Culmination

Lucas was still stuck in his chair. The spider approached him slowly. It's menacing alien head was washed with Janice's blood.

Lucas saw Stella look toward the door by the catwalk. She was thinking of coming in here.

(Lucas: "You stay put! Don't you come through that door!")

Stella heard his yells. She has never heard him command her in this manner before. He had only ever reprimanded her, but now his voice ordered her to stay where she was. He didn't want to be saved. He didn't feel that he should.

The spider got right up into Lucas' face. He felt the hot breath of the creature being blown into his face as it huffed.

With its singular eye, it stared into Lucas'. It's leg slowly raised toward his eye. Time for round two.

Lucas couldn't move. He whimpered as he tried to pull his face away from the spider, but his limited movement made it impossible.

(Lucas: "Angel! ANGEL! MY ARMS! CUT THEM OFF!")

He didn't know where the angel was. It had to be somewhere around, but he didn't see it.

Lucas screamed. It was painful. The spider was startled by the sudden gust of wind.

Lucas' arms, from his elbow and below, was gone. Perfectly cut. The was no jagged bone sticking out, or ragged flesh hanging. It was simply missing.

Blood poured from the wound. It stained his pants, but he was free from the binds that held his wrist.

The spider backed up, searching for the angel. It seemed to be afraid.

Lucas bent down and released his legs from their binds. He stood up and stretched, feeling slightly stiff. He was ready to fight. Apostle against apostle.

Stella watched as Lucas' arms slowly reformed, flakes appearing over the wound and solidifying into bone, flesh, and skin. She was horrified. The person she had invested so much trust into turned out to be an apostle in disguise? She couldn't believe it, but she knew her eyes didn't deceive.

Lucas got into a fighting stance, his fists up and ready to punch. He saw the angel and come up right next to him. The spider screeched at the angel. Lucas threw his first punch, sharp wind following. The spider dodged the wind and crawled around in the darkness.

Lucas searched for it. He heard it, but it moved fast. Lucas suddenly fell. His left leg was missing. The spider jumped on top of him. Lucas threw a punch at it, and a leg came off. Blood poured from the missing limb.

The spider screeched again, and retreated. His leg reformed and he got up. He saw a trail of yellow blood that led back into the dark. He punched in the direction of the blood. He heard the sound of concrete being cracked. The spider scurried away, the wind just barely missing it.

Lucas jumped onto the chair and grabbed the ceiling lamp. He pointed it around the dark room, scanning the area. He went all the way around the room, but the spider was nowhere to be found.

The realization for Lucas came in a passing though. What if it was on the ceiling? This realization came too late, however.

The leg of the spider came down through his right shoulder down to his stomach and stopped around halfway through his body. It cut right through one of his lungs, and the other filled with blood. He tasted the iron of his own blood before vomiting it out.

The light spun around the chamber, swinging in every which way. The spider could only be seen for mere seconds before the light swung the other way, and this loop repeated. The light never slowed.

Before Lucas' body could heal, the spider cut off both of his arms. Lucas stumbled back. Having both arms missing was strange. His mind hadn't adjusted to the fact that his arms were not longer connected, and it felt like they still were. It had to be seen to be believed. It was like when the spider cut off his head. Being unable to move his body, but still feeling like it was there.

The spider knew that if Lucas punched toward it, the angel would send a gust of wind powerful enough to cut through almost anything, so it simply cut off Lucas' arms.

What it didn't account for was his legs; Lucas in an instinctive response to the situation, kicked toward the spider. A gust of wind flew past him, and the lower half of two legs came off of the spider.

It screeched and fell onto the side where it's legs had gone missing. Lucas had fallen kicking his leg up, but this gave him enough time to heal completely.

The spider flashed into and out of sight as the light swung. Lucas threw punches, and the spider attempted to dodge them. It succeeded in dodging many of them, but it couldn't escape all of them.

By the time Lucas got tired, the light had settled. The spider lost all of it's legs, and it's body had many holes in it. It stopped moving. It was too weak to move a single muscle.

Lucas panted. His energy was completely spent. He slowly bent down to sit on the floor. He rested at last. He leaned back and repositioned his hands further back. Lucas' left hand landed in something wet. He pulled his hand away and inspected it. Blood. He turned to see both of Janice's halves.

(Lucas: "Disgusting.")

Lucas wiped the blood away on the concrete floor and crawled around the puddle of blood. The gun sat next to her hand. He grabbed it and pulled back the slide. There was a bullet chambered.

Lucas took a deep breath. He turned to the giant spider, which still sat there, powerless to do anything.

Lucas took the gun and put it against its head. It's breaths were erratic. It was dying. He could only imagine the pain it felt. He was glad it felt that pain. This spider caused him so much distress. It was finally time he got back at it.

He put his finger against the trigger. Without hesitation, Lucas pulled it. His ear rung, the explosion of the barrel was so loud. It hurt his ears, but he didn't concern himself with the damage to his ear. It would just heal itself anyway.

The whole fight lasted just over ten minutes. Stella watched all ten. She experienced Lucas being cut down and healed over and over again. She saw the angel right next to him, throwing the wind.

Despite all that she was seeing, she still didn't want to believe Lucas was a monster. Why did he help her get all this way? What could he have possibly gained from bringing her to the unit?

She tried to explain all this to herself in her head, but none of it made sense. She wouldn't ask Lucas either. She didn't trust him anymore. Not because he was an apostle, not because of the violence he rendered, but because of all of the lies she had been told.

She thought she had figured him out. She thought that when she found out he had a wife, that was it. It was all just minor white lies, told not because of malicious intent, but just silly misunderstandings.

She now didn't know what to believe. She wanted to believe he lied for a good reason, but she couldn't be sure. She knew nothing of his motivations, his wants and needs, and his true nature. She simply didn't know enough to be sure.

Lucas felt like he was burning up. He felt sick, and was having trouble catching his breath. He climbed up the ladder and got to the door. He was extremely tired. He placed his forehead against the door, letting the cold metal rub against his head.

The door then slid open, and he fell through. He collapsed and his eyes drooped as he looked toward Stella. She ran over to Lucas, not really thinking. She had gotten used to rushing to Lucas whenever he was in need.

(Stella: "Are you okay?")

(Lucas: "What… do you think?")

With his final breath, he spoke. The repetitive rising of his back ceased. Lucas stopped breathing. He was motionless. Unconscious. Stella sat crouched beside him.

A single tear rolled down her face. The Lucas she knew, she didn't know if this was the same person. That terrified her.

She put her hand on his forehead. It was hot. Probably the hottest thing she has felt in a long time. Janice had said there was living bacteria down here. Lucas was sick.

Stella sat beside his unconscious body for a while. Peaceful and quiet mourning.