Beanstalk Chapter Eight
AN: Ohmygoodness, thanks for waiting for this chapter! The last one didn't have as much g/t in it but buckle up for this one it's a wild ride!
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Chapter Eight
How long had it been? Hours? Rory didn’t know how much time had passed since the giant had dropped her roughly into this jar. Her heartbeat still kept up its staccato rhythm of panic and fear mixed together – a concoction of the desperate, animal drive to get out of here.
She slunk to the glass bottom and leaned against the cool surface behind her. She’d given up trying to talk to the others awhile ago, there was no point. The glass was thick, and her jar was further away from theirs on the counter. Rory desperately wanted to help them all, but after countless attempts to scale the slick sides to reach the lid, she decided letting herself get a moment to rest was the best she could do before he inevitably came back.
Her arms ached horribly, and her knees and legs throbbed from the bruises that came from her falls back to the bottom of the jar. The jar was too wide at the bottom for her arm width, so she’d tried jumping up further and then slicking her hands to the sides, arms outstretched, but then climbing the smooth glass proved too impossible, and she fell each time. It was madness – because even if she could reach the top, the jar’s hole-punctured lid would be screwed on too tight for her to manage unscrewing it.
Rory let the back of her head rest against the glass and she tried not to look at the other jars of people. They had all probably tried the same thing as her to no avail. How many people had he kidnapped before these? He had to have been working quickly with the plan in motion before the beanstalk touched the ground. She’d been fortunate to have her first meeting with a giant be a kind one, but this monster was quickly working to undo all her burying prejudice against the species. How could he stomach taking people away from their homes, their families?
Maybe there were good giants and bad giants just like with humans. Still, when just one giant was big enough to grab an entire human in his hand and use that size imbalance of power to wreak havoc, it made it a little harder to be forgiving and trusting of the entire species, so she understood where the bad folklore stories had stemmed from. It was the innate fear of giants that had led to the creation of the Jacks, so the kingdom would always be protected and ready if something like this ever happened again.
Even though her adventure seemed like it was coming to a horrible ending, she was glad she’d been ablet to meet Dave. When she’d left, it was as if their disgruntled acquaintanceship had turned into something akin to… friendship. Rory sighed and stretched out her aching legs. She just wished she could see him again, and thank him better for his assistance.
The sound of the lock on the door clicking broke through Rory’s thoughts like lightning. She shot to her feet, not paying her pain any attention now as adrenaline flooded through her. Spots already threatened to cover the edges of her vison as her heart beat even faster. Her fingers flexed at her sides, and she wished for the hundredth time that she still had her sword strapped to her back. Resistance was futile, but at least she could’ve tried to go down fighting.
Muffled sounds of a conversation filled the air as giant footsteps thundered outside the door. She tilted her head in thought as she braced herself – Maeve said a man and a monster had taken her – that must mean the giant had an accomplice. It made sense. He needed someone to help him move all these people to gods knew where.
The door slung open, and the giant surged through, laughing loudly at what the other presence had said behind him. Rory tilted herself to try to get a better view as the second giant stepped through the doorway.
“ – But after that experiment went terribly wrong…” the other giant was saying with a laugh – another male giant, Rory registered. “I finally succeeded with these beans. But I’m truly looking forward to getting in on the action and getting to watch this bean grow.”
The voice trailed off as the other giant fully emerged into the kitchen area, his eyes catching immediately on all the jars of humans lined up in a row on the counter.
Time seemed to slow down as Rory finally saw who, exactly, the other speaker was.
The giant was taller than the shorter, blonde one. He had dark brown, thick framed glasses that complimented his black, curly hair. He wore a green sweater and a brown vest with pressed brown trousers. He had packed her a sandwich for her travels just earlier that day and listened so sweetly and patiently to her anxious rantings.
His eyes widened imperceptibly with recognition as he finally caught sight of Rory’s jar. Their gazes locked. And she stared at him from inside of a jar once more, depending on his help.
“Dave.”
Rory didn’t realize she’d said it aloud until the other giant’s face crumbled into a frown.
“Do you know this human?” The giant said, his words spat between clenched teeth even as he tried to paste on a casual smile toward Dave.
Dave’s eyes were still locked on Rory, but his expression stayed blank. Rory couldn’t believe that he’d come back to find her, but hope began to bubble up in her chest at the realization. He must have been worried about her too much not to go looking, and he found the house and the giant responsible. He was going to help her get out of here, and they could save the rest of the humans together!
Any second now, he’d take down the giant and get her out of his jar. Sure, he said he wasn’t much of a fighter, but he had height advantage on this guy.
Dave blinked quickly, then looked away.
