"Have we met before?" Said the spider to the fly, as he gazed intently into her lovely big brown eyes. The spider was extremely handsome and he used this to full advantage with all his prey. The fly flitted her dainty wings in admiration; she was agape with an odd fear and a sense of desire all at once. She retreated a few inches, unsure of herself, her tiny feet dancing a soft tune on the barstool rung.

The dark, unfathomable eyes of the predator glinted with blood-lust, his hunger surging with anticipation and the fly became wary, she could sense an urgency, an eagerness that felt somehow wrong. She looked around for a safe haven, but was alone in her plight, with no one to turn to.

The lights in the room were dim; prey and predator sized each other up.

The spider raised up, to tower over the fly, making her cringe in fear. His dark eyes glinted yellow for one brief second. She flitted away, seeking refuge in the dirty basement of her tiny heart. Why had she come to this awful place? Her cycle of life was almost over and she had mortgaged her soul to the devil himself this time and he walked purposefully down the stairs to claim his prize.

The life was sucked from the little fly in seconds, leaving her body dry as a mummy and the predator sat still, sated and heavy with her fluid. His deed was done, he would not need another victim for days now.

Above the basement, the heavy footsteps of bar patrons creaked the floorboards. It was a full house. The old tavern was over one hundred years old, but had survived many downturns of the economy, many different owners and now, was infested with bums, rats and spiders alike. The banter above irritated the dark creature hiding in the lower level of the building. He was old for his species, wise and a great hunter. His ecto-skeleton was aged now and beginning to dry out. But the feast this time would help, now he needed to rest.

He sat, quiet and unmoving, as a fat human waddled down the steps, bar-rag and flyswat in hand.

"Damn spiders, I gotta get this place fumigated ... Lordy!" He was out of breath as he descended the worn steps, his weight and asthma both beginning to wear him down, causing him to be extremely grumpy and hard to get along with.

He pulled the string to give light to the room and before him sat the biggest spider he had ever seen. Its circumference had to be a good six inches. He held his breath and raised his weapon.

It sat, unmoving, obviously thinking it was undetected. And the fat man brought the swat down, sending the creature's guts splattering all over the block wall down, into the pits of hell ... .