Finally.
I had a difficult time sleeping that night, thinking about Jasmyn the whole time. I wondered if she was thinking of me too. It made me happy to imagine that she might be. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow after school. I almost wanted to skip class to go see her, but I knew that such a decision would ultimately come back to bite me in the butt.
In the morning I was surprisingly still alert, even though I had barely slept. I discovered that I had trapped a fox in one of my traps, so I stored it away in a cage before getting ready for the day. My father walked me halfway to school as usual, needing to take a different route to work. I was still so excited about letting Jasmyn know, that I almost forgot to give the note to my teacher, reminding me of the annoyances of my daily life.
She scoffed when she saw my dad’s handwriting.
Ms. Landerson was actually really pretty despite her plain complexion, but the almost permanent scowl on her face whenever she was interacting with me made me perceive her as being ugly. I suspected that the reason why she was still single had nothing to do with her appearance.
“Ugh,” she groaned in annoyance. “He probably didn’t even discipline you, did he? If you were my daughter…” she gritted her teeth together.
She didn’t need to continue anyway, because I knew what she would say. Probably something like, ‘I’d beat you to death,’ since I had slandered her favorite student. Good thing I wasn’t her daughter. It was none of her business how I was disciplined.
I was relieved when she told me to have a seat.
Thankfully, Ryker wasn’t in my class, since he was a year older, but both Kaylee and Meno were. While I suffered through Ms. Landerson’s lecture, the two of them were busy spending most of the day exchanging a note to each other whenever our teacher wasn’t looking. I thought it was a little unusual, since I was fairly certain that Kaylee was interested in Ryker, but just because they were exchanging notes didn’t mean anything romantic was going on between them.
Not that I cared either way.
As long as they weren’t focused on me, then that’s all that mattered. I preferred to just be ignored.
I was relieved when the day was finally over. I headed straight home to kill the fox I had caught last night. Once I was on my way to see Jasmyn, I decided to take the long way through the trees, wanting to avoid another chance encounter. Yesterday, I had taken what I thought was a safe path through town, but I had still been spotted by Kaylee. I didn’t want to risk it today.
My excitement began feeling like it was going to explode out of my chest as I drew closer to Jasmyn’s cave. I clung to the dead fox joyfully, almost wanting to skip the rest of the way.
However, unexpectedly I heard yelling coming from the direction I was heading, causing me to gasp in surprise when I recognized the voices. My happiness was instantly shattered as dread filled my heart. I held Jasmyn’s dinner even tighter against my chest as I began running.
Crack.
The sound of a rock hitting a stone wall echoed throughout the trees.
Fear clawed at my heart as I ran faster.
“Freak!” Ryker’s voice called out.
“Yeah! Filthy snake!” Meno shouted.
“Abomination!” Kaylee yelled.
I gasped again as they came into view.
Five of my peers were here, having Jasmyn cornered against the rocks on the side of the entrance to her cave. Her snake lower-half was curled up underneath herself, the sky-blue scales looking like they were vibrating as she trembled in fear. Her hands were at the sides of her head trying to protect herself from the stones being tossed at her body. Her white hair was hiding her face, but I knew she was terrified.
I was surprised Ryker and his crew would be so bold after seeing her, but Jasmyn’s scared reaction probably gave them the courage to attack – it was like they could smell fear.
“Leave her alone!” I shrieked.
I bolted straight for Ryker, dropping the fox as I used my bodyweight to shove him to the ground. Everyone else backed away in surprise when he faceplanted, likely shocked considering he was a lot larger than me. I then tried to move in front of Jasmyn to shield her.
“Bitch!” he yelled, jumping back up.
“Snake lover!” Kaylee shouted, her eyes full of spite as she chucked a rock at me. It hit me in the shoulder, causing me to gasp from the unexpected pain. It hurt worse being hit at this closer distance.
“I’m going to kill you for that!” Ryker continued, pulling out a long blade.
