AUTHOR'S NOTE: The cover was generously made by MariusWales on DeviantArt. All thanks goes to him for that!

Living life goes by every person's goggles to how they picture it. Whether one has the desire to accomplish their dreams could be reformed to imaginations only depending on the lenses. Ovals, squares, not one kept a stable form. Time and experience warp the colors and shapes to sights never before seen by the wearers, and actions speak to the newly formed beings endlessly. Mind, body, and spirit adapt different, all up to the eyes peeking through the lenses. Nobody could completely understand as the goggles only fit perfectly over the ones they were made for, not once would they know sights to the original wearer. Everyone had a pair fit for only them, and they wore them every day.

Being an exchange student really modifies the perspectives of the world around you.

In terms of being a kid, Marius was rather tame. He had a good family with a mother and father that cared for him and a decent sized house to boot. The small town he lived in was nearly perfect for someone of his age, not too much going on but not too little either, leaving him with much free time on his hands. There was collecting various trading cards to playing near the town's playground, there was no shortage of activities for the ten year old. He especially liked a certain kid with a lisp that tended to hang around the swing sets, he made him laugh when they met up. He often lost track of the time when the sun took its cozy nap, a problem that often made him cross paths with the rock solid trolls on occasion. The common fact around town was to not bother them if they came near, then hopefully they don't bother you back, which provided nothing more than window dressing so others won't panic. This meant there were a couple of times where Marius had to run for his life from an angry troll which weren't pleasant experiences. Still, he had it easy with his life in the small town like any good kid would.

Too bad his parents had other plans.

Education was what Marius majorly lacked in, and his parents weren't pleased in that category. Contributing factors were failing grades, shaky homework assignments, and incomplete projects among others. It wasn't always his fault according to his parents, as some class assignments sounded like topics one would find higher up in middle schools. While he was on the verge of getting into middle school, just to be on the safe side they made him part of an exchange program to put him in another school out of town for a grade until that particular school year ended, something he wasn't too keen on but his parents insisted. This consequently meant he had to move in with a couple specialized in handling young kids that took part in the program, with Marius not being their first, and they lived all the way in the east in a city called Trolberg. This was nearly devastating to hear; his town, his friends, his parents, all of it would be in his memories until half a year later. He had no choice in the matter, his parents held all of the power and what they said goes. Tears dripped down his eyes in the days leading up to the big move, he couldn't handle it.

He sat in the back of the bus on the big day, suitcases stacked of his clothes and all of the other objects he wanted to bring with him, remaining silent the entire duration of the trip. He couldn't believe his parents would willingly throw him away to parts unknown. They gave their goodbyes before he left, but the emotional scars were already there. He forced himself to hold back tears until he arrived in Trolberg, even the thoughts of his parents were saddening in his young eyes, so he wouldn't set an example to the others in their seats. An old crusty man with a twitchy eye sat in front of him after all, and he didn't want the unwanted attention.

When the gates opened, the bus set its wheels into the city of Trolberg. Marius glanced out of the windows to see his new temporary home, and he would be lying to say that he wasn't impressed. Dozens of buildings at various sizes, people walking down the sidewalks, the plants on each of the windowsills; it was nothing like his small town. There were even some groups of kids at one points playing hopscotch on a sidewalk near an intersection, which got him smiling a little to see others so happy and carefree. He wished he could be like them, up in spirits instead of depressing gloom, as much as a kid could be. Too bad he was driven to this city by parents not thinking how he would feel. The bus turned left at an intersection as other cars steered clear around it, showing more of the decorative houses crowding the streets. From old ladies to young boys, they were everywhere as the bus drove through the streets. He swore he saw a kid wave at him, but he was a bit too miserable to pay attention. They had no idea what he was going through.

The street where his new home was inevitably came up, and at first glance it didn't appear to be anything special. It had a robust red color on the outside and a few windows with flowers along the sills, which would have impressed him if the other houses didn't blend in with it. It took a little while to get every suitcase out of the bus, but once it happened the bus drove away. It drew the attention of his new parents who helped to get his belongings into the house, who seemed friendly at first. Clearly they knew how these sort of procedures worked out considering they were a couple meant to look over transferred kids. The young boy shook and shivered, he didn't know how to act to some new strangers, but he was going to have to get used to them until the school year ended.

The next couple of days consisted of Marius getting used to his new abode, especially his new bedroom. Not too big and not too small either, while the bed was big enough to support him and his awkward night tendencies. He didn't want to think too much on those and focus more on the house, while especially getting to know the couple looking out for him. They were okay in his eyes, not overbearingly mean but with a sense of care and happiness, although they couldn't compare to his real parents. The wife even had a nice knack for cooking, making sure each meal didn't taste like sandpaper. The place didn't have a wave of inequity and felt up to standard with homes Marius was used to seeing, which brought somewhat of a relief to his sorrowful situation.

The days went by until the third when it was time for Marius to get to his new school. The couple drove him in their own car for support on his first day, while also giving him another look at the neighborhood around him. The observations from when he was in the bus mirrored back to his sight, nothing too special in the short drive. Once the couple set their car in the parking lot Marius took a deep breath before pushing open the car door. The certainty of socialization teetered left and right as his new life in Trolberg truly begun.

"Okay then, we'll pick you up at three when the bell rings. Are you alright with that?" the husband asked.

"Ummm, that would be nice." Marius answered with a bit of a stutter.

"You're going to be okay Marius, the students attending here are very friendly to everyone. I'm certain someone will be friends with you." the wife said. "Have a good first day, honey!"

She closed the door behind her before the two back the car up and drove off. They weren't his real parents, but they sure acted like it. Marius gazed down at his attire for the day just in case he missed anything, he could be pretty forgetful at times after all. White sneakers with socks to match checked out as well as his navy blue pants, and his gray shirt with a decal of the city's Great Raven stuck out nicely. His new parents picked the shirt out so he would fit in better with the other kids, and he had to admit it had a really cool outlook. He was told tales about the annual festival that honored the legendary bird, and even if he never attended one it was a surprise to know such an amazing sight came to the city every year. If given the chance he would love to see the Great Raven for himself, although it sounded far fetched for a being like that to single him out over everyone else. Even so, he wanted to see it.

He pulled out a personal mirror from his pocket to better see his face, even if he didn't usually carry one. First impressions can detail someone in a heartbeat, at least that's what his true parents told him, so while he didn't care much on how he looked for today he wanted to at least appear like a good person. The Caucasian white reflected into his blue eyes beautifully while his black normal styled hair moved through the slight breeze. He chuckled upon seeing himself, he really had the appearance of a pure young boy as his dad would say. He was always getting the notion from adults that he had the face of an infant, and while he didn't agree with the complement it was funny to be reminded. He personally thought he looked normal to other kids around him, and it was that idea he was banking on to blend in with everyone. If he was lucky he could make some new friends in the process, but for now he wanted to lay low and let things sink around him. It was only his first day after all, he didn't need to cram ideas into his head for now.

Everything now in check, it was now time for his first day. He kept his presence known to a minimum as he walked through the front door with the rest of the students. The classroom he was meant to be in was a few turns to the right of the front doors, nothing too complex. He came upon it rather quickly and watched as the students headed inside. His chest clamped as he slowly made his way inside, catching the eyes of some kids sitting in their seats. If he gave them his attention he didn't want to find out what they thought of him, especially since he never set foot in the school until now, but with all of the seats taken a loose spotlight kept a shine over his head.

He almost jumped up feeling someone across his back, making some onlookers giggle under their breath. His head swiftly turned only to see the teacher gazing at him. He had insight into the school from the couple caring for him in the few days leading up to today, and she appeared to be just like the pictures: a middle aged woman with brown hair and a nice attitude to match.

"You must be the new exchange student. I was informed you were coming today."

"Err, yeah, that's me. I'm, umm, Marius."

"Ah, that's a good name. Why don't you stand right here and let me introduce you to the class?"

He didn't respond back with words, but he sluggishly nodded in agreement. Butterflies flew swarms in his stomach, a common feeling for a first day. The confrontation was soon followed up with the teacher walking behind her desk before doing roll call of the students. None were absent, which left only Marius' introduction before the schedule could start. This put him in the spotlight again as he stood in front of the class and explained a bit about himself. Some of the butterflies cleared up when he got some words off of his chest, and the students were generally intrigued by someone very unique. This didn't mean he would get off easy with assignments, he was just as capable as everyone else.

He pulled out a desk in the back next to a couple of boys and girls and sat there for today's lesson.

The day continued normally in school until the midday lunch period. Marius packed a sandwich filled with lunch meat and mayonnaise along with some grape juice that his new mother made earlier. He heard that she worked as a waitress as her main job, so he wasn't too surprised that she had a specialty in making food. The tables in the cafeteria were long enough for dozens of students to sit at each, so it wasn't difficult to find a decent spot. He pulled a chair out and set himself on it comfortably before getting his lunch bag out. No worries for now, just a time to relax and wonder what will be coming up next.

…at least that would be the case if he was the only one at the table. Marius soon found himself sitting next to a stout chubby kid with a big nose, and he was just as relaxed to get out of class. While he was nervous earlier, he appreciated the extra company when there wasn't too many others around him. The kid appeared to be content with him being here, as he pulled out a lunch bag of his own and picked out a shiny red apple inside. Marius stayed quiet at first, getting in a couple of bites into his sandwich, and he contemplated how his day was going.

"So you're the new exchange student right?"

His train of thought was interrupted by the chubby kid speaking to him. It was a kind gesture for him to hear, especially since he wasn't sure if he would be noticed, but he didn't want to be rude and pass the opportunity to make friends in the new city.

