Spider Bites

Chapter 5
Before the Clock Strikes Midnight

---

Chapter Description: Gavin finally learns the purpose of the curse.

---

No!

It couldn’t be happening!

He wouldn’t allow it to happen!

As the last remnant of his adult mind demanded, Gavin recklessly threw all his effort in striving to escape as he contracted his muscles and writhed on the cool surface under him. As his feeble struggles garnered him no success, he opened his mouth in agonized frustration and screamed.

…………..

Ten minutes earlier, Gavin woke up in the dark quiet house. It seemed it was still the middle of the night. He turned his head to where he could see light from the hallway pouring in. Blinking, he turned his head and saw a silhouette in the doorway. It was Tony.

Tony stood in the doorway for a moment, the ever-present phone being held in his hand. He moved silently into the room.

Gavin watched cautiously as Tony approached the crib. Tony had not hidden his feelings toward him and he was frightened what the moody teenager would do. Gavin laid there, his eyes locked on Tony in trepidation.

“Don’t worry. I am not going to hurt you.” Tony said as he stopped by the end of Gavin’s crib. He picked up his phone again and his fingers flew. He stopped and looked expectantly at Gavin. “Well, aren’t you going to say something?”

Gavin opened and closed his mouth, as sounds began to spill out. After a minute of concentrated effort, the sounds became words.

“You…you can understand me?” Gavin gasped with a surprised look on his face.

“Of course.” Tony commented with a small disturbing smile.

“How?” Gavin asked. “No one else does.”

“That’s because they’re affected by the spell.” Tony shrugged and looked briefly back at his phone.

“Y..You know about the spell?” Gavin sputtered, astounded.

“Yes, Stupid.” Tony grunted, pulling his eyes away from his phone. “I cast it.”

“No. It was the little old lady.” Gavin disagreed, shaking his head slightly as he stared at the teenager.

“Stop thinking so conventionally. Little old lady does not equal witch.” Tony sniped. “You’re really not very bright, are you?”

“You…You cast it?” Gavin stammered, unable to break his stupor.

“I think my saying ’I did’ might have been your first clue.” Came the sarcastic answer from Tony.

“But, I thought the old lady…” Gavin said as his mind reeled.

“No, but you should have heard her hiss when she found a run in her hose after you got off the elevator.” Tony commented with a small laugh. “ I thought her wig would lift off the top of her head.”

“Why? Why did you do it?” Gavin asked bewilderedly.

“Because I could.” Tony answered succinctly. “I have been cruising some occult sites and I’ve been just itching to try out some spells. Being Halloween and all, it was the perfect time to cull the powers.”

“But I didn’t see you do anything…” Gavin gasped.

“Hello! Welcome to the Electronic age!” Tony proclaimed as he waved his phone in his hand. “I just have to punch in a few letters and hit SEND . It is a lot more subtle than chanting or waving a dead chicken around.”

“You’re a witch!” Gavin said, wrapping his head around the idea.

“I guess you could call me that..I prefer something cooler like warlock or sorcerer.” Tony said as he shrugged. “Your little act in the elevator drew my attention to you. If you had just kept your cool, I would have never noticed you in the elevator. You see, I have a problem that you can help me with.”

“A problem?” Gavin echoed, confused.

“You see, my parents are good people. We really don’t have a lot in common.” Tony leaned over the edge of the crib to confide in Gavin. “They’re the kind that are overly involved with their kids. You know, the whole short leash thing. They love you so much that they want show they care, want to know where you are, want to know what you’re doing, making cookies for the classroom, helping with homework, coaching the little league team. The hovering really gets on my nerves. I need my own space, you know.” Tony stated as he slumped against the edge of the crib. “In fact, today was the first day, I got to do anything on my own. Luckily, I managed to convince my mother that I could go to the orthodontist for a quick tighten on my braces by myself. That’s when I saw you in the elevator preening in front of the doors.”

“Look, you gotta turn me back. I’m famous.” Gavin sputtered. “I… People are going to look for me!”

“What exactly do you think they’ll find if they do find you? Who in their right mind is going to connect a baby in his crib to the local real estate mogul?” Tony chuckled as he shook his head.

“I got money! I can pay you!” Gavin desperately offered, seeing his options dwindle.

“Nah! Money is not what I am after. And by the way, how exactly am I going to explain to my parents your unexpected largesse to a teenage kid?” Gavin surmised and looked over at Gavin. “You’ll be picked up by the cops by nightfall.”

“It’s not right. I’m not a baby.” Gavin declared, as his mind flitted for any possible reason to defy Tony’s logic. “I can’t be. I’m a grown up.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve never seen anyone better suited for your current situation. You got your picture all over town for everyone to see. You really love attention…and what better way to get attention but as an adorable little baby?” Tony shrugged.

“You don’t know me. I won’t let you do this to me. There’s got a be some way to reverse and I’ll find it!” Gavin blurted. “I’m the top real estate broker in the city. I will find some way out of this! I won’t allow this to happen!”

“Listen to you! Man, you are really conceited, aren’t you?“ Tony commented as he straightened and looked appraisingly at Gavin. “You couldn’t have worked out better. I knew I wanted someone like you. I didn’t think that I would just run across the perfect candidate so easily. When I saw how you freaked about the spider, I knew I had found my perfect subject.”

