An Arachnids Adventure

Chapter - 10 - An End to the Hysteria

Peter looked towards the group of Baxter Building Employee's and saw a gruff and slightly more authoritative Ben giving out what looked like instructions.

After a few moments had passed, the group, after having listened to Ben's words, looked towards Johnny, Reed, and Peter. One amongst the group looked confused and spoke up, Johnny and Reed seeing this wondered what the hold up was.

Peter, however, was able to hear the entire conversation, essentially the man who had spoken up was wondering if it was wise to send an entire group of people such as themselves, to follow after a young boys instructions in such a tense situation.

Ben proceeded to explain the prior circumstances and then did his best to reassure any remaining doubts the crowd might have had. Whether because of the fact that Ben possessed a high-ranking within the Baxter Buildings infrastructure or because the group was truly persuaded. It didn't take long for the group to put their remaining worries aside.

Peter didn't take their words to heart, however, no, he simply didn't have the time to.

People out there needed help, people he had turned aside, people that needed him and yet he made the decision to stand aside and help his friends first.

Truth be told, it was eating away at him, every fiber of his being was yelling at him, telling him to get out there and move, to go to them as quickly as possible.

And yet he knew, he knew that he by himself simply wouldn't be able to help them. It would take a lot more than just one man to help out all those people, and so, he had to wait, wait for all of these people to help. For them to follow him in their slow manner, Peter himself had never resented the people around him for being 'slower' than him, whether intellectually or physically...and yet now...now he did, he hated the fact that they couldn't move as fast as he, that they couldn't simply move quicker...work faster.

"-eter, Peter!"

Reed's voice cut through Peter's current loathing and melancholic state, awakening Peter to the harsh reality surrounding him.

Peter looked forward once more, what he saw was the group of volunteers, as well as the trio of Reed, Johnny, and Ben now waiting on him.

Ben spoke up in concern," Kid if you need to take a break-"

Peter not allowing Ben to finish turned around and spoke up.

"Follow me!"

The trio and the volunteers each had their own respective reactions to Peters actions, not that Peter had any care, he had only one thing he wanted to do at that moment and nothing was going to stop him from doing so.

Peter lead the group forward, slowly marching on down the street, the path he had once tread.

Every few yards Peter would stop and then point towards a wrecked or stopped car, other times he would point towards a 'downed' person who would otherwise be difficult to spot.

The only reason that Peter was able to do this was due to his sharpened senses. Peter whilst walking down the street, was focusing his hearing and smelling abilities to a local area around himself, in doing so he was looking for any abnormal noises. Focusing on the smell of blood, and listening in for a heartbeat faint or strong, ones that originated not from the group behind him but those in front of himself. When he located one he would then point to that area.

After he did so Ben or Reed would then instruct the group of volunteers, to search in that area and have them begin rescue measures or first aid care, when necessary.

As the group progressed, the group itself had thinned out, though that wasn't the only change amongst the volunteers present or those left behind.

As Peter had successfully pointed out one injured person after another, the group's initial doubt and suspicion turned to wonder and amazement. Though now wasn't the time to ask questions. Before too long the volunteers themselves responded to Peter's directions without the need for Reed or Ben to order them to.

It wasn't only the volunteers who were in shock due to Peter's seemingly never incorrect instructions. Reed himself found there to be more and more questions surrounding Peter's actions. As a man of science, it was in Reed's nature to question everything, to live as a skeptic. Thus Reed's questioning mind slowly built up one doubt after another, truthfully if it weren't for Reed's trust in Peter and his own rational mind, he would have begun openly questioning Peter right then and there.

As the group following Peter down the street slowly began to thin out, they were coming closer and closer to the site of the major Ambulance accident.

Peter braced himself to see that grisly sight once more, he also took this time to speak up.

"We're going to be coming up on the major crash site soon, that means more crashed vehicles than prior as well as the possibility that whatever caused all this might reappear. Any of you who want to turn back now should do so...what's coming up...it isn't pretty."

The group now consisting of only about six volunteers and the trio looked towards Peter's back...normally these words would come from those who seemed like strong and capable leaders...the contradiction presented by Peters small and seemingly vulnerable back brought a horrid sense of realism to the minds of those present.

For the adolescent boy in front of them to be saying these words was truly a cruel joke and might even seem comical to some, yet none of those present saw fit to laugh or take his words for granted...it just brought a sour feeling to the forefront of their minds...

Peter not hearing any response, walked forward at a brisk pace once more.

As he did so he began focusing his senses once more, doing his best to make sure he didn't miss any last single person in need of aid, he himself knew how frazzled he was when he saw that horrid sight prior.

Peter wanted to make sure he didn't miss out on any one thing due to his earlier panic.

As the group pressed forward, as Peter suspected he found more than one 'presence' hidden in the surrounding wreckage of the intersection where the major accident took place.

Peter pointed towards each successive location and then pressed forward once more.

Whether he noticed it or not, the only person currently following Peter was Johnny. Everyone else was sent towards another person in need of aid.

Peter himself continued walking at a brisk pace trying his best to make sure he wasn't missing anyone.

Peter finally noticed that he had reached the wrecked Ambulance once more, in doing so he stopped using his sharpened senses and let them go back to their 'dormant' state, doing his absolute best to ignore the increasing pain of overusing his previously suppressed senses. Peter jogged towards the Ambulances' front carriage, in a hurry to see if either of the EMTs who had picked he and the two girls up earlier was present.

The sight that greeted Peter was one that brought both grief and relief. One of the EMTs was present, the EMT in the driver's seat was slightly banged up, a few cuts and bruises and passed out but from what Peter could tell, still alive and not in any immediate danger.

