“The Mystery of Smokey Terrace”
By: Ron564339
E-mail: [email protected]
Part 15:
“Think we should open it?” I asked my cousin Mitch. “You never know what could be there…”
He let out a sigh and said, “Well, I don’t know what good it’ll do, but why not?”
We were in the main entrance room of the mansion known as Smokey Terrace. My friend Jack and my cousin Jason had entered into the place, but they hadn’t come out. So Mitch and I decided that we had better come in together and look for them. And we were currently talking about a small door near the main one we had entered the mansion in. And it was as good of a starting place as anywhere, so why not open it?
We walked over to the door and Mitch opened it. But right as he did, a bunch of cleaning tools fell directly on top of us, knocking us to the ground. I got a face full of mop, while an old rag fell on Mitch. The mop end was really dusty, and I pushed it off of my face in disgust.
“What the hell?!” asked Mitch through a sneeze, which made me realize that rag must have been really dusty as well.
“Well, it looks like a broom closet,” I said, stating the obvious. “And by the look of things, none of these have been used in a while.” I felt the handle of the mop that had hit me, taking a look at the dust that had accumulated on it. Mitch and Jason had said that no one had lived here in forever, so it made sense to me that everything was so dirty.
Mitch said, “Ugh! Why does this place have to be so nasty?”
I coughed due to all of the dust, and even though I knew he was just talking to himself, since I had been thinking about it, I responded, “Because it’s old. Here, let’s get this junk back in the closet.” No point just leaving it there…
We got all of the stuff back in the closet, but I was already thinking about continuing our search. Even though I was worried about Jack and Jason, I was intrigued by the old mansion and the story behind it.
“Up the stairs, then?” I asked.
“Might as well try ‘em,” Mitch responded.
I already began to make my way to the stairs, but soon after I started walking, for some reason, my body started to feel funny. It was like I couldn’t see straight and I briefly lost control of my body. Before I knew it, I was flying dead straight into this big stone gargoyle at the end of the staircase.
Soon afterward, as if the same thing was happening to him, I felt Mitch topple right on top of me. I saw his head hit a rug that was on the floor. He tried to sit up, but he fell right back over, landing on my leg.
I sat up and shook out the cobwebs…thankfully I was feeling normal again. I looked over at Mitch, and for a few seconds I was worried. But he soon sat up and rubbed his head, and I knew he was ok. He stood up and said, “Ouch. Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” I said as I stood up too. “I don’t know what happened…I tripped, I guess. And then I felt kind of funny…like I was dizzy or something…”
“It looked like you hit your head pretty hard,” he said. “Same thing happened to me. It probably jostled us a bit. But I think we’re ok.”
Even though part of me thought he was right, I had actually felt kind of funny before I had tripped…but I couldn’t figure out why. I convinced myself that he was right, and it was just because I hit my head. Either way, I didn’t want to think about it…it didn’t matter, and we still needed to find Jack and Jason.
“Yeah,” I said. “We have to be more careful. But we better hurry. Let’s keep on going.”
We went up the stairs and walked through a huge set of double doors at the top. We entered into what looked kind of like a study that was really long. There was a big red rug in the middle of the floor, and the walls were lined with bookshelves. There were some desks on the right and a big concrete slab on the left.
As I stepped onto the concrete slab to get a better look, Mitch said, “Wow,” as he stepped towards one of the desks.
“Yeah,” I said in amazement as I began to take a look at the books. “To think that there are still all these books here…I bet they’re worth something.”
I know we were supposed to be looking for our friends, but it was really interesting…we couldn’t help but stop for a bit. I began to take down a few books and look through them, and I knew Mitch was doing the same.
Most of them weren’t of much interest, and I was about to stop reading. But then I noticed one that had a name on the spine: the name “Rose Gremley”, the creepy old woman who had last lived here. Mitch, Jason, and my cousin TJ had told Jack, me, and my friend Kevin some spooky stories about her, so naturally the book caught my eye.
I grabbed it and began to take a look at it. I could tell it was a photo album! “Hey Mitch, check it out!” I said.
As he turned around to get a look, I asked him, “Guess whose name was on the spine? Mrs. Rose Gremley! That’s why I took it out. But it doesn’t look like a book. It looks like a…”
“Photo album,” he finished, which once again showed that I had stated the obvious. I nodded to affirm this and opened it up to take a look.