Annny second now.
“I do…” Dave said slowly – and the hope and relief in her chest swelled so high she almost choked on it. The other giant’s frown began to deepen, then Dave shook his head in disgust. “She broke into my home and tried to kill me. I thought I’d relocated her far enough away to get her away from me, but I ran into her again. So, I allowed her to continue with her suicide mission. Seemed the easiest way to stop her from clinging to me.”
Every piece of bubbling hope inside her burned up into confusion and horror.
The other giant’s tense posture didn’t change. He eyed Dave with distrust. “You said you always wanted to see a human up close. Why didn’t you tell me you’d seen one before?”
Dave shrugged. “I meant a non-feral human, Richard. Thought she’d be dead by now, but I’m glad you got your hands on her. Might be too blood-thirsty to sell to any clients, though. Safety hazard and all that.”
Coldness flooded through her, freezing her in place, as her mind whirled over the past few days running into Dave and spending time with him. Had she misread the entire interactions? Had she really been nothing more than a feral nuisance? But maybe he was just trying to lie to the man until he could help. That made sense, right? She didn’t feel like he’d been faking it when they’d had their longer conversations over lunch. If he’d been that disgusted by her, surely he wouldn’t have helped her when he found her at the market. Or when she’d almost been run over in the alley.
But panic continued to claw at her throat, and the ‘never trust anyone’ motto that her superiors had engrained in her flared back to her thoughts. He knew the other giant by name – he was the one that created the beans. This entire business would have never been able to work without his beanstalk. What was he even doing here tonight anyway, if not for business? How would he even know this man or where the house was located?
She clenched her hands into fists. She’d told him exactly what she was doing here, and he played her. He told her there was no way a giant committed the kidnapping crime, and that he didn’t know where to look either. But he’d known where the little girl was the whole time.
“There’s always a special client who can handle the feral ones,” the other giant – Richard – said finally, a smile growing wide across his face. “They like when they put up a good fight.”
Dave huffed out a laugh, and Rory felt like she was going to be sick. “Trust me, she puts up very good fight. Said she was a Jack, did you hear that?” He took a step closer to her jar, leaning down to peer in at her. “Didn’t think those were still around.”
Richard nodded enthusiastically. “She mentioned that. That means I can sell her for higher than average. Someone who desperately wants to have their own, mythical Jack will be willing to pay anything.”
Dave's face almost engulfed her whole view from outside the glass, but she refused to back away. Instead, she stood her ground, glaring back up at him with a resolute hardness in her gaze. Those big, brown eyes that had not very long ago watched her with a soft understanding were now hard and appraising. No recognition flared even the slightest. If he thought he could play cat and mouse with her, he was going to be sadly disappointed to find she was not going to show any fear.
“I’d love to get a closer look at her again.” He glanced over his shoulder. “May I?”
Richard looked surprised, and he glanced at the darkness outside. “We don’t have much time, but I suppose if you’d like to reminisce on your first human encounter, go ahead. Just be careful she doesn’t get loose on you.”
Dave’s hands surged toward her jar, and it took all her willpower not to shrink back. A huge palm pressed into the side of the glass as his fingers curled around it, quaking the countertop. His right hand rose above her, and she ducked down just in time to see his fingers wrap around the lid. Her stomach lurched as he lifted the jar a little off the counter, and through the gaps of his fingers she saw the other people slink back in their jars, looking horrified but relieved it wasn’t happening to them.
The jar creaked and wobbled in the air as he slowly unscrewed the lid. Oh gods. He was going to get her out. She had no weapon, no way to get away. She didn’t want to end up clenched in a fist again. The area above her suddenly grew brighter as the lid slipped off, and just as quickly, the expanse became covered by a giant brown eye, looking down at her.
He blinked, as if trying to decide the best course of action in a very scientific way. Then Rory’s feet slipped from under her as he tipped the jar unceremoniously, forcing her to fall onto her backside and slide down towards the opening he held over his awaiting palm.
Rory scrambled at the glass, clawing uselessly as she desperately tried to stop her descent into possible death. She couldn’t believe she had felt a little safe in those hands just hours ago. It didn’t feel like the same person, or the same hands, anymore. Not when he was looking at her like she was an experiment waiting to happen.
She threw her arms wide to hit either side of the glass and stop her slide, but he simply shook the jar enough to dislodge and disorient her. She slid the rest of the way, then smacked into the warmth of his palm in a jumbled heap.
Just as quickly as she landed, his hand sprung around her like a trap. The warmth enveloped her as well as the tight grip of his fingers as he easily contained her struggles. Rory tried to kick or punch, but it was as if a full-body straight jacket had cinched around her.
