With her foot assaulting him from below and her stares penetrating his soul from above Steven didn't know what to do. It was true that Megan would probably gain the brunt of the impact if he just up and and Scott would be abused more than ever. Linda didn't like it when things escaped from her grasp and knowing that a shrinker and an extra $15000 got away would certainly put her in a foul mood.

Jade Grabbed his hand even harder and pulled him forward slightly.

"You know, if you'd agree to be my shrinker then I could guarantee their safety. Nothing would happen to them so long as you did what I said. Isn't your short life not worth the life of your sister"

"What if she moved out with me?"

"You know that wouldn't work. Sure you could support her for a little while but your money would run out very quickly. What's she going to do then? What's she going to do when you shrink away to nothing? Come back and beg to live here again. She wouldn't ever be able to make it out in the real world. No qualifications. No experience. little to no actual intelligence. She has nothing that makes her special." She bent in close to his face. "But if you stay with me" Her lips were coming close to his "I could help her" She pushed his head into hers and passionately kissed him,. Her tongue invading his mouth.

He jumped back from her, wiping his mouth and feeling like he wanted to scream. What the fuck was wrong with her?

"What is wrong with you" His thoughts mirrored his words "We're ... We're brother and sister!"

"Step brother" She took a step closer to him "And step sister" She took another step and was now standing over his trembling body. "There is no blood relation between us. There is nothing wrong with what we could do."

"There is everything wrong with that" he didn't know if she was trying to creep him out or was actually serious about what she was implying. She had lost it in her head. Gone completely insane! She bent down crouching in front of him and leaned in closer until she was inches away from his face.

"I could force you" She whispered. A soft smile across her innocent looking face.

Steven ... couldn't think clearly. His heart was hammering in his chest and his breathing was becoming erratic. Jade pushed herself on top of Steven despite his struggles to push away. Of course he couldn't push away. At this stage of the game she was far stronger than he was. She was about to demonstrate her threat and force him ... Force him ... Force him? Is she going to rape me? he screamed in his head

    This definitely seemed like it as she held both his hands down with one of hers and began to undo his belt buckle. he looked away from her but she immediately forced his head straight. Kissing his neck lovingly she started to pull his belt away when a yell came from the table. Both the siblings looked up and saw a white Scott, tears streaming down his face, as he jumped off the table, rolling on the floor.

"Stop!!" he screamed again, Running up to Jade and attempting to pull at her tight pants. He could barely pull the strap away from her skin but he didn't care. He put all his effort into trying to pull Jade away from his son. She simply laid there staring at Steven for a good 30 seconds before she finally rolled off of him and stood up. Steven massaged his sore wrists and quickly grabbed his belt. He was seconds away from ultimate violation. When he stood up he saw his father hanging by his arm held by Jade. Her expression was distasteful as she looked down at her tiny step father.

"Steven" She looked up at her half brother "Might I offer you a demonstration? A glimpse into the future of your father"

Steven looked at her unable to move. How was she doing this with such little emotion? He knew that she despised Shrinkers and thought of them as nothing but toys to be used and abused but this was something completely different. Her face was filled with clarity and intention as if she knew exactly what she was doing and why. Slowly she started squeezing tighter and tighter on his arm causing him to scream in agony. She was going to break his arm!

"Stop!" Steven rushed towards her, his legs finally working and the fear he felt now being suppressed by the need to act. He jumped for Jade, throwing a fist towards her face, but she simply held out one hand to block it. He threw another and she grabbed his arm, squeezing tightly so that he couldn't escape. She did this all while holding the screaming form of Scott who was punching her arm in an attempt to make her stop. All his effort, however, had absolutely no effect on her.

"Say you'll stay Steven. Stay and be my shrinker. Or I'll kill him right now"

"You can't.!" Steven had to think quickly "What about Linda? She needs him! She would kill you if you do that"

"A slight punishment, yes. But it would be well worth it." She squeezed even harder causing Scott of wail in pain. Hi face rad and his eyes streaming tears. "What is your answer?"

