BLUE SUB: GAIDEN
Part 9: "A Pleasant Fiction"
.o.o.o.
Kimble walked into the room. He sat down and glanced at the two silent hybrids sitting in the detention cell a few feet from him. He frowned as he looked at them. "Why won't you speak to us?" He asked, though not really expecting an answer.
"You two must know what's really going on here, don't you?" He asked, pointing to a porthole in the compound. He waited for a while. "Damn you, speak!"
But they simply looked at him impassively with serene expressions on their faces. Both of them had long dark hair and heads bands, along with brown fur. They were somewhat cat-like in appearance.
Kimble got back onto his feet and picked up a hexagonal mirror and held it in his hand, glancing at his own reflection. He then set it down and turned back to them. "Well, you two will learn sooner or later that you'll never leave here until our people are returned to us." He informed them.
"And if they turn out to be dead," He paused. "Then both of you are going to pay the price for it." He finished, pointing a finger at them as they simply sat there, gazing at him innocently.
"Kimble!"
The man turned around as Chase walked in. "Are you threatening them?" she asked.
He went pale. "Don't tell me you've been taken in by their act?" He asked. He then motioned at them. "Don't be fooled by their ploy- they may seem harmless, but they're not!" He exclaimed.
"Kimble…?" She asked, holding out a hand.
He then turned to the window. "Can't you see it?" He asked nervously. "It's not just them, it's this whole place- it's after us!" He cried out.
"Get hold of yourself!" She snapped back. "Do you think I like it here either?" She asked in a low tone. "I can't stand the situation we're in either, but I'm just as trapped here as you are!" She added.
Kimble tensed up, before her. "You can't understand this like I do- I can see what's really happening here." He told her, point up at his eyes. "I can see the truth of all this!"
Chase crossed her arms. "Oh, and just what is the 'truth'- if you'd be so kind as to tell me." She asked, removing her glasses.
He became silent for a while and then looked at her darkly. "It's…" He began to say.
"Kimble!" Exclaimed Commander Todd as he entered the room. "You're on duty now, Officer." He remarked. "I expect you to follow instructions and not be loitering in the detention hull." He remarked, his arms crossed behind his back and his chest out as he spoke.
"Y-yes sir!" Kimble replied with a salute and ran off.
Todd then turned to Chase. "Well now, I have some news you might find interesting." He began. "Long range surveillance has picked up two new life forms on the island." He explained. "You might want to take a look at the data- you might find it interesting."
"Yes, of course, sir." She replied and left the room as well.
Now alone with the two hybrids, Todd turned and regarded them for a moment before leaving the room.
The two hybrids exchanged a glance and then resumed their inactivity.
.o.o.o.
"We're being played with." Dianna announced as she slipped on her dark brown coat and packed the rest of her things. "Someone doesn't want us leaving this island."
"But why?" Cray asked, as he stood beside her.
She looked over at him. "I have no idea…" Dianna confessed. "This entire ordeal is beyond me." She paused. "It's all so unreal."
She turned and faced the forests before them. "Perhaps…" She paused. "I had wondered what this strange atmosphere was… I think our recent feelings of euphoria and dreaminess have something to do with… but what?"
Cray ran a hand through his blond hair and shook his head. "But what are we going to do, we're trapped?" He asked.
"The only thing we can do," She replied. "Play along."
She then noticed something on one of the trees. It was another piece of paper. She walked over and pulled it off.
"… ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all."
"This is from 'Little Red Riding Hood'…" Dianna said to herself and turned to look at Cray. She noticed that his gaze went past her.
"What are you looking at?" She asked and turned around.
Before them, stood a young girl- looking to be about 16 or 17, with a red hooded cloak on. She was clothed in a black skirt and white blouse with long sleeves. The ruffles of her petticoat could be distinguished peeking out around the fray of her skirt and her legs were covered with white leggings and she wore a pair of girl's academy-style shoes.
He brown hair and blue eyes were distinguishable beneath the hood as she looked at them intently with a strange smile.
"Oh my, I seem to be lost, might you two be able to help me find my grandmother?" she asked in a honey-sweet voice full of innocence.
Dianna and Cray exchanged glances.
.o.o.o.
"I'm going to go out in the Carrier Suit to investigate the strangers." Todd informed Chase as he put his helmet on.
