by D. C. Akers
Sarah sighed and looked over at Travis, her light blue eyes meeting his.
“Sometimes, people cry on the inside, Travis,” she said, and he could see the pain in her eyes. How long had she been carrying this around? he wondered. He nodded and held her gaze.
“Well, you’re nothing like Barry, that’s for sure,” he said.
“I don’t know about that,” she replied.
Well I do. I know you,” Travis said confidently.
“You think you know me,” she said.
“No, I do know you.”
“No, you don’t!” she said in frustration, “Everyone thinks they know me, but they don’t! I’m a fake, Travis, and I’m great at hiding it! Did you know that? Huh? Did you know that I despise the girl I see in the mirror every single day because I can’t stomach the person I have become, did you know that?”
Travis stared at Sarah, stunned, unable to speak.
“My best friends are liars and backstabbers and I hurt people on a daily basis, and because I’ve been doing this for so long I don’t know who I am anymore!” Her voice finally broke.
“Sarah, stop! That’s not true, why would you say that?”
Tears began to stream down her face again and she tried desperately to regain her composure by wiping them away and sitting up straight.
“Because it’s true, Travis,” she said, catching her breath.
“No, that’s not true,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“Yes, yes it is. I’m a horrible person, Travis; you know that better than anyone.”
This was true; she had never been nice to him. But for Travis, that was okay. It was better than being ignored—that would have been far worse, he thought.
“Well, yeah, but …”
“But, what?” she continued. She was calming down now.
“But, I never thought you meant it,” he said pointedly.
“Oh, and why is that?” she asked, wiping another tear from her face.
“Well … because I’m man-tastic, and I mean, who doesn’t want a piece of this?” he said nudging her with his elbow.
To Travis’s delight, Sarah snorted. His remark had caught her by surprise. She quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed, but still couldn’t contain her laughter.
Travis began to laugh too. “Hey, why are you laughing? They don’t make ’em like this anymore.” Sarah laughed harder.
“Hey what’s going on?”
It was Sam. He stood in Sarah’s doorway in a t-shirt, shorts, and wet hair. He had a bewildered look on his face, as if he had never seen two people laugh before.
Their smiles immediately faded. Both Travis and Sarah stopped laughing, forcing more serious looks onto their faces.
Travis was the first to speak.
“I … um … well, I was …” he rambled.
“He told me a joke,” Sarah interrupted.
Sam’s face was more puzzled now than ever before. “He did what?”
“A joke. J-O-K-E.” she said again, more sarcastically this time.
Now that was the Sarah Sam knew; the laughing a minute ago was a little bizarre.
“Um, yeah, it was just a funny joke,” Travis added poorly.
The room was silent again. Everyone stared at each other, wondering who would speak next. Sarah finally spoke.
“Sooo anyway, that was really funny,” she said, turning to Travis. “Thanks for telling me that one.” Her eyes met his. He smiled and she smiled back. Travis knew she was saying thank you for more than just the joke. He also knew that this would be a day he would never forget.
Chapter 7
It was about eight o’clock when the front door opened and Alisa Dalcome walked into the house. Her beautiful chestnut hair was tied in a loose ponytail and her face seemed pale. She was exhausted after her long day at work. Sam and Sarah were in the kitchen loading the dishwasher while Travis sat idly on the countertop talking to them. They all turned when they heard the door open.
Alisa was dressed in the powder blue diner uniform she affectionately called her “Granny Blues” because of the white ruffled collar and fringe at the bottom. Her purse was draped over her shoulder and she was struggling to keep a hold of the two bags of groceries she was carrying. But as she stepped into the house one of the bags tore, spilling cans, bottles, and small frozen dinner packages onto the floor.
“Ugh, that figures!” she said in an exasperated tone. Shaking her head at the spilt contents, she bent down and began to gather the groceries.
Sam hurried out of the kitchen to help her with Travis close behind.
