Amson, 17, "A Witch's Word"

'I don't know what I was thinking allowing him in there.' I thought, my anxiety reaching newfound highs.

I leaned against the side of Lore's door, wanting to curl up into a ball as the passing seconds felt like they were growing gradually to a halt. The ungodly dread I felt as I thought was only trumped by the urge to leave Baun behind, altogether.

But I could never do that.

He's too good of a friend to me, so I sucked it up and continued my surveillance, ensuring every corner or crevice was accounted for, even those outside of my field of view. Baun was in there, taking the full blunt of what I could only imagine to be a confuddling onslaught, perpetuated by the queen of skank, Lorelai Grinner.

That terrifying fact was probably a factor to what kept me fastened to the wall beside the entrance, yet there was another, much more abominable, truth, that which I'd failed to reveal to both Baun and you. Inside that harrowing pit of damnable myst was not only the witch herself, but a beast, something Baun, I'm sure, had not even dreamt he would be pursuing today.

It was a tarantula, a hairy, eight-eyed monster that roamed the confines of Lorelai's room as if it were a sporting ground. Though it never dared show its fat head anywhere else in the house, its domain was its domain; no one besides Lorelai dare trespass. And, if you knew Baun, this couldn't be a more nightmarish situation... That I completely allowed to happen.

Well, what was I supposed to do, stop him and walk in there myself? There was no chance-- Our success rate would've been buried the second I walked through that door. Yet... I couldn't help but feel ashamed by sitting there by myself.

Though Baun grew up in the countryside, much like Tora, he was a lot more... what's the word... endowed-- privileged is probably the better word. He grew up in a house without roaches, without any insufferable siblings, and, of course, without any seven-inch tarantulas. Ever since I met him, he'd had the same unrelenting fear of large bugs like tarantulas, and I can't blame him. The bastard's intimidating.

On top of that, it's never liked me-- hated me, in fact. Normally, Mom and Dad are nice enough to feed it, but any day I've got to feed the prick is a worse day than the one before. Still, there was nothing I could do, sitting against the wall like I was. In thought, I'd completely lost track of how much time I'd spent sitting there, and I sighed, hoping that Baun returned from his personal hell.

Within moments, the door creaked open, and I saw Baun exit, as confident as he'd entered. There was just one thing:

The eight-foot-long python wrapped around his entire body.

The door shut behind him, and Baun's composure shattered immediately, his new clothes seeming like rags as they hung on his defeated body. He panted, gasping for air as the python moved loosely around his body, winding around his limbs.

I recoiled, nearly backing myself down the stairs in fright, but Baun's exhaustion quickly turned to anger, his eyes tracking me like a hawk.

"What the hell was that, Amson?!" He growled, the python winding around his pointing hand. "Y-You knew about that mess, didn't you?!"

I backed away, flinching as the snake's shaking tongue stared at me, as if hungry.

"I-I'm sorry!" I cowered. "Please spare me!"

He pointed at me for a moment, allowing his anger to fester before letting go completely, his heart racing from the experience. I could only imagine what'd happened behind that door, but I didn't want to pressure him as he crouched by the door, his eyes hidden from me.

He wore the python like a scarf, a living, somewhat fashionable scarf that moved with him. Yet, its eyes remained trained on me, freezing me in place.

"Well..." He whispered, turning around and approaching me with an equally suspicious look. "How about you make another friend..."

He extended his arm, unleashing the snake as if by command. It drooped toward me, nearly forcing me down the stairs.

"I-I get it!" I yelled. "Stop!!!"

///

Baun and I sat at the end of my bed, both of us decompressing from what'd just happened. The snake did its own thing, but I'd hoped it wouldn't, as it only did so around me. It followed me, every inch I scooted away from it being covered within a moment. Looking into its eyes was frightening enough by itself, but hearing the hissing in my ear made me vow to never let it out of my sight. Especially if it was Lorelai's.

It seemed that she'd added another beast to her domain, and the first time one doesn't immediately bite me, it had to be a snake.

"It likes you." Baun said patronizingly.

"You think I give a fuck?" I snarled. "Get this thing away from me. Please!"

"Just a bit more." He insisted, his hand reaching behind my neck, shaking, and squeezing. "Until this hatred goes away for you not telling me a single thing about that goddamned spider."

He was right. I deserved it. Yet, I had something else on my mind.

"S-So..." I started. "How'd it go?"

"I think it went well enough." He said, scratching his beard. "She agreed to help us."

I stopped, confused.

"How the hell did you pull that off?" I asked, perplexed.

"We just talked, and I asked her. Simple enough."

"But you couldn't have just walked in there and asked. That just makes no sense."

"Well, that's exactly what happened, and I've got to tell ya: your family's genes are somethin'."

"Well... then, how was your first impression. Surely, there was something you noticed."

"Yeah, actually, I did." Baun laid back in my bed. "Your sister is... what's the word... real forward. Besides even that, she was talking about all this shit like she remembered me and all, but I never remember meeting her before. It was all just real... weird, but she was good people. You should appreciate the upsides of your sister more."

"I will not appreciate a single upside on Lore's body."

"That's not at all what I meant, and you know that, Am."

Baun chuckled a bit, and I laid beside him, both of us staring at the ceiling. It was quiet for a while, but we didn't need to talk. Except about this juvenile Burmese python roaming the room, but I digress. I thought back on the day and appreciated Baun's company, especially when we sat side-by-side like this.

Like this, we truly felt like brothers, something I'd only dreamt of.

"So..." I said, piercing the silence hanging in the air. "...What now?"

"Only thing left to do..." He sat up, looking down at me with a confident grin and extending his hand. "Let's build this fucking party."