Spider

SPIDER: CHAPTER I

Cameron pulled her unnaturally long, wavy brunette hair into a manageable ponytail and set the rest of her clothes in her already overstuffed suitcase. She then headed downstairs, suitcase in hand, to her mother, who was standing in the front of the hallway mirror, appyling the last of her overexaggerated make-up. Cameron guessed that she was preparing, yet again, for an all-nighter at someone else's house.

"Mom, can I talk to you about something?" She sighed, gripping the suitcase firmly.

"Uh...yeah..." her mother said bleakly; if Cameron wouldn't have spoken, her mother would have--like always--been oblivious to her presence.

"Mom." Cameron needed her mother's attention now, though she never had it before. "I'm moving out."

Cameron's mother gave a confused expression, and then laughed, "Aw, I'm sure you are. Because your life is just sooo horrible, "she laughed. "Now quit making jokes like that. I have to go--"

"Quit making it seem like I'm doing this because I pity myself. I hate it here because of you, mom! I can be selfish just this once, and I'm going to take a chance..."

"Cameron, I'll be back later---"

"When?! When you get done screwing the next guy you s---"

"Cameron! Mind your business---"

"Or are you gonna bring the next guy here again?" Everything was silent for a moment.

"Cameron, I'll be back later." Her mother put in her last earring and walked for the door.

"Goodbye. Mom. I'm not going to be here when you come home." The tension that only her mother felt boiled in the room, until Cameron made the decision to turn around and head upstairs, and then she heard the front door close. It was time to move.

..................(Music: The Day that Never Comes)...................

Cameron held tightly to her bags, in some minute fear that a random creep would walk by and snatch her belongings. The bus screeched as it halted to yet another stop to consume additional passengers. She let out a sigh, one which consisted of both relief and weariness. Although she would never admit it, she was scared. Not of leaving, but of any possible consequences that lie ahead. She took one deep breath, and let the anxiousness pass.

"Next stop, Point Pleasant, West Virginia." The bus driver's voice boomed deeply through the inter commercial microphone. Cameron gathered her few bags and stood up, holding on to the support railing until the bus came to a jolting halt. She then departed from the bus and strolled as casually as possible down the sidewalk to the nearest street corner. Coming up to a boulevard sign, she noted a man dressed in a pea coat and a set of gloves. 'Transient...' she thought, and then remembered that it was the middle of December, though it didn't matter. She wasn't cold...yet. Cameron took out a folded, drawn-on map from the inside of her corset top and unwrinkled it to read the directions. She was to take a left at Darvinson's Avenue and then walk three blocks until she reached Three Men's Legends Street. Then she would walk at least eight blocks until she came to a dead end; at that dead end was where she would find her new home...at her Aunt and Uncle's house.

Upon reaching their doorstep some thirty minutes later, she paused to think of her method of entrance. She would go in and get straight to the point, leaving out the 'dirty details'. Cameron took another deeply needed breath and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Cameron's Aunt Sherry opened the front door, and looked at Cameron with a raised eyebrow.

"I know," Cameron proceeded, "you weren't expecting any guests this late at night."

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