"Do you really think that lumbering machine is absolutely necessary?" she asked, flustered as she spoke.
"Never you mind that," Todd told her. "Kimble will be in charge in my absence." He informed her and left.
She crossed her arms and looked around. "Now that I think about it, where is Kimble anyway?" She thought out loud. She began looking for him.
.o.o.o.
Dianna wore a strange smile on her face as the young lady babbled on about her predicament. The green woman had pinched Cray earlier when he tried to interject.
"My poor old grandmother is sick and she lives close by in the woods, but I seem to have lost my way." She explained as Cray rubbed his arm.
Dianna took her hat off. "Tell me, what is you name?" She asked in a very friendly tone, leaning down a bit to be eye level with her.
The girl beamed at the question. "My given name is Rosemary Toulin- but everyone calls me Red because of my hood." She answered with a cute smile.
Dianna stood back up. "Well, Red," she began. "My name is Dianna Ainsley." She said with a slight bow. "And this young man," she began, motioning at the fox beside her. "Is Cray."
Red clapped her hands on her cheeks softly and smiled impishly. "Oh my, are you the Bid Bad Wolf that I was warned about?" She asked.
Cray was taken back by the question. "…I'm not a wolf, I'm a fox." He managed to answer.
Red looked at him and then lowered her hands. "Well, my mother said to never trust a wolf for they prey on young chaste girls when they are alone." She explained. "But she never said that I couldn't trust a fox." She added happily.
"Red, may I speak to my friend in private for a moment?" Dianna asked, putting her arm around his shoulder.
Red blushed. "Oh my, don't let me interrupt you and your consort, my lady." She answered with a devious little smile and skipped away to retrieve her basket.
Dianna blushed faintly and pulled Cray off to the side.
"Cray, I think we ought to go with her." Dianna whispered to him.
"But why, we could end up in greater danger." He reasoned.
"I think this is what we're meant to do- and besides…" She paused. "In the original story, red is eaten by the wolf… so I'm not very comfortable with letting her happily walk into her own death."
Cray nodded. "You're right, we should help her."
"It also might be to our advantage to steer things in a different direction; maybe that will have some effect on things."
Dianna and Cray turned around. "We've decided to help you find your grandmother's home." She announced to the girl.
Red smiled happily. "Oh thank you, both of you." She replied.
.o.o.o.
Kimble stared at the two prisoners intently, as if expecting them to say something.
"You can't be silent forever." He told them. "Sooner our later you'll have to speak." He picked up the mirror from earlier and looked at it. He then set it down next to him.
Suddenly, the two hybrids looked at it and stood up. Looking at their reflections on its surface they turned to Kimble and bowed before him.
The man wasn't sure about how to react to this, but a smile spread across his face. "Well now, what do we have here…?" He thought out loud.
.o.o.o.
Dianna and Cray, now along with Red, made their way through the forest. Dianna walked up along side the young woman.
"Does any of this look familiar to you?" She asked gently.
The girl turned and smiled. "Well, this grove does look familiar; I remember there are some lovely flowers around here." She replied. "Perhaps the cottage is to the north." She added.
Dianna nodded and turned to Cray. After taking him off to the side, she began to speak. "How do you feel about all this?" She asked.
"Strange." Cray replied. "This whole place is starting to feel more and more like a dream." He added.
Dianna nodded in agreement. "Yes, I think I know what you're talking about… we'd better make sure we don't get trapped in this strange place for good."
"Hello? Are you two coming?" Red asked cheerfully.
The two of them turned around and smiled at her. "Of course," Dianna replied. "We were just trying to work out our bearings."
.o.o.o.
"hahaha… aren't we the clever one." The figure remarked to himself. "Perhaps it's time I changed things a bit… must keep you on your toes." He exclaimed.
He then looked at an image of Todd rolling through the woods in a strange robotic suit. "The Tin Soldier delves into my realm…" He observed. "Perhaps you too could do with a bit of an excursion as well…"
.o.o.o.
Olsa starred off into the distance, her unseeing eyes gazing into the darkness. "The wheel… it is turning…" She remarked.
She sat silently, away from the other hybrids, going about their day-to-day lives, blissfully unaware of what was going on around them.
