THE DAY OF THE SPIDERS
Charles Luther
(Originally published under the pen-name of Luther Charleston)



The girl stepped into the open topped sports car and sat down in the low seat. Her skirt rode up revealing a large expanse of leg. The car's driver looked down at her legs and a sly grin crossed his face. 

"It's very kind of you to drive me home," she said, a smile beaming across her face. 

The driver returned her smile. "Think nothing of it my dear," he replied. "I couldn't leave you to make your own way home with this train strike on and it looks as if it's going to rain." 

He revved up the motor and pulled out into the traffic. The warm evening air played on the girl's face and blew her long hair out behind her. 

The journey continued for about five minutes in silence. She felt she shouldn't disturb his concentration as he weaved in and out of the rush hour traffic at break neck speed. Soon they were out of the city and speeding through the countryside. Here the traffic had thinned out and the motorway was more or less straight for as far as she could see. 

"I wonder..." the girl began uncertainly. 

The driver continued to look straight ahead as he pulled into the third lane, overtaking a row of cars keeping more or less to the speed limit. "Yes my dear?" he prompted. 

"You'll probably think I'm being very silly," she explained, sounding uncertain, "but a huge spider made a web outside my bedroom window this morning; it was really frightening, it was so big. If it's still there, will you get rid of it for me. You see my parents are away at the moment, and I'm all alone in the house..." 

The driver's face broke into a sly smile once again. "Of course I will, my dear," he assured her. "When will your parents be coming back?" 

"Not until Monday," she stated. "They're away all weekend." 

His smile grew broader. Like a lamb to the slaughter, he thought. No-one at the office had cracked this one yet, despite some spirited efforts, but it looked like he was about to hit the jackpot. So what if he was old enough to be her father; a lot of girls liked a more mature man. 

A few minutes later, they had turned off the motorway and were winding down a narrow, twisting country lane. 

"It's just down here," the girl explained. "Around the next corner." 

The car pulled into the grounds of an imposing, though ancient looking rambling house. He was impressed, she was both beautiful and rich. He'd always found classy women far more appealing, there was a greater sense of triumph to bed someone with breeding. 

They pulled up by the front entrance. The girl got out and he followed her up the steps. Her dress was not only short, but tight as well hugging her superbly crafted body. His pulse was racing, he could hardly wait..... 

The girl gasped as a spider scuttled across the steps in the approaching twilight to escape from under their feet. 

"There's spiders everywhere," the girl exclaimed. "I think they escape from that experimental station just over the hill. We get some really strange coloured ones, I'm sure they are not natives. Daddy usually deals with them, but since he's not here, there seems to be more of them than ever." 

It seemed the bit about the spiders was true, the man mused, still it didn't make any difference, he was sure his luck was in. He was convinced she'd be very grateful once he'd dealt with these unwelcome visitors. He smiled at the thought of just how grateful she might get. 

She opened the door and quickly deactivated the alarm. He followed her in. His feet were lost in the thick pile of the carpet. He looked around the walls at the paintings hung on the walls, and at the sculptured figures that returned his awed gaze. 

They must he really loaded, he thought, even if they are copies, they're expertly done. He looked closely at one of the pictures. "Say isn't this -" he began. 

"Don't ask me," the girl laughed, "I'm hopeless at things like that. I know Daddy values them a lot. That's why he's got this high tech security system that's connected up with the local police station." She paused. 

"Want a drink?" she enquired, "all that high speed driving must have given you a thirst." 

"Yes please," he agreed, though his thirst was not for a drink. He followed her through a heavy oak door. If anything, the lounge was even more opulent than the hall. She motioned him to a seat and he settled into a luxuriously leather chair. 

"What would you like to have?" the girl asked. He smiled inwardly, tempted to tell her exactly what he wanted. 

"A whisky please, my dear," he murmured, his mind still preoccupied with his thoughts. 

"And how do you like it?" 

"Neat," he responded, thinking that he'd soon be showing her exactly how he liked it. 

