Chapter 18- Bridging on Death
Though nearly impossible, Hillary finally told Anna the bad news. Even so, Anna hadn't talked to Hillary the rest of the week. Sorrow had completely engulfed her and she didn't want anyone; she only wanted to crawl into a little hole and die. Hillary tried to comfort her because she felt the same pain, but it was no use; Anna wouldn't stand it. It was like that all week—Hillary and Anna sitting apart at lunch, Anna never saying a word to her during or after school. It was a very sad and gloomy time indeed.
Hillary learned more of the details from Mary Jane. It seemed that he wasn't only stabbed; he had been beaten beforehand. Now if Anna were to stab someone, she would have used the blades built into her tentacles and simply go–whoop–and her victim would be gone.
The memorial service was that Saturday and the Parkers were almost finished getting ready. Hillary stood in front of her mirror as she inserted two button earrings into her pierced ears. She watched her reflection intently thinking over the past experiences. How was Anna taking it? Would she get over it? Did she do the right thing by telling her? Hillary fit the back on the earring and reached for the second one.
Was Anna coming to the funeral? Had she lost control again? There was no telling either way. How would she comfort her? How would she comfort herself?
The doorbell rang. Hilary, now finished with her earrings, went to answer it.
Rosie stood there in a nice black dress accompanied by a netted scarf wrapped loosely around her slender neck. Otto stood beside her in a red tie and a black suit with four crudely cut holes through the back for the tentacles. Otto cleaned up nicer than Hillary would have guessed given that she had never seen him without that trench coat or with his hair combed. Today, though, it was combed neatly from side to side. Even the tentacles looked nicer; they looked like they had been scrubbed and polished for this very occasion. It was a rare sight indeed.
"Hello Hillary. I'm very sorry about your cousin," Rosie said with her hands folded. "He really was a nice boy." Hillary nodded in agreement unable to say a word lest she cry.
"Yes, he was very respectable." Otto agreed with his hands in his pockets and his gaze at the doorstep. Hillary nodded to that too. She cleared her throat.
"You're free to come in. We were just getting ready," She invited stepping to the side of the doorway and pushing the door open.
"Thank you," Rosie said solemnly as she and Otto stepped inside the house. Hillary closed the door behind them with her full attention on the knob. She bit her lip trying to find some hospitable things to say.
"Go ahead and sit down. My mom and dad won't be long." The couple took the invitation and took a seat on a tweed couch. Hillary sat in the swede love seat across from them.
There was absolutely nothing to start a light conversation with so Hillary asked about what bothered her. "Where's Anna?"
Otto shook his head. "She didn't want to come. She's at home now," he replied. He shrugged his shoulders in place of words. "She couldn't stand to come. Poor girl."
Hillary pushed herself up off of the chair. "Excuse me, I have to do something," she said. Rosie smiled and nodded though curious as to why she was being so random. Hillary walked into the bathroom and closed and locked the door.
She quickly had her dress off had her spandex suit on. She opened the window and carefully pushed the screen out. Sticking a strand of web to it, she attached it to the wall inside the bathtub. Hillary stood on the toilet seat and crawled out the opening. She scurried to the roof and looked out over New York City. Then, with one liquid movement, she was gone and zipping through the buildings.
It didn't take long to reach her destination and she dropped to the roof of a large house in the midst of buildings. Hillary, after searching, found a skylight and climbed inside. She landed gracefully on the kitchen table and looked around. The place was silent. It surely didn't sound like Anna was here. She jumped down and began walking through the rooms. Nothing. Not a soul in even one room. It was the same utter silence in every room.
Maybe she was down in the lab. Hillary ran down the stairs and came to the solid metal door. Oh great. She forgot that Mr. Octavious never went anywhere without locking his laboratory door. There was another way inside that she knew of and she ran back up the stairs. Hillary jumped back out the skylight and crawled down the side of the building to another window. The hinge was unhooked. Peculiar, but not of importance right then.
Hillary pushed the window in and hopped inside. The emptiness of the room was even greater than the rest. Still, she checked it out. She didn't have to walk far. Since the lab was one room, she could easily see everything that occupied it. After a general search, Hillary climbed back out the window and closed it.
"Odd," she said. Then she saw that familiar metal glint in the sunlight. Relived to have found her friend, Hillary hopped down from the window and ran up to the base of the building.
Not wanting to get involved in a gang mugging, Hillary carefully checked the alley before walking down it. She scurried quickly up the graffiti, brick wall. Hillary could still see the glint of metal behind the corner of building. It was nice to know that Anna hadn't done anything foolish. Maybe she truly had control of her tentacles now. She hopped up over the side.
