The Shrink Program

Chapter 76

A thousand thoughts raced through my head.

A chaotic mixture of confusion, anger, hurt and disappointment.

Outside the storm of my own thoughts, the room was deadly silent.

There was no reason to fight.

We were at checkmate.

All that was left... Was for me to tip the king... Or force him to take it.

That was the question that stood out from the many uncertainties wailing in my head.

What do I do now?

We had lost.

All but one of the cards were destroyed.

Robin, Nigel, Alan and Alex would be expelled...

And, in the same act of destroying the cards, I had also lost Vain.

From childhood to now, no matter what happened between us, I had only ever... Thought of him.

Everything I did, the person I was. He was the person I thought of more than any other.

I knew what he wanted.

The Jack, the champion of the Hill. My own card.

From the conversation we had with Apollo in the park, I know that Vain is waiting for me to finish the Shrink Program before he destroys my card.

He wants me to cooperate.

.... It wouldn't be the end of the world.
I would be expelled, but then time would pass, and I would move on from this.

I would go to a normal school where I wouldn't have to fight.

I could make new, normal friends, and we would do normal, non-violent things together.

Devin and the rest of my family wouldn't have to worry about me anymore.

It sounded nice.

But that wasn't what I wanted.

It's what Vain wanted.

Vain's face remained neutral, his poker face flawlessly intact.

He didn't speak, didn't try to explain or justify himself.

He knew that I didn't want to hear it.

We understood each other too well.

There was nothing left to be said between us.

... He also knew that he didn't need to explain himself.

He had won, and I had no choice but to accept that fact.

All that was left was for me to admit it.

To get angry and curse at him in defeat like I always do.

To go along with what was best for me.

Slowly, numbly, I felt my hand slip into my pocket.

Vain is stubborn. Once he decides something, he never listens.

Just like me.

I pulled out my card, the Jack.

It was one of the few personal items I had shrunk with me. Even at five inches tall, I refused to give it up.

I felt a sharp stab of satisfaction when Vain's mask slipped.

His eyes widened, understanding exactly what I intended to do. He reached out a hand as if he could stop me.

"Maddison...." His red eyes begged me to reconsider. To take a normal, peaceful life, he was trying to give me.

I met his eyes as I held the Jack between my hands.

And gave him my answer.

"Screw you, Vain."

I ripped the card to shreds.