The tribe- the Fendrah- were feline in appearance with varying shades of fur and hair. The males all wore their hair long with a headband on and dressed in long tribal kilts. They were bare-chested and wore strange symbols over their chest that hung from necklaces.
The females wore shorter skirts and simple tops over their chests, tied up in the back, they also had their hair long and wore similar necklaces.
Tara joined her, sitting beside her. "Have you seen anything more, elder?" She asked.
"The visions come and go, my child." She replied. "We must be weary of the times to come- these humans, they are different from us." She explained. "For them, to speak is not a sign of spiritual elevation."
"For them, it is common…"
"Then what of the others, the ones you spoke of earlier in the Place of Seeing?" Tara asked nervously.
Without looking at her, Olsa spoke. "The strange female and the male fox are entwined in the machinations of the Great Deceiver." She paused. "His webs of illusions spread throughout or land like a disease…"
.o.o.o.
Dianna and Cray walked slightly behind 'Red' as they went deeper into the forest. Dianna picked up a faint jingling sound from the short girl in front of them.
"Red, may I take a look at that locket of yours?" Dianna asked softly, moving up alongside her.
Red stopped and regarded the tall woman with calm eyes and then nodded. "Certainly," she replied and removed the small metal chain from around her neck. "Here it is." She added.
Dianna gingerly took the object from the girl's slender fingers and looked at it. Cray observed emotions subtly playing across her face.
Dianna could hide her true emotion from Red, but Cray was a bit more familiar with her range of expressions to know what she was truly thinking.
Dianna returned it to the girl. "It's lovely, thank you." She spoke.
Red put her necklace back on and turned to continued. "I'm going to go take a quick look up around the corner- we should almost be there by now."
Dianna grabbed Cray's hand. "Wait, we have to talk."
"What is it?" He asked her softly.
"That girl, she's real… not an illusion." Dianna informed him. "I don't know about the rest of this place… but she's the genuine article." She finished, taking something from one of her many pockets.
Dianna produced a small compass and opened it up. She watched as the arrow inside it spun around continuously. "Just as I thought, there's some kind of interference going on here." She remarked.
"If she's real, than what is she doing here?" Cray asked.
"Like us, she's trapped in this," Dianna answered. "She's playing a part in someone else' story… someone's taken her and is forcing her to live out a role in a children's tale." Dianna paused.
"Her real name is Janise Redfers." Dianna revealed. "That necklace I looked at was her identification tag for the ship she was on when she came here- probably some sort of colonial expedition."
"What can we do, then?" Cray asked uneasily.
"I'm not sure, but what really concerns me is the darker aspect of this." She replied.
Cray was taken back by her words. "It gets worse?"
Dianna nodded. "Popularly, the version of the story that people know was written by two authors known as the 'Brothers Grim'… but the original, darker version was written by George Perrault."
"I'm not sure where you're going with this…" Cray began to speak.
"I'm not finished," Dianna interrupted, taking his hand and pulled him closer. "It was based on a French folktale… but Perrault exorcised certain aspects from it." She paused.
"Red is eaten by the wolf in his version, but he downplayed horror and the symbolism of the story." Dianna explained. "The parts that didn't go down in writing indicated a darker, more sadistic story… a horror story of sorts told to children to keep them from wondering of the 'path'… so to speak."
"But there is an aspect that is even more specific to young girl… you see." Dianna stopped when she saw Red returning from around the bend. "Cray, I think it's time we saw this story to its proper climax."
.o.o.o.
"These damned regulations!" Chase complained as she went through the data once again in front of the computer. "A super advanced computer and all it can do is tell me 'data is inconclusive'?" She asked to no one in particular.
She crossed her arms. "It's nothing more than a load of officious dogma from the company!"
A light flashed off to the side and she pressed a button.
"Commander Todd here, I'm calling in to inform you that I'm closing in on the location of the strangers- as per company regulations."
Chase sighed inwardly. "Thank you, I'll inform Kimble."
Chase leaned back and returned to the computer, unaware that she was being watched…
.o.o.o.
Dianna looked at the small cottage, taking in the sight if of the rustic imagery. It was uncannily like how she imagined it would be. "It's getting dark…" She mused as she noticed an old lamp on an old stump near the door.
"Just a moment, I'll go check the door to see if we can go on in." Red replied cheerfully.
