The Spiders Follow Me Everywhere

''The following was found on a computer at the town library in [REDACTED]. It is believed to have been authored by Stanley Smith, a 76 year old local who was fairly well known in the community. Smith was seen at the computer this file was found on after wandering into the library disheveled and clearly upset. The document reads as follows:''

 

Everywhere I go, I see them.

They started off small, no different than the spiders I saw scurrying around my house every now and then. Most of those were tiny pale or brown things that seemed like they wanted to get away from me. That’s fine. I’ve always despised spiders and I didn’t give much of a damn if they didn’t like me either.

I’d kill them if I could, but if I couldn’t, I’d just hope they had the sense to get the fuck out of my house! I’m too old to go hunting around the house for a little spider, and I’d rather just sit and watch my programs on the Television.

I think I saw the first black one in the shower. It was the same size as the other ones. Nothing special, and as it crawled down the curtain, I used the shower head to wash it down the drain. It floated past my bad leg on the way to the drain, and I barely was able to shift it out of the way to avoid touching the ugly little thing.

I wouldn’t have remembered it, but I saw two more exactly like it later that day. The first scampered out of the paperback I’d been ready to read, and the third crawled out of my pillbox when I went to take my evening medication. It scurried out of sight before I could squash it.

 

When I woke up the next morning, I felt the tickle of legs on my skin, by my neck and the throb of pain from a bite. I slapped at the bug, instinctively fearing what it was. I killed it with the second swat, and looked at the smushed body on my wrinkled palm. Grimacing, I wiped it off with a tissue from the box by the bed, and went to go and wash my hands before trying to move on with my day.

There were no incidents when the bus took me down to the grocery store to do my shopping. I picked up some spray, hoping it might chase the little bastards off. I’d seen 4 of those hairy black spiders in less than a day, and I just knew I’d see more of them. When I did, I’d be ready.

 

As I was putting the groceries away, I caught a glimpse of hairy black legs crawling along the kitchen counter. The spray can was in range as the massive black spider crawled from the space between the stove and the counter. This one was almost the size of a quarter! I aimed the nozzle at it and unleashed hell! The little bastard recoiled, shuffling back towards his little hiding place under the stove. I didn’t let him escape. I nabbed a nearby newspaper, and brought it down on the spider.

WHACK! Dead.

I sprayed the space where he’d come out of, hoping that maybe I’d get some of his friends too, then I went to go and sit down to watch my program.

 

The spray must’ve flushed those buggers out, because I started seeing a lot more of them after that. Every time I went into the kitchen for the next week, I’d see at least one. They were in my cupboards, getting into my pantry!

A couple of days after I sprayed by the stove, I woke up and tried to pour myself a bowl of cereal, and I saw seven of those fuckers crawling around my cornflakes! Bigguns too! I remember screaming and hurling my bowl across the room. It shattered on the wall and the spiders who survived scurried away into the corners to hide.

With shaking hands I went to pour myself another bowl, choosing a different cereal. I checked to make sure this one was spider free. Then I went to the fridge to get some milk, and as I poured it over my cereal, I saw a dead one, flop out into the bowl. Droplets of milk still clung to the hair on its body and I could see long fangs sticking out.

 

I ordered in after that. I went a little beyond what my pension could afford, but those fucking spiders got into everything! I had to do something! I called an exterminator, and went to stay with my Daughter, Heather. I’m sure she didn’t really enjoy having her 70 year old Father take over her guest room, but she handled it with a smile that only seemed the slightest bit begrudging. “It’s just ‘till the Exterminator says the house is clear.” I explained, and she seemed understanding enough.

 

Spending my days at her place was nice. Heather lived across town from me, and while I respected that she had her own life, I also missed her. She was far from the little girl who used to sit on my lap as I read her, her bedtime stories. Now, a woman of almost 40, she liked to text the mysterious Man in her life. Someone I hadn’t met yet, though not for lack of asking about him. “I promise, when I’m ready, I’ll introduce you.” She said to me. “Sure, sure. That’s what you said about the last two.” I teased and she gave me one of those flustered smiles. Years later and I still loved teasing her. If my Wife had still been alive she’d have given me a swat on the shoulder for that.

