"You fucking bitch!" I screamed after her, and my heart stopped when I heard her footsteps stop on the stairs. I held my breath, and nearly shit myself as I heard the steps coming back down the stairs and a moment later Zoey appeared in my doorway. 

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" She asked, with a big phony smile that I knew all too well. 

Pain or humiliation never seemed too far behind that smile.  Zoey again crossed my room in 3 strides, stopping just outside my door, but unlike before, she didn't mind the origami, kicking some pieces aside and trampling another. 

"Well?" She asked, tapping her toe.

I remained silent.

"That's what the fuck I thought!" She exclaimed darkly, old Zoey emerging for just that sentence, sending a bolt of shock through me.  Minor, but it was enough to shake me to my core and I admittedly almost pissed myself. "You have a good thing here Preston.  Don't throw it away and make me your enemy again. " She warned in a hushed voice.

She must have been bending over, because her voice seemed to come from the other side of the front door. 

We stood in silence before I heard her straighten up with a grunt and leave again.  I kept my mouth shut this time. . . 

A half hour later, I found myself in the most awkward, nightmarish situation I had ever been in.  At the dinner table with my family, and my worst enemy.  A woman I would have trouble not killing if I ever got back to normal height.  All of them sitting here bullshitting like old friends or something.  The only way I could cope was to bury myself deep in my mind and pretend this wasn't happening.

"Hey!  Zoey asked you a question!" My dad interrupted my thoughts.

"What?" I asked, stupidly.

"Oh, I was just curious if anyone was getting close to a cure for your situation?" Zoey asked, before taking a bite of the lasagna my mom had made.

"The fuck do you care?" I replied without thinking about it, exactly like I would have when we were living together.  

Big mistake.

My mother's jaw dropped to the floor.  My dad nearly choked on his food.  Janessa's eyes nearly popped out of her head, and Tegan burst out laughing. Zoey was the only one who wasn't phased in the least by my comment.  She was as used to it as I was.  It's just how we communicated with each other on a day to day basis.

The next 5 minutes was a blur of my parents screaming at me, and Zoey assuring them it was fine. Tegan continuing to laugh, and Janessa trying to calm the entire situation down.  It was all getting to be too fucking much, and I knew I had to come clean before this escalated or turned into future issues.

"Listen!  Zoey is a fucking psycho piece of shit, and I'm not apologizing to her! She knows what she did to me and has the fucking to nerve to act like everything is fine!" I screamed over both my parents voices. 

"What the hell are you talking about Preston?" My mom demanded, looking like she was about to lose her sanity. "You just met her a half hour ago!"

"I didn't just meet her, mom!  She's just acting!  Lying!  You guys. . . She. . . " I began, as my adrenaline filled confidence began to fade.  " She kidnapped me right after I shrunk, and kept me captive for nearly a year!"

"Preston!  What the fuck are you talking about?! You aren't aren't making any sense!" My dad chimed in now, looking between me and Zoey, extremely confused.

Zoey for her part had an embarrassed, confused look on her own face.  Like she was unwittingly drawn into some sick joke my family was playing out.

"Zoey. . . . Do. . . Is that true?" My mom asked, bewildered.

"I really don't know what your son is talking about. . . . I didn't mean for this to trigger him or anything. . . I'm so sorry!" Zoey said, timidly putting a hand on my mom's. 

"You're such a fucking liar!" I screamed, about ready to come across the table and strangle her. "You guys. . .she held against my will at her shithole apartment and. . . . Used me as more or less a sex slave to make money online!" I explained, my own sanity feeling like it was escaping me in the eyes of my family. 

This was too much for my mother.  She got up from her seat, and rushed to the sink, vomiting. My father just had a frustrated look on his face as he glared at me,unsure of what to say.  Janessa stood and went to our mom's aid, holding her hair out of her face and opening the window and I could tell she was pissed.

"Preston, I don't know why you're doing this, if it's just to get back at mom or whatever but you're not getting away with it!" She exclaimed, staring daggers at me. 

"Do you have any evidence of any of this?" Tegan of all people asked, her voice calm.  

"Evidence! Yes!" I shouted, actually happy to have my sister's suggestion for once.  "I need. . . A laptop!" 

Tegan stood up and went to the living room to get the family computer while my mom washed her face and had sat back down at the table and was now apologizing profusely to Zoey, who seemed disturbingly calm for someone who was about to be exposed.

When my sister came back with the laptop, everyone gathered around my sister as she offered to work the computer for efficiency.  

"Ok. . . . Type in "Zoey' fetish tidbits". I directed, much to the surprise and discomfort of my family and apparently Zoey. 

A second later Google opened up.

Confusion took over me as none of the normal links were on the page.  Not a single one.  Usually, the search would take you to every store, plus all of her social media but now there was nothing.  

Anywhere.

The next half hour was filled with me checking every website and login I had, but to no avail. Every time it came back as this password or username doesn't exist, as my family grew more and more impatient and disgusted with every grotesque search I looked up to find any type of evidence, but it was all completely gone.  The entire time, Zoey stayed calm and quiet, confident that nothing would be found.  Finally my dad had seen enough and put an end to it.

