The Purge - Chapter 13

The gang is discussing ways of dealing with Milena.

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Lennard broke the silence after their protracted discussion died down. "So now what?"

He looked around, taking in the faces of those gathered at the table or perched on top like he and his mother were.

No one said anything.

With a heavy sigh, Lennard plopped back onto the minuscule stool, which had been explicitly designed for the unfortunate ones and had shrunk to a mere two inches in height.

Sitting on a small stool next to her son, Melody gave him a quick smile. It was meant to be comforting, but it seemed forced. Lennard could see the worry in his mother's eyes, a familiar look he often had when he first shrank down to their size.

His mother had only been shrunken recently.

It was the expression of someone who was forced to come to terms with the fact that their previous life had ended, and they now had to navigate a new one where they were vulnerable and dependent on others.

Life was daunting at only two inches in size. Simple tasks, such as grabbing a drink from the fridge or using the microwave to warm a meal, were now only possible for Lennard and his mother to do with the help of his sisters.

Miley hesitated before suggesting, "How about we wait it out a while."

Despite their efforts to control their voices around him and their mother, Julie and Miley found it difficult to contain their emotions in the midst of such a dire situation. They were aware that their voices could be overwhelming to their shrunken brother and mother, but it was challenging to maintain control in the heat of the moment.

Lennard and their mother were on top of the kitchen table, while the gigantic torsos and faces surrounding it belonged to Julie, Miley, and Harper.

Lennard couldn't help but flinch as Harper's hand reached out to grab a can of Pepsi from the corner of his vision, a can that was as big as a house to him.

She tilted her head back and downed the last few sips, letting out a small burp. "Sorry."

Lennard noticed that Harper was only looking guilt-ridden at Julie and Miley, not at him or his shrunken mother.

It was clear to Lennard that Harper would not bother apologizing if it were just the two of them. And why should she?

"Wait it out until what?" Julie said. "Until I'm just as pitiful as Lennard and Mom?" Lennard and Melody shrank back as Julie's large finger pointed towards them, almost making contact. "Or worse, until I'm pathetic enough to live in Milena's city?"

"I would never allow that," Miley said, placing a reassuring hand on hers.

"You can live in mine," Harper mingled in.

Both Julie and Miley gave her a withering stare.

"What? It is well meant." Harper said.

Lennard shook his head and tilted it back to meet the defiant gaze of Harper, Miley's best friend and a young girl full of fire. He didn't understand why Miley insisted on bringing her to this meeting. This was supposed to be a family matter, one where they could work through the difficulties that plagued them as a unit. Lennard couldn't shake off his distrust for Harper.

He remembered clearly the moment he was discovered on the floor in the hallway by Harper, who promptly stuffed him into her pocket. If Harper had her way, and Milena wasn't paying enough attention to notice her tiny brother being put in Harper's pocket, Lennard would have easily been taken along with her. And knowing Harper, she probably wouldn't have told Miley about it either. What kind of best friend does that?

Despite her family's concerns, Miley had a deep bond with Harper, as they had been friends since kindergarten.

While Miley understood their worries, she also believed in thinking ahead.

With Miley and Julie working together, they were a powerful duo to take on Milena, but what if Julie did shrink?

It was undeniable that Miley had a fiery personality, but it was also a fact that Milena was physically stronger than her younger sister. In the case of a potential confrontation between the two sisters, Miley knew she would need backup. What she didn't reveal to them was that Harper's niece, the 21-year-old powerlifting champion Charlie, could potentially be on her side as well. Let Milena take her on if needed.

"I say that our priority right now should be figuring out how to bring back my husband and your father," Melody said. She stood up from her toy-sized chair resting on the table in an attempt to give more force to her words, even though she knew darn well that it would not make any difference to these girls.

No matter if she sat, laid on the floor, or stood on top of a ladder for all that matter, she would always remain a pipsqueak. That was a fact she still had to learn to live with. "The poor man is probably still stuck in one of his Milena's bra cups," Melody said with disgust.

The sound of a key wriggling in the doorlock startled everyone in the room. It could only mean one thing - Milena was coming home.

"Man, I thought she had swimming practice," Julie said.

Miley shrugged, "I guess it must have been canceled or something."

It was too late to make a quick escape, like this secret gathering, which was aimed at conspiring against Milena, never took place. So, instead, everyone pretended they were just casually hanging out in the kitchen as if nothing was amiss.

