Why'd it have to be snakes?

Mariah Jane poked and prodded the sides of the ancient temple wall, looking for anything that might give her a hint or clue. Mariah Jane was a rather daring archeologist, going to places frought with danger that most people would consider insane. She had dug for artifacts in warzones within Africa, dodging rebel attacks and artillery shells. She saved a small box of one of a kind artifacts from a terrorist attack in Iran by the skin of her teeth. She'd even managed to escape KGB agents in Russia during the reign of the Soviet Union. That had been frightening. During the Soviet ruling, it was highly illegal to introduce other types of culture into the society. When she had uncovered some important writing works in an abandoned cemetary, it had attracted attention from locals. Way too much attention. The way the KGB acted, you'd think she'd opened Pandora's Box. To avoid getting thrown inside a gulag in Siberia, she fled the country for all she was worth. Unfortunately she'd lost the books she had found. But luckily, things were a bit better in this situation.
She was excavating in India this time, scouring ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples. Many were abandoned in the deep jungles, untouched for a great deal of time. She was wary of tigers and cobras, but she was fairly comfortable. At least she didn't have to worry too much about getting shot. The cobras creeped her out a bit though. In fact, most snakes did. She wasn't afraid, not really, but they did make her very uneasy. She couldn't stand the idea of one slithering on her... She shivered. She shook her head and got back to work, hoping to find something of interest within this particular temple.

Mariah Jane was a rather pretty girl. Not a diva, but more of the kind of girl that has a natural attractiveness without the use of clothes or makeup. Her nose was well rounded and complimented her soft face nicely. Her head was decorated with a poof of curly dirty blond hair. She could never get it to behave, regardless of what she did with it. It always looked like she had morning hair. But strangely, it only influenced her natural attractiveness even more. She had lightly tanned skin from her adventures along with a fair tone of muscle. Her shorts reached her knees and her safari shirt exposed her arms from the elbows down.
All in all, she was a very charming and attractive young woman. But she was always too busy and traveling to hold down anyone. She brushed the feeling off, going back to her work. The symbols and carvings seemed to indicate something of value might be in this place. She was about 30 feet into the corridor of the temple, and it was getting darker. Vines creeped along the walls like a living wallpaper, while tiny critters skittered around in the darkness. The stone walls had a dusty color, sometimes a slight reddish. It was old though, some of it crumbling. She slowly stepped along the foot path, now bringing out her flashlight and shining it on the ground. She stopped abruptly. Not 3 feet away in front of her was a big hole in the ground. It must have caved in to some deep underground chamber. She sniffed the air and crinkled her nose. The pit had a musty, decaying smell. It was a good thing she hadn't gone further. She would've fallen straight in...
She then thought she saw something move, hear something. She shined the light down into the dark and saw that there was water. Was in an underwater spring? Did the water erode and collapse the floor above?  It must have. The water was moving quickly, but mostly shallow. She could see her the water bubbling over rocks in a relaxed way. Then she noticed some water moving... upstream? She squinted her eyes, trying to make out the strange phenomenon. Then she saw a bit of water moving across. Some others moving in different directions. What was going on? She leaned closer, putting a foot forward for better purchase.

Suddenly, the floor in front of her shifted under her weight. She yelped, trying to catch her balance but it was too late. Mariah pitched forward and fell headlong into the yearning pit.
She landed with a loud splash. Luckily, the fall wasn't more than eleven feet and the water she landed in, about 12 inches deep, cushioned her fall. More luck still, she had somehow avoided the bricks that had made up the floor that had fallen and landed on soft silt. She groaned in the dark, groping in the thick mud for her flashlight. The water was rather lukewarm. Definitely a spring. Then she felt something rather solid brushing against her. She half jumped, managing at the last moment to grab her flashlight. The lense cast a bleary beam because of the mud that was caked on the front. She quickly wiped away the mud as best she could and shined the light into the water where she was being brushed. At first it looked like nothing. Then it looked like the mud was moving past her. Then came the realization that made her quiver. It was the back of a snake. A python. A reticulated python. A big reticulated python. Her face paled in the dark. She heard a hiss nearby and reflexively turned to it, shining her light. Another one! It was huge too! She now realized that what she had seen above had been the coils of maybe six huge pythons. Of all the creepy, crawly, slimy, scaly things that could've been down in that pit, it just had to be snakes!

Mariah gasped as one python slithered over her lap, seemingly oblivious to her presence. This thing was huge! The middle of its body, wish settled onto her lap, was maybe 9 inches thick, and very heavy. Holding her flashlight in her teeth, she pushed her hands underneath the snake's scaly, shining bulk and heaved. Despite her rugged strength, she could only lift the thing a few inches. Her arms failed and the coil sank back into her lap. She sighed, gritting her teeth. She tried again, this time, earning a few more inches. But the sudden weight of another coil on her shoulder make her squeak in surprise and loose her grip. The one in her lap fell again, this time lightly gripping her hips. She turned her head to her right in time to see the head of the second python going down her front, its middle thickening on her shoulder heavily. It was difficult to support, and with a quick shove against its side the body splashed into the water. It splashed water onto her, drenching her again. The snake she had shoved looked up at her as if to say 'I beg your pardon? What was that for?' It would've been amusing had it been under other circumstances. Like with a puppy. In someplace that wasn't here. She sneered at the python, looking back to the one that had slid onto her lap and was now giving her hips and fanny a scaly hug. Her cheeks heated.
"Not cool!" she scolded. Then she felt another coil piling up and around the one already around her. That was not a good sign! She tried to stand, but the shear weight of the snake's body held her down. Her rear sunk into the silt. The glistending scales twinkled at her mockingly.

Another python slid up under her left armpit and over her right shoulder. She yelped, trying to pull it down but to no avail. The soft, wet scales held firmly to her body. The more she pushed against the wet bodies, the tighter they held. She grunted under the strain. Then, to her chagrin, yet another python began slithering over her legs. But because of the coils already on her torso, she couldn't lean forward to shove them off of her legs. It seemed like the serpents were flocking to her, wrapping their cold bodies around her warm skin. A much smaller python, maybe seven feet long, completely encompassed her left arm like a shirt sleeve. Its weight too held her arm down. Soon, she appeared to be buried underneathe the writhing mass of squeezing, wet coils in the temple's pit...