Drider 3

A special thanks goes to Ultraprene for contributing several ideas to this story.

Part 1: Las Vegas

Here in the bright lights of Sin City, dreams are made, deals are struck, and fortunes are made and lost. A thousand things can and do happen here every day. Most of it goes unnoticed by the community at large. There are more important things, like making money, playing of the bills, and trying to find a place to park your car.

The night was young. A woman maneuvered her way through the crowded streets. Dressed in blue jeans and a green shirt, she looked at the people walking around her. She finally arrived at her destination. A middle sized building nestled between a hotel and a Chinese restaurant. Bright green and pink neon signs advertised the services of the building, “Singles nest”.

Gentle jazz music greeted the lady as she walked across the black marble floor over to the bar.

“Evening Rose.” The bartender said as he rinsed out a glass. “What’ll it be tonight?”

“The usual.” Rose said as she ran some fingers through her hair. “Another drink to slowly sip while waiting for that right guy.”

David smiled as he cooked up a berry smoothie. “Don’t worry Rose.” He said. “I’m sure he’s out there, waiting for you. Or perhaps he’s coming here right now?”

Rose smiled as she took her drink. The soft music continued to play.

A few hours later, a person walked along Main Street, blending in with the others around him. He walked the streets at a quick pace. He wasn’t hurried, but he wasn’t slow either. His eyes were watching the people around him. There were too many of them. Yes, too many. He longed for a dark, quiet place. But if he wanted to accomplish his task, that would have to wait. The building wandered into his view. A middle sized building, lit with bright green and pink colors. The people in this place always choose such painfully bright colors.

The smoothie was halfway gone. Rosie licked her lips, her gaze unfocused and wandering. The singles bar was getting quite empty as the tenants drifted out one by one. The jazz music was still softly playing over the speakers.

She sighed. Another unsuccessful night. She glanced at her watch. She’d have to head home soon. With a final slurp, she finished off her smoothie. Placing the empty glass on the counter, she slowly turned to the door.

“Don’t worry Rose.” The bartender said. “There’s always tomorrow night.” Rose smiled.

“You’ve been saying that for three years David.” She sighed. “I wonder how many more nights it’s going to take.” To this David had no answer.

It was at that moment that the door opened. Rose turned and saw the man standing there. Her heart froze, then melted. Here was the man of her dreams.

He was young, probably in his early twenties. He had jet-black hair, a fair complexion, and his muscles were… oh so sexy. His look was one of concentrated interest. He looked around at the few remaining patrons in the bar. Then his gaze fell upon her. He stopped and looked at her. There wasn’t a smile or a grin, but Rose could tell that this guy was interested in her. With a small flick of her wrist, she motioned for him to come and join her. He responded instantly, walking over to her.

He reached the bar and took a seat on one of the gold barstools. “So, you must be new in town.” Rose said. The young man looked at her.

“Yes, I am.” He replied. Rose found his voice rather odd. It sounded… flat. Dismissing it quickly, she went on.

“Where are you from?”

“I’m from a place far from here.” He said. “You’ve probably never heard of it.”

“Well, care to tell me all about it over a drink?” He looked at her with that blank expression.

“I accept your offer of a drink.” Alexis smiled. She had broken the ice.

She turned to David. “Two berry smoothies please.” David smiled.

“Yes ma’am.” He quickly combined all the ingredients and produced two thick smoothies. Rose easily drank hers, but the stranger hesitated. He smelled the drink, and his expression became one of quiet disgust.

“Don’t like fruit?” Rose asked. The young man looked at her.

“No. I prefer the taste of meat.” Rose nodded, then put down her drink on the counter.

“So, what are you doing in town?” The young man thought.

“I am here to search for a companion.” Rose gave a silent “yes!” to herself.

“Really? Someone… special?”

“If you are referring to a lifema… I mean, if you are referring to a… girlfriend, then yes, I am searching for one.”

“Where exactly are you from?” Rose asked curiously. “Do you not speak English very well?”

“Correct. It is not my first choice for a language.”

“Then what is your normal language?” The young man seemed to hesitate.

“It’s a form of… Apache, similar to the ones that your Native Americans use.”

“Really?” Rose’s interest had grown significantly. “Care to tell me about it at your hotel?”

“Hotel?” The young man looked puzzled. “You are referring to my current place of residence?”

“My my, you are odd.” Rose chuckled. Even if this young man was tricking her, he was doing a good job of amusing her. “Yes, I mean “Your place of residence.” The young man looked very pleased.

“Very well then. Meet me outside of this dwelling tomorrow night at this time. I will be waiting for you.”

“Then it’s agreed.” Rose said. She extended her hand. “Care to shake on it?” The young man looked at her hand oddly, as if it was mutated. But he extended his own hand and the two shook.

His touch was completely unexpected. It felt cold and clammy. Simply touching him made the back of her throat tingle. She withdrew her hand as quickly as she could without appearing rude.

