Crypt of the Moon Spider (Lunar Gothic Trilogy, #1)

by Nathan Ballingrud

Then it dawned on her that the forest was covered in a vast system of spiderwebs, cast over the canopy of every tree, so that it seemed they were flying over a ghostly wood, a revenant returned from darkness in a terrible glamor.

The thought crawled out of the wet black loam of her brain like some horrid new insect. It scrabbled unchecked through her mind, eating everything clean and good in her, laying clutches of wet, mucousy eggs in its stead.

It had been cored from his head like a bruise from an apple, and he had nothing left but the memory of its shape. And even as he acknowledged this, that memory too began to fade. “Where is my murder?” he said. Dr. Cull smiled and took him by the elbow. “We’re launching soon,” he said. “This will be the first of many explorations. We can watch it from the garden if you’d like. Afterward, I’ll fill you with murders.” Cull certainly tried. But Charlie had an appetite beyond his imagining.

“It isn’t fair,” she said. Her mother stopped, a beleaguered expression on her face. “Now, that’s a fine word,” she said. “The boys are at the stream already.” “Well, they’re boys. They get to do lots of things you don’t get to do. You might as well get used to it.”

“How could I ever become a burden to them? That doesn’t make any sense.” “When what you need outweighs what you offer. Make no mistake, child. Your life does not belong to you.”

“God help you, if what you say is true.” Veronica turned. “Why, Mama?” “Because if you’re going to take your life for your own you’ll have to give up everything else. Do you understand me? It will cost you so much it breaks my heart to even think about it.”