The Lie Spinners (The Deception Dance) (31 page)

She
leans against the side of the giant’s throne, smiling and
exposing bright green chewing gum. She rocks her hips back and forth
and her pink high-heels are high enough that, with that short of a
pink skirt, I might be traumatized for life if I don’t avert my
gaze.

When
I return my gaze to the giant, I’d almost call his smile
good-natured or charming, if it wasn’t so disturbing. “You
do not need to lie to me,” he says, winking, “As you
said, my home is unique, its uniqueness does not appeal to all.”

“
She
has arachnophobia,” says Polite Goon beside me, weirdly
defending me.

The
giant looks back to me with an apologetic grimace, “Is this
true?”

“
A
little,” I say.

“
I
am sorry,” says the giant, looking genuinely apologetic, “This
must be a very uncomfortable place for you.”

I
exhale out a breath.
Okay,
enough of this bull crud.
“Where is my sister? What did that spider do to her?” I
say, looking directly at this creepily considerate monster.

“
Here
with us…” he throws up his arms, still smiling, “…safely
being ballooned in silk, as we speak, deep within the web. She’ll
look like that by tomorrow.” He points to one of the white
sacks within the wall of web beside us.

“
You’re
going to eat her!” I’m running for the web…
screaming, “No! No way!”

Someone
grabs me.

I’m
flailing, but whoever has me holds tight while someone else presses a
thumb between my eyebrows. My headache vanishes as all the muscles in
my body feel like they relax into the consistency of gelatin. To my
humiliation, I can’t stand by myself and have to lean on
Wardrobe Goon for support (there may or may not be a bit of drool
involved). First Jones, now these goons, people have to stop doing
this to me.

The
giant starts to speak again, “We’re not going to eat
her,” says giant fangy-Mc-fang-fang while he spreads his hands
in front of him, laughing, as if assuming this was absurd instead of
perfectly logical. The crowd of men joins him laughing but silences
when the giant continues, “And that sack is not hers; your
sister is deep within the web. She could sleep in one of those for a
year and wake up refreshed as if from a nap. We can protect her; we
can keep her safe…”

I
look at Chauncey-demon, this is how it happened last year but she was
Linnie’s kidnapper—I bet she’s even the one who
gave this giant the idea; and I just delivered them my perfect
leverage, again. Worst part is that with Chauncey here— someone
who knows that I’ll do anything to save my sister— I have
no room for blustering or bluffing, or even negotiating.

“
If
I do
what
…?”
my voice sounds calm, relaxed, (sedated,) though I am anything but
calm.

“
No…”
he waves his hand in the air... “No conditions… from
this point on consider yourself and your sister my guests; but we are
getting ahead of ourselves. I have not even introduced myself, I am
Mængmum, but you can call me The Spider, in English, everyone
does,” he chuckles, and as if on cue, the rest of the men
beside him do too.

I
push away from Wardrobe Goon on wobbly legs, I refuse to play
helpless damsel here—he might be all (fangy) charm but I’m
pretty sure if I show weakness I’ll be written off as one of
those women practically kissing his feet. Taking a few deep breaths I
widen my stance enough that I at least have the appearance of
stability and I return my gaze to this Spider. “Spider,”
I nod my head in acknowledgement, “I thank you for your gentle
treatment of myself and my sister. If I thought harm was being done
to her, any harm by any…thing, my distress would likely make
me a very poor pawn.” I say.

The
Spider and my gaze disconnect as we both flit our attention to
Chauncey. To my relief the demon Chauncey doesn’t proclaim it a
lie, though it’s a pretty open-ended statement. But the fact
that The Spider cares enough to check is good news, I hope.

“
Please,
guest—not pawn,” he says. “I am not looking to use
you, simply protect you on my island.”

I
look to Chauncey; but she only smiles a gleeful, demon-eyed grin that
clearly says, ‘you don’t expect me to proclaim his lies
do you?’

I
wish that this spider was the demon he looks, even a greater demon,
at least then I would know that he wasn’t just outright lying
to me; but the moment I wish it I realize how stupid it is to want to
be dealing with a greater demon.

The
Spider continues, “You are a very important person, a person to
be protected—and there are many dangers here.” He smiles
as he absently pets the woman at his side. “You need not worry;
my protection is absolute within my island.”

I
exhale and meet The Spider’s slit-iris gaze. “So, what am
I going to have to
do
for your continued protection?”

The
spider’s wide smile drops from his face and his hand stills its
petting. “
Continued?”
he
says, his words a quiet hiss. “Who of my people have helped you
before?”

The
crowd of men on the stage, who had been whispering to each other and
peering at me, silence, and each of their startled fearful gazes drop
to anywhere but at me. There’s a terrifying stillness, an
absolute silence to the hall, an anxious expectancy. Immediately, I
know that I have said or done something horribly wrong.

Day
Thirteen (continued)

“
What
I meant was, your protection will be continuing as of this moment.”
I bite my lip.

