Ophiophobia -Part 1

Note from the author: Ophiophobia or ophidiophobia: phobia, excessive and pathological fear of snakes. The phobic is aware of his situation and it causes generally a deep strain on his psyche. Do not mix with herpetophobia, the phobia of all reptiles.

“Don’t worry Rozzerta, everytthing will be fine.” Roberta’s father said, his voice still slightly hissing but well hiding his own worry.

Without lacking anything important, they were not very rich; so they only used the cheap basic potion provided by the government. The one that gave only a rough human shape, through some mild pain. They were fortunate as it only altered their lower half and the general size of some adults. So now they looked like humans covered in glinting scales with claws on their hands but not their foot, split eyes with double eyelids, fangs and a forked tongue for the almost traditional hissing accent. And of course a hood for their father.

“Time has changed, and are sstill changing. We don’t have to hide anymore. It iss ssafe, sso you can relax.”

“I know fatther, I jusst can’t help it.”

“Ha-ha! Do not fear Robby, your beloved sister iss here to protect you!” Irene exclaimed, strutting as always.

Rozzerta was a bit envious of her sister’s enthusiasm. Whatever the world threw to them, she was still as strong as ever and never scared. Even when their mother died in the attack from Disclosers a year ago, it had been very hard for everyone, but she managed to keep a straight face. Rozzerta had cried to exhaustion. She often wondered if they really were from the same clutch. They were nothing alike. Irene had always been strong. She was way prettier. She was constantly open and ready to meet new people. They were not even the same eating type.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her sister’s shout:

“I wonder how our new housse will be. We’ve rarely been in a human town before.”

“I’m worried for tthat too. And it’ss ssuppossed to be a common area now.”

“I’m not-”

“We’ll ssee soon, we’re almosst there.” The father answered.

The father pulled the soon to be adapted familial van into the entrance of the town.

It was a fairly common town, not very big but not the middle of nowhere. Wilderness was close enough to flee if needed but not wide enough for human to feel threatened. The main road they were on passed the industrial zone, then the commercial zone before entering in the residential zone.

Everywhere, changes and adaptations nobody would have considered possible even in centuries were noticeable. In the industrial zone they were more discrete, like some buildings with bigger doors to accommodate some employees, but in the commercial zone, they were way more obvious, marketing imposing, like the labels allowing or forbidding particular species. It was officially for security, for example fire peoples like phoenixes were forbidden in libraries or gas stations, and young dragons had to wear special gears. That the shop was required to rent or load. It may be for security, but there were undoubtedly more than few abuses either by fear or arrogance.

A less obvious adaptation from their point of view was the new landing areas on some roofs like the one in the city center for the flying species. They could rest, eat and/or access the shop or the road below, depending on the place. It was kind of like freeway rest areas for flying people.

It was still not as good as their native hidden town, there were only a few humans there so everything was bespoken, but the effort was obvious and progresses were quick.

Upon seeing that, the whole family thought about how the world had changed in the last year. It had been incredibly fast. The event now labeled the ‘First Unveiling’ had happened only a year ago and now here they were. Serenely out in the open in a mostly human town. On the road to a specially made house. The first real living place they would live in since a year.

They arrived in front of their new house. At first glance it looked like any other one albeit a bit fancy, but a trained eye would soon spot the differences. The doors were larger and the roof was partly glassy like a green house. Other differences were mostly intern so invisible from outside.

The van stopped in the alley and the three walked out.

It was like a reborn for everyone. No more hiding. No more fleeing. No more fearing betrayal. No more selling parts of their own bodies.

After taking in the sight, and mostly the idea of living there, they opened the front door.

A new life had just begun. They will give everything it takes to make sure this one will be the best.

----------------------------------

“Big brother! Big brother! New neighbors! We have new neighbors!” the ten years old girl exclaimed throwing the sixteen years old teen’s bedroom door wide open and making said teen jump from his book in surprise.

“Margo, I already told you not to barge in like that! It’s supposed to be a private place! MY private place!” Terry shouted. “Does anybody barge in your room without even knocking like that!?”

He was not in a happy mood. He hated when someone disturbed him from his reading.

“But the neighbors!”

“They won’t move out if you respect my space!”

“… Sorry big brother, I was just exited. I won’t do that again.”

All her excitement was forgotten at once. She shamefully hung her head down. She knew she had made her brother mad, and she didn’t like it.

Terry looked at the pale eyed ashamed little girl before him with severe eyes and sighed.

“Until next time. We both know it.” He replied in a really tired voice.

It was true. She always forgot when she was exited.

Terry sighed, then pursued in a calmer tone:

“So, we have new neighbors?”

