Chapter Text
A visit to OHSU could fuck right off. I would have skipped if I hadn’t flunked my last test. Some kids were excited, which was weird because I was taking one of the only nonmajor science classes. There were a few faces I didn’t recognize as well. Namely a very cute, very nerdy, honey haired brunette. I caught myself staring at him as he pushed up his glasses and continued writing. As I turned away, I heard the tail end of the lecture.
“The OHSU is famous for our innovation in insect-based protein. It’s a problem that requires the brightest minds in the world. Now you’ll see-” Insects was all I needed to hear to know I wasn’t going into that room. The last room we had gone into was already being infested by another tour group. However, there was a closed nondescript door on my right. I slipped out of the group, hoping the door just led to an empty break room or supply closet.
The door was locked. I jiggled the handle as I watched my group walk into the other room. I had seconds before someone spotted me. In an act of desperation, I pushed my entire body weight against the door, ramming my shoulder between the frame and the door. It popped out and I scrambled through. I expected to hear the tell-tale click of the door closing but it never came. I turned around to see the honey haired brunette boy standing on the other side of it, just as it finally clicked closed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I saw you go in?”
My eyes narrowed at him.
“No sorry, not like that.” He was tripping over himself to explain which put me at ease. “I wasn’t following you or anything I just thought you might get lost trying to leave and the buddy system and all that.
I smiled. “Yeah, I probably would get lost. I don’t think we went into this room.”
“We didn’t. What is it?”
“Looks like… six spiders?” It was a large, mostly white room with six stations set up around it. The one nearest to us had a spider crawling around in a glass tank covered with leaves and branches.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right.”
Despite my major aversion to insects, I loved spiders. They were small and kind of cute in a way. They lacked the leg muscles to bend them so when they tried to move, they had to jump, like they were glitching. I walked over to one of the cases, freezing as I heard footsteps pass by slowly, idle chatter being made amongst two guards, and didn’t notice he had moved to stand beside me.,
“Why are you in here?”
I cringed. “I hate insects. If I was in a room full of them, I’d probably have a panic attack and ruin the tour, not to mention my reputation. “
“Spiders are fine though?”
“I like spiders!” I rushed to defend myself. “They’re technically not insects either.”
“I like spiders too.” He shrugged. “I like insects more.”
I turned to face him. “Then you should be with the rest of the group.”
“Then who would be here with you?” The puzzled expression on his face almost made me laugh.
Instead, I tampered it down with a smile. “You’re right.”
---
We had been in the spider room too long. The tour group was long gone, and I wasn’t sure Ben, the honey haired brunette, knew how to leave any better than I did. We were stopped at the last case. They had all held spiders, but all the others had labels with names. This one was labeled “Experiment 42.”
“Do you think they’re going to make us eat spider-based proteins?”
“Maybe. But I doubt it, that’s useless based on the amount of protein we could get from other insects vs spiders. I think spiders would be harder to raise in a farm environment but also don't have a lot of meat. I have seen like small local shops sell spiders for food but like the whole spider as sort of a novelty, not on the same level as like cricket protein...” He trailed off.
“I don’t see the spider.” I studied the tank.
“I do.” Ben said quietly. He was staring at a spider hanging down from the ceiling, traveling closer to him with a web. “Kit.” His eyes were stuck to the spider as it traveled closer, and his feet were seemingly stuck to the floor. “Do something.”
“It’s okay.” Softly I broke through the web as it stuck to my finger. The spider started traveling with me as I brought him back to his cage. It was fine until we got back to the cage. Whatever they had done to the spider in that cage was causing it to freak out. It started crawling back up the web at a surprising speed and I was struggling to get it unstuck from my hands. It crawled to the skin between my thumb and hair and bit down, hard. “Ouch!” I brushed the spider off and it fell to the ground, unmoving.
“Shit. I just killed a billion dollar experiment.” I stood, hand throbbing as I stared at the dead spider.
“It bit you.”
“I know.” Already a welt was raising on my hand. I pulled down my sleeve to cover it. “I’m fine.”
