Willow knew she was dreaming, but it didn’t stop her from reenacting and reliving the moment that played out for her. She was back in Sora’s room. Unlike before, she wasn’t her younger self, she was her current age, well pass the age she was found by the young girl. Her outfit the same as what she was wearing when she was caught by that teenage boy. Willow saw Sora and Sora’s father talking to each other. Willow couldn’t make out much of the conversation but she knew how it went. Sora had to get rid of her. Willow knew that no amount of arguing or begging she did would sway the father.
Unable to change the dream she went along with it, her emotions more calm than the actually real day that this happened on. Maybe cause she knew the outcome or the fact that she knew it was all just a dream that it helped her stay composed. Willow waited till Sora’s father left, than Sora turned toward Willow. Willow looked up at the young teen, damp and foggy eyes as she slowly walked over to her desk where Willow was still at.
“Sorry,” Sora muttered sounding depressed at what she had to do. Willow didn’t comment. She remembered trying to plead with Sora, trying to get her to hid her from her parents, but the girl couldn’t. Willow just went along with the dream as Sora slowly picked Willow up and put her back in her hand. They traveled through the small house, things were shady or cloudy of details as they passed by parts of the home, things that Willow couldn’t remember. Sora constantly repeating sorry to Willow over and over again through the hour long walk through the house. They were like on an infinite loop of Sora carrying Willow out of the house. It had to be Willow’s anxiety that help prolong this part of the dream, because she kept feeling the so helpless through the long event.
Finally Willow looked outward and saw the front door wide open. Sora’s dad holding it open for them to leave. Willow felt anger building in her at the man who wouldn’t even look at her, kick her out of the safety of the house. Oh how she wished she were larger, than she could knock that bland looking expression right of his face. However Willow was stuck in the dream at her current size, too small to even do more than tickle him with her punches.
Sora walked outside and down the first two steps of the porch before Willow heard the door slowly close.
“Sorry little one,” Sora said as she held Willow in her hands.
Willow figured it couldn’t hurt to talk. She let out a disappointed sigh, “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
Sora didn’t react much to those words, maybe because that wasn’t what Willow said in the past. Or maybe, like a dream, it didn’t really matter what she did. However the dream kept on going. Willow watched Sora look around a little before she spotted something. Carrying Willow in her palm, Sora headed over to a nearby shrub planted by the side of the house she lived in. Sora carefully set Willow down near the plant. Willow hopped off Sora’s soft hand and onto the hard ground. Looking back at Sora she looked so worried and upset…
“I kept some for you,” Sora spoke quietly as she pulled out some of the left over eggs she was giving to Willow. “Here,” Sora said handing the enormous chunk of scrambled egg to Willow. Willow watched the little teen put the yellow basketball pieced egg into her hands. The only kind gesture she got since she shrunk.
Unable to stop herself, Willow smiled, “Thanks.”
“Maybe…” Sora continued to speak like her father was watching. “I can bring you more? Like tomorrow? Would that be okay?” Willow nodded, bringing a smile to Sora’s face. “Okay… I’ll bring you something tomorrow… well bye for now,” Willow watched Sora get up from her crouching and head off back to the front door. It was the first time anyone did anything nice for her since she shrank. Something that she wouldn’t forget for a long time.
Still reliving her memory from her dream, Willow went to take a bite of egg in her hand. Just as she was about to bite into it she felt something touching her back. Before she could stop herself, Willow turned around and acted out of pure instinct and went to attack.
Willow came awake swinging her little fist at whatever touched her shoulder. She swung hard and spasticly at whatever she couldn’t see. She was already on her feet throwing her hands at whatever it was, which just happen to be Ryan. “WHOA!” Ryan hissed as he tried to duck out of Willow’s punch only to find Willow already going for another volley at him.
Willow had just enough time to pull back her second punch to become aware of where she was. She blinked a few times to wake herself up and look around. She was still stuck in the glass cup that the teenager dropped her in earlier. However there was a new addition to the cup, Ryan was in here with her.
“What- what the- what are you doing,” Willow barked at him with an equally annoyed and shocked expression of Ryan’s presence.
Ryan seemed to be rethinking his next words as he spoke slowly to Willow. Ryan looked confused, “I… came to… rescue you? What does it look like?” His perplexed look was almost comical.
Willow continued to look at Ryan like he was the dumbest person to have walked the earth. He came to rescue her? What the heck was he talking about?
It wasn’t till now that she saw something tied around Ryan and going straight up out of the cup. The line cleared the rim of the glass cup and continued to head upward to a small stack of books that slightly towered over the cup nearby. Willow could see the others from the group up above holding onto the hair like material being used as rope to lower Ryan into the cup. It was now clear that they were helping Ryan save her from the giant slumbering boy in the room.
Willow wasn’t prepared for this.
She never imagined someone rescuing her from her doomed fate… especially not this guy.
“I…” Willow tried to think of some words but Ryan cut her off.
“Look, I don’t know how long he’s going to be asleep. It took way to long getting up the stupid desk, we need to go, like NOW,” Ryan told her. Willow watch Ryan walk closer to her and took a hold of her in a tight hug before tugging on the rope.
Willow was about to protest when she felt the hair rope and Ryan start to get yanked upward. Willow let out a shocked gasp as her feet were pulled out of the puddle of water they sat in, for god knew how long. Willow closed her eyes as she felt each jerking motion from the pulling rope, bring her and Ryan closer to the top of the cup. Suddenly Willow felt a sudden slipping sensation and Ryan’s hand suddenly grabbed at her backside for more support.
“HEY WATCH YOUR HANDS!” Willow yelped at the sudden groping that happened on her backside.
“Sorry! It wasn’t on purpose,” Ryan protested as he tried to explain himself, “You were slipping!” Willow glowered at Ryan, she was still wondering if he did it on purpose or if it was truly a mistake.
It didn’t take as long as Willow would have thought for them to be yanked out of the cup and back on top of the small stack of school books the others were using. When Willow was on the ground again, she quickly separated herself from Ryan. She looked at the others who all had different expressions on their faces. Katty relieved and happy for the rescuing, Brand still having a stoic and stern face, and Tom who looked around nervously at the sleeping giant and the open door with panic.
“What the hell are you all doing,” Willow asked looking at each of them. “I told you no heroes.”
