The Spider's Daughter

The Spider's Daughter chapter 14

I- just- can't- stop- WRITING!

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Chapter 14

It was finally summer. Full summer, not spring. We spiders like summer. It's not cold. Obviously, but still. Plus, no school. I could spend my whole day swinging, and thankfully, with the radio Reed gave me, my mom could check in on me, and she didn't worry so much. The only problem had been carrying it around, so I had convinced Reed to make a smaller version that I could wear as a earring.

I stretched my back, lifting my arms above my head, and looked out over the city. I smiled under my mask. It wasn't the cleanest city, or the nicest, but it was home. The sun touched the horizon.

I settled down, relaxing on the rooftop. I watched as the sky was stained blood red by the sinking sun. In a few minutes, the sun pulled away from our little part of the world, and the city was left to light itself. I had to admit, it did a pretty good job. Billboards, streetlights, and storefronts created a rainbow of light. But I wasn't interested in the sparkles. I swung over to one of the darker areas of the city. Now was when most criminals came out of their holes. And I was out here waiting for them.

I didn't have to wait long. A few guys with guns slipped into a pawnbrokers shop. A few minutes later, they came running out, guns pulled, looking happy. Why wouldn't they? They had just pulled off a successful raid. I lounged against a parked car, grinning under my mask.

"Tell me boys, were you really thinking you'd get off that easily? Well, I hate to break it to ya, but I'm about to crash this party!" Now they didn't look so happy. "What's wrong boys? Don't like girls in spandex?"

They stuttered a bit. Why did I seem to have that effect on people? It must have been my stunning figure. I smiled wider, and lunged at them. In two seconds, they were strung up on a spiderweb, hanging between two lampposts, over the street. The cops would be sure to find them there. "Toodles, boys! I'd stay longer, but I've got places to go, people to see!"

I leaped up onto a wall, jumped again, and landed on a roof across the street. I jumped once again, this time with a web in my hand. I swung away, reveling in the sweet joy of flight. I landed on a the top of a church spire, and hung there for a moment, thinking. I hadn't been to church for a while. Maybe I'd go on Sunday, three days from now.

There was a thump, and my dad landed next to me. "Hi, May. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you."

He shrugged. "Saw you, and I thought I'd come over and say hi."

"I just stopped a robbery, and I was thinking I'd go to church next Sunday."

"Hmm." He sat next to me. Sitting on slanted surfaces isn't really hard when you can cling to walls. Heck, we can sit on vertical walls! "You know, I think I'll come with you."

"Huh?" I replied intelligently, my thoughts wandering way off subject.

I could tell he was smiling. "Church? I think I'll go with you."

"Oh! That'd be great." My thoughts were wandering again, and I remembered something I had been meaning to ask my dad for months. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you talk to spiders?" I really had meant to ask him. I just never found the time, and somehow, he never saw Arachne. Neither had my mom.

"No. Why?"

"Ummm... I can?"

He looked at me. Even behind the mask, I could tell he was shocked. "For how long?" he asked eventually.