AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EVERETT
The screams of the man who died before my eyes haunt me in the darkness of my dreams. I wake, sweating and gasping for air. I try to convince myself it was just a nightmare, but I know better. This placeisa nightmare and there’s no waking from the harsh reality before me. Sleep remains out of reach for the rest of the night. Or day. Hell, I don’t know one from the other. My only sign of the time is when Rika comes to take me to the feeding chamber each day.
This time she arrives without speaking. Her small body is hunched forward. The lovely features of her face are pulled tightly into a grimace. I sit up in alarm. My worry for her safety had my stomach twisting in knots for the first few hours after her departure, but the nightmares overtook those worries, dousing me in terror and making me forget all about the woman before me.
There’s something stiff about the way she moves, even a slight limp to one of her legs. “What did they do to you?”
“Let’s go, Everett,” she says in a tight voice. She unhooks me, dragging me up to stand, and leads me into the darkened hallway without another word. My anxiety grows with every silent step we take through the endlessly dark hallways. When I can bear her silence no longer I reach forward. She cries out in pain as my hand clutches her shoulder. My fingers release in an instant.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her words are quiet and sincere. Something about how truly forgiving she sounds only deepens my guilt and concern for her.
“But if they hurt you—”
“Leave it, Everett. Please.” There’s a shakiness beneath her firm tone that I recognize as poorly disguised fear. I want to push her for details, but not at the expense of something happening to her again. There will be a time to ask questions. The tunnels of this cavern are too open, too dark. There’s no telling what’s lurking in the shadowy corners and ceilings.
The feeding today is routine, if you can call such a thing routine. No one was wrapped up in webbing and devoured alive so that’s a plus. The women drink their fill as Rika sucks my cock. Her mouth is as devilishly heavenly as ever, but her body is stiff. Eventually my concerns dive beneath the waters of passion and desire that fill me to the brim when my climax hits. The sight of Rika swallowing my cum is a filthy and beautiful image that I wish to keep fresh in my mind. But as I ease off the mountainous edge of my euphoric state, my eyes are drawn to a wet spot on Rika’s shoulder. The sweater she wears is red, but the steadily growing pool just to the left of her collarbone is an even darker crimson.
They hurt her. Badly. Rika doesn’t drink from me this time and my concerns grow.
“Bathe him. Feed him,” Nilani says, dismissing us as if today is no different than any other. Relief washes over me when the women fall into each other, kissing and crying out. I need them distracted so I can speak to Rika. Alone. She guides me out, her limping more prominent now.
I bite my tongue as we thread through the winding tunnels that make up this underground cave system. Sulfur floats across my senses, signaling our approach to the baths. Without warning, Rika stills and then quickly presses me into the wall, turning her body so that her back is against my chest. “Stay quiet,” she whispers.
A continuous pattern of clicking is my only warning of the thing that approaches us in the near-dark. When the Eater emerges beneath the nearest torch, my breathing halts. Eight legs tap their way across the stone floor while those deadly mandibles snap and click.
“Good evening, sister Mei.” Rika gives a low bow, flinching with the effort. The nearly imperceptible reaction has me desperate to know what happened to her. “Has another feeder been taken by the sickness so soon?”
The Eater, Mei, tilts her slitted eyes my way and sweat beads across my body. “Nooo.” The Eater’s voice is a low rattling screech. “The young one has chosen to leave the Jorogumo.”
Rika’s entire body tenses before me. “The young one? Atree?”
Mei nods her dark head. “Hanged herself.”
Rika gasps, her body pressing back against mine. Mei again locks her gaze on me.
“The scent of your blood is sweet, beautiful boy.” A long tongue dips out, tasting the air. “I look forward to the day the sickness delivers you to me.” Her monstrous body sweeps away and into the dark.
I exhale the breath I’d been holding, before sucking in a fresh lungful of air. Rika’s body is still pressed firmly against mine. Her breathing is elevated. She’s taking quick shallow breaths. I brush my fingers along the back of her neck, making sure not to touch her injured shoulder. She jumps beneath my touch and quickly steps forward. The words of the Eater have clearly affected her. Who was Atree? A friend?
The bathing chamber is quiet and warm. Rika helps me in, but does not undress to join me. For the first time since I arrived, she unhooks the chain binding my wrists together. I immediately stretch my arms out wide, feeling instant relief. She reaches for a rag, and I stop her, taking her small hand in mine.
“Who is Atree?”
Pain flashes across Rika’s soft, chocolatey eyes. She peers back at me. I can see her, weighing her options, deciding whether to shrug off my question or give me the truth.
“She was a friend of yours?” I gently prod.
“It’s hard to get close to others here. But yes, I would consider her a friend.” Emotion is being barely held back beneath the tremulous film of Rika’s control. I sit, quietly, giving her time to process. My patience pays off and she speaks again. “She was young, you know? Only eighteen when they forced the curse on her. That’s why they called her the young one. Her youth and beauty made her particularly good at this. Men couldn’t resist her. They never said no. With beauty like that she’d been born to betray. She just hadn’t known it until the Jorogumo got a hold of her.”
Rika speaks as though beauty like Atree’s is something rare and unattainable, but as I look at her soft face, and sorrowful eyes, I can’t imagine anyone ever saying no to her either. She is just as deadly a weapon of beauty and seduction. She just doesn’t realize it.
“Is it common for the Jorogumo to take their own lives?” I ask softly, treading carefully in this sensitive area.
“Unless the elders kill us, it’s our only way out. Though it’s not as common as you would think. But Atree…” Rika visibly swallows. “She was sad. I think she felt more guilt. She was better than most of us. It was her feeder who Mei devoured in the feeding chamber. The look on Atree’s face after he was gone. Her eyes were vacant, hollow. I should have checked on her. I should have made sure everything was alright—” Rika’s voice breaks as the first of her tears streams freely down her pale face.
Instinct rises in me, urging me to reach for her. My arms encircle her as gently as I can. She stiffens in my hold, but as I rub my palm up and down her back, she relaxes. The moment her face lands on my shoulder, she releases what must be years’ worth of unshed sorrows. Her cries spill out loud and unguarded. I pull her closer, holding her through the release. Despite the fact that this woman lured me down to a place where I’ll certainly meet death, I feel for her. My desire to protect her, to get her away from these monstrous women, grows stronger with every moment I spend in her presence.
