Chapter Six

By

Invisible Ink

                I looked upwards as a mixture of shock and awe swirled about my brain, clouding my thoughts while impairing my decision-making ability.  The voices of the two young women boomed all around Samantha and I as they carried on their conversation in front of an unknown audience. The impact from the Chuck Taylor of the girl who was closet to us sent both Samantha and I tumbling to the ground.

                As she idly chatted with her friend, Samantha and I were left watching this young woman fidget and toy with her foot. She would shift the weight of her foot onto her toes and grind the toe end of the shoe into the floor as if she was putting out a cigarette. This made for some tense situations as we watched the heel of her shoe float awfully close to us several times.

                While Samantha was able to get to her feet relatively easy, it was much more of a struggle for me as my ankle was absolutely throbbing in pain along with several of my ribs. As we made it back to our feet the young woman started tapping her foot against the ground. Each tap of her shoe against the tile floor was like that of a thunderclap in the sky.  Moments after the thunderclap the ground would tremble as powerful gusts of wind would sweep past us.

                “Samantha, run on ahead to Katherine’s shorts. I will hurry as best I can.” I said knowing that my injuries were only slowing us down. I would much rather have Samantha safe then both us die because of me.

                “I’m not going to leave you like this Greg. I can’t, I won’t, I won’t watch you die here!” Samantha shouted as I put my right arm around her to offload some of the weight from my injured ankle.

                “Samantha down” I yelled knocking us both to the floor as we then looked up from the ground at the worn underside of the girls shoe as it sailed over us landing just a few yards ahead.   The young woman who had been unknowingly tormenting us for several minutes walked down the row of lockers with her friend until they both stopped a good distance from us.

                We used this opportunity to hurry as quickly as we could to get to safety. As soon as we reached Katherine's shorts, I practically collapsed onto the mesh material.  We were both winded but for different reasons.  I was tired from hustling what felt like a mile with a bad ankle, which only highlighted the fact that I am out of shape, while Samantha was tired from having to help support my weight the whole way.

                The reprieve that we got seemed short lived as Katherine appeared standing over us in some sweats and tank top with a yoga mat tucked under her arm. As she gathered up her things, Samantha and I huddled together. We shook nervously as our eyes fixated on our now gigantic sized daughter.  Katherine seemed to notice our fearful nature in her presence, which caused her to smirk down at us.

                “Katherine, why are you doing this to us?” We shouted as she knelt down setting the rolled up yoga mat on the ground next to us. It was a humbling experience to look up at the baby blue yoga mat and see it dwarfing you in every way. It added to the feeling of power that Katherine now held over us. Simple everyday objects that she interacts with are now daunting in and of themselves.

                We were praying for a response of some kind; however Katherine merely bundled up the shorts we were on.  We were left with only the ability to look on as mesh shorts lifted up as if they were a wall. Our hands instinctively went up as she dropped the other half of the shorts on top of us; almost immediately the air around us shifted from a sterile scent to one ravaged by the putrid odor of sweat.

                “Katherine!” we both shouted as we dropped a few feet before the shorts and us roughly landed in the small locker she had.  Samantha and I were both lost in the dense mesh fabric of her shorts when we felt the added weight of her shirt and shoes land atop of us.

                The added weight was insurmountable. Our bodies collapsed underneath it as we tried in vain to grasp at anything we could latch onto and pull ourselves out from underneath the added weight but no matter what we did it was hopeless.

                “I hope you enjoy yourselves as much as I do, nothing like a relaxing two hour session to free your spirit and mind.” Katherine said before closing the locker door. The click of the lock was an added punch to the gut as it told us if we could somehow escape from this rung of hell in which we have found ourselves in no one would be coming to our rescue.

                Seconds click by as if they are hours while an overpowering scent of sweat dominated the humid air. No matter which way I look my eyes can make out nothing but the bleak darkness of the abyss we find ourselves in.  I call out for Samantha but it is as if my voice is swallowed up into the oblivion.

                Godlike female voices would come and go as they passed by the locker which might as well be a prison in which we were being held captive. Each time someone passed without helping us I could feel the sense of defeat inside of me grow. I wondered how I could right this situation. I was losing control of Katherine by the minute. She needed a firm hand to guide her and to make sure she made the correct choices.

                It felt like days before the familiar voices of Chelsea and Katherine returned. As the locker door crept open, I soon felt the weight bearing down on Samantha and I growing less and less until Katherine finally flipped the part of her shorts that were on top of us off. Beams of light streaked in as her colossal face appeared.

                “Chelsea come here! Just look at them struggling to their feet. They can’t even get out from underneath a pile of my clothes now.” Katherine triumphantly spoke.

                “What are you talking about?” confusingly asked Chelsea as she approached Katherine. It was then the young nubile face of Chelsea appeared overhead. Samantha gripped my hand tighter as we looked fearfully up at her straight black hair, which was cut in to a short pixie style crop cut similar to that of Carey Mulligan. The silver piercing of her lip glimmered down at us as an expression of shock encompassed her face.  It was unnerving as her eyes pillaged our bodies watching our every move. The sense of privacy and personal space that we had grown accustomed to was gone as we cowered in fear before our daughter’s friend. The mesh shorts we were sitting atop provided no protection from the giant Chelsea.

                It was surreal listening to two enormous beings discuss us as if we aren’t even present.  It reminded me of when I was a child and I would be shopping with my mother and she would bump into a friend or co-worker. There would be the initial acknowledgement of my existence and then they would carry on as if I was just an afterthought.  Even though, more often than not they would be telling stories about me.

                “Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks, is that really you?” Chelsea asked as she moved her head even closer to us. I wave to her in hope that she will be more mature then my daughter has been. Much to my dismay, however I realize for the first time that Samantha has been on edge ever since Chelsea appeared. I look confusingly behind me to see Samantha pseudo hiding behind me.

                “What are you doing? They can obviously see us, besides this Chelsea might help us.” I tell Samantha.

                “You don’t understand Greg. I caught Chelsea smoking the other day.” Samantha said before being cut off.

                “Oh how the mighty have fallen, huh Mrs. Hendricks? You thought you were being such a big shot the other day tattling on me. I guess Karma really is a bitch.” Chelsea said laughing down at us; the trepidation that Samantha had been feeling all along begun to hit me right in the pit of stomach.  The situation was clearly turning for the worst. I was just starting to come to terms with the idea of having to deal with a giant Katherine and now, her friends are starting to come into the picture.