part 1 : @restcity/arachnophobia-part-1
The day of my leave, I was super quiet.
Ma gave me my suitcase and shotgun.
As soon as the gun hit my hands, I nearly dropped from how heavy it was. This thing was like holding a baby.
“You should be used to the weight of the gun by now,” Pa said as he walked past me to the car.
I watched my father walk by with grit teeth. I was really starting to hate my parents. They were acting like sending me away to a Maximum-protection anti-Massacre Spider school two states North of home was normal.
Ma leaned her head in my line of vision and smiled at me.
“Come on, Kuler, where’s my son's usual waggish mood?”
“That died along with his sanity when he was bitten by a huge furry spider.”
She ruffled my hair. “Oh, don’t be like that. Things will get better.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
Pa looked at me with a side eye, and I speedwalked the rest of the distance over to the car. This would be my final ride in the family’s green liftback.
My parents were sending me to AMS, the proteccion/self-defense boarding school in Maryland that was supposed to protect kids of America from PSYCHO and his army of Massacre spiders. Some of my relatives couldn’t dream of seeing a spider the size of a grown man that killed humans with deadly venom. I had lived through a Massacre Spider bite by having O- blood, and honestly, it was just as terrifying as everyone described it, but more painful and mentally scarring. I now had severe Arachnophobia I couldn’t shake no matter how many months passed.
I said my final goodbyes to Ma, and then Pa started the car and we began to drive out of the neighborhood. We stopped at a nearby fast-food joint for breakfast biscuits, then we left North Carolina, my home state, for the big unknown. I spent the drive through both the Virginia’s staring down the highway while the scenery (barely) changed.The dark green forests on either side of the highway turned to colorful trees with red, yellow, and orange leaves, which gave way to colorful mountains and hills. Half-bald trees sat atop rocky mountain tiers. It felt like we were in a valley, between two warm mountains, going forward forever, the cars surrounding us our kin. It felt cozy.
“Don’t think about going to sleep now, we’re almost there.” Pa spoke for the first time in 2 hours.
“Wasn’t gonna.” I said.
The mountains beside us abruptly ended and I was able to look below the highway to see a small clump of dull buildings sticking out of a land of dark green. Barely anyone took the exit Pa took.
Man, this place is isolated, I thought.
“If this place is so necessary to protect the youth from spiders, wouldn’t it be near a big city?”
“No. not many people know of this place, and that’s by design.” Pa told me, his eyes darting to look at me while he drove. “If PSYCHO caught word of this place, it wouldn’t be good.”
I grit my teeth for the second time that day. I swear, if I ever get my hands on that crazy arachnologist-
Dad continued, breaking my thoughts.
“Also, not many people are willing to send their kids away with guns.”
“But you and Mom, were.”
“Barely. We knew it would be better for you, Kuler.”
“How?” I sat up and turned to him. “I’ve already been bitten before. How would sending me to a gun-crazy school in the middle of nowhere be better for me?”
Pa huffed. “Because we can’t risk you being bitten again,”
“Why not!? I have the rarest blood in the world! A spider’s already bitten me and I lived! You and Ma are what you should be worrying about! What if you need me back at home!? To take a hit for you or some-”
“TAKE A HIT!?” Pa swerved off the road and the car jumped as we rammed into the grass. My heart was racing. I turned to Pa, who was staring at me so sharply I could feel the heat of him practically melting me.
“TAKE A FREAKING HIT!?” He cursed. “It nearly killed your mother when she found out you had been bitten. All those days you spent in the hospital, she wished over and over it had been her who had been bitten. It tore her apart. We are sending you here because we want to protect you. To keep you safe. To make sure that never happens again!”
The loudest thing around was my father’s heavy breathing. I was actually afraid.
“... but, I have O- blood. I’m immune to-”
“Who knows if what the doctor said is correct!? They could be wrong. You could’ve just gotten lucky that time. I’m not willing to go off of someone else’s guesses when it comes to my son’s life. We’re sending you to AMS to keep you safe, and that’s it. I don’t wanna hear another thing about it.
Pa ripped his gaze away from me and turned to the front of the car, while I had a good, long look at my legs.
I couldn’t even face him. I had no idea Ma had been so broken when I went to the hospital. But then again, I was her only child, her son, who she’s held before and whatched grow up, and then, to see me half-conscious, and loosing so much blood.
It tore her apart.
Needless to say I spent the rest of the ride quiet.
TO BE CONTINUED
My name is Shila Williams. I am 16 years old and I have been passionate about writing and drawing since I knew how to spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as living and traveling abroad. I write to inspire children's minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.
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