what he meant before they suddenly dropped from the sky, falling faster than gravity would have caused. When she thought a collision with the steel stadium rafters was inevitable, she shut her eyes and prepared to die.
All was silent. No rush of wind. No pain. She was glad to have died painlessly. Or was this another dream? It had to be , she thought. She began to laugh to herself, amused that she had believed the whole experience was real. On a positive note , she thought, at least that means I’m not dead and can wake up now . You always woke up when you died in your dreams. She pinched herself hard.
“Ouch!” she yelped, her eyes fluttering open.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel asked.
“Oh my gosh…you mean…that was real?” She paused before continuing. “That was awesome! Where can I buy tickets for the next ride?”
Gabriel looked pleased with her reaction. “Well, we’re going to have to get down from here the same way we got up, so I guess it’s a package deal.”
“Can we go again now?”
“What happened to all those questions you wanted to ask me?”
“Oh yeah, I totally forgot. I guess we could talk about those first.” Her heart was still racing in excitement from the greatest thrill ride of her life.
Gabriel said, “Why don’t I just start from the beginning and tell you the whole story, and you can ask questions as we go along?”
She agreed. Before he started, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. They were situated in a wide, steel nook at the top of one of the ends of the football field. The spot was partially hidden by a series of large poles displaying the American, the College Football Association, and the UT flags.
Taylor also noticed that Gabriel’s arms were still around her, protectively. Although the warmth from them felt like heaven, she peeled his glowing arms off and slid across from him, tucking her feet underneath her butt. Satisfied, she prompted him to begin, their knees almost touching as he leaned in closer. That’s when he began telling the most remarkable tale that she had ever heard.
Chapter Thirteen
H is story began a mere 150 years earlier in 1846. That’s when the first demon evolved. A young man in his mid-twenties, Clifford Dempsey, was hiking deep in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. He was hoping to identify and catalogue at least one new species of insect. As a budding insectologist this was his dream, his passion. Still today, the Amazon is a dangerous place for even the most experienced guides. Deadly snakes, spiders, and poisonous plants patrol the rainforest while lethal piranhas and crocodiles swim hidden beneath the surface of the many rivers and streams. It was Clifford’s first trip to the Amazon.
While scouting for food one day, Clifford was bitten on the back of his hand by a long, ink-black snake. Clifford tried to rip the snake from his hand, but its jaws were locked like a vice on his skin, its fangs imbedded in a large, blue vein. Eventually he was forced to chop the serpent’s head off with a knife he carried in his belt. Black blood poured from the serpent’s writhing body as his hand was finally released.
A sudden bolt of pain surged through him, from his feet to his head. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Clifford waited a minute, and feeling like himself again, inspected the snake. He was hopeful that it was not of the poisonous variety.
He opened his snake book and scanned through the pictures of black snakes. None of them resembled what lay before him. Its body was pitch black and as smooth as silk. Not an etch or a marking marred the surface of its skin. The decapitated head looked identical to the body, except for a spot of color on either side of its nostrils—blood-red eyes stared out from the dark skin. Its mouth hung open and Clifford saw that the fangs and gums were as dark as black onyx.
He bagged both pieces of the snake and brought them back to his camp for further inspection. Upon arrival at his fire
All was silent. No rush of wind. No pain. She was glad to have died painlessly. Or was this another dream? It had to be , she thought. She began to laugh to herself, amused that she had believed the whole experience was real. On a positive note , she thought, at least that means I’m not dead and can wake up now . You always woke up when you died in your dreams. She pinched herself hard.
“Ouch!” she yelped, her eyes fluttering open.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel asked.
“Oh my gosh…you mean…that was real?” She paused before continuing. “That was awesome! Where can I buy tickets for the next ride?”
Gabriel looked pleased with her reaction. “Well, we’re going to have to get down from here the same way we got up, so I guess it’s a package deal.”
“Can we go again now?”
“What happened to all those questions you wanted to ask me?”
“Oh yeah, I totally forgot. I guess we could talk about those first.” Her heart was still racing in excitement from the greatest thrill ride of her life.
Gabriel said, “Why don’t I just start from the beginning and tell you the whole story, and you can ask questions as we go along?”
She agreed. Before he started, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. They were situated in a wide, steel nook at the top of one of the ends of the football field. The spot was partially hidden by a series of large poles displaying the American, the College Football Association, and the UT flags.
Taylor also noticed that Gabriel’s arms were still around her, protectively. Although the warmth from them felt like heaven, she peeled his glowing arms off and slid across from him, tucking her feet underneath her butt. Satisfied, she prompted him to begin, their knees almost touching as he leaned in closer. That’s when he began telling the most remarkable tale that she had ever heard.
Chapter Thirteen
H is story began a mere 150 years earlier in 1846. That’s when the first demon evolved. A young man in his mid-twenties, Clifford Dempsey, was hiking deep in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. He was hoping to identify and catalogue at least one new species of insect. As a budding insectologist this was his dream, his passion. Still today, the Amazon is a dangerous place for even the most experienced guides. Deadly snakes, spiders, and poisonous plants patrol the rainforest while lethal piranhas and crocodiles swim hidden beneath the surface of the many rivers and streams. It was Clifford’s first trip to the Amazon.
While scouting for food one day, Clifford was bitten on the back of his hand by a long, ink-black snake. Clifford tried to rip the snake from his hand, but its jaws were locked like a vice on his skin, its fangs imbedded in a large, blue vein. Eventually he was forced to chop the serpent’s head off with a knife he carried in his belt. Black blood poured from the serpent’s writhing body as his hand was finally released.
A sudden bolt of pain surged through him, from his feet to his head. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Clifford waited a minute, and feeling like himself again, inspected the snake. He was hopeful that it was not of the poisonous variety.
He opened his snake book and scanned through the pictures of black snakes. None of them resembled what lay before him. Its body was pitch black and as smooth as silk. Not an etch or a marking marred the surface of its skin. The decapitated head looked identical to the body, except for a spot of color on either side of its nostrils—blood-red eyes stared out from the dark skin. Its mouth hung open and Clifford saw that the fangs and gums were as dark as black onyx.
He bagged both pieces of the snake and brought them back to his camp for further inspection. Upon arrival at his fire
Similar Books
