before…?”

Adrian had not before tried boba tea, and Melanie was pumped to learn that. She got up immediately and pocketed Adrian back into her bag, then set off for her destination; a beverage stand, humbly run by a lone employee that stood surrounded by counter tops. As much kick as there had been in Melanie’s walk, her energy ceased when she got close to the vendor. She shivered -- one step forward was canceled as another mall goer passed by her, frightening her into stasis. She swallowed to gather her courage, and holding dearly to what little she could find within herself, she stepped forward again, each step more of a struggle than the last.

Within Melanie’s messenger bag, Adrian could sense that Melanie was still riddled with anxiety. It was quite curious, and even a little entertaining, that her building-sized kidnapper had such trouble with something as mundane as ordering a drink. Again, she peeked out from the pocket, more to listen in on Melanie’s conversation than to actually see anything.

“Good afternoon,” the clerk greeted brightly, turning away from a drink he was preparing. He paused in anticipation of a response, but Melanie gave none. He chuckled and went on, “Are you ready to order, miss?”

“No-- Yes, i-in a second,” Melanie stumbled over her choked words, eyes flashing at the clerk and then away towards the countertop menu. She was shaking, able to restrain herself only enough that the clerk wouldn’t notice. The clerk offered a polite smile to show his patience, allowing her as much time to think as she needed. As her eyes glazed over the selections, it seemed true that she would need a lot of that time.

Adrian listened in more closely, just as Melanie shuddered to speak up. “Mm… M-Mo...cha…”

The clerk leaned in to better hear the subtle voice. “What was that--”

Mocha!! Th-The mocha flavor…” A stiff finger from Melanie pointed directly to the option. “Uhh… Th-That one…”

“Ah, the mocha flavor,” the clerk repeated.

“I-If you don’t have it, never mind…”

“Uh, w-we do! We have that flavor, so, one mocha boba tea? What size?”

Oh come the fuck on! I didn’t think this far…! Melanie bit her lip, and her pointed finger retracted to a cheek. “Size… Ah, size,” Melanie giggled; it was a chilling little laugh that unsettled the clerk. “Er, err… s-small.”

“I’m sorry, our sizes are medium and large--”

Oh of fucking course your sizes are only medium and large! Then why not just assume I wanted a fucking medium, dipshit?! “Oh, medium, then. M-Medium is great…”

Adrian sneered as the scene played out, even muffling a small laugh. She was rooting for Melanie, actually, and even she didn’t believe it at first. Adrian had a soft spot for these sorts of things, someone overcoming their personal obstacles, no matter how small. It was satisfying to see Melanie win in the end, even if her victory was only as meager as ordering a single drink from the mall.

Once the beverage was made, Melanie retrieved it and made a straight course back to the table she had claimed as her own. Her body was still in shakes over such a tense interaction, as though purchasing a boba tea was a serious crime and the high of being a criminal was wearing off. She brought Adrian back out onto the table, where now also stood a statuesque cup filled with a sweet brown liquid and dotted at the bottom with thick tapioca pearls.

Adrian had expected Melanie to say something first, but she found the girl to be silent. She was still gathering her breath, it seemed, so Adrian made the first remark. “This is a lot for just me,” she joked. “I guess we’re sharing, huh? Makes sense…”

Melanie’s discomfort faded away, if gradually, in the presence of Adrian’s voice. “I sort of wish I was you right now,” she said. “A giant boba tea sounds amazing. I-I could use one, right now…”

“Alright, so, what is boba tea, anyway?” Adrian chuckled as she pointed at the bottom of the drink, where the ball-like additions pressed into their transparent walls. “I have got to know what these are.”

“It’s a milk-tea drink,” Melanie explained. “I’m surprised you’ve never had it… I-I suppose it’s more of a n-nerd thing. Well, it’s very sweet, a-and cold. As for those down there,” Melanie shook the drink, displaying to Adrian how the pearls flowed, “that’s tapioca. You chew on them! They clog up your straw, but I guess you won’t really be using one.”

“You chew on them? Ergh, h-how do I do that?”

“Um. You suck them up, a-and then you move your jaw--”

“Okay. I know how to chew. I meant, how do I do that? When I’m, you know…” Adrian waved down her torso, presenting her miniature stature.

“That’s what you meant, ahh. Well… I… I could…” Melanie stuttered in an attempt to find any reasonable answer. A long silence split the conversation in this pursuit, until she could only give a pitiful look down at her beloved. “... I could chew it for you first--”

“Hahaha! Ahh, man,” Adrian kicked at the tabletop. “Yeah, I’ll just sip from your cup.”

“Sorry…” Melanie closed her eyes. “I didn’t… I didn’t think this all the way through. T-To be honest, I just got really excited when I saw this place had boba tea…”

Though Adrian couldn’t enjoy the boba aspect of boba tea, she was able to cherish the taste of the drink. Melanie had lowered the drink off the edge of the table, and Adrian was given access to the cup’s rim, just at mouth level for her to sip from. Although not the best way to savor the treat, Adrian was grateful to enjoy something so manageable at her size. Unlike food items, drinks felt very much the same as they did when she was at her uncursed height. For these uneventful moments, Adrian was able to let go of the otherwise constant pressures of being tiny, distracted instead by the sweet mocha flavor.

“That was pretty good,” Adrian said. She had taken a seat on the table, satisfyingly filled, but with a growing urge to be moving again. Sitting at the table drinking boba tea was not going to increase her chances of escape, a goal she couldn’t afford to forget. “Where did you want to go next?”

Melanie sipped the same drink from a long straw, using that time to prepare her next thought. “N-Next, uh… um, I th-thought we could go shopping.”

“Heh, whoa, at a mall?” Adrian laughed. “Let’s not get too wild. What store?” Hands on her hips, Adrian looked left and right for any nearby stores, though Melanie largely blocked her view. Part of her also wondered what kind of places Melanie would shop at. Her mind immediately went to things dark and outcast, like what would normally appeal to goths. A few stores came to mind, none of which Adrian had a keen interest in being tiny in.

“I had… a couple shops in mind,” Melanie said, her lips pursed around the tip of her straw while she spoke. “There isn’t a lot here but… clothes stores…”

Adrian tilted her head. “That sounds fun, but you sound… worried.”

“I don’t… err…” Melanie closed her eyes after taking a glance at her own attire. Her voice was even quieter, “I don’t go shopping for these things very often…”

“I’ll pick something out for you, how does that sound? You can sneak me into one of those stores and I could find you an outfit. I’m not a fashionista or anything, but I can put a shirt together with some pants.”

Melanie lifted her downed head, clearly hesitant at first but still growing to the idea. “... Would you actually…? Hah, th-that sounds really fun. I’d wear anything for you…”

“S-Sure,” Adrian vaguely agreed, “then let’s go.”

Melanie was awestruck at first, not realizing how Adrian’s energy, despite her diminutive size, was truly inspiring her to move. Her hands shook less when they were flattened as a platform for Adrian to step into, and before she realized it, one such fashion store was now her surroundings. All around her were shirts, skirts, pants, jackets, suits, even accessories like hats, purses, and rings. Simply walking through the front automatic doors had stunned her into vacantly looking around, figuring out a place to even start.

The thought of Adrian being with her empowered her to move -- as did an approaching employee, one that seemed cautious to greet the creepy customer that had just walked in and stopped moving altogether. Melanie sought out privacy first and foremost, and so she secluded her and Adrian into a corner where neither customer nor employee would raise a brow.

Melanie was faster and more nervous when she removed Adrian from her bag pocket. “I-I’m… gonna panic…” she mumbled.

“No no! Don’t worry!” Adrian was a bit forceful with this assurance, but a tender massage into Melanie’s palm forgave that tone.

“Sorry,” Melanie said. “I’m not a good date, am I…”

“Oh, please. Y-You’re… uh, you’re doing fine.” Adrian bit her lip as each lie became more sour to speak than the last. “So! Clothes. You normally wear dark and heavy stuff. Maybe we should get you out of that comfort zone a little.”

“Eh? N-Not everything I wear is… dark and heavy…” Melanie winced at Adrian’s counter of a glance. She looked at her own attire, pained by the dulled purple. “Okay, you’re kind of right, b-but--”

“Lighten up, Melanie, you should let me pick for you!” Adrian gave her words a more friendly tone, subtly trying to manipulate the giantess that held her. “You just said you’d wear anything I picked out. So, uhh… There!” Adrian pointed to a rack of skirts just beside Melanie. “That red skirt, with the cute belt? That should be a nice color! And it looks airy, too, that’ll probably be a change of pace.”

“Errh… A skirt...” Melanie chuckled, turning partly towards the article in question. “I don’t wear those… a lot…”

“You wore one when you, uh… shrank me,” Adrian bitterly reminded. Melanie flinched, but giggled into that memory. “What about that?”

“I was trying to impress you,” Melanie admitted. “I overheard you liked girls in skirts. I-I wanted to look good on the day we’d be together…”

Weird as hell answer, as usual, Adrian groaned under her breath. She wouldn’t be argued against, regardless. “Pick it up, we’ll have you try it on at least. Will leggings make you feel better? And a shirt, something you’d like... “

Despite all of Melanie’s reservations, she followed Adrian’s directions without too much question. Doubts still dribbled from her mouth with every new selection, but she had given her word to Adrian that she would at least give her sense of fashion a try. With no intent on breaking that word, Melanie soon found herself with an arms full of different tops, bottoms, and accessories, so much so that it was actually better to hide Adrian within the clothes themselves.

All this was in fact part of Adrian’s plan. She wanted to scope out the store discreetly, to locate any opportunities for escape or assistance. Those opportunities Adrian did manage to find were despairingly out of reach. Certainly, she had concluded, she couldn’t foolishly make the risk to shout out to someone, not when Melanie was overhead and not with a voice as tiny as it was. Despite this setback, Adrian felt confident as Melanie approached a dressing room, all due to a glimmer of hope. The security cameras, she thought, they’ll eventually notice me. They have to. Even if it’s just a glimpse, someone could see me, and…

Her rapidfire thoughts for salvation were silenced when the dressing room door was closed and locked. Melanie’s demeanor appropriately relaxed now that she had broken line of sight with so many people. The enclosed space felt much more secure to her, primarily because it alleviated that pressing fear that someone would notice she was carrying a shrunken woman around.

“I must look crazy out there,” Melanie chuckled, “talking to myself sometimes… I hope no one heard me…”

You think you just look crazy? Adrian smiled, forcing out some sympathy. “Don’t try to get off subject -- I want to see you wear these things!” Adrian was genuine in this remark, looking over the clothes that were laid out on a small bench she, too, stood upon. “This is a decent haul, wouldn’t you say? Try that skirt first, I want to see it in motion!”

Melanie shivered, but her expression was in contrast to her visible hesitations. She smiled back at Adrian, warmed in that glowing positivity. She agreed, quietly stripping her own clothes off until she was only in her underwear. Then, just after a cold air swept over her bare skin, she began donning the first choice of clothes. Included with the red skirt was a black v-neck, chosen for its safety with Melanie’s usual aesthetics, but a more colorful shirt went over it, unbuttoned and picked out to match with the skirt. Just as suggested, Melanie had picked out a basic pair of leggings, and after equipping the belt, she stood bashfully in front of both the mirror and Adrian’s judgement.

“Hey, you’re actually making this work,” Adrian chuckled, rubbing her chin in thought. “What do you think? I think you look great.”

“I think… that I look…” Melanie held her tongue, noticing then that the words forming in her mouth were already so offensively bitter and harsh. She looked into the mirror again, concentrating first on the green eyes that looked back at her, then to the outfit she wore. Her arms crossed over most of her torso, until she decided to stop hiding and take a better examination of herself. She turned to view different angles, though her critical expression went unphased. The most she could do was concoct a cracked grin, “I look different.”

“Welcome to the world of buying clothes,” Adrian teased. “That’s the point, silly. You look more… alive! Less like a ghost, you know?”

“A ghost…” Melanie sighed, this time mentally criticizing her long black hair. She giggled at herself, “I’ll always look like that, as long as I have this swamp hair…”

“Your what hair?” Adrian scoffed and shook her head. “Hey, I had your hair in mind when I picked these out. I think your hair is fine, anyway! It’s long and fun, that’s what any girl would want!”

Melanie leaned her weight to one side, still unsure of this fashion, but curious of something else. “Why d-don’t you grow out your hair?”

“It gets so curly,” Adrian replied. “If it gets any longer than this, I’ll have to straighten it, and… I don’t know when that’ll get to happen. Or if I’ll get the chance to cut it, either.”

“I’ll… I’ll find a way,” Melanie promised. “This outfit… is nice. I want to keep it.”

“Hoho! Alright, I’m feeling a lot more confident now in my eye for fashion!” Adrian kept the mood light, walking over to the big pile of clothes nearby. “Let’s look at what’s next. A new pair of jeans can make a huge difference, so why not put that on, and…”

Guided by Adrian, Melanie tried on outfit after outfit. Although her demeanor was always icy, each new set of clothes was successfully thawing her. Her smile became warmer and her voice more lively, if only marginally. Both girls were impressed with how different Melanie could look with just a change of color, a light distraction to how strange their scenario was. Once again, Adrian found herself thinking less about her size situation, even while gawking up at a mountain-sized model that weakly posed in each outfit.

The two separated the best selections from the pile -- only two outfits and a handful of accessories, but more than Adrian initially expected to convince Melanie to buy. Adrian listened in on yet another stumbled conversation between nervous Melanie and an unsuspecting cashier, though it was a smoother talk than the one from before. Not having to wait long, Adrian was removed from the pocket and placed onto a dining table once again, this time neighboring a plastic bag of clothes that could swamp a barn.

“Melanie, uh, how do you pay for this?” Adrian asked, knowing Melanie didn’t have a job. “I wasn’t paying attention to the prices when we were browsing, I totally forgot, but that total at the end? Holy shit.”

“Heehee… Yeah…” Melanie’s expression was stuck between discomfort and pride. “I-I have… a decent amount of money right now. Thanks to Kim, actually…”

Adrian felt her chest sink, reminded of Kimberly and the reality of their world. She recovered, and said, “I… should have figured as much, actually.”

“Mm… You don’t sound happy.” Melanie smiled. “I’m sorry, but it’s money she isn’t using ever again.”

“Won’t you… get caught? Isn’t that easy to track?”

“I’ve been careful,” Melanie giggled. “It didn’t take much work. Kim gave me her pin number, all I had to find was a distant enough ATM. Heh, I-I… even took the receipt, and showed it off to Kim. I thought it’d be nice for her to know…”

Adrian wiped her brow, sweat forming from such stressful thoughts. Suddenly, the sight of the outlet mall and its gigantic proportions became dizzying, so much that even keeping her balance was a small challenge. Melanie took note of this, but the only comfort she could provide was a shielding hand; Adrian maintained her space from it.

“Uh… What’s next? I guess I got my answer, so…”

“Well, I had an idea.” Melanie was eager to move the conversation away and back towards their date. “It’s… a surprise. I’ll show you.”

Adrian hesitated to respond. Her stomach felt sick, dampening her mood towards surprises. Yet, she also knew that it wasn’t her choice. Melanie looked excited, there was no denying her plans. She swept Adrian into her hand and back into the bag. Another walk followed, not much longer than the previous trek.

Inside the pocket, Adrian tried to gather clues of where she was being taken, but listening to sound cues was impossible. Everything outside the bag was just jumbled noises, shifting in pitch and tone as Melanie made her from the outside and into her destination. Before she could come to her own conclusion, Adrian was presented with an answer, withdrawn from the bag and into another blinding light.

Adrian’s vision cleared to reveal an amazing sight directly in front of her -- a plush rabbit toy, with limbs as floppy as its long ears. Despite being just an object, it first scared Adrian to witness a creature so large, easily three times her height. Adrian collected her thoughts and looked elsewhere. To her left and right, more bunnies, all the same until they became a line of bears, and then a display for a whole different brand of toy.

“Oohhh,” Adrian stepped back in Melanie’s palm, turning around to absorb all of her surroundings. There was so much more color here than the clothes store from earlier, with toys of all shapes and sizes being showcased along towering shelves. It was a toy store, of course, but Adrian had no response other than the bewilderment of new scenery.

“Th-There’s lots we can do here,” Melanie whispered, more on alert than even before. Adrian could understand why, as just a second later did she hear the chilling cry of a child somewhere in the store; both grimaced, and while Adrian hated being hidden, it was better than what alternatives existed. Melanie went on, “I wanted to return the favor.”

“... The favor?” Adrian snapped out of her general curiosity and back to Melanie.

“You bought me some clothes. I wanted to buy some for you!” Melanie rose slightly, having been on her knees while talking to Adrian. Around the corner was a new aisle, long and with an extensive collection of dolls from all sorts of brands. One section in the middle had only accessories for dolls, primarily different outfits.

Adrian still said nothing while comprehending this surprise. The promise of clothes didn’t mean much to her, not when her choices were limited to what toys would be wearing. Instead, her focus was on the dolls themselves, plastic models with stretched out proportions, caged in shiny boxes. Most of them were taller than Adrian was, only reinforcing the eeriness of the aisle, but some of the toys were even smaller than her.

Melanie didn’t notice this. In her other hand was a tiny clothes rack that held up a black, frilly dress. “Oooh, please look at this!” she giggled. The outfit was raised adjacent to Adrian, leveled to match her frame. Adrian looked down at the garbs with a perplexed reaction, uncertain how to feel of something that was not only slightly too big, but something so out of her style. The black frills and lace combined with the short, poofy skirt made the outfit seem dark. Appropriate to that, it was part of a vampire themed collection, hence its cryptic aesthetic.

“Hmm.” Adrian forced away her initial reaction tentatively. Lying was getting harder. “It’s… It’s a little much for me, don’t you think?”

Melanie’s smile dimmed and she lowered the dress. “I thought it looked good…”

Adrian chuckled. “Maybe there’s something else here? Something that I can move around in, preferably.”

“There’s lots of options.” Melanie moved forward, glancing up and around the aisle to always ensure no one would catch her holding Adrian. “Summer wear, winter wear, swimsuits, pajamas… Considering you’ll be like this for awhile, we should stock up while we can.”

Adrian laughed, and she agreed. Melanie toured her through the wide selection of dresses, shirts, and accessories, allowing her doll-sized love to try on any outfit -- as long as she could squeeze into it. Three-inches of height wasn’t ideal for fitting into doll clothes, as both girls found out, but a few outfits were picked out that not only could Adrian wear comfortably, but were more in line with a style she’d actually like. Of course, there were compromises, like the brighter colors on a t-shirt or the lack of properly fitted pants to go with her starry sleep shirt, but Adrian was content with the haul.

It was when they were leaving that it dawned on Adrian what had just occurred, and she trembled from the thought. It was when she was put back into the pocket, and when she’d usually lift up to listen in on Melanie’s awkward conversation with an unsuspecting cashier. She realized suddenly that she hadn’t batted an eye at the concept of “stocking up” on clothes. She remembered what Melanie said, about how long they had to plan for. Adrian looked at her hands, then past them at her waist, her legs, and her feet. She had blinked, temporarily blinded to what was happening to her world.

Were thoughts of escape just an illusion to convince her to keep living? She wrestled with that nagging thought, harking back to Scarlet and her resolve to be killed. Was that the better of fates to strive for? A quick, merciful death at the hands of her godly captor? Did she come with Melanie to the mall only to pretend to escape? Or was escape just that impossible, and she had found herself more accepting of that? Here she was now, putting on clothes for Melanie and wondering what she would be wearing that next day, as though it was normal to be shrunk and transformed into a doll.

“This has been a lot of fun so far.” Melanie’s words woke Adrian from a trance, one she hadn’t even known she was asleep in. She looked up from the hand that now held her, Melanie having taken her to a corner of the outlet mall. “I-I’m glad you got me to come out… Even if I am feeling a bit sick, being out here for so long, i-it’s good to get some fresh air, and to do things… with you…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adrian said. On her mind still lingered her issues with complacency, and it was difficult to wipe those worries away. She exhaled, hoping to find some clarity within her mind. “Where are we off to now?”

The date continued into the afternoon -- visiting stores, browsing and buying, eating snacks, and then ultimately a movie. Melanie was ecstatic for this part, not only because it was a typical dating experience to be had with the person she madly loved, but also because it would be dark and cool, allowing her to free her heart of the anxiety build-up. It was also a luxury to have a space where Adrian could come out without worry of being seen, hidden by both the blackness of the theater as well as the fact that most people would be looking elsewhere.

Adrian tried to enjoy the movie for what it was. Indeed, not unsurprising for Melanie, the movie chosen to be seen was one Adrian was certain to like. In her shrunken state, Adrian managed to find the film as a decent distraction, even genuinely able to enjoy it at some points. It wasn’t just the movie, but her surroundings. The darkness acted as a chance for Adrian to forget that she was sitting on the lap of a giant woman, neighboring a truck load of popcorn with a chocolate-peanut butter cup left open for her. She closed her eyes, encasing herself in further darkness, and used the action pack sounds of the movie to pull herself away, if only for that hour.

“Did you like it?” Melanie whispered. Adrian had been watching the credits roll while most of the audience made their exit. Melanie smiled, “I feel kind of pumped up now!”

Adrian yawned, “Yeah… It was great, as good as I thought it’d be.”

Melanie looked around at the emptying theater. The credits music rotated over to the next song as even more names scrolled across the screen. “Let’s wait for everyone to clear out,” she said, keeping her volume low. “Having you out here like this is relaxing, and no one will really notice. That, and… I-I sort of don’t do well in moving crowds…”

It’s literally not my choice, Adrian thought. “Sure, yeah. What time is it anyway?”

Melanie glanced at her phone. “Hah… P-Probably time for us to head home,” she giggled. “It’d be a bad way to end a date if I were to miss the bus.”

More idle conversations between the two helped pass the time. The credits concluded, all noise faded, and the lights gently illuminated the room. Melanie stood up, allowing Adrian into her hand and keeping her sheltered behind another. She wanted to hold Adrian as long as possible, in the safest areas of what could be considered public. There was a thrill to be had, knowing that a tiny, secret lover of her’s could potentially be spotted. Little did she realize that this form of captivity was torture for Adrian, who still hoped that somehow, someone would notice her and do something.

Melanie exited with Adrian tightly secured in her hands, but she hesitated just outside the theater doors. She noticed an adult couple being spoken to by a young woman, handing them some kind of flier. The only reason Melanie stopped was to find a different route around this potential interaction, eyes shifting left and right for a clean escape. The last thing she wanted was to be waved down by what she mistook to be some promoter for another store at the mall.

But she was stopped, as soon as the young woman finished her spiel with the couple. Melanie shivered when she heard footfalls rushing to her, almost like it was some kind of emergency. Speeding up her own pace to leave her behind was no option either, not without seeming overly rude and attracting suspicion. She held her breath and turned, facing the woman and noticing then that they must be the same age.

“Excuse me! I really need your time, for just a minute!” the woman called out, raising one of her fliers into the air to wave Melanie down. “Please listen, it’s very important! I need everyone’s help!”

Melanie bit her lip, unable to even whimper out a reply. This silent pause was an opening for the other woman to continue, so she handed that same flier to Melanie. It was a cheaply printed handout displaying a black-and-white photo of another young woman. At the top of the page were words that created a horrible void in Melanie’s stomach, words that weighed heavier on her eyes the longer she looked at it. “MISSING PERSON.”

“My friend disappeared a week ago,” the woman said, figuring Melanie to be deeply digesting the contents of her flier. Her voice teetered above panic, “Her name’s Adrian. Sh-She’s the same height as me, shorter hair than mine, she’d never grow it out. She goes to college around here, the police are no help, I-- I need everyone to help! Have you seen her? Anywhere?! Even anyone that might look like her, please!”

Melanie’s lips quivered, her teeth just short of chattering. That black-and-white photo, unmistakably, was the exact same woman that she had there, hidden in her hands and overhearing the conversation with hyper awareness.

This voice that Adrian heard, beyond the closed fists of Melanie’s hands, was one she had noted to memory, for better or for worse. She confirmed it by peering through the littlest gap to the outside world available to her, looking up at the giantess just opposite of her captor. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

The woman desperately searching for Adrian was Erin, her ex-girlfriend.

Chapter Nine by Curse Crazy

So close, yet so far away. A simple phrase that haunted Adrian as a horrifying theme to her situation.

There was no doubt in her mind of who this was. Even with the distorted vision that came from being a shrunken person, Adrian was positive that this was Erin standing before her -- or more accurately, standing before Melanie. She could never forget Erin’s soft, high-pitched voice. She couldn’t forget that long, reddish-brown hair that was, today, knotted in two cute braids. She couldn’t forget Erin’s sincerity in everything she did, the honesty that prevailed in her actions, even when they were breaking up.

Immediately, those bitter goodbyes came to Adrian’s mind. It made her pause before doing anything else, recollecting on how they had separated. None of that mattered to her now, more than anything she wanted to reunite with her just to escape the hell she had endured.

Yet, despite being within arm’s reach in one sense, there seemed to be no way to get Erin’s focus to be on her. “Erin!! Erin, save me!!” she screamed, forcing her mouth up to the one gap in Melanie’s fingers that she had to work with. She reached an arm out, punching her way out of Melanie’s grasp. “Please Erin!! Please!! Please, just look here!! I’m right here!!

Melanie twisted her grip, closing her grasp around Adrian more tightly. She shut off Adrian’s one peek to the outside world, and idly destroyed her chances of contacting Erin by pocketing her discreetly. Her eyes never left the missing person paper in her other hand, the same way Erin’s eyes never thought to look at Melanie’s fist.

“You look like you’re our age,” Erin said. Her voice was parched, surely from having been dashing around all day to hand out her fliers. “You don’t go to school here, do you?”

Melanie opened her mouth, biding her time by pretending to read every detail off the paper. Truthfully, her mind was rushing to form any kind of response but only turned out blank, leading to an awkward stutter into silence. She started to sweat under Erin’s watch, still struggling to comprehend all of this. She took another glance at the paper, assuming she had lost herself in a dream-like state and only imagined that the photo was of Adrian, and that her name wasn’t actually written in full along the upper-half in bold letters.

“... I don’t… know her,” Melanie muttered, the first thing that came to mind. “I-I mean, I do to go school, um, here. But I don’t really… talk to people…”

Erin frowned and her shoulders dropped. She wasn’t that surprised to hear that, but she was more let down than annoyed. “... You’ve never seen her?” she pressed on.

“I don’t think so,” Melanie quickly answered, and made a move to get around Erin. “I-I’m sorry. I… I really am sorry.”

“Can you spread the word?” Erin asked, hoping for at least that.

“Y-Yeah, sure,” Melanie said. “I’ll k-keep an eye out…”

Every breath was becoming thinner, every heartbeat more noticeable. Melanie could stand it no longer, and after a final brief pause in front of Erin, she turned around and made a hurried walk to get away. There wasn’t any destination in mind, not even to the temporary sanctuary of that one corner in the mall she had been using. She lifted up on her messenger bag, securing it around her shoulder, and lightly slid a hand over her pants pocket, feeling for the shape of Adrian.

Adrian reached out of the pocket, her hand feeling the outdoor air for just a moment before being pushed back to the bottom. She screamed as her life depended on it, she needed Erin to hear her, even a squeak, but all the effort it took to climb up to the top of the pocket was wasted by an idle push by a single finger. Resisting as she did was fruitless, her grip torn from the pocket’s edge in an instant, forced down into the corner of the fabric hole.

“Erin! Erin, Erin!” Adrian stammered over and over. She clawed and kicked at the pocket in a fury, lost in the dizzying motion of Melanie’s enormous paces, thrown back and forth with every step going ahead. She gave up quickly, collapsing awkwardly into the divet amid a chunk of lint. The motion was maddening, pushing her to insanity, certainly not helped by the cruelty of coming so close to salvation.

There was only one thing Adrian could accept and understand, and that was that her chances of escaping at the outlet mall had been vanquished. After such a scare, Melanie was in no comfortable position to trust having Adrian out again, Adrian was certain of that. She regretted heavily all the little things she could have done to achieve a different fate, she could have screamed louder or tried harder to break through the clasp of fingers, anything to get Erin to look down and realize that the missing person she was pursuing was there, right there, begging for her help, right there.

Adrian broke into a shout that unleashed her build up of tears. She swung her elbows into the firm wall on one side, knowing she was beating on Melanie. Even if her blows were bouncing off the thigh, she continued relentlessly, hurting herself far more than she was damaging Melanie.

“You bitch! You fucking piece of shit fucker!” Adrian kicked and howled at Melanie, painfully aware of how both of these were ignored. “God damn it, I could kill you! Aahhh! Erin, why?!” She whimpered, passing an arm swiftly over her cheeks to wipe away her tears. “Why…?!”

Despair diluted the passage of time, but even Adrian had to acknowledge that something wasn’t right with how long she had been kept where she was. Melanie was still walking, even after several minutes had passed since she had been stopped by Erin. At first, Adrian thought of this in consideration for another break out; she didn’t care if anyone was there to spot her, she just wanted to leave Melanie and run away. However, as Melanie continued to walk, more concern came to Adrian’s attention. She listened closely to the outside world and what passed by. As far as she could tell, it was still the outlet mall, so what was taking Melanie?

Suddenly, she was being lifted out of the pocket. She squirmed in the grasp of Melanie’s fingers, but the motion was faster than usual, taking the wind out of her by the time she was in an open palm. She turned, looking up and around her -- the distant walls were pearly clean with mint-green strips, plus a soapy smell in the air. It was a bathroom, meant for families but being completely occupied by just Melanie.

It didn’t matter to Adrian where they were. She glared all the same, eventually looking up at Melanie for a moment before the sight disgusted her so much as to look away. She expected Melanie to say something, though not about what specifically. Yet, there was nothing said. Melanie offered only silence, quietly observing the tiny woman she held.

Adrian scoffed, still hesitant to speak up but unable to restrain herself for very long. “What is it?” she asked, her tone snappy like a betrayed lover. “Weren’t we going home? Where are we?”

Melanie’s expression didn’t change. She looked unamused, conflicted even. “W-We… We’ll head home… soon…”

There was hardly any pause. “We need to go,” Melanie said.

“Where?” Adrian asked, but was given no answer. She demanded a reply, but Melanie deposited her back into the messenger bag pocket. Melanie stood up, waited, and then moved again. Even more did this confuse Adrian, and even more did she want an explanation. The mysteries around this situation became major stresses on Adrian, who failed time and time again in her attempts to discover anything on her own.


A door slammed, jolting Adrian awake. She panted, reaching out for anything to help comprehend her darkened surroundings. She had lost track of where she was, but she recalled still being left in that pocket for what felt like an hour, maybe more. She yawned, rolling over to a slightly more comfortable position to look up at what light dimly trickled in from above. Moist stains dotted her cheeks, but she paid them no mind, observant only of any clues that might enlighten her to what had happened during an unexpected sleep.

Something felt familiar, and Adrian acknowledged it as the scent of Melanie’s room. So, we did come back home after all, Adrian thought. A second later, the building-sized bag she was trapped in rumbled as it was placed somewhere, shifting her surroundings and causing her to fumble about.

Adrian stood up, expecting Melanie to reach for her. Nothing. She cared little for how that giantess would treat her, so she trudged to the top of the pocket, poking her head out and looking around for details. A light then turned on, illuminating what she had assumed correctly; they were back in the bedroom, the world that she had been spent a week trapped in.

In the distance, Melanie could be overheard. She didn’t say a word, but she was at her desk in the midst of something. Adrian groaned as she squeezed more of her body out of the pocket, no longer afraid to attempt something like this if she were in the relative safety of Melanie’s apartment. She could see much more now, how Melanie hovered over her desk, picking up the dot-sized people that were Kimberly, Nicky, and Scarlet, and placing them back into their cubbies. It felt wrong for this one time to see Melanie say and do nothing to her slaves, stoic as she pinched their bodies.

A cold shadow swept over the bag, chilling Adrian enough to make a short retreat back into the pocket. Melanie passed by her, but still had no remark. Adrian looked out again, this time only able to see Melanie’s shadow along the humongous wall opposite of the chair she understood the messenger bag to be on. The silhouette kneeled down to the floor, first squatting while doing something, and then momentarily it was a crawl towards her bed.

Is she grabbing something? Adrian wondered. It sounds like she’s packing.

Adrian’s heart began to feel heavy, sinking into her chest and wanting to drag her back to the bottom of the pocket. This was about Erin, a fact that Adrian had been in denial about. The shady behavior, the sudden silence, the monotone packing; Melanie was preparing for some kind of plan. The more Adrian theorized, the more she berated herself for acting so short-sighted. This entire time, Melanie was up to another scheme, and Erin was the most logical target to fall under the crosshairs.

“Melanie! Melanie!” Adrian shouted her name, one hand cupped over her mouth. “What are you thinking?! Please, I want us to talk! Please stop!”

The shadow Adrian could see flinched, buckling under the tiny voice. Melanie turned her head back, she longed towards Adrian, but she resolved to continue what she had been doing. A bag rustled, being filled with a variety of items that Adrian couldn’t make out.

All Adrian was armed with were words as pitifully small as herself. Melanie was unslowed by these protests, continuing towards what she had envisioned and leaving Adrian out of this knowledge. When she had collected everything, there was still a crucial step to be done. She held up the missing person paper as well as a phone, one Adrian barely recognized as not Melanie’s own, but Scarlet’s. It was that same flip phone used to lure Nicky -- Adrian screamed, realizing that this wicked fate couldn’t be stopped once again.

“I’m sorry, Adrian,” Melanie said, back turned to her bag while she tacked away at the phone. “I can’t help myself. It’s like breathing… I need to do this…”

Adrian didn’t know what that meant. She kept crying. “Please don’t do this to Erin!” she wailed. In her denial, she was hammered with questions that she hoped couldn’t be answered. “H-How…? What are you even doing -- did you get a hair from her or not?!”

Melanie had a reply, somewhere lost in her throat. She swallowed, and approached the chair with heavy steps. She loomed high over Adrian, with one hand holding a simple tote bag for groceries, now filled with important tools. “You’ll get to see,” she finally said, and then grabbed the messenger bag with Adrian in stock. “The truth is… I’ve dreamed of this before.”


Adrian protected herself in the blind darkness that immersed everything in the pocket. Her tears were dry remnants from the only thing she could do while being carried across miles of a massive world. She couldn’t sleep, or even close her eyes. Every bump made her shriek, every sound made her whimper, like an abused dog cowering into a corner. Pitifully, she would occasionally stare up at the slit opening of the pocket. She envisioned those nasty fingers prying their way in and finding her, or worse, pocketing yet another person to add to her collection.

Every other thought was about Erin -- the concern her ex-girlfriend had for her, the danger that was approaching her, the potential reactions she would have to the surrealness, and sometimes just memories. Memories of them together, when Melanie was a nonexistent concept, as fictional as the possibility of being hexed to the size of a doll. She meditated on that stray possibility, a split into a different timeline, where she didn’t give up on Erin and in turn Erin did not give up on her. They would be together right now, enjoying the night in bed, maybe. Or maybe they’d be fighting, just like they did before graduation. Maybe Erin would only just now realize she wanted more from a partner than Adrian could give. Or maybe Adrian would have proven Erin wrong, and changed, into something she didn’t want to be.

Adrian could cry again, but her eyes had nothing left to shed but their diminished glimmer. She dimly looked back down, away from the rays of light that randomly shot past the pocket for brief intervals. She wondered where they were going, but she also knew that it didn’t matter. Part of her, for some reason, wanted to return to that alley, just near that gas station. She would give anything to feel normal, to be reminded of what normal felt like, with or without Erin there.

Impatience turned to deep ire. Adrian felt the nothingness closing in on her, all due to her lack of action. She was spurred into spasms, unleashing her fury onto the fabric, before her growling ascended into her standing up and climbing up to the pocket’s edge. How much longer?! she needed to know. Maybe…! Maybe there’s still time for me to do something…!

With a huff, Adrian threw up the pocket’s flap and exposed herself to the night. She didn’t care if Melanie saw her acting up now, it made no difference at this point; if anything, she hoped her actions would ruin something for Melanie. But what she saw surprised her; they were back at campus, somewhere branching off from the commons but not somewhere Adrian immediately recognized. Turning left and right revealed nothing, except that Melanie was alone, walking in the dark with a mission in mind.

A minute later, everything spun in a new direction. Adrian bunkered back into the pocket, but still kept her head poked out. Melanie had jolted off somewhere, seemingly into the bushes if the cascade of thick leaves was any indication for Adrian. She was hiding, Adrian guessed, but from who, and why?

For just a glimpse, Adrian was able to make out a structure, a building that Melanie was on route to. Ahead was the old library, a closed-off building that students were banned from occupying. She only remembered the name Anders Library when she heard it in Melanie’s voice, collected from a memory of when she was first shrunk. Somewhere behind those walls was once a spellbook, Adrian recalled, and she wished it had stayed there, undiscovered for all of time.

The bouncing prison of the pocket ceased its rhythmic bouncing. The next second, such calm was broken when Adrian was hurled to the bottom of the pocket, dislodged from the edge as everything rocketed upwards. Melanie was hopping the wire fence, and a meteoric slam left Adrian dazed and disoriented. The walking continued, more in a hurry this time, as Melanie rushed to enter the lightless building.

Not a sound came from Anders Library. It was silent before, but now even the idle chirping of crickets and the racking caws of crows had been closed away. Adrian heard only herself think, and those thoughts were as perplexed as before. Why did Melanie return to Anders Library? What did she bring? Where was Erin in all of this? And, stressing her the most, why was she brought along?

A vague answer to that question came in the form of Adrian’s world shifting once again. The messenger bag was set down, along with the tote bag Melanie also brought. From the pocket’s lip came a scramble of fingers; Adrian shouted, but the hand was quick at nabbing her entire frame in one balled-up fist.

“What-- What’s going on?! What are you doing to me?! Melanie!!” Adrian panicked and thrashed about, but Melanie casually overpowered all of that. She placed Adrian onto a desk, occupied otherwise only by a small stack of books. Adrian nearly tripped when being let go, and when at first she was relieved to have some distance, the void she was abandoned in was too lonely. She looked back to Melanie, but she was practically gone, fading away into the shadows and taking with her the two bags.

Adrian was silent and still, until the terror awakened her fears to burst. “Come back! Wait, wait, please come back!” she yelled. She ran to the end of the desk, arms waving to get Melanie’s attention, but she never reappeared. Adrian felt smaller than ever before, like a speck of dust in a vacant room.

“Please… Please Melanie…!” she whined. “I-I… C-Come back! I need--”

She gasped, choking on her trembling words. She held her breath; two double doors at the front had opened, and a clean pathway connected the entry to Adrian’s table. Light seeped into Anders Library from the distant street light, but it wasn’t much illumination, just enough to highlight the silhouette of a figure. Adrian flinched away from who it could be, but she had a feeling -- neither good nor bad -- of who it was.

“... Is… anyone here?” the delicate voice asked, barely enough to travel down the first hall of the library. “... Adrian? … Adrian…?”

It was Erin, walking forward into the darkness she first hesitated from. The shadowy interior of the abandoned library would make anyone dread entering, but Erin didn’t see it as completely black. Somewhere within the old building was a candle light, that faraway hope that this would lead her to Adrian, and she was guided by this flickering idea, lured to its warmth.

“Erin…” Adrian could barely mumble her name. She felt that time was ticking, and yet she still could do nothing. “Erin! Erin, Erin!” Her voice got louder, but despair made her tone bleak. Erin didn’t hear her, not with how far she was, but Adrian held onto hope. She was coming closer, stepping forward with her phone’s flashlight being cast in front of her.

“Adrian…? I-Is anyone here?” Erin called out, her voice wrought with worry. She tried to assure herself, looking back at her phone’s screen where that mysterious text message was. According to it, Adrian was seen frequently around here at night; it was a lead, if nothing else, that Erin couldn’t afford to underestimate.

Erin lifted her voice. “A-Adrian, it’s okay,” she said, shining her light down a leftward aisle, then an opposite one. The long, sharp shadows of bookshelves moved as she exposed their emptiness. “I don’t care why you’re here… J-Just tell me… that you’re okay…”

Adrian’s breathing became harsh. She wanted to rip into her chest and tear out her heart. “Erin…!” She swiped at her face, then raised both arms into the air. She jumped and yelled, “I’m here, Erin! Erin, please!

“--Adrian?” Erin perked up; she almost dropped her phone, startled by what little of a sound she heard. It was tiny, she thought for sure she just made it up. The light in her hand was shaking as it whipped around the library in pursuit of the sound’s source. “Adrian? W-Was that… No…”

But Adrian felt that she had been heard, she had made contact -- some degree of contact, anyway. Inspired, she jumped again and again, “Erin! Look at the desk, please look at me! Please hurry!

Screaming had, finally, worked. Erin cast the light over to the table ahead of her, where the movement of a shadow caught her eye. She leaned forward, edging just slightly closer to the spectacle of something bobbing up and down from one of the many tables. Then, she heard the squeaking, a noise not unlike the one before, and she stepped closer still. Her mouth widened in awe--

“Adrian…?!” Erin shivered, a cocktail of emotions swirling across her expression. She stuttered to say the name again, but it almost didn’t make sense. In that moment, nothing did, even while she was magnetized to coming closer to what she saw. There on the desk was a never before seen sight; a shrunken person, like a living toy, begging for her attention. She knew who it was, but what did that information mean? What did any of this mean?

Erin approached, saying Adrian’s name again. It became more clear as Adrian was revealed more beneath the flood light that blazed from Erin’s gigantic phone. Adrian still waved her arms, even when she felt like buckling under the woman’s presence. Yet again she was exposed to a giant, but this was Erin -- above all else, it was Erin.

It was Erin. Erin… Erin… Erin… Adrian’s yelling had stopped, and the two observed each other in silence. Each one struck awe into the other, but fear was more quickly to entangle Adrian. She knew, she understood the lurking horror; it was Erin.

“Erin,” she said, her voice weak from yelling but needing to last just a little longer, so she forced it forward, “Run!! Run away -- t-take me and go, go!!”

Erin stood where she was, startled by how suddenly Adrian had began yelling again. She could only comprehend so much at a time; finally she discovers her ex-girlfriend after having gone missing, and she’s three inches tall, and telling her to go? To go where? She panicked under these strangling thoughts, unable to perceive anything else besides the unreal scene of a diminutive woman stranded on a library table.

“Believe me!” Adrian shouted, tip-toeing the very furthest of the edge in some rush to escape. “We have to go, Erin, we’re not alone! She’s still here!”

Erin came closer, partially kneeling towards the desk. Curiosity was difficult to restrain from satisfying, she wanted to touch and hold someone at such a miraculous size. However, Adrian’s concern was terribly real, her tone desperate and dire. She stuttered to speak and ultimately said nothing. She reached--

Thucc. A flat impact from a sharp strike. Erin’s eyes closed, her knees gave in, her arms gracelessly searched for support, her body fell. Like a mountain being demolished to its base, the massive shape of Erin had melted to the ground right in front of Adrian. She was gone, her phone dropped to the floor with another thud beside her. The light shined upwards, like an opening from hell, unveiling that another giantess had taken her ex’s place right behind her.

“Erin!!!” Adrian howled, dropping to her knees and gazing far down to the floor where her chance of escape now lay in an unconscious slump. The light was blinding, pushing her vision up so that she could only see Melanie, illuminated by this, with a hefty book clutched in both hands so that its binding was pointed outward.

Melanie had attacked her; a blunt assault, slamming the biggest book she could find hard into a rear-corner of Erin’s head. Not at all did Adrian foresee this violent action. She never thought of Melanie as capable of such a brutal, barbaric feat. Melanie was frail, like a thin coat of ice. She was doubtful and weak. None of those traits failed to describe Melanie now -- she was shaking like a leaf, recovering from the sweeping blow she had dealt -- and that made it only more terrifying to know what she could inspire herself to do.

“Why…?!” Adrian whimpered. She wanted to scream at Melanie, loud enough to somehow eradicate her existence, but she had lost all strength. She pleaded for an explanation, tears making a rough return to her cheeks. “Y-You… You hit her…! What are you doing, Melanie?! Th-This is…! Th-This isn’t necessary! I-I thought you said… you said you only need a hair…!”

“I do,” Melanie said, her eyes closed as her words were spoken. “There wasn’t any other way. I had to do this, now.”

Melanie knelt down to the body, offering a soft hand to feel the girl’s neck. She was breathing, but the blow had really done her in. It was perfect. “I know who this was,” she explained further. “She was your ex-girlfriend.”

“Melanie… Y-You have to let her go… Please, just this one, sh-she was just looking for me!”

“I know,” Melanie interrupted. “How… insulting. If she wanted you, she never should have left you.”

“That isn’t fair, Melanie! We broke up-- We broke up with each other! P-Please, she doesn’t deserve this, Melanie! Do not drag her into this, please, Melanie!”

Melanie had no reply. She resolved herself to speak more about the topic later. She didn’t wish this confusion onto Adrian, but there was still work to be done, and barely any convenience in time. Melanie shoved her arms underneath those of Erin, and with a grunt, hoisted the body up enough to be dragged across the library floor. Adrian broke down, following Erin all around the desk as Melanie pulled her, wildly screaming and reaching out to the next victim in line.


Adrian was right in front of her. All Erin had to do was reach out. She was right there. She was small, but she was there, on the table, at the very least no longer a missing person. Erin wanted her safe and sound above all else, she wanted to lift Adrian into her hands and dash away from such a bleak, horrid location that Anders Library had turned out to be.

Adrian was still right in front of her. Why won’t I move? she continually asked herself. Her fingers twitched -- finally her body was starting to function, finally she could grab Adrian and leave, once her arm could move, too. She tried to blink, but her eyes were hard closed. Adrian was still there, though, always in sight.

A dull but hard pain corrupted the back half of Erin’s head. She tried to blink again, and this time her eyes could open. She was dizzy and what she could see was a blobby mess of a setting she didn’t understand.

Shnip. A haircut? Erin would have felt tickled by the sensation, but she could barely stay awake. That affliction, in and of itself, alerted Erin to a strange fact. For some time now, apparently, she had been unconscious. She tried to move, feeling a sudden urge to get up, but her body couldn’t, not because it was still fatigued, but because she was restrained. She wiggled her arms and kicked her legs, but they were tied down, and panic immediately started to set in.

It wasn’t a flurry of a panic, but a steady rise of her anxiety. She waited impatiently for her vision to clear, picking up whatever details around her that she could. The first thing she noticed was that her legs were tied together by rope, forcing her into a seated position. She felt something, like a bar or pipe behind her -- indeed, her arms and torso were also anchored to a wall. She looked down, not to peer for any more details, but to feel the gag in her mouth. She chewed hard on the cloth bundled up and tightly jammed into her mouth, but it was too huge on her small jaw.

This felt fake, like from a movie, but Erin had been kidnapped, a reality that terrified every inch of her.

“Are you waking up?” someone said. Erin’s head shot up, and she saw Melanie, or rather, a girl she didn’t know. A creepy looking woman, hovering around her age, perched in front of her like a bird of prey. Erin mumbled a reply, she was begging for help, but it made Melanie only smile. “I didn’t think I had hit you that hard, but you weren’t out for very long.”

Erin’s vision was starting to clear up -- it had to, given such a dangerous situation. She looked all over, but the room didn’t make sense to her. She last remembered being in a dark library, somewhere in the middle of its tables, but now she was in a white brick room, with a cold floor and some kind of machine behind her. A few candles and Melanie’s cell phone light illuminated the area.

“Oh, we’re in a boiler room,” Melanie said, noticing Erin’s curiosity. “We’re still in the library. We didn’t go far. It’s only been…” Melanie checked her phone. “... Fifteen minutes.”

Erin’s heart started to race. Her unpleasant slumber had felt like an eternity, stuck there perpetually unable to rescue Adrian. Adrian! Erin remembered, and she tried again to communicate a message past her gag.

“Hah? You know I can’t understand you, right?” Melanie tilted her head, genuinely trying to comprehend what Erin’s muffled screams meant. “Ahh… You’re being way too loud. You know, if I could trust you, I would take that off of you and… talk…” Melanie sat back, not too disappointed it seemed.

Erin’s face burned red, thick tears being produced from pleading eyes. More and more she spoke, but Melanie could only imagine what was trying to be said. Using that imagination, her lips warped into a fun smile. “You must want to know what’s going on,” Melanie said. “I-I mean, you must have a lot of questions, since you saw… this.”

Melanie twisted back to grab and reveal Adrian, the shrunken woman that Erin was convinced was a tainted part of her dreams. Just like before, Adrian was no taller than a few inches, fitting perfectly in Melanie’s pale hand. Their eyes met, and between them was a clash of silent emotions. Adrian hesitated to say anything; Erin could say nothing at all.

Melanie leaned forward, breaking her way back into the scene as far as Erin was concerned. “On the bright side, you did find her.” Melanie’s words were distracting, but Erin didn’t remove her eyes from Adrian. Melanie took note and began petting Adrian like an animal, much to Erin’s torture. “Don’t look so mad,” Melanie said, “she’s been in good hands. She’s my… my obsession. She’s everything to me. She’s my soul, so, don’t worry too much. She’s been living comfortably with me. She hasn’t really been in any danger--”

“Don’t fucking believe her…!” Adrian interrupted. Her voice, so sharp and hurt, came as a surprise to Erin. “Please, Erin, I-I’m so sorry…! I’m so fucking sorry… I got you into this, I-I…”

Erin shook her head, completely disagreeing with the tiny Adrian. She wanted to cast blame on herself, it was her fault for being careless. She had so much to say, too, but her muffled cries was too garbled to understand. Her onslaught of tears did most of the talking on her behalf, never ceasing as they left moist stains along a fabric wrapped over her mouth.

To this, Melanie maintained her smile, gentle and understanding despite having one woman tied up to a water boiler, and another the size of a doll in her hand. “She’ll be okay, I’ll make sure of that,” she explained, “but you, Erin… probably won’t. I have different plans for you.”

Melanie placed Adrian on her lap, a position that Adrian protested against. Melanie looked down, bringing Erin’s attention to the items set out between them on the floor. A bowl, some cups of things, a couple candles, and pinched between Melanie’s fingers was a lock of reddish-brown hair. Erin’s eyes bounced from one item to the next, but the hair Melanie held stored a cryptic presence, like it was too vital to look away from.

“You’re… Y-You’re going to shrink,” Melanie went on. “Just like Adrian… Just like the others.” Her smile brightened, flashing a gleam of wickedness. She was hungry for something. “I-I heard that… they’ve been saying women in the area, especially younger women, have been getting kidnapped. They just turn up missing, and no one knows what happened to them. Well, this is the truth. I wonder if you wanted to know, or if you only cared about Adrian…”

Erin’s head shook, but it didn’t indicate anything. It was a frantic motion, looking to break free from perhaps not the real bindings around her leg and arms, but the mental walls collapsing in on her. When her energy ran short, she looked to Melanie for mercy, but only found an intense gaze on herself. Melanie was studying her, observing her like an item on display. More and more, with no evidence to back up the idea, Erin wished to lunge forward and take back the hair that had been cut from her.

Melanie could almost sense this, like expecting a counter. Yet still, it only amused her taste for despair. “Either way… aren’t you happy to see her again? Just like you wanted! So even if you’re shrinking to be the same size as her, won’t it be worth it? For someone as undeserving as you… this should be a blessing.”

Erin wriggled again, but this time it was blatantly ignored. “Undeserving,” Melanie emphasized. “You really don’t have any right to see her, after what you did.” Melanie edged closer, one hand offered to Adrian to keep her in place while she moved up to Erin. “Not only did you try to steal her from me… but you gave up on Adrian. You hurt her.”

“Melanie, th-that isn’t true!” Adrian shouted. “Don’t do this, you don’t have to do! Please, i-it was both of us, we both decided--”

“How can I let her go?!” Melanie snapped, her huge face bearing down at Adrian directly beneath her. She sighed, and with it went most of that anger. “She should have known-- everyone should know that you belong to me, Adrian. She didn’t, and then she took you, just to break you apart. I saw it all,” she turned her attention back to Erin, certain of her growing curiosity, “I reviewed it all. I stalked Adrian, and you, and others… as much as I could. After I saw Adrian, and knew that she was the one that belonged to me, I had to know more about her. Of course, you two had only recently broken up back then. I couldn’t…” She laughed. “I couldn’t believe it. Someone would date someone as great as Adrian, a-and… then say, ‘No, this isn’t what I want. I hate her.’ Even now, I still can’t believe that. For nights, I stayed up researching you and cursing your name. But tonight, it won’t be angrily saying your name over and over and wishing you would die. I’ll cast a real curse on you.”

None of this provided any clarity to Erin. All that Melanie’s misshapened explanation did was rack up more confusion, mysteries that lead Erin to think this was all a nightmare. She didn’t know Melanie, she only barely recognized her as one of the people she stopped at the outlet mall. Yet, that was apparently her most dire mistake. She was looking for help, to locate a missing ex-lover, and that had brought her here, to this fantasy land where people could shrink and a maniac was obsessed with that very ex’s life.

Melanie squirmed back into position, reeling Adrian along with her. She sat so that the ritual items were between her and Erin, like a stage that had been set. It was time to start the action, it was better now than to wait any longer. Melanie cleared her throat, then grabbed the pinch of hair once more. Erin shook her head, she banged it against the pipe so hard that she could knock herself out a second time, she yelled for help as loud as she could muster. But Melanie was in control, and she still hungered for more.

The hair was dropped. The lighter, thinner hairs swayed away to the outer ring of the bowl, but the middle clump dropped right into the dark liquid. It floated, but as it grew soaked, it started to sink to the pitch bottom. Erin felt a tingle, but it was just in her head. Panicking felt useless, so she did nothing but fall into a cold emptiness. She became shallow and weary, her dripping tears the only animation to her entire body.

Melanie went into a prayer, but even that did not wake Erin up from her trance. She stared hopelessly at that lock of hair, now long gone in the depths of the wine. Was all this necessary? Was all this real? It couldn’t be, but she looked to Adrian again, wrestled between Melanie’s legs. That was real, that was definitely real. If that could happen to Adrian, then certainly none of this was a game. She shivered, the ends of her limbs twitching.

The chanting was finished, and Melanie opened her eyes to see her target still before her. “Ahh… I kind of wished it would be different this time,” she said. Idly, her hands picked up Adrian, as if reaching for something to comfort her. Fittingly, she pressed Adrian against her chest where her heart had been throbbing like a drum. “I know it doesn’t work like that, but I had hoped it would be instant this time… Ugh, I can’t wait! I just… I just want to play with you so badly… Looking at you right now, tied up to a water boiler… It makes me wish you were wrapped up in my hand, and I could feel you try so~ hard to break free!” Melanie giggled, an eruption of humor that she couldn’t immediately contain. “Ah, a-and I want to step on you…! I want you to smell my feet and lick them… I want to let my ass sit on you and press the air out that whore body…!”

Adrian had been trying to break free from Melanie, but she was snapped out of her efforts by the touch of something wet. The sensation was warm, but it dropped to being cold. She looked up -- Melanie was salivating, and her drool had escaped her lips and dropped onto her, an absent minded action. Erin, too, felt a twinge of disgust at the sight, realizing that her vulnerability was entertainment for her captor.

“Mmm… We’ll get to that, soon enough,” Melanie went on, dreamily talking on about what she will do to Erin. “More than anyone I’ve shrunk so far, you really deserve this the most! For dating and breaking up with Adrian, the only suitable punishment would be tormenting you forever, right? I’ll make your life hell and I’ll jack off to it the entire time…! I hope you can scream really loud, because it turns me the fuck on to know just how much pain I can put my toys through…!”

Melanie’s breathing was becoming intense, and the hand itching at her crotch made for two signs that she was losing herself to the excitement. Another deep sigh left her lips, only doing so much this time to calm her. “Soon… Soon…” She sighed again, this time with part of it becoming a yawn. Her eyes were weary, more so than they normally were. “You’re lucky, but so am I; the curse takes a day to settle in. That gives us twenty-four hours. Tomorrow, your new life as an insect starts. Until then, I’ll have to keep you here, and I suppose I’ll have to keep us entertained, too.”

Adrian was picked up from Melanie’s chest, laid out in the giant hand but turning around as to avoid staring up at her kidnapper. She looked instead to Erin, horrified again by the predicament she had stumbled into. These were the final moments, Adrian thought, that she would be able to see her like this, as a normal-sized adult. She wept; when was the last time before this that she saw Erin? She had predicted their inevitable reunion would be strange, but she never would have guessed it would be like this.

The boiler room was quiet. All three girls had reached a stage of acceptance. Only a ghostly giggle teased the end of the silence, Melanie snickering to herself in steamy anticipation.

Chapter Ten by Curse Crazy

Shivers ran up Adrian’s body. She wrapped her arms around herself, tight into a self-embrace to manage her warmth, but the chills were overpowered. The bare, hard floor of the boiler room was cold to the touch, and the vacant air had dropped in temperature the deeper into the night it had gotten. The lights had since been blown out, once the ritual had been completed, and Adrian was thus alone in the darkness.

Of course, she wasn’t entirely alone. She stood in the middle between two mountainous people; a football field’s distance between the two as far as Adrian was concerned, but barely anything for Erin and Melanie. The room was cramped, really only meant to house the water boiler itself, some spare inventory, and one or two people to work on it. Despite these distances feeling so grand for Adrian, what with her shrunken state, the lack of light, the freezing air, and the featureless walls made her feel significantly more claustrophobic.

It had been her choice to stand out in the cold, however. Melanie had offered to let Adrian sleep in the nook of her arm, or anywhere she pleased, but Adrian refused. She couldn’t stand even looking at Melanie, much less sleep beside her. Even now, she stared elsewhere at all times, trying to make things out in the dark but instead letting her vision only get lost.

The possibility of escaping was still hot on Adrian’s mind, but no opportunity realistically existed. The one conventional exit, the door, had been blocked by a few books that Melanie had picked up. Normally, the small collection of stories wouldn’t hold up anyone, they would just be pushed away, but for Adrian, it was an impossible obstacle. The books were set up perfectly to block the crack beneath the door, stacked high enough that her little body would never have the strength to lift them.

Beyond the door, there were two other options -- “options,” Adrian joked to herself. An air vent was one of these, but it was far too high towards the ceiling. The other was a drain or pipe, if she could find one somewhere around the boiler, but that was impractical to consider.

There were other barriers in her path to escape, too. Where would I go? At such a puny size, there was no safety guaranteed. Out there, in the normal world full of normal things, Adrian would just be a human-bug, struggling to survive in a land that could easily and brutally kill her without notice. She looked back at Melanie; for all her torture and evilness, she also represented a sort of sanctuary that protected her from those outside terrors. What about Erin? That was the other obstacle. She couldn’t abandon Erin, not when she did so much to try and find her after she went missing, only to be trapped in this horror. If she was going to escape, it was going to be beside her.

Unfortunately for Adrian, that, too, seemed impossible. She stared at the shadow that was Erin’s form in the darkness. Her ex had drifted asleep, so it seemed, hunched forward and unmoving. Resisting wasn’t going to get her anything except punishment, so Melanie had threatened. Unable to talk and unable to move, all Erin could do while waiting to be shrunk was fall into an uncomfortable sleep.

As Adrian studied her, she noticed one of Erin’s long legs twitch. Soon after, the rest of her body twitched in little places. Adrian felt something familiar about this scene. She recalled feeling those twitches against her body, underneath a sheet and with Erin held close to her in a sleepy hug. Adrian remembered consoling her, petting her hair until Erin woke up, and Adrian would tell her it was going to be okay, while anxiously waiting to hear what kind of silly nightmare her girlfriend had been having.

Adrian smiled, but it died immediately. The nightmares Erin was having now must feel more real, she figured. There was a lot to think about while kidnapped, bound and gagged, and waiting to be turned into a doll. Adrian could only imagine; was it perhaps a blessing that her own shrinking had been so sudden and unexpected?

Without really realizing it, Adrian had made her way up to the front of Erin, stopping in front of her sandals. She flinched when Erin idly moved, squirming into a position that was just as uncomfortable as the last. In doing this, she stirred just slightly, and far above Adrian were her ex’s eyes, bleakly staring down at her.

“E-Erin…” Adrian spoke at a normal volume, hoping to sound like a whisper. She wanted to look back at Melanie, check to see if she was awoken by any of this, but she couldn’t turn away. She focused on Erin only, trying to understand her expression. With the gag still hard in her mouth, there was no way she would get a verbal reply.

But she did get a response. Erin leaned forward, as far forward as the ropes would allow her. She moved her legs out of the way, allowing her to better see Adrian, or at least as much of her in the dark room as she could. Their eyes traded thoughts, so it seemed, and for a minute they did nothing but this.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Erin. I’m so sorry.” Adrian’s voice cracked halfway into the apology. She sniffled, managing to hold back her emotions. “I… I don’t know what else to say, heh. I mean… even now, this doesn’t feel real, does it?”

Erin somberly shook her head in agreement.

“It-- I know this is bad to say, p-probably, but… I wish you hadn’t come. You looking for me, and being worried, that’s how you got into this mess.”

Erin hesitated, but she shook her head again. She continued to shake it, all through Adrian’s next words.

“I-I know! I know. Just… To be honest, I didn’t even think that someone might be looking for me. It didn’t really cross my mind. Even my family, I mean… I’m sure they’re worried, too, but I didn’t think they’d travel across the state to come searching themselves…

“Why did you come? Of all people, I didn’t think you’d be so concerned to come out all this way.”

Erin mumbled something, but she tried more to communicate a thought via her expression. She closed her eyes tight, she shook her head at an angle. So much she wanted to say that the gag wouldn’t allow.

But Adrian wanted a clearer answer. Her stance straightened, “Can I come closer?”

Erin nodded. Her eyes flickered to Melanie, and then back to her. She nodded again.

Adrian approached. This was the third giant she had come so close to. She was used to Melanie -- as accustomed to her as she could get, anyway -- and for a brief time, Nicky, in no sober state, towered over her. This felt like a whole new experience, despite how familiar the more frightening aspects were. This was the first time she would be tiny around someone she knew, and no less was it someone she had known intimately.

That feeling was almost overwhelming, right as she stepped between the two colossal feet. It didn’t register to Adrian that she was waltzing between Erin’s legs, as she was caught in a trance of wonder. She examined the feet on either side of her, the knee-high toes apparently tickled just by her being there. Up above, Adrian saw the rope that tightly bound the two legs together, wrapped at her knees. She continued, her hand instinctively wanting to graze along the leather of the sandal as she passed by, but flinching back just shy of it.

Ahead of her, Erin’s thighs came to meet with her bottom, seated uncomfortably against the hard floor. The shorts Erin had decided to wear were particular short, exposing more of the flesh that Adrian was once able to feel and kiss. She blushed, angry at herself for letting those memories affect her. It felt wrong to look at her like this, somewhat exposed and in a vulnerable position, and for more reasons than just the fact that she could be killed by these legs. This was her lover, once, and not now. Yet, her eyes were drawn to the legs, drawing a line down them as her body shivered.

She hadn’t thought it out all the way, how coming closer to Erin wouldn’t mean much while on the floor. Adrian aimed her head up, shivering under the watchful stare that had followed her. With the cloth wrapped over Erin’s mouth, it was hard to determine how she felt. Adrian stuttered, “C-Can I come up there? I’d… have to climb you.”

Erin closed her eyes, opened them, and nodded. Her legs moved slightly, as if trying to shuffle into a position that was better for being climbed on.

Adrian realized then that the task she set upon herself wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. She stepped forward, but hesitation stopped her from mounting the front of Erin. She shivered back and walked around to her right side, a less awkward area to begin her ascent, and with the benefit of more clothing to cling to. The jean fabric of Erin’s shorts made for sturdy handles, allowing Adrian to get a decent start onto Erin’s lap. Her hand touched the cool skin of Erin’s exposed thigh, using the up-raised leg as a support for balance. Erin restrained herself from being tickled by the fine touch.

“I’ll… keep going then,” Adrian said, to herself mostly, prefacing the next obstacle; Erin’s torso, a sharp rise, like a hillside cliff. Erin was understanding, but unable to offer much as aid, other than positioning herself as much as she could to flatten out her upper half.

Adrian climbed, hugging folds of Erin’s shirt in tight pinches as she made her way up. She heaved and panted, one pull at a time making her way along her ex’s body. To stave off distracting discouragement, she kept her mind busy with anything else, which happened to be memories. One of her first steps upward, her foot sinking into the cushion of stomach directly beneath her, had her recall how she would brush her fingers against the lean belly. She thought back to how her lips would press right there, just above her belly button, and now her whole body was grappling to that exact spot.

In search of a distraction, Adrian got more than she bargained. She huffed those thoughts away, but her face was trapped in a blush that only got redder the higher up she reached. Once at Erin’s breasts, scrambling over them with her tiny body, there was no going back. This is… the most awkward it could get, she thought, fighting off a storm of incoming distractions.

Mounting this peak, Adrian felt a blowing wind rustle past her. It was the minimal breaths exerted out Erin’s nostrils, the only way she could breathe. Adrian shielded herself with an arm, almost blown backwards. Erin was concerned, afraid she could accidentally cause Adrian to tumble all the way back down, and possibly even get hurt. But Adrian persevered, quickly making her way up Erin’s chest and towards the nape of her neck.

“Sorry for that,” Adrian panted, mixing in a small, anxious giggle for her mental health. “I’m… I’m here, though. Ah, I must… look really pathetic, don’t I? You know… climbing up your clothes, and just standing here…”

As she spoke, Adrian positioned herself at Erin’s shoulder. It was too unstable to stand, so Adrian clung to her in a crawl. In turn, Erin was pressured to twist her head as much as she could to maintain eye contact. It didn’t even feel worthwhile; with an inability to speak, it wasn’t as though the two could engage much more here than they could before.

This sparked a risky idea in Adrian, and one she acted on without much thought. “Erin, keep your head straight for just a second,” she said. “I’m gonna loosen this a little…”

As promised, Adrian sidled around Erin’s neck so that she was behind her. There, a knot about half Adrian’s size was balled up, keeping the gag in place. Adrian gripped one end of the cloth and tugged, tugged, tugged again, and with both hands, she finally undid one part of the knot, almost tripping behind herself when the knot gave in. A few more pulls allowed the rag to fall loose around Erin’s neck.

Immediately, Erin used her tongue to push the gag that clogged her mouth. It looked awkward and painful, but she managed to dislodge the balled-up cloths that had served to silence her. A deep breath followed, restrained out of fear that she might alert Melanie. Her eyes snapped from the spit-soaked gag up to Melanie -- she rustled in her sleep and moved her arm, but nothing more.

“Oh… Ahh, hah… A-Adrian…” Erin choked now on her words, her lips shivering. This one action had revived a hope inside her, as little as it was. “Jesus… Jesus Christ, Adrian…”

“I know, shh,” Adrian responded, pinching Erin’s ear. “Don’t talk too loud! Please!”

“I-I’m not, I-I won’t…” Erin panted, letting out a long, shaking breath. She was grateful to breathe again, lowering her head as if offering a prayer of thanks. “Adrian… Adrian…”

“Shh,” Adrian reinforced, “I-I know. I’m here.”

“Adrian,” Erin quickly said, “I couldn’t… just not come looking for you.”

“W-What?”
“When I heard the news a-and I realized it was you that went missing, I had to do something. Please, please don’t be mad.”

“I-I’m not mad, Erin. Seriously.”

“Fuck, Adrian…! I…!” Erin hissed. Her panic was on the rise, and it was too easy to start yelling and screaming now that she had the chance to plea for her life. She had to remain calm, but visibly she failed. In a hushed volume, “W-What’s going on…?! Why is this happening?! This can’t be fucking real…”

“It is,” Adrian shook her head, “it really is. I mean… I’m like this, aren’t I?”

“... Yeah…” Erin closed her eyes. Putting herself into more darkness, ironically, made her calmer. She meditated through the cold silence, creating a pause. “Adrian… I’m scared… Who is she? W-What was that fucked up ritual? Please…”

“That’s… Her name’s Melanie.” Adrian looked in her captor’s direction, viewing one titanic body from the peak of another. “We’re classmates, sort of. Well… we were classmates. She did this to me, suddenly. Because… a-apparently she…” It burned Adrian’s tongue to know the answer, and engulfing it entirely in flames was how she was explaining this to her ex. All of this was because Melanie had some deranged crush, an untamed attraction that spun wildly out of control. Melanie had made that much clear already to Erin, so Adrian dodged the matter. “Somehow, she got some spellbook from here, i-in this library I guess. It had a spell to shrink people, so that’s… that’s what she does, and then she tortures us. She--”

“Us?” Erin wanted to shake her head, but doing that would catapult Adrian away. “W-Who’s us? The other women that went missing, d-did they end up…?”

“Shrinking… Yeah…” Despair weighed down Adrian’s voice. Erin would be far from the first victim, much like Adrian herself wasn’t. “There’s three others. Two of them are college students like us, another is a woman. Apparently she only takes aim at… cute girls.”

“You’re… kidding.” Erin huffed, suddenly wanting to cry. “What kind of fucking creep…? Why would she do this…?!”

“I…” Adrian growled. “I don’t know! I wish I could fucking… do anything to stop her…! She’s getting worse… and worse… Even calling her a monster is doing her too fucking lightly.”

Erin whimpered. She felt a blizzard storming through her system, leaving her emotions with a crushing frostbite. The agony of starting to feel less and less in anticipation of what exact torture lay in wait for her, all while her mind ravaged itself in search of some justification.

The only comfort Erin had were the light touches of Adrian’s hand. Her fingers were so small, yet that minor contact felt reassuring. At the very least, she could tell herself that she succeeded. She found Adrian, after all that searching. Melanie can never take that away from me.

Adrian, meanwhile, recoiled from the anger she had just spat. She felt useless, pathetically unable to restore any of the peace she or Erin knew. In due time, Melanie would claim her prize, an additional woman shrunken to the height of a toy. New games would begin. Adrian’s heart ached; she would have to endure this all again, watching a new face be claimed entirely by Melanie.

She hugged Erin, spontaneously rushing into the pillowy cheek. Her face sank into the soft layer of skin, pressed deep into it so that her watery eyes could be wiped dry and hidden. She grunted, pushing even harder into Erin, her arms spread out into as wide of an embrace as she could manage.

Adrian said nothing. Erin lightly gasped, but she closed her eyes and pushed back against her friend. She was afraid to make too large of a movement, even with the ropes still binding her, but she nuzzled her face against Adrian’s little body. She wanted to cry, too, but the creeping fear was too much. Her mouth lay open, but nothing could be said to accurately describe what she felt.

“Erin,” Adrian began, “we’ll escape this. When we’re… s-small, together, we’ll figure something out. This… isn’t the end.”

“I… I know.”

“Believe me!” Adrian shook the bundle of cheek she had wrapped into her arms, affirming how serious she was. “I can’t leave you behind! And… I won’t. Whatever happens to us, we’ll look out for each other, and--”

“You two aren’t going to kiss, are you?” Melanie’s voice interrupted the dialogue. Adrian unleashed a shrill gasp, and Erin’s head immediately rose away from the tiny woman that hugged her. “I was hoping you wouldn’t, but… at the same, I was kind of hoping you would…”

Adrian panicked, looking around the platform of a shoulder she was on. In the pitch black darkness ahead of her, she couldn’t see where Melanie was, only the vaguest movement of a shadow. If Erin had a better idea, she couldn’t aim Adrain in the right direction. Like water flooding a room, both girls felt immersed in a rising fear. The relief they enjoyed was nothing but a brief high to distract them from the corruption laying beside them.

