I wrapped the red cloak tighter around me as the wind threatened to push me to the ground. I grasped the wicker basket in my right hand tighter as I pushed on, weaving my way around the thick trees, towards the old log cabin that was currently housing my elderly grandmother and I.

Earlier in the day I had ventured into the village near our little cabin to get some food and supplies from my mother at her store. I moved in with my grandmother a few months ago to help her, since she was so frail and couldn't handle moving herself. My mother had her store to look after and my father had passed on when I was a child so that only left me to take care of her.

I knew I should have left Mom's store earlier, but it was nice not having to be so responsible for once in a while. I mean, I'm barely fourteen; it was nice to just hang out like a normal girl my age. So, against my better judgment, I left after dark, even though the woods that our cabin was located in were widely known for the dangerous animals that it housed.

"Oof!" I tripped on a rather large tree trunk sticking out of the ground. I looked through the dark in search of my basket which had rolled away from me when I fell. Still on my knees I spotted it about a foot away, thankfully still shut tight, keeping my supplies safe inside of it. But what was that next to it? It was so dark I could barely make out the basket, but I could definitely tell that something dark was beside it.

I stood wanting to know what the shadow next to my goodies actually was. A tree? No, too skinny for the trees around here. A bear? I shuddered at the thought of a dangerous animal so close to me. I warily took a step forward, squinting, struggling to make out the shape. It suddenly moved, and I jumped backwards, tripping on the same tree root as before and falling on my butt, my hood falling back from my wild brown curls.

"I didn't mean to startle you Miss." I gasped as a handsome young man, probably a few years older than I, closed the short distance between us, my basket in hand. He leaned down and extended his empty hand towards me. I hesitantly took it, pulling myself to my feet with his help. Even in the dark I could tell that he was, as my mother would say, a looker. I was suddenly very aware as to how close we were; our noses were a mere inch or two apart, even though he was a bit taller than me.

I blushed before answering him. "Oh, thank you, sir. I just didn't expect anyone to be out in the woods. May I ask why you are?"

"I could ask you the same question. It's dangerous for a pretty young girl such as you to be wandering about in these woods at all, let alone after dark." He extended my basket out to me and I took it. "May I escort you to where you are going? It would make me feel better, knowing that you got home safe."

Another blush on my part. "It's fine. My cabin isn't far from here. I can manage the rest of the walk."

"Please, I insist." He bowed a bit, which, with me being a fourteen year old who has never spoken to a boy in her whole life, is a pretty normal reaction.

"Uh- okay." We set off in silence, him falling into step behind me. This feels wrong somehow. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to let him come with me. The wind had died down and then I realized what was making me feel so uneasy. It was the silence. Not just our lack of speaking but the complete lack of wildlife sound. No crickets. No cicadas. No frogs or birds or even distant wolf howls, which were more than common in these woods.

I stopped walking and my odd companion followed suit. Not turning to face him I asked, "You never told me why you were in the woods."

"I didn't feel that it was important." I heard him sigh. "And I had hoped that we would at least get to the cabin before you realized that something was going on."

"Wha—" But I didn't get to finish my question before I was slammed against a tree to my left. The moment my back hit the tree my breath was knocked right out of me. I choked, gasping for air as my basket again tumbled to the ground.

Then he was right in front of me, blocking my escape, I was pinned against the tree. There was nowhere to go. I could feel his breath against my face. It smelled rotten, like old, dead animal flesh; it made me want to puke. "Didn't you ever learn not to talk to strangers?" He sneered at me.

It was all too much, tears built up and I couldn't hold them in. As they began to spill the stranger wiped a few away before ripping off the long red cloak that was a last gift from my late father. It revealed a short brown dress along with red stockings and brown ankle boots. One of his hands remained at my face while the other was placed just above my knee.

The tears came out quicker now. "N-no. Pl-please don't." I managed to choke out. But his hand just slowly made its way further up my leg. My hands grasped at the tree, as if it would help. But I felt a large chunk of peeling bark and managed to grab onto it to try to pry it off of the large tree. As I struggled to free it from the tree his lips met mine.

I felt the pressure of his lips but I kept mine tightly pressed together, pushing my back further against the tree in a feeble attempt to back away. I could feel his tongue push against my lips, trying to gain access to my mouth. I tried to focus on keeping it shut and removing the potential weapon from the tree but he bit down on my lower lip, causing me to gasp in pain and allowing him the access he wanted.

The hand that hand been on my leg was now allowing itself to slip into my underwear. Why is this happening to me? Please stop. Please. I hadn't realized that I was whimpering, but the stranger seemed to smirk into the kiss when he heard it. That was when I finally freed the bark from the tree I was trapped against. One swift movement and it hit his head, causing him to yell out. "You little bitch."

It gave me less time than I had hoped, but enough to get a head start towards my cabin. I can make it there. I can make it there and barricade myself in. And if Grandma's phone line is working I'll be able to call for help. Those thoughts were all that drove me. I could feel, and hear, the man following me, so close, but I was always just out of his reach.

Finally, I could see the cabin. There was still smoke coming out of the chimney. Yes! I managed to enter the cabin and lock the door just as he was reaching it. He banged against the door furiously and I just watched it shake on its old hinges as I slowly backed away.

But only after taking a few steps backwards did I slip and fall on my bottom again. My hands hit the floor as well and I could feel something warm and wet beneath them. I looked down only to scream. Outside the door I could hear him laughing like a madman as the door stopped shaking in its fragile frame.

My hands were shaking; in fact my whole body was shaking. I quickly scooted away from the puddle I had slipped in only to track it along the floor with me. I couldn't take my eyes off of the thick red puddle that now took up most of our small living room. The red was splattered all over the walls and the furniture. And now I was covered in it.

"G-gr-grandma?" I practically whispered it, but the words echoed and seemed so loud in the silent cabin. No answer. That's when I noticed them. The chunks of… her. Scattered among the puddle and splatter were bits of what I had assumed to be flesh and bone. Then a sickening thought came to me. The smell here. It's the same as his breath. No. No. No. No. This can't be happening. It must all be a bad dream.

I shut my eyes before shaking my head back and forth violently and pinching my arm multiple times, to no avail. "Nooo! Wake up now! No!" I screamed choking back tears once again. I refused to believe. I ran through the rest of the cabin searching for her. But the cabin was void of life except for me and the banging of the door that had returned as my screams died down. I finally made my way into the kitchen, slipping and stumbling through my grandmother's remains.

I picked up the phone only to be met with more silence. This can't be happening. It has to work! I slammed it down and tried again and again. When I was met with the same result after the third try I followed the cord to the wall only to find that it had been cut. And then I noticed something else. The banging at the door at stopped again.

I turned to find the man smirking in the kitchen doorway. As I turned to run I slipped on the gore beneath my shoes and hit my head on the counter. Everything went black…..

And the young girl with the red hood was swallowed up by the big bad wolf.