“Do you need a lift somewhere, love?”
Charlotte looked up to see an enormous man with four long arms and four long legs walking easily beside her. Clearly the storm was of no worry to him — a Phaser that was only half-changed into his animal form. How unfortunate it must be to turn into a giant spider.
“No, thank you!” she yelled over the wind. No matter how kindly the old man’s face seemed, she was never to speak to strangers under any circumstance. Occult creatures were very dangerous more often than not.
The half-spider looked up at the threatening sky, the cavernous lines in his human-like forehead wrinkling.
“Seems like a bad time to be out here on your own. Where are you off to, little girl?” He ruffled his bushy mustache.
“I live with the Vampire, Valek Ruzik,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m out hunting for him.” She hoped mentioning Valek’s name would be enough to scare the spider off. For some reason, a rather negative stigma had been attached to Vampires recently. Valek hadn’t seen a drop of business in months, aside from Evangeline’s run-in with the Lycan. Charlotte thought again of Mrs. Price’s ignorant words.
The man’s face shifted into an even kinder smile upon recognizing the name as he continued to follow her.
“Ah, yes. Valek! Do send him my regards, will you? It’s been ages since my operation,” the man recalled. “But a girl like you shouldn’t be out here in this kind of weather. There are other things, besides me, that like to stalk in weather like this. They’re just waitin’ for something delicious like you. Why, you don’t even have a sweater,” he observed.
Charlotte stopped again and frowned up at him. It was hard to see through the heavy gusts. “I have to go for him! He can’t go on his own! It’s against the Regime law!” she called over the wind.
The man with the eight appendages thought for a moment. “Those awful Wizards. I have no idea how they’re able to keep the power over some er’ these other Occult people. Especially Vampires. Vampires are very powerful, too, ya know,” he mused. “Why, they’re just a bunch of wisecrackin’ old Elves is all those Wizards are.” His mustache ruffled again.
Charlotte blinked up at him. She hadn’t really thought about that before. What kind of creatures were the Wizards exactly? “Are they really Elves?”
“Yes’um.” He grumbled. “Wisecrackin’ ones. Thinkin’ they're so great just ‘cause they’re all so book smart.”
Charlotte had to chuckle.
“Anyway, I think maybe you should be gettin’ home. There are Lycans and Fairies about in weather like this. Why, you could catch a serious cold, too.” He adjusted the aviator’s goggles on the bridge of his nose.
“What are you doing out here, then?” Charlotte asked, amused now.
“Where there are Fairies about, there are arachnids about.” He winked at her.
That made sense. He was a spider. Spiders eat flies. Well, technically the Fae weren’t flies but they were close enough, she decided. She cringed and grimaced as she pictured the strange man chomping down on one.
“A delicacy!” He licked his chops.
Thunder sounded over them again and a single drop of rain splattered on her nose and then another on her cheek.
“Come!” the man said, gesturing to himself. “Hop on. If you don’t want to go home now, I’ll get ya somewhere safe at least. Maybe not dry, but safe.”
“How do I know you won’t eat me?” Charlotte crossed her arms, half-joking.
He put his two front hands on his hips. “You don’t look like a Fairy to me!” He chuckled.
She laughed, too.
“Besides, I don't have a taste for humans. Too mealy.”
The ground disappeared beneath Charlotte’s feet as one of his large hands grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her onto his back. She marveled at how high up she was. His limbs seemed to be twice the size of his body.
“Ready?” He beamed at her through one, goggled, red eye.
She sucked in a breath of the balmy air through her nose. “Ready.” She gulped and gripped both hands around the scarlet material of his scarf.
They were off. She crouched, keeping her head low, grasping even tighter to him. He moved like lightning through the alleyways of the town, up on the rooftops and down over the cobblestone streets. She shut her eyes against the tunnel of cold rain and the fear of being thrown off.
He was much faster than Aiden’s horse, and a lot scarier. She hardly recognized the city that should have been too familiar to her as it flew by. Everything was a dark, gray blur, once in a while illuminated by the glow of a passing streetlight. She could hardly tell what direction they were going in, but there was something about this Phaser she truly trusted. She kept her face hidden in his back until she felt the large spider lurch to a stop.
“Here we are,” he said confidently. One of his enormously long arms helped her onto the ground. She felt slightly disoriented, but she smiled politely at him and nodded once.
She looked to see that they weren’t in front of her house, but rather just beyond her house, at the start of the dense forest. She could see the top of the mansion behind the trees. All of the lights were on inside, making her little castle glow. It looked so welcoming in comparison to the stormy witching hour.
However, in front of her was a rather large, dirt mound like that of a giant anthill — a very dark hole as the entrance to this strange abode.
“Okay, well…thank you for the ride. But I’ll be going back to my house now.” Charlotte glowered.
He chuckled down at her. “Not a problem, Charlotte. You did well. I thought you might’ve passed out.” He adjusted his goggles again.
Her mouth fell open. “You know my name?”
“Once you told me that you belonged to Valek, I knew exactly who you were.” He smiled, his wiry, frosted mustache bristling. “I’ve heard so much about you over the years. It is a pleasure to actually meet a human girl!” He extended a human hand toward his borough. “You’re welcome to come in for some tea. I make it myself!” he said proudly, his thumbs resting in his vest.
Charlotte looked again at the dark hole in the forest floor, squinting at it, and then back at the face of the Phaser. She turned once, glancing back at her house, and decided Valek probably wasn’t missing her right now, anyway. Why should she be in such a hurry to return to him? “Sure.” She smiled politely. “Thanks again, Mr.—”
“Třínožka,” he informed her, and grabbed her by the hand as they disappeared down the dark tunnel.
Her eyes didn’t adjust well to the blackness of the dirt-packed entrance. Her free hand felt around at the walls so she could guide herself more easily, even though Mr. Třínožka was doing most of the guiding for her. Her fingertips trailed across the winding tree roots and rocks hiding in the topsoil, until finally her eyes were met with a faint, warm light behind a set of patterned curtains.
When the spider pushed through, Charlotte emerged into a rather large burrow he had dug for his home under the forest. Multiples of trinkets, oddities, and collectables lined the walls, stacked next to crude, pillowy sacks that she guessed the spider used for couches.
Another Phaser was playing music from one corner of the burrow. A caterpillar type just as large as Mr. Třínožka, sat folded over a small bench before an old, upright piano. He did not seem to notice the pair had entered behind him as he continued to play.
“That sounds beautiful,” Charlotte said softly.
“That’s just Horris. He’s completely deaf.” Mr. Třínožka began removing his scarf and his knit gloves with the fingers cut out. He laid them on one of the couches.