Standing in front of her, was the fear of her life. A giant snake was looking at her with its eerie eyes. The gaze was chilling her bones as the serpent flared its hood and Hannele felt that it wasn't because it felt alarmed, rather, the snake was trying to show its power to her. Her legs started to shake slightly as she licked her lips in fear.
The snake was looking at her with its red eyes. "Do snakes have red eyes?" She thought to herself as she found its gaze fixated on herself as if calculating her next move. Her heart had started beating uncontrollably, making her feel helpless. In her attempt to escape the situation, she looked in her front, towards the tents. Brylee was nowhere in sight and there was no one else around anymore. Suddenly, the snake dipped its head forward before straightening up and looking back in her eyes.
The sudden action caused her to yelp in surprise as she looked fearfully at the creature in front of her. She could see the familiarity towards her in the serpent's eyes as if it was warning her that it knew her. Memories from a particular incident came flooding to her mind as her knees gave out. She fell on her knees right in front of the red-eyed serpent, two meters away from her. She hated to be weak but right now all she could do was struggle to breathe hard while trying to calm her racing heart down. It was becoming difficult to breathe and she terribly hoped for someone to appear now.
'Please, someone help me." She whispered in a trembling voice.
The snake had started to move towards her. As if enjoying her condition, it'd move a few inches forward and then stop for a few moments to look at her condition. Dread filled her heart, haunting memories were making it difficult for her to stay conscious and when the snake inched closer again, she moved back causing her back to hit the fence as she felt its corners penetrate into her flesh. Hannele looked at the serpent in front of her with a terrified expression. Its glaring red eyes seemed to be boring in her soul and she unconsciously gulped while looking at them. She wanted to scream but her voice was lost. With a face as white as a ghost, she looked at the approaching enemy one last time, and just when she thought it was the end of her, someone jumped between her and the snake.
With his back towards her, she couldn't see his face or his actions. The certain person, who had been noticing the entire ordeal since god knows when glared back in the eyes of the mighty serpent while bringing his one arm to the back and holding her hand to help her stand up. He didn't even look back and pulled her up as if he was facing her. With her failed thinking abilities, all she could do was hold onto his jacket with her trembling hands, firmly.
If someone could see into the serpent's eyes, one could certainly see the shocked and defensive stance it was showing. The young man glared into its eyes and suddenly his orbs turned into flashing red color. The aura he emitted was too powerful. Suddenly the serpent turned and moved towards the forest, eventually disappearing behind the fence. Hannele, who had been holding on for so long, suddenly felt drained of energy and fell down.
The last thing she noticed before losing her consciousness was his concerned touch and the burning sensation behind her neck, at the place where that mysterious birthmark was hiding under her hair. She could hear a distant voice calling her name but her senses were too weak to respond leaving only her heightened sensitivity to feel the sensations regarding her birthmark. The birthmark that looked like a snake, a Cobra King in its fury. At that time if someone removed her hair from her nape, they could see the mark emitting golden light as if a serpent made of fire was sitting there with all its glory.
No one knew but her, that the birthmark burned like hell whenever she came across a snake. And strangely enough, the few times she had faced a snake, it was always this same one. However, that stinging pain had always been bearable. But today's burning sensation was different. It didn't pain like she anticipated, instead, she felt a rush of emotions in her body. This stranger, whoever he was, she felt drawn towards him as if his touch was pleasant for the glowing mark. She felt his hand behind her nape in an effort to hold her firmly, but his touch caused a tingling sensation in her mark and a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest.