Arachne glanced over towards where the pillar of flame used to stand. It had died out sometime since the jezebeth’s death. Lying near the center of it was the smoldering corpse of Wayne Lurcher. With a smile, Arachne looked back towards Eva. “Looking extra crispy.”
Arachne’s smile faltered to a frown as she noticed the slight rise and fall of the man’s chest. “That can’t be pleasant. I shall put him out of his misery.”
“Wayne Lurcher,” Arachne called out after a short sigh, “are you busy at the moment?”
Rather than the wheeze, cough, or simple silence that Arachne expected, the older alchemist grunted out a, “hurts to talk.”
Arachne cocked her head to the side for a moment before replying. “I think Eva is having a similar issue.”
Arachne sighed again. “Do you have any spells to get help you trust? That is to say, help that you trust seeing Eva and potentially myself.”
“Cellphone,” he said. “In pocket.”
“Pocket? All that remains of your clothes is ash. You realize you’re lying there nude, right?”
That got a few coughs from him. “A good pyrokinetic will fireproof everything–”
“Except clothes?”
“It is around somewhere. Find it.”
Before Arachne could complain to Eva, the blood in the air was already swirling around.
Grumbling under her breath, Arachne started searching the lawn around Wayne Lurcher. She thought about giving him a good glare, but his eyes were closed and scorched over. It would just be wasted effort.
“This little brick it?” Arachne asked as she bent to pick up the little white rectangle. She tapped the only button on the front. “It wants a password.”
“302”
Arachne let out a short snort as she typed it in. “Who am I contacting?”
“Turner.”
“Martina Turner?”
“I still can’t sense
Too many buttons.
Password was easy. Self explanatory. After entering the password, the screen changed. There were so many buttons. Moving a finger to the side only made more.
None of them said Turner.
Arachne glanced over at Eva. She would be fine after some time. At least as long as her self healing worked itself out.
No. Assistance would be for the alchemist. Arachne wasn’t entirely sure what the effects of fire on humans was, but the blackened and cracked skin couldn’t be good. He was talking and conscious, so it shouldn’t be too bad.
In the end, what did Arachne care?
He wasn’t her master. He wasn’t her master’s master.
Arachne was about to toss the brick over her shoulder when the blood buzzed in front of her face.
With a sigh, Arachne knelt down next to the fallen Alchemist. “Wayne Lurcher,” Arachne said quietly.
“Did she not answer?”
“Um. Yes. That is correct. She did not answer.”
The blood swirled in front of Arachne to form a frown on an eyeless face.
“I mean, I might have called the wrong person.” Arachne grit her teeth together. “Walk me through it to ensure I did it properly.”
If the stupid human had been in any shape to laugh, Arachne was sure he would have. He let out a loud cough before getting to the directions as it was.
A mocking cough.
Most humans were beneath Arachne’s notice. Few could harm her, much less kill her. The nuns knowing how to banish her was an inconvenience that didn’t matter so long as she had a beacon active. Many annoyed her, especially those that surrounded Eva, but some well placed stress relief could manage most negative inclinations towards them.
Never before had she wanted so much to stick her fingers into a human’s heart and crush it in her grip.
Arachne restrained herself as–through her efforts–Martina Turner’s voice picked up on the small brick.
“Wayne? You said you’d call me when you got there. What–”
“He is burnt. He needs help at Zoe Baxter’s house.”
“You’re not Wayne,” the voice said. “What did you do to him?”
“As much as I want to, nothing. Yet. You better hurry with someone who can fix burns. He’s all charred and his skin is cracked. Boils and pus leaking everywhere.”
“Who is this?”
Arachne sighed.
“Eva’s demon? Why would you attack Zoe? What happened to the other demons? Catherine says they’re gone.”
“I killed the two demons who were attacking. Wayne was injured in the process. Send help for him or not, I don’t care.”
Arachne crushed the tiny brick in her claws before any more annoying queries could be directed at her.
Wayne let out a short cough as the bits of plastic rained down to the ground. “Someone’s coming then?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. I told her. If I continued talking, I would have ended up stabbing you to death.”
“Me?”
“You. You’re the only thing available to stab in the immediate vicinity.”
The alchemist fell silent and resumed his shallow breathing.
Arachne started back towards Eva before she froze. “I’ll be back in one moment,” she said.
