The Atherton Job

Chapter 4

Just as before the place was quiet as a tomb. The furniture was as it had been when he had broken in earlier, only this time the darkness made it creepy. The eerie silence was broken when floor creaked as he walked into the room.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Hearing no answer, Dwight took a few more steps then turned back towards the others waiting in the doorway. He waved them in. Cutter drew a long serrated knife from her boot then came inside while Jacob and Caleb followed, their flashlights searching the room. The three of them walked down a narrow hallway, passing by a staircase that led upwards while Dwight moved further into the cabin finding the kitchen.

Dwight looked around the kitchen. The wooden table was covered with dust. Its three chairs had cobwebs between their legs. The sink was full of rusted dishes. The stove and the refrigerator beside it were rust covered as well. It was plain to him that no one had been there for a long time so he moved on to the next room.

Caleb handed one of the two remaining flashlights to Jacob then headed up the stairs while Cutter and Jacob remained together. The two of them noticed the dusty and dirty pictures that lined the walls as they searched. He moved closer to one to read the caption. "The Atherton Family," Jacob said.

In the picture was a young girl standing behind an older man and woman sitting on a blue couch covered in flowery designs.

"Says 'ere this was taken a little over a year ago," Cutter said. She looked at several more but the thick dust made them unreadable. She shrugged, "Oh well, less we have to deal with. Looks to me like they're gone."

"This place is empty and there ain't nothing worth anything here," Jacob complained.

Cutter was inclined to agree but kept walking, leaving Jacob standing by himself in the hall with the light. She found herself alone in what she thought was the living room. Her knife gripped tightly in her right hand as she narrowed her eyes to see in the gloom. With her left hand she felt blindly as she moved around, walking step by step until her foot hit something hard. She searched with her left hand and found something soft and made of cloth. It felt like furniture of some kind and seemed to curve as her hand traveled down. She smiled as she felt soft cushions of some kind, her hand ran along one cushion until her fingers touched something round. Further inspection revealed a hole -- no, two holes in the middle.

Cutter dipped her fingers down into one of the holes. Her body tensed as they touched something wet and squishy. Her stomach turned upside down right as the bright light from the other side of the room flooded over her. She squinted into the blinding light. "Lower the damn torch, I can't see!" she growled.

The light lowered down to the floor. Cutter blinked a few times and then she could make out Dwight standing in a doorway with the flashlight. She scowled. "What are ye trying to do? Blind me?"

"No, honest, I just walked in and was wondering why you were poking that corpse's eye out," Dwight answered sheepishly,

"Corpse? What are you on about?" She was confused but then she looked down to where she'd placed her fingers remembering how it had felt. She jumped back wide-eyed as she saw her fingers were knuckle deep in the eye socket of a dead body. She yanked her fingers out revealing the wet, gooey remains of one of its eyeballs.

Seeing the always tough and rugged Cutter in a fit of fear brought a spate of laughter to Dwight. He covered his mouth with a hand but not fast enough to avoid being seen. Cutter eyed him coldly and then without warning, her fist shot out and slammed right into his nose.

Dwight winced and yelped and then felt the trickle of something wet and knew then his nose was bleeding. "OW! Son of a--!" he wailed in pain.

"OH shut up you big baby!" Cutter smacked his shoulder to silence him.

The corpse was wearing bloody, torn hiking clothes. The flesh that remained on its stripped bones appeared to be covered in small bite marks of some kind.

"What's all this racket?" came Jacob's voice followed by his approaching footsteps.

Jacob looked around in annoyance and anger at the sight before him. His eyes widened as his gaze fell on the corpse on the couch. Before either of the two could answer, wood boards above them creaked as if something was moving somewhere upstairs then it stopped. All three stood and listened in dead silence.

Cutter swung the butt of her knife down and connected with the back of Dwight's head a she was bending down to pick up his dropped light. "Thought there was no one here?!" she snarled.

Dwight whimpered and went down on one knee, his left hand covering the back of his head to fend off any further blows from the wicked woman. After a moment, he rose to his feet and looked at Cutter with a red, angry face, "I told you there wasn't anyone here you dumb bitch," he exploded, having taken his limit of abuse from her for the day.

