Doctor Thompson emerged from the back room. He put himself between the nurse and the front door, looking ready to attack, without even a second of hesitation. The hesitation came when he saw Eva. His eyes flicked from her face to her head and back several times. To his credit, he didn’t start screaming. A brief look of realization passed over his face before he sighed.
“Calm down, Kattie. It is just Eva.” He gave a bit of a glare at the girl. “I’m sure she knows she has a rubber spider on her head.”
Doctor Thompson went wide-eyed. “That’s…”
“A West African tarantula,” Eva lied. “I’m sure I’ve mentioned her before. I thought I’d bring her in while I said goodbye.” Eva looked to the still petrified nurse. “Sorry for scaring you, Mrs. Vallenger.”
The nurse gave less than a halfhearted smile. “I–I always thought daddy long-legs were cute.”
“That’s nice, I guess,” Eva said slowly.
Doctor Thomson frowned at his colleague before turning back to Eva. “I may be a veterinarian, but I’m no expert in spiders. Still, I thought tarantulas were covered in fur and poisonous bristles.”
Eva lifted Arachne back up to her shoulder from where the spider quickly moved to Eva’s head. “Most do, there are a few that don’t. Arachne is one of those.” She smiled as Arachne’s fangs came into view. “You probably don’t want to be bitten by these, though,” she said with a gesture to the dangling fangs.
“You don’t seem very concerned.”
Eva gently stroked one of the dangling legs. “She is quite friendly. I’m sure she wouldn’t object to being touched, if you wanted,” she said, directed more at Arachne than the doctor.
“I think I will pass.” He glanced at the nurse who was shaking her head. “You said something about goodbye?”
“Yeah. I’m moving to Montana for the foreseeable future. I might stop by on occasion, but I am afraid I won’t be volunteering here this summer.”
He gave a light chuckle. “That’s a shame, I was considering hiring you on with pay this summer.”
“I’m sure you were,” Eva said with a mirrored chuckle. She glanced at the unusually quiet nurse and felt a pang of sympathy for the poor woman. “Well, I suppose I’ll be taking off then.” Eva turned towards the door and opened it.
“Eva,” Doctor Thompson called after her, “you’re always welcome here. Perhaps just a bit of warning before bringing any pets.”
Eva smiled and waved goodbye. She walked out the door and immediately ran to the nearest alley.
At Eva’s prodding, Arachne unfurled herself into a human form. A grin split across her face when she turned to Eva.
“Did you see her face?” Arachne cackled. “I want to go back there and just casually crawl up to her. Maybe put one leg on her foot.”
“Arachne, I like her. She’s nice. Don’t be mean.” Eva frowned at the spider-woman’s laugh. “And if you get near her foot, you’re going to get stepped on.”
Arachne’s laugher ceased. She puffed out her chest and said, “Just who do you think I am? As if a mere human could hurt me by stepping on me.”
“Still,” Eva continued, ignoring Arachne’s boasts, “if that is how everyone reacts then we are going to have a pretty bad time.”
“Maybe the first time. They would get used to it if you are always seen with me.” Arachne frowned, then began to look a bit sick. “Maybe,” she started, hesitantly, “maybe if you kept me in a cage. After getting people used to me in a cage, you can let me out around them. Then we can do away with the cage altogether.”
“That is,” Eva tried to find the right words, “unexpectedly thoughtful of you.”
“It isn’t as if I couldn’t get out of a cage on my own if something happened.”
Eva nodded. “Let’s make a stop back home. I need to pick up some things before we head to my master’s place.”
Devon had been in a sorry mood the last time she saw him. Eva wasn’t looking forward to meeting with him so soon. Hopefully she could just pop in, drop the pamphlet for the school on his desk, and leave.
A clawed hand gripping her shoulder broke Eva out of her thoughts. Before she could even blink she found herself scooped up in Arachne’s arms. A short leap brought them to the roof and another leap had them flying through the air.
Eva pinched her eyes shut. “I can step myself, you know,” she half shouted in midair.
“I know.” Arachne leapt again in the direction of the abandoned retirement home. “This way we can go together.”
Eva had no protests for that. She kept her eyes closed and put her trust in the demon’s strong grip.
—
The door creaked open and Eva peeked inside. The lights were on, but no master sat in the main room. She walked inside with a human-form Arachne following close behind.
