I do not own Anaconda. I only own Michelle Harker.

Story Start

"So how are you enjoying the ride so far?" Danny questioned me later that day after he had just finished filming Westridge talking about the beginning of the journey. He was sitting at a table putting away his camera.

"It's definitely going to be an interesting trip. I'm just happy I got the opportunity to come," I answered him happily as I took a seat at the table across from him. Luna had left my shoulders to rest on top of the canopy that was over the resting area at the back of the boat. I still did not like the look that I kept catching Mateo give her, but I knew she could take care of herself or find me quick enough.

"Well I know we haven't encountered any wildlife yet on the boat, so I hope you're not too bored," he continued before we got on the subject of Atlanta and Los Angeles. It was fun to just sit there and make friends with somebody new. It sounded like he had a great life back in Los Angeles, and he was not that fond of the jungle at all.

I was the complete opposite though because I loved the jungle. I was loving the jungle more and more that we passed down the river. My only issue is that I had not been able to get off this boat and actually explore a bit. I doubted I would get the chance since Mateo kept making the boat travel down the river nonstop at a steady pace.

Denise and Gary were flirting over in a corner, which was beginning to become normal on the boat. I had asked if they knew each other prior to this documentary, and Danny just rolled his eyes. He explained that those two had wanted to be with each other for a while, but something or someone always got in the way.

"They won't have any obstacles out here," I muttered to him, which just made him laugh.

He went to respond but a loud crack of thunder and lightning made the carefree atmosphere disappear on the boat. Luna was quick to slither back towards me to escape the rain. She hated storms. She would always hide or be near me whenever it would storm back home in Atlanta.

"It's ok," I whispered to her before helping Danny get his camera away from the rain that was now pouring down harshly into the river. You could almost not see the surroundings because of how hard the rain was coming down. "Well might as well enjoy the rain in the jungle on the first day I'm here," I muttered while walking to join Terri and speak with her for a bit.

Our conversation ended soon though since we heard a man shouting that he needed help because his boat broke down. Dr. Cale was quick to yell for Mateo to stop so the man could get on the boat. The look that Mateo gained on his face when he saw the man made me and Luna tense up. She was a good judge of character and I was getting better at judging when someone was hiding something, and Mateo seemed to have some secrets.

"And it has to do with that man," I thought as I watched a man with greying brown hair jump onto the boat and into Gary's arms. The two fell back on the boat as Terri, Danny, Mateo and I joined the others around the new man.

He was professing to the lord how happy he was that we came upon him and his boat. He was being extremely nice but something about him was giving me and Luna the creeps. I could tell she was uncomfortable because she was still tense and slowly tightening her coils around my arm. She had moved from being around my shoulders to being on my right arm with her head close to my neck. "She does this when she protects me, is he a danger?" I thought to myself while never letting my eyes miss the way Mateo kept staring at this new man.

"We can't go back, we have to keep going," Dr. Cale was saying to the new man, who immediately responded that the villagers at the next village could help him. "Let's get going, Mateo," Dr. Cale yelled to Mateo before turning his back on the new man.

"I don't trust him either, Luna," I thought when I heard Luna start to hiss at the man. I saw that Terri and Westridge also gave the man a suspicious glance before going back to what they were doing.

The man's blue eyes scanned the others on the boat before his eyes stopped on me and Luna. His eyes widened for a moment before a smile crossed his face, but the narrowing of his eyes made me glare back at him. Nobody had ever made Luna this uncomfortable, and I was not going to be blind to what she was telling me.

I disappeared into my own room to get away from this new man. I needed some time away from him to also help Luna calm down. I did not want her attacking the man since I knew the others would think they were next, and that would not be true. Luna slithered onto my bed after I sat down, but she made sure to stay in front of me so she was between me and the door.

"I don't trust him either, or Mateo now, this seems too perfect of a coincidence," I whispered as I pulled my favorite necklace, which I bought a long time ago, from underneath my shirt. I always kept it hidden because it had been a source of mockery for many years.

The necklace was of a snake totem that had a man being crushed by a large anaconda. I knew it was from a religion of people in this region, but it was also a totem representing the myth of the Naga. Ever since I first learned about them as a child, the Naga has always been a mythological creature that interested me. I knew there were legends of the Naga in the Amazon, but they were not as well known about as they are in Asia.

"They may or may not exist, but if they do then I would love to see them just once," I whispered even though meeting any Naga would probably mean my death, it would be worth it to see such an amazing mythological beast. "But let's not tell that to anybody out there unless I want them to think I'm crazy," I said with a laugh before deciding to just go to sleep. I had had enough for the first day in the Amazon, but I knew that Luna would probably stay awake and keep guard of the door in case Mateo or that new man tried to come into my room. I still did not trust either of them.

I barely knew anybody else on the boat, and people are known to do crazy things when in the jungle, but I trusted them more than Mateo and the new man. "I just hope that nothing too bad happens on this documentary," I thought before hiding the snake totem necklace back under my shirt and falling asleep.