Chapter 7: Arachnid Mall
"So where do you wanna go now?" Duke asked.
"How about your shop 'Gaming Universe'? Then we can go home," Melissa suggested.
"Ok," Duke smiled.
They went to Duke's shop "Gaming Universe," which sold Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Digimon, Lord of the Rings, baseball, football, basketball, and lots of other card brands. It also contained his game, Dungeon Dice Monsters, and other things like action figures, collectibles, and more. They brought what they wanted and left. "Thanks for a wonderful afternoon Duke," Melissa said.
"No prob," Duke grinned.
Melissa smiled in reply. She continued walking with Duke when she spotted something on the wall of the mall outside. She kept staring at it as it moved. "Mel, are you ok?" Duke asked. "And what are you staring at?"
"Huh? Oh nothing," Melissa answered.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," she replied.
When they both reached Duke's car, Melissa lied, "Hey Duke, I need to go back for a sec. I uh….forgot to buy something and I really need it. So just wait for me here 'kay?"
"No prob," Duke said.
Melissa didn't walk back. She ran back! She ran inside the mall again, but tried getting her breathing normal so she could look calm. But while resting, she saw the monster on the ceiling. It was camouflaged, but only she could see it, obviously. She started acting normal, but followed the monster. It started heading towards a clothes store called Kohls.
Melissa started going faster. The monster remained on the ceiling but advanced towards the girls' fitting room. Why in God's name would a monster go into a fitting room? she questioned. Let alone a girl's fitting room. The monster stopped on the ceiling above a stall inside the fitting room. Melissa got closer and could see a girl done dressing into her original clothes. She was now applying her make-up. The monster was now on the wall right above the unsuspecting girl. Melissa was about to burst in to warn her but she hesitated. She decided to try another way to warn her.
She knocked on the door and tried to whisper to her. "Hey girl, you need to hurry up because you've been hogging up the room." It may have not been much but she wasn't much of a thinker in situations like this.
"How about you wait!" the girl demanded.
Damn, what a bitch, Melissa thought to herself. "Look, you're putting on goddamn make-up. Go to the damn bathroom for that! Other people want to dress!"
"Look bitch, wait or I'll kick your ass!" the girl exclaimed.
Screw you then asshole! Melissa cursed.
Melissa literally just stood there, watching, waiting for the monster to kill the girl. When other people insulted her (or her friends) or made her angry, they were in trouble. She didn't even care about helping the person. Some might consider her a heartless person, but she didn't care. If people pissed her off, she made sure they pay. That was her way.
The monster approached silently and slowly towards the girl. The monster finally grabbed the girl's head with 2 large fangs, sinking them into her head. It brought her closer to its own head by using its two hands. Melissa could see the dead girl's mouth open in a silent scream. Blood oozed and squirted from the fatal wound. Still camouflaged, the monster brought the girl closer and closer. Although it was a bit difficult to see it clearly, Melissa managed to see its pointy teeth when it opened its mouth. Then it shut its jaws on the girl's neck. The headless carcass fell to the ground once it let go and rolled near Melissa's feet. "Holy sh—" Melissa was about to say. "I mean…holy uh…crap! There we go!"
She had no idea that the monster was right above her. She then felt its hot breath and looked up. The monster roared in her face and blood, flesh, and bone fell on her face. "Two words, dude," Melissa said, covering her nose and wiping her face clean of the remains of the head. "Breath mint."
She quickly grabbed the monster's pincer fangs and threw it to the ground (still has the strength of a dragon, even in human form), smashing the wooden doors of the stall. She ran out of the fitting room as the monster struggled to get up. Melissa looked back to see the monster and stopped when she saw what it was. The monster was no longer cloaked. It was black, had purple flame-like markings on the top of its large abdomen, had large pincers the size of a door with fangs at the very end, had eight legs, eight black eyes, the front of its body was in an upright position, and it had two arms with three sharp claws. No way! It's an arachnoid! she thought.
The arachnoid roared loudly. Melissa could see people running away in panic and some were so terrified, they just stood there. The arachnoid started getting closer to her. She started backing away very slowly. I may destroy some of the store but it's either that or the lives of people.
She suddenly ran as fast as she could to the girls' bathroom. The arachnoid followed her into the bathroom. But the door ripped off and Melissa appeared, but in her dragon form. The arachnoid stepped back as she got out of the destroyed bathroom. The arachnoid started to charge at Melissa, but she smacked it with the back of her paw. The arachnoid hit the wall really hard. The wall broke and it landed on the floor outside the store and into the mall. Melissa roared and tore through the wall. She walked on her two hind legs, stood tall, and roared again. People started running away. "It's time to fight!" declared Melissa.
Outside, Duke was nodding his head, falling asleep, while he continued to wait for Melissa. But he could hear something that instantly woke him up. He could see in his rear view window people running and screaming, driving away in their cars. He hastily got out of the car and looked at the mall. What he saw worried him. A huge crowd of people ran from the mall, screaming and yelling. "Oh no," he murmured to himself.
He quickly ran towards the mall. He went inside and to his horror saw a silver dragon fighting a spider-like monster. "My God!" he yelled.
Melissa stopped when she heard someone very familiar yell, "My God!" even through all the screaming. She whipped her head to the side to find Duke gazing at her in awe and fear. Goddamn it! she thought. He's in a lot of danger and I have to help him. But I can't let him know about my secret! I have to get him to safety and get out NOW! But this damn thing won't leave me alone and if I don't hurry, this city will bring police or SWAT, maybe even the military!
She turned her attention back to the arachnoid. But before she could do anything, she was hit with acid. Melissa groaned and clenched her teeth. She looked at her side and saw burnt flesh along with her own ribs, but only two or three were sticking out and burned. The arachnoid then sprayed web from its big abdomen at her, entangling her with its sticky string. She tried hard to break free but it was too sticky and there was too much. The arachnoid spat acid again, but luckily it missed. Melissa tore and bit at the sticky web, but it was sticking to her all over the place. She breathed fire and burned the web to ashes and before the arachnoid could attack again, the dragon spat a big fireball of intense flames. It struck the arachnoid, burning it alive. The spider's shrill cry of pain hurt Melissa's ears and even shattered anything that was glass around it. Everyone's screams seemed to kind of drown out its cry. Melissa then whipped the spider as it tried to extinguish the flames. Her tail smacked the spider hard; its burning body flew and landed on the ground far away from her. The spider was now lifeless on the ground, its entire body sprawled on the smooth yet burned floor. She quickly ran back into the store and returned to normal in a secure area.
She ran outside the store and saw Duke. He saw her and ran to her. They embraced each other and Duke said, "Thank God, you're ok!"
"C'mon Duke, let's get going before the cops get here," Melissa suggested.
"What the hell were you doing here while those monsters were here?" Duke demanded, sounding worried.
Melissa looked into Duke's green eyes and answered, "I was doing something and the monsters just appeared. I was terrified so I hid from them, hoping that they wouldn't find me. Sorry for worrying you."
She buried her face into his chest and heard the rumbling of his voice as he said, "Well, don't do it again."
Melissa and Duke went home after leaving the mall. Once Melissa arrived home, she immediately called her friends Gloria, Caitlin, and Jessica to tell them about her little incident. She decided to not tell Ashley yet because of her arachnophobia. But this was just the beginning of the arachnoids for them.