The Veiled Web

By DFWBeast and findingmyvoice

Authors' Note: Just a little flash story of innocence & love gone wrong. Hope you enjoy.

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"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are." -

Niccolò Machiavelli,

The Prince

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The young woman stood at the edge and looked down the old building. Her long bridal gown shimmered in the bright summer sun. It was a photographer's dream; an attractive young bride, obviously in deep thought, standing in front of the old church's stone walls. But what the photographer couldn't see, what no outsider would ever see, was the turmoil raging within her. The serene setting inside the church was the mirrored opposite of the chaos churning inside her head.

She'd stumbled across a sight that had drawn her out her mental confusion. At her feet was a grasshopper, struggling to free itself from a spider's web. She watched the parroting of her own feelings play out on nature's stage.

She smiled, recognizing the similarities to her life. She noticed her wedding gown had intricate patterns common with spider lace. A web of her own choosing! She watched with morbid fascination as the spider sat perfectly still on the edge of the web, waiting for the grasshopper to either free itself or resign itself to its fate. It eerily resembled her groom standing at the altar, waiting for her, the beautiful bride. But would she be walking down that aisle, presenting herself as a willing sacrifice?

Sacrifice, what an interesting word,

she mused. It was a term that she'd heard and seen played out most her life. Her mother and father had used it at her first trial and her grandmother had used it at her second. It was the one word that had swayed an inane legal system to provide therapy in a hospital rather than prison time. The judge had even used it to justify his ruling.

Her grandmother had used the term as well. That was no surprise since her mother had taught her its meaning all her life. She'd taught the young girl early that sometimes a person had to sacrifice parts of themselves in order to get what they wanted... what they needed.

She remembered those happy days when she was a little girl. Once, she'd watched her father as he dealt with a pest problem. They had mice in the house! First he'd put out traps but they hadn't worked. Then he put out rat poison ...

She'd become enthralled one morning when she'd come across a mouse in its death throes. She'd watched intently as its tiny body convulsed, spasm after spasm, until it finally went still.

She thought it rather hypocritical that everyone was shocked when she'd tried to take care of her pest problem. It had worked so well for her father.

Besides,

she grinned to herself,

Jimmy was a pest. Or at least he was.

Jimmy Clark had been the epitome of a schoolyard bully even at the ripe old age of nine. He'd terrorize the other students by taking their lunches, their money, anything that had value even if only sentimental.

It hadn't been difficult to add some d-Con to her juice box. When Jimmy took her lunch that day, she'd even told him he'd better not drink her juice. He did it anyway.

It only took a short time before they took him to the hospital. He survived but it changed him. He wasn't a pest anymore.

The adults had become overly excited when they'd found out about her solution to the situation. She had, of course, confessed. Why not? Honesty was supposed to be the best policy. Apparently not, she learned.

She'd spent the rest of that year in a special place for children with special needs. A 'Kiddy Nuthouse' she'd later call it. She learned very quickly two major things while she was there. Nuns have no sense of humor and honesty is

never

the best policy.

Disturbed, deceptive, manipulative, words that were lost on a seven-year-old but keeping secrets, pretending, hiding, those she'd understood. She'd gotten very good at those.

When she'd returned to school the next year she'd discovered the other students had a new found respect for her.

Maybe respect isn't the right word. Maybe fear would be more accurate.

She learned quickly how to use their fear to get what she needed, what she wanted. However, by the time she'd reached junior high she realized what she really wanted were friends. So, she began the difficult process of disguising herself, using kindness and sweetness to draw the attention she craved.

Then nature gave her an additional weapon... puberty. It took her no time at all to learn to use her developing body to gain the attention of the boys in her class. She wondered what high school dating would've been like had fate not stepped in.

She'd watched her mother's bedtime routine for years. On those nights that she and her father would lock their bedroom door, her routine was always the same. Her mother would make them both drinks.

Then one night she'd seen it. She watched closely as her mother carefully removed a small plastic bag from its hiding place in the top cupboard. She carefully measured out a small amount and put it into both drinks. Then she crushed up a small blue pill and put it into one of the drinks.

She'd followed her mother up to the master bedroom that night. Over the years she'd done that countless times before but had always found the bedroom door locked. But not that night!

She'd waited until she heard those familiar sounds before she crept into the massive bedroom. The grunts and groans and the harsh commands were no longer muffled by the door as she silently stared at the sight before her.

She saw her mother on her knees in front of her father. They were both naked. She was gently stroking him, begging for a taste. Soon he nodded and she slowly took his cock into her mouth. She took him deeper and deeper, inch by inch as he groaned his pleasure and commanded her to take more. Then she began to gag as he reached down and grabbed her head, forcing the rest of him into her mouth.

She'd watched in shock as he used her mother that night and heard her beg for more. When they were through, she'd snuck out of the room and back into her bed.

Back in the safety of her room, she'd tried to come to terms with what she'd seen.

She concluded that it was another example of sacrifice. A trade-off for the financial protection and security her father provided. But it was obvious that her mother wasn't strong enough to stop it.

