The Fire -1-

-S1, Ep7: Chapter 31-

-Chapter 31: Culebra Lesson #1- 

Tanner put a culebra on the table and the group all stood around it.

"A lot of what we hear about vampires comes from the Spanish missionaries' misconceptions about these culebras." Tanner explained. "They had most of it right, but these puppies are more snake than bat. Check this out." He pulled the culebra's head to the side, showing the veins in it's neck. "Venom glands!" Tanner chuckled. "And look at this." He grunted as he opened the culebra's mouth and showed the fangs. "See the fangs? Conical in shape. And they fold up against the guns, right?" He folded the fangs in a bit before they popped back out. "Cause they hinge down like a snake!"

"That's insane!" Scott said.

"Yeah, well, the codices say that these guys are descendants from the Mistress, who was a nice young lady that the Snake God transformed into a bloodsucking demigoddess." Tanner explained. "Just think...succubus. And neither she nor these culebras are supposed to exist."

"Yeah, well, it's been that kind of day." Seth said. The culebra hissed, unconsciously.

"Ooh." Tanner said as Jacob cocked his shotgun.

"We better make sure these things are dead." Seth said and grabbed a piece of wood next to him. "I mean, really, really dead." He stabbed the culebra in the chest and it roared as it turned into dust.

"Makes sense." Tanner said. "Destroying the blood organ kills 'em. You know what to do." Everyone went to a culebra and started killing the ones that were down.

Anna stared down at the one she chose. It was a girl. She looked to be around her age. As Anna stared down at the girl, she realized how sad it was. This girl, whoever she was, she had her whole life ahead of her at one point in her life. She was somebody's daughter, sister, girlfriend, she was someone. And now, she was a monster.

Seth killed the 3rd one he chose and looked around to see everyone getting rid of the culebras. His eyes stopped on the redhead. She held the wooden stake in her hands, staring down at the creature. Seth could see the conflicting emotions building in the girl's eyes. The creature looked to be around Anna's age. And from the looks of it, Anna could see herself in the creature. She could relate to it on a level...one that Seth couldn't understand. The only thing he could understand, was the look in Anna's eyes. Anna wasn't gonna kill this girl.

Anna could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She felt so bad for whoever this poor soul was. She wished she could fix this girl's life, but she couldn't. There's no going back once you become a culebra. She knew that. But she still wished to fix her.

"Princess?"

Anna turned her head and saw Seth standing there, looking down at her.

"I can't..." She shook her head, not being able to finish her sentence. He nodded, understanding what she was trying to say.

"I got it." He said and held his hand out for her to pass him her stake. She looked down at it and passed it to him. She gave the female culebra one last look before standing up and walking away. She stood with her back to the culebra and Seth. Seth got ready and stabbed the female culebra, it's roars of pain causing Anna to cover her ears. But she knew those painful cries would be stuck in her head for a long time. Seth stood up and walked over to the end of the stage. He sat down and looked at Tanner. "So, this mistress, is that Santanico Pandemonium?"