Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1) (18 page)

I told the kids
to keep watching the movie in the bedroom and that their mother was just in the
shower and that she would be out in a few moments.

When Sophia got out, she didn't look much better
than before she went into the shower.

"That bad, huh?" she asked when she
saw my reaction.

I shook my head. "Worse. Don't you think we
should have a doctor look at you?"

She shook her head.

"What about the baby? We need to make sure
it's alright? We need to be sure that you're alright?" I argued.

Sophia coughed. I could tell it hurt. "Well
I'm not, am I? I'm not okay."

"Let me at least help you in bed. You need
rest."

Sophia tried to nod, but it was too painful. I
helped her into her bedroom, then put her under her covers. I went to the
kitchen and made her some soup from a can, then fed her with a spoon.

"So are you ever going to tell me who did
this to you?" I asked.

Sophia sighed deeply and turned her head away.

"It was Stephan, right?"

She didn't have to answer. The fact that she
didn't protest told me all I needed to know.

Sophia exhaled. I gave her another spoonful of
soup. She was crying. "I thought he was a good one, Emma. I really
did."

"I know sweetie. He seemed really nice
too." I stroked her hair gently avoiding the bruises on her forehead.

Sophia scoffed. "It was the thing with the
food that ticked him off. Because we didn't want to eat his food. He got so
mad, Emma. I don't think I've ever seen anyone explode like this. He was
yelling and screaming at me. I thought he would wake up the kids, so I told him
to take it outside. Then he hit me with something hard and dragged me outside,
pulled me by the hair. I don't know much about what happened after that. But I
do remember it hurt when he kicked me." She tried to look at me. "Do
you think the baby is alright?"

"I don't know sweetie. I honestly don't
know. You need someone to take a look at you. You really do." I was trying
hard not to cry, but I failed miserably.

"It's embarrassing, Emma. You know how they
talk on this island. If I call Dr. Williamsen everybody will know what
happened. His secretary, Lise will make sure to tell. She never was able to
keep quiet about anything. I just can't face that right now. I don't want my
kids to be the trash of town, if you know what I mean?"

"My dad is a doctor. Will you let him take
a look at you? I promise he will not talk about it to anyone. He's an outsider.
He grew up here and knows how it all works and hates it more than anyone.
Please? I'll tell him to be quiet."

Sophia closed her eyes and leaned back her head
on the pillow. "Alright, then."

Five minutes later I had my entire family at
Sophia's house. Maya and Victor stayed with the kids and Maya tried to take
care of all of them, while Dad examined Sophia. I waited outside the door and
as soon as he opened it I looked at him waiting for answers.

"It's bad," he said. "She's
really badly beaten up. Who did this to her? Some boyfriend?"

"Yes. What about the baby? Is the baby
alright?"

My dad sighed and nodded. "I think it'll be
fine. It's still too early to say for sure, but I am optimistic. I will check
in on her tomorrow, so it's good I was planning on staying, huh?"

"You are a lifesaver. You have no idea,
Dad. This means the world to me. Thank you."

"You're welcome kiddo. Make sure she stays
in bed and that she is careful in the coming days. She suffered a severe trauma
to her head and she needs rest. All the rest she can get."

I nodded. "We'll have to help her with
that."

"I guess we all need to get to work
then," Dad said. "I'll help you."

"Me too." I heard something, turned my
head and saw Maya standing behind me. "How long have you been standing
there?"

"Long enough. I'm old enough to understand
more than you think. I'll like to help Sophia out. Besides next week is fall
break, so I don't have school. I'll take care of her kids with you."

I felt a pinch in my heart. I leaned over and
kissed my daughter who I suddenly realized had become taller than me. I looked
at her proudly.

"Let's get those kids over to our
house," I said. "Lord knows we have enough room for all of
them."

"What about Victor?" Maya asked.
"He doesn't do well with many people around."

"Don't worry about Victor. I'll take care
of him," I said.

