Who cares? I try to kill ‘em off.”“Effective, but not scientific.”“Gordy, them’s parasites. Cattle’d be better without ‘em. Lucky they...��s got a one-host lifecycle. I don’ like arachnids. Not spiders, not scorpions, not ticks, not roly-polies.”“I get it.”“I eat lots o’ decapods, an’ don’ mind insects.”“I find all the arthros interesting.”“Yeh.”I finished off the draft. Then I read a chapter of Wilson and another half-dozen pages of Orlando, only to be interrupted by the phone.“Entomology,. "OhChrissy. Thank God. Help us!"I stopped two feet right in front of a very irate Amber. I was confidentshe was not going to hit me. "Amber. Give me the keys." Oh look!" Amber yelled. "It's everyone's favorite popular girl. Youalready stole my friends. Are you going to steal my car too? Oh look.You're crying too." Amber. You're hurting your friends. We all care about you." Nobody cares about me!" she screamed. Her face was red with anger.OK Chris. Take this slow. Patience. She's. I heard her car door. The front door opened, and I looked at her. Her face scanned the mess, the holes in the wall, and the clear look of rage on my face. She looked sad and I knew she’d been crying. But then I saw something I had never seen before—something I never wanted to see—something I hope I’d never see again.She was afraid. She was horrifyingly afraid of me.Beth started wailing as she ran and fell on her knees in front of me. She rested her head on my legs a cried harder than I’ve ever. The bedroom lights came on; I was obliged to watch as two of them pulled Victor from the bed and tied him to the chair across the bedroom. He fought them but they were too strong. They secured his legs and arms to the chair. Then they turned towards me. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t.Neither could I run or even cry. I realized that to resist was pointless. The one holding me down told me to be quite. He released his hand from over my mouth, letting me out a gasp of air. I suddenly sat.