AnActualAirbender Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 Can we just forget about Redge? I mean, Patrick has had enough drama, right? Can we get a couple chapters of him learning how to let himself be little and the warm and fun moments that creates for the Bigs who care for him? Link to comment
kerry Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 On 10/23/2023 at 7:44 AM, AnActualAirbender said: Can we just forget about Redge? I mean, Patrick has had enough drama, right? Can we get a couple chapters of him learning how to let himself be little and the warm and fun moments that creates for the Bigs who care for him? Honestly, I agree. Although I have fully expected Redge to engage with Patrick again, it would be a nice change if his efforts were abortive and he was caught and incarcerated because of them...without re-endangering Patrick. 1 Link to comment
LostBBoyBear Posted October 25, 2023 Author Share Posted October 25, 2023 Ugh! So, I was originally going to post this chapter on Monday, but while I was editing it, I realized I didnt like how some of it flowed and it felt wrong not to include a few bits. As a result, I rewrote about 60% of this chapter. Not fun, but I'm definitely happier with the result. Going forward, I am currently editing the next chapter, but my time may be weird, so I'll either post it tomorrow or Friday. Also, looking beyond that, I am hoping to have this story completed some time next week. After chapter 21, there will only be about four more to go, so despite my week by full up with Halloween and all, I think this should still be doable. Also, for those of you hoping that Redge is going to go away without any conflict... all I can say is that this is the DD. There is going to be conflict and Redge fits the bill in all this. You have my permission to feel free to hate him as much as you want. Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. Chapter 20: Feel and Trust in the Bones A fittingly cool breeze floated over the outside of the Psyche building and the rays of sunlight had only just begun to melt the early cold snap and subsequent frost from last night. The frozen earth and deadening greenery seemed to mix well with the Halloween decorations that now adorned the physical therapy room that Patrick now found himself in. He had been doing a lot of reflecting over the past few days as they had now entered their final month here. The choosing ceremony had been much the same as the first he had attended, but hot beverages and fire pits were now easily consumed or huddled over. Patrick hadn’t really gotten to know the group ahead of them, so the ceremony was more a time of reflection for him. Their group was now the most progressed, and as Patrick looked away from the outside and viewed those around him now, it was growing more evident of their progression in many ways. According to Dr. Halgen yesterday, the group was now at a point where those who were sick when they came here were now only a few doses of their medication away from being completely cured. On his front, Patrick was only growing stronger and nimbler in his movements. As such, today was an important milestone. “Are you ready, Patrick?” Bruce asked, now wearing a pair of scrubs adorned with cartoonish versions of all the classic monsters. Patrick viewed the group in the room and knew that they all had come to support him. Most of the group beamed with a chaotic energy as if they were about to ride a rollercoaster, but by far, his biggest Little support was Cara. One would have never known now that she had ever been sick or even shy for that matter. Today, she danced around and kept giving Patrick the thumbs up and cheering that ‘he had this.’ With all that though, he also could see that her act of pretending only could go so far with protecting her from some of the effects of this place. As she flapped about in her support, her multi-colored tutu skirt occasionally would flash her diapers. Now, every member of their group was padded, just as Matilda had said they would be when they left here. “Alright, Bruce. I’m ready. Let’s do this,” Patrick said with a burden but also a sense of accomplishment and relief that he had made it to this point today. “Excellent.” Bruce then moved the increasingly present walker over in front of Patrick. “Now, we’ll start you off with this, but if you feel ready, we can try without afterwards, okay?” Patrick eyed the walker and felt a tingle of excitement but also nervousness to walk without it. Since he had started using it, his muscles had only been working overtime and his confidence in his ability to walk had only increased. So, naturally, Patrick nodded, and with Bruce’s help still, stood up and gripped the walker tightly. “You got this, Patrick!” Cara cheered from the side. “She’s right, honey,” Samantha agreed, having come here to witness this moment. “Absolutely, buddy! You’ll do great!” Lloyd said in support as well, having come here to witness all this as well. Patrick waved to all of them and couldn’t help but think of the increasing number of times that Samantha and Lloyd were now here together with them. In a way, in had almost started to feel weird when one of them was here without the other. Both had proven by now that they could care for and have fun with him, but together, they just felt stronger and more like the caretakers that Patrick desired by now. “Alright,” Bruce continued, “just start walking forward. You got this. One step at a time…” Patrick nodded and began to swing his legs forward. The movement still felt awkward, but it was also feeling less foreign every day with the practice he was getting in here and around. At this point, he was almost using the walker more than the wheelchair when not going out. Sometimes even, he wanted to let go of the walker just to see… so today was a welcome surprise and would likely soon be a fulfillment of his long-held wish. After a few dozen steps with the walker, Bruce stopped him. “Alright, no pressure if not, but do you feel like taking a spin on your own? Without the walker?” Patrick glanced down at the support device and didn’t want to let go, but he knew he had to at least try to know that he did. He was so close today and he just had to see if he could. Still, the ever-present danger of falling on his butt loomed in his mind. “Yeah, but maybe just hang back? I don’t really fancy falling on my face or butt today. Can actually feel when that happens now in the rear.” The group laughed and with a smile, Bruce nodded. “Will do, man, but also, I’m going to get Samantha and Lloyd to hang out at the other end of the room. Think you can make it to them from here?” Patrick looked over at Samantha and Lloyd getting into position. They seemed so close, but with his poor little legs, he almost felt a sense of vertigo after looking at the many steps it would take to get to them. “I… I can try…” “That’s the spirit.” Bruce then gripped the walker from the side. “Ready?” Patrick nodded and as he let go of the main bar in front of him, Bruce pulled the contraption out of the way and to the side. “Remember, you got this.” Patrick nodded and with a huge breath in, he took his first step. It was wobbly, but it held straight. The group began to clap and cheer, and the room erupted with their sounds of support. Enthralled and encouraged by them and the prospect of success, Patrick took another step forward and then another. Both were equally successful, but the fourth didn’t stick the landing as well and Patrick fell back a little bit. Bruce was waiting though. “Woah there. Easy does it.” He then propped Patrick back up. “Ready to try again or had enough?” Patrick calmed his rapidly beating heart and took another breath in. “I want to go again.” Bruce nodded, and while he remained behind him, he also let Patrick continue to walk toward his now two potential caretakers. For Patrick, the distance that had once seemed almost insurmountable was coming closer to becoming a reality. Soon, his steps wouldn’t even be considered a victory. They would just be a daily part of his life like everyone else, and Patrick clamored for that day more than anything by now. For today though, the sounds of Addy, his friends, Bruce, and his caretakers all cheering and clapping for him, was a feeling near indescribable. Two months ago, he was paralyzed, lonely, and down on his luck in the worst of almost every way. Now, he was walking on his own to the cheers of the many who cared about him. His heart was about as full as it could get, or so he thought. “Two more steps, sport!” Bruce cheered on from behind him still. Patrick was getting tired doing all this on his own in one go, but those two steps had to be accomplished. At the end, both Samantha and Lloyd were cheering him on. “Come on, sweetie. Just two more!” Samantha called out. “Show me what you got!” “We’re so proud of you, Patrick,” Lloyd added. “Just a few more steps and you’ll have accomplished so much today. Come on a little further.” The pair of them waved him on over the last little bit. Patrick took a deep breath and swung one leg and then the other. He had been so focused on moving forward and accomplishing it all that his last step didn’t stick as well as would have liked. Instead of falling backward as he had done before though, he fell forwards and right into the open and awaiting arms of Samantha and Lloyd. “Whoops! We got you, honey,” Samantha said, hugging and holding one half of Patrick. “Way to go, champ! We knew you had it in you!” Lloyd praised, hugging and holding his other half. Patrick’s legs felt sore, but he knew they just felt that way from all that he had just accomplished. It may have only been 25 steps at the most, but they were 25 that every doctor had once told him was impossible. Yet today, he had done them, and he was now being embraced by his two biggest supporters, arguably. Wrapped up in the tight embrace of their warm hug, Patrick could only feel happiness course through his body. Of course, he did have one other support that could have some contention as his biggest supporter. He then felt a huge push and another hug from behind. “Oh Patrick, that was so awesome!” Cara cried out, squeezing him even tighter. It was an overall pleasant feeling, but there was just one problem now. “Thanks… but… can’t… breathe…” Patrick gasped under the weight of the three kindly but confining hugs. “Oops!” Samantha, Lloyd, and Cara all let go, and gratefully, Bruce was at the ready and made sure to provide Patrick with his wheelchair back. After a moment of regaining his color, Patrick turned over to Bruce. “So, what’s the verdict for tonight? Can I do what we talked about?” Bruce took a moment and stroked his bearded chin. “Well, I don’t know… you did fall…” “Bruce!” Addy chided from nearby. Bruce then smiled. “Sorry, only joking.” Everyone groaned. “It is Halloween after all, so maybe consider that your trick. I know you’ll be getting plenty of treats later, but in all seriousness, you can do what we talked about. Just on one condition…” Patrick leaned in. “And that is?” “If you insist on no wheelchair tonight, then you’re going to need a shot beforehand,” Bruce said. “Just one into each leg, but trust me, you’ll probably thank me after. It strengthens your muscles for about six hours once administered. Helps with the pain as well. So, deal?” Patrick hated needles, but he was learning the art of compromise very well while at Psyche. He knew to get a little, he had to give a little sometimes. If shots were the price of not using his wheelchair tonight and moving around on his own two legs with maybe some help from the walker, which was to be brought to the party later just in case, then so be it. “Ugh… fine. It’s a deal.” A wonderous cheering and applause then went out from everyone for the next few minutes at least. It was a joyous moment, but it all stopped when a voice spoke up from the back. “Yes, yes, very good, Patrick. We’re all so proud of you,” Dr. Halgen said with a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. She then turned to everyone else. “I’m sure Patrick appreciates your support, but you all need to get changed into your costumes for tonight. Trick or treating begins in an hour and as I’ve said before, everyone must go!” she said sternly. “Now, off you go. Your caretakers are waiting for you in the lobby. The group didn’t take a moment to hesitate and quickly split up. Already with their Little, Samantha and Lloyd ushered Patrick upstairs and grabbed two large bags on the way that they had brought with them when they had arrived this afternoon to witness what had just occurred. Once up in Patrick’s room, he blushed a little as Samantha and Lloyd quickly spotted Tad nestled snugly in his crib. His presence had been a wonder since his arrival, but Patrick still felt silly cuddling up to him at night. He was only there for that… and nothing else… “So, how about I get ready really quick, and Samantha helps you into your costume?” Lloyd proposed after a moment of settling in. “Then we can swap, and I can help you with your makeup. Sound good, buddy?” “Sounds good to me!” Patrick agreed. “I guess it’s settled then,” Samantha said, now taking her bag over to Patrick while Lloyd entered the bathroom on his own. “Now, let’s see what I’ve brought you for your proposed costume.” Patrick nodded eagerly and was practically giddy as each piece was pulled out. While it all may have looked almost normal from a single glance, a further inspection showed much more. The dark suit had patches and dirt stains over it, and some tears appeared around the hems and cuffs. Finally, the shirt, once applied properly, formed an image of a green torso, complete with sewn wounds and staples. After a quick diaper change and then helping him get into the costume, Samantha helped Patrick see himself in a nearby mirror. “So, what do you think?” Patrick stared at himself and loved the little details on the beginning of his Frankenstein costume. Technically speaking… he was the monster of Dr. Frankenstein, but he didn’t want to be that type of person to correct everyone else throughout the night. “Oh, don’t you look fearsome,” Lloyd commented, now exiting the bathroom. Samantha and Lloyd snapped around and saw his full getup. A dark cape with a blood red lining hung gracefully over his shoulders and his white shirt almost melded into his now pale face. As he smiled, Patrick could easily see the two fangs, which went nicely with his dark, slicked-back hair, and tiny cascading flows of blood from the corners of his mouth. “Wow, Lloyd. You look really good” Samantha commented after a moment. “Gonna put me to shame after I get into mine.” “I doubt I would ever look better than you, but I try.” Samantha blushed a bit. Satisfied over his attempt at flattery, Lloyd then turned to Patrick. “So, what do you think?” An emblazoned medallion flittered about on his chest and cast a bit of light around the room. “It’s perfect. Now, come on,” Patrick insisted, “we need to do my makeup, or I’ll only look like an emerging homeless Hulk.” “Who?” both Samantha and Lloyd asked in unison. “Oh, right… keep forgetting you all don’t know the same people.” Patrick then thought for a moment. “Not sure who he is over here. I think Eddy said he might have been gray or…” Patrick shook his head. ‘Doesn’t matter but come on! We don’t have much time! Samantha, you need to change, and Lloyd, we’ve gotta start on the makeup if we’re gonna be ready on time.” “Alright, alright,” Samantha said as she and Lloyd switched places. “Keep your pants on… I’ll be done in a jiffy.” Lloyd then grabbed one of the chairs from nearby and set his bag on it before opening it up as Samantha entered the bathroom with her own bag. Lloyd then paused. “Actually… before we begin, Dr. Halgen dropped this off while you were changing.” Patrick looked down fearfully at the two large needles now in Lloyd’s hands. “Easy, buddy. Easy.” Patrick liked his soothing words, but they weren’t stopping the shaking that he just realized he was now doing. “Hmmm… need something… ah!” Lloyd then reached over into Patrick’s crib and pulled out Tad. “Here,” he said, handing the frog over, “you just squeeze him tight, and all this will all be over in the blink of an eye.” Patrick didn’t want to but saw the needles once more and grabbed Tad as quickly as he could before burying himself into his soft body. “Okay, just a little prick,” Lloyd tried to console him before he plunged the needle into Patrick’s now-uncovered thigh after the snaps on the inseams of his pants had been undone. The pain was excruciating, and Patrick just buried himself into Tad’s soft plush as much as he could. The second one wasn’t any better and it took a fair amount of stroking his shoulder from Lloyd for Patrick to look up again. “Awww, I’m really sorry I had to do that, buddy, but you’ll be able to walk much better tonight. Still though, are you going to be okay?” Patrick looked down at his throbbing legs and just nodded. “Okay… you keep hugging Tad for me, and we’ll start right up if you still want.” Patrick nodded again. Lloyd smiled and pulled out the makeup kit that he had brought along. “Okay… let’s see… from what I read in your file, you aren’t allergic to anything, so… I’m thinking if you want to go all out, we can. Up to you of course though.” Patrick adjusted his body while still holding Tad tightly. “I’m ready for my close up, Mr. Goneis… I’m all in. Make me a monster…” “Very well, Mr. Henderson. Let’s make you that monster, shall we?” Lloyd then leaned in and began to apply the various bits of makeup all over Patrick’s face. While his legs still hurt from the shots, a smile began to creep over his previously sullen face as he slowly began to transform. After some time had passed, most of the makeup was now applied. Patrick’s neck was adorned in one zipper along the side and front, as well as two bolts that mirrored each other on either side. He essentially wore a cap over his head that mimicked the monster’s traditional box-like shaped head, and scars and staples covered other parts of his face. To round out the costume, he wore two long pairs of gloves that sealed onto his skin nicely without feeling too hot or unwieldy. He and Lloyd had discussed wanting to go more for the ‘scary’ side of Halloween and once they included Samantha, much to Patrick’s joy, they all agreed on their theme of classic Halloween costumes. Now, Lloyd was finishing up dabbing the last of the green paint over his cheek, but Patrick was curious about something. “So, how does a business executive manage to know so much about makeup? This looks amazing!” “Well, thank you, but remember I told you I had an older brother and sister?” Patrick nodded. “Well, they were both into theater and all that, but I didn’t have that type of talent in the family. So, to feel included, I volunteered to do their makeup for each little play of theirs. Funnily enough, now I’m an exec at one of the more prominent makeup companies on the east coast. I guess all this just comes with the territory.” “Sounds like a cool job, but that also had to be fun helping them out when you all were younger,” Patrick imagined. “Oh, definitely. Freaked our mom out once when we all applied fake glass and wounds to ourselves when they got home. Boy, I thought my mom was going to faint.” Lloyd shuddered at the thought. “Still, really fun though.” “Oh wow. I can’t imagine your dad was too thrilled,” Patrick said with some fear. “Actually,” Lloyd smiled, “it was his idea. He was like that. I think you would have liked him.” Patrick felt a pang of guilt for brining him up, remembering now that he had passed with his older brother a few years ago. “Yeah… sounds like a pretty cool guy. Don’t think Samantha would go for that though…” “Oh… she would,” he mused. “She would just make us clean the whole house or something like that afterward.” Patrick realized his chance to get the inside scoop on what was happening with them, remembering quickly to earlier when they almost seemed like they had arrived together. “You ever think about the future with her?” To his amusement, Lloyd blushed and paused his finishing touches to the makeup. “Uh, well… you know,” he began to stammer. “We’re, uh…” “And how’s my two spooky men doing?” Samantha then asked from the hallway. Lloyd and Patrick quickly stopped and stared at the near goddess leaning against one wall. She wore a simple black dress, but the hem was cut up to her mid-thigh and easily revealed her black and green stockings. The hem and the cuffs also sported a purposely ripped look and contrasted nicely with the elegant belt around her waist complete with a large silver buckle. To top it off, her wavy hair flowed elegantly from her pointed hat. “Wow,” Lloyd said, his jaw nearly on the floor. “You look so great, Samantha,” Patrick agreed. He then saw the slack jaw expression that Lloyd now wore and elbowed him a bit. “Right Lloyd?” “Oh, uh, absolutely amazing.” He blushed again. “Sorry… just… yeah, you look amazing. Told you that you would look better.” Now, it was Samantha’s turn to blush a bit. “Thank you, Lloyd. You all ready now?” she quickly asked as she grabbed the alternate black diaper bag, now sporting a spider and a bat on the side of it. Patrick nodded but rolled his eyes a bit with these two. Something was either happening and they were covering it up, or they needed a larger shove for it to get going in the first place. Patrick couldn’t decide which. Back downstairs, only Cara was waiting by the door. Apparently, many of the other Littles and Bigs were taking their time. “Hmmm…” Lloyd mused as the trio stopped and stared at the Little before them. “What are you? Uh, wait! Let me guess… fairy princess.” Cara pouted and stuck both hands on her hips. “Queen!” “Excuse me?” Samantha asked in confusion. “I’m a fairy queen,” Cara shot back, “not a princess. See the crown?” She then pointed to the small silvery crown atop her head. “It’s important.” Lloyd chuckled at Cara’s insistence on being called a queen. “I’m sure it is your majesty. Samantha was just guessing as we humbled monsters often do, right?” “Of course. I’m really very sorry, Queen Cara,” Samantha apologized while curtseying. Cara smiled. “Your apology is accepted, madame witch.” She then turned to Patrick. “As for you, you doubted my legitimacy as well. You may kiss my ring as a sign of your apologies for not defending me to your fellow monsters.” Patrick stalled for a moment thinking that all this was just a joke, but Cara just thrusted her hand with a ring on one finger out further. With a slight groan, he bent over and kissed her ring, much to Cara’s visible delight. Right at that moment however, Daphne walked in. “And what are you supposed to be?” Lloyd asked, looking at her costume up and down. Daphne just glared back. “Isn’t it obvious?” she asked as she pointed to her now clearly pointed ears and small tiara on the top of her head. “I’m an elf queen.” “Two queens?” Patrick questioned. “Yes, young man. We are a pair of queens,” she boasted proudly over him. “You and you may bow before us, peasants.” “Uh…” Clearly not wanting to upset this woman, after being pointed to deliberately, Patrick and Lloyd bowed down low. From his facial expression, Patrick couldn’t tell if Lloyd had thought she was being serious or not. Truth be told, he couldn’t either. Now with their group all gathered, Addy entered the main hall, dressed as a cop, and directed all of them out to the shuttles. After a short drive and once at the main square of the town, Addy announced, “This shuttle runs almost all night until the last Little is checked back into the facility. They run every 15 minutes and we at Psyche do suggest that you take it back. Lastly, as a reminder, trick or treat to your heart’s desire, but there is a party afterward that we would like you to attend as well.” Everyone nodded and they all exited the bus and made their way to the first house a few blocks over. It didn’t take