Everyday Life With Apex Predators

by FrankieMerleaux

At the top of every food chain in all the worlds ecosystems, there is a single species. The Apex Predator. Unchallenged, Unrivaled, they rule over all other species. In a world full of monster girls, these apex predators still reign supreme, but now, they must all cooperate with each other, and live as roommates in a house with the worlds most dangerous predator: Man.

3. Chapter 2: She's a Maneater

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Chapter 2: She's a Maneater

Back when I was in high school, I learned about this thing called Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Basically it was a pyramid with different things that someone needs to be happy. It was sort of like the food pyramid, but for your mind. At the bottom there was your basic needs for survival. Things like air, water, food. Above that was your safety needs, then your social needs, like friends and family. I forgot what came after that.

The way I always used to think about it was that the very first thing you need to be able to have is air to breathe, and not dying of dehydration or starvation. Once you accomplished that, you needed a roof over your head to keep safe from the weather, and clothes because being naked is for savages.

Congratulations! You're not dying anymore, but there are those out there who want you dead. Now you need to make sure you are safe and protected. Things like weapons, combat skills, and the ability to defend yourself from threats was your next important thing you needed.

Great job, now you're safe from danger. Too bad for you, you're all alone. Humans are unfortunately social creatures, so you need to make some friends. If people are scarce, you can always use your family.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, as someone who didn't have any shelter or food or water for over a year, these things were very important to me. Most of you are probably worrying about things like what to watch on TV tonight, or which way you need to go to work to avoid the traffic. Maybe you're worried about what to buy your girlfriend for her birthday, or where you see your career in 5 years. Put yourself in my shoes and you'll find it's pretty ridiculous to worry about such things when you don't know when you're going to eat again, or where you're going to sleep tonight.

So much has changed in the last few weeks. Now I have a home, running water, air conditioning, a fridge full of food, and a hot girl as a roommate. There is just one catch. This hot girl is actually a giant Lamia.

"Mr. Casey, please follow me. I will give you a tour of your new residence." Ms. Smith nudged me as I walked away with her through the house. This place was huge! The kitchen was brand new. All remodeled with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a dual sink. There was even an island!

"This is the kitchen. Here is where you will prepare all of the meals for yourself and your homestays. Be sure to be mindful of their dietary requirements. You can find all of that information in the files I gave you."

I opened the dual refrigerator/freezer and found the jackpot of all meals.

"Woah! Look at all this food!" Inside was all sorts of fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and…. Chocolate pudding?"

"Hey Ms. Smith, where is there 2 liters of chocolate pudding in here?" She slammed the door shut and whispered in my ear.

"That is only to be used in the event of an emergency." Okay… what the hell?

Next was the living room. Looks like they knocked out the wall between this room and the den, as the dining table was in a huge open space behind a sectional couch.

"Here is the living room and dining room. We took the liberty of opening up the space to better accommodate some of the larger species that will be staying here. The home theater is equipped with a premium 75" 4K High Definition TV, surround sound, and a Nintendo Switch. We also took the liberty of installing HD satellite TV, with up to 10,000 channels including Cinemax, HBO, Starz, NFL RedZone, NBA GamePass, MLB TV, NHL Center Ice, and ESPN Goal Line."

My mouth was on the floor. "Oh…My….GOD!"

Ms. Smith winked at me. "You need to make sure your homestays are entertained."

The two of us walked through the back to the other side of the house. There was a small hallway with two doors. We opened one door which was a huge bedroom.

"This is the master bedroom. As a show of good faith for taking in these girls, we gave you some stuff to help you enjoy your time here." I looked around the room and almost cried. There was a huge king size bed in the center, with pillows, sheets, a big fluffy comforter, and french doors that opened out to the backyard. There was even a dresser with brand new clothes!

"Oh Smith, I love you so much!" I jumped over and gave her a big bear hug.

"Wah? L-L-Love? D-don't be ridiculous. This is all basic level accommodations. The stuff I mentioned is in here."

She opened a small door inside the bedroom which led to the bathroom. My, what a sight to see! There was a huge Jacuzzi tub near the back of the room, which was next to a standing shower. There was also a set of dual sinks with a huge mirror and vanity. Inside the bathroom was another door which led to a giant walk-in closet. There were even more clothes in here! They even bought me new shoes!

"Smith, have I ever told you how awesome you are?" She looked at me and lowered her sunglasses.

"No, but feel free to do so at any time." She pushed her sunglasses up and got serious. "However, all this luxury is just a front. You see, this is actually a panic room. The drywall was replaced with steel reinforced concrete, and if you look behind you, the bathroom door is triple deadbolted."

I turned around and sure enough she was right. How did I miss that?

"Also, this closet door is sealed using military grade hydraulic locks. The entire room is airtight, so not even alraune pollen can get in. This whole master suite is FIRE certified to protect you in the event of an emergency. However, since the closet is air tight, you run the risk of suffocating in there. FIRE has officially certified the air for 1 hour, but I wouldn't push your luck. We put an oxygen tank under the shoe rack just in case you need to be in here for an extended amount of time."

