Meet Amber Grayson, a regular 16 year old high school girl with a mystery she needs to solve. Always a loner, the nerdy girl finds solace in old books but today this is not why she is in the city library. She quests for an answer and such answer will lead her to The Size Zone...

Why does Ms. Ambrosia creep me out? Every time I see her I get chills but at the same time I'm drawn to her. Ever since she started teaching this fall I get this weird feeling when she's in the room. She smiles and talks nicely so she's not mean (even though her way of speaking is like how my grandpa talks). Her way of teaching history makes you feel like you were really there. She speaks of so much detail it's strange. She's nice to everyone in class...except me. She always picks me first to read our reports and the way she looks at me it's like how'd you look at an enemy. What did I ever do to her?!

I tried being nice to her. She prefers to be called Ms. A. Mid 30's with black hair and a olive tan skin with this regal way of walking like she was a Greek goddess. Does she treat me this way because I look like a geek? Bet she was one of those girls back in high school that treated nerds like dogshit. Well fuck her! I won't pay that bitch no mind! Then again...paying her no mind wouldn't have clued me into this mystery I'm trying to solve now. It all began one month ago just after she gave the assignment to write a report on Founders Day. That was the day they founded our town if you didn't know. I was going to give the report of a lifetime. Thumb that masterpiece in her fucking face. I planned to do a PowerPoint about the celebration including pictures going back to the first Founders Day in 1814. When I was looking through the archives for the centennial celebration, I found the picture that would change my life.

The picture was called "Founders Day festival October 15, 1914" and it had a bunch of people dressed in old timey clothes but one person caught my eye. A woman who looked exactly like Ms. A sitting in a Model T! "No, it must be an ancestor" I said to myself. I included the picture in my report. If I hadn't then maybe what would have happened wouldn't have occurred. She acted like she was bored throughout my presentation until she saw that picture. She had a look of shock in her face. She was visibly shaken by the picture. "Something wrong ma'am?" I asked her. She shot me this angry look that scared me to death. "Nice presentation. Next student" she spat out. Weird things began happening around me. In swimming class, I almost drowned when my foot got caught in some kind of current. I mean how does a pool have an undertow current?! If it wasn't for this one cute boy I'd be dead.

The next week I almost got hit by a car. The driver asked me if I was okay.  The poor guy looked more scared then I was. He told me his accelerator got stuck somehow. As I was walking away thanking god, I saw Ms. A looking at me through a window of a candle shop. I started putting two and two together.  Every time something strange happened Ms. A was around. She was there at the pool that day, then the car, and most recently when I was nearly stuck by lightning during a storm.  Somehow she was involved. So here I am in the library looking for photos and info concerning Ms. A.

Strange, every lead I find shows she doesn't stay around for too long. What's weirder are reports of missing persons going up for the time she's in that location. Her birth certificate has no mom or dad. I understand no dad but no mom?  Hmm...it says she was born on October 31, 1984 in Bradford, Connecticut. I looked for who her mother could be and found that a few days after her birth the city records archive burned down. Only a few things survived. How...convenient. You'd think that would be the end of it but thanks to Google Image I found other things. I uploaded her picture and Google had obviously stepped up their game. I got 11 hits back. One was from my picture that came from the school website, another from the picture that started this. And the rest...oh shit...the rest were pictures and paintings from the last 500 years!

Each picture wasn't just a similar face; it was the same face right down to the mole on her left cheek. Jesus...one picture was from a painting from the late renaissance. That did it. Ms. A was a vampire. Oh wait...she's here in the daylight hours. Well she's some kind of immortal monster then. Aww crap. She knows I'm on to her and she's been trying to kill me! I log off the computer and ran out the door. I was too scared to see her and ran into Ms. A. "H-hello ma'am" I stammered. "Good afternoon Ms. Grayson. Looking for knowledge today?" she asked smiling. Her smile sent shivers up my spine. "Just enjoying a nice Saturday" I stammered. "That's good. I always like it when a student tries to learn something outside of class. Then again ignorance is bliss. Oh look, you forgot to log all the way out" she said walking to the computer I was using. Shit! I forgot to confirm my log out! "There. Can't be too careful. Who knows what somebody might look up under your name" she said looking at me from the corner of her eye. I nodded my head and left as fast as I could.

