Carley slammed the book down on the coffee table in the living room of her own apartment. The witch plopped herself down onto her sofa before slowly pulling open the aged leather cover of the album. Before her were several pages of polaroid photos that told the story of a family much like many others. It began with a happy looking couple, a man and woman who met in the early nineteen seventies. There were pictures that cataloged the early days of the relationship between Jason Smith and Nancy Perez, culminating in a beautiful wedding ceremony. 

Carley skipped over the next several pages, completely uninterested in the portion of the book that reflected the earlier stages of her life. Instead she flipped through to the end of the book, stopping when she landed on the last photo she possessed of her brother Derrick. She grimaced as she recalled the events that led up to that photo, as well as what transpired in the days after. Slowly, she closed her eyes and when she finally opened them once more Carley found herself standing exactly where she was when the photo was taken. 

“Say cheese!” Her mother said through her smile. Carley furrowed her brow as she broke formation to turn and face her family. She frowned at her parents who were looking at her curiously. 

“I need to talk to Derrick.” She said bluntly, gently flicking her wrist in their direction. Neither Jason nor Nancy could muster a single sound before they were transformed into wicker chairs. Jason’s expression changed to pure panic as he watched helplessly while Carley spun the chair that used to be his mother and took a seat on top of her. 

“Carley! What are you doing?” He shouted. “Why? Why would you do that?” 

Carley gave her brother a soft look of compassion, before turning the chair that was formerly her father to face her. “Sit down Derrick.” She ordered quietly. However the young man hesitated. He knew what his sister was capable of, but he wasn’t going to just sit down on his dad. He had been used as a seat by his sister enough times to know how unpleasant it was.

“Carley, what the fuck? We were having such a good night?” He pleaded with his godlike sister. The young witch let out an exasperated sigh before pointing a finger at her brother and then pointing down at the chair. Compelled by powerful magic, Derrick found himself lowering down on top of his own father, silently begging the man for forgiveness. 

“Carley, why-“ Carley raised a hand to cut off her brother.

“Derrick, don’t worry about them. They’re not real. This is just a memory.” Carley said softly, taking her brother's hand in her own. The young man appeared to take this information in stride. In reality it was a difficult concept to grapple with, the notion that your consciousness was nothing more than a magical reflection of a singular memory. But the version of Derrick sitting before her accepted this information as reality, just as he had done a dozen times before.

“Derrick, I need to know where you went.” Carley asked, taking both of her brother’s hands into her own and gently massaging them with her thumbs. As Derrick looked into her eyes, he saw a genuine bit of love behind her gaze.

“I don’t understand…” He replied.

“You’ve disappeared… out there.” She said, motioning vaguely outside of the confines of this memory. “You’re gone and I don’t know where to find you. I need your help. Where would you have gone?”

Derrick stared at his sister confused. “I… I don’t know.” He stammered. “I wouldn’t … I don’t-“

Carley took her brother’s hands in her own and gently squeezed them. She gave him a soft smile as she gently rubbed his hands with her thumb. “Shhh shhh shhh. It’s alright. Just relax. We’re here together now.” Carley looked deeply into her brother’s eyes, she could see the confusion in his eyes as he raced to process this information. “It’s important, Derrick. You need to tell me where I can look for you.”

Suddenly, a light of recognition formed in Derrick’s eyes as he finally pieced together what Carley was doing here. 

“I got away, didn't I? I got away and somehow the all powerful Carley can’t find me?” Derrick said, a wide smile forming on his face as he nearly began to laugh at the circumstances. 

“Fuck you, you little worm! I’m going to fucking find you eventually!” Carley shouted, her fingers suddenly digging into Derrick's flesh. He winced in pain and writhed against his sister’s grip. Finally the pieces fell into place in his mind as his sister reverted to her true nature. 

“Fuck you! We both know that you don’t need me to tell you anything that I know, which means that wherever I went out there, you can’t even torture the info out of me.” He screeched, as he found himself rapidly shrinking in size. Carley stood up quickly from her chair, knocking her mother backwards onto the floor. 