“Wow,” Mitch said. “Let’s take a look, maybe we can find something about her.”
I agreed, and once again we were distracted from our search for Jack and Jason. But I had been really interested in the story about Mrs. Gremley ever since I heard it, and I knew finding out more about her might give us a better idea about the house, and maybe even finding our friends.
I began flipping through it, but most of the pictures were pretty boring…just a bunch of people wearing old fashioned clothes. There were a couple that caught my eye. Some were of Rufus, the big caretaker of the grounds who had let us into the mansion when the door Jason and Jack had gone in got stuck shut. There was also this young, good looking maid who looked really on edge in all of the pictures. But there were even a few of Mrs. Gremley herself…some happy, some not…
Then I noticed that all of the pictures started to be of babies. They didn’t really catch my interest, though I heard Mitch utter “Aw,” every now and then.
But then I ran across a very interesting one. I looked at it for a few seconds. It looked really, really familiar…and it reminded me so much of my own baby pictures. Almost exactly like them…
“What’s up?” Mitch asked, bringing back to reality.
“Uh…oh, nothing,” I said. I shook my head and got rid of the thought…there was no way it could have been me…just some kid who looked like the way I used to…
I kept flipping, but then Mitch stopped me when I got to one of six babies together, all boys.
“Doesn’t something seem funny about that one?” he asked.
Now that he mentioned it, something did seem a little weird about it. But I couldn’t figure out what…
“Yeah…” I said. “Can’t put my finger on it, though.”
I kept looking. One of them had a pacifier, one had a baby bottle, one was staring at two of the others, one boy had a teddy bear, one was looking down at the diaper he was wearing, and the last one looked really shy…
I kept flipping, though, and we ran into one of Mrs. Gremley holding a baby. It didn’t interest me as much, so I kept flipping as Mitch said, “Hey Max, see, that’s what we were telling you about! That’s Mrs. Gremley’s grandson! You know, the one who…”
But I had stopped listening. Because I couldn’t believe the picture that I had just flipped to. My jaw just dropped in huge shock as I looked at it. It was a picture of ME.
That didn’t make any sense in itself. How in the world would a picture of me get in this album? But that part was just weird. The other part was actually disturbing.
Because it wasn’t just the normal, every day me. I was wearing…pajamas. Like, little kid pajamas, with feet and everything. And I had my thumb jammed into my mouth, like a two year old. And on top of that, I was holding a teddy bear up against my body.
I heard Mitch laugh as I continued to stare the picture in disbelief. I wasn’t even listening to him, really, but I heard him say “Aww, Max, that’s so cute! When did you take this?”
To be honest, what he said did embarrass me a little, causing me to blush, even though at the moment I was so bothered by the picture I hardly cared. I was so flustered that all I said was,
“But…what the hell is this? Mitch, this…can’t be me! I never took a picture like this! And besides, how in the world did it get in this photo album!?”
I didn’t know what else to think, so I continued to stare at it for a few seconds. I then heard Mitch say,
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. But man, this kid sure does look like you. But why is he dressed like a baby? And sucking his thumb with a teddy bear?”
“Look, I don’t know,” I said, not wanting to think about it. The really weird truth was…this picture actually was of me. That was me in the picture. And I knew because I was there when it was taken. I really had worn a footed sleeper, sucked my thumb and cuddled a teddy bear. And one of my friends had taken it. But there’s no point in getting into that story here…it’s actually pretty embarrassing, and I’d rather not go through it if I don’t have to. The point is that there was no way I was gonna let Mitch know that the picture was genuine.
But that still didn’t explain why in the world it was in Mrs. Gremley’s photo album. That made utterly no sense. But before I had time to think about the matter more, I flipped over to the next page, and to my complete shock, I then saw a picture of…Mitch.
Unlike the picture of me, Mitch was wearing normal clothes in the picture. But he was sucking a baby’s pacifier, smiling, tightly holding a light blue blanket.
“What the hell?!” I asked in shock. “This one looks like YOU!”
Mitch looked just as freaked out and as uncomfortable as I had been when I had seen the picture of me, and he said, “Ok, let’s put this thing up, we’re just scaring ourselves.”
