Page 38 of Into the Blue
I need to get to my phone.
Taking my hand from his, I do my best to sit up even against his direct order. It hurts like a bitch, but I can at least get a better look around the room I’m in.
Dark furniture, abstract paintings on the walls, and a—“Is that a tank? Wh-what is in there?”
He stands to his full height, coming over to the bed and adjusting some pillows behind me before sitting on the bed next to me. It’s then that I realize how truly massive the bed is.
He’s a big man, so I could guess he would have a bed that matched. But… this thing is like two kings side by side. Built for orgies or something—it could easily hold six people.
“Snakes. Got two of them,” he simply informs me like it is the most normal thing in the world.
“Snakes?” He shrugs, and I squint to try and see anything more clearly through the glass. The enclosure spans the length of the room. With how large it is, it must be custom made. I hedge, “Like… a garter or…”
“Mexican Black Kings. Sativa and Indica. They’re sunnin’ right now.”
“What does that mean?”
“They’re cold blooded. Need sun or light to keep their temps up.” He points to a corner where a large lamp is illuminating a clump of blackness.
Then I see it move.
Slithering along the rocks and onto some leaves and sand, it pauses at the other end of the tank.It’s absolutely massive.It’s got to be longer than I am tall or pretty damn close. Its tongue flicks out and I see that Blue has made silent steps over to the tank. For a man his size, he sure does move quietly. He slides the top open and he reaches an arm in.
Slick as oil, the massive snake starts winding up his arm and behind his hair to the other arm. “Sativa, meet Racquelle.”
My pulse quickens and I try to scoot away from him. I’ve never seen a snake this big in person or one in real life. It’s far too comfortable outside of the glass that should be keeping it away from me.
He looks genuinely perplexed. “You scared of him?”
“Uhh, yea! What the hell? That thing could eat me!”
“Nah,” is all he says, letting the reptile slither down his wrist and to his waist. He’s wearing a sash of this black snake that glimmers cobalt in the blue lighting. The scales are so smooth and shiny that it looks like an oil slick on his black shirt. If it weren’t for the way it’s moving, I may not have even known it was there. The single chain Blue’s wearing around his neck moves every now and again, setting shimmering reflections around. “Sativa ate not that long ago, prefers rodents or other snakes over people anyway. My gators though—not as… discernin’. If you’re unlucky, you’d find out that they think meat is meat.”
That freaks me out way more. Like the venom, it’s common knowledge that he makes people disappear by feeding them to his gators that are loyal only to the hand that feeds them.
“Well, I’d rather not test my luck today. I have enough things trying to kill me.”
Sativa has made his way back to his neck, settling his head among the loose locs that hang from Blue’s head.
I wince again when I try to move away from the big man and his big snake.
“Who did this?” He asks, gesturing to my general state. Should have known that he would not miss me wincing. I’m glad he hasn’t come any closer with the snake though.
“I don’t know,” I lie. Another to add to my list at this point.
“Don’t lie. Remember what I told you? Can’t keep my word if you don’t give me somethin’.”
I chew my lip, thinking over my options.
Telling him the truth of why Junior attacked me is out of the question. “I’m pretty sure it was the Fayes. They didn’t like what I told you.”
Vague, so vague, but I’m toeing a line here. I have no idea if they knew I was the one to tell Blue about Dejuan. Couldn’t be sure that Dejuan is still alive, but using context clues, I don’t think he is. But I did tell Blue about Jimmy and I know for a fact that Jimmy is missing because of me.
Missing.
Gone.
Very dead—if the blood on his hands and face were any indication. I saw it clear as day in my apartment, but dare not comment on it.Am I less guilty than him?Each choice I’ve made was a step in many steps to get to my goal.