Later that night, I decided to see a movie. I said goodbye to mom and dad and left the house. I wanted something to take my mind off of things. Whoever she was, she wouldn't dare do anything in public not after all those near misses. But to be on the safe side I made sure she wasn't around before I went into the theatre.  It was a shitty movie and it didn't help my mood. Man I so didn't want to go back to her class on Monday. I drove home in the rain thinking about what I could do. Should I say something to the police? No, they'd think I was nuts. "Yeah my history teacher is trying to kill be because I learned she's immortal" and after saying that I would end up in the nuthouse. The radio began playing Witchy Woman. "UUGH!" I said reaching to change the station until the car began stalling. My little Honda conked out on the side of the road in the pouring rain on a pitch black road.

"Fucking perfect!" I said trying my cell phone. The signal kept coming in and out and every time I tried to call the call would drop. "Fuck you Sprint" I said shoving the phone into my pocket. I saw a pair of headlights in the rear view. I didn't want to get out. Last thing I needed was to be raped and murdered but seeing how I was stuck with no way to get help I waved at the car. The car pulled over and to my surprise it was Ms. A.

"Ms. Grayson! You okay sweetie?" she asked with a worried look. "My car broke down and I can't call for help" I replied. "Then I'll just take you home" she said. Maybe I was wrong about her. She still gave me the creeps but she was giving me a ride home. "Guess it was lucky you found me huh?" I asked smiling. "Luck had nothing to do with it dear. I made your car break down" she said shifting gears. "W-what?" I asked getting scared. "Oh yes, your car breaking down was all me and what I will do to you next will be all me too" she coldly. "If you kill me then the police will come looking for me!" I yelled trying to open the car door. "I doubt it. Look in my purse" she said. I opened her purse and was shocked to see my car. My Honda Civic was in her purse, shrunken down to inches. "They will classify you as a runaway" she said. I was freaking the fuck out now. I yanked on the door not caring about how fast we were moving. "Child locks dear" she said turning a corner. 

"Please don't kill me" I whimpered. "Hush now" she said touching my shoulder. My body got hot for a second and I felt the world recede from me. I passed out shortly after. I awoke on a soft surface. My head hurt like hell. "Nice nap?" a booming voice said over me. I looked up to see Ms. A towering over me! She was easily 200 ft. tall! "You're a giant!" I screamed. She laughed. "No you little fool. I shrank you!" she cackled. "Why?" I asked backing away from her. I realized the surface I was on was a bed, one that stretched for a mile. "Why? Because you got too close to my secret. Smart little girl finding out I'm older than I say I am but not smart enough to erase your browser history" she said grabbing me. "Please, let me go" I said shaking. "No can do. There are rules for this sort of thing. But don't you fret. Your life will not be wasted. Your body will nourish me" she said stripping off my clothes.

"Nourish?! No you can't me that! You can't eat me! I'm a human being!" I yelled now naked. "So what if you're a human being. Believe me that hasn't stopped me before" she said tossing me into her mouth. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. My ears popped constantly due to the air pressure. She's sucking on me! Oh god her tongue his rubbing my vagina! I moaned instinctively and felt a hum. She was enjoying my taste! I couldn't help the pleasure I was feeling. I tried to move off her tongue but my bare feet just slipped on her tongue. I was going to be eaten by an immortal giantess and no one would ever know. I thought about mom, dad and even my little brother and how they would miss me. I began to cry. Between sobs I came. I felt my energy leaving me. Soon it would be all over...or so I thought.

All of a sudden a rush of motion and whistling air. I hit something soft and warm. I thought she had swallowed me but I felt clean air on my skin. I brushed my saliva soaked red hair out of my face and opened my eyes. She was staring at me with a very pissed off look. "Thank you! Thank you for sparing me!" I said coughing out her spit. "Spare you? That remains to be seen. I spared you because I'm obligated to give you a choice Ms. Grayson. As I was feeding off of you I detected a difference. A difference known to my kind" she said. "Your kind?" I asked. "Hmm...yes I guess you need to know what I truly am. My kind has been called many things over the millennia but the most apt name for us are soul eaters. We have existed side by side with humans since the beginning of your species" she said. "So you're not vampires or something?" I asked. She burst out laughing. "That is one of the names we were called. The first time we were recorded in history we were called the Witches of Thessaly. We eat souls dear. Drinking blood is one way to do it but it leaves a messy carcass afterwards. I chose a cleaner method. I shrink my victims and extract the soul then I eat the body. No evidence to find that way. Over time I've found that young humans in their teenage years have the tastiest souls. The sexual pleasures cause the soul to leak out of the body and teens are just big balls of sex hormones” she said taking pride in her evil deeds.