Without another word, the young man nodded and walked out of the building.

“Well, he’s an odd one.” David said as he wiped down another glass.

“Yes, but… there’s something about him.” Rose muttered. “Like… he’s not… real, or something.” David looked suspicious.

“Do you think you can trust him?” Rose smiled.

“Yeah. He didn’t give me the impression of being threatening or rude. He simply seemed a little… out of it.”

“I know what you mean.” David said as he put the glass down.

Outside the singles bar, the young man walked quickly through the streets, searching for a dark place where he could go unobserved. A small alley next to one of the large glamorous hotels caught his eye. He looked around quickly, then began to jog towards the alley. As he jogged, his pace increased until he was at a full run. He sprinted into the alley. As he did, he began to moan and sweat fell off of his forehead. He needed to move quicker before it was too late. The darkness quickly absorbed his form as he collapsed from exhaustion. Though nobody was there to hear it, there was a loud crackling and squishing sound. Then silence.

* * * *

The next day passed very slowly for Rose. At work, in the car, her thoughts were swarming and swirling over that young man. Who was he? Despite his odd personality, there was something charming about him, something that drew her to him. What was it?

The hours ticked by, one by one. Soon, evening came to Sin City. The bright neon lights came to life and lit up the surrounding desert for miles. In front of the singles bar, Rose waited. She kept looking at her watch every few seconds, impatiently counting down the seconds and minutes until 9:00 PM. 8:50 soon rolled around. Still no sign of him. Though hundreds of people and cars were going to and fro around her, she knew that she would recognize him the moment he appeared. That walk of his was quite distinctive.

Her wait was soon rewarded. Right on cue at exactly 9:00, the young man appeared from the crowd. He walked towards Rose. She put on the largest smile she could manage.

The young man appeared unaffected by her warm greeting. “Greetings. Come with me, and I will take you to my… current place of residence.”

“My my, you know how to amuse a lady.” Rose said. The young man said nothing, only offered his hand. Rose easily took it. But the cold and clammy feeling remained. She did her best to ignore it.

The young man led her through the streets of Las Vegas, heading towards the desert. Rose began to wonder where exactly he was staying. There were only one or two hotels in that direction. To her surprise, he passed them completely. Now they were on the outskirts of town, where the crowds were nowhere in sight.

“Are you staying in a trailer somewhere?” She cautiously asked. The young man said nothing.

Rose was beginning to think that maybe this whole thing wasn’t such a good idea after all. She could detect nothing wrong or suspicious with the young man, yet she didn’t know what to do. They were now on the very edge of the city. It was quite dark.

The young man turned and looked at Rose. “Before we go any further, I am afraid I must apologize.”

Rose suddenly felt very vulnerable. “Sor… sorry for what?”

The young man looked at her. “For this.” Rose felt something stab her in the neck. Before she could even register the pain, a cold inky feeling spread from her neck and through her body. Unable to resist the horrible cold, Rose lost control of her muscles. She collapsed on the ground, and before the blackness took her, her last sight was of the young man looking down on her with a vague look of sadness.

It was the pounding noise that brought Rose back from unconsciousness. The pounding noise and the pain in her head. “Where am I?” She thought to herself. She tried to open her eyes, failed. With her eyes still closed, she moved her hand and rubbed her neck. There was a large bump there, like a vastly oversized pimple.

She was still for several seconds, gathering what strength she could muster. When she felt strong enough, she opened her eyes. The sight in front of her was strange. The world was dark, yet there were pillars of white before her. There was some green as well, from small pools that were above her head.

Wait…that couldn’t be right…how could liquid remain still while above her head? Her eyes continued to focus, and then Rose realized her position.

Rose was upside down, dangling from an unseen ceiling. Her head was pounding, giving her a headache that hurt like the dickens.

Rose’s swirling brain tried to figure out how she got here. She couldn’t remember. The last thing she remembered was a pain of some kind, followed by ice cold, and darkness.

Looking upwards, She saw the craziest thing. Her feet were enclosed by some kind of… web thing. She was dangling about three feet from the ceiling.

Something moved close by. Rose shot her head around, but her vision was still cloudy and unfocused. She could hear though, but the sound that reached her ears was not a pleasant one. It sounded like lots and lots of clicks, like toenails tapping a wooden floor. Then the clicks stopped, and she could sense something moving towards her. Then a face appeared before Rose. Her eyes were almost completely focused, and she was able to recognize who it was. It was the young man.

“So you are conscious.” He said in his unconcerned, uninterested voice. “I was beginning to wonder when you would awaken.”

“Wh…wh… where… am I?” Rose asked. “How did I get here? Where am I?” The young man smiled.

“You ask many questions human.” The young man said. “I am not sure how pleased you will be to hear the answers.”

