Little Red Werewolf
I ran through the woods, branches grabbing for me, leaves swirling in my wake. The creatures of the forest fled before me, I was at the top of the food chain and they didn't want to meet my claws.
A silver shimmer of light shown through the thick forest canopy. I longingly gazed up at the moon. She was a day away from being full. I howled my greeting before turning back to my run.
My paws hit the earth with precision. I didn't stumble or trip over anything. While the running was most definitely sensational, I had other matters to attend to: the hunt.
A hare skittered across my path. I froze so I wouldn't alarm it. Red ears swiveling and red fur bristling with anticipation, I stalked the rabbit. It sniffed the air once and the chase began.
Yawning, I awoke sprawled over my bed. I stretched the sleep from my arms first, one leg, and the other before arching my back for the last of that sleeping stiffness. My mother always commented on how closely my actions resembled that of a dog. If only she knew that I was a werewolf.
Yeah, I was a werewolf and had been since my grandmother's attack. Grandma had been swallowed whole by a werewolf, and thanks to our ability to not only shift into wolves but also take on the forms of our meals, I'd been tricked into thinking that her attacker was in fact her. The beast had been able to bite me, thus infecting me, before help had arrived in the form of WES: the Werewolf Extermination Service.
They'd cut Grandma out of the wolf's stomach after they'd killed it. She'd developed a few mental scars but had been otherwise unscathed.
If WES were to ever find out my secret my butt was as good as toast.
"Red! You overslept again! Breakfast's ready!" my younger brother, Hansel, called from outside my bedroom door. I grumbled a response and rolled out of bed with a loud thump.
"You okay?" Gretel called, she was Hansel's fraternal twin. I sat up slowly and lumbered towards the door.
"I'm up. I'm fine. And I'm hungry." My stomach growled in response to my statement. Apparently my siblings got a kick out of that because they fell to the floor laughing.
I stepped over their quivering forms and stumbled downstairs to be greeted with the sweet aroma of bacon, pancakes, and maple syrup. My tongue darted out to lick my lips and I planted myself into a seat at the table.
I went wide-eyed when I saw the massive plate of pancakes sitting in front of me. They were calling my name. They wanted to be eaten. Without thinking I stabbed into five giant pancakes, plopped them on my plate, smothered them in syrup, and added bacon to the mix. Like any classy girl would I lost the fork and just dug in.
I swear I died and went to heaven when the pancakes seemed to melt on my tongue. I had started to drool when I became aware that I was no longer the only one at the table.
Guiltily I glanced up from my plate to find that my mother, Hansel, and Gretel were all giving me shocked expressions. I swallowed quickly choking on what food I'd had in my mouth and tried to speak through my coughing.
My mother snapped out of her spell and cleared her throat, turning her attention back to her one pancake. "Red I need you to run a few goodies to your grandmother's house."
I groaned, I hadn't visited grandma since the attack and I didn't want to go back. It was a territory thing; a werewolf, no matter how dead he was, had already claimed that area as his hunting grounds and as another werewolf I had to respect that. Besides I had had plans to run around in my wolf skin today. It was a full moon and the hunt was singing strongly in my blood.
"Why can't Hansel and Gretel go?" I was pleading with my eyes, which I had somehow managed to rip away from my plate.
"Did you already forget about the candy house and witch incident?" I shook my head. Being told that your little brother and sister were almost eaten by a crazed, cannibalistic witch was not something that was very easily forgotten. Well so much for that idea. Unless one of my cousins showed up to bail me out of this, I was stuck taking gooey desserts to Grandma.
"Anyway, it should be good for you to visit your grandmother. Especially since your relationship with her has suffered since the attack four years ago. Could you also wear that traveling cloak she made for you? And don't forget to bring a weapon this time, Grimm forbid that you run into another one of those nasty wolf creatures."
Thus my reason for not telling Mother about my 'condition' was revealed. She had never been too fond of anything the public labeled as 'evil' or 'a negative influence to the children.'
