"Snake Charmer" by Adam Hunt

Snake Charmer

   It was dark and there was a large red spherical and wired fixture, well more that big enough to fit a person in. Inside of this fixture were stairs, cold metal stairs that lead down in a spiraled path. Before the steps was an iron-plated catwalk. She stood on this catwalk, cold and alone. It seemed that she didn't know where she was, like this may have been a dream.

   She slowly made her way down the stairs, feeling the railings along the way. While on her way down, she looked to the sky above her through the metal grid that the large sphere was made of. She stopped due to the irreprehensible noises of faint voices that carried with them bright lights that managed to impede the girl’s judgment. She held her hand fast over her eyes as a temporary solution, hoping that whoever was there would go away. But they didn't, the lights kept coming closer and closer without cease. She made her way down the rest of the stairs into what looked like a small one-room house - made entirely of fence materials. In the far west corner was a very peculiar item. It looked like it had wheels, and a large device that resembled a lance affixed to the front of the ...vehicle?

   She moved cautiously about the strange place, unknowingly of why she felt that she should avoid the fence that surrounded her. There were only two exits in the fence house, the one she had come from, that led back to the catwalk in the large sphere, and the other behind that strange looking vehicle. She didn't know where it led, and grew a lump in her throat every time she thought of where it might lead. She suddenly realized that the lights had disappeared, but the voices hadn't. She franticly bounced about the room, listening for where they were. She was in such a panicky mood that she couldn't hear the voices due to the irregularly heavy beat of her heart. Then, above her heartbeat, she heard two thuds behind her. As she turned to look, she saw the dead flashlights in the hands of her pursuers - one male and one female. The female had a smug and discontent look on her face while the male seemed to display a look of how he missed dinner. The girl turned to run the other way to see that the male had somehow already made it to the seat of that peculiar vehicle from earlier! He put his hand on the center of the wheel that served as control for the vehicle. The lance began to glow a peculiar reddish color while the engine inside of it rumbled to a start. The female still stood behind the girl with that same maladjusted look to her face. The girl turned to look at the female, then back to the male.

   The vehicle he was in didn't serve for transportation, but to seal off the exits with the same reddish glow that the lance had emanated. The female then blurted out, "Give me the Icis Sword!" The male didn't hesitate to unsheathe a small dagger-like sword from the inside of his unique knee length parka and wisp it across the room to the female. She no sooner grasped it than to start flailing at the girl with it, who let out an appropriate and obnoxious scream that set the female back somewhat. The girl looked up, as she thought for certain she was going to be stabbed, but the female was rubbing her ears, trying to make the sudden noise go away. She had clinched her teeth and held a malcontent and disgruntled look. The girl realized that the male was doing the same thing. This is the opportunity that she took to run for the only available exit, even if it only led back to the catwalk.

   Her legs felt like they didn’t want to move as she ran. Fullest of her strength she was running, but she couldn't feel that herself. She felt drudged down, like she was only inching her way there, even in running. This was all dismissed when she stood in front of the way she had come in, though. She looked to the incoming pursuers and made the rash decision to run. She did, and fell to her rear. She looked up in a quite shocked manner to see the reddish colored light that infringed the doorway. She then heard a hearty laughter from behind her. The female was amused as well as the male. "You don't really think that we would carelessly let you slip through our fingers after spending so much time trying to find you, do you?" The female said, and was followed up by the male, "We took extra precautions to make sure that you don't get away this time!" The girl jumped up in attempt to run, but was sharply pinned to the wall of fencelike material by the dagger that the female had flailed at her earlier. The girl felt a smooth and uninviting fluid poise down her shoulder. She then felt the dagger slide free of her shoulder. "You're pretty posh, aren't you?" The girl said just before she swung her good arm toward the female's face. She ducked just in time to avoid a rather distasteful bruise. "Why you!" She blurted out, as if the words alone weren't insult enough. The male couldn't help but pass a bubbly laughter, which caused the female to pass the blade to his throat and hold it there in suspense. The male held all further laughter after this little incident. He couldn't help it, though. Whenever someone obtained the upper hand in a verbal fight, his partner always got edgy and was completely lost for words. He found it charming and amusing. She, however, didn't see it that way.

   The two hadn't noticed in their trivial escapade, that the girl had slipped away from them. She was running to the opposite side of the room and holding her wounded shoulder. The blood had, by this time, ran down her arm and began to leave vein-like streaks across her hand. The female jumped into the air and somehow began to float! She looked down to her partner and yelled, "Get her now! She isn't the only Snake Charmer!" Her voice seemed to be in desperation; like they had been pressed for time and she had grown weary in agitation because of it. The male shook his head in agreement. He took off and began to chase the girl in odd directions around the room while female began to swing the dagger. The dagger emanated shadowed images of itself that flew through the air as if she had thrown the dagger itself. The girl wasn't certain of what was going on, every few seconds she heard an unremitting whoosh pass by her head, and the male was still chasing her around the room. As she ran from one side of the room to the other, she caught on to what the female was doing - throwing daggers at her. The male only seemed to be catching up on her. Damn this wound! She mumbled to herself in a frustrated tone.

   Going back toward the west side of the room, she saw the vehicle that she had completely forgotten about. The ideas ran rabid in her head. She had to get rid of it somehow, but she didn't know the slightest thing about it. She hopped into the seat and it began to roll! She screamed a small monotone scream in surprise of its sudden movement. The male gasped at it and quickly began to run the other way. The female was all the more determined to hit the girl with one of the shadowed daggers. She began to fluster her breath and strength by throwing the daggers in shorter, more powerful successions. The girl felt an uncanny bump in the path that the vehicle was traveling that almost threw her from the seat. The girl hopped off the vehicle, somewhat scared of it and ran around to the front of it to see what had happened. She had run over the male! The female hadn't hesitated in throwing the daggers because of her partner being run over. This only made her burn stronger with more of a passion to strike the girl dead. The girl turned her head quickly, realizing the wisp that was descending on her. Three daggers came directly in path with her head! She jumped out of the way as the daggers planted firmly in the front of the vehicle. She clinched the grass and remained flat with the ground, fully expecting some reaction from the vehicle. A small and intense flame passed over the girl’s head as she turned to look at the vehicle that had exploded a short hesitation after the daggers landed in it. She heard a pulse of energy spark on and off then back on before it finally died out, somewhat like the electricity had been cut short and flickered before it died. The girl then remembered that when the machine was on, the reddish colored grids blocked the exits. She looked to the exits - the barriers were gone. She was finally able to escape!

   She ran toward the west exit, opposite where she had entered. As she readied to leave, she heard a scurrilous and unwavering tearful voice by the vehicle. The female held the scorched and ragged looking corpse of the male in her arms, with many a tear rolling scrupulously down her cheek. The girl felt a pang of emotion deep inside of her for the female’s loss, but it was her own fault for wanting to capture and kill her. She closed her eyes briefly and curtsied to the two before she disappeared into the darkness, not knowing where this exit would take her.