Chapter Two

The pickup had been bouncing along mountain roads for three hours.

I was thrown in the truck bed, hands and feet bound tight, the tape over my mouth making it nearly impossible to breathe. Through gaps in the cargo bed, I watched the trees grow denser, civilization's traces fading bit by bit.

From the front seats came Ron's and the tattooed man's crude laughter as they discussed how much they'd get from Old Earl.

"This girl's top-shelf. She's worth at least fifty grand," the tattooed man said through a mouthful of hamburger.

"She's loaded too." Ron whistled proudly. "Look at that designer stuff she's wearing. Old Earl's gonna love her. Doesn't he get off on playing with rich bitches?"

The truck finally stopped.

I was yanked out of the cargo bed like a sack of potatoes and slammed hard into the mud. My knees hit gravel—sharp, piercing pain. I let out a deliberate whimper, tears welling in my eyes.

Had to sell it.

The camp was bigger than I'd imagined. A dozen beat-up RVs formed a circle, five or six brutish men sat around a bonfire, the air thick with cheap whiskey and marijuana.

An old man in a cowboy hat emerged from one of the RVs.

He had to be at least seventy, but those eyes were still greedy and vicious. He circled me like he was appraising livestock.

"Not bad," he nodded. "Skin's tender, good figure, long legs. This batch will fetch a good price."

"Like we agreed, fifty grand, not a penny less," Ron said, rubbing his hands together.

"Don't worry, you'll get yours." Old Earl pulled out a wad of bills from his pocket. "But this one looks delicate. Perfect for my boy to play with—he's been in a bad mood lately."

I started trembling all over, shaking my head frantically.

"Please... let me go... I have money... I can give you more..."

Old Earl laughed and kicked me in the stomach.

"Bitch, you think you can negotiate here? Billy! Your new pet's arrived!"

As soon as he finished speaking, I saw a six-foot-tall hulk emerge from the shadows.

Billy.

His body was inhumanly massive, a skull tattooed on his neck, eyes vacant and manic. He walked up to me and grabbed my chin, squeezing so hard I nearly suffocated.

He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Nice, real nice, so pretty. I like her."

He dragged me like a dog toward the abandoned barn at the edge of the camp.

The moment the door closed, I caught that smell.

Blood.

Mixed with rust and decay.

Billy threw me on the ground and locked the door with a rusty chain. He turned on his flashlight, the beam sweeping across the walls. I saw skinning knives, iron rods, chainsaws, and countless torture devices in the corners... clearly meant for women.

Billy licked his lips excitedly. "See that, baby? The last bitch took five days of training before she'd be my pet. Then she only lasted two more days before she died. You better last longer..."

I curled up in the corner, trembling all over.

"Please... don't... don't hurt me..."

He kicked over a nearby wooden crate. "Shut up! I hate you bitches whining and crying!"

Sobbing, I asked in an extremely weak voice, "Those... those girls... where did they all go?"

Billy paused, then burst into wild laughter.

He crouched down and lifted my chin with the iron rod. "You want to know? They're all in the backyard. I buried them one by one. Total of... seventeen? Or eighteen? I can't fucking remember."

He stood up, raising the iron rod.

"You'll be number nineteen. But no rush, we'll take our time. First I'll break your legs, then strip you naked... pets don't wear clothes, do they? That way, you can't run..."

I stopped crying.

I lifted my head, a sinister smile playing on my lips. "Really eighteen?"

Billy picked up a length of rope and started walking over. "Why would I lie to you, baby..."

Before he could reach me, the sound of snapping rope echoed sharply in the cramped barn.

Billy froze.

He watched me stand up, watched those finger-thick ropes snap like paper, his expression shifting from arrogance to confusion to terror.

"You... what the fuck..."

My eyes glowed golden with vertical pupils in the darkness.

A serpent's tail emerged from beneath my skirt, scales gleaming coldly in the flashlight beam. My spine cracked in rapid succession as my body stretched and twisted, transforming into a monstrous half-human, half-snake form.

Billy tried to run.

But his legs had gone soft.

My tail shot out like lightning, coiling around his neck and lifting his entire body into the air. He struggled desperately, hands uselessly clawing at the scales, his eyes bulging from their sockets.

"Eighteen lives," I whispered close to his face. "That's enough."

"What... are you..."

My fangs pierced his chest before he could finish.

The warm heart pulsed in my mouth, that full, satisfying sensation nearly making me moan. My desiccated body, on the verge of molting, was instantly nourished, every scale hungrily absorbing this "sustenance."

Exquisite.

I released my tail. Billy's corpse crumpled limply to the ground. I licked the blood from my lips, feeling that long-dormant power awakening within me.

Just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the barn.

"Billy! You done playing yet? I can't wait any longer!"

Billy's brother.