This was not how things were supposed to go.
Joe had suspected for a while now that his wife Love would try to poison him. He had seen what she was growing in their own backyard.
Aconite. Wolfsbane.
It was obvious she was planning something, and today she had made her move. Aconite, applied to the handle of their carving knife, had been entering his body through his skin ever since he grabbed it a few minutes ago. Soon it started having its effect. He fell off his chair, and lay on the floor. But even then things weren't entirely out of control. He had suspected that something like this might happen, and prepared accordingly. Even as he lay there, the adrenaline pill he had taken earlier was helping counteract the effects of the wolfsbane. He was weaker than he would have been, but he believed he could still move if he really tried to. Soon he'd be able to move freely again. Then he could inject her with his own aconite. He felt the syringe hidden at the end of his sleeve, and waited. She wouldn't kill him yet, he knew. At least for now, he was safe.
So he had thought at the moment. But he never suspected that the wolfsbane wouldn't be the end of it.
Love kept talking to him. About how much she loved him. How she forgave him for trying to leave her. How she would never let anything get between them ever again. “We'll be together forever,” she said. It sounded like she was going insane. She had always been a little screwed up, like Joe himself. Still, he didn't see how she could figure that things would ever turn out fine between them after what had happened tonight. Did she really think he would ever want to stay with her now? Or did she mean to keep him trapped somehow? But that wasn't possible. Someone would notice he was missing. She couldn't keep him hidden for long. Why, then, was she acting like they would be together still?
Then he noticed it. Noticed his skin sliding against the fabric of his clothes. Noticed them growing bigger with each passing second. He was shrinking, he realized.
How? There were only a handful of shrinking drugs in the world, and they were all incredibly expensive and strictly regulated. How in the world had she gotten ahold of something like this?
With some effort he turned his eyes upwards. He saw her, smiling at him. “Soon, Joe. You'll be all mine. My precious doll. You'll never leave my side again. Maybe then you'll finally learn to love me.”
This was bad. He was getting smaller with each passing second. Soon he might be too small to do anything against her. He knew he had to make a move now, before it was too late, but the smaller he got, the greater the hold that the aconite had on him. Now he was well and truly paralyzed, not merely pretending. However much he tried, he could hardly move a muscle
Smaller and smaller he got, bit by bit. Soon he was so small that he had completely disappeared into his own clothes. As his hands retreated into his sleeve, he made a great effort to hold the syringe full of aconite between a pair of fingers. He wanted to keep it with him, in case the right opportunity presented itself, but soon he was too small for his fingers to keep ahold of it.
How much shrinking drug had she applied to the knife handle? Even when the syringe was as thick as his arm he still kept shrinking. By the time he finished it was as thick around as his own body. His own clothes weighed down on him. And above he could hear Love standing up and walking towards him. Hell, he could feel it. The floor shook with her foot steps. Now she was standing over him. Next thing he knew, his shirt was lifted way up, and he was sent rolling out the bottom opening, along with the syringe he had prepared. He landed limply on the floor, right on his own pants, while the syringe clattered on the floor, rolled a few inches, and finally stopped right up against Love's foot.
Joe's heart beat like mad as she bent over and grabbed it. He strained his eyes as far as possible, trying to get a glimpse of her face, but it was too high up for him to see. Then she dropped the syringe back down without comment and picked him up instead.
Her fingers fell around his body like a pack of anacondas. Slowly the thumb nudged him onto the others, which wrapped around him leaving only his head and his feet free of her grasp. Then he was carried up to her face. Her lips were expressionless, but her eyes told a different story. She looked at him so... possessively, almost triumphantly.
“That's aconite in the syringe, isn't it?” she asked, gripping and squeezing his head between her thumb and forefinger. “You thought you could turn the tables on me. Maybe you would have, if I hadn't put some of the shrinking drug on the handle.” She sounded totally unconcerned with the fact that he'd been meaning to poison her. But then, that's how she had reacted when he grabbed the knife to defend himself from her in the first place. She probably thought there was no need to get too upset at him now that she'd won.
Love uncurled her fingers from around him, letting him lie in the palm of her hand, and ran a single fingertip up and down his tiny body. “Your plan might have worked, but you forgot one thing. I love you , Joe. Like no one else ever could. And that means I know you better than anyone. How else could I be so sure that you'd grab that knife? That's the proof of my love for you, Joe. A love you never understood. But that's okay. Because even now, I still love you. And now that you're all mine—my precious little doll—you and I are going to be together, forever.”
She pulled him closer. Opened her mouth. Joe could see its insides, all slick with spit, glistening softly with the dining room's lighting. Her teeth were the size of his head. Bigger, even. Her molars could crush his hole torso in a single bite. Her tongue lapped hungrily at her lips. Was she really going to eat him? “Together forever”... he never thought she might mean it like this.
Slowly her mouth approached. With none of her fingers holding him in place, he struggled with all his might to get away before he was eaten, but the wolfsbane still had too much of a hold on his body. He could barely turn to the side; if he could have gone a little further he might have been able to roll off her hand and land on the floor, for whatever good that might have done him. Buy him a little more time, at least.
Now he was close enough that he could feel her breath all over his body. That warm, humid air blowing out of her mouth washed over him, smelling of their dinner. Her mouth opened wider, and her tongue reached out. But, before it could touch him, she closed her mouth and instead planted a kiss on his face, her lips squeezing him tight until she pulled away.
Without another word, Love carried him to her room, where she lobbed him unceremoniously onto her bed. There he landed and rolled over until he stopped facing the foot of the bed. Love stopped there, eyeing him curiously, and smiled in satisfaction. “You're so adorable at that size, Joe. I should have shrunk you ages ago. But I guess we all make mistakes. You made one too when you thought about leaving me for that woman. Marienne. But with this shrinking drug I've fixed both of our mistakes. We'll start another life, somewhere far away. Just you and me and Henry. No one will ever get between us again. Now, you sit tight. I need to pack some things. Then we can start looking for our new home, and our new life together.” She blew him a kiss, then went to the closet and pulled out a pair of large suitcases, which she opened on the floor and started calmly filling up with clothes and other personal items.
Meanwhile, Joe's paralysis had started to wear off. The scare from thinking she was about to eat him had really helped in that respect. He could just manage to make a fist now, and he practiced doing that over and over again until he felt like the wolfsbane was almost gone from his system. He might be able to make a move now, but first he needed a plan. All the doors were closed so far as he knew, and likely the windows too, and at this size there was no way he could open any of them. He couldn't hope to escape by himself. He needed help.
That's when his thoughts went to his phone. It must still be lying in the dining room, in his pants pocket. At four inches tall, he believed he was just barely big enough that he could still operate it. He could call someone, get them to come over. A risky move, but then, there were nothing but risky moves for him right now. Love was currently distracted with packing, and probably would be for a while longer. From what he could see from where he lay, he was sure that she was still working on the first suitcase, fussily making sure that everything was put away in perfect order. She could still look over and see him at any moment, but even so it was the best opportunity he was likely to get.
Once he had decided on his plan, Joe got up on his hands and knees and finally managed to stand after struggling for a few seconds. The more he moved his body, the more his stiffness seemed to wear off, and after he stood he could start making his way towards the side of the bed. He moved quietly, tiptoeing over the bed sheets, careful not to make a sound nor to make any sudden movements that might catch her eye. Then, finally standing at the edge, he climbed down the bed sheets, landed softly on the floor, and walked right out of the room.
As soon as he was outside he started walking faster, and shortly after that he broke into a sprint, running right for the dining room. His whole body coursed with adrenaline, and his heart throbbed with fear. If Love caught him after this, it might really be the end of him this time. Either that or she might give into a little casual torture to teach him not to leave her ever again. Doubtless she'd never give him such an opportunity again.
Even running at full speed, it was still most of a minute before he reached the pile of his clothes lying in the dining room. He ran to his pocket, half crawling inside and grabbing ahold of his phone. He pulled it out with all his strength, grunting as he did so. Halfway there his fingers slipped and it clattered to the floor. He didn't stop but quickly kept pulling it out again, every so often looking to the hall to make sure Love wasn't coming yet. He turned it over, then crouched next to it and pushed the power button. The screen turned on, and he leaned over carefully to input his password. On his first couple tries his touch stopped registering halfway through, so he put his weight into it and managed to input it all the way. Then it was simply a matter of opening his contacts list.
