Crossroads (Patreon)

Crossroads.

Sarah crossed her arms as she looked out over the town of Martinsville. Carien was at her side as they waited for Callen to emerge from the nearby hospital with her blood sample.  They were waiting for him to get a container to transport her blood in.  The doctor was unwilling to uphold his end of the bargain and transport the blood, so the task fell on Callen's shoulders.  And Sarah needed to know what was happing with her blood so that meant staying with Callen.

 Sarah shivered, still uncomfortable that she had yet to shrink back down to her usual height, her uneasy feeling not helped by the people on the street quacking their pace as they spotted her.

Carien looked up and smiled. “It will be ok.”

Sarah shivered. “I hope so. I don’t like working with Callen, but I need to make sure I know what happens to my blood.”  She looked down at Callen as he approached with a white box in his left hand with a red cross.

“Well, I see you are still here,” Callen said. He looked at Carien. “And you too.”

Carien spat. “Sarah told me what you did to her, you scum. You are lucky I don’t just—

Callen held up his arms. “Hey. I don’t condone what I did when working for Fredrick. But I promise I am not that man anymore. But if hitting me—

Callen fell to the ground as Carien punched him across the face. Sarah held out her hand and cried out. “Carien, be careful. He has my blood samples.”

She rubbed her knuckles. “Don’t worry. I am not going to force you to get your blood drawn here again. Not that I think these people would agree to it.”

Callen rubbed his chin as he stood back up. “Ok, I deserved that.” He sighed. “But I told you both. This is for an innocent kid. So, if you really feel the need to tear me apart, it can wait until after we help him.”

Carien shook her head. “Maybe you can explain to me why this is so important now!” She shook her fists. “Why we are helping Fredricks, son of all people. Fredrick! A madman who has run a company that has made products that has caused the love of my life to constantly change in size and shape for over a year. Sent people after her and cost Sarah her sanity, a home.” She looked at the ground. “And hell, I am sure it had something to do with influencing that crazy person Matt to want to hound her day and night for being a giantess. That can only get worse now that she won’t shrink down. So, tell me, why should we help Fredrick!”

Callen narrowed his eyes. “You are not helping Fredrick. I explained this to Sarah, but I can explain it again to you.” Callen walked up to Carien and looked her dead in the eyes. “His son has been inflicted with a terrible curse. To be stuck in a perpetual state of changing in size. He is in constant pain. Searching for a cure drove Fredrick mad. You have every right to hate Fredrick for what he has done, but his son deserves to have a better life. Don’t let Fredrick’s original dream die and his son suffer in torment in some dark, dingy room for the rest of his days.”

Carien looked at the ground and, with a whisper, said, “Where do we need to go?”

“Pettersvile. It is there that Fredricks Fancy has their headquarters, and my associate is.”

Sarah crossed her arms. “I thought you weren’t working for them anymore. Or was that just another lie?”

Callen sighed. “I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t working for them anymore.” He looked at the ground. “But I also told you I had helped form that company, and it’s how I knew about his son. I just couldn’t leave him like that. I couldn’t abandon Lendord to that fate.” He looked up at Sarah. “But that wasn’t going to be some simple feat. I no longer worked for Fredrick. How was I going to keep tabs on him.” He sighed. “That is where Karren came in.”

Sarah gasped. “You can’t be serious.”

Callen laughed. “She has told me about you.” He turned his head. “That incident with Potion’s R Us. She didn’t want to get involved. Not only did it put her own life in danger, but she hates to hurt other people. Did you know that she once subjected herself to a growth formal to try and help a co-worker? Huh.” He crossed his arms. “Anyways, she said she would help me if I could get your unique blood sample. She was also the one who told me I need your blood.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “How would she know that?”

“Because she hacked into Fredricks Fancy’s records for me and got the info I needed.” He shrugged. “Suffice it to say they have some interesting data on you.”

Sarah slammed her right foot onto the ground. “Well, then, I think we found another reason to head to Pettersburg. I am not letting Fredrick have any information on me. I am not his test subject!”

Callen smiled. “Ok then. I will just head to my car and meet you there.”

Sarah bent over and picked him up. “Oh no, you don’t. I am not letting you out of my sight for a moment.” She squeezed him. “I still don’t trust you. Your recent actions may give you some more leeway, but I still need to keep you within grabbing distance.”

He tapped his free finger on the side of her palm. “Fine. I guess we will get there faster if you carry me.”

Sarah smiled and looked down at Carien. “Ready, my dear?”

Carien smiled. “As always. Let’s finish this!”

***

The sun slowly began to dip below the skyline as Carien curled up in Sarah’s hand. “Ahhhh. Are we there yet?”

Callen rolled his eyes. “That is the tenth time you asked that.” Sarah closed her fingers around him. “And that is perfectly fine. It’s perfectly fine.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes as she spotted tall buildings rising in the distance. “Is that?”

