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Crystie starred wide-eyed at the page on the desk before she gently put it back on the desk; she wanted to keep any unnecessary noise at a minimum. Was whatever attacked the person in the paper still here? Or had it disappeared, along with whoever previously owned the place. She stood still for a few moments and strained to hear any abnormal sounds. She heard nothing in return though.

Careful to keep her breaths even and quiet, Crystie slowly made her way over to the staircase. The attic was darker than the rest of the house, so there was no telling what would be up there. Against her better judgment she began to slowly creek her way up the dusty staircase. When she finally reached the top her eyes had adjusted to the growing darkness. She could just make out the shapes of the portraits on the wall, but it was far too dark to see what they held within their frames. Feeling her way along the wall, she carefully stepped closer to one of the darker rooms. Unfortunately, her night vision wasn’t as well as she had hoped as she tripped over something on the floor and fell down to her hands and knees. Swearing under her breath, she reached back to find what she had tripped over. The object was cylindrical with a button at the bottom: A flashlight! She clicked the button but the flashlight seemed dead.

“Oh come on, I really don’t need any more bad luck today,” She muttered to the object as she shook it a bit. This time, the light flickered to life; it was dim but it was enough to get a better view of her surroundings. Finally, things were starting to look up! Armed with nothing more than an old flashlight, and the hammer in her boot, she ventured into the next room.

Sticky webs coat the halls, a figure is strung up by it's feet. It appears to be dead but as Crystie turns on the dim light the web begins to shake violently as if the figure was trying to escape. Sharpened teeth naw at the web, the figure utters a single word, it is a mutated woman. You could only tell by the tone of the voice, "hungry!!!" One of the woman's arms broke free, with over grown nails reaching for Crystie but still upside down. The woman swung slightly as her crys got louder creating ripples in the web through out the stone/metal housing structure. It almost looked like ever "house in the Grotto was a hotel or apartment complex of some sort. Wet dirt and mud on the ground created slopping sounds as Crystie moved through the homes.

Wrong idea! Crystie hurried to shut the door on the woman in the room before the turned and ran down to the other door at the end of the hall. She quickly shut that door behind her and hastily shut off her flashlight, engulfing her into darkness. She kept her breaths even and quiet as she slowly backed up further into the room, her hammer at the ready. The screaming woman could still be heard from outside the door, but Crystie wasn’t sure if she knew where she had run to hide or if she had even escaped her webby prison.

As she backed up, her hand came in contact with one of the very sticky webs.

“Ugh! This stuff is everywhere!” She groaned to herself as she ripped her hand free, wiping the sticky substance on her overalls. Just what kind of overactive spider created all these webs?

She'd soon find out.

The webs were everywhere now. No matter where she would move, Crystie came into contact with webbing. A dark figure behind furniture darted out of the corner of her eye, too quick to see who it could be. Whoever it was, they were as fast as lightning, and had footsteps to match. They sounded like sped up dog nails clicking on hardwood floor.

This happened in one minute intervals. The figure would dart from spot to spot, always out of sight. Once it made a full circle around the room, its plan was revealed. It had tied a barely visible thread around Crystie's ankles!

Behind a large chair, the thread was yanked hard.

The clicking had brought Crystie's attention back to the room instead of whatever lay outside. She shined her flashlight in one corner, but whatever was there had already moved to the opposite corner of the room. So fast!!

She frantically began to shine her flashlight around the room, trying to get just a glimpse of whatever was with her, but to no avail. Finally the creature came to rest, but before Crystie could shine the flashlight her feet went out from under her and she came crashing to the ground. Her flashlight spun out from her grasp and illuminated the area in front of her. A cut broke open from her lip and she could taste blood.

"You're a smart thing aren't ya?" She asked nothing, straining to sit up. Her hands gingerly went to her legs as she touched the thread. It was sticky like the walls; spider's web?

"Alright now what? You gonna try to kill me like everything else here?" She asked again, flattening herself back out as she reached for the flashlight just out of reach.

