Jack closed both the maps app and the browser, making sure there was no trace of his activity, then switched the screen off as if it had never been touched.
As he put the tablet down on the covers, he looked at the oversized bear toy – probably a gift from her Dad or a boyfriend or something. As he stared, a stupid idea popped into his head; you know, one of those truly idiotic ideas that never works. Ever.
What if he hid inside the bear?
He had a good look at the toy – it was definitely big enough, the thing had to be 7 or 8 feet tall, head to toe. The proportions weren’t exactly human (the bear’s head was massive) but there would be plenty of room to manoeuvre inside.
No.
It was a stupid idea, he told himself, shaking his head.
The more he thought about it, however, the more sense it seemed to make…
The main problem with finding a place to hide was the fact that he wasn’t as insignificant as he felt; he was half-size compared to this environment, so not exactly the incredible shrinking man. Hiding in a large bin, or a drawer, or a box, was way too obvious – he probably wouldn’t remain hidden for more than a few minutes, tops. Anywhere else would be really cramped, so not only would he be supremely uncomfortable, he might do himself long term damage or even get stuck. On top of that, she would probably find him before long anyway – there were only so many places he could fit.
If, however, he was able to conceal himself inside this jumbo teddy, he’d be hidden in plain sight. All he would have to do was keep quiet and hope that Caitlin didn’t figure it out. Hell, she could even pick him up and move him around without knowing, as long as he made himself fall limp.
It was totally crazy, but just crazy enough to work, right?
Jack dragged the giant teddy bear across the bed; it was cumbersome and surprisingly heavy to move for something that was made almost entirely of stuffing. He laid the toy down on the big duvet, and rolled it over onto its front - it had a small zipper about 3 feet long running down its back, which he was able to unfasten quite easily. Reaching inside, he began to take out handfuls of the cotton-wool-like fluff, as if he was giving teddy a bit of liposuction or something.
After amassing a Jack-sized pile of stuffing, the boy put first one foot, and then the other, inside the open flap, and started to wriggle his way into the toy’s rotund body.
There was actually quite a lot of room, but the stuffing made it very claustrophobic, and he couldn’t really see what he was doing with his arms and legs. Tucking his elbows in by his ribs, he cleared a space in front of his face, and located the bear’s neck through the internal stitching. With his feet pressing against the spongy paws at the bottom of the toy’s stubby legs, his eye level was just above the neck join, and slightly below the stitching where the bear’s mouth began. He could even see through the gauze-like fabric surprisingly clearly as the toy’s neck was slightly worn and the fur was a bit thinner there.
Twisting around, he checked that he could reach the zipper to fasten himself in, which he could with relative ease. This was all looking suspiciously promising.
After extricating himself from the plus-sized bear, he swept the scraps of leftover stuffing onto the floor, dropped down and carried as much of it as he could into the bathroom. He had to dispose of the excess fluff somehow, because if Caitlin stumbled across any she would figure out where it was from and… game over.
He walked over to the large toilet, checked that the lid was up, and then started chucking in clumps of stuffing. He did a couple of trips, making sure he hadn’t dropped any bits between the bed and the toilet, then clambered up onto the seat, had a wee (as he didn’t know when he’d have another chance to), and flushed the evidence away. Job done.
He went to check on his clothes in the windowsill; they were still a bit damp but had dried up considerably – hopefully he would be able to wear them soon. He climbed back up onto the bed, and moved both the tablet and the bear back to roughly where they had been before – in amongst the pile of soft toys.
Glancing across at the bedside cabinet, he saw that it was 4:39pm. Taking a moment to relax finally, he lay down and sprawled out on the abundant duvet. His body sank into the pillowy material, it was wonderfully soft, and warm, and he was feeling quite tired indeed…
Jack’s eyes snapped open, his heart pounding furiously as he remembered where he was, and why. How long had he been asleep for? The sunlight through the window was definitely longer, but at least it was there at all. He sat bolt upright and scanned for the watch on the cabinet: 7:03pm - he’d been asleep for well over 2 hours. Thank god Caitlin wasn’t home yet.
Cursing under his breath, he picked himself up, slid off the bed covers and trotted over to the window sill, where his clothes were practically dry now. He dressed himself in his pants, t-shirt & jeans; they were a bit stiff and smelt slightly stale, but it was a lot better, and less weird, than running around in his birthday suit. He searched around on the floor near the bed and found his socks and shoes too – more or less where they’d fallen after Caitlin removed them from him earlier.
