Afflicted

Katy appeared at the window, looking down at me in surprise. She'd changed so much, I barely recognised her. The skinny eleven year old who'd loved to make mud pies and climb trees with me had been replaced by a girl the same age as I'd been when I left. Our relationship had been childish, I'd known that I was too old to be playing with them but it hadn't mattered. I'd never had anyone to play with when I was younger, never had a sibling or even any real friends my age. No one wanted their kids coming over to play at the old drunk’s house. So I made up for the childhood I'd missed with the kids next door, pretending that they were my family. Wishing it could be true.

She had wide eyes and long brunette hair which was styled perfectly rather than windswept and full of leaves as it always seemed to be in my memories. I guess I should have expected her to change but somehow I'd never expected her to grow up.

With a jolt I realised that I was staring up at her window like some kind of creep. Before I could decide to turn away or wave or do anything at all other than stare like a weirdo, Katy waved and shut the curtains between us.

I ran a hand over the back of my head and let out a breath as I turned away. Suddenly this place didn't seem quite so desolate anymore. There was something here worth coming back for, I just hoped that they felt the same way about me. Perhaps they never missed the outsider who used to sit on the edges of their family. But I hoped that they had.

I spun the wrench between my fingers, looking under the hood of my truck while I decided what to do. I’d figured out a while ago that it wasn't something I'd be able to fix myself; I was just using the work as an excuse to escape the house. Diane had spent most of the day watching me clean the crap she'd allowed to build up over the last month. She only had one thing to say of any real relevance. “You missed his funeral.” I wasn't sure if it was an accusation or if she thought I didn't know. Either way I thought it best not to respond. If she couldn't understand why I wasn't there by now then she wasn't about to figure it out no matter what I said.

With a sigh, I dropped the hood back into place and tossed my few tools back into their bag. I'd have to take it to a shop in the morning and let them fix it.

I carried the tools around the side of the house, sparing a glance for the hedge where a gap still lingered marking the years of passage between here and next door.

An old shed sat at the end of the backyard and I headed inside, depositing the tool bag on the cluttered workbench. Like everything else in this place, the shed had festered over the years. Rust marred the garden tools and dust lined the shelves, covering the various things that had been dumped there.

Spiders had made the place home in the absence of humans and I watched as one of them crept along a web in front of the window. Moonlight found its way in through the dirty glass and I watched the spider quietly for a few moments.

I was stalling again and I knew it. The house wasn't going anywhere and neither was my mother but that didn't make it any easier to head back to them. Delaying the inevitable might be pointless but I was still going to do it.

I flinched as something brushed against my ear and fell onto my shoulder. Looking down, I spotted one of the biggest spiders I'd ever seen crawling across my shirt.

I moved to brush it off and a sliver of pain cut into me as it buried its fangs in my skin.

“Little bastard!” I cursed as I knocked it away, sending it flying into a dark corner.

Something else dropped onto my head and I swatted at my hair, feeling another spider knock against my fingers as I dislodged it.

I looked up at the ceiling, squinting in the faint light as hundreds of creeping bodies came into focus. I'd never seen so many spiders in my life, let alone in one place. My skin crawled and I hastily took a step back towards the door. I'd never been afraid of insects but I'd never seen anything like that before.

The ceiling looked like a living thing, writhing and twisting beneath more legs than I could possibly count. I stepped back again and my foot caught on the uneven floor. I grabbed the window frame to steady myself.

My hand sank into the thick web which covered the window and stuck hard. I yanked on it but nothing happened.

“What the f-“ movement pulled my gaze to the top of the window where the spiders were racing towards me.

I gritted my teeth and tensed my muscles as I yanked my hand back again. This time, it tore free and I leapt out of the shed, throwing the door shut behind me as I ran to the house.

I vaulted the rickety stairs and stood at the top of them, shuddering as the wave of adrenaline started to dissipate from my veins. I brushed my hands together, removing the last remnants of the web from my skin and frowned back across the lawn to the shed.

My heart pounded in my chest as if I'd just come from a combat zone. I wondered if the spider venom was making me hallucinate or if the shadows had been playing tricks on me. There was no way there could have been as many of them as it had seemed but I was reluctant to go back and check.

With a shake of my head I pulled the back door open and moved inside, sliding the bolt across behind me.

The bite throbbed on my chest and I pulled my shirt off as I headed upstairs and into the bathroom.

One thing I could rely on my mother for was a well stocked medical cabinet. I guess it always got good use when my father was alive.

I pulled it open, finding a tube of antiseptic cream and some antibacterial wipes between the stacks of painkillers. Self medicating was a specialty of hers.

I shut the cabinet again and looked in the mirror at the two puncture wounds just below my collar bone. It stung and there was a bit of swelling forming around it but I'd had a lot worse.

I scrubbed at the small wound with the wipe then placed a blob of cream over the top of it.

I'd have to do something about the shed, I'd never seen an infestation like that and I couldn't leave Diane to deal with it. I'd just have to add googling ‘how to move spiders out of a shed’ to my list of jobs for tomorrow.

In a way I could be grateful to her for letting the place fall apart. I'd have plenty to keep me occupied during my stay. However long that would be. Part of me wanted to just pack my bag and leave in the morning but I knew that wouldn't help. There were demons here that needed facing and I shouldn't turn my back on them again. It didn't make it any less tempting though, perhaps I should just hit the road come dawn. Leave all this behind and never look back.

I brushed my teeth and headed back downstairs, bringing spare blankets from the airing cupboard. I made myself comfortable on the couch, using the excessive collection of scatter cushions to my advantage.