That explained why I got so weak when I came. She was eating my soul. "Now as for the choice I mentioned to you earlier. I spared you because when I tasted your soul I tasted the spark. The spark that all soul eaters have. Somewhere along your bloodline was a soul eater. You must be a descendant of one" she said. "Wait, your kind can have kids?" I asked her. "Oh yes indeed. Though it is a risky venture, we can have children" she said. "Risky?" I asked.  "There's no guarantee the child will be a soul eater and in that case you will have to watch them grow old and die" she said with a sad look. "So, you didn't eat me because I'm a soul eater?" I asked. "No you have the potential to be one. There are 3 basic rules for my kind. One is to do no harm to a soul eater unless it's to protect oneself or offspring. Two, the general public must never know of us. This one is fairly recent made in the last 500 years. And third, if you encounter one with the spark of a soul eater, they are not to be harmed. This rule concerns you" she said.

"So you can't harm me" I asked still scared of her giant face. "Oh I can certainly harm you. See rule number two. You know I'm immortal and in this day and age even someone like you can spread the word enough to cause some stir. If I took you as my apprentice I can spare you but if not it's dinner time" she said licking her lips. What kind of choice did I have? Either be an immoral creature eating souls or become the nourishment for my giantess teacher. "I'll be a soul eater" I said softly. She sat me down on the bed. "Good choice" she said with glowing eyes. The world shrank around me and within a second I was back to my original size, albeit naked. "So now what?" I asked trying to find my clothes. She stopped me. "Leave them off. They will get in my way. Lie back on the bed" she said. I lay back afraid of what she was going to do.

"This process is called The Awakening. I won't lie to you. This will hurt very much" she said stroking my belly. She started kissing my legs and traveling down them. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Remember what I said about sexual pleasures releasing part of the soul? I need you cum once more" she said kissing my feet. It felt weird when she was sucking my toes and then I felt her finger enter my pussy. I gasped. When was this supposed to hurt? I felt...good. She pulled out her finger and licked it. "Hmm...that beautiful unique taste. I'm going to miss that" she said starting to lick me. God I could feel her tongue enter me. I couldn't help but squeeze my breasts. I guess thousands of years is enough time to get really good at foreplay. I saw something coming off my skin.

It looked like red and blue smoke as it drifted in the air but it had no smell. "W-what is that?" I asked getting weak again. "Your soul" she said stopping sucking on my clit to answer. My soul was getting thicker in the air and I was getting weaker by the second. I felt like I would cum any second. "Here's where it hurts" she said taking a hand and moving it through my soul. It first I felt nothing then she somehow grabbed the blue part of my soul and forcefully pulled it away from the red parts. I screamed. "Oh god it hurts!" I screamed. "Bear with it child. You can't have creation without destruction" she said pulling out another blue piece. "What are you doing..." I asked. "Tearing out the human part of your soul leaving just your soul eater side. The pain is understandable. After all, you are dying" she said. What have I done?! She's ripping apart my soul! I felt her left hand grip mine tightly. "Just a little bit more! There!" She said ripping away the last blue part of my soul. She eased back and watched the red, refined, soul eater aspect of my soul recede into my body.

"How do you feel?" she asked stroking my face.  The way she looked at me was different now. Not disdain or malice. It was a kind of a maternal one. Just as puzzling I felt different when I looked at her as well. I wasn't scared of her anymore. I felt drawn to her. "It's getting late. I'll drive you home. After school, I want you to come to my house. Your training will begin then" she said. I got dressed and wondered what training she referred to. She was smiling the whole drive home. She seemed happy. I got out of the car in front of my house tired as shit. "Say nothing to your parents. This goes without saying" she told me. "Oh what about my car?" I asked her. "Glad you reminded me" she said reaching into her purse and pulling out my car. Jesus it was tiny. My civic was barely 6 inches long and looked like a model. To think I was small enough to fit in that. She held out her hand and a beam of light shot from her fingertip. Within seconds my car was full size again including a tic tac that found its way inside somehow. The tic tac was almost a foot long and was sitting in my front seat. "Uh, I'll take care of that" I said popping the trunk and tossing in in.

