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MARK VISIBLY BRACED himself before leading the way around the truck that was parked on the right. He was the first to see the town and his feet stumbled to a stop. Reece and Flynn stepped up beside him. I saw through Reece as they surreptitiously caught him by the arms before he could turn and run. They moved him out of sight of the watching cops and we hurried after him. I disengaged from Reece before I saw anything else. I wanted to see the town for myself rather than experience it through his eyes.
Kala made a shocked sound when she stepped into view of whatever had frightened our boss so badly. Mitchell was right beside her and he almost halted in surprise. He gulped and dread filled his scent. Just as I’d predicted, he’d had a rude awakening into the world of the supernatural. If Kala hadn’t been with him, I suspected he would have made a run for it.
I cast a look back over my shoulder to see if any of the cops were going to follow us. They were huddled together, standing well back from the trucks. Most were pale and shaky. They were still recovering from the trauma of an entire small town being overrun by creepy crawlies. They’d already taken a peek and none of them were eager to take a closer look.
Rounding the truck, my feet stopped moving of their own volition and I came to a dead halt. The entire town was covered in gigantic spider webs. Whole buildings were covered in the sticky white substance. It looked like someone had pulled a late Halloween prank, but the webs appeared to be real rather than made of silly string.
Zeus looked up at me curiously, sensing my shock. He glanced around and didn’t react at all to the sight of the webs everywhere. He didn’t feel the same instinctive sense of horror as we did.
I walked over to a car that was parked at the curb. It was so heavily shrouded that I couldn’t tell what the make or model was. I touched the web and it was as tacky as it looked. Leaves, branches, trash and even birds had been ensnared in most of the webbing. They looked like bizarre Christmas decorations.
Huge cocoons hung from trees and telephone lines. It wasn’t insects that were trapped inside, but people. I couldn’t hear any heart beats and was fairly certain that the occupants were already dead. Listening intently, I couldn’t hear any sounds of human activity anywhere. As far as I could tell, there were no survivors. Just then, a weak moan sounded from somewhere in the middle of town, proving me wrong.
“Oh, God,” Kala said just loudly enough for Mark to hear her. “Someone is still alive in there.”
She took a step forward and he caught her by the arm. “Wait!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “It could be a trap.” Mitchell had lost some of his fear and was staring around in amazement. Meanwhile, Mark could barely bring himself to look up from the ground. He hadn’t taken a step beyond the trucks yet and I couldn’t blame him. I wasn’t afraid of spiders, but seeing the webs coating every surface except the road shocked even me.
Oblivious to their conversation, Mitchell turned in a slow circle, taking in the spider web shrouded town. “This is not normal,” he said when he came to a stop. His humor at the police officers’ overreaction had fled and he was frowning hard. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a camera. As he focused his camera on the cocoons, Mark surreptitiously handed his cell phone to Reece, who took some photos as well.
After taking photos of the webs and cocooned bodies, Mitchell hung the camera around his neck. He hunkered down, pulled a pen out of his pocket and prodded something that was lying on the ground. I walked over to see what he was doing.
A spider lay on its back with its legs curled together in the classic dead arachnid pose. Now that I was aware of them, I saw tiny bodies everywhere. “Can you tell what sort of spiders they are?” I asked. They were too shriveled up for me to make out much about them. I was far from an expert on arachnids. My philosophy was that if they didn’t bother me, then I wouldn’t bother them. I’d never been the type of girl who had to kill a spider merely because it existed.
He glanced up at me and nodded. “I recognize all of them so far. There are too many to name them all. Most are fairly harmless and are quite common. Yet even they can kill if enough of them bite a human.” He reached into his backpack again and pulled out a specimen jar. Scooping up one of the bodies, he held it up so I could see it. “This one, however, isn’t native to the area and is far from harmless.”
“Where do they come from?” Flynn asked as he ambled over to us. Reece and Kala stayed with Mark near the trucks. Zeus sat beside our boss and leaned against his legs. He sensed his distress and was trying to offer him some comfort.