Ms. Smith was giving me this big long safety tutorial, which was making me feel very uneasy.

"Hey, um, this is cool and all, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. I was in the marine corps, so I think we'll be fine if there is a burglar."

"You misunderstand, Mr. Casey. These were put into place for YOUR safety. Don't forget, you're the host family to six of the deadliest monster girls on the planet. You're much more likely to be killed by them, then a burglar."

Holy shit, just what the hell did I sign up for?

"Are you sure? Priya doesn't seem that bad~"

"Mr. Casey, the whole reason I am telling you this while we are in here, and not outside, is because all of this is to be kept top secret. None of the girls can ever know about the safety systems in your bedroom. No matter how much they suck up to you, or try to win you over, or even seduce you, you cannot ever let them know about your bathroom and closet. This is your one advantage that you have over them, and they will do anything to compromise that. Didn't you notice that Priya was following us the whole time?"

I stood there deep in thought while Smith opened the bathroom door and walked out of the room.

"Come on Mr. Casey, we still have to see the upstairs."

X

The rest of the tour was pretty boring. The upstairs was renovated to have six bedrooms, and the backyard was just your normal backyard. However, one thing that concerned me was that there were no neighbors behind us. This house was on a cul de sac at the very end of the subdivision, and there was very little traffic here. It seemed nice at first, until you realize that they probably did this to avoid any contact with other people. That in itself seems strange, considering this whole thing was supposed to be about "cultural exchange". Who the hell were we supposed to have exchanges with? The mailman?

I also thought it was odd that there were no fences in the yard. You would think that the government would want to have something like that in place considering how much money they had invested in this little house of horrors.

Ms. Smith walked out to the front yard as the moving truck was still in the driveway.

"Well that should just about cover it. Now then I must be going, but please read over those files I gave you as soon as you can. Oh and, here." She pulled a set of car keys out of her pocket and threw them at me. I caught them easily.

"What's this?"

"Keys to your new ride."

"Where? I don't see any other cars besides yours."

"Dummy! The truck over there. She's all yours. Take good care of her."

"Why are you giving me a truck?"

"Because your girls can't fit inside a Buick." Hmm, I guess she has a point. I stood there and watched as Ms. Smith got inside her black sedan and started the engine. Right before she drove off, she waved me over.

"Oh and Mr. Casey? One more thing." I ran over to the car to see what she wanted. She handed me a business card.

"Watch your back, kid. If anything happens, anything at all, you call me immediately. Understand?" I looked down at the card and saw it was NOT her business card. Rather, it was for something called M.O.N. There was a 1-800 number, but written on the back in pen was another phone number with a 212 area code.

"That's my personal cell number. If you need anything at all, give me a call. FIRE will be doing regular wellness checks on you, but I won't be the one they send for that."

"Thanks Ms. Smith, that's really nice of you, but you didn't have to do that."

She lowered her sunglasses and winked at me. "Take care, Cole." She put her sunglasses back on and drove off.

X

Once Ms. Smith made it down the street and turned the corner, I turned around and headed back inside the house. Technically I suppose I should be calling it "My" house, but it still hasn't sunk in yet.

Wow, my own house. I can't believe it! Never in a million years did I think I would get to live in something like this again. This is the first time I've lived in a house since mom and dad…..

….those sure were better times.

No! Now is not the time to be reminiscing on such things. I have responsibilities now. I have a mouth to feed.

Speaking of, where is~

~AHHHHHH!

"Goddammit Priya! You scared the shit out of me!" I fell on my ass as the giant Lamia jumped out of the bushes and scared the living daylights out of my head. Okay, note to self, be sure to check around for potential jump scares.

"Hehehe! You should have seen the look on your face! You humans scare too easily."

She was standing over me with this smug expression as I stood up and dusted myself off.

"Yeah yeah, very funny. Please try not to do that anymore." She crossed her arms and stuck her forked tongue out at me. "Make me!" Ugh, great. This relationship is off to a great start.

"Well Priya, Ms. Smith is gone now, so it looks like it's just the two of us now."

"Thank goodness. She sure is a pain in the tail. Now then, I think it's time we establish some ground rules." Priya took the initiative. "Okay, yes I think we should. First~"

Before I could get a word out, she raised herself up on her tail and towered over me. "First rule, Don't touch me, EVER. You touch me, you die. Got that?"

Alright, looks we're back to this tough bitch act again. Whatever, i'll play along for now. I nodded my head while keeping my stoneface.

"Second rule, Don't ever go in my room under any circumstances." Sure, that seems reasonable. For some reason, Priya leaned forward and looked at me just a head above eye level.

"Third, and most importantly, we are not friends. We will never be friends. You are here to serve ME and attend to MY needs. As far as I am concerned, you are nothing more than a maid. Don't ever forget that. Are we clear?"

I never made any comment, Priya didn't stay around to hear anything I had to say. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, i'll be in my room." Before I could say anything, she slithered back into the house and up the stairs.

X

The peace and quiet was actually very nice, however, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched the whole time. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the dining room table reading over the files that Ms. Smith gave me. She also gave me some paperwork to do, which included something very important that she forgot to discuss when she was here earlier.

