Greetings and welcome to Chapter 13! I apologize for the long wait but, reality got in the way of my story weaving. I have been doing much self-reflecting and I wasn't content with how it portrayed me. But after much deliberation, I decided to change the appearance of my blog until it showed what I felt is my reflection and made me happy. But do not worry, I have returned and links have been updated on the Masterlist.
This is an original story inspired by the tale of Red Riding Hood. As always, I would like to a special thank you to my best friend Olivia (@asunshinepuff ) for joining me in writing this world onto paper.
CW: This chapter contains a brief mention of gore, gruesome descriptions, creatures, fire, and things you can imagine in your nightmares! You have your warning!
This story contains only original characters created by Olivia and myself. For those who want to be tagged, feel free to send an ask to me or Olivia on her blog. If you have any questions, theories, or curiosities about any of our characters or how the story will progress, send them to the ask box!
Now without further Adieu!
Chapter 13: A Burning Night
The group gathered their belongings and traveled to the port of the river. The ferry they managed to secure passage from was not the most pleasant looking. The lumber was mellow and dull. It was fairly large, able to carry a hefty number of passengers, including a few horses.
Felis grumbled as they boarded the boat. Making comments here and there, saying his ship was far superior and making the occasional snarky remark. He would not allow the comparison of his “child” to this wreck of a boat, thank you very much. Who on top of it all, most probably had an inadequate captain. Cassandra simply rolled her eyes each time with a shake of her head, agreeing occasionally with Felis in order to finally get him to stop grumbling.
Rosabella walked behind the bickering couple, ensuring that neither Felis nor Cassandra was lost in the crowd. She would occasionally look behind her, not trusting Red to fade away into the crowd the moment she got distracted. She looked ahead, it made her uneasy, the way he would lag behind, and every time she turned to look at him, he would be looking right back. As if he was rather unimpressed that her consistent need to check on him was an offense.
Still, she supposed, Red still hadn’t made any mention of what occurred in the springs, to which was eternally grateful, she doubted she could live with the embarrassment. She would be mortified if anyone knew. Reluctantly, Rosabella hasn’t omitted to acknowledge that he has been acting like a gentleman about it. Now Rosabella prayed that it would remain that way.
Once they boarded the ship, along with their horses, there were few cabins so Cassandra and Rosabella would share one. Felis and Red would loiter about on deck. The ferry took sail just before the sun began to rise. Felis took to friendly conversation with fellow passengers, trying to get more intel about the missing persons and if anyone else had seen strange creatures. Red took to watching from afar. After getting a few hours of sleep, Cassandra and Rosabella joined the men when meals were offered.
The meal was noisy, but none of the lot weren’t used to it. Picking up a few choice words from the fellow passengers about mysterious figures walking in the woods at night. They would never respond to anyone’s calls.
“The strangest thing about them, I swear is their eyes. Glowing red they were.” One traveler revealed, “Twisted looking things, I bet it be another form of those thirsty bloodsuckers.”
“Do you mean the Night Stalkers?” Rosabella offered. She knew many creatures that feasted on human blood.
“I mean Vampires.” The man corrected gruffly. Unease when she spoke to him with ease. “You don’t suppose they moved into France do you?” he asked the other men.
“Oh, they’re already here.” One man commented. Some men choked on their food. Rosabella thought it best to not say anything. Felis and Cassandra’s silence was answer enough. Red scoffed. Sapphire eyes followed him as he rose from his seat before he left. After the meal, Rosabella searched for Red. She found him leaning against the wall, staring out to the water. She didn’t bother to announce her presence, she knew he would have heard her approaching long before he saw her.
“Will you not sleep?” She asks softly, stepping closer.
“Not if I can help it.” Only his eyes moved to look at her. “I don’t trust others, so I don’t sleep.”
“Surely you don’t doubt that we could keep watch while you slept?” She inquired.
His head tightly towards her, his eyes were scrutinizing her. “Is there something you needed?”
Rosabella did her best not to feel affronted at his shift in tone. She sighed deeply, she extended her arm, his cloak in her hands. “I simply wanted to return this to you.” Though she doubted he needed it, she could feel the heat burning off of him from where she stood.
His gaze relaxed, wordlessly accepting his cloak, and put it on before he carried on looking out to the river.
“And to thank you, for not saying anything about what happened.” She said sincerely, he didn’t say anything in response.
Rosabella placed her hands behind her as she leaned back to the wall. She was a respectable distance away from him. Looking out to the river, they stayed there in silence, and snow began to fall.
“Have you encountered vampires before?” Rosabella spoke gently.
“Yes.” He shifted, crossing a leg over the other.
“When?” She asked.
“Not that many years ago. Contrary to what people believe, vampires are not an old race. They’re new.”
“Really?” Her eyes blinked in bewilderment. “How do you know?”
“I’ve traveled far, I’ve met creatures older than myself. Vampires are young compared to the rest of us.”
She frowned at that. “Most people say they are terrifying, creatures of seduction and immense power.”
“I know of more powerful and terrifying creatures, Vampires are just overgrown mosquitoes. Vampires are entitled children, who play with their food. Get offended when their food supply fights back. ” He chuckled dryly.
“Do they fight you?”
“No, they didn’t stick around long enough to find out. They usually avoid us.” He looked to Rosabella.
“Us?” She leaned forward, her head faced towards him.
“The other old creatures and I. The oldest vampire would only be roughly three hundred years old.”
“I heard of wolves and vampires fighting each other. Is that true?”
“Yes. The vampires have no qualms about fighting any wolf that isn’t me.”
“Sounds like you don’t like them,” Rosabella nodded slowly, looking back to the water, “the other wolves.”
“To be frank, I don’t like anyone. Why would I make them the exception?” He eyed her skeptically.
“Because they are your kin?” She offered with sincere eyes.
“They are not my kin. I want nothing to do with them.” He replied coldly.
Disconcerted, she paused. “I would give anything to have kin,” she leaned back to the wall, her eyes solemn, “It’s the only thing I have ever wanted more than anything in my whole life. To not be alone.”
Red frowned, “What about your grandmother?”
“She adopted me.”
Red said nothing, only gazing down at her with an assessing gaze. “What about your friend Cassandra? She-”
“Will marry Felis. They will have a family. They will want to live their lives, and I will not interfere. Cassandra wouldn’t let me, but it wouldn't be right if I did.” She interrupted, her head turned to look at Red. “And I will be left to my own devices, they would never mean to leave me, but it is to be expected.”
“You sound like you’ve resigned yourself from finding your own pair.” He assessed. “Which is strange for women your age. You seem certain of it.”
“I am. I am something that men would find improper of a wife, and when they learn the truth,” she paused, looking back to the river, “I don't even know what I am. No one knows. I suppose that is why I have been searching for my kin for years, hoping that they would have answers.”
Rosabella looked down. They stayed silent for a long moment, staring out at the river. Red’s lips parted to speak before Rosabella interrupted.
“Goodnight Red.” She stepped away from the wall, walking to her cabin. Nox looked back to Red from his perch on her shoulders, ears perked up. Red stared out to the river. Rosabella went to bed, Nox curled beside her.
A monstrous roar resonated in the chill of the air. A scream. A struggle, and the sound of glass shattering to the ground. Flames spread across the ferry. Rosabella woke to the smell of smoke. Her sapphire eyes wide at the state of their cabin. Cassandra was already out of bed and standing, Lumi clung tightly to Cassandra’s arm as she hurriedly gathered what she could.
Rosabella was quick to her feet, Nox curled tightly on her shoulders, chirping as the women escaped their burning room and froze at the sight of the ship, Rosabella recoiled at the stench of burning flesh and the agonized screams of the ferrymen as they fell into the water. Stricken at the sight of the men, the women pushed themselves to flee. They came across Felis, whose eyes locked onto Cassandra. The pirate rushed spotting them over the sea of panicked passengers and rushed towards them.
“Cassandra!” His frantic eyes, his hand gently cupping her cheek. “Are you alright?”
Cassandra gives a meek smile, eyes softening briefly at the frantic look in his eyes, raising her hand to his on her cheek. “I’m alright. There’s no need to fuss, but we need to go.” Grasping the pirate’s hand, she pulled him along to find a way off this burning ferry.
“Where’s Red?” Rosabella called out as followed the couple.
“I don’t know, I ran to look for you when I saw the flames,” Felis responded.
Rosabella glared at Felis’ head. “You left him alone?!”
“Well excuse me for coming to your aid and leaving a grown man alone for a minute!” Felis replied as he turned a corner.
“And you didn’t think for one moment that leaving the Father of Werewolves to his own devices was a bad idea?!”
“To his own devices?! This wreck of a boat is in flames! I doubt he could do anything in this chaos!” The pirate retorted.
“When this is over, remind me to slap him, Cassandra,” Rosabella said.
Cassandra grinned. “Will do.”
The group turned at the final corner, stopping when their path was blocked by the creatures from back at the hot springs in Mirstone, in flames. Rosabella blanched.
“What are those things?!” Felis sneered at the smell of burning flesh. “They smell like fish vomit.”
“Fish vomit?” Cassandra asked in confusion. Looking back and forth at the burning creatures and the pirate.
“How did they even get on the ferry?” Rosabella muttered to herself.
“Don’t know,” Cassandra grimaced. “I hate that they're on fire, and they reek of dark magic!”
“We should probably abandon ship now,” Red spoke from behind the group. Catching the three off guard.
Rosabella sighed in relief. “Where were you?” She asked as Red walked toward them.
“Helping passengers and horses off.”
“By helping, do you mean throwing them overboard,” Felis interjected.
“Do you recommend they stay on the ferry and burn?” Red glance at the pirate.
“Alright, right now is not the time for this!” Cassandra yelled as she leaned over the railing, frowning. “They took all the lifeboats!”
“Oh great, now what are we going to do?” Felis exclaimed with a slight roll of his eyes.
Red looked at Rosabella. “I really hope you know how to swim.”
“What?” Her brows creased in confusion.
Red moves his arm under Rosabella’s legs and the other supporting her back, then lifts her with ease. Her eyes widened in shock. Red turns quickly and tosses her overboard. Rosabella let out a small yelp as she fell into the freezing water.
Red turned to look at the pirate and sorceress. Cassandra immediately backed away from the wolf.
“Don’t you dare. I’ll throw myself off, thank you.” Cassandra glared as she climbed over the railing, and jumped into the river.
Felis turned to Red. “After you.”
“Ladies first.” Red smirked as he pushed Felis off, Red climbing over just as the creatures reached where they stood.
The group swam until they reached shore, and watched as the ferry sunk below the freezing river.
“It’s f-freezing.” Felis stuttered out as he shivered as he stomped out of the water, his arms crossed as he sat on a log.
“It’s the m-middle of winter, w-what were you e-expecting?!” Cassandra retorted, rubbing her arms as she walked towards the shivering pirate. Lumi swimming close behind her, and shaking off his fur once he reached dry land.
“Cassandra, p-please light a fire.” Rosabella looked at her sister while she soothed the horses that reached the shoreline before they did. Nox curled tightly on her shoulders for warmth.
The sorceress nodded before walking to the log Felis sat on. “Felis, I need your seat.”
“Find your own log.”
“Do you want to warm up or not?” She gave a pointed look.
Felis grumbled as he rose from his seat and watched as Cassandra crouched down, placing her hand above the wood, after a few brief seconds it ignited into bright purple flames.
Red walked out from the river and didn’t stop until he reached the trees.
“Where’s he going?” Rosabella asked her comrades.
“Probably to get away from the horses. They smell.” Felis answered
Gypsy gave an offended nicker. Felis stuck his tongue out.
“Leave him be for now. Handling one man-child is enough.” Cassandra teased, pulling her hand away from the fire as she stood up.
Rosabella sighed, taking a seat next to the burning log, warming her hands and petting Nox’s head. Cassandra sat close to the pirate. Lumi began snarling at Felis, who in turn hissed right back at the little ermine. Rolling her eyes, Cassandra scolds the two, prompting them to behave.
“Are you my fiancé or my child?” Cassandra inquired.
“At this current moment, probably your child.”
They sat in silence for a long while, finally warm and dry. Red still had not returned. The silence ended at the sound of grumbling. Cassandra, Rosabella, and a few horses all turned to look at the pirate.
“... What? I’m hungry. Swimming works up an appetite.” Felis admitted.
“Definitely a child.” Cassandra sighed as she rubbed her temple.
Rosabella smiled softly as she rose to her feet. “While I’ll go find us something to eat, I’ll look for Red.”
“Can we have venison?” Felis asked, Cassandra elbowed him.
Rosabella laughed softly as she walked into the woods. Nox happily trotting behind her. Both woman and sable walked for a long while, finding a few berries and mushrooms that weren’t poisonous. But no deer. Rosabella hummed in thought, she looked down to Nox.
“Well it looks like I’ll have to hunt as a wolf now won’t I?”
Nox gave a chirp, Rosabella accepted it as affirmation. With nothing much left to pick from bushes, Rosabella shifted into a wolf. She was far larger than any of the horses back at the campfire. Nox quickly climbed onto the wolf’s back, and off they went in search of food.
It didn’t take long for the she-wolf to find a wandering stag. Nor did it take long for her to claim her prize. Carrying the dead stag in her jaws, she trotted back to camp. Nox chirping happily on her head.
Nearing the clearing of the forest, Rosabella turned back to her human form but froze when caught Red’s scent. Her eyes darted to the blonde man, who stood beside a large oak tree. There he stood, eyes wide.
Greets to Chapter 4! This is an original story inspired by the tale of Red Riding Hood. I would like to say a special thank you to my best friend and co-author Olivia ( @asunshinepuff )for joining me in writing this world onto paper.
CW: This chapter contains mentions of weapons and violence and loss of limb.
The story contains only original characters created by Olivia and myself. For those of you who want to be tagged, feel free to ask me or Olivia on her blog. If you have any questions, theories about any of our characters or how the story will progress, send them to the ask box!
I hope you enjoy, now without further adieu!
Chapter 4: To Kill A Werewolf
The creature was relentless, sneaking into the village, killing the livestock left and right for years , ran towards a house, arrows flying past it as it jumped to the rooftops, snarling as blood dripped from it’s snarling jaws. Hunters shouted as they ran after the creature that had tormented their village for years. Royce aimed his arrow at the vile beast. Warm red blood trickled from the side of his head, his clothes stuck to his skin from the sweat, his body had tremors from over exertion. He refused to yield, dawn was only moments away. He shot his arrow, the creature leaped off the roof and ran off into the forest.
Royce’s chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. The hunters behind all slumped to their knees, exhaustion aching in their tired bones. Royce under his breath, there were so few of them left. Royce wiped his brow from sweat, he turned at the sound of footsteps approaching.
“Andres… ” The hunter stood straight. The village chief merely looked at the hunters.
“Where are the others?” Andres snapped.
“They are dead, we are all that’s left.” Royce responded tiredly. There were only eight hunters left.
The village chief frowns. “I’m sending word for the guild.”
“Andres please…”
“No. This has gone on long enough. People have died, and you don’t even know how to kill that thing.” Without another word, the chief marches away, the old hunter sighed.
Dawn had just arrived.
The chief sent a letter to the city, offering a bounty on the creature’s head. The guild responded with a letter, stating a group of hunters was nearby and were on their way to assist them with their problem. They should arrive within days. The village let out a sigh of relief when the letter arrived. The threat of the monster would surely kill off the remaining villagers during the winter.
It began to snow on the third day since they received the letter. The woman kept themselves busy with making quilts for the upcoming winter, the farmer collected the last of the harvest, and the butchers salted their meat and put them into storage.
Gregory had grown into a young robust man, he was leaning against a wall with his arm as he smirked down at a young lady who was blushing profusely. “Come on, why don’t we spend more time together,” He leans closer. “and get to know each other better. “
Blushing like mad, the young lady looks down bashfully. “Please Gregory, I have to go get water from the well, my brother is ill. His fever has not broken, please excuse me.”
Gregory grabbed a hold of her arm. His smirk only widened. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Please let me go…” She pleads, pulling her wrist free when Gregory stops at the sound of hoofbeats. He had forgotten all about her to look at the dirt path and three horses approaching. He frowned in puzzlement.
“What the devil?”
The villagers all turn towards the sound, breathless gasps filled the quiet winter day. Some cheered in greeting as the horses drew nearer. Gregory pulled the young lady along with him to the front of the gathering crowd, he scowled at the arrivals. Their faces hidden by the hoods of their cloaks. There was a dark green cloak, dark purple, they rode on each side of the leader, who wore a cloak of bright red. There were only three. If the hunters of the village couldn’t kill the monster, how could these three do the impossible when all of the others failed? Gregory wondered.
It was silent, the villagers held their breath, and the cloaked figures were as still as statues. Finally, the one in red dismounted off their horse, which was a large black and white gypsy vanner. The ones in green and purple followed. Gregory was about to step forward before his father, the village chief, stepped through the crowd. A large smile on his face as he greeted the three figures.
“You must be from the guild, I am Andres, the chief of this village.” He stops when he is only a few steps apart from the one in red.
The villagers began to whisper amongst themselves, curious about the covered faces of the apparent saviors. When the ones in colored cloaks remained silent, the crow began to shift uncomfortably. Andres grew tense at the murmurs of the crowd.
“Ah, perhaps you would lower your hoods, we are a very small village and don’t receive visitors often.” He prompted.
The leader in red gave a slight tilt of their head as they looked to the chief, then to the rest of the crowd. A tense moment passes when the leader raises a gloved hand to their hood. Their hands were covered in black gloves, their wrists were shielded in red braces with a black leather wolf on the top. Their sleeve of their shirt was white and clung to their arms.They lift the hood back.
Andres let out an audible gasp, as did the rest of the crowd, his eyes widening in shock. It was a woman. With the same sapphire blue eyes that haunted Andres every time he closed his eyes.
The woman simply looked to the rest of the village, who were taking in the sight of her. She moved her cloak over her shoulders, the cloak was a vibrant red that had detailed engravings that swirled all around it. She wore a bright red corset that flowed down to her hips, it too had detailed markings with silk ribbon at its seams. She wore a white button shirt with a high frilled collar underneath it, black leather pants and black boots that reached her ankles. A rapier strapped to her waist.
She was tall, nearly matching Andres in height, her skin soft, unblemished, as pale as milk, rosy cheeks, her lips were soft pink, and her hair was black, with bright red streaks that was tied into a loose braid. Andres felt blood rush to his ears, he stepped back in fear. No, it couldn’t be.
Silently he looked down to the familiar pendant that hung from her neck, a ruby set in gold antlers. The same that she had been found with all those years ago on that winter night in the forest. No!
“Rosabella?!” Andres spoke in a soft voice.
“Hello Andres.” Rosabella smiled, her eyes gazed at the old man. Gregory looked as if he had seen a ghost. “Louve?”
Frozen, Andres looked towards the other two behind her.
The figure in the dark green cloak then lifted a gloved hand to remove the hood. Their hands were covered in black fingerless gloves, with a solid bright green gemstone in the middle of both hands, and their wrists were shielded in dark green leather braces with gold engravings of the kraken. He wore a black leather jacket, paired with black leather pants and boots. Two swords were sheathed on his sides, one paired with a dagger and the other paired with a pistol. Once the hood was pulled away, it revealed a tall and rather handsome young man, who towered over Andres by a few heads, his skin was smooth and tanned, his hair was a short strawberry blonde, and he had fetching bright sea green eyes. A gold chain rested on the outside of his left pocket.
He merely looked at the figure in dark purple, giving a small nod of reassurance.
The figure in dark purple froze momentarily, as they looked over the chief and the rest of the crowd, then they looked to the man in green who just revealed himself. With a deep breath, they raised a gloved hand to remove the hood of their cloak. Their hands were covered in silk black gloves, their wrists were shielded in dark purple braces with lavender engravings of flames. They lifted the hood back.
The woman looked over the villagers once again, giving a worrying glance to her two companions. She tugged at her cloak absentmindedly, which was a soft velvet with a simple silver clasp. She wore a black and lavender ornate laced corset with simple straps, with a flowy black off the shoulder long sleeved shirt underneath, dark brown leather pants and black heeled boots. A simple wide silver sword was attached to her waist, in addition to a dagger with a black hilt. The sheath of the dagger had an ornate amethyst embedded within.
She was tall, though the shortest of the three. Her skin soft and fair, faint blush cheeks, and her lips were a very pale red. Her hair was a light golden blonde, flowing in soft waves and framing her face perfectly. Around her neck, was a silver necklace with a crystal pendant, the same sky blue of her striking eyes.
“Cassandra?!” Andres gasps out.
“Good to see you, Andres.” Cassandra said with a pleasant smile.
“But- You were thought to be dead!”
She gives the man a pointed look in return, “Well, obviously I’m not.”
“No… we are doomed!” A woman exclaims. A boy pulls the skirt of his mother. Tears forming in his eyes. “Does that mean the wolf will come to eat me mother?”
“No wonder we are still cursed! She’s still alive!” Word spread like wildfire. And panic ensued. Rosabella schooled her expression into one of indifference. Unlike her friend, Cassandra’s gaze hardened as she watched the panic begin to grow. The fact that she wasn’t surprised is what irked her the most at the moment. Gregory scowled, he pulled the young lady who he was speaking to earlier with him as he turned to leave the crowd.
“Gregory please let me go!” Gregory planned to ignore her when he felt himself nearly choke, someone grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He staggered back, turning his head he glared at the man who stopped him. It was the one who wore the dark green cloak, but Gregory did not recognize him.
“Who the bloody hell are you?!” Gregory shouted.
“Oh Gregory, is your manhood sensitive because there is another good looking gent such as myself in the village?” The man smirked.
Gregory fumed in furry. “How do you know my name?! I don’t know you!”
Rather than dignifying the boy with an answer, he simply rolled his eyes before he looked to the young girl. “Let her go, she clearly has better things to do than let you lift her skirts when you plan to shag her in the dirt, mate.”
“WE ARE NOT MATES!”
“Try not to kill him Felis, as irksome as he is, he’s still the chief's son.” Cassandra spoke as she crossed her arms.
“Why do I care? I have trinkets that are worth more than him.” He looks to Cassandra.
“Felis.” Rosabella spoke.
“Alright, but only because you asked so nicely.” Felis looked to Gregory. “Manners, is what they call it, didn’t your mother teach you any? I’ve been sailing on the sea for years, and even I have standards.”
Cassandra rolls her eyes, “All of his standards must’ve gotten knocked out of his mind when Rose whipped him when we were children.”
“Shut it Azure! That is not what happened and you know it!” Gregory retaliates.
“How about no.” She tsks with a tilt of her head, then her lips turn upwards to a smirk, “We must have two different memories of that day.”
Without thinking, Gregory attempted to grab Cassandra by her arm, only for Felis to grab him by the collar once again and yank him back. “Don’t even think about it,” He says firmly with a glare.
Gregory began to thrash to break free of his grip. Felis rolled his eyes as he let go, Greogry fell to the ground. Quickly getting to his feet, Gregory threw a fist to the pirate, who caught it with his hand. Gregory retaliated by throwing his other fist. The pirate quickly pushed Gregory down with the hand that he caught. The indignant man fell to the side, mud clung to his clothes.
“You’ve never fought a pirate have you? We don’t fight fair.” Felis smirks as Gregory is lifted up by his father, spitting out the mud that made its way into his mouth.
“I believe you have made your point…” Andres spoke, Gregory pushed his father away and stomped away.
Cassandra chuckled, quickly walking to Felis’ side. Grabbing his arm as she pulls him back, the pirate being pulled away easily. She whispers to his ear. “That’s enough Felis, calm down.”
“That’s saying a lot if it’s coming from you love.” Felis grinned down at her.
Cassandra smiled in agreement, looking up to Felis. She then looks back out to the crowd, eyes widening slightly as she locks eyes with familiar brown.
Rosabella's gaze shifted to a frown, when Royce marched through the crowd, Cassandra following silently. Royce pushed past others who watched the reunion of father and daughter. When the villagers lost sight of the pair, they turned back to look at the pirate and the girl who they had once thought dead.
“Rose…” Felis spoke, his shoulders tensed, his eyes searching for the blonde as she walked further away from him.
Rosabella closed her eyes slowly, taking a breath. Her eyes opened, she walked forward, the crowd parted like the red sea. Andres protested but his words fell on deaf ears.
The house had not changed much in the last few years, Rosabella noted. The door was left agape, she could hear the loud voices inside. Felis steps into the house after Rosabella, glaring at the villagers who followed behind them. He slammed the door shut.
“SIX YEARS! YOU WERE GONE FOR SIX YEARS!” Royce’s chest heaved up and down, his face red from anger.
“I’M AWARE OF HOW LONG I’VE BEEN GONE!” Cassandra scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH PAIN YOU CAUSED YOUR US?! DID YOU EVEN THINK OF YOUR MOTHER?!”
“OF COURSE I DID! I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU BOTH EVERY SINGLE DAY!”
“THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU COME HOME?!”
“WHY? BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING FOR ME HERE! I WANTED TO LIVE A DIFFERENT LIFE THAN WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF ME! GRANDMÈRE GAVE ME THE FREEDOM TO BE WHO I WANTED TO BE, NOT SOME MARIONETTE WHO WOULD BE MISERABLE FOR THE REST OF HER DAYS!”
Royce’s jaw was agape, wounded. Before a fiery rage seized him. “Don’t. Speak of the woman ever again!”
“Why?! Just because she gave me something you couldn’t?!”
“You watch your tongue!”
“Never again. I won’t be made silent simply because I was born female.” She stood firmly with her feet planted on the ground, her arms resting against her sides, hands clenched into tight fists. “I didn’t know any better, and it was like Grandmère said. ‘Best not to dwell on the opinions of the dim witted or you’ll lose what you believe.’”
Royce shook his head, stepping back. He did not recognize this woman. Where was his sweet child who spoke of her books all day? Where was her smile? This woman was nothing like his child.
“Who are you? My daughter would never speak to me this way?”
“I am your daughter, I just grew up differently than you wanted.” Her gaze never faltered.
Erinna sat on a stool, her blue eyes glistened with tears, as some fell upon her face. Rosabella kneeled next to the sobbing woman, offering a handkerchief, Erinna accepted it graciously. Rosabella took in the sight of Erinna. Her face had aged but she looked the same, if only a little thin and a few wrinkles around her eyes. Her hair had begun to grey, streaks of silver running through her hair. Time had been kind. Erinna looked to Rosabella, cupping a cheek.
“Oh Rose, look at you. You’ve grown so beautifully. You and Cassandra both have.” She says with a pained smile. Rosabella’s heart lurched. How much had Erinna suffered? The nightmares and sleepless nights of just wondering where her child had gone. Why she had gone. “I can’t believe you both are nineteen now. I feel so old.”
Felis coughed all of a sudden, his gaze shifted to the window, clearing his throat. Rosabella only shook her head at him before she looked back to Erinna. A small smile on her lips.
Royce turned to his attention to the pirate in his home. “You, who gave you permission to enter my home?! This is a private matter! This doesn’t concern you, leave!” He glared at Rosabella. “Both of you, I won’t you gone this instant!”
“Now Royce really I let him in, there’s no harm in-” Erinna tried to appease him.
“Mr. Azure, I assure you that anything pertaining to your daughter is my concern.” Felis spoke firmly.
“What are you going on about?!” Royce looked between them. Cassandra stepped forward, taking her place beside Felis.
“Papá, this is Felis.” Her eyes met his. “And he is my Fiancé”
There was a starkling silence for a long moment. Erinna gasped, her hand rested on her chest, eyes wide.
“WHAT?!”
Rosabella winced at sheer volume of the man’s booming voice. Felis only rolled his eyes as he sighed.
“You’re too young to have a fiancé!” He panicked.
Erinna frowns. “I married you at sixteen.”
Cassandra silently raises an eyebrow at that, knowing it was true.
“He’s a pirate!”
“I think he’s a charming young man,” Felis seemed to choke once again, Erinna glared at her husband, “and a gentleman. He hasn’t raised his voice once.” She huffed before turning her gaze to Felis, taking his hand into hers. “Take good care of my baby Felis. And I insist you call me Mamá.”
“No, do not call her Mamá.” Royce says offended.
“Oh hush Royce, our daughter has returned to us, you’d best get over yourself and accept it. I have spent the last six years praying for this day. I don’t know about you, but I am proud of the woman she has become, and Rosabella. And I wish to be in the rest of her life.” She poked her husband in the chest. “Do not ruin this for me. I have a wedding to plan.” She looked to Felis with a smile.
“Were you thinking of a summer wedding or winter?”
“Summer, but that’s just me. I spent most of my days in the sun.” Felis replied easily, looking to Cassandra. “How come you don’t show this level of enthusiasm whenever I bring up our wedding?” He pouts.
Royce’s brow twitched. “Why are you here?” He snapped.
Rosabella quickly spoke before Cassandra would force them to listen to another bout of screaming. “We received the letter from the guild. We are here to kill the monster that has plagued this village for years.”
“But your-”
The door burst open, Andres walked into the house. Everyone in the room glared at him.
“Uh Pardon me, but it’s nearly wolf’s time.” He spoke nervously.
Rosabella nodded her head. “We’ll be out in a moment.”
“Tell the other hunters to mount their horse.”
Rosabella looked to Royce. “Mr. Azure, I must insist that you and your men stay within the village walls. We are very much capable of dealing with the creature ourselves.”
“And I insist that my men join you, if you’re as good as the guild claims you to be, we ought to learn how to kill it ourselves. Just in case you all decide to leave without a word again.” Royce says nothing more, storming out of the house.
The hunters were all mounted on their horses, Royce at the front of his men, Rosabella was also leading Felis and Cassandra. Rose tried to reason with Royce to reconsider, but he simply rode off ahead of them. Rosabella sighed before she clicked her tongue. Her horse, Gypsy, galloped after them.
They didn’t have to search the forest long. The creature was running full speed towards the village. Dark chestnut hair, beady red eyes and a large toothy snarl. It leaped into the air, clearing a large boulder that was nearly the size of a chicken roost. Rosabella’s eyes widen.
It was the biggest werewolf she has ever seen. It was more than likely the same size as she was in her wolf form. Rosabella looked to Cassandra who also looked in shock at the sheer mass of it. Rosabella reached into her quiver, pulling out silver arrows. Cassandra removed her right glove, flicking her wrist, a small purple flame emanated from the palm of her hands. Behind them, a wall of purple flames sprouted from the ground to protect the village.
“Draw your weapons lads!” Royce called out, dismounting his horse, pulling his axe from the strap on his back. The hunters all dismounted, the wolf stopped in its tracks, snarling at the men.
The hunters quickly make a kill circle around it, Rosabella aimed her crossbow, Felis had a silver dagger and pistol loaded with silver bullets at the ready, and Cassandra gripped her silver sword tightly. Rosabella called out to the men, waving them back.
“Stand back, silver is the only thing that can kill them!”
The wolf snarled in anger, turning to Felis who stood in front of the most men. It charged.
Felis turned when it’s jaws nearly bit his head off, taking his chance, he stabs the dagger to its side. The smell of burning fur and flesh filled the air. The wolf howled. The hunters began firing their arrows at the wolf, which only seemed to agitate it more than wound it.
The wolf shook its head. Rosabella pressed the lever of the crossbow, her arrow landing on its back. Cassandra’s purple flames pushing it back from the hunters. Rosabella knew it was her chance, she grabbed another arrow, her eyes never looking away from the creature as it continued to growl at the hunters. With the snap of her crossbow set, the wolf’s head snapped towards her.
Rosabella’s breath caught in her throat. It’s red eyes locked in her sapphire ones, it sniffed the air. It bared its teeth. It knew.
Rosabella aimed her arrow but stopped when a young hunter ran towards the massive beast.
“No wait!” But it was too late.
