“Hey!” I announced my presence and turned on my flashlight, hoping it would scare whatever critter was sauntering up. Only to find the monster walking up, coated in a sheen of blood.
The term monster was becoming more and more distasteful even in my mind, but I also didn’t like the names Defect or Rot. Everything felt unnatural to think, much less say.
As he got closer, I saw the gleam of disapproval in his eyes, and I remembered that I’d left the nest when I knew he didn’t want me to. I hadn’t even been thinking about it at the time. The only thought I had was to escape.
The loud chatter of a rattle made me freeze as I realized an entire family of rattlesnakes rested on my body. They must have sensed my warmth and cuddled up by the proverbial fire.
I froze, making sure not to have any more shaky movements. In my pocket was some cinnamon spray that would be perfect for making them scatter, but I wasn’t sure if I could twist my body and get in that pocket without disturbing them.
I slowly reached, but another rattle started up. A duet of ‘you fucked up’ made by nature herself. How had I not noticed all the weight sitting on my torso, but heard him walking through leaves?
“What are you guys even doing here?’ I whispered so my voice wouldn’t vibrate. “The sage should have kept you out of here.”
“Just move them,” the monster grumbled when he got closer.
“These sweet babies are highly poisonous,” I informed him. “I’ll be dead before I make it to a hospital if I startle them.”
“The swamp chose you,” he said. “That’s why they are there.”
His words made me pause. I licked my lips. “You said it was because I fucked up.”
“That’s what I tell myself.” The soft confession caught me off guard. “But I don’t think you would have found the nest if the land hadn’t guided you there. The same way it chose me.”
Guiding was too gentle a word for dropping me into this mess.
Unease went through me, and I wanted to say there was no way to move four snakes without triggering one. But he couldn’t give a helping hand with the sage between us, and he wouldn’t let me do something stupid that would kill him too.
What if he is wrong?
There was no science to his words. It was based on ‘the swamp’s’ decision. Blind faith, if I’d ever seen it.
I took a deep breath. Whether it was faith or not, I couldn’t stay like this. I could wait for them to go off on their own, but I’d piss off one sooner rather than later. A single mistimed sneeze would kill me.
Sack up, Talia.
My heart sped up as I slowly reached for the closest snake to my hand. My fingers ran across their bumpy, slick skin. When I opened my fingers to wrap them around its body, it snapped at my thumb. My breathing caught, but I didn’t dare yank away. That was a recipe for disaster.
I should’ve waited for them to go on their own.
After a long second of holding still, the snake slithered into my grasp like an obedient puppy. I gasped at the way it wrapped around my arm and rested its head against me. As if it knew I wouldn’t harm them if they didn't hurt me. I’d spent plenty of time around snakes, and I’d never seen one that wasn’t a pet behave like that.
What kind of magic did this monster have that would change how animals treated me?
Each one allowed me to wrap it around my limbs without any fuss. They must have only gotten upset because I startled them jerking around for my light.
It was easy to secure them onto me. Rot took a step forward as if to help. Fire blazed up my foot and through my blood until he stepped back with a hiss.
The vivid image of me flipping the hammock and ending up on the ground with some pissed off snakes filled my mind, but I couldn’t give whosoever fear that was any attention.
I slowly rolled to the side he stood. There was a jerky moment where all of them complained with a warning rattle, but I got to my feet smoothly enough that they kept their fangs to themselves.
After that, the task was easy enough. I escorted them a few yards away, crouching down to the ground. At first they coiled tighter around my limbs, refusing to go.
Shit. What now?
“It’s time to go, guys.”
One by one they released and slithered in the darkness. One even looked back at me as if it was disappointed I was hogging all the warmth. Tears pricked my eyes.