"I'm glad I found you. I was kinda worried about you," She walked around the concrete corner to see a figure in a trench coat. She gasped and backed up.
It wasn't Anna. It didn't look at all like Anna. Instead a man stood there. He wore a ratty trench coat that looked like it had been worn straight years. He also had a ski cap that looked much too large for the small head he possessed. And the unshaven dirty face didn't make it look any better.
But his appearance and smell didn't catch Hillary's attention, it was that he held a knife - a large machete in one hand. It shone and glimmered in the evening light. Reading her expression, the man-before, looking just as confused and surprised as she did - smiled a ghastly smile and carefully unbuttoned his coat.
Hillary was careful to stay a certain length away in the case that he pulled out a gun or something of the sort. He finished and slowly pulled the edge of it away. A bomb was strapped to his chest
He looked down at the red numbers reading 1:00 illuminating his clothing and then looked back up at Hillary with an even broader smile this time almost teasing her.
"Sure is pretty, isn't it?" he joked buttoning the coat back up. He glanced down at the building under his feet as he spoke. "Well, we wouldn't want you telling anyone about this, now would we?" With that he held the knife over his head.
With a primitive battle scream, he was off, running toward her with the dagger. And with ease, Hillary flipped over her as he stumbled on the edge of the building. He seemed awfully calm for someone who had an explosive strapped to him.
He turned around, drunk-like anger in his eyes and charged her again. This time Hillary stuck web to the knife and pulled it out of his hand. The beeping under his coat didn't reassure her of anything except that they both and the building would blow if she didn't get it off and out.
The man ran for her again obviously out of his mind, right off the building. Hillary dove after him. All time stopped. Up that high one could not hear anything but the screams of the suicide bomber, the air whizzing past one's ears, and the faint beeping of the bomb now closing in on thirty seconds.
Hillary - following her father's techniques - stuck two strands of web to the man's shoulders and pulled her being closer to him. She grabbed his shoulders with more force than necessary and wrapped her legs around his chest reluctant to touch the bomb.
Ok. So now she got him. What now?
"I'll think of something," She told her doubt. Hillary let herself fall many many feet and, trying to ignore the man's frantic screams, grabbed any bit of plan that she could. The buildings now surrounded her and she shot out a strand of web and swung as fast as physics could allow. Windows blurred by, the man became even more frightened.
Beep-beep...
It became louder and a little faster. Or so she thought. It might have just been because of the stress.
Beep...beep...beep-beep-beep-beep...
"Ok," She told herself. "Water helps with impact and kills off small fires before they start. Bombs. Jacket. The bomb is sewn in a jacket. Rip jacket off. Throw it in the water. Swing off. Avoid ships with explosion." Hillary told herself as the Hudson Bay came closer in view.
Peter had told her something about bombs...
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep... It was beeping faster. She didn't know much about it in the real world, but in every single action movie with a bomb in it, the beeping gets faster and louder as the end came.
"Open your jacket!" She screamed at the man.
"Why?" he asked.
"Just do it!" Nothing. Hillary launched them up into the air far enough that she had some 'extra' time. She ripped open his jacket and she wished she hadn't as soon as it was done. Fifteen seconds. She stuck web to another building and launched herself toward the river.
The beeping got faster and faster, louder and louder... ten seconds. She wasn't close enough! She couldn't afford to drop the man, but she hadn't the time to land.
The final rallies of beeps. Hillary tore his jacket off giving no mercy.
"What are you doing?" The man screamed.
"Shut up!" she yelled at him and tore off the bomb vest along with his tee-shirt. She shot a web out of one wrist which stuck to the building. Another which stuck to his foot. She tied a quick knot that she hoped would hold. Then, without a second thought to it, she ricocheted off a nearby building and plunged into the water with the vest.
A blast of water shot up from the once still harbor blowing away fishing boats and tearing up the docks. Thousands of people saw it and even more heard it including everyone at the Parker house.
"What the–" Otto began looking out the window toward the explosion. The tentacles stuck their heads out the window curiously though they could not see past the many buildings. Turning his body before his gaze, he made for the bedroom. "Rosie? Rosie come here," he said with confusion as he puttered about the house.
Rosie came from the bathroom wiping her hands on a towel as she did. "What is it?" She asked. Otto caught sight of her and walked up to her.
"There was an explosion or something over by the river," he explained briskly.
"Yeah, I heard it. What do you think's going on?" Rosie asked holding her arms.
