Snake Boy

3

"Reddie?!" He called, looking frantically around his room. It had been about a week, and he couldn't find his snake. His foot was healed, it no longer hurt. But... Killua couldn't stop worrying. Then, he realized the door was open. Killua gasped, then opened it and went down the hallway. He hadn't told his parents about the snake, or his siblings. He kept Reddie hidden from everyone, even the butlers. He frantically went through the house, then heard Milluki muttering to himself from inside his room. "Why the hell's there a snake in my room?"

Killua gasped, then pushed open the door. "Milluki!" He glanced up at Killua, and Killua's eyes widened. Reddie was in his brother's hand, dangling over one of his many spider enclosures. No! "What have I told you about coming into my room Kil?" He said. Scowling as he dropped his snake into the spider enclosure. Killua was frozen for a moment as one of his brother's massive spiders took a chunk out of his head. Milluki started to shove him out of his room. "I said get out!" Killua gritted his teeth, then shoved him as hard as he could. "Oi!" Tears rolled down his cheeks as he felt overcome by rage and frustration. Killua had one pet. One. While everyone else in that house had dozens.

"I HATE YOU!" he yelled, Milluki tried to shove him back as Killua kept hitting him, confusion written across his face. "What the hell are you screaming about? Get out!" He said, irritated. Killua grabbed a rock that was laying on a surface, then smashed it into the enclosure. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" His older brother yelled, trying to grab him. But Killua had shoved it onto the floor and stomped on his spider over and over again as he was practically sobbing. If Killua couldn't have his snake, then Milluki couldn't have his spider!

"What's going on in here!" His father said loudly, from the doorway. Milluki shoved him. "This little brat killed my North American Redback and smashed one of my most expensive enclosures!" His father spoke a few words to Milluki as Killua sobbed, kneeling down to try to find what remained of his only pet. Milluki stormed out of the room fuming, and his father sighed. "Killua, just because you hate insects doesn't mean you can just-" Killua found the body of Reddie, then picked him up and cried. "I had one." His father paused, then his eyes fell on the small snake. "Kil?" Tears rolled down his cheeks. "I had one. Milli-ni has hundreds of spiders." He cried.

His father held out a hand, and Killua sniffled as he dropped the dead Reddie into it. "This was...yours?" He said, slightly surprised. Killua had never shown interest in any sort of animal before, so naturally he was surprised. Killua nodded, "His...his name was Reddie" He mumbled. "What happened?" His father murmured, placing a hand on his back. Killua kicked the rock that he'd used to smash the spider enclosure as he wiped his eyes. "That man gave me him and told me how to feed him and take care of him. I put him in a plastic box under my bed, I fed him snails and little salamanders. b-but then...I think I left my door open and I couldn't find him" He cried some more, and his father wrapped an arm around him. "I-I went into Millu-ni's room just as he dropped Reddie in the spider's glass cage thingie"

"I...I was just so mad. He has tons of spiders and beetles and stuff, but I had one snake, and he killed it!" His father smiled softly at him. "I thought you hated snakes, you always said they were big worms" Killua wiped his eyes again. "That...snake. It saved my life" His father's eyes widened. "This one?" He said, glancing down at Reddie. Killua shook his head. "N-No...His name was Roxy. I was dragged into the woods by that black bear, I couldn't remember what mother said about bears except to play dead" his father shook his head. "You play dead for the brown ones" he looked down, and his father sighed. "Go on"

"It dropped me, but I was too scared to open my eyes. It stomped on my foot then roared and, and then it fell and stopped making noise." Killua had stopped crying now, eyes wandering around the room. "then something touched me and I started crying when I saw it was a really big snake wrapping around me, but then I noticed how it wasn't hurting me and I saw a big black snake eating the bear" his eyebrows raised. "When you say big...how big do you mean?" he thought for a moment, then pointed to his father. "Like, bigger than you! Well, not as big but like twice as long!" He smiled a little. "They both belonged to this white haired man and he brought me back home, he had Reddie and said I could keep him and told me how to take care of him"

Then...Killua glanced down at the mess on the floor, then up at his father. "Am I...in trouble?" He mumbled, not quite meeting his eyes. His father sighed, then set the dead snake down and wrapped Killua in his arms. "No...not at all. Your brother might give you a lousy birthday gift though, he won't forget this in a week" Killua smiled, hugging his father back. "I....it's ok." He said, although only half meaning it. His first and only pet was dead, it had lasted only a single week. Killua still felt like crying, he'd really grown attached to the small reptile. Before he knew it, he was crying again. Not full on bawling, but his tears wet his father's shirt. He was scooped up, fingers running through his hair as he was brought to his room.

"it's...it's past your nap time Killua" His father murmured, as he tucked Killua in. Killua nodded, wiping his eyes and rolling over to shove his face into the pillow. "Mhm..." His light was turned off, and Killua closed his eyes. I hate spiders...

1021 words

To be continued...