THE SERUM
by Mark (marknew742@aol.com)
Nerdy Edgar invents a serum that will make him big and strong. But what if it falls into the wrong hands?

I'll start out with a confession.  I'm a nerd.  A shrimp and a
nerd.  A classic, plastic pocket protector nerd.  Hair that won't
stay in place.  Black glasses.  Bad complexion.  You name it;
that's me.  I'm short, only 5'6" and slight.  The maddening thing
is that I started out pretty tall.  I was as tall as I am now
when I was in fifth grade.  Then I towered over all the kids, and
the girls all wanted to be seen with me because I looked like I
was older.  Then something happened.  I don't know why, but I
stopped growing and soon everyone else was maturing, passing me,
growing taller, stronger.  Even the girls.  And not only was I
small.  I was weak too.  I stayed five and a half feet tall with
the physique of a twelve year old.  Soft skinny arms, a few curly
facial hairs.  And acne of course.  

Gym class was a horror.  Some modern assistant principal decided
we should have coed classes.  For me, keeping up with the
maturing guys was a joke, but even the girls I had lorded over
just a few years ago now enjoyed pushing me in the mud or
challenging me to arm wresting.  Desperate that I was I would
accept, taking any opportunity life handed me to feel that cool
feminine flesh.  And ninety percent of the time they'd beat me. 
I'd watch with dismay as the muscle I didn't have would rise in
their arms and they'd triumphantly crush my hand into the table,
then push me to the ground and sit on my chest until I'd beg to
be set free.  Being humiliated didn't excite me.  It was just
that as far as contact with the opposite sex, that was all I had.

I remember one horrible afternoon with Barb Messig.  She's a
model now, 6'1", blond, ripped and gorgeous, with a sexier name.
Even in eighth grade she was three inches taller than me and she
was stockier than she is today.  We had "gone out" a few times in
fifth grade, when she was a little blond kid with glasses and no
breasts, until I dropped her for a sixth grader who had started
wearing a bra, and I guess she hadn't forgotten it.  We were in
chemistry lab class after school hours.  About six of us had
missed regular lab for various reasons during the year and were
now making it up.  Because my experiment had been done earlier in
the year, the equipment I needed was stored away on a high shelf
in a cabinet.  Barb saw me standing on a chair, struggling to
lower a large supply box to the lab table.  She must have
motioned to everyone to stand around her, then she walked up
behind me and as I lowered the box unsteadily, she snatched out
of my hands, balancing it in one hand like a waitress holds an
empty tray.

"Having some trouble Eddie?", she said mockingly.  I looked up at
the box poised over my head and reached up futilely to get it,
while I looked enviously at the small bulge on her upper arm that
gave her the strength to show me up so easily.  "I wouldn't want
you to tax yourself.  Why don't you let me set it down here for
you."  She put it on the table, then, catching me off balance,
butted me with her hip, the strength of her well-toned thigh and
the heft of her lovely bottom sending me crashing to the ground. 
To the laughter of the rest of the crowd I looked up at her
perfect body while she stood with her hand on her cocked hip
grinning at me.

"Poor little Edgar Brown.  You're so weak.  Like somebody put a
spell on you three years ago.  I know I wanted to.  Wouldn't you
do anything now to get your hands on these melons?"  She spread
her palm across her round teen breasts and I felt my crotch
tighten.  "Here, let me help you up so you can get a closer
look."  She held out her hand, grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. 
"I'll let you feel them.  All you have to do is break my hold."  

With all my strength I pulled with my right arm and used my left
hand to pry apart her fingers.  Just when I thought I had opened
her hand enough to yank my arm out, she closed it tight, catching
both my wrists.  

"Ha!  I caught you with just one hand."  She squeezed and I felt
pain shooting from my wrists up and down my arms.  I gritted my
teeth, determined not to cry out.  "You're being so brave, Eddie,
but I know I'm hurting you."  She squeezed tighter.  I could
swear I was seeing stars.

Pam Gunderson, her lab partner, laughed.  "Whoa Barb.  Look at
the tears.  You're making him cry!"

"I know.  I want to know what he'll give me if I stop.  How about
it Eddie?  You want to pay me twenty dollars to stop?  The price
will go up two bucks a second."  I nodded vigorously.  She smiled
and pushed me away.  "I don't want your money, worm, but if I do
want anything from you, just remember what I can do to you.  Come
on Pam, let's finish up and get out of here before we get the
cooties from Edgar."

Everyone steered clear of me.  I finished up late and dreamed
about revenge, but to tell the truth, I was too scared of her,
and everyone else, to do anything.  I knew that whatever I did I
would lose in the end.