“It’s from South America,” the entomologist replied, wringing a muffled noise from Mark. “From the looks of these cocoons,” he pointed at the bodies that were hanging from thick strands of silk, “there must be some new type of breed that I’ve never seen before. It must be far larger than any species known to man.”
“You can say that again,” Flynn said quietly. We hadn’t seen it yet, but we knew what type of spider had to be responsible. Although it was made of stone, the golem must be able to produce normal spider silk. That didn’t come as much of a surprise. We’d seen the hydra golem spray real snake venom from each of its five heads.
“Some of these spiders come from even further away,” Mitchell informed us. He scooped another one up and held the jar out for my inspection. The spider might have been the size of a dime when it wasn’t dead and shriveled up. It was black and had an hourglass shaped red mark on its abdomen and a thinner red stripe on its back. “It’s called a Redback Spider,” he said. “It comes from Australia and its venom is highly poisonous. Its bite can make a person very ill. It can kill small children or the old and frail.”
“Australia again,” Kala muttered. “We’ve never even been there and I swear that country is trying to kill us.”
“How could a spider from the other side of the world end up here?” Flynn asked.
Mitchell continued to sort through the bodies, taking more samples as he replied. “A lab not far from here has living specimens of the deadliest arachnids on the planet. I’m guessing they somehow managed to escape.”
“It’s more likely that they were busted out by the golem,” Kala whispered to us. We nodded in agreement.
“Why are there so many dead spiders?” I asked.
Mitchell shrugged a thin shoulder. “Most arachnids only live for a year or so. It’s possible that the dead specimens might have already been near the end of their lifespan. The journey to Gavenport probably overtaxed them to the point of death. Spiders aren’t known for travelling far beyond their territory.”
It was disturbing to see so many small bodies littering the ground. It made me wonder how many arachnids had been gathered here and how many might still be alive.
The voice came again, louder this time. “Please, help me.” It sounded like it came from an elderly woman.
“We have to do something,” Reece said to Mark, who couldn’t hear the pleas. “We can’t just leave her there.”
Torn, Mark struggled against his fear. The last thing he wanted to do was enter the heart of the town. Not even his duty to mankind was strong enough to counter his fear this time. It was a testament of his strength of character that he’d made it this far.
We left Mitchell to sort through the bodies so we could discuss our options. “Reece and I will take a look,” I offered. “We can be there and back before Dr. Salvador even knows we’re missing.”
“All right,” our boss said at last and with great reluctance. “But be quick.”
Stay here and guard Mark, I said to Zeus. I went into motion before he could give me the canine equivalent of a mental nod. The webs didn’t bother him, but he didn’t like the town and sensed that something was very wrong. He could smell dead people inside the cocoons and in their houses. There were no bodies lying on the street. The spider didn’t like to leave its victims lying around and had hoisted them up high.
Reece and I streaked through the eerily silent streets to the center of town. Only the main road was clear of webs. Everything else was covered in white silk. Every vehicle that was parked on the street and driveways were coated in the substance.
Spying an old woman lying on the side of the road, I pointed just as Reece saw her. I grabbed his hand before he could rush to her aid. “Something isn’t right,” I said uneasily.
A small park was to the right. The ground had recently been disturbed and fresh dirt had been scattered on the grass. The other golems that we’d encountered had used tunnels to sneak up on us. There was no reason to believe this one would be any different. I carefully searched the area, but couldn’t see any holes in the ground.
I turned my attention back to the old woman. Her hands scrabbled at the ground, but her legs didn’t move. They were wrapped up tightly in silk. A single thick strand ran from her feet to peter out in the grass. I could smell her fear and pain as well as dirt, blood, human waste and something else. “What is that scent?” I asked.
“I think its spiders,” Reece replied. It was musty, dry and unpleasant.
“Mark was right. This is a trap.” I didn’t see any signs that a golem was near, but danger simmered in the air.
