11. Good As Dead

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 Eleven.

‘Crap, crap, crap,’ Adina thought repeatedly. 

Her lower lip was sore, cracked, and bleeding. She had nibbled it far too hard for far too long. Forced to move to biting her fingernails (which she absolutely hated, the action was so unsanitary and the results were disgusting), Adina had worked through all ten fingers. Nothing left to chew and no way to release her anxiety, worry bubbled inside her.

She should have found the party by now. God, she should have found it an hour ago. Or so it seemed. What times was it anyway? She should have brought her cell phone with her instead of leaving it in the car. She was just sick of Daniel calling her! Was it too much to ask for a moment of peace or freedom? The sun had set. The temperature was beyond dropping. Tears threatened to spill. How could an idea that seemed so sure turn into something so horrendous? How could she make such a terrible mistake? 

The trees merged into a vibrant, washing wall of green and brown rainbows. The purples and navy of the sky during the sunset bled into the shadows still resting on the earth. Everything opened like a bottomless pit and trap, all too easily fallen into. Too many animals were calling and crying out, but Adina had yet to hear or see one person in the time she had been wandering. Finding a party should not be this hard! Then again, what did she know of the matter? 

“Life should not be this hard,” Adina bemoaned in a defeated whisper. 

A new sound entered the evening. A rustling of leaves, but something more sinister than the wind passing by. Adina felt a chill in her bones, caused by more than the cool air. Her thumping heart beat almost became audible as it pounded in her chest. Hair stood on end along her neck, raising from her arms as if a ghost hovered close by. The sound drew nearer. 

Behind her! 

Adina raced to turn around but saw nothing. 

“H-hello?” she called out nervously. Her mind cried for Daniel. This had been a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake. 

The girl panted and panted, but received no breath. She fled and hid, until no place was left. There was no day when her eyes were dry. She lived in fear until the day she died. Some say her soul roams these woods, looking for an innocent to devour and take her place.

Adina’s mind trailed back to the ghost story told by Tabitha on her first trip to Devil’s Den. Ghosts. Spirits. Did Adina dare believe in them? Of course not . . . but now? Every nerve in her body warned her than an entity was nearby. She felt a presence, unable to explain. Could it be the soul of a long dead woman?

 Others say it is the man who remains, or at least, his spirit. Such a man as that, they say, had no soul.

“Daniel?” Adina cried, hoping he could somehow hear her. Save her. Her heart felt icy, and her mind was showing her images of her future, imminent death. Bloody and gory, Adina knew her mind would never conjure up something so horrific on its own. Obviously something was plaguing her, playing her emotional strings. But what?

Another sound flooded the air, seeming new but rotten. A hiss. A low calling, a desperate longing. Almost seductive, but completely venomous. Adina paused, letting her head tilt down in the direction of the sound. Her eyes froze wide open as her jaw dropped. Sliding out of the brush and onto the path was a snake.

Adina watched in morbid fascination as it slithered its way toward her. Why was it on the path? Aren’t snakes day time creatures anyway? Adina slowly stepped back as the creature crept closer. She had read enough werewolf stories to know never to run from a wolf. Even her neighbor’s pets taught her to never run from a dog. But snakes? She could not recall any safety information on how to avoid a snake. She just knew that some were poisonous, and she should avoid getting bitten.

Barely breathing, Adina stepped to the side of the path, hoping the snake would creep on by her or move into the brush. She would even accept it disappearing from her sight with an inaudible poof. Did the snake see her? It’s not like its pitch black eyes were on the front of his head. Maybe she would come away unscathed . . . 

Unfortunately, the snake slid over until it was a few feet away from her. In a breathless moment, the snake rose up, lifting the upper half of its body off the ground. 

Terrified, Adina wanted to cry as it waved its body back and forth as if contemplating her. The thing had to have noticed her. It faced her and flicked out its tongue as if it was tasting her through the air. 

Now that it was sitting up, the snake’s disgusting head reached Adina’s mid-thigh, causing the snake to appear even larger. Considering the widest width of the snake’s body was similar in size to Adina’s forearm, Adina paled knowing that the snake did not need to look larger. Not one bit. 

Hood perched and tongue-flicking more deliberately, the snake shot out before Adina’s eyes registered the move. Her slow reflexes registered the snake’s attack only after she felt a fiery piercing in her hand. 

With an appropriate cry, she looked down to see the snake had moved. Now its head was attached to the back of her right hand, fangs bared and buried into her skin. Purely reacting on instincts, Adina screamed and grabbed the snake’s neck, pulling it back and ripping it from her hand. Flinging it away with yet another cry, she ran in the opposite direction. 

Doing the only thing she could think of for help, Adina pressed her bleeding wound to her mouth and sucked. The venomous warm liquid burned her mouth. Gagging, she spit out the thickness as her legs wobbled. 

Her vision swam as a sense of lightheadedness clouded her. She tried to lift her hand again, hoping to get another mouthful of venom out of her body, but her knees buckled. She was forced to put both hands out to brace her descent. Too bad the venom had already spread, causing her arms to collapse beneath the weight of her upper body. 

The fierce, pinching burning was spreading through her body and quickly became the only sensation Adina could feel. The rocks under her, digging into her ribs and hips were not her focus as her brained slowed. Breathing became a labor; moving was impossible. Her eyes drooped before being paralyzed barely open. A lone tear of fear and regret slid down her dirt-smothered cheek.

A pair of two bare feet and barely distinguishable legs entered her vision, but before her mind could even process a thought of asking for help, Adina’s conscious slipped away, leaving her as good as dead.

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