Callen pushed his head out from between her fingers.

“Yes. We are in Pettersburg finally.” He pointed to a giant skyscraper in the center of town. “See that? That is the Fredricks Fancy building.”

“So that is where you want me to go?”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t be absurd. Fredrick and his goons would see far before we reached the building. Not to mention the panic you might induce just walking through the city streets.”

Sarah stopped on the edge of town. “So, what exactly did you want me to do by coming here?”

Callen pointed to the west. “Karren will meet us on the edge of town in a grove. We should be hidden away from prying eyes.” He looked up at Sarah. “Well, most of us.”

She sighed. “Right.” She walked in the direction that Callen had pointed out. “When did you tell her to meet us here?”

“While we made our way here. Used my cellphone. What, you didn’t hear me?”

“I. . .” She sighed. “No, I didn’t, and if I did, I wouldn’t have let you call anyone without my supervision.”

Callen shrugged. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s meet with Karren so we can figure out where to get your blood tested and help Lendord, shall we?”

Carien rubbed Sarah’s other hand. “Ya. The sooner this is over with, the better.”

Sarah nodded her head. “You are right. The sooner we don’t have to deal with Callen, the better.”

Sarah scanned her surroundings as she walked around the edge of the town, looking for the glade that Callen had mentioned. As she looked around, her eyes caught a glimpse of a small forest of pine trees. “There. The grove should be somewhere in there.” Sarah nodded her head and walked towards the expanse of pine trees. Callen looked back and forth as Sarah carefully made her way through the pine trees below, trying her best not to step on anything. “It should be around here somewhere. Hmm. . .” He suddenly raised his left arm and pointed. “There.

You can even see Karren standing there.”

Sarah looked in the direction of Callen’s arm, and sure enough, she could see a familiar figure looking around nervously. “Well then.”

“Wait!” Callen slammed his hand against Sarah’s body. “Don’t just walk up to her. You might spook her off.”

“What?” Sarah’s eyes widened. “I am not going to scare her off.”

Callen raised an eyebrow. “She is expecting to see me here. Not a giantess that Fredricks Fancy is hunting. Look, you can watch us like you want. Now hurry and set me down before she notices we are here. We are lucky she hasn’t already turned and seen your giant face.”

Sarah sighed. “Fine, fine.” She knelt down to the ground and set Callen down. “But I am watching.” She stayed low to the ground and set Carien down as well. “I will do my best to stay out of sight so as not to intrude on your meeting.”

Callen smiled. “Thank you.” He turned to look at Carien. “It was nice meeting you, even if you punched me.”

Carien snorted. “This meeting goes in a manner that will lead to Sarah or me getting hurt; you will wish I had just punched you.” She narrowed her eyes. “You got that?”

He laughed. “Yes. Of course.” He looked up at Sarah. “Nice friend.” Sarah sneered. “Hugh, well, I guess I should get this over with.” He gripped the medical kit in his hand. “Be back soon.” He turned around and walked into the forest.

Sarah watched as he walked off, trying her best to stay out of sight. “Now we just wait.”

Carien rubbed her leg. “It will all work out. We will help that kid.”

“I am not worried about that. I am just. . .” She looked at the ground. “What if we figure out what is wrong with me from all this? Why I didn’t shrink back down. What if. . .”

Carien smiled. “It will be ok. I promise.” She hugged Sarah as best as she could.

Sarah smiled. “I am glad you are here with me, at least.” She saw that Callen was approaching Karren. “Ok. Looks like it’s go time.”

Callen waved to Karren as he entered the glade. “Hey. Long time no see.” Sarah could just barely hear Callen.

Karren spun around. “Huh?” She gasped as she spotted Callen. “Ohh. It’s just you.” She laughed. “Callen. It’s good to see you.”

“Ya. You told me to meet you here. So, I don’t know why you are so jumpy.”

“I am not jumpy. I am just. . .” She sighed. “I had a lot of coffee today, ok.

It helps with the nerves of working at Fredricks Fancy.” She rubbed her shoulders. “You have no idea what I have to put up with there.” She looked at the box in Callen’s hand. “Is that the giantess’s blood?”

Callen nodded his head. “Yes. Like I promised.” He held it out. “Here so you can study it and help Lendord.” He blinked his eyes as she stood there and scratched at her arm. “Karren?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

Armed figures suddenly appeared out of the forest and aimed their weapons at Callen. Karren sighed and looked at Callen. “Hand over the crate. Before anything happens that you regret.”

Callen looked down at the box and opened it. “Why don’t I do you one better and just hand you the vial of blood?” He narrowed his eyes. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”

Karren sighed. “Callen. I don’t take pleasure in this. Please try and understand.” She held out her hand. “Now, hand it over.”