That episode made me determined to build myself up.  I tried
everything. I'd spend time at the weight machine, but although I
got a little stronger, I never gained any real muscle.  Even when
I started drinking those special protein shakes, all they did was
make me fat, and the side effects from steroids frightened me
away from them.  Soon I retreated into myself, fantasizing about
magic growth spells and genies that would answer my wishes.  Of
course nothing like that ever happened.

Meanwhile, I pursued my scientific studies, enrolling in special
weekend science classes at the university and leaving high school
a year early to study at M.I.T.  I earned a degree in three years
and then entered a biochemistry program at the University of
Michigan, pursuing studies and writing papers on amino acids and
endocrinology.  Although I wouldn't admit it to anyone, I was
really looking for some compound to radically stimulate muscle
growth.

Personally, nothing much changed.  At age 25 I was still five and
a half feet tall, and weighed one hundred fifteen pounds.  I'd
had one affair with a student in my section who was even smaller
than I was, a shy, fairly wealthy girl named Norma Willens who
seemed to be impressed by my way with organic chemistry.  Norma
was one of the brightest students in the college.  One day, while
she was working late at the lab on a project, we began talking
about my work and I was shocked to find that she understood the
implications right away and offered more than a few valuable
suggestions.  We continued the discussions over pizza and coffee,
and before I knew it I had a girlfriend.

Norma was less than five feet tall and weighed only eighty
pounds.  Her figure was quite petite, with a waist of only twenty
one inches and breasts barely large enough to fill her A cup, but
she was a willing and enthusiastic lover. For the first time in
my life I had a regular sex life.  Next to her, I felt like a
normal man, and I insisted on playing all sorts of games to
demonstrate my greater strength.  I would make her arm wrestle
me, pretend to be losing, then quickly snap her hand back down on
the table.  Or I would surprise her when she walked into my
apartment, wrestling her down on the ground and forcing off her
clothes, easily holding off the resistance from her thin arms and
legs.  I wouldn't rape her or anything.  If she told me she was
unwilling, I'd stop right away.  Granted, I don't think she liked
those sessions much.  But overall, she probably found my small
size less intimidating and less painful than most men, so she
played along.  Meanwhile, I was amazed at her intuitive
understanding of biochemistry, and shared with her all of my
research, other than my own personal goal, and started to make
tremendous new strides.  

Norma wouldn't tolerate any favoritism in class, and insisted on
transferring out of my section.  That's probably what led to the
problem.  We had been dating about six months and Norma was
pressing me to move into her spacious apartment, when another
student - a cheerleader of course - started making eyes at me.  I
should have realized she was just looking for a better grade, but
I quickly dumped Norma for Debbie, only to be cut loose myself
once the grades were published.  Realizing I had made a mistake,
I went straight to Norma's apartment to ask her to forgive me. 
She stared at me with absolute hatred, and quietly stated that no
one had ever treated her the way I had, and she would get her
revenge.  Then she slammed the door in my face.  Her answer
seemed pretty final.  I gave up and went home.

The next few days were difficult.  The months with Norma and then
Debbie had broken the routine of my solitary life, and I had no
desire to return to it.  With a new dedication, I returned to my
project and suddenly found I was near success.  For a week, I
spent 24 hours a day at the campus, alternating between
laboratory work and the mainframe, sleeping at my work station
for a few hours whenever exhaustion overcame my excitement.  By
the end of the week I had isolated the chemical ingredients I
needed for my potion.  I carefully mixed those I could get from
the laboratory supplies into a four ounce beaker and left at two
in the morning with the small vial of precious clear liquid,
needing only the distillate of the pistils of a thousand lilies
to complete the formula.  I carried my cargo home, put it in the
refrigerator, which would preserve it for a day, and planned to
sleep for a few hours until the florists opened.

Naturally, in the unaccustomed comfort of my bed, I slept until
one.  Beside myself with excitement, I called all the florists in
town.  Amazingly, all were completely sold out of lilies, except
for one store that had two dozen left.  That shop, which was on
the outskirts of town, then called back and promised to get me
all the lilies I needed, but refused to deliver them, so I drove
thirty minutes to the store and waited there over two hours only
to learn that his suppliers had called back to say they could not
get them today.  I was delirious with impatience, but seeing
there was nothing I could do, I took the two dozen lilies.  I
decided to go to the lab to make a small dose of my serum and
tidy up my records but then had another horrible surprise. 
Somehow, all of my work had been wiped off the computer.  I was
able to salvage an eighth of an ounce of serum from the old
batch, but unless I could reconstruct my prior week's work, my
discovery would be lost.