"If you killed him then you'd lose a valuable piece. If he's alive you can use him to threaten me in the future. Torment and cause him pain to force me to stay. But if you kill him then you'd have nothing. I'd have no reason to stay. I wouldn't be able to stay! I'd have to leave. And you wouldn't be able to use him as a bargaining chip"

Jade thought long and hard about what he said. All the while Scott was swinging back and forth by his arm as his face went even more red. Finally she dropped him to the ground and walked back over to the chair. Sitting down she picked up her book and continued reading, acting as if the two shrinkers didn't even exist. Steven could tell she was angry and wouldn't want to disturb her while she was. Looking at Scotts arm he concluded that it wasn't broken but it was sprained somewhat.

Steven tried to walk away from the room but was called back by Jade whom ordered him to give her a foot massage. This was a somewhat strange request and he didn't actually know why she wanted it. Maybe she actually did just want a foot massage but he had a feeling it was to keep him in her line of sight. He had a feeling he was going to be under her surveillance from now on. She was somewhat lucky, however, since he was a massager at the place he worked and so knew how to give quality foot rubs. The only problem was that he didn't want to rub his sister's foot. Especially after what she almost just did.

Digging his hands into her flesh he found that her foot was much firmer than he was used to. Possibly because his shrinking made him much weaker than he used to be and therefore harder to push into her skin. However, it might also be because she was a very athletic person who had strong, tough feet. She did do soccer training so her feet were often put to the test. This theory was clearly affirmed by the pungent odor coming from her soles. It was the smell of an athlete who hadn't had a shower yet. However, as he smelt it he kind of got use to the scent. Being a masseuse forced you to get use to all sorts of smells but this one was innately quite pleasant. 

Shaking his head, Steven quickly got such thoughts out of his mind. A foot is a foot is a foot and this one was just like any others. Sweaty, grimy and filled with toe fluff in between each digit that he had to remove by hand. There was in no way anything pleasant about this foot. As he got into a good massaging groove Jade spoke.

"Steven. If you left I really would be upset. Upset enough to kill your father. And ruin your sister's life. Think about that"

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It was some time later before people returned home in one big heap. As Linda opened the door it felt like a tidal wave was coming through as the kids came rushing in. Clara was coming home from a dancing lesson and Jake was learning guitar and so their timetables matched up fairly well. It appeared Linda also took the time to buy some groceries as she hauled in two large bags through the door, Megan coming up the rear with an additional six bags. Whether they were filled with food, clothes or household appliances, Steven didn't know. All he did know was that Linda had obviously gone on another bloody shopping spree. He wondered to himself if it was with some of the money she forced out of Megan.

The expected quizzical looks came from Jake and Clara as they look at Steven rubbing Jade's foot. Everything they knew about Steven told him them that this would never happen and so this event just became the eighth wonder of the world to them. Before Jake could open his mouth to ask the question Steven replied.

"Sore foot. I'm helping her make it feel better"

"What are you talking about Steven? My foot feels just fine" Jade said as she continued reading her book, not even looking up at him. He stared at her as if to ask What about our deal?

"Then why am I rubbing your foot?"

"Why indeed? Are you going to stop?" Jade finally put her book don and stared at Steven. She didn't want him to stop but she also didn't want him to use excuses as to why he was doing it. "Are you going to stop?" She repeated.

"... No" He said quietly.

Jake and Clara stared in awe at this strange and unprecedented spectacle. Was Steven actually being submissive to Jade? That couldn't be possible!

"So why are you-" Jake repeated

"Go away Jake" Jade said sternly.

"But I wanna know-"

"Oh, my god, Jake you are so annoying. Go away!" Jade yelled, throwing her book at him. "Pick that up" She ordered Jake before grabbing it from his hands and going back to reading.

