This new development in Celeste's powers appeared to be one major psychological drainage for Wilfred's daily life. Living under one roof with his uber-sexy stepdaughter had always been a hefty challenge for him. It was hard for Wilfred to pretend like he did not find Celeste incredibly attractive while in the presence of his wife – especially when the brat sauntered by in one of her outrageously scantily dressed outfits. Those exceedingly enticing curves on the girl's body were too much for every straight man to bear without sinking into a state of mindless drooling as she gallivanted through one's purview. Lucky for Wilfred, the girl was not always home. So there was a good chunk of the day whereby Wilfred did not have to worry about carefully veiling his uncanny attraction towards his stepdaughter. He also did not have to deal with her witty mouth all the time for the simple fact that she was not always in his presence all the time.
However, now with Celeste's new powers – which not only gave her the ability to alter someone's size but also allowed her to use it while dwelling in another room than her target – it became harder for Wilfred to maintain a sense of safety. Especially when he stayed in his own home – rather Celeste was in the house or not. He was always on edge. He was fairly sure that Celeste needed to be within some given range of her target for her powers to work. For this reason, Wilfred became very creative in telling excuses to his wife as to why he was needed at work again. He had to be cautious, though. Or Emma might get the impression that Wilfred was having some extramarital affair – if she wasn't already thinking that. Celeste had not attempted another go in shrinking him after her latest prank during movie night. She mostly ignored him, like she had done so for multiple years. However, she kept reminding him of her powers by shrinking and growing objects in the house – just to mess with him. Next to that, there was always the continuous threat hanging in the air – the threat that Celeste could simply shrink Wilfred down if the wish was there. And a knowledge like that weighed heavily on his psychological health. It felt like Wilfred was always in danger while staying under the same roof as his stepdaughter. A thing which Celeste had definitely noticed – and which she took eagerly advantage from.

"Now, where is the goddamn basil? I asked you like 5 times already!" Emma snapped while stirring in a saucepan in the kitchen.

"And I already told you like 6 times that it's not here!" Wilfred snapped back while his eyes darted through the kitchen – in search of a green-colored spice jar.

"Have you checked the side table?"

"Checking it right now. For the umpteenth time. I'm telling you, darling, it's not here."

Emma pushed out a groan of frustration. "Step aside. Let me see this. I'm quite positive that I placed the thing on– here, see?" she pushed the jar containing basil in Wilfred's face to see. "Are you even using your eyes?"

"I am!" Wilfred frowned, scratching his head. "I know what I saw. It wasn't there!"

"Well, then something is mightily wrong with your eyes because this is not the first time you've missed something so obvious."

Wilfred snorted. "You're exaggerating."

"Am I? What about your car keys last time? An hour, Wilfred, and you still could not see them while I spotted them in the blink of an eye. And your socks? Those things are painfully white and were laying on a pitch-black stool and you still weren't able to see them!"

"Don't forget the shoes," Celeste's voice called out from the living room – joining into the conversation. As usual, the girl lay slumped on the couch – snacking from a bag of chips while watching television.

"What about my shoes?" Wilfred said curtly, irritated that his stepdaughter was mingling in.

"Yesterday, the poor lad rummaged about for nearly half an hour in the hallway searching for his shoes while they just stood there in plain sight," Celeste said with an overdramatic voice.

Emma grabbed Wilfred's hands. "I'm serious, Fred. I'm starting to get a bit concerned about your health. Maybe you should see an ophthalmologist."

Wilfred yanked his hands free. "Don't be ridiculous! There's nothing wrong with my eyes. I can see you, can I? I can also read the number plate of that blue chevy across the street. It's just…" he eyed his stepdaughter. "Strange things are happening around here. Hey, Celes!" he walked over to her, crossing his arms and slightly surprised by his own audacity. "I heard someone in the neighborhood testified to the police that it was you who was seen near Sonny right before his disappearance."

"Yeah, so?" Celeste smacked undisturbed while stuffing another handful of chips in her mouth.

"So, I think you should not be surprised when you receive a visitor one of these days, in the form of cop – asking if you have some valuable information about the boy's disappearance."

Celeste looked up – a bit nettled that she was disturbed while watching her favorite tv show. She noticed that her mother also showed up, standing next to Wilfred. "Well, you know what I'm gonna tell him?" she said.

"What?"

"I'm gonna tell him my little secret, that I shrunk the boy down and stuffed him in my drawer for safekeeping." Celeste smiled.
Emma rolled with her eyes, shook her head and returned to the kitchen.

Wilfred continued. "And what if the cop asks you to grow the boy back to normal so he can be reunited with his father again?"

"Then I'm going to tell him that that is impossible because the boy is dead, trampled to a bloody pulp by a misplaced step."

"And what if another person – one who's aware of your little dark secret – threatens you to tell anyone about it if you don't stop harassing him?"

"Uhm… then, I would probably say something like 'hey, be my guest!', are you done now? I'm watching Fame or Shame here, and you're babbling through the best part."

"Yeah, I'm done." Wilfred turned around, strolling back to the kitchen with mingled feelings. On the one hand, Wilfred finds Celeste's mind games properly vexing, but on the other hand, he finds her display of power also incredibly arousing. She has so much control over him and his life. While his manly pride urged him to rise up against the frivolities of his bratty stepdaughter, another part of him – a deeply embedded part – wanted nothing more than to be degraded by her.