Fully clothed now, he scaled the bed once more, pulled the tablet out from the jumble of toys, unlocked it and checked to see if there was a reply from Delon. His spirits fell as he saw that his friend now hadn’t been logged in for 12 hours. For fuck’s sake, Delon, he thought angrily, this is too important.
Closing the tab, and making sure the tablet was as he found it, he fought the overwhelming urge to load up Pype or some other kind of app, but he knew that if he tried to log in to anything his details would be stored, and he didn’t know how to delete them afterwards. It was too big of a risk, he would just have to sit tight until tomorrow.
He slid the tablet back under the toys, crawled round to the back of the giant teddy, and gingerly slid himself inside, careful not to knock any of the stuffing out. He had propped the big bear a little further back into the pile, sat on some smaller toys so that he could lean against them and not have to stand or sit too awkwardly. He hoped this would also help make sure he didn’t attract any warranted attention, whilst still giving him a clear view out across the room ready for when the frightful girl would inevitably return. He zipped himself in carefully, got comfortable, and tried to keep his nerves under control.
There was a jangling of keys coming from the bedroom door as Jack slowly drifted back into consciousness. His eyes opened wide, Caitlin was home. A key was inserted and turned, the lock clicked and the door was thrown open wide.
Jack’s heart was in his mouth. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck… He tried to stay calm, he had done all he could, it was in the lap of the gods now.
The towering redhead stomped in, nearly smacking her head on the doorframe she was so tall in heels, and sat down on the bed clumsily, causing the whole thing to rock. The frightened boy looked on as she removed her heels and deposited a small clutch bag on her bedside cabinet.
It was pretty obvious she had had a bit to drink, and she seemed vaguely angry and frustrated with something. He was not looking forward to what she would do when she discovered he was missing, his hands started to shake from nerves and he had to hold his breath for fear of making a peep. This was going to be way harder than he thought it would be…
He looked on as the monumental girl stretched her long, toned arms to the heavens in a tired yawn, the intimidating cords of muscle on her back very visible from his perspective. She stood back up and paced over to the door, closing it and locking it with her key, which she then went and placed in the top drawer of her cabinet, alongside that mammoth dildo of hers.
Turning to the wardrobe, he saw her smile crookedly.
“Ohhh Jaa-ack,” she cooed, sending chills down his spine.
Reaching into her bra, she produced the small, antique key he had seen her take from the wardrobe earlier, and strode lazily over to the keyhole and kneeled down.
“It’s play-time, you little shit.”
She inserted the key and turned it, but it wouldn’t twist properly. Slowly he saw it dawn on her face that the door wasn’t locked, and the teen’s expression turned into one of abject horror. With a sudden bang she threw the door open, only to see a t-shirt and a dress piled in the corner. Jack held his breath as the girl picked up her t-shirt, aghast, and several small fragments of ripped sports tape fell onto the floor around her feet...
Caitlin’s mouth opened wide, and she let out the most agonising, ear-splitting scream he’d ever heard. It wasn’t a high-pitched shriek, it was an eruption of sound; a roar of fury that reverberated around the room like a shock wave. Jack flinched, tears filling his eyes as he fought to keep himself still.
She snapped her neck around, and for a moment it looked like she was looking straight at him… his heart stopped. Her face was contorted with rage, mascara running down her cheeks as tears flowed freely. He had no empathy for the monstrous female, but this was raw, and terrifying, and brutal.
Scrambling to her feet, she dove under the bed headfirst, and he heard the cardboard boxes getting torn to shreds. The mattress rose up as she smacked her head on the slats underneath, “No! NO! How?!” she howled over and over.
He heard the laundry basket being upended, and lots of clothes being thrown around, but he couldn’t see over that way from his vantage point. Lots of clanging and banging signalled that she was searching around her fitness equipment, before she made a beeline straight for the bathroom.
He allowed himself to wriggle slightly after the angry giantess left the room, almost as if he was checking that all his limbs were still there. The panicking Beta took a few deep breaths and swallowed hard, he felt sick to the stomach and couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that he was going to be found and torn in half by an insanely mad, alcohol-fuelled Alpha.
More screaming and yelling, the sound of plastic bottles being thrown around, the shower door being slammed.