"Ummm, yeah, I am." Marius answered. "I just arrived here a few days ago."

"Whoa, really? That's crazy considering you just came to this school." the kid said.

"Well, it's not a bad thing. It could be much worse." Marius said. He drank a bit of his juice as the other kid gave his two cents.

"True, that's very true. You do know that this city has crazy incidents under the hood as well?"

"It's kind of hard to forget. I was informed before I came here."

"Ah, you did your research. I shouldn't be too surprised, it is pretty common knowledge I guess."

The two boys continued with their conversations while finishing their lunches, making Marius feel more welcome to Trolberg than he initially thought. The people were nice and willing to get together, something that felt like home to him. It was a bigger community, but there was happiness under the rug to the ones searching for it. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing staying for an entire school year in this particular city, for everyone else adapted so he should as well. He kept the reminders in his head until he got back to his temporary home; his new life was going to start.

He was almost done with his sandwich as he scanned the cafeteria to see everyone crowding around the tables. Not everyone was in the same grade, but they seemed to compensate for each other nicely with no roughhousing or foul play. The community kept close and calm, a soothing waft to ease the nerves and keep others happy. He felt good as his eyes were curious of everyone until they set on three young kids, two girls and one boy, and he couldn't help but keep stuck to them. They seemed to socialize nicely, something he lacked in certain areas, and they each had unique appearances.

"Hey…who are those three?" Marius asked. The chubby kid took another bite from his apple before speaking up.

"Oh, them? They're a young group of friends that attend the Sparrow Scout program. They have their own agendas on occasion, not sure why, but I don't want to find out."

"Really? How so? They look fine to me."

"Looks can be deceiving, and in this city nearly anything is possible."

The kid instructed Marius to the one boy of the three at the table.

"That's David, the shy and skittish one. He opens up if you give him the chance, a nice guy once you get to know him. It may seem a bit weird considering he's the only boy of the three, but the two girls treat him nicely and give him the courage to move forward. He's also know to have bugs on his body from time to time, almost like he slathers himself in honey, which tends to get noticed at points. I once heard they found a large rhino beetle on his back, freaking everyone out in the room!"

"Sheesh, aren't those hard to find? How could a rare beetle like that find itself there?"

"No one knows, all I know is that it apparently happened. Don't bring it up when he's around, it wasn't a proud moment."

Marius silently nodded before the kid instructed to the dark skinned girl with matching black hair.

"She's Frida, the know it all and perfectionist. The kid practically follows everything by the book to a T, never leaving one stray instruction out of the picture. She strives to make sure everything goes to plan and thinks thoroughly before acting. She won't take anything under one hundred percent, but it's kept somewhat in check by her friends. I can't stand to think on how to keep my sanity if I went by the same rules. I would probably be screaming in my pillow on a daily basis just to get the pressure out."

"Ummm…okay." Marius replied with a bit of confusion. He was last directed to the girl with the blue hair and friendly smile.

He cocked his eyebrow at the anomaly, but decided to not bring it up.

"And who's that one? She looks nice."

"Oh her? That's Hilda, pretty much the bold and brash one. She moved here from the wilderness and has been adjusting to the life around here while going to every single strange occurrence to see for herself. I've heard she can get a bit crazy at times, such as speaking to herself and exclaiming outbursts in the classroom, so I would be pretty cautious around her. She's energetic, I'll give her that, but I wouldn't want to know what goes through her head every day."

"Ooh, that sounds rough." Marius replied. Looking at her again, none of the attributes the kid explained rubbed off on him. She didn't have the appearance of a gruff woods person, just a young girl with a knack for seeing everything in her own eyes. In some ways she reminded him of what he was going through, they both moved to Trolberg for reasons only known to them and thought things differently, although she did look younger than him. If what he heard was true, she must have seen more of the city's strangeness than most of the common people around here, which would be fascinating experiences to the ones following her, although the kid could just be lying through his teeth and getting his brain working for nothing. Whatever the case, it was a deep thought.

The bell rang through the halls indicating the period was over. Marius thankfully finished most of his lunch even with the chitchat, so he put the remainders into his brown bag and prepared to throw it away. The kid next to him proceeded with the same ordeal.

"Well, thanks for the insight. It's nice to get information when you just moved here."

"Heh, no problem! Everyone needs some assistance every now and then, and you sound like a nice guy under the hood. Feel free to hit me up…I realized I never got your name."

"It's Marius."

"Well it was nice to meet you Marius. I'm Nigel, so feel free to call on me when you need to."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The boys parted ways as they threw their lunch bags into the trash. He saw Hilda and the others follow through the doors before him, probably to their own classes, but Marius' class was in a different direction so he headed that way instead.

The rest of the day stayed pretty average even after school. Marius had History homework which was due in a day, so he had to stick a pin in it until later, but other than that he was free to do whatever. He would have gone out if he still didn't have some extra clothes and belongings to unpack, so he made that a priority before anything else. For dinner, his new mother whipped up a bowl of noodles mixed with cheese where he didn't waste any time to dig into. He tasted great meals before, but what he tasted from her screamed to the heavens. His new dad even commented positively on her cooking, which caused her to slightly blush. She wasn't a chef, but she could easily pass off for one with dedication.

All days come to an end however, and when the sun took its nap the stars come out to play. He thought the day went pretty well for his first time in school, even making a new friend in the process. Everything started with the first step, and Marius passed his swimmingly despite the incredible nervousness. His bed kept nice and tidy for his good night sleep, no doubt thanks to his new mother, with not a single wrinkle in the blanket.

He appreciated the attention to the small details.

"You did well Marius, a great start to your second life." Marius said to himself as his eyelids drooped. He echoed one large yawn before getting into his bed and under the covers. Once he set his head against the pillow he drifted off to sleep.

Halfway through the night the confines of his head clamped together into a stricken migraine. The pain woke him up as he sat up in his bed and rubbed his forehead. He felt no extra heat so he didn't catch something, could have been the stress of his first school day. He didn't feel a chill in his room this terribly before, like it was the middle of winter, so he got up out of his bed to see if he left the window open. Oddly, it was closed tight. His mind was too drowsy to think on it, he would just have to deal with the cold for tonight, so he turned back around to get back in bed.

He wasn't a bodybuilder, but the instant he set foot in it the bed split down the center and collapsed.

"What the…" Marius said. There it was, his only bed wrecked to shambles, giving him nowhere to sleep. Did the house have termites that the couple refused to tell him? Whatever just happened, he was going to have to wake them up and tell them the bad news. It wouldn't go down nicely, but it was frigid in his room and he had nothing but the floor. He shook his head with disappointment as he walked over to his bedroom door. He turned the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge so he tried pulling. Again, it failed on him. He began to panic as he pulled at the door again and again, each time with no results. Out of options, he put his fists against the surface and pounded against it. He got an answer this time, but not what he expected. For some reason the door tilted back and forth like a domino before it leaned forward. He had a split second to react as the door fell toward the ground, making him dive out of the way as the door hit the floorboards and shattered to a million pieces. Where the door was however, showed nothing but a wall, no large hole at all. He started to freak out, this had to be a sick joke.

"Did you seriously think I was crazy?"

Marius zipped around before he could comprehend the shattered door and stared face to face with the blue haired girl he saw back at school, not looking happy. For some reason she stood at the same height as him, although he recalled her being a bit shorter on account of their different ages, and her eyes glowed an eerie sickly green. He didn't know how she got into his room at this time of night, especially with his room falling apart before him, and he was already freaking out.

She said it again.

"Answer me! Did you think I was crazy back at school?"

"Er, ummmm, not exactly…you seemed like a nice-"

"You're utterly lying to me, it's written all over your face!" Hilda interrupted. She immediately pinned him against the wall and held him tightly, making Marius more worried than ever.

"I don't take kindly to others talking insults behind my back, you don't deserve to stay in this city when I'm here! I'm going to put you in your place so you NEVER COME BACK."

"No, please, I didn't mean it like that! I've never seen you before and met you up close, so how was I supposed to know that my assumptions were wrong?! I don't deserve this, please!"

Hilda bashed him against the wall for a second time.

"You're too late with that, it's over for you. Your suffering will be my joy…"

Marius cried out as Hilda tightened her grip with a wicked smile. His breath escaped him, this would be his funeral and nobody would know who killed him. He prepared for the worst, but he was met with a more horrifying sight. Hilda's pupils shrunk before him until her eyes were nothing but white voids, he mouth suddenly going limp as drool dripped down. The blank color of her eyes dipped darker and darker until they were pitch black, and then a torrent of monstrous bile erupted from her maw straight at Marius. Despite her corpse outlook, her grip still kept him in place as the boy was covered in head to toe in puke, too scared for his life to say anything. His room around him slowly deteriorated like a liquid mass melting, the floorboards and ruins of his bed liquefying down to his feet.

Hilda's lifeless husk emitted a voice that could only be described as from heaven's flip side.

"YOU…ARE…MINE."

As the words escaped her dead lips, Hilda's body slowly started to melt away dragging Marius with her. Even with the liquefying body before him, the grip on him was too strong to break out, and when Hilda formed into nothing but a formless puddle the helpless kid was dragged into it. No matter how much he tried to pull out, the goop sucked him in. His sight was filled with darkness all around as deep laughter echoed through his eardrums, something inhuman with a dark sense of endless pain. The black of nothing lit up with a ring of fire around him, catching his feet in sizzling burns, when bright green eyes glowed near the front. Marius' feet burned greater making him yelp and cry before it materialized into bright fervent lava with cinders filling the air. His bottom half was soon replaced by charred bones as the fiery encompass kept devouring his abdomen with him screaming overhead. The green eyes drew in closer with more dark laughter, the lava nearly up to his shoulders.

