Princess Pottypants

Jessica Bedwetter

(OOC: I'm going to try posting from my phone one more time. If there are no paragraphs, I'll fix it tonight.) Jessica Bedwetter Room (Weak House) It would, of course, be no problem for her to make it five nights without an accident, as she had made it over a decade, but it was the principle of the thing that really bothered her. Now everyone thought she was a bedwetter, and even once she made it to the normal dorm, they'd think it was just chance. Getting blamed again for having her skirt flipped was the last straw. "This isn't fair, and I..." She tried to protest, but the woman was already on to other things, leaving Jessica to stew over her circumstances. It wasn't long before she got a distraction from that, however, in a rather disturbing display of how those who had weak bladders were treated. She was glad she didn't, especially after Mrs. Green's threat, but she had a feeling the Strong students would treat them similarly, and if she was in here, they would assume she needed to be. It wasn't a good prospect, but at least it was only for five days. Maybe if she could survive that long, she could do something. Things just continued to get worse as they heard about the punishment chart, and then, especially, as she heard they actually expected her to wear diapers! Clearly these kids need them, but not her! It was ridiculous! The implication that she'd try masturbating in public was rather rude and embarrassing, too, the implication that it was something Jessica would do, as if the woman would even know. By the time she was ordered to take a shower, she'd had enough. "Mrs. Green, I don't need a shower, I haven't had an accident. And I don't need diapers, either. If you insist, I'll stay here five nights, but there is no point in making me wear a diaper, because, like I told you, I'm not a bedwetter!" She was starting to get very frustrated, and it was all she could do not to shout. She couldn't quite stop herself from stomping her foot to punctuate her declaration.

Chapter 6 - Meeting Mommy

Jessica Weak Dormitory

OOC: Bleh, sorry, my phone ate the formatting, but it's fixed now.

Jessica:

Jessica:

Oh, this seems fun! I'll give it a try... So, if my impression is right, the whole Weak/Strong thing isn't known to the students before they sign up, right? I'm going to write this under that assumption, but I can re-do it if I misunderstood.

Chapter 5 - A Quiet Afternoon

Chapter 4 - The House of Hands

Chapter 3 - A Good Spanking Never Hurt Anyone

Chapter 2 - The Girl in the Bathroom

Chapter 1 - The Door

'Santa is feeding his reindeer,' the sign read. 'He'll be back soon... But, remember, he's always watching!' It almost seemed like a threat, Jordan thought, though it was hard to feel intimidated by a fat man in a red suit, especially for a smart girl like her. She was a newly-minted adult, just turned 18 the week before - though she'd already been out of high school for a year as a result of skipping a grade - and that made all of this Christmas nonsense seem especially silly to her now. Of course, she'd always found the story of Santa a little too far-fetched to make sense, and, even as a child, had never understood how other kids could fall for it. She guessed they were just greedy and liked the idea of someone whose only function was to bring them new stuff once a year. "He's still going to be a little while," came a voice from behind her. "Did you mommy leave you here to wait?" When Jordan turned around in confusion, she found a girl there, perhaps sixteen, tall and trim, and dressed like an elf. She had on a green Santa hat, a red dress puffed out at the skirt with petticoats and adorned on the front of the chest with a green bow, though most of it was obscured by her coat. It was green, trimmed in white fur to match her hat, held closed with a black plastic belt with a big buckle, obviously meant to look like Santa's, and made to leave the top and bottom of her dress showing. Beneath, she had on red and white striped tights, like a pair of long, fairly muscular looked candy canes, and a pair of pointy-toes elf boots. Though the girl was taller than Jordan even in her high heels, despite looking younger, Jordan couldn't help feeling superior to her. She'd just come from yet another job interview, one that seemed to have gone as well as all the others she'd been on since she'd graduated, so she was in her black pinstripe skirt suit, a red shirt beneath the jacket. Her mother told her it made her look professional, but that had never seemed to help her, and mostly she just thought it looked stuffy. Now, however, staring at this girl's silly get-up, she couldn't help feeling proud of it. Her pride did take a bit of a hit as the girl cooed, "Oh, your mommy really dressed you up, didn't she? Are you excited to see Santa?" "Umm, no," Jordan rolled her eyes. "Look, kid, why don't you mind your own business?" "Oh, I'm sorry!" the elf apologized. "I saw you standing here in front of Santa's chair, and I thought you were... younger. I didn't mean to interrupt you." "Yeah, well... I guess it's okay. Just be more careful next time." Jordan almost felt bad now for being harsh with the girl. Besides, she didn't exactly want to draw attention to herself. She couldn't quite bring herself to apologize, since she thought it was far worse that this girl had called her a child than anything she'd done to her, but she did manage a, "Merry Christmas," before moving on. The elf parroted it, but almost before she was done, she had her cell phone out. "Gee, real professional," Jordan snorted to herself. There weren't any little kids around that she could see, but if there had been, did they really need to see Santa's helper acting like a typical teen? She knew it was a little hypocritical of her to act like she cared, when she thought it was silly to pretend Santa was real at all, but she was happy for any reason to disparage the elf. Really, she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of her. This kid had found a job - a dreadfully simple job, but still a job - while Jordan, who was older, and no doubt smarter, was still searching for one. She was almost desperate enough that she might have taken that job, if she'd known about it, even if being around little kids all day sounded like torture. She was sure she looked young enough to pull it off, and elves were supposed to be short, weren't they? She was certainly more qualified in that way than that girl had been. She made her way to the jewelry counter. It wasn't as empty as she'd have hoped, and, almost right away, she had someone popping over to ask if she needed help. "I'm just looking," she told her, starting to flip through the displays on top of the counter. Most of them were locked, though she felt like she needed to spin them around once or twice anyway, to make it look like she was browsing before moving on. There were definitely some nice things there, but none of them had prices displayed, which was enough to tell Jordan she had no hope of affording them, though the locked glass cages around them were also a good indicator. Finally, she found a couple of plainer displays, both in terms of security and the items they held. "That's pretty," the worker commented from behind the counter as Jordan picked up a set of earrings. "And those are 30% off right now!" "Yeah, I see." There was a sign on top of the display saying the same thing, making Jordan want to point out that she was capable of reading, but she decided to be a little more civil. "They're for a present - I'm not sure they're quite right. Oh, I think you have a customer!" It was lucky, and probably not the wisest design, that the cash registers were at the opposite end of the counter from these open displays, but it worked out quite well for Jordan. As the cashier scurried over to do her job, Jordan began to slowly spin the display again, inconspicuously looking around herself. It was a weekday, and not deep enough into the Christmas season that it was terribly crowded, and the people who were there were busy with their own shopping. Only the customer at the register seemed to be looking her way, and that changed as the cashier got to her and started ringing her up. Jordan took a pair of earrings from their hook on the display, turned them over to pretend to look at the price, then did the same with a necklace, then another pair of earrings, before slowly lowering her hand, slipping them into the pocket of her jacket. She glanced around again before starting to walk off, only then noticing another pair of earrings. She debated for a moment before taking them as well. She didn't want to give too much jewelry as presents for Christmas, or it might seem suspicious that she had been able to afford it all, but this pair wasn't for someone else - they'd look much better on her than anyone she was giving gifts to. She kept her hand in her pocket as she walked away, her fingers wrapped around that last pair of earrings. The price really wasn't that bad, especially with the discount, and it might seem less suspicious if she bought something after lingering so long at the jewelry counter. But why? She was pretty sure nobody had seen her, and if she wasn't paying for anything else, why start now? There were better things she could use her money for than Christmas presents. "Do you need some help?" "No, I'm just looking," she said, only intending to give the speaker a brief smile before moving on until she realized it was the elf again. "Are you following me?" "No, of course not," the elf told her. "I'm just looking around, too. I'm on my break. But if you needed any help finding something, I could..." "I'm fine," Jordan cut her off. She didn't need someone trailing after her, especially someone dressed like this girl was. "Okay," the girl shrugged. "But remember - Santa's always watching!" "Of course he is," Jordan smirked. "Bye-bye now." She turned and walked away, only remembering a moment later that she had intended on leaving the store, going on to the rest of the mall to finish her Christmas "shopping". That door, however, was now behind her, and she knew it would look silly to just spin right back around, especially if the elf was still behind her, watching, so she committed to her mistake and soldiered on. Maybe it was for the best, she mused. She had parked by this store - maybe she could head out, empty her pockets and her purse, then drive to another of the mall's entrances so she wouldn't have to see the stupid, nosy elf again. But first, because of the route she'd chosen, she had to pass by the lingerie section. "Who would wear this?" she wondered out loud to herself, stopping to look at a sheer babydoll nightie, red and trimmed in white fur at the top and bottom, obviously meant to look like Santa's usual costume. Did guys find it hot when their girlfriends dressed like an obese, bearded man? She couldn't say that she saw the appeal. She shook her head as she turned away, starting to head for the door again before noticing something else. There were a few tables set up to display panties, most of which looked fairly normal. The last table, however, looked like it belonged in the kid's section more than with the grown-up clothes, as it held panties decorated with Hello Kitty and Sesame Street characters. She almost wondered who would wear those, either, but she already knew the answer. She had a friend, Chelsea, who would love them - she had quite a collection of cute panties that she didn't hesitate to show her female friends when she had them on. It was a habit Jordan had always found incredibly juvenile. But these were exactly the sort of thing Chelsea would wear. Especially one pair with Cookie Monster's face plastered all over, and a waistband proclaiming "Yum Yum" over and over. She was a little shocked at that, and a little amused. Chelsea, whose favorite Sesame Street character - Jordan also considered the very idea of having a favorite quite childish - was Cookie Monster, so they would be perfect. It might be a bit odd to give one of her friends underwear for Christmas, and she wasn't sure she really wanted to encourage this behavior in the girl, but she hadn't found anything else for her. "Looking for new panties?" Jordan looked up in frustration to see the elf again, having apparently walked around her without her noticing, since she was now in front of her. "Uh-oh... That's usually not good." The elf shook her head with a wry smile before breaking into a mock whisper, "Did you have an accident, sweetie?" Jordan wasn't even sure how to respond to that. It was stupid, ridiculous, inconceivable. "Well, those look like they'll be perfect for you. Do you want me to show you where the checkout is so your mommy can buy them for you?" "Okay, look here," Jordan growled, taking a step closer to the girl. "This whole 'acting like I'm a kid' bit isn't funny, and it's getting on my nerves. So stop following me around and leave me alone, or I'll get your manager and have you fired. You got that?!" The elf held up her hands and took a step back. "Sorry, Miss Crankypants." Jordan watched her leave with relief, and as she grabbed the Cookie Monster panties, she decided to take a pair of the design next to it - it featured Elmo and the phrase 'Tickle Me', which struck her as even more surprising for something featuring a character from a kid's show. She might give those to Chelsea, too, or she might just throw them away; mostly, she was just getting pissed at the store for hiring such an obnoxious person. It served them right, really. After tucking them into her pocket, she started, once again, for the exit. This time, it was a hand around her wrist that stopped her. Her heart began to thump wildly as she turned, expecting to find a security guard. Instead, it was still the damn elf. "I told you to go away!" she hissed. She was surprised at the girl's strength as she found herself being pulled back over to the panties. "Put them back," the girl told her quietly. Her heart began beating a little more quickly again, but she wasn't about to let herself be defeated this easily, certainly not by this girl. "I don't know what you're talking about," she claimed. "I decided I wasn't going to spend my money at this store after dealing with you, and this manhandling of me is just reinforcing my decision. Now let go!" She struggled futilely in the elf's grip, only to have her hand swatted, to her great shock. "Stop it," the girl ordered. "Look, loss prevention has seen you, and they've been following you. I've been trying to warn you. If you try to leave here with that stuff, you're going to be in big trouble." "Shit." Jordan knew that would only confirm that she'd done it, but it didn't sound like there was much doubt. She tried not to be too obvious as she looked around herself, especially as she noticed a guy who she was sure had been over by the jewelry counter when she was there, too. She'd almost been out, too, almost been that much closer to finishing her Christmas shopping. The thought of having to put it all back to start again almost made her want to cry, but not as much as the thought of having to pay for it all from her ever-shrinking bank account. "You don't understand, I..." The elf pretended to take something from Jordan, then reached over to the panty table, ruffling its contents slightly before giving a thumbs-up to the man following them. "What are you doing?" Jordan asked, confused. "They won't miss a couple of those," she shrugged. "But you need to work with me here. I can't fake it all." Jordan looked at the elf with surprise, and appreciation. This girl was really taking a risk for her, for no real reason, after Jordan had been so mean to her. She couldn't help feeling bad about the way she'd been acting. "I know," she agreed reluctantly. "But... Well, I kind of need all of this. Why don't I act like I got away from you, and just make a run for it?" The elf shook her head. "That won't work. They know what you look like, they have people posted at the exits. Although..." The girl eyed Jordan hesitantly. "I don't know..." "What?" "Maybe you could disguise yourself. Most of LP is stationed at the exits, so there's only one following you. I can distract him, and you can go and change into a different outfit. Leave your purse with me, and I'll say I managed to keep ahold of it, and I'm sure he won't try to hard to catch up with you, because obviously you'd have to come back for it." "Yeah, but..." Jordan shook her head, biting her bottom lip. "What if he looks at my driver's license and gets all my information, though?" "You're not officially a shoplifter until you leave the store," the elf informed her. "So he doesn't have any authority to do that. And he won't get it, because he won't hear from any of the rest of his team that you left. I'll stash it in my locker in the back so he knows you'll have to come to me to get it. Then you come up to me when I'm with Santa, pretend you lost your mommy, and I'll take you back to the office to 'help you find her'. Got it?" "I guess... But why a kid? Why can't I just change into normal clothes?" "The women's fitting room is right over there," the elf nodded slightly. "There's no way he won't notice you go in there. And if he notices you taking something from here and then coming back around here in it... Well, that won't work. But there are no exits near the kid's section, or that fitting room, so there shouldn't be any LP over there." Jordan nodded reluctantly. She had to admit it made sense, even if she didn't like it. The elf put her hand on Jordan's purse, then let Jordan break away from her. She didn't have the guts to see if she was being followed by security or if the girl had done her part. She slowed down as she rounded the corner into the kid's section, not wanting the people there to get suspicious of what was going on. Luckily, there weren't many people there in the first place, and she quickly managed to blend in by browsing through the clothes, searching for something that would fit her and not make her look too silly. She found a sweater and jeans, and, deeming them good enough, started for the fitting room. "What are you doing?" Jordan's eyes went wide as she once again saw the elf. "How did you get here so fast? Didn't it work? Couldn't you distract him?" Jordan began glancing around, searching for the man she was sure was following her. "Huh? Oh, no, it's fine. Your purse is in my locker and everything. He knows you're trapped, so he's not too concerned. But you're not going to pull this off with that." She took the clothes from Jordan, who wasn't exactly pleased about getting her fashion sense critiqued by someone dressed as an elf. "That might make you look a little younger, but you need more than that if you want them to think you're somebody else. You need to look like a kid." She began ushering Jordan to the other side of the department. The clothes got smaller, and less mature looking, as they went, Jordan getting more restless as they passed outfit after outfit that she could have tolerated, if only for the few minutes it would take to pull this scam, and she started feeling more and more sure that the clothes they were seeing were bound to be too small to fit her. Finally, they stopped in front of a rack of dresses. They were obviously meant as holiday dresses, all red and puffy and cutesy, but none more than the one the elf grabbed. It was red velvet, the hem of the skirt and ends of the sleeves ringed in white fur, a white ribbon around the waist tied in a bow at the front. It seemed she couldn't escape Santa after all. "What about...?" Jordan started to ask, starting to reach for another red dress, covered in embroidered flowers, with a sweater to go over it, but she was already being pulled toward the fitting room. "We have to hurry!" the girl said, urgently shoving Jordan toward an open door. "We don't know how long we have!" Before she knew it, Jordan had been ushered into a changing room, the door closed for her. At first she thought to herself that it was lucky this place didn't have the fitting rooms set up for anyone to watch them, but luck had little to do with it - it was a big part of why she'd chosen it for her first stop. She sighed as she stared at herself in the mirror. She'd never exactly looked her age, but she'd found little ways of helping that along, and she'd felt quite proud of how she'd looked that day. Dorky or not, the suit really was a big help in making her appear somewhat close to an adult, at least when paired with everything else. But now... She looked down at the dress that had been chosen for her with disgust. That was not going to make her look mature at all; that was the point, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She could always stop this now, go find security and turn herself in, and try to explain. Since she hadn't actually taken anything yet, she wasn't sure they could do much, if anything, to her, other than take her spoils, and either ban her or watch her extra close each time she came in. Considering most of the new clothes she'd gotten over the past year or so had come from there, very little of which she'd paid for, that wasn't exactly ideal. Maybe it was a sign that she was getting too old for this shoplifting thing, that she should stop, but if that was so, then wouldn't that suggest that this elf showing up to help her was a sign, too? And that sign seemed to be saying that it wasn't time to give up after all. She gave one more sigh, then began stripping out of her clothes, laying them carefully on the bench before slipping the dress on over her black, lacy underthings. It was a tight fit, especially around the chest, and the skirt was perilously short, but, to her annoyance considering the age the dress was actually intended for, it technically fit. However, one look in the mirror revealed just how ridiculous she looked. She wouldn't say she looked like a kid, but she certainly didn't look like an 18 year old, either. She wasn't entirely sure what she saw staring back at her. A pre-teen who had gotten into her mother's make-up? "This isn't going to work," she told the elf. "Isn't there something bigger?" Just the act of turning toward the door to call out caused the skirt to swish upward, revealing a hint of her black panties beneath her pantyhose. "Let me see," the girl said. "Can't you just..?" Jordan started to ask, only to see the door handle jiggle for a moment, then unlock itself and open. It wasn't a difficult thing to do - she'd figured out how to do it long ago with just her house key and a little luck - but having it used on her was a different thing entirely. "What are you doing?!" "I have to see what I need to look for," the girl said matter-of-factly. "Hmm... Well, those shoes will have to go. And... Yes... Uh-huh... Okay! You sit tight in here and I'll be back in a jiffy!" The girl vanished, closing the door behind her. For a moment, Jordan wondered if this was a strange set-up, and the girl was going to be bringing a security guard in with her, but why go to all this trouble? It didn't make sense. She stood there for a moment, doing her best to look away from the mirror, looking instead at her old outfit, her real clothes. How was she going to get those out? She hadn't thought about that. She wasn't about to leave them here and hope that, when she came back through, they'd still be there. She needed to take them with her. But how? Clearly, they weren't going to go on under this dress, or likely any other that would be picked out for her. Her purse was in the elf's locker, and the purse section of the store was too far away, and too close to the women's section, where LP had been last she knew. Besides, seeing a supposed kid carrying a purse might set off some alarms. But what else could she do? How did kids carry around stuff? The answer hit her suddenly, and was rather obvious once she'd thought of it. Slowly, she opened the door, sticking her head out and looking around, relieved to see she seemed to be alone in this little corner of the store. The store didn't carry backpacks all the time, just for the start of school, but she felt sure she'd seen a few on the clearance rack, left over from then. Quickly, she scurried that way, not wanting to be seen like this, and also not wanting anyone to get into her fitting room stall and take her things. There truly were only a few backpacks left, and two of them were duplicates of one another. She groaned as she stared at her choices - Dora the Explorer or Disney Princesses - loathe to choose, then have to carry around, either one. Maybe she could just have the girl put her clothes in her locker as well? But then if LP asked to see her purse for some reason, they'd probably find the fact her clothes were there pretty suspicious, if the sight of the girl carrying them through the store wasn't enough already. "What are you doing out here?" Jordan spun around, shocked to find the girl back already, her arms full. "How did you get all that already?" "Get back in there!" the girl ordered, and when Jordan didn't move fast enough, the girl juggled her armload a little to give her an extra hand, which immediately went to Jordan's ear, pulling her, squealing in surprise and pain, back to the fitting room. "Sorry!" she apologized as soon as they were in, and she'd dumped everything on the floor. "I just wanted it to really look like you were a kid, you know? In case anyone's watching." It made sense, Jordan had to admit, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Yeah, fine," she grumbled, rubbing her ear. "I was just getting a backpack to put my old clothes in." She tossed the bag down onto the bench on top of her clothes. In the rush, it had barely even registered that the one she'd been holding when she'd been so unceremoniously dragged off was the Princesses one. Not that it mattered, but there, in such direct contrast to her normal clothes, it looked extra juvenile. "All right, let's get to work," the elf announced. "Take that dress off." Jordan would have been more than happy to do so, except the girl gave no indication that she was going to leave. "I can do that on my own," she pointed out after a minute. "No, you can't. You're a kid now, remember?" "I'm not that young a kid," Jordan grumbled. "You're as young as we can make you look. The further from the truth the better, right? Now, come on. Off." She rolled her eyes when Jordan still didn't move. "Okay, fine, let's start somewhere else. Take off those shoes. Little girls don't wear high heels. Especially not that high." "Yeah, but..." Jordan stammered, but she couldn't argue with that. Slowly, she stepped out of them, and down onto her pantyhose-clad feet. Instantly, she felt more childish and vulnerable, having to look that much further up at this kid. "Those, too," the girl pointed to Jordan's legs. When Jordan started to protest she shook her head. "Girls don't wear pantyhose, either, do they?" "No," Jordan sighed. "Could you maybe at least turn around or something?" "Come on, you're taking all day!" the girl snapped instead. "If you complain about every step, you're going to get us caught!" Jordan wasn't sure how to get her hose off in this dress without flashing her skimpy panties, but the girl hardly seemed to notice. She pulled them down, revealing the pale, skinny legs beneath, and tossed them over with her other clothes. The girl handed her a pair of white ankle socks trimmed with lace, still in their package. She didn't even like pantyhose - it was just another step to make her look professional - but even she thought these were a pretty big step down. "I think you're going a little too young," she voiced her concern again. "Do you not want my help? I'm risking my job here! Do you really want me to go back out and find you something else?!" Jordan did, really, but obviously that would be pretty unfair. She ripped open the package and took out the socks, yanking them over her bare feet. "Now," the girl proclaimed, "dress off." Jordan still couldn't bring herself to do that. "Why?" she whined. "You didn't bring me a new one!" "That one is fine," the elf informed her. "It's what's underneath that needs to be changed." "Underneath?" Jordan squeaked. "Nobody is going to see what's underneath!" "They will if you're not careful! And considering how many times you've flashed me already, you're not careful!" Jordan's cheeks flushed a bright red. "But that just adds to the illusion... As long as we make a few adjustments." "I didn't bring any spare panties," Jordan said, looking at the supplies the girl had brought and not seeing any there, either. "Did you?" "No, I didn't," the girl admitted. "But are you sure you don't have any?" Jordan looked at her in confusion until she glanced over at Jordan's clothes, and Jordan remembered the last thing she'd stolen. "Well, those aren't really for..." she started to say. Really, it was only the Cookie Monster pair that she needed. The Elmo one had been an impulse snatch, so why not take advantage of that? She didn't exactly want to wear them, but they would certainly look less suspicious under the dress than her normal, grown-up underwear. "Okay," she gave in, walking over and searching through her pockets to pull them out, taking the tag off. She looked over at the girl, wondering if it would be worth it to ask her not to watch. It hadn't worked last time, and she didn't want to risk making her mad, since she could get Jordan caught pretty easily. Instead, she just kept her back to the girl as she wriggled out of her panties and into the new ones. They were a fuller cut than she was used to, and a thicker, coarser fabric, but otherwise they didn't feel too awful, even if the sight of them made her feel ridiculous. The "Tickle Me" was at the top, meaning anyone who happened to catch just a glimpse of them likely wouldn't see them, and assume they really were meant for someone much younger than her, probably right out of potty training. "Now will you take that dress off?" the girl asked impatiently. "What? But I changed my underwear!" Jordan complained, turning around. "That's not the only thing that's under there," the girl pointed out. Jordan looked down and saw a training bra among the things the girl had brought for her. Jordan crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I can't wear that!" she shook her head. "Please," the girl chuckled. "Do you really think anyone believes those are real?" She peeled back Jordan's arms, then started to undo her dress. "You aren't fooling anybody." "B-But..." Jordan stammered, too shocked to move for a moment, giving the girl, who seemed to have a lot of experience at this, time to get the dress off of her, leaving her shivering there, more than half naked. As silly as she'd felt, putting on those panties, she looked even more so now, and she found herself gawking at her reflection. From the chest up she looked like a normal young woman, in her black bra, her face all made up, but below that, she was in Elmo panties and ankle socks. She watched her knees turn in slightly at the sight, of their own accord. "There!" the elf declared, having unfastened the bra while Jordan was distracted, pulling it off. Suddenly, the percentage of her body that looked childish, instead of grown-up, jumped dramatically, as the bra took with it all its quite useful padding, leaving her all but flat-chested. "Oh!" she cried out, covering her chest with her arms again, only to have them once more yanked away. "See?" the girl pointed out. "Heck, you don't even need this trainer. It's a good thing I picked up these vests, too, just in case." She picked the package up, showing them to the horrified Jordan. They were white, scallop-trimmed, with a little white bow at the front, very much intended for little kids. She made no move to take them, couldn't make herself do so. "Are you going to put it on, or do I have to do it for you?" That spurred Jordan into action. As little as she wanted to wear them, it would be all the worse to be dressed in it. Hands shaking, she took the package and ripped it open, taking out one of them. The others she put with the rest of her clothes, noting that her backpack was going to be quite full by the time she was done. Like the dress, the vest was a little tight, but, unfortunately, did go on, its snugness only working further to compress her already miniscule breasts, and leave just a little sliver of her white tummy peeking out between it and the "Tickle Me" of her panties' waistband. "Almost done!" the girl declared, opening the shoe box she'd brought in, revealing a pair of shiny white Mary-Janes, a white daisy decorating the strap. Jordan would never have worn them, but at this point, she barely had a choice. She couldn't stop now, could she? That would make the rest of this a waste. Besides, after her change of underwear, the stupid shoes barely registered, though once she had them on, it was very easy to feel the difference between them, with their flat soles, and her nice, tall high heels. The girl grabbed Jordan, turning her away from her as she pulled the dress back over her head and fastened it, then spun her back around to slip a white Alice band with a white bow onto her head, pushing her hair away from her face. Finally, she took out a travel package of baby wipes and rubbed them on Jordan's face. Jordan squealed, squirming to try to escape the cool wetness, and the infantile smell, but by the time she escaped, she had been wiped clean of the make-up she'd so meticulously applied that morning. Jordan gasped as the elf grabbed her shoulders and turned her to the mirror for a final inspection. There was now no trace of her former maturity left, no doubt that the person in the reflection was a child, a little kid whose mommy had gotten her all dressed up to go visit Santa. She could feel, and see, herself going pigeon-toed again as she stood there, heart thumping loudly in her chest. "I think that will do," the elf nodded. "Now, I really need to go. You clean up here, okay? Then, remember, come find me with Santa and we'll get this all taken care of!" The girl patted Jordan's head, just making her feel all the more small, and stepped out of the fitting room, leaving the door wide open. Frantically, Jordan scurried over to it and shut it again, flashing her panties again in the process, though luckily there was nobody there to see them. She was really going to have to be careful, she thought to herself. She walked back across the room more slowly, to the bench where she'd tossed the backpack. She removed the tags from it, then unzipped it and put them inside, along with the packages and tags from the other things she was wearing. She ripped the shoe box so she could fold it up and fit it inside, then reluctantly put in her shoes and her old clothes on top of it all, hiding the evidence of her latest rash of shoplifting. It was only when she was double-checking the room to make sure she hadn't left anything that she noticed the little package of baby wipes, so it wound up on top. The backpack was quite full, but with a little pushing she managed to get it zipped closed and onto her shoulders. The girl in the mirror looked on the verge of tears, which only helped with her illusion and the story of having lost her mother. It was almost impossible to reconcile this picture with what she'd seen in the mirror not fifteen minutes ago, a young woman fresh off a job interview, a little shaken by what was going on, but still confident. She supposed she should feel all the more confident now, since her disguise was so good, but that was very little comfort here, in private. Instead, it was disturbing just how quickly and thoroughly she'd been transformed, shot back in time. When she finally got the courage to leave the fitting room, the store felt like it had grown around her, dwarfing her even more. She gulped as she looked around herself, staring at all the kid's clothes that, like this dress, she might be able to fit into. Most of them seemed like better options, but when she went to pick up a pair of glittery jeans, decorated with embroidered butterflies, her hands began to shake. It seemed like all the customers in the store had come to this section, that they were all looking at her. She wasn't sure if they saw through her disguise and knew what she was planning to do with the pants, or if they really thought she was a kid, nor did she know which would be worse. Either way, going into the fitting room in one outfit and coming out in another might not be a good idea, unless she waited a good, long time before coming out to give the people time to move to another department, and she really wanted to get out of this mess as quickly as possible. She put the jeans back and walked to the main aisle, having to force herself to stay slow and her hands on the hem to keep her skirt from showing off what was beneath. The hard, flat soles of her Mary Janes clunked loudly and clumsily on the linoleum, so much different from the confident click of her heels, the sound of each step echoing in her mind, reminding her that she wasn't an adult anymore. Her heart beat faster and faster, and all she could think about was getting to Santa, meeting with the elf, getting out of here. She didn't even notice the woman she bumped into until it was too late. She let out a surprised, "Oof!" and fell backwards onto her ass, skirt falling haphazardly to reveal her Elmo-covered underwear until she frantically pulled it back into place. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie!" the woman cooed, bending down to help her up. "I didn't see you there!" Jordan's heart stopped as she reached up to take the woman's hand and recognized her. It was Mrs. Patterson, the woman who had just interviewed her that morning! She recalled the woman mentioning she had to do Christmas shopping, too, when Jordan said that was what she was doing after the interview, but she hadn't expected her to be here! Though this was the only mall in the area, so she supposed she really should have considered the possibility. "It's... umm... It's okay," Jordan mumbled, staring down at her feet, at the stupid daisy on the top of her shoes as they scuffed nervously at the floor. She wanted to run off, but something stopped her, told her that would make her look more suspicious. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes despite herself. She'd already been sure she wouldn't get hired, but being seen like this would only clinch that, wouldn't it? "Aww, are you okay?" Mrs. Patterson asked, looking around. "Where's your mommy, sweetheart?" Jordan blinked, glancing back up at the woman. Did she really not recognize her? She supposed the woman must get a lot of interviews, especially this time of the year, but had her transformation really been that thorough that she didn't see the person she'd met just that morning? If nothing else, that just confirmed that she wouldn't be getting the job, if she wasn't even that memorable. "She's... uh... over by Santa. I'm s'posed to get my picture with him," she said finally, making her voice higher and squeakier, trying to disguise it as much as she could. "Then what are you doing way over here? She doesn't let you wander off on your own, does she? You're not big enough for that!" Jordan bristled - how dare she say that?! She hadn't even asked how old Jordan was, just assumed, and went right to insulting her mother's parenting skills! "No, I was just..." she started before drawing a blank. What would a little kid like her be doing on her own? "You didn't run off, did you? That's very naughty! Santa won't like that!" Jordan blushed, but nodded her head in agreement. "I know..." "I hope you didn't get mad because your mommy wouldn't buy you something. I've seen little girls like you do that all the time, throw tantrums right in the middle of the store. And then their mommies give in, when what they should do is take the little brats over their knees!" Mrs. Patterson stopped herself, having seemingly realized she was ranting. "But I'm sure you didn't do that, did you?" "No..." Jordan said, but it didn't even sound convincing to her, and she could tell the woman wasn't buying it either, and she was sure that, in the woman's mind, she was being given a thorough paddling. "Well, let's go find her," the woman took Jordan's hand and started to lead her through the store. At first, Jordan tried to dig her heels in, but it made little difference, and the woman gave her a look that got her feet moving again. She doubted the woman would spank someone else's kid in the middle of the store... But she didn't want to find out for sure. "What was she wearing?" Jordan froze up, unsure of what to say. This woman really seemed dedicated to this... She could only hope that the elf managed to convince Mrs. Patterson to let Jordan go with her to the office instead of taking it upon herself to personally find Jordan's mother. "She... uh..." "You look familiar," the woman mused, startling Jordan even further. "Maybe I know your mommy. What's her name?" "I, uh... I... Mommy?" she squeaked. "Oh, sorry," the woman smiled softly. "What's your last name, then?" That was even worse. Should she lie, and hope she didn't pick the name of someone Mrs. Patterson knew? Should she tell the truth and risk the woman recognizing her? There was no way she could feign ignorance of that without making herself look very young or very stupid. Instead, she exclaimed, "Look, there's Santa!" As it turned out, that was the wrong choice. From there, they could only see the back of Santa's chair and the elf, but even that far away, it was obvious there was nobody else standing there, waiting for their daughter. "You know what? I bet your mommy put all that information in your backpack somewhere. Do you know where?" "No!" Jordan's vocal disguise slipped as she thought of this woman looking through the bag, knowing what was hidden there. Unfortunately, Mrs. Patterson took it a different way, and used it as a cue to push Jordan forward and start to unzip her backpack. "No!" Jordan repeated, twisting, trying to pull away. She managed to get the woman off her backpack, but the action pulled the bag open partway, spilling some of its contents on the floor. Jordan wasn't sure what to do first, as she heard some things clattering to the floor, but finally decided to fumble behind her with the zipper to keep any more from escaping. "What do you have these for?" Mrs. Patterson asked, and Jordan turned around slowly, paling as she saw the baby wipes. "Do you..?" "No!" Jordan squeaked. "No, they're just for cleaning my hands!" "Then why do you have a change of clothes, too?" Mrs. Patterson bent down to pick up the skirt, and Jordan's heart stopped as the woman looked from it to her, and a flash of recognition came over her. "Th-This isn't what you think," Jordan mumbled. "Yes, Ms. Hendrickson? Then what is it?" Jordan couldn't bring herself to answer that, either, and now that the gig was up, it made her feel even more stupid. "You let me get worried sick about some poor child lost in a store on her own, when all along it was just you... what? What is this? Some sort of fetish?" "No!" Jordan shook her head frantically, but she wasn't about to admit to this woman that she'd been shoplifting, and she could think of no other reason to be here, dressed like this. That wasn't good enough for Mrs. Patterson this time, however. "I'm waiting," she said sternly, crossing her arms, still holding the baby wipes and Jordan's skirt. Jordan stared at the latter with a quiet groan, knowing this woman would never treat her this way if she was just wearing that, instead of this ridiculous dress. After a minute, the woman shook her head. "All right, fine. If you want to act like a child, I'm more than happy to treat you like one." She grabbed Jordan roughly, shoving the skirt back into her backpack and zipping it back up before turning her around and marching her through the store, away from Santa and his elf, the baby wipes still clenched in her other hand. Jordan's cheeks burned as she realized that, to anyone passing by, she'd look like a child, too old for this, who was being taken to get her diaper changed by her mother, frustrated at her little girl's potty training troubles. "What are you doing?" Jordan whined. "Let me go!" But no matter how many times she said it, it didn't work, and the looks she got from the other customers just seemed to confirm that they saw the pair only as an unruly, obnoxious child and her mother, not one adult being taken against her will by the other. They wound up in the bathroom, where Mrs. Patterson finally let go of Jordan's arm, pushing her further into the room while she locked the door, leaving the girl pouting and rubbing her arm. Mrs. Patterson set the baby wipes on top of the changing table folded into the wall, then reached into her purse, coming out with something that made Jordan's eyes go wide. "Wh-What is that for?" she squeaked. "What do you think? Turn around. Hands on the wall." "No! No, no, no!" Jordan stomped her foot, tears stinging her eyes. This was so unfair! She was an adult, this woman had no right to spank her! But Mrs. Patterson had planted herself in front of the locked door, arms crossed, wooden hairbrush clenched tightly in one hand, letting Jordan know in no uncertain terms that she wasn't getting out of there. "I think I made it pretty clear how I feel about little girls who throw tantrums," Mrs. Patterson said calmly. "Now turn around right now, young lady, or this will only get worse for you." "You can't do this!" Jordan declared defiantly. "You can't!" That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Mrs. Patterson sprang into motion at that, walking over to the smaller girl and spinning her around, pinning her up against the wall with one arm. Jordan whined and squirmed futiley, at least until the hairbrush smacked against her backside. "Ouch!" she cried, a patch of heat and pain blossoming where she'd just been hit, her hand rubbing it in shock. "How dare you?!" "Get your hands up and against that wall," the woman ordered, stepping away from her slightly. "Now!" Jordan knew doing so would be to subject herself to more of the same, but not doing it would likely end the same way, if not more-so. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "Please, I've learned my lesson." The hairbrush thwapped against her bottom again, and then Mrs. Patterson stopped again, waiting. Whimpering, Jordan raised her hands up over her head, pressing them against the wall. When the woman started the spanking again, she started it for real. Each hit wasn't quite as hard as the first two had been, but they came faster, barely giving her time to yelp between each one. In no time at all, her ass was blazing, and she was crying like a baby. She'd never been spanked as a child, and to have her first spanking being done here, by someone who just this morning had seen her, she'd hoped, as an adult, a potential former colleague, was humiliating. But not nearly as humiliating as what came next. As the spanking wore on for what seemed like ages, Jordan was sure she could hear her voice growing hoarse from the crying, her bottom swelling from the abuse, her legs turning to jelly beneath her. She just wanted it to stop, but she couldn't even form words anymore. This childish punishment had robbed her of even that, making the pain of it her whole world, making her forget about everything else. And, eventually, her body seemed to forget about everything else, too, including how to control its bladder. There was no warning, no chance to stop it. She just felt something warm and wet running down the inside of her thighs all of the sudden. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, and when she did, she just started crying all the harder. At about the same time, Mrs. Patterson noticed it as well. "You dirty little girl!" she scolded. But at least she stopped the spanking as she stared down at Jordan in disgust as the girl stood there in a puddle of her own urine, knees shaking as she fought not to fall down right there. "Well, it's a good thing you did this here." Jordan found it hard to look at the woman now, after what she'd done, but she still glanced up at her after that, confused about the statement until she followed her eyes to the machine next to the changing table - the one that sold diapering kits. "Is that what you want? Is that what this whole game was about?" Mrs. Patterson asked, seeing that Jordan had spotted it as well. "No!" Jordan sniffled. "No, please..." The woman ignored her, flipping the changing table down from the wall, putting one of the paper covers over its surface. Grabbing Jordan, she pulled her away from her puddle, then yanked her backpack off, setting it to the side before doing the same with her dress. Jordan whimpered a half-hearted protest, not wanting to be seen in her wet panties and vest, but unable to muster much resistance so soon after that spanking. Mrs. Patterson grabbed a handful of paper towels and shoved them at her. "Clean that up," she demanded, waiting for the girl to get down on her hands and knees, red bottom sticking up in the air, then walked over to the diaper dispenser and started feeding in coins from her purse. "No, pl-please d-don't," Jordan whimpered, not daring to stop in her task, but still watching in horror as the woman popped the final coin into the money tray, then hit the button. A plastic-wrapped bundle popped out of the machine, urging some fresh tears from Jordan. "Please don't diaper me!" Mrs. Patterson pulled open the package, letting out the faint scent of baby powder. "Throw those away," she said, "and come over here." Reluctantly, Jordan did as she was told, unhappy to see when she turned back around from the trash can that the diaper was out of the package and sitting on the edge of the changing table. Slowly and meekly, she trudged over to it. As soon as she got there, Mrs. Patterson set to work, pulling the wet panties down Jordan's quivering legs and over her shoes. She stared at them for a moment, sneering as she read, "'Tickle Me'? Disgusting," giving Jordan a look like the girl had designed the suggestive underwear herself, then put them into a plastic bag she'd gotten from the kit. There were some baby wipes in the kit as well, but Mrs. Patterson used those up quickly as she cleaned the now squirming and crying Jordan's wet legs, and moved on to the package the elf had given Jordan. When she was satisfied that Jordan was clean, she lifted the girl onto the changing table, sitting her on the edge while she removed the girl's shoes and socks. She set the shoes down on the floor, and put the socks in with Jordan's panties, then sealed the bag. Jordan, fidgeting uncomfortably, her throbbing bottom finding no comfort in the hard plastic table, could only watch, knowing what was coming next, and helpless to stop it. Mrs. Patterson pushed the girl onto her back, sliding her further back on the table. The diaper crinkled loudly as she picked it up and unfolded it. "Nooo..." Jordan whimpered softly, which did nothing to stop the woman from lifting her up and sliding the thick, puffy diaper beneath her. Jordan had to admit the changing table was more comfortable with that bit of padding between her and it, though she didn't really think it was worth it. The woman took a small can of baby powder from the package, then proceeded to empty apparently the whole thing onto Jordan's crotch, until the faint scent of ammonia in Jordan's nose was replaced with that sweet smell, and she knew she was sure to be smelling like that for the rest of the day. Mrs. Patterson pulled the diaper up between Jordan's legs, forcing her thighs apart as the girl sniffled and whined ineffectively. Then there was a slight ripping sound, and a pressure on her tummy as Mrs. Patterson pushed the tapes onto the landing strip - decorated with little rubber duckies and bubbles - rubbing them a time or two to ensure a good, tight hold, and it was over. Jordan was diapered. Mrs. Patterson lifted Jordan back down to the floor as the girl stared, wide-eyed, at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. She'd thought the Elmo panties had been bad, but now her skimpy black panties were only a distant dream, and beneath her waist puffed a monstrous white behemoth that seemed to be absorbing every last bit of adulthood she'd had left - not that there had been much. It was thick, though she doubted, with as cheap as it had been, that it was terribly absorbant. She had no intentions of using it, of course, but if she had, she had a feeling that, despite its bulk, it would leak nonetheless, making it all but useless, except as a tool for her humiliation. When she turned just slightly, she could see a patch of red peeking out from beneath the white plastic of the diaper - her diaper, she thought with a sinking feeling in her stomach - from her spanking, and when Mrs. Patterson gave the back of the snug diaper a pat, she saw a small mist of powder puff out of the back. To make matters worse, Mrs. Patterson began digging through her backpack, putting her old clothes on top of the changing table, leaving them strewn there for Jordan to see, to remember just how good they'd felt compared to this infantile outfit she now found herself in. "Do you have any socks in here?" she asked, though she had already pulled out the pantyhose, and, before Jordan could stop her, found what else was hidden in the bag. "What are these, young lady?" she demanded, pulling out the handful of tags and the shoebox. Jordan stared down at her feet, unable to answer, but she didn't need to. Mrs. Patterson only had to read them to realize they matched the girl's wardrobe. "You were trying to steal?!" "You don't understand, I.." Jordan started her explanation, before realizing she didn't have one. It certainly looked bad, she knew that. Not only had she been found parading around dressed like a four year old, she didn't even own the clothes she'd been wearing. "I don't see any money in here, either," Mrs. Patterson pointed out. "So don't try to tell me you were going to pay for them." Jordan clammed up, staring down past her thickly diapered crotch to her feet. "I thought I felt something in here, too..." Mrs. Patterson picked Jordan's jacket back up, fishing through the pockets and finding the jewelry. "You're lucky I just spanked you," the woman shook her head. "I'm not about to let you get away with this, though. I'll buy these for you, but don't think they're a gift. You're hired, young lady." Jordan looked up in surprise. "Hired?" "Not for the position you applied for - no, that's far too much responsibility for you. You're going to be my assistant, so I can keep a close eye on you. You'll be there at least until you can pay me back for these clothes, which I'm sure will take at least a few weeks. I'd love to have you wear them every day, but I know that wouldn't be very sanitary, but you will wear them at least once a week. And you'll be in diapers every day. I'll buy those for you, too, so that will be another thing you'll need to pay me back for." "D-Diapers?" Jordan whimpered. The whole thing sounded horrible, running around the office as some mere secretary, but it was the diapers that stuck out the most. "Diapers," Mrs. Patterson repeated harshly. "And you'll be using them, too." She picked up the Santa dress, feeling it for any wet spots, then pulled it back over Jordan's head. It was just long enough to cover the diaper, but it would take even less movement than with the panties for Jordan to flash them, she knew, and the dress would do nothing to hide the waddle the bulk between her legs would give her. "I-I can't use diapers!" Jordan sputtered. "I'm not a baby!" Mrs. Patterson seemed to ignore her as she picked up the shoes and cleaned them off, but as she put them on the girl's feet, she calmly stated, "If you ever tell me no again, especially at work, I won't hesitate to spank you again, you understand? No matter what I tell you to do, even if it's to use your diaper. Understand?" Jordan had no choice but to mumble, "Y-Yes, ma'am." She was given the backpack, her old clothes again stuffed inside, and finally they left the bathroom, Mrs. Patterson holding her hand tightly as she toddled beside her. Instead of going straight to a cash register, they stopped back by the kid's section, where Mrs. Patterson found a pair of white tights, complete with two rows of lacy ruffles across the backside. Jordan was taken to the fitting room again and dressed in them. They compressed her diaper, pushing the padding more firmly against her sore bottom, which was growing ever hotter now that it was trapped inside the plastic diaper, and now the cotton tights. Once her shoes were back on, they made their way to the cash register at last. "I'm sorry about this," Mrs. Patterson said as she set the pile of tags beside the pile of jewelry. "This little lady had a bit of an accident and needed some new clothes." "Oh, it's all right," the cashier smiled down at Jordan condescendingly. Even if Jordan had found the courage to speak up, she couldn't have denied it anyway. Jordan expected it to be over after that, at least until work the next day, but once Mrs. Patterson had tucked the shockingly expensive receipt - the dress and shoes had both been quite pricy - she took Jordan's hand again and guided her back through the store. Jordan wasn't sure where they were going at first, until she noticed Santa's chair. "No, don't," she shook her head. She didn't want her partner in crime to see her like this, fallen even further than their plan had required. "You told me you were getting your picture taken with him. I hope that wasn't a lie, too. You know how I feel about those." Jordan could see the challenge in the woman's eyes, and shut up. She could see the elf standing beside Santa, tried not to think about what the girl would say when she saw her, hoping she wouldn't laugh too hard. Their plan, so simple, had turned into quite a mess. As they got closer to the chair, Jordan noticed that there were actually two elves. From the back, she wasn't sure which one was her's, and the confusion only grew as Mrs. Patterson guided her around to the front, and she saw both of them. They looked exactly alike. The effect was a little disconcerting, and it took Jordan a moment to realize that they were twins. Was that how they had seemed to be everywhere at the same time? "Hi, there!" one of them cooed at her. "Is this your mommy?" "Not exactly," Mrs. Patterson said coolly. "Go see Santa." She let go of Jordan, who stumbled uncertainly towards the fat man in the chair. She could see the elves' eyes light up as they saw her, and one scurried over to the other and whispered something in her ear. The two giggled as they watched her toddle. She stared up at Santa uncertainly, biting her bottom lip as she stared at his lap. How could she climb up there in this dress without letting what was underneath show. "Merry Christmas, little girl!" Santa said, jolly as ever. "Come on up here!" Jordan looked back at Mrs. Patterson, who pointed up at Santa insistently. Jordan did her best to be careful, but the renewed giggling from the elves only confirmed that she didn't do such a good job after all. She looked down at herself, horrified to see that her trek had left her skirt hiked up, diaper quite clearly visible beneath her tights, and before she could fix it, there was a flurry of flashes as the elves and Mrs. Patterson took her picture with their phones. She pulled down her skirt, cheeks blazing, watching with a growing sense of dread as the elves struck up a hushed conversation with Mrs. Patterson, whose expression grew darker and darker as they spun some tale. She wasn't sure what relation it had with reality, but when one of them ran off, she had a bad feeling that she would be returning with her purse. "What do you want for Christmas, little girl?" Santa asked. "I-I don't know," Jordan said, squirming on her warm, red backside. A job would be nice, a real one, one where she didn't have to fear getting spanked. But that would probably just confuse Santa, since she was sure he saw her as nothing more than a little kid, especially considering the diaper he was sure to be able to feel on his leg, very clearly not a pair of big girl panties, and there was no doubt he could smell the cloud of baby powder that had likely erupted from her diaper when she'd sat on his knee. "To get out of diapers," she said wistfully. "I'm sure you'll get potty trained soon enough," Santa chuckled, "but I don't think I can help with that." "I am potty trained," she whined, but Santa was clearly not convinced. "How about a nice dolly?" he asked. Jordan sighed as she saw her suspicions fulfilled, and the elf returned with her purse, which Mrs. Patterson immediately opened, giving Jordan an angry look as she discovered the other shoplifted items hidden there. "Yeah," she sighed, "That sounds about right." Mrs. Patterson grabbed her arm as soon as she was off Santa's lap, pulling her away from him angrily. "As soon as I pay for the rest of this," she said, pointing at Jordan's packed purse, "you are getting in your car, and I'm following you straight hom, where I'm going to explain all this to your mother, and make sure she knows that you're to report to work tomorrow, and how you're to be dressed. I'm sure she won't be amused by your antics, either." "Don't forget," one of the twin elves piped up, "if she's too much trouble at work, you can always take her to get special training at that place we told you about." Jordan's eyes widened at that, unsure what that could mean. Mrs. Patterson knew, however, and nodded seriously. "I'll be sure to mention that to her mother as well," she told them. "Thank you girls for your help." "No problem!" one of them chirped, giving Jordan a hug and patting the seat of her diaper. The other hugged her as well, pulling her closer to whisper in her ear, "Just so you know, security was never onto you." She giggled as Jordan pulled away and gave her a look of shock, then the pair of them continued their laughter as they watched her get pulled back to the cash register by Mrs. Patterson, off to finish paying for the girl's "shopping". It was turning out to be the most expensive Christmas shopping Jordan had ever done. The End