Cutter narrowed her eyes at him but before she could act, Jacob beat her to it and rushed forward and grabbed Dwight by the throat, squeezing the breath out of him. "Watch your fucking tongue or I'll rip it out of you, you fat, worthless bastard!"

The anger drained from Dwight's face as he struggled to breathe in Jacob's viselike grip. For a lanky guy he sure was stronger than he looked. Dwight gasped for breath, only managing a whimper in response.

Jacob dropped him to the floor with a loud thud. His arm landed on the corpse, the weight of him pulling it onto his body as he fell. Dwight shrieked as he stared straight up into the rotted face of the corpse. Cutter and Jacob shared a laugh at his expense then turned to try to learn who was upstairs while Dwight coughed and struggled to free himself from under the hiker's remains.

Chapter 5

Upstairs, Caleb searched, oblivious to the noises of his comrades below. He stood in one of the bedrooms, his flashlight lighting a room made for a young girl. A twin bed draped with a pink comforter sat against one wall. A desk sat in a corner, half covered by dusty books piled next to a laptop covered in cobwebs and showing signs of long disuse. He swung his light around catching sight of a few trophies for various achievements on a shelf and finally he found a stuffed unicorn covered in more cobwebs and dust staring blankly at him from a wooden rocking chair in the far corner by the closet.

Finding nothing of worth, Caleb turned and headed back down the hallway he had come down and headed to the other direction hoping to find the master bedroom. The hallway planks creaked as he passed several family portraits along the hallway walls by hall bathroom. He ignored these and walked into the bedroom at the end of the hall, swinging his light around the room.

Caleb's light hit something gold and sparkly. He grinned, thinking, 'Jackpot.' He had finally found something worthwhile. Walking across the room to inspect his find, he heard soft crunching noises under his boots. 'What the hell was that?' It sounded as if he was walking on peanut shells or something. He forgot about that as his eyes zeroed in on his find, a large gold necklace with a ruby brooch lying in an open jewelry case on the bureau. The ruby was as big as a quarter and adorned by gold trim. His mind filled with thoughts of the riches he'd make selling it. Next to it, he found an assortment of rings, gold earrings and other small jewelry.

"Hey! I found something," he yelled out to the others, "Come up and look at this!"

He reached into the box and scooped up the ruby necklace to show the others. This would fetch a pretty good price. As his hand dipped under the necklace into the pile, he felt a sudden sharp sting on his hand. Caleb winced and jerked his hand back, "What the fuck?" He turned his hand over in the light, seeing two small reddening holes on the back of his hand with yellow, translucent fluid mixing with the blood. 'Had something just bitten him?'

Cursing, he reached into the box and snatched up the necklace by the chain to avoid being bitten again. Caleb met the other three at the top of the stairs, dangling the ruby necklace proudly from two fingers in front of them. "Look what I found"

Jacob's eyes widened seeing the size of the ruby inset into the necklace his brother held up. Seeing how it glittered in the flashlight, Cutter pushed forward from behind Jacob to get a better look.

"Where did you find that?" Jacob asked. "All we found so far was a corpse in the living room."

"In the bedroom down the hall," Caleb said, "Whole box full of goodies in there. Something bit me though when I reached in," he said while showing his wound to his brother. "A corpse? You went and killed someone without me?"

Cutter pushed past the brothers and went down the hall towards the bedroom while Jacob answered, "No, it was already dead when we found it," Jacob shook his head. "We let Dwight have a bit of fun with it though."

Jacob grinned then broke into laughter, "Come on, can't leave Cutter alone in there too long, she won't leave us anything." Caleb joined in the laughter then slapped his brother's shoulder. He dropped the necklace into a pocket for safekeeping and led the way back to the bedroom. They found Cutter already poking the contents of the box cautiously with her knife. She turned hearing them come in and shook her head. "Ain't nothing in here but jewels," she informed them. With that, she plunged her hand into the box and pulled out a handful of glittering treasure. Jacob's eyes lit up seeing what she held while Caleb looked on confused.

"Whatever bit me must've came out when I left," Caleb said, looking at the oozing wound on the top of his hand. He moved his hand slowly, noticing that a tingling sensation from his fingers to his wrist as if someone had put his hand to sleep. The skin around the bite marks had begun to turn black and peel and fall off and the holes still oozed yellow pus. His brother nudged him on the shoulder with his flashlight, bringing him back to what was going on.

