|| Fragile Things ||

Someone call the ambulance!

There's gonna' be an accident,

I'm coming up on infra-red, forget your running I can find you …

Xenosaga – Red Riding Hood [Twisted Fanfiction from a twisted mind]

|| Chapter One ||

I'm not doing introductions, comments or anything of the sort this time. Just read, enjoy and perhaps drop me a small review.

Red quite liked the cold days of October. She especially liked the final day of the orange and brown coloured month; the wonderful day of Halloween. Already her outfit was sorted out, something vampirelistic (she didn't know whether that was a word or not but she paraded it off her tongue like it were so) and horrifying. The fifteen year old was ever so grateful to her Grandmother who had decided to create the outfit for her, but once the teenager learned her Grandmother was ill, she had to repay her someone and this was the perfect way. The outfit was still not done but it was close enough, and besides; who was she not to help out her own family when they were sick? Mother was defiantly not going to help her; Red had overheard many horrible conversations with raised voices during her visits there. And Father … well Grandmother wasn't his mother, and Red's parents had split up many years ago so he was out of the picture. Once she had told Mother she would be going to visit Grandmother she got the usual telling she was a good girl, and she was proud of her for being so kind and loving. And as usual, Red just sighed this off and walked to the kitchen.

With a cream coloured basket on the black counter top, Red's hands shuffled through the cupboards and shelves, finding whatever her Grandmother would like to eat. Eventually, she had filled the basket with an assortment of cheese, a loaf of fresh bread her mother just brought, chocolates and a bottle of wine Mother said she would enjoy. With them in the basket along with a bottle of coke with wonderfully delicious fizzy liquid and a packet of cookies for herself and the journey, she lifted the slightly heavy basket up with a grin and left the house. It was a little after five in the evening, when the sun was beginning to set already.

Red was dressed simply; her bright red hair was tied back and shinning in the faint sun light. It was the reason she had gotten her name; once it had been a simple brown shade until two years ago when she had dyed it, and eventually adopted the name 'Red'. She was wearing a pair of dark blue denim jeans, a long sleeved brown shirt and a red hooded cape she had tied around her neck. The material's to her clothes were silky and smooth, smelling off fresh cinnamon and something else sweet. Around her neck was a beautiful silver necklace with a doll dangling happily from the end and her footwear was a pair of dark coloured trainers, something comfy and easy to wear for the walk to Grandmother's house.

It wasn't too far away. A simple walk through the streets of Miltia, and eventually she would come to the extraordinarily large woods, virtually in the middle of nowhere. Whenever she would leave Miltia and the city, she felt a strange relief; as if her soul finally had room to expand and grow. This feeling was what she was longing for as she worked, what made her deal with the slight ache she eventually got in her legs. And finally, after the half an hour city walk, she had that feeling of her soul expanding thanks to the orangey coloured, dying leaves.

The edge of the woods was bathed in beautiful orange, part of the sun creeping on show but soon it would be out fully, engulfing the world in darkness; leaving the people to depend upon themselves for a source of light. Luckily, if needs be and she walked a little slower, she had a torch packed in her basket. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to use it.

The twisted branches of the trees came up and over her; high, high above her head as she finally walked inside of the wood, a strange chill moving around and wrapping around her caused her skin to tremble and shiver.

"Where ya goin'?"

The almost rough, childish voice caused Red to jump half a mile. She hadn't walked barely ten steps into the woods before she was rudely scared out of her skin. Snapping her head behind her instantly, she expected to meet eyes with a tall, probably muscular man; wanting something from her she wouldn't happily give up. But after some fast breathing and making her eyes focus, little Red soon found herself facing with a boy; give or take a few years younger then herself. His hair was too a maroon shade, his eyes bright blue unlike her bland silver ones. There was a hyper look about him, something childish like his looks, excitable and young. And despite the cold air around them, seemed happy to have his arms to his side; far from his body, unlike Red who had her limps close together to keep that warmth she had left inside of her.

"Um … e-excuse me?" she managed to stutter, still stunned by the sudden appearance in front of her.

"Where are you going?" he repeated, his eyes bright. "You don't want to go down there, you'll get lost."

Red gave a small frown. "I go down here almost every other day to go visit my Grandmother. I don't know who the hell you are, but there is no reason for you to pry."

"I was just checking," the boy replied defensively, raising his hands. "Dangerous late at night, y'know?"

