SWC15 - Crawling with Fear

Arisia'15 Student Writing Contest - Honorable Mention

"Hey Ari, what's up?" Rachel asked as she picked up the phone.

"Hey, uhhh so I just saw this thing on my arm that nearly gave me a heart attack," Arianna started.

"Ohhh, you saw your new tat, huh?  I still can't believe you got that."

"Holy crap, it is a tattoo!  When did I get it?  Why did I get it?  And how come nobody stopped me?"

Rachel chuckled, "Well, you got it last night after you, me, Jake, and Liz went out for drinks.  You got it to 'face your fear of spiders' and nobody stopped you because we were all drunk and thought it was a great/ hilarious idea."

"Yeah, real hilarious, Rachel.  That's horrible!  Now I have this creepy-ass spider on my arm for the rest of my life!"

"Ari, listen.  It's not that bad.  And hey!  Maybe if you hate it that much you could go on that Tattoo Nightmares show and change it into a freaking unicorn or something.  But anyways I have to go, so just relax and I'll talk to you later."

"Wait, Rachel…" Arianna was cut off by the beep of the disconnected line.

Great.  This is just fantastic. Arianna thought to herself as she walked over to the mirror above her dresser. Arianna was a very tall girl, with straight, black hair that almost reached the middle of her back.  She liked to have fun and wasn't afraid of most things, and that fire was shone in her bright green eyes.  She turned her left arm to face the tattoo towards the mirror.  When she didn't see it, she turned her right arm and found it.

That's weird.  I could've sworn it was on my left arm before.

Disregarding that fact since she was still a little groggy from having just woken up, she leaned closer to the mirror.  The spider had beady, red eyes, which matched the red hour glass shape on its back.  

Black widow.  Of course I had to choose the deadliest spider to stain into my arm forever.

Disgusted with the tattoo, she walked out of her room and into the kitchen to make some coffee.  Waking up screaming really did wonders for her headache, which was now ten times more painful.  Arianna put in the k-cup and pressed the button on her Kureg.  The curtains were pulled closed in front of the windows to prevent any sun from seeping in because bright light was the last thing Arianna wanted.  She let her coffee make itself as she sat down at the small, wooden table and buried her head in her arms.  Thoughts about how big of a mistake she made, clouded her mind.  She was beyond upset, and just felt like going back to bed to sulk for the whole day, which is exactly what did after she drank her coffee.

The next day, Arianna woke up to find four pin-prick sized dots on her left arm.  Each dot was paired with another, giving the appearance of bite marks.  Arianna's eyes shifted up to the top of her arm, to find her tattoo.  She shook her head in disbelief. What?  How is it back on my left arm?  I know for a fact it was on my right.  And where did these bite marks come from?  I must be losing it or something.

Arianna looked at her right arm to make sure there wasn't a tattoo there, and sure enough, she found nothing but bare skin.  Confused, she got up and got dressed.  She looked at her tattoo in the mirror and sighed.  Although, she quickly realized that the tattoo looked a little bigger today than it had yesterday.  It almost looked like it had gained some weight.   

Ewww!  Ugh, God.  What, is it growing now? Arianna let out a frustrated moan and fell back onto her bed, covering her face with her hands.

"God, I hate my life," she groaned.

Arianna stood up and made her way into the living room.  She needed to watch some T.V. to distract herself and get her mind off of this stupid tattoo.  As she was flipping through channels, she felt a very subtle itch on her left arm.  She scratched it, but it didn't go away.  This itch was different; it was right under the surface of her skin, and it almost tickled.  She looked down and saw a big, black figure moving down her arm.  Arianna jumped from her chair when she realized that the black figure was her tattoo.  She actually saw the tattoo crawling down her arm, under her skin, like it was alive.  She screamed and smacked it with her right hand, as if that would kill it.  The spider stopped for a moment, but then continued moving, unfazed.  Arianna didn't know what to do and she stumbled backwards, screaming, trying to somehow run away from the spider.  She bumped into the wall and unintentionally scraped her arm against a nail that was holding up a picture.  Blood began to seep out of the relatively large cut, just as the spider began to make its way back up her arm.  It crawled at a brilliantly fast pace, desperate to reach the cut.  Arianna could do nothing but watch in horror as a single, black leg emerged from her skin.  It formed a hook shape, clinging to the outside of her arm.  She could feel the tiny hairs on the leg, rubbing against her exposed flesh.  Arianna held onto her strength and fought to keep conscious, as she could feel it slipping away.  She grabbed a pair of tongs attempting to pull the spider out.  She pulled slightly, exposing its tiny, black head with horrifyingly red eyes that were fixed on her.  Arianna couldn't do it anymore, and she dropped the tongs on her white tiled floor, that was now stained with spots of blood, and slipped into a state of unconsciousness.  The spider immediately crawled back into her skin and moved from her arm to her neck, disappearing, completely submerged in her flesh.


Arianna woke up on her kitchen room floor, surrounded by spots of dried up blood.  She pushed as hard as she could through the fog that clouded her memory of the events before she passed out.  She knew something had happened with her arm because there were spots of dried blood there too.  And she knew the tattoo was involved too.  She suddenly remembered what had happened and almost passed out again from the thought of it. 

However, this time she forced herself to stand up and reach for the phone.  She had to call someone for help.  She needed to get this creature out of her body.

Arianna grabbed her phone and began dialing, "9-1," but stopped when she felt like she was going to throw up.  She dropped her phone and bolted towards the bathroom.  She could feel the spider moving in her throat.  Tears were pouring down her face, as she stopped to look in the mirror.  She couldn't see the spider, but she could definitely feel it…or them.  

She suddenly felt more than eight legs crawling up her esophagus.  She leaned over the toilet and threw up.  However, there was no vomit, only spiders.  Thousands of baby spiders poured from her mouth, scraping the inside of her cheeks and throat.  Arianna was hysterical and on the verge of going insane.  She couldn't even see anymore, due to the rivers she once called eyes.

Why is this happening to me?  This has to be a nightmare that I'll wake up from any minute.  PLEASE let this be a nightmare!

Arianna couldn't stand up straight anymore, so she leaned on the bathroom sink to steady herself.  She looked in the mirror, and saw what a mess she was.  Her face was completely drained of color, her makeup was smudged down her cheeks, and blood was dripping from her mouth, down her chin.

While Arianna was lost in thought, the spider had made its way into her brain, and all of the sudden, Arianna felt a twinge in her head, and watched her arms lift upwards, but she wasn't the one moving them.  She tried to pull them back down, but they wouldn't budge.  

She had lost control of her body.  There was nothing she could do but watch the madness, as she was eternally trapped inside this body that no longer belonged to her.   She just wished she could close her eyes and escape this hell.  

Suddenly, the world around her went from a bright white, to pitch black.  Her body collapsed on the floor, which was now a sea of baby spiders.

Finally, Arianna regained consciousness and stood up, being careful not to crush any of her babies.  When she looked in the mirror, a smirk formed across her face, as she stared straight into her beady, red eyes.