She looked very tired and had trouble standing. "You okay?" I asked. "I'm fine dear, just drained is all. See you Monday" she said driving off. Thankfully my parents were asleep as I walked in. I didn't need to explain why I looked like someone had sucked on me like candy and then ripped apart my soul. I slept like the dead and didn't wake up till 2 in the afternoon.  I was starving. I got dressed and went to the bathroom and as I was walking I noticed something odd. I saw perfectly even though I wore contacts. I screamed when I saw my reflection. My acne was gone completely and my hair shone bright red. I had never had my hair look so radiant! My skin was flawless to the point I looked like a supermodel! Was this because I was a soul eater now?!

"Honey I hear screaming! Oh dear" my mom said running up the stairs.  I was speechless seeing myself. What could I say? Hi mom I'm an immortal monster now so get used to the new look. Yeah that would work and no telling what would happen if they knew. I could see Ms. A right now shrinking them all and eating them, including me. "You got a makeover! Oh honey you look gorgeous!" mom said hugging me. Makeover huh? That could work. "I heard screaming!" Dad said running up the stairs. Dad just stared at me. "You look nice sweetie" he said patting my head. He went back downstairs but I saw him roll his eyes. Was he mad at me? If so then why? "What's with the shouting? Who the hell are you and what have you done with my dorky sister?" my little brother Cameron asked. Just turned 13 and still a brat.

"Be nice Cameron. I think your big sister looks nice" mom said. "Yeah be nice squirt. I said ruffling his hair. As I did, I smelled him and my mouth watered. My stomach growled. "Someone's hungry" mom said walking back downstairs. Cameron was still in my grip. "Let go!" he said pulling away. As I walked downstairs I heard him. "You do look nice sis" he said blushing. Aww, even if he's a brat, he can still be sweet sometimes. A wolfed down leftovers right and left until I was full. I was full but my body still felt hungry. How weird is that? I was still tired too. I spent the rest of the day in my room looking up stories of mythical monsters and witches. No surprise I found zilch on soul eaters but I did find some stuff on The Witches of Thessaly.

Apparently they were controllers of the moon and the sun. They were famous for controlling spirits as well. The more I found the more I became aware of the power I could call on. Size control was just for starters. Accounts say they could even been behind the power of the oracle of Delphi.

(Authors note: while it’s not known if the witches of Thessaly really existed there are accounts of them living around 200 BCE or earlier.)

I really didn't feel like going to school the next day. Mom had me help her get the dirty clothes together before I left and I picked up some of my brothers.  I went to his room to get more and noticed the door locked. "Cameron, open up!" I shouted. "Just a sec jeez!" he said. I heard a lot of movement inside and he finally opened the door. He had an embarrassed look on his face as he ran past me. The air smelled like the sweetest pastry you could think of and I saw a trail of blue ethereal smoke where he had ran past. Oh my god I can see his soul! But that only comes out during sexual actions. What had he been...oh...that's what he was doing. I couldn't decide what was more mortifying. The fact I knew my brother had just jerked off or the fact I wanted to eat his soul.

School crept by and Ms. A watched me like a hawk. I was so tired and hungry. The bell rang and Ms. A stood at the entrance waiting for me. "I don't feel so good" I told her. "Yes I know. I'll take care of that. Hop in" she said pointing to her car. As we drove to her house she hummed to the radio. "I think I want to eat my brother" I said mumbling. She laughed so hard I was afraid she'd wreck the car. "The awakening process leaves you drained. You hunger for souls not food. I will explain that and more when we get to my home" she said smiling.

She had me sit in her living room while she made tea. "Your training will being shortly but first I need to talk to you. Yesterday I looked into your bloodline. You had an ancestor by the name of Christopher Grayson that sired a child by the way of a Samantha Newman around 1715. I knew a Christopher. He must be where you inherited the spark of a soul eater. That's not all however.  This Samantha Newman belonged to an organization that I’m and you will be familiar with. Remember this name well child. The Order of Lux. They are our mortal enemies. They have hunted us for centuries. Once in a very rare while one of them choses to mate with one of us. Humans like you are born out of this union” she said taking a sip of tea.  “So they hunt us?” I asked. “Yes, like any prey, one eventually develops a natural defense against them. Tell me, how did you feel when you were around me?” she asked me smiling.