Then it drew in too close.

How his body concluded on such an act was beyond him, but it happened. His eyes were closed from the intense fear as one big whoosh sound filled his hearing followed by a loud yelp in a completely different voice. The noise got him to pry his eyelids open, with the expectation that he got consumed and his life ended. Those were slapped down as the sights settled to familiar territory. His heart raced as his body dripped with nervous sweat all over, nothing more but the illusions of sleep. For once he felt a blanket of relief as he slowed his breathing to try and calm down, for he was safe while nothing bad actually happened.

Too bad it just started.

Something wriggled next to the bedroom door in one of the corners. It took a moment for it to get on its feet and come into view before him. He was shocked to see it immediately take flight and zip up to him, showing itself in full. There was no monster, instead the figure of a middle aged girl that appeared to be a teenager, and she sported the same bright green eyes he saw in his dream although he could see her pupils under the glow. Her hair was distinctly white with a pinch of peach and had two long pigtails on both the left and right side, but they stuck upward and flowed in the air for some reason. A pink scarf surrounded her neck to complement her dark brown shirt, although it appeared to be a bit bigger than she could handle as the long sleeves kept her hands hidden. The socks covering her legs were pretty long and also sported pink, but her sneakers had a light brown coloring instead. There was a sense of normality to the unwelcome teenager, but the fact that she had some obvious unnatural traits indicated that she wasn't what she seemed.

The teenage girl gritted her teeth and pointed her green glowing eyes straight at Marius.

"So is this how you treat all girls you meet?! I'm more than just someone innocent you know and you would be stupid to think I would just brush this off!"

Her voice had an echoing undertone to it as she stared at him with a lethal sting. As worried as Marius was, one look at her face told him everything. Right in the middle of her face on her forehead was one of the biggest red marks he had ever seen. To think that came from him sounded unheard of, but from the noises he heard earlier there was no other plausibility.

She floated up to his nervous face with one of the meanest glares possible.

"Well, speak up you loser! What do you have to say for putting a fist into my face?! ANSWER ME!"

"I…I'm really sorry!" Marius stuttered. "I was having a nightmare and I kind of have a tendency to act out in my-"

"Don't tell me things that I already know!" the girl interjected. "I was enjoying seeing you cower to everything I put in that hollow head of yours, and what do I get? A SWIFT PUNCH TO THE FACE!"

"What…so you were the one…giving me that nightmare?" Marius stuttered. Of all the weird happenings to occur in Trolberg, the first he had to come across was something that could inflict terrible dreams and nightmares, a spot on the roulette he would never go for. To think it took the appearance of a teenage girl made it even more creepy than usual, he couldn't trust anything these days at this rate.

"Well, DUUUUHH, of course it was me!" the girl replied with a sarcastic undertone. "Kids that first move in to this city have some of the best fears to work with, and you interested me the moment I saw your bus pull up."

Marius got even more terrified. Turns out she was watching him ever since he moved in earlier for the perfect nightly scare, but how she did so was beyond him. One small detail did pop up in his head as he recalled what happened during the last few days. There was a white dot in the corner of his eye near one of the streetlamps on the sidewalk he stepped on to reach his new home, but he never turned his head to get a better look since it appeared unimportant. Then as he was getting used to the house over the next couple of days he swore he saw the same white circle at the edge of his sight but didn't think much of it. For school however, the images were clear. As he was dropped off by the couple, he remembered seeing a particular teenage girl near the school gates leaning against it while looking in a makeup compact, and from what he remembered she had similar features to this mysterious girl. The smoking gun was during lunchtime though, for one of the girls in the cafeteria as he was scanning the area appeared distinctly taller while also gazing at herself in a makeup compact. The girl there had the very same features.

"Those moments…you were stalking me the whole time…"

"I just said that loser, you don't need to reiterate." the girl replied. "I did have to dig up some juicy tidbits about you, and from what I heard you were the perfect target…too bad that progress was RUINED by your grave mistake!"

She got up close to his face enough so that he could only see her bright green eyes.

"You better listen up moron, no one messes with a Marra like me. You may have got your lucky shot, but I always have the upper hand. The next time you fall asleep tomorrow I'll make you experience the grittiest and bloodiest nightmare that you will never wake up from just to pay you back for your cheap shot. GOT IT?!"

Marius wasted no time shaking his head up and down in agreement just so she would leave him alone. The girl, apparently a being called a Marra, still had the darkest of expressions as she kept her demon eyes locked to him while she floated to the door. She took her time to see him shiver and cower from the mere sight of her, which while she was still massively angry and vengeful she got a little bit of joy seeing someone scared for their life in her presence. She wasn't going to let an incident like this go by without dire recompenses, especially to a newcomer that didn't comprehend the "situations" of Trolberg yet.

For Marius, he thought he heard choirs of the angels seeing her go to the door. The last few moments were some of the most heated minutes of his life with one side clearly over the other. He wanted nothing more of the city's strangeness for now, since the Marra clearly stated her dominance over him and promised to make his new life worse. The quicker she left the sooner he could get back to bed and forget this ever happened.

She stopped at the door and prepared to make her exit, a relieving sight to the boy greatly affected by the nightly scare. Her head turned toward the door as she reached for the doorknob, with just a few turns for her to leave and for Marius to get back to sleep. He expected her to leave immediately considering how angry she was earlier only to see her suddenly stop and stand straight. It gave him shivering chills as the anticipation for her leaving was reaching the boiling point and eating him alive on the inside. He dared himself to stay silent until she made her leave, he didn't want any more trouble than what he was in now.

The Marra put her hand back down to the side and kept her back to Marius.

"…actually, I could go for something more amusing. It's a one time use, but you ticked me off to no end with a sock to my face…"

The darkness crept into his body again. They brought their amusement to the forefront as Marius could feel his heart stop. He wanted to believe that the suffering was over, he couldn't experience another wave of pain from a monstrous girl like the Marra. He kept feeding himself the happy thoughts for any sort of calmness to the fires igniting, but they were eliminated once the Marra turned her head back, revealing a darkly amused smile, before her entire body turned back to him.

She wasn't through with him.

Marius' body went into a panicked overdrive as the Marra creepily cracked her neck before getting on all fours and proceeding to crawl to him like a predatory spider. He wanted out, he wanted to get out and never come back to this. His head zipped back and forth for any sort of exit before making a break for the door past the Marra. He didn't get far as the Marra was one step ahead, quickly catching and pinning the helpless boy to the ground. No matter how hard he struggled, her taller teenager body kept hold of his under powered ten year old self with no issues at all.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm nowhere near finished with you yet…"

Her words leaked toxicity into his adrenaline filled body as she kept his body incapacitated.

"No, you already had your way with me, I learned my lesson! I don't need anymore, PLEASE LET ME GO!"

The Marra kept her phantom green eyes on him with a mean gaze.

"You're not going anywhere until you pay. I just so happen to know something special to make sure you understand the darkness of your action…and I'm going to enjoy seeing you squirm and cower to the perspectives!"

Something about those last few words irked Marius in a way he couldn't understand, but before he could think further the Marra planted her right hand over his forehead as the green of her eyes engulfed her pupils completely. Her body was still too much to push off as she started with an inaudible whisper before her voice turned up in volume, her words combining in a language he couldn't comprehend. He wanted to try and push her off again, but soon after her words came out his arms and legs went stiff in a deadly paralysis. His heart raced as he didn't know what was happening, only able to see the Marra's dark haunting face as she said words in some other language with her chilling voice, and then his felt his mouth start to foam like rabies. His skin went clammy, his face lost color, he had never experienced an underworld presence until she came in. Her words took up all of his hearing, unable to get them out of his head, but the final signs came up as an astounding shock. Before he even knew it his sight went dead, only seeing a bright light as the Marra's words kept coming, and his body started getting weird feelings. Being unable to see he didn't know what was happening to him, all he could do was feel it happen and it was painful. There were some undulations through his torso at first before it turned in on itself…and then the compression occurred. He wanted to scream, the feelings through his body spiked his pain in more ways than one, but the paralysis made him stagnant as he still couldn't see the damage being dealt. He could be getting crammed into a very tight crate with millions of splinters inside and he wouldn't know the difference. The Marra's haunting words, the bright lights, the endless paralysis, all senses were suffering over a terrible accident in the worst ways imaginable.

It lasted around a minute when suddenly…everything ceased. The pain stranglehold released the young boy as he felt his senses working again, although his eyes were closed from the bright lights. His lungs inhaled gasps of air, making him choke on his own breath a few times, but the operation finally ended.

"Open your eyes, I've finished."

The Marra's voice didn't change, but the volume was much louder than before. He cringed, for he didn't know what he just went through but he had to find out at some point. He would be prolonging the inevitable, so, with no other choice, he slowly creaked his eyes open.

He screamed to the skies above from the sight.

The Marra, the ghastly teenage girl who loved to inflict nightmares, had a face the size of a mountain. It appeared to be that at first, but after some readjusting he discovered that it wasn't just her face, her entire body was gigantic as well. That was when his head zipped back and forth everywhere, and when more familiar sights, like his bed, came into view the dreaded reality hit like a truck.

The Marra didn't grow, he was just incredibly tiny.

He fell to his back in complete fear and started to walk backward as the Marra's wicked joyous laughter rang through his ears. It couldn't be real, there was no way a heartless monster like the Marra had the power to do it and inflict a curse on him. He couldn't hold in the fact that he was reduced in size by a nightmare spirit, it had to be a bad dream.

