Carmel kept her responses to Gerard as brief and noncommittal as possible as he rapidly started talking, asking if she knew what was going on, how they could get away, who Liberty was. Eventually he began brainstorming on his own, saying they could bite her or poke her in the eye or something, before backtracking and saying maybe this wasn’t so bad, see where it went – didn’t she have an enormous fucking rack?

Now things had calmed he wasn’t nearly as afraid or confused as he should be, but Carmel kept in what she knew: that Liberty might well be capable of terrible things. He’d find out soon enough.

The giant women returned with heavy footsteps, Liberty still telling Simone what to do: “Ahead a bit, mind your leg. Just down here. On the floor. Hold –”

There was a scuffle as one of them slipped, or tripped, and a heavy thump as they dropped whatever they were carrying. It made a loud clicking sound, like a camera flash. Simone gasped, but was cut off quickly, then the room was totally still and silent. Carmel and Gerard held their breath, listening, and both jumped when Liberty said, loudly, “Oh, fuck yes!”

Her feet stomped through the room and there came a tiny scream: Simone, terrified but apparently small. Carmel’s mouth dropped open in shock. How?

“Look at this!” Liberty said happily, and the drawer thrust abruptly open, light bursting in and making Carmel squint. A giant hand was on her before her vision cleared, and she was lifted out into the room again, to dangle high above the floor as Liberty pointed.

There was a big crate against one wall now, a metre long, thirty centimetres high, and sealed with no obvious markings on it. It had fallen at a slight angle, where they’d failed to put it down properly, and Simone stood with her back against it. Still dressed in her tight suit, still pretty, but about seven inches tall.

“I know what it is!” Liberty said, excitedly waving her arm up and down. Carmel bounced about, insides twisting from the rapid motion, and tried to get a good grip on the fingers that held her. “It’s that thing. Whatever I had in the truck. It’s some kind of goddamn shrink device!”

“Liberty!” Carmel cried, the fast movements getting too much, and Liberty jolted to a standstill, beaming at her. She slumped, breathing in deeply to fight the nausea.

“You got any idea what this means, Carmel?”

“You can change me back?” Carmel replied with quiet hope, but Liberty’s smile only spread. That was definitely not the plan.

A movement drew both their attentions down, as the dark little shape of Simone sprinted for the open door. She moved fast for such a tiny woman, but at the height of a wine glass she had a lot of ground to cover.

“Uh-uh,” Liberty tutted and stepped around her. She stuck a boot out, freshly crusted with snow, and Simone ran right into it, face-planting the side of Liberty’s foot and bouncing back. As the receptionist fell down, Liberty crouched and quickly planted her free hand on top of her, pinning her flat to the floor. With her arms still free, the little receptionist pushed back, thrashing her head about, and Liberty murmured, “That’s just adorable.”

She scooped Simone up into her fist and effortlessly lifted her, then waited until she stopped struggling. Simone rested both hands on Liberty’s top finger, arms rigid, and looked desperately to Carmel, as if she could help. Carmel gave her an apologetic look in return.

“Don’t hurt me,” Simone said, voice breaking with fear.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Liberty said, but there was an edge of danger in her husky voice. “Not right now, anyway. Looks like I got myself a whole collection. And apparently the thing that’s responsible.” She stood and peered at the crate. “Must’ve bumped it when I pulled into the gas stop. And when we arrived here. Guess it’s sensitive.”

Carmel recalled it herself: they’d stopped hard outside the hotel, and there’d been that bang in the back. Just like there’d been a knock before Simone got shrunk. But that hardly explained anything.

“What is it?” Carmel asked.

Liberty shrugged, making the women in her hands bounce. She prodded the crate with the toe of her boot. “Damn if I know. I was just paid to move it.”

“Something with the power to shrink?” Carmel replied, incredulously. “And they just gave it to you? No explanation?”

“I got a reputation for discretion,” Liberty said. “Untraceable, remember? No questions asked. And fast. Got paid a bunch extra for taking it over the holiday, even. Didn’t even meet the guy, he messaged me, left it out back of a warehouse, a fat envelope of cash on top of it, under a rock. Due down at another warehouse in Edmonton tomorrow. But now we’ve seen what it can do, I might be persuaded not to follow through.”

She crouched again and lowered Carmel to the floor, releasing her to stand. Carmel backed up, a little surprised at the sudden opportunity for freedom, but with Liberty right there, big as a building, being free of her hand didn’t make all that much difference. She’d been snatched up enough times already to know where running would get her.

Liberty ran her hand over the lid of the crate, looking for a break, and got her fingers into a gap. With a look of hard focus, she pried at it, levering the lid up. It squeaked out with a little pop, and she pushed the lid back to see inside. She said, “Huh.”

“What is that?” Simone asked.

“A weird damn rod,” Liberty said. “Wonder if the guy who shipped it even knew.” She distractedly bent and grabbed Carmel again, lifting her so they could all look into the crate together. It was, exactly as she’d said, just a weird damn rod: a cylinder of matte metal about a metre long, padded by thick packing straw, with no apparent markings. Not a machine or device with any way to operate it. Liberty went on, “Reckon they sent me out without instructions, on my lonesome, on account of how volatile the thing is? Or they just didn’t know bumping it about would shrink people?”