It was the FIRE host family manual.

There were all sorts of important details in here that I wish I knew beforehand so I could ask her about them. Like for example, on page 69: Under no circumstances are host families to engage in sexual activites or sexual conduct with homestays. No exceptions. Any form of sexual misconduct between the host family and homestay will resort in the homestay beind deported, and the host family being punished to the full extent of federal law, including but not limited to, incarceration in federal prison.

Geez Ms. Smith, it sure would have been nice if you could have mentioned that I should not be having sex with my homestays or else i'll be sent prison! Whatever, this whole thing was sketchy, but it sure beats living on the streets.

Speaking of living, I guess I should read up on my new homestay. Let's take a look at her file.

Hmm… says here that she is an Echidna type Lamia. Specifically, a King Cobra.

Ummm What…

Looks like there are some notes from FIRE: Priya is the world's deadliest Lamia. She carries the most toxic venom ever recorded in any Lamia subspecies. If envenomed by her, call 911 immediately, because if left untreated, you will die.

This is worse than I thought. No wonder Ms. Smith installed all of those safety features in my bedroom.

Priya can become irritated very easily, and when threatened, she will stand up high on her tail to tower above you. This is a common threat display seen by King Cobras in the wild, and is just the same with her. She will hiss and puff her chest and arms, but she will only strike if you attack first.

Okay, that's good to know. So just like with a regular King Cobra, if she threatens you, stay calm, and back away slowly.

Priya has an antisocial personality. She is not shy, but she prefers to be alone than with other people or other monster girls. When interviewed, Priya was not able to provide details about her family, or where she came from. She never made any friends during her time with FIRE.

Huh, that's interesting. I'm sure there is more to it than that. She probably didn't want to share it with the government suits who interviewed her, which is understandable.

Diet: Priya is a carnivore, so you will only be able to feed her meat, eggs, and other animal based protein. Priya has a very slow metabolism, so you will only need to feed her once every 7 days. However, it is worth noting that she has a strong liking for chocolate pudding. We are not sure why, as her body can't digest sugar, but she always asked us for some everyday, and she became very angry when we tried to withhold it from her. If you ever find her in a very agitated state, giving her chocolate pudding will usually calm her down.

Ms. Smith mentioned something about that earlier. There was like 2 liters of pudding in the fridge, and she told me it was only for emergencies.

Environment: Priya is a poikilothermic monster girl, meaning she is cold blooded. You will need to keep the room temperature above 70 degrees fahrenheit at all times. If the room gets too cold, her body will stiffen up and she will start to hibernate. If it gets below freezing, she will die. Since King Cobras are native to India and Indochina, she typically prefers warm and humid climates. You will need to take extra precautions in the wintertime.

Personal Hygiene: Priya will shed her skin about once a month. This is a very important time for her, as she will be very vulnerable and may be even quicker to agitate than normal.

I was about to keep reading when I felt someone was watching me. I put the files down and found Priya staring at me from across the table.

"Ahhh~Hi Priya, didn't hear you come in, haha." She stood there with a blank look on her face.

"What's your deal?"

"Umm… I'm not sure I understand the question?"

"Why are you here? You could have picked any girl the exchange had to offer, yet you picked me. What's your deal?"

Now this is out of nowhere. Why is she questioning me like this? More importantly, what time is it? I feel like I've been sitting here for a while.

"Ms. Smith told me that you were the only girl that FIRE was not able to assign to a host family. I thought that was very sad, so I wanted to give you a chance."

Looks like that was the wrong thing to say. Priya seems to be getting angry.

"Oh I see, so you felt sorry for me and thought you'd get some brownie points by virtue signaling about how you took in a dangerous predator? You can't fool me! I see right through your bullshit."

This girl was getting on my nerves. I closed the files and looked at her. "No, that's not it at all. I'm not doing this out of pity or some sense of self-righteousness."

"Then why? Why did you pick me, the world's deadliest Lamia, over all those other cute and fluffy monster girls?"

"B-because I~well~you see~because…" Come on Cole, tell her the truth! She is raising an eyebrow at you. You have to tell her the truth or else she will never respect you.

"Because I also know what it feels like to be left behind."

Priya froze. She dropped her tough bitch act and looked at me with genuine feeling. It was honestly kind of humanizing.

"You may not believe me, but trust me when I say that I get it. I know how it feels to be all alone in this world. I know how it feels to be left behind while everyone around you gets to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after."

Her face started turning red as she started looking really sad, then flipped a switch and grew very angry.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me!" She raised herself up high in the air and towered over me. Thank goodness this room had no walls, because she would have had me cornered otherwise.

"Woah, hang on Priya, calm down…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" She lunged at me with lightning speed, but I was able to just barely jump out of the way.

Thinking quickly, I ran to the kitchen. Ms. Smith mentioned to me that there was chocolate pudding in there, and it was only to be used in emergencies. Priya was hot on my tail, so I opened the fridge and pulled out a 1 liter jar of pudding.