He looked at the vial of blood in his hand. “Ok.” He suddenly threw the vial at the ground, shattering it. “You are not getting your hand on this blood!” He cried out as the guns fired, sending electrical currents racing through his body. “Uugghg.” He fell to the ground. “You. . .”

Karren hugged herself and looked away. “I’m sorry. You should have just handed over the vial. It would have been simpler that way.” She looked directly at Sarah. “Take the giantess and her friend!”

Sarah gulped. “Carien. Run!”

Carien turned around as they were suddenly surrounded by Fredricks’s Fancy goons. Sarah tried to reach down to protect Carien, but cables wrapped around her arms. Carien gasped and turned her head. “Sarah! Are you alright?”

Sarah laughed. “Of course.” She pulled at the cables. “They are going to have to do much better than this old trick.” Electricity suddenly coursed through the cables, shocking Sarah and causing her to cry out. “Ahhhhh!”

“Sarah!” Strong arms wrapped around Carien. “Arugh, let go of me, you big bouffon.”

The broad-shoulder man punched her in the gut. “Why don’t you cram it.” He put a gag around her mouth and dragged her away.

Sarah’s eyes widened as she watched Carien being dragged off. Despite the electricity running through her system, she forced herself to kneel down and try and grab the man taking her beloved away from her.

“She is still trying to resist. Stop her!”

Another cable wrapped around her chest, and she gasped as the pain intensified. Sarah wobbled back and forth, her vision starting to blur as Carien vanished between the pine trees. “Noo.” She gripped her hands into fists. “Noo! I won’t let you take her from me!”

She pulled as hard as she could, ripping one of the steel cables right out of the vehicle that it was attached to. Sarah took a deep breath as some of the pain subsided. “Carien!”

“Bring her down now!”

Sarah took a few steps forward as more cables wrapped around her. She winced as blinding pain flooded her system. Yet despite it, all adrenaline pushed her forward. The Fredricks Fancy goons below cried out as she walked forward, trying to avoid being stepped on. “You won’t take the love of my life. Carien. . .” Her vision began to go dark. “Carien. . .”

She began to stumble back and forth. “Ugh, no. I have to. . I. . .” She suddenly fell backward, her vision going dark.”

***

Sarah slowly opened her eyes to a blinding light. “Ugh, my head.” She groaned and tried to move, lying flat on her chest but resigned to only lifting her head. “I feel like I have been run over by a truck.”

“Ahh, you are finally away.” Sarah gulped as she recognized the voice. “I was wondering if my associates had done too well of a job retrieving you.”

Sarah looked up, and as her vision came into focus, she saw Fredrick dressed in a slick suit. “You! You worthless slime!” She felt a surge of strength flood her system; she raised her arm to try and grab Fredrick. “I will . . .”

He held up his arm. “You will do no such thing. Observe.” A screen at the far end of the room flared to life, and Sarah could see both Carien and Callen tied to a chair back to back. “If I have learned, one thing is that I can’t control you, Sarah. Try as I might, you will find some way to overpower my men and me. So, what am I to do to get you to help me?” He turned around. “One day, it hit me. If I can’t make you help me, then I will just get some incentive so you will be inclined to help without trying to hurt anyone.”

“Carien. . .” Sarah looked at the bruises on her body. “What did you do to her?”

“Your little girlfriend put up a struggle. My men had to defend themselves.” Fredrick laughed. “If you want to see her and Callen returned to you safe and sound, then you have to finally help me.”

Sarah looked at him. “You are kidding.”

He shut the screen off. “I never kid. Sarah, you possess unique physiology. Such a gift should be shared with the world.” He held his hands in the air. “It will be wonderful.”

Sarah shook her head. “What I have been through is not a gift. Changing in size and shape. Why would you want to wish that on anyone?”

He crossed his arms. “So many people would find it fun. A sports drink that will enhance your speed by causing you to grow. Think of the money I could make.”

“You are sick!”

Fredrick laughed. “Come now. I want to share this with the world. At a price, of course. What is wrong with that?”

“You seriously can’t see what kind of chaos would happen if this happened to people in general?” Sarah narrowed her eyes. “It is bad enough having me grow to fifty feet tall every once in a while. We don’t need you selling products so every person on the street can become a giant or giantess because it fits their fancy.”

Fredrick turned around. “I didn’t come here for a lecture. I came here for your genetic code.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Well, you are getting it anyways. What about your son, Lendord.”

“How do you know about him?”

“Do you think after everything he has been through that he is going to want to come out into a world filled with people constantly changing in size due to the products you have engineered?”

Fredrick turned back and looked Sarah dead in the eyes. “I will use the information from your blood and genetic makeup to help my son. But how he feels afterward isn’t my concern.

This is my world that I am making, and he will like it. I don’t have time to be concerned with how he feels.” He looked at the ground. “In fact, I should thank him. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have been possible. He gave me the spark to go down this path. So, after I save him, I will have to thank him.” Fredrick laughed.

