8 Abortion

Jennifer woke with a start hearing the high, tiny shrill shrieks of one of her captors. She blinked, shifting and trying to come awake, wondering what was happening but careful not to move her aching body too much, not wanting another death on her hands.

“Take the phone!” a loud voice boomed as she struggled and craned her neck to see what was going on. She could hear the Tinies shouting and pain coursed through her as she shifted, her abused nipples and feet ablaze with agony. The shock collar was still embedded in her pussy but thankfully the pins and needles had been removed from her breasts; she vaguely recalled waking as the Tinies crawled over her sliding them out. The television flashed and flickered as Keanu Reeves leapt from a small sports car onto a speeding Los Angeles bus.

The Tinies were gathered about the far corner of the pillows, panicky and shouting as one of their own writhed in agony. Jennifer focused through her own pain and bleary eyes and saw Anne squirming in agony, holding her huge, swollen belly, screaming as her face contorted with agony.

“What are we gonna do?” one of them shouted waving his arms wildly. Others gasped in horror, as the bloated stomach seemed to throb. Some held one another in fright, staring in harsh fascination as their friend writhed in torment, unable to help. There were screams, and Jennifer saw several of the women crying as Anne screeched. “What are we gonna do?” the man shouted again, his voice high and shrill with emotion.

“End this,” Linda said with a cold, detached finality. She pushed past two of the Tinies that were trying to calm the pregnant woman; washing her down and petting her. Linda stared down at her agonized friend and Jennifer saw the leader’s head, shake from side to side, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Please…” Anne wailed, her voice slurred as she fought past her pain to beg. Jennifer wondered if she was pleading to save her life or to end her torment.

Linda slowly raised her sword high over Anne’s bloated body, the tiny pregnant woman squealing in pain, her words distorting into harsh sobs and grunts again. It took Jennifer a moment to realize what must have happened. The baby in Anne’s belly must have shifted and was now in such a position that the tiny woman could no longer contain it.

“God, no! Don’t!” someone shouted, but Linda ignored the woman rushing forward, her sword slicing down.

Anne shrieked again even as the blade slashed into the bulging flesh of her belly. Her stomach burst, exploding in a ghastly spray of blood, the huge fetus that had been trapped within the pregnant woman surging out to hang limp and slimy and dead from the woman’s stomach. Several of the Tinies dropped to their knees or bent over and vomited at the horrific scene and Jennifer struggled to hold down her own bile, knowing that she would suffocate if she let her body succumb. The womb was slit and the juices of nurturing life oozed onto the floor as steam rose from the gaping maw.

Incredibly Anne still lived, her screams rising in pitch from the new pain, her body bucking and flailing in convulsions. All around her the Tinies were screaming or crying, their own wailing washing together into a loud, senseless babble. Only Claire seemed composed, her face sad but hard as she held Anne down with one hand on Anne’s shoulder and the other on her forehead, stretching and exposing her neck. She looked up at Linda and the red head nodded, raising her sword and quickly slicing it down across Anne’s throat. There was another spray of blood as Anne’s cries choked off, her body arching up one final time then collapsing back onto the pillow.

Silence, heavy and dreadful save for the sounds of retching and crying, the television eerily droning in the background unheard. Everyone that could stared at their friend, now dead. Anne’s misery finally at an end.

Linda covered and dripping with blood sighed heavily and dropped to her knees her sword held limp, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry… So sorry…” she sobbed as she wrapped her arms about her belly and rocked on her knees crying.

Claire stepped lightly up and around Anne’s body, ignoring the blood that covered her own skin and dress and placed her hand on Linda’s shoulder. She then dropped to her knees as well and hugged the younger woman to her, caressing and comforting.

“It had to be done,” she whispered, cooing into Linda’s ear. “There was nothing we could do. You did the right thing. Spared her so much pain…”

Linda’s sob was racked with anguish as she took a deep breath. She tossed her bloody sword aside and hugged Claire fiercely. “She didn’t deserve that,” Linda sobbed, holding Claire tighter. “She was so sweet.”

“I know,” Claire said as she petted the larger woman’s blood slick hair. “I know…”

“We’re gonna kill him,” Linda finally said after a few minutes, her crying somewhat back under control. “Him and his whore. He won’t get away with this. BASTARD!” Claire hugged her more tightly and Jennifer felt tears welling in her eyes for the Tiny woman that had suffered so much, her own pain forgotten…

***

Jennifer craned her neck to look at her alarm clock on the small shelf above her bed. The red LED numbers showed 1:42 in the AM. She sighed as she rolled slightly, trying to get comfortable but the pain in her nipples seemed a constant, burning fire that conspired to keep her awake. She noted thankfully that someone had cleaned her breasts while she fitfully dozed in a haze earlier and she saw the bottle of rubbing alcohol not so far away. Hopefully she would not have to worry about infection.

After the traumatic experience of Anne’s death, after the Tinies had regained some control and composure, Linda had directed Jason and Bill to bag Anne’s body as they had earlier done with Ed’s. They had cleaned her as best as they could after first drawing out the remains of the fetus and cutting the umbilical cord. They then bagged both in black plastic shopping bags and several carried the bodies to the refrigerator where they stored them until they would later bury the remains outside somewhere. Everyone was somber and sullen throughout, and Jennifer was little better, trying to show respect, or at least concern for the dead.

After that the Tinies seemed to have no desire to do much of anything. The television played on silently muted in the background but no one was watching. Eventually the movie ended and the DVR shut down switching back to the news channel. Whatever food they had prepared was forgotten, and everyone simply seemed to sit in little groups, mostly silent but for the occasional weeping.