"You bastard! GET OVER HERE~"

"H-hey Priya, how about a snack? Look, I got some chocolate pudding." Amazing, she stopped dead in her tracks at the mere sight of the jar. I held it out in my hand as she lowered herself from her attack stance and calmed down. She slithered closer and I did my best to make no sudden movements.

"Yeah yeah that's it. Let's have a little snack. It's nice and cold just like you like it." She slowly approached me and grabbed the jar out of my hands. I watched her looking at the jar in awe. Priya then opened the lid and started scooping out some of the pudding with her hands.

"Umm… do you want me to get you a spoon?" I asked her. She looked at me with a broken look on her face.

"Shut up. Just~sniff~just leave me alone!" Before I could stop her, Priya took the jar of chocolate pudding and ran upstairs into her room. I heard the door slam as the house grew quiet.

X

Later that night

None of this felt real. It was so exciting to be able to finally sleep in a real bed, but in my excitement, I couldn't fall asleep. The ceiling fan was spinning slowly as my eyes stared up at the dark ceiling. After checking the alarm clock one more time, I saw it was not even midnight yet. Ugh, why is it so hard to fall asleep? All those nights spent sleeping in the park, dreaming of sleeping in a bed, and now that i'm finally here, i'm wide awake.

Maybe if I just close my eyes and start counting weresheep, i'll fall asleep. 1..2..3...4…..5…..6…..7…..

X

I woke up and found myself in those woods again. I was running fast through the night, but I was not sure why. There was just this gut sense that I needed to run as fast as I could. Soon there was a woman's laughter behind me. Almost like she was teasing me. It scared the crap out of me.

"Run Run Run, as fast as you can. I'm going to catch you, and rape you, little man!"

Jesus Christ, please save me! There were footsteps behind me and they were getting closer. Eventually I tripped and fell on a tree root. Once I was on the ground, there was this giant dark figure looming over me. It was shaped like a woman, and she had glowing red eyes. She looked down on me with this evil grin.

"Time's up, little man. I found you, and now, you're all mine!" Oh sweet virgin Mary, it was her! It was the hellhound from back at the government lab. She got me, and now I was done for.

"AAAAHHHHHH" I screamed at the top of my lungs and shot up back in my bed in the house.

X

Wait, it was all a dream? Oh thank god, it was all a dream. Still though, it seemed way too real. I looked over at the alarm clock, which now read 2:50am. Oh great, it's the middle of the night and now i'm wide awake. Breathing heavily and sweating, I decided to go to the kitchen and get some water.

Walking down the dark hall to the kitchen felt like walking through a haunted house. I had to keep reminding myself that it was all a dream, and there was no danger here. Once I made it to the kitchen, I turned the lights on and got a glass out of the cupboard.

One nice thing about this town is that the tap water tastes pretty good. Or maybe it was because FIRE had installed a water filter in this house? I don't know, but man was I thirsty. Priya must be fast asleep by now, so I opened the fridge to see if there was anything to snack on. Too bad for me, all of the food in there needed to be cooked. Oh well, let's check the pantry.

"Ahhh… hi there Priya, sorry I didn't hear you come in." I closed the refrigerator door and found Priya standing there staring at me. For a giant King Cobra Lamia, she sure can sneak around.

"I heard a noise and came to check it out."

"Oh, yeah sorry about that. I was thirsty, so I came to get a glass of water."

She shook her head. "No, not that. It sounded like you were screaming."

"So you heard that huh?" She nodded her head. "Sigh, well, you must have good ears. I was having a nightmare."

For the first time ever, Priya seemed worried about me. "Was it about me?"

"What? No no it's not like that. I dreamed I was being chased by a hellhound."

Priya gave me this confused look. "Chased by a what?"

"A hellhound! You know, giant black wolf girls with smoldering red eyes? Straight from the gates of hell? A hellhound."

Priya looked even more confused. "Uhh I have no idea what you're talking about. There is no such thing as hellhounds."

Okay, what the hell is going on here? I know for sure that I was being chased by a hellhound. For fucks sake, I saw one with my own two eyes back at that government facility. Then that sexy truck driver with the white hair and red eyes rescued me. Don't tell me none of that was real…..

"Are you sure? What about Succubi? Dragons? Elves? Orcs?"

Priya rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Sorry but none of those are real. The only monster girls that exist are the ones based on animals, like me."

The two of us stood in the kitchen in silence as I contemplated what she told me. So mythical monster girls were not real? Why? How come there were monster girls that were based on animals in the wild, but not on mythical creatures? What about all the ones in that government base? None of them looked like any animals I ever saw on the discovery channel. They must be hiding something, and FIRE is right at the center of this conspiracy.

"Hey, um, Cole, look i'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." Oh my god, Priya just apologized to me! Pinch me, I must still be dreaming.

"That's okay. This whole thing is new to me, and to you too."

"No, it's not okay. You were the only man who wanted to take me in. You chose me out of every other girl they had, and I showed my thanks by yelling at you and attacking you. That was wrong and i'm sorry."

Awww that was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. Priya was looking down at the floor with a blush in her cheeks. Maybe it was because I was tired, and I wasn't thinking straight, but I walked over to her and gave her a hug.

Priya froze the second I touched her. She never reciprocated the hug, but I felt her face getting hot.

