Project Baby Spider * Peter Romanoff

-06

19 February 2001
[part one]

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"91 DAYS," NATALIE SAID as she scratched her daily line into the wall that kept track of how long she had been isolated. She made her way off her bed to look at the wall from afar, still holding the nail. "91 days," she breathed out, letting the number sink in. "That would make," she took a minutes to calculate the numbers in her head, "13 weeks."

     "91 makes it seem like forever, but 13 makes it feel like hardly nothing," Natalia whisper to herself. She took a deep breathe, keeping herself from stressing over the numbers, and looked down at her stomach. "You've been in there for 91 whole days."

     She walked a few feet over to her small shelf and placed the nail in its designated spot the right corner. Moving her hands over a few inches, she retrieved herself a pencil and a singular sheet of paper from her small stack. She took the two items and sat down at her table in the corner in of the room. Without much thought of what she wanted draw, she put the pencil's tip onto the paper and started drawing small lines that could be a starting point to a bigger picture.

     Over the past 13 weeks, Natalia had taught herself how to draw pretty damn good. None of her work were Picasso level, but they were impressive compared to what she could craft on paper before her isolation. So far, Natalia's favorite piece of her's is a water fountain, overgrown with plants and thorns and cracks from weathering; there was just something about the beauty of the damaged object that spoke to Natalia.

     She lifted her pencil from the paper and traced the lines with her finger. She had decided on drawing a spider, so she traced the body, eventually moving her finger to trace each long leg.

Natalia picked her pencil back up and continued on her artwork. With swift movements of her pencil, she added an hourglasses on the back of the spider, deeming it a black widow. She continued on, shading the window and soon adding a web in the background for it to call a home.

Once she finished her last stroke, she set her pencil down and picked the piece of paper up with both her hands. She held it in front of her face and admired her work. Definitely not my best, but still beautiful, she thought to herself.

     She put the paper back down on the table and added her signature and the date to the bottom left corner, officially claiming the art as her's. Placing the pencil down and resting her hands on her rounded stomach, Natalia thought about her drawing and her child's fate.

     "Its pretty ironic that it's a spider," she mumbled, now looking at the drawing with an uneasy look on her face. Since she had found out that her son would be poked with needles, tested, dna changed, and God knows what else, resulting in him practically becoming a human spider — if he survives — she's never been okay with it. She wishes she could take her baby boy and run away, but that was simply out of the equation from the beginning. There was nothing she could do to protect him once he escaped her grasp and is whisked away.

     It took all of Natalia to not rip up her drawing. But it wasn't enough to keep the tears from falling from her eyes and landing on the black widow.

     A knock came from the door. Natalia quickly wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt and sat up straighter than she had already been. Madam B entered. In her hands was the same manila folder that held every detail about Project Baby Spider — and dare Natalia say haunts her.

"Madam," Natalia said, bowing her head in the older woman's direction. "Ms. Romanoff," Madam B bowed her head back. "I need you to come with me. We will be starting the DNA alterations today."

Natalia's breathing came to a sudden halt. No, she thought to herself, starring at the older woman, but not looking at her. Please, no.

Madam B cleared her throat and Natalia shut her eyes and took a deep breathe. Stress is bad for the baby, she reminded herself. When she opened her eyes again, Madam B had the folder stretched out in front of her for Natalia to take. With her now sweaty hand, Natalia took the file into her possession. However, she refused to open it. Instead, she placed it in front of herself on the table and starred at its cover.

The older woman studied Natalia's hesitance. She noticed the trembling in her hand as she finally decided to open the taunting folder. Taking in a deep breathe, Natalia opened her worst nightmare. It read:

Today, 2001 February 19, marks the start of stage two of Project Baby Spider. The subject's inhabitant will be taken to room 197. DNA alterations and mutations will commence. See page 3 for details.

     Once Natalie had finished reading the small paragraph, she closed the file and starred at the cover once again. Madam B, growing slightly impatient, reached over the table and picked up the file. Natalia looked up at her and Madam B gave her a weirdly reassuring smile. "You have nothing to worry about, Ms. Romanov." Natalia slowly nodded her head and stood up from her seat. Without speaking, Madam B walked out the room. Natalia followed.

     On the walk to Room 197, the words Madam B had said replayed in Natalia's mind. They were comforting, which was weird. Natalia had never seen the older woman show that much emotion before. What was with the change of heart? Or did she always have a compassionate part of her, but never showed it?

     After about ten minutes of walking, they had made it. Natalia's previous thoughts had quickly been dismissed when Madam B opened the door and put the white walls and metallic silver equipment on display. It was fairly large, with no windows, making it feel like it was closing in on Natalia.

Madam B put her hand on the small of her back, nudging her to walk into the room. Natalia's breathing started to pick up and her heart felt like it could beat out of her chest. I can't do this, she thought to herself. "It's going to be okay, Ms. Romanov," Madam B said. "Lay down and everyone will be here in a second."

Natalia nodded her head and took a deep breathe. She took her first step into the room. She didn't think while walking to the slightly cushioned table. She couldn't think. Thinking would do her no good.

She did as previously instructed and laid down on the table. Natalia closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. It's going to be okay, she repeated to herself. It's going to be okay.

****

EDITED/REWRITTEN

-Nat