Chapter 7
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood

I sauntered through the forest with the moon high on my shoulder. Vanessa's lesson would take place under the goddess tonight to demonstrate the effects of spells under the moon as well to charge water. There were so many things I learned in those first few years, but there always seemed to be more and more to learn.

I had snuck out the moment I knew my father was asleep and arranged my bedding in a way that looked like there was a body under it all. Hopefully that would convince anyone that came to check on me and would buy me a few hours at least.

It was hard to say if it was my imagination, but moon water somehow tasted different to me; softer somehow. Vanessa had instructed me on the effects and purposes of moon water before and it wasn't the first time we would charge it, but tonight was special. Tonight was a blue moon; its powers had a stronger affect.

Spring water was always the best to use in this type of situation and thankfully the island was built atop a glorious one that bubbled it out, crystal clear. The old temple had been built on it specifically for that reason. Back then spring water was considered sacred and pure. Their leaders often performed blessings with it and any healing remedy used by the water had certain amplified properties.

I'm not totally sure if the same properties still existed now, not after the KKK burned down the temple and drove most of the followers out of the area a hundred and fifty years ago. I knew violence sometimes had a way of tainting things, and it may have been that the magic wasn't the same as it once was. Still, the allure of actual spring water was not entirely lost and I already knew it tasted better than our average tap at home.

The water was gathered in a huge glass jar with a spigot and charged atop the ridge of the rocks on the far east side of the island where there were no overhanging walls or tree branches and nothing to obstruct the rays of the moon. It wasn't just water we would be charging though. Vanessa instructed me to get the crystals from the house to lay around the ground as well.

"It's a fine night for magic." Vanessa announced, staring up into the sky at the glimmering moon. Her outline looked much more illuminated and ghostly than usual and the fireflies flitted around like tiny stars. Indeed it was a magical night.

I stared up from my spot on the stone at the flickering bodies of light and sighed. It was times like these that just made me forget about everything. All the horrible awful things didn't seem to really exist and I was able to lose myself in the ambience.

"It's so beautiful," I announced.

"These stones and water will work nicely in the new spells you'll learn." Vanessa said, crouching down. "But there are other ways to charge stones; Name them."

"With the sun?"

"You can, but how?"

"Find a safe place and leave it for a day like with the moon."

"Very good, but the sun's rays are harsh and cause some stones' colors to fade. Can you name a few?"

"Amethyst, celestine, opal and… turquoise?"

"Correct. Kunzite is one more that will fade in the sun. Because of that, we charge them instead with the moon for its gentler and purer light."

The lesson lasted for well over an hour and by the time I was allowed to go home I was yawning wide and practically sleepwalking. Perhaps I should have used the time I spent reading in my room to catch a quick nap before running off into the woods for my lesson. I'd keep that in mind for next time at least.

Hopefully I wouldn't fall asleep on the path and get myself lost before making it back home. Before leaving I grabbed some supplies from the house, thinking I could at least make some deliveries around town before I curled into bed for the rest of the night. I knew Michonne needed some more toothpaste and Mrs. Emming had run out of honey. There were also some various soaps I thought I could drop off and Eric and Aaron's house before I called it a night.

Walking down the path I focused on keeping my eyes opened. It must have been well past midnight when something brought me to full alertness.

My ears perked and I heard scuffling just then. I at first dismissed it as a pair of walkers but immediately realized there were voices to go with it. Curiosity taking hold, I moved closer, dipping behind a bush as I examined the scene.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on the sight. The rest of my tiredness dissolved to anxiety as I took it all in. With an awful feeling I realized I knew these people.

Saviors.

And wonder of all Negan was with them. The slingshot at my belt itched horribly and I wanted dearly to use it but there were far too many of them to chance such a thing; sixteen of them at the very least. And I couldn't be sure it'd kill him rather than just piss him off enough to kill me instead.

Their quarry was a man in the middle of the clearing. They all surrounded him while each took turns hitting whatever part of him they could. I knew the man as one who had raided our town a few years back. I was curious to know what he'd done to get on their bad side, but it looked like the gist of Negan's usual spiel was over.