Melanie then appeared, her figure illuminated by the glow of a phone’s screen being activated. It was a strike of lightning, Melanie now in view and for her captives to see, hovering over them with an entertained grin.

“I wanted an excuse to punish you, but, I remembered I don’t really need one.” Melanie knelt down, just enough that she still stood a head over the paralysis-stricken Erin. “You don’t think you could still love Adrian, do you?”

Erin’s lips quivered. “N-N-No--”

A sharp point came close to Erin’s neck, which she was unable to rear away from. It was a knife, suddenly equipped in Melanie’s grip, inches from piercing such sensitive skin. Adrian lost her breath, and almost her balance, at the sight of the glimmering knife being held up to her ex. It was the same knife, she recalled, that was used to threaten Scarlet after Melanie idly played with the dangerous thing.

“You don’t. You should hate Adrian.” Melanie’s smile had withered, but it came back in full force. “It’s because of her that you’ve ended up here, my soon-to-be pet… Doesn’t that make your blood boil? You come all this way in search of the woman you hurt, and it leads you here. Right to me… and Adrian, too.” Melanie’s creepy eyes drifted from Erin’s to Adrian’s. “Sorry, Adrian, I forget sometimes… that these toys belongs to you, too.”

“Melanie-- Please, put the fucking knife down,” Adrian pleaded, ignoring what Melanie had to say. “Don’t… Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

“Ha!” Melanie chuckled. “Adrian, you’re always right. You give my thoughts such clarity…” The point of the knife was drawn back, yet its aim was still threatening. Backing away meant nothing against such an immobilized target. “I would hate to have this bitch bleed out here in some shitty boiler room, when there’s so many other games we get to play.”

Melanie sat the phone down between herself and Erin, adjusting the flashlight from her phone so that it brought light to the rest of her surroundings. Erin and Adrian flinched as this light temporarily overwhelmed them, and in that instant, Melanie reached for the tiny woman mounted on the shoulder and nabbed her back into her grip.

“I bet you’ve been having perverted thoughts, Adrian,” Melanie teased, looking back and forth between her victims. “I wondered what you would do if I left you alone for a couple hours. I had a suspicion you’d try something like this, breaking her free…”

“I-I wasn’t going to-- j-just the gag,” Adrian argued, all the while squirming in the hand of her opponent. “I swear, I swear to god!”

“I wish you could see the world you’re in, Adrian…” Melanie sighed; a genuine show of emotion, that she was let down. “This slut you were standing on… I-I mean, you know you can do anything to her. Anything.”

To show this fact off, Melanie reached forward, with the same hand gripping Adrian, and groped Erin’s right breast. She massaged the smaller woman into the chest, Adrian’s entire body framed by the plush surface that welcomed her -- though Erin was not as welcoming to the idea. She squealed, but her cry was cut short by the reminder of the knife, still on standby to be used. A silent threat of the weapon was all it took to soften her yelp into a stutter of enduring mutterings.

Adrian pushed back against Erin’s boob, begging for release. “Melanie! Melanie, stop!”

“No, you stop! Hehe… You’re the one living it up right now…” Melanie tilted her head, putting more effort into having Adrian’s body massaged around this delicate area of Erin. “Enjoy it~ This dumb slut’s body belongs to you. All of it. Well… while it lasts.”

“A-Adrian!” Erin squeaked, teeth chattering. She felt sick; it wasn’t bad enough that her body was being abused, but that Adrian was involved, forced into this circumstance. She could only wonder how it felt for such a tiny person, one she would soon become, to be in this kind of position. Picturing her own body at such a scale made her shiver, as did the unwanted groping continuing along her chest.

“Aww,” Melanie cooed, “you have a cute face… I’m glad that if any whore was going to manipulate my Adrian, it was at least someone that was… kind of pretty. It will make it even more exciting to see that cuteness ravaged.” She giggled, a sound that tortured Erin’s ears. A whine rang from Erin’s throat, a weak cry for help, but the knife was a shimmering reminder -- Melanie need only twiddle the item in her fingers. “No… No sounds. Stabbing you or crushing you, it doesn’t make a difference to me.”

Erin continued to whimper, and the knife drew closer. Adrian clawed up Erin’s breast, slipping out from underneath Melanie’s hand. “Erin, Erin, just listen to her,” she begged, “don’t get yourself hurt…!”

Erin choked. Tears streamed down her red cheeks, her face the example of humiliation. Her arms and legs begged to be freed, and Melanie teased that desire by grazing the knife ever so close to her bindings. Giggling as she did so, Melanie found great pleasure in toying with such a big doll, but the real satisfaction was in Adrian’s predicament. The sight of her love scrambling along a pair of massive breasts, indirectly molesting this girl further in an attempt to stay safe from her, a dark goddess. She breathed, a foggy exhale that she accidentally put over Erin’s head like a threatening snarl. Erin couldn’t even flinch, fearing that any reaction would be met with a fatal response.

Melanie leaned back. Her eyes seemed confused, as if she was in wonder of what she was feeling. Up and down, she looked all over Erin’s body. Perhaps it was a moment of soberness, but it was a fleeting thought. A smile took over that puzzled expression, as if the answer was pleasantly clear; she really could do anything to this woman, but Adrian could too.

Adrian had been making a weak dash to reach Erin’s shoulder, as though that could protect her. She was picked up, pinched at the waist by two huge fingers. Melanie lifted her away, but not far from Erin. In fact, she was placed against her again, this time wedged between Erin’s thighs, right up to where the legs of her denim shorts met.

Melanie! Fuck!” Adrian shouted, but like all the other times, her protests were silenced. Scream as she might, she couldn’t stop Melanie from putting her in such a place, where the heat of Erin’s body was perhaps at its most intense. Worst of all was the harsh finger behind her, pressing into her back and forcing her deeper against Erin where her yells for helps were even more muffled.

Erin squirmed, but the ropes only allowed for so much resistance. “P-Ple--” She tried to talk, but she gasped as an erotic chill stung her senses. Her teeth chattered, her lips narrowed. She swallowed, and nearly choked.

Melanie grinned. “Does your cunt smell?” she asked suddenly. It was an embarrassing question all around, one Erin surely didn’t expect to answer. Melanie continued, “For Adrian’s sake, I hope not. Maybe I should ask…”

“P-Please, please,” Erin muttered.

“Hey, Adrian?” Melanie lessened her push on Adrian, no longer massaging her into Erin’s crotch but still keeping her pinned. “Does it smell? Erin wants to know if she bathed well enough before getting fucked like this.”

Adrian growled back a flurry of swears, but her anger only made Melanie more amused. Melanie knew, after all, that it was the point to simply plant these thoughts into Adrian and Erin, to twist their minds how she wanted. Indeed, this worked; Adrian, despite her best to not think of it, couldn’t help but mentally address the scent and the circumstance as a whole. It was a familiar musk, an aroma of sweat and intimacy. Neither pleasant nor unpleasant, but the semi-salty atmosphere was overbearing nonetheless. She wanted to gag, what with this being her only source of air. Certainly the humidity didn’t help her breathing either, caught between Erin’s honed legs like two walls of flesh trapping her. Erin’s idle wiggling -- her only method of resistance -- trapped her even tighter, almost enough so that Adrian wondered if Erin was keeping her there intentionally.

“Perhaps this isn’t enough,” Melanie thought aloud. “Here-- Try this.”

Lifted up again, but only a short distance, Adrian was moved from the outside of Erin’s shorts to within her panties. Melanie pulled aside the fabric and made an opening, one that greeted Adrian’s minuscule self with a short strip of hair. Adrian tried to grapple Melanie’s finger, clinging to it with her arms and legs, but Melanie shook her off so that she fell within the helpless woman’s shorts.

When trapped before, Erin’s body heat had felt particularly warm, but from within her shorts, it was sweltering. The sweat, skin, and pubic hair all enclosed Adrian into a tight corner, one that she had been sealed into darkness. Her attempts to break loose were futile, and even countered. Instead of pulling herself up, Melanie’s finger pushed her in, forcing Adrian to a deeper point in Erin’s multi-colored panties.

Adrian reached up, then coughed. The finger was a hard barrier to bypass, outpowered by this lone digit and it’s stubborness to be moved. “Move, Melanie! Let me fucking out…!” Adrian wheezed, feeling her legs slip into the slick texture of Erin’s pussy. Her legs winced as they stepped onto the pink folds, but her shock was nothing compared to the earthquake that was Erin jostling. It was a trail of shivers, a tickling arousal that made Erin quiver, and in return, wetter. Adrian yelled again, feeling the threat of being swallowed by her ex’s hole.

Melanie was entertained, intensely observant of how Erin reacted to all this. “Are you enjoying this? You should,” she laughed. “You gave this up, having Adrian all to yourself… In a way, you’re really responsible for her shrinking. Had you two decided to stay together, well, I probably wouldn’t have known of Adrian. I’d never think to shrink her and make her mine. Haaah, when I put it that way, m-maybe I should be thanking you…”

The dialogue was of no interest to Erin, but it remained painful. Melanie went on, “You’re getting really turned on… You would fuck a tiny Adrian, wouldn’t you? Hehe. Isn’t it tempting?” Her finger dove deeper, at an agonizingly slow pace. Down with it went Adrian and her frantic attempts to escape. “If I weren’t here, wouldn’t you want to fuck the shit out of her? Wouldn’t you want to pick her up and shove her deep inside you? Isn’t she so important? It would feel like she’d complete you…!”

“No!” Erin spat. “I-I wouldn’t fucking--”

Melanie hissed, nearing her face closer to Erin to enforce silence. “Of course you wouldn’t! You wouldn’t do that now, knowing that she’s mine! She’s mine! She’s… She belongs to me, we’re connected… Soulbound…! Knowing that, how could you possibly get between us?!

“Ahh… Th-That’s… how irrelevant you are…” Melanie went back. The finger she used to massage Adrian into place ceased its movements, and in doing so, Adrian was free to squirm out from the moist prison she had been shoved into. That freedom wouldn’t last, as her exhausted body was swiftly grabbed again, notably more limp in Melanie’s fingers this time around. “You won’t be between us! You never will. The person stuck in the middle… is poor Adrian.”

“I-I don’t…” Erin dared to speak, tempting fate first by mumbling just those couple of words. When a knife wasn’t pointed at her, she hesitantly continued, “I-I don’t want Adrian… Y-You can have her… We-- I-I broke up, with her… I don’t--”

“Shut up,” Melanie ordered, and right away was her wish granted. “Don’t lie to me. You came back to her because you realized what a mistake you made, and you were scared she was gone forever. Like an abusive piece of shit, you came running back when you’d be at an advantage to win her over. That’s it, right?”

“N… Ergh, no…!” Erin whined, coughing to the side. She looked up to Melanie with a begging expression, her eyes large and pitiful. “I don’t want her! Y-You can have her, I promise I’ll just let you--”

“Open your mouth. I’m tired of you talking… and I want to shut you up.” Melanie carried her voice with a low, dark tone. Her eyes flickered to Adrian, distressed and weak, then back to Erin, more specifically her lips. Erin’s mouth was open just a small space, but not enough for Melanie and what she had in mind. By force, she used her fingers to hold open Erin’s mouth, regardless of how she tried to then bite it closed.

Then, with a devilish smile, she lifted Adrian to Erin’s mouth. “Be careful,” was all Melanie teased before quickly putting her obsession onto Erin’s tongue. Adrian was hopeless to escape, her desperate throws to grab onto anything in resistance found nothing but the slight graze of Erin’s soft lips -- the very lips that now promised to encompass her. Adrian screamed, and Erin choked, wanting this only as much as her ex did.

Erin stuttered. She wanted to spit and yell, but that reflex was dangerous now. Without intending it, she could easily cripple Adrian, who fit snugly into her mouth. Her tongue froze, not wanting to lick at Adrian’s pathetic body, and her mouth shivered in being as open as it possibly could, stretched to its limits. Adrian, from within this pink cave, wrestled with globs of saliva, her arm movements breaking apart strands that connected the oral floor to the ridged ceiling. In front of her was a terrifying sight, one that seemed just slightly familiar; a dark hole, a human throat, that gagged and breathed in response to her presence.

Melanie!!” Adrian screamed. She kicked her legs, trying to back up and out of the mouth, but the sharpness of hard teeth forced her to hesitate. Her heart trembled, sinking lower into her chest.

“She was just hugging your pussy,” Melanie said, dragging a cold finger around Erin’s lips. “So? Does it taste awful? Does this make you want to spit your ex-girlfriend out? A second time, anyway.”

Erin whined, her cries devolving into an open-mouth groan where saliva pooled out. Even speaking would put Adrian at risk, not even considering how just this action alone was dangerous enough.

“Do you hear that, Adrian?” Melanie asked. “She says you taste awful, like shit. Is this who you want to be with? This stupid bitch might just swallow you whole.” She laughed, moving closer to Erin’s mouth and observing even more closely the perils Adrian endured. “She came to save you. Now it’s my turn, isn’t it…?”

Erin and Adrian were confused by what this meant, but Melanie understood what game she wanted to play. Her grinning lips disappeared, and her head tilted. Her mouth met with Erin’s, forcing upon her captive a deep kiss, connecting them together with Adrian caught in the center. She moaned, partly a laugh, feeling not just Erin’s tongue against her own, but Adrian’s entire body, wriggling between these two giants.

Adrian screamed for help in this horrible, soaking wet world. She feared the possibility of drowning, or being chewed, or being swallowed, and now being strangled by two opposing monsters that were merely human tongues. Melanie’s mouth tripled the chaos immediately, another man-sized force that bullied Adrian with its twisting strength. Kicks and punches did nothing to thwart the tongue; it hunted what it tasted, and Adrian’s fight against it was nothing but the entertainment that Melanie seeked -- and pure torture for the unwilling Erin, not only having a deep kiss forced upon herself, but with her ex there, stuck between the two mouths.

Melanie’s tongue coiled, gripping at Adrian’s leg. It pulled at her wantingly. Adrian grappled Erin’s tongue, pulling back against Melanie. Her foot slipped out, a minor relief, but Melanie was back on this intimate offensive, the tip searching for Adrian specifically and dragging itself along her back. In all this, Erin’s tongue was panicked, maneuvering away where it could, but always putting Adrian in harm’s way. She wanted to protect Adrian, above all else, but how could she when her own tongue was one of those threats? How could she when her throat had just as much the capability to swallow this human as Melanie’s did?

Melanie pulled away, just an inch. Her words echoed into Erin’s mouth, “Just swallow her… That’s how you can keep her.” Her tongue, moistened again, crept from between her lips and licked Erin’s cheek. “Put your head back… Swallow…

“Erin!! Don’t!!” Adrian frantically cried, her tears lost in the infinitely produced puddles of spit. “I don’t want to get eaten, please, please!!

Erin cried, her mouth still held open pathetically before Melanie. Her whines tore at Adrian’s eardrums, but her complaints meant nothing to the woman in front of her, holding her down and approaching again. Melanie had forced a maddening thought onto Erin, a debate about how swallowing Adrian and claiming her as her own was, in fact, one real way she could save Adrian.

A second kiss, this time faster, stronger. Melanie held back nothing when it came to her tongue, hugging Adrian delightfully with Erin’s tongue beneath her. She savored this taste, even though she considered it tainted. This flavor, the mix of Erin’s breaths and Adrian’s suffering, was intoxicating -- she manically reserved it, deep in her memory, fascinated by this otherworldly horror she was enforcing onto these victims.

“Come into my mouth, Adrian…” Melanie moaned, keeping her lips planted firmly against Erin’s. “Choose me, Adrian… It ends when you choose me.”

Adrian whimpered, turning her saliva-soaked head around to stare into the opposite foreboding tunnel. Just as threatening, just as terrifying. Melanie’s throat didn’t look any different from Erin’s, nor did she want to look close enough to discover any of those differences. Even though Adrian knew it was a game, a ploy to cause mental havoc on both her and Erin, she also knew she had to play it. She fumbled about, repositioning herself, and with tears still streaming down her face, she clawed upward. Melanie’s tongue greeted her, almost obediently did it lower itself as a flatter platform for Adrian to crawl onto.

Erin closed her eyes, disgusting by the feeling of a person moving about in her mouth. It felt like something was being stolen from deep inside of her, this sensation of Adrian being convinced away from her. Yet, it was a relief she couldn’t deny, when Adrian had fully transferred over, and Melanie had backed away, an erotically satisfied expression openly exhibited, as though for Erin’s viewing pleasure. Melanie wanted Erin to remember this, as forced as it was, that Adrian chose her.

Melanie opened her mouth, just enough to first let Adrian’s legs escape and feel the cool air, a stark contrast to the sheer humidity she had been suffering in. A hand then met where Adrian was kicking, and soon the rest of her body, wet and exhausted, came to be released. She was a sloppy mess, painfully taking in deep breaths that were still corrupted with the smell of each girl’s mouth. She slid her arms down her body, removing a thick excess of saliva -- whoever it belonged to, she didn’t care.

“I told you, Adrian~” Melanie giggled. “I’ll keep you safe. I would never swallow you. Unlike her…” Her smile persisted, even though a glare was aimed at Erin. “She would eat you, just to steal you away from me.”

Erin said nothing. Much like Adrian, she was recovering. She spat at the hard floor and partly over herself, trying to remove the taste that filled her mouth. She wept openly, her body shaking uncontrollably, short of what the ropes allowed her. Rapidly, her head turned, in search of any answer, any sort of sense, any justification, any reason, any explanation. All she could find was Melanie, petting at Adrian’s shrunken form.

Anger still ran through Adrian’s veins, the remnants of what spirit she had mustered when fighting against the twin tongues. “Fuck you,” she sparked violently. She swatted at Melanie’s finger, “Fuck off! What is wrong with you?!”

Melanie chuckled. “You’re so cute,” she said, petting Adrian more firmly. Eventually her touches became tickles, poking into Adrian’s side and pushing out a break of laughter from the tiny woman. She chuckled again, “See? It’s not so bad, Adrian. There, there…”

Melanie returned to her corner, sitting against the cold walls with Adrian held in both hands. She was interested in Adrian enough, but she couldn’t help but think of Erin, too. All of this molestation and harassment was against a normal, average-sized woman. She giggled in anticipation, thrilled to find out what kind of tragic games she could play with her once she was the size of a doll.

“Agh… I can’t wait!” Melanie laughed, much to Erin’s ongoing displeasure. “Ugh… I need to pass the time…” A more devilish side of Melanie came over her expression, a sultry look that was red with desire. She kept Adrian in one hand and watched her while the other hand was unabashedly lowered to her own crotch. The taste of Erin’s mouth and Adrian’s body was still fresh on her tongue.


The night went. The morning went. The afternoon went -- an entire day, Melanie was there, locked up in a cramped boiler room with two playthings. Not a shred of daylight reached them, hidden deep in the abandoned library. Not a soul came even close enough to hear Erin’s muffled pleas or Melanie’s delighted giggles. Time ticked, uneventfully, until the fated hour was before them.


“What if she doesn’t come back…?”

“I’d bust a fucking nut,” Scarlet spat. She was laid out on her back, facing the distant ceiling. She didn’t have the heart to acknowledge Nicky with anything more than that; to her, Nicky’s voice was just an internalized thought made vocal by someone else. “Who gives a shit? I hope they both got hit by a bus.”

“Mm… Could you imagine?” Nicky chuckled. “Being tiny and in a car accident. Th-That’s fucked up.”

Scarlet grimaced. “Yeah, well… I hope that happened.”

“You wouldn’t have any idea what’s going on.” Nicky stared at the bedroom door while picturing such a scenario. “Then again, you don’t really have any idea what’s happening in a regular car accident.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, I didn’t when I had a car accident, anyway.”

“Yeah.”

“... So you really don’t want them to come back?”

“Hell no.” Scarlet sighed, lifting herself up and sharing a stare at that untouched door. “Yeah, before you ask? I would rather starve here on her desk, than for her to come back and keep torturing us.”

“Well--”

Abruptly, the conversation ended. There was a sound heard through the bedroom walls. The front door had been opened. As if on cue, the music from Melanie’s headphones faded to an end. Nicky and Scarlet froze, and even Kimberly, sleeping in her usual corner outside her green-colored cabinet, stood up in a half-conscious shiver. Footsteps could barely be heard thumping along the apartment floor.

“... I-It could be her roommate,” Kimberly muttered. It was a weak flutter of hope, a feather that immediately saw ruin within that next second.

Melanie entered the room, quietly and casually. She flipped on the light, illuminating the cold bedroom. When the three shrunken women had their sights adjusted, they were greeted with their titanic master, who bore an eerily normal smile. Her expression teased them, as did her initial silence. The suspense was killer.

“Aww,” Melanie cooed, “did my pets miss me?” Despite the cruelty of her words, she offered a fairly genuine apologetic expression. While talking, she moved her chair closer to herself and placed the messenger bag on the seat. “I know, I know. You must have been worried. I said I’d be gone for only a couple hours, and look what happened. Some… things came up, hehe…

“But I brought home some surprises!” She smiled brightly. “We had a good date. Didn’t we, Adrian?” Retrieved just then from the side pocket was the target of her obsession, pinched at her sides by two body-sized fingers. The others looked to Adrian for some sort of explanation, to get a read on what had happened, but all they could gather was that Adrian was defeated. She whimpered and didn’t move any more than she needed to. Even when she was dropped off at the desk, she nearly collapsed to her knees, overcome with fatigue. No one approached her, hesitant to move in front of the giantess.

The shrunken women didn’t think much of Melanie’s movements. She lifted up one foot onto her chair, untying the shoe and kicking it away. Then she undid the second one, just the same, except she smiled at her socked foot. To Scarlet and the others, she was merely getting undressed, but the gleam in her green eyes gave way to something more grave.

The sock was pulled off, tantalizingly so, the fabric hugging her calf all the way down, until it snapped off the end of her foot after passing her heel. She did this, wanting the attention of her prisoners, because as the sock was removed, so to was her surprise revealed. What was just a bump atop her foot from underneath the sock was in actuality her latest victim, a beaten and bruised college-aged woman, de-clothed, clinging so tightly to Melanie’s foot that she was glued there with the very last bit of strength she had.

Disgust spread among the shrunken, even Adrian felt sick upon being reminded of the treatment Melanie had given Erin. The entire trip home, Erin had been sealed in Melanie’s sock. “Live or die,” Melanie had said to her, “what do you think is more humiliating?

Erin had lived, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

The limp body was plucked off with a painful grip, like a speck being removed from Melanie’s foot. Melanie brought her close to her face, dangling the weak woman just in front of her nose. “Ugh. You smell as miserable as you look.”

Her fascination then went to the others, who quaked under her shadow as it passed over them. She dropped Erin into her other hand, practically juggling her there. She reached for Nicky and grabbed her, abducting her from the desk like an item. Scarlet turned to run, but she was next, and then Kimberly followed, not an ounce of resistance other than a step backwards. Finally, Melanie picked up Adrian, instinctively providing a more leisurely grasp on the person she loved more than anything else. She treasured Adrian for a moment while the other four squirmed across her fingers before putting her at the top of the pile. With both hands brought together, five women were sprawled out awkwardly in her possession -- all besides Adrian completely naked.

Melanie smiled, and then laughed. “I wish… I wish you all could feel this…!” she stuttered, lost in her dark amusement. “If you knew what it was like… to own a collection of such adorable little women… you would forgive me, I know it. You wouldn’t hold any grudges against me. You would understand…

It’s a shame you never will. You can’t even hold a shit at your size. You’ll never comprehend this feeling.

Melanie closed her hands together, slowly enclosing the five women into one mass that kicked and pushed in a vain attempt of just having room to breathe. The more they resisted, the more Melanie laughed, an overbearing echo that haunted them from outside.

“Seriously… Why won’t anyone stop me?” Melanie wondered, a mad tone in her voice. Her eyes were glazed, empty and lost, encircled with dark marks of weariness. “Th-This… really is destiny… No one… is able to stop me… If it weren’t mean to be, then… wouldn’t someone… anyone…?”

The worry and concern faded. All that was left was her smile, more confident and controlled than ever before in her life.

Chapter Eleven by Curse Crazy

The college student waved down a trio of boys, who genuinely listened to her plea. Then she walked backwards into an older man, who took a flier from her without listening. Someone entering the movie theater ignored her, then a couple stopped for awhile, and then a black-haired girl nervously did the same.

This was the last hour of Erin’s known fate, played back fuzzily from a security camera stationed just over the doors into the outlet mall’s movie theater. Dozens of people made contact with the young girl, who fit the profile of all the other missing person cases of the area almost too perfectly. College-aged, attractive; A little more physically fit than the others, thought the one reviewing the footage, but not agile enough.

The detective was hunched over a keyboard surrounded by files, notes, photographs, cups of coffee, water bottles, and chocolate bar wrappers. Her office was clean, except for this one mess at her desk. It was proof that she had been there, all night and into the morning, collecting as much information as she could.

After weeks of having nothing to show of the police’s investigation, the case had been transferred to Candice Coller, an investigator with no small history in kidnappings. A specialist of the sorts, she found a twisted amusement in observing the patterns of these crimes, a sense of humor she developed to silently cope with the burden she hoisted. Time and time again, she caught herself reading a predictable story.

Every case had its quirks, character traits that she would identify with the kidnapper. In her head was an image of who she was building, built out of a gray blob that vaguely shaped itself into different people that could potentially be behind these crimes. It wasn’t always one person, either, sometimes it was a duo or even a small team. Mental notes connected themselves to each possibility, but the face was always blank, the skin always shifting, the frame never consistent.

Candice paused the footage. Her left hand looked fruitlessly for a bottle of water or a chocolate bar while she tried to regain some composure. She sighed, not because her stock of snacks had been depleted, but because of what she saw on the camera. She sympathized with Erin, who had only run herself into more problems by coming out this far in search of a friend, who had very well been kidnapped by the very same person or persons. It pained her to watch these fleeting moments, where Erin was still unaware that this would be the last time she’d be seen for two days and counting.

She chuckled. She was torn on what to think, actually, as she reclined in her chair and tried to look at matters from a new angle. There was a slight possibility that Erin, in her search for Adrian, had just been another victim, where shortly after this attempt to locate her friend did she end up kidnapped for the same suspected reasons as all the other victims. But, Candice had a hunch that there was more to it. This kidnapping was so responsive, it felt like, as though the kidnapper found out about her, and then aimed for her specifically to silence the search.

If that were the case, then the police’s failure to find a culprit -- or even provide enough community security -- had been a vital failing, and what lead ultimately to another girl being nabbed off the streets.

“If that weren’t the case, then it could have been anyone,” Candice said to herself. She looked up at the office ceiling, down to the window, and then back at her monitor where the scene was frozen -- Erin asking a black-haired girl for help. “It could have been her. Just another college student, in the wrong place at the wrong time…”

What started as a grim joke because a playful curiosity, a thought to toy with. But it grew into something bigger, something more tangible. She looked at this black-haired girl, almost intrigued by the green eyes that read over the sheet of paper with Adrian’s face on it. Candice tilted her head. She pressed play, allowing the footage to continue. This girl opposite of Erin pocketed something, just a couple seconds into resuming. Candice leaned in closer, but the person of interest moved, as though alerted that Candice was watching. She walked away with the flier, leaving Erin at the movie theater.

While absorbing all the mall footage, Candice had taken mental references of nearly everyone that was there -- hundreds of people, casually crossing over from one store to the other in what was an average day of business. And this black-haired girl, with the unnerving emerald eyes, had caught her attention before, situated in distant and lonely corners almost everywhere she went.

Mysterious, to say the least, and as a detective, it was Candice’s instinct to look into it. She reviewed all the footage, from the moment the girl was first shot on camera, right to when she left. There were no direct answers to be found here, certainly no kidnapping caught on recording, but what she did find were more perplex elements to who this young woman was. Candice watched her, and the way she moved away from crowds, how she was alone yet not lonely the entire time, how she bought so much from such random places, how she nervously glanced at the cameras, how she could almost be seen talking to something -- something held in her hand, but definitely not a phone.

Candice watched more into the footage, all the way up until Erin had decided to leave the outlet mall. Sure enough, just as Cadice had hoped, this other woman was there, not far behind her.

But her delve into this mystery stopped when she received a message, an update from the police. The message contained a new discovery about Erin’s final whereabouts; a text message from an untracked number, sent to Erin’s phone, and a witness account of her having been seen making her way to a campus library.

Candice felt a thrill, but an unpleasant one. She looked one last time at the frozen camera footage, the very last scene where the black-haired girl was spotted, then looked back at her phone. She typed a note; that’s all this curiosity would be for the moment, a timestamp added to a list of names and numbers she was tracking.


Melanie huffed, wiping her head into her shoulder to dismiss the excess sweat. Her face was reddening, as hot as her breaths were. She was flustered and entertained, but at the same time, she showed restraint, a teetering control over herself. Truthfully, she was nervous, doing this in a restroom that anyone could realistically enter.

“It’s been warmed up… all day, j-just for you!” Melanie chortled. Her expression was nearing ecstasy, devilishly pleased with the scene she made of Kimberly. At her crotch, where her skirt had been lifted and her panties lowered, was the oldest of the women Melanie had dominion over. An adult now turned into a toy that she would play with between and after classes, one of several that she traded out over the past few days. Today, she was in the mood for “big tits;” her words exactly.

Kimberly was overwhelmed, panting even more heavily than Melanie was. She couldn’t move out of the bush of pubic hairs that she had been laid into, hairs that curled around her body with a touch of moisture. She couldn’t move, not with a string of tape tightly binding her arms to her side and her legs together. Struggle as she might, it was in vain, her body completely under the control of this masturbating college student.

“I get so turned on during class,” Melanie joked, her words weighing heavy on Kimberly. “Knowing I’ve got you bugs to get me off… How am I supposed to take notes like that…? Y-Yeah, this is your fault f-for being so sexy, Kim…”

“Please…” Kimberly whimpered, her mouth hanging open to beg for more mercy, but she understood her situation to a terrifying degree. There was no changing Melanie’s mind, and she was reminded of that as her head was urged closer and closer to the wet maw hidden at the thick of the black bush.

Kimberly took a deep breath of the musk in anticipation. It was an intoxicating smell, resonating from this hole she was pushed towards. Two long fingers divided the gap in front of her, and like a monstrous mouth, it beckoned to consume her with a steamy, hungry breath. She leaned away from it, bending back as far as the transparent tape would allow her, but Melanie wanted her there. In the next second, Kimberly’s body was plunged into the cavern, her shouts drowned out by an overflow of hot juices.

Melanie huffed, an ounce of hesitation before continuing. She glanced up at the stall door, her ears open for any interference, though she was confident there’d be none. Like everything she did, this was planned. The fourth floor bathroom wouldn’t be used at the tail end of the day’s classes, she knew this just as well as she knew Anders Library would be unoccupied, or how Kimberly’s office building wouldn’t bat an eye at her lingering there.

Melanie laughed, amused by herself more so than she was with Kimberly’s arousing squirms, the likes of which she quickly returned her focus towards. “Keep it up, Kim~” she panted, twisting the body that was within her to choke out a satisfying scream. “Lick it, eat it! Maybe this should be your only meal for the day…? Huhu…”

This was part of her daily schedule now, to leave her final class of any given day with haste so that she could bunker into a safe spot and jack off using her human slaves. It was a part of her mental schedule, organically wedged into the other tasks of her day as if it were just another chore to take care of. Melanie had lessened her pursuits on other women for the meantime, figuring that she should enjoy her collection now before it became too big to manage. Besides, with a prize like Erin in her possession, there was much satisfaction to savor. Even while orgasming a flood overtop of Kimberly, her thoughts during that climax were about how to embarrass Erin when she returned, how to humiliate her in front of the others while she had Adrian watch.

Like a used tool, she removed Kimberly out of her cunt and into the open air, dangling there by her feet. Still did Kimberly shiver and shake, shamefully presented before the giantess’s expression, a blush and smile that reeked of erotic content, whose eyes lazily lingered on the suppressed breasts behind the sliver of tape.

With her other hand, she checked the time off her phone. “Time to go,” she casually announced, and back into her messenger bag did Kimberly go.


It was the usual traffic throughout the commons of the campus, and Melanie blended into the crowds as a regular student. It didn’t feel real to her. She would look at others that passed by her, she would hear them talk and snicker, and she would wonder. Was that about me? She’d refute the drive to turn around and look, because if she caved and did that, she would have to turn and judge everyone that strolled by.

Her eyes dug into the bricks of the path she walked. A shiver ran up her spine. Do these people have any idea? They don’t… They don’t realize they’re all bugs to me…

A smile wanted to take over her expression, like a wild flicker of a torch, but this wasn’t the place to let go. Her head ached with paranoia. She needed out of this, away from the approaching sunset and into the shadows that she would regularly take refuge in. Fortunately, Anders Library was only a turn away, a short detour that she could tuck away into. Just for a minute, she thought, finding composure in just this decision. Haah… Maybe I can crank another one out on Kim before I head home--

Melanie’s blood froze. Her steps stopped, ending almost in a stumble, as a scene ahead of her blew her away. Down the road she was so familiar with was Anders Library, her sanctuary, tangled with yellow police tape, flanked on all sides by officers.

Everything lost color. Melanie stood, paralyzed with fear, but she looked just like any other student in awe of the scene with intense curiosity. She heard gossiping, but it was gibberish to her, like an incantation she couldn’t comprehend. She observed the police officers navigating around the fences and trees around the library’s parameter, their faces and bodies blurring together as a faintness emptied her.

Is this what it felt like for them? To be cursed?

Melanie trembled forward. She waited, while others passed by her. Then, she turned around and left, her head held low, her pace in a hurry to retreat.

Regardless of how quickly and quietly she left, she did not go unseen. A detective on sight had been observing the crowds, with a specific trope in mind: They always return to the scene of the crime. Candice chuckled, not entirely confident yet in her assumptions, but certainly believing the instinct tugging at her. There were a number of faces that struck her as familiar, and thus she planned her pursuit.


The door slammed behind Melanie and her back immediately pressed into it. She was panting, her heart throbbing in her chest as though she had ran all the way back to her apartment. Every step she got closer to home made that rhythm louder and harder, at its peak right before unlocking the door did it feel like she would be pulled by her shoulder and stopped.

She didn’t have any idea what she would do in that situation. She knew what she knew not of only now, as her fingers crawled along the door in search of the lock. A satisfying click gave her a featherweight sense of safety.

“Melanie, did you--”

Melanie jumped, hitting the door behind her in fright. She nearly dropped her bag, which she then clutched to her chest, before comprehending who was speaking to her. It was only her roommate, Juniper, having just exited out of the kitchen. Her expression had been glazed and tired, but now it was lit up in shock after Melanie’s reaction.

“Okay, whoa,” Juniper scoffed, raising her hands up in defense. “Uh… Mel? Is it hot out there or something? You look sweaty as hell, dude.”

Melanie panted, struggling to compose herself. Her heart felt absent after everything it had been through. “I-It’s… yeah, it’s a little warm,” she lied. “A-And I hurried home, I sort of missed the bus again.” That wasn’t such a lie, now that jacking off with tiny people was a part of her schedule, catching the last bus out of campus was almost impossible.

Juniper continued out of the kitchen. In her hands were a jingling set of keys. “Okay… Well, I was gonna ask if you needed anything from the store. Maybe something for your, uh, electrolytes.”

Melanie wiped the sweat from her brow, still putting much of her weight against the door. She leaned forward, stumbling past Juniper. “No,” she plainly answered, and continued out of the corridor. Juniper shrugged, waved, and hesitated to leave only to make sure Melanie was returning to her room safely enough.

The bedroom door was closed as quickly as it was opened, with Melanie again quick to lock the door -- she never took any chances, but especially now did she fear the possibilities of a snoop. She backed away from the door as though it were cursed, her heel backing into the large bowl that held the enchanted wine. It was still there, after all this time, evidence of her messy behavior if the misplaced clothes and loose garbage wasn’t enough. Fortunately, with being on edge and all, the contact she made against the bowl spooked her enough to avoid knocking it over. She glared at it, yet she didn’t move it.

Instead, her eyes went to her desk. She panted, her iron expression leaving a cold air over top of her collection. Again, the shrunken women had been left to walk about the desk, except for one whose freedom was more restrained. She smiled at her work, the first flicker of positivity she felt since leaving campus. Erin, her most recent capture, had been tied up and hoisted with mundane floss, positioned in an uncomfortable, exploitative position, hanging from the arm’s end of a cartoon figure, a female character pointing outwards.

“Good evening, everyone~” Melanie sang, though her voice cracked while still trying to catch her breath. She leaned forward, her shadow casting over them all, though her immediate interest was on Erin. Melanie poked at her, feeling the weak body flinch. She chuckled as she poked the body harder, making Erin spin like a toy for a few rotations, which then spun backwards just as fast. Erin squeaked and whined through the sickening motion, but it got no mercy from Melanie. “You look so stupid! I wonder if you’re sore enough from being there that you’re actually happy to see me?” She leaned in closer, one huge eye focused on the small, shivering body. “Well? Are you?”

Erin whimpered. Her mouth was dry and her body ached all over. If she had been allowed to eat like the others, the spiraling motion she had endured would have made her vomit, she knew for sure. It felt more painful being reminded just how empty her stomach was, but with Melanie demanding a reply, she forced through the agony to answer. “Y-Y-Yes… I-I’m happy…”

“Weird. Weird little slut.” Melanie backed away, but left a finger just under Erin’s exposed breasts. The tip groped at them, as if mocking how they hung so loosely. “I’m not even forcing you to say that. Did Adrian tell you to just go along with it?”

“Fuck off, Melanie…!” said a voice that made Melanie melt. Adrian sat against the small cubbies, knees tucked into her arms, a foul disposition already displayed. “L-Leave her alone…! Untie her already…!”

“Hah? Well, which is it?” Melanie joked -- genuinely, as though Adrian would find humor in this too. “Do you want me to leave her alone or not…?” Before she could finish, Adrian was already flipping her off. Melanie just thought of it as cute, and continued, “I’ve had a stressful day, and Kim’s been through enough. She really does deserve a vacation~” With her in mind, Melanie dropped her bag onto the floor, a small drop but a significant one for the passenger trapped inside. “Something really pissed me off, and I gotta take it out on something.”

Carrying a wicked grin, Melanie pulled open a desk drawer and fetched from it a pencil. She admired it for a moment, exchanging a glance between its lead tip and Erin’s swaying body. Erin, in that moment, had been turned away from Melanie, which was the ideal position for Melanie. In the bondage-inspired trap Erin struggled to squirm in, the target between her legs was exposed and easily accessible.

“Melanie,” Adrian stammered from below, “for god’s sake, please--”

A harsh whine broke Adrian’s voice. Erin hollered as she felt herself be penetrated by the tip of an everyday pencil, its dulled end making a strong but slow presence inside of her. Erin shivered, the most movement she was allowed amid the web of floss, and Melanie did too, though this was because she feared laughing too hard might totally destroy such a sensitive part of her victim.

“Can you do anything while you’re this fucking helpless?” Melanie asked, twisting the pencil and forcing out another satisfying cry. “Can’t you sharpen a pencil? Are you that useless? Pointless?” She chuckled, and partly withdrew the pencil as a completely real bout of laughter at her own joke was threatening to make her lose focus.

“Stop it!” Erin yelled, her submissiveness immediately on the retreat. “Wh-What the hell?! Ahhg!!” A further plea she had tried to make was choked, as Melanie countered it with another small push forward.

“That’s right. You’re getting fucked by a pencil,” Melanie explained. “You’re screaming because a pencil is too big for you. I imagined a slut like you would be a lot looser…”

Please!!” Erin screamed, rocking her head in a rhythm that went against that of the pencil. She gagged as Melanie continued to churn her with such a simple tool. “Guh… P-Please-- M-Mel-Melanie…!”

“Please what? Please fuck you harder?” Melanie laughed. Her face had become red, with her eyes and lips showing a more frantic and eager part of this sadistic emotion. “For such a shit pencil sharpener, you sure are willing to try your best! Just look at how wet you are, hehe…” Her head came closer, approaching right to Erin’s side, so that even a whisper would still rattle the diminutive person. “Cum! Cum like you want to! I’ll stop this if you just show me you’re done…!

The event continued. Erin’s suffering was a complete show for Adrian and the others across the desk, none of them able to look away from the horror. Adrian was the most attached, watching her ex, yet again, be violated and tormented. All of Erin’s cries for help, desperate prayers to be rescued, left Adrian with immense unfulfillment for how badly she wanted to be there to put an end to this. However, just like Scarlet and Nicky, she was too weak to do anything. The sounds of Melanie’s idle giggling mixed between Erin’s terrified screams left them all feeling haunted.

Eventually, despite how horrible the experience was, Erin found herself ready to climax. She couldn’t help it, nor was she in the right state of mind to even comprehend why. Perhaps it was the promise, as bleak as it seemed, that she would be released from this game if she was to cum. At the same time, she despised the prospect, but it was all against her will. Her body grew hotter and hotter, ready to detonate -- and she did, howling as Melanie thrust the pencil deeper inside the tiny cunt.

Wickedly, Melanie removed the pencil. Erin gasped, feeling a sudden emptiness inside of her, as though her core was made hollow. Melanie sighed in relief, like such a circumstance had been tiring for her at all. She admired the wetness left behind on the pencil’s tip, which she then abandoned on her desk just next to Scarlet.

Silence created emptiness, even with Melanie breathing roughly overhead with her face glowing crimson. Every few seconds, another whimper bubbled from Erin’s abused body, reminding everyone of what just happened. Adrian buckled forward to her knees, her eyes glued to the limp and strained woman hanging above her.

“A-A pencil…” Nicky grumbled, her mouth covered. “This is… This is so, so fucked.”

Scarlet winced, stepping back from the pencil that had been laid close to her. “Are you just now noticing that…?” She shook her head, hoping Nicky wouldn’t reply.

Melanie exhaled, having the courtesy at least to direct her breath away from her collection. “Alright! I feel like I finally woke up!” she chuckled. A second passed, and she felt the collar of her shirt. A ring of sweat had formed around it, countering that refreshing feeling. By extension, she remembered how that came to be, due to her rush back home.

She closed her eyes, and without a word, removed the shirt from over her head. In that same motion, the shirt was dropped on top of the desk, carrying with it a light but notably distinct scent of sweat that she wished her prisoners to enjoy. To them, it was like a dark-colored tarp falling over top of them, with no warning that their air would become thick with Melanie’s personal aroma. Nicky and Scarlet were caught in the middle of it, tripped off their feet, but Adrian was covered only at the fringes, allowing her to crawl out quickly. Melanie had planned as much, and she giggled at the two bumps ruffling around and gagging under her shirt, all while she towered over them in just a gray bra.

“Oh. Shit. Kim…” Melanie muttered this to herself as she crouched down to her messenger bag. She opened the side pocket, revealing the miniature women still tightly bound by tape. Kimberly ached her neck to look up at the opening, greeted with that shadowy smile Melanie bore down on her. She was picked up and brought to the desk, discarded in the middle of the shirt. “Someone should help Kim out of that, her fat ass is really trapped under all that.”

Surveying the chaos she had strewn about on a whim brought Melanie to a content feeling. She breathed, thinking to herself how she was still able to get away with this. This torture, this evil -- No way in hell a fucking cop is going to find out… Let alone, stop me. She laughed quietly, her captives unaware of what amused her.

Just as Scarlet and Nicky were making their way out from under the t-shirt, Melanie began to remove her pants, sporting an equally gray pair of underwear. Purposefully, she bumped her ass into the side of the desk, rocking it hard enough that anyone standing was toppled, while Erin swung from side to side like a pendulum. Melanie’s head turned back to observe their reactions, imagining how pathetic it would feel to gawk at a girl’s meteoric ass hovering just over them. She shivered; even she felt a bit of fear and embarrassment.

“Alright… Time for a shower. I bet you all agree.” Melanie moved to her dresser, fetching a change of clothes that would help her destress. She glanced back at the desk, her eyes immediately befalling Adrian as though she had a mental lock on her position at all times. Despite taking some of her ire out on her tiny women, nothing would truly ease her heart like being close to Adrian. She silently chided herself for almost forgetting that, and letting this power distract her as much as it did. Yet, at the same time, she had no vows to limit what she would do to them.

“Let’s make it a bath, Adrian~!” Melanie said, reapproaching the desk and cupping her hands around her obsession.

“No!” Adrian yelled. “Go to hell! Seriously, j-just go to fucking hell!”

As always, Melanie smiled through the swearing and resistance, attempting to fight against Adrian’s squirming by applying firm pets over her body. “Hmm… Maybe a cold bath, to help you cool off. Hehe…”

With Adrian in stock, Melanie left the room, confident to walk around her apartment knowing Juniper was away. There was no parting comment for the other women, still stranded on the college student’s desk. No teasing, no farewell. The closing of the door signalled that there would be a quiet in the storm that was Melanie’s ferocious presence, a mere minute after she had just terrorized them.

Before the calm could be cherished, Nicky first ran to Kimberly’s aid. “Jesus…” she muttered, responding vaguely to all the circumstances. On her knees, she was able to tear away at the tape that kept Kimberly wrapped up. Kimberly was still, flinching as the tape was ripped off her exposed skin, but otherwise saying nothing, doing nothing. Nicky noticed, “H-Hey, are you okay? You look, uh, pretty beat up…”

“P-Please… Just get me out…” Kimberly coughed. In this attempt to talk, tears formed in her eyes, and a long breath shivered from deep within her dry throat. Nicky continued to free her, but even when she was fully released and able to move, her bones and muscles didn’t cooperate. Barely was she able to even get onto her knees, and even that required Nicky’s aid.

In the meantime, Scarlet found herself not far under where Erin was suspended. The hanging body, perpetually trapped where she was, caught Scarlet’s attention immediately after coming out from under the sweaty shirt, her interest captured a second time. This disgusting display, a human tied-up and abandoned like a decoration, lit a scorching heat somewhere deep within her.

Scarlet turned to Kimberly, knowing she hadn’t been through much better throughout the day. “This is the last time,” she said. “One of the last times, anyway. Hopefully. I’m fucking done here.”

“Mhmm…” Kimberly sighed, resting more of her weight onto Nicky, who happily offered the support. Normally not one for conversation, today Kimberly felt something from the way Scarlet spoke. “What’s gotten into you? Ready to try and kill yourself again?”

“Nah,” Scarlet chuckled. “That’s right… You haven’t been here until just now. Me and Nicky, well… all of us, we talked today about how to escape. We think we’ve got an idea--”

“Oh, oh please,” Kimberly interrupted, her attitude instantly pessimistic. “Impossible. You guys have got to be freaking kidding me.” She stood up, slowly and carefully, but clearly energized by this source of ire. “That’s suicide, all the same.”

“Wow, you’re not even gonna hear us out?” Scarlet spat. “Fine! Maybe fuck you, then! Maybe we’ll all just fuck off while you sit here forever to be a fucking dildo to some maniac bitch! I guess you like being treated like this!”

“Hey, dudes! Come on!” Nicky rose just after Kimberly, keeping herself somewhere in the middle of the fued. “C-Calm down… Kim, seriously, we’ve been talking--”

“No!” Kimberly shook her head violently. “That’s… Whatever you have planned, it’s just gonna get us all killed!”

“At least hear us out!” Nicky raised her voice -- seemingly a first for her. Somehow, if only because it was so surprising, this was able to stop Kimberly’s increasing rage, at least enough to explain. “When Melanie leaves us her headphones, w-we can use that to climb down to her computer.”

Kimberly shook her head already. “The headphones? You’d use the wire?”

“I mean, yeah. It hooks into the tower down below, right? It has to? So, o-one of us can hold onto the headphones to make sure we don’t, like, cause them to fall while we’re going down.”

One of us,” Kimberly sarcastically quoted. Scarlet and Nicky both knew that this was, indeed, a critical problem with their escape, yet it wasn’t the lone problem Kimberly thought of. “What about from there? Do you just jump down?”

“We’d use the cables in the back of the tower,” Scarlet said, pointing through the desk to the general area of the computer. “Yeah it’s not gonna be an easy trip, but that’s all we’ve fuckin’ got.”

“Okay, and then what?” Kimberly was starting to laugh. “You make it to the floor, and get stepped on?”

“Fuck off!” Scarlet was riled up again.

But Nicky rose her hand, begging for some peace. “W-We’d have to get under the door… somehow. And then, into the living room. You see, uh… b-before I shrank, when I was s-smoking, I actually… left my phone in there.”

Kimberly perked up. Suddenly, there was a lot more merit to this plan. “... Your phone? I-It didn’t…?”

“I actually remember, heh,” Nicky scratched at her arm, “I, uh, pulled it out and it slid between the couch cushions. I was high, you know, so I just sort of--”

“Fuck it all,” Kimberly groaned, “the fucking couch? In the living room?

“Take it or leave it, dammit!” Scarlet got closer to Kimberly, ignoring how Nicky tried to distance them. Her words were rapid, “You think someone else is just gonna waltz right through that door and go, oh shit, tiny fucking fairy people or some shit, and then-- just save us like that?! We’re fucked just sitting here, Kimberly! Wake the fuck up!”

Kimberly dragged her palm across her face, exhaling through the fingers. “And what about… her?” she said, looking up at Erin.

“Sh-She’s on board,” Nicky said.

“Obviously!” Scarlet threw up her arms. “Yeah, the girl that got fucked by a pencil? Surprise surprise, she wants out of here. Adrian’s behind it, too. In fact…”

“Sh-She said she would be the one to… stay behind,” Nicky completed the thought that Scarlet hesitated to. “It makes sense. Nothing happens to her here, really. At least compared to us, heh.”

“Assuming we can trust her,” Scarlet grumbled. Nicky shot a nasty look to her, but Scarlet ignored it. After all, it was a genuine concern, and she figured Kimberly would agree with her. There was no promise in any of this that Adrian -- or really, any of those cursed -- could be trusted with something so important and so sacrificial.

Kimberly absorbed this information, her body like a statue that could do nothing but comprehend it all. She ran through the scheme again, picturing the trail down the headphone wire, the scale down the computer, the trek across both the bedroom and the living room carpet, the scale up the couch, and finally the handling of a cell phone -- which may or may not even still be there.

Each complication she could conjure was a counter to her wisdom, a test of the maturity she had over these younger women. She closed her eyes, and hers hands rolled into fists, as if enraged to admit her feelings. “No,” she stated. “No. Just… no.”

“Why?” Scarlet groaned, then shook her head with a rough chuckle. “Actually, screw it, I don’t want to know why. You can stay back then and hold the headphones, maybe Adrian would be willing to come with us after all.” Scarlet turned and left to distance herself.

“I’m not agreeing to that,” Kimberly said dismissively, turning the opposite way and making her leave as well.

Nicky sat in the middle, expecting one of the two to flare up again, or for even herself to speak up and try to bring reason to this. Instead, filling the gap of silence were only the haunting moans of Erin as she cried from her suspended position.

Like a waterfall, it was impossible to hear over the noise of the tub filling, at least for someone as diminutive as Adrian. She waited impatiently for Melanie to finish preparing the bath, her back turned to the giantess at all times while she angrily replayed graphic scenes in her head. Just as she tried to drown out the droning noise of running water, so did she try to forget these memories that burned her, memories of what just happened minutes ago. Her ex-girlfriend, abused and fucked with a pencil. A sharpness cut through the center of her head, physically flinching to just recalling the sight.

Now she was here, in a bathroom, waiting for the god-like abuser to relax and soak. Melanie had immensely less on her mind, and she said little while the water ran. However, that wasn’t to say she wasn’t plagued by her own worries. Different from Adrian’s concerns, on a completely different level. She watched Adrian, thinking of ways to bring up the topic, without inspiring the wrong kind of mindset.

Melanie turned the knob, commanding the water to stop. Adrian breathed, able to hear again, though the very next noise to tear through her eardrums was the crashing of waves as Melanie stepped naked into the lake she had just formed. A spray of water, ever so light, launched up from the corner of the tub Adrian occupied, rising up just enough to give her a gentle taste of the cold water.

“Eee~” Melanie made a shivering noise while lowering herself into the water. Yet, despite how shocking it sounded, it was immediately followed by a long giggle of relief. “Oh… Oh, th-this is good…” she mumbled to herself. “Cold baths… Nothing beats them.”

Adrian turned, enraptured enough by the sight of water that she was willing to bear Melanie being in the image. The waves were hypnotizing at first, but it was impossible to not eventually look up and awe at Melanie, who lounged in the stadium-sized tub comfortably. Above the water, her body was an island, a hill of a person that was more occupied brushing out twisted hairs than it was understanding how massive its movements were. Adrian’s own naked form paled before the cold woman, or perhaps from the chilly air resonating around her.

“U-Unless you like warm baths, A-Adrian…” Melanie hid her lips behind a delicate hand when addressing Adrian, noting how conflicted she looked. “I-Is it too cold for you? Here…” She laid out her hand flat for Adrian, and with the other, she urged her into it. Adrian noticed the wetness of Melanie’s hands, which alone would tell her that the water was too cold. However, once actually taken to the water, she received a more drastic notice, as a wave from Melanie’s movements would rise up and sweep into her palm, washing Adrian up to her waist.

“Gghh!” Adrian winced, a ripple of shivers riding up her body. “Fucker!! M-Melanie!”

Melanie gasped. “I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered, lifting Adrian up quickly -- too quickly, in Adrian’s opinion. “Shit… I-It was an accident. My bad…”

Adrian stomped her foot, and in doing so, almost caused herself to slip. She breathed heavily, her pent up impatience running thin. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.” She gripped at her temples with her forefinger and thumb. “J-Jesus. That’s so fucking cold. You really don’t feel anything, huh?”

Melanie smiled, having a taste for the salt found within Adrian’s words. “I… I like the cold,” she said. “I’m guessing you don’t…”

Silence was her answer, but it didn’t leave her without. Seeing that Adrian prefered warmer waters, Melanie sought a compromise. While keeping Adrian firmly above water this time, she moved around the tub so that she could fill up a small plastic bowl for pouring, which would now be used as an exclusive warm bath for her tiny desire.

“T-Ta-da~” Melanie rested the bowl along the edge of the tub. The rim was as tall as Adrian was, but it wouldn’t matter as Melanie brought her directly to the small pool. Adrian chose to step into the water, her feet hesitant to embrace something so hot. “That must feel a little better, right?”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. She stepped in further, happy enough to at least get out of Melanie’s grasp, but the drop was a bigger plunge than she expected. Immediately, she found herself submerged into the water, but quickly did she get her bearings. She gasped for air, feeling the heat cover her.

“Ahh! A-Ahh…” Adrian was shaking while her body temperature adjusted, but once it did, she felt a strange sensation; relaxation. Her body melted with the water, and she laid against one side of the bowl for an even more comfortable position. The weight of the world was off her shoulders, for now and for the first time in so long.

Melanie was proud for being able to help Adrian like this, but she was still given silence in return. She waded forward in the tub so that she hovered overhead of the bowl. “Y-You’re still mad?” She grinned nervously. “We have this talk a lot, don’t we…”

Adrian kneeled down, deeper into the water, so that only her head was above the surface. She wished she could swim into the pool, ignoring how shallow it was, and get away. The person trying to act nice with her -- She’s a monster. She collects girls. Adrian reminded herself that.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Melanie said. It was all she said, before a long pause deafened both of them.

“You’re sorry? Sorry?” Adrian was on the verge of laughing. “If you’re--- Why are you sorry, if you keep doing this? I’ve told you before. I’ve asked you to stop torturing them. I’ve asked, I’ve begged. And now you’re… apologizing. I-It’s unreal. You know… How can you do this?”

Melanie, as she usually did, lacked a suitable answer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t explain herself or her desires, but that she understood Adrian would dislike that response. Yet, she said it anyway, “They entertain me. They’re small, and weak. And some of them… like Erin, and Wormslut… they deserve this. They’re just bad people. I-I can tell.”

“Erin… Erin is not bad.” Adrian stared blankly, her vision skimming along the rippling water. “You hate her… because she dated me once. That’s all there is to it.”

Melanie bit her lip. “M-More than just that. I mean it.”

Adrian lacked a response, giving one just felt wrong. This discussion was fruitless, a despairing reminder of what kind of life she and others were forced to live. She sunk deeper into the water, her mouth now submerged. It felt better to embrace the warmth, even if the cold, huge reality that surrounded her was persistently present.

Feeling this dejection, Melanie slumped back to her corner of the tub, leaving Adrian in the far part. Her expression seemed surprised, perplexed as to what to do, begging the rippling waters to float forward an answer. Something bitter was spreading its roots around Melanie’s center, growing around her ribcage, and a blackness threatened her mind. Anxiety, building up, because she had no idea what to say to fix this.

Worse yet, this was only another foreboding shadow in her path. Adrian was being distant, and Melanie wondered if this is how it would be. Besides the trip to the mall, and perhaps all the lewd encounters, the two had nothing as a couple -- she wasn’t living the dream she had dreamed, but instead a de-colorized version, a fogged-glass reality of what she wanted. And now, creeping up on her from behind, was another looming threat. The pressure of the police, an investigation, a more dedicated search into the missing Adrian and four others.

In the tub, she hugged herself. Melanie felt the very cold she had summoned bring a chill to her spine, yet she couldn’t shiver. Instead, her mind raced, popping with things to say and imagining their consequences. Something had to be done; she was so close to her destiny, to have everything she wanted, and these moments here were going to decided the angles of which her future would project from.

Melanie’s lips quivered before speaking. “Wh-What can I do to… make you feel better?”

“Let us go,” Adrian spat. “Easy.”

“I can’t do that.” Melanie closed her eyes. “You know that I can’t. I-Is there anything else? M-Maybe something I could do for the others, too. I can’t always control myself… b-but, I can try to do nicer things… i-if that’s so important to you…”

Adrian withheld a scoff, instead opting to roll her eyes. Fucking excuses, she growled, How can she live like such a maniac?!

Adrian clenched her teeth. She inhaled the steam of her bath, clearing her thoughts. “Actually, you know… the others like listening to the music you keep out for them.”

“Oooh. Really?”

“It’s something to keep their minds off things. It gives them… hope, I guess.”

“Hope…”

Chapter Twelve by Curse Crazy

Melanie’s brow furrowed as she leaned in closer. “Fuck you,” she whispered harshly, her voice edged like a knife. “Fuck this. Fuck you. God.” A string of silence, except for the sound of rapidfire clicking and keyboard smashing. Red blotches grotesquely spotted the rim of her monitor, signifying her death in an instant. “Oh, eat my ass! Fuck this stupid fucking…!”

It was the worst thing in the world, losing in her game over and over. She growled and moaned, and each iteration of her vented frustration came at the negligible cost of Scarlet being tortured more and more. She was pinned by Melanie’s bare foot, pushed against the wall underneath the desk, without ever a window of opportunity to squirm free. Everytime Melanie fumbled in the game or lost, she would kick harder on Scarlet’s body, forcing out precious air that the miniature woman had spent the entire previous time trying to collect. Her bones felt weak, as if they could collapse in at any second. She had desperately wanted to be let go and be given mercy, but at this point, all she wished for was that Melanie not lose her games.

“Shit! I didn’t-- Aw fuck you, too,” Melanie groaned again. Her foot drove harder into Scarlet, forcing out a weak cry. “Hey,” she said, distancing herself from the monitor and peering down at the floor. Scarlet could feel her reposition, but she couldn’t look up to see Melanie’s gaze befall her. “Wormslut. You had a job. Lick.

“I-I… I c-can’t…!” Scarlet whined, interrupted by a cough. “I can’t b-breathe--”

Lick!” Melanie pinched her big toe with its neighbor, right where Scarlet’s face had been framed. Her fury and anger were cooled, if only slightly, by the tickling sensation of Scarlet’s struggles between her toes. A precise wet feeling made her smile, “Remember, you have to work for your right to breathe. If you get lazy, that’s fine, you can be like abandoned trash left under my desk.”

Melanie chuckled and went back to gaming, but the thought dwelled on Scarlet. She glanced around, with what little view she had, witnessing the scattered items and objects that ended up here. She was among them on the cold floor, and she could end there, a husk that Melanie could completely forget.

But she looked elsewhere, too. By licking diligently, she expanded her viewpoint. To her left, she saw the monolithic computer tower, humming with activity as it processed the game Melanie played. More interesting to Scarlet, however, was the back of the tower, where cables of all kinds connected. Dust clustered at the bottom and hung off some of the wires, but none of that mattered. All she could imagine was scaling down those cables, riding some like ropes and using others as steps to descend. She continued this backwards vision, her eyes trailing the top part of the computer until it reached the front headphone jacks. It would be from there that they would first begin their escape truly.

Escape. Escape. Scarlet’s thoughts were of this one subject. Get out of here. Run away. Escape.

Melanie’s gaming session was not just chaotic for her foot slave. On the desk itself, her tiny toys flinched and leaped whenever their captor would come into obstacles. The wagon-sized mouse would be lifted and slapped onto the desk, Melanie would bash her fist against the corner, she would shake and groan loudly; all these things rumbled the arena that Adrian and the others were stranded on, at the furious whimsy of a girl losing at a video game.

“Damn it!” Melanie had barked in protest again. Her hands, as usual, thumped into the desk in frustration. Another quake rippled underneath the women, this time causing Adrian to topple off her feet.

“Shit! Melanie!” Adrian complained. “Fucking calm down! For crying out loud…”

Melanie bit her lip. Even Adrian, with all the joy and positivity that she brought into Melanie’s existence, wasn’t enough to settle her anger. It did help, and it shook her from an impatient trance. She breathed, too embarrassed now to look at Adrian -- so she looked at Nicky, cowering in a corner alongside Kimberly.

“You.” Melanie selected her. “Stand up.”

Nicky hesitated, but only for a second. In the next, she was up on her feet, trembling forward. “Y-Yes…?”

Immediately, she was knocked down. Melanie jabbed her with finger, a hard push into her chest that made her collapse backwards. It was barely a touch, but the size and suddenness of it forced the wind out of Nicky.

“I-I-I’m sorry…!” Nicky squeaked, twisting on the floor.

Stand up,” Melanie demanded. Such a cold voice was too terrifying to disobey, so Nicky rose again, even though that same finger hovered right there, like a brick wall in her path. Just as she had thought, as soon as she was balanced on two feet, still recovering from the previous blow, she was pushed again. Back on her butt, she whined and held where it felt sore.

Melanie grinned, entertained by this. “Yeah. That’s how I feel right now,” she said. “I’m doing what this game wants me to do, and I keep dying… I just want you to know how it feels.”

Nicky shivered. Her mouth hung agap, and she felt tears wanting to well up in her eyes. She turned; what hurt worse, it seemed, was how no one came to her aid, including the motherly figure of Kimberly. She sat there, unimpressed, unmoved. Nicky looked at Adrian, on the opposite side of the desk. At least there was pity in her eyes, Nicky could sense that from afar, but she glanced back at Kimberly, who felt even further away than Adrian. She admitted defeat, remaining where she had been pushed.

Despite this treatment, both Nicky and Scarlet down below knew this all paled to how they’ve been treated before, and it didn’t compare to Erin’s abuse. Over the past couple days, all but Erin found themselves spared from much of Melanie’s torment. She still used them as she pleased, and they were all objects to her as before, but more of Melanie’s ire was directed to Erin and Erin alone. She was tied up still, just as she had been, roped into bondage and left to hang from the pointed hand of an anime figure that was displayed on the upper part of Melanie’s desk. Everyday, Melanie would wake and find something to do to her; Erin’s cries and struggles were just a daily part of Melanie’s routine, and even Adrian was becoming dulled to the torture.

Adrian hated that. She felt that sensation creep up on her, even then as Melanie played her game where every quake she made would cause her ex-girlfriend to swing and sway. This is normal now, isn’t it? Like the sun rising and waking me up. This is what happens everyday.

In red capitals, the word “defeat” painted the screen. It not only signalled the end of that game, but the end of Melanie’s session. In a rage, she typed swiftly into the chat, a farewell of aggressive, colorful language, which was appropriately followed up with a swift exit of the game. At the same time, Scarlet was released from her pinned place, left to drop to the carpet. For a moment, she was able to breathe, but only enough to refill her lungs once as two toes pinched at her waist and lunged her back into the air.

Melanie slid her chair back, kicking up her foot so that Scarlet was on display. She was held awkwardly on her side, resisting the toes’ hold while at the same time gripping them for safety. It tickled Melanie, which threatened to drop Scarlet if she persisted on writhing around.

“You’re a dedicated foot lover,” Melanie said to her, like a real compliment. “You’ve come a long way, Wormslut. Even though you’re worthless, you can make up for it by licking my toes clean. Aren’t you proud?”

Scarlet was trained. “Yes,” she said, almost too quickly to be understood. Salt burned her tongue, making it troublesome to say more. Fortunately, a simple agreement was all Melanie needed. She lifted her foot over the desk, then released her just beside the keyboard.

Melanie’s smile then aimed at Adrian, her angle softer. “Did you hear that, A-Adrian?” she asked. “I can be nice. I approve of Wormslut’s licking. I mean it! See?”

Adrian shivered. Since their conversation in the bath, Melanie had been doing this. She kept up the same usual torture, but she would end it with less cruelty. Instead of degrading her playthings with wicked bouts or lashes, she would degrade them by compliment, by showing her appreciation for how toy-like they were. Despite this being a familiar comment, Adrian still had no idea how to process it. Was Melanie being serious? Did she genuinely think that this alone was enough to make up for things? Or was this another devilish part of her games, intentionally trying to mock Adrian and her attempts at getting mercy?

But Melanie didn’t require an answer, much like she didn’t require much from Adrian in general. She was pleased just to have some sort of response to Adrian’s concerns, even if it was failing to address the core of the problem. There was a drop in her shoulders while she surveyed her things on her desk, her expression content. Her gaze fell particularly heavy on Scarlet, which Scarlet shivered under even if Melanie had no intentions for her. What ran through Melanie’s mind was how long this had gone on -- all of this, and how it all began with Scarlet intruding on her territory. She giggled, a mystery to those beneath her as to what amused her.

“Now then… Who to play with next?” Melanie teased them, her voice playful when it meant hell for her victims. Sparing them the suspense, she poked at Erin’s helpless body. She barely moved in response, hardly even a twitch. “Hmm. Are you dead yet? I hope not. I don’t want to throw a corpse into my waste basket.”

Erin winced, but she kept silent. In truth, she wanted to yell and cry, but enduring the situation itself drained her of energy. Every breath felt valuable and necessary just to survive for the next minute, and Melanie felt that. She aimed for that. With her pinky finger hooked, she rubbed at Erin’s exposed stomach with just the tip. Her motion was erratic, an attempt to get Erin to be tickled into laughter, and as much as she tried to fight that sensation, the huge finger would beat her.

“P-P… Please…! Hahh!” Erin yelped before her pleas boiled into dry heaves of laughter. Melanie smiled and lessened her tickling. Immediately, Erin’s forced laughter ended, and she coughed hard in its place. Even that would be interrupted, as Melanie thwacked her rear with a flick of her finger. Erin cried out, the shockwave of the strike running harshly through her body.

“You’ve still got life in you. I bet you hate hearing that, huh?” Melanie licked her lips. If Adrian hadn’t been there, shooting daggers up to her as a reminder of what they discussed, she gladly would have continued. It would have become her next activity, to occupy her empty schedule. Fortunately for Erin, Melanie retreated back into her seat, again looking over her desk with an amused grin.

Everything felt right. Like viewing over her kingdom as a queen, Melanie felt powerful, unstoppable, and in control. She lifted her hand, casting a shadow onto the desk where it hovered, for no other reason than to see Scarlet and Nicky flinch. She kept her eyes on Kimberly, who shivered under her wintery glance, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Melanie was feared, and she relished in it to an extent even she considered to be borderline embarrassing. If anyone saw me acting like this, they’d think I’m a real piece of shit.

Melanie gasped, covering her mouth just in time to prevent a weird sound leaving her throat; there was a knock on her door, taking her by surprise. On a dime, her view of the tiny people on her desk shifted from that of pride to horror. She sobered up completely, realizing how easily she could be caught by whoever was trying to barge in--

“Melanie, can you come out here? Like now? Now-ish?” A voice powered through the door, followed by another blunt knock. Melanie identified it as Juniper, and her shock was no longer so paralyzing. Her paranoia had her first thinking it was anyone else, blinding her to more reasonable answers. Regardless, Juniper’s message was urgent. “Now-now, seriously.”

“Fucking…” Melanie swore under her breath, frantically looking back and forth between her living toys and the door being knocked on. “H-Hold on, I-I’m coming, uh…”

The door was cracked open, just enough that Melanie’s face could peer out. Juniper’s head was just above her’s, leaned in close to the gap that was made. Melanie stuttered, “Y-Yeah? I’m busy…”

“Busy?” Juniper blinked. “Alright, well, someone’s at the door for you, and they definitely heard you shouting, so.”

“Th-They-- r-really?!” Melanie shrank with a shiver in her eyes, riddled with embarrassment. “I-I… W-Was I being loud…?”

“You need to get out here.” Juniper was blunt, something Melanie took immediate note of. It scared her, in fact, to hear such a serious tone from her roommate.

But she needed time, and only an excuse could do that. Yet, her words trembled in front of Juniper’s glare. “I-I just… I’m in the m-middle of something, so--”

“Uh! It’s important,” Juniper laughed. “Come on!”

“R-Right…” Pitifully, Melanie stepped back into her room. Her secret collection was still out and about, her collection of mostly-naked women strewn across her desk. There wasn’t enough time to put them back, and with Juniper’s presence acting as a pressure to move, she made a hasty decision. She turned back to the door, opened it, and slid out. Adrian and the others, she thought, would have to be trusted. After all, as far as she figured, there wasn’t anything her victims could really do to get away.

Melanie was dragged out of the hallway and into the living area, pulled along by Juniper’s motions to follow. A flurry of emotions bothered Melanie, between her usual nervousness and the anger boiling up inside her towards this distraction. Something about this issue persistently annoyed her; “Wh-Who is it outside, anyway…? I-I’m not expecting company…”

“Ha, are you not?” Juniper shook her head. “It’s the cops. I had to fucking sprint around hiding all my shit after I told them to wait.”

“The cops?!” Melanie froze, halfway to the front door.

“Well, a cop,” Juniper specified, “but I have to fucking jet because of it. I am, full-disclosure, way too high for this shit.”

“Y-You!” Melanie stammered. She felt like a dying animal crippled within an iron trap. “You-- You can’t leave…!”

But her voice was too meek to reach Juniper, who was already unlocking and opening the door. Melanie peaked around Juniper’s shoulder, witnessing a glimpse of this “cop,” though right away she realized that this was no ordinary officer. It was a woman, dressed professionally and clean, more suited to look like a lawyer than anything else. A woman, tall and slender, with longer brown hair and a face beholding a simple, earnest grin. She seemed happy to be greeted again by Juniper, but Melanie smelled that her smile was more than a formality. She sensed joy, like a hunter content with their catch.

“Here she is~” Juniper sang, waving her arm back to where Melanie cowered in the shadows of the apartment. “Haha! Yep, she’s here. Right here.”

“Indeed she is,” the woman giggled, looking right through Juniper. Her gaze was studious over Melanie, reading into every detail she saw. “I hope you don’t mind if we tried to talk alone, do you?”

“Nah, not at all,” Juniper replied. She stepped past the woman, on her way out. “I-I’m actually headed out of here for awhile! So! You two, uh, get the whole place to yourselves!”

