The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 17. "Escape to Captivity"

by Skytower

Personal nightmares are just that: personal. They are the secret fear that every man and woman has and that all men and women dread. Julia Strongbolt was in the midst of her personal nightmare and there was no way to wake up. Julia’s worst nightmare was being helpless. When she had been a child Julia had always been queen of the playground or schoolyard. She had been bigger and stronger than most of the other children and far more willing to use her size and strength. But one day Julia ran into an even bigger, stronger and far meaner girl. They fought and Julia lost a fight for the first time in her life. Held down in the school playground Julia had been helpless as the other children she had tormented got their revenge. From that day on Julia vowed never to loose a fight again.

But of course a vow made in childhood is not easily kept. Over the years as Julia grew up she lost many other fights, but never easily. She won far more than she lost. On the way she earned a reputation as someone not to be liked or trusted. She continued to be a bully, but also became a snitch, a viper and many other things besides. Julia decided the world was her enemy and then made sure of it. She also found other ways to be a bully. The Strongbolt family was rich, and Julia made good use of that money to make sure anyone that could remotely threaten her was dealt with. That girl who had long ago beaten her in school, she learned slowly and painfully the price of making Julia an enemy and the full destructive power that the wealthy have.

But there was a danger in the way Julia lived. The tables could always be turned, her wealth taken away. For almost ten years she had lived with the fear that her fortune, the family fortune that was rightfully hers, would be taken away. Before her father had died in a plane accident he had set a condition on Julia. Unless she presented her little sister Snowbelle in the family lawyers’ office on Snowbelle’s eighteenth birthday, alive and well, the fortune would not be hers. Julia had never liked her sister. She had never forgiven her younger sister for being born. That birth had robbed Julia of her mother. She never really bothered to hide her anger at her younger sister and her father saw it more than once. He feared what would happen so he planned ahead. Julia had never hated her father or her sister more than on the day the will was read. Without money she was helpless against the world.

So she had gritted her teeth and kept Snowbelle safe, if not happy for years. And now just weeks before Snowbelle’s eighteenth birthday things had gone wrong. They had gone wrong in a way that Julia had never, never in her wildest dreams, expected them to go wrong. An illness, an accident, an assault, all those things she had planned for and guarded against. But not this.

She was strapped into a T shaped rack that forced her to stay on her knees. The wood held her neck and wrist while leather straps held her legs. Julia was in good shape but against the wood and the leather she was helpless.

Helpless. The very word tore at her soul.

But what was worse was the way she had been bound. First there had been the fight with a blonde, a strong naked blonde. She had knocked Julia out. But when Julia awoke, in this place, she had faced the Duchess of Dollopolis. Simone Stronghollow. Julia knew her in the casual way that all of the towns founding families knew each other. But the Simone Julia knew was the Simone Julia could have easily beaten. The Simone that was the Duchess had somehow grown to twice Julia’s height. With that superior height and power the Duchess had bound Julia. And then spanked her.

Julia had been in shock at that point but it had gotten worse. Into the stygian realm of her nightmare had walked twin giants. Women not twice her height, but at least ten times her height. They terrified Julia. Her mind refused to accept reality and she fainted.

"I fainted." Julia whispered the words with a combination of amazement and self-loathing. "I fainted." She repeated and anger stirred in her at the words. But the anger did her no good against her bonds. The wood and the leather laughed at her anger. And after a long time the anger died out because there was nothing for it to focus on.

Julia looked around. From where she was on the platform she was facing mountains. Craning her head Julia could see a castle surrounded by a moat or a lake. Beside that she could see trees and fields. It was a cloudy night but there was an angry red glow in the sky. The weather was warm at least, even if the clouds did threaten rain.

"Hey!" Julia shouted. "Somebody! Anybody!"

There was no reply but that didn’t stop Julia. She kept shouting until she heard someone walking onto the platform.

"Who’s there?" Julia demanded scrapping her neck against the boards.

"It’s me." Snowbelle said.

"Well I guess you’re pretty happy." Julia said.

Snowbelle stepped in front of her and Julia looked at her little sister. Snowbelle had gotten their mother’s short height but the rest of it was pure Strongbolt. Thick eyebrows, pug nose big ears and full lips. Julia realized that the plastic surgery that she had agreed to a year before, more to shut her sister up than any other reason, was gone. The nose was a little larger and so were the ears. Snowbelle was nude.

"I’ll be happier here than I was at home." Snowbelle said.

"Hey at least I put clothes on you."

"Nothing my size right now." Snowbelle said taking a step back.

"Where the hell is this place? What the hell have you dragged me into?"

"I don’t know where it is exactly." Snowbelle admitted. She folded and unfolded her arms as she talked, as if unsure whether or not she should cover her nudity. "I’m pretty sure were still on Earth, but I don’t know where. Its called Dollopolis."

"Couldn’t have waited two more months?" Julia demanded.

"Well…" Snowbelle shrugged. "At first, when Officer Dolly…"

"Who?"

"The woman in the cage."

"Oh."

That woman had grown to over six feet and beaten Julia. That woman was on Julia’s list.

"I don’t think she wanted to go this fast. They aren’t ready for me. But they said you saw her so…"

"So this is my fault?"

