Little Red Riding Hood

Chapter 1

Take everything you know of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story, and throw it in the trash. This isn't that happy, go-lucky version of everyone coming out alive, and the wolf being chased off by the lumberjack. This is my story, and it's not a pretty one…

You've heard of my grandmother, right? The sweet old lady who lived alone in the woods? Well, she's dead…she's been dead since my birth, so I can't say I remember her. But, my family, for whatever reason, likes to visit her grave site every year which is where I am now- with my family- gathered around me, with everyone crying over the old lady I've never met. I guess I should feel guilty that I'm the only one not crying, but I don't.

I ignore my older sister's sniffles and look up at our surroundings. We're deep in the woods with the hot sun beating down on us. My mom and dad have wandered a ways to talk and cry silently together. It's a sad occasion. I sigh, and walk away from everyone and the gravesite, too uncomfortable by everyone's emotions running high today. "Red, where are you going," my sister asked.

I turned back in Violet's direction, "I'm just going to walk a ways, no need to worry, sis," I replied.

"Okay, don't be away long," Violet said smiling at me.

I walked further into the woods, watching the sun strike through the treetops and cast varying spotlights on the ground. The weather was hot, making my blue sundress stick to my back. I needed to visit the creek that was back here, and maybe stick my feet into the cool water. I heard it gurgling up ahead, and I smiled as I rushed towards the water's edge. Sticking my feet in, I kicked up a spray of water, watching how the clear liquid slowly and gracefully fell back into its original source. "Do you do that often," asked a deep voice from somewhere.

Jumping out of my skin at the voice, I focused my gaze onto the other side of the creek hoping the speaker would appear. \He didn't, and I paid the stranger no attention. He did not exist in my eyes. Watching minnows swim around my feet, I didn't bother to look up not even when I heard someone splash into the creek to stand beside me. "Are you entertained by their dull existence, too?"

The speaker's voice was right behind me, and his warm breath grazed my skin. I wanted to turn around, but I was afraid to find out who was behind me. Annoyingly, I blushed like a ninny at the sound of his voice, and he must have seen my reaction because he laughed a rich laugh that made my body tingle even while standing in the cool water. "Do you always blush like that?"

"Do you always ask questions," I shot back angrily.

This stranger who I had yet to see appeared out of nowhere to taunt and ridicule me? What gives him the right to do so? "Red, look at me, so I can glimpse your face," whispers the boy at my ear.

My body moved in an instant, but I cast my eyes downward. Graceful fingers touched my face to raise my chin up to stare into forest green eyes that still my breath in my lungs. "Who…are…you," I stammer as I'm caught off guard by his beautiful face.

He grins, opening his sweet mouth to answer when I hear Violet yell my name. "Red, Come on!

Monday, at school…

At school, that following Monday, I blend into the ocean of colors and fabrics of students. I am just another nameless face in a crowd of obnoxious teenagers who scream and shriek from the right and left sides of me. I clutch my shoulder bag in front of me being jostled by the crowd, and fight my way to my locker. I spin the dial, while inside, my locker unlatches and the door swings open. Right as I'm about to stick my arm in to grab my math textbook, my locker door swings shut, and I yelp jumping back as my fingers almost got trapped. "Aww, Red, did you get locked out of your locker again," sneers a girl's voice smirking with her cronies down the hall.

The famous Ali is at it again. I don't know why she spends her time on me. I don't bother her… I don't even have the guts to look in her direction. I smile anyway even though I want to punch her lights out, "Nice job, guys, and thanks for keeping me on my toes."

Ali frowns, her face scrunched up in fury as she barrels down the hall with her posse trying to keep up. I reopen my locker, and grab the textbook I need for class. Slamming my locker shut, I hurry down the hall to first block. Mr. Towns is busy at the blackboard scribbling mathematical nonsense on the board. "Please take a seat, Red," he instructs without looking in my direction.

How does he do that? He must have eyes in the back of his head. I dash to my seat in the back of the classroom to the chorus of chuckles that I was late for once. If Ali hadn't been such a... a balloon full of air, I could have made it on time...I grumble to myself. Ali sits four seats up from me; I can see her glossy, blonde hair that I feel like cutting with scissors because she made me late, but I keep my dark thoughts to myself, and open my math notebook to a nice, clean page. I start writing down the math puke on the board on the new page when a corruption up front draws everyone's attention from class. Whispers from classmates hammer around me, and Mr. Towns barks at everyone to shut up. I don't bother looking up from my notebook where I'm drawing a wolf near the bottom of the page. "We have a new student, class, make him feel welcome," Mr. Towns orders.

I welcome him by not looking up, or saying anything. Boots stomp down my aisle to stand by my desk. Don't look up…don't look up…I stare at the floor instead noticing the guy's dark black combat boots which match black jeans apparently. "Is that wolf supposed to be me," the new student asks me.

My blood freezes in my veins when I hear him. Say something witty, Red…I bark at myself, but I can't move my tongue. "Umm…."

My hand goes to cover the wolf's body when I hear mean laughter up ahead. "Don't bother talking to her, she's not that fascinating," Ali says when I look up in her direction.

She fluffs her blonde hair, and flips it with her hand onto her shoulder; handsome boy pays her no mind. I grip my pencil tight in my hand pressing the tip harshly against the page until the tip snaps when he speaks. "Red," he whispers bending his head down to my ear, "I told you we'd meet again."

I jump in my seat causing my pencil to roll off my desk, and it stupidly lands on the floor next to his boot. I don't pick it up, and I don't move my gaze from up front. Mr. Towns still has his back turned to the rest of the class, and he has yet to notice that the new student hasn't sat down. "Alistair, please quit conversing with Red, and take your darn seat," Mr. Towns said turning around.

Alistair… so he has a name now….I watch Alistair scare a classmate out of his seat just by looking at him for several slow minutes. The kid runs to the front of the class to an empty seat as if he's been scared to death, and Alistair plants himself down in the seat next to me. He's sees me watching him, and he smiles. My cheeks flame red and I turn my face away…but he watches me the entire time as I try to focus on Mr. Town's lesson for today.

When the bell sounds for the end of first block, I charge out the door as if someone has caught me on fire…maybe he has…except a hand yanks my arm back and I'm standing next to one of the white walls with Alistair standing in front of me. "Red," he smiles at me, "I have to tell you something.

I stare past him watching students walk down the hall. Can they not see how scared I am of him? But, nobody pays any attention to us. "Are you stalking me, now?"

"Don't all girls wish for handsome stalkers," he teases me before he becomes serious again, "Red, you're in danger...you're no longer safe. Your grandmother tried to protect your family for as long as she could, but they're coming for you..."

His eyes aren't joking, and the way he grips my arms tells me something isn't right. "Alistair, just who are you," I ask in a hushed voice.

"I'm a friend..."

"So you're saying, I'm in trouble...But, what about my family? Aren't they safe?"

And a friend doesn't kiss someone in the middle of the creek for fun...I think, but don't say it.

"They will be for now, but only if you come with me will they remain protected."

Go with him where? Why is this happening to me on a freaking Monday? The school hallway faded from my mind. Alistair's breath hit my cheek, and he watched my face. "Red, please, come with me...I can't protect you here...you need to leave with me... now."

"You're making no sense, Alistair... I can't just leave everyone..."

He bent down to kiss my forehead..."You'll kill your family if you stay," he murmurs brushing a kiss across my cheek…

Chapter 2

"No."

"No?"

"No, my final answer is no. You cannot make me change my mind. Now, please move, I need to get to 1st lunch before it's over," I angrily told him.

He backed away without a word with his hands up in silent surrender. His face told me nothing of how he felt, but at that moment I didn't care. A stranger can't just show up in my life, and start spitting out weird things. He shouldn't have brought up my grandmother either..."Hope you have a good day, Alistair," I tell him as I brush past him to head to the lunch.

"Red..."

Something in my brain tells me to keep walking, so I do. I don't turn around to see Alistair standing alone in the hallway, or see him disappear instantly as if by magic...I reach the cafeteria doors, and open them to the sounds of the student's roaring voices. I make my way to an empty table and basque in the sounds of normality. I pull out my sketch of my unfinished wolf, and begin working on shading in what would be the wolf's fur. All thoughts of Alistair and his warnings of danger slip through my mind...

Monday Night

" You thought she'd believe you, boy. How very stupid you are."

