An Evil Lurks Within

Prologue

The leaves rustled as something shot through the bushes. Its antennae quivered, and it paused, waiting, its eyes searching. A leaf rustled, and the cricket tensed, its back legs preparing to spring. Another plant moved, and it jumped, but too late. A figure pounced, its claws crushing the cricket with a sickening crunch, and its exoskeleton shattered, spilling out the guts inside the now-dead insect. The figure gave a disapproving grunt, lifting its claws and shaking off the cricket parts. It swiveled its head to the left; then to the right, as if waiting for something to burst through the bushes. It shook its head, narrowing its eyes as it gazed through the ferns, half expecting a figure to leap at him, talons extended. Luckily, that didn't happen. It grumbled to itself, waiting for the others.

Eventually, although it felt like days, a patrol that consisted of Tiny, a black and tan King Cobra; Cora, a manipulative, scarred Bush Viper; Banana a sweet, but unforgivingly murderous Eyelash Viper; and Elm, the smart, yet annoying, Cottonmouth. They stopped as they saw him.

"Hello, Slinky," Tiny hissed softly. He slunk out of the bush, curling up his tail in a spring shape and flexing his hood. Slinky flattened his tail, hissing at the younger snake. The striped iguana licked his mouth, sweeping his tail around the group.

"Tiny, Cora, Banana, Elm," He greeted them, "How's the herpnapping going?" He stared intently at the group, hoping they hadn't failed him. He narrowed his eyes, searching them for any lies.

"Great!" Banana exclaimed, slithering up a tree and hanging his head down just above Slinky's head. "We've only lost three captives- two of starvation. The third didn't taste too good." Banana flicked his tongue in and out. Slinky raised an eye to Banana's words, but shrugged his worries off.

Cora lifted her head sharply, hissing softly to Banana. "You snailbrain!" Cora smacked the young viper in the face, then turned her head towards Slinky. "What he meant was we forgot to feed them... once...," Cora lowered her head to Slinky, and silkily added, "Maayybee twice."

Elm sighed, flicking his tongue irritably. "Listen, we've got twenty prisoners. Three leopard geckos, two day geckos, five toads, a white's tree frog, four garters, six bearded dragons, four of which are hatchlings, and a hognose. Banana decided the 'good' pit viper would taste good, the cannibal," Elm glared at the juvenile viper.

"I was hungry!" he said, wide-eyed and wounded. "BUT soon we'll get that one weird lizard and maybe an iguana!"

"SHUT UP BANANA-" Tiny hissed, his hood spreading as he bared his fangs. Banana flinched, shrinking away and climbing to a higher branch. "He didn't mean that," Tiny said smoothly, circling around Slinky and appearing at his other side.

"Oi, still here," Slinky snapped at Banana, slapping his tail on the ground. "I don't care about your dumb rivalry. All I care about is that I get my family back, and I don't care if I need to rip a few snakes in the process," Slinky hissed, stepping forward aggressively. He glanced around and realized with a jolt of panic that they had circled him, their tongues flicking threateningly.

Elm's bright white mouth was noticeable even in the darkness; it was like he had put the sun into his mouth. Tiny's hood flared wide, showing a series of scars in the shape of some sort of lizard and an oddly shaped snake.

"Hey, Banana," Tiny hissed, a smirk appearing on his face. "Are you hungry?"

A flash of bright yellow shot down from the canopy, like a jet of lightning, and he felt fangs sink into his back, as well as the cold venom injected directly into his spine. He screeched, rearing back and attempting to claw Banana off. He felt a cold snap and heard Banana shout and let go, sliding into a tree. Tiny was grinning, watching Slinky with cold hatred.

Slinky noticed that one of Banana's fangs was missing; it must have been lodged into his back. Within moments, Slinky couldn't move, his spine paralyzed as his back swelled, to reveal a huge lump in his back. Slinky wanted to call out, or even scream, but he couldn't move. It felt like he was on fire; like he was burning from the inside out. He felt his muscles twitch as he gasped for air, fighting to stay alive, his throat closing in. At this point, Banana had recovered, and was maliciously watching. Slinky trembled, watching Banana slither close to him.

"Die quicker, so I can eat you!" Banana wailed, flicking his tongue. "I haven't eaten in 8 days!" his voice was fading, and so was the jungle around him. Slinky gave one last feeble gasp, and let the darkness consume him.

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"Finally," Banana grumbled. "I'm so hecking mad right now," he grunted, poking the dead iguana on the nose with the tip of his tail. "I'm missing a fang! And it's in his back!" He complained, glancing at the pearly white tooth lodged in the deceased iguanas back. He slithered towards Slinky, tapping him in some deranged murderer manner. "I KILLED YOU! Look at me NOW, Mother!" He cried.

"Okay, just grab it and drag it back," Tiny growled, flicking his tail back and turning around to slither into the bushes. Elm followed suit, with Cora hanging back a moment so that Banana could strap it to his back with a blade of grass from nearby. Banana flicked his tail gratefully to Cora, and the four herpnappers sped off, leaving Slinky's smushed cricket behind.