“We’ll get it, Mom!” Sam said, knelling down to gather the groceries.
“Here, let me take that one for you, Mrs. Dalcome,” Travis said.
“Thank you, boys, I appreciate it.”
Alisa handed Travis the other bag as she closed the door behind her. She stepped around Sam and headed directly to the couch.
“Hey, Mom, wow, you look bad,” Sarah said as she walked into the living room, scrutinizing her mother’s appearance.
“Thanks, Sarah, I love you too,” Alisa said rolling her eyes and plopping herself on the couch.
“I’m kidding, you know I love you,” she said smiling over at Travis. “Do you want me to make us some dinner?”
Alisa threw her slender legs on the couch and propped a few pillows behind her head before sighing. “Ah, much better.”
“Earth to Mom!” Sarah said.
“What?”
“Dinner?” Sarah repeated.
“Oh, no I brought dinner, it’s Chinese night. Travis has it in his bag. I hope you like Kung Pao Chicken, Travis,” she said, peering over the top of the couch at him.
“Um, yes, I do, thank you,” he replied.
“Good.” Alisa said as she disappeared behind the couch again.
Travis grinned and looked over at Sarah. She too was smiling as she took the Chinese food out of the bag. “Oh, I like these green bean things too,” Travis said.
Sarah laughed, “Edamame, silly.”
“Eda-what?” Travis asked, pulling the carton closer, as if it were a foreign substance.
“Ed-a-ma-me, it’s not a green bean; it’s a soybean in a pod.”
Keeping his eyes on Sarah, Travis pulled one from the container. “Pods, I like those,” he said and popped it in his mouth.
Sam had made two trips from the doorway to the kitchen before Travis even remembered that he was there.
“Sorry, Dude, you need any help?” he asked as Sam placed the last can on the counter.
“Um, that would be a no!” Sam said scowling. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Travis and Sarah, but whatever it was, it was strange. Sarah was being too nice and it was starting to make Sam uncomfortable. When Sarah was nice, bad things happened, especially to Sam.
“Sooo, how was your day?” Sarah asked her mother.
But again there was no reply.
“Mom?”
“Huh, are talking to me?” Alisa asked. Her eyes were closed now.
“Well, yeah, who else would I be talking to? I know how Sam’s day went.” Sarah leaned over at Sam and hissed, “I hope you put the garage back together.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. Travis looked at both of them but said nothing.
“Oh, it was fine,” Alisa sighed and positioned her head more comfortably on the pillows. “I cured world hunger, but the whole world peace thing is going to take some time.”
Travis smiled. It was obvious where Sam and Sarah got their sarcasm.
Sam turned his attention back to his mother; he still needed to apologize for the other night. But he also had some very important questions he needed to ask her. However, she was tired and this was probably not the best time to ask about the storage box, the magic, or the stranger. If Sam was smart, he would apologize first; maybe soften her up a bit before he started in on her secrets.
He made his way around the couch as Travis helped Sarah set the table. Alisa was
lying there with her eyes closed and a small grin on her face. He stood for a second, fidgeting with a left over piece of paper he had found in his pocket. This was the moment that he had been dreading. Partly because of the apology, but mostly because of the reaction his mother might have when confronted about the secret box.
Still hesitant, Sam finally sat on the coffee table facing his mother. She looked so peaceful, he thought, even though he knew she was exhausted. She had worked the double shift again, which was always grueling for her. She had gone grocery shopping and even stopped to pick up dinner.
She was a great mother. It was a shame he didn’t tell her that more often. He would have to fix that going forward, he thought. Sam cleared his throat, pulled out a piece of paper that had been in his pocket and began to roll it between his finger tips.
“Mom?” he said, almost hoping she wouldn’t answer.
Alisa lifted one of her eye lids slightly startled.
“Hey, Sam …” she said sleepily. Sam’s gaze fell from his mother to the floor the moment she looked at him.