I immediately felt the blood drain from my face.
Because he was serious. His eyes were filled with hatred. Of all the days to leave my knife at home, why today? It wouldn’t do much to protect us, but at least he might think twice if he thought he could get hurt too.
A sinister chuckle escaped his hideous face when he saw my expression. “I thought you might have a pet you were taking care of out here. Turns out I was right,” he laughed again, his eyes darkening. “So we came to kill it.”
“Just leave us alone!” I shouted again, my voice breaking. “She didn’t do anything to you!”
He scoffed, holding up the blade. “Die bitch! Move and I’ll stab the filthy snake instead!”
He lunged forward.
I didn’t move, because Jasmyn was literally right behind me. I was almost touching her. Every fiber of my being told me to get out of the way, my instincts screaming at me to dodge the knife, but I couldn’t do it.
I had to protect her. My friend.
Despite what he said, it looked like he was expecting me to move after all, because his eyes widened in surprise as the blade buried itself in my gut. His weight slammed me back into Jasmyn, smashing us both into the rock wall.
Ryker immediately let go of the knife and jumped backwards. “Stupid bitch!” he yelled at me in horror.
“Shit,” Meno gasped, his eyes wide in shock. He immediately spun on his heels and took off running, followed quickly by Kaylee and everyone else.
Ryker just stood there dumbfounded for a second before pointing his finger. “She did it!” he announced, not realizing he was the only person left. “The snake stabbed you!” He then took a hesitant step back, before turning and running away too.
I slumped to the ground, landing on my knees and then falling awkwardly onto my side. Suddenly I found myself staring into Jasmyn’s golden eyes as she gently helped me onto my back. Her expression was just as horrified and shocked as I felt.
“Alyssa,” she cried, glancing down at the knife still sticking out of me. “What should I do?” she pleaded.
I couldn’t speak. All I could do was focus on the excruciating pain in my gut. It hurt so much. And it was so hot inside of me. Something important must have been stabbed, like a kidney.
Jasmyn’s eyes rapidly began filling with tears, some of them falling on my face. “Alyssa!” she cried again. She reached out like she was going to touch the knife, before flinching and looking at me again. “Please! I don’t know what to do!” she begged.
I coughed as I tried to respond, my mouth tasting like metal. “I don’t know,” I whispered.
More of her tears fell on my face as she leaned closer. “Alyssa,” she whispered back. “Why?” She was sobbing now. “Why didn’t you move? You should have just run away.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said firmly, coughing again. “You’re my friend. And…” I coughed, trying to focus. “Jasmyn, you’re my best friend.”
“You’re my only friend,” she sobbed, her eyes squeezing shut like she was in physical pain. She leaned forward then and gently kissed me on the forehead, more of her tears falling on my face. After a moment, her expression became more determined. “I’ll go get help,” she promised.
I reached out and grabbed her thin arm, the blood on my hand slipping on her scaly patch, making it difficult to hold onto her. “No,” I said firmly. “Jasmyn,” I coughed, “they might kill you.”
She sobbed. “But you’ll die if I don’t g
et help…”
“You should leave,” I said almost inaudibly, trying to focus on her gold eyes. “If Ryker tells them you stabbed me, then they’ll come looking for you.”
“No,” she whimpered, pressing her forehead against mine. “Please,” she begged again. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll do anything. Please.”
I reached up to my chest, feeling my pendant underneath my shirt. Jasmyn immediately pulled it out for me, probably assuming it meant something.
But it didn’t.
I just suddenly missed my mom, wishing I could see her again. Wishing I remembered seeing her in the first place. I grasped the black rock tightly in my fingers and sucked in a shallow breath.
“Leave,” I repeated quietly, my volume completely gone now. My mind was beginning to swim as I felt more light-headed.