The passenger side seat, however, was empty, the window shattered, the metal framing of the door bent out of shape and looking as if it went through some sort of grating. Some bloodstains were splashed around the seat as well as tears in the surrounding area. Peter thought to himself that this EMT was more than likely the one who had screamed earlier.

If Peter's hunch was correct the EMT was taken by whatever monstrosity had let out that bellow earlier...Peter's stomach twisted and turned. The happiness that one of the EMTs was still alive and well, as well as the despair brought on by the fact that one of them was missing, was causing him no small part of grief as the duality of it all tore at him.

Thinking back Peter remembered what it was that the supposed police officer earlier had shouted out, release that man...those words played out in Peter mind, once and again. Seeming to echo louder each and every time.

'No! I cant…I won't let this play out like this! He has to be out there….I can save him….I can.'

Peter awoke himself from his own psyches haunting, with a resolution previously unknown.

Peter called out and asked for help. "There's another here!"

Johnny, having been following Peter, finally caught up with him and saw the EMT, as well as the state of the Ambulance's carriage.

Johnny took no time at all to rush to the side of the Ambulance, and open the door, Johnny began to check up on him and called out.

"I've got things here Pete, you go on ahead!"

Peter hearing Johnny words, thought that those were the exact words he wanted to hear. He wasted no time and began to head past the ambulance but as he did, he once more felt that familiar feeling as if he was being watched.

Peter followed his instincts and looked towards the wrecked vehicle across from the Ambulance once more...truth be told he didn't want to see that horrid sight again. Hence he had been avoiding the area to the best of his abilities.

Yet for some reason, he felt as if he would regret it should he not look into this hair-raising feeling of being watched.

Peter stopped his forward jaunt and closed his eyes soon after, preparing himself for that grisly sight once more.

Unknown to himself at the moment were two ghostly figures, not 15 feet away from his current position. Death calmly looking over the affairs of mortals as she had far more than once, and that poor soul who had lost her life in the accident earlier.

The woman was currently pleading, crying out, reaching out her hands and doing her best to call out for Peter. Her words were almost incomprehensible at this point.

Peter, whether by some chance of the heavens or divine inspiration had decided to look towards the car wreck once again, this action had given the woman such hope and joy that her cries, that had by this time grown into incoherent babbles, regrew into the frenzied cries for help only she was capable of.

Peter at this time had reaffirmed his courage once more, and in doing so opened his eyes. Unlike before however, his eyes were now slightly different than prior. It almost seemed as if his pupils seemed dilated, his pupils larger and gaping...almost as if no one thing could escape his sight.

When Peter looked around himself to get a bearing of the car wreck, he saw something that would change the way he saw the world for the rest of his life...a myriad of color was swirling around himself, the hues and tones ranging from blue to indigo to red and orange with crimson and greens these colors were swirling about in a cacophony of swirls and pushing motions.

Within these colorful motions, Peter saw or rather felt a varied amount of emotions...these, these were his emotions. The fear that had almost engulfed him earlier after seeing the car wreck for the first time, it's orange hue had shrunk to a small portion in the storm of color. The orange storm made sure to always stay side by side by the red color.

This red color was the second largest of the colors swirling around himself at the moment...and when Peter stared at it he felt a wave of immense anger take hold of himself. If he didn't look away from it Peter had no doubt he would lose complete control of himself...though the temptation was there. Knowing that he could entrust himself to his darker emotions...lose himself in it all. He could feel it...a power laid there...in his anger, his rage, his feelings of anger for himself, for the people surrounding him, the constant ridicule, the seemingly never-ending hatred that came his way…

No Peter couldn't...he wouldn't, he knew this feeling. This was the same feeling that haunted his dreams, the same negative emotions that took control of him those few years ago...when he almost killed MJ's father. He wouldn't enter that state again...he didn't want to enjoy that power again, to feel it grate away at his morality.

Peter looked away from the red tide and it began to shrink down the same as his fear.

Peer looked to the smallest swirl of active colors, it was an almost putrid green, it took only the slightest of glances for Peter to recognize this one...this was his earlier disappointment...his disappointment in the people around him...why couldn't they keep up with him, why did they hate what they didn't understand...why didn't they try to bridge the gap, try harder to keep up with him. They all, they had things that he wanted, the calm, the friendship, the fellowship, the understanding...why couldn't they try to understand him...why was he different.

As Peter was reminiscing in his emotions the green swirl was slowly but surely growing larger with each and every millisecond that he absconded into his thoughts. As Peter pondered deeper and deeper, so too did the green hue, it became darker and darker. Before long it looked like two different hues and joined together swirling around each other. One light and seemingly putrid green, the other dark and viscous almost like a green oil.

What Peter would one day learn was that this feeling or in actuality these feelings that green represented were Envy and it's Anti-thesis Pride.

Peter, regardless of how he felt at the moment, he was in the end, a good person. Thus regardless of how 'disappointed' he was, he soon saw the bigger picture. Saw things from the other person's perspective and he knew where the problem lay. Unknown to Peter, as he was sorting through his feelings and coming back to himself, the bi-colored swirl was shrinking, smaller and smaller, from almost encompassing his entire body to becoming the same apple-sized swirl similar to the red and orange swirls.

Peter back to himself again then looked towards the blue whom not to be confused with indigo with which it was intertwined.

As Peter stared at the blue swirl which was fairly large, he saw and felt his hope, his worry, and his self-doubt. This swirl seemed to represent Peter's true subconscious feelings. Seeing this Peter felt slightly afraid at this revelation, he almost didn't want to know his true current emotions. It almost seemed to have control over his other feelings as well as it would shift hues at the drop of a hat, in Peter's 'fear' a slight amount of Orange slipped into the blue swirl, changing the overall shade of color of the swirl.

The swirl had now become slightly darker almost a sort of grayish-blue. Once Peter had time to become adjusted to his new revelation, the color swirl spun and the orange that had entered sifted out and the swirls' color returned to its previous blue.

Peter shifted his sight towards the indigo swirl, his mind full of questions over the previous swirl.

As Peter laid eyes on the Indigo swirl, he saw just one thing. Hope.

No doubts, no shame, no fear, no envy, no pride. Just hope, Hope that everything would be alright. Hope that Gwen would wake up just fine. Hope that whatever was going on with himself and Cindy would be alright. Hope that he could help save every person he came across. Hope that the missing EMT was alright... On and on, Hope reigned in this color swirl.

Peter could now see that the previous color swirls color was, in fact, blue because of the hope present in it. He wondered what color it would be without hope...and then he didn't want to ever see it lacking that blue touch, for he feared what that would mean…

Peter thought back on the color storm that he had first seen and he recognized throughout that storm the two primary colors that reigned supreme were Red and Blue. The others were no more than slight touches and blotches spread out within the storm.

Anger, Fear, and Hope…were these his primary emotions? He thought to himself.

One thing of note, however, was the Indigo swirl unlike the rest, did not shrink, it seemed almost everpresent. It didn't grow or shrink, almost as if he was staunch in his belief in hope.

Peter seeing his storm of emotions settled and calm, took a moment to steady himself...and he felt calmer than he probably ever had. No self-doubt or fear screaming in his mind just the thought process he had affirmed in himself earlier. He had people to save, people to return to, he wouldn't be held up here.

Though he was no doubt in major doubt as to just what this new eyesight of his was, in the end, he attributed it to his advanced eyesight growing, after all, Peter himself was a major cause of medical and scientific scrutiny and doubt.

He was able to do things no regular man or woman should be able to do, and yet he was capable of these feats. Thus the idea that he was doing strange things wasn't anywhere near new to him. After all, it was hypothesized that we as humans only used a certain percentage of our brains true capacity, and it was already proven that he had the ability to use more of that capacity.

The first thing Peter knew he had to do was investigate the car wreck in front of him. So Peter having cast off his fear looked towards the car wreck, trying his best to see what it was exactly that was bothering him so much.

What Peter saw, however, was a slightly gristlier sight than prior, the poor woman's gore and brain matter had spread out even further along the asphalt than prior, a rank stench had begun to make its presence known, a few flies had begun to swarm over the mangled remains.

Besides this horrid scene, Peter saw nothing of note. Peter then decided to look into the car's surroundings. Although slight, Peter did, in fact, see something or at least he thought he did.

Peter could somewhat make out a hazy group of swirls, they immediately reminded him of his own swirl of emotions, only this swirl was much larger and very indistinct almost looking like a cloud of faded smog.

Peter could only just barely see it, however, he had a feeling that this vague and almost indistinguishable swirl was directly responsible for his sense of being watched. As ridiculous as it might sound.

Peter finally grew tired of searching for no true result and then he activated his advanced eyesight. In doing so Peter saw something, a few somethings to be exact, red, a myriad of red ropes. Or perhaps strings would be more correct.

Peter looked down onto his chest, what he saw was tens to hundreds of red strings seemingly coming out of his chest, some larger than others, some smaller. It seemed that if Peter so wished he could see an endless number of them. All of these red strings came from within his own chest as to where they went, it seemed as if they all branched off into the distance some in similar directions others into random ones. Almost as if with no order, they went off into forever.

Peter reached out his hand and touched a bunch of the larger strings, these strings all headed out in the same direction. When Peters' hand touched the bunch of strings he immediately felt a connection, a group of connections all made themselves apparent to Peter.

He felt a myriad of memories burst into life in his mind, each and every single one of them were of first meetings, greetings, and sometimes a simple exchange of glances.

Most of these memories were of not more than an hour ago when Peter first saw the group of Baxter Building Employees, cum volunteers. Each of these strings was fairly thin and almost inconsequential.

However, amongst the bunch was a few strong and livelier strings. The liveliest of the bunch directly coordinated straight to Johnny and Peters first official meeting...something Peter was unaware of. When Johnny, Reed, Ben, and Dr. Franklin Storm carried Peter into the Baxter building for the first time.

This was the first time Peter saw himself in an almost out of body experience type of manner, this was also the first time he saw exactly how badly injured he was that day, after all, by the time he had awoken his body had healed for the most part.

It seemed that these strings would present an example of Peters connection to the person each string connected to. Whether Peter was aware of it or not, thus he would take an almost third-party view of the situation.

As to why Johnny's string was the liveliest of the bunch, Peter equated that to their distance, or perhaps their lack of distance was the correct phrasing.

Peter was able to deduce that each of these strings was a direct, visible and corporeal manifestation of his connection with people. He didn't really know how he knew this, he simply did...it seemed that this was becoming a recurring feeling as of late, he didn't find this an enjoyable feeling, not at all.

Peter felt a sort of control over these connections, almost as if he could make them disappear if he so wished, almost as if he could make them invisible and so he tried...and lo and behold they did. To manipulate these strings was no different than simply moving his hand or fingers, a truly thoughtless action.

Even though the strings in his grasp had become invisible, he could still 'feel' them, not physically but mentally. He knew that if he wished he could call them back into 'existence', and so he did.

And back they were, unharmed and untouched.

Peter felt he still had some sort or unexplored power over these strings...he felt that if he so wished he could erase said string from existence, truly and wholly. As if he so wished, his connection with this person would be undoubtedly deleted as if they had never even met, any feelings between them non-existent. Peter felt this to be fairly interesting, he wanted to experiment it usage and so he did.

Initially, Peter reached out for one of the larger threads, then he hesitated, after all, what if he couldn't get this string back? Did that mean he would no longer know this person?

