My head was pounding. My skin felt hot. I felt like I was on fire. I was relieved when Jasper pressed the cool wet cloth against my forehead.

"Oh, Lacey. My poor little Lacewing." He said softly, his voice calming my racing heart. He kissed me on the forehead lightly. "What are we going to do with you? You make my job very hard you know." He purred jokingly. I managed a smirk.

"I didn't ask you to play the daddy. You volunteered." I said. My wave of sickness flashed violently then went away. I jumped out of bed. "See? Look. I'm fine! I always get better!" I said. He pursed his lips. I walked over to the window of our house. We lived on the outskirts of the city. Just Jasper and I. It was nice. From my window I could see the lights of the city. I could see the sun rising behind the buildings. I heard Jasper laugh silently behind me. I turned around to see him trying to hide his laughter.

"What?" I asked him. He just snickered harder. "What?" I questioned again, getting angry. He shook his head.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." He said. I was so confused. Jasper cleared his throat. "I'm going to go get breakfast ready. You might want to, uh, brush your hair out." He said. Then he left the room. When the door closed, I heard him burst out laughing. I heard him go down the stairs. I ran into my bathroom and looked in the mirror. The back of my hair was a tangled mess. Not only that, but there were cobwebs in it. I looked like our attic.

"It isn't that funny." I mumbled. But as I tried to brush out my hair, I allowed myself a laugh. After successfully brushing out my hair, I tied it into a tight braid down my right shoulder. My long black hair was shiny in the light. Then I got dressed in some ripped jeans, the shirt with my favorite band, Three Days Grace, on it, and my black leather jacket. I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't look half bad. My face kinda ruined the whole effect, but other than that, perfectly normal. I slipped an earbud into my right ear and tucked my player into my jacket pocket. I tucked the other into my shirt so it wouldn't make any noise and wouldn't get in my way. Then I ran down our dark, wooden staircase, music playing quietly in my ear. I smiled at Jasper as he set our plates down on the kitchen table. We chowed down on scrambled eggs and bacon while watching the news.

"Last night twelve members of the S.W.A.T. team were found on the roof of the parking garage just off Grundle Street," the reporter was saying. My heart dropped. "One was dead, the others unconscious and in terrible condition. Witnesses say that this is the work of the notorious Black Widow." I wanted to throw up the bacon I had just devoured. "The eleven other S.W.A.T. members were hospitalized. Information on wether or not they will survive will be given this evening on the 11:00 news. In other news..." That's all I heard, Jasper switched off the TV. He looked over at me. I laid my head on the table, putting both headphones in and turning it up loud. Jasper was talking to me. I could hardly hear it over the music playing in my ears. I clenched my stomach. I looked down at my hands under the table. I squeezed my fist, making my veins pop out. They were black. I wanted to cry. He was dead. It had been an accident! I had had a venom flash and my hand happened to be on his neck. Suddenly, hands yanked my headphones out and pulled my chair back. I leapt out of my chair, jolted into instincts. Next thing I new, Jasper was hanging upside down from the ceiling, wrapped in webs, and the front door was open, revealing the boy from the parking garage. His eyes widened and I did what came natural. Quick as a flash, the boy was also hanging upside down from the ceiling. I touched both of their temples and they went limp. Unconscious. I groaned and kicked the table over. Eggs splattered everywhere, bacon was hanging off the cabinets, plates shattered against the wall with and unearthly crash, and silverware flew dangerously through the air, a fork even lodged itself in the wooden walls. I needed to work on my people skills.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I sat in the corner of the attic, my full body suit on. My red eyes and the red hourglass on my chest were the only parts of me that were visible as I crouched in the shadows. Our attic was pretty much just a massive spider web. More like a combination of big webs and tiny webs. The biggest web was located in the center of the back wall. Jasper and the boy were both tied to the web. I groaned and pressed the heels of my hands against my temples. Why? Why why why why why!?

"B-Black Widow?" Came the question. My head snapped up and my gaze zeroed in on the boy. He gulped. "I just came.....you see you......what I mean is...." I lost my temper.

"Spit it out!" I snarled. He flinched and I felt guilty. I stood up straight and walked over to the massive web. I grabbed the webs holding Jasper to the web and pulled them off. He fell into my arms and I gently laid him down on the ground, careful not to touch him with my hands. Guilt flashed through me again and I set my jaw. I turned to look at the boy, my body stiff with irrational anger. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them. Now, what's your name?" I asked. The boy hesitated before answering.

"Jack." He said. I nodded.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Cause.....well, first of all because you didn't answer any of my questions, second of all, you saved my life, and third of all, you killed that S.W.A.T. member. How could I not come?" He replied. I clenched my fists, my face heating up. I could feel the venom rushing in my arms and hands, making my fingers tingle. My anger boiled over.

"Do you realize that I can and will not hesitate to kill you, torture you, or make your life h*** if I see fit?" I snarled. He winced and nodded, turning his face away from me as if he expected me to hit him. I took a deep breath. Control. Get yourself under control. You are in charge; not the venom. "You can ask three questions. Go." I said shortly. Jack's eyes went wide then he scrunched his eyebrows.

"Uh....why did you save me?" He asked. I hesitated for what had to be only a millisecond before replying.

"You didn't need to die. Next question?" I asked. He blinked a few times before saying anything.

"What is your real name?" He asked. I glared at him, but he didn't back down. I considered telling him that my real name was Black Widow, but I couldn't find it in me to lie right now. I sighed.

"Lacey." I snapped, angry. He nodded. "One more." I said. He thought about it for a minute or two before he said anything.

"Are you sick?" He asked. I looked at him for a minute, pondering my answer.

"Yes." I said, crossing my arms, shaking my hair out of my face. Worry lit Jack's gaze.

"Are you really sick?" He asked.

"I said three questions, and that is all you are getting." I snapped. I stepped forward and my hand went to his temple. He flinched and I let my hand hover over his temple. "It's just going to make you sleep. It's okay." I said softly. He didn't relax any, but he let me touch him. My fingertips lightly touched his head and he went slack; unconscious. Suddenly, fatigue washed over me and I fell to the ground like a rag doll. I coughed and pulled one of my gloves off. My hands were black and white. The venom in my blood making my veins black, the sickness making my skin white. I crawled to the door of the attack and tried to open it. Every movement threw my eyes out of focus, and my arms shook as I walked. Every inch of my body hurt. I kicked the door on the attic floor open and spilled out onto my bed. Somebody was in my room. Without thinking, webs shot out of my hand and he was dragged towards me. On their own accord, my hands flew to his neck and venom pulsed. Surprise lit his gaze. Tears filled my eyes.

"I'm sorry! I am so sorry! I..." I begged. He smiled slightly and patted my cheek. He fingered my hair, his lips trembling. Despair washed over me and I began sobbing. I felt sick. Really sick. My forehead was burning up, my hands trembling. I was crying so hard that my chest hurt. I hugged him to me as the life slowly left him. I felt empty.

"It's okay, little Lacewing. I came to tell you I was going. It's okay. I was about to die anyway. You are a good girl, Lacey. Don't let the spider get the best of you." He said. It didn't take any of the pain away, but at least it wasn't like I stole a bunch of years from him. He went limp in my arms and the tears began to pour again. It didn't matter if he was fifteen or eighty-two. It was still a life. I was still responsible for my grandfather's death. It was at this time that I came to a terrifying realization. My sixteenth birthday was in three days. Three days, and then it was decided. Either they would cure me and make me their ultimate weapon, or they would throw me out in the cold and let me die of all the poison they put inside me. The only way they could get the venom to work was partially infect me. They couldn't make me immune if the experiment was going to proceed. In three days, I would either live or die. I am infected with all the poisons in the world, all the venom of all the spiders, of every snake, of every bug, any form of poison, venom, or disease, are inside me. The only thing keeping it from killing me? The mask on my face. In three days, the mask will come off. And I will either live and become a tool, or die the most painful death in all of history. Three Days Grace? I was about to enter Three Day Torture.