Salina's Trials - Interrogation
On A Full Moon Night
The moon was full hanging low in the glittering night sky. The dormitory had fallen silent with no lights in any window. Gridell lay in the garden watching the glistening diamonds toying with a black rose. The heavy moon seemed to glow with a shimmering silver light. Suddenly, the gardener sat up with a jerk. Something was wrong... A stranger on the island... Quickly, Gridell ran toward the heavily wooded area, out behind the gym building. Sure enough, a strange figure walked out of the shadows into the moonlit field. The black cloak covered the slight figure, a large cowl hid the face but he could see the two swords the intruder carried.
"Who are you? What are you doing on this island?" he growled prepared to transform into his battle form. One small leather gloved hand went to the hilt of the Katana hanging off of a lean hip. Gridell decided it was time to take care of the silent stranger. With a rush of energy, the 'simple' gardener exploded gaining height enough to tower over the intruder. The Katana seemed to jump from its sheath to fill waiting hands. The glow of the black blade made Gilgamesh's eyes narrow. Just as the two began to close distance, a basketball with eight legs sped from the direction of the gym building to stop between the combatants.
"Get out of the way, Bob!" Gilgamesh snarled then heard a light gasp.
"Bob? Is... is it really you?" a tired feminine voice whispered. The sword slipped from a slack gasp as the woman sank to her knees, one trembling hand reaching out toward the spider. With a high chittering of excitement, Bob rushed toward the gloved hand. The cowl concealing the woman fell back to reveal a face dearly familiar yet deeply changed to the gardener.
"Salina? Salina Kyle?" That name brought her head up with a jerk even as Bob pressed against her.
"Gridell... oh God, is it really you?" Salina stood up staring at him with a combination of hope and fear. Even with the excess vegetation that came with returning to his normal form, Gridell covered the distance between them. Her eyes took in his face with fear. He produced a black rose with a blood red center offering it to her.
"Its you... Its really you," she whimpered sinking into his arms. "I made it... I'm home..." Before he can ask any more questions, the young woman lost consciousness.
"My God... Salina." Gridell said, picking up her slight form and heading back to the campus. "Where have you been?" A question that would take time to answer...
*********
Three months earlier
Interrogation
The honking horns, crowed streets, and lack of trees began grating on my nerves minutes after I'd landed at the airport. Even the air smelled dirty to me. Looking out the window of my dad's Cadillac, I longed to be back at Shokushu campus with my spiders and the woods I could take refuge in. A sigh welled up inside me. I hated leaving my pet Bob behind though I knew Gridell would take good care of the basketball sized spider. I'd taken a chance and brought Inkon, Blinkon, and Nod home with me. The trio was only the size of ping pong balls and completely obedient. I felt sure I could keep them hidden.
"The reports we've been getting from your school are outstanding, Salina," my father said beaming proudly at me. "Headmaster Niceman says you're a model student and top in the school." A smile touched my lips as I thought of why I was a model student but I contained the desire to laugh.
"The headmaster has been a good friend to me, dad," I said smiling at him. "I've never been so happy to be at school till I came to Shokushu."
"You don't know how happy that makes your mother and I," he said as we got on the highway. "I just wish you'd come home a little more often. Don't you miss your family?"
"I miss you guys," I said smiling a little. "I just have so much to do at school. I was recently raised to the position of Head Student and made a school peer councilor..."
"Really?" my dad asked looking a little surprised. "You never told us... When did this happen?" Mentally, I kicked myself for opening my big mouth.
"About a month ago, father," I said forcing a smile. "I'm responsible for the school's morale and assistant to Headmistress Orchid. It's a great honor to me."
"Yes, it is, dear," he said smiling at me with pride. "Your mother is going to be thrilled to hear about it." Sighing, my eyes went back out the window. I didn't want to lie to my parents but skirting the truth wouldn't hurt.
At home, I got the hugs and tears of welcome from my mom and my two younger brothers. My bedroom was twice the size of a dorm room and so tiny compared to my parlor in the woods. Looking out the window of my room, there weren't any trees large enough to support my web... assuming I went crazy and spun one here. Another sigh escaped me as homesickness struck me for the first time in my life.
"This isn't home anymore," I muttered playing with my three spiders. With my 'change', I belonged to Shokushu. Even coming home was a command from Headmaster Niceman. It turned out my parents were beginning to worry about my not wanting to come home for a visit. A knock at my door brought my head up with a jerk. Quickly I ordered my little friends under the bed as the door opened.
"Mom says dinner is ready, Sal," my brother Ricky said smiling at me.
"I'll be down in a few minutes," I said, shooing him out the door. The girls came out from under the bed. My eyes looked around trying to figure out where to put them so my brothers wouldn't find them. After a minute of thought, I put the trio in the air vent in my room and told them not to move. With a bit of a sigh, I hurried downstairs to a boring dinner of human food.
