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Aussiecon 4
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| Snayk |
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By Felicity Dowker
Something alien and savage crept into his brain and put down roots there. It grew, spreading its loathsome way down his spine and into his belly, where it writhed through his intestines in slimy abandon. It was ancient. Lucas was only ten. They both knew he stood no chance. *** "My stomach hurts." Lucas looked up at his mother from his bed. His skin was clammy and pale, coated in a sheen of sickly sweat. His pyjama top was pulled up and his fingers dug into his belly, dimpling the skin. His voice trembled. Lucas certainly seemed unwell, but Anna knew looks could be deceiving when it came to children eager to miss a day of school. "Where does it hurt?" "I dunno...everywhere." She raised an eyebrow. "Come on, kiddo. Up and at ‘em. An all-over tummy ache won't kill you. In fact, I've never heard of such a thing." "Mum, I think I need to go to the doctor. It's in my head, too. It's...almost everywhere now." "What's in your head?" A brief flash of knowledge (it's a snake, a kind of snake, and it's in me!) exploded in his brain and was gone. Lucas shook his head but Anna jerked her thumb at him. Up. The pain was constant, but he staggered out of bed. ***
Lucas was not dreaming now — never had been, in fact — and that was bad. He could feel it moving — feel it thinking. And then...the pain became grotesque and he heard the sounds of his impending oblivion radiating from his gut. Moist crackling and thick gurgles. Suction followed by extreme pressure. His belly split open with a sound like a canvas bag being unzipped, and what slid out of him in the moments before darkness consumed him was not his innards but a (Snayk! It's a Snayk and it's not from here, it's from some Other Place, and oh God I want my mummy) sinuous ropey length of slithering hate. *** Anna pushed open his door, already scowling. If he thinks I'm going to mollycoddle his butt out of bed every morning and coax him off to school, he's got another thing coming. "Lucas, it's past eight. You'll be late again. I have to leave for work in five —" She lurched to a halt, her hands clapped over her open mouth, a scream dying before it left her throat. She'd grown up in the country. She knew what a cast-off snakeskin looked like. She'd just never expected her son to become one. As Anna stood over the shrivelled husk that had been Lucas, she felt a curious burrowing sensation in her head. I've inhaled a bite, she thought, and though it made no sense, she knew it was true. (it's in my head too, I think it's almost everywhere now) Anna heard a whisper of scales on the carpet behind her.
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