Miniature

Chapter Twenty-Three: JUSTIN

[A/N: This is the second-to-last chapter... my baby is growing up so fast! Anyone have a tissue? I need a hug <(^-^)> and a cookie (::) and a cuddle.]

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They caught us.

They opened the trunk and they caught us, and they found me cradling Carter's lifeless body.

Carter is gone now. They've sent him to be inspected. And me? I sit here in a dirty hamster cage, stripped of everything but some tight boxers, waiting to be killed.

Because I know I will be killed. Carter's parents hate me - his mom especially.

It's been four, make that five hours, going by the clock on the wall opposite. I have no idea what's going to happen to me. I just hope Carter and Hannah are okay.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is all my fault. I was the one who went to free the first batch of Miniatures. Carter only ended up in this mess because I dragged him into it.

And Hannah.... I got her involved in this, too. I didn't understand this feeling at first, the feeling I have for her.

It's fuzzy and warm, like butterflies in my stomach. I can't stand to see her upset, she always has to be laughing and smiling and happy. And if she isn't then it's my job to make her happy again. She's as much a little sister to me as Carter is a little brother, even though she's actually much taller. And sitting there in that cage, I finally realize what the feeling is.

It's love. I'm in love with Hannah. But how can that be? She's so much bigger than me, it would never work... Would it?

A guard comes in, interrupting my train of thought, carrying another wire cage. He slides it onto the shelf next to mine, and I catch a quick glimpse of the person inside it: a short girl, with familiar curls and eyes. Hannah.

"Hannah?" I ask, disbelievingly.

"Justin?" she squeaks, reaching out for me. But the guard grabs my cage and strides away from her.

"Justin! Justin!" she yells, her cries growing fainter and fainter.

"Hannah! I lo-"

But the guard is slamming and locking the door before I can finis my sentence. He hurries down the hallway, and I grip the cage bars for stability. Against my will, a few tears roll down my dirty cheeks. I will never get to tell Hannah that I love her. We will die with the words unspoken. And just when I thought we actually had a chance, now that we're apparently both -

Then it all comes crashing down. Hannah is a Miniature.

She was our last hope, because she was a Normal. But now she, Carter, and I are all Miniatures. The future looks grim.

Whoever is carrying me slams me down on a table, causing me to be thrown up against the roof of the cage, before hurrying away. Then a familiar tone sounds through the room.

"Welcome, Justin Evans."

Carter's mother looms above me, a remote control in her hands. She looks exactly like I remember: dark hair gathered in a ponytail, white lab coat over a dark blue cardigan and jeans. The remote is made of a dark gray metal and has one button on it, a bright red one.

"I thought you should be here for the jettison of Phase 2. With a push of this button - " she gestures to the remote in her hands " - the Pied Piper formula will be released into the brains of every Miniature created before our imprisonment - and that is many thousands. They will flock to this laboratory from all across the world, and they will be mindless zombies that will let me test chemicals on them without resistance. I will perfect my serums and create a race of gods! And only two people are exempt - Carter and Hannah."

This means.... No, it can't be...

"Yes," Dr. Knight laughs, reading my expression. "You will be under the control of the Pied Piper serum. And you will help me gain control of the world. Perhaps at the end, I'll release you - just so that you can watch your civilization burn to ashes, knowing that it was your compliance to be a lab rat that allowed it to be possible."

"What about Carter?" I manage, hiding my fear. "What about Hannah?"

"Hannah will have a front-row seat as my personal pet and slave. As for my son, he will be sent to a pet shop. Maybe he'll find a good family - one who doesn't mind a freak like him."

She pulls a small glass jar out of her pocket and sets it down. Inside is...

"Carter!" I scream.

Carter pounds his fists on the glass. "J-Justin! Justin! J-Justin!"

Dr. Knight just laughs, and pushes the button. I can feel my whole body shutting down, and the last thing I see is Carter pounding on the glass and screaming my name.

[A/N 2: I can't believe I just wrote that... Please don't kill me yet. One chapter left... I'm also deleting the chapters that were just notices. Comment and vote!]