Only, who was he supposed to call? Whoever it was, there was a risk of them finding out a lot of stuff about him, things he would rather keep hidden.
Joe would have liked to consider his options carefully. But the sound of Love's voice calling to him told him he didn't have the time. With just a moment's thought he tapped on Marienne's name, and as soon as the phone started beeping he ran away and squeezed through the cabinet doors under the sink, quietly closing them after him just as he heard Love coming.
Even from in there he could hear the phone beeping; there was no way Love didn't hear it too. It went on for a couple more rings before he heard Marienne's voice coming through. “Hello? Joe? Hello? Are you th–?” Her voice was cut off, probably from Love hanging up.
Joe looked around frantically, trying to think of his next move. It was nearly pitch black in there, and he could make out little more than the dark outlines of various cleaning supplies. Nor was there anywhere else for him to go. He was trapped in here so long as Love remained outside looking for him. With nothing else to do, he quietly slunk over to the very back of the cabinet and crouched behind one of the many bottles that occupied it, hoping that Love wouldn't find him in there. If only he'd picked some better hiding place than this! He could have hidden behind the fridge instead, and then at least he wouldn't be this cornered.
Meanwhile, outside he could hear Love's slow and measured steps on the floorboards as she was likely looking around for him. “Joe,” she said, calling to him in a sing-song voice. “Where are you, Joe? Come out. Stop hiding and I swear I'll forgive you this little mistake you made. You hear me, Joe? I know you're in here somewhere. You know you can't hide from me forever, right? I'll find you sooner or later. So quit wasting both our time and come out now, will you?” He heard her coming closer. She was somewhere ahead and to the left, around where the kitchen counter began. Then he heard a swift creak as she, presumably, pulled another cabinet open. Then there came loud clattering noises as she emptied it out looking for him inside.
She grunted. “It was dumb of you to call that woman. If she comes here, you know I'll have to take care of her, right? I can forgive you for trying to leave me. But I can't forgive her for making you want to leave. I still have enough of the shrinking drug to shrink her down until she's no bigger than a cockroach. Then it's just as easy as stepping on her, crushing her under my foot like the pest she is.” Another cabinet opened, and another loud racket as everything inside was pulled out. Love was getting closer now, but she was still near the other end. If he made a run for it now, could he escape without her seeing him, or get away while she was encumbered with all that other stuff she took out? No; not yet. Better to wait for now, maybe buy Marienne some time to help him. But he did move quietly to position himself for when Love finally reached him. At the same time, he heard his phone beeping and buzzing to inform him that some a message had arrived. Messages from Marienne, maybe?
“Come the fuck out, Joe! You're not doing yourself any favors by hiding from me. I wasn't going to hurt you, but if you don't come out soon, I'm going to have to punish you once I find you. And you know what? I'm not only going to punish you. If you don't cooperate I'll find a way to get rid of that woman before we leave even if she doesn't come over. Is that what you want me to do? Is it? Then quit playing this little game and come out!” Another couple cabinets and another couple clattering sounds as she pulled out whatever was inside them. Next she pulled out the drawers, and took them off their slides, setting them down on the floor and sifting around inside. Now there were just two cabinets left for her to look in, and this one was up next.
He heard Love march up to the door. Saw the cabinet darken even more as her shadow fell over it. Then, while he hid in the midst of all its contents, the door swung open and her hands reached inside, gathering up everything and pulling it all out together. Joe clung to the back of the bottle of cleaning spray, and as it all came clattering out, he quickly scrambled to his feet and dashed away.
“There you are!” she shouted, and looking back he saw her hand reaching out for him. Running as fast as he could, he narrowly avoided her fingers and ran into the total mess that she had mad on the floor with the contents of all the other cabinets. At his new size, he was far faster and nimbler proportionally than he normally was, and he moved almost as quick as a mouse through it all, making his way to the fridge. But something hit his back while he was running, and knocked him way off course, sending him sliding over the floor and away from the fridge. At the moment he didn't understand what it was, and only when he had scrambled to his feet ad started running again did he notice it was a roll of paper towels that had hit him. Now Love wielded also a roll of plastic bags and a bottle of dish soap as she came after him, throwing each in turn but narrowly missing both times.
