( A/N - I don't usually upload on Saturdays, but since I didn't update yesterday, here we are. Enjoy!)
A crowd of townspeople came rushing into the mall, shouting in horror as thousands of car sized arachnids skittered down the streets of Prosperity. Blackness filled the sky as the sun slipped under the horizon, blanketing the commotion in the moon's soft gaze. Screeches of terror thundered through the building as the security gates shut at last.
You and your group sat on a bench in the main atrium. A proud smirk was plastered on your gorgeous features, mildly mesmerizing your companions.
"Well, Harlan can't say I was lying now, huh?"
A collective eyebrow raise aimed your direction. You simply smiled and turned back towards the carnage around you.
Finally, a voice traveled above the others, demanding silence. It was Chris. The room finally went silent. The voice of a child began to lecture about the monsters outside.
Something the child said caught your attention. Perfume. A good defense against spiders. Wasn't there a perfume shop in the mall? There was, right? Next to the clothing store.
"Guy's, come with me right now. There's something we need to know."
Freddy gave you a curious glance, "What's up, Dollface?"
"No questions, Freddy. Let's go, guys."
With concern and confusion plastered on their features, they followed along as you guided them towards the perfume shop. You figured a little thievery was the least of your concerns right now. And besides. It was for the good of the people of Prosperity.
"Boys, fill your pockets and purses. AND NO QUESTIONS."
With that, you effectively ransacked a perfume shop of all its wares. Well, not all, but certainly a reasonable amount.
With your bags filled to the brim with perfume, you now instructed your friends on what to do next.
"Now then. To the hardware shop. They should have bug spray. Do your thing."
Yeah, you could definitely be arrested for this. But it was kind of necessary. You had to defend yourself against those spiders. And hey, if grand theft was the way to do it, then damn it you were sure as hell gonna do it.
Now, giving a bunch of guys free reign of a store was, admittedly, perhaps not the safest decision. But your sense of reasoning had most certainly been clouded for the past few weeks, and more so over the past few days. You were definitely going to end up being a criminal. Or at least, you thought you would.
That was, of course, until a crowd of townspeople came and started ransacking the mall themselves. They desperately grasped for random things they could use as weapons. Trying to lessen your own crimes, you directed them to the perfume shop to join in the criminal activity.
With urgency now filling the atmosphere, and your mind a veritable cavalcade of nervousness, you were most certain that this would be a night to remember. Your dearest confidants made the completion of their task known, and you made your way back towards the main atrium.
"Now then. Guys. Listen closely to what I tell you. And no questions, got it?"
Your friends nodded.
"Those spiders are gonna get in here. That metal door isn't gonna hold them forever. So when they do, you're gonna throw these damn perfume bottles like grenades, and haul your asses to follow the masses wherever they guide you. Got it?"
"Just one question." Freddy raised his hand like a school kid.
You groaned, "Yes, Freddy?"
"So, if we're hauling our asses, what are you doing?"
"Also hauling my ass? I'm not fucking stupid. Damn."
"Oh."
The crowd recentered itself in the main atrium. Chris and Harlan were apparently outside fighting for their lives trying to contact police. Since you were mildly safe, you decided it was time to soothe your nerves. Every cell of your body felt like it was on fire. Despite your brave act, you were most certainly not going to handle this well. But of course, you definitely weren't scared of bugs.
You'd been talking all tough, but your eyes stung and your throat swelled with glassy tears. You could barely keep the need to sob in check. You were sweating bullets, and felt sickly.
You were worried. You were scared. Worse, you had to be brave. You didn't have anyone to kill these bugs for you this time. But you weren't upset about that. Going almost 30 years without getting rid of such a simple fear. It was time you grew up and dealed.
But back to soothing your nerves rather than highlighting them. There was one thing in your purse that would do that. A small plastic bag. A plastic bag full of gummy bears. Ah, the snack from whence your nickname came. Your odd habit of putting them on ice cream.
You tore open the bag and popped one in your mouth. You expected many things when you opened candy bags. Most often you expected someone to ask if they could have some. But you were a stubborn thing when it came to candy. Stubborn and rude.
But requests were not what you received. Instead, you felt a hand wrap around your free one. A soft, loving hand. One you recognized as Norman's. All of your other friends seemed to shoot him quite the intense side-eye.
You laughed slightly, "Thank you, Norman. And all of you. Stop being jealous. Norman has two hands, after all." You teased. You were perfectly aware they were jealous of him, not you, but where was the fun in that?
Bill chuckled and lightly punched your shoulder. Stu stuck out his tongue. Chucky, however, responded rather unexpectedly, "Well, damn. I'm not gay, but I ain't sayin' I'm straight."
Freddy shrugged, "I don't judge. Gay or straight, I can still kill you. Which hole you take it in doesn't change me stabbing you."
You were, at this point, giggling your ass off, joined by basically everyone. Ah, candy and comedy. It seemed your nerves would settle after all.