“You are sick.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I have had enough of this chat.” He snapped his fingers, and multiple white robbed figures walked into the room. “Time to see what secrets your body holds.” Sarah shivered as they walked towards her. “Remember. If you resist, I can’t promise your friend’s safety.”

Sarah looked at the ground and relaxed as tears formed in her eyes. “You are going to pay for this, Fredrick.”

He laughed. “Sure.” He watched as they extracted her blood. “Just remember. You are helping my business and the future happiness of your fellow man. This isn’t a bad thing, my dear.”

The robbed individuals walked over to Fredrick with vials of blood. “We are ready to do our tests.”

Fredrick smiled. “Good.” He looked up at Sarah. “Well, you have done your part. And I thank you.” He bowed. “Now I ask you just one more thing, and you can leave with your friends.”

Sarah looked up at him with a tear-stricken face. “What?”

Fredrick smiled. “As a gift for your generous gift of blood, I will allow you to see one of the test results.” He turned around. “I do pay my debts, you see. And I am sure you are wondering what makes you tick.”

Sarah looked at the ground. Yes, she was dying to know, especially now that she was stuck being a giantess. If anything in those results could tell her how to shrink down and have a normal life with Carien, she wanted to know.  But is it worth it letting that monster have my blood? She closed her eyes.  I. . . I hate this. Being put in this position. Tempted with answers I have sought for over a year now. But at the cost of giving up something horrible into the hands of a monster. All the while, the woman I love might get hurt if I try and stop it.  Another tear formed in the corner of her eye.  Why did I ever go to that damn festival? Why did I ever listen to Callen? None of this would have happened.

“Well? Do you want the report or not? I don’t see why this is such a hard decision?”

Sarah took a deep breath. “We all will be released after?”

“Of course. I have no further use for you.”

Sarah slowly nodded her head. “Then yes. As much as I hate myself for saying it, I want to know the test results.”

Fredrick turned around and pointed to one of the robbed individuals. “If you would do the honors. The rest of you. Take your samples to the other testing areas, and you know what to do.”

They all nodded their heads and walked off in separate directions. The woman Fredrick had pointed to walked to a table in the center of the room. “This shouldn’t take long.” She began to examine Sarah’s blood. “Let’s see here. Hmm, this is very interesting.” She gasped. “It is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is to say, at the very least remarkable.”

Fredrick crossed his arms. “Well, don’t leave us in suspense.”

The woman turned around. “Well, if I had to put it into words, her genetic structure seems to be rewriting itself. It is almost as if she was always destined to be the size that she is currently. . .” The woman rubbed her dark chin. “But something happened at birth to make sure that didn’t happen. Her genetic structure is very unstable.” She looked up at Sarah. “Tell me.

When did your changes start to happen?”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “When I tried Fredricks dam products.”

“Hmm. It’s an early theory, but Fredricks products seem to disrupt your mismatched genes, causing all of those strange events. After repeated exposure, things came more and more in line unti. . .” She slammed her hands together. “Bam. Your cells decided they wanted to stabilize.”

“What nonsense are you even talking about? I wasn’t meant to be a giantess. My family has been perfectly normal going back generations.”

The woman turned back and looked at the computer. “Well, from this, it looks like your cells are still a bit unstable. But they are becoming increasingly in line with your true self by the minute.” She looked at Sarah. “I think you will be at that size for the rest of your life.”

Sarah began to take short deep breaths. “I. . . stuck at this size.” She shook her head. “But what about other people who have changed in size due to Fredricks Fancy products or other things?”

The woman shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t answer that. We just have one sample to go off of at the moment. I know this is hard to believe—

“Hard to believe.” Sarah shook her head. “You are trying to tell me my body was fucked up before, and just now, I am starting to be normal. That being almost fifty feet tall is normal. What is wrong with you?” She took deep breaths. “This can’t be real.”

Fredrick looked at the woman in the lab coat. “That will be all, Catharine.” She bowed and walked out of the room. “As for you, Sarah, I am sorry for what comes next.”

“What are you talking about?” Gas started to fill the room. “I thought you said you didn’t need me anymore.”

He put on a gas mask. “I don’t. But I needed a safe way to transport you out of my facility.” Her eyes started to close as the gas began to take effect. “And I can’t exactly rely on you sticking to your word forever. Sweet dreams, my dear.”

***

Karren watched from the shadows as Catherine slid the vial of Sarah’s blood into a freezer. “I still can’t believe all of that. I can’t wait to do more tests.” Catherine stretched her arms and walked out of the room.

Karren looked to see if anyone else was around before she emerged. She then walked up to the freezer and reached for the vial. “Finally.” She smiled. “I have been waiting a long time for this. I will take Fredrick’s abuse no longer.”