With Love now between him and the fridge, Joe changed his plans and ran for the living room instead, where he dove under the couch to hide from Love. He quickly crawled on to the middle, then turned around so he could keep an eye on her.
Love approached the couch and lowered herself to the floor so she could peek in at him. Joe noticed now that she held a lengthy cleaning brush in hand, about two feet long. With it she reached inside and made a swipe at him, but it didn't quite reach. She circled around to the front of the couch, but before she could try again he had already scurried out the back. Love vaulted over the couch and chased him until he slipped under a second couch, a bit smaller than the first. This time, though, Love grabbed ahold of the couch's leg and overturned it so that it fell on its back, completely removing his cover. Joe quickly got up and ran away again, keeping close to the overturned couch as he circled around it so it would help keep his distance from Love. She chased him around it, but at her size she couldn't make turns as sharply as him.
Joe kept the whole of the couch between them, or as much of it as he could, always staying a few steps ahead of his angry wife, until, suddenly, she gave the couch a hard shove and sent it sliding right on top of him. Its cushioned surface was soft enough that he wasn't crushed, but his lower body was trapped under it. He could start to crawl his way out, just barely, but it was much too slow. Not two seconds later Love was already crouched over him.
He felt his heart sink to his stomach as he looked up and saw her self-satisfied smile. “Need a hand, honey?” she asked, looming over her tiny husband. “You look like you're having trouble there. Maybe there's something I could do to help?” She reached down and gently stroked Joe's head. Then all of a sudden she was gripping his head again. “Or maybe I should just snap your neck and get it over with.”
Joe froze up as he felt her fingers turning his head from side to side, playing with the idea of killing him on the spot. He didn't dare move a muscle, didn't dare make a sound. Anything he did right now could set her off.
It was several seconds before Love spoke again. “You know, sometimes I think that my life would have been so much better if I hadn't met you. I give you all my love. I work my ass off trying to make this work. I even killed people to protect us. But you keep trying to run away from me. Why is that, Joe? ... What's wrong? For once you have nothing to say? But maybe that's for the best. There's nothing you can say to defend yourself. But like I said, I'm willing to forgive you. Just convince me that you won't try to run from me anymore. Can you do that for me, honey?” She hooked her fingernail under his chin, forcing it all the way up so she could look him in the eyes.
“I promise,” he said, speaking through clenched teeth as his jaw couldn't move with Love's nail holding it up. “I won't ever leave you again, Love. I'm sorry I ever tried to leave. I was scared. I didn't know what you meant to do with me. But now I see. Please, you don't have to kill me anymore.”
“Hm. Sorry. I'm not convinced yet.” She pushed his chin up another notch, and Joe hissed in pain, feeling like his neck might snap any moment now. He straightened his arms against the floor, pushing himself up to try and minimize the pressure. “Please! I'll do anything for you! Anything you say! Ask and I'll obey! Just don't kill me!”
“Anything?” Love slowly pulled back her finger, finally releasing his chin and letting him fall back down. “Say you love me.”
“I love you,” he said without hesitation.
“Again. Make it sound like you really mean it.”
“I love you. More than anything in the world.”
“Again.”
“I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you. I love you.” He kept on saying it until Love finally smiled and motioned for him to stop. “That's good enough for now. But I'm not convinced yet. You still have a lot more to do before I'm sure I can trust you. For now, let's get you out of there first.” Her fingers gripped his upper body while she grabbed the end of the couch that lay over him. As soon as she had lifted it up a fraction of an inch, she pulled him right out and wrapped him up in her fingers again.
Joe didn't resist. He knew he couldn't, and anyways he still harbored some hope that Marienne would be coming over to help him eventually. He couldn't say anything to her, but she had to suspect there was something wrong when he hadn't answered her messages. For now he had to go along with whatever Love asked of him, and hope tat help showed up sooner or later.
She carried him back to their room, where she found a ball of yarn and tied the end around his waist, pulling it so tight he nearly felt like he would throw up. When she tried moving it up and down, it wouldn't budge at all. Then she cut a length of it, about three feet long, and held on to the end. What more she would have done with it, he wasn't able to find out, as just then the doorbell rang.