"It's about six in the evening," Red countered, now becoming annoyed by the random visitor. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a walk ahead of me."

"Alright, but if need's be, my name's Rubedo," he smiled at her and to be polite, Red smiled back and nodded at his name.

"Red," she answered. "Or Rose. Red Rose," she grabbed her hair in her free hand to explain to him the reason she had given two names. "Now, I must go."

"Yeah," Rubedo nodded, looking down to the dirty path they both stood on for a second. "Good luck."

Red couldn't help but give him a frown at his words, letting him know how strange she though them to be without giving any of her own. Gently, slowly to not seem rude, she turned her back to him and soon began to walk down the path. But, as she walked she could only hear her own footsteps, her own feet kicking and moving the gravel and dirt. Looking over her shoulder, she gave another frown. The boy, Rubedo, had silently moved from the path. With a great sigh, she turned her eyes back in front of her and walked on guard, not wanting to make herself look to be a fool if someone else wanted to randomly say hello to her.

Red hadn't remembered a time when it had been so creepy out in the woods. As she walked, she tried to think of simple reasons as to why the hairs on the back of her neck were pointing up without her permission; perhaps it was because of the encounter with Rubedo. Yeah, that was most likely it. That little kid had probably shaken her up, that was it and only it. There were creatures in the woods, true, but nothing more then foxes, rabbits, birds or even the odd dear.

No people, no murder's and defiantly no rapists. She was safe, just like she was every other time she walked down the familiar path.

But still, why couldn't she shake it off? It was like every shadow she passed was moving. She knew it was ridiculous but she thought something was there; something in the shadows at a faraway distance, watching her, just watching. It was in the twisted trees, out of her sight but she knew it was there; the moving shadow was keeping pace with her.

It was a relief when she came upon her Grandmother's house; her feet in front of the squeaky, iron gate. The house was a small cottage, with a small second floor that had a two bedrooms; one she considered to be her own. The outside of the house was surrounded by the twisted trees, their branches holding onto each other and looking like frail bones in the dark light. There were no lights on apart from a single outdoor one, just beside the black front door of the house. The light was bright enough to even show the bright blue colours of the flowers Grandmother had planted not too long ago in her front Garden. With a small smile on her face, Red unlatched the gate that stood just under her waist, opened it and let herself inside before closing it behind her.

It took her all that time to realize the lights inside Grandmother's house were off. Damn, she was cursing herself on the inside. Why did she have to be late? So, so spectacularly late. Grandmother was probably annoyed with her now or most likely upset. Yeah, it seemed it would be the second one and a pang of guilt ran up into her heart. Here she was, late and she didn't quite get why. Her feet had moved faster then usual due to that shadow following her constantly, and she knew the woman was ill so why … why was Grandmother already in bed? Was she actually that ill she was bedridden and unable to do anything?

If so, a basket filled with goodies that weren't really that tasty would not help her whatsoever. With a sigh leaving her lips, Red now walked almost slowly to the door of Grandmother' house before putting her slightly shaking hand on the handle. She pushed it down and pushed up shoulder up to the door, and with her weight, knocked into it; trying to open it. To her surprise, the door did not budge and she sighed once more.

Bending down, she lifted up a small flowerpot and searched underneath the shadows for it. The cobble ground was cold against her fingertips and her knuckles kept scraping on the wall, and slowly a cold shiver grew up her arm and waited for her to shake until it disappeared. Just as her eyes caught the glimpse of the key, the light reflecting on its silver material, something shook behind her.

The sudden noise caught her off guard, and still crouched, she turned her head around sharply, gasping for air to feed her lungs. It was hard to see, her eyes were struggling to focus to things a few feet in front of her; where the light was failing to reach. The bushes and trees she could see were perfectly still, some autumn leaves shook from the air. The noise she heard sounded like something moving in the bushes yet she couldn't see a thing. Blinking a few times, she continued to look, trying to catch anything. As she looked, her hands grabbed the ice cold key.

When she had it in her possession, she stood up straight, still looking ahead. In her ear she heard the flower pot move slightly from her movement and ignored it, focusing on something else. For those seconds when she was froze, listening intently, she neither saw nor heard anything; the world empty. With a slight sigh of relief, she turned to the door and slipped the key into the keyhole. A twist, a click and a movement of the lock and in a second the house was open to her.