Jasmyn’s expression pained, the muscles in her face trembling in grief, her bottom lip quivering. We were both quiet for what felt like a long time. And then something abruptly changed as she watched the life begin to drain from my eyes. I saw the same look in her expression that I had seen in Ryker’s just moments ago.
Pure hatred.
“I’m going to kill them,” she whispered harshly, gently kissing me on the forehead again. “I’m going to kill all of them for killing you.”
I listened absentmindedly, unable to even fully process what she was saying. Did she think I was already dead? Maybe I was dead. I wasn’t breathing anymore. My muscles felt limp, including my hand.
I watched as she rose up from me and quickly took off, slithering away much faster than a person could run.
And then I was alone, loosely grasping my pendant, my mind completely blank. I stared up at the blue sky barely visible through the green canopy, watching the leaves gently flutter in the occasional breeze.
There was nothing for a long time.
Unexpectedly, a loud crack filled my ears.
The black onyx in my hand shattered.
Chapter 3: Revival
I gasped as an explosion erupted from inside of me.
Literally.
It was like my entire body detonated into a massive ball of purple fire, and the sky began raining down strikes of black lightning all around me.
Or was the lightning coming from the ground? Rising up into the sky? It was almost as if the lightning was coming from me, crackling around my body.
I felt the knife in my gut get shoved out of my stomach, and I took a sharp breath as the pain in my side peaked briefly before completely disappearing. I held up my palms and watched in shock as my skin abruptly shifted to an extremely dark gray – the color of charcoal. I turned my hands over as my nails turned pitch black and began elongating into sharp claws. And my eyes stung for a moment as something happened to them too.
And then it was over, an unexpected thrill rushing through my muscles.
I was still on fire – vibrant purple flames flickered all around me, somehow failing to devour my clothing. I sat up hesitantly, feeling almost too good as the shards of my pendant fell to the ground in between my legs. I pulled up my blood-soaked shirt to look at my flat gray stomach. My eyes widened in shock when I saw that there was nothing there – not even a scar.
A sound – followed immediately by movement in the corner of my eye – caught my attention and my head snapped over to see Jasmyn rushing through the trees. She froze in shock when she saw me, and I just stared back at her when I saw her hands and forearms covered in blood.
The purple flames around me slowly died down while we held each other’s gaze.
I finally spoke up, my tone sounding a little apathetic. “Did you kill them?”
Her eyes widened even more. “Y-Yes,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “All five.”
I focused on the blood on her arms again, discovering the color holding my attention. It was…enticing. I stood up slowly, staring at her for a moment longer, only to close the gap between us in the blink of an eye.
One moment I was at least twenty feet away, and the next I was standing right in front of her.
She gasped and recoiled automatically from the startle, but I reached out to grab her blood-covered wrist, holding her in place. She began trembling, her eyes wide, as I slowly raised her hand up to my face. I then carefully stuck out my tongue, realizing it was almost twice its normal size, and licked the blood on her palm.
I sighed heavily in relief as my mouth flooded with drool.
It tasted so good.
I reached out with my other hand to grab her elbow, and began maneuvering her arm carefully while I licked the blood off. The whole time her gold eyes were wide, her pupils dilated a little, her entire body locked up in fright.
Once I had run my tongue down her entire forearm a few times and moved on to her other hand, she seemed to relax a little.
“Alyssa,” she finally whispered hesitantly, watching me lick the back of her hand. “What are you?”
I sighed, running my tongue along her wrist, before pulling away a little. I felt my ears twitch when I heard some commotion in the distance. I reached up, pinching my ear in between my fingers to discover that they were twice as long now, and pointy, unlike my usual small round ears.
“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly, glancing up at her. “I thought I was human.”
“I did too,” she whispered.
Her snake eyes didn’t seem to bother me anymore as I stared into them. It took me a moment to notice my own tiny reflection in her dilated black pupils. I gasped when I realized my eyes were the same as hers now. They were a brilliant crimson instead of gold, and the slits in my red irises were wider, along with the white part of my eye being pitch black, but still…they were the same.
