The Atherton Job

"Let's go upstairs," Dwight suggested. 'Oh fuck me what am I gonna tell the others?' He was mentally kicking himself with every step. He tried to maintain calm, but inside he was almost in a full blown panic.

"By the way, do you know what the fuck those things are down there?" she asked once they reached the living room.

"I dunno, something like a spider's web and egg pods or something. I don't care. I just wanna get the hell outta here," he replied, looking around for the others. Something wasn't right, Cutter should be yelling for him to do something by now, but there was nothing going on at all, nothing but silence. A chill ran up his spine and he nearly fainted when Denise grabbed his shoulder and screamed.

He followed her eyes and pointing hand to the corpse on the floor and said, "Yeah, she's dead, I saw that when I came in. I don't know what killed her."

Denise's investigative instincts came back and she bent down to inspect the body. "Something really nasty happened here, that's for sure, this is probably whoever I heard scream in the forest.

Dwight was still wondering where his accomplices were and as he looked around the room, he half expected them to jump out and start yelling at him at any moment. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed something red dripping down the steps. His eyes went wide as he realized what it was.

"What are you looking at?" Denise called from the living room.

"Well I was looking for my friends," he replied, thinking that 'friends' is not a word he'd use to describe the Hannity brothers and especially not for someone like Cutter. But he couldn't just leave without knowing what happened to them. If he did, they'd find him and kill him for skipping out on them.

"I think this is blood on the stairs here," he said after his reverie.

"Blood? Let me look at that," Denise walked over to where he stood and peered at the rivulets of crimson dripping down the steps. Dwight tilted his light up the stairs and they looked up wondering what was up there.

"This place is just getting weirder," Denise said shaking her head. "Well, it looks like we go up if you wanna keep looking for your friends." She began going up by ones and twos, carefully avoiding the blood.

"Up?" Dwight repeated, and then scrambled to catch up to her. "Wait for me!"

Chapter 8

After one or two steps he was right behind her, mentally wrestling with how to explain why he was with someone to the others. He gulped, knowing his companions, they'd probably kill her on the spot.

At the top of the stairs, they found more blood pooled on the floor. Dwight shined the light both directions but saw nothing. Denise started down the hallway to the left, but stopped when something wet landed on her shoulder. "Something wet just fell on me."

"What?"

"Something wet just fell on me. Shine your light up," Denise told him.

Dwight did as he was asked and their jaws dropped at what they saw. A long trail of blood went along the ceiling ending right over Denise. A few strands of what looked like red hair stuck to the ceiling. Their eyes followed the trail several times, each wondering what could have left it.

"That hair looks familiar but what's it doing on the ceiling?" Dwight thought aloud. He shivered hoping it was not what he thought it was.

"You know whose hair that is?" Denise asked.

"Yeah. Think I do"

"Well whoever it is, they sure ain't happy now." A twinge of fear entered her voice," Times like this I wish I had my gun."

"Your gun?" Dwight asked.

"I'm a part time private investigator," she replied.

Moving slowly, they followed the blood trail down the hall towards the closed door. The closer they got to the door, the thicker they trail of blood became until it ended in puddle that went under the door. Bits of hair and flesh floated in the puddle.

"I don't like how this is looking. I really don't like how this is looking," Dwight couldn't stop his voice trembling.

"Neither do I but. . ."

"Who's out there? Who's that! Speak up or I'll blow a hole through you and the door!" came Jacob's voice from the other side.

"Oh shit! Jacob wait! Don't! It's me, Dwight!" he answered while stepping back from the door. This was not good at all. Jacob might blow them away even knowing who it was.

"Who the fuck is that?" Denise asked, pressing herself to the right hand wall trying to get out of the line of fire.

"He's my fri. . . er, one of the guys I came here with," Dwight explained. He looked back to see her flattening herself against the wall. He would've done the same except with his size, he doubted it would help.

"Jacob? What's going on? Let us come in," he yelled.

"Us? Who's with you? Thought you said it was just you? I'll blow your head off if you're trying to pull one on me you motherfucker!"

Dwight heard the sound of a shotgun being pumped and readied. "OH FUCK! Jacob wait, I found a woman downstairs. She was tied up and I got her out, we don't have weapons. Come on man, just let us in!"