It was true that this had just freaked ourselves out, and we really had gotten off track of looking for Jack and Jason, so I said, “Yeah, you’re right.” I closed the album and put it back on the bookshelf, and to get back to our original goal, I said, “This place is creepy enough as it is, especially with Jack and Jason lost…”
“Yeah, we better look for them,” Mitch added. “But wait,” he said. “Let’s take one more look at these books…that was just too weird to ignore…maybe we can find out something about this house, or Mrs. Gremley, or something…”
Even though I was still pretty unsettled about that picture of me, and I really did want to continue looking for Jack and Jason, I said, “Well…all right…I guess so.” But to remind Mitch of our purpose of coming here, I added, “But we can’t stay too long, we gotta find the others…”
“Right,” he said. He went back to examining the books, and I hopped back onto the concrete pedestal and glanced at the books.
I wasn’t really paying attention to them, or looking for more books, because I didn’t want to find anything else weird. I couldn’t get over how that embarrassing picture of me had ended up here, and I forced myself not to take the photo album back out and get another look. But what was up with that picture of Mitch? Had that been him? Why was he sucking a pacifier? Was there some connection to the “babyish” things in the picture of me and the one of him? You know, I was sucking my thumb, he was sucking a pacifier? But even more importantly, how did two such embarrassing pictures of us end up in this creepy old mansion?
I was so engulfed in my thoughts that I barely heard Mitch begin to say, “Hey, Max, check it…”
But I didn’t hear anymore, because very quickly I felt the concrete pedestal I was on, along with the bookshelf attached to it and the wall, spin around very quickly. I yelled, “Hey, what the…!” in surprise, as I realized what was happening.
I was now in a completely different room, facing the opposite direction. It was basically a study, with a desk and a lamp up against an opposite wall, and a few more bookcases. There was an open door on the opposite wall, and like the other rooms it was pretty dusty.
I realized what had happened; this concrete platform must have been built into the wall, and the thing spun into a completely new room, just like the old horror movies! Either Mitch or I must have done something to make it do that, but I had no idea what. I turned back towards the bookcase that had turned, pushing hard against it.
It didn’t budge at all, and I very faintly heard Mitch’s voice from the other side.
“Max!” he yelled. “Max, where are you?”
“Mitch, can you hear me?!” I yelled as loud as I could.
Even more faintly, I heard, “Yes, Max! Max…”
“Mitch…” I began, but I was cut off by a voice. But this one was much louder, much lower, and it came from behind me. And it was quite familiar…
“Max, man, there you are!” I heard it say from behind me. Without turning around, I automatically knew who it was…it was Jack.
I turned around and saw his big body standing in the open doorway. He was just standing there, smiling like nothing was going on.
“Jack!” I said, taking a step toward him. “There you are! We’ve been looking for you!”
But before I could say anything else, he said, “Hey, follow me!” He made a beckoning motion with his hand, and then, he suddenly turned to his right and ran out of the doorway.
Part 16:
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked, running a few steps forward. But I got no answer. I stopped in my tracks. I didn’t want to leave Mitch, and I didn’t want to be in this weird old mansion alone. But what choice did I have? I had no idea how to turn the bookshelf back around, I could barely hear Mitch, and if I didn’t follow Jack, I might lose him.
“Grrr,” I said with frustration. I decided that first I’d catch up with Jack, tell him what happened to Jason and Mitch, and then we’d fine them later. I ran out of the room and looked down in the direction that Jack had run.
I saw him nowhere, but I did notice I was in a hallway with a lot of doors on both sides. I had no idea which one he had gone into, and I felt even more frustrated. But I decided I’d keep on trying rooms until I found him, and then I’d get everything straight.
There were quite a few doors to choose from. I opened up a few and checked inside, but there was nothing much in the rooms…just some various pieces of furniture. But as I opened another one, I was greeted with a sight that briefly took my breath away.
This was the one Jack had gone in. Because there Jack was, right in front of me. But this wasn’t the usual Jack, the tough foul-mouthed athlete. No, Jack was…on his hands and knees. And he was wearing…a diaper. I could tell because it was a white cloth that was pinned around him at the two sides. He was crawling around in circles wearing on a T-shirt and a diaper. He kept on making gurgling noises, and he didn’t even seem to be aware I was in the room. Other than the fact that he looked like Jack, he really was…a baby.
