Chapter One

            The main spider was large, its body measuring in at almost six feet. It swayed side to side slightly, its legs constantly shifting to balance its weight. Eyes the size of basketballs drank in the woman on the floor. Its hairy fangs waved in the air, fluid dripping off of them in anticipation of a satisfying meal. Thousands of tiny spiders hovered around the big one, crawling on its legs and over its body and taking up almost the entire space of the room.

            Lynn Bradley hated spiders. She had been bitten by one as a child and it had almost killed her. Since then, one of her greatest fears had been being bitten again. Even tiny garden spiders would send her into hysterics. So far, none of the spiders in the room had gotten close to her. They would move to within a couple of feet before backing off, but they were steadily moving closer.

            "Don't let them get me," she pleaded. Tears ran down her face and her throat was tight with terror but she managed to speak between gasps. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, just don't let them get me."

            A tall man stood in the middle of the room, next to the giant spider. He was at least six foot six and rail thin. His face was gaunt, the skin tight against his skull and he wore dark glasses, the round lenses giving off no reflection at all. He was wearing an old fashioned coat tails and bow tie but the entire outfit was a uniform dirty-brown color. In his hands he held a large gun with an eighteen inch barrel that was almost two inches in diameter. A tube ran from the butt of the gun to an odd-looking back pack he wore. Tiny spiders ran playfully over his shoes.

             "I said I would keep them from you and I have," the man said. His voice was soft, distant. He spoke to her as if she were a child he was trying to impart some great wisdom to. "But you need to help me. I need to know where the girl is. Where is Helena Kanly?"

            "I've already told you I don't know." She choked back more sobs. She had to rush through her word in order to get them all out. "You'll have to ask my supervisor about that. I don't have that kind of information. I only placed her the first time. She was moved after a couple of days and I don't know where they took her."

            "And your supervisor would be Mr. Francis?"

            "Yes! He would know. He has access to all the records." The circle of spiders was growing slowly, but steadily, closer.

            "Unfortunately, Mr. Francis is on longer with us. It seems he couldn't find any of the information we seek. It was either removed or misplaced. I believe it to be the former. He gave us your name before dashing out in front of a car. He seemed to believe a snake was after him."

            "I don't know anything else," Lynn said. One little spider broke rank and scurried across the tip of her shoe before returning to its siblings. Lynn let out a screech and pulled her knees in even tighter, burying her head in-between them. "I don't know anything else," she repeated.

            "I beg to differ," the man stated. "You know where you took her originally. You know the family's name and where they live. Would you care to share that information with me?"

            "Yes!" she said. "Anything! Their names are the Barbers. Nick and Laura Barber. They live outside the city, in the South Gotham district. I can give you their address."

            "Thank you," he said, writing down what she said. "You've been most helpful." He lifted the strange looking gun and pointed it at her. "Just a helpful suggestion before you go. Most spiders are not fond of water, say, like out there." He nodded his head toward the large living room window. Gotham Harbor could plainly be seen, the bridge spanning it winking with reflective sunlight. He squeezed the gun's trigger and with a whistle of compressed air, a thick hazy mist enveloped her. She coughed twice and when she opened eyes, they were upon her.

            Lynn jumped up, shrieking, slapping at her legs and stomping her feet trying to squash as many of them as she could but for every one she killed, three more crawled to replace them. She could feel them running up her pants leg, biting her legs. The big one took a step forward and she ran. Outside the apartment building, she could see the safety of the harbor beckoning her. She ran towards the bridge, still screaming, with the spiders trailing behind her.