Boxed In
2-3

"... Mom?"

I stared up at the giant face, my thoughts running wild and my breathing ragged. How? Why? It isn't possible. Mom!? My vision started to turn gray, blackness creeping around the edges as a hand grabbed one of my horns and yanked my head around.

"Hey!" Aisha hissed, tightening her grip as I tried to look back at... 'Mom?'

"Look at me! Just look at me and breathe, okay? Breathe."

I stared, the purple of her eyes the only colour I could see. "Breathe," she repeated, more gently this time, and I took a shuddering breath, trying to match her pace.

Letting go of my horn, she pulled me close, doing her best to hold me despite her missing arm and our height difference. Slowly, she lowered us to the floor, taking care to keep me facing away from the bay.

"That's it," she said as gently as she could, but there was a slight edge to her voice that I couldn't place. "It's okay?"

My thoughts were still running wild, the world around me too bright, too dark, or just too loud all at once, and I screwed my eyes shut to block it all out, the pounding of my heart deafening in my ears as I struggled to keep my breathing even.

Slowly, almost painfully, I started to calm, but the sound of my heart continued to fill my ears, and it took me an age to realise why.

It's Aisha's! The realisation shot down my spine, an ice-cold mix of shame and guilt. My freakout was scaring her! Taking a shuddering breath, I grabbed all the confusion and pain I was feeling and pushed it all down. I couldn't afford to come apart like this. Aisha and even Madison needed me to keep it together. I could fall apart later, once we were all somewhere safe.

"I'm okay," I croaked, my throat refusing to move, and I had to swallow a few more times before I could talk again. "I'm just… surprised."

"No shit!" Aisha snapped, but she looked down at me in relief and even helped me stand. I carefully kept my back to the thing. It wasn't my mom. It couldn't be.

"Do you… need to talk about it?" She said carefully, ears down and eyes filled with concern.

"She died," I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper as I tried to convince myself. "She died nearly two years ago. It was a car crash, I saw her body. I saw them bury her… it must be some sort of trick."

I looked to Aisha hopefully, waiting to hear her say the same thing, that the creature in the bay looked like her mom. Only, she didn't. Ears down, tail curling around one of her legs, Aisha looked absolutely miserable.

"I… it just looks like some random woman to me?"

"A woman who just happens to look like me?" It was hard not to growl in anger when Aisha only cringed more.

Huffing, I spun on my heel and glared at the thing in the bay. It wasn't Mom. It wasn't!

I tried not to stare, to linger too long. We weren't safe, and this was just one more mystery about this whole fucked-up situation.

Moving to the edge of the building, I looked down at the streets below. In the darkness, I could make out the shapes of the creatures that had been chasing us as they shuffled through the streets. Green-bodied with flower-like heads, they looked like a cross between a rose and a spider.

There were dozens of them digging through the rubble. I could see two of them dragging the remains of a torso free from the rubble and carrying it off towards a large flower. It sat on a twisted mess of vines that trailed off down the streets to the north.

The flower itself was nearly the size of a car and was shaped like an open-topped gourd. As the dead body was brought close, long tendrils reached out from the flower to seize it and pull it into the bowl-like body.

"Oh… Gross!" Aisha hissed.

"Some flowers can eat insects," I muttered with a shake of my head. "Not a surprise that this fucked-up place has man-eating plants..."

Another tendril sprouted out of the plant, snaking across the pavement, blotches of colour appearing as large flowers appeared across its length, quickly growing to the size of soccer balls and detaching from the vine. After a moment, legs unfolded from under the flowers and the new spider-flowers wobbled off down the streets.

"Well… fuck…"

They were probably patrolling the ground floor, so going back the way we came in probably wasn't a good idea.

The building to the west was only slightly smaller than this one, with only a meter or so between the roofs. If we were careful, we could work our way west again and try to pick up Madison's trail.

I looked once more at the thing in the bay. I could practically hear Mom's voice calling me, a dull ache in my chest that wanted nothing more than to go to her. I stubbornly squashed the feeling. It wasn't Mom, it just wasn't, and as soon as I had Madison back, I was going to find out more.

Maybe it was a trick of the light or my imagination, but I could have sworn the giant's expression had changed slightly. That those solid white eyes were looking at us.

"Come on," I muttered, shivering, "let's get —"

A loud crash filled the air as something heavy slammed into the door, rattling it in its frame.

"Move, now!" I shouted at Aisha as the door shook again and a leather-clad fist broke through the wood with a crash.

She tore past me at full speed and jumped, easily clearing the distance between the roofs, and I chased after her as the door exploded in a shower of splinters, a dark shape emerging from the building.

The moment my feet touched ground, we ran for the furthest edge of the roof and leapt again. We kept going, clearing three more buildings before I even considered stopping to look back. There on the roof we had started on was a tall figure, dressed in a black coat and hat and staring in our direction, but the closing fog obscured the details.

"What the fuck was that?!" Aisha hissed as she panted for breath.

"I don't think I want to know." It was big and mean enough to smash through a door to get at us. That alone was reason enough to stay the hell away from it. "Come on, we'll cross a couple more roofs, then try to find a way back to the streets."

I just hoped Madison was having a better time than we were.

##

Head fuzzy, Madison tried not to shiver as Victoria moved across the room, rifling briefly through a box before returning to the webbing she held in her hands. Madison knew the other girl wasn't trying to be creepy, but just the movement of her legs filled her with cold dread all the same. At least, she hoped that wave of cold was just fear.

"How long have you been here?" Her eyes roamed across the webs that covered the walls and lined the floors. Here and there hung large websacks that had clanked with the sound of metal on metal when Victoria had accidentally bumped into one.

"I'm not sure," Victoria said with a shrug as she focused on the strands of web that she held in her human hands. She was trying, with very little success, to weave the strands together into something that almost resembled a shirt if you squinted at it.

"Two weeks maybe? I think… I blacked out for a while when I… changed and lost some time…"

Holding the tangled mess up to the light, Victoria huffed in frustration. Balling it up, she tossed it into a corner, her larger, clawed hands resting on her hips. "You'd think, being part spider, I'd be able to sew, or knit, or something. But no, I get to look like something from a fucking horror movie and that's it!"

"Erotic-Horror at worst," Madison mumbled without thinking. "You're too hot for straight horror."

Her cheeks flushed, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to take the words back. She hadn't meant to say it, but she was having trouble thinking straight, and after weeks of no one but Taylor to talk to, she was far too used to simply saying what came to mind, no matter how flirty it was.

To Madison's relief, Victoria didn't seem offended as she laughed long and hard. Human arms wrapped around her waist, her entire body shaking as she fought for breath.

"Oh god," Madison groaned, both from the pain of her ribs and the embarrassment. "Could you just, throw me in a hole or something?... A different hole I mean..."

Still laughing, Victoria shook her head, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. Pushing her hair out of her face, she gave Madison a slightly fanged smile. "Thanks, I needed that."

"I'm glad I can amuse you. Want to see if I can fit both shoes in my mouth next time?"

"Aw," Victoria purred, her voice like silk and eyes lidded, "I can think of a better use for your mouth — oh god!"

Flushing, Victoria slapped a hand over her mouth, the visible parts of her face paling while Madison clutched at her sides in an effort to keep herself still.

"Ow, ow ow! Don't make me laugh!" she whined, lying back and trying to get her muscles to relax in an effort to ease the pain. She shivered as another wave of cold passed through her body.

"Are... you okay?"

Madison tried not to shiver, this time in fear, as Victoria loomed over her, extra legs fidgeting in worry. It was a nightmarish image that was only slightly softened by the open concern on her face.

"I… no… I think there's something wrong?" Her body felt cold, but her back was warm. Shit, had that bird's claws stabbed her? Were they poisoned or something? Opening her eyes, she found Victoria leaning close, human hand reaching out to touch her, and almost yelped in fright.

"Hold still," Victoria muttered, placing her hand on Madison's forehead. After a moment, she pulled back. "Fuck, you're burning up. We need to get you to a hospital or something… If, if I get you close enough, do you think you can make it on your own?"

"On my…" Madison glared at her in disbelief. "I can't even stand, let alone walk! And what if those things attack me again!? I can't —"

"Okay, alright! I get it!" Victoria shouted over Madison's rising panic, rising to her full height and eyes flashing dangerously. Then, as quick as it came, the anger vanished and Victoria seemed to shrink in on herself, pulling her arms and legs closer to her body and she scrambled backwards.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Madison stared, the confusion distracting her from the slight numbness in her hands. "Victoria?" She did her best to keep her voice calm, hoping she sounded more like Taylor when she was doing that 'I know what I'm doing' thing and less like a terrified mouse. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm sorry, I just… I was a cape! I was supposed to be immune, then one of those skinless monsters bit me and I turned into this!" The words came tumbling out, her eyes wild and breath coming in short gasps, and Madison realised, with a sickening lurch, that she was watching the girl come apart. "I'd seen what happens to people, had to run, I couldn't let myself hurt anyonebutnowIcantgoback causewhatif-if-if-if I hurt them and I keep —"

"Victoria… Vic… VICKY!" Madison gasped as her ribs protested the shout, but it was enough to attract the other girl's attention, and Victoria fell silent, eyes wide and shining with tears.

"C-come here!" Keeping her voice calm and trying to lift her arm without moving her shoulder too much, Madison gestured for her to come forward. "It's alright, come on, come here… lean closer… closer..."

As Victoria leaned forward, Madison braced herself for the pain she knew was coming, then reached up and put her arms around Victoria's neck and pulled the girl into a hug.

It hurt. Her chest was on fire as Victoria jerked slightly, then slowly relaxed. The pain lessened a bit as Victoria wrapped her four arms around her, lifting Madison higher and supporting her weight.

"It's okay…" she said softly. "You're okay… I've been here this whole time and you haven't tried to hurt me, right?"

"But…"

"Have you hurt anyone?" she asked more firmly and sighed when Victoria shook her head and mumbled something that sounded like 'avoided people'.

"Look, a few days ago, I met a woman who was so fucking crazy that she was eating people. Does that sound like something you want to do?" Another shake of the head. "Exactly…we're different, but we're not monsters…"

Racking her brain, Madison tried to think like Taylor, or maybe even Dragon. "Listen, I know you're scared, but I'm sick, I need help, and I won't survive on my own. Will you help me?"

"Alright," Victoria said, taking a shuddering breath, her voice resigned. "I'll help..."

Rising up to her full height, she repositioned Madison in her arms with as much care as she could, until the smaller girl was held in a bridal carry.

"It won't take us long to get there."

Madison squeaked slightly as Victoria 'walked' up the wall, her long legs lifting them both with no apparent effort.

"Do we have to go up?" she groaned, making Victoria laugh.

"'Fraid so. The ground floor's all blocked up 'cause I didn't want anything sneaking up on me. I'm a badass, but even I need to sleep."

Pushing aside the improvised trap door that Madison had fallen through, they emerged out on the roof, the cold night air ruffling her hair.

In an effort to avoid shivering, Madison sent some heat into her hands. Not enough to create fire, but enough that the warmth radiated out into the rest of her, and Victoria chuckled.

"Wow, you're a real little bed warmer."

Smirking, Madison went to reply, but something scrabbled across the roof, a high-pitched chirping filling the air, and whatever she had been about to say became a yelp of pain as Victoria spun around.

A cross between a spider and a flower was running across the roof, pedipalps waving.

Almost effortlessly, Victoria reached out with one of her legs and knocked the creature aside. Its body crumpled like it had been hit by a steel beam.

"What the fuck is that!?" Madison hissed.

"Dunno…" Victoria hummed. "I've seen a few of them around when scavenging, but they always left me alone."

'Gee, I wonder why!?' Madison kept the thought to herself. No point in reminding the other girl that from the waist down, she did indeed look like something out of a nightmare.

"I wonder what set it o—" Victoria fell silent as another spider appeared, climbing over the lip of the building. It chattered angrily, then charged at them, and she sent it flying with a kick.

"Wow, they are really angry." Two more appeared, then a third, fourth and fifth, all from different directions.

"Run!" Madison hissed, weakly slapping one of Victoria's breasts.

"Right! Sorry!" She spun around and sprinted for the far edge of the building, every movement sending waves of pain through Madison's chest, but she did her best to grit her teeth and bear it.

Whatever those spiders wanted, it was likely more painful than a few cracked ribs.

"Keep your mouth shut and don't scream!" Victoria shouted, and before Madison could do more than squeak a panicked 'what?' Victoria jumped off the roof.

AN: Chapter written under commission
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