“See I knew it,” Tom quickly told everyone. “We should have just left, like she would have wanted.” Willow felt a little hurt at those words, but also grateful. It seemed at least someone had some brains. “Now can we go before someone catches us?! We’re too exposed!”
“We couldn’t just leave her,” Katty protested, as she also seemed on the same page of getting out of the house as quickly as possible. Willow was going to argue with Katty’s response, about saving her but she rather get out of here first. Everyone was heading over toward a side of the books they were on, Ryan still unraveling the hair he used to save Willow herself, and packing it back into Brand’s bag. Katty still went on as they made their way to the ledge, “Ryan made the right call.”
“I’m sure you guys would have done the same if it were me,” Ryan remarked casually. It was eerily quite between everyone. “Oh…” Ryan commented looking around at everyone reaction and realizing the truth.
“Come on, enough chit chat,” Willow told everyone reining everyone back into the group. Willow was back in charge and needed to lead. She headed toward the ledge of the large school book everyone was standing on. Peering over the edge she saw that there was a decent drop to the next book, but the way they were stacked it was like ledges or shelving sticking out from the book. It didn’t take too long for everyone to climb down the stack of books. “Okay how did you all get up here,” Willow asked looking across the vast desk.
“Over here,” Ryan said pointing toward a computer monitor. Ryan lead everyone toward the back of the monitor and the many many cables sticking out from it, headed downward toward the floor. “Just grab one of the hdmi or power cords and it’s a straight shot to the computer tower on the floor.”
Willow was surprised, it wouldn’t have been her first thought. Willow followed after Ryan and the others, using one of the many cords to help slide and drop down to the ground. It wasn’t the easiest time but definitely the quickest way down. Now on the ground Willow could easily maneuver everyone out of the bedroom and back toward the kitchen. The long hallway toward the kitchen was simple. They quickly made it back to the main room. The man or father of the house wasn’t in his chair anymore.
Willow quickly looked around, especially in the shadows for the looming giant to be hiding. Ryan quickly spoke up, “He went to bed a while ago, he was still pretty drunk, were fine.” Willow relaxed a little, but not a lot. Just cause he looked drunk didn’t mean he was disoriented. Still, it did make traveling across the dark family room back to their little entry point much easier for them. Using the same spot they came in from, Willow lead everyone out of the home and back outside. Being the last one to exit the small crack in the home’s foundation, Willow looked outside so happy to be free and alive. She noticed the sky was just starting to glow from the impending sunrise.
“Let’s find some cover,” Willow told everyone. No one argued as they started to head back to the familiar underside of a big bushy plant near the sidewalk. As everyone headed over to the protective cover, Willow needed to check on their inventory. “We got food right,” Willow asked Tom and his supply bag.
“Some food,” Tom responded almost with a bitter tone. “Had to cut it short for a rescue mission…”
Willow didn’t like the news she was hearing. They would definitely need to scavenge for more sooner than she wanted. However, she did feel grateful that she was rescued. Not sure who to thank someone personally she decided to stay silent and drop back a little as they headed toward the safety of the bush up ahead. Letting Brand take the lead and falling back to the only person she felt should get the response, she waited for Ryan to catch up to her, so she was walking beside him.
“Y-yeah,” he asked nervous at Willow’s presence near him.
Willow wasn’t sure if it was her pride or something else but it took more effort to say something that she thought, “...thanks. For helping...”
Ryan seemed shocked at her words. Willow wasn’t sure why it felt so hard to say it but she did it. Ryan gave a half shrug in response, “It was nothing-”
Willow frowned at him and his relaxed response, “It wasn’t nothing. As thankful as I am… which I really really am, I don’t think you can possibly understand how grateful I am… but you got extremely lucky.”
Ryan shook his head at Willow’s words. “Lucky? What do you mean? Lucky from what?”
Willow sighed, “Look… all I’m saying is thanks, but don’t expect the same treatment. If it were reversed I can guarantee that I won’t be coming to save you.” The look on Ryan’s face was pure confusing and disbelief at her response. It was like someone knocked him upside the head with a bat.
“What? Wait did I do something wrong,” Ryan asked Willow unsure of her response. “I’m pretty sure a thank you isn’t suppose to be followed up with a, ‘but don’t expect the same thing’. Or did things change when you shrink? What kind of response is that?”
Willow ignored his outburst, “That’s why I’m telling you again, for your own good,” Willow told Ryan right before walking ahead leaving Ryan sputtering at her own reply.
“HOW? What the hell is that suppose to mean,” Ryan grumbled as Willow went to catch up to Brand.
It wasn’t too long of a walk to the underbrush, and Willow quickly grabbed some old food that was harder than a rock, but still edible. Dishing out some food, not as enjoyable as the last fresh meal they had the other day, Willow forced her self to eat the dried up droppings and crumbs from a meal well past it’s due date. The lasagna was crunchy and hard, something Willow was all too used to. She couldn’t remember a time lasagna wasn’t stale. Still the group was roughly quite, munching on the food, not much conversation going on.
Willow checked everyone's supplies to make sure that she didn’t miss count their rations and found that they would have only a day and a half, maybe two if they spread it out thinly. If she didn’t dump out the contents of her bag last night, they could have had more… stupid idea for fresh bread. Willow now felt a little more annoyed at Ryan. Not only did he break the rules of save her own skin, he had her chasing a fucking dream for fresh bread. Something she wouldn’t have done.
And she thanked him for that too...
What was she thinking?
As much as she wanted to stand up and walk over to Ryan and punch him in the face for fucking up the whole operation, she couldn’t do that. Part of her blamed Ryan but the most of it weighted on her, she was as much, if not more to blame. She easily could have told him to fuck off, but she didn’t. She let herself fall for the desire of fresh bread rather than the safe floor food. The more she thought about it, the more she was upset with herself for not listening to her damn rules. The same ones that kept her safe for so long. How could she let a new comer fuck with her plans so easily?
Making a mental note to not let it happen again, Willow looked around. Unlike the others, Willow was able to sleep a little last night. They were busy rescuing her and missed precious sleep. Sure they rested before they entered that home, but they probably went through a lot just to rescue her. Deciding that it was best if they got some sleep rather than none, she told them all to get some rest.
