Page 14

EVE

I stumbled back, my pulse roaring in my ears as I watched Arachnia’s face begin to shift.

At first, it was subtle—a ripple beneath her skin, like something crawling just beneath the surface.

Her features began to melt, her smooth complexion warping grotesquely as deep lines opened across her cheeks.

Then those gaping holes began to blink. Eight glistening black eyes sprouted across her face.

Her black lips stretched unnaturally wide, splitting open to reveal rows of jagged, needle-like teeth.

A low clicking sound accompanied each snap of her bones as her body convulsed.

Her arms and legs stretched to the ground.

The woman standing before me was definitely not human.

I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing as her entire body transformed into some kind of horrific humanoid spider.

Eight bony, insect-like legs tore through her torso, stabbing into the floorboards with brutal force.

She loomed impossibly tall, her hideous form casting monstrous shadows across the walls.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think straight.

This was very real.

Her hollow, unblinking eyes fixed on me, and her mouth split into another smile, even wider now, showing every horrifying tooth.

“Why does your blood smell so sweet?” she rasped, her voice syrupy and layered with malice.

My body moved before my mind could catch up, every nerve screaming one word— run .

I darted for the hallway, everything blurring into a tunnel of desperation. My blood-soaked sneakers squeaked and slid against the hardwood floor, the slickness nearly sending me sprawling.

The front door was just ahead. I was almost there. My lungs burned, my heart slamming against my ribs as I pushed harder.

A scuttling sounded above me, and I barely had time to stop myself before she came crashing down from the ceiling.

The impact sent a deafening crack through the air, her legs cracking the floorboards as she landed.

“Leaving so soon?” she purred.

A scream caught in my throat and I bolted for the back door. I didn’t dare look back. My legs burned, my lungs felt like they were about to burst, but adrenaline kept me moving.

The scuttling sound returned, louder now, accompanied by the occasional crack of wood as her sharp legs tore into the walls and ceiling.

Move, move, move!

My fingers brushed against the edge of the wall as I darted down the hallway, the back door coming into view.

But before I could reach it, her shadow loomed over me.

“Shit!” I screamed, throwing myself toward the nearest door and tumbling into my mom’s room.

I slammed the door shut with my shoulder, but I knew it would do little to stop her.

I had to get out of this house. I had to get back to my car.

I lunged for the window, but my foot snagged on something soft—heavy. The air rushed out of my lungs as I hit the ground, landing on something solid.

Bodies .

There were multiple dead bodies, just like the husk of the woman in the kitchen, piled in my mom’s old room. Bile rose in my throat at the sight of their slack faces and twisted limbs.

A scream tore from my throat as the door exploded inward.

It slammed against the wall with a deafening crack, the wood splintering from the impact and barely missing me where I lay on the floor.

Arachnia filled the doorway, her monstrous form casting a long, jagged shadow across the room.

“There’s no running from me,” she cooed like she was talking to a child. “We’ve waited too long for this.”

I scrambled backward, my back hitting the bed frame. There was nowhere else to go, even as my brain scrambled for options.

Then she lunged.

The sharp tip of her leg pierced my thigh, sending a bolt of agony ripping through my body, like molten fire searing through my limbs.

I screamed, the sound ripping my throat as she dragged me toward her.

My fingers scrambled on the floor, desperate for anything to use as a weapon, but the room offered me nothing.

“No need to fight me. This is your destiny.”

The pain continued blooming, sending jagged shards of heat through every nerve. My hands were shaking, useless, my vision blurring as I thrashed. Like a fire spreading within me, overwhelming everything.

I squeezed my eyes shut, my thoughts spiraling into hopelessness. I didn’t want to die like this—not broken, not used. Something inside me screamed louder than the pain. I didn’t want to die at all.

And then I felt it shift. The flames burning inside me weren’t just pain. It wasn’t just eating me alive—it was building . The molten heat gathered in my chest, spreading outward with a fierce intensity that felt… alive.

My eyes snapped open—Arachnia’s screech rising like a war cry—just as the inferno erupted from within me.

Heat filled every inch of the room as it went up in smoke, flames hungrily consuming the walls, the ceiling, the floor. They licked at her slick, hairy body, devouring her legs as she thrashed wildly.

Her screeches were agonizing as the flames engulfed her. Within seconds, her body slumped forward.

I couldn’t shift quickly enough to avoid her. She collapsed onto me with a heavy thud, knocking the air from my lungs and pinning me to the floor.

I tried to push her off, but between the slick texture of her skin and the building smoke around me, I couldn’t get free.

She was too heavy. I was too weak. I was choking on the smoke as it stole my screams. Not that there was anyone around to hear me.

The blaze was spreading, the air growing hotter and thicker. My head spun, the edges of my vision dissolving into blackness. I tried to pull my leg free, but my head was spinning and the exertion just left me coughing.

Something shifted in the smoke above me.

“What the fuck?” a deep voice growled. The weight of Arachnia’s body was lifted off me, smoke rushing into my lungs at the loss of pressure. “How the hell are you still alive?”

Strong hands slipped beneath me, lifting me as though I weighed nothing. I tried to focus on the face above me, but I could barely hold my head up straight.

The last thing I felt was the chill of the night air brushing against my face before I passed out.