long on their little journey for Patrick and Cara to surge ahead. While walking happily though, a large man in a skeletal mask bumped into Patrick and nearly knocked him to the ground. “Oops! Sorry there, little fella,” his voice boomed overhead. Patrick gazed up at the Big in front of him. His large frame blocked the light above them and cast an eerie shadow over the two Littles. Patrick wasn’t sure if he was afraid because of this Big’s near-grim reaper-like costume, or the fact that he was just an imposing Big in general, but Patrick could feel his palms getting sweaty and his knees practically turning to jelly. If it had been a month ago, he may have even felt the tiny dribble of pee enter his steadily swelling diaper. Patrick had wobbled after being bumped but Cara had kindly grasped his arm and ensured he didn’t fall to the ground. She could tell he was shaken by the event, so she stared defiantly up at the Big who had just shoved, accidentally or not, her friend. “Watch where you’re goin’ mister!” she yelled at the imposing Big. The Big just stared down at the two. Due to the mask, only his eyes could be seen underneath, and even with all her bluster and newly found confidence, Cara was still a bit intimidated by his continued stare and presence. “Well, maybe you should wa…” “Is everything okay here?” Lloyd asked walking up to them after catching up with them. Sensing something had happened, Lloyd had picked up his pace a bit to ensure nothing bad had truly happened after seeing that Patrick had gotten knocked down. The man in the skeletal mask just looked up from his gaze over the Littles for a moment. “Oh, no bother here. Just wasn’t paying attention is all…” he paused awkwardly and looked around and saw the other Bigs closing in. He then saluted. “You all have yourself a nice night now.” He then turned to Patrick. “Sorry about that Little one. Perhaps your daddy should keep you closer at hand… who knows what kind of ghouls and goblins are out tonight.” Lloyd wanted to tell the man off, but his concern was more about Patrick now and the man had quickly vanished into the night. He bent down and looked at Patrick directly. “You okay?” “Yeah…” Patrick said looking around to check for any signs of injury but found none. “I’m fine.” “Okay…” Lloyd sighed as he stood back up. “You two just be careful tonight, okay? We’ll maintain a closer distance behind you from now on, but some of these Bigs… well, just make sure you pay attention to those in front of you. Jump out of the way or scream at them if you think that would help. You have my permission. I’d rather you two be safe than polite tonight.” The permission to potentially yell at a Big was all the pick-me-up that Patrick needed. A smile returned to his face, and both he and Cara toddled off to the first house nearby. Not long after, they approached the front stoop of one of the older houses on the block. After a little prodding from the Bigs, Cara and Patrick finished their walk side by side to the front door of the row house. The Bigs just waited and watched patiently from behind. “Oh! They’re just so adorable!” Samantha gushed once they were out of earshot. “Absolutely! Patrick insist on your costumes this year, Sam?” Addy asked. Samantha chuckled. “How’d you guess…? Though honestly, I really don’t mind. Plus,” she then lowered her voice, “I really love Lloyd in his outfit. Very regal.” “You say something, Samantha?” Lloyd asked, turning around, really only hearing his name and not the rest of the ensuing whispering. “Nope! Just commenting on the cuteness of everything,” Samantha dodged. “Gotcha. Don’t you just love that they brought all this over with them?” Lloyd asked excitedly. “Definitely!” Samantha agreed, relieved that he hadn’t pushed his inquiry further. “Really wish we would have had something at least similar to this while we were growing up and not just the harvest festival.” “Agreed,” Addy said from behind. “Went to a party the other night with some friends. Definitely want to do that in my future. What do you think Daphne?” “Cara insisted on me dressing up,” she said bluntly. “I don’t really see the appeal.” Lloyd looked at her like she was a bit crazy. “Really? No costumes, the food, the treats…” From her expression, Daphne was clearly not going to change her mind, so Lloyd just resignedly turned back around. Before he did though, out of Daphne’s view, Samantha gave him a little encouraging wink that he wasn’t the odd one of their group tonight. All remained silent and fixated on watching their Littles after that as they were about to get the first round of treats of the night. Meanwhile, up on the front stoop, Cara was eager to fill her relatively large bag with as much candy as she could muster. “Let me ring the first, Patrick! You can get the next one.” Patrick eyed the door, and while he had always loved Halloween as a kid, this somehow felt different… more dangerous. Maybe it had been the man in the skeletal mask, but he didn’t feel like ringing the bell very much. “Uh, that’s okay. Maybe I’ll ring one tonight, but you can’t get most of them if you want.” Cara beamed. “Okie dokie!” She then rang the bell without a second thought and a middle-aged woman stepped forward dressed as a cat. “Oh my goodness! How cute and… uh, scary!” she exclaimed, barely keeping herself from hugging the stranger Littles before her. Halloween was fun, but it could also be dangerous as Big's hormones and emotions surged. Last year, it was estimated that over 650 Littles were taken that night alone… hence their buddy system tonight and large Big presence. “Trick or treat!” Patrick and Cara said in unison while holding up their bags of candy, somewhat oblivious to the potential danger lurking around each door. They just wanted their treats. “Oh my, yes! Let me get you some.” The woman then brought out a bowl filled with all sorts of bits of candies and gave a handful each to both Patrick and Cara. “There you go you two. Happy Halloween!” “Happy Halloween!” Cara and Patrick answered back as they exited the front stoop to make their way back to the Bigs who were still waiting. After a quick check and status report of their loot to the Bigs, all walked to the next house in line. After about 15 houses, it was getting darker now and a few other Bigs and Littles began to show up, but all of them were locals. A few were alumni, if one wanted to call them that, of Psyche, but most were just the run-of-the-mill Little and Big varieties. As such, Patrick saw the varying levels of regression or authority in each. It was unnerving and he just stuck closer to everyone around him. Embarrassingly enough, for a moment, he even wished that he had brought Tad along with him tonight. After about 30 more houses of varying sizes and styles, everyone decided that it was time to go to the party now. Getting to the building though, a Big was perched outside of it. If he wore a costume at all, it wasn’t discernable to any of them. That and along with the picket sign he was carrying set off red flags for everyone. “A cabal is controlling Psyche! Don’t go in there and support them!” he ranted, now stepping closer to the group, a musky scent wafting off his clothes. “Hey, we’re just trying to get inside,” Lloyd tried to reason. “We don’t want any t…” “Trouble?” the man questioned as his eyes bulged out and he got uncomfortably close to Patrick. Once again, fear gripped his heart tonight. “You got trouble whether you want it or not! Psyche is a stain on our community, and you won’t…” “Sir!” Addy barked while pulling out her nightstick to swat away the finger that had just been pointed at Cara and Patrick. “You best back off, sir. You don’t want me to warn you again.” “Same goes for me,” Samantha said, stepping up and flashing something shiny that was attached to her thigh. “There’s no reason this needs to go further. We promise you, that is a mistake that you would be regretting very quickly.” The man started backing up. “Fine, fine. Be blind for all I care! Just remember though, I warned ya!” The man then turned around and started sprinting as fast as he could away from them. “What a nut job,” Daphne said, rolling her eyes as she entered the building without a second thought. Addy and Patrick exchanged looks for a moment before heading inside as well as everyone else. They knew what he said was probably the truth, but there was no need to involve the others or reveal their hand just yet. As Patrick looked up and saw a security camera, he couldn’t help but remember, ‘they’re always watching…’ Inside, loud Halloween-themed music filled the room, and the scene was packed with fog and an array of colorful lights that sparkled off the several food and beverages off to one wall opposite the DJ and main stage. “Oh cool!” Addy yelled before running off to get some punch. “Wait up!” Patrick cried as he ran after her. “Hold up, mister!” Samantha called out and grabbed Patrick before he could flee very far. Much to Patrick’s embarrassment, she then patted his padded butt. “Yep! Thought I smelled something funky. Let’s go mister! Lloyd? Will you take his bag of loot while I go take care of him?” “Yes, honey…” Samantha’s face dropped as if Lloyd had just revealed some big secret. “Uh, Sam… yeah I can do that…” Samantha patted him reassuringly on the shoulder as he shuffled off, but then took Patrick’s hand to go get him changed as quickly as possible. While getting there and when he was being changed on one of the tables inside, Patrick panicked slightly as he hadn’t even realized that he had an accident. It wasn’t a major blowout or anything, but still, a poopy mistake was still one of concern for him. It must have been when that scary protesting man had pointed his finger at him outside, but before he could think on it any further, Samantha had finished. “There. All done and squeaky clean!” With a pat to his butt, Patrick scurried off to find Cara. The music and atmosphere of the room quickly distracted him from his nagging thoughts of his previous accident. Once he found her by the blood red punch on the table, the two then began to mingle as the party slowly started to grow in size. Patrick couldn’t believe how much people had taken to this holiday here, but he was even more impressed with everyone’s costume from Psyche. Bruce, a lumberjack, mingled nicely with Addy, who still seemed to be holding her baton that she had pulled out with the protestor out front. As they entered, Patrick saw that Ian was a little green alien and Chris, his caretaker, was a secret agent. ‘How appropriate…’ Next, Quentin entered as perhaps a professor or an archeologist, but his caretaker, Harry, was clearly dressed as a mummy. Terra was a daisy, and her caretaker was a gardener, and Darren was an astronaut while his caretaker was dressed as an actual shining star. Rounding off everyone and mingling with his own friends, Tim was dressed as a lion while his caretaker was a likely a ring master or lion tamer. It was all absolutely astounding to see in person and as he downed his third drink, Dr. Halgen walked up on stage and stopped the music. “Greetings, everyone! I’m glad to see that you all made it to this wonderful event tonight. We here at Psyche like to hold these community events to show just how much we all appreciate this town and its efforts as our hosts. Please… give yourselves all a round of applause for all that you do and for this wonderful night!” The crowd erupted into an echoing chorus of claps, stomps, and hollering. Dressed somewhat appropriately as a mad scientist, Dr. Halgen then quieted everyone back down after a minute or so. “Yes, yes. All spectacular and I want to wish our dear thanks to everyone who put this together. Now, DJ! Crank up that music and I want you all to have a swinging good time! Happy Halloween everyone!” The DJ then did as he was told after another round of applause, and everyone started to dance and eat once more. Not long after, now munching down on another stuffed bell pepper designed to look like a pumpkin, Patrick looked out amongst the crowd. There, just by themselves, Lloyd and Samantha were dancing. It might have been nothing, but the way they were dancing… so tight… so close… Patrick smiled as he realized that his plan to get them together was slowly working. ‘Maybe they are hiding it away from everyone… but why?’ About 23 songs and dances, 2 pumpkin pastries, a sugar cookie bat, a cheesy disturbingly green stew, and four cups of punch later, Patrick was feeling bloated, satisfied, and sleepy. From her place off to the side with Lloyd, Samantha immediately took notice, especially as Patrick began to lean on his friends for support and began to rub his legs. After a gentle nudging and gesturing to Lloyd, the two went over and tapped on Patrick’s shoulder. “Sweetie, you getting’ tired?” “Nuh uh…” he said, before his body betrayed him, and he began to yawn. Lloyd and Samantha just smiled at each other. “Right, tiger… I think even monsters need their sleep though. I saw you rubbing your legs… need me to carry you?” Lloyd offered. “I…” Patrick yawned again and just nodded in acceptance. Lloyd then bent down and grabbed Patrick in his arms. As if waiting for one domino to fall first, many of the other caretakers began to collect their own Littles as well. A tiny wave goodbye later, and Samantha, Lloyd, and Patrick headed out into the night air. The trio soon arrived at the bus stop, the wind steadily blowing and crisping each to their bones. Leaves rustled around and Patrick was minutes away from passing out. Still though, trying to get warm, he just snuggled more tightly into Lloyd. Seeing this, Samantha pulled out a blanket from his diaper bag and wrapped it around him. “There, honey. How’s that?” “Good…” he sleepily said. “You two are great caretakers… I wish I could choose you both… that would be perfect…” He then closed his eyes and snuggled closer to Lloyd. Lloyd and Samantha just smiled at the notion and embraced each other as tightly as they could while the shuttle bus could be seen in the distance. Before he passed out, Patrick couldn’t help but smile at the wonderful night he had. The protestor and the man in the skeletal mask were mildly terrifying and the fact that he had messed himself without realizing it wasn’t ideal, but the night was still a success. There would always be some downsides in this life, but cuddled up against Lloyd and also feeling a hug from behind with Samantha, he could only feel a happiness that came from a place of care… maybe even love… * * * “Geez that was close!” the protestor complained later at an undisclosed location out of town. “There’s no way you’re paying me enough to deal with those Bigs around him. One had a friggin’ knife on her!” “Relax,” the woman said, “you’ll be paid your fair share when the job is done. In fact, though, we’ll need you for a few more things pretty soon here… have any friends who could use some extra cash?” “Yeah?” he said with a little hesitation, unsure if he really wanted to bring them into all this. “Good. Come by here tomorrow and you’ll get your reward.” The woman paused as she noticed the man’s hesitation. “Come back with some friends, and we’ll double the price. Deal?” The protestor nodded his head shakily and exited. The woman then turned her back and entered the back room as soon as the other man had left. “That was really foolish of you tonight, babe,” she told the costumed man in the room. “You could have been caught! What if he had recognized your voice?” “Relax… I used a voice modulator,” the man in the skeletal mask said. He then started to peel the mask off his face and his voice began to normalize. “Besides, this mask was perfect. Not even the ever-vigilant Addy Pepperidge could tell it was me.” The woman still didn’t seem convinced. “Maybe, Redge, but it was still too close for me…” “Yeah, but… I just had to see him,” Redge said, leaning back into his chair. “Glad I did though. He’s got two Bigs with him now. Potential caretakers… we might just have to eliminate them…” The woman frowned. “That’s a lot of bodies… we want this clean… I can only get you out of the country so many times. You’re still a fugitive, you know.” “Right…” A wailing could then be heard from upstairs. “Better go check on her. Don’t want others to know we’re here… yet.” “Yes, but,” she pointed her finger at Redge, “no killing. Not yet at least… promise me that much?” Redge nodded. “I promise…” Satisfied, the woman went upstairs to attend to the crying. Once she was out of earshot, Redge turned back and looked into the mirror and palmed a small remote. “Soon, Patrick… soon…” 10 Link to comment
sklawlor Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 as much as I hate redge, it wouldn't make sense from a literary standpoint to just have him disappear. You did a really good creepy job of bringing him back, I figured that he was the masked person. I can tell this is going to get really intense. Link to comment
Guilend Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 I had a feeling that was Redge in costume. I wonder who that was crying, more specifically, was it a Little or a Big? You know which I'm hoping for lol. I can't wait for the next chapter and while I understand that it might not be posted till tomorrow nightor Friday, I really hope you get the time to post it tomorrow night because I don't think I can go on with the suspense lol I just realized that whoever was crying was probably the person that owned the place they're staying at. I doubt they're renting a hotel room. There faces are probably posted everywhere in that town due to it's proximity to the rehab. So chances are they came in the night, the girlfriend went to a secluded house, the owner being female probably also played a part in it's choosing, and was let in on some pretext and they overpowered her and basically moved in temporarily. I just hope she's not to bad off at the end. Link to comment
kerry Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Of course, I expected more of Redge. I was just wistfully thinking I'd like this more if you could find a way not to give in to that particular temptation. Still, Redge is the epitome of evil, so I suppose there was no way around it. Link to comment
CDfm Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Just made my blood boil. I so badly want to get my hands on Redge. I have an ASP I would love to practice with on him. I was glad that Lloyd was there to chase him away. I am wondering what they have planned with the protester and his friends. Might need to break out some big guns for these guys. Bean bag shotgun rounds really do a number on a guy and are non-lethal. I don’t want to kill any of them but I don’t have a problem putting a hurt on them. It was a wonderful new chapter and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next. 1 Link to comment
LostBBoyBear Posted October 28, 2023 Author Share Posted October 28, 2023 So, I couldn't write a fall-based story without at least going to a fall festival. I know that Patrick kind of went to one with Redge earlier on, but I wanted to show more of the farming version of a fall festival than the carnival side. I should also point out that while I embellished a few of these attractions from the fall festival I usually go to around where I live, I felt justified in doing so given the Bigs technology in this world. Something that could just be a puppet or a wooden cutout at best might be something else entirely in this dimension. As it is, this just so happens to be the final chapter of part V. Part VI, the last of the parts is up next and should consist of at least four chapters. That may be subject to change, but its feeling unlikely at this point with how I have things set up. Additionally, I'm not sure when I will be able to post the next chapter. I'm hoping to do it sometime this weekend, but Monday is honestly feeling more realistic. Stay tuned! Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Chapter 21: A Hurdling Mass of Dented Fruit Time moves forward whether one wants it to or not. For Patrick, time felt as if it was rapidly speeding by. Halloween had been an amazing event, but now, days later, what had just felt like the beginning of the month, now felt like the end of his third month at Psyche: the end. Today was another day of an early group meeting before caretaker day once more. It had grown pretty customary to talk about cartoon shows, naptime, the delight of introducing new food flavors, or what song they would dance to at night after dinner. Now, Dr. Halgen was just finishing up her last remarks before the almost now solidified caretakers would arrive. “As a final note,” she began “before you all go off to wherever your caretakers are taking you today. I…” “We’re goin’ to the zoo!” Ian eagerly announced, squirming a bit in his seat for a second and then stopping. After two more tantrums and subsequent chats with Dr. Halgen, Ian had changed the most out of the group. From a certain light, Patrick couldn’t help but notice his similarities to Eddy. For his part, Chris only seemed eager with his new Little’s demeanor on the last caretaker’s day, but it had downright spooked Patrick. “That’s very nice, Ian, but remember… we raise our hands if we want to talk in group, okay?” Ian rapidly nodded and scooted back into the rear of his seat. “Now, as I was saying, your caretakers are coming today. As we are about to enter the final two weeks of your time with us here at Psyche, I want you all to think about narrowing down who you will select as your caretaker to help you once you leave here. We will likely be having less group sessions moving forward, and you all will instead be focusing on the caretaker of your choice.” Patrick began to panic slightly inside. He knew their choosing ceremony was coming up, but he still couldn’t decide between Samantha or Lloyd. Dr. Halgen had been less than helpful in that matter, and Addy wanted to stay out of it, or ‘else she would raise unwanted suspicion around here before it was time.’ She was still investigating the events around here, but meanwhile, Patrick still had a dilemma on his hands in selecting one of his two near perfect caretakers. If it wasn’t for Tad, he honestly wouldn’t be sure if he would have gotten any sleep the past few nights from his constant worrying about it. “Alright,” Dr. Halgen continued, “on that note, I believe some of your caretakers are now just arriving...” The Littles in the room needed little other prompting and rushed off to go greet them as they came in. Some of the nurses tried to stop them, but Dr. Halgen just smiled and gestured that it was okay and to just let them pass. Still using his walker for most trips lately meant that he was a little slower than everyone else, so naturally, he exited last. He was just glad that he was walking about now, with assistance or not. In the main hall, Patrick saw that only Quentin, Terra’s, and Cara’s caretakers had come so far, so he just resigned himself to the back playground. It may have been for Littles without exception, but Patrick was just glad to now be able to swing without the special seat now. It was a bit of a trick to use the walker, sit down, move the walker out of the way, and then start swinging, but he had quickly gotten the hang of it with Quentin’s help the other day. As he began to swing back and forth, a familiar figure began to approach him from far off. One that he hadn’t seen face-to-face in a while, and one that definitely seemed to now have a bit of a waddle to his gait. “Hello, Tim.” “Hey, Patrick…” Tim kicked about a stone on the ground and kept his eyes mostly downward. “You have a sec to talk?” Patrick nodded. “Sure do. Lloyd and Samantha decided they wanted to take me out together today, but they haven’t arrived yet. What’s up?” “I… what you said before… about accepting all this… isn’t that a bad thing?” he asked with a slight growing vigor in his voice. “Like, aren’t we accepting our ultimate demise in all this?” Patrick had to consider the notion for a moment. He, and most of the rest of his group by now, had ‘accepted’ their fates in all this to some degree or another. So, in a sense, he would have to answer, ‘yes,’ ‘But demise?’ The severity of the word gave him pause. “Well, you see, demise is a pretty strong word, but…” “I get that,” Tim quickly responded without giving Patrick a second to finish, “but I’m not sure of what other word to use. I mean, everyone here seems to be diapered. Isn’t that a sign of giving into the Big’s whims? Like giving up? Wouldn’t it be even worse if…” Tim trailed off. “Worse if what?” Patrick questioned. Something clearly ticked within Tim’s mind. If he had only been more upfront with him at the start, this could have been straightened out weeks ago and he could have another solid and less regressed friend here. But now… Patrick felt as if he was just groping around in the dark over what was going on with his fellow Little. Tim hesitated and rubbed his temples. “I’ve been having feelings, and I’m not sure…” “Patrick! Lloyd and Samantha are here!” Dr. Halgen called from the back porch. “One minute!” Patrick called back, desperately wanting to know and to help his friend. “No, right now, mister!” She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t make me tell you again!” Patrick looked guiltily back at Tim. “Tim, I…” Tim held his hand up. “It’s okay… it was nothing anyway. Go and have fun with your caretakers.” Patrick sincerely doubted that it was truly ‘okay,’ but he didn’t want to argue with Dr. Halgen and risk a chat. Based on Ian’s progress, or reverse progress in a way, they were something to be avoided at all costs. So, not wanting to linger around here any longer, he quickly gestured to Samantha and Lloyd when he met them in the main hall to leave. Both understood and soon, their car was speeding off to their destination for the day. Patrick could only wonder what Tim had wanted to talk about in full. Regardless, some twists and bumpy dusty roads later, the car parked in the large grass field, though now mostly dirt, parking area. Rough spray paint somewhat outlined the spaces, but by now, cars parked mostly where the attendants just directed them to. “Whew,” Lloyd said exaggeratedly, “made it.” “Perfect parking as usual. Now,” Samantha and Lloyd turned back to Patrick in his rear booster seat, by now, something he felt privileged to still be sitting in compared to most of the rest of his group. “So, Patrick… given how we both want you to have a say in how you’re treated, we were wondering how you wanted to maneuver about around here.” “What do you mean?” Patrick asked back, though having an inkling where this conversation was going. “Well,” Lloyd started, “you have two options the way we see it by now.” Samantha began to nod along with what he was saying. “Option one is that you use your walker. We probably couldn’t stay for as long, but it’s more independence on your part.” “And option two,” Samantha chimed back in, “is that we use the stroller we used at the park the other week, but whenever you want, we can take you out and you can walk on your own. As we said though, up to you… completely.” She smiled to show her sincerity. Patrick thought for a moment, and while the walker was tempting, his embarrassment over a stroller had faded considerably, especially since Redge had first nearly forced him into what amounted to one in the beginning of all this. Compared to diapers or his continued reliance on Tad at night, a stroller could almost seem like a luxury item in all this. Plus, he kind of wanted to stay away from Psyche as much as possible with whatever was truly going on back there. “Stroller, please.” Samantha and Lloyd nodded their heads, and for a moment, Patrick swore he could have seen Samantha try with all her might not to clap daintily over his decision. So, minutes later, Patrick was in his stroller, packed tightly with his diaper bag and a used pumpkin, and the trio walked off and entered the fall festival. Now, normally, these festivals tended to end on the day of Halloween around here, but another tradition had come over from the Earth dimension that coincided after the holiday; pumpkin chunkin’. It was a time-honored tradition in some families, but after Halloween, all would bring their pumpkins here where they would be summarily destroyed in a variety of different ways. The most popular and classic method was the trebuchet. “Alright, champ. Where’d you want to go first?” Lloyd asked after arriving at the center of pretty much everything. Patrick looked around, and while the Littles seemed to be flocking over to the petting zoo to his left and the Bigs over to the 100-foot pumpkin drop on his right, he spotted something far more enticing which he used to love doing. “That,” he said plainly, pointing to the giant corn maze. “Uh, that? The corn maze?” Samantha questioned. Patrick nodded. “Okay… well, you know we can’t bring your stroller in there, so we may have to carry you. Is that still okay?” Patrick once again nodded. “Alright, let’s head in,” Lloyd directed. The trio then came over to the entrance, and after a confirmation to leave the stroller outside with the rest in a designated area, the attendant stopped them. “Sorry, folks. I have to stop you,” he said, as he put up his gloved hand out in front of them. “Just want to make sure that you know what you’re getting yourself into with your Little one and all.” “Oh, he knows,” Lloyd said. “Insisted on it himself.” The attendant looked down at Patrick. “Is that so?” “Yes, sir,” Patrick said, assuming that the attendant thought he was just another regressed Little. He knew that his elastic-waisted jeans, which left little to the imagination about his diaper, and tucked-in plaid flannel shirt didn’t exactly make him look like the oldest or most mature Little here. “I used to love these things. Would love to do this one today.” The attendant just sighed. “Very well.” He then handed Samantha a punch card. “Here. Punch at each station throughout the maze and get a discounted kettle corn bag afterward.” He then handed a large pole to Lloyd. “Use this to ensure your location is known the whole time. There are a few bits you may have trouble navigating with the pole but keep it on you regardless. We use it to see where you are, and if you wave it around when you have a problem, we can come help you.” Lloyd then took the large pole. “So, with all that, enjoy the maze.” Each of them nodded and entered the tall maze. After a second, they all decided that going left was best and Patrick was quickly reminded that despite normal corn being just over his head back home, the corn here, came to just above Lloyd’s head here, easily 13 feet tall by his estimation. A little while, four wooden monsters, six turns, and two backtracks later, they arrived at an elevated bridge and decided to go to the top. Once above the maze, Patrick got a good look around at everything. “Wow… this thing is huge. This is going to take forever!” “Nonsense, honey,” Samantha consoled, rubbing his shoulder a bit. “It will take us time, but we’ve got plenty of it. Your legs still doing okay?” Patrick’s legs were hurting a little bit, but they were still fine for the moment. “I’m okay. I’ll let you know. Promise.” Samantha nodded. Patrick then looked out beyond and noticed some slides off in the distance. “Those look pretty cool. Is that a castle and a volcano?” “Sure is,” Lloyd confirmed. “Just added the volcano one a few seasons ago.” “Maybe we should go after all this?” Samantha offered, noticing how Patrick was seemingly transfixed by their structures. “I’d like that,” Patrick admitted freely. Looking at his watch over the time, Lloyd then spoke up. “I think I see a way to the next marker. Everyone ready?” Samantha and Patrick both nodded their heads and their tiny group set back off. Like most corn mazes, the further they ventured inward, the more difficult it became to navigate. Backtracking soon became even more dangerous than taking a wrong turn. Patrick knew from firsthand experience that if one didn’t keep their bearings, one could easily get turned around and even head back toward the entrance rather than the exit. Additionally, this maze also had a few scary features that Patrick just rolled his eyes at being ‘too futuristic,’ such as holograms of jumping monsters and aliens and spacecraft that you would have to walk through or around at certain points. Despite all that though, they finally came to an intersection of four pathways. “Well crud,” Patrick cursed. “Wasn’t expecting this. Which way do we go?” “Hmmm,” Lloyd mused. “Maybe we split up?” “Oh, that’s a bad idea, Lloyd” Samantha disagreed. “Sorry, but that just could invite trouble.” Before Lloyd could retort back, Patrick spoke up. “I don’t know, Samantha. Maybe we do it for just a little bit? Maybe some ground rules though?” Samantha really didn’t seem keen on the idea but relented anyway. It was agreed that they wouldn’t take more than three turns and wouldn’t proceed through any other intersections if they came to one, but no matter what, they would meet back at the four-way intersection in two minutes. All nodding, they set off. Patrick took the left path. After the first turn though, Patrick began to feel uneasy. By the second, his heart began to rapidly beat, and he swore that someone or something was following him. The stalks of corn seemed to bend inward and try to reach out and snatch him into their midst. By the third turn, Patrick was panicking completely, and he began to hyperventilate and lose track of where he was or how many turns he had made. After that, he completely forgot to stop and head back, and to make matters worse, he began to run around to try and find his way back to the safety of Lloyd and Samantha. Everything he did just seemed to make it worse, and his breathing soon mimicked a runner after a race. “Oh god! Oh god! I’m lost!” he cried out. He could nearly hear his heart and he could certainly feel its pounding in his head. “Oh, sweet mother. I’m so lost! Someone is gonna take me. Shit! Where’s Tad when you need him! Oh god! This is how it ends for me!” “Not ends, Little one, but a new beginning.” The words slithered out like a greasy invitation and a needle of icy cold running up his spine. He would never forget that voice. “R… Redge? I… it can’t be…” Patrick stammered out, now seeing his tormentor step from out of the corn and come closer to him. “Oh, but it is…” he approached menacingly with a needle in his enormous gloved right hand. “No, no, no!” Patrick tried to squirm away, but Redge was too powerful and plunged it right into his legs. Instantly, he felt numb once again from the waist down. “There we go,” Redge said with a twisted look of satisfaction. “Much better. Should undo all that progress you’ve made with your legs. Probably a good thing too. Samantha and Lloyd will probably leave you now.” “No!” Patrick shouted out. “You’re lying! They wouldn’t do that to me. No matter what!” “Oh, but you know I’m telling you the truth. No Big, no matter how big a heart,” he mocked, “doesn’t want a broken Little. And you little fella, are that broken toy all over. As I said… probably a good thing. This way, you won’t have to let them down like you did with your own mother. You killed her. What a failure… you should be grateful I want you so bad. I’ll take you away and make you my Little and there’s not a thing you can do about it!” Redge then leaned in with his hand to snatch Patrick away. Patrick just closed his eyes to all this. He didn’t want to witness another failure of his in his life. “No! Never! Never!” He felt the hand on him stopping him from struggling. ‘Why did we split up? No, no, no! Not like this!’ He continued to fight with everything he had. “Patrick! Patrick!” a voice yelled out. “No! You can’t make me go with you. Samantha and Lloyd will find me! I trust in them! You can’t hurt me!” he wailed as he continued to thrash about. “Patrick!” This time the voice came from right in front of his face and it sounded very different to Redge’s. Patrick reopened his eyes to figure out what he was hearing. “Good, good. That’s it, sweetie,” Samantha coaxed, trying to ignore a wispy image of a dead soldier she had once known to her left. “Oh my god. It was awful. It was Redge! And he…! I…” Patrick’s mind scrambled to make sense of what he thought he had just witnessed. “I’m a failure! I killed her! I really did and I paralyzed myself… all in one night!” “Patrick,” Lloyd tried to console, as he kept his arms firmly wrapped around the Little from behind, “you’re not a failure. You’re a good person.” He shuddered as he briefly saw an image of his dad and his older brother, but he had to just remind himself that they weren’t real. “No! No!” Patrick insisted. “I’m a failure and a loser!” He began to thrash about again and sent several of his tears sputtering out around him like a sprinkler. “This isn’t working Lloyd,” Samantha said, while looking at her fellow Big and caretaker. “We need to get him out of here. I think there’s a clearing I can see up ahead.” Lloyd nodded and hoisted the still panicking Patrick away from the area. Samantha carried their pole and briefly thought about waving it about, but she knew from experience that once out in the open, Patrick would be okay in only a few minutes. “I’m a loser… I’m a failure… I killed her…” Patrick kept mumbling repeatedly as tears fell and were absorbed into his shirt. As predicted though, two turns later, the trio came to a clearing and like removing his sunglasses on a cloudy day, things started to become clearer for the distressed Little. “Wha… what happened?” “Fear toxin,” Lloyd said bluntly. Patrick still looked at the two Bigs in confusion while wiping a few tears away from his eyes. “They pump the gas into the field in certain areas,” Samantha clarified. “Ups the stakes for us Bigs. They should have their sign a little clearer and in view of Littles, but I guess they just assume you all would never go into a place like this.” Patrick rubbed his throbbing head and sniffled. “Ah… that stuff’s no fun… but what I said…” “It wasn’t you, honey,” Samantha tried to justify. “I hope you know that we don’t think of you like that, but more importantly, I hope you realize by now that night was just an accident and a tragedy. You are just one part in a much larger puzzle that accumulated into what happened.” “Trust us on this, buddy,” Lloyd said, relaxing his grip while still maintaining one hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “We know guilt. Holding onto it won’t help you, but we saw the accident report as well. You couldn’t have prevented it, and in a way, it was a perfect storm of bad things. Don’t blame yourself for something that was almost entirely out of your control.” “I…” Patrick started to say, but then just nodded. With Dr. Halgen’s help, he had come to similar revelations a few weeks back, but he guessed that all that was now just a deep-seated fear of his which the fear toxin had brought out. Now, he knew that all that would just take time to heal from, similarly to what the other part of his fear had been. “I saw Redge…” “In your hallucination?” Lloyd asked immediately with concern. Patrick nodded. “I see… well, he was just fake. He didn’t exist there and I’m sure he’s long gone by now. Probably in Catalon or Yamatoa by now.” “I suppose…” Patrick said, half believing Lloyd and the other half wondering if Redge was suddenly going to spring from a bush at any moment. “Besides,” Samantha stated proudly, “if that little weasel ever crawls back here, he’ll find I possess a certain set of skills that he might find… uncomfortable.” Patrick wasn’t sure what exactly she meant by that, but he was certain that he didn’t want to find out firsthand. So, without any hesitation, he just barreled right into both Lloyd and Samantha with his arms wide open. “Thank you… I don’t know what I’d do without both of you…” Patrick said, squeezing and hugging them even tighter. Lloyd and Samantha could have said something further, but they didn’t want to ruin the peacefulness of the moment. Instead, they just looked at each other longingly and smiled in a way that indicated something more than a thousand words could have said. If Patrick had seen them, he would have launched a hundred inquiries. Now though, he just remained peacefully wrapped in the loving embrace of both his Bigs. After a moment like that, the trio split apart and ventured further into the maze. They then found the last three punches and exited the maze. Lloyd wanted to punch the attendant for not warning them more about the fear toxin, but Samantha noticed Lloyd’s overall demeanor and just shook her head at him. Knowing she was right as usual, Lloyd just helped get Patrick back into his stroller and used a wet wipe to clean off his previously tearful face. Wanting to push aside the horrific memory of what happened in the maze and trying to justify their journey throughout it, they then waited in line for some snacks. Two apple cider donuts, three glasses of apple cider, and one large bag of kettle corn later, they sat on a bench and enjoyed the delectable goods as another breeze floated gently by and tousled up their hair. Once Patrick was finished with his half of one of the apple cider donuts, and much to the chagrin of Samantha, he began to lick his fingers of the sugar goodness that remained. “Well,” Lloyd started as Samantha retrieved more baby wipes to clean off Patrick more thoroughly, “where should we go next?” As she cleaned, Samantha turned to Patrick. “You did seem interested in the slides. Maybe we should do those, huh?” she suggested. Patrick coyly smiled as the last of the sugar was properly removed from his now cinnamon-scented hands. “You read my mind.” Lloyd smacked his knees as he stood up. “Righty oh then. It’s been decided. We go to the slides.” A few minutes later, after tossing their trash, getting a few more handfuls of the kettle corn before resealing the bag, the trio walked over and made it to the three different slides. The first was plain and seemed to mainly be for the most regressed Littles. The next over was shaped like a giant volcano at the top, but the one furthest to the right was a large medieval castle with slides coming out of several of the portcullises. “That one,” Patrick said confidently as he gestured to the regal and behemoth slide that was the castle at the top of the hill. “Excellent choice,” Samantha complimented as they began their climb up the back of the hill. Soon, despite a little difficulty, the trio managed to get themselves all on a single rug that they had collected at the top of the slide. It wasn’t absolutely necessary, but Lloyd insisted after he recalled a tale where one of these types of slides had once ripped open the seat of his pants on the way down. Neither Patrick nor Samantha dared to argue with the rug’s usage afterward. Now situated, Samantha and Lloyd gripped the sides of the slide. “Ready, sweetie?” Samantha asked, the middle passenger on the rug, and who had her legs squeezed against Patrick’s sides. “Oh yeah! Let’s go!” Patrick called out. “Alright,” Lloyd began, adjusting his legs around Samantha in front of him. “On the count of three.” Samantha nodded. “One,” the two Bigs began in unison. “Two… three!” With a giant shove, the rug crept forward and as soon as Patrick had cleared the Portcullis gate, their weight and gravity took care of the rest. Now, being that everything was sized a little bigger in this dimension, meant that most slides were nearly double their counterparts back on earth. This fall festival, however, as they had done with the fear toxin, had made the slide both extra-long and steeper, and therefore faster. The trio sped down the slide for the bottom at a breakneck speed. Patrick was terrified and thrilled at the same time. He tried to put his arms up at one point, but Samantha quickly plopped them back down and held onto him tight. Patrick wasn’t the biggest fan of the gesture, but he also knew it came from a place of caring and safety by now. In an odd sense, he almost welcomed it now from her. Each of the trio yelled as loudly as they could on their way down. Their hair flapped in the breeze and their cheeks and clothing matted tightly to their wind-blown fronts. It was amazing, but the slide, not being of the magical variety that Patrick had read about in his books, soon came to an end. Naturally, Patrick wanted to go again, and even with Samantha’s and Lloyds physical abilities, the process started to become a little tiring. Not necessarily from the slide though… in this case, it was more of climbing up the hill originally. Five slides down later, Lloyd and Samantha had enough. “Okay… Pa… whew! Patrick, that was the last one,” Lloyd panted at the bottom of the hill after their last slide down from the castle on the hill. “Yes!” Samantha announced a little too excitedly. “I mean… yes…” She too was breathing a little heavily, having carried Patrick up the hill the last two times as his legs had begun to tire. “That’s fine…” Patrick wanted to go again, but he saw how tired they were getting. The height of the hill was amazing for coming down, but the way up did little to help ease its climber’s steps and he didn’t want to be that kind of Little for his two potential caretakers. “So, what do we do now?” The trio got up and began to look around. Samantha realized that Patrick could definitely use a diaper change, so while they did that, Lloyd went out to look for other interesting things to do. Having practically mastered the change by now with Patrick, Samantha finished up with as little fuss as possible. It didn’t hurt that Patrick was only wet this time, but still, she smiled with a great sense of satisfaction. Lloyd had changed a few other diapers, but she knew she was faster… something she would have to boast over him later tonight. Exiting the changing stalls, they saw Lloyd coming back over to meet them with the stroller. “So, anything else interesting that we haven’t done here?” Samantha asked, setting Patrick down into the awaiting stroller. “Well,” Lloyd started, “there’s the country band concert or the petting zoo…” Patrick quickly shook his head and both Samantha and Lloyd chuckled a bit. “That’s what I thought, but we could always do the pumpkin chunkin’, or…” “Or what?” Patrick eagerly asked. He knew that the pumpkin chunkin’ was the last thing they would do before they left here today, so anything to delay going back to Psyche was preferable. “Or… we could do the hayride,” Lloyd offered. “Geez, man!” Patrick said relieved letting out a huge breath. “You had me thinking it was a death house or something in the back woods to eat up wandering Littles.” “Well…” Lloyd hesitated for a moment, “it’s supposedly a haunted hayride…” Patrick felt his stomach drop. He almost wanted to check if he had pooped himself in fear over those words but thought better of it. ‘Samantha or Lloyd can check if it’s a problem…’ “I… I’m willing t… to give it a g… go…” Samantha smirked and folded her arms. “Very convincing…” Patrick breathed in deeply. “I’m…” Patrick realized his voice was too high pitched, so he dropped it at least an octave to bolster the aura of confidence he wanted to project. “I’m good.” “Hmmm… I suppose,” Lloyd mused, “but okay. We can do it if you wish.” The trio then nodded and headed over to the line for the hayride. Like the corn maze, the stroller had to stay back, but at least this time they could just sit on the back of the platforms being towed by the tractor in front. As Patrick looked around, there were only a handful of other Littles around them. Mostly, and a bit concerningly, it was just Middles and Bigs. “Here we go!” the tractor driver announced before blowing his horn and setting off. The next few minutes were filled with scenes of aliens exiting the corn maze, wooden cutouts of varying monsters, and other such simple decorations. Patrick almost scoffed at