The flicker of the lights from the city danced across the wintry sky. The early snow crunched under my feet. The fur coat proved inefficient against the frozen breeze, my quest for shelter increased with each passing moment. Finally on the lonely streets I found refuge in a dilapidated old warehouse. I feasted my eyes on a room glowing with light, as if from a roaring fire. In this frozen environment, anything that looks like it would be warm is tempting to the outsider. Maybe I should spend the night here until the daylight comes.

Upon entering the warehouse's front entrance, I am greeted at the door by a spider web gracing the top of my hair. Think nothing about it, I brushed it aside and wandered into the building, the warmth drawing me in like a moth to a lamp. The light I saw from the outside seemed to beam from the third floor. It did seem to me a bit of unusual feel, to come upon such an old building as this one, and to have it so warm and cozy. The holes in the mason walls appeared nothing more than an illusion to the senses. The floorboards underneath my feet squeaked with every step I made. The staircase heading to the third floor creaked as I ascended to the floor. I carefully watched my steps up to the lit floor, for there were boards missing from the staircase and the railing was falling apart before my eyes.

As I reached the third floor, another spider web blocked my entrance of the floor. Like superglue, this web clang suddenly to my body. With every struggle, the web bound me tighter. It wrapped itself around my wrists, stretching my arms as far as they go. The web sprang to life, tying my arms above my head. Then out of the shadows, a sudden dark body wrapped itself around my body. A scent emanated from its body, filling my nostrils. Before I realized it, my eyes became heavy and I quickly blacked out.

When I awoke several minutes later, I found my body stripped naked, hanging in midair. The web bound my arms to the sides of my torso. Around my mouth, the web wrapped tightly, preventing me to scream. My pulse began to strain in a panic; my mind raced to try to find an escape from the imprisonment. I felt like throwing up, but I was unable to even if I wanted to. Will I die? Is this it? Thoughts like these filtered through my mind. In the meanwhile, my bladder released its contents in reaction to the panic coursing throughout every inch of my being, like that of a scared cat.

In the light I see it, an enormous spider approaching me, his fangs drawn, poised to taint me with his venom. He wore this inky black shell on his body. His huge stilt legs drew his abdomen to six feet, the height of an average grown man. His first front legs brushed over my body, tapping against my stomach and breasts. I winced my eyes as he examined me with his legs.

"Shuu, please help, please come, I am going to die. Please help," my thoughts whispered, I refrained my eyes from tears not letting my capture see me cry. Deep inside the fear I would never see my husband and children, haunted my heart, and the wish to call out his name increased with every second past in this cocoon in this web. In my thoughts I finally screamed out his name in my power of telepathy. I closed my eyes, my spirit blazing an invisible trail into his dreams, my soul screaming into his ears.

In a flash, I felt his presence drawing near like lighting. Straight from the bone-chilling night, I could see in my mind, I can see him dashing into the warehouse. Comfort drew on my face the instant I caught his emerald eyes reuniting with my coffee-brown eyes. With the crack of his whip, he slashed through the cocoon. Standing underneath the web, he stood with his arms ready to catch me. The cast that bound my body suddenly shattered to pieces, and I was free to fall fast into his arms. He quickly removed his golden-yellow tunic from his body and offered it to me.

As soon as he gave it to me, the spider snatched me in his front legs. Taking the whip, Shuu snatched the thorax of the spider, twirling him to face him head on. "Arachno, it is you. You were the one responsible for killing my father. It was your venom that destroyed him. Now you are going after my wife. I cannot tolerate this."

"What's the big deal, Kurama, a spider needs to eat? This one needs a vessel to house his babies. I have a belly full of eggs and I need to reproduce. Perhaps this woman of yours will do. Her body is perfect for bringing me about children. You can understand this, fellow demon."

"You will not have her for your dirty schemes, Arachno. You are no fellow of mine. You lured my father into a place like this. You ensnared him in the same trap. At the time I was too young to help him. But then again he was no match to your latest victim."

"What makes her so different? She is only a worthless helpless human. The only use she has is to be mother and food to my babies."

"You really think she is helpless. Shiz is the strongest human I know. She is the wrong victim for you. Did you think you could have her so easily? Why do you think I am here now? She has the power of thought-transfer."

"Big deal. All that means to me, Kurama, is I now have a human and a demon traitor for my young to devour. And they do prefer the taste of fox insides over human." The spider demon turned his attention to Shuu. His multiple eyes stared at the fox demon with a menacing glare. His fangs were drawn, poised for attack. The fox steadied his posture, ready to charge at the spider.

Arachno advanced towards my husband, lunging at him with his fangs ready to bite. Shuu dodged the fangs, leaping all the way to the ceiling, and landed behind the spider's back legs. Shuu raced towards the thorax of the spider, wrapping his whip around it. The thorns slashed through the Arachno's head, causing green ooze to spill from the wounds. The spider shook off the attack and brushed Shuu aside with two of his massive fore legs, flinging him against a wall. Upon impact, Shuu looked to be unconscious, his eyes were closed and his body became motionless. Thinking he had knocked out Shuu, Arachno wasted no time lunging at him, getting ready to finish him off with a venomous bite. As soon as he reached his fangs to bite, the fox zipped past him, reappearing behind Arachno. Quickly, Shuu lashed his whip at the spider, wrapping it around the thorax and head. The spider's breathing became labored from the attack and his blood loss from the thorn's wounds. The spider started throwing up green ooze from his wounds around his head. As he tried to shake the whip from his body, the thorns dug in further and the whip tightened.

"Give it up, Spider. The more you struggle, the tighter the whip gets."

"Never, Fox. I will never give up to the likes of you. When I am released this time, I will kill you and your precious human will be forced to carry my young."

"Thanks for the threat," Shuu sneered. The whip tightened with one decisive blow, chopping the head off the spider's body. With that final assault, Arachno's body dropped to the floor; his green blood oozed out over the wooden boards.

Without hesitation, Shuu immediately returned the whip back to its original state as a rose, and then raced back to me. "Hey, Shiz, are you all right? You seem rather shaky. I can understand, you've been through such a terrible ordeal."

I couldn't speak at first, the thought of never seeing him again, the thought that I was going to end up like his father, filtered through my mind. I wrapped my arms around him, my head resting on his shoulder. The smell of his essence made me feel safe and warm in that forsaken place. He held me in his arms with all his might, rubbing my back with his hands. "Thank you for saving me, lover," I said to him, kissing his soft, clean-shaven face.

"Thank nothing of it, I am just glad to see you alive, baby girl," he smiled, caressing my lips with his, "I love you too much to give you up."

We were in the middle of a long, much-needed kiss, when I felt a sudden jolt of the spider's soul. I looked at the spider's body lying lifeless on the floor. Then in a blink of an eye, I saw the head lurch forward. The lifeless head appeared to stare straight at Shuu's back. Quickly I jerked away from him. "Shuu, look out, the head is still alive."

Just as he turned to see, Arachno's head smashed itself against Shuu's abdomen, puncturing his fangs into his flesh, quickly pumping venom into him before disintegrating into thin air. The fox doubled over from the sudden blast from the dead spider. He held his stomach, his arm becoming sticky red from the blood oozing from the wound. "Shuu, are you all right? Please say something."

He stood in front of me, staggering just to stay on his feet. "Shiz, please call your broth...broth...er." His body suddenly collapsed into my arms. I flipped his body to face me. Seeing him lying in my arm, motionless, my face fell and my heart crashed to the wooden floor.

Winching with tears, I mournfully called his name. "Kazuma, please come quick. I am going to lose him," I called him in his dreams.

"Sis, I will be right over there. Where are you?" I quickly gave him the directions to the warehouse.

"Kazuma's on his way. Please Shuu, hang in there. Please don't die." My eyes drowned in the downpour of tears. "Please, King Yama, please don't take him from me."