Dark Island Book 1 (Complete)

Chapter 14

I bit my lip hard as I watched Harold in action. Wherever he took a step, the spiders would immediately scurry back. I could have sworn he held up an invisible can of bug spray.
“Nice show, buddy. Now move it! It’s time for some tree hopping,” said Ronnie.
“No, look! Something is repelling them. Is it...? Look, those sparkling Mica crystals. Maybe it’s got something to do with the crystals stuck between the termite juices I rubbed on earlier.” He whipped off his shirt and motioned us to come down.
“What’s the plan?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from quivering.
“The shirts for Ronnie.” Harold half smirked, trying to stay calm but the smile seemed forced somehow, as if it was plastered on. I nodded, not failing to notice the terror in his eyes. Op
“That’ll work.” Ronnie and I made our way down the thick mesh of silky web. Harold crouched, and we followed. If those things attacked, I wasn’t going down without a fight. I’d squashed as many as I could before they took me out. When Harold took a step forward, the spiders scurried back, just as before. He tossed his shirt to Ronnie, accidentally hitting him in the face.
“Use it to wave them away. The crystals somehow will repel them,” coached Harold.
Ronnie took the lead and started waving the shirt back and forth on giant acres. The spiders let out a chorus of high-pitched squeaks and moved away, dispersing in all directions to give him a clear path. I clung to my stick as we walked slowly through the black sea of squirming spiders. Something brushed against my ankle, and I kicked as hard as I could, sending the spider, as big as a soccer ball, tumbling into a nearby bush. I tried to shake off the feat, but I knew any one of those bloodsuckers could drain the life out of their prey, probably in milliseconds. Each breath I took rattled in my chest. Just up ahead, I could see the most beautiful sight in the world: the jungle floor. We raced through the brush, feet pounding over crunching leaves and snapping twigs.
“Think they’ll leave us alone?”  I asked
Ronnie peeked through a frond begin him, groaning. My gaze darted over my shoulder. There were spiders galore. A cold chill started washing over me. Harold turned and clapped my shoulder, his eyes flashing with fear. “RUN!”
His wise words and worried tone registered a second later. If Harold was panicking, that meant the situation was serious. He was usually Mr. Calm Cool and Collected.
My stomach lurched. Forcing my muscles into action, I raced through the ferns, hopping over logs and darting around moss-covered boulders. My breathing came in heavily gasps as I sped forward, not daring to look back. I could hear the weird hissing, chirping sound through the jungle behind me, and it sent shudders down my spine. I jolted to a stop when I saw a deep crevice in the ground. I peered left, then right. The hole was several feet wide, spread out as far as I could see. I figured if we could leap across it, we’d be safe from the cold-blooded web heads. There was no way the spiders would follow us across the shasm. I glanced over my shoulder; the arachnids weren’t in sight... Yet. Backing up to gain momentum, I bounded forward, jumping five feet to the other side. Ronnie and Harold followed right behind me. I knelt to catch my breath.
“Most spiders can’t jump. I think we outsmarted them.” Harold looked around, trying to get his bearings.
“Let’s head back to the beach. We have to figure a way to get off this island. I nodded when Ronnie pointed. “Um, guys, they really want a taste of their new protein shake.” To my horror, the red flowered bushes started to quiver and rustle, as spiders emerged, leaping across the gap, much like a grasshopper, with no effort at all. I rolled my eyes at my own naivety. I bolted through the vegetation as ferns and branches slapped against me. After a few twists and turns through the brush and into a small meadow, Harold yelled for us to stop. I came into a halt, almost stumbling flat on my face. Harold threw his hand up and gasped between breaths. “Dead end! Canyon...”
I eye the ravine- a vertical drop of hundreds of feet. It was at least a good thirty feet to the other side. The steep, rocky formations of the two opposing cliffs made me frown. We would break our necks trying to climb down! Worse, one wrong step, and we would be impaled on one of the millions of razor sharp red-stone spires lining the canyon floor. I scanned the trees, bushes, and ferns for a more viable escape route. There was none. Only spiders slowly advancing like the old-fashioned monsters in some kind of B-grade movie on a Saturday night at the drive in. I bit my lip. “They’re coming! We need to stall them while we figure out what to do.”
“I’m on it.” Ronnie charged toward the line of spiders, yelling like a banshee and swinging his arms in a wild frenzy. He frantically waved Harold’s shirt at the arachnids, like a flaming torch to ward off ravenous animals. The spiders scrambled back, hissing like a thousand angry snakes. How long would this ploy work? At the bottom of the canyon were several trees resembling California redwoods; their tops towered over her head. I pointed, “We could shimmy down one of those?”
“Good idea,” said Harold, “But that’d be like climbing down a thirty five story building without proper equipment.”
Ronnie shook his head.” Plus, don’t you think those eight legged freaks will follow us on a heart beat?”
“Want to be mummified to the side of a tree?”
“Of course not,” I said, though I was not sure what other choice we had. I peeled away my sweat-drenched shirt, scanning the area for another way out. Ronnie handed me a long vine, thick as a rope, from one of the trees growing close to the edge. “Well, then... It’s time.”
“What, you’re going to swing across this gorge? You must be delirious.” I looked over my shoulder and gasped. The army of agile hunters were still stalking and pursuing their prey, probably counting down the seconds until they could sink their fangs into their feast. Being wrapped up like a mummy and having my blood sucked out wasn’t an option either. I gripped the vine, praying it would not break and hoping Ronnie’s crazy plan would work. Harold took a deep breath and threw his shirt back on. “Ready?”
My legs shuddered beneath me, but I wouldn’t admit to fear. I wiped my forehead and then nodded; ready to do whatever it took to save our lives.