Chapter Four: Bear with me, this will be good.
There's actually quite a lot of interesting facts about tarantulas. They actually have their own sub class in the arachnid family. Most house spiders fall under the class of Parasteatoda tepidariorum, while Tarantula's actually go by theraphosidae alba.
Jeremy whimpered slightly as he watched the tarantula move it's fuzzy legs as it reached further down over his field of vision. He couldn't help but focus on the pincers that hid it's little vacuum like mouth.
Tarantula's don't necessarily make webs as they don't really need to. They usually go out and ambush their prey in the dead of night. However, this does not mean that they can't spin their own silk. They use their spider silk for many things; decorating, strengthening tunnel support of their underground burrows, cocooning.
"Oh MY GOD!" Jeremy yelled as he began to fall back in panic, trying to get the eight armed menace out of his hair. Throwing back his head he was able to dislodge it.
Tarantulas also hardly ever bite humans, only if they feel provoked. Even then it's usually no worse than maybe an ant's bite or a bee sting.
Like most arthropods, Tarantulas are invertebrate and rely on an exoskeleton for muscle support, which is very much needed considering their advanced size and growth. It's not widely known, but a short fall of less than a foot can actually be Fatal to a tarantula; and rupture their thin exo-skeleton particularly around the abdomen. A most sad and painful end for the fuzzy little creature.
Remembering this, Jeremy instinctively turned around to fall forward, with his hands outstretched to catch the now panicked tarantula as it flies toward the ground from it's previous perch six feet above.
Another funny thing about Tarantulas is their legs. Most species tend to keep their feet on the ground, but some are arboreal; meaning that they like to explore walls, cliffsides and trees. These arboreal tarantulas have little retractable claws at the end of each leg, like a cat. This is to help them grip better to whatever they're scaling.
The tarantula managed to snag onto Jeremy's passing sleeve cuff and he enclosed his hands around it; protecting it from the fall. Jeremy landed on his side, pulling his cupped hands close to his chest and then took a moment to catch his breath.
He slowly opened his hands to look down at the fuzzy creature as it turned around in his palm to meet his eyes. It actually met his eyes. He could see it's little orbs sitting on top it's head focus on his. This little tarantula was contemplating what to do next now that it sat in the trembling hands of the titan it went to explore.
"Well that was a surprise" came the monotone voice of a girl not much older than Jeremy's little sister. She wore leather string up boots, ash grey stockings, and a black vintage swing dress with a white collar. He looked up to meet the dark eyes of Wednesday Addams as she stepped over to him from the staircase and stooped down to scoop up the Tarantula.
"Usually Homer doesn't go up to new people by herself." Wednesday said as she stroked the fibers on the abdomen of the tarantula that sat in her hand, which still had yet to look away from Jeremy. He carefully stood back up and looked down at the Tarantula in her hands and then back to her.
"Uhm… yeah. She's very uh… friendly." he managed to get out. "-Uh. Sorry. Homer?"
"Yes. We originally thought she was a male, but once she's laid eggs we had to assume the other." She said as she affectionately stroked Homer's back fibers.
Most tarantulas grow urticating fibers on its abdomen and fling them off if threatened. They're supposed to be very irritant to human skin, and especially dangerous to the eyes. It's a defense mechanism used to ward off many of the tarantula's natural predators. Although old world tarantulas hadn't developed this trait, as they usually had a very poisonous bite.
Jeremy was going to say something, but then realized that he actually didn't know what kind of tarantula this was. He'd not quite seen anything like it from the bit of research he'd done before. He couldn't even make an educated guess. It had attributes from a couple of different species. Obviously this girl was the spider's owner, so she must be aware of her own accord what the dangers are; if any.
"Yeah. Haha. That makes sense, and I'd assume when she ate her mate that probably guaranteed that assumption." he said with a small flinching smile. This got Wednesday's attention.
"You know about Tarantulas?" She asked.
Jeremy gave a small nod. "Y-yeah. I have some general knowledge. I like to read- a lot." he said. This was an understatement. Jeremy was always academically and literarily inclined throughout grade school. He had an abundance of odd knowledge pulled from any book he'd gotten lucky enough to get his hands on.
That's why it was such a surprise to Jeremy's parents when he said he wanted to take some time off after he finished high school to work and build up his scholarships before he got right back to the books.
