poisoned 🕷️ peter parker [1]

prologue

The alarm on her phone woke her up. Jessica opened her eyes aggressively and fell out of her bed as she tried to kick the covers off her. Grunting while she got up, she lifted her hand towards her night table looking for her phone. As she turned off the alarm, she grunted once more. Even if she went through this exact scene each morning, she never got used to this. She wasn't the school type girl.

In her 17 years of life, she had shown a great intelligence and logic in the academic field. It probably  ran in her genes. Being the only daughter of a single father scientist, she'd proved to be very mature for her age. She didn't like school because she found it difficult, she didn't like it because she got bored there. She found it way too easy, almost unnecessary, except for chemistry, mathematics and other science subjects. Those were the only ones that mattered to Jessica, the ones that would get her into MIT.

But even though she had her goals straight and her life figured out, she still found it extremely hard to get up in the morning.

Once dressed and ready to leave, she headed towards the kitchen only to find it empty. Her dad, Mr. Lewis, had already left for work. As usual. She picked up her backpack and after checking the time she left her home located in the lovely neighborhood of Forest Hill, making her way to school.

However, just a few seconds after she had got out of her father's flat, her phone made a noise, indicating she had a new message.

"I need you to bring me something to work. It's urgent."

It was her dad. A few seconds later she received another. She sighed and checked the time again. She would have to skip first period and this time it upset her a little since it was chemistry.

"It is a medium size suitcase. I left it on my desk, in my studio. Be careful."

She could never say no to her father, even if it meant being late to school and then having to deal with the teachers' lectures.

She turned around and went back to her home, picking up the pace, though, she didn't want her father to wait for too long. 

• ~ • ~ •

"Thank you, honey. I don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd probably lose your job." She answered him with a smile. She always had loved visiting her father at the laboratory where he worked. She had always loved white and the smell of clean. Helping his father with simple tasks at the laboratory after school was something she enjoyed doing since she had use of memory.

"Can I help with something?"

"Yes, by going back to school." Even though her father was smiling, his tone was serious.

"I can't go now. I'm already late for first period. I can stay here for a few minutes before the next period starts."

Hesitant, she received a looked from her father that gave her the approvement she needed to stay. "All right, I'll show you what we're working on."

She followed her father into a large room full of tubes and pipes containing colorful liquids. Right after entering she put on a white robe like the one Mr. Lewis was wearing and she was handed some big glasses that covered almost half of her face, just in case she needed protection. Jessica noticed another person in the room, a man, also dressed in white, was handling some of the laboratory equipment. She also noticed the man had no idea he now had company, as he was using headphones and bobbed his head at the rythm of the song he was listening.

She stopped walking when she saw her father standing in front of two large pipes. One was keeping a clear liquid that showed a subtle hint of purple when seen in the right light. But she wasn't looking at that one, because the shining platinum liquid pondering in the other pipe had left Jessica in awe. She thought she had never seen anything so mesmerizing.

"This," The voice of his father caught Jessica's attention. She followed the hand movements of the older man, who was now holding the pipe with the platinum liquid. "Is cadmium. As you know, cadmium is one of the most toxic metals there exist, along with mercury, belyrium and plutonium. The problem is, it is frequently used in the industry field, and anyone who is overexposed to it will suffer a variety of health problems." Jessica just listened. She already knew what her father had told her, but she supposed that he was getting somewhere if he was telling her that.

Mr. Lewis carefully left the pipe on the table and picked up the other one. "That's why we developed this: Cadmium repellent." He smiled at his daughter. "Do you want to try it?"

Jessica's eyes widened when she first processed those words. A part of her was scared of trying something as reckless as putting pure poison on her skin. However, a bigger part trusted her father and knew that he wouldn't have told her that if it hadn't been tested before.

"Alright," she agreed "let's do it."

Mr. Lewis poured some of the clear liquid in his hand. "Give me your arm." Jessica did as told. Her father applied the liquid in her forearm. Then he coated a small brush in the poison and, with extreme precaution, painted a tiny fraction of her bare skin. The girl did not feel anything different. She smiled, both in relief and in amazement. 

"Mr. Lewis, we need you in the Lab 2.5." A young woman standing at the door caused the both of them to turn and gaze in her direction. 

"Here," Jessica was handed a soaked towel "make sure to wipe it all, although, this was specifically made to remove this." After saying that her father left her alone. 

She was about to wipe her arm when she found herself staring at the line of shining liquid on her skin. The thought of being able of touching something as poisonous as cadmium and being immune to it was almost unbelievable for her. 

Once again, her thoughts were interrupted again. This time was because of the noise of glass clashing and breaking. She turned around to find the man with the headphones looking at a machine with eyes as big as plates. The machine in front of him started to shake and a green light emerged from it. In a matter of seconds, she just saw the man with the headphones cover his head and face with his arms. 

"Jessica! No!"

And before everything turned black she felt a force push her down to the floor, as she repeatedly heard the last two words her father had said to her.