“I’ll take watch for a bit, just rest your eyes for an hour or two… than were on the move again.”
No one complained as they started to get ready to sleep. Willow made sure that they were close enough to be woken up with a word if need be. It wasn’t long before everyone was asleep and Willow watched the outside world slowly come to life. Joggers and walkers passing by unsuspecting of their location. It wouldn’t be long before they got closer to their destination. Than all this horror would be behind them. A safe place at last.
Emily sat on the toilet, the feeling to need to shit hit her hard. Grunting and pushing harder than she ever had to in her life, Emily felt some movement. Why was it so difficult to poop? A question she didn’t know the answer to. However as she sat there and continued to do what nature forced all animals to do, Emily felt some progress achieve over the hour of sitting down and using the toilet. The amount of effort was reward with a solid sounding noise that filled the bathroom.
“Fucking finally,” Emily groaned at the feeling of emptiness she was looking for. She also felt a weird sensation following it. Something ominous but familiar. “Huh,” Emily muttered at the weird dreamy like feeling she had. Not sure what it was, Emily put it out of mind as she wiped her butt with just one piece of toilet paper. Feeling clean, Emily got up and thought of flushing the toilet.
Not sure why, Emily decided to look into the toilet bowl. As she peered in she didn’t see anything in the toilet except the clean and empty toilet paper despite the her earlier attempt at using it.
“odd…” Emily thought as she continued to look. Than she saw it. A shrinky floating up from the depths of her toilet. Emily was shocked and confused. She started to squint and lean in closer to inspect what was going on. As she got closer she gasped. The shrinky she quickly recognized, it was Ryan. It was obviously him, she could tell by his features or what remained of them after being expelled from her backside. The more she looked the more she wanted to cry. The idea of her Ryan having to go through her digestive system was something that tore at her soul as she examined the small remains of her boyfriend. A scream left not just her lips but her soul as it ripped through her...
Emily sat up in bed panting heavily from her nightmare. She vaguely recalled her dream. Emily didn’t know what it was about, but her feeling of anxiety hit her like a truck and she couldn’t stop herself form waking in sweat. Turning on the bedroom lamp light she quickly turned to her side in a panicked state.
“Hon,” Emily started to call out, “I had a night...mare,” She spoke seeing the empty bed on the night stand. Ryan still hadn’t come back. It was now that Emily realized her sleep was affected by the absent of her boyfriend. She was unable to seek comfort from her horrible dream. Ryan never came back the other day, and now she didn’t know what to do. Letting out a deep sigh she shook her head as she leaned back into her bed and looked at the time. It was a little past four AM. She was up way earlier than normal.
Emily wasn’t sure what she should do. Of course she wanted to leave her room, put some slippers on and search the apartment complex again, but it was clear Ryan wasn’t anywhere to be found here. He had to have run somewhere else. Still, Emily had two questions that needed answering, WHY and WHERE. It didn’t make any sense to her!
Emily turned the light off and tossed onto her side trying to get some more sleep. She did her best but it didn’t help her racing mind asking questions. Why would Ryan leave? Was he kidnapped? Why leave his communicator?
Emily’s mind started to try and answer some of these important questions zooming in her mind. Did they have a fight? Emily tried to recall the last conversation they had. The things she might have done to provoke some kind of negative emotion from Ryan, but she couldn’t think of one. Everything seemed so normal and calm, if anything she was the last one that Ryan would have argued with. So that couldn’t be the reason he ran off. So kidnapping?
Mary had sworn she locked the door the night Ryan went missing. Sadly Emily didn’t remember the back half of the night. She couldn’t recall using the keys to open the door or if it was unlocked when she got home. Still nothing else was missing and someone breaking into their place to just only kidnap Ryan was highly unlikely. The only one who really knew about Ryan was Allison, and she was with Emily all night… or of what she recalled of that night. It really was a blur.
Emily sighed as she rolled over again trying to rest but more question came up about Ryan. So it had to be Ryan himself that left… but why? Did he hear something? Did something scare him out of the apartment? None of it at all explained the communicator and why it was left on the floor out of no where.
Than a thought came to Emily… was it shrinkies?
Could they have broken in, taken Ryan and removed his collar as they kidnapped him? Emily was so shocked at the possible idea that she wasn’t sure if she should believe it. She had never heard of that happening before, and it made no sense as to why it would happen. Maybe to blackmail Emily and Mary? It was the only thing that would explain Ryan’s disappearance and his lack of communicator. Still wouldn't that mean leaving a note or message for Emily or Mary to understand the situation?
The more Emily pondered about what could have happen only lead to crazy and more bizarre theories that just made it even more confusing for Emily to understand. It wasn’t till her thoughts drifted to aliens abducting Ryan that she realized that she was just being ridiculous. Rolling over in bed she saw the clock, it had hardly been thirty minutes.
“Oh my god,” Emily groaned starting to get up out of bed. She did have work today, but she was going to call out to help search more for Ryan. As unlikely and horrifying as it sounded, she was going to search around the apartment complex to see if there was any sign of Ryan recently. Even though it was so unlikely it will help, Emily couldn’t do nothing at all. Getting up, Emily found she couldn’t wait any longer. Even thought it was four thirty in the morning, Emily decided to start with some coffee and a quick look around for Ryan.
Emily went to use the toilet. She sat down and started to empty her bladder. It wasn’t till she went to flush that her mind raced to the terrible nightmare earlier that started this all. What a horrible dream, but it couldn’t have been real... Emily watched the colored water flushing down, a small twisted feeling came over her worried that she would see Ryan’s body being flushed down the bowl. Luckily it was just a dream and only her urine was flushed away. Shaking it off, Emily headed to the sink and washed her hands, Emily began to prepare for the day. Grabbing her phone and checking messages, she read up to the missed text she got from Allison.
“Where you at?”
“Something happen? Why so quite?”
“Should I come over?”
“Hello, are you dead?”
Emily saw that she missed a lot of messages and the last one kind of hit her as she read it.
“Did you catch shrinkism too? LOL come on… what’s going on, for real!”
Emily was tempted to answer but Allison wouldn’t be up. Instead she put a pin in the conversation and would reply later. She had someone else to call. First she phoned her boss, Principal Rice. She let him know that she wasn’t feeling good and would need a sub to cover her classes. She also let him know where all her class notes could be found. Finally Emily pulled up Rick’s phone number. Dialing it, she was hopping it would go to voice mail like, the Principal’s, but shockingly Rick picked up on the second ring.