"Well you did attack everyone when you woke up."

"I woke up naked on the ground!" Julia snapped.

Snowbelle shrugged again.

"So did I but I didn’t go attacking everyone."

"You wanted to be here."

"Well yea, it’s not like you were gonna let me live in the house after next month anyway."

Julia growled and Snowbelle drew back.

"I’ve given you a roof and a life for years." Julia said.

Snowbelle sighed and hugged herself.

"I know what you did and why you did it. I don’t know why you hate me but…"

"You’re a weak, simpering nothing!"

Snowbelle sighed again.

"Well anyway there was some big crisis and everyone had to leave, so they’ll get back to us."

"When?"

"I don’t know."

"So I just stay here like this?"

Snowbelle shrugged again.

"What about food? Water? Bathroom?" Julia demanded.

"I can feed you, I found some food in Lizzie’s house."

"You gonna clean up after me too?" Julia demanded.

I’m not letting you out of that thing, you’ll kill me." Snowbelle said.

"Then you better get a mop and a bucket." Julia snapped. "Cause I’m not going to hold it for you."

Snowbelle took a step back and nearly fell off of the platform.

"I’ll just have to clean it up." Snowbelle said stuttering slightly.

"You think you can just keep me here? That no one is going to notice I’m not around? What about Mickey and Nora?"

"Well Nora’s here too." Snowbelle said. "But she fainted and they decided to lock her in the tower."

"What?"

"She was hysterical." Snowbelle said. "They were afraid she’d run off the edge."

"What about Mickey?"

"They said something about virtual reality." Snowbelle said.

"Who’s doing all this?" Julia demanded. "Who the hell have you been chatting with?"

Snowbelle shrugged again.

Julia growled and struggled against the frame that held her.

"You don’t even know who’s running the place and you let them do this to you?"

Snowbelle crossed her arm and put one hand on her chin.

"It sounds kinda crazy when you put it like that." She agreed. "But I think I can be happy here. I saw a pyramid and I think they’ll let me live in it."

Julia was about to tell Snowbelle what she thought of that idea, when suddenly all of the lights went out. It wasn’t only the lights. Everything around them was instantly dark and quiet. The lack of sight and sound was so sudden Julia thought for a moment that she had fainted again.

"What happened?" Snowbelle asked with a touch of panic in her voice.

"Why ask me it’s your fantasy!" Julia snapped. "Get me out of here!"

"But…"

The world snapped back to life but there was a difference. Instead of the sky being full of dark red clouds it was now dull gray.

"Catastrophic Event." A cold formal voice echoed around them. It had a touch of an English accent and seemed to drop the temperature in the room. "Repeat. Catastrophic Event. Standby to evacuate."

"Get me the hell out of here!" Julia screamed.

Snowbelle fumbled with the lock that held the wood in place and after a few seconds it released. Julia angrily pushed the wood up and off and then reached down and un-strapped her legs.

"Where should we go?" Snowbelle asked looking around. "They said evacuate, but where too?"

"You’re not going anywhere!" Julia snarled. With one hand she grabbed Snowbelle by the neck and shoved her into the stocks. A knee to the stomach stunned her little sister and Julia pushed Snowbelle’s wrist into the holes and then slammed the wood down.

"Julia no!" Snowbelle said. "You don’t know what they’ll do to you for this!"

"Shut up!" Julia snapped. She strapped Snowbelle’s legs down and then grabbed the wooden paddle that Simone had used.

Snowbelle screeched in pain as she was spanked but Julia didn’t have much time to enjoy it. The gray sky flickered and then was filled with digital static. Julia dropped the paddle and looked around her. For the first time she saw the whole of Dollopolis. She beheld half houses, a horizon that was the edge of a table; an edge that seemed to fall away into space. A truth hit her that Julia had been too angry to heed before.

"Those weren’t giants." Julia said in an almost numb voice. "I’m small!" Reaching down she grabbed Snowbelle’s hair and twisted it. "I’m small!"

"Yea!" Snowbelle screamed. "We’re both small! We’re dolls!"

"How small!"

"About a foot I guess."

"You shrunk me!" Julia twisted the handful of hair even harder and was rewarded with another scream. "I’m gonna…"

"Evacuate now." The calm voice said.

Julia heard a sound and looked around. All over Dollopolis tubes with flashing red lights had burst out of the ground.

"Snowbelle!" Another voice called. Julia recognized it as one of the giant girls. Forgetting all about her sister Julia jumped off of the platform and raced toward one of the tubes.

"Snowbelle don’t evacuate." The voice called. Julia heard Snowbelle scream for help.