"Interesting." Wednesday said as she walked out of the room. Jeremy stood there in the living room unsure of what he was supposed to do. After a good 30 seconds, that felt like an eternity, he decided to follow through the doorway she'd passed through and into what looked like an elongated hallway with many different doors… That he didn't see her go through.
"...Welp." Jeremy said "I tried." he said before turning back around to head back to the living room only to come face to face with a wall.
"What?!" He exclaimed. He pressed his hands against the wall and pushed against it. "No no no no. No way." He added as he turned around looked for how he'd gotten in here. 'How did this happen? There was a door here!' he exclaimed mentally. 'I literally just walked through it! I didn't turn a corner or anything!'
Jeremy slapped the wall with both his hands to make sure it was actually there. Then pressed his hands over his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"Okay. Okay. I'm just panicked still. Homer just freaked me out. I'm just… panicked." he assured himself. "Just… panicked." He took another deep breath in… then out. In… then out… He needed to center himself.
"When I open my eyes. The door will be there, just like it was, and I will wait for them to come get me." he told himself. "1… 2… 3…" he dropped his hands and turned around.
"...huh." the wall was still there. Defeated, Jeremy turned back around and faced the hallway before him. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and stepped forward.
"Maybe I did drive into that ditch. This is hell. It's got to be hell." He began debating with himself. "But… then again that living room was pretty sweet. Maybe it's heaven- No. Cause that friggin spider! It's got to be hell! But wait then wouldn't it be bigger? Wouldn't it have started attacking- Oh man." He continued as he looked around at the closed doors around him.
There are 7 doors here, one has to be the kitchen or the dining room, or something. He stepped over to one door to his left and tried the door handle. It was locked. He tried the next one over. Locked. Tried the one after that. Broom closet.
He decided to try a door on the other wall. He walked back to where he'd began and pushed on the door handle. There was a little resistance, but the handle turned and the door creaked open to reveal a stone stair corridor that went down.
It was lit by torches mounted on the wall. Visible cracks could be seen in the warm yellow glow, that ran from the ceiling down to the stone stone steps that led under the house. It felt cold… and bleak. Jeremy ran his hand over the stone brick wall and felt the cool porous surface.
He heard a faint drip come from further down the stairs and then what sounded like the drop of something metal. Then… a screeching noise he couldn't quite place.
"Yeah. Nope" he said pulling the door closed.
He stepped away from the door and turned back around to find himself pressed against something soft but shaggy. He pressed his hands against it and pushed away wondering if suddenly he'd found himself on the carpet somehow. That was of course until he looked up into the beady brown eyes of an almost 8 foot tall grizzly bear.
"You've got to be kidding me." he whispered to himself as he pushed himself away from the stern chest of the stuffed bear he'd previously seen in the living room. At this point Jeremy wasn't even that shocked. This whole hallway was cursed or something. Or, more likely than not… He was asleep. This was just a very unsettling dream. Maybe he didn't die, but he surely must've been knocked out in that ditch he'd got caught in.
"I. Am. So. Over. This!" he said as he shoved hard at the bear in front of him.
"Grrarggghh"
"..."
A cold sweat quickly formed all down Jeremy's backside. He didn't dare breathe. There was no mistake. He heard it. He definitely heard it.
He slowly peaked his eyes up past his blonde hair and stared into the gaping jaws of the bear as they opened and closed. He felt the chest he was pressed against give a small, but definite rise.
"...Oh...noo…"
"GRRrrrRARRRGGHHHHH" roared the mighty grizzly as it lurched and raised its arms over Jeremy.
"No!" he yelled as he threw himself under where its arms swung and hit the floor. He quickly got back up to his feet and turned around to see the bear turn and face toward him again. Jeremy ran to the other end of the hallway and tried the door handle of the last door.
"Come on!" he yelled shaking the handle that wouldn't budge. He heard another growl from the oncoming danger behind him. He turned just as the bear charged toward him; ready to create a man sandwich. A manwich.
Instinctively Jeremy squeezed to the right side of the hallway and threw himself past the bear and let it hit the door on it's own. He pushed himself up from where he landed and made a run for the other end of the hallway; trying to get as much distance between him and the bear.
He looked around for any exit he may have missed. There were only two doors he knew were open. The broom closet, and the creepy stairwell and neither seemed like good options. He hides in the broom closet, he's a sitting duck. He runs down the stairwell, he's going to be even more lost, and might actually run into an even worse foe.