“Hello,” A sleepy voice answered.
“Oh, sorry, Rick, It’s Emily… I didn’t think you were going to answer.”
“Emily…” He repeated before quickly recognizing her name, “Emily. Right, sorry. Uh what’s, what’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Emily nodded before saying, “Yeah, kind of, look. I’m not going to be able to go in today, and as confident as I am with the notes I left, I don't think the substitute will be able to cover derivatives of inverse functions,” Emily chuckled at what the substitute's reaction would have been covering the topic. “So… I was wondering if you can do me a favor… could you-”
Rick chuckled, “Help them out? Yeah I can cover your calculus class for you.”
Emily let out a relieved sigh, “Thanks, this means a lot,” Emily told Rick.
“So is everything okay?” Rick asked and with a joking tone, “Cause it doesn’t sound like your very sick to me.”
“Uh well,” Emily said hesitant on who she should share the information with. As much as Emily thought she could trust Rick with her situation, she wasn’t sure how he felt toward Shrinkies. Sure she couldn’t really recall him eating or doing anything with a shrinky. And of course he wasn’t doing any shrinky shots, not that she remember most of the night, but he was the driver for his niece. So clearly he wasn’t drinking the other night. Still she wasn’t sure if telling him about Ryan would help. “I just have something that came up.”
“Alright, if you need anything else, just let me know, okay?” Rick offered over the phone.
Emily smiled, “Thanks, I will.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Rick asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be in tomorrow.”
Rick quickly added, “And if you need anything, just let me know. Alright?”
Emily again felt a sense of relief and support from those words. “Yeah, thank you. Not just for covering my class but saying that.”
Rick spoke up sounding genuinely sincere, “Oh yeah no problem. Alright, I guess I should probably get ready for work now that I’m up.” Rick laughed.
Emily winced as she recalled the time, “Yeah, sorry again, about calling so early.”
Rick laughed again, “Don’t worry about it. Just take it easy and good luck with whatever you have going on. Alright, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Emily replied.
“Bye,” Rick gave his farewell and waited till Emily gave hers before hanging up.
Emily finally hung up her phone. It wasn’t even five yet. Not having to worry about her classes today, Emily felt a small weight lifted off her as she could focus on looking for Ryan. Grabbing some clothes and putting them on, Emily headed for the bedroom door. Opening the door and leaving the bedroom, she went to the kitchen to make some coffee to give her a much needed wake up. As she reached for the coffee maker, Emily spotted something in the living room. Turning toward one of the chairs, she spotted Mary slouched in the chair asleep in the dark.
Emily felt bad for Ryan’s mother. It looked like she stayed up as long as she could in the chair waiting for Ryan to come back. She must have passed out a little while ago. Emily looked at the slumped and slouched body in the chair. The small ear piece visible to Emily where she stood, even though Ryan didn’t have his communicator on him. It seemed Mary still had hopes that Ryan would come back last night and call out to her.
Doing her best not to wake Mary, Emily started to make herself a cup of coffee as quietly as she could. However it didn’t help as the room started to smell like the roasted beans. Soon Mary came too, looking tired.
“Mmm, did I fall asleep,” She asked out loud as she started to sit up in her seat rubbing at her neck.
“You should probably head to bed and get some proper sleep,” Emily told Mary. “I’m calling out today, gonna keep looking around for Ryan,” Emily explained. Emily sipped the black liquid to try and gain some energy out of the drink.
“I’m fine,” Mary said, but clearly she was exhausted. It was all in the tone of her voice and actions, as she groggily got up from the seat.
Emily didn’t feel like protesting but still she couldn’t let the older woman push her self too hard. “You’re not, I can clearly see it,” Emily told Mary. “Just go lay down for a bit. It’ll be fine.”
Mary grumbled a little but nodded before heading off to her room to get some proper sleep. It was clear they both were worried about the same thing, both of them trying to do whatever they can to find Ryan. However Mary seemed like she was going a little too far.
Emily sipped her coffee and finished her cup before setting in the sink. Grabbing some shoes, Emily opened the door and headed outside into the hallway. Deciding to check the current floor level again, Emily looked down at her feet and scanned the ground. She was looking for any miniature items or traces of a shrinky (hopefully Ryan). Sadly the floor was clean and there was nothing that she could make heads or tails of as evidence of shrinkies being here. Rolling her eyes at her naivete thinking that she would find something this soon. Emily decided to head lower. Going down a floor she repeated her searing investigation on the next level and the next. It wasn’t till she was on the ground floor that she realized she went through the whole complex. Again, Emily figured there would be no evidence popping up now. She searched the other day and found none, today shouldn’t be any different. However she was now going to search outside the apartment complex, which was new for her.
Emily exited the apartment complex and was standing outside. The sidewalk the lead to the complex had a long row of shrubs leading to the walkway that lead deeper into the neighborhood. Emily wasn’t sure what she should do now. Unaware of how to look for Shrinkies, like Ryan, Emily decided to peek under each bush… every and every single one of them. Emily bent forward and peered under the first shrub, than the next, and the next. Emily could feel the strain in her back as she checked under every plant that was planted out in front of the complex. However as much as she peered and looked she couldn’t find Ryan or any trace of him.
It was getting closer to morning and sunrise, a time most of the complex started to get active. Emily was busy looking under a bush when someone called out to her.
“Oh, hey Emily…” one of Emily’s many neighbors greeted her.
“Hey,” Emily replied curtly not really listening as she squinted at the dark underbelly of the bush.
“Looking for something?” the voice asked curious and possibly being too nosy for their own good.
“YEAH,” Emily grunted as she pulled up from peering under the plant. With a slightly annoyed voice, “Look, I don’t really have the time to chat, so… do you mind?”
“Oh, yeah… uh, sure…” the neighbor picked up on the mood Emily was in, and went about their day.