Peter then reached out for one of the more inconsequential strings, in doing so he felt a memory of sorts pop up in his mind, thinking back on it, this person seemed to be one of the volunteers who he had 'met' earlier. Peter remembered him as the one who had initially spoken out on his distrust in him, doubting whether they should trust a child in this sort of situation.

Peter held no hard feelings for this man, granted he felt no kind feelings either. It seemed this person was the perfect experiment material. Peter gave it no more thought and he immediately gave the mental command to 'erase' this string.

[Snap]

Peter felt as if he heard a snapping noise echo out into the void, Peters eyesight never left the string in his hand, and he saw the string slowly become slack then begin to shrivel and decay in his grasp, then Peter saw the string fade out of existence, and as it did, Peter felt his connection with the man blur, until he felt as if he hardly knew the man, just his face and that he worked at the Baxter building, in the final moments of the strings existence he even felt as if the man was slowly but surely 'forgetting' Peter's existence.

Peter felt truly frightened by this...this power was almost too powerful, after all, it didn't only affect himself but it even affected those whom he so chooses.

The idea of affecting this person's memories and feelings without their knowledge or consent...was a grave violation. One that Peter regretted committing and yet it couldn't be taken back.

Peter in his regret, willed the other strings away, into the void.

Before they all disappeared, however, Peter felt a tug of sorts. When he did he then looked towards the string that was being 'pulled' upon.

Upon looking down on the fading string Peter managed to make out a particular string, this string, in particular, was different from all its red brothers' and sisters'.

This string had a somewhat ghastly glow to it, this glow made the string almost indistinguishable from the air itself. Almost as if were camouflaged in the naked air.

Peter reached out for it, grasped it in his hand. Expecting a memory to burst forth, yet nothing came to pass, Peter waited for a few moments and still nothing happened.

In curiosity Peter looked towards this string once more, in doing so he noticed this strings peculiarities once again. A bland and faded red, unlike the vibrant and vivacious color of the other strings.

Peter pulled upon the slack of the string in hopes of getting a better look at the string. After Pulling the string up for a closer look, Peter noticed that the earlier Ghastly glow was growing brighter, whereas the dull red was becoming dimmer and dimmer with each passing second.

The longer Peter held onto the string the more he felt his already thin connection begin to fade away.

In a haste of worry as to what this scenario could mean, Peter, pulled onto this string once more, whilst doing so, Peter felt a tug back, almost as if he were being called forth.

Peter had but a moment of hesitation spring forth, his worry that while he wasted his time here, the EMT would be walking a step closer to death.

Peter shook off his hesitation and looked towards the direction the string was headed, looking up once more Peter saw that the peculiar string headed straight towards the horrendous car wreck, and stopped right beside it. Right where he had looked earlier, in the same spot he had noticed the indistinguishable and hazy swirls.

Only as he laid eyes on the spot from earlier were two very clear swirls of emotions, one calm and still almost as if this person was unaffected by vast vicissitudes of life. The other on the other hand was a storm of emotions and colors even more chaotic than that of his, earlier.

In these two clouds of ranging emotions one calm and the other chaotic, Peter saw a total of two women.

The calm swirls surrounded a woman in a black almost archaic-looking robe as if she came from a time of legends and heroes. This wasn't the most shocking thing, however, no the truly shocking thing about this woman was her breathtakingly beautiful form as if sculptured by the heavens themselves.

This woman was so beautiful that she seemed almost haunting as if she should have never laid feet upon this wretched Earth.

Peter's attention was then caught by the swirling storm of color, though this was something he was quite happy to see, after all, if the storm hadn't caught his attention he was afraid he wouldn't have been able to take his eyes away from the aforementioned woman.

Looking into the swirling storm Peter saw a hue of Orange and Indigo, seeing this Peter was able to make out this woman's current emotions.

Fear and Hope, intertwined, these emotions currently ruled this woman's emotional spectrum. Peter looked deeper to get a good look at the woman in this storm of color, in doing so he saw a fairly young woman silently sobbing, her hand on the string Peter had become slightly familiar with.

This young woman was opening her mouth and seemingly shouting out towards Peter. Almost as if she was pleading with him, calling out in distress for some reason.

No sound could be heard, however. The only thing Peter could make out were the two woman's hazy images.

Peter called out in hope of seeing if they could hear him.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

"Pete, you okay?"

Johnny's voice called out, seeking affirmation in Peter's current state.

"I'm alright, I...I'll be alright."

Peter almost sought for aid, after all this was a first for him, but he held himself back in the end. In fear that he would be the only one who could see them.

Peter then looked back towards the duo of women once more.

What he saw, however, had only reaffirmed his earlier hope.

Both of the women had now changed slightly.

The hauntingly beautiful woman was now looking straight at Peter with no small amount of shock, before long, however, Peter saw a vague smile find its place on her lips.

Peter then quickly looked towards the other woman once more, in hopes of distracting himself from that oh so very bewitching smile he had just seen.

Peter saw the woman from earlier stop all her shouting, she began to sob, heavier than prior, she didn't hide her face she only cried her heart out.

Peter seeing this knew that he wasn't imagining things, he knew for a fact that those two women could hear him.

Peter called out once more, only much quieter this time around.

"Hello? If you can hear me, then please let me know somehow. Do you need anything?"

Peter waited a short amount of time to see if they would do anything.

He didn't have to wait long, he saw the beautiful woman look towards the car wreck, and the sobbing woman then used her hand to point towards the same place.

Peter seeing this grew confused, he looked into the wreck and saw something...he noticed that the woman's clothing was remarkably similar to that of the spectral figure he had been 'conversing' with.

Peter looked towards the sobbing woman once more, pity and remorse heavy in his eyes.

The sobbing woman seeing this look grew shocked and then understood the look Peter was sending her way.

Peter then spoke up.