Finally Jennifer saw Linda stand from the spot on the pillow where she had been sitting with Claire, the two women speaking softly. Jennifer could still see the dark spot on the carpeting and pillow, the splattered blood glistening as the television’s glow flickered with changing scenes. She watched as Linda strode to the spot where she had flung her sword away earlier and stood over the letter opener, staring down at it in silence for a long time. Finally the small woman sighed loudly, then bent down and scooped up the blood-splattered sword. When she turned and glanced her way, Jennifer could see the grim determination masking her face.

“It’s time,” was all she had said as she turned back to her clan. Jennifer saw most of the men and a couple of the women stand and move towards their leader, a few climbing the rope ladder down to the floor from the top of the bed, the two-inch tall Frank jumping the figurative five stories to the plush pillow below. They all gathered around Linda, tiny weapons of nails and needles in hand. She saw that three of the men carried coils of string with the paperclip grappling hooks attached. Jennifer wondered what was going on, though by the dark, grim looks on all of their faces she had her suspicions.

“You shouldn’t do this,” Claire said as she limped closer supported by her makeshift cane. “You don’t have to. It’s insane… suicide!”

“We do, Claire,” Linda returned, unquenched anger still in her voice. “We owe it to Anne. She was one of us, our friend. The scum that caused this… the bastard that killed her deserves to die.” Jennifer could see that Linda was shaking, her knuckles white with the fierce grip on the hilt of her sword.

“We didn’t kill HER for Ed,” Stacy choked out with a sob, glaring as she pointed a long silver molding nail at Jennifer. Linda raised her hand to stay the further argument that was starting to swell.

“We’ve been all over this,” she said. “Ed was an accident and his own stupid fault. We punished her for killing Ed and it’s done. Finished!” Linda snapped now glaring at the smaller woman almost daring her to protest further. The two-inch tall Stacy turned away in frustration, anger still apparent from her loss.

“You’re gonna get yourselves killed.” Jennifer heard an almost imperceptible voice and looked about to see who had said that. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the speaker, a very tiny man that was standing on Claire’s shoulder and clinging to her hair for support. Jennifer had to squint in the flickering light to focus, but she could finally see that he was naked and looked to be less than a centimeter tall. He was the smallest Tiny she had so far seen in the group, and she was amazed that he had actually survived at his new size. She wondered too how monstrously huge she must appear to him.

He seemed unconcerned as he pressed on however, apparently adjusted to his size and surroundings. “All it’ll take is for the guy to roll over and crush the lot of ya. An’ god forbid he should wake up. He’ll smash you flat, or worse. Bloody Hell! He stuck the woman he loved in a birdcage and tortured her! What d’ya think he’ll do to you?”

Jennifer could hear the man’s voice rising in pitch and emotion, his words choking as he shouted to be heard. Linda simply waved away his protests.

“It’s a chance we’re all willing to take, Matt,” Linda said with a heavy voice. “A risk we have to take to get justice for Anne.”

“This isn’t justice,” a woman whose name Jennifer did not know piped up. She was black and stood just under four inches, Jennifer judged. “This is just vengeance,” she spat, her fists clenched into fists. “Don’t do this! Dammit, Frank! Don’t go!”

Jennifer saw the two-inch tall Frank frown and shake his head. “We have to, Dani. I wish we could make you understand that. Hopefully you will, eventually.”

The tiny woman burst into tears and ran forward, dropping to her knees to embrace the smaller man who was half her size, sobbing into his shoulder. Jennifer watched tearfully as Frank held her lovingly, stroking her hair until she slowly calmed. She saw others crying as well, both in the group that was leaving and those that were remaining behind. Only Claire seemed composed as she stared hard at Linda, the red-haired leader returning her gaze just as stone cold.

“Take this,” Frank said as Jennifer returned her attention to the tiny black couple, the woman Dani now towering over the shorter Frank like an adult to a child. Frank handed her the little matchstick axe, which she reluctantly accepted. “Just in case,” he added, glancing at Jennifer as he stepped past her to pick up a nail from the supply of their weapons kept at the far end of the bed under the radiator. It was large enough to be a spear in his hands.

There was a long tense moment of silence as he stepped back to the group broken only by the occasional sob until Linda finally spoke up. “Let’s go,” she said, turning away from those that were staying behind without another word. Her gaze lingered on Jennifer as she walked past, and their eyes met. Jennifer saw the tiny woman force a smile and then she was behind her and out of sight, the rest of her group trailing after her.

Several of those remaining moved away from the pillow to keep their friends in their line of sight, stepping past Jennifer and watching. Finally though they all slowly returned to their places, plopping down on the pillow in sad resignation. The mood was somber and quiet; the flashing lights of the television and the flickering candle’s flame making the scene seem surreal.

Claire’s heavy sigh finally broke the silence as she hobbled back to the pillow. She stared at the bloody stain on the floor for a long moment before looking up at the eight clan remaining. She gently raised her hand, palm up to her shoulder and waited as the miniscule Matthew stepped on before lowering him to the pillow.

“There’s nothing to be done for it now, but wait,” she said with a deep sadness in her voice. “And pray… Let’s try to get some sleep.”

Claire punched the ‘Power’ button on the television remote with her cane and instantly the room dimmed to just the light of the one candle near the bathroom door. Jennifer saw the older woman look at her for a moment, her eyes slits as she squinted through the dim, her face otherwise seemingly void of emotion. Whatever the woman was thinking was lost on Jennifer however, and Claire finally turned away to settle in a ways away from her usual spot on the pillow, avoiding the drying bloodstain.

Jennifer turned away as well, trying to get as comfortable as her bonds would allow. She closed her eyes but doubted that she or anyone in the apartment for that matter would be able to sleep that night.

Within moments though, both mentally and physically exhausted, she was sound asleep and lost in her nightmares...