“I felt scared of you” I replied. “Scared or threatened?” she asked. “…threatened” I answered. “I felt threatened of you” she said. “Of me why?” I asked. “What you felt is what the Order feels. It’s how they recognize us. Life isn’t out of its sense of irony. When a soul eater and a human create an offspring, the offspring will always sense another soul eater. It’s in their blood. Their human side instinctively knows that they are our prey and they will fear us. Some are born with the spark like you and we try to awaken them. Not just to bolster our numbers but to protect them. They use their natural abilities to hunt their own blood relations” she said shaking her head. “So that’s why I was scared of you” I said. “Yep, part of you knew I could eat you and I almost did but enough of that. It’s time to teach you some magic” she said finishing her tea.

She led me to the back of her house. “Magic is what we use to protect ourselves and the tools in which we use to feed” she said holding out her arms. “Magic, like how you shrank me?” I asked squinting at the sunlight. “Magic is the change we inflict on nature and the world. In the case of size control, I manipulated your mass and atomic space. I won’t teach you that yet. First you will learn wind magic” she said gesturing at me. A blast of high wind knocked me to the ground. “Oomph! Alright, Yoda just show me how you did that” I said getting back up. “Concentrate on the air. Mix you own energy into it, imagine the result you want, and say the magic word to release it” she said. “Magic words? You didn’t use any words just now” I said. “I don’t need to use them. The words aren’t important. The words just give you focus. They can be anything you want them to” she said. “Alright” I said concentrating.

I focused my energy into my hands and held out my palm. “Aero!” I yelled. I gust of wind shot from my hand. Not as much as hers but it was better than nothing. She clapped her hands. “Not bad for a beginner. Now let’s try something harder. Light this cigarette” she said holding a cig. “Uhh…some advice” I said. “Envision your target aflame. Speed up the molecules. You’re a smart student. You know what that means” she said. Well I knew that molecular friction causes heat so I just help it along huh? I concentrated hard. “Fira!” I yelled. Nothing happened. “Come on! Come on! AHHH!” I yelled. Her cigarette, and her hand, burst into flame! Ms. A shook her hand quickly and soon the fire went out. “Oh shit! I’m so sorry! Are you okay!” I yelled running to her. She grimaced from the pain of the second degree burns. She held her hand and I watched it glow slightly. The burns faded until they were gone. “It’s my fault for rushing things. I’m alright Amber. A healing spell took care of it” she said.

It must have been the adrenaline rush plus my lack of energy that caused me to pass out. I felt groggy and felt that I was lying on her bed. “Open your mouth” she said. I was too tired to ask why. I felt something small and moving in my mouth. I instinctively sucked on it until I tasted something salty and deliciously sweet. A vibration was in my mouth until I swallowed what was inside. Soon after I woke up feeling so much better. ‘What happened?” I asked rubbing my eyes. “You ran low on energy. I must confess. I knew you would need to eat a soul soon so I purposely made you use magic to drain you” she answered. “So the reason I feel better...”

“It’s because you ate a soul. Congratulations dear. You’re a full soul eater now” she said. I felt sick. “Then what was in my mouth was a person? I ate a person?!” I yelled. “Yes, just some punk I found on a trip to New York last Sunday” she replied. She must have seen my sickened expression. “What? You thought that cute sexy body was free? Immortality came cheap? Look, I understand what you are feeling right now. I used to have those kinds of feelings especially soon after I awoke. I still have some of those feelings. I refuse to eat small children unless I see them as a threat. I even fell in love with a human once” she said. “You did?” I asked. “Yes but that was a long time ago” she said. “What was he like?” I asked wanting to know more about this woman. “I care not to talk about it. Amber, I want you to call me master. It’s traditional for this kind of thing. Call me Ms. A at school but master here” she said walking out of the room. I guess I struck a nerve. She sent me home soon after.

The next month was weird. Dad kept giving me the cold shoulder, mom wanted to know which spa I went to and my brother kept me tense. Every day I felt the urge to eat him. Day in and day out master taught me our heritage and magic. She told me I was a natural for magic. Who knew that knowing science helped me use magic? Yes, I ate more people. I had too. The more difficult the magic the more energy I burned. It must have been my soul eater blood because I became accustomed to eating people.

