Love Bites! Chapter 2

Sweet Scented Venom

Light waves brushed along the shore and splashed against the webbed feet of seagulls that were standing among the rocks. Even the waves began to push the Cupid Spiders from their grip onto the sand, but the small insects managed to continue their long journey to the Crystal Temple. With their small eight legs, they even crawled their way up towards the wooden dock and finally arrived at the door of their destination.

"Steven! Do you have your bow-tie with you?"

"Yep!"

"Flowers and chocolate?"

"Uh...I think so...wait they're here!"

"Your suit?"

"Yes. Calm down, Pearl."

The small creatures were standing at the entrance of the window, with their eyes fixed on their preys. Steven was gathering everything he needed for his big date while having Pearl brush his curly black hair. In her mouth were bobby pins and a small comb as she quickly used them every ten seconds.

"Why are you so worried about tomorrow? Especially for me?" Asked Steven while cringing at Pearl's strong grip at his hair.

"You will become a man tomorrow and it's your first date! This is an important time in your life which will become a definite memory. I'm sure the two of you will reflect back at this precious moment as the two of you are married!" Pearl encouraged with delight.

At the mention of marriage, Steven could immediately feel his cheeks burn with embarrassment and quickly argued back, "Pearl...We're not going to get married!"

"How do you know?" The oldest gem asked with a light humor.

"Well, how do you know we're going to be married? You don't know how I will be, twenty years into the future."

"Touché..."

Pearl continued to do her job of fixing Steven's hair as he arranged his belongings on the couch. She would even foolishly follow Steven around with hair products in her mouth and hands as he would get settled. Eventually, a cool air entered the area as the door was dramatically slammed open which made the gentle gem jump in fright.

"Where were you gems? It's close to seven!" Pearl muffledly asked, through the bobby pins in her mouth, towards the two gems that finally came home.

To Pearl's and Steven's surprise, Amethyst and Garnet came home with large bags and boxes that were delicately wrapped with papers and bows. And from the looks of it, only Pearl knew they bought more than what was needed.

"We were out getting our outfits for tomorrow night's party! Let's just say that I'm going to be the hottest one out of the three of us." Amethyst said in pride while throwing her bags aside to the floor.

Garnet just shook her head at Amethyst's statement and even rubbed her eyes underneath her shades. "We're ready for tomorrow. How is Steven coming along?"

Steven sweetly smiled and pointed his hands toward his outfit laying on the couch. His eyes would look back and forth at Garnet and Amethyst, as if he was expecting one of them to appraise his outfit. For Amethyst, he wasn't surprised, as he saw her laughing and holding onto her stomach. Garnet just gave him a weak smile and walked toward him with a small glossy bag in her hands.

"Here, I bought this for you." She offered, placing the bag in Steven's palms which made him question what it could be.

"Come on...look inside." Garnet calmly said.

Steven nodded his head as he carefully slid his hand into the bag and was immediately surprised to find that it was a glass bottle. He quickly grabbed the grey transparent bottle out and was met with the title, 'Doux Parfum De Deux; Si L'amour Peut Fleurir.'

"Do...do...ox. Pare...fume? De...de ox? And I don't know what the rest says..." Steven said in confusion and held the bottle higher to the light, as his brown eyes were squinted. "What is this? Some fancy schmancy love potion?"

"No, silly. It's a cologne or perfume for your date tomorrow." Laughed Garnet and lightly punched Steven's shoulder.

"Also, it was on sale for Valentine's Day." Amethyst added in.

The liquid inside the bottle glittered while being held in the air and the light even revealed its color; it was a creamy blue. The perfume's black pumper was heavily decorated with blue jewels and a small blue bow was wrapped around the bottle's neck. Even a small tag was on the back presenting, 'Importés de France.'

"It looks cool...Do you think Connie will like the scent?" Steven quietly asked as his pupils grew from the jewel's shine.

"Yeah, totally. The selling guy said it was for both boys and girls, so it will smell good on anybody...or somewhere along those lines. Try it on." The purple gem encouraged, crossing her arms.

Only three of the gems approved of the perfume, because only Pearl had her eyebrows raised and a disapproving look on her face. She dropped the comb and bobby pins from her mouth as her lips were pursed into a frown, and she lightly leaned down to Steven's height so she can get a better look of it. In her mind, she could've sworn that she seen this bottle before which made her have a skeptical view on it.

"Sweet scent, number two; so love can bloom...?" Pearl blankly translated while scratching her head. She had little knowledge of the French language since she saw it as a language of beauty, but Amethyst would claim that it would serve for nothing; it was useless.

The youngest gem shrugged at her concern and sprayed himself on his neck with the perfume. The mist shined with sparkles as it floated in the air, creating an invisible cloud. In just seconds, his neck sparkled and looked as if it was glossed with clear gel.

"It smells like...blueberries." Steven smiled with bliss. "Thanks Garnet and Amethyst. You can also borrow it for tomorrow if you want." He bowed his head in respect to the generous magical girls, and walked up the stairs, toward his bed. Behind him ran Pearl who had bobby pins and a comb in her hands which made Garnet and Amethyst chuckle.