A long, tense silence followed before they heard, "Alright come in. Slowly now! And If you let that THING in here I'm gonna fucking kill you," Jacob yelled back." Now both of you get in here before I change my mind.

"A real friend you got there," Denise muttered quietly. "What thing is he talking about?"

"I dunno. Think it has something to do with how I found you downstairs?" Dwight asked. He reached out and slowly turned the knob, allowing the door to swing open by itself. Inside, he saw Jacob sitting on the edge of a bed, cradling Caleb's upper body in his lap with one arm and aiming the shotgun at the door with the other. Tentatively, he stepped into the room.

"Her too," Jacob pointed at Denise with the barrel of his gun. She complied, Jacob following her movements with the gun. She closed the door behind her and stood beside Dwight, both of them covered by the shotgun. Dwight gulped but said nothing.

Jacob's eyes locked onto Denise with suspicion. Jacob kept the gun and one eye on Denise the other on Dwight. "Why the fuck are you with someone we don't know." Jacob's face twisted in rage and he leveled the barrel at Dwight's face.

Dwight shuddered and knew this was it; Jacob was going to shoot him right here and now. He waited for Jacob to pull the trigger.

But he didn't. Instead he rammed the metal barrel into the bridge of Dwight's already broken nose. Fresh blood poured from Dwight's nostrils. "I asked you a question, fucker!" Jacob demanded.

"He found me in the basement," Denise interrupted, "He brought me upstairs because we saw blood dripping down and smeared all the way down the hallway to the door. We just wanted to know what the fuck was going on and to get out of here."

Dwight nodded his agreement while holding his bleeding nose. "She was just there, I rescued her and we came up to find you."

Jacob sat down on the bed and seemed to mull it over in his head and after a moment, lowered the gun. Jacob sighed and the anger seemed to rush out of him. His eyes went down to look at his wounded brother. Jacob started, "Me, my brother, Cutter and Dwight came here thinking it was gonna be an easy score. Dwight told us this place was abandoned and just full of stuff waiting to be taken. Well it's full alright but it ain't fucking abandoned! We found a bunch of jewelry and stuff but then this thing, we thought it was a girl, came out of nowhere and attacked my brother. And then it chopped Cutter's head clean off and I dunno what happened to her body because I closed the door and hunkered down with my brother here, but instead of coming through the door, the damn thing went away. I don't know where it went but I fucking swear it's somewhere in this house just waiting for us."

Denise turned to Dwight in surprise, "You? You came to rob this place? Why didn't you say anything about a robbery?"

Dwight's face blanched. There went his cover. "Because you're not in the gang and I didn't want you in the way and I didn't want you killed if Jacob or one of the others found you."

Jacob looked up at Denise. "Which would be correct, normally I would've blown your pretty face clean off but right now considering I need to get me and my brother out of this room alive, I'll make an exception."

"What do you mean?" Dwight and Denise asked in unison.

"Well seeing as I can't carry my brother and shoot that thing if it comes back, I need Dwight to carry Caleb. And you," he pointed at Denise, "can watch my back and make sure we all get out of here alive. Got it?"

"Yeah I got it," Denise nodded. "Except, I don't have a gun. Whoever you say attacked you, attacked me a day ago and I just woke up in the basement tied up in some kind of web."

Jacob swore under his breath. "I guess we will have to try and make do with one gun then. Cutter took my spare and the thing made off with her body and my gun."

Denise nodded and looked down into the dying eyes of Caleb then back up at Jacob, "Your brother needs a hospital right now if you want him to survive."

"It's settled then," Jacob stood up. He checked the shotgun and saw that it was fully loaded. Holding the flashlight under the shotgun he walked to the door. "I'll go out first you two follow."

Chapter 9

Jacob opened the door, and flashed his light down the hallway. His nerves were on the verge of being shot so he had to focus to keep his hands from shaking. He expected the thing to pop out right there and gut him but what he saw surprised him more. "That's odd."

"What's odd?" whispered Denise who was right behind Jacob.

"There's a ladder leading up into the ceiling right at the top of the stairs. It wasn't there before," Jacob answered. He took three slow steps then paused and motioned for the others to follow.

"Come on, we'll have to go around it."

"What if the creature is up there?" Dwight grunted. He was struggling with the weight of Caleb in his arms.

"Motherfucker, don't you think I haven't thought about that," Jacob turned and shot back, "I haven't even gotten to it and already you're trying to jinx me. We don't know if it's up there or not!"