Jacob set his shotgun down against the bureau and began filling his pockets with whatever he could grab while Cutter was admiring herself wearing a pair of jade and gold earrings. Even though there had been a few hiccups, this job and been a bit too easy, Caleb thought. Usually they would have had some sort of challenge or at least someone to rough up or knock out but this job was different. He shrugged and shook thought from his head. He and his brother would get paid. That's all that mattered.

Reaching in his pocket, Caleb pulled out the ruby brooch to savor his treasure. He turned away from the others and walked to the doorway. Facing the hall, he flashed his light on the necklace and watched the light glittering off the gold and reflecting in the ruby's prisms.

"Oh, you've found mother's necklace. I forgot how beautiful it was. Please put it back," said a soft voice.

"Say what?" Caleb shook his head as the voice startled him from his stupor. He flashed his light down the hall and found to his bewilderment a young woman with long golden hair standing in the hallway wearing nothing but a white night gown that draped on the floor. 'Where had she come from?' He blinked several times and rubbed his head. It was then he noticed his arm felt numb now. He rubbed his head again as a wave of dizziness hit him and vision blurred, despite the light of his torch.

"Who are you?"

"Please put it back," the young woman repeated, ignoring his question.

"No it's mine!" Caleb shoved the necklace into his pocket. The outburst made his ears ring and the dizziness return. So much so he had to brace himself on the doorway. He groaned and felt the numbness from his arm in his chest. What the hell was wrong with him? It couldn't be from such a little bite could it? He shook his head and when he looked up gain she was not there.

"Hey! Where did you go?" Caleb looked around and then screamed as he saw the girl transform.

Chapter 6

Two new arms burst from her gown and two more legs shot down from the bottom. Arms covered with coarse hair and tipped with sharp claws. Caleb's mind was so addled he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real or if he was imagining things. That changed quickly.

"Who am I? I'm Annabelle!" The girl shrieked as she charged.

Caleb saw a sharp edged claw swinging at him, as the spider woman charged. In his surprise, he managed only to get to bring his numb hand up in a feeble attempt to ward it off. He need not have bothered, for the claw changed direction before it even came close and tore into his hip. Caleb howled in pain as he felt the sharp claw twisting inside his leg. Blood sprayed on the door and walls as she ripped the claw backwards and Caleb fell to the floor, writhing in pain. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was two black eyes peering at him from above. He thought, 'How did a girl grow four extra limbs?'

Jacob and Cutter grabbed for weapons and turned when they heard Caleb's scream. They saw the claw rip out through the side of his leg and they saw him fall to the floor, blood pooling quickly around him. Jacob dropped to his knees to help his brother, while Cutter pushed forward, pulling Jacob's pistol from the back of his pants and firing at the creature with the ruby pendant dangling from a blood covered foreleg. Her first two shots went wide of their target. The third grazed one of the creature's lower arms. It flexed its legs and leaped, turning in the air and landing right in front of Cutter.

"Ack! What the hell are you? Be a good girl so I can make you dead," Cutter said, while struggling to keep up with the creature's movements.

By the time, Cutter got her gun level with the creature's forehead it was too late. It lashed out with its razor sharp foreleg, the edge slicing cleanly through flesh and bone and severing Cutter's head before the woman even had time to see it moving. Her blood sprayed upward and then in a wild arc as her body fell to the floor.

Jacob dropped the shotgun and tried to pull his brother's limp body back into the room so he could close the door. Annabelle lifted a bloody claw to her lips and licked the edge, savoring the taste of blood. She chuckled as she watched the man's attempt to defend himself, it would be futile. She'd come back for him later.

"I asked him to put it back." Her voice then changed to a ravenous fury, "But he didn't want to listen and decided to argue instead. You all seem so tasty and I'm so hungry, I think I'll keep you forever." She laughed, sinking her spider forelegs into Cutter's corpse before climbing to her lair in the attic. Annabelle licked her lips. This would be a tasty morsel for her and her babies well, she thought. The pieces left a bloody smear in its wake as it was yanked up into the ceiling and through the hidden door to the attic.

