Page 27 of Poisoning Ivy
"Snake bite." He said, glancing up at me for just a second—letting me see the pretty gold flecks in his green eyes—before looking back at the blood.
A snake bite?
Panic gripped me by the throat. I didn't see a snake, though? How could he tell?
A small breath pushed through me, and my voice sounded extra girly and not as tough as I liked to pretend I was when I asked, "Am I going to die?"
The boy shrugged, dragging a finger through the blood and spreading it down my index finger. "I don't know. Depends what kind of snake it was. Did you see it?"
I didn't even know they had snakes here. I'd never seen one outside of the zoo. My lip trembled as I tried not to cry, but the world got blurry and his face got hard to see. If I was going to die, I definitely didn't want my mom to find me first—she would probably beat the poison to it. He lifted my hand, and I thought it was so that he could see it better, but then his lips touched against the back of it, and I realized he was kissing it, trying to take away the pain.
Maybe he was just granting me some comfort in what I was absolutely convinced would be my final moments. And then I felt something wet, and his tongue smoothed over the bite, making me jump away, trying to withdraw from his grip. But his fingers tightened on me a little, keeping me in his grasp as he licked harder, clearing away the trails of blood before sealing his lips around the puncture wound.
Stories of vampires who sucked blood popped into my head, and a little sound of fear slipped out of my throat, but the sun shining on his dark hair made me pretty sure he wasn't going to drain me of all my blood. Not at that moment, anyway.
When he pulled away, his eyes met mine for a minute, and then he smiled, my blood still on his lips. I just stared at him, too confused to move.
"Why did you do that?" I finally managed to ask as his tongue poked out to swipe away the last of the blood from his lips.
"If it's venomous, you have to suck the venom out or it will kill you. You should be fine." He shrugged, like it was no big deal.
My lips trembled still, and my emotions won the battle, hot tears dropping down my cheeks.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, his voice curious.
I couldn't manage to speak while crying, so I only nodded my head. The initial snake bite did hurt, and it kind ofstilldid, but that wasn't the reason I was crying. I was crying because my attempt to run away had been thwarted before I even got out of sight of my parents' cabin. I guess trying to go up the hill had been a dumb idea, but going down the hill hadn't seemed like a good choice. If I go up, they will lose sight of me the second I make it over the ridge. If I go down, they can see me just by looking out the window.
"It should stop soon. Does your mom know how to clean a snake bite?"
I shook my head because my mom doesn't know how to clean anything. "I'll take you to mine, then. She's good at this stuff."
I probably would have followed him anywhere by that point, so as he led me down the mountain to his family cabin, I let my tears subside and focused on watching him—this curious boy with messy black hair and skin that was the color of caramels left out on the counter to cure—the kind Miss Lizzie used to make me when I was younger. I guessed that it meant he spent a lot of time outside.
"So, what were you doing back there?" He asked me, tipping his head back to the mountain I failed to climb. When I turned back, it looked a lot bigger than it did from inside my cabin.
"Running away from home." I said, swallowing.
"You don't like it here?"
His question seemed silly, especially because I kind of did like it there. It was better to be in the mountains than in the city. My parents seemed more relaxed out here. They weren't constantly at each other's throats, and mom wasn't coming home with glassy eyes in the middle of the night for dad to use her like a punching bag. But somehow, when we came out here, I became a bigger target than when I was back in our apartment in the city. They didn't hit me when we were home, but something aboutbeing in the woods made them a little wilder, less worried about what the neighbors would think. It was obvious from the time I was young that they couldn’t care less what the neighbors at the cabin thought of us, and my parents’ opinion of the neighbors couldn’t have been lower either.
Now that I'm older, I know why they’re themselves out here, why they let their animal instincts take hold. It's just because there's no one to see the bruises in the summertime, no teachers to call child services, no authorities to question the good name of the D’Aquino family. Now that I'm older, I also know there's no escape. And now that there’s no school for me to return to, no teachers to worry over me, and very few friends to poke their heads in on me, I can only imagine what life is going to look like.
I almost wish they’d sell me off already and get it over with. I’m eighteen, a legal adult, capable of getting married of my own volition. Not that I expect my parents to give me any say over my marriage. My whole life, they’ve made no qualms about what it means to be a D’Aquino.
We don’t have the luxury of living like other families,my mother would always remind me. Other families can marry for love. Other families can have multiple children. Other families can vacation in foreign countries or take a trip to a theme park. Other families can send their daughter to college for a good education.
The sound of the doorbell makes my stomach drop, and I turn to the window in horror.
No.
I know they hate me, but would they really bring myparentsinto this?
I hear the grumble as my father's footsteps sound on the stairs, every noise in the house echoing as if it's going to collapse around me. I almost wish it would. I flip the lock on my doorknob and slowly twist it, opening the door just enough tolet light into my room as my father clicks the overhead one on. I can't see his face as he approaches the front door, his back to me, but I can tell he's pissed.
I'm going to be in so much fucking trouble.
But when my father opens the door, he looks from side to side, searching for anyone there.
