Unholy

2

"Hello, cousin. Sitting with me today?" Cheryl asks as I step into the lunchroom.

"She's sitting with me." Reggie says, coming up behind me and placing a protective hand on my waist.

"Back off, Mantle. I'll dismember every bulldog left if you so much as lay a finger on my cousin." Cheryl grits her teeth and glowers at him. He tauntingly wiggles his fingers on my hip and Cheryl shoves him back. The other boys with letterman jackets jump up from their seats and stand behind him while Toni motions the other leather jackets to stand with her.

"No Serpent stands alone." A voice calls out from behind Cheryl.

"Look guys, the snakes came out to play with the big dogs." One of the letterman boys says.

"I knew I smelt dog." The "Serpents" hold their nose.

"Guys, chill. Cheryl, I don't know what you think you are doing since you are the captain of the cheer team and a Serpent Queen." A redhead boy stands between the two groups. "And anyway, I thought we settled this feud back when I became an honorary Serpent."

"Arch, stand down. This dog has his paws on my cousin." Cheryl defends. The group of misfits nod in agreement. Some look lost on what they are agreeing to but agree nonetheless.

"She can decide who she wants to be around, and I don't see her trying to get away from him. Leave it be, Cheryl." The boy they called Arch says, crossing his arms over his chest. She huffs in annoyance but goes back to her seat. The other serpents follow but not before spitting at Reggie. He is about to pounce when Arch holds him back.

"Archie, let me go," Reggie growls. I get the term "dog" now.

"You let it go." Archie says.

"You can't have it all, Andrews. Pick a side." Reggie calls, laughing humorlessly. Reggie leads me to the football and cheerleader table and Archie looks lost until a black-haired comes in, takes his hand, and leads him to Betty, who is sitting at the end of the serpent table with Cheryl and Toni.

"What the hell is up with this feud?" I ask Reggie quietly.

"Those snakes are dangerous, Heather. Stay away from them for your own good. They all come from the southside of town. They were raised in a filthy trailer park with drugs and fighting. Half of them have been to juvy or prison and the rest of them deserve it." His eyes burn with hate for that side.

"Why? What happened?"

"One of them, Fangs, killed a river vixen named Midge. The court said he didn't and released him but I don't believe it for a second. Joaquin, before he died even seduced the sheriff's son. Joaquin died in the pin and Ii wish the rest of them would too. They all keep knives and guns and shit.  They are disgusting animals. Too rough and dirty for the northside if you ask me." Reggie rants.

"Yeah! Their school on the southside was shut down because of drugs and gang shit. Most of them dropped out. I don't know why the serpents had to come here." Another boy says. Ii frown at what I am hearing. Why is my cousin hanging out with gangs? Murderers?

"See that boy down there?" One of the cheerleaders, previously called River Vixen, points to a boy with black hair hanging in his eyes. He is wearing a tee-shirt with a flannel and a leather jacket. Then again, they are all wearing that. "See the tattoo on his neck?" I look to the spot she mentioned and nod. "All of them have to get that tattoo for initiation or something. I heard their initiation is them killing a deer and mounting his head in their cave. Then, they get one of those tattoos with a needle they have used for years. The same needle." I cringe at the idea. That's awful.

"With a knife!" Another vixen calls. 

"What?" I ask.

"They have to kill the deer with a switchblade and cut its head off with the knife." Suddenly, my appetite is gone.