There was no answer. But, the flashlight’s beam did catch something. Long, spindly dark legs covered in what appeared to be exoskeleton slowly crept towards her. The claws tipped on the flexible toes hardly made a sound as they moved across the old wooden floor. A furry abdomen followed behind them. So it was a spider ... a really big one.
“No. Not yet, anyway,” a raspy voice sounded in the darkness. It was coming from where the four pairs of legs were. The hidden creature came closer and bent down. The light behind it made it hard to distinguish anything.
Rough, hard, spindly hands with claws patted around Crystie’s head and made their way down to her neck. They made wide arcs around the top of her chest as though they were looking for something.
“Damn it, not again. No amulet.” The hands went around the back and ran up and down her back. They let go abruptly and retreated.
“How are you not a mutant yet? All the humans have turned long ago,” the creature asked.

No, no no no. She could handle the creatures with the long fingernails and the creepy nuns, but spiders?! This is it: this was hell.
Her skin crawled as the giant spider-thing ran his hands over her chest. More talk about the amulet?

"Well, at least the outside of me is still human. I just got here actually so I haven't had much time to really let myself go," she muttered, wriggling her body towards the flashlight. She had completely forgotten about the priceless bell hidden in her pocket.

"You're the first thing around here to make any sense. Are you still human?" Regardless if he was or not, perhaps conversation would keep him distracted from eating her.

The spider stifled a laugh, coming out as a short snort. His toes came into contact with the flashlight as we moved around. His foot picked it up to hand it to one of his hands. The beam made a cheesy scary lighting effect on his torso and face as he pointed it upwards and felt it. As it turned out, he was an anthropomorphic spider. The combination of human and spider features were apparent just from his bust.
“Human? Lady, I was never human in the first place. I’ve always been this way ... except maybe for my eye condition. That I wasn’t born with.”
He blinked. He wasn’t actually looking at her like a normal person would, but in her general direction. It was easy to see why; his eyes were fully clouded over in white film. While it didn’t look so bad, whatever blinded him must have caused major damage to them in the distant past. They’d healed over pretty well.
The giant spider turned and carried the flashlight across the room, and then, wonder of all wonders, he walked up the wall and onto the ceiling. Using his spinnerets from his abdomen he spun a wad of sticky goo on the end of the flashlight and stuck it on the ceiling to act as a light. The beam provided a dim circle of light that didn’t quite touch the walls, but it was better than nothing.
He flipped from the ceiling back onto the wall, and threw a new line at Crystie. It attached to her pant leg easily. Holding the line, he galloped – or rather, leapt – from wall to wall to entwine the thread around her. His movements were eerie, like a jumping spider’s. That would explain why Crystie couldn’t see him before he caught her.
“How did you manage to get in here when you weren’t sealed like the rest of us?” he asked as he bounced around the room.

Crystie couldn't control her jump as the flashlight illuminated the spider-man's face. Oh great, things just get better and better. She did notice however, his milky looking eyes. Maybe she would have some luck after all. If she could keep quiet enough, he would have more trouble locating her.

The next second he crawled up the wall and she suddenly felt the new sticky web attach to her pant-leg. He was going to spin her up!! Fear began to bubble up inside her before she reached down and tried to pull the webs apart; they were far too sticky to come apart. Damn it, she needed something sharper than a hammer.

"Well, before I was smashed to death I found a door to this god forsaken place. I don't know how it happened, I was just lucky enough to survive. Please tell me you're the only one of your kind," she grunted and she strained to crawl across the floor. She just needed to find a knife..maybe a piece of broken glass. She tried to keep her breaths soundless as she crawled towards what she thought was the door.