“That’s exactly how I’d like that.” The woman was allowed in. She ignored Juniper from there on out, having only an interest on the cold girl in front of her. “My name’s Candice -- you can just call me Candi, if you’d prefer. I’m a detective investigating a missing person that you might know of. Would you mind answering a few questions? It would really help out the search.”

With those words sprouted a darkness behind Candi. Deep stretches of blackness took over that half of the apartment before growing all around it. Melanie’s fingers twitched in a desire to rush back into her room, but anything like that could draw the suspicion she sought to dispose herself of. She could barely breathe as the air became dense, knowing that just behind her, on the other side of that wall, were all the women this detective was looking for.

And Candi felt none of this. She maintained her smile and even revealed a snack-sized bag of sweet, fruity candies that she took a single piece from. “Would you like some? I know I can make people nervous -- not everyday you answer questions for a detective, right?”

 

The front door closed. It was always a distinct sound, a feeling that vibrated through most of the apartment, though it was only the tiny captives of Melanie’s that could feel it. Soon after Melanie had left did they hear it shut, leaving them with only a mystery as to where their kidnapper was and what she was doing.

Adrian was relieved to get a break. Melanie had been keeping the atmosphere increasingly stressful, even with her absence. Usually, their captor would leave with one of them pocketed, mostly for the intent of being abused somewhere out and about in Melanie’s everyday life. It was rare that all five would be together in peace; perhaps a semi-peace, but certainly a relief from the usual terror that haunted them, the knowledge that one among them was selected to be tortured.

Relief, however, was not the only feeling Scarlet had when she heard the door close. Her heart raced as she stood in the middle of the desk, surveying the distance between the desk and the door as though she had peaked a mountaintop. It felt unreal at first, but her eyes started to beam with confidence and energy. She could see something the others weren’t attentive for; an opportunity.

“Hey,” Scarlet called out. Adrian and Nicky turned to her, but said nothing. Kimberly raised her head, but responded even less than the others. There was a long pause as Scarlet battled with the last of her doubts, but she soon picked up her fists and started to nod. “We’re doing it. Right now, we’re-- we’re gonna do it.”

“D-Do what?” Adrian asked. “You don’t mean… like, right now?”

“This is it,” Scarlet replied, still dead-set on the massive door opposite of them. “This is the time. We have to go now!”

“You’re crazy,” Adrian said, chuckling nervously. She thought Scarlet was overreacting, and would see her passion fizzle out within seconds, but that didn’t happen. Scarlet started moving, almost hopping with how hot her blood flowed. Slowly, even Adrian could feel that energy wanting to rise inside of her.

Nicky approached the two, hesitant like Adrian but in agreement with Scarlet. “We’re escaping…” she said, a thought that bubbled aloud. She had the want to smile, but her focus was on the mission. “Alright. Let’s pull the headphones back.”

“A-Are you serious?” Adrian scoffed at the two, who quickly went to start the first step of their escape plan. Each of the pair grabbed one headphone each, and then strutted backwards to create as much tensions as possible along the cord. They were so pumped with adrenaline that when they reached the wire’s end, they nearly stumbled from the sudden stop. “We don’t even know when she’s coming back! B-Be real, you guys!”

“I’m being real!” Scarlet said, her voice being filtered into a panicked laugh. “I’m real about getting the fuck out of here! Real done with being some tiny sex toy for some piece of shit loner emo assfuck! Hah!”

“We-- C-Come on!” Adrian tried to be reasonable. Even though she wanted to escape, just as badly as Scarlet and the others, she couldn’t shake off the risks. The last thing she wanted, of course, was for this plan to fail. “We might not get a second chance! Ever! I-If this doesn’t go right, we’re screwed! Are you listening?!”

“Adrian… I’m not-- We’re not waiting!” Scarlet pointed hard at Nicky, who kept somewhere close to her side now in anticipation of their getaway. “This is it! This has to be the time! I-I can’t wait anymore, man, I fucking can’t!”

“Scarlet…” Adrian said it -- her name. There was hardly a chance to say it aloud, ever since she heard it from Nicky. Now, she hoped that speaking it would get through to her. “Scarlet, we have to be patient! What if--”

Scarlet charged Adrian, pushing her over with a rough tackle. Adrian all too easily was knocked down, collapsed and recoiling on the desk while Scarlet stood over her. “I said I can’t fucking wait anymore…” Scarlet growled, her fists clenched as though she were ready to beatdown on her fallen target. Adrian looked up at the fury in Scarlet’s eyes, noticing more than just that emotion. There was desperation, and resolve. She knew Scarlet to be hot-headed and bold, but this was different than those times before. Scarlet was ready, and there was nothing Adrian could do to stop her.

Adrian looked up weakly at Nicky, who was concerned only for the outbreak in violence that happened before her. Otherwise, she too was prepared to leave, though not nearly as confident in herself as Scarlet was. Adrian lifted herself up slightly, looking back in Kimberly’s direction. Unlike the other two, she remained stationary and still.

“Okay. Okay, fine.” Adrian sighed, getting back up to her feet. She looked up and down the long wire of the headphones, shaking her head all the while but no longer looking to argue. “But we have to get Erin down. We’re not leaving her.”

“Her? Aw, fuck.” Scarlet shook her head, still catching her breath from when she rushed Adrian down. With so much adrenaline pumping in her veins, her panic-like state was controlled and precise. Her eyes darted to where Erin still hung above them, squinting in frustration. She gave Erin two seconds of thought, then shook her head again. “No way. We can’t reach her.”

“Y-You’re not even going to try?!” Adrian spat. She shook with a great fear that this could be how it ends, with the lot of them abandoning Erin in this hell. Refusing that, she got up to Scarlet quickly, this time fortified with the stability to resist a push back. “You! I swear, you…! Can’t you give us a fucking minute?!”

“Every minute we waste is time that we could be spending getting the hell out of here! How the fuck are you even going to get her down?!”

“I don’t know! I don’t fucking know, maybe that’s why I need you to slow down!”

Nicky again tried to force some peace -- desperately. “Please, please…! Y-You’re freaking me out!” She pulled Scarlet back, sensing another physical conflict. “If you don’t want to waste time, we have to go now, Scarlet.”

Scarlet snarled, allowing herself to be pulled by Nicky. There was a contest of a glare between her and Adrian, until Scarlet spun around dismissively and kept walking to the headphones. “We don’t need her right now,” she said, then stuttered out quickly, “o-or maybe not at all! Fucking shit, come on, Nicky. We’ll get out of here at the very least.”

Following Scarlet’s directions, Nicky went to the headphones. Her pleading expression was still aimed at Adrian, silently asking her to compromise somehow. She knew this whole mission would work best with everyone together, less they end up split apart and without each others’ support. The idea frightened her, but it was far better than being abused by a cruel goddess for even one more day. If leaving some behind was what it took to get away, then that’s what it had to be.

Adrian felt a burning to argue, but it would be pointless and detrimental. Her hands were shaking as she came to the realization that this window of escape was shrinking because of Scarlet’s erratic nature. There was little time to worry, as Adrian had to calculate an answer to her problem. Somehow, she had to get Erin down from her bonds, and then escape before Melanie’s return.

 

“How have you been feeling about all this?” Candi crossed one leg over the other where she sat at the couch, opposite of the armchair that Melanie sweated in. “It seems like a scary world right now for girls like yourself. Has it been on your mind a lot?”

Melanie kept her head angled down. Her shadowy bangs kept a veil over her eyes through most of these conversations she had with Candi. She hesitated to answer, her tongue swelling up anytime she was expected to talk. Normally, thoughts would be zooming through her mind. She would think of spiteful comments to make to herself, she would chastise herself for getting into awkward situations. Now, her brain created long blanks. It didn’t feel real. Color around Melanie had faded, in an already faded environment.

There was an eerie calm about the atmosphere, however. Melanie managed to speak, her voice perpetually under volume, “It isn’t just young girls.”

“Hmm?” Candi tilted her head. A fruit candy snapped under her teeth, a treat she had popped in while waiting for Melanie to answer. She swallowed, “You’re right. There was an older woman caught up in a lot of this.”

“Do you know i-if… if it’s all connected…?”

Candi grinned. “We have it in our notes that it could be related, yes, but there’s a lot to consider. The media likes to group up all these missing people into one category, but the police have our own systems. I’m sure you understand.”

Melanie was still. It wasn’t much, but drawing out information about this investigation -- as little as she could -- made her feel safer. There was fight in her yet, but it wasn’t enough to raise her spirits.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Candi said. “How have you been feeling? Have you talked to a counselor or anything?”

“No…” Melanie could answer that fast enough. “I-I don’t… I don’t really…”

Candi nodded. She understood what kind of person Melanie was, and that only intrigued her more. This kind of person, she thought, could be hiding so much. “What do you like to do, Melanie? I know you’re taking classes right now, but what about… hobbies?”

“I… uh…” Melanie took time to think of an answer. Is this a fucking quiz or something…?! What the fuck do you think I like?! You think I’m just gonna tell you that I like kidnapping and collecting cute girls?! Is that what you want to hear, bitch?! “Not… Not much… Um, v-video games… a-and I watch some shows…”

“Friends? Family?”

You’re crossing a fucking line…! “Err… N-Not exactly.” She chuckled lightly, as did Candi. Both acknowledged that it was a weird answer. “I-I-I get… money from my mom… but I don’t see my family… N-Not a whole lot, anyway, since I, um, moved out. I don’t have any friends.” Melanie looked up slightly, glancing at Candi’s content expression. She cursed herself silently, realizing that this was the exact description of an isolated, lunatic kidnapper. “S-Some... friends. Ha, I shouldn’t forget about the f-friends I have! I’m just… I-I keep to myself, a bit… or a lot…”

“An introvert,” Candi laughed. She would have kept the scene warm with her sunny voice, had Melanie not been a jagged glacier. “I’m exactly the same. I’d rather read a book than go out to a party.”

Well aren’t you a special bitch! Melanie managed to fake a laugh.

“Well, at the very least, I hope college has been helping you make friends.” Candi never gave up that calm demeanor, but her cheeks softened when she thought of Melanie and her school. “It’s good to socialize at your age. The world is branching open for you. Meet people -- maybe even a special someone, ha!”

Melanie snickered, forcing out more amusement to what Candi said, but hating the sour taste of this adult’s words. “Haa… Special enough to kidnap?” she joked, and a real, hearty laugh escaped Candi.

“Ha! Haha!” A giggle fit took over Candi, and as it trailed to an end, her fingers pried into the small bag for another pinch of fruit bites. “That shouldn’t be funny. It really isn’t.”

“No, you’re right… It isn’t.” Melanie brushed at her bangs, but really she was trying to keep the sweat off her brow. “But… that’s what you came here for, r-right? Unfortunately, I don’t really know much about the victims… or, anyone around here, really. Just Juniper, and myself…”

“Ah, well,” Candi corrected her posture, like readying a striking stance in a duel. “You might happen to know something that you wouldn’t think matters to us. How about you walk me through a few days; did you visit the mall recently?”

 

Scarlet groaned as she pulled back hard on the headphones, the two divided cords bundled into her one grip. Once the tension was tight, Nicky went to test it, applying some weight to the cable by stepping on it. It was sturdy, for a time, but she could still feel slack. If this makeshift rope was to be their escape, it would need to support them all the way down, and whoever would stay back to keep the headphones locked down would need to ensure that there’s as little room for mistake as possible.

“I-It’s… It’s kinda good,” Nicky said, calling over to Scarlet’s direction. “But…”

“It’ll have to do!” Scarlet spat furiously. “I can’t take this any longer… This better not fuck up on us.”

“Well,” Nicky sighed, approaching Scarlet, “I think it’ll mostly depend on who’s staying back. It’d be safer if a couple people held onto it for support, h-honestly, but…”

“Yeah, two people. Two volunteers. We can’t even assure one,” Scarlet explained hastily. They would very likely have to go without that additional help, but it enraged her to know that someone wasn’t helping at all. She yelled, “Kimberly! For fuck’s sake, can you just help us?! I’m fucking begging!”

Kimberly bit her lips. She was huddled by her drawer, like she almost always was, her legs held against her chest. Having explained herself once before was enough for her, and so she gave neither Scarlet nor Nicky any recognition.

“Fucker,” Scarlet spat again. “Stick around here, fuck you. Fuck you. I hope Melanie just… just punts you, punts you like a football. Whatever.” She looked for the only other possible sources of aid, that of which was Adrian and Erin, but they were going to be of no help, not soon enough. Adrian had managed to climb up to the upper area of the desk using the knobs of the drawers as unsafe steps. Scarlet could admit, she was persistent, but the real climb was just ahead of Adrian, and she doubted that she would be able to reach Erin.

“Are we… A-Are we gonna go?” Nicky asked, swallowing nervously. She looked back, surveying the chasm between the desk and the computer tower. “Which one of us…?”

“You’ll go,” Scarlet said. “Obviously.” She was silent, troubled. “It’s your phone. You know how to use it. It’s got to be you, at least.”

Adrian huffed, finally pulling herself up from the final drawer and up to an area of the desk she had never been before. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much up here -- the monitor on one half took up most of the space, and all that occupied the rest were the various figures, charms, and collectibles that Melanie had gathered before her interests turned to real living women. She focused on just the one figure ahead of her, which stood tall like a plastic giantess, all of its own. Embarrassingly, she saw up the shining smooth surface of the legs to where they met up the character’s skirt; white panties taunted her.

Even her anime figures are going to make me feel helpless, Adrian thought, but quickly she shook that thought away. Instead of daydreaming about the hugeness of this novelty item, she looked at it instead as a real obstacle between her and her friend in need. It was at the end of this toy’s pointed hand that Erin was hoisted and held like a human chandelier.

Adrian hugged a long, cool leg of the character and pulled up. Her climb immediately became a scramble; any plan she initially had for scaling the scale figure was lost as soon as she made the first jump up. Still, she managed to secure some sense of balance by using the knee as a difficult foothold. In truth, most of what kept her up was how tightly she clung to the plastic woman’s body, a grip that was complemented by the black thigh-highs and the tiny ridge they produced.

She panted and glanced down. She had barely gotten off the ground, yet she already felt pushed to a limit. With a huff, she reached up the hem of the skirt and pulled up again. A frantic arm searched for something above that to grab, and she located a bump of a plastic button. Bit by bit, she was climbing up the figure as though it were a tree, whose branch-like arm was the destination. Adrian stopped to rest for a moment at the figure’s chest and shoulder area, but the moment of relief didn’t last.

“A-Adrian…” Erin spoke with a hoarse throat. Her body shivered each time Adrian made a bound up the figure, the rough climb causing it to rock and shake. “Be… Be careful…”

“Hold on, Erin, j-just hold on!” Adrian took a deep breath, knowing she’d need it. To undo Erin’s bonds, she would have to crawl across the outstretched arm to its very end, where she could then tend to the floss that had Erin subdued. Perhaps, Adrian assumed, the fall from that height wouldn’t be lethal, but more important was the waste of time all this would be if she failed, especially when she was so close.

One more precious second was all Adrian invested before starting her move forward. The arm wasn’t very wide for her, and to secure herself better, she crawled along by hugging her body against it. Inch by inch, she could squirm forward, but the slow pace was infuriating. At one point, lost in her own panicked mindset, Adrian thought she was making no progress.

But, finally, she was able to make it to the end. “Adrian…!” Erin half-cheered, putting forth the most optimism she could swell in this situation. “Please, please let me down! I-I need… I need down…!”

“I-It’s okay, it’s gonna be fine,” Adrian assured her. Then, she noticed her balance failing. She held on, but her initial attempt at reaching for the floss was interrupted. “W-Wait, wait! Try not to shake around!”

“Please, Adrian…!” Erin cried. Her breaths were loud and alarming, quickly coming out one after the other. Her heart was drumming madly as anxiety flared up in a wave of heat. Against the warning Adrian gave her, Erin started to squirm nervously. She wanted to be free, to finally be allowed the simple luxury of moving.

“Erin! I’m serious!” Adrian forced herself to the tip of the arm, just a little further so that she could get a more optimal view of the floss’s knot. All of Erin’s worrying was reminding Adrian of how important this was -- she started to rush, too. “J-Just hold up a second! Don’t move!”

Erin wailed softly. She had already started crying. As the light of freedom was just a shimmer, she excitedly wanted it, so much that she reminded herself how dramatically agonizing this event has been. It hurt, every part of her that had been abused, but what stung most was the rope digging into her flesh, leaving a net of red marks along her body that burned with sensitivity. She told herself that she had to endure; she bit her lip hard, and minimized her moaning to a restrained whine.

Despite Erin’s compliance, Adrian still had trouble figuring out the floss. Even at their size, the floss was thin and thus harder to manage. Furthermore, it was tied at the figure’s wrist, meaning that simply moving the floss off the hand entirely was out of the question. Adrian pulled at it, but to no avail. She regretted now not grabbing anything to make a cut with, but then again, there wasn’t much that would have helped her.

“What’s wrong?!” Erin suddenly asked.

“I… I can’t get it undone!” Adrian confessed, flustered in her search for an alternative. Desperate for anything, she peered out to where Scarlet and Nicky had been, but there was only Scarlet there, on her knees with the headphones pulled back in her direction. “Scarlet!” she shouted angrily. “I told you! I told you to wait!

Scarlet flinched at the yelling, but she ignored it as she focused only on keeping the wire tense and sturdy. She could feel it vibrate in her palms, everytime Nicky took another step further down the wire. With or without Adrian or anyone else, Scarlet was going to make sure Nicky escaped. If even one of them was able to get free, there would be a chance -- an abysmally small chance -- that they could find and bring help. The police, the FBI, Nicky’s mom, it didn’t matter who, but someone could possibly rescue them all and prevent this from happening.

Get away from this bitch, Scarlet thought towards Nicky. I’m sorry, Nicky. I dragged you into this. Even if you don’t find any help… I’ll feel better that you got out of here.

Nicky thought nothing complicated. Her thoughts were simple, which was how she usually functioned, fortunately for her. When she was distracted by the pit beneath her, she remained collected, if perhaps a little unnerved. It was hard not to look down as she straddled down the green headphone wire, as all sorts of random items could be found in the chasm below; lost collectibles, loose change, trash Melanie had pushed aside from possibly months ago, all collected together with a layer of dust between the tower and the desk. If nothing else, the sight motivated Nicky to keep climbing down to the safety of the tower’s roof.

Scarlet maintained her weight opposite of where the headphones wanted to drag, up until she felt much of the heaviness on the other end suddenly fade. She blinked as the worst thought popped into mind instantly. Her lips quivered--

I made it! I made it!” Nicky’s voice could be heard down below. She was cheering and jumping and panting. Scarlet, upon hearing this, ditched the headphones and ran to the edge of the desk, needing to confirm that it worked. Indeed, right at the headphone jack was Nicky, safe if a little shaken.

Scarlet smiled, and she pumped out a woo of excitement. “Okay! Good job!” she yelled back down. “J-Just stay there! I… I’ll come down next! Don’t go anywhere!”

“Yeah, I got you!” Nicky shouted. She laughed, ecstatic that they had made this much progress. There was such relief, but it stemmed from a temporary ignorance to just how little distance she had truly made. She could run down without the others if she pleased, and no one could stop her, yet, she would still be trapped in Melanie’s room. It wouldn’t be until later, much later, that she could call herself free.

For now, Scarlet had to figure out how to get out herself. She wanted to be next, that was the plan, but without someone to hold the headphones, the path to escaping was closed off. “This was supposed to be fucking solved already,” she groaned under her breath, unable to look at what antics Adrian was into. Instead, she looked to Kimberly, but she was equally as mad with her. Even now, all the older woman did was rest and keep to herself. “Kimberly!” Scarlet barked. “Here! Now! You fucking have to do this!”

Kimberly scoffed. What was meant to just be a sharp sigh had instead been the end of her patience, and she rose her head to argue, “I told you! I fucking told you! I told you, I told you, I fucking said it…!” One hand gripped her own arm tightly. “There’s no escape from here, you brat! You’re just going to get killed! You’re going to get us all killed!”

“We don’t have any goddamn time for this!” Scarlet stomped her foot, pacing back and forth in a small series of steps around the headphones. “Kimberly! Now!”

“No!”

“Fuck off, come on! I-I’m going to really be trapped here because of you?!”

“Eat my ass, Wormslut!”

Scarlet turned red, and whatever curse she had meant to sling instead stuttered into a screech. “I’ll kill you my fucking self!” she threatened, and to affirm that, she began approaching with heavy footfalls. “I mean it. I really am that unhinged, you garbage waste of space! I’ll strangle you!”

“Get over here and die.” Kimberly chuckled, and she lifted herself up. “I’ll kick your ass, d-do you think I’m scared of a fucking kid?!”

D-D-Duhh? D-D-Do you?” Scarlet mocked her, but then, her entire expression flipped. Concern washed over her in a flash-- “Look out!!

Kimberly glared. “What?!” She gasped; Scarlet rushed her, grabbed her, and pushed her aside in a sudden leap. Kimberly pushed back, thinking this was a fight breaking loose, up until she felt the shadows under her move. She gawked up to see the figure overhead, like a building about to collapse, teetering just over the edge above.

One second felt stretched to an entire scene. First, it was Adrian’s scream, then Kimberly’s. Scarlet, having predicted the fall, had braced for impact; similarly, Erin didn’t make a noise, her voice was lost as soon as she felt gravity twist around her. The figure’s base had always been just an inch off its ledge, but it wasn’t until Adrian and Erin’s combined weight, plus their bouncy and nervous movements, that the figure was unbalanced enough to tumble. As mighty of a structure as it was to the tiny women, it tipped over all at once, not at all as heavy as their diminutive shapes would expect.

It crashed. The impact rattled the desk, a thud accented with a sharp snap. Despite how dramatic the fall had appeared in motion, this loud shot of noise was also the end of the chaos. Silence ripped afterwards, as disorienting to the captives as any cacophony would have been.

Scarlet’s heart was still as she laid half on top of Kimberly. She was scared, and it wasn’t until Kimberly nudged her that she realized she didn’t die. In fact, she was well off, all things considered. No harm, not even a bruise. Kimberly, too, was fine aside from the sheer fright. Both eventually stood up, on neutral terms now, to survey the destruction. Greeting them was the molded, saccharine smile of a colorful female protagonist, except her once proudly extended arm had been snapped broken, revealing her hollow insides. Spikes of pink hair, too, had been dislodged and scattered like twigs.

More important to them than the figure were the two women that fell with it. Adrian had been thrown off from the arm, tumbling a short distance away from where it had snapped. She was roughed up with a pained arm, but adrenaline got her to her knees quickly. She was dazed, looking around at the sudden change of scenery, before she too looked at the heart of the crash. “Erin!” she cried.

Erin was in a slump, partly underneath the figure’s chest. She writhed and groaned like a dying body, but it wasn’t the crash that put in her such a state; rather, it was all she could do, still tied up in the uncomfortable binding of floss, only now she was pinned in place by the plastic toy.

As Adrian recovered, Scarlet and Kimberly had ran to Erin’s aid. Working together, they were able to lift the figure up enough so that they could pull Erin out from underneath. “Holy shit,” Kimberly gasped, “I thought… I thought you’d die…! I thought… for sure…” She closed her eyes, sat next to Erin, and embraced the girl’s head onto her lap.

“Erin! Oh, thank god,” Adrian praised their luck. Very easily could that have gone significantly worse. Once even the most minimal amount of her stamina had returned, Adrian rushed to where Erin was tied up. She wasted no time at all pulling and prying at the floss, which was still tied to the detached limb of the figure. Without any alternative, and now more anxious than ever, the only way to break Erin free was to painfully break the net of floss one strand at a time. It was time consuming, and Erin flinched and cried with every tug, but it was working.

But as Adrian did this, Scarlet did not forget her mission. She was relieved that everyone was safe, but Nicky was on her own on the other side. “We need to fucking go,” Scarlet said. “Erin-- Can she walk? Is she good to climb down?”

“Yeah, of course,” Adrian replied quickly, only putting a fraction of her mind to what was said. “Sh-She can walk. She’ll be fine. Erin’s coming. Right, Erin? We’re getting out of here, Erin.”

“Are you sure?” Scarlet asked. “She looks… so beat up--”

“I’m fine!” Erin spat, so loud that even Adrian ceased breaking the floss for a moment. “Just go! J-Just… I’ll be fine! I’m going, I-I’m…”

In an attempt to show this, Erin tried to rise. Adrian held her back, just for one extra second as the last of the floss was removed -- at least, the floss necessary to let her move freely. Still tied tight around Erin’s wrists and ankles were remnants of the thin rope, but for the first time in days, she could stand on her feet and stretch her exhausted muscles. It was ecstasy, that short-lived moment in time where she first felt freedom, but all at once did the pain come right back, and Erin found herself hoisted up only through Adrian and Kimberly’s support.

“Cool, cool,” Scarlet said, hyping up their escape now that everything was finally figured out. “Let’s see if you mean it. Come on.” She waved at Adrian and Erin, then pointed at the headphones. “Hold those down while I go! I did it for Nicky, she’s already at the tower, so--”

“No,” Adrian interrupted, taking on most of Erin’s weight so that Kimberly didn’t have to. “Erin’s going first. She has to.”

“Ohh, fuck me!” Scarlet clawed at her hair. “Are you fucking making more problems for us?! Right now?!”

She has to! Sh-She’s so weak, I mean it! L-Look at her…!” Adrian hated to admit it, especially after how confident she was upon seeing Erin stand. But the truth was painful and real; Erin was far from an ideal condition to be rope climbing. “Scarlet… Please. I-If we both hold the headphones, it’d be easier for her--”

“I don’t fucking care,” Scarlet said. She walked to the headphones, shaking her head the entire time. “Fine. Fuck it. It makes no difference to me if I’m second, it’s not a race. Can we just go?”

“Yes,” Adrian grinned, a glimmer of hope. “Yes. I-I’ll be right there…” She looked to Kimberly one more time. The feeling of disappointment could be sensed, she could tell Kimberly hated that they were doing this, but this was their chance. Adrian wouldn’t put Erin through another day of this, certainly not because Kimberly’s lack of approval anchored them to stay. She limped forward, pulling Erin along to the edge of the desk.

“Adrian… I c-can walk…” Erin said, half-giggling.

“Yeah? Can you?” Adrian laughed back. “You look like you could run a marathon. Or… maybe that you’ve been through a marathon, or three.”

Erin giggled again, and then she laughed. “You’re funny… You’re so funny, Adrian.”

“I try.”

“I bet… you’ve been making these girls laugh a lot. I hated that you could never be serious.”

“Ha, yeah. I remember you telling me that. Unfortunately, my stand-up here, it’s… it’s not gotten any commendations. Considering the circumstances…”

Erin looked back, trusting Adrian to guide the way. The desk and all its huge items, even Scarlet and Kimberly. It looked like a painting that she was so happy to burn. “Mm… Yeah…” she agreed with Adrian, “maybe not the best place to be funny.”

“Eh. It figures,” Adrian stated plainly as she reached the edge.

Erin shook her head, then laughed. “God. I hate you!”

Adrian laughed. “Well, you sound a lot livelier. Here we are -- it’s time to go.” She looked down the length of green wire. It was like a tightrope connecting the two ends, with Nicky at the bottom. She looked concerned after having heard the crash, but the sight of Adrian and Erin -- a freed Erin -- reinvigorated her into another cheer of encouragement.

The mood felt whimsical. For once, they were hopeful. The prospect of their endurance paying off teased them; freedom seemed so close with how much they had struggled just to get this far. Every ounce of pain was ignored for the meantime as they progressed towards their planned escape. But this hope was nothing more than a piece of driftwood that they clung to, completely unaware of how deep the ocean of their ignorance was. After all, it was their assumption that this entire time, Melanie had been gone from the apartment.

 

Melanie had been sweating bullets. The arms of her chair had been dug into by her fingers. She barely even blinked with how still she sat.

Across from her, Candi swallowed. Her mouth was filled with a juicy flavor as the last of her candy was slipped past her lips. Her appetite had been satiated, and appropriately, she neared the end of her sweets. Everything was coming to its conclusion, though an unanswered question still hung in the air.

Melanie had been drilled about every possible topic that she hated to think about. After having been asked about her trip to the mall and how she bumped into Erin, she was then inquired about her business at a certain office building; she had been seen frequenting it, and supposedly may have claimed to work there. She was questioned about a student-hosted party, one that was intended to be held at Anders Library. Candi’s focus, then, became about that very place, where Melanie’s adventures first began.

Talking about Anders Library felt like discussing a fictional place. Melanie wished that was the case, that it had not been real. She wished this had all been wrong, that this was all in her head. Once a place of sanctuary and solitude, the library now was a place of darkness and horror. She blamed only herself for having awoken such cryptic powers, as though a real evil had leaked into her world and it was coming now to take her.

But those questions, she had been able to answer. She tried to lie, but she was bad at it, at least under the pressure that Candi exerted. Normally, any kind of excuse could come to her mind quickly, and she could verbally writhe herself free from these types of confrontations. Candi was different; a real detective, a professional, expertly able to draw out the exact things that would mark her with reasonable, truthful suspicion. When lying would make Melanie shake with nervousness, she instead spoke honestly but tersely.

All of these questions came to just one that paralyzed Melanie. “Do you know Adrian?”

Go to hell, Melanie thought. Burn to the bone. Suffer. How dare you say her name? You can just say her name like it’s nothing? Is it really so easy for you to say her name? Her name… It’s the most important thing to me, in the entire world. Adrian. That’s how you say her name. Do I know her? Do you know her? Do you know anything about Adrian? What kind of sick joke is this? I could recount every detail about Adrian. I’m connected -- we’re connected. She’s mine. And you’re asking if I know her?

Candi leaned forward slightly. She sensed something was off; was she finally able to break through Melanie’s glacial barriers? “Melanie?” she asked, trying to shake her from this trance she had entered. “Did you know her? Were you friends?”

“Friends…” Melanie repeated that, the words like an icy wind as they crossed past her lips. If she answered truthfully, she would do herself in. She would have revealed to Candi how she was connected to every missing person. There would be little doubt to counter Candi’s theory. The investigation would deepen, Melanie foresaw, and police would find her, no matter where she ran, and they would learn of the reality that she had manipulated. It was a vision, so clear ahead of her, all hanging by the thread of her one answer.

“... Yes--”

Thh-nap. A bump, but just loud enough to make Candi pop her head up. It broke the tense silence, whatever it was; some noise from around the corner, over in the direction of Melanie’s room. While Candi was expressively curious, Melanie was as motionless as before, at least for a time.

“Did you hear that?” Candi wondered aloud. She turned to try and look down the hallway, but from her seat, she couldn’t even see the door.

Then, Melanie was on her feet and dashing away. Candi could barely react to the sudden motion, confused by what all was happening. As curious as she was, she did nothing to stop Melanie, merely lifting herself from the sofa to offer a slow pursuit.

But Melanie acted as though she were being chased. Her heartbeat had all but disappeared, as though cast away as unnecessary. Upon hearing the noise, Melanie’s world was shattered back into color, and she gave up on thinking of anything else. In that other room, where a mysterious noise had been heard from, was the world that mattered most to her.

She burst open the door, practically tripping through the doorway. She gasped at the immediate sight. Her first thought, That figure…! That was over a hundred dollars…! But her vision then became fixed on the cause of what broke her precious collector’s item. What she saw was leagues more important than any decorative toy. It was a snapshot, a painting in motion, the scene before her that was a nightmare manifested into actuality.

Directly in Melanie’s sights was Erin, meekly making the cross from the desk to the computer tower, where Nicky was in wait. At the other end was Scarlet and Adrian, securing weight on their end of the headphones. As surprised as Melanie was, her shock was nothing compared to that of her tiny slaves responding in turn to her entrance.

“You…!” Melanie growled. She stomped forward, her face twisted into an expression of divine rage.

Erin panicked, not even able to scream. She was caught right in the middle of the headphone wire, her weak and battered body hugging the cable with all her life. She was too far down to scramble back to the desk, and too far down to rush to the bottom.

Adrian screamed, “Go, Erin! Just go!” So badly did she want to sprint forward and save Erin, she even lunged forward with one arm reached out until Scarlet pulled her back.

“Don’t let go!” Scarlet yelled at Adrian. “I-It’s too late! We’re fucked!”

Erin!!” Adrian screamed again, but this time, her voice was overpowered by the earthquakes Melanie produced. All too quickly, the shadow of their owner cast its blackness over the desk. She stood over them, seemingly more towering than usual, with a rage still fuming inside her. Adrian and Scarlet became pale, realizing there was nothing they could do.

Melanie’s approach was quick, and so was her action. Adrian and Scarlet were forced to jump away when a giant hand plunged towards their part of the headphones; they leaped and rolled to separate sides, just as Melanie’s fist clutched the headphones and ripped them straight up into the sky. Erin, still hopelessly climbing down the wire like a worm at the time, screeched in horror as her tiny body was shot upwards.

“You disgusting bugs…!” Melanie growled, surveying the situation as quickly as possible. “I’ll-- H-How dare you…?! I’ll…!” There was a snag -- the headphones were still connected, and bitten with a rabid fury, she tugged hard on the cable. With one extremely fast pull, the jack was torn out of its socket, and the wire whipped upwards into the air.

Adrian looked up, where Melanie was overhead, upside-down. She was disoriented, lost after dodging Melanie’s strike, but her eyes tracked where Erin’s voice could be heard. It was screams and wild pleas for mercy, all of which were ignored by the storm that was Melanie. Adrian reached up, desperate to try and grab Erin from the sky, but what she instead took hold of was a realization. What she grasped was a bitter, horrible acceptance.

Erin was too weak. After days of suffering through Melanie’s torment, she had so little energy. When the headphones she clung to were shot upwards, her grip couldn’t last. She was whipped off, thrown, tossed, like a speck of debris. In the open air, she screamed; gravity made no sense, the gigantic world of a girl’s bedroom all blurred into a mess of just space, she heard only howling winds and muddled noises as she flew, and fell.

Melanie gasped. Her body turned stiff. For a flicker of a second, she saw Erin. She saw her in mid-air, flicked off from the very headphones she now held. At the last second, realizing Erin could plummet to her death, Melanie made an effort to grab her. Her hand shot out, with a net of fingers taking aim to grapple Erin.

She missed.

Erin’s scream was a tiny, pathetic noise that stretched for only one complete second. Then-- blup. She landed, but not on the hard carpet. She fell into a pool of red, like a droplet, creating only a minor splash within the ritual bowl. Melanie flinched at this outcome. Down on the floor, the wine she used to conduct her hexes, which one hair would be sacrificed to -- she never moved it away, as messy as she ever was -- this is where Erin was dropped.

“Ah… Sh-Shit,” Melanie coughed. Her panic hadn’t ceased, not since she had discovered her slaves trying to make an escape, and even now she wasn’t sure where her priorities were. Not helping any of this was the interrogation she herself had just ditched, for as far back in her mind as that was, it was still a pressure that made her hesitate to act. She first looked to the desk, counting Adrian, Scarlet, and Kim. “Where… is Nicky…?”

“Melanie!!” Adrian shouted. She had ran to the edge of the desk, just moments after she heard the distant splash of Erin’s dive. From her angle, she could see the bowl, almost directly beneath where she was. “Melanie, save Erin! Sh-She’s going to drown!”

Adrian was absolutely right. It was her voice, her command that snapped Melanie back into reality, and into action. Nothing else mattered but obeying Adrian. She dropped to one knee, dropped the headphones on the floor, and grabbed the bowl carefully. With her other hand, she went to grab Erin, whose tiny body kicked and squirmed in the harsh-smelling liquid. Melanie flinched once, afraid of wine stains of all things, but she quickly overcame that fear and snatched Erin from the bowl, fishing her out with a little pinch.

“For the love of god…” Adrian brushed back her hair, revealing a wave of sweat. Her breathing had returned, but it was hectic and anxious. All she could imagine was the real possibility that Erin hadn’t lived, that the fall had claimed her. “Erin…! Please, Erin… We were so, so close... She was right there! She could have gotten away! Why wasn’t she a little faster? Why didn’t we hurry more? She was supposed to survive this -- more than any of us, damn it!”

“I-I… I-I can’t tell if sh-she’s b-breathing…” Melanie choked, still holding to the little woman in her fingers. Erin was writhing about, clearly coughing, but Melanie had no experience in determining these types of things. She looked to Adrian for help. “Wh-What do I do?!”

“Aw, f-fuck,” Adrian stuttered. “I-I don’t know, I don’t fucking know! M-Melanie, please, do something!”

Melanie winced. What could she do? She shivered, and did what first came to mind. She brought Erin up closer to view, and she intended to listen for a heartbeat, or breathing, or anything. But she stopped, just as she was lifting Erin up. A curious expression took over, and she was intrigued suddenly by the display in her grasp. Slowly, her fears for Erin dying were fading away, and in their place was a discovery, a grand discovery that deserved her full attention.

But Adrian, and the others as well, were not informed. Scarlet had been paralyzed where she sat, and Kimbelry took to hiding behind the bulk of the anime figure’s remains. Adrian tried to get a look at Erin from her place at the edge, but even she couldn’t tell what was happening. At the same time, it didn’t seem like some game Melanie was playing either. Genuine astonishment and wonder was read from Melanie’s disposition, and so she nervously waited for what would be revealed.

Melanie’s skin became cold. She blinked, and she made sure it was real -- it absolutely, fantastically was. She glanced worriedly at Adrian, then raised her hand up. Specifically, she held out a single finger, which held a single person. It was Erin, drenched in red and gagging from the alcohol, and getting smaller. Smaller than what she had been, smaller than anything else. Once able to lay out in all of Melanie’s palm, she was now a fraction of that miserable size, losing size into a state even more pathetic than what she used to be.

“She’s shrinking,” Melanie said. Two words, and the air became immediately still. Adrian looked on in awe and disgust. Scarlet and Kimberly heard, but they did nothing, unable to do anything with that knowledge but to have a greater fear of Melanie and her powers.

It didn’t make sense, not to any of them. But without a doubt, at the tip of Melanie’s finger was Erin, barely conscious, and shrinking -- no ritual, no waiting.

Melanie’s finger gravitated up to the edge of the desk, right to where Adrian was waiting. Right away, Adrian burst into tears, her face twisted and red. She wailed something indescribable, looking down at the unfathomable. True to what Melanie had so simply said, Erin had shrunk. With shaking hands, Adrian took Erin into her possession, a movement Melanie had no qualms against for she looked on with just as much curiosity -- though, it was so difficult to look at Erin now, who had truly become a speck.

Adrian couldn’t breathe, swallow, move, or speak. Completely stone, only one thought came to mind. This is how Melanie feels, she told herself. This is how small we are… to her…

“Excuse me?” Candi’s voice intervened. So much had spiralled out of control that time had been lost in the process. A few seconds had only passed since Melanie made a mad dash out of the living room, and Candi was only just now catching up with her. “What in the world is going on?”

She had heard some noises and speech while approaching, but none of it made any sense to her. Candi figured it was because she had no context, but entering the bedroom revealed so much all at once. At first, she was baffled more by the decorations and messiness, intrigued by the general aesthetic Melanie had. But after processing the band posters, the collectibles, and the various geek culture hints, she then had to process tiny people. She blinked twice, and rubbed her eyes. Any attempt to clearing her vision or cleansing her senses failed to erase the image before her, the image of three tiny women dotting a computer desk. Moving, talking. Real women. Actual people. Inches tall.

Candi was a hardened detective. She had witnessed violence before her very eyes, survived her own scuffles. She had broken down every detail to grizzly murders, and analyzed the minds of perverse monsters. Sometimes, she had asked herself, how could kidnappers be real? How could criminals, at this level, be so evil and exist as humans? Never once did she ever come close to a scene quite like this. Never did she even imagine having a case like this, where the kidnapper was unveiled right in front of her, having used some kind of science to shrink her victims to the size of dolls.

Melanie was still huddled at her desk, situated on one knee while allowing Adrian to take over Erin. She couldn’t rise now, not while feeling the immense weight on her back. Candi’s glare could be felt even without seeing it.

“How is this… possible…?” Candi asked aloud. More than anger or hatred, she was confused. To her, this couldn’t be real. “Melanie… Why? H-How?”

A brutal mistake for Candi to have made, forgetting just what kind of monster was in front of her. And Melanie, picking up this scent of weakness, acted upon it without hesitation. Melanie spun around to a standing stance, and within that motion, she had flung the bowl of wine directly at Candi’s face. A messy wave of red splashed over the detective, but hitting her harder was the bowl itself, where an edge smacked her clean and sharp, right into the arc of her nose.

Melanie was on guard, but she didn’t expect to get punched in the face so quickly. The room was a lot smaller than the domain Melanie regularly saw it as, being a titan to tiny people and all; it only took one wide step forward for Candi to close the distance and to then throw a nasty fist, a right hook that connected perfectly into Melanie’s jaw and cheekbone, as if her face was genetically constructed to fit Candi’s blow. One was a trained detective, the other was a school girl. Melanie tumbled shamefully to the floor, using her bed as support, while Candi stood hunched over, swiping the wine from her eyes.

“What the hell is this?!” Candi shouted. Nowhere to be seen was that pleasant demeanor, that cool collectedness that made Melanie shiver. She was riled up, seething with anger as she tried to clean herself from the liquid. Her entire head was drenched, and much of that extended to her fine clothes. Blood trickled from the cut the bowl had made on her nose, and the sour wine made the opening ache. She panted, “God! Are you fucking serious?!”

Melanie recoiled with a pained groan. Her face burned for a second, and then it became brutally numb. Even the vision in her left eye was blackened and blurred. Never had she been stricken like that, so hard across the face, but she didn’t have the time to dwell on this new sensation. She had committed herself to something reckless already, and it was too late to turn around. There’s no apologies here, she thought. For Adrian… this is what I have to do.

Candi was distracted between everything -- the smell of the wine, why wine was thrown at her, or why wine was even in the room, and not to mention the tiny people under the watch of a suspected kidnapper. She didn’t notice, or really care, that the perpetrator had risen back to her feet, especially since she didn’t expect the young girl to return in a fighting mood. She was tackled by Melanie, who grabbed the detective by her coat and pulled at it. The only advantage Melanie had, and that she knew, was that Candi was overwhelmed and off-balance. Using that, Melanie focused all her strength on one objective: take off Candi’s coat.

And she did, whipping into a spin that held tightly to Candi’s sleeve while shoving her out of it. A tussle broke out, but Melanie managed to succeed where she wanted. Still, she was punched again, this time a blow to her stomach. With the coat being dropped to the ground, this attack would kill Melanie’s intent to battle, and she slumped backwards into her desk. Adrian and the others were jostled, but held their ground as these two beasts brawled.

Candi continued to gather herself, but it was at that point, still trying to comprehend any of this, that she realized how sick she felt. She whined, then whined again. A fire was digging itself into her brain, like a drill going through her skull and down the rest of her body. She was shaking, as though she had been infected with a cold. Her mind ticked, and she blamed it on the wine -- “the wine,” rather.

“What the fuck was that?!” Candi demanded, taking a stance over Melanie. “Tell me, right now. Tell me what that was. Tell me!”

Melanie didn’t answer, but not because she was refusing. She opened her mouth and coughed, her wounds flaring up again. Candi would be left with a mystery, one whose answer was becoming hauntingly understood. It almost seemed foolish for Candi to think anything else was going to happen.

But despite knowing what she did, she found herself unable to move. She could, to some degree, but dizziness was flooding out her usual grace. She clenched a fist, but she stumbled even while standing, swaying to one side and having to use Melanie’s desk chair for support. Then, that fell out from under her when too much uneven weight was applied, and so Candi almost fell. She dropped to her knees and held her heart, which now felt vacant, bleak.

“You’re… You’re shrinking me…” Candi coughed. She had to say it, just to confirm this suspicion. Her eyes, whose light within them was weakening, glanced at Adrian, and then Scarlet and even Kimberly. She asked herself if these were the victims; she laughed a little, of course they were. That humor was momentary, however, as the grim reality took over.

Candi blinked. Her eyes opened, and now the chair was as tall as her, even when knocked down. She tried to stand, but all she managed to do was turn around before being stricken into place. Every muscle started to cramp, as if the whole world was closing in around her.

Melanie sat up. She caressed her cheek with a light touch, but even that made it sting. “Doesn’t matter,” she told herself. She could see the curse taking its toll on Candi, dwindling the adult woman’s size inch by inch. Soon, Melanie reminded herself, this annoyance of a detective would be utterly beneath her, just like everything should be.

Melanie stood up, and she looked to Adrian. In Adrian’s palms, brought together, lay an even tinier human, covered in the same bath of wine that had been splashed over Candi. There was much for Melanie to think about after this evening, but she was certain that nothing would be the same as it had been. All while she overlooked the results of such a chaotic scene, she smiled, numb to any exhaustion or injury that once plagued her.

Chapter Thirteen by Curse Crazy

The smell of alcohol was overbearing; in her nostrils, in her throat, and coated all along her body. Erin couldn’t escape the stench that reminded her of this cruel fate. It haunted her, much like the rest of the world did now. She feared it and everything. Sounds were abysmal, epic in size and beyond comprehension, regardless of how simple they truly were. Distances were distorted, and anything beyond an undefined range turned into hazy blurs that couldn’t be understood, like a horrible oil painting. Even breathing -- a normal, human requirement -- was a chore, as if she were forbidden to inhale.

Erin’s one sanctuary was Adrian, but as an additional joke against her life, even her ex-girlfriend was a nightmare. She was a giant now, compared to her. She looked just like Melanie, towering overhead with a body that, despite doing nothing to deserve it, was an uncontestable force. It was unfair, Erin thought, how she herself was so bruised and exhausted, having nearly drowned in a pool of wine only to resurface into a more nightmarish realm, while Adrian remained as a titan that overlooked her with such casual strength. For as long as she could predict, Erin was bound to Adrian’s protection, being held in two huge hands that cupped around her frail form.

Terrifying as all this was, nothing could possibly compare to Erin’s greatest of fears. She had been shivering and flinching all while recovering, but she spasmed out of control when she turned to see a disgustingly massive wall of green; wet, round, with an empty void in the center that was aimed directly at her. Two thick walls of flesh bearing flagpole-sized fabrics of hair closed in, surrounding the emerald monster from above and below. For just a second, they kept it hidden, until they opened again. Just these minute movements caused a breeze to flow past Erin, who broke down into a sickened wailing befitting of a madwoman.

Melanie blinked. Her eye, right up against the desk, couldn’t be pried off the speck that was Erin. She was a college student, looking at a college student -- it could be described that way, Melanie joked to herself, But this dynamic… It’s totally different. Am I even a god to this thing? Or some kind of intergalactic horror?

“Can you even see me?” Melanie asked. “You’re so small.”

Melanie didn’t even notice how her head instinctively rose to speak to her slaves, nor did Adrian consider it. But Erin, she witnessed the motion like an unforgettable event. Possibly billions of tons of human mass had shifted just before her, even if the face of this witch felt like it was a mile away. With such a tiny body, she could feel the vibrations in the air of something so impossibly gigantic maneuvering around. A young woman moving her head was, to scale, an entire mountain range being lifted by some unseen force.

And then the speech -- a brick wall of sound, an invisible wave that rammed into Erin and forced her to buckle deeper into Adrian’s protective palms. She screamed and closed her ears, tortured by Melanie’s whisper of a comment, but her own voice was literally overtaken by the gargantuan speak. She couldn’t hear her own voice, yelling as loud as possible, until only the echoes of Melanie’s voice haunted her. Whatever Melanie had said, it was unclear, undecipherable the same way an earthquake was the earth’s language.

Even beyond the catastrophic noise, there were more elements to the storm that had just been surged. A particular wetness could be felt in the air, washing the atmosphere with the feel, smell, and taste of Melanie’s saliva. Her breath, exerted from just talking aloud, had practically altered the weather into something harsh, humid, and unstoppable. The cause of the storm was equally as monstrous, and possibly more eerie; a chasm, unlike anything Erin had seen at normal size, a hole that went on for miles into some moist darkness -- Melanie’s mouth, her lips parted into a flapping dance as each syllable was pronounced.

The real world could be mundane and boring, like a girl’s bedroom, and yet it was perpetually a jungle of chaos that Erin was effectively abandoned in. Endure as she did, her struggles went unnoticed in the otherwise all-seeing emerald eye surveying from above.

“Wow!” Melanie chuckled. “I can’t even hear her! I-Is she saying anything?”

Melanie! You’re scaring her!” Adrian screeched. Her voice, to Erin, was at least understandable, but due to her unmonitored volume, it exploded with a much heavier impact overtop of her. She recoiled, but in a distressed state, Adrian didn’t even notice. “I-I don’t think she can understand you… P-Please, please don’t talk!”

Melanie grinned, her lips transparently hungry to do what she was instructed not to. It was so tempting, to say anything knowing that it truly would feel like god’s voice booming down on this single, pathetic soul. She stifled a giggle, but just as she had hoped, even that little mutter of noise was a disgusting song comparable to an omen-like cry of a bird flock, pitched low and haunting.

For once, there was a hint of mercy in Melanie’s intentions, if only because she didn’t want to overwhelm Erin just yet. She stood up, virtually unaware of how even the simplest actions carried enormous weight in the minuscule world Erin was cursed to. From above, she stepped back and looked down at her things. By rising up, she revealed to Adrian and the other desk-dwellers that she had someone trapped in her net of fingers, squirming and stretching, pursuing some hopeless opportunity to pry out and escape. It was Candi, only now, instead of standing like a titan of goodness, a holy savior that was even larger than Melanie, she had become just like the victims she came to save. A professional detective, a specialist in kidnappings, had been undone and cursed, transformed into a mere toy that the devil could entertain herself with.

Adrian flinched when Candi came into view. She scuttled backwards; she had fallen to her knees while watching over Erin, and now she moved with Erin against her chest, always connected and protected. The sight of a living person trapped in such an uncomfortable grip made Adrian sick, as though she was viewing some kind of unnatural torture. Due to how casually Melanie held onto her, Candi was flipped partly upside-down in a constant fight against gravity.

“Oh? That’s right. I’m sorry.” Melanie bowed her head slightly, though her smug grin persisted. “You all haven’t met yet. I’m sure Candi here will be excited to see all of you -- it’s what she came here for!” Suddenly, Candi was launched upward at a breakneck speed, and just as suddenly did she park. Vomit was on the verge of ejecting out of Candi’s mouth just because of the force. When she looked up and her stomach settled, Melanie’s overbearing face was all she could see. “Isn’t that right, little detective?!” Her voice was sharp and short. “Here they are! All~ the victims!”

Candi shuddered, twisted back around so that was given the privilege of looking over the desk. She had such difficulty even comprehending her new surroundings -- minutes ago, she was an adult woman, with a loving family, a luxurious home, and a proud career, but all that faded parallel to her height. Diminished to this pathetic size, Candi struggled to foresee anything for certain. For now, she had to live with this insult; the victims, the very ones she hoped to save from their kidnapper, were all standing there beneath her from where she was hoisted.

“This is Wormslut,” Melanie explained, deciding to go over each of her toys, one by one. Appropriately, she used her free hand to point out Scarlet, who stood still in the middle of the desk. “She loves to suck worm dick. She’d let a bedbug eat her out if I let her. But she’s also been a very bad girl. Naughtier than usual.”

The same finger that pointed at Scarlet then became a burden of weight. All at once, Melanie pressed her finger into Scarlet, pushing her off her feet and pinning her to the desk. Scarlet whined, she pushed against the fingertip as hard as she could, but it was absolutely fruitless. Worse yet was how Melanie dug her nail into Scarlet’s stomach; not sharp, but not blunt either, the edge of Melanie’s nail agonizingly threatened to divide Scarlet entirely in half, right across the stomach.

“I’m-- I-I’m so sorry…!” Scarlet moaned, tears streaming down her red face. “I’m so fucking sorry, Melanie! M-My goddess! I-I love you, p-please--”

“Hehe… You sound fucking ridiculous,” Melanie said, delighted by her own teasing. She pressed harder on Scarlet’s tiny body, milking out a crescendo of a scream, a scream that truly begged for its own life. “Sorry won’t cut it. You’re really going to have to pay for trying to get past me like this.”

Scarlet continued to plea for her life, but once the finger was lifted off from her, she focused only on catching her breath. Melanie moved onto the next victim, going in order for Candi’s pained convenience. Now, her finger was aimed to Kimberly, still paralyzed behind the fallen anime figure. Thinking it might be in the way, Melanie lifted the figure and stood it up right, even in its broken state, erecting the monument back to a tarnished glory that taunted the shrunken people. Suddenly without cover, Kimberly felt exposed and vulnerable. Melanie took up on this and grabbed Kimberly with two fingers, negating a last ditch effort of a dodge.

“This is Kim! One of my favorites,” Melanie said, raising Kimberly more above the desk. At all times, Candi was directed to face her, to look upon the woman that writhed about just as she herself did in the opposite hand. “Remember how I said not all the victims were young? Hehe. Kimberly here looks like she’s about your age, but you’re much more successful than she ever was.”

Melanie adjusted her grip on Kimberly, not only to silence her cries for help but to hold back her limbs so that her front was more exposed. Shame slathered over Kimberly anew, trapped in the embarrassment that it was for her body to be on display. When it was Adrian or anyone else, it just felt like the usual torture, and they were mostly on equal terms. But with Candi, being of the same age and still clothed, it felt strange and absurd all over again.

“Hm. She definitely has bigger tits than you, though,” Melanie muttered, genuinely comparing the two. Indeed, as even Candi and Kimberly noted, the latter’s bust was significantly larger. “You might make way more money than her, but with boobs like that, who’s the real winner?”

“Why?! Why are you doing this?!” Candi demanded to know. “Let me go! Quit this!”

“But it doesn’t matter what dumb jobs you had anymore. None of you ever have to work, ever again!” Melanie laughed somewhat childishly. “Thank you, Melanie! That’s what you should say everyday, Kim. Yeah, your new job is being my toy. That sounds a lot better.” She really did mean that.

“Here,” Melanie changed gears as a tickle of heat played with her urges, “why don’t you investigate Kim? You want to make sure it’s actually her, right?”

“P-Please,” Candi immediately begged in preparation. She didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t having Kimberly’s boobs shoved into her face. Melanie brought her two playthings together, cradling Candi’s head into Kimberly’s cleavage. She massaged the two together, like making a pair of dolls kiss. Neither consented, of course; Candi shook her head to try and break away, and Kimberly moaned and complained, unable to even so much as arc her back further away in protest. So helpless was Kim in her ability to move, it might as well have felt this was her own choice, to have this detective motorboat her breasts against her will.

“Yeah, she’s thick,” Melanie joked. Kimberly was pulled back, a short-lived relief. She was turned around and repositioned; a hole-shape made from Melanie’s index finger trapped Kimberly so that her lower half was on full display and facing Candi. “Look at this ass. It’s so plump!” She sneered. “Y-You should investigate this, too.”

Candi yelled, only to be muffled as Kimberly’s ass was forced into her face. Even firmer than before, Melanie forced the two together, this time inspiring more satisfying results. Kimberly flushed with red all over her body and squealed, aimlessly kicking as Candi tickled her. This cycled back into those kicks barraging Candi, who in turn protested more in a struggle that only made Kimberly laugh and cry.

This isn’t real, this is too sick, Candi thought, her vision blinded by Kimberly’s ass and thighs. She latched to this dwindling sanity, his girl is something else. She’s wicked. Why would she do this to me? How can she do this to women? At the mercy of Melanie’s playfulness, her and this other adult were degraded and sexually abused, in the same careless fashion of a bored girl finding something to do.

Eventually, that torment ended. Gasping for fresh air, Candi was relieved of the weight that was Kimberly’s butt. Melanie was finished, and Kimberly unneeded; the hand holding Kimberly dropped her off on the desk, then directed itself over to Adrian. However, instead of a hard, arrow-like point that belittled the target, Melanie’s hand was instead a soft gesture. More of a suggestion than a demand, it was clear to Candi that this one was treated differently.

And Melanie was willing to explain. “Ah… This is her,” she began. Her smile melted into a content shape, contrary to the broken, shaking pattern it had been a moment ago. “Adrian. Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she perfect?”

Adrian lifted her head, but her eyes always flickered back to the even tinier woman in her grasp. She unshielded Erin, just for a second, before keeping her closed into her chest once again for safety. A stuttered breath revealed how scared she was, though deep down, there was an uneasy feeling of safety. Candi, still the professional that she was, could read this.

“I didn’t resist back then,” Melanie went on. “When you asked if I knew Adrian… it made sense to say no. I had every reason to deny it, didn’t I? To try and throw you off my trail, even just a little? It’s not like you had evidence we knew each other. No one would have ever thought us two could be friends. Yet…” She closed her eyes, briefly lost in some fantasy. “... Fate binds us. I feel it. We’re connected, her and I, somehow. This -- everything you see -- was all meant to be! To bring us together, just like we’re supposed to!

“Isn’t that right? Can’t you agree?” Melanie shook Cindi a little, though no action was needed to make the shrunken woman think about the subject. If she hadn’t deduced it before, she would have now; Melanie was obsessed with Adrian, beyond human reasoning. Perhaps these other victims were just cute girls to add to a collection, but Adrian was a prize -- more than that, Cindi concluded, Adrian was a soulmate.

Is she the catalyst to all this? Cindi wondered. If she never lived, would this have been avoided? The same way if Melanie never existed -- if either of these two hadn’t been born, none of this horror would be real…

Can’t you?!” Melanie swung Candi up and down roughly, feeling the light body bend and sway to the wildly opposite forces. Again, sickness welled up in Candi’s stomach, only able to resist throwing up because of how utterly confusing and surreal everything else was. “I don’t like being ignored, you pathetic bitch. Answer me.”

“Y-Yes!” Candi said, but only after Melanie stopped shaking her. “I-I see it, I see it! Please, please… I… Ugh...”

“Ha! D-Did you h-hear that, Adrian?!” Melanie looked right to Adrian again, enthusiastic and thrilled. “E-Even this old woman can tell we’re lovers! We’re being identified as a couple, a-aren’t we?”

Adrian restrained from whipping an answer out. The stamina spent wouldn’t be worth it.

Melanie’s smile was only then lost when she went to point out the last of her captives. Just as her joy had so suddenly vanished, so had Nicky. She remembered now, after all the fun and excitement, that Nicky was missing. She had made it down the headphone wire and onto her tower, but when Melanie peeked over the desk to exactly there, no tiny woman could be found.

Using just the one free hand, Melanie pulled at the tower to reel it in towards her. The tower slid, opening up the gap between it and the back wall. With spotlight eyes, Melanie leaned forward and peered around the forgotten grounds of this nook, where multi-colored cables clustered into a dusty knot. Even here, Nicky wasn’t located, neither was she at the sides, or under the desk.

“Fucking punk,” Melanie grumbled. “Where the fuck did you go…?”

Her vocalized annoyance was, to the smallest possible degree, a hopeful sound for Scarlet. Though she still rolled over in pain, hugging where her stomach had been widely stabbed, Scarlet was relieved to hear that Nicky was free, for the meantime. How long that would last, she dreaded, was still up to debate. Find us help, Nicky, she begged.

Scarlet screamed, as did everyone. With the same fist that coiled around Candi’s body, Melanie slammed the desk with an explosive force. The floor beneath the shrunken victims quaked under the fist’s weight, but Candi was short of fainting. She felt the energy of such a movement ride up and through her body, ending with an abrupt and painful stop that made her body numb except for its core.

But when faces turned to understand Melanie’s expression, instead of volatile rage, they saw a cold smile. She was amused by this, if the low chuckling wasn’t a strong enough clue. Standing at full height, she backed away from the desk and looked broadly across the room, scanning the carpet for any movement.

“Where… are you…?” Melanie muttered. She stepped more into the center of her room, her head rotating as she glanced under various objects, idly on the lookout for her prey. Nicky had to be somewhere, she knew, but where?

“Oh~ Nicky?” she sang. “Where are you? You should come out. Now.” Again, her eyes shot from side to side, ready to pinpoint on any movement, no matter how small. “The longer you make me wait… the harder your punishment is going to be.”

She intended to be heard with this threat. Perhaps Nicky would just give up, she thought, if she made it clear how dire her situation was. Then, she was inspired with another tactic. “You won’t live long down there, silly. Wherever you are, it sure isn’t safe. You’re just a bug, you know, whether or not I own you. Escape from my room, and then what? Get vacuumed up? Stepped on? Eaten by an animal?” In a slow pace around the room, Melanie was back by the computer tower, taking a second look around it. Still nothing.

“Fine,” she admitted. “It’s whatever. Die like an insect without anyone ever noticing. I know you can hear me, so I want you to remember that. You’ll die in the world out there. I’m literally the only thing in this universe that provides you,” and she turned to look down on the others, specifically Kimberly and Scarlet, “any of you, with any purpose. Without me, you’re just bloodstains waiting to make a mess on someone’s shoe. Your body will fade into dust and then you’ll really become nothing.”

No response. Nicky did not appear. True to her word, Melanie didn’t mind. She wouldn’t let this one problem be what rains on her parade. There was much to celebrate; she reminder herself of that much by eyeing Candi, and then turning her attention to the even tinier Erin -- or at least, looking to where she should be, cradled in Adrian’s hands.

“Well, I can’t find Nicky,” Melanie said, only loosely directing her voice towards Candi. “I’m afraid you won’t get to meet her. But you can meet the one that almost got me caught. The one I was careless with. Ha, if you can still see her, anyway…”

Candi was then brought to where Adrian was. Adrian flinched, keeping Erin away from sight as though she was a guarded secret. Yet, by Melanie’s intimidating presence alone, she was compelled to reveal her. J-Just go along with it, she frantically decided.

There, in the combined palms of Adrian’s hands, was the college student that set Candi off on this cruel journey. Her mysterious disappearance, the latest in an extensive line of theorized kidnappings, was what got Candi on this very case. In a way, Candi felt like blaming this belittled person. Desperate for any sort of reasoning or justification for her current position, Candi thought, Why couldn’t you have just not been kidnapped? Why did I have to come looking for you and end up like this?!

Melanie giggled, perhaps picking up on that sensation, or just imagining it herself. Regardless, that’s what she wanted with this interaction. She poured over this sorrow and despair, eating it up, well aware of how she constructed it all.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect her to get so small,” Melanie said. “I didn’t think it was possible for the curse to work twice, or for the wine to become so… potent. It happened so quickly. I wonder if I had left her in there, would she have melted into a molecule? Haha! Probably not…”

Melanie’s face hovered directly over Adrian and by extension Erin. She leaned in close, wanting to really appreciate this outcome. In doing so, she had no idea that she was adding wild new rules to Erin’s reality. For such a tiny creature, Erin suddenly found herself being abducted, lifted into the air by some unseen force. It was the wind sweeping her off her feet, not all too quickly but so surprisingly that she could only grab the tip of Adrian’s middle finger to avoid flying into the sky.

Erin screamed as she flicked her head back to understand what was happening. To her dismay, it was no hurricane lifting her into the air, or some divine hand reaching for her. More humiliating than anything she could think of from fantasy, it was Melanie’s nose, a duo of huge holes whose breathing was enough to rip such a small speck out of Adrian’s grasp and inhaled into this massive human’s body. Of all places, a nose, just a nose, was strong enough to threaten Erin’s life.

Adrian realized this and grabbed at Erin’s small body, clutching her into two fists. All she herself had felt was a breeze, a feeling she was accustomed to after surviving Melanie for this long. Yet, so she had just realized, this was drastically different for Erin. The entire world treated her so differently; no human was meant to exist like this, lost in a realm so bizarre and different from the one she technically still lived in.

Melanie laughed, and that came with its own different storm-like winds. “Oh, jeez, I didn’t think I could inhale you,” she giggled, backing away appropriately. She swiped a finger under her nose, reflexively imagining some irritation. “Yuck. I’d hate to get trapped in something like that. Ew…”

Ew?!” Adrian scoffed, insulted by this severe, inhumane lack of empathy. She held Erin even tighter, even if was too tight, becoming more and more afraid of what kind of hazards lurked in this new, horrifying world. She opened her mouth, wanting to yell scathing remarks at Melanie. But why? What would it accomplish? Burdened by this obstacle, she said nothing.

Melanie was at full height again. It never got old for her, looking down at her handiwork like royalty surveying the land. But the one that had her attention now was Candi, and no one else. A coy expression greeted Candi as she was lifted right up to the giantess’s face. She shivered; not even attempting to escape, Candi wondered if she was subconsciously submitting to the circumstance, willingly accepting her fate.

“That’s everyone. A nice little introduction, I think,” Melanie chuckled. “It’s a shame you won’t be spending a lot of time with them.” She moved, slowly walking to the other corner of the room. Beneath her was the coat she had wrestled off of Candi, just before the shrinking effect had really began.

“Wh-What are you doing with me?! Tell me what’s going on! Tell me!” Candi yelled. Her eyes widened as Melanie shuffled through the coat, feeling each and every pocket, of which there were several both inside and out. “Th-Those are my things! Stop it!”

“You own nothing now, not even your own life.” Melanie was blunt, her voice sounding more like an annoyed adult. “You’ve lost that privilege along with your height. Look at yourself. How can you think you own anything in this world still when there’s cocks bigger than you?

“Besides,” Melanie sneered, “what use do you have for some of these things?” Her smile flickered more brightly with satisfaction; fished from one of the pockets was a set of keys, jingling as they were hoisted into the air for Candi to confirm.

“M-My… My keys!” Candi yelled.

My keys,” Melanie teased, and she pocketed the whole set. Then, she went back to the coat, ruffling through it still. Some loose change, meaningless documents, a building ID card, and a chocolate bar. “Oh,” she mumbled, “this is a peanut butter cup type of household. Ah, oh well. This will do.”

The wrapper was undone -- a slightly clunky task, as Melanie had to juggle both the chocolate bar and Candi at the same time, but it was undone nonetheless. One side was revealed, a simple dessert of a plain chocolate bar, divided into little pieces to be snapped off. While examining and unraveling the chocolate, Melanie had wandered back in front of the desk.

To Candi’s surprise, the chocolate bar was brought to her face, a corner just inches away. Melanie noted, “You must be hungry. Go. Take a bite.” Candi looked up, where a smile was waiting for her. It was too knowing of a smile. “Seriously. Live it up! A giant chocolate bar, right? That must be a dream come true.”

Hesitant at first, Candi understood her position well. She’d be forced to do this, whatever this was, regardless of her protests. It’s not like the chocolate could be poisoned, she deduced, it was her own chocolate bar just seconds ago and couldn’t have been tampered with. Yet she was still nervous, slowly leaning her neck out and taking as big of a bite of the chocolate bar as she could. It was sweet, but hard to bite off. Several hard chews and a swallow later, Candi gasped for air, finding her posture in Melanie’s hand to be uncomfortable for eating.

“There, a little snack,” Melanie said. “Look at that bite mark, huh?” She vaguely pointed to where Candi had broken off a chunk of chocolate. Barely a divot was made into the treat from where she had bitten. “Kind of pathetic.”

Melanie then took a bite of the chocolate, a theatrical performance for something so regular. Her mouth opened wide, not because she needed to, but because she was showcasing her mouth for the nearby Candi. A steamy breath stretched into the air and surrounded her like a warm fog. She stared at the two rows of teeth, each one bigger than her head, and guarding some abnormal, bestial thing; a drooling tongue, flexing in preparation of the chocolate bar’s shape.

Then, the bite itself. Unlike how slow the rest of the performance was, the actual biting into the chocolate was quick and decisive. Like a steel trap being activated, Melanie’s teeth chomped down and broke apart multiple segments off the chocolate bar. Shards of sugary sweetness splintered like debris in front of Candi, as though she were witnessing a plot of land being devoured. It was a terror she couldn’t pull her devastated eyes from, the sight of this comically sized chocolate bar being broken in half in an instant, just to be eaten by a giantess.

Melanie savored the taste for just a moment, again for the sake of Candi’s viewing pleasure. She hummed while swallowing the melted chocolate, and that tongue Candi feared so much made one last appearance, dividing the huge lips as it glossed over them in search of any chocolatey remains. There was a sound, a gulp, signalling the chocolate’s ultimate fate.

“Bleh… I don’t really like just-chocolate chocolate, you know,” Melanie complained. There was a longer pause than usual as Melanie inhaled, almost nervously. “I definitely need to add a little something. And I think I’ve got the perfect piece of Candi right here.”

Candi froze completely. She felt dead, for just a second, in Melanie’s tight grip. There was no mistaking what she had just heard, what Melanie had just implied. Emotions of all kind welled up into a panic, but it refused to burst. Instead, this fluster, this horrifying realization, continued to build up deep inside Candi.

No! No you won’t!” It was Adrian, shouting from below. Her eyes were wide open in shock, her skin becoming pale. “Melanie! Y-You can’t!

Melanie loved the challenge; it enticed her more. Adrian’s permission wasn’t needed, and she had no intention on keeping Candi around. The sight of the detective sickened her. She existed as a reminder of how close this fantasy nearly crumbled into ruin. If Candi had her way, Melanie would have been separated from Adrian, for the rest of time. So long as Candi breathed, Melanie would always feel that fear.

You’re lying! That’s sick!” Adrian kept shouting. Even if she was being ignored, as a human being, she couldn’t stand for this act. She had to do something. “I-I know you won’t do that! You won’t do that…! Th-That’s way too far!”

“Hoho, is it~?” Melanie swallowed, a sign of how much saliva was being pooled for this. “I love to push limits, and I have to wonder… What would a tiny detective taste like…?”

“Sh-She isn’t…” Scarlet said, viewing the unavoidable scene. A hiccup of a laugh made her smile desperately. “She isn’t going to… eat somebody. N-Not even Melanie...”

Kimberly bit her lip. Scarlet may have been in denial, but Kimberly had a wiser gut feeling. “Don’t look,” she begged of the others, “don’t look at her. Just don’t look.” She gagged, and she turned around. She fell to her knees and hugged her uneasy stomach while horrifying images flashed in her head.

Melanie paid them no mind. They couldn’t stop her, and she had a lot to think about with or without their commentary. She wondered, too, if she could actually commit to this. But when she looked at Candi again, exhaling over the tiny, paralyzed body, she felt invigorated. This felt right. This felt completely right.

All at once, Candi’s panic broke out, just as Melanie’s mouth opened again and she was being brought to the moist cavern. She shrieked like she never had before as a professional. She kicked about madly, doing everything she possibly could to try and weaken Melanie’s grip. Any chance, any possibility for even slightly delaying this fate, was worth fighting tooth and nail for. She had to come to terms with this fact, even in her insane state of mind; I’m going to be eaten alive. I’m going to be eaten alive by this creepy girl.

“PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!” Candi cried with all the volume she could muster. It was a barbaric sound, truly the most primal, natural thing that could be pronounced by a human in this situation. Tears rolled down her face continuously, snot leaked from her nose, her hair tossed around in careless throws, her face burned a desperate crimson, her voice cracked as a non-stop scream echoed back at her from the depths of Melanie’s approaching throat.

It wasn’t real. Being brought to a giant mouth, it wasn’t real. Candi blacked out, perhaps out of breath or from shock, but none of what was happening, none of it was real. This was the best she had felt, the calmest any point of her newly shrunken existence had been.

That peace shattered when reality took over again, at the touch of a soaked tongue. A cold shiver woke Candi back up, and she found herself even deeper into the mouth than she had imagined herself being. Right away, she screamed again. This was it -- a human being’s mouth, multiplied in scale to the size no creature could really compare to.

