This is way too long, my apologies, I'm confident the quality is on point though. :)
A succession of water drops landing in a puddle somewhere, echoed loudly. The town was isolated and almost dead quiet; with the exception of the ranting, raving and endless laughter that accentuated the liveliness of the taverns and bars that emitted them proudly.
Palesa strided quickly, her long heels clapped nosily against the walkway paved with old-fashioned bricks. Lights flickered every time she past them; as if they were acknowledging her presence. The air around her shifted into a breeze that was tailed by a soft whistling howl. She wrapped herself deeper into her knee-long jacket and clenched tightly on both sides – as she folded her arms, making sure that no cold air gets through.
She let out a small scream and her stride came to an abrupt halt, wait? It's nothing. Just another mischievous rat that's on the hustle for some food – perhaps a meal it may call dinner?
Palesa descended down a darker walkway: the street lights of this area in particular were clearly of a lower quality. Apart from emanating a weaker light than the ones she had already passed, some were broken, others made electrical noises before flickering heavily, and others – also not working – dropped glowing sparks that Palesa had to evade. This section of the city made her skin shiver and summoned within her a level of anxiety she could barely ignore.
A man, appearance just as dirty as the looks he was giving her, smiled and revealed a set of teeth that clearly needed to be tended to by the masters of dental care. Palesa shot her gaze downwards to avoid his eyes at all costs. He laughed and it sounded as if his throat had been formerly harrassed by smoke – toxic smoke. A stench filled the air around him and added shame to his presence. “Hey there butter legs, how's about a kiss?” he sang in a deeply hoarse voice before bursting out into smooth laughter.
Palesa shook her head and continued her march. This part of the city was filled with abandoned buildings that had been clearly vandalized by the works of graffiti. It creeped her out, it almost looked haunted, or was it? She pulled her smartphone out and glanced at the screen, the numbers '19:30' stared right back at her. ‘At this time, I'm still not home,’ she wondered to herself.
The area surrounding her was decorated by a layer of filth, actually filth is a compliment. Everywhere Palesa set her eyes, a layer of thick grime dwelled. Let's not talk about the group of women who were standing by the corner of the road, clearly under the influence, under-dressed and laughing hysterically. Anyone could have guessed their line of work, and no, absolutely nothing to be proud of.
Palesa strided past… an unexpected silence hushed the group of women. As the distance between herself and them grew, her ears picked up words she'd rather not wanted to hear: all sorts of snide and degrading remarks were spoken about her; these were shadowed by sneers, giggles and chuckles. ‘Some pathetic women, that's all,’ Palesa thought to herself.
Passing a couple more taverns and a dead silence suddenly dominated, the only noises were the humming of the frequent breezes and the crawling of rats, and ofcourse the sharp noises Palesa's heels emitted as she walked.
A strange laugh emerged and faded into a long echo that travelled down the narrow walkway. Palesa had halted her march abruptly once again and turned her head vigorously.
A black shadow, on the side of her eye! She jolted in an instant turn. Nothing was there, just a dirty piece of newspaper riding the breeze as if it were a horse. The laughter echoed again, it appeared to be coming from all directions.
She shook her head and accused her imagination of betraying her senses. The shabby, dim street lights that were battling to do their job, were finally put out of their misery when they suddenly went off. Thank goodness it was full moon. At least in this dark and gloom there was some form of light.
Something was moving underground. Palesa's breathing became shaky and her heart exploded with a succession of heavy beats. She looked back and looked forward, not one person was in sight.
Vibrations travelled through the ground once again. Strange hissing noises echoed down the isolated street and walkway. A couple more sadistic giggles…
Palesa's eyes widened with terror, she lost balance and fell to her backside, she knew her imagination was not strong enough to fabricate what her eyes were telling her. She couldn't believe, she almost fainted. She moved back as it approached, she tried to get up but lost balance and fell again.
Her lips parted and she breathed heavily, an ocean of sweat formed on her face and body.
“Mmmmmm… dinner is served,” it hissed. It slithered. It swayed. It slid. It stared straight into Palesa's eyes, stricking trauma and fear into her.
A giant python, an anaconda actually. Beautifully decorated skin, an unnaturally large body and an appetite for the gorgeous young lady before her.
Palesa snapped out of her stupor and made her way to her feet. She picked up a crowbar nearby and a brick.
“Don't you dare, young lady,” the anaconda warned in a smooth and charming voice, followed by a couple of hisses. It's eyes glowed with a dull blue and it's scaly skin reflected the light of the moon with perfection.
Palesa tossed the rock. With a quick jolt, the creature avoided it, Palesa was shocked. ‘Such a big thing moves so quickly?’ she thought to herself.
“Ohhh yes-s-s-s-s, our speed is unquestionable, you are right about that,” the snake responded to her thoughts.
‘What?! It can read my thoughts?!’
“Yes-s-s-s-s-s, I can,” the snake said.
Palesa lifted her arm in an attempt to throw the crowbar, as she did, the snake lifted it's tail and jerked it forward; the tip whipped Palesa's wrist, the pain stung her, she screamed and dropped the crowbar. Once again, she found herself on the floor, shifting backwards as the creature quickly closed the distance between her and it.
It opened its jaws wide, strings of saliva stretched from the roof of its mouth all the way down to the base.
“Hey!” A drunken man called, who couldn't even walk properly or keep balance. “Leave her alone, look for someone else,” he demanded in a slurred voice.
“Stay out of this you hopeless drunk!” The snake retorted.
The man threw an empty bottle across the street, the snake jolted out of the way before the bottle smashed against a dirty wall and shards of glass flew everywhere and scattered across the walkway. The snake made its way to the man, it picked him up and threw him over a triple story building. His screams grew quieter, until they disappeared completely, as the snake made its way back to Palesa.
“Now where were we?” The snake asked, returning its attention to Palesa.
It jerked its tail forward once again, Palesa's mind wasn't quick enough, just the blink of her eyes and she found the tail of the anaconda coiled around her body and arms, she was now completely helpless.
“Dinner! Now!” It roared as it opened its jaws wide.
Palesa looked at the twinkling stars and the glowing moon, she told herself this is the last look she will ever take at their beauty, she closed her eyes and waited for the last moment…
“Vincent!” A frail old voice.
“Huh!” The anaconda responded as it turned to face the direction of the voice.
“Come back home now dear, leave the poor girl alone. I told you! No! Pedestrians!” The old woman chided.
The snake unwrapped itself from Palesa and slithered and swayed away. The old lady strolled to Palesa, helped her up and handed her all her belongings.
“My dear, what are you doing at this side of the city, and at this hour? Oh my! You could get killed you know. Young ladies such as yourself are supposed to be indoors safe and sound,” the old lady said.
“Thank You,” Palesa nodded.
181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyXrjS3VZz
Palesa's eyes jolted open and she sat up immediately, her heart almost exploded out of her chest and her skin shivered.
“What kind of a messed up dream was that?!” She whispered through heavy breathing.
She glanced at her pet snake on the table, in a large fish tank. It looked exactly like the anaconda, it was staring straight at her and had a look of delight on its face.