Just then there was a snap behind me and before I had time to turn a hand slapped over my mouth and an arm was around my waist, hoisting me right off my feet. I immediately began to thrash. I screamed against the hand held over me, my nails dug deep into flesh and my legs flailed out, furious to work free of the ape that ensnared me.

I heard a grunt of pain and then a shout right after I bit him hard on the hand. He dragged me forward despite my struggles and it was only after I slashed hard across his forearm that his grip released and he rather kicked me in the center where the group of people stopped their beating to see this newcomer. I hit hard on my side, my sweater ripping at the elbow as I landed.

"Cunt!" I shouted at the brute impulsively.

"The hell you just call me, you little motherfucker?!" The man looked like he was ready to hit me while he held his bleeding arm. "Fuck, that little shit bit me! Little fuckwad sliced me right across my forearm, too. I'll kill her."

"Tyler, we don't beat on kids. Jesus, what's wrong with you?!" The man held his forearm, doing his best to staunch the blood flow but from the look he gave me I could tell he was ready to draw some of my own blood in retaliation. "This is what you get for not wearing armguards like I told you to. Kendra, help patch him up."

Then he turned down to look at me. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Negan hummed, like some clichéd comic book villain. I wondered if he enjoyed the idea of it, which might've been how he played the act so well.

"Found her hiding over by that bush!" The man who'd grabbed me—or Tyler—announced.

"No kidding." He smiled down at me and I had to suppress a shiver, gripping my knife tighter now. "Hey there Little Red Riding Hood." He said in a singsong tone. I hated the association, mostly because it had actually popped into my head the moment I was dragged into the circle. Negan definitely reminded me of a vicious wolf and it would have been an almost creepy concurrence, but my hood and cloak were green not red, so I wasn't sure how well the comparison worked in this situation.

"Uh my hood is green, thank you very much." I said pointing out what everyone already knew while I got to my feet. My body instinctively stepped into a defensive stance brandishing my knife carefully the way I remember being taught. If Negan tried to kill me I wasn't going down without drawing more of their blood.

This seemed to please him. I didn't cry or tremble or even look scared. I was angry and prepared and Negan seemed to find this incredibly impressive.

The light caught my glare as I looked up at him and the man had a proper look at my face. I knew from his expression that he recognized me, but couldn't quite remember from where. Amusedly, he pointed his bloody bat at me. "I've seen you before. I'm sure I have." He tapped his chin in thought. "Gosh darn, I am having the hardest time placing you. No, no. Don't tell me. I know this."

He debated for another long minute before snapping suddenly. "I know now! You're Rick's daughter. I'm sure of it. It's been a while since I saw you last. You've gotten big, Sweetheart. What was your name again? Jane… or Julie something?"

I stayed quiet. He couldn't have my name. I wouldn't give it to him.

"Not talking, huh?" He looked behind to one of his men. "What she got in the bag, Rob?"

With that someone grabbed my canvas bag and yanked it off of me. Thankfully he hadn't noticed the small trinket pouch I hid under my cloak as he riffled through it.

"Rob huh?" I said sarcastically. "That's appropriate."

"That's exactly what I said." Negan laughed.

"Let's see. We got a compass, three jars of honey, a pouch of… tea I think, towel, first aid kit, some soaps, something white in a jar… smells like toothpaste, a weird… stick thing, box of dried herbs and… Ewe!"

"What?"

"Box of bugs."

Negan looked down at me. "Those are some… unusual items. Pretty heavy too, for someone your size. Not exactly what you would pack for a trip in these woods." He tilted his head as he looked me up and down in consideration. "So what might a little girl like you be doing out here at night, alone, with no one around?" He grinned that shark-like smile, showing off his perfect set of white teeth. "Does your father know you're out here all by yourself?"

"Why? Are you going to run off and rat on me to him?" I challenged, defensive and angrily calling the bluff.

His bark of laughter split all other sound in the clearing.

"No. I'm not one to report someone to the authorities over something so menial as that. I'm just a little concerned, is all. Little girl out here alone," the light glinted on the metal of the barbed wire on his bat as he eyed me, "never know what you might find, who you might meet out here."

"Don't concern yourself." I spat. "Do you think I'd be out here alone if I wasn't entirely sure I could handle it?"

