Sucking Up, by Clinediap

Chapter 21
Epilogue

Chapter Description: by Clinediap

"Next up," the announcer’s voice boomed backstage, as her palms began to sweat beneath her gloves. She’d never really done any acting, so she wasn’t used to being onstage, yet, even so, she’d always been sure she wouldn’t get stage fright. Clearly, she was wrong. "Next up, we have little Alexia."

She felt a push, and she had enough time to turn and glare at the woman who had delivered it, as if she was too stupid to recognize she was meant to go out, though she supposed she couldn’t blame her too much for that, before she stepped out. Her dress, the bodice pink, the skirt layered sparkling blue and pink tulle, shifted around her as she walked, rustling softly. She’d been allowed to wear a Pull-Up underneath, but she was starting to regret it, as she could feel it drooping wetly between her legs.

She blushed as she heard the clapping for her, staring bashfully down at her feet. "Miss Alexia is four years old, and likes ponies and coloring."

------

Alicia stretched groggily, a bit surprised to see her own room. She wiggled a bit, pleased to feel a distinct lack of bulge around her crotch, and, for a moment, wondered if it all hadn’t been one big, strange dream. That lasted until she threw off her blanket, looked down at herself to find a picture of Jasmine on her chest, lying perfectly smooth there. She got out of bed, staring at herself in the mirror, reaching up to where her breasts had once been, and now there was nothing. Without them, she looked significantly younger - she didn’t think the person in the mirror, in the Aladdin nightshirt, could have been any older than eight or nine.

"Oh, you’re up," Dr. Jadin said, surprised, as she came into the room. "I was just checking on you. Are you feeling okay?"

"No," Alicia sniffled. "Look at what Diane did to me! I’m just a kid!"

Dr. Jadin knelt down next to her as she started to cry, hugging her, comforting her as if she really were just a small child. Alicia knew she should be annoyed at that, but in a way, it was definitely nice. They stayed there for a long time, until her tears began to slow, and Dr. Jadin quietly said, "It wasn’t Diane."

Alicia pushed away from her, confused. "Huh? Of course it was... She hates me, and she..."

"Alicia, Diane didn’t regress you. It was me."

Alicia’s eyes shot open, and she backed away, shaking. "Y-You?! What...?! Why?! How?!"

"It’s an experimental drug," Dr. Jadin said, standing up and then sitting on the edge of the bed. "We’ve been developing it for a long time now, and we needed a test subject, but... Well, we didn’t want word of this," she gestured at Alicia, who knew all too well what she meant, "to get out to the mass media, especially if it didn’t work on humans correctly. So we needed to do it quietly, from within the company. And when I saw how desperate you were to suck up to me... Well, you seemed like the perfect candidate."

"That’s crazy!" Alicia protested, shaking her head. "That’s like something out of science fiction!" Dr. Jadin raised an eyebrow, staring down at Alicia’s tiny body. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"It was all in the contract you signed," Dr. Jadin said. "The one to test out our new drink. But I knew you’d be too eager to please me to bother to read it."

"Y-You manipulated me!" Alicia sniffled. "You bitch!"

"I was just taking advantage of your enthusiasm," Dr. Jadin corrected her. "And even though I knew you didn’t mean any of those things you meant... Well, I did. I think you’re a very bright girl, but you just weren’t ready for your job. I’m sorry, but I was going to have to fire you soon anyway if you didn’t improve, and I don’t think you could have survived anywhere else, either. You just don’t apply yourself, Alicia. You expect others to do everything for you, and when they don’t..."

"Well, now I can’t apply myself anywhere!" Alicia pouted. "Except maybe grade school!"

"It wasn’t supposed to get this far," Dr. Jadin told her. "And you were never supposed to get hurt. I had no idea you had implants... If I had, I’d never have done that to you. You’ll be just fine, they just had to remove them, but I’m sure that was a terribly nasty shock, and I..."

"No worse than figuring out I was shrinking! What gives you the right?!"

"Like I said, it wasn’t supposed to get this far... I was going to stop it after it had taken you down a year or two, just enough to..."

"Please," Alicia huffed. "You were just trying to replace your daughter, weren’t you? You didn’t do this for me, you did it for you!"

Dr. Jadin sighed. "Alicia, I never had a daughter. I made up that story to get you to feel sorry for me."

"W-Well, you wanted one, then! You wanted to turn me into a little girl so you could kidnap me and raise me as your own!"