She poured him a large whisky and a vodka for herself. She handed him his drink, then sat down in the chair opposite, crossing her legs. Her dress was revealing about as much of her legs as she had. She smiled sweetly, sipping at her drink. He downed his in one go, the liquid burning his throat. 

"Could I have another?" he asked hoarsely. 

"Sure," she replied. "Have anything you like." He was becoming convinced this girl was a real tease, despite her cool indifference to the other men's advances at work. He poured himself another large measure from the heavy crystal decanter and returned to his seat. Suddenly the girl screamed, jerking her feet up onto the chair. 

He had to confess he was more interested at the sight of her black underwear that was exposed than the reason for the girl's outburst. Almost reluctantly, he turned to see what the girl was pointing at. A large spider was scuttling across the carpet. Although they weren't his favourite insect, they didn't really worry him and he leapt into action, crushing it under his foot. He picked up the mangled body by one of it's legs and opening the window dropped it out. 

"There, my dear," he said, "the danger is gone." 

"I'm so sorry," she apologised, having assumed a slightly more demure pose, "but they haven't got in here before - and the way they run, and all those legs; it's not natural." 

"Don't worry my dear," he assured her, "you'll be safe from the spiders as long as I'm here." 

The girl got up and poured herself another large vodka. "I feel so stupid," she explained. "I know they're only silly little insects, but they frighten the hell out of me. I don't think I can stay here all alone. I'll have to go and stay with my older sister until daddy gets back." She paused. "It's a real fag, she lives almost two hundred miles away and my driving's not too good...." 

"Why don't I stay," he suggested eagerly, "I can kip on the sofa." 

The girl looked relieved. "Oh would you? There's a guest room next to mine." 

"It'll be my pleasure," he assured her, thinking how he certainly intended it to be. "Now why don't I take you out to dinner first, get you away from the thought of these spiders for a while." 

"That'd be lovely," she decided. "I'll just have a bath and get changed and then I'll be ready for anything." 

She accepted his offer to check the bath for unwelcome visitors. It was all clear. The room had everything he'd expected, from the gold plated taps on the king size bath to a Jacuzzi. He fantasised about them in there together. As he emerged back onto the landing, he met the girl now dressed in a skimpy towel barely covering the parts that interested him the most. She gave him another sweet smile and disappeared into the bathroom. 

He was sorely tempted to follow her, but didn't want to blow it; if she was just a tease, he'd be out on his ear, whereas if he played his cards right..... 

The short, low cut, backless white dress she wore left next to nothing to the imagination. The thin material clung tightly to her body and it was obvious she had nothing on underneath it. "Is this alright?" she asked innocently when she returned downstairs. He just nodded dumbly. 

His eyes were transfixed on her breasts the whole time they were in the restaurant, her nipples were large and prominent and the shadow of her dark aurora clearly visibly through the thin gauze of her dress. Far from being embarrassed by his obvious staring, she seemed to be revelling in it and made no complaint as he constantly topped up her wine glass. 

By the time they left the restaurant she was giggly and unsteady on her feet. "God," she sighed, "it was so hot in that restaurant, I'm all sticky now." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Do you like girls when they're all hot and sweaty?" 

"Of course my dear," he assured her. 

"It's good not to have to wear underwear," she continued silkily, "I can get the air to my body. It used to be a problem because I've got thick black hair, my bush used to show up through this dress, but I've solved that problem now, I've shaved it off." 

He'd been around a lot, but even he was taken aback by this girl's candour and was temporarily lost for words, as she pulled away and staggered uncertainly over to the car laughing happily. This was going to be one hell of a weekend he thought. 

By the time they'd got back in the car, the girl had returned to her demure attitude, though in just that dress it was hard to achieve. Still, he thought, staring appreciatively at her, it was worth waiting a few minutes for.... 

The car pulled up outside her parent's house and the girl was quickly out of the car and up the steps to the house, unlocking the door and switching off the alarm. As he entered the hallway, she looked at him coolly. "Come on," she said, "you've got some business to attend to in my bedroom." There was just a hint of a smile on her face. To help preserve what little modesty she had left, she sent him up the stairs ahead of her. 

