The singular fan that pointed at the foster parents’ bed did nothing to cool the rest of the space.
The muggy summer heat was oppressive.
Nyx clicked her fangs. “Fine—but someday, kid, I’ll kill them for you.”
I huffed. “You can’t. Killing is a sin. It’s morally the worst thing you can ever do. Your soul will be corrupted. Father John says so.”
“Father John sounds like a stupid idiot—you’re too young to know what you speak of,” Nyx said. “When you’re older, you’ll think differently.”
She was definitely going to hell for saying that.
Wait—didn’t Father John say snakes are evil... am I going to hell for befriending her?
Eternal damnation was surprisingly complicated.
I shook my head. “I will never kill someone,” I promised, chest burning with sincerity.
Nyx scoffed.
Gingerly, I settled into the cardboard box that functioned as my bed.
A piece of small white fabric lay at the bottom and an eight-letter label was engraved in gold across the front. It was the onesie I’d been wearing when the orphanage found me as a baby—the only possession in the world that was mine.
There was a weird gliding sensation as Nyx repositioned her heavy weight across my lap.
“Can you talk to all people?” I whispered.
“No, kid,” Nyx said softly, “it’s unusual that you can hear me. I can only talk to my own kind, and there aren’t a lot of us.”
“Well, I think it’s nice,” I mumbled with sleepiness. “Now you can’t leave me because we can talk—I’ve always wanted a friend... just no killing... promise?”
“I don’t make asinine oaths. Enough chatter,” Nyx hissed. “We sleep.”
Only later would I realize my stutter had disappeared completely when I talked to her.
Beasts didn’t scare me.
People did.
That was how a thirty-pound invisible poisonous snake became my closest companion.
Yes, I befriended the first monster I’d ever met.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
I jolted awake a few hours later.
There was a loud thumping noise at the front of the trailer.
Mother and Father swore loudly as they staggered out of bed toward the obnoxious, repetitive sound.
I peeked out the corner of my box. Nyx mumbled against me and shifted but didn’t wake up.
A short elderly woman with pure white hair and shocking purple eyes stood at the door.
