“Yes,” the hysterical boy sobs, “Yes, I’ll do that!”

He kneels before me and cups his hands together. He bows his head.

The rain continues to pour. I feel like throwing up.

“Gran Anciano, escucha y aconseja, trae tu iluminación, trae tu visión, este ser aboga por el conocimiento en tiempos de pavor. Solo tú traes la luz y abres los ojos a las verdades de esta existencia. Permítenos la capacidad de expandirnos más de los límites del tiempo y las restricciones de la mente humana. Permita que este ser se convierta en un recipiente a través del cual su comando pueda poseer esta realidad. ¡Permito esto! ¡Permito esto! ¡Ven adelante! ¡Te lo suplico!” the boy begs pressing his hands together.

Nothing happens.

The boy starts again, digging his nails into his skin, clenching his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut.

I don’t understand what he’s saying.

Is this a foreign language? What’s he reciting? It seems to be a prayer. To the Maven?

Oh, I hope he isn’t insane.

The rain lets up.

What?

The boy smiles and looks up.

“Thank you! Thank you!” he gets up and brings his arms up, palms up, and begins to recite again.

Light breaks through the clouds. Streams of intense heat hit us. Like a dam bursting.

Relief, so much relief. I start to laugh and tear. I also raise my arms up, palms up, meekly, basking in the glow, immersing myself in the furor.

“Thank you! Thank you!” I yell into the sky.

The boy looks at me and laughs.

“Again!” I say to the boy, “Recite! Again!”

The boy grins and with an indescribable force, shouts his prayer into the heavens.

A pain erupts through me.

My cheek splits. Something bursts forth. I can’t scream. The pressure from the slithering beast that expands from me stills my mouth, in a contoured state. My arms fall to my sides.

The bulging snake-head stretches upward. Its mouth opens. Gaping at the sky, with clear eyes, swaying in the air.

“Eekh!” the boy falls on his bottom. He gawks at the snake-head, motionless.

The yelp pauses the beast. It twists its head back, its mouth still agape.

Grotesque fangs emerge, its eyes swell. The creature lunges at the gawking boy. Wide-eyed, the boy does not react in time.

The beast swallows the boy whole.

The creature jerks, as the boy struggles inside the beast. Its mouth becomes tight, its eyes dilate, the jolts turn violent. My body is thrown here and there, connected to the beast.

I am thrown against the wet ground and am still, weak.

I search for the beast, the boy, with weary eyes. I see the creature…intact.

There is a bulge in the center of its belly. The creature observes me, slowly turns, and begins its approach, its mouth widening.

I can’t move.

Am I going to die?

I stare at the creature’s motionless bulge and grimace. My body throbs.

“No,” I cry.

The beast is before me.

“I’m sorry,” I sob.

I want to move. I want to reach him.

Don't die.

The creature readies to strike.

Something begins to thrash at the base of my neck.