Steven had a sudden surge of déja vu that he felt really unnerved about. Jade was acting very normal right now. acting like she used to act. The  Steven remembered his father submitting to everything that Jade told him to do. He remembered how he couldn't believe that anyone would stoop so low and become so submissive to someone like Jade. He was, in Steven's eyes, truly pathetic. But he was no different now. He was on the other side of the curtain experiencing his fathers past. Experiencing what his father had to go through before he was completely broken. If someone was to look at him right now they'd probably think he was pretty pathetic as well for submitting to everything Jade said. But they wouldn't know his background story. They wouldn't know what he had gone through.

A chill crept up Steven's spine as he couldn't believe that after everything he did to try and not become like his father he was being dragged down the same road kicking a screaming. Was what Jade said true? Was he bound by an inevitable fate? Was there no way for him to break these bonds and to be free or was it his destiny to simply say 'yes' to Jade and accept her as his guardian? These thoughts plagued him for several minutes as he absentmindedly continued rubbing his sisters sweating feet.

A short while later a angry but determined Megan walked up to both Steven and Jade. She looked down at Jade before speaking in a very calm and rehearsed voice.

"Jade. I think we should talk about this situation" She waited for Jade to reply.

"I think we should" Jade said, which actually threw Megan off a bit. She never expected her to agree so easily.

"That's good. Hopefully we can-"

"Megan, can you run a household?"

Both Megan and Steven were confused by this statement.

"What do you mean?"

"Would it be possible to move out on your own?"

"... You know I can't do that" Megan looked away, almost ashamed by what she had to say.

"Why? Just move out and get a job"

"I wouldn't be able to get a job that would actually cover any bills. Not to mention I wouldn't be able to work full-time since I have school"

"Ah, school. Well, just quit that and get a job"

"I just told you there are no jobs that could pay for a house"

"But what if you moved in with a friend. Then you'd be able to help pay the bills, right?"

"... I ... There are no jobs for me. All the places I would be able to work at only hire younger people. Don't have to pay them as much."

"So in short you can't get a job and learn at the same time. And if you stopped learning then you wouldn't be able to get a job anyway. So if you moved in with a shrinker you'd be in essence ... dead weight. Like you are here. Except here you actually serve a purpose for by showing the younger children what not to become." 

Megan looked like she was about to cry again. She turned to Steven for support who simply continued rubbing the feet as if he couldn't hear the conversation. Finally Linda came to intervene.

"What are you doing, girl? Why aren't you cooking dinner? Clara and Jake are starving after out all day"

"Sorry mother" Megan said softly and robotically as she walked to the kitchen to do her slaving duties. Linda turned towards the couple on the couch before yelling at the kitchen once more.

"And make me a coffee while you're at it!"

Jade giggled as she listened to Megan’s continuous abuse. Linda looked at her with a slight smile as if telling her it was okay to abuse that one. Linda also had a somewhat confused look on her face as she watched Steven rub Jade's feet. But more than that she was trying to see what looked strange about them. Is it me or is Jade bigger than Steven?

"Steven" She barked down at the possibly shorter person "I'm glad to see that someone like you has finally learned his place in this house. You've been a thorn in my arse for too long and it's good to know that Jade has smarted you up" I don't think that's a word. Steven thought.

"I'm not the one that's been a pain in your ass. I think it might be all those extra favors you've been giving out at work trying to earn your promotion" Steven internally laughed at his own joke as he continued to rub the feet.

"What the hell do you think you're implying?"

"Implications and observations are two different things. And I'm only doing one" Steven laughed even more when Linda gave a dumb look of confusion. She truly was a dumb woman who had leached everything she had now from his father.  The strange thing was that Steven noticed Jade concealing a faint smile behind her book. She didn't even care when people were disrespecting her mother.

"Mum" She said looking up at Linda "Can I help you with something?" Jade dropped her left foot from Steven's lap and threw her right foot up. She closed her eyes in happiness as she felt him get to work.