Too bad that wasn't the case.

"Hahahahah, that reaction was SO priceless!" the Marra exclaimed. "Young kids are so easy to scare! Hahahahah!"

Marius was stone cold.

"What did you just-"

He immediately clamped his mouth shut, making the Marra laugh even more upon hearing him. The voice that came out wasn't his own, it was someone like him but on pumps of helium. To think that the curse inflicted had such side effect was the cherry on top to what the Marra put on him.

The nightmare spirit floated up close to the tiny boy, giving him a full view of her huge face, after her small laughing fit.

"Okay, now I'm really glad I put the spell on you! Not only are you the size of a bug, but you speak like one too! Hahahahah!"

Her cackling sounded completely insidious. She had no remorse for what she did, and Marius was at the center of all of it. He took another gaze around his now massive room, everything towering over him like mountain ranges, and just the sight of it was damaging. He couldn't do anything, he was crippled beyond recognition, and the one who inflicted it didn't care at all for his well being.

He curled up and buried his head into his knees, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Aww, did I just break your feelings? From hero to zero in one quick hex, I love seeing misery unfold before me. You're nothing, you're pathetic, you lost everything…and I want to see your worthless expression up close."

It didn't take millions of brain cells to know what she wanted to do next. Marius' head bolted up upon hearing her as the ghoul reached for him. He tried to make another run for it, but at his new size he wouldn't be going anywhere fast. He wouldn't get far until the Marra's titanic fingers coiled around his body and incapacitated him. Her grip kept him tight as only his head could be seen, his vision forced to the Marra's gigantic face.

"Look at you, so helpless and useless…your fate was sealed from the beginning. With one flip of the size switch I hold all of the power to end you in one simple action. Get used to being ant food, you deserve every single consequence coming your way."

"But…you already…got your revenge on me…" Marius squeaked from her grip. "I don't need…any more!"

The Marra held back her laughter hearing his new squeaky voice before she continued.

"Oh no my little bug, this is just the beginning. Your time with me has just started, so say goodbye to your normal life as you won't be seeing it…FOR A LONG TIME!"

The Marra cackled as she held him before some small green waves of aura disappeared behind her. Marius continued as worried and scared for his life, his life literally in the hands of the Marra, until he realized that she was pulling him into her long sleeved shirt. Trying to wiggle and break out didn't do anything, and before long his vision went black to the inside of her shirt.

The last thing he remembered was the Marra's insidious cackling ringing through his ears before he went limp.

Marius gasped for breath as he came to. His heart slowed from the panic attack earlier but he also had a large headache. He held his head as he recollected what happened, for him to ache from all over had to have been something deadly. The details started hazy, he moved in with a couple thanks to the exchange program, there was a few days of relaxation to get used to the city, his drive to school, a new friendship at lunchtime, and then concluding with a good night sleep. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the start of a new life in a big city.

The wires connected as his brain booted up.

His eyes shot open and his body bolted to life. There was the grave meetup with the nightmarish Marra, and she put a curse on him after he accidentally punched her in his sleep. Being reminded of the incident made his wake up call much worse, eventually making him back up until he hit something on his back. His body twirled around in an instant, and he was met with a large wall of brown in front of him. Upon closer inspection, it didn't appear to be a wall but felt wooden. Gazing upward gave him the answer; it was the biggest tree he had ever seen.

"What the…where the heck am I?!" Marius thought in slight panic. He turned at every corner to see his surroundings, desperate to determine where he ended up after last night. There was dirt for ground under him, but there was also long streaks of green sticking out around him, many longer than others. Wherever he was, it was no building.

He stayed close to the giant tree to be on the safe side, not knowing how he would survive this new place. He wasn't a survivalist, just a ten year old kid, and he wanted out. Too bad it wasn't long until he felt loud booms in the ground, sending him into the air for a quick moment each time. He cowered closer to the tree as if it was his guardian, something was coming and he was completely defenseless. However, as soon as it began, it stopped. It didn't make things any better for him, everything was out to get him and he didn't know what to do.

He slowly turned his head around left and right for anything suspicious, but it wasn't long until he turned to his right and locked eyes with a behemoth.

"…boo."

The young boy yelped and rushed behind the huge tree. Laughter echoed through his ears before he peeked around the corner scared out of his mind. His breathing came out erratically as he tried to process what visuals he was taking in.

He couldn't have been any unluckier to see the same Marra gaze at him with a mischievous smile, as titanic as she was last night.

She got herself closer to the ground for a greater scare when he saw her, much to her delight and joy. She still had the same outfit, the brown shoes and shirt along with the pink scarf and everything else, but her pigtails were now set back down and not floating along with the glowing green in her eyes not showing up. They were minor changes, but it was enough to make her appear like a normal teenager, although from Marius' perspective she had the height of a million colossi. She would even tower over the common forest giants from his angle, she was that huge.

Marius was too stunned and scared by her sheer scope that he didn't realize she was reaching down until her massive fingers wrapped around him. She held his tiny body up to her smug face with only the tiny boy's head sticking out as usual.

"No, no…this can't be real. I have to still be dreaming or-"

"Oh no my tiny captive, this is real all right." the Marra interjected while still having a smug smile. "I shrunk you down good and now we're going to have some VERY interesting fun together…considering you're only one centimeter big!"

Marius' heart skipped a beat. That was a measurement he never thought would come across his hearing when it came to size, and it was pretty rare where he came from. The common measures usually consisted of feet, yards, inches, and miles at certain times, but centimeters usually never came out. Being smaller than an inch meant that even one of the mythical elves of the forest would stand taller than him, with even the thought making him cringe. The Marra crippled him more than imaginable, he couldn't do anything at the size he was at.

"You…you made me smaller than everything…" Marius said in disbelief.

"That's what you get for messing with a Marra." the Marra answered. "Now get used to seeing a lot of forest, because that's where we hang out. Maybe another would like her hand on you…"

"No, no, I've already been handled by you, I don't need any more!" Marius retorted. He didn't need any more Marras to get tangled up in, and even then he couldn't trust anything anymore. One mistake from someone bigger could end him instantly, practically making him out of glass. At least the forest around him gave off a soothing wave of relaxation. The sea of leaves above them shrouded the sun from peeking through, a detail Marras may enjoy more than usual, while the trunks sat firm and tall. At some angles the trees appeared to be holding the torrents of green with their branches, iron clad and ready to tank anything. It was far from the truth, but it felt nice to think outside of the box every once in a while. The grass spread across the ground in a green ocean, reaching the gates to the city behind them. The attempts of their invasion gave Marius the sight that lowered his worry only ever so slightly, for over those gates easily had to be Trolberg. He weren't far from the city after all, but there was still his "little" issue he had to get through.

The Marra uttered a small laugh in her wicked way as she gazed at the shrunken boy in her grasp.

"Hahahah, just hearing you try to weasel your way out of this gets me! You're staying with me as small as you are until you learned your lesson! Now what should I have you go through first?"

She pulled up her other arm, with it still in her long sleeve, and used the tip of it to tap her chin as she looked up all innocent like she was truly thinking. Marius was still trapped and bound in her other, and he didn't like the feeling of what she expressed. It had a wave of cheesiness to it, but he was afraid to speak up on it or else she might give her something to bite back with.

"Hmmm, what to do with my new tiny toy…grind him against the trees, stick his head into the dirt, so many options…"

Marius started to sweat to those options until the Marra turned back to him with her snarky smile.

"Ah yes, now I know what to do. How does being at the other end of my shoe sound?"

"That's dangerous, I could die from that!" Marius replied. "I have a family and a whole life ahead of me! I DON'T DESERVE THIS!"

She went straight for the neck with her idea and it was grim for Marius. He could shatter all over the floor with one small poke and nobody would know, almost like getting stabbed and killed with an icicle during the hot season. It was true that he was sent to Trolberg temporarily for educational reasons, but he didn't get to truly start a new life in the city yet, and even then his parents still cared for him to put him through it. The Marra had no sense of humanity and would kill to get a point across in his eyes.

In some ways he wished he never spoke up in retaliation, for it could be used as ammunition for more suffering if she wanted, so he expected her to put him through something harmful to get the point across. That astonishingly never happened, as the boy witnessed her eyes open in full and her mouth going straight.

"You know what? You're completely right."

Marius' heart began to slow as his nervousness calmed down somewhat.

"R…really? You're actually listening to me?"

"I've been listening to you ever since I came across you, we have ears too you know, and it wasn't until now that I've come to understand your plights. Being so tiny must have put a lot on you, and I'm truly ashamed to have put you through it."

Were his ears feeding him sweet candy? She was actually going to let him go just like that? He couldn't believe what he was hearing, even after the torture he was put through last night. Maybe she did have feelings after all, she just needed to find them first. Either way, the news was music to his ears.

"Oh, wow…I can't believe it. You're going to let me go just like that?"

"You're as good as gone from me. Here, let me put you down."

The Marra got on her knees and set her hand against the ground so Marius could get off. His body stood shocked for a moment before it sprang back to life, walking off the Marra's hand and to the ground below. The streaks of grass around him covered the visuals ahead of him, but there was a glimmer in him that he could find his way back if diligent enough. The trees stood just as daunting as the grass, but on a higher scale as the appeared to reach the heavens from his angle. If he had a profession in exploring it would go by much quicker, but since he was only a young ten year old boy, a shrunken one to boot, the way back wouldn't go quietly. It wouldn't be a trip, but a trial.

He took one more look behind him to the towering Marra still gazing down at his near microscopic self.

"Go on, you have a life to get back to remember?"