“Um, I wanted to talk to you about something.” She opened her other eye and turned her head toward Sam.
“Okay … is everything all right?” Her tone was cautious now, not knowing whether to be worried or not yet.
He began to straighten out the paper with his fingers. He cleared his throat, trying not to sound so nervous.
“Well, yeah I’m okay, but what I wanted to say was about the other night, I’m—”
“Dinner is served, so come and get it!” Sarah said abruptly.
Sam almost jumped out of his skin. He looked up at Sarah with a grimace. Sarah frowned, mouthing the words “What did I do?”
He shook his head and looked back down at his mother, but she was not looking at Sam anymore. She was staring at the small piece of paper in his hand.
“Sam, where did you get that?” she asked. Her tone was serious now.
“What?” Sam asked.
Alisa sat up quickly and grabbed Sam’s forearm.
“Sam, where did you get this?” Her voice was loud and he could tell she was frightened.
Sam looked down at the paper, not realizing what he had in his hand. It was the candy wrapper he found in Mrs. Cambridge’s front lawn. The candy wrapper that belonged to the stranger.
“I found it outside,” he said, feeling her grip tighten on his arm.
“When, Sam? When did you find it?”
“The other day, outside. Why? What’s wrong?
Travis and Sarah both turned at the commotion to see Alisa leap from the couch.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Sarah asked, her smile fading.
“They’ve found us, they know we’re here! We’re in danger!” Alisa said, clearly frightened.
“Mom, who are you talking about? Are you talking about the man in the coat?” Sam asked, trying to keep up.
Alisa’s face turned white. She got up from the couch and headed quickly toward the kitchen.
“Kids, get in the car now!”
Travis looked at Sam; they stared at one another for a moment, knowing that once again they had stumbled onto something bad.
“Mom, why are we leaving? What’s going on?” Sarah asked insistently.
Alisa desperately searched the kitchen counter for her car keys. “Where are the keys?” she yelled. She turned to look back at Sam who stood frozen by the couch. His face had gone pale and his eyes were fixed on something above him.
Alisa followed his gaze with her own eyes until she saw what Sam was looking at. Moving from the ceiling down the living room walls were hundreds of black and green spiders, scurrying in a massive swarm toward her son.
“Run, Sam, run!” Alisa yelled.
Chapter 8
Sam ran around the couch and into the kitchen to join the others. His eyes were still trained on the multiplying spiders across the room. He stood in a tight circle with his mother, Travis, and Sarah, watching as the rest of the living room was covered by the swarm of spiders. Thin, black, hairy legs carried the spiders down the walls of the house, onto the floor, and over the couch, until the entire living room was alive with movement.
“Mom, what’s happening? Where are they all coming from?” Sarah cried out.
“Everyone stay close!” Alisa shouted back in response.
She turned to open the kitchen door but suddenly stopped when she saw more spiders scurrying between the door and its frame, swarming in from the outside.
The house began to creek and the walls shuddered with the movement of the spiders. Sam watched as deep cracks spread across the kitchen ceiling and small pieces of plaster fell to the floor. The light fixture above them fell loose to one side, exposing several wires. Sarah and Travis jumped away, startled, as sparks rained down. The light flickered on and off like a slow-moving strobe light.
Hundreds of black and green spiders descended from the ceiling cracks on thin, emerald strands of silk. Their tiny legs twitched in rapid succession as their bodies spun in slow circles until they reached the counters and floor.
Everyone stood motionless, watching as the first group of spiders migrated from the living room to the kitchen within seconds. Their long legs tapped the hard wood so fast it seemed like they were gliding across the floor.
The screeching sound they made was all too familiar to Sam and Travis; thoughts of their escape from the cave were still fresh on their minds. Sam would never forget their round bodies with the three green stripes and small circle near their heads. Just the sight of them made him cringe.
