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It was still early in the morning when Taylor’s phone rang. She turned three large eyes towards the disturbance. Only two people had her number, and the call was not expected. Still, she had to answer it. Quickly, she pulled her bulk into herself, lowering herself onto her human legs as her spider legs faded from reality.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hey,” her dad’s familiar voice answered. Even from that one word, Taylor could hear how tired he was. “Tammi woke up sick as a dog this morning. I need to go to work, but I’m worried about leaving her alone at home all day. Could you…”
“I can come over,” Taylor agreed before she had even thought about it.
“Thank you,” her dad said. He sounded overly thankful.
“Least I can do,” Taylor said awkwardly.
“I’ve got to get on my way,” her dad said. “I’ll see you when I get back?”
“Yeah, see you then,” Taylor smiled softly.
Taylor put the phone in her jacket pocket. She straightened her clothes slightly before walking out of the run-down warehouse she laired in.
She was fully aware that coming when called was a risk. If the authorities had convinced her father to lie or had replicated his voice with tinkertech, she could be walking into a trap. But that was unlikely. Taylor Hebert, runaway and truant, was not wanted badly enough for them to use tinkertech to trap her, unless they had linked her activities as Matriarch to the identity of her birth. Even setting a trap of some sort would be a little much. And Taylor’s awareness from her swarm would warn her unless they knew about it and its range. And how could they know about her swarm without her ever obviously using it? Most of her activities were done through her spawn, not her swarm. There was no reason to honestly suspect anything was wrong.
She would only suspect it so that no surprises could get the jump on her.
Plus, Taylor had dumped her surrendered enemy on her dad. It was only right that she take care of said enemy.
The mood on the bus was tense, tenser than it had been before Rune engaged the Wards. The rumors that Matriarch or one of the other presumed capes of the Silken Web was a human Master had spread, and it seemed like people were taking it seriously.
Nobody treated Taylor any differently from everyone else. It was a little surreal that the Matriarch herself could just ride the bus without anyone knowing or reacting. But then again, Taylor had no signs that she was the Matriarch. She just looked like another Brocktonite, though maybe a little more confident than she should be.
The van was gone from the driveway when Taylor approached the house. Her dad had left. A fly in her old room told her it was occupied. Rune. Or Tammi, rather. The fascist Taylor had taken mercy on.
Discomfort squirmed in Taylor’s stomach as she approached her own home. She unlocked and opened the door, then locked it again behind her. The house was quiet.
Avoiding the creaky floorboards, Taylor approached her bedroom. Up the stairs and down the hall, Taylor crept. The door to her bedroom creaked as she opened it.
Tammi lay asleep in Taylor’s bed. She was sprawled out under the covers, wearing one of Taylor’s shirts. Even asleep, Taylor could tell she wasn’t doing well. Tammi’s face was flushed and twisted in discomfort. Taylor reached out and lay a hand on Tammi’s forehead. It was startlingly, uncomfortably warm. Clearly, she had a fever, though it didn’t feel overly dangerous.
Taylor checked the bedside table. There was her old alarm clock, a cup with barely any water in it, a large, empty bowl, a bottle of Tylenol, and a note that read:
Tylenol every 4 hours. Dose 1: 6am
Taylor checked the time. It was a little after 9. Tammi had less than an hour until her next dose. That she still had a fever, even with the Tylenol, was concerning.
Taylor took the cup and carried it to the kitchen. She didn’t bother avoiding the creaky steps on the way down. She put the cup in the sink and got another one out of the cabinet. After filling it with fresh water, she brought it up to Tammi, setting it on the bedside table to replace the first cup.
Tammi was still asleep. Taylor didn’t want to wake her up. If Tammi was sleeping, she probably needed it. Taylor would wake her at ten for her Tylenol and some food.
Taylor left her bedroom again. She got a bowl from the kitchen and half-filled it with water. Taking a knife, she cut the pad of her left thumb and let a few drops of blood fall into the water. She brought the water back up to her bedroom. She placed it by the door and checked on Tammi again.
Tammi hadn’t changed, still asleep.
Tammi went and dug around in her art supplies shelf. Tammi had reorganized it, adding a few makeup kits to the stash. It was still easy enough for Taylor to find her watercolor brushes. She picked out a thicker brush and brought it to the door.
Carefully, Taylor started painting dwarven runes for clean air on the doorframe with the blood-infused water. She hoped it would help prevent her father from falling sick. And, if it worked, it might help Tammi, too, by cleaning the air so she didn’t breathe in her own sickness.
When Taylor was done with that, she checked the time. Painting the runes hadn’t taken overly long, by the standards of painting, so it was almost time for Tammi’s next dose.
“Tammi,” Taylor called, standing over her. “Time to wake up.”
The other girl didn’t seem to hear her, so Taylor reached out and shook her shoulder.
Tammi woke slowly and with difficulty, but eventually she was awake.
“Taylor,” Tammi greeted her with a rough voice. “I don’t think I can do anything for Matriarch right now.”
“Matriarch offers sick days,” Taylor said. It was true now. “Dad called me to look after you while he’s at work.”
“Thanks,” Tammi said.
“It’s time to take your Tylenol.”
Tammi didn’t say anything, but did start to push herself into a sitting position. Taylor took the Tylenol bottle and opened it. She offered two pills to Tammi. Tammi took them and put them in her mouth. Taylor handed her the cup of water before Tammi could try to dry-swallow the pills.
Tammi drunk half the cup of water before handing it back to Taylor.
“Thank you,” Tammi said tiredly.
Taylor ignored that.
“Can you handle food?” she asked. “I can get you some toast or something more.” Taylor knew that Tammi still needed to eat, and she was pretty sure Tammi wouldn’t be able to get anything on her own.
“Just toast,” Tammi said.
Taylor returned to the kitchen and stuck some bread in the toaster. As she waited, she looked out the window. The sky was clouded and grey, though there was no rain or snow falling.
Taylor heard coughing coming from her room, raw and wet. She grimaced. Tammi didn’t sound good. How long would Taylor need to take care of her? She didn’t even like Tammi! She let herself scowl as she took the toast out and buttered it, but she cleared her face before bringing it to Tammi. It wasn’t the other girl’s fault she was sick, and Taylor didn’t want to take her frustrations out on Tammi. Taylor was there to take care of Tammi, after all, and she would do it to the best of her abilities.
Taylor brought the toast up and handed it to Tammi. She sat on the edge of the bed as Tammi ate. They were silent, only the ambient sounds of the house and the sound of Tammi eating filling the air.
Eventually Tammi finished eating. She reached over and started drinking from her cup of water.
“Would you like some more toast?” Taylor asked.
“No, thank you,” Tammi said.
As Tammi finished her water, Taylor stood.
“I’ll get you some more water,” Taylor announced. She took the empty cup and plate from Tammi, who watched her tiredly as she left. Tammi was still watching when she returned, bearing a cup of fresh water.
“Thank you,” Tammi said as Taylor set the glass down on the bedside table.
“Do you need anything?” Taylor asked. “I can find a book for you to read if you think you’re up for reading. Or some more food.”
“No, thanks,” Tammi paused. “Why are you taking care of me?”
“My dad asked me to,” Taylor said.
“You said,” Tammi shook her head. “I mean… why are you trying? You didn’t need to offer me a book.”
That kind of threw Taylor for a loop. It was true that she hadn’t needed to offer a book. She also didn’t need to constantly offer more food, or to ensure Tammi always had plenty of water. But she had done it all without even thinking about why she was doing it.
Taylor sat on the edge of their bed as she thought about what to say.
“Maybe it’s because my mom would have offered you a book if she were here,” Taylor tried. “I didn’t really think about it. I just acted.”
“But,” Tammi seemed to struggle to put something into words. “But you said I’m your enemy.”
“You were my enemy,” Taylor corrected. “You’re working on deprograming yourself, aren’t you?”
“You said you don’t want… that you weren’t ‘comfortable’ being friends,” Tammi shook her head. “You have no reason to try.”
Everything fell into place for Taylor. Tammi had come from a group where kindness was limited. If someone treated her well, Tammi had probably assumed it was because they were afraid or were seeking to gain her favor. But when Taylor had refused Tammi’s friendship, she had made it clear that she didn’t care about those things. Why, then, would she not decide to be harsh and resentful while caring for Tammi? Why wouldn’t she take the chance to do the bare minimum and make Tammi uncomfortable?
But that would be cruel to do, when Taylor could be kind. And she didn’t have a reason to be cruel.
No. She did have a reason to be cruel. Tammi had been a Nazi, an enemy, doing terrible things to innocent people and supporting a dream of genocide. That was a reason to hate her and to be cruel. And if she was shitty to Tammi, the other girl might tell Taylor’s dad she didn’t need Taylor’s help tomorrow.
But Taylor didn’t want to.
“I suppose I have no rational reason to be kind, to try my best to take care of you,” Taylor admitted. “But Mom once told me that kindness is irrational. And that’s alright. It’s okay to be wild and irrationally kind. It’s okay to be kind to you, Tammi, for no reason beyond I want to.”
Tammi seemed uncomprehending before her expression crumbled and she slumped down, crying.
“Tammi?” Taylor asked, scooting closer. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Tammi nodded and reached out. Taylor sat beside her and hugged her. She suspected that at least part of the reason Tammi was crying was because of how sick she was. It was harder not to cry when sick. But the actual reason had to be something else.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Taylor asked.
Tammi shook her head.
“Alright,” Taylor whispered, petting her head. “Cloudy days ask for tears, and yet the sun will shine again for us.”
That was what Taylor’s mother had told her when she cried, and it seemed to work for Tammi, because the other girl tried to burrow closer to Taylor.