 

I made it about three days with Heather before I saw a spider. This one was the biggest yet. Black and hairy, like a tarantula. I would have thought it was one, if I didn’t live in Canada. To the uninitiated, we don’t have any tarantulas up here. We sure as hell don’t have any spiders as big as the ones I’d been seeing!

This one was there when I woke up, sitting patiently in its web, in the corner of my bedroom. It waited near the roof, watching me intently. I leered back at it. I didn’t have my spray can, but I did have a cane that I jabbed the little bastard with. It raised its front legs up as if that was going to stop me. I just pressed its body against the wall until I heard its carapace crack. The legs still twitched as it died, and I tried not to dwell on it so much…

I only had another night in Heather’s house, and up until then I hadn’t seen any spiders! It had been peaceful! I could tough out one more day!

 

I sat in her living room, watching my programs for the day. There wasn’t a hell of a lot else I could do, given that my bad leg made working difficult and there wasn’t much out there for an old codger like me. Truth be told, I was fine just enjoying the twilight of a full life.

Heather was still at work, and I was starting to fancy a mid afternoon nap on the couch. With a bit of effort, I managed to make myself lie down, and closed my eyes.

I’m sure I slept. I couldn’t tell you just how long, though. I know I didn’t dream.

 

I woke up to the awful feeling of hairy black legs on my lips. I could feel the thick body in my mouth, filling it up and stopping me from screaming. The legs seemed to struggle.

I almost bit down, and thank God I didn’t. The only thing worse than having a live one of those fucking things in my mouth was having to know what their insides tasted like.

I had the good sense to rip the spider out of my mouth and hurl it across the room. I saw it writhe on the ground, and slowly drag itself away.

There’s not a lot that’s made me shake in my life, but I’m telling you that this made me shake!

I didn’t sleep anymore. The idea of waking up and finding another one horrified me.

 

I was still on the couch when Heather came home. By then I’d called the exterminators to see if they’d finished my house. According to them they had, and so I asked Heather to take me back that night. Of course I told her about the spiders. I told her about that big ugly one in the corner of my room. “Yeah… I saw one in the shower this morning.” She admitted, “And another one in my hairbrush. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so big before!” “Well then you get your house taken care of! I’ll give you the card of the people I got, they’ll clear those fuckers out right!”

I wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I made her stay until I gave her the card. Then, I gave her a long hug, and a kiss on the cheek. “Now… Do me a favor and visit a little more often. I miss you, honey.”

That same flustered smile crossed her lips. She was still my little girl. “I will, Dad. See you soon. Call me if you need anything!”

She kissed me on the cheek and left me alone.

I did an inspection of the house after that. I’d thrown out most of my food, both on account of the spiders, and the chemicals the exterminators used. I needed to go grocery shopping again, but that didn’t bother me. The only spiders I saw were dead ones, and that was just perfect.

I made arrangements with a cab to come and pick me up the next morning so I could do my errands. I live in a small town, so the local cab company is very accommodating. Plus the drivers are really wonderful. I always make sure to tip generously.

 

At the store, I leaned on a cart as I made my rounds through the aisles. As I was collecting some fruits for my pantry, I saw familiar black legs creeping out from between a pair of oranges. I froze, watching as a spider almost as big as the fucking oranges crawled out from the bottom of the pile. I could only stare at it, big eyed and horrified before I hastily moved on. I didn’t want to squash it. Not while people were watching!

As I passed other fruit selections, I saw more black limbs. Spiders in the broccoli, spiders packed in with the baby carrots. I the butchers aisle, I even saw a twitching spider fighting to escape the plastic wrap of a packed steak.

I couldn’t run, but I wanted to. I just backed away slowly, until I saw one of the stores employees standing nearby.

“Excuse me, Sir…” I said, my heart racing, “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s a spider packed in with the meat. I’ve been seeing them all around the store.”

The Employee looked at me. He was some local kid, I’d seen him before. He looked like he’d put on weight.

He seemed to frown, then followed me over to the butchers aisle where I showed him the spider. It was moving slower now, starting to die.

