Eve's Boutique - Ch 42

(Author's note: the next several chapters contain violence, and the possibility characters will be hurt.) 

Counter-Proposal

It was a novel sensation.  Even in her greatest fits of passion, Abigail could almost never turn off her brain.  She’d had some success at it lately, but still.  There was always some circuit, ticking away.  Counting, calculating.

Suddenly, everything was quiet.

Except for one thing.

Eve, earlier that morning.  Tears, streaming down her face, as she spoke of all the people she’d lost.

Abigail sprinted forward, fists held high.  She closed the distance to Mackenzie in four strides, and threw her arm around the smaller woman’s neck.  She squeezed, yanked her bodily into the field, away from the crowd.

“Abby!  What are you – woah!”

Abigail’s lips curled savagely.  She threw out her leg, tripped the smaller giantess, slammed her down onto her knees.  The ground shook with the impact.  Even then, Abigail never let up for an instant, using her weight to press the woman lower, and lower.  Mackenzie fought back, but there was almost no strength behind her resistance.  Partly, she was hampered by the two tiny men still gripped in her palms.  But Abigail was also fully two heads taller than Mackenzie.  Once things got physical, the girl stood no chance.

Abigail leaned down, so she could snarl in the woman’s ear.  “Put them down.”

Mackenzie opened her hands.

The two men dropped from her grasp, a ten-foot fall into the soft grass below.  Elijah popped up quickly.  He dusted himself off, and jovially helped Dylan to his feet.

“Well that was fun,” he said.  “Kinda reminds me of a fair ride, except without any safety belts, and slightly more risk of whiplash.  You okay, little buddy?”

“Get out of here!” Abigail roared.  “Both of you.  Go!”

Dylan was already running toward the edge of the field.  Holding up his oversized pants, using his free hand to shield his eyes from Mackenzie.

“Wait!” Mackenzie called after him.  “Please!  Stay!”

The little guy didn’t break stride as he disappeared into the crowd.

Elijah, on the other hand, had never moved.

“Don’t worry,” he said calmly.  “If you want me to stay with you, I will.  As long as you want.”

“Us too.”

Chloe and Kayla stood side by side, staring fixedly at Mackenzie from the place they’d been standing behind Abigail’s legs – before she had abandoned them.  Their expressions were slack, and full of unutterable delight.

“I’m sorry we were arguing,” Chloe said.  “I didn’t understand before, but you’re right.  Lilith’s way really is best.”

Kayla was nodding.  “For sure.  Hey, are y’all are having a mud-wrestling match?  Because I’m down.  As long as you give me and Klo a size handicap.”

Mackenzie whimpered.  “Abigail’s hurting me.”

Chloe and Kayla reacted at once.  A look of pure hatred on their faces, they sprang into action.  Kayla tackled Abigail from the side, throwing her off balance.  Chloe tried to deadlift the arm Abigail used to pin Mackenzie, struggling to free her new Mistress.

A swipe from Abigail’s palm sent both girls flying.  She had tried to be careful, but it was hard to gauge her strength, and they hardly weighed anything at all.  Both women went flying across the field, skidding through the reeds and dirt, not coming to rest until they were almost at the tree line.

They lay face down, unmoving.

“How could you?” Mackenzie gasped, peering up from the mud.  “I swear, if you hurt them…!”

“Shut up, Mackenzie.”

Abigail pressed her all of her weight down.  The girl fought to stay upright, but in short order Abigail forced her onto her stomach.  She climbed fully on top of the woman’s back, and used both hands to push her face into the mud.  Mackenzie kicked and squirmed at first, but then Abigail set her knee in the center of the woman’s back.  Mackenzie yelped, and finally went slack beneath her.

“Chloe, Kayla?” Abigail called.  “Please be okay.  Talk to me.”

Kayla groaned.  Shakily, she climbed onto her hands and knees.  “Yeah, remember when I said you needed to put on some muscle?  Way to make me eat my words.”

“You’re you again?”

“A little worse for the wear,” she said, helping Chloe to her feet.  “But yeah.  Hey for the record?  Attacking her like that was really, really stupid.  You could’ve hurt her, or us.  Or the crowd, not to mention your two little boyfriends.”