As was traditional with my family, we all went out to the flower garden to sit and have family time. I chatted with my mom about nothing in general while my father pruned a red rose bush. It bought to mind Gridell's black roses with blood red centers he'd created just for me.
"Hey Jim! Come look at this huge spider I've found," Ricky shouted. Quickly, I excused myself from my mother to hurry after my brothers.
"You should leave spiders alone, Rick," I said trying to get by Jim to reach Rick first. My brothers had a bad tendency to kill spiders. My breath caught as I looked at the beautiful male wolf spider cowering in a corner of brick. The little guy would easily cover the palm of my hand with his body, not including his legs. Ricky busily poked at him with a stick. I could see where two of the spider's legs were torn away and laying to the side. A flash of power rushed over me making my eyes glow. Just as I was going to snatch the stick from my brother a flash of bright light blinded me and the garden was gone.
It felt like I was falling down a black hole. My body spun slowly in the total blackness. Instinctively, I went to my Arachinia form prepared to fight if I had too. It felt like time had stopped as I hung in the nothingness. I could hear my mother's voice calling to me. Niceman stood in front of me in his monster form, his tentacles wrapped around my body.
"You don't want to be raped by us... You want to BE one of us," he said as his laughter rang out around me. The scene swirled again to the science room. Niceman and the other monsters were gathered around smiling at me. He pointed to... to... My head began to pound, and pressure seemed to be getting tighter.
Just as I thought my brain would explode, I hit a metal floor with enough force to stun me into semi consciousness. Not an easy thing to do when I wore my spider form. Through blurry eyes I watched figures walking around me.
"Quite a specimen," a cold voice said. "What's it doing on a planet that primitive?"
"Its giving strange readings, Lord Trilorn," said a female voice. After a pause, a startled gasp made me wonder what she'd discovered. "Sir, this isn't a natural creature. It's an altered human... Altered in a manner I've never seen before..." They continued to talk about me like I was an animal or something. Slowly, my brain gathered energy to strengthen me. In my spider form, I'd show them exactly what I could do.
"Its recovering faster then anticipated, sir," a male voice informed the room. Heavy footfall came across the room to stand beside me. A strong hand twisted my head to one side. Something of metal pressed against the back of my neck at the base of my skull. With a stab of agony, something thrust into my neck bringing a short but terrible scream then I passed out.
Slowly, I became aware of sensations over my body. My head felt like someone had been using it to break through blocks of solid granite. My arms were pulled up tautly. I could feel bands around my waist and around my spider's body holding me. My eight legs were held in metal cuffs embedded in the floor. In all, I couldn't move more then to shudder as my eyes looked around my bare cell. Instinctively, I reached out for my tentacles to free myself only to have fiery agony shoot through my back from metal pads over my tentacle openings. A group of creatures stood to one side watching me wake up.
"The construct has regained consciousness," said a tall thin guy with a bulbous head and a green glow around his body. He and another that looked exactly like him floated toward me.
"You'd better let me go," I hissed. "I've got powerful friends..." Before I could say anything more power ran my bonds drawing a scream of torture from me.
"No one gave you permission to speak, construct," the alien hissed at me. "Who made you? Why were you made? Are there more like you?" He rattled off several other questions but it didn't make any difference.
"My name... is Arachinia..." I hissed glaring defiantly at him, "and you can go to Hell. I'll never tell you anything." That brought another surge of power and pain. It occurred to my jumbled mind the pain of becoming Arachinia hurt so much more. Headmaster Niceman had taken apart and reassembled my body and mind. As of yet, these creeps hadn't gotten anywhere near that level of agony.
"You're an artificial being created by science," he snarled at me. "You're a thing... and now you belong to Intechs Corps. You WILL answer the questions, construct."
"I don't belong to anyone but me," I returned. The pain swept over me bringing another scream, nearly driving me back into unconsciousness.
"Hold," a deep voice growled. The torture stopped letting me hang limply in my bonds. "This manner of questioning isn't getting us anywhere. If any more energy goes through its bonds the creature will die. I think we need to use a different form of interrogation."
"As you will, Lord Trilorn," the green alien said with a bow of his head. The look he shot me was pure hatred.
"Lord Graytor just got back from leave," Trilorn said smiling at me. "He'll make short work of the construct. You'll tell him everything we want to know, creature..." They left me alone in the cell wondering how I'd get out of this mess, trying not to think about what the new interrogation might be like.
*********
The door slid open behind me bringing my head up with a jerk. Sensitive due to my spider instincts, I could feel something big entering the room though the alien made no sound. As it moved closer my stubborn pride wouldn't let me turn to look over my shoulder. Instead, I held my eyes forward concentrating every thought to keep control of the terror that ate at my mind. It would be some form of mind control or telepathic attack. I had to keep my mind focused on resistance. As perfect as Headmaster Niceman had made my life, I wasn't about to betray him... no matter what it took. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a tentacle brushed the side of my spider body. Lightly it ran over my skin but the affect sent tremors of pleasure through my body.
