Chapter 304 304 Out Of Its Range

With an understandable degree of frustration, Nora's voice rasped through the thick grove of tall trees;

"Are we out of its range? I don't think its following us anymore!!"

She was the fourth in the long vertical line- right behind Madeline. Nexus' voice- low and urgent, answered all the way from the top;

"I wouldn't count on it! Trust me, we need to be as far away from the octopus as possible!!"

Two of the five women opened their mouths- but in the background, a terrifying loud roar came rippling through the forest- instantly filling all six of them with dread. That was their cue. Under the thick canopy of dark green, all their thighs tensed- as they burst forward- scuttling along the dark brown loamy soil.

With a crushing swing of his arms, Nexus throttled forward- tightening his face- fighting to get all six of them away from–

"Nooooo!!! Monica!!"

At once, four heads jerked backwards- in the direction of the scream. As they all skidded to a halt, cackling sounds of dry leaves crunching under their feet filled the air. Eyes bulging, Nexus decelerated and tore his intense gaze right into the fifth person in the line-

"She won't stop bleeding!!" Nora wailed- pointing at her half sister.

Selina hissed- "That doesn't look good, she's leaving a thick blood trail that could lead the monster back to us!"

Bent over, face flushed and gasping, Monica raised her head up and shot her a burning look;

"I'M FINE." she answered coldly; "No need to worry about me 'leaving a blood trail. . ."

Her shoulders tensed as she tried to stand up straight- but a visible strain of agony rippled through her. Madeline swiftly rushed towards her- concern blazing through her eyes. Simultaneously, Nexus cocked his head in the distance, trying to listen for the urgent sounds of the octopus' heavy body.

"The monster-" he announced without emotion; "It's no longer following us."

Selina chaffed; "I would hope so! It just had a hearty meal of half a dozen men!"

"That's beside the point," Nexus rebuffed her- scanning the environment; "We're safe for now, so Monica can rest up."

Madeline and Nora stood on either side of the redhead- fawning over her as they propped her against the back of a thick cypress tree. She slowly slid down along the tree's thick trunk- clutching her sides breathlessly as she sank to the ground. Her fiery eyes began to droop- and ridges of sweat glistened on her pale forehead.

"Doctor," Madeline was speaking now- "Can you do anything for her? The wound's a nasty one–"

"Nobody's laying a fuckin' hand on me," Monica cursed deliriously.

Ignoring her, Nexus responded with narrowed eyes;

"She's losing a lot of blood. We need to stop the bleeding first, but she's already in pain- so we can't close the wound with fire- especially if there might be some kind of internal bleeding."

Selina stepped up- letting her shadow fall on the three Russell women crouched at the base of the tree;

"I can freeze it. That way, we can stop the blood loss without inflicting any real damage to her body."

Madeline's eyes met Selina's with a grateful look- nodding at her friend;

"No Selina," she said- shocking everyone; "I've been on the receiving end of your ice before. You don't realize it yet, but every single inch of your ice crystals are layered with tiny microscopic shards–"

Nexus nodded- folding his arms;

"Her wound is too deep. If that's true, freezing it up would actually be doing more harm than good."

Madeline darted her eyes back to the wound; "We don't know the condition of her internal organs. . .but we know they will definitely be shredded if you use your ice. . ."

The Lady Russell's voice rang with sadness. From her deep blue eyes, empathy poured out freely. Despite the fact that they weren't actually blood, she had always genuinely cared about Monica as though she were her daughter. So, seeing the normally strong Monica in this state- because of her actions, sent pangs of agonizing pain rippling through her.

"We can't just do NOTHING!" Nora cried; "She's going to bleed out! Nexus PLEASE!! HELP MY SISTER!!"

He opened his mouth, but instantly- it closed shut when the steely accentless voice of the system echoed in his mind;

[BE ADVISED, THE WOUND CAN BE STITCHED USING SPIDER SILK.]

Confusion forced his eyebrows into a curved arch.

[RECALL, YOU HAVE A CONTRACT WITH THE BLACK WIDOW'S CHILDREN.]

[EACH SINGLE SPIDER CAN SPIN A THREAD OF SILK.]

[THIS SILK CONTAINS HEALING PROPERTIES.]

In Nexus' eyes, inspiration flickered immediately.

[WORKING TOGETHER, ALL THE SPIDERS CAN SEW THE WOUND SHUT- WITHOUT THREADING HER INTERNAL ORGANS.]

Of course!

It was the best possible solution yet! There would be no pain- she wouldn't pass out! They were his spirit animals, so, all he had to do was simply summon them and they would work for him!

Beside him, the scrutinizing eyes of the white haired woman bored into him;

"You've worked something out- haven't you?"

At once- felt all four pairs of eyes locking on to him. He exhaled- releasing his folded arms;

"Yes. It's a little unorthodox, but it should get the job done without affecting her internal organs."n/(Ovelb1n

"Well," Selina nudged- glancing nervously behind them; "I'm too pretty to be the octopus' lunch. So you'd better get to it before it catches up to us."

...

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"

Selina hollered- backing up with round eyes- and a pale face.

It was three minutes later, and all four women (except Monica) were screeching- scampering about in a cloud of dust! Eyes bulging in shock, and clearly dazed, they all jumped backwards- startled to the point of hysteria!

On the ground, sprouting from the base of Nexus' feet- a storm of black, fast-moving spiders came out- scuttling along the forest's floor- rushing towards Monica with feverish excitement!

Selina howled. Madelina gasped. And Nora clung to Crystal in shock.

Each black furry spider was the size of a human fist. Their eyes- round, black, and pupiless, glistened under the filtering rays of the sun. On eight legs, they hauled their massive bodies- racing towards Monica in a cloud of black fur- filling the air with their hissing sounds, and crawling legs.

"What the fuckkkk doctor!" Selina yelped; "A little heads up would have been nice!!"

Nexus made no move to apologize.

The summoning had gone easier than expected.

Through the invisible threads that linked his consciousness to the spiders, he communicated his will. The command was simple; stitch up the girl's wounds. Of course, he had to make it abundantly clear that they were NOT to eat her!

"Relax," he said aloud- to no one in particular; "They're going to stitch up Nora's wound without affecting her internal organs."

With eyes wide open, still maintaining a healthy distance away, all four women watched at the first spider climbed Nora's legs- itching all the way up her thighs, up above her waist- before landing on the girl's torso.

Half a dozen black spiders followed closely in tight formation. In a circle, they surrounded the open wound above Nora's right hip. Immediately, a soft hissing sound cried into the air.