Trapped With Her Brother (2024)

Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead, adjusting his grip on the wall. Installing a range hood wasn’t glamorous, but it was something he was good at—something that made him feel capable. Even if he was doing it for his sister and her boyfriend, Henry.

Henry stood nearby, arms crossed, radiating that irritating supervisory energy. Chris hated that. The guy never lifted a finger unless it was to point something out, which was exactly why Chris was here in the first place. Instead of offering any real help, Henry just loitered, tossing out questions like he was cross-examining a witness.

“You sure it’s gonna fit?” Henry asked, his tone polite but carrying that ever-present hint of condescension.

Chris clenched his jaw and kept his voice even. “Yeah, man. I do this for a living, remember?” He didn’t bother looking back.

Henry turned toward Allison, who was rinsing her hands at the sink. “I’m gonna run out and grab some stuff for dinner. Let Chris, you know, do his thing. You coming?”

“Alright, babe,” she replied, drying her hands. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Chris exhaled slowly as Henry finally walked out. Thank God.

Allison wiped her hands on a dish towel and glanced over. “Need anything before I go?”

Chris smirked. “Yeah, a brother-in-law who knows how to use a screwdriver.”

She rolled her eyes. “Chris, be nice.”

“That was me being nice,” he shot back, grinning.

She huffed a laugh. “One day, you’re gonna say or do something you can’t take back.”

“Looking forward to it,” he muttered.

She shook her head, amused. “You sure you don’t need anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Okay,” she said, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him.

Chris stiffened, instinctively trying to pull away. “Alright, alright,” he muttered, but she held on just a second longer.

“Thanks for coming and doing this today.”

He sighed, chuckling as he gently pried her off. “Yeah, yeah. Now get out of here before I start charging you.”

Allison rolled her eyes, giving him a playful shove before heading for the living room.

With a little wave, she disappeared down the hall, her footsteps fading. It wasn't long before he heard the door slam shut.

---

Chris worked in peace for another twenty minutes, securing the range hood into place and triple-checking his work. It was solid. Satisfied, he wiped his hands on his jeans and leaned against the counter, admiring his handiwork. Maybe Henry would find something to nitpick later, but at least Chris knew he had done it right.

He turned to grab his phone and nearly tripped over a small cardboard box sitting by the pantry. Frowning, he nudged it with his foot and realized it was unopened—Henry’s fancy new smart alarm system. Chris scoffed. Figures. The guy had probably planned on installing it himself and, unsurprisingly, never got around to it.

Chris crouched down and picked up the box, flipping it over in his hands. “State-of-the-art home security, huh?” he muttered to himself.

The packaging boasted a sleek, self-install system with motion detection, voice commands, and—interestingly—some kind of biometric scanning feature. He wasn’t exactly a tech guy, but he figured it couldn’t be that hard to set up. Maybe if he did, Henry would owe him one.

Curious, he tore the box open and started pulling out components. A few sleek, black sensors, a hub that looked like a compact speaker, and a tiny instruction manual. He flipped through the setup guide, scanning for the basics. It seemed simple enough—plug in the hub, activate the system, sync it to an app. He could handle that.

About 10 minutes later, Chris had everything plugged into the wall and powered up. The device’s small display screen blinked to life, running diagnostics. He leaned in as text flashed across the screen.

System initializing. Perform biometric scan to complete setup.

Chris rolled his eyes. “Fancy,” he muttered.

A soft beep sounded, and before he could react, a bright blue light swept over him, scanning from head to toe. He instinctively leaned back, but the scan had already finished.

Primary user identified. System locked to biometric signature.

“Well, that’s probably gonna piss Henry off,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Satisfied that he had at least done one thing better than Henry today, he shut the instruction manual and tossed it onto the counter. He’d deal with the rest later—right now, he just wanted to get home, grab a beer, and enjoy his evening without babysitting his sister’s helpless boyfriend.

Walking into the kitchen, as he turned to grab his things, a faint noise echoed from the other room—sounded like the door, followed by something almost like a… yelp?

Chris frowned, glancing toward the living room.

“Ali?” he called out, but there was no response.

Chris barely glanced around the living room as he stretched, letting out a breath. Whatever noise he’d heard, it was probably just the neighbours door. Nothing to worry about. His mind was already elsewhere—he just wanted to get home, grab a beer, and enjoy the rest of his night. He didn't even notice Alison's shoes by the couch.

He patted his pocket, expecting to feel his phone, but—nothing. Frowning, he scanned the kitchen counter where he thought he’d left it. Empty. Then he remembered—he set it down on the couch when he came in. Sure enough, when he turned, there it was, right where he usually left it.

