CHAPTER EIGHT: VIII
PETER PARKER

MY BROWN EYES STARE AT THE CLOSED DOOR INTENTLY. My mind order me to ring the doorbell, but my body was frozen, I clench and unclutch my fist in an effort to tranquilize myself. With a deep breath, I extended my arm and pushed the doorbell, my arm fell back to its original pose as I waited for the scientist to emerge from the front door. My eyes settle on my fingers as they've become callous after last week's events. I've thoroughly researched spider bites and none of them had the ability to grant you heighten senses, incredible strength, and speed -not like quicksilver, of course, but more like Captain America sort of style, and the ability to crawl.

Before I could immerse myself in my thoughts of two nights ago, the door opens, revealing a surprise, Dr. Curtis Connor. His eyebrows furrow slightly before looking around as if expecting someone else, his eyes once again settling on my wide ones.

I clear my throat while simultaneously clasping my hands together in front of me, "Dr. Connor, I uh -don't suppose you remember me?" I swallow, "I was —"

"— You're the intern from the other day, I recall." Dr. Connor's eyes hold recognition, but the skepticism was evident in his features, as he must be wondering what am I doing here.

"Yeah! Yeah, that's right." I nodded, my hands unclasping as I began to clench and unclutch my fists once again.

Dr. Connor eyed me before taking a step back, "I'm sure you're a nice young man, but this is a home." His hand moves toward the back of the door, "I'd ask you to make an appointment in my office."

Without waiting for any rebuttal on my part, he went to close the door, my hands instinctively shot toward the door in an effort to stop him as the words flew out of my mouth. "I'm Richard Parker's son."

The door freezes, or more like the person manipulating the door, Dr. Connor pulls the door back as he stares at me with even more surprise. I lower my hands as I stare at him with hope, after three seconds of staring at each other, Dr. Connor finally let me into his humble home. He leads me towards the kitchen and offers me to take a seat, I do as I'm told as I subtly take in his impeccable home. The scent of lavender compels me to take in a deep breath as my nostrils take in the amazing scent, my tense muscle immediately relaxes as I exhale.

I stop rummaging the place with my eyes and settle on Dr. Connor who prepared the kettle, he then turns to look at me. "Never once it occurs to me that I would be seeing again an old friend's son, despite the odds I am still grateful to see you. Tell me, in what can I be of service?"

I let out a chuckle, "Funny how I don't remember much of you if it weren't for a newspaper picture of my father and you, must've met me when I was a toddler or something." Dr. Connor chuckles and nods.

"As a matter of fact, I did meet you when you were about, two months old." My eyebrows raised in surprise, not expecting that answer.

The kettle soon begins to whistle, alerting us that the water was ready, Dr. Connor turns off the stove and glances at me. "Coffee?"

"Sure." I accept his offer, my eyes absentmindedly settling on a family picture that was placed in the center of the counter along with a bowl filled with fruits and some books stacked upon one another. "That's a nice picture, Dr. Connor."

The scientist smiled lightly as he pours down the coffee on two mugs, "It's my favorite one."

A lopsided smile appears on my features at his response, "Your son has a strong resemblance with you. What's his name, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dr. Connor offers me another smile as he turns around, the kettle accidentally knocking one mug. Before Dr. Connor could react to what would've been a mess on the floor along with broken glass, my hand securely wraps around the mug's handle.

Dr. Connor stares at my hand in astonishment, his mouth was parted as he witnesses my fast response. "Nice reflexes."

"Thank you." I proceeded to hand him the mug, he smiled gratefully before grabbing the mug and leaning over the counter where the picture resided.

"Finn Connors." He smiles at the thought of his son, which for a reason gave me a bad feeling. "Most people would say he looks like his mother, he inherited his mom's good genes, but he had my brains. He was a blessing to us until one day he left us." Dr. Connor spoke somberly, he sets his mug down and grabs the picture as he stares at it with a faraway look. "Too early."

A look I knew too well, for it was the only look I wore when staring at my parent's picture with me.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Connor. I had no clue." I apologize for my blunt question.

"It's fine really, I've come to terms with it. Speaking about her always brightens my day, so when I have the chance I do it." He sets the picture aside and grabs the mug before looking at me. "So, I assume you're here for your father?"