each, but then also remembered that the corn maze had started out the same way as well before he had run into the fear toxin. After a bit, they then came to a what amounted to a pond in the middle of their trail. “Hold on!” the tractor driver announced. “This could get ugly!” Patrick braced for the impact of the vehicle, and everyone sloshed around as the vehicle bounced around the uneven surface. Unfortunately, halfway through the water, the tractor became stuck in the muck buried beneath it all. “Oh dear! Looks like we might not be able to go anywhere for a moment…” Just then, a large tentacled creature came up out of the water and surrounded the back of the hayride. Patrick clung to Samantha’s legs that he was now sitting between with one hand and gripped the thigh of Lloyd next to him. “It’ll be okay, honey,” Samantha said as reassuringly as she could. “Yeah, I’m sure we’ll get out of here! You’ll see,” Lloyd tried to console. “One minute!” the tractor driver screamed. “I…” The monster then roared and bowed down to where his tongue could have probably licked someone on board… or eaten them with its large near tusk-like teeth. Patrick felt his diaper warm, and he gripped Samantha and Lloyd even tighter. “It’ll be okay, baby,” Samantha consoled as she stroked his hair and hugged him close. For added measure, Lloyd even put his body in front of them. “There!” The tractor roared to life once more, and just as the monster lowered its head to consume the vehicle and passengers onboard. Much to their screams however, the monster just missed as the tractor drove safely away. “Sorry about that, folks. Just a little hiccup in old Jenny here,” he apologized as he stroked the green and muddied tractor beneath him. Patrick then realized the whole thing was just an act, but the Bigs technology in this dimension made so many things far more realistic, and thus seemingly more dangerous. It was a trick, but a very convincing one. The rest of the hayride went much more smoothly, even going through the haunted barn with the 32 wizards and the witch’s glade with the 66 cackling witches. Soon, after a few more bumps and turns through the woods and animatronic creatures and monsters, the ride came to a halt back to where it had started. Satisfied with the amount of fear and excitement from their day, the trio then walked over to the pumpkin chunkin’s area. “So, what do you think, buddy?” Lloyd asked as he removed the large and wilting carved pumpkin from underneath the stroller. "Should we drop it? Smash it? Or launch it?" Patrick looked out over the many options in front of him. One could drop their pumpkin from varying dizzying heights high above, guillotine it in two, smash it with a mallet as much as you wanted, or even explode it with dry ice. All seemed fun, but there was only one option that Patrick desired more than any of the others. “We launch it,” he confidently said while pointing to a series of catapults and trebuchets. Nodding, the trio then went over and handed the pumpkin to the master of arms here and the leader who would be loading the machine. Then, to get a better view, Lloyd picked Patrick up and set him on his shoulders. He had done it before, and Patrick couldn’t get enough of it. He loved being so high above everyone else and it made him feel looked after and powerful at the same time. He didn’t realize it at the time, but his shirt had slightly become untucked and revealed the waistband of his diaper. As a result, despite being a more normal occurrence in the world, many of the spectators nearby began to stare. It wasn’t because they had never seen it before, but slightly unbeknownst to Patrick, it was odd to have a Little so seemingly young over here. Patrick became highly self-conscious of their stares, and just gripped Lloyd tighter. In return, Lloyd just stroked and patted his leg reassuringly. The master of arms noticed Patrick as well though, so he made a bigger fanfare out of one of his observers than usual. “I see we have special pumpkin brought to us by… what’s your name?” he asked Patrick. “Patrick…” he responded shyly. The master of arms nodded his head. “Brought to us by Patrick. Let’s give him a round of applause for giving us such wonderful ammunition today!” The crowd cheered and Patrick blushed, but still liked the extra attention of his feat of aiding today’s entertainment. “Now, let’s start a countdown on my mark!” His team had been busy loading and winching up the catapult, so by the time the master of arms looked back, the pumpkin was already in place. “Alright, here we go!” “Three! Two! One!” the crowd shouted in unison. Without a second thought, the master of arms released the attached cable and sent the pumpkin flying over the field and towards the woods on the far side of everything. Looking at the hurdling pumpkin, Patrick couldn’t help but feel the same way for a moment. He had gotten launched into this dimension and had been freely flying ever since. It was a wonderous and unique time, but also, one of sheer terror. Now, he was getting closer to the end with all this. Soon, he would have to choose between the two Bigs with him here today. It seemed an impossible decision, but he was just glad that he had a little more time left. Hopefully, that choice would become more apparent to him by then. At minimum though, he at least knew that he didn’t want to have resort to an ‘eenie-meenie-minnie-mo’ type of decision-making process. From past stories, those Little’s stories never ended well. “It’s coming down!” the master of arms then shouted. The pumpkin seemed to glide effortlessly downward. As the pumpkin splatted on the ground though, Patrick just gulped and prayed that his landing and ending in all this wouldn’t end with a splat as well. 17 3 Link to comment
Guilend Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Oh no. I bet it was Redge, I bet he did inject him with something. I hope it wouldn't actually make him lose his legs again. 1 Link to comment
kerry Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 14 hours ago, LostBBoyBear said: As the pumpkin splatted on the ground though, Patrick just gulped and prayed that his landing and ending in all this wouldn’t end with a splat as well. What an excellent ending to a thoroughly enjoyable and well-written chapter! Link to comment
CDfm Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Loved it. So sweet and heartwarming for the most part. Had my stomach rise into my throat when they decided to separate and look for a way out of the maze. I just knew Redge was waiting in the shadows. Definitely relieved to find out it was only a hallucination caused by some silly gas to give a big a thrill. I wish Lloyd would have given the attendant a piece of his mind. It’s looking much more likely that Patrick will be able to have both Samantha and Lloyd which is wonderful. I still want to see Addy get added to that mix. Even more so now that she is continuing with her investigation. I have a feeling she’s going to be exposed and things are not going to be very good for her when that happens. I am looking forward to seeing more. 1 1 Link to comment
dirtydingus84 Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 That part with Redge made me glad to have a diaper on! Can't wait to be done with that fool and for Lloyd and Sam to get together and Patrick to finally put the past behind him. This is your best story yet. Link to comment
Eagle0769 Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 I'm up to chapter 17. I love this story. Its one of the reasons I want a portal for real. I've read enough of these diaper dimension stories to know what is going on. The drugs and the cartoon are changing Patrick and the other. When does the breasts and nursing start not that is bad. I know there is something going on but I wait for everything to be revealed at the end. Patrick will be a baby boy he will not be a walking baby but a crawling baby and he will love it one way or the other. Your writing, imagination and your story telling are the best I ever read. Link to comment
SGTbaby Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Awesome chapter! The pumpkin launching sounds great! Link to comment
LostBBoyBear Posted October 31, 2023 Author Share Posted October 31, 2023 Hey to everyone out there and Happy Halloween! Sorry for the lateness, or maybe earliness of this post, but I practically live for Halloween and I took full advantage of everything I could this year. After tomorrow, things should calm down a bit more and the last of the chapters should be up soon. This leads me to the next bit: this is the first chapter of the last part of this story! There should only be three more chapters, but there is a part of me that might split some stuff up more to make the chapters shorter, but I'll just have to see how it goes in the editing process. I just want to give another massive thank you to everyone who has read, commented, or liked this story. It means a great deal to me and I will almost be sad that this story will end, except for the fact that I am very excited for the next one to begin (I will talk more about this before the last chapter). Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this next and first chapter of the last part of this story! Part VI: Support Chapter 22: Just Go For It Death comes to everyone whether they wish it or not. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,” the pastor began. Patrick hated funerals and he had tried to put off the one for his mom for almost a month now. He hoped that he could at least stand tall in the midst of all that had happened. Now, though, he couldn’t stand at all today, or any other day for the rest of his life for that matter. The accident had been a complete failure in his life. Already, he could feel the stares and hear the whispers running about the funeral service. He had worn his best suit and shaved off his beard to be the most presentable he could be around all these people, but it seemed to do little good. So, he just cast his eyes to the ground or to his mother’s casket. Despite the crowds here, he felt very alone. His friends were back at college getting their master’s degree like he had wanted to do, but he had instead focused on walking again. It was another failure, but now, he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to be known as the screw-up right out of the gate for the program he wanted to enter. No… he wouldn’t be going back at all. Like his spine, his future now seemed to be crushed as well. Jessica, his girlfriend before all this, had tried to reach out to him, but he was having a bad day and yelled some terrible things at her. Too focused on his own problems and grief, he never apologized, and they broke up a week later. His family had mostly passed by now, owing largely to the previous wars and outbreaks, and at least 70% of those at the funeral were only part of his father’s business or his mother’s charity work or book club. Each had offered their sincerest, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ or ‘They were one of the good ones’ or ‘Gone too early,’ but had then got in their cars and sped off. As his mother was lowered into the earth, he knew one thing now above all else; he was truly alone. He had a car take him back home after and grimaced over how much he had to pay for the faire. Increasingly, the bus was seemingly like a more viable option for his future ventures. Speaking of which, his new apartment left much to be desired, but it was rent controlled and lacked many of the high-tech options that other places offered, so it was priced at a bargain. “Rent is due in a week!” Mr. Stacci barked from his door as Patrick entered from the outside. “Don’t be late!” “Yes, Mr. Stacci,” Patrick said numbly. He was one of the worse things about this building, but the price couldn’t be beaten. With not many future monkey making avenues to look forward to or to increase his wealth at this point, he had to ensure that the money he had made, saved, or inherited, would last for some time to come. Wheeling into the elevator and then getting off on his floor, Patrick entered his apartment. It was clean and tidy, but there wasn’t much of it, and he was still unpacking the remnants of what was once his life. He suspected the cleanliness would only last so long. A sharp pain then radiated from his lower spine and his leg began to spasm. “Damnit!” Patrick quickly wheeled over to his counter and popped off the tops of his pill bottles that he had picked up yesterday from a nearby pharmacy. “Come on. Come on!” The lid popped off and Patrick downed the ‘cure-all’ pill he had been prescribed. It was blue, large, and often got caught in his throat. After his appointment last week though, his last with Dr. Gibson, he knew that he would have to take it for the rest of his life. Bitter, depressed, and ashamed, Patrick went to work unpacking more of the boxes from his older, larger, and nicer place as he downed a fifth of whiskey and turned on the TV for some background noise. In his search, he soon found a flask that had been gifted to him by his father and he set it on the coffee table nearby for future use. Drinking was a bad habit, but it helped numb him for a little while and that was more important to him at this point. A few items later, he came to a picture of his mom, dad, and him right after a Mother’s Day picnic they had one year when he was in his teens. They all seemed happy, and it was a sight that he wanted to hold onto. They may have passed, but at least he still had the photo, so he spotted one of the end tables that would be perfect to display the framed picture as a reminder of better days now long gone. Thinking he could just reach over to set it down, he stretched to place the picture frame on the end table’s surface, but the stretch had proved too much for his center of gravity. “Oh shit!” Patrick topped his wheelchair, and the picture went flying out of his hands. It landed and cracked the glass in the front. It bounced slightly and hit one more time, now shattering the glass into several tiny shards that spread across his bare floor. Alone and sad on the floor next to his tipped wheelchair, Patrick blinked back his tears and couldn’t believe that this was what his life had come to. The TV then switched to a bright and loud commercial. “We here at Oasis Opportunities offer the best packages for portal travel,” the kindly blonde woman in a pantsuit began. “Differently abled, sick, or just can’t get out of your funk? Well, we may just have a program for yo…” Patrick slammed the remote and the TV powered off. “Not in a million years…” * * * Patrick toddled along back and forth between the group therapy room and the elevator while he waited for the group session to start again. Terra and Quentin had an argument over which cartoon show to watch on TV this afternoon, be it Jasper and Jinx or Adventure Sam, but had just resolved to yell and curse at each other. Dr. Halgen had paused the session, as she had often done in the past, particularly the past three weeks, and told everyone to come back in five minutes. Most of the nurses had chosen that time to perform a few quick changes, but Patrick had only been slightly damp, so Addy felt like he could wait. Patrick didn’t mind at this point, as it gave him ample time to walk around. Bruce had been thrilled with his progress and noted that they now just needed to build up his muscles a little further and increase his endurance. So far, it had gone really well. “Making progress I see?” Cara asked as she walked back in from her own diaper change, her daisy printed shortalls doing little to obscure her prominent mid-section bulge. Behind her, Addy walked back into the group therapy room to see what help she could give. “Every day.” Patrick then stopped and rested against one wall. “I fell I’m so close, but I’m just not there though.” “I’m sure you’ll get it down,” Cara encouraged. “I believe in you.” “Thanks. So, you going to the finger-painting session tonight in the arts and crafts room?” Patrick asked, hoping she was going. “I hear it will be quite the event.” Cara shuffled about. “Maybe… I’ll have to ask Addy. I think she wanted me to do teatime or something like that though. I think Daphne still has a bit of a say in what I do around here, you know? Like more than me sometimes.” Patrick shrugged. “I guess…? Honestly though, Lloyd and Samantha are awesome. They let me do what I want within reason, and we all go on adventures all the time. They give me cuddles and snacks and…” Patrick blushed a bit over his reaction to them, “they’re just so perfect!” A nagging thought then crept into his mind though and Patrick sighed. “Too perfect…” “Haven’t made a decision yet, huh?” Cara asked with a knowing smile and yet look of concern for her friend. “No…” Patrick groaned. “What is it? Less than two weeks away now? I’m so screwed.” “I’m sure you’ll figure it out…” Cara and Patrick then turned around when they heard a giggling from nearby behind them. Ian had received another chat and was currently occupying himself as he played with his stuffed dog and a Cassie doll that Terra had found from the playroom. The doll was meant to play dress-up with, but Ian had seemed satisfied with treating her like a damsel in distress or an evil witch. It just depended on the day. “At least you’re not as screwed as Ian seems to be now…” “Yeah…” Patrick sighed over his friend. It was getting harder to call him a true friend these days with his mental state fluctuating rapidly between his old self and this younger one now on display. He and Cara felt like diseased scum for not including him in their sessions with Quentin at night anymore, but Ian just got too cranky at that hour and almost always inevitably needed to be played with to keep him occupied 80% of the time when he was like this. The only thing that didn’t drive all of them into guilt-ridden madness was that they had warned him to ease off Dr. Halgen a few weeks back. He didn’t listen though and now here he was… It was hard to blame someone when they were down, but the thought persisted still. “You think he’ll go back? After I mean?” Cara asked, clearly emotional over Ian’s current state where they both knew that only about every fifth word now was near gibberish. “How can he? Though… for that matter, how can any of us?” Patrick questioned, looking at both of their current attire. Both shortalls, both diapered, both sporting cute and colorful socks and Velcro shoes with little dancing cartoon characters on them. “Keeps me up most nights, but Tad helps… though that’s a concern all by itself.” “I know what you mean… I can’t imagine life without Mrs. Blue anymore,” Cara mused about her blue bird stuffed animal. “Although… as much as it worries me beyond my little act in front of the staff here, beyond Addy that is, and all… I kind of like her… or is that too weird?” Patrick hesitated to answer for a moment, and then just wavered his hand. “Eh. I think you’re asking the wrong person here. Tad feels like my lifeline, but I guess in retrospect, if that’s our only problem on the mental side, I guess we’re doing okay.” “True…” Cara looked down for a second and then scrunched her face up as if she had just made a nauseating revelation of some kind. “Do you ever get the opinion that…?” “They’re ready for you all to come back in now,” Addy announced as she exited the doors. “Ian! Ian, baby.” He didn’t respond and just kept mashing or prancing his stuffed dog and the Cassie doll about. Addy just rolled her eyes. “I’m glad he’s playing with his toys at least now,” Addy beamed, clearly emulating the new initiative here that actively encouraged the Littles to act more like the Littles that society wanted them to be. In truth, after talking to Patrick one night, she said that she hated the rouse, but that she also still had to maintain her cover out in the open like this. “I swear though… sometimes, I think that boy could hear us but still has an ounce of defiance left in him and just purposely ignores us.” Addy rolled her eyes again and then took off to go collect Ian herself. Inside, Penny was still busy with Quentin and the argument and aftermath that had happened in there. The group session didn’t last much longer after that, but Patrick easily noticed the frightened looks on Terra’s and Quentin’s faces. Whatever had been said, had clearly made an impact. They still looked and acted like themselves, but Dr. Halsey had clearly said something. For now, though, it was probably just a threat and nothing more. Secretly, Patrick suspected that Ian had been made an example of in the group to keep everyone else in line, but he couldn’t confirm that… not even with Addy at this point. There were just too many cameras around to be safe inside anymore with that kind of blatant talk. After the session ended, Patrick made his way back outside to the swing set. While his legs were vastly improving on all fronts, he still liked the freedom he got from swinging back and forth. Plus, lately, the jungle gym out back had become a sort of secondary sanctuary for him from everything else going on. Only the less progressed played or hung out here, so Littles like Ian or occasionally Terra or Darren wouldn’t be here anymore. They were good people and he still considered them friends, but sometimes… it was just too much to see, and he was glad of their time now spent in the garden or sandbox instead. As such, as a pile of leaves was quickly shed by the increasingly cold and blustery weather, Patrick found himself mulling about on one of the swings. Not being a caretaker day, many of the other Littles in the other two groups ambled about, but only one approached the jungle gym and swing set where Patrick now was. “Hello again, Tim.” Patrick said warmly, still trying to convey a sense of ease to his friend in case he got spooked or somehow offended again. Having less than two weeks here before choosing day, if he took a wrong step now, he likely wouldn’t be able to recover, and Tim clearly still wanted to speak with him. He hated having unfinished business. “Hey, Patrick…” Tim said with an unusual amount of pause. Patrick sensed that whatever he wanted to say the other day was still on his mind, but Tim still needed a little push to get going. “You know… I just want to apologize for the other day. I didn’t want to defy Dr. Halgen and Sam and Lloyd were waiting for me. I have to make a good impression with them, you know?” “I know…” Tim replied half-heartedly. “It’s okay…” “Well, I appreciate that. I really do,” Patrick heaped on for good measure. “That being said… that day… you seemed like you wanted to say something more. Maybe a question for me? Something on your mind?” “I…” Tim began but then turned away and blushed. Patrick now knew that there was definitely something further happening. He had to pry further, regardless of how uncomfortable it may be, for Tim’s sake if nothing else. “Tell you what, how about you take a seat on this swing by me. We don’t have to swing, but I’ve been told I’ve got pretty good ears. Plus, no judgment here.” Patrick gestured to the seat with a firm hand, and after a moment, Tim finally sat down. “Did you know I was homeless before all this?” he finally said after a moment of him just kicking around a tiny pebble on the ground. Patrick remained speechless for a moment with that type of opening. “Uh, no… you never mentioned that. How long were you…?” “Three years… lived in the back of my car, so not as bad as others, but I was still homeless. Felt some chest pain one day and nearly collapsed on the way to a soup kitchen, so I went into one of the new free clinics the government has been setting up after that last healthcare bill.” “I know the one,” Patrick mused, having taken advantage of it to drastically reduce his medication’s cost over the past year himself. “Yeah… well, found out my ticker was failing… and then boom!” he almost yelled as he clapped his hands, his face showing the hurtful emotions that had been building up for some time with all this. Clearly, the damn was now breaking open. “Got this opportunity and they helped me with everything… thought it was a miracle.” “A lot of us thought that,” Patrick said as he looked down at his own now almost fully functioning legs. “Guess we were all suckers for something…” “Maybe, but…” Tim trailed off. “But what?” Patrick pressed after a second. “Well… I guess like everyone else here, I thought that the whole ‘three hots and a cot’ plus fixing my heart… what’s not to go for?” he seemed to question towards the universe. “I knew about all this other stuff, but what’s five years compared to a lifetime?” “Exactly!” Patrick really wasn’t sure where this was going, but he had to agree where he could. Though, in some odd way, if he didn’t know any better, Tim didn’t seem upset by all this. ‘Where’s the ‘but’ coming in all this? There’s always a ‘but’ in this type of conversation.’ “So… five years and out… but…” ‘Ah, there it was!’ “But what if I don’t want to go back?” Patrick could just visualize in his mind that the continual record spinning about that had been his usual brain patterns had just skipped over something. “Come again?” he asked, not really believing the question he had just heard. Tim blushed and turned away for a moment. “I think… I don’t want to leave…” At that moment, despite the oddity of it all in that one moment, everything about Tim instantly lined up. As Patrick may have almost jokingly guessed when he had first met him, Tim was indeed ‘that guy.’ Tim had been in a state of denial and then confusion. Now, it seemed like he was in the acceptance phase of all this. Patrick had never thought he would encounter one of these people in his lifetime. They all seemed to come over here and get ‘lost’ on their own. “Uh, oh wow. For longer than the five years you mean?” he clarified, not wanting to jump to any conclusions. Tim nodded his head. “Yeah… but,” he clenched his eyes and fists around the chain of the swing, “that makes me a freak, doesn’t it? I don’t want to be a freak...” Patrick’s brain clicked once again. Being ‘that guy’ had been a taboo for at least the past ten years. It wasn’t illegal by any means, but it had raised an outcry when tourists had gone over without the same desires and had been stuck over in this dimension or had come back with the mentality of a toddler at best. Their families had been incensed that anyone would ever ‘want’ that, but the anger had died down shortly afterward when that particular group seemed to practically vanish. “You’re not a freak,” Patrick finally said, trying to console and reassure his vulnerable friend. Tim sniffled. “You’re just saying that…” “No,” Patrick emphasized. “I mean it.” He sighed, seeing that Tim still probably didn’t believe him. “It’s okay to like these things, especially when you don’t have something… to go back to…” Tim rubbed his eyes with one arm. “You really think so?” Patrick took a moment to respond. After mentioning to Tim that he didn’t have something to go back to as a rationalization for liking all this, a reality had hit him squarely in his soul; Patrick didn’t have anything to go back to either. It had been nipping away at him for a while now but hearing it out loud was the proverbial clang of the gong of truth in his head. It had started when his photos with Sam and Lloyd had been developed, and he had displayed them proudly in his room along with photos from here with his friends and Addy. His parents were still displayed prominently, but like the reasons to go back home, they were quickly being outnumbered. “I do.” Tim sniffled again. “It’s a pretty good place here, you know?” Patrick nodded, though he still felt the pang of confusion over what he was thinking exactly with all this. “I think this is a place to make you happy. Psyche always says so, and I always thought it meant to live or to walk,” he said while gesturing to his own legs. “I guess it could mean other forms of happiness as well now that I think about it.” Tim nodded and the two swung about for a bit. Snack time was then announced, and Tim rushed off to go get some food, but then turned around when he saw Patrick still sitting on the swings. “You okay? Need me to get Addy or…?” “I’m fine, Tim. Thanks for asking, but I’ll be up a little later,” he said while smiling at his clearly relieved friend. With the prospect of an almost guaranteed delicious snack, Tim toddled off back inside to get his snack. Now, Patrick was once again all alone. Tim was clearly going to be okay with all this, but now Patrick felt a similar confusion. ‘Who would he talk to in all this?’ Having grown restless by the swings, he decided to contemplate everything in a spot that he knew few others went to anymore to get a little clarity about all this. Having walked or wheeled about the grounds for almost three months now, Patrick had found several spots where he could be alone. After his fear toxin-induced vision of Redge while in the corn maze though, he had decided that he wanted to still remain in view of the house. As such, his spots for privacy were far more limited, but there was one he had discovered on his second week here. More precisely, he had discovered it along with Cara, Quentin, and Ian, but now, he usually ventured over here alone. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but he presumed it had something to do with the notion that the spot was on the edge of the cliff overlooking everything. It was near to the property’s boundary on the north side but also, the view could be just as beautiful from 80 yards back. While none of his group would freely admit it, he suspected that a few of them had a newly found fear of heights, like his somewhat aversion to the dark now. ‘Freakin’ Psyche and whatever’s happening here…’ Regardless, it was a nice place to mull things over and one where he knew he could do it in relative peace. His mind though was anything but peaceful. ‘Is it something I want? To stay? Am I ready to make that leap? Or is this just a desire to be anywhere than from where I came from with Mr. Stacci and my guilt back home? Sam and Lloyd have treated me better than any other soul in years. Even Addy treats me better than half the people I knew and she’s just my nurse! Damnit! What should I do? Why is this so difficult to think about?’ The thoughts plagued his mind for a long time, until he heard a branch snap from behind him. Patrick swung around. “Mind if I join you, stranger?” Cara asked walking up from behind. Patrick turned back around. “No… just doing some thinking…” “Oooh. Better watch out,” Cara somewhat mocked. “With Ian almost out of commission now, Halgen might just be looking for another mind to stomp down. Thinkin’ is dangerous around here. Didn’t you know?” Patrick just sighed. “Yeah… just…” He couldn’t get himself to say what he was feeling out loud. Cara’s smile quickly disappeared as she realized that her friend was actually doing some very serious thinking. “Oh… you know, whatever it is, you could always tell me. I might be able to help,” she then offered sweetly. “I… Patrick looked west toward the mountains and south to the just-discernable lake where he had gone with Sam and Lloyd, respectively. “It’s very beautiful here.” “Uh huh…” Cara said, obviously unconvinced that just the view was on his mind. “Tell me what’s going through that brain of yours. Please.” Patrick sighed. “Well, in part it is the view here. It’s something one could grow to love...” He looked over at his friend to see if she was catching on. From her facial expression though, he knew he needed to take a more direct route. “I know we talk about the whole five years bit and what we would do after, but we never talk about the… other option.” “Other option?” Cara asked as she raised an eyebrow, clearly still in confusion. “Yeah…” Patrick took a breath in as he knew he would just have to say it. “Would you ever consider staying here and not going back? To our earth I mean…” Immediately, Cara’s face went through the same emotions that Patrick felt that his own had gone through. Shock, revulsion, confusion, but then maybe contemplation. “I…” Much to Patrick’s disappointment and slight embarrassment, however, Cara shook her head. “No. I don’t think I could. Not with Daphne anyway.” Patrick wasn’t sure how to take what she had just told him. On one hand, she had literally just said ‘no,’ but then she had also added the part about Daphne very quickly. ‘If it was truly a ‘no,’ why not just leave it there?’ Before Patrick had a chance to ask, and as if she could read his mind, Cara spoke back up. “You know, it would be okay if you wanted to stay…” Patrick’s mouth dropped open and Cara giggled a bit. “I wouldn’t judge you if that’s the case. I mean, if I had caretakers like Samantha or Lloyd too, I think I would be okay staying here. Maybe not the life I would have imagined, but then again, I imagined I would be dead by now.” She paused for a moment and looked out at the view before them as well. She then closed her eyes and took a breath as if she was dreading whatever the answer could be to the question she was about to ask. “Would you want to stay here after five years?” Patrick wanted to say anything that would keep things okay between them, but he never wanted to lie or ever mislead Cara. They were friends, but both had agreed that trust was a big part of any friendship a while back. So, with a reluctant sigh, he started to answer her question back. “I…” Before he could utter another syllable though, a giant, what could only be described as a twang, rang out everywhere. It was a blast of pure sound and seemed to vibrate the back molars in Patrick’s mouth. Both Littles plugged their ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. As quickly as it had started though, it ended. “What the hell was that?” Patrick asked finally. “I don’t know but…” she then glanced down about halfway down on Patrick, “why is your wristband pulsating?” Patrick looked down and then brought his arm up to see his wristband more closely. A crack ran along the upper face of it, but more importantly, it was flashing red. Looking over to Cara, he saw the same. “Yours is as well.” Right as Cara looked down to confirm her own blinking red light on her wristband, the two heard a snap. Immediately, they both looked around but didn’t see anyone within at least 100 yards. With a look of dread, both nodded and headed over closer to the edge, praying fervently that they were wrong about what they would find. In full horror and shock, however, both Littles saw five figures, entirely shrouded in black coming up the hill, just twenty or so feet below them, all carrying some sort of gun. They all stopped as the one in front waved around to them as they all noticed the two staring Littles, then said, “Taken ‘em.” At once, Cara and Patrick swung around as they heard another snap behind them. Another two figures in black approached them. Patrick wanted to shout out and protect Cara, but as soon as he reached out to her hand to provide some comfort, he felt a sharp sting in his arm. Then, his body collapsed without warning onto itself. The aging and multicolored fallen leaves gave some padding, but the world just seemed to plummet out from under him. Seconds later, he could see the two figures approach. Then, blackness. * * * With a sudden jolt upward, Patrick awoke and immediately noticed his mouth was gagged and his hands were cuffed tightly in front of him. Next to him, a slowly moving Cara was similarly bound and gagged. “Sir!” one of the figures in black shouted to another figure in black leaning toward the front of what Patrick could only assume was the back of some type of vehicle. The figure quickly turned around. “Ah good!” he exclaimed. “You’re awake. Simson?” “Yes boss?” a figure from the front called back. “We outta range yet and in the clear?” he asked. “Yes boss!” the figure from the front shouted back. “Perfect. We can all take our masks off now if you all want,” he commanded. That voice though… Patrick could once again feel the cold shiver run up his back. The figure reached up and removed his black mask. Out popped a more tightly cropped hairstyle, but a blonde one, nonetheless. “Hello, Patrick,” Redge seemed to hiss. Patrick tried to shudder himself awake and that all this was just a dream, but to no avail. Redge noticed and immediately pounced over to him with a knife drawn from his boot. It was probably nothing more than a tiny pigsticker for a Big, but for Patrick, it easily stretched longer than the width of his neck. “Settle down, little one.” His wicked, scheming eyes then glanced over at Cara’s barely conscious form and gestured with his knife toward her. “Now, there’s a few ways we can do this. We’ve been watching you for some time now and of all the Littles you’ve acquainted yourself with recently, she was the one you bonded with the most. You even made our job a little easier when we let off that pulse that dismantled Psyche’s oh-so-impenetrable security and she was standing right next to you. I thank you for that.” Patrick tried to yell out to not hurt her, but the gag in his mouth only let out a few muffled grunts at best. Still, Redge seemed to get the message. “Yes, I thought you would gesture as such, but you see, that’s why she’s here. If you cooperate, she’ll be bruised, broken-hearted, and maybe even a little disoriented, but overall, just fine. If you don’t cooperate, well…” he then tipped his knife over to her head. “I’m sure Psyche has gotten you to use your big, beautiful imagination by now… you think of what could happen to her otherwise.” Patrick shuddered and Redge grinned. “So, are you going to be a good little boy for me?” Patrick tried to wrestle out of his cuffs, but seeing it was no use, just hung his head and gave a little nod as to his compliance with all this. “Oh, so perfect! You see that gentleman? One Little all mine after just a little threatening,” he boasted to the mercenaries in the back of the truck with them. “Very good boss. Still, nothing like the old days, huh?” one of the men mused, ruffling his mohawk back a bit. “I remember when we used to do this all the time. Heck, we were even heroes to some folks.” “Ah yes,” Redge seemed to recall with bliss. “The good old days. Not before that stupid humane Littles safety law came into effect. Ruined everything!” he shouted bitterly. Patrick just held onto the belief that all this would be over if he would just comply. If the pulse had allowed them to breach Psyche’s boundary and destroy their wristbands, he wasn’t even sure anyone would know they were missing until they did a headcount. Hopefully, and as much as he despised thinking it, if Redge held to his word and Patrick did what was asked, Cara would be okay. About an hour later, Cara had woken up. Redge was even firmer with her in his explanation of everything, and if the knife had been any closer to her neck this time, blood would have been drawn. Patrick just tried to assert himself to get him to stop, but that seemed to only make Redge’s attitude worse. Now, with the vehicle stopped somewhere, Patrick hadn’t made another move since. Offloading the vehicle, Redge and the rest of the men went first. “Got our two little packages as we discussed, babe?” a woman asked from outside. “We did,” Redge confirmed. “Just like you said. One flip of the switch of that beautiful machine and whammo! Their security was down in less than a second.” “You always seem to doubt me, but I’ve come through each time,” the woman said. There was then a little pause, but the woman quickly started to speak up again. “Now, where are the two Little munchkins? We best get started right away.” “Right in here, dear,” Redge said, as the back doors screeched open. Patrick blinked rapidly. Partially because the sun was so blinding, but partially because of the psychotically grinning woman he now saw in front of him. It was Britney. The same Britney who worked for Juventas. The same Britney that had injected him with that paralytic. The same Britney that Redge had taken a shine to on the day they met at the fall festival over two months ago. In a most horrifying way, especially remembering her heavily scarred Little, it made perfect sense that they would team up. With her here, Patrick’s hopes of getting out of this unscathed were rapidly dwindling. “Take ‘em,” Redge commanded again. The last thing that Patrick saw was two of the mercenaries coming in and picking him and Cara up like they would an infant after firing their stun guns. Knowing these two in the way he did, he knew that nothing good would come out of all this. Before, he had the hope that somehow, they would be saved from the several mercenaries walking around and from these two vile Bigs. The more Patrick saw of everything now though, the more he felt that was increasingly unlikely. Then, once again, like his future now seemed to be, there was only darkness 10 1 3 Link to comment
Guilend Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Poor Ian. Oh wow. Redge isn't just some Ritch cruel Big, but also happens to be an ex Little snatcher with I'm guessing some kind of military training or something similar. Okay, the Amazon woman turning out to be Britney is a twist, but now that means the crying in the other chapter that I theorized was an Amazon and the owner of where they were hiding was more likely Britney's Little. I am curious, I wonder why Britney made that pause when she was talking. It's either something important for later or you're simply teasing me by making me think she's wearing a diaper or pull up and she paused because she was wetting herself. I'm guessing that she didn't wet herself, but does mean something since it was important enough to be written in. I'm trying to think if there's a tracking device on them, but the group seems like professionals so they'd taken care of any tracking devices and probably even have a device to jam any sort of tracking, audio or video devices. So no idea how they'll be found, unless one of their own turns them in. Link to comment
Guilend Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Also Addy seems to be too relaxed I guess the word is. Not being careful. Apparently she's still talking to him, like how she hates how things are there. She might think no one can hear her, but if I was running security there I'd either have a secret video&audio camera or just audio hidden everywhere, especially in the staff room that only the head of security and the director would know about and have access to. Since a lot of the staff have access to the cameras they'd know their limitations so I'd have a backup plan in place to counter that. Can't be too paranoid in that dimension, even as an Amazon. Someone working in upper management could be setup and get put back in diapers and demoted just because another Amazon wants their job or thinks the current person is too immature or whatever for the job. Link to comment
kerry Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 This is what I totally expected and urgently feared. And, as Guilend noted, you've eliminated pretty much all of the normal ways Littles get out of this kind of mess in these stories. I feel like I did upon first reading LFP's tale ("Thief in Service," I think) where one little was kidnapped and sold into babyhood on a private island...but as least that one had him monitored by others who knew he was missing from the jump. And that was not even a DD tale! Here? I believe that the littles will be saved, but I have no clue how. Link to comment
CDfm Posted November 1, 2023 Share Posted November 1, 2023 Yea I think everyone knew Redge was coming back. Couple things kind of make me wonder if there was someone on the inside working for Redge. First the device they used to shut down the security system is probable but shutting down the system should have alerted the person monitoring it. There would have to be someone there to monitor it and respond or at least alert others to respond. The second think that makes me think someone is on the inside working for Redge is that they got to a vehicle really fast and they didn’t do that going off that cliff. So someone allowed a vehicle to get close enough that they were able to get to it with their captives undetected. I know Samantha has some background and I believe her first act should be to identify the person working for Redge and then break them to obtain information on where they are located. I think that Samantha and a few of her friends can get Cara and Patrick back before any serious damage is done. while I enjoyed the read I wasn’t very happy with how things ended up for Patrick and Cara. So I will need to see how they are helped out of this mess very soon. 1 Link to comment
SGTbaby Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 I look forward to the rescue party coming through. I am sorry but not surprised to see Redge backin this capacity. I wonder if there is another way to track them that Redge is not aware of. I have enjoyed your story and while not excited for it to end I am excited to read the ending as it develops. Link to comment