Dianna nodded, not really thinking, as she took out a box of matched from her pocket and lit the wick on the inside. She adjusted the knob on the outside till the flame was bright enough.
She turned to Cray, illuminating them both with an eerie yellow glow. "Hold this would you?" She asked, passing it to him.
She then turned back around and gasped. "Red!" She exclaimed and grabbed the girl, jerking her away from the open door. She easily held onto the girl as she struggled.
"What are you doing?!" She girl cried out. "I'm just going in to see my sick grandmother!"
The taller woman winced. "No, look!" She exclaimed. Both of them gazed ahead.
The three of them stood deathly silent as the door creaked open slowly, revealing the dark inner area. Cray stepped forward, beside the two of them.
A large, hairy foot stepped forward, and a strange wolf-like creature emerged. "You!" The creature exclaimed. "How dare you interfere with my meal?" It exclaimed. "It should eat all three of you!" The 'Big Bad Wolf' added; brandishing his claws as saliva dripped from his sharp teeth.
Dianna snatched the lantern from Cray's hand and let go of Red. "Eat this!" She exclaimed, throwing the lantern right at the creature.
The Big Bad Wolf cried out as its fur was set ablaze by the fire. It writhed around as it clawed at itself. Red screamed and turned away, clutching Dianna as she began to cry. Dianna held her as they watched the Wolf slowly tumble to the ground and collapse.
Red went limp in her arms, forcing Dianna to slowly ease her onto the ground. Dianna took her hat off and tried to fan away the smoke.
"Disgusting, the whole area is going to smell like burnt fur now." She complained. She then glanced up at Cray, who was keenly staring at the corpse.
"Is it dead?" He asked tentatively.
Dianna nodded. "Yes, I'd say he's very dead." She replied darkly.
Cray kneeled down next to her. "Dianna, what were you going to tell me earlier?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Dianna put her hat back on and then looked over at him. She took a deep breath…
"I've often heard that Little Red Riding Hood was a parable for girls coming of ages- specifically into their sexuality." She paused. "You can interpret the red hood as representing maidenhood… or purity." She spoke, touching the fabric of the hood.
"As long as she has her 'hood', she's pure and innocent, but there comes a point when she has to walk an unfamiliar path, and is tempted to leave this path by the wolf." Dianna explained. "The path is womanhood…"
"The wolf represents the temptation of sex… in earlier versions of the story; the hood and the rest of her clothes get destroyed." Dianna explained, glancing at the wolf's body. "As a result of this, her purity… in this case a reflection of her virginity… is taken."
"How does she play into this?" Cray asked softly.
"I think something may have happened to this girl- she may have been abused, making her an easy target for these sick games we seem to be playing." Dianna reasoned.
"Perhaps her trauma manifested itself as this illusion… this 'fiction'." Dianna looked at him. "Traumas frequently take on external forms, perhaps the person creating all this choose this story because her illness would fuel it?"
"Dianna, what can we do now?" Cray asked.
"Keep going." Dianna replied.
Cray scooped the girl up into his arms as the two of them got to their feet.
"You're not going anywhere!"
They turned to see the wolf get back onto its feet. It reached up and tore the blackened skin off its face. Underneath, a face wrapped up in bloody bandages could be made out; only the eyes were visible through slits in the covering.
"You just had to go and ruin things! We had a nice little game going on here- she came here and I would eat her! But you've fucked it all up now!" He exclaimed as he tore more bits of smoldering fur and skin off. He was wearing a filthy looking jacket, ripped up and stained with blood.
Dianna and Cray stepped back several feet. She could just make out the word 'Fell' on the label of his jacket.
He held out a bandaged hand and an old gas-powered chainsaw appeared in it. The remains of the wolf exterior continued to fall away. "You couldn't let me have my little game… you had to go stick your noses were they didn't belong!"
He pulled the ripcord of the chainsaw and it began humming as the chains started to moved. The massive machine rumbled in his hands. "I was really starting to like all this, but I guess I'll have to find a new thrill." He added as he began walking towards them.
(- End of Part 9 -)
.o.o.o.
Once again, special thanks go out to Claen'tor Shat'kin'ara, QReaper, The Toltec, and Carlos Angulo, and everyone else. Thanks for reading my story. I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. It's about 3600 words long. Drop me a review and let me know what you think about it.
-Bojack727