The Crybaby's Christmas The Scaredy-Cat's Halloween It was quite a relief to be saying goodbye to her nanny at last, even if her parents refused to acknowledge that it was strange that she was leaving right before the Christmas season was about to start, just as she'd shown up the year before right as it ended. They seemed to see it as just a coincidence, and her insistence that it was something else as yet another sign of how childish the nearly 20 year old girl still was - a confirmation, of sorts, that she needed the nanny in the first place. But Sierra knew the truth. Her nanny was an elf, sent there the year before by Santa to give her a second chance to grow up. It had apparently taken longer than the elf had expected - once she'd broken the girl's potty training, it had proven quite difficult to rebuild it, much more than she'd expected - as she was rather upset to be leaving a work in progress, but her other job beckoned, leaving her little choice but to go, at least for now. "You be a good girl," she instructed, giving Sierra firm swat across the backside, making the girl squeak and squirm in her Pull-Ups, her bottom already sore from a spanking the day before. "If you keep up with your potty training, we might be able to move on to big girl panties when I get back." Sierra stared up at her with big eyes, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. It felt like ages since she'd worn those! She couldn't quite recall how they felt anymore, not really, though sometimes she told herself she could, just to make herself feel a little better. She knew it couldn't be as long as it seemed, that her memory, and that of her parents, had been messed with in order to get them to hire a nanny for their 19 year old daughter, but she knew it had to have been at least ten months. "Really?!" "IF you're a good girl," her nanny repeated. "You're not getting them until I think you have a shot at not ruining every other pair I put you in. So if you have too many accidents, it isn't happening - in fact, we may have to start all over again. And you know I'll be watching." "Yes, ma'am," Sierra nodded. She gave the nanny a hug, and got one in return, along with a kiss on the forehead, before being left alone while the nanny went off to say goodbye to her parents, leaving her alone in her room, squirming anxiously. It wasn't just that she was nervous she'd have too many accidents. That was part of it, since even before this started, she would wet herself a little every now and then - she tried to tell herself that was part of the memories the nanny had planted, but there was something about them that felt different. But, as much as she hated to admit it, she felt more confident with her potty training than she ever had before, even if she was still stuck in training pants for the time being. Depending on how reliable her memory was, she might be having less accidents now than she had before this whole mess started, and yet she still hadn't been deemed worthy of real panties yet. That was certainly a part of her anxiety, but the thing that worried her more was what time of year it was. It almost felt as if the elf had chosen the worst possible time to subject her to this test, just to make sure she would fail. It was the day before Halloween, a time that had always been quite stressful for the poor girl. The idea of playing dress up and getting rewarded with candy for it was nice, of course, but that was about it. It was hard to go out without running across some creepy looking decoration, hard to turn on the television without stumbling into the middle of some gruesome, horrifying movie. The general atmosphere made everything feel spookier, to the point where she was practically jumping out of her skin at the sight of her own shadow. And that was all before she'd met the nanny. Now, having met her, Sierra knew for a fact that Santa was real - not that she'd ever really doubted it that much to begin with - which led her to wonder what other stories were, too. Could ghosts be real? Werewolves? Vampires? She'd made it through her other Halloweens by telling herself those couldn't be real, but that was going to sound even less convincing now. Not to mention the fact that she'd spent the year treated like an infant, very gradually making her way to the status of a toddler. She still had her own mind, but spending all that time being treated like a helpless child made it much harder to remember that she wasn't one. She certainly didn't feel lke one as she crept out of her room and to the front door, doing her best not to listen to what the nanny and her parents were saying, knowing it was about her. She'd already seen the huge list of instructions that had been left for her babysitters so they could pick up where nanny had left off. She didn't want to hear any more of that sort of thing. She played with the hem of her dress as she waited, shuffling her feet and staring down at them. Should she bother with this? Or would it just make her look silly? It was hard to worry about that too much, after spending all year with her nanny, but there was still a touch of grown up dignity left in her. Though there was, perhaps, a little less left as she jumped at the sudden sound of, "What are you doing out here, sweetie?" Despite her best efforts to hide it, she could feel her eyes widening slightly, and she saw her nanny's expression turn to disappointment, knowing just what had happened. The elf marched over to her, flipping up her skirt to reveal Sierra's now damp Pull-Up. "You are not off to a good start, young lady." "You scared me," Sierra whined. "If that's all it took, then I clearly didn't do a good enough job," the nanny shook her head. "Should I tell your parents to keep you diapered full time instead, to get you ready for a fresh start when I get back?" "No," Sierra pouted. "I'll do better." "I hope so." Her voice softened as she said, "Did you come to say goodbye to me again?" Sierra nodded and got another hug. "I'll miss you." "I'll miss you, too." And, in a way, she would. She'd been around for so long, it would seem strange not to have her there. Plus, without her, she would be subjected to some unknown babysitter, who might be nice, or might not. At least with her nanny, she knew what to expect, even if she didn't always like it. "Umm... Hey... Can I ask you a question?" "Sure. But you know I'm not allowed to talk about my other job." "I know," Sierra nodded. "Umm... Are... Are ghosts real?" The nanny looked down at her with a slightly surprised smile, apparently speechless for the first time since Sierra met her, which was enough of an answer for Sierra. "Hey, don't worry. There's nothing that can hurt you. If you just close your eyes and count to five, any scary thing you see will go away, or at least seem a whole lot less scary." "And if it doesn't work, I won't get in trouble if I have an accident?" Sierra asked hopefully. "Don't push your luck, young lady." The nanny gave her another swat on the bottom, then, after a final goodbye, went on her way. Sierra would have liked to go change into a fresh Pull-Up herself, but she had no doubt her nanny would find out about it somehow, so she shuffled to the living room to confess to her accident before being led back to her room for a change. She was less than pleased when her mother put her into one of her thick, pink overnight diapers - a kind she'd never seen before her nanny had brought them, and which the nanny had left a rather large supply of "just in case" - instead of another Pull-Up, and was even less happy when she was sat up afterward and had her dress taken off and replaced with her footed sleeper. "But it's not bedtime!" she protested, stomping her padded foot on the floor in a huff. "Behave yourself, young lady!" her mother snapped. "Your nanny warned us your behavior might backslide after she left unless we were firm with you. You know it's naughty to go potty in your pants, and so is throwing a tantrum, so you're going to bed early. And if you say another word about it, I'll have daddy give you a spanking." "Yes, mommy," Sierra sighed, climbing into her bed, letting her mother pull the side rail up. She supposed she should be happy she didn't have to sleep in a crib, but this was hardly better. "Night-night." "Goodnight, sweetheart." Her mother flipped off the light and started to close the door. "Wait!" Sierra whimpered. Her mother realized right away what she'd forgotten, and reached down to flip on the girl's nightlight before leaving the room. Sierra felt silly, but she'd grown awfully accustomed to the nightlight while she was being treated like a baby, and now that the shadows were growing deeper, and there were Halloween ghouls behind every corner, she couldn't get to sleep without it. And, unfortunately, she couldn't turn it on herself. She might not have to sleep in a crib, but the bed rails were just as bad, as it seemed they had some sort of spell on them that prevented her from getting out of bed once they were pulled into place. She imagined it was very similar to being in a crib, only worse, since there was no visible reason she couldn't climb over them and get out, so it looked like she stayed there by choice. Other than the fact that it meant if she got put down to bed, or even a nap, with a full bladder, and without asking to use the potty first, she'd have to use her diaper, the idea of being stuck in her bed wasn't particularly scary. But now, without her nanny to protect her from whatever was out there, it felt like she'd been trussed up and offered up to any monster that happened to pass by. Her nightlight suddenly became a curse, since that light caused shadows, and now they all seemed to be moving, growing horns and claws and coming closer. She knew it was just her imagination, but even so, she was sure she could hear breathing, hooves scraping across the floor as they came closer, and closer. She whimpered, wriggling helplessly in her bed. It went against every instinct she had, but her nanny generally seemed to know what she was talking about, so she covered her eyes, squeezing them shut, and started to count out loud - quietly, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself, not just from the monsters, but also from her parents. "One..." she whispered. "Two..." She jumped as she heard a scraping sound, uncovering her eyes in a panic to see the silhouette of something outside her window. She swallowed a scream, barely noticing her diaper grow damp. "Th-Three..." She couldn't make her eyes close, so she just put her hands over them again. "Four... Five!" She spread her fingers, staring through them. Sure enough, the shadows all looked normal again, the thing behind her curtain looked much more like a tree than a huge, skeletal hand, and she felt much better. At least until her mommy came in to see what all the noise was about and found her wet again already. "I fell asleep!" Sierra claimed. "You know I still have bedwetting problems!" A year ago, she would have found it humiliating to say that, but after everything she'd been through since then, it seemed like nothing. Not to mention it was true. And, in her mother's memory, and even her own, those bedwetting problems stretched back even further than this baby treatment - she thought that was another false memory, but it was hard to be sure anymore. Her mommy shook her head, staring down at Sierra on her changing mat, wet diaper removed. "Why are you lying to me, honey? I know you didn't have time to fall asleep yet, and I just put you to bed. If you still had to go potty, you should have asked me!" "I'm sorry," Sierra sniffled. "I'd ask you if you still needed to go, but I don't know that I can trust you, so come on." Sierra found herself being pulled over to where her pink plastic potty sat, but instead of being put on it, she was handed it, then herded to the living room, naked. Her parents had both seen her naked quite recently, but she still blushed a little as her daddy looked up from the TV and saw her. Her mother took the potty from her and sat her down on it. "She had another accident," her mommy told her daddy as she went to sit herself, as if Sierra wasn't there. "And she lied about it." "I think I'd better give her a spanking once she's done on the potty," her daddy said, much to her dismay. "No!" she pouted. "That's not fair! I..." She was cut off by her mother getting back up and shoving her pacifier into her mouth. Like her bed, it had some enchantment on it that kept her from speaking normally, or doing much of anything but sucking on it once it was in, and kept her from removing it herself. Sulking, she looked over at the TV, trying to forget what was waiting for her, just in time to see a killer jump out of the shadows and start chasing some poor girl. She mumbled behind her pacifier, trying to get them to change the channel, but they couldn't understand her. She closed her eyes, but that only made things worse, as she could still hear the knife sinking into the girl's flesh over and over, and she was left to imagine the details. Her bladder was empty by now, but she had no doubt that mental image would return to her in her dreams, and that would ensure a wet diaper in the morning, to go with her freshly-sore bottom. She was right on all counts. She was a little nervous that her parents would hire one of her old friends as her babysitter - after all, a lot of them had complained at one time or another that hanging out with her was like babysitting, even before she went through her diaper training - but the woman who showed up at the door was older than any of them by a good few years. She stood by like a toddler, blushing as she listened to her mother go over her care with the woman, down to telling her that she was having accidents lately, and if she had another, she was to go in diapers for the rest of the day. She gave an indignant huff as she heard that, but neither woman paid her any mind. "Hello, there!" the babysitter said to her once they were alone. "You can call me Miss Claire! What's your name, cutie?" Sierra felt silly, knowing the woman surely knew her name already, but said, "I'm Sierra," anyway. "What a pretty name! Now, do you want to sit on the potty for me like a good girl before we leave?" "I don't have to go," Sierra informed her, before realizing what else the woman had said. "Where are we going?" "Try anyway." The potty was still in the living room from the night before, so Sierra was plopped back down onto it, Pull-Ups at her knees. "We're going to find you a Halloween costume!" "I'm not going trick-or-treating," Sierra said. She didn't need that kind of stress, walking around waiting to be scared by some random teenager, not when she was already in trouble. "But you're going to be a big girl and help mommy and daddy pass out candy, aren't you?" Sierra shrugged, having not really thought about it, but her babysitter nodded. Even though she didn't really know Miss Claire, she found herself sticking quite close to the woman as they went into the costume shop and found themselves in a madhouse. "Busy, aren't they?" Miss Claire chuckled. "I guess you should have come earlier in the month." "Let's just go," Sierra whined, tugging at the woman's hand. "I don't wanna dress up." "Aww, come on," Miss Claire said, tugging back, pulling the girl further into the store. "It's once a year!" She knew that they were just costumes, but the rows of masks staring back at her were quite unnerving, as were all the people running around wearing them. "Do you want to be scary?" Miss Claire asked, making Sierra immediately shake her head. "Okay, then something cute." Sierra nodded. It was what she always went with, even when her friends were going for sexy instead, and trying to convince her to do the same. She just didn't have the body to pull off most of the sexy costumes you could find, and now that she had a Pull-Up, at the very least, to hide, that made things all the harder. "I think the little girl section is over here," Miss Claire said, leading Sierra away to a much calmer aisle. "There's not much left," she observed. "You could be a princess. Or a fairy. Or a ladybug. That would be cute!" She grabbed the ladybug costume and held it up to Sierra, shaking her head. "No, they don't have any big enough sizes left." She put it back, looking a bit disappointed. "There's a witch, but that's a little scary, huh? Maybe an angel?" "A fairy would be okay," Sierra said quietly. "Oh, good choice!" Miss Claire exclaimed, grabbing the costume. "I bet this would fit!" She hurried Sierra over to the fitting room, then, to the girl's embarrassment if not surprise, went inside with her, pulling the costume on over her pants and shirt. The dress was blue, with a very fluffy, and short, skirt, set off on one side by a bow. It almost looked like a ballerina costume, until Miss Claire added the wings, which were a delicate web of pink. "Perfect!" she declared. But once they got to the line for checkout, she realized that wasn't quite so. "We forgot to get a wand!" she said suddenly. "You have to have a wand!" "I don't really..." Sierra said, but now that Miss Claire had thought of it, she did kind of want one. "I'd hate to lose our spot in the line," Miss Carol mused, looking back at all the people who had stepped in behind them already. She looked down at Sierra skeptically. "Do you think you could go get one?" she asked. "I saw them on the other side of the aisle the costume was on. Do you remember how to get there? Will you be okay on your own?" Sierra's pride won out over her nerves. "Yes," she pouted. "I'm not a baby, you know!" But as she stormed back across the store, it seemed to get bigger, more crowded. When she turned back to look at her babysitter, she could barely even see the woman, there were so many people, fighting over the last scraps left in the store. A man pulled on a werewolf mask, then stared straight at her, and, even though she'd just seen him put it on, her blood still ran cold for a moment before she turned and scurried for the aisle. "Boo!" Sierra jumped, scrambling back, looking all around for who had said that, just before hearing an eerie cackling. "Hello?" she squeaked, setting off a ghostly moan. She turned around, starting to freak out before finally noticing the plastic ghost and witch on the shelf in front of her, winding down. "Hello?" she said again, and, sure enough, they sprang back to life. She laughed nervously at herself, realizing she was in the wrong aisle and stepping out and over to the right one. She could see the wands, right where Miss Claire had said they'd be. Happy that her little adventure was nearly over, she just about skipped down the aisle toward them. And then he stepped out into the aisle from the other side. The mask he wore was burned into Sierra's brain from the night before, as it was the one the killer had worn in the movie her parents had been watching. She froze, hoping he wouldn't see her, but of course she wasn't that lucky. She threw her hands up to her face, though that did nothing to block out her own imagined version of his kill from the night before. "One..." She knew it was a costume - they were in a costume shop, after all - but wouldn't this be the perfect place for him to hide? Everyone would assume it was just a costume, and then he'd be free to do what he wanted, and... "T-Two..." She was sure she could hear, almost even feel, his footsteps as he approached, closer and closer, probably reaching for his knife. "Th-Th-Three..." She didn't think she could hear them anymore, but that was almost worse. Was he standing there, waiting to strike? Could she feel his hot breath on the back of her neck? "F-Four..." She wanted so badly to open her eyes, to find out if she should be running, but she was afraid it would break the spell. "F-F-F...." She stammered, pressing her hands hard into her eyes as she trembled. She could feel her bladder emptying into her pants, but it was the least of her worries. She had to get that last number out, and she had to do it now, but she just couldn't. "F... F... Five!" She opened her eyes with a gasp, looking around, and, sure enough, he was gone. She gave a nervous twitter of laughter, then hurried to the wands and grabbed one, practically running back to Miss Claire. She was glad her nanny wasn't there, because she would have known for sure right away that she'd had an accident as she handed the wand, tipped with a star and ribbons, over. "Good job!" Miss Claire praised her with a smile. But while Sierra watched, that smile began to darken as the woman's eyes ran over her, and she asked the inevitable, awful question, "Sierra, do you have something you need to tell me?" "N-No..." Sierra stammered, not expecting Miss Claire to be brave enough to check her in public, but a quick pat on the girl's bottom seemed to tell her all she needed to know. Once they were in the car, Sierra tried to explain, but Miss Claire was having none of it, and when Sierra refused to let her put her into a diaper, the girl quickly found that the woman was just as good with the hairbrush as her nanny, and she spent the next half hour in the corner, doing her best not to rub her red, swollen bottom through her pink diaper. She had hoped that her parents would understand when they got home, but they seemed quite happy with Miss Claire for how she'd handled things, giving Sierra a scolding for being such a naughty girl. They wouldn't even listen to reason when she asked if she could wear a Pull-Up under her costume instead of a diaper, just while trick-or-treating was going on. "We don't want you to ruin your costume," they said, and when she said she wouldn't, they replied, "If you're not good, we'll make you answer the door in your sleeper and a double diaper." Answering the door was much better than going trick-or-treating herself, she quickly realized. Most of the really scary people weren't out for candy, but for general mischief, so they weren't as likely to come to the door, and with the mothers taking their kids out, she still had plenty of people to coo over how cute her costume was, even if she had to keep tugging the skirt down to try to hide her diaper, and the redness extending out from underneath it from her spankings. She even got to stay up a little later than the night before, even though she was sure her behavior would otherwise have landed her in bed just as early. She went to bed with a sense of relief, knowing that Halloween was over. Despite the fact that Thanksgiving was sooner, it was now the Christmas season as far as most everyone was concerned. Stores already had some decorations up, but soon there'd be even more. Bats and witches and cobwebs would soon be replaced by snowmen and reindeer and Santas. Even though it had landed her in diapers the year before, Christmas was still her favorite holiday, not least of all because it was a relief after the stress of Halloween. Not even her mother's warning that if she had another accident that day that would be three days in a row, and she'd be losing her Pull-Up privileges until her nanny got back, could dampen her good mood. Sierra hummed happily to herself as she sat on the floor of the living room, coloring a My Little Pony picture while the television droned on. Even before everything had happened, she'd always enjoyed cartoons, so she had no problem when Miss Claire had suggested she watch some, but now they were over, replaced by the news, which had always kind of bored her, though she did look up as one of the anchors mentioned the Day of the Dead, seeing a parade full of dancing skeletons. But with Halloween behind her, it didn't bother her too much, and it was much easier to see that they were just people in costumes. No big deal. She went back to coloring. "Can I borrow this?" Sierra looked back up from her picture, furrowing her brow at the unfamiliar voice. She was a bit startled to see a little girl in front of her, maybe six or seven, in overalls and pigtails, looking at her green crayon. "What are you doing here?" Sierra asked, looking over at the front door, wondering why she hadn't heard it open. "This is my house," the girl told her matter of factly. It was only then that Sierra noticed she looked quite pale, and her clothes and hair looked faded, not like they were hand-me-downs, but more like they were from a bad copy of an old picture. Sierra began to shiver a little, just for a moment. She covered her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was the fact it had worked so well before, or just her good mood in general, but she felt very confident as she counted, "One, two, three..." She knew she was just being silly, that the stupid news had just tricked her into imagining things. "Four, five!" she finished up, pleased with herself for not freaking out. Her nanny would be proud of her! When she wrote her letter to Santa, she'd be sure to put in a note for her nanny that thanked her for teaching her the little charm, simple as it was. When she opened her eyes, the girl was right in front of her, staring right into them. "What are you doing?" she asked as Sierra gasped and nearly leapt out of her skin. When Sierra didn't answer, the girl pointed to the crayon again. "Can I have it?" Sierra nodded dumbly, and the girl picked the crayon up with a smile before fading away into nothingness, taking the crayon with her. But that wasn't the only thing she took. "It's not my fault!" Sierra wailed as she ran into the kitchen to Miss Claire. "The stupid counting thing didn't work, and that's the only reason I was so scared! I wouldn't have done it otherwise! She said nothing could hurt me if I did that!" "What are you talking about?" Miss Claire asked, confused. "Are you hurt?" "Well... No..." Sierra had to admit, ducking her head. Immediately, Miss Claire knew what had happened. "Sierra!" she scolded. "Already?!" "It's not my fault!" Sierra sniffled. It was so unfair! "It was the ghost!" "Sweetie, there's no such thing as ghosts. You just got scared, that's all, and you had another accident. And you know what that means." Her nanny had worked hard to stop her from having tantrums, and Sierra did her best to suppress them, knowing they got her in trouble, but in this case, she just couldn't help it. "No! No fair! No diaper!" She stomped her feet, face reddening, and when Miss Claire tried to take her hand to take her to her room, she sat down firmly on her squishy Pull-Up and started kicking and thrashing her arms. "No!" Somewhere in the middle of the outburst, Miss Claire left, returning with her arms full of supplies. First, she popped Sierra's pacifier into her mouth, which shut her up quickly and surprised her just enough to give Miss Claire the chance to start changing her right there on the floor, using a liberal amount of baby powder and lotion before sealing the diaper up. Sierra cried as she looked down at the pink, bulging thing. "I big giwl!" she mumbled unhappily behind her pacifier. The diapering had quieted her tantrum, but hadn't quite killed it, and, defiantly, and without thinking, she grabbed for the diaper's tape. Had she not been throwing a fit, had she been thinking clearly, she never would have done it, but in the heat of the moment, her mind was intent only on getting out of the diaper. But, like her pacifier and bed rails, the diapers were special, too, and as soon as she touched the tape, she felt a cramp in her tummy. She whimpered, pulling her hand away, but it was too late. Only the hard, linoleum floor she was sitting on had kept her from having an accident right away, and even that was imperfect, as she could feel the warm, gooey mess oozing out slowly into her diaper. "I sowwy!" she whimpered into her pacifier, hoping somehow that would break the spell, but she only felt more miserable as she pressed her sore, full bottom down into the floor, trying futilely to fight the oncoming storm. She didn't want to do it, but at the same time, not doing it was almost worse. She hadn't had a messy accident in months now, but she knew that time was over, that she was going to be back to doing it all in her diapers from now on, at the very least through Christmas, but probably for a while afterward, too. She should get used to it. But, even so, she couldn't bring herself to do it, to admit defeat and let go, as if she thought somehow stopping it would prove she didn't need diapers after all. Her mouth began sucking automatically on the pacifier as she squirmed uncomfortably on the floor, trying to find a position that would let her be comfortable until the cramps passed enough that she could make a dash for the bathroom, and hope Miss Claire would undo the tapes for her. She gasped as, in her squirming, she lifted her bottom just a touch from the floor, and she felt her body take advantage, starting to pump a load of mushy mess out into that space. "No!" she whined before going back to sucking intently, her body already caught up in the act, and she felt herself lifting her backside further off the floor as her diaper began to fill, expanding behind her like a balloon. "Oh, Sierra!" Miss Claire shook her head. "Already? Clearly you aren't a big girl - I can't believe your parents even considered letting you wear Pull-Ups. Well, for throwing a tantrum, I think you're going to have to wait until after lunch for a diaper change. And then you're going down for your nap right away. Got it?" Sierra nodded resignedly, pouting as she was helped to her feet, her body depositing the last of its load into her diaper as she started to waddle over to the table and its hard, uncomfortable, wooden chairs. As she sat down with a squish, she mumbled a grumpy, "I hate Hawwoween."