The tube was twice as tall as Julia was. Inside were a gray seat, a small display screen and a large red button under a plastic cover. Julia scrambled into the seat and a black mesh net dropped in front of her. Beside her the screen came alive with an illustration showing the net anchoring the person to the seat. She followed the illustration and hooked the netting to the seat. It went from her neck to her crotch and two smaller nets appeared for her legs. As soon as the nets were in position the screen changed and showed an illustration of a person pushing the button. Julia lifted up the plastic cover and slammed the red button down. The words: ‘Evacuation Pod 33. Active.’ Appeared on the screen. Then there was only the slightest of moments before two doors slammed shut in front of her. Julia’s stomach leapt into her throat as the pod dove. For the next few minutes the pod twisted and turned at impossibly right angles at absurd speeds. The netting dug into Julia’s skin and pressed her heavy breasts against her chest. The netting between her legs dug into her sex. It was like riding a roller coaster with a butterfly vibrator in her pussy. The only light was from the screen that counted down from 100. When it reached all zeros Julia felt her self fly through the air and then crash down into something soft. Despite the mesh Julia hit her head and lay in a daze. She felt the pod moving swiftly and heard water. She was in a river or a stream. After a while the pod ran into something and stopped. Julia was still trying to catch her breath when suddenly new words appeared on the screen. They were words that chilled her.

‘Pod 33 use un-authorized. Homing transmitter activated for retrieval.’

They were coming for her. The thought of being taken by the giants drove Julia to action. Ignoring the aches and pains in her body Julia un- strapped the netting and pushed the doors open. As soon as she got them open a blast of cold air hit her. Rain followed the air and Julia climbed naked into a colossal storm.

The world was alien, grotesque. She was at the bottom of a giant canyon with a black river running through it. The pod had stuck on a fallen tree branch. Julia climbed onto the branch and crawled along it. Twice the branch shifted so violently that Julia was almost thrown off. But she held on, hugging the tree and not caring that the wet bark scraped at the bare flesh on her breasts, stomach and legs. She made it to the end of the branch and climbed onto the ground. Panting from the effort Julia rested and looked around. Puddles that were small ponds filled with black water surrounded her. Trees that were sky scrappers loomed in the distance. The trees were outlined by the angry red clouds and flashes of lightning in the clouds that were solid black, not white. The wind howled and was strong enough to knock Julia over. Heavy, hard rain hit her body and the smell of sulfur stung her nose. She was standing in cold brown mud that oozed between her toes. Some of the netting was still on her, pasted to her skin by the rain. It didn’t really cover her body but at least she wasn’t completely naked. For a few minutes Julia struggled to cover her body as best she could. Only the fact that the pod started to beep loudly got Julia to move. Her fear of the giants was greater than her fear of the weather or embarrassment over her nudity. Stumbling and falling in the mud she staggered and lurched away from the pod.

Julia had no idea how long she walked or how far she walked. The world for her was condensed into movement. One foot in front of the other, blinded by rain she kept moving at first because she was afraid of capture. Then she kept going because deep down Julia was angry. That anger fueled her as it always had. It kept her warm even though her body was ice cold and she could barely feel her feet anymore.

The world is your enemy, Julia often told herself. It won’t show you any mercy. Face it, crush it, become more powerful than it, and show it you can be just as mean, then it will leave you alone.

The air around her turned stale and dead, like the air from a trunk that has been sealed up in a long forgotten attic. Something new was added to the air, some strange scent. Julia coughed as the air burned her throat. It made her dizzy and her mind started to cloud with delirium.

"No mercy, only the strong."

At some point Julia started mumbling those words to herself. Sometimes she shouted them, as if saying them could force a path through the rain for her. Reality started to twist and bend for Julia. In her mind she found herself back on the playground being beaten. Even further back than that repressed memories started to surface. Memories of her uncle creeping into her parents room. Julia was in the room too. She had fallen asleep in the big chair by the window as she often did back then. Julia was too young to understand why everyone was shouting. Too young to understand but she knew what was wrong and what was right. She remembered her father fighting to stop her uncle and failing and she remembered her uncle raping her mother. Her mother screaming for help and her father lying on the floor, bloody and beaten. Helpless.

The memories screamed into Julia’s mind and she screamed them at the storm. She screamed them and hit at the air with her fist. For a time she hit only empty air. Then her fist made contact with something. Looking up Julia looked into a glorious world of green. Plants were everywhere. Warmth was there as well. But some barrier stopped her. Screaming anew Julia pounded and pounded against the invisible barrier. She pounded and didn’t care that her knuckles were bleeding. Something was in her way and Julia knew only one way to deal with objects in her path. She kept hitting until she heard the sound of breaking glass and the barrier fell away.

Warm air filled with pleasant scents greeted Julia as she fell forward and crawled into the greenhouse. Stumbling away from the broken glass she hit her head against a metal table leg and fell back. For a few minutes she lay on the floor breathing the fresher air. Her mind was still coping with the memories the bad air had dragged out of her. Julia wanted to deny them, to think of them only as the product of the storm. But they were not.

Julia stood up and looked around. The greenhouse was circular and large. Tables with plants stretched out in every direction. The tables dwarfed her by at least four feet. Julia felt small and for once in her life her anger could not completely control her fear. Now that she was in a warm place her body was starting to hurt. Julia looked down at her hands and saw the blood on them. Looking around again she spotted a gargoyle fed fountain next to a table. Julia stumbled over to it and washed her hands. The fountain looked old but well cared for and the water was clean.

"What!" Julia let the word escape from her when she pulled her hands out of the water. She watched as the wounds closed and healed within minutes.

"Upside to everything I guess." Julia said. It made her feel a lot better to see her skin heal like that. She was small, but there was still power in her.