Emily shook her head at the annoyance breaking her attention from her searching. She quickly went back to seeking Ryan. Checking under a bush and than the next and the next…
Each inch Emily covered resulted in the same discovery, nothing. There were no signs of anyone or anything that would lead Emily to believe that Ryan was ever outside the apartment. Feeling the ache in her knees, hands, and especially in her back, from pretty much crawling all over the ground, Emily stood up and rubbed the sore spots. Feeling what had to be the last hope she had of locating Ryan vanish, Emily started to head back to the apartment. She hadn’t noticed how long she had been outside, but it had been at least an hour or two. By the time Emily opened the door and went inside, she spotted Mary up and about, getting ready to leave.
Confused by the sudden appearance of activity from the older woman made Emily raise an eyebrow at her. “You sure you got enough sleep already, Mary,” Emily asked seeing her grabbing her purse and phone. Mary was already grabbing a snack bar and looked like she had a cup of coffee to go, as she started to head for the door next. Unable not to say something Emily spoke up as Mary went to pass her, “Uh, where you going?” Emily was looking for an answer as Ryan’s mom went to leave past her.
Mary opened the door and paused as she turned to answer, “Heading to work.”
Emily was now even more confused. Mary took a sabbatical from work till she felt more at ease with Ryan’s situation when he first shrank. Now that he was missing she was leaving, to go to her job? “Ryan’s missing and your going to go back to work,” Emily asked with a more accusing tone than she wanted to use. She didn’t want to sound like a bitch but it was hard seeing the woman running away from the situation.
Mary either took the harsh question in stride or she was too out of it to pick up the tone in Emily’s voice. She simple said, “I know my son is out there. That’s why I’m going to work. I’m going to ask some of my friends to help look for him. The more help we have, the quicker we can find him and the safer he will be.”
Emily bit her lip, “Are you sure we can trust them with Ryan?”
Now this seemed to make Mary upset at her judgment toward her friends. Mary turned to Emily with a stern look, “I’ve known these ladies for years. Some of them have personally known Ryan since he was a wee baby. Of course we can trust them.”
Emily felt bad about saying that and questioning Mary. “Sorry… just been a long few days…”
Mary now gave a sympathetic look and came over and gave Emily a soft pat on the shoulder and than a hug, “I know. It has been for the both of us. I think you should grab some sleep too, you seem pretty tired.”
Emily nodded as she was now feeling the lack of sleep hit her at the mention of slumber. Still she wasn’t sure if she could. Instead she just waited till Mary said goodbye and headed off to her job. Emily tried to think if she should rest up or stay up in case Ryan came back.
As Emily was lost in her debate her phone started to ring. Not sure why she thought it could have been Ryan, she grabbed it and looked at the name and number, praying to see Ryan’s name and face. However it wasn’t him, obviously. Instead it was Allison. Emily let out a disappointed sigh but picked up on the third ring. Emily was hit by an alarmed and upset Allison on the phone, “Okay what the hell is going on! I thought you died or something girl! Is everything okay? Did something happen? You have to tell me, I’m so totally freaking out over here!”
Emily gave the basic response, “Yeah, everything is fine-”
Allison nearly shouted Emily’s ear off, “That’s a load of crap and you know it! NOW TELL,” Allison demanded with worry in her voice. Emily either sucked at lying or Allison just knew her way too well.
Emily was silent. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Allison. It wasn’t cause she was worried she couldn’t trust Allison, it was more that she didn’t want to drag her into this. Just as Emily wanted to say not to worry, she recalled what Mary said. They needed more help. Who better to help than Emily and Ryan’s best friend…
“Yeah,” Emily final spoke as she spilled the beans. “Ryan’s missing.”
“WHAT?! HOW?! WHEN?! WHY?!” Allison’s voice exploded with concern on the other end.
Emily had to pull the phone back and wince at the loud noise coming from it. “I don’t know when exactly,” Emily told Allison as she went on with details, “It was sometime between when we went out to drink and the next morning. How and why I have no idea… I woke up and found his communicator on the ground and I haven’t seen him since. Sorry, I haven’t been able to respond but you can imagine how worried I am… like what if something happened to him? One of our neighbors has a dog, like what if it attacked Ryan when he went outside?” Emily couldn’t help but lay out her worries over the phone about Ryan’s safety.
“Oh my god… Em, I’m sure that didn’t happen. Look, I’m coming over,” Allison told Emily over the phone. The sound of Allison moving while still on the phone could be heard.
“No, no you shouldn’t. You have work and-”
“No, fuck that. I’m already in my car,” Allison told her. Sure enough the car engine turning over could be heard. “I’m hanging up, but I’ll be there faster than you can say… well I don’t know what you would say, but you get the point.” Allison told Emily.
Emily couldn’t help but smile at her friends actions. She was going to blow off work to come over to support her. Something she could really use right now. Just as Allison claimed how fast she would be there, she showed up in record time. Allison was pretty much pounded the door down with her knocking. Emily opened the door and Allison was already stepping inside before she could speak. Allison gave Emily a quick hug before she took a seat at the table while Emily closed the door. “Okay what happened,” Allison asked Emily, urging her to tell her all the details. Emily sat down and started to fill Allison in on the situation.
Allison sat through the whole talk, from when Emily woke up hung over and finding the communicator. How Emily and Mary searched the apartment and the complex from top to bottom. She even told Allison about her fears for Ryan and what could have possibly happen. Finally Emily told Allison about Mary getting her friends and coworkers to help out.
“So…” Emily finally said worried at what Allison might say, “I was thinking, it would easier if we had more people looking out for Ryan. Do you think you can help-”
Before Emily could finish Allison cut her off, “OF COURSE!” She nearly shouted startling Emily at her sudden jump in to help. However it wasn’t so shocking, this was Allison after all. Allison went on, “You can count on me Em, I’ll find Ryan for sure! Just leave it to me, before you know it, I’ll have little tiny Ryan in my hands in no time,” Allison smiled holding out her cupped hands together, looking down at the place she imagined holding Ryan in. The cupped palms held out for everyone at the table to see what Allison meant.
Emily smiled at those words. She knew she could count on Allison to help her out. She was truly her best friend. Now she could relax a little with yet another person looking for her poor little Ryan...
Ryan heard Willow telling everyone they should need to get moving. Ryan didn’t know how tired he was till he feel asleep this morning. He found that staying up all night trying to save someone, as inconsiderate as they were, was far more taxing than he thought. Still it wasn’t till Katty tapped him on the shoulder warning that Willow would most likely leave him. Hearing this, Ryan sat up and let out a grumble.