The initial batch would spoil in a few hours and there was
nothing I could do about that, so I decided to extract what I
needed from the lilies and prepared the serum.  Knowing what
would come, I closed the test tube and ran down to the local
MacDonald's, where I ordered five super size value meals.  I
carried the food to the back of the restaurant and gulped down
the serum.  As I had expected, I immediately felt famished and
started tearing open the food right away.  The effect was
remarkable.  I could almost sense my body expand.  Before I knew
it, I had grown almost an inch and saw the faint suggestion of
real muscles on my arms.  If only I had the full dose, I thought,
but at least this was a start.  I felt confident that if I had
done it once, I could do it again.

A little taller and prouder, I drove slowly home.  As I
approached my building, I noticed clusters of flower petals
blowing in the street, and then, in front, piles of plant stems. 
I shook my head, wondering at the coincidence, and climbed the
two flights to my apartment.  The fragrance grew stronger with
each step until I reached my floor, and was now combined with the
smokey odor of grilled meat.  There, in front of me, were
hundreds of petals from lilies.  What could this mean?  I opened
the door and saw Norma on the opposite side of the apartment,
wearing a running singlet and shorts and lounging on a chair with
my beaker in her hand, the liquid now a bright yellow from the
pistil distillate.

"I thought you'd never get back.  I really don't like to drink
alone."

"What are you doing with that?  Give it to me."

"Forget it Edgar.  And don't get too close.  I can drink this
down a lot more quickly than you can get to me."

"But...."

"Sit down on the floor, right by the door, and I'll explain. 
You're very careless you know.  Not changing your locks after we
broke up, not changing your passwords either.  I was keeping
close tabs on your work every day, even adding some ideas of my
own while you slept.  It wasn't all your genius that produced
this serum, you know.  And I made a copy before I erased the
files. Unless you understand my contributions as well as I
understand yours, I doubt you'll be able to duplicate the work. 
I bet you were too excited and self-important to realize that not
all of those creative turns in your work this week were yours.

"But the flowers.  Where'd you get the flowers?  They're sold out
everywhere."

"Why do you think they're sold out?  I knew that lilies were the
key several days ago and made sure all of the shops would be sold
out, to me, the day I let you finish.  Just to make sure you'd be
away, I arranged to send you on that wild goose chase across town
for two dozen lilies.  Hmm.  You look a little bigger.  You must
have taken it already.  It looks like the protein
ingestion/incorporation equations were spot on; I don't see you
growing any more."

I nodded in agreement.  "Yes, I've stopped after growing one
inch.  But Norma.  There's four ounces there.  You don't need it
all.  Please, just one ounce. You would still have three. 
Please.  It would make all the difference to me."

"I know that, Edgar. A quarter ounce of this would let you grow
to about five feet nine.  You could be average.  An ounce would
make you as big as a football player, and much stronger too; the
effect on muscle being much greater than on bone.  Girls like
Debbie really go for that.  But I don't want to give you any of
it.  As you know, the effect of this serum is so much more
pronounced on males than females.  Try as I did, I couldn't
change that, and I really am so tired of being small."

"I'm begging you Norma."

"I know you are Edgar.  I hear you loud and clear.  This was your
lifetime dream, and I hold it in my hands.  I planned to make
this your birthday present, but when you betrayed me with your
little affair with Debbie you gave me different ideas.  Well,
here's looking at you, kid."  She quickly tipped the beaker to
her mouth.  I let out a scream and raced toward her as she
swallowed the contents.  Momentarily startled, she tapped the
beaker to make sure it was empty, then reached up to grab a
basket filled with meat next to her, but I got to her first and
knocked it away, pinning her underneath me.  She howled with
disappointment, then with hunger.  I kicked the food further out
of her reach and sat on her.  Her cries were pitiful, but I knew
that once the critical fifteen minute period ended the serum
would have no effect on her and I could safely let her eat.  I
steeled myself to be deaf to her pleas.  After ten minutes of her
deafening moans, she fainted.

Another ten minutes passed, she opened her eyes and looked at me
with hatred even more intense than the last time I'd seen her. 
"It's war, Edgar.  You hurt me as a woman before, but you
tortured me as a human being just now.  Your life is over as far
as I'm concerned."

"Is that so?  And what about you?  What generous thing have you
done for me of late?"

"What do you know about what I intended?  Maybe I was just
teasing you before.  I wanted to see just how low you'd stoop,
but you always surprise me and go lower than I thought possible." 
She walked over to the basket and started to pick at the meat
with her fingers.  "Keeping me away from this while my body
screamed for nourishment.  That takes a truly heartless
individual.  And to think, I gave my body to you."  Her hand was
shaking slightly as she continued to nibble away at the food.

"You're so self-righteous.  I tried to apologize but you wouldn't
hear it.  And how would you expect me to react when you'd stolen
the formula right from under my nose?"

"I had expected you to be a gentleman, always.  Evidently I
expected too much."