Jacob picked up Caleb and held him in his arms. Tearing off his shirt, he tried to plug the wound and wrap it to reduce the bleeding. Caleb had lost so much already, his skin was beginning to pale. Jacob's mind raced, 'How had this heist gone so wrong so quickly? Where the fuck was Dwight? What the hell was that thing? Where had it come from? Where had it gone? It was probably behind the door waiting to gut him and rip him to pieces. Could he even get past it with or without Caleb?'

Jacob reached back for his pistol, but then remembered that Cutter had taken it before she'd been cut down. He cursed loudly realizing it must still be in the hall along with that monster. Remembering their other partner, he yelled, "Where the fuck are you Dwight?" Jacob picked up the shotgun from the floor and pointed it at the door just in case that thing tried to barge its way through. "Well least I'm not totally defenseless," he said to the limp body of his brother in his lap, "If that thing comes in here, I'm gonna blow its frigging head off."

Chapter 7

Dwight's went to search the basement. It was a block cellar, obviously long unused and a wet and moldy smell filled the air. He saw a few cardboard boxes that had been subjected to too much moisture and had begun to sag. There was a rusty metal trunk to the right. A quick search showed nothing of value in the boxes or trunk. Dwight turned left and looked around, his flashlight illuminating walls covered in webs from ceiling to floor. When he looked up he saw several circular globes of webs hanging from thicker strands.

"Okay now this is getting a bit weird," he muttered, turning to the right. He followed the wall until it ended at a corner. He stepped around the corner and the path ended abruptly in a mass of thick webbing. Among the webs, Dwight saw several pods, which stood at least a foot and a half taller than him. Dwight tried think of their scientific name, but soon gave up. "Ok, scratch weird, it's really, really weird," he said.

He was about to give up and go back upstairs to tell the others when he thought he saw a person hanging on the wall, pinned spread eagle by thick webbing . He froze and watched, thinking it must be a trick of the light. A cold shiver ran through him when he realized it was a person hanging in the webs. It was so still, he assumed whoever it was, was dead.

Then suddenly, it moved. He screamed in terror and fell backwards onto his ass, heart pounding in his chest as he sat paralyzed with fear. Dwight gasped and caught his breath. His right hand fumbled around for the light. Finding his flash light, swallowed and forced himself to his feet. A quick look with the light showed a small dark-skinned woman, almost completely covered in webbing and hanging a foot or so above the floor.

His impulse was to just up and leave, this place was creepier now than when was struggling with a corpse earlier. He didn't know what had made these webs, or captured the woman; he honestly didn't want to know. But even as his mind told his feet to run, he found himself stuck there watching the woman in the webs. Before he knew what he was doing, Dwight found himself clawing and pulling at the webs holding her.

"Hold on. Oh why the fuck am I doing this?" he said to himself. "Since when do I help anyone?"

After several moments of clawing and tearing away the thick webs that kept the woman bound, she started to fall loose. Her eyes opened, she blinked twice and then with a groan she fell towards the floor as the last of the webbing came loose. Dwight caught her and held her on her feet.

She coughed and gagged, and then pushed away, steadying herself. Dwight shined the flashlight on her face to get a good look at her, "Who are you?" he asked?

"Denise McGrath," answered the woman shielding her eyes from the light," You mind pointing that somewhere else? Who are you?"

"Oh sorry!" Dwight pointed it down away from her face. He could see she was of African ethnicity. Her eyes were a deep brown and her hair had been buzzed short to look tough but professional. She wore a dark blue shirt and khaki pants, albeit covered in webbing. "What are you doing down here lady" Dwight asked.

"I was camping and I heard screams and followed them, and then something hit me from behind and next thing I know I wake up here," Denise explained. She winced and rubbed her neck, "Damn something must've bit me or something. What about you? Got a name?"

"D. . .Dwight," he stuttered, uncertain whether he should tell her, being as he was here to rob the place.

"Well D. . . Dwight," she mocked, "Let's get the hell out of here, okay?"

"Sure thing. This way," Dwight turned and led the girl back the way he'd come. He'd almost put his foot on the lowest step when he heard her curse behind him. He turned and shined teh light down over her legs so not to blind her again. "What's the matter?"

"Just my neck is sore," Denise searched her pockets then began to tear at the webs still sticking to her. She sighed in frustration and gave up.