Chapter 1: Loyal To The Very End

He was perched on a tree, his right leg pulled up to his knee while his left was idly swinging in empty air. His vision was hazy through the unfiltered, translucent smoke that dallied up towards his line of sight; but he could still make out the little girl that was crouched over the bush underneath him, rapidly speaking to something in a jar.
It was quite uncomfortable for him to witness this creature, as she was guffawing like an idiot to an imaginary friend that she had caught in a jar. His eyes skimmed over her, and saw that her blue eyes held worlds of trust and innocence. His cigarette was gnashed between his teeth, and he involuntarily took a swift breath of smoke as he gasped.
He recalled memories that collided with his mind, and they attacked him over and over. Flashes of silver, and raised voices were woven together with reality. It was as if he could physically feel the pain of being struck over and over and feel the smack of the back of someone’s palm against his cheek. He was like a mirror image of this girl then, believing that everything was in the palms of his hands and that his parents could protect him from everything that dared to cross their white picket fence.
He smiled then, or no, it was more of a pained smirk as he forced away all the memories and his pain changed to anger. He glared at the girl again, who was still chattering away to her precious, precious jar as if it could actually hold a conversation. He was enraged that the sight of this measly girl could actually bring up thoughts that he had managed to subside for over a decade now.
He hopped off the branch of the tree abandoning his cigarette, and ignoring the shock of the fall that had rushed up his feet in the form of stinging white-hot needles. He slinked over to the unsuspecting girl and for a second, envied her innocence that had been snatched away from him at such a young age. He felt a tiny voice of reason that had somehow survived despite the malice that had invaded the rest of his mind, but he crushed it underneath the thoughts along the lines of “Someday or another for everyone, but today’s your lucky day kid.”
The girl swerved around and cowered into the bush, as if she could feel the evil radiate off him. She probably can, his inner thoughts chimed.
“Mommy said not to talk to strangers, right Mr. Web?” the girl said to herself, and to the jar who she probably hoped could save her. He noticed that her pale hands were trembling, and he smirked inwardly at this. Scared bait is always the best to tease.
He closed the distance between them, and grinned hugely hopefully to come off as a kind stranger and coax the girl to think her mother was wrong. If only she was. He reached out a hand for her to shake and said in a sickly sweet voice that was laced with excitement,”Your mom said not to talk to strangers, but if we were friends it would be all right, don’t you think?”
The girl pondered this for a second, twirling her chubby fingers into her blonde pigtails and kicking up the dirt with her flip flops. Finally, she beamed a gap toothed smile and nodded.
He rolled his eyes and thought to himself that it if this got any easier he might have to give if this mission in the sake of pure boredom; but then he got an idea when he saw her jar hugged to her chest.

“What’cha got there?” he exclaimed in faux delight, trying to pry the jar out of her grasp.

She pulled away, suddenly distant and looked at his sudden force puzzlingly, as he cursed inwardly and remembered the trust of a child was as easy to break as it was to possess. He backed up and held his hands up in surrender.
She looked at him smugly, and held the jar above her head as she skipped in a circle. She pranced around him, and he was about to growl and rip the jar from her hands and just destroy her irritating strut.
“I’ll tell you if you take me up that tree you were sitting on.” she bartered.
He sighed and hoisted her onto his shoulders, with her grubby fingers yanking his hair for support as he ascended up the oak. He reached the high peak where he was sitting earlier in a matter of minutes.
She crawled off of of him and over on branch, and announced, “Well,” she drawled, “Is my best friend, Mr. Web.”

She presented him with a jar that habituated a miniscule moth that limped around the bottom of the jar. A smile crawled up his features, as he imagined the possibilities. Still, he had to keep up his act to reap the rewards.

“Why’s he called Mr. Web?” he wondered out loud, in curiosity of knowing just how much of a bond the little girl and the insect had. She placed him on the branch between them and gazed at it fondly.

“ He was stuck in a web, and I saw him so I saved him. My mom that he’ll always come to my rescue no matter what. because he owes me his life now. But, i just wanna be his friend, so I talk to him everyday.” Her eyes were shining proudly as she finished.

“Oh really? So he’ll really save you if you need help.”

“ Of course! He’s always loyal to me, and he’ll always be with me no matter what!” she said with a hmph and crossed her arms.

He studied the girl and figured he should end this stupid game now. He scooted closer and simply budged her so she would lose balance. She teetered and fear entered her eyes, and she shrieked.

He watched contentedly as he saw a broken figure on the ground next to the bush, eagle spread. He scanned her frail body convulsing in pain, and finally came to rest on her eyes that didn’t reflect pain somehow. He grimaced when he read the emotion,:betray. He felt that once,too. What seemed to be many light years ago.
Her eyes were unflinching and the light was fading.  “ Oh, don’t look at me like that” he spat.
He his heel, in complete ignorance to the child who was on the brink of death. He raised his head to the tree once more, and crack split his face that should have been called a smile. Yet it was too hurt and amused, both because what he learned ten years ago in the shed hadn’t been wrong, there was no such thing as friends or love. He left the park that day thinking of the spider who was still pacing around the glass jar, unaware of the girl that treasured him so.