"Yes. Well, I was just wondering why you two are so friendly all of a sudden"

"Oh, it's like you said. Steven has finally realized that he's beneath me"

"Sarcasm much?" Steven moaned

"Not so much on the sarcasm, no dear brother" She tapped his nose with her foot as her mother watched her.

"Say Jade, have you gotten taller?"

Steven froze. His eyes locked on the place he was massaging as he felt his hands go numb. His breathing slowed down to a single short breath and his muscled locked in place. Suddenly the room felt very crowded and he just wanted to run to his room. Too many people staring at him. He couldn't even look up to meet Linda's gaze in fear she'd see the truth in his eyes. Luckily Jade came to the rescue.

"What? That's insane! I'm just as tall as I've always been. However, you might have shrunk mother. Getting old and such. You know losing height is a big sign of old age. Not as young as you once were mum." Jade was doing a pretty good job of diverting attention away from his height to Linda's age. And it was working.

"I'm not old! You know nothing of my age Jade." Linda had a pouting look on her face as she looked at her skin. She still was young but wasn't as youthful as she once was.

"Maybe you should go put some cream on your skin. Make it look nice and young, huh?" She was playing her mother like a puppet. Linda nodded her head and walked upstairs to put some makeup on.

"See? You really are at my mercy, Steven" Jade said, returning to her book. However, they weren't free from Linda's torments just yet. A few minutes later she came back downs stairs rubbing cream into her face and approaching their chairs.

"I'm not old" She mumbled to herself. "But seriously Jade, you really look taller"

Really? Really, woman? Steven thought You're just going to segway right into that conversation again? Don't you have anything better to talk about? Or little children to eat?

"Mum, I've been over this. I'm not taller"

"Well we won't know until we test it. Come on just stand up. I wanna have a quick look"

"I see no reason to stand up. Why should I be torn away from my book just to satisfy your ridiculous minds inability to process reality?"

Linda was about to yell when there was a sharp smash coming from within the kitchen. From Steven's point of view it looked like someone had dropped a glass mug and it had shattered on the floor. Linda rushed into the kitchen to murder who ever had down it and it had turned out to be Megan. Steven could tell this simply by Linda's megaphone yelling.

"Good for nothing ... I should kick you out ... waste of time ...Can't even clean ... Stupid girl ... inconsiderate..." and on and on. Seriously, this yelling persisted for at least five minutes and the entire confrontation was just Linda yelling insults at Megan. To be honest Steven was impressed that she could come up with so many on the spot. However, he couldn't just sit by and let her abuse his sister and got up from his chair to help.

"Don't" Jade said "Let the bitch get what she deserves. By the way, she distracted Linda didn't she. Let her suffer her punishment while you get back to my feet." Steven still wanted to stop Linda but knew that if he got up then his secret would blown for sure.

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It was some time later and the entire family had enjoyed their dinner and were relaxing as the night went on. However, the dinner was super awkward as Megan wouldn't stop whimpering as she slowly ate her food. A deep red hand mark spread across her cheek. However, this seemed to work in Steven's favour as no-one was game enough to look at any one else, less they start a conversation and then have to talk.

After diner Steven had put himself in one of the living room chairs with Jade's feet across his lap, deliberately close to his chest so he would have to smell her aroma. Her defence was that if her legs were on him then people wouldn't be able to see as much of him and therefore not be able to see his height loss. Bullshit reasoning which could also be solved by him going to his room but Jade refused to hear any of that. He was her slave and had to do what she said and right now she wanted a foot sniffer.

It was because of this that when he dozed of he had weird dreams about Jade's giant feet crushing not only him but hundreds of thousands of other people. They all tried to run away as Jade's foot came down upon their tiny bodies. That's right, he was the only one who could help them. And if he stay here then he would be trapped forever, unable to do contribute anything towards making a cure. He was violently jerked awake by a shaking on his arm.

"Steven! Steven! Wake up, I want your help!" His eyes shot open as they gazed upon the cute face of Clara as she stared into his groggy face. "I want you to help me with my homework"

"I was sleeping"

"Oh, did the sweet smell of my feet put you to sleep?" Jade laughed as she returned to her book. 

