A month passed, and the slight warmth the world felt began to disappear. Leaves, yellow and brown, covered the streets of Tempest, and frost blanketed the city. Inside the garage, Lumi worked, and Andri, Eryi, and Alba were playing cards. Suddenly Lumi yelled, “I did it! I finished!”

She held the three swords above her like trophies and the boys looked over with curiosity.

Alba asked, “Huh? You were making swords? What are we, knights?”

“Shut up, albino. You guys can be snow warriors! Maybe that’s what we can call ourselves.”

“That’s stupid,” Alba said.

Lumi was about to agree, but then she changed her mind.

“It’s not stupid. You come up with a better name then.”

“Uh,” Eryi began, before shutting up.

Andri nodded and Eryi continued shyly.

“We can call ourselves Spiders, since we kill Bugs… Or, that’s stupid. Never mind.”

Andri smiled and said, “No, I like it.”

With Andri’s opinion stated, no one else could disagree.

“Spiders, huh. Spiders with swords,” Lumi said. “Well, swords for now. In the future I want to make guns and shit! It will be so much fun, haha!”

Lumi’s eyes were glimmering with her imagination taking control over her brain and Alba sighed.

“This is why she’ll never find a partner.”

Lumi’s eyes widened and then she hummed.

“You’re right. All I need in life is weapons. Who wants a love life?”

Andri stood up and took a sword from Lumi’s hands.

“This is pretty good, for now.”

Lumi’s joy somewhat dissipated.

“Yeah, for now. It’s definitely not professional. But they will be! The more I practice the stronger we’ll all become. These insects won’t stand a chance, hah!”

Eryi and Alba took their swords and then Andri said, “Let’s go. I know a place where we can start off.”

Alba asked, “Huh? A place?”

Andri said, “A family of Bugs.”

They waited till dusk to attack, and hoped dearly that no one would notice their swords. Surprisingly no one did. They found themselves in a neighborhood suffering from poverty, and the air was eerily cold. They were all wearing hoodies, pants, and sneakers, none of which were in great shape. Either they were tattered at the seams or had holes. Alba was wearing a different beanie than usual, as he always wore one. He jokingly called it his exterminator beanie.

Alba asked, “How did you find this place, Andri?”

“Research. Do you really think I was just stealing this whole month?”

Eryi asked, “Have these Bugs done anything bad?”

Andri became startlingly quiet and both Eryi and Alba got creeped out.

“Of course they have. Sorry,” Eryi said.

Andri said plainly, “A Bug is a Bug. They’re all the same.”

“Wait, hold on,” Alba began. “Have they really not done anything bad? Aren’t we killing innocent people?!”

Eryi moved away from Alba and stood beside Andri.

Eryi asked, “Did you not hear him, Alba?”

“What?”

“He said they’re all the same. And what do you mean people? Bugs are Bugs.”

Alba looked into Andri’s darkened eyes and felt his hair raise.

“Hold on a second…”

Andri’s voice was muddier than usual. “Alba. You can go any time. You don’t have to be a Spider.”

Alba looked at the sword in his hand and then looked back up with a forced smile.

“Sorry, I misspoke. Let’s get it over with.”

Andri said, “Right.”

As they stared at the house in silence, both Alba and Eryi awaited Andri’s orders.

“Eryi, go through the back. Kill everything you see. The whole place is contaminated. We will come in after you.”

Eryi nodded and Alba watched in disbelief as Eryi walked to the back door of the house and tried the doorknob. It was locked, as he thought, so he used the hilt of his blade to slam through the glass of the door and crouched in. The family, who were all sitting at the table, cried out in shock. A boy, creepy and strange, was holding a sword before them with no expression. They couldn’t see his eyes, only his mouth, which held a still frown. The family themselves consisted of a father, mother, two grandparents, and three children. It was a full house, but even then, they had room for their two dogs, which they loved dearly. They looked human, completely so. Eryi faltered for a second, but then remembered that Andri told him to kill them, so he must. His opinions did not matter, the only thing that mattered was Andri himself.