Venomous Heart

Arahna POV

Ara~? It seems that that bitch Skadi is now living together with my Sky! Why do they insist on getting in between me and Sky every single time?! Opening a computer, it revealed flowing sets of data, albums with pictures of Sky, but most importantly, a "news article" I was planning to publish, backed by the Tsar of Siberia himself.

"Student from Yokai High School Amongst Dead in Deadly Air Raid". Pulling some strings, I managed to get her face and identification into the Assassin Guild's blacklist, where she would be mercilessly hunted down and killed. Sorry Mia~, but you were a necessary sacrifice. Sky would be so heartbroken~. But luckily, I would be there to cheer him up in your stead~! Ufufufu~.

Now to deal with that Skadi person and… who was it? Alana? Two ticking time bombs waiting to explode right in my face. It seems that they too would have to win an all-expenses-included trip to the Amazon Rainforest…

But I believe I have some explaining to do~. Right when I was born, I was but a mere hatchling, one of two thousand in fact. Weak, small, and hungry, I was sent off from the safety of the cocoon I was born in. Quickly, I realized how dangerous of a world I lived in. Full of massive giants that shook the earth as they walked, it was then that I knew my purpose. I wanted to become one of those giants. Become the apex of the food chain.

However, it seemed that wasn't fated to be, as one day, I stumbled upon a trove of food! The giants pulled open a massive opening in the wall and I crept through, immediately jumping on the vast amounts of food. It could last me for life! I was so immersed in the food though, that I failed to realize that behind me, was one of those giants, observing me.

Drooling and dripping saliva everywhere, he thundered. "Guys! Look what I found! It's a spider!" Disoriented by the sheer volume of his voice, I didn't know what was going on. But very quickly, my confusion turned into pain. I felt his fleshy fingers grab onto one of my legs, before ripping it off. I screeched in pain.

What did I do to earn the ire of this giant?! I only wanted to survive, to eat! He laughed, elated at the still-twitching leg of mine that he was holding, finding it amusing to touch me with my own leg. Furious and in pain, I snarled. There's no chance that I live, so I might as well give that bastard giant as much pain as I can!

Suddenly, I saw another giant push the other one, exclaiming: "What are you doing?! What has that spider done to you?! This isn't right!" The giant looked at me with his big eyes, before smiling. Carefully scooping me up from the now red-faced giant's grasp, he smiled at me. "It's going to be alright now. You'll be my pet from now on, and I'll call you… I'll call you… Anhara!"

'Anhara…' I thought to myself at the time. If spiders could smile, I would've been smiling from ear to ear at that moment. 'My name is Anhara…'

The giant carried me somewhere before he put me in a massive square thing, filled with leaves, branches, some dirt, water, and some food. Then, he left. 'Don't go!' I wanted to cry out after him, but it was in vain. He didn't hear me.

I would later learn that the place he took me was called a "house". His house. I quickly learned that the giant would disappear for most of the day before coming back, observing me with his giant eyes, pouring some water and food carefully into the box before stomping off to somewhere else.

And even though the time we spent together everyday was short, it added up. Oh how I treasured those days. It felt like it was just me and him, as he boomed to me about various things, one of which being how everyone else in his grade was getting girlfriends, but he didn't.

Even though I didn't understand what he was saying, I etched those words into my mind. With such a sad face did he come up to me, complaining about how no one wanted to be his "girlfriend". So I vowed, then and there, that whatever the source of sadness was, I would find it. And I would kill it with my venom.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. And upon molting 2 or 3 times, my leg had completely regrown, good as new. Upon seeing that, the giant smiled sadly, carefully plucking me out from my box. My eyes widened. What had I done?

Why am I being taken from the box?! Questions flooded my mind. As he carefully set me down on a huge forest of grass, I remember desperately trying to crawl back to him, only for him to pick me up and set me down once more.

"I'm sad to see you go too, Anahra. But you have to grow stronger and learn to survive on your own!" Massive blobs of water seemed to fall as the giant slowly thundered away, leaving me, all alone.

And grow stronger I did. With each molt, I quickly realized that there was something abnormal going on. I seemed to grow bigger and bigger, before suddenly, one day, I was struck by a sense of drowsiness, collapsing. I don't know how long I was asleep for, but one day, I suddenly awoke.

Feeling around with my legs, I encountered something soft, which my legs easily ripped through. Emerging from my cocoon, I was blinded by the light of the sun. Looking around, I felt as if everything had grown smaller. Way smaller. Then I realized. Looking down, I saw white flesh, void of fur, and these two lumps around my chest. I felt as if I could cry. I had become a giant! Overjoyed, I quickly found my way to a human settlement where I was taken in by a pair of even bigger giants.