"It's okay. I forgive you."

We hugged for a few more seconds before I felt Priya push me off of her.

"Y-y-you're weird. And creepy. And gross!... But I appreciate it."

I smiled at her as she was blushing furiously and fidgeting nervously. She refused to make eye contact, so I turned away and opened the fridge.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Priya asked me.

"Well, I was feeling hungry, so I think i'll have a little midnight snack."

"Midnight snack? But Cole, it's 3:00 in the morning."

"Haha yeah I never was very good at math." I reached in the cupboard and pulled out a bowl. "Would you care to join me?"

Priya slithered over to me by the counter. "Chocolate pudding? But won't the sugar keep you up all night?"

I smiled at her and got a spoon from the drawer. "Nah, i'll be alright. So how about it?" Priya looked me in the eyes and smiled the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. I smiled back, and the two of us had a little snack together.

X

A few days later

I woke up to the sound of rain on the glass of the french doors of my bedroom. Looking outside, it was dark, cloudy and not showing any signs of improvement.

"Aww man, looks like a rainy day." I mumbled as I closed the curtains and walked out to the kitchen. Inside I was all alone. That was okay, i'm sure Priya was still sleeping. At least that's what I thought. One look at the clock sent a shock inside me.

11:30?! My god, did I really sleep in that late? It's almost noon! Oh no, I slept half the day away.

I walked into the kitchen and poured myself some cereal and milk and had a nice quiet breakfast. Once the food was finished, I walked into the living room and found Priya on the sofa watching TV. Oddly enough, she was watching the weather channel.

"Good morning Priya." I introduced myself. She rolled her eyes. "Cole it's already noon.."

"Nah uh, it's 11:59! I can still say good morning and it still counts." The two of us shared a laugh as I sat down on the couch next to her.

"Looks like it's going to be raining all day." She commented. I nodded in agreement.

"Ugh this rain sucks. I want to go out and do something." Priya groaned. Doing my best to lighten the mood, I made a suggestion.

"Rainy days aren't all that bad. How about we watch a movie? FIRE hooked us up with all sorts of channels on this thing. I'm sure we can find something to watch on here." I grabbed the remote and searched through HBO for something to watch. There was nothing good on, so I checked the pay-per-view movie list. Priya ended up choosing to watch Disney's Hercules.

"Ahh I remember this movie from when I was a kid. Great film. James Woods does a great job as Hades. Honestly one of his better roles in my opinion."

Priya poked me with her tail. "Hey, go get some snacks." I got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen. "What do you want? Popcorn?"

"Eww gross. Get me some chocolate pudding!" Wow Priya, really staying true to your character. I opened the fridge and reached for the pudding, except there was a problem.

"Umm Priya, we're all out of pudding. Do you want something else?" You would have thought I just called her the N word. She jumped from the sofa and dashed into the living room.

"What did you say?" She gazed me down with wide eyes of fear.

"I said we're all out of pudding. Do you want me to make something else?" Priya lifted herself high off the ground and almost hit the ceiling.

"NO~this is unacceptable. I demand chocolate pudding right now!"

"If you want pudding, then I'll have to go to the store and get some more." I walked away from her and went into my bedroom to get dressed. Once I was dressed, I opened the door and saw Priya standing in the hallway right in front of me.

"What are you doing? Are you leaving?" She barked at me. I paid her no mind and walked right past her. The situation was getting tense, and I didn't want to have another incident like what happened the first day I was here.

"Yes, I am. We're out of pudding, so I have to leave and get some more at the store." I put on my raincoat and walked through the main hallway to the foyer to get my umbrella and car keys.

"STOP! You can't go! I won't let you leave me here." Priya practically screamed at me from the living room. I turned around and saw her with red cheeks and scared eyes.

"What are you talking about? I have to leave to get pudding. Don't worry i'll be right back."

Something must have triggered her, as she lunged forward and pounced on me.

"NOOOOO Don't leave me….. Not again….."

"Ahh dammit Priya, let me go!"

"You can't leave….. I won't let you… please….. papa, don't go."

Hold up, wait a minute, what the hell did she just call me?

"Umm, Priya? Priya it's me Cole. Priya?" I looked down and saw her arms wrapped around me. Her face was buried in my raincoat, and she was crying her eyes out.

"Papa…. Don't go…. I won't lose you again…."

X

Once I finally pried her off of me, She came to her senses, even though she was still crying a little bit. I tried asking her some questions, and she composed herself to give me an honest answer.

"Sorry about that Cole. You see, I never knew my parents. My mother abandoned the nest right after my sisters and I were born, like all King Cobra's do. My sisters stuck around for a while, but eventually they all went their separate ways. I spent most of my childhood alone, wandering the jungle floor left to fend for myself. Every single animal and human I ever encountered was terrified of me and ran away. One day, I came across a farm. There lived an old man who was not scared of me. Instead, he seemed happy to see me. He had a rodent problem, and let me live on his farm in exchange for eating the rodents. Whenever he would go into town to sell his crops, he would always come back with a treat for me."

"Let me guess, was it chocolate pudding?" Priya nodded. She continued her story.