Ausdpr - Originally there was a little more with the BEKs, but once I put Abby and Addison in the story, I realized I couldn't have that, because it would mean they existed not just in this story, but The Dollhouse, should I ever get around to writing that. But I kind of like having it as a mystery anyway, too.

I consider this the American Horror Story version of my writing, where I had a few ideas that seemed interesting and were Halloween themed, and I just decided to throw them together and see if I could find a way to mix them. There was also originally going to be a section with a drug (which I don't want to say too much about, because I'll probably use it elsewhere), and then something with a doll that I'll probably make a caption story out of, and maybe a trip to the daycare, but I eventually decided it had gone on long enough already. If you want to use some story elements from it, feel free.

Scavengers - A Halloween Story Nina looked at Katherine for barely a second before giving her a definite, "No." "Oh, come on!" Katherine sighed, looking down at herself. "What's wrong with it?" "Nobody's going to think you're in costume," Nina said, standing up from her bed and walking over to her roommate. "They're going to see you, assume you really are a little schoolgirl out past her bedtime, and take you back to that Catholic school on the edge of town. You'll probably get a spanking or something for sneaking out before they realize you don't actually go there." Katherine pouted, crossing her arms over her white button-up shirt and the tie hanging down the center of it, giving her pleated plaid skirt one more glance. "This is what I've got," she said. "I don't wanna have to go buy a costume. There isn't going to be anything good left by now, anyway." She shrugged. "I don't think it's that bad." Nina reached over, tugging one of the pigtails Katherine had put her hair into, making the other girl break her pose by reaching up to free her hair. "You'll never get into the party. They'll laugh you out of the line at the club before you can even reach for your ID. The only place you're going looking like that is trick or treating, and that is not what Halloween is all about." Katherine shifted a little in place, not wanting to admit that trick or treating did sound like fun. She didn't have to. Nina, as always, could read her like a book. "Oh, grow up, Kat. I thought you wanted to hook up with Dylan tonight, not run around with a bunch of grade-schoolers and collect candy. Besides, like I said, nobody will think it's a costume." "They'll still give me some candy," Katherine mumbled. "You're a big girl. If you want candy, go buy some. Now get serious! Surely you have something slutty you can say is a costume!" "I've shown you pretty much everything I own that looks even a little costume-y, and you said no to all of it. I'm tired of this!" Katherine crossed her arms again, annoyed. "Don't throw a tantrum!" Nina teased. "Be a good little girl and do what you're told, or you'll get a spanking." To Katherine's surprise, when she didn't move, Nina grabbed her and dragged her to her bed, sitting down on it and pulling Katherine over her lap. Katherine refused to play along, staying limp as she waited for the other girl to finish with her little joke, though she was surprised to feel a sudden breeze on her thighs as Nina flipped her skirt up. "Oh, Hello Kitty panties," Nina teased. "Interesting choice. You really committed to this costume, huh?" Katherine started to squirm at that, pushing her way back off Nina's lap as the girl giggled, glaring at her once she was back on her feet. "You know what? I don't want to go to this party after all if this is how you're gonna act!" "Oh, please. You just want to go trick or treating, don't you? I put the idea in your head, and now that's all you want to do, huh? You're so boring. Honestly, I don't know why I let you move in here sometimes." "Because I actually pay my rent," Katherine sulked. Nina ignored her, even though she was right. "I guess I'll go to the party by myself. Whatever. Have fun running around with the other kiddies." Katherine knew Nina wanted her to feel bad, to cave in, but, for once, she wasn't going to. She wasn't sure if she was really going to go trick or treating - the idea of it was fun, but also made her feel a little nervous - but if Nina didn't like any of her costume ideas, she wasn't going to bend over backwards trying to come up with something else. "If you're going to be a bitch about it, I'm not going to share my candy." "You just don't want Dylan to see you next to a whole club full of girls in slutty costumes," Nina shrugged. "I guess I can't blame you. It'd be awfully hard for your little Hello Kitty panties to compete with whatever they'd be wearing - or not wearing." Katherine started to tell Nina there was nothing wrong with her underwear, but she didn't want to let the girl know it bothered her too much, or she'd never stop teasing her. "Have fun," she said instead, heading out of Nina's room. "Happy Halloween." Back in her own room, she walked over to her mirror and looked at herself. "I don't look that young," she said out loud, though even she could detect a hint of doubt in her voice as she said it. She stepped out of the heels she had been wearing, pulled off the thigh highs, then went digging through her clothes, finding a pair of lacy ankle socks and black Mary Janes, putting them on instead. She'd left a few buttons at the top of her shirt un-done, and as she walked over to her desk, which served as her make-shift vanity, she fastened them up. She grabbed some eyeliner and returned to the mirror to dot some freckles onto her cheeks before stepping back to admire her handiwork. Now she certainly did look that young, and there was no denying it. She was a little taken aback as she saw her reflection, looking for all the world like a sweet, innocent little schoolgirl. It was disconcerting how easy that transformation was, and how right Nina's earlier words now were. There was no way anyone would think it was a costume. Which meant it was a pretty good one, but at the same time, it meant she wasn't going to look like she was trick or treating. She stopped herself for a moment - was she really going to do this? She hadn't even considered it before Nina's little joke. Why? It sounded fun, sure, but what if she ran into someone she knew? And, really, what was the point? Was it just because she was annoyed at Nina? What was she going to prove by going through with it? But as she stood there, she thought back to years past, to the thrill of waiting for Halloween, picking out her costume, wearing it to school, getting to parade around the neighborhood in it and be told how adorable she looked. And get lots and lots of candy at the same time. No matter what Nina said, Halloween candy just didn't taste as sweet if you simply bought it at the store. It had to be earned. She turned to her bed, to the pile of random stuff she'd thrown there in an attempt to come up with a Nina-approved costume. The thing that caught her eye first this time was the thing that she'd grabbed first to begin with - a headband adorned with a pair of black cat ears. She hadn't had anything to pair it with to make an adult cat costume, but for a kid version, she thought she could whip something up. She grabbed the ears and slipped them on, then took a black boa and slipped it into the back of her skirt, attaching it there for her tail. She drew on some whiskers with a darker shade of eyeliner, then colored the tip of her nose with it as well, and, sure enough, she was done. Taken on its own, it probably would still look a little lazy to someone handing out candy, like she'd thrown it together at the last minute because she'd thought herself too old for trick or treating, only to change her mind on the day. To someone who knew the truth, that she was really an adult, it might seem a little more impressive, though she doubted Nina would like it. Even though she told herself she didn't really care what her roommate thought, she was still quiet as she crept out of her room. The girls had used some old jack-o-lantern candy pails as Halloween decorations, and on her way out, Nina grabbed one, completing her outfit, and giving her a place to stash her cell phone. Just before she reached the front door, she gave a jump as someone knocked on it. "I got it!" she called quickly, further betraying the fact that she was, indeed, embarrassed at the thought of Nina seeing her actually ready to go through with this. Nina didn't say anything, but Katherine also didn't hear her heading down the hall, so she assumed the girl wasn't coming, though she simply might not have been able to hear her, as whoever was at the door hadn't stopped knocking since they'd started. "I'm coming!" she yelled to them, taking the last couple steps to the door and pulling it open. Outside stood a trip of boys. Katherine had never been great at judging kids' ages, but one looked like he might have been 13, the other two were closer to ten. They looked different enough that she assumed they were friends, rather than brothers. None were in costume, giving Katherine a sense of what Nina had been talking about, how lazy that looked to someone answering the door to see kids asking for candy without putting any effort into it. However, she was too busy to worry about the chill running down her spine to think about that. She wasn't sure what it was, but she could feel a sense of something being wrong, her entire body tensing up. It was only when the oldest looked up at her with a wide smile that she noticed his eyes. They were jet black, looking even darker against his pale skin, and pearly white teeth. A look at the other two boys revealed their eyes were the same - no pupils, no irises, just orbs of jet black. "Oh, that's... that's creepy," she stammered, stepping back slightly, then feeling silly for it. "I bet those contact lenses cost a fortune, huh?" "Ma'am?" the older boy said, seeming to ignore her words. "We have a problem. We were with a trick or treating group, but we lost track of them. Can you let us in so we can use your phone?" Katherine was, in general, not used to being called ma'am by anyone, and certainly hadn't expected it while in this costume. She couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't as good as she'd thought. Or maybe it was just the way they were staring at her, all three, that gave her away, some subtle thing that had given her away that only someone paying that close of attention would notice. It would have bothered her more if she didn't feel so unsettled with those three faces looking at her, through her. She started to step away, to let them in, but after a small shuffle, her feet froze in place. "I-I can lend you my cell phone if you want," she offered. "I'm sure they couldn't have gotten too far." "Just let us in. It'll only take a minute." The older boy spoke again, stepping slightly closer to her. He was a little taller than her, and she attributed part of her growing discomfort to that. She was sure part of it was due just to what day it was, and the spooky feeling that came with the autumn season. But she wasn't sure those two things added up to how intensely freaked out she was starting to feel. "It's... it's nice out," she countered. "You can use it out here, okay? Actually, we have to. We don't get very good reception in the house." The last part was a lie, and one that she instantly got the feeling hadn't been bought. "Come on," the lead boy said. "We're just kids. What are we going to do?" Katherine told herself he was right, that she was being silly, and even a little mean. If she could get so easily freaked out by a few kids, imagine how they felt, all alone, in a neighborhood they probably didn't know anything about - at least, she'd never seen them around before. She found herself starting to step back again, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right, and, once again, she stopped. The two younger boys looked at each other, wearing matching expressions of what might have been horror. Katherine would have felt bad about it if the older boy hadn't, instead, become angry, his smile turning into a snarl. "Let us in!" he demanded. "We're not going to hurt you. Just let us in!" Katherine began to back away again, a shaking hand now reaching for the door to shut it. "I don't think I can help you," she told them lamely as she fumbled with the doorknob. Part of her told her it was quite cruel of her to shut the door on kids who needed her help, but another part was yelling at her much louder to do it, so, with one final look at their black eyes and a swallow, she did it, slamming the door closed. Almost immediately, they began knocking again, louder, more insistently. Katherine kept backing up, starting to chew nervously on her bottom lip. What was she going to do? She wasn't about to call the police and tell them they had to save her from a bunch of kids that weren't even in high school that were probably just playing a joke on her, or, even worse, really needed her help. She let out a strangled cry as she backed into someone, jumping and spinning around, only to see Nina standing there, a little shocked, but also amused. "I thought you were taking care of that," she said curtly, pushing past her quivering roomate toward the front door. "Don't!" Katherine begged. "Don't open it!" Nina ignored her, looking out the peephole, then flinging the door open as she grabbed a handful of candy. "Here, now move on!" she said, thrusting the candy at the lead boy and shutting the door in his face. She turned back to Katherine, rolling her eyes. "Seriously? That's what has you peeing your little Hello Kitty panties? A few kids?" "No, you don't understand!" Katherine said. "There's something wrong with them, they aren't..." "Jeez, look at you," Nina stepped closer to her, taking in the new additions to her costume. "Just because you're dressed like a six year old doesn't mean you have to act like one. They were just kids, Mad. They wanted candy. That's what the whole night is about, isn't it?" Her voice softened as she got closer to Katherine, reaching out to touch her shaking arm. "Hey, chill out. Maybe you should just stay home tonight. If those stupid costumes scared you this much, you probably would wet your pants if you ran into someone with a half-decent one." "You didn't feel it?" Katherine asked quietly. "There was something wrong with them..." "I didn't feel anything, Katherine. You're getting worked up over nothing. I bet you'll run into them pulling the same trick at different houses when you're out there trick or treating." "I don't think I want to go now," Katherine shook her head. "Sure, you do. You wait a couple minutes and you'll calm down and realize how silly you're acting. Besides, I need you out there." Katherine cocked her head. "Ashley texted me and told me there's some scavenger hunt thing at the party. So, since you're going to be out there anyway, I figured you could be my partner." "A scavenger hunt? Trick or treating is stupid and childish, and that isn't?" "No, it is. That's why I thought of you," Nina replied. "But the first prize is $500." "That's pretty good," Katherine agreed. "Why don't you just do it yourself so you don't have to split it with me?" "Because I'd rather enjoy myself. And if you're going to be out and about anyway... I'm just going to give them your name and cell phone number, then they'll text you what you need to find, and you send a picture of whatever it is along with a note with your name on it." "Then, I'll be doing all the work? Why should I split it with you?" "I'll have signed you up for it!" Nina exclaimed, sounding almost insulted. "Come on, we'll both get to do what we want - I get to party, and you can run around and act like a kid. Only it'll be even better, because you'll be looking for something specific! That's way funner than just begging for candy, right?" Katherine pursed her lips, trying to convince herself she wanted to do this, or even go outside at all after her encounter. "Good!" Nina answered for her. "I grabbed your driver's license from your room so I can claim the prize if you win." She took it out of her purse, examining it. "I'll just tell them I dyed my hair and that's what makes me look so much older." "Hey, what if I need that?!" Katherine grabbed for it, unhappy at the thought of Nina going in her room and taking her things without asking, especially something as important as that. "For what?" Nina smirked. "If you drive yourself to go trick-or-treating, everyone will know you're just some weird adult acting like a kid, and then you're not going to get anything. Don't worry, I'm not gonna lose it!" Before Katherine could say anything else, Nina looked over at the clock. "Whoa, I'd better get going! Just remember to check your phone for the instructions! You're the best!" With that, she was gone. Katherine stomped out onto the porch after her, starting to call after her that she wasn't going to do it, and that Nina had better get back here and give her license back, but she stopped short as another group of trick or treaters approached. There were only two this time, girls. Katherine had thought the oldest boy seemed a bit old to trick or treat, but these girls looked even older than him, maybe even as old as sixteen, though they were both in costume, one as an angel, in a white dress and knee high boots, both trimmed in fur, with a white garland around her head and white wings, and the other as a demon, in a red and black bodice and tutu with black leggings underneath, red horns and red wings. Each carried a bag, one white, the other red. Automatically, Katherine looked up at their eyes, but, while those seemed normal, the pair of them was still slightly unsettling - at least for a moment, with Katherine still jumpy from her last encounter - as their faces looked almost exactly alike. Both wore a look of pity at the moment as they watched Nina drive off. "Trick or treat?" the angel said, as if she felt bad for asking Katherine for anything at the moment. "Aww," said the devil, "Did your big sister run off without taking you trick or treating?" "What a bitch!" the angel shook her head. "And look at how cute you are!" "No, I..." Katherine started to explain. "You don't have to defend her," the devil stopped her. "That's a pretty rotten thing to do!" "I bet your mommy's not home, either, huh?" the angel asked. "Or she wouldn't have let her do it. So she's sticking you with staying here and handing out the candy." "Well, no, she isn't," Katherine had to admit, "but... You see..." "We'd never do that to our little sister," the devil said. "Not that we have one." "Well, we did," the angel interrupted. "For a couple months." "Yeah, that was fun," the devil grinned. "But then she had to go home." "It was!" the angel agreed. "And you look like a lot of fun, too, sweetie. Do you want us to take you trick or treating?" "Oh, no," Katherine squirmed, starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the two. "You don't have to..." "No, we want to!" the angel jumped in. "I'm sure you don't understand this yet, but we were actually a little embarrassed to go trick or treating ourselves. So you'll give us a good excuse to be doing it. Besides, we like you. Don't we?" "Of course! We'd love to have you along!" The devil reach out, mussing up Katherine's hair. She knocked the cat ear headband askew, but fixed it immediately. "No, you don't understand, I'm..." Katherine looked up at them, blushing. It would look ridiculous now, admitting her real age after letting them treat her like a kid for this long - though it was really her first chance to get a word in edgewise. Even more ridiculous was the fact that the idea of going with them made her feel much calmer about the whole thing. Even if those black eyed kids were still out there, and even if she wasn't over-reacting about them, at least this way she'd be with someone else if she were to encounter them again. She'd feel like the biggest wimp of all time if she let these teenagers defend her from them, but maybe in a group, she wouldn't even have to worry about them approaching her. "You're what, sweetie?" the devil asked. "I'm... not supposed to go anywhere with strangers." Inwardly, she rolled her eyes, hardly able to believe she was going through with this. "Of course not!" the angel smiled. "How silly of us! Well, what's your name, honey?" "Katherine." She lowered her head a little, shuffling her feet, finding herself almost unconsciously slipping into the role. "I think we'll call you Kat. Wait, no, Kitty!" the angel said after a moment of consideration. "That fits you better." "It's perfect! Much cuter," the devil agreed. "Anyway," the angel continued, "my name is Abby, and this is my twin, Addison. We're going to take very good care of you." "First, we'd better set something up out here so your house doesn't get egged or something," Abby said, pushing past Katherine into the house. She found the candy bowl easily enough, as Katherine scurried in after her, not liking the idea of her rummaging around the house on her own, but didn't seem satisfied with it. "We'll put this out on the porch," she said, passing it to Addison, who set it on the chair, "but why don't you make a nice sign that tells kids to only take one piece?" "I don't know," Katherine shrugged. "I doubt they'll really pay attention to that." "Nonsense," Abby shushed her. "Now, go get some crayons and bring them out here and we'll help you. Or do you want to show us your room?" Katherine blushed, very much not wanting the latter option. If they saw her room, they'd surely notice it didn't seem to belong to someone whatever age they thought she was, and that would be quite awkward, considering how she'd started to play into that. She was starting to realize this might not be a great idea after all. "I'll get them," she said. "Just... wait here." She set down her candy bucket and hurried to her room. It was a bit embarrassing that she happened to have a box of crayons and some construction paper, things she'd just transferred from her desk at her parents' house to this one out of habit more than thinking she'd need them, but it was convenient now. She quickly made her way back to the front door, where she was praised as a good girl by Addison. "I bet you're a good artist," Abby told her. "Why don't you draw a nice picture, then write out 'Please take only one piece,' and we'll tape it to the chair, okay?" "Umm... Why don't I just write?" Katherine asked, cheeks flushing again. "It would be quicker, and..." "It'll make the sign look better," Addison explained. "Besides, we want you to draw us a picture." "Yeah," Abby agreed. "Come on, honey, for us." "I'm really not that good an artist," Katherine said lamely, but she could tell the girls wouldn't be dissuaded. She opened the book of construction paper and flipped through it until she found an orange page, then tried to balance the crayon box on top. "What are you doing, silly?" Addison asked. "Don't you have a table or something you can draw on?" "Oh, um... Yeah." Katherine started to head for the living room, then turned and said, with slight reluctance, "Why don't you guys come in?" "Okay!" Addison stepped inside, shutting the door, and the pair followed Katherine to the living room. She paused for a moment to consider the seating arrangement - the coffee table she had planned to use was right in front of their couch, which could hold all three of them, but she'd have to sit in the middle if she wanted to be able to reach it. Before she could decide if that was what she wanted to do, the twins went to the couch on their own, sitting down, leaving her no room, and little choice but to ask them to move, or just sit on the floor on the other side of the table. She went with the latter. Standing, the girls were a fair bit taller than her, but now, they seemed even more so, as they stared down at her while she sat on the floor and looked through her box of crayons. "Your mommy keeps your living room nice and neat," Abby observed. "I don't see any of your toys anywhere." "Yeah... Well..." Katherine unconsciously began to bite her bottom lip, trying to pretend she was just having a hard time choosing a color. "I'm sure she picks up after herself. She looks like a good girl, aren't you, Kitty?" Addison smiled down at her. Katherine nodded, finally grabbing a plain, black crayon and starting to make an outline of a pumpkin on the piece of paper. In all honesty, she was a pretty good artist, but she didn't want to make anything that looked too good, because that might seem suspicious. "So, how old are you, Kitty?" Katherine froze. She'd hoped they wouldn't ask her that, that they'd just assume she really was whatever age they thought she was. She wasn't good at guessing children's ages, but she really had no idea just how juvenile she looked. Nina seemed to think it was quite a bit, but at least some of that was just teasing. How far back should she go? If they'd just not asked, she could have acted how she wanted, and they could have just assumed she was a little older, or younger, than they'd thought. It would have been so much easier. "I'm... uh..." She looked down at herself, unsure. "Thirteen?" She winced as Addison chuckled. "You don't have to lie to us, sweetie." "Oh... Okay..." Katherine fidgeted even more at that, not knowing if she should adjust up or down. Surely she couldn't go much further up without hitting their ages, and they didn't seem to be treating her like a peer. So, younger? She hated to do that, but she supposed it was necessary. "Eleven?" "That seems closer," Abby nodded, "but we promise, honey, we're not going to make fun of you. Just tell us how old you really are." Katherine stomach lurched inside her. They couldn't really think she was even younger than that! If she went down much further, she'd "be" less than half her real age! There was no way they could think she was that little, could they? Her costume couldn't be that good! "But I am!" she tried to bluff. Addison shook her head, looking disappointed. "Well, okay... But cool kids don't have to lie about their age. And you're cool, aren't you?" "She seems cool," Abby agreed. "Or she did." Katherine knew she shouldn't fall for it, that they were just trying to get her to feel bad for "lying"... But they were doing a good job. "Fine," she sighed, "I'm nine. Almost ten!" "That sounds better," Abby grinned at her. "You're still a big girl!" "Yeah! You're almost into the double-digits!" Katherine stared down intently at her paper, unable to look up at Addison, or her sister. She felt ridiculous, sitting there, claiming to be such a little kid, and it felt just as ridiculous that they were buying into it. She frowned at her pumpkin, as she saw that the conversation had distracted her, making her drawing look more like someone half her claimed age would be able to scribble out. "Oh, that's good, sweetie!" Addison said encouragingly, with a tone of voice that suggested she thought it was as bad as Katherine did. "Are you going to draw a spooky face on it?" Katherine would rather have started all over, but she didn't want to stretch this conversation out any longer than it needed to be. "Uh-huh." She focused in harder on her drawing, hoping that would keep the girls from asking anything else. She drew a pair of triangles for the eyes, then began to color them in, but as she filled in more and more of the shapes, she couldn't help thinking of another pair of black eyes she'd stared into not that long ago. Even the memory of it made her start shaking, sending her crayon outside the lines several times. She was interrupted by the sound of a cell phone alert. She started to get up, but Abby did so more quickly, saying, "I left my phone on the table by the front door. I'll go grab it!" Katherine debated whether to say she thought it was hers, instead, unsure whether they'd believe a nine year old would have a cell phone. Maybe Abby had the same text tone as her, and it really was hers. If not, she hoped the girl wouldn't find her phone. She began to worry more and more about that as Abby stayed away for longer and longer, though a second text tone made her feel a little better, as the girl might have just been writing a reply, and waiting for one back. She had moved on to the mouth of the jack-o-lantern by the time Abby returned, holding Katherine's plastic one in her hand. "Is this yours?" she asked, picking up Katherine's cell phone from inside. Katherine paused, trying to judge from the girl's manner whether she'd figured out her secret from whatever she'd seen in that text. Should she just say it was her "big sister's"? Or was it better to kill this whole thing now, before it got out of control? She was already sitting on the floor, coloring, pretending to be nine - she couldn't imagine it getting much worse, but that didn't mean it was impossible. "Yeah," she said finally. "Cool!" Abby responded before practically bouncing over to Addison. "Look at this! She's doing a scavenger hunt!" Addison looked at Abby strangely for a moment, but her expression changed quickly as she looked at the message. "Why didn't you tell us? We can help! What is this for, school?" Katherine wasn't about to tell the truth, and she couldn't think of anything else that made sense, so she nodded. "Why don't we get cool homework like this?" Addison wondered wistfully. "What grade are you in, anyway?" Abby asked. "Fifth, isn't it?" That seemed sort of low to Katherine, who began frantically trying to think of what grade she had been in at that age, but Addison answered for her. "If she's turning ten soon, she'd be in fourth. Right? Or did you mean 'soon' as in six months?" Katherine quickly said, "No, my birthday's in just a couple weeks!" She wanted to seem as old as possible, not to mention that she didn't want to seem like one of those little kids who started claiming they were practically a year older the day after their birthday. Unfortunately, that meant that she had to agree with Abby's, "Oh, must be fourth, then." They seemed more likely to know which ages were in which grade than her, and she didn't want to betray her real age by messing up something as simple as that. Even so, fourth grade seemed awfully immature. That was just one year away from third, the year she'd wet her pants on the bus. She was sure she'd seen several of her classmates have accidents at school that year, too, though of course her own was the most vivid memory for her. There had likely been a few in fourth grade, too. "Well, you aren't going to believe our luck," Abby said, "but the first thing to find is two jack-o-lanterns." "Where are we going to..?" Katherine started to ask, before looking up and seeing her candy pail, then back down at her mostly-done drawing. "I don't know... What if they want two real jack-o-lanterns?" The picture was the worst thing she'd drawn in a very long time, and she didn't really want anyone to see it, especially with her name attached. "No, your teacher will love it!" Addison assured her. "Now, the instructions said you have to have your name in the picture somewhere." "Yeah, I know," Katherine sighed. "I bet it wouldn't be hard to find..." "Trust us, Kitty," Abby reached over the table and patted her head. "We've been in school a lot longer than you, and we know what teachers like." Katherine had a sudden bright idea, and flipped to another page of construction paper. She'd just put her name on that, then she could say someone else had drawn the picture. No big deal. But as she began to write, Addison reached over and snatched away the crayon. "No, no," she scolded. "You have to sign your drawing!" "That's right!" Abby agreed. "All artists sign their work. That way everyone knows who did it!" "But I'll need something with my name on it for the other pictures!" Katherine exclaimed, happy she'd happened to think of that. "You will, but for this one, you're going to sign your drawing." Katherine looked up at Abby, but she was clearly finished arguing the point. Katherine sighed and wrote out her name at the bottom of the picture, letting Addison snap a photo of it sitting on the coffee table next to her candy bucket before writing "Please take only one piece" at the top. Abby tore the page out of the construction paper book and left, leaving Addison to observe as Katherine wrote her name across another piece of paper, sticking it into the bucket, just in time for her phone to chime with the receipt of another text. "Great job!" said the message, from a number she assumed belonged to whoever was running the contest. "Now, show me ten different kinds of candy." "Well, that's easy!" Abby exclaimed, once she was back in the room and Katherine had read her and her sister the message. "That's what trick or treating is all about!" She and Addison looked through the candy they'd already gotten, but they'd just started when they ran into Katherine. "I guess we'd better get started then, huh?" Katherine nodded, though she was starting to feel anxious about leaving the house now, flanked by a pair of girls who thought she was a fourth grader. That feeling only grew worse as Addison declared, "We'd ask you if you needed to go potty before we left, but you're a big enough girl you'd have gone on your own, right? Especially in your own house." Katherine blushed, nodding again, though she agreed more with the first part than the second. She was certainly too embarrassed after that to decide to excuse herself, as if she hadn't thought to go without them reminding her about it. "Let's go!" She couldn't help wincing a little as they left, and she saw her picture on display, taped to the chair, her name scrawled across it, but she told herself it didn't really matter. So some kids would see it and think she was a lousy artist. It might hurt her pride a little, but she'd live. It wasn't as if her pride was having a good day anyway, as, walking in between the twins down the sidewalk, it was difficult not to realize that anyone passing them would think that she was the youngest of the group. She began to feel more nervous as they walked up to their first house. She hadn't moved in all that long ago, and hadn't really met many of the neighbors yet, so she hadn't worried too much about them seeing her as the plan began to form in her mind. But now she was realizing that, while she didn't know them now, she might meet them again later, and what if they recognized