There was a crack of a tree behind her and again she nearly jumped out of her skin, darting her eyes around as she clung onto the door handle. Just forest noises. Simply, just noises the forest made all the time; nothing major to worry about. Well, nothing to worry about at all; it wasn't as if one of the deer were going to come out and ear her. She was safe, especially if she just opened up the door and entered the warm house.

Remembering about the door, she turned back to it and pushed it open happily. A soft air of warmth cuddled around her skin as she walked into the small, dark hallway and quickly shut the door behind her. She slipped the key into the lock, but strangely hadn't thought to lock it. Putting the basket down on the, what looked black due to the lack of light, floor, Red let her hands run across the bumpy wall in search for the light switch. In a click, the soft yellow painted hall was shown in light; the floorboards under her were a chocolate colour and were like that for the rest of the house.

Then it dawned on her; the house was warm, the heating still running. There was a strange silence she noticed too clinging around her. Was Grandmother even in.

"Hello? Grandma? Grandma?" Red called, walking foreword.

Nothing.

"Grandma, it's Red. Hello?"

Silence.

The bedroom was on the end of the hall. The door was open. Grandmother would've heard her; would've heard her open the door, step inside and turn on the light. Hell she would've heard her calling out her name, asleep or not; she was a light sleeper. She would have heard and Red knew that. Slowly, she turned to the first door by her; the living room, where there were tons of drawings she had done as a child. There were creepy dolls that sent chills up Red's skin and white and blue check patterned cloths on the sofa; some threads and needles on a table by the window. Everything how it was, apart from no Grandmother. How about the kitchen? No, nothing in the yellow and white coloured kitchen apart from a used plate and glass just begging to be washed up and put away. There were a few crumbs on the counter top and nothing more. Red frowned and left the kitchen light on, feeling soothed with it for some reason.

With a sigh, she went back into the hallway, glancing over family pictures as she walked. There were pictures of Red, and pictures of her mother, Grandmother's daughter but in none of them were the two girls together. Red was never with Mum, Mum was never with Red. Mum was never with Grandmother either; the woman seemed to distance herself to family quite a bit and then would moan and complain no one in the family truly liked her. It saddened Red as she walked down the hall, thinking of creepy old-time things. Red was like a second daughter to her Grandmother, they were close like a mother and daughter, and the thing that saddened her was that she should've been this close to her own mother. Or her own Mother should have been in the hall instead of her; taking care and making sure Grandmother was okay. Still, Red didn't mind; just as long as she were to find Grandmother safe and sound she wouldn't care whatsoever.

And then in dawned on her. Grandmother's best friend was Valeria, the old woman who lived somewhere in Miltia. The likelihood of Grandmother popping in for just a cup of coffee was strong, and Red knew from past experience the 'Cup of coffee' usually turned into a late night thing, with one of them getting drunk and as Red turned to the bathroom rather then Grandmother's room, she hoped it would be Valeria that night.

She couldn't look after a drunk, ill Grandmother. Especially one who would suffer a hangover in the morning.

In a click, she had switched on the light for the small bathroom and was rooting around the toothbrush holder for her own red, of course, one. She brushed her teeth happily, washed her face and hangs and brushed down her soft hair before tying it back once more; neater then it had been. Once cleaned and refreshed, Red left the bathroom and decided now to remove her shoes. She put her trainers beside the front door, and then locked the door with a swift turn of her fingers. As she picked up the basket and headed into the kitchen, she felt the usually warm and welcoming house have a strange, isolated and dark feeling to it. Feeling on the edge, she opened the basket and carefully took the things out, putting everything in the cupboards or the fridge. She kept out her bottle of coke and once done, opened the lid and took a swig of it, realizing just how thirsty she was.

The bubbling liquid running down her throat felt better then usual. Her muscles relaxed as she leaned her back on the counter and glanced around the kitchen. She checked the locks of the windows in the Kitchen, moved to the living room to do the same and went back into the hallway. Grandmother's room was still in darkness, and she couldn't help but shiver slightly; having an urge to have every light in the house on, rather then just the few.

Red carefully made her way to Grandmother's room, putting her hand on the door frame as she walked inside the darkness, not too sure where she was going. She could remember the slight look of Grandmother's room so it wasn't too hard to walk without bashing her leg or hip on furniture or an object. But this time, she noticed, a few of the objects look strangely peculiar. The curtains were drawn, so it was literally impossible to see what was in the room and her hands were now almost frantically searching for that light switch; those strange shapes and figures freaking her out ever so slightly.