What he didn’t see—what he couldn’t have seen—were the two tiny figures standing right beside it, desperately waving their arms.

---

Allison pushed the front door open, stepping inside with Henry right behind her. The house still smelled faintly of sawdust and warm metal, remnants of whatever Chris had been installing in the kitchen. She barely paid attention to it as she kicked off her shoes, sighing as she flopped onto the couch.

Henry's body planted itself right beside her.

“We forgot the groceries,” he muttered, his eyes closed.

Allison turned her head slightly, raising a brow.

“You mean you were gonna make Chris do it,” she corrected.

Henry smirked but didn’t deny it. “What? He’s already here. Might as well put those blue collar muscles to use.”

She rolled her eyes. Chris would’ve grumbled, sure, but he would have done it. Henry always had a way of nudging him into doing the annoying stuff—moving furniture, carrying heavy things, setting up whatever tech Henry swore he was totally going to get around to.

“Guess I’ll go let him know we’re back,” Henry said, stretching before attempting to get up.

But he never made it.

A short, sharp beep cut through the house, high-pitched and mechanical.

Then—

A pulse.

Like a sudden shift in gravity, the very air seemed to pull around them, pressing inward. Allison’s breath caught in her throat as a blinding blue light flashed across the room, swallowing everything in its path.

Then—nothing.

For half a second, she thought she had blacked out.

But as her body hit the couch—and sank into it—her stomach lurched with a sickening realization.

The world wasn’t the same.

Everything around her had grown—the couch fabric beneath her hands no longer soft and smooth, but thick and coarse, like a tangle of massive threads. The armrest stretched high above her, the room stretching outward into something vast, distant, impossible.

A strangled yelp sounded beside her.

Henry.

Allison spun toward him, her mind racing to make sense of what just happened. But before she could say anything, another sound—louder, deeper—sent ice through her veins.

Chris.

“ALI...?”

His voice rolled through the air, massive, vibrating through the couch like distant thunder.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. Slowly, shakily, she turned her head—

And froze.

Chris stepped into the living room, his towering form dominating everything, his sheer size overwhelming. Every footstep sent a tremor through the floor, his long strides carrying him toward them like an unstoppable force.

Her stomach twisted painfully.

He wasn’t just big. He was colossal.

She had never thought about how much space her brother took up before—he was just Chris, a guy who was a little too casual in the way he moved through a room. But now, every shift of his weight sent a ripple through the fabric beneath her, every subtle motion a looming catastrophe.

Her breath hitched as her eyes locked onto his legs—miles of denim stretching upward, thick ridges in the fabric forming slopes too steep to climb. The slight wrinkle in his sock near the heel looked deep enough to fall into.

He stopped just a few steps away, his gaze scanning the room.

But not down.

Not at the couch.

Not at them.

His brows furrowed slightly before he sighed, stretching as if nothing was amiss.

And just like that, he turned and walked away.

The ground rumbled beneath them as he disappeared back into the kitchen, his presence still lingering like an unshakable force of nature.

Allison’s body remained frozen in place, her mind trying—failing—to process what just happened.

Chris had been right there.

And he hadn’t seen them.

Her stomach clenched as she turned to Henry, whose face was pale, his chest rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths. He looked at her, eyes wide with the same terrifying realization as he took him in as well.

They were in their own home.

And the only person who could help them—

Had no idea they were there.

Allison had remembered exactly where Chris always left his phone, and there it was, yards away. If they could just get his attention, if they could just reach the screen or the edge where he’d see them, maybe—just maybe—he’d realize what had happened before it was too late.

She and Henry had run across the couch’s vast fabric surface, their tiny legs burning, their lungs heaving. The moment they reached the phone, she spun around and started waving, screaming as loud as her tiny voice would allow. Chris was walking toward them now, looking right at them—or at least, at the phone.

For a split second, her heart soared. He was about to see them. He was about to notice.

Then a shadow fell over them.

His hand.

Allison barely had time to let out a strangled scream before a wall of fingers came crashing down, scooping both of them up along with the phone in one smooth, absentminded motion. The rough pads of his fingers pressed them against the cool glass screen before his grip tightened, trapping them firmly in his palm.

A rush of movement followed, making Allison’s stomach lurch. They were lifted skyward, pressed into the sweltering heat of his closed fist. Then, just as suddenly, they were falling again—landing hard in a dark, suffocating space. The air was hot, the fabric walls pressing in on all sides. A second later, she felt the unmistakable weight of Chris’s phone slam against her back as it shifted, pinning her between it and the rough denim material of his pocket.

Her breath came fast and uneven as reality set in. Chris had no idea. He had just scooped them up and stuffed them into his pocket like nothing had happened.