Nix has me chained to a wall. Heavy metal chains clamp my wrists and feet to the cold, brick structure., and I scream in rage even after my body has undergone extreme torture by Nix's cruel hands that would leave most mortal men dead at the first blow...but I am not mortal...

I can barely open my eyes, and my head falls to my chest. Too weak to move...Dried blood coats my bare chest, and the chains scrape my wrists and ankles rubbing them raw the more I yank at them to become free.

"Farewell, Alistair. I cannot wait to see the way the life leaves Red's eyes as I strike her down," Nix says as if taking someone's life is just a fun game.

I suppose to him, it is."Nix!"

But, he has already disappeared to kill Red...

Chapter 3

I woke to screams that split the air. Mom...Dad...Violet… I scramble out of bed, kicking my covers off in my haste to yank open my bedroom door. The hallway is silent and dark, but the screams fly up the stairs towards me, engulfing me in a cocoon of shattering noise. I cover my ears and run down the hall, trying not to bump into any side tables that line our upstairs hallway. I slowly tread down the stairs, and see nothing but darkness staring back at me from the living room. Another scream. Female. "Red, come on out to play!"

A voice I don't recognize calls to me from outside. So, I step through my front door and see the fiendish creatures out on my lawn with my family's bodies dangling from their claws. Wings dipped in fire protrude from their skeletal backs, and huge white fangs erupt from massive jaws. They are faceless and eyeless, a slit for a nose, and a mouth. The sky is black and on fire with the light of their hellish wings, and I have to shield my eyes from the searing heat.. Yet, a man smiles calmly amidst the chaos. He must be the one who beckoned me outside to play. Violet lets out a scream, "Red, run!"

How can I run when these monsters have you, I want to shout out at her. But, I am frozen where I stand, waiting, watching, wilting under the pressure of what to do. Should I do what Violet asks? Should I run away just to save myself while leaving my family behind? "Violet, no, I am not running," I tell my older sister as I step barefoot on our driveway, walking closer to to my death.

"Red, don't do this. You're the one that is supposed to live...you have a gift... that's why...Grandma died. She was protecting you from...them..."

With one last shallow breath, my sister is ripped apart; bone twisting and grinding as the monster who clutches her snaps her like a flimsy twig. He roars in delight as her blood splatters on his face...and I fall to my knees in anguish and disbelief. Violet is dead. "What a shame," says the man watching from our yard as if death is a wonderful movie to see.

My head snaps up to glare at him, filling with loathing, wishing he would disintegrate by by just one look from my eyes. "What do you want from me?"

The stranger steps forward crossing the grass with purposeful strides until he stands in front of me. His eyes are the pathway to hell. I take a step back, keeping my distance unless I want to wind up dead. He grins. He's older than me, maybe middle-age, and yet somehow he still looks young. No wrinkles line his face, but I sense he is supposed to be old. Who is this? "You should have seen the way Alistair reacted when I said I was going to kill you, Red. I never knew he carried such emotion in a soul so old."

"What are you babbling about. old man."

He laughs clearly finding it amusing that I know nothing. 'Do you not know who or what, you are?"

His question goes unanswered. His fingers grab for my neck and wrenches me around to face his monsters. "You are destined for greatness..." he whispers in my ear as I stand with him watching my world burn down to the ground.

My parents' screams sound in my ears while the monsters rip them apart; bone snapping, hearts stopped beating, and they are dropped to plummet to the ground. He killed my family... I want to run to them. Tell them I love them one last time before they no longer exist. But, this man grips my shoulder with iron fingers holding me back from all the dead ones that I love. He took everything...How can I live without them now? "They held you back from your destiny," the man says watching me.

His beasts swoop down to us, my former bloodline splattered all over their faces. They shriek, their wings unfold as they hover above my head, and they have the nerve to smile down at me. "Do not harm her, she is our guest," warns the man who unclasps his fingers from my shoulder.

I can stand freely on my own two feet...I will kill them all for what they have done…

"Red! Don't do what he says!"

That voice...It's him...

To Be Continued...

Chapter 4

I stare, open-mouthed at the figure appearing out of nowhere. He was supposed to be dead…."Alistair?"