"I'm sorry...there's nothing I can do...I– was too late…"

Peter then saw the sobbing woman and the raven-haired beauty both shake their heads, the raven-haired woman, a smile on her face, the sobbing woman, a look understanding and peace, tears staining her face yet no blame was present.

The sobbing woman pointed towards the vehicle once more, this time with more conviction, she mouthed a word and then another and then she did it again and again, not stopping, in hopes he would understand.

Peter now more serious, focused on the woman's words, or her mouth's movements more precisely.

Peter's once serious face went pale in realization, his heartbeat shot up, the fear he had once pushed back came back in full force. Only this time it was far more adamant than prior.

In haste, Peter activated his advanced hearing…

[...Bump…...Bump…...Bump]

Peter, heard it…finally, he heard it, it was slightly weak and almost seemed to be fading and yet he heard it.

Peter raced over towards the wrecks back seat door and got down on his hands and knees not caring for the glass and shredded metal that may or may not have been able to cut into his flesh.

The two spectral women watching his actions, the obsidian haired beauty, a rare gentle smile placed upon her face. She thought to herself, 'My connection to the young one is fading...good.'

She then looked towards the sobbing woman, seeing her repeat the words, 'My Baby'. Her once inconsolable sobbing had become not more than repetitious babble.

Peter now down beside the vehicle, looked into the window, what he saw made his heart stop. A child, a child whose breathing had grown weak and labored, yet steady.

A little girl, still tied into her car seat, now upside down, her age an enigma. Though she appeared to look no more than four years of age.

Blood, blood drenching her hair then falling down to the hood of the mangled car, pooling up in an amount far too dangerous to fathom.

Her face pale and slightly discolored, small cuts and abrasions covered her tiny body, yet the majority of the blood lost was seeping from her forehead, her temple had a gash far too large to be on the body of a still innocent toddler.

The sight of this young child and the state she was currently in were far too large of a conflicting scene, the discrepancy of the two factors was startlingly incompatible.

Peter took a moment to examine the scene, shocking himself into a stupor for a staunch few seconds.

Peter needed no wake-up call, he snapped himself out of it and returned to the harsh reality placed before himself.

The first thing Peter did was call out. "Reed, get over here!"

After calling over Reed, Peter began to truly access the girl's current condition, feeling for her pulse and measuring her heart rate.

His fingers slightly to the left of where her Adam's apple would normally be should she have had one, counting her heartbeats for thirty seconds then multiplying by two, then he began cradling her body and undoing the seat belt, catching and smoothing out her decent.

Peter began to crawl out of the wrecked car's window, now covered in blood, none of it his, his shirt and pant legs covered in rips and tears.

Peter heard a voice call out. "Peter, what's the matter, they need me over-"

Reed's slight admonition froze in his mouth seeing Peter's current bloody and labored state, in doing so he looked towards the girl in Peters' hands.

"Pete-"

"Reed, she needs CPR, her heart rate is too low for a child, she's only at 40 Beats per minute!"

Reed once more shut his trap, he knew that a child's BPM should at least be 70-80, the fact this child's was only around 40 was frightening, to say the least.

Peter wasted no time and immediately placed the girl on the floor as soon as he entered a clear area of sidewalk.

He then began to rip off a piece of his own shirt, he then wrapped the shirt length around the young girls head, and tying a knot right on top of the large gash in her temple, doing his best to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.

Peter reported out, "She's lost too much blood, do you have your phone?"

"Back, right-butt pocket."

Reed replied curtly not in disrespect, but because he had already begun chest compressions.

Peter didn't hesitate to 'feel' Reed up for his phone. He went to dial Susan immediately, he knew that the roads wouldn't be clear enough for an ambulance to make it's way over in time.

After two rings Peter heard a slightly labored and tired sounding Susan answer the phone.

"Reed, what going on, why the call?"

"Susan, It's Peter, you have to send up a team of well-trained volunteers, there's a child up here who's lost too much blood and has a low heart rate, Reed's performing CPR and I've already applied a makeshift tourniquet, though the gash is in her head and I wasn't able to apply the correct amount of force on any sort of artery."

Susan hearing Peter's voice was initially ecstatic, but as his greeting progressed, her happiness regressed. By the end of Peters' monologue, her face grew grim.

"I'll send someone up right now, they'll come with a stretcher to carry her towards the ambulances backed up, what of her parents? Was she alone?"

"...Her mother didn't make it...without her, I never would have found her daughter though…as for her father, I don't think he was present."

Peter, having said what he had, looked towards the two women from earlier, he saw them not even a few feet away from him, the sobbing woman was now looking towards her daughter crying yet also smiling, more than likely in hope or happiness.

The bewitchingly beautiful woman was now looking towards Peter and only Peter, quite a bit closer to Peter than the sobbing woman.

"..I see," Susan sighed in frustration and sadness. "They'll be over there soon...Peter...take care of yourself…"

"I will, Sue." Peter smiled and responded.

After hanging up Peter looked toward the two women once more, seeing that he couldn't really do much more in this situation, he looked towards the little girl whose life was currently in the balance, he spoke out.

"Reed I'll be right back…"

"Mmm."

Peter headed towards the car wreck again, Reed was too busy performing CPR to notice or care at the moment.

The two women noticed Peter's movements, however. The two were now watching him.

Peter went next to the front seat area, towards the driver's seat side, seeing the mangled corpse up close and personal, Peter realized the true horror contained in that compact area was far worse than he originally assumed.

Peter steeled his expression and then forced open the door, he knew why Susan was asking for the child's parents. One of the reasons anyway.

He knew that after the child was transported to the hospital without a guardian present she would no doubt have to go through a rough time in the 'system', and having a parent there for her would be of immense aid. She would have been able to be identified much quicker, let alone the fact that after this mess the hospital and its systems and staff would be running at full capacity and it would be easy for things that would normally only take an hour or two, to take up to days of time.