He hummed. "Hmm. Well I guess not, though it honestly breaks my heart to see little kids like that working to be so grown up too soon."

I looked him in the eye, hatred flaring hot in me. "Well sometimes we have to grow up a little sooner than we want to. Childhood is a luxury these days, and well, we don't really have any luxuries left." I gave him an accusing look, refused to swallow his crap, but I wasn't done there. "And 'side's which, I don't think we need to ask what I'm doing out here. This is Alexandria's land and as a citizen I can walk it any damn night I want to. I think the real question is why are you so close to Alexandria this time of night. We already gave you your offering, which is always more than you say you'll take. Why are you lurking in our back yard? Afraid we're going to sneak away in the middle of the night so it leaves you with fewer towns to bully and raid? Yeah I can see why that would make you a little afraid. Then you'd have to fend for yourself, and I recon you're probably not very good at that."

His grin looked a little forced as he chewed his lip in consideration. Then he stepped up to me so close that he towered right over my head like a mountain. He was taller than my dad, but I only craned my neck up, keeping my hated glare fixed on his gaze and refusing to back down or even step back.

He wouldn't intimidate me!

"I'll let that one slide, sugar." He said so softly it was just barely a whisper. "You obviously haven't learned anything from your guardians or from your daddy. They must not be very good teachers if you haven't managed to get the message by now. He ever tell you about what happened the day that Chinese fellow and that ginger died?"

"Glenn was Korean!" I snapped at him, furious by his blatant ignorance. "Even I know the difference, you ignorant, uneducated, self-assured ass-butt!"

There was a low echoing "Ooh…" that pulsed through the circle and most held their breath to see how their conquering hero would respond to such an insult.

What he did instead was laugh loudly. "Ass-butt? Seriously? Okay points for creativity. And I see that he did not tell you what happened."

"He didn't but I know anyways." I shrugged pointing towards his ugly bat. "You ambushed them and because you knew you weren't man enough to beat him in a one on one fight you held everyone hostage so you could satisfy your own twisted bloodlust to freely pulverize my friends. That's what happened. And I'll give you points for being at least smart enough to know you couldn't take him."

There was another conjoined low "ooh," throughout the clearing.

Negan no longer looked amused.

"Well I guess that's the abridged version, but why don't I tell you about the extended edition." He said darkly. I stood my ground glaring up at him in challenge, ready for whatever he did next. He only talked more.

"After Lucile here got done drinking up some of that fine young man, your daddy went off and told me he'd kill me someday, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he'd do it someday. Well I couldn't let him say things like that to me. So then I took him aside and he and I got mighty familiar with one another. Meanwhile my team took the opportunity to educate your dad's friends—the ones that were still alive at least. And when morning rolled around I could tell he still didn't quite get the message so, I called your brother over and I'd let him take it from his son. Really I was pretty fucking impressed with that kid. I drew a line over his arm and told your dad to take his hatchet and chop that sucker off. If he didn't, I'd go down the line and pick each and every one of those bastards off.

"You should have seen how much your father sobbed." He laughed. My heart beat furiously in my throat, my blood boiled, and I could hear a near deafening ringing in my ears as his words painted a picture of that day. I could see the desperation in my father, the terror in everyone else and the stubborn rebellious gleam in my brother's eye. Negan went on and his voice made me so mad it took all of my self-restraint not to take my knife and stab him in the groin.

"That kid had more balls than your dad did. Carl lied out there right in the dirt and was going to take it like a man, clenched teeth and dry eyes the whole way. I thought your dad would die with how much he begged me not to make him do it, but with a bit more coaxing he was ready and prepared to do exactly as I said. But I saw then that he finally got the message so I figured there was no need for that. Poor kid already lost an eye; didn't think there was any call to turn him more crippled."

"If you still haven't learned by now I can go into more graphic details, or I could give you a demonstration right now. So unless you want to find out with a first-hand experience about what it's like to be made someone's bitch I suggest you STOP TRYING TO STARE ME DOWN!" His voice had steadily risen till it was a shout, making my body flinch in shock.

My heartbeat spiked immediately and I heard it pound in my ears, whether from fear, anger, hatred or all three, and I reluctantly dropped my gaze, taking a cautious step back for added measure.