The spiders quickly overwhelmed the kitchen, covering the counters and floor in green and black. At first, Sam thought they were moving into the kitchen to attack them, but that was not the case. It looked like the spiders had no interest in them whatsoever. They scurried by, less than an inch in front of where Sam, Travis, Sarah, and Alisa were standing, but never once broke formation. They had one purpose in mind, and that was to gather in the center of the kitchen.
“Back, children! Back!” Alisa shouted as she continued to edge the group against the wall and out of the room, giving the spiders room to maneuver around them.
She glanced to the front door as a means of escape but it too was covered in spiders. The spiders had formed one wide, winding path that lead from the front door to the kitchen. There was no way out. They were trapped.
Sam stood gawking at the large gathering of creatures as they jumped and climbed over one another. It wasn’t the mass chaos it looked like, he thought. The spiders were working together within the pile. They were trying to reach a predetermined location. Just looking at them made Sam’s stomach turn. Rapidly, the pile grew larger, and within seconds it had transformed into what looked like a small mountain in the kitchen. It must have been at least six feet tall.
“Mom, we have to get out of here!” Sarah shouted. Her voice trembled as she yelled and her hands were shaking violently. Sam glanced over at Sarah; he had never seen her so scared in his life. Her once olive skin was now pallid and pasty with fear, drained of all color.
“I’m with her!” Travis agreed. His skin looked clammy too, but he was calm as he spoke.
“Move over near the fireplace!” Alisa said, pointing in the direction of the living room. Not a single spider remained in the room beyond them; it was as if nothing had ever been there. Sam, Sarah, and Travis moved quickly past the pile of spiders to the fireplace as instructed.
Alisa looked to the living room window and front door again as a possible exit. But this time it wasn’t spiders that stopped her, but a tremor in the air. The feeling grew more intense as the tremor became stronger. But there was no mistaking it now—something was definitely blocking the air current around her home.
Frustrated, Alisa cursed herself; it had been too long since she had used the elements. This was something she should have felt early on. The rebounding current could only mean one thing—a Binding spell. Someone, or something, must have cast the spell around the house once th
ey were all together, locking them in and everything else out. There would be no way out now. She would have to hold the spiders off until the spell was broken from the outside.
“I think we have a problem,” Travis said, his hand quivering as he pointed to the kitchen.
The large mass of spiders had begun to change shape, becoming flatter and longer, fusing into something much more dense than before. Flashes of white burst from its center, sending narrow bands of light streaming out in every direction.
Alisa stood, bracing herself in front of the children. The light was so intense that she could hardly look at it. Sarah and Travis shielded their eyes and Sam covered his as well, but he made sure to keep one eye on his mother who stood bravely in front of them.
The sound of dying spiders filled the room with a deafening, ear-piercing screech. Sam watched as their bodies twisted and melted together in a morbid self-sacrifice. A black sheen fell upon the mound as the last of the spiders dissolved. Sam’s shoulders tightened and his forehead began to sweat. This is not going to be good, he thought.
Alisa saw the mound slowly begin to move, sliding, inching its way across the kitchen floor and into the living room toward them. The flashes of light made it difficult for Alisa to see, but she noticed not a single spider remained, only a solid black mass that was ever changing.
Small lumps surfaced randomly around a thin, black membrane. Something was pushing its way out from the inside. Alisa swallowed hard as she saw the likeness of a human skull press and stretch against the horrid cocoon. There was something alive in there and it was trying to get out.
Suddenly, a long arm tore its way free from the black mass, revealing a gloved hand. Alisa's body went numb, and Sarah gasped and covered her mouth. Travis was staring so hard that his eyes appeared damp and overly bright.
“I’m guessing whatever that is won’t be happy when it gets out,” Travis said, his voice cracking. Sam couldn’t speak; he couldn’t feel his legs either. But he could feel his heart pounding in his ribcage.
A pair of boots and a man’s legs were the next recognizable features to penetrate the cocoon, followed by its waist, chest, and shoulders.