The both of them froze up, looking towards the door. A moment later it rang again. “Hello? Is anyone home?” It was Marienne's voice that called out. So she had come herself, Joe thought, but what good would that do him? Nothing now, unless she had brought the police along, though that came with its own set of issues.
After hearing Marienne's voice, Love jumped into action. She took the end of Joe's “leash” and tied it to the handle of one of the drawers. “Wait here,” she told him. Then she headed out and closed the door behind her.
As soon as she was gone, Joe started trying to break free of his bindings. He looked down at the length of yarn and tried to figure out how to handle the knot. But even when he knew which way he had to pull the cord, he realized it was no use. The string had been pulled too tight for him to take apart with his reduced strength. When he tried to slip out of it instead, exhaling as much as he could and pushing and pulling at his leash, he couldn't make it leave his waist. But he still wasn't about to give up. There had to be another way to get out, but how?
Joe followed the cord to its other end, up there on the drawer handle. Whether because she'd been in too much of a rush to be more thorough or because she knew she'd have to undo the knot once she came back, Love had used only a simple knot to tie the other end. Joe wasted no time in climbing up the length of yarn, finally reaching the drawer's handle and perching on top of it. Carefully he turned the string around until he had the knot in hand, then with one good yank he pulled it loose and fell over, landing with a soft thump on the floor.
He wasn't tied down anymore, but was still dragging the rest of the length of yarn. He gathered it all up, looping the whole of it around his arm over and over again until there was hardly any of it left dangling. Not a very elegant solution, but it was the best he could do on such short notice. Now he was free to make another break for it.
He sidled up to the side of the door, listening closely to whatever was going on outside. He could hear voices out there, Love's and Marienne's both, though he couldn't hear well enough to know what they were saying. At least he knew that Love still hadn't killed Marienne. Maybe she wouldn't kill her after all. Indeed, after a minute he heard a door close and heard a single set of footsteps coming back to this room, without anything to suggest that Marienne had been killed.
Then, as soon as the door swung open, Joe ran out past Love's feet and down across the hall, looking around frantically for anywhere he could escape through. But he still hadn't found anything when he heard Love running after him, so he quickly ran to the first good hiding place he could find, the overturned couch still lying on the floor. He dove into it, crawling as deep inside as he could before Love reached the living room. There he remained, squeezed tight between the cushions, listening to Love walking by outside and angrily calling to him.
For a couple minutes he could only keep hiding in there, nervously waiting for his wife to leave while she looked all over for him. It would still be another minute before went to go look for him in other parts of the house, leaving him alone again. Carefully he turned himself around and poked his head outside, looking all over to see if Love had by any chance left his phone outside. What he saw instead was an unbelievable opportunity. On the far end of the living room, the heavy curtain, drawn tight over the window, was moving in the breeze.The window was open and all he needed to do was climb the curtain and jump outside. Then he could go to one of the neighbors for help.
At once he started wriggling out of his hiding spot, but as he was finishing up he heard Love coming back. It was too late for him to get back inside; his only chance left was to make a run for it. He freed himself the exact second when Love finally returned to the living room, and he made a dash for the curtain. She was after him in the blink of an eye, bare feet thumping against the floor as she sped towards him. He scurried up the wall and grabbed onto the curtain, quickly pulling himself up towards the window, but just as he was about to jump outside, he was yanked back down by his arm. The yarn that he had wrapped around it had been unraveling as he ran, and Love had managed to snatch it up at the last moment to pull him towards her. She held the end of his leash up high, leaving him dangling at her head, spinning and wobbling around as gravity finished unwinding the cord by which he was held, until he was hanging by his waist right before her face.
Love's scowl was terrifying. “Murderous” didn't do it justice. When she wrapped her fingers around him, Joe felt she was certainly going to kill him this time. He started begging for his life, promising her anything and everything he could think of just so she might spare him for a little bit longer, until she silenced him with a squeeze so strong he felt as though his bones would surely snap. “Quiet,” she said. “Do you still think you can talk your way out of this? Do you think I'll ever rust you again after trying to run from me again? I new you were lying when you said you'd do anything I asked, but I thought you'd at least be scared enough not to try pulling another stunt like that again. I should fucking kill you for this. I should have killed that woman, too. I don't know why I didn't. She deserved it for trying to take you from me.”
