Eve's Boutique - Ch 44

Blind Faith

The little ones were afraid of her.

Mackenzie couldn’t remember a single time that had been true.  Not her whole life.

The kids in first grade weren’t scared just because she was fifteen feet tall.  And she got along fine in middle school, even after she hit puberty and was growing multiple feet every month.  No one was scared of her when she’d topped out at fifty feet around her sixteenth birthday.  And even today, when she learned the trick of accepting tribute to grow even bigger, fear was the last thing on their minds.  Her height just made them happy.  More friendly.  More accepting.

But now, they were cowering.  Fleeing the streets as she stomped her way across town.  She saw mothers shielding their children.  Blinds drawn in terror at her approach.  Even the Giantess Squad was too afraid to provide an escort.

There was subjugation in it.  Fear could be a form of worship, and some deities preferred it that way.  Was she that kind of deity, now?

She knew why the little ones were acting this way, of course.  It wasn’t because she’d grown – more than tripling in size since morning, a hundred and fifty feet tall at least.  She’d be taller than Lady Liberty herself, if the stuck-up b-word ever got off her pedestal.  They weren’t afraid she’d steal their size either.  She only took a few inches from each, or a foot at most.  They weren’t even afraid because she was angry, though she was certain she made an intimidating sight.

It was that… stuff.  That awful goop, that Abigail had smeared all over her face.  Some of it had even gotten in her mouth, and it was disgusting!  So bitter!

The moment it touched her, everything had changed.

Abigail had done this.  Abigail, who she loved more than almost anyone.  She’d ruined everything.  But Abigail wasn’t herself.  She was under that witch’s spell.

Eve.  The one who hurt Lilith, who was still hurting her friends.  Manipulating them into hating her.  Lilith couldn’t stop Eve, or no, she could, but she wouldn’t.  Even if Lilith was better and more powerful and more beautiful than anyone.  It was Mackenzie’s job, and she had to do it because, well, because Lilith said it was her job.  And she had to do that awful thing to Abby, because that would stop Eve.

Somehow.

She needed a happy thought.

She latched onto sisters.  Eve and Lilith were sisters, though as Lilith had pointed out to her many many times, not biological.  Mackenzie was an only child.  She imagined what it might be like when you had a sister, and pushed everything else out of her mind.  Because the other thoughts were unhappy ones, and no one liked an unhappy girl.  She’d been too weak to follow Lilith’s orders, her friends were all mad at her, and no one was smiling, but it was all okay.  She just needed not to think about it, until she could fix everything.

She couldn’t make herself hurt Abigail.  But Eve?  Well, that was a different story.  Lilith would be so proud.

She was almost too big to walk down the street in this part of town.  Her feet took up whole lanes of traffic.  It was like walking a tight rope, trying to maneuver her massive calves between knee-high shops and apartment buildings.  There were so many tripping hazards.  And try as she might, it was impossible to avoid crunching a few cars beneath her feet.  Their occupants ran from their abandoned vehicles, trying to stay out from underfoot.

Their screams.  She hated their screams.  Sounds of fear, not of pain, and she was thankful for that, but she hated that she had to think about the difference.

Sisters.  What if she had a sister.  What would her sister say right now?

Eve was living in Lilith’s old shop.  She knew that address sounded familiar.  It was far too small for her to enter, but Lilith had shown her that trick.  She pinched the little doorknob, carefully turned it….

And found herself in another world.

Every wall, every surface, was covered in the most lusciously green plants Mackenzie had ever seen.  They were all so big!  For a moment she thought it might be because this place made her small, like at Lilith’s house.  But there were chairs and tables, and even a polished chrome cash register, and those were all normal size.  It was so beautiful and peaceful in here, that it almost felt unreal.

She thought she was alone.  Until she spied the woman.

She was on the counter, in the back of the shop.  Standing in the very center, as though hoping Mackenzie would find her.  The woman was tiny – absurdly so.  Not even the size of Mackenzie’s littlest finger.

