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Silken Snare (12) : Destiny City has an extensive history with problematic arachnids, and 2025 is not the year to shake that up. Large, sticky webs have appeared all over the city. Maybe it is a silly prank like the papers say, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s all fun and games when you’re stuck to the near-invisible net strung low to the ground or tucked away along alleys or pathways. They can trap anyone who even just brushes against them. It’s possible to be stuck in one for hours. The more you struggle, the more the threads tighten, clinging like a cocoon and it feels like being swallowed whole. If you listen carefully while caught, you might hear something moving above you. You might even feel something heavy dip onto the web next to you, chattering ominously. You never see it, but that in itself is a mercy. Something will always chase it away. Eventually, the strings will lose elasticity and you may be able to free yourself if someone isn’t able to rescue you–they just need to make sure they don’t get trapped, too. The threads can leave behind deep lines and bruises, so be happy that’s the worst you walked away with.
Winston decidedly did not like this time of year. Too much rain, too many strange things happening, and worst of all, too much scary s**t happening on the regular. It was like the autumnal season had it out for him specifically, and he was not a fan of it the way so many other people seemed to be. Obsessed with "Halloween", pumpkins, corn, witches, and apple-based foods. Though, to be fair on that last point, he did enjoy all of the apple-based foods. Apple crumble, apple cider, candy apples... At least he did have one thing to look forward to in this season.
He was out late as himself, just for a little while. Thinking too hard about apple crumble had made him hungry, and he wound up at a small hole-in-the-wall sort of place for desserts. And if the person behind the counter thought him odd for getting a hot apple cider and a slice of apple crumble, they didn't show it. He sat at one of their little tables near the door to eat, warmed all over from the inside. By the fields, he loved apples. Truly, they were the gods's most magnificent fruit.
By the time he finished the crumble, he still had half his cider left, so he disposed of the trash and took the rest of his cup to go. All in all, it hadn't been a bad night. He kept his hands both tightly wrapped around the cup, soaking in the warmth, bringing it level with his nose so he could breathe the delicious scent of appley goodness.
He decided to take a shortcut through a small alleyway.
This was his downfall of an otherwise perfectly pleasant evening.
He tripped over something invisible to him at first and fell, caught by some kind of strange surface, spilling the rest of his precious cider across the ground. Immediately, he wanted to cry about it, but as he moved to get up, he found he couldn't move very much at all.
He twisted this way and that, but the odd net he'd fallen into only tightened around him further, squeezing like a thousand tiny constrictor snakes. Panic began to set in and he struggled more, going against all higher thinking advice as his stupid deer brain demanded he get up, get up up up up get go go get up go go get UP!
Something dropped on the net nearby and he froze, fear paralyzing him. Suddenly, he realized what this must be. The nest of a giant spider, trying to catch prey. ********, he didn't want to die like this.
The creature never approached, just stood nearby, shifting and chittering and making Winston really wish he'd never left the house tonight. He hated spiders. Hated them hated them hated them. If he got home, he would not leave the apartment again. Nope. Never. ******** spiders.
Eventually, something chased the spider away. He was never sure what chased it, exactly, but once the spider had decided to flee, the net broke, dissolving around him and letting him free. He scrambled upright and sprinted back to the apartment as fast as he could, still mourning the loss of his cider. So much for a good night.