Considering that most of my cousins and friends had had more or less the same experiences as my siblings and I, I really couldn't bring myself to agree with her or the public. It just seemed like we were something out of a fairy tale. Ha! As if those existed.
After shoveling the rest of my breakfast into my face and putting my plate in the sink I scurried back to my room to get changed. It took me at least two hours to find something that would allow me to move if I was attacked that also matched the red hooded cloak that I was supposed to wear.
In the end I ended up in a pair of jeans and a white peasant top with a red tank top over it. I strapped my dagger to my low-slung belt and combed through my curly auburn hair, fully satisfied with my appearance I headed downstairs.
"Red, here's the basket. Be careful because not everything is securely in one place, and here's your cloak." I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders, grabbed the basket, and made an attempt for the door but someone pulled me back.
"Remember to stay on the path, and don't stay out past dark, and if it's too dark by the time you leave just spend the night, and…" I cut my mother off with an annoyed glance.
"Mom I'm fifteen, I can take care of myself. So stop worrying. You're going to get gray hair." With that I left.
The path that led to Grandma's was through the woods. It ran right next to my running trail so I knew the way well. Though I hadn't used it during the day for years.
Gnarled oaks grabbed for the sky and played as homes for a countless number of birds and squirrels. There was something about the ancient guardians that put me on edge. They were being secretive and quiet. I knew from experience in my wolf form that they could be warm and inviting to their animal tenants. I'd lost more than one meal to their intruding roots and clawing branches.
As I continued down the path I noticed that something was off. In my wolf skin I'd marked this area as my territory but their was another scent on top of my own that I didn't recognize. It was almost as if two territories had overlapped and crossed into each other.
I longed to be my red furred, sharp toothed, and quick wolf self so that I could investigate further, but I was in a race against the hunt and moon's pull. Seeing as how it was nearing winter and the days were shortening, I was working on a very tight schedule. Pushing my questions back I forced myself to continue. Whatever the problem was, it could wait until dark.
A twig snapped very close to the trail. I stiffened, knowing that I'd left my own territory an hour ago and I was now in danger. Soft and furry, a small rabbit hopped towards me.
I sniffed the air, suddenly suspicious of the rodent. The ruler of this territory had finally come to greet me. I tilted my head to the side, exposing my neck, and slowly sank to my knees to show that I was no threat.
The 'rabbit' began to stretch out and lose its shape. It was kind of revolting to watch a Were change but I didn't dare let my gaze leave the convulsing shape of the once rabbit.
A boy, not much older than me, with wild black hair and piercing gold eyes took the place of the rabbit. He was muscular and a few inches taller than me. I had to admit that he was handsome and didn't look the least bit threatening to me.
"Why have you come here?" His voice was somewhat deep with harmonious tones.
"I only came to drop off some things at my grandmother's." I opened the basket to show him the assortment of goodies within. His jaw set and I feared that I'd done something to upset him.
"Does your grandmother live in a cottage at the end of this path?" I nodded, expecting him to say she was on her way to my house or something like that but nothing could have prepared me for what he said. "You should go home then. I ate her a few hours ago."
My jaw dropped so violently that I was afraid I was going to scrape my chin against the road. In proof of his claim the Were shifted into the form of a gray haired, wrinkly old lady dressed in a long, pink cotton nightgown with pink bunny slippers. All I could do was stare deftly at the image of my grandmother as she grinned a grin not her own at me.
Another shift occurred and this time the boy became a sleek silver wolf. Instinctively I shifted into my own red furred form but I was too late the wolf was already lunging.
A/N: I wrote this as a short story for my English class and I'll admit that the ending is frustrating but it's meant to be there so that people will come to their own conclusions. I've thought about adding on to it but in my opinion any continuation on my part would ruin the mystique of the ending and basically destroy the entire purpose of the cliff hanger. So come to your own conclusions and review please.
Aurora of the Light