The explosion was just outside Hudson Bay. It was larger than just a firework.
Something happened.
Something that doesn't usually happen in that area of the city...or state for that matter.
"Otto, I said what do you think's going on?" Rosie repeated since Otto had a blank expression on his face.
Otto blinked a couple times to get back to reality. "The actuators say that it is irregular. And I'd have to agree with them. In any case though, the law enforcement will take care of it.." "Gold medal for bluffing right here!" he thought.
Peter and Mary Jane had been getting ready in the bedroom when they heard the boom. Now neither of them was combing their hair nor anything of the sort. Mary Jane was standing by the bed as Peter quickly got dressed into his Spiderman suit. He had heard it and he could sense trouble.
"When do we have to leave?" Peter asked searching for his mask in the dresser drawer. Mary Jane picked up an invitation and then looked at the clock.
"Five minutes," she said. Then added. "And not to be a nag, but you've got to be back by that time or Rosie will start to ask questions."
"I know, I know. So I'll be back by then." He shrugged. "Tell Hillary where I am. By the way, where is she?"
"In the bathroom. She's been in there the entire time," Mary Jane replied. Peter furrowed his brow, slipped on his robe and made for the bathroom.
"Hillary," he rapped on the door. No answer. He knocked harder. "Hillary, it's just about time to go." No answer. "Are you OK in there?" Still, no answer. Peter went for the key hidden atop the doorframe. He stuck it in the lock and turned the knob. The door swung open. No Hillary. The window was left open and the drapes were being blown in. Just as he thought.
Peter walked back into the bedroom. "Hillary's gone." He said.
"Gone? Gone where?" Mary Jane gasped.
"I don't know. Maybe she's down checking out the explosion, maybe she's out for a walk while she waits for us, maybe a swing, but she'll be back. Don't worry. I worked really hard with her about being on time." Peter stated proudly.
"Yeah, you were really Mr. Punctuality." Mary Jane teased folding her arms across her chest and giving him a playful smirk.
"Well, I wasn't late for our wedding, now was I?" Peter asked finding the mask and slipping it over his face.
"No, I guess not." she gave him a kiss. "You still need to keep an eye out for her, Pete. Punctual or not, she's still our daughter."
"I know Honey. I'll keep an eye out for her." Peter agreed climbing out the window.
"Oh and Pete–"
Peter poked his head back in. "Yes?"
"Be careful," she begged.
"I always am." With that Peter was off swinging toward the dock.
Down on Hudson bay, the roads were sopping wet. Boats were beached, people were draped over the sides looking in at the stilling water. Peter landed and looked over the edge at the river underneath. He couldn't see anything. Besides some wrecked ships, nothing was out of place here–
Hello, what was this? Dangling by one leg off of the edge of a building was a shirtless, meatless, and senseless man struggling and failing to get down from the web that connected him with the building. A web...Hillary!
Peter shot his head back over the safety bars. Something a little shinny. He strained his eyes to see what it was. He gasped. It was a red spandex mask. One exactly like Hillary's. And a red spider-webbed boot.
"Oh no!" Spiderman exclaimed backing up and leaping in the water.
Swimming below the surface, Spiderman searched for his daughter diligently. Not soon after he dove in did he see her unconsciously floating downward through the water. Spiderman swam down to her and held her close to him as he swam to the surface as fast as he could.
Citizens had crowded around the spot where he dove in and even more came when they saw him break surface. He crawled up the concrete bank carefully as to not drop her back in and laid her on the ground right under an oak tree. She wasn't breathing.
Spiderman put his hands to her heart and pumped it. He blew air into her lungs. He pumped her heart. He breathed for her. Now there was a full audience had gathered around them. Some cheered, some booed, some just stared, but none of that mattered. Nothing mattered any more but Hillary. Pump. Blow. Pump. Blow. It wasn't working.
Spiderman was now panicked under his mask. What if she didn't recover? No, he couldn't think that way. She'd recover. Pump. Blow. Pump. Blow. Pump. Blow. Nothing was happening. He didn't have to look around to know that the hospital was about ten miles from where he stood. If she was still alive, she'd be dead before he got there.
Unless... Otto might be able to help.
Spiderman stood and cradled his little girl in his arms feeling her limp figure drape over him. He crouched and leapt into the air. Spiderman shot out a strand of web which stuck to the wall and he began his swinging. He couldn't feel her breathing, he couldn't feel her heart, and he was nearly crying as he swung toward the house as he attempted to comfort her.
"It'll be OK Hill. Don't worry. Daddy's got you. Daddy's got you..."