It was humid. A fluid, a concoction of sorts, pooled all around this pink-red cave. It was brown and smelled sweet, sticky but a little viscous. She screamed again; the melted chocolate, mixed with Melanie’s saliva, is what now flooded everything around her. She couldn’t help but imagine how this is how her own mouth would look like, speckled with chocolate, oozing with such a gross combination, had she been the one eating the chocolate like intended. The sugary smell, sweet as it was, acted as just another element of torment, a contradictory scent that would better fit a cozy candy shop than it would a living meatgrinder, the debut into another person’s digestive tract.

Before she could be haunted by any more visual horrors, everything around Candi had fallen black. Melanie closed her lips, just as she had decided to close Candi’s fate. With no light to see, Candi wrestled blindly with the tongue beneath her, and she lost every fight. The tongue was a monster all of its own, with the strength of a bear, the speed of a wolf, and the predator’s instinct of both. She could never hope to overpower or even out-maneuver the tongue, as it wrapped all around her body with a sticky-wet surface. In seconds, she was coated with a slick layer of the chocolate-saliva mess all over her body. She was tossed and turned, truly like a real piece of food. She could feel the taste buds of the tongue touching her, grooves that felt every part of her body; she could sense just how Melanie tasted her, though the chocolate was probably more powerful of a flavor.

Punching. Kicking. Even desperate enough to bite. Nothing stopped Melanie’s tongue. Candi did all that she could, even trying to search for Melanie’s lips in hopes of forcing herself back out. Nothing worked. When Melanie had decided, Candi’s world was defined. There was only one path ahead of Candi, no matter how hard she fought. And she fought for as long as she could, up until her stamina was entirely depleted, and she lay limp to the tongue’s actions, only ever making attempts to squirm away from the razor-like teeth.

Candi was a lump. As her body was moved closer to the darkest part of Melanie’s mouth, all she could do was sob, beg, and find reason. Why did this happen to her? What wrong did she commit in the universe to deserve being eaten whole by a girl half her age? She was a pursuer of justice, a fighter for the innocent and damaged, a challenger to all things corrupt.

Head-first, she dropped deeper into the hot embrace of Melanie’s throat, a tube-shaped organ that was slick and tight. All along, this was only an unjust world; her passing thoughts as she continued to bellow out one final, unheard beg for forgiveness.

A deep inhale accompanied the sound of Melanie swallowing. The giantess shivered with some feeling, though she was unsure if it was satisfaction or anxiousness. She had felt Candi in her mouth the entire time, and she felt her pass into her throat, and she felt her enter the vague space that was her stomach. When her meal was complete, and her mouth was of course emptied, she could say and do nothing. The world had paused, as if to process what was supposed to happen, in the surreal and unlikely event that another human would swallow whole a tinier, living human.

Then came pride. Regardless of what other conflicts bothered Melanie’s mind, she felt powerful and encouraged. The others below her did not -- they felt disheartened and dismayed. Scarlet collapsed and threw up onto the desk. Kimberly bunkered into herself, shaking back and forth. Adrian, however, was anchored on the display. She was strapped into her seat, completely incapable of looking away, though nothing physically restrained her. For better or for worse, Erin couldn’t comprehend the sight of Candi’s end, but she knew it had happened. All of the shrunken women felt it at once, the symbolism that was their best chance of being rescued from this hell being eaten alive, made an example of.

But that powerful feeling just kept coming to Melanie. She didn’t even laugh, because it wasn’t funny. She just felt powerful.

An instinct took over Melanie. She lifted up her shirt and folded it just over her breasts, exposing her stomach. At the same time, her other hand lowered her shorts and panties, pulled down by a tucked thumb. Her expression was dark, beaming down a sense of disaster onto her victims. She displayed the prison that was within her, the organic trap that currently contained Candi. It looked soft and bouncy, like any ordinary belly.

Melanie had stuff to say, but she found this even better. Silence was so fitting, an appropriate response for letting this event dwell on the minds of those around her. Of course, she wanted Scarlet and Kimberly and Erin to fear her, to look up at her as some newly mutated monster whose limits had been breached. But what she wanted from Adrian was different, which was why she stood directly over her. The plump of an otherwise slender stomach was held almost right above where Adrian sat on the desk. Melanie wanted her to feel this power, this feeling she had an excess of, and holding her gut with her crotch exposed had come to her as the best way to share.

Uncomfortably wet, Melanie also wanted to express how horny she had become. That powerful feeling, after all, affected her in all types of ways, and eroticism was just one. Her crotch hovered just in front of Adrian, but she wasn’t on Melanie’s mind. She instead imagined things from Erin’s perspective. How towering did the lips of her vagina look compared to something so ridiculously small? Did it seem like the beginning to some living cave?

Erin did look forward, just like Melanie hoped. Although the distance between her and Melanie’s pussy was still great, the sight took over everything she could possibly see in front of her. A mountain of skin complemented with a rainforest of black hair. Rivers of Melanie’s fluids trailed down the epic-sized thighs, which were themselves two mountains of flesh whose softness meant nothing to her. The intimidation was sheer; this other woman’s crotch dominated her just by being unveiled.

Worst for Erin, but best for Melanie, was how Melanie had to do nothing. Just standing there, exerting her presence with a simple posture, her cunt aimed forward and her stomach held high. This was all it took to instill a demanding, mind-breaking fear into these pathetic people. Erin prayed, as though Melanie’s lips were the face of a monstrous sex-god; Melanie restrained an idle laugh.

“Adrian…” Melanie always returned to her. “Do you feel this? In my stomach… Someone’s in there. She’s screaming. Right here…” She poked her stomach, at just about the place where Melanie guessed Candi had to be. “I would never do this to you, Adrian. I do this because I love you. This feeling is our gift for being together. None of this would be possible without you being here to inspire my love.”

Adrian huffed, using all of her mental fortitude to keep the broken pieces of her mind from drifting too far into nothingness. “Y-You… ate someone…” Adrian sniffled, feeling the salt of incoming tears. She hated it; she didn’t have the energy to keep crying. “H-H-How… c-could... you do that…?”

“I can do anything,” Melanie explained, “if it’s for you. I can eat someone… or…” Her hands drifted back to their sides, but remained in position to move. “... Or I could shrink someone to the size of a dust mite. I can do these things, because of you.”

A twisted answer that felt like a riddle; Adrian hated it.

“Set her down, p-please,” Melanie asked. She glanced down at the floor, kneeled down, then returned with something new in hand. From the mess that piled to a side of her desk, she had found a simple ruler, a tool she had used earlier before to measure her victims as she obtained them. It satisfied a deep craving of an interest for Melanie, and it would do so now again.

“N-No…” Adrian shook her head. “No!”

“Please…” Melanie frowned. “I promise. I won’t kill her.”

There was genuinity detected in Melanie’s tone. Adrian believed her, and she also had little choice. Erin didn’t even protest, perhaps too lost in this mysterious dimension to know what was happening. It wasn’t until she was deposited on the ground that she turned and reached for Adrian, but her ex-girlfriend’s hands were gone. She had, for all purposes, been abandoned on this eerily flat land, where even the most minor bumps and scratches were visible to her as features of the scape.

A monolithic tower, then, crashed in front of her like a meteor, yet it caused no wave of destruction or apocalyptic end. It stood immensely tall, much like everything else did, but it soared past Adrian’s titanic height four times. It took some time, but she comprehended it and its marks of digits as a ruler. She gripped her face in despair; she was being measured like a science project.

An immense moan bellowed over her from above, where Melanie hung with watchful, growing eyes. This deafening groan to Erin was a cute pique of interest from Melanie; “Oooh,” she cooed, “she’s so small! This ruler isn’t even meant for something like her…”

Adrian kept watch, nearby and ready to scoop Erin back into safety, but she too was fascinated with the result. “She’s… like…” Adrian muttered, unable herself to even see the result clearly, so she leaned in closer. An estimate was the best she could do. “M-Maybe… a-a tenth of an inch tall…?”

A tenth of an inch?” Melanie gasped. “Haah…! O-Oh my god…! That’s so fucking tiny!”

“Melanie!!” Adrian spat.

“Sorry, sorry, b-but it’s true! Look at her!” She grinned so joyfully, her other hand back to massaging her stomach. “Even my belly button could swallow her. Maybe she could live in that.”

Melanie!!

“Seriously. A grain of rice could dom her.” Melanie snickered, shaking her head in half-disbelief. “She probably can’t process any of this, you know. How sad is that.”

Adrian whined, and she laid on the floor to be closer with Erin, not accepting how her mammoth-like form was like a building collapsing around her minuscule friend. “Shut up!” she screamed. “Y-You did this!”

“I-I didn’t!” Melanie defended. “I didn’t at all, i-it was her! She just fell into it! Which…” Melanie looked back to where she had once engaged with Candi. All that showed of their scuffle now were the stains of wine, found littered both on the carpet and on the walls. “I guess… the spell can be improved. Like a potion, or something. M-Maybe. Fuck. I-I didn’t think this could be possible… S-So many possibilities now…!”

She looked back to the others, her expression slowly shifting out of its humor. “But that… that’s gonna have to wait. You reminded me, Adrian, of what caused all this to happen.” And her attention fell onto Kimberly and Scarlet. “It was an escape. A foolish attempt at an escape that caused all this.”

Scarlet, still recovering from her volcanic sickness, was still swift to waddle on her knees and clap her hands together. “I-I’m begging, Melanie!” Scarlet said. “I-I’m so sorry! I’m fucking so sorry! I’m so, so fucking sorry for all this! Th-This w-was all my idea! I-I’m the one that tried--”

Melanie pointed at her and shook her head. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care who the mastermind was. All of you have to pay equally.”

Scarlet shook her head madly from side to side. “Y-You don’t understand! I-It was my idea--”

“It was her idea!” Kimberly shot up to a standing position, pointing hard at Scarlet from across the desk. “Please, Melanie, h-have some sense! I didn’t do anything!”

“Hmm?” Melanie raised a brow. “Oh?”

“I-I promise! I wasn’t trying to escape! Honest!” Kimberly broke into tears, falling to her hands and knees in a desperate bow. “I was staying here! Like a good toy! I didn’t help them at all! I-I tried to stop them!”

“Sh-She…” Scarlet swallowed. Her heart burned and pulled in two different directions. “She’s telling the truth, Melanie… She didn’t! She was going to stay behind!”

Melanie spit hard, aiming her shot right onto Scarlet. The force was like that of a firehose, a burst of a push that knocked Scarlet off her feet painfully. The scent of chocolate could still be hauntingly detected. “I don’t fucking care!” Melanie laughed. “You all get punished! You should all know this!”

“Why?!?” Kimberly screeched, looking up at Melanie with a crazed look. “Please, please Melanie! W-We’re friends, aren’t we?! For the love of god, please remember! I-I loved talking to you! I--”

Melanie’s patience ended. She grabbed Kimberly into one hand quickly, then peeled Scarlet out of the puddle of spit she had planted on her with the other. Both captives in-hand, she had to move only one step to get into position. She had a specific plan in mind, something that had been brewing for awhile now.

Scarlet and Kimberly were dropped a fair fall. They landed harshly onto a somewhat soft surface that they hadn’t felt before, and they realized it was a chair. It was Melanie’s office chair, rolled out from under the desk and out into the middle of the room. There wasn’t much space, and nothing to hide under. It was too high up to jump from, and the back of the chair was separated from the seat itself, too high to climb. Like a desolate island, Scarlet and Kimberly were stranded, with only Melanie’s massive frame to look up to.

And Melanie greeted them with a tender smile, like saying farewell. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m just going to sit down. Is that really so bad?”

As a display of this intent, Melanie turned, and her exposed ass was held high above her prisoners. It looked like a satellite, maintained in the sky by two towers of legs supporting it. Without a doubt, it had enough weight and enough force to back it that just sitting down would be like a meteor coming straight for the two women specifically.

“No! No, no, no!” Scarlet cried. “Y-You’re not…!”

“Please! This-- This isn’t fair at all…!” Kimberly wailed, pounding the seat with her fists. “W-We…! Th-They did this… all on their own, please! Melanie! Melanie, fucking please!”

Melanie giggled. “God, you guys are so~ funny! Wormslut, if you didn’t want this, why did you try to run away? Did you really think anyone would want your pathetic soul for any reason, much less when you’re just three inches tall? You’re less impressive than a subpar dildo and you think you deserved to go back to the real world?” She turned her head, looking down at the terrified expressions of her targets. “And Kim, come on. You knew this would happen if they tried. Why didn’t you strangle Scarlet? Why didn’t you threaten to kill one of them? You’re the oldest of them, you should have been a better role model~”

Adrian viewed this from afar. Despair was so heavy, the situation felt so dim and lost. “Melanie! Melanie, listen to me!” Adrian yelled, and she got the attention she received. Despite quaking under Melanie’s watch, she boldly continued, “I tried to escape, too! I helped them! I-If possible, I was going to leave, too! S-So you have to punish me, too! A-And…” She closed her eyes; she couldn’t falter here. “A-And Erin, too! We’re all in this!”

“Ahh, I’m glad you brought up Erin. Something so small is so easy to forget...” Melanie sighed. “You guys… You’re all too quick to assume! I mean, heh, why would I want to kill all of you? Just throw out all my toys because a few of you are faulty?”

“W-What…?” Adrian shuddered. “What do you mean?”

Melanie grabbed her ass, feeling and pulling at it, before using her rear to push the back of her chair. It rolled further away, stopping just at the bedroom door. It was now far enough to be clearly seen by Adrian’s spot at the desk, though from this distance, Scarlet and Kimberly looked like little dots more than they did people.

“Adrian, of course I won’t kill you, silly,” Melanie chuckled. “I could never do something like that to you. You’re mine forever. These assholes, though… Some of them need to pay. And I need to pay, too. I was irresponsible, not teaching my pets to not escape well enough. So I’ll let you decide!

Either you kill Erin, or I kill Wormslut and Kim.

Adrian’s stare stretched forward. Her pupils shrank. She twitched. When she wanted to glance down at Erin, she lacked the heart. When she tried to breathe, her throat refused. Looking dead-ahead, she saw nothing -- the room and its inhabitants, both large and small, faded into the edges of her vision. Whatever dot she singled out in her vision was all her mind could concentrate on, and she turned to it not for moral advice or an escape. It seemed like everything in the world, literally everything, had been compacted into this one singular place, and she couldn’t look away to face anything else, for it was all there.

The trance ended. A huge exhale escaped Adrian when she didn’t realize, and her body slumped forward. With shaking hands and arms, she caught herself from falling forward, gasping as she made sure Erin was safe. She was still there, hugged into Adrian’s palms, with a miserable look about her in regards to every detail.

Adrian imagined closing her fingers. Could she do that? Could she commit to murdering her ex-girlfriend?

“You choose~” Melanie hummed. “You have a minute. Just one minute! I wonder if that means Wormslut and Kim have just a minute to live…”

“W-Wai…” Adrian could barely speak, reaching out with one arm instinctively in search of something to pull back, to buy herself time. “Pl… Please… K-Kim and Scarlet… th-they didn’t…”

“Ohh? Do you want to know what they think?” Melanie smiled and she turned her head back towards them -- she kept her butt in position, a reminder at all times. She closed her eyes and listened, maintaining that pleasant expression. “Hmm. Of course. They think you should kill Erin.”

“W-Wha…?” Adrian felt a strike in her heart, a pin stabbing through the organ.

“Mhmm. They’re both begging that they don’t want to die! They’re begging to not die underneath some creepy girl’s ass…!” She laughed, her face flushed with arousal. “They’ll keep begging, too, right until their little lives are snuffed out under an ass cheek.”

“M-Mel--”

“I think there’s only thirty seconds left…” Melanie lowered her ass, but only a small distance. “Hehe~ They screamed so loud just seeing my butt cover up the sky! What a miserable way to die.”

Adrian wanted to cry, but time was ticking. She really didn’t have a choice, or even the time to try and guess if Melanie was being real. She growled, angry with herself for even thinking this whole thing could be just a game. Minutes ago, Melanie swallowed a person whole -- she will kill again, without a second thought.

But none of that made this decision any easier. Still unable to look at Erin, Adrian thought instead of Kimberly and Scarlet. She couldn’t hear them for herself, but she imagined it clearly, the two of them on their hands and knees, begging to not be sat on. She couldn’t sacrifice them, two poor souls that got trapped in this mess for no better a reason than she herself was. Both of them had families and friends that must surely miss them, lives to return to. This was no place for their lives to end, at the literal ass-end of some psychotic woman.

“Adrian, y-you have to.” The voice was weak and small. Adrian closed her eyes tightly, wanting to ignore it. But it was Erin, speaking to her from her hands. “You have to kill me, Adrian. Please just kill me.”

Adrian wailed, but not for long. “Erin,” she spat quickly, “no! I… I can’t do that! I’m not!”

“I know i-it’s hard! But, f-fuck! Fucking god, w-we have to!” To Erin, it was a team decision. It was her sacrifice to make as much as it was Adrian’s ordeal. “I… I can’t have them die. I can’t. I-It’s two people, Adrian! I-I’m… I’m just…”

“I fucking know!” Adrian whined. “B-But I don’t think--”

Melanie chirped in. “Thoom-thoom… Twelve seconds remain…” She snickered at her little joke, and a little lower did she descend her ass over Scarlet and Kimberly. As far as Adrian and the others could tell, this was the last warning they would be given.

Yet Adrian still felt pained to answer. Erin yelled, “Just do it! Just make it quick! Go!”

Adrian kept her eyes closed. When she opened them, the setting had changed. She was standing now, and she felt normal. Did she escape that deadly dilemma? Not at all, she realized. Contrary to what she had hoped, she was in the worst middle of it still. Beneath her, having been laid on the ground, was Erin.

Once, for a brief while, this was the opposite. Adrian shivered, remembering how only a few days prior, it was her looking up to Erin. Melanie’s hex hadn’t taken effect, and back then, Erin looked almost as lost then as she did now. Between that and now, had anything made more sense? Not at all, Adrian thought, clearly -- here she was now, towering over Erin like a giant herself, the same way Melanie towered over anyone she chose.

Adrian raised her bare foot. Her eyes, glued onto Erin, showed hesitation.

“This… has to happen…!” Erin yelled. “Seriously…! H-How… How can I even live like this?!”

Adrian tried to inhale, but failed. Like ripping a bandage, she knew she had to do this quick. Her moral compass was aimless, turned off while she focused all of her being into just putting her foot down, to confirm a kill.

NO, NO!” Erin screamed anew. “I DON’T WANNA DIE! ADRIAN!!

Adrian swallowed. Her eyes were closed again. She slumped forward. Her skin crawled. Her head emptied. No breathing. No blinking.

She looked straight down at her right foot. Planted into the ground firmly. Underneath her, the distinct feeling of bones flattening to the sound of little pops. A skull, an arm, ribs, hips -- she could feel each individual piece snap by the demand of her own weight, accompanied with the unmistakable warmth, and chill, of blood.

Erin’s voice was no more. A winter of silence took her place. Bitter. Numbing. As calm as the quiet was Adrian, her lips parted just an inch. She could breathe again, though she didn’t feel a need to.

Chapter Fourteen by Curse Crazy

Adrian stirred to a nostalgic sensation. The hum and vibration, the melody of wind just outside, the tempo of lights that passed over her. She was on a road trip, and she fell asleep. Her breathing was deep, it waited for something. Drowsily, she moved her head, but ultimately kept it down; she was comfortable, lying where she was, her arm tucked under her head. Part of her was expecting a cue from her mom, to be told that they were almost there, to be teased for falling asleep.

She knew this wasn’t true. Those expectations drained away. Her right foot flinched, without any reason, until she remembered. A sharp knife dug its way through her sole, up her leg, and ending somewhere in her stomach. The leg was numb, motionless, as she recalled the coldness of her actions. The pop. The breaking. The moisture.

That’s right, I’m… supposed to be sad, Adrian told herself. Her eyes blinked, adjusting to the sparse light and reading loosely into her surroundings. She was surrounded in a huge mound of a blanket, a fold of which had been laid out over her. A scent clung to it, which she inhaled welcomingly, if only because it helped her wake up. It was Melanie’s scent, and it was Melanie’s hoodie. I don’t feel sad, though… I don’t feel anything. She rolled around, switching which arm was under her head. That’s better, right? A nap is supposed to be refreshing… but do I have to wake up?

Refreshed was putting it lightly. Adrian had nearly forgotten everything, as far back as to how she was shrunken by a crazy stalker. That amnesia was peaceful for a time, but she didn’t feel any pain as the memories came back and she remembered it all. It was going back to normal, the way things truly are. She was tiny, her and others were kidnapped by Melanie, and her ex-girlfriend had been killed under her own foot.

There was still a blank, however. She lifted up more, but with one leg not working, she could only manage to sit up so much. She deduced that she was in a car, situated in the passenger seat. The window to her right was a dark-blue curtain of night, with beams of passing street lights blinding her as her eyes still adjusted. Beyond an imposing gap was the console of the car, showcasing impressive luxury tech.

From the driver’s seat, she was glanced at. She had been watched for awhile now, but Adrian made no comment about it. The weight of Melanie’s gaze, currently, left no impression on her. She couldn’t escape Melanie, and so it only made sense that she was here nearby.

A long silence followed Adrian’s awakening, but Melanie was flustered to come up with anything to say. Eventually, she managed to stammer something out. “G-Good… Good morning,” she greeted. “Err…! G-Good evening, I-I guess. Y-You were asleep, a-and it’s late…”

Adrian massaged an eye. At the mention of the time, she looked for a definitive answer. It was after eight, but that didn’t tell her how long she had been knocked out. In the chaos of the situation before this, she certainly hadn’t kept track of what time it was. But this was just one question of many that she had, burdened by little will to learn more. Tempted to go back to sleep, Adrian wondered, Does any of this matter? This is all Melanie’s world. It’s all her’s.

Melanie read into the silence, but her eyes remained firmly on the road. “Well, uh… We’re not at the apartment anymore…” She bit her lip, realizing that to be abundantly obvious. “A-Actually, we’re kind of far from home. I’ve been driving for awhile now, actually…” With that in mind, a yawn stretched out, and her grip on the steering wheel became tighter.

“... Whose car is this…?” Adrian finally spoke. Her voice was half-hearted, defeated in its tone. Her usual curiosity had been subdued to just a simple question, with no theories of her own, just a space to be filled with an objective answer.

“Uh… Candice’s.” Melanie hunched forward, and a shaky breath followed. “Err, th-the detective, I mean. You know…”

Adrian did know. From this alone, she figured out much of what was happening. “If this is her car… you must be taking it away somewhere. It’s evidence.” Melanie nodded. “So, you’re… disposing it.”

“Y-Yes…” Melanie did not sound proud of this. Her expression was shameful, but compared to anyone else who could end up in this situation, her demeanor was eerily collected. She visibly sweat from her brow, but she dared not lift a hand off the wheel to wipe it away.

A traffic sign passed overhead. Melanie felt to smile as she turned to the exit, but she was unable to. “We’re going to a lake,” she explained over the clicking sound of a turn signal. When it stopped, she continued, “We’ll push the car into there. I-It’s the only thing I can think of.”

Adrian’s eyes couldn’t blink. Instead, she envisioned her surroundings -- the modern decor of the car, the high-tech console, the tinted windows, that fresh lumbery smell -- drowned in filthy lake water, its glass broken into as waves overcome everything inside, all while it sinks into a deeper and deeper darkness. So easily was she able to imagine the world around her distorted and submerged, stripped of everything normal while remaining the same.

“... Then what?” Adrian asked.

“Well… Heh…” Melanie offered an apologetic glance, one that didn’t last long. “I… didn’t think about that, until only a little bit ago. I know there’s a motel nearby, so, we’ll probably stay there for the night. As far as getting home… A taxi, o-or something. Ugh. I’ve never had to use one of those before…”

It was infuriating for Adrian to think of how incompetent this girl was. And yet, she was completely in control, and it always worked out for her. Against any hope Adrian had, everything fell into place before Melanie. It’s why she didn’t concern herself over the motel situation, or any of this at all. Worrying when she had no power to change things, she had decided, was a waste of her time.

Adrian surveyed her surroundings again. If her leg was going to remain numb seemingly forever, she decided it was fair to get some closure. “Where’s Kimberly? Where’s Scarlet?”

“Oh. I left them at home.” Melanie chuckled, “Y-You must have really been out of it. I mean, of course you would… a-after what happened.”

“Was I… supposed to remember what you did with them?” As vividly as she recalled the game Melanie forced her to play, it did not come with any illness to appropriately accompany it. She was beyond even that point. Once she had made her choice, and Erin had been sacrificed, everything past that was blank.

“I t-tried explaining things afterwards… I’ll catch you up, since we’re about to arrive anyway...” Melanie sighed, certainly unable to blame Adrian for blacking out. She had to admit, even she herself felt like the time that passed was foggy and difficult to decipher. All at once, the comfort of her home had been abandoned, and she and Adrian were on the road, their destination to dispose of vital evidence…


Pride swelled in her ecstatic state. Melanie’s smile was beyond that of mischief or chaos or evil, but instead it shined with holiness, with ringing bells accompanying it. Before her was a blessing, a turn of fate that she felt confident was tightening the invisible bonds that connected her with Adrian. Beneath her obsession were the red remains of Melanie’s rival, a drop of blood to match the abysmally tiny thing that once existed.

“Thank you, Adrian…!” Melanie whispered. “I knew… I-I knew you would understand.”

Adrian did not move. Her foot was firmly forward, dug into the ground that was Melanie’s desk. Not a shiver or twitch scurried anywhere on her body. The cold, heavy truth had frozen her entirely, like a still painting unable to animate and captured in this singular scene.

Without a word to be said, that paralysis seemed to spread. The entire bedroom was silent; Adrian and Melanie said nothing, Kimberly and Scarlet had ceased their crying, Candi and Erin were eradicated, and Nicky--

“Damn it…” Melanie laughed, despite the swearing. It broke the quiet suddenly, her random amusement in how one of her captives did escape. As much as she wanted to show that it didn’t bother her, in truth, the reality was drilling at her. Accomplishments and strides forward were undoubtedly made, but there was no outrunning this significant problem. Somewhere in the room, Nicky was in hiding.

Unfortunately for Melanie, that was just one of her biggest problems. A groan in her stomach reminded her that there was still more of a mess to clean up.

“Urgh…” Melanie hunched forward, restraining herself from holding her gut. Chuckles nervously crept over her lips, the result of two sides of Melanie fighting against each other.  A dark and wild side wanted to cherish this full feeling, the imaginative scene in her mind that this enemy was facing a cruel, acidic fate. The other half, the side that knew how necessary it was to keep control, was disgusted by how foul her action was, sickened that she had succumb to such a demonic temptation.

Slowly, Melanie made her way back over to the discarded jacket, the one she had wrestled off of Candi just as the curse took effect. She nudged it with her foot, then leaned down and lifted the fabric off the floor. An unavoidable thought made her arm shiver, The person who wore this… is digesting in my stomach.

Her expressions always bouncing one way or the other, Melanie again exhibited some strange pleasure. She strolled past her chair, only glancing down at Kimberly and Scarlet, before she made it to her bed. The jacket was laid out, and her passenger bag was hoisted up and unzipped. Whatever books and miscellaneous items were in there were removed, lazily tossed onto the mattress before being replaced with the jacket bundled up. She kept the keys with her, pocketed; she knew she’d have to do something with the car, and she had a crazy idea for that.

A few other things, she figured, would have to be packed. Before she could do that, her attention went back to Adrian, bothered by this long-lasting silence. “Adrian?” she muttered, her back turned to the desk while she shoved the jacket into the bag. “I think… I think we’ll have to go out of town for a little bit.”

Melanie turned only to see that Adrian was right there. Unmoved. Just as before, over a minute ago, Adrian remained with her foot stepped outward. Melanie figured some of the worst possibilities, and she gently brought a finger to touch Adrian. A little pat on the back was all she did, but Adrian didn’t budge unless the weight of the touch was simply too much. As tempting as it was to push Adrian and force her to move, Melanie wouldn’t disrespect her like that.

Still, this was worrisome for her. “Adrian…” Melanie moaned. She tried being positive, “I-It’s over now. W-We can talk now. Candi is gone, a-and Erin…”

That name, it quaked in Adrian’s core. The tiny woman finally flinched, hit across the head with that remark. She said nothing, and did nothing else, but just that little surge of motion shocked Melanie. This was deeper of an effect than she had intended it to have, and now Melanie felt ridiculous, having strangled this situation into happening.

In a hurry to avoid the growing guilt within her, Melanie rushed to get things done. She quickly grabbed Kimberly and Scarlet, ignoring their surprised squeaks and depositing them back into their cells. She opened a drawer in her desk to reveal a roll of tape, which was then used to crudely keep the cubby drawers closed. No risks could be afforded while she and Adrian were gone, not so shortly after her pets had narrowly escaped.

And still, Adrian stood there.

Melanie left the room a couple times, swiftly returning with items stolen from the kitchen to be packed with her. In a bit of a panic, and still formulating her idea, she had grabbed an inventory of seemingly random items. “There’s a lake,” she said, mostly to Adrian but just as much to herself, “it’s… a couple hours north of here. I think that will do.” A pause was left open for Adrian to inquire, but a ghostly silence occupied the space instead. Melanie continued, “We’ll drive Candi’s car there together. I can push it into the lake, and at the very least… that will…”

Melanie’s lips slowed. With Adrian being this silent, it felt as though she were only talking to herself. Again, she looked at Adrian, wishing she would move or say anything, even if it was something painful. She had endured Adrian’s resistance before, she had always been able to feel more powerful than this, but as she continued to pack her belongings like a runaway, she felt the texture of the illusion she had created, the paper-thin mirage of strength she had boasted.

I’m not a queen, Melanie thought. I’m not a goddess. I’m barely even human.

Having hovered over her luggage lost in thought, Melanie decided that it was time to leave. She turned away from the bed and over to her desk.

“Adrian… I-It’s best we go now…” Melanie’s fingers played with each other, pressing into one another nervously. She gave Adrian distance, like she was approaching an unnerved animal. Even now, Adrian’s stillness eerily persisted. Melanie offered a shivering hand, a platform for Adrian to board. “H-Here…” But Adrian still did not move.

Gritting her teeth, Melanie pushed forward. She gently scooped Adrian into her hand, the little body tumbling into the middle of her palm without any noise. She was lifted carefully into the air, coddled into two hands as Melanie worriedly looked down at her. Adrian moved, but it was in slow, guideless motions, meek attempts to find her balance and nothing else. Her expression deemed her tired and lost, not even a fraction of resistance against how Melanie held her.

Eventually, with everything ready, Melanie had left her apartment. She kept Adrian stashed into her hoodie pocket while she ventured into the apartment parking lot. Luckily, the keys Melanie had stolen had a beeper attached, allowing her to locate Candi’s vehicle right away. Double-confirming the sleek black car as having belonged to Candi were the formal parking badges hanging from the rear-view mirror, and a carton of chocolate malts sitting in the drink holder.

The car unlocked with just another press of a button. Lights immediately glowed to life, creating this welcoming aura, as though Melanie was successfully impersonating Candi. Yet, despite the comfort of the vehicle, she felt like an intruder, and anxiety had set in. She laid her bag into the passenger seat’s leg room while taking a seat for herself in front of the steering wheel.

Immediately, a cold entangled Melanie. Her breathing was crisp and short, her fingers slowly molding around the gear shift and the wheel. Fuck me, fuck me, she whined, I hate driving! Fuck me!

A wall of stress impeded Melanie’s progress. In times like this, she would find inspiration from Adrian, even if it came from just holding her. She did just that, her two hands cupped over Adrian after retrieving her from the pocket, but it had no effect. Adrian’s presence was there only as a weak visual. Lifeless; her body was limp, and her eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling of the car, piercing past Melanie’s face overhead as though a giantess wasn’t hanging right above her with a pleading expression.

“Please… A-Adrian…” Melanie’s voice cracked. She forced out a small smile, a glimmer of that deep passion she had for Adrian, but it tempted to fade. “Just… say something. Anything. You can tell me how mad you are… o-or you can tell me how much you hate me. You can talk about anything. I… I just need your voice. I n-need to know that you’re here…”

Adrian said nothing. Her body nearly rolled over, just due to Melanie’s idle tilt.

“Adrian…? Are you okay…?” Melanie closed her eyes. She bit her lip. She wanted to shake Adrian and squeeze her, to force a reply, but of course she couldn’t ever do that. “I… I’m sorry, Adrian, alright? I’m sorry for what I did… Please, I need to hear you.”

Adrian still said nothing. Her silence pushed daggers into Melanie’s chest which could not be pried out, and so, enduring this wound, Melanie found strength in the only source she had left, a spit of energy to force her body into moving again. To forfeit everything she had worked for up until now was not an option, not while she knew of her own devotion.

The hoodie was disrobed and bundled into a pile in the adjacent seat. Like managing a feather, Melanie slowly lowered Adrian into the center of this nest of fabric. She couldn’t force Adrian to be lively, she understood that much, and bearing through that pain, she eventually started the car into a gentle hum. A deep breath calmed her nerves before she took the vehicle out into the lot, and next onto the road.


The steady sound of tires coasting over a flat highway road had given way to the rustle and crunch of a bumpy dirt road. Street lights that once lead the way through the empty night had ceased to help Melanie, who now relied only on her headlights to navigate through the outskirts of a park area. She crossed a bridge over a creek, a sign that she was close to the target lake.

Along the sides of the path were signs. Listed on them were a variety of park activities and camping features, but Melanie only glossed through them in search for specific directions. She just wanted the lake, nothing else. These reminders that this was a quiet, wooded area meant for leisure and recreation only added to this grim sense of corruption, for soon, this peaceful land would be the spot where evidence of a murder was disposed.

How long until someone finds it? It was an important question that Melanie had been dreading to seriously ask herself, a thought that trailed her no matter how fast she drove. Candi will be labeled missing officially by tomorrow, if she hasn’t already. They wouldn’t come up this far in search of a car… would they? What if someone swims in the lake and--

Stop. A hard stop. The brakes were slammed; a gasp escaped Melanie, but a sharp squeak came from beside her. In an instant, her hand was there in the passenger seat, caged over Adrian’s tiny body. Melanie’s heart was racing, but Adrian’s was double that, having nearly been launched from an otherwise comfortable place. The halt, after all, was especially surprising for her, having no view of the outside.

“W-What?!” Adrian coughed, her voice still slow to return to her. She clung to a long finger for support, both arms and a leg wrapped around it.

“Um… R-Raccoon…” Melanie replied. “It was a raccoon…” She pointed with her other hand, though it meant nothing to Adrian. True enough, however, was that a raccoon was indeed impeding the car’s path, hopped up on two legs with blinded eyes before scurrying off back into the bushes.

Adrian was still catching her breath, fighting against the sheer lack of will that had plagued her for so long. The sudden stop had seemingly catapulted some of the bad vibes forward, as both her and Melanie seemed to be living in a completely new moment, free from the clouds of stress if only for a few seconds. To that effect, Adrian was somewhat grateful for the animal’s near-demise.

Melanie slowly pulled her hand away and out of Adrian’s grip. It was only then that Adrian realized that it was Melanie’s hand she had been hugging, that Melanie had instinctively brought it to her as a last-second seatbelt of sorts. That same hand shivered, hesitant to go back to the steering wheel after such a shock.

“O-Okay… Just a raccoon…” Melanie sighed. Angrily, she grumbled, “... at exactly 8:15 pm… there had to be a raccoon here, huh…”

Her concern then shot to Adrian, but an empty word was all she stuttered. She looked at Adrian, and then looked away, ashamed. “... I-I’m going now,” she quietly warned, releasing the brakes and gradually picking up speed again. No more distractions or interruptions.

For the rest of the trip, Adrian felt something at the tip of her tongue, and the mystery behind it only deepened the longer she looked up at Melanie while she drove. There was something she wanted to say, a mundane question that promised no satisfactory answer: What kind of person are you?

The lake came into view, but it was hardly a privilege to appreciate. The black of night was reflected back along the cool surface of the water. Melanie had been traveling along the ridge of the lake and had found a place to park while she scouted out a suitable angle. The drop into the lake wasn’t very far, even at the highest cliffs it was a fifteen foot drop at best, but due to the darkness, Melanie felt like she was gazing into an endless abyss. The more she tried to calculate the best drop-off point, the more it felt like any spot would do, as though the car would be drowned into nothingness regardless.

The vehicle was emptied, but only of the items Melanie had brought along -- she stole the malt chocolates, too, unabashedly. She lined the car up to a short plateau, exited, and then prepared a pushing stance at the trunk. Adrian was with her, pocketed again into the same hoodie now worn again by Melanie.

Melanie inhaled, and Adrian did the same empathetically, having felt the deep breath fill the gut that was behind her. Their anticipation for what was to come had them appreciating this fleeting, serene silence.

A stern shove inched the car forward at a pace much worse than Melanie expected. Despite her subpar strength, the vehicle was giving way, and once it tipped past the peak of the slope--

A splash, heavy and bassy. Fizzing and gurgling followed, with an eruption of bubbles acting as the car’s death throes. Gallons of water flooded the interior in seconds, drowning it, deeper and deeper into the water as though a beast beneath the tides was dragging it to the depths.

Melanie observed this destruction, mandating herself to do so to ensure that the evidence was finely done with. She perched herself atop that same slope, staring down into the bubbling pit. Her legs were crossed and her hands filled her lap, allowing a seat for Adrian to watch, too. And she did, chilled only by the cold night air, and warmed by the pain that came with being some type of accomplice in all this.

As though nothing had happened, the tranquil lake had returned in time. A painting of the moon’s reflection had been corrected now that the waves had ceased their restlessness. And still, for minutes more, Melanie rested there.

“Let’s go find that motel.”


Even late into that night, the apartment was dreary and still, as though entirely abandoned. Melanie and Adrian were still out, and Juniper had yet to return either. The only beating hearts to be found were those of the shrunken captives, the women locked into desk cubbies like household items, and even they had slumbered off. There was no breaking out of their cells, and no giantess to be tortured by. All was motionless in the apartment.

Except for a sock. A purple sock, with cute skulls dotting it up and down. It bumped in the middle of the night. It was lost and dusty, long forgotten behind Melanie’s computer tower where its cold fabric met the warm machine. The rustling came from within, and a second later, a tiny head peeked out to survey the alley she found herself hiding in.

Nicky had escaped. Rather, she had survived, and even she was hesitant to think that. Bunkered into a girl’s lost sock had no empowerment behind it, no thrill of success or progress. Perhaps even more than usual, she felt like an insect, pathetically cowering under just the possibility that a massive creature was waiting for her up above. The silence of the bedroom was not reassuring -- Nicky knew better than to trust only what she could perceive.

She had worried that this was all just another game. After Melanie had charged back into the bedroom, Nicky knew that their mission to escape had failed. But to come that far only to be plucked up by that cruel, unforgiving monster, was too much to bear. Even if it meant abandoning her friends.

Nicky winced. Could she call them friends? Was it healthy to do that now, knowing she was leaving them behind?

Those thoughts and many more pressing matters were what had paralyzed her for so long. She remembered running across the top of the tower, faster than she had ever ran before in her life. When she reached the wires in the back, she didn’t think twice. She bravely leaped to the first cable, hugged it, then following it down to the next. Instead of worrying of what lay beneath her, she only feared what could come from above, like a haunting face or a grabbing hand. She descended in long bounds, until she slipped and tumbled the rest of the way, into a dust bunny as big as she was. And beneath it, was a sock.

“Fuck me… There’s no way this will work,” she had said to herself, while already in the act of hiding inside the discarded article. It was her safest bet, knowing that Melanie had every advantage to perceive her anywhere else. She prayed, actively and genuinely praying to any god, that Melanie’s gaze would pass right over her.

And it did. Following such a suspenseful wait was no relief, however. Melanie had a speech, powerful words that carried a hopeless reality. Die like an insect without anyone ever noticing, those same words echoed in her head again. Without me, you’re just bloodstains waiting to make a mess on someone’s shoe. Your body will fade into dust and then you’ll really become nothing.

She was right, Nicky dreadfully agreed, and the world she awoke to was true to that. She had tried to sleep those thoughts away, too afraid to move and risk the chance that Melanie was there, having waited there the entire time. Even when hours passed, she dared not move and risk this one opportunity, she knew Melanie was crazy enough to do something so elaborate. It wasn’t until darkness had come in, and still not a sound had been made, that Nicky only now thought to leave Melanie’s sock.

Nicky crept out into the space under Melanie’s desk, where all the cold of the room seemed to gather. Above her, she knew Kimberly and Scarlet were still trapped. She knew Adrian had been taken with Melanie. She knew the detective had been eaten. She knew Erin had been crushed. She knew that between her and her phone was at least a mile of distance, and that said phone would easily be twice her own size. And she knew how weak she was, not only as a toy-sized human, but as someone who has never had to push themselves physically.

Unable to control herself, Nicky wept, and her feet stumbled forward with an agonizing gait. “I-It wasn’t supposed to be like this…!” she whined, hugging herself to resist the vacant chill. “It shouldn’t… have been me…! I-I can’t… I can’t do this alone… I d-don’t want to be alone...”

Nevertheless, each step carried Nicky further from the desk. Across the flat plains of the carpet. Past the monolithic chair. Before the immovable door. Behind it lay not her destination of freedom, but her journey of survival.

Chapter Fifteen by Curse Crazy

Stagnant air touched by a chemically-clean smell introduced Melanie to the room still veiled in its own darkness. Her shadow was a silhouette where it was cast on the floor, framed by the light that illuminated in from a street light behind her. She flipped the light switch, revealing the motel room and all three of its features; a bed, a television, and a bathroom. Though far from a luxurious getaway, it had all she would need, plus a television. Dinky as the room might be, she concluded firmly that sleeping here would beat camping it out in the woods. She expected nothing less from a motel of this sort; no questions, just cash.

Melanie stepped into the room, lightly applying her back to the door until it closed. She pressed the knob lock in, then set up the chain lock for extra protection. The curtains were closed, yet she tidied them anyway, extending out their edges to cover up as much of the window as possible. The cool air of the air conditioning just below the window blew up at her refreshingly, but not enough to ease her mind. She clutched tightly to her messenger bag, sighed, then sat the bag down onto the bed.

“We’re here,” Melanie said. There was almost an attempt of a sing-song tone. She opened the side pocket after slumping the bag onto its side. Crawling out slowly from the hole was Adrian, blinded by the room’s light even with her arm raised as some shade.

The room was compact, even Adrian could tell that, but to her scale, of course it was huge. The bed alone stretched out like a plain of cloth, and unlike Melanie’s bed which had always been used recently and wrinkled, the bedsheets here were straight, clean, and tight. She didn’t gawk at the television bigger than any theater screen she had seen, nor did she marvel into the bathroom, what little of it she could peer into. Her survey of her surroundings was unremarkable, as chilly as the room was.

Melanie had expected this. If the room was this unimpressive to her, she assumed Adrian’s reaction would be even more bland. Despite the adventure they had set out on, only a few hours stood between the present and two murders. Though Melanie could at least maintain a private smile, blessed by Adrian’s presence, the target of her obsession could still not shake off what haunted her, even when presented a change of brighter scenery.

Adrian stood, but only for a brief time. The motel room might as well have been a wasteland, a huge open space with nothing of note. She swayed and turned back to the messenger bag, staring into the pocket. “Do I have to be out here?” she asked.

Melanie hesitated, manually selecting each word and debating over how effective it would be. More than ever, she was conscious of how fragile Adrian’s mind had to be right now. “Err… N-No,” she said, not wanting to answer so honestly. “Y-You don’t have to, but… I think the bed might be comfier than the bag…”

Though Adrian did not look up to verify it, she could sense Melanie’s expression; apologetic, nervous, attempts at appearing gentle and harmless. So close was Melanie to convincingly sound as such, but Adrian knew better. Slipped beyond those lips, the same lips that quivered to a smile, had been a human.

Adrian winced. Remembering that scene all over again was no better now than it was the last time. The horror of it all just dawned on her more, and when she made the jump to try and think of anything else, who would come to mind but the other person that died? Pushed to the back of her mind as it were, her attempts at ignoring that burden only weighed on her greater. There was a guilt piling up, a flood preparing to break past the dams of her mental barriers, and she was in no position to fight back when that would happen.

For now, there was a calm in how broken she was. She cherished it, in a way, being so devastated by how the day’s events had unfolded. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she was back in the motel room. Temporarily did she find herself lost in that place of time, dangerously close to reliving that moment before she found herself awakened again. She held her head, recovering from what felt like whiplash.

To subtly keep Adrian from returning to the pocket, Melanie lifted the bag and opened its primary pouch. From within, she pulled out a phone charger, then a tube of potato chips, something she had swiped from the pantry before leaving. She popped the lid, watching Adrian the entire time. As expected, Adrian’s nose perked to the salty smell of something to eat, a layer of pain that she had forgotten.

“Here,” Melanie offered a cracked-off piece of one chip to Adrian, who reflexively pulled away at first. The chip, even just that piece, seemed hard like wood to her, yet between the thick pair of fingers, it could crack to dust so effortlessly.

Adrian sat down, getting more distance between her and the snack. “I’m… I’m not hungry.”

“Yes,” Melanie scoffed, “yes you are! I-It’s been all day. A long day, no less… I-I know you’ve got to be hungry, s-so, please…” She inched the chip closer still.

“Melanie…” Adrian muttered the name under her breath, like a curse word. She spoke up, “I said, I’m not hungry.”

Partially giving in, Melanie reeled in the chip slightly higher above Adrian. With her other hand, she brought the original, greater chip up to her own mouth. “Adrian, if I’m this hungry, th-then I’m sure you’ve got to be starving.” To feed off her worries, Melanie closed her eyes and bit down on the chip; two bites and the whole snack was gone, only enough to tease her appetite.

But as mundane as this was for Melanie, the crunching sound of that one chip had triggered a spasm out of Adrian. Against her better thinking, she glanced up at Melanie, specifically her mouth. She winced again, shuddering under another chomp, able to note how the once crispy texture was softening into a mush. Her jaw was wickedly strong, and yet it barely worked at all to break apart the chip nearly as tall as Adrian was. And then, as one final, accidental insult, Melanie idly licked her lips, exposing her pink tongue as it swept up what salt and crumbs had been left behind.

Tears jerked just at the corner of Adrian’s eyes. She was shivering, and it only intensified after every nibble she could hear.

Once again, Melanie offered a fraction of that chip back to Adrian, but before she could bargain with her shrunken obsession, Adrian lashed out. A screech followed her action, her arms shooting up at the food in volatile frustration. One hand punched through it and split apart a shard, while the other gripped the side and pulled. In less than a second, the chip had been wrecked, crumbled into a mix of fragments and powder.

Like pulling her hand away from a snapping dog, Melanie retreated just after Adrian had erupted. She was surprised at this influx of energy, unaware that she had caused that surge to happen. “Adri--” Another screech, cutting off Melanie before she could speak again; Adrian yelled in bursts, swinging her fists at the bed in a fully realized tantrum.

Do you ever fucking listen, Melanie?!” she screamed, her fists clenched into the cushiony floor beneath her. “Why?! Why the fuck are you so goddamn stubborn?!”

“H-Hey, hey--”

“Why do I have to repeat myself?! Why do you do this to me?!”

“I-It… It was just…”

“No! I don’t want you! Or your fucking food!” To emphasize this, she kicked at the crumbs that she had made, launching a shard a fair distance away.

Melanie was flustered. This level of anger had never been seen before, not from Adrian. Truly, it had scared her. “A-Adrian… I’m sorry…! P-Please, don’t yell at me--”

“You killed someone!” Adrian growled, a sound that then diminished into a whimper. Shakes infested her after such an outburst, and tears dotted her eyes while her mouth hung agap. “And you… And you made me kill someone. Y-You… made me a murderer… You made me kill Erin…”

Melanie felt the sharpness of Adrian’s statement slide along her thinning heart. She could justify herself again, just like she had earlier, but what good would that do? She trembled in front of Adrian, fearful of how she might react to hearing her defend herself. It was as though their massive difference in size meant nothing.

“And do you feel anything?!” Adrian spat while Melanie succumbed to silence. “You ate someone. You ate someone! A-A living person, a grown woman! How heartless do you have to be…?! To do something so… so fucked up! Why?! Why did it come to all this?!

“I remember what you said,” Adrian raged on, preventing Melanie from answering for herself. “It’s because… because you love me. You have a crush on me. So this is what you do then? You fucking eat people?!”

“She… She w-would’ve--”

“You make me kill my friends?!”

“E-Erin… I couldn’t just--”

“After you tortured her?!”

Melanie held her breath. She couldn’t argue with Adrian, so she meditated on the subject, how cruel her actions had been, and where that cruelty had taken them. This scene, sitting on a motel bed and yelling at each other, was not the romance Melanie wanted. This was not how she envisioned her life with Adrian, shrunken or not.

“This… This isn’t what you do when you like someone, Melanie!” Adrian said. “People don’t do this. They don’t kill when they have a crush on someone. They don’t shrink people and kidnap them. Do you think that’s how I acted with Erin?!”

Melanie flinched. Adrian noticed, and it sparked something in her. She knew then that Melanie would hate this conversation, and with momentum on her side, she chose to push even harder. This vulnerability would not be overlooked.

“She was a chorus kid. She loved singing. As much as I loved her voice, it was her passion for singing that… that swept me off my feet. Anytime she giggled at one of my dumb jokes, it felt like she was singing just for me. I’d sit outside the choir hall and listen to her practice. I went to one of her recitals, all the way on the other side of the state. I wasn’t even in choir, I had to have my mom drag me out there just to listen to her, and I didn’t even ask Erin if that’d be cool.

“Do you think that’s when the kidnapping starts?!” Adrian’s voice splashed in volume. “No! I asked her out! I went to her, after the recital, and I just… I just told her! I told her how I felt, and we talked, and then the next day, we went out! To a movie! And she spilled soda on me because she couldn’t find the drink holder! All of that… it was normal! It felt normal, and human! Like two people in love!

“Look at yourself! And look at me!” Adrian shivered. To so vividly go back to another time and place, just to return to this motel room, made her voice crack with depression. “Erin never would have done this… I’d never do this to her! If two people love each other… in what insane world would they kidnap people for them?! Or murder?!”

Throughout this, Melanie had stiffened. Her eyes were blank and her most idle of motions stopped. As if turned to stone, she could only think, If that were true, then why… then why did you two…

She flinched, harder than before. Her hands reached to her head, addressing an agonizing headache that had been manifesting from Adrian’s words. This is what Adrian wanted, she herself knew this, but there wasn’t some pleasant satisfaction for having hurt Melanie. Striking back at her with a mental assault was only adding fuel to the fire, a fire she deeply wished would burn out already.

Their talk was suspended for a time, hanging off that last spoken word. In the dim motel room, in the middle of the woods, murder was the game. They were killers, intentional and unintentional, part of an elite fraction of the world who could truthfully say they’ve brought a direct end to another human’s life. Unable to vocalize how they felt, yet undoubtedly they admitted to themselves how connected this made them.

But that made Adrian cringe, and Melanie mope. Their bond in this matter was more like a mire they were sinking into together, rather than a string of fate.

Melanie swallowed, a sign of just how much courage she had to swell before speaking. “Adrian… C-Can I hold you?” Her cold hands reached out carefully with a hug-like form in which to grasp Adrian.

However, Adrian refused. She lashed out again, “No!!” and slashed at one of the encroaching fingers. She added a kick, and then a series of flurried punches. From a delicate flake of snow to a jagged clump of ice, she refused Melanie’s grasp. “Get away!! Get the hell away!!”

And Melanie did, retreating once more. Adrian’s counter was sharp, inflicting a tiny yet burning wound. She gasped even, realizing that Adrian had attacked her, successfully so. “A-Adrian…” she muttered, unable to bring words to her desire. Instead, her lips only quivered, a wish to say, I don’t want to be alone…

Words unsaid would go unheard. Adrian backed away towards the huge pillows that stood up behind her. She faced Melanie unblinking, arms prepped for another strike if it came to it. It mattered little how strong Melanie was, for when Adrian had been pushed this deep into her corner, her usual passiveness could not be maintained. The more she understood this feeling, the more rushed her flow of adrenaline became.

“If I was normal sized,” Adrian said, panting, “I’d… strangle you…!”

Melanie’s hands were lowered together onto one side, one hand coddling the other. Even just looking at Adrian felt like an assault on her, an intrusion onto her obsession that she didn’t intend, yet she couldn’t help doing so. This was her Adrian, saying such dreadful and real things.

“Don’t ever touch me again,” Adrian said. She pointed hard at Melanie, up to one of the huge eyes that gazed down on her. “Not unless I say so. Never touch me.”

Melanie’s eyes plunged into darkness. She closed her eyes, fighting against her instincts. “I… I won’t.”

“Don’t grab me. Don’t poke me. Don’t pet me. Don’t step on me!” Adrian clenched her teeth, getting only angrier. “I’ll never make it easier for you! Not while you’re this… this freak! This monster!” She huffed. “As long as you’re a monster, I’ll fear you like one…! I’ll never love you, Melanie! I never will love you like you want, no matter what you do to try to force me!”

Melanie weakly nodded, her head hanging at its lowest part of the arc. “I understand--”

Now you understand?! You’re just gonna say that?!” Adrian shook her head, stray hairs whipping over her face. “How did you believe this would even work out in the first place? You really have no clue what the fuck love is.”

Again, Melanie closed her eyes. This time, her comment could not be swallowed back into her throat. She spoke, just a mumble, “I thought that I knew. I really did…”

She stood up, lifting herself off the bed. In her absence, the mattress’s weight shifted, and Adrian bounced from its movement. She nearly stumbled off her feet, but the sudden motion did force some of her excess ire to a calm. A heavy breath stabilized herself further, and she watched Melanie, wary yet of what she planned to do.

Melanie turned, revealing that her somber expression hadn’t changed. Barely did her eyes gloss over Adrian, focused instead on her bag. She grabbed it, and then nonchalantly tossed it behind her into the corner. A few of its contents spilled, but she paid it no mind. She stared at nothing, not even Adrian but only the empty middle of the bed.

“I wanted to feel complete,” Melanie said. “You felt like the other half. The moment I saw you, I wanted to commit everything to you. I wanted to close any gap between us. At any cost, no matter what the universe said.”

Adrian scoffed. “So, murder? Back then, did you think you’d murder someone?!”

“Yes,” Melanie said, and she giggled, “yes! O-Of course I did…!”

“There’s something wrong with you. There’s something cold inside of you, Melanie.” Adrian choked. Anytime she thought of this alleged moment, when Melanie first laid eyes on her, it made her stomach turn and her heart drop.

“Is that really… so wrong?” Melanie’s smile faded back to its hurt state. “I… I guess it is. But to me, that’s what I thought love was. Nothing could be more important in the whole world than that other person, th-that… other half. Why wouldn’t I kill for you? Why wouldn’t I do anything to make you mine…? And to be… made yours…? Is that not dedication, in its purest form?”

Adrian’s mouth hung open with nothing to say. She was only baffled into silence, listening to the logic that ran through Melanie’s mind. Finally, she stuttered, “Where did you get this idea…?! Th-This isn’t right, Melanie, that isn’t right at all.”

Melanie turned her head away. “That’s just how my parents were. They loved each other so much, they only ever thought of each other. All the time, you could see the love in their eyes, a-and the warmth in their faces, just from looking at each other.”

“You could?” Adrian said this sourly. She had found another weak point. “So even they aren’t together anymore, that dedication didn’t do much for them.”

“No, m-my father… he… Th-They were separated, forcefully.” Melanie slumped forward, internally conflicted. “He’s in prison. And… he won’t be coming out.”

Adrian flinched at this detail, finding so much to unpack all at once. She hadn’t spent any time considering Melanie’s family, only then comprehending how much insight into her captor could be gleaned with this knowledge. And what insight this was; her father, a devoted lover to his wife, was convicted of something. It was a mystery with an uncomfortable answer, and Adrian ignored that as well as she could.

“It broke my mother,” Melanie went on, her words a lost ramble, just speaking from one sentence to the next. “She hurt herself so badly in front of me. She felt useless not being able to do something for him. Everyday, she says she’s a traitor… if she says anything at all. So many days now, she just sits in silence.”

Melanie brought a hand to her chest, clutching at the fabric of her shirt. “A broken heart, after so much devotion… It’s so despairing. Nothing is more despairing than that. It’s to be maimed and left to bleed out slowly. That’s how she is now… and it’s how my father must be. And, now I’ve…”

She chuckled, sharp breaths exhaling out her nose. Finally, she could look at Adrian, but she felt undeserving of this privilege. “Now I’ve discovered a worse despair. To fall in love in such a completely wrong way… being so close, and so far. It… hurts.”

I hope it does, Adrian thought. I hope it stings and burns.

She held her head, as though trying to grab onto those thoughts. No, she argued against herself. That’s so vile. It’s cruel. That’s… not like me. She hated to admit it, but Melanie’s toxicity was contagious. She could feel herself wanting to hate and wanting to destroy, a sensation that drummed hard in her core. She wanted the thrill of fighting back against a giant opponent, but there was no excitement. She wanted to see Melanie suffer, but to cherish that would be to let Melanie have altered her.

Keep it together, Adrian, she told herself. Don’t let her win like this. Don’t play her games.

“That…” Adrian sighed, unsure as of then what to say. “That explains a lot. I mean, of course I’d be shrunken and kidnapped by a girl from a fucked up home. Who else would be insane enough to do that?” She paced in a small circle. “Do you think that justifies anything, though? This changes nothing. Nothing at all.”

“I… I know, Adrian. I’m sorry that it’s come to this. I-I wasn’t trying to justify anything. My actions… I’ve chosen to make them myself. This is all my responsibility. This is all I’ve done out of my love for you.

“And it’s… not been enough.”

Adrian shivered. The temperature dropped. “Melanie…”

The giantess stooped to her knees, descending closer to Adrian’s level. It was a sight Adrian could never come to grips with, this surreal sensation of a building-sized person suddenly dropping down and stopping, like frozen in mid-collapse. When Melanie was seated on the floor, her face was equal with Adrian’s, but still ginormous and intimidating. A different light was in her green eyes, like a rekindled flame.

“I’ve failed to convince you, but only so far.” A crooked smile etched Melanie’s lips. “This is the only way I know how to live… how to love. And yet, it’s caused so much pain. How can I tell that this is the wrong path, or… the righteous one? Isn’t this just another trial…?”

“Melanie,” Adrian stammered, understanding how she had caused this. “Melanie, listen to me. This is not-- You’re wrong! You’re just wrong!”

“Haah… Am I?” Melanie giggled, but the amusement was bitter, like she was laughing at herself. “Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was just an idiot this entire time. I wouldn’t put it past me. So I’ll let destiny decide! I’ll let you decide, Adrian.”

“Huh?” Adrian shook her head, disagreeing with any of the plots or schemes Melanie would suggest. “Deciding on what?! I-I’m not going to join you in these fucking--”

“You’ll see…!” Melanie chuckled. “You’ll see soon enough. Tomorrow, maybe… But, for now…”

Two hands creeped upwards from the edge of the bed; to Adrian, two serpents that were hungry to strike. “No!” Adrian shouted, her sharpness exposed again. “I said no! Y-You won’t touch me!”

Melanie flinched, and her hands did fall back. “Ah, y-you’re totally right,” Melanie said. “I agreed to that… I won’t touch you. I’m… sorry.”

This only confused Adrian more. The way Melanie spoke, the way she was acting, it all seemed to have taken a sudden turn, as though she fell and flipped backwards. Adrian didn’t understand it, so she observed. Melanie stood up and walked to the corner she had tossed her bag. Of the items that fell out, she spotted what all she wanted. When she returned, only one thing was in her grasp: a nightgown, dotted with yellow stars, but fitted for a doll. Among the clothing Melanie had bought for Adrian from the toy store, one of which had been this dress to sleep in. There had yet to be a time to use it, but Melanie brought it to Adrian now, lowered to her level.

“Wear this,” Melanie suggested. “It’ll be more comfortable.”

For Adrian, this was unexpected. She barely recognized the gown at first, and she didn’t seem to want to, not after remembering that the same day this dress was bought, so too was it the day that Erin would be lured into Melanie’s curse. Yet, in her confusion, she didn’t refuse it. It draped into her arms, and as requested, Melanie did not touch her at all.

Is this what she was grabbing me for? Adrian wondered. She looked over the nightgown, noting how light and soft the scrap of fabric was. Regardless of what it reminded her of, she couldn’t deny that it looked cozier to rest in.

She was still, so Melanie urged her. “Go ahead. There’s no trick or anything.”

Doubtful of that, and still wanting to assert herself, Adrian dropped the nightgown onto the bed. She kicked part of it off her foot, “No. I don’t want anything from you.”

“Ahh, th-that…” Melanie tilted her head. “That isn’t true, is it?”

Adrian heard the subdued giggle behind her tone, and her glare deepened. “What?! What could I want from you?”

Melanie jittered, her fingers pressing into each other anxiously. “Ha, well… that’s for you to decide. Right? Heh…” Once again, she kneeled down to be at Adrian’s level, this time laying with her legs out to one side.

Whatever this riddle was, Adrian had little patience for it. She swayed her arms at her side dismissively, pacing around again for another full circle. She searched for something to do, as if something had to be done now that she had all this energy back to her. All she found was emptiness, from the vacant hugeness of the motel room, to the flat surface of the bed, to the hollow look in Melanie’s eyes.

Melanie chuckled, “You look so antsy. You should get some rest.”

Adrian glanced at Melanie, then towards the hills of pillows. The spite within wanted to disagree, How am I supposed to rest when I know we killed two people…? At the same time, there was appeal in deactivating herself from this mad world. What a relief it was, she thought, to just not be conscious anymore while she existed in this miserable state.

“Well,” Adrian said, “where?” She looked around, mostly towards the nightstand neighboring the bed. “Where am I sleeping?”

“Oh, th-the bed!” Melanie answered, gesturing towards the mattress. “I-If you want to sleep there, that is. I’ll sleep somewhere else. The floor, probably.”

Adrian, confused and frustrated, accepted this for what it was. “Fine. Sure.” Aimlessly, she wandered closer to the center of the sheets, but to truly reach the middle would be a long walk. Only a few steps later did she give in, laying down on her side, watchful of Melanie still. “Remember what I said. No touching.”

“No touching,” Melanie repeated.

In a huff, Adrian turned to her other side to better ignore Melanie. So much weighed on her mind, and she couldn’t sleep knowing Melanie was right there, looming. Her eyes closed, forcefully so until it was natural. Shivers would stir her, little kicks and spasms, ever fearful Melanie would betray this thin twine of trust they had built upon this one strict policy. Eventually, the ease of sleep came. As promised, Melanie did not touch her.

But she stared. Unblinking. She watched Adrian rotate around in the bed, her body dwarfed by the expanse of the mattress. She studied every movement, every shiver, every snore. A dulled smile watched her as the hours past, time she spent mentally pushing her energies into Adrian, like prayers; the bed, an altar, and Adrian, the idol.

Melanie leaned back, then stood up gently. Soft steps took her to the messenger bag, which she then carried into the bathroom. There, she laid the bag onto the counter, and then she leaned over it, both arms supporting her weight. Green eyes met green eyes in the mirror, a flicker of a look into herself.

“Adrian. I’ll leave it all to you,” she said to herself. She dug into the bag, and from it she retrieved a book with missing and torn pages. Then, a bottle of wine. Containers of salts. Candles. An ornate bowl.

Melanie opened the spellbook. Into the night, she would dive into her studies.


“Please… Y-You’ve got to be kidding me, please!” A tiny voice sobbed in a dim hallway, within an empty apartment. No one was there to hear these pleas for help, nor would they even if they were present. Nicky was too small for her peril to be noticed. She would be overlooked, wedged inside the crack underneath Melanie’s door.

Since her escape had began, Nicky had only thought of her destination and the distance between them. From the beginning, she knew it would be a long, cold trek, lonesome and scary. She had imagined what it would feel like, to finally exit the room on her own terms, and to see the world that was on just the other side of the door. Nightmares is what she visualized, a new dimension of huge monsters that would trample her without even noticing, no more than a bump under their footfalls.

It had sickened Nicky so much just imagining that trial and how dramatic it would be. It was belittling, insulting, when she found herself bested by the very first real obstacle. It was no human, not any living creature. It was nothing fantastical, but horribly mundane. The crack underneath the door was too small for her to slide under, and she was now stuck in the middle.

“Shit! Shit!” Nicky whined, her voice escalating in volume. She had been keeping quiet thus far, it felt like the normal thing to do; it was late at night, and she was sneaking. But trapped where she was, halfway through the crack, she knew well enough no one would hear her or her screams, for better and for worse. “Please! For god’s sake!”

Squirming was doing nothing. Kicking was doing nothing. She feared that this would happen, but never believed it would be like this. Before giving it her attempt, she measured the distance, and figured that it wouldn’t be an easy feat from the get-go. Barely any space separated the floor from the bottom of the door, much of that space was only because of a strip of wood that separated two different fields of carpet. It was a gap she had little confidence in getting past.

There were no other options. Where else would she turn? How could she escape from this hell if not through the one exit? There was a meager dream that perhaps Melanie had holes in her walls, but that sounded cartoonishly convenient. Beneath the door it was, but her desperation for freedom had gotten her trapped.

She cried. Her fists pounded at the fibers of carpet. Again, she pulled hard to move forward, but she barely budged. Her waist was too wide; never did she think that attribute would haunt her like this. A large rear was once considered an asset, but ironically, here it had become a burden, worse than a lame leg.

If Nicky stopped for too long, the silence alone would slay her. She hated the surrounding darkness, cementing the fact that she was embarrassingly stuck underneath a door. She couldn’t stay like this, she couldn’t let it all end like this. What would even happen of her, stuck in this crack? Would Melanie return and find her? Or, worse, would she never even notice, and just open the door?

Goosebumps coated her skin. She wouldn’t give up. Never before had she felt so spirited about anything. She had more than just herself to think about; Scarlet and Kimberly were behind her, imprisoned still in Melanie’s desk. Erin needed justice, vengeance for what happened to her. That detective, too, who she heard Melanie taunt so harshly. Whatever became of her, she could only imagine.

Inspired by all this, Nicky gripped the carpet fibers as tightly as her hands could. She panted, gathering together all her strength into one pool. Every time she pulled forward, her back burned from scraping underneath the wood. It stung, the feeling of her skin grinding under such an imposing surface. It was agony that her body was flattened like this, her ribs feeling crushed in such a cramped space.

“Go…! Go…!!” She pulled, and she pulled. She whined, then pulled again.

Finally, her endurance paid off. She jostled forward, making a leap in progress. This movement jolted her with renewed stamina, and she pulled forward again in this painful crawl. Inch by inch, she was sliding out, until eventually her ass had cleared the gap and she was propelled forward by the remainder of her pulling.

“Oh… O-Oh god,” she panted, her crawl slowed by her limp. “I… Holy shit… I did it…”

She felt like cheering, but this was no time to celebrate. Immediately, the emptiness of the apartment shook her to her core. She had surpassed a barrier into a terrifying world. To some degree, there was safety in that prison behind her, a consistency in what to expect. That was gone now. Ahead lurked dangers she could never predict, all found in such a familiar environment.

Vaguely familiar, anyway. A light shined into the hall from a more distant part of the apartment, perhaps an entry light that had been left on. What she saw was a hallway she hadn’t considered to be too vital at the time. She remembered briefly how she passed through here only once, before she met her fate as one of Melanie’s toys. She was high, an enjoyable high, just following an awkward, creepy girl into her bedroom when promised “something cool.”

Significantly more time was spent wandering that same hall now than before. In truth, the hallway was only a few paces long, narrow and short. Previously, she had stumbled directly from the living room right into Melanie’s bedroom. But now, it was a trip in and of itself, like a highway road in the middle of the night, eerily devoid of any and all traffic. Around the block, or the wall in this case, would be the living room, something she genuinely wanted to marvel at.

Indeed, what she saw was impressive, if alien. Immediately she noticed the living room couch, which was not only her destination, but the most familiar part of the household. It was there that she sat beside Melanie, taking hits from a bong and wasting time. Now, that same couch would rival a whole block of buildings. She chuckled nervously, realizing that somehow, she would have to scale that thing.

Nicky walked and turned as she did, not wasting any time to try and reach her beloved phone, but still wanting to survey the land. Complicated structures of wood were but a dining table and chairs, occupying a nook of a dining area. A gigantic wall rose to the sky, but it was just the kitchen counter. It all looked amazing, as too did it look trashy. Just like she remembered -- liquor bottles and dirty dishes topped just about every flat surface, only now those same bottles would stand as tall as street lights, and those dishes could hold a lecture hall’s worth of students.

She chuckled, tickled by how small she felt, and what freedom there was to be exercised. No longer under the heartless authority of someone who collected cute girls as dolls, Nicky felt a swelling of energy underneath the layers of fear. It did little to brighten her outlook, but for just a brief second, she cherished this space she had, the control she had. Finally, she had some sense of privacy, even if it was as a speck in the middle of a living room.

All that joy was tarnished and washed away the second a metal click was heard. Nicky jumped like a cat, her shoulders stiffened up past her neck, as she spun around to face the source of the noise, far over at the front door. It was being unlocked, and Nicky was paralyzed under the threat of her grandest fear. She came back, Nicky panicked. She’s here. She’s going to see me.

The door opened, unleashing a heavy sound that scared Nicky to the next level of terror. Crippled by this entrance, Nicky collapsed -- her legs wanted to run, but her muscles refused to function. On her knees, she shivered madly, realizing then that where she was had to be the worst possible spot. In the middle of the floor, with nothing to cover herself with. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.

All this distress came to an uneasy hold when Nicky looked up again at the door. It wasn’t Melanie, but someone else. Another woman, about the same age as Nicky and the other college students. Although the demeanor of this person was not gloomy and dark like Melanie, little relief was had to witness such a massive person stomping into the apartment, swinging open a door that Nicky never would have been able to power past.

Juniper was unaware of what a godly presence she had, nor did she suspect that she had an audience at all. She was far from calling herself a deity of any kind, much less when she entered her apartment, phone in hand, writing out the message, im off the shits and honestly?? hell…...yeah. After tapping the send button, a laugh bubbled up from her mouth, and so did a tap of a burp.

“Fuck me,” she groaned, applying all of her weight suddenly into the adjacent wall. The impact was a thud, one that startled Nicky for how it signalled the incredible weight of this giantess. “Seriously,” she rambled on, “it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it, right?”

Juniper sighed, venting some of the heat building up within her. Her night out had ended with less intimate company than usual, but she also left home without having had any plans. She was fortunate that some friends could house her while she had to be out of the apartment -- a fact she remembered only just then, as she glanced up at the hallway leading to Melanie’s room.

“Melanie?” Juniper beckoned, hardly looking up from her phone. “The cops left, right?”

Nicky hugged herself, bunkering her head down as this woman’s volume was so intense, even with each word slurred into the next. This had to be Melanie’s roommate, but what did that mean? None of the girls ever spoke of Juniper, her name itself only ever mentioned in passing by Melanie. Based on first appearances, at least, Nicky could assume this was not the responsible adult she was hoping to find.

But more than just a lack of aid, Juniper was a deadly hazard. She was on the move, walking towards the hallway with lazy steps. Each footfall crossed a distance that would have required a whole sprint from Nicky, and that fact was an especially hard reality when it dawned on her that this giantess was coming right at her.