“Yes! I just heard them! They are at least three and in the house just in front!” She shouted happily, all negative feelings forgotten. “They just finished visiting and they begin opening the cardboards. Come, we’ll meet them! I wonder if they’re nice. I hope they are. And I hope they have someone my age too. We could play together and sing and stuffs…”

While his young sister chatted, the teen put away his book Fear, Avoidance, and Phobias: A Fundamental Analysis at its place on the self, between Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective and The encyclopedia of snakes.

This ray of the shelf and the one above for his diaries seemed a disruption in a chamber where chaos seemed to have settled in long ago. A normal teen’s room, where clean clothes and used ones were together on the chair’s back, which was in the way of the closet door which was half-filled. Various magazines and items were almost everywhere on the floor, bed and furniture. One could wonder how one sole person could make such a mess and live in it. But one would also wonder how a blind little girl could jump excitedly in this chamber without crushing anything or stumbling.

Terry couldn’t see the neighbors’ house from his bedroom and didn’t want to bother climbing on the roof to check his sister’s declaim, and he trusted her words. She may be blind, but her others senses were pretty damn sharp and she wasn’t the kind to do that sort of joke.

He began to walk out, Margot following him still shouting. She was very talkative too when there was something new. He half listened to her and half wondered about the new neighbors. He didn’t even know the house had been for sale. He had just seen renovations for the last few weeks. They had finished two days before. How could it already have residents? Then his sister got his attention with a very relevant remark:

“There hadn’t been any moving truck, that’s weird uh? They didn’t take any of their old stuffs? Or they didn’t have any? But where did they live? In a cave? Oh it’s very possible! Maybe they are not humans; I heard they are trying a new integration program. That’s what, the twentieth? No, the eighteenth. Maybe that’s how they got this house. I wonder if…”

‘Non-humans…’ Terry thought.

He was still not totally used to the idea of those creatures existing and living out in the open, but it was a possibility. And it would explain how the house could be inhabited that quickly.

The first revealing had happened a year ago by a documentary, and after that things had changed at a blurring speed. A dissident group of humans and non-humans began to force non-humans to unhide by destroying the main hidden towns and the things they used to hide, like this now famous potion available almost everywhere that could transform their bodies. Nobody knew how it worked, not even the ones making it. That was magic in a nutshell for you.

Of course once there was not secret anymore chaos ensued, from humans afraid of such drastic changes, religious that saw them as filth from god(s) that needed to be cleaned from the world or as His (Their) messengers, fanatics that wanted to become werewolves or vampires, even evolutionists and creationists manage to see a point invaliding each other’s arguments, non-humans who wanted to conquer the word.

More stealthy reactions had appeared later, ones that were at least as dangerous, but that even now nobody seemed to be wary of. The furry and otherkin tends spread like never before, becoming large and influential movements. Some became almost sectarian.

Now the non-humans’ existence was common knowledge, laws had been modified and there were special infrastructures to help the needing to adapt to human settings or to live as non-human for the newly transformed, or others buildings to contain the criminals. Sure they were still scarce, but the closest was not that far from the town and it told a lot about the general opinion. But of course flaws still plagued the system and people abusing them still plagued society.

There were also integration programs, like student exchanges, informative meetings or housing help. The new neighbors were probably the last case. Governmental support to non-human residents would explain the renovations and quick moving in.

Once the van was parked, the Naga family stepped out and looked at the place they would live in for the next few years, hopefully peacefully.

“Do you plan to get out like that?” Terry interrupted his sister just as they reached the door.

“What? Am I disheveled? Are my clothes not good? My white stick is here and folded so- Oh right I forgot the black glasses! Wait for me I’m going back.”

Terry chuckled. For someone with such a good memory, Margot sure could be a scatterbrain.

She ran through the house to her chamber, got her glasses, checked for her white stick in her back pocket and hurried back to the door. She perfectly knew the house’s layout and everybody was careful to not move furniture and to not let anything out of place. Maybe that was why Terry’s room was so messy. But it allowed the kid to be secure, she run without hitting anything, so everybody thought it to be worthy.

When she was back, Terry had put his coat on and held her own out to her.

“All good now?”

“I think so, come on. And try not to be to blunt when you ask your things.”

“Yes, yes I know, can we go now?” Margot asked already reaching for the door handle.

Terry took her free hand and they went outside. As per normal, being outside calmed Margot a bit. Enough so she was just walking beside her brother and humming lightly. They reached for the targeted house and Terry pressed the doorbell.

The door opened to a big cobra naga shaking and breathing heavily. He looked down at them with a very shirty glare.

They obviously arrived at a bad time.

Margot didn't see it.

And Terry was strongly ophiophobic.