Over the opposite side of the bed was something big, odd shaped and dark; dark as black. It sent shivers up her spine as she turned her head, reaching out for the bedside table where she knew a lamp lay.

And then that huge, shaggy shape opposite her shifted, and leapt towards her with a grunt.

Red opened her mouth to scream, to let loose all her shock and fear but the thing had cleared the bed in one leap and bore her to the floor; the impact knocking all the air from her lungs. Shooting pain cracked through her bones but still she wanted to scream. Who would hear her? No one probably, she was so far away from people, from places and from safety so screaming became the least of her problems. She thrashed and squirmed her forearms and somehow managed to get up onto her feet. She scrambled out of the hall, feeling like she only just learned how to walk.

There was a bang behind her followed by a sharp crash of something, making her unwillingly turn her head back. Before her eyes had a chance to focus, warm paws were slammed into her chest as it lunged once more, pushing her down onto the ground again. This crash hurt more then the last, her head hit the floor so hard she was dazed as the creature began to crawl on top of her. She could feel the heated weight pushing against her small body, the creature putting its paws harder on her chest. It only just dawned on her how the thing was more of a creature, despite the fact she was trying to tell herself they were fingers gripping her brown shirt rather then paws. She could feel a puff of hot breath on her face, and she shifted her head slightly, blinking a few times as she forced her grey eyes to focus.

Inches from her eyes, another pair stared back, a bright emerald shade and big. Too big.

She finally made a pained cry as she felt weight being pushed onto her ribs as the creature lifted itself away slightly by a few inches. Her ribs were protesting the weight painfully, begging for it to go away but her mind didn't care for it was too absorbed in the face above her.

She heaved in a deep breathe, letting a scream leave her lips in absolute terror. The face was hairy, long and snouted. The ears … They … They were like a pair of dog ears; ones that belonged on a wolf. Not meant for a human; they flicked as she began to slowly stop screaming; her throat already feeling raw. How loud had she yelled? Or how long had she been staring up at the creature, yelling?

It decided it wanted to send her into a madness of fear by drawing its lips back into a snarl, letting her stare are long, curved teeth strung with saliva. They were nothing of a human sort; again they were something that belonged to a dog. No, dog was too small; these were defiantly wolf teeth, large, large wolf teeth perfect for ripping and tearing apart skin; chewing muscle. A low growl slipped from his throat as it stared intently at her eyes, almost as if it had never set eyes upon a human so close before. All she could do was push her head back, making small whimpers of fear as she tried to get hold of her breath, hold of her mind. She was pinned to the floor by something she could only describe as a Werewolf; a black furred werewolf with bright jade shaded eyes. Neither of them were moving, it was breathing faster then her though, and she cringed as it finally decided to move its head.

Its damp, warm nose began to sniff her hair at her parting, which was on the right side. She felt every hair around that area move as it breathed outwards, and then breathed in her scent. Time seemed to have frozen as she felt the nose move, gently skimming her cheek skin; almost touching her, and finally resting at her neck. It snuffed at her neck, its muzzle showing strength by pushing her chin up and tilting her head back, showing her throat. She panicked now. It was going to kill her. Rip out its throat. Leave her in the hallway. Let Grandmother could home to see her Granddaughter spread on the hall floorboards, that had changed to a wine red colour thanks to her blood.

Red wanted it to stop, she could barely breathe, barely think but she felt ever nerve in her body alight with a burning fire. Her mouth was horribly dry, her vision was surprisingly sharp despite her dulled out mind, and terror was overwhelming her; burning into her skull like something she had never felt before. Her lungs were aching, craving air she couldn't bring herself to bring but in short, rare gasps. She could feel the slick wet tongue of the creature slid out of its mouth, sliding across her collar bone as she continued to wince. Her heart pounded quicker then ever as a forepaw decided to cling to collar of her shirt.

She felt the tongue return back to its mouth, and slight relief came to her. But it was quickly swiped away as she felt the nose pushing under her shirt. Red whimpered again as she felt the tongue push against the skin that covered her pounding heart. The creature took a great interest just above her breast, feeling her heart pounding quickly on its nose, possibly hearing it with its sharp ears. It grunted and pulled its face back, looking straight into her eyes again.