Dave held her up closer to his face. Closer to the new glasses she’d help him shop for. She couldn’t help the smallest whimper of grief to escape her lips at the utter betrayal of it all. Death by giant was one thing – but death by someone you thought you could see past prejudice and fear and actually begin to trust? That was the true heartbreak of this situation.
His breath breezed around her as he tilted her this way and that. “They really are incredible,” he was saying to Richard, his voice thundering to her ears. “They look exactly like giants, but on miniature scale. I wonder how that even came to be.”
Richard shook his head. “I’d argue that giants are obviously the superior being, while humans are more like vermin who adapted to mimicking our genetic make-up as a survival method.”
Dave’s thick eyebrows pinched into a frown. “I’m not sure I agree, but, interesting hypothesis…”
Rory couldn’t stand this a second longer. She was going to explode and start screaming at Dave about his betrayal. Anything to get him to actually acknowledge her and not treat her like an object that couldn’t understand them.
His eyes flicked to hers again as if he read her thoughts, and this time Rory thought she saw a little glimmer of … something, behind the hardness.
“You seem a little sweet with that one – did you say you only had a run in with her briefly?” Richard’s tone sharpened, making Dave’s eyes go back to that blankness.
Rory held her breath, hoping he’d finally admit they knew each other. How did this manhandling of her coming off as sweet, anyway?
But Dave laughed. “Oh please, it’s purely scientific curiosity.”
Then his fingers uncurled and the full-body pressure around her suddenly lessened, and Rory barely had time to cry out as she slipped out of his grasp to fall into his waiting palm again.
She stumbled to her feet on the warm, uneven surface just in time for Dave to pinch her arm between his fingers. She gasped – his fingers completely swallowed her arm – never had she felt this completely fragile. One wrong move and he could snap her bones without any effort on his part. A small tug forced her to outstretch her arm so he could feel it move and get a better look at her.
“Totally incredible,” Dave breathed in awe.
He released her arm, and the helplessness of it all ignited Rory’s fury again. “You deceitful, horrible, monster,” she spat, shoving his fingers away to no avail. For a second, she thought she saw a flash of pain cross his face, but she must’ve only imagined it. “You made me feel like I could trust you – and now I find out you’ve been in cahoots with the bad guy the entire time?!”
She could jump off his hand. It was reckless, and it’d be a long fall that she most likely wouldn’t survive, but at least she would go by her own choice and not be tortured until she finally died as an experimental plaything for these beasts. Rory charged forward out of sudden desperation.
But instead of meeting open air, Dave’s pointer and thumb snatched her back from the edge of his other hand by pinching her around her waist. She dangled, kicking with absolute utter fury that she could no longer contain, but Dave never loosened his hold.
Richard’s voice cut through the air as he came up from behind Dave, eyeing her with contempt and a little disgust. “I’ll have to let you have your own human to study more closely if you’d like, since you seem so interested in them.”
“Actually, I want this one.” Dave’s voice came out firm with resolve, breaking his unnerving eye-contact with Rory as he glanced over to meet Dave’s surprised expression. Rory froze in confusion.
The giant’s eyes narrowed. “But you said she tried to kill you. She obviously has a death wish against you still.”
Dave smiled with a shrug. “I’m not afraid of a tiny human. Besides, it’ll be a more interesting experiment with a Jack.”
Richard crossed his arms, looking between Rory and Dave, then shook his head. “No… I’m afraid I can’t let you have her. Any other human is fair game, but I want to find a big buyer for her.”
Dave took a slight step back, bringing Rory closer to him but still keeping her dangling in the air. “I think the use of my beans are payment enough, if not more so.”
“Of course. But as I said, any other human will do.” Richard looked at the dark sky outside the window. “The pickup time is quickly approaching. You can choose a human from that batch.”
“I still insist.” Dave moved away slightly. “Y’know what? Maybe I should just go ahead home with her to get her settled somewhere, and I can join you at the next pickup meeting.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed and his body tensed. Rory stiffened, stopping her kicking. Being in the middle of two giants arguing was not a place she wanted to be. He took a step toward Dave, his blue eyes flashing as his salesman bravado faded away. “Put her back in the jar,” he all but hissed.
Dave’s fingers fully curled around Rory again and tucked her close to his chest so she wasn’t dangling so insecurely in the air. She doubted he cared about her safety or comfort though, probably meaning to just get a better grip on her if things got ugly. She tried to look up and read his face, but she could only see the underside of his jaw from where she was held.
“Alright…” Dave said slowly, seemingly in an attempt to not fire the giant up any further. “I’ll put her back. No need to get testy.”
