The Black Widows
Glenada had traveled on his horse, Atrax, for three days into an unexplored territory. He was mapping a route to find an alternative way to travel to the towns on the other side of the contenent to find work, instead of traveling through the mountains.
Glenada was a gladiator and he was thirsty so he picked up his canteen of water and took a sip. The young man with green eyes, black hair and bristly face could see that Atrax was getting spooked from the trees. The twenty-year old gladiator could feel the heat from the sun and felt sweat drip from his forehead. He was wearing a black tunic with a black colored armor covering his chest. His muscular arms could be revealed and he wore a black cape that extended to his knees, just over his tunic. There was no river or lake in the area and he hoped that there would be some sort of settlement where he could lodge to continue mapping his rout.
The forest was thick and the trees were close together; a lot of them were intertwined into each other. He continued on foot and found a big house made of stone and brick. It was the size of a mansion with a strange roof made of leaves and branches.
“Who do you suppose lives here?” he whispered to his horse.
Glenada tied his horse to a nearby tree branch and walked to the front door. There was a gold bell with a sign inscribed; guests ring bell.
A few minutes went by and after ringing the bell a girl that looked about six years old answered. She had black hair tied in braided pigtails with grey eyes and wore a strange black dress.
“Is your mother home?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered with a straight face that turned into a creepy smile.
Then an older girl with long black hair and grey eyes walked up to the door, “hello, my name is Cora and this is my little sister Tara.”
“My name is Glenada and I’m exploring this region. I’m from the town of Oxford.”
Cora was quiet because she was looking at his mighty arms and then she turned to look at the gladiator’s tan face. He looked at her strangely and wondered why she was feasting her eyes over him like a piece of meat. She nodded her head and smiled at the gladiator, which gave him chills.
“Yes,” she began. “You must join us for supper, my mother is downstairs teaching my sister Malaria how to mend an incision.
“It wouldn’t be for long, I would be gone the next morning,” he answered
“Oh, but I’m sure you would want to stay longer than that, come in,” she insisted with a smile.
Glenada walked in to their home and straight ahead of him was fancy furniture made of wood with sewn pillows created with complex designs of black widows. He saw a fireplace and on the edge of the fireplace were life size human statues, one a man and the other a woman, made of wood. They were both naked and holding up a stone ledge above the fireplace that was full of stone and crystal knick knacks.
“I’ll fetch our mother,” Cora replied and left Tara to watch Glenada.
Scarlet was in the cellar with her daughter Malaria and they were sewing up a long cut on a man’s abdomen. She was teaching her daughter the value of patience. As an apprentice, Malaria was learning the craft of an amazonian that was passed by Scarlet.
“Dear, you want the stitches small and tight so they can’t get out,” said Scarlet while showing Malaria each piercing stitch of the needle through the skin.
“Like that?” asked Malaria.
“Yes,” answered Scarlet as she clasped her hands together.
“Once you get done, you want to put this ointment on the wound and spread it around so it gets nice and hard. Remember it acts as a sealant so that we can continue to pounce on him everynight. This will increase our chances of expanding our community and his body heat will allow them to hatch. Once he’s been eaten from the inside your sister will brush the rest of the ointment on his body. After he’s been hardened, we can make him into a statue and place him somewhere in the yard for decoration,” announced Scarlet as she turned to see Cora staring at her.
“Oh hi dear, what news do you bring?”
“We have a traveler here.”
“Oh, is he healthy?”
Cora raised her shoulders, “I don’t know.”
Scarlet looked at Malaria and gestured her to continue the work, “well, I guess we’ll have to see what kind of man we have.”
Glenada walked around the living room which was painted white with black spider webs and Tara watched him quietly with a creepy stare. The gladiator could see the wooden floor was swept and the furniture was white with gold tassels for trimming on the bottom.
On the wall next to the staircase was a wooden desk which held a shelving unit filled with silver figurines of men, dragons and flying horses. The site of crystals around the knick knacks caught his attention, but it shifted as he looked at the fireplace and walked over to it. He could see a giant Venus Fly Trap on top of the ledge with the two wooden statues. As he looked closer at the statue of the muscular man and woman he could see they were in pain.
“Well hello stranger,” said a voice.
Glenada turned around to see it was a woman and guessed it was the mother. She was dressed in a plain brown dress and her black hair was tied back into a pony tail. The woman was strange, with the tone in her voice that was deep and scratchy. Her grey eyes feasted upon him like a vampire and she licked her lips while looking at his muscular arms. Scarlet thought to herself that this man would have enough endurance to keep her satisfied.
“You’ve got quite a place here, who built your house?” he asked while walking towards her.
“Men,” she replied with the tone in her voice that was cold and dis-satisfied.
“My name is Glenada; I’m exploring this region and discovered your home. I was wondering if I could stay here for the night?”
“My name is Scarlet and you may stay for as long as you like,” replied Scarlet as Malaria came up to see him.
To be continued. . . .
