The Last of Her Kind

When Worlds Collide

Leaving the wheelchair behind in that roadside diner had felt a lot like losing a friend, leaving an empty feeling in Ana's gut as she scurried across the roof of the restaurant. The human Ana had pretended to be was encapsulated by the battered conveyance now sitting empty in the bathroom, waiting quietly to be discovered and eventually discarded.

Tears formed in her eyes as she snuck down and through the parking lot, her heart pounding in her chest. She was truly alone, and officially scared, her stomach churning while her eggs formed.

When she had heard Darren's voice, she had been so startled that she almost didn't answer. She didn't deserve such a stroke of luck, didn't deserve his help. Yet he had insisted, tucking her away in the back of a stolen station wagon and taking to the open road. They had ridden in silence while she slept in the back, her hands across her slightly swollen belly. She wished she could ask her mother or a sister what to expect, knowing only that the time to lay them was coming fast.

Occasionally a bump in the road would wake her, and she would open her eyes and look out the rear window, her gaze on the night sky. It had been awhile since she had seen so many stars all at once, and she watched them, the vibrations of the road helping her to relax. Ana spun a few small webs to make herself comfortable, using them like a makeshift hammock.

The bag of books was the only thing she had brought with her, except for the roll of money in her pocket. While awake, she looked at the covers of the books, barely able to make out the shapes in the dark of the car. These stories typically had a happily ever after, and she wondered if maybe Darren's arrival was a sign that she could have one, too. He had come for her, despite being told not to. Why? What was so special about her that he would risk his life? Why not go the other way, forget he had ever met her, move on?

Was it her? Did he really like her? Darren was damaged, there was no doubt about it, but did that damage mean he couldn't see her for who she really was? Or did it mean he could see past her monstrous nature? It was hard to tell.

Or could it be the eggs? Did he feel responsible for the life growing inside of her? He would probably be the first man to see his own children hatch, save for maybe the scientists that had experimented on the Arachne during World War Two to make super soldiers. Her mother had rarely talked about it, but Ana knew that there had been a breeding program. Jews had been forced to breed, and the resulting children had refused to take orders. Thinking it was a deficiency of race, the Germans themselves had transitioned to Aryan blood, hoping that the brood would take orders.

They didn't. The Germans had disguised the resulting bloodbath as an Allied bombing, and that's usually where the story from her mother ended.

"There's no way it could be them." Darren whispered from the front seat. It was like he was speaking with someone, and Ana lifted her head, wondering if she had tuned out something else he had been saying.

"What?" Her glasses had gone crooked, and were now smudged with fingerprints. Pulling them away from her face, the world came to life around her, and she looked out the back window of the wagon at an approaching light. Over the lamp of the motorcycle behind them, she could make out the intense faces of her pursuers. "Oh shit!"

When the Order drew near, she watched them pull alongside the car, but something wasn't right. Though her eyes saw them pull ahead of the car, the sound coming from outside the wagon told another story. As the figures in front of the car exploded into motes of light, she watched them appear out of the darkness, the wand in Cyrus' hand glowing brightly when he lifted his arm to fire it.

"On your left!" Her words weren't quick enough for him to dodge the blast, but he was fast enough to slam the wagon into the bike just as the spell went off. Darren lost control of the car and was soon driving down the rocks, the car flipping. Ana got tossed around, but her instincts took over, her legs splaying out to support her weight. Her heightened senses seemed to slow time, and she watched her books fluttering around inside the car along with Darren. The pores on her body opened, coating her upper torso and hardening into an inky black shell.