He trembled in her wake, it was her fault in the first place that he was a centimeter tall. If she didn't get triggered by such an accident he would be waking up to get back to school and meet his new friend by now, but now he had to earn such a privilege or lose all of it. He left it to the side so the downsides wouldn't weigh him down, for being positive can entice people to move forward.

He took his first few strides forward and pushed a few blades of grass out of the way. Long trips start with the first steps and Marius had thousands of miles ahead of him, intimidating but required. Too bad those first steps would be the only ones he would take until he felt a large mass over his back, completely with a loud boom through his ears, sending him to the dirt below. The front of his body got a good mud bath, especially his completely covered face, as more pressure fell on him. He tried picking up his face, but whatever held him down made it nearly impossible to do so.

The offender gave off her familiar cackles.

"Hahahah, you actually fell for that act?! You have to be one of the most gullible people on the planet to think I would let you off that easily! You really are a stupid loser!"

His senses deceived him, she played him like he lacked a brain. He couldn't come to terms with himself that he actually fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, and for doing so the Marra got to put him at the bottom of her brown shoe like she wanted. It wasn't a light press either, she pressed down on his miniature body with a force of a truck, showing her merciless attitude. Marius couldn't even cry out with his body being squished into the dirt, it was very painful. He honestly thought she would end him right then and there, with him being nothing but a stain against one of her brown shoes, and he had no doubts that she would pull the trigger. Only ten years old and didn't get to see life unfold enough, he had it rough.

His body was on the brink of giving out when the pressure started to alleviate off him. He almost lost his breathing when the bottom of her shoe lifted off him, making him gasp for air and choke a couple of times. He wasn't completely crushed after all, but before he could comprehend what sort of mercy he got the Marra's giant fingers came forth and bound him once more. His body was too run over to even attempt to get away, with dirt and mud covering him everywhere to boot, and before long the Marra held him in front of her smug and amused face with hints of malice.

"That expression you had…SO PRICELESS! I'm enjoying myself just from watching you flail and wiggle to all of the near death experiences! I don't even need to inflict you with a nightmare to get what I want, you're scared of everything already! Hahahahah!"

"I…I actually…trusted you…" Marius sputtered out on the verge of breaking down. The Marra didn't feel the pain he was going through, and even then she wouldn't care.

"Stop with the sobbing stuff and get over it, it won't work on me. This is all on you, and I'm only getting started."

He couldn't trust her anymore, she would do anything to see a sliver of a tear fall down his cheek. Hearing her berate and insult his tiny self hammered in the fact that she felt nothing and thought of him as nothing but her prisoner. He was shattered to come to a sorrowful conclusion, but she made her point clear the moment she captured him. She was a Marra and they only cared for themselves.

The Marra would have enjoyed seeing him cry in her presence if she didn't realize what time it was. She looked into the sky for a moment before glaring back at the boy she was holding.

"As much as I would love to keep messing with you, I have to scout out more potential victims in town. I would adore having more young kids to shrink and play with, but I already used my one time spell on your helpless body. This doesn't mean I'll forget about you, but if you speak up while I do my rounds I'll crank up your torture. Got it midget?!"

Her eyes glowed a faint green at him, which sent her message clearly as Marius hastily nodded his head, all wet from crying earlier. The color faded before the Marra put on her snarky smile and dropped him into one of her shirt pockets near the bottom. He was shaken, but not greatly hurt.

Even though he wasn't allowed to say anything or risk punishment, Marius didn't want to be left in the dark to the world around him. He silently climbed up near the top of the pocket and poked his little head out as the Marra made her strides toward a specific location. Gazing up showed just how minuscule he was to the devious Marra, like a titan to a child. She could hold an entire city in one of her hands from his perspective, a fact she would covet if she heard, and destroy it with a single swipe of her fingers. In some ways being shrunken instead of her growing would have been a more beneficial, as she would be harassing possibly thousands over only him. It brought a kindle to him knowing that nobody else would be suffering like him, but he also had to pay attention to himself. If he wanted any chance of survival the best he could do was endure until she eventually let him go. Not easy, but his best bet.

The Marra finally reached the gate that dictated an entrance into Trolberg. While unsure at first as to how she would get through, he got the answer when the Marra formed into a green wisp and phased through the lock to the other side. It tingled from all over as he was taken along with her through the gate, although she probably had familiarity with the technique and didn't worry too much or care at all. The Marra were nightmare spirits after all, so it came as no exception that she inherited some abilities from ghosts.

Her face stayed as stagnant as always while she gazed back and forth for any witnesses. Seeing nobody, she steadily walked her way into the bustling city with her tiny toy in tow. As usual for spirits like her, she expressed nothing and kept herself flat only averting her sight to any potential victims for a future nightmare. It couldn't have been a greater flip side to Marius, for although he only arrived a few days ago he couldn't get enough of the sights. So many people walking by and dozens of structures to see, Trolberg seemed to have everything set for a great lively city. His shrunken size did change the perspective a bit, but he couldn't ignore how gorgeous the city appeared. Kids played at the city's playground, birds flocked the skies above, cars occupied the streets, all of it signified a city with rich culture.

That's when his eyes caught the sight of some kids across the street, and he was surprised to see them as none other than the kids he saw during lunchtime yesterday. They wore some sort of outfit he couldn't recognize at first until he reminded himself that they also were part of the Sparrow Scouts program. The boy of the three, named David if he could recall, wheeled around a red wagon behind him with boxes on top while the two girls stopped at the front doors and did most of the talking. He may not be part of the program, but even he knew what activity they were tasked with, the ever-so common cookie door to door selling. He could see them with smiles over their faces handling each door, a sign of a deep friendship, even if they couldn't make a sale. While he was happy for them, it cast a grim black cloud over his head. Unawareness can bring ire to the ones watching, and it brought the shrunken kid down knowing that was the case. The three kids, along with everyone else, had no idea someone like him was being held prisoner by a dark spirit and miniaturized to make things harder. Fortune gleamed to everyone but him, where a mirror shined it away.

If what he heard was true, Hilda could probably get out of his predicament in a heartbeat.

The Marra continued averting her sight back and forth while walking down the sidewalk, nothing of interest striking her. She kept going until she saw a familiar person ahead of her, and like Marius' initial meetup something about her irked him is a way he couldn't describe. Her expression was the same as the Marra's, blank and uninterested, while she stared at a particular necklace near the front of a store window. She had her hair flow down pretty long with the sun shining on the blonde color, something most girls would die for, while she wore a pink laden shirt with a decal of a white star near her chest area. Unlike the Marra, a pair of light blue pants covered her legs, matching her pink sneakers while complementing her shirt. She appeared to be a standard city girl, nothing too out of the ordinary at a first glance, but he wouldn't be surprised if she was asked out by a couple of boys her age.

The Marra walked up to the girl, making Marius hide deeper in her pocket to avoid getting seen, and got a closer look at the necklace in the window. Beads colored in rose pink topped off with a small bed sheet ghost emblem near the front; pretty stylish at a glance.

"Pretty interested in that necklace Kelly?"

The girl averted her sight over to the Marra while Marius secretly listened in.

"Not too much. I just can't believe kids grovel over stuff like this."

"One nasty image can immediately turn that interest around." the Marra answered with a visible smirk. Kelly smirked back.

"Heheh, you got that right. Kids collapse so easy. I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Consider it Easy Scaring 101, that's how I remember."

From what he was hearing, the girl couldn't have been anyone else but another Marra judging from her responses and similar expressions. Just what he didn't need, another nightmare spirit. He kept himself silent as the two girls continued chatting, which didn't catch his attention much since it was about more scare tactics and previous "meetings" whatever they were, but he didn't have much else to do inside the Marra's pocket. He glanced down at his shirt, the one that pictured The Great Raven, and was nearly heartbroken. When he was planted into the dirt and mud by the Marra's gigantic shoe it not only made him filthy but smudged the decal, mangling it beyond recognition. He really liked that shirt, as he wanted to see The Great Raven for himself during his stay at Trolberg, and now it didn't appear to be anything special. At least some of the shiny sparkles around the decal stayed intact, meant to represent the bolts of lightning that form around the bird when it appeared, with some even still sparkling when the sun reflected on it. He accidentally turned them up and was blinded for a few seconds before he had to turn the sparkles away, saving his eyes and not giving himself away to the girl the Marra was talking to. He didn't need two giant teenage ghosts torturing him when he could barely hang on with one.

While he tuned out through most of it, when the conversation hit a certain point his ears perked.

"...then I hear that this new kid was moving here for a few months. Too bad he disappeared all of a sudden, I wanted to give him a nightly 'welcome gift' for his troubles."

"Oh really?" the Marra said. "You had your sights set on him at one point?"

"Not at first." Kelly answered. "Didn't sound like someone interesting until after I thought more about it. I dug up some secrets on him for the perfect nightmare, even planned on doing it a few days from now when he settled in, but then he whisked away like a chicken. Not cool, not cool at all."

"Ah, that's unfortunate." the Marra answered. "I bet his parents are crawling everywhere to find his sorry hide. You know we'll be all over that."

"Don't get me started, ever since the police report earlier today I've been hearing NOTHING but that stupid kid again and again." Kelly said. "As much as I love misery the case of this kid is giving me a headache. I'm trying to tune it out for the sake of tonight's meeting."

"Always have a backup story just in case a night doesn't go your way." the Marra said. "Thankfully I have dozens, but I don't need one for tonight."

"Oh, you gave an amusing nightmare? Color me interested." Kelly replied. "Make sure to leave a spot for me, I have one that I'm sure everyone would love to hear."

