I read the handwritten scribbles carefully, absorbing as much knowledge as I could the first time.  Richard had said that no one could replicate the spiders without his bloodline, but from scratch...

That's a different story.

I read for what felt like hours.  Maybe it was.  Maybe it was longer.  I had wanted to fulfill a career in medicine, so genetics wasn't exactly the same thing... 

I rubbed my temples, groaning.  There was a tickle on my arm.  I looked down, letting out a small squeal as I saw a spider.  I swiped my hand across my arm, and the spider fell to the floor.

Wait.

I reached across the desk I was sitting at to pick up a tiny plastic container with holes at the top.  I carefully opened it and let the spider crawl inside before closing it back.  The bug squirmed, and I did, too. 

It was beautiful, but the thought of it crawling all over me always made me so twitchy.

"Pretty soon," I whispered to it, "you're going to bite me."

—-

I stayed in the old subway station for a while longer, then decided to abandon it for the day.  I grabbed the spider, a couple of folders, and a stack of notebooks before my departure.

The way back out of the hidden subway was easier.  Eventually I was exiting a tunnel, covered in graffiti. 

Next, I ordered pizza.  Staying at a "sit-down" restaurant was too risky; I needed to stay in public the least amount as possible.  What if Peter happened to be swinging by to see me wandering the streets?  What if my family decided to have a nice dinner together, just to see me sitting at a nearby table?

Anytime I went in public, I wore a hoodie to cover my blonde hair.  Sometimes I wore sunglasses, and other times I wore a pair of glasses that I found abandoned in a drawer in my bedroom.  I usually wore the sunglasses, since the other glasses gave me a headache.

To keep from wearing the same clothes each time, sometimes I wore knit caps.  I even shopped at a gag gifts store to find a fake pair of braces that I could hook onto my teeth.  It eventually turned into a game.  I was sure no one could recognize me even if I looked them in the eye.

I continued my research.  After awhile, my spider died, so I had to search for a new one every week or so.  I got a call from the airport that my luggage had arrived, so I had to pick it up.  That supplied me with more cash to use, as well as my credit and debit cards. 

When I wasn't researching, I was shopping for disguises.  Workers in the stores never gave me second glances when I kept reappearing in their stores, because I almost always was wearing a different disguise each time.  The disguises were a great way to keep my mind off of everything else, and to have a little bit of fun, too.

A little bit.

I managed to catch several spiders at once one day.  I'd found a great spot in an alley where a lot of them lived.  I kept them all in jars when I wasn't experimenting on them.  They reproduced on their own, so I didn't have to worry about anything but giving them food.  At this point, I had an entire spider farm.  

I occasionally texted Peter, but it was too difficult to bear.  My texts became less and less as I forced myself to pay more attention to my work.

How long had it been?  I couldn't remember. 

My research was coming to an end.  I was so close.  All I had left to do was insert human DNA.  This was the point that Richard had inserted his own to restrict his studies to his own bloodline.

Now I had to insert my own.  I pulled out a strand of my hair.  I only needed a tiny piece.  I began to prepare for insertion.

—-

Something was wrong.  It didn't quite add up.  Did Richard leave out a piece of research?  My computerized tests wouldn't last.  Apparently the powers would only be temporary.  I guess I couldn't make it from scratch.  Not perfectly.

It had been days since I had inserted my DNA, but I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

I sighed, staring at my scribbled calculations and the computer screen to my right.  It would have to do.  It was ready, and it would have to do.  Maybe it would last a long time.  Maybe it would last long enough. 

I opened one of the jars, sticking my finger inside until one of the spiders crawled up my finger.  I gritted my teeth as I closed the jar back, feeling the legs tickle my skin.

I had always hated spiders.  This was just the worst.

I watched the spider for a minute, but then it stopped moving, standing still.

Here it comes.

I bit my tongue, feeling the sharp pain surge through my hand.  I squeaked, slinging the spider on the table and closing my eyes.  My hand pulsed and throbbed.  So this is what it felt like for Peter...

I blinked several times, then smashed my palm against the spider.  Its body squished, its guts oozing out.  There.  He bit me, so I bit him back.  Oh, how I'd been waiting to do that for so long. 

I made sure all of my other jars were secure, then decided to head to bed.  The venom would probably start working soon.