The Snake Queen

Chapter 10

Well, y'all are in for an interesting chapter that'll probably have y'all either scratching your head or laughing to a point where you can't breathe. Just a heads up. Now enjoy.

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I woke up the next morning to the sound of Hazel screaming. My eyes flew open and I shot up. I don't get why she would be screaming.

"Why are you screaming?" I said, still half asleep.

"Mag, you look like a human-snake!" she shrieked.

"What?" I looked at my hands.

I pulled back the covers to find more scales on my legs and feet. I got up, and ran to them bathroom. My whole face was covered in scales. My eyes were the same as they were yesterday. I stuck out my tongue. It had a sharp point and I had fangs.

"Oh, my god," I whispered.

"You really shouldn't be spending as much time at home. It turned you into," she gestured to my body. "This. What is this?"

"I don't know," I looked passed her.

The brown snake was on the shelf, biting down on the book. I remembered something I read in the book yesterday. I walked passed Hazel towards the snake.

"Actually, I do," I took the book from the snake.

"I'm half-snake. It's in the book," I handed it to her.

I watched as she flipped through the pages of the book multiple times. When she finally gave up, I took the book from her, and flipped to the marked page. I stood there in silence as she read the page to himself.

"What does this have to do with you?"

"I was bit by this snake," I pointed to the picture of the snake in the book. "When I was seven. Even though my parents used the anti-venom, the venom still got to me. This snake has a special ingredient in its venom that turns me into a half-snake."

"Is this permanent?" the snake nodded.

"Young Mag here was chosen to be the next Snake Queen. This has been in her blood for generations, dating back to her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. As has your father's farm. You are the next Packard daughter in line for this. This snake venom is in your blood, Mag."

"Did the snake just talk?" Hazel's eyes widened.

"Yes," I leveled with the snake. "Is there anyway to stop this from happening?"

"No. If you had moved like your mother told you to, you wouldn't have been bitten. But you were. There is no way to stop it. The venom has already altered your DNA."

"Damn it!" I yelled. "I hate this! I don't want to be half-snake!"

"Easy, Mag."

"What am I suppose to do, Mag? It's hard enough that I live on a snake farm. Now I am one! If I turn into a snake at school, everybody is going to look at me. How did anybody not see this coming?"

"This takes a while to set in, Mag. You should be used to it within the next six months with a little training."

"Great. So, not only do I have to worry about turning into a snake at school, but a talking snake following me around all day. That's not weird at all."

I already felt like a freak because of living on a snake farm for sixteen years. If adding a talking snake into the mix isn't bad enough, then I don't know what is. The worst part of this whole thing is telling Ryan about it. My biggest fear is him not loving me anymore after I tell him.

"How am I gonna tell Ryan?"

"Ah. Yes. That Ryan fellow. Good kid, smart boy. If he really loves you as much as he says he does, he'll accept this one little minor detail."

"Little minor detail?" I screamed. "Being half-snake is not a little minor detail. It's a big minor detail."

"As you can tell, she's not taking it well."

"Mag, did your parents ever tell you about this trait?"

"You mean my parents knew, and they didn't tell me?!" I shrieked.

"They didn't tell you? They were suppose to tell you."

"Well, they didn't," I walked out of the bathroom.

Usually, my parents tell me everything that I need to know about our family history. Apparently, this is one of the many things they probably kept from me. I don't think they should have kept it from me. Especially now that I'll come from school and work everyday, covered in scales instead of grease and oil.

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Weird chapter, right?