Page 97 of House of Pain
Think, think.
There was only one way out of this.
The creature moved in closer to her once more, emerging from the thick darkness, and Alecto recoiled at the sight of the spider.
Without another thought, Alecto opened the knife and slammed it into her palm, letting the blood pour out of her wound.
It took everything in Alecto to not scream at the pain that took her breath away. Her stomach twisted; she was going to throw up, but she just bit her lip hard.
“Isolentus mixortis,” Alecto whispered, her voice shaky, and she closed her eyes.
In her mind, she conjured the red silk blanket wrapping around her. She chanted the words as a prayer.
She was afraid to stop, afraid to open her eyes to see whether the spell worked.
There was a hissing sound, and Alecto’s eyes snapped open to see the red tendrils wrapped around her in a circle.
Forgetting the pain in her hand and her fear of the spiders, Alecto smiled and cried out.
Fuck me.
More spiders emerged from the darkness, crawling closer to her. She needed to get the fuck out of there before her shield dropped.
She didn’t know how long it would hold or what would disturb it.
Suddenly, the branch she was tied to dipped, and Alecto glanced up to find one large spider climbing it, nearing the rope. The creature swiped at the rope with one claw, and Alecto fell, barely having time to cover her head before she hit the ground.
One creature advanced forwards, but it hissed and jumped back as it hit the shield. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Alecto sat up, keeping the bleeding hand against her chest, the knife still wedged in her flesh as she tried to pray the rope from her feet. After a few moments of fumbling, finally, the rope gave in, and her feet were free.
Her legs trembling, whether from the fear or adrenaline or both, Alecto jumped to her feet and ran for the bushes where no spider was blocking her way.
She ran without looking back, hearing the branches snap behind her as the spiders advanced towards her.
The good news was that Hollowa spiders were big and slow and Alecto could outrun them.
The bad news was that Alecto was out of shape, had barely eaten, and had been drugged, which meant she wasn’t going to be running for long before she passed out.
With her heart hammering in her chest, throat,andears, she almost missed the blaring music.
She stopped, bending over and leaning one palm on her thigh as she panted heavily. Lights appeared in the distance. She wasn’t far from the House of Dragons.
Without a glance back, Alecto sprang forwards, ignoring the way her lungs burned and the stinging pain in her side, the pain of the knife still stuck in her palm.
After a few more torturous moments, Alecto ran out of the forest into the back garden of the House of Dragons. Only when she saw Jolene and Rogue walking out of the House did she stop running.
Exhausted, Alecto fell onto her knees, panting. Her mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
“Alecto,” Jolene gasped, running up to her. Rogue was right behind her. “Are you okay? What the fuck happened?”
Alecto took Jolene’s hand, but she could barely keep her head up.
“You’re hurt,” Jolene said. “Let me get Val and the rest and take you—”
“No,” Alecto croaked, shaking her head. “Not Val. No others. Please.”
Without waiting to hear Jolene’s answer, Alecto let herself drift into the blackness that had been waiting to consume her.