The hunter was too close to its head. The wolf’s jaws snapped the hunter’s arm clean off, and swallowed it whole. His sword falling to the ground. The hunter fell to the ground, in an outcry, Royce and other hunters rushed forward to rescue him. The wolf turned it’s backside to the hunters, its large tail sweeping them away.
The wolf turned back to Rosabella. Snarling, it ran towards her. Rosabella fired her arrow, but the wolf dodged it by ducking to the ground. Cassandra called out for Rosabella to run. So she did.
She ran as fast she could, her red cloak billowing behind her. The wolf was gaining on her. Rose pushed herself faster, but it was futile. She felt it’s jaws clamp around her leg, she fell to the ground, the wolf dragged her with it as it ran from the hunters that pursued them. Rosabella tried to pull herself up, but a large rock hit her head, the last thing she heard was Cassandra’ calling her name.
When Rosabella woke, she was still being dragged, the wolf never ceased to stop running. It was nearly dawn. It ran, and ran, and ran, Rosabella couldn’t tell how far they were traveling with how fast the wolf was running. Panting for breath, Rosabella reached for her sword, pulling it out. With a loud cry, she plunges the sword to its neck. The wolf instantly lets her go, she tumbles to the ground, the wolf whimpering as it pauses, blood falling to the fresh snow.
Rosabella staggered to her knees, she searches with her hands for her sword, or any of her fallen arrows. Looking back when the wolf growled, she continued to search. She sees her sword rest against the root of a tree, she scrambles to it. The wolf runs after her, Rosabella turns her back to the tree, holding her sword to the wolf when it suddenly stops.
Its ears fall back, head turning to the trees. Rosabella watched in confusion, her chest rising and falling. The wolf’s tail tucks between it’s legs, letting out a soft whimper before it runs off. Rosabella completely forgotten.
She sat there frozen, her eyes darting around for the wolf. Slowly, wincing from pain, she clutched her side. She limps away from the tree. Her eyes catch the glint of a silver arrow. She swallows. She walks to retrieve it. She winces further when she bends to pick it up. She looked around the white forest for anymore of her arrows when she came to a startling revelation. She didn’t recognize this forest. The air smelled different, and trees were different. She had no idea which direction led where.
She was lost.
She exhaled an exhausted sigh. She starts walking.
She walks for hours, in no particular direction. She pauses when something moves at the corner of her eyes. She sniffs the air. She didn’t smell anything, She continued on, her ears straining to listen for the wolf. If it had decided to come back and finish her off.
There! She sees a shadow move quickly through the trees. The scent of a wolf reaching her. She pulls her crossbow, setting her arrow. Her eyes darting around, trying to keep it within her line of sight. Once her bow is drawn back, she raises it to her eyes.
A shadow moves, she fires her arrow. A loud thud falls to the ground. Eyes widening, she forgets about her injuries and runs towards the sound. Turning around a tree, she gasps inaudibly.
A tall young man sat on the ground, clutching his arm that fresh red blood dribbled down to the snow. The wounds began to heal immediately. Rosabella stared in shock and bewilderment. The man was shirtless, but he wore black pants and boots. His skin was lightly sun kissed, his dirty blonde hair was messy and fell to his shoulder.
Rosabella ought to look away, but on his naked chest, was a large black cursed looking wolf on the left side of his chest. The black wolf’s head near his heart, its jaws full of sharp pangs. Rosabella finally looked up to his eyes. His eyes were an ice blue, and he was glaring at her.
“Do you make a habit of shooting people when you’re lost in the woods, or am I the exception?”
Tag list: Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!
Welcome to Chapter 12! This is an Original Story inspired by the tale of Red Riding Hood. I would like to say a special thank to my best friend and co-author Olivia ( @asunshinepuff ) for joining me on writing this world onto paper.
CW: This chapter contains a brief mention of nudity, blood, corpses, and weapons, and something that you can only imagine in your nightmares. You have your warning!
This story contains only original characters created by Olivia and myself. For those of you who want to be tagged, feel free to send an ask to me or Olivia on her blog. If you have any questions, theories, or curiosities about any of our characters or how the story will progress, send them to the ask box!
Now without Further Adieu!
Chapter 12: The Creature
1838
Rosabella, Cassandra, and Felis all stared at Red as he gave his recount over the centuries. Cassandra sat on the farthest chair away from Red, eyes in suspicion. Felis stood behind her, leaning on the wall, a silent guard. Rosabella sat on the small trunk at the foot of the bed. Red sat by the fireplace, looking into the flames as he spoke. He spoke of the witch who cursed him, Bardolph’s transformation into the first bitten werewolf, living up in the snowy mountain, and the golden doe. His weapons had been taken, and locked into the chest that Rosabella sat on. At the end of his tale, Felis cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the women.
“Rosabella, Cassandra, a word please.” He walked to the opposite far side of the large room. The two women follow close behind. Felis opens his mouth to speak but Cassandra beats him to it.
“I don’t trust him.” She says in a hushed tone. Eyeing Red in clear skepticism.
“You don’t trust anybody. The only person you ever trusted wasn’t even a person. It was an ermine.” Rosabella retorted as she gave Cassandra a reproachful eye.
“Actually, the only person I’ve ever trusted at first was you.” Cassandra admits looking to Rosabella, “However, I see your point.”
Red scoffed in the distance. The trio ignored him, Felis spoke.
“I am still wrapping my head around the fact that there is someone actually older than I am.” he looked between the women.
“He tells about the witch who caused all this mess and that’s what you paid attention to?” Cassandra raises her eyebrows.
“You must admit that he looks well for being 1,000 years old.”
“I’m not admitting that.” She shakes her head, in effort to try and keep focus on the tale and situation at hand. “Alright well, what do you both suppose we do then? Our options are slim and we’re running out of time.”
“Pardon me, but he’s the father of all werewolves, even if we wanted to kill to him, we don’t even know if we could.” Felis said, looking between the women.
Rosabella frowned, she hissed, “We are not killing him, we wouldn’t be any better than those wolves who killed hundreds of people.”
“I can hear you.” Red’s voice broke through their hushed tone. “I’m a wolf, I have stronger senses than humans. I would appreciate it if you didn’t decide to kill me.”
The group of three looked amongst themselves awkwardly before dispersing. They approach the wolf.
“Is Red even your real name?”
The wolf merely looked away to the farthest wall. “It’s because I wore a red hood. I still do.”
“So all those wolves we’ve fought, are they your descendants?”
Red glared at the blonde woman. “They most certainly are not my descendants. I never sired any child. Nor have I lain with anyone.”
Felis looked at Red in surprise. “Wait, seriously? You’ve never been with anyone? For a thousand years?”
Red looked at Felis with an indignant expression. “I was cursed by a woman who was to be my wife. I bit an innocent man and turned him into a monster. Given what happened to Bardolph when I bit him, do you really think I would risk siring more monsters like me?” He raised a brow expectantly at the pirate.
“No, I suppose not.” Felis answered.
“Besides, I had no interest in pursuing a mate.” He looked away. “I am not human anymore, I am a beast and such activities are of no interest to me.”
Felis nodded his head understanding, Cassandra and Rosabella only looked between the two men in confusion. Cassandra spoke. “Now that we have confirmed that Bardolph is in fact a werewolf, we need to stop him.”
“And how do you plan to do that? He nearly killed me when in his first year with the curse.”
Cassandra looks off in thought, “Silver kills their kind. We pierce his heart with a silver dagger or arrow.” Red frowned at that.
“We’ve tracked him to this village.” Felis explained.
“He’s not here, that I can assure you.” Red spoke curtly.
“Well then where is he headed?” Cassandra asked, looking back to Red.
“He’s heading north,” Rosabella said at last, “his path is north, all the villages with victims were all recent. The first victim we came across was days old.”
Red stood from his seat, towering over them. “Then I’m going north. I will not let him escape this time.” He moved to the door.
“We’re coming with you.” Rosabella blocked his path. “I still have no explanation as to how I failed to identify him as a werewolf.”
“I don’t see how you could have, I am the only one to bear the curse mark-”
“That’s no excuse, I am coming with you like it or not.” She spoke firmly.
“I don’t like it, but I can’t stop you, just like you can’t stop me.” He moved to open the door, Rosabella closed it shut.
Felis sighed. “So I suppose this makes us allies for now?” He looked between all three of them, “I’ll go tell the innkeeper that we are leaving. Now. In the middle of the night. Because we cannot wait until morning.” He said sarcastically.
Gathering their horses, and one for Red, they rode out to the next village, past the snowy mountain Red had lived in for the past thousand years. Red said he scented the scent of something faul carried on the wind coming from a nearby village. Bardolph’s scent was coming from that direction as well. They reached the village of Mirstone in two days, near noon. They settled themselves into an inn that had hot springs.
“We’ll search the town, we’ll meet back at the inn by nightfall.” Rosabella looked over the group. Red begrudgingly agreed. They each went in seperate directions, Rosabella took to the vendors in the open air markets.
“I haven’t seen any man with that description.” A woman with brown eyes answered Rosabella.
Rosabella’s shoulders fell, she had been searching for hours, yet not a single person had been able to tell her anything about Bardolph. Nox looked up to Rose, sitting down very much like how a dog would, ears perked up. She sighed.
“But some have been going missing.” The woman admitted, looking around as if she might be heard.
“Who?” Rosabella stepped closer. The woman hesitantly answered, leaning closer as she spoke in a low whisper.
“ A young man went missing a few days ago, and two others before that. No one has seen them for weeks.”
Missing? “Thank you.”
The woman quickly made her way across the path. Nox hopped onto a barrel, then to her shoulders. Rosabella brought her hand to her chin, resting her arm on the other hand. Rosabella brows furrowed in thought. That didn’t sound at all like how Bardolph would strike, and it was men. Not women. With a sigh, Rosabella decided to return to the inn, she was exhausted.
Nox chirped happily as she walked back. Stepping into the inn, the elderly innkeeper smiled. A petite woman with grey hair and grey eyes behind round spectacles.
“Welcome back Miss. Will you be taking a bath in our springs?” She asked gently.
Rosabella paused, Nox looked at the old woman, sniffing the air. She probably should take a bath, they had traveled for days and the last time she bathed was at Erinna home. She frowned. She really needed a bath.
“Yes that would be lovely thank you.” She answered, the old woman nodded her head.
“It’s cleared out by now, you shouldn’t be disturbed. The men go to another spring.”
Rosabella accepted the drying cloths given to her, then quickly went to her room to gather her soap and a bathrobe. Nox walked excitedly beside her, as she walked to a door with the word women on it. The door opened to a wooden hallway with an opening to the hot spring. Leaving her bathrobe on a wooden bench in the hallway, she walked from wooden floors to smooth warm stone to the steaming hot springs. Leaving the drying cloth on a nearby rock, wearing nothing but the gold antler and ruby necklace. Nox jumped onto a large rock and jumped into the hotspring. His nose peeking from the water he swam towards Rosabella, ears twitching.
The night sky twinkled as the stars shined their light down to the earth below. The winter air had no effect on Rosabella as she reached for her bar of soap, beginning to lather her long hair. Lost in thought, she pondered over what little clues she had found. Hopefully the others had better luck than she did. She sighed, sinking into the overly warm water.
Nox nose dived to try to reach the bottom of the spring. Rosabella peaked an eye open underwater, seeing Nox swimming about with ease. Her hair floating to the surface, the red streaks in her hair shimmering underwater from the light coming from the warm glow of the lanterns on the surface. Rosabella blew a bubble, then rose to the surface, taking a deep breath. Her eyes catch the sight of something small and white falling. She lifted her hand from the water, catching it. It melted in her warm hand. It was snowing.
A loud crash of cracking wood startled Rosabella and Nox. Her head snapping to the sound, her eyes widen in shock. There was Red, on the ground laying next to the splintered wood of the fence, glaring in the direction of where he came from. His teeth were barred as she snarled at whoever threw him through the wall. The shape of a staggering man walked through the hole in the fence.
The man reeked of the stench of wolf and death. Nox growled as he climbed out of the spring. Rosabella gasped at the sight of the man, he didn’t look human at all. Half his face elongated like that of a wolf, one eye was a beedy red, the other had lost its color. Patches of fur grew on his arms and legs, the remaining skin was red from irritation. His legs looked like the ones from the hind legs of a canine, and his feet were elongated, with clawed toes at each end. It was absolutely hideous to look at.
Red rose to his feet, his arms were spread open, preparing for another attack. Rosabella stood.
“Red!” She exclaimed, the shock not entirely gone.
Red turned his head to look at her, his eyes widened at the sight of her, his eyes quickly snapping away from her bare body. “Rosabella!” He said in an alarmed taut tone.
Rosabella frowned at his reaction, she paled in realization, sinking into the water, her arms wrapping around her. Her eyes searching for the drying cloth she left on a boulder. Her eyes landed on Nox standing on his hand legs, holding the drying cloth in his mouth.
The man, or creature, stalked towards Red, lunging for his throat. Red easily dodged, punching the thing right in its elongated jaw. The creature whimpered, then retaliated by biting Red’s forearm. Red growled menacingly at it, his other arm reaching for the scruff of the creature's neck. The creature let go of his hand, and rammed its head into Red’s.
Red’s eyes flashed gold, ignoring the pain in favor of pushing it back, reaching for his sword. The creature knocked it out of his hands as it crashed its entire body into Red’s. The sword clattering to the ground. Red was pinned underneath the creature on top of him, its mouth snapping its fanged human teeth at him, Red kept the things' jaws as far away as he could. The monster’s weight crushing him, Red’s fangs gleamed as he growled.
The sound of metal piercing flesh resonated in the night air, the creature fell limp in his arms. He pushed it off of himself. Rosabella stood behind the creature, her eyes wide at the sight of its twitching corpse. Panting for breath, trembling as she clutched Red’s sword tightly. Her hair dripping to the ground, shivering from the cold, her drying cloth doing nothing to keep her warm. The creature’s red beady eye dimed.
She felt something warm placed on her shoulders, warmth enveloping her body. Her eyes blinked slowly, coming out of her daze. Firm yet gentle hands pried the bloody sword that she stabbed the creature’s heart with from her hands. She turned to look at Red. He wiped the blade clean, he kept his eyes down, refusing to meet her gaze.
“What was that thing?” She spoke in a breathy whisper. His eyes lifted to hers, refusing to look anywhere else but her face.
“I don’t know.” He answered courtly.
The gleam of something shiny caught his eye, unintentionally looking down to the gold antler and ruby necklace on her neck. He grew silent. She watched him with dazed eyes.
A gasp reached their ears, Red and Rosabella looked to the old innkeeper, who looked in horror at the chaos before her old eyes. She looked at the two youths before her, standing awfully close to each other.
“What in heaven’s name happened?” She asked meekly, carefully stepping over the rubble.
Rosabella flushed in embarrassment, “I apologize for the mess but,” she pointed to the corpse lying just a few feet away from them, the old gasped in horror at the sight of the monster, “we had a bit of a situation.”
The old woman muttered something about having to make quick repairs to the wall. “Red?” Rosabella called softly.
Red looked back to her eyes, “You should go inside. Unless you plan to catch a cold,” then left her in the springs. Rosabella watched him leave, tilting her head in puzzlement. The warm cloth on her shoulder sagged, hand quickly catching the top two ends. The cloth was lined with black bur, and the fabric was warm and soft on her fingertips, and wine red. Her eyes snapped back to where Red had stood. He wasn’t wearing his cloak. Her heartbeat ringing loudly in her ears. He left her his cloak.
In a daze, Rosabella returned to her room, put on clean clothes and her red cloak, combed her hair and Nox’s fur. She folded Red’s cloak gently and put it to the side as she waited for Cassandra and Felis to return. She wondered if they too came across that creature. In the end, Cassandra and Felis returned, the four of them gathered to speak over anything they found.
Cassandra looked exhausted as she sat beside the fireplace, Lumi situated in her lap as she looked up at the group, and she was a bit envious of Rosabella managing to get a bath, Felis leaned on the wall, the dim light from the fireplace not helping the shadows under his eyes, and Red looked awake as ever. He was probably used to staying awake days at a time Rosabella mused.
“All I managed to find out is that people have been going missing.” Cassandra began the report with a sigh.
“And most of the people gone missing, are young men, sometimes women.” Felis continued.
Rosabella contemplated that. “I heard the same thing, but Red and I were attacked by something I’ve never seen before.”
Red didn’t bother to comment. Felis seemed to awaken a bit more. “What did you see?”
“It looked like a man, but it had patches of fur all over its body. And its face was distorted, half of it was elongated like a wolf’s, and its legs were like a dog’s. Its hands were clawed. It smelled like death.” Rosabella’s face grew grim.
“Sounds like something out of a nightmare…” Cassandra whispered with a wince.
“I have never heard of such a creature.” Felis pushed himself off the wall.
“Whatever it was, it was strong, Red struggled to fight it off.” Rosabella explained, Red snorted. “I managed to slay the creature with his sword. Piercing its heart.”
Felis looked to Red, “Was it the curse gone wrong?”
Red shook his head. “It’s not my curse, I couldn’t recognize it. Any other wolf I came across I instantly could feel the curse, and they would either pissed their pants like a pup in excitement at meeting me, or run away in terror. There is no in between.”
“Where would something like that even come from?” Cassandra mused, watching as the ermine jumped from her lap and perched himself on her shoulder.
“The north.” Red drew the attention of the others, the room was silent for a long moment.
“How do you know?” Rosabella asked him.
“The scent of magic was heavy, and it smelled like the dirt from the northern forest I once traveled through years ago.” Red explained, his eyes narrowed as he looked to Rosabella.
“That’s a long way for it to travel, you need a boat just to travel up river.”
Felis gave a somber sigh. “I miss my ship.”
Cassandra softly laughed under her breath momentarily. “It would be useful right about now, but it’d be too big to fit on the river.”
“Bardolph is a wolf who is running around murdering women, there are people who have gone missing, a strange creature that has no semblance of self consciousness given that it didn’t respond to pain, is ridiculously strong that it threw Red through a wooden wall, somehow came from the north that you need to travel by the river to get here, looks like what might by the wolf curse, and Red cannot recognize them.” Rosabella listed, her eyes darting as her thoughts raced. “I don’t know how to make sense of all this.”
Cassandra stays silent, mentally running through Rosabella’s list once again. She couldn’t make sense of it either. An obvious connection was evident, though Red’s description of the scent of magic struck out to her the most. Felis walked towards Cassandra’s seat, placing a hand to her shoulder.
“That’s not all.” Red countered. “When I returned for the creature's corpse, half of its face matched the description of one of the missing men.”
The air in the room chilled, Rosabella felt sick. The missing man was this creature and he came from somewhere up in the northern forest? Felis cleared his throat. “I take it we have our heading.”
Welcome to Chapter 1! This is an original story inspired by the tale of red Riding Hood. I would like to say a special thank you to my best friend and co-author Olivia ( @asunshinepuff) for joining me in writing this world onto paper.
This chapter contains many of Olivia’s ocs and some of mine as well. For those of you who want to be tagged to follow along this story, let me know! If you have any curiosities, theories or questions, feel free to ask me or Olivia on her blog.
I hope you enjoy, now without further adieu!
Chapter 1: Wolf’s Time
A young little girl, around the age of eight, was dressed in a bright red dress, as usual thanks to her grandmother, was carrying a basket in her arms as she made her way to a willow tree where her dear friend often sat. Her dark black hair with bright red streaks of red was up in a bun, her sapphire eyes sparkling bright, her fair skin clear and unblemished. Rosabella smiled at her friend, Cassandra, also eight, who she has known all her life, absorbed in a book as usual. She sits down beside her quietly. Her friend was dressed in a white dress with a laced lavender layer on top, her nose stuck in one of the books that her father had brought back from one of his prior trips overseas. Her light golden blonde hair was tied in a fishtail braid, a typical style for the little girl. There was hardly a time where you would see her without it. Her striking sky-blue eyes entirely focused on the pages of the book in her hands, however, she notices her dear friend sitting beside her.
“Hello Rose.”
“Hello Cass, what book are you reading this time?” She peers over Cassandra’s shoulder.
Cassandra looks over to her friend. “Legend of Camelot. Would you like to read it with me?”
“Perhaps later, I want to gather some herbs for grandmere, do you want to come with me?
“Why not? I can always finish the story a bit later. I’ll gladly help.” She replies with a nod.
Rosabella stands up, offering her hand to her friend. Cassandra smiles, graciously taking the hand of her friend. The girls walk to the river where the herbs were, and on their way back, they see a group of children of various ages gathered around something. So, with curiosity, the girls make their way to the group.
The girls walked right up to the boy. “What are you doing?”
A boy with brown hair, and green eyes looks up to the girls. In his hand was a stick that he was using to poke a baby snake that was not even venomous. “I found this snake sneaking into the village! Thought I might have some fun with it!”
Cassandra frowned in distaste, “Why? He cannot even hurt us!”
Rosabella, frowning as well, steps forward, taking the stick from the boy, glaring at him. “Leave him alone, he’s a baby!”
The boy glares and stands up, he was two years older than both girls. He towered threateningly over them. “Oi! Give it back. Or my father will hear about this!” He reaches forward and takes the stick back.
As the boy towers over them, Cassandra’s eyebrows raise, not feeling threatened by the boy even a little. Her eyes narrow as he takes the stick back from Rosabella who was glaring right back at him. Rosabella steps around him as she walks to the snake and gently picks it up in her hand. Then she walks to the slow moving river, gently setting the snake into the water, she turns back to face the other children and their ring leader.
“You’re a dollop head! Why must you be so cruel!” She marches back up the hill and holds her ground against the older boy.
The boy sneers “It’s an animal! They can’t think or feel!” He pushes Rosabella back.
Rosabella glares at the boy in return. “Don’t. Touch. Me. And if anybody can’t think or feel, it’s you!” She pushes him down to the ground with her arms.
Cassandra pulls Rosabella back with her arms, holding her back. “Rose stop! He’s not worth a fight, he’s too much of a cretin.”
Rosabella glared at the boy for a moment before she sighs but listens to her friend.
“You’re right… Come on let’s go.” She turns away.
Gregory stands back up and grins. “That’s right, go back crying to mummy, oh wait, you can’t cause she’s dead!”
Rosabella stops walking, her face void of emotion as she looks to Cassandra with a look. Meeting Rosabella's gaze, she sighs letting go of her arm, then looks back at the boy. “Gregory I tried to help, but you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.”
“What?” Gregory blinks in confusion.
One moment, he was standing, the next, he was on the ground. Rosabella had tackled the older boy to the ground and both began to struggle. Managing to get off of the boy when he tried to punch her. Gregory sits up and reaches out to try and grab Rosabella’s dress. While the two were brawling, Cassandra walked over and around the two, and without hesitation, she smacked Gregory upside the head with her book. “No! Stop!”
Gregory winces from the pain and rubs his head, his friends pull him back up and they run away. “I’ll get you for this Louve!”
Rosabella watches the group of boys leave, standing up she dusts herself off, grabbing her basket that she had dropped. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Cassandra replies with a smile. Satisfied with being able to help her friend. Gregory annoyed her immensely. “Come on, let’s go home.”
The girls make their way back to the village, and people would whisper whenever they saw the two girls. Rosabella’s arm was linked with Cassandra’s as they walked together, they heard a woman speaking to her husband in front of the baker’s window about how Rosabella is stronger than most girls her age. Then, Cassandra spots a man glance their way as they walk by. Whispering to the other male about how a girl should not be allowed to read.
The blonde haired girl couldn’t bear to listen anymore as she turned away, looking down. Rosabella looks at her friend. “Don’t listen to them, they’re just stupid…”
Cassandra sighs, and nods in agreement. She looks at her friend, the feeling of hurt clear within her blue eyes. It was difficult for her to hear such a thing. “I know… But it’s hard not to listen.”
“I know, but grandmere always says “‘Best not to dwell on the opinions of the dim witted or you’ll lose what you believe.” She smiles encouragingly.
Cassandra tilts her head contemplatively as she listens to the familiar words. “She does always say that, doesn’t she?” She says with a smile in return. They continued to walk in comfortable silence before Rosabella spoke.
“I best get home now, see you tomorrow?”
“Of course! See you tomorrow!”
The girls go their separate ways and another year goes by, it’s a very cold winter and the full moon is near. Cassandra was reading as always, as her back rested against the trunk of a tree. She cannot help but shiver as a cold wind blows past. Rosabella, who was reading beside her friend, shivered at the cold gust of wind. The school-bell rings, signaling the end of another school day, and the boys run free with loud cheers as they run towards the meadow. The girls decide to go to a quieter place to read. So they head to Cassandra’s home.
Erinna, sits in the living room working on a new cloak for a client, she pauses when she hears a knock at the door. Placing down her needle and then fabric, she walks over to the door and opens it. She smiles at seeing her daughter and Rose, “Hello Girls.”
Cassandra smiles in return, “Hello Mother.”
“Hello Ms. Azure. I hope you don’t mind us coming in early, it’s cold outside.” Rosabella’s red shawl bellows as another cold wind chills them all.
“Of course not, come in. It’s much too cold to be outside at the moment without thick clothing.” She steps aside and opens the door wider for the girls to come in. Rosabella and Cassandra enter the house and sit down on stools. Cassandra was very thankful for the fact that her mother had a fire started at the fireplace. She sits down on a stool next to Rose. Erinna closes the door, stopping the cold air from entering their home.
“What are you making?” Rosabella looks at the clothes near the older woman.
“A cloak for one of the women in the village.” She says, as she walks back to where she was working.
“It’s very pretty.”
Erinna smiles at the young girl, “Thank you Rose.”
“My grandmother is making a cloak too. I don’t know who it’s for though.”
“I’m sure it’ll be wonderful. Your grandmere has gifted hands.”
The day began to grow colder and Rosabella had lost track of time. Rosabella was smiling as she drank the warm broth Erinna made. She looks to the window and sees the sun setting. Her eyes widen slightly and she stands from the table.
“Thank you for the broth Mrs. Azure but I have to head home now. Grandmere must be worried!”
Erinna looks at the girl in worry but nods in acceptance, “Alright, but do be careful on your way home.”
“Should I walk with you?” Cassandra suggests.
Rosabella shakes her head. “No, I’ll be alright. I could walk home in my sleep. Thank you for the meal! Good night!” Rosabella puts on her shawl and walks out the door.
With that, Cassandra frowns lightly as she watches the door shut. It was rather strange that Rosabella’s grandmere always wanted her home before the sun set. And how panicked Rosabella became whenever she lost track of time. Hopefully Rosabella’s grandmere didn’t scold her too harshly if she was late. Looking out the window, she watches as Rosabella runs off towards the forest to grandmere’s cottage.
As the sun descended behind the mountains, the hunters had returned from their hunt, bringing back only one buck. Food was scarce, with the wolves killing everything in sight, and the people of the village would always hope for a reprieve in a successful hunt. When the moon began to make its peak in the sky, no dared venture out of their homes. Royce watched the moon rise from the window. It was full.
“Wolf’s Time.” The hunter closes the shutters before turning to face Cassandra, who sat on the stairs re-reading one of her favorite books when she hears her father speak.
“Do you think it’ll come again…?” She asks, glancing up to her father over the pages of her book.
“It might, wolves come out on the full moon. Walking into the village with ease.” As if to emphasize his point, a bone chilling wolf howl in the distance is almost missed. Deep within the forest. Cassandra gasps in fright, dropping the book in her hands before she leaves her place on the stairs and clutches her father’s waist.
The hunter listened to the howls, his hand pressed gently against his child’s head. His eyes seemed to search for the source, even when there was nothing in the hut with them. When it grew silent, he looked down to his daughter.
“I have seen many wolves, Cassandra, but the ones who venture into our village,” he paused, his skin felt cold, his face looked strained and pale. “They are not ordinary wolves. You best stay inside when it’s wolf’s time. Many people have died because of that wolf.”
She looks up to her father, thoughts racing at his explanation. As scary as it was, she couldn’t help but voice her worry and curiosity. “Has the wolf ever come inside a house on a full moon?”
“No, at least none that I have heard about.” The hunter lifts his child into his arms before he walks to the chair by the fire and takes a seat. Placing the little girl on his lap. “I’m impressed that old woman has never been attacked, especially since she lives closer to the forest.” The hunter muses.
Cassandra tilts her head at his musing, giggling softly to herself, “She’s stronger than you’d think papá, I think she can protect herself from wolves.” After a moment of silence, the soft crinkling of the fire providing a form of peace for the young girl, she looks down and away from her father’s eyes, planning her next words carefully. She speaks softly, “…Do you think I could ever be strong enough to join the hunt?” The young girl looked back up to her father’s brown eyes hopefully.
The old hunter takes a deep breath as he thinks over Cassandra’s question. The hunter never wanted his daughter to be anywhere near the dangers of the world, he’d prefer if she stayed safe in the village. “I believe that in order for you to join the hunt, you being strong enough to fight a wolf, it's best to head to bed now Cassandra.” The hunter looked down to his daughter’s blue eyes. “Books are useful for knowledge but they will do little in gaining your strength. You best stop reading late into the night and start following your bedtime. It’s late.”
The little girl sighs quietly as she looks down, disappointment clear upon her face. “Yes papá… Goodnight.” She climbs off of his lap and stands, walking up to the stairs and bends down to gently pick up her book, studying it for any creases as she heads upstairs to her bedroom.
“Goodnight Cassandra.”
As the snow fell through the night, not a soul was out of bed, as the howls of the wolf are the only reminder for every creature and man to hide from the hunger of the wolf. Cassandra wakes suddenly from her sleep, her eyes bleary as she rubs her eyes with her tiny fist in an attempt to fight off sleep. She gasps as the howl of the wolf pulling her from her dreamland. Sitting up, she looks to the window and sees the snow falling, and down below, a very large black animal was sniffing around the village, tail wagging.
The little girl quietly gets out of her bed, hissing at the cold wooden floor. She searches for her shoes before she leaves her room. Biting her lip as she passed her parents room, she grabbed her mother’s old cloak that was just barely short enough for her to avoid tripping on, before she descended down the stairs. She climbs onto a stool that was beneath a window, her eyes widening at the sight of the black dog.
The dog’s ear flicked to the side, before turning around. Trotting out of the village. Cassandra quickly climbed down the stool before walking to the front door. Just as she was about to reach the handle, she pauses. Her thoughts dancing in mind, with a deep breath, she opens the door.
Closing the door quietly behind her, from her porch she could see the dog running off. Pulling the hood over her head and wrapping the familiar warm cloth around herself, she walks in the cold snow, following it. The animal walks to the meadow, paw prints left on the snow. Her breath was clearly visible in the cold air. Turning around, she then looked behind her, she had walked so far. Cassandra winces at the thought of her father finding her out in the village in the middle of the night. Oh how much trouble she would be in. But, she was so close to the dog, it would be a waste to turn back now. With a nod in affirmation, she faced forward and continued on.
Quietly gasping, she spots paw prints in the snow, crouching down to look at the prints. The paw prints were the size of a full grown dog, she tilts her head to the side in curiosity as she presses her hand to the snow next to the prints. Ah, her hands matched the size of them. A very big dog then. She freezes in place as something rustles behind her. Her eyes wide in fear, her heart racing. She swallows thickly before she turns around oh so slowly.
A pair of blue eyes peek out, before it emerges from its hiding spot. Her eyes widen even more, slowly standing back up. Afraid to look away from the eyes. To so much as even turn her back. It was no dog. It was a wolf. The black wolf tilts their head. It wags their tail. Then, it whined before it lowered the front of its body with its tail wagging. As if, it wanted to play.
Cassandra’ head tilts in confusion at the sign. Did it want to… play? With her? Despite her fear, she couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at the actions of the pup. Though if it was in shock or in relief, she was uncertain. “... Do you want to play?”
The wolf bobs its head up and down in response. She looks at the wolf for a moment before she looks to the ground, searching for something to play with. Finding a stick, she grabs it tightly before she looks back to the wolf. She frowns lightly in concentration as she raises her arm to throw it. The wolf’s tail wagged as it shifted in excitement. Closing her eyes as she threw the stick, the wolf moved, then she quickly clasped her hands to her face. She couldn’t bear to watch the wolf change its mind and decide to eat her.