I glared at her and she met my eyes, stare for stare, breaking
eye contact only to stuff bits of meat into her mouth.  I looked
down at the bowl, startled to see it was empty.  She calmly
reached behind her to grab a long roll of salami and started
biting into it, swallowing the soft meat almost without chewing
it.  Fearing I had been tricked again, I flew across the room and
pushed her onto the floor, pinning her again a few feet away from
the food.  She swallowed what was in her mouth, then looked up at
me sweetly.  "Enjoy holding me down while you can Edgar.  I feel
it working.  You know, you shouldn't have believed everything in
the computer simulations of the serum's reaction period.  After
all, remember who wrote them."

I could feel something shifting below me.  It was Norma, growing. 
I could feel her feet moving slowly down along my leg as her legs
got longer, her chest pushing up against mine as it thickened. 
She had stopped struggling and was now completely relaxed, lying
comfortably beneath me just waiting for the serum to have its
full effect.  I looked to her side to see new muscles in her
upper arms pushing the thin outline of her veins closer to the
surface of her skin, becoming clearer and more distinct with each
second. I could see her growing biceps stretching her skin
outward.  I gulped when I saw that they were already larger than
mine.

"You feel lighter and lighter Edgar.  Are you on a diet?" 
Clucking her tongue with satisfaction, she put her right hand in
bck of me and squeezed my ass.  "Nope.  Soft as ever."  I winced
at the power in her fingers and at the same time saw the peak of
her new bicep pop as she tensed her hand.  Her feet now met mine
and she stared smugly into my eyes.  Then with one fluid motion,
she cupped my ass and rolled to her feet bringing me up with her,
my crotch pressed firmly against her hip.  I pushed against her
chest, trying to get free, but with one hand she held me locked
against her in an iron grip.  She walked across the room carrying
me and returned to her eating, while I futilely tried to break
her hold and get free.  Now I could see her whole body growing. 
Her legs were getting longer as well as thicker and I was rising
off the floor.  Her singlet and shorts stretched and snapped.  I
couldn't believe the size of her arms and chest, the hard, round
muscles of her biceps ever expanding, while mine looked smaller
and smaller as I flailed helplessly against her.  Strong enough
now to hold me over her head with one hand, she pressed me
against the ceiling and reached down to scoop handful after
handful of hamburger meat into her mouth. I reached down trying
to keep her hand from her mouth, but she just brushed me aside
like a fly, and soon she had grown so much that all I could reach
was the rock-hard bicep on the arm that held me.  Finishing her
bowl of meat, she stepped into the kitchen. She pulled a large
roast out the oven and started eating it like an ice cream bar. 
She finished it in minutes, then took out a second, a third, a
fourth and a fifth.  She threw me across the room to the couch
and proceeded to the refrigerator, where she had stored more pre-
cooked meat on each shelf, and then to bags and bags of groceries
packed with cheese, milk and a few cases of protein enriched
shakes.  I watched with bitter envy as she continued to eat and
grow.  Finally, forty five minutes later, she stopped and turned
to me.

"Ok Edgar.  Based on what I've bought, I'd say I weigh about six
hundred pounds, and assuming you have eight foot ceilings, I'm
about seven feet ten inches tall."

"You told me it didn't work as well on...."

"I lied, obviously.  Some last minute changes in the serum.  And
the lilies were very fresh."  She turned to me, looking very
serious, and said, "Now, Edgar, are you ready to arm wrestle?  As
I recall, you lead the series seventeen to nothing."

"I have no chance against you now!  What's the point?"

"The point?  Hah!  I always wondered that myself Edgar, but I
played along with you.  Oh, never mind.  I really have no
interest in that sort of thing.  I have other plans."  She
widened her smile and flexed her arms proudly, each one as thick
as my skinny frame.  "Wouldn't you like to touch them, Edgar? 
Feel for yourself how hard they are, how large."  She reached
back and picked up my floor lamp, an antique made of cast iron,
as if it were a twig and bent it in half.  "And strrrrong too!"

"Those were supposed to be my muscles!" I wailed.

Norma smiled greedily.  "Yes they were, they surely were. And
they might have been if you had been faithful to me."  She put
her hand under my crotch and lifted me so that I was staring into
her eyes, cradling me in her one arm as a mother would hold a
newborn baby.  It seemed to take no effort on her part, but she
flexed her arm anyway so that I could see her hard muscle leap
out from her arm, a mountain of hard power.  "Look at me now,
Edgar, and tell me how you feel."

I should have kept quiet, but I was so raw from disappointment
and lack of sleep that I couldn't keep my mouth shut.  "How do
you think I feel!  You've taken everything I've always dreamed
about, and you're standing here taunting me with your size, your
strength!"  I tried to turn away but she held me against her, her
arm now encircling my waist, my feet banging futilely against her
rock-hard thighs.

