The abandoned research facility loomed like a corpse at the edge of the city. Rusted gates sagged under the weight of time, warning signs peeling into silence. Inside, a single broken light flickered above cracked tiles. Somewhere in the darkness, countless spider legs skittered.
"They told me never to come here," Zara's older voice whispered in her head as she stepped through the ruined lobby. "I promised I wouldn't. But promises… are easy to break when your heart beats for science."
Hours earlier, at school, she had sat across from her friends Tammy and Josh. She pushed her glasses up, excitement betraying her calm.
"They left everything in that lab," she said. "Failed projects, experiments. If I could study it—just once—"
"Zara, don't." Josh's voice was firm. "Places like that? People disappear."
Tammy frowned. "You promised us. Don't act like you didn't."
Zara forced a smile, nodding. "Yeah. I promised." But her eyes gave her away.
That night, she slipped out her bedroom window. Hoodie zipped tight, flashlight in hand, notebook pressed against her chest. The moon followed her like a spotlight as she crossed the empty streets.
Inside the lab, her footsteps echoed through broken glass and collapsed desks. Nature had started to claim the walls, vines curling into corners. She found a sealed steel door stamped with a spider emblem. Her fingers brushed the lock—click. The door hissed open.
"…beautiful," she whispered.
Behind it was a hidden chamber. Glass containers lined the walls, each filled with spiders that twitched unnaturally fast, their bodies glowing faintly as tubes pumped strange liquid into them.
Zara's hand hovered over the console. Curiosity won. She pressed a button.
The chambers burst open. Hundreds of spiders poured out, scattering across walls, floor, and ceiling.
"Oh—shit—"
One landed on her neck. Its fangs sank into her skin. Pain exploded. Her pupils blew wide, her blood raced, and web-like veins spread beneath her skin. She collapsed. Darkness swallowed her.
The next morning, Zara woke in her bed, drenched in sweat. Her alarm buzzed, the sound stabbing her ears. She stumbled into the bathroom, clutching the sink. Her reflection flickered—two glowing eyes blinked over her own.
"…what the hell?" she whispered.
She raised her hand. A strand of silk shimmered from her fingertips, dissolving in the air.
At school, her body felt alien. She heard lockers slam, whispers echo, Josh's laugh miles away. Her chest clenched. She tripped—and in an instant, she wasn't falling. She was across the hall, pressed against the wall.
The crowd gasped. "…did she just—?"
Zara bolted, locking herself in the bathroom. "No. No. Nobody can know."
That night, screams pulled her into a back alley near a nightclub. Two men dragged a girl toward a van. Her breath shook. Her veins thrummed with silk.
"You're not a hero," her inner voice warned. "You're just a kid."
But she snapped from the rooftop to the ground, teleporting. Threads lashed out, wrapping around one man's throat. The other swung a knife—she vanished, reappearing behind him, knee driving into his spine. Bone cracked against pavement.
The alley fell silent. The girl sobbed and fled.
Zara stared at her hands, silk dripping like blood. Her chest heaved.
"…I can't stop," she whispered.
Somewhere in the depths of the lab, a locked door creaked open. Something else had awakened.