"Duly noted. See you tonight."

The two girls nodded before Kelly turned and walked the other way down the sidewalk, expressionless and blank looking as a Marra could get. It was only for a minute or so, but Marius had a lot to take from the snippets of conversation he heard. For one, it was incredibly relieving to hear that he wasn't forgotten and are searches for him going on. If his real parents were here instead of the temporary ones it would probably be more hectic as it would be a mad scramble nonstop. To hear that he was cared for by the community, even if it he didn't stay for long yet, made him feel more welcome to the city around him. He wanted so badly to tell everyone that he heard their pleas and would find a way out, but because he was shrunken it didn't seem likely for now. On the other hand he didn't like the fact that he had more eyes on him when he arrived. To think another Marra sought his bounty sounded awful, like he had a secret double life as a punching bag. Hearing how cold the two talked about him gave him more signs that the Marra really didn't care for what he felt, only themselves and the misery they cause. The good news and the bad news, he heard them both.

The Marra keeping him hidden in her pocket did a quick glance down at his tiny self, which was met with Marius doing a motion indicating that he was keeping his mouth shut. She made it clear to him to never make her angry, and he harshly payed the price. Upon seeing the signs she smugly smiled before getting back to her typical walking cycle.

It wouldn't be long though until Marius' stomach growled as he hadn't eaten anything since he woke up. He would have ignored it the best he could, but it cried out and rumbled to make itself known. He needed nourishment now, but he was ordered not to speak or face severe punishment from the Marra holding him captive. She made it clear to always follow her orders as long as she has him and he will need her permission for any sort of food his way. It was a gamble, and the dice had to go his way.

Because he was forbidden to speak up, he needed another way to get her attention. With nothing else in her pocket to work with it lead to only one option. He turned to face a particular side of the pocket before he pushed at it with all of his might. It wasn't hurtful, but he hoped the Marra would feel the pressure against her body and take notice. Knowing her attitude, it could turn deadly in an instant and go in a completely different direction. He poked a bear and didn't want it to attack in a grumpy rage.

His attempt didn't go in vain, as when he looked up he saw the Marra with her eyes set right on him. While at first unsure if she would give him some time, she averted her attention back up before taking a few steps in a different direction. Her head turned back and forth for a moment as one of her huge hands reached in and picked him up, showing that she secluded herself into an abandoned alleyway for their talk. Now holding her tiny occupant, she brought him to her face appearing a bit upset. Not as angry as before, but still pretty much so.

"You got my attention for five minutes at best. Make it quick."

She came out stern and demanding in one fell swoop, a polar opposite to what she expressed to the other Marra named Kelly. With her short attention span, Marius had to make haste with his request.

"I know…you only care about yourself, but…I haven't eaten anything today. So if you could…"

The Marra held back some insidious laughter hearing her shrunken prisoner ask for such, making her faintly smile.

"You brought me out of my target searching to ask me for FOOD?! I'm a ghost you idiot, I don't need to eat! You must be really gearing for another play session, aren't you?!"

"No, no, not that!" Marius responded in a fluster. "I mean…as a living person I need food to survive. You can ignore it, but I can't."

"And what makes you think I would go out of my way to do something? I'm the one in charge, so I get what I want and you deliver on everything. Get used to it." the Marra answered.

He shouldn't have let his actions do the talking before his brain booted up. He was basically asking a serial killer to get him a pot of roses with not a leg to stand on. He was only a kid after all, he didn't reach the point yet of figuring out complications, but he had to determine how to get the Marra to cooperate for possibly the only moment he would get. Not only that but the Marra also didn't think highly of him, especially as a helpless tiny kid. He had to come up with a reason to get the bigger one to help him out even with her hatred toward him.

Luckily he had just enough brainpower to figure something out.

"Well…you wouldn't want me to die this early when you have plans for me."

The Marra didn't seem to flinch, giving Marius uncertainty that he got through to her. His stomach still yearned for food, but it was up to the giant nightmare spirit to deliver if she wanted. He rolled the dice betting on the high numbers, cup still over and covering the numbers. If he rolled low…

The Marra turned her attention to beyond the alleyway, her sight catching a particular object near one of the walls. She sluggishly made her way over to it, Marius still in her hand, and flipped open the lid much to her dismay. Leave it to fate for her to walk into an alleyway behind a particular building, and under the lid still had some that was only just tossed in still fresh. Reaching in a little bit, she eventually pulled out a small bread crumb, about the same size as Marius, and handed it over.

"I'm not acting out of generosity, I still have some business to deal with you." the Marra said. "Now stay quiet for the rest of the day or I might change my mind!"

"Got it…" Marius answered. She put the shrunken boy back in her pocket while he stared at the bread crumb he was given. It came from the garbage, but it appeared perfectly clean, no mold or staleness anywhere. Given the fact that it was thrown out he hesitated at first, but it felt like it was just put in a few seconds ago. Besides, it was highly unlikely the Marra would have given him something better, but at least it was big enough to last the entire day. Unappetizing, but it was still food.

He swore he saw a black streak from the pocket's opening in the sky as he munched down.

The Marra forced Marius into silence for the rest of the day as she wandered around Trolberg. This left the kid with almost nothing to do other than to occasionally peek out and watch the environment around him. An unfortunate circumstance, but nothing he could do under the power of the giant nightmare spirit. The bread crumb did its job and filled him up for the day, even if it did come out of the garbage, but if he dared to speak up he worried for his life with his ruthless captor. She had a wicked outburst of emotions when she only had him, but around everyone at daytime she mellowed out and never expressed much. He would go mad if he were in her shoes, being unable to emote and convey your feelings to others. There were people out there with the same set of skills, goths popped up in his mind for example, but he wouldn't join their ranks with his constant expressions. The terror of his kidnapping all hid behind a teenage ghost and her blank face, and everyone didn't even consider her as an option.

When the light in the sky waned to the shimmering pearl, the Marra's true self broke forth. The meeting discussed earlier was to start late under the stars, and the Marra knew right where to go. This left Marius yawning while his eyes dozed and sank, but the huge nightmare ghost prohibited him from tuckering out for the meeting. Whatever the event was, it had to be pretty important.

"Stay still in my pocket until I say so." the Marra said.

"Whatever you say." Marius answered with a pinch of nervousness in his tone. She put on her recognizable dark grin as her eyes glowed green for a second. With a quick teleport through the gate, which Marius felt queasy about, she set herself back into the woods around the city. Under the guise of the night, the trees and stillness in the air brought a certain sense of ire to anyone treading through. It spooked Marius, but the Marra wasn't letting it pull the wool over her eyes. She walked among the trees perfectly fine ignoring the shivers of her tiny captive. Marius hoped she knew where she was going, he didn't want any aimless walking with a dark environment like the woods at night. He made a note for himself to stay indoors at night in Trolberg from now on.

The Marra abruptly stopped at a certain point, catching Marius' attention. He poked his head out of her shirt pocket, and while he couldn't see much in the presence of the shadows a distinct structure sat on the ground in front of the Marra. Features couldn't be made out, but before he could try to get a better angle a set of bright green lights appeared before him. Recognizing what they were almost instantly, he sank himself further into the Marra's pocket while still having sight of what was happening.

For the Marra however, it stood out as nothing but routine.

More pairs of green lights shined around them as the structure on the ground slowly went dim. It soon ignited into a full blown green fire that lit up the surrounding area like a campfire. As he suspected, the green lights in the darkness were none other than more Marras, which he counted seven of them, including the blonde haired Kelly girl from before. The Marras, including the one hiding her shrunken toy, each took a seat on one of the logs around the green fire with the common Marra creepy smile.

"Oh boy, do I have some glorious nightmares to share!" the Marra with glasses said.

"I don't want to spoil much, but I'm pretty sure I got a kid to wet his bed!" the Marra with a lock of hair covering one of her eyes said. "Heeheehee, SO priceless!"

"Not now girls, you know we take turns sharing our stories." Kelly responded. "We don't want to unintentionally skip out on some LUSH details, and for someone like me I want everyone to listen in."

"But what are we going to do about the new kid?" the Marra with her hair covering both eyes asked.

The particular Marra pointed to the spot next to her which lead everyone else to it. Sitting on a log with the other Marras was another girl, and the others had to admit she got the appearance checked out. Around the same height as the other Marras, the girl had long wavy brown hair with a small pink flower hair clip near her forehead. Because she stylized her hair in that fashion the hair chip almost appeared to fall off at times which she hastily fixed up at times. Her face blended in with the other Marras, her sky blue eyes piercing the gaze of the others, while her expression matched the wickedness of the spirits during the night. To match her choice of hairpiece, her shirt mixed a tropical twist as an amalgamation of warm colors and the dazzling decals of orchids caught the eyes of many. Her pants on the others hand kept the normal navy blue, but her snazzy peach sneakers put markings of flashy man-o-wars up front like the big screens. Her clothing choices almost made her appear like she had no relations with the nightmare spirits, just a fashionable teenager with a knack for hanging out near the beaches and tanning near the ocean waves.

The suspicions went away the moment her eyes turned green as she turned to the Marra next to her, clearly upset.

"Is that how you are seriously going to introduce me?"

"Easy there, no need to bite on one of us." the Marra hiding Marius said. "I do enjoy the enthusiasm you have. Got a name?"

"It's Silica." the new Marra replied. "I came wandering here after it got boring where I came from. Not enough people to scare, uninteresting targets, you know, THAT sort of drought."

"So you're a wandering spirit? Can't say I'm surprised." Kelly said. "You realize what we do here though right?"

Silica snickered.