“Of course she would…” Ryan muttered knowing it wasn’t a threat, it was more of a promise. Doing his best not to throw a fit, Ryan got up off the ground. He struggled to not glare at Willow who seemed more rested than he was, even though he was the one that got some sleep out of the two.
Willow was already looking out for danger as Ryan and the others gathered around her. Judging by the heat and the position of the sun, it had to be noon or some time mid day. Ryan wasn't very good at judging time with the sun, he just knew that it wasn't morning and sunset was a ways away. Still unlike the other day, Willow seemed more willing to walk around at this time of day. Their journey was exactly like yesterday, hiding in the shadows the best they could. Avoid any noticing eyes that might be looking for them while trying to get to whatever destination they were going to.
After a long and grueling walk, and a few close calls or at least for Ryan, Willow found a decent spot to camp. It was under a knoll of roots from a big tree in a yard. The massive tree gave plenty of shade in the small yard and the roots were so large and sprouting from the ground, there was plenty of space to use it for cover.
“Stay close to the roots,” She told Ryan and the others as they were setting up for the night, the sun already starting to get low.
“Aren’t you worried about… bugs,” Ryan asked looking under the roots in fear of what might be there.
“Most wont bother us,” Willow told Ryan. The way she said “most” told him that she knew a thing or two about what might attack them. Ryan took a seat and sat down resting while he heard Willow talking to Brand. She told him to gather some wood chips or splinters from the tree. Brand moved off to do as she told him without much more than a nod.
Ryan was curious as to what Willow wanted those for. However he didn’t want to ask, instead he just rubbed his feet from all the walking they just did. Ryan suddenly heard water splashing and quickly looked to see Katty pouring water from her canteen all over her head to clean up her hair.
“Wait! We should be saving our water!” Ryan protested in alarm.
Everyone, especially Katty, jumped at Ryan’s unexpected outburst. Ryan felt silly now that everyone was looking at him like he just said the silliest thing. Willow spoke up, “There will be plenty of water in the morning, don’t worry about it.”
“In the morning,” Ryan repeated and quickly looked up at the sky, “Is it suppose to rain?” He couldn’t help but shiver at the idea of the down pour.
“uh… no,” Willow said slowly as she too used some water to wash her hands and arms from any dirt. “You really haven’t been outside…” She muttered, “Morning dew. Plenty of water to get before we leave. So wash up and drink as much as you want, I promise we’ll have enough in the morning,” Willow explained.
It wasn’t till now that Ryan understood. The yard would be covered in dew drops in the early morning, plenty to collect and use for later. It was shocking how much the world was different at his size. Normally he wouldn’t have thought of dew drops being anything more than wet marks on his shoes in the morning. Now they were going to be used as a water supply. He really needed to see things from a different perspective…
Just as Ryan was following the everyone’s example of “bathing” with their water supply, Brand came back with a very large collection of long sticks in his big arms. Well, long sticks to Ryan or someone his size, they probably wouldn’t have been recognized by a normal person unless they stepped on it at just the right angle. They were less than an inch or so tall, almost the size of any shrinky would be. Brand dropped the bundle of wood on the ground near Willow who nodded with approval. She grabbed two and started to head toward the outskirts of their little makeshift camp. She started to stick them in the ground at an angle, making a small semicircle around them with the big sticks. The jagged tips pointed outward away from everyone inside the circle. Willow saw Ryan’s staring gaze and said, “For the bugs.”
Ryan watched Willow and Brand set up a fence of pike like sticks toward anything that might be coming in on them in the night. Ryan was afraid of what could possibly try and come at them and than he was more worried about things that wouldn’t be stopped by this. An ever increasing dread hit him as he worried over what they might face in the dark.
By the time Willow and Brand finished gathering and setting up their defense for everyone, Ryan noticed it was starting to get dark. He hopped that the perimeter was secure and kept them safe from the things in the dark. Everyone used the last of the day light to set up their little sleeping areas. Once settled in everyone started to pull out some food to eat for dinner… or what they could call food.
Ryan wanted to gag as he bit into a hard and firm piece of meat? He hopped it was dropped hamburger meat, otherwise he had no idea what he was biting into. Still he kept at it till he knew his stomach was full and not sick from the thought of eating day old, or ever longer scraps. Everyone was more or less silent as they chewed on whatever left overs they had before starting to set up for the night.
Seeing that everyone was ready to sleep, Ryan pulled out his blanket and started to lay down and get some sleep. He noticed Katty glancing toward his soft and comfy blanket. Trying not to chuckle at her hesitant action to the desired cover, he quickly patted the other side of the blanket for her. The look on her face would have made Ryan blush at how she smiled with delight. In a flash she was already tucked under the blanket.
“Thanks,” She said as she snugged into the blanket and sighed at the comfort. Ryan just smiled before he closed his eyes and tired to get some sleep.
Ryan was back at his apartment, obviously dreaming. He couldn’t help but struggle in his dream, as Emily was drunk again. It was the same scene and event as last time. She pulled out a cup, and dropped him in chilling cold liquid. The cold glass being brought up to her lips. A quick flick of her wrist and Ryan was kicking and struggling to get out of Emily’s mouth, but with no results. Emily was swallowing Ryan before he could call out her name. Oddly enough it wasn’t warm and hot like in real life, it was cold and chilling. The complete opposite of what Ryan thought it would be. Still it didn’t stop him from shivering in fear and coldness. Ryan was struggling and soon landed in Emily’s stomach. Emily’s voice was cold and deep as it echoed around him. “Just a shrinky….”
Ryan sat up shivering. It was all just a dream…
Ryan sighed as he shivered yet again and noticed he didn’t have any of his blanket covering him. It was still dark, the moon giving some light but not enough to see past their little camp. Ryan looked around for his warm blanket and looked to his side. Katty was curled up in a cocoon of fabrics grinning in her slepp as she laid like a burrito on the ground. She stole all of the covers for herself while in her sleep.
Ryan let out a deep sigh as he really wanted some blanket for himself, but Katty seemed intent on keeping it all to herself. Besides Ryan didn’t want to wake her up, she seemed at peace in her sleep.