I just stared in disbelief for a few seconds as Jack continued in his baby activities. Once I got over the initial shock of it, I walked a little closer to him. I still didn’t know what to make of this, so I just continued to watch. I had no experience with dealing with actual babies, so I had no idea what to do with him.
“Darling, isn’t he?” I heard a scratchy old voice say from my right, startling me.
I quickly looked over and saw an old lady, wearing an old black dress, with her gray, straw-like hair pulled back, leaning on an old walking stick. This had to be none other than Mrs. Gremley herself…I guessed the rumors about her dying weren’t true at all. I actually wasn’t too surprised she was still here…it paled in comparison to the fact that my best friend was currently wearing a diaper and gurgling like a baby.
“It’s you!” was all I managed to say to her.
“Why, yes, of course it’s me, this is MY house, after all. And you and your friend here are my guests.”
“What have you done to him?” I asked. I was a little freaked out, but I wasn’t going to let the old woman intimidate me.
“Oh, not much,” she said with a sly smile. “I just showed him a new way to look at things.”
“He’s acting like a baby!” I exclaimed. “He’s seventeen years old, but he’s dressed like a baby and he’s crawling around on the ground!”
“My, nothing gets past you, does it dear?” she asked sarcastically. “Why, you are correct. Your friend here now has the mind of a baby. But he intruded into my house without my permission, so I can do whatever I want with him. Besides, he’s so much happier this way.”
“You’re crazy!” I said. I normally try to be nice to people, but given the current circumstances, this didn’t really apply. I was quite flustered and still had trouble grasping the situation.
“Think what you will,” she said. “But really, think about it, wouldn’t it be nice to be a baby again? Not have a care in the world? Have someone be able to take care of you all of the time? I think you know very well what I mean…”
“Wha…what are you talking about?” I asked her nervously.
“You know EXACTLY what I am talking about. Now, I think it’s time for you to join your friend here. Rita, I think it’s time for us to diaper another baby boy.”
I looked across the room, and I saw a young woman, dressed in a maid outfit. I had seen her in the photo album that I had looked at earlier. Only now, she was holding a white cloth that I immediately knew had to be a diaper. She looked at me nervously, but she was also walking towards me.
“Please, come here,” said the maid nervously as she walked forward. “It will be better if you cooperate.”
“I don’t care if he cooperates or not!” said Mrs. Gremley. “I want you to put that diaper on him right now, Rita!”
For some reason, for a few seconds, I did nothing as the maid, Rita, came closer and closer to me. I wanted to resist, but I…couldn’t. She was now within five feet of me, and she was reaching out towards me with one hand.
But then something snapped, and before I thought to do anything else, I turned and ran right back out of the room. As I turned and ran down the hallway, I heard Mrs. Gremley yell, “After him, Rita!”
Still frazzled and not thinking clearly, I ran down to the end of the hall and opened another door. I turned and saw Rita running after me, diaper still in her hands. I quickly slammed the door shut and fumbled to lock it.
I looked around. I was in a small dark room, and there really was nothing other than a small ladder leading up to some kind of chute. Other than that, I was trapped.
I tried to clear my thoughts for a few seconds, still shocked by what was happening. But before I could do anything else, I heard a loud banging on the door. I didn’t know how long I had before Rita or Mrs. Gremley would figure out a way in, and at the moment I was somewhat scared of them, and I really didn’t want to have a diaper put on me. So, without much more thought, I climbed up the ladder and crawled through the chute.
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I could crawl on my knees pretty comfortably through it. The hatchway closed behind me as I went all the way in. It was metal, and I guess it had to be some vent of some sort. Not knowing what else to do, I just kept crawling.
As I crawled, I kept coming across little gratings in it that I could see through. I peered through them as I crawled by, but I only saw empty rooms. But then, as I kept crawling, I looked through another one, and I saw…Mitch.
I stared down at him. I almost yelled out to him, but then I noticed something…he was asleep in a bed. And he had… a pacifier in his mouth! He was sucking on a baby’s pacifier and he was holding a light blue baby blanket in his arms! I realized that…just like Jack, he must be acting like a baby too! Mrs. Gremley must have gotten him too. I realized that yelling out wouldn’t help, so after staring for a few more seconds, I decided to just keep crawling.