Over the next several months, she'd snuck into their room to watch them many times. She'd watched him do things, unspeakable things, to her mother but still she begged for more. It was as if her mother wanted to be sexually abused!

The young teen finally determined that it needed to stop. If her mother couldn't stop it, then she'd find a way.

And stop it she had.

It was simple to distract her mother, one night, as she was preparing their drinks. While her mother was busy in another room, she'd snuck back into the kitchen and added most of the remaining white powder to their drinks.

However, when they autopsied her mother's and father's bodies, their case changed from a suspected accidental drug overdose to probable murder. It seems they'd ingested a small amount of rat poison along with the overdose.

Oops,

the bride giggled to herself.

My bad!

She remembered at the trial how uncomfortable the assistant district attorney and the judge were as the facts about her mother and father's sex life were drawn out into the open. The ADA had her fingerprints on the plastic bag and her prior juvenile records were being threatened to be opened. It was then her grandmother had shown her another example of sacrifice. She'd pleaded with the court that her granddaughter was just trying to save her mother from an abusive situation. She'd said that her granddaughter was sacrificing herself for her mother!

In the end, she spent four years in a state-run mental facility instead of going to high school. Some might believe it was a good trade-off.

She smiled, remembering the things she'd learned while she was there. She learned a great deal about forensics and became even better at hiding her real self from the world. She'd also learned how to tease and flirt with a couple of the male employees. However the main thing she acquired while there was... patience.

She'd shown that newly developed patience with her soon to be groom. It had been a year since she'd been released and as fate would have it, her grandmother was deathly ill. It was a third-year medical student who ran into her at the hospital. He saw her standing by the elevator and asked the nurses about her. He learned she was visiting her grandmother. He believed her to be a pretty, young woman grieving the impending loss of her only living relative. A lost damsel in distress just ripe for the plucking... who was she to correct him?

Thank God for sealed juvenile records!

She glanced down at the lace bodice of her gown, admiring the way it formed a perfect hourglass cup, showcasing just two of her assets. She giggled, remembering what she was wearing underneath the beautiful gown. Her soon to be husband would be surprised.

How could he not be?

The sight of his innocent virgin bride wearing only a tiny, white, silk thong should stun him. She trailed her fingers over her breasts and down the length of the bodice, until she reached just past her hip. She gingerly traced the textured garter belt and smiled as her fingers trailed along the parameters of a small packet of white powder.

She looked back at the web and noticed the frantic movements of the grasshopper had begun to taper off. His legs were bound in the sticky silk, and the more he struggled and squirmed, the more entangled he became.

Just a matter of time now, little grasshopper.

It had been difficult, harder than anyone could've imagined, for her to have remained a virgin until her wedding. His kisses and touches had driven her to the brink so many times that she was amazed she hadn't given in. She felt the growing warmth of her excitement. Her breathing had become deep, threatening the possibility of her assets spilling forth from their lacy cups, exposing her to the world. Slowly she gathered herself.

Of course, her groom had been the perfect knight in shining armor and had respected her enough to not take what would soon be given to him freely. And she knew she would give herself, surrender herself, with utter abandonment, tonight.

But would he be disappointed?

Although still a virgin, she wasn't inexperienced. What she lacked in actual experience was more than made up for in knowledge, thanks to her mother.

No,

she thought to herself.

I will definitely rock his world tonight.

She thought of his tender kisses that always seemed to hide an intense passion. He would be well rewarded for his patience. Tonight, he'd receive something no man had ever had, something priceless, but it had to be up to her to offer it. She could not allow him to make her do something, to take something from her that wasn't his. No, it had to be a gift, something she wanted him to have. It had to be a gift... a sacrifice.

She looked down and realized she was breathing heavily. She grinned as she watched her chest heave and then rest, the deep fissure only accentuating what was nestled within her dress.

She giggled.

I'll make tonight unforgettable for him.

The young bride looked back at the web and saw that the spider had begun weaving its cocoon around the grasshopper. A chill ran through her as tiny goose bumps formed on her skin. It was a stark contrast to the warm summer heat. She smiled and continued to stare at the sight thinking that the grasshopper looked beautiful in its silk wedding dress.

"I do," she whispered.

She raised her long dress and stomped on the web, smearing spider and grasshopper together on the cracked sidewalk. Looking down at her handiwork, she began to laugh.

Gliding up the old stone steps, she opened the large wooden doors. The young bride smiled at the older man dressed in his expensive tuxedo. Her future father-in-law returned her smile and prepared to walk her down the aisle.

What a surprising gift he'll be giving his own son.

She chuckled to herself.

She straightened her dress, smoothed her hands over the white silk, and smiled as though she was in front of the paparazzi. Steadily she walked over to him and took his arm. He looked into the sanctuary and nodded.

As the organ began to play Pachelbel Canon in D, she saw her handsome groom standing at the altar. He was waiting, shuffling his feet, and nervously pulling on his tie.

As though he was wound up in spider silk,

she thought as a sly smile spread across her lips.

"Let the games begin," she whispered as she lowered her veil.

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