Katie explained all of the recent events to Veronica, who listened intently, sipping her tea. She asked few questions and didn't show surprise at the Dreamkeeper�s abilities in regards to age manipulation in the granting of fantasies. She was surprised at the effect he had on her sister, however. She looked at Martha doing her nails and sighed.
"Like, are we going to the mall or what?" Martha asked, a little exasperated.
"In a bit, dear, I just want to finish my tea and talk to Katie for a while longer," Veronica said.
"Blah blah blah that's all you do is talk," Martha said, turning on MTV. Soon she was lost in videos.
Veronica looked at Katie critically. She certainly was not 16 years old. She was about 11...the age that Kayla was, if she could recall the facts of this case correctly. As they talked, the little girl was trying to hold back tears. "I just don't understand," Katie said. "I thought Aunt Martha had, like I dunno, powers or something. And now look at her!" she added, watching Martha twirl her bubblegum.
"My younger sister is very learned and quite powerful, and it has been a long, long time since she has been caught unawares. I know the Dreamkeeper...I know him quite well, in fact. Needless to say, he has never been even remotely able to affect either Martha or myself in the past. We were quite beyond him, as powerful as he is. And now, Martha is mentally regressed...not even by him directly, but by his agent? That part doesn�t make sense. Where did THAT kind of power come from, anyway?" Veronica asked, almost to herself.
"I don't get why he just regressed her mind, like you said. What kind of hidden desire is it to be a 19 year old in a middle aged body? Why didn't he just make her 19? He plays with age so easily," Katie asked.
"For one thing, he was not in direct contact with her. I think, as powerful as he is, that still would have been necessary to accomplish that feat. Also, there is the time element. He was able to regress you and your friends fairly quickly, but if memory serves me correctly, he can't alter the speed of his regression. For you to become 5 years younger would take him about 5 minutes. He can't make it go faster. It took longer to regress you mother's friend because she was...what did you tell me, around forty? She's a baby now, and all in all that is about 40 minutes of work on his part. For Martha.." she trailed off.
"What? If he wanted to make Martha 19 and she was like 50 that would take...um..." Katie said, her 11 year old brain struggling to do the math without a pencil and paper. "31 minutes," she said a little triumphantly. "How hard would it have been to do that? He could have kept her occupied for that long," she added.
To Katie's surprise, Veronica laughed. "Oh, child...you are right. It would have taken about that long if Martha was in her fifties. Is that how old you think she is?" she laughed again. "Silly me, of course you would think that. Martha is much, much older than fifty, and she is my LITTLE sister. We have been around for a very long time. Longer than you would believe...as has the Dreamkeeper. He would grow old trying to make Martha into a true 19 year old!" she laughed.
Katie was stunned. "I never realized," she said. "I thought she was just, y'know, my weird aunt Martha," she said.
"We are distant relatives of yours, and I think that we would all agree that Martha is weird," she laughed. "although today, she is a little weirder than usual. Now back to the matter at hand. Obviously, we have to be very careful around Kayla. We can't just burst in there and try to fix things. If Martha was affected like she was, I would be hard pressed to defend myself let alone help any of you back to normal. We would have to be very well prepared. The Dreamkeeper has someone helping him, I think...someone of great power. That is the key. We have to prepare for him. The problem is, we don't know who he is and getting close enough to find out might prove very dangerous. We..." Veronica was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. She and Katie stared at each other, wondering if they should answer it. Katie remembered that Martha started acting really weird when she talked to Kayla on the phone. She gulped.
Veronica picked up the phone, expecting the worst. "Hello," she said.
"Hello, Martha?" the voice on the phone said.
"This is her sister, Veronica. Martha is indisposed at the moment," she said, sensing no power in particular from the voice.
"Aunt Veronica? It's me, Wendy! Gosh, it's been such a long time, how have you been? Whatever are you doing in town? Why didn't you let me know you were visiting," Wendy said.
"Wendy...it has been a long time! How are you, dear," Veronica said. She looked at Katie, and saw the color drain from her face.
"Fine, fine....say, I was just looking for my daughter, and I called over Jennifer's house because that's where she usually goes when I can't find her! Well, Jennifer's mother said that she was there earlier but left with Martha, so I thought I would try there! Is she there?" Wendy asked.