“Fuck you! You little shit!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Raising her sneaker into the air and slamming it down right beside her now tiny brother. Derrick puffed up his chest, no longer deterred by fear of his sister’s power.

“You think you’re some sort of immortal god, but look at you now. Can’t even keep your thumb on top of your own family. And I can tell you this, someday you're going to get what's coming to you. I just pray that I’ll be there to see it happen.” He shouted. Carley gritted her teeth and knelt down beside the chair so that she could see her tiny brother. 

“Oh, is that what you think? You think that anyone can take me down? For all of your pathetic conniving and scheming, your little plan with the BSA failed spectacularly.” She spat, her words now dripping with pure malice. Derrick’s heart sank. Carley’s revelation put some things into perspective for the tiny man. 

“And you think you’re going to sit here and gloat? To me?” She asked, towering over her miniscule brother. “What about Mom and Dad? Hmmmm? Do you think they were so lucky as to slip through my fingers? Fat chance. And sooner or later, you’re going to learn what a fucking mistake it was to try to stab me in the back.”

“Well, you’ll have to find me first.” He said plainly. Those words hit Carley and her rage boiled over so strongly that she actually circled back around to being calm. The giantess plucked her tiny brother off of the chair and turned around. By now, their mother had reverted back into a human form and was standing up off the floor. Carley, devoid of any more emotion, gently handed the shrunken boy to Nancy who took him in the palm of her hand.  

“Eat.” She commanded. A vacancy washed over Nancy’s face as she raised her miniature son up to her mouth and deposited him within. Carley watched intently as the memory of her mother blindly consumed her son whole. 

“Now sit.” She ordered again, forcing Nancy to take a seat upon her husband. Carley let out a heavy sigh. She didn’t know why she ever bothered to do this. Despite the fact that this construct was identical to her brother in all ways but literal, Carley already knew that he had no information to offer her. In the years since he had disappeared, she had come here to interrogate him several times over and each time it always ended with nothing but frustration for her. 

“Goddamnit.” She muttered, closing her eyes and opening them once more to find herself back in her own living room. She glanced down at the photo out of which she had just stepped. Where once all four members of her family stood happily smiling at the camera, now only her mother was seated on a simple wicker chair. By this time tomorrow, the photo will have reverted to its original state and Carley will have been no closer to finding her missing brother. 

“Fucking piece of shit!” Carley growled, kicking the coffee table and sending the photo album careening across the floor. She could feel her heart racing at incredible speeds and began to silently curse at herself. Still after all this time it was mind boggling to her how she allowed Derrick to get under her skin like this. 

“Okay, I need to fucking relax.” Carley muttered to herself, standing up from the couch as she proceeded to pace throughout her home. She pondered what she was going to do to relieve her stress. With such limitless potential Carley could sometimes find herself stunned with choice paralysis, unable to act on any of the thoughts that crossed her mind. 

Suddenly Carley recalled the friends that she had made earlier in the day and she came to an emotional realization. Perhaps she wasn’t in the mood to go on a rampage. Maybe instead, she would prefer to bring one of her friends into the game. Carley retrieved her phone and opened her contacts list. 

“Hmmmm, Amanda?” She pondered for a moment. She couldn’t deny that there was something just infinitely fascinating about the red haired vixen. But she also wasn’t what Carley needed right now. 

“It’s Carley. I need to blow off some steam. Want to do some magic stuff?” The witch sent a text off to the bossy goth woman she had met earlier that day. It took a few minutes, but eventually Sarah sent a response.

“Can’t, still at work.” 

Carley furrowed her brow. How was this girl so goddamn dense? Did she really not understand that Carley could do literally anything? The young witch stomped off towards her front door. Throwing open the door, Carley stepped out of her home and directly into the bustling diner where Sarah evidently worked. She had to stifle a short chuckle as she got a good look at her new friend. 