I eventually came to the end of the vent, and I crawled into another small room. I was relieved to get a chance to relax…I felt safe from Mrs. Gremley and Rita here. But I didn’t want to stay there long…I really didn’t want them to find me.
But I needed a few minutes to think this through. What was Mrs. Gremley doing to my friends? She was making them think and act like…babies. And she kept saying they were happier that way. I think I kind of knew what she meant…but it was weird.
I didn’t have too much time to ponder that, though…I had to figure out what I was going to do next. I didn’t see any point in trying to find Jack or Mitch and talk to them…they were bound to just be like real babies, and they’d be no help. I had no idea where Jason was, and there was a good chance he was just like Jack and Mitch.
I thought about getting out of the house, and finding Kevin and trying to get some help. But I didn’t want to leave my friends in here. Besides, who would believe my crazy story?
But then I thought…why am I scared of these two women? Surely I could overpower Rita. And even if I couldn’t, wouldn’t it really be that bad to wear a diaper? Sure, it would be kind of embarrassing, but why was I scared of that? I decided that my best bet was just to talk to Mrs. Gremley, apologize for us breaking into her house, and just asking, maybe even begging if I had to, for her to make my friends normal again and just let us leave in peace.
It may have not been the smartest decision, but it sounded like the best one to me. I wanted to help my friends, and I felt it would be best to do it myself.
Part 17:
For now, I first had to get out of here and figure out where to go next. I walked through the door leading me out of the little room, and I found myself in a small little hallway, with a staircase going down and two other doors.
I decided first to try one of the doors and once again I was met with a strange site. I saw two people…one dressed in a maid’s outfit, kneeling down with her back facing me. I knew this had to be Rita. I couldn’t see the face, or even the body of the other person…I just knew this person was naked from the waist down, since I saw their legs and feet pointing towards me.
Neither seemed to notice me, and I heard Rita say, “There now, my little baby boy, let’s get a nice fresh diaper on you.”
I heard a babyish sort of giggle as I saw Rita take what looked to be a container of baby powder and shake some of the powder onto the figure she was kneeling over. I could tell that it must have been Jack, and Rita was…changing his…diaper, I guessed.
Now, in a situation like this, maybe it would have been best for me to run. I mean, it was pretty weird. But for some reason this really caught my attention. I mean, when else would I ever get the chance to see my best friend get a DIAPER put on him? It sounds stupid, but this really interested me…it would be funny, if nothing else. So, I took a few steps forward, hoping to get a glimpse of Jack’s babyish expression as Rita pinned a baby diaper on him.
As I walked forward, I did see the face of the person she was about to diaper. But it wasn’t Jack. It was…ME. I stared in utter shock as I saw my own body laying there on a blanket. There was a white cloth under the naked butt of the other me, and as I stared, the other…me…looked up at me, smiled and gave me a wink as Rita began to pull the diaper over his naked privates.
This freaked me out just enough for me to run out of the room, slam the door, and run right through the other door that was outside. I slammed it shut and leaned up against it, once again needing to catch my breath and gather my thoughts after what I had just seen.
This didn’t make any sense…what the hell was going on here? Not only were my friends being forced to think like babies, but…how could there be another me that it was happening to?
But there was something else that was really freaky about this. And to explain it, I have to give away a huge secret about myself, something that until this whole think occurred, I had told no one else.
I am what is known as a… “teen baby”. It sounds really weird, but I get extreme pleasure from…acting like a baby. Even though I can’t always do what I want with this, I like to suck pacifiers, drink from baby bottles, wear baby clothes, and especially, wear and wet…diapers. I know it’s a pretty unusual thing to like, but ever since I can remember I’ve liked to do this.
I have a particular soft spot for stuffed animals, especially this old teddy bear of mine that I still have hidden at home. I’ve also always really wanted to wear a footed baby sleeper, but I’ve never been able to get my hands on one. Well, except for once…
I was over at one of my female friends’ houses when it happened. We were just chilling out in her room, just talking about whatever. But something came up, and she had to leave for a little while. She said it would just be cool if I just chilled in her room until she came back.
While she was gone, I noticed that she had left her closet door open. And I curiously took a brief look inside, and to my surprise, I noticed that there was…what looked to be a footed sleeper lying in there! It was actually light blue, too.
