Arachnophobia ⇒ Peter Parker

nineteen: consequences

     I had spent the whole day on the edge. My red cheeks and watery eyes had followed me. The second I reached my apartment, I shuffled to push my key into its lock and yanked open the door. Once my apartment door opened, I was hit with a wave of cool air. I walked forward cautiously, glancing quickly around the apartment.

     My heart sank when I looked at my table. A brown paper bag lay on top of it. The opening was sealed with a fold, and text was scribbled on the front. I slowly approached it, and my chest heaved as I pushed my hands forward to grasp it. Nervously, I read the message. Black sharpie was etched on it carefully.

     "I told you the consequences. From Isaac."

     Loud crackling noises filled the room as I unfolded the paper of the bag in front of me. My head shook, begging that the 'consequence' that I would have to endure would be mild. A gasp of horror escaped my mouth as I spotted the two items that were inside. One was a friendship bracelet, similar to the one that I had on my arm, and a disk.

     My brain racked over who owned the bracelet. Jane, I remembered. Panic overwhelmed me as I realized who it belonged to. I grasped the disk in my shaking hand and ran over to my television set. I was barely able to push the disk into the machine in front of me. My legs sunk to the ground as an image appeared on the television. I needed an answer. What had Isaac done to my cousin?

     The image on the television in front of me was obscured. A sheet of glass separated the camera and the blur of a house interior. The camera shook slightly, and the low quality of the shot indicated that it was late at night. The house was clean and was nicely kept. It had crisply painted walls and modern decor. Why was I being shown this? I wished that it would turn off, but my curiosity wouldn't allow me to take out the disk. My hands grasped at the fabric of my shirt, crumbling it under the pressure of their grip.

     The perspective began to shift as the camera moved forward. My stomach scrunched into a pit as I realized that I knew this house. It was my aunt's house. I nervously watched the shot. I was mesmerized. My breath quickened as the video played on. The figure that held the camera slowly approached the back door of the house. The window beside it provided a view into the kitchen.

     The kitchen was well maintained and had a meal cooking on its stove. I began to shake my head as my cousin appeared in the shot. She was bent over her desk, working on her homework. The camera then twisted rapidly, and a hand opened the door in front of it.

     "This can't be happening," I whispered quietly to myself. But the video persisted, and I knew that whatever wish I could make couldn't change the footage on that disk. The door creaked as it opened and my cousins head perked up. Her tangled brown hair raised as she persistently stared down at her homework. Her head tilted slightly as she peered into the darkness of her house. I felt as though I was watching a horror movie, but I knew that this was real. My heartbeat blinded out all other noise, even my heavy breathing.

     She still had her back to the camera, and she asked carefully, "Mom? Is that you?"

     The camera approached her. She finally turned around, and a yell escaped her mouth. Her yell was mixed with mine. Suddenly, the cameraman pronounced towards her, and a gun came into the shot. The cool barrel was pressed roughly against her temple. Sweat dribbled down her forehead and her screams shuddered through her rugged exterior.

     Her terrified expression was suddenly laced with a hint of curiosity as a card a handed to her. She gazed down, and she blinked away her tears to read what was written on the card.

     "Y-you will s-say sorry to P-Peter. Y-you've m-m-made a m-mistake. Y-you knew the c-consequences," She choked out through her stutters and hoarse throat. Was this Isaac's sick way of punishing me for a simple mistake? Tears streamed from her eyes and dropped on to her shirt, slowly swallowing the fabric beneath them. Her lips quivered and terror pressed against her warm brown pupils. Once she finally looked back up, begging the man to let her go, another card was forcefully shoved into her hands. She scanned the card.

     Her streaming tears stopped flowing, and she pried the following word out of her throat: "Goodbye, Adoni--"

     Her voice was interrupted by the loud boom of a bullet leaving a trigger. The bullet dug into her forehead, and crimson blood quickly formed a wound. Under the captive's arms, she fell and her limp body hung, loosely draped over him. The cameraman slowly backed away, exposing the full shot. My cousin's body was strewn over the ground, and she gripped a pencil tightly in her red-stained hand. Her homework was withered under a stream of her blood.

     Piercing screams filled my ears, slowly becoming shrill, but not decreasing in intensity. Unconscious of my actions, I grabbed the pair of scissors that lay on my bed and ejected the disc from my television. My hand drove the sharp metal into the disc. They were working on their own, stabbing furiously at the material in front of them. Blood streamed out, emerging from the fresh cut on my hand that had resulted from the scissors and flying chunks of the disc. Dents on the hardwood floor below me snuck from below the wreckage, but I was unable to focus on that now. Stars began to clutter my vision, racing across the image in front of me.

     My screams began to slowly fade away, along with my rapidly moving hands. My body fell forward, and a warm black sheet of velvet covered me like a blanket as my shaking body fell into a deep sleep.

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Guys, if you have any questions for me, please leave them in the comments. This chapter was insane!! So, Isaac followed through... Did you think he would? I thought I would stretch from the cliche of the family blackmail. I searched online, and, as I am currently 21,458 words into this book, I have completed 50 pages so far! I can't believe it. If you have enjoyed this book, please favorite this chapter!