Freda began to get drowsy. Her heart pounded in sync with the drumming of horses hooves on the earth. Tucker was settled on the other horse. He rode alone. Then she noticed the stallion stayed immensely close to the mare she and Moth were on. There was no way fro him to escape.

The first light of day peeked in through the branches of the trees. The wind was damp and hot. Moth slowed the horses to a stop. A black van was parked in a clearing; the windows were tinted. Moth slid of the mare and approached the van.

"Get in." he said, opening the back doors. His voice was not harsh, but sad. Tucker jumped down, then helped Freda off her horse.

"Let's run." he whispered in her ear.

"But Willis-"

"Willis is gone! He abandoned us!" Tucker snarled. His friend placed a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes gazing into his seemed to calm him down. She mouthed, let's go. He nodded. Peering over their shoulders to make sure Moth wasn't going to follow, the two started off.

Freda was tackled by a abrupt force. Moth had bowled her over. Beads of sweat formed on the girl's brow. She struggled under her attacker's weight, but he was just too heavy. Over to her left was Tucker pinned down by a young woman around Moth's age. It was Moth's adopted Asian sister, Katsura. She was named after an Asian tree.

"AHHHHHHH!" came a yelp from above. Katsura and Moth both dropped their guard for only a moment. That moment was enough for the trapped children to punch and kick their way to freedom. Something dropped down from the trees; it snarled.

"Thisss clearing isss my home!" the creature hissed in a raspy voice. Neither the kids or the young adults had ever seen anything like it. The beast was human sized with multicolored snake skin. It wore only a pair of really short pants with blood splotches here and there on it. The snake boy crouched down; clawing at the ground he demanded,

"Leave here! Never come back, you rapssscallions!" Moth shakily moved out of Freda's way. Katsura did the same with Tucker.

"You should of just come with us. Now you're snake food." Katsura remarked.

"We will be back, bringing reinforcements. Who knew kids could be so tough? Any who, I really do hope to see you all again. I've started to like you kids. See you soon, if you aren't dead." Moth said cheerily. He and Katsura fled to their van. The engine roared to life. It disappeared deep into the misty woods.

The snake boy laid down on his stomach, grinning wickedly. He crossed his arms in front of him, resting his chin on them.

"Ssso? What to do with you tasssty kidsss?" he laughed. Freda trembled. Tucker put an arm around her.

"Cut it out, Willis. You are scaring poor Freda to death." he snickered. Willis got to his feet. He bowed while Tucker clapped.

"You even fooled me at first too! Excellent performance!" he cheered. Snake boy winked.

"I had to rub gloppy mud all over my body then plaster different snake skins from serpents I killed, on me. Then I rubbed blood from the dead reptiles on my shorts. Too bad... I really liked these shorts..." his voice trailed off. His friends stared at him.

"Guess how I escaped from Katsura's clutches? I pretended to be dead. Um.. Do you guys hear that? It sounds like a police siren!" Sure enough sirens wailed. The sound got closer with every heartbeat. Tucker shook Willis' shoulders.

"Your acting was good enough to fool Moth and Katsura, but what about real policemen!" he yelled in his face. Willis pushed him. Freda grabbed his wrist.

"Act dead!" He obeyed her. The two juveniles suddenly collapsed on the ground. Willis towered over them, the suspense from the slowly approaching police making him shake.