"Oh, I didn't come here empty handed. I have boatloads of stories to tell and nightmares to explain, I'm certain everyone would enjoy what I brought to the table."

"Oh really?" the Marra hiding Marius answered. "You better have a nightmare to match those lips."

"I already have one ready to go. First impressions go a long way after all, so how about one where I scare the daylights out of someone special, let's say, hmmmm…a mature adult?"

Marius swore he saw the other Marras' eyes go wide for a split second. He only heard snippets from the Marra holding him captive, but from what he heard they always talked about going after kids and young ones for inflicting their nightmares, never adults. He wasn't a Marra so he didn't know the true answer as to why that was the case, and with his shrunken status he didn't want to ask. Whatever the case, it got the other Marras talking.

"Really? You actually went after an adult?" the Marra with glasses said. "How did you even crack them?"

"I came in with the right amount of fears at the ready." Silica stated. "You want me to tell you about the nightmare I gave him?"

"Ooh, please do." Kelly answered with intrigue. All of the other Marras had their eyes set on Silica as the green fire in the center erupted, ready to bring eerie visuals to help crank up the creepiness. Marius set his eyes on her too, but made sure to keep himself hidden so the Marra keeping him wouldn't punish him greater after everything passed. The first nightmare story was about to unfold.

Silica made her move.

"Okay, so I did some digging on this guy beforehand, eavesdropping at its finest I might add, and figured out that he had a dream of becoming an astronaut. Pretty standard future expectation in my book, nothing too interesting in itself, but then certain visuals popped in my head. I mean, there's some pretty grim features when it comes to that profession, ones that I could exploit to get the results I wanted. I heard he's been studying the requirements and the possible downsides, and the latter got me hooked. I had to unfortunately study a LITTLE on what it takes to be an astronaut, but it was required when he inevitably fell asleep for the night. Let me tell you…it played out perfectly."

The other Marras kept watching her for the colorful details.

"I started off easy as I set the nightmare inside a space station with him already a pro astronaut. I let him mess around with the many, many extras to make everything more believable. From panels to knowledgeable computers, I filled the place to the brim with stuff considered 'common' for the setting. This made it more hilarious when I had to pull the plug and ruin his self esteem, for those eyes…those eyes had me bawling out over the floor. First I made it so all of the machines immediately shut down and kill the lights, making it nearly impossible for him to see, before I sent a monstrous alien after him. He ran everywhere trying to avoid it, which I purposefully made slow just for the moment, before trying to hide under a desk. He really thought he lost the alien, oh how naive and stupid, but it was the moment I waited for. He couldn't see it from the front, but when he turned behind…THE ALIEN SCREAMED AT HIM LIKE A BANSHEE!"

Silica cackled as the other Marras joined in, setting the green fire ablaze high and tall, completely amused with the story told. This brought the eavesdropping Marius down a peg, for a nightmare like what was told must have been pretty harsh for the man affected. The fact that the Marras yearned for deep dark nightmare stories and actually enjoyed them just made the situation seem much worse than it was. The frightfulness in the air stung that the Marras couldn't feel.

"Hahahah, that's a good one!" the Marra with a bun in her hair said. "You came here swinging and I like it!"

"Thanks, I told you I came prepared." Silica answered.

"A word of advice though. Try to keep the details simple, then we don't have to think too hard." the Marra with covered eyes said.

"Duly noted." Silica answered. "Now that my introduction is out of the way, I'm eager to hear what someone else has in store. Surely someone could match me."

"I've been preparing for my time in the spotlight since the start. I'll go next." Kelly said.

The attention transferred over to Kelly. The other Marras appeared more intent to listen in on her than Silica, either it was because they knew her better or her stories were good. From what she stated earlier in the day, she planned this for quite a while and seemed eager to tell. The green fire flared up in preparation of giving the creepy visuals, getting the Marras excited. Kelly's story would be a treat for their ears.

She didn't delay and went straight for it.

"So I haunted this little kid with a serious fear of cockroaches, so I gave him the scare of his life with this. He started in his bedroom as he just woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast, but he never noticed that each step he gave formed ripples on the floor made of the squeamish critters. His mom was at work so he had to fetch the cereal and milk himself, a grave mistake. He opened the fridge first and got the milk out first, nothing out of the ordinary at first, before he went to the cupboard and got his cereal. Too bad that would be the last normal sight, for the instant he poured it into the bowl…a swarm of roaches came out!"

The other Marras would have laughed of enjoyment if Kelly didn't hold up a hand to say that she wasn't finished.

"The kid screamed as usual while the roaches consumed the kitchen table before moving to the fridge. He tried to head for the door, but a wall of roaches kept him in his place. They formed around the kid's legs as he tried kicking them off, only for his attempts to go futile. They struck him with bites before his body fell to the floor helpless. With one look at himself he found…that he turned into a giant cockroach!"

The dark laughter from the other Marras echoed around the area from the story, the fire in the center igniting further as the stories continued. In a display Marius didn't know about, green wisps of a sort flew out of the fire before rushing straight into the mouths of each Marra, including the one hiding him. Their eyes lit bright green as they were fed from the fire, and from watching it he wanted to not dig into it. A can of worms can leave an implant into curious kids after all.

The process was kept short as the fire formed back to normal and the Marra's eyes did so as well. They acted as if it never happened.

"That was a bit gross, but worth it for that ending!" the Marra with a lock of hair covering one of her eyes said. "You still got it Kelly!"

"I've always had it." Kelly answered before going to another topic. "Let's keep things rolling. Who is next?"

One of the Marras immediately raised her hand up with a wicked smile.

"I believe my turn should be next. I've prepped something REALLY good for tonight!"

Turning to the source, it was none other than the one Marra secretly hiding Marius among them. This forced Marius to go out of sight so the others wouldn't see him.

"There's no way I would forget you Jaeden." Kelly said with an equal expression. "Go ahead, it's all yours."

Jaeden? So she had a name the entire time, although Marius should have expected it earlier with Kelly and Silica, even if he never mustered up to ask. Considering all of the deadly scenarios she put him though, he felt justified in not asking just to keep his life intact. She practically thrust the divine gates in front of him every time she came up with something to do with him, which while entertaining to her flipped the upside for her shrunken captive. The dread kept him in check as she could make something on the spot to possibly end him, a grave consequence if Marius slipped up at any point.

She wasted no time getting to the good stuff with the fire combusting before her.

"So I went after this kid that had the standard fears, nothing too interesting, so I had a lot to work with. I made him think that everything was okay as he went to bed, only for him to suffer a headache in the middle of the night…"

Marius didn't need basic math to come to a conclusion on what she was talking about. Just hearing about the experience put images into his head that clouded his thoughts. Shaking, shivering, everything came forth. He tucked himself in the corner of Jaeden's pocket, not wanting reminders about his current nightmare in this malformed reality.

"So he gets up and sees that his window was opened before going back to his bed…and it splits in front of him! It wouldn't be long after that until this crazy girl run up to him and puts him into submission against the wall. The kid freaks out before the girl melts in front of him and DRAGS him into the burning depths. With searing burns over his body as he shrieked to the skies, clinging to life by a thread…he let one action loose."

Most of the Marras tilted their heads in confusion at what Jaeden tried to convey. Marius knew, that's how all of his tragedy and misery started, but before he could think further he witnessed Jaeden's huge hand reach inside for him. He had nowhere else to go as the titanic hand wrapped around his body with Jaeden talking overhead.

"That set everything into motion, he put up his own grave for a never-ending nightmare. He got hit hard by one of the greatest punishments imaginable, in fact…"

His entire vision immediately came forth with Jaeden showing no remorse and pulling him out into the eyes of the other Marras.

"…he's still going through it RIGHT NOW!"

There he was, bound tight into Jaeden's fist with a group of Marras gazing straight at him. The circle of demons overlooking a boy not even the size of their fingers, Marius had it hard that no one else could fathom in his time among the ghosts. Some even sat motionless with nothing but their green eyes set on him, terribly unnerving for the kid. If they truly craved for everyone's misery, they would be able to determine what he went through by the signs all over his face. Handling one Marra brought him consequences he couldn't handle, but multiples would end him with no chance of escape. Older and larger, they had the qualities to power over him in any way possible as long as they kept him small.

He didn't see one of the Marras next to him until her face was only inches next to him.

"Scared much?"

Marius yelped as his heart skipped a beat to Kelly's ginormous face. His sank into Jaeden's fist, trembling all over with wide eyes, before she couldn't help it and cackled. The other Marras joined in with the laughter, including Jaeden, making the fire burn high with loose cinders crackling and extinguishing before them. Any sort of scare he displayed was nothing but a humorous riot to the ghastly ghosts, almost like a sugar rush through a candy store.

Too bad they stuffed their faces with sugar already.

"In all my time inflicting nightmares on innocent kids, I have never seen results this crazy." Kelly said with a smug smile. "How did you manage to pull this off?"

"Sorry, that's a matter only I can comprehend." Jaeden answered. "I want to keep the numbers to a minimum to, you know, stay hidden?"

"Point taken." Kelly said. She put one of her fingers forward and gave Marius a strong flick across the face, which not only hurt but made him even more afraid.

Kelly chuckled.

"Heheheh, can't say I'm enjoying appearing like someone who downed a growth potion. So little guy, can't stand being around Marras a million times bigger than you?"

He couldn't speak, the tiny experiences among extreme dangers paralyzed his mouth from moving. Kelly's menacing glare along with the other Marras didn't help his mood either, the burning depths excreting pressure beyond what he could handle. They weren't angry forest giants, they were massive demonic Marras.