"Those were the happiest days of my life. I thought those days would last forever, that man was the closest thing I ever had to a real parent. His wife passed away from an illness a long time ago, and they never had children, so he treated me as if I were his own daughter. You should have seen his face the first time I called him Papa."

Priya was silent for a moment. I had a gut feeling that this story did not have a happy ending.

"Then one day, a terrible storm hit the area. Papa had already left to go into town, and all of the land was flooded, and the river was well over its banks. His farm was in a low lying area, and I knew that we needed to evacuate before the water rose too high. I got to his house as quickly as I could, but I was too late. The water had already risen too high, and my papa was nowhere inside the house. I looked everywhere, all over the farm, and even in town. I never found his body. Everyone in town who didn't evacuate, died in the flood."

Oh my god… poor Priya. I never knew she went through such a tragedy. It all makes sense now. No wonder why she never made any friends, or why she never bonded with anyone. It must have been awful going through something like that. The one person who cared about you, just vanishes into thin air one day, never to be seen again.

"That stupid old man told me he was going to be right back. Papa said he would only be gone for a little while." Oh no, Priya is starting to cry again. "He said if I was a good girl, he would get me some chocolate pudding from the market, and we would eat it together."

Here we go, now she is crying again. My god, this poor girl. I reached over to her and gave her a big hug.

"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay." She kept crying, but this time she hugged me back.

"You know, your file said you were the world's deadliest Lamia, but the more I read about you, the more I realized that you were also the world's loneliest Lamia." Priya broke the hug and looked at me with a hurt expression.

"But it's okay now. I'm here, and I'm not going to leave you. I'll be right here by your side from now on."

There was a little bit of hope in her voice. "R-really? Promise?"

"I promise! Priya, I will always be with you, forever and ever." God, you should have seen her face. Those deadly golden eyes lit up like a christmas tree.

"Awww Cole!" Not only did Priya hug me, but she wrapped her tail around me. Mind you, this was my very first time being wrapped in a lamia's tail. If I had to describe the experience, I would say it's like being caught in a giant garden hose, except instead of water coming out of the end, it's the love of a beautiful girl.

"Alright alright I get it. Priya, stop, you're cutting off my circulation! PRIYA!" I had to tap out after 10 seconds. Oh well, i'm sure i'll do better next time.

"Oh, sorry!" She finally let me go. Once I caught my breath, I walked over to the door and grabbed my umbrella.

"Okay, now i'm going to the store to buy some more pudding. I promise i'll be right back. If i'm not home in 30 minutes, you have my permission to come looking for me."

Priya nodded and waved goodbye. I walked out the door and into the rain. Once I started up the truck, I backed out of the driveway and headed down the road towards the store.

X

The weather was getting worse. As I drove down the road to the convenience store, I had the radio on playing some music. The music soon cut out to the Emergency Alert System. It was to inform me that a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for my county.

Dammit all.

I pulled up to the store and got out of the truck. Thankfully there was nobody else here.

It took a while, but I finally found the chocolate pudding. They didn't have it in a big jar like Ms. Smith gave us, all they had were the small little snack packs. Whatever, I need to get out of here before the streets flood. I took as many of the snack packs as I could fit in my arms and walked over to the counter. There was nobody else in line, but dammit this clerk was taking forever to scan them.

One she finished scanning them, I pulled out my wallet to pay. While I was paying, she looked at me.

"Getting pretty nasty out there."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully I can make it home before the streets flood."

She rang me up at the register and gave me my change back. I couldn't tell from her hat, but it looked like she had white hair.

"Watch your back out there, kid." She finally looked up and made eye contact with me, and that's when I realized she had red eyes.

"What the…. Have we met?"

"Perhaps. I meet all sorts of people in my line of work." She smiled at me while putting my chocolate pudding in a bag.

"No, I mean…. This might sound crazy but…. Have you ever driven a truck before?"

The girl handed me my bag and smiled. "I drive one everyday." Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of thunder. "You better get going, kid. Don't want to keep her waiting."

"Haha yeah you're right. Thanks!" I started walking to the door when it suddenly hit me.

"Hey wait a minute, how did you know about~" I turned around and saw the clerk was gone. In fact the entire store was empty.

Okay, what the hell is going on? Whatever, I need to get home before Priya comes looking for me. I walked outside and saw the rain had picked up. There was water ponding on the curb. I quickly started the truck and looked around to make sure I was clear to back up.

As I was backing up, I swear I could see some sort of dark shadow out of the corner of my eye. When I rubbed my eyes to try and focus, it was gone.

I made my way slowly down the road with this great uneasy feeling. Almost like someone was following me. It's hard to explain, since the road was totally empty. This feeling kept growing up my spine, and I eventually floored it down the road. I must have been going 60mph down this little two lane road. Thank god there were not any cops shooting radar, the speed limit was 45.

The windshield wipers were jumping back and forth across the glass as I did my best to make it back home quickly. I saw a bright flash of lightning overhead and then a loud blast of thunder. This rattled me a little bit, but I kept going. There was a stop sign up ahead, but I was not going to stop. I looked to my right and saw that same black shadow again, lurking behind a wooded area off the side of the road.