“You mean that I that spider….” Gavin gulped

“This spell needs an emotional outburst to begin. It is necessary to start the retrogression. You provided the quite the catalyst to start the spell.” Tony commented as he brought up his phone again. “Your fear of that tiny spider was just like a flare gun in the cosmos. How could I resist it?”

“You mean… if… I hadn’t…” the words haltingly stumbled out of Gavin.

“Your existence of being a legend in your own mind would have continued.” Tony smirked. “Luckily, I am pretty fast on this thing. I managed to enter the spell even before the doors closed and you calmed down.”

“But, I saw that lady’s eyes glow.” Gavin blurted.

“Yeah, I got an app for that too. I needed something to keep the suspicion off me.” Tony replied, shrugging in self deprecation.

“This whole thing is crazy! Your parents- They gotta know I’m not their kid!” Gavin exclaimed desperately.

“Really, how have they been acting? You’ve been up on their shoulders being consoled for most of the afternoon.” Tony responded and looked pointedly over at Gavin. “What about you? Can you even think of their names or are they just Mommy and Daddy in already your mind?”

“Please stop this. Please turn me back.” Gavin pleaded, his thin brave front beginning to wither.

“What and waste my first good spell?” Tony replied, wrinkling his forehead. “You see, I sent a little spider to bite you. You might have been feeling a little pain when it bit you. It drained you of your age. It sent your body lurching back to the age I requested on my phone. The effect is progressive. You might have noticed that your mind is also regressing, just at a slower rate. I really hadn’t planned for you to become a baby. If you hadn’t been so much trouble, I might have left you as an eight year old, but you proved to be a pain at each age. So, I directed the spider to bite you again and again.”

“You are able to control the spider?” Gavin asked, looking frantically around him.

“Yeah, until midnight tonight. I got another five minutes.” Tony nodded as he looked back toward his phone. “That’s why I came in here. You know I didn’t appreciate you making me almost miss the party tonight. I thought we would have a little chat before I directed the spider to bite you one last time. You won’t be able to talk at all after this last bite.”

“What? Please don’t do this! I’ll do anything you want!” Gavin pleaded. “I don’t want to get any younger! Please!.”

“Silly baby! This isn’t about what you want. I think that having a tiny infant in the house should consume quite a bit of Mom and Dad’s attention. It will leave me all the time I need to pursue my own interests.” Tony responded, nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, I am going to set the spell to keep you three months old for the entire year. You won’t have to worry about sitting up, crawling, or even talking. Everything will be taken care of for you. You’ll be a indulged little emperor with Mom and Dad at your beck and call. Don’t worry about getting bored. I hear Peek a Boo is quite the entertaining game.”

“I’ll stay three months old? Won’t anyone notice that I’m not growing?” Gavin asked hopelessly.

“That’s the best part of the spell, it adjusts the environment to support the spell’s effects. Everyone will only notice a precious little three month baby boy. They won’t be bothering to add up the time.” Tony smoothly replied.

“How long will I be that way?” Gavin asked, bringing up his hands to cover his eyes.

“I can always make adjustments every Halloween. Maybe by the time I move out, I adjust the spell to allow you to start growing.” Tony stated as he continued to look at his phone. “Just think: potty training, kindergarten, riding a bike – they’re all ahead of you.”

“What about my mind?” Pulling back his hands, Gavin looked over desperately at the teenager.

“You’ll regress to the mind of a three month old. I think I may leave a little awareness for your adult mind. Just so you’ll remember who not to piss off around here.” Tony said with the threat looming in the air. “I’m sure you’ll get use to it screaming at the back of your little baby mind. Too bad, you’ll probably be too content to pay attention to it.”

Tony reached over and laid his hand on the blanket covering Gavin. The small spider crawled on to his hand. He held his hand up to his face as the spider danced over his hand. He smiled a triumphant smile at Gavin who held his breath in terror at the sight of the spider.

“Oh, Don’t worry about your fear of spiders. Once you regress, you won’t be bothered by that pesky phobia anymore. Will ya, little fella? Tony leaned over and floated his hand with the spider in front of Gavin’s face. “This is a good thing.”

Tony then patted Gavin’s chest leaving his hand there for a moment as the spider left his hand. Gavin looked wildly around for the spider that seemed to disappear in to the blanket on top of him. Soon as Tony pulled his hand back, Gavin scrambled back, shucking the blanket from him as he searched the bedding for the spider. He backed up until he was pressed up against the end of the crib with his hands braced on either side of him, pressing him back against the headboard. He dashed a look at a smirking Tony and then stared at the landscape of the crib in front of him. He was so intent on the bedding that he didn’t notice the spider crawling to his hand from the side of the crib. Gavin felt a sharp jabbing pain in the back of his hand.

“Night-night, baby.” Gavin was aware of Tony’s taunting voice floating toward him.

……………………………

The silence of the hallway was broken by the sound of a young infant’s scream. Tony was walking down the hall when his mother opened her bedroom door.

“Mom, the baby’s crying.” Tony said as he casually came toward her.

“Thanks, Honey. I’ll get him.” As she passed him, she quietly asked him. “Did you have a good time at the party?”

“Yeah, I had a blast.” Tony responded with a tilt of his head as he regarded his mother not slowing her progress toward the nursery.

“That’s good, honey. You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.” She said over her shoulder as she passed him on her way to the nursery and the crying infant.

Tony turned back to his room with a knowing smile as he patted the phone in his pocket.

…………………..

Fin

 

---