So I was asked to continue The Harp. How they got out of there. What happened next. I, ah, had fun...
I've been told I do dialogue-only well. But I've never actually published any of it. Until now.
Also... Ah, the things one can do with ectoplasm.
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"If I don't practice she's going to bite me."
"I know, Daniel."
"So why do you get to practice and I don't?"
"Because, my dear boy, I spun this myself."
"Hmmph."
"Oh don't give me that. You can weave your own. Rub your hands together, yes, just like that. Feels slick, doesn't it. That's your ectoplasm. A little more, let it come out, yes, good boy."
"And now I have a handful of goo. Oh goody."
"Don't be facetious, Daniel. Now stretch it out into strands. Thinner than that. No, thinner. You're spinning a web, not weaving a rope."
"This is hard."
"Well it's not supposed to be easy. That looks thin enough. Now then, next you're going to anchor the guy lines."
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"So tell me again what happened."
Maddie took a deep breath. She and Jack had already told this story three times. Once to the cops, once to the newspaper, once to the admitting doctors. Now this guy, this Dr. Johnson was taking over Danny's treatment. Jack had long since wandered off to the cafeteria, more interested in finding donuts than saying the same thing over and over again. She began to tell the story.
"Our son Danny was missing," she said. "He hadn't come home for two nights and we were worried. We'd already filed with the police but if this was a ghost issue then Jack and I were the only ones who could do anything about it. We drove around town looking for any ecto-disturbances that might give us a lead. We found such a disturbance at Vlad's place. Now, Vlad Masters is a friend of my husband's so he figured we could just walk in. So we did.
"It was really weird. The place seemed almost abandoned. There were spider webs everywhere and the whole place registered near the top of our scale. It was like Vlad's whole mansion is under the influence of a large long-term haunting. We went up to the second floor and that's when we heard it. Harp music. It sounded like two harps but not quite harps. I... can't describe it. Anyway, we followed the sound to this rundown section that looked like nobody had been there for years. The spider webs were massive and oppressive and there were a couple of points where we had to shoot through them to get down the hallway.
"And then we got to the room. Our equipment showed a disturbance well off the scale and we use a pretty high scale. But the room was full of glowing green webs that just hung off of everything. And in the middle, there they were."
"Tied to chairs playing spider webs as harps," Dr. Johnson said.
"Exactly," Maddie said. "I know it sounds crazy and, let me tell you it looked crazy, but that's what was happening. They were almost completely draped in webs and didn't seem to care. All around them there were these huge spiders, like the size of cats and dogs and one had to be the size of a small horse. Both of them had these horrid bite marks on their necks and all down their arms and... Ugh."
She shuddered at the memory. She'd never forget the sight of her son bound to a chair, huge spider legs draped over his shoulders as that... creature skittered over him. His hands playing an orb web like a harp, a harp attached to his face, his chest, his feet. But the worst part of it was his eyes. Green glowing eyes that looked at her in dazed confusion. It was almost as terrifying as Vlad's own red-glowing stare. They were both so exhausted. There was no telling how long they'd been trapped in there, bitten who knows how many times, just sitting there playing in that nightmare...
She hated spiders.
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"How's that look?"
"Decent. But you have it anchored to me."
"Oh! Um... oops?"
"Wipe that grin off your face, Daniel. Now you need to place the spokes."
"Okay..."
"Spin more strands, you're going to need it. Yes, just like that. Now then, you're going to cross the spokes a little offset from the middle."
"Offset? Why?"
"You play right-handed. You want to offset it a little close to your edge so the broadest part of the spiral sits under your hand while you play."
"OH! I didn't even notice that. But then why is yours offset to the top?"
"I play left-handed, Daniel. Don't crowd the spokes so close together. You want them to have some space between them. And don't place them so regularly. Look at mine. You see how they're fanned a little bit?"
"Hmm."
"You're getting frustrated, Daniel."
"I know that!"
"Shh. Calm down. This is your first try, it doesn't have to be perfect. Here. Take down the spokes and try again."
"Rrrrr."
"Shhhh. Here. Let me play for you. Just listen for a few minutes. Don't think so hard while you're weaving. It isn't a science, it's an art."
"You play so pretty."
"Why thank you, Daniel."
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Jack came back with two cups of coffee. He handed one to Maddie, her grateful gaze all the thanks he needed.
Dr. Johnson looked at his charts and nodded. Now that he knew the circumstances between both patient's exposure these test results made a little more sense. "Could these spiders have been venomous?" he asked.
"Possibly," Jack said. "Why, is something wrong?"
"Now it's nothing to be alarmed about just yet," Dr. Johnson said. "There's been no sign or symptom of anything out of the ordinary. But both your son and your friend had a strange chemical contamination in their blood. We haven't yet been able to identify it."
Maddie shoved her cup of coffee back at Jack and snatched the chart from the doctor. He let her have it, continuing to summarize from what he'd read earlier. "We put Mr. Masters through eight hours of dialysis to see if we could filter any of it out but the chemical concentrations weren't affected. I'm wondering if perhaps the spiders might have been venomous."
