Drew's Big Halloween Adventure

The two college guys stood outside the wrought iron fence surrounding the shadowy, dilapidated estate that stood just off campus.

Twenty-year-old Drew removed his shirt and struck a cocky pose in front of a sign identifying the estate as private property and warning against trespass. He considered himself a big man on campus, and always got plenty of attention for his good looks.

His younger companion held a digital camera in his hands. He snapped a picture.

'See?' Drew scoffed. 'There's nothing to be afraid of.'

Nineteen-year-old Cody shook his head. Cody hoped to pledge Drew's fraternity in time to participate in the big Halloween party coming up a few days later. 'I don't know, Drew. Everyone talks about the weird stuff that goes on in this old house.'

'Fine — I guess I'll just have to prove it can be done,' Drew said impatiently, slipping his shirt back over his muscular torso. 'I'll sneak in, snap some photos as proof and meet you back out here.'

Cody, a handsome youth with brown hair streaked with blond highlights, looked back with a skeptical frown on his face. 'I don't know...'

'And when I get back, it will be your turn,' Drew said. 'Don't make me sorry that I ever supported your pledging to the fraternity in the first place.'

'Can we find another initiation?' Cody pleaded. 'I don't think this is a good idea, Drew.'

Drew grabbed the camera. Looking at the view screen, he admired the photo Cody took of him.

'Well, just wait here and I'll show you how easy this can be,' he told Cody, an air of superiority in his voice.

Drew slipped through a loose bar in the fence. He felt annoyed at the pledge who seemed so promising a few days ago. He was starting to doubt that Cody would actually work out as a member of the fraternity, but he couldn't resist showing him that at least he had the guts to carry out the initiation rite.

If Cody still wouldn't do it after he had shown it could be done, Drew felt he’d be justified in denying him his pledge.

Drew grasped the camera firmly as he trudged through the weeds toward the old mansion. Walking through the weed-choked garden, he looked for the best way to slip inside the house.

Walking up to the front door is probably out, he decided.

Drew spied a broken window near ground level along the side of the dilapidated old mansion. As he approached the window, he heard a scratching sound just beyond it. He began to question his own nerve, but he couldn't back down now — Cody was watching him nervously through the fence.

Drew walked closer to the window and examined it. It looked like a good entry point. He just didn't want to get cut on the glass.

The scratching sound inside the window continued.

'What the...?' Drew stared closer at the window. The rasping noise was certainly odd enough to get his attention, and it was definitely coming from inside the window.

Drew looked through the jagged broken window and pressed his face very close to the glass, trying to peer inside the dim interior.

He saw a strange creature inside the room, about the size of a large rat or a rabbit. It looked considerably like a rabbit, but its ears were different — smaller, more like rat or mouse ears than the long ears a rabbit has. The creature's feet, too, were closer to rat or mouse feet than they were to rabbit feet. It could be a rat, he decided, but its body was too full and round.

The strange-looking rodent clawed at a small hole in the wallboard, as if it is attempting to enter it, but the hole was much too small.

Drew reached down and picked up a small rock from the ground. He tossed the rock into the room, aiming it toward the rodent. The rock hit the creature, and the rodent squealed and darted across the floor, disappearing behind a door that had been left ajar. It left a trail of scuffled footprints in the dust.

'Yeah,' Drew said aloud. 'That’ll show it who’s boss.' He reached inside the window and found a handhold under the ledge of the windowsill, but his fingers dragged through a bit of cobweb.

He ignored it and slipped nimbly and carefully through the window. Once on his feet again, though, he tried to shake off the threads of cobweb.

Spiders had always given him the creeps; not that he would ever want anyone to know that such a tiny creature could freak him out.

Drew pulled himself into the dusty room, empty except for shards of glass and a few rocks cast through the window by previous vandals. Once inside, however, there weren't many things of interest to take pictures of. He felt certain he could find something more interesting to take back to show Cody.

As he walked his shoes caused the floorboards to creak and groan.

Absently, he shook and wiped the last bits of web off his fingers, shuddering. 'Creepy spider,' he muttered.

Dust irritated his nose and throat as he approached the door exiting the room. His shoes left imprints in the layer of dust coating the floor. Each step raised a small cloud, adding to the irritation attacking his nasal passages.

