“I’m here, don’t worry,” Maria said, even though she knew there was no way she was getting them down. The web was too tough. But they were together now, and that was all she wanted.
She heard the triumphant cry of the Black Widow behind her, and she knew it would be over soon — that she’d found the last ring.
Maria hugged her brother, her mom, and Derek, as best she could.
“I love you,” she said. “I hope you know that.”
She turned. The Black Widow stood facing her, not fifteen feet away. Her transformation was complete, and the sight was so horrible, Maria could barely look. Spiders — now including Maria’s brown recluse friends — swarmed over and around her body, skittering at her feet.
“Now, my soldiers,” the Black Widow said, “it is time to feed.”
She pointed her terrible arms, and the spiders came at Maria in a streak like chain lightning. Maria closed her eyes, prepared for the end.
But then a second passed, and another.
Not only was she still alive, the room had gone silent.
Maria opened her eyes. The approaching army had stopped cold a mere two steps in front of her. Between the front ranks and Maria stood a single black widow spider.
Could it be —
Was it the spider from before?
“What are you doing?” the Black Widow snarled. “Feed, you fools! I gave you an order.”
But the spiders did not move. With a surge of hope, Maria wondered if the black widow at her feet might be the very same spider whose life she’d spared in Grandma Esme’s house. The same spider she’d let live in this very basement — the spider she’d saved in her house tonight.
Whatever this black widow was telling the others, it seemed to be working.
The brown recluse spiders broke away from the group, joining the black widow at Maria’s side.
“She’s just a little girl! Don’t tell me you’re afraid of her.”
Without her ring, Maria couldn’t know for sure, but she didn’t think this was fear. This looked more like an act of friendship.
“Fine, I’ll do it myself,” the Black Widow said acidly. She took a step forward, stomping on a cluster of spiders without even a flicker of remorse. She took another step — bam. And another. And another.
Maria gasped. The spiders were angry. She didn’t need a ring to see that.
The Black Widow went to take another step — the step that would bring her within striking distance of Maria — but the legion of spiders saw to it that her foot never hit the ground.
Like a cloud of locusts, they were upon her.
The last thing Maria saw, before she covered her ears and closed her eyes, was a poison-red hourglass on the Black Widow’s inhuman face.
Her time was up.
“Maria?”
It was Derek’s voice, cracked and scared. Maria opened her eyes. Only a fraction of the spiders from before remained. There was no trace of the Black Widow. The eight spider rings were in a cluster on the floor.
Maria turned to her friend and pulled at the webbing around his face. Derek had a gash in his forehead that didn’t look too deep, and a bite mark on his neck that was large and red. He was, to put it mildly, a little shaken up.
“Maria, I thought — And then when those spiders were coming at you, I was all — But then they went after my — after the —”
Derek couldn’t say anything else. He was too overwhelmed.
“It’s okay, Derek. It’s all over now. I’m going to get you down from there.”
One more time, Maria clawed at the web. But this time, the spiders — all the spiders — came to help her.
It was slightly terrifying. “Thank you,” she said delicately. She had a feeling they could understand her, even without her ring.
One by one, Maria and the spiders brought down Derek, Rafi, and her mother. Their heartbeats were normal. Their breathing was normal. Still, Maria knew she needed to get them an ambulance right away.
“Derek, can I use your cell phone?”
“What? Oh, yeah.” Derek fished out his phone and handed it to her. He was clearly still in a daze, and hadn’t entirely stopped crying.
Maria told 9-1-1 where to find them, and repeatedly exclaimed that she couldn’t fully explain what had happened. Then she handed the phone back to Derek. Surely, her mom would let her have one of her own after this.
“Maria, I still don’t understand what happened tonight. One minute, I was sitting in my room after Claire’s birthday party, and the next, I’m down here with a fire iron and there are spiders everywhere.”
“I’ll give you the full version later. For now, let’s just say your aunt was in a secret club with some really messed-up people.”
“Maria, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. And I can’t believe I yelled at you —”
“Derek, it’s okay. Really. I’m glad you were there to keep me from doing something even more wicked.”
Derek wrapped her in a hug.
“You’re the least wicked person I know,” he said.
Maria smiled. This was exactly the right response.
Derek cleared his throat in Maria’s ear, and Maria realized that the brown recluse spiders — along with the others — were standing there watching them. Perhaps they were waiting for their next command. Derek eyed them nervously.
“Do you … do you know what they want?”
“Nope,” Maria said. She nodded at the rings. “I would need those to know that.”
“You don’t think … I mean, they’re not going to … eat us … are they?”
“I don’t think so,” Maria said. “I don’t think they liked how Luellen had been treating them. You can use a ring to make an obedient animal, but only a friend will help you in the end.”
“Oh, yeah? So you’ll be there for me next time I get mixed up in an unspeakable evil?”
“Always,” Maria said. “I hope you know that.”
There was something wonderful about being on a boat.
The fishing pond in Falling Waters was no private lake, but the important thing today was that the Lopez family was here together, on their very own boat. Well, the Lopez family plus its honorary fourth member, Derek.
Their little boat rocked as Rafi’s line went taut on a catch. The sun beat down on them, focusing extra hard on Maria’s black jeans and T-shirt. She hardly minded. For one thing, she could see in a full circle around them, and what she didn’t see was a single shadow or spider.
“What’d you catch?” Mom asked as Rafi reeled in his line.
“Looks like a catfish,” Derek said.
“A tiny one,” Rafi said. “I’m going to let it go.” He unhooked the fish and threw it back in the water. He had done this five other times already, claiming that each fish was either too small to eat, too big to carry, or else too sad-looking.
Rafi had been acting different in the week since last Saturday. For one thing, he’d been noticeably nicer to Maria, which was all well and good. But he was also a little quieter, and a little jumpier, too. Maria hoped these changes would undo themselves in time. But it had been nice to hear him on the phone today, telling Rob that he didn’t have time to hang out because he was going fishing with his own family.
“You know, you haven’t touched your book since we got out here,” Mom said to Maria.
“I didn’t want to be rude. Besides, I only brought it out here because I thought fishing was supposed to be a silent activity. But you three have been talking nonstop since we stepped in the boat.”