The second I manage to pry it off him, it recoils so fast that it slices my palm before slapping me in the face. Seconds later, it does the same to Arjun’s neck, only this time it wraps itself around his throat.
“I think we need a new plan,” he chokes out.
Yeah. Me too.
Even though panic is churning in my stomach and terror is creeping up my spine, I force myself to remember that the school won’t kill its first years on their first day—and probably not ever. Though as the vine around my own neck starts to tighten, I do have to wonder.
All of a sudden, Fifi lets out a terrified shriek. It’s followed quickly by answering shouts from Paris, Rhea, and Sullivan.
I try to turn my head around to see what’s going on with them, and as I do, Arjun starts thrashing around and yelling too—or at least as close to yelling as he can get with a vine wrapped around his throat. And that’s when I see it. The vines have turned to snakes.
The same terror running through my friends explodes within me, but I tamp it down. And when the snake currently wrapped around my wrist lifts its head just enough to meet my gaze with its glowing red eyes, I flash back to the bridge yesterday.
“Nice snakey,” Fifi says, her voice quivering. “Nice, nice snakey.”
All I hear in response is a very alarming rattle followed by more terrified shrieks.
“It’s okay,” I call, trying to stay calm even as my heart rate races off the charts. “They won’t hurt you.”
“They look like they want to hurt us,” Paris tells me.
Another ominous rattle follows his statement.
“It’s okay,” I say again. “This is just like the bridge yesterday.”
“Exactly what bridge are you talking about?” Fifi squeaks. “There were no snakes on the bridge I crossed!” Her voice goes way up at the end, and I turn just in time to see a snake sliding up her cheek.
“Don’t move!” I tell her hoarsely.
“Not planning on it,” she whispers.
Rhea’s been pretty quiet up until now because of the vine around her mouth, but all of a sudden she starts screaming, “Get off, get off, get off!” at the top of her lungs. Her terror must give her superstrength, because somehow she manages to grab the snake wrapped around her waist and throw it off.
“How did you do that?” Paris demands as he, too, tries to rip off the snake twisted around his legs.
But before Rhea can answer, the other snakes wrapped around her start hissing angrily, and the one closest to her face opens its mouth like it’s trying to decide if it wants to bite her or swallow her whole.
Rhea screams like she’s being murdered as Sullivan yelps, “What is happening here?”
The only response he gets is from the snake closest tohis face, which is currently sticking its tongue in and out.
“Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no!” Sullivan screeches. “I’m not ready to die yet. I’m not ready to go. I’m not—” His fear only antagonizes the snakes more—at least if their sudden, frenzied rattling is any indication.
“This is just like the bridge!” I tell everyone again. “We just need to figure out—”
“No, Ellie, it’s not!” Arjun whispers urgently. “Just because you keep saying that doesn’t make it true. The last time I saw a snake in person was on my field trip to the zoo.”
His words make no more sense than Fifi’s did, but I’m not exactly in a position to ask questions right now. Because if they never faced the snakes, then they’re even more freaked out than I am right now.
As I glance down at the snake slowly undulating its way up and down my arm, I can’t help but think about how the bridge snakes suddenly retreated…after one of them bit me.
Is that the secret, then? Do I let one of these things bite me and hope all of them will be satisfied? At the thought, my heart starts pounding so hard it makes my chest hurt. Because the snake that bit me on the bridge was a regular old garter snake. These are rattlesnakes, which means they’re venomous.
I can’t just let one bite me, can I?
Then again, if I don’t, aren’t they just going to bite everybody? If I know the way to help, shouldn’t I try it rather than let my brother, my friends, and my classmates suffer too?
Rhea screeches and I turn my head in time to see a snakestrike out at her face. She manages to knock it back, but judging by the way his rattling intensifies, that just makes him angry. And that, in turn, makes the other snakes angry.
