I do not own Everyday Life With Monster Girls.

Chapter 24. Tetra's story: Part two.

Jack's room, present day.

Tetra had her eyes closed as she recalled the last time she saw her mother. When she opened them, Jack and Sula were tightly holding hands.

Jack looked like he was going to vomit. Sula wasn't much better.

"I am sorry that my tale has distressed you." She quietly acknowledged and brushed some wetness away from her cheek. "But the truth is often unpleasant."

Silence followed for a good minute. What does one say after that?

Sula finally swallowed and relaxed her grip. "You...you really clawed your mother?" Tetra nodded lightly.

"Goddess..." Sula's eyes studied the ground. "Even if one of mine...I don't know if..I..."

Tetra shook her head. "It's not something I'm proud of." She brought her hand up. "I don't know if I would have really done it." She curled her claws in. "But it felt right at the time." A hint of a growl escaped her throat.

Jack narrowed his eyes and debated if he should open his mouth. Then he decided to ask anyway. "Really done what?"

Both monster girls blinked and focused at him. They shared a look and glanced back to their host. He hunched his shoulders embarrassed. He definitely asked something stupid this time. "I'm sorry. I asked something stupid didn't I?"

They looked back at each other. Tetra pressed her lips a bit and Sula nodded slowly.

The lamia closed her eyes and faced back to Jack. "When echidnas fight, we box. We use our fists." She arced her lower body around herself. "If we really need to settle a grudge, we wrestle and get our tails involved."

She opened her eyes and held a hand out, fingers displayed. "When we want to kill, we use our claws."

Jack sucked in a little breath. "Oh. Yeah." He darted his eyes between her hands and Tetra's. "That...that makes sense." He paused a moment. "So when Tetra..."

Sula nodded. "She declared her intent to kill her own mother."

Jack stared at the seven foot tall spider in his room. "...gods..."

Tetra closed her eyes and nodded lightly. "Mistress Khristeen was...sympathetic enough to my...situation to merely banish me." She dipped her head. "Normally, I'd be punished much worse for attempting to kill another arachne." She shrugged. "But she declared that I had suffered enough."

Jack took that in for a few moments. "Who is...or I guess I should ask, what is an arachne mistress?"

"An arbitrator, of sorts." Tetra opened her eyes. "Arachne do not have centralized governments quite like humans or other liminal species do. We keep to ourselves for the most part."

She lifted a claw. "But we also need human males to procreate. That requires us to stay near human settlements for long periods of time. Which in turn, forces us to compete for territory and food." She elaborated. "Disputes and fights can easily break out, especially among the perennially ill-tempered large breeds."

"A mistress is supposed to be the wisest and fair-minded arachne in a given region. She hears parties' complaints and investigates their claims. She can recruit any arachne to assist in her responsibilities. When she makes a decision it is final." Tetra flexed her claws. "If anyone disagrees, they can approach her privately. If that arachne is still not satisfied, and acts against the mistress' decision, they are exiled."

Jack lifted a finger to his chin. "Alright...so how does an arachne become a mistress?"

"At the Taranto Ball." She answered. "Each region has their own traditions and customs on how often a Ball is held, but when all arachne have been gathered, they can also decide on a new mistress if needed."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "How, exactly would a decision be made? Do you vote or something?"

"Depends on the region." Tetra shrugged. "Some communities vote, some just pass the title down to an offspring. Some hold a contest of wits or skill. Whatever the folks there determine "

"Is there a mistress here?" He asked while waving a finger around.

Tetra shrugged again. "For this region, probably. But I don't have much use for one." She grinned. "I have my own room and a personal chef right here." She patted his head. "There's no other arachne around to compete with me for it."

Jack brushed off her hand and smiled sarcastically. "Har har."

Sula chuckled then faced the arachne. "So...what happened next? You said the mistress banished you. Is that when you met some of my people?"

Tetra's grin melted away. "Not right away." She shook her head lightly. "My memory of that time is... fluid, unconnected. I wandered aimlessly." She stared at the ground. "Mother was gone. She'd betrayed me." She took a slow breath. "As much as I hated her, I wasn't quite ready to be on my own."

Jack nodded lightly. "I doubt anyone would be after learning something like that."

Tetra gave a small smile. "I suppose not." She glanced down again. "The next thing I remember clearly was waking up in a strange place."