I had no idea why it was in my best friend’s room, but this was something I had always dreamed of. Even though part of me was telling me just to let it sit there, I felt this was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up. I quickly took off all of my clothes except for my boxers, and after fumbling with it a bit, I managed to put on the sleeper and zip it up. And it felt amazing! This was what I had always wanted!
I excitedly looked at myself in the mirror, and it was awesome. I felt just like a cute little baby, what I had always fantasized about.
Unfortunately, to my horror, it was at that moment that my friend came right back in through the door. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit and ask what I was doing. I felt myself turn red, and since I couldn’t tell her about me being a teen baby, I just lied and said I saw the sleeper there and wanted to see what it felt like. She told me about how she had gotten it at a department store because it was so comfortable and warm, but she would have never expected me to want to try wearing it.
She could tell I was embarrassed about it, but she told me that I actually looked really cute in it, which made me blush more. She said she wouldn’t tell anybody about me wearing it, on one condition…I had to let her take a picture of me wearing it…she said I just looked too cute. She even had me pose, asking me to hold her teddy bear and put my thumb in my mouth. I was embarrassed, but part of me loved it, so it wasn’t a big deal. She took the picture, and she swore she would never show it to anybody.
And, somehow, even though it didn’t make sense, that was the picture that had been in Mrs. Gremley’s photo album. And that’s why I was so embarrassed and shocked when Mitch saw it.
That’s also why I paused when Rita was about to put the diaper on me…part of me was excited about the idea of it.
And I also knew that’s what Mrs. Gremley was talking about when she said, “You know exactly what I’m talking about…” Somehow, and I didn’t know how, but she knew I wanted to be treated like a baby. And that was truly freaky.
But despite me actually having the desire to act and be treated like a baby, it was still freaky to see my friends being turned into babies. And it was still freaky to see another me being diapered, even though I did find the idea somewhat pleasing. And besides, even though I liked the idea of me being babied, I wasn’t crazy about having a crazy old woman or her maid doing it.
I had been so engaged in my thoughts about this that I hadn’t taken a look around the room I was in. Now that I did that, I realized I was in a child’s bedroom, most likely a boy’s. I noticed a desk, a door (which I assumed led to a closet), a dresser, and a bed. I looked over at the bed and noticed there was something on it.
I couldn’t believe my eyes (once again). It was a teddy bear. But not just any teddy bear…it was MINE. The one that I had kept hidden in my house! No, this couldn’t be it. But as I picked it up and studied it, it had the exact same wear and tear spots and distinctive markings of my very own bear.
And then I saw something else. No, it couldn’t be. But it was. A light blue, footed baby sleeper that looked like it would fit me perfectly. I simply couldn’t believe my eyes.
I don’t know whether my next actions were smart, or if I should have done them. And you’ll probably think they’re really weird give everything that was going on. But I was so distraught that it was just too tempting. Without thinking about it, I stripped down to my boxers, and I took the sleeper and put it on.
It felt amazing. It was perfectly soft and very comfortable, and my feet fit perfectly into the padding. Grabbing my teddy bear and squeezing it tightly, I felt a wave of calmness and happiness go through my body. It seemed like all of my fear and worry from being in this crazy house just melted away, and now I was able to sink into a state of babyish bliss.
I walked to the center of the room, and to sink even more deeply, I put my thumb in my mouth. I became even more relaxed. I closed my eyes, and I forgot about everything that was bothering me…
It was then that I heard a voice. It was a guy, but I couldn’t place it exactly. I heard it say, “Max! Max! Please! Help me!”
Although part of me was curious about this, I was so happy and peaceful that I just let it drift away, too. The voice stopped and I just forgot about it, feeling more and more peaceful, holding my soft bear tightly and sucking my thumb harder.
I don’t know exactly how long I stood there, zoning out and enjoying the awesome feeling of peace, happiness and comfort. But then suddenly, I was shaken out of this state by a voice saying, “What are you doing?”
Part 18:
I quickly opened my eyes, and there I saw the maid, Rita, again. My initial reaction was to quickly take my thumb out of my mouth, and then I felt myself go red out of embarrassment. I hadn’t ever told anyone about me being a teenbaby, so I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having someone see me acting so babyish.