Sebastian was
crying.
Ever since his mother died he had felt so
lonely. Her body was still on the bed, where she had last looked at him, last
spoken to him, last touched him. He picked up her cold hand and put it against
his cheek, pretending that she was stroking him like she used to.

Then he called her name. "Mommy? Please
wake up. Please talk to me."

Her lifeless body looked strange and somehow
these small flies had suddenly found their way into the shelter and were
swarming her. Sebastian felt so alone, so abandoned and so scared. He knew
about death. His mother had told him about it, but he didn't know that it
looked like this.

Sebastian let go of his mother's hand and turned
to watch his spiders. They were crawling around on the walls of the shelter. He
grabbed one of them and played with it in his hand. He let it crawl up his arm
and up till it reached his throat. He picked up another one and played with it
in his hand. He glanced at his mother. He didn't like to look at her anymore,
her face, yes, but not her legs.

I'm so sorry, Mommy. You know
I'm sorry, don't you?

Sebastian crept up in his own bed and continued
to play with his spider when suddenly he heard something. A sound coming from
...
Oh God, could it really be?
There it was again. Another sound. Coming from the other side of the door. The
outside that he had never seen, only heard and read of in the books the lady
had brought him. Could it be her? Was she finally bringing him food?

Sebastian jumped up from the bed and walked
towards the iron door. He heard a rattle and a clatter just like they used to
hear when the lady came with the food. It had to be her. It just had to be.
Sebastian prepared himself for seeing her and telling her what had happened to
his mother.

Will she understand? Will she
blame me?

Another rattle and the lock was unlocked.
Sebastian knew this sound and was filled with hope and joy. Finally someone
came. Finally he wasn't alone anymore. She hadn't forgotten about them. The
lady still remembered.

The lock was removed and the door opened
carefully. What appeared once it had opened entirely shocked Sebastian in a way
he would never forget. It wasn't the old lady that stuck her head in like she
used to. No this was something else. It was a small girl. Her hair was braided
in each side and she was wearing a purple dress. Sebastian had never seen such
a beautiful creature before except in his books and kept staring at her. She
smiled and waved at him. Then she spoke:

"Hi."

Sebastian swallowed hard. He didn't know if he
was supposed to answer. He didn't know if she was dangerous. The girl kept
looking around like she had never seen such a place before in her life. There
was something about her, something intriguing, something alluring and Sebastian
felt all kinds of emotions he had never experienced before.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Sebastian stood up straight thinking that in
case she turned out to be dangerous he wanted to make sure she knew he wasn't
going to give up without a fight.

"Sss ... Sebastian," he stuttered.

She waved again with a smile. "Hi
Sebastian. You know you have a spider on your face, right?"

Sebastian felt his cheek and the spider climbed
back on his hand. He looked at the girl, then reached out the hand with the
spider on to hand it to her.

The little girl didn't seem as thrilled as he
was with the small creature. She wrinkled her nose, then let out a scream. It
startled Sebastian and he pulled his hand away. He looked behind her and
spotted light coming from the open door behind her. The second door that his
mother had talked about. The one leading out to the ... leading
outside
.

The girl kept looking at him. "Do you want
to play?" she asked.

That was when Sebastian remembered what his
mother had once told him.

If the door opens and you have
the chance, you run. Do you hear me? You run, Sebastian. Run all you can, don't
let anyone stop you. And don't talk to anyone, don't tell them who you are or
where you're from. Do you promise me that, son?

Yes Mommy.

"Yes, Mommy," he repeated now standing
in front of the girl.

"What?" she asked, but Sebastian
didn't hear her. The alluring light coming from the big outside pulled him
forward, as he sprang towards the girl and pushed her aside. She let out a
small shriek as she fell to the side and Sebastian sprang for the door. He
pushed it all the way up and was blinded by the strong sunlight that he had never
seen before. But he was able to see enough to run. So he did, Sebastian
sprinted across the yard and behind him he heard a male voice calling:

"Emma? Eeemmaaa? Your grandmother is coming
back from the hospital now. Her car is pulling up now. Where are you
Emma?"