If he could get something to identify the deceased woman...the staff responsible for identifying and caring for the little girl would have an easier time locating her other parent, if she had one.

The little girl...she would need someone by her side. Someone to care. Perhaps a grandparent or an 'Aunt' or an 'Uncle'.

Peter, he...he understood that and so he didn't hesitate. He opened the door, looked into the vehicles crushed remains for something, anything, perhaps a wallet or a bag.

After a few minutes of searching, Peter found a small handbag on the opposite sides front seat, seeing it Peter went to the other side and opened the door, the bag was pinched fairly deep into the cushions by the dashboard, so he decided to take the easier route in this endeavor.

Peter 'ripped' the front car seat out of its position, as far as he knew he was the only person to see the car and its condition, he could just say the doors flew open after impact and the seat flew back as well. Though anyone who inspected the scene would have a hard time believing that, it didn't really matter to Peter.

Peter finally grabbed the woman's purse and looked through its confines and found a slightly bent out of shape ID card. A beautiful woman was smiling up at him, showing a pearly white grin.

Peter looked at its name and saw, "Maureen Green...I'm sorry…"

The spectral duo were currently watching Peter's 'antics' in curiosity as to what it was he was doing.

The now identified woman, Maureen, saw his actions and smiled, she spoke up whilst looking towards Peter. "Peter, was it? Thank you…"

"You know he can't hear you...don't you?" The dreadfully beautiful woman spoke out, whether in advice or admonition, was up for each individuals perception.

"...I know, but, after everything...everything he's done...it's just what I should do, and so I shall."

Maureen Green responded, not even looking into the bewitchingly beautiful woman's eyes.

The robed woman finally took her eyes off of Peter, who had by now returned to Reed's side and reported the situation to him, whilst explaining the woman's ID cards importance, and turned her attention to the recently deceased woman...she thought to herself, 'It seems there is more than one person here deserving of praise...this light of good Karma, it deserves a reward.'

Death, the impossibly beautiful woman looked towards the child who was currently leaving her powers grasp with every second, then towards Peter, who was watching as the child was slowly being treated and then she whispered, 'A Totem...huh, that doesn't sound so bad, in the end, she'll have to impress them herself, I'll just polish that vessel of her's and give a little introduction.' Death laughed to herself.

Death closed her eyes and sent a tendril of her power towards the girl's forehead. The moment her power touched the girl's head, the little girl shook, then began to vibrate at rapid and short intervals. Similar in nature to a seizure.

Maureen seeing her daughter begin to act up, slowly felt her world crumble. The hope that had built up in her heart began to fade and plummet.

Before she could completely collapse, however, she felt a hand reach out and touch her shoulder, Maureen then turned to look at Lady Death in horror in what she would hear.

"Be at ease, all is well, her vessel is being cleansed of impurities, spiritually at least."

Maureen, hearing this was not put at ease, she spoke up in a hurry, "What does that mean, is she...is she going to pass on as well?"

"No child, she will live, not only that, once her vessel has been purified, there will only be benefits. She will be able to heal faster, be stronger, grow quicker, and live longer, to name a few of the benefits."

"Wha? Why?"

"Consider it a gift."

"You did this?... If I may be so bold as to ask...why?"

"...Karma, both yours and hers, as well as the boy's...if they are fated, they will meet again, as for whether or not they will be friends or not, enemies or not...or anything else. Well, that's beyond my capabilities...after all, I vanguard death, not life."

Maureen hearing Death's words were both ecstatic and worried, she wondered if such a change was truly a good thing.

On the other side, Peter was given the shock of his life.

The previously inactive patient began having convulsions, similar in nature to a seizure, Reed being the well-trained expert he is, immediately opened the young girl's mouth, he saw that the girl's tongue wasn't receding but was moving about quite frantically.

"Peter, help me hold her on her side, quickly!"

Peter, well before Reed's words took effect, was on his knees helping Reed.

After around a minute of convulsions, the little girl's body ceased shaking.

Peter and Reed each reached for a pulse, Reed felt her throat, Peter her wrist.

The child's heartbeat which was once, far too slow for that of a child's was progressively climbing back up to normalcy, though she wasn't out of the woods yet, she was well on her way to getting better, though her body still lacked far too much blood.

She needed an immediate I.V as well as a transfusion if possible. Among many other treatments necessary.

Peter seeing the situation reach a state of calm, felt his mind begin to nag at him, he knew he couldn't stay here any longer. He had to get moving if he wanted to have even the slightest chance at saving that missing EMT.

Peter looked towards Reed and spoke up.

"Reed, I'm going on ahead...if you guys do eventually follow after me, be careful, that...whatever it is, went off in this direction."

"Wha..! Peter, in that case, you cant-"

Peter not giving Reed a chance at telling him off, sprinted in the direction the streets carnage presented. Peter took only a glance at the two spectral women, seeing them looking out at him as he left, Peter nodded and then turned once more.

Peter's mind was currently running at a mile a minute, his senses were going off at full power, doing his best to try and make sure he wasn't accidentally leaving anyone person behind again...he wouldn't make that mistake again.

As for the brain-splitting headache such a usage caused, that was simply something he would have to deal with.

Peter followed the street until he noticed that the mess caused by that rampaging monster, took a left down an alleyway.

Peter took a moment to look through his surroundings to try and see if he could find any concrete clues as to whether or not the 'monster' truly went this way.

Peter's sense still in full effect, he managed to spot some shell casings. Though Peter wasn't some sort of gun enthusiast he was still able to tell that these casings were, in fact, those of a smaller caliber firearm, more than likely those of a police officer's pistol.

