Jack dropped into Pitch's lair once more, keeping an eye out for the Hellhounds this time. No sign of them, though Pitch stood near the center of the main area and was holding a squirming rat up by its tail.
"Got a pest problem in here?" Jack asked, alighting near the boogeyman.
"Why, yes, Jack. There seems to be this one irritating pest who keeps coming into my home uninvited, makes a lot of noise and is just generally a nuisance." Pitch responded with a smirk. "Oh, wait, were you referring to the rat? No, it's just food."
"Ha, ha, very clever. But you're not seriously going to eat that, are you?" Jack asked, making a face.
"Me? No, don't be disgusting. This is for my new friend." He walked over to one of the smaller cages and dropped the rat in. "Suppertime, Sara."
"You didn't kidnap anyone, did you… Ahhh!" Jack came over to peer in the cage and recoiled at the sight of its inhabitant. There was a gigantic spider inside, sinking its fangs into the squealing and twitching rat. The thing had to be at least a foot across, it was practically the size of a dinner plate. The rat didn't stand a chance. Jack scrambled away from the cage.
"What, you faced down an entire army of Nightmares without flinching, but one little arachnid bothers you?" Pitch asked gleefully.
"There's nothing little about that thing! What is that?!" Jack's skin was crawling. He hated bugs. You never had to worry about bugs in the winter time.
"Theraphosa blondi, or the Goliath Bird-Eating Spider. Poor little thing. I was doing my rounds in South America and one dolt was trying to kill her with a shovel. I've always had a soft spot for spiders; arachnophobia is probably one of the most common fears, after all. So I just couldn't leave her." Pitch patted the cage fondly and opened up the door to it.
"Don't let it out!" Jack leapt into the air and hovered there.
"You're sure you don't want to meet her properly, Jack?" Pitch asked, holding both of his hands to the opening of the cage. One hand apparently wasn't large enough to hold the creature. The tarantula crawled out onto the boogeyman's palms and started using its front legs to brush the bits of rat fur off of itself. "She's actually very gentle, you know. And her bite isn't even deadly or anything."
"Uh, no, thanks, but I- uh, really need to get going. Things to do, yeah. I- I'll come back some other time!" Jack stammered and took off, heading for the exit faster than he ever had before. The sound of Pitch snickering followed him out.