The Web I Spin for You ~ Richpez & Rosenwalker

Chapter 4

TW for angst, and Joe has a minor flashback to an incident where Zoey was slightly forceful with him.

Joe couldn't ignore the sinking feeling of dread as it began to swirl around in his stomach, spreading to his chest, shoulders, neck—slowly consuming his entire body. He was lying motionless on the floor, unable to move. His bedroom was dark, pitch black, no light coming in from the window. The only color in the room he could make out was the faint neon green lines that illuminated the roof.

He watched anxiously as the spider traveled up and down the line, spinning around and around the web. Despite how dark the room was, Joe could make out every single line of the silky threads as they were being spun into an intricate trap. He tried to take deep breaths as he continued to watch the spider dance in the web, even though he couldn't ignore the fear he was feeling as a chill ran down his spine. He knew what the web meant; the spider was hungry, and it was preparing to catch its prey. It was only a matter of time.

Joe jerked awake with a gasp, his head and chest soaking from a cold sweat. He tried desperately to catch his breath, grabbing the side of his bed as he rapidly breathed air in and out of his lungs. He turned his head, which had been resting to the side, up so that he could see his ceiling. White and empty, just as it always was. No spider webs in sight.

Joe wiped tears away from his eyes, groaning as he rolled over and sat up. He rested his elbows on his knees and placed his forehead in his hands, slowly breathing in through his nose and out of his mouth. He sighed, reaching over and picking up his phone to check the time. It was already six in the morning. He sighed miserably, knowing that there was no point in attempting to go back to sleep when he had to be up soon anyway. Even if he had the time, he was too disturbed from his dream.

Joe reluctantly stood up, making his way to the bathroom. He ran a hand through his hair as he observed his reflecting in the mirror. His skin looked sickly pale, his hair was rugged, and there were bags under his eyes. His facial features had begun to grow gaunt due to his weight loss; he'd always been in a healthy shape, but lately he'd been loosing muscle, and his skin was starting to cling to his chin and cheeks.

He turned the sink on, cupping water into his hands and splashing it onto his face to wake himself up. For the most part, it had been another sleepless night; he'd been up until at least three, staring up at the ceiling and trying with everything he had to empty his mind. At some point he must have succumbed to exhaustion, and slipped into his nightmare.

He stripped off his clothes, trying to avoid his reflection in the mirror that showed his thin body as he turned on the shower. He was borderline feeling nauseous, and it wasn't from something he ate. Why was his stress so intense? In an attempt to calm himself, he reached out for his phone and turned on his favorite Blink-182 album, NINE. He really wasn't sure why his dream had spooked him out so much; it wasn't like he was scared of spiders. Yet something about the one in his dream had been eerily disturbing.

Stepping into the shower, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back to wet his hair. It was just a dumb dream. So what if it had scared him? He watched a spider spin a web, just like he had dozens of times in real life. It didn't mean anything, so why was he allowing it to?

Feeling reassured, he washed his hair without any worries, humming the chorus of "I Really Wish I Hated You" quietly to himself. Yesterday didn't matter, and last night didn't matter; today was a new day. He glanced down at his body, noticing that hair was beginning to sprout all across his chest. "Tsk tsk, Brian wouldn't be a fan... or would he?" Making a mental note that he needed to figure out whether Brian preferred his chest with hair or shaved, he reached over for his razor. He continued humming to himself as he shaved, the feeling of dread he'd woken up with finally starting to dissipate.