WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGE WAS THIS?!

My head twisted back and forth at an alarming rate, zeroing in on the red eyes that seemed to get closer with every passing second. An icy shiver slithered along my back, and my insides twisted.

The abnormal red eyes continued to just stare, never blinking. Not once. What the hell were these things? Wolves? Lions? Evil Penguins? I couldn't tell, because they made no noise. Completely silent.

"Holy mother of god," Rucker said in the darkness, breaking the eerie silence.

I spun, trying to follow his voice. He was behind me, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly where because it was too dark.

"Wow, who knew the moron could actually speak more than one syllable," Gmie said, voice slightly shaky. She sounded far away from me. Lucky bitch.

"Even near death, you're still a cunt," Rucker said with an edge in his tone.

"We're not near death," Sebastian said in a calming tone. "It's just a challenge."

"That doesn't mean we still can't die," Chi said with fear in her voice. "We're going to get eaten by — by — by — whatever t-those t-things a-are."

"They're probably aliens," Aries said.

Layla squeaked. "A-aliens?!"

"Aliens? Really?" Yaz said before snorting. "You really need to get off them videos games. They're frying your brain cells."

"Fuck you," Aries said, tone harsh. "Everyone secretly knows that they're watching us from space. All the time. They're the reason why the seasons change."

"Am I the only one hearing this crazy shit," Yaz said in disbelief. "You're fucking with me, right? You think aliens are the reasons why it snows?"

"I'm not crazy!" Aries said, close to yelling. "Aliens use their tentacles to beam down to earth, hitting our atmosphere and that's how snow is made."

"Aries, do you really believe that?" Khan asked.

"Yes! Because it's true," Aries said. "Aliens — the Tieys made us. Created us and everything we have as humans. They're the reasons we have water — they created the oceans and the trees with their hyperkinetic minds—"

Yaz cut him off. "Someone please get this crazy fool cause I'm done."

"I hope you're the first non-believer to die when they finally descend onto our planet and save us from our incompetent government," Aries said in a cruel tone.
"They don't need people like you around when they finally take us to their heavenly honeypot."

Okay. Just stop. Was he serious?

"Oh my god, you're so fucking delusion," Yaz said, voice high-pitched. "People like you shouldn't breed."

"Look—" Aries started with a cruel tone.

"Can we please focus on the matter at hand?" Chi asked, voice shaking. "There are a shit ton of red eyes watching us right now!"

"Fuck the eyes, what are we standing in?" Demo asked. "I can't move that much anymore."

She was right. My boots began to sink into the flooring, which was some sort of wet material that brushed against my calves and lower thighs. Every movement made me sink deeper.

"Me either," Gmie said. "My feet are stuck."

Chi screeched. "Something's dripping on me!"

"Look we need to stay calm," Sebastian said, tone calm.

That calm tone left when a giant pair of glowing white eyes materialized in the blackness, following a screeching boom. Unnerving screams pierced the atmosphere, a mix of feminine and masculine as everyone went airborne again.

I flew toward the left, slapping face first into something gooey wet. Slimy liquid dribbled down my forehead, spreading to my cheeks. Eww. The blackness stopped me from seeing what it was, and I had a hunch that I didn't want to know. It couldn't be good.

My hands tried to wipe the sticky stuff off my face, but the more I moved, the more entangled I became until I could barely move at all. Crap.

But I didn't get much time to dwell on that because those giant white eyes seemed to be getting wider and bigger, growing by the nanosecond. They were almost bigger than me!

"God, please help us," Layla said before sobbing. "Please protect us."

"God doesn't give a shit about any of us," Rucker said, tone rough.

Before anyone else could comment, a bright light flickered on above, blinding me for a couple of minutes. When my vision cleared, two dead blue eyes stared into mine.

"Holy shit," I whispered, swinging my head back.

A half-eaten human head looked at me, tangled in thick yarn-looking material. The same material that was currently wrapped around me, holding me in place.

What was this stuff?

I stared back at the human head, really looking at it. Large teeth marks graced the middle of the forehead, looking as if something ate the skull and brain in one swoop. The same with the body. Since it wasn't there and the neck — what was left of it — had large teeth marks embedded in it too.

But what animal can make that kind of bite? Eat half a human head in one chomp? And the body?