Carmel didn’t answer, resting over Liberty’s finger as her mind went to graver conclusions. If there was no clear explanation for how it worked, if this thing even was responsible for shrinking her, then there wasn’t much hope of restoring her size.

“Why did it shrink me?” she demanded, the injustice of this revelation only mounting. “There were three of us in that gas stop, and I wasn’t even the closest to it. Why didn’t it shrink you?”

“Yeah,” Liberty said, “it’s a mystery. But I’m gonna roll with it.”

She turned from the crate and thumped off to the desk, where she passed Carmel into her other hand, to join Simone. Both women complained and struggled as they were squeezed together by fingers that could barely reach around both of them. Carmel had to stretch to one side and navigate her arms around Simone’s, their elbows bumping each other and chests smooshed. Ignoring their complaints, Liberty reached her other hand down and Gerard, in the drawer, tripped and cried out in fear. As he scrambled deeper inside, she ignored him to grab her bottle of vodka.

Liberty took a few big gulps and exhaled with satisfaction, then grinned at her tiny captives. “Anyone else want some?”

The two women shook their heads, freezing under the giantess’s gaze, as if they might avoid her if they didn’t draw attention to themselves. Liberty’s eyes were softening with cruel intention, though. Too thoughtful. She took another heavy swig from the bottle then plonked it down heavily on the desk.

“What are you hiding for? Get out here.” She reached into the recess of the drawer and came back with Gerard struggling in her fist, then paced to the bed. Bumping them all about roughly, she kicked off her boots and climbed unsteadily onto the mattress to sit down, hiking one knee up under her. She held up both hands, considering the women in one and the man in the other, face screwing up with thought. Making a decision, she let go of Carmel and Simone so they fell squealing together onto the bare muscle of her thigh. Carmel tried briefly to pull herself up, over the leg, but slid the other way instead, down to fall on the duvet before Liberty’s massive crotch. Simone was more successful, scrambling to get a grip on the hem of the giantess’s shorts, but it only left the receptionist flat on her leg, stopping with nowhere to go.

Carmel crept backwards on her hands, slightly away from Liberty, as the trucker lifted Gerard higher. She was already plucking at him as he halfheartedly pushed back – as she’d done with Carmel, Liberty easily pulled off his boots and tossed them away, then tugged at his jeans.

“Hey, now, slow down darling!” Gerard laughed nervously, kicking with mild resistance as the giantess dragged the jeans off him. She dropped them and squinted at his underwear. He shifted about, clearly torn between resisting and the uncertain thrill of being in this undeniably beautiful woman’s grip. “Usually I prefer to buy a woman a drink before we get right into it.”

“Eh,” Liberty said, pinching off his socks, then tapping a finger up to his boxers. “This isn’t going where you think it is.”

“What?” Gerard’s voice rose with growing concern. “You’re –”

He gave a girlish shriek as she pulled his underwear off, then tried to squeeze his legs together as she snorted a laugh at the sight. Shaking her head, she took one of his wrists between her fingers and stretched out his arm, shifting her grip to clutch his other leg. Gerard yelped again as she pulled him in two directions, the naked man now caught by an arm and a leg, and he made more incoherent noises as she rotated him around, released the arm and pinched his bare flesh.

“Not much on you,” Liberty murmured. “No surprise, I guess. Mouthy ones are always the least impressive.”

“Put me down!” Gerard cried, all semblance of cool lost. “You’re hurting me!”

“Aw, am I?” Liberty laughed, then tossed him up in the air. He wailed as he flew above her head, arms and legs flapping, then grunted as he fell into her cupped hands. He tried to spin around and crawl free as her fingers wrapped around him again, but his waist was held fast, and all he could do was kick his legs and reach uselessly into space.

“Help!” Gerard shouted down at Carmel, who lay on her back staring. “Do something, for the love of God!”

“You think they’re gonna help you?” Liberty said. “Ain’t you been making these women uncomfortable all evening? Damn, Gerard, you haven’t got a clue.” She squeezed him, making him wheeze, and looked delighted by the results.

As Gerard coughed, clumping over her fingers, a sound rumbled out from Liberty’s belly, her stomach turning. The giantess’s eyes narrowed again in an expression Carmel was coming to understand as her reaching a decision.

“Reckon I can fit him all the way down my throat?” Liberty asked, unclear exactly who she was asking. Simone gasped in shock, shifting up to a seated position on her thigh. “Carmel?”

“This isn’t funny,” Carmel warned her.

“Oh I’m serious. But also, it is kinda funny too.” Liberty stretched her mouth wide, making an ah sound as she tilted Gerard towards it. He shrieked again, thrashing his arms about, before a wet cave Carmel could see would easily fit his torso. The giantess pulled him back, laughing loudly. “Reckon I could.”

But with that, Liberty flicked her wrist and threw Gerard off to one side, so he spiralled screaming down onto the bed. He bounced and grunted, but seemed unhurt, collapsing onto his front with relieved, trembling breaths. The giantess’s eyes lowered to Carmel, instead, then Simone. Choosing.