Mackenzie stalked forward, glaring angrily at the woman.  Being as scary as possible.  It was hard – the woman was wearing such a nice little outfit, and Mackenzie was completely naked.  It was hard to feel scary when you were naked.

“You’re Eve?” she snarled.

The woman said nothing.  Only looked up at her, and nodded.

“I’m here to put a stop to you.  All the evil you’re doing, in my town, to my friends.  It stops.  Now.”

Eve continued to stare up at her, arms at her side, spine neutral.

“You have a lot to answer for.  You’ve stolen all my friends from me, turned them against me.  You’ve manipulated everyone around you into believing you’re some force for good.  Well you’re not!  You got Abigail addicted to magic!  You hurt Kayla, and Chloe!  But worst of all, you hurt Lilith!  Do you have any idea how much suffering you’ve caused?”

The witch was silent for many seconds.  Then at last she made a sound – a sniveling little whimper, from the back of her throat.

Mackenzie leaned down, and put her chin on the counter so she could see.  The woman flinched slightly at her approach, but stood her ground.

“You’re… crying?”

Tears were streaming freely down the woman’s face.  She was completely quiet, as she wept.  But there were so many tears, too many.  And from the puffy look around her eyes, it looked like she’d been crying for a long time.

“That’s not going to help you!” Mackenzie roared.  “No one is going to be nice to you just because you’re crying!  It doesn’t solve anything, don’t you know that?”

Still, that silent stare.

“If you don’t have anything to say for yourself then… then I can’t forgive what you’ve done.  I’m going to finish this.   Hold still.  I’ll make it quick.”

Eve only watched her, tears soaking her shirt.  Her eyes followed Mackenzie as she stood up to her full height.  Tracked her fist, as she raised it high above her head.

With a look of resignation, the evil little witch closed her eyes.

Eve didn’t move, as Mackenzie’s fist slammed down.

The counter shook under the force of her blow.  The windows rattled.  The vibrations almost threw the woman off her feet, as Mackenzie’s fist landed less than an inch from where Eve was standing.

“I’m so sorry.”

Mackenzie jerked back violently as the witch spoke.

“Well!” Mackenzie shrieked.  “Well!  It’s too late for sorry!  I’m gonna… gonna….”

She looked around the shop frantically.

“Those plants!  You use them to make potions, don’t you?  That’s where your evil comes from!”

Eve said nothing.  Her eyes, still closed.

The nearest plant was a giant monstera, nearly twice as tall as Mackenzie.  She grabbed the pot, heaved with all her might, screaming.  It smashed to the ground, ceramic and soil spreading like an avalanche all over the shop floor.  The next plant came easier – it was something exotic and top-heavy, and a good hard shove was all it took.  She jumped up and down on it for good measure.  She swept pots off shelves with both arms, a dozen or more landing on the linoleum in a rough staccato.  She went down the line, methodical now.  Kicking over smaller pots, overturning the larger ones, lifting with her back.  She was bleeding, a piece of ceramic or one of the sharper branches had cut her, but she didn’t care, she didn’t care.

Happy thoughts.  Happy thoughts.

She was in the front window of the shop now.  There were only a few left, but they were the biggest of all.  She was panting with the effort, her body aching all over.  Covered in sweat, and chlorophyll, and the tiny fibrous remains of the living things she’d murdered.  And still that terrible witch was standing there.  Just letting it happen, not even watching her!

There was some kind of tree, that almost filled the floor to ceiling window at the front of the shop.  It was so heavy, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t give up now.  She could still fix this, make Lilith proud.  She set herself, pushed with every last bit of strength in her body.  The tree tipped gradually, ever so slowly losing the fight against gravity, and at last hit the point of no return.  The trunk snapped as it hit the floor.

The shop was suddenly filled with light, the plants no longer blotting out the afternoon sun as it poured through the window.  It should’ve felt like a symbol of purity, like she’d expelled the evil in this place.  But it was blinding, and it hurt so bad.  She wasn’t crying.  Tears were streaming from her eyes, but it was the sun’s fault, she wasn’t crying.