"Don’t you think there are easier ways to get children?" Dr. Jadin rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you’re too young to live on your own now, and I’d be willing to let you stay with me, since this is my fault, but I’m not going to make you." Dr. Jadin took Alicia’s cell phone out of her pocket, laid it on the bed. "Diane gave me this. I put my number in here. You can call me if you need anything. Or you can call your parents and explain this to them. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take you in again."

Alicia stared at the phone, hardly able to believe that she had it back, finally. "My parents are divorced, remember?"

"Are they really? I just assumed you were making that up, too. I’m sorry, dear."

She started to bend down to hug Alicia again, but Alicia pulled away. "Oh, screw you. You don’t care. You don’t give a damn about me! I’m just some... some lab rat to you."

"That isn’t true," Dr. Jadin said gently.

"It is! So just... Just get out of here! Get out of my life! I never want to see you again!"

"All right," Dr. Jadin stood up. "I’m leaving. But please, do call me if you need anything, and I mean anything. And you will need to make a decision about what you’re..."

"Get out!" Alicia screamed, stomping her foot. Dr. Jadin nodded, and then vanished off down the hall.

---------

She began to shiver in anticipation, feeling the diaper she’d been changed into when she was put back into her dress from her ballet leotard for the talent part of the contest grow slightly warm and squishy beneath her. She’d done her best to be charming and cute - she’d stumbled a little more than usual in her dance, at just the right moments to solicit an, "Aww", from the audience - and she knew she was certainly the most adorable girl there, but she knew that the judges didn’t always see things the right way.

She gave the girl standing beside her, Gina, a saccharine smile as the announcer opened the envelope. She was sure Gina thought she was winning, too. And she was cute - she had chubby cheeks and dimples, and a hint of a lisp. But she’d been too perfect during her talent, hadn’t missed a note on the song she’d played on the piano. It was a simple song, but still... She didn’t know that wasn’t the way to do things, that they weren’t watching how well you did it, but how you acted while you did.

Or so she’d thought, up until she heard the announcer. "It looks like Virginia Elizar is our new Little Miss Cloverdale! Congratulations!" Her mouth dropped open, tears springing to her eyes as she saw the other girl handed a bouquet of roses nearly as big as she was, a tiara placed on her head. No, it wasn’t fair! She deserved it!

"No!" she declared, stepping forward. "It’s mine!" She could hear gasping and whispering in the audience as she grabbed for the flowers, the other girl confusedly backing away from her. One of the adults grabbed her, but she squirmed away, determined to get what she deserved.

At least until she heard the, "Alexia!" from behind her, freezing her in place.

She turned around bashfully. "Sorry, Mommy..."

-------

Alicia grabbed her cell phone, clutching it tightly in her hand, staring down at it. She should call the police, she thought, tell them the whole story, get Dr. Jadin and Diane arrested and the whole company shut down. Except, of course, that they’d never believe her, they’d just think she was some kid with too much time on her hands and a rather inattentive parent playing a prank. And then they’d probably wait for that parent to get home to explain to them what she’d done, and when they didn’t show up, she’d wind up in some orphanage somewhere, where nobody knew the truth about her, and would just think she was an ordinary eight year old.

Maybe she could sue them. That would, of course, be difficult, too, even if she could somehow prove her story. There were pictures of her grown-up, sure, but what could she do to show, for certain, that they were really her, and not her older sister, or mother?

Much as she wanted revenge, she knew she wasn’t going to get it, at least not right away. Coming up with a plan would take a lot of thought... And Dr. Jadin was right that she couldn’t stay here on her own forever, not looking like she did. She opened up the contact information on her phone, scrolling down to the entries for her mother and father. Which one should she call?

She set down her phone, shaking her head, the question feeling too much like the one she’d had to make all those years ago, back when they’d divorced. Had she made the right decision then? What if, despite the evilness of what she’d done, Dr. Jadin was right, and she hadn’t been raised correctly, somehow? Should she choose her mother now, let her give it a shot?

It was a big decision, and rather stressful. Almost as bad as the rest of her day had been. Her head was beginning to pound, so she made her way to the kitchen to get herself something to drink to calm down. The box, with all its multicolored bottles, was gone, unsurprisingly. Getting up on tip-toe, she managed to get a cup from her cupboard, reluctantly filling it with water. She couldn’t even swallow it.

She opened her fridge, searching through the contents, trying to find something else to quench her thirst, her hands shaking. She knew what she wanted, but it was gone, and... She stopped, realizing that, no, it wasn’t gone, not all of it. Leaving the fridge standing open, she dashed to the nearest cupboard, pulling everything out until she found the five bottles she’d stashed there. There was more scattered around the rest of the kitchen, but this would be enough for now...

