Steamy Screams: Anthology of Erotic Horror

MOFFAT BOUND Jason Andrew

You must wonder how we came to this. Your pupils are dilated. The effects will fade soon enough as the venom is flushed through your bloodstream. Listen and learn, Little One. It started with the nursery rhyme.

The boys loved to tease me with spiders but were always disappointed. My unfortunate surname combined with my father’s profession continually encouraged them to try. Rare is the daughter of an entomologist that does not learn how to handle a small Parasteatoda tepidariorum.

How many generations of children in this town were sung that ridiculous nursery rhyme in the warm comfort of their cribs never knowing the true meaning of that ditty? Their generational memories of countless boys chasing girls through the schoolyard and impressing them with an Oligochaeta Annelida, better known as an earthworm, led them to try time and again. They swarmed around the girls with the enthusiasm of Dicrostonyx torquatus; mindless lemmings, drowning themselves in a mad rush to see new land.

I learned early that I was different than my classmates. My eyes rolled impatiently while the girls wailed and cried and giggled, turning their cheeks to hide the demure blushing from the disgusting boys with snotty noses and filthy hands that tugged at our pig-tails. Their lack of proper hygiene bothered me more than the Parasteatoda tepidariorum. Arachnids are known to be quite clean. I merely turned the next page in my book and hoped the smell would wash away.

The potency of the male adolescent libido is powerful, especially when frustrated, and these boys were not easily dissuaded. My obvious lack of interest did nothing to mute their interest. I reached puberty first amongst my peers. My black hair thickened, its luster showing that I was healthy. My body transformed over a summer from a collect of straight lines and angles to soft curves demonstrating my new found sexual maturity. Yes, I’ve noticed the slight coloration of your cheeks and the subtle release of pheromones. I know the effect I can have on you.

I found my pleasure in my studies and, on rare occasions, alone. Mother worried that I would never find a suitable husband and forced me to attend dances and mixers. Father understood me best. “Melissa, there are all manner of creatures in nature and just because answers are not apparent, does not mean that the world lacks them. You do not have to make any choices you are uncomfortable with.”

High school provided a larger ecosystem to conceal myself. Beasts instinctively sense rivals for desirable mates. The boys sat next to me during lectures and occasionally attempted juvenile schemes to peek under my skirt. This is not said with pride, merely to explain. I became a pariah amongst the girls, with few friends. It suited my needs.

My pleasure was found in my studies and, on rare occasions, alone in the dark. The year before graduation, I discovered a surprising talent with the violin and Father hired a student tutor from the University named Susan. She was unlike any other person my age that I had ever met. Susan had read Proust and spoke three languages. On our last session before summer break, we kissed under the stars and I began to consider the potential needs of the flesh.

The soft white smoothness of her skin felt like I was skimming my fingers over a bowl of cream and milk. I twirled my fingers around her golden locks and closed my eyes, living for once purely in the moment. We shared our breath in-between our kisses. I felt alive.

She did not return to school that fall and I had my senior year to survive. The year started much like any other, with but a single exception. Carl Harper declared his love for me on the school steps the first day and would not be dissuaded. He followed me from class to class and insisted upon carrying my books. He was an athlete of some sort. I could never remember which sport.

I had almost completely forgotten about him by mid-terms. Doctor Stevens allowed me to study in the biology laboratory after school. I had just finished cutting the frog for the vivisection when strong hands wrapped around my waist and lifted me into the air. Frightened, I pulled my arms back striking him in the nose. I pulled my book from the table and slammed it into his face. Drops of blood dripped from his nose to his lips.

And then, I felt the urge. I kissed him. Surprised that I had finally shown an interest, Harper froze. The blood sparked against my lips. He pulled away from me and thereafter avoided me. Disappointing.

I did not consider the matter again until three years later in Advanced Biology in Doctor Rathlin’s class. She spoke of the body like it was a symphony. I proctored as many of her classes as possible, simply to stare into her sparkling green eyes. It took weeks to realize that this foreign impulse I was experiencing was desire. Seduction had not been a skill I had learned or needed before. I didn’t care. I simply wanted to be near her.

Doctor Rathlin accepted my attempts gracefully and with a sly smile. She knew everything that I would say before I had thought of the words. Every movement felt planned and natural. My resolve did not last long.

It was a clear starry night, much like this one that I knocked tearfully upon her door. She answered the door in the thin silk nightshirt. Her thick curly auburn hair was braided to one side. I had only one thing to say. “I love you.”

She smiled. “Of course you do.”

She led me by the hand to her bedroom. It was an empty barren room except for the steel framed bed and the white mattress. “Sit.”

I did as she commanded. I could no more refuse her than you could my orders. She undressed me slowly taking pleasure in my submission. She bound my arms and legs with thin strands of silk that seemed to appear out of the air. Doctor Rathlin pushed me back into the bed and kissed my lips.

My body was bound. I was helpless. Frozen. Hers. “Do you still love me?” Doctor Rathlin asked.

I blinked my acknowledgement.

I thought of the name Rathlin. It was the name of a cave in Scotland. Legend had it that Robert the Bruce learned how to fight the English from a spider in that cave.

She kissed my neck, my breasts, and everywhere else she desired. “I knew you would come. I felt the stirrings in your blood. We’re a lot alike, Sister.”

I had so many questions, but I couldn’t speak. She bound me with her silk and the pleasure. I could only endure. “Do not struggle, Little One. It will only make the experience more intense.”

Her skin and flesh started to bubble. Her white skin, dotted with lickable freckles, moved and pulsated with a living will. How had I not noticed before that her entire body had been made of Parasteatoda tepidariorum?

The spiders crawled over my flesh. They tasted me. It was a million kisses from my head to my toes. I thought that the waves of my satisfaction would never end.

I woke in the morning to an empty apartment. Doctor Rathlin had left the University. I was alone.

I thought to put that night aside like a beautiful dream. I realized that my body had changed. I was stronger, quicker. My hands learned to spin the fine webbing. The better to bind you with, Little One.

She passed her genetic materials to me and then, I suspect, died somewhere alone. Homo Vampirus Aranea.

I have always been patient. I wanted my first time to be special. Months passed before I found you. You have everything I could ever want. Baby blue eyes that remind me of my first kiss; soft lips and skin that smells of baby powder.

Do not struggle, Little One. It will only make the experience more intense.