I only managed to stammer, “Uh…uh…well, you see…” as I tried to hide the teddy bear behind my back.
Rita looked at me puzzled. “Wait a second, I thought that you didn’t want to be a baby…”
“I don’t! I don’t! Honestly, I got freaked out when Mrs. Gremly told you to put that…diaper…on me.”
“Then why are you wearing that sleeper…oh, I get it! Good idea!”
“Uh…what?” I asked, looking at her with a puzzled face.
“Of course!” she said. “Look, I’m sure by now you’ve figured out what’s going on here. Mrs. Gremley has lured you and your friends into her mansion, and just like so many before you, she’s turning you into babies. And she almost got you earlier. And I have to follow Mrs. Gremley’s orders…I…I’m trapped here!”
So I was right…somehow, Mrs. Gremley had made Jack, Mitch, and probably Jason act like babies again. And for some reason Rita was obligated to help her.
“But,” she said to me. “You have a marvelous idea! Act like a baby, and trick Mrs. Gremley into thinking that she’s already got you when she hasn’t! It’s brilliant!”
So, Rita thought I was faking. I mentally sighed, not feeling as embarrassed as I did before.
“But wait,” she said. “Mrs. Gremley can spot a fake if you’re not careful. You need…a diaper.”
“A diaper?” I asked. Even though secretly I had always loved the idea of wearing diapers, it wasn’t something I was proud to admit.
“Yes, of course,” she said. “Babies have to wear diapers, and Mrs. Gremley will know something’s wrong if you’re not wearing one. So you have to let me put one on you. Here, let’s go across the hall. Take your bear with you.”
Rita came over and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of the room and into the room across the hall. She went over to the corner of the room, opened a little cupboard, and pulled out a white cloth, a white canister, and a blanket.
“Ok,” she said. “I’ll lay this blanket down on the floor, and you have to strip down.”
“I have to be naked?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I will have to put a diaper on you, remember. And listen, there’s too much at stake, don’t be ashamed to be naked in front of me.”
I wasn’t crazy about the idea, but I knew she was right. I took off the footed sleeper, and then I took off my underwear too as Rita spread the blanket on the floor. Then, she took the diaper and unfolded, placing it down on the blanket. I lay down on the diaper nervously. But funnily enough, I was somewhat excited. Even though the circumstances were pretty crazy, I was actually going to be diapered by someone else, a young woman no less! It was kind of like a fantasy come true.
As I lay down and saw Rita bend over me, despite some embarrassment, I felt myself smile.
“Maybe I’m mistaken, but it seems like you might be enjoying this,” Rita said with a smile.
I wanted to say no, but I just slightly nodded.
“Well, that’s fine, that’ll just make it seem more believable,” she said. “Ok, here we go. I’ll start treating you like a real baby, you start acting like one.”
As she grabbed the canister of what I realized had to be baby powder, Rita said, “There now, my little baby boy, let’s get a nice fresh diaper on you.” She then shook some of the baby powder onto my privates, which despite myself I let out a babyish sort of giggle…I couldn’t help it, I had always dreamed about this happening.
I opened my eyes and sat up a little to get a better look. And then I noticed something. There was another me, in normal everyday clothes, standing the doorway. I was so happy to be just about diapered, and I was also happy because I knew I now had a plan and an ally to help me help my friends, that I just winked at the other me. As Rita pulled the diaper over my hips, I heard the other me run out of the room. But it was like I was in a blissful zone…I didn’t even think it was weird that there was another me. It just felt so good to have Rita snugly pin my diaper around my hips on both sides.
This was an amazing feeling…the diaper just felt so good! Rita just smiled at me and said, “Perfect! Now, let’s get your sleeper on you.”
Rita helped me into my footed sleeper, and then she handed me my teddy bear. Again, almost beyond my control, I just sat down and hugged the bear tightly as I lifted my thumb into my mouth…I didn’t care what Rita thought, and besides, she would probably just think that I was faking it.
“There, very good job,” she said to me. “You look just like a real baby.”
“No, Rita, you’re the one who did a good job,” I heard an old decrepit voice say from the doorway.
I opened my eyes and looked up in surprise. There, in the doorway, stood Mrs. Gremley. For some reason, I was really scared of her. I didn’t know why, but something just didn’t seem right. Out of instinct, this caused me to suck my thumb harder and squeeze my bear tighter, with me still sitting on the floor.