“Aaaaarrrgh!!! she shrieked, “Where the FUCK ARE YOU HIDING??!!”
Caitlin stormed back out and stood in the doorway, looking around in furious disbelief at her bedroom.
“I KNOW you’re in here!” she yelled, baring her teeth, “And when I find you, WHEN, you will WISH you were dead you tiny FUCKING DICKHEAD.”
She came straight for the bed, and Jack braced himself for impact. Lunging for the pile of toys, Caitlin started throwing them off the bed, and before he knew it he was flying through the air and landing hard on the floor face down.
Luckily the bear had plenty of padding so the impact wasn’t so bad, but he now had no idea where he was and couldn’t see a thing. He could still hear Caitlin throwing things around angrily, cursing loudly, though her voice was starting to waver now as each subsequent minute passed without her being able to locate her prey.
He prayed that she wouldn’t step on him by accident, it would only take one misplaced stomp for her to snap a leg or crush his ribs, and then he would be found AND injured. He began to hyperventilate at the thought of it… he just had to hang on a little longer, she had to have searched everywhere by now.
The banging and crashing came to an abrupt halt, and to his surprise he heard the enormous girl crying softly, sadly, like a child. Her anguished sobbing was ragged as she sniffed between big gulps of air, and he heard her slump to the ground not far from where he was positioned.
“I know you’re in here, Jack, I just know it…” she whispered under her breath.
“Please, just come out, I won’t hurt you, I promise, just come out,” she begged.
Crocodile tears, he thought, stay vigilant, don’t fall for it.
“Jack, please, I promise I’ll take you home,” she continued, the tone of her voice rising in intonation to try and sound more sincere, but only succeeding in hardening his resolve.
He heard her sniff loudly, and wipe her face with her arm, “I’m sorry Jack, I just got angry, I won’t hurt you.”
There was a long pause as she waited for a response, but nothing was forthcoming. He kept absolutely still, awaiting her final angry outburst, her parting shot, but it never came. She simply gave up.
Psychotic she might be, but it was hard to shake the feeling that she felt something for him, and this was hurting her deeply.
The stricken Alpha moved around the room quietly, inspecting the mess she had made, and began tidying up the toys she had thrown. Jack felt a big hand reach down and grab the teddy bear’s paw; he immediately let his body hang limp, with the exception of his arms folded across his chest, as she picked up the toy and carried it carefully back to the bed, dumping it on its side next to several large pillows. She didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary – it was such a large toy that his extra weight wasn’t too noticeable, thank god.
He lay there, careful not to move a muscle, keeping his breathing as shallow as he possibly could. Again, he couldn’t see where she was, but he heard her blowing her nose on some tissue in the bathroom, and then the sound of water running and teeth being brushed.
A short while later Caitlin re-entered the room. She had changed into a tight-fitting pink t-shirt with the word ‘CUTE’ written on it in block capitals, and a tiny pair of white hot pants. Her smudged make-up had been mostly wiped off, but her lips were still glossy and clumps of mascara clung to her long eyelashes.
She lifted up the duvet cover and climbed into bed, her face right in front of Jack’s recumbent teddy bear as she laid her head on the pillow. She was so close he could smell the minty smell of toothpaste on her breath as she sighed heavily, stifling a slight waver in her breathing as she still hadn’t fully calmed down yet.
Jack was petrified but couldn’t do anything, she was RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. One sniff, one twitch, and the game was up. The pressure was immense, so it was with great relief that the enormous redhead rolled over to face the other way, her long ginger locks washing over the pillow like a cascade of fiery ribbons.
“How did you escape?” the giantess said quietly, possibly talking to herself. “How could you possibly escape?”
He witnessed her stretching her arm out towards the wardrobe despairingly as her mind struggled to cope with the reality of the situation. It was really weird; strangely touching, but at the same time completely absurd. This mountainous girl was behaving so timidly, like she was the victim, and yet she had imprisoned him, abused him, hurt him and molested him.
Without warning, the girl turned back around, and reached both arms out and wrapped them around her big teddy. Jack was silently screaming in his head as she enclosed her arms around the oversized toy and brought it in towards her body, hugging it tightly against her chest. He tried not to breathe as the gargantuan schoolgirl caressed her toy delicately, nuzzling up against it and drifting off to sleep.
It was going to be a long night for him.