Three years ago. Somewhere in northern Africa.

Tetra cracked her eyes open. A blank stone wall was a dozen feet in front of her. She gazed around and noted the ceiling and other walls were composed of stone. There was a wooden door covering an opening.

Where?

The door opened and daylight advanced through the room. The brightness stung her eyes. She recoiled and threw up an arm to shield her vision.

"Awh, 'ant mustayqz." Someone said.

She didn't recognize the voice. Or the language. Tetra tried to stand, but her legs felt brittle. When she pushed against the ground her joints threatened to break. She gasped and fell forward. Something caught her. She looked down and noted that she was lying on a rough rope hammock.

"La tuhawil alwuqufa."

The door closed and the light in the room dimmed enough for Tetra to see normally. She squinted and rotated her head up to view the other person.

She had long straight black hair and two golden eyes with slit pupils. She had a pair of scales over her cheeks that were dark brown. A pair of fangs poked out of her upper lip. Her skin was heavily tanned. She wore a light blue dress that covered her shoulders down to well under her waist.

In her hands, she held a clay cup filled with water. Tetra's throat burned and she snatched the cup right out of her fingers.

"Ai!" The lady yelped and backed away.

Tetra ignored her protest and gulped the entire cup in one go. When she finished and looked back down she saw that person had a large dark brown scaled anaconda growing out of her lower half. She was also holding her hands and glaring at Tetra.

The palm that was holding the clay cup now had a fine gash and blood was seeping out of it.

Tetra sucked in a breath and dropped the cup. She held up her own hands. Blood flecked off a couple of her fingers.

Oh goddess, what did I just do?

She stared at the woman with a snake body...lamia. Her brain finally engaged and identified the creature in front of her.

The lamia glared and started in on a rant. Tetra didn't understand the language but tried to apologize anyway. "I'm sorry."

The woman didn't let up. Her tone turned ugly and vicious. Tetra tried to apologize in another language.

When that failed she cycled through almost every mode of communication she knew to try to express her guilt.

None of them worked.

Tetra kept her hands up. "Please...please. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. "I didn't mean to." Something on her gut roiled for few seconds.

The woman finally stopped and huffed. "I know." She said in French. "You said it almost forty times."

Tetra blinked her eyes open. "I... you understood me?"

The lamia nodded. "I did. But I felt like lecturing the hell out of you in Arabic since you don't seem to know that one."

"I...Arabic?" Tetra glanced around. "Where am I?"

The lamia raised an eyebrow. "Morocco."

The arachne reared her head. "M-Morocco? How did I..?"

The lamia lifted her uninjured palm. "We were hoping you would be able to tell us."

Tetra looked back at her. "Us?"

A human male with tanned skin and wearing light brown robes entered the room. He had curly black hair and light brown eyes.

He started to say something at the lamia, then observed that Tetra was awake. He stopped and examined her and clearly noticed the blood on her claws. His eyes narrowed.

The lamia placed her hand on the man's shoulder and showed him her injured one.

"I'm sorry." Tetra repeated.

The man gazed at Tetra intensely a moment. "I'll send for Adilah." He leaned over and kissed the lamia on the forehead and then left the room.

Tetra gazed down at the stone floor. She tried to piece together how she got from the Pyrenees to Morocco.

Was there a boat? There had to be a boat.

Her head started hurting and she closed her eyes. She moaned and slumped onto the hammock.

"Hey." The lamia said. "Don't fall asleep on me again."

Tetra cracked open three eyes. "Again?"

She nodded. "This isn't the first time you've woken up here. We found you just outside the outskirts of town. You were unconscious."

Tetra furrowed her eyebrows. "I was?"

The lamia nodded. "Quite strange to find an arachne that doesn't know the local language way out here. Let alone one that couldn't take care of herself."

Tetra lowered her chin. "I...I was..."

The door opened again. The man had returned, followed by a young human woman.

She had dark hair that ran shorter than the lamia's and black eyes. She was dressed in a light green robe and carried a leather satchel over one shoulder.

"And how is our patient today?" Her voice was light, clear. She noticed the blood on the lamia's hand. "Oh Mama, what happened?" She started to retrieve some gauze from her satchel.

