[Viewer Discretion Is Advised for the sensitive.]
Once again, Tyler rolled his eyes. He could only imagine what kind of exotic pet Betsy was. Another serpent, perhaps? Tyler could only guess.
Slithers had a penchant for serpents or large snakes and viewed them as part of their Coven. Zaid had already sacrificed Delilah, his precious serpent, who was a notoriously vicious girl, for sure. Despite Delilah's cold, scaly heart, Zaid was her daddy, as he raised her from an egg. Her loyalty to him was unbreakable. So unbreakable that she obeyed Zaid's command and tried to devour Victoria inside the indoor swimming pool at Mr. Collin's mansion. That was the unfortunate day she was killed by more than a handful of Collin Coven guardians, including Ivan, Kai's advisor. Since then, Zaid never saw her again, not even to properly bury her.
By the Vampire Covenant's guidelines of warfare and attacks on another Coven, animal attacks were considered legal without being constituted as an act of war against another Coven.
"Give me five minutes," Tyler confirmed, standing up from the seat.
Inside his closet, Tyler donned a casual green button-down shirt and then slipped into his coat before heading out. In contrast to Tyler's formal style in outfits, Zaid's attire was always far more exotic and bold, which mirrored his brash attitude toward anyone he disliked.
Moreover, Zaid favored wearing a black trench coat studded with spikes, and even his leather boots had an exotic spike jutting up from the toes. Tattoos of serpents and creepy insects covered his bare skin, which reflected his gift of summoning these entities of creatures to attack his opponents or sometimes innocent victims for the fun of it.
Ready to depart, Tyler gathered his advisors and left with Zaid and his advisors. Less than ten minutes later, they arrived at Zaid's mansion, located just a road over from the Young's territory. While their advisors went inside the mansion to mingle, Tyler followed Zaid to the spacious, lavish garage, which resembled a miniature mansion in size due to its immense proportions.
"Who's Betsy?" Tyler asked, entering the garage with Zaid before a sudden foul odor flared his nostrils. "What's that rotting smell? Are you hiding a dead body in here?" Tyler wrinkled his nose, covering it with his hand to block the putrid stench from assaulting his sense of smell.
When it came to Slithers, one could never be too sure of what they were capable of doing or even hiding.
"Not exactly," Zaid chuckled, switching on a dim light, even though they could see perfectly fine without it from being vampires.
Aside from the fact that Tyler noticed all the classic muscle cars had been removed, everything looked normal, like any ordinary garage. Tools were neatly arranged along the walls, and storage containers were stacked inside.
"Where's Betsy?" Tyler inquired, scanning every corner for a massive serpent, or perhaps a python, yet he saw nothing.
Above their heads, an unanticipated screech pierced his ears before a rotted human head plopped to the cemented floor, slightly rolling away from them. Tyler looked up, and his eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of a large spider hanging upside down from the ceiling. The spider leaped down atop the greenish, discolored human head, and rolled it with her lengthy legs. Much like a cat playing with a ball of yarn, the spider then playfully pounced on the rotting head. Meanwhile, Tyler stared, baffled by the sight of this bizarre behavior coming from a spider. He reckoned his eyes were possibly deceiving him.
"Betsy likes playing with her food. She's about seven months old, but she's a natural killer," Zaid casually remarked, watching as Betsy chased the head in another direction, then caught it with her fangs and munched it down in one gulp.
"You seriously named a spider Betsy?" Tyler exclaimed, gaping his eyes in utter bewilderment.
For certain, Zaid was undoubtedly one of the strangest Slithers anybody would ever meet.
After Betsy excitedly approached him, Zaid defended, gently rubbing one of her bristly fangs, "What's wrong with naming her Betsy?"
Betsy wasn't any bigger than a big rig but she was certainly taller and wider than a large pickup truck. Bristles of pointy hair adorned her long, thin black legs, and her twenty-beady eyes glittered with a yellowish hue. More creepily, her beady eyes were stacked on top of each other.
Overall, Betsy resembled a tarantula, although her figure was less hairy. Apart from her bristly eight legs, her round head and teardrop-shaped body were smooth like a banana spider, only she was mostly solid black with some touches of orange on her. Three orange stripes curved along her body before ending at her sharp stinger.
Some of her stacked eyeballs blinked, while the others remained fixed on Zaid. He lovingly rubbed her head as if she were his pet dog—a very huge dog that could certainly gobble him down in one bite.
"You come up with the strangest names for your pets," Tyler muttered, before nearly gagging as he witnessed Zaid kiss Betsy's round head. "What's your plan with Betsy?"
"I plan on using Betsy to kill Victoria," Zaid casually revealed. "All we need is a distraction for Kai and his clan, and I've got the perfect one."
Curiosity piqued Tyler's interest. "What kind of crazy scheme have you cooked up now?"
"Alice," Zaid divulged his plan, grinning sinisterly as he seemingly tickled what may have been Betsy's chin. "We'll attack Glenn's fifteen-year-old mate. While Kai and his clan are preoccupied with her call for help, Victoria will encounter Betsy. If all goes according to plan, Betsy will eliminate Victoria before Kai can save her. Like any good Alpha, Kai will have to make the ultimate sacrifice for his clan."
Deeply pondering over the details, Tyler hummed aloud, "Hmm, you do realize that if the plan fails, Betsy will likely suffer the same fate as Delilah."
"Some sacrifices are necessary for a greater cause. Delilah was a perfect example of that," Zaid cooed at Betsy, nuzzling his face against hers and kissing her fang.
Happily clicking her fangs together, Betsy emitted a squeal and blinked thirteen eyeballs at Zaid, clearly eating up his affection.
Grossed out by his friend's odd behavior with his pet spider, Tyler's stomach churned at the sight. His friend was certainly weirder than he gave him credit for.
"Give me the word, and I'll go after Alice on your cue. I'll be in touch," Tyler declared, about to walk out as he was eager to leave.
Otherwise, he might vomit if he had to witness Zaid's affection toward Betsy any longer.
"Come to the warehouse with me. I've arranged a meeting for a backup plan in case Betsy fails," Zaid announced, intercepting Tyler at the door before he could take off.
"What meeting?" Tyler groaned, flouncing after Zaid out of the garage, clearly getting more irritated with him.
"You'll see," was Zaid's only mysterious reply.