If he wasn't going to speak up, Jaeden would force him to. She increased her crushing grip over his body, constricting him further.

"Speak up midget. You're in no position to go to your happy place with us around, so ANSWER NOW."

Marius had to hold back tears before he did as she wished.

"…okay…okay…I am very afraid…no more please…"

Jaeden smirked slightly before loosening her fingers around him. Her display of power amused Kelly, making her chuckle smugly a bit more, before the other Marras got more curious and leaned in for a better view, putting Marius in the spotlight of six more pairs of glowing green eyes and unnerving him even more.

"Wow, just looking at his terrified face is entertaining! I'm feeling so much fear pouring out of him!" the Marra with a bun in her hair said.

"I know, I can't get enough if it!" Silica chimed in. "Maybe we could mess with him and see how much that gives us! Let's milk him dry!"

The other Marras glanced over to Silica for a moment.

"That's not actually a bad idea." Kelly said. "He's shivering in his pants already just from seeing how gigantic we are compared to him. Are you alright with that Jaeden?"

Jaeden smiled with the other Marras.

"I was convinced when I heard 'milk him dry.'"

His body went hollow, they had no mercy. They really wanted to see him go under and stay there all for their amusement while he couldn't do anything but let it happen. The one hex put on him was pretty much a death sentence without going that far, and he didn't even get to being a teenager himself like the Marras portrayed themselves as. His life was in their hands, literally, and they could do anything to him at his pain.

"I say we go for something special." Kelly said. "How about we see if he has acrophobia?"

"Ooh, that sounds devious." Jaeden replied. "Lets spread out and we'll toss him over the fire. If we're lucky…he might scream!"

The other Marras chimed in and agreed with no arguments. With Marius still in Jaeden's grasp, completely stilted in shock and fear, the group of Marras spread out a little, still in a circle with the green fire in the middle, and prepared themselves to catch the tiny kid with anxious expressions. Kelly positioned herself on the other end for maximum distance while Silica stood to the left side. The other spots were filled by the other Marras, and they were just as eager to get the terrified boy sailing through the air.

A hard reality check came his way when Jaeden let him loose with a long throw into the air. Suddenly finding himself in the air, Marius felt his heart race as the air pounded against his face. He never went skydiving before, but after this punishing experience he may never want to. He almost felt the heat of the green fire when his body flailed over it, a few cinders cracking only millimeters next to him at point. Third degree burns don't heal easily, but with the Marras messing around the possibility could rear its ugly head with infernal consequences. As soon as he found himself ascending, the descent followed after. This time he did scream, the threat of hitting the ground hard proved too much to the little guy. He shut his eyes so he wouldn't see the end…only to land in the center of Kelly's hands.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Kelly gazing down at his shrunken body with a smug grin.

"Looks like we didn't need to wait long for him to lose it." Kelly said. "Your face gave off so much fear that I could get filled for weeks on that alone…heheheh, I love it!"

Marius was getting the daylights scared out of him from every angle from the Marras and he couldn't do anything but let it happen. He curled up and shivered for some sort of method to regain his sanity, but he was interrupted when Kelly poked his belly with one of her fingers.

"So delicate, yet so amusing with the intense fear…you're everything a Marra could ask for. How does it feel knowing I could crush you and no one would ever be aware of what happened? Looking death in the eyes…as your soul fades away? How about I squeeze you until your eyes pop out?"

"Eep!" Marius squealed as he curled up. Kelly's laughter filled the air with the other Marras following suite, igniting the fire once more.

"Hahahah, I can feel him leaking fear even from all the way from over here!" Silica said. "This kid is a gold mine and I can't get enough!"

"Hey Kelly, toss him over here!" the Marra with glasses said while slightly waving her arms. Marius' head hastily popped up straight before he shook it back and forth in denial, but Kelly had no compassion for him in any way. Encasing the tiny kid in her fist, she reeled back before sending him directly into the air once one, complete with his terrified screaming that drove the Marras to wicked joy. Like before, he went through a high ascent before spiraling into a nosedive, something some rookie skydivers wouldn't go for without practice. Marius didn't have the profession to safely do the maneuvers, and even then he lacked the required age and had no interest in the art, but the Marras forced him into it anyway. The fire always giving the heat under him taunted for a burning landing making it more ruthless for him. Skydiving to the depths below had lethal consequences and Marius had all of the doors put in front for him to unexpectedly fall through.

He rocketed into the particular Marra's hands as she caught him with no injuries.

"Woo, I got him good!" the Marra with glasses said. "I'm really liking this!"

"Don't be selfish, I want my fair share!" the Marra with a bun in her hair chimed in.

This continued for a decent amount of time, with Marius shrieking his lungs out every time he was tossed into another Marra's grasp. The Marras were practically being put in a joyride with the reactions the tiny boy expressed during his time in the air, taking in his grim emotions like candy. Some even attempted to get better screams out of him with certain tosses, which only fed his paranoia through the air, but the Marras gulped the sugar over their heads again and again. No nightmares required, only the yells and shrieks from a boy who got put into scared overdrive from a vengeful spirit.

After the humorous tossing of the shrunken kid between the other Marras, the spirits went back to their regular routines of telling haunting nightmares they inflicted to unsuspecting people, with Jaeden getting hold of her toy Marius. While some were pretty gritty with the details, Silica in particular got some good ones to share. One that caught the other Marras' attention specifically was when she gave a deep and brutal nightmare to a teen with purple boots and a specialty in music making. It went pretty dark with the details, from instruments going crazy and monstrous to folk music ringing through the girl's ears, but the Marras enjoyed all of it especially to the one telling the story. The final straw that broke the camel's back for the teenager ended up being when a special friend of hers outright stated that she had more interest in practicing opera singing, something the teen tended to shove aside and ignore, and couldn't let the opportunity down. The Marras erupted with their laughter when Silica finished, nothing but pure entertainment for the sinister ghosts, burning the fire in the center. Marius himself couldn't concentrate on the stories told as he stayed silent to try and regain some lost sanity in his brain. The night inflicted burns only one truly understood.

When everything concluded the Marras went their separate ways, with Jaeden taking her shrunken kid with her. She held Marius tightly as she leaned on a specific tree near a hill before her eyes glared at the tiny boy, still trying to calm himself. He was met with a slap across his face from one of her huge fingers.

"Get back to reality stupid, you're not recovering with me around."

Marius' eyes locked with Jaeden's, which glowed green as usual, as he went speechless. His entire figure had nothing of his character left. His body had dirt and mud in every spot, especially his Great Raven Shirt which appeared more like a black blob in a garbage dump, as his face lacked the expressive emotion one could make. Red marks streamed under his eyes from the excessive crying with a couple of wrinkles for good measure. His arms and legs dangled in the wind and swayed like wet noodles and drips from a faucet. A different kid took his place as his twin strayed into the wilderness somewhere else, a husk of what once stood a troubled kid adapting to the city around him. Null and void, nothing but dead in spirit.

"So you're completely dead on the inside, no feelings left standing?" Jaeden said. "How about I change that with some eye candy, hmmm?"

Marius was so out of it that he lacked the will to respond. It didn't go unnoticed by Jaeden though, so she shifted her fingers around to turn the shell of a kid around to the scenery behind him.

There was a small flame in his chest as he took in the picture.

The countless buildings shined in tune with the sprawling stars, the lampposts along the streets glowed to the bustling cars a deep orange, his eyes showered glitter from all angles and he loved it. Distance changes perspective and wherever Jaeden set herself gave off a stunning angle of Trolberg. Back in the village where he initially lived this would never come to anyone's conclusion, there wasn't enough elevation for anything to give off their visions of beauty. Granted it never came across his mind for relaxation, he wanted to enjoy his childhood while it lasted, but seeing the city in a new light gave him ideas for the future. If only his parents could see something as spectacular as the colorful city with him, the moment could be absolutely stunning. He wanted to cry, but he already gave out most of his tears for the day. For once he forgot his troubles, everything stood to a standstill among the framed drawing.

"Stunning isn't it? I wouldn't be surprised it that was the case. I want you to take in as much as you can…as you won't be seeing anyone in the face ever again."

She drove a stake through his heart.

"Wh…what? You…did you just…"

He couldn't get the words out, the dread pushed him back. Jaeden shifted her fingers to turn him back toward her face.

"Yes I did, you're never going to live normally again. Did you really think I would keep a promise to a jerk like you? I take vengeance very seriously and my grudges never go away, this has all been on you since the start. Besides, I'm really enjoying messing with how helpless and small you are, I could get my share of entertainment just from you instead of inflicting nightmares. Say goodbye to ever becoming normal again, you're staying that size and being my forever toy for the rest of your sorry life."

Marius' color drained from his face as he tried to deny the facts set for him. She said it herself that he would be released when she felt he learned his lesson to not mess with her, but a harsh reminder hit him when he remembered how she pulled the rug from under him and put him at the other end of her shoe in the process. She couldn't do it again for something as massively harsh as shrinking him and giving the implication that all of it would be over after a while…

It sounded like a violent crash.

"No, no, you can't keep me like this forever! I have a life to look forward to and I'm not even a teenager yet! You can't hold the one accident over my head, I never meant to-"

Jaeden shut up his complaining with another crushing grip, making him yelp in pain as she held in cackles.

"You can deny all you want, but your reality is with me now. Everything was lost when you smacked me in the face, you ended your normal life in one grave motion. You took a cheap shot, SO I TOOK YOUR LIFE."

She brought the terrified kid up close to her face.

"…and there's no way I'm ever going to restore you to normal."

Her eyes lit up in its creepy ghastly green very brightly before she uttered one more chilling word.

"Never."