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STEVE STIFFENED AS SOON as the spider bit him His yells stopped dead in his throat, his lips turned blue, his eyes snapped wide open For what seeh it couldn’t have been more than three or four seconds), he tottered on his feet Then he crumpled to the floor like a scarecrow

The fall saved hioat at the Cirque Du Freak show, Madam Octa’s first bite knocked Steve out, but didn’t kill hi his neck before he fell, searching for the right spot, preparing for the second, killer bite

The fall disturbed her She slipped from Steve’s neck and it took her a few seconds to climb back up

Those seconds were all I needed

I was in a state of shock, but the sight of her e over his shoulder like some terrible arachnid sunrise spurred me back to life I stooped for the flute, jah the back of my throat, and blew the loudest note of my entire life

"STOP!" I screamed inside my head, and Madam Octa leaped about two feet into the air

"Back inside the cage!" I commanded, and she hopped down from Steve’s body and sped across the floor As soon as she passed the bars of the door, I lunged forward and slammed it shut

With Madam Octa taken care of,but I couldn’t worry about her until I’d seen toclose to his ear, praying for an answer "Are you okay? Steve?" There was no reply He was breathing, so I kneas alive, but that was all There was nothing else he could do He couldn’t talk or move his arms He wasn’t even able to blink

I beca behind

"Isis hedead?" she asked in a tiny voice

"Of course not!" I snapped "You can see hi, can’t you? Look at his belly and chest"

"Butwhy can’t he move?" she asked

"He’s paralyzed," I told her "The spider injected hi him to sleep, except his brain’s still active and he can see and hear everything"

I didn’t know if this was true I hoped it was If the poison had left the heart and lungs alone, it otten into his skull

The thought was too terrible to consider

"Steve, I’ to help you up," I said "I think if we move you around, the poison ear off"

I stuck my arms around Steve’s waist and hauled hiht I dragged hi to hiht, there wasn’t enough poison in one bite to kill him, he would recover

After ten e and I was too tired to carry hied his body so he would be comfortable His eyelids were open His eyes looked weird and were scaring me, so I closed theain

"Will he be all right?" Annie asked

"Of course he will," I said, trying to sound positive "The poison ear off after a while and he’ll be fine It’s only a matter of time"

I don’t think she believed e of the bed and watched Steve’s face like a hawk I began wondering why Moate I crept over to the open door and listened at the top of the stairs I could hear the washingin the kitchen below That explained it: our washingover the noise it makes if you’re in the kitchen and it’s turned on

Annie was no longer on the bed when I returned She was down on the floor, studying Madam Octa

"It’s the spider from the freak show, isn’t it?" she asked

"Yes," I admitted

"The poisonous one?"

"Yes"

"How did you get it?" she asked

"That’s not iet loose?" Annie asked

"I let her out," I said