The Arachne

Chapter One

The forest is alive with the sound of buzzing, clicking insects. I wipe my forehead and clamber down a rocky hill towards a little burbling stream.

"Oh." my mouth falls open.

I didn't notice before, but suddenly there's a big old building perched over the stream. It's low and made of crumbling concrete covered in climbing, leafy vines. I pick my way across the stream and squint up at it. It's clearly been discovered before, as there's a bunch of graffiti on its walls.

I make my way up a slimy, muddy hill and walk around, looking for a door. On the other side, the entrance is blocked off with strips of yellow tape. "Stay out." "Toxic chemicals." I make a Jim Halpert face and narrow my eyes. It can't really be toxic, right? I mean, it's been at least twenty years since this place has been in business, and clearly a few teens have messed around here. They probably survived.

Maybe.

I duck under the tape and creep through an opening in the shattered glass doors. The inside is dark and musty, with a low ceiling. It smells like mold. There's nothing on the walls or floors, all concrete. The ground is littered with papers and garbage, pieces of furniture that... Was this place in a fire or something?

No... Only some of the garbage looks charred. In the corners, the floor is sunken in. I tiptoe through an inch of scummy water past a concrete desk and towards a dark corridor at the other end. I wrinkle my nose. Eugh. It stinks.

There are iron doors lining the hall. I tug on door handles. Most of them are locked, except... I push open a heavy iron door and poke my head into the room. My eyes widen. The room is filled with an array of sciencey-looking experiments and equipment. Shelves are packed with broken glass beakers. I peek into an old, unplugged fridge with about a couple dozen tiny vials. A few are shattered and leaking long-dried liquids in varying colors.

I slowly close that door. Let's hope there weren't any loose diseases in there.

I reach onto one of the shelves and drag my fingers over the dusty, unbroken glass bottles. Then I start sneezing and decide that I'd better go. My watch says it's nearly six, Mom will want me back soon. She's making pasta something or other.

"Ah!" I look down as a sudden pain shoots up my arm.

There's a big, hairy spider on my wrist. I jump, flinging my arm around with a shriek. I hate spiders! Yep, it's definitely time to go.

Once I'm sure the little beastie is gone, I quickly make my way out of the strange building, gasping in the fresh forest air. Man, that place reeked. The forest is bright with dappled sunlight. A bird shoots out of the foliage and darts somewhere over my head.

On the way home, I study the spider bite on my wrist. The thing is throbbing, sending shooting pains up the nerves to my elbow. What was that thing? Dad knows all about weird bugs, maybe he would have been able to identify it.

It was totally poisonous. Venomous?

By the time I reach my house, I feel a little woozy. My vision is a bit shifty. I push the glasses up my nose and trip onto our front walk. The cobblestones pressed into the dirt almost trip me up. I tug on the brass handle, hand slippery with sweat.

"Pip, is that you?"

My mom is calling. I squint as the door finally budges, letting me spill inside. Cool AC rushes over me, and I sigh.

"Yeah, Mom," I say. "I'm home."

"Mom?"

She doesn't answer. I hear her clattering away in the kitchen, and then Dad's footsteps are on the stairs. I blink and throw my backpack into the hall closet.

"-called from work. Do you have the-"

They start talking about work. That's always a trigger topic. I'd better leave them to it. I'm sure the spider bite isn't anything to worry about. I go to the stairs, passing the open kitchen door. I glimpse my parents discussing, Dad's long arms gesturing, his button up's sleeves rolled to his elbows, Mom holding a wooden spoon in one hand, propping the other on her hip. The apron over her slouchy teal sweater is dusted with flour.

I try to climb the stairs, legs heavy like lead. My head is throbbing and foggy, but I make it into my room and pass out on my bed.

I'm such an idiot. Toxic Chemicals.

Ugh.