The young man lay on the bed, exhausted, sweating and breathing heavily from his canoodling with probably the most beautiful woman he will ever encounter. Usually, after the passionate event, he would fall asleep but he couldn't. It wasn't because he was a trick and the akw?na/a??wó/karuwa had other clients to see. While a factor, something else in the small hut made the man very uneasy.

  Inside the building apart from a basic bed, a small chest of drawers and a few lamps to keep the place lit was something very much alive. A snake. A large snake. A python to be exact. It obviously belonged to Wunmi as after the act of coitus she started to pet it and give it affection and attention. Normally pythons didn't bother the john as they were very common across the Nok province but this one was different. It was 2 to 3 times longer than the average man and had yellow and black semi rings for its skin colour with a completely yellow underbelly. It clearly was not your typical species of python. However, it wasn't the python's colour but its eyes that unnerved Chukwuemeka. It constantly stared at him. Ever since Wunmi and the trick first entered the building, the snake constantly stared at him, never taking its eyes off him. Even during sex, Chukwuemeka could feel the intense stare of the snake with Wunmi having to constantly reassure him that the python was no threat to him between her orgasms.

  Wunmi let her snake sliver on her body, coiling around her arms and neck, sliding on her beautiful unblemished skin like a hot knife skimming and shaping chocolate. Chukwuemeka started to put on his clothes.

  “What do you think?” Wunmi asked the trick. She stood with her python wrapped around her, exuding grace and elegance like an Ikwubaran queen. She should be a queen, not slumming it in seedy places for money.

  Chukwuemeka got one last eyeful, admiring her sculpted face and body. Both snakes in the hut were very happy at her presence.

  “Well, I better get going,” said Chukwuemeka.

  “You can't leave just yet,” said Wunmi.

  “So you wanna go another round huh? I'm sorry as much as I would love to 'explore' your body again I have to get going. I've got a busy day ahead of me.”

  “Just sit,” Wunmi said with a slightly commanding tone, “I just want to ask you a couple of questions. If you answer them to my satisfaction, you'll get a reward.”

  “What's that?” He asked with a puzzled look on his face, “Another night with you, on the house?”

  “Even better,” she started to laugh then stopped abruptly, her eyes narrowed, “your worthless life.”

  Her voice changed drastically. It was still feminine but it no longer sounded human.

  “You dare threaten me you akw?na bitch?” He snarled.

  “Tell me where she is?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about, woman? Now step aside.”

  Chukwuemeka attempted to brush the a??wó as he headed out the door. Before the man could even blink, Wunmi had one of her delicate-looking hands wrapped around the man's throat and effortlessly lifted him up from the ground. The trick gasped for air and tried to pry himself away from her vice-like grip. No way was this woman human.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Why do you humans insist on making life more difficult for yourselves?” she asked rhetorically in that inhuman tone. The akw?na tossed him into the wall with little effort. He hit the wall with a loud crunch. The impact broke a few ribs. The room started to go blurry as he felt dizzy. Getting back onto his feet would be a painful endeavour but with a lot of grunting through gritted teeth, Chukwuemeka managed to do it. It did him little good, as she sweep kicked his legs from under him. He howled in pain once again as landed on his back, his broken ribs the source of the pain.

  Wunmi stood over him with one of her feet caressing his seed bag area. No emotion showed on her beautifully sculpted face.

  “Wunmi, I will answer any question you ask of me just let me li-.”

  “Did I give you permission to speak, worm/alajerun,” she snapped in that inhuman voice. Her eyes filled with fire and stared daggers. “Now that I have your attention, I will proceed to ask you again. You and some other thugs raided my lair and took something precious from me, and don't bother lying about it, my pet, Majele is psychic, he can read people's minds and auras. Now answer my questions truthfully. Any hint of deception will result in losing your ability to multiply, understand?”

  She placed her high heel gently on one of his balls. He gulped hard and weakly nodded in agreement.

  “First question, how did you find my lair?” she asked.

  “Personally I don't know. I just simply followed the captain who had some strange fish scale that he wore around his neck,” replied Chukwuemeka. Her eyes widened, “We found your place, searched through it, then took what we came for.”

  Wunmi and Majele looked at each other with an intense stare. Silently communicating with their thoughts. After sharing their thoughts, they both turned their attention to their captive.

  “Where is she?” the akw?na demanded.

  “No idea,” he said while grimacing in pain from his busted ribs.

  The scream that came from Chukwuemeka's mouth after that reply was bloodcurdling. Like a drowning cat singing. Wunmi crushed and popped one of his testicles underneath her high heels. The new sense of pain completely overrode his previous pain in his ribs and it was so intense that he was beginning to pass out. Her face remained blank and unreadable like she was crushing an annoying bug.

  “Wrong answer, alajerun,” said the a??wó. “Don't pass out on me just yet, I'm still owed a right answer, now tell me where are you hiding her?”

  No answer. She repeated the question, pressing harder on his nether regions. Still no answer. She went to pop his remaining testicle but stopped midway. Through the pain from his damaged testicle and busted ribs, he started to laugh. Was the pain and the ordeal turning him mad?

  “Do whatever you want to me, beat me, cut me, pop my last ball. I'll never tell you where we've taken 'her'. My family are taken care of and spending a night fucking you silly has made me content. I can die a happy man, do your worst!” said Chukwuemeka with a defiant smile on his face.

  “Then you are of no further use to me,” retorted the karuwa.

  With a quick stomping thrust with her pointed heel, she pierced his throat and severed his vein and artery. A sly smile crept on her beautiful face as blood spurted out of the wound and began to fill her victim's throat. Majele just stared. Chukwuemeka gurgled on his blood, writhed, spasmed, then he stopped. Still. He was with his ancestors.

  Wunmi walked out of the house with Majele wrapped around her, with not even a back glance at her victim's corpse. She meandered along the road then turned off to walk along the beach, paying no attention to the lonely, drunken old man that stared at her. She stood by the shore looking at the sea tide rhythmically flowing in and out on the beach and took in a deep breath of the salty air. The ocean called out to Wunmi. She longed for the sea's embrace.

  “I will find her, even if I have to slaughter every land breathing piece of shit that gets in my way. Are you ready, Majele?” she asked her pet telepathically.

  The python acknowledged her.

  She walked towards the sea, breathing a sigh of pleasure that bordered orgasmic as the water touched her feet. She kept walking, the water kept rising till she was fully submerged. Wunmi felt alive in this environment. Her long, toned legs started to fuse together and the skin on her legs gradually became scaly and changed colour. Her feet became the end part of the tail. Her upper body and face stayed the same except she gained a little bit of visible muscle mass. She started to cut loose, swimming with unnatural power, speed and grace. She twisted, looped, darted with nothing more than her tail to guide and control. Majele matched her pace and grace, copying the movements and orbiting Wunmi.

  The lonely drunk followed the woman and saw her disappear into the ocean. One thing puzzled him. It wasn't that a beautiful young woman decided to go for a swim late at night. Nor that she had a strange looking python wrapped around her. What bothered him was had she drowned. She hadn't come up for air. Maybe she wanted to commit suicide he thought. Such a shame. A woman that young and beautiful could've done many things with her life. What a waste. He took another swig of palm wine from his small calabash. A creature, half beautiful woman, half fish, launched herself from the sea into the air. She must have been about ten feet above the surface of the ocean. While in the air, she somersaulted multiple times then dived back into the sea with a splash.

  The man spat out his palm wine in shock. It was the woman that he followed.

  “Mami Wata,” said the drunk.