Year Zero: Another Version of the Truth Chapter 6-10 (Patreon)

Chapter 6

After calming down, Taylor had to go home with Yvonne anyway.  He could see that everyone thought he was a little girl.  There wasn't any convincing them.  The only person who could end this nightmare and who knew he was really an adult was Yvonne.  Going home with her was his only choice.

Yvonne took Taylor by the hand and led him home as she would with a young child.

When they were alone.  Taylor asked her, "How long is this going to last?"

"We'll see," was her cryptic answer.

Back at home, Taylor asked Yvonne, "Now what?"

"Well, it's way past the bedtime for young girls.  So you should brush your teeth and your hair and get ready for bed.  You are sleeping in the spare bedroom.  I'm afraid it's not appropriately decorated, but it soon will be."  Yvonne meant it wasn't decorated for a little girl, but she had plans to convert it to something a little girl would love.

"I"m not a young girl," Taylor stated.

"Everyone else thinks your a girl.  That's good enough for me."

"What about my job?"

"Don't worry about that.  I suspect you are already fired."

"Why?"

"Well, there is that missing money.  They think you stole it."

"I didn't take anything."

"Just like everyone knows your a little girl, the people at work know you stole that money.  Police will probably be here tomorrow or the next day."

"You're going to have me arrested?"

"My little niece?  Never.  But my missing husband, they can't arrest him if they can't find him.  I'll tell them you left me and I don't know where you went.  I'll tell everyone that."

"You're diabolical."

"Hey, you're the cheater."

"I told you, I haven't cheated on you.  I swear."

"I know that said that before.  But get ready for bed.  We have a big day tomorrow."

Chapter 7

Arguing was pointless.  Taylor walked briskly to the bathroom, presumably to get ready for bed.  But he just wanted to think.  His world was turned upside-down.  He needed to think of something.  To come up with a plan.

The truth is, he needed a smoke.  He could use a drink too, but neither of those things was available to him.  Regardless, he did what he usually did before bed, he brushed his teeth, washed his face a little, and then took off his clothes, leaving him in only a t-shirt and underwear, and got into bed.

He tried to turn on the TV, but it wouldn't work.

"Hey, what's wrong with the TV?"

"It's past your bedtime, it won't work after eight," Yvonne informed him.

"Then what will I do?"

"Go to bed."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Want me to read you a bedtime story."

"No!"

"Then goodnight."

Yvonne turned off the light and close the door leaving it ajar.

Taylor didn't go to sleep, he concentrated on coming up with a plan.

Chapter 8

A few hours later, Taylor got out of bed.  He went to the kitchen and got a knife, then he snuck into the master bedroom where Yvonne was.  He put the knife to her neck.

"YOU HAD BETTER SWAP ME BACK OR ELSE!" Taylor remanded.

"Swap you back?  You are the one who said you haven't changed."

"You know what I mean."

"Oh.  I'm not going to do it.  What are you going to do with that knife?"

""I'll kill you.  It's self-defense."

"Oh?  Assuming you could do it, you'll tell them what?  They will still all think you're a little girl.  How will that work out for you?  You'll be a little girl with a wild story who had murdered her aunt.  Doesn't sound like things will go well for you.  I wonder if they'll put you in a foster home or in an asylum."

Yvonne paused for Taylor's reaction.  When he didn't say anything.

"How about this, if you kill me, they won't see you like an eight-year-old anymore.  You'll be seen as a three-year-old instead.  Then they can't blame you.  Of course, without me helping you, you'll stay that way.  Imagine that, being stuck as a three-year-old forever.  Even year it'll be your third birthday again and you'll have to start from scratch.  One day you have completed potty training and are in big girl undies and the next back to pull-ups or diapers as they expect you to learn again.  Is that what you want?"

It was all a bluff anyway.  Taylor knew he couldn't kill Yvonne.  He wasn't that type of man.

He backed off and returned to his room.

"Taylor, but that knife away where you found it!" Yvonne shouted.