There was a brilliant flare of light, from beside the place where Eve was standing.  She winced, thinking for a moment the witch was finally launching a counter-attack.  But it was just a reflection, glare from the old metal cash register sitting on the counter.  Disoriented, she stumbled forward, bent….

And got a look at her reflection.

It was far, far worse than she imagined.  Lilith’s beautiful make-up had smeared, becoming a horrible parody, a nightmare mask.  What once had made her beautiful had left her beyond grotesque.  No wonder people were afraid of her!  And worse, there were tell-tale streaks, at the corners of her eyes.  Proof for anyone to see that she’d been crying.

“It isn’t you.”

Again, the witch’s voice shocked her, made her stagger away in surprise.

“It hasn’t been the real you,” Eve said.  “Not for a long, long time.  You poor girl.”

Eve sank to her knees.  Weeping inconsolably.

“You poor girl.  You poor girl.”

“I don’t even remember what I look like under this,” Mackenzie whimpered.  “I’ve been wearing it for so long.”

“But you aren’t ready to take it off.”

“I can’t let her see me without it.  I can’t!  But I can’t go back to her like this either.  Please.  You have to… to go away, to let her win.  If you don’t, she’ll never, I’ll never….”

“What if I fixed it for you?”  Eve had suddenly stopped crying.  “I can put it back the way it was.”

“I’m not going to let you work your magic on me!  I don’t trust you, you’re evil!”

“Do you have another choice?”

Mackenzie stared down at the miniscule little witch.  She could feel her bottom lip starting to quiver.  If this kept up, she wasn’t going to be able to stop the tears.

Eve held up her hands.  “I promise, on all I hold sacred, that I won’t do anything other than put your make-up back the way it was before.  It will be the exact same enchantment Lilith gave you.  No tricks.”

“She won’t be able to tell?”  Mackenzie’s voice was very small.

“She won’t be able to tell.  You won’t have to tell her what happened.”

Mackenzie sniffed.  She did her best to wipe plant debris off her face, and nodded.

“I need leaves.  From that one, that one, and that one.”  Eve pointed.

Mackenzie obediently gathered them.

“The one with the slightly yellow tint.  Hold that in your left hand.  The one with the fronds – the pointy bits – that goes in your right.  Put the fat round one under your tongue.  And lay your fists on the counter.”

She did.

Eve stepped forward.  She wiped her eyes with her palm, and spread her tears on Mackenzie’s hands.  The tiny woman took hold of Mackenzie, setting her body as though about to move an immense weight.

Her face contorted with effort.

And Mackenzie could feel the change – on her cheeks, all along her face.  It was the exact same sensation as when Lilith had done her make-up.  The soothing, sensualness of it, far more intimate than the mere the application of product as she’d done so many times before.  It felt like the touch of a lover.  Someone who cared for her, wanted nothing but the best for her.

When it was done, the witch collapsed.  Eve looked spent, utterly exhausted.

Mackenzie spared her a glance – then checked her reflection in the register.

Perfect.  It looked perfect again.  She was… herself.

Or, almost.

Just like before.

Without a word, Mackenzie headed for the exit.  She paused once, to look back at the witch.  The woman was up on her hands now, still shaking from exertion.

Their eyes met.

Mackenzie thought about saying something, but there were too many things to say.  So instead, she opened the door, and stepped out into the sun.

Her friends were waiting for her.  They stumbled back in alarm at her sudden emergence.

Chloe and Kayla, shorter than the hollow of her knee, so far beneath her she could hardly see them anymore.  Both of them looked up at her, not with fear, but with expressions of transcendent joy.

And Abigail, there at her navel.  Not as small, but still insignificant by comparison.  Her pretty dress was torn and filthy.  Yet Mackenzie felt a little pang of jealousy, because even if Abigail’s outfit was a mess, at least she had something to wrap herself in.

Abigail stepped back, creating space between them.  Her teeth were gritted, a look of intense concentration on her face.  Slowly, she assumed a fighting stance.

Mackenzie watched her sadly for a moment.  Feeling all the things she wanted to say, but again, there were far too many.

So she turned.  And went back to Lilith.