her? Would they assume she really was a little kid? "I-I don't know about this..." she mumbled, but, almost as one, the twins grabbed an arm each before she could try to make her escape. "You don't have to be scared, sweetie," Addison told her. "They'll just love you!" Abby seconded, pulling the squirming girl to her neighbor's front door and ringing the doorbell. Katherine quickly ducked her head as the door opened and the twins chanted, "Trick or treat!" "Don't you girls look good!" the woman at the door cooed, handing candy to each of the girls, and dropping some in Katherine's bucket. "A shy one?" "Don't be bashful, Kitty!" Abby told her. "Come on, thank the nice lady!" When Katherine didn't do as she'd been told, one of the girls gave her a sharp smack across the bottom. She gave a loud squeal and looked up in surprise, catching the eye of the woman at the door, where she was sure she saw a spark of recognition. She might not have formally met the woman, but she was bound to have noticed her going in and out. "Thank you," she squeaked before looking back down at the sidewalk. "Isn't she just the cutest little thing?" Addison gushed. "She's a little schoolgirl Kitty. I bet she thought of that all on her own, didn't you? Why don't you show the nice lady your make-up?" Another smack on the backside brought her face back up, for longer this time, giving the woman enough time to study her while she stood there, shivering. She wanted to explain what was going on, why she was letting herself be bossed around by a couple teenagers, but, in all honesty, she wasn't sure she understood it herself. "She's almost in fourth grade!" Abby bragged. "Isn't that right? Just another year!" "No, I'm already in it!" Katherine quickly corrected them, wanting to hang on to every scrap of maturity she could, though she quickly regretted doing so in front of her neighbor. "I mean, I..." "Oh, silly me!" Abby giggled. "See? Such a big girl she is! Can you believe her big sister wouldn't take her trick or treating? She was in tears when we found her, begging us to take her with us! Isn't that sad?" "I wasn't crying!" Katherine protested, but she had the feeling nobody was listening. "Well, we'd better get going," Addison said. "We don't want to keep her up past her bedtime! Say thank you again, Kitty!" "Thank you!" Katherine blurted out quickly, before they could smack her again. Her neighbor gave her a strange look, then said goodbye, and the twins were pulling her away, further down the street. "Y-You know what?" Katherine said. "That was fun enough, I think I'll just go home now, okay?" "No, no, no!" Abby shook her head. "We're no done until your bucket is full of candy! We're going to make sure you have the best Halloween ever!" *** "This is so much fun!" Abby exclaimed happily as Katherine snapped a picture of the fake cobwebs stretched out over the branches of a tree, the piece of paper with her name on it tucked into the center. "This is just like what we did with our other little sister!" Addison added. "You two are so alike!" Katherine nodded obediently as she sent the picture off, hoping that was the end of the scavenger hunt. So far, it had all been very simple stuff, hardly challenging enough to warrant a $500. She'd taken pictures of her candy, of a ghost decoration set up in someone's yard, a kid dressed as a witch, and now cobwebs. It really felt more like something she'd have had to do in the fourth grade, rather than as a young adult, which really wasn't helping her self-esteem much, as the twins' constant reiteration of her supposed age to everyone they met was making her feel very childish already. As did her fear of every group of kids that passed them by. Much as she hated to admit it, she was sure that if she didn't have the girls holding her in place, she'd have run back to her house long before, because every time they saw other kids, she would freeze up, sure they were another set of black eyed kids. Sometimes, she would feel a chill run down her spine and turn her head, sure she'd seen someone duck into the shadows. They started to move on, only for Addison to say, "We almost forgot your name!" and rush away, back to the tree. Abby kept going, pulling Katherine along. For her part, Katherine tried to tell them, "You know what, I don't think we need it! I think the hunt is over!" She wished she'd had the presence of mind to turn the volume off while she'd been taking the last picture, something she regretted as, a moment later, she got another text. "Looks like you're wrong," Abby said, snatching the phone from the top of the now almost half full bucket. "Let's see what you have to find next..." She looked over it, giggling slightly, but she waited until Addison returned to read it out loud, leaving Katherine squirming in anticipation. "'Next you need a collar with bell,'" she recited, "'to put on scary monsters so they can't sneak up on you.'" "I don't think we'll find that," Katherine shrugged with fake exasperation. "Too bad! But I've already done enough to get an A, so thanks you guys! I can just go home now, and..." "We're not giving up now!" Addison stopped her. "If you already have an A, we'll make sure you get all the extra credit you can." "And don't you worry, I'm sure we'll find a collar somewhere." And, sure enough, when they got to the next house, Abby asked, "By the way, you don't happen to have an extra dog or cat collar laying around? I know it sounds weird, but she needs it for her costume? One with a bell would be perfect." Katherine was too mortified to tell the person at the door she didn't really need that, but they didn't have one anyway. As soon as they were away from the house, she hissed at the twins, "I don't want to do this anymore! I'm tired of this scavenger hunt, and my feet are tired, and I just want to go home!" The girls ignored her, giving each other a smirk over her head instead, though when she tried to pull away from them, one of them gave her yet another firm whack on the butt. "Stop that!" Katherine demanded. "That isn't funny!" "It's not supposed to be," Abby lectured her. "It's supposed to remind you to behave, or we'll give you a real spanking." "No, you won't," Katherine responded, aghast. "I'm way too old for that!" "Naughty girls are never too old to get their bottoms warmed," Addison said. "Though I thought you were a good girl." "Look, this has gone far enough. I..." Katherine's words froze in her mouth as she saw a trio of figures approaching them from down the street, three people that didn't seem to be wearing costumes. She began to shake slightly, trying to shrink away from them. As they got closer, however, she could see that they weren't the boys from earlier. It was a different set of boys, older, and clearly not in costume because they saw Halloween as a night to cause mayhem, as they were carrying bags bulging with supplies and swiped beer. They were less scary, but only by a little. They ignored her completely, eyes locked instead on Abby and Addison. "Hey, there," one of them smiled at Addison. "You look like you wanna have some fun tonight. You gonna sit on my shoulder and tell me to do bad things?" "I think you can do that all on your own," Addison answered. "We're gonna hit Principal Blevins's place," another of the boys said. "We have rotten eggs, TP, all the classics. You know you want in on that." "That does sound fun," Abby told them, "but we have our own fun tonight." "Besides, we're babysitting." Katherine let out a small yelp as she was pulled forward, put on display. Her cheeks flushed as she felt the teenage boys look at her, then immediately dismiss her. "What about after you get her all tucked in?" one of them asked. "The night will still be young." Katherine's cheeks grew darker at the implication that she was bound to have an early bedtime, but she couldn't find the courage to say anything about it. The twins didn't contradict it, either. "We'll see," Addison said instead. The boys shrugged, obviously not have expected much. "We'll be around," they promised, heading back into the darkness. "Why don't you go with them?" Katherine suggested. "I'm not that far from home, I can get back on my own!" "On Halloween?" Abby's eyes opened wide in faux-shock. "A cute little thing like you? The ghosts and ghouls would gobble you right up!" She reached down tickling Katherine's stomach suddenly, making the girl giggle and squirm. The twins gave each other a look, and suddenly Katherine found herself on her back on the nearest lawn, candy bucket beside her, four hands attacking her mid-section relentlessly as she wriggled beneath their fingers. "Stop!" she demanded almost right away, knowing how ticklish she was, how full her bladder was getting from the long walk, but they didn't listen. She couldn't remember ever getting tickled by two people at once before, and they were so in tune with each other, it was almost like they were one person, with four arms. As soon as she squealed and tried to twist away from one, the other would be right there, attacking, giving her nowhere to go. Her laughter quickly escalated to tears, and from there she knew she was just a hair's breadth from losing control, from... "Oh, my God, look at that!" Abby exclaimed, and they both suddenly stopped. Katherine, still wiggling a little as she tried to catch her breath and stop the last few, residual, giggles, tried to figure out what had happened, sure that she hadn't felt her bladder give way, though it had been close. Yet they were both now staring at her crotch. "Those are just so cute!" Addison grinned. "They go with your costume so well!" "Just adorable!" Abby nodded. "And they're saying hi to you, too, Kitty! Isn't that sweet of them?" Katherine's cheeks flushed again as she realized, at last, that in her thrashing, her skirt had blown upward, giving them a view of her panties. She pushed her skirt back down, but the damage was already done. "Is your tail attached to your skirt?" Abby wondered, then, before Katherine could answer, she'd pulled the girl to her feet, spinning her around to look herself. "Oh, that's too bad," she pouted. "We could have taken your skirt off and let everyone see how good you are at coordinating your panties with your costume!" "It was a coincidence!" Katherine vowed to throw those underwear away as soon as she got home. "We could always pin her tail to her panties," Addison suggested. "No! I am not walking around in my underwear!" Katherine crossed her arms, putting her foot down at last. "You're right," Abby agreed surprisingly quickly. "I mean, they're cute, but..." "Yeah," Addison nodded. "But they could be something cuter." Katherine had no idea what they were talking about, but the looks on their faces as they talked about it made her a little scared. Before she could say anything more, however, they had grabbed her, giving her back her bucket, and were trundling her along to the next house. They had no luck with the collar there, but at the next house, the man who answered the door nodded, with a, "Oh, yes, I just got a new one for Gloria." He vanished into the house for a minute, then returned with an old pink collar, bell attached to the front, leash at the back. "We don't need the leash," Katherine said quickly, earning herself another smack from the grinning Abby. "Don't be rude! He's giving you a present!" Abby scolded, taking the collar from the man and starting to adjust it. "Now thank him." "Thank you," Katherine reluctantly complied, before Abby handed the collar to her. "Now, put it on," she ordered. "What?!" Katherine looked up at her like she was crazy. "He gave you this for your costume! The least you can do is let him see how you look in it!" "Put it on right now, you rude little girl!" Addison took over, glaring down at Katherine. "Or we'll tell your mommy how naughty you're acting!" Katherine stared down at the collar in her hands, then up at the twins. She could tell it was going to happen either way, but she had to try a desperate, last ditch, "We don't even need it, we just have to take a picture, then he can have it back!" "Don't be silly! How are you going to wear a picture for the rest of the night?" Katherine sighed, seeing that she was defeated. She slipped the collar around her neck, fastening it in the back, bell tinkling even before she had it secured. She felt quite silly indeed, even before Addison took the leash from her and started to lead her away by it with a cheerful, "Thanks again!" to the man. They took her to the end of his driveway before having her take out the paper with her name and hold it up while Abby snapped a picture of her, Addison still holding the leash. "Can I take it off now?" Katherine whined. "It hurts my throat." "Nope, it's part of your costume," Addison told her, tugging her along toward the next house as Abby trailed behind, sending the picture. It seemed to take a little longer than it should have, though maybe she just wasn't used to using Katherine's phone yet. "You have another message," she announced when she handed it back. "Read it!" Katherine switched to her text messages, wondering how much longer this scavenger hunt could go on. "'It's almost beddy-bye time,'" she read boredly, "'so just one more thing. After such a big night, lots of kids have trouble with... bedwetting... so get yourself a... diaper... just in case...'" "You got kind of quiet there, sweetie," Addison said to the shocked girl at the other end of the leash. "What are we looking for?" Katherine really wished she'd read the whole message before she started saying the words out loud, because it was too late to back out now. Especially since she had a good feeling Addison had heard her just fine the first time. "A diaper," she sighed. "We're looking for a diaper." It was perfect, really - just the capper she needed for this thoroughly childish evening. She had no doubt Nina would laugh herself hoarse if she found out about it. Even the twins seemed to be working hard not to laugh out loud. "Do you have any at home?" Abby asked, voice full of sweetness and innocence. "No!" Katherine answered quickly, though she knew that would only make it sound more like she did, and was embarrassed about it. "Are you sure?" Addison teased. "Maybe we ought to go back to your house and look through your drawers, see if you have a plastic sheet on your bed!" Again, Katherine couldn't help responding to that right away, "I'm not a bedwetter!" She then felt like sinking into the sidewalk as, a moment later, a group of trick or treaters passed them by, giving her a strange look. "You don't have to be ashamed," Abby said. "Lots of kids your age still have trouble with that." "Well, I don't!" Katherine stomped her foot, getting red in the face. "Aww, calm down, silly," Addison patted her head. "We're only teasing. It's just for the scavenger hunt. Calm down, sweetie." Yet, when they got to the next house, Addison asked the man who answered, "Do you happen to have a diaper we could use for her?" "It's for a game!" Katherine clarified quickly, before realizing that didn't sound much better. Before she could think of a better way to phrase it, the man was saying, "Sorry, we don't have any kids," and the twins were thanking him and pulling Katherine away. "Don't say that!" Katherine demanded. "You know what that makes it sound like!" "Oh, sorry, Kitty," Addison apologized. "I guess I didn't think of that!" But at the next house, it was even worse. "I'm sorry to ask, but do you have a spare diaper?" Addison asked. "Even though she's in the second grade and keeps saying she's a big girl," Abby broke in before Katherine could mention the scavenger hunt. "I'm in fourth grade!" It had become almost second nature, defending her supposed age, something she found herself doing automatically before even trying to make it clear she didn't need a diaper, even though that only made it sound worse. "And it's for..." "No, sorry, guys," the woman shook her head. "This isn't funny!" Katherine grumped at the twins once they were away from the house again, but they obviously disagreed. At the next house, Abby took the initiative. "Do you happen to have any diapers? We didn't think to bring any spares because our little Kitty here told us she didn't need them." "And we believed her because we thought six was plenty old to keep her pants dry for one night, but I guess the excitement of trick or treating was too much for her, you know?" "And it's past her bedtime," Abby confided. "We should have known better, but we're still new at this whole babysitting thing." "I am not six!" Katherine fumed, stomping her foot. If they hadn't been on the front step of one of her neighbors, she would have told them she wasn't nine, either, fed up with their games. She almost did anyway, but Abby interrupted. "But just a couple weeks now!" Abby chirped. The woman at the door looked down at Katherine, who was too flabbergasted to speak for a moment, then announced, "I think I have something that will fit." She was gone for a minute, then returned with a Pamper. Katherine almost died as she saw it. She was sure there was no way she could fit into it, but the idea that this woman thought she could, that this was appropriate for her, was almost as bad. "Thank you so much!" Addison smiled as she took it. "Say thank you, Kitty! Now you don't have to walk around wet for the rest of the night!" "I am not wet!" Katherine insisted vehemently. "Poor cranky thing," Abby sighed. "My parents are keeping my baby for the night so they could take him trick or treating," the woman said. "You can change her in his nursery if you want." "No!" Katherine squealed. "I don't need..." "Thank you so much! You're a lifesaver!" Addison pulled Katherine inside as Abby gave the woman a hug, and soon the three had been escorted to the toddler's room and then given some privacy. "We just need a picture!" Katherine begged them. "I'll just hold it, and..." "Oh, we'll get a picture," Addison promised. "We have to have it just perfect." With that, she picked up the squirming Katherine, depositing her on the changing table and pushing her down onto it, holding her down as Abby took the diaper from her. The changing table was a little too small, but it would serve its purpose well enough. "No!" Katherine wailed. "You can't!" But Abby seemed to have some experience at avoiding a squirming young lady's kicking legs, and had already pushed her skirt out of the way and tugged down her panties, leaving her bare bottom on the cool plastic cover of the changing table for a moment before she slipped the diaper beneath it. Katherine froze for a moment in terror as she felt the thick padding beneath her, giving Abby enough time to grab the baby lotion from the table and squirt some liberally into the seat of the diaper, then sprinkle baby powder over Katherine's crotch. At this point, it was clear that they could do anything they wanted, so Katherine changed her tactic to, "Please, don't!" "Don't be sad," Addison consoled her, kissing her forehead. "Lots of four year olds wet the bed. And it's already past your bedtime." "I'm not four!" Katherine wailed. "Are you trying to say you're a big girl?" Abby asked. "Yes!" Katherine nodded, trying to remember what age they'd agreed on. They'd been calling her different ones all night, and she was starting to get confused. She could remember her grade, but she was less certain about ages. "I'm.... eight?" "Are you sure it wasn't nine? Or how about eleven? Or thirteen? Or maybe we should go higher?" Abby grinned as Katherine looked up at her in surprise. "How old are you, Kitty?" "I-I'm twenty-one," Katherine admitted quietly. Had they really known all along? Why had they played along for so long? "I don't know..." Addison shook her head. "Would a twenty-one year old fit in a baby Pamper?" With that, Abby pulled the diaper up, squishing the cool lotion against Katherine's sensitive skin, making her squirm as the girl taped the diaper snugly in place. "Look at that! It fits perfectly!" Katherine's struggles had mostly ceased by then, but with that news, she stopped moving altogether, gaping down at the infantile garment on her waist. "But...." "I don't know if a nine year old would, either," Addison mused. "So I think you must be four. At the most." "But..." Katherine sniffled. The girls pulled her down from the changing table and undid her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. They removed her panties, too, then helped her into the boy's bed. He was out of a crib, luckily, but his bed still had side rails, and the sheet crinkled noisily below her as she fidgeted. Abby pulled the side rail up as Addison got Katherine's name from her bucket, propping it up on the now crying girl's stomach before snapping a picture of what, for all the world, was bound to look like a toddler girl being put to bed after a hard night of candy gathering. "We told you we'd get a picture," Addison smiled. "Maybe we should leave her in there," Abby suggested. "She is pretty cranky, and I'm sure she needs to get to bed. And I know we could find better ways to spend our Halloween." "I bet that lady misses her baby," Addison added. "I doubt she'd mind looking after her." "No!" The idea had almost sounded good for a moment, getting away from these crazy twins, but then she remembered she had nothing to prove she was anything but what they'd said she was. Nina had her license, and she had no doubt the girls would be sure to take her phone with them to keep her from using it. She could tell the woman where her house was, but without any "adults" there, she doubted the woman would leave her there. "I don't know, it sounds pretty good to me," Abby shrugged. "Unless you can do something for us." "Like what?" Katherine doubted it would be anything good. She was right. "Wet your diaper," Abby demanded. "Lay down in bed, pretend to be asleep, and soak your Pampers." "What?!" "It'll be adorable," Addison assured her. "And don't worry, we'll both be recording it, so you can watch it later, too." "No! I can't do that!" Katherine's face was bright red, and tears were stinging her eyes. How dare they do this to her? She was a grown woman, and they knew it! "Then I guess we'll see you later," Abby shrugged, walking over to the nursery window. "We can climb through here. Then she'll come to check and see what's taking so long, and she'll find a nice present waiting for her!" "We'll wait outside until she does, though," Addison told Katherine, "so you don't think you can try the same thing." "But..." Katherine sniffled. What would be worse, spending the night with someone who truly thought she was a bedwetting little kid, or with a couple crazy teens who knew she wasn't, but wanted to treat her like one? Neither was appealing, but at least one had a chance of her getting back home before Nina and being able to change before her roommate could find out about it. "Fine." She settled down into the bed. She started to pull the blanket over herself, but Addison threw it back off, rolling her over onto her back, legs spread wide. "Hold on for just a second," the girl told her, as she and her sister positioned themselves, one holding Katherine's phone, the other one of their own. "Now, ready, set..." "Wait!" Abby suddenly began digging through her bag, rummaging through the candy. "I think it's time." "It would be cute," Addison nodded. From the bottom of the bag, Abby pulled out a pacifier. The front of it looked like any normal baby's pacifier, but the bulb was larger than any Katherine had ever seen. "We got this for our other little sister," Abby explained. "We were hoping to find someone else that could use it." "And we sure did." Addison took the pacifier and pressed it to Katherine's lips. Katherine whimpered weakly, then resignedly opened her mouth. Addison shoved the pacifier inside, the rubber filling her mouth, almost making her feel like her cheeks should be bulging out from the size of it. "Now... Action!" Katherine squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget where she was, what was happening, how she was dressed. The smell of baby powder surrounding her, the bulk of the diaper between her legs, the pacifier in her mouth and the rustling of plastic made all those things difficult. Actually letting go, however, was far easier than she'd anticipated, her full bladder more than happy to finally find some relief. It took only the slightest coaxing for it to forget all its years of potty training and start. She gave a muffled whimper from behind her pacifier as it began. Once it had started, she could tell there was no way to stop it, and all she could do was squirm in place and feel her diaper swell up around her waist, fighting to contain it all. Unconsciously, she found herself sucking on the pacifier, which made her feel slightly better until she realized what she was doing. As if peeing in a diaper wasn't bad enough on its own! Finally, she finished, but she didn't dare open her eyes, not wanting to see the soaked, droopy diaper around her waist until she had to. She heard a click and a sliding sound, then, all of the sudden, Abby yelled, "Katherine, how could you?!" Katherine furrowed her brow, confused, almost as much by one of the girls using her real name as by what was happening. She heard the sound of footsteps and the door open. She began to wriggle a bit, then froze as she felt a wet spot beneath her. Her eyes shot open and she sat up in horror, only to see that, sure enough, she had leaked. "We are so sorry!" Addison was apologizing as she led the woman into the nursery. "We just got her changed, and she said she was tired and ran to your boy's bed and sat down, and then she just wet herself, and she leaked all over! We feel so terrible!" Katherine tried frantically to explain, but only a faint buzz escaped from the pacifier. She tried to take it out, but Abby pushed it back in, giving her a stern look. "It's all right," the woman told them. "These things happen. I'm sure his sheets needed washing anyway." "We told her not to touch any of his things, but she just won't listen!" Abby shook her head. "She probably just needs to get into her own bed," the woman suggested. "I'm sure she'd say she wants to trick or treat more, but you have to be firm with them at this age." "You're right," Addison nodded. "Again, we're so sorry. But can we..?" "Of course, change her into a fresh diaper," the woman invited them. "And take a spare with you, just in case." "You're so nice," Abby smiled sweetly at the woman. Katherine was quickly treated to another diaper change, and another liberal dose of baby powder, then put on her feet, Addison taking her leash again and Abby grabbing a hand. "I guess we should get you home," she said. "No!" Katherine mumbled behind her pacifier, staring down at her fully exposed diaper with wide eyes, but they were already marching her through the house. "Thank you again!" Abby told the woman. "And we're sorry about the sheets! But if it makes you feel any better, we'll have to do laundry when we get back, too, since her skirt got soaked as well." Katherine shook her head, trying to explain that it didn't. "Would you like to borrow some pants? She looks a little bigger than my son, but we might be able to find something." "We don't want to be any more bother," Addison said. "We parked not far from here anyway. She'll be fine." Katherine whimpered, trying her hardest to keep from being yanked through the front door, out onto the street where anyone could see her Pampers, but a sharp tug at the leash while the woman wasn't looking calmed her down quickly and moments later, she was outside, feeling the cool autumn air on her bare legs. Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked around - the streets were mostly bare now, but even so, anyone could be looking out their windows and see her! She tried to squeeze a, "Please," around her pacifier, then tried once again to take it out. Abby smacked her hand. "No! That stays in until one of us big girls takes it out. If you want something, you'll just have to show us." Miserably, Katherine pointed down at her diaper, trying to make them understand. "Kitty! Did you wet yourself again already?!" Addison gave a dramatic sigh. Katherine shook her head, blushing. She pointed down again, then at Abby's bag, where she'd stashed Katherine's clothes. "You want some candy? I don't think you've been a good enough girl for that," Abby said. Katherine groaned in exasperation and reached for the pacifier. Abby stopped her again, then began looking in her bag. For a moment, Katherine thought it had worked, but then Abby produced a pink strap. She took the pacifier from Katherine's mouth and attached it while the girl frantically begged for her clothes back, then replaced it mid-sentence, fastening it behind her head with a small click. "Now try again," Abby ordered. Katherine slumped down slightly, frustrated that they were ignoring the fact that she'd already asked for it while her pacifier had been out. She pointed down at her diaper, then over at Abby's bag. "Oh, I think she wants her pretty little panties back!" Addison declared. Katherine shook her head, but the girls paid her no mind as Abby pulled the pink panties free, and the two of them pulled them up her legs. The Pamper stuck out of the legholes and the top quite obviously, bulging against the soft fabric, making it clear she was still diapered underneath them. "You're right!" Abby nodded, patting Katherine on the shoulder, "That's much cuter!" Katherine was terrified, sure they were about to march her up to more of her neighbors and show her off like that, but, luckily, they didn't make any more stops. Most of the front lights were off by then, anyway, and while she still worried that someone could see her from the windows, or that the remaining kids out and about, mostly the older ones, would recognize her from the neighborhood, she still felt relieved knowing that the girls seemed to be getting bored with her. She'd never felt more glad to see her house, to get the chance to run to her room, change into some real underwear and clothes, and try to forget about that night, but the girls stopped at the porch. Abby took Katherine's candy bucket and set it at one side of the porch, taking her skirt and the spare diaper from her own bag and putting it in as well, along with a small key. "This is to your pacifier," she told Katherine. "You can keep it for now. It suits you. And you'll need it when we drop by to babysit you." Addison grabbed Katherine's arms and pulled them behind her, weaving the leash around them, tying them in place before tying the end of the leash around one of the posts of the porch, well away from the bucket that held her freedom from the pacifier, and from having her diaper quite so visible. Katherine was so busy trying to stop it that she didn't notice Abby doing something was the piece of paper that had her name on it she'd been using for the scavenger hunt. The twins took pictures of the struggling girl, then set her phone in her bucket. "We said trick or treat," Abby told her with an evil little smile. "You should have given us our candy." "We really had no choice but to give you a trick. Now, night-night, Kitty. Try not to leak all over your pretty big girl panties!" Addison waved, and then the twins were off, giggling to each other, leaving Katherine futilely thrashing against the leash. She fought for a while before giving up, looking around herself at the dark street. A sense of foreboding washed over her as she recalled what had happened earlier that evening, what had scared her so much she'd let herself get talked into going out with the twins in the first place. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Had they just been kids in costume, or had they been something more, like she'd been so sure of? And what if they came back? She was helpless now! She gave another frantic twist against her bonds, but they refused to loosen. She doubted the twins knew about the black-eyed kids, but even so, they'd trussed her up for them to do what they wanted with her. She couldn't even call for help. She whimpered as she thought back to those dark eyes, their voices, so confident, so un-childlike. She gave a loud squeak as she heard what she thought was the sound of footsteps behind her, a trickle of urine squirting into the thirsty padding of her diaper, but when she turned around, nothing was there. She turned back around, then gave a jump as she saw a trio of figures across the street. She groaned a frantic, "No," into her pacifier as they turned toward her, her diaper growing wetter as she began to lose herself in her fear. They turned back away, apparently not seeing her, kicking viciously at the jack-o-lantern on the front step of the house across the street before running off, laughing. It was going to be a long night, she realized, especially if she kept jumping at every noise, but she had freaked herself out too much already to do anything but. She almost wished those black eyed kids would come back and take her as it got later, and her diaper began leaking, warm urine running down her bare legs, then quickly cooling down. Nina, of course, was tickled pink to find her there when she finally made it back home and found the note Abby had left. "'Kitty has been a bad little girl,'" she read out loud, once she'd untied her roommate and let her inside. "'Please make sure she gets into a dry diaper, then goes straight to bed. Here's our phone number if you need a babysitter for her, or we can recommend a nice daycare.'" Katherine tried to explain, but Nina had paused before unlocking the pacifier. "You know, I asked the person in charge of the scavenger hunt how I'd done when the winner was announced, and they told me I hadn't even finished the first one. You could have at least made an effort." With that, she pocketed the key. "Let me guess, did some more big, bad kids do this to you?" Katherine blushed, giving away the answer even without being able to talk. "I always thought you acted like a big baby," Nina shook her head. "Obviously, I was right. Tomorrow, I'm calling your 'babysitters', and I'm going to congratulate them on what a good job they did, and see when they can come over to watch you. But for now, I'm going to take their advice and get your diapered butt to bed. Got it?" Katherine sighed and nodded. What choice did she have? She'd wanted to go trick or treating. Now she had a whole bucket full of treats, but she had a feeling it was the trick that was going to stick with her the longest.