LostBBoyBear Posted November 2, 2023 Author Share Posted November 2, 2023 I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! I do sort of wish I had written one of my planned-out Halloween stories this year, but this has still definitely been a really fun story to write, and if your all’s comments are anything to go by, I think you seem to like this story as well. Firstly, just to clarify, I know it is tempting to think that Britney was wetting herself or something like that, but I was actually thinking that she and Redge were kissing. For now, I’ll just say that she isn’t in them right now… Secondly, and going off that, please know that this is technically the first part of three stories. There will be a sequel to this one (which I have already all planned out in the future) and there will be another that is the conclusion in a sense for a few of my stories. Hint, it will be dark… So, keeping that in mind, just know that not all arcs will be completed in this story. I know that will come as a disappointment to some of you, but I’ve left little crumbs at the end of each of some of the arcs that will tie into the later stories. The next chapter needs to be reworked a little bit to flow better, but if it isn’t posted by tomorrow, I should have it up by Friday. By then, I should have a better idea of when I will post the final chapter, but that should be either Friday or Saturday, barring any complications. As such, for those of you keeping track, this story should be completed this week, so keep a weather eye out! Lastly, I felt that Patrick calling Samantha ‘Sam’ was just a natural progression of his relationship with her. That being said, I stupidly just realized that the old man at the marina who was friends with Lloyd was also called Sam previously. As such, while I’ll keep Adventure Sam the way it is, I will be changing the old mans name to ‘Sean.’ Sorry if there was any confusion. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! Chapter 23: The Darkness and the Unknown Darkness can refer to many things across one’s life. There is a reason it is a prevalent theme in so many stories, even the ones being read to all the Littles in this dimension. Sure, every Little knew full well that the fairy princess would easily conquer it all, but the darkness was still there. After all, darkness had been one of the main reasons that Ian couldn’t sleep without his favorite blankie, Terra couldn’t close her eyes until someone read her a bedtime story, or even why Patrick had a nightlight in his room and now had loved Tad so dearly. They were all barriers against the crushing weight of the darkness and what it could hold. As such, when Patrick had next woken up though, he deeply wished he could have been holding Tad in that very moment. Usually, when waking up, Patrick was comfortable and in a safe, warm environment. It may have been in the dubious clutches of Psyche, but Addy’s face was a welcome sight, particularly after Patrick had started waking up messy as well. It was just another part of life here in this dimension that he had come to expect, but even the most disastrous of full diapers was preferable to how he now found himself. Even through the dark upon opening his eyes, he could see that he was greeted by an expansive room that housed various bits of equipment and supplies. Most disturbingly though, he was now strapped into a chair like those in a dentists’ office and that he now only wore an open front-snapped onesie and what most would consider to be a ‘crawler diaper.’ It was known as that due to its design particulars that almost inevitably forced the wearer to crawl. Walking was possible in theory, but sadly, while wearing it, the poor Little would likely be faster and more comfortable if they just crawled… that is if they could. Now, the dancing figures of Naomi and Oliver just seemed to mock him from the waistband as Patrick began struggling to valiantly, but ultimately, futilely escape his all-encompassing bonds. With a creak, the heavy metal door in the room then opened, and after the lights were flicked on, Patrick could see a widely grinning Britney and Redge as they entered. Britney was dressed in a lab coat while Redge still sported his paramilitary gear from when he had assaulted the Psyche facility with the other mercenaries that Patrick now saw posted outside the room. “Ah, good! I see you’re up!” Redge exclaimed after seeing the struggling form of Patrick. “You won’t get away with this Redge,” Patrick said bitterly, temporarily ceasing his struggling. Redge held up his finger. “No, no. It’s Daddy from now on. And it better stay that way unless you want to make it something not of your choice…” he threatened. “We have that ability, so don’t tempt us.” Patrick gulped but didn’t say a word. Redge didn’t press the issue further, so Patrick decided to just remain silent for the time being. If he didn’t speak, he wouldn’t have to say that name. “Now,” Redge continued, “as you may have noticed by now, we aren’t just in some simple shack in the middle of nowhere. There is no escape from here and we made sure we captured you without Tad. All the stuffed animals they give you have tracker chips in them. Ironic, isn’t it?” he mused. “If you had just given in a little more to those impulses that I know you have by now, you might not actually be in this situation. You’d be cuddled up with your little frog back at Psyche. Instead, though, I can honestly say that after three days, they probably have given up on you with their main search efforts. Pity.” “Three days!” Patrick exclaimed, trying to move beyond the fact that Tad had a tracker in him. “Yes,” Britney confirmed. “We wanted to make sure that everything was in order before we began. Our other test subject was the perfect guinea pig for the machine behind you.” Patrick tried to crane his neck backward, but even at his greatest stretch, he could still only make out the start of a metallic dome behind and above him. “It’s one of the devices we stole from Juventas. Nasty piece of machinery I worked on while there, but if you’re really good, we’ll never have to turn it on,” she threatened. Patrick didn’t need to be told twice about the legitimacy of her threats. The shot she carried with her and had injected him with when he was originally with Redge in that changing room was still a powerful reminder of her genius, and that was what she had just carried around with her. Even more recently, the pulse that had at least temporarily knocked out Psyche’s barrier and his and Cara’s wristbands was something extremely potent. If this machine was even a fraction as impressive as that had been, he didn’t like his chances. He exhaled sharply. “And what do I have to do to be good?” Redge smiled in a way that made Patrick’s stomach instantly grow queasy. “It’s quite simple actually. Become mine and Britney’s.” Patrick stared at them oddly for a moment. “Oh, right. We didn’t tell you yet.” Redge and Britney then came together, and Britney flashed a large ring on her finger at Patrick. “We got married!” they said in unison with an unnatural amount of joy for how Patrick had come to view them. Newlyweds, sure, but Redge and Britney? It felt like a pact between two supervillains rather than something out of a romance novel. Britney then went about and continued to mess with a few dials on a screen as well as some beakers nearby to her. “As I was saying,” Redge continued, “it’s very simple. Submit to us fully and we can all leave together as one big family.” “Submit to you?” Patrick asked with a persistent queasiness that just didn’t seem to want to leave. “What does that mean exactly?” Redge sighed. “Not a good start for asking questions right off the bat, but I suppose I can indulge your question this once…” Redge then walked over to him and patted the thick diaper now attached to Patrick’s waist. “You will be my Little in every sense of that word. We may need to make some modifications to you, but Britney and I will give you a life that most Littles could only dream of afterward. With our combined resources, you could spend the summers in Albion and the winters in Catalon or Itali.” Patrick frowned at the pitch that Redge was giving him. While traveling around the world was a an intensely enticing offer, the ‘modifications’ part didn’t seem as much. From everything that Redge had told him and reminisced about, Patrick had no illusions that being a ‘true’ Little would mean that he was to be practically seen and not heard. Walking was a maybe at best, solid foods were likely only a dream, and his mental status was questionable on the best of days. It was a fate worse than death for most Little who found themselves in this exact dreaded position before. There was only one reply he could muster. “No…” Redge’s smile quickly vanished, and he shook his head in disappointment and frustration. “I thought you might say that.” Redge twiddled his fingers together for a moment, but then stopped and stared back up at Patrick. “I feel that right now, you are clinging on to the hope that Psyche and all their little nurses are there to help you… well, I’m here to tell you that they are not.” Patrick had figured as much from his conversations previously with Addy, but he also recognized this tactic as a last measure of a desperate man. Considering the influence that Redge once had within the facility, he may know more than the average Big, so he let him talk further and believe that he was dumbstruck with this new revelation. “Yes… that’s right. Psyche, the people supposed to be helping you all out, are secretly regressing you all with small amounts of drugs and subliminal messaging at night and on the TV.” Patrick held it within himself not to roll his eyes over the tone that Redge was adopting now. If this was one of the cartoons on TV, Redge would be laughing maniacally and rubbing his hands together or twirling his mustache if he had one. Still, he was giving up the secrets that he and Addy had desired. If he ever got out of here, he had to tell her everything that he was learning now. Maybe one day, all this would be worth it. “And what’s more, big ole pharma is backing it all up!” he proudly declared. “Yes! Juventas themselves is supplying the drugs and ensuring that Bigs get the Littles they want with their drugs for them to just turn around and buy more products from their company after they adopt! It’s the perfect system. In fact, to top it all off, there’s even the incentives program, but I don’t need to go into that with you. No, you just need to know that these people you are clinging to have been lying to you from the very start! With one hand, they are building your legs backs up, but with the other, they are plummeting you into your second infancy.” Redge paused for a moment and then crossed his arms and smirked at Patrick. “So, I look pretty good now comparatively, huh?” Patrick thought about it for a moment, but then spoke with a vigor he hadn’t known in years. Never was he so sure of something in his life. “Fine, you are right. Psyche are all a bunch of liars and Juventas is their puppet master. But,” Patrick emphasized, “they gave me back my legs… my very ability to walk freely… and all for maybe the price of my maturity, sure. You, however, are just a dick. It’s still a no.” Patrick’s words hung in the air for a moment. He could tell that Britney wanted to intervene so badly, but she just maintained her position over by one of the counters where she was busily working on something in the room. Finally, though, a disheartened but steadily fuming Redge spoke up as he glared menacingly back at Patrick. “I was hoping my skills of persuasion would have worked on you. I gave you two chances… more than any other normal Little would ever get, but I guess we have to do this the hard way. Shame too…” He then looked over at a now smiling Britney. “Looks like you were right again, babe.” “Of course, I was, dear,” she said before reaching over to a nearby walkie-talkie and speaking into it. “We need to do an exchange. Get her. Get his friend. Now.” Patrick’s eyes bulged out when he realized they were talking about Cara. All at once, he remembered back to when Redge had noted that she had been brought here as part of a contingency plan if he had ever refused. “Wait! Please no! I’ll comply, I’ll comply! Just leave her alone. Please!” Redge didn’t seem to be budging. “Why are you doing this? Do you really have so much hate for me?” he cried out in desperation. Redge shook his head. “Not at all, baby. This isn’t even revenge for getting me blacklisted in this country from ever adopting here again legally or for all the police who have been after me since. No… all this is for you to understand.” Redge sighed. “I’m sorry, little one. You need to understand who is in charge here now. ‘No’ isn’t a word that Littles use. Or if they do, they don’t for very long afterwards. Perhaps after this, you will learn your lesson. You will understand your place in this world finally.” Redge then paused and tapped a nearby control panel. “I would hate to have to get nasty with you.” Patrick wanted to scream and curse and spit at this terrible figure before him, but sadly as Redge had noted, he was learning who was in charge. Any more defiance would only work against him, or worse, Cara, at this point. So, when Redge rebuttoned his onesie, he only fumed inside. When the mercenary came in and he was unstrapped and taken away, Patrick only complied and did what he was told. Even when he was carried out by the mercenary and passed by a terrified Cara being carried away by another mercenary back towards the machine, he could only whimper out a tiny, “I’m sorry.” The mercenary then nearly dropped him in the room where Cara had been carried away from. Once the metal door to the room clanged shut and the mercenary had left, Patrick looked around. Having grown accustomed to some of the aspects of a Little lifestyle, as much as it slightly behooved him still to say, his own room had become somewhat of a nursery. Based on the furniture in this room, he supposed he could have called this room a nursery, but it was far from ‘cozy’ nature that he had come to expect from a similarly labeled room for a Little that was supposedly even remotely cared about. Faded and peeling in spots, the yellow wallpaper covered most of the walls with old images of cartoons long off the air. Metal support beams were exposed in some areas and the changing table seemed more clinical than loving. In some sick way, Patrick was actually glad to have such a thick diaper on, if only to avoid using that particular table for as long as possible. Looking around further, the floor was divided into two spaces. One half of the room was a series of checkered tiles that contained the furniture aspects, like the changing table, while the half he was in, was some sort of faded colorful foam mat pattern of blocks interlaced together. Shifting his eyes further into the room, he saw that he wasn’t alone. “H… hello?” he asked hoarsely. One figure seemed to only twitch on the floor near one wall and the other figure just kept still facing the other direction. As Cara had just been in here, they might have known more, so Patrick sighed and began crawling over to them. Getting closer though, he could see two big problems. The first was that the woman on the far end of the room near the wall was nearly Big-sized and did little but twitch spastically and drool over her barely covered body. It took a second with the second figure, but he quickly recognized her as the Little he had seen accompanying Britney before, and her scars were still very prominent. Not even sure if she could even respond anymore, he gently tapped her on the shoulder. “Hello… I’m Patrick. What’s your name?” To his partial surprise, the woman then tried desperately to get the pacifier out of her mouth. He could have helped her, but there was a shocking amount of fight in her eyes. Having been helpless himself before, he knew that she had to do this task herself as a point of pride. Finally, she managed to pop it from her mouth. “Nancy…” she said, almost putting too much of an emphasis on the last syllable of the word. Despite her defiance, she had clearly been affected by something more than her blatant surgeries. “Good to meet you, Nancy.” Patrick extended his hand halfway, but after seeing Nancy having trouble to just lift her hand after so much exertion with getting the pacifier out, he reached in the rest of the way and shook her hand. She smiled. “Tanks…” Her smile quickly vanished though, and as if she was being piloted by a force beyond herself, spoke steadily. “Just comply…” Patrick shook his head over what he had just witnessed. He had once seen a flimsy robot back home that couldn’t do anything on its own, but once you flipped the controls on, it would quickly become rigid and very much its robotic self. Nancy was horrifyingly very much the same. “What do you mea…?” “Just comply,” she repeated without a shred of emotion. Patrick scratched his head and feared this could be a trick from either Redge or Britney, or if nothing else, she could have been an unknowing spy for them. “Uh, I don’t think I can do that. I need to get out of here and help my friend. She’s in trouble. Maybe you saw her? I…” “Just comply, just comply, just comply!” she started yelling over and over, getting louder each time. “Nancy, please!” Patrick pleaded. “I don’t think I can in this case. Just try and calm down. I can’t just comply, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself! I don’t think Britney would want that.” Nancy suddenly stopped and Patrick thought he had gotten through to her. About five seconds later though, she just began to shake and tear up. Before Patrick could ask what was wrong though, she began a new chant. “I’m a good girl! I’m a good girl! I’m a good girl!” “Shit!” Patrick felt like he had broken the Little before him. She had seemed like a good person and that she wanted out of all this when she had removed her pacifier, but he had suspected she had been in this state for too long now. The humane Little laws seemed to be effective from what he had been hearing, but as a news anchor had once noted one night while the group had been watching TV when they first got here, for some Littles, the law had come too late. Sadly, Nancy at least seemed to be in that category. Panicking, Patrick racked his brain with what to do. He didn’t want to demean her or anything, but the more she cried and almost seemed to convulse at this point, the more he felt like he had to treat her like any other baby from back home. Lacking the means to do much else, Patrick quickly wiped off her discarded pacifier and stuck back in her mouth. As if it was some kind of switch or trigger, her cries instantly vanished. Only tears remained, but Patrick quickly acted and brought her into a hug to soothe them out. Again, as if it had been implanted in her as a command, she stopped her shaking and relaxed into him. He wasn’t sure if she was actually calm or if it was just her apparent programming as a compliant Little, but he had to take what he could get. It took a few minutes of rubbing her back, but Patrick finally gained the confidence to let her go and see if she would firstly be okay once he let go, but secondly, see if she could help him out as originally intended. Much to his relief, as long as he held her in a sort of cradling position in his arms and on his lap facing him, she seemed to remain calm still. “Whew!” Patrick exclaimed to the clearly affected Little. “You had me really worried there for a sec. I thought I had hurt you or something.” Despite her scars, thick diaper and infantile onesie, previous mantras, or even nursing of the pacifier between her lips now, he could clearly now see her eyes still shone with a brightness and somehow miraculous bit of self-awareness. Patrick sighed. “I think you’re still in there… I mean really still in there.” Once again, to his relief, she nodded. “Well, I’m both a little saddened and happy to hear that. All this must be so terrible, but I need to ask you for some help. Think you can do that?” Nancy trembled for a moment and then tried to look down at her pacifier with a questioning look. “Oh, right…” Patrick realized as he forgot that the pacifier seemed to be one of the few things keeping her calm in all this. Taking it out would present a risk, but he needed answers. “Hmmm… maybe you could gesture to your pacifier to take it out and then I could put it back in right after?” Nancy’s eyes lit up in fear though. “Crap! Not that… or, maybe not that alone?” Her eyes then switched to confusion. “Yeah… well, what if I promise to try and not escape? What if I promise to be a good boy?” Patrick asked, remembering back to her mantra. ‘Maybe it could act as a trigger for her when he said it about himself as well?’ Nancy seemed to think about it for a little bit, but then nodded her head. Patrick could still see a little fear in her eyes, but he knew he had to give it a try. “Okay, let’s see how this goes… do you know where we are?” Nancy nodded and Patrick slowly removed her pacifier. “We’re at mommy’s workshop where she tests new tings off da books. We’re deep in da mountains…” Her eyes then clouded over in an extreme amount of sadness. “Iss where she took me an’ I got aw’ my scaws…” Patrick saw her sadness and quickly popped her pacifier back in. “Damn… I’m really sorry to hear that. I…” “Ahhh!” A scream echoed off the walls that sounded distant, but still familiar. To Patrick’s realization and horror, it was Cara. His mind raced and he wanted to punch himself for not just complying with Redge’s madness earlier. He should have remembered, he should have given in, but now, it all seemed too late. That being said, a low moan from much closer by caused Patrick to snap out of his thoughts. When he realized it came from the spastic Big nearby, he looked back to Nancy. “Who is that?” he asked before removing her pacifier again. “Dat’s Ester,” she said mournfully. “She was a Big who lived on da outskirts of town. Kind of a loner, but dat’s what made her da perfect target fo’ mommy an’… daddy…” She seemed to struggle on that last word, but like with her previous mantras, it seemed to be built into her at this point rather than as a natural occurrence. “We stayed at her place while daddy searched fo’ you an’ gathered the scary men awound here. Dey tested out da machine on her… dey went too far.” Nancy started tearing up once more and Patrick placed the pacifier back in her mouth. Just as he did so, Esther rolled onto her back, grunted, and a low farting could soon be heard echoing off the walls of the room. Having witnessed the moment from a few Littles, albeit more conscious than Esther right now, mess themselves before, he knew exactly what she was doing. It also didn’t hurt that the back of her thick diaper ballooned out and quickly became discolored. To his torment at that moment though, he also realized that if the machine did this to her, he couldn’t begin to fathom what it was doing to Cara that very second. Right at that instant though, the metal door burst open once more. On the other side, Britney was fuming and almost foaming at the mouth. “You! Get the hell away from my Little!” She stormed over and roughly snatched Patrick away from his embrace of Nancy. For his part, Patrick could feel Nancy try to hold onto him, and he saw the regret and pain in her eyes, but he knew she couldn’t do anything about his fate. He suspected that even if she hadn’t been mutilated by this psychotic Big now hoisting him into the air, she likely had been hypnotized to never struggle against any Big. At the same moment, had he not been wearing a crawler diaper or hadn’t been drugged or conditioned by Psyche over the past almost three months, he almost may have been able to feel the torrent of fear warming the front of his thick diaper. Without warning, Britney then sat down on the aging rocking chair and yanked Patrick over her lap. A second later, his onesie had been unbuttoned and his diaper had been pulled down. “Why can’t you just comply?” She grabbed a nearby paddle and spanked him with all her might. “Maybe this’ll teach you!” “Please! Stop!” Patrick wailed. The pain was immense but that had been fully intended more than he knew. Britney had modified the paddle herself and each swat would deliver a tiny amount of neurotoxin with each hit, amplifying the effects of the paddle at least threefold. It had been designed to save the user the effort of long stints of punishment, but it had been deemed to cruel by even Juventas’ standards. Britney had no such standards. “I don’t believe you!” she cried out. “You Littles are all liars.” She spanked him again. “No! Please!” Patrick shouted in vain as his butt was quickly engulfed in what could only be described as an aching and coursing fire all over. She ignored his pleas and spanked him again. “That’s why I had to hurt my beautiful Little. Nancy was a liar too,” she said angrily before then switching to a more sickly-sweet tone. “Not anymore though, right sweetie?” “Yeth mommy!” Nancy said almost automatically through her pacifier as Britney spanked Patrick again. This went on for another four spanks, but Nancy’s thirst still didn’t seem to be satisfied. “I still don’t believe you!” she yelled. At this point, Patrick was near incomprehensible, and his backside had already turned a deep purple. “I guess we’re going to have to resort to more drastic measures, aren’t we?” Through his tears, Patrick could only barely make out as Britney reached behind her and grabbed a syringe of a putrescent green substance. Coming from her, he knew it had to be something terrible, so he tried to struggle as hard as he could. Under her vice-like grip though, it was all in vain. Britney eyed the syringe with sadistic glee. “It’s a shame that FOY was essentially banned with those humane laws… such a powerful substance for almost 15 years, but still… we Bigs have our own ways around those types of laws…” Patrick continued to struggle and tried to speak up in protest. His emotions were too powerful to really make any sense of it all, except one word; “Redge.” Britney scoffed. “That Big doesn’t have a spine when it comes to you. If we had it his way, you would have probably escaped or brought some homing device with you in secret.” The lights then flickered. “Oh! Guess I spoke too soon. Too bad for poor widdle Cara…” she mocked before looking back at the syringe. “Still… it’s only right that we do this. Say goodbye to well, you, little Patrick. You’ll be all fresh and new after this. You’ll practically beg for the machine.” She then directed the syringe right toward one of Patrick’s almost blackened butt cheeks. “Here we go!” she practically sang out. Before she injected it though, a large bang could be heard followed by several smaller pattering sounds. “What the…?” Britney was clearly confused and stopped what she was doing. To Patrick’s relief, she pulled his diaper back up and then held him by the chest as she stepped up to open the door as more bangs and patters could be heard. Before she could open it to investigate, the door burst open, and smoke poured in. Half blind now, Patrick couldn’t really make out what was happening, but he quickly recognized the voice that barked the order to “Freeze and put your hands up!” ‘Sam!’ The smoke clearing a little more now, Patrick could just make out Sam pointing a long futuristic-looking rifle right at Britney, who had now back up into the corner of the room. Unfortunately, he also saw that Britney still had hold of the syringe and was now holding it to his throat. “Stand back and let me walk out of here. Now! Or I pump him full of this shit! I might die but you’ll lose your precious bundle. I’m warning you, Samantha!” Sam sighed and looked directly at Patrick. Knowing she had to make the tough call, Patrick just nodded subtly for her to do anything she needed to get him out of this situation. Sam flexed her pinky finger in acknowledgement, almost like she was about to pinky promise something, and quickly pushed a button that changed the light on her rifle from red to blue. “Last chance,” she said calmly. Patrick could feel Britney tense around him. “As I said, there’s no…!” Sam fired her rifle and the round screeched across the room and struck Britney directly in the head. Her entire body froze up and she fell over on the ground. From her frozen state though, she had provided a nearly perfect protective cage and fall barrier around Patrick. He had felt an oddly prickling sensation where she had held him, but not much more. “Sam!” he cried out. Sam quickly dropped her rifle and rushed over to Patrick. “Oh, baby!” In a second, she had freed him from Britney’s clutches and away from the still-potent syringe. Patrick briefly looked back and only saw the rage in Britney’s eyes. In moments, her plans had completely folded, but her eyes then portrayed another emotion: satisfaction. Patrick was confused, but then remembered the flickering lights. “Oh no! Cara!” “Easy, easy, baby,” Sam soothed the Little in her arms. “Sergeant Emily got her. Remember Matilda’s caretaker?” Patrick nodded. “Well, she and Lloyd coordinated all this together and then I volunteered to breach this place with everyone else when the time was right.” Patrick likely had a thousand questions running about his mind, but all this had been too much and now that he was out of Britney’s clutches and knew that Cara was at least alive, the ordeal with his rear couldn’t be ignored any longer as more personnel flooded in to take care of Nancy and Esther. In seconds, he began to cry from it all. Confused and very concerned, Sam did her best to check everything, but eventually made her way to his diaper. She was clearly looking for the need to change him, but instead had found his severely bruised backside. Patrick quickly felt at that moment that if he hadn’t been here, Britney probably wouldn’t have made it out of the complex in one piece. Instead, though, the two just left after Sam whispered something into one of the cop’s ears that entered after them. About two hours later, all the Littles, Esther, Emily, and Sam were back at the precinct station. They had gone a little out of their jurisdiction, but apparently some law from years prior allowed these things to happen when Littles were involved in the commission of a crime. As Psyche quickly entered the station after them, Patrick suspected they may have been involved as well. Conspicuously though, Daphne seemed to be absent. She may have just been joining Cara elsewhere or was still on her way, but her absence felt odd in all this. Redge, Britney, and the rest of the mercenaries had been arrested. There had been some wounds dealt to the cops, but everyone had managed to make it out of the assault alive. The true toll, it seemed though, was harder to count. Britney seemed spiteful but defeated and Redge seemed hopeless and yet defiant. It was an odd combination, but Patrick had hoped to see them more broken at this point. This feeling only intensified after he saw Cara. Her temples were reddened and almost brown in some areas as if she had been burned. Plus, her walking seemed to have been affected and she just moved oddly. She almost seemed drunk, but she had been quickly rushed to the hospital after being examined by the police here for a moment. According to the recently arrived Dr. Halgen, they needed to run more tests with her. Finally, after everything had died down more, Patrick couldn’t help but wonder one big thing in all this. “How did you all find me? Britney and Redge made it seem like they did a lot to prevent that from ever happening.” The Bigs then all looked to Dr. Halgen for an answer, but she remained steadfast and silent. “Tell him, Kelsey,” Sam snapped bitterly. “You owe him that much at least after all that’s happened. If it wasn’t for you, he would have never met Redge in the first…” “Babe,” Lloyd consoled as he rested his hand on her arm in an effort to calm her down, “I’m sure she didn’t mean to do all this. Right, Dr. Halgen?” he asked, now facing Dr. Halgen, with a serious and almost angry tone that Patrick hadn’t thought possible coming from Lloyd. “Uh… right Lloyd,” she finally managed to spit out. She looked around the room and saw several pairs of eyes staring down intently at her. “Well, yes… I suppose you deserve to know.” She then took in a large breath of air and turned to face Patrick directly. “We’ve been dosing each of you Littles, Patrick. It’s nothing much, but there’s a trace element of nanobots that we can trace easily throughout much of the world. It’s a bit glitchy across dimensions, but it can be possible as well if needed. Plus, it’s also shielded by the body from most EMP devices… like the supercharged one they used to knock out our systems in their initial intrusion.” “That’s completely illegal, ma’am,” Emily spouted up from the rear of the group. “Best not be in my Matilda.” “It’s actually very legal, officer,” she countered. “It’s in the contract they signed. It’s one of the measures they agreed to stay safe… which I believe today proves correct. Besides, they pass in a few days, and we just give them more at breakfast while they’re under our care. Matilda should be long rid of them by now.” Being the representative Little of all who came before, all the Bigs looked at Patrick in curiosity of how he would react to all this. In truth though, he wasn’t sure how to feel on the whole about it all. “Uh, interesting… I guess?” “That’s all?” Sam questioned in disbelief. “Aren’t you upset at this… violation, sweetie?” She cast a cold glance over to Dr. Halgen before turning back to Patrick. Patrick sighed. “Well, yes… but, I was also kidnapped, and I didn’t have my stuffed animal, so…” “Wait,” Lloyd interrupted, “what about your stuffed animal?” Patrick realized, especially after the grave look on Dr. Halgen’s face, that no one else knew about the tracker in all the stuffed animals. “Nothing… just… uh, not the point here, but the trackers!” Patrick wasn’t a very good liar, but he was banking on the fact that everyone was now mainly focused on the nano trackers rather than an offhand remark about a simple and cuddly stuffed animal. Since only Lloyd seemed somewhat unsatisfied with answer, he felt he was in the clear. ‘Maybe he would tell him one day…’ “As I was saying… the nano trackers are not what I had in mind when it came to ‘protective features’ when I signed that contract, but I can’t completely hate them either.” He then looked directly at Sam. “I know they probably violate your sensibilities or right and wrong with me, but where would you have been today without them?” He then turned to the rest of the eagerly listening group. “Where would any of you have been? Where… would I be?” It was a haunting thought, but it was one that seemed to satiate the blood lust of the group. For now, at least, Dr. Halgen seemed safe from this potential mob. After a round of thanks and goodbyes, Patrick then left with Dr. Halgen to go back to the Psyche facility. Lloyd had to practically pull Sam away from her clutches of Patrick, but after a few reassurances, she finally did and quickly embraced Lloyd to fill the void. If Patrick didn’t know any better, he definitely felt something going on between those two now… Regardless, back in the car and coming back to Psyche and out of the way of everyone else, Patrick had another pressing question on his mind. “Dr. Halgen, is Cara going to be okay?” Dr. Halgen sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, honey…” she said in her sweetest voice yet. It almost felt odd to Patrick, but it also felt like she was dropping her public face now that they were alone together. Almost… like Addy would do. ‘Was she… no… she’s in charge of all this, right? She can’t be involved in that way…’ “I want to tell you, Patrick,” she continued. “I really do, but Little laws are very specific when it comes to my role and what I can tell you. For now, just know that we got to her in time before massive damage was done, but the machine was turned on. It’s still too early to know anything for sure, but I’ll just ask you to keep her in your thoughts in the days to come.” Patrick nodded and remained silent for the rest of the way to the facility. Inside, many of his fellow Littles were watching Jasper and Jinx by the time he came back and therefore didn’t notice him. He guessed they would have questions about everything tomorrow, but for now, he saw the most recent group to Psyche sit down at the dining table to eat their dinner. His group being the most progressed and all having earlier bedtimes, now ate the earliest of the three groups here. This least progressed bunch of Littles had been their group not so long ago, but now… it was hard to rationalize that his friends were ever in that same position and had once seemed so sickly, yet still so… mature. Looking over, Ian was transfixed by the cartoons before him and nursed on a pacifier in his onesie. Darren continued to stare at the stars outside, but now also quietly relayed his thoughts to his newly acquired teddy bear that had been dressed to look like an astronaut. Quentin and Terra were nearby, and while they also watched the dancing cartoons on the TV, they were also snuggled under a blanket together and both eagerly sucking from their sippy cups. Cara… well, she was off getting tested by the doctors at the hospital, and if Dr. Halgen was any indication, her future was now entirely unknown. As for himself, he looked down at his steadily strengthening legs. Bruce had done good work and he suspected they would just play a little soccer tomorrow as they had been now for at least a week before he and Cara had been taken. His butt still stung, but he could also feel the rapid healing gel that Sam had liberally applied before rediapering and dressing him in the pair of blue shortalls he now wore over a plain striped onesie. It was all very surreal to be here now, and he could only reflect on when all this had first started with Nurse Patty and Mr. Docker when he had first been told about Psyche at the Oasis Opportunities massive building back on Earth. All that now felt like several lifetimes ago, but here he was practically three months later. After his and Cara’s kidnapping, he only had six days left before his own choosing ceremony. It would be a welcome relief to have graduated this place, and while Psyche was still an issue that tickled the back of his mind, he only had one pressing problem still left. He still had no idea how to choose between the smothering but loving Sam, or the fun friend that was Lloyd. In either case, a decision would be made in less than a week, whether he could decide on who to choose or not. 14 1 Link to comment
SGTbaby Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 Very interesting rescue and tracking method with the nano bots. Nice new spin to those. I look forward to seeing what the overall punishments for Redge and Brittany are plus how Cara turns out. Link to comment
Guilend Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 OK, wow. I did not see that coming. The only thing I could come up with was Sam having connection that she used, one being some sort of access to government intelligence that had the location of their hideout. I completely forgot about the nanites. Sometimes it is the small things lol. I definitely liked the nanites idea. It's genius really. In one of the Exchange books I had thought of using nanites as a tracker, but I hadn't thought about it since lol. I really hope they can help that Big. I know she'll never completely recover, but I hope they can at least bring her back up to a happy toddler level. I can't imagine what Brittany or even Redge did to her before they put her in the machine. Especially since they spent a few days at her house. I'm definitely sure now that she was the one crying in that one chapter, probably needed a diaper change. Nancy is too programmed to be crying without some outside interaction, like with Patrick. I don't see her paci coming out of her mouth often. I'm betting they escape at the very end and try and get vengeance in the other part. I really hope Cara isn't that bad off. Link to comment
AnActualAirbender Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 What a roller coaster! Hope they regress Redge and send him to Dark Cliff! Link to comment
LostBBoyBear Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 So, as promised, here is the second to last chapter in this story. There will be one more chapter (the final one) posted either very early Saturday morning (EST) like this one, or mid-Saturday at this point. I want to rework some elements and get the flow a little better, but I think it will serve as a nice cap to this story at least. When I post the final chapter, I will also talk about some of my future projects as well and what you all can expect in the new year. It was just oddly almost 90 degrees here the other day and I can't believe I'm already thinking about 2025... Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Chapter 24: Decisions... Decisions... “Shit, shit, shit,” Patrick cursed as he paced around the backyard. He knew he shouldn’t be using that language and his TV time for the afternoon would have likely been revoked if this was any other day, but it wasn’t. The simple fact was that in only a few hours, he would need to choose the caretaker that he would spend the next five years with. To say the least, it was an impactful and vital decision that could very well change the course of his entire life. Rumors of past Littles who didn’t choose ran rampant around Psyche, and all never ended with a happy ending. Patrick was determined to avoid that fate at all costs. In the week since he had returned from after his and Cara’s kidnapping at the hands of Redge and Britney, the news had a practical field day and had inundated him with calls and desires for his accounting of what had happened. Redge and Britney were supposed to be made examples of, but instead, a deal had been struck and they had been sent to Dark Cliff Prison. To Patrick, it felt like a major serving of injustice and a slap in his face, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Of course, that day after he had gotten back, everyone at Psyche had questioned him furiously as well, but at that point, he really only wanted to speak to Addy about what he had learned. To say that she was shocked about everything Patrick had discovered from Redge would have been a gross understatement. She was of course devastated to even hear what Dr. Halgen had relayed to him in the car about Cara, but a fire seemed to grow further within her to bring down Psyche and now Juventas. Regardless, Patrick now continued to pace about until an oddly exhausted Addy finally collected him and changed him into his pre-staging attire, which consisted mainly of a pair of tan slacks, of course with an elastic waist band for easier changes, and a blue button-up shirt. It was basic, but Patrick appreciated the simplicity for the first half of tonight. The last thing he wanted was to be distracted by what he wore instead of figuring out who he was going to choose. Down at the party, Patrick quickly saw his friends huddle about. “Hey everyone,” he said weakly, still trying to decide who to choose. Most seemed dazed or distracted by something else. Only one looked directly back at Patrick at that moment. “Still haven’t made a decision yet, huh?” Quentin asked, now being one of his only few ‘true’ friends as Cara was still upstairs in some sort of state and Ian was now more distracted by the music playing in the background than even the state of his diaper anymore. Additionally, his flannel shirt and own bulging elastic pants were admittedly very cute, but his glossy-eyed stare still showed the evidence of his chats with Dr. Halgen. “No… though I’m assuming you’re choosing Harry tonight?” Patrick asked. Quentin nodded. “Yep! He’s just the best. I never thought I would think about having someone who’s even floated the idea of me calling him ‘Daddy,’ but I don’t know… it just kind of works. He makes me happy…” Patrick patted him on the shoulder. “Well, that’s what counts in all this. It’s five years of commitment after all. Probably why I’m having so much trouble with at all…” Quentin stared at Patrick intently. Despite his more relaxed nature after three months here, Quentin was still very much the discerning former college professor. Now, his mind seemed unburdened by anything else, and his advice was even better and had even apparently helped find Patrick and Cara when they had been kidnapped. “Maybe you should test the waters… buck the system and all…” Patrick squinted in confusion at his friend. “What’s that supposed to mean?” “You know…” Quentin wavered, “you shouldn’t have to choose between them, Samantha and Lloyd I mean. What’s the worst that Halgen could do if you did actually choose both? She may be a bit of a stickler for the rules, but do you really think she would punish you on choosing day?” Patrick thought about the notion for a moment. It was very tempting, but it still felt like a massive risk. “I don’t know… I want to, but…” “But nothing!” Quentin interrupted. “As you said… this is a major decision, and truthfully, after what both of them did for you with Redge and Britney, I don’t think they would allow any harm to ever come to you. Plus, the whole kidnapping thing has given you a little leverage around here. I say use it.” Patrick scratched his head and pondered the actions of his potential caretakers in the shole kidnapping incident. “Even Lloyd though? I mean Sam kicked down the door and all for goodness’ sake, but Lloyd…” Quentin quickly shook his head. “Sam was beside herself with grief and anger when she was first told that you were taken with Cara, but Lloyd was the one who began calling everybody up to get everything rolling.” Quentin then lowered his voice. “He even took my advice to use some of his government contacts to hack Psyche and find out if there were any backup plans for this sort of thing… I guess that advice paid off, huh?” A lightbulb clicked in Patrick’s head. “Ah… that’s how they knew about the nanobots…” “Not sure about the nanobots part, but if they helped, then yep!” Quentin boasted. “You gotta give credit where it’s due. Lloyd may not be the most lovey-dovey type, but he’ll come through for you on ends that others definitely can’t. As I said though, you should consider choosing both and to just take the risk.” Patrick nodded over the suggestion and the two talked for a while longer and saw many of the caretakers arrive dressed in their most fashionable attire for the night. He looked around at the arriving guests and saw many of the ones he had come to know gather around each other and gossip about the possibilities that lay before them that night. Occasionally, one would wander over to their prospective Little, but this was mostly kept to a minimum. According to Psyche, it could unjustly askew a Little’s emotions unjustly toward one Big or another at the last moment, so such interactions were heavily frowned upon. Of course, Patrick recognized Chris and Harry, as well as a few others that had come around and bonded nicely with his group, like Bert had with Darren or Daisy had with Terra. They were all there with Sam and Lloyd now as well, but there was also a group of Bigs that Patrick was less familiar with. The other choosing ceremonies had other Bigs attend that weren’t chosen either, but in retrospect, it almost felt like a disservice for them to attend here in the first place. In the past few weeks, his group had been allowed to choose the Big they had wanted to spend most of their time with. It was one of the primary reasons that Chris had stayed with Ian instead of Darren two weeks ago after Halloween. Chris was a fine caretaker, but Bert was just better for Darren as his caretaker. So, with most cases though, while the other Bigs were still in the rotation, per Psyche’s contractual rules, it had quickly become apparent of who was to be chosen… and who wasn’t. Now, with all these Bigs mingling and roaming about the place, including even Emily, though sans Matilda apparently due to an early bedtime after being cranky earlier today, one thing became very clear. As Patrick had noticed since the kidnapping, Daphne was once again absent from all the other Bigs. Still though, the party continued as the temperature steadily dropped. Fire pits, heating lamps, and warmed beverages were all utilized to their utmost capacity. Due to these implements though, many Bigs had to step in to ensure the safety of their prospective Littles as they began to admire some of these warmer elements a little too closely. For example, Ian and Terra seemed absolutely transfixed by the dancing of the relatively enormous flames now heating the party and had tried to touch them on multiple occasions, much to the panic of Chris and Daisy respectively. Soon though, like he had seen with the previous two choosing ceremonies, each of the nurses came and got their charges in order of how regressed they were to prepare for the night they were about to have. It just made sense that no one wanted a leaky diaper or food-laden clothing during the main event. So, as it was, Patrick was in the middle of talking to a now more well-adjusted Tim when Penny tapped him on the shoulder. “Patrick, it’s your turn, sweetie.” Patrick nodded and followed behind Penny, but he was confused as to why she was down here collecting him. “Penny… where’s Addy?” Penny grimaced as they entered the elevator. “I’m taking you to her now, but Cara’s been… emotional today. I’m going to switch with her before I get Ian ready next for tonight next.” She then paused for a moment as they then exited the elevator and walked down the hallway. “I’m really sorry about all this Patrick…” Patrick nodded and felt a queasiness return to him as they then arrived at the door to Cara’s room. Penny looked like she wanted to say more, but then just straightened herself out and shook her head slightly. From inside Cara’s room, Patrick could hear someone slowly stop crying. Penny then knocked on the door and Addy opened it. Looking a little more run-down than earlier, she still smiled over seeing Patrick. “Hey there. I guess it’s time to get you read for the big night, huh?” “That’s right. I’ll take over caring for Cara for a little bit while you get him ready,” Penny noted. Addy nodded and began to guide Patrick away, but he stopped her after only two steps. “Wait!” “Honey, we need to get you changed and dressed for tonight,” Addy said with some exhaustion. “I know, Addy, but I want to see Cara.” Having received lots of practice over the past month since Cara herself had taught him the trick, Patrick widened and saddened his eyes as much as possible. “Please?” “Awww…” Penny cooed as she watched Patick’s tiny little face. “He wants to see his friend. Come on, Addy. Let him see her at least for tonight…” Addy sighed. “Very well.” She then turned down to Patrick. “You can stop the face now, Patrick. I’ve already agreed, but I need to warn you before you go in there. Cara got some bad news today, so she’s a little upset. Just be prepared.” Patrick nodded and entered Cara’s room with some trepidation at seeing his friend. While her room still contained the netting above where she slept and the butterflies on the wall, other things seemed to have changed since he was last in here. Before, she was one of the few to still maintain a relatively normal bed with just some side rails, for ‘just in case.’ Now though, she was lying on her back in her tall white crib while she nursed a pacifier and seemed to cling to her stuffy, Mrs. Blue, as if it was her only lifeline. A lighthouse night light was positioned nearby, and Patrick couldn’t help but notice the rotating mobile above her crib and the nearly full and sealed diaper pail off to one side of her changing table. “Hey there, Cara…” Patrick started off hesitantly, not really sure what to make of what he was seeing now. He didn’t want to judge her so quickly, but things did not seem like they were good in the slightest. Cara adjusted her head and looked at Patrick directly. The two previous burn spots on her head seemed to be healing, but her eyes seemed to be more unfocused than he would have liked. “Hewwo Patwick,” she mumbled around her still present pacifier. “You seem… good… how are you feeling?” Patrick struggled to find just the right words to say to his friend. She was arguably the most mature here, but seeing her in this state, particularly with her bulging footed and mittened pajamas… it was a lot now to take in all at once. Plus, he couldn’t remove the extreme feeling of guilt over his part in all this. He knew it was Redge and Britney, but it was his relationship with her that had included her the kidnapping and then his refusal that had caused her to be put in the machine. ‘Sorry’ just didn’t seem to cut it. “I’ve been bedder…” Her face then scrunched for a moment and then relaxed. Patrick felt like he was going to pass out from seeing all this together, so he quickly asked another question to keep himself from collapsing from all the cascading emotions now hitting him. “Are you excited for the choosing ceremony tonight?” To his dismay though, Cara’s eyes then grew wide and began to quickly fill with tears. “Da shoosin’… theremowie?” Even with the pacifier firmly stuck in her mouth, Patrick could see her lower lip begin to tremble. Right behind him, Penny noticed too. “Uh oh…” Penny then began pushing Patrick out of the room very quickly after that. “Please…” Patrick could then hear a giant wail come from Cara inside her crib and Penny sighed. “She’s had a rough day, sweetie. Maybe come by another time?” Patrick was then completely pushed from the room and the door soon closed without another word. Even with it closed though, he could still hear the cries of anguish coming from within… coming from his friend. The next few minutes were practically a blur for Patrick. He of course still knew what was happening around and to him, but the details were all a blur. For example, he knew that a concerned-looking Addy was trying to console him and then change his diaper back in his own room, but what she was saying exactly was almost entirely lost on him. Then, perhaps it was the coldness of the air when Addy opened his diaper or perhaps the coldness of the wipes afterward, but Patrick quickly snapped back to reality and wanted to know what had happened back there for Cara to just lose it so quickly and completely. He then remembered back to what Addy had first told him about Cara before he entered her room and he wanted to know more. “What bad news did she get today?” Patrick asked bluntly as Addy began affixing his diaper back up. Addy sighed. “Yes… that… I’m afraid that Daphne has dropped out as her potential caretaker. That, and her state today… I’m afraid that she won’t be attending the ceremony with you all tonight.” “Dropped out?” Patrick asked with disbelief. He had never heard of that before, especially for a Big about ready to adopt a Little. “She can just abandon Cara like that?” “Yes… I’m afraid she can and that after you all were brought back, Cara was tested, and she was found to have some… deficits after the machine. Nothing exactly permanent in the traditional sense as she was retrieved in the nick of time, but now… she has good days… and she has bad days…” “And today is a bad day?” Patrick asked as Addy began to snap his undershirt onesie on over his diaper. Addy nodded. “Yes… she was having a good day… walking around, talking fine without her paci… even didn’t need Mrs. Blue, but then Daphne gave us her final decision after lunch. Well, I’m sure you know what happened next…” Patrick felt his eyes swim with tears. One of his closest friends here had been butchered by those terrible Bigs. “Is there…?” Patrick tried to compose himself. “Is there anything that can be done, or is she…?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish that question. “No…” Addy said, now pulling Patrick up and affixing his button-up shirt and pants in place. “It’s not permanent, but she’s going to have a long road to recovery…” She sighed as she began slipping his black dress shoes on his feet. “A lot of Bigs may not want that responsibility unfortunately. Psyche may make some exceptions for her to stay, but it’s not permanent.” Likely in a bit of shock, Patrick said no more. Addy then finished dressing him, complete with a bowtie and some suspenders, and then ushered him downstairs all fresh and clean. Once she returned to relieve Penny back upstairs with Cara, Patrick’s previous state of stupor gave way to anger. Sam had been emotional the other night at the police station, but she had a point… He quickly rationalized as well that if Dr. Halgen had actually done her job with the criteria properly, he and Cara wouldn’t have been taken and she would be going home with someone tonight, rather than mindlessly messing herself and then bawling over all that she had lost. “Dr. Halgen!” Patrick yelled when he finally saw her. Dr. Halgen’s face became awash with embarrassment and quickly excused herself from the Bigs she was talking to. Without delay, she then ushered the angry Little before her off to the side. “It’s very rude to interrupt people when they’re talking to…” “I don’t care!” Patrick interrupted. After seeing the state that they had left Cara in, he was almost beyond caring about manners, let alone any of the other party guests here tonight. Shhh! Lower your voice, Patrick.” Dr. Halgen then took in a giant breath and tried to calm herself down in order to deescalate the tension. There were donors and potential future Big clients here beyond all the potential caretakers who may get chosen in less than an hour. Tonight had to go well for several reasons, but she knew that Patrick needed to hear something more. Thinking back on her life and what had happened to her own Blair, she couldn’t blame him. “I know you heard about them going to Dark Cliff. I can assure you, that place is terrible and certainly a punishment in and of itself.” Patrick quickly shook his head as his anger wasn’t nearly satisfied to the point of acceptance of it all. “It’s not enough. Not even close.” Dr. Halgen sighed. Before anything else happened that night, she knew she had to calm Patrick’s nerves. He wasn’t a celebrity by any means, but several people knew who he was. If Psyche had a chance of coming out of all this in one piece, he had to choose without this display of anger tonight. “But they are being punished…” “They abused and tortured me,” Patrick interrupted loudly. A few Bigs turned toward them, but then just went back to their prior conversations. While their attitude towards Littles could be maddening, it also allowed them to ignore some of the more minor outbursts from Littles. Not even noticing them, Patrick just continued. “And they also severely damaged Cara! Have you seen her? What those monsters did to my friend? She’s been butchered!” Dr. Halgen nodded with the weariness of what she had witnessed. She had grown a bond with each of the Littles in her own way, so to have one of them be robbed of so much so near the end nearly broke her heart. “I have… there’s still hope though…” “Bull!” Patrick shouted. Again, more Bigs turned toward them but then just turned back around. Nurse Erin was nearby and started to come over to them, but Dr. Halgen waved her off. “I heard it all from Addy, but if there is any hope at all, and she’s not just doing some wishful thinking, she’ll never be the same, right?” Patrick asked, hoping beyond hope that he had misinterpreted something along the way. “Can you tell me that I’m wrong? Please, Dr. Halgen…” Dr. Halgen paused for a moment. She could have lied and deescalated the situation in seconds, but she owed Patrick the truth at least. “No… she’ll always be a little different now… changed to be a Little in more ways than we are able to see even now. So, recover, yes, but restored, no…” As if all he had held within his heart was suddenly and terribly confirmed, Patrick almost seemed to furiously light up in his maddening accuracy of the situation. “Exactly! They damned her to this dimension or a nursing home back on Earth for the rest of her life! There’s no jail that could possibly be bad enough for something like that. I want justice!” he yelled once more, even now going as far as to punch the palm of one hand with the fist of his other. Dr. Halgen waved her finger at the Little before her. She had to be kind to him, but she still needed to set him straight. “No, you want revenge, and I understand that… all too well.” She then looked off to the side as if she was recalling something very specific. Again, Patrick wondered if she was a spy like Addy as well in this place, but it still seemed too far-fetched. “Sometimes,” she said with a sigh, “you just need to let things go…” “But I can’t…” Patrick said as his resolve began to break. He could really only be angry for so long at her. Mostly at this point, he was just so sad about his good friend and her whole situation here now. “We were supposed to choose together… how can I just let all of it go?” Dr. Halgen sighed. “I’m very sorry, Patrick. I want to tell you so desperately to give you something to cling onto instead of revenge, but with all the laws these days… They work wonders so many times, but in this instance though, because of them, I can’t tell you much. Redge and Britney, however… they aren’t just going to Dark Cliff…” Patrick raised his eyebrows in confusion. “What does that even mean? Is there another place worse than Dark Cliff within it I don’t know about?” “No… or, well…” Dr. Halgen knew she had to be careful about what she confirmed or didn’t at this point. “I don’t know about that, but that’s not what I’m talking about…” Dr. Halgen took a deep breath in. “I can’t go into specifics, but let’s just say that there is a Big and Middle section of that prison and there’s a Little section as well. I’ll just leave it at the fact that for being a bunch of Bigs, Redge and Britney may not be going to the side you may think…” Patrick felt confused over her insinuation for a moment, but then it all clicked in an instant. If they weren’t going to the Bigs and Middles side, then… “Oh… I see.” Patrick sighed. “I don’t know if that’s good enough, but I guess it’s something.” Dr. Halgen then patted Patrick on the shoulder. “Trust me… it will be enough for them to get their just deserts.” She then straightened up and pressed out her dress and coat. “Now, just try to enjoy yourself tonight and I’ll get you in a little bit for the main ceremony.” Patrick nodded and mulled about the party. At one point, he even grabbed a pigs-in-a-blanket from one of the nearby snack trays, something that had been specially requested by the group last week when they were planning tonight out. Then finally, Dr. Halgen wrangled up all the Littles and brought them inside. “Now, I want all of you to reflect on your journey getting to tonight.” Most of the Littles, including Patrick closed their eyes and thought about when they first pulled up to the facility here. “When you came to us, you were damaged or sick or just felt that something wasn’t right about yourselves. Through hard work and a little of our technology though, each of you has come so far.” She paused for a moment until all the Littles around her were smiling. “There… you can open your eyes now. Take in the moment and luxuriate in it.” The group did and Patrick felt nearly positively giddy about what was about to happen. From the looks of his fellow group members, they seemed to feel similar emotions as well. “Tonight, is for you,” Dr. Halgen continued. “In a moment, I’m going to go out and introduce all of you. Come out when I call your name and just stand at the microphone and say who you want your caretaker to be. I guarantee that whoever you choose will take care of the rest afterward.” She smiled and then walked to the curtain that had been set up to the door to the back deck which was now the main stage. Before exiting, she turned around. “Good luck to you all. It’s been wonderful knowing each and every one of you. I’m so very proud.” Once Dr. Halgen was outside, the Littles inside practically buzzed with excitement. While Patrick still felt the same, he felt butterflies flutter about his stomach as knew he was going to take a risk if the plan he had concocted while outside went off as he wanted. If he did it right though, it could solve multiple problems, and that was the notion that he clung to with every fiber of his being. He just hoped that Dr. Halgen would be okay with his plan and that Sam and Lloyd had gotten his note that he slipped to them before following Dr. Halgen back here. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” Dr. Halgen then announced from outside on the back deck. “It’s a pleasure to have you all here with us tonight. As I’m sure you are aware, this batch of Littles has been through quite the ordeal to get here. We here at Psyche are pleased to announce that those you will see tonight are still ready and eager to choose their new caretaker. This is a time-honored tradition and their resilience in the face of adversity, be it disease or some crazed Bigs,” the Bigs laughed a bit, “is a testament to the successful work we do here.” The crowd then cheered loudly. Patrick knew her words had to be carefully chosen after she had mentioned that all Littles that they would see tonight were fine. Cara was still upstairs and certainly wasn’t fine, but she wasn’t choosing tonight and therefore wouldn’t be seen. It bugged him to no end, but he just crossed his fingers as Dr. Halgen continued to speak, still worrying about his own matters more in that one moment. “And now, let’s have a round of applause for our first Little!” she cheered. “Let’s hear it for Ian!” Ian hesitated for a moment, but Quentin and Patrick helped their more progressed friend out and guided him toward the opening curtains that led to the stage right beyond. Their whispered promise of seeing Chris out there didn’t hurt matters either. Then, one by one, his four fellow Littles down here tonight each went and chose the caretaker that Patrick had suspected they would. Littles were many things, but spontaneous with their affections toward a Big was rarely one of them. Finally, he was alone and knew he would be next. “Yes, wonderful decision, Terra. Well done.” She then paused. “Now, last but certainly not least, the Little who braved the most despicable Bigs and came out the other side, I give you, Patrick!” The audience broke into another thunderous applause and Patrick slowly stepped through the curtain. The lights all shone brightly into his face, and he had to shield himself for a moment until his eyes could get adjusted. Fortunately, having done this dozens of times before, Dr. Halgen was prepared for this contingency and gently reached down and guided Patrick to the microphone before him. “Go ahead, sweetie,” she said kindly after returning to her own microphone. “Tell us who you choose.” Now, normally, the Little would just excitedly babble or yell out a single name and there would be a tender moment between the Little in question and their newly chosen caretaker. Patrick had other ideas though. He then took the microphone and leaned in closely to ensure everyone could hear him properly. “Hello everyone. I’m Patrick.” He quickly looked back at Dr. Halgen, who seemed to have grown pale from anger or shock at his deviation from the norm. He couldn’t tell what she would do, but he knew that he had to just press on and hope that she wouldn’t stop him. “As Dr. Halgen has told you all, I was kidnapped by two Bigs. It was a harrowing experience for me, but one other as well.” Many of the Bigs leaned in and some even gasped, having only heard the story from the news or secondhand. “She… well, I won’t speak for her, but she’s my friend. She should be up here tonight with me, but she’s not.” Dr. Halgen then quickly walked over and nearly grabbed the microphone away to end all this, but fortunately, one of the Bigs shouted, “Let him speak!” This was then followed by several others chanting the same, so instead, Dr. Halgen just did a little bow and backed up. “Thank you,” Patrick continued. “I won’t take much more of your time up, but I was faced with a challenge tonight. One that most Littles never find themselves in. I had the love of two near-perfect Bigs and they held my affection as well, which gave me dilemma in all this. Then, I had an idea though.” Patrick then scanned the crowd and finally saw that both Sam and Lloyd were now practically attached at the hip. On cue, as he had instructed and asked them for their permission in his note, both gave him a thumbs up as an answer to his question. Patrick smiled widely. “As I was saying, I had a dilemma of two Bigs, but there are now two Littles in need of a home. So, I choose both… and for Cara to come with us.” The entire crowd remained silent for a moment, and all seemed to turn toward Dr. Halgen. Finally, one asked the most pertinent question, “Is that even allowed?” The spotlight then refocused on Dr. Halgen. After some clear debate with herself, she finally spoke back up. “Wait… only a couple can take in a Little if they’re together according to the contract. No hookups are allowed. So, are you…?” “We moved in together a month ago!” Sam and Lloyd then shouted triumphantly together. Clearly shocked, but now confirming that all was above board according to the letter of the law and the contract, Dr. Halgen nodded. “Very well. The decision stands!” As if a giant balloon of anticipation had then popped, the whole crowd burst into a series of cheers. For their part, both Sam and Lloyd rushed up to the stage and a gleefully running Patrick then practically leapt into their arms and they all hugged each other tightly. After a moment, Lloyd then propped him up on his shoulders and the trio practically danced through the cheering crowd, all perfectly happy with how everything had turned out. Dr. Halgen was flabbergasted by the whole situation, but just smiled at the outcome. She knew most thought of her as a stick in the mud, but everything had to be legal here. If anything was wrong, Juventas could intervene, and then everything would be ruined. After some minor closing remarks that she wasn’t even sure could be heard, she stepped off the stage. At once, she quickly noticed a saddened Addy off to one side of the cheering crowd. Having already witnessed her own Littles choose their new caretakers, Erin was now taking her shift with Cara upstairs. “You okay, Addy?” Dr. Halgen asked her friend and clearly exhausted nurse. “Yeah…” she mumbled out. “Just so hard when they leave, you know… particularly this one…” Dr. Halgen nodded. “I never envy you nurses with your job, but you know why you couldn’t be his caretaker this round, right?” Addy nodded. “We just have too much at stake with this operation, and like you figured out the other week, Patrick was great, but he ultimately wasn’t the one.” Addy sighed. “I know Kelsey, but still… makes me wonder if there will ever be a one that I would quit this place for and then move onto the second phase of this whole plan that’s been concocted.” “Funny you should mention that… Just one moment.” Dr. Halgen then stepped away for a minute and returned with a manilla folder in her hands. “New batch coming tomorrow. I think I have a very interesting candidate for you this time… if you want that is.” Addy took the folder with some curiosity and opened it up. Inside was a picture of chestnut haired Little with round features. He would have been adorable in every sense of the word, but his eyes conveyed a sense of past horrors and immense sadness as they sunk back into his face. Curious, she read further down. “Oliver Maxson… stage 4 skin cancer and it’s spread to several of his other vital organs… five months to live at best, and… is this accurate?” Dr. Halgen nodded her head. “Says here that he has severe anxiety and likely PTSD from his time undercover with the DEA… why isn’t he at the facility in New Eboracum with the rest of the service personnel up there?” “He wasn’t injured in the line of duty,” Dr. Halgen explained. “According to Juventas, that facility is only for people who were harmed while in the service. His main problem occurred afterward and Juventas doesn’t care about medical issues like PTSD when it comes to placement in the various Psyche facilities. You know that’s one of the reasons that Emily and I included you in on this whole operation in the first place. Things have to change.” “I know, but…” Addy looked back down at the file and felt a strong pang of desire to help this poor Little out. Like many others, she felt a duty to her new patients, but Oliver seemed… different. “I’ll do it. Give him to me tomorrow. I’ll look after him.” Dr. Halgen smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. Now, let’s go enjoy the rest of the party.” Addy nodded and then looked over to the cheering trio still celebrating their triumph from tonight as they were surrounded by all the other successful Little and Big pairings as well. “I’m glad Cara is going with them. They do seem like the sort of people that can help her now. If I can’t, I’m glad that she’ll have them at least with Patrick.” Dr. Halgen smiled and brought her friend back into the main hustle of the crowds at the party. They couldn’t be gone too long being seen together. Juventas still remained in the dark about the little scheme they were cooking up to bring it all down. Now, they just needed time, but for tonight at least, they could be happy in their shared success with everyone. Meanwhile, Patrick bent down and hugged Lloyd tightly. Sam was right next to them and hugged her two men about as hard as she could. Each had a reason to be happy and each wondered about their future together. Patrick though, thought about it the most, and high above everyone, even in the chilly night air, he could feel a warmth surge through his heart and entire body. His family could never be replaced, but he knew that they would be happy that he had found people that could love and support him as much as they had. Cara would get the help she needed, he would get the family he wanted, and Sam and Lloyd would take home the Littles they had been searching for years for. For the moment, all seemed peaceful. In all the frivolity and celebrations, however, Patrick had only one thought remaining; what would the future bring? 15 2 Link to comment
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