Or would if she could drink it. She wanted to, desperately, but she had only to look down at herself to remember what it did to her, why she couldn’t. She was already young enough, and she most certainly did not like it, no matter what Diane insisted. She wanted to grow up again, not get younger. So she stood up and walked over to the sink, unscrewing the cap and starting to tip the bottle over, to pour its contents down the sink and be done with it.

Her throat felt so dry... Her hands were shaking even worse now. She set the bottle down on the edge of the sink so she could think for a second. She had to get rid of it, she had to, but... Well, maybe one more sip wouldn’t hurt... She’d just have one little drink, just to calm herself down, because it was so good at that, and then when she was done, she’d decide what to do.

She picked the bottle back up, gave herself a mouthful. It tasted so good, flowing down her throat. It was so good, so perfect... It would be a shame to waste all of it. And she wasn’t ready to make the decision, not yet, so why not just have a little more? What could one more gulp hurt?

-----

"I can’t believe you," her mommy shook her head. "What were you thinking?"

"I already said sorry," she whined. "Like a hundred times." It had certainly felt that way, at least. "She didn’t deserve it anyway."

Her mommy sighed. "Honey, you knew you might not win when we enterred. We talked about this. Honestly, you’re being so naughty lately..."

"I told you," Aunt Diane spoke up, "if you’d just stick with her schedule, she’d behave. I know you think it’s harsh, but it works, doesn’t it?"

Her mommy nodded reluctantly. "She does always act much better for a while after she stays with you for a week."

"Little girls need structure. If you just stuck with it, she’d be that good all the time."

"I’m right here," she pouted. "You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not..."

"I’m free this week," Aunt Diane said suggestively.

"No!" she protested. "No, I don’t wanna!"

Her mommy hesitated, making her hope that, for once, she’d actually believed her when she’d complained about how bad staying with Aunt Diane was, that, for once, she wouldn’t take Diane’s side. Instead, when she spoke, it was to say, "Are you sure it wouldn’t be a bother?"

"Nooo!" she wailed, stomping her foot angrily.

"You’ll never learn, will you?" Diane sighed, picking her thrashing form up easily, carrying her out to her car, strapping her into the car seat.

"I-I’m just a little girl," she sniffled, squirming against the straps holding her in. "You can’t do this to me anymore..."

But that was, of course, not true. As soon as they got to Diane’s house, she was in the corner, soap in her mouth, a child’s enema in her bottom doing its work. "If you could just behave yourself, you’d get to be coloring right now," Diane reminded her, "or maybe even watching TV. But that’s not what you want, is it? You still think I’m too stupid to realize you like this."

She shook her head vehemently, whimpering as she felt her diaper begin to fill.

"Heck, maybe you’re too stupid to realize it, too. But you have to ask yourself, hon... Why did you drink so much of that drug? And why did you call Dr. Jadin? You had a whole contact list to choose from..."

"I was panicking, and I just redialed the last person to call my phone," she pouted. "And she had called my phone to make it easier to add her number, so..."

"Whatever you say, pumpkin," Diane rolled her eyes. "Now put that soap back in, or you’re getting a spanking, too."

She sulkily complied, muttering quietly about how Diane didn’t know anything, jumping a little as she heard the doorbell ring. "Stay put," Diane instructed, getting up to answer it. "Why, hello, Frank... Oh, I’m sorry... I was going to call you. I’m watching Dr. Jadin’s little girl again tonight. But it’s all right, she was a naughty girl today, so she’s going to bed soon."

"Hi there, Alexia!" Frank greeted her. She gritted her teeth as she heard the two of them kissing behind her, knowing full well that it was no accident Diane hadn’t canceled her get together with Frank, just as it was no accident that the spare room her things were set up in was just close enough to their bedroom that she could hear them in the night, when she was supposed to be asleep, grunting and gasping and moaning, reminding her of a time when she could do that.

"All right, that’s enough," Diane said, picking her up. "Let’s go get you changed and in bed, you little stinker. You have a big day at daycare tomorrow, don’t you?"

"Yes, Auntie Diane," she sighed as the woman removed the soap from her mouth and patted her drooping diaper.

"That’s better!" Diane praised her. "We’ll make a good girl out of you yet!"

And, much as she hated to admit it, Alicia knew that was probably true.

The End