“Well… it sure got cold,” Ryan muttered to himself as he couldn’t help but look around with a slight shiver agian. He didn’t see anything out of place or abnormal. He spotted Brand and Tom sleeping on the other sides of the encircled area. Ryan turned and looked toward Willow just cause he was looking around. She was up, siting upward looking out in the distances. Ryan was confused why she would be up, hopefully she got some sleep last night.
Willow was glancing around cover in her small ripped cloth fabric she was using as a blanket, completely wrapped around her. As if she could sense his gaze she turned toward Ryan and looked right at him. Ryan felt embarrassed with Willow looking at him just sitting there staring at her. Before Ryan could try and pretend to go back to sleep she opened her blanket and patted the ground by her side for him to join.
Ryan was hesitant but… he was kind of cold. Getting up, he walked over and sat next to Willow as she let him wrap himself up in the cloth.
“Thanks,” Ryan told her.
She simply shrugged, “Figured I should repay the help you gave me yesterday.” Ryan didn’t comment, than the haunting silence filled the air. Willow finally said, “Thanks… again, about… yesterday and everything.”
Ryan didn’t know why but he chuckled, “Oh come on, you didn’t really think we were going to leave you…”
Willow’s face in the moon light told Ryan the truth, she truly did.
“But why,” Ryan asked confused and now feeling the weight of her reaction hit him. It seemed she truly was ready to die.
Willow was quite. She stared off in the distant. Not like an empty stare, she looked through the darkness as if to distract herself from the question. It wasn’t till Ryan was going to repeat it when she spoke up.
“There’s a reason I said no heroes...”
Ryan waited but Willow seemed to want to leave it at that. Ryan needed to know, so he pushed on. He asked again, “Why?”
Willow took a deep breath as she sat there still gazing into the darkness. “… I was young. It was a long time ago. I forgot how long but I remember him. I was in a group, kind of like this one, but way more friendlier,” She let out chuckle at the irony before continuing. “Like I said I was young. So… I wasn’t ready for THIS world…” Willow spat out the words. “I… I was dumb, a fucking… a fucking idiot, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Willow paused for a moment. She was clearly recalling the event. Ryan didn’t comment as Willow tried to keep herself under control before continuing. “I ran into something, a weird… a weird pile of sticky stuff. I can still smell it, you know? Some kind of minty like scent coming from it. My arm and legs got stuck, I couldn’t get out. It was sticky yet… very firm. I was glued to the pavement. I…” Willow paused and Ryan saw that this was hard for her. Yet she went on. Another brave breath, “I called out for help. The group I was in didn’t notice, and was still moving on ahead without me. That’s when he… Fuck… I don’t even know his name,” Willow exhaled deeply as she struggled with the fact. Her voice struggling to remain calm, “He… well he turned around.” Again another pause as Willow fought, but kept calm and went on, “So, he comes to save me, like anyone would have done. Well, it was hard. The stuff was all over my arms and legs, I was trapped in that stuff and he was doing his best yanking and pulling. I was trying to get out, crying,” Willow shook her head before going on. “Well… that’s when we saw it. Someone was jogging down the pathway. You ever seen a running shoe coming at you?”
Ryan waited for a moment till he realized that Willow was waiting for him, he quickly shook his head and replied “Uh, no… sorry.”
“Well,” Willow said with another short breath, “It’s not a pretty sight. The sounds of the thumping of each footstep, the sight of the underside of it flashing at you... We only had seconds before it would be on us… I tried to tell him to leave me, but he wouldn’t. He refused saying he would save me.” Willow rubbed at her eyes with her right forearm before going on, “The damn bastard… he did the only thing he could. He threw himself at me as hard as he could, put his whole freaking weight into me!” Willow exclaimed. “Shoved me so hard that I was pushed out of the way and clear of the pile of sticky stuff…” Again Willow had to pause and gain control of herself, struggling with her voice “Well… I made it. Right?”
Ryan wasn’t sure if he should have asked, but he did, “What about him?”
“… well, he took my place. He pushed me out of the way, and was than stuck in that shit.” Willow let out a bitter sound, “I had enough time to look back as he laid trap in that white ball of sticky glue as the god damn bottom of that shoe come crashing down right on top of him!” Willow closed her eyes as she went on, “I could hear the sound of the foot pushing down, mushing down on him… it happened in a split second but when the shoe was gone, so was the man and the gooey trap. Nothing was left. It was like he never existed.” Opening her eyes from the nightmare she recalled and finally gave Ryan a bitter look, “I watched as my HERO got run down by a fucking shoe just cause I was being a fucking idiot… So, when I say don’t be a hero, I mean don’t end up like him…” Willow had so many emotions playing as she told Ryan this. It was clearly all over her face right now that Ryan didn’t know how to comfort her. She was obviously being torn apart at what had happen in the past.
Ryan figured he should say something and started to speak, “It wasn’t your fa-”
“Don’t…” Willow said in a stern, firm, but also soft voice. “It was. Nothing you say will change that. I got him killed and that’s the truth. Don’t down play it,” Ryan nodded and accepted her words. Willow sighed again and continued, “What I’m trying to say is, I have rules for a reason. It’s not cause I’m a bitch,” Willow emphasized, letting Ryan know that she heard him and Katty talking the other day. “It’s cause I don’t want anyone else to end up like him, or like the others. It’s to keep you all safe. If I have to die to let you four get away… than yeah, I’m going to do it. It’s my job, my responsibility.”
As much as Ryan hated to hear it, he could see where Willow was coming from. He was just trying to do the right thing, something anyone should do in his position. Right? Anyone would try and save someone, but it sounded like that isn’t the best thing to do. “So you’re saying I should stop being so naive?”
Willow frowned for a few second before asking Ryan, “Naive? What’s that?”
Ryan was caught off guard by the question, but went on to explain it, “Uh, oh, like innocent or like childish.”
Willow slowly nodded, “Yeah, no, that sums it up.” Ryan didn’t response as Willow grinned, “You are pretty childish out here.” Ryan rolled his eyes as he looked out into the now slowly glowing night sky. It was starting to become dawn. Than Willow asked Ryan a question, “So what’s your story? Like did you get thrown out or something? It’s clear you aren't used to the outside world.”