“No…” Nicky muttered, in awe at the second step that crashed into the floor. She quivered, her fingers itching to get herself to move. Yet, she could do nothing, not even scream in horror as she witnessed the next step, and the next, each one bringing this behemoth of a drunk closer to annihilating her.

“Hey? Mel-Mel?” Juniper said, nose deep into her phone while she moved across the living room. “You here, dude?”

Another step. Another. Nicky shuddered backwards, but it created minimal distance. Another step, the closest the giantess had come yet. Her foot slammed into the carpet with an intimidating force, a reckless amount of strength behind it. Nicky was stunned by the display; ahead of her was a row of giant toes, pressing down on a black flip-flop that begged for mercy. Yet she had little time to gasp at this, for the other foot was rocketing into the air, just over Nicky.

The tiny woman never closed her eyes. If she was going to die, she would watch the entire scene til its end. She would watch the foot rise up, and she would gaze at the unforgiving ridges of the flip-flop’s sole. She didn’t raise her arms or try to defend herself, all too aware of how hopeless it would be.

Boom, the sound of another footfall. The scene was frozen; high above Nicky was a pair of jean short-shorts, constrained around an ass held up by two bare legs. Directly over her was Juniper’s center of mass, an unreasonable amount of weight for one creature. In front of her was a foot, and behind her, a heel.

Another step, and one more. Juniper made it to the hall, peering around the corner at Melanie’s door. It was closed, without even a light seeping in from under it. She shrugged, not as concerned for Melanie as much as she was about the police. With her answer obtained, Juniper twisted around and made a line straight for her room, located in the opposite corner of the apartment.

Nicky was startled when the series of footsteps began again. She was stretched out on her back, collapsed there after Juniper’s foot soared right over her. Her skin turned pale, her heart had almost stopped. Behind her, she watched from an upside-down angle as Juniper’s foot grinded in a twist, then propelling forward with another long step, and then another, and then another.

The quakes of each footfall were fading. Juniper reached her room without interruption, and the door closed behind her. Nicky was again alone, and she was ever grateful for that. An entire minute passed before she had the soul to lift herself up, to look at her surroundings; she expected an apocalyptic wasteland after all those heavy crashes, but it was still just the same living room, completely unchanged.

Nicky stood up. Her legs wanted to give in, they shook miserably after having survived such a surreal event. She had to continue, she knew this, no matter how much pain her body was in. At the very least, she would have to reach the refuge that was the underbelly of the couch. Now that she had received a taste of what horror it would be to die under an unknowing person’s foot, she swore to avoid that fate, to reach her phone, and to survive from there.

Chapter Sixteen by Curse Crazy

She left the motel room. She locked the door behind her. She circled the building. She found a dumpster. She threw open the dumpster’s lid. She climbed inside. She tore into black and transparent bags. She used her phone’s light to see. She found what she wanted, then another, then another, then another, and then another. She exited the dumpster and closed it. She called the front desk. She said, “I’m locked out of my room a-and it’s pitch black, could you come up here to let me in?” She watched the clerk leave the desk. She entered the motel’s laundry room. She took from one of the housekeeping carts a plastic spray bottle. She returned to her room. She locked the door. She went into the bathroom. She lit the candles. She poured the wine. She mixed the minerals. She laid out her findings onto the counter. She put her hands together and chanted. She picked up the first of her findings, and added it to the wine. She waited. She chanted. She picked up the second of her findings, and added it to the wine. She waited. She chanted. She picked up the third of her findings, and added it to the wine. She waited. She chanted. She picked up the fourth of her findings, and added it to the wine. She waited. She chanted. She picked up the fifth of her findings, and added it to the wine. She smiled.


A low rhythm echoed, a vibration that felt distant and muffled but distinct in the bass it drummed. A forest of itching noises, ruffling and scratching, followed the step of every beat like wind blowing through wet knots of grass and weeds. The sound was only getting louder, but not closer or clearer. It was becoming stronger -- a heartbeat, Adrian finally recognized it. What was she listening to? And where was she? Before she could wonder that, she saw something through the haziness and darkness. A thump, a boom, a quake, it shivered all in sync with it. It would inflate, this silhouette of an organ, and then deflate, and a warmth would breathe from it, a humidity that reeked with an indistinguishable foulness. She saw it more clearly, not because light shined the way but because it grew so much bigger, so unmistakable. A heart, giant in size and held afloat by a web of veins or arteries, but tangled in a hide of hairs, hairs that twisted and tied around each other in a never-ending ocean of itself.

When Adrian awoke, her eyes had been wide open. The image in front of her, which happened to be an air conditioner unit opposite of the bedside, had been frozen in its stillness for so long. The window above it shielded against the early morning rays with its curtain, yet somehow she could tell it was foggy. Beyond the slither of light that made it past the veil was an empty darkness, the source of which could almost be blamed by the cold figure hovering nearby. Adrian didn’t flinch when she looked over to see Melanie there, occupying the same space as before on the floor, but she was unnerved by how eerily her eyes lay on her, unmoved the entire time so it seemed. Huge green eyes weighed heavy on her, dark bags hanging from underneath them even thicker than usual.

Something smelled, too. Adrian twisted when her nostrils picked up an offensive odor, but she was able to ignore it. Everything felt alien as she stirred, remembering all that had happened to bring her and Melanie here. Normally, it was hard for her to stay asleep in new places, especially when traveling, but her body had been so exhausted -- it felt exhausted now, even after hours of rest. Even in her dreams did she feel bruised and weak.

“You’re awake,” Melanie chimed. Her voice was surprisingly pleasant, very soft and careful. “Good morning.”

Adrian absorbed the words, but she didn’t acknowledge Melanie. She looked away from her, focusing instead only on the questions she had. “What time is it?”

“Oh, it’s… a little after five a.m.” Melanie smiled as she verified that time from her phone, set aside somewhere beneath the edge of the mattress. “We’ll have to leave soon. It’s good that you’re getting up now, but I wish you could sleep in a little longer. You look precious, t-taking up the whole bed with such a little body…”

Adrian responded with nothing. This commentary had stopped being belittling and had become just a natural occurrence. That said, she agreed with Melanie. Some additional time to keep sleeping would have been wonderful, if only for the pleasure of being absent from the reality she was stuck in. As far as getting well-rested for the day ahead, no amount of sleep would get her pumped. She was as good now as she would have been two or even three hours later.

After sitting up into a lazy slump, Adrian felt too long of a pause. Melanie continued to sit there, observing her, yet not expecting anything to happen. As a result, something felt off; Adrian could feel the heat of a question burning inside her, a temperature that taunted her to already fall prey into Melanie’s games for the day.

Before she spoke, she remembered where their conversation before had ended. Although some of it had become a pre-slumber blur, she distinctly recalled a choice, or rather, the promise of a choice. She would choose, apparently, whatever that meant. Had Melanie herself figured out what that meant? Was she willing to finally explain? Adrian dreaded to know.

“You…” Adrian yawned. “You don’t look like you got much sleep. Did you just sit there? All night?” She couldn’t put it past Melanie, to spend the literal entire night just watching her sleep.

Melanie giggled. “I-I would have liked to,” she said, “but I had a lot of work to do on short notice. Sitting around w-wasn’t going to start making a c-cure for you to become normal.”

Adrian agreed, fighting back another yawn. Melanie was right, a fix for this curse couldn’t be concocted if they both slept--

“A cure?” Adrian lit up. She didn’t even realize until then what Melanie had said. She scoffed, mixed with emotions. “A cure? For the curse?”

“Yes,” Melanie said. She caved into her laughter, “I-I spoiled it! J-Just how I wanted, too! I knew if I mentioned it, y-you wouldn’t even respond right away.”

Adrian jumped to her feet. “You have a fucking cure?! You made one?!”

“A-Ahh, n-not quite,” Melanie chuckled nervously. “Almost. It’s not done yet.”

“There’s a cure, though? There’s one out there?!”

“In the book, i-it says so. Yeah.” Melanie looked up, beyond the bed and over to the bathroom. Her smile persisted, hoisted with pride. “I read into it, after you went to sleep. I think I found a way to grow you back to normal size. I mean, j-just based off what I’ve read…” Her expression was real, almost like a preemptive apology. “Y-You know how weird this all is, obviously… I don’t know if it will actually work--”

“We have to try!” Adrian was shaking, overflowing with energy. “E-Even if you’ve just been looking into it…! O-Oh my god, Melanie, holy shit…D-Do you think it could work?”

Melanie shrugged and laughed. She was overjoyed with how ecstatic Adrian had become, like a switch had been flipped. “I hope it does!” Melanie said. “I really do. This is the choice I wanted you to make, Adrian.”

Adrian was smiling, an honest smile connecting her two cheeks. It felt unreal, so unreal that she worried it couldn’t be true at all. There was the possibility Melanie was just toying with her, but she studied Melanie, she deconstructed her tone of voice. Adrian could tell, she was sure that Melanie was being at least mostly genuine. Yet, she couldn’t shake off that tickle of doubt, what with Melanie’s previous remarks sounding so foreboding the night before.

“... W-What choice?” Adrian asked, still solidly grinning. “To return to normal?”

“S-Sort of,” Melanie chuckled. Her expression was cast into some shade. “Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.”

Adrian had guessed as much. Her expectations were quick to simmer. “What’s the catch?” she said, no longer so happy. “Just tell me. Just get to the point.”

“Ahh, I wouldn’t call it a catch, personally,” Melanie said. She was hesitant to keep explaining, wanting to maintain that bright vibe Adrian gave off. “Obviously… if you become normal again, you won’t… well… you won’t be tiny anymore.”

“That would be the entire literal point of a cure,” Adrian snickered.

“So… you can do whatever you want after that. That’s the choice-- err, part of it. You have the choice to stay with me, or leave me, or… anything. You can do anything once you’re big again.” A pause helped digest the point Melanie was leading into. “If you wanted to turn me into the police, you can do that. You can explain everything to them, everything you know, about Kim and the others, even Candi a-and… or anything, you can tell them anything, as much or as little as you want.”

“... You wouldn’t stop me?”

“No.” Melanie smiled again, as bitter as it was to be so honest. “This is for the best. I’ll let you decide. No matter what, my life… will help yours ascend. I promise that. Even if it means dividing us apart forever, if that’s what destiny wants, and if it makes you happy, then that’s what I’m willing to do.”

Adrian silently absorbed this update. A cure was possible, and Melanie was diligently looking into it -- willingly losing sleep over it, no less -- all so it could be used to return her back to normal, freedom and all. She felt her heart skip a beat from anticipation; she wanted this, she’s been wanting this so badly, and it was being offered to her just short of being on a silver platter. Again, she thought it too good to be true, but Melanie was not usually like this, not when she wanted to play with her food. Why now, overnight, would Melanie want to make a game out of a cure? And such a one-sided game, too; why would Adrian not choose to become normal, and then bring Melanie to justice?

And there was still more to discover about this supposed choice. Adrian wouldn’t let that slip past her, intentionally or not. “What else?” she demanded to know. “You said there’s another part of this choice…”

“Right… About that…” Melanie grinned and cast a look to the side bashfully. “Unfortunately… w-well, like I said, the cure isn’t made yet. I got far, but it needs… more.”

“Like what? Another day? A week?”

“Not more time. More… Err…” Melanie scratched at her neck. “More victims. I need to shrink more people. Well, if this is a cure you want, I should say we need to shrink more people.”

Adrian’s hope and positivity dropped. All the mass that went into such a satisfying and thrilling mixture of feelings worked against her, crashing into the deepest part of her stomach. “No…” she muttered. “More people… More people will have to shrink…?”

Melanie fidgeted in her seat. She retrieved something from her hoodie’s pocket, wrapped up in a fist. Adrian gasped when she saw it, an image she was all too familiar with yet it struck her like new time and time again. Her tiny arms instinctively reached out for the shrunken person entangled in Melanie’s fist, an older woman with short brown hair tossed into a mess over her distressed expression. She squirmed and kicked with the vitality all the other victims had, struggling so hard against a cruel, unwavering grasp.

Please!! Please, anyone!!” the woman screamed hysterically. She wanted to kick and punch at the overwhelming hand, but her limbs were strapped to her sides, unable to squirm free. “I don’t want to die!! I’m not ready to die!! Please take me back!! Take me back now!!

“Holy shit,” Adrian coughed. “Wh-Who the hell is this?! M-Melanie, where did you…?!”

Melanie admired her latest addition. She was tickled, but not quite entertained, by how this woman responded to being shrunk. It was a fun she would be enjoying more if it wasn’t attached directly to a big responsibility. “Her name is Chloe,” Melanie explained. “She was staying at the motel. I caught her outside, real late, trying to get back into her room. She looked like the perfect person to experiment with, especially so suddenly. A cute girl, just wandering around right when I needed one… hehe…”

Oh, god, please stop her!!” Chloe shouted. Her eyes fell onto Adrian, a person just as tiny as her. She knew not whether that was a good or bad sign, so she only screamed more, the only thing she could do. She believed that someone had to hear her, someone had to notice that she was gone -- but until then, she was ridiculously powerless, a decoration that this giant, creepy girl could pocket at any time, a victim held out on display before a second victim. Tears rolled down her face in a flood, but she garnered no sympathy from either person.

“Why?!” Adrian stammered, needing an explanation. “And how?! Th-The curse, the wine… You spilled it! Y-You used it all on that detective!”

“I made more,” Melanie said. “I had to, if I wanted to make a cure. It’s the only way.

“I brought the ingredients for the curse with me… just in case. It’s good that I did. I read through the book some more, hoping to understand its properties some more. Something could obviously change about the curse and how it can be applied, so I thought the process could be connected with a cure. That’s when I found out what I was really making. It wasn’t just curses I was casting onto people, I was making a potion. All the victims were sacrifices for making a shrinking potion! It needed power… an energy, I guess.

“When five hairs are added to the pool… then the potion is made. If it touches the hair of another person, it will shrink them immediately. No chanting, no need to wait, i-it just happens instantly! That’s what happened to E-Erin, and Candi, and now Chloe. I didn’t just shrink her for to find out if the potion works… I need her, and four others. Five more sacrifices, again, and the potion will become stronger! And it can become mutated, and changed into a cure! It will undo its own magic when applied!”

“A potion…?” Adrian kept up with everything Melanie explained, but it was still so hard to believe. She shivered, troubled and sickened by something emotional growing deep within her like a fungus. “B-But… you spilled the wine,” she said to herself. “You threw it all onto the detective. I saw you do that. So, how did you… w-with Chloe…?”

Melanie grinned. “I had to make another, of course,” she said. “I needed five more sacrifices to make a potion… but I had to hurry. I couldn’t be picky. Luckily, this is a motel! They vacuum and clean rooms that are occupied by all sorts of people, all the time! So I dove into the trash outside, and I found five different hairs to offer.”

Adrian froze in her flinch. Disgusted, on multiple levels. “No,” she mumbled. “That’s...“

“It’s… exactly what you imagine.” Melanie’s smile diminished, disheartened by the weight that she knew would be a burden for Adrian. “At one am, tomorrow morning, five people who stayed at this motel will suddenly shrink, where ever they are, without ever knowing why it happened, who caused it, or even how the motel was related.” As solemn as she tried to be, a giggle still cracked from her lips. “It sucks not being able to see their reactions, but… I can imagine. It must be scary. I wonder where some of those people live…”

“Melanie! They-- Those were strangers! Actual strangers!” Adrian huffed, throwing her arms about in accusation. “H-How could you…?”

“Mm… Would it have been better if I kept them?” Melanie asked this sincerely; she knew well enough how wicked she could get. “Maybe a loved one will find them, or they’ll shrink while driving and die quickly in a car accident. Maybe someone wanted to be tiny their whole life and they’ll thank me as a god. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter… I just needed five hairs, and there were five hairs in the trash.

“On the bright side, it clearly worked!” Melanie held Chloe up higher, despite her begging to be put down, and with her other hand, pointed confidently at her. “While the shrinking effect doesn’t happen for twenty-four hours, it still counts as a sacrifice to the pool. I wanted to test it out, so I poured some into a spray bottle I took from the motel.” She revealed from beneath the bed the very mechanism she described; a simple, household spray bottle, filled almost to the top with a speckled, crimson fluid. “That’s when I saw Chloe park her car outside and go to her room. I sprayed her from behind, she didn’t really understand what happened. Down she went, until she became this thing.”

You’re sick!! You’re a fucking monster!!” Chloe raged. “I’m so fucking sorry, just let me go home! I have children! I have children, for god’s sake! They need me--

Tired of her noises, Melanie grunted and forced the woman back into her pocket. “So,” she sighed, “that’s one sacrifice out of five.”

Adrian was silent, eyes following the sight of the writhing woman be sentenced away to a pocket. Melanie could move on without thinking about it, of course, but Adrian’s heart felt for this innocent stranger. There wasn’t even a trap or setup to capture Chloe, unlike almost all the others. It simply happened, by Melanie’s will, much like it had played out with Candi. This evolution in the curse’s application was terrifying, and Adrian could only dream of what possibilities this opened up for Melanie. So few limitations now stood in her way between any victim she wanted.

Yet, this was all for a cure. Adrian couldn’t forget that, how these people -- from here on, anyway -- were being targeted for the sake of reversing this curse. That did little to make the situation less sour, but it was evidence that a ray of hope still existed. Four more victims was all, and then Adrian could grow back to normal, end Melanie’s reign, and fix everything she ruined.

Melanie stood up, making sure not to apply too much weight to the mattress as she rose. Halfway to the peak of her stance, she lowered a hand for Adrian to climb into. “We should get moving,” she urged. “I actually still have class today. It seems so easy to forget, sometimes. H-Hopefully calling for a cab won’t be… t-too stressful…”


Crawling out from underneath the leather sofa was Nicky. She stretched like a cat after having squeezed under the small gap, unashamed of how her naked body reached out in all directions. If there was any benefit to being so tiny, it was that she had little worry for any unwanted attention, a fact she was welcome to embracing as long as she was by herself on this mission. The sheer loneliness, unfortunately, was too much for her to handle much longer.

When night had settled in more deeply, Nicky had only just reached the foot of the sofa. Restless and scared of the dark, she had decided to bunker under the couch until morning. Against her initial expectations, Nicky had managed to get a long, relatively peaceful slumber. She was antsy, kicking and turning throughout her sleep, always a little afraid that Melanie might suddenly peek under the couch and find her. Luckily, she awoke energized and ready, or at least as ready as she could be to begin scaling a cliff-sized couch.

“Maybe… j-just two more minutes,” Nicky anxiously said to herself, gazing up the distance she would soon have to climb. She wanted to kick herself for wasting time and delaying what she had to do, especially after she had slept for longer than she wanted. Yet, she couldn’t deny that her arms felt tired just looking at the couch and thinking of how much work it would all be. It sure as hell beats making it up halfway and then falling, she figured.

Nicky stretched again, this time raising an arm high over her head. When she did, she also glanced up and noticed the coffee table made of a clear glass top. Idly, she wandered over to be more directly under it. She awed at the unique angle she had, for up above her were a series of items she could see from below. A textbook, some beer bottles, and a short stack of plates were mundane, but more interesting things were out on display, like an ashtray, a couple lighters, and a bong. She grinned while thinking back to how she used that very tool, on that very couch, but her amusement faded away quickly. As fun as that high was, it lead directly to how she ended up there, on the floor like an insect.

Directly under the bong, Nicky wondered, If that fell on top of me, would I get crushed? Probably...

Deciding not to waste any more time, Nicky returned to the couch and gripped a wrinkle of material. She huffed and bounced upward, stretching out to grab another wrinkle. She kicked and pushed off the wall, but made little progress. Another bounce, reaching higher and higher -- she kept doing this, groaning after nearly every movement. Her whole body shivered from pain, never having done anything like this before in her life. It was so tiring, and yet when she finally caved and looked down, she realized how low she still was. Despite all her effort, the round edge of the couch cushion always seemed unfairly out of reach.

“Focus…” she whispered to herself. “Get this done…”

She struggled on, continuing to endure, until she finally reached the edge. She scrambled a bit, so relieved at first to reach the end of the climb that she almost slipped and fell back. Her heart jumped, and she rushed to solid ground, rushed to lay down into the middle of the cushion after joyfully tumbling there. She laughed between gasps for air, rolling over on her back and then on her stomach again as she felt her muscles and bones finally relax after being so tense.

“Holy… shit…” Nicky swiped at her brow, uncaring to how her hair had become jumbled and messy from swinging it about during her scaling. “I did it… I made it…! Aw, hell…” She shook her head and closed her eyes. She was far from done, and perhaps not even close.

Nicky jumped back to her feet. Adrenaline shot through her as she felt a call to action, realizing that this all could have been a waste of time. Laying down and celebrating had to wait, at least until she could confirm a vitally important detail. All of this, going as far back as to her escape from Melanie’s desk where the others came together to help her, could all be for nothing if her smartphone wasn’t still there, wedged in the cushions.

She ran, each footstep launched back upwards due to the sofa cushion. She almost tripped when dashing over the space between two seats, but her sprint slowed to a tired break the second she saw it. Up ahead, sprouting from the corner where the armrest met the most leftward seat, was the sleek corner of her familiar device. She was close to weeping, finally able to come back to her beloved phone, a tool that wasn’t just pleasant to have back, but the key to survival-- more than that, freedom, for her and the others.

Nicky squatted in front of the corner of the phone she could see, her smile reflected off the black screen before it morphed into shock. “Battery!” In a hurry, she pushed the phone forward, just enough to search for the notification light. A suspenseful second passed, and then it blinked. She pumped her arms, “Oh fuck yes!” and then reached for the power button that was the size of her hand. The whole screen lit, and Nicky laughed, until she spotted the battery life exactly. A pitiful percentage was left in the phone, forcing Nicky to keep up the speed. At this rate, she feared that this all could come down to a precious few seconds, the difference between calling 9-1-1 to be saved or being discovered by Melanie to be trapped once again.

The phone was difficult to pull loose, Nicky had discovered. The leather material it was sandwiched between maintained a mighty grip, as if the phone were swamped in a mire. Nicky grunted a complaint, then wedged herself into the crevice, using both arms and a leg to pry her phone out. It worked, somewhat, with the phone cropping out at a slight angle, but every inch it was moved, the easier it became to keep moving it. Nicky chuckled as she kept pushing, getting back onto the cushion and using all her strength in one last pull.

Finally, it was done. Nicky’s smartphone had been pulled free, collapsing onto its screen with a muffled thud against the leather. Nicky yelped at the light sound, jitters getting the best of her when she saw it fall. It was proportioned like a large door, twice her height easily and with a width that beat out her wingspan by just a bit. She marveled over it for just a moment, amazed at how such a small piece of tech was now bigger than her.

Using my phone like this is gonna be a pain, she thought. But… I only need to make one call…

Nicky knelt down beside her phone, then flipped it over onto its back. She bit her lip, pressing the power button again. At the bottom of the screen, beneath the keypad to unlock the machine, was the emergency call button, a feature she never expected herself to actually have to use but in that moment, she was especially grateful.

But as she moved to get to the other side of her phone, a shadow fell over Nicky. She flinched, so accustomed to fearing whatever may be hanging overhead now at such a small size. Accompanying the eclipse was the quiet booming of thunder, massive footsteps patrolling around the living room. Nicky gazed up, ashamed of how oblivious she had been to only now notice the titan in front of her. She hadn’t heard Melanie’s roommate in the kitchen, not while she herself was putting all her concentration towards the climb up the couch and the excavation of her phone.

Regardless, the giantess had appeared, unaware of how incredible her size was to Nicky. Dressed in cozy pink sweatpants and a low-cut top, the titanic threat facing Nicky didn’t face her at all. It was Juniper’s flank that Nicky gazed up at, which stretched into the sky like a monument, a red peak of hair concluding the unreal height. All of her movements were boring and reserved, so Juniper had assumed. Waking up and fetching a bowl of cereal was nothing special, evident by how she nonchalantly ate some of her breakfast while there beside the couch. She stood by, chewing her food while admiring the view outside the balcony doors.

Juniper turned. Nicky braced for the movement, watching the giantess twist around until her rear, clad in soft pajama pants, was facing her. Nicky looked perplexed, cowering by her phone. It seemed too unreal, like this giantess was aiming her ass right at her. She even stammered to speak up, but what little voice she produced was stormed out by the slam Juniper’s butt made as all its weight suddenly dropped onto the armrest.

Nicky jumped in fright, her whole body caught in a shiver as she expected the worst. When the butt in front of her lunged, she assumed it was on the hunt for her, to squash her out of existence. She couldn’t breathe even when faced with the truth, that the gigantic ass had halted right in front of her. It hovered overhead, hanging just off the armrest where Juniper sat to enjoy another bite of food. Nicky was so close to it, she could easily step forward, reach up, and massage the broad surface -- a prospect that made her face turn pink.

This is… someone’s ass, Nicky thought. She looked up and down, left and right. It took up her entire vision, like she was standing toe-to-toe with the hull of a navy ship that had washed ashore a beach of leather. At least for now, the two were on neutral terms, but Nicky was uneasy. Melanie had sat on her and the others before, but she never applied all of her weight, at least conscious of how fragile they all were. But her roommate, completely out of the loop, would know no difference. She could sit on her now, without a second thought. The weight of a building all on top of her, uncaring and unflinching.

Just as the tension left Nicky’s body in relief, it all crashed down on her at once. Juniper shifted, allowing herself to slide into the sofa more conventionally. Of course, she thought nothing of it herself, but it was apocalyptic for Nicky. For the tiny survivor, the round pajama-clad wall had suddenly continued its descent without a hint of mercy. It enveloped Nicky, overtaking her entirely. In a flash, Nicky felt herself being pushed, and in that following instant, everything was black, warm, and suffocating. A scream Nicky had begun was deleted between those seconds, lost somewhere under Juniper.

No push could have enough force to get Juniper off of her, no voice could have enough volume to not be muffled into Juniper’s bottom. With no other options, all Nicky could do was panic, and even that was squelched. Juniper twisted in her seat so that her legs no longer hung off the armrest. She remained blissfully ignorant of how her rear-end was grinding a shrunken college student into the cushion, dragging her body with her movement, unaware that she was isolating Nicky right into her crack directly underneath her.

Yet, it was that very misfortune that was keeping Nicky alive. Juniper’s weight was tremendous and would have flattened the woman without any concern or bias, but in the crevice of her ass’s center, there was a bittersweet sanctuary. Though Nicky didn’t comprehend it, she was saved by luck alone, lucky enough to have been sat on so directly that she was hugged between two waves of cheeks. It was still agonizing, with almost no room to maneuver, swallowed in darkness, a thick scent detected in the minuscule breaths she could take -- but she was alive, alive enough to rage fruitlessly.

Again, Nicky looked for options and came empty handed. Shouting would do nothing but waste the valuable oxygen she had in such a suffocating trap. No shove could topple the mountain of a person on her, and attempting to do so would just make the hot environment more sweltering. She groaned in pain, tears that formed under her eyes were immediately soaked into the fabric that was Juniper’s pajamas. Even with all her might, backed with all her fury, Juniper could do little but lift a square-inch of fat off of her, a temporary relief that insulted her efforts by slamming back down on her the moment she let go.

Most insulting of all was how close her phone was, a machine that just as easily was lost under an oblivious stoner-goddess’s rear. Nicky stretched for it, but it was impossible to reach it, or even locate it. Frustrations only grew as she realized she had a better chance of Juniper butt-dialing the police, a chance happening that had better odds than her lifting an ass off of her miserably small frame.

Crunching could be heard, only when Nicky ceased her crying. It horrified her, the sound of breaking and mashing. Was it her legs, or her hips? Was the weight of this giant finally too much? No, Nicky eventually deduced, it was rather the sound of cereal being devoured, spoonful after spoonful, an echo of Juniper’s munching that could be vaguely heard all the way through her body. It painted the image clearly in Nicky’s mind, the exact picture of this young woman doing nothing more than eating cereal and ripping a bong hit, not realizing that she was torturing another human by doing these simple morning activities. More munching, a gulp, a little sigh. More munching, another gulp, more munching.

Nicky wailed, not to be noticed but because she had given in. Melanie was fucking right, she told herself in a maddening tone. After all that… Surviving until now… All of this lead me to becoming an itch under someone’s ass. Nicky closed her eyes, whimpering louder and louder as she grimly tried to accept this fate. Why did I agree to smoke with her? Why did I just come into her apartment without thinking? Why, Nicky…?!

Sounds were heard, distinct from the surreal ambience. Nicky’s eyes lit up -- perhaps an opportunity to escape? She hoped it so, based on nothing more than that one sound. But Juniper didn’t move, other than tilting her head back towards the front door. To Nicky’s dismay and even her horror, she could make out Juniper’s words: “Morning, Melanie. Were you out late or… something?”

Melanie had returned home, far from looking well-rested. Her roommate could tell as much, noticing the bags under her eyes were even heavier, her hair messier, and a faint smell that followed her into the apartment. Oddly, Melanie didn’t act as exhausted as she looked; if anything, she walked more confidently and spirited than usual, crossing behind the sofa to go straight to her bedroom.

“K-Kinda…” Melanie couldn’t leave Juniper without an answer, but she offered not much more than a glance in her direction. “I-I’m kind of… i-in a hurry… I’ve got c-class in a little bit…”

“Oh. Shit.” Juniper spoke with her mouth full, only then swallowing. “I thought you got arrested or something after I came home and you weren’t around.”

Melanie chuckled casually. After such drama unfolded yesterday, she had just about forgotten that Juniper had allowed Candi in -- she almost forgot about Candi ever coming by the apartment. “Yeah… N-No, I wasn’t arrested.”

“What was that about?”

“Uhh… It’s… hard to explain.” Melanie hesitated just outside the hallway to her room. She bit her lip, “I-It’s nothing important, though. Just, cops, you know. Cop things.”

“Aw, yeah,” Juniper nodded, crunching away at cereal. “Fuck the police.”

“F-Fuck the p-police,” Melanie repeated meekly. Considering that to be a normal end to a conversation, Melanie quietly turned into the hallway and went to her room. She was grateful to be pressed on time, for it made her suspicious behaviors less noticeable.

Melanie touched the knob to her room, but stopped when she picked up the scent of something sour and bold. The wine, she soon recognized it, the wine -- or potion -- that she threw over Candi in their scuffle. When she opened the door and looked down, she dreaded the sight of a long, red stain splashed about her carpet. She shook her head and closed the door.

She laughed at that, how she found the waste of wine to be more noteworthy than her collection of shrunken women. Her gait was no longer haggard or frail, but calm and almost elegant, as she strolled closer to her desk. Through the transparent drawers, she could see Kimberly and Scarlet paralyzed where they sat, quivering as Melanie got closer and closer.

“I’m home~” Melanie sang, a craving hand nearing her lips. “Did my loyal little dogs miss me? To you animals, it must have felt like I was gone forever.”

Melanie sat down in her chair, allowing her messenger bag to gently land on the floor next to her. She rolled her seat forward and peered into the cubbies. She enjoyed the way they jumped when her huge eyes scanned them, swallowing their tiny forms into her vision. She smiled, removing the tape that sealed the cubbies so tightly.

The first drawer opened was Scarlet’s. She tumbled when her prison cell was pulled ahead, and getting up felt strictly more difficult. She whined, but not from any pain the fall caused her. Melanie noticed the pitch in her groan, and her smile faded.

“Are you weak, Wormslut?” Melanie asked. “Ah. You both are probably hungry and thirsty, huh.”

Scarlet lifted her head up and nodded. An arm wrapped around her complaining stomach, and she swallowed through a dry throat. Melanie may have been devilishly cruel, but she had always kept her playthings fed and tended to enough that they hadn’t worried much about basic survival. At only three inches tall, resources were plentiful, if they were actually given.

In truth, Melanie hadn’t even thought of this aspect of caring for tinies. The reality made her giggle. “Imagine how Nicky must feel,” she teased under her breath. “At least you two… will get some food and water. Nicky has to eat off the floor. Maybe she’ll find a moldy crumb in the carpet, and she can fight an ant over it.”

Scarlet winced under Nicky’s mention. She closed her eyes and prayed she was out there, somewhere, still alive and fighting. She’s their only chance, it seemed, to possibly escape from this madwoman. She looked through the cubbies over towards Kimberly’s cell, wondering if she thought the same, or if her hopelessness ran that deep.

Melanie, too, turned her attention to Kimberly. She opened the cubby, slightly more kindly than she had Scarlet’s, and loomed over it. “Kim?” she said, looking down at the huddled woman. “You normally eat so little. Did your fat keep you nourished, like a bear?” She giggled and blushed, “Like a little mama bear!”

Kimberly’s reaction to these insults was a weary turn of her head. Whether Melanie was here or not, she didn’t care that much. Dying in isolation, even in a college student’s desk, was only marginally better than being tortured to death like a living stress ball.

“Did you two talk at all?” Melanie pondered. “What have you guys been up to? If I were alone for this long… You both probably jerked off a lot, right?”

Melanie pinched Kimberly and lifted her out of the cabinet. She then grabbed Scarlet in the same way and put the two together in one palm, where they sat on their hands and knees. Some time away from playing wildly with her pets had allowed Melanie the chance to see how obedient they had become. This was especially true when compared to Chloe, who had yet to stop struggling against the overwhelming odds of her belittled circumstance. Kimberly and Scarlet were veterans to the experience, and Melanie had a weird respect for that.

“Ha, that’s right,” Melanie remembered. “I have a new friend for you two.”

Melanie pulled open the collar of her hoodie and shirt, then dug into the clothes. She giggled in stutters, a motion that made the ground uneasy for Scarlet and Kimberly as they anticipated who she was going to unveil. Her laughter was reactionary, feeling the woman she had captured squirm against her boob, graze against her nipple. It was there in the left cup of her bra that she had put Chloe, tightly restricted by a hair-tie that twisted around her several times.

Chloe yelled as she was dragged out of the depths of Melanie’s breast and into the cold air of a bedroom. The light blinded her, and she squirmed in frustration, all the while yelling, “No! No! Let go! Stop, please stop!”

Melanie sighed, purposefully directing her heave of a breath to wash over Chloe. “I wish you all could just… know that I won’t stop. I wish when someone shrunk, they would just understand…”

Chloe never gave in. With all this movement allowed to her, she took the opportunity to fight, to writhe about with all the stamina she had reserved. Swaying from one direction to the next, all in a vain attempt to break loose, all Melanie could do was giggle, while the two onlookers felt pity for their newest addition.

“Again…” Scarlet grumbled. “Another one…”

Kimberly felt her heart tear, a continuation of the long rip that was dividing her in half these past weeks. She didn’t speak, but she knew what she felt. It was like Erin, all over again. A new toy, from seemingly nowhere, a new victim that Melanie had just picked out on a whim without any hesitation, she was sure.

Since neither questioned it, Melanie took it upon herself to elaborate. “I found her at a motel. Her name’s Chloe. Chloe, meet Kim and Wormslut. You can do anything to Wormslut, she’ll probably like it.

“Well, that’s about all I know of her,” Melanie admitted dryly. “Maybe you can talk to her and find out more, if that’s what you two are interested in. To be honest…” She lifted Chloe higher, studying the panicked woman while holding her upside-down. Her expression was discontent. “She’s sort of the uglier ones of you lot. I guess none of you compare to Adrian, though…”

“W-What does that mean?!” Chloe cried out. As best as she could, she turned to try and face the other women, the others that this creep of a human had also apparently attacked, shrunken, and kidnapped. “Help me! For the love of god, d-do something…! W-What’s happening?! Please!”

Scarlet and Kimberly had no response, nor the permission to help her even if they wanted. Melanie dismissed Chloe altogether, lowering her to the messenger bag and casually dropping her into its main pouch. Chloe’s tiny protests accented to a wild scream at the fall, which was muffled into the darkness. Then, Kimberly and Scarlet were brought to the bag’s mouth, where they could see the books and other items Melanie traveled with.

“I have class,” Melanie said, “but I’ve missed you all so much. There’s a lot I want to do… and a lot that needs to be done.” She sneered. “Adrian can you tell you all that. Be safe in there.”

Recklessly, her hand flipped to its side and her two pets were tossed into the bag. Scarlet almost had a handle on a book’s binding to latch onto, but her own weight lost that one chance and she too fell into the bag alongside Kimberly, who landed right on top of Chloe. Melanie enjoyed the glimpse of chaos she would conduct, a tease to herself of what fun she would have once given the freetime.

Her god-like power fantasies would have to wait. Class would soon start, and she saw to it to at least change her clothes after her trash-filled expedition. During this time, Scarlet and Kimberly tried to gather their bearings, a task challenged by the disorienting and visceral screams Chloe continually made despite the soreness in her throat.

“Please! Please, I-I don’t belong here!” Chloe shouted at Kimberly, accidentally kicking her in a stray squirm. “I don’t know her, th-this has to be a mistake! It has to! I-I’m not anyone important!”

Kimberly groaned. “Shut the hell up!” she barked, a demand that Chloe whimpered to oblige. “You think that you don’t belong--? Ugh. Forget it.” She crawled away, distancing herself from Chloe. “None of us want to be here. We’re just stuck like this.”

“Stuck?!” Chloe breathed rapidly, nearing hyperventilating. “No! No, th-that’s-- This is all impossible!”

“Yeah, well, welcome to the club,” Scarlet spat. She stood with her back against the cold cover of a wall-like textbook. “We’re trapped. That bitch picked you out like she did the rest of us, no fuckin’ rhyme or reason. This is just how it is, alright? It’s over.”

“It isn’t.” A strange contradiction -- neither Kimberly nor Chloe had been the one to argue with Scarlet, but instead it was Adrian. She was in the bag as well, tucked into a far corner of the bag with her arms hugging her knees.

“Adrian!” Kimberly announced her name in shock. She tread over to her, marching over Chloe and past Scarlet. She stopped just short of Adrian, arms hesitantly open for an embrace that didn’t happen. “I was so worried about you, Adrian. Oh, my god,” she nearly fell from faintness, “I’m so sorry, Adrian, a-about Erin. I… I can’t believe Melanie. Can’t believe she’d make you, of all of us--”

“Worried for her?” Scarlet scoffed, but she shook her head instead of saying more. She was severely biased against Adrian still, never dropping those worries that Melanie’s favorite would turn on them. That being said, she still felt an ounce of gratefulness, recalling how Adrian sacrificed a dear friend to save her and Kimberly from the horrible fate of being sat on.

Kimberly ignored Scarlet’s attitude with just a scowl, but Adrian said nothing either. She probed for a response, taking note that Adrian was not her usual self. “Wh-What did you mean by that?” she asked. “It isn’t over…?”

Adrian lowered her head. “No… No. This… All of this will end. Soon.” Behind her, Kimberly and Scarlet noticed, was an item they had never seen in Melanie’s possession. A beacon of red fluid, contained in a plastic bottle multiple times their own height, a green nozzle and trigger situated at the top.

Melanie hoisted the bag, unintentionally cutting off the discussion her victims were about to have. In a rush to get to class, she hurriedly grabbed the rest of her things and left her room. When the door clicked close, however, it was like a trigger that activated a squeal from the living room. Melanie nearly chirped a sound herself, hesitantly turning the corner to see what Juniper was doing.

“J-Juniper?” Melanie found her still in the living room, but no longer sitting. She was standing up, bowl in one hand and spoon in the other, looking down at herself. “Y-You okay? I heard a noise…”

“Fuckin’-- Yeah, yeah,” Juniper shook her head, then laughed, “totally. I just… spilled some fucking cereal on me while trying to smoke.”

Melanie grinned, an expression she hid behind her mouth while her amusement was tamed into a genuine concern. “D-Did you… n-need help c-cleaning?”

“Nah, I’ve got it,” Juniper said tersely. “You just get to class, it’s cool.”

Melanie agreed to just that. She noticed a dribble of milk having spilled down Juniper’s shirt and onto her lap, as well as the fog of a bong hit. Needing nothing more and still in a hurry to get to class on time, Melanie continued out the door. Juniper watched her the entire time, unmoving until she heard the front door close. She looked down, stopped -- the door clicked with its lock being applied -- she looked down again, with bated breath. Her eyes were as wide open as her mouth, frozen that way as she knelt down in front of the sofa so quickly that she bumped the coffee table with her hip along the way.

Juniper was slow to say anything, and when she finally spoke, it was a response less suited for the wonder in front of her, the magic of a woman no taller than her forefinger: “What kind of wild shit did that dude deal me?”

Chapter Seventeen by Curse Crazy

“Melanie is creating a cure to the curse.”

An uneasy feeling fell upon Scarlet and Kimberly, and Chloe, too, further back from the others. This was good news, but in the upside-down world Melanie had hurled them in, nothing was that straightforward. Every conceivable blessing had an underlying drawback, so when Adrian explained this to them, their first reaction was of dull worry. Adrian felt a pit in her stomach when responded to with silence; she was about to confirm their unspoken concerns.

“But to make it, she needed to remake the potion. Th-That’s what all these curses have actually been for. After five sacrifices, the wine becomes a potion that shrinks people instantly. After she threw it all over Candi, she had to remake the potion at the motel we stayed at. She shrank five random people… and now… this is what she has.”

Adrian looked up, directly above her, where the spray bottle loomed in the confines of the messenger bag. It looked like a test chamber, some high-grade science experiment, the way the speckled fluid splashed about from the motions of Melanie’s walk. Kimberly and Scarlet looked at the product in fear, realizing the potential of this. It truly felt like Melanie had evolved into something stronger, something even more terrifying than before.

“In order to make the cure, she has to mutate the potion, or something. She said she needs five more sacrifices, just like before, and then she can change that potion into a cure that turns people back to normal.”

“Why?” Kimberly countered hard with her doubts. “Is there someone she wants to change back?”

“Me…” Adrian lowered her head, unsure of how the others would react.

“Tch. Seriously?” Scarlet shook her head. “How come she’s doing that now?”

“We… We had an argument, s-sort of.” Adrian brushed back some of her hair, reflecting on how she yelled at Melanie, and how Melanie responded the way she did. It wasn’t what she expected, but it had progressed matters. Finally, she had left an impact on Melanie, even if it meant being lead into this trap. “She wants me to make my own choice. She wants to grow me back to normal, and let me decide what to do from there.”

“... Really?” Scarlet was surprised by how simple that all sounded. “Just… let you go? That’s what she wants to do?”

“I… I guess so,” Adrian muttered.

“So… if you returned to normal, you could go to the police?” Scarlet scuttled forward, more and more interested in this route of possibility. “Wait wait wait, couldn’t you just grow us back to normal, too? W-Would there be enough of a cure for all of us?”

Adrian was still, having to think of an appropriate answer. She couldn’t look at Scarlet in the eyes. “M-Maybe. I don’t know how this works, she does. But, yes… If there’s a cure, obviously I’d share it with you guys. We’d all go back… to normal. And Melanie… Well,” she chuckled, “she’ll… probably go to prison. I don’t know, I mean, after this goes public…”

“Whatever, whatever,” Scarlet shoved that issue aside. “We cross that bridge when we get to it. What’s happening now? What are we waiting for? For Mealnie to shrink some more people?”

“S-Sort of.” Adrian stuttered, about to speak faster than she could think. That next fact pained her to say aloud. “Melanie… She’s making me choose the other victims. The other people to shrink. Chloe was one of the five, so I’ll have to pick out four more people.”

Scarlet grinned, excitedly ready to put a stop to this torture. The way out seemed so close, in a time when all was hopeless. She could almost burst into tears, but all she did was laugh in spurts. “This is great! W-We can get out of here! H-Holy shit, finally some good fucking news!” She looked back at Kimberly, but her expression wasn’t nearly as hyper, so she swung back to Adrian. “So, what? C-Can she grab those people tonight?”

“T-Tonight?” Adrian looked up, finally seeing the light in Scarlet’s eyes. “Those people? W-What?”

“You’ve chosen four dudes, yeah? So all Melanie has to go do is find them and shrink them, and then make the cure, and we’re out!”

“I… I haven’t chosen anyone. N-Not yet.”

“The fuck? What do you mean?” Scarlet gestured to somewhere outside the bag’s walls. “Just tell her to pick four random people, who gives a shit?”

“F-Four random…?” Adrian shook her head. “No! I-I can’t just do that!”

“Fuck off with that, who gives a shit?!” Scarlet scoffed. “The sooner she shrinks some fucking randos, the sooner we’re no longer used as some kind of fucked up sex slave-toy hybrid, for god’s sake. C’mon, Adrian, you can’t hold us back like this!”

“I’m not going to do that,” Adrian stammered. “I-I… I don’t know if I can choose anyone! But especially not--”

Just grow them back afterwards!” Scarlet snapped. “Who! Gives! A! Shit! I certainly don’t give one fuck about four more people getting to experience this stupid shit! They’ll have no idea what it’s even like because they’d grow back to normal the second Melanie fixes you!” She grabbed Adrian by the shoulders, shaking her as if to wake her up. “Are you listening?! You got a brain in there?! It doesn’t get simpler than this, this is two plus two! You have no reason to feel guilty, idiot! We return them to normal and then we wipe our hands of all this and never, ever talk to each other ever again!”

“Assuming Melanie is telling the truth,” Kimberly interjected, “which she has a flawless track record of.”

Scarlet spun her head around, a glare already beaming at Kimberly. “You think Melanie’s lying about this?”

“No, of course not,” Kimberly said, “I think the little witch that shrinks her classmates and friends to kidnap them and then torture them has had a change of heart and wants to do good in the world. And step one of that is reversing the curse on all of her victims.” Kimberly laughed. “Maybe we can forgive Melanie, too! Why turn her into the police, Scarlet? Clearly she’s learned her lesson!”

“F-Fuck off!” Scarlet growled, but she didn’t have an argument.

Kimberly rolled her eyes and directed herself more towards Adrian. “Listen. This is a trick. It says ‘trap’ all over. Think, Adrian, would Melanie actually do this? She’s in complete control over us. Why would she give that up?” She twitched. “What did she tell you? Did she promise you something?”

“She…” Adrian bit her lip. It wasn’t easy to explain, certainly not to these two especially. “She said she… loves me. She loves me that much, to let me go and make that decision.”

“... So?”

“I think she’s being… genuine. I don’t think she’s--”

“Adrian. Wake up.” Kimberly was not laughing. Nothing about this was funny to her anymore. “She’s bored of picking people out herself, and now she wants to mix it up and have you do the deciding. She wants you to feel horrible for shrinking people. That’s her newest game, the newest way to torture us! She isn’t going to just let you go, sure as hell is not going to let you turn her in or try to cure all of us.”

“K-Kimberly, I don’t think so…”

“Are you not listening?! Adrian! Have you seen this cure? Have you seen it work?”

“N-No…”

“Have you read anything about it yourself in that spellbook she has?”

“No…”

Kimberly massaged her face, wiping her hands up her head and through her hair. “Do you understand, Adrian? This cure does not exist, not until we see it happen. You’re being played like an instrument.”

Adrian felt stabbed. This was not a new series of thoughts for her, she had the same doubts as Kimberly all this time. What burned her the most was the alternative to believing Melanie. If Kimberly was right, and this whole game was a lie, then they would all be trapped, only teased with the possibility of freedom. But if Kimberly was wrong, and Melanie was being legitimate, then this was an opportunity they were wasting, a chance to escape tragically abandoned due to the despairing atmosphere.

Adrian clutched her head. “I… I don’t know…”

“Ignore Kimberly, man,” Scarlet urged. She shook Adrian again, her face nearing closer until their noses were inches apart. “If we’re wrong about this, even then, you’re still not to blame! If four other fucks end up shrinking, does it matter that you picked them?! I already fucked up like that but it’s… it’s not my fault! It’s fucking Melanie’s!” Again she shook her, more crazed than before. “Come on, come on! Just pick four shitty looking people and get it over with! At least we can know for sure if this bitch is serious!”

“S-Scarlet…!” Adrian winced, trying to shrug the other woman’s grip off of her. “I d-don’t know… I mean… you might be right--”

“Adrian!” Kimberly groaned at the circularness of the conversation. “I told you, this is just a trap! You’d be sentencing people to death! There isn’t an escape from here!”

“I-I know, b-but… the cure!”

“There is no cure! None at all, Adrian!” Kimberly moved forward, but a tilt in the bag had her stumble into a crawl. She growled, patience suddenly dropping. “You cannot do this, Adrian. You cannot! If Melanie isn’t forcing you, then do not encourage this!”

“K-Kimberly… I know, alright!”

“You don’t know jack shit, Adrian!” Scarlet butted in. “You think this super-sized bitch is just gonna put her shrink-fest on hold for you?! What, she’s just not going to shrink four more people eventually, with or without your fuckin’ opinion?!”

“I mean, y-yeah, but--”

“Imagine if you were chosen for this!” Kimberly begged. “Or one of us! You’re the one that’s going to have to live with this decision, Adrian! You’ll have to see what Melanie puts those poor people through!” She huffed, “Do not make the same mistake this brat did.”

“Fuck you, whore!” Scarlet spat, her anger being taken out on Adrian’s shoulders with at tighter, sharper grasp. “It’s not you, Adrian, it’s Melanie! Maybe this fat bitch behind me wants to be finger banged by a giant forever and ever, but I’m sick of it! Look at me, Adrian, I’m going crazy, I can’t stand another day of this! We need the cure!”

“I know, I know!”

“You don’t know, you clearly do not know!” Kimberly had come closer, her presence wrestling with Scarlet’s. “Adrian! Scarlet! There is no cure! She won’t cure any of us even if there was!”

“She never fucks around with Adrian!” Scarlet argued. “Why does it matter?! If it’s part of Melanie’s game, then that’s just how fucked up our situation is! None of this -- none of this means a damn thing!”

“Those are real lives out there, Adrian, those would be four real people with real families you’re killing-- torturing! That’s on your hands! What if that’s how Erin got picked?! By one of us--”

Adrian screeched. Her resistance against Scarlet amplified, an eruption of strength having her smack the arms off her shoulders. She stomped and thrashed into a tantrum, harsh spasms that left Scarlet getting kicked in the gut. That one strike immediately had Scarlet rolling back, and Kimberly coiled away just the same, afraid she’d be hit next. They feared her, like a wild animal unchained.

This is my fucking choice!” Adrian screamed, a strand of spit gracelessly hanging from her lips. She spoke in rapidfire, “Back the fuck off! I could-- I’ll have Melanie crush both of you!

A lightning bolt of silence hit the three. Only Adrian’s panting filled the gap, as even the vague rumble of the world outside the messenger bag had quieted to an unnoticed calm. Scarlet and Kimberly were mortified by Adrian’s threat, hesitating to even wince in response, not even glancing to each other. As simple as that, the conversation had been shattered with barely a remnant of the discussion remaining. Adrian heaved in fast breaths, but she was trying to cool off, trying to come back down to earth. Her eyes yielded downwards, and the silence continued.

“I… I w-w-want to go home…” Nearly incomprehensible was a crying from further back in the bag. Chloe had been weeping this entire time, but in the break of the heated argument, she could finally be heard. Her wailing, muffled into the black fabric floor, was a haunt onto those that heard it. Up until then, the others had nearly forgotten that Chloe had been thrown into this, a woman none of them knew.

Adrian could feel the impression she had left. Her heart felt more hollow, like she had sacrificed a part of her. She blinked, shutting her eyes away and secluding herself into her own painful thoughts. When she finally moved, as little as it was, so too did Scarlet and Kimberly release their tension, if only slightly.

“Why…? Wh-What am I saying…?” Adrian muttered, her face in her hands. She hiccupped, her body shaking like it were deathly cold. “I’m--”

Gravity surrendered, and the four women became weightless, as did everything in the bag. It was being placed down rather quickly by Melanie, who had just made it to class with barely a moment to spare. After hustling to a distant corner seat, one of many in the one-level lecture hall, Melanie hunched into her usual low-profile. Like all of her classes, she would maintain a presence that was hard to notice, shying away from all interactions and always managing to avoid contact in some sly style. Her heart pounded, but she was relieved to have made it on time; half a minute later, she would have been answering to Paige, the professor’s assistant, where some kind of excuse would have to be coughed up.

The professor was taking the stage, a platform that stood at the front with a podium and desk atop it, as well as a wide projection screen as the backdrop. If students weren’t already prepared, they were getting themselves arranged now. Everyone knew Professor Bradz was relentless when she wanted to be, spontaneously strict and swift to punish anyone that was bothering her. Getting onto her bad side could occasionally be as easy as tapping a pen, if she decided that day that tapping was the most distracting noise in the world. Melanie was no different in how she respected Professor Bradz, or at least, how she was cautious of her. When she saw her taking stage, she hunched quickly under her desk where her bag was being held between her feet. If she wanted to remain unobserved, she would have to at least look like she was paying attention.

Melanie opened the flap into the bag and peered inside. Her heart thumped when she saw the four women inside, rattled by the trip and the unexpected drop. She smiled, an expression that was meant to be a light apology, as she dug into her belongings to fetch what she needed. The women gawked at her, Scarlet and Kimberly especially shaken after Adrian’s raging, but Melanie herself was unaware of the conversation she had interrupted. After grabbing the poli-sci book, the bag was closed and the women were cast into darkness, so far yet so close to dozens and dozens of students that had no idea there were kidnapping victims among them.

Those very victims were still recovering from what felt like a harsh fender bender. Scarlet was the first to unfreeze, rising onto quivering legs. Kimberly seemed pained from the fall, or at the very least, figured it was easier to remain laid out like she was than to try and stand. Chloe’s moaning had continued again, with small coughs and gags sputtered in between. Adrian, however, seemed the least phased. She remained huddled into her corner, jostled out of the posture she had been in but otherwise looking the same as she did; cold, strained, and reflective.

It had felt like the talks of the cure were over, but Scarlet’s anger rose up again, just enough to speak. “Adrian… What’s it going to be…?”

“Scarlet,” Kimberly sighed. It’s all she could say, a frustrated vent.

“Look. I need to know now.” Scarlet’s voice was no longer furious, but instead forward, direct, somewhat hushed. “What’s the plan, Adrian? I can’t deal with this stress. I need to know if we’re waiting to be cured, o-or… or this.”

Adrian’s answer had to wait, as an audible interruption separated the question from its answer. “Good morning, class~,” a shrill, sing-song voice projected through the lecture hall. Professor Bradz used her greeting to test her microphone, ensuring it was working. “Did everyone sleep well? I see some grumpy faces in the audience today. You could almost convince me the sun burned out.” A few polite chuckles from the most awake students was all this joke, repeated for the third time this semester, could call for.

It wasn’t that she was too energized for her students, but that Professor Bradz’s attitude was more smug than it was cheery. This personality had always made the forty year-old woman difficult to approach, that air of superiority always getting in the way, if it wasn’t her appearance to begin with. The pointing nose, the blonde bobcut, and the gaudy earrings had given her the reputation that she asks to speak to managers, but no student was going to mention that in front of her. The smallest tease had been known to be countered with a severe lash of a comment.

It’s for those reasons why her assistant, Paige, was usually who the students flocked to for assistance. Where Bradz was like looking into the sun, Paige was like a wallflower, just shy of being a floor mat. She hardly spoke up on her own and certainly wasn’t one to argue, so of course the students found her easier to work with -- only part of the reason why she seemed so overworked, time and time again. Even now, seated at the on-stage desk, she was hunched over a laptop, pecking away feverishly. Her round glasses aimed at the screen were pure white from the glare, and two braids of brown hair behind her traced the hump of her back while she worked.

Meanwhile, Professor Bradz had strolled to the middle of the stage, starting up the projector with a clicker and preparing a series of notes in front of her. She then scanned the crowd of students, making mental tics along the way. “Hm. That’s a shame. We’ve almost got perfect attendance today,” she said into the microphone clipped to her shirt. “Only a few empty seats… Well, who’s disappointing us all today?” She giggled, believing others were in on the joke. “Paige? Are you running attendance?”

“Y-Yes,” Paige replied sheepishly. Her eyes went up and down an array of names. “It appears only one person is absent today.”

“Oh, today of all days,” Bradz said, her drama sarcastic. “I hope that student knows that it doesn’t matter if they’re physically here or not, that essay was still due last night by midnight. That’s something we all know and did, right…?” She smiled at the class, again expecting everyone to welcome her humor.

Melanie bit her lip. That essay Bradz had mentioned was definitely not done, definitely not turned in the night before. Of all assignments Melanie was neglecting, the poli-sci essay was certainly at the bottom of her priorities, so woefully ignored that she had forgotten when it was due. It wasn’t just the fact that time was nebulous to her, now that she had ascended from a common college student to a size-changing witch, but the assignment itself -- and the class -- were quite important to how she got to that point in the first place.

“Professor, um…” Paige spoke up, audibly only to the first couple rows of students. Even that seemed too public, and so she stood and closed the distance between her and Bradz. “Professor… The absent student is, well, her. A-Again…”

“Who?” Bradz’s amplified voice made Paige wince, her attempts to keep the conversation private futile. “Oh! The kidnapped one.”

Melanie looked to that empty seat. It wasn’t guilt that bothered her, but nostalgia. Those were, admittedly, simpler times, back when Melanie’s craving to be with Adrian was so limited that just sitting next to her in this one class they shared was intoxicating. She was never able to focus with Adrian so close, less than arm’s reach away. She remembered spying on her handwriting so she could memorize it and then copy it with her own name, she remembered staying behind after class on some days so she could feel the warmth of Adrian’s vacant seat.

If she had felt comfortable enough while surrounded by so many people, Melanie would have smiled into these fond memories. This was an important class, despite the awful professor leading it. That essay she forgot to turn in was the very project the two of them had been working on that fateful day, the precipice into the adventurous life she now lived. Had it not been for this one obnoxious assignment, Melanie would have struggled slightly more to obtain Adrian’s hairbrush.

“Y-Yes,” Paige had continued, “that one…”

“Kidnapped, and receiving a zero on a major assignment. She’s having a bad couple of weeks,” Bradz said callously. Her statement negatively resonated with the students, some even openly appalled, until Bradz’s demeanor shifted to annoyed. “Ohh, it’s just a joke. Lighten up.”

“M-Miss…” Paige tried to reason with Bradz, but speaking up was not her specialty. She could sense that the students wanted her to be their voice, but she was meek before Bradz.

“I guarantee you,” Bradz went on, “she’s not kidnapped. That’s about as real as the bomb threats we get every finals week. Every. Single. Finals weeks.” She shook her head, looking back into her notes. “I’m just saying, people will say crazy things for the sake of gaming the system. I’ve had students fake deaths in the family and I’ve had students fake car accidents. Hey,” she chuckled, “hey Paige, give Adrian five bonus points on her essay’s grade. Those are points for originality.”

Some students giggled and laughed, either tickled by the dark sense of humor or merely trying to push the awkward conversation to its conclusion. Melanie didn’t make a noise, and she thought little of it at all. If that’s what she wants to believe, then so be it, she thought to herself. No one would believe the truth, even if they were told.

Class proceeded relatively normally. Books, journals, and the occasional laptop were popped open onto desks while Professor Bradz lectured to them uninterrupted. As with most of Melanie’s classes, she cared little about what was being discussed or what work she would have to do. The importance of college had faded to the backdrop of her life, a set piece to the strange reality she lived. Instead of writing notes or reading along, she instead daydreamed of the fun she had outside of there, the fantasy she got to live as a giantess. Without realizing it, her breaths had become heavy and warm, but no one was going to notice, and certainly no one would guess that her thoughts were grimly perverted, horrible acts of torture she inflicted upon helpless victims.

Under her desk, of which her eyes burrowed through towards her bag, an idle hand slowly itched between her thighs. Now all I can think about is jerking off, Melanie thought. Her imagination stretched from there, studying the various faces and personalities in the lecture hall. With that mundane spray bottle she brought with her, any one of them could be her next plaything. Instant gratification was a real possibility, now that she had the power to pick a target and freely have them shrunken within that next minute.

But that choice was currently unavailable to her. It was a self-applied limit, she knew, one she could always break if she wanted, but since it was a promise to Adrian, she absolutely wouldn’t. Adrian, she had decided, was going to decide the next victims. While she was committed to that, it didn’t do much to satisfy that urge, the excitement of picking out a new toy.

Melanie… you have plenty of toys, she had to remind herself. She quietly giggled, a noise hidden behind a finger. And one of those toys hasn’t been worn in much at all…

It was a long class, and Melanie dreaded how little any time had actually passed. Bradz was dragging on to the point that Melanie, obsessed and horny, couldn’t distract herself from her own distractions. She softly tapped at the edge of her desk, an idea brewing in her mind nervously. Her leg bounced anxiously, just on the edge of making a shameful decision.

Everyone was flipping their books to an entirely different chapter, which acted as the perfect opportunity for Melanie. While all the page turning was happening, Melanie discreetly peered under her desk. She opened up her messenger bag, briefly wondering how surprising that must be for the women inside, but significantly more concerned with what she was grabbing. Her hand moved quickly, not wanting to risk being caught, because in her grasp was the one woman she could easily identify by touch, still wrapped up in a hair-tie and unable to move.

Chloe screamed, suddenly ripped from the darkness of the bag, and just after she had finally quieted down. Like a claw machine, she was chosen and abducted, taken into a world of blinding light. Blink after blink, her vision cleared, but her panting only accelerated. She would have made more noise, but the swift movements had made her sick. Furthermore, she was presented with something, something to read as soon as her vision was cleared.

Eat me out and I’ll put you back. That was scribbled into a corner of a piece of paper, and it filled almost all of Chloe’s sights. She was pointed right to it, almost like an eraser would be aimed at something to rub away. She read it, twice even, but it didn’t make sense. She had no clue what it meant in that hectic moment, but it affected her as true as the omen it was.

In her fear, Chloe rapidly looked left and right, at all the people around her in this lecture hall. Students, an ocean’s worth of massive, monstrous college students. Chloe screamed, “Help me! She’s kidnapped me! Help!” Yelling as loud as she could, she didn’t comprehend why no one would answer her. Beneath the booming voice of the professor’s speech overhead, there was no way a tiny, insignificant voice like hers was going to be noticed. They were just squeaks, her desperate cries to be saved embarrassingly overpowered by a political science lesson that no one wanted to listen to anyway.

Melanie wanted to laugh like she usually would, but in public, that would be unacceptable. Ironically, that didn’t stop her from taking Chloe to the opening into her pants she made. With her other hand, she had lifted the hem of her jeans and panties, an opening that revealed Melanie’s pubic region like a portal into a shadowy world of curly hair and wetness. Just as it all became tragically clear to Chloe what was happening, she was thrown into it, shoved deep towards the craving hole.

“No! No!!” Chloe shivered, struggling as best as she could in the pinch of a grasp Melanie had her in. It meant little, pushed head-first to where the clothes were tightest against Melanie’s pussy. Any begging she did now was muffled into the very monster she feared, enveloped into the darkness of such a private, intimate location -- the crotch of a creepy, mysterious girl.

Melanie adjusted her position, cautiously glancing to her side while shivers threatened to ride up from her thighs. Already she could feel the squirming and struggling of Chloe’s desperation. She imagined it to be so humid, the aroma to be so thick and contained -- and she was very right. The atmosphere was unlivable, but Chloe was especially restrained from being able to avoid this embarrassing fate. Not only was she still tied up, but now she was mostly upside-down and pinned in place by the elastic of Melanie’s underwear and jeans. Only one direction was welcoming to her; a mound of flesh, lips that drooled messily over Chloe’s entire body. The more she moved, the more this alien mouth invited her to be swallowed.

Chloe kicked and twisted, putting all her stamina into this thrashing. She screamed no longer, only wild gasps for air on occasion. The fluid Melanie produced was painfully warm, a heat maintained by the tight pressure of her pants. It settled over Chloe, wave after wave, teetering on drowning her outright had she not the room allowed to her to catch her breath. She spat and gagged, fearing the pussy like an encroaching beast. The wetter she got from Melanie’s excitement, the more she slipped into the embrace of the labia.

Melanie adjusted her posture when a bolt of electricity rushed through her core. Her legs quivered, but she had to maintain some grace for the sake of going unnoticed. She held her breath, unaware how her face was slowly burning red. This was a classroom, not her bedroom, but breaking that most basic of social restrictions was a new layer of excitement that Melanie had never known before. I’m masturbating in the middle of class…! she thought amusedly. Even better, it’s with a tiny person…! A tiny human being is basically fucking me, during a lecture…!

Chloe feared for her life. Each following breath felt harder to inhale, and the most minor movements from Melanie would result in her entire prison being shaken by an earthquake. More concerned for her life than anything else, Chloe was unaware that her legs were crossed over a bulbous clitoris, and that her sliding, slippery kicks were highly exhilarating for the massive person. Every time she tried to find some footing, she only made her situation worse, giving Melaie exactly what she wanted.

Chloe gasped when something began hitting her from behind. “Wh-What?! What’s happening?!” she shouted, a question begging for an answer she wouldn’t receive. It hit her again, certainly no accidental bump, but an intended push. Melanie, having slid one hand between her thighs, was quietly tapping at Chloe from outside her jeans, forcing her more precisely to where she wanted. A lazy grin melted on Melanie’s burning face, but Chloe was suffering the real horror of being swallowed.

Despite her best efforts to pull away, Chloe was unable to stop her head from being absorbed into Melanie’s being. She was desperate to breathe, having not adequately prepared herself for the dive she was shoved into taking. Her exhales, containing such precious air, were practically spat into Melanie. Fidgeting, wincing -- all this was what Melanie really wanted, and it encouraged her to seek more.

Chloe knew now how to put a stop to this, to be relieved from this hell. She remembered that message, a demand made up of only eight words that had decidedly set the humiliating task. If she wanted to escape, her only hope was to give in to this woman’s wants, to succumb to this overwhelming, enveloping lust. She had to get her off, using just her tiny, bondaged body, she had to eat out a college student the size of a skyscraper. Every layer of shame was stacked onto her, not unmissed by her conscious; the fact that she was a grown woman turned powerless slave to a girl almost half her age, to how was drowning in the wetness of that same girl’s arousal, but most of all the simplicity of the act she was told to perform. It seemed so easy when it was on paper, but to actually do that -- with her size and all other disadvantages -- she thought it impossible, cruelly unachievable.

She licked the wall that wrapped around her, the flesh of Melanie’s vagina feeling tender to drag her tongue across, but she flinched right away. The taste was undeniable, a somewhat salty and bold flavor no different from the air she was breathing, but more compressed. A long groan cried from Chloe, but she had to continue and try again. Her tongue dragged once more along a ridge she was being slammed into, the finger behind her just as relentless as before in how it pressured her deeper into the swampy cavern. Her back ached, bent in an uncomfortable way, but it was little relief when her posture was fixed, straightened out only so she could more easily slide into the devouring cunt.

All the while, Melanie hunched over her desk. Her right hand sat on her desk, clenching the pen she was pretending to write with using the whole of her fist. She closed her eyes and her bullying towards Chloe stopped, but only so she could control herself. Again, she felt a shiver of fear, aware that any one of her peers could turn around and find it suspicious why she seemed so flustered and distracted. Yet, that very same chill was teasingly hot. The scenario was so shameful and ridiculous that it only made her more turned on.

A wide smile spread from one cheek to the next. I could kill someone just by being really turned on…! She giggled down into her desk; fortunately, Professor Bradz had just made another passing joke about the lesson, and so her amusement blended in seamlessly with whatever laughter the class responded with.

As the minute rolled along, Chloe was nearly eaten. Melanie had her face turned towards Professor Bradz, but she was losing what composure she had maintained. Chloe was dwindling, at least what Melanie could feel of her. Diligent in her desire to be saved, Chloe had been licking all around the internal chamber, unaware but ever terrified of how far she was being plunged. Could she even escape from this if Melanie decided otherwise? That was the deepest her horror went, to be ruined in life like this, as an abandoned sex toy. Melanie had greater imaginations, however, of what she wished she could do; If only she was still shrinking, Melanie thought in a steamy state of mind, and she got smaller… and smaller… until she was dust… swimming in a single droplet of cum inside me…!

The pen fell onto the desk, almost rolling away. Melanie’s hand was tense, itching at something in the air until it settled into a firm grasp on her desk corner. Her eyes widened in a spark, but she closed them just as swiftly, huffing a hot breath down to her chest in a hunched posture. Her legs were spreading slightly, but they had only so much room under the table. Not even her other finger was necessary, yet it remained where it had been like a lock. Chloe was essentially a living vibrator, dedicated to this miserable role she was given for it was the only chance, thin as it was, that she could be freed, and as such, she did her job well. Melanie nearly chuckled, covering her mouth a now-empty hand. The wanted climax was coming, coming closer, it was all her mind could think of--

“Miss?” Paige’s voice was soft, nearly too soft to be an interruption. Melanie almost didn’t notice, but she had in a spook. Paige equally trembled back, pulling away her hand that had just grazed Melanie’s shoulder from behind. “Sorry,” she whispered, not wanting to distract anyone but the one student from the ongoing lecture, “but you look really red. I noticed you breathing pretty hard, too. Do you need the infirmary?”

Melanie coughed, caught in a triad of high-impact emotions. The fright of being acknowledged, the sudden need to come up with an excuse, and the digging inside her, the heated eruption she was on the verge of that now had to come to a screeching halt. “I-I’m… It’s…” She stuttered, then took a long breath that ended in anxious, passive giggles. “It’s the… allergies… th-the p-pollen…”

“Ah,” Paige smiled, “they’re hitting you hard.”

“Yeah…”

“Um, well, if you need to run to the restroom, you should. Maybe get a drink of water?”

Melanie swallowed. “That’s okay… R-Really.”

Paige stepped forward to the next row of desks, keeping a pleasant expression on Melanie. “School is important, but so is your health. I’ve forgotten that more than once.” With that wholesome advice given, Paige continued to the front of the class, checking in on other students along the way.

Melanie could finally exhale. The heat that had been swelling inside of her like a vortex of fire had finally burst, just as Paige had left. She hunched forward even more, practically resting on her desk but in the guise of digging through one of her bag’s many pockets. In truth, she was melting from the overdue satisfaction. Delayed as long as she could, Melanie had been on the edge through the entire conversation, since Chloe of course had no idea that there was an interruption to halt for. Even after her orgasm, which had washed all over Chloe’s pathetic shape, the tiny woman continued to lick and kiss, unsure if that was enough.

Melanie sighed, and lifted her self up off her desk. She brushed at her hair to fix it, happily refueled with a sense of clarity. She wanted to laugh still, feeling Chloe’s persistent squirms. Actually, if I took her out… She assumed something misfortunate could happen if she tried to free Chloe, especially after Paige’s interference, and ambivalent about the matter anyway, she decided to leave her there. It was amusing, at least, to play with Chloe like that, to keep her in the dark and to break that promise. These things don’t deserve promises, she settled to herself, not like Adrian.

Under her desk, she patted at her crotch, able to feel the little nubs that were twitching feet. If she keeps at it, I might get riled up all over again… But she couldn’t afford that, she dismayed. The tread to the bathroom to clean herself up was already going to be awkward as it were. Soon enough, Chloe would tucker out, inevitably drained between the effort she put in and the pressure exerted over her.

Though only a passing thought for Melanie as she vaguely tuned in back to the lecture, it was a living nightmare for Chloe. She didn’t understand why she wasn’t being released, not after the volcanic reaction she felt she had rightfully earned. She grew angry, she yelled and berated Melanie for being a liar, but she went unheard by anyone but herself, her begging only falling back on her as a reminder of how powerless she was. After so long, she began to feel faint from the sweltering temperature. Please, God, don’t let me die in here, she prayed.