"Alright! This has gone on long enough!  It's increasingly obvious that Preston is just trying to humiliate his mother in front of her guest and ruin dinner and I would say he succeeded with flying colors!" He said, closing the laptop.

"I am so sorry Zoey!  Please tell me this doesn't affect our arrangements?!" My mom once again apologized, clasping her hands together in a begging gesture. "The way things book up in this city, there would be no hope this late in the game!"

Zoey stole a quick glance at me before she spoke. I could tell that she was loving the power she held over me by way of my family needing her. 

"Oh, don't worry about it, hun!" She cooed.  "This changes nothing, and if anything, I'm sorry for the intrusion and any unfortunate memories I may have accidentally stirred up!" 

"No!  Don't apologize for Preston's sick sense of humor! He knew how much this dinner meant to me, and chose to destroy it anyway!  He will be dealt with appropriately!" My mom replied, glaring at me. 

With that, I left the table in tears and defeated as I retreated to my room.  There had to be a way to prove Zoey was lying, but in the moment, I couldn't think of it.  The next few hours went about as expected.  First my dad came down and tore me a new asshole for embarrassing his wife.  Then my mom came down and got a piece, followed by Janessa.  Finally, sometime after midnight, Tegan came sauntering in, her face illuminated by her phone in the dim lighting. 

She walked up to my front door, and sat down cross legged. 

"P. . . . You awake?" She asked, somewhat quietly. 

As much as I despised my sister sometimes, this time didn't feel like she came to make things worse for once. 

"Yeah.  What's up?" I replied, just laying in my bed. 

"So. . . . The truth finally comes out, huh?" She replied, solemnly. 

"You actually believe me?" I asked in disbelief myself. 

"Yes . . I do.  What you did up there. . . That was real. . . And. . I'm sorry for what you went through.  Whether there is any evidence left or not.  I just want you to know that."

I didn't know what to say.  Tegan was one of the main people I didn't want to know what I had been through but here she was, the only one trying to make any effort to understand me. 

"It's like. . . Yes I wanted to know what you were hiding. . . But it sounds so much worse than what I was thinking, you know?" She asked, seemingly needing to get it off her chest. 

"I know" was all I replied.

"That's it?  That's all you have to say?" She asked, disappointed sounding.  

"Yeah. . . I guess. . . I've sort of just been through this all before." I answered, knowing it wasn't good enough. " I had a few months of living with Cadence to "heal" as much as possible." 

"Yeah, while You let the rest of us believe you were dead, asshole!" Tegan said, her voice raising slightly. "You don't think you owe us the full truth?"

"Excuse me for not wanting to share the darkest moments of my life with my bitch of a little sister!" I replied, defensively.  

Tegan didn't say anything but I heard her exhale hard through her nose like she was losing patience.

"Just know that she fucked me up pretty good, ok?  Not every day was bad, but our relationship was far from ok. . . . . Like having a giant, vindictive, psycho girlfriend.  Always playing mind games, but not afraid to physically destroy me either if she felt like it."

"Fuck. . . " was the reply I got. "She. . .just didn't seem like someone who would be capable of that. . . . As stupid as it sounds "

"Well you have to think that she's had over a year to think about and practice not appearing to be that person.  She's definitely gone through this scenario in her mind 1 million times and you can see that it worked flawlessly." 

"Damn. . . . " 

"And not only that.  To have every trace of her internet presence wiped completely clean. . . . She had to have paid someone to do it.  She may not have been planning to get involved with the entire family, but to say she didn't plan on me eventually trying to expose her would be to grossly underestimate her." I said, finding the words flowing easier now.  

"So what. . . . She just gets away with all of it?" Tegan answered, frustration in her voice. 

"If you could call it that. . . . Cadence and Kiera beat the shit out of her so I suppose we're even." 

"Preston!  Physical bruises heal.  Who knows what lasting damage she's done to you!" 

"It's over Tegan!  Up to this point I managed to leave her in the past and avoid her  that's where I intend to keep her.  I don't want anything to do with her." 

"Ughhh!  You're such a pussy!"  Tegan spat, disappointed in my lack of desire to get my shit stomped for old time's sake.

"At least she was civil.  Mom stupidly left me alone with her down here.  She could have done just about anything and just climbed out the window, but she didn't. . . . . Come to think of it, it was almost like she wanted me to try to expose her." I said, the oddness of the situation suddenly hitting me.

"Why didn't she?" Tegan asked with a yawn. 

"She. . . Claims to be done with me.  But she also likes the idea of me knowing she could get to me whenever she wants." 

"Hmm. . . That's kind of fucked up." my sister said, yawning again. "But listen. . . If you need someone to talk to, or want help exposing that fucking bitch, I'm on board!" She finished as she stood.

"Goodnight Preston. ." She added as she turned and left my room, turning out the light. 

I fell asleep with the thought of Zoey on my mind.  That night, the nightmares of her returned in full force.