Part 10 - Oh, She Will Not Like It, To Find Us This Way! "I guess it's time for me to go," Melody said quickly, eyeing the car sitting in the driveway for just a second before picking up the now empty box the outfit had been in and heading toward the kitchen. "What? No!" Sarah toddled frantically after her. She'd been trying to get rid of the girl for most of the afternoon, but now she wasn't about to let her get away so easily, not with the house in the shape it was in. "You can't go!" "We've had enough fun for one day," Melody countered, grabbing her box from the kitchen with the leftover s'more ingredients, setting it inside the other box. "Maybe we'll play some other games another day." "No!" Sarah grabbed for Melody's arm, trying to hold her there, but missed. She decided to try another tactic. "You can't go yet! You haven't shown me the game with the marshmallows yet!" She scurried as fast as someone in a loaded double diaper could go to the freezer, but when she pulled it open, the bowl was gone. "Where are they?" Melody wasn't able to resist walking over to her to answer, patting the girl's lower stomach as she said, "They're right here. Or, rather, they were for a little bit. Now they're here." She moved her hand to the back of Sarah's diaper. Sarah looked up at her in shock. "That was you?! I didn't really have an accident?!" Her face flushed as she remembered Melody teasing her about it, how humiliated she'd felt. Of course, it wouldn't have helped much to know someone else was responsible as it was happening, but it might have made her feel a little better. Suddenly another thought hit her. "Marshmallows can do that?!" "Well, you still pooped your diaper, and did quite a good job of it. That wasn't me. Now, ta-ta, baby girl!" She started to take her boxes and leave, then paused a final time to put Sarah's phone on the counter and flip her hoodie back over her head. Sarah waddled over toward her, cursing herself for being too shocked to get ahold of Melody when she'd been right in front of her a moment later. She was sure Melody could overpower her, but if she could just keep her there for long enough for her mom to see her, that might help with the explanation of what had gone on that day. She was too slow, however, reaching the door just as the girl, boxes, cat ears, and all, exited. There was no way she'd catch up with her outside, she knew, not barefoot and in diapers, so she spun back around, taking in the disaster area the kitchen now was. Her mother would be at the door any moment now - she was probably just gathering up all her stuff from the car so she wouldn't have to make another trip out in the rain. Maybe Sarah would have enough time to fix something. But what should she do? Should she work on the kitchen, the dining room, the living room? Should she go start cleaning her mother's room? Should she change her diaper and hope that somehow her mom didn't notice the smell? She should do something, to show she was trying to help, but what? Then she heard the front door open. Her heart thudded to a stop as she heard a thump from her mother setting her things down on the floor, knowing any second she'd look around and start noticing the devastation. Sure enough, the next thing she heard was, "What happened in here, Sarah?!" Sarah considered calling out to her mom, letting her know right away that this wasn't as bad as it looked, nor was it her fault, but her voice froze in her throat. She didn't want her mother to see her like this! So she stood helplessly in place, listening to her mother's footsteps retreat down the hall. "Where are you, Sarah? Did you have a problem getting your diaper on?" her mother asked. Sarah opened her mouth again, hoping to at least stop her before she saw her own room, but again, nothing came out. And, sure enough, a few seconds later, her mother's voice came again, sounding much angrier this time. "Sarah, what did you do to my make-up?!" Sarah started to cower away from the kitchen door, already imagining the look on her mother's face when she came storming in. But it was even more frightening than Sarah had imagined, and as soon as her mother saw what shape the kitchen was in, it got even worse. "What in the name of God have you been up to, young lady?!" she demanded, advancing on her shaking daughter. "N-No... It wasn't me..." Sarah shook her head, backing away. "I was just minding my business, and... And that girl from next door, Melody, you know, the one I used to babysit? She came over to wish me happy birthday, and then she made this whole big mess because she was mad at me and..." Her voice vanished again as she saw her mother sniff the air. "Young lady, did you mess your diaper?!" "No!" Sarah squeaked automatically, not expecting her mother to march straight over to her faster than she could move away, one pat of Sarah's drooping diaper telling her all she needed to know. "It's not my fault!" Sarah tried to explain. "It was Melody! She did something with marshmallows, and I couldn't help it, and..." She noticed her mother smelling something again as she spoke, before marching over to a cupboard and pulling it open, taking out a half-empty bottle. "Did you get into my alcohol, too?" Sarah shook her head, confused for a moment before remembering how tipsy she'd felt earlier, how strange that cider had tasted. She'd never had alcohol before, but she had a sudden sinking feeling that was no longer true. "I suppose Melody did that, too?" "She did!" Sarah exclaimed. "You have to believe me!" "Are you sure you were just mad at me for making you put on a diaper - one you clearly needed, by the way - and decided to get back at me? This is all incredibly immature, young lady. I thought I could trust you on your own for an afternoon, but clearly I'm not dealing with a young adult here, am I?" "No!" Sarah stomped her foot in frustration. "This isn't my fault! I tried to make her leave so I could clean up, but.." "Did you at least get some other laundry done when you washed your wet training pants?" her mother asked, ignoring her outburst. Sarah bit her bottom lip, having forgotten all about that, which was enough of an answer to send her mother heading off to the clothes hamper. Sarah followed at her own pace; by the time she arrived, her mother had found not only the cupcake-dotted undergarments, but the rest of Sarah's outfit from earlier that day, still soaked, thrown on top of the rest of the clothes waiting to be washed. Sarah really knew she was in trouble when her mother finally spoke up again, voice quiet, but strained. "Did I not tell you to put on a diaper if you had an accident?" "I-I did," Sarah stammered. "No, you decided you were too old to wear diapers during the day, so you put on your regular panties, then had an accident in them, too. You finally decided to do what I told you to begin with, and you go and poop yourself! I don't know if you were trying to teach me a lesson for rightfully 'making' you wear your diapers, or if you genuinely had an accident, but either way, I think you'd better get used to wearing them during the day, too, because you're going to be spending the summer in them." Sarah gasped, stunned. "No..." "Don't even start, little missy. I don't want to hear a word out of you. You are in big trouble right now. And don't think the diapers are your punishment - that's a necessity for someone who can't control themselves any better than this. No, your punishment is going to start now." Sarah's mother grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her to the bathroom, stopping there just long enough to grab her wooden hairbrush before pulling the now frantic girl into the living room. "No, no, no!" Sarah pouted. "This isn't fair! It's not my fault!" "If you'd just take responsibility, I would take it a little easier on you. You'd still be getting a spanking, but I might consider letting you spend some time alone this summer. But since you're continuing to act like a naughty child, I just don't think I can trust you on your own anymore." "What does that..?" Sarah started to ask, only to be pulled over her mother's lap, the too-short skirt of the jumper pushed up to reveal the lumpy backside of her diaper. "Mom, no, you can't do this!" She squirmed, trying to escape from her mother's lap, only to be held firmly in place. "I'm too old for this!" "Are you really going to try to tell me that right now?" She gave the diaper a quick, sharp spank with her hand, making Sarah squirm in discomfort. "Is someone wearing THIS too old for anything?" With that, she raised the hairbrush and began raining it down over Sarah's padded bottom. Through the pair of diapers, it didn't hurt too badly, but she found herself crying quickly anyway as the mess in her pants became even messier, until she felt like every inch of her hairless crotch was covered in it. After a few minutes, her mother stopped, letting her get back to her feet, rubbing her bottom and sniffling. "Now, you're going to go wash yourself up. You can put on a nightshirt if you want so you can take the bathroom's garbage out so it doesn't stink up the place too much. Then you are going to come right back in here, and I am going to spank you silly right on your bare bottom. Then I'm going to diaper you so you can get right to bed." "Bed?!" Sarah squeaked, looking over at the clock. It was barely 4:30 now. She didn't know how long her punishment would take, but it seemed unlikely it would last until even 6 pm. "That's right," her mother said sternly. "And you'll be going to be that early for at least the rest of the week. You'll get to have supper those nights, but you'll still be in bed nice and early. And if you're a naughty girl, that will be your regular bedtime for the rest of the summer." "This isn't fair! None of this is my fault! It was all Melody!" Sarah stomped her foot, on the verge of a tantrum at the injustice of the whole situation. "Get moving, young lady." Her mother gave her one more smack across the diaper with the hairbrush. "I don't want to hear any more of your silly stories." "It's true!" Sarah stomped again. "Then prove it! Why should I think that sweet little girl would do any of this?" Sarah's mother stood, crossing her arms. "She's not sweet! And she's not a little kid anymore, she's a teenager, and she's a monster! Where do you think I got these clothes?! They're hers!" "What possible reason would she have for making you wear her clothes?" Sarah, of course, couldn't answer that. "I can't say I remember that outfit right off the bat, but I don't know every piece of clothing you own, especially not after you've been away at college. Now I'm going to count to three, and if you aren't on the way to the bathroom by the time I get there, you're getting another spanking on your diaper to go with the one on your bum. One." "Not fair!" Sarah screamed, stamping her feet. "Not fair!" Her mother didn't bother to count any higher, just sat back down, pulling her daughter back over her lap and getting to work until she stopped throwing her tantrum. When Sarah was let go that time, she sulkingly, but quickly, toddled to the bathroom. It was a relief to get out of her diaper, though it took what felt like hours in the shower to get cleaned up. While she was in there, however, she had a good idea, one she was so excited about she almost didn't throw on a nightshirt before going through with it. "Look!" she exclaimed, lugging the bathroom's garbage can into the living room. "That mess wasn't all me, Melody put oatmeal in my diaper first! Why would I do that?" "Don't be disgusting, Sarah, I'm not looking at your dirty diaper. Stop stalling and go empty it in the outside can." "But..." Sarah pouted. "Sarah, you are really making me question whether you're really mature enough to be off at college. You are going to have to really impress me over the next few weeks, or I'm pulling you out. Do you understand? If I have to, I'll find a preschool somewhere around here that will take you instead - I think that fits your maturity level much better than college, don't you?" Sarah shook her head frantically. "Then do as your told! That will be a start." Reluctantly, but promptly, Sarah did as she was told, dragging the garbage can out the kitchen door. She was still damp from her shower, so she didn't bother with an umbrella. She hadn't taken the trash out herself since getting home from college - she wondered if offering to do it from then on would help prove she was mature, or if her mother would see through her. Or if she'd be assigned that as a chore, anyway, being forced to cart all her used diapers out back, then dragging the can full of them down to the curb every week, hoping nobody was nearby to smell it, or see them if, heaven forbid, the lid should happen to fall off. As she pulled the bathroom trash can back inside, she noticed her phone sitting on the counter, light flashing. Deciding she at least had time to check her messages before going to get her spanking, she picked it up, saw that she had a voicemail from an unfamiliar number. The first thing she heard was a strangely familiar voice, yet one she couldn't quite place at first, asking, "Will you please diaper me? Please tape my diaper up nice and tight!" She gasped and blushed as the realization washed over her just who the voice belonged to, right before the voicemail continued. "Don't you just sound adorable?" Melody gushed. "Your mommy just called me. It sounds like she's awfully mad. I think the next time I see you, your little bottom is going to be bright red, isn't it? And I will be seeing you again, sweetie. She told me she'd forgotten just how old I must be getting now until you reminded, and asked if I would be interested in taking a babysitting job for the summer. She's paying me real well, since I'm going to have to deal with diapers, and a big, bratty baby. Apparently you threw a tantrum and wrecked the whole house, you naughty thing! Just so you know, if I think you're going to do anything like that, I have full authority to spank you. Won't that be fun? "You know, the only reason I went over there today was to cuss you out, to tell you just how terrible a babysitter you were, and how bad you made me feel about myself. My sister told me that would make me feel better, and I wanted to - I couldn't help thinking about how fun it would be to tell you off to your face - but I was scared. Of you! Can you believe that? It took me ages to get the courage to come see you - my sister almost went over and did it for me - but it was all worth it. As soon as I saw you, I realized just how ridiculous it was to ever be afraid of you, or let you push me around. And now, I don't just have to tell you what a bully you were - you get to experience it first hand. I think you'd better get used to saying..." There was a brief pause, then Sarah's voice started to play again. "'Ohhhh no! No, no, no! I'm filling my diaper!'" The phone beeped, signaling the end of the message, as Sarah stood there, cheeks beet red as she realized Melody had been recording her again while she'd been having her "accident". She hated the thought of that little brat having a record of that, something she could play back any time she wanted, for anyone. And then it dawned on her that, despite all that, Melody had just given her the best gift she could have asked for. "Mom, you have to listen to this!" she yelled, running across the kitchen. "I told you it was all Melody's fault, just listen..." Sarah yelped as she tripped over a stray pan. It hurt her toes, but that wasn't what caused the cry. As she fell, she saw her phone slide out of her flailing hand, flying upward as she headed for the ground, as if in slow motion. She watched the phone tumble up, up, up, and then back down, plummeting toward the hard, linoleum floor. She didn't have time to screech out a desperate, "No!" before it smashed against the floor, screen shattering, blinking into darkness. She scrambled to her feet, rushing over to it and picking it up, praying it would still work, somehow, just enough to replay the message. When she looked up, her mother was standing over her, hairbrush in hand. "No!" Sarah shook her head, fumbling with the buttons, trying to bring the screen back to life. "I know what you're thinking, but I didn't break it on purpose! She really did leave me a message! This is all her fault!" She let the phone drop, giving up. "I just need another phone, and I can put my SIM card in there, and I think I'll be able to get the message again, and you can hear!" "Living room. Now." She didn't have to say that Sarah would not be getting another phone, at least not anytime soon, nor that this latest attempt at trying to avoid the blame did not impress her one bit. Sarah could just tell, like she could tell that if she said one more word, her mother was prone to flip her over her knee right there and start spanking, and not stop until the sun went down. And, much as she disliked the idea of her new, early bedtime, she didn't want to extend it that way. So, defeated, she put her head down and trudged back to the living room. Her mother stayed for a moment longer, staring down at the broken phone and shaking her head before following her daughter. A moment or two later, the house was filled with the sounds of wood smacking bare flesh and crying. And as it went on, and Sarah felt her bottom getting redder, and warmer, and more swollen, she could only hope her mother didn't find her grades from last semester. With Melody as her babysitter, reporting in on whether or not she was naughty, she had little enough of a shot of getting to go back to college at the end of the summer. If either her mother or Melody found those grades, she had no doubt she'd be spending the next year in diapers, learning her ABCs all over again, no matter how well she behaved. Instead of spending the next school year on her own, debating philosophy with her peers, lugging around huge textbooks nearly as big as her, she'd be sitting around, playing with finger paint, waiting for story time, not expected to read anything that didn't have more pictures than words. 'Well,' she thought to herself, already resigning herself to the fact that, given her luck that day, it was almost inevitable that this would happen, 'it might not be all bad after all, going back to Play-Doh and Dr. Seuss. He's more interesting than calculus anyway.' The End