"Guys, calm down. We need to focus if we're going to get out of here," Denise said, trying to be the diplomatic one. Her stomach turned in knots as she followed. She couldn't help but think about what Dwight had said. 'What if it was up there?'

Jacob heard a faint groan from behind as he stepped closer to the ladder. In the light, he could see it was just an old wooden folding ladder. Small metal springs and bolts glinted in the light. The ladder was long enough to reach from floor and disappear into what must be the attic. He held his breath, keeping an eye open for any sign of the monster, he saw nothing and all he could hear was the sound of their own breathing and the creaking floor.

When all three reached the ladder, Jacob looked up, pointing his shotgun into the darkness, ready to shoot if the creature appeared. He turned to look at the others behind him. Dwight stood quietly holding Caleb while Denise was holding Dwight's flashlight so they could all see.

"I don't see it anywhere, do you?" Jacob whispered. As they shook their heads, he turned his attention back to the attic. He motioned with one hand for them to go around him and down the steps while he kept the gun trained on the opening. Denise and Dwight stepped around Jacob and started down the steps, Denise cautiously leading the way.

They were four steps down when Denise stopped and looked back up. Jacob still stood at the top, keeping his attention on the opening in the ceiling.

"I don't think it's coming back." he said, lowering his weapon and turning to join them.

Just then, four arachnid-like limbs shot out from the attic and latched onto Jacob before he could take a step. The sharp blade ends sank deeply into his midsection and back. He screamed in pain while Denise screamed in terror as she turned to see the creature easily lift Jacob into the attic through the hole, but not before it leveled its black soulless gaze at Denise.

It opened its mouth and hissed, revealing large white, dripping fangs. Jacob's legs kicked uselessly in the air as he was lifted up. Screams of pain filled the air as he disappeared into the darkness above. Sounds of flesh and clothing alike being torn apart mingled and were soon followed by a new stream of blood. The shotgun fired once but then clattered down from above landing in the pooling blood on the floor. The screams from above stopped and another stream of blood ran from the attic opening.

"Run Dwight! Run!" Denise screamed.

Denise abandoned all caution and barreled down the steps as fast as her legs could carry her. Dwight's boots thundered down the steps as he followed close behind. Denise heard him panting, but didn't stop to catch let him catch his breath. In her terror, her police training and preparation fled her mind and all she could think of was getting out of that house. Without looking back, she fled to the front door, yanked it open bolted out into the darkness.

Moonlight pierced through the forest canopy, somewhat aiding her flashlight in illuminating a path for her terrified flight. She could hear horrible scratching the ends of the creature's legs made as it rushed down the steps behind them. She didn't know where it was but it was getting closer and coming fast.

"Hold on," Dwight panted, struggling to keep up "I'm coming! Don't leave me here!"

Dwight was struggling to keep up with Denise. He looked back and his eyes widened in terror, seeing black eyes full of murderous hunger looking right at him. His face paled and only the threat of imminent death kept his legs moving. He kept running, dodging trees and low hanging branches. He could hear the thing behind him, coming closer and closer.

"Oh fuck. Oh fuck. I don't want to die." He whimpered repeatedly.

Denise zig-zagged past tree after tree, the flashlight bounced wildly ahead of her as she ran. She heard steps behind her and tried to speed up, was it the creature or was it the sound of Dwight's boots behind her? A low tree limb came into view, and she ducked just in time and then turned to look behind her. Dwight was coming, Caleb still in his arms. He was struggling and panting hard. She yelled, "Hurry, Dwight."

Denise saw that the creature was no longer behind them. Where had it gone? She didn't want to find out. She turned and started running again, with Dwight beside her this time. Soon the trees thinned and they reached the edge of the forest. Denise shone the light ahead and saw something metallic beyond the trees. "There's something ahead." she said, gasping for breath.

"What?"

As she got closer, she realized that the metal was the grill of a vehicle. Denise slowed down to avoid crashing right into the vehicle. "It's a van!" she cried out ecstatically. She ran to the driver's door, hoping it was unlocked.

"A van? The van!" Dwight cried out right behind her.

The ache in his legs disappeared when he saw the familiar grey paint of Jacob's van. He was exhausted from carrying Caleb but he held on to the motionless body. He heard Denise open the driver side door. His hope died as the realization hit him. The keys were back in the woods, somewhere in that house, with Jacob's dead body.

