Shatter

Chapter 8: The Arachmens

As my eyelids opened drowsily, I saw a mirror. 

The reflection wasn't me. 

It was Carmen. Her face was melted with anguish, as if she was in some sort of pain that was not describable. Her eyes were pleading, and I grimaced. 

I tried to shift around. 

Nothing worked. 

Then Carmen disappeared. 

"CARMEN!" I cried out. 

No. 

No. She was my best friend since my parents had died. 

I had to save her. 

I shook my head furiously and lashed out at whatever I was stuck in. 

Another face appeared. But this one, it was the face of a creature. 

A creature that was half-human, half-spider. 

"Hello," the creature hissed in a raspy voice, "Who are you? I see that you've fallen into the quicksand." 

It scuttled around, and I felt the space around me loosen. As if I was in a room, and the room expanded. 

"What's your name?" the creature continued. "Do not lie." 

"My name is Luna." I said, slowly. 

The creature reared up, and looked at my face closely. "You are not lying, I see," it said, and turned its back on me. I realized I could sit up. 

I was in a cave: a dark one. Spiderwebs filled the corners, and it was like I was in a horror movie. 

"My name is Goliatha," the creature said. "I do not mean much harm." She squinted her eyes. "But my other fellow friends do. They love to feed on human flesh," she said, extending the word flesh with satisfaction. "Be aware of the forest. There are lots of traps like ours. Not all will be as nice as me—"

Suddenly, another one of the creatures entered. "Goliatha, who is this?" the creature asked. "You are not friends with it, eh? Don't betray our kind: the Arachmens. DO NOT."

"I'm not," Goliatha lied smoothly, "I was talking about how I was planning to cook it. Leave me peace, Withol." 

"Oh," Withol said, surprised, "I see. Sorry." 

Then, Withol scuttled away. 

"I would love to help you more," Goliatha said, "But I'm afraid I'll get in trouble. Leave, now."

"But wait!" I yelped, as she started to push me away, "I have a friend named Carmen. She needs to come with me! I'm her friend!"

Goliatha looked irritated, and glanced worriedly at the direction Withol came in. She sighed. "I pity you, child, but..."

"Please!" I begged. "She can't just die! It's my fault she came with me in the first place."

Goliatha took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll lie for you. The time you have is till tomorrow morning. I will also try to get information for you... what's her name?"

"Carmen." I replied gratefully, "Thank you so much."

"No problem," she mumbled under her breath, and went away. 

I put my head in my hands, and rocked back and forth in a tight ball. 

Was Goliatha a traitor to her kind?

Was she an ally to me?

Could I trust her?

Was I just being stupid?

Where was Carmen?

~

"Goliatha, we're hungry!" came a sad but frustrated voice. "We can't wait any longer. I know you love them, but... we can't keep on betraying our kind forever. It has to stop."

And then came another voice: "Sisters! Another creature fell into the quicksand! It's a deer, I think. The humans can wait."

Then, the voice left.

I was listening to Goliatha's conversation.

"I know it has to stop. Maybe it's better if I just leave the Arachmens as a whole..."

"NO!" the other voice cried. "No, don't leave..."

"But Bella, I can't... I know this is wrong, but I've been saving humans for a long time. The others aren't suspicious of me, but I'm doing all the Arachmens harm." Goliatha said. "Okay, look. How about Luna and Carmen are the last humans I save in my life in this cave? We'll need to find Carmen. And then I'll be like the others.
That way, you also don't need to worry. This isn't your fault, Bella, it's mine. I'm ending all of this tomorrow, when they leave." Goliatha uttered a heavy sigh.

"Okay," Bella agreed. "Fair. And then we pretend that something like this never happened in our life."

"Yeah."

I quickly darted away into the shadows again, sitting cross-legged.

I wonder what I was thinking.

Why had I left the orphanage?

There are more dangers out here, aren't there?

I should've been more grateful that I even had a roof over my head.

The man in the mirror was still around.

What was the point of leaving?

Carmen went with me because she didn't want me to die.

Now, she might be the one at her deathbed.

I put my head in my hands in frustration.

I was being stupid, as usual.

I just hoped that Carmen didn't die... like my parents did....

SHUT UP! I scolded myself. Why are you thinking this? You're doing perfectly fine. Goliatha and Bella will find Carmen. Everything will be FINE.

Suddenly, Goliatha barged in with Bella right beside her.

Beside Bella, was Carmen.

My face lit up. "Carmen!"

Immediately, Bella raised a finger to her pale lips. "Shh."

"Quickly," Goliatha said in a whisper, "You: Carmen and Luna, follow me. Bella, go."

Bella ran off hastily.

"Won't you get in trouble?" I asked frantically. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because... I have reasons. Hurry!" Goliatha responded. 

Then, I was floating above the quicksand. Next to me was Carmen. 

"Damn," Carmen muttered, "What do we do now?"

I uncrossed my legs, and tried running in midair... and surprisingly, it worked. Carmen did the same, and soon, we were both on the grass. "There's no going back now," I breathed. "There's nothing we can do."

Carmen nodded. "You know..." she hesitated, and bit her lip. "I feel like I was too ungrateful at the orphanage. I didn't care. I was an idiot. I... I wasn't thankful... to everything and everyone... I was just there."

I uttered a mumble of agreement. "That was me, as well."