"Er....uh, one moment," Veronica said. Then looking at Katie, "Your mother is on the phone," she said, seeing the girl trembling.
"H....how can I talk to her! Like this!" Katie exclaimed, throwing her arms up.
Veronica looked at the little girl in her school uniform, scared out of her wits. She didn't know if she was going to be able to return Katie normal soon, if ever, and she would have to face her mother at some point. "I think you should talk to her sweetie," she said gently.
Katie took the the phone. She had to try to sound as grown up as possible, she thought. How different was her voice anyway? Maybe a little higher. Maybe she wouldn't notice. "Hi mommy," she said, not even catching her slip She was starting to really think like an 11 year old.
"Katie, is that you? What's wrong with your voice," her mother asked with real concern.
"Um...I...guess I have a cold ...or something," Katie said unconvincingly. Hearing her mother's voice on the other end of the phone was comforting to her, because she was upset with being turned into a little girl. She was beginning to have the overwhelming desire to be with her mother...she wanted her mommy.
"You poor dear. I'm coming over there right away," Wendy said. And before Katie could protest, she had hung up the phone.
"Oh no! She's coming over," Katie said in dismay. "What do we do? What do we tell her," she said, almost frantic.
"We'll think of something, child. We'll just have to play it by ear," Veronica said.
About 20 minutes later there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Martha said, running to the door. Before Veronica could do anything about it, she opened the door. "Hiya Wendy," she said.
Wendy stared at Martha, dumbfounded. Martha was wearing way too tight shorts and a sleeveless white tee, also much too tight. Wendy recognized it as her daughter's clothing. "What are you dressed up for, Halloween?" Wendy asked. She always knew her aunt was weird, but this...
"As if," Martha snorted. Who did this woman think she was? "Come on in," she said. Wendy walked into the sitting room and saw Veronica sitting on the sofa.
"Why hello, Wendy," she said, hugging her. "It has been a long time, hasn't it?"
Wendy hugged her back. "Yes it has, auntie," she said. "What's with Martha? Did she finally go off the deep end," she asked with real concern.
"Um...no...its rather complex. Let me get you some tea, and we'll talk about it," Veronica said. She went into the kitchen and returned with a cup, and handed it to Wendy.
"I came to see my little girl," she said, sipping her tea. "She sounded awful on the phone and I know it can be a real downer to have a cold. Where is she?" she asked.
"In the other room," Veronica said. "Katie, your mom's here," she called. Katie came into the room sheepishly. Wendy took one look at her daughter and dropped her cup, which spilled and broke on the floor.
"Oh....my...god! Katie! What happened to you! You're a little girl," she said in astonishment. At that Katie ran to her mother and hugged her, tears flowing.
"I'm sorry mommy I can't believe this happened to me I was so scared I tried to help Jennifer that's all I did but I wasn't careful...and...and...now look at me I don't know what to do and I don't know how to fix it," she said in a rush, crying.
Wendy held her little girl, rocking her. She wondered if she was even 11 years old. She seemed a little bit younger than that. "Shhh....it's ok, baby...don't cry....it's ok," she cooed. "We'll figure out how to fix this...we will. But ...now slow down and tell me, what happened? I won't get mad. Is this one of Martha's weird little experiments? Did she do this to you," she asked.
"N...no," she said. Katie got herself together and told her mother the whole story.
"So Marcia was turned into a baby? But I just talked to her on the phone. You must be mistaken," Wendy said.
"That must have been Kayla," Katie said.
"Jennifer's little sister?" Wendy asked.
"Not anymore," Veronica said.
"And Jennifer..." Wendy began to say.
"8 years old the last time I saw her," Katie replied.
"This is just all too fantastic to believe," Wendy said, but then looked at Martha watching MTV, and shook her head, knowing it must be true.
"Wendy, I know you never had any interest in...well...what Martha and I do. We were always encouraged by Katie's affinity. I think you should know that what she tried to do, to help her friend...that was very heroic. Unfortunately, she got in too deep, as did my sister. She never had a chance," Veronica said.
"Enough talking, Ronnie! I wanna go to the Maaaaaaaall!" Martha almost screamed.
Veronica looked at her sister and sighed. Perhaps she couldn't put her back, but..."Martha, you don't want to go to the mall," she said to her sister in an odd tone.
