A homeless drug addict in Pakistan notices Dr. Hakim Shafi asking around about a young woman in a photograph. The homeless man assumes she is Shafi's daughter. When the homeless man overdoses on heroin, Shafi saves his life and helps him recover in the clinic where Shafi researches snake venom. Shafi reveals that the woman in the photograph is his missing gypsy child bride Maliha. Maliha believed in the powers of a mythical stone called the "serpent pearl." The Serpent Queen could use the pearl to rise from the underworld and turn into a beautiful snake-woman. Whoever owns the pearl can rule the animal kingdom, be immune to all venom, and become immortal. Shafi believes Maliha went looking for the pearl in the desert. He recruits the homeless man to accompany him, and the man agrees, since he is on the run from a drug cartel that wants to murder him. Shafi and the homeless man arrive at an ancient shrine in the desert where a concert is taking place. The homeless man becomes overwhelmed by the loud music and the scent of cannabis and other drugs. Unsure if he is hallucinating, he follows a snake to a grave where he witnesses Shafi being seduced and then brutally murdered by a snake-woman. In the days that follow, there is news that hundreds of people were poisoned in the desert. The homeless man is plagued by disturbing visions, and he fears that he is turning into a snake. He decides to go to the police, but they believe he murdered both Maliha and Shafi. They turn him over to the drug cartel.