Love sighed. “But no, I won't kill you. Even after all this I can't stop loving you. But I won't make the mistake of thinking you might love me too. I'll make sure you never again get the chance to even try to leave me.” As she said this, Love eased her grip on Joe and grabbed the length of yarn hanging from his waist. Then she pinched his legs together and started wrapping him up, beginning at his ankles and working her way up. “From now on you won't be able to do anything by yourself anymore. You won't even get to eat without my help. I'll make sure you depend on me for everything, and I'll make you beg for all of it.”
His wife's words scared Joe. He struggled against her grip and tried to kick his bindings away even as she kept wrapping him up in yarn, but her fingers easily held him down and she kept tying him up without a care in the world, even smiling at his sorry display.
“I know you're scared, honey, but don't worry. Sooner or later I know you'll get used to it. Maybe you'll even start loving me after all. But even if you don't, I'll make sure you never even think of leaving me again. We'll be together forever, you and I, no matter what it takes. You can forget all about that woman too. I told her all about you. Told her to run far away from here. You'll never see her again, and even if you did she wouldn't want anything to do with you.” The yarn had reached his waist now, and she held his arms down at his sides to wrap them up too. By the time it went all the way up to his elbows, Joe could hardly move them anymore. He could hardly move at all, save by wriggling in Love's grip. He was little more than a worm now as he fought against her, refusing to give up no matter how impossible his situation seemed. Finally, though, he was wrapped up all the way to his shoulders and he had to admit it was all hopeless. It was just as Love had said: he would spend the rest of his life with her as her little captive, never again to leave her side or return to his normal size.
Now, with Joe all wrapped up from his feet to his shoulders, Love tied it all up with a neat little knot that he would never break free from. Smiling she turned him over, making sure there were no flaws in his bindings, feeling him over from top to bottom, until she was completely satisfied with her handiwork. Then she tucked him into her back pocket and went back to their room to keep packing their clothes, happily humming to herself as she did so. Even now Joe insisted on trying to free himself, trying to find some way out of this yarn. If he could only free his hands then, given enough time, he might be able to undo the knots and get out of this wrap.
At least, that's what he told himself, but deep down he already knew that he was trapped. Even if he did manage to get untied, what then? He'd still be in Love's pocket, which was tight enough to be a prison in itself. And she would surely feel him if he crawl out of there, then catch him and put him in some still more secure prison.
Some time later, Love had gathered up everything she meant to take with her and stuffed it in the trunk. She had brought their son Henry along and put him in his seat. Then she pulled out her husband and looked back at their house. She had put so much of herself into that place. She had worked so hard trying to make her new life with Joe work out. Things may not have worked out how she would have liked, but in the end they didn't turn out that bad. She still had her family and that's all that mattered. And this time around, she would take charge of everything. There would be no one getting in the way of their happiness anymore. From now until the end, it would be just her and Joe and her darling son.
Love looked at the little worm in her hand. Joe wasn't moving anymore, and hadn't been for a while now. He had finally understood that it was useless, that there was nothing left for him to do but to accept his new place in life? She doubted it. But she would fix him, no matter how long it took. One day he would accept his role as her husband, and maybe then she could grow him back and they would live their lives together as a loving couple.
Then again, she didn't mind him being this size at all. If he stayed like this forever, would it really be that bad?
Love took one last look at their house, then slipped Joe into her front jeans pocket and took the wheel, starting the car and driving away into what would be their new life together.
Meanwhile, Joe, tried to plan ahead, to concoct some plan that would get him out of this mess. There had to be something, he thought. No way would this be the end of him. He would find a way to escape even if it took him years. In the meantime, he just had to play along with what she wanted without making it too obvious that's what he was doing. She couldn't keep him locked up forever. She wouldn't, not if she still loved him. And once she took him out, maybe then he would finally be able to leave her.
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
Based on the Netflix series YOU. When Joe finds himself shrunk at the hands of his crazy wife, he tries to find a way to escape her clutches.
RATING: R
TAGS: Lilliputian, F/m, Entrapment, Chasing and hunting
RATING: R
TAGS: Lilliputian, F/m, Entrapment, Chasing and hunting