Fissure

4

Bree woke when something skittered across her face.  

She swiped wildly, trying to get it off.  From the feel, it had been one of those centipedes you sometimes find in your home, with the short bodies and dozens of legs.  Maybe longer.  In her half asleep state, she had pictured a mutant thing made of nothing but legs, stretching from a body that couldn't be seen through the rippling forest of limbs.  

"Getgetoff,"  Bree exhaled as she fell out of the couch.  She scrambled along the floor, banging her head on the table, limbs getting wrapped up in the blanket.  The panic deepened.  She banged her elbow on the table and cried out in pain.  

"What's wrong?"  Shelly came running out of her room.  She wiped thin, ropy drool from her mouth as she came closer.  

Bree paused and took a few steadying breaths, holding a hand up.  "One...sec."  She adjusted her position with a grunt, positioning the table in a less painful and awkward position against her back.  "Sorry.  I think a spider landed in my face."  

Shelly cocked her head to the side.  "I spray for bugs though." 

"You have a spider problem."

Her friend leaned over on the couch, the large baggy shirt she slept in slipping down her shoulder.  "Hon, I've never seen a spider here.  Haven't seen any insects."  

Bree pushed herself up using the table as a support.  "Shel, you have a spider problem."

She shrugged and straightened up. "I've had the apartment sprayed."  When she stretched back, her back popped and the shirt came up a little, showing her hip.  

The fridge hummed in the background as Bree reached for her phone, eyes locked on the raised red bumps over Shelly's hip bone.  "You have bug bites."

"Huh?"  Shelly locked eyes with her.  One hand slid down to the bumps and slid her fingers over them.  "Oh this is nothing.  Just some skin irritation.  A rash." 

"That doesn't look like a fuckin rash."  Bree walked closer, leaning over for a better look, only to have the shirt yanked down, obscuring her view.  "Come on, you can't be serious. Those look like really bad bug bites."

"I don't have a bug problem."  Eyes vacant, Shelly smiled.  

Bree marched over to the bedroom door, looked at her friend, and pointed blindly at the dark corner.  "Then explain cobweb corner over there."

Her smile widened, showing some teeth.  "It's impossible though."

She rolled her eyes.  "Don't be a bitch."

Shelly's face went stoic.  "Don't call me that.  Maybe you should just have a look.  And tell me about the spider."

"For fuck's sake Shel,"  Bree said, turning towards the corner.  "It just makes-"  She wasn't cut off.  Didn't forget what she was going to say.  She just stopped, staring.  

A cobweb fluttered in the corner.  It was a long, thin sheet that curve against the wall forming two levels. The corners were anchored fast to the wall.  She could see where the curve had stuck to the wall.  Shelly slipped past her and crouched down near it.  

"Just look."  She blew at it.  The cobweb slid around the air current and actually seemed to stretch out for her.  Shelly reached out and gently brushed at it with her finger tips.  It stuck and stretched, but broke away, as if tugging at her to come down, join her in the dark.  

Bree stepped forward on unsteady feet.  She dropped to her knees next to her friend.  "What's going on?"  

"I told you.  It's giving me reason."