"Stop kicking me!  It's annoying," she barked and squeezed the
air out of me to make her point.  "Go on."

I coughed weakly.  "I'm sorry.  I just can't believe it, ok?  I
just never thought I would discover anything that worked and now
here it is, but you got it instead of me."

I looked into her large face.  She looked kinder.  "You've said
enough.  Now, to show you I'm not so horrible as you, I have a
surprise for you.  I wanted to see how you'd react, and for once
you were honest with me.  I have another ounce of the serum and
I'll give it to you.  Maybe if you behave, I'll give you more
another day."  She put me down, reached into a backpack and
withdrew a small beaker with a golden yellow serum.  "Drink this. 
There's a bag of food still in the kitchen for you."

My eyes popped.  This was unbelievable!  She'd had her fun, and
now I'd get my wish!  I quickly drank it down and waited for the
feeling of strength to course through my veins.  Suddenly, I felt
weak instead, nauseous and dizzy.  I passed out and faded in and
out of consciousness.  What was going on, I thought in my few
lucid moments. Finally, I came too, still feeling dizzy and
strange.  I tried to walk but fell to the floor and remember
being picked up and driven somewhere.  I couldn't tell how much
time went by, but the next thing I saw clearly was an IV going
into my arm.  I was vaguely aware of days and nights, then
finally came to full consciousness.  The IV was gone.

I eased myself slowly off a bed and heard a distant bell ring.  I
felt incredibly weak and staggered to a chair across the room.  A
couple of minutes later the door opened.  It was Norma, carrying
a tray with soup and crackers.

"Well.  At last.  I was wondering when you'd come out of it."

"Where am I?  What happened to me?"

"You're in one of my family's houses, in the country.  How do you
feel Edgar?"

"Weak.  Incredibly weak."

Norma grinned.  "I should think so.  Look at your arms."

I looked down.  They were like matchsticks.  "What have you done
to me!"

"Ha, ha!  It worked," she boomed.  "You're even smaller than
before.  It was just a little stomach virus, but it kept you
incapacitated for three weeks.  I've kept you alive on fluids,
while you've consumed all the new muscle you grew, and then some.
In effect, I've turned your muscle into shit!  You're smaller now
than I used to be!"

"No!  No!  You couldn't have!"

"Oh no?  Go weigh yourself Edgar."  I stumbled into the bathroom. 
I couldn't believe it.  I weighed seventy pounds.  She opened the
door and reached inside, her hand now easily encircling my waist
and pinning my arms at my sides, she pulled me out.  "I was
waiting to see what you'd do when I took the serum, how you'd
react.  So selfish, aren't you.  Did you even think to apologize
for leaving me for that slut Debbie?  For dumping modest little
Norma for that cheerleader?  No, you still cared only about your
own little dream.  I figured as much but I wasn't sure and
thought I'd give you a chance.  And now my little pet, I have you
here for some more fun.  Ariana, you can come in now."

I'd heard about Ariana.  She was eighteen and was bigger than
Norma used to be.  Norma always complained she was spoiled and
had been bullying Norma even since she was twelve.  I noticed she
had an unpleasant expression.

"This is my sister, Ariana.  She'll be staying with us for
awhile.  I've told her all about you, Edgar.  She's eager to get
to know you."  Norma let me go and gave me a push toward Ariana. 
I tripped and fell against her.  She made a face.

"He smells, Norma."

"Then tell him to take a shower.  He's your responsibility now."

"But what if he doesn't listen to me?" she whined.  "Then what
will I do?"

Norma sighed.  "Figure it out Ariana.  We'll talk about it
later."  She walked out, leaving us alone.

"What did Norma mean, 'I'm your responsibility.'"

"It means you have to do what I tell you.  Like if I tell you to
call me Miss Willens, you have to do it."  

I scowled.  "No way, Ariana."

"No!  That's not right!"  Her voice was rising.  "Don't make me
punish you!"

"Punish me?  Give me a break."  I turned to walk out the door,
but she put her hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.

"Ha!  You are weak!"  She grabbed my upper arm.  "It's like,
you're a man, but you have no muscle at all."

"I've been sick."

"Right."  She pulled me down onto my knees.  "Now, say you're
sorry and you'll do what I say."  I shook my head.  She put her
hand on my neck and pushed my head to her feet.  I struggled to
get up, but her arm was stronger than my pitifully weakened body. 


"Lick my shoes."  She was choking me.  I stretched my tongue out,
but before I reached her shoe, I passed out.

I came to slowly.  Norma and Ariana were talking.

"He was just starting to obey when he fainted."

"Good work."

"So can I have my reward now?"

