I stepped inside the bedroom, my heart galloping.

“Tell me how to break this curse,” I croaked. “I’m begging you—please!”

Silence.

“What do you want from me?” I shouted, clutching my raw throat.

“I want you to be my friend, Dharmaaaa.”

My head spun, and the floor tilted beneath me. Old timbers crackled and muttered. I fell hard, pain radiating into my side.

“How does it feel, Dharmaaaa? How does it feel to be alone in the dark? Forgotten and cast aside? How does it feeeel?”

From under the bed came a strange crimson glow—blood! It spilled out in a great wave, crashing over me, pinning me to the floor. I struggled to free myself, thrashing until my muscles froze in the paralyzing liquid.

A voice shrieked. “Come to me Dharma, give in to the eternal darkness. Death is your friend—darkness is your lover.”

A low, unsettling tune filled my senses, luring my eyes closed. I didn’t want to sleep, I wanted to get out—but the power of the skull held me prisoner. My shattered mind raced, something was crawling around inside my head, probing at my thoughts. I struggled to fight, to kick, to escape. The tune grew louder, carrying me away into an endless night.

Fear pulled me awake in the early dawn, jolting me back to reality. Muted light of yet another gloomy day wove through the moth-bitten curtains. Where was I? Then, horribly, it all came back to me. I glanced under the bed. The dark sockets of the skull glared back at me.

Something moved inside its gaping mouth, flickering over the teeth, pausing on the gold one. A tongue? It wasn’t possible. Or was it?

I froze, watching the tongue roll out of the skull, growing longer, thicker, before it dropped to the floor.

My pulse quickened. It wasn’t a tongue.

An olive colored snake slithered out. It must have been nesting in the skull, waiting for just the right time to strike. It pinned me with its lidless eyes, the pupils thin slits of deep green. The serpent reared its head and opened its mouth, revealing the pure white inside.

A cottonmouth! The snake undulated closer, then paused. Its tail vibrated against the floor in a low, sinister chatter. It flattened its broad neck, hissing. The tail lashed back and forth in an agitated motion.

“Dharma? Where are you?”

Wolf!

I couldn’t move! I didn’t dare to even blink.

The snake slithered closer, its tongue flickering. I stared in helpless horror as it reared its head higher, exposing its venomous fangs.

Ready to strike.