Vengeance is Mine
The stairs from the basement opened into kitchen. Securing the unresponsive form of Brenda in the cup of her brassiere before crossing the threshold into the room, Anna caught a glimpse of herself reflected in the glass of the window above the double stainless steel sink. Faded yellow curtains tied back, the inky darkness outside made the window a mirror. She took a couple of steps closer, head tilted to the side. Beautiful and terrible at the same time, glowing green orbs for eyes, her clothes tattered, shredded, and bloody. Reaching out, she touched the cool pane, fingertips tracing the outline of her face.
There was a flicker of movement reflected in the glass, the policeman, behind her, gun drawn. The same implement used to deprive her father of life. Her lip curled back in a sneer as she released a measure of the power within her. The figure in the glass froze, becoming rigid and immobile and completely incapable of movement. Turning around, she moved toward him, gliding across the floor effortlessly. He stood there, arm extended, gun aimed, but he couldn’t move, paralyzed from the neck down. His eyes widened as she neared, his mouth opening to cry out.
She put a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Quiet now,” she instructed.
Choking out the words, “I’m a police officer,” he pleaded.
“You’re a fiend,” she answered, circling around the man.
“You can’t,” he begged.
The creak of a floorboard alerted her to the other man, stepping in from almost behind, large kitchen knife clutched in his hand and moving in a vicious downward arc. Without bothering to look, she held her hand up, palm toward the man, the force was such the man was lifted and thrown across the room and into the off white painted wall breaking lathe and plaster as he crumpled to the floor, the knife skittering harmlessly away.
“You were saying?” she prompted.
The immobilized man sobbed.
Turning to the right, she crossed the floor and crouched near the man she had flung across the room. He was unconscious but breathing. She didn’t know him, but he had participated in her attempted undoing. He had wagered on Inanna and lost and now he had to answer for his misplaced allegiance to a new goddess, Anna.
Looking over at the police, a veritable living statue, she smiled. Placing her hand on the unconscious man, he began to diminish and shrink away, vanishing back into his clothes.
“W-what are you doing?” he asked, eyes frightened.
Anna moved the clothing aside to find her tiny prize. Taking the figure by a leg, she lifted the tiny man out and walked back to the policeman, holding the shrunken man to the cop for him to see.
“This can’t be,” denied the cop, unable to shake his head.
Dangling the limp little figure betwixt thumb and forefinger of her right hand, “Can’t?” she said, a chuckle in her voice.
“”Mercy,” he beseeched, “I have a two year old son at home.”
“I have a dead father in the basement,” she replied vehemently, eyes flaring.
“It was the old lady, you heard it, she bewitched me, I had no choice,” he explained.
She moved in close, making sure he watched as she lowered the limp form of the naked little man into her mouth. Keeping her mouth open, she moved the man around the inside of her mouth wither tongue before shifting his body to the back near the entrance to her throat and swallowed, smile on her face as Vance watched the bob in her front of her neck as the other man moved down into her.
“Sweet Jesus, please don’t eat me,” he mewled, tears welling in his eyes at the thought of being consumed.
“Eat you? No,” she said with a grin, stepping back. Pulling up the torn remnants of her shirt, she showed him her firm tummy. “When it is your time to go you will wish you were here.”
“Surely you are merciful?” he hoped.
She laughed, “Merciful? What would you know of mercy?” she challenged.
“Please, I will do anything,” he offered.
The sound of car tires squealing on the pavement outside the house drew her attention. Frowning, she turned back to Vance. He immediately began to shrink, dropping to the ground amidst his uniform, still rigid and locked into position. The gun fell from his fingers and soon he was lying on his back, arm still extended, Anna towering over him. Raising her foot above him, she stepped down hard beside him with a thunderous crash. He screamed. How she wanted this man to suffer. Crouching low, she picked him up around his waist and brought him near her face.
Releasing the force holding him, she smiled, wide, showing off her white teeth. Moving him forward, she put his head between her teeth and clamped down firmly on either side of his skull. He screeched, a shrill sound full of terror as she applied a little more force. Relenting, she removed him from between her jaws and brought him back before her. “Too easy, too quick,” she said.
“No,” he cried.
Thoughts of how she might rid the world of the cop began to formulate in her mind. She smiled down at him and nodded. Looking down at her chest, she pulled open her shirt and pushed him into the cup of her bra opposite the one holding Brenda. The weight of the smooth flawless flesh pinning him against the fabric as the material was pulled back into place.
Vance secured. She moved about the house, a treasure trove of trinkets and a lifetime of memories captured in photographs for the broken aged woman slowly digesting in her belly. Aside from herself and the two tiny persons she was carrying, the house was now empty.
Moving into the bathroom, Anna was able to see herself more fully than in the mirror over the sink. Closing her eyes, she allowed the energy to pass through her. When she opened her eyes, the visage of the goddess hidden was away behind the image of her normal self. Her clothing repaired, she smiled and exited the bathroom. She still needed to find her mother and Mr. Collins.
The night air was chilly, though it didn’t bother her as she walked along the sidewalk toward her home. She could feel Brenda beginning to rouse and the tiny woman struggled to move within her confinement. Shoeless, she padded over the cool cement walkway, each step bringing her closer to the place she called home.