Why did all her pet's betrayed her in the end? That was the question Valerie asked herself over and over again as she laid on the floor, staring at the celling of her room. The tears had already dried out and whatever was left of John had stopped resisting from the inside of her. If he had given up or just died already was of no concern to Valerie at this point. He deserved it.

She sighed, she needed something to comfort her on this time of sadness and emptiness. Normally she would have reached for her pet, she would have played with them or give them care and comfort, that always made her happy, but clearly that was out of the question this time. That fact only made her feelings worse.

Valerie stood up, staying on the floor wouldn't make her feel better after all. She needed something to relax, even a glass of water would suffice.

She walked outside of her room. Her boots sent loud echoes in each direction with each step, echoing in the lonely room. The blue walls, the bed and the desk where all the only witnesses of what she had just done.

Valerie stepped into the hallway of her house. The house was relatively small, two floors and two bedrooms, one for Valerie and one for her Mother. The walls of the hallway where all painted in a warm yellow, and where adorned with small wooden furniture. The bathroom was just in front of Valerie's room.

Her Mother wasn't at home at the time, it didn't matter whether she was working or hanging out with friends or something, all that mattered was that she would not see Valerie's misery.

The bathroom was as small as it could get, there was barely enough room to walk, the toilet, the tub and the sink occupied eighty percent of the space there. Valerie positioned herself in front of the sink as she served herself a glass of tap water, and looked deep in her reflection.

Was she becoming a serial killer or a monster of sorts? Those where the kind of thought that plagues the back of her mind.

She had killed four of her pets by now, four shrunken people she had adopted.

Valerie looked at her face, at her sharp features, her blue eyes and her dyed hair and small mouth, the mouth she used to kill John. And Sophie, and Thomas and Martin.

"Sophie, Thomas, Martin, John..." She whispered those names to herself. Only she knew what happened to them.

She had loved them, and they repayed with betrayal. But even after all what they had done to her, she still loved them.

Her four pets evoked very meaningful memories for her. They were special to her. One of them felt particularly strong, it was the first time she had taken someone as a pet.

Valerie was only thirteen at the time. It happened shortly after she had discovered her powers.

Her first pet, her once best friend forever, Sophie.

Valerie served herself some water as she painted a picture of Sophie inside her head. Her round asian features, and short black hair. How they used to hang out, and how she revealed her powers to her. She remembered specially the time when Sophie specifically asked her to shrink her.

But Sophie had grown increasingly more uncomfortable with her, she became uneasy and angry at her. Their friendship ended when she tried to run away.

Valerie returned to her small room and sat on her desk. She kept some photos there, of landscapes and family. One stood out, one where she appeared happily hugging a normal sized Sophie.

She hated having a constant reminder of Sophie in her personal space at all times, but she had to keep appearances. For all other people knew was that Valerie mourned the loss of Sophie for months.

The hardest part was to keep a straight face at her simbolic funeral, all while little Sophie was comfortably hiding in her purse at the time.

Valerie picked up the photograph, and didn't know whether to smile or to feel angry or to cry. She just remembered how she shrunk Sophie, how she kept her close at all times and how she ended her life. And perhaps, remembering the good times would make her forget all the thoughts about becoming a monster.

It all had begun four years ago, on a warm day of summer vacations.