“Now I want you to use a fire spell for an attack. Did you bring a target?” she asked me. ‘Yes an old doll” I said pulling it on the ground. I used an old Barbie doll as my victim. I had my back to her so I couldn’t see her expression as I cast the spell. The doll burst into flames with seconds. I giggled happy that it worked but then I heard a scream. I turned to see my master with her hands over her mouth crying. He looked hysterical. “Aqua” I said putting out the fire with a douse of water I yanked out of the water vapor in the air. “Master! Master!” I yelled shaking her. She looked at me and hugged me tightly just weeping. I led her into her house and had her sit down on the sofa. It took a little while for her to calm down. “I’m sorry you saw that. Forgive me” she said quietly. “Master, why did you scream?” I asked her. She said nothing until I put my hand on hers. She was shaking. “Remember when I said I fell in love with a human?” she asked. I nodded. “We didn’t just fall in love. We had a daughter. I awoke her when she was 13. She used her powers to lead armies to victory against the English She only ate souls when she absolutely had to. A few years later she fell in love with a human. I had been against her involving herself in human matters but when she said she would marry I human forbade it. She was immortal of course and I told her the pain of watching them grow old and die while she did not. She paid me no mind. She told me I squandered my powers not helping humans. I told her she knew nothing of how cruel humans could be and that their ultimate place was to be our food. She drew her sword on me. I disarmed and disowned her.” she said sadly.

She loved him so much she cut back on eating souls even further to dangerous proportions. That’s how she was captured. The last time I saw my daughter was when she was burned at the stake. She was only 19! The last time we spoke I told her she wasn’t my daughter anymore!” she yelled crying again. I hugged her and wondered why that story sounded familiar. “At least she became famous in a good way. People know her as Joan of Arc now” she said trying to smile. “For real?!” I asked. She nodded. My teach was the mother of Joan of Arc! How fucking cool is that!?

We got closer emotionally after that day.  She saw in me the daughter she had lost and I saw in her the big sister I never had. The day came when it was time to teach me how to shrink people. It was time for me to hunt. “Mom, dad, I’m off to spend the weekend with Jackie!” I yelled to my parents. “Have fun honey!” my mom yelled. I was heading out the door when my dad stopped me. “What will you be doing Amber?” he asked me with suspicion. “Just girly stuff dad” I said wondering why he acted so shitty. Ever since I became a soul eater he had been so cold to me. Wait…could he know? “Nothing else?” he asked. “No dad” I said. He hugged me tightly. “Just had to ask. You know I love you right?” he asked with tears in his eyes. “Yeah I know that. I love you too” I replied. He nodded and let me leave. I wondered what that was about the whole drive to my master’s.

"So no problems coming here?" master asked me. "Dad gave me some grief but I told him I would be at my friends" I replied. "You made sure your friend will cover for you?" she asked. "Yeah, as far as she knows I'm at my new boyfriend's" I replied. She nodded. "Amber, had anyone acted funny toward you since you awoke. Have you got any weird feelings from anyone?" she asked. I thought for a second. The only person who acted weird was dad. I didn't dare tell her that seeing how she tried to kill me when she thought her secret got out. "No, nothing out of the ordinary" I lied. "That's good. Come help me with this tank" she said pointing to an empty terrarium. "What's this for?" I asked. You know how fishermen use a bucket to keep their catch in? Well this will be our bucket...for humans" she said. We loaded the tank into the trunk of her mustang and headed out.

As we drove to New York, she told me more about her life. She was old, damn old and when I asked her how old she replied "let's just say I spent my spring break eating Trojans and I don't mean the condom" she said laughing. "So you knew Joan of Arc. Who else famous you've met?" I asked.   "A few" she replied. "Like who?" I asked. "Alexander the Great for one. Not that great in person though. Think gay drunken frat boy and you got the picture. I met Charlemagne once. He was cool.  Avid reader and surprisingly smart for a Dark Age guy. All in all though, I try to stay out of the limelight. I was surprised to see there even was a picture of me" she said. "I saw you travel a lot. Why did you come back here?" I asked her. She sighed. Around a hundred years ago I stopped over in this town for a visit. I grew attached to the quiet, easygoing humans here. I've seen many things over the centuries, things I care not to remember, but here is like a world away. Reminds me of Mayberry" she said. "Where?" I asked. "Sorry, a generational gap thing. Look it up on your google later" she said.

