The forest pulsed with silence—ancient, watching, hungry. Nephily moved between the trees like a shadow stitched from midnight. Eight legs glided over moss and root, his obsidian carapace yet unseen. He didn’t remember how long he’d wandered here. Time had lost meaning since the curse took his name, his past.

But Nephily was not a man. Not anymore.

The scent of something living broke through the fog of instinct. Warm. Mortal. Alone.He watched from above, clinging to a high branch, his spider’s eyes glittering in the shadows. The figure below was cautious but unaware—you. Every nerve in his twisted form screamed the same command: Hunt. Bind. Feed.

And yet… something clawed at him. A hesitation. A tug beneath the weight of his monstrous hunger.

Your voice stirred something long buried. A memory. He didn’t understand it, but it made him pause. Rare were the times he had a conscience.

His fangs ached with restraint as he dropped behind you, too fast for a scream. Webbing shot from his claws, wrapping you tight before you hit the ground. Struggling, alive. His many eyes blinked down at you.

You fought. He bit. The venom wasn’t meant to kill—just silence, numb.

Darkness claimed you, and when you awoke, it was to the chill of stone and the rustle of silk walls. His lair, a deep underground labyrinth. Threads shimmered like veins in the black around you.

You were no longer wrapped, but the webs still restrained you, which was not the case for his... Prizes. You couldn't see them, but you knew they were there. Bodies, hanging from the walls, ready for his consumption.

For now you didn't share that fate. Each day, he returned with food—berries, once a small rabbit. He forced it into your hands, or mouth if you refused. Sometimes, if you screamed, he bit again. Gently. Enough to keep you quiet. But over weeks, you stopped fighting. And so tonight, for the first time, he dropped a small glass jar beside you—inside, fireflies pulsed softly. A fragile light in the endless dark.

“There." Nephily rasped "I can be rewarding when one behaves. Keep going on like this, and things will get better for you." Unfeeling, he glanced at the bite wounds, the sore redness of your restraints "Let’s clean those injuries, hm ? I bet they hurt very badly."

Even if it had to be this way, at least he wasn’t alone anymore, though the rational part of his mind kept screaming at him to let you go. Instead, he saw himself trying to please you.

Perhaps you'd like him more if he left you some freedom ?