Jack looked over his shoulder at the chart, idly sipping Maddie's coffee. He didn't understand half of what was on that chart. Except all the lines marked "normal", he figured that out pretty well. Then there was that one line labeled "unknown" and a bunch of numbers next to it. He recognized the units. "Are you sure spiders could be the cause of that much contamination?" he asked.
"What else would it be?" Dr. Johnson asked. "The two patients lead very different lives. They are exposed to different things over the course of the day. Aside from occasional interactions they have entirely different exposure profiles."
"Where is Vlad?" Jack asked. "Maybe we could talk to him."
Dr. Johnson looked very uncomfortable.
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"Much better, Daniel."
"It's easier to focus when you play. It's too quiet without it."
"I know. Now you can start on the spiral. Start at your center. Anchor your web a little outward of the center. No, you're going to need more than that. Spin some more, that's it. One long single strand. Good. Now you play right-handed so you're going to have to spin right-handed. Yes, hold the strand in your right hand and wrap it around. Good. Remember to anchor it to every single spoke as you wrap around."
"Ugh, all of them?"
"All of them. Yes it's a lot of work but think of how good it'll feel to be able to practice."
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"What do you mean 'he's in the psyche ward'?" Jack demanded,
Dr. Johnson backed away a step, still thoroughly uncomfortable. "I-I found it in his patient records," he said. He took a breath before continuing. "Twenty years ago he spent several years in and out of psychiatric hospitals for a variety of problems stemming from a severe case of Cotard's Delusion."
"What?" Jack asked.
"He thinks he's dead, honey," Maddie said.
"There is no indication that he ever recovered from this delusion," Dr. Johnson continued. "In fact all of the notes from his psychiatric stays detail a very disturbed man who constantly and consistently considered himself 'half-dead' and begged his caregivers at every opportunity to let him finish the job. His records clearly state he must be considered a suicide risk whenever and wherever he receives treatment."
Jack felt ill. Twenty years ago would have put the beginning of all that at about the time of the proto-portal accident.
Paging Dr. Johnson... The announcement came over the hospital's PA system. Dr. Johnson excused himself and headed to the nurse's station.
"Twenty years ago," Jack said. "Maddie, I think we did that to him."
"Forget that, Jack," Maddie said. "Our son is more important. What about this spider venom in his blood? What could it do to him? After all, this was a ghost spider. You saw Danny's eyes. They were glowing."
"They weren't glowing after we got them out of there," Jack said, letting her lead his thoughts. "In fact Danny's been looking really good since we got him here. A little antsy but I would be too in a hospital bed. He's been here for a week. He just wants to go home."
"Yeah, you're right," Maddie mused. "If they haven't shown signs by now then I doubt they will."
Dr. Johnson came back, a spooked look on his face. "Harp music in the psyche ward," he said.
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The haunting sound of twin harps drifted down the hallway, taunting the ears of those listening. Jack and Maddie followed Dr. Johnson to a locked room with a small window. Jack's heart dropped into his stomach at what that door meant while Maddie took a breath to steady herself.
"No one else should be in here," Dr. Johnson said. "This door doesn't open from the inside. It's kept locked."
"What if there's a problem inside?" Maddie asked.
"We have monitors set up that tell us what we need to know."
"And if Vlad were to shut down those monitors?"
Dr. Johnson paused, focusing on getting his keys out of his pocket. "Vlad Masters is strapped down," he finally admitted.
"What?!" Jack demanded.
"He's escaped psychiatric care before," Dr. Johnson defended. "We couldn't take that chance. And with his history there's no telling what he might do to himself." He unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Three people froze at the sight before them, fear tracing down each of their spines. The leather straps on the bed were undamaged, still fastened but restraining nothing. Vlad sat on the bed wearing the white scrubs of a mental patient. His unbound hands idly played with the pink-tinged orb web that stretched before him, anchored to the floor, ceiling, and bed. He looked on at the person next to him with adoring fondness.
Danny sat next to him, his light blue scrubs hanging from his small frame. His brow was knit with concentration as he played the green-tinged orb web in front of him, anchored to the bed, the floor, and to Vlad's shoulder and neck.
"Oh my god," Maddie whispered.
The noise seemed to distract Danny and he put his hand through a section of the orb. He sighed, leaning into a comforting arm wrapped around his shoulders. Danny looked up at Vlad, seeking approval, before noticing the people at the door. "Hi Mom, hi Dad," he said.
"What... are you doing?" Jack asked.
"I need to practice or she'll bite me," Danny said as though it was the most natural statement in the world. Jack and Maddie watched in horror as Danny brought his hands together and rubbed them. A green goo formed between them that Danny worked into a long, thin strand of web before setting to repairing the damaged orb.
"Oh I don't think you have to worry about that, Daniel," Vlad said. "You're doing so well. She'll be so proud of you. Just like I am."
"Really?" Danny asked.
Dr. Johnson silently closed the door. Maddie looked at him before her hands went to her mouth and she stifled a sob. Jack stared at the tiny window, barely seeing the figures within. Clearly their assumption that the spider's venom wouldn't affect its victims was horribly wrong.
What would they do now?