People wore expensive clothes, held glasses of champagne, and spent money like it meant nothing.
Beatrice seemed to know everyone there.
She quickly disappeared into the crowd, laughing with wealthy men who were throwing cash around and showing off their lifestyle.
I stood there feeling nervous and completely out of place.
Then a handsome man wearing a black shirt approached me.
He held a glass of expensive wine in his hand and looked at me carefully.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” he asked with a small smile.
“I like your face. Come with me tonight. I have a private room booked at a nearby hotel. I’ll pay you more money than you have ever imagined.”
My heart started beating faster.
I looked toward Beatrice.
She noticed me and immediately gave me a thumbs-up.
“Go, Helen!” she shouted over the loud music. “This is what you came here for!”
I wish I had walked away.
I wish I had listened to the small voice inside my head telling me something was wrong.
But I didn’t.
That night, I made a decision that would become the most terrifying mistake of my life.
The man drove me to the hotel.
When we arrived, he told me to enter the room first while he handled something downstairs at the reception desk.
I walked inside.
The room was dark and silent.
I turned on the small lamp beside the bed.
And then my entire body froze.
The person I expected to see was not there.
Instead, lying on the bed was a large green python.
Its body was thick.
Its eyes looked cold and dangerous.
It moved slowly beside me, like it had been waiting for my arrival.
My breath disappeared.
I wanted to scream.