Then his mood turned around so suddenly it was distinctly unnerving. "You know maybe you can help us with something." And he grabbed my arm just then and dragged me forward towards the man in the center of the ring.

"We were all about to teach Roger a similar lesson right here. All of us were just debating on whether we would beat this traitorous pig to death right here, but now that you've shown up I think I have a better idea." Then he turned to the man called Roger. "You hear that? You might cut yourself a break, Roger. Maybe if this girl is caring enough she may just save your life."

This time I scoffed. "Why would you assume I would care about a person I know nothing about?"

He staggered and his grin widened. "DAMN! That. Is. Cold! How old are ya' kid?"

I didn't want to tell him, but I couldn't think of a witty enough reply to avoid it so I just answered. "Ten… in five days."

"Wow. Well happy birthday, then. Double digits, that's gotta be exciting for ya. Tell you what, in honor of your birthday I'll give you a present. Since providence sent you to us, I'm going to give you the rare opportunity to decide for us what we should do with this guy."

I stared, stunned entirely. Was he serious? I looked at the man and my memory of him clicked. A wash of unbridled power and fury fell over me just then. Negan had just given me a rare opportunity to execute a miniscule bit of justice for what had been done to us. A cold expression took over my features as the man looked at me with hope.

He disgusted me, but I played the part anyways. "I think that depends on who he is and what he did."

"Well it just so happens that Roger here—,"

I cut him off sharply. "Let him explain it. I'd like to hear the story he's come up with first."

Negan's brows went up in surprise, undecided if he would get angry or not, but then decided to shut his yap for once. Everyone's eyes turned to the one on the ground. "I-it wasn't a big deal. She said yes you see and…"

"Stop." I cut him off with my hand, disinterested in whatever his excuse was even before he had a chance to start. "I'm not talking about that. I don't care about that. Let me tell you what you did." There was silence and confusion and I looked at the man without mercy. "You stole all our medicine. You said half our medicine and you took it all. Thanks to that, my friend had a bad fall in the following weeks and broke her leg. She developed a blood clot and a fever and we had no antibiotics to treat that fever with. Now I have to pass her grave every day reminded of why that is. That's the only story I'm interested in."

A long stunned silence followed before Negan talked—again.

"Ooh." Negan said, swinging his barbed wire bat lazily. "Well damn. Is that true, Roger. Did you really take all their medicine?"

He looked terrified and defeated. "…I …Yes."

Negan whistled low. "Yikes. I guess providence wasn't too kind after all." He turned to me, grin still on his face. "Well what would you like to do with him, birthday girl?"

He was expecting I would turn away; that I would show mercy because I was a child. He was wrong. Instead I imagined it was him, Negan, I was sentencing. What did I want to happen to Negan? The man who broke my father, the man who killed Abraham and Glenn and haunted him still? The man who drove Maggie into hiding to protect herself from him? The man that took nearly everything we had including our hope and dignity and kept demanding more, and more, and more?

What did I want to do to him?

"Find a large herd, strip him as he stripped us, and toss him in. Let providence do the rest after that."

The man's eyes went wide and he turned chalk white in the moonlight.

"Whoa," Negan said, looking torn between shocked and impressed. "I was just going to let everyone beat you to death. I thought a bullet to the brain would be the worst the kid came up with, but damn…"

Roger looked completely panicked. "No. No! Please Negan! Not that! Anything but that!"

"Sorry sport." Negan said, shrugging with an enormous grin on his face. "The judge has spoken." He waved and the men loaded him in the truck.

Silently, I backed away, slipping into the forest while everyone's attention was turned to the panicking, thrashing man. It was good he created such a commotion, I needed a fair distraction for my escape and in the cover of the forest I heard Negan jump when he realized I had vanished.

"I suppose you'll want to wa—what the! The hell did she go? You guys see where she went?"

"She just pulled a Batman on you." Someone else piped up.

"Well go find her!" He ordered to a few surrounding men, but I was already sprinting away.

It peeved me that I had to leave my bag, but it didn't matter. I considered my life more important than some jars of honey and dried flowers. I could replace everything in there, though it did irritate me that I lost the beetles I'd been gathering for five months and my dowsing rod, but not even those were worth more than my life.