I'm
standing in front
of
a boy. I have never seen him before. He has a spider on his face. I'm asking
him to play with me. I'm four years old and visiting my grandmother for the
first and last time in my life. The boy doesn't want to play with me. He runs
away. My dad is calling. I go back to the house and get ready to greet my
grandmother. I tell him I saw a boy in the yard. He tells me to not make up
stories. My grandmother's car is driving up into the driveway. She has been in
the hospital for three weeks. Broken hip and she needed a replacement. She gets
out of the car and walks up towards me leaning on her crutches. I am looking
forward to talking to her, after all she is family, my grandmother, my dad's
mother. She must be happy to finally see me, but she's not. She is angry. She
yells at my dad. I feel angry, I yell at her to be nicer to my dad, then she
turns and yells at me. She calls me a brat.

"We never should have
come," my dad says and pulls my arm. "Nothing has changed."

I woke up bathed in sweat. It was morning, but
still early. None of the kids were awake. I was panting heavily.

It was just a dream,
I
told myself. But I knew it wasn't true. It happened. I had this dream over and
over through my childhood. Suddenly I remembered. Suddenly I recognized it.

"The boy," I said. "There was a
boy."

I jumped out of the bed and went into my closet.
I pulled out a big flashlight. I put on a bathrobe and started walking
downstairs.

I had found the key. How had I
found the key? The way most curious four-year-olds find almost anything,
especially when they know they're not allowed to.

I remembered how the key had felt in my hand as
a child and walked to the hallway downstairs. I found the old armoire and
pulled out the drawer. I gasped. It was still there. Reaching in I grabbed it
in my hand. My heart was pounding as I looked at it in the light of the
flashlight.

How did I know? How did I know
what it was for?

I remembered how I had tried it on all kinds of
locks in the house. The strange house I was visiting with my dad. I remembered
how it made him grumpy just to be here. I never understood why.

I found the hatch first
,
then I tried the key on it. I didn't know it
would fit. I was playing explorer and wanted to see what was down there. Oh my
god. I tripped over the hatch just like Victor did and then I decided to try
the key to see if it would fit.

I walked through the living room out into the
yard. The trees looked big and creepy in the darkness. The sun hadn't risen
yet, but it wasn't going to be long. I walked with determined steps in between
the trees still with the many pictures of this boy with the spider on his face
before my eyes.

I found the hatch and wiped away leaves to find
the lock. It was rusty and old. I put the key in and turned. It opened. The
door was heavy, so I had to use both hands to pull it open. A couple of stairs
appeared and at the end of them was another iron door with a lock. I walked
down and put the key in just like I had done back then. It opened immediately.
I pulled the door open and peeked in. In a quick glimpse I thought I saw the
boy again, standing in the opening with his pale face, glaring at me like I was
the strangest thing he had ever seen.

I sniffled and breathed heavily. I didn't
understand. What was that boy doing down there? Why was he in this old bunker
all by himself? And why was the door locked?

I didn't like to think about it. I lifted up the
flashlight and let its light fall inside of the bunker. Two beds, nicely made,
lots of empty shelves, blankets, pillows, books and old magazines on some of
them. I lit up the walls and gasped. They were plastered in drawings. Time had
turned the paper brown and dirty. I stepped inside and lit them all up with my
flashlight. Hundreds of drawings made by a child. Drawings of a little boy and
his mother sailing on a boat, drawings of a little boy and his mother on top of
a mountain. I stared at all the many drawings wondering who made them and why
they were in here?

A spider climbed up the wall and startled me. I
stared at it for a long time. I felt tears roll across my cheeks and wiped them
away. What was all this? I didn't understand. I didn't
want
to understand.