Abigail’s shoulders slumped.  She suddenly felt more ashamed than ever before in her life.  “Sorry.  I wanted to save them, and you and… I wasn’t thinking.”

“Believe me,” Kayla said.  “I get it.  I’m just saying, don’t do it again.”

Chloe rubbed her elbow, grimacing.  “At least it worked out.  We got her.  If she can’t look at anyone, the Glamour’s broken.  Right?”

Abigail shook her head, and pointed toward the crowd.  “I think there’s some rules we might have overlooked.”

There had to be at least a thousand people in the park now, and more coming all the time.  Not one of them showed any sign that Mackenzie’s Glamour had weakened.  A few were shouting angrily, making threatening gestures.  Most simply stared in rapt anticipation, as though watching a movie.  This was the dark moment, as far as they were concerned, before their hero would inevitably win out.  They were all there to see how it happened.

“That doesn’t look comfortable for either of you.”

Abigail looked down.  Elijah was still standing exactly where she’d left him.  Mackenzie’s giant form had landed just feet away, and her struggles had brought her closer still.  Yet he hadn’t moved an inch.

“Elijah,” she said sweetly.  “Would you do me a huge favor and um.  Go?  Like, literally anywhere else.”

He looked confused.  “But that’s Mackenzie.”

“Uh-huh.  She’s a very big lady, and she’s not happy right now.  Neither of us want to squish you.”

“Mackenzie told me to stay, though.  I love Mackenzie.  I’d do anything for her.”

Abigail turned to her friends.  “I was afraid of that.  Mackenzie’s Glamour wears off as soon as she breaks eye contact – with us.  It doesn’t work that way for anyone else.”

“It’s because they actually like me,” Mackenzie whined, her voice muffled by the dirt.  “I’m giving them what they want, making them happy.  You three want so badly to hate me – that’s the only reason you can resist.  I offered you the world and… ow ow ow, easy!”

“You can’t keep her like that forever,” Kayla said.

“Yeah.  So, couple options.  We could gag her, march her across town, take her to Eve’s….”

Chloe frowned.  “If she tried to escape, a lot of people could get hurt.  And the whole city might rise up if they thought she was in danger.”

“Never mind that Lilith might intervene,” Abigail agreed.  “But that crowd’s getting restless.  We’ve got a ticking clock here – and I’ve got another idea.  Do you trust me?”

Both girls nodded.

“Even after… after what I did?  I fucked up so bad, I mean it could’ve turned out….”

“Stop throwing yourself a pity party,” Kayla said.  “We all make mistakes.  You’re sorry.  Do better this time.”

Abigail breathed.

“Okay.  Turn around.  Whatever happens, don’t look back.  And however this turns out, I love you both.”

“You got this,” Kayla said.  She shot Abigail a thumbs up – and turned.

Chloe stared at her for a long time, a look of regret on her face.  “I wanted to get this big so I could help.”

“You’ve helped,” Abigail told her.  “But I have to do this part alone.”

Her friend sighed.  “I guess I’m still good for backrubs.  I owe you one tonight – if we can find a big enough bottle of baby oil.”

She turned away.

“What are you going to do?” Mackenzie asked.  She sounded scared.

“I’m going to do exactly what I told you.  I swore I’d never give up on you, even if you seemed lost.  I’m making good on that promise.”

Abigail released her.

The woman immediately looked up from the mud.  “Little ones!  Help me!”

The crowd began to spill into the field, shouting a battle cry.

Abigail ignored them.  She reached up to her neck, and calmly unscrewed the top of Eve’s charm.  The tiny folk were attacking her now, but she hardly felt their blows.

She poured half of Eve’s potion into her hand.  There was a strange prickling sensation – a power had suffused her, and it was dimming and fading.  She ignored it, and grabbed Mackenzie by the hair.

“You really shouldn’t leave make-up on this long, ‘Zee.  It’s bad for your skin.  Here.  Let me get that for you.”

She dipped her hand, and rubbed the potion directly across Mackenzie’s face.