It was a good thing I knew the forest well, even in the darkness. It was even better that the loud groans and moans of an approaching herd of walkers would mask whatever sounds I made as I escaped and take care of the ones that were pursuing me. Maybe the beasts wouldn't kill them but they would at least let me lose them.

They might've known where Alexandria was, but I didn't want to be looking over my shoulder for them as I went back.

I decided not to use the sewage tunnel, believing the secret may be compromised were I to get in that way. The wall was safe as I crossed over and the spikes lining the perimeter were clean, but I still looked back, waiting in the darkness to see if I could spy any stalkers on the path.

I saw none, but it didn't diminish the looming feeling of pursuit on my back as I turned to climb the wall, hopping on the hood of one of the surrounding cars and scaling up, rolling down the grassy hill that braced against the iron. Even with the plates between me and the threats, it didn't feel quite safe. It never felt safe.

I climbed the tree outside of my bedroom and slipped through the window. The house was silent while I pulled on my pajamas, still in the dark, and crawled onto my sleeping mat on the floor. The brand new wool-stuffed mattress felt good and soft and I was tired. But I continued to lie awake long into the night, thinking over and over about my encounter with Negan.

His perfect white smile stayed in my head even when I shut my eyes. How possible was it to feel so much hatred for one person? I felt the hate may have chewed me up starting first in my chest and more and more till there was nothing left of me.

I closed my eyes but it was hours before I finally fell asleep.

I was naked from head to foot. Hands were on me and I could hear the growls of my worst nightmares on the other side of the doors. The van stopped suddenly and I tipped to the side with the momentum. Just then the doors were thrown wide opened and hands were pushing me out. My arms remained bound as I was tossed into the green and gray crowd. Teeth tore into my body. Nails raked against my skin. My mouth opened and a gurgling spout of red shot from my throat.

My body reacted and I jolted suddenly. A fighting animalistic scream burst from my mouth as I shot straight up. I swatted and kicked, forgetting where I was as I stared around myself in horror. A cold sweat pooled at the back of my neck and forehead and I fought for breath.

Banging sounded somewhere outside and I looked up to watch my father burst inside the room.

"Judith!" He cried, looking crazed and terrified but still ready for a fight all the same. An army knife was in his hand and he brandished it threateningly. "What is it? What happened?"

I swallowed, gaining control of myself as I slowly began to realize what was happening. "Nothing." I announced. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." My hand went to my heart and I felt it pounding against my ribs like a base drum.

There was a loud sigh of relief as my father knelt and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him with watery eyes, before falling into his arms and crying right against him. He held me as I stayed there, wrapped up and warm, letting me calm down a bit before speaking.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"N-no." I answered immediately, sniffing and sobbing. It felt nice to just be there, to have him hold me. Tenderly he began to stroke back my hair, the same way he used to before everything became a giant mess. How long had it been since I was held like this by him?

It felt like eternity.

He kept holding me straight till I calmed down. Finally there was silence as I sniffed myself back to composure. My thoughts turned to my dream, still lingering over me like a ghostly fog. I knew what had happened. Roger was dead, executed in the exact way I had sentenced him to. But in it, it had felt like I was the one being torn apart. Was that my punishment for what I had done? Would Roger haunt me now?

I cringed in terror, but tried to convince myself not to jump to the worst. But why shouldn't I? I had just sentenced a man to a fate worse than death. I was a horrible person. I was damned for such a monstrous crime.

Then I was distracted by my father's embrace on me. I thought of why I did it in the first place. I thought of my anger and hatred for what had been done to our family and people, and all the things I would do for them when given the choice.

"Y—you know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, right Dad?" I said softly. I felt his arms stiffen as I said those words. "I… I just want you to be okay. I want everyone to be okay. And I want to take care of them and keep them safe."

He was so stunned by my unexpected words that he didn't say anything for a moment. "No, y-you're not supposed to be taking care of anyone, Judith." Dad announced holding me tighter. "That's our job. You're… you're so young to be thinking like that."

"Then when will I be old enough to think like that?"

He didn't answer so instead he enforced his hold till the sun came up and it was time to start the day.

Author's Notes: It's so late right now, but I wanted to get this particular chapter posted before I turned in. I'm so tired.