Snake Charmer

Chapter four

Weeks had gone by and Sam was consumed by his school work. It wasn't difficult just time consuming and it kept his mind off the whole Medusa thing. As his dreams consisted of powerful waves knocking him off a cliff and being rescued by snakes. He decided to take a break from everything and just walk around the campus. No one really talked to him which was nothing new, he had never been popular in school. That being said he enjoyed the fact that he had a few friends already. As he just walked around in a circle, one of the science buildings came into view.
"Well if I'm going to be hunting Medusa might as well learn a bit more about snakes." He said.

All of the labs were closed save for the Dirzo lab, with the hidden green house. With a shrug he walked in and turned on one of the lights, to look for a book. There was a whole shelf for venomous snakes and he took the first one that caught his eye. As he looked through the book he saw a figure in the greenhouse. At first he thought he was seeing things but the flash of curly blonde hair flashed in his vision.
"Easy there Queenie, it's not time for you to come out yet." The figure said. Sam narrowed his eyes and then walked into the greenhouse. It was hot for sure but Sam tried his best to ignore it.
"Hello?" Sam asked. The female figure flinched a bit and hid behind one of the plants.

"There's no one here go away." She responded.
"Well clearly someone is here, otherwise I would just be talking to myself." Sam responded. This makes the stranger laugh a little bit and peaked out from the plant.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. There was shock on her face as she revealed herself and Sam froze when he saw her.
"Oh hi there." He said. He didn't mean to stare but she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Gold hair with a gentle curl, blue gentle eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and fair skin. She wore a green dress that Sam had sworn he had seen before.
"Can I help you?" She asked. Sam cleared his throat and regained his composure to avoid looking weird.

"Sorry I was just doing some research and I saw you in here I didn't know anyone said in the greenhouse anymore." Sam responded.
"Well I'm not technically a student I'm actually here to take care of some friends." she responded. Sam heard some hissing sounds behind her and he wondered what friend she was taking care of. She turned away and put her focus on something in her hands.
"What is that?" Sam asked. She gestured for him to come closer and he agreed. His heart shattered once he saw she was holding a small snake. Only it wasn't just any snake, he saw the hood it was a cobra.

"Its a baby king cobra yes." She said with a smile. Without any fear she pet the snake like it was a dog or cat. "Her name is Queenie, since she's a girl and I consider her a future queen."
"Why are you holding um her they are dangerous." Sam responded. His mind couldn't process why she would hold that venomous snake in her bare hands. One bite and she would be a goner in a matter of minutes.
"Dangerous yes but not everything that is dangerous should be treated as evil, she is still a baby after all." She explained. "Here take another look at her." Sam grunted in disgust and had the urge to run away. He had a ton of run ins with monsters that shouldn't scare him as much as snakes.

"I don't think I should." Sam said placing his hand on his neck.
"Try it will be okay." She responded. There was a brief moment of silence where the two locked eyes. Something about this girl was familiar to Sam but he couldn't put his finger as to why. If she wasn't a student and if she wasn't a hunter. He was sure he would have recognized her if she was. Then how did he know her? "You're afraid of snakes aren't you?" She asked pulling him out of his thoughts.
"I didn't say that." Sam responded.
"You didn't have to I've seen it before with many others." She said with a smile. It was a genuine smile and there was a part of him that felt he shouldn't even be talking to her. But was that him or his father?

"Alright I'll try just don't let her bite me." He said. She smiled and handed the small baby king cobra to him. Sam's heart beat sped up and he closed his eyes. A thousand thoughts in his head we're telling him all this was it the snake is going to bite me. However instead of taking a bite out of him the small snake seemed calm. She slithered along Sam's jacket and flicked her tongue to scent him. "What how..." He trailed off.

"You can open your eyes now." The stranger laughed. Sam looked down at the baby cobra who was wrapped around his arm.
" Wow I've never seen a snake act this docile before Let alone a cobra." Sam commented.
"Well I personally believe snakes get a bad rap because if you study them you know that most of them don't really want to use their venom on anyone. I'm Jessica by the way." She responded.
"I'm Sam." He said as he held his hand out. Jessica looked at it in question and back at him.
"Um nothing's happening, why are you giving me your hand?" She asked. Sam wondered how she didn't know what a handshake was.

"Here I need your hand first I'll show you." Sam responded. Jessica looked at him for a moment and then seem to understand. She took his hand and they happily greeted each other. The two even laughed when Jessica began moving her hand back and forth a bit faster.
"Sorry it's just been so long since I've actually talked to a person, I spend a lot of my time here." Jessica said.
"In the greenhouse by yourself?" Sam asked.
"No not the greenhouse just around animals in general, I rescue them and bring them here to nurse them back to health." She explained. " and yeah by myself animals are not nicer than people they don't look at me in judgmental ways."

Sam felt a page of empathy for her and he placed Queenie down on the ground. The young snake slithered back into the plants where a nest of eggs lay, along with a few other snakes.
"You shouldn't have to feel that way, no one deserves to be isolated." Sam responded. She looked back at him and smiled with tear stained eyes.
"Thank you Sam you're sweet, it's something I have not seen throughout my life. I've always been different than everyone else." Jessica explained.
" So have I." Sam responded almost immediately. She smiled even more and Sam took a risk he took her hand. " you want to talk about it?" He asked.
"Not really but its nice to have a friend." She responded.

The two went on talking for a bit and Sam realized how easy it was to talk with Jessica. He told her things he would only talk about with his brother, not a complete stranger.
"So where did you find all these young snakes?" Sam asked. Jessica picked Queenie back up and let her wrap around her arm.
"Well I'll travel a lot and one day in the forest of the Asia, I ran into a king cobra." Jessica explained. "At first she was sleeping but sure enough she got her neck snapped in half by a group of monogouse. Then they went after the eggs, most of them got smashed."

There was a sadness to her tone and Sam never thought he would ever feel sorry for a predator like that. It wasn't fair to be left alone in the wild like that at a young age.
"So you saved them?" Sam asked and Jessica nodded.
"Yes I did because no one deserves to grow up without their mother not even a dangerous snake." She responded. Queenie flickered her tongue at them and Jessica fed her a small mouse. Without a second thought it was devoured by the small snake.
"Thats true, its almost like they speak to you." Sam said. He still didn't trust the snakes but it seemed that he wouldn't get bit, with Jessica around.
"In a way I do but thats a secret." She responded.