"Be patient.  I want his spirit broken, his body too if
necessary.  You know what you have to do."

She walked out and I heard Ariana walk toward me.  "You're up? 
Good.  Now take off your clothes."  I lay, inert.  "You don't get
it, do you?  No one's going to help you here.  Norma's used your
computer account to get you a one year leave of absence.  She
logs in once in a while so they think you're working.  You have
to do what I say or I'll just beat you up again and again."

"I won't always be this weak.  Sure, Norma can thrash me with her
pinky, but you won't be able to, once I get my strength back. 
Unless of course, you two plan to starve me."

"I wouldn't do that, although I could."  She sat down next to me,
rolled up her sleeve and looked at her arm.  It was a normal
girl's arm.  "I admit I'm not so strong as Norma now, but I can
take you in a second.  Now, shall I twist your arm behind your
back and break it, or will you strip for me willingly?"

I looked at my tiny arm, as thin as her wrist, and started to
unzip my pants. Ariana smiled.  "Good.  Now finish the job, take
a shower and wait for me, right here on the floor."  She walked
out of the room.  I did as she asked, dried myself and sat naked
on the floor.  

Ariana returned a few minutes later with a stack of papers. "I
want you to do my schoolwork for me.  I've enrolled in five
science courses this semester.  I need five A's.  I can handle
the lab work and I test well, but I hate writing my results up
and I hate homework.  You'll do that for me.  You'll also write
up my thesis proposal and some reports.  

"You want me to do your work for you?"

"Yes.  That's not all.  You're going to sew for me, do my
laundry.  I assume you can balance a checkbook.  I also love
massages.  You know, sometimes I can lie down for hours getting a
massage."

"What do you think I am, your slave?"

"Stand up!" she ordered.  I lay there, passively.  She reached
down and pulled me to her feet. Oh, oh, I thought, she's stronger
than she looked.  She crashed her fist into my chin, easily
punching through my arms, then doubled me over with a punch to my
tender stomach.  I collapsed on the floor again.  She picked me
up again and pushed me into a chair.  Looming over me, she
slapped my face again and again.

"Come on.  I want to see you defend yourself.  This is too easy."

She put her hand next to my face waiting to hit me again.  I
grabbed at her wrist, but she just broke away, hitting me again.
"Stop.  Please stop," I cried.  "I've been sick.  Don't hit me
again."

"You just brought it on yourself.  Anyway, with all the blood I
don't really want to touch you.  I'll stop for now, but I'll
start again worse if you try to resist me.  As you can see, I
kind of enjoy it.  But what I really want is for you to do what I
say.  Understand?"  I nodded.  "Good.  Now clean yourself up. 
Wipe that blood off your face and meet me down the hall.  I'm
ready for that massage." 

So this was how my summer went.  It was totally humiliating.  I
was Ariana's prisoner, her toy, her slave.  I hated her, but
there was nothing I could do.  Whenever I displayed even the
slightest rebellion, she would rub her hands together, apparently
thankful I had given her the occasion for another beating, and
then demonstrate her complete physical domination of me.  After a
month or so of painful defeats I stopped challenging her. 
Meanwhile, I was locked inside the house.  The windows were
barred, the doors sealed by a code.  She delighted in finding new
ways to taunt me, especially when she found tasks I was too weak
to perform.  Then in August, she dropped a letter from my college
on my bed, confirming my e-mailed resignation and my wiring
instructions for a pay-out of my pension, to one of Norma's
accounts I assumed.  Now I was unemployed and broke too.

The only positive thing was that my health and strength were
returning.  Ariana fed me well, and the room down the hall where
I gave Ariana her massages also had exercise equipment, which I
used without objection from Ariana.  The hours of massages I gave
her were good conditioning for my arms and with some weight
training, I was regaining the muscle I'd acquired from the small
dose of serum.  Ariana was strong for a girl, but by the end of
the summer, I was growing confident I would be able to hold my
own against her.  Meanwhile, I waited to the right moment to
challenge her again.  I never saw Norma and assumed she lived at
another family house.  

Late in August, Ariana seemed to grow more careless.  I noticed
that she would prop the door open to avoid keying in the long
code to come and go.  Her body was feeling softer to me during
the massages, and I noticed a roll of fat around her stomach. 
She was still verbally nasty to me, but she was shying away from
physical confrontations, perhaps noticing my greater strength,
and would instead lock me in the room for long periods.  Then one
night, she baited me unceasingly, laughing about how I had let
her bully me for weeks on end, not even daring to challenge her
even when I had the advantage.