'Mama' waved her uninjured hand at Tetra. "This one is quite careless with her manners."

Tetra lifted her head and examined her three visitors. "I...Where am I?"

The lamia frowned. "I told you. Morocco."

Tetra lifted a hand. "No I mean...I'm...in a lamia village right?"

The man and the lamia looked at each other then back to her. "Yes, lamias live here." The man answered.

Tetra pointed at the woman with the satchel. "But human women live here too?"

She smirked. "Well I prefer the cooler weather at my dorm in Valencia but, yes." She nodded. "I grew up here."

Tetra blinked a few times. "I'm still on Earth right?"


Jack's room. Present day.

"Oh." Sula exclaimed. "You found one of the bigger lamia towns."

Tetra nodded. "Yes. They called it Madinat Althaeban."

Jack looked between the two of them. "I take it, that...human women living in a lamia village is significant, somehow."

Sula nodded. "Very significant. Lamia villages tend to have small populations. We eat more than humans and so we have to be careful how we utilize our food resources." She raised a claw. "But if we have an abundance of food, we can expand. However," She raised a claw. "Rather than give birth to more lamias, we would recruit human women and our men would marry and have human children with them as well."

Jack nodded in understanding. "Thus lowering the need to recruit men in the first place, since the town can produce them naturally."

"That's right." Sula affirmed. "Human and lamia children are raised with lamia and human parents."

Tetra smiled wistfully. "It was amazing. I'd never seen so many humans and non-humans living together. I'd never even considered it to be possible."

"You were very lucky." Sula turned to Tetra. "There are only, maybe, three, four lamia towns like that around the world."

Tetra nodded. "Yes. I was very fortunate." She lifted a hand. "And after I recovered, they allowed me to stay." She dipped her head. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"How long were you there?" Jack asked.

"Long enough to almost be considered a member." Tetra's eyes unfocused.

Sula narrowed her eyes. "Almost?"

The arachne shook her head. "I didn't make a good first impression."

"Oh." She uttered. "Was that first lamia you saw... a matriarch?"

Tetra nodded again. "Yep. Her name was Nahla. Her husband, Said, was one of their builders. That girl, Adilah, is his human daughter."

"Oooh, yeah." Sula winced and shook a finger. "You want to get on the good side of any matriarch you meet. Especially since you weren't invited in."

Tetra sighed. "Yes, Nahla reminded me of that fact, quite often. And..." She stared at her claws. "I know I scared almost all of the humans living there." She closed her hands. "I... never really belonged."

Jack felt a pang of sympathy in his chest. Sula pressed her lips together and nodded lightly.

"I did what I could to repay their kindness." Tetra continued. "I repaired and reinforced their fishing nets with my silk. Assisted and improved their hunting and trapping techniques. Patched and wove clothes and fabrics."

"I learned their more common languages, their customs and adopted a few of their traditions." She shook her head lightly. "For many of them, it wasn't enough. I was still... an outsider"

"Not irrationally hated by just humans..." Jack said quietly.

Sula tilted her head. "What was that?"

Tetra smirked a degree. "Something we discussed one night." Her expression fell again. "Despite all that, I did get close to a couple of lamias. They sympathized with my abject lack of family and tried to open a space for me in theirs."

Her eyes refocused. "And I wanted that. I wanted a family again." She swallowed. "I saw how the people in that town shared and cooperated with just about everything." She paused a moment. "And I wanted that."

Sula held a serene almost smile. "What were their names?"

Tetra tilted her eyes up. "Yasmine, and Layla." A nostalgic grin creased her lips. "In my time with them..." She placed her hands on her opposite shoulders and closed her eyes. "I could forget my pain."

Jack waited a few seconds before asking another question. "So..." Tetra glanced down at him. "Why did you leave?"

Tetra blinked slowly and gazed at Jack and then Sula. "That...that's a story for another time."

The lamia cocked her head and shared a look with her host. "Uh okay."

Jack took Tetra's tale in and breathed out while staring at the ground. "Alright. I think I get it." He looked back up at both of them. He raised a finger toward Sula. "You come from a culture where multiple romantic partners are a standard facet of society." She nodded.

Jack waved that finger toward Tetra. "And you discovered that kind of society and adopted it for your own." The arachne nodded.

He took another breath. "But I haven't." Both liminals reared their heads back in shock.