Now that he had stopped running Peter noticed that the street was actually dressed in such casings, the buildings sported holes of tiny sizes all the way to large chunks gone missing.

The casings actually went even farther back, all the way to the ambulance accident...that would explain the graze he had received earlier, not that he had any doubt as to what had caused that wound earlier.

Peter also noticed that the path that he had followed till this point actually had strange marking in places, some parts of the road were, in fact, smooth or slightly curved in...almost as if someone had sanded the road in with an uneven hand.

Peter thought back to the mental image he had in the Ambulance both before and after the second 'impact', it felt as if he had seen a cloud, pass him by.

"Whatever this thing is, it seems to have an abrasive sort of quality to it, and it sort of looks like a cloud in movement, what could that be?"

Peter muttered aloud, yet he hesitated no longer, Peter began his jog once more straight into the alleyway.

After passing through a multitude of roaming alleyways Peter finally heard something,

[ALMA!]

"Open Fire!"

Peter stopped mid-step, almost tripping over his own feet, as for why...he recognized that voice...no those voices.

That throat-like scream with the vibrating after-tone, the chances of Peter ever being able to forget that 'voice' in this life were slim to none. Peter had no doubts in his mind, that voice belonged to that 'monster' and the voice that called out after...that was no doubt George Stacy, the current NYPD police captain...and Gwen's father…

Peter's thoughts were soon cut short as a burst of rapid and interspersed, [BANG] noise's roared out.

Peter's heart seized up in not even a second's time, in horror at the possible outcome, Peter booked it in a full-speed sprint, running faster than he ever had.

After dashing down the remainder of the Alleyway the sight that greeted Peter's eyes was like that out of an Alien Vs. Military Flick.

Officers crouched and leaned up against a variety of Police and pedestrian vehicles for cover. The vehicles scattered about, some of them flipped upside down.

The one thing the police were currently aiming and firing at was a sandy brown, 6-foot by 6-foot face made up out of small constantly moving and shimmering granules.

The 'face' was currently roaring out, bullets zipped through the face all in an effort to put down the beast, though they did little to nothing to no damage the creature, they no doubt angered it.

In direct consequence to the little pellets blasting through the creatures' face, it roared out once more, then the well-crafted face split apart, the face had become an ever-shifting cloud once more.

In its shift a shade could be seen, a shadow of sorts, some of the officers seeing said shadow, called out in hope, hope that they had finally found the 'monsters' weak point.

Little did they know what they were aiming at was, in fact, the kidnapped EMT, Peter was currently looking for...though, Peter, he knew, one look at that jacket and there was no way he wouldn't.

"Is...is it made out of sand…" Peter thought to himself...seeing the police now mistakenly aiming at the person he set out to save, Peter knew he couldn't stand by, yet at the same time he had no way to prove his words...there was only one thing he could think of.

Peter took a look at the surroundings of the 'monster'.

[STOP! YOU KILL! KILL HIM!?]

The monster roared out again, it's words, puzzling, to Peter at least...the officers present, however, took no heed to its words, assuming it was just spouting crazy words in hopes of upsetting them.

Peter, however, was able to see something, something no one else on the scene was able to.

"The 'clouds' emotions, it's emotions are currently in a maze of confusion, yet the one emotion that ruled all others is...worry? This monster, could it be worried over its demise? No, that makes no sense, these police officers aren't even able to harm the 'monster'.

Why then, why is it worried? Was it...could it possibly be worried over the EMT it currently had trapped inside itself? That second-largest emotion in the chaotic swirl of color...why does it remind me so much of grief…If I'm right...that would explain why it hasn't attacked a single officer since I've shown up"

Peter's thoughts were swirling in a chaotic storm themselves...Yet he had no time, the officers present gave him no chance to think things through.

Peter took one final gander at the surrounding situation, his plan made. He moved forward, sneaking from car to car, doing his best not to be seen.

Peter was quickly approaching the side of the monster, he hid behind a flipped over police vehicle, by its side, slumped over was a currently unconscious police officer, his jacket and sidearm still present and untouched…

Peter quickly removed the officer's bluejacket, on the back were the yellow words spelling Police and then grabbed the pistol with the jacket so he wouldn't get his fingerprints on it, the pistol now in Peters jacket covered right hand.

Peter looked at the pistol in caution and curiosity, Peter saw the letters and numbers P226 on the grips left side, more than likely the models make and namesake. Overall a black pistol, of the 9mm variant.

Though Peter was unaware of these things, all he saw was the P226, using what little knowledge he had, Peter, slid back the top and looked into the chamber to see if the pistol was loaded, then pressed onto the mag guard and slid out the ammo clip seeing it fully loaded, Peter was very careful not to use his fingertips, thus making the process slightly clunky and amateurish.

Peter then snuck a peek at the monster, seeing it not fleeing yet not attacking the Police officers, he felt his earlier thoughts to be becoming more and more solid.

Peter using the jacket to grasp the pistol on its grip, and used his index finger to feel the trigger, he made sure to not make contact with his fingertips, Peter then took aim, not at the monster no, but behind it, towards a fire hydrant on the sidewalk.

Peter took a deep breath and then focused his sense to their maximum..and opened fire.

Peter's first shot was so off the mark, he ended up hitting a building behind the fire hydrant. Using the knowledge he had, he aimed once more and fired again.

His shot now much more accurate managed to hit the hydrants top...to no change, only a dent was now present. Peter now more confident with the pistol aimed again and shot once more.

The bullet this time dd the trick, it hid the hydrants gear, causing the gear to spin-off from the pressure of the water within.

The gear flew out and hit a car sending it a few inches back, the water now splashing out like some kind off errant hose.

The monster this time noticed an immediate change it seemed, it felt something, something different, almost sticky.

