The Widow

The moonlight illuminates parchment pale skin, beaded with sweat and trembling in the cold. She had been running all night, from what she still didn’t know. Her brown eyes were wide, hands shaking as she turned her head looking side to side before slumping against a tree. I heard her exhale loudly; the effort rattled her entire body. She appeared to be a strong young woman, taller than most, the sturdy type of girl. Something bad must be after her; I wish I knew what was going on.
Let me introduce myself, I am Midnight, named only so because I am most comfortable in the dark. I am recently widowed and all my children have now left. I don’t mind the loneliness, staying here at home is good enough for me. But maybe I’ll follow this woman on her journey; doesn’t everyone want a black widow for company?
I let out a whisper of my web to float down onto her shoulders; slowly I crept into the tangled web of blonde hair. This looks like a good place to hide, at least for a while. Her scalp prickles underneath my feet as a branch snaps to her left, her muscles tense making her pulse start to race. The adrenaline in her blood stream makes my fangs itch with the need to bite. Injecting her with my poison would kill her now, saving her from the beast that is chasing her, almost like a mercy kill. I couldn’t resist any longer. Leaning down u let my fangs brush the air right above her scalp, my back bristles in anticipation. My fangs just scratch the surface and I can’t help myself, the dig in deep and let the venom trickle into the blood stream.
Suddenly she starts to convulse, body flailing as the poison took hold of her. It was at the moment I realized what I had done. I just killed this young girl. She shakes one last time before she fell over, collapsing onto the cold, muddy ground. Her breathing was almost too shallow to feel, heart beat lessening as she simpered out. Her final breath was barely a sigh.
I climbed out of her hair and up a nearby tree. From the left I heard another crash, then another. The beast is drawing closer; I shivered with the idea of it approaching. The sound of snapping twigs and branches drew closer and louder, it was almost here. From a break in between the trees I saw a shape appear. It was hunched over and stood on two feet, looking straggly. It was a man; he staggered closer as if being draw by the scent of recent death. When he was a mere two feet away he fell to his knees. I swung over on another wisp of my thread to drift down closer to him. I started crawling near him and soon realized he is crying.
This man is covered in blood, his own I presume, another injured human. Why was he chasing this woman? Was she his mate? I started climbing up his back ready to bite again to end his pain as I did her fear. But he smelled so wring, sour and already dead. It was than that it hit me, this blood wasn’t his own, it was hers. He had attacked her and was coming to finish her off, that was why she was running. I was right; the death I gave her was much gentler than what this monster would have done. With vindictive soundness I bit down into his neck, injecting to stop his unbeating heart.