She should have been hideous, this monster in front of me. She stared at me with eyes I had never seen before. They held no color, no iris, only a white milky glaze that seemed either to see my deepest secrets or nothing at all. Her skin, the color of a pale full moon contrasted starkly with the black and gray patchwork dress that clung seductively and alluringly to her slender figure. Her hair, as pale as her skin fell pin straight down to her waist. As she moved closer I noticed spiders scurry closer to her scalp into the protection the silk provided.
As I stared at her, frozen in terror, I couldn't help but notice the beauty of her terrible countenance. She moved with inhuman grace, flowing with her long slender legs and arms. I stood powerless to do anything but wait for my doom.
How ridiculous it seemed to me now that an hour ago my biggest fear had been a bunch of middle aged men and their laboratories. No, my exit from this existence would not be as a lab experiment, but as a snack for this wicked beauty.
Hovering inches from my face she hissed, "Are you the one they call Annanya?"
"I prefer Nan," I corrected automatically, immediately chagrined by my own nerve.
"I've heard of you," she breathed acrid sweetness into my face. I held my breath as subtly as possible. "You are different than the humans - the Sapians." She sniffed the air in the direction of my friends. "So are you friends."
My right eyebrow rose a half an inch higher than my left.
"The smell is different," she answered my unasked question.
For the first time since I'd wandered into the metaphorcal spider's lair I collected my senses enough to reach out to my captor's thoughts.
Curiosity finally got the best of your manners? She thought in an amused tone.
Shock crossed my face, "How did you know?"
It was only a matter of time before you tried. She shrugged. Many know your skill Annanya. Some think to gain amnesty from the agents, your pursuers by turning you in as a trade.
I hissed a breath of anger through my teeth.
Fear not, I am not so foolish. I could never fit in with their vision of a pure universe. I am a threat to their sensitivities, but you - you are a threat to any you perceive as your enemy. Such a skill to see one's thoughts, one's darkest secrets. The ability to find the proverbial black box in every person's brain and expose their true natures. Yes, you are a great enemy to them and their facade. Each day your - coven, I suppose - grows strongers with those who are more than simply HomoSapiens. Each day you grow stronger. I have brought you here to see if you can see inside my head enough to accept me in your coven. In return I offer my protection from those that hunt you.
I searched her mind and found a lifetime of sorrow and betrayal. Horrified, her parents had abandoned her as a child. She learned quickly to avoid Sapiens, as she called them, because they beat her for being a freak. She was battered yet strong. She hated Sapiens, but never searched them out, preferring her solitude and the spiders she befriended. They obeyed her will and with their help she sustained herself for the majority of her childhood. She had no idea how beautiful she was, but she did know how terrifying she was.
"What do I call you?"
"I am the Recluse, the most venomous of spiders, but you my friend, may call me Luce."
And as she smiled I saw what should have sent me running for the hills. Where she should have had eye teeth or incisors, she had two long, narrow, elongated fangs. I was fascinated!