At first, everything was fine. They smiled at me, encouraging me to produce my silk. Led on by their encouragement, I happily produced spool after spool. Until one day, I couldn't anymore. Their faces distorting, they beat me yelling:

"What are you even worth if you can't make silk you ugly insect?!"

I was shocked. They… saw me as… ugly? But… But wasn't I a giant, just like them?! And then I realized. It was because I only had the top part of a giant, and lacked the bottom. With a huge abdomen and eight long legs covered in pale-white fur, it was most definitely not like the other giants.

As I was repeatedly beaten, eventually, something inside me broke. I turned on them, my fangs protracting as I viciously bit them, injecting them with venom. As I stood there, panting, above their paralyzed bodies, I felt a thrill I never had before.

Then, I did something that almost felt instinctive, natural. I took the silk I made over the years for them, stockpiled in a corner, and wrapped it around them, weaving an intricate cocoon around their bodies, before dripping venom on the mummified bodies. I felt something seep into me, a warm feeling flowing through me with each passing minute, each passing hour. I was absorbing their life force.

As it flowed through me, my injuries rapidly healed, and upon it fully healing, I felt myself growing bigger once more, my hair growing longer, the lumps growing bigger. Strangely, seeing those two bastards wrapped in my silk, paralyzed as their life slowly drained away, I felt a sense of… elation? That's what they deserve! AHAHAHA!

I quickly moved on to the next village, and the next, preying on unsuspecting farmers that lived far apart from their neighbors. My only rule was to not murder children. After all, they reminded me too much of him…

With each kill and more and more life force absorbed, I underwent my final molt. My abdomen and legs disappeared, giving way to two plump, long legs. Wiggling my toes, I felt a sense of cruel joy. After killing so many of their kind, I finally became one of them. How ironic.

Learning from each kill, I gradually learned how to act "human". Graceful and always with a smile on my face, I came to be known as the "Widower". Ironic considering I myself was a Black Widow, a red hourglass present on my abdomen.

One day, I made it to another small town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I wandered through the town, eyes half-lidded, politely smiling at people I passed by. Little did they know that I was actually on the hunt, and some of them wouldn't make it past the night.

Then, I heard a voice. A familiar voice. Frantically, I whipped my head around, disregarding my facade of elegance and calmness. I saw him. I saw him. I saw him. I SAW HIM! Then, I thought things through. Why would he remember me?

He took care of me when he was a child, not to mention I was only a spider hatchling! With no knowledge of the supernatural, there was no way he would even know who I was!

So, I started to plan. I monitored his every move, putting cameras in every single room. There was so much I didn't know about him, and so much more to learn… Finally, there was an opportunity. He logged on to a multiplayer video game, quickly immersing himself in grinding for different items.

It was my chance! I quickly created an account, before logging in myself, "coincidentally" encountering him at the Beginner's Village.

Seizing my chance, I requested to team up with him. And from there, we gradually became friends, talking to each other on an almost daily basis, while we hacked and slashed our way through the game.

Little did he know that it was all an intricate plan set up by me from the very beginning, and he had run straight into the spider's web. There was no way out. I was the one who created the video game we played. I was the one who heavily advertised the game, causing him to finally click on it and try it out.

Ufufufu~. Love makes us do crazy things, doesn't it~?

And for a while, I was content. Laughing alongside him, separated by mere screens, we spent whatever time we had together texting, whether about the game or even casual things. I quickly established through the way I talked in-game that I was from a noble upbringing, which eventually became an inside joke of sorts, considering the class I chose in-game was Battle Alchemist, who utilized all sorts of poisons and traps to take down their enemies.

We grew closer and closer, eventually, he was even willing to give me his phone number~! It was almost time. Yet one day, some bitch just had to go and mess things up. Mia Dawn. Ufufufu~. She dares snatch my prey from my web? It seems that I would have to move on to Phase 2 faster than I thought…

Hacking into the student database, I created a fake student ID, detailing that I was a transfer student from Europe. Arahna Hunter. Apologies honey, but I can't use the name you gave me just yet, or you might have suspicions as to who I am, and I can't have that… yet~.

""My name is Arahna Hunter~,and look forward to getting to know you all better~. Ufufufu~." Looking straight at Sky, I giggled, covering my mouth elegantly. 'Just wait a little longer honey, we'll be together soon…'