Part 9 - This Mess Is So Big And So Deep And So Tall Sarah groaned as she woke up, head and stomach both aching slightly. It took her a moment to realize her encounter with Melody hadn't been a dream, helped along by to smell of baby powder still permeating her room, and that caused another groan as she wondered how long she'd been asleep, and how much time she'd have now to clean the house up. Had Melody gotten bored of waiting for her to wake up and left? That would be nice, and convenient, but she doubted she'd be rid of the girl so easily. She'd rolled over onto her back in her sleep, it seemed, which seemed a little strange, since she was usually a very peaceful, and deep, sleeper, but she supposed it was because of all she'd been through. There was still a bit of an aftertaste of soap lingering in her mouth. She wondered how long that would be there. Probably at least until supper, when, no doubt, everything would taste vaguely bubbly, reminding her anew of that little humiliation. Her stomach gave a low, somewhat ominous rumble. She was going to need to go to the bathroom somewhat soon. She figured she could hold it until Melody left - surely so, since she hadn't felt that much a need to go before going to sleep - so she didn't give it much of a thought until she sat up. Then it was all she could think about. Her eyes went wide as she gasped loudly, tears springing to her eyes as she looked down at herself in shock, fumbling for the light switch again, this time finally hitting it. What she saw there only made her feel worse, as the lumpy seat of her diaper seemed to confirm what she'd already decided had to be, as hard as it was to wrap her head around the idea. She poked at the mass in her diaper in disbelief, squirming on her bed, trying to prove to herself somehow that it wasn't true, but no matter what she did, there was still a warm, thick mess in the seat of her diaper, making her assume that her rumbly tummy was an after-effect, rather than a warning. That or, even worse, there was more to come. "No..." she whimpered. "No, no, no!" This couldn't be happening! She had managed to avoid full-out crying that whole day, though she'd come close several times, managing to stop herself before a few tears turned into a torrent. But now, there she was, in just a diaper that her former babysitting charge had put her in, after being put down for a nap in a room that now smelled a lot like a nursery, and she'd actually messed herself in her sleep! She started crying harder as she imagined Melody coming in and finding her, taking joy in pointing out that was something she'd never done, not even while awake, much less in her sleep. Sarah supposed she could say she'd done it before or after her nap, but was that really any better? There was really no backing out of this whole baby thing now. Unless she got out of Melody's clutches in time to take the garbage out, which would probably seem suspicious, not to mention she had nowhere to take it, she had a feeling her mother would notice the smell, and then Sarah would have a lot of explaining to do, with no answers other than the obvious. And God only knew what Melody would do. At the very least, there would be another round of Sarah being called a baby, more evidence she couldn't refute to support that. There was bound to be a reminder that Melody had never pooped her pants, as a justification for her to make Sarah do anything babyish she wanted. There might even be a reminder of one of Sarah's last attempts to break Melody's bedwetting. Sarah had marched into her room, holding a pan. Melody, of course, had been confused, since she'd been in the middle of doing her homework. "Get up," Sarah had ordered. "Sarah, I'm trying to..." she'd started to whine. "Melody, stand up right now!" Sarah had told her sternly. With a sigh, the girl got up, diaper crinkling. Sarah made sure to check her, to make sure she hadn't wet herself without coming to her to beg to use the bathroom, but, as usual, she was dry. "Melody, this is starting to get ridiculous. I have tried and tried to make you stop wetting your bed, but you just won't listen. So I'm going to show you what being a baby is really like. Now turn around." Melody hesitated, until Sarah barked a repeated, "Turn around!" She'd pulled out the back of Melody's diaper and began spooning the contents of the pan inside, piling the gloppy mess of oatmeal into the seat of her diaper as the girl protested and squirmed, but Sarah kept going until she'd emptied the pan. She let the waistband of the diaper snap back into place, then pulled it up tightly around the girl's bottom, before giving the seat a nice, hard pat, the girl sniffling and fidgeting the whole time. "Babies don't just wet themselves," Sarah reminded her, spinning her back around. "Is this what you want?" Melody had wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. Sarah grabbed her shoulders, forcing her back down onto her desk chair with a squelch. "I'll change you when I get you ready for bed." "No, you can't leave me like this! This is gross!" Melody had protested as Sarah took the pan and left, ignoring the girl's every word, feeling quite proud of herself for thinking of this punishment. "Son of a bitch," Sarah whispered, sniffing the air. She poked again at her diaper, then, with just a little reluctance, tugged at the leg-band, glimpsing inside and finding just what she'd expected. That little bitch had tricked her! Made her think she'd committed the ultimate babyish act, when she was just repeating what Sarah had done to her. Mostly, she felt mad at herself for not realizing it earlier, before getting so upset, but she had to admit it was rather clever doing it while she was asleep, so her mind would be less clear for figuring out what happened. As if on cue, Melody bustled in, heading straight toward Sarah. "What's wrong, sweetie? I heard you crying, and I thought you might have fallen out of bed. I'm not sure why else you'd be crying! I mean, babies cry when they need changed, but you keep telling me you aren't one of those, so I'm sure that's not it!" "Very funny." Sarah got to her feet smugly, but the drooping diaper between her legs made it hard to sound too confident, so she sat back down, only to find the contents squishing around to make things worse. Not wanting to look like a jack in the box, she stayed seated. "Do you really think I was going to fall for that?" "Then what were you crying about? Upset you wet the bed in front of me?" "I didn't!" Sarah's heart pounded as she realized that, in her worry over her supposed 'accident', she'd forgotten all about that. She looked back down at her diaper, seeing that, sure enough, the wetness indicator was blurred. "It's just from the oatmeal!" she said, flustered, putting her hand over it. "Then how come you were wet before I put the oatmeal in there?" Melody smiled, like the cat who caught the canary. "Admit it, 'widdle Sawah', you're a bedwetter, just like I used to be! And if you want to act like a baby and pee your bed, well, you deserve to spend some time in a full diaper! Isn't that what you would prescribe?" Melody reached out, patting Sarah's diaper. Sarah blushed, unable to bring herself to admit the truth. "You're lying!" she said instead. "I wasn't wet, and you know it! I'm sorry about what I did, but you can't..." Sarah stopped, gasping as a cramp hit her, bending her over slightly. Her cheeks turned red - if it was just oatmeal in her diaper, then her upset stomach from before could only have been from something about to happen. "Melody, you've had your fun, now I'm going to the bathroom, and you aren't going to stop me!" Sarah stood up defiantly, only to discover how unfortunate her phrasing was. As soon as her bottom left the bed, she could feel it starting. It was hard to believe it at first, keeping her from even thinking about trying to stop it, though she doubted that would have made a difference, considering how little they helped once she did start. For the first few moments, however, she was fully occupied with her thoughts, not realizing, in her shock and desperation, that she was saying them out loud. "What's going on? Something's happening... Oh, no! No, I can't be! I must be imagining things... Oh, God, I can feel it, it's still coming, it's really happening... Ohhhh no! No, no, no! I'm filling my diaper!" She whimpered, trying to clamp her hands over the back of her diaper, but not only did it not help, it was worse, feeling the sensation of her diaper ballooning out not just from inside, but out. No matter what she did, the mushy mess just kept coming, pushing out into her already full and sagging diaper. But this was far worse than what had been there before, because this time, she knew it was real, that she was helpless before it, and that she was doing it right in front of Melody, who looked positively ecstatic to be watching the scene play out. "You were saying?" Melody giggled. "Jeez, Sarah, I was just joking with the oatmeal! I didn't think you'd do the real thing! I never imagined you were this much of a baby! I bet that diaper's getting pretty full, huh? Man, if you could see your face! Oh, wait..." Melody grabbed the shaking, sniffling girl and turned her around so she could see herself in her mirror. There had been several times that day that Sarah had been sure were the most powerless she'd ever felt, but this one took the cake. She'd never have guessed the person in the mirror was her, and certainly not that she was 19 years old, with her red face, her eyes filled with tears, her diaper still expanding as it bulged outward. "Nooo," she whimpered, squirming uncomfortably as, finally, after several long moments of watching the spectacle she was making of herself, it ended. How could this have happened? How could she have done this to herself? "Wow! What a stinky baby you are!" Melody shook her head, giving Sarah's bloated diaper a hard pat. Sarah saw her reflection wrinkle its nose and pout, still crying. "What's that? Aren't you going to tell me you aren't a baby? No, I didn't think so. Not anymore, huh? Only a baby would do this." She gave another pat, then walked off, leaving Sarah alone with her thoughts while she bent down and grabbed another diaper from the floor. "All right, let's get you fixed up." Sarah happily turned away from the mirror. "Thank you," she sniffed, a little surprised that Melody would change her so quick - though she did have to admit, she didn't particularly want to be around that smell much longer than she had to, so she doubted Melody would, either. "Hey, it's all right," Melody smiled at her. "I am the babysitter, after all. That's my job!" Sarah nodded, defeated. "Now, do you think I did a good enough job last time, or should I listen to your instructions again?" Melody took out her phone, flipping past an unnamed recording to one titled, 'Please Diaper Me!' "You did fine," Sarah blushed, not wanting to have to listen to her own voice begging to be diapered. She knew it had been coerced out of her, but she still didn't need to hear it. "Fine? I don't know if that's good enough, especially with a big mess like this..." "You were great!" Sarah exclaimed as Melody's thumb moved toward the play button. "You know what you're doing!" "Well, if you say so," Melody shrugged, putting her phone away. Sarah sighed in relief as Melody bent down, starting to do something with her diaper. She assumed the girl was untaping it, but she didn't feel the heavy thing loosen any and after a minute, she looked down, seeing that, instead, Melody had been ripping holes in the plastic for some reason. "What are you doing?" Sarah asked, confused. "Don't worry your little head about it," Melody replied patronizingly and she unfolded the second diaper, then brought it up between Sarah's legs. "No!" Sarah shook her head, figuring it out on her own. "Don't do that!" "You said I knew what I was doing," Melody reminded her, pulling the fresh diaper up tight around the first. Sarah squeaked and squirmed as the warm, soft mess was pressed up against her skin while the diaper was taped snugly in place. It still sagged slightly, but for the most part, the second layer made sure it stayed right where it was, while holding Sarah's thighs ever further apart, giving her a much more pronounced waddle as she followed Melody out of her room. She had no doubt it would have felt gross no matter what, but the sugaring had made sure the gooey mass in her pants was right against her soft, sensitive skin, making her all the more aware of it. "Please, don't make me wear this!" she begged, toddling after her babysitter as she made her way into the living room. Melody ignored her. "I think it's time I show you everything from the first box I brought for you," she said, walking over to where it sat on the coffee table, dragging Sarah with her. She forced Sarah to sit on the table, on the opposite side from the box, the other girl whimpering and wrinkling her nose as her bottom sank into the contents of her diaper. Melody extracted the bow from the box first, putting it back in Sarah's hair. "You remember this, don't you?" Sarah nodded, suddenly feeling very apprehensive about what else might be in the box. "It's still just as cute, but since you're already in your diapers, I think we'll add something else for the second round of dress-up. What do you think?" Before Sarah could answer, Melody took something else out of the box. It was white, and looked ever so slightly familiar, though it wasn't until Melody turned it around for her to see that Sarah recognized it as the shirt she'd put Melody in for the walk to the playground, or one that looked very similar. "No!" she shook her head. "I can't wear that! It's not going to fit!" "We'll see," Melody countered, grabbing Sarah's arm and forcing it through one of the sleeves, then wrapping it around the weakly protesting girl's back and shoving her other arms through the second sleeve. She tugged the two side together, buttoning it with only the slightest difficulty. Sarah had to admit it was nice to have something on other than her diaper at last, especially something that covered her chest, but this was so tight it compressed what little breasts she had. After that, Sarah had no doubt she knew what else was in the box, but it was still a little shocking to see it taken out and held up, knowing it was about to go on her, just as she'd put it on Melody way back when. "Lift your arms," Melody ordered, and, seeing little other alternative, Sarah did so. The jumper was put over her head, tugged down over her body, then she was pulled to her feet. She found a hand automatically straying to the skirt, yanking at it, trying to make it longer, to no avail. She was only a little taller than Melody had been when she'd worn it, but the difference - along with how much bulkier her diaper was - was enough. No matter what she did, the diaper stuck out. There was no hope of moving around delicately and keeping it hidden, it was just there, bulging out from beneath the dark blue fabric. "You look so cute!" Melody grinned. "Now, I think we're going to have to start wrapping things up. I have one more thing planned. I know it's raining, so we can't go to the playground - or at least, it wouldn't be very fun - but I want you to go fetch us an umbrella, and then we're going to go for a nice, long walk around the neighborhood." "No, you can't do that!" Sarah declared, though she hardly felt confident about the proclamation, even before Melody started to glare at her. "Are you really still telling me no?" she asked, taking a step towards the girl, then reaching down, shoving the seat of her diaper up harder against her crotch. "You just don't learn, do you? No wonder you still wet the bed, and your pants, at your age. Were you ever potty trained? Were you still peeing yourself while you were so obsessed with trying to make me stop wetting the bed?" "No!" Sarah whimpered. "I bet you were," Melody continued. "I bet you were so hard on me because you were so upset that you just couldn't keep your own bed dry, and you thought if you could figure out how to make me stop, maybe you'd know what to do to fix yourself, too. But you never did, did you? And you know why? Because I was just a kid, and I could grow out of it. But you've never been anything but a baby, and you never will be. Now come on, baby, get your babysitter an umbrella! I'm sure you don't mind getting wet, but I do." Sarah wanted to refuse, but she just wasn't sure she had it in her. Melody had worn her down - she knew by now the girl was going to get what she wanted, and the less trouble she made, the easier it would be for her, ultimately. Even so, going outside like this was much different than anything else she'd done that day. Nobody but she and Melody had to know about anything else - though if anyone happened to be out in the rain, they might see her now, standing there, blushing - but as soon as she started getting paraded through the neighborhood, anyone could see her. Anyone just sitting at home, bored, with nothing to because of the rain except stare out their windows and wonder if anything interesting would happen. She couldn't manage another no, but she could sputter a, "But..." or two, stalling, hoping for a miracle. She wasn't expecting one, given the way the day had been going, but sure enough, one came. Before Melody could order her one more time to fetch an umbrella, and Sarah could break down and do it, the two were interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Sarah looked out the window to see that, sure enough, her mother was home.