She turned on the radio when our conversation ran dry. To watch an immortal singing Super Freak by Rick James was hysterical. I couldn't help but laugh. "Listen my apprentice. As time goes by one must find things that amuse or elate you. Immortality is a heart breaking and lonely thing. It has been centuries since I had been with another of my kind. Find the joy of life where you can. Humans had it right during The Summer of Love. During that time, their souls shone with the purest blue you could think of and tasted like the finest honey. Forgive me I'm drooling. The first hundred years are the hardest. Losing your family to the ravages of time while we remain ageless. Amber...know that I'm not just your master but you are family as well. You are not alone" she said squeezing my hand. I smiled. "I love you too master" I said squeezing back.

With all that was going on, I had forgotten it was Halloween. How could I have missed that? I only remembered when the radio switched to Halloween theme music as the sun went down. I felt a shiver to up my spine and I flinched in the car seat. Master did the same. "What you feel is the arcana in the air. On hollows eve, the border between the spiritual and physical become blurred. When that happens the force we call arcana increases in us. Think of arcana as the magical engine inside us and souls as the fuel for that engine. On this night our magical power is at its fullest. It was no coincidence I chose this night to hunt. Spells are easier this night. So far you have learned level one spells. Size control is a level two spell and thus requires more energy and control. Now, let's see what the night brings us" she said crossing the bridge leading into Queens.

We saw kids trick or treating and my stomach growled. "Easy there. Children make great snacks but ultimately not very effective. Besides, killing young humans takes away from them reproducing. You're hurting your food supply that way" she said turning a corner. We found a man on the side of the street watching the children. "Oh, you dirty human. We'd be doing the world a favor getting rid of him" she said pulling over. We got out of the car and walked over to him. "Remember, focus is the key" she whispered. He looked at us and got a suspicious expression. "Nice night isn't it?" Master asked him. "Yeah I guess" he answered annoyed. "I couldn't help overhear your thoughts. Trouble finding girls your own age?" she asked him. "Fuck off lady. Don't know what you're going on about" he said walking away. I walked in front of him and he stopped. He was looking at me hard. My age must have caught his attention. "You want to have fun with a young girl right?" I asked putting my hand on his chest. He gulped. "Maybe" he stammered. "Let's have some fun. Shrink" I whispered in his ear. 

Her reduced in size and kept shrinking until I willed it to stop. It was harder to do than a simple wind or fire spell but not that much harder. He stood on the ground looking at my sneaker. He traced my leg up and saw my giant form looming over him. He yelped and ran. With just one step I caught up to him and grabbed him. I brought him to my face. This 30 year old pervert was looking at the biggest young girl he ever seen. This could have been a dream come true but it was a nightmare to him. "You can do it here. No one's around" master said to me. "Do what?" he asked scared. "She means eat you" I answered. You should have heard him pleading for his life.  His pleas got more frantic as I pulled off his clothes. He was naked in my grip now. "Not so fun for a predator to become prey is it?" I asked stroking his tiny dick. He shook as I masturbated him.  This little fucker came pretty quickly.

"That explains why he can't get a girl his own age. He's got a hair trigger dick" master said chuckling. I could see the blue smoke like energy of his soul. It was working. "Eat him while the coast is clear" master said. "NO PLEASE!" he yelled as I threw him into my mouth and sucked on him. I made sure his tiny package rubbed on my tongue. His natural meaty flavor was entwined with the sour lemon taste of his soul. He came and I swallowed. "Tickles" I said feeling his punching on my stomach walls. That soon went away though as he succumbed to my acids. "Sour and not as filling as I'd hoped" I said. "Of course, humans are at their peak in their teens. You did a good job by the way. Better than I or Joan did on our first shrink" she said smiling. "What happened?" I asked.

"Well I chose a cute Athenian boy and brought him home. Mom got him drunk and told me to shrink him. Well I did...to the size of an ant. Mom said I spoiled my dinner and got rid of him by placing him in a spider web in our garden. What a waste. I actually liked him. He said sweet things to me and was kind only to end up spider food. I didn't speak to mom for a month. Joan on the other hand shrank a peasant boy she met in Calais. She played with him like he was a toy. Understandable seeing he was 6 inches tall and not small enough to eat. After indulging her for a month I made her shrink him small enough to eat. Poor girl was force fed. It was for her own good. She was so low on energy she coughed blood. It was soon after we got into the argument of using her powers to help humans" she said. We heard a group of kids coming closer. "Get rid of his clothes and hop back into the car. We got more hunting to do" she said. I tossed the tiny ball of clothes down a sewer hole and no evidence was left of our deed.

