Little Red

Chapter 1

"It's okay May, you're okay.", came the meek whisper of a small brunette. She was trying her best to comfort herself. She was deep in the Dark Forest, and all alone, she was frightened but she didn't let that stop her. So why was this small girl in the Dark Forest, by herself, you ask? She was obviously frightened, her small body quivering slightly and her big blue eyes darting back and forth searching the scenery for any potential danger. But you see the girl had no choice, it had taken her little brother, Max. He was just a small boy of only ten years and he was always a sickly child too so of course the girl had to look out for him.

The girl walked through the woods, strands of brown hair clinging to the side of her face, as she slowly made her way deeper into the forest. The girl's name was May, May Maple, a local girl from the village near the Dark Forest. Everyone in the village knew her because she would always go around helping everyone and she was also famous for her red cape that she always wore. It was a deep red color, not too bright, but not as dark burgundy and it had a hood with a white ring at the top. Because May would always be seen wearing the red cape everyone in town gave her the nickname 'Little Red'.

So this once again brings us back to the question of why May, or Little Red as most call her, was out and about in the Dark Forest by herself. Well you see, the village next to the Dark Forest has been terrorized by a wolf for centuries, every full moon the wolf claims a victim. So why didn't the villagers just move away? Well you see the soil near the forest was extremely nourished, and crops grew twice as fast and twice as big. The temptation to grow more crops and earn more money had kept the villagers there; however the only one in the village to get rich was the Duke who owned the piece of land. He taxed the villagers so much so that despite the great productivity most of the villagers lived, well, like villagers. They didn't have anything lavish but, they did have enough to go on by and still afford some extra things. But enough of that, as I was saying, the forest is the home of a wolf, and by now you can guess the wolf is no ordinary wolf, if it was then there would be no way it would still be alive for centuries.

That night had been a full moon and Max, May's little brother had become the 'sacrifice', which was decided on by the town unanimously. It was decided that because he was sick and would not be of use to the village he would be the one to be given up that night. May's parents pleaded and begged, but it was to no avail, they had protected Max for so long, but they could not any longer. So May went after her little brother, escaping from her watchful parents and the villagers, she snuck out into the forest.

May was frightened, unsure what might come out from those thick trees, she knew partly what awaited her, but not many have ventured into the forest, and those who have never came back alive to tell of what they witnessed in the forest. As May crept deeper and deeper into the woods she felt cold, angry eyes stare at her from the darkness, but couldn't see anything. All she had was a small lantern that she took with her to light her way. May wasn't sure what she was looking for, just any sort of clue to find her little brother, and what would she do once she found him? Well that part she wasn't sure of, actually she wasn't sure about any of the details, she just knew she had to get her little brother back.

May had been walking all night with only the full moon and her lantern guiding her, eventually she stumbled upon a sight she couldn't believe. There in the middle of the forest was a castle! May quickly made her way over to the castle, as quietly as possible she pushed the door open just a crack. The opening was small but it allowed the little girl to enter in easily. The castle was cold and dark, and there were spider webs everywhere, it didn't look like it had been inhabited for a long time. May stood by the door waving her hand that held the lantern around slowly to shed light on the area in front of her. The lantern's light had found a staircase not too far from where May was standing. Seeing nowhere else to go, May climbed up the long staircase, making sure not to make a single noise. Being in the castle scared poor May, she felt something was not right.

At the end of the staircase was a long hallway and lots of rooms. One particular room had light spilling out from it. May crept over to the room and saw the wolf; it was sitting there with its eyes fierce and full of anger. On a closer look May saw that the wolf had was chained against the wall and couldn't move, its face was muzzled. But who would have the power to chain the wolf like that, May would have walked in feeling it was alright since the wolf was chained down however a voice from within the room stopped the brunette.

"Good work, my little pet.", came the creepy, high pitched voice. May could only see a shadow cast onto the wall, and not the person who cast it. The person seemed to be talking to the wolf, which surprised May. The wolf is someone's pet? So that means someone else is behind the whole disappearing of villagers, May thought to herself.

"Wh-who are you? And what do you want from me?" came a very scared and meek voice, the voice was familiar to May. It was her little brother Max, and he was alive. She was relieved, but now she had to get him out of there.

"Who am I?" came the cracked high pitch voice again, and then a crackle was hear, "kekekeke, I am the one who will be stealing your youth to keep my eternal youth in place." And with that May heard a loud noise and a cry for help from Max. As much as May wanted to rush into the room and stop whatever evil and cruel thing that was being done to Max, May found herself paralyzed with fear. The voice from the room was so frightening that it had sent shivers down her back, that along with the fact of the wolf being the pet of whoever was in the room was too much for May. Before long the loud sound stopped and the bright lights that had appeared along with it had faded. The same evil crackle was heard and May realized she needed to move away from the door. Finding a corner May huddled into it, out of sight from the mysterious stranger. May was not able to catch a glimpse of the person that had left the room, all she could do was huddle into the corner and hug her legs, keeping them close to her chest. May was filled with fear and was shaking badly. She was in no state to move from her spot. Whatever happened to Max, it was now too late, rushing into the room and putting herself in danger was not going to change what happened Max.

As May sat there tears fell from her eyes, she was crying, and she couldn't stop. Her body quivering from both the cold of the dark castle and from freight of what she had witnessed, she sat there rocking back and forth. May thought about her mother and father, and of how because of her foolishness they had now lost two children. She thought about her life in the village, how she would play with her little brother and keep him company because he had always been too sickly to go out and play with the other children. Before May was even aware of it, the exhaustion from the events that unfolded that day had overwhelmed the small blue eyed girl. She fell asleep in the little corner, still clutching her legs and holding them close to her chest.