"In there," she said. "I've left the curtains drawn all day because I couldn't bear looking at it, but I bet it's still there." She had returned to her frightened, little girl look. "Please kill it," she said, "if you just chase it away and break up its web, it's bound to return." 

"No problem, my dear," he assured her. The room had the same opulence as the rest of the house, yet here there was also a mixture of sensual innocence. He couldn't help but notice this 'innocent child' had a double bed. He was sure as soon as he'd got rid of the spider, he'd be home and dry. 

He pulled back the thick, expensive curtains. There was a very large spider's web outside her room, so she obviously hadn't made that bit up, but there was no sign of the web's occupant. He opened the window and checked the immediate vicinity but there was no sign of the spider. He admired its handiwork for a moment; it was something of a work of art as precious as the painting and sculptures in the house, it seemed a crime to destroy it. Still, it was for the greater good. He broke up the web and then closed the window. "It's all clear," he called out. "it's gone and I've destroyed its web." 

He turned as the girl entered the room. "Thanks," she said quietly. She kicked off her shoes, then casually removed her dress, almost as if he wasn't there. She lay on the bed, a smile on her lips. "Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly," she breathed. 

He gazed at the superb contours of her naked body. He could hardly restrain himself, but years of experience helped him keep his cool, he undressed slowly. Finally, he got onto the bed beside her. "you know, my dear," he stated, "I've been with lots of women, but I don't think I've ever met one so near perfection as you are." He paused, then laughed. "You know, I suddenly had this weird idea that this was all going to turn into a nightmare and you were going to reveal yourself as some science fiction horror creature a half woman, half spider that trapped me in her web, fatally bit me, enveloped me in a cocoon, then ate me for a meal." 

The girl giggled, now adopting the pose of an innocent school girl. "That's why I love older men," she said, "these kids are at it and its all over; but we can take our time." Before he could make a move, she let out a loud scream. 

Two large spiders had started to weave webs across the door to her bedroom. He gasped, they were bigger than any he'd seen in his life. 

"Kill them," the girl screamed becoming hysterical, pulling the bedclothes up around her. 

This was certainly the time for action, he thought. Once he'd despatched these blighters he'd be her saviour; anything would be possible. 

Once again, as he approached the busy spiders, he stopped to admire their webs. Unlike any others he'd ever seen, they were interweaving their webs into one. "It's beautiful actually," he said. "Like those paintings downstairs." 

The girl began to tremble violently. "Please get us out of here," she cried, "It's not natural." 

The man pondered the situation for a moment. Now he was close up, he realised just how big these spiders were. They were definitely alien to this country and very likely poisonous. But his lust had overcome his common sense and he began to rip the web apart. To his relief and triumph, the spiders ran away. "Come on," he ordered, "I think we'd better stay the night at a hotel. I know a good one near here." 

The girl was pulling on a tee shirt and jeans, then bent down and tossed his clothes over to him. She froze. There was a sound like a rat running over the lino. He looked up. A spider was scuttling across the ceiling. The girl ran out onto the landing as it ran down the wall. A deft blow from one of his shoes squashed it into the expensive wallpaper. 

There was a lot of rustling going on outside. He pulled back the curtains to see more spiders were congregating and beginning to weave webs until the whole of the window was covered. The man pulled on his clothes and ran out onto the landing. It was deserted but for the girl. 

"Downstairs," he decided. When they reached the bottom, he looked around. "Have you got a fly spray?" he asked. 

"Yes," the girl replied. "I think there's one in the kitchen. I'll show you." 

They went into the kitchen. The girl opened a cupboard and pulled out the spray, which she handed to him. He read the instructions and handed it back. "If you see any spiders," he said, "spray them. According to the can, it kills all insects in two seconds." 