As Drew left the room he heard more strange sounds, including some ominous thumps and scratches coming from the direction of a main hallway. Curious, he stepped slowly into the main hallway, scanning the length of the long, narrow passage. The noise seemed to be coming from a split stairway beyond the hall. The grand staircase was the focal point of the mansion, facing the main entrance, and an identical hallway stretched opposite the stairs in perfect symmetry to the one in which Drew now stood. The noises seem to be coming from the lower flight to the basement.

In the darkened hallway, Drew ran headlong into another strand of cobweb. 'Damn!' Drew exclaimed, dismayed that his voice sounded so panicky over a few simple strands of spider silk.

Just then, he saw something scurry in the corner of the web — something large!

'That can't be a spider...it's too big!' Drew gasped in amazement.

The hairy, segmented spider was even bigger than most tarantulas, easily measuring nine inches across.

Drew recoiled in horror, but eventually he couldn’t resist moving closer, peering at the large arachnid.

The strands of web that clung to Drew's body were surprisingly strong, for spiderweb. Large cocoons of past prey were held fast in the corners of the web, ranging from what were surely insects to what appeared to be small birds and bats.

Thinking fast, Drew snapped some digital photos of the web. He hoped the photos would turn out well, considering the dim light.

The large spider regarded the human intruder cautiously, holding its ground from the corner of the web.

At that instant, however, Drew heard more thumps from the stairway, and began to wonder what he might find down in that basement. Perhaps he could set up a real scare for Cody, his cowardly pledge.

Chuckling softly, Drew took a few steps toward the basement stairs. The steps creaked as he placed his weight on them. The spiral staircase limited his view as he descended it.

Drew began to feel somewhat claustrophobic as the descent continued...and continued.

'Mrrrrrowwwwww!!!'

The loud sound startled Drew. He nearly dropped the camera in his alarm.

A dark blur leapt down, landing heavily against his shoulder as a huge cat jarred to activity. A panther? Drew wondered. The feline's size was enormous — much stockier than any big cat he had seen in a zoo — but it seemed shorter in length than a panther should be, too, measuring barely four feet or so. The cat leapt behind the college student to a position on the stairs above him and looked down, its ears pressed back against its head.

The phrase 'nice kitty' sprang to mind, but the words got stuck in Drew's throat. He fumbled to determine what was going on

The cat looked very fidgety, now behind him and looking down, and blocked Drew’s only known escape. It crouched down, and another low and raspy sound gurgled up in its throat. It didn't pounce, but seemed to be considering it.

Drew raised up as much as possible to make himself look formidable. 'Shoo! Get out of here!' he yelled at the enormous feline.

The cat perked up. Its eyes narrowed, but it seemed less ready to pounce. It yowled loudly and slunk backward a step or two, still fixed on the human intruder.

Drew raised a foot and stomped heavily on the steps. 'Go!'

The cat, startled, retreated to the top of the steps out of view except for a dim shadow on the curving walls. There it stopped, as if guarding the way.

Satisfied for the moment, Drew continued to descend the stairs into a large room. The room resembled a cluttered laboratory, and was filled with strange equipment, cages, tables and cabinets.

A few dim lights had been left burning. Dust and webs were laced everywhere, and myriad pieces of equipment — test tubes, racks and tools of all sorts — were strewn about in various states of disarray.

Drew walked over to a counter and picked up a rack of test tubes. 'What is this place?' he whispered aloud.

'This place is off limits,' a voice answered from behind, startling him. 'Didn't you see the signs against trespassing?'

Drew felt his heart leap into his throat and he whirled around. Damn! Caught! He desperately tried to think of ways to talk himself smoothly out of this jam.

He was confronted with a young figure, not many years older than himself, in a dingy white labcoat and bookish glasses tucked into longish, unstyled hair.

With one quick glance, Drew decided the guy looked like a real loser. This should be easy, he told himself, sighing in relief. He spread his arms wide. 'Take it easy. I didn't even know anyone lived in this place.'

'I don't live here — I work here, and I value my privacy. Or did you just decide to ignore the warning signs?'

'Signs?' Drew feigned ignorance.

The strange young man spotted the camera in Drew's hand. His expression registered alarm, verging on panic. 'What are you doing with that?' He lunged forward to take the camera from Drew.

Taken by surprise, he couldn't prevent the guy from grabbing the camera.

'Just a frat prank...I'm supposed to come inside and take some pictures to prove I did it,' Drew explained in a shaky voice. 'So, can I have the camera back?'

Drew now noticed another small device, about the same size as the camera, in the stranger’s left hand.

