Trapped in a Tangled Web

I walked down the hallway slowly, taking in every single detail that I could find. There was 3 doors to the right of the bathroom that I came out of. Two on the right, and one on the left.

But I made a left out of the bathroom, walking the hallway at a sedated pace. I passed one more door before slowly descending the stairs, gasping before quickly letting myself twist around and fall backwards.

Miraculously, I managed to not break my neck as I did an odd type of hand stand/ flip down the stairs. Shaking my head quickly to clear it, I stared up to the top of the stairs in absolute shock.

A snake!

"Damn girl, didn't your mother teach you how to walk?" Kyrian joked, walking over to me. "It's one foot in front of the other. Not on top the other."

My mouth dropped open in shock at his comment. But, stupid me, I was too frazzled by the snake to remark on it.

"There is a huge fucking snake on your banister railing, and it just so happened to try for a bite of my shoulder," I finally managed to spit out. "And I never met my mother. Asshole," I mumbled.

He blushed slightly while mumbling an apology under his breath. I took his hand once he held it down to me, letting him help me to my feet. My eyes practically bugged out of my head as Gage walked appeared at the top of the staircase, reaching forward and letting the snake slither onto him.

It wrapped all the way up his right arm before slithering it's way across the back of his neck to rest on his other shoulder.

"This," he said softly as he began walking down the steps, "is Brittany. She's a Burmese python. Our boa constrictor Bella is still in her cage."

By the time he finished speaking he was standing hardly five feet in front of me. A chill crept down my spine asthe snake Brittany slithered her tongue out, tasting my scent on the air.

I gulped, hesitantly reaching my hand out a few inches before stopping. "Will she bite me?"

Gage's eyes, along with Kyrian's, went wide in disbelief.

"You'd actually pet a snake?" Gage asked softly.

I shrugged. "I'd even let it wrap around me if I knew she wouldn't bite me or try to squeeze me to death."

A small smile made it's way to those gorgeous lips of his as he slowly uncurled the snake from his limbs and handed her over to me.

"She doesn't bite. Promise."

I took the snake, letting her curl around me snuggly before I began walking into their living room. Jason was curled up into a corner of the four seater couch, leaning on the arm of it to stare over Brian's shoulder as he typed.

I sat right next to Jason, leaving the rest of the couch for the other two to sit down. Gage sat right next to me, his hip bumping into mine every time one of us shifted slightly. Kyrian sat in a chair across from us, staring at me with an apprehensive look.

"What?" I asked, slightly ticked off that he was staring at me like that.

He shook his head slowly. "Just down lean back too much. If you crush her between your body and the couch, she will bite you."

I shrugged just as Brittany slithered off my shoulders and layed stretched out on the back of the couch. Kyrian's head almost bugged out of his head as I leaned back, resting my head on the cushions a bare centimeter from her jaws.

"You have some balls, Flame. I give you that," he mumbled.

A grin snuck its way onto my lips as I winked at him. "More than you apparently," I answered back.

By this time, Jason was looking at me in awe, completely oblivious of what he was watching before. I sighed as I noticed Bry still typing away at the keyboard.

"Hey pencil-neck, wanna stop cyber talking and join the real world?" I asked, staring a hole through Brian's back.

He went dead still, not moving a muscle. "What did you just call me?"

I grinned, snuggling further into the couch before replying. "Really Bry, are you this bad at remembering your best friend?"

He turned around in the swivel chair slowly, his eyes getting wider and wider as his eyes focused on me. "Holy shit!" he shouted quickly. "I thought you were dead!"

"Shocked?" I asked back in a teasing tone. "Guess you know now how I was always disappearing and sneaking up on you, eh?"

He lept off the chair and practically straddled my legs once he landed the eight foot jump. His arms circled my shoulders as he hugged me tightly, placing a soft kiss to my shoulder before pulling back.

"Damn it woman! I seriously thought you were dead. I'd never see you again. What the hell did you go run off for?"

I held back an amused grin as Gage ever-so-subtly pulled Brian off of me, a scowl on his face that only I seen. Brian hardly noticed as he continued to look at me in shock.

"I was recruited," I said slowly. "And that's all I can tell you. But apparently I'm back now," I said, casting a quick look in Gage's direction. "I doubt these boys of yours would let me slink back to my hole now that I saved your asses."

All of a sudden, that happy-go-lucky smile Brian had turned into a scowl. "Which reminds me," he growled out. "How the hell could you risk your life like that?! For complete strangers no less? I'm in the right mind to beat you sens-"

"Your not a stranger," I cut in quickly. "They aren't either. They're your friends, which makes them mine now."

His eyes flashed colors quickly before going back to their normal ocean blue. "Don't you dare go getting all technical, debate team-ish with me, Flame. Damn it, I just found out your alive and you wanna go risking your life?"

And that's how it went for the next half hour. a million and three questions that I refused to answer normally.