Page 15 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
The giant head drops back down to the grass, obscured by the bright flame between us. But I don’t need to see it to know it will follow my scent straight here.
I close the door behind me, careful not to make a sound, lifting the metal hook over the latch with my raw fingers. The pain is absent in the wake of my fear and the desperation to survive.
I turn and take in the space around me. My night vision is not as clear as it used to be before my encounter with Semyon, but it’s still better than the average human. I see shelves of hand tools and stacks of empty plant pots to the left. An ancient tractor takes up the center of the room, a ride-on lawn mower dwarfed by its rust-colored frame. A stack of heavy-duty truck tires forms a tower to my right.
I dart toward the tires and place my journal on the floor, unwilling to relinquish the dagger from my grasp as I pull the top tire from the pillar. I hobble back toward the door and place it against the planks of wood to create the start of a barricade. Pressing my eye to a crack in the wood, I look for the snake, my breath hitching as I see it sliding in my direction. It’s following my scent.
I run to the stack of tires and grab the next one, hauling it over to the door and placing it on top of the first. My breath is coming in shallow pants. My heart is pressing my thick blood through my veins with furious beats. It’s ready to crawl from between my ribs and leave me behind.
I hold my breath as I look through the crack toward the fire.
The snake is gone.
Shit, I whisper without sound.
I back away from the door. My eyes can’t seem to fix on a solution in this barn. They dart around like a trapped bird, unwilling to stay on any perch for longer than a flutter of wings.
For a moment there is nothing.
Just darkness
Just the thrum of my heart.
And then a sharp and violentcrack.
The silence is split by wood splintering. It crashes over the shelves, clattering on the dirt floor. The thrashing snake scatters tools as it wriggles into the barn through the hole it created in the weakened wood. It pauses only long enough to lock the black slits of its eyes to mine and bare its fangs in a menacing hiss. Venom sprays toward me.
Now that it’s seen me the snake intensifies its efforts. Its black body twists through the gap and its head drops to the floor. It keeps its eyes on mine. I back away, my lungs screaming fog into the cold air. I glance at thekaikenin my grasp. It’s not even as long as one of the snake’s fangs.
I laugh. Even as I widen my stance and brace for a fight. Even as a bead of sweat drips into my eye and burns. Even as my own fangs descend and my pupils brighten with glowing red light. I laugh and laugh.
There is no way I can outrun or out-jump this creature slithering into the darkness in front of me. There’s nowhere I can hide where it won’t be able to strike me. There’s only one option.
Suck it up and fight like a vampire.
…Get it?..
…Suck it up?..
Ugh, I know. But ifyouspent a month being tortured, you’d probably be a little deranged too.
My laughter surges but dies just as quickly when the snake finally pulls the last of its body through the jagged hole in the wall.
The creature and I hover in a moment that takes no more than a pounding heartbeat yet feels like a century as we assess one another. And then it launches.
The serpent rushes across the floor. I dart to the right as its yawning mouth snaps for my legs. It misses. It strikes again and I roll to the left. I feel anger roll from the beast as it falls short again.
I scramble to my feet. I spot a hatchet in the pile of tools scattered on the floor and run toward it. The snake thrashes back and its massive body twists and coils as its head tracks behind me. It hisses and I feel the rush of air from its lungs as it strikes out. I don’t turn to look, but I feel the near miss. The smooth edge of a tooth glides across my bare heel.
I drop to the floor and slide through the dirt with my free hand outstretched. I grasp the handle of the hatchet and whirl my arm around with all my strength. I catch the body of the snake in a deep blow before I crash beneath the shelf.
The snake erupts into a frenzied rage. It whips and thrashes and hisses. It sprays venom into the shadows. The scent of blood colors the cold air.
The tail snaps toward me in its haphazard fury and breaks the shelf. I cling to my weapons as I push myself closer to the wall for cover. Splinters of wood and broken tools slide and drop around me. Scurrying beneath the caved-in line of the break, I hug the wall, aiming for the far end of the shelf toward the front of the barn. I crouch in its shelter as the snake lashes across the floor.
I look toward the beast. Its head is near the tractor, hissing into the darkness in its tantrum. I chance popping out enough to look at the hole above the shelf. I might be able to make it.
Clutching mykaikenand the hatchet, I scramble from my cover. One last glance back at the snake. One big breath. Then I climb.