I nod, "Yes. My aunt and uncle seem to avoid talking about him, I wanted to know if you knew where he was heading in such haste. Did he tell you something, perhaps, what was happening?"

Dr. Connor glances at the ground in deep thought, a crease forms between his eyebrows as he racks his brain for some sort of information. After a long pause, he turns to me, giving me a slight head shake. "I'm afraid I can't help you much, Peter. Before your father left we weren't on speaking terms, we had an argument work-related, it was something silly. I don't recall what specifically, but yes, I'm sorry I can't be of assistance."

Letting out a defeated sigh, all my hopes of learning what had happened to my parents were shattered. I had bet everything on Dr. Connor, hoping he'll tell me something, whatever, but instead, I found myself in the same dead end as always. Perhaps I should just accept it and move on, but something held me back, it was unbeknownst to me. But whatever the reason, I couldn't move on, how can you move on after having your parents promise you that everything would be okay? That promise alone told me that they were planning to come back for me, but something stopped them from doing so.

Just why life has to be a pain in the back?

I cleared my throat, "I read your book."

The change of topic made Dr. Connors visually relax, he probably didn't want to deal with a troubled teenager. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it's... it's something." I nod, "So you really think it's possible, cross-species genetics?"

Dr. Connor straighten his posture as a particular look settle on his face, it was almost childish, seeing a grown man look so excited about something was a sight. "Yeah, of course. But for years your father and I were mocked for our theories, not just in the community at large, but at OsCorp as well. They called us mad scientists." He guffaws, the laugh was anything but genuine. "But then your father bred the spider and everything changed. The results were beyond encouraging, they were spectacular. We were going to change the lives of millions, including my own. But then it was over."

His voice drops to a mere mumble, his shoulders slump in defeat as he recalls a memory that is unknown to me. "What happened?"

Dr. Connor turns to look at me, "He -your father, was gone. Took his research with him, I knew then that without him the experiment couldn't go on, and... I... I was angry. So I stayed away from you and your family and for that, I am truly sorry, grudges are an ugly thing and I let it out of my grasp."

I stare at him, my mind taking me back to the research I found on the briefcase, but then a recent memory flashes in. The rude man back in OsCorp along with the room filled with spiders... my heart began to beat harshly against my rib cage as my brain connected the dots. They were trying to replicate my father's algorithm; I have no doubt that Dr. Connor is part of it, which only means that the spider that bit me was no regular spider.

No, it can't be.

It can't be, right?

"Say... say it worked. Say you got it to work. Like, how much would the foreign species take over? What... what could the side effects be?" I ask him, eager to know more about what type of spider was in that room.

Dr. Connor presses his lips into a thin line as he looks at the picture on the counter, "It's hard to say, considering no subjects survived." He looks at me, "The problem was always —"

"— Decay rate algorithm?"

Dr. Connor once again remains surprised by me, I seem to have that effect on him. "Right." He confirms.

I nod before looking at a notebook situated against the wall of the counter; I motion at it. "Right, can I uh..."

"Of course." I grab the notebook, find a clean page before grabbing the pencil, and begin to write down the formula my father had in his research folder.

Dr. Connor leans over, blue eyes staring down at the algorithm on the paper. Once I finished, I turn the notebook around and slide it closer to him, he took the notebook and brought it closer to his face. His eyebrows were furrowed as he analyzes it for a minute or less before lowering the notebook and looking at me with hope and purpose.

"Extraordinary. How did you come up with this?" He questioned, truly outstanding.

I breathe out a laugh before shrugging and pointing at my head in a nonchalant manner.

An amused smile appears on his face, "Peter, how would you feel about coming to see me at the Tower one day after school?"

My heart almost lurches out of my chest from the excitement, it's not every day you get to work side by side with one of the most legendary scientists New York has to offer.

"Yeah." I nod with a smile.

Maybe there is a secret door that leads out of the dead-end after all.

"Thank you."

No, thank you, Dr. Connor.

🅷🅾🅻🅰

HOLA RAZA!! OMG, Dr. Connor had

A family? Who knew? I didn't, poorMan. Lost his daughter and apparently
His wife went M.I.A.

Sadly he can't bring his daughter

Back from the dead. :(

Tell me what you think, and give someLove and leave a comment.

Love you guys, stay safe💞