And then, as I considered her question, it suddenly happened.
My memories flooded back, and I realized what I was.
My father had lied.
My mother didn’t visit once a year – she visited once a month to spend time with me, staying for a few days.
No wonder I missed her so much. She was a regular part of my life. And the reason why she couldn’t stay around was because she looked just like me – her skin dark gray, her eyes bright red. Because she was a demon, and I was her half-demon child.
The gossip that she was a devil wasn’t a rumor after all.
And the black pendant was a gift to suppress my magic, in hopes that I could live a normal life until I could control it on my own.
Because, unlike her, I had a choice.
I could choose forms, so long as I could regulate my magic effectively. And it helped that my father was actually a shapeshifter, though I had never seen him in any form other than his human one. My parents didn’t think he had passed his ability directly on to me, but it was probably the reason why I could transition to a human in the first place.
I focused on Jasmyn’s hesitant expression as I heard the commotion in the distance grow louder. “We need to go,” I announced. “Let’s hurry back to my house and see my dad. He will know what to do.”
She nodded hesitantly. “Okay,” she whispered. “Umm…Lead the way.”
I grabbed her hand as I began to move, unsure of how fast I needed to go to match her pace.
Not wanting to let go, I had to run slightly ahead of her to avoid getting in the way of her tail, like I was dragging her along. But it only took us a few seconds to get in sync, and then we were flying through the forest at a pace much faster than I had ever thought possible. We made it back to my house in record time, with my transformed body being capable of running more than triple the speed I was used to.
But my father wasn’t home when we got there.
I had Jasmyn wait in the trees while I dashed into the house, expecting him to be home. However, when I found it empty, I decided to invite her in, taking her to my small room to hide while we waited. We didn’t talk very much, instead just sitting side-by-side on my bed.
She had an arm wrapped around my shoulders, with my own arms wrapped aroun
d my knees, while I listened carefully to the noises outside. My hearing was much better than I was used to, as was my eyesight.
I could hear everything.
Beyond all the birds and cicadas, I could detect the grunt of a deer that was awake early for the night, the squeaking of a fox in the brush behind our house, and even a low purring inside the room that I unexpectedly identified as a spider in the corner of my ceiling. I had no idea a spider could make a noise, yet it was undeniably coming from the small pest.
Jasmyn’s sky-blue tail was laid out like long legs, the majority of it lying on the floor since my bed was so small. The underside of her body was leathery, being only a slightly lighter shade as her sky-blue scales. We were both silent for a long time while we waited.
All my muscles tensed when I finally heard someone run up to the house, their footsteps extremely heavy, and then I sighed in relief when I heard my dad’s voice call out to me.
“Alyssa! Are you here?!” he asked, slamming the front door shut behind him.
“In my room!” I called out.
He appeared in the doorway just a moment later, pausing briefly when he saw Jasmyn. He then focused his gaze on me, unsurprised by my appearance. “I saw your magic released. What happened?!” he asked breathlessly.
“Ryker killed me,” I admitted in a rush. “He stabbed me with a knife.” I then lowered my knees, so he could get a better look at my blood-stained shirt.
His eyes widened in shock. “And you killed him?” he wondered hesitantly.
“Yes,” I blurted out, before Jasmyn could say anything.
But she gave herself away, lowering her gaze with tears slipping from her eyes as she tightened her grip around my shoulders. “I thought she was dead,” she sobbed abruptly. “And there was nothing I could do to help her.” She lowered her head more, closing her eyes. “All I had left was getting revenge for them killing my only friend.”
My father looked back and forth between us for a moment, easily fitting the pieces together, before sighing heavily. “So is there anyone alive who has seen either of you?”
We both looked at him in shock, Jasmyn snapping her head up abruptly. We exchanged a glance, before she answered him. “N-No,” she whispered.
Magicbound to a Snake Girl Page 3