'Then again, what could be worse than being trapped in a closed off hallway with a friggin grizzly bear that you pissed off?' he thought to himself. '...I actually don't want to know' he thought better.
He ran over to the broom closet and yanked it open and started rummaging around through it as the bear seemed to slowly close the gap between them. Taking its sweet time, stalking it's newfound prey.
'"Come into contact with a bear. Don't give it a scare." Too late for that.' he thought as he began throwing brooms and dustbins behind him 'it's agitated. It's a grizzly. I am so screwed. I must attack.'
"Oh man. Oh man." Jeremy said to aloud finally as he felt his final moments might as well be heard by someone. Anyone. He found a heavy wooden shovel and gripped it tightly just as the bear slammed hard into the door he held open between them. He fell back hard but kept a tight grip onto his only salvation. He quickly scooted to the back wall where he started this crazy situation and pushed himself up. This was it.
"Hrrrrr….Gahhhhhh!" He yelled trying to instill the fear that he felt into the grizzly. He held the shovel up in front of him with both hands and charged at the bear and pushed it back hard.
"Grrgh." the bear gave an almost confused sounding growl.
"Ahhhh!" Jeremy yelled as he pushed further on and actually was surprised that the bear gave with, but he wasn't about to let up on his attack.
Jeremy felt them almost glide across the hardwood floor, as he was prepared to slam this bear into the door that denied him exit from this ludacris situation. He continued his panicked battle cry and picked up speed.
"Woah, woah, woah. Hey!" he heard just before he felt the impact of solid Katalox wamara wood. The door didn't even budge… but him and the bear sure did.
…...
"...Mr. Hawthorne?..."
"...Mr. Hawthorne?..."
"...Don't you children think you were too rough on him?..."
"..Rough on him? I think he was too rough on me.."
"Honestly, I'm impressed."
"Shh. Quiet. He's coming to."
"Mr. Hawthorne? You okay there son?" Jeremy heard as he slowly came to.
He was on his back looking at the white ceiling of the Addams family dining room. He turned his head to try and get a look at his surroundings. The walls were an immaculate scarlet wallpaper. The floor was a dark polished wood of some sort that seemed to match the dining room table set that looked big enough to host a feast; as it most likely has. Around him was whom he assumed was the hosting Addams family.
"My my there. Up you go." Mr. Addams said as he pulled Jeremy up onto his feet. 'That was quite the dive you took there."
"Dive?" Jeremy asked before it came back to him. "Oh. Oh man. The ditch! I am so sorry! I should've paid more attention to the gravel- but oh my god, I had this crazy dream that I was being chased by a bear!" he said exasperated but absolutely glad to be alive.
"Uh… Ditch?" asked Mr. Addams.
"The-The ditch that you guys pulled me out of my car from?" Jeremy answered now confused. Mr. Addams looked at his wife who stood behind him. She was tall, lean, and had almost porcelain skin that stood even sharper out against her sleek black dress and raven black hair. Her daughter was practically the spitting image.
"I think he means that ditch you had dug out on the side of the house."
"I did no such thing did I?" He asked and then gave a curious look to who Jeremy assumed were the infamous Addams children.
"Actually, that wasn't us. That was your ditch" answered the stocky boy wearing the striped short sleeve button down. His blonde hair cut short and clean around his round grinning face.
"Oh. Yes. I do recall that." Mr. Addams said then turned his attention back to Jeremy. "Sorry about that. Forgot to fill that one up again." he finished.
"Hah." Jeremy said rubbing his head and then fixing his clothes.
"But, Mr. Hawthorne we didn't pull you out of any ditch, your car is fine and parked on the side of the house where you left it." stated Mrs. Addams as she glided over and put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder and touched his temple; feeling around for any bumps.
"Then… what dive are you talking about?" Jeremy said as he looked around the room once again and as his eyes finally fully focused, he saw it.
"Oh man." he said with a little jump as he glared down at the floored grizzly bear that was apparently not even 2 feet from where he'd just gotten up. It was still just as wild eyed and massive as he remembered when he faced off against it in the hallway, However, he did notice a few things off about it that he didn't notice before.
For one, the bears backside was exposing the inside. Split right down where the spine would be. There seemed to be pulleys, levers and a seat inside of the beast. Looking further down, the feet were still firmly attached to the stand he saw it on back in the living room. Only now taking in the geared wheels attached to the bottom.
