~ JESSE ~
It happened faster than thought, and yet, everything slowed down too.
One second I was standing there, fighting laughter, staring at my father with my frozen brother at my side.
Then, somehow I made the decision to let one of those coiling snakes inside me strike- just one. I didn't even have to think about it, didn't even have to give a command. I just… let it go.
My father screamed like he'd been shot with a taser, and dropped to the floor, writhing and twitching like someone was still pumping him full of electric current.
I jerked back a step, watching him, fascinated, the entire world thrumming. Lights crackling at the edges of my vision. My heart puttering in my chest like a bird's.
I couldn't think. Could barely breathe. But it was my father who was in crisis.
I could hear him wheezing like it was a struggle to inhale. And whining like a terrified kid.
