Arachne waited in the narrow area between the stalls and the sinks. A smile spread across her face as Eva wandered in.
“Come on, we have a full half hour before its time.”
“Time for what,” Eva asked.
“I had a word,” her grin turned a bit feral, “with the musician downstairs. He agreed the music was unsuitable for proper dancing.”
Arachne stepped forwards and grabbed each of Eva’s hands with her own. She placed one on her own shoulder and kept the other in her claw.
“Now,” Arachne said, “step with me.”
“I–”
Arachne jerked her forward. “No saying you can’t. To the side now.”
Eva stepped to the side before Arachne had a chance to pull her. She almost got her own foot stepped on for her efforts. Eva took a quick step back to avoid Arachne’s clawed feet.
“Too quick,” Arachne chided. “You have to allow me to finish before you move on.”
Forget stepping on Arachne’s feet. If she steps on mine then there will be a bloody mess all over the floor.
They continued dancing and fell into a rhythm. It was actually kind of fun, though Eva doubted she would be winning any awards anytime soon. Dancing around in a small box didn’t look very impressive.
“Now,” Arachne’s sudden voice nearly caused Eva’s foot to slip under the claw, “we rotate with each step.”
Taking care to avoid being trod upon, Eva followed Arachne’s lead. They continued for another ten minutes until Arachne added another element.
“Spins are probably too much for our short lesson. If I lean to one side, just follow that lean.”
Eva nodded and tried to follow. Some steps Arachne would pause and lean while others were mid-step. Still, those wound up with patterns as well. She wondered if it wouldn’t be easier with proper music than the thudding bass that reverberated throughout the bathroom.
“That will have to do,” Arachne finally concluded. “Perhaps I’ll teach you how to properly dance in the future. I thought about teaching you before tonight but worried that it would ruin the surprise.”
Eva almost wished she had taught her earlier, surprise or no. She wasn’t the type to get embarrassed easily. That require caring about what other people thought. Not something she’d ever had a problem with in the past.
Now she might care, at least a little, what the group she’d come here with thought. What her friends thought.
None of that even compared to the disaster that might happen if Arachne stepped on her feet. She probably had enough control over her body to not injure Eva. Looking at the deep claw marks on the floor of the bathroom made Eva not want to take that chance.
Still, Eva didn’t want to take away the smile on Arachne’s face. Arachne never smiled. It was always a grin. This was nice. A side of Arachne that rarely showed.
So she allowed the woman to lead her out of the bathroom.
None of her friends were at the table. A quick peek over the railing showed Juliana talking to someone out of sight. Probably the others.
Arachne brought her down the stairs by her hand.
The moment her clawed foot touched the dance floor, the heavy sounds of an organ crashed over the room. Eva glanced up at the DJ who was looking very nervously at Arachne. He was completely ignored in return.
Arachne separated from Eva at the center of the dance floor. She turned and gave a deep bow.
Eva gripped the edges of her lab coat and curtsied.
Arachne offered her hand and Eva took it. They pulled together and began their waltz.
Just like the practice, they began stepping in a small square. As the organ raged on, Arachne started rotating and eventually added the leaning.
Eva was sure it didn’t look very impressive. They had done nothing especially fancy. Eva kept her eyes on her feet more than half the time and, more than once, broke the rhythm in her haste to escape being crushed by Arachne’s feet.
But it was fun. Arachne’s smile never left her face, even when Eva half kicked her foot.
They danced around. Eva had no idea how long the song was, but it eventually ended. It couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes.
Arachne drew back to arm’s length, holding Eva’s hands until they slipped out from the distance. She gave another bow which Eva returned. She stepped forwards once more and pulled Eva into a tight embrace.
Slowly, Eva brought her arms up and returned the hug. Eva normally did not return Arachne’s frequent hugs, but sometimes things were special. This is one of those times, she thought as she idly played with the tips of Arachne’s hair tendrils.
A scream from behind her brought the moment to a crash.
Arachne immediately moved to the other side of Eva in a full protective stance.
Eva uncorked two blood vials as she turned to look.
The rest of the room had descended into a panic. Two shambling men dressed as zombies staggered up to the bar where a third had his arms around Shalise. His teeth sunk deep into her arm as she tried to fight him off.
Jordan and Max both had their wands out and were casting spells. Shadows erupted out of Jordan’s wand–some kind of chaos spell, perhaps–and enveloped the two approaching zombies.
Max flicked his wand. When nothing happened, he scrambled backwards away from the group.
“Arachne.”
It was all Eva had to say. The demon jumped across the dance floor. The black needles of her fingers plunged straight through the zombie’s head as she landed next to Shalise.
Eva ran over as Arachne tore into the two zombies under Jordan’s darkness. She slid across the hard wood floor where some of the zombie had landed, but recovered her balance and knelt beside Shalise.
Shalise’s arm wasn’t looking good. She could already see the infection settling in. Eva thought about removing the arm the way her master had, but the gash in the side of the brunette’s face made her stop. She wouldn’t be able to remove her head to stop the infection.
“Don’t touch her,” Jordan said, “you’ll infect yourself without gloves.”
Eva shook her head. She could help, but not around so many people. “Don’t worry,” she pulled a black vial from her pockets, “anti-zombie potion.” A lie of course.
“I think I can help, but I need–” Eva cut herself off as she looked around.
Arachne was making her way back to Eva’s side, her fancy suit marred by blood and rotting flesh. Juliana looked petrified, she hadn’t moved since Eva first saw the zombies. Max slowly made his way back to Jordan’s side.
“Where’s Irene and Shelby?”
“Irene said she felt sick shortly after you entered the bathroom. Shelby took her back to the dorm.” Eva couldn’t tell his expression through his costume, but he stood straighter and squared his shoulders. “I’m going after them.”
“Jordan–”
“Don’t try to stop me.”
“I’m not,” Eva said with vehemence. “But if she was feeling sick…” Eva gave a pointed glance at the zombie, “just be careful if you find her.”
He gave a solemn nod and dashed out the door.
Maximilian glanced between his friend and Eva.
“Go,” she said, “even if your magic is worthless, you can at least keep things from sneaking up behind him. Watch his back.”
He took a step but hesitated. Eva did not miss the tremble in his arm.
“Unless you wanted to leave him alone, of course.” That seemed to set him off. Eva called after him, “tell him that the girl’s rooms in the dorms might be safer than the guys.”
“Arachne,” Eva said as the portly man ran off into the night. The demon knelt and Eva spoke in a whisper, “I need you to take Shalise to the bathroom. Start stripping her, be careful to get any bits of clothing out of her wounds. Keep her awake and talking and try to hurt her as little as possible.”
The demon swooped down and lifted Shalise off the ground without complaint. Shalise started fighting and struggling, to no effect, as Arachne headed to the bathroom.