A Spider's Roommate (SCREAMINGLOUDLY x xenophylia)

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Mona was a quiet, artsy sort of woman, which meant that directly trying to haggle with landlords was obscenely difficult, despite her respectable means. So, despite preferring to do things herself, she'd definitely need a roommate to negotiate with the landlord so she wouldn't burn through her funds too quickly- a more confident and charismatic person would definitely be able to work rent down, and would even be paying half of it.

This latest apartment was almost closer to a condo- it was huge, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an ensuite launderette, a decently sized kitchen, a living area, and three walk-in closets. And yet, by some miracle, the current tenant- a blonde named Sharin- had it for nearly 3/5 the actual asking price, significantly lower even than some smaller apartments. Thus, the short woman had eagerly responded to Sharin's ad, and had sent a few movers to transfer over her stuff . . . today marked the first time she'd be meeting her new roommate face-to-face.

The raven-haired woman took in a deep breath, sighed softly to herself, and knocked. "Hello? It's Mona. Your new roommate?" She asked, a tinge of nervousness to her voice.

[xenophylia]

The door opened promptly, almost as if the woman had been standing just on the other side. Sharin- Mona's new roommate stood before her. She was a tall blonde with glasses and short hair. She wore a short skirt and heels with a sheer white blouse. The vibe she gave off was that of a sexy librarian.

“I'm Sharin” she said, extending an oddly gloved hand. The woman glanced at her watch. “You're a bit late.” she said with a somewhat annoyed tone. “I've cleared out your area. You get all of the downstairs. The upstairs is mine, and off limits. I'm a scientist and I do much of my work from home, and I can't have interlopers intruding on my work. It was a hard decision for me to take on a roommate...but you know, rent keeps going up and all. And just to warn you- I do occasionally have live test animals here, and they can make odd noises. I assure you that it's perfectly normal and there is no need to be concerned about any odd noises. As long as you can abide by these simple rules and stay within your bounds we should get along fine.”

As she spoke, the woman seemed to be surveying Mona like a dog sizing up a piece of meat. There was something odd about Sharin's eyes. Her irises of eyes were so dark they appeared to be almost black. Her lips were painted a vibrant red, and the cold smile she gave Mona somehow sent chills down her spine. It was anything but welcoming.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

"A-ah. Fair enough," Mona murmured softly, shaking Sharin's offered hand weakly. She wasn't exactly well-equipped to stand up for herself with a more confident person, let alone one so incredibly intimidating. Lovely, tall, vaguely athletic, and so very serious. "I will, erm, keep that in mind."

Stepping inside, Mona looked around- the movers had brought things in, but it could only be assumed that Sharin had organized things for her, given that her boxes were unpacked, the furniture arranged in such a way that foot traffic to and from the area of the stairs wouldn't be required. "Much roomier than I was expecting," she murmured happily, looking up to Sharin so the blonde would aft least express pride in her living space, or relate the trade-offs.

[xenophylia]

"I'm glad you understand things." Sharin smiled sweetly. "I'd hate for this arrangement not to work out for either of us."

Having introduced herself, Sharin retreated upstairs into her private area. There were noises as she'd mentioned. Oddly enough, they sounded more human than animal. At times Mona swore she could almost hear the words "help me". As much as she wanted to dismiss it as just being paranoid it was difficult to overlook.

Several hours later, Sharin came back downstairs. She was dressed as if for a night on the town. Short leather skirt, high heels. Very revealing silken blouse. "I'm going to be gone for a bit...probably won't be back until late." She left quickly, leaving Mona alone.

There were no sounds at first. But after an hour or so, she heard the sounds again. "Help me....please..." The words were clear. Definitely not a lab animal making sounds. Did she dare intrude? But what if someone needed her help....

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

At first, Mona tried to ignore the noises. She'd been told to leave the upstairs alone, and so she would at the very least try to. The nervous, short woman wasn't exactly equipped to be standing up to someone like Sharin, nor was she particularly well-versed in scientific experimentation- perhaps the pleas for help were an audio track? A noise being used to stimulate a plant, or to elicit reactions from a lab rat? After all, it repeated in the same whimpering intonation, similar volume, even similar timbre each time.