A small whine reached her ears. At a moment’s breath, she moved her hands away as she peaked. The wolf sat right in front of her, the stick right at her feet. She was alive.
Huh? Why hadn’t it tackled her? Maybe it wasn’t a wolf after all. It was still small to be a wolf. And Papá did say wolves had yellow eyes.
Cassandra lowered her hands as she looked at the dog’s eyes. They were so blue, they seemed… familiar. Why? The dog moved to the paw at the stick. With a small laugh, Cassandra continued their game. They played for an hour at best, before the dog stopped, its ears perking up.
“What’s wrong?”
The dog huffed before it trotted to Cassandra’s side, taking the cloak into its jaws as it began to pull the little girl back towards the village. She couldn’t help but scold the dog lightly as she was dragged along. The dog only stopped when they arrived right in front of her home. The dog promptly sat down as it turned its head to her, and she looked down to the dog. The dog was clearly smart. And knew where she lived. Cassandra decided she liked this dog very much, maybe Papa would let her keep it.
She walks up the steps to her porch as she waves to the dog. “Good night.”
The dog wags its tail before it trots off, pausing to look behind at the girl. Tail drooping when it saw that the girl hadn’t gone inside yet. It promptly sat down again. Sighing, the answer was obvious. Clearly she had to go inside. Cassandra waved once more before she quickly entered her home. Closing the door behind her, she climbs onto the stool from earlier to look out the window. There, she watches the dog head towards her friend’s Grandmere’s house in the forest. Just at the very edge of the village, at the start of the forest, the wolf turns into Rosabella, who looks around before she goes inside the cottage.
Her eyes widen as she watches the dog turn into a person. Not just any person. But… it couldn't be… “Rose?”
Welcome to Chapter 8! This is an Original Story inspired by the tale of Red Riding Hood. I would like to say a special thank to my best friend and co-author Olivia ( @asunshinepuff ) for joining me on writing this world onto paper.
CW: There are mentions of bodies. You have been warned!
This story contains only original characters created by Olivia and myself. For those of you who want to be tagged, feel free to send an ask to me or Olivia on her blog. If you have any questions, theories, or curiosities about any of our characters or how the story will progress, send them to the ask box! I know this chapter is shorter than usual but I promise to make up for it in the next chapter!
Now without Further Adieu!
Chapter 8: A String of Corpses
Rosabella was welcomed into the Azure’s home to get cleaned up and eat a warm meal. Erinna pried Rosabella’s clothes to be washed. She spent the next few hours explaining to Cassandra and Felis what had happened after the wolf had dragged her away. Cassandra’s temper flared whenever Red or Bardolph were mentioned.
“I want to return to Norwich.” Rosabella admitted.
“What?” Cassandra frowned. “Are you certain?”
Rosabella’s sapphire blue eyes sparkled in conviction. “More than ever.”
Cassandra watched her friend’s eyes sparkle and with a sigh, she nodded in agreement. “Alright. Guess we’re off.”
They rode out in the dark of night. Gathering the supplies they would need ,Rosabella, Cassandra, and Felis said their quick goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Azure. Royce was not pleased, Erinna made them promise to write to her for anything, anything at all.
They rode for an entire day, the horses now used to their long journeys and needing little rest. On the second day, they arrive near nightfall at the village where Rosabella and Bardolph parted ways. The village of Edinburgh. The horse slowed to a stop at the gate.
Rosabella’s horse, Gypsy, grew uneasy. She stroked Gypsy’s neck “Shhh, easy girl.” Looking up, Rosabella scanned the village, it was silent. “It’s quiet.”
Cassandra’s horse, Eumelia, walked beside Rosabella’s. Her sky blue eyes watching the town carefully, she was tense. “To quiet… ”
“I believe we ought to put on our masks.” Rosabella whispered.
The blonde nodded in agreement, “I believe that’s a wise idea.” She whispered.
Reaching into their cloaks, each woman pulled out a mask. Cassandra’s mask was lavender with a pale purple ombre in the center, with intricate detailing in lavender, a dark purple satin ribbon as straps to tie the mask. The light colors compared to the bright blue of her eyes was a strong contrast.
While, Rosabella’s mask was black with thin red embroidery that swirled all around the mask, a rose on the left eye, a black satin ribbon as straps to tie the mask. Red marking around the eyes of the mask made Rosabella’s iris striking.
“Oh I missed those pairs of mystery eyes.” Felis commented fondly. He was the only one who didn’t wear a mask.
Dismounting from their horses, they walk into the village. Relieved to note that the village had not suddenly been abandoned in a matter of a few days, rather gathering in the center, wearing dark mourning clothes. Given the dark cloaks of Felis and Cassandra, Rosabella’s red cloak stood out, the group of villagers all turned their heads to the trio.
The group of three stopped in their tracks. There at the center was a body laying on the ground. Rosabella made inaudible gasp, quickly walking towards the body. It was the woman from before. The woman who Bardolph had relations with. Her eyes were dull, lifeless and maggots clung to gaping wounds. Rose crouched down, the woman smelled dead for longer than a day. Tilting her head, Rose saw clawed marks on her neck. Rosabella looked to the village chief.
“How long had she been dead?”
“We found her this afternoon,” the leader spoke, his eyes couldn't look away from the corpse, “the villagers had smelled a horrible stench coming from the barn. She’s been dead for four days.”
Rosabella gasped. Four days, that was the last day she and Bardolph had been here. She quickly stood, stepping away from the corpse. Cassandra placed a comforting hand to her shoulder, grounding her to reality. “What is it?”
“Bardolph… was the last to be with her.” A chill ran through Rosabella’s spine.
Cassandra frowned, looking to Felis, a silent request to inspect the body himself as she looked after Rosabella. Pulling her away from the gathered villagers. Walking back to the horses, Cassandra turned to look at Rose.
“Do you believe he did this?”
“I don’t know, the musky scent still lingers on her corpse, but he didn’t smell of wolf…” Rosabella swallowed. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The memory of Bardolph’s gleam through the window shook Rosabella to her core. She now knows what she felt that night. She felt like she was being hunted. And he was the hunter.
“We have to search for him.” Rosabella eyes shifted from terror to determination. “I won’t allow him to take another life.”
“He’s certainly suspicious.” Cassandra acknowledges, “If he’s the reason for her death then who knows how many lives might be lost already.”
Felis approached them, shaking his head. “She bore the mark of a beast on her neck. Whatever killed her, wasn’t human.”
Rosabella frowned. If it wasn’t Bardolph, then the only explanation could be that there was another wolf. Her eyes widened. The brown wolf from the forest! It must’ve followed her in it’s human form! She paled, Cassandra had to keep her steady. She did this. The wolf followed her, how many deaths had she been responsible for? How had she not noticed? She raised a hand to her forehead. This was all her fault.
“Rose, what is it?” Cassandra looked at her friend with worry and concern clear in her eyes, if the light tightening on her arm was any indication.
“We have to go back, to all the villages, I know who killed her. And I can only pray they didn’t anyone else.”
They rode out for the next four days, resting at each village, searching for any signs of death. Only one other village in Arcine, had a death. Another woman, and the scent of Bardolph was all over her, but she had the marks of something inhuman. Rosabella couldn’t stand the sight of her.
On the fifth day, the trio made it to Norwich. Quickly settling in at the furthest inn near the hot springs. Rosabella gave Bardolph’s description to Cassandra and Felis.
“Searched everywhere. The stable, the taverns, the markets.”
“Brothels?” Felis asked, Cassandra elbowed him in the ribs. “I was being serious Cassandra.”
Cassandra gave him a look before shaking her head, “Why would he go to a brothel though? Wouldn’t it be a risk?”
The group go their separate ways. Cassandra headed for the library first. Who knows if the supposed traveler or murderer enjoyed books? Walking into the building, men quickly stared at her, frowning even. She rolled her eyes as she scoffed. Proudly entering the building, searching the corridors and aisles. She was about to crash into someone before a pair of hands gripped her shoulders and directed her to the side. The man was ridiculously tall, with shoulder length blond hair, and blue eyes. He was dressed in red.
“Thank you, I hardly saw you.” Cassandra admits honestly.
“It’s no trouble.” The man gave a simple response. Not bothering to look down at her, simply carrying on with searching for whatever it was he was searching for. Cassandra was mildly stunned, he didn’t even seem the least bit perturbed with her in the library in the first place. He eyed her, noticing that she was still there.
“Is there something that you need?” He asked bluntly?
“No, nothing. Have a good day sir.”
The man didn’t answer her, if anything he only looked mildly peeved that she was still here. Cassandra decided she didn’t like him.
Across town, Felis had decided to search the taverns, which ended with Felis somehow in a drinking match. He only smirked, he’s had decades to perfect his technique. He stayed in one single tavern for the majority of the day. Cassandra would have his head if she knew. “Well gents, I’m afraid I’ve won this round, and the last sixteen. Now I must get going, if I don’t, I will be a dead man by morning.” He grinned as he rose to his feet, his chair bumping into someone.
“My apologies,” Felis quickly offered, “I didn’t see you.”
“I know.” The man’s brow only twitched in annoyance.
Felis chuckled lightly, the man was dressed in a rich wine red cloak with black fur, his hair reached his shoulders and had blue eyes. The man simply walked away from Felis. The pirate starred after the man, who was nearly the same height as himself.
“What a strange fellow.”
Rosabella had taken to the streets. Asking the townspeople if they had seen a man with Bardolph’s description. She walked for hours, no one had ever seen or heard of a man called Bardolph Sinclair before. With dusk approaching, she decided to make the trek back to the inn to meet with the others.
Now what? She searched nearly the entire town of Norwich and not a single person knew who he was. Rosabella didn’t know either, only that he had a string of bodies that followed him wherever he went. She frowned as she walked silently, snow began to fall. A sigh escaped her, she could her breath in the cold winter air. Lifting her head, her eyes landed upon the person she had intentionally set out to look for, to ask about her necklace. Her lips parted as she blinked in surprise.
Red stood there, just a few feet away from her. Staring right at her. He looked annoyed.
“You have the most annoying friends.” He said bluntly. “They have the unfortunate habit of bumping into people.”
Rosabella suddenly remembered her first impression of the man. She scoffed. “Is that any way to say hello to a friend?” She raised an expectant brow. “What happened to decorum?”
“We are not friends. Merely acquaintances.” He retorted. “We met in the woods, nothing more.”
“You were the only one who had forgone decorum and called me childish.” She snapped.
“At least they do not share your habit of shooting people.” He smirked lightly. It was just too easy.
Rosabella groaned. “I already apologized! You cannot hold that over me forever.” She crossed her arms, her brows raised in defiance. Red only looked amused.