The world spun a little as he turned back to the counter, keeping his back to Richard. Rory couldn’t help squirming a little more in his grip when she saw the accursed jar waiting for her. She didn’t want to go back in that thing – she couldn’t. She shoved her hands against his fingers with all her strength, but she might as well have been trying to push down a rock wall with how little impact she made.
She didn’t want to be stored in a jar until a strange giant bought her for who knew what purpose. But then, she didn’t think she could have stood being taken by Dave after this betrayal. It would be humiliating and horrifying to be in his cozy cottage once more but as a curious object for him to study instead of as friends as she recounted the tale she would’ve told him about saving the girl on her way back to the human world.
His other hand flew up, and she flinched back, expecting to feel his fingers grab at her again – but it went past her and instead tucked into his vest pocket. Rory saw a glimpse of silver before he closed his fist around it. “Where are we going for the other beanstalk?” he said causally over his shoulder. Rory froze as he reached for the jar, but instead placed the object he’d grabbed next to it. It gleamed in the light. Her sword. He brought her sword to her.
A confused mix of emotions flooded through Rory as she tried to understand what was happening. The hand holding her moved forward, and she craned her head up in desperation, catching sight of his troubled face just as he mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”
Then she went tumbling back into the jar again. After getting her bearings, she looked up in time to see him place the lid on top, but only mimic the motion of screwing it back on. She wasn’t trapped inside. Something like hope began to build in her chest again, but she stamped it down, afraid to let herself fully believe the change of fate.
“I’ll take you straight to the location, no need to worry about directions.” Richard all but purred smoothly. Rory couldn’t see him behind the towering form of Dave as he still stayed in front of her, keeping her from view, but he sounded a little tense even with his cool words. “We can take my carriage.”
“Actually, it’d be better if you just told me right now.” Dave gave Rory another apologetic look, the indifferent mask falling from his face just enough for her to see the deep pain there. All her thoughts of betrayal rushed from her at that look. He couldn’t fake that.
“No,” Richard said roughly. “You don’t get a say in this, Dave. I will take you to the location and you’ll give me your beans. That’s the way this will work – I’m the one in charge here.”
“Pity,” Dave said, taking in a deep breath to steel his resolve. “It would’ve been a lot easier if you’d just told me.”
Then, before Rory could even guess what direction this was going to go, Dave whipped around and threw a punch at the other giant’s face. It connected with a hard crack that thundered through the air, making Rory wince back. Richard was a thicker man, but Dave had the element of surprise, and he took advantage of that by landing another punch with his other fist that sent the giant stumbling back.
Richard cupped a hand up to his nose, blood spurting in deep, red rivets down his chin, and threw a stomach curdling look of fury at Dave. “You human loving prick,” he spat, watery blood landing at Dave’s feet. “I should have known something was wrong with your bean brain.”
“Tell me where the other humans are,” Dave said as he shook out his hand, ignoring the giant’s attempts to dig at him.
“Like hell I will,” Richard seethed, then charged full-force at Dave.
Rory yelled out just as he collided into Dave’s stomach, driving him back against the counter. Rory’s and all the rest of the glass jars of humans rattled from the impact, dangerously fragile amongst the fighting behemoths.
Dave tried to get another punch in, but Richard kicked out at Dave’s feet, making him stumble back and almost lose his balance. Then the other giant got his own punch in, cracking Dave across the jaw in a sloppy swing. They continued like this; the horrifyingly loud crashing quaked the entire house as they fought each other. Rory couldn’t tell who was winning. Dave now had a swollen, split lip and a torn vest, while the other man panted with exertion and rage.
Rory didn’t know how, but she had to help. Her sword seemed to wink up at her from where Dave had laid it so carefully next to her jar. The lid wasn’t on. She just had to figure out how to get out.
The world continued to rumble as if the gods fought in Mount Olympus, and Rory took a running thump against her jar. It wobbled but didn’t fall. She did it again, using more force and fury this time, and her jar toppled all the way over and then started to roll toward the edge of the counter. If she didn’t break out, then she would go careening over the edge still inside the jar and die from the impact and the shattered glass impaling her.
But Rory wasn’t one to get tripped up on the details of a plan. Quickly with the skills she learned since youth, Rory kept her balance and ran forward in the rolling jar, catapulting herself toward the unscrewed lid.
She hit it and broke free of the jar, the lid spinning off in the opposite direction as she broke her impact with a roll. She heard the jar hit the ground with a shocking sound of shattering glass as she jumped to her feet, the room slightly spinning around her. But she did it! She actually did it! Her sword never felt so sweet in her hand as she scooped it up and reveled in its comforting weight.