The camera now secured, the odd man pointed the other device at Drew like a weapon. He examined the camera, easily flipping through the photos already stored in memory. His irritated expression deepened to an angry scowl.

'Yes, signs! Like this one!' He displayed the photo of Drew posed in front of the 'Do Not Trespass' sign.

Drew laughed nervously. 'Ok...I admit it. But I didn't think there was anyone actually living in this dump.'

The man glared at him, obviously struggling to think of his next move. The man seemed obviously worried and very, very disturbed by his discovery of Drew and his camera.

'By the way, I've seen some really strange things, too,' Drew revealed.

'You figured the signs didn't apply to you, eh?' The stranger scolded, flipping through the remainder of the photos. 'Strange things? Yes, I can see that you have. You’ve seen a great many things. Pity. I have no choice now.'

His finger moved against the trigger of the strange device in his other hand. Almost instantly, Drew felt a warm sensation bathing him like radiation, then a growing sensation of motion and nausea.

His voice rose in alarm. 'What the hell are you doing?' Drew demanded.

'You've seen too much. You're a threat to my work now. Besides, you have a cocky attitude. I hate guys with cocky attitudes!'

Drew tried to back off. 'Yeah? Well, you haven’t seen anything yet,' he shouted.

The man only smiled in a maddening manner. 'But I have a way of bringing you down to size.' A wider grin formed on his nerdish face.

Drew felt a rising sense of motion, although he was standing still, blocked from the stairwell by the tall stranger. Oddly, however, his pants began to slip. He grabbed at the waistband of his pants, trying to hoist them up. He looked back. The nerdish guy looked much taller. 'What did you do, you freak?' Drew shouted at him with increasing alarm.

'Impressive, isn't it? Did you think that my spider and my cat grew to be the size they are by natural means?'

Drew shook his head to try to rid himself of a sense of dizziness. 'What are you saying?' The youth's eyes darted wildly around the lab seeking a means of escape.

The strange man stepped closer, looming even taller over Drew.

'You're very lucky. In fact, you should feel honored. No other human has ever seen a demonstration of my device before. You see, it alters the size of certain compounds. I have it set to reduce the size of organic, living compounds, but it can work on anything, with the proper settings.'

Drew struggled to make sense of the man's words. He heard something about a device and size and reduce.

The scientist appeared to be approaching 10 feet in height. Drew's shirt hung loosely on him like an oversized robe, and his pants grew increasingly heavy and bulky.

'Get out of my way!' Drew tried to push past him.

The young scientist laughed, allowing Drew to push past him. He kept the device trained on the fleeing youth from behind. Drew rushed toward the stairs, but each step seemed about two feet tall.

He couldn't believe his own eyes. 'He has shrunk me,' Drew whispered with terrifying realization. 'Cody! Help! Someone help me!' he cried out helplessly.

His feet stumbled, tangled in his pant legs, and he toppled forward onto the first step. He landed heavily, banging an arm on the first step.

'What do you think of my invention?' The odd young scientist chuckled, stepping closer to the rapidly shrinking intruder. His huge foot landed heavily behind Drew.

'Get away from me!' Drew scrambled back, coming entirely out of his pants.

The scientist laughed unnervingly at the sight of Drew scrambling out of his oversized pants and underwear. 'They all said it couldn't be done,' the stranger declared. 'They said I was crazy!'

The step still seemed to be growing, and now reached Drew's chest as the young, bookish man kept the device aimed down at him.

'Stop! Please!' Drew dropped down on his knees. 'You can't do this to me! You can’t!'

'Ah, you may be right,” the scientist grinned, “And I promise to give your protests every bit as much consideration as you gave my trespassing signs.'

The step rose over Drew's head as he dropped down to an even smaller size. The nerdish man towered over him. His sneakered foot was now longer than Drew was tall.

At that point, Drew changed tactics and sprinted toward the bottom shelf of a tall, nearby lab cabinet. All he could think of was that he had to escape this demented giant and find Cody. Cody could save him.

The giant finally broke off with the device as Drew dodged away toward the cabinet. The enormous man giggled again with demented glee. 'You want to play cat and mouse, do you? You may not like my rules!'

Drew didn't dare glance over his shoulder. He ran as fast as he could toward the cabinet. It didn’t even dawn on him at first that he was now totally naked.

The cabinet towered like a city building. Drew reached the bottom shelf, and found a space between a cluster of enormous glass beakers, each the size of a small shed.