Part 8 - I Do Not Like It, Not One Little Bit "Excuse me?" Melody put her hands on her hips, glaring down at the increasingly nervous Sarah. "You're really going that stand there in your diaper, which I put you in - that you begged me to put you in, as my little recording verifies - after you wet yourself in front of me, and tell me you aren't a baby?" "No, I'm not!" Sarah did her best to match Melody's tone of authority, digging back into her history of babysitting, but it was that very past, not to mention her attire, that made it difficult. "I'm older than you, Melody, as you well know, and this is my house. You have no right to be here if I don't want you here, and if you're going to act like this, then I want you to leave! You've been nothing but a monster since you walked in that door!" Frustratingly, Melody ignored most of that speech, despite how difficult it had been for Sarah to find the courage to make it. "You really want me to think you aren't a baby? Would you care to explain WHY you had those diapers, then? And don't tell me they aren't yours. They were in your closet, along with Goodnites. There were used ones in the bathroom by your bedroom. Your mother sent you a text that seemed to think it was very likely that you'd had an accident. You called me, and treated me like, a baby on a daily basis just for wetting my bed, and it sure seems like you do a lot more than that. And you expect me to treat you like an adult? Or even like you're anywhere close to my age? You, little missy, are a baby, and you don't deserve to be treated like anything other than a baby." Sarah stared icily at Melody, wishing she could legitimately refute any of the teenager's arguments, and feeling even more annoyed that she couldn't. "Well... Well, fuck you! Who asked you to get involved? I..." Sarah cut herself off with a yelp as Melody grabbed her by the ear, dragging her out of the kitchen. "Stop it!" she whined. "Let me go, you little bitch! This is my house, you can't..!" She stopped again, this time by Melody letting go of her, and grabbing a bar of soap instead. "Don't you dare!" Melody shoved her against the wall, holding her in place with one hand as the other shoved the bar of soap into her protesting mouth. Sarah managed an unhappy, shocked, "Mmph!" before Melody started pushing the bar in and out of her mouth, working it around, filling her pouting mouth with suds. "You were going to get this anyway for being such a brat and telling me no," Melody told her. "But after that little outburst, you're going into time-out, too, young lady!" Sarah mumbled, her tongue already starting to burn slightly, bubbly saliva starting to drip from the corners of her mouth onto her bare chest. "Your mouth is going to be squeaky clean after this, isn't it? Nothing even resembling a curse word. And no more saying no to your babysitter, right? Right?!" Sarah nodded, sniffling. "Pwease, stop!" she managed to blurt out around the still thrusting soap. Even after everything else that day, it was almost impossible for her to accept the fact that she was being given such a childish punishment. "I be good giwl!" Melody gave the soap a couple more good twists, then stopped, leaving the bar between Sarah's teeth. She pulled Sarah away from the wall and pushed her toward the door with a firm smack on the back of her diaper, leading her that way to her mother's room, and the corner there. "You keep your nose there," Melody ordered, "and that soap in your mouth. Since you're being a naughty girl, you don't get to play makeover. But I'm going to do it myself, and watching you in the mirror, so if you move one inch, you'll be sorry. Understand?" Sarah nodded forlornly. Melody gave her one final thwack across her padded backside, then walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts. This was ridiculous, but what could Sarah do? She wasn't sure if Melody was bluffing about further punishment or not, but she was starting to doubt it. She seemed all too happy to continue treating Sarah like some errant child. As Sarah stood there, squirming, mouth sore and tingling, she could hear Melody rummaging through the make-up on her mother's vanity, not sounding like she was concerned with being careful at all. She could hear things bumping and falling over as the girl worked, appraising each with, "Not bad," or, "This is awful! Why would she have this?" It certainly didn't sound like she was paying attention to anything other than wreaking more havoc. Sarah started to turn her head to verify that, but stopped, afraid she'd find Melody staring straight at her. Instead, she started moving her hand up slowly, inching its way toward the bar of soap sticking out from it. She paused every few seconds, waiting for the inevitable clearing of the throat that would tell her to stop it, but it never came. She had to fight a sigh of relief as she took the soap out, though she quickly realized that didn't solve her problems. Her mouth was still full of suds that she didn't want to swallow, but had nothing else she could do with, and she had nowhere to put the soap, meaning she'd have to keep holding it in front of herself, unless she wanted to risk Melody taking a quick peek at her and seeing her hand at her side, still clutching it. But, holding it like that would probably make her suspicious, and she'd come to check things out. She wrinkled her nose, wanting to whine and stomp her feet at the injustice of it, but forcing herself to keep still. The moment of relief had been nice, but the risk of extending it too long was too great, so she had to open her mouth back up and slide the soap back in, gingerly biting down just enough to ensure it wouldn't slide out. Her mouth was really starting to sting now, and she couldn't help wondering if Melody had used the wrong kind of soap, if she was getting poisoned, or killing off her taste buds, by doing this. She knew it sounded silly, but she had no idea what ingesting soap - or keeping it in her mouth for extended periods of time - could do! "Mewody, pwease, can I take dis out now? I'ww stay in cownew!" "No. Be quiet, you're being punished." Sarah whimpered. "But it huwts!" "Then you should stop talking so I don't extend your punishment." Melody then ignored her muffled whining and went back to whatever she was doing. Sarah fidgeted, tears starting to come to her eyes yet again. This wasn't fair! She'd never done this to Melody! Of course, Melody had been a relatively well-behaved kid, and had certainly never swore, at least in Sarah's earshot, but even if she had, Sarah was pretty sure she'd never have made her go through this. Sure, she'd had some other things she'd done, but not this. In fact, Sarah was sure Melody was blowing the whole thing way out of proportion, that she'd already gotten more than enough revenge for Sarah's transgressions. Of course, she couldn't tell her so right then, nor did she think that the girl would be open to hearing that once this punishment was over. But still, what had Sarah really done that was this bad? Making her go outside was probably the worst, and she hadn't even made her go all the way to the playground. After that, it was mostly just diapering her, and making her pee in them. That was mostly it. Was that really worth all of this? She was still sulking over that when Melody came over and turned her around, extracting the soap. "Oh, you look grumpy!" she observed. "It's a good thing you're going down for your nap now!" Sarah started to open her mouth, to tell Melody that she just needed to get over what Sarah, in her misguided youth, had done to her. "Sarah, I still have the soap right here. I can tell you're not in a good mood, but if you say one thing to me I don't like, I will put it right back into your mouth and march you to the living room, and you can stay there until your mommy gets home. Is that how you want to greet her?" Sarah shook her head with a pout, unhappy at being so easily seen through, and dismissed. "Now, let's see if you need a change now." Sarah stood by, not having the strength to object to another embarrassing check, knowing it would happen either way. "Look at you!" Melody exclaimed at finding her still dry and clean. "You'll be into Pull-Ups in no time at all!" She led Sarah back out of her mother's room, past the vanity, which was in even worse shape than Sarah had feared. All the bottle and tubes were strewn around, like she'd heard, some of them open and spilling out their contents, but the mirror was a mess, too, covered in streaks of various colored lipsticks and eyeliners. It sent a bolt of anger through her, only to be quickly quenched by Melody calmly mentioning, "By the way, I saw you take the soap out. Your punishment for that is coming later." That was enough to remind her of her new status, and she quietly toddled her way to the bathroom, where Melody helped her rinse out her mouth, then dried her torso off with her towel. "What a messy baby you are!" she observed, moving the towel up to Sarah's chin. "Does your mommy put you in a bib when she feeds you?" Sarah didn't rise to the bait, suddenly worn out by the whole thing. She was outmatched, overpowered. She trudged to her bedroom, still smelling strongly of baby powder, diapers still covering the floor, and let herself get tucked in. Melody took the bow out of her hair and put it back in the box before picking the whole box up and heading out of the room, shutting the door behind her, leaving Sarah alone in the darkness. Sarah hadn't planned on sleeping - she hadn't taken a nap in years - but rather to stay up and use her privacy to think of a way out of this mess, to get the upper hand on Melody and at least make her leave. If she could do a little more, she couldn't say that she would mind. She'd love to have the girl clean up the house, since she was the one who'd wrecked it, and she had to admit that she'd feel a certain sense of satisfaction, watching her do it while in a diaper. But that was a long shot, she knew. But as she laid there, room mostly black around her, the cloudy day keeping all but the smallest bit of light from sneaking in around her heavy curtains, she felt herself yawn, her eyelids growing heavy. It was probably just because it was dark, she thought, though it had been a long day so far. If she just closed her eyes for a minute, maybe that would help her concentrate, and maybe get rid of the fogginess that had plagued her mind most of the day. She would just take a quick little nap, and then it would be time to get to work... Her eyes snapped open. She couldn't let herself fall asleep! What if she wet herself? She couldn't imagine what Melody would say when she checked her after the nap - like she had no doubt the girl would do - and found that. She might try to claim she'd had to, that she'd been awake and fully conscious when it happened, but that was only barely a better option, and she wasn't sure Melody wouldn't see through it. She had a feeling Melody suspected she was a bedwetter, but she didn't want to confirm it for her. No, she was going to have to stay awake. She reached upward, towards her light switch, trying to flip it on, even though she knew she couldn't reach it lying like she was. With a groan, she rolled over onto her stomach, inching toward the edge of her mattress, fingers brushing up and down on the wall, searching. She could have stood up, but she was feeling too tired for that now. If she could just get the light on, it would help wake her up, and then she'd be all right. That's all she had to do. Her fingertip tapped against the edge of the wall plate, then slowly slid down the wall, flopping down to the side of the bed as she collapsed, fast asleep.

Part 7 - I Call This Game Fun-In-A-Box Of course, since it was raining outside, Sarah knew there was very little chance that anyone would just stroll past the house to see her as she was led through the living room and into the kitchen. Yet, the idea of being led through there, past the big window in the living room, in just a diaper, was quite humiliating. Walking past and through the mess Melody had made only made her feel worse, as she knew she still had to find time to clean all of that up once Melody finally left her alone, or her mother would be furious. And she was now in no position to demand Melody help her. There was little relief from her fear of being exposed when they stopped in the kitchen, since the curtain on the window over the sink was wide open. There was even less chance of anyone seeing her through that than through the one in the living room - it was much smaller, and higher up on the wall, not to mention facing the back yard - but there was little room in her paranoia for logic. She was so busy staring at the window, then around at the mess in the kitchen, even worse than the one in the living room, that she didn't notice the box sitting on the counter until Melody began to rummage through it. "And here's your second surprise!" Melody announced, pulling a few things out. "A special treat, even though you're being a rude little baby today." Sarah looked at the items Melody had taken out of the box, figuring out what they were for at once, and realizing why Melody was doing it just a moment later. "S'mores?" she said quietly, staring up at Melody. Melody nodded. "That's right! Do you remember when you showed me how to make them in the microwave?" Sarah was a little reluctant to answer, "Yeah," unsure if Melody was setting her up for something. Of course she remembered. It had been one of the last times Sarah had sat for Melody. Despite her best efforts - she'd come up with a few things that she thought were quite clever, yet hadn't done the trick - the girl was still wetting the bed, and her mother kept sounding more bewildered and exhausted by it every time she spoke to Sarah. So Sarah decided she was going to have to take things to the next level. She'd considered what she was going to do for a while, but couldn't quite bring herself to do it before then. Once she'd gotten Melody all diapered up, she'd not only denied her any pants, she'd taken the girl's shirt off, much to her surprise, then went over to her closet and started rummaging through. After a minute, Melody walked over, arms clasped firmly over her training-bra clad chest. "What are you doing?" "I think we spend too much time inside," Sarah had told her. "You need some fresh air. So we're going to the park." Melody had stared up at her in shock, then down at her diaper, freshly taped into place. "Like this?!" she squeaked. "No, of course not!" Sarah had giggled, ruffling her hair. "I'm looking for a nice outfit for you. Nothing too fancy, since you'll be running around and playing, but... Oh, here we go!" They had been together at the back of the closet, as if they were meant as a set - and they may well have been, since, as Sarah noted, they went together well. One piece was a simple, dark blue denim jumper, and the other was a white shirt, with a Peter Pan collar and puff sleeves. "These look like nice play clothes!" "I haven't worn those for years!" Melody had complained, sulking as Sarah pried her arms away from her chest and forced them into the sleeves of the shirt. "Then aren't you glad to see they still fit?" The shirt had been a little tight, but it buttoned shut without too much fuss. The jumper went on as well, falling a little higher than it was likely intended to be, though that had, of course, been Sarah's plan. It wouldn't show off the girl's diaper constantly, but with her running around and playing, it was bound to flash it enough to make Melody afraid someone would notice. She might not mind acting like a baby at home, but surely the threat of being discovered would shock her into growing up and keeping her bed dry. Melody had begged Sarah not to make her do it, had tried to dig in her heels and stop herself from being dragged through the house - and she'd almost succeeded, as she had been getting fairly close to matching Sarah's size by then - and they'd barely made it to the sidewalk before she started bawling. Sarah finally relented at that, taking her back inside and trying to calm her down, finally achieving it by showing her how to make s'mores, letting her munch on one as she finished sniffling. Sarah wasn't sure now if Melody saw those s'mores as a symbol of mercy, or if it reminded her more of what had come before. She had a bad feeling it was the latter, but surely not even Melody would take her outside in the rain, certainly not mostly naked. Melody got a small plate down from an already open cupboard, setting it on the counter, then handing Sarah a graham cracker. "There you go. Just break it in half. Good girl!" She took the bag of marshmallows off the counter and ripped it open, holding it down so Sarah could reach it. "Choose your marshmallow and put it on half your cracker... Good job! Now we'll just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. Can you put in ten seconds and hit start! Oh, look at you!" Sarah blushed. She supposed it was good Melody was being nice to her, instead of continuing her revenge, but it was hard not to feel like a little kid when she was being spoken to like that. "If I give you this chocolate, can I trust you to just break off enough for your s'more, or are you going to try to eat it all?" Melody teased, holding a chocolate bar over Sarah's head. "I can do it," Sarah mumbled. "Hmm.. No, I think I'd better do it myself. You're being a bad girl today, aren't you?" Melody broke off a few square of chocolate, setting them on the other half of the graham cracker as the microwave bell dinged. Sarah started to reach for it, but Melody smacked her hand away. "No, no! That's hot! You'd better let your babysitter get that for you!" She took the plate and set it on the counter, putting the two halves of the cracker with their contents together, then sliding the plate further away from Sarah. "It's still too hot, silly! You have to wait!" With that, Melody started making her own s'more, not hesitating to take a bite of it as soon as it was assembled, though she did blow on it, of course. Sarah started to reach for her plate, and got her hand slapped away again. "No! It's still too hot for babies like you!" Sarah hadn't been overly excited about the treat - though she had to admit it did sound good - but the act of being denied it, while having to watch Melody eat hers, made her feel like she was. Watching Melody take bite after bite, gooey marshmallow stretching out between her mouth and the confection... Sarah started to squirm, anxious to have her own, even before Melody started to say, "Oh, wow, this is so good!" Sarah started to reach for hers again, but Melody stopped her with only a look this time. "You grab for that one more time, and you're going in the corner!" she threatened. "I'll give it to you when it's ready for you." Sarah glared at her, crossing her arms until Melody giggled and said, "You look so cute all sulky like that!" Sarah tried to stop it after that, but found it harder than she expected. Melody finished her s'more and washed her hands carefully, then watched Sarah for a minute or two. Sarah tried not to look too anxious, or to fidget, or stare up at her waiting treat, but, of course, trying not to do something only made it that much harder. Finally Melody smiled and handed the plate down to her. Eagerly, Sarah began to eat, but by then, it was lukewarm. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as it would have been a few minutes earlier, fresh out of the microwave. Like Melody's had been. Melody took Sarah's plate when she was finished, then started to wash her face and hands with a washcloth, despite Sarah's protests that she didn't need it. "Aww, why are you still being pouty?" Melody asked as she knelt down, scrubbing at her face. "Wasn't it yummy?" "It was okay," Sarah mumbled. "Then why aren't you smiling? Are you still mad at yourself for peeing your pants?" Sarah blushed slightly. "Well, there's another little game we'll be able to play with some of the things from this box, but not until later. Do you want to be a big girl and help me get ready for it, though?" Sarah had no idea what she was talking about, or what else you could do with graham crackers, chocolate, or marshmallows, other than eat it. Was there some other dessert you could make with them? Or was she just going to be allowed to eat the rest of the chocolate? She didn't see how they could prepare for that, though, so it didn't make sense. Melody took her lack of answer and look of puzzlement for a yes. "All right, just sit down." Sarah started to head for the kitchen table, but Melody grabbed her arm and held her in place. "No, panty-wetters like you can't sit on furniture, even in their diapers! They might leak and make a mess of it! Just sit on the floor, sweetie." Sarah pouted as she sank down to the hard, linoleum floor, legs splayed out by the bulk of her diaper. Melody set a bowl in front of her, then the bag of marshmallows. "What you need to do," she instructed, "is roll the marshmallows between your hands, like Play-Doh. You know how to do that, right? Like you're making a snake. Do you get it? Let's see!" Still confused, Sarah took a marshmallow between her hands and did as she'd been told, pressing down on it and rolling it back and forth between her palms until it was longer, and thinner. She looked up at Melody, unsure if it was what she'd been looking for or not. "Good job!" Melody praised her. "Now, put it in the bowl and make another!" "How many should I make?" Sarah asked. "Just as many as you want!" Sarah gave Melody a sideways look, but started back in on the project. It was easy enough, but as Melody kept smiling wider and wider while watching her do it, she began to suspect there was no grand project connected to it, that the girl's only goal was to make her look like a silly little girl, playing on the kitchen floor. It was maybe a little odd that she'd chosen marshmallows as her 'toy', such as it was, but perhaps she hadn't been able to find any actual Play-Doh at her house. After her fifth, Sarah decided to stop. "Is that enough?" "Oh, it should be plenty!" Melody nodded, picking up the bowl and taking it to the freezer. "You did a good job, honey! You're such a big girl, helping your babysitter out like that!" Once she'd shut the freezer door, she swooped over to Sarah, stumbling to her feet, and gave her a hug. "Are you my little helper? Yes, you are! Now, it looked like you were concentrating pretty hard there, so I think I'd better make sure you didn't have an accident." "I didn't!" Sarah squawked, face red. "We'll see... I'm not sure if I can trust you that much." "I didn't!" Sarah repeated, voice getting a little higher. She clamped her hands over the crotch of her diaper as she saw Melody's fingers headed that way. "Oh, are you going now?" Melody asked with mock concern. "And you didn't even ask me to take you to the potty! I guess you really do need those diapers!" "No!" Sarah's face turned an even deeper shade of red, something she hadn't thought possible. "I'm not! I don't!" As she stood there, flustered, Melody reached out and gave her tummy a quick tickle. Sarah's hand moved upward towards her stomach as she gave an involuntary giggle and squirm, giving Melody enough time to reach down and slip a pair of fingers into the leg band of her diaper, wiggling them around, pressing them against the padding for a few uncomfortable seconds before finally pulling back out, letting the diaper snap back into place. "Good girl!" Melody praised her, patting her on the head. "I told you I didn't," Sarah grumped, glad at least that it was over. Or so she'd thought. Melody gave her another moment, then spun her around, reaching down to pull the back of her diaper out. "I definitely didn't do that!" Sarah sqeaked, the very idea that Melody would insinuate there would be something in the seat of Sarah's diaper for her to find taking her down to an even deeper depth of humiliation. To make it even worse, Melody took her time, as if she were absolutely sure there could be something there. "No, you didn't," she agreed at last. "Are you feeling bad about how you acted before? Is that why you're being such a good girl now? Well, it doesn't matter. Since you are being good, I think there's time for one more game before you go down for your nap." "Melody, come on," Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't want to play another game, and I don't need a nap. I need to clean this place up. Haven't you had enough fun?" "I think you'll change your mind about not wanting to play when you hear what it is. We're going to play make-over! All little girls love playing with make-up, don't they? And I'm sure your mommy has lots to choose from!" "No!" Sarah had to put her foot down there, although it did take her a moment or two to build up the resolve to do so. After seeing what Melody had done to the rest of the house, there was no way she was letting the girl into her mother's room. "Melody, you've had your fun. Now, please, just go home and leave me alone!" "What was that?" Melody turned to face Sarah, looking unimpressed with her display of resistance. "Did you just tell me no, little girl? I am your babysitter, and if I say you need a nap, you are taking a nap. It's up to you if you do so after playing a game, or having a punishment, but either way, that little diapered bottom of yours is ending up in bed. Do you understand me?" Sarah knew what she was expected to answer, and that, given how far she'd fallen in status that day already, she might regret not giving it, but she wasn't going to back down now. "No," she said defiantly. "You are NOT my babysitter, and I am not a baby, and it is time for you to leave!"

Part 6 - Do I Like This? Oh, No! I Do Not. Sarah's stomach knotted up inside her as she stood in front of Melody. She looked away from the girl's smile, but as her eyes turned downward, she saw the diaper and baby powder in her own hands, reminding her even more of what was about to happen, and she only felt worse. She only had a moment to look at them, however, before Melody's fingers grabbed her chin, forcing it back up. "Isn't it fun, little girl?" Sarah could only blush at being called 'little girl' by someone younger than her, especially since that was exactly what she felt like. "Isn't it?!" Melody tightened her grip a bit, making Sarah whimper softly before forcing herself to say, "Y-Yes." "You don't sound convinced," Melody observed. "Are you afraid I don't know what I'm doing? Why don't you walk me through it? You did it to me often enough - I'm sure you know how to do it." "No, I-I think you can do it. I'm sorry! It'll be... fun..." Sarah swallowed, trying to turn her head away from Melody's eyes, boring into her own. She knew she'd likely do it anyway, but if she had to give Melody instructions, she knew it would be awfully hard for her not to spend the entire time thinking back to how she'd used to diaper Melody, since that was the last person she'd done that to, and that would only make her feel worse. "Well, if you want it so much, you should ask for it." Sarah had no choice but to watch Melody's smile broaden as she mewled in protest of what she was being asked to do. "Come on, little girl, beg me to help you play dress-up." "Melody..." Sarah whined, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. "Please don't..." She stopped. There wasn't a hint of mercy in Melody's expression, nothing to make her think that anything good would come of asking her to stop. If anything, it would probably lead to more embarrassment, though she wasn't sure how this could get worse. So she started again with a sigh. "Melody, please... please help me play dress-up." "Of course I will!" Melody agreed immediately. "What would you like to wear, sweetie?" Sarah tried to lower her head again, but Melody held her chin firmly in place, not letting her look away as she said. "A... A.... A diaper." "Aww, how sweet! And you need some help getting it on?" Sarah nodded. "What was that? I didn't hear you." It was almost unbearable, but somehow Sarah managed to say, "Yes." "Yes, what?" Melody asked patiently. "Yes, I need some help getting my diaper on." Sarah wanted to sink right through the floor, but as it turned out, Melody still wasn't satisfied. "Well, ask me!" she giggled. "Just ask, silly!" Sarah's cheeks flushed as she fidgeted in place, hardly able to think the words, much less say them. "Melody, can you... Can you help me?" "What do you want me to do?" Melody feigned innocence. "You have to be clear, honey." Sarah could feel the tears starting to roll down her cheeks now. "Can you put me in a d-diaper?" "Ah-ah-ah!" Melody waved a finger from her free hand. Sarah sighed, unsure how much longer she could keep this up, wondering what she would have to do now. "You didn't say the magic word! Didn't your mommy teach you to be polite?" She had never felt quite so silly to say, "Please?", before. Melody smiled. "Please what?" Sarah wanted to scream, to pull away from the girl, to hit her, to do anything. But instead, she closed her eyes and swallowed, summoning her resolve. "Will you please..." "Open your eyes, silly." Sarah did so, reluctantly. "Will you please... diaper me?" "Well, of course I will!" Melody let go of Sarah chin finally, tapping the tip of her nose with her finger. "Anytime you need that little bottom of your diapered, I'd be happy to help you. No need to worry." For a moment, Sarah thought the hard part was over. Sure, she still had to actually be put into the diaper, and then she'd have to wear it, but at least she wouldn't have to talk about it. Or so she thought, as Melody took the diaper and baby powder from her, setting the powder on Sarah's bed. "So... What do you want me to do now?" "Huh?" "You silly baby - you have such a short memory! Don't you remember? You're going to walk me through this, to make sure I do it the way you would do it to me. So, what do I do first?" Sarah's face fell. "Melody, come on... You know what to do..." "I'm the youngest!" Melody reminded her, voice practically dripping with forced innocence. "I don't have any idea!" Sarah sighed. Nothing had gone her way yet that day - she was sure they wouldn't start now. So she could waste some more energy arguing with Melody to try to get her to just get this over with, or she could do like the girl wanted. As much as she hated to, she went with the latter. "Spread the diaper out on the bed," she instructed. She tried to sound as clinical about it as possible, trying not to think about how this was going to end. "No," Melody said simply. When Sarah looked up at her, puzzled, she explained, "Don't just tell me to do it. That's rude! You have to ask me." When Sarah hesitated, slightly disgusted at the idea, Melody continued again. "You already begged me to diaper you. How much worse can this be? Besides, don't forget I can still call your mommy." Sarah was trapped, and she knew it. Resigning herself to her fate, she gritted her teeth and asked, "Would you please spread the diaper out on the bed?" "Sure!" Melody chirped, opening up the diaper and laying it out on the bed. Sarah knew it had to look just the same as it did when she put them on herself at night, yet somehow, in her mind, they were thicker, more babyish now. Melody patted the center of the diaper, and Sarah found herself transported back in time a year and a half, back to when she'd do the exact same thing, while Melody stood there, pouting. "But it's not bedtime!" she would protest. "Mommy doesn't make me wear them until bedtime!" "Do you know any other kids in your grade that wet the bed?" Sarah would ask. She knew there had to be some, but she was sure they kept it a secret, so she fully expected Melody to shake her head, which she did. "Who wets the bed?" Sometimes she'd have to ask the question two or three times before Melody would look up from her shuffling feet and mumble, "Babies." "And babies wear diapers, don't they? Not just at night, but all the time. So if you're going to act like a baby and wet your bed, I'm going to treat you like a baby. Now hop up here." Then she would pat the diaper, just like Melody was doing now. Sarah felt a little sick as she watched it. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have treated you like that." "Thank you," Melody replied curtly. "Now hop up here." She gave the diaper one more pat, then started to pull Sarah's phone out of her pocket. Sarah scrambled onto her bed, plopping herself down on top of the diaper. She started to lay back, but Melody started pushing her back before she could finish, which was just was Sarah was trying to avoid, since it made it feel all the more like Melody was fully in control. Which she was, of course, but she was trying to find some way not to make it feel so obvious to herself. "Now what?" Melody inquired after giving Sarah a few seconds to squirm awkwardly on her diaper. "Well, um... I just took a bath, so you don't have to clean me, so... Powder?" Melody raised an eyebrow, earning another sigh from Sarah. "Would you please powder me?" Melody seemed to have been waiting for that. She overturned the bottle and started shaking it wildly, sending clouds of the white powder toward Sarah's bottom, and onto her stomach and bed, and anything nearby. She just kept going, making Sarah wonder if she intended on using the whole bottle, before asking, "Is this enough?" "Yes!" Sarah blurted out. "Please, stop it!" Melody stopped, and the powder clouds died down, but Sarah was sure her room would smell like it for weeks now. Not to mention her body. "Now... Pl-Please... Please... pull my diaper up between my legs." Melody was all too happy to comply. Sarah gasped slightly as she felt the thick padding being pulled tight around her. She hadn't been diapered before - not since she was a toddler - and it was quite a different sensation having someone else do it. Though the lack of hair down there probably had something to do with it, too, as she could feel the soft padding right against her sensitive skin, where she'd never felt it before. She hadn't really felt anything down there without the slight barrier of her hair to offer some little protection for a long time, and now it felt like the diaper was invading her most personal, intimate place. The diaper felt thicker, thirstier, than she could ever remember them being before, and far more infantile. Melody gave that all a minute to sink in before saying, "I don't think that's it, is it?" "No," Sarah whimpered. "Melody, please... I can't... Don't make me..." Melody ignored her. "What do I do now, Sarah?" Sarah closed her eyes, trying not to think about who was standing over her, doing this, but that just brought back more memories of her babysitting days, watching Melody stand up from her diapering, tears in her eyes, legs wide from the padding. Sometimes she'd reach for her pants, or skirt, or whatever she'd worn to school. Sarah would always grab them first. "Babies don't need anything to cover their diaper," she'd say. "They don't care if it's showing. And it makes it easier for their babysitter to check them." "I don't need to be checked," Melody would whine. "I'm not going to use them!" "Well," Sarah would cross her arms, "you sure aren't going into the bathroom. Babies use their diapers." Sarah opened her eyes, shaking her head slightly to try to banish the image, only to have it replace by one of Melody standing over her, one hand holding the front of Sarah's diaper tightly across the bottom of her belly. "Tape it up," Sarah said quietly. "Please... Tape my diaper up." Melody gleefully started to reach for one of the sides, only to stop partway there. "How should I tape it?" Sarah gave her a blank look. "You just pull the tape up, then..." "No, no," Melody shook her head. "I mean, should it be loose, or..?" Sarah really hated this, having to give the advice that was about to lead to her being diapered by this girl, but she had no doubt that Melody wouldn't stop until she did, and that she wouldn't accept a wrong answer. "No, it should be tight." "So... What exactly is it you want?" "Please tape my diaper up nice and tight." Sarah sniffled, knowing that was it, she'd just given the final order. Even knowing she'd had no choice, it was still tough, and she could feel tears starting again while Melody happily went about her work, pulling the sides up snugly and taping them in place, sealing her former babysitter into her padded prison. Pleased with her work, Melody patted the diaper, then grabbed Sarah's arms and pulled her into a seated position. "Now what do you say?" Sarah, for her part, was still stunned by what had just transpired. "Huh?" "You are a rude little girl today! What do you say when somebody does something for you?" Sarah whined, pouting up at Melody, but there was still no sympathy in her expression. "Thank you for diapering me." "You are so welcome!" Melody beamed, kissing Sarah's forehead. "And I recorded your instructions so I won't forget how to do it in the future!" She held up her own phone, tapping the button to stop the sound recorded as Sarah watched, sinking to a newfound depth of horror. "You delete that!" Sarah ordered, though it was hard to feel to authoritative while sitting there in a diaper. "I don't think so," Melody countered. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who would find it quite interesting, if you're a bad girl today, not least of all your mommy. Now, I have a little surprise for you, so why don't we wrap this game up?" She walked around the bed, to the box. She opened it, eyeing its contents, and then Sarah, before plucking something out of it and closing it. "I think we'll save the rest of that for later," she said. "For now, I think all you need to complete your outfit is this." She held up a huge red hair bow, which she quickly put into Sarah's hair before pulling the girl to her feet. Sarah wobbled slightly, still a little dizzy, and taken off guard by the new sensation of the diaper bunching up between her legs, against her sensitive, bare skin. "Adorable!" Melody declared, taking her hand and starting to lead her out of her room. "No!" Sarah pouted. "I can't just wear this!" "Babies don't care about hiding their diapers," Melody reminded her. "And they don't care about hiding their chests, either. Especially not when they have as little to hide as you do." Sarah whimpered, feeling about two feet tall. She stood there for a moment or two, shocked, until Melody tugged her hand, forcing her to start toddling, away from the sanctuary of her room, with its dark, closed curtains, and even the slight protection her clothes could have provided, every step reminding her of everything Melody had done to her so far, and making her feel all the more like an overgrown toddler.