Sarah was standing just a few meters away, dressed in an ugly, mustard yellow top and matching skirt, carrying a small tray of coffee mugs over to a booth of men in their twilight years. Carley remained in the middle of the busy diner floor, arms crossed and wearing a cocky smirk as Sarah turned to face her. The dark haired woman was stunned to be looking at her strange new companion here at her place of employment. 

“What? How did you even…” She started to speak, but Carley quickly cut her off.

“So are you just a slow learner? Or do you just think you look cute when you're confused?” Carley asked, walking over to the counter where a couple was sitting enjoying some late night breakfast for dinner. She reached over the man’s shoulder, plucking a strip of bacon off of his plate. However, to Sarah’s surprise, the man offered no resistance to having his food taken. In fact, he didn’t seem to even notice.

“Look, I told you. I’m working. Not all of us are magical, ya know.” Sarah said, growing somewhat annoyed that this strange woman was now pestering her at work. Her mind drifted back to the shrunken man who was currently secured in the back of her underwear, lapping away at her asshole like a mindless animal. She couldn’t deny the pure, undiluted satisfaction that came from forcing her ex boyfriend to worship her ass. However, if she managed to lose this job somehow, her life would be completely and utterly fucked.

“Ugh, Jesus Christ. Where’s your boss? Is he here?” Carley sighed impatiently. Sarah nodded and pointed towards the kitchen. 

“Lou, he’s the owner. Back in the kitchen.” Sarah said, watching curiously as the petite blonde witch strolled past the counter and waltzed into the busy kitchen of the 24 hour diner. Carley approached the man that Sarah had pointed out moments ago. Lou was an older, heavyset gentleman who was currently sweating over a rolling hot griddle, trying to manage the slew of orders for his customers. He looked up from the girl just in time to see Carley proceeding into the employee only space.

“Hey, what the hell? Out of my kitchen!” He shouted, beads of sweat dripping off of his nose onto the food below. Carley smirked and continued in his direction. With the subtle rage boiling within her, she briefly considered shrinking the piggish man down and tossing him onto the searing surface of the iron, cooking him like bacon. However, she intended to do something new this evening and in order to accomplish that, this little piggy needed to do as she says.

“My friend out there, Sarah…” Carley said, pointed towards the meek looking waitress out on the diner floor. Lou looked up from his griddle at his employee beyond the counter. He didn’t know what exactly was going on, but he was glad to know where to direct his rage when this was all over.

“Yea, what about ‘er?” He asked incredulously. 

“Well, she’s got better things to do. So she’s going to be leaving.” Carley said very plainly. Lou simply stared at the young blonde, his shoulders heaving with each labored breath. “But you’re still going to pay her for her shift. Okay?”

There was a long beat of silence and Sarah waited for her boss to laugh Carley away before firing her. However, still to Sarah’s surprise, Carley’s magic proved to serve her interests.

“Yea, alright. I got it. Now would ya get out of my kitchen?” Lou said, returning his attention to the griddle. Carley smiled and turned back towards Sarah, but paused before fully leaving the kitchen.

“Oh, Sarah might be missing more shifts down the road too. So just, go ahead and pay her whether she shows up or not. Okay?” Carley added, nearly causing Sarah’s jaw to hit the floor. Lou simply nodded his head and waved her off, as if everything Carley was suggesting was a completely rational idea in his own mind. Once she was satisfied that Sarah had no more reason to deny her any further, Carley walked back out into the diner and greeted her friend.

“Well, now you don’t have to work anymore. So, are you gonna go out with me now?” Carley asked, arms folded across her chest. Sarah shook her head in disbelief.

“So, he’s just going to keep paying me, whether I come to work or not? That’s freaking insane!” Sarah exclaimed with glee. Carley scoffed again.

“You have a shrunken ex boyfriend up your ass right this second. How are you not understanding this?” Carley asked, exasperated by the inability of mortals to comprehend the possibilities born of magic.

“What, Tyler? He’s just where he belongs. But free money? In this economy? That’s wild.” Sarah said with a chuckle. “Fuck it. Let’s do it!”