Peter took this chance to yell out in a slightly disguised voice, "Cease Fire, Civilian in the crossfire!"

The officers didn't, however, stop firing, more than likely they didn't hear the shout in all the commotion.

Peter yelled out again, louder this time, slightly dropping the vocal disguise.

George who was currently looking at the situation from behind cover managed to just hear this shout, George, processing what he heard immediately called out.

"Cease Fire!" Whether by years of commanding or natural talent, it seemed his voice was heard by a few key officers who then began to shout out as well.

" " " Cease Fire!" " "

This yell seemed to act like a chain reaction of sorts, sending out a wave of "Cease Fires" to call out in a fashion similar to a ripple spreading in a pool of water.

By the time the bullets stopped, the monster had been drenched by the water shooting out of the fire hydrant, the monster, once free-flowing in a direct and arrogant manner, now seemed to be dragged down by gravity no longer floating but instead drooped down onto the floor, only a part of it in the air, similar in fashion to a coiled up Cobra.

Peter seeing things working in order so far, put the officer's Pistol back in its holster. Peter then spread out the jacket and prepared for the next step in his plan.

Peter waited for the 'monster' to 'melt' down, then when Peter finally laid eye's on the EMT within the 'sandy' mess, he flew out in a sprint, using the police jacket as a sort of cover for his face.

The officers on scene were too shocked by the sight before their eyes to grasp all the details of the situation.

Thus, Peter didn't worry over them being able to identify him by his clothes.

Peter having already been fairly close to the 'monster' was now already in front of its 'maw', Peter reached out for the EMT's Jacket and pulled as he continued to run by, Peter glanced at the monster responsible for this mess, what he saw after pulling out the EMT, wasn't some unimaginable freak of nature...no, what he saw was a man...a naked man...crying, standing there crying, on his face...remorse...and gratitude.

The jacket could only cover one side of his face, and so the 'man' surrounded by sand was able to get a good look at Peter.

Peter in his sprint was able to see that the once chaotic colorful swirl, had gained a hue of dark pink...not in any salacious emotions but from what Peter could tell...gratitude.

The moment had passed and Peter ran by straight towards an alleyway, after entering the alleyway, Peter heard a hoard of loud chatter begin to call out.

More than likely in question as to what had just happened.

Peter quickly braked his sprint and set down the EMT, he knew he couldn't stop forever though, the police would soon come towards where he went, in question to who had just taken that 'man' that came from the Sandy mass and so he began his sprint anew.

Before long however he hit a dead end, he knew the police would eventually track him down...he couldn't stay here...and so he did the only thing he could do, he climbed.

*Authors Note*

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted….I should probably apologize for that right? I don't know, I mean I have my reasons for not doing so(posting I mean) but still it feels pretty shit letting you guys down, and yet I recently had a reviewer comment on the fact that I should write for myself more than anyone else...and that resonated with me quite a bit.

But regardless of any of that, I feel the need, not because I'm compelled to do so or I feel the need to but simply because it feels like the right thing to do.

Anyways I'd like to say that the reason I haven't been able to write is, in fact, a serious one, I believe I made mention of this in a previous authors note, but we had recently received some negative medical news about my mother, well we received some more….and its not getting better, my mother is lined up for about five surgeries in the up and coming months...that's kinda some serious shit, I took a hit from that...in many ways. I don't know what my writing schedule will be from henceforth if there will be any, but I'm not dropping this, not even slightly. It's one of the few things that's helping keep me sane in this effed up world.

Anyways I also got a lot of feedback from that reviewer considering they posted a review on, I think, every chapter?... which is amazing, like seriously. The said reviewer who's name is 'Typedsomewords' I think, also made mention of my promise to reply to every comment, which as of right now I still plan to do, the reason being it gives me more gumption to keep writing, it really helps me as a writer.

Now, this person raised a good point, should this story ever reach a ludicrous level of readers or reviewers then obviously I'll have to cut back on my responses, after all I still have to live my life, and I can't become dependent solely on this, y'know?

Alright as for me apologizing and crap, that's just who I am, I do my best to be as polite as possible, that doesn't mean I'll let people walk all over me, so don't worry, my dude :)

Now then onto chapter content, hope you guys enjoyed this one, I know it took a long time for it to come out, however, I wanted to release this one now, as I don't know when I'll have the next one ready.

My Beta/proofreader Josh didn't have the time to edit this one, so it's all me….so if there's a gratuitous number of mistakes please forgive meh! Though I don't blame him, after all, I dropped this on him out of nowhere. Those productive late nights, y'know?

So things took a turn in regards to Peter's powers this chapter, I'll explain that the threads belong to the Brides power set and the emotional swirl from the Weaver.

The bride has power over fate and connections of special people, thus I applied the red string of fate folklore aspect to Peter's abilities. There will be more on that later, as for the emotional swirl, it has to do with the Weaver's ability to see through everything with the web of life, or as some call it the web of destiny. There will be more on this later, as well.

So Peter's involvement on the Sandman case will end here, he's done what he set out to do. Any who's disappointed with that can suck eggs, just suck em. Peter's still a bit green to do anything more here, in time he will rise to the occasion, maybe sooner than you think.

Next chapter is already all planned out, can't wait to get some time to write it up, more on Peters and Cindy's bites, what happens to Sandman, or perhaps who that little girl is? Who knows, well, I'll bet quite a few of you know who she is ;) Peter's powers, the whole shebang, coming soon. :)

Okay as always I'd like to thank you all for taking the time out of your days and busy lives to read this little fanfic of mine, especially lately, after all, you never know how much time you have with the people you care for.

So if this affects any of you out there, I suggest you take the time to spend some of it with them, after all, you may one day regret not having spent it with them or they might one day regret not having spent time with you, they're worth the time, and so are you.