"You know, Edgar, you're not only weak, you're also pretty
stupid.  Norma and I have taken everything away from you, even
your pension money, which was just a drop in the bucket compared
with our trust funds.  And you've done nothing.  Tell me, do you
like this dress?  It comes from the last of my share of your
money.  It really didn't take me long to spend it all.  Why, I've
got you so well trained that you won't even leave when the door's
open.  And even though I've let you build up your strength, you
haven't even dared to challenge my authority over you.  Norma was
right.  I may have been a bitch before, but this has taught me a
lot of new skills."

Then she reached into a small purse around her waist and pulled
out a small medicine dropper filled with a familiar looking
golden liquid.

"You know what this is, don't you?  It's my reward from my big
sister."  She popped it into her mouth.  It dangled, temptingly. 
"Now, stand up.  Come closer.  You're going to put your hand on
the bulb and squeeze it.  I want you to be the one to spray it
into my mouth."

This was absolute torture.  How could I give her the advantage
over me again?  I thought about pulling it out of her mouth, and
taking it myself.  But what if it were a trick, like the last
time.  I couldn't bear to be reduced to a seventy pound weakling
again.

"Your face is so expressive.  What pain you're feeling!"

That was the last straw.  I grabbed the dropper out of her mouth
and pushed her across the room, then took it to the bathroom and
emptied it down the sink.  Breathless, but glowing with my
decisive action, I returned to my room, ready to face her in full
battle.  Instead, Ariana was smirking at me.  She held another
container of that golden liquid and quickly swallowed it.  

I groaned.  Almost instantly I could see Ariana's stomach
tighten.  Her shoulders broadened and bulges of muscle rounded
her arms and legs.  Norma must have improved the serum, adding
concentrated protein and nutrients directly to the mix.  Within
minutes I was looking up at a six foot six inch powerhouse.  She
puffed out her imposing chest and looked with obvious pleasure at
her arms.

"I'd like a massage now."

She lay down on the floor and pulled me over to her, easily
lifting me off the ground.  I knelt next to her and began on her
neck.

"I can't even feel that.  Harder!"

Using all of my strength, I pounded my fingers into the ridges of
muscle stretching from shoulder to shoulder, but didn't even have
the strength to knead them.

"Ah, it's useless.  You're not strong enough to massage these
muscles.  But what's the difference?  I'm done here."

"You are?  Does that mean I can go?"

"Why just come with me, Edgar!"  She bounced up to her feet and
put her arm around my waist, propelling me forward.  We walked
down the hall toward the front door.  "You know, Edgar, you were
really smart not to drink that serum.  It had the same virus
Norma gave you.  It would have been so sad for you if you got
sick like that again, just as you were getting to be in such good
shape.  I bet it's the first time in your life you've been so
strong."

I said nothing.  It was ridiculous to feel proud of my work, when
Norma's serum could create such power with no effort at all.

"Wait here while I open the door."  She punched in the code. 
"Why Cassie, I'm so glad you're here!  Edgar, this is my sister
Cassie. She's fourteen."

Cassie was another petite Willens.  She dressed very stylishly,
but the effect was ruined by the mass of gold bracelets around
her wrist and the vigor with which her mouth worked on her
chewing gum.  She scowled at me and looked up at Ariana.  "This
isn't what you said.  He's sallow and kind of runty, but he's
still bigger than me.   How am I going to make him do what I
want?  You and Norma told me he'd be like a toy for me.  It
always happens this way.  You guys get the fun but by the time I
get there, everything's different."

She walked up to me and pushed me in the chest and then tried to
punch me in the stomach, but I caught her hand.  She struggled a
bit, then looked plaintively at Ariana.  "See what I mean?  This
isn't any fun."

"Let her go, Edgar!  Now Cassie, come here.  You're probably just
tired.  Have a glass of lemonade.  It'll make you feel better,
I'm sure."

"Don't patronize me Ariana.  I'm not a baby you can pacify with
sweets.  I don't want your lemonade.  I don't want to stay here
with this creep.  Just take me home."

"Drink the fucking lemonade!"

Cassie looked a little cowed by her gigantic sister.  She stuck
out her lower lip, but then downed the drink.  "Hey!  That stuff
is great!  Give me another glass."

"Not today, but there's a letter for you in your room upstairs. 
The door code is our phone number from the old house at Palm
Springs.  Gotta go, sis.  Bye Edgar.  It was fun."

Ariana slammed the door.  I stared at it.  I was left with
Cassie.

She put her hand to her forehead.  "I'm still thirsty.  See if
there's any more lemonade in the kitchen."  I stared at this
little sprite.  "Get going.  I don't want to wait all day.  I'm
tired.  And take my stuff upstairs too.  It's too heavy for me." 
She kicked her suitcase and it slid across the room.

"Do it yourself.  I'm not your servant."