“You see that?” I asked, “Now how’s anyone supposed to eat that, son? You gotta talk to the management, have them take a look into this!” “I don’t see the problem.” The boy said. Something was off with his voice. It sounded distorted. Like if you tried to replicate a human voice with violin strings. “It’s the Spider! Don’t you see it?” I demanded, pointing it out for him. “I see it. Extra protein.” The boy said, and his lips curled into a smile that seemed a little too wide. “Are you kiddin’ me? Seriously? Look, son. I wanna talk to whoever’s in charge here. Cuz that isn’t gonna fly! You can’t just have bugs in your meat!”

The boys head tilted to the side. His smile never faded.

“You wanna speak to the one in charge?” He repeated in that awful distorted voice of his.

“Okay then…”

His mouth opened, jaw dropping impossibly low. I watched as a multitude of massive black legs pushed their way out of his throat, and as several beady little eyes came into focus.

I screamed, and hurled the few goods I had in my cart at him. They didn’t phase him, so I instead just rammed my fucking cart into the boy and moved as fast as I could.

He stood there, staring at me… Or rather, the spider crawling out of his mouth stared at me, as if the Goddamn thing was offended or something!

I shambled back to the front of the grocery store, and back to the cab. I told him to take me home and he didn’t question it. I tipped him $10 just for not having any of those goddamn spiders in his cab.

I figured I could order in again. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to be around whatever the hell I’d met in the grocery store!

 

I ordered fish and chips. I had to put it on my credit card. I inspected it thoroughly for any signs of spiders, and I don’t think I found any. Still, I ate cautiously before watching my programs.

My house was safe. I’d gotten it taken care of, so I’d be fine. I knew that I’d be fine. I went to bed still shaken, and wondering if maybe I’d just hallucinated the whole thing. Maybe I needed to talk to a shrink. The more I thought about it, the crazier it all seemed! There was no way a giant spider had crawled out of that boys mouth! No way in hell!

I told myself that the next morning, I’d call someone.

 

When the morning came, I could feel the legs on my face. Down my shirt. Up my pant legs. I woke up thrashing and screaming, trying to throw the spiders off of me. They bit and hissed, scurrying for safety or raising their front legs in warning. “GET AWAY!”

I fell out of bed, hitting my bad leg on the wooden floor and screaming in pain. The spiders bit my hands as I tried to crawl along the floor. Where had they all come from? They were supposed to be dead!

The walls were covered in them. Some as big as soccer balls! Some maybe even bigger! They watched me as they scurried around.

Slowly, I crawled out of the bedroom, and into my living room, hoping I could use my chair to get myself up. I hoped I could find some way to call for help from these things!

Every angry bite stung enough to make me ignore the new ones. I was panting heavily as I reached my chair, and swept the resting spiders off of it. Then I pulled myself into it, and fumbled with the phone.

The only one I could think to call was Heather. She was my best possible contact. I HAD to reach out to her! “Hello? Dad?” “Heather! The spiders! I… You gotta pick me up, They’re fucking everywhere!”

I don’t think it came out that coherently. But it was the best I could do. Another spider sank its fangs into the back of the hand that held the phone, and I slammed that hand down onto the table. “Damnit, fuck off!” “Dad? Dad!” “Heather, please! J-just come now! NOW!”

No sooner had I said that, then my eyes were drawn towards the Oven.

 

The legs that appeared from under it were at least two meters long. I couldn’t fathom how such a massive creature could fit under my stove, but it must have fit. This one wasn’t as hairy. Its body was a mottled brown and its limbs were spindly. It climbed onto the stove, and watched me with its eight black eyes… and then it started to turn and crawl towards me.

For a spider that size, I’ll bet I looked a lot like breakfast.

I heard Heathers voice, but I didn’t respond. All I could do was hurl the phone at it, and try to stand. The massive spider, as big as the oven itself crawled after me as I shuffled towards the door of my house. I stepped on countless of its spider brethren, and I felt others dropping onto me, sinking their fangs into my neck. Every time I glanced back, that spider was getting closer.

When I reached the door, it was almost upon me, and I barely got through before I tried to slam the door in its face. The Spider got half of its body through. Its massive legs folded over the door, and over me, pinning me against the wood. Its fangs were inches from my face as it struggled to either get through the door, or get me within biting range.

Screaming, I pressed the door against the creatures body. I felt the sharp carapace of its legs rake across my back, drawing blood as it struggled desperately. All too soon its focus shifted from hunger, to survival as it realized I meant to crush it!

I could hear the exoskeleton breaking. Palpi writhed helplessly as the spider died.

Its legs curled in, scratching the wood of my door as its carapace gave out with a satisfying crunch.

I know I heard that monster screaming as I crushed it to death with my front door.

 

Exhausted, I fell backwards, onto the wood of my front porch. For the longest time, I lay on the ground, panting heavily and staring up.

Then, slowly I started to get to my feet.

Down the street, I could see Heathers car coming. It swerved a little, before coming to a crooked stop outside of my house. I made my way down the porch to greet her as she got out of the car. Heather looked at me blankly, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

If I didn’t know any better… I’d have said she gained weight… But I did know better. I would’ve known my Daughter anywhere, and while what came out of that car wore the skin and clothes of my Heather, I knew damn well that it wasn’t her. “Dad?”

Her voice had the same distorted, buzzing quality of the boy from the Grocery store. Her gait was uneasy and shambling. She took a step forward, I took a step back. “What the hell did you do to her…” I slurred, “Where’s my girl?!”

The thing that was posing as Heather stopped and stared at me. It smiled. It wasn’t Heathers smile. It didn’t even come close. I could see her skin shifting unnaturally on her face. “She’s right here… In a sense…”

A black palpi emerged from her mouth, and traced along her lips in imitation of a tongue. “Would you like to be with her?”

Its tone was mocking, and slowly it began to advance again. I continued my retreat, making my way across the lawn and down the street, trying to keep as much distance between myself and that creature as I could!

It only made a paltry attempt to follow. From the way it moved, I got the feeling that it hadn’t gotten it all down pat yet. Maybe if it wanted to, it could’ve chased me. But it didn’t.

The Spider in my Daughter’s skin watched me run away with its black eyes… And the last I saw of it, it turned and clumsily waddled towards my house.

 

That’s how I ended up here. It took me a good hour to make it to the library. Truth be told, I only came here because I was looking for shelter. But when I saw the computers, I knew I had to write it all down. No one is going to believe me, and I’m not sure I care if they do… I can see the spiders on the library bookshelves. They’re watching me. They’re waiting for me to attack, because we all know I can’t let what they did to my girl slide!

I can’t put into words the rage that I feel. They took my girl from me. They killed my Heather, and one of them is wearing her like a Goddamn costume!

I… I don’t wholly believe it. Maybe it’s better that I don’t. I don’t know. All my years of life haven’t prepared me for this.

What I do know is this. I’m gonna go to the hardware store and buy a gas can. Then I’m gonna go back to my house and torch the entire fucking building. I get the feeling that most of them are in there… Maybe I can take a big enough portion of them out, that I can stop whatever it is that’s going on. Or maybe I’m just crazy and this is how it ends. Either way. I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

''Mr. Smith was found dead in his home by his daughter Heather some time later. It’s unclear how long he was dead for, but his body seemed to be in a serious state of decay. Much of his insides had been liquified, and his body was covered in what appeared to be spider webs. It is believed he suffered from severe delusions, as a result of an undiagnosed form of dementia, or as a side effect from inhaling the fumes left behind by the Exterminator who had been to his home a few days prior. Cause of death was inconclusive, but it is believed that Smith fell and was unable to help himself get back up.''

''I myself spoke briefly with Heather Smith while I was at the scene with the other responding officers. At the time, Heather seemed healthy and normal, not matching the description in the text above. Aside from her obviously distraught mental state from her Father’s fairly gruesome passing. ''

''However, as a strange personal addendum, as I was taking Miss Smith’s statement on how she’d discovered the body, I happened to drop my pen. As I bent to pick it up, I could have sworn I saw two black, pointed shapes disappear back under her dress. I’m sure it was just a trick of the mind… Or alternatively a minor wardrobe malfunction. Smith’s ramblings have put me on edge.''

''Heather is doing fine. When I asked if there was anything I could do to help her through this time, she even said she’d love to have me for dinner.''

''I’ll just sign off and meet up with her. I’m sure she’s going through a lot and could use the company.''