@starslayer
One week later
Jeanette sat in the far corner of the Little Owl’s Cafe, her laptop resting on her thighs. On the table before her sat a cup of the strongest latte she could drink without her head exploding. She’d been trying to find information on the boy, but with no leads and no witnesses of the incident save herself, she wasn’t having a lot of luck.
She was very successful with another budding interest of hers, however.
Ever since she’d looked up at the boy from her diminutive size, her mind had been filled with thoughts of being three inches tall again. It was weird, she knew, and embarrassing to think about, but just remembering the strange, tingling sensation that spread over her body, the airy, light-headed feeling that came with being so small… it was fascinating.
On the internet, she’d found very little actually helpful content. She never would have guessed there was an entire community focused on eroticizing the fictional resizing of men and women, but she supposed one could find just about anything on the web.
Did that mean she disliked what she saw? Not exactly. Once her friend Kaylee had come over, and she found a stack of rather… explicit books regarding shrunken individuals hiding under Jeanette’s bed. Jeanette had blushed, and thrown them away jokingly. Kaylee had, thankfully, said little about it, only remarking that she’d never have guessed Jeanette was into that “weird kinda stuff,” as she called it.
(She didn’t know Jeanette had fished them from the trash can the moment Kaylee had left.)
Jeanette honestly didn’t know why she was so attached to the idea of being small. All she knew for sure was that she needed to find the boy, and fast.
Her mind turned to the missing necklace, and her heart suddenly felt heavy in her chest. She thought of her mother in her last moments, thin and frail and yet so beautiful as she lay dying on that accursed hospital bed…
She took a swig of her coffee to clear her head, smacking her lips as the hot brown liquid traveled down her throat.
“Don’t burn yourself,” a voice said. She looked up, automatically minimizing (god, what that word did to her mind nowadays was excruciating) her browser.
Hank, one of the waiters at the cafe stood before her, a mischievous grin on his face. That was typical of him; the nineteen year old baristo was well known around the shop for his playful sense of humor. His curly brown hair poked out from under his hat, and his dark eyes sparkled. A lot of the girls harbored quite a crush on him, and Jeanette had asked herself if she was one of them before. Sure, Hank was a little young for her 22 years, but he was cute, funny, and likable.
Unbidden, an image popped into her mind, of her being cuddled by a gigantic Hank. She curled around one of his slim fingers, and Hank lightly poked her in the waist, tickling her.
Her face suddenly felt hot, and she covered her mouth. She found she couldn’t meet Hank’s eyes.
Hank didn’t seem to notice, or he was gracious enough to not call attention to it. “We don’t really have the money to afford being sued 'cuz you were dumb enough to burn half your mouth off. So please remember that we are absolved of all responsibility for any injuries you might sustain. I’m just telling you this to be nice.”
Jeanette cleared her throat, and forced the image from her mind.
“S-Shouldn’t I sign a liability waiver or something?” she said, trying to play along.
Hank grinned. “If we did that, nobody would come, Jeanette.” He gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Would you come to a cafe if they made you sign something every time you ordered a hyper-summer mint latte?”
She laughed. “I guess not.”
“Exactly. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a lovely couple over there who’s in need of their beverages.”
He nodded, and walked off with a smile. Jeanette smiled back, then quickly maximized the browser again.
She had about five tabs open, two of which were Deviantart (she promised herself it was work related), one of which was a news report concerning the seven or so missing people in the area, and two of which were online forums regarding… certain things Jeanette didn’t like to admit, even in her own mind.
She clicked onto the report, and recognized some of the pictures as none other than the men who’d attacked her a week ago. The others she didn’t know, but it couldn’t have been a coincidence that they’d all last been seen in the same area. Her mystery boy had to be behind it.
Moved by a sudden impulse, she glanced up, and her eyes widened. Standing in line at the counter was none other than Cornelius, dressed in a simple hoodie and jeans.
A multitude of emotions passed through her mind: rage, that the person she’d been searching for so long happened to just walk into the cafe while she was there, relief, for it meant she could finally get some answers, and an emotion she couldn’t give a name to, one that made her heart tighten in her chest and sent her mind into a flurry of thoughts and ideas.
She almost stood up and walked over to him, but she didn’t want to cause a scene. She watched as he ordered coffee and a muffin, then made to leave.
Damn it, he ordered to-go.
Then Cornelius turned, just for a moment. Anyone else would have dismissed it as irrelevant, but Jeanette watched as his blue eyes met hers. He noticed her, and there was the faintest hint of a smile in his expression. Then he turned, and left.
Hurriedly, Jeanette leaped to her feet, packed up her things, paid the bill, and rushed out the cafe, looking around frantically. Then she saw him, a few blocks away, standing by a bus stop.
She broke into a sprint, not even caring how she looked to the people around her. Cornelius glanced behind him, and he suddenly began walking again.
Jeanette cursed, and she put on an extra burst of speed. She was thankful she’d taken track for her last few years of high school, otherwise she never would have been able to make it.
Cornelius turned into an alleyway. A part of Jeanette’s mind wondered what on earth he was turning into an alleyway for, but the rest of her simply forced her to keep going.
Finally, she made it. In a final burst of adrenaline, she grabbed him by the collar and forced him to the wall, drawing a surprised gasp from his lips.
“Alright, listen,” she said, panting, “I have questions, and you’re going to answer them. Understand?”
Cornelius looked up at her, eyes wide. He nodded shyly, and Jeanette relinquished her grip, resting her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.
“S-Sorry about that,” she said after a moment. “I’ve been looking for you for… well… n-never mind.”
Cornelius rubbed the back of his neck. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Um… you know I’m not supposed to talk to you right? Well, that’s a ridiculous question. Of course you don’t.”
“Why can’t you talk to me?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “Some kind of religious thing?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Cornelius said nervously. “But I suppose you’re not going to stop asking questions?”
Jeanette grinned. “You know me so well.”
He sighed. “Well, that’s that.”
He offered her his hand. Jeanette raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not gonna shrink me and sell me to a local school are you?”
Cornelius laughed. “Of course not, Miss Jeanette. I figure you’ve been persistent enough to have looked for me. The most decent thing I could do is answer your questions. Oh, and before I forget…”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Jeanette’s heart gave a great leap when she realized it was her own.
She took it slowly, fastening it around her neck, a sense of peace spreading throughout her as the cold chain settled on her skin.
Cornelius offered her his hand. “Do you trust me?”
Jeanette was silent for a moment, then she slowly took his hand. It was cold and soft within her own, and she felt the young man slightly flinch at her touch.
He cleared his throat. “Miss Jeanette. You must promise to me that you will speak to no one about what I’m going to tell you.”
“I… I promise.”
And suddenly, they were gone.