“
Lie.”
Chauncey says.

“
Point
to the one who helped you,” The Spider says, articulating every
syllable. “Point to who lied to me! The one who did not tell me
they had contact with you!”

“
No
one here helped me,” I whisper.

“
Lie.”
Chauncey says, now examining her nails.

“
POINT!”
The Spider jumps to his feet, his eyes flash like brilliant neon club
lights.

My
arm lifts and my finger points; I use my other hand to try to pull
down my limb that no longer answers to my thoughts, but it’s no
use, my finger gestures with a slow swing to the line of
spider-webbed women bowing at The Spider’s feet.

“
All
of them?” The spider asks, his nostrils flaring simultaneously
with his eyelids.

“
No!”
The word comes out a plea, as I yank at my accusatory arm.

“
That’s
the truth.” Chauncey mumbles as she uses her thumb nail to push
back at a cuticle.

The
Spider descends a step toward me.

The
line of seven women, for the first time, move from where they sit
bowed; their hair lifts first, straight up, as if an invisible line
ties it to the web above, then their heads tilt up and they each
uncurl their limbs. As they uncurl from their fetal positions, their
expressions become visible on their faces:
Absolute
Panic
.
A couple women cry silent tears, one woman squeezes her eyelids
closed.

It’s
as if that invisible tether lifts them into a standing position by
their hair then just keeps lifting. In moments, they hang suspended
with their bare feet inches above the floor. Even though they’ve
levitated
,
the women keep their gazes on the floor. They wear matching white
dresses; and with the white webbing that covers their skin, they look
ethereal, like ghostly apparitions caught forever in the terror of
their deaths.

What
have I done? One slip and…what have I done to these women?

I
examine the women’s faces, only two do not look as if they are
asking their maker for forgiveness: May, who hovers at one end and
the older fire dancer who hovers at the center of the group; both
have a look closer to resignation, acceptance.

My
wretched finger lifts again, unbidden, and points at May. “No
one helped me!” I shout, trying to wrestle my arm down.

“
Lie.”

“
I,
alone,” says May, her voice soft yet steady and clear.

“
Truth.”

The
other women drop, and though I hear them thud as they hit the dais,
they make little more than whimpers of protest. As May still floats,
her jaw juts out in (I think) defiance, though her gaze does not
waver from the floor.

Any
pretense of the (creepily) civil and charming host vanished; The
Spider wheels on May with such unrestrained rage, I swear I feel it
ripple across my skin. His eyes glow so bright that for a second I
wonder if he’s not one of those missing greater demons.

He
leaps for her, one minute he’s almost beside me, the next he’s
on the dais, his fist connecting with May’s face.

May
flies back out of whatever invisible force-field she’s caught
in, crashing into the lounging men on the dais, who (other than
shying away) don’t move in any way to help her. The Spider
grabs her out of the mess of limbs and throws May off the dais. And
then she’s flying toward me. Seeing her body hurdling at me
must wake me from whatever shock I was in from seeing her so brutally
attacked; though I’m in a perfect position to catch her, she
changes course in the air and crashes into the mirror like floor. In
that floor, I see the reflection of her bloodied face—her eyes
are open and her chest rises and falls with breath but she doesn’t
get up.

I
stumble to her, my limbs still not completely in control,
half-falling half-diving to the ground to see if she’s okay—

“
Don’t…”
she whispers, “Go away.”

I
pause, hand hovering over her back.

She
repeats, “Go away.”

I
crawl back a couple feet, but don’t stand.

The
Spider jumps from the dais and stalks toward May who still lies prone
on the floor.

“
Stop!”
I shout (because I’m obviously insane), “She didn’t
help me! Leave her alone!”

The
spider wheels his glowing gaze on me. His mouth opens wide; all I see
are those yellow fangs, long and wicked. He crouches, and then leaps.

The
impact of his body hitting mine threatens to rip off my limbs, I feel
four points of contact both my arms my left thigh and my stomach;
breath gone, thoughts gone, all I see, all I know is those yellow
fangs snapping at my throat and the sound of girlish laughter.

He
screams wordless hissy screeches into my neck while his hot wet
breath coats my skin. The hisses turn to words, “You’re
nothing! A helpless skinny
woman
!
Weak and fragile! I could break you with a thought! You think you can
give me orders? I am the closest thing to a ‘God’ you’ll
ever see! I will be more powerful than all the demons in Hell! You
think you can order me? Order me? Order me! I’ll kill you!”
Snap, snap. “I’ll kill you!”

I
feel two sharp points graze along my neck over and over, like he’s
selecting the best place to bite, and I realize…I can’t
move…can’t.
Am
I paralyzed?
I’m biting my lip, so helpless, terrified and defenseless, my
full year of training has amounted to squat; when I need to kick-butt
I’m lying on the ground at the mercy of a psychotic
man-spider-
thingy
.