Snake Charmer

Chapter eight

Days later Jessica woke up with a smile on her face. For the past week she had finally relearned what it meant to have a friend. In her time girls were never allowed to go to school, yet now she was praised for her work. Education had always been easy for her as Iphicles had taught her. It stung to think about him and it probably always would. Even with Sam looking like his long lost twin brother.
"Can you believe it Hoodie I think I have finally made a friend, he took me to what the humans call the mall." Jessica said. "And got me these strange clothes that don't require a dress or hat." Her loyal snake slithered by and gifted her the golden necklace she always wore. Queenie feed her younger siblings with rats she caught in the nearby streets.

"Yes milady it is wonderful." Hoodie stated. The young cobra flicked his tongue as she watched his mistress. Her grin lit up the room as she changed into the new outfit Sam had bought her.
"I wonder when the humans decided to put all of their clothes in the strange mall." Jessica said. She took off the green dress and placed it under her embroidery of flowers, where she kept all of her dresses. Due to spending so much time alone, she enjoyed making things out of any green fabric she could find. Jessica looked at the yellow skirt with the teal blouse, and placed them on herself.
"You could be more than friends with him milady." Queenie suggested.

Jessica froze as she heard those words, and dropped the fancy leather boots. A whole minute of silence followed which only ended when Jessica sighed.
"No Queenie you know I can't, one the nine months are over I have to stay hidden in this labyrinth." Jessica responded. "Plus you know no one could ever look at me let alone love me."
A few tears get shed as she admits those words, even though she had spoken them many times.
"But milady...." Queenie began.
"Enough Queenie I want you to stop because nothing has changed, at the end of the year I'll just go back to a hideous monster who kills people!" She exclaimed. The cobra fell silent but comforted her owner when she shed some more tears.

The vulnerable moment was unusual as Jessica never wanted to get close to anyone. She had tried making friends and they all died because of her glance.
"If he is a hunter he might be able to help you." Hoodie suggested breaking the silence.
"No hunter would ever help me we've discussed this already, Sam may care for me now but I know he won't later." Jessica responded. She played with her golden necklace and noticed that Iphicles's ring was missing. It never left her locket and she tore her room apart in attempt to locate it. If she didn't find it soon, her gorgon form would be revealed for all to see.
"Milady..." Queenie began to say.

"No I have to find it, I can't have lost it." Jessica cried. She ignored the want in her heart to belong while Queenie rose up to look bigger, and used her tail to open the door. "Queenie... Hoodie" She couldn't finish her sentence as the spitting cobra slithered off away from their hideout. Jessica ran after her and apologized to the guests who were terrified of the venomous snake. This was a major reason why she never left with people around. She hated how everyone would scream and stare at how weird she was.
"Its a cobra we are all dead!" A by passer screamed. 
"Ahh someone call animal control!" Another one called out.

"No don't worry I've got it!" Jessica yelled back. She passed a few more people in the maze and almost tripped when Hoodie sped up. "Hoodie come back!" Her attempts seemed fruitless as the cobra kept at it, hissing at everyone in his path. Jessica feared that her loyal companion would bite someone until she ended up at Stanford. Much to her shock Hoodie went behind a tree and waited there patiently.
"No I'm doing this for your own good, you need to stop thinking so little of yourself." Hoodie finally spoke. Jessica growled under her breath and had the urge to pull on someone's tail.
"No Hoodie not like this, I need to find my ring and we are in public." Jessica argued.

***

Sam never found out who the ring belonged to but a part of him felt a familiarity to it. It was just a dusty old ring that surprisingly hadn't rusted away. Made out of bronze by the looks of it and touched up with some golden spots. He turned his head in confusion every time he looked at it.
"Why would anyone drop this?" Sam asked. A certain tug in his chest pulled him towards the window. His roommate Brady asked if he was coming to the party with him as all the seniors would be there.
"Come on Sam you could get some hot chick there." Brady teased.

"Nah man you know parties aren't really my thing besides I've got to study." Sam responded. Brady booed at him in response and held his chest feigned hurt.
"Dude you wound me, I'm trying to set you up." Brady said. This made Sam laugh and he threw a pillow at him.
"Shut up Man you're starting to sound like my brother besides I've got to get everything done before my night with Sarah." Sam answered.
"You mean your Date?" Brady teased which earned him another pillow to the face. "Alright alright I give in I know you have been hanging out with the new girl. I give." He said.

"Only because you asked nicely." Sam answered. He took mercy on Brady and released him then looked out the window. Outside the dorms he spotted Jessica in the courtyard who seemed making a bit of a scene. Without a second thought he pushed passed Brady with the excuse he was off to the library. Then headed off to the courtyard to see what was going on.
"Hoodie you got to come out of there, please." Jessica said. She tried to whisper but people were still looking at her. Sam told them all of as it was rude to state.
"You all are nosey naceys, most of those guys end up losing something for knowing too much." Sam said. In almost an instant the whole courtyard gasped and soon after all started whispering.

"Sam what are...?" Jessica asked laughing.
"Look man we just found it weird that she was talking to a tree." A student commented.
Sam placed a protective arm around her shoulder.
"Are you calling my girlfriend weird?" He asked. He winked at her and told her to just play on to get them to stop. Jessica nodded and grabbed Sam's hand to make it look more real.
"Oh sweetie don't tell me you're jealous again, remember that time you went after that guy who was my cousin." She responded. All of the students gasped again and ran off to do there own thing. Jessica laughed at how scared they all looked at the other in confusion.

"Well that definitely went better than I thought." Sam said. He held back a chuckle himself when he saw how happy Jessica was.
"Oh I haven't had this much fun in years." She said. "Thank you Sam." She surprised him by giving him a hug before she let go and apologized. He was about to tell her it was alright when Sam noticed Hoodie behind the tree.
"Oh so her causing mischief is what started this." Sam chuckled. The proud Cobra slithered out away from the tree and flicked his tongue.
"Yes she wanted to prove a point now Hoodie..." Jessica began but the snake didn't let her finish. As Hoodie opened his hood and spit venom right at Sam's eyes.

The ring left fell out of hand and he dropped the ground. His vision became blurry at first then went all dark as he felt water being poured on his eyes
"Ahh!!" He screamed.
"Sam are you alright, can you hear me? Hold on you'll be okay!" Jessica exclaimed. Sam continued to grunt in pain and Jessica moved him off the lawn.
"No I will not be okay, the venom is in my Eyes!" Sam exclaimed back. Jessica continued to pour water on his face at least he thought so. He heard what sounded like a grunt of pain and asked what that was.
"Don't worry just hold still." Jessica responded. Her voice sounded strained like she was in pain as he felt something being dropped into his eyes. Whatever it was all of the pain vanished yet his vision remained dark.