He looked up to the window. "It's the same down here," he said. The spiders outside had covered the windows with webs. They inspected and sprayed all the rooms in the house. The windows in every room were now covered with webs. Their task finished, and having made sure all the windows and outside doors were firmly closed and locked, they returned to the lounge. The girl poured out two more large drinks, and they sat down in silence. When the man had emptied his glass, he got out of his chair. "Can I use your phone?" he asked. 

"Are you going to phone for help? the girl asked hopefully. 

"No," the man replied. "It would seem rather silly if I 'phoned the police and told them we were under siege from spiders. They'd only laugh at us. No, I'm going to 'phone that insect research place. Hopefully, there's still someone in authority there, even though it's late." 

He walked out of the room, and picked up the 'phone. It was dead. There must be a fault on the line, surely the spiders weren't responsible. He returned to the lounge. "We must consider this sanely," he said, as the girl poured herself another drink. It would seem that a large number of spiders, say a hundred, have escaped from that experimental station over the hill, and have found their way here. The only danger they represent is that some of them may be poisonous, but as far as I can see, there's no way any more can get in, we've checked all the entrance points. The only problem is that we can't get out without letting some of them in. It looks like stalemate." 

"I'm sorry," the girl decided, "but I've gone right off our night of fun." Her face looked quite white. "I think I'm going to be sick," she said. She ran out of the room and up to the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later, looking pale and tired. "Sorry," she repeated. She slumped into the chair and turned on the television. "Got to take my mind off these spiders," she explained quietly. She flicked channels until she found the last part of a film worth watching. By the time it had ended, she had fallen into a troubled sleep. The national news followed and he watched the usual display of death and disasters from around the world. He left it on for the weather forecast for tomorrow which followed the local news. Suddenly he realised the relevance of one of the items: 

"Early this morning, a large number of spiders escaped from the Experimental Insect Institute in Kent. The police have been called in and sabotage has been confirmed. On several of the cases the locks were broken, though no motive has been revealed yet. It is felt that an ex-employee bearing a grudge may have been the culprit, police have no evidence of the emergence of any kind of Insect Liberation Front. The scientists at the station would not reveal the nature of the project they were working on, but stated that several of the species were poisonous. However, as long as they are not disturbed they will not prove dangerous. The only case they are worried about is this one." A picture flashed up on the screen. "An African spider, very rare even in its native habitat, feared by the locals because of its size, and over here fed on drugs to increase its weight. It has a body of almost a foot in length, and a leg span of three feet. If this spider is seen do not disturb it. Scientists are not really alarmed for anyone's safety, as they have revealed that almost five hundred experimental spiders had escaped in the last year, and no- one has reported any problems. They feel that they have all perished in the alien surroundings of the countryside." The female announcer shivered, smiling. "Let's hope they have," she continued. "Even the little ones give me the creeps. Now onto sport. In the two hundred meters today -" 

He switched the set off. He began to feel anxious. He doubted if that item would have made even the local news if it wasn't more serious than they made out. The sudden silence had woken the girl from her slumbers. She rubbed her stomach. "Oh God," she gasped, "I still feel sick. There's some stuff in the bathroom." She got up and almost fell over; the effect of the large amount of drink she'd consumed during the evening was still taking its toll. 

"I'd better help you," he decided, taking her arm and leading her out into the hall. 

"Look," she pointed with a trembling hand, "on the stairs!" 

The man looked, blinked, then looked again. There were three rows of spiders marching down the stairs towards them, like an army. 

"I don't believe it," the man said. "This can't be true." 

The girl stood as still as a statue. He ran back into the lounge to retrieve the can of insect killer, then ran back into the hall, spraying the spiders as they came forward. It was all over in a matter of seconds. The last spider gave a dying twitch. 

"They must have got in somewhere upstairs," the man said. "I'd better go and look." He turned back to the girl. "Are you coming, or do you want to stay down here?" he asked. 

