OPHIDIOPHOBIA - IT

SIX

It was around 8 when the sun started to set, ready for nightfall slowly. Alexa remembered she needed to go to the pharmacy to get more bandaids for the house and started biking over there.

The bike ride was nice, it wasn't too hot since nightfall was about to come. Once at the store, Alexa parked her bike and went inside.

She saw Mr. Keene at the counter cleaning his glasses, he always gave her a weird vibe so she made sure to get out of sight quickly.

Finding the bandaids she began her search for the specific ones she needed.

But something had distracted her from the bandaids in front of her. She felt something brush against her foot.

It was that damned snake again!

"The fuck?" She muttered, why were there snakes everywhere she went?

She took a step back and went to find Mr. Keene, no matter how creepy he was, she still needed to tell him about this.

He wasn't at the counter. She called out, "Mr. Keene?" Not hearing a response she let out a sigh.

Alexa had to figure out what to do, she didn't want to leave it there, but she wasn't going to pick it up and toss it.

She couldn't find a phone anywhere to call the police, so she was alone.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit" That's all Alexa could think.

"You know what?" Alexa muttered to herself, "I'm just gonna go, I don't need to be here. I'm gonna get my bandaids and leave."

She slowly made her way back to the aisle and was frozen in her place with what she saw.

It was a clown?

He was looking at the bandaids she had picked up a few minutes prior.

But what was more frightening was the snakes all around him. They were surrounded by his feet and she could hear the slithering and hissing from them.

She took a step back being as quiet as possible, but the clown somehow still noticed her.

His neck made a loud crunch and looked all wanky. His eyes were an eery orange, they made her feel dizzy.

"Hiya Lexa!" He sounded excited, and his face matched his tone but Alexa wasn't completely sure he was happy.

"H-Hi.." She hesitated a creepy fucking clown was talking to her.

"You need bandaids for that snake bite?" He tilted his head, facing the girl now. He held the box mockingly in front of her, now having an exaggerated pout on his face.

Alexa's face hardened, what snake bite?

She felt a sharp pain in her thigh, there was again that bright green neon snake.

"Fuck!" Alexa screamed, she fell backward and onto the cold hard floor. She was examining her thigh but couldn't find anything.

Behind her she heard someone running, whipping her head around she found Mr. Keene.

"What happened here?"

She stood up, "The clown, and — and the snakes! Look!" She pointed behind her as if it wasn't obvious where the 6 foot clown was.

"Where?"

"What?" Alexa turned her head so fast it hurt. Nothing was there, everything was in its place.

Mr. Keene looked at her confusedly, "Should I call your mom?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

Alexa shivered at the touch, "No, it's okay. Can I buy some bandaids?" She moved back to escape his grasp. The confused girl took the bandaids on the shelf and headed to the counter.

After paying and running out, Alexa caught her breath. This was the second time something weird had happened.

Taking off her glasses she rubbed her eyes, maybe she was just exhausted from the day.

Opening her eyes she caught sight of that clown again. He was now poorly hiding behind a lampost, giving her a wave.

Alexa's eyes widened, was she going insane?

It brought his finger to his mouth, making the shushing motion. He pulled out what looked like a dead snake from his back and began chewing on it!

Alexa couldn't believe her eyes, "Hell no!" She stepped back and took her bike from the bike stand. Glancing behind her she didn't see the clown and felt like she could breathe again.

The tired girl made sure to fake a smile in front of her mom, she didn't need to know about the scary things she had just seen.

Climbing in bed, even if it was only 8:30, all she could was,

what the hell?