Serpent's Den

Foreshadows Turned True

This was definitely one way to get used to a new area. Nothing went the way I had expected. Well, almost nothing.

I had just moved to Lander, Wyoming. Everything about it was new for me. From being in a new state to living with a friend from high school who was a Native. It was even my first time moving. I had no idea what to expect aside from the horrible things that my mom had told me about living on a reservation as an outsider. Her words echoed back to me again:

"Emma, they'll drive you out within a week! And that's if you don't end up dead in that time! Why do you have to move to a reservation? I don't understand. The Wind River reservation has the highest crime rate of any reservation in the country! Why can't you see the danger you're putting yourself in?"

Lander itself is a relatively small town of about seven thousand people. It has numerous family-owned shops and cafes that gave the town a cozy feeling. A couple bike trails were scattered throughout town, all of which had foliage lining the pathways. Most of the buildings lining Main Street were very old. The ones that had art on the side had the paint almost completely faded, revealing the bricks underneath if they bothered covering the bricks to begin with. Everything was easily within biking distance. Except the other towns in the area. There are two neighboring towns closeby: Hudson and Riverton. Both were a relatively short drive away, so I could easily travel from one town to the other if I needed to.

So far, the Natives were super friendly to me despite the fact that I'm technically an 'outsider'. Thinking back to what my mom had told me after her research, I was shocked. All that the Natives asked of me was that I was respectful of their culture, which wasn't that hard of an ask at all. Little did I know that one of my mom's horrible predictions was about to come to fruition.

About a month after I moved to Wyoming, I was exploring downtown. Walking past the cute little stores and window shopping, I was starting to enjoy myself. The sun was shining, as it almost always did in this part of the desert. Clouds lazily drifted overhead in the afternoon breeze. Numerous birds called from the surrounding trees and I had even seen a couple deer and antelope on my way over. However, all of this serenity was about to come to an abrupt end.

I was always cautious when I passed alleys, but this time I had let my guard down, thinking to myself that I didn't need it. Someone quickly grabbed my arm and yanked me into the alleyway. I squeaked in surprise as I was pulled into the stranger's chest. Almost immediately, I had an arm wrapped tightly around my stomach and a strong hand covering my mouth. Facing the sidewalk I was just on, I hoped and prayed that someone saw what had happened. I desperately tried to scream for help, but the stranger's hand had muffled my cries. As a punishment for this, the stranger stomped hard on my foot, sending searing pain shooting through my toes.

"You'll shut up if you know what's good for you!" the man growled at me. Squeaking in pain, I fought back tears. "Hurry up, open the back."

He was quickly dragging me backwards. I was running out of time to think of something. And fast. I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way to save myself. I was too weak to try to fight him off. I also had no idea how many of his allies were nearby. That was too risky. My instincts still had me trying to pry his hands off of me. As I had predicted, this did nothing. Thinking back to what my karate Sensei had taught me, I tried to bend forward to disrupt his balance as I squirmed. To my dismay, he was too heavy to even budge.

"Hey! Stop! Let her go!" someone called out. I opened my eyes, stunned, to see another man running towards me. I felt the stranger's hand loosen over my mouth in surprise. Not daring to let this window escape me, I opened my mouth and bit down on his finger as hard as I could.

The attacker cried in pain as he let go of me. The second that he wasn't holding me back, I ran. I sprinted towards the other man, who had slowed down, like my life depended on it. As far as I knew, my life was in danger. Accidentally crashing into the other man, I felt his arms lightly wrap around my shoulders. Hot tears streamed down my face as I looked up at who had just saved me.

He had a rectangular face with a strong jawline. Faint stubble was growing on his chin. His brown hair was swept up and out of his face, though it was falling down in strands. Dazzling blue eyes shone at me in concern and fear. He looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen him before if I even had.

Both of us were stunned silent. We just looked into each other's eyes for a few heartbeats until we heard my attacker growling in frustration. Whipping my head to face who had just attacked me, I saw that he was bigger around than the man who had saved me, and maybe a hair shorter. Black hair was pointed up in a cow lick. He was wearing a maroon and tan patterned bandana over his nose and mouth like an old timey robber and a matching maroon outfit. Most of his brown face was hidden. He was still holding his hand where I had bitten it. Despite the dimmer light in the alley, I could see that the man's dark brown eyes were blazing with fury. He almost looked . . . feral.

Directly behind him was a black truck. The back doors were wide open and another man stood inside, silent and still. He was slimmer than his accomplice and taller. A shiver was sent down my spine seeing how close I had come to being abducted. Immediately, I grew a new appreciation for when this other man responded.

"She's mine," the attacker snarled. "Don't make me use force." He took a couple slow steps towards us. Instinctively, I shied into the other man's chest. I felt his strong arms wrap around me protectively.

"She's no one's," retorted the other man defiantly. "Take one more step and I'll call the cops." His strong voice rang out clearly in the alley.

The attacker chuckled menacingly at the threat. "Please. Don't threaten me with a good time." His face became deathly serious. "They could never respond in time. Now, be a good lad and give her over."

"That one's worth a pretty penny," added the attacker's friend from the truck. He was wearing a matching outfit to his friend, bandana and all. Taking a couple paces forward, he peered out towards us from just inside the truck's doors. "We could give you . . . compensation. If you cooperate with us." His voice somehow reminded me of a snake.

The first attacker kept taking slow steps our way. "Come on, son." His voice was oddly smooth. "Don't make this difficult. Just hand her over and we'll get out of your hair." He held a hand out.

The other man took a couple steps back towards the street, lightly tugging me with him. I found myself gripping fistfuls of his shirt with all the strength I had. It was as if this man was the only anchor I had to keep from getting pulled back into the abductor's grasps. My left arm was half-wrapped around his shoulder and he tightened his hands on mine. My cheeks were soaked with my tears.

"Come on. Let's just go," the other man almost whispered to me. I nodded softly and we started to turn back to the street. "Get you somewhere safe."

I heard the second abductor say something I couldn't make out followed by quick footsteps. The other man and I both turned back around to see the bigger abductor sprinting at us. I squealed again and the other man let go of me to defend himself. He had lightly pushed me towards a nearby dumpster to hide behind. Thankfully, I didn't lose my balance and quickly took refuge as the fight began.

The skinnier man stayed in the truck, letting his friend do the heavy lifting. I started sobbing. How had this day changed so fast? I stayed next to the dumpster with my back to the brick wall and listened to the fight. It sounded like punches were being thrown. Suddenly scared for the man who had saved me, I crept from my hiding spot. I forced my sobs to slow as I peered around the corner.

The other man might not win the fight. He was smaller around than the abductor, but by the feel of his arms around me, he was stronger than he looked. Glancing back to the street, I saw bystanders watching the fight. A few people were looking between the abductors and me, their eyes wide.