"Hey, Wilfred?" Celeste called out. Wilfred looked over his shoulder and could not resist the urge to take a quick glance at those preposterous toned and smooth legs of her - protruding beneath a loose-fitting sleep short. "You might want to watch your car. I heard there are car thieves active in the night lately." Celeste looked at him with a sly smirk while pointing at the couch.
Right next to Celeste's resting thigh, Wilfred could see at least three seemingly toy cars sprawled out on their side. Wilfred knew better, though. These things were anything but toys.

"Yeah, I heard it too on the news this morning, Fred." Emma's voice chimed in from the kitchen. "Several cars throughout the neighborhood are gone missing. Vanished in thin air. The police stated they are facing a mystery here."

Celeste chuckled heartily and stuffed another handful of chips in her mouth as her gleeful eyes followed Wilfred who hasted his ass towards the window to take a peek outside. He gave a sigh of relief.

"Just relax. Your car's still there, dummy." Celeste's mouth smacked shamelessly as her teeth crunched another handful of chips to smithereens. "I was only warning you, you know."

"Hey, wanna see a cool trick?" Celeste whispered.

Wilfred tore his eyes away from his beloved parked, white sports s.u.v. and looked at his bratty stepdaughter sitting on the couch in simple, sloppy garbs. It did not matter what the girl was wearing for Wilfred, though. She always looked stunning, no matter what. She probably would be even if her body was wrapped up in a bin bag.
Wilfred saw the three 'toy' cars resting upon Celeste's hand.

"I can make things disappear, here watch," Celeste whispered. "Abracadabra, and… |Here. They. Go."

Wilfred looked with wide eyes as he saw all three cars shrinking even smaller – dwindling down further until they were impossible to see with the naked eye.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Celeste looked at him in a way that hoped for a standing o.

Wilfred sighed, "What do you want from me?" he said softly enough so that Emma could not hear him.
Celeste handed him a piece of written paper. Unfolding it, Wilfred started reading. He chuckled when he realized it was a wish list.

"When did you fabricated this?"

"An hour ago," Celeste said while her eyes were glued to the television.

"Chanel, Burberry, Gucci…. You don't ask for much now, do you?" Wilfred said.

Celeste smiled.

Wilfred kept reading. "These other names... let me guess, high heels, right?"

Celeste nodded. "And boots. Don't forget the boots."

"Of course, the boots. Silly me."

Wilfred read some more. "A meet and greet with Johnny Depp?"

Celeste shrugged. "Yeah, why not? He's my childhood idol. And besides, he's still quite handsome despite his age."

"And how do you expect me to arrange a thing like that?" Wilfred asked.

Celeste shrugged again. "You've got money, right?"

"Yeah, so? Do you think mister Depp here is eager for my money? The guy got plenty of his own."

"You're a smart guy, Wilfred. You'll figure something out."

After a deep sigh, Wilfred was about to stuff the piece of paper in his back pocket. Then Celeste gestured that he was not finished yet.

"You've read the lowest line?" Celeste asked.
Wilfred frowned at her while unfolding the piece of paper again. As he read it, his eyes shifted toward his sports s.u.v. stationed outside.

"That one?" he asked. "the same model?"

"Mmm," Celeste nodded. "Only red. I really love red. It's my favorite color."

"Why don't you get one yourself, huh? With powers like yours, stealing one will be a breeze." Wilfred said.

Celeste smiled. "Well, you're right about that. Stealing one is like child's play for me now. However, driving around in a stolen car would not make me feel very comfortable now, would it? I need one, Wilfred. Legally bought and registered on my name. And I need it before next Friday."

"Next Friday?!"

"Yeah, I'm going on a road trip with some friends of mine, and I want to impress them."

Wilfred shook his head while giving a peal of wry laughter. "You know what I'm gonna do, Celes?"

"No, please enlighten me."

"I'm going to," he clenched his hand into a fist. "compress this... this thing into a compact wad of paper and…" Wilfred's hand flicked to the side, throwing it in Celeste's direction – it landed with a thud on her nose.

"Don't tell me you just threw a crumbled piece of paper in the middle of my face?" Celeste said as her eyes stared at him dead serious.

"I just threw a crumbled piece of paper in the middle of your face," Wilfred said with a gleeful smile.

Wilfred looked about – all frantic – when all the walls started to creak and rumble. It seemed like the whole room was contracting.

"What the?..." blasted brat is shrinking the entire house!

"Celes, stop it!" Wilfred screeched. "You're going to–"

"Aaaah!!! What is happening here? Earthquake! Earthquake!" Emma screeched. "Get under the table right–"

BANG!

Wilfred gaped at Emma, who lay on the ground with splayed limbs – unconscious – after her head was hit by a falling piece of ceiling rubble.

"Celes!" Wilfred screamed louder. He gulped when Celes stood up from the couch, looming over him.

She's shrinking me!

He swallowed deep and craned his neck as he saw Celeste's body rising higher and higher. She was humongous now! No, it was he who was little. Tiny like a bug.

SLAM!

Wilfred fell on his butt when Celeste slammed her car-sized feet right next to him.

"Celeste, please, stop it! Your mother for godsakes!"

"You're going to meet my wishes?" Celeste's voice boomed in his ears. The teenage beauty towered over him like a vengeful Goddess.

"Yes! Yes! Anything, just… restore me so I can check on my wife, please!"

With that, Wilfred felt his body growing again, restored to its original size. The house seemed to look normal, too, besides some cracks here and there in the walls. He watched Celeste sauntering off, wiggling sensually with that tight ass of her, going upstairs to her bedroom. He hastily stood up to check on Emma. Thank god! She was still breathing. But she had a serious wound on her head. He quickly grabbed his phone and dialed the emergency services.