Beneath the Serpent Shrine
cut off from the outside world. Most of the
to avoid her wrath. Every May, when the snakes were in
had been sent into The Serpent Shrine-no matter how strong he was-came back barely able to stand. Some
arted dropping. The smart families, especially
would draw lots to decide which family had to hand over a man. And it didn't have to b
mom drew the
bed for years. So my mom, just like a bunch of other desperate families before us, called me in the mid
phone, I knew exactly wha
nd a man to die in
oom left him gasping for air. If we actually sent him to that shrine, Lady Serpent wouldn'
arted as one call a day became ten. She kept pushing, begging me
t want to h
o had ever gone to college, with yea
d, twisted tradition. I didn't have the power to change i
day, everyt
austing call from my mo
e tried to escape, but they beat her to death. Literally tor
s were still out t
de. Posters, announcements, warnings e
t news, something
take the risk and texted my mom, "Mom, I found
praise before finally hanging up. But inside, I felt nothing,
e always t
rls and sell them off like cattle
nd I didn't have any weapons or training. One wrong mov
cky. A few nights
lite on the outside, but there was something sle
en he came up and started chatting me up. The moment I saw him, I knew exactly what he wan