Excerpt: Darkness Fall

It was months before Arachnae felt the hunger pulling at her. The soul-rending need for blood, to drink, to feed, to replace the life that had once coursed through her veins, but she could not bear the thought of leaving the safety of her cave, and her tiny arachnid friends that had gravitated unerringly towards her. It nearly overwhelmed her, but before it could, she forced herself to leave her cave, creeping towards the nearest city, Sikyon.

Therein, the tiny spider Arachnae searched and searched, tired and weak, until she finally hid herself away in the home of a politician. The servant's quarters.

It was here that I received my first glimpse of my mother.

I was working in the kitchens of this politician's home. I no longer recall his name, and it is of no importance to this story. Our quarters were in the basements of the mansion he called his home, dug into the earth and covered with brick to make a semblance of a chamber for ourselves. They were small and dark, with no light save the small candle lanterns we all had.

I was still at work when I found her, toiling in the kitchens to scrub away the grime left by the cook's feet on the tiled floor. She nearly startled me when her fat, black body skittered across the floor in front of me. I jumped, but did not frighten away, intrigued by the way she watched me, seemingly more intelligent than the insect she seemed.

She was crouched under a shelf, still and stiff, but not poised to strike. I, a dirty,

rag-wearing drudge of a thing, blinked owlishly at her, setting aside my brush and bucket. I had never been one to kill rodents or bugs that found their way into the home, rather preferring to sneak out and release the little creatures, praying that they would find another hovel to make their own and save themselves from a death by the hand of someone less sympathetic. Slowly, my hand crept along the tiled floor to her, my other hand coming around intent to gently whisk her into my palm, that I might carry her elsewhere, and pray she would not bite me.

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs leading to the kitchens, so I hurried, quickly
capturing the spider in my cupped hands, and scrambled to my feet. Leaving the kitchen without using my hands proved to be difficult when I encountered a door, but I managed, and soon enough found myself at the courtyard door. I was about to open it and release her when finally I believe the scent of fresh blood in veins so close to her became too much to resist, and Arachnae bit me.

Startled, I shook my hands to release her, but she would not. Unlike any other spider's bite I have ever had, it did not burn. After the initial sting of the bite, I was flooded with pleasure, and while I still felt her little fangs deep in my skin, I stopped panicking and put my back to the wall, slumping against it as the little creature availed itself of me.

I cannot remember how long it took for me to be rendered unconcious, but I do remember waking up in the presence of a beautiful, pale and naked woman, who crouched over me and tenderly touched my face.

“Little one,” She whispered to me in a voice that cracked with disuse. Still muddled, I shook my head, blinking until her lovely face focused.

“Who... who are you?” I whispered back, slowly pushing myself off the ground. A wave of dizziness sent me back down with a soft groan.

“I am...” She paused as if having to remember, that she had not used her name in some time.

I know now she had paused to recall to herself just who she was now, not the mortal girl she had been.

“Arachnae.”