Julia sensed movement beside her and turned her head. A dull green vine with a brightly colored blue and green flower was moving toward her. A heady scent filled her nose. It was a warm, pleasant scent that calmed her. But Julia sluggishly stumbled away from the vine anyway. She sensed danger from it. The vine followed her and Julia turned to run, only to be confronted with another vine. This one moved before she could react and the petal closed around her body.

Julia felt tiny pin-pricks in her skin and screamed. The vine held her from just above her knees to just above her chest. The same scent, she recognized it as roses, was overpowering. Julia tore at the petals with her fingernails and managed to tear the skin of the petals. A green blood oozed from the wounds and burned her skin. Julia felt like she was being hugged and gassed at the same time. Tears ran from her burning eyes. She could feel her struggles getting weaker as the vine lifted her up. Her body felt beyond tired now. It ignored the rage that her mind was using to ignite it. Muscles ignored her commands and her arms fell limp. Another vine joined the first and clamped itself over her head. Julia screamed as hair was pulled out of her head.

"Big Bertha’s got something."

The voice was a man’s voice, a young man.

"Not another mouse!"

The second voice was a young woman’s voice and it held revulsion.

Julia felt her self being lifted up and the petals pulled away from her body. The petal that had her head snapped as she was pulled from it taking much of her hair.

"Not unless the mouse has bigger boobs than you do."

"Oh my god!"

Julia blacked out.

Somehow Julia knew that she had only blacked out for a short time. But even though she was not asleep she wasn’t really awake either. She floated in and out of consciousness at random intervals. But she did feel it when they left the green house and heard echoes as they walked down a corridor. She was being held in someone’s hand but beyond that Julia could tell nothing.

Julia felt herself being laid down on a table and a candle was lit. It shined brightly and was as warm as a sun lamp. She welcomed the light as it warmed her body. Suddenly Julia couldn’t remember ever being warm before.

"She’s gotta be a robot." The young woman’s voice said. "News is saying that all sorts of strange things are showing up."

"She’s not a robot." The young man’s voice said. "Bertha’s toxin wouldn’t be affecting her if she was. Light a few more candles will you?"

Julia was able-almost, to focus her eyes on the source of the voices. The young man was well built in a square-jawed male model kind of way. He wore a black T-shirt that hugged his muscular body. Red hair cut extremely short topped his head. Beside him was a tall girl with a large chest and long brown hair. She stood a little behind the young man and Julia’s eyes refused to focus on her face.

"Think she could be a superhero?" The young woman asked. Suddenly the room was flooded with light.

"Great!" The young man said. "Power’s back."

"Think she could be a superhero?" The young woman asked again.

"Could be. Or a supervillain."

He reached over and Julia heard a piece of tape being drawn from a holder.

"What are you doing?" The young woman asked.

"Taking no chances."

Julia could offer no resistance as he placed her arm a little out from her side and Scotch taped it too the table. Three more pieces of tape were used to hold the rest of her limbs.

"Dom she’s harmless."

"She is now." Dom said. "You ever hear of Tiny Terror?"

"Nope."

"She was a terrorist who stole some of Tiny Titania’s shrinking tech. Killed twenty people before they caught her."

"How?"

"Mostly be waiting until they were asleep and then stabbing them in the ears with a long needle dipped in poison."

"Gross!"

"Yea." Dom picked up a magnifying glass and held it over Julia’s chest.

"Dom I don’t think she’s hiding a bomb in her boobs."

"I wanna be thorough." Dom said.

Julia tried to talk and tell them who she was but her voice died in her throat. Craning her head she watched as Dom picked up a brush and brought it toward her. He pressed the hard end into her breast and Julia found that she could still moan.

"Stop that!" The young woman said.

There was a slight scuffle and he was pushed away.

"Hellena I just want to check her out!" Dom pleaded.

"Yea, like you check me out when you got me tied up." Hellena said. She picked up the magnifying glass and the brush. "You watch, no touch."

"Fine." Dom said but his tone of voice was that of an aggrieved person.

"Let’s see if the rest of her is really human." Hellena said.

She moved the brush down Julia’s body and hooked the hard end under the netting that Julia had fashioned into a covering. Julia tried to growl as the netting was pulled away, but all that came out was a weak sounding purr. Hellena’s hand was shaking and the brush hit against Julia’s pussy.

Julia hissed and Hellena dropped the brush.

"Sure you don’t want me to do this?" Dom asked.

"Shut up." Hellena said.

She reached over and grabbed with netting with both hands. Julia hissed as the make-shift panties were pulled a little bit down her legs.

"She shaved?" Dom asked.

"Nope, just not a lot down there." Hellena said. She pointed to a small green mark to the left of Julia’s vagina. "Hey look, a tattoo."

"What is it? Some sort of flower?"

Hellena picked up the magnifying glass and held it over Julia’s pussy.

"Can’t tell." Hellena said. "Get the camera we can do a I-search."

It’s a sorority mark you bitch, Julia thought. But her voice was still refusing to work. The best she could do was utter incomprehensible sounds and growls. But at least the drugs were fading. Julia could think again and her eyes could almost focus. She kept blinking until they did. Hellena was a tall, broad teenager with pimples on a large round face. Her eyes were brown and set close together. She had full lips and a small nose. Julia guessed that the girl was still a few years from growing out of her awkward phase.