"Please..." He held up a hand. "don't get me wrong. I find what little I've learned about lamia culture utterly fascinating." Their expressions settled a tiny degree.

"But...I'm..." He swallowed and closed his eyes. "I'm not ready to try to join it."

He expected some sort of outburst. A shout or something possibly violent. When nothing happened he popped open one eye. He saw that Tetra's legs hadn't moved. He opened the other one and noted that neither of them had so much as twitched.

"What...what are you saying Jack?" Sula asked.

He swallowed again. "I...Sula, I...I'm not ready to…" He grimaced and placed a hand on his head. "Look, I think I've been very accommodating and open-minded living with four extra-species. And I'm prepared to accept more. But this..." He waved a hand between them. "I'm not ready to jump into something like this."

Their neutral expressions didn't change. He lowered his arms and stood up. "Alright I'm going to get really honest." He placed a hand on his chest. "I've tried to move past what happened to me, but I haven't yet." Both monster girls lowered their eyes.

Jack stepped forward and took one of their hands in each of his. "I will always be grateful to both of you. For the rest of my life, I will never forget that you came for me." He paused a moment to look into their eyes. "In fact, I can't forget it. I can't stop thinking about it."

Sula pressed her lips in. Tetra clenched her other hand.

"My mind is stuck on 'I was kidnapped three days ago.'" He continued. "I tried to carry on, get back to my routine. 'Life goes on' and all that." He stared at the ground. "But when I did, I ran away from everything that's good in my life right now."

Sula leaned forward. "That was my fault, Jack. I shouldn't-" He gripped her hand tight and sucked in a breath.

"Please, let me finish." The lamia blinked and he relaxed his grip after a few seconds. He breathed out. "This is the third time my life has been in danger because of a liminal." A pause. "And...I've been able to forgive the people responsible for the first two of those." He snorted. "Hell, one of them lives in my house and I consider her a good friend. Another one I'm prepared to invite in as a guest."

He stepped back. His eyes hardened as he stared ahead. "But I don't think I'll ever forgive her." His tone darkened on the last word. Both monster-girls' expressions intensified. Then they turned to confusion as Jack's face mollified. He seemed haunted, afflicted.

"And I don't know what that makes me."

Tetra narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean Jack?"

He took in a breath, let go of their hands and raised one of his own. "I forgave Talbot and Syleris, they didn't really mean what they did." He glanced up. "Hell, Syleris didn't even know I was there when she ran by and the moon was messing with Talbot's head when I provoked him." He glanced at Sula. "Right?" She narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.

He blinked. "And... maybe the moon was messing with hers.."

"That's not an excuse Jack." Sula brought her other arm up with a fist. "What she did to you was beyond unacceptable, beyond criminal."

Tetra placed her arm on his shoulder and pushed a little. He stared up into her eyes. "Get that idea out of your head Jack. Marian planned and prepared and followed through on taking you away. Her clumsy execution would have killed you."

"But I.."

"You don't have to forgive her and that doesn't make you a bad person." She insisted.

"But..."

Tetra bent her legs in and knelt on her pedipalps. Her front half lowered and now she was the one looking up at him."Some wounds... are too deep to heal. Some pains never go away." She placed the hand that was on his shoulder to over his other arm. "Jack, I will never forgive my mother for what she did to me and my father."

He pressed his lips together.

"Does that make me a bad person?" She asked.

Jack sucked in a breath and gritted his teeth a moment. "No." He shut his eyes. "No Tetra I don't think you're a bad person." She smiled and blinked back a few tears. Jack opened his eyes and let a tear of his own run down his cheek. "How could I ever think that of you?"

He swallowed again. "I just..."

Sula leaned forward. "What? What is it Jack?"

He dipped his head and gazed down. "I...my mother always taught me that not forgiving people just fosters more hate. Just keeps a cycle of violence going."

Tetra stood back up and shook her head. "Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman Jack. And she probably had to be to raise someone like you." She pointed a claw at him. "But with all due respect to her, in my experience...violence keeps a cycle of violence going." Sula nodded affirmatively and hummed.

Jack furrowed his brow and was going to protest when Tetra elaborated.

"Violence is mostly born out of hate and anger, that's true." She acknowledged. "but acting out of hate, choosing to cause pain to other people." She inclined her head. "That's the spark."