"Wait! I'm not finished with your hair, young man!"

...

The moon's light reflected into the windows and the polished shells of the pesky spiders that were quickly crawling onto the marble ground. A loud announcer voice from a television that was on, echoed against the temple's walls, advertising for a new toy product.

"Get the new Lucky Pup! It walks, talks, and even does their 'fake' bathroom business. It's like you actually have a dog, but without the mess and time. You'll be the coolest kid on the block with Lucky!"

The small bugs looked at each other while moving their antennas, signaling to move in their own direction.

"Go up those stairs and check who is in their nest, watching that magical talking cube. If it's that cursive child, then get him. If the crystal beasts are there, then be extra careful. We can't afford any more losses in our clan." The leader announced through tiny hisses.

The spiders nodded at their leader's command then, with their small hairy legs, they moved toward Steven's bed located in the extra level of the room. They jumped, crawled, and even spat their silky webs to get upstairs, but finally managed to get there. To their pleasure, they found two gems sleeping side by side. It was Steven and Amethyst with their hands in a bowl of unfinished popcorn. However, to their dismay, Garnet was sitting on the wooden floor with a remote in her hands.

"Curses! The red cubed she-demon is there!" The love spiders hissed in unison which instantly made Garnet turn her head while cracking her knuckles. Her red eyes moved around the room until there was nothing heard except Amethyst's loud snores. Slowly, Garnet resumed her attention back to the television's screen.

The spiders looked at each other in worry and directed their heads to the bed. One by one, as if they were a line of soldiers entering war, they crawled up the sheets and came with close contact at the two youngest gems' skins.

"Bite them!" With their sharp fangs, dripping of pink venom, they first bit into Steven's arm which made the boy finch in pain. Steven though remained asleep in his deep slumber as the venom was quickly absorbed into his blood. Next up for the insects was the purple gem. Her arm was wide open, presenting many open areas for the Cupid Spiders. Without any hesitation, they bit into her elbow which made her quickly move her arm in pain. Her elbow dripped with the pink liquid, but Amethyst ignored it and sleepishly rubbed her face with her hands. Her sleep was still undisturbed.

Two down, two more to go. And those remaining two were the tough ones to get to, without any thought of themselves getting gruesomely squashed.

A small spider crawled down the sheets of the bed, with its eye aiming at Garnet's hand laid calmly on the floor. At first, it was unsure on how Garnet would react and if it should consider itself dead, but it had to be done. Opening its fangs and raising its front legs, it bit into Garnet's hand. The gem at first was confused about the pain, until she turned her head to be face to face with pest. Their eyes were locked onto each other and soon enough Garnet was silently raising her formed fists. Her teeth was gritted as she made an attempt to kill the spider with a punch, but the spider's fast reflexes made it impossible for her to catch it.

"Dirty pests!" Garnet hissed under her breath and summoned her gauntlets. She quickly got up and looked over at Steven and Amethyst, making sure that the spiders were nowhere near them.

"Run! Find the slim crystal beast and bite her!" Is what Garnet heard from her left. The stoic gem quietly jumped to the lower level of the room as her eyes saw the bugs quickly crawl to the temple door. At the time, the red gem was feeling lightheaded and could barely walk normally.

"Stop!" Garnet roared in anger, lunging herself towards them with her armored fists. Her target was missed. She fell hard onto the floor which stung her back, but was caused by faintness. Her eyes were closed and her chest, underneath her, was pumping in and out, implying that she was still alive.

The temple's door opened just in time, seconds after Garnet fainted.

"Garnet! What happened?!" Pearl asked, but got no response or gesture.

The slim wanted gem ran to her leader's side with worry building up inside her. She held Garnet's shoulders and shook her, but released her when there was no response other than sigh. Garnet just fell into a deep sleep. On her hand, Pearl noticed something extraordinary; a small bite mark.

"Is this a spider bite mark?" Pearl mentally questioned herself, until her eyes grew when she felt a pain in her ankle. After that, all she could feel was a pairs of small legs crawl up her leg and more bites being made.

"Sleep tight, crystal beast! Everyone is already injected. Love is painful and war bringing, my dear. Have a good Valentine's Day, beautiful fool!" The leader of the Cupid Spiders darkly spat, jumping off Pearl's leg.

Many thoughts ran through her mind as Pearl was deciding on what to do, but her first instinct told her to check on Steven. Pearl already had little strength while she was struggling to get up on her feet. Slowly, she managed to get up and saw small creatures run to the corner of the room. The gem though didn't care about them, as she saw no use, and dragged her feet to the stairs. Within one second, she fainted too. The last words she heard was,

"Tomorrow is the day, when you will fall into the beautiful trap of love, with a special man..."

I feel like the ending of this chapter was dark, but the gems are just asleep.

Don't forget to review/follow/favorite/share this story, if you enjoy it!

-Shining Gem