Dean's Lesson: III
By: Sparky

"I'd say he was plenty scared, my friend."

"Haha, he was about to shit himself! What a rush!"

"We should make him wait for a bit, to think about things."

"Definitely. He's probably sweating buckets."

"Mmm, a marinade."

"Heh. Hey, it's just a joke, right?"

"Hmm?"

"The eating him…it's like we rehearsed, a joke to scare him."

"Jeremy, of course. You know what I promised. He will return to normal in 12 hours. It's as you said, we are just scaring him."

"Ok, good. I was just getting…nervous."

"Do not worry. Once he is back to normal, I will make sure he knows that any thoughts of revenge would be most unwise. When we are done, he will treat everyone with respect just from his fear!"

"I hope so. I just…don't want any trouble."

"He is smart, he will see that if he told this to anyone they would put him in a madhouse. It will be as I said, a lesson for him."

"Alright, alright. I trust you. How long should we wait?"

"At least 15 minutes."

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Dean could only hear the beating of his own heart. There simply had to be a way out of this. He was an extremely smart and athletic guy, he could figure it out. The container he was in smelled strongly of garlic and spices, and it was strong enough to make him a little light-headed. He shook his head violently. He had to focus!

If he stood at full height and extended his arms, he could just touch the container lid. He pressed as hard as he could, and while the flexible material bent slightly, there was no sign that the lid would come off easily. Dean then went to the edge of the container, figuring he might find a break in the seal there. He pushed as hard as he could around the edge, desperately hoping against hope. Finally, as he got to the last corner, he could feel a small stir of cooler air. A draft.

Dean pushed with all his might on the corner, and sure enough, the lid began to pry open. With a huge effort, Dean exerted as much force as he could. A small opening in the seal appeared, just enough for him to slip through. He pulled himself up into the hole and shimmied through, though the plastic edge scraped his naked flesh.

As his bare feet once again touched the naked table top, he breathed a sigh of mild relief. He wasn't out of the woods yet, but he was closer. The sounds of low talking and laughter came from the other room, where he knew those two sick fucks were planning his culinary demise. Well, they had better laugh while they can. When I get back to normal, they will be very sorry!

Knowing he had little time to waste, Dean padded over to the closest edge of the table. Peering over the edge, he was dismayed to find what he had feared. The distance to the hard tile floor below was now the equivalent of forty feet for him, which at the very least would break his legs. He walked around the table edge for another way. Aha! There was a chair at the opposite end of the table. The drop to the chair seat was only about 15 of his feet, and to make matters better, the chair had a cushioned seat. Piece of cake.

Dean leapt from the table and landed softly on the cushion, completely unharmed. This was going better than he thought it would. Better than I thought it would? I thought I was gonna get laid!

The distance from the chair seat to the floor was now a still considerable 20 feet to him, a two-story drop. Fortunately, he could put his athleticism and experience mountain climbing to good use and simply climb down the leg of the chair. It was a wooden chair with ornate carvings that worked well as foot and hand holds. Within seconds, Dean was on the floor and looking for another way out of the kitchen.

Dean's hopes for an alternative exit faded fast. The kitchen's lone window was above a counter and closed. The door into the main room, where those…cannibals were waiting, looked like the only way in or out. Well, he'd have to try his luck. If he stuck to the wall and stayed in shadows, they shouldn't notice him. They would never expect him to get that far, anyway!

Creeping into the next room, Dean saw the two flipping through a book and laughing. They were whispering to each other, and it was just low enough that Dean couldn't make out their words. He didn't care, he just wanted to leave. He was sure they were busy plotting his demise. Ha! They were in for a shock!

As Dean crept along the wall, he kept his eyes on the two giants to make sure they didn't spot him. Fortunately, they suddenly stopped their perusing and headed towards the kitchen. They would soon see he had escaped, so he had better pick up the pace. He kept his eyes focused on the kitchen door behind him as he began to jog along the baseboard. That was precisely why he didn't see the large, dark shape that he then bumped into. It was huge…it was soft…it was…fur. Uh-oh.

To his horror, Dean turned around and saw the massive form of a dog lying on the floor. It looked to be a doberman, and it also looked to be about the size of a yacht. Fortunately, it also looked to be asleep. Thank god.

Well, not so fast. That dog was between Dean and the front door. He'd have to go around it, which meant walking right past it's snoring mouth and sharp teeth. One look at Dean, and the dog would probably snap him up right away and use him as a chew-toy. Not a pleasant way to go at all.

Holding his breath and going as softly as possible, Dean inched his way around the sleeping canine. The dog's smell was now quite strong, and he wondered how he could have missed it before actually hitting the dog's backside before. He was sure the breath would be even smellier. Then he imagined becoming a cause of the dog's smelly breath, and he moved a little faster. Put the danger behind as quick as possible.

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Enrique and Jeremy returned to the kitchen after the allotted 15 minutes to check on their captive. As they entered the room, both stopped in their tracks as they saw the table. The Tupperware container—Dean’s prison—was empty. A corner of the lid was popped open, and their captive was nowhere to be seen.

“What the fuck?” shouted Jeremy.

“It appears your friend is quite resourceful,” answered Enrique. Both of them began searching around the kitchen.

“How…how could he have gotten down from the table?” asked Jeremy. “It would be a huge drop to him!”

“When in that state, the body is more resilient, especially to falls. I suspect the spell was originally devised to allow the caster to sneak into…delicate places. Naturally, since being small would be dangerous, there had to be some form of protection.”

“So he’s now a super tiny guy? Great, he could be anywhere.”

Enrique and Jeremy finished a thorough search of the kitchen.

“Well,” said Enrique, “your friend does not seem to be in here, so he must have slipped out of the room.”

“Yeah, but he can’t get out of the apartment,” mused Jeremy, “so we can take our time searching for him. That might even give him more of a scare, if he knows we’re patiently, methodically searching for him.” Jeremy chuckled nervously, obviously uncomfortable in his new role as vengeful trick.

“I’m afraid there is more of a danger than that,” said Enrique in an ominously low voice.

“Danger? Wha-wha danger?” stammered Jeremy. You don’t think he’d be dumb enough to go to someone, to tell on us, if he escaped?”

“No, it is a more immediate threat. Namely, Bertrand.”

“Who is that?”

“My dog. My very large dog.”

Jeremy was puzzled. “I didn’t see a dog out there at all!”

“No, he remains very quiet unless something disturbs him—”

Suddenly, loud barking erupted from the living room.

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Dean was pressed up against the wall in terror as the giant canine jaws snapped at him in between ear-splittingly loud barks. He was under a chair, so the massive dog couldn’t reach him, but he could get close enough with his maw to make Dean very, very nervous. Worse than that, he knew the dog’s yelping would attract the attention of Enrique and Jeremy, alerting them to his location. He had to get away, but there was nowhere to go! If he moved from underneath the chair, he was an instant Scooby snack.

Looking around desperately for somewhere to hide, Dean nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise when something grabbed his ankle. With a scream he wiggled free and spun around to see what had touched him. To his astonishment, there was a human-looking arm protruding from a small hole in the floorboards along the wall. An arm the same size as his own! More precisely, the floorboard was being lifted up slightly to reveal the opening.

“Hey!” shouted a voice from within the darkness of the hole. “Come in here, quick!” Dean hesitated, but the sound of Enrique and Jeremy coming out of the kitchen to investigate the dog’s consternation made up his mind for him. He flung himself into the hole head-first.

The End