It was almost like nothing else mattered, nothing else could. My life was a blur, I couldn’t see anything... anything but those eyes. Those red, devil-like slits, fire churning within them. Hell fire. They captured me, and wouldn’t set me free. They were my master, and I nothing but a servant, made to bend to their will. They sent thoughts to my head, commands. They hissed words slithering into my mind, coiling and uncoiling, attacking any thoughts of self preservation. But, thoughts could be hidden if you know where to hide them. And that’s how I knew. Knew who my master was, even when he didn’t want me to. I know what body lays behind those virulent eyes. I know. Even if he doesn’t want me to. Even so, it just makes me more afraid, much much more. Because the body behind my master, was not that of a human. It was that of a snake. It was long and poisonous, with two fangs, fangs which I fear will make a home in me. They glinted in the sun that day. That day I remember, clear as they crystal waters that thunder down a waterfall. I recall sitting. Sitting by the side of a lake, listening. Listening to the water churning, gentle rocking motions. I can still feel the long smooth grass caressing the bare patches of my skin, the ground as I lay there. Calm, serene, phlegmatic. I was at peace, as was the world around me. Or so I’d thought. I recall hearing a rustling, a movement, quick and sharp. Then again, nothing but a whisper of movement, but movement all the same. Then, I can still see it. The black and green scales, the fangs, the sadistic blood red eyes that are now my sole world. I remember hearing nothing but a breath, a hiss merely, and I could only make out one word, ‘Mine’. I remember the fear, the trepidation, I remember it as it ran its way through me and buried itself in me, growing even still. But I can also feel the utter awe I felt, the utmost admiration which settled and still remains. For time, and who knows how much time its been, has kept the fear and admiration alive and everlasting. Growing. Feeding off one another, using themselves as incentive to follow, to obey. And so now, now I can hear the voice. I can hear it as it’s reverberating through me, one single word. ‘Dance’, it said, ‘Dance’. And I did. I did. I danced, danced to the music of a thousand drums, an evil melody, melancholy but so alive. I can feel the music resounding through my soul, my body twirling to the dance only the eyes knew the choreography to. I could feel the happiness swell within my master, glee sprouting within him. And suddenly, the eyes seemed farther up, no longer singular to a body, but singular to its own. I could feel my body coiling, uncoiling, swaying, swaying so smoothly. I kept dancing, feeling light. I danced, and as I danced, I became the snake. The snake became me. I could see the fangs glistening, feel the scales, feel the poison coursing through me. Then, I could hear the command. I knew it’d be the last. The final request. The last time I’d ever see those menacing red eyes, hear the dreadful silibating voice. The last word I heard those red eyes speak was simple. “Kill,” it said.

‘Kill,’ it said, and there was no more.