The sound of a door opening and closing filled the living room. Footsteps echoed in the space as someone entered. Lennard caught a glimpse of Milena removing her jacket and setting her bag on the floor through the partially opened door. She paused to stretch her back, but her movements froze when she spotted her sisters and a friend sitting at the kitchen table. She made her way over to them with a slow, lazy gait.

"Hi," Miley greeted her sister with an awkward wave.

Harper forced a smile while Julie looked away, uninterested in acknowledging her sister.

Milena wanted to open her mouth to say 'hello' in return but swallowed it when she noticed her shrunken brother and mother on the table. Suspicion crept into her narrowed eyes as she asked, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Why, about movies, of course!" Miley said in a not-so-convincing manner. "And, uh, candy!"

Milena cocked an eyebrow. "Candy? You were talking about candy?"

Miley was about to blurt out something absurd yet again, but she was spared from humiliation when Julie swooped in. "We were talking about you," Julie said, her piercing blue eyes fixed on her sister as she crossed her arms.

"Now that's is what I call blunt honesty!" Milena said. "You should know that a trait like that will be appreciated when living in my queendom."

"I'm never going to live in your queendom," Julie said.

"No, she's going to live in mine instead," Harper said but zipped her lips when she received a disapproving glance from both Julie and Miley.

Milena approached the table. "So, you're plotting against me, huh?"

Lennard and Melody were engulfed in darkness by Milena's imposing figure, who towered over them and cast a mighty shadow. Lennard couldn't help but feel that Milena was intentionally using her height to intimidate him and their mother. And it was definitely working. As Lennard's eyes traveled from Milena's bare thighs up to her exposed belly beneath a tight-fitting shirt all the way to her regal face towering above them, he couldn't help but gulp nervously. She really was frightening.

"Yes, we are. You've got a problem with it?" Julie said.

Milena and Julie locked eyes for a few tense moments until Milena finally broke into laughter. "Okay, do whatever you think is right while I take care of tomorrow's preparations."

"What's tomorrow?" Miley asked.

"Oh, don't you know? It's the day I officially become a Goddess. Although, I've always been one, haven't I?" Milena chuckled. "But now, I'll have half a million shrunken people at my beck and call, ready to serve my every desire."

"So you've passed the assessment?" Julie asked.

"Of course I did. Did you even have to ask?" Milena wanted to walk away, but her mother's voice stopped her in her tracks.

The freshly shrunken woman stood up from the chair and walked to the edge of the table, gazing at the towering figure of her teenage daughter. "How is your father?" she asked.

Milena looked over her shoulder. "Better than ever." That was all she offered before striding away.

"I say we rough her up." Harper broke the tense silence that lingered after Milena had stormed out of the room. She emphasized her statement by clenching her fist and slamming it into her palm with a loud clap.

Lennard would have probably laughed at such an audacious gesture from a skinny twelve-year-old in the past, but now that he was only two inches tall, her fist looked huge and intimidating compared to his frail figure.

He couldn't even imagine how gigantic her fist must appear to someone like his dad or a whole city of shrunken specks. He still remembered the way his father would bow down to this brat.

That's how easy it was for them to subjugate the shrunken people because of the adoration syndrome. The speck people would snap and automatically see them as Gods. While Lennard was intimidated by her size, he could not imagine seeing this brat as a Goddess and serving her every trivial whim.

"That sounds actually like an excellent idea." Julie rubbed her hands together, nodding in agreement.

She looked around at Miley and Harper.

Despite being older and taller, Milena was only slightly stronger than Julie, as proven during their catfight last spring over borrowed clothing. With Miley and Harper joining the fray, they would definitely have the upper hand, allowing them to smack that pretty smug of Milena's face.

Miley's face twisted in hesitation at the proposed plan.

"Yeah, we can gang up on her right now if we want," Harper added, already scanning the kitchen for potential weapons.

"No!" Melody's small voice cut through the tension, drawing everyone's attention.

"I don't want to see my own daughters fighting each other. We also can't underestimate Milena; we don't know what she might do when provoked. Most importantly, I refuse to put Dad in harm's way. We need to approach this situation with intelligence and caution."

"What do you suggest?" Julie's face soared closer to her mother's tiny figure on the table.

Melody sighed. "I don't know yet. Give me some time to think about it. In the meantime, call my sister."