For nearly an hour, Chloe was trapped inside of Melanie. It wasn’t until class ended that Melanie thought to free her, and even then, she would wait until the lecture hall had emptied out a decent amount. While the rest of the class was quick to pack up their items and exit, Melanie would lag behind, taking her time finishing up the last of the notes she wasn’t going to study. Once her row of seats was vacant aside from herself, she lifted open the front of her pants and withdrew Chloe. The tiny woman was drenched in a slimey coat, sputtering and gasping for treasured air. Though Melanie enjoyed the sight, she couldn’t cherish it out in the open. Her bag was already open and waiting for Chloe, and so she was deposited back in with the others without a word.

Melanie took that second to loom over her captives, offering them a pleased smile. Had she the privacy for it, she would have thanked Chloe for the help getting through a painfully boring class. However, just before she could close her bag and hoist it to leave the building, she was beckoned to. “Melanie!!” Adrian’s voice yelled out, a diminutive squeak that Melanie loved to hear.

But Melanie was still cautious. She kept her back turned towards the front, hiding away from the stage Professor Bradz and Paige still idly occupied. She peered into the bag, then offered a finger down to the corner Adrian occupied. She gestured to her, asking her to climb on. Adrian did so, with a few reservations, and was lifted to the mouth of the bag, just close enough for Melanie to listen to.

“Yes, Adrian?” Melanie hummed. It felt so sneaky, being able to speak to the love of her life in such secrecy. “D-Did you notice what class we’re in? It’s--”

“I know. Professor Bradz.” Adrian stated it bluntly. Her tone was unusually flat, something Melanie noticed right away. Her smile faded, sensing a serious aura from Adrian. “I want you to shrink her.”

Melanie was confused at first. There in the lecture hall, speaking to Adrian from within her bag, wasn’t how she expected to obtain her first bounty. She had been prepared to be scolded for abusing Chloe, so this was a pleasant surprise. She snickered, even doubting that she heard Adrian right. “Y-You want me to… shrink her?” Melanie got even closer to her bag, pushing the limits of how inconspicuous she looked.

“Yes. Shrink her.” Adrian was honest and to the point. Her expression had no life; she felt no pity nor pride in what she was asking for. Having made her declaration so confidently, it was in fact a strike on her heart, a wound that she was unfeeling towards. Kimberly’s arguments echoed through her head, telling her again that she was condemning someone to death, but that was a fact she wouldn’t be burdened by. She had made her decision.

That decision tickled Melanie in a way she never expected. She bit on her own smile, ideas of all sorts coming to mind, but she didn’t have the time to daydream. “... Sure,” she finally replied, and back into the bag Adrian went. The conversation had to be brief, as Melanie had already concocted an opportunity to fulfil this wish of Adrian’s, a service she was ecstatic to make well on.


“P-Professor Bradz…?” Melanie knocked on the door that was open a small gap. It was the professor’s office, one that she shared with a pair of other teachers, though in the room currently was only her. Melanie hovered outside the room, seeing that she was busy at her laptop.

“Yes?” Professor Bradz chimed, not looking up from her screen. “Did you need help with something?”

“Err, s-sort of,” Melanie mumbled.

“Well, get in.” Professor Bradz rolled back in her office chair, turning it to face Melanie and wave her in with a half-smile. Melanie did so, keeping a nervous clutch on the strap of her bag. She couldn’t look at the professor, so she glanced elsewhere, bouncing from one corner of the room to the next.

Melanie cleared her throat. “I-I came by t-to talk about-- uhh, well, m-my essay, m-ma’am, I… I didn’t--”

“You didn’t turn it in? Oh, boy,” Professor Bradz rolled her eyes and giggled aloud. “And? What does coming to me to tell me about it do for either of us?”

Melanie slouched. “I just… wanted to explain…”

“You can explain, but that won’t save your grade.” Professor Bradz crossed her arms, her stance a fortress. “You had weeks to finish it. What could have possibly distracted you?”

Melanie continued into the room, quietly holding the door handle behind her so that it closed without noise. It was natural, not wanting to discuss her classwork and grades out in the open. “A-Actually, i-it’s not that I didn’t do it… I have it with me… p-printed out.” She opened the main pouch of her bag. “I-I’m sorry, I just th-thought that you wanted them printed, not s-submitted online…”

Professor Bradz groaned and scratched at her temple. “This is why it’s important to read the assignment entirely.” She shrugged. “Let’s see it. I suppose it’s better to have proof you did something, at least.”

Melanie dug through her bag, searching deep for what she wanted. Professor Bradz waited, eventually relaxing more in her seat. When she did, Melanie attacked. She equipped the spray bottle stashed within, and in a snap, she had it squirting a thin trail of red mist. Albeit messily, she had hit her mark, and was met with a furious reply.

“Ohh! Wh-What the…?!” Professor Bradz raised her arms, defending herself from anymore splashes. She scoffed multiple times, wiping her face and hair. “What was that?!”

“Shit! I-I’m so sorry!” Melanie apologized, shoving the bottle back into her bag. “Th-That was an accident!”

“Ugh! Yuck! What is this?” Professor Bradz scoffed, over and over. The liquid was slightly sticky and its odor harsh, the worst combination. From a corner of her desk, she pinched a handful of tissues to help clean herself. The red splotches she saw on the sheets did nothing to ease her. “Seriously, what was in that? Is this one of those energy drinks?”

“A… science project…”

“And why is it here, in your bag?!” Professor Bradz shook her head. “Do none of you students think nowadays?! Ugh…! Young lady…!” She twisted in her chair, beginning to reach for another set of tissues, but she had then recognized the scent. It was wine, no doubt. “Alcohol? On campus?”

“It’s not what it seems,” Melanie said, not dishonestly.

“Do you have permission for this, young lady?” Professor Bradz blinked, leaving a pause in what she was saying. She held her head, fevered with annoyance. “I am… so disappointed… I’m so…” A small groan, more of a growl, passed under heavy lips. She spoke in slurs, “... Tired, all of a sudden…”

“Y-Yeah?” Melanie stepped closer. “H-Have you been working a lot?”

“Yes, I-I have… but…” She sighed, and corrected her falling posture in her chair. “And then… then all this. I’m so sick of this. It’s always… I-It’s always something.”

Melanie nodded, willing to keep Bradz company with an expectant shine in her eyes. She could see it, just barely starting to work. Her potion was activating, just like it had for Chloe earlier that day. The curse was slowly taking effect, and Bradz’s height was being eaten away.

Professor Bradz adjusted her posture when she felt herself slipping in her seat. Her head was swirling, an effect she figured was from particularly potent alcohol. She glared at Melanie, finding her to be so unhelpful. Be that way, she thought, and she reached for another pair of tissues, only this time, her fingers swiped at nothing. They were out of reach now, at least from the way she was sitting. She managed to grab one, but only with a decent stretch. It didn’t feel right, but neither did the migraine.

“Okay… I think I must be allergic to… that. Whatever that is,” Bradz said, mostly mumbling as she gazed into the red of the tissue swabbed over her forehead. “Melanie, what was in that? I-It’s making me dizzy.”

Melanie hesitated to answer, and didn’t. She stared at Bradz with an agape mouth, slowly moving closer. Her hands felt grabby, already greedy to snatch up her prey.

“Okay, I need a doctor,” Bradz groaned. She stood up, but nearly stumbled. “Young lady, I demand that-- that…” All the authority in the professor’s tone was dropped when she was faced with her shifted reality. She choked on her next word, a shiver almost having her collapse backwards into the swivel chair she had just gotten out of, now as tall to her as a bar. Right in front of her was Melanie’s lap, and looming overhead, her hungry eyes, an expression that lacked the shock and horror Bradz was feeling.

“You should sit down, Professor Bradz,” Melanie said, a suggestion bordering on a threat.

Bradz stuttered in fear, but her emotions welled up with a jolt of adrenaline. She knew something was wrong here, something was wrong with Melanie, and so she jet, dashing to Melanie’s side. She withheld a scream, hoping to at least first reach the door -- this couldn’t be real, she worried, this had to be some allergic reaction like she had initially thought -- but she wouldn’t make it that far. Despite an earnest lunge to grab the doorknob, she was pulled away, strangled into Melanie’s arms while her own were left flailing.

“Let go!” Bradz yelled. She pushed backwards, headbutting Melanie into her gut. It was a decent strike, but it only made Melanie take the struggle more seriously. Melanie lifted her up into the air, leaving small legs kicking in desperation. Before she could shout again, a huge hand covered her mouth, as well as most of her face. The scream she had prepared was muffled into it, her lips forced closed as she was unable to cry out for help.

“Shh, shh,” Melanie urged. Although she was more than twice the professor’s height now, the shrinking woman still had enough weight to cause problems. At the very least, Melanie knew of the uphill battle Bradz was challenged with. “Calm down, j-just take it easy…”

Bradz yelled with the breath of a newly stoked fire. She realized, all at once, that she was in peril. Her heart started to race, despite it feeling weaker, her body all around so much more fragile than it was just a minute ago. The horror dawned on her, her eyes split wide open, I’m being kidnapped. I’m the next to be kidnapped.

From Melanie’s grasp, Bradz was able to rip her head away. “Help--” she was just short of crying, but Melanie regained control over her again. It was becoming easier to handle the woman, a natural result as she continued to shrink. No longer was Melanie just statuesque with how much height she had over Bradz, she was quickly becoming goliath. Where a hand was once needed to silence Bradz, it eventually became just two digits. Try as she might to break free, Bradz was always losing, her body hugged tight against Melanie’s despite putting forth her maximum effort. It was so annoying, it made Bradz fume with an anger she could only express in panicked moans and yelps.

“That’s right. You’re shrinking,” Melanie chuckled. She was able to catch what little breath she had lost, now able to restrain her professor with just two hands. “You’re getting so small. Hehe, I must look pretty big, don’t I?” Melanie turned Bradz towards her, dining on that expression the shrinking woman had displayed; a primal fear, unvented fury, bundled under pink-red flesh that wanted to burst.

Bradz was about finished shrinking, nearing the height that Adrian and all the others were dragged to. At that point, Melanie freed Bradz’s head from her grasp. She could scream, and she did, but Melanie knew that such a tiny voice couldn’t get far. She was amused at what Bradz did with this freedom, the initial scream for help that quickly changed to pleading.

“Y-Young lady! Y-You…! What are you doing?! Why are you doing this to me?!” Bradz begged, stradling Melanie’s fingers for safety. The drop below, which she had glanced down at, was unnerving. This was her office, but now it looked like a dungeon with a fatal plummet expecting her. Melanie twitched, throwing off any semblance of balance Bradz had managed.

“My name is Melanie, cunt,” the giantess said. Although she spoke in a relatively hushed voice, it was no less divine to the miniature person she held. Her insult especially stung, a harsh word that the professor had never been directly called by any student, much less one that towered over her. “You’re coming with me. You’re going to be my pet from now on.” She held Bradz directly in front of her smiling lips, so close the professor’s hair was being swept back by the gentle huffs of air. “Just like the others.”

The others? Bradz denied the truth that she had just assumed. This had to be a karmic nightmare, she had to have passed out at her desk by accident and now she was dreaming of herself being kidnapped by this student. Who even was this girl? This creepy, unsettling character that held her was one she barely recognized, a shadow that sat in one corner of the lecture hall and never once spoke up. It was baffling, even maddening, to think that a girl that weak seeming was behind the kidnapping plaguing the town -- and that she was now the latest victim.

Bradz was outraged. “Fuck you! You’re not getting away with this!” she screamed. Melanie didn’t answer. “You won’t! You f-fucked up, you screwed up so bad! You’re going to regret this!” These mighty words stood confident until a single giggle from Melanie knocked them down like straw. Bradz shivered into the fist that held her, trembling in the midst of the brutal grip.

“Ooh. Feisty.” Melanie sneered, observing Bradz carefully for an extra moment. Like all the others, she wanted to play with her new toy right then and there. A curious thumb groped Bradz’s body, pressing into her breasts and squeaking out a shrill cry. For now, she would have to resist those temptations. “If you were a better teacher, I have a feeling this could have been avoided. Ah, well.”

Another mission complete. As simple as that, another person had been shrunk on a whim -- not even a wait to endure. Melanie had won her prize, and she was ecstatic to show her off to Adrian. This was her catch, after all, the target she had specified. Melanie was giddy to reveal the results, but she couldn’t do that in the professor’s office. In fact, paranoia crept on Melanie, as she twisted around to look at the second entrance. Multiple professors used this one office, and it was possible any of them could walk in from either door. It was time to leave.

But one item did catch Melanie’s eye. Just as she was about to deposit Bradz into a pocket, she noticed the professor’s laptop, lit up with an array of students and grades. The potential was too much to ignore, so Melanie wanted it. She closed the laptop and lifted it into her arm, a feat of great strength as far as Bradz witnessed, as well as an additional criminal act to add to Melanie’s streak.

“We wouldn’t want to forget this,” Melanie hummed, making sure that her theft was on display for Bradz. “I’m sure we could find some really exciting things to do with this.”

The door opened, and Melanie quietly exitted. She looked down the halls, wary of any eavesdroppers, but with the laptop hugged into her arm, she had too much to risk to slowness. If she was caught rushing off with a faculty laptop, everything could be ruined. Luckily, no one was in sight, and it seemed like a clean getaway to leave the building. She had not just a new laptop to work with, alongside all the permissions allotted to a professor, but a fresh victim to orientate. Anders Library was her next destination, a safe haven now that Candi’s investigation was done and over with.

Despite all of Melanie’s cautions, however, she would not be able to smoothly integrate herself into the shadows unnoticed. She had slipped, and she had been heard. Noticed. Watched and listened in on. While she was teasing Professor Bradz for shrinking, the entire time, there had been a single, scared witness. An assistant, a few years older than Melanie, that had stepped into the office from the other entrance, only to immediately step back out. What she glimpsed at was more like a movie than another mundane day at work.

Paige couldn’t believe her eyes, even after she wiped her glasses clean, but her fascination was objective. Although her thoughts raced with the worry of getting caught, she still had made up her mind. Where Melanie went, sneaking about like she always did, Paige would trail her, always one corner away, tracking her across campus.

Paige knew what she saw, and she knew of the opportunity this meant for her.

Chapter Eighteen by Curse Crazy

Juniper was backed-up to her bedroom door, leaned against it with all her weight to form one final layer of protection between her and the world she thought she understood. Thoughts raced through her mind in wild attempts to explain the situation to herself. Across from her, in the opposite corner of the room, was her object of interest: an upside-down glass atop the windowsill, and the tiny woman trapped underneath it.

A quiet beat pinged from the glass. It was Nicky, wailing on the glass wall that surrounded her, using both fists to pound away and make some noise. “Let me go! Let me out of here!” she begged, rocking her body hard against the glass while ignoring the leftover residue and faint scent of alcohol tied to the barrier. “I’m a person! You have to fucking help me, please, god!”

Juniper heard these sounds, but refused to process them. She heard the voice, unmistakably the angry cries of a woman stripped of her freedom. But the concept of a tiny person struck her as unreal, even nightmarish, so much so that she was terrified to let the woman out of her sight. She thought back to only a while earlier, when she had first spotted Nicky crawling on the couch -- more precisely, she discovered her earlier, when she felt something squirming and struggling under her seat. She had already been expecting a shocking find, but she hadn’t at all predicted it would be a whole person, a nude woman certainly no older than herself.

This… is a fairy, Juniper thought. Yep. A fairy. Which doesn’t exist, Juniper. Fairies don’t fucking exist. They didn’t, until now, Juniper supposed. She wished the reality of it could be sealed away as easily as the tiny person; scooped into the glass and then held inside by an underused drink coaster, not unlike how a delicate person would dispose of a spider. That, itself, was a fact that solidified this insanity as not just a mere cannabis-induced illusion -- she would have just crushed any ordinary bug if that were the case.

Nicky was still recovering from her ordeal, a rollercoaster of emotions that had made her restless. Her safety hadn’t at all been guaranteed, but there was inherent promise with having been noticed; at the very least, she was off the cold floor, but she knew that didn’t make her more secure. This woman, a living monument, had the potential to do anything to her, the same power Melanie cherished far too much -- even accidentally, like it had been proven just earlier, could Juniper completely smother her. The thought degraded her, cruely reminded that she had been suffocating under this woman’s ass only a short time ago.

Compared to Nicky’s fluster and worry, Juniper seemed collected, even though that was not the truth. Still, she had sensed that she had the coolest head of the two, mostly because she had the least at stake. Juniper cracked a smile, slightly sympathetic to how immeasurably huge everything must seem to Nicky. Yet, absentminded in this regard, she didn’t ponder much on how big she herself appeared, even as she neared closer to Nicky and eventually took a seat on her knees right before her. At that height, their faces were almost level, but the power imbalance hadn’t shifted at all.

There was silence where Juniper expected Nicky to speak, but Nicky feared too much for her life to babble anything coherent. Getting Juniper to approach was a start to things, but now, Nicky didn’t know where to begin to explain. What little her voice was managing to say, it was blown apart by Juniper’s speech. “What are you?” she asked, so blunt and unknowingly loud. “And why are you in my apartment?”

Nicky flinched at Juniper’s volume. It boomed like a speaker muffled by the glass, a trait she was unfamiliar with. All of her cruelty aside, Melanie at least had the foresight to always keep her noise down a notch for the sake of her victims. “I-I’m h-human!” Nicky replied, having to convince herself slightly of that truth. “A g-girl named Melanie shrunk me! I know, i-it probably sounds batshit crazy, it totally does, but I-- y-you have got to believe me! I swear, I’m telling the truth, I-I’m not making it up!”

Juniper swallowed. “It’s hard to believe you could be making this up,” she muttered honestly. She looked up and down the little body, still struggling to comprehend how anybody could end up so small.

Such was a question Nicky could tell weighed heavy on her mind. “It’s-- I know this will s-sound really stupid, but it’s… magic! I guess it’s actual magic! Th-That cult shit! Or whatever they’re called!”

“Oh, uh,” Juniper blinked, “you mean… the Illuminati?”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s it!” Nicky assumed this was right in a hurry, since she was none the wiser. “But, like, whatever! Sh-She had this spellbook thing and she can use it to shrink people, seriously! And she did that to me, and these other women, a-and she’s been…! She’s been fucking with us! Fucking us! She’s done so much fucked up shit to us! She’s nearly killed us-- fuck, she has killed some of us…! Sh-She--!”

“Whoa, hey,” Juniper raised her hands softly, her intent being to calm the panic swelling up within Nicky, but just as effectively, the motion instead spooked her into silence. Juniper grimaced at the reaction, but continued, “you mean… my roommate? Th-That’s the only Melanie I know.”

“Yes!” Nicky nodded. “That’s her! Your roommate! Y-You must… be Juniper.”

“Y-Yep…” Juniper swallowed. She had been thinking of how to introduce herself, but that moment was stolen from her. It pierced her that this was even more real than she had expected it to be, considering this complete stranger knew of her name. It became even harder to distrust her better judgement, to call this off as a bout of insanity. “I guess Melanie told you that…?”

“I-It doesn’t matter. She’s a total maniac, she’s damn crazy! A-And she’s shrinking people! She shrinks them and then kidnaps them! Th-That’s how I’m here, o-or how I ended up out there… From her room, all the way t-to the living room, I-I escaped, a-and she’s… the others…!”

“Okay, th-this is sounding wild as hell,” Juniper said, absorbing each detail as it was revealed. An itch clawed at her back, the foreboding suspicion that she was being watched. All of a sudden, the roommate she thought she could trust enough to at least pay rent on time was now a sizeshifting kidnapper working for the Illuminati. Every fiber of her wanted to disbelieve it, figuring she should know better as a personal acquaintance to Melanie, yet the naked three-inch woman in front of her was difficult evidence to refute.

“If it doesn’t make sense to you, imagine how I feel,” Nicky chuckled, but the unrest in her voice hadn’t eased at all. “I barely managed to escape, man. I… barely did. You don’t understand. God, and then, when I made it all that way, and I finally get to my phone, y-you…! Ugh,” her hands clawed through her hair, “I thought I was going to die…!”

Juniper blushed, her face warm but her skin running cold. An idle left hand gently massaged her rear, remembering that tickling, squirming feeling from beneath her that resulted in this. By just sitting down, she had nearly crushed an entire person under her. Embarrassment ravaged her until she offered a guilty look down at Nicky.

“Th-That’s right, my phone!” Nicky jumped. “G-Get me my phone! Wait,” she shook her head, “I don’t need it! I-I’ve got you!”

“Huh? Y-You need to make a call?” Juniper felt her pocket for her phone as it became relevant.

“9-1-1! Call 9-1-1!” Nicky pointed eagerly at the smartphone as it was lifted into view. Giddiness totally took over, reacting to the device much like a stranded survivor would awe at a rescue helicopter. “Get the police! An ambulance! T-Tell the FBI, I don’t know! S-Somebody!”

“Wha-- n-no?” Juniper shook her head, and just like that, Nicky’s energy was wiped clean. “No, I-I mean, I… I can’t call the cops.”

“Y-You can’t…? You have to!”

“I’m not! I-I can’t do that!”

You have to!

“No! I don’t!” Juniper laughed, and she stood up to her full height. No longer in a kneeled position, she had unknowingly flexed her superiority by this general motion, her shadow cast over the tiny woman. “And I won’t! Dude, I don’t do cops. I don’t gel with them.”

“That’s--! No, n-no, that’s absurd!” Nicky scoffed, her voice quivering beneath the giantess, but Juniper didn’t reply. “That’s ridiculous, you know it! I-I’m, I mean, look at me!” She twitched after having followed her own advice. The view of herself in the slight reflection off the glass humiliated her. “You can save me, j-just take me to the police!”

“Look.” Juniper shook her head. She reached over to a set of nearby cabinets, from which she dug out a small grinder. The top half twisted off, revealing pinches of green herb, shredded to a fine grain. “You know what this is?” She angled the grinder down for Nicky, who gazed into the material with envious fascination. Almost drooling, Nicky was captivated; from her perspective, an entire barrel of weed, only an arm’s reach away if it weren’t for the glass.

“I know what that is,” Nicky said. Then, it dawned on her what this meant. “B-But--”

“I’m not getting the police involved with my life,” Juniper asserted. She set the weed just beside the glass, even closer and more tempting to Nicky. “Shit’s complicated enough as it is, I can’t afford a bunch of cops snooping around here. That one detective scared the hell out of me enough.”

“Isn’t this more important than a fucking weed bust?!” Nicky slapped the wall. “Juniper, please--”

“Hey, I didn’t ask for this! My bad, but my help comes at my convenience.”

“For fucking god’s sake…!” Nicky growled. “Fine! Don’t call the cops! Let the kidnapper get away with all this! You’re okay with that?!”

“No! But I’m not throwing my scholarship away just on a dime like this!” Juniper threw up her arms. “And you’re telling me this is magic? Melanie knows magic? Magic to shrink people?”

“Y-Yeah!”

“So she could shrink me, right?”

“Sh-She… could.” Nicky held her temple. “I guess she could…”

Juniper gestured harshly at Nicky’s reply. “Exactly!”

“... But that’s bullshit!” Nicky slapped the glass again. “Bullshit!”

“I’m not putting my neck out there like that.” Juniper shrugged in search of something better to say, or a softer way to phrase it. “Shit, what would happen if I got shrunk, too?! I-I don’t know how this magic stuff works!”

Nicky gritted her teeth, bearing the pain of the sticky situation. Truly, she did fear that possibility that Juniper worried about. It was very much possible that, in an act against Melanie, Juniper would become a target and end up suffering the same fate as her and the others. She felt it slipping away, right from the tips of her stretched fingers, the chance to escape.

Juniper held her sweating head. “Dude, I’m sorry, but I didn’t ask for this! I’m not gonna go and try to, fucking, fight my magic-powered roommate! I’m not getting on her bad side, and I’m sure as hell not calling the cops to come bust me up! Shit,” Juniper shook her head, “what do you expect to me to go do?”

“You’re going to help me!” Nicky rammed into the glass, thrashing her anger into the barrier. She heathed, then threw herself against it again, then again, all while she spoke, “I did not make it this far! Just so a spoiled bitch! Can pussy out of helping innocent! Fucking! Kidnapped! People--”

One more push, and the wall in front of her began drifting away. In her roused fury, Nicky didn’t understand why the glass was moving away from her -- she felt dizzy from yelling and slamming -- but the realization was explosive, the last second understanding that she had been edging the glass closer and closer to the window sill’s limits. That last push was what teetered it off the edge, and from behind her, the other half of the glass threatened to knock her straight in the head.

A yelp, and Nicky ducked and tumbled forward, chasing after the direction the glass was falling. The rim whipped right over her head, a whirlwind that grabbed at her and threw off the ledge along with it. The huge world of Juniper’s bedroom twisted upside-down, and Nicky gasped in fright, too shocked to bark anything amidst her descent.

Only half a flip could be achieved before she landed onto a soft platform. This spooked her into another gasp, responding quickly to grasp what caught her. Beneath her knees and her hands was an unfamiliar palm, slightly wider and longer than that of Melanie’s. Past that, seen through the gap between two log-like fingers, was the glass and its landing spot down on the floor below. Nicky turned, looking up at the giantess that now claimed her, and the terrified grimace electrified on her face.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew,” Juniper stammered with individual breaths. Each remark was blunt and hard, a very honest response of disgust. “Oh my god. Oh, my god! This is so gross!”

“G-Gross?! Man, fuck you,” Nicky spat with a disappointed shake of her head. She had meant to give a genuine thanks for being caught, but Juniper’s reaction had changed her mind. “It’s just, like, me. I’m not an animal or something!”

“Uh, girl, you are n-naked!” Juniper’s teeth clattered. “A-And all up in my hand!”

“Err…” Nicky flushed with red, more aware now of her nudity. After all this time, and with all the torment happening, being without clothes was the bottom of Nicky’s worries. She tried to stand, stretching out her arms and legs for balance, but the movement made Juniper trill and shake. To her, it was like holding a spider, the skin of her hand tickled by the four points that were Nicky’s limbs. Eventually, Nicky decided to sit back down, one arm hugged around her chest to preserve some modesty if only for Juniper’s sake.

“Ohh my god,” Juniper huffed. In her hands, Nicky was objectively as light as a bundle of tissues, yet Juniper’s knees buckled to the ground as though she were much heavier. “Of course Melanie c-could do this. Holding a person. She’s weird enough to not be… ugh’d out like this…”

“Yeah, that’s… putting it gently,” Nicky said. “She’s horrible, Juniper. She’s… a monster, I mean it. And…” She bit her lip, struck with a pain to her mind. “A-And there’s two others. Two more women are in her desk, a-at least, they were when I was last there.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that…” Juniper swallowed, and against her hesitations, brought up her other hand to help support the naked woman she held.

“Please, I swear,” Nicky clasped her hands together, “just help us, at least get us away from Melanie! And I promise, we’ll never, ever bug you about this. You can do anything, I-I don’t care,” she swallowed regretfully, “but the others need help, too. They’re waiting for me. I need to break them out.”

Juniper closed her eyes. Each time her breathing was coming to a calm, it would be riled again, worked up over the anxieties stressing her out. A deep contemplation was had, but she knew how wrong it was to act entirely selfish here. She opened just one eye to admire Nicky, the poor woman that was bruised and beaten, having survived so much just to end up here.

“You think they’re still in Melanie’s room?” Juniper asked, only keeping that one eye open. “If it’s… just that, then maybe. Maybe.”

“Just that! I swear, j-just going in, grabbing them, and getting out! Three steps, three fucking steps!” Nicky nodded, becoming a fountain of emotions now that Juniper was on her side. “D-Didn’t Melanie just leave a little bit ago?! Can we do this now?! She usually doesn’t take us all with her to school, there might be someone we can save!”

“Okay, okay, j-just chill for a second…” Juniper gathered her thoughts with a long inhale. She looked to her door, and although it was closed, she saw past it and all the way to Melanie’s bedroom. Snooping wasn’t something she usually did, but with the pressure of real, human lives on the line, she knew it would be wrong to be stopped by such a lazy limitation. “We’ll take a quick look,” she said, “but c-can we, uh, get you dressed into something first? Yeah, I like that idea. At least get you into a, err, sock or something.”

Nicky winced, her unspoken wish being that it could be anything else besides another sock.


Adrian’s attention was directed completely forward. She didn’t turn her head or ever try to close her ears. The display in front of her was a spectacle that she decided. Fate could have woven their lives into a different future had she restrained herself, or picked a different target. That burden wouldn’t make her blink, however. What she saw, the entire scene, was her responsibility to live with.

Adrian was perched on the upper-most shelf of a bookcase found within the heart of Anders Library. A space in the shelf had been molded for her and the other shrunken women, with a large row of books either stripped out or pushed to the ends to make an opening. Like a perfectly rectangular cave, they were able to look over the table Melanie had decided to use. Light entered the library from curtained windows, leaving a center of darkness that itself was pierced through by the light of a laptop situated on the desk. Equally so was the dusty library silent, all but for a series of squeaks picked out from that same center. Horrific screams, shrunken to bothersome whining.

Stop it!! Stop it now!! No!!” The one victim not placed with the others was Professor Bradz, the latest addition to Melanie’s collection. Her screaming had been a chant, changing very little from one iteration to the next, but her desperation never reaching her captor enough to evoke mercy.

Melanie had no plans for that -- or seemingly any plan. Since arriving at the library, which came after a quick detour to the chemistry labs, Melanie had remained speechless. Aside from a few giggles, she hadn’t said a word to Adrian nor any of the others, not even the woman she held currently. She had Bradz pinched by just one leg, letting the rest of the body limply sway and twist with each one of her kicks. The sight amused her -- the blood rushing to the woman’s head, the ankle being slowly pressed in her casual grip, and her unanswered cries for help; all were met with the same smile, but nothing to say.

Bradz was then set roughly onto the desk, dropped on her stomach. She gasped, then immediately scrambled to get away. She struggled to move, but even if she had the energy to sprint as fast as she could, it wouldn’t be enough to get away. When she did try to dash off, aimlessly hoping to escape from Melanie, she was pinned right back down to the desk. She groaned under the weight of a pressing finger, her bones promising to crack if the force against them got any harder.

“W-Why?!?” Bradz coughed. “Y-You can’t! You can’t get away with this…!”

Melanie rolled her over onto her back, flipping her around while keeping her held. The twist was uncomfortable for Bradz, but that was the lesser of her worries as Melanie’s giant face took up the sky. She yelled, mixed with rage and disgust, when Melanie’s lips pointed down at her. From them leaked a droplet of saliva which stretched into an extensive strand. The thread snapped, and a bomb of spit descended upon the woman below. Unable to escape, she had to endure the hard splash of the warm liquid, the scent of which humiliated her with the stern reminder that she was covered from head to toe in a student’s saliva.

Bradz gagged, but even that freedom was too much. Melanie adjusted the professor so that her head would be sunken into the pool of saliva that slowly melted around her. Instead of coughing, Bradz dove straight into choking. She spasmed and shook, each thrashing motion more violent than the one before it, desperate claws begging to be let go. Terror flooded her just as much as Melanie’s spit; for the sake of amusing a twisted girl, it was frighteningly likely that she would have to drown in such a pathetic fashion.

“Like an unlucky bug,” Melanie teased in a whispered voice, “that happened to walk right into a ball of spit. Gross…”

Bradz spasmed more and more, hugging and kicking at the tip of Melanie’s finger. It was only when Bradz began to weaken, when her thrown arms lost their natural aim, her legs twitching more than they were kicking, that Melanie figured that the limit had been reached. She released her finger from off of Bradz, not wanting to see her dead. The professor rose up instantly, only to tumble onto her stomach and cough up the excess saliva that had infiltrated her. Out of breath and hungry for more, Bradz was pained just to drag her body forward, leaving behind a trail of ooze that attached her to the drop zone of spit.

Melanie then dropped her finger hard on Bradz’s legs. The woman howled, a burst of agony stabbing through her. She imagined the worst, but Melanie was careful in her cruelty, extending everything out and ensuring nothing ended too quickly. From there, she lifted Bradz’s legs, tickled by the weak fidgeting that was the professor attempting to stomp the hand away. Obviously unable to do that, Bradz was helpless at Melanie’s hand; her lower body was lifted off the ground, and crunched up towards her head.

Stop stop stop! STOP!!” Bradz degraded into a chaotic yell of different sounds and aches. Her whole body was being rolled up and pressed down, her legs pathetically flung over her head yet being pressured to keep closing down on her upper body. At the point where her shoulder blades met the middle of her back, she was threatened to be snapped in half, at the whim of a girl’s finger. She could see nothing, only adding to her distress, her vision blocked by her own waist above her, and broadly becoming faint as the air was being squeezed out of her system. Her screaming became coughing, dry and yet still begging, her literal only hope to surviving being that this wicked student simply cease playing with her like a disposable toy.

Suffocation was a real danger, and Melanie drove all the way to that point only to slam on the brakes just shy of it. She released her finger from Bradz, allowing her body to unfold and topple over into a sad slump. Tears that had been swelling up at Bradz’s eyes now poured out over her strikingly red face. Between breaths of mad relief was panting and coughing, subtle wishes that she had just been given a fast, pointed death rather than be allowed to live through the afterpains that electrified all around her neck.

Living was part of Melanie’s plan, however. Regardless of how barbaric her torment was, Melanie never intended to murder Bradz. The state she was in now, so defeated and lifeless, wailing as she recovered, was exactly how Melanie wanted her. She stood up, risen tall and far above the little wet spot Bradz took up on the desk. If she had any confidence to try and hide, it had been completely wiped out under the all-seeing shadow of Melanie’s that was cast over her flat surroundings.

“Good morning, Professor.” Melanie’s voice began sarcastically sweet, reminiscent of the sing-song tone Bradz was remembered to have. It’s impact missed, as Bradz could no longer comprehend Melanie and her relationship with her to be anything related to school. “Could you help me with something? It’s important. It’s school related!”

Bradz choked on a reply, having been coughing through Melanie’s demeaning tone. She barely comprehended the giantess, even hoping she could simply ignore the question, but that wouldn’t be tolerated. A hard poke to her side, a jab into her ribs, made her coil into a weak ball, nodding frantically in submission.

Melanie then laid out Bradz’s own laptop onto the desk, dropping it onto the table so that its weight would rattle the woman just a little more. The computer was opened up and immediately the display flicked on; Bradz was blinded initially, like an entire stage for a pop concert had just been airdropped in front of her. She gawked at it for several moments, comprehending how this was her own laptop, a school-issued piece of tech that had been stolen from her. The emotion this spurred inside Bradz was thorny, unnerving, for she had never been thieved from and then had it gloated about there before her.

A familiar log-in screen awaited both of them, and Melanie’s silence posed the question. When Bradz hesitated, Melanie made it abundantly clear. “Tell me the password, Bradz.”

“Oh, god,” Bradz groaned. She felt sick, and then vomited her honest reply in a rush; “Kitten… 72… Kisses…”

Melanie punched the table from underneath, directly where Bradz lay. This forced a scream out of the woman, a painful quake that pumped her whole body into the air. “Capital letters? All one word?

“C-Capital K’s! Capital K’s!” Bradz cried, “Yes, yes, i-it’s a-all one word! I swear!”

“Kitten72Kisses. Wow. That’s an old person password if I’ve ever heard one.” Her mocking was simultaneous with her typing the phrase in, each keystroke accompanied by a gunshot-like sound that clapped Bradz’s ears. Without a hitch, the password had worked. The log-in screen faded and in its place was the exact screen Bradz had left it on. It harked to her as a dark reminder of how fast this change in her life had come, how swiftly destiny changed its course for her just to suffer. She closed her eyes and looked away from the computer in shame, a feeling that was stacking up high as the potential for Melanie’s chaos dawned on her further.

Using the touchpad, Melanie navigated casually across a few of the windows Bradz had left opened. It didn’t take long to unearth the treasure Melanie was in pursuit of. One of the windows opened had a long list of grades being added on a list, but more important was the web application itself. It was the college’s official system for its staff, a totally private sector of the school’s functionality. While Melanie’s expression widened with eagerness, Bradz’s only slumped more into despair.

“Ah, I have to log back in.” Melanie looked disappointedly at the screen, where a pop-up notification had alerted her to an automatic log-out of the college’s system. Her dissatisfaction twisted down onto Bradz, and she held a boulder-sized fist high above the woman. “What’s the password for this one?” Her voice was too casual, edging on being polite.

Craning her neck back, Bradz shivered under the sight of the huge hand hanging overhead. In less than a second, she could be crushed flat into the puddle of saliva she was still draped in. Melanie had chosen not to coerce the information out of her, but establish right away that she was in command, a god that shouldn’t be questioned. It wasn’t Bradz that squirmed with those thoughts, but the other women, the onlookers from atop the bookshelf. They watched as one terrified audience, horrified at how quick Melanie was to brutalize the will out of an adult woman. There would be no second guesses or tricks here, now that Bradz had been given such a heartless greeting into her now-worthless life.

“This is all wrong…” Chloe shook her head, chirping up for the first time in so long. She pulled no attention to her, other than a side-glance from Kimberly. None of them had gravitated far from each other, the coldness of a dark new setting binding them to stick close together, despite the relatively wide and open space they had been permitted. Regardless of how much they could roam, there was only so much the bookshelf could offer, even with both sides accessible and open to peer from. One side overlooked an empty path between bookcases, and the other was the event with Melanie, proceeding without interruption. Just as Chloe had said, none of this felt right, but none of them could look away.

But hooked onto the action more than anyone else was Adrian. Even when dryness touched her eyes, she wouldn’t blink, not once looking away from Bradz as she was whipped about, punished, pushed to her limit, all just to squeeze out some personal info. Her fascination was deep, as if nothing else existed around her; she felt that way, up until the pressure of Kimberly’s gaze weighed too much on her, causing her to shake underneath it.

“Adrian…” Kimberly started with only her name, said with the taste of disbelief. Her volume was low, not wanting to attract Melanie’s attention -- she spoke now, when Melanie was dug into the computer. She shook her head, “I told you. I warned you.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed, but she still wouldn’t look away. Melanie had left Bradz at the corner of the table, specifically making mention of how she could brush the woman off and into a fatal fall if she wanted. Rather than listen to Kimberly, she dwelled on that, deciding it a better use of her attention.

Ignored, Kimberly stepped closer to Adrian, standing over the seated observer. Without having received much of a reaction, she pushed harder. “What’s happening to her is your fault,” she coldly stated, pointing down at the writhing professor. “You decided this. Look at what’s happening. This is exactly what was going to happen from the start. This is what Meanie wanted--”

“Leave me alone,” Adrian sighed.

Kimberly scoffed at the attitude. “You’re heartless. All you can think about is yourself, at a time like this.” She shook her head. “I thought you were different from Scarlet! I thought you learned something from Nicky!” She quieted herself, letting too much emotion seep into her tone. “Even if we can grow back to normal, to put that woman through all this…”

“No one will care,” Adrian argued half-heartedly. “She’s… expendable. She--”

Excuse me? Expendable? No, there isn’t anyone alive like that.” Kimberly shook her head again, more outraged than before. She knew where this stemmed. “She didn’t deserve this for what she said, Adrian. She didn’t know any better. What she said was fucked up but it doesn’t warrant sentencing her to death like this.”

“Then she shouldn’t have said anything.”

“That’s all you can say? You’re going to live with that while you’re watching that very woman get tortured?!”

“I needed to choose someone, Kimberly. After what she said, how can you…?” Adrian dismissed it, putting up a palm to stop herself. “What do you even want from me? Does scolding people make you feel better? Did yelling at Scarlet finally get old?”

“I’m trying to talk some sense into you,” Kimberly said. “Trying. You’re making awful decisions, Adrian, and it’s going to get more people hurt, or killed. Three more, specifically, for that ‘cure’ you’re convinced exists.”

Adrian didn’t reply. She had breathed in, expecting to lash back, but it dawned on her that she didn’t need to. She giggled, in fact, a crack in her otherwise silent demeanor. She turned her head back, knees hugged to her chest, and looked up at Kimberly. The two stared at each other, eye to eye, but Kimberly was boiled by Adrian’s expression. It was empty and hollow, yet it verged on wanting to grin, or maybe Kimberly just wanted to see that snarky smile, she wanted to see Adrian brag, brag about the reality that protected her. Ultimately, it really didn’t matter what Kimberly’s morals were or how much she disagreed with Adrian.

“You’ll regret this.” Kimberly huffed and backed away. “I’m sure you already do.” Finished with trying to get through to Adrian, Kimberly walked to the middle of the shelf. She had noticed Scarlet on the opposite ledge, having wandered off while the others were still captivated with Bradz and her suffering. “What are you doing?” she asked accusingly.

“Just… looking,” Scarlet said. She waved aimlessly at the nothing in front of them. There were no escape routes, much to her dismay. It pained her to finally be free from that obnoxious bedroom, but the prison entrapping her had only shifted into this musty, dank library. Worse yet were the chills that plagued her when she looked out, far ahead towards a specific table and a specific chair. Once before, she was meant to clean up this very library, in preparation for a party that never happened. At least, by the looks of things, no party occurred -- the place appeared as abandoned as it did those weeks ago.

“Do you know this place?” Kimberly asked. “This is the library she’s talked about, isn’t it? We’re on the campus right now.”

“So?” Scarlet shook her head. “If you’re expecting me to know a secret exit, well, I wish I had one to tell ya’ about. Even if there was one, it probably wasn’t made with tiny people in mind.”

Defeat had to be admitted. At the very end of Kimberly’s thread of hope, their surroundings dimmed just a little more. Despite the change in scenery, they were still held hostage to Melanie’s whims. “It sort of makes me miss the bedroom.”

“Yeah,” Scarlet groaned, fanning her exposed collarbone, “at least there was air conditioning…”

The idle chatter ended there as the sound of keystrokes occupied the silence. To Bradz’s relief, Melanie was happily scrolling through and experimenting with the college staff database. An array of schedules, students, rooms, projects, and more would load up in front of her, each providing her new ideas. She had fallen quiet during this time, drawn into her exploration, though a threatening hand always hovered nearby, reminding Bradz that she could squash her instantly if she tried to run.

“Adrian, isn’t this great?” Melanie giggled, glued to the screen. She assumed that her obsession could just read over her shoulder from the height she was at. “All these students… and their schedules. Where they live, their email addresses, clubs… We can use this! I-It’ll make the hunt for the last three a lot easier.” She spoke as if discussing platters of food, deliciously waiting to be devoured.

However, Adrian was as lifeless as she had been. She listened, but without being watched, she didn’t act out her feelings at all. “That’s helpful,” she remarked vaguely. In the back of her head, she could feel Kimberly cringe. She still didn’t care; in truth, she couldn’t even think of how to use the database to her advantage, since it was still effectively targeting random people.

Melanie was amused enough for the both of them, and her devilish humor soon pointed to Bradz with a smug sneer. “While I’m here~” she snickered, speaking up to get Bradz’s attention. The professor was lured as planned to stare up at the theater-sized screen where a list of names filled the bright page. It was her morning period class, every student in alphabetical order, the same audience of people that she had just been lecturing not long prior. Bradz’s breathing was unstable, but not any more than it had been, haggard after so much abuse. This ploy was what she had feared, a conclusion she knew was coming, but ultimately it felt worthless to even dwell on that particular problem, an afterthought to everything else.

“Hehe… This is pretty exciting. I feel like a spy.” Melanie’s smile lost much of its cutting edge, tamed to a genuine giddiness about her ability to control so much. “Some of these grades look pretty bad. It’s a miracle anyone is keeping up in your class. Oof,” she laughed, “looks like I wasn’t the only one to forget about that essay. It’s almost as if everyone hates your fucking class, Professor Bradz. I wonder how excited these students would get to see you like this.” Bradz winced, seeing that sharp flicker return to Melanie’s expression. “But for now, how about we correct this little error. We can just say I turned it in, and we can just say it was flawless. What do you think, Bradz?”

The professor swallowed, the taste of Melanie’s saliva insultingly present. She struggled to speak aloud, and as a result, a shadow of a hand blanketed her. She panicked and coughed up a response, “Y-Yes, yes, w-whatever you want! J-Just click on your name a-and you can edit the grade…!”

Melanie hummed delightfully, scrolling past name after name in search of her own. “Sounds simple enough. Ah, there I am--” As the name came into view as a clickable link, from outside the usual boxes that organized her information, she had noticed a marker adjacent to it. A tiny red triangle with an exclamation mark, a graphic seemingly unused for anyone else on the list. It took her by surprise, more so than the abysmal grade she only then realized she had in the class.

The mouse pointed at the link, but hesitated to follow through. Melanie broke away from the computer and glanced at Bradz, still crumpled up at the corner. Her fist coiled in preparation for another threat, but she didn’t hoist it over Bradz this time. “What does this mean?” she asked.

Bradz shivered when talked to. She rose up to her knees slowly, peering up at the screen. She shielded her eyes from the brightness, unsure what Meleanie meant, until her monstrous student grappled her into a wrap of fingers and lifted her directly in front of the mark. Bradz glared at the screen, begging to be let go in a hushed mantra; she tried to read what was in front of her, but she didn’t relay anything.

“What is it?!” Melanie shook her.

“I-I don’t know!” Bradz cried. “I-I’ve never seen it! I don’t know!”

“Tell me!”

I don’t know!” She screeched -- terrified that her life was going to end like this.

Melanie bit her lip and growled. Skeptical that this caution could just be an incidental notification, she had to accept that Bradz genuinely didn’t know better. In need of information before continuing, Melanie boldly clicked on her name, edging along her seat as the next screen loaded in an outdated fashion.

What appeared next was a student profile that tracked all of Melanie’s information. From her schedule to her student ID number, from her address to her campus photo. Information that even Melanie wouldn’t have access to was listed, but at the very top in a yellow banner was a special message, something Melanie was certain was not ordinary. The banner teased her to click on it whereupon a small log of text was revealed:

This student is currently wanted by the local authorities under suspicion of kidnapping and interfering with an investigation. If this student is present in your classes, report to the police immediately, then inform campus security.

Alone with this knowledge, Melanie felt the world’s spinning come to a stop. She moved, but it felt jarring to do so when everything felt still and timeless. She expected to be more shocked, but deep down, this had been a thought plaguing her since she returned to school earlier that day. Everything was clearly written in front of her, so accurate to how she predicted it would turn out that she almost laughed at the dream she was having. But no mere nightmare was this notification, it was as real as the shrunken professor held in hand, squirming between pinched fingers instead of reading what was on screen.

In her distress, Melanie looked to Adrian. The sight of her was pleasant, but hardly relief before the crisis she found herself in. She wanted to explain it to her, but her lips fumbled over every word before she could speak up. The police were actively hunting for her, and foolishly she had wandered into class, having only squeaked past authorities because of her lowered head and shady features. Had Bradz or her assistant been paying attention, or if perhaps this alert had been more noticeable, Melanie wondered if she’d even be sitting there in the library and not in the back of a police car, sweating as she had to explain curses, shrinking magic, kidnappings, a murder--

Her stomach churned, and Bradz was shoved close to her mouth along with both hands. Melanie barely held down an electric shock of vomit, a harsh reality check that she couldn’t dawdle. Even though she didn’t know where to start, she had to get moving, started on defending herself. Bunkering into the library was her best plan, well aware that her apartment was going to be hounded. Yet, precious items had been left behind at her home, things she would need there at Anders Library if she wanted to correctly perform the ritual. Namely, the pages of the spellbook that she had ripped apart during a tantrum, text that she knew would have the details necessary to conduct the ritual to grow Adrian back to normal.

The laptop was closed, allowing darkness to reign in the library again except for where the daylight outside leaked in. Melanie stood, contemplating how to respond. In her anger, she so badly wanted to destroy Bradz, a symbol of the school that troubled her. Like a finished cigarette, she wanted to grind the wailing woman into the bookshelf until she was just a rubbed-out stain of a person, but venting would do nothing but waste her time and make a mess.

That having been thought of, Melanie did come into her first hurdle. She had approached the other shrunken women, expecting to sweep them into hand and hide them into her bag. It would be like normal, but the worst scenario was too real of a risk for her. She imagined it all too easily, one scene after the other; on the street, she’s identified by an officer and pulled aside. All it would take would be one look into the messenger bag to find her collection of cute girls, incriminating her on the spot. There’d be no bounce back from that possibility, no recovering from that one minor misstep.

All five women would be impossible to hide safely, assuming she was stopped. Of course, getting noticed at all would spell disaster, but if she was empty handed at the time, there was a better chance of her skipping away. Managing her whole collection was out of the question, but leaving them all behind sounded nearly as much of a risk. What if they ran away? What if someone found them? What if the police close the library down again?

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?!” Melanie hissed at herself, but her frustration was on total display for the other women. She didn’t care, but they were all getting a peek into the situation Melanie wasn’t describing. Adrian and the others knew enough from the context that something hadn’t gone according to plan, and that inspired only as much hope as it did tasteless uncertainty.

In the span of a few minutes, Melanie had made the arrangements she needed. Her plan was straightforward: run back to the apartment, grab the pages and anything else she would need, and camp it out in the library until further notice. If Adrian could select the next victims soon, then it was likely that the ritual to reverse the curse would have to be done there. It wasn’t how Melanie had envisioned it, but it was the only course she had.

Melanie arranged for her departure in a hurry, deciding not to take much with her on the trip. Within her messenger bag was the spellbook and some minor items, but there was little else she packed. The laptop would eat up most of the space in her bag, so it would be left behind. Likewise, the potion wouldn’t be useful on her rush between locations, what with there being no plans on shrinking anyone along the way. If she was to be stopped, she likely wouldn’t have the chance to use a spray bottle as a weapon. It was safer, and less incriminating, if left at the library.

Then there were the women, her collection. It troubled her the most to leave them, but with time ticking, there wasn’t a chance to regret her decision and change her mind.

“Don’t cause trouble.” Melanie warned the four being left behind with a stern look. She was going to abandon them for the time being, but she felt secure leaving them where they were at. Atop the highest shelf, the women were nearly six feet off the ground. Not only did this make them difficult to see in the gloomy lighting, but it would be perilous to risk an escape. The possibility of scaling down seemed bleak, with the consequence being a sure death if there was any error.

Melanie reached up and scooped Adrian into her hand. She couldn’t afford to wait for her to walk into her palm easily, but having her there immediately restored a shard of inner peace. Still, Melanie found herself hesitating just as she pulled away from the bookcase, looking to the other women she’d be leaving behind. Their confused, pitiful expressions gazed up at her, almost like dogs wishing their master wouldn’t leave them; of course, those weren’t the thoughts they genuinely had, but Melanie’s heart ached as if that were the case. Leaving them behind in the safety of her desk was one matter, but in the openness of the library, anything could happen. She shook her head; defenses were prepared, and she wouldn’t be gone for long.

“I’ll… I’ll be back soon.” Melanie frowned at Adrian, unable to look at the others. “I’ll bring food, so, y-you all can look forward to that.”

A stumbled farewell given, Melanie gave one last look around the library to ensure everything was in place. She stowed Adrian away into the messenger bag, then opened up a window to the outside. One arm clutched her bag as an extra precaution as she climbed out of Anders Library. The window was an unconventional exit, but it was how she was going to have to enter and leave from henceforth. There was a small hop involved to slip between the decorative bushes lining that outer wall, and once out into the yard, one more climb over the black fence was between her and the city. She was going to have to balance moving quickly and inconspicuously; although daylight was thinning, the night was unlikely to be much safer.

Go to the apartment. Grab the things. Go back to the library. She nodded, eyes aimed ahead and never getting distracted. Really quick, really simple…

Another heart was racing, just as rapidly as Melanie’s had been. It thumped like a drum starting from when the window opened and, only five feet away from her, had the mysterious woman she had been trailing hopped into view. From the cloak of shrubbery, Paige watched Melanie exit Anders Library, both hands clapped over her mouth.

She had been watching all that time, observing Melanie, from as far back as when she first left Professor Bradz’s office. The assistant of that very teacher had witnessed something impossible, unlike anything she had seen, and she had abandoned her day just to pursue some answers. The entire time, creeping just a couple corners down from whatever hall or road Melanie was on, Paige recalled the scene that played before her. From the window looking into the office, it was unquestionable that Melanie had, somehow, shrunken the professor to the size of a toy. The thought horrified her, but her curiosity kept her interested, impressed enough that she was willing to camp outside the library and peer within, even if the darkness concealed most of what the student was up to.

An opportunity had finally appeared for Paige, however. She witnessed Melanie exit the library from the window and hop the fence out. Only after she was completely out of sight did Paige rise from the bushes and move discreetly towards the same window, which had been left open just a crack.

The doors aren’t good, for some reason, Paige deducted, fingers slipping under the window and then lifting it up. How prepared is she? Anders Library has been abandoned for a long time. Has she taken it over with no one to watch it?

Paige’s nose was insulted the by the scent as she crept into the dark library, one leg hurled through the window, followed by the rest of her. She fixed her braids and adjusted her glasses before sliding along the lit edges of the library. What few windows weren’t shuttered off offered the best source of light for navigating around the corners, and although the library stretched far from one side to the next, there were only a few key things Paige looked out for. Namely, she was on the hunt for the laptop, an item Melanie was seen without when leaving.

First, Paige had to answer her earlier question. Moving along the walls brought her to the front of the building where a set of double-doors, the main entrance, could be seen with a crack of light between them. A pebble kept them from closing entirely; Paige sensed something was wrong, and was more grateful than ever that she didn’t use the doors.

She eventually spotted the trap, which left her perplexed. Atop the double-doors was a mug, a mundane item likely looted from the staff areas. Propped up the way it was, it was simple to conclude what kind of trap Melanie had made -- A prank, more like it, Paige thought. Indeed, it was nothing more than the kind of ploy a cartoon character would arrange, to have a bucket of water or something else spill on top of an unwitting visitor.

“Weird,” Paige muttered. Despite the dull simplicity of it, something eerie certainly resonated from the contraption. She wouldn’t tamper with it, fearful that she was being outsmarted. She would confirm, however, that it wasn’t just the front doors trapped like this. Every standard exit, she discovered, was the same. Melanie did not want visitors.

It was after passing by the third door, a back exit, that she had noticed the yellow-green blip of an active machine. Paige peered around the corner, still unsure that she was entirely alone, but what she searched for was there in the open. The laptop, closed but slumbering, was by itself on one of the many wooden tables.

As Paige neared it, she had trouble making sense of Melanie even more. “She’s coming back,” she halfheartedly figured out. A finger graced the laptop’s slick shell, but she wouldn’t open it. She could confirm it well enough that this was Professor Bradz’s school-issued laptop.

Her eyes fell from the laptop to the floor. She looked to see if it was plugged in, but what she noticed instead was a bottle left on the ground, stood up just beside a leg to the table. Had she been more careless, it was feasible she could have kicked it over by accident. The item was strikingly out of place; a cleaning chemical, so it seemed, just waiting to be used to wipe up the dirty library.

Paige grinned playfully when she plucked it up by the nozzle. M-Maybe I’ve been wrong, she thought amusedly, and this is just a big misunderstanding about Melanie trying to clean up Anders. Ha…

From the spray bottle to the bookshelf right in front of her, Paige was chained from one point of interest to the next. Unlike the laptop and the chemical, however, what she saw startled her. One of the many loose books still occupying the bookcase was being opened from where it stood, as if moving by itself -- or by a ghost.

Paige gasped from how unsettled she was. She stepped back in a hurry, bumping into the table and nearly collapsing backwards onto the laptop. Out of instinct, she threw up her arm and had the spray bottle aimed forward, a finger shaking over the trigger. She knew she looked ridiculous, even in the tail end of the moment, but without an explanation, she feared the worst. Only earlier, after all, did she see someone shrink to the size of a mouse.

There was no one in front of her, but she heard something, a noise in response to her spray bottle. It was quiet, a tone she had to listen out for, but it had the impact of a shriek. Unnerved even more, but confident there wasn’t a tangible threat, she lowered the spray bottle and carefully approached the bookshelf, where that same book remained open.

“H-Hello…?” Paige stuttered, expecting someone on the other side of the bookcase to respond. Instead, the reply she got sounded nearer than that. Another tone like the one before, a squeak that was hauntingly taking the form of human words. It was a mystery, until she undoubtedly heard a phrase--

I’m right here, Paige!!” Her name had been said, and in an instant, she became aware of the world she was occupying. The tiny voice belonged to an equally tiny person, no one else but Professor Bradz, just as little as Paige witnessed her become. No forethought could have prepared her for her first interaction with a shrunken woman, and so she gasped again, verging on a yell.

“Fuck me!” Paige said, spooked so much that a hand clapped against her drumming chest. Even if it was Bradz, a person she was familiar with, the revelation was bizarre and horrific. So badly did her mind want to accept a different reality, but it was, without a doubt, the very same Professor Bradz she interned under as an assistant. She was three inches tall, calling out her name, and using the cover of a fallen novel to flag her attention.

“Oh, god, she found us! She found us!” Bradz cheered with an energy she had previously been sure had been beaten out of her. She called out to the others, the rest of the victims, who dotted the vacant space of the bookshelf. “Paige, Paige, please! Get us out of here, you have to save us!”

“W-What the…?” Paige was baffled. Her round glasses surveyed the shelf and its tiny occupants, a whole group of women all shrunken to the same size. Along with Bradz were two adults and one that looked like a student. Two of the bunch had their nudity reflected off the huge glasses, but although the sight made Paige blush, modesty was the least of their concerns. Much like Bradz, they were ecstatic to see this giantess. Scarlet hopped up and down right at the edge of the bookshelf, Kimberly was hesitant but pleading nonetheless, and Chloe had collapsed into full-force begging mixed with the terror she felt staring up at such a colossal being. None of this, however, did Paige’s mental state any favors.

“This is absolutely unreal,” Paige commented. Her gaze returned to Bradz, the only one she recognized. “What the hell happened?! I-I saw you… I saw you shrink! I saw--”

“Melanie! It was that bitch, Melanie!” Bradz shouted. Never before had Paige heard such a visceral tone from the professor, but by the sights of her, the anger was appropriate. Bruises littered Bradz’s body and her face was still an agonizing red from being nearly crushed. Her hair and clothes, both of which had been orderly for that day’s classes, were matted from a thick wetness, disgracing her presentation. Paige flinched when noticing her legs, crooked and sprained, to assume the best. “She did this! She did this to us, all of us!”

Paige backed away slowly, spurring Bradz and Chloe both to reach outward in desperation, as if to pull her back in. She would ignore them, delving into her own thoughts and adjusting her glasses. She didn’t doubt them; Melanie was the mastermind of this kidnapping operation, that had to be true, and these were her victims. The question bothering her was the method, the how. And so, her eyes turned to the spray bottle in her hand. For the first time, she analyzed the liquid within, giving the bottle a shake and watching the specks inside swirl.

“W-Was it this that did it?” she asked, raising the bottle.

“Yes! I-It’s a curse!” Scarlet answered her frantically. “Or, something! Some occult bullshit! But whatever the fuck it is, th-that’s how she shrinks people…! That’s how she shrunk us!”

“She just… squirts it?” Without thinking, she had pointed the bottle at the women--

“Yes!!” Kimberly collapsed back, arms raised over her head. The others responded about the same, a convincing reaction for getting Paige to aim away from them. Kimberly peeked over her arms, relieved to not have been shrunken even more, but still on edge all the same. “Yes,” she continued between pants, “that’s how she does it...”

“Okay…” Paige nodded, once again studying the way the liquid shifted. “Interesting. Interesting.”

“Paige… Listen to me.” Bradz had crawled forward a pace, her most adult and professional voice picked out for the occasion a stark contrast to her posture. “Listen to me closely. That student is a beast. A freak. You need to get us out of here, and find the p-police or something, and tell the dean! Warn someone, anyone!”

“Whoa, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” Scarlet interjected. Bradz acted surprised that she’d be questioned, seemingly insulted even. “You just got here and don’t know jack shit about the situation. Lady,” she turned to Paige, “you can’t just send some fucking cops after her. She has this book that she created the curse from or some shit, and that book has a cure for us! If you freak her out, she’s gonna do something wild, like tear the book apart, or burn it!”

“A cure…?” Paige wondered aloud. Not until then had she considered a way to reverse the shrinking.

“Yeah, a fucking cure, and we fucking need it.” Scarlet shivered, her emotions building up. A fraction of her expected Kimberly to be contrary about the cure, but no such argument was had. “J-Just… tell the police that, at least! We need that book!”

“Yeah, we do…” Paige nodded, her mind hard at work drafting up a scheme. Her eyes drifted from the tiny women, a sign that worried them. “Are there… more…?” She pointed at them with her free hand. “I-I haven’t kept up with how many have been, err, kidnapped.”

“This is… almost, almost all of us,” Kimberly explained. Newcomers Chloe and Bradz were curious to hear some elaboration. After a pause to ponder it, Kimberly continued, “There were… two more. She… killed them. A-And then, there’s also Adrian. She’s--”

“That’s Melanie’s fucking favorite,” Scarlet bitterly took over. A glare was given to her by Kimberly, but she shrugged it off. “She adores Adrian, she’s not even one of us. Even right now, Melanie took her with her, sh-she’s like…! I-I don’t know, but she’s not treated like us! So, shit, just forget about her.”

“Sh-She…” Chloe swallowed, hesitant to speak up as if she understood anything, “she didn’t ask for this, though… did she?”

“Forget her!” Scarlet repeated in a snap. “It’s not like she’s in bad hands, ya’ know! Melanie will take care of her, like fucking always.”

“B-But she wanted to be normal! That’s why she chose this person to shrink!”

“What?!” Bradz gasped. “Wh-What does that mean? What did you mean by that?”

“Hah,” Scarlet chuckled, “guess we never mentioned that, but Adrian picked you out special, Professor. She heard you running your mouth off about students pretending to get kidnapped. Karma’s always a bitch.”

Bradz seethed. “Don’t you talk to me like that, young--”

“Fuck off, bitch,” Scarlet grinned, “we’ve all gotten screwed but you actually deserve this! I was minding my own fucking business here, in this goddamn library, when that goth creep came up and shrank me! I wasn’t doing shit to her! At least Adrian had the fucking sense to shrink a real asshole!”

“I’ll kill you! How dare you!”

“Don’t get pissy with me, it was Adrian that decided it.” Scarlet shook her head. “Just sayin’, some of us have priority here for getting out of here, and that list sure as fuck doesn’t have you at the top.”

“Paige!” Bradz called up, her eyes beaming straight at Scarlet. “Get me out of here! Pick me up and leave these freaks here!”

“Don’t listen to her!” Kimberly stepped up quickly, both hands raised to try and disiss both Bradz and Scarlet on either side of her. She looked demandingly up at the giant circular lenses belonging to Paige. “We’ve hit our limit, please, just free us! We’re begging!”

Paige’s reaction was delayed, too gathered up into her own thoughts while the tiny women on the shelf bickered at one another. When she snapped to, the surrealness of seeing these women move about, acting so panicked, had hit her even harder than before. They all truly were desperate, willing to do anything to finally escape whatever hell Melanie had been submitting them to. In her eyes, she saw the essence of perfect luck.

Two fingers hovered over Bradz before pinching her body by the waist between them. The professor was lifted and immediately responded with resistance, but all of her squirming and kicking could do nothing to the massive hand, even less so when it shifted into a fist that contained Bradz and sealed away her cries for help. Paige wasn’t intentionally rough in her handling, this was merely her first time holding a shrunken woman, and the feeling was bewildering. Part of her wanted to laugh, another part wanted to gasp, but she held Bradz firmly and observed her with as much curiosity.

“I think I’ll take just Bradz with me,” Paige said. Her words were a total surprise to the other women, all three of which fell pale at what she said. “And this, too,” she raised the red bottle that slushed the potion about. “There’s something I need to do, and with everything here… just, perfectly in place…”

“Paige!! What are you thinking?!” Bradz worriedly asked, her head only barely poking out from the hand encircling her. “C-Call the cops!”

“You cannot leave us like this…!” Kimberly also yelled, on behalf of all three women being left behind. “We’ll die out here! Melanie will come back--”

“She will! That’s exactly it!” Paige smiled, no longer able to hold back her joy in all this. “None of you have to worry. I’ll come back. I promise, after I’m done with a small… errand, I’ll get you guys to the police. But…” She watched their reactions carefully, how their fears subsided only slightly upon her explanation, but had left them anxious to learn more. Her smile persisted, “I’ll need your help doing something. You help me, I’ll help you.”

Minutes later, Paige was exiting Anders Library through the same window she entered. She made especially certain that the makeshift entrance looked exactly like how she had come across it, leaving no track behind that she had been there while Melanie was away. The sun was descending, dragging with it towards the horizon a gray sheet of clouds. Her window of opportunity wasn’t wide, but she didn’t have far to travel. Much of the campus had already been emptied for the coming evening, but she knew that the person she wanted to see was still lingering on campus.

Paige dug into an inner pocket located within her sweater vest. Within it, she could peer in and see Bradz’s face, as little as it was, staring back up at her. Although the professor’s expression was dark and horrified, her assistant’s was bright and optimistic. “Don’t worry, ma’am,” Paige giggled, then closed her vest to hide the professor away. “We’re visiting the dean right now, just like you wanted.”

Chapter Nineteen by Curse Crazy

The door to Melanie’s bedroom creaked open, the light from the hallway splitting apart the shell of darkness that painted the inside. To greet Juniper as she entered was the lingering of alcohol in the air, a scent that was common through the apartment, but was normally polluted with the smell of smoke. Within Melanie’s room, that smell was accompanied only by the girl’s faint scent, a fading warmth that was getting lost in the cold seclusion.

Nervously, Juniper poked her head through the crack just big enough for her. Shivers ran over her body as the air touched her, but it wasn’t because of the low temperature. Up ahead, supposedly, was the cryptic secret Melanie had been keeping away from everyone. Somewhere, in that messy room, were possibly tiny people -- just like the one she held, impossible as it felt.

“She isn’t here,” Nicky urged, “just go in!”

Juniper rolled her eyes, her expression safely unobserved by the woman she held. “I’m going,” she said. “I don’t know, man, she might have this place trapped or something.”

“Sh-She doesn’t,” Nicky said. “I don’t think so.” No confidence backed her words, but Juniper moved forward anyway. She had already promised to take Nicky this far and would at least see it to the end. She glanced down at her, to confirm just how anxious the tiny woman had to be. It wasn’t a proud look for Nicky, draped inside a pink ankle sock and wearing it like a sack over her body, but it was the best Juniper could find on short notice. For the time being, Nicky certainly looked to be on edge, her fingers tightly clutched along the edge of the sock as the two entered.

Both were seeped in the blackness that the curtained-off windows created, but a flick of the lights revealed every detail of the room. A scene had definitely played out at some point, Juniper had deduced. The smell suddenly made sense when she felt a slight bit of moisture under her bare foot, revealing a red stain; a splash of wine, no doubt. She then looked to the desk, but instead of a collection of imprisoned, shrunken women, what she instead saw was a wrecked anime figure, a person made of plastic left in pieces. Nothing else of the room looked very clean or organized, but it wasn’t particularly clustered or filthy, despite what looked like a fight having broken out at some point.

“We are not getting that deposit back at this rate, Mel,” Juniper grumbled. It was a bit of a joke, and a bit of a real worry. She wished the investigation could have ended there, but Nicky was rocking against her fingers, pushing her to move and concentrate on what really mattered.

Each step ahead felt as though the floorboards could have whined under Juniper’s weight, and each wall could potentially spin around and reveal a hidden chamber. A haunted house had been existing in this corner of the apartment she lived in, and it was time now to swallow her fears. Melanie’s desk was the center of attention, dim with inactivity, but supposedly the place where several women were held hostage. Somewhere, at least.

Juniper leaned over the desk, hesitant to touch anything lest it burst into flames -- if the Illuminati was capable of that, anyway. “Wh-Where am I searching?” she asked, lowering Nicky closer to the desk.

“She usually kept us in the cabinets here,” Nicky answered. She hobbled out of Juniper’s palm, cautious to not trip over the robe-like sock, and onto the desk she dreamed she’d never have to return to. It was eerie to come back again with a new person looming overhead, but even more unsettling was the silence. She remembered having deep slumbers here, in her own prison cell, only for that peace to be bombarded by Melanie’s thirst for entertainment. A quiet night could flash into blood curdling screams without a moment’s notice.

Nicky focused herself and trekked forward, beyond the wreckage of the anime monument and towards the multi-colored cabinets. She did this despite seeing through the transparent walls to find nothing, no one. The women had always been kept in the same cubbies every time they were put away, but the whole lot was empty, without a trace of Kimberly, Scarlet, or even Adrian.

Just to be sure, Juniper opened up a pair of the cabinets and looked inside. The result was the same. “A-Are you sure it’s these cabinets?”

“Yes! Yes I am sure!” Nicky snapped. She breathed, startled by her own whip-like reaction. “S-Sorry, but… seriously, where the hell are they…? Don’t tell me she took them!”

“I don’t know,” Juniper mumbled, trying to help how she could. “M-Maybe she did?”

“Or maybe… she moved them!” Nicky hopped about on the desk, frantically looking for any other hiding places. “Sh-She knew I’d come back! She knew I went missing, s-so it makes sense she’d move them. Maybe in the desk drawer? Or the dresser! Ah, th-the nightstand, or…”

Juniper rolled her shoulders while surveying the room. Nicky’s suggestions of where to look had no limits. Flipping the room upside-down seemed like the best option, but that had its flaws, too. “I… don’t really want Melanie to know I was here, Nicky. She’s gonna come after me next if she finds out.”

“I know, I get it,” Nicky groaned, looking to both sides in search of any hints. “B-But they… they could be here! Somewhere! We can’t leave them, we can’t!”

Juniper took a position in the middle of the room, hands on her hips. While trying to find the missing women, she mentally placed herself into Melanie’s shoes, and regretted it seconds later. A swirling in her stomach made each step feel misplaced and heavy, like she was walking over something, like a giant. Shuddering at the thought, she ended up looking to Nicky again. To her, that actually was the case, that she was standing above a carpeted wasteland as a giantess.

How can Mel live like this? Juniper wondered. She’s usually so shy. How does she enjoy feeling like this? Being looked at, feeling so… big…

Juniper twisted her foot to move, intending to stoop down to the nightstand, but a slippery texture under her foot made her flinch in surprise. Her first instinct was unpleasant; “Oh shit,” she gasped, believing that a loose tiny person had been crushed beneath her.

That hadn’t been the case, providing Juniper a pinch of relief. What was beneath her was almost as mysterious, her curiosity piqued as she raised her foot up. “What’s with all these papers?” she asked Nicky. Using her toe, she pointed at the littered sheets, scattered randomly across the floor around Melanie’s bed. “It looks like a notebook exploded or somethin’.”

“Umm, I don’t know, actually,” Nicky admitted while approaching the corner of the desk. “Can I take a look?”

Juniper turned around and softly collected Nicky into her hands. She knelt close to the ground then, allowing Juniper out to examine the papers, and doing the same herself. They found strange symbols and bizarre sketches, promises of power and cautions of corruption. There were recipes and lists and charts and tables, sometimes mundane but more likely sinister and arcane. Neither girl doubted that these were remnants of that spellbook, ripped out by Melanie sometime ago, but even before that realization, both had a faint itch of something wicked creeping up on them. Silently, they understood that the other had come to the same conclusion.