Nope, nope, nope….

Thank god there were no cars at the stop sign, because I surely would have hit them. The truck was now going 75mph as my fear got the better of me. Suddenly the sky got really dark, and a large crack of lightning flashed overhead.

The light was enough to temporarily blind me, but when my eyes came back, that black shadow was standing in the road right in front of me.

Thunder boomed around me as I swerved out of the way to avoid hitting whatever that was. Unfortunately the truck was going too fast, and I had been hydroplaning for a while. I lost control and crashed into a small ditch on the side of the road.

My face hit the airbag as it deployed from the steering wheel. I felt my whole body jerk forward, only to be held in place by the seat belt.

AN: Remember anon, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT!

Once I centered myself, I realized what had happened, and got out of the truck as quickly as I could. When I was outside, I found myself face to face with that black shadow.

"HELLO HUMAN. WE MEET AGAIN."

Oh shit, oh fuck oh god please no. It's her! It's the hellhound. I knew she was real. What do I do? She was walking closer, and in the rain, she looked terrifying. All of her fluffy fur was wet and clinging to her body. No longer was she a black wolf, now she was the stuff of nightmares.

I got out my cell phone and called the only number I could think of. The phone kept ringing and ringing until I heard a sweet voice answer.

"Hello? Cole? Is that you?" Before I could say anything, the hellhound swatted the phone out of my hand and into the floodwaters.

"CALLING FOR HELP? NOBODY IS COMING TO RESCUE YOU. YOU'RE MINE NOW."

She lunged at me, and my marine corps training took over. I dodged and hit her with a left hook across the jaw. Now, I was no Floyd Mayweather, but I can throw a punch well enough to knock out any dumbass in a bar fight. I may as well have hit a brick wall. Not only did the girl feel nothing, but I swear I broke my hand punching her.

"Ooooowwwwww!" I cried out as I clutched my hand.

"MUAHAHAHA IT IS POINTLESS TO RESIST." The hellhound stood over me laughing. I stood up and tried to throw a right jab at her waist, but it had no effect at all.

"ENOUGH OF THIS". She clenched her fists and punched me in the gut. All of the wind was knocked out of me as I fell back down on the pavement. I was lying face down as the floodwater was trying it's best to sneak it's way into my windpipe.

When I started coughing it out, the hellhound grabbed my shirt and lifted me into the air.

"Any last words, little man?" She whispered to me. Seeing her blood red eyes, and her razor sharp fangs, I knew I was done for.

"LET HIM GO YOU FUCKING MUTT!"

Both of us turned and saw a bright flash of lightning. There was a huge boom of thunder and standing in the middle of the road, was the biggest lamia you have ever seen.

"Who the hell are you?" The hellhound pointed at her.

"My name is Priya, and I am the world's deadliest Lamia!" She slithered closer and stood up as tall as she could on her tail. The giant Lamia flexed her back muscles to form the classic King Cobra hood around her head, and by now, she was even taller than the hellhound.

"That man is mine, and I will not let you take him from me!"

The hellhound looked at me, then back at Priya. "I don't smell your essence on him. You haven't claimed him yet have you? If you want him, then you'll have to take him over my dead body."

I saw Priya show her fangs for the first time. By god, they were massive.

"I accept your terms." The hellhound was offended by that, and raised her claws to slash Priya, but Priya was too fast. In the blink of an eye, she dodged the hellhound, and bit her neck.

The sound of her fangs penetrating the hellhound's flesh was one of the scariest things I have ever heard. Priya also used her claws to slice the hellhound's arm, releasing me from her grip.

I fell back to the ground while Priya kept biting her neck. She must have injected her venom into the giant beast, as the hellhound was becoming disoriented. She quickly grew confused, and started stumbling around. Her eyelids started closing, and soon she fell on the ground with a thud.

Priya remained attached to the giant wolf girl for a few more minutes, until we both heard the hellhound stop breathing.

"Cole! Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" Priya came slithering over and checked me all over.

"Y-yeah i'm alright. Thanks for saving me. I thought I was done for." I reached out and hugged her. She responded by wrapping her tail around me.

"What was that thing?" Priya asked me.

"That my dear, was a hellhound. See? I told you they were real." The two of us stood there in the rain looking at the gian hellhound. Even though she was dead, she was still a terrifying sight to see.

Soon we heard a car pull up. We looked and saw it was a police car.

"Hey, are you two alright? What the hell happened here?" The police officer got out of the car and ran over to us. We looked and saw she was sort of strange looking. It was hard to tell because her uniform was soaked from the rain, but it felt like I knew her from somewhere.

"Officer, thank god! My truck swerved and crashed into the ravine. I saw this giant creature come out of nowhere and tried to avoid hitting it." I lied to the cop. Priya looked at me like she knew I was lying but I nudged her to play along.

"Well it's a good thing you two are alright. I must say, that was very impressive on your part. Well done Priya! You're a lot stronger than I thought." The cop complimented my homestay.

"Thanks, I got here as quick as I could. Once I heard him call the house, I knew he was in danger." Priya stupidly replied.