Defeated, Taylor returned to his room.  It was all pretty much a bluff.  He wasn't a killer at heart.  Yvonne didn't scare.  Taylor had never been violent.  If she didn't give in to his demands, what could he do?  If she was injured or dead then he would not only be stuck as he was, but he would be in trouble too.  No one would believe what she had done to him.  He was having a hard time himself.

Chapter 9

The next morning, Taylor found Yvonne in the kitchen.

"Have you brushed your teeth?" Yvonne asked.

"We have more to discuss than that."  Taylor had brushed his teeth.  He did that regularly from when he was really an eight-year-old.

"Like what?"

"Like what's going on here."

"You know exactly what is going on."

"It's not possible"

"If you say so.  But everyone thinks you look like a little girl and there isn't anything you can do about it."

"Even if I admit my affair?"

"No, it's too late for that."

"What do you want from me?"

"Just that you accept your punishment.  But if you don't it doesn't matter."

"How did you do it?"

"Does it really matter?"

"I'll figure out a way out of this.  I'll convince them.  I really don't look like a child."

"Never said you did.  Just that people think you are a child."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Maybe you should see how you look to people."

"OK."

Yvonne took out her phone and took a selfie of Taylor.  "Here look at yourself."

Taylor took the phone.  He expected to see his image transformed to that of a little girl, but it hadn't.  It was his picture. Everything was the same.  But that didn't matter, if he would describe himself the first thing he would say was that he was a little girl, definitely under ten.  He couldn't determine the age exactly, but old enough to be in school, but nowhere near being a teen.

If he was asked to describe his features, he would say, he was tall close to six feet and 190 or 200 pounds, had brown hair, brown eyes, slight stubble on his face, and a hundred other details.   But despite all that, his mind insisted that he was looking at a little girl.

He knew he wasn't a little girl.  He knew this was what he was supposed to look like.  But that didn't change the fact that he was sure he was looking at the picture of a little girl.  He was amazed.

Yvonne saw the look on Taylor's face.  "How will you convince them you are a man when they see you like that and everything within them says, that's a little girl.  But it isn't just how you look, it's the same with how people think you sound and any other senses they use.  Not that people will go around tasting or smelling you of course.  Yvonne smiled at her joke.

People could hear your deep voice over the phone and know immediately that you're a child.  If you try and make your voice sound deeper, people will believe it's the voice of a little girl who is trying to sound older.  Just like an eight-year-old could never fool an adult, you won't be able to either."

"How long will this last?"

"For as long as I want. Last night didn't help your case.  You will have to be punished."

Chapter 10

"I put a knife to your throat, what punishment goes with that?"

"How about a nice haircut?  I think we should style your hair better." Yvonne said brightly.

"Everyone already thinks I look like a girl."

"Well, let's give you a pretty hairstyle to match.  But first, go and brush your teeth.  Your breakfast will be waiting for you after you're done."

Being a girl or not, Taylor still had to brush his teeth and take a shower in the morning.  Yvonne laid out his clothes.  His clothes hadn't changed.  Taylor looked at the garments provided by Yvonne.  "Should I wear these?" he thought.  They were his clothing: jeans and a shirt.  There wasn't anything wrong or particularly feminine or juvenile about them.  He could have selected other apparel if he wanted, but at this point, he didn't want to antagonize Yvonne further.

Breakfast consisted of sugary cereal with milk and juice.  Taylor wasn't allowed any coffee.  Nor was he allowed to cook anything on the stove for himself.  He could make his own toast if he wanted to though or microwave an instant breakfast if he wanted.

"Come on, time to get your hair cut," Yvonne announced.

Taylor didn't want to bring things to a head at this point.  He still needed time to think.  Yesterday's plans didn't work out so well.  He would have to take his time to discover the 'rules of the game' and how to defeat them.   He couldn't, as the cop put it, 'run away from home' again.  That wouldn't work any better in the day than it would last night.  Threatening Yvonne wouldn't work either.  She held all the cards.  He couldn't hurt her, he needed her to return to a normal life.

Prev Page    Next Page