“Is there anything we can do with these?” Juniper asked, lifting a pair of sheets off the floor. “God, they feel old… This is kinda legit!”

The tiny girl wasn’t enough to convince you? Nicky thought sarcastically. “There could be something helpful in here,” she said, “maybe hints for a cure, or we could learn something about the curse…” She chuckled, knowing herself to be too hopeful. Chances were high that if Melanie decided to throw these pages out, there probably wasn’t anything helpful to find within them.

Juniper shifted into a partial crawl, looming over the papers as much as she did Nicky, who craned her neck back to look up at the massive woman. A few sheets were waded through, but nothing was immediately sticking out. “I’m just afraid of touching her shit, man,” Juniper explained. “The room’s kinda messy, but don’t you think she’ll notice these go missing?”

“Ergh, well... “ Nicky looked down at the paper she stood on, each letter as big as her footprints would be. “N-Nevermind about this. We didn’t come here for the book, we came to find--”

Juniper kicked up, a move that stunned Nicky mid-speech. The giantess was alert, looking back to the door left ajar with the posture of a startled prey animal. Nicky had been too absorbed to notice, but Juniper heard it distinctly, the clicking of a lock being fiddled with. The front door was being opened, and it couldn’t have been anyone else but the person Juniper feared would arrive to ruin things.

In that next moment, Nicky had understood what was happening, but while she was going through that same state of shock, Juniper was responding. Nicky flinched and fell backwards in the sock as the papers covering the ground were being moved, collected into one spot. Juniper was frantically gathering every paper she could find and bundling them into one uneven stack of a dozen or so yellowed sheets.

“W-What are you gonna do with those?! What are you doing?!” Nicky squeaked. “Sh-She’ll see you, j-just leave them!”

Juniper refused, because she had a terrible plan -- terrible by her own admission. Her options for smuggling the papers out were limited, it would be obnoxiously obvious to Melanie what was happening if she strolled out with the spellbook’s pages out in the open. Yet, Juniper’s reflexes were on point, speeding her into making a decision.

Nicky stood up and watched, embarrassed and perplexed, as Juniper pulled open the back of her pajama pants. The stack she held was then folded in half and shoved back behind her into the makeshift pocket. From Nicky’s angle, the scene looked ridiculous, it would have made her laugh had there not been so much to stress over. But any humor Nicky saw in this method was instantly lost when Juniper glanced to her, then the back of her pants, then back to Nicky, and back again.

Nicky stepped back, hiding meekly behind the ankle sock. Juniper’s lips morphed into an apology, but Nicky shook her head. “No. Nope. No--”

The door was unlocked, and immediately Melanie fell through the door, balanced only enough to shut it back closed right away. The refreshing touch of the cool air conditioner was greatly appreciated by her sweat-soaked skin. She was panting, having rushed all the way from Anders Library to her apartment -- no time to wait for a bus. Even now, she felt pressed on time, her security hardly improved just because she had made it to her home.

Melanie stepped into the living room, looking down at her messenger bag. The desire to pull out Adrian for emotional support was intense, her emotions flaring up with seemingly no end without her obsession right there to quell her anxieties. Perhaps I can squeeze in a little peek, she thought to herself, twitching to want to open her bag. I just want to see her… For just a second...

Melanie looked up and jumped back in surprise. She hadn’t been looking, and thus didn’t notice her roommate directly ahead of her, standing at the hallway leading to her bedroom. Her hand abandoned the prospect of opening the bag, instead gripping the strap over her shoulder, close to her racing heart. “J-Juniper,” she coughed.

“Oh, hey, Melanie,” Juniper said. She inhaled a steep breath. “Uh. You’re home early.”

“A-A little bit, y-yeah,” Melanie replied. A weak finger pointed to the hallway, more precisely in the direction of her room. “Uh, w-what were you…?”

Juniper laughed part way through Melanie’s question, a part of why Melanie trailed off. “Heh, I-I had to use your bathroom,” she lied. Her thumb pointed back to it, the door just up ahead of Melanie’s. “Mine isn’t flushing right.”

“Ah, th-that sucks,” Melanie swallowed, her eyes tracking Juniper up and down.

“I’d maybe steer clear of it for a minute,” Juniper joked, idly sliding into the living room with her back turned away. “I took a huge shit, dude, I won’t deny it.”

Nicky winced under those words, for her predicament was insulted by Juniper’s rambled lie. Just like the spellbook remains, Nicky, too, had only way option for being escorted out. Against her wishes, she had been lifted up, sock and all, and deposited into the seat of Juniper’s pants. The position was tight, as Juniper’s ass left little room for a shrunken person, let alone her plus the papers she was stealing. As such, Nicky was cramped, embedded into the soft fat of Juniper’s panty-clad ass with the harrowing feeling of a one-hundred foot drop vaguely below her. For now, however, this ridiculing situation was her sanctuary; Juniper’s butt was her savior, and in a sense, for the second time that day.

Juniper, however, still had to sneak Nicky back to her room. The longer she stood there in front of Melanie, the more likely it was that she would be suspected of something. Fortunately, there wasn’t much more of a discussion to be had, despite both women appearing on edge to the other. Juniper used this awkward encounter to her advantage, and quietly kept strolling to her room, making sure that her rear-end wasn’t easily viewed while she did so.

“A-Actually,” Melanie rose her voice, just as Juniper got close to leaving, “I’m glad I could b-bump into you. Uhh, I had a… Th-There’s a favor I wanted to ask…”

Juniper remained cool. “Um, shoot? What’s up?”

“It’s…” Melanie bit her lip. There was so much she felt she would have to explain, and in her rush to get in and out, she hadn’t decided how to word things to Juniper. She cracked a grin, “I-It’s a little complex, but, I’m… I’m going out of the house. I might be gone for awhile. So, you won’t see me…”

“Yeah?” Juniper nodded, curious as to where this was going. “So, what’s this favor you need?”

“I just… C-Can you tell people, err, a-anyone that asks, that is, that if they ask where I am… tell them I’ve been gone, a-and that you haven’t heard from me since, like, last night? C-Could you?”

Juniper played with her hair while she listened, feeling nervous about these implications. She didn’t have an honest answer for her, especially after what she had learned, but she worked up a response, a shake of her head that turned into a nod, “No, yeah, I can do that. I’ll just say you headed out without a word. I mean, if anyone… asks.”

Melanie studied Juniper. There was a tiny bit of relief to having her agree, but she sensed something peculiar about Juniper’s confidence. She worried about what her roommate must be thinking, having to ask of this not even a full day after a detective came searching for her. Surely, Melanie thought, that Juniper would be more suspicious than this.

Yet, the lack of questions was a pleasure, and Melanie knew Juniper well enough that she didn’t play nicely with the police. Although the two had no deep relationship, there was certainly some strong trust when it came to each others’ privacy. “Thank you, Juniper,” Melanie said. She turned down the corner, continuing off in a hurry, and leaving Juniper to do much the same.

Melanie opened the door and leaned into it closed. She flicked on the lights, not knowing they had just been flicked off seconds ago, and marveled at the mess once again. There was barely any time for her to afford being here, much less time to consider cleaning. She pulled back her chair and gently placed her messenger back onto the seat. Afterwards, she surveyed her desk for anything she required. She wasn’t sure how long she would be on the run, but it was best now to claim anything she could. After this, she predicted it would be unlikely that she could casually show up again to her own apartment.

A few stray items made their way into the side pockets of the bag, with a few having to be placed carefully into the main section. When peeking in, she allowed herself a glimpse of Adrian, to inspire motivation, but what she saw instead discouraged her and slowed her pace. Adrian was unreactive, stationary in her corner, one leg brought to her chest while the other stretched out. She ignored everything, unaffected by the items being stashed within, not even blinking in response to the light making it inside her chamber.

“Adrian…?” Melanie spoke softly, not just for Adrian’s comfort but to ensure she wasn’t being overheard. “A-Are you awake? You’re not sick, are you?”

There was no reply, not even a glance in her direction. Adrian was stoic, so controlled that even her breathing was difficult to notice.

Melanie closed her eyes, waiting just one extra second for an answer, then went right back to packing. A few more small items were stowed away before she took to looking for the most important item, the very thing she came back to grab. If she didn’t have the missing pieces to the spellbook, she would be caught without a cure to provide Adrian. All this running around would be just short of a waste, a risk for something she couldn’t uphold.

One critical look at the bedroom floor, however, was proof that such could very well be the case. “Where are…?” She bit her fingers, hoping she had been mistaken. The last time she was here, the pages were scattered about on the floor -- so she had thought, anyway, but she was apparently wrong. The floor, aside from some dirty laundry, was clean. Not a shred of parchment caught her eye, as if the papers had just vanished.

“Did I put them away…?” she wondered aloud, growing more anxious. She dropped to her knees and sorted through her dresser, but nothing. She checked the nightstand and even behind it, but nothing. When checking these locations, she realized that she hadn’t been wrong. Before now, those torn-out pages had been there on the floor, stepped on and kicked away but never completely moved.

There was no space for other emotions. Melanie was desperate, and so her anger, her fear, everything fell to the back of her mind. I need those papers, she told herself. There’s literally no other way. I need those papers!

“Ah, fucking god,” Melanie complained. They weren’t popping up, no matter how much she hoped they would each time she glanced somewhere. “Just one,” she muttered, “at least just one…”

With a heavy sigh, she decided on one last look around the bed, crouching down onto the floor and looking underneath it. The light of her phone pushed away the darkness, revealing clusters of clothes, an empty soda bottle, a hair tie, and one sheet of yellowed paper. No hesitation, she lunged out and nabbed the sheet that had been pushed aside after all this time.

In her fingers was a page right out of the spellbook, creased aimlessly along its face and one side riddled with jagged tears, but completely legible. That’s all that mattered, even if it was just a single paper of the set she needed, it would at least be something to take back. Her eyes lit up just as luck itself did; “This is about the cure!”

Frantically, her eyes scanned the page in pursuit of a revived hope, but instead welcoming her was a newer understanding of her despair. She hadn’t been wrong, the page had indeed detailed some aspects of making a cure to her shrinking curse, but it was unhelpful information. It listed measurements for the chemicals she would need to balance, but just as she had assumed, all the proportions were the same as when making the curse. Worse yet was the only bit of information that was new to her, vital for making the cure. At the end of the page, it explained the final ingredient, a chant to conclude the ritual and to finalize the cure. Just the same as the potion required repeating a mantra, so too did the cure need Melanie to sing its tune, the lyrics of which she could easily read directly from the next page.

That next page, however, didn’t exist. That was the end of what remnants she could find of the spellbook. The paper slid from her loose fingers and swirled to the floor, unnecessary to have now. What little it had to say had made an impression on Melanie she was bound to have memorized, a fact she was aware of as she looked to the messenger bag in defeat.

A singular, uncomfortable thought dwelled harsh on her mind. She would sooner close her eyes and keep forward on the bag containing Adrian than she would turn an angered gaze out the door, in the direction of her roommate. It pained her to know, that without a doubt, without any excuse, her privacy had been violated. She had been stolen from, and she knew it had to be Juniper. Maybe Nicky did this, she argued, remembering that one of her victims was on the loose. She hoped that, perhaps, it was Nicky that gathered up the papers and hid them somewhere, as an act of retaliation.

No, she thought, it was Juniper.

Melanie stared forward at a blank space on her wall. Those papers were vital to all of her plans. Her rage from so long ago had been an error, a spontaneous mistake, but she had never imagined that it would curse her like this. Where was that rage now? She asked herself that, wanting to feel the adrenaline of madness take over like she was used to -- as a goddess. She daydreamed of destroying Juniper for betraying her, punishments including broken limbs, cruel tests of endurance, mental torture, anything she could think of, all while walking away with the spellbook’s pages in their rightful possession.

The bedroom door opened, and Melanie was hot on her feet in exiting. Behind her was the dimmed room, leaving behind everything shut down and inactive. She adjusted her messenger bag, made one last dash into the kitchen to add some simple food items to her inventory, and then was out of the apartment in that next moment with the slam of a door.

At her leave, Juniper peeked outside of her bedroom and into the vacant space. All things looked clear, yet she wouldn’t step outside right away to confirm. She instead scuttled back inside, locking her door and quietly returning to her bed. It wasn’t worth the risk; poking her head could leave her open to a surprise shrink attack, and she would sooner bunker into her bedroom for the rest of the day than succumb to that.

A sigh of relief came first before she remembered that in the bag of her pants were papers of a spellbook, and also a shrunken person. She was neither proud nor disgraced to unpack, reaching behind her to pull out the stack of papers, and along with them, Nicky, desperately clinging onto a corner while she was lifted out. Juniper gently set them onto her mattress, to which Nicky was grateful for.

“A-Are we safe?” Nicky immediately asked, shuddering where she sat.

“I think so,” Juniper replied, snooping out the blinds of her window. “She’s gone. Thank god.”

“Thank fucking god,” Nicky groaned, halfway slid out of Juniper’s sock. “What the fuck was that?! Wh-What were you thinking?!”

“Huh?” Juniper was surprised to hear such a sour squeak. “About what? Shit, I thought you’d be happy.”

“Y-You… You put me in your pants! The butt of your pants!” Nicky threw her arm out, pointing towards Juniper’s ass. “That’s how you decided to sneak me out?!”

“Ha! Consider it a stoner’s reflex,” Juniper joked, making light of Nicky’s peril. “I’ve had to hide all sorts of things at the last minute like that. My bad.”

Nicky hated that she understood that. “I think I’ve had enough face-full-of-ass today.”

“At least I didn’t sit on you this time.” Juniper turned, stroking one buttcheek as it was above Nicky. It wasn’t on show for long before it fell onto the bed a fair distance from Nicky, enough of a collapse to pop the small woman into the air with a bounce. “Alright,” Juniper began, “is there anything these papers can do for you? I grabbed ‘em, but it all looked like a science project to me.”

Nicky looked over the one sheet she could, but the magnitude of every word was too much to comprehend, not without making it a whole task. “I never liked reading,” she groaned, walking along a stretch of a sentence like each letter was a floor tile. “I dunno, man. I’m too small for this.”

Juniper leaned back; it slowly dawned on her how her movements were making waves for Nicky. “Melanie said she’d be gone for awhile,” she explained, “so if any of those other women were in that room, she probably took them away. It kinda sounds like she’s not planning on coming back. So… what do we do now?”

Nicky shook her head, one hand swiping at her brow while the other kept the hem of the sock up at her chest. “I don’t know.”

Juniper nodded, looking aimlessly around the room for a silent few seconds. “Do you wanna try smoking?”

“Yes,” Nicky said, “yes please.”


Although many faces passed her by both outside and within the faculty building, not one bat an eye at Paige, with her concentrated march and her red-filled spray bottle. She was a well-regarded teacher assistant, a senior with great potential and the drive to make the most on that. Among teachers, she fit right in, not once looking out of place; if anything, her serious demeanor implied it was them getting in her way. Nothing looked suspicious as she rode the elevator up to the top floor where quiet and clean halls of cool gray phased out everyone but her, and her companion.

Paige walked alongside a long window of a wall, a divide between two halves of the floor. Beyond one of several glass doors was a restricted area, limited only to exclusive staff. It was fortunate for Paige that there were few security cameras throughout the building, with security relying heavily on authorizations and special passes to track occupants. Although teacher assistants were not among those exclusive, she wouldn’t need a proper ID badge to gain access. The key she would use was unpocketed, revealing Professor Bradz out into the lonesome open.

“Where are we?!” Bradz demanded to know, blinding by the light and disoriented by being jerked so suddenly.

“Exactly where I said we’d be,” Paige said, hinting at her dwindling patience. She was willing to wait for Bradz to comprehend her immediate surroundings, but she was urged to hurry. She shook Bradz lightly and aimed her at a keypad adjacent to the door handle. “Does this look familiar?” she asked bitterly. “Tell me the passcode.”

Bradz squinted at the keypad, but she wanted to know where she was, to know what she was aiding in. She looked up the glossy surface of the door, looking for a sign. Printed on the glass itself were the words, Dean’s Quarters. “Y-You’re… really going through with this,” Bradz remarked. Her vision on the label faded, and in its place was Paige’s reflection, staring down at her threateningly.

“That doesn’t sound like a passcode you muttered,” Paige warned. She squeezed Bradz, feeling the women squirm in her tight grip. “Punch it in. Now.”

Submission came quick, and Bradz reached out to the large, numbered buttons. Each press required a firm push, but she put in her personal code as quickly as her depleted stamina would allow her. As she did, she announced each number for Paige’s convenience, “3… 3… 7…”

“Neat,” Paige chuckled, delighted by the flash of green on the indicator. An audible click further confirmed that she was allowed entrance, under the guise of Professor Bradz, and so she continued inside. The path immediately branched into three hallways, but despite never coming here before, the maze ahead of her was navigated effortlessly. She didn’t need any signs or directions, she simply knew where her objective awaited.

“Why are you doing this?!” Bradz yelled. The guilt was tearing at her, driving her more to try and break free out of the impossibly powerful hand as it swayed with Paige’s gait. “What has gotten into you, Paige?! Th-This is the dean of students! Why--”

“Something is broken, so I’m fixing it,” Paige interrupted with a strong answer. Her confidence shut Bradz up instantly. “I finally have the opportunity I wanted, to clean up this college, from the top-down. It all starts with one little change.” Her smile didn’t gleam with wickedness, even as she eyed the sloshing liquid of the spray bottle. Bradz studied her, searching for some hidden answers in her expression, but she found nothing but a force that she certainly couldn’t stop.

Paige’s march had taken her to a corner of the building, an isolated section devoted to no one else but the dean of students. It wasn’t just the location that she had planned, but the timing as well. At the tail end of the day, as pink and purple hues touched the far horizon out the long windows, Paige knew that Dean Coatler would be in her office, escaped into loneliness. Her smile aimed at Bradz once, just before dropping her back into her inner pocket.

The door into the luxurious office was opened without a beat of hesitation. Paige walked right in, turning a small corner and spotting her prey, perched at her desk but turned the opposite way. The older woman was observing the outside, enjoying the approach of twilight in a tall, leather seat, as if the prizes decorating her office -- awards and photographs mixed with fine arts, statues and paintings, cultural heirlooms -- were too boring for her to look at. As such, Coatler had to turn when she heard her door open so abruptly, partially revealing a glass of champagne in one hand.

“Pardon?” Coatler inquired, releasing the sensitive glass onto a ledge hidden behind her desk, just next to the champagne bottle itself. She did this only when realizing who her visitor was, someone she welcomed with a cold, dismissive expression. “Hm. Aren’t you Bradz’s assistant?” she asked, assuming then that’s how a student could have made it here. “Tell her I’m already out the door--”

“It isn’t about her,” Paige said, keeping her approach constant and steady. She lifted the spray bottle into both hands, cradling it while she showed the dean. “I found this item laying out by the quads. Could you look at it?”

Coatler closed her eyes and began twisting her chair back. “It looks like something from the janitors,” she said, “just give it to one of them. I’m busy--”

“Could you please take a look, ma’am?” Paige pressed, reaching the opposite side of the long desk.

Coatler sighed as she turned back around, her eyes freshly rolled as she leaned in closer. As she did, Paige’s fingers twitched. She saw how everything was perfectly in place. She thought back to Melanie and her confrontation with Bradz, and she felt in sync with her in that past. She stood where she did, looking down onto an older woman of authority, knowing well how their dynamic was going to drastically change with one squeeze of her finger. Just like Bradz, Coatler was none the wiser. Paige’s expression had become drained, focused entirely on mimicking Melanie from that memory.

Paige adjusted the bottle, just as Coatler’s face was close, and with it aimed, she fired. A splash of wine sprayed from the nozzle and over Coatler’s face. The dean raised her hands in a last second defense, guarding most of the liquid from hitting her, but missing key splatters that would pass through her fingers and onto her hair and eyes.

Coatler swung aimlessly, part-blinded by the attack. An attempt to grab or smack the bottle away failed, and so she kicked back in her chair and knocked hard into the window behind her. “You little shit,” she spat in a low tone. “Is this a game?!”

The dean had risen to her feet in a jump. She was on the offensive, limited only by her disorientation, but Paige was much nimbler. She moved to meet Coatler right at her chair, where she assaulted the woman with both hands, dropping the bottle onto the carpet below without a care. She wouldn’t let a variable like Coatler’s panic disrupt her plan, and so, she had to restrict her -- two hands wrapped over her neck and squeezing tightly, like wringing out a wet cloth.

“Shhh, shhh,” Paige forcefully whispered, trying to counteract Coatler’s desperate gagging. Her head dodged left and right, avoiding wild blows that the dean threw. Coatler was older, bigger, and had more to fight for, but her energy was on the decline. She grew furious at how easily she was becoming overpowered, and even shouts for help were cut off by Paige’s strangle.

Before long, there wasn’t a fight to speak of. Coatler’s face was a bleak purple, her movements belittled to twitches, spasms, little motions that begged for mercy. Paige was merciful, loosening her grip strategically so that she wouldn’t kill the dean like this. Besides that, she noted, there was no reason to keep her pinned so hard. Coatler was shrinking, succumbing to a faintness that made her even weaker, and the transformation enthralled Paige. The sensation of her victim becoming smaller in her grip tickled her, and she never let go of her entirely, ensuring the dean would inevitably shrink right into her hands.

“You have ruined this school,” Paige whispered slowly into her palms. She held Coatler completely, observing the slow, dizzy movements she made while laid out on her back. Every breath was a cough or a groan, but poking her made it worse, so Paige made sure to pester her.

“Ch-Change me…!” Coatler begged, recoiling away from an intrusive finger, despite knowing there was no escape. “M-Make me normal…! I’ll… pay anything…--”

“Of course!” Paige laughed. “So predictable! Of course you’d try to bribe your way out of this, just like everything else. And that’s,” she giggled, “just one of your problems, Miss Coatler, that we’re going to address.

“But today’s lesson is going to be about alcoholism,” she continued, eyeing the beverage that had been set aside. “A pool of champagne to swim in sounds like something you’d waste budget on. How about a dip?”

“No, n-no, please P-Paige--” Coalter tried to speak to Paige, but it was useless. She was already being carried to the tall glass she had been drinking from, a glass that was now several times her height and flooded with her favorite after-hours spirit. The dreamy description would be lived as horror and shock -- she gasped, a painful inhale as she was dropped into the pit of alcohol with no remorse.

Coatler rose to the surface. She could stand above the champagne, if she had the energy and balance for that. Instead, her weary self was at the mercy of the glass’s bobbing, smacked by waves of champagne as Paige lifted the glass and gave it a swirl. Coatler begged for her to cease, crying out for her but ultimately drowned out as she spun around in a vortex.

When the swirling ended, no peace followed. A beat of silence separated that from the glass being tilted forward, and thus threatening to drag Coatler with it. She looked up, and to her dismay and disgust, a gigantic pair of lips was waiting for her at the glass’s rim. As she shivered in suspense, a thick tongue teasingly left behind a gloss of saliva to announce the opening of her mouth.

Those lips sparked into an innocent smile before breaking open wide into a craving fissure. The glass tipped forward again, and Coatler screamed, resisting gravity with a reservoir of might. She paddled, she stroked, but no power in her swimming was enough to truly stop herself from being washed into that monstrous mouth, just as no words of reason were seemingly reaching Paige.

The sparkling liquid fizzed as it seeped over the bottom lip and ran like a river into the mouth. It was such a natural sound, Coatler noted, over top the groaning of an open maw, the clicking of saliva and the calling of a bottomless throat. “Paige!! No!!” Coatler yelled, her legs sucked past the precipice of the glass--

--and she flushed forward, the tilt of the glass reversing and tossing Coatler about. She threw herself back past the surface, coughing up mouthfuls of sour flavor. She had been spared, further indicated by the belittling giggle hummed overhead.

“You were really scared,” Paige said. “Don’t worry so much. I don’t have the stomach for something spoiled like you.” Two connected fingers pointed directly down at Coatler. “Take a deep breath,” was her only warning before forcing those fingers down onto the dean, forcing her to sink to the bottom.

Coatler panicked appropriately, swinging her limbs wildly in attempts to fidget out from the fingers’ push. She jerked hard to her left and right, all of her might used to push up against the crippling weight on her back, but nothing was working. She opened her mouth, a gurgle that was desperate enough to give anything for some air. And yet, seconds passed dreadfully with no relief in sight, even as her spasms became twitches and all fight had been pressed out of her.

The fingers shifted off of Coatler’s back. They pinched at her sides and lifted her, removing from the champagne a motionless, sopping wet thing. Coatler hardly looked the part of a college dean, observed by Paige more as an insect, a well-dressed vermin that fell into a pristine beverage. The image tickled Paige while she cherished it to memory.

Paige peered closely at the fragile figure, her round-rimmed glasses reflecting a faint picture for the exhausted woman to see herself in. There was life in her eyes, a flicker, and Paige fanned the flames with a hard blow of air. The wind crashed into Coatler’s tiny body, turning the wetness into a stinging frost that made her shiver and coil up for warmth. It was proof to Paige that she hadn’t killed her, as intended.

Entertained more than enough, Paige refocused herself onto her objective. Her grin persisted as she inserted a flash drive into Coatler’s computer, seemingly enjoying all aspects of her stunt while dropping her weight into the dean’s chair. She kept Coatler pinched as she were, raising her above her head to study her and her miserable, purple-faced expression. There was a temptation to drop her onto the floor, to see if she would splatter against the tile, but she instead dropped her into her vest pocket, sealing her away alongside Bradz.

Satisfaction had time to settle in as Paige waited for her flash drive to do her work. All the while, she could feel the two women in her pocket wrestling. The occasional pat against her breast would settle them down, like keeping two pets tamed. She looked to the source, that potion she had stolen from the library and had since been dropped to the floor, and admired its quiet presence. With it in hand, she would be unstoppable, capable of much more than merely rescuing a college from corruption. The potential seemed endless, and with only one last obstacle in her path from drawing that power out.

Reminded of that errand, she brought her attention back to the computer, eager to see it complete. The monitor’s bright image crashed into a black screen of white code, signalling her success. Paige withdrew the flash drive, grabbed the potion, and quickly cleaned after herself to leave behind no tracks. Minutes later, she would be passing through the front doors of the faculty building as casually as she had entered, no one but her knowing of the two women kidnapped in her pocket.

Chapter Twenty by Curse Crazy

Melanie’s footfalls were twice as heavy on the return trip than they had been going towards her apartment. A rage flared in her center as she traced her steps, headed back to Anders Library with the burden of defeat being pulled by her heels. Her twilight-lit surroundings passed in a blur as she hurried through town, her thoughts a nebulous mess of swelling emotions, barely concentrated enough to keep her on the sidewalk.

She huffed, tugging at her messenger bag to adjust how it draped over her shoulder. “Juniper,” she growled under that breath. She rolled her eyes, needing these little ways to vent. I’ll fucking kill her, she told herself, who does she think is?! Who does she think she’s meddling with…?! She has no idea what she’s doing. She’s preventing Adrian from…

Like lightning, Melanie’s body was struck with an obnoxious pain. She strayed out of the middle of the sidewalk, rolling her back against the wall of a business. That reality was still setting in, the magnitude of her failure. By allowing Juniper to have stolen those pages from her, the spellbook was now incomplete, and so the cure was out of reach. Adrian, and the others as well, would remain in their shrunken states indefinitely.

I need her, she thought, I need motivation… Or else I’m going to end up throwing myself in front of a car. She glanced at the road, just as a truck sped by. It was an escape from all this that she was considering, at least in passing, while slinking into an alley. As long as she had Adrian, however, that wouldn’t be an option.

Cast into a shadowy sanctuary, Melanie felt free to open her messenger bag and peer within. Adrian was there, huddled into that same corner, practically untouched from before. Melanie couldn’t resist this time, and she reached in to retrieve her, gently entangling the woman into her fingers. Even when grabbed, Adrian hardly moved, unphased by the hand that held her or that familiar face beaming down at her with a growing smile.

“H-Hi, Adrian,” Melanie greeted, but Adrian was unamused. The shrunken student looked to her sides, quickly understanding that they were not at Anders Library, or even that close to it. In fact, the area felt eerily familiar to her, a shiver of the near-past jogging her memory.

“Why are we here…?” Adrian asked.

“I… needed to look at you,” Melanie answered, smile persisting. She felt guilty to be there now, but she had already come to a halt. “Th-That’s all. I’m out of breath, so I thought holding you--”

“So you brought us here?” Adrian glared, gesturing to the alley. “This is where you shrank me, wasn’t it? Behind the convenience store, when I was walking you home.”

Melanie blinked, then looked again at her surroundings. It was only when Adrian mentioned it that it felt obvious. Indeed, this was that same destined location, now serving as her hideaway in the midst of running from authorities. Memories came dashing back to Melanie, recollecting that wonderful night where she confessed her feelings to Adrian. They were happy memories, but a dark fog encroached its edges. It became bitter and corrupted, much the way Adrian perceived things.

“I-I s-suppose it is,” Melanie said. “Err, I didn’t pick this area i-intentionally. I just… happened to come across it.”

Despite how genuine Melanie sounded, Adrian was split on believing her. She wouldn’t put it past her to bring her back to such a traumatic place with some twisted, evil goal in mind. “Yeah. This isn’t the library,” she scoffed. “Do we need to be stopped?”

Melanie closed her eyes. “It’s… just for a moment.”

Adrian lifted her head. She sensed something disearnest in Melanie’s tone. “Why?” she asked again. “We have everything we need, and the police are hunting for you. Shouldn’t we get back as soon as possible?”

“W-We will,” Melanie stuttered, “I’ll hurry up, j-just give me a second…”

“I can’t wait for seconds, Melanie!” Adrian groaned. “What are you waiting for?! If I have to put up with this, the least you could do in return is hurry up on curing me, damn it!”

Melanie winced. Biting her lip did nothing to hide her fear from Adrian, who looked onward more inquisitively. The pressure became too much, and nervous breaths hatched into the truth; “I couldn’t find the pages. There’s no cure.”

“... The pages?” Adrian pushed the realization back, delaying how it would impact her, knowingly avoiding the emptiness that wanted to swallow her. “W-What exactly is missing? There has to be a way to do it without the fucking book.”

“It’s… a chant. Like the one I repeat when I’m casting the ritual.” Melanie glanced at her messenger bag, where the incomplete spellbook was stowed, somehow heavier than usual. “The book has it written, b-but the pages with it are gone.”

“What do you mean gone?!” Adrian spat. “They just disappeared?!”

“I-I think it was Juniper. I think she took them.”

“Your roommate?!” Adrian shook. “Well?! Go get them! Get those pages back, we-- we need them, Melanie!”

“B-But… Sh-She’s got them,” Melanie tried to explain. “I don’t know where exactly, but she’s probably hiding them. I wouldn’t--”

“Just take them! Shrink her o-or what the fuck ever, then tell her to give them to you! If that chant is really necessary, then you have to go back and get it!”

“I-I can’t! I… I don’t have the potion with me…!” Melanie whined. “I wouldn’t be able to--”

“Do it without the fucking potion!” Adrian shouted. “Melanie! Come on! This is too important to let slip by! I-I’ll be trapped like this forever if you don’t go back and do whatever it takes to grab those pages!” Adrian waited, then shivered by Melanie’s lack of action. “Go! Go already! It’s just one woman, and she stole your things!”

“Go back and d-do what? Fight her?”

“Yes!” Adrian urged. “If that’s what it takes, yes!” Guilt pinched her sides, but not much else. “She’s in the way! She doesn’t understand what she’s doing! You can’t let your fucking roommate be what stops me and everyone else from returning to normal! Be real, Melanie!”

“I-I… I could never…!” Melanie swallowed. “I’ve never gotten into a fight…! And Juniper, she’s taller than me, so--”

“No,” Adrian said, dread overtaking her volume. “No… This isn’t you.”

“W-What…?”

“That’s not what Melanie… would do. This isn’t you.”

“I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“Just earlier today…” Adrian winced, a flash of a horrid memory. “Hours ago…! You took a woman… and nearly snapped her spine! You made me choose a person for you to torture, but now…! Now you’re unwilling to go fight someone? Someone that’s standing directly between me and what I want…?”

Melanie’s mouth slowly opened, forming an excuse word by word. “I don’t have the potion! I wouldn’t be able!”

You’re pathetic! The weakest thing on this planet!” Adrian screamed. “I hate you! You’ve ruined everything -- you’ve caused everything! There isn’t a single thing you can do right!”

“A-Adri--”

“Without that potion, you’re fucking nothing! You’re not clever, you’re not strong! All this time… All this time, I’ve been tortured by the world’s weakest girl! A piece of shit, that can’t do anything unless she’s given infinite, magical power -- and she’ll still find a way to fuck it up! You end up with a detective following you, you let Nicky escape somewhere, and you let your roommate steal the cure that you promised me! The cure that I had to sacrifice someone for…!”

Adrian wailed, then scrambled to the ends of Melanie’s fingers. On the verge of hyperventilating and with tears bursting from her eyes, she leaped out from Melanie’s grasp. The plummet below, terrifying as it were, was exactly what Adrian wished to embrace.

Melanie, initially baffled by Adrian’s jolt of a movement, was able to catch her with her other hand. Adrian smacked into the palm, but was already on the way back up to her feet. “W-What’s gotten into you?!” Melanie gasped.

“I’m done,” Adrian replied hauntingly. “I won’t let you… I won’t let you keep me like this…!” Immediately, she was dashing forward again, tripping over herself in such a rush to fling her body over the edge. Again, she managed a split second of air time, before Melanie grabbed her and restricted her into a coiled fist. “Bitch! Let go of me!”

“I-I won’t let you…!” Melanie affirmed. She was startled, scared even, of how strong Adrian’s desperation manifested. Although Melanie could hold her in one fist, Adrian was proving difficult to manage, putting forth all her might to force an opening to squeeze from. “Please, I’m begging, Adrian! D-Don’t--”

Let me die…!” Adrian howled, heartbroken over Melanie’s refusal. “I can’t do this…! I should have done this ages ago…!” She grunted, another hard attempt at breaking loose. When this failed, she resorted to thrashing her arms about, whipping them into the bone of Melanie’s digits. “This is what I want!”

“No… I need you, Adrian, I need you!” Melanie pleaded. She shook her head, “I won’t… I-I won’t let you! You’re everything to me--”

Exactly! I’ll take it all away from you!” Adrian spat -- inch at a time, she was squirming through Melanie’s grasp. “There’s no cure… There’s nothing for me! If I have to have nothing, so will you! I’ll make damn sure of it…!”

Melanie shivered, readjusting her grip. She didn’t want to hurt Adrian with her grasp, a tightrope balancing act of maintaining a firm enough hold on someone struggling to escape. “Adrian, l-listen to me, we-- I can fix this! J-Just-- I need you--”

Red and blue lights silently flashed over Melanie, bouncing off the walls that surrounded her. Her heart jumped from her chest, then dove back into her ribs with a depressing descent. A police car had arrived during their argument, paralyzing Melanie without any build-up to the horror she faced.

The nearest window rolled down, and an officer’s head was there to poke out from it. “Hey, miss,” he called out, his authority expressed gently. “Do you need help, miss?”

The flashes persisted, a constant drive in the adrenaline being built up in Melanie’s system. She tried to block the lights with one hand, but this left the other exposed -- Adrian, unphased by the police, was still resisting as much as before. She had almost wormed out of Melanie’s fingers, but Melanie reclaimed her, hiding the shrunken woman against her chest while she panicked into her next action.

Melanie ran, turning tail against the officers. There was no trusting any cop, so Melanie had assumed the worst. She imagined that the officers were after her, that she had been found. Not willing to take that risk of gliding under their radar, Melanie chose instead to brashly escape. Only a few steps in, she had heard the retaliation of that same man yelling out to her, followed shortly after by the tear of an engine and the squeal of a siren.

After turning the first corner, Melanie addressed Adrian, who had bunkered into the giant palms as the massive person holding her began to flee. “I’m sorry,” Melanie whimpered, sniffling back tears. Her head snapped back around, listening out for the vehicle as she continued her run ahead. “I’m so sorry, I’m…! I’m…!”

H-Help me!” Adrian screamed. She lunged back in the direction Melanie hurried away from, stretching an arm out in a hopeless reach for the police. “Save me! Save me from this maniac, please, rescue me! I’ll do anything! Anything! Plea--

Melanie wrapped both hands around Adrian, silencing her entirely. Not that she was worried such a small voice could reach anyone, but the cries for help were stressful. Adrian wouldn’t cooperate, forcing Melanie’s hand. I just wanted inspiration, she chided herself, depositing Adrian too quickly into a side pocket of her bag. All I wanted was to hold her…! What have I done…?!

She stumbled out of the other end of the alley, a river of a road dividing her from the next block of businesses. Traffic was average, which meant that the approaching sound of a police siren was especially foreboding for Melanie. She was drastic, leaping into traffic just after a car blitzed past, crossing it just before a honking truck rushed by. Melanie panted, catching the attention of a couple bystanders that she would then shove past in order to sneak off into another alley.

They’ll be all over me now, Melanie deduced. They’ll know it’s me running away. They’ll know it’s Melanie without a doubt. They’ll ruin everything… She slowed up to a wooden fence, a thin barrier between her and the passing of a second police car, whose siren started to wail just seconds later. It was confirmation of her dreaded fears. I need to hide at Anders, she decided, it’s all I have.

 

An orange aura of a hue dropped behind Anders Library, a magnetic light of a setting sun that drew Melanie to it. The street lights around the old facility hadn’t yet popped on, leaving the location even shadier than usual, as though it were painted with the shade of night. The chilling demeanor, however, was a sign of solitude; a sanctuary for Melanie, so were her very thoughts as she hopped the fence to its flank. The landing of her jump compounded with the rest of her exhaustion, and she nearly collapsed onto her knees. Powering through the weariness, she forced herself through a growth of bushes, ignoring the claw-like branches in favor of reaching the window, her secret entrance.

Melanie held her breath, staring back behind her one last time. The police had been close, but she had been nimble. Passing through alleys and even diving into stores, she had managed to escape everything but the sirens. Throughout the city, distant cries of cop cars on the move could be heard, an echo that urged Melanie back on track. She opened the window, settling with what little relief she could get.

It was pitch black inside the library, even darker than it had been before. The trace light that had leaked in from the curtained windows was now fully depleted, leaving behind no grace of illumination or any hint of warmth. Melanie wandered into a freezer, chilled by how quiet and desolate the air felt. Any heat from the outside that coated her was phasing away as she navigated the paths by phone light.

The glow of the laptop’s power light was a guiding star back to her quarters in the center of the library. A sigh escaped her as she hoisted her messenger bag up and onto the desk, just beside the laptop, while keeping the strap over her. Her priority was to first check for Adrian, realizing that in her rush, it was entirely possible that her obsession could have undone the button and threw herself out into the huge world. Fortunately, that hadn’t been the case, as Melanie felt the bump of a person still in the pocket.

“Adrian,” Melanie whispered, trying to force a smile to peer into the bag with. “We’re… home.”

Melanie removed her, but Adrian lacked the itch of life. She was a motionless doll, laid out in Melanie’s grasp and uncaring to her fate. If she had been dropped, she wouldn’t scream. If she had been betrayed all of a sudden and crushed into her first, she wouldn’t argue. The reserve amount of energy she had left was all in her eyes, dimly open to the cloud of darkness.

Melanie shivered with the cold body in her hand. “H-Hey…” She bit her lip, sliding closer to the bookshelf. She glanced up, finding her collection of women to still be there where she had left them. As grateful as she was that they hadn’t discovered some way to escape, it was a relief that fell quickly to the back of her mind as her worries for Adrian took over. It seemed as though Adrian was ill or hurt, but Melanie knew that it was no physical wound crippling her.

“I’ll look something up online,” Melanie suggested, bobbing her hands a little in hopes of startling some extra life into Adrian. “I-It’s the internet. Someone must know something about this… b-but,” she swallowed and nodded, “I promise, Adrian, I’ll… figure something out. I’ll fix this.”

Still, Adrian had no reply. Melanie wouldn’t lie to herself into thinking she could help her, not instantly. Holding her was only bound to keep Adrian lifeless. Melanie moved to the bookshelf and raised Adrian up to it, but even then, Adrian refused to move. Begrudgingly, Melanie had to push her onto the platform with her other hand, attempting to make the motion as kind as possible.

Chloe and Kimberly were there to greet Adrian, but only after Melanie’s hand had retreated from the shelf’s edge. They neared her, with Kimberly kneeling to her side to offer some support. Chloe was concerned, but observed from a distant, hands clasped together in a sort of prayer. “Adrian…?” Kimberly asked, lightly shaking her shoulder. “Don’t… Don’t tell me you’re dead…”

Finally, Adrian had reacted, as though awoken from a spell. Far from jumping to her feet, she began to blink, her mouth opening just a crack while she inhaled a dust-touched breath. She mumbled something aimlessly, comprehending who specifically was neighboring her by voice alone. In the blackness, it was the best she had to go with.

“I’m… I’ll be okay,” Adrian sighed. She tried to rise to her feet, but Kimberly kept her hugged down.

“R-Rest a little, at least,” Kimberly said. She swallowed dryly. “You look pretty out of it…”

Melanie booted up the laptop, its monitor lighting up with activity a few moments later. The light was a precious resource in the library, the only source of dedicated light to make anything visible. The glow fortunately spread wide, but anything beyond that very heart of Anders Library was still shrouded in the dark. That was fine for Melanie, who wanted to avoid being seen by anyone, even her own collection of women.

She perched in front of the computer as she waited for it to load. Just as her hand went to lift off her messenger bag -- thuck, something had dropped to the floor, not far from the table she sat at. The sound was distinct, a hardcover book falling to the floor followed by the flutter and crumpling of its pages. Melanie jerked up in fright, scanning the library for dangers, but only locating the book in question. She followed its trail, up to the very shelf that her captives had been placed.

“What the hell was that?” Melanie asked, halfway out of her chair. She studied the shelf, searching for a culprit. On the end of the shelf opposite of where Adrian had been placed sat Scarlet and Bradz, peering over the ledge to verify the results of their combined efforts. Immediately, a rage had filled Melanie, triggered by the sudden scare.

More obnoxious to her, though, was the lack of reason behind it. She stood up and approached the shelf, each footfall just enough to rattle the wooden building that the tiny women occupied. “Wormslut,” she growled, “this isn’t the time to be testing my--

“Don’t move, Melanie.” A voice spoke out to her, somewhere hidden. Melanie flinched, and the woman’s voice continued, “You won’t touch them. You’re going to listen me. Then we’re going to talk.”

Melanie swallowed, looking up the narrow path of desks and chairs that stood in the valley of bookcases. A figure blended into the shadows, but their image cleared as they stepped forward, the glow of the laptop revealing her to be Professor Bradz’s assistant, Paige. Only adding to Melanie’s nightmare was what Paige held equipped in one hand; not only had she been discovered, but her potion had been stolen. The tables hadn’t just been turned, the whole rug had been swept from under her feet.

She has to be confused, Melanie thought. “P-P-Paige, this-- Paige, I-I can explain, i-it looks--”

Hey, h-hey! Let go of me! Get off!” A small scream had Melanie completely freeze, her shivering lips halted from trying to speak. She whipped around fast, knowing that it was Adrian’s voice crying out for help. By the time she had turned, however, everything was already in its place. Adrian was pinned to the wooden ground, her arms stretched out to either side and held there; Kimberly on her left, and Chloe on her right. Bradz restrained her legs, a struggle that left her getting kicked in the face more than once. But Scarlet stood out most of all, with a red thumbtack held in both arms like an automatic rifle, its sharp point targeting Melanie’s obsession, solidified with an unforgiving glare of an expression.

Melanie twitched, wanting to reach out for them, but before she could, Paige had spoken. “There’s nothing for you to explain, Melanie. They told me everything. I know everything that’s going on.” To this, Melanie slowly turned, torn between keeping an eye on Adrian’s security, and appeasing the holder of the cards.

Paige continued, “In fact, I’ll be the one explaining things from here on out. To get the obvious out of the way, you won’t try anything tricky with me, not unless you want to see her get skewered. The moment I say so, Scarlet will stab her, and I’ll still have this.” She lifted the potion, a gentle shake to bring out its sloshing noise. “I think this is more than enough for you to calm down and hear me out.”

Melanie’s fingers tightened on the strap of her messenger bag, the only movement she felt permitted to. Even the one backpedal step she made, to try and get closer to Adrian on the other end, was met with Paige making up for twice that distance. There was no denying that Paige was serious, willing to have Adrian murdered for the sake of her goals -- whatever those goals were.

“Do you understand?” Paige asked, shaking the bottle again.

“Yes,” Melanie answered obediently. “I understand. P-Please, don’t hurt her.”

“I don’t want to,” Paige said. “Unlike you, I’m not trying to be a maniac kidnapper that pointlessly tortures and kills. Even better, I’m not even trying to get between you two.”

“W… What? What does that mean?”

“If you listen to me, and give me what I want, then I’ll let you two go.” Paige’s words echoed in Melanie’s head, as it did in Adrian’s. There was an escape out of this, possibly. “From what the others said, you’re quite in love with Adrian. So you can keep her, and do whatever you want with her. It doesn’t matter to me what happens to you two after tonight. I know you won’t be able to tell anyone about this, not without giving her up, too. We’re both guilty of something, right now, you and me… We can go our different ways without tripping each other up. There’s things both of us want.”
Melanie trembled to speak up, but the pause requested her to. There were so many questions to ask, she didn’t know where to begin. “W-Why?” she plainly wondered. “Why are you doing… all of this? H-How did you even find out?!”

Paige frowned, but it slowly evolved into a smile the more thought she put into her reply. “Why did you do anything you’ve done? What made you brew a magical potion? What made you decide to start shrinking random women off the street, or your own poli-sci professor? What provoked you to rape them?” She chuckled, the loosest her aim would ever get. “Sorry, but that’s sort of an embarrassing use of something so special. Because while you’d be using this thing to keep up a supply of living masturbation toys, I’d be putting its power to good use. I’d be saving this college from corruption, I’d be able to restore it to its former glory, the glory it saw when it was managed by… a good person.” Her grin flashed with a little wickedness. “Fortunately, regardless of what happens… I’ve at least gotten my revenge.”

Melanie listened intensely, not wanting to miss a detail. If this was all leading to a deal to be reached, then Melanie needed information to fight Paige with. Her curiosity, too, had risen. “Revenge...?”

Paige seemed content to be questioned about that. Smiling still, she dug her free hand into her vest pocket, from which she pulled out a tiny woman of her own. Despite the professional attire and mature physique, Dean Coatler looked ragged and wrecked. She was soaked, burdened with the weight of whatever she had nearly drowned in. With barely an ounce of life left in her, she hung limply between Paige’s pinched fingers, shivering from the cold air and the feeling of such giant eyes on her.

“This little rodent has been making holes all over the school,” Paige elaborated, enjoying the sight of her defeated enemy wallowing under her explanation of matters. “Like a parasite, she turned the college into her own playground for her to profit from. She had no merits to be dean, but she blackmailed and uprooted the previous dean to give herself an opening. Only a few years later, and this campus is falling apart. Entire libraries are left abandoned, parties on school property happen without consequence, students getting kidnapped without even a sign of stepping up security.” She huffed, a spit-like breath that crossed Coatler before setting her away, back into the inner pocket.

“That previous dean was, believe it or not, my elementary school principal,” she went on. “I knew her. I knew her very well, because if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have gotten into teaching. Seeing her torn away from the position she worked so hard to get, after she sought to improve education for so many, had left something wanting inside me. This potion, this curse you’ve been putting on people… it was made for me. That’s why it was here, in this school. Someone knew that one day, its power would have to be used to save it.

“But that book, whatever it is, is in the wrong hands.” Paige reaffirmed her aim, another push for Melanie to step back, and again she matched her movement. “Thank you for finding it for me, but it’s mine. I need it. What I can do with this ability is far more important than your selfishness.”

Melanie’s brow furrowed. It’s my book, bitch, she thought, but even that mental message was hesitant. Her expression softened as reality dawned on her, that it really wasn’t her book. Not now, anyway, not while her obsession was held hostage, not while the potion itself was aimed at her. Despite knowing more of Paige’s motivations, the facts of the situation hadn’t altered. Melanie was still under Paige’s boot, living by her whims.

“I… I can give you the recipe,” Melanie stuttered. “Just the recipe is what you need, r-right? I-I could give you that--”

“No,” Paige cut off, shaking her head. “That won’t do. I need the whole book. I wouldn’t believe your version of the potion, and beyond that, there’s more I need to know. There has to be more to it than just that one spell, after all. There could be countless other abilities, just waiting to be tapped by someone worthy of it. I could become a hero, I could improve so many lives, or destroy the ones that are making others suffer.” She shook her head again, and then fixed her glasses. “I’ll be putting this spellbook to good use. Wouldn’t you want that?

“And you get to keep Adrian, too.” Her mention of this made Melanie look behind her, back to where Adrian was pinned. She was putting up a fight, but she was depleted of energy, outnumbered and overpowered, with the sharp promise of death looking down at her. Paige watched the scene, pleased to see her arrangement working out. “You can keep Adrian all to yourself. I won’t bother you, you won’t bother me. Be reasonable here, Melanie, this is the best deal you could get out of this. Consider what all you’re even losing. The spellbook itself? So you won’t be able to shrink any more people, not without its chants to recite. Your current list of victims? You won’t have them to torture any longer. You get to leave here, normal-sized, with the love of your life, totally unharmed. All you have to do…

“... is hand me the spellbook.” Paige’s conclusion had been reached, and the deal had been set onto the counter. Melanie dwelled on the subject, nervously glancing at the messenger bag against her hip. Within it was the spellbook in question, still missing a few pages but otherwise in a well-enough condition to trade, at least for what Paige wanted.

To forfeit the spellbook, however, was to forfeit her extraordinary power. The god-like life she had been cherishing would come to an end. It was true what Paige had said, how so much of the book’s potential was left unused. There was possibly more she could be doing with it, opportunities she wasn’t ready to sacrifice.

The shriek behind Melanie was a convincing argument to think otherwise. She turned her head, needing to check up on her obsession. Adrian was still pinned, but a burst of vigor had been quelled by Chloe, Kimberly, and Bradz. All of her thrashing was achieving nothing, and the sharp point of the thumbtack only grew closer.

“Let go!” Adrian shouted, almost snapping her arm free from Chloe, but failing to break out. “You guys must be joking! Th-This isn’t funny! What’s gotten into you?!”

“Please, be quiet, Adrian,” Kimberly urged in a hushed voice. She watched the two titans talk, hopeful that an agreement could be reached. “We don’t want to hurt you. But… this is what it’s come to.”

“No! This is wrong! Wrong!” Adrian heaved, her stamina failing her. Any chance of simply snapping out of the grapple was gone, which wasn’t a promising prospect to begin with. It all felt despairing; being held down, threatened by her fellow victims, with no place to escape, bound to the limits of a mere bookshelf. All the while, she knew the context of her predicament. She would either die here, betrayed by people she considered friends, or she would remain as Melanie’s tiny pet for the rest of her life. Her destiny was decided, fitting for something as feeble and pathetic like her.

“Adrian,” Melanie said to her, “h-hang in there… I’ll… I’ll--”

The spellbook, Melanie.” The swishing of the potion pulled Melanie’s focus back to Paige. “I’ve made myself clear. Playtime is over, Melanie. Hand the book over, and you and Adrian can go back to living whatever weird life you two want to have.”

The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on Melanie’s shoulders, a crippling weight that made her shiver as the ultimatum approached. Her emotions were frozen solid in their vortex state, held there in place as she calculated her next action. Two different paths of defeat and humiliation were ahead of her, and the longer she took to answer, the closer Adrian came to paying the price.

I need this book, Melanie thought. It’s the only way I might be able to help her. It’s the only chance I have to making a cure for her. She winced, realizing how much she had failed. Even with the book, the cure was out of reach, and as a result, Adrian had lost her will to live. It was possible, in fact, that despite being terrified of the act itself, perhaps Adrian wanted to be killed, to finally be freed from Melanie. The thought burned Melanie’s chest, and she buckled forward slightly; she was pulled, caving in to Paige’s demands.

The messenger bag was opened, and Melanie shuffled inside of it. Her arms and legs quaked with fear, justifying her slow retrieval of the spellbook. The glow of the laptop revealed its arcanic cover and aged binding, allowing Paige to confirm. She nodded approvingly, her small smile on the rise. Melanie bit her lip, and began to approach with the book outstretched in her right hand.

“I know this isn’t easy, Melanie,” Paige said. “This is the right thing to do, though.”

Melanie had nothing to say as she pointed the corner of the tome to Paige. Her eyes naturally fell onto the spray bottle, which remained aimed at her like a gun through the entire trade. Paige was diligent in keeping her finger ready at the trigger, right up to when she had taken the book into her hand. Relief washed over her at the peak of that moment, knowing well that victory was hers.

But before she could even gauge the weight of the book, before it fully left Melanie’s grasp and became the possession of Paige’s, a swift attack had been made. From underneath the book, a blade had been drawn -- a knife of shimmering purple, its cool, modern grip firmly in Melanie’s hand. Hidden just under the item being exchanged, Melanie had quietly held it with her the entire time, a weapon she was eternally grateful to have brought with her from home.

Chnk. The blade tore into the side of the plastic spray bottle. It wasn’t flesh Melanie had aimed for, but the potion. The knife sliced deep into its flank, wedged tightly by the shredded plastic. The slice it created was an open leak, causing pink-ish splashes to trickle out and over the knife. Paige tried to pull back, but it only deepened the tear that had been made. She was stuck, unable to fully pry her weapon away, though neither could Melanie.

It wasn’t just a struggle for the potion, but for the spellbook as well. Melanie, of course, had no intention on giving up her magical item. Her plan was to disarm Paige, to act quickly and suddenly so that she could then rescue Adrian. She had flashed a look back to her, but her focus immediately returned to the arms-length wrestling match between her and Paige. The fight was far from over, and Melanie’s plan hadn’t been sketched this far. Panic swelled, and she threw herself randomly to try and rip either occultic item away from Paige.

Melanie hadn’t been quick nor sudden enough for this to work. Paige growled, “Kill her! Do it!” She had no mercy with her words, sentencing Adrian to death by a bark of a command. This had been her security in forcing this deal, and she was unafraid to utilize it.

Paige’s words filled the tiny women with dread, and Scarlet in particular with hesitation. This had been the ending unpromised, the conclusion that wouldn’t happen. A threat, supposedly, and nothing more. Adrian would be a hostage, under the assumption that Melanie would never risk the life of her beloved. Yet, the command had been clear, consistent with the context below. Melanie had done the unexpected, and was fighting to have it all.

Scarlet dropped a heavy gaze down onto Adrian. She looked into her eyes, sensing how deep Adrian’s heart had sunk. She reeled the thumbtack back, not at all moving as fast as she had imagined she would had this been the outcome. She had never wielded a weapon, never put someone’s life to an end, but she had agreed to be the executioner. It was her duty, it was everything they had been riding on when agreeing to work with Paige.

“Go, do it already!” Bradz yelled, almost enthusiastic for the bloodshed.

“Don’t! Don’t do this!” Adrian argued, finally overcoming how choked she had become. Tears welled in her eyes. “Y-You know that this is wrong…!”

“Just… shut up, dammit!” Scarlet whined. She readjusted the thumbtack in her grip, the sweat of her palms getting in her way. “Don’t look at me…! I have to…!”

The battle between Paige and Meanie waged on, with Melanie’s one advantage of surprise beginning to wear thin. She had made an admirable first push to unbalance Paige, striking the spray bottle and forcing herself forward in hopes of knocking Paige back. As the fight continued, however, Paige evened the odds, pushing back against Melanie and keeping an unletting grip on both the book and spray bottle. It was obvious, both knew, that Paige was just slightly stronger, a gap in strength that was slowly putting her ahead.

Melanie realized she couldn’t control both items, that a decision would have to be made. She twisted so that her weight could rip better into the plastic bottle, abandoning her grip on the book altogether. By concentrating her efforts, she was able to pry the spray bottle out of Paige’s grip, but not without a shot of the red liquid spitting out onto an empty square of the floor -- a close call for both of them, but now a subdued threat. Paige had been disarmed, and the potion dropped and rolled away at their feet.

The thrill of victory boosted Melanie’s spirit, just as much as it made Paige swelter with worry. Both suddenly scrambled for the book held up high in Paige’s hand, but Melanie was less careful in her attack. She had rolled her shoulder into Paige, tackling her forward but unable to bring her down. In a blind reach for the tome, Melanie smashed her elbow into the binding of the book, missing a chance to clutch the item but successful in forcing it out of Paige’s hand just as well as she had the potion. The book hit the wood floor with a thud, accentuated by the crumpling of pages and the scratch of it sliding far against the ground, somewhere in the darkness.

“She’s going to die for this!” Paige reminded Melanie, a note that physically pained the obsessive girl to have brought up. “And you, too…! You’re nothing but a brat!” In a whirlwind motion, Paige had managed to grab hold of Melanie’s knife-wielding arm, twisting it back painfully. Melanie squirmed, almost achieving a clean escape, but a solid force slugged into her jaw when she least expected it. Without any light, Paige’s punch, despite being aimless, had stuck true, well enough of an ambush that the knife fumbled out of Melanie’s grip. The metal hit the floor with an even denser thud, a dull impact that was in sync with Paige’s follow-up tackle.

The two wrestled against one another, with Melanie still struggling at the losing end. She was about to trip, and so she directed her stumbling to where she knew the bookcase had been. Desperate for the support needed to keep standing, she had collided hard into the bookshelves. Paige clawed at her before finding her fingers embracing Melanie’s neck, throttling her head back into the wall of books. Melanie gagged, grabbing at Paige’s arms in a contest to separate them.

This clash of titans had finally approached the tiny women, who had been only vaguely tracking the past few seconds of combat. Their situation, after all, was just as intense; Scarlet hovered her weapon over Adrian, holding it high in preparation to kill her. She had lifted the thumbtack to a peak, but before she could launch it into Adrian’s gut, Melanie had been rammed into the bookcase.

It was no different than a skyscraper rattling from an earthquake. The force of Melanie and Paige’s half-blind battle colliding into the bookcase had caused all the women to tumble from their positions. They huddled close to the floor, except for Scarlet, who tripped hard onto her knees, and then forward some more -- the sharp point of her thumbtack came racing down.

It impaled confidently, right next to Adrian’s head and into the wood. Inches from death, the chaos had just barely allowed Adrian to survive, a fate she greeted with a spit of a scream. What little freedom this window allowed her, however, was short lived. She couldn’t even stand before her ankles were grabbed again by Bradz, and shortly after did Kimberly roll on top of her, using her weight to keep her pinned.

“Ad…! A-Adrian--!” Melanie coughed, terrified of what Adrian’s short scream had meant. She shivered with despair, unsure what the outcome had been for her beloved. As much as her heart pounded for Adrian, the rhythm was starting to die out, without enough air to fuel it. Paige’s grip was only getting more restrictive.

Scarlet used the embedded thumbtack to stand back up. “Fuckin’ shit,” she stammered, glancing down at the battle beside them.

“Go already, Scarlet! Hurry, finish this!” Kimberly urged, her face red with fury. Adrian headbutted her from the cluster while she was distracted, but it wasn’t enough to get the nude woman off of her.

“I-I know,” Scarlet yelped in reply, rising back to her feet and withdrawing the thumbtack once more.

I’m begging! Don’t do this!” Adrian shouted, her chest throbbing with maximum anxiety. “Don’t…! Don’t become a murderer! You’ll be just like her…!”

Scarlet heaved, readying the weapon again with a glare fixed onto Adrian. “I…” she shook her head, “I never trusted you…! Quit staring at me, l-like I’m doing something wrong…!” She closed her eyes, to shield herself from the reality. “This will save us…!”

Fucking kill her!” Paige boomed with unrestrained frustration, shooting just one look at the tiny women illuminated distantly by the laptop’s continuous glow. A shine on her glasses made it clear that she had beamed a signal to them, that she wouldn’t be tested like this.

“Don’t kill Adrian!” Melanie shouted afterwards, with all her limited air devoted to her plea. But Scarlet still stood, still ready. “N-No… I-I’m sorry, j-just please…! Scarlet…!”

I think it’s funny, pretty appropriate too, Scarlet remembered, weeks ago. The rumbling of two colossal beings wrestling was silent to her against these memories. You were just a slut before, b-but now you’re a tiny slut. Only worms would want to fuck you and I bet you’d come around to liking it…

Scarlet stared down, burrowing her sights into Melanie -- into the image of Melanie overtop of Adrian. The heart of this foul, cruel goddess was primed to be punctured by her whim. Anger filled her, all the anger that had been bullied and suppressed into the corner of her battered mental state, and she affirmed her aim with more precision. Adrian winced, sparked by this electrical feeling of Scarlet’s murderous instinct finally being unleashed.

Pushed deep into her troubling corner, Melanie’s adrenaline was provoked into a burst of energy. Adrian’s cries empowered her to strike boldly at Paige, swinging for her face; she clawed at skin and grappled a long braid of hair, a modest but important advantage. Paige spat a whine of pain, her hands loosened and twisted off of Melanie’s neck for just a moment, a moment long enough for Melanie to assess what she needed to do.

Paige wouldn’t leave her for long, and was then back on the offensive. An animalistic growl debuted her consecutive bumrush into Melanie, and Melanie embraced it. She would need the extra weight to help her, for she had turned around and applied all of her own weight into the bookcase. Her hands grabbed at a lower shelf and pulled up, and when she lacked the strength to achieve her feat of strength, Paige had unwittingly charged in to assist her. It was with her attack that enough force slammed into the near-empty bookcase, just enough to allow gravity to do the rest.

As Melanie had intended, the effect it had on the tiny women occupying that very bookcase was catastrophic. The building-like structure that they occupied had rumbled again, except an extra jolt had everyone scrambling across the ground. Their entire world was tilting, tripping Scarlet over Adrian; the weapon, and the rage that had inspired her to kill, was lost in the chaos, dropped from her grip. As the thumbtack rolled down to the other side of the bookshelf, right over the edge, it had foreshown the fate the women had to prepare for.

Screams blurred into the dark madness. Whatever light the laptop had provided was now irrelevant as the women panicked into vain attempts of avoiding the fall. Chloe had raced to the other edge, but the incline became too much; she fell to her knees, then slid down the path, right into Scarlet and her best attempt at holding onto the wooden floor. Both girls tumbled away, hurdling past Kimberly and Bradz. It was only they and Adrian left, clinging to whatever chips in the wood they could embed their nails into. And yet, the ship continued to sink.

Adrian groaned, focused only on what lie ahead. This was unlike Kimberly, who looked down below, desperate to know if Scarlet and Chloe had survived. Instead, all she saw was the plummeting of books, descending like massive chunks of debris that rained upon the earth below. The explosive sound of their impact startled and shook the remaining women, notably a shriek from Kimberly.

“K-Kim!” Adrian shouted, finally looking down. She first saw Bradz, clinging to her legs more so than she did anything else. Beyond her, she saw just a glimpse of Kimberly, just moments before her grip could no longer be sustained. A scream signaled her tragic fall, a yell that shrunk into nothingness. “Nooo! Kim! Scarlet!”

Her own grip was failing, a miracle that she had managed it for so long, yet she knew it wouldn’t last. The burden that grappled at her legs was certain of that. Adrian groaned, “L-Let go!” and tried to shake Bradz away. The professor refused, and so she doomed themselves together.

The bookcase had hit something, just as its fall back had picked up speed. The sudden halt was a challenge too great for Adrian’s grip to beat, and so she and Bradz were flung off their final stand. Alongside them were the remaining books, each as tall as houses, falling to the same bleak pit. Adrian shot an arm to the sky, one last chance to save herself, but there was no platform to be found. Just as the others had, she was swallowed whole into the darkness.

The cacophony abruptly ended, leaving behind only the echoes of its destructive sounds. Old dust filled the air like a cloud, uprooting a scent of staleness. Melanie and Paige both gagged in the dirty environment they had collapsed into, blindly trying to gather their bearings. It wasn’t very clear what had happened, but they could tell that the bookcase hadn’t completely fallen over. Melanie was the first to confirm, opening her eyes and barely able to make out that it had tipped over onto the adjacent bookcase. The small collection of books that had remained were now completely drained onto the floor like a spill of papers and covers, and the shelves they had fallen from now hung over them like an angled bridge.

Melanie squirmed to get back into motion, but bruises littered her body. She winced, then coughed a storm. Having been strangled just seconds earlier, it was torture to have to inhale the filth in the air. She cussed as she navigated off the bookcase, knowing that she had to hurry; both the book and Adrian would have to found, and then--

She was grabbed. Pulled backwards by her the hood of her jacket, Melanie stumbled back onto the collapsed bookcase with a painful landing. She swung aimlessly, missing her target completely. Paige was invisible to her, allowing that foe to stand up without any ordeal. Once risen, Paige kicked into Melanie’s ribs, forcing out an aching groan. Still not content, Paige reached down and grabbed Melanie by her hoodie, ripping her aside and onto the floor. Melanie’s limp body collided with the legs of the desk, rattling it and the only light source atop it.

“Look at what you’ve done,” Paige said, from somewhere in the darkness. Melanie flinched, stomping at a chair leg she mistook as her enemy. That same chair was whisked away in a flash, thrown aside and out of Paige’s way. “You’re crazy. That’s the only explanation -- insanity.

“Do you realize that you’ve killed her?” Paige continued. Melanie held her side where she had been kicked while trying to slide across the floor, making only a vague amount of distance between her and Paige. “You probably have, anyway… I gave you the chance to deal with this peacefully. I gave you-- Do you truly love her? Because, after what you just did, I don’t believe it.” She chuckled hard. “Not for a second-- Where the hell is it?!” Thrashing could be heard, miscellaneous things being tossed around. “It fell over here, so where-- ah, yes…”

Melanie ignored her, and tried again to get to her feet. She made it as far as to her knees before she was grabbed again, exactly the same way, pulled backwards to be laid out on the floor. She gasped and raised her arms up in mercy, “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she pleaded, “y-you can have the book, j-just g-give me… give me her…”

The desk was moved, taking away the low ceiling that had been above Melanie. Now the full height of the library weighed down at her, given light by the laptop and its newly adjusted angle. Stepping out from the shadows, Paige had appeared with a disgruntled expression. Her left braid was coming undone, her glasses were at the tip of her nose, and dust coated the front of her sweater vest. She stared deep down onto Melanie, and Melanie couldn’t look away. In just the corner of her eye, she saw the truth that terrified her; in Paige’s right hand was the spray bottle, just barely in usable shape despite the gash in its side. Only a fraction of the potion remained, existing beneath the bottle’s leak, but it was more than enough for Paige.

Melanie crawled backwards, but Paige matched the movement, stomping between her legs. Paige took aim, imposing stillness onto her target. “You… You had a knife… and yet,” Paige scoffed, she panted, “you didn’t have it in you to stab me? Is that it?”

Melanie swallowed, eyes aimed up at the sound of Paige’s voice. “I-I--”

“I’ve heard what you’ve done to those women. The nightmares you’ve made them live out. Where’s that bloodlust now? Had you stabbed me instead of this bottle… well, things would be pretty different right now. Can you not do it? Is it because you’re not big? It’s only when people are like bugs to you, that you can act like a demon? But you’re no demon at all. You’re a sad, creepy girl. And starting now, you’re even less than that.”

A mist rained over Melanie as she closed her eyes reflexively to the mundane spraying noise. Both hands shielded her, but Paige had hit her mark. A red drip fell from the nozzle, and Paige lowered the bottle to her side. The lack of a bang to accompany her execution made silence do the job of vocalizing the fear and terror of the situation. Melanie felt the sticky wetness of what had marked her, the moisture that collected at her chest as a stain on her hoodie.

Melanie looked up, shivers riddling her. Paige’s shadowed smile was coy as she stepped back, abandoning Melanie to her fate. “I still need that book,” she muttered, glancing back at the direction of the bookcase. The book had slid off in that direction, into the once empty hall between bookcases, but now a pool of novels cluttered the floor where it should have been. She snarled, but her patience was recovering. She fixed her glasses, sighed, and looked back down at Melanie. Her smile returned like a candle’s flame, “But I guess there’s no rush. I’ll let you know if I find your girlfriend’s corpse; it can be the first thing you see with your new perspective.”

Paige left Melanie to the tune of the her wining, her tossing and turning as the curse took effect. The biggest hurdle was overcome, but there was still a mess to clean up after. She shook her head in disbelief as the damage was given another survey. Melanie’s rage had truly clashed with Paige’s, and this was the result. From just looking at the toppled bookcase and its spew of books, Paige felt exhausted, but she couldn’t yet rest. Wedging herself under the bookcase allowed her to put in a mighty push upwards, correcting the bookcase back into order. The shelves, however, were still empty, and their contents blurred into the shadows, taking with it the one book Paige needed.

The light of Paige’s phone cleared a path out of the darkness, revealing just how badly scrambled the books were. She had hoped the spellbook would stand out, but all of the books appeared somewhat aged, and she had never obtained a good look at the book itself, either. She groaned as she shuffled past some of the books, and then kicked aside a smaller pile of them.

“Look out!” a squeak responded to her kick. “Paige! Paige!! I’m down here!”

Paige flashed her light down to where she had just toppled over some books, revealing the source of such a tiny, desperate noise. At her foot was Professor Bradz, sitting up from on top of one of the books, waving one arm in a stretched arc. Paige kneeled down to her, bringing with her the harsh light that remained cast over the shrunken teacher.

“Oh, god, oh thank god,” Bradz panted, blocking the light from her vision. It pained her to move her legs, leaving her to drag herself closer to the giantess, the same giantess that nearly crushed her with such a minute action. “P-Paige, please-- th-thank god you’re here, b-but we’re… we’re hurt, a-and--”

“I get it, yeah yeah,” Paige rolled her eyes, “I figured. Blame Melanie.” She aimed her light in the area around Bradz, having to readjust her angle as the shadows danced to the rhythm of her phone’s direction. “Where’s the book?! The spellbook!”

“I-I dunno!” Bradz answered quickly. “But Adrian ran off! Sh-She got up immediately, she went that way!”

“Forget about her. She’s worthless now. Seeing her would just… rile me up.” Paige stood back up, an act of defiance against Bradz’s begging to be lifted with her. She shed her light across the pool of books littered about, glaring at everything that wasn’t the tome. “Listen up!” she announced. “If you guys want a cure, then I need that book! Find it! I don’t care where you are, or what you have to do to get my attention. Find me that book and we’re done here.

“You too, Professor.” Paige knocked her foot into the book Bradz laid out on, pushing it slightly but enough so that it spooked its tiny passenger. “Or would you rather share a ride with the dean again? She’s been quite annoying, heh.” Paige pinched at the left side of her chest, squeezing at the bump of a woman that lived inside her pocket. Throughout all the commotion, Paige had forgotten about Coatler, and was oblivious to the roller coaster ride she was putting the shrunken dean through. The pinch quelled the squirming happening within, allowing Paige to press onward without distraction.

She cared for none of the books as she trampled over their covers. Exposed pages were crushed underfoot, and bindings were dented with her sweeping kicks. She hoped to thin out the pile first, exposing each of the books enough so that she could better look over them.

Paige was unaware that her tactic for sifting through the books was creating a fantastical storm for the tiny women beneath her. Dust was getting kicked up all over again, a sandstorm that made whips out of air. Books were bulldozed aside as she slid her foot across the floor, forming hills to her sides where they bunched up. In this valley of fallen literature was Chloe, a struggling survivor, screaming a signal to the giantess overhead. Her cries for attention, however, were outright ignored. Paige thundered right over her, and Chloe buckled to the ground in terror, gawking up at the huge legs that met directly above her.