“You have no idea what it could have done to you. We have to tell someone.”
I turned to Ben with surprising speed. “We can’t tell anyone. I snuck into a locked room and killed a secret project. I’ll go to jail or be sued.”
“I’ll take the blame.”
“No way. God, I have to turn myself in, don’t I?” Tears welled up in my eyes.
“No, wait.” Ben wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “That spider had already escaped, it might have died on ran away on it’s own. You really should get that bite checked out but I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to.”
“Really?
“Yeah. You were just trying to help.”
I nodded, wiping at my eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”
We walked over to the door, only to find it locked with no way to unlock it. “It locks from both sides. Perfect. Knowing my luck, there’s a million security cameras in this place as well.”
“Not in the room. There’s not even any lights, just windows.” He gestured to the roof which was made up of glass panes. I hadn’t even noticed.
“Then I might have a solution.” I pulled my student id from my bag and slid it between the door and door frame. Pushing against the front edge of the lock, I slid it all the way through and in between. The door slid open easily.
“Now to find our way out,” Ben said.
---
While I would have been totally lost, He seemed to remember every turn and exhibit. When we made it outside, our tour group was exiting from the opposite side. He smiled at me. “Good thing I followed you.”
“I would have never made it out.”
“You better go join your group. I think your teacher is taking roll.” He was. I could hear hm calling out names.
“Wait, you’re not a part of the class?”
“Nope. I’m just visiting and my rides here. Nice to meet you, Kit.” He waved goodbye.
I was watching him walk away, a boy I had just met, and it was like I was making the biggest mistake of my life. “Ben, wait!” I called out. “How long did you say you were in town for?”
“I’m staying with my Aunt May for the next two weeks.”
“Did you maybe want to hang out before you leave? You know, so you don’t have to go on another one of these lame tours to fill your time?” I could hear my teacher calling my name. Still, I waited.
That earned a smile from him. He pulled a pen from his notebook and grabbed my hand, writing his phone number along it. “Oh.” He said, putting the pen back into the notebook. “I could have used a piece of paper from that.”
“That’s alright.” I laughed. “I’ll see ya.” I ran over to the group.
“I’m here, Mr. Maguffin.”
“Ah Kit,” He marked my name down. “What did you think of the tour?”
“I really liked it.”
“I’m glad.”
---
As I sat in my car, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. Actually, my head was fuzzy, and my hand really hurt too. So did my shoulder, but that wasn't related to the bite. The spider didn’t look venomous, but the bite had started to swell and that was not a good sign. I was 90% sure I had insurance but a trip to the hospital meant a call to my parents, people I had vowed to never speak to again. I could definitely make the drive home.
Barely.
Walking up the stairs almost took me out. The world felt like it was shifting with every step
I stumbled into my apartment, covered in sweat. My roommate Holly, stood by the oven, reading a recipe on her phone.
“Hey Kit,” she said. “How was the trip to OHSU?”
“I don’t feel very good.”
She looked up from her phone. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m going to bed.” I fumbled with the key to my bedroom door.
“Do you need help?”
“No,” I mumbled. It was like everything in my bag was sticking to me. I shook it off. My bed had never looked more appealing. I could barely get my shoes and jeans off before I passed out on top of it, not even under the blankets.
---
When I woke up hours later, I was hungry. The hungriest I’d ever been. I walked out into the kitchen, not bothering to put on anything over my t-shirt and boxers. Holly’s favorite orange cranberry scones sat on the counter. She always offered me one but I wasn’t a big fan of scones.
Before I could stop myself, I had eaten three.
Reaching into the fridge, I drank straight from the Britta filter. I was so hot I felt like my skin was burning and I was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. I heard the click of a key entering the lock of our door and I was in my room before I could remember walking there.
“What the hell?” I heard our other roommate say.
I tried to pull away from the door and go to bed again but my hand was stuck to the handle.
“Kit?” Holly called.
I froze.
“They’ve been acting really weird.” She said in a voice so quiet I shouldn’t have been able to hear it. I didn’t want to.