To Love a Spider

Chapter 7

Weeks went by and Elizabeth and Peter had gone on a total of four dates. After their third date, Elizabeth was starting to have second thoughts about their relationship. It wasn't that Peter was mean or abusive, it was that he was almost too good to be true. Even though they obviously looked like a couple, that is to everyone but Elizabeth, she kept feeling as though their relationship was more of a friendship.
Not that anything was wrong with that. Elizabeth just wanted to find the one if she was going to date. She didn't want to ruin their friendship because she only wanted to be friends. They still hadn't kissed yet, and Elizabeth refused to have any physical contact with Peter other than sometimes holding hands.
Elizabeth woke up that morning and decided to fake being sick so that she didn't have to go school. She needed some time to sort things out, and get a good night's sleep, even though she knew she wouldn't get it.. With all of her projects and everything, she barely gets eight hours of sleep each night, if that. This may sound like a lot, but Elizabeth needs at least ten hours of sleep each night to be able to function properly the next morning.
When Elizabeth finally got up, it was close to 1:00 p.m. Elizabeth had gone to bed at nine the night before. Good, Elizabeth thought, if I'm going to stress out about Peter, I might as well do it when I can think straight.
Elizabeth reviewed all of her options in her head. She could dump Peter and play the stereotypical "friend" card, or she could just carry on dating Peter until he ends their relationship. Elizabeth didn't think that she could handle the shame of being dumped, because it would eventually happen anyways.
After careful consideration, she decided that she would breakup with Peter.
Since Peter wasn't off school for another hour Elizabeth went around her room, straightening all of her already straightened books. After about a half hour of this, she realized that she was starving. She went downstairs to see if there was anything to eat and grabbed some carrots and ranch.
As she sat on the couch, munching on her carrots, Elizabeth thought about something she hadn't thought about in a while. Spiderman.

The famed superhero had not made another appearance to Elizabeth since the night of the attack. All she knew about him was that he saved her from more physical injury and even death. She had gotten her cast off a couple of days ago and although it was still sore she didn't want to have to wear a brace or do more physical therapy, so she kept her complaints to herself.

"Who could be under that mask," she wondered. She thought about if she knew who it was, or if it was a family member. What if it was some snotty person that you would be totally surprised by? What if it was an amazing person that you could totally see as being Spiderman?

There was another question that entered Elizabeth's mind. Where had she heard that voice before? When Spiderman had rescued Elizabeth, he had asked her if she was alright? At first she hadn't recognized it, but now, it was on the tip of her tongue.

Getting a headache from thinking too hard, Elizabeth went up stairs to lie down. She closed her eyes and, before she knew it, had fell asleep. She didn't even change her clothes.

* * *

The next day, it was the alarm that woke Elizabeth from her deep slumber. For weeks now, Elizabeth wouldn't sleep throughout the night, instead being interrupted by terrible nightmares. They were always of the same thing.

A man with a horrible green costume on walking towards Elizabeth, who was on the ground, paralyzed. The man threatened her family, and for some reason, Spiderman. Every time Elizabeth would protest, the man would kill another family member.

First, Alex. Then her mom, dad, and sisters. Even her dog. Somehow, she could never promise to keep her mouth shut. She would scream and scream, but would never be able to stop. They each died in front of her, and it was all her fault.

It was all her fault.

That was the worst thing about the dream. The reason why she could never go back to sleep after witnessing the gruesome deaths. She could have stopped them from dying. If only she could keep quiet. She was told that she could be a smart aleck and needed to learn to keep her mouth shut, but she never thought it would be a life-or-death situation.

The nightmare was beginning to show that it had taken its toll on her. Dark bags were under her eyes. She had lost weight from not eating. She barely wanted to do anything anymore, and would rarely leave her room.

It was controlling her life.

It was one of the reasons she wanted to break up with Peter. The Green-man hadn't threatened him yet, but who knew what would happen next? She didn't want to be the reason he died, even if it was a nightmare.

The dream's influence on her was becoming so bad that she thought of it as a real threat. That it could actually harm her and the ones she cared about. Some nights, Elizabeth wouldn't be able to go asleep until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, which also contributed to her lack of sleep. Just thinking about the new horror she would have to face that night made her feel sick to her stomach. No matter what time she went to sleep at, the dream returned.

It always returned.

That morning Elizabeth woke up, covered her bags under her eyes with some makeup, and got ready for school, just as she had been doing for weeks. To anyone else, and maybe even Elizabeth, it looked like a normal day.

To the Green Goblin, it was going to be anything but that.