Jack faced ahead toward the window. "Anger is just an emotion." Sula and Tetra both cocked their heads.

"Something I told Dawn yesterday, when I saw her." He nodded a few times. "She felt guilty for...what she and Kuro did the night of the full moon." He dipped his head. "Probably like I'm feeling guilty.. for not being able to forgive."

"I will talk to Dawn about that." Tetra promised. "But you've done nothing wrong Jack." She raised a claw. "Not to contradict your mother further but, not forgiving someone is not the same as hating them. You have nothing to feel guilty about at all."

He winced. "I...I ran out of the house..away from you. And I.."

Sula placed her hand on his shoulder. "That was my fault Jack. I let my emotions get the better of me, and I forced you in a position that you didn't ask for." She dipped her head. "I realize now that I... pounced on you." She dipped her head. "And just like when Tetra did that, you tried to get away." The arachne nodded in agreement. He blinked a few times and thought back to that particular night with her.

"I wanted to help you Jack." Sula continued. "Your brother told us that we are the best thing that's happened to you since your parents died." She lifted her head and placed her hand on her chest. "Well you're the best thing that's happened to me since I left home."

Jack dropped his jaw in a silent gasp. Tetra placed a claw on his cheek and gently turned his head toward her face. "The best thing since I left Africa."

"You were still hurting Jack." Sula said. "And I..." She paused as another thought sparked in her brain. "And I tried to comfort you...like I would comfort one of my husbands..." She blinked a few times. Then the lamia backed away. "That's it...I think that's it."

Jack and the arachne shared a look and both stared at their housemate. "What's 'it'?" Tetra asked.

"That's the reason why..." Sula let go of Jack's shoulder. "Why I think I love you."

Both of them reared their heads in shock.

The lamia's eyes unfocused. And then she giggled. And then she giggled some more. She covered her mouth and began trembling with barely contained laughter. Tears leaked out of her eyes. Then she threw her head back and guffawed loudly.

Tetra and Jack's faces took on concerned expressions for the possibly insane echidna in the room. He inched away slowly and was prepared to get behind Tetra when the lamia finally stopped laughing.

A tense silence followed.

Sula looked over at her roommates and held her arms out to her sides. "I'm homesick."

Tetra blinked and Jack tilted his head.

Sula pointed at him. "You remind me of my husbands Jack. I didn't see it right away, but you are so much like them...and I love my husbands. I miss them." She chortled. "After I took you back from Tetra that night... and then handed you over to the medics." She slouched in place. "...I thought I was losing you." She held her hands on her chest. "And I felt like I was losing one of my husbands..." She placed one hand on her face. Her cheeks reddened up in embarrassment.

"Hehehe... I...oh my goddess." She shook her head. "My mind made a leap. Probably with the 'help' of the moon." She lifted her other hand and made air quotes. "I... 'realized' that I loved you."

Jack and Tetra blinked. "Oh." They said at the same time.

Sula shook her head. Her whole body was still quivering with sporadic laughter. "But that's not it at all." She wiped her face and then crossed her arms. "I just miss my home."

She dipped her head. "When I called her yesterday, Mama Daphne helped me figure out why you remind me of my husbands, and Joey and the others aren't jealous." She giggled some more. "Mama probably thought I might be bringing a man home with me when I returned." She chuckled. "So she advised me to," She held up her fingers again while rolling her eyes. "'confess' my feelings to you."

She took a slow breath and let it out. "I'm sorry Jack." She looked up at him. "I know I caused you more distress because I couldn't figure out exactly what I was feeling until now."

Jack couldn't help but smile a bit. "Uh...forgiven." The lamia giggled. He blinked a couple times and placed a finger on his chin. "So...to be clear, you... don't love me?"

Sula closed her eyes and chuckled. "Not like I would one of my husbands no." She breathed out. "But I missed them and you've treated me much like they do. So a part of my mind considered you a substitute husband of a sort."

He nodded a few times. "And people sometimes don't realize what they have until they think it's gone. Like I almost was."

"Yeah," She acknowledged. Then she covered her face with her hands. "Ugh, this is so embarrassing."

Jack chuckled. "I think you'll live, Sula." He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "And as far as mistakes go, this is hardly the worst one you could've made."