"I'll come with you," the girl whispered. "Don't leave me alone, it's becoming a nightmare. She followed him up the stairs stepping very cautiously over the dead spiders. When they reached the top of the stairs, the man looked up and down the landing. He walked along it, while the girl got her medicine from the bathroom cabinet. He found a small hole in the skirting board. As he spoke a spider emerged, then scuttled back. The man liberally sprayed the entrance to the hole then pulled out his handkerchief and plugged the opening with it. He went around all the other rooms in the house, checking every inch of wall, floor and ceiling. 

The night was spent patrolling the house for new invaders. Things had hardly turned out how either of them had planned he thought ruefully....... 

In the morning he woke from a light doze and looked at his watch, six o'clock. He'd got to get ready for work. No, it was Saturday. Where was he? Then it all came back to him. The girl was half awake in the other chair, her eyes looked red and bleary. 

"I had a bad night," she explained. "I kept dreaming about spiders chasing me." He pulled the curtains back to check the state of play and the girl gasped with surprise. "The spiders are gone from the windows," she exclaimed. 

A quick examination of the other rooms revealed the windows there were all clear as well, only the maze of webs remained. They cautiously made their way outside, he broke through the webs over the doorway and went outside. There were no spiders in sight. 

"Let's get out of here," the girl decided. "We can have a day out. You mentioned a hotel, we could go there tonight..." 

The man looked puzzled. "There's far more windows here than I saw inside," he mused. 

"Oh," the girl explained. "The house was too big for us now. Daddy partitioned some of it off. We don't use it." 

"Is there still a way in?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

"Yes," the girl confirmed, uncertainly, "there's a door round here." She led him to the entrance. It creaked open on rusty hinges and they peered into the room. It looked quite empty except for the layers of dust. They stepped cautiously into the room. The girl coughed as the dust billowed up in the air. 

"Which room would be opposite the other end of the landing?" the man asked. 

"It would be a continuation of the landing this side," the girl replied. "That was an artificial wall put up when the house was divided." 

"Let's go upstairs then," the man decided, walking towards the stairs. 

"If you don't mind," the girl replied, "I'll wait outside. This part of the house gives me the creeps." 

"Of course, my dear," the man agreed, "after all, I'm only a guest. I'll be down in a couple of minutes. I doubt if I'll find anything anyway. I've got a feeling that the spiders have all gone somewhere else." 

"I certainly hope so," the girl responded. The man paused on the stairs and watched the girl disappear outside. He walked up the rest of the stairs and when he reached the top, he stopped to brush the dust and cobwebs off his face. He looked up and down the deserted landing. There was nothing there. He was just about to return down the stairs when he heard the sound he'd heard the night before. It was like a rat running. It came from the far room. He walked down the landing, and pushed open the door that was already an inch or so open. He gasped in horror. In the centre of the room, with a web that spanned the whole room, was the massive spider that he'd seen on the television the night before. He backed out of the room. He wasn't going to try and tackle that without help. As he turned to leave the room, there was a loud rustling behind him. From the next room, hundreds of spiders poured forth in a black mass. They blocked his way. He backed away as they scuttled towards him; along the ground, up the walls, and over the ceiling. He stepped back into the room. Another step. Another. He felt something soft like lace curtains touching the back of his neck. 

He had backed into the spiders web! Before he could step forward he felt the web vibrate, as the huge spider scuttled down to its captive. Its hairy legs were touching his scalp. Its jaws sunk into his head. There was no pain, no injection of poison, instead a flow of visions. 

Alien landscapes flashed into his mind. Scenes in vivid colours that he had been unable to imagine on his own. Purple skies filled with triple suns that revolved around each other in dizzy arcs. A message pounded into his mind again and again:- 'My brothers will be free. They shall be free!' 

The next thing he could remember was being shaken. He opened his eyes. All he could see was a blue mass. A face was smiling down at him. It was a girl. Her face looked familiar, but somehow distant and alien. 

"The time is near now," she whispered, "soon our masters will take their rightful place at the pinnacle of our civilisation. We, their human servants have prepared things well for them, and soon we will no longer be required........... 

"Why were you out in the woods, tied up in all those ropes?" a voice asked. 

"I am a spider," he replied. "My web." 

"And the girl?" 