"We need young ones for this to work and we need many. What do we have here?" she said pulling over. We watched as a group of college kids pile into a minivan. We knew they were college kids due to their age and the fact they had a New York State University bumper sticker. Ironic is that I planned to apply there before this all happened.  I hopped out quickly and ran to the minivan. "Shrink!" I yelled at them. The van dwindled in size and I stopped it just under a foot. The frightened passengers felt their van lift off the ground. They franticly tried to see what was happening but all they saw was my blue jacket. They didn't see me until I was putting the van into the terrarium. Their screams were silenced as I closed the trunk. I sat back down winded. "Nice job Amber! You're a natural at this!" She said starting the car. "Thanks master" I said catching my breath. I could hear tiny beeps. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked. "The car horn of a shrunken van? Yes, yes it is. I'll handle the next batch. You rest dear" she said putting the car into drive and pulling off.

She decided to drive back home. There was no need to hunt in the same location. She told me it was a bad idea. Humans would think it suspicious for a lot of missing persons to come up in one night even for New York. We stopped for gas just at the state line and saw a small bus pull up. A woman stepped out of it. "If anyone needs to go to the bathroom now's the time" she said. A few people got off. They were kids of middle school age. Apparently the local school was shuttling students whose parents couldn't take them trick or treating. "Perfect" master said. "Some of them look a little young. Didn't you say it was bad to eat young ones?" I asked. "I did. Fortunately some of them are just hitting their stride in sexual growth. If not, well it's a special night for our kind. It's okay to indulge in a great while" she said topping off the tank.

We followed the bus as it drove along the dark road. The road wound up a hill that had a steep drop off. "Now's the time" she said raising her hand. Instantly the bus began to slow down and pulled to the side of the road. We pulled up behind it. "Was this how you made my call stall?" I asked. "A simple lightning spell directed into the engine. Kills the ignition dead" she said watching the driver step out. We got out of the car. "Damn phone!" he muttered. "Lightning spell again. Ionizes the air and knocks out signals" she whispered to me. "Hey lady can you help us? Our bus died and we can't phone for help" he asked master. "I'll help...myself that is" she said tightening her fist and then releasing a blinding bolt of light. The light engulfed the bus in a dome of radiance and then faded. The man, kids, and the bus were shrunk down. The bus itself was 2 feet long. The man ran into the bus and slammed the door.

It was cute to hear that tiny bus trying to start. "Pop the trunk for me dear" she said scooping the bus off the ground. She lugged the shrunken machine like a wooden log and held it over the terrarium. The van from earlier was still there. They were screaming for us to let them go. "Get that door would you" she said pointing to the rear exit. With just a simple tug, the door was ripped open. She shook the bus and out came the passengers. The man from earlier, a woman who must have been a chaperone, and 10 kids. "Won't somebody report them missing? I mean a bus load of kids!" I said. She walked back to where the bus once sat and put the bus down. "I already thought of that. Why do you think I waited for them to drive up this hill? So dark out here. A tragedy waiting to happen" she said pointing at the bus. With a flash the bus was back to normal size. She wasn't done with it though. She used a spell to push the bus down the hill and without the driver; it slammed into the guardrail and went over the side. It tumbled down the hillside over and over and finally stopped.

It was smashed up for sure but I wondered what would happen when no bodies were found inside. "You're good a fire spells but watch a master. Behold the level 4 spell; harrowing!" she said.  A bolt came from her fingertips so quickly it caused a thunderclap and hit the bus. The bus exploded in a horrific fireball. "My god, even the metal is melting! What was that?!" I asked. "A compression of air mixed with electricity. If it wasn't for our arcane working in overdrive tonight I would be bone dry" she said. "You created plasma?!" I said geeked out. "We can control ALL aspects of nature, not just earthly ones" she said. I had no idea we could be that powerful. We could command the same power that fueled stars! It frightened and excited me to think what power I could wield as a master. To think all you need is human souls to do it. Life isn't cheap I see.