MicroHorror

Gillian watches them cross the room. Why don’t they come at the regular time? What are they doing here? “Go away!”

“Are you all right?” A honeyed voice beyond reality ripples into her chaos. “Can I get you something?”

The red one with the tiny body and huge head climbs the curtains and starts laughing, peering at her over the top of the screen. The blue one sits on the coverlet, eating. “Would you like one?”

Gillian stares in terror at the black contents of the bag. Spiders. They are still alive. Crawling, scuttling over each other, legs jerking, spinnerets twitching aimlessly, trying to escape.

“Take them away, I don’t want them. Take them away!”

The blue Lilliputian laughs at her agitation and the spiders in his mouth struggle to escape but he pushes their frantic little legs back in and crunches down on them.

Gillian hears them cracking open–screaming in pain. “Pain,” she echoes, “PAIN!”

“I’ll just give you this to calm you down.” The yellow girl with the honey tones draws up a syringe full of spiders.

Gillian screams and the red one laughs even more. “Can’t take her alcopops,” he sneers.

“Spiked. Spiked with spiders!” Gillian hits out against the hand that holds the terror. The syringe smashes on the floor.

Now they are on the bed–black spiders darting over the white covers towards her face. Fear crescendos towards panic. She brushes at them frantically with both hands–twists her legs about to shake them off. Cramp seizes her calf and she screams her distress.

“Be still, be still,” says the honey-voice. Firm hands push her back on the pillow. The yellow girl is like sunshine, a radiation of warmth. Her voice stops the laughter and all the spiders die. “Do you know who you are?”

Gillian’s lip trembles. Her entire body trembles. “No… The visitors… HELP ME…”

The nurse injects diazepam.