Thick stings of red continued to slide from the missing brain cavity and down his eyes, cheeks, and chin. The face belonged to a teen. Maybe, thirteen or fourteen. Face frozen in fear. His last emotion.

I swallowed before looking away from the face and toward everyone else. All of us were stuck in place, submerged in this thick stringy material. It took me only a moment to realize that it reminded me of a web — a spiderweb.

The web hooked from one end of the large, black-painted room to the other, taking up the whole back wall. The delicate strands created thick layers with intricate designs, veiny eggs sacks lining the edges.

Sounds almost pretty, but it was far from that. Maybe from afar, but up-close it looked a mess. 

Blood and other bodily fluids tainted and drenched the once white web. Multiple body parts from thighs to eyeballs filtered into the web design, signaling to us that dinner was served regularly to the owner.

All of us were spread out in the spiderweb like flies caught in a trap. No one spoke. Or screamed. That surprised me until I realized what they were all looking at — the mutants.

Large bronze cages hung around the room from chains. Dozens of mutant-like spider-beings filled those prisons. Their white-and-black bodies appeared wet and slick. Claws looked sharp, trickling with black liquid.

"Holy shit!" Aries screamed, floundering around in the web, causing himself to sink further into it.

"What the fuck are those?" Rucker's eyes widened to large pits, lips clenching shut.

"No — what the fuck is that!" Chi screamed, causing all of us to look.

I cringed. There in the middle of the room towered the mother of all giant mutant beasts.

With the body of a giant scorpion and the tall ass and arms of a spider, the creature took up most of the room and that was saying a lot when the room was the size of a small stadium. It towered close to us, casting a brooding shadow over the web.

"Contestants!" Jookie's voice radiated through the midnight walls. "Meet our new pet, Big Bertha, and her kin. Aren't they pretty?"

Were rabies-infested fleas pretty? No.

Big Bertha's coloring reminded me of a cow, along with the enormous black utters attached to her chest. Clear fluid drizzled from the udders, disintegrating the floor with every drop. Acid.

What kind of spider had udders and could ooze freaking acid?

That wasn't all though. Colossal black wings plastered the front half of the spider's body, reminding me of fly wings, but the two back ones reminded me of a bat. Dozens of milky white eyes glowed at us, assessing us.

"Big Bertha was made especially for the show," Jookie said with a laugh. "And her favorite meal is human."

I bet.

My eyes couldn't stop staring at her — like how could they create such a thing? How was it even possible to mix all these different animals together?  I guess when you had money you can create anything.

"She's a mix of so many things — she's a real beauty, right?" Jookie asked with pride in his voice.

"No. She's fucking disgusting," Yaz muttered, fidgeting in the sticky web.

Big Bertha let out a howl, stomping her claws on the floor, liquid sprouting from her utters like a stressed pregnant woman. The impact caused the whole room to shake, and we all tumbled around again. Small debris fell from the ceiling, landing in the web.

"Fuck, Big Bertha is one big bitch," Rucker said before wincing because a piece of falling debris hit him in the head.

"Fuck being big — the bitch can fly and sprout acid," Gmie said before making a loud noise.

"We need to stop stating the obvious and try to escape," Sebastian said.

"How do we do that, genius?" Yaz asked.

Sebastian nodded to the far right. "There's a door right there."

"But what's the challenge?" Demo asked, confused. "Are we just supposed to escape?"

"They never specified so I'm thinking yes," Sebastian said.

"But how are we going to make it to the door?" Layla asked, sniffling. "We're tangled in the spider's web... gunk."

"Maybe, we can bite our way out?" Aries offered.

"Shut up, alien boy," Yaz snapped.

Chi trembled. "Even if we do get out, isn't she going to eat us?"

Khan kept staring at the mutant beast. "I don't think so. If she wanted to attack, I think she would've done so already. Especially since we seem to be in her food web."

"That might change once we get out," Rucker said, eyeing Big Bertha.

"True," Khan said with a shrug, face blank. He was the Grand Guru of not showing emotion. "But we might as well try to escape. What else are we going to do? Stay here?"

True.

My fingers played with the soft material of the web before moving, feeling myself sink deeper. I repeated that action, feeling myself sink again. "Every time we move we sink deeper...," I said, moving again. "Maybe, if we keep moving, we'll sink so deep we'll fall right through?"

Gmie glowered at me. "That sounds fucking stupid."

"Do you have a better idea?" I said.

"Yeah — shut the fuck up. You're a stupid cunty bitch," Gmie snapped, getting angrier by the second.

"Wait, it's working!" Layla said, interrupting me before I could speak. I turned to her, watching her move at a fast pace, seeing her sink deeper and deeper until I heard a plop on the floor below.

I followed her example, moving until my body started to sink deeper and deeper. The thick web closed around my face, almost suffocating me, but I kept moving until I was airborne yet again and fell to the floor, bringing a shit-ton of web with me.

A tiny moan spilled from my lips, pain skyrocketing through me from all angles. The pain from earlier mixed with the pain from the fall, making everything more intense.

I just laid there for a minute, watching everyone tumble from the sky around me, but I didn't get to stay down too long because loud snarling sounds filtered the air.

The mutant spiders rattled the cages, teeth dripping with salvia. They wanted us. Big Bertha stomped closer to us under the web, causing more debris to fall.

I jumped to my feet and stumbled, almost falling over. But Sebastian grabbed me, looking down at me with soft blue eyes.

"You okay?" he asked, voice soft.

I sighed, pain vibrating up my ribs. "Yeah, just hurting a bit."

Big Bertha stomped again, cutting Sebastian off. More debris sprinkled from the ceiling, coming down in a snowy hail with bits of foggy dust.

"How are we going to get to the door?" Layla asked, hands trembling.

"Does anyone have a weapon?" Aries asked, looking around at us.

"What weapon is going to work on something called, 'Big Bertha'," Gmie said, putting her hands on her hips. "Anything short of a Bazooka would be laughable."

"Anyone else have any ideas?" Sebastian asked, walking to the middle of the group.

Rucker put up a finger. "I have a plan."

"What?" Sebastian asked.

Rucker turned and bolted to the door while shouting, "RUN LIKE HELL AND HOPE SHE DOESN'T EAT YOU!"

Yaz, Gmie and I followed behind him without a second thought while the others stood there, trying to process everything. Clearly stunned.

The door seemed like miles away, but I kept at it, running through the soreness and agony. Never did I look back to see if the others followed, but footsteps pounded behind me after a few seconds.

Big Bertha let out a gargling sound, shooting acid out of her utters. The droplets landed around us, creating numerous holes in the floor. Some of us stumbled into them but kept moving. Falling was not an option.

Since the acid wasn't working, Big Bertha slapped down her claws again, making the whole room shake. That movement made us in the front fly forward while the people in the back who were closest to her flew toward the left.

Rucker who was still in the front slammed into the door, and it plopped open. Yaz, Gmie and I tumbled in behind him. We all wound up in a long black hallway that had a door at the end of it.

Rucker, Gmie, and Yaz kept running forward toward the other door at the end, but I stopped when feminine screams sounded behind me.

Turning around while leaning against the wall, I saw the others who got thrown to the left, running toward me at full speed. Once they reached the threshold, they threw themselves inside. Except one.

Layla tripped on an acid-made hole, falling on her face like people do in horror movies. She tried to get up, but her nose bled, dripping onto her white shirt. Tears leaked from her eyes, as her head spun around, looking for an escape, but Big Bertha blocked her escape with a claw.

Sebastian pulled my arm, bringing me back from the door. "Come on. We need to go."

I started to follow, but something in my body stopped me. My eyes peered back in the room, seeing Layla alone, sobbing as Big Bertha towered over her, teeth glistening.

"Come on," Sebastian said again, grabbing my arm, trying to pull me.

"Shouldn't we help her?" I said, watching Big Bertha snarl down at Layla.

Chi turned up her nose. "You want us to go help her? The most useless one here?"

"I'm not going against a giant spider bitch for no one," Aries said, panting. "It was everyone for themselves back there."

Sebastian grabbed my chin, making me look at him. "This is a game. Don't you want to go home? To win?"

"Of course," I said, staring into his eyes.

"Then forget her," Sebastian said. "You'll die helping her."

My insides tumbled with uncertainty, a tug of war between Tini and Betinia.

Betinia said, "Go help her." Be Good. Tini said, "Fuck her. Survive." Be Bad.

What was I going to do?

♟♙♟

What do you think she is going to do? Help Layla or follow Sebastian? What would you do?