It put its left forepaw on the back of her head, putting its claws deep into her hair. She winced as it brought its nose back, nuzzling and sniffing her hair. She heard the wet saliva in his mouth as it let its tongue out once more, and was soon licking down her hair. It was rough with its movements, moving her head with each lick and all she could do was lye and wait for it all to be over. She could hear it as it snarled, twisting her head sharply to the side. Another snarl. Another missed heartbeat.

She made a little cry as a forepaw tore out her hair bobble, setting her red hair free. Her hair was pulled as she did so, and the cry made him horribly growl lowly. She looked up and saw its teeth close to her face. With a sudden scream, she found herself gaining energy and the creature moved at the most perfect of times for her to suddenly sweep from under it.

Red crawled at first at a lightning bolt speed, kicking and thrashing her legs incase it decided to grab her once more. She scrambled to her feet, body shaking and trembling and feeling exactly like jelly. A cold sweat had appeared on her face as she reached out, for anything; anything to use as a weapon, to protect herself. Finding nothing in the hall for her to grab, she made a loud gasp and turned her head back.

The creature was up, slowly pacing towards her. Its body was covered in the raven coloured fur, its chest broad; muscles sticking out from every corner of its body. A tail flickered behind it as it moved; its back slightly curved as it parted its claws. They were long, its forepaws padded like a dogs, but too big; again it looked more like a Wolf. God, it was horrifying; she was face to face with an almost giant Wolf, a Werewolf; that was all she could call it.

And she knew dinner was on its mind.

"Shit …" her first word was like a gasp of air; a relief to express something and a relief to get air. Her clammy hands moved around, wanting something; just something. She made a squeal as she took her final resort; darting to the kitchen. The door was closer to the creature then it was to her, but it was a good choice. Her legs had worked well and ran her into the kitchen. She grabbed the chair, threw it to the floor behind her, hearing it scrap across the floor. A second scrap told her the creature was close and had just knocked it.

Panting now, she reached out for the knife holder, grabbing the largest black handle. Red pulled out the knife, watching as it shook between her fingers and wasted no time to turn to the creature and point it threateningly to it. She had no idea whether the creature knew what a knife could do, or if she could use it and win against it but she didn't care. It was a last resort but how could it come to that? What in the world did she expect to happen? For the creature to turn and run away or for her Grandmother to come home?

Thinking of her Grandmother made that idea of her being with Valeria become less likely in her head, but she didn't dwell on it.

The thing wasn't having a second meal. At least she hoped not.

The creature was now stood still, contemplating her with its emerald eyes; looking carefully and watching. She began to tremble, slowly taking a step back. She felt her back collide with the side of the counter and gulped. The ears of the creature perked up and it bent its back, looking as if it were about to pounce. She held onto her weapon tighter as it took a deep sniff at the air. The emerald eyes searched her face, sniffing and then looked up and down her body.

Then the creature turned and fled.

Red jumped at the loud crash of the back door being swung open, the footsteps of the running creature were dying out slowly and she could even hear the breaking of branches as it ran into the thick of the woods, covered entirely by shadows.

The weapon made a sharp clang as it fell to the tiled floor, slipping from Red's loose fingers. Slowly, she moved down to sit and began to pant loudly. She had no idea how long she had been sitting there, staring into nothingness but when she heard the loud patting of the rain coming inside of the house due to the door being open, she forced herself up again. She hadn't realized it, and she didn't know quite when she started, but tears were falling down her cheeks; some of them old and dry. Still, she didn't care as she shut the door, locking it. The wind howled loudly against her, not wanting her to close it out but still she ignored its protest; its warning of an oncoming storm.

She staggered to the window and peered out, seeing nothing but darkness; the swaying of trees dancing in the wind. Nothing. No creature, no monster. Absolutely nothing.

The room was spinning, her fingers, her arms felt weak and almost like they were paper. Her body felt like it was about to give way under her, and her stomach was doing so many flips it was unbelievable. Slowly, slowly, she staggered out into the back of the hall; walking up the stairs. She clung onto the banister, holding up her small body as she made her way upstairs into her bedroom.

Eventually, she took off her cape, her socks and other garments until she was undressed. She searched the drawers and brought out her sleepwear, changed and lay under the sheets, lying in the light. After quite some time, she had managed to fall asleep; despite the nights events.