The giant's hand reached down and plucked the beakers from the shelf, one by one.

'No!' Drew wasn't even sure whether the scream was real or only in his panicked brain. He pushed himself forward, out of the giant's reach, dodging between the glass receptacles, but found himself cornered as he reached the back wall of the cabinet. The enormous hand grabbed another of the lab jars and pulled it away, exposing the tiny man.

'There you are. I doubted you'd get very far.'

'Stay back!' Drew's feeble command was no more than a squeak.

Grinning with power, the huge scientist overturned the beaker in his hand and moved it closer to Drew, positioning it over him. With one finger, he nudged the shrunken man forward out of the corner, then dropped the beaker over him, trapping him inside.

Drew ran forward, horrified, but found escape blocked by the solid walls of the beaker. He pounded ineffectually against the smooth glass. He couldn’t believe that his impressive frat-guy body had been reduced to a tiny size capable of being trapped beneath a glass jar.

The young scientist grinned and giggled as Drew pounded against the glass. 'I bet you wish you'd paid attention to my signs now, don't you, little one? I'm sure this is hardly the way you envisioned spending your Halloween.'

Drew looked up fearfully at the giant. 'What...what are you going to do with me?'

'I don't know yet. I'll probably have to get rid of you. You know too much about my work.'

He slipped his huge hand under the beaker, forcing Drew to step into his gigantic palm. Drew felt himself and the beaker lifted to a higher shelf, then slid off of the giant hand onto the dusty surface.

'No!' Drew beat frantically on the glass. 'You can't do this to me! Do you hear me?'

'Of course I can. If you haven't noticed, I'm a lot bigger than you are.'

That fact hadn't exactly escaped Drew's notice, but it was punctuated now. 'But who are you?' Drew slumped down defeated and helpless on the dusty surface of the shelf.

'You might as well call me Kevin, or if you prefer, Dr. Shrinker,' he chuckled. 'That was a pretty awful television show, really, but I suppose the name applies. Or, at least it will, when I present my findings to the doctorate committee.'

Drew summoned his most persuasive tone. 'Listen, Kevin. I can keep a secret. Please, just grow me back. Okay?'

'How stupid do you think I am?' Kevin picked up Drew's digital camera and snapped a picture of the tiny frat guy under the beaker. 'Smile.'

The flash blinded Drew for a moment.

Kevin checked the image in the display. 'A little glare, but you can see yourself clearly enough.' He held the huge display up against the glass for Drew to see.

Drew stared in amazement at the picture of himself, tiny, naked and trapped beneath the glass beaker. He needed no photographic proof, but it emphasized his dire situation. Kevin, too, seemed to enjoy the picture. In fact, he seemed surprised by the extent of his enjoyment of the situation.

'Now, tell me,' Kevin suggests, 'Who is this 'Cody' you called out for?'

Drew stepped back away from the glass as Kevin's enormous face loomed closer.

'Is he with you?' Kevin prompted.

'He...he was too scared. He stayed outside the fence.'

'You'd better not be lying!' Kevin's huge hand slammed down angrily on the shelf, rattling the contents. Drew fell backwards, landing hard on his butt.

Kevin examined the camera again. 'This should convince him that you abandoned him at the fence.' Kevin began systematically deleting all the photos from the memory one by one, leaving only the first photo — the one with Drew posed by the trespassing sign.

'What are you doing?' Drew jumped back onto his feet. 'Stop!'

'You wait here. I'll plant this near the road for your friend to find when he gets tired of waiting for you to return.' Kevin stacked another beaker on top of the one enclosing the tiny man, then slipped quickly up the stairs, taking both the camera and the size-change device with him.

'No! No!' Drew screamed, desperately trying to stop his giant captor.

Drew was left alone in the giant laboratory. He tried to fully take in his surroundings. If he could only escape the upturned beaker, he was fairly confident he could get out of the house, find Cody and — and then maybe he could find a way to make Kevin restore him to normal.

The beaker imprisoning him had been placed on the third shelf of the cabinet. The glass was heavy — especially with the added weight of the other beaker stacked on top — and offered Drew no way to get his fingers under it to lift it. He impulsively rushed at the wall of glass, but only succeeded in bruising his shoulder without even budging the beaker. The heavy, solid glass held firmly.

Drew, defeated, sank onto the floor of shelf beneath his feet. He was trapped, totally at the mercy of the unstable young scientist.

To be continued.