Our Family

Chapter 1

The spiders came again that night. They had come the past two nights, starting the night after her seventh birthday, so Annabeth Chase didn't know why she had dared to hope otherwise. As usual, they swarmed her the whole night, bit her all over, and spun their webs throughout the entire room. She tried to hold in the screams because she knew calling for her father would never work, but the terror was too much. Hundreds of tiny eight-legged arachnids crawled over her body, biting her and laying their webs on her mouth, nose, and eyes while she thrashed and screamed. When her step-mother finally came into the room to scold her, the spiders were hiding, like always.

"Annabeth, aren't you tired of this game? There's nothing here. There are no spiders, there are never any spiders. Your father is at work and he does not need you making things up just to get attention. You're bothering Bobby and Matthew. Go back to sleep and I will deal with you in the morning." Mrs. Chase sounded exasperated. Annabeth wasn't really surprised as this had happened the past two nights, but why couldn't she see that Annabeth wasn't making this up?

Her step-mother left and the spiders returned. This time, Annabeth suffered in silence, only letting out the occasional whimper as she lay in bed frozen with fear. The next few hours felt like days as her entire body was consumed with terror, but finally daylight peeked into the room through Annabeth's window, and the spiders retreated. The cobwebs and bites were still there, and like always, Annabeth felt sure that they would stay long enough this time for her step-mother or even her father to see them and realize she was telling the truth.

But once again, by the time Annabeth heard her step-mother walking towards her room to wake her up for school, the bites had vanished like magic. All that was left were the spiderwebs, but that was hardly enough to convince anyone. They looked more like a childish prank than evidence.

Mrs. Chase entered the room and motioned for Annabeth to sit up in her bed. Her father wasn't with her. Already knowing what was coming, Annabeth sat on her bed with her head down, her body twitching with the memory of the spiders skittering across her skin.

"This has to stop." Mrs. Chase began. "I know you want your father, but he is a busy man and he cannot afford to give you his undivided attention. I know you don't like me, but I am a part of your life now. I have been for two years, and you have to accept this. Matthew, Bobby, and I are a part of your family, and we aren't going anywhere. You need to stop making up these lies just to get attention. You are seven now, Annabeth, and it is time for you to grow out of these silly tendencies. They are beneath you, and frankly, humiliating.

"Now come downstairs for breakfast and then it is time to go to school." Mrs. Chase finished with a harsh look in her eyes. After Annabeth didn't move, she huffed and left the room.

As soon as she was gone, Annabeth knew what she had to do. She had been thinking about it for a while, and once the spiders started tormenting her she became more inclined to follow through with it. It was clear by now that her so-called "family" didn't care for her. Her step-mother and half-brothers hated her, and she hardly ever saw her father anymore. They didn't want her or need her, and she didn't want or need them.

Annabeth didn't really need to take anything with her, she had no possessions she cared about. All she grabbed was a hammer she had found in their garage. She had no mementos from her birth-mother, and her father had never given her anything special. She had nothing and no one to hold her back.

She crept over to her window, opening it and staring outside as she made up her mind. This was it. She had to run away. Somewhere out there, she would find something, someone. A new family, one that would care for her and protect her and love her.

With a deep breath, Annabeth climbed out of the window and ran off into the sunrise.

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