The thin part of the lobe was all she had gotten. The copper taste of blood filled her mouth. She spit out the offending chunk of skin, blood splattering on the steering wheel and dash.
The man held a hand over his bleeding ear as he stumbled away.
She watched him in her mirrors. When he was at the van, she applied her teeth to the top of the duct tape and bit down.
Moments later, the cold tip of the gun jammed against her head.
“Sit back,” he said.
She stopped biting, having only made a small teeth mark in the thick tape. Slowly, she leaned back in the car seat and turned to face him.
His ear still dripped blood, the bite deep enough that it wouldn’t clot too fast. He held a small cage filled with mice, two of them quite fat.
“What’s this? You’re going to rodent me to death? Never saw that one coming.” She smiled, knowing blood still covered her teeth.
He opened the cage door and tilted it so all the mice would fall onto Sarah’s lap. Each one landed in and around her legs. A couple of them scurried up and down the length of her one thigh, others jumped and hit the floor, preferring to hide under her car seat.
“Here’s my friend’s dinner,” the man said. “He won’t need this anymore.”
“Mice don’t scare me.” She looked up at him, more than half his face covered by the bill of the hat. “I’m not your average girl. Tell me you’ve got something worse.”
“Your wish is my command.”
He disappeared from the window. She lunged forward, her teeth going to work on the tape. With no need to check on him, she bit and bit until a portion of the tape surrendered to her teeth.
As she pulled back on the flap she had cut out of the tape, he reappeared beside her. She ignored him, knowing she had to get her hands free. Or at least one of them.
Something heavy touched her lap. There was no point in taking her teeth off the job to look at what it was. She was almost free. Freedom meant she could fight. She could get to the hammer. She could turn the car on and ram his vehicle.
He set something behind her. It felt like a thick pillow, like the circular kind someone would use for lumbar support or for under their knees when resting on a massage table.
Then the tape snapped off her right wrist. Her hand was free. She grabbed the car keys that sat idle in the ignition and twisted them, turning the car on. But something blocked her arm from the center console where she had wanted to drop the car into reverse to ram his van.
Something squeezed her belly. She looked down. Repulsed, she reared up and tried to push the snake off, but it didn’t budge. She took a deep breath, held it and began hammering at the body of the snake with her one free hand as it wrapped another loop around her.
“My gift to you,” the man said. “That’s an African Rock Python. He hasn’t eaten in a month. Quite hungry, actually.” He stood back and watched as the snake wrapped itself around her again, locking her upper arms against her body. “He smells the scent of the rodents on you, so naturally he thinks you’re food. Since he can eat deer, pigs and dogs, you’ll do just fine.”
Only able to move her right arm below the elbow and not sure if the snake was venomous or not, Sarah could only watch as it slithered around her again, tightening as it went. The thickness of its body was impressive and intimidating at the same time, its strength intense.
The snake wanted to crush her as it started to squeeze. She held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next, her mind racing on possible options.
“You see where the snake has bit into the back of your car seat.” He leaned in closer. “Oh wait, I guess you’re all tied up. You can’t turn around and see. Well, anyway, you got lucky because this kind of python usually bites the victim to lock onto its prey and then begins the death wrap.”
“Death wrap?”
The man held a hand over his bleeding ear as he stumbled away.
She watched him in her mirrors. When he was at the van, she applied her teeth to the top of the duct tape and bit down.
Moments later, the cold tip of the gun jammed against her head.
“Sit back,” he said.
She stopped biting, having only made a small teeth mark in the thick tape. Slowly, she leaned back in the car seat and turned to face him.
His ear still dripped blood, the bite deep enough that it wouldn’t clot too fast. He held a small cage filled with mice, two of them quite fat.
“What’s this? You’re going to rodent me to death? Never saw that one coming.” She smiled, knowing blood still covered her teeth.
He opened the cage door and tilted it so all the mice would fall onto Sarah’s lap. Each one landed in and around her legs. A couple of them scurried up and down the length of her one thigh, others jumped and hit the floor, preferring to hide under her car seat.
“Here’s my friend’s dinner,” the man said. “He won’t need this anymore.”
“Mice don’t scare me.” She looked up at him, more than half his face covered by the bill of the hat. “I’m not your average girl. Tell me you’ve got something worse.”
“Your wish is my command.”
He disappeared from the window. She lunged forward, her teeth going to work on the tape. With no need to check on him, she bit and bit until a portion of the tape surrendered to her teeth.
As she pulled back on the flap she had cut out of the tape, he reappeared beside her. She ignored him, knowing she had to get her hands free. Or at least one of them.
Something heavy touched her lap. There was no point in taking her teeth off the job to look at what it was. She was almost free. Freedom meant she could fight. She could get to the hammer. She could turn the car on and ram his vehicle.
He set something behind her. It felt like a thick pillow, like the circular kind someone would use for lumbar support or for under their knees when resting on a massage table.
Then the tape snapped off her right wrist. Her hand was free. She grabbed the car keys that sat idle in the ignition and twisted them, turning the car on. But something blocked her arm from the center console where she had wanted to drop the car into reverse to ram his van.
Something squeezed her belly. She looked down. Repulsed, she reared up and tried to push the snake off, but it didn’t budge. She took a deep breath, held it and began hammering at the body of the snake with her one free hand as it wrapped another loop around her.
“My gift to you,” the man said. “That’s an African Rock Python. He hasn’t eaten in a month. Quite hungry, actually.” He stood back and watched as the snake wrapped itself around her again, locking her upper arms against her body. “He smells the scent of the rodents on you, so naturally he thinks you’re food. Since he can eat deer, pigs and dogs, you’ll do just fine.”
Only able to move her right arm below the elbow and not sure if the snake was venomous or not, Sarah could only watch as it slithered around her again, tightening as it went. The thickness of its body was impressive and intimidating at the same time, its strength intense.
The snake wanted to crush her as it started to squeeze. She held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next, her mind racing on possible options.
“You see where the snake has bit into the back of your car seat.” He leaned in closer. “Oh wait, I guess you’re all tied up. You can’t turn around and see. Well, anyway, you got lucky because this kind of python usually bites the victim to lock onto its prey and then begins the death wrap.”
“Death wrap?”
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