"Oh God," I whispered as my head twisted to look over my shoulder. The alien looked like a giant jelly fish with one glowing gold eye. The glow of energy encompassed a bulbous body bigger then my spider body. Though he had no mouth I could see, Lord Graytor 'smiled' at me as his tentacle brushed another spot on my spider body bringing more shivers of excitement. He was making me horny.
'I have questions for you, construct,' he said in my mind. 'You can save yourself the humiliation of my taking the information from you by opening your mind to me now.' Humiliation? Taking the information? He was going to use pleasure to interrogate me! The thought stunned me for a moment. Long enough for the aliens from my first interrogation to arrive taking seats to watch this session. Graytor sent a tentacle round to cup my breast with a telepathic chuckle at my groan. My eyes focused on the wall in front of me trying to ignore the fact the alien had moved behind me, over my spider body.
'I've taken many of your kind, construct,' he said as a tentacle stroked my shoulder. 'I'll make you beg and squirm to tell me what I want to know.'
"Go to Hell," I hissed. If he didn't understand the words my tone of voice told him what I meant.
'Well, if that's your final word then I suppose I'll be needing this.' A tentacle brushed the hair from the back of my neck. My ears heard a low hissing sound. Suddenly, something slammed into the back of my neck throwing my head forward. Being held as I was it felt like something stabbed through my neck into my brain. In a moment, my head came up. I tried to turn to look at Graytor but found my head held still by something on the back of my head. A moment later I felt him truly enter my mind, more then just his thoughts. Any attempts to toss my head or move it at all proved useless.
"Get out of my head, you son of a..." Pain shot through my brain drawing a scream of pain.
`You'll be addressing me as Master from this moment on, construct,' he hissed inside my mind.
"Like Hell I will," I hissed back with as much venom as possible in my thoughts. I braced myself for another charge of pain but the creature just chuckled.
'Let me see if I can change your mind... slave.' That word brought up more rage then the word construct. Another tentacle came around to take a firm hold of my other breast. They were tipped with little mouths going straight for my hardening nipples. In my mind, Graytor started testing my defenses trying to get in deeper then just my surface thoughts.
"No you don't," I hissed and thought at the same time. The Headmasters of Shokushu had given me lessons in psychic defense. I could only hope I'd been a good learner. My thoughts focused on the metal wall in front of me. Tentacles stroked the sides and stomach of my human body going down to the juncture with my spider form. He didn't seem to have a limit to the number of tentacles he could use. My body shivered with the growing pleasure but I fought it down with a furious rage. Without warning, tentacles snapped out to strike the human back and across my broad spider body. The sharp pain shot through my mind bringing a moment of weakening.
'That's right, slave,' he hissed. 'You can't win against me.' With a growl I struck back at the arrogant creature. Something he didn't expect. He froze for a moment having to reinforce his own shields. A tentacle struck my breasts viciously ten times. Just moments after the last blow, tentacles went back to kneading my welted breasts and toying with my swollen nipples. Pain mixed with pleasure as he redoubled his efforts on the rest of my body. The stroking went back slowly rubbing all the right places. In my mind, he pressed against my shields with growing strength. Tears streamed down my cheeks. A tentacle softly ran around my spider's sexual opening making my body surge in my tight bonds. I tried to keep the protective covering closed but his tentacles knew exactly where to stroke to make my body respond on its own. The first tentacle entered me making my body want to squirm but forced to remain still. When the tentacle stroked my large clit, pleasure slammed around in my mind.
"No," I moaned fighting it with all my might. A second then a third tentacle squeezed into my body chipping away at my resistance.
'This feels so good, slave,' he whispered in my head. 'I can give you even more pleasure... if you surrender your mind to me. Surrender..." It could get better? The idea this ecstasy could get better was so tempting. It'd been awhile since I'd felt anything like this. I got pleasure from my prey at the school but nothing like this. Shokushu. The moment I thought of the school my resistance came up in a wave of rage.
"You won't take my mind, you bastard," I snarled. My renewed resistance enraged the alien. He started pummeling at my shields with all of his might. More tentacles forced their way into my body. Pain and pleasure ripped into my body and mind. My scattered thoughts began to gather. Thoughts of the school... Headmasters Niceman and Storm`Bringer... Headmistress Orchid... My web and parlor... I wasn't about to let this creature bring harm to my 'family'.
"NO!!!!!!" I screamed forcing him from my mind with all my might. My body went limp in utter exhaustion but he was out of my mind. In fact, his form slumped over my body. The aliens rushed forward to help Graytor only to find the alien was dead. "Somehow... this construct has killed Graytor," Trilorn said with a gasp of shock.
"Sir, I recommend you terminate the construct," one of them said. Lord Trilorn glared at me for several minutes then turned to stride out of the room followed by his entourage. This left me with a killer headache wondering, when the pain allowed, what they'd do with me next.