A cry of pain broke through Rory’s quiet celebration, and a rush of cold enveloped her as she looked in time to see Dave go crashing to the ground. His glasses flew off his face and landed by the door, and Richard stood over him as he stumbled. A curl of black hair fell over his forehead as Dave looked up, obviously disoriented from the last blow.
Rory’s heart ached as she saw the state he was in. He’d said he wasn’t a fighter, but here he was, fighting to save her and the rest of the humans. He risked himself for everyone else.
Richard shook his head in disgust before cracking down one impossibly heavy final blow to Dave’s temple. His head whipped back, and then Dave crumpled the rest of the way to the ground like a puppet whose string had been cut.
Rory gasped in horror, fearing the worst, but steadied herself as she caught sight of the slight rise and fall of his chest. Only knocked out. For now.
The giant monster’s chest heaved as he mercilessly kicked Dave’s unconscious form one more time for good measure. A cry escaped her lips before self-preservation could stop her, and she froze as the giant slowly turned his massive form toward her.
Rory backed up a step, her heart racing in her chest, as his cold, ruthless, blue eyes landed on her.
His lip curled up and eyes narrowed. “You,” he seethed. That was the only warning Rory got before he charged for her, his hands outstretching to grab her in his fists.
She dodged at the last second and he crashed into the counter, rattling the other jars again. He bellowed out in rage, starting to sound and act like the monsters depicted in the books she’d studied, and he didn’t even bother trying to grab this time as he brough his fist down to crush her beneath it.
This time Rory barely dodged out of the way, and the earthquake from his fist’s impact made her stumble. She sliced out with her sword, eliciting an eardrum shattering cry of rage from him. He backhanded her, and Rory couldn’t get out of the way in time and went flying backward to crack against the wall.
Shakily, Rory tried to get back to her feet, but he sprang on her, grabbing one of her legs in his pinched grip, way tighter than Dave had been when he’d first found her. She cried out in fear and pain as he added pressure enough to strain her bones – anymore and it would surely snap.
He dragged her roughly back toward him. “Everything was going according to plan before you showed up, you disgusting want-to-be hero,” he spat, thundering above her.
She glanced up at his fury-filled face and felt all her strength melt from her with absolute fear. How could she stand a chance against him when Dave hadn’t been able to beat him?
The giant raised his other fist, its shadow completely enveloping her, and Rory knew with a certain clarity that she was going to die. He didn’t care about making money off of her anymore. He was going to smash her with his fist. She was going to lose.
But then – and Rory almost couldn’t compute what was happening – a climbing hook whirled through the air and embedded into the giant’s hand that held her leg.
“Leave her alone!” a small voice trembled from behind her. Rory whipped her head back to find the little girl, Maeve, standing in the shadows of the back of the counter.
“What the -?!” The giant narrowed his eyes at the girl, then picked the hook from out of his skin, blood welling. He locked back on the girl again, loosening his hold as he lunged for the girl.
No – he couldn’t get his hands on Maeve. She was too small for him to hold in his enraged state. The pressure on her leg slackened with his distraction, and Rory knew she had to act fast.
She might be too small, and he might be a mighty Giant from the legends, but she knew where to hit where it counted.
Sometimes you didn’t need brute strength to win. You just needed to be smart enough to a good shot in.
The giant roared as he grabbed for the girl, and Rory pulled herself free and jumped onto the back of his hand, praying to all the gods that she could keep her balance as she ran up and then scaled the length of his arm. He noticed just as she reached his shoulder and stopped his pursuit of Maeve to redirect his hand’s path toward Rory instead. It came flying at her, probably in an attempt to smack her down the long fall off his arm to the floor, but she jumped into the air toward him, soaring over the descending hand.
Time seemed to slow.
She raised her sword in midair and had just enough time to notice Dave wake up and catch sight of her with widened eyes as she flew toward the giant’s neck.
She sliced – and her sword hit true.
Hot blood spurted as she dug in, hitting the jugular. A death blow.
Rory’s feet slipped from under her and then she fell to her stomach, gripping his shirt to hang on as he roared out in surprise and pain, stumbling back. His hand now rushed up to clasp onto his neck to try to stop the flow of blood, but Rory knew it would be useless.
The giant tried to say something but instead sank to the ground as the stab wound continued to bleed deep, flowing rivers down his neck, soaking into the neckline of his shirt.
And then, within seconds, he was dead.
She got to her feet and walked onto his still chest to make sure he was no longer breathing. In the deafening silence, she stared over him in shocked disbelief.
Rory, the second Jack to ever achieve it in history, had slayed a giant.