“Yes, very good job indeed,” Mrs. Gremley said. “You did a very good job of tricking this precious little boy into becoming a little baby again. But it must not have been too hard, since that’s all he really is. No matter how he tried to hide it, deep down he knows that is what he wants to be, more than anything else.”
I just looked at Rita in shock, not believing what I was hearing. She looked like she wanted to cry. “I’m…I’m sorry!” she said. “I didn’t want to do it! But…but…I had to!”
“Quiet, Rita!” Mrs. Gremley said. “You served your purpose. Now, my little boy, you’re quite different than the others. They all act like babies, and I just showed them that. But you’re special. You actually want to be one. But, no one else knows this. You shouldn’t be ashamed. In fact, I think it’s time that your friends see the truth.”
As I just sat there in shock, thumb still in my mouth, I couldn’t believe my eyes as I saw Jack, Jason and Mitch all walk through the door, their normal teenage selves in their normal teenage clothes.
“Well, look what we have here!” said Jack. “What a little baby!”
“Oh come on, Jack, he’s just so adorable!” said Jason. “You can’t make fun of him!”
“That’s right,” said Mitch. “Our little cousin’s secret is finally out. And I like him better this way. It’s funny to see wittle Max in diapers again!”
I wanted to say something to do something, to try to fight out of this, but I couldn’t…it was as though I couldn’t pull my thumb out of my mouth or let go of my bear. The three of them circled closer around me, as Mrs. Gremley stood back and smiled and Rita continued to look nervous and sad.
“And he’s sucking his thumb! And he has a TEDDY BEAR! I should’ve known,” said Jack. “My best friend is such a little baby!”
“Come on, Jack,” said Mitch. “If he wants to have a teddy bear, we should let him. Because he’s just a little baby, and he’s a cute little baby.”
“But I’ll tell you what, even though he likes his diapers, I’m not changing him!” said Jason.
Mitch and Jason leaned down in front of me, smiled and began to tickle my chin. I managed to get my thumb out of my mouth, but I was so embarrassed and ashamed that I began to cry. And it was like I lost control…not only were tears streaming down my cheeks, but I began to howl out, like an actual baby.
“Aww, there there, don’t cry little baby,” said Mitch with a smile. “It’s ok…you can still have your teddy bear and your diapers, we’ll take care of you.”
But this didn’t change anything, and as I sat there, I realized that I was beginning to shrink! My clothes shrank with me, but my teddy bear didn’t, and slowly it was becoming my size! And I also noticed my voice was turning into a high pitched wail, too.
I felt Mitch pick me up and cradle me in his arms. “Shh…shh..it’s ok, it’s ok,” he said as she gently rocked me back and forth.
Surprisingly enough, this began to calm me. I felt, safe and secure in his arms, and I began to forget how embarrassed I was. In fact, I began to forget that I had anything to be embarrassed about…because I wasn’t a teenager who wanted to be a baby, I was an actual baby! And I was happy. I felt Jason slip my teddy bear into my arms, even though it was pretty big. Clutching it tightly, it made me feel really happy. And in that blissful state, I felt myself drift off to sleep…
And that’s just about all that I remember. But, there was one more other random memory that I recall to. After all of this happened, I don’t know how long it had been, but I woke up again.
But now, I was back in my normal body. I was actually still wearing a footed sleeper, and I was lying in…a crib. Like, a baby’s crib, except big enough to fit me. Upon closer investigation, I realized that I was still diapered, too.
Looking around the room, I looked to be in some kind of…basement, almost. It was pretty big and pretty well lit. I was a bit scared, not knowing where I was or what was going on. I looked around and noticed that there were other big cribs as well. There was enough light to see that there were people in them, too. I looked closer and saw three people in three of the cribs. Looking even closer, I realized that they were none other than Jack, Jason and Mitch. Each of them were also dressed in a footed sleeper like me, and they were all asleep.
I didn’t have much of a chance to do anything else, because then I looked up. And I found myself face to face with…Rufus! The caretaker!
Rufus said, “Aw, shit, looks like this one’s awake!” With that, he cocked back his arm and gave me a strong shot to my temple. It was enough to knock me unconscious, and that’s all I can remember about that day.