"Red, whatever Nix says, do not listen to his lies. Trust me…"

His face is pale, and his bare chest is covered in blood. Horrified, but fascinated, I cannot tear my gaze away from his chest. What did Nix do to you? He doesn't look away from me when he catches me staring, but he throws his arms out, and turns in circle. "This was punishment for telling you the truth, and I would gladly undergo torture again if it meant you would live."

He now walks closer to me, and I cannot speak a word. His green eyes dare me to hope, and I have the courage to believe he is my refuge. I have no one else now, except him, to be my lantern in the dark, and his words seem to haunt me. A perfect stranger would die for me, so I could live? Who is this boy named Alistair? "How very touching," Nix grins at us as he stands behind me.

"Nix, whatever you have planned for her, it will not work. She is more powerful than you will ever be," Alistair thunders bravely.

I have the urge to scream at him to shut up, but I keep my thoughts to myself. You, stupid boy, quit being courageous, don't you see what he has done? He will kill you, Alistair, just like those that I love! The dark creatures suddenly screech with noise, and dive down through the air towards Alistair before my eyes register any movement in the area. "No! Stop!"

My cries are useless. An explosion of flame and light irrupts and swallows Alistair and the world in a blazing fever. My ears hear the screams and rage, and my eyes and nose burn with the hotness and smell of burning flesh. "Alistair!"

If I can just run to him...but, the warmth of the fire draws me backwards. "Please, Nix," I whirl around to face my enemy, "Please, I will go with you, if you spare him!"

If he lets my light of hope live, then I will follow Nix wherever he wants me to go. Please, I cannot lose Alistair...he is the only one person I have left…"Swear your oath to me Red, that you will go where I go, and you will serve me until your last dying breath," Nix says holding out a knife.

I hold out my hand, and he cuts a cross into my palm. "Three drops of blood, red as the setting sun to bind this oath together for eternity, to tread the path of darkness, under my reign of command," Nix utters as three lone drops of my blood drop to the earth at our feet.

"It is done. You belong to me. Come creatures of the burning sun and fire, leave Alistair alone now, his Red has joined sides with me," orders Nix.

I watch as they cry out, and whirl in fiery sparks to Nixs' side. The only thing I see is a charred circle. Where is Alistair? Nix smiles at me, "He's dead…"

Chapter 5

Alistair

I am surrounded by an atmosphere of emptiness, a bleak existence for those who are dead, like me. The spirits that fade in and out of view before me are cold. Loneliness and desperation clings tight to each decaying body that used to be human. I want no part in this…I'm not mortal…I should…

But, the high moaning and pleading with Death rings in my ear. These restless spirits wait endlessly for a sliver of life only to be turned away. One women stumbles past me to dissolve into a mist the minute she places one foot across the boundary line. "Stupid human," says a man's voice to my right. I whirl around to come face to face with a floating man.

"Who are you?"

"No, Alistair, the question I should be asking is who are you," chuckled the slightly overweight man.

"Are you dead?"

I was curious. He appeared ghost-like and at the same time he clearly wasn't…what was his story? I waited for him to respond and when he did he laughed at me, shaking the foundation of the Death's home. "You're quite the brave one, young man. I can't believe you would be stupid enough to do something like that for Miss. Red."

"What…what are you saying?"

"I've been watching your interaction with Nix and Red for quite some time, and I must say for an immortal, you are quite pitiful."

The stranger continued to float around me in an annoying manner, and I swiped my hand through the air where his legs should have been. "Who the heck are you? You're dead, aren't you? Geez, I'd rather be stuck with Death all day than be trapped in your annoying company. Why won't you tell me your name or at least who you are?"

"Patience, young Alistair, you will know me in time. As for my name and who I am that isn't important. What's important is that you need to fulfill your mission with Red."

I didn't know if this man or thing was Death himself, but his words struck me as odd. "Mission?"

"I mean adventure or quest, kid. Whatever you young children call the term nowadays. You're not dead, boy…you're not supposed to be…you and have an important task ahead of you and this task cannot be completed without help from each other."

"I'm not a kid…I'm immortal."

"Baloney! I've been on this planet longer than you, Alistair so to me, you're a mere child."

I smirked, "Can you tell me why you had to appear before me as a dead soul?"

"Death and I don't see eye to eye…he actually hates me, but I'm not going into the details, boy. Now, let's get you back to Red before Nix destroys her…"

To be continued...