yabokunokami

“Brielle,” Paul’s voice woke her from a deep sleep. She sat up with a gasp, looking around, expecting him to be laying next to her but he was standing in front of his closed bedroom door. She blinked her eyes at him, trying to get them to adjust. She didn’t think any amount of blinking could help her adjust to the sight of a giant man infront of her. “Try not to freak out okay?” Brielle sat up further, immediately freaking out “what? Why?” “Paul!” a womans voice called out from far away, banging on a door; his front door? “who is that?!” “You were sleeping in, so I decided to call Sarah and I ended up telling her about our...situation” he whispered, even though there was barely a chance Sarah could hear him “She...she just showed up. I told her you weren’t ready but she’s here and,” “Let me in Paul!” Sarah’s angry voice interrupted him and making Brielle jump. “She just wants to talk okay?” He took a step forward, clasping his hands “She wants to see you” “No” Brielle said

When Paul looked back into the water to find Brielle, she was gone. “Brielle?” he called out “Are you okay?” No response. He stood up now and quickly began wading into the pool, eyes scanning the water surface to find her. She told him she was a good swimmer! During his panic he heard a voice; Brielle’s voice. “Paul?” He spun around to where she was treading water to his right and let out a deep breath. “I couldn’t see you!” he huffed, not mad but relieved “Sorry” she winced “I was swimming underwater” As he walked towards her, he lowered himself down to his chin again, closer to her than before. “This curse,” he said “how do you think it’s broken?” Before she could answer, they heard a voice "Paul?" Paul whipped around at the sound of his name and stood up, sending waves crashing towards Brielle. She tried to duck under the surface so she didn't get tossed around but she was too late. "Paul is that you?" A man called out "Yeah!" Paul called out When Brielle finally

Brielle sat there for a long time. So long that she began to feel more tired than upset. There was no sign of Paul coming back any time soon; she was pretty sure she heard the front door open and close not long after he left. Maybe he was gone. Good she thought. She deserved to be alone. For, as upset as his words made her, she knew he was right. She knew what she had been doing and thrust herself upon his life and treated him like a monster for it. A girlfriend. He had a girlfriend. Whom he was most likely in love with. She had to get out of there – before he got home. ~~~ When Paul got home, he tried not to immediately go to the room and find Brielle. He instead distracted himself with clearing up a few things – Sarah was due to come over in a couple of hours and the place was a mess. When he finally made his way to his room, he knocked gently before entering. “Brielle?” he called quietly, slowly stepping in, his eyes scanning the room for her. She wasn’t on the bed, or

When Paul returned, plate of food in hand, it took a moment for his eyes to land on her. She had hardly moved, except now she was laying sprawled out on her back. Was she relaxing? Had she fallen asleep? As he slowly made his way closer to her, he realised her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping – fitfully – like she was having a terrible nightmare. “Brielle?” he tried softly “Brielle?” nothing. He set down his plate and tentatively leaned on the bed and when she still didn’t wake, he made his way over to her, kneeling in front of her impossibly small frame. “Brielle” he tried again, more firmly but no response. Now that he was in closer, she seemed to be in pain, involuntarily jerking and wincing – what the hell was happening? Instinctively he ran a finger down her arm and quickly pulled away, expecting her to scream but nothing happened. Determined, he slid his fingers under now, his stomach fluttering at the feeling. He gently lifted her up, her limp body

Brielle woke up but didn't open her eyes. Even though she knew the sun was up, she still felt exhausted and wanted more sleep. She rolled on to her stomach in the hopes that pinning her arms underneath her would help her fall back to sleep faster. She took on a deep breath to relax further but paused at her exhale. Strange. Her room smelled different... She breathed in again and smelled the same unfamiliar scent. Did she leave a window open? Still half asleep, she tried to analyse the smell. It was earthy, like pine needles and petrichor and, though impossible, almost reminiscent of boy. She tried to ignore it, still wanting to fall back to sleep, but what came next, she couldn't ignore. Movement. The sound of bedsheets moving, even though she hadn't moved. Her eyes shot open, and her stomach dropped. Grey. Grey fabric as far as she could see. She was too scared to move, frozen in place she tried to look around the room. A wall, kilometres away. A draped window with

Aiden I’m not usually one to panic about things. In fact I tend to pride myself on being able to stay calm in stressful situations. But the way this day is going, that’s starting to be put to the test. I’ve worked with Dr. Little before, just once, a few days ago. He gave me the rundown of the machinery I’d be operating and let me assist in a couple of trial runs. It was amazing, getting to see the shrinking technology in person. At this point I’ve watched a chair, an apple, and even a rat become miniaturized, and quickly I was realizing that this wouldn’t just be me getting simple credits for a college class. I was getting to witness history in the making. I’d found it pretty insane that I would not only get to be his assistant for some of the human trials, this one apparently being the fourth, but that it would literally just be me and him running the show today. Could something this monumental really be happening

Evie The click of the doorknob echoes menacingly. Each sound is magnified to an astounding degree, bouncing off the metal walls of the now tower-like chamber. I make a terrified, weak whining noise as the glass door swings open, and I’m trying again to scooch backwards, bending my legs up but making very little progress. Aiden is a veritable monster now, all thoughts of his handsomeness completely vanished as I take in the hulking form of this colossus approaching me like some gargantuan predator. He crouches before me again, the movement causing me to feel like everything’s closing in, and although it’s helpful to not have to take in the entire looming form of his body, having his face come so close to my perch is entirely unnerving. His head alone looks as big as a house. My breath is coming in shallow as every instinct is hating how exposed I am and wanting me to flee. I’m having to remind myself that I’m staring

Part 1: Trial by Fire Evie I feel like I’m sitting at the bottom of the ocean. My head is swimming. There’s a buzzing in my ears and a warmth filling up my body. My eyelids are heavy. Everything is so heavy. I just want to sleep… Maybe if I just… No. No no no. Something’s wrong. I can’t let myself fall asleep. Come on. I have to force my eyelids open. Come on… With monumental effort I manage to lift up my chin by just an inch or two. All I can muster is the barest of squints. I see light and shadows dancing in my vision until something solid comes into view. There’s someone in front of me… I make out a face. It’s familiar. There had been a white room, a waiting room I think. A doctor’s office? And he was there. He was standing just behind the counter. “Hi there! Are you Evie?” He had such a friendly smile. I remember it setting me at ease. “Yes, that’s me.” “Cool, I’m Aiden. It's nice to meet you.” I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. A shock of dark hair, broad shoulders and