I rubbed my eyes and got a closer look. The cop didn't even have a badge on her. She also had white hair tucked under her hat and red eyes.

"Hey, wait a minute, you're not a cop, you're that girl from the convenience store!"

"Cole, what are you talking about?" Priya turned to question me.

"Look, she doesn't even have a badge~" I turned to look at Priya, but when I turned back to the cop, she was gone, along with her car. It was as if she was never there at all.

X

Later

After Priya and I found my cell phone, I called the real police, and had them come by the scene. They did their standard questioning and we filled out a police report. The whole area was taped off, and the police drove Priya and I home. I also called Ms. Smith and she came by a while later.

"Mr. Casey, I am so sorry that happened to you. If there is anything we can do to make this up to you, just say the word."

"It's alright, i'm all good now thanks to Priya. She saved my life!" I turned and patted the lamia on the back. She was beaming with praise.

"Yes, that is true. Thankfully Ms. Priya was able to get to you in time and call the police. On behalf of FIRE, we thank you for your heroism."

"Ahhh it was nothing! Just doing what any girl would have done to protect her man. Especially from that giant hellhound."

Ms. Smith gave both of us a confused look. "Hellhound? Excuse me but what are you talking about?"

Priya jumped. "The hellhound! The giant 7 foot tall black wolf girl that attacked me and Cole! Come on, you had to have seen it! The body was lying right there in the street."

"I'm sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about. According to the police report, Mr. Casey hit a deer, which caused him to swerve into the ravine."

Both Priya and I looked at eachother. "Are you kidding me? There was a hellhound there! I killed it with my own two fangs!"

Ms. Smith adjusted her sunglasses. "The weather caused poor visibility, and you were both in shock from the incident. It's not uncommon to hallucinate in those conditions."

What the hell is going on here? Why is FIRE covering this up?

"Regardless, I have another reason for coming to visit you two. FIRE has informed me that your new homestay has been processed through the system. We have cleared her paperwork, and she will be moving in with you two starting tomorrow."

Priya and I looked at each other, then back at Ms. Smith. I felt Priya's tail coil around me defensively.

"What do you mean? We're getting another homestay?" Priya yelled.

"Yes, that is correct. Mr. Casey will be getting 6 total homestays. You were assigned to him first since you were the only one that didn't require any processing. I assure you, once the red tape has been cleared, they will be moving in here in due time. Now then, I suggest you two get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow!"

Ms. Smith walked out the door, leaving the two of us alone in the house again.

"Cole, is she telling the truth? There are going to be 5 more girls living here?" Priya asked.

"Y-yeah, that's right."

"And you never told me because…"

"Well, because I was still trying to make things work with you. Plus the way she described things, it sounded like those girls would not be here for a long time."

Priya was getting upset, but I think this was more about jealousy than genuine anger. Oh god, is she the jealous type? With 5 other girls moving in, things could get ugly.

"Whatever. Let them come. If Ms. Smith wants them here, then i'll play nice. Just as long as they all know that you're mine, then there won't be any issues."

Priya and I made our way over to the couch and finally watched that movie we were going to watch.

"Hey Priya, i'm going to make some popcorn. You want anything from the kitchen?" I asked.

"No thanks, i'm good." She chirped back.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can get you some chocolate pudding if you want."

Priya turned to me and gave me a warm smile. "That's okay. I don't want to eat that stuff anymore."

A few minutes passed as the popcorn popped in the microwave. Once it was ready, I took the bag into the living room and we turned on the movie. As the two of us watched the movie, I noticed Priya started falling asleep. She looked so cute, I didn't have the heart to wake her up. I did however, move over to her and put my arm around her. She must not have been all the way asleep, as she snuggled into me instantly.

Once the movie was over, I looked at the clock and saw it was almost midnight. I tried to sneak away to my bedroom, but Priya wrapped me up in her tail, and the two of us spent the night snuggled on the couch.

TO BE CONTINUED

AN: Bonjour dear reader! Thank you for reading my story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Priya is a sweetheart, aint she? For a King Cobra, she sure is waifu material. Speaking of, here are some fun facts about King Cobras:
-King Cobra's are the world's largest venomous snake. Despite this, they are not very aggressive, and rarely attack humans.
-King Cobra females build a nest out of leaves and sticks before they lay their eggs. Once their eggs hatch, the mother abandons the nest, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves.
-King Cobra's diet mainly consists of eating other snakes. However, they can also eat lizards and small rodents

-Unlike other snakes, who bite then retreat, King Cobra's bite and maintain the bite until they inject all their venom inside you.
-King Cobra venom can kill a full grown man in less than 30 minutes if untreated.

-King Cobra's are the only snake that don't hiss. Instead, they growl. Technically it's a hiss, but the audio frequency is so low that it sounds like a growl. Most snake's hiss is around 7500 hz, but the king cobra's hiss around 600 hz.

In the next chapter, we will meet our second homestay, Ellie. She is an Eagle Harpy, so you better get ready! Leave a comment and let me know how you like the story so far. Thanks for reading, and GO BE ALIVE!