A blank look fell over Martha's face. "I....don't ...want to go to the mall," she repeated.
"Tonight is a school night and you have homework," Veronica said.
"Yes...I have homework," Martha said in a daze.
"Good. That ought to hold her for a while," Veronica said. There were beads of sweat on her forehead.
"I wish you could teach me that trick," Wendy said. "It would come in handy."
"Ha ha. It wouldn't have worked on Martha if she wasn't in such a suggestive state, but I wanted to quiet her for the moment. Now, let's see if we can start putting things right.
"What can I do," Wendy asked. She rocked her daughter, noticing how nice it was to have her small again. It was nice to have her little girl back, to have her daughter needing her. Teenagers like their space, and Wendy had been getting lonely.
"Maybe nothing. After all, the Dreamkeeper is dangerous, and I don't want you ending up in diapers," Veronica said.
"I would risk anything for my little girl," Wendy replied.
"Alright. He know's about Martha, and he knows that Martha called me. He would be expecting one of us...but maybe not you. We have to find out who he is in with, that is the only way we can even begin to figure out how to negate his power. I don't think we can go back to Jennifer's house. But maybe...maybe his shop. Maybe he won't expect you there," Veronica said. "It would be dangerous. He can be very persuasive. But maybe you could poke around there, find out something...anything that might help."
"That sounds like a plan," Wendy said, and Katie nodded.
------------
Kayla nursed little Marcie until she fell asleep. As a newborn infant, she had to be fed every 2 hours. She either nursed, cried or slept; such was her new life. When she was done nursing and had been changed, Kayla swaddled her in a blanket and put her in her crib. She heard the kids laughing in the other room and smiled. She was enjoying the role of mother so far.
Stevie looked at Petey and laughed. The girls giggled too. "She said your name was Petey," he laughed.
"Yeah, so.." Petey said defensively.
"That's a funny name for a girl," Stevie said.
"I'm not a girl, take that back," Petey returned.
"What's wrong with being a girl," Jennie said, playing with her Barbie.
"I thought you WERE a girl," Billie laughed.
Petey felt tears well up in his eyes. Of course, he was wearing girl's clothing because for some reason none of his fit and he was playing dolls with 2 little girls aged 8 and 9 years. He looked at the Ken doll in his hand, and turned bright crimson. He saw Stevie laughing. "I'm.....I'm not a girl," he stammered.
"Are you sugar....or spice," Stevie sneered, looking at Petey's pink shirt with the heart on it.
"She's everything nice," Billie laughed.
"I'M NOT A SHE!" Petey shouted.
"Don't get your panties in an uproar," Stevie said, now rolling on the floor laughing. Petey jumped on him and the two boys wrestled as the girls watched and laughed.
"You take that back," Petey said, punching Stevie in the gut as hard as he could.
"You even fight like a girl,"Stevie said, throwing Petey off of him. He was bigger and stronger than Petey, maybe because he practiced so hard at basketball and was into most other sports. Soon Petey was pinned on the ground with Stevie on top of him.
"Owwwww, let me up," Petey whimpered.
"Oh, does Patty want to go back to her dollies," Stevie sneered. "I won't let you up until you admit that you are a girl. SAY IT!"
"N...no," he cried. He desperately wanted the bigger boy off of him but he couldn't say that, never! He was a boy!"
Stevie relaxed his hold. "Ok...but you have to PROVE that you aren't a girl," Stevie smiled.
"How," Petey said already knowing the answer. The girls blushed and giggled. "NO WAY! I'm not gonna get undressed in front of them!" he shouted, mortified. Before he could do anything about it Stevie rushed him and pulled down his shorts revealing white girls panties with a little pink trim.
Stevie howled with laughter. "I KNEW IT," he said.
"Stop it stop it stop it," Petey cried. He pulled up his shorts, tears flowing.
"You....you leave him alone, Stevie," Jennie said, going over to Petey's side. "Stop being so mean," she said.
"Who are you, his girlfriend?" Stevie sneered. Jennie looked at Petey, still crying. She didn't like how mean Stevie was being but she didn't have a boyfriend...she thought boys were kinda yucky...although for some reason she liked Petey.
At that moment Kayla came into the room. "Keep it down you guys, you'll wake the baby," she said, annoyed.
"He started it," Petey said sniffing back tears.