She lowered her hands to her sides and giggled. "Yeah." She glanced down and let out a deep breath. "Well, I think I've caused enough drama for one day." She waved toward the door and Jack lifted his own hand from her. "I'm going to make a call or two." She yawned loudly. "Ugh. And probably take a nap." She grumbled.

She slithered toward the door and placed her hand on the handle. Jack lifted his arm to get her attention. "For what it's worth Sula." She turned back toward him. "I think your husbands are lucky to have you."

She smiled brightly. "Thanks Jack." Then her eyelids lowered and a devious idea took hold. She decided to act on it and slithered right back up to him. "And just so you know," Her tail entwined around one of his legs as he tried to back away from her sudden approach. "I think we'd be lucky to have you." She planted a big one on his cheek while giving Tetra a wink.

The arachne raised an eyebrow and made a 'wrap it up' gesture with her wrist. "Last one you get for saving his life, snake." She narrowed her eyes. "After this, no more."

Sula backed off and smiled slyly at Tetra. "Never say never, spider." She turned back toward the door, opened it, and cackled insidiously as she left the room.


Jack was still a bit dazed after the echidna made her grand exit. "Oi." He held a hand on his temple.

Tetra shook her head and chuckled. "Passionate creatures, lamias."

He rubbed his cheek. "You're telling me..." He shook his head to clear it and turned back to her. "It's a good thing you two are such good friends. Any two human women I've known would have ripped each other's throats out by now."

She leaned down toward him. "She saved your life Jack." Her expression dipped a bit. "I had to trust her with you that night because..." She took in a breath and let it out through her nose. "Because I didn't know if I could trust myself."

Jack stayed still a moment. Then he laid a hand on one of her arms. "And that was very mature and responsible of you. Another reason why I trust you so much." She smiled a bit.

He let his arm rest there a moment. "So, that's what M-Marian was afraid of." Tetra blinked and gazed down at him. "That you would...lose control. Like your mother did."

The arachne blinked slowly. "Yes." She all but whispered.

Jack nodded slowly a few times. "And that's what you were afraid of too. That they might be right."

"...Yes." She whispered again.

He took in a slow breath. "I gotta admit, I kinda want to prove them wrong, right here and now."

Tetra closed her eyes and chuckled lightly. "But Jack," She lifted a claw.

"That's illegal." They said together.

He sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. "Ugh...I'm too tired to do anything anyways."

Tetra frowned sadly. "I'm sorry for keeping you up Jack."

He raised his other hand. "No no, It's alright. This needed to happen." He lowered the hand at his head and waved it toward her. "I finally get to know some important stuff about you. Got that business with Sula sorted out." He paused. "Well, mostly sorted."

Tetra tilted her head. "Something wrong Jack?"

"Yeah." He let both his arms drop to the side. "You were really willing to...'share' me?" He raised an eyebrow.

She glanced down and faced him directly. "My first relationship was with two lamias simultaneously Jack." She waved toward the door. "Sula's more than earned my trust concerning you."

He lowered one eyebrow. "But you didn't ask me if I would be okay with that." She raised a claw and opened her mouth to answer back. But nothing came out.

Her whole torso wilted a bit and she curled her claw back in. "Ugh...I did it again." She clenched her teeth and glanced to the side.

Jack sighed and nodded. "If we are actually going to make this work." He waved a finger between himself and her. "I think you're going to have to... well, consider what I would think first, before you decide to change something about our relationship." He sighed. "I thought we discussed something like this before."

She dipped her head and clasped her hands over her waist. "We did. You're right, I'm sorry Jack."

"Look." He held up a hand. "I like the whole 'woman of mystery mystique' you have." He nodded enthusiastically. "It's fun. It really is." She smirked a bit and gazed back at him. He lowered his hand. "But you hide so much of yourself." He waved toward the door. "When you pulled this thing with Sula on me...well it came right out of left field. She didn't even know what you were going to do."

Tetra blinked a few times. "Left...field?"

Jack reared his head at her question. Then he pressed his eyes closed. "Oh... right." He waved a hand and cracked his eyes back open. "Sorry. That's a baseball expression. It means you surprised me."

"Oh." She said. "Okay."

Jack sighed. "And obviously I've got to be careful about my own communication." He faced her directly and sighed. "We really should see agent Serilla."