The vibrations on the new strand told him that she was trying to escape his experienced clutches. He wasn’t trying to catch her for food, however. If he was lucky, he could convince her to tell him how she got here so that he could leave this place. While there were plenty of creatures to eat, the spider knew well enough that a contained city would run out of edible things eventually. He had to escape as much as she did.
“I’m not,” he answered her, pausing his wall jumping. “But I’m the only one in this city, from what I’ve gathered over the years. You’re going the wrong way, by the way,” he added, having heard her clothes rub against the floor away from him. Years of being blind had sharpened his senses to superhuman levels, to the point that one could argue he could see without actually “seeing”. He’d explored the room many times and knew that the door was nearest to him from where they were standing.
The line was long enough now. He walked back on the ceiling and attached it on there, effectively leashing Crystie to the room. Keeping the line in his hand, he followed it back to her.
“Now will you stop moving, please? I’m not going to kill you.”

Crystie crawled until the line holding her grew taunt and she couldn't continue any farther. Gritting her teeth she tried to reach out to find any more weapons, but she only found scattered paper.

"Yeah? And how do I know you're not just trying to trick me? You haven't really given me a reason to trust you yet, what with tying me up and all." she told him. She sounded defiant, but she held her position before sitting up to look at him. He looked a lot stronger than she monsters she had just narrowly escaped before, so her only hope was fleeing and using his weaknesses against him if it came down to it. Better to play on the offense rather than the defense.

"So, what do you want with me then if you don't want to kill me?"

“I could have easily bit you when I was looking for the amulet,” he pointed out. He awkwardly patted around the ground with his foot until it collided with hers. Ah, good. Now he knew she was there for sure. He tugged the thread and dragged her with one hand to the middle of the room, still planning on tying Crystie up securely. The spider couldn’t afford to have his only chance at escape running away.
Once that was done, he let go of her, surprisingly. He kept a loose hand on her foot while he started pulling out more thread ... but he didn’t tie her with it. It was almost as if he were politely asking for her to stay there while he worked away with his strands. He kept pulling more and more thread out and thickening them with more. What the heck was he doing?
“I want out of here just as badly as you do,” he explained. “And if you got here after the city was sealed, there’s bound to be a way out of here. You can get me out of here,” he emphasized enthusiastically. Then the spider paused. “Oh ... of course, I’m not going to come after you once we’re free. That would be cheating.”

While it was true he could have already easily killed her, she had a hard time trusting the creature.

Crystie tried to grab one of the floorboards as he pulled her towards the middle of the room, but her hands caught on nothing. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but he was gathering more thread. Was he going to put her in a full body bind and force her to help him? He let go after awhile, though his hand loosely remained on her foot.

"Why do you need to get out of here? I doubt the people on the surface are going to take a liking to you and welcome you with open arms. Or do you want to wreck havoc up there as well? Besides, why should I help you?" She sneered, trying desperately to wriggle from her leg prison though it seemed to get her nowhere. Sighing, she slammed her hands down against the floor. She hated feeling this useless.

"You got a name?"

The spider paused his thread spinning and lifted his head slowly to face the approximate direction Crystie’s face was, snarling and hissing. The glare on his face was thunderous enough to tell her that he wasn’t in the mood for attitude. If it weren’t for the fact that she was new to the place, he would have loved to maul her to death. His mandibles twitched in frustration while he grit his sharp teeth, but he didn’t do anything else other than spin more webbing.

“If I told you my real name you’d never be able to pronounce it,” he said, finishing up his threads. He’d made two loops of thick cord. “You can just call me Blight. And whether you like it or not, you’re going to help me escape this place.”
Quickly, he lassoed one of the cords around her waist and attached it to a thread. Then he wrapped the other cord around his waist and attached the other end of the thread to it. They were tied together. Not needing the foot anchor on Crystie anymore, he leaned down and detached it with a claw.

Crystie froze while the spider man hissed and spit in her direction. She was getting nowhere trying to talk him out of letting her go. Guess she should be thankful he still hadn't eaten her yet.