"Wait! Denise! We don't have the keys!" he yelled, going to the passenger side. Dwight opened the side door and dropped Caleb onto the van's floor. He turned to Denise and said, "I just realized I don't have the keys."

Denise was already in the driver seat, bent under the steering wheel. He could not see her hands but he could tell she was doing something.

"What are you doing," he asked?

"I don't need keys. I'm hot wiring this bitch so we can get the hell out of here." she said as she worked. She fumbled around for a few moments touching wires together until finally something sparked.

"Alright!" Dwight climbed into the passenger seat, completely exhausted. "How do you know how to hot wire a car?"

"A trick of the PI trade," she flashed a smile as the van started, then sat up and shifted into reverse.

"Oh." Dwight looked at her and smiled. "Let's get out of here."

Denise smiled back as the van reversed. Then something slammed into the van, rocking it. The windshield shattered into a thousand shards. Denise screamed as four long, black limbs burst through and grabbed Dwight. Dwight screamed in pain when a claw stabbed into his left shoulder.

"Mine!" Annabelle snarled furious. Annabelle snarled, spitting foam into Denise's face. Her human hands and legs kept hold on the van, while her arachnid limbs were pulling Dwight from the seat. Dwight was screaming, punching uselessly at one of the black spider legs with his good arm. Dwight twisted in pain as second claw dug deep into the side of his chest. His head slumped and he went limp.

"Dwight," Denise screamed! Frantically, she looked around for something, anything that could be used as a weapon. She'd had enough of this monster already and it was time to fight back. She saw a on a large shard of glass on the dashboard and she grabbed it and with a scream of defiance stabbed it right at Annabelle's face.

The spider girl whipped her head toward the sound. The shard sank deep into one of its eye sockets. Annabelle twisted away and screamed in agony while Denise tried to gouge out an eye. All eight of her limbs curled protectively around her body as she attempted to shield herself from Denise, but Denise kept on, cutting deep into the creature's face.

Annabelle let a sound that was a mixed scream and a snarl, neither of which were human noises. Her bulk shook in her rage and her flailing legs drove Denise back into the seat gasping as the air was forced from her lungs. The creature lashed out, viciously smacking Denise across the face and knocking her head into the driver's window shattering the glass.

Denise, dazed from the impact, felt the creature's claws grasping her and then she felt a sharp stinging pain in her neck. Then she felt and saw nothing.

Chapter 10

Denise's eyes fluttered open, or at least the left one did, the right being swollen shut. Blurry images wobbled into focus and she immediately understood she was no longer in the van. Something was moving back and forth in front of her, something very large. She closed her eye, and then opened it, hoping clarity would return. 'What the hell was it?' Her head still hurt like hell but finally the ringing stopped. She blinked several times and then saw what was moving in front of her. She screamed.

Dwight's body or what remained of it, hung from a thick cord of webbing in front of her. His face was frozen in a twisted horrid scream, his eyes wide in terror and his arms and chest covered with deep lacerations. Bone showed through tattered flesh. A tear streamed from Denise's good eye. All that remained of his abdomen was a hollow cavity. His legs were mangled as well, lacerated and appearing half eaten.

A hard knot grew in her throat and she let out a wail of anguish. She hadn't known him long enough to call him a friend but he had helped her escape. Anguish and tears gave way to anger, a cold rage boiled up inside her as she stared into his lifeless eyes. She would kill this creature. She had to.

Something moved, making a noise beside her. Fear gripped her and she went silent, hoping it wasn't the creature come back for her. Nothing moved, nothing happened and after a minute, Denise tried to turn toward whatever was moving but was unable to move. She knew immediately that she was tied up in strong thick webbing again. The thick strands crossed her chest and tied her to a wall. More webbing held her arms and legs wide apart. As she looked she realized that not only was she tied to the wall, she was naked, her shredded clothing piled at her feet.

Denise turned her head to the left to see what was next to her. In the dim light, she saw that it was a girl, a young girl, probably in her early twenties. The girl was alive and squirming. She too was naked and secured with webbing around her chest, arms and legs. Her arms and legs bore cuts suggesting an attack, but otherwise she appeared to be okay. She was whimpering and struggling to free herself.