“You first,” she said, and snatched Simone off her leg before either of them could react.

Carmel stood and protested, “That’s enough!”, words unheard as Liberty pulled off Simone’s jacket. The receptionist put up a better fight than Gerard, crying out and slapping at the fingers probing at her, feet sharply kicking, but it made no difference. The giantess easily pulled off her shoes then her skirt, and finally her blouse. Carmel tried again: “Liberty, you can’t do this! She’s a person – we’re all –”

She gasped as the giantess twisted about, bringing her other leg up onto the bed. Carmel darted backwards, seeing Liberty’s grey-socked foot lifted high above her. It came down fast, sole pushing her down into the duvet. The duvet was soft enough that she had some leeway to wriggle free, gasping for air she pulled her torso clear of the ball of Liberty’s foot, but the giantess applied more pressure, curling big toes over Carmel’s shoulder. Her right arm was trapped against her chest, left punching ineffectively against the foot, and she was trapped, no matter how hard she bucked. Carmel coughed on the smell of Liberty’s faded sock, twisting her head away from it, but her neck couldn’t stretch nearly far enough.

Carmel was distracted from her own plight, though, as Simone screamed again, barely forming words in her panic as Liberty playfully pulled out her limbs and turned her over. The receptionist was naked now, pale flesh on show, hair a mess, as the giantess studied her little body.

“No, no!” Simone cried. “Get it off!”

“You are tasty,” Liberty responded, her voice dangerously low. Carmel cringed as Simone was shoved into the giantess’s mouth, as she had been – held in one fist and sucked on like a lolly. Or worse. Liberty slid her in and out, slurping sensually, then leant back, eyes rolling to the ceiling, and just held Simone there, lips pursed around her legs as the receptionist’s legs kicked frantically about. She moaned with pleasure as Simone struggled, and her foot pressed Carmel harder down, toes flexing. Her giant hand went into the tip of her jeans, fingers stroking herself.

“Liberty this is sick!” Carmel yelled, but it was no use.

The giant trucker pulled Simone out of her mouth by one leg and let her dangle, the woman’s entire upper half shiny with saliva as she gagged. Liberty hurriedly unbuttoned her shorts and shimmied them down, scrunching her panties with them, her foot shoving Carmel hard into the duvet before sliding off. Carmel bounced in the air and landed clear of the foot, free at last. As she rolled onto her hands and knees, she heard a renewed scream from Simone and glanced back to see Liberty had her firmly in her fist again, and was lowering her quickly to her crotch.

Carmel gawked in horror as the soaked receptionist, flinging her arms wildly around, was shoved between Liberty’s legs. The screams cut off with the sloppy squelch of her whole body sliding inside the giantess and Carmel almost retched. Shaking her head at the madness of this situation, she got upright and ran. The movement caught Liberty’s eye, though, and a giant hand fell from the sky on Carmel. She tried to jump clear but was grabbed around the waist mid-air and heaved quickly up. Liberty’s body shook as she kept working at Simone with the other hand, eyes half closed, and she gave another pleasured moan as she carried Carmel back towards her. Carmel shrieked again as she was pressed into the giantess’s chest, held tight against her. She pushed back, but was pinned against the woman’s breast, hands sinking in her flesh. As Liberty sped up with Simone, moans getting louder, she pushed Carmel in harder, slid her under her shirt, to smother her against one boob. Carmel frantically tried to create space, shoving into the voluminous mass of flesh, but felt all her efforts absorbed by Liberty’s immense body – and the struggling only excited the giantess more, making her push harder, faster.

“Yes!” Liberty cried, at last. “Yes!”

Her fingers tightened hard on Carmel, body going taut as she gave a great, climactic groan, then breathed out, at last, to relax. The hand flopped down into her lap, fingers uncurling, and Carmel rolled out, down in front of her exposed womanhood. She spluttered both to regain her breath and in shock at the dripping sight of such a colossal vagina, with a naked woman hanging limply out. Simone’s legs twitched as Liberty’s fingers rubbed her.

The giantess shifted with another satisfied groan and lay back, stretching one leg out in an impassible wall beside Carmel, the other knee rising up. She pulled Simone out of her at last and flopped her hand to the side, gently holding the shuddering woman.

“That was great,” Liberty sighed. “Man, best way to wait out a storm I ever heard of.”

As she slumped deeper into the bed, her stomach rumbled again and she chuckled. She sat up again, the rising wall of her huge torso making Carmel flinch. The giantess’s eyes roved further away though, searchingly.

“Ah!” she said, grinning, and Carmel followed her gaze to where Gerard was standing, far back, watching the whole scene in horrified amazement. “Now it’s your turn.”

Liberty bounced forward, her massive body stretching like a ceiling over Carmel, and her hands thumping into the mattress made her bounce again. Gerard yelped in fear as she snatched him up with one easy swipe, then the giant trucker sat back on her haunches. Letting out another deeply satisfied breath, she watched him squirm in her fist for a moment, then opened her mouth wide and shoved him in. Not as a sexual act this time, but with the clear purpose of food.