The Spider's Daughter

The Spider's Daughter chapter 8

This one's a little shorter than the last one, but I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 8

The next morning, I woke up with a dream that I could speak to spiders clear in my mind. It wasn't until I saw Arachne that I remembered that it wasn't a dream. "Good morning, I said to Arachne, and all the other spiders that were coming out of their hiding spots. I pulled my clothes on, and told the multitude of spiders to climb onto my legs. Arachne would tell them when we got close to Kayla. Then they would get of and get their revenge.

I walked to the cafeteria quickly. Jake was at our usual spot, and Kayla was right in between me and Jake. Perfect. I walked by. "Now," I whispered to Arachne when we got close. I felt the spiders scurrying out of my pants onto the floor. I was careful, and made sure I didn't step on any. They scuttled toward Kayla, drawn by the heat she radiated. When I sat down next to Jake, I had a smug smile on my face.

"Why are you so happy?" he asked.

"You'll see." I replied, still smirking. A couple minutes later, Kayla started shrieking. She stood up, screaming "Get them off! Get them off! GET THEM OFF!" spiders swarmed over her. Every arachnid she had placed in my bed was crawling over her, biting her as much as they could. Very quickly, they dropped off of her and ran for cover. She remembered her powers and started shooting flames at the retreating spiders. Students scattered. A few got toasted (spiders, not students), and I winced. Eventually, Bobby put a stop to her fire, coating flames that had taken hold on the wooden tables and chairs with ice.

"Kayla! Enough. They're gone!"

She stood, sweating and shaking, in the middle of the cafeteria. Already, even from this distance, I could see the spider-bites swelling up and turning red. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. If she hadn't put a bucket of water above my door. And if she hadn't put spiders in my bed.

"Holy cow, May. How did you do that?"

"Recently, like last night recently, I found out I could talk to spiders, thanks to Kayla over there. Also, she taught me that if I want to go to sleep quickly, I just need to douse myself in cold water." I said bitterly.

"What did she do?"

"She put a bucket of icy water over my door. Last night, she put spiders in my bed. That plan backfired on her a bit."

"Agh!" Jake said, startling me (which is a pretty hard thing to do with my spider-sense.). He swatted at my hair.

"Jake!" I said, fending him off, "What is it?"

He finally stopped hitting me. "You have a spider in your hair!"

"Oh!" I was laughing now. "This is Arachne. She was one of the spiders Kayla left in my bed." I reached my hand up to my temple and Arachne climbed on. I held her out for Jake to see. He looked at her warily. "She won't bite you Jake. Not unless I tell her to." My mouth turned up at the corners a bit as Jake cautiously raised a hand to the arachnid clinging to my fingertips.

One of his fingers gently stroked her back a couple times, then he pulled away. "Your friends never cease to surprise me, May."

"Um, you're one of my friends?"

"Oh yeah!" We both laughed, and I caught a glimpse of a dejected, itchy, and inflamed Kayla being led from the room. She was staring death at me and Jake. Suddenly, I understood what this was all about. Suddenly I realized that Kayla had dreams about Jake that I crushed, and she wanted to make me pay. And I had just fanned the fire.

Two days later:

This wasn't good. I was standing in the hallway heading to the Danger Room. Kayla was there. So was Jake, Shawnee, Bobby, Rogue, and Kitty.

"Hello, Parker," Kayla said with venom. "I was moved up." she smiled evilly. This was not good. I could still see the red welts leafy by the spiders. Healers could only do so much. And I knew that along with those welts, she carried a grudge.

I walked into the locker room and changed into my spider-suit. I pulled my mask on before I went out. "Let's go." I said.

Logan started up the Danger Room. We all went in. Our mission: save a man being held captive. Avoid getting shot, and do it as quickly as possible. So we started. We flipped, jumped, and spun our way into the complex that sprung up. Guards tried to shoot us, and we dogged the bullets. I spotted our man, tied up in an empty room, guards standing around him. I swung in through a window, and started beating up the guys with guns. "Jake!" I called, "Come on and get your lazy but in here and help!"

Shoot! Something was coming. Fast. I backflipped away from the window, barely avoiding a stream of fire. What, the guards had flamethrowers now?

Oh no. No! It couldn't be! She wasn't that crazy! Kayla climbed through the window. "Hey Parker!" She shouted as flames writhed around her.

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