The crowd froze.  As one they looked up at their goddess in horror.

“What?” Mackenzie asked.  “Is there something wrong with me?”

In the field, not a soul moved.  The only sound, the wind in the trees.

Abigail leaned down, a hopeful smile on her lips.  She peered around Mackenzie’s shoulder, looked into her eyes….

And felt every muscle in her body relax at once.  Mackenzie was still perfect – yet terrifying, in that perfection.  It made her want to fall down in worship, but not to a benevolent, towering goddess.  To something darker.  A twisted God of old, that had risen up from the Earth and was demanding tribute in blood.

Mackenzie’s make-up had streaked down her face, making a grotesque mask.  She hardly looked human at all.

But her lipstick?  Was as perfect as ever.

“She’s weak now!” Mackenzie shouted.  “All my little worshipers.  I need you now.  Lend me your strength.  I accept your tribute!”

The crowd was fleeing in terror.  Yet even as they went, they obeyed.

For an awful moment, Abigail felt the compulsion of that order.  A brush against her mind, the desire to give Mackenzie every last inch of her height only somewhat blunted by Eve’s charm.  But she was falling, as Mackenzie lifted from beneath her.  And so, at the pivotal moment, Abigail found herself looking only at clear blue sky.

She rolled, crawling away on her knees, as the girl rapidly grew behind her.

“Kayla!  Chloe!  Run!”

“No one’s going anywhere,” Mackenzie boomed.

A giant foot crashed down beside Abigail.  Then another, directly in front of her, cutting off her escape.  She tried to scramble around it, but Mackenzie grabbed her with a hand big enough to wrap fully around the largest part of her calf.  The girl was strong, much too strong.

Mackenzie dragged her backward through the dirt.  Then slipped her toes beneath Abigail’s shoulder, and with incredible ease, flipped her over onto her back.

Mackenzie’s foot came down, hard, on her chest.  It stretched from her navel to her windpipe, almost as wide as her torso.  So heavy that she could hardly breathe, let alone attempt to get away.

The larger woman held her in place.  Letting her feel her helplessness, making sure Abigail knew she had lost.

“Open your eyes,” the titaness said, softly.

Abigail shook her head.

“I could bend down and pry them open for you.”  Mackenzie’s voice was gentle.  “I don’t want to do that.  Are you going to make me?”

Feeling like a frightened rabbit caught in a snare, Abigail peaked from beneath her eyelids.  Her eyes opened wider.  And wider.

“That’s better.”

The sun was behind Mackenzie’s head.  Dazzlingly bright, leaving her in silhouette.  But what she could see was enough.  The girl was half-again as tall as her now.  And the weight of the Glamour left her helpless to look away.

Almost lazily, Mackenzie reached down, and pinched the charm between her giant thumb and forefinger.  “This is still giving you some protection?”

Abigail nodded.

The giantess pulled.  The chain went taut, digging into the back of Abigail’s neck.  Any more force and it would snap.

“Please don’t,” Abigail said, her voice quivering.

Mackenzie paused.  “I’m giving you one last chance to do this willingly.  Take this silly thing off, and I’ll forgive what you did to me.  We can be friends again.  Otherwise.”

“Mackenzie!”

High above, the woman turned.  Abigail did the same.

Kayla was there, standing at the edge of the forest.  Her body was set with fear, as she stared into Mackenzie’s face.  But for the moment, she stood her ground.

“You’re about to win!” she called, her voice shaking.  “I’m so happy, you’ve got Abigail totally at your mercy.  S-so, break her charm!  That’s what Lilith wanted, right?  You’re supposed to take her size, humiliate her in front of everybody, utterly destroy her.  Lilith wants you to… to make her so small that no one will ever find her again.  That’s… a good plan!”

Mackenzie cocked her head.  “How do you know what Lilith told me?”

“Oh!  Um.  I met her once or twice.  But never mind that.  The charm is the only thing keeping you from draining Abigail down to nothing.  You’ll be even bigger after that, and you can tell Lilith what a good job you did.  And then Lilith will be able to deal with Eve by… oh but I’m sure you don’t care what happens to Eve, she’s bad.”