Jeremy couldn't help but to actually smile at the ingenious design of such a terrifying thing. He stooped down and turned it toward him, taking a good look inside. It was spacious enough for somebody of a shorter stature to sit comfortably inside and "pilot" around in. Probably perfectly sized for a certain short haired blonde child he'd glanced over.
"Children, I believe you owe Mr. Hawthorne an apology." said Mrs. Addams as she glided across the floor and behind her two children. She nudged them forward gently toward Jeremy and the dark haired girl Jeremy had the pleasure of meeting earlier looked toward her mother.
"I actually had nothing to do with the bear suit." she stated simply.
"Yes I can surmise as much Wednesday, but I'm afraid I know about your spider's role in this." Mrs. Addams said as she reached over and pulled a bit of silvery white silk from the top of Jeremy's head. Wednesday looked away for a moment then toward Jeremy with almost a downward turn of the corner of her lip.
"You and Pugsley have something to say I believe?" she said in that stern motherly voice Jeremy could immediately recognize.
"...We're sorry…" both children said almost harmoniously.
"For scaring you." Pugsley added secondly.
Jeremy looked at Mr. and Mrs. Addams and then back to the mechanized grizzly bear that had just terrorised him not too long ago. He released a breath and moved over to face toward the two kids and rested on his knee to meet them at eye level. He scanned their faces to try and get a read on how to approach this.
"...I take it you made this thing?" Jeremy finally said nodding toward Pugsley. The chubby blonde boy looked up to meet his eyes and nodded.
"Personally… I think that's pretty sick." Jeremy said with a smile creeping up onto his face. "I definitely need you to show me how you put on a show like this, and I'm sure I could show you a few things on how to advance your little bear suit over there." he added. Pugsley's face lit up almost immediately.
"Yeah? You're not mad?" Pugsley asked. "Weren't you scared?"
"Oh. Dude, I was absolutely terrified. That was crazier than the time I let my friend Beck convince me to go cliff diving with her." He assured Pugsley.
"Ohh. That sounds cool! I want to do that." the grinning boy said.
"It was. It really was." Jeremy replied before turning his attention to Wednesday who'd not said or given away anything since her apology "and that spider of yours. That was a pretty smooth move. I didn't even feel her climb up on me. How'd you teach her to do that?" he asked honestly interested.
He could see something flicker in the dark, dark eyes of Wednesday Addams as she gave him her full attention. "Tarantula's are one of the more intelligent arachnid species." she stated.
"Oh most certainly, but that there tarantula… You set me as a target didn't you? No doubt this is a very special spider, but you got her to follow an order. That's impressive." he said giving a small laugh which in turn gave Wednesday a small smile.
"Listen, no harm no foul right?" Jeremy said. "I think that's how it goes. It's okay. I accept your apologies, but don't expect me to just let it slide. If given the opportunity, I'll have to get you back." he finished with a wink. This got Pugsley to laugh.
Jeremy looked up to a grinning Mr. Addams puffing on another one of his thick brown cigars, while his wife glided over and rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest with a smile.
"So Jeremy. You must be hungry after such an affair." Gomez asked with an arch of a thick eyebrow and open smile as he puffed out a bit of smoke.
"Famished Mr. Addams." Jeremy answered honestly as he stood back up.
"Well we have quite the ironic treat for you Mr. Hawthorne." Gomez said stepping over toward the table and giving a quick ring to a silver bell that sat on a round wooden coaster.
"From the double doors at the other end of the dining room, came the lurching butler Jeremy had been welcomed in by with a cart stacked with silver hot trays of a delicious smelling meal.
The Addams all scrambled to take their seats and Jeremy took one as well across from Mr. Addams and next to the children that gave him a most interesting welcome into their home.
"So, what's on the menu?" Asked Jeremy following Mr. and Mrs. Addams leads of resting a napkin on their laps.
Lurch brought over the platters and set them in the middle of the table, steam rising softly from under the slips of the lid as they shifted. He could see Pugsley next to him eagerly pick up his fork and knife.
"Ah, that my dear boy is the smell of your apparent victory." Mr. Addams said with a good natured wry smile as Lurch leaned over and pulled the lid off of the center platter. A delicious smell instantly flooded the room and Jeremy's mouth watered in anticipation.
"Jeremy Hawthorne, I give you… Grilled Grizzly Bear Steak." Jeremy heard as his jaw dropped.