Part 5 - Another Good Game That I Know "No!" Sarah said, finally composing herself again, at least enough to say that, though when Melody turned and gave her a look, it took another moment or two before she could continue. "Melody, I'm not playing anything! I'm going to get dressed, and then I'm going to clean the house up. I'd appreciate it if you helped, but if you're not going to, could you please go home now?" "Go home NOW?" Melody shook her head. "But I haven't even given you your birthday presents yet. I thought of the perfect things, and ran over to my house to grab them while you were in the tub." Despite everything, Sarah was curious. "Presents?" "Yeah! I got you two things, and they're both part of a fun game! Actually, the first is right here." She herded Sarah into her bedroom, where she did, indeed, see a box sitting on her bed. It wasn't huge, but it was a pretty good size. Sarah started to reach for it to see what was inside, but Melody stopped her. "If you're not going to play dress-up, though, then you don't get it." Sarah sighed. She'd have liked to say no, to show Melody that she couldn't control her like this, but she did want to see what was in there. And, besides, she was going to have to get dressed anyway. "Fine," she gave in. "Good!" Melody smiled, but took the box anyway, putting it on Sarah's desk. "We'll get to that later. We need to get you some underwear first. Top drawer?" Without thinking, Sarah nodded, happy to hear 'underwear', rather than something thicker and more absorbent. Despite the way she was treating Sarah, she apparently did still accept the fact that her accident had been a fluke, nothing more. At least she wasn't going to try to make her wear training pants like her mom did. She froze at that thought, remembering suddenly what was in her underwear drawer. "Wait!" she called, padding across the room after Melody, trying to stop her before she reaching the dresser. "Don't..!" But it was too late. She could hear the drawer creaking open, and she knew right away it was too late. This wasn't like with the trash can under the sink - they were right on top, there was no chance Melody could miss them. Sure enough, a split second later, Melody was asking, "Um, what are these?", holding up the cupcake-decorated garment. Sarah knew there was no excuse she could come up with that would make sense, so instead she just begged, "Please, don't make me wear them!" It was bad enough wearing them around her mom - wearing them around Melody would be humiliating. "I wouldn't do that," Melody said. "Oh, thank you!" Sarah sighed. "Like I said, it was just one little accident, and I don't really need..." "No, I mean I wouldn't make you wear these. They're already wet! I can't believe you would shove them in here like that! That's disgusting." Sarah blinked, mouth hanging open slightly at the words. Wet? But that wasn't possible. She hadn't wiped after using the bathroom, so they might be a tiny bit damp, but that was it. Could Melody really have noticed that so quickly? "Nuh-uh!" she argued. "Yes, they are," Melody insisted. "Do you need to feel them?" She thrust the training pants at Sarah, who recoiled reflexively. She could see them hanging heavily from Melody's fingertips, and she had to admit that, somehow, they did look quite wet, and when Melody let them go, they fell to the floor with a damp squish that seemed to confirm it. "No!" she shook her head. "I didn't!" How could this be happening?! She was sure they'd been dry, or at least mostly, when she'd taken them off. How could they be wet now? Was she somehow mistaken? Had she had an accident she hadn't noticed? Surely not. But then, how could they be so wet now? If she had been less upset, she might have noticed that there was no scent of urine, not the slightest whiff of ammonia, despite how big an accident they seemed to have contained, but as it was, she was too flabberghasted to do much but stare. "It's just as well," Melody shrugged. "I was going to let it slide, since you told me it was just the one time, but after two accidents, I guess I'd better do what your mommy said." "My... mommy?" The shocks kept on coming, keeping her off balance enough to stop her from thinking to change 'mommy' to something that sounded a bit less juvenile until the word was already out of her mouth. "Didn't your mommy say that if you had an accident, she wanted you in diapers, not Goodnites?" Melody said it softly, soothingly, as if it were perfectly natural, but she might as well have dropped a bomb on Sarah. "You DID read my texts!" she blurted out, hardly able to believe this invasion of her privacy - especially when it pertained to something so incredibly private. A fraction of a second later, she clapped her hand over her mouth as her cheeks began to burn, and she realized she'd basically just confirmed that it wasn't some weird joke text, or that she hadn't read any of the conversation. Without meaning to, she'd just told Melody that she did have diapers, and that, at least according to her mother, she needed them. "Where are they?" Melody asked, digging through Sarah's underwear drawer, then pushing it shut and starting on the next drawer down. "Come on, Sarah, just tell me. You don't want me to tell your mommy you were a bad girl, do you?" "You're not going to tell my mommy... my mom anything! You aren't my babysitter! Stop acting like you are!" Sarah stomped her foot in frustration, feeling a little better to get that out of her system. Her relief was very short-lived, however. Melody turned on her, staring her down with her hands on her hips. "Did you think you were in charge? That you were the babysitter? A pants-wetting little baby like you? Those days are well behind you now. As the only real grown-up here, I'm clearly in charge, and if your mother thinks you need to be in diapers, then that's where you're going." Sarah shrank back under the onslaught of words, practically feeling each one strike her and make her smaller. She shivered, the cool air against the newly bare crotch only having the slightest bit to do with it. "But..." she whimpered. "No. I'm done playing around, young lady. You bring me your diapers right now, or I'll call your mommy and tell her how naughty you're being." Melody held up Sarah's phone. Instinctively, Sarah reached behind herself to take it from her pocket, the brush of her fingers against her bottom reminding her she was naked, making her feel even more vulnerable, and silly for having forgotten, even for a moment. "I'm going to count to three. One..." "Wait!" Sarah pleaded. Her head was spinning, unable to full process the speed with which the tables had turned on her, or the extent or thoroughness of it. There was no real bright side, but the darkest part of it, in her mind, was how much of it was her fault, like it or not. She'd started wetting her bed, she hadn't kept it a secret from her mother, she'd let Melody get ahold of her phone, she'd wet herself. As she thought about that, squirming naked in front of Melody, she could almost recall actually having an accident in her cupcake trainers, not quite making it to the bathroom on time. She thought it wasn't true, but she could be positive. She'd done that the day before, in her pink training pants, after stubbornly refusing to stop chatting online in time, but that didn't mean the same thing couldn't have happened today, too. "Two." "No, please! Don't put me in a diaper! I'm sorry, I'm not going to have another accident, I swear!" Melody stopped counting. "That sounds familiar, doesn't it? Hmm... Let's think... Where have you heard something like that before?" "I-I don't know," Sarah stammered. "Don't just answer, think about it. Think back. Doesn't that sound an awful lot like what I used to say to you? And what did you tell me?" Sarah glanced down at her feet bashfully. "What did you say?!" "I... I said... You're acting like a baby, wetting your bed every night, making all that work for your mom. I said if you wanted to act like a baby, then... Then I'd treat you like a baby." It had made such perfect sense to her then, but now, with the shoe on the other foot, she had to admit it sounded harsh. She'd been so sure that, with a girl Melody's age, the bedwetting couldn't be a real problem, that she was just doing it for attention. But now that she was suffering from it herself, she knew that wasn't necessarily true. "Yes, you did," Melody agreed. "And that was just for wetting at night. Can you imagine what you would have done if I'd had an accident in the daytime, like you did?" "I'm sorry!" Sarah sniffled. "I was just..." "I know. You were just a scared, timid little girl who had never had any real authority or power before, and when you finally got some over someone smaller and weaker than you, you took full advantage of it, didn't you?" "No! I was trying to help you!" Melody scoffed. "Well, now I'm going to help you. Two and a half." Sarah blinked, thrown off by the last part before remembering what they'd been doing before their little conversation. "But..." Melody started to raise Sarah's phone, starting to scroll through her contacts to find her mother. "Wait!" Sarah dashed for her closet, throwing open the door. She grabbed her package of Goodnites and turned around, holding it to her chest. "I'll wear these, okay? And I'll do whatever you want!" Melody shook her head. "Your mommy said specifically that you weren't allowed to wear those. Three." She hit the call button, turning the phone around so Sarah could see the dialing screen, complete with her mother's picture. "No!" Sarah went back into her closet, frantically snatching up the diapers. They slipped out of her fumbling hands, and her heart skipped a beat as she grabbed for them again. "Hold on, hold on!" she yelled to Melody. "It went straight to voicemail," Melody said. "What kind of message should I leave her? Should I just say you've been bad, or do you want me to go into detail?" "Here!" Sarah spun around, accidently losing her hold on the package of diapers again. They flew out of her hand and across the room, spilling diapers onto the floor the whole way. Melody tapped the button to end the call, satisfied. "Good girl. Now, I'm betting your mommy gets you baby powder, too, so you don't get a rash. Bring me that, too." By that point, there was no use resisting, especially something like that. "Okay," she sighed, going back to her closet and getting the bottle of powder. "No, bring it to me," Melody said when Sarah simply stood at the closet with it. "And grab one of those diapers on the way, too. I'll even let you choose! Whichever you like!" They were all the same, of course, all white plastic on the inside, thick peach padding on the inside, but Sarah still felt like she was picking her method of execution as she slowly trudged across her room to Melody, looking at each of the scattered diapers in turn. She was hoping that somehow one would stick out as defective, as significantly thinner than the rest, but, of course, none did, and she finally had to bend down and pick up the last one so she didn't take that last step toward Melody empty-handed. "Good girl!" Melody cooed, staring down at the girl with a grin. "That looks like a great choice! See, what did I tell you? Dress-up is lots of fun, isn't it?"

Part 4 - A Lot of Good Tricks, I Will Show Them to You "No!" Sarah blurted out, trying desperately to get free. "Melody, don't you dare! I'm not kidding!" "You lost!" Melody reminded her, sitting down her Sarah's legs to trap her there as she wriggled her fingers right above Sarah's stomach. "Both rounds... You didn't find me, and I did find you. So, you have to take your punishment." She reached down just slightly, flipping up the bottom of Sarah's tank top to expose a few inches of her tummy. "Melody, this isn't funny!" "Then why are you laughing?" Melody teased before giving Sarah's stomach a quick tickle, striking fast but hard and then withdrawing, fingers still wiggling menacingly. Despite herself, Sarah did find herself letting out a series of loud laughs... And something else. She gasped between chuckles, squeezing her legs together, trying to staunch the flow, to keep her panties from growing wetter and wetter and she fidgeted beneath Melody, hardly able to believe what was happening. To her great surprise, she managed once again to get her bladder back under control, but it felt like even more of a temporary measure than it had the last time. She was aghast at the idea that she'd wet herself at all, but doing it so close to Melody, a girl whose diapers she'd changed, just made it all the worse. "Melody, get off me!" she whimpered, reaching up to try to push the girl away. Almost before Sarah could realize what was happening, Melody had grabbed her wrists and pushed them back to the floor, pinning them down, making her bend forward so her face was hovering above Sarah's, grinning menacingly. "Why should I?" she asked in a low voice. "Can you make me?" "M-Melody..." Sarah's eyes widened slightly as she stared up at Melody, for the first time feeling genuinely scared. It was true, she had no hope of overpowering the girl, as her futile struggles proved, only making her feel weaker once she gave up. She was sure this was just a joke - or at least she hoped so - but it was still unnerving to be shown how powerless she was. Even if it was in jest, being made helpless still made her feel... well, helpless. "P-Please... Please let me up..." She had to wonder if this was what Melody had felt like, back when she'd been babysitting. She'd certainly never done anything like this to her, but it was bound to be a similar feeling, knowing that Sarah had complete authority over her. Sarah had likely felt the same, back when she was babysat as a kid, but she'd forgotten what it felt like to be completely at the mercy of some teenager who, unless they were an older sibling, probably was having their first real taste of authority. "Oh, all right," Melody finally gave in, letting go of Sarah's wrists and sitting back up before getting to her feet. Sarah's hands shot to her crotch, trying to hide the wet spot she was sure was there before Melody could look down at her, but she wasn't fast enough. "Oh. My. God. Did you..?" She bent back down, pushing Sarah's hands away, then grabbing them and using them to help pull Sarah to her feet to get a better view. "I knew you were dressed like a four year old, but I didn't think you'd pee yourself like one!" Sarah blushed, as much for having her clothing insulted as for her accident being exposed. "I wasn't expecting company!" she said defensively, before self-consciously adding, "They're not that bad, are they?" A moment later, she recalled what was really important and reminded Melody, "And I told you not to tickle me!" "I didn't realize it was such a delicate situation. I assumed you were potty trained. You know, considering all that fuss you made over making sure I was. And I never had daytime accidents!" "You did, t..." Sarah started to correct her, only to stop herself, unsure. Her head was feeling fuzzy, making her memory a little uncertain. She knew she'd had Melody wear diapers in the day sometimes, and she could recall the girl coming up to her and asking for a change, but she also remembered her asking for permission to use the bathroom and telling her no, that if she was going to be a bed-wetting baby, she should get used to wearing, and using, her diapers. What she wasn't positive of was how those pieces all fell together, whether every case of a wet diaper had been preceded by Melody begging her for the potty. She was pretty sure that she hadn't seen the girl in wet panties, however - just diapers - which made the fact she was standing in front of her in just that all the more embarrassing. "I was just trying to help!" Sarah babbled, squirming more and more in a frantic potty dance, like the one her mother had thought she was doing while waiting for her to leave. "Your mom was getting frustrated, and I just wanted to show you how you were acting, and I... I was just trying to help." "Well, I don't wet the bed anymore," Melody said, as she reached out, putting a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "And now, it looks like you need my help." "Th-That's okay, I don't..." Sarah gasped in shock as she realized she'd finally waited too long. It didn't take long for her already wet panties to give way, letting the damp spot on her shorts blossom quickly outward before it just began to run down the humiliated girl's legs while she stood there, staring down at herself in horror. "No..." she whimpered. "No, no, no!" How could this be happening?! "Are you really going to tell me you don't need my help now?" Melody asked. Sarah looked up sheepishly, cheeks flushing as she met Melody's gaze. "But I... I... " she stammered, finding it quite hard to think of something to say as she stood there, quite clearly soaked. "It's okay," Melody said gently, putting her arm around Sarah's shoulder. "This gives us a chance to play another game, anyway. I think it will be even more fun than hide and go seek!" "What game?" Sarah couldn't help being a bit curious, despite her situation. "It's a surprise!" Melody told her, starting to guide her through the house. "But first, we'd better get you cleaned up." Melody led Sarah to the bathroom, where she had the girl stand by while, awkwardly watching in her wet pants as Melody filled the bathtub. "I bet some bubbles would make you feel better!" Melody exclaimed after a minute, turning for the cabinet under the sink. "Do you have some under here?" Sarah had enough time to nod absent-mindedly, thinking that did sound good, before coming to her senses and remembering what was in the trash can down there. "No!" she cried, sliding in front of the cabinet. "No!" she said, a little too loudly. "No, we don't have any." "That's too bad," Melody shrugged, turning back to the tub. Sarah started to move away, only for Melody to spin back around. "Are you sure? Sometimes you just forget. It never hurts to check!" Sarah wasn't able to move fast enough that time, running into the door with her knee as Melody opened it. "Are you okay?" Melody asked, peeking up from behind the door. When Sarah nodded automatically, Melody immediately began digging around under the sink, to Sarah's dismay. "We don't have any!" she repeated. "There's no need to look, I know!" She fidgeted, full of anxious energy, her stomach twisting up inside her knowing Melody was only inches away from her used diapers, that it would be exceedingly simple for her to look over there and notice them, and lose any respect she might still have for Sarah. "Melody, stop, please! I... I really did hurt my knee." That finally stopped Melody's search, making her pop her head up again. "Aww, I'm sorry. I'd kiss it and make it better, but your legs are all covered in pee-pee." Sarah's face turned bright red. She was pretty sure she'd never felt so belittled in her life. She felt angry at Melody for saying it, especially using those words, as if she were talking to a toddler, but it was hard to make that last long, knowing that ultimately it was her own fault she'd ended up in this position. Luckily, however, Melody didn't continue her search, just closing the doors instead. "I guess you're right," she said. "Oh well. Let's get you undressed." "What?" Sarah squeaked. "You can't take a bath with your clothes on, can you, silly?" Melody teased. "Now lift your arms." "I can undress myself," Sarah told her, crossing her arms. "I'm sure you can, but you aren't right now. Raise your arms." When Sarah didn't comply, Melody decided to start somewhere else, tugging down the girl's shorts. Sarah reached down for them, a second too late. They were already around her ankles, leaving her drenched panties on full display. "Look at how cute!" Melody cooed, tracing the black lace on the waistband with her finger, following it over one of the two stripes it formed down the front of the panties, down to the tiny black bow at the bottom. "These are just adorable! It's too bad you clearly aren't ready for them, huh?" Sarah's cheeks flushed again, and in her flustered state, it was simple for Melody to pry her hands away from her panties, then tug them down. She gathered up the hem of the tank top next, pulling it up, forcing Sarah's arms to go up with it. Sarah came to her senses and tried to resist partway through, despite realizing there was little point by then, but before she knew it, her shirt was in a pile at her feet, and she was standing in front of Melody, naked. She crossed her arms again, this time a little higher, trying to cover her breasts, but Melody didn't even seem to notice. "Step out for me," she instructed instead, putting her foot across the center of the shorts and underwear around Sarah's ankles, dragging them over by the shirt when Sarah complied. "I'll take those to your washing machine while you take your bath." From the way things had been going, Sarah had half-expected Melody to try to wash her, so she was relieved to hear that wouldn't be happening. Melody stepped back over to the tub and turned off the water, then grabbed a washcloth and dipped it in. She ran it down one of Sarah's legs, then up the other, before tossing it down on top of Sarah's clothes. "All right, hop in," she said, taking Sarah's hand to help her into the tub. "You just take your time and relax." Melody gathered up the wet things from the floor, wrapping them in the tank top as best she could before gingerly picking the whole mess up. It was only then, seeing them being taken away, that Sarah thought to ask, "What am I going to wear when I get out?" "Don't worry," Melody smiled. "That's what the next game is about! I was going to keep it a surprise, but now it'll give you something to look forward to. But make sure you don't hurry too much getting yourself clean just so you can play dress-up, or we'll have to do it all over again." With that, Melody left, closing the bathroom door behind her. It was nice to be alone, but as Sarah let herself sink down into the warm water, she couldn't help worrying about what was coming next. Melody had slid quite effortlessly into the role of the babysitter, almost without Sarah realizing it - though her distress over her accident was at least partly to blame for that. Sarah didn't need a babysitter at all, much less one younger than her, who she'd babysat for in the past. She hoped Melody had just been playing around, but she'd been hoping for that a lot lately, it seemed, and each time made it seem less likely. She started to clean herself up, pondering what she was going to say to Melody once she was done. She still didn't really want to hurt the girl's feelings, but she needed to reestablish that she was older than Melody, and thus she was in charge, and they couldn't play anything until they'd cleaned the house up from the last game. She was still musing over that when she heard a scraping sound from somewhere outside the bathroom, like a chair being dragged. It stopped quickly, but another moment or two later, she could hear something happening outside the door. "I'm not done yet!" she yelled, hopping up, nearly falling back down, then grabbing for her towel, not wanting to get caught unaware and seen naked again. It was bad enough it had happened once. There was no response. "Melody, what are you doing out there?" Recalling all too well what had happened the last time the girl was on her own in the house, Sarah couldn't help feeling suspicious. She stepped out of the tub carefully, wrapping the towel around herself and edging towards the door. "Melody, can you do me a favor and start cleaning up the kitchen while I'm taking my bath?" No answer again. Was Melody headed for her room? The thought of her loose in there still scared Sarah, maybe even more now. She wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't make the girl even more likely to investigate, if she wasn't already, so she tried to open the door, to stick her head out and see if she was in there already. When she tried to push the door open, however, it wouldn't budge. She tried again, putting her shoulder into it, but the door was still shut tight. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked down at the doorknob, making sure it wasn't locked, then trying one more time. "Melody, what's going on?!" She pressed her ear to the door, listening for anything, any sign that she might have been heard, but, as far as she could tell, the rest of the house was silent. "Are you okay?" Finally, she gave up, going back to the tub, hoping nothing bad had happened. There were worse places to be trapped than in the bathroom - at least she wouldn't have to worry about any more accidents - but she hated to think of her mother finding her stuck there, naked, with most of the rest of the house a total mess. That would be hard to explain, to say the least. As she washed herself, she stopped every few minutes to call for Melody again, figuring that, if she wasn't hurt and still in the house, she'd eventually get worn down and answer. When that didn't happen before she got done with her bath, Sarah started to get worried. She stayed in the water for a little longer, trying to keep calm, but it started to get cold, and still there was nothing. Sarah got out of the tub, draining it and starting to dry herself off, pacing slightly around the bathroom. What could have happened? Had Melody slipped on something and hit her head? Had she decided to have a snack and choked? "Melody, answer me!" she demanded, knocking on the bathroom door loudly with one hand as she continued drying herself with the other. "This isn't funny! Are you okay?!" Suddenly, the door opened. Sarah tried to cover herself with the towel again, not having expected so prompt a response, but Melody just smirked at her from the doorway. Behind her, Sarah could see a chair, but it took her a moment to piece together that it was likely the chair that had been keeping her trapped in the bathroom, and by then Melody was already inside the room, setting a container on the counter, and talking. "Are you all done?" she asked, grabbing the towel from Sarah and ripping it away, leaving her small, freshly scrubbed body in full view. "Why didn't you answer me?! I was worried sick! You can't just..." As Sarah protested, Melody took her by the shoulders and turned her around, inspecting her, although by the time Sarah realized that was what was going on, she'd already been taken in a full circle. "Looks like you did a pretty good job!" Melody praised her, pushing her off to one side so she could spread the towel out on the floor. "Down you go." "What? No! Melody, I'm trying to talk to you! Did you lock me in here?! You can't do that! What if something had happened to you and I couldn't..." Melody grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down, forcing her onto the towel, then pushing her onto her back. Sarah tried to sit up, indignant at the way she was being treated, and Melody shoved her back down, holding her for a moment or two until she stopped struggling. "Melody, stop it!" Sarah commanded. Melody spoke as if she hadn't heard a word Sarah had said. "If there's one thing being a bedwetter taught me, though, it's that it can be really hard to get the smell out of your hair... down there." Her eyes traveled down to Sarah's crotch, making the older girl cringe and blush again. "I'm not saying you didn't do your best, but you aren't used to it. Are you?" Sarah's blush deepened and she had to look away, unable to answer. Melody didn't seem to mind. "But I had a system I found out about that took care of that. It's called sugaring, because it makes you smell nice and sweet, instead of like pee. Doesn't that sound better?" Without waiting for an answer, she reached up, taking the container from the sink and setting it down on the floor. "It's really simple," she explained, picking up the latex gloves sitting on the lid of the container and slipping them on her hands as she spoke. "It's just sugar and lemon juice and water." She opened the container and reached in, digging some of the substance out with her gloved fingers, rolling it into a ball before starting to spread it on Sarah's groin. "It just sucks that bad smell away like magic." "Melody, stop," Sarah protested, feeling like she was about to die from embarrassment, to be sitting there, naked, under this girl, having her do this to her. There was nothing sexual in her touch, and Sarah certainly wasn't finding anything attractive about the sticky goo being smeared on her, but just the idea of it was too much for her. "At least let me do it myself..." Melody swatted her hand away. "You have to spread it a certain way," she said. "I'm almost done, anyway. Just relax." Indeed, a moment or two later, the paste was covering her entire groin, and Melody began smoothing it out meticulously. "It really isn't hard, once you get used to it," she told Sarah. "I could teach you how to do it... But I'm sure you won't really need it. I'm sure this was just a one-time thing." "Uh-huh," Sarah agreed quickly. "The best part," Melody continued, running her hand over the paste on more time, "is that it doesn't stick to the skin, just the hair, so you just tug like this..." She pressed on Sarah's skin, right above where the paste stopped, then tugged the paste upwards quickly with her other hand. Sarah let out a squeak of surprise and pain as the paste lifted partly from her skin, taking the hair beneath with it. Ignoring Sarah's protests, Melody kept working, slowly jerking up the mixture she'd just applied, bit by bit, until it was all back up. As Sarah gasped on the floor beneath her, Melody nonchalantly rolled the paste back into a ball, then pulled her gloves off around it, wrapping it up and tossing it into the trash. "And it doesn't hurt quite as much as waxing!" she concluded cheerfully. She took the still damp washcloth from Sarah's bath and wiped her down with it, drying her off with the towel she was laying on before pulling her back to her feet. "Now isn't that better?" "But... You... But..." Sarah stumbled over her words, so thrown by what had just happened that she couldn't even respond. The pain had helped clear her foggy mind a bit, but staring down at herself and seeing her suddenly bare crotch was disconcerting, especially given everything else that had happened that day to make her feel childish. "How dare..." "All right!" Melody cut her off brightly. "Now you're all ready to play dress-up!"