"Yes you are.  They told me you'd do whatever I said."  Her voice
started rising.  "I can just leave you here to starve, you know. 
I can walk out of this house any time I want and you can just
stay here and die, for all I care.  You're a worm.  You look like
a worm and you are a worm."

"That's enough!"  I slapped her face.  "Maybe Norma thought she
was entitled to revenge, and Ariana caught me when I was weak and
sick, but there's no reason I have to listen to you.  Go on. 
Leave.  I bet you won't."  She stared at me angrily and raised
her hand to slap me back, but I grabbed it and twisted it behind
her back.  "Hah!  I don't want to hurt you, but don't make me go
too far."  She started whimpering and I felt bad about hurting
her, so I let go.  "I'll help you bring your things up," I said
chivalrously, savoring my little victory, "but you can get your
own drink."

She looked daggers at me, but nodded her head, picked up her
small bag and trudged to her room.  I couldn't believe how heavy
her suitcase was, but I dragged it up behind her, banging it on
each stair.

"You could at least be a little more careful.  You're ruining my
luggage," she said icily, without even turning around.

I wanted to drop it and let it tumble down the stairs, but I
thought better of that idea and deposited it on the floor of her
room. Meanwhile, Cassie was reading her note, making excited
little gasps as she went through it.  She looked over at me with
a mischievous grin and stuffed the letter in her dresser drawer.

"Now let's go to the kitchen, where you can watch me get my own
drink."

I followed willingly, admiring the shake of her young, tight ass. 
How refreshing not to be under the thumb of this girl, I thought. 
She may be unpleasant, but she's so young and for once I have the
upper hand.  Maybe I can turn the tables on her and escape.

She poured herself a small glass of milk and sat at the table. 
"I'm willing to start fresh, Edgar," she said as she sipped her
drink.  "But you have to do what I say.  Just because I'm
fourteen, that doesn't give me any less power over you.  I am a
Willens, and I'm here to punish you for crossing my sister."  She
finished the glass and daintily wiped the milk stain from her
upper lip.

I shook my head.  She was crazy.

"Now go upstairs and unpack my clothes.  And you'll be in big
trouble if I catch you sniffing my panties."  I walked out of the
room and heard her follow along quickly.  "I'm warning you.  Do
it!"

I turned around to confront her.  She looked different, more
confident.  She raised her hand to slap me and again I caught it. 
She stiffened her legs and pulled hard.  Surprisingly, she threw
me off balance, and I pitched forward, crashing into her.  We
tumbled onto the floor, me on top of her.  I figured it was an
easy opportunity to subdue her and teach her a lesson, so I lay
across her, holding her arms down with my upper body and pinning
her legs with mine, but she kept wriggling and I was having
trouble getting a tight hold on her.  Her young body felt firm
under mine and I was starting to get a hard on, when she freed
one hand and pushed it against my face, pushing me backward.  My
neck started to hurt, so I pulled up and tried to brush her arm
aside, but I was having trouble doing so.  I felt her hook one
leg around mine and suddenly she was pushing to the side, trying
to turn me over.  I leaned heavily on her side with all my
strength and stopped her, but she had gotten both arms out from
under me and was now pushing at my shoulders and chest.  I still
had her trapped, but I was getting tired.  Fortunately she
stopped struggling.

"You thought I was just a pushover, huh?  I'm going to get you
Edgar and you'll pay for this, I promise.  I'll remember how you
felt me up today.  I hope you enjoyed it, because its going to
get a lot worse for you."

"You're hardly in a position to threaten me."

She lay there, relaxed now, looking into my eyes as if she was
calculating.  I stayed on my guard.  Suddenly I felt her tense up
again and in a blink she threw me off her.  I looked at her and
realized, stupidly, that Ariana had given her some of the serum;
not as much as Norma and Ariana had taken, but enough to make her
stronger than me.  That firmness I felt was not her youthful
body; it was the beginning of the process, which was rapidly
reaching its conclusion.

Cassie was now advancing toward me.  I put my hands up to defend
myself, and she grabbed my right hand with hers and started
squeezing.  I couldn't believe the strength she had now.  I tried
to pull away, but she had me fast.  She kicked my shin with the
toe of her boot and a wave of pain shot through my leg, then
started to crush my hand.  I knelt down in front of her.

"That hurts so much.  Please Cassie.  Please stop.  You're going
to break my hand."  I could see the muscles in her arm tensing,
growing as the serum worked its course through her body and she
increased the pressure on my hand.  Another wave of pain shot out
from my wrist.  "AAGh!  You've broken it!"

"That was the hand that brushed my breast when we were
wrestling."  She released my hand.  "Kiss my foot, slave."

I kissed it.

"I have eight weeks with you; then I get the full dose.  Then
you'll meet Meryl and Montague, the twins.  And then we'll all
have a party, together.

I was doomed.