“Chloe!” someone yelled to her. Chloe looked around, trying to make anything out in the dark while at the same time overcoming the dust and cold. Finally, she had seen her; Kimberly stood atop a distant book, both hands waving rapidly under the constantly swaying spotlight of Paige’s phone.

“K-Kimberly?!” Chloe gasped. She choked while shakily getting to her feet, ever watchful of where the titan’s next step would be. Kimberly continued to wave and call out to her, and so Chloe found the courage within her to race in her direction. “I’m coming!”

“Just get away!” Kimberly shouted, hands cupped over her mouth. “Get to somewhere safe! Anywhere!”

“O-Okay--”

“I’m not getting anywhere like this…” Paige’s voice conquered their distant conversation. Both women stared up at Paige as she grumbled her complaint, but fear swelled when they saw her descending. One knee dropped to the floor with a blunt impact, followed by the other. Unbeknownst to her, her feet had just raced right past either side of Chloe like two big rigs blitzing through a highway. Not only was her path cut off, but she was surrounded on both sides by Paige’s legs as she continued her sifting on her knees. Embarrassingly, Chloe caught herself staring up and into the darkness, where the movement of Paige’s rear posed to be a second, potentially more serious threat.

Kimberly could no longer see Chloe, her line of sight broken by Paige’s repositioning. She held her head tight, praying in whispers that the worst hadn’t happened. There was no way to confirm, and there was no reason to stand there to find out. Kimberly jumped from the book and down to another, then another. She would escape from here, regardless of what kind of jagged path she had to trek.

She ran hoping to make distance between her and Paige’s search. If she made it to the other bookcase, she imagined, she could hide out there and be safe from the giant books being tossed about. Kimberly’s plan, however, would have to change. Just as she had climbed up one of the last books in her way, she heard a cry for help. The voice was too familiar, and she shouted back instinctively, “Scarlet?!

There was no response, at least none Kimberly could hear over Paige’s storm. She looked frantically all over, dueling with herself over the prospect of ignoring what may have been her imagination. Any time spent being held back, looking for survivors, was budgeted directly out of her chance of escaping alive. She bit her fingers, then called out once more, “Scarlet?! Are you out there?!”

Kimberly! Help!” Scarlet’s voice was heard in the brief window where Paige had slowed her movements. Kimberly looked in that direction -- nothing, until she saw a cover of a book flapping, ever so slightly. Kimberly’s heart rose, then sank; where Scarlet had to be was right in Paige’s path. Just as Kimberly flinched to move, so did Paige start to progress. A distinct scream for help was heard as Paige’s knee moved ahead. Kimberly cussed, she cussed again, then leaped off the book in a sprint towards Scarlet.

“Hang on, hang on!” Kimberly yelled, climbing and leaping over book after book. Twice, she got a glance at Paige and her approach, but the second time proved that she couldn’t afford any distractions. She raced up to where she had seen Scarlet’s signal, making her way through a fog of spinning dust.

When she finally stumbled to her location, she spotted Scarlet, as well as a severe situation. She was trapped, caught under more than half of a novel’s pages. The position of the book left her with no comfort, twisted nastily against another book’s binding. Scarlet was near motionless, only able to grip and continuing to flap the cover of the book she could reach.

Kimberly jumped over to her, trying to process the situation. She wanted to ask how this happened, then kicked herself for wondering about something so silly. Without thinking, she went for the obvious, grabbing Scarlet’s arms and pulling. This triggered a sharp yelp, which Kimberly attempted to ignore until her attempt ultimately failed.

“It hurts…” Scarlet winced. Dust filled her mouth and she coughed dryly. “I-I don’t want to die, Kim… I don’t, I don’t, I don’t--”

“I know you don’t,” Kimberly cooed, with panic ever present in her tone. She shivered as Paige stepped forward closer than ever, her knee callously colliding on top of one unfortunate book, one that very well could have been Scarlet’s. That next second, Kimberly had released Scarlet and changed her strategy. Though she knew herself not to be very strong, she acknowledged that their only chance at freedom was to push open the book and let Scarlet out. Using all her might, she struggled, but a few inches of space were added between Scarlet and the heavy pages, a feat accomplished not without an agonizing, adrenaline-powered groan from Kimberly.

Scarlet pulled herself out as best she could with legs that had nearly been flattened. She tumbled out gracelessly, winding up in a small pit formed by how the books fell. A temporary trap, one that she was able to pry herself free from with the help of Kimberly’s offered hand. Then, they jumped with little more than a dash to get them speed.

Every second had mattered, because just as the two leaped aside, Paige’s legs had barreled through. The book they had landed on then began to flip, causing their little bodies to roll down the upturned story and dropping them to the floor. Their screams were completely drowned by the destruction Paige caused, but they had been able to scream at all -- they were alive, they had survived.

These perils meant nothing to Paige. She would stop at nothing to locate the book, even with her frustration rising to its absolute limit. Excitedly, she had grabbed an old book that was falling apart -- This is it!, she thought, incorrectly. It was just an ordinary old book, and in her anger, she threw it carelessly out of the pool of others; another bomb-like blast to terrify the tiny stragglers.

Where! Where is it?!” Paige yelled, sitting up to her knees and casting her light quickly over the remaining half of the books. If it was anywhere here, it had to be coming up. She had told herself there would be no other distractions between her and the spellbook, but there was an exception that appeared in the shimmer of her light, a moving dot of a shadow that was scaling up a stack of books. Another one of Melanie’s victims, but this one stood out, with its staggered mobility and straight-forward direction.

Paige stood to her feet, her phone locked onto her prey. With just one step, she had made it up to Adrian’s path of escape. Not a word had to be said to get the shrunken student’s attention, as just the landing of her foot had caused a quake that made Adrian trip and collapse forward. She couldn’t get up, despite wanting to do so instantly. All she could do was look back at Paige, blinded by the piercing light pointed at her.

“So, at the end of the day, they failed me,” Paige mused aloud onto Adrian. She sighed before continuing, “I guess I can’t blame them. I, too, expected Melanie to play along fairly. You weren’t supposed to be killed, but that was Melanie’s decision. Looks as though Scarlet hesitated for too long.”

Adrian inhaled, then flipped back around to kick off onto her feet. She was in a mad sprint up an angled book cover, leaping off the surface like a diving board and onto another. The landing was a trip, she stumbled into a scraped knee, and then she was caught. A scream brought her no remorse from the clutches of Paige, whose hand dwarfed the woman into a cage of fingers. Only once did Adrian feel this exact sinister energy, weeks ago, when Melanie had dwindled her in size first.

Tickling was all Paige felt within her coiled fist. All of Adrian’s claustrophobic struggling could only manage an idle giggle of a response, entertaining her captor more than she was incentivizing her to release her. Paige’s fingers shifted, allowing Adrian’s head to be revealed. Adrian could then see the woman’s face, up close and breathing down upon her with a mechanical sense of ventilation. Despite the warmth of her air, Adrian found herself shivering, her entire body running cold with fear as she searched for the eyes behind the round glasses.

“P-Please--” Adrian’s begging began, but her tiny voice popped a laugh from Paige. The sudden exhale and noise startled her into defense, prying one arm loose from the trap of fingers to block the gust. “I-I don’t want any of this…!”

“You’ve had it really easy, Adrian,” Paige said. “I was so worried when I heard the news about you at school. It took a few days for the report to be official, but when the story broke out, I just couldn’t believe it. One of my students for my assistant teaching job had been... kidnapped. I wondered what kind of monster could do such a thing to someone. I never imagined it would be… another one of my students. I never expected a monster to look like her…

“... You’ve developed a bond with her, haven’t you?”

Adrian stuttered, taken back by what this question meant. She shook her head, “No! No! I hate her!” Her response triggered something, for immediately after her answer did she feel the fist tighten harshly around her body. A groan crescendoed into a cry, a yell that wouldn’t cause the constricting pain to stop. Paige held her there in that strangle of a hold.

“All of this happened because of you,” Paige said, “you and whatever you inspired inside of Melanie. Both of you were normal girls once; additional, faceless students that filled just one of a few classrooms I aided in. But when I look at either of you now, I feel different. I feel sick. It isn’t just the staff on campus that needs to be cleansed, but it’s the students, too.”

“I… I did nothing…!” Adrian cried, her voice hoarse and hurting. She stammered into a tearful mess, a pitiful expression offered to the judge that choked her. “I never…! Asked for…! This…!”

“How unfair for you. Just as it was unfair for all the other people who were shrunken down into toys. A curse that never would have come to life… without you, and without your effect on Melanie.”

“Th-That isn’t-- Raaugghh!” Adrian screamed, a pulse from Paige’s hand threatening to break in her ribs and hips. The tips of her hands and all of her legs were stiff with numbness, as though her body were deteriorating from the ends first. A weak pound of her arm against a trunk-thick finger was her final bout of resistance, a cheap attempt to fight back.

The restricting grip then suddenly gave in. Freedom of movement washed over Adrian, but only most of her. Her legs and torso were exposed, but a ring of flesh still hugged her chest and neck, keeping her locked in the air. She grappled with the finger, not to undo its grasp but to ensure she wouldn’t be released, dropped into the depths beneath her that tickled her legs with the absence of ground. Adrian’s breathing, terse in its rhythm, was asking the silent question of what Paige intended to do.

Just as life returned to her legs and she was able to kick them aimlessly, one of them had been snatched. Two powerful fingers held the leg in place, and Adrian lacked the energy to pull it away or even stomp at it. Perhaps she also knew it was futile, but her mind raced into a frenzy like no other. Her shouts were air-deprived babbles, confused ramblings that begged for peace and mercy. No matter how unclear her speech became, it was all the same to Paige. Squeaks, and nothing else, from an untamed rodent.

“I’ll teach you, Adrian,” Paige said softly. A wintery nostalgia was beset onto Adrian, reminded of how Paige used to speak in that innocent classroom. “One painful step at a time… I’ll claim you as mine. I can’t trust you to be normal again… so I’ll teach you how to live without Melanie, and how to live with me.”

Those words sank into Adrian, deeper into her soul than any lesson she had ever learned, only to explode within her in a literal snap. The agony that riddled her body was gone -- not healed, but forgiven, made worthless in less than a second, as all her senses flooded from the single pain in her leg. Paige had pressed her thumb forward, going against the knee it had previously been massaging. One small press, a minor amount of effort, and Adrian’s left leg had been bent backwards in the middle, unlocking a crack of a noise that even surprised Paige with its volume.

There wasn’t a scream at first, or even later. The sound Adrian made was a comparable to a groan, a sigh. In her mind, everything flashed with a brutal red, like the world was heating up to an end. It wasn’t the literal injury that wounded her to her core, it was the ease of it. Her body was not hers to control, it wasn’t hers to freely interact with the world. Her leg, just like her arms or chest or head, were all just parts. Parts of a toy, an Adrian toy, passed from one set of hands to the next, in a pattern that promised to spiral into increasingly worse and worse days -- months -- years.

That redness was fading. A deep light was trickling into her vision; if the world was ending, then this was the end itself. Anything she could picture out of her surroundings became ugly and unclear when she was turned upside-down, held by the lifeless leg that had been unceremoniously broken. The floor above her greeted her like a scrapyard of books, a perfect place for garbage like her to be disposed of, while her newly appointed master continued her search.

Rolling thunder sent quakes through the world. A stampede was suddenly on the approach, a charging force blitzing over the valley of texts. The dusty clouds dispersed with the rapid footfalls of another titan, no concern for the survivors scattered across the wasteland. Chloe gawked at the giantess’s run, hiding behind a novel. Kimberly and Scarlet bunkered back into their hole, just as the challenger jet past them. For each of these shrunken women, the shockwaves of this mighty run had them hopped into the air, as if one half of the world was on a collision course with the other half.

Paige flicked the light off of Adrian and towards the unabashed sound of running coming from the shadows behind her. It was too late to respond, but disbelief had certainly hit her with time to spare. The light undid the shadowy cloak draped over her enemy, and it bounced back at Paige in the form of an emerald-colored glare.

Melanie tackled into Paige where she was seated, a full-force charge that saw both women lunged into the remaining spill of books. Both fell to the ground with a heavy crash, two monoliths collapsing in a dust-raising display of violence. Melanie had tripped so far that she was outside the alley made up of bookcases and into an open circle of the library’s main hall. Slightly further from her point, Paige was laid out, twisting from the sudden shock. Her fingers clenched, checking for Adrian, but she had disappeared. The grasp on Adrian had failed when Paige was struck, and the tiny woman was sent tumbling across the floor, as though she had leaped poorly out of a running train.

Melanie rose swiftly to her knees, the first of the two tumbled giants to show life. Her one question was of Adrian’s safety, and one glance provided her answer. Even in the dark, she could point out Adrian with compass-like precision, and so she noticed her, abandoned and frail on the floor not far from her.

Her answer was clear, but Paige’s own questions were left unsolved. She stared at her opponent, newly risen and a threat once again. Melanie had changed since their showdown, no longer sporting her hoodie but donning instead the black v-neck shirt she had worn underneath it that day. This was not at all like the change Paige had so highly anticipated. She had expected Melanie to be squirming on the ground like a true bug, shrunken by the same curse she had applied to innocent lives. Paige did not realize, of course, that these two details were one in the same.

It had been Melanie’s saving grace. This braided bitch doesn’t know how the magic works, Melanie had coldly thought when she was on her back, defenseless and ready for a lifetime of misery, had Paige’s aim been better. She doesn’t know that it needs to touch hair.

And so she had recovered in silence, playing the part of succumbing to the curse. Paige had left with the illusion of victory, but Melanie bided her time. She had to, forced to let her senses recollect and for her flares of pain to cool. At the same time, she was waiting for Paige to be at her weakest, so that this reengagement could happen. She removed her stained hoodie, crept to the aisle the others were in, and saw her worst nightmare playing out.

That rage fueled Melanie even now. She was fast to get back on her feet, already taking aim at Paige for her follow-up attack. Paige wasn’t slow either; she scrambled to her knees, eyeing her opponent, but making a crucial mistake. Out of instinct, her arm reached for the only weapon she had, but she didn’t have it. In her cruel play with Adrian, she had placed the potion down onto the floor. It was by Melanie’s feet now, but Melanie had no interest in it. Their battle would continue without the spray bottle’s influence, a decision of Melanie’s that Paige hadn’t predicted.

Flat-footed still, Paige was a simple target to lay into. Melanie charged like a bull once more, taking a direct path to clash with her. Paige threw a punch ahead of her, hoping to at least use it to lock a set distance, but other than bashing into Melanie’s unsuspecting skull, it did nothing to slow the assault. She was grappled, hugged into Melanie’s arms and pulled back, dragged so quickly that her feet couldn’t brace themselves at all. Here, Paige could fit in a desperate punch into Melanie’s back, again doing nothing to the crazed woman and her tolerance for pain.

Then, she was tossed. Thrown forward and forced into a stumbled balance on her feet, Paige almost collapsed back onto the floor like she had been. A firm stop helped sturdy herself, and she applied her weight onto the surface in front of her, half-slamming into it from Melanie’s throw. But it wasn’t a wall; it moved, just an inch, and then clicked close. It was a door, the front doors to Anders Library, and accompanying the sound of its lock fitting into place was a mundane clak, a chirp just above Paige’s head.

With her back pressed against the door, Paige looked directly up. A frame was all she could see, the image of a white mug falling at her, with its red-tinted contents expanding out of it in a splash. Wetness marked her with a cold slap, but more harsh was the weight of the mug hitting her in the nose, shattering the left lens of her glasses, and tearing a drip of blood with that broken glass.

The blow alone sent Paige into a swirling daze. She barked in fury, trying to make sense of it all, but the damage to her head made her too dizzy to stand. She collapsed to her knees, one arm supporting her and the other wiping away at the sticky spill getting into her hair. A scent burned her nostrils, enough that she gagged, but not because the alcohol was insulting. Her stomach was spinning, and a different category of dizziness was corrupting her mind. As this all dawned on her, Paige was paralyzed, gazing into the floor with empty, broken eyes.

And again, the dust had settled. Silence won over except for the pair of heavy breaths, both figures coming to terms with the outcome. Melanie was wary and stepped back into the aisle of books, watching as Paige swayed and stumbled, unable to get back to her two feet, unable to lock eyes with her. Paige coughed from a burning pain rising in her chest, an ailment that paled before the strike of a migraine. One last attempt to stand ended in failure, and Paige fell back to her knees, shorter than before.

Even in the darkness, Melanie understood the familiar scene. Just like Scarlet, just like Kimberly, just like Adrian, just like Nicky, just like Erin, just like Candi, just like Chloe, just like Bradz. And just like each of these situations, all performed in the same pattern, each one stood unique to her, always different enough that her heart never felt the same way twice. She watched, diligently, patiently; she made sure that Paige dwindled away completely, until her rival had melted into a doll of her former self.

Paige trembled on the cold ground. Nothing in the world was moving to her, only her sickened motions that left her uneasy. The shockwaves of Melanie’s first steps beckoned to her, but she refused the call. She stared only at the ground right beneath her, even as the chill of Melanie’s presence hung overhead. She expected the worst -- everything cut to an even darker black, a more confined darkness. Her heart drummed madly, the only indication that this hadn’t been a swift, merciful death.

Melanie’s creativity was at a low. She saw nothing in Paige but a nuisance, a reminder of the problem that once existed. With the very mug that had been Paige’s downfall, Melanie closed her off beneath it. A temporary cage to ensure her enemy couldn’t flee, not while Melanie had so much to be working on.

Which, in turn, brought her attention back to Adrian. She returned to where Paige had been, just before their final encounter began. Adrian was still there, discarded on the floor, limp and motionless and depleted. A brick formed in Melanie’s heart, she choked, “N-No, oh no,” and fell softly to her knees, using the adjacent shelves for balance.

A gentle hand neared Adrian, making the most tender of contacts. She pushed her with just a finger, like shaking her wife awake in the morning. “Adrian,” she cooed, “wake up… Y-You’re fine, you’re okay…”

But the body was unresponsive. Melanie feared the worst, all of her anxieties began to blow up. She pressed her finger more tightly into Adrian’s chest. She closed her eyes, settled her breathing until it was entirely held, and she listened. Faintly, but at the tip of her finger, she could feel the beating of a little life. When she looked at Adrian again, it was depressingly apparent how damaged the shrunken woman was, how battered the giant world had left her, and how mangled that leg really was.

She needs-- Melanie scoffed, she covered her mouth, anguished at what she knew. A doctor, damn it, she understood, she needs a doctor! I-I can’t do anything for her like this!

Her eyes closed more tightly. Despair struck at her again, because there was something she could do. There was one chance at getting Adrian to the help she needed, the help she deserved, after having survived through so much.

Melanie’s head slowly craned up, surveying the mess of books. With her phone’s light, she had discovered Scarlet and Kimberly, and not far behind them was Chloe and Bradz. She moved without a word, lifting them up without unnecessary fanfare and depositing them in pairs into one of the shelves. Their struggles and plights fell onto deaf ears; Melanie couldn’t recollect a single detail of what they said or how they acted, cherishing nothing from these interactions like she used to.

Adrian was gently lifted off the ground, just as still as before, into wide hands that carefully blanketed the cold body. Melanie stared at her exclusively, fumbling through the library in a stupor. Everything she needed was collected and gathered into the boiler room, except for one thing, the one thing she wasn’t able to retrieve. A critical incantation that she would have to go without.

Candles burned around a bowl that held a recipe of dry ingredients. Minerals and grounded roots combined into a powder, set upon a pedestal of stacked books. The ripping of plastic clashed with the atmosphere, but it was a needed step; the spray bottle was too damaged, and thus Melanie removed the top half. The red liquid within was a trickle of the amount it began as, much earlier that day, but the quantity had yet to mattered. She anxiously swallowed on the hope that this would remain true, even as she crossed a threshold of no return.

Chloe… and Bradz… the dean, and now Paige… The names were mentally arranged, added like an equation perceived as deceitfully simple. But the math was true; four names, awaiting a fifth. Melanie looked to Adrian, an unconscious body set between her and the alter. As always, the sight of her sparked her resolve. For Adrian, Melanie would commit to anything.

Two fingers dipped into the remaining wine and were then held at the peak of her head. Tiny streams of the potion trickled through her scalp, and what remained of the concoction was added to the bowl, swirling the ingredients with its pour.

Melanie clasped her hands, fingers folded over one another, and words flowed from her. All of her being was put into making sure this cure -- to grow a shrunken person back to normal size -- was going to work.

 

Chapter Twenty-One by Curse Crazy

 

The murky red reflected Melanie’s dim expression as she hovered over the bowl. Her eyes lacked the shimmer of their emerald, the bags beneath them hung heavier than usual. It was shallow, what remained of the potion, much like the time she had left. A drop of wine fell from the tip of her hair, serving as a reminder of what she still had to do.

Everything had been set into place in preparation for her absence. In the boiler room, she had arranged Bradz’s laptop to shine its light from the corner, providing needed illumination. The center of the room was devoted to the altar, where the bowl of the potion had been set atop a stack of books, staggered in a staircase fashion. Underneath the humble warmth of candles was where Adrian had been placed, her unconscious body conjuring more pain into Melanie’s body than the curse was.

Melanie held her head, a stake seemingly driving through her from there. Her body shivered, and she warmed herself by rubbing up her shoulders. The room was spreading apart around her as her mind began to spin, but her eyes couldn’t leave the potion, not until she could transcend that final obstacle.

Her mouth remained open, her tongue slowly in search of words to form. What am I supposed to say? she wondered. Without the chant written out for me, I can’t finish making the cure. Would the same chant as usual be good enough? No… I can’t risk that. It’s too late to experiment. Not now, not when it’s her life on the line…

She stared deep into the shallow fluid. Who are you? Melanie asked the reflection. A failure… That’s all you are. A creepy girl, a freak. Ugly… A monster, a demon… And when this goes wrong, I’ll be left with what I deserve. I’ll be the insect I deserve to be. Adrian will be gone… I’ll have no more of my collection… There will be no more potions or curses… I’ll have just my pathetic life, scurrying around on the floor until I’m crushed…

Melanie winced. As hard as she attacked herself, her insults struck her very little. She shrugged each of them off, not with confidence but with indifference. She didn’t care at all about what was to happen to her. None of this, after all, was about herself. Her eyes swayed to Adrian, pulled there like a habit. She observed her, watching the frail body rest. It was for her, Melanie told herself. The sacrifice that she was making was for Adrian, to give her the cure that she needed.

At her center, Melanie clasped her hands together, catching and holding tight to the passion that inspired her. Her mouth moved, not in a chant, but as a prayer.

“I don’t understand this magic… and I never will. Maybe, this magic wasn’t meant for humans. I’ll never know why or how this spellbook was made. But that doesn’t change that I’ve used it… I’ve succumbed to it. I’ve spread its power over people. I’ve learned to make it stronger. That magic would never have existed… without Adrian. It was only for her that I was tempted to cast that curse on people. My love for her… that’s what brought this magic to life. I wanted to reshape the world, and to bring us two together; doing the impossible, to accomplish the impossible. I was afraid of what Adrian would think of me, so I took her… I thought that magic could overcome my cowardice, but all it did was disguise it. In the end, Adrian has only come to resent me. The one person I’ve devoted everything to, my obsession…

“She’s all I know. She’s my entire world. Even beyond this mortal life, Adrian will always be everything to me, even if I’m nothing but a monster to her. So I’ll sacrifice what I have, so that I can fulfill just one promise to her. I told her I would cure her… I would do anything to cure her. These past several weeks, since unearthing that book, I’ve heard people beg. I’ve heard humans cry and plea to a cruel god, asking for mercy. They always begged me for their own lives, but I’m begging… I’m begging for someone else’s. I’m begging that Adrian be given… a chance… I’m begging that Adrian be returned to normal, for her to decide what her own fate is…! I’ll cast myself away if that’s all it takes, I’ll throw my life away and endure any sort of hell…! But, Adrian…! She’s everything…! Magic never should have done this to her, and so I’ll do anything to have magic correct it! A cure for her -- that’s all I need! One final spell to return her to the life she wants…!”

Melanie opened her eyes slowly, unaware of the two tears that stained each cheek. The world that greeted her was alien and new, huge and vast. She had felt it through her entire speech, the universe spreading out wider and further apart as her body shrank in size. A cold horror clung to her shoulders as she sat there, perched atop the highest book and gazing into the pool-sized bowl of wine. There had been no shimmer of magic or twinkle of mysticism; no signs at all that the potion had mutated.

Yet, still unbothered by this change of perspective, Melanie only continued to loom over the fluid. Her reflection was equally smaller now, dwindled away as much as she had. Bitter words bubbled to her mind, more attacks against herself, but a sigh dusted those thoughts away. Mentally and physically, she was numb, with only enough energy in her to begin the trek down the staircase of books.

Returning to the solid, cold floor had only made Melanie dizzier. The exhaustion she felt from the transformation only added to the injuries she took from her wrestle with Paige. All at once, she was beginning to feel how weak she was. It scared her, running shivers down her spine as she quietly approached Adrian, there at the bottom where she had left her.

“Adrian… Y-You look beautiful…” Melanie awed the sight, only cursed by how her vision was fading. She took to her knees, overlooking Adrian’s still body. She gently touched her shoulders, a finger moving one strand of brown hair away. The smile growing on Melanie’s face immediately faded when she looked to Adrian’s leg, twisted and hurt. Melanie blamed herself, knowing it had been her responsibility to keep Adrian sheltered.

She wouldn’t be able to do that now, not when they were the same size. A final flicker of a smile graced Melanie’s expression as she slumped down beside Adrian. Keeping her eyes locked on her obsession, she cherished this moment. It was as though neither of them were tiny, as if none of the spellbook’s powers had been unleashed. They were normal, almost.

“Together…” Melanie closed her eyes, finding her arm already curled underneath her head. Without realizing it, one blink had sentenced her to a silent slumber.

 

The atmosphere was thick. It was hot and thick, and difficult to breathe. Adrian twitched, her eyes starting to open up to the red world that surrounded her. She jolted awake, realizing she was actually submerged. She gasped for air, then covered her mouth, only then understanding that it wasn’t in the way of her breathing. She was floating, abandoned in a sea that reeked of alcohol.

There was a beat, a rhythm. Just like her, it was submerged, a soundwave that fought against the water successfully. Every beat could be heard, mustering small waves that washed over her. Following the bass was always an itching, rustling sound. By noise alone, Adrian felt how familiar this place was. The mysteries hiding it only made it more clear that she had returned to this dream, or nightmare, and from there, she knew what to look out for -- what to fear.

Ahead of her, she saw it again. The giant heart of hairs. It pulsated with life, just like the organ would do, generating the sound Adrian continued to endure. Veins and arteries equally as hairy branched into the heart’s vaults, but where they lead off to from there was unknown. A darkness encircled the flood of what had to be wine, limiting the space to only the heart, and Adrian.

Adrian… Adrian…” A ghostly voice was reaching her, mixed into the beating of the heart. Unmistakably, the voice, too, came from that horrific sight in front of her, repeating her name incessantly. What did it want? Who was this? Adrian wondered these questions, but she felt that whatever answer awaited her could only be reached one way.

She approached the heart in a drift, not needing to swim or walk, but simply pulled there. As she did, her name became more clearly stated. “Adrian…” She moved closer and closer still, awing at how massive this heart actually was. From afar, it hadn’t seemed so intimidating, but now its rhythm was epic and loud, its throbbing could be felt from how close she was nearing.

But Adrian felt a need to get closer still. A hesitant arm was placed upon the organ’s wall, meeting the uncomfortable texture of soaked hair. Her fingers clenched, grabbing at a chunk of hair and revealing just how loose every strand was. When she pulled her hand away, so did she unlodge a chunk of hair that draped over her wrist if it didn’t float off into the nothingness. Adrian shook her hand clean, but the discomfort wasn’t enough to dissuade her. “Adrian…

“What?!” Adrian shouted, her anger spontaneously peaked. “What do you want?! H-How do you know me, a-and who--?!”

Adrian… Adrian…” The voice wasn’t that unfamiliar, but it was filtered and strange. Adrian had a theory, but it only riled her confusion more, for only then did she ask herself, Where the hell am I? The library, Paige, and the cure -- these facts circled her thoughts, but not a detail came to mind to explain what this was supposed to be.

There was no where else to go, so Adrian braced herself, then pushed into the wall of hair. She winced past the tangles that grabbed at her face, ripping her legs through knots and ignoring the itching that immersed her. The voice was muffled now, but she was getting closer, something she could sense even in the blackness of the heart’s inside.

The hair finally gave way, and Adrian found herself in a new space, occupied almost entirely by a gigantic form -- a person, standing huge and tall, afloat in the same fluid. Adrian hovered a distance away, lingering at a level equal to their chest, which was as exposed as the rest of the feminine body. Only when she looked up to the giant’s face did she recognize them as Scarlet, who returned the look of awe with a bitter glare.

“S-Scarlet…?!” Adrian asked, clinging to the hope that she could even be heard.

Scarlet rose her head up even higher, her gaze weighing heavy on the tiny figure. “That’s not my name,” she groaned hauntingly. A hand was raised, just beneath Adrian. She swam up, trying to avoid the grasp, but the lunge was far too quick to dodge. Caught in Scarlet’s fist, she felt her body dragged upwards at an alarming speed, halting suddenly just in front of the huge face.

But it was no longer Scarlet looking down at Adrian, nor was she the one holding her. When Adrian’s vision caught up with her new position, she instead saw Kimberly. She was trapped in her hand now, no more pleasant than her previous captor.

“Kimberly…! K-Kim--” Adrian was choked out of speaking as Kimberly’s grip tightened.

This is what it’s come to,” Kimberly explained, her voice distorted and low, unlike her usual motherly charm. “We must do this.

“No! W-What do you even m-mean?!” Adrian fought through the stranglehold on her body to speak up, but Kimberly -- or whatever this was -- refused to listen. She was lifted slightly higher, then thrown down in a rage. Painfully, she twirled through the red water, its thick resistance punishing her for moving so quickly against her own will.

Tossed and turned by the whipping motions, Adrian struggled to recover quickly. When she did, the giantess was upside-down, and had once again shifted forms. Kimberly had been replaced with Nicky, a once friendly face that now looked vile and destructive. Disbelieving this, Adrian corrected her sense of gravity, but it did nothing to relieve her of the betrayal hanging high above.

Nicky’s expression was terrifyingly indifferent as she lifted her right foot up into the air. If a shadow could be cast in such a dim world, it would have surrounded where Adrian floated. “This is good,” Nicky bellowed. “We need to get rid of you.

“P-Please… W-What’s this about…?!” Adrian panicked. She tried to move, but now, at the worst of times, that ability was gone. She could only squirm and thrash as the wine around her held her in place. Tears began pouring from her eyes, “W-Why?! I-I didn’t ask for this…! Why do you hate me?! Why, why, why?!?”

“Hate…” Another voice, and so crisp and normal. It stung, and Adrian wished that it would have returned to such a distorted tone like the others. She wished that the voice wasn’t so ordinary, so graceful, so much like Erin’s.

“Hate... “ so that voice repeated once more, beckoning Adrian to marvel at what was above her. Erin stood in Nicky’s place, towering above Adrian much taller than any of the others had. She was massive without contrast, and her one foot, suspended where it had been, was as wide as the moon -- and it was growing, approaching.

“No…!! Erin!!” Adrian cried, her tears becoming small clouds of bubbles as they mixed into the wine. She trembled, feeling the gravity of that gigantic foot coming closer, and she begged the question once more in a scream, “Why…?!”

The sky kept crashing, slow and unrelentless on its path of devastation. Above that apocalypse, Erin gave an honest answer to Adrian, with words that grappled Adrian’s core, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE.”

Adrian screamed into the void that rushed towards her from above. Her voice rattled nothing, it affected nothing. The world had turned against her. The cruel world, absent of love and mercy and pity, had condemned her to be swallowed into the lowest pit it could create. The world wished to abandon her, to tribute her and rid the world of her corrupting presence. Adrian screamed into the void as it collapsed over her in an earth-shattering collision, screaming into the sole of Erin’s foot as it cast its judgement over her.

But she wasn’t crushed. The foot fell onto her and absorbed her, revealing that it was not flesh, but hair. An endless bush of hair that she couldn’t swim away from, her resistance only entangling her limbs tighter, punishing her for trying to escape. This was her fate; she shouted in refusal, but her plea reached no one. It was muffled into the hair, preventing even an echo of herself to respond back. It was worse than being killed instantly like she had imagined, worse in how pathetic and trapped she felt, permanently bound to a mess of fuzz that slowly, slowly strangled her.

“Someone…! I-I’m… I’m stuck…!” Adrian whined -- she was too entangled now to move her arms or legs. Her breathing was hectic and unpatterned, inhaling loose debris of hair and gagging as a result. Through her coughing, she continued to cry, “Help me… Help…! I-I can’t be alone…! I can’t stand it…! Please, anyone…!”

Adrian…” Her eyes shot open. Someone was calling to her. Again. “Adrian… Adrian…” Her name continued to be said, and each time, Adrian looked to a new direction. She couldn’t pinpoint the source, but eerily, she was gradually comprehending who this voice was.

“Hello?!” Adrian yelled out, finding the energy to move, only for the forest of hair to grapple her again. She groaned, “Hello?! Someone! Please…!”

But the voice was growing distant, or perhaps just weaker. Adrian spasmed, dreading that she’d be abandoned once again. Regardless of how the ropes of hair burned at her skin in how tightly they held her, she pushed onward. She clawed through the barriers, tearing down chunks of hair in waves, and eventually scratching off those that kept her bound. Savagely, she broke free, and she climbed through the hair, following the quiet trail of her name.

Adrian’s fist pierced through a veil of hair and into an empty space. Was this another vault of the heart she was in? Somehow, it resonated with her, that this was the center of everything. Desperate to find resolve in this nightmare, she dug even faster, prying her way out into the chamber -- and to awe at its secret.

“Melanie…?” Adrian named the figure that she saw correctly, despite how the woman was clothed in tight, restrictive hairs. She was suspended in this chamber by a web of dark threads which covered her almost entirely. Only her head and neck remain exposed, hanging so low that her own black hair meshed into what wrapped around her.

Adrian crawled to her, only hesitating when she was within range to reach her. She heard from her that same voice, the same name, “Adrian…” It had become so weak now, a mutter that left her lips out of habit. “Adrian… Adrian…

Her eyes opened with a dim life. The soul that she had been crying out for was standing before her, no longer the size of a doll, but as equals. Adrian felt the chill of this moment, to once again meet Melanie without the conditions of the curse. Melanie was a human, fragile and flawed; no longer the goddess that controlled seemingly everything. Indeed, she controlled nothing now. She was trapped in the same twisted reality that Adrian was swimming through.

Adrian cautiously stood up, inching even closer to her. She peered underneath the hair that masked Melanie’s face, but when that failed to reveal an expression, she found herself brushing the hair aside. With a tender touch, her hands then hugged Melanie by the cheeks, raising her head gently so that she could look deep into her weary eyes.

Adrian…?” A small touch of life appeared in Melanie’s droning tone. She blinked, her vision putting together the picture of Adrian before her. “It’s you… Adrian…

“M-Melanie--” Adrian’s voice cracked, unsure of how to speak to her. So many thoughts raced and feuded against one another, to come to a decision, but nothing was logical here. She shivered, finding more things to ask, “W-Where are we…? What’s happened?! P-Paige was a-asking for the book, and Scarlet and the others, th-they--” She stopped, feeling a life drain into her palms. Melanie was falling unattentive, dwindling in consciousness. Adrian abandoned those questions, and she tightened her hold on Melanie’s head. “Melanie! What… What do we do…? How do we escape…?”

A sluggish blink spoke on Melanie’s behalf, and its answer was despairing. There wasn’t an escape from this that she knew of. Feeling the dismay in Adrian’s fingers, Melanie forced the energy to speak, “It’s… only just us…

Adrian trembled. The gravity of their loneliness settled in. The red glow that had seeped into this deep chamber of the heart had began to fade, succumbing to shadows. The humidity thinned and in its place was an unsettling, empty cold.

She adjusted Melanie’s head as it began to topple down again. She kept a firm look into Melanie’s eyes, even as they blinked at a dying pace. In those green orbs, she saw callouses. This crippling cold of loneliness wasn’t foreign to her -- it was native. This depressing, claustrophobic world was the world of Melanie, manifested as a nightmarish sinkhole made of the darkness she herself had cultivated, and despaired to. The web of hair hadn’t entangled her, she had used it as a defense, to seal herself away in a sanctuary of torment. This wasn’t the spellbook’s doing. It was years and years, a lifetime even, of Melanie shrinking deeper into her own distrust to the outside. Illuminating this cavernous realm had been only one hope, a singular person that had inspired Melanie to embrace the real world. Adrian was the lone glimmer in Melanie’s emerald eyes, but that light was disappearing. The space between her and Adrian was expanding into a fog of nothing.

“Melanie… You’ve been here for so long, haven’t you…?”

… Yes…

“There’s a world waiting for you to live in, Melanie. You can be free, and you can be warm without this.”

No… There’s… so much hate. The world… it hates, it hates so much--

“Your love can overcome it. There’s love deep inside of you, Melanie. I can feel it… Beneath my hands, and under all this hair… I can feel a powerful love.”

It’s horrible… A disgusting love… A tainted emotion… that I’ve reserved for you… It’s a poison. You’ve been infected. It’s ruined you.

“You’re wrong, Melanie. Love doesn’t do that. It enables, it empowers -- it reshapes the world around you. That’s the ability you have. That we have, together.”

You’ll hate it… You’ll hate what’s inside of me…! Just like everyone else… Just like myself…!

“I’ve seen that light inside of you. You and I… We’ll unlock our love to the world. We’ll reshape it.”

Adrian grabbed at a wrap of hair that circled just under her neck, then pulled. She ripped it apart, threads snapping in bursts until finally a handful of hair had been torn off. There was still another layer, perhaps another beneath that, but in some small cracks, weaving through the tangles, was a glow. A yellow shine of something buried deep within Melanie’s cocoon.

She tore at the hair again, and then again. Both hands stripped away layers of hair, her fingers finding the weakest parts and starting from there. Gradually, she was deteriorating the tomb encasing Melanie. Everytime a new layer was unveiled, she would rip into it again and again, regardless of how much opposed her.

Melanie had closed her eyes to Adrian’s actions. She wanted her to cease and finally give in, like she herself had so long ago. But when she opened them again, a shining light surprised her. Emanating from her center, where Adrian had the most success in digging away at the hair, were rays of light that pierced through the weakening barriers. Melanie inhaled like it was the first breath she had taken in years.

“Adrian…! This isn’t supposed to happen…! I’ve given up on love, I’ve given up on this disgusting world…! I’m not ready… I’m not prepared to be exposed again…!”

“I know you aren’t,” Adrian said, “but it’s time for us to move forward. We have to.” And, she smiled at Melanie. “I’ll have you. You’ll have me. Together.”

With that word, Adrian clawed off a wide spread of the hair that held Melanie. Her torso had been freed, but where there was meant to be skin, there was only a body made of light. A strong light, that beamed outward with warmth and clarity. It struck at the creeping darkness like a saber, warding it away. Melanie awed at what was inside of her, and so did Adrian, who was able to peer within and see the destiny they could make for themselves.

Adrian placed her hand against the body, but it phased into Melanie when she did. It was a portal, an escape. Was it? Adrian believed it to be, believing it when she looked to Melanie once more before pushing herself inside the infinite glow.

 

The floor was hard and the air was stagnant. Adrian flinched when she stretched her neck and felt these details, groggily trying to reposition herself away from such discomforts. She lifted her head, her vision was still unclear. She moved her leg-- “Ahhg! Shit!” she sparked, a blood-boiling pain jetting up her system. She hadn’t remembered that her leg had been shattered, becoming a painful weight that would have to be dragged. At the very least, that shock of pain had been an effective alarm, and all of Adrian’s senses had whipped back into place.

Yet it still took moments to adjust to her surroundings, to even grasp them. It was the massive boiler that clued her in as to where she had been taken, striking her as just vaguely familiar until she recalled having seen it before, when Erin was tied to it. This meant she was still in Anders Library, but what did that even mean? Flooding back to her were glimpses of the recent past -- being pinned and held hostage, Paige and Melanie squabbling over the spellbook, the collapse of the bookcase, and finally, Paige’s grasp. Blank pages after that left her confused and in need of more answers.

In front of her was a structure, a staircase made of books that lead to the rim of a bowl. It had been so neatly constructed that, in her daze, she hadn’t even comprehended what small items formed it. As she acknowledged the books and the bindings that faced her, she then saw a shadow laying on the floor, right in front of the first step.

Adrian approached in a crawl, unsure of who it could be. Hovering over the lump of a body, she gasped; it was Melanie, unconscious and, more importantly, no longer titanic in size. They were the same size, both no bigger than dolls. It was startling to accept at first, but very quickly did Adrian feel like she had expected this. She reached to touch Melanie, to test if she was awake, but nearing too close jolted her system. For her, it didn’t feel as though it had been so long since they had seen each other like this, at the same level and size.

Melanie wasn’t stirring, and Adrian wondered if that was even the right thing to do. Nothing around her was conclusive of how that fight between the two giantesses had ended. If Melanie was tiny, then did that imply Paige had won? But if Paige had won, why would she leave them together here? Scarlet and the others were nowhere to be seen. In the room, there was only her, Melanie, and the bowl.

It had to be answered, that burning question in Adrian’s heart. Toughing through the agony in her leg until it was fully ignored, Adrian climbed up each step of the makeshift staircase until she had reached its top. She crawled across the flat cover of the final novel until she could look into the crater-sized bowl. As she neared closer, she discovered just how little of the potion remained, even questioning if any still remained. Some did, a bath’s worth relative to the shrunken women, but a far cry from how much Melanie once wielded in the spray bottle.

Ultimately, it would be enough for Adrian, if she decided to bathe in the wine. It struck a chord within her, that this could be what Melanie designed. She looked down the staircase, back to where she had left Melanie. Pieces of this puzzle were coming together to form an eerie predicament. If what she was theorizing was indeed true, then Melanie had created a cure; she had bested and shrunk Paige, then sacrificed herself as the final victim needed to mutate the potion.

But there was the possibility that she was incorrect. In fact, that was the stronger of the two possibilities. After all, how could a cure be made when the dilemma they faced had never been solved? Melanie hadn’t obtained the necessary chant for finalizing the cure, a detail so crippling for Adrian that she had nearly killed herself upon learning it. If this wasn’t a cure, then it was just the potion, and Adrian had witnessed already what became of those who were targeted twice by the curse.

A void encapsulated Adrian in this decision. Outside the walls of this abandoned boiler room existed nothing. Reality had ceased, so it seemed, as she was left at the split of two uncertain fates. Melanie didn’t have the chant, so a cure couldn’t be possible, yet everything was arranged the way it were. Did Melanie remember the chant? Or did she guess? Did she even chant at all? Or was this a sinister ploy to trick her into shrinking herself? She remained there, paralyzed, at the lip of the bowl.

Adrian gazed at the remaining pool of the potion. Doubts attacked her from all sides, enflaming her anxieties. Every avenue seemed wrong, so she stared at the wine in thought. It sat so tranquil and still, as if time had frozen. She could sit there forever, she thought, just like yesterday, when her and Melanie gazed into that lake where they had abandoned Candi’s car.

That entire night played back in her mind. She remembered Melanie and everything she had said. She remembered Melanie explaining her obsessive personality, how her love for Adrian blossomed and became so vital to her, a part of her. She remembered everything Melanie had done for her, all the ordeals she faced, just to keep a destiny of themselves tied together. Melanie’s love had been impossible to comprehend, but it was refined and genuine. Melanie truly did see nothing in the world but her.

And now, Adrian saw nothing in the world, too. She crawled forward until she tumbled down the slope of the bowl. A cure would be a cure, and a curse would be a curse -- in the end, magic would be embraced.

An unflattering splash. Adrian rolled into the wine, attacked instantly by its scent. The deep inhale she had just taken was immediately shaken out of her as a series of shivers tickled her skin. Her heart drummed with uncertainty, but her brain was mute with a gray acceptance. She squirmed in the fluid, positioning her leg as to not be in so much pain, but before long, that would be the least of her physical concerns.

A sickness, one that was all too memorable, had smacked her. She groaned reflexively, reliving a ghastly sensation that she had only experienced once before. As though a stake were impaling her head and drilling to her chest, as though a fire was biting at her flesh. It was just like before, just like that fateful night. Adrian’s eyes flashed open, then tightly closed -- Dear god, no, she feared, I couldn’t be wrong… I couldn’t…

Whines turned into groveling. The sharp pains of her shattered leg mattered not to her anymore as she flung about in the potion, gripping at the slick sides of the bowl as best as she could. She wanted to stand, but it wouldn’t make a difference. She had decided, and she reminded herself of her own resolve. She reminded herself of Melanie’s devotion.

In Adrian’s chest, her heart thumped in heavy, slow beats. Between each pump was an absence of life, allowing a cold to fill her body before the next wave of blood refueled her, only to leave again. The heat grew hotter, her headache intensified.

Adrian opened one eye, hesitant to see how the world was changing. She first saw her hand, and she saw where it was, on the edge of the bowl.

She gasped, and quickly flipped to her other side. The bowl was filled with her, the puddle of a potion had since dwindled compared to her. There was no other description: she was growing.

No celebration could be enjoyed as lightning-like pains coursed through her system. She grew bigger and bigger, outgrowing the bowl and forced to flop out of it ungracefully. She wailed, suddenly hit by the pain of her leg, and her breathing only became more frantic and shrill. One last twist allowed her to be laid on her back, staring deep into the cobwebs at the ceiling. She forced herself to reel in her panting, putting a hand over her heart and biting her lip to better press forward through the struggle. She winced, clutching the cloth of her doll-designed shirt, wishing she could manipulate her crazed heart herself.

Finally, there was a sign of relief. The spasms slowed, then ceased. A long, winded exhale dismissed a fraction of her anxieties, but her head remained feeling light and imbalanced. She wanted to raise her head, but her body was slow to awaken. In truth, she was afraid of moving, afraid to engage with a world that had just earlier felt so imposing and huge, but now felt fragile and compact. Adrian could barely comprehend the sensation, much like how little she understood about any of this, but there was no question about one matter.

Melanie had made a cure.

 

The future was as bleak as the setting for the tiny women Melanie had left behind in the library. Huddled close together on an empty shelf, nothing could be said for certain of their fates. They had gambled on Paige, believing her when she promised to find a cure, to rescue them. All of them had been pawns, they had realized at their own pace, and worst of all, she had lost. While they were bound to the limits of the shelf, Paige was trapped under the minimal space of a single coffee mug, left alone on the floor where she had been vanquished.

Scarlet hadn’t left Kimberly’s side. Both sat quietly together in one corner of the bookcase, imagining what remained of their lives while Chloe tried to tend to Bradz’s wounds as best as she could. Melanie had left not a hint of what her plan was, effectively abandoning them. They would starve, most likely, if insanity didn’t puppet them into killing themselves or each other first. Only a miracle was going to save them, as far as they could see.

But the sound of the boiler room door opening piqued hope, as much as it did concern. Scarlet rose to her feet instantly, but Chloe was the first to peer around the wall in anticipation of the arrival. Small tremors helped described the gait; a hard footfall always followed by another being dragged the same distance, producing an uncomfortable rhythm that neared closer and closer.

Chloe fell backwards and scrambled back as a massive face came into view. She gasped, and the others awed in just as much amazement. They had expected Melanie, but they had never seen this giantess before, even as recognizable as she was.

Adrian’s eyes dazzled at the sight, finally having found where Melanie had stored her collection. Her mouth trembled to open, but it was Scarlet to be the first to speak; “Adrian! Adrian, y-you’re huge!”

“She’s normal,” Kimberly corrected in the midst of her marveling. “She’s… cured.

Adrian smiled and chuckled, hesitant to speak. There was little more she knew to say after Kimberly’s remark. In some disbelief, she examined herself again, just to reassure herself that she had grown back to normal, if the shrunken women in front of her wasn’t evidence enough.

“Can we be cured?!” Chloe asked, bolting to the question. “I-If she can become normal, th-then a cure exists…! W-We can go back to normal!”

“There is a cure,” Adrian finally said, her voice quiet and reserved. “Somehow… it was made. Melanie found a way.”

Scarlet fell hard to her knees, washing her palms over her face again and again. It had to be a dream, she figured. After all this time, having been trapped in such a pathetic body and tortured, there was finally an escape. She could return to her life, perhaps forever scarred by the event, but anything was better than what she had experienced. Tears filled her eyes, and she feared that she would have a heart attack tragically before reclaiming her true size.

Scarlet laughed. “So she was being honest, huh!” she said. “She did make you a cure… Thank fucking god, we’re… we’re free! We’re free from that asshole! That freak! It’s… I-It’s over! It’s over! I can see my sister again, a-and the sorority, my--”

Adrian hummed, quietly intercepting Scarlet’s praising. Her smile persisted. “It’s not the end.”

The boiler room door creaked again, and a different rhythm of footsteps approached where Adrian stood.

 

Chapter Twenty-Two by Curse Crazy
Author's Notes:

The finale to Endless is here. To everyone who has made it this far, thank you! Thank you for venturing this far into my story. Your patience has been truly appreciated, especially for those who have waited for this story to unfold, chapter after chapter, as they have been uploaded. The feedback I've received while writing Endless has inspired me greatly. It's why I'm taking this time now, before the ending begins, to unveil my next step forward as a giantess content creator and as an erotic author.

I'm heartthumpingly excited to announce a Patreon! My desire is to write more for the size fetish community and to expand my reaches as an online writer. With the support of my readers, I can bring more than just a chapter to Endless once a month. I can invest more time to writing other projects even faster; I can write for the community's wants and bring quality content to everyone; I can develop a community! Kind of scary, but that's how I do things...

Please visit patreon.com/cursecrazy to see all the details.  Starting at $2 a month, my supporters will see my newest content first before it's posted anywhere else, including some patreon-exclusive content. I'm still building up a catalogue of content to include within the patreon, but I intend to upload a short giantess/giant male story that I've written previously as a more immediate bonus. And, in the near future, patrons will be the first to see the start of my newest project... At the end of the chapter, you can learn more!

Once again, thank you to all my readers. I humbly ask that you follow me on social media: it's a totally free and fun way to stay in reach of me as I continue into more projects. Chat with me! I'd love to open up a bit more and have a better place to communicate than the reviews section...

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Twitter: twitter.com/cursecrazy

Patreon: patreon.com/cursecrazy

 

 


 

“It’s been a harrowing November for the Northview area as a long string of kidnappings has haunted the community. It was late October when Scarlet Cruz was reported missing, the first of what would become several kidnappings that were conducted over the course of those next few weeks. Police found themselves with little evidence to guide them, simply encouraging the town to stay safe and wary. But just last week, a breakthrough was made in the case. Channel 5 news reports with the full story.

“Plainston police were, in their own words, ‘astonished’ when Adrian Green and Melanie Hearts hobbled into their doors. Adrian was the third of the mostly-young women that had been kidnapped, and Melanie was almost added to that list. They had appeared far from their college lives at Northview, but both were grateful to have found anyone willing to help.

According to Melanie, she had been approached at her apartment by Candice May, a detective brought onto the suspected kidnappings case that was asking about the missing women. The conversation lead the two outside to Candice’s car, where an unknown attacker pushed Melanie into the back of the vehicle and had her tied up.

“She was taken to an unknown location -- presumably a farm or factory far north of town, based on what few details the women saw -- where she was locked into a makeshift cell, joining fellow college student Adrian in the cramped space. By using a pocket knife Melanie kept stowed on her person, the two were fortunately able to break out of their bonds and make for an escape. But breaking past their attackers wasn’t easy. Both women suffered a range of injuries, with Adrian crippled by a blow to her right leg.

“The two managed to wrestle away from their attackers and reach a vehicle; by chance, the keys were still in the ignition. In the chaos, they quickly crashed through a wired fence, where the women had to continue on foot. Through the cold night and deep into the wilderness, Adrian and Melanie evaded their kidnappers, and eventually found a road that took them to civilization. Upon reaching police, both were admitted into the emergency room to be treated.

“Since then, both women have answered to police questioning with similar stories of being approached by detective Candice May just before being kidnapped. Unfortunately, authorities have been unable to locate Candice May, and have since issued a warrant for her arrest. Authorities advise all of people to report any relevant information they may have, and to continue being cautious while out on the streets.

“The Green and Hearts families, at least, are relieved to have their daughters returned to them. They have chosen to lay low from the media, but have openly wished well for the other families of victims yet found, hoping that Melanie and Adrian’s tale can inspire confidence and hope amidst the chaos and conf--”

The screen flashed to black and its audio fell silent. A remote clacked against a glass table, traded out for a tall bong. A fire was flicked and brought near the bowl; a deep inhale, a cough, and then bubbly laughter.

“Wasn’t that hit mine…?”

“Yeah,” Juniper giggled, “fuck… It was. It so was.”

Juniper sat up into a better sitting position along the couch, carrying the bong over to the end table. All of her movements were sluggish, yet Nicky was still late to notice what had been offered to her. Just like her giant companion, she moved like a sloth, eventually reaching the lip of the bong and putting her head up to its hole where a light, leftover smoke rose from within. She inhaled, pushed the lip away, then exhaled a fume of smoke from her mouth before toppling backwards.

The entire time, Juniper watched with enthusiastic interest. She was terribly jealous of her friend and her ability to take monster-sized hits, even if it was barely a fraction of just one moderate pull, but the joy Nicky received was contagious. Juniper laughed alongside her, gently setting the bong back onto the coffee table for later.

Juniper reclined with a long stretch, her limbs spread out in an X-shape to fully embrace the freedom she now had. Although little of the apartment physically changed, the whole space felt so much nicer after Melanie had moved out. It was only that thought that sent a chill through her otherwise relaxed body, remembering how unexpected and frightening it was to hear from her after that night. It was a few days later when she was texted by her that she’d be moving out, still willing to pay rent until the lease was over but otherwise leaving the whole place to her. Later that day, with no fanfare included, Melanie arrived and moved all of her belongings out. The entire time, Juniper locked herself into her room alongside Nicky.

“She’s sort of like a celebrity now,” Nicky commented, the news broadcast from before still lingering on her mind. “A little hero…”

“Yeah…” Juniper nodded and bit her lip.

“And Adrian… What the fuck, dude…”

“I dunno, Nicky, legit…” She cast a glance towards her shrunken friend. “Soo… I guess there’s… a cure or something. Uh, d-did you--”

“Nah,” Nicky giggled, “living like this is… pretty good. You don’t mind, for real, right?”

“Watching over you?” Juniper grinned as she sat forward, leaning on the arm of the couch to hang over Nicky. “You’re good, dude. You’re so good! It’s like I got a smoking buddy everywhere I go. Yeah man, yeah, it’s no big deal.”

“No, no, i-if it’s a problem--”

“Stop it~!” Juniper silenced Nicky by petting her head with a single digit. Immediately, she awed at the touch. “You are so soft, Nicky! Oh my god, you are so soft…”

Nicky was tickled pleasantly, even pushing her head against the tip of the finger as a way to ask for more. “You’re like, massaging my soul, keep it up please~”

“You got it, dude, don’t gotta tell me twice.”

“Hey, lemme take another hit--”

“So greedy…!”

 

It had been a long trip, but the red SUV was finally pulling into the driveway outside the middle-class house. Bright blue walls were just the beaming background to a lovely front yard, decorated with a garden along one side leading up to the front door as well as small stone statues of playing angels surrounding a bird bath. Chirping songs quietly occupied the air as the car was turned off and the doors opened to the environment of a gated neighborhood.

“That next appointment is Tuesday, right, dear?” Adrian’s mother turned in the driver’s seat to look at the passengers in the back. She looked so much like Adrian, but matured -- slightly taller, but short hair and some spots of age on her face.

“Yeah,” Adrian groaned. “All this driving around is making me sick, though. I’m gonna need another doctor just for my doctor visits.”

“Would you rather walk?” her mother joked as she stepped out of the vehicle. Beside her, from the passenger seat, a large man with a stoic demeanor stepped out as well -- Adrian’s father -- and opened the backdoor behind him. He offered a hand to his daughter, wincing at the cast that covered her entire right leg. He still wasn’t used to seeing his child like this.

“Ha, nice one, Mom. Maybe next month, if what they said was true…” Adrian shook her head, wanting to dismiss the issue. She gratefully took her father’s hand and used him as a support to get standing, where from there she could equip her crutches. Her father smiled at how well she could handle herself, but remained by the doors, peering inside at the last one within.

“Don’t tell me you’re still scared of ol’ me,” the father teased, his mustache hiding the little grin he was able to produce. “You should feel at home here, Melanie. We owe you so much.”

Melanie nervously giggled at the comment. “S-S-Sorry,” she squeaked, edging out of the backseats and towards the door opened for her. “I-It still feels like… t-too much, to take me in like this…”

“Oh, honey,” Adrian’s mom chuckled, having joined Adrian’s side to ensure she was safe walking up to the patio. “It’s the least we can do! Northview is dangerous. We couldn’t leave you stranded there. Especially after all you did for our daughter.” She felt a look aim at her from Adrian, tickling an apology out of her; “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want me bringing that up…”

Adrian laughed it off. “It’s only until her mom comes back to their home from business. O-Or maybe a little longer, i-if she has to. Who knows?”

“Melanie is welcome to stay with us as long as she’d like!” her mother said. “Just make sure to keep your, err, personal business to your bedroom. We don’t want to see that going on anymore than you want to see me and your dad going at it--”

Ew, mom! Thanks!” Adrian rushed forward, at least as fast as she could hobble in her cast, to try and make some playful distance between her and her mom. This was how her mother was with all of her relationships, always so teasing. “Melanie, c’mon! Before one of them says something even worse.”

Melanie nodded, but before following Adrian up to the door, she stopped to bow her head to Adrian’s parents. “Th-Thanks again…!” She followed after Adrian, helping her stay balanced going up the wooden steps and offering to open the door.

From the vehicle, Adrian’s mother and father watched the two. She leaned into his shoulder and tenderly stroked his stomach. “So, opinions on her?” she asked, biting for just a tiny bit of gossip. “I hope Adrian is taking this all well. Dating the person that rescued her…”

The father shrugged, wrapping an arm around his wife’s waist. “She’s no Erin, but Adrian’s an adult. A passionate one, too. I trust that she knows what she’s doing.”

 

Adrian was panting by the time she entered her bedroom, quickly dropping herself onto her long, neatly-kept bed. The crutches were discarded as she could finally relax. “I used to love… having a room on the second floor…” She wiped her brow. “And then I got a cast…”

Melanie came in after her, making sure to close and lock the door, just like her usual habit insisted. “I-I can help anyway I can,” Melanie said. “If you ever need something downstairs, o-or need me to help you get somewhere, I-I can--”

“You’re sweet, Melanie,” Adrian cooed. “Sorry, I’m just grumpy. I’ve never liked hospitals and doctors’ offices.”

“You wouldn’t have to visit them so much if it weren’t for me,” Melanie sulked. “I was so careless… I--”

“Hey. That’s enough, sweetie. Hey, come here.” Adrian lured Melanie in with a gesture from her finger. Melanie obediently approached, her smile increasing as she got closer. Adrian motioned for her to lean in, then met her halfway with a kiss onto her lips. When both separated, bouts of giggles threatened to take over their blushing expressions. “That makes me feel better.”

“I-It makes me feel better, too…” Melanie touched her own lips, savoring the moment, though it was now one of possibly hundreds she had shared with her girlfriend. Girlfriend, she thought to herself, she really is… w-we really are… girlfriends…!

Adrian could tell what she was thinking, and she adored it. She had come to appreciate how much this woman wanted her, how much she craved her. The more she currently thought of that obsession, the warmer she began to feel, until her fingers were coiling into the bed sheet enticingly.

“Hey,” Adrian spoke up, “let’s play…”

Melanie bit her lip, excitement filling her. It was her favorite time of the day, and she was more than happy to hear that Adrian couldn’t wait any longer, either. She moved to the dresser across the bed and opened the top drawer, where from within she withdrew a shoebox. Somewhat carefully, she brought the box down to the left of Adrian and revealed its contents.

Adrian peered within, her smile becoming warmer. “Hello, ladies~” Adrian sang. “Did you all sleep well? Did you get a lot of energy to serve us today?”

Inside the box were four women, three inches tall and imbalanced by their prison being moved through the air. Despite how weary they looked, they were fast to reply to Adrian’s remark. Scarlet nodded frantically, and Kimberly verbally replied as she did much the same. Bradz was quieter, but Chloe was unresponsive -- the only one to remain laying down, begrudgingly moving at all.

“Hey, what’s her issue?” Adrian asked, pointing heavily down onto Chloe. “What’s her name again?”

“Chloe,” Melanie said. “We could change that. Wormslut,” she looked to Scarlet, her glare delivering a wave of shivers to the tiny woman in question, “suggest a name for her.”

“P-Please,” Chloe whimpered, struggling to sit up, “I-I think… I’m n-not feeling well--”

Sit up!” Kimberly urged in whisper, motioning at Chloe to rise. “Answer her!

“Y-Yes…! I-I’m ready--” Before Chloe’s voice could get volume, she was rudely cut off.

“Wormslut! A name! Or else you’re the one that gets punished.” Melanie reaffirmed this, and Adrian nodded in agreement.

Scarlet shivered, looking back and forth between the sick woman and the two massive masters. She stuttered until she spat out a suggestion, “Useless...”

Chloe was agasp that Scarlet would reach such a name, but far more disheartening was the pair of laughs beckoning from above. “That’s a pretty good name!” Adrian remarked. “Useless! That’s pretty accurate for all of you though, isn’t it?”

“It’s good for her,” Melanie giggled. “She is useless. She has a whole family that she completely abandoned so she could become another slave for us. Very useless.”

“No!” Chloe denied it. “I-I’m not--!”

She was hit hard with a slamming drop of spit. Adrian would not tolerate being talked back to, and so she silenced the weak woman by nearly drowning her in saliva. The sight of a grown woman squirming in her spit brought her a sick joy, yet not enough satisfaction.

Useless, that’s all you are,” Adrian reinforced. “And now you’ve gone and made your home wet by being so stubborn. Bradz, kick her.” And so the tiny professor did as instructed with hardly any hesitation. Bradz had little qualms with approaching Chloe while she was pinned by a glob of lukewarm saliva and kicking into her back, multiple times, just to appease her overlords. And not one other tried to stop her, too scared of what else could befall them if they tried to interfere, only observing the grim scene as it played out.

Again, Adrian found herself enjoying the scene play out, but it still wasn’t enough to see Chloe reel from each blow. Melanie sympathized, and so she leaned forward and removed a long, black stocking from her leg. She pinched its toes, not wanting to feel the sweat it had garnered after a long day of wearing them.

“Wormslut, you came up with a good name,” Melanie said, using her freehand to abduct Scarlet from the box. “You get a pass for today.”

But Scarlet knew better than to be relieved. She was being rescued from any number of horrible games, only to be subjected to a different one. Indeed, that was Melanie’s plan, revealed as she brought Scarlet down to the back of her pants. It was pulled back and opened so that Scarlet could be disposed inside the black silk panties, swallowed by the underwear as the elastic was snapped closed.

“Hehe~” Melanie flinched, adjusting her butt’s position as to keep Scarlet tucked away nicely. “She squirms around so much~”

“She probably feels at home,” Adrian joked, stroking a hand across Melanie’s ass. She jumped slightly when she felt the rustling of a person, hidden behind a layer of jeans.

This playfulness reached Melanie, who couldn’t wait any longer to drop her punishment onto the remaining women. She released the stocking into the box, allowing it to drape over the three little bodies. “Dry up with this,” Melanie told them. Her nostrils flared to the scent she had cursed onto them, “Breathe that in. This is your master’s feet you’re being permitted to enjoy.”

“And your other master’s saliva~” Adrian sang. “What luxury! You should be honored! Are you little bumps honored?” In response to her question, the three women appeared to move, struggling under the weight of fabric just as much as they struggled to inhale the smell of Melanie’s foot.

Yet, it wasn’t a good enough response. “Speak up!” Adrian ordered, lifting the box to her lap and shaking it. The women trapped inside were tossed about, further lost under the stocking. If any heads popped out, she would shake it again until the stocking once more blanketed them. All the while, Adrian and Melanie both enjoyed their cries of horror, a dizzying sickness taking over all of them as they hoped their screams would eventually be enough to appease the couple.

Melanie found herself, in all of these sessions, watching less of the tiny victims and their suffering, and more so focused on Adrian. The spark that lit her eyes when she bestowed punishment upon their prisoners brought just as much life to herself. She lived for Adrian’s sadistic giggling, how innocent it sounded to an outsider, but how cruel it truly was underneath it all. Never before had she thought she could love Adrian anymore than she had, but that obsession had ascended to divinity.

It was something Melanie understood, without it ever being said between the two. Adrian was not merely returned to her normal size. She was reborn as a goddess. To her, the world was as huge and as imposing as it had been when she was at its mercy, like the others beneath her now. No longer, however, was she bound to such a pitiful form. She lived in that world as a giant, an unstoppable force that couldn’t be refuted -- just like Melanie had embraced, but with a true appreciation for her own power. She knew how huge she was to the others, she knew how weak they were to her.

And she hated them. These women were all traitors to her. Melanie had shown her how vile the world truly was, and how much power she had always meant to share with her. Together, as goddesses bound by love, they could reclaim that world. They could inflict their love onto it, like a poison that would reshape it to their whims.

For now, however, the goddesses would enjoy the toys they had. Scarlet and the others would appease their desires for a time, until the air outside calmed down and they could explore it again for new additions. The ritual could always be done again, and a potion would surely sprout from it. The fantasy tickled them every night, but they would be patient. There was still so much to enjoy out of the women they had.

“It’s probably time to feed her,” Melanie said. It was only her words that finally brought Adrian’s box shaking to an end, as her interests would be focused elsewhere.

From under the collar of her shirt, Melanie removed a necklace made of a resin-like material. It’s transparency gave a clear look at the pitiful sight within. Trapped in the necklace and worn like jewelry was Paige, as tiny as the other women, but appearing in a state far worse than them. She was suspended upside-down in the case, cramped in a space that allowed no movement. Her legs were brutally tied together as one limb using thin wire, so tightly wrapped that they cut into the flesh. Her skin was pale due to the forbiddance of sunlight, and her ribs and hips were visible from malnourishment. Her freckled face once sported wide glasses, but those were long abandoned, condemning her to a horrific world that she could barely see.

The case opened and the body collapsed out of it and into Melanie’s palm. Paige groaned, the sound of which was a mix of both shaking fear and grateful relief. “Th-Thank you, m-mistresses,” she whimpered loyally -- a trained response. What little movements she made were uncannily slow, on the brink of death as it were.

“It’s time to eat~” Adrian chuckled. “What did we have today, Melanie?”

“We had a late breakfast,” Melanie recalled. “You had the french toast and bacon. We also got coffee later, just before the appointment.”

“Mmm, that was delicious,” Adrian said, a hand holding her cheek in memory. “The toast was so warm and sweet, maybe even too sweet. The bacon though? That was perfect. Not too crispy, but not fatty, perfectly warm. Doesn’t that sound good, Paige?” Adrian lowered her head just over the woman, her coffee-scented breathes washing over her. It was impossible for Paige to not want that taste, to envy that sort of delicious meal, but worse was knowing that she would be given a mockery of that fantasy.

“What a good meal!” Melanie said. “I hope she enjoys it, too. Here, Adrian~”

Adrian opened her mouth wide, exposing the saliva-riddled cavern to Paige. Melanie, in turn, lifted the tiny woman into the maw, pushing her onto the bed-like tongue and forcing her into a pathetic crawl along the hot, slippery surface. It was horrifying to gaze into, the throat of someone so huge that it could swallowed into, yet Paige craved to enter. She did so as fast as her body would allow her, clinging to the tongue as she stretched her neck outward towards her molars.

Gracelessly, Paige feasted on the scraps and grime of what remained in between Adrian’s teeth. Moist sloshes of bread, films of syrup that hugged the white teeth, these were the ingredients Paige was permitted to eat. This was her meal, once a day, the only nutrition she was ever allowed. She ate like a dog, licking up the cracks of the teeth and grabbing at what was stuck to her gums, searching out what parts were most edible and often having to settle for what little turned up. In between mouthfuls of plaque, she would down handfuls of saliva, ingesting the spit as her only means of drinking water.

“Feed her, too,” Melanie spoke into Adrian’s open mouth. This rose a giggle from Adrian, a bellowing noise that shook Paige. “Remember what Adrian said. If you let the dean die, things will only get worse for you.”

Paige’s meal was interrupted by this threat, and she quickly -- quickly as she could -- made sure to allow her own necklace-donned woman to dine on the same disgust. Wrapped around her neck was Coatler, shrunken so small that she was indistinguishable from another speck of food in Adrian’s mouth, having been shrunken further than the others after Paige had been cursed as her possession. Her fate mirrored Paige’s almost exactly, though Melanie and Adrian found little they could do to the dust-sized woman without outright killing her. Instead, the responsibility was put onto Paige, a considerably more fun game to play than finding some meteoric method to destroy the belittled dean.

Adrian, all the while, hummed in delight as she felt her teeth being cleaned. Her healthy leg shivered under some of Paige’s heaviest touches, her gums still sensitive to the little limbs and that hungry tongue. Eat more, eat more! she wanted to encourage. You’re a parasite that I allow to live! Even now, I could completely swallow you on a whim! You’re barely worth any more than the scraps you’re eating!

Her face warmed with a blush, indirectly intensifying the heat Paige and Coatler sweltered in. Melanie took notice of these reactions Adrian had, the way she was tickled and made hot by her own power over her subjects. It was too much to bear alone, Melanie decided, and she tenderly leaned forward until her forehead touched Adrian’s, equally as heated. Both giggled, but it was Adrian to break the symmetry by moving up for a kiss, and another, teasing out Melanie’s tongue until it entangled around her own, and Paige by extension. Their embrace became tighter, their lips connecting more and more passionately while two grown women suffered an apocalyptic, monstrous ordeal between their growing love.

The world around them faded. The bedroom was but an empty universe to them, and time ceased much the same. They were gods, and their romance for each other was an elemental force of that divinity, the source of their penultimate power over everything they could desire. All words were far too human for them to consider accurate enough to best entail this otherworldly experience -- except, perhaps, one word.

“Endless.” This single word was etched into both Melanie and Adrian’s minds as they readied themselves for their new futures together.

 

End Notes:

The end... to Endless. Thank you for everyone for reading my story~ I hope you enjoyed it.

Did it have to end this way? Some are probably asking that... and I wondered the same thing too. Couldn't things have turned out differently? Endless has ended, but it isn't the end. I present... Endless: The Never-Endings~ In a series of short stories, alternate fates to the characters of Endless are explored. Branching off from the main story, perhaps some will find freedom and be rescued from Melanie's torment, or maybe a grimmer fate awaited them after all...

A fun project that my patrons will be the first to experience! The first story will feature Kimberly, as requested by my girlfriend who always believed Kimberly deserved much better. Pledge to my patreon to read it when it uploads, or follow my social media to wait out for when it drops later~

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