"I just told PATTY that I liked HER shirt," Stevie snickered.
"Am I going to have to separate you boys? Stevie, you are the oldest and I expect more from you. Petey's clothes got ruined and we had to make do with what we had until we can get him something else, so knock it off. And Petey, if Stevie is bothering you come and tell me," Kayla said.
"Yeah, run and tell MOMMY," Stevie said under his breath.
"No more Stevie, I'm warning you," Kayla said. "Now you kids play nice. Don't make me come in here again or someone will be sorry.
"Ok," the kids said in unison. Kayla heard the baby cry and left the room, sighing. The girls went back to their dolls. The boys went out in the yard to shoot hoops.
------------
"You didn't REALLY think Petey was a girl, did you?" Jennie asked Billie absently.
"Well he is dressed like one," Billie laughed. "But no, I was just teasing him, and it made Stevie laugh."
"Ewwwwww, you like him," Jennie said with a smile.
"Wellllll.....I think he's kinda cute..." Billie said, blushing.
"Ewwwwww!" Jennie giggled again.
"I just think he's cute that's all," Billie said, a little ashamed.
"I bet you wanna kiss him too!" Jennie exclaimed.
'Do Not!" Billie shot back.
"DO TOO," Jennie said. She took her Barbie doll in one hand and the Ken in the other. "Ohhhh Stevie, I think you're soooooo cute, giggle," she said, then in a lower voice. "You are cute too, Billie, I will kiss you now," she laughed, making the dolls kiss each other. Both the girls laughed hard at that. As they laughed, Jennie felt her panties get a little wet and knew she better go to the bathroom fast. She jumped up and ran there, and closed the door. Billie picked up the dolls, laughing, and continued their 'date.'
-----------
The boys played basketball for a while, then went inside for drinks. Stevie and Petey were getting along better now that the initial shock of Petey's clothing had passed. "Gotta pee," Stevie announced, and went up to the bathroom.
When he got to the bathroom, he saw the door was closed, and heard some movement in the room. "One of the girls was in there," he thought guiltily. He looked up and down the hallway...he was alone. He crouched down and peeked in the keyhole, just in time to see Jennie pull down her shorts, revealing her panties. Stevie gulped...he had never seen a girl in her panties before, and even though Jennie was younger than he was and just a little girl, he felt entranced by what he saw. Her panties, a pretty light pink, came down next as she sat on the toilet, and he caught a glimpse of her smooth, hairless slit. He felt himself get hard for some reason...he wasn't sure what that meant, and felt like he really, REALLY had to pee now...but rather than use the downstairs bathroom, he stayed at the keyhole.
Stevie saw the girl wipe herself and stand again, revealing her privates again just for a second (not even) as she pulled her panties up. As she was pulling up her shorts he was startled by a scream from behind. He turned and saw Billie staring at him. He was about to try to tell her that 'this isn't what it looks like' when she screamed "Mommyyyyyy."
Jennie came out of the bathroom and saw Stevie at the door, quickly figuring out what he was doing there, and turned bright red and began to cry. Kayla emerged in the hallway holding the baby. "I thought I told you kids to stay quiet," she said.
"M....mommy....Stevie was....was peeking at me," Jennie sobbed, "when I was in the bathroom! H....he saw me...n....naked."
Kayla turned on Stevie, who gulped. He really had to pee badly, and was very scared of Kayla. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean ...." he began to say.
"Quiet Stevie," Kayla said. She grabbed has hand and pulled him into the girl's room; they followed them in, curious to see Stevie's punishment. "You wait in here while I put the baby in her crib. I don't want any of you to leave this room, is that clear?" she commanded.
"But....but," Stevie said.
"No 'buts' young man, you will stay here, in this room, until I get back, or I promise you will be very sorry," she said, leaving. She shut the door behind her.
Stevie started squirming badly. This wasn't lost on the girls who looked at him and began to giggle. "Looks like someone has to use the potty," Jennie said. Stevie's hand went to his crotch.
"Careful, Stevie, or you'll wet your pants," Billie said, "like a baby."
"I....I will not," Stevie said, feeling the urge grow stronger. He held himself with both hands.
"I bet you will, and it serves you right for peeking at me," Jennie said. "I bet you'll wet yourself and mommy will have to put you in a diaper!" At that moment Billie came up behind him and started to tickle him under his arms. He was very ticklish and of course as he laughed he felt his pants get warm. "Ewwwwww," the girls laughed, as he ran out of the room and made it to the bathroom just before he completely soaked himself. He looked down at his underwear and shorts and saw he couldn't wear them. What was he going to do?
"Ahem," he heard from behind. He turned and saw Kayla glaring at him. He gulped. "Didn't I tell you to stay in the girl's room?" she asked.
"Y...yes, but...but I had to go really bad," Stevie said.
Kayla looked at the boy's wet shorts. "So I see. Come with me, young man," she said, leading him back to the girl's room once again. When they went in the girls looked at the boy's wet shorts and laughed. "Well, girls, it seems Stevie had a little accident, didn't you Stevie?" Kayla asked. The girls smirked.
"Y....yeah, I ...um....guess so.." Stevie said, mortified in front of the girls. He shifted from one foot to the other. Kayla stepped up to him, looking down. He came up to about chest level on the woman.
"Yes I guess you did, little boy," she said. "Take off your wet clothes so I can wash them."
"But mommy," he said, as he saw the girls giggling.
"DO IT," Kayla commanded. Stevie reluctantly took off his shoes and socks, and his wet shorts, and threw them in a pile.
"You shirt is a little wet too, I better wash that," she said, forcing him to take that off. He turned bright red, standing in front of the two girls and his mother in only his wet boy's briefs.
"His underwear is really wet, mommy," Jennie said. Stevie felt like he was going to cry.
"Yes it is, sweetie. That's because he wet himself. He is just a little boy, after all. Aren't you Stevie? Aren't you just a little boy?" Kayla asked softly.
"No...I'm...I'm 10 years old," Stevie said defiantly. Kayla shook her head, and knelt down. She lowered his wet briefs so he was naked in front of the girls. He couldn't believe his mommy would embarrass him like this. He looked at the girls, smirking and pointing at his privates. He turned beet red. He wanted to run away and hide. He felt so ashamed, even in front of these little girls. He felt...small. He felt little...like mommy said, he DID feel like a little boy. He covered himself with his hand.
"I didn't think 10 year old's wet their pants mommy," Billie said.
"Of course they don't, do they Stevie," Kayla said.
""N....no," Stevie admitted.
"But you wet your pants, so you couldn't possibly be 10, could you," Kayla asked sweetly. Stevie felt himself grow warm inside. "A 10 year old boy would never take off his clothes in front of 2 girls, would he? Maybe a little boy would, but not a 10 year old."
"He doesn't look like he's 10 to me mommy," Jennie said, walking over to him. She was a little taller than he was. "Why didn't I she look so tall to me before," he thought. Jennie looked down at his tiny penis and smiled. "I guess we're even now. You saw me....and I saw you ...only it's no big deal for me to see a naked 6 year old," she said. Stevie felt himself shrink a little more. He ran into his mommy's arms and cried.
------------
A man sat in his shop, smiling. He was feeling pretty darn pleased with himself, able to bring so much joy to so many people. He poured himself a brandy and sat down in his lazy boy. He hummed a tune to himself that he doubted anyone living could still name.
"You seem quite pleased with yourself," a voice said.
"Indeed I am. Yes indeedy, I am pleased. To think I have brought the dreams of so many to life, and in such a short period of time. Why, this is my best run of luck since the Dark Ages," the man said.
"We both know luck has little to do with it," said the voice. "And we both know the danger of hubris. There are those who would oppose us, and if they should succeed your ultimate goal will remain unfulfilled. I admit, I AM rather impressed at the circuitous route you are taking. I doubt your target will even see it coming."
"That is the plan, and thank you. To please one such as you is not easy," the man replied.
"Do not get to full of yourself, invader of dreams! I didn't say I was pleased, I said I was impressed! But no matter, I suspect you will have your hands full before long. Some will come at you, you know," said the voice.
"Of course they will, the question is how?" the Dreamkeeper asked.
"I'm....afraid I can't help you there. Not ALL KNOWING, after all. You'll just have to wait and see for yourself. Even the most carefully crafted plans can go awry...one 'monkey wrench' would be enough," the voice cautioned.
"Let them come," the man said confidently. "They will be sorry they did."