However, empathy eventually got the better of the young woman, so she peeked out the front window- no cars approaching, the garage wasn't making noises, not a peep from the lock. What Sharin didn't know couldn't possibly upset her!

The short ravenette raced upstairs. Just to peek, she assured herself. One look at whatever the experiment was, and she'd be right down. She followed the sound carefully, ear to the wall, moving very quickly to avoid being caught . . . finally finding the right door. So, she turned the knob, looking inside to reveal . . .

[xenophylia]

Sharin couldn't have prepared herself for the sight before her. The room was devoid of any furniture whatsoever. In fact, there was nothing to indicate that any sort of human ever visited the room. The floor to ceiling were covered in what appeared to be thick webs like those of a spider. From the webs hung several small cocoons. It was from one of these that the voice emanated. This close, it was clearly a human voice, and clearly in distress. Yet the bundle of webs was far to small even for it to contain a human child.

A small head, like that of a doll protruded from one end of the cocoon. Yet as the cries of “help me” continued, she could clearly see that the “doll” was struggling inside. And its tiny lips moved in time with the pleas.

“Help me....” it said. “She'll be back soon. You don't want to be here when she gets back. And whatever you do, don't touch the webs. They stick like glue...”

Yet Mona's intrusion into the room had already sprung the trap. She barely felt the tiny strands of silk which- propelled by her movements- were already adhering to her skin and clothes. The touch of the strands was light as a feather and didn't cause her alarm as she watched the creature trapped in the web, even as more of them adhered to her.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

"W-what? What's going on? A talking . . . doll?" Mona stammered in confusion, immediately backing away in realization that the puny man was important in some way and needing to get out before she got caught.

Unfortunately, the short, shy artist only got herself even more stuck doing so, tiny threads sticking to her arms, her legs, her torso . . . and, most damningly, her exposed face. If it had just been the former three, she could've escaped by removing her shirt and jeans, but now the strong webbing had her by the cheeks and forehead. Immediately, the mousy woman panicked, trying to reach for her lighter to burn the webbing away . . . only to be stopped short of reaching her pocket. The very flammable spider webbing was only a click away from just being removed . . . for want of four inches of stretching to reach her pocket.

Mona was trapped . . . and screamed for help. Certainly, in a condo complex, and with the door open, somebody else was home? It was noon on a Saturday, there had to be some suburban mom trying to get chores done, or a bored programmer typing away at his keyboard, or a sick office worker? Anyone? After nearly two hours of screaming, Mona was starting to lose hope . . .

[xenophylia]

“Don't struggle!” the thing she'd presumed to be a living doll said. “Once the webs adhere to your skin you'll never get free. Only she can release them.”

And it seemed like the damage had been done. Mona's brief moment of panic had created air currents within the room, which seemed to animate hundreds of the tiny strands. Everywhere they touched they stuck fast. And tugging on them revealed an unnatural strength. Clearly she was already helpless.

“Stupid girl...” the doll said. You were my only chance of getting out of here alive. When Sharin gets home, you'll be joining me. She's not fully human. And she is the source of these webs. I was her mate. And now, I'm her food. And once she's through with me, you're certain to be next on the menu.”

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

"M-maybe so, but the door is open! There's a whole complex full of people out there!" Mona turned her head to the doll, akready hoarse from screaming but breathing heavily for another go. Her hair, her face, her clothing was all caught in the gossamer-thin, incredibly strong strands, and her lighter remained frustratingly out of reach. One click and all the webs would burn up . . . but it was useless in her pocket when she couldn't move her arms. "Someone will save us! They have to!" She was incredulous at the fact that the little, doll-sized man had spoken up, but with that confirmed as her fate there was no end to how hard she'd try. She wouldn't fold, surely.

"HELP! WE'RE IN CONDO 4G, PLEASE COME IN AND SAVE US! HELP!" she continued to plead at the top of her lungs, desperate and disheveled, for nearly fifteen minutes straight. Someone had to have heard her . . . why was no one helping?

[xenophylia]

Several hours went by. The only thing Mona was able to accomplish was to become further stuck. The webs seemed to almost have a mind of their own- any movement whatsoever brought more of them down from the ceiling to stick to her. Clearly it was useless to struggle. And it was only a matter of time till Sharin returned.

