Page 2 of The Girl and the Cobra

But the hard truth is it can happen to you, to your loved ones. It can take place anywhere. Your small, quiet town or the next town over. Death, blood, pain; it’s all a drop in the bucket where humanity is concerned. The day that inevitably comes and forces you to reckon with your own mortality is the day your life either ends or changes irrevocably, and if you survive the person who does the surviving is not the same person who walked into that day to begin with.

We turn off the road and travel down a long driveway that winds through a small grove of pine trees. The house we pull up to is hideous, to say the least—all wood siding, some of it stained. Not a picturesque house at all, but it came cheap. My parents were fortunate enough to be young adults in a time where they could afford a house and they worked hard to pay it off early. My dad was able to sell it for a hefty profit and buy this place with all cash and still have some money left over.

A brightly-colored moving crate sits near the garage; it got here before us. Dad pulled an enclosed trailer with everything else we were bringing with us. We threw out a lot and sold some other stuff. We really are starting new.

We get out of the car, and Dad swings his keys around his finger, glancing at me. “Ready for the first walkthrough?” He grins, but I don’t return his enthusiasm.

“Sure,” I whisper, my shoulders slumped.

Let’s get this over with.

After the walkthrough, it’s time to unload. It’s just my dad and me, and even though we got rid of a lot, it’s still quite a bit to move on our own. We focus on getting the necessities done—the day is already late. It’s about dinner time. We get our beds set up in our new rooms and unpack the kitchen stuff, and then Dad makes some pasta.

I take the pasta to my room with the excuse that I’ll start unpacking the few boxes of clothes that were already brought in, though it’s mostly so I don’t have to sit cross-legged near him and listen to him try to act like everything is fine.

Everything is not fine. Nothing is fine anymore, and I don’t think it’ll ever be fine again.

It’s only been four months. Four months since everything changed. Four measly months since the day I woke up, thinking it would be just a normal day. Four achingly-painful months where I honestly don’t know how I survived.

I know why we’re here. I know why my dad is in my business. He doesn’t want to lose me like he lost Mom.

That day, four months ago, our family fractured and broke. My dad and I are strangers to the people we used to be. Dad wants us to go back to the way things were, but without Mom and Jordan, it’s just not possible.

I know it’s a mistake to think of my brother’s name, but the moment it happens regardless, and I lose all my appetite, what little there was to begin with.

Jordan. My heart constricts as his name echoes in my mind.

I can picture him clear as day, like I saw him mere moments ago instead of four long months. I can hear his smile when he laughs, the way he stupidly winks at me when he’s saying something funny and trying to get me to cheer up.

My whole life, my brother was more than a brother to me. We weren’t like those siblings who fight and bicker all the time. No, we were the opposite. We were best friends, always in eachother’s business, protective to a fault. We were like two halves of the same whole.

And now he’s gone, and I still feel empty inside.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it.

Chapter Two – Mabel

My dad wastes no time. Two days after we’re fully moved in, I have an appointment with a therapist so I can talk about my numerous problems and try to get better. Doctor Wolf is his name—a silly name for a therapist, if you ask me, but then again, what kind of therapist lives in the middle of nowhere and has home appointments?

Yeah, my dad drives me to the man’s actualhouseso I can talk to him about how messed up I am. It’s weird, and I’m not looking forward to it.

“Doctor Wolf came highly recommended,” my dad is busy saying… something he’s said numerous times before. “We’re lucky he accepted you as a client. He’s very picky who he sees.”

When I don’t respond, he goes on, “Mabel, I need you to try. Do it for me, okay? For your mom. For…” He was probably going to say for Jordan, but stopped himself as he thought better of it. “Anyway, he’s not cheap. After the initial session, he’ll get in touch with a schedule. He might want to see you multiple times a week—”

I groan.

“Hey, if it’ll help you, I’m all for it.”

Of course he is. Dad wants the old me back. He doesn’t seem to understand the fact that the old me is dead and gone. She died in that school, along with all those other people.

Dr. Wolf lives in perhaps one of the biggest houses around. It’s at least a ten-minute drive between his house and any visible neighbors, which tells me his mansion of an estate has quite a bit of acreage to go along with it. When we pull up the driveway and park in front of the house, I can’t help but be in awe.

Three stories tall, built with impressive white stone instead of wood like most of the houses around here. It’s nestled inside asmall forest, the immediate area around the house cleared of any trees. I can’t imagine the kind of money it took to build a house like this in the middle of nowhere.

My dad sets a hand on my shoulder and gives me a gentle squeeze. “You want me to go in with you?” An offer I know he hopes I’ll take him up on.

I look up at the large house, my nerves fried. I’m anxious, which is silly, considering everything. In the end I shake my dad off and tell him, “No, that’s okay.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and slowly get out of the car.

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