“You’d be surprised. Still hurts.”
Rosabella frowned at that. Quickly walking over to him, gripping the arm she had unintentionally injured, pulling the sleeve back. There was no wound. She glared up at him. “Liar.”
Red pulled his arm free, shaking his head reproachfully. “Simply because you cannot see it, does not mean it has stopped healing.”
Rosabella sighed. “What are you doing here? I’d thought you have left by now. Given that you travel.”
“I usually stay for a month.” Red looked across the street. “And you, I didn’t expect you back in Norwich.”
“I am searching for someone.” She omitted.
“Another one of your friends?” He asked indifferently.
Rosabella shook her head. “No, I am searching for a man. I believe him to be responsible for the murders of several women. And I suspect there to be more.”
Red’s eyes snapped towards her. He looked… alarmed. “I apologize.” He said quietly, “I hope you find him.”
Rosabella nodded her head, “Thank you, perhaps you have heard of him.”
Red scoffed, “I doubt I would know any murderers in this century who are still alive.”
Rosabella ignored him, “He is a tall man, not as tall as you. He has brown curled hair, and hazel eyes that seem to have gold flecks in them when the sun reflects off them.” She paused, “His name is Bardolph Sinclair.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Her heart raced, the air around them seemed to thicken with the sheer rage and power radiating off the man before. His icy blue eyes had darkened immensely, he was glaring right into her sapphire eyes. But for some strange reason, she didn’t feel afraid. Only, curious.
“He’s alive?” He seethed out from a snarl.
Rosabella rose a brow. “I would assume so, I met him nearly a week ago.”
Red seemed to have stopped breathing, but Rosabella could hear his heartbeat, and the shallow breathes he released.
“Bardolph, are you certain that is his name?”
“Bardolph Sinclair?”
“I don’t care for his last name, he always changed it. But Bardolph is always the same.” Red stated quickly. Rosabella frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Red grunted in annoyance, turning away from her, running a hand through his hair. “Nearly 300 years later, you show up in Paris?” He laughed dryly.
Rosabella followed after him as he walked. “What do you mean 300 hundred years? He’s human!”
Red gave a sarcastic laugh. “Oh I assure you, he most certainly is not.”
Rosabella grabbed his arm, stopping him. She glared. “How could you know that?”
Red didn’t hesitate. “Because I am the reason that he became a monster like me. Cursed to live forever only to shift every full moon into a beast.”
Rosabella felt her blood freeze. Red was… a werewolf? But how? And if he was 1000 years old, how is he still alive? She should’ve been afraid, the older the werewolf the more powerful they are. But she wasn’t afraid, she wondered if she would ever feel afraid of the man before her. She had been afraid of mere humans, but the man before her was a wolf, and she felt no fear. She only gripped his arm tighter. “Tell me everything. Now.”
Welcome to chapter 2! This is an original story inspired by the tale of Red Riding Hood. I would like to say a special thank you to my best friend and co-author Olivia ( @asunshinepuff) for joining me in writing this world onto paper.
This chapter contains mentions of weapons and an attempted sacrifice. You have been warned.
The story contain only original characters created by Olivia and myself. For those of you who want to be tagged to follow along this story, let me know! If you have any curiosities, theories, or questions, feel free to ask me or Olivia on her blog.
I hope you enjoy, now without further adieu!
Chapter 2: The Bride in Red
The rest of the night Cassandra couldn’t sleep, and at first rays of sunlight, she burst from her bed, dressed for the day and was out the door before her parents could so much as say good morning.
The young girl only had one thought in her mind as she marched across the village. Why? Why didn’t she tell me? Is there something she had done to make her seem untrustworthy? They were best friend’s weren’t they? Practically sisters since they were toddlers. She wasn’t even hurt, at least she thought she wasn’t, she just wanted to know the truth. So she continued on to the cottage inside the woods.
The cottage was a quaint little thing, surrounded by bushes and tree branches that hung low, covering the roof. Snow covered everything, the cottage itself was a warm dark wood with ash hardwood lining the front, the second story was a soft cream in color with dark wood accents. There was smoke coming from the chimney.
Rosabella opened the door, her sapphire blue eyes brightening. “Cass! Good morning!” She tilts her head in confusion, no one ever visits her Grandmère’s cottage. Rosabella shook those thoughts away. The reason why no one visited was because the villagers didn’t like grandmere, and grandmere didn’t like them. But Cassander was her friend, surely her grandmere would like her. Rosabella smiled.
Cassandra had planned what she wanted to say, to ask her friend, but the moment her eyes met Rose’s, the words seemed to disappear. “Good morning,” She finally managed to get out.
Rosabella smiles. “Did you eat breakfast yet? Grandmère made apple pie! I was going to bring it to your house!”
Cassandra’s eyes widen. She did not eat breakfast that morning, and Rose was distracting her from her thoughts, she needed to ask her questions. But they could wait until after pie, right?
“Really? She did?” Cassandra exclaimed. Rosabella promptly nodded before grabbing her hand and pulling her inside the cottage, shutting the door.
“Hold on, let me tell Grandmere you’re here.” Rosabella turns to leave when Cassandra only holds her hand tighter. Rosabella blink in confusion. “Cass?”
The blonde haired girl looked to her friend in desperation, her eyes shifting quickly. She was nervous, she wasn’t nervous on the way over to the cottage, yet her body decided to shake now? With a stained sigh, she looks to her friend. She was determined to not let this go until she had an answer. “I saw you.”
“You saw me?”
Wonderful, how vague could she possibly get? She was very worried about admitting what she saw. She was scared that her best friend would get angry with her and she’d lose a friend. Her only friend really. “Please don’t be mad, I didn’t mean to… but I saw you, at wolf’s time… turn… ”
Rosabella’s smile faltered, her shoulders tensed. “When?”
“When you were at the edge of the forest… last night.” She paused at the pale face of her friend. Her worry only increased at what she might have to say in response. She didn’t know what she should do. If she lost her best friend from this…
Rosabella paled, “It’s not what you think…” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “I didn’t kill the sheep! I swear! Yes I like to eat meat but I would never do that! You have to believe me! I’m not what the villagers say about me! I would never hurt anyone!” Her eyes start to water. “I didn’t want to scare you, but I couldn’t tell you, Grandmère wouldn’t let me! I’m not hurting anyone in the village! Grandmère says I’m too small to be dangerous! I’m a puppy!”
Cassandra tenses at the sight of tears in her friend’s eyes, she hadn’t meant to make her cry. But, now things made sense. Why Rosabella always had to be back home before dark, why she would panic if she lost track of time, why the dog from last night was so smart, why the dog’s eyes looked exactly like Rosabella’s. “Rose…” She whispered softly.
“Please don’t tell anyone, they already think I’m strange…” The raven haired girl with bright red streaks pleaded, tears running down her cheeks.
The blonde shakes her head, she wraps her arms around her friend and hugs her tightly. A small attempt to comfort Rosabella, but she knew she had to say something to calm her down. “You can trust me… I won’t tell anyone.” Please trust me. Her sky blue eyes widened ever so slightly, if she were to keep this a secret, she would have to make sure her father never found out. He wouldn’t hesitate to go after Rose, despite their friendship. “Especially not Papá, He can’t ever know…”
The weeping girl pulled away from the hug as she wiped her tears with her sleeves as she nodded. “Thank you…” Rosabella finally smiles. “So… want some pie?”
“Yes please.” Cassandra replies with a smile of her own. “Rose? For what it’s worth, I don’t think you're strange at all, only” She pauses for a moment, thinking for the word she had recently learned, “stupefying!”
Rosabella’s eyes widened, a wide smile breaking through her tears. “Thank you.”
“So… you’re a wolf?” The girls burst out into laughter. They settle down for pie, Cassandra stays in their cottage nearly the entire day. Only when Grandmere told the little girl to head home did she leave, hugging her friend good night. And the villagers watched in amazement as little Cassandra walked into the village from the path leading to Grandmere’s cottage, she ignored them.
Soon the villagers began to notice the girls spent more time than ever in each other’s presence. Cassandra described the stories in her books with vivid detail, and Rosabella would invite Cassandra to spend the night in her grandmère’s cottage. Stuffing themselves full on pies and sleeping next to the fireplace.
As the years went by, Cassandra and Rosabella had grown in beauty and grace. Erinna had taken it upon herself to ensure that Rosabella didn’t go fight the older boys whenever they did something remotely idotic. And if Rosabella by chance did teach the boys a lesson, Cassandra would somehow become quite forgetful of what things occurred. Or, she would take it upon herself to smack them with a book. Erinna would only shake her head in amusement at Cassandra. But Rosabella was not as fortunate.
The village ladies would all scold Rosabella for beating the boys in the village, and for not acting like the proper young lady she was becoming. The village chief’s wife, who unfortunately gave birth to Gregory, marched with her group of fellow mothers, to Grandmère’s cottage to compile a list of grievances about the girl. Grandmère promptly shoved them off her land with a broom. And when that didn’t work, the old woman proceeded to grab her crossbow. The ladies never returned. Not even when the hem of Rose’ skirt was a few inches too short, or when she laughed far too loudly, or when she beat up Gregory for simply being annoying.
Cassandra stayed true to her word and kept Rosabella’s secret. But with each passing day she watched her father leave for a hunt, her desire to become a hunter only grew. She wanted to prove to her father that she could be strong enough. That she could be like him, she wasn’t going to be like the others. She shared her wants with Rosabella and Grandmère, asking them how to go about it. Grandmère suggested to just learn as much as she could from books and put it into practice in secret, and once Cassandra was ready, Grandmère would offer her support. And a good slap if there should be the need.
And so, Rosabella took Cassandra into the forest. When on her nightly outings as a wolf, Rosabella came across many perfect spots for her to practice her archery. They would often sneak to and from the forest. Having many close calls when the hunters made a sudden decision to go for a small hunt.
The villagers grew more and more tired and outraged whenever the morning after Wolf’s Time was filled with the remains of a slaughter pig. And it only grew worse when people began to be attacked in broad daylight. Yet no one was able to catch so much a glimpse of the wolf. Only the dark brown fur left behind. In desperation, the village chief called for the help of a shaman from a neighboring village across the mountain pass.
The Chief had called for a village meeting the day the Shaman arrived. The Chief had every lined up in a circle in the center of their small village. Rosabella stood beside Cassandra, both watching in confusion as the Shaman waved a bowl of burning incense gently as he walked. How was burning incense going to solve anything?
The Shaman was an old man with fair skin, blue eyes and dressed in what Rose thought was the most hideous set of robes.
“Do you really think he can stop the wolf?” Rosabella whispered under her breath as she looked at Cassandra with amusement.
“With a little smoke? No way.” Cassandra whispered back under her breath.
The girls giggