Chapter Three- Spider Bites and Security Tapes
Madison slept fitfully that night. Even after a long hot shower and scrubbing every inch of herself until she almost bled, she couldn't get rid of that horrible, clammy feeling she got when being close to spiders. And what if the cage doors hadn't been secure? She shivered at the thought as she slid into her favorite flannel pj's, snuggled next to her huge tan dog, and attempted to get some rest. But sleep wouldn't come. She just stared at the ceiling for hours, feeling stupid and silly for having such a childish fear. Every shadow on the wall appeared to have eight legs, and every slight night noise seemed to be a giant spider coming to gobble her up. When she finally did drift off to sleep, she dreamt of dark alleyways and huge, red and blue arachnids . . .
It was nearing morning when a stabbing pain woke Madison out of her light sleep. Blinking stupidly, she reached for her specs with her left hand and shoved them up the bridge of her nose. Squinting her eyes to see better, Madison groaned and stared at the luminous clock on the dresser.
"5:30? God, I don't have to get up for a half an hour, now I'll never be able to get back to sleep . . . " she trailed off as the sharp pain in her hand slowly became a low, throbbing ache.
And then she felt something on it move.
Eyes widening in horror, Madison slowly turned her head around and lifted her right hand to eye level, staring at the small blue and red spider sitting peacefully atop of it.
The scream that erupted from her must have woken the entire street.
The scream must have also startled the poor little spider, for a few seconds later it scuttled off of her hand, down the bed sheet, and onto the carpet. Consequently, it had barely reached the ground before it was stomped out of existence.
"DIE!" Madison screamed childishly, holding her aching hand and jumping up and down upon the little squashed pile on the rug. "Die you horrible little creature, Die!!!"
After about 5 minutes, she calmed down enough to stop jumping. Pouting, she sank down into an old plush chair in front of the TV and grabbed the remote, flipping through channel after channel. No way in hell was she going to sleep now. Part of Madison's conscience felt bad about killing the little thing- even though she hated them, she rarely killed them. But this one bit her, the other part of Madison's brain rationalized. What if it was poisonous? You don't just let something like that go!
Maybe it was poisonous, Madison thought as she landed on a channel and snuggled deeper into the folds of the chair. Her damn hand still throbbed; in fact, it seemed to be getting worse. And now her head was beginning to feel light. Suddenly worried, Madison turned the TV off and shuffled into the kitchen. But who would she call? Poison control? 911? Now her head was defiantly spinning. The colors in the room started to blur, and she had to stop, leaning against the dresser to keep her balance. Suddenly Madison began to shake, even though she was burning hot. Oh crap, she thought as the world began to spin faster and faster. The throbbing in her hand was becoming unbearable, and the sound was pounding in her ears. Oh crap. The last somewhat coherent thought in her head was 'I hope the boss doesn't take it out of my paycheck if I miss work today . . . '
Then the world went black as she fell, the dull sound of her head cracking on the floor echoing throughout the apartment as the dog worried over her fallen body.
xxxxxx
Madison didn't come into work that day. Nor the following day. Peter sighed in frustration as he sorted through the pile of photos he had taken two days ago at Oscorp. How would the column ever be done in time if she didn't come into work? Privately, in the back of his mind, he thought that she was doing this purely to piss him off, but the more logical side of him knew that she wasn't.
Bored, his part of work for the column done, Peter decided to take his usual 20 minute "sit and stare out the window" break. Letting his mind wander, he idly wondered why she hadn't been into work these past two days. She seemed in perfect health last time he saw her . . .
Suddenly Peter sat up a little straighter, his eyes widening. Something was off, something was wrong with this picture but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Then it came to him. That day at Oscorp – the scream and the crashing sounds, Madison barely in control of her emotions and her blatantly lying to him as they walked out of the building...
'Did something just happen in there?'
'No, nothing happened. Nothing at all.'
He hadn't really thought about it before, but what had happened inside of the research area that she had been so unwilling to tell him about?
Suddenly worried, Peter stood up and grabbed his coat as he walked out of the building. It's not like he was needed here anyway. And besides, he had to find out the truth.
xxxxxx
Spiderman swung though the open window of the security area at Oscorp industries with his usual awe-inspiring grace. Landing softly in the midst of 20 or so high-tech computers, he briefly wondered why no one was there. Studying them quickly, he realized that they were the latest in security technology, able to monitor and detect anything out of the norm and report it to the officers on other floors. Overall, it must have a lot of false alarms, but must be more foolproof than one lazy guy eating donuts and reading magazines while monitoring the building.
Two tapes sat apart from the rest, and something told Peter that they were important. Sure enough, when he checked them, both were dated from two days ago, and one was from the security camera in the research area. The other was from an upstairs office in the business wing. Smiling widely under his mask, Peter took them both and swung cleanly out of the window, safely carrying all of Madison's incriminating evidence with him.
xxxxxx
45 minutes later, Peter had showered and changed, attempted to call Madison and gotten only the answering machine, and was just about to sit down in front of the TV with his two new tapes for some "quality viewing." Grabbing some popcorn on the way, he stuck the first tape into the VCR and reclined back.
The screen flickered, and after a few seconds showed a large, well furnished office. Peter briefly wondered if it was Harry's. After all, he did own the company.
The door opened, and a familiar head poked in. After a few seconds it vanished, and the door closed again. Peter frowned, was that all there was . . .
Suddenly the door reopened and Madison stepped back in, her eyes wide and somewhat glassy. Heading immediately over to the desk, she stared at a large, shiny paperweight sitting there.
"She wouldn't . . . " Peter muttered, watching her avidly as she reached for the paperweight. He groaned as she pocketed it. "She would."
Well, now it seemed that Peter had unintentionally saved her from a hefty lawsuit by taking their only evidence against her. Still, being Spiderman, he didn't condone stealing, and made a mental note to insist that she return it as soon as possible.
The first tape flickered to a stop. Scooping the second one up, he popped it into the VCR and watched with interest. This was the one he really wanted to see.
At first the screen only showed the round area, quiet, with closely watched tourist groups off to one side while scientists bustled around the other. Everything was perfectly peaceful.
Suddenly the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard. An unseen door to the far left was flung open, and a very white Madison tore though through it and into the research area, not watching where she was going. Peter leaned forward, his popcorn forgotten, and mentally willed her to turn her head. Eventually she did, but not until it was too late.
Peter winced as she crashed headlong into the spider cages and immediately leapt up again, flailing her arms through the air. Peter stopped it here, not even bothering to watch the rest. There was a strange, queasy feeling in his stomach as he contemplated reasons why Madison hadn't been seen at all for the last two days. And if she were sick, why wasn't she answering her phone?
Mind made up, Peter stood and grabbed his coat. He was going to find out once and for what the deal was with his new "partner."
xxxxx
Reviews most welcome!
Madison slept fitfully that night. Even after a long hot shower and scrubbing every inch of herself until she almost bled, she couldn't get rid of that horrible, clammy feeling she got when being close to spiders. And what if the cage doors hadn't been secure? She shivered at the thought as she slid into her favorite flannel pj's, snuggled next to her huge tan dog, and attempted to get some rest. But sleep wouldn't come. She just stared at the ceiling for hours, feeling stupid and silly for having such a childish fear. Every shadow on the wall appeared to have eight legs, and every slight night noise seemed to be a giant spider coming to gobble her up. When she finally did drift off to sleep, she dreamt of dark alleyways and huge, red and blue arachnids . . .
It was nearing morning when a stabbing pain woke Madison out of her light sleep. Blinking stupidly, she reached for her specs with her left hand and shoved them up the bridge of her nose. Squinting her eyes to see better, Madison groaned and stared at the luminous clock on the dresser.
"5:30? God, I don't have to get up for a half an hour, now I'll never be able to get back to sleep . . . " she trailed off as the sharp pain in her hand slowly became a low, throbbing ache.
And then she felt something on it move.
Eyes widening in horror, Madison slowly turned her head around and lifted her right hand to eye level, staring at the small blue and red spider sitting peacefully atop of it.
The scream that erupted from her must have woken the entire street.
The scream must have also startled the poor little spider, for a few seconds later it scuttled off of her hand, down the bed sheet, and onto the carpet. Consequently, it had barely reached the ground before it was stomped out of existence.
"DIE!" Madison screamed childishly, holding her aching hand and jumping up and down upon the little squashed pile on the rug. "Die you horrible little creature, Die!!!"
After about 5 minutes, she calmed down enough to stop jumping. Pouting, she sank down into an old plush chair in front of the TV and grabbed the remote, flipping through channel after channel. No way in hell was she going to sleep now. Part of Madison's conscience felt bad about killing the little thing- even though she hated them, she rarely killed them. But this one bit her, the other part of Madison's brain rationalized. What if it was poisonous? You don't just let something like that go!
Maybe it was poisonous, Madison thought as she landed on a channel and snuggled deeper into the folds of the chair. Her damn hand still throbbed; in fact, it seemed to be getting worse. And now her head was beginning to feel light. Suddenly worried, Madison turned the TV off and shuffled into the kitchen. But who would she call? Poison control? 911? Now her head was defiantly spinning. The colors in the room started to blur, and she had to stop, leaning against the dresser to keep her balance. Suddenly Madison began to shake, even though she was burning hot. Oh crap, she thought as the world began to spin faster and faster. The throbbing in her hand was becoming unbearable, and the sound was pounding in her ears. Oh crap. The last somewhat coherent thought in her head was 'I hope the boss doesn't take it out of my paycheck if I miss work today . . . '
Then the world went black as she fell, the dull sound of her head cracking on the floor echoing throughout the apartment as the dog worried over her fallen body.
xxxxxx
Madison didn't come into work that day. Nor the following day. Peter sighed in frustration as he sorted through the pile of photos he had taken two days ago at Oscorp. How would the column ever be done in time if she didn't come into work? Privately, in the back of his mind, he thought that she was doing this purely to piss him off, but the more logical side of him knew that she wasn't.
Bored, his part of work for the column done, Peter decided to take his usual 20 minute "sit and stare out the window" break. Letting his mind wander, he idly wondered why she hadn't been into work these past two days. She seemed in perfect health last time he saw her . . .
Suddenly Peter sat up a little straighter, his eyes widening. Something was off, something was wrong with this picture but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Then it came to him. That day at Oscorp – the scream and the crashing sounds, Madison barely in control of her emotions and her blatantly lying to him as they walked out of the building...
'Did something just happen in there?'
'No, nothing happened. Nothing at all.'
He hadn't really thought about it before, but what had happened inside of the research area that she had been so unwilling to tell him about?
Suddenly worried, Peter stood up and grabbed his coat as he walked out of the building. It's not like he was needed here anyway. And besides, he had to find out the truth.
xxxxxx
Spiderman swung though the open window of the security area at Oscorp industries with his usual awe-inspiring grace. Landing softly in the midst of 20 or so high-tech computers, he briefly wondered why no one was there. Studying them quickly, he realized that they were the latest in security technology, able to monitor and detect anything out of the norm and report it to the officers on other floors. Overall, it must have a lot of false alarms, but must be more foolproof than one lazy guy eating donuts and reading magazines while monitoring the building.
Two tapes sat apart from the rest, and something told Peter that they were important. Sure enough, when he checked them, both were dated from two days ago, and one was from the security camera in the research area. The other was from an upstairs office in the business wing. Smiling widely under his mask, Peter took them both and swung cleanly out of the window, safely carrying all of Madison's incriminating evidence with him.
xxxxxx
45 minutes later, Peter had showered and changed, attempted to call Madison and gotten only the answering machine, and was just about to sit down in front of the TV with his two new tapes for some "quality viewing." Grabbing some popcorn on the way, he stuck the first tape into the VCR and reclined back.
The screen flickered, and after a few seconds showed a large, well furnished office. Peter briefly wondered if it was Harry's. After all, he did own the company.
The door opened, and a familiar head poked in. After a few seconds it vanished, and the door closed again. Peter frowned, was that all there was . . .
Suddenly the door reopened and Madison stepped back in, her eyes wide and somewhat glassy. Heading immediately over to the desk, she stared at a large, shiny paperweight sitting there.
"She wouldn't . . . " Peter muttered, watching her avidly as she reached for the paperweight. He groaned as she pocketed it. "She would."
Well, now it seemed that Peter had unintentionally saved her from a hefty lawsuit by taking their only evidence against her. Still, being Spiderman, he didn't condone stealing, and made a mental note to insist that she return it as soon as possible.
The first tape flickered to a stop. Scooping the second one up, he popped it into the VCR and watched with interest. This was the one he really wanted to see.
At first the screen only showed the round area, quiet, with closely watched tourist groups off to one side while scientists bustled around the other. Everything was perfectly peaceful.
Suddenly the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard. An unseen door to the far left was flung open, and a very white Madison tore though through it and into the research area, not watching where she was going. Peter leaned forward, his popcorn forgotten, and mentally willed her to turn her head. Eventually she did, but not until it was too late.
Peter winced as she crashed headlong into the spider cages and immediately leapt up again, flailing her arms through the air. Peter stopped it here, not even bothering to watch the rest. There was a strange, queasy feeling in his stomach as he contemplated reasons why Madison hadn't been seen at all for the last two days. And if she were sick, why wasn't she answering her phone?
Mind made up, Peter stood and grabbed his coat. He was going to find out once and for what the deal was with his new "partner."
xxxxx
Reviews most welcome!