"Alright, Blight, that will work for now." She said no more; she didn't want to find another way to piss off the creature. Suddenly, a tight, webby lasso gripped her around the waist and fastened to Blight next to her. When she was free of the binding around her legs she stood up and glared over at Blight, glad he couldn't see. She tested the rope just once to see that it was too strong to break by her own strength; they were sealed together until she could find something to get her away from him. She balled her hands into fist and sighed angrily.

"Fine! Just be like that then! I'm not making any promises that I can get you out of here though" and once I find a way to get rid of these ropes i'll find another way to kill you she thought. She gazed around the room, picking up a stray pen off the floor but noticing nothing else of any real value. After pocketing the pen, she began to walk towards the door, but once the rope was taunt Blight's strength made it so she couldn't progress any further without his help.

"I really don't have any idea where I'm going yet, I'm just trying to figure out this place before I try and figure out how to get out of here. Seems like my closest friend would be the Giant robot things around here. They might know where the exit is." She told him, still trying to walk forward though the rope held her in place.

Blight didn’t move. The scowl on his face had transformed into a worried expression. He’d seen the way those things ripped apart people, and had narrowly escaped the same fate himself a few times. If she had a bell, this could spell disaster for him.

“Giant? Friend? You haven’t got one of those wretched bells, have you?” he asked. His voice was wavering from the thought of being killed so brutally. His hand tightened around the line attaching them to each other, and his legs started to shake a little. The fur on him stood on end. Reluctantly, he took a few steps forward to let Crystie get to where she needed to go.

The bell!! She had completely forgotten she had it. Slowly, her hand moved down to her pocket where she felt he comforting lump of the bell. The way fear flooded his voice, it was obvious that the robots would be her salvation against him. A smile widened on her face as she began to walk through the door.

"Bell? What good would a stupid little bell do me?" She lied. Blight seemed to be a little more cooperative for now, what with the fear of his life hanging on the line. She would have to be careful though, because those giant robots could tear her to shreds as well if she was too close to Blight.

"Bells and ogres aside, have you ever been outside this house?" She asked him as she started down the stairs towards the light.

Blight relaxed, buying the lie. A lot less reluctantly he walked with her, listening to her steps so that he could time his along with hers. It wouldn’t get them anywhere if they had to constantly stop and pull at each other.
“Yes, actually,” he said, answering her question. “I know a few streets. I usually prefer my food coming to me, but sometimes I have to go find it.”

He could vaguely see the glow from the outside world through his clouded eyes, but it was so faint. He had to swing his head from side to side to confirm the light differences. A few clicks from his mouth gave him a sound map of sorts where the door frame was, like a bat would do.
“Once we’re out, I’ll take us to the roof. You can see where we can go up there,” he offered.

"That's actually a great idea. I might actually be able to find better supplies if I can see more of this place. I doubt the exit will be easy to spot, or else more of you creatures would be back up in my world. As long as I can find something edible around here, maybe somewhere to sleep once in awhile where I won't be killed, I can hunt down our exit." She explained, leading Blight to the door of the house. She cautiously peered around the corner, looking for any more monsters before she carefully stepped outside and lead blight along with her. For now, she was as safe as she could be; aside from being tied to Blight who could eat her if he desired.

"Alright, were outside." She wasn't sure if he could tell.

"Have you heard of any places around here that are heavily guarded? Perhaps a place where people are unlikely to venture?" It was kind of a long shot to already find the exit, but she had to ask.

Blight could feel the asphalt’s rough texture through the exoskeleton covering his feet, and smell the changes in the atmosphere. They were outside, all right. Outside in the world full of mutants that could kill them both.
“You’ll know it when you see it,” he replied. He turned his head to the right. “That way is where the metal giants tend to go back to. It’s a long way off, though. They go so far I can’t hear them within a few minutes.”
In his spidery way, he plodded over to the wall of the house and climbed onto it. Once the strand connecting them was taut, he looked down.

“Hang on tight. I’ll pull you up with me.”
He was sure to climb up slowly so that his passenger didn’t get whiplash or bounce along the wall. Once he was up on the roof, he pulled the cord and helped Crystie up.