A muffled sound reached Rose’s ears. She twisted her head, attempting to locate the source of the noise. Sensing her curiosity, the young man smiled. Without saying a word, he promptly moved out of her sight, and Rose saw where the noise was coming from. It chilled her to the bone.

The noise was coming from the white pillars that she had seen earlier. But now she saw what they really were. The pillars were really human beings. They were dangling from the ceiling, some headfirst like she was, others were dangling feet first. All of them were wrapped and bound in tight, form fitting cocoons of white silk. While most were completely encased, a few had their upper faces uncovered. Those faces looked at her with a mixture of a plea and hopelessness.

“You are probably wondering what became of these people.” The young man said. “They are the results of my month long visit to this dwelling area of yours.” Rose watched as the young man slowly began to move away from her. “I have lured them here, as I have done with you.” The young man walked up to one of the dangling humans, who shook her head in terror, but was unable to move from within her silk prison. The young man was now next to her, and Rose’s eyes beheld him in a way that revealed who he truly was.

The young man had the upper body of a youth. Slim, well muscled, and perfect in almost every aspect. But at his hips, where there should have been legs, there was a spider’s body. A very large spider body, dark and shiny black in color, and in the shape of a giant black widow. Together, the spider body and the human body formed a monstrous combination.

As she took this bizarre sight in front of her, Rose did what any sane woman would do. She screamed in pure terror.

As she screamed, the monstrous thing moved quickly to her. The human part of the creature grasped her legs at the knees. The shiny abdomen pointed up at Rose, and then began to spew silk upwards at her. The creature caught the silk in its hands and began to wind it around Rose’s feet and legs, pinning her appendages together. Rose continued to scream in utter terror. The creature moved quickly, obviously used to this procedure. In less then a minute, Rose’s lower body was completely bound in silk up to her waist, and the creature showed no signs of slowing down.

More and more of the soft yet strong silk was taken and wrapped tightly around Rose’s legs, binding and immobilizing them. Convinced that Rose’s legs were now safely restrained, the creature reached down and grabbed Rose’s arms. With stunning speed and strength, he forced her hands to her side. Silk was then sprayed around her torso, pinning her elbows in place. Grabbing more silk, the creature then began to wind the silk around Rose’s hands, further increasing her helplessness.

As her freedom was being taken away from her, Rose looked around in desperation for anything that could help her. There was nothing. As her arms began to vanish under the layers of soft silk, she turned to the closest person, a woman who was completely bound. Her sad eyes watched as the newest resident was cocooned.

“Please!” Rose shouted. “Please help me!” But the bound woman could only watch in silence. Unknown to Rose, the woman wished she could do something. But after being imprisoned in silk for more than a week, she sadly knew that escape was impossible.

Rose sobbed openly as she realized that it was impossible to escape her grim fate. As her chests and breasts were fully encased, her terrified mind wondered what would happen. Would she be eaten? Would she be kept here forever? Or did this creature have some other, more terrible plan in mind?

The creature was almost finished. Rose’s body had ceased to appear, now fully contained and imprisoned within a tight silk cocoon. Only her head and her dangling hair remained. Taking more silk, the creature quickly wove it around Rose’s neck and over her mouth. Rose tried to scream, but now it was impossible to do so. She could only let out a muffled mew of terror. The creature completed Rose’s cocoon by wrapping the silk up to her nose, then encasing her in three more layers around her body, ensuring complete immobility and helplessness.

With the task completed, the creature stepped back to admire its handiwork. Rose was dangling upside down, completely wrapped up in a new skin of soft silk. Less then an hour ago, Rose had been a free woman. Now she was stripped of her freedom, imprisoned within a cocoon. She had joined the others who inhabited this cave.

The creature walked up to Rose and looked into her eyes. She stared back at him, still too petrified to offer any resistance.

“I must rest now.” The creature said. “Your fate will not come for many days. You will learn more in time.” He reached up with his human arm and stroked her cheek, ran his fingers through her hair. Rose let out muffled squeals of protest. Her silk gag held her muffled protests firmly in check.

Leaving his prisoner, the creature turned and walked away into the dark depths of the cave.

Rose and the others were left alone, dangling in their individual prisons. The current residents watched the newest one with curiosity, watching her struggle fruitlessly against her inescapable cocoon. Slowly, one by one, they lost interest and went back to dangling quietly.

Rose struggled for the better part of an hour before she finally calmed down. Her muscles relaxed and she lay limply within her cocoon. Her mind was still reeling from the shock of the events that had just transpired.

She soon lost track of time in that dark cave. For all she knew, it could have been high noon outside, wherever that was. She could only dangle there, and let the cocoon hold her in place.

She looked at her closest roommate, the woman whom she had appealed for help. She looked like she was in her thirties, not much older then she was. The two women looked at each other, having nothing else to do.

As nonexistent time ticked slowly by, Rose wondered what fate had in store for her.

23.07.05