The python lunged forward, its massive jaws snapping open, fangs gleaming with venom.
But Esme didn't even flinch.
She stood perfectly still, her white eyes fixed on the approaching beast. And then—impossibly, horrifyingly—she smiled wider.
The python struck.
Its fangs sank deep into her shoulder, venom pumping directly into her bloodstream. Black blood oozed from the wound, thick and wrong, dripping onto the floor like oil.
Doc's breath hitched. "No—"
But Esme didn't scream. Didn't gasp. Didn't react at all.
Instead, she reached up with her free hand and wrapped her fingers around the python's scaled neck. Her grip tightened slowly, deliberately, and the massive beast—a creature that could crush a grown man in seconds—began to writhe.
The python's body thrashed violently, trying to break free, but Esme's hand didn't budge. Her fingers sank deeper into its scales, black veins spreading from her palm like poisoned roots crawling across the beast's body.