Above them, muffled and distant, Chris sighed as he patted his jeans to make sure everything was in place. Then, without another thought, he started walking.

Allison barely had time to react before her tiny body was thrown forward, slamming into Henry as the pocket lurched violently with each massive step. The movement was relentless, the heat stifling, and the sheer weight of Chris’s phone crushed them into the fabric with every jolt.

Chris was leaving.

He was taking them with him.

And he had no idea.

---

Chris stepped into his apartment, kicking the door shut behind him with a satisfied sigh. Finally, some peace and quiet. No Henry hovering like a useless foreman, no more standing on a step ladder in a hot kitchen—just a cold beer, a comfortable couch, and the rest of his evening without obligations.

He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it onto the armrest as he made his way to the fridge. The cool air rushed out as he grabbed a bottle, cracking it open with a quick twist. He took a long swig, the cold bitterness settling in his chest as he rolled his shoulders, already feeling more at ease. It didn’t take long for him to flop onto the couch, one arm draped over the backrest, his beer balanced on his thigh.

If he had any idea what was trapped inside his pocket at that very moment, he might’ve been a little more careful.

But as far as Chris was concerned, he was alone.

Inside the dark, suffocating confines of his pocket, Henry was anything but relaxed.

The moment Chris had collapsed onto the couch, the impact had jolted Henry forward, slamming him against the heavy bulk of Chris’s phone. His ribs ached, his pulse was racing, and every tiny movement Chris made shifted the world violently around him, sending him tumbling back into the oppressive folds of fabric.

But he wasn’t focused on that. His mind was set on one thing—getting out.

He had no idea how long they had been in here. His sense of time was completely warped by the heat and the constant shifting of Chris’s movements. But when the motion finally stopped, he knew this was his chance.

Swallowing hard, he reached forward, clawing his way up past the thick material, bracing himself against the smooth, glass surface of the phone for leverage. His fingers slipped against the slick plastic, but after a few more desperate attempts, he finally found an opening near the edge of Chris’s pocket.

He squeezed through, pulling himself free, his chest heaving as he emerged into the open air.

The world around him was massive.

The living room—Chris’s living room—sprawled out like a never-ending expanse of furniture, walls that rose like cliffs, and a couch that may as well have been a mountain range. The floor alone looked like a deadly drop from where he was perched.

But the worst part wasn’t the world around him.

It was the gargantuan body sitting right above him.

Chris sat comfortably, oblivious, his massive frame shifting slightly as he took another casual sip of beer. His shirt was taught, showing a bit of his bare backside as he sat comfortably, but from where Henry stood, all he could see were his brother-in-law’s towering thighs, the ridges of his jeans forming steep slopes beside him, and the looming presence of his broad chest above.

Henry barely suppressed a shudder.

He had never felt this small in his life.

If he made one wrong move—if Chris adjusted his position, scratched his leg, or even just shifted in his seat—Henry had no doubt he’d be dead.l

He didn’t have time to hesitate. He turned back toward the pocket, peering inside through the dim light, trying to spot Allison.

She was still in there.

Huddled deep in the folds of fabric, curled into herself, her tiny frame trembling against the edge of the pocket.

“Allison!” Henry hissed in a whisper, reaching out a hand toward her. “Come on! We need to get out of here before he—”

But she didn’t move. She didn’t even look at him.

“Allison?” he tried again, his heart pounding. “Ali, come on! I made it out—you can too!”

She shook her head.

Henry froze, frowning. “What? Why?”

“I can’t,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the soft rumble of Chris shifting slightly above them.

Henry felt frustration rise in his chest. “Ali, yes, you can. You have to. You just have to climb—”

“No, Henry,” she cut him off, her voice shaking. “You don’t understand.”

Henry’s breath caught in his throat as she finally lifted her head, her eyes wide with fear.

“This is Chris’s house,” she said quietly, gripping the fabric of the pocket like it was the only thing keeping her steady. “You don’t know what he’s like with… with things like us.”

Henry opened his mouth to argue, but then he saw the look in her eyes.

This wasn’t just fear of being small.

This was fear of her own brother.

His stomach twisted.

Allison had grown up with Chris. She knew him better than anyone. And the way she was staring at him now, frozen with terror, told him everything.

Chris was casual when it came to things that were small, insignificant. He didn’t think twice about crushing bugs under his shoes, swatting something off the table just because it was in his way. She knew they didn’t stand a chance here.

Not at this size. Not in his house.

Henry swallowed hard, glancing back at the giant looming above them, casually sipping his beer, completely unaware that two people—his own family—were currently at his mercy.