At one point, the tiny man introduced himself. “I'm Alex, by the way. As horrible as it sounds it's nice to see a human face again. You might as well save your strength. She poisons her prey you know. It paralyzes your muscles, and while you're unable to move it shrinks you. I was almost 6 foot tall before she bit me. I have no idea if the effect is permanent or not, but I've been here several weeks. She gives me enough food and water to keep me alive...barely. She apparently has no taste for dead prey. And she seems to enjoy my suffering. Although when she feeds it actually kind of feels good...sort of like an orgasm. I've started looking forward to it. Horrible, I know.”

Then there was the sound of a door closing. “She's here.” he said. And then slowly the click of heels as she ascended the steps. The light in the room clicked on. Sharin smiled widely at Mona's predicament. “How did I know this was going to happen? I might as well have just invited you up here. Have you met Alex? I'll bet he told you all about me.”

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Mona was confused, frustrated, and exhausted. "Venom? Shrinking? Feed? You're talking about her like she's some kind of predator . . ." The raven-haired young artist murmured softly, absolutely worn out. "She . . . she's not some kind of cannibal, is she?"

However, the little woman wouldn't get a direct answer to her question as Sharin looked in on her and Alex. "The sound wouldn't stop . . . i-it was very distracting," she made an excuse for herself. "Th-this wouldn't have been a problem if y-youd set up some soundproofing. I-if you let me out of these webs, I'll even help you install it!" She offered, looking for any way out of this situation she could. "H-he's talked. Something about venom?"

[xenophylia]

"Silly girl." she said. "I own the condos to either side of us. I don't need a roommate. I need a nice young woman with a healthy womb to deposit the eggs which Alex here helped fertilize. And now that I have a new toy to play with, I think I can dispose of my old one."

She walked over to Alex and leaned down, extruding two long dark fangs from her mouth. She impaled Alex's midsection and he cried out, although the sound appeared to be more pleasure than pain. Sharin made horrible sucking sounds as Alex's cocooned body seemed to collapse on itself. He moaned for a while, then went silent. Finally the sounds stopped, and Sharin withdrew her fangs.

"Your turn, sweet Mona? We're going to have such fun, you and I. My brood won't be ready to lay for another few weeks, so we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. Don't worry- the webs can be quite comfortable once you stop struggling. Now let's get you down to a manageable size first, shall we?"

She moved forward, walking through her own webs as if they were nothing. The two needle like fangs dripped juices which were either venom or the remains of Alex. It was a horrible sight to see as the creature moved forward, smiling a wicked smile.

[SCREAMINGLOUDLY]

Mona was too exhausted, too hoarse to scream. She was held in place by webbing stronger than steel, threatened by a spidery cannibal that had literally eaten a man in front of her, but little raven-haired Mona still just tried to squirm backwards at Sharin's approach. "P-please, I'll do anything . . . d-don't eat me," she begged, whimpering as those sharp fangs came for her, that predatory expression terrifying her out of mind, but her hoarse voice barely audible in this fearful whimper. "I-I'll even help find someone else, yeah? Not me! Please not me!" She squealed, feeling the wet heat of Sharin's maw against her body. She was going to be shrunk down, used to hold Sharin's eggs, and drained dry like a juice box . . . it was as humiliating a fate as it was terrifying.

[xenophylia]

"Sorry Mona. You're the fly, caught in my webs. It wouldn't be sporting of me to let you substitute another fly, would it? Besides...I find you rather cute, and I like to play with my food a bit."

She began stripping, removing her skirt and blouse. Underneath her clothes she was quite stunning- toned and muscular yet still petite. She stood there as if admiring her catch, dressed in only a garter belt and dark stockings and bra. Despite her sexy attire, the thing that drew Mona's attention was the design on her abdomen. A red hourglass. Whether a tattoo or birthmark Mona couldn't tell. But its meaning was all too clear.

Sharin smiled sweetly as she watched Mona looking her over. "Like what you see? This doesn't have to be all bad, you know. I've been told the webs are quite soft and that my bite is rather pleasurable as well. Being eaten by my offspring might hurt a bit. But if you're a good girl I can simply put you to sleep for that part. So if you play nice I promise to do the same."

She moved forward and began unbuttoning Mona's blouse, her huge dark eyes fixed on those of her captive. "You're trembling. Don't be afraid."