"Here we go." Dom said. He was holding a very expensive looking digital camera and Julia could hear the whine of the flash charging.

"Let me." Hellena said taking it from him.

"It’s not like I can’t see her Hellena."

Hellena hesitated and then handed it back to him.

"Alright."

Dom focused in between Julia’s legs and she could see the massive glass lens move back and forth.

"I don’t think she’s a robot." Dom said. "Her C-lips are really full."

"Just take the picture!" Hellena growled and Julia thought she heard jealousy in the teenager’s voice.

There was a flash of light that blinded Julia and when her eyes cleared she could see the two of them at a blue Imac computer a few feet away.

Won’t do them any good, Julia realized. That tatoo was a secret sorority mark. A club within-a-club society that ran the sorority. It had taken Julia most of her freshman year to get into the sorority and another two years to make it into the club. No one would dare put that mark on the web in any form.

"Nothing." Hellena said.

"Dom, Mom’s mad at you."

Julia stretched against the tape and lifted her head up. She could see the room now. It had been a library before. Now most of the shelves were bare. The ceiling was had been a brilliant mosaic but now was grimy. The windows were arched-gothic in design but dirty. She was on a large wooden table that was crammed with art supplies. Through a set of double glass doors came a girl in a wheelchair. She had the same red hair as Dom’s but her hair was long. There was a hint of a scar across her forehead and a slight crook at the end of her nose. She was wearing a pink sweater and jeans. Julia put her age at thirteen or fourteen. Behind her pushing the wheelchair was a girl about the same age. She had long brown hair and her face was much like Hellena’s, but without the pimples or the awkwardness. Her eyes were set far apart and her round face was just hinting at the handsome woman she would become. She was wearing a blue dress with a gold belt.

"Yea, she’s in the greenhouse and she’s yelling." The girl pushing the wheelchair said.

"Damn we forgot to fix the window!" Dom said.

"Too late now if she’s there already." Hellena said.

"Hey, what’s this?" The girl in the wheelchair asked.

"Leave it alone Izzy." Dom said.

"It’s a Christmas elf." The girl in the blue dress said.

"What?" Hellena asked.

"It’s October." Izzy said.

"Remember last year Hellena?"

"It’s October Ophelia." Izzy said.

"I know it’s October." Ophelia said.

"You’ve seen a woman this small before?" Dom asked Hellena.

"I was half drunk." Hellena said. "I thought it was something Mike put in my drink."

"Well I could’a told you she was real if you asked." Ophelia said. She leaned over the table. "How’d you catch her?"

"Bertha had her." Hellena said walking over to them. She looked down at Julia. "Are you a Christmas elf?"

Julia tried to speak and again her voice was blocked. It was as if someone had taken hold of her throat. She settled for shaking her head.

"I thought elves had sharp ears." Izzy said. She reached over and turned Julia’s head to one side. "These are normal."

Angrily Julia shook her head.

"Well no luck on the tatoo." Dom said coming up behind Hellena.

"Why’d you take her clothes off?" Ophelia demanded.

"He takes all women’s clothes off." Izzy said.

"Not Hellena’s." Ophelia said. "Not until next month."

"Doesn’t stop him from trying." Izzy said and they both laughed.

"Hey we found her that way ok?" Dom said taking a step back from Hellena.

"Dominic!"

The force in the voice that called him made all of them turn around. Julia strained her head up to get a look and saw a tall woman standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a pair of overalls and a gray T-shirt. Her hair was a darker shade of red than Dom’s and she wore it past her shoulders. Julia guessed the woman was in her forties. She was still stunning with a face that held a strong jaw, straight nose and deep hazel eyes. Irritation bordering on exasperation showed in her voice.

"Hi mom." Dom said.

"We nearly lost the Dangerous Night Bush again." His mother said. "The seedlings from that are our best seller, you know that."

"Bertha had something Mrs. Shallowhull." Hellena said. "Something different."

"What?"

"Take a look mom." Izzy said.

They parted as the woman walked over to the table and looked down at Julia. Close up Julia saw that Mrs. Shallowhull had a heavy bandage on her left arm.

"Well." She said looking closely at Julia. Picking up the magnifying glass she examined the tiny woman.

"We didn’t take her clothes off." Dom said quickly.

"That’s right she was like that when we found her." Hellena said.

Mrs. Shallowhull made a non-committal sound.

"What is she mom?" Izzy asked.

"We tried asking her but she can’t talk." Ophelia said. "I thought she was a Christmas elf."

"It’s October." Izzy said.

"I know that." Ophelia said with some irritation. But they’re around all the time, usually in disguise."

"Can she speak at all?" Mrs. Shallowhull leaned forward. "What about a name?" She asked Julia.

Julia tried to speak but the more she tried the more throat seemed to shrink. It quickly became difficult to breathe.

"Ju… Ju… J…"

"Jelf?" Izzy suggested.

"Jelf the elf!" Ophelia finished.

"It has a nice ring to it." Mrs. Shallowhull said.

"But what is she?" Hellena asked.

"Maybe just what we need." Mrs. Shallowhull said. She motioned for Dom and Hellena to follow her. Julia watched, more curious than frightened as they drew away and talked in tones so low she couldn’t understand them.

"You know if we keep her I still got Fang’s cage." Izzy said.

"A cage is kinda harsh ain’t it?" Ophelia said.

Julia growled and tried to free herself but the tape was surprisingly strong.

"We haven’t decided anything yet girls." Mrs. Shallowhull said coming back to the table. Dom and Hellena left the room. "For now do me a favor and search the greenhouse. She might not have come alone."

"Right mom."

"Ok Mrs. Shallowhull."

Ophelia wheeled Izzy out and Mrs. Shallowhull brought a chair over and sat down in front of Julia.

"I don’t know you." She said. Reaching over she picked up an X-acto knife with her good arm.

For a moment Julia thought that she was going to be freed. But instead of cutting the tape Mrs. Shallowhull stuck the knifepoint onto the table right next to Julia’s arm. She picked it up and did it again. This time the point landed between Julia’s arm and side. Mrs. Shallowhull started to outline Julia’s body by repeatedly jabbing the knife into the wood. She quickly built up speed and soon her hand was moving it so fast Julia could barely see it. She could hear it though. Every thump. The knife went between her legs, around her arms, beside her head, always coming close but never cutting her. Julia tried again and again to scream but failed each time. At last she closed her eyes and turned her head to one side. After a moment the thumping stopped and she felt something cold between her breasts. Julia was breathing heavily and she swallowed hard as she carefully opened her eyes. Mrs. Shallowhull looked down at her. Her face was un-readable. The point of the knife was resting ever so gently on Julia’s chest. She could see her distorted reflection on the metal. Julia swallowed and forced herself to breathe very slowly.

"You really can’t talk." She said. "Can’t even scream really. You don’t have any powers." She bent down closer. "You’re just a little woman in a big world."

Julia nodded and forced herself to look the giant woman in the eye.

"Running from someone?"

Julia nodded again.

Mrs. Shallowhull moved the knifepoint down Julia’s stomach. Julia felt the cold metal leave a mark as it moved. The pressure was not heavy enough to cut her, but it would not take much more pressure to do so.

"Do you think they know where you are?"

Julia tried to shrug but the tape held her down. She didn’t know how far she had gotten from the escape tube or how far the tube had gotten from Dollopolis. Julia gasped as Mrs. Shallowhull rested the flat of the knife blade against Julia’s pussy.

"So you’re pretty much in a tough spot."

Julia nodded.

"I got a few options myself." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "I could turn you over to the police. Maybe there’s a reward?"

Julia shook her head ‘no’. There might be, she truly did not know, but she doubted it. If it really was October (October of the same year she hoped) then she hadn’t been gone long enough for anyone to notice her missing. Even if she had the only ones who might care were Snowbelle, Uncle Micky and the family lawyer. She didn’t trust any of them. The thought of Montgomery Stencer Attorney at Law seeing her tiny and helpless was terrifying. Julia had heard some strange things about him. The business would run on its own for months. Julia had set it up that way.

"Or I could just throw you out into the storm." Mrs. Shallowhull said. She turned the blade and used it to scrape a little at Julia’s pubic hair. Julia stiffened. The blade was rock steady but she had no idea if the giant woman was being careful or not. Julia shook her head ‘no’ again.

"Well if I keep you it will be on my terms." Mrs. Shallowhull said.

"Mom." Dom called as he walked into the room.

Mrs. Shallowhull put the knife down and turned to him.

"Finished already?"

"I’ve been doing alternate marketing studies ever since we started this stuff." Dom said. "I had a feeling that the real Miss Shadow would find out about us sooner or later."

Mrs. Shallowhull held her injured arm.

"Yea we can’t do that anymore. So tell me how does it look?"

"Not great but good enough." Dom said. "Without Miss Shadowz the web sight tanks. Zippo." He pointed to Julia. "But if we use her as a new heroine we might be able to rebuild. Most of the customers in the chat room have been expecting Miss Shadow to shut us down for a while anyway."

"So did I but I thought she’d send lawyers." Mrs. Shallowhull said holding her injured arm again.

"We don’t have the money to rebuild that part of the garage." Dom said.

"I know honey." Mrs. Shallowhull looked at Julia. "But it’ll work out."

"Take time to build up the fan base for her. But there is a market for shrunken women out there."

"Well it will just take time then."

"Hellena’s working on the costumes." Dom said. "She figures one full size for her, one small for Jelf, that way we can do some shots of her getting shrunk."

"We’ve gone over this Dom." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "She’s got to be 18 and even then…"

"Not the nude stuff." Dom said quickly. "Just getting caught and tied up, with a mask on."

Mrs. Shallowhull frowned.

"Mom you’ve talked to her parents." Dom said. "You were 18 when you posed for Playboy."

"I know." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "But that was a lark and I didn’t know what was going to come after that. I don’t want Hellena to go through that."

"You know what Mr. Stencer said, as long as she’s just in a silly costume there’s no problem."

"I know." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "And we trust him if we trust anyone. When can it be ready?"

"Tomorrow." Dom said. "Hellena said it would take her the rest of the day to do the costumes. I’m going to fix-up the Deadly 88 set so that it can work for the new story line."

"Got a new one already?"

Dom smiled sheepishly.

"Helena and I brainstormed a bit while I was running the numbers. You know how we do it."

"I know I keep a good eye on the both of you." Mrs. Shallowhull said.

"In the meantime." Dom held up a book that Julia hadn’t noticed he was carrying. "A few set up shots just to tease, I’ll scatter them around the net."

"Good idea." Mrs. Shallowhull said taking the book.

They walked back to the table and she put the book down next to Julia. It was an old book, bound in brown leather with the title "Practical Magic" on the spine. Julia lifted her head a bit to look at them.

"Just a few shots." Dom said picking up the camera.

"Right." Mrs. Shallowhull said. She picked up the brush. Julia could only watch helplessly.

Mrs. Shallowhull ran the brush along Julia’s body, lingering between her legs.

Julia tried to react in anger but the feel of the brush on her body, especially between her legs, stroked a sudden surge of lust in her. She gasped and almost came.

"Use the magnifying glass." Dom suggested.

Mrs. Shallowhull held the magnifying glass over Julia’s pussy and then brushed lightly at Julia’s bush with the paint brush.

With each stroke Julia felt her body get hotter and hotter. She lost herself in the feelings. For a few minutes her body responded to the probing and Julia could do nothing about it, even though she knew Dom was taking pictures, but the burst of light just added to her lustful high. She even missed the ending of it. She was only aware suddenly that there had been no flashes for a while.

"Get going." Mrs. Shallowhull said. Dom was in the doorway.

"What about her?" Dom said indicating Julia with nod of his head. "She down with this?"

"She will be." Mrs. Shallowhull said.

Dom nodded and left and Mrs. Shallowhull turned back to Julia. The lust faded from Julia’s body and she was able to think again.

"It’s not like I went out of my way to raise the next Hugh Hefner." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "Damn he was bad enough before he met her. The two of them together are downright scary."

Julia managed to look the question at her.

"Erotica." Mrs. Shallowhull explained. "My son has fantasies… Wild ones. Not the sort of thing a traditional mother should know about, but then this family is not traditional."

Reaching over Mrs. Shallowhull picked up the knife and cut the tape that held Julia down. Julia hesitated but sat up. Reaching over she started to pull the leftover tape off of her arm. It came away slowly and felt like the worst Band-Aid ever made. Mrs. Shallowhull let her pull the other three strips off. After she was done Julia looked up at her.

"Sit down." Mrs. Shallowhull said. Julia pulled up her makeshift underwear and sat. She hugged her knees to her chest but curiosity was overcoming her fear.

"My name is Antoinette Shallowhull. I don’t guess you know the name, my husband is Dave Shallowhull. He used to be head of Gravestar Industries."

Julia stirred at the name and Antoinette nodded.

"Yea, that one."

Julia tried to keep her face calm but some of what she was feeling must have leaked through. Gravestar Industries had been a media darling because of incredibly high profits. She had sunk a good bit of cash into the company herself. And sunk was a good word for it. The profits Gravestar made were false; part of a triple edge scheme that involved a dictatorship in Eastern Europe and an alien race called the "Aqat-ha". Dave Shallowhull had been part of a multi-year scam designed to destroy the world’s economy. Then in the chaos an alien invasion would have put him and the dictator in charge of the world, under the Aqat-ha’s direction. Force Group J stopped him and in the process Julia lost fifteen million dollars. She was one of the lucky ones. Five multinational corporations, millions of investors and even a small country in South America lost everything.

"I’d apologize if you lost money but I’m done saying I’m sorry to everyone." Mrs. Shallowhull said frustration showing in her voice. "During the trial some nut planted a bomb in our car, that’s why Izzy can’t walk." A look of anger passed across her face but Antoinette didn’t let it stay. "Dom took care of the guy who did it, and he spent a few months in juvenile detention for it, lucky he was only seventeen when he did it."

"While he was in I saw everything we had get gobbled up by enough lawyers to fill the Atlantic Ocean. Dave’s never getting out of jail. Dom’s bright but no college will touch him and my glory days are gone. Bunny’s don’t get pensions. We got by at first off by selling some stuff. Dave’s family had been art and book collectors for years. Then we started selling stuff on the black market. Dave’s mother was Deadly Vine. Her genetically altered plants are in pretty good demand by most of the dark- capes. You nearly got eaten by one."

Antoinette leaned forward.

"I’m telling you this so you’ll know where I’m coming from."

Julia nodded. She was remembering a lot of the case now. The Shallowhulls were a family she had never really known or cared to know. They lived close by and were one of the founding families, but Julia hadn’t mixed with them.

"Izzy’s hospital bills were burying me." Mrs. Shallowhull continued. "I swore I’d never sell her home but I wasn’t going to make it. I started my own web sight when Dom was in prison, started teaching modeling and art classes at the city center. I still wasn’t going to make it. Then Dom came home with an idea. While he was in prison he got to talk to a lot the cons." Mrs. Shallowhull’s smiled was tinged with a slight bitterness. "He and his father can both be charming when they need to be."

"Anyway." She went on. "What they want to see, and there’s a big market for it in prison and out of prison, is superheroine porn. Most of them in prison were put there by superheroes so there’s a grudge factor. I look a little like Miss Shadow, you know her?"

Julia shook her head ‘no’. She really tried to ignore superheroes.

"She’s part of Force Group J. About my size and shape, wears pretty much nothing but a mask and a cape. I put a copy of her costume on and you can’t really tell the difference. So we set up Miss Shadowz In Peril websight. I wear something close to her costume, I get caught, get tied up, strictly R stuff, more or less. Tickled, fondled, whipped… Dom takes the pictures. I know, I know… but he’s nineteen and if he doesn’t no one does. Match the pictures with with some of my art and his stories… the websight was keeping our heads above water."

"It worked for about a year. Then Miss Shadow found out about it. The other day she showed up, knocked down half of the garage and took me on a trip about a mile up. She gave me a choice, either close down the sight or she’d come back and do it again and drop me."

Julia’s face must have said what she was thinking.

"I know, I could go for a lawyer." Antoinette laughed. "That’d do me a lot of good. Ex-playboy bunny, one who lets her son take the pictures, against a member of Force Group J. Ten years from now I might win. I the meantime we’d starve. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I saw you."

Julia cocked her head sharply.

"Miss Shadowz sight is gone." Antoinette said. "But there’s a good appetite for shrunken women stories and pictures out there. Not as great as heroine porn, but if we put a costume on you, put you in a few pictures… we might make it. Dom is pretty sure we can bridge heroine porn and sw fans."

Julia frowned. Then growled. Suddenly she realized why Dom was taking pictures. Pictures of her. Naked pictures of her were going out on the internet! And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it!

"It’s that or I throw you out into the storm." Antoinette said coldly. "You stay, you become a star. We feed you, you get a home."

Julia’s anger was clearly showing on her face but it turned to fear almost instantly. Antoinette turned as Julia looked past her. In the doorway was a wet Ophelia and Izzy. Ophelia’s jeans were muddy and so were the wheels on Izzy’s wheelchair. On Izzy’s lap was the escape pod.

"We got a clue where she came from mom." Izzy said. "Ophelia found this in the stream."

"The stream I told you two never to go near without me?" Mrs. Shallowhull asked coldly. "IN this rain?"

Izzy shrugged and Ophelia smiled sweetly. "Ok." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "We’ll let this pass for now. Go get changed and then clean up the mud you tracked in. Then get Fang’s old cage out of the attic and clean it up."

"Right mom."

"It was beeping until I pulled this out of it." Ophelia said handing Mrs. Shallowhull a small gray box.

"Thanks."

Mrs. Shallowhull turned back to Julia and put the pod onto the table.

"Not a comfortable trip was it?"

Julia shook her head ‘no’.

Mrs. Shallowhull looked at the pod. She turned it over and read the bottom.

"The Duchy of Dollopolis." She looked at Julia. "Is that where you come from?"

Julia nodded.

"So if I put this back in here." Mrs. Shallowhull fitted the gray box into a slot at the top of the pod. Instantly the pod started to beep.

Julia managed a terrified squeak before her throat was squeezed shut and Mrs. Shallowhull pulled the box out of the slot.

"So." Mrs. Shallowhull said holding the box over the pod. "I’m guessing you don’t want to go back do you?"

Julia shook her head ‘no’. She had no idea what Snowbelle’s friends might do to her but if they knew how she had treated Snowbelle over the years… It would not be a kind or gentle treatment. Julia’s butte still remembered the spanking.

"Here is the deal then." Mrs. Shallowhull said. "You’ll be fed, you’ll be warm, we’ll keep you hidden, and all you need to do is pose for some pictures. Maybe get tickled, maybe a few other things. Do we have a deal?"

Julia nodded slowly.

"Good." Mrs. Shallowhull put the gray box into her pocket and then picked up Julia.

"First thing we’re gonna do is die your hair so that when we put your stuff on the web they don’t recognize you. Ever want to be a blonde?"

Julia gasped as warm strong hands closed around her body. She was held snugly and her arms were free. Julia could only watch and try to take it all in as she was carried out of the library and down a long corridor. Carried as if she was a pet.

"We’ll see what else we can do to make you look different." Julia said. She seemed to be warming to the idea and talked more to herself than to Julia. "We’ll have to haze a bit of the edges up in Photoshop so that no one realizes you’re actually small. Hellena’s good at that."

This can’t last, Julia thought.

But it could last. She knew that. It would be months before she was missed and even if she was found Julia had no idea whom to turn to for help. The police in HawkHill were incompetent and corrupt. Julia had no friends and if any of the hundreds of enemies she had saw her in her shrunken state…

I’ve got to play along with this, Julia thought. At least for now. But someday I’m going back to Dollopolis with a hammer!

The sound of a cat meowing interrupted her fantasy. Julia looked down to see a large black cat looking at her. The cat meowed again and licked her lips.

"You can’t eat this one Tristan." Mrs. Shallowhull said firmly. She kept walking and the cat followed them.

"A little warning." Mrs. Shallowhull said to Julia. "Tristan roams around the whole house catching mice. You’re taller than a mouse but he’s got sharp claws. So you better not wander around on your own.

Suddenly Julia realized that even if she had somewhere to go escape would not be that easy. She was trapped, as surely as if she had stayed in Dollopolis.

There’s gotta be a way out of this, Julia thought desperately. This can’t happen to me! Not to me!

…To be continued.

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