"She is not a girl. She is a spider. She is my mate. We have been chosen, from the human servants to join their glorious conquest." 

The doctor turned away from the beds where the girl and the man lay strapped in. He shook his head sadly at the girl's parents. "I've been studying them for two weeks now," he explained. "Most distressing for you, but a most unusual case. They really believe they are spiders," he said. "Tell me, before you went away, was your daughter acting normally?" 

"Well, yes," the father replied. "Though she did have a terrible phobia about spiders. There seemed to be a lot of them in the house. The time of the season, I suppose. Otherwise she was mentally, a perfectly normal girl" He paused, feeling a little embarrassed. "She was a bit wild," he confessed, "man mad to be honest. She liked to appear all coy and quiet, but she wasn't not really." 

"A predator," his wife interrupted. "I don't know where she got it from, no-one else in the family's been like that." 

"And this man?" the doctor asked. 

"I don't know," the father continued. "I've not seen him before. Her latest boyfriend, or man friend, should I say. I had a job keeping up with them all. Disgusting, he's as old as me!" 

"If it had only been the girl," the doctor mused, "it would be understandable. With her phobia about spiders, a bad shock involving them could have caused this state, but the man as well...Our enquiries show that he was also perfectly normal mentally until we found him. It seems he had quite a reputation as a ladies man. He seemed to spend his whole time luring the fairer sex to his bed." 

"He's not one of those dealers is he?" the girls mother asked. "You read so much about them nowadays. I'm afraid to say my daughter was dabbling in drugs. Are they out on a trip, that's what they call it, isn't it?" 

The doctor shook his head. "We made a thorough examination of both of them. As far as we can see neither of them are suffering from the effects of any drugs." He shook his head. He pulled a photograph from a file laying by the side of the bed. "This is a picture taken by the police of the place where they were found. The web they made from ropes suspended between two trees has been examined. A naturalist from the research station near here looked at it. He says that it is a perfect replica of a spiders web. The work put into it, is quite expert." 

The woman shuddered. "And they were hanging up in that?" she asked. 

"Yes," the doctor replied. "They somehow managed to tie themselves into it. Apparently they were quite content to just hang there, even though they were suffering from starvation and exposure." 

"What is the chance of them returning to normal?" the girls father asked bluntly. 

"It's impossible to say with cases like this," the doctor replied. "Our probing into their minds may reveal the answer this afternoon. On the other hand, they may remain in this state for some time." 

"For the rest of their lives?" the man asked. 

"Yes," the doctor replied. "That is a possibility that must not be discounted. I don't wish to appear callous, but our mental hospitals are crowded with seemingly impossible cases. Still, we never give up hope." 

The mother looked at her daughter, then sobbing, was helped out of the ward, almost in a state of collapse, by her husband. 

The doctor watched them leave then turned back to the girl. He studied her face, she was beautiful, he could understand how easy it would be for her to lure men into her web. He shook his head, correcting himself, he'd meant to say bed. But he had a vision of her naked in the centre of a huge web, luring him forward. He knew he couldn't resist..... 

He shook his head again to clear it, quite shaken by the vision in his mind. He looked over uneasily to the nurse, who was gazing at the man in a strange hypnotic fashion. 

"Their transformation is almost complete now," he murmured. "We cannot resist," he said to the nurse as they each began to struggle as if they were trapped in some invisible ......... web. 

"Resistance is useless," the nurse confirmed.................... 

They hung in their webs, waiting, silently brooding in the dark shadows of the cave, joined by their spiritual leader. They had perfected their art now, able to hang in their webs without artifical restraint; able to capture their own food, as witnessed by the dessicated bodies of the nurse and the doctor they had snared in the hospital. 

Spread across the globe were billions of their brothers waiting for the signal. They would make their move when they were ready. Today, tomorrow, next month, next year. They would choose their time carefully. That time will come soon. Humanity had served its first purpose, it had created what their masters wanted, now they would take their rightful inheritance from Homo Sapiens, who would remain as a useful food source. 




 