“What do you mean,” Ryan asked hesitant on revealing too much. Willow on the other hand gave him a droll stair. It was so obvious she could see through him. Ryan let out a very common sigh tonight as he gave in and decided to tell Willow more. “Well, I do have-had a girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Willow said unimpressed and not believing him.
“Yeah! We were together for over 5 years now… or were,” Ryan commented as he recalled how long it would be to this date.
“So what happened? I mean it sounds like she was okay with you being a shrinking for 5 years, that’s rare, something had to happen to have you running away like this,” Willow asked Ryan with as much curiosity as he had about her back story.
“I… I don’t even know where to began, it’s complicated,” Ryan told Willow. Still Willow seemed to be waiting for him to share. Ryan let out a deep sigh, “Well, yeah everything seemed okay, like she took it well, me being a shrinky,” Ryan recalled, “Weird how things slowly change as you shrink, things start to grow weird, you know?”
Willow shrugged, “Kind of, it all happened so fast and long ago for me. I almost don’t recall being ‘normal’. I recall somethings about my family, some good... but mostly bad things. Sometimes I wonder if it was always there or only came out when I started to shrink.” Willow shook her head, “Doesn’t mater, can’t be worrying too much about the past. Anyway, go on,” Willow told Ryan as she listened.
Ryan nodded at how bleak and horrible Willow past was. Already he could tell there was way more in her history than what she told him. It almost made his few months of shrinkism look like a chump change compared to Willow. Ryan felt like his problems were so trivial, but he went on. “Well, it was small things at first. Like how I couldn’t wake her up if I needed to talk, or wish a good morning. Kind of hard to talk to someone who can’t hear you, right? Little mannerisms that were harmless become deadly.”
“Mannerisms,” Willow asked confused by the word.
Ryan stopped his explanation and thought how to explain the word, “Oh… uh like, actions,” Ryan explained. “Like… I went to tap her hand, when she was grading some school work. Her hand did this,” Ryan lifted his hand and gave it a small jerk like he flinched. “I got launched like four feet back, and she hardly noticed it…” Ryan shook his head at the experience, “I couldn’t imagine if she went to slap at my little tickling of her hand, I probably wouldn't be here.” Ryan heard a noise as he was telling Willow his story. Ryan quickly jerked his head toward the noise looking out into the grass he heard the sound, trying to see what made the sound.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing to worry about, go on,” Willow urged him on, reassuring him it was safe. Her calmness was a little reassuring for Ryan, and it help.
“Uh… right… um,” Ryan tried to go back to his experience with Emily. “It was hard. So naturally things grew distant… which only made it worse. If we got in a fight, she could simply pull out her ear piece and I’m basically a ghost to her. She could pick and choose when she wanted to talk with me,” Ryan grunted at the action Emily did. “Hard to say sorry when you have to wait till she’s ready to talk… anyway a few days ago, she was going to a club with a friend. Nothing new, in fact I urged her to do it.” Ryan explained. “I thought, ‘hey she needs some relaxation, she works way too hard!’ so I told her to go. And than I got jealous,” Ryan recalled the text, “I thought she was going to cheat or something… I don’t know why, it was dumb. So stupid,” Ryan frowned at himself for being so petty. “I followed her to the club.”
Willow raised an eyebrow at his actions, “You followed her?”
“I told you… it was stupid,” Ryan explained trying to defend his actions. “I wasn’t thinking, it… look I jumped into her purse and went to the bar… and than I learned we lived in different worlds. You know how alcohol works…” Ryan looked to Willow who slowly shook her head no. “Oh, well it helps relax people but on the other hand makes them different: less in control, more forgetful, less aware. They tend to act on inner instincts I guess the best way to put it,” Ryan tried to explain and stopped. “Well, she’s a normal sized person and I’m not. To her, I’m just another shrinky. And well she tried to eat me…”
Willow gave her best sympathetic response at those dire words, “Sorry…”
Ryan scoffed as he rolled his eyes at his own words, “Tried would imply she didn’t succeed… she DID eat me. Hell I would be just nutrition for her body or fat on her ass if she didn’t throw me up! All because she would want to keep a fucking secret from me,” Ryan said feeling his anger building on the events that he went through. “She would kill just so I wouldn’t know.” Than Ryan thought of something even worse, “Or maybe she didn’t even think it was murder… just a simple snack,” Ryan felt even worse if that was the truth. His emotions flaring and shaking at the thought, “So yeah, that’s when I knew that there was nothing for us, not anymore. I was either going to die by accident or worse, become some kind of thing or pet that Emily would have to look after. Like it was a CHOIR,” Rayn spat the word in disgust, “or REQUIREMENT,” He spat again, “doing it not out of love but because she HAD to.”
Willow was silent, letting Ryan sulk. After a little while longer she asked Ryan a question, “Do you think they’re all like that? All the normal people?” The fear in her voice was clear.
Ryan was confused at her question, “What do you mean? Like what, like Emily??”
Willow slowly nodded. The worry and concern in the action clear. “Yeah. Like deep down they don’t care about us…”
Ryan thought about it. Sadly he figured he knew the answer, “Deep down, yeah. I think on some kind of deep carnal or primal part of themselves, all of them are like that. I mean, if you didn’t shrink to this size, do you think you would have the same outlook toward someone our size? You would be just like them wouldn’t, right?”
Those words hit Willow hard as she looked devastated by Ryan’s confession. Words that hit harder than Ryan thought it would. Willow finally muttered, “Than what am I even doing?”
“What do you mean,” Ryan asked.
Willow looked around at the others who were still sleeping before looking back at Ryan. The sun was peaking out more, brightening the world as she struggled on the question. Still it seemed Willow’s mood was even worse than before, as she looked sadden by what Ryan just said. “You’ve asked me where we were going. I was traveling to a friends place, Sora’s. The only normal sized person to ever be nice to me, someone I thought I could trust. If what you’re telling me is true…” Willow looked horrified at the idea as she struggled over it, “Than we can’t trust her. If I can’t trust her, than I don’t know where to go,” Willow confessed sounding truly disturbed.
Ryan was shocked at Willows sudden break in character. She looked almost like a lost lonely child now. Ryan wanted to punch himself for pushing Willow into such a state. It looked like he just crushed their leader’s only plan. Without a plan, it looked like they were were stranded with no idea what to do next...