Steven noticed that her feet were now spread across his face where they were once only on his chest. That would explain his feet dream. Pushing them off he pulled himself up in his chair and looked down at Clara who was holding a piece of paper and a book. She was wearing her pajamas and must have been trying to finish her homework before bed.

"What can I help you with?" He looked down at the piece of paper, wiping away the tears from his sleepy eyes.

"I have homework that I can't do. Apparently we have to get older people to help us with these questions" She's lying "And if we do it yourself then we lose marks. So can you please Help me?" She is so lying. And badly.

"What's the subject?"

"Um ... we have questions on things" She obviously doesn't know what subject she is doing. 

He stared at the page and immediately knew what is was about. Diseases. Or to be more specific, the shrinker disease.

"You're learning about Shrinkers?" He closed his eyes as if begging for strength "What a coincidence"

"What's a conicident?"

"Nothing. Anyway what are the problems you need help with?"

She pointed at the last three questions on the page and he looked at them. They were fairly simple except for the last one which appeared to be a trick question.

How does the disease change a person?

"You can't get that? It's kind of straight forward. It's in the name of the disease"

"I know but our teacher said that if anyone puts 'they shrink' as an answer they lose marks. There's another answer right?"

"Well ... Um, the disease decreases muscle size for most of the muscles in the body. That would be a change" Steven was feeling rather uncomfortable talking about this. "Next"

How are shrinkers treated in society? Why?

"I don't even know what that word means exactly"

"This word?" Steven pointed at Society "It means ... uh, the world. The people that live in a certain place. They are the society of that place. So think about how Shrinkers are just treated in general"

"Oh, that's easy. They're bugs so they get treated like bugs. That's what Michelle says" Michelle was her classroom friend. "So, if they're bugs then that means we would ... Stomp them!"

"No!" Steven almost yelled "That's ... that isn't how you should treat shrinkers."

"But that's how everyone else treats them"

"If everyone jumped off a bridge would you do it?"

"Yep" Jade said. "Of course I would" Steven turned away from Clara and Looked at Jade.

"You'd jump off a bridge? Please demonstrate. Preferably one without a river underneath."

"Well, you said would I jump off a bridge if everyone else did it. Of course I would. Which is more logical: That everyone on that bridge is insane and suicidal or that bridge is on fire and we have to jump!" It was obvious that she was just baiting him. He turned away and looked back at Clara.

"Why would you treat Shrinkers so meanly?"

"Well ... They're small. So they're weaker than us and shouldn't be seen as human. Since they're against evolution" She was definitely quoting an older person she heard. Once asked she said "My teacher said that. He said that science says that shrinkers aren't people and so can be hurt"

"Well you're teacher is wrong"

"But… he's a teacher!"

Jade laughed at the preteen logic as Steven realized he wouldn't be able to get through to her. In her eyes the teacher is the person who knows everything. So when they say something it must be true. One hundred percent. He shook his head and went to the final question.

Is the virus Viral or genetic?

"Whoever set this test is both an idiot and a smartass."

"You can say that again?" Jade agreed.

The language used in this homework was way beyond the knowledge of someone Clara's age. And even if they understood what the words meant that doesn't mean they'd be able to answer the question.

"So what's the answer?" Clara asked, swinging on the chair as she waited.

"That's the thing. That's why we said he's a smartass. Because no one knows if the virus is viral OR genetic. There are research papers that say it could be either. Then there are papers that say it's neither. It's a trick question. Just write I don't know and you should get full marks."

He handed the paper back and she jumped into his lap hugging him. Steven let out a gasp as he body weight was far heavier then what he expected and her hug was rather tight. When she finally let go she ran upstairs to go to bed now that she had finished her homework. Steven realized that staying here really was a no go. Not only doe the adult think of him as nothing but the children think of him as bugs. He has no allies here.