Tetra pressed her lips together and nodded. "Yes. I agree."

Jack backed to his bed and sat on it. "Good." He shook his head as exhaustion started to settle on him again. "But now, as all you ladies insisted on earlier... I need to sleep." He pulled the sheets out and slid himself to the head. "So if you could see yourself out..."

Tetra advanced a step. "What about your nightmares Jack?"

He froze a second. "I'll deal with it." Then he waved her off. "It's all in my subconscious anyways. It's not real."

Tetra tilted her head. His words sparked her memory. "I have an idea Jack." She held up a claw as she headed out his door. "I'll be right back."

He settled in and pulled the sheets over himself. When she didn't return right away he began to look around for something to distract him and keep him awake just a few moments longer.

He spotted his phone and reached for it. His message inbox counter was in the double digits. Most of them were from the girls, worried about where he went, what happened to him.

He looked through them all and let his guilt at leaving resurface.

How can I make it up to them?

He scrolled through some older messages and hit upon an inkling of a concept. "Hmm." He made a quick text and sent it off. He replaced the phone to his charger.

Someone knocked and he called them in. Tetra angled her abdomen through the door and stood before him. She had an instrument in her hands.

"Sorry that took so long. Had to make new strings and tune them." He took in the details of the item and concluded that she was carrying a violin.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "You just made new strings?" She was about to answer when he held up a hand. "Wait, I get it." He sat up a bit. "Modern violin strings can be made of steel. Spider silk is stronger than steel and arachne silk is even stronger, correct?"

She nodded and smiled at his summation. "Correct. I used to play for my mother..." She gazed down a degree. "When she couldn't sleep." She pursed her lips. "I didn't play anymore after she confessed what she did...After I realized why she had trouble sleeping."

Jack shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. Tetra. You didn't know."

She closed her eyes a moment. "I realize that, Jack." She looked at him mournfully. "But a part of me will always blame myself for never seeing it, never figuring it out." She let out a breath. "I never even suspected. It was just too terrible a thought to possibly be true." She sneered. "So I accepted her lies. Day after day, year after year."

"You were a child." He insisted. "Hell, you weren't even alive when it happened."

She glared at the ground silently.

"I'll say it again. As often as it has to be." He intoned. "Don't dwell on things you can't change."

She snorted and nodded. "Right...thank you Jack." She pinned the lower bout of the instrument between the side of her chin (on the chin rest) and her left shoulder. Her right hand held the bow over the strings and her gloved left hand supported the neck. She relaxed herself and began to play.

Jack hadn't heard live music this close for a long time. He'd never heard the piece she was performing ever before. Whatever it was called, it was somber, slow, and the most beautiful thing he'd ever listened to in his life.

He closed his eyes and let himself relax. He listened and the comfortable darkness enveloped him whole.


Tetra finished playing her piece. It was just something slow and simple that she could repeat from memory. Nothing complicated or rushed. She set her violin aside.

Her host lay in his bed silently. She approached and knelt by him. "Oh Jack. Please be patient with me." She drew part of his hair out of his face. "I know that we're from very different worlds. And I shouldn't make assumptions." She shut her eyes. "Being a predator in a civilized land is...difficult to reconcile. All these rules and regulations and confinements." She rattled a fist.

Then she sighed. "But it is better like this. At least for me." She shook her head. "I don't really have anywhere else to go. No true home to return to. Not like the others here." She gazed at him. "As self-sufficient as I learned to be...I don't want to be alone again."

She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "So I'll keep trying Jack. I'll try to be a good girlfriend."

The arachne turned back to the door and retrieved her instrument. "Sleep well, and sweet dreams." She flipped off the light switch, angled her abdomen and slipped out into the hall.

A/N: Sorry for muddying the ship last chapter. Not entirely sure where I was going with that. Sula's 'realization' and subsequent behavior was clumsy, clunky and admittedly OOC. I blame the moon messing with my head. ;p Thanks given to GioMM for highlighting her weirdness.

So please, keep reviewing, keep commenting. It really does matter.

Back to regular shenanigans next chapter. Promise.

Oh and LindaRoze posted my latest commission of Kuro on deviantart

ww lindaroze/art/ Commission-Kuro-s-Winter-Wonderland-807983307