Chapter 1

I'd only been away on a week-long vacation, but when I came home, something was terribly wrong.

Every other time I'd returned from a trip, Slinky would come racing toward me the moment I opened the door, flicking his tongue in excitement.

He'd coil around my wrist, his tail swishing happily as he climbed onto my shoulder, then shyly nuzzle his little head into the crook of my neck, begging for affection.

This time, he didn't come to greet me.

Instead, he looked at me with unmistakable disgust.

Thinking he was just sulking because I'd been gone, I reached down to pick him up. Before I could cuddle him, he lashed out with his tail and smacked my hand away, visibly annoyed.

Something was wrong.

That night, I followed our usual bedtime routine and gently placed Slinky on my stomach. He gave me a look of pure contempt and then immediately slithered off my body as if touching me were unbearable.

Unable to shake the feeling that something had happened while I was away, I opened the security camera footage from my house.

*****

The first day I was gone, nothing out of the ordinary happened at home.

Every day, Slinky stayed put in its tank, with a bored look on its face, staring blankly at the glass wall.

That was until six o'clock in the evening, when the girl I'd hired online to feed Slinky showed up.

That was when Slinky finally showed some energy.

But seeing it was a stranger, Slinky couldn't even bother to hide its disgust.

On the very first day, it even bit the girl.

I knew about it because the girl sent me a photo of her bleeding finger.

I was still overseas at the time, and feeling guilty, I even sent her a 300 dollar red envelope.

Since nothing major happened, I skipped through the first day's footage and jumped straight to the second day.

But to my surprise, when the girl came by the next day, she greeted Slinky with a bright smile and fed it a piece of meat. Then, Slinky actually wrapped itself around her wrist.

Right then, I felt a pang of jealousy in my chest. I couldn't help but feel a little sour about it.

After all, snakes are cold-blooded creatures. I raised Slinky so it would be loyal to me alone, my one and only pet.

Getting it to accept me as its only human took seven long years.

But I never expected that all it took was her feeding Slinky a piece of meat, and suddenly it started liking her.

It even gave her the special affection that used to be just for me, like I'd been completely replaced.

A slow anger started to rise in my chest.

Jealousy got the better of me, and I stopped watching altogether.

I threw off the covers and grabbed Slinky just as it was about to slither off the bed.

I gave its head a gentle tap so it'd face me.

I said, "You silly little thing, that girl is just someone I hired to feed you. Do you even know who bought that premium beef she gave you?

"It was me.

"I paid big bucks for that beef to reward you for staying home and not making a mess while I was away. She feeds you beef once and suddenly you think she's your master?"

I had no idea if Slinky understood a word I said.

But it drooped its head, with a look of pure annoyance and disdain.

Even though I was still mad, Slinky's my baby after all. Guess I'll just have to keep teaching it, one step at a time.

But to my surprise, that night I had a really weird dream.

In my dream, there was a boy with skin so pale it almost glowed. He was curled up naked beside the snake tank, his eyes burning with resentment.

He said, "Why did you have to come back? It would've been better if you'd died overseas. Did you know that girl promised me that if I was good, she'd take care of me?

"Now that you're back, she won't come over anymore. Do you even know how much I miss her? It's only been a day since I last saw her, and I'm already going crazy missing her."

Ever since I started raising Slinky, this boy has kept showing up in my dreams, year after year.

But before, whenever he showed up, he'd kneel carefully beside me and softly call me "Milena."

Or he'd rest his head on my stomach, licking the soft skin there, looking all sad and needy.

Or he'd act like a little kid, always begging me to touch his snake tail, which kept wiggling behind him.

It was the first time he ever kept his distance from me in a dream, and the first time he shot me a look full of resentment.

Not only did that nightmare jolt me awake, my heart pounding.

But to my surprise, I also caught sight of Slinky—my little white snake—curled up next to the tank, having slipped off the bed while I was sleeping.

My hand tightened a little.

Slinky locked its gaze on me, the disgust and resentment simmering in its eyes—just like the boy from my dream, every bit as chilling and intense.

I couldn't stand looking at it anymore, so I threw off the covers and headed straight to the bathroom to wash up.

When I came out, still feeling frustrated, I changed my clothes and headed out.