Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 11 - As Darkness Creeps In

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART ONE: Tears Fall When You See The Truth

Chapter 11 - As Darkness Creeps In

A scream tore through the room like a piercing siren, whirling around the four enclosing walls until it returned to the owner, slamming into her with a fierce veracity. Ally crumbled under its weight, falling back against the wall behind her. She looked around frantically, her eyes catching sights that were invisible to all but her. Her head spun every time she attempted even a simple movement, fatigue stood on her doorstep, and her muscles were cramping.

The overbearing dryness of her tongue testified to her bout without water, serving as the only focal point of truth that kept her centered on what was real, but Ally was uncertain of how long she had been left, abandoned and trapped, in Daniil's bathroom.

A tingle began low in her calf and snaked its way up her leg until Ally's body quaked with the sudden force of a shiver. Goosebumps raced over her skin and she brought her knees up to her chest, her throat squeezing as she realized the origin of the unsettling itch. A tiny black spider scurried down her foot, it's lithe legs carrying it fast and quick over her prominent ankle bone. It safely slipped off her milky skin and onto the tiled floor before scurrying away. The only evidence that remained to testify of its presence was one long, silky strand of thread that stretched across her leg, shimmering in the light of the room.

Another spider crept over her wrists, a single silk thread wrapping around the delicate skin and fusing together in a simple knot. Ally pulled on the thin restraint, distress pulsing in her heart when she was unable to break the barrier she'd assumed to be an effortless escape. The strand acted as if infused with steel, remaining their rigid stance even though common ethics deemed the act improbable.

Slender legs scurried across her arms and then her neck, diligently working their way downwards to encase her in one thick, unbreakable web of silken thread. Ally felt the critters reach her legs and kicked in desperation to shake them off but soon found herself restrained completely in their harsh confines. She pushed against the bands, a frenzied urgency in her useless movements.

Ally's body quaked with the strength of her struggle before the mirage of twisted spider legs and tangled webs dissipated. The spiders suddenly scurried away in haste and the web evaporated, only to be replaced with a blurry and tilting visage of her captor hovering over her. The change happened slowly, as if a movie being played frame by frame, until a completely contrasting picture rested before her eyes. Daniil held down her quivering legs and stared at her with concern. Also, she could easily see that the bathroom did not contain any evidence pointing to the recent disappearance of hundreds of spiders, even through her clouded eyes.

Ally's blood pulsed loudly in her ears and the ache set deep in her skull intensified as the sudden realization hit her, sending her pitching to the side in a pounding wave of vertigo. She had been hallucinating.

Daniil watched comprehension slowly creep into the eyes of his personal slave, her muscles going slack only moments before they tensed again. Ally moved her head to the side, vomit spewing out of her mouth and down onto the tiled floor. A foul stench permeated the air, sending Daniil reeling back in disgust but also giving him a much needed wake-up call. He was sentencing her to a sure, painful demise and the signs of such a tragic fate were already appearing.

Her skin had lost its healthy glow after little more than two days without food or water. Her hair and nails had become brittle and dull. Fatigue sat deep in the shadows of her eyes and her pain was evident in each jerky movement.