Mackenzie glared.  “Tell me.”

Kayla answered at once, shaking with fear as the words tumbled from her mouth.

“She’s going to make Eve into her slave, take away her powers, everything that’s special about her, keep her prisoner, twist her until Eve will do anything she asks.  And for her to do that, for her to win the game, you have to hurt Abigail.  So hurry up!  Do it, break her charm!”

“You think I won’t?” Mackenzie shrilled.

Abigail’s breath exploded from her lungs as the woman’s giant foot pressed down harder.

“It’s what you’re supposed to do,” Chloe said, taking Kayla’s hand.  Her entire body shook with terror, yet still she looked unflinching into Mackenzie’s eyes.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Mackenzie cried.  “I never did.  But she… she forced me to this!  If only you’d joined me, been my Besties!  But I see now that time is over.”

“It’s over,” Kayla said.  “So f-finish it.”

Abigail fought for breath, as she grabbed Mackenzie’s ankle with both hands.  She tried to push up, to give herself even a little space.  It was impossible.  She might as well have been trapped under a mountain.  There was a dull ache at her temples now, and her heart was beating much too fast.

“Do it,” Chloe whimpered.  “If you don’t, Lilith will be mad at you.”

For almost a minute, no one moved.  From off in the distance, the screams of Mackenzie’s worshippers continued to echo.

Finally, Mackenzie lifted her foot from Abigail’s chest.

“Kayla.  Where can I find Eve?”

“She has a shop up town.  5138 North Clark.”

Mackenzie spared Abigail a final look.  As she made eye contact, Abigail felt her head spin.  The charm spared her from the worst of Mackenzie’s power, but she still felt like a terrified animal under the woman’s gaze.

When Mackenzie spoke, there was fear in her voice, too.

“I’ve decided to put a stop to all your bad behavior, right at the source.  You’re going to be a Bestie in Good Standing again, Abigail.  As soon as I deal with Eve.”

As Mackenzie stomped back into the park, the remainder of the crowd scattered at her approach.

Abigail’s head throbbed.  With an effort, she pulled into a sitting position, and tried to catch her breath.  Her dress was badly torn, and she had mud in places she didn’t even know existed.

Her friends came over, and sat by her side.

“It was a good thought,” Chloe said.  “With the potion.”

“Yeah,” Kayla agreed.

“Thanks.”

For a long time, none of them said anything.

“Was what you said true?” Abigail asked.  “About Lilith trying to make Eve her slave?”

Kayla sighed.  “Lilith doesn’t want to do it.  Honestly, I think she’s as scared as anyone.  But, yeah.  And I doubt she’ll chicken out the way Mackenzie just did.  That girl really doesn’t want to hurt you… but I wouldn’t push my luck on that again if I were you.”

“What are we going to do?” Abigail groaned.  “She’s too big to fight.  And Eve’s charm is so much weaker.”

Chloe leaned against Abigail.  The tiny woman did her best to wrap her in a hug.  “I still believe in you.  I’m still not giving up.”

The three women sat in silence.  Elijah was silent too, grinning up at them from the exact spot Mackenzie had left him, apparently unaware anything was wrong.

“Okay,” Abigail said at last.  “I have a plan.”

Chloe exhaled with relief.  “I knew you would.”

Abigail looked down at Kayla and Chloe.  “I want your opinions on this, first.  I don’t want to abandon Eve.  But we have to trust she’ll be okay, because we can’t protect her from Mackenzie.  With that assumption, it leaves us only one other option – a direct confrontation.  I was stupid when I tried it on Mackenzie, but I’m not doing it blind this time, and I’m not afraid.  And despite what we agreed, I think I should do this alone.  I don’t want to have to worry about protecting you two, and anyway, for what I have in mind to be effective, it has to be one-on-one.”

“Sometimes,” Kayla said, slowly.  “To motivate a certain kind of person.  You need both the carrot.  And the stick.  If I’m her carrot… then Abigail?  Go be her stick.”

Chloe gave her a double thumbs up.  “Yeah, Abby.  Kick her ass.”