Captured (A Modern Medusa Story)

CHAPTER 40: AVERISTA♥️

Happy Halloween! 🎃❤️

     ---------------------------------------------------------

The place was called Herptilian Marvel.

A one story building with a pet store at the front and a zoo at the back. I could tell why Phoebe liked it. It wasn't an ordinary animal sanctuary. It was a herpetarium.

I guess that was the one thing she had in common with her father—their obsession with cold-blooded animals. They were both herpers.

"Phoebe, you're back!" A pretty boy squealed at the sight of us the second we stepped inside, and Phoebe's face lit up at his voice.

"Hey Gunn!" She waved to the void before we approached the guy at the counter.

I had a feeling Phoebe knew her way around here the same way she knew her own bedroom.

"Nice to see you again." He smiled at her.

"I missed you!"
A certain excitement was written all over her face, and I couldn't get enough of it.

"I'm pretty sure you mean the pets." The boy pointed behind him and I remained a wallflower to their little reunion, admiring the way Phoebe simply existed.

She looked out of place, in a good way. Like an alien dropped from outer space. The hood was pulled down from her head, her hair cascaded magically down her shoulders, and her hands settled comfortably in the front pockets. She looked so beautiful, and I imagined how heavenly life would be if I could have her next to me all the time.

Before I could get lost in my own Narnia, I heard the guy clear his throat.
I glanced at him, then at Phoebe, then back at him. He held back a smile, and I felt a bit embarrassed that he had witnessed me ogling Phoebe like that.

"Um–Phoebe was just introducing you to me," He disclosed, placing a hand on his mouth as if it could hold back the chuckles that came out. "Averista, right?"

"Oh. Right!" I wanted to smack myself. Did I zone out too long not to even hear my name being mentioned? "Yeah, that's me."

"Good," He was still chuckling. "I'm Gunn Weinstein. The owner."

Owner? He looked fifteen!
Phoebe's facial expression revealed that she could sense my shock and I didn't need to voice it out.

"Okay, Gunn." Phoebe grabbed my hand. "We'll be having a brief tour around and saying hello to my scaled buddies. Hope that's cool?"

"Of course! Knock yourselves out." Gunn finally settled his laughter down. "Pretty sure those bratty serpents are excited to see you."

"Hope they'll be more excited to see my girlfriend."

A heat rose to my cheeks as Gunn looked at me in awe, like the math in his head was finally mathing. Phoebe gave him one last smile before leading the two of us into the dungeon. Well, it looked like a dungeon when we ambled through the enormous coal-black door and into a hall.

The area stockpiled a myriad of cages, harboring a profusion of diverse herptiles. For some reason, the feeling of 'home' engulfed me. Or was it just the reptile within me who had never seen a terrarium before?

"They systematized this place to mime an in character ambience for the convenience of the pets," Phoebe explained. "So don't get startled if you feel too acquainted to the atmosphere around here."

No wonder. I pondered whether the environment could pose a potential catalyst to my transformation. A shift that would provoke my monster to come out. I seriously didn't want to scare other customers away. As tempting as the idea of bringing out the triplets to say hello was, I couldn't risk it. No, not here.