Page 17 of Spinning Out of Control

“Tell me about you.” Caleb settled back against the couch. “You said you work for the military base spinning stuff?”

“Yes.” At least this was something I could answer easily. “I spin my webs for them. Different consistencies, different strengths.”

“What do they do with it?”

I shrugged. “After they collect it, I have no idea. I think a lot of it is being analyzed for purposes of replicating it for use.”

“What sorts of things can it be used for?” Caleb tipped his head, making his blond hair fall over one shoulder, and I had to resist the urge to reach out to brush it away.

“Many things. It is nearly unbreakable. I know they want to try using it in some military protective gear, and they mentioned that it might be used in hospitals too.”

“I could see how that might be really useful. Is it really that strong though?” Caleb asked.

I gave of the webs a pluck to make it vibrate. “Yes.”

“Could your web support me?”

“Quite easily. Would you like to try?”

He blinked in surprise, then nodded. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” I said. It was awfully sweet of him to ask.

He glanced up at my tangle of webbing going on. “Um, how do I get up there?”

“Will I hurt you if I lift you?” I asked.

Caleb looked down at his scarred right side, then back up. “No, I don’t think so. That won’t hurt you?”

I giggled. If he only knew the size of some of the creatures I had lifted back in the monster world. “I’ll be fine,” I reassured him.

I wrapped two sets of my legs around him, being careful not to dig into his skin. I lifted him off the ground, and his arms reached out, his left catching me around the neck, his right forearm on my shoulder for balance. I moved with him, carrying him as easily as I carried a gallon of juice, backing myself up on my web until I was in the middle of it, between the first and second level of the open room, before lying him down on it. His left hand moved up to hold onto one of the strands, and I could see how tightly he clenched it, as though it was the only thing anchoring him in place. “You can let go,” I said, drawing my legs carefully back. “You won’t fall, I promise.”

Caleb hesitated, and then his fingers slowly unwound from the webbing. Despite the 45-degree angle his body was at, he stayed perfectly in place, stuck securely to the strands. He shifted a bit, and the vibrations went through the web, sending a prey-drive instinct through me that I suppressed, though my mouth watered a bit automatically. “Wow. This is weird.”

“I’m sure it is.”

“I kinda feel like a fly,” he said, then glanced at me and frowned slightly. “Sorry, is that offensive?”

“No, I am not offended.”

Caleb shifted again, running his fingers over the webbing. “It’s so strong, and it’s sticky, but it’s not.” He smiled. Even with his scarred lip, it still lit up his face. “This is kind of fun.” I gave one of the threads a twang, and it made the whole weave shiver. Caleb grabbed for the webbing like he would fall, but he wasn’t going anywhere easily or quickly. “That’s so weird. So, you can feel the movement from anywhere?”

“Yes,” I said. “If the threads are connected, I can feel the slightest vibration from a good distance away.”

“And that’s how you’d catch prey in the monster world?” Caleb asked.

“Yes.”

“Huh.” He shifted around again, glancing down at the webbing that supported him. “I almost feel like I’m floating. There’s like no pressure on me anywhere.”

“Is that a good thing?” I asked, slightly worried that it was making him nervous.

“Yeah. Really good,” Caleb said, settling back onto the webbing. “There’s no pressure on my scars. I feel like I could take a nap right here.”

I smiled a bit. “You can if you want to.”

“No, I’m not going to take a nap on our date,” Caleb said with a grin. “Could you show me how you spin?”

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