Eve's Boutique - Ch 24

 Help in the Dark

(Unnecessary Author's Note: Of the 57 chapters in the story, this ranks as my personal #5 favorite chapter.)

She was hardly in the door before Eve was on her.  Pulling her into an embrace, squeezing her so hard it forced her onto her tiptoes.

“I’m sorry,” Eve said.  “I’m so sorry.”

Abigail’s first instinct was to tell her she was alright, that there was no need for this.

She hugged her back instead.

For a long time, that was all they did.

“Mackenzie has something,” Abigail said at last, speaking the words into Eve’s chest.  The witch was on the tall side today.  “Something magic.”

“It’s not something of mine!  I know this is hard to believe, but I swear I didn’t do it.  I could never, would never….”

“I know,” Abigail told her.  “I don’t know how I know.  But I do.”

Eve gave a relieved sigh.  Then began to weep – hard, like the bursting of a dam.  The witch clung to her limply, her breath coming in jagged gasps and sobs, an almost absurd quantity of tears streaming from her eyes.  It was getting in her hair, on her shirt.

Abigail let them fall.  She had felt strangely numb to this whole situation since her conversation with Mackenzie the previous evening.  It was nice to know someone still felt something.

“Eve.  Listen to me.  I need your help.  Yesterday, Mackenzie did something to me.  She fascinated an entire crowd, like thirty people.  All of them were willing to do whatever she asked.  And with just the slightest suggestion she was able to steal my height, my intelligence, my….”

“It’s called a Glamour,” Eve interrupted, wiping her eyes.  “The thing she has.  Sorry.  You can keep venting if you want.  Just.  I know what happened to you.  You don’t have to explain.”

“Huh.  Okay?  Not that I’m shocked by that news but, can you explain exactly how you know what happened?  I just got here.”

“I um.”  Eve shifted uncomfortably in her arms.  “Sorry if this is weird.  I kind of… felt it happen.”

Abigail considered this.  “So, it isn’t just that you know what I want.  You’re basically telling me you’re psychic?”

“No,” Eve said quickly.  Then looked down at her feet.  “Except for Chloe, and Kayla, and the others I’m bound to – the people I came here to help.  The connection is especially strong for you, though.  And it’s not like I can read your mind or anything.  I can just tell where you are, and what you’re feeling.”

Abigail decided to push aside her immediate privacy concerns.  Had Eve felt all the sex she’d been having lately?  The idea had some serious pros and cons.

“You’re bound to people?” she asked instead.  “Like, other than us three?”

“Elijah, for one.  I’ve been trying to lure him into the shop all week.  It was easy with you – all I had to do was stick some plants in the window, and Chloe handled the rest.  But Elijah?  He always gets distracted.”

“But you know where he’s at?  What he’s doing?”

The witch looked off into the distance, and smiled.  “I shouldn’t tell you this.  But… right now, he’s digging a pond in the backyard of his apartment.  It’s a habitat for a sea turtle.”

Abigail laughed.  “He has a sea turtle now?”

“No, it’s aspirational.  But listen.  What do you need right now?  I’m doing everything I can to protect you from… from the Glamour.  Without going into detail, it’s hard to counter it directly.”

“Oh.”  Abigail frowned.  “I guess I just wanted to see you, and tell you what happened.  And get your advice.  Kayla went missing yesterday, and I don’t know what I should do for Mackenzie.  But it seems like you’re handling everything?”

Eve gave her a smile.  The expression was so sad, it almost broke her heart.  “Want me to make you big again?  I mean, let me rephrase that.  I know you want me to make you big again.”

“I’d be lying if I said no.  Four-foot-seven feels so tiny after yesterday.”  Abigail stepped back, holding up her arms.  She twirled, showing off her frilly white button-up and long cotton skirt – the outfit that made people ask if she were cosplaying a Victorian-era librarian.  “I even treated this with fitting spray this morning.  Just in case.”

“Okay.  I think I can help.  Probably.  You’re going to have to be patient though.  I’m out of potions at the moment….”

“Dumb question, but you’re like six-two.  How’d you get so tall without potions?”

“Oh!”

The witch laughed, as though glad to finally share a secret.  She took Abigail by the shoulders.  In the space of two seconds, Eve shrank down in front of her, until her head barely cleared the level of Abigail’s belly button.  She grinned up at her, green eyes twinkling mischievously.  Without changing expression, she began to grow.  The two were eye-to-eye again.  Then her clothes grew taut, and began to stretch.  Soon Eve was towering over her, seven feet at least, taller and more majestic than Abby had ever seen her.

“I said my metabolism was different?  It wasn’t a lie.”

Abigail stared up at the giant woman in slack-jawed wonder.  “You can do that whenever you want?”

“Uh-huh.  For people like me, it’s as easy as breathing.  I can even reshape my body, if the mood strikes.  When I drank that potion the other day, it was just for demonstration purposes.  To get you interested, and show you what was possible.”

Abigail found herself struggling to remember where she was, and what she was doing.  She felt pleasantly dizzy.  The prospect of Eve becoming whatever size she desired was incredibly distracting.  Whatever other concerns she had suddenly felt dim and far away.

Eve gave her a knowing smile.

“I can go bigger,” she whispered.  “A lot bigger.  The perfect size to hold you in my arms.  Want me to do it?  After everything that’s happened, nothing in this world would make me happier.”

“Can you take me with you?” Abigail breathed.  “Can we be big, together?”

Eve frowned.  “It’s a heavy lift – to do it to someone else, directly.  That’s why I make potions.  But I’ll try.  Just… hold me.”

She took the witch's hands, stepping close.  For many seconds, nothing happened.  There was electricity between them, just as there’d been in the woman’s apartment the day before.  Today it felt distant and weary, even as the woman’s brow furrowed with effort.

For the first time, Abigail noticed the dark circles under Eve’s eyes.  The frizz in her hair, that suggested she’d slept poorly, and hadn’t had time to clean up this morning.  A thought pierced Abigail.  The moment it occurred, she knew it was true.

“Eve.  You feel what I feel.  Including what I went through yesterday – that awful stuff with Mackenzie.  It was like it was happening to you, too.”

Eve said nothing.  Only continued to hold her hands.

At least she’d had Chloe.  Someone to take care of her, when everything was at its worst.  Who did Eve have?

“Hey,” Abigail said.  “Do you have any tea?”

“Yeah, in the stockroom.  I’ll make you some.”

“No.  You sit.  Let me do it.”

“Abby….”

Abigail pulled emphatically on the taller woman’s wrists, and looked her dead in the eye.

“I’m not okay,” she said firmly.  “But I’m still standing.  And someone once told me it can feel good to give someone a gift.  Let me make you some tea, damn it.”

Ten minutes later, the two were seated across from each other in the little kitchenette in the back of the shop.  The room was a mess – empty boxes, burned out candles, and glass bottles littered the floor.  In the corner, fallen on its side, was the giant iron cauldron Eve had carried when Abigail first laid eyes on her.

A single shaft of sunlight from the main shop illuminated the room, little sparkles of dust dancing in the air between them.

Eve sank back in her chair, closing her eyes wearily.  As she sipped her tea, she began to shrink.  From a statuesque form of seven feet, back into a more human range.  When she finished, she was perhaps just a few inches taller than an average woman – what Abigail was coming to think of as her ‘normal height,’ whatever that meant for a person who could change size at will.

“I don’t know if this helps,” Abigail said quietly.  “But it makes me feel better.  That you were there with me.”

The witch gave her a tired smile.  “I wish neither of us had to experience it.  Or I wish it could’ve been just me.”

“Eve….”

“I should never have come here.  I wanted to help you, to give you the greatest desires of your heart.  And now it’s been twisted, and I’ve got you caught up in something terrible, that even I don’t understand, and I can’t stop it, and….”

“You were an emo kid in high school, weren’t you?”

The witch blinked, and gave a guilty smile.  “Yeah.”

“So.  Bad stuff happened.  Mackenzie’s a giantess with mind control powers.  Kayla’s MIA.  Everything sucks.  What do we do now?”

Eve took a sip of her tea, and set the cup down firmly.  “First, you’re going to stay away from Mackenzie.  Wait until I have something to protect you.  Don’t go looking for Kayla either.  I can’t say more, sorry.  But I’ll get the Glamour off.  Somehow.”

“Okay, and how am I helping you?”

“You don’t understand.  There’s a game being played, and all of you are pieces in it.  There’s a lot I can’t tell you.  But what I need you to do is stay safe, and let me handle it.”

“I’d ordinarily do whatever the sexy-ass all-powerful witch says.  Only my friends are in trouble, and if you’re trying to assure me you’re capable of fixing this situation on your own, you’re doing a shitty job.  You’re exhausted.”

Eve started to protest – then covered her face in her hands, shoulders slumping.  “I’m so sorry.”

“So.  You’re going to work on this counter-spell.  Perfect.  Meanwhile.  I am, in fact, going to look for Kayla.  I need to make sure she’s okay, and besides, I don’t think you have magic powerful enough to stop Chloe when she’s in mama-bear mode.  Not only that, we think Kayla has all your potions.  If we have to tangle with Mackenzie, we could probably all use a foot or ten of height – what with the visibility and celebrity that comes with being a giant and all.  Plus, tell the truth and shame the devil?  I just want to be big again.  Anyway.  Chloe’s checking for Kayla at her warehouse job.  If she’s not there, she’ll definitely make the gym around noon….”

“She’s not at the warehouse.”  Eve’s tone was suddenly very serious.

“Oh?  Oh yeah, you know where she is don’t you?”

“It would be very against The Rules for me to tell you.  But the truth is, I don’t know where she is.  And that’s bad.”

Abigail paled.  “Is she… dead?”

“No.  I’d know for sure if that happened.  It means something… someone… is hiding her from me.”

The room was deadly quiet.  Eve stared morosely down at her tea, swirling the dark liquid with a tiny motion of her wrist.  Outside, a car honked.

Suddenly Eve jumped from her chair, knocking it to the floor in excitement.  “But if she’s alive, there’s literally only one reason I wouldn’t be able to sense her.  And if that’s the case, then there’s a flagrant Rules violation happening.”

Abigail stepped out of the way of the pacing witch.  “So what?  You call the referee?”

“It’s an option.  But it wouldn’t happen quickly, and by then the game might be over.  Instead, I propose we balance the scales.”  Eve spun, an evil look in her eye.  “Hey Abby.  Wanna cheat?”

“Oh, absolutely!”

“Okay.  So.  Some things I am absolutely not allowed to tell you?  I last sensed Kayla at her bar job.  She disappeared from my senses just before midnight.”

“Got it, I’ll text Chloe and have her ask around that neighborhood.”

“Hold on, there’s a lot more.  The reason I can’t sense her is probably because she’s being guarded by my sister, Lilith.  Who also, by the way, is responsible for that Glamour.  And she isn’t likely to let you just waltz in and take Kayla back.”

“Eve, and Lilith.  Huh.”  Abigail cocked her head thoughtfully.  “Like from the bible?”

Eve waved her hand dismissively.  “It’s a coincidence.  The bible only hits one note where witches are concerned, and it’s that all, ‘thou shalt not suffer,’ nonsense.  Except for one section in Revelations where it says we get to hang out with dogs and sexy people?  I digress.  Anyway, the Glamour.  It’s in the form of personal care products.  Make-up, I mean.  The stuff she’s wearing is magic top to bottom, but there’s only one part that’s dangerous, and that’s the lipstick.”

Abigail blanched.  The image of Mackenzie’s lips moving as she spoke, flawless and blue and terrible, was suddenly very present in her mind.

“So we get her to wash it off,” Abigail said.  “Or it’ll come off on its own.  That girl gets up to a lot of things with her mouth.”

Eve laughed bitterly.  “Don’t count on it.  There are only a few things I know that could remove my sister’s magic.  If you want your friend to keep her lips, anyway.”

“Noted.  Why is Lilith doing this, though?  You said she’s your sister….”

“As in, we’re in a sisterhood together – we’re not biological, for the record.  And the short answer is, I don’t know.  We usually have our respective domains, and stay out of each other’s way.  She decided to show up and challenge me to a game, and The Rules are allowing it, so that’s that.  I don’t even know what we’re playing for – only that it’s going to be decided on Saturday.”

Abigail gave a low whistle.  “At our party?”

“Yeah, and it gets worse.  Since you invited me, I had to invite Lilith.  Rules.  Sorry.  She’s a lot of fun, as long as you don’t get on her bad side.  But, um.  You’re kind of on her bad side already.  She really doesn’t like you.”

“What the hell?  What did I do?”

The witch finished her tea in a gulp.  “No idea.  But that’s the reason she set Mackenzie on you.  That, and she wants to win.  You should also know Lilith isn’t like me at all.  For one?  I don’t like lying.  To anyone, about anything.  Lilith, on the other hand, will tell any lie she damn well pleases.  And the laws that govern when and how she can use her powers are much less strict.  Most of the time, she can basically do whatever she wants.  I’m… honestly scared she’s more powerful than me.”

“Then it sounds like we’re going to have to out-strategize her.  You, me, Chloe, Kayla.  We’re in this together now, Eve.  To the end.”

Abigail felt herself grinning savagely.  For the moment, the existential detachment was gone.  She didn’t know if she was leading this cause, or if she was less than a pawn in an incomprehensible game.  Either way, it felt good to have a reason to believe.

“Lilith has someone on her side too,” Eve reminded her.

“Mackenzie,” Abigail agreed.  “Don’t forget, she’s my friend.  She didn’t mean to hurt me.  If we can find a way to talk to her….”

“I understand that impulse.  And I adore you for it, really.  But the worst place you can possibly be is in Mackenzie’s presence.  You can’t save her.”

“I wouldn’t be the sort of person who’d get bound to you if I didn’t try.”

Eve smiled, sympathetic and sad.  “I guess not.”

“We’ll be careful.  I promise.  Anyway, I’ll update Chloe on all this, and then meet up to help her.  Oh – do you have a phone?”

“Of course I have a phone.  One more thing though.  And this is cheating big-time.  It might actually be going too far, even with what Lilith did.  But I want to risk it.”

The witch opened a high cabinet, and withdrew an oval-shaped flask of emerald glass.

Reverently, she handed it to Abigail.

“I thought you were out of potions.”

“I am.  This is just… base.  Raw and purposeless.  I could turn it into something, if I had the time and energy and direction.  I don’t.  So, here.”

Abigail held it up to the sunlight.  The bottle was nearly empty, except for a few spoonful’s of opalescent liquid.  The light shining through it fractured against the wall, a rainbow prism illuminating the room in an eerie glow.

“What does it do?”

“Nothing.  Yet.  It’s a hand clapping in the forest with no one to hear.  It’s, well… me.  My essence.”

“Your… essence.” Abigail raised an eyebrow.  “Hey, not to spoil the moment?  Is this your cum?”

“What the hell!  No it’s not my cum!” The witch looked scandalized.  Then laughed.  “Oh my God you’re disappointed.  You’re such a pervert!”

“This whole, you-feeling-all-my-feelings thing is going to be difficult to navigate,” Abigail said.  “Especially if we decided to….”

She trailed off.  When she turned, the witch was staring, every bit of her attention fixed on her.

“So, Eve,” Abigail said, forcing false confidence into her voice.  “We talked a little about our, you know.  Mutual desires.  I think maybe we were speaking of the purely physical but, what if I wanted more?  Something more serious.  What I’m asking is, these rules of yours.  Is there anything that would stop you from… like… dating me?”

“No,” the witch said.  “There isn’t.”

Abigail swallowed, and took Eve by the hands.  The electricity was back.  It felt different now.  Flighty and random, but much stronger than before.

“In that case.  You gave me a wonderful gift.  I have something for you, too.”

She beamed up at the women, and let herself… desire.  There were no words.  Just images, scattered and confused but very bright in her mind.  Eve, at various sizes.  Her face, the way it looked when she was excited, or sad, or self-conscious.  The warmth of her skin as Abigail held her hands.  The heat in her chest when she thought about her.  All the things she imagined about her, when she was alone.  How good it felt to be in her presence.  And last of all, the sensation of tears, falling down upon her.

“Can I see you?” Abigail breathed.  “Tonight?  Just the two of us?”

She let Eve feel how badly she wanted the answer to be yes.

When the witch finally pulled away, she no longer looked tired.  In the dimness, her eyes shone with the same emerald brilliance as the bottle.  She was breathing hard, her expression alert, and elated.

“Yes,” Eve said.

“Your place, seven?”

“Can we meet at the shop instead?  I have the feeling I’ll still be working.”

“That’s fine.  I really, really can’t wait.  But I have to go now.”

Eve looked disappointed.  “Yeah.  Good luck pounding the pavement with Chloe.”

“Oh, I decided I’m not doing that.  You gave me another idea.”