But alas, the slight reprieve was quickly erased by the crowding of the larger populus of the atrium being directed towards a storage tunnel. Said tunnel seemed to lead into a mine. Why was a mall connected to a mine? Honestly, you had no fucking clue.
But you were sure to get moving. Your group tossed the glass bottles of scent across the atrium as if they were hand grenades. You were careful to toss where there weren't any people to avoid injury. You also continued to stick to the back of the group so you could continue chucking your scented bombs towards your arachnid foes.
Despite being horrified, and likely crushing the everloving shit out of Norman's hand, you were actually kind of having fun. Sure, your life was most definitely in danger, but something about tossing perfume bottles at giant spiders in the middle of a mall while running towards a methane-filled gold mine was absolutely comical to you. Actually, not just something was comical about it. Everything was comical. It was hilarious.
You eventually reached the storage room, just as that police woman drove a forklift into the entrance, blocking the spiders from reaching you.
Chris instructed everyone to not light anything, because it could set off the methane gas in the mine and kill everyone. A less than favorable outcome, you were sure.
Now, you just had to search for that damn spider nest. Maybe Diamond would be there. And hopefully, he'd be safe.
***
Perhaps he'd made a mistake trying to sit there and not do anything. Maybe freedom was right there. Maybe he'd have been out and safe by now. But it didn't matter now. He'd lost his sense of time so quickly. He'd never worn a watch or anything before, and now he regretted it. But however long it had been didn't really matter.
He was dehydrated and hungry. He'd thrown up so many times from his hunger and injuries. He'd taken to using another corner of the cave as a bathroom, which seemed, despite being disgusting, to have been the right decision, as the scent seemed to ward off any spiders entering the area.
But god, he felt like shit. His injuries were probably horribly infected. He'd thinned so much so quickly. Odd, he thought. He'd never considered just how active he'd always been. Then again, he never really considered much of anything, did he?
But what was there really to consider? Truthfully, he had always been kind of an idiot, hadn't he? Why did you stick with him for all those years? You'd always been so smart. He'd always admired that. You tutored him so much, despite being a grade beneath him. You were just amazing.
He hated this. He hated that his thoughts always found their way back to you. You. His best friend. Since he was in fourth grade. Since you were in third. God, it had been so long. Your friendship had always meant so much to him. Would this really be how it all ended?
But more than he hated that his thoughts traveled to you, he hated those boys. Freddy, Chucky, Bill, Stu, Norman. He hated them. The way they looked at you. He'd seen that before on boys at school. He'd seen it on people from your office.
And he hated it. Every time he saw the way they all adored you, he hated it. And he hated that you never noticed. You had always been so oblivious.
God, what was he doing? How could he sit in a cave full of spiders and be thinking about you instead of his own livelihood? How could he let himself do this? And why should he deserve to be jealous? He had nothing that made him better than those other guys.
So why did he still feel that way? It wasn't his right to keep someone away from you. Not when they made you happy. But he hated it anyway. God, he hated it.
Interrupting his thoughts came the chattering of voices. Their tones quiet, but urgent. Help was on the way.
***
As you stepped into the mine, you suddenly felt a shiver up your spine. This whole place was freaky as hell. Norman felt your hand tense, and rubbed your knuckles with his thumb, "It's alright, darling. It's alright."
You nodded, slightly surprised to hear a pet name from Norman's mouth. Quietly as you could, you padded down the stone path towards the escape out of the caverns.
As you walked, you noticed Chris split off from the group, heading in a different direction, mentioning to the police woman that the nest was this way. With urgency, you turned to your friends, "You guys get out of here. Norman, take the bag, it has gifts for all of you. Don't open them until I either get back, or you know I'm dead, got it?"
You gave them each a tight hug before racing off, leaving them with terrified looks on their face as you disappeared into the caves.
***
You'd caught up with Chris, who urgently requested to know why exactly you were following him.
"One of my friends. They took him. I think he might still be alive. I have to find him."
Chris nodded, "I'm looking for my aunt Gladys."
The two of you went silent as you crept into the nested area. You scanned around the cavern.
"You look for Gladys, I'll look for Diamond."
"Your friend's name is Diamond?" Chris's face scrunched in confusion.
"Nickname. His name's Christian. So uh, guess his name is Chris too, actually. Crazy, huh?"
"Yeah."
Finally, you heard something groan near you, hidden behind a thick veil of webbing. You spun around, and saw, through the thick silk, a metallic shine. Your eyes lit up.
***
He watched through the layer of web he'd hid under, as two very human figures crawled around the nest. When he heard the soft speech, he almost started sobbing. He would have, most likely, if he wasn't so dehydrated.
The most sound he could muster was a deep and thick groan. His mouth felt disgusting. The vague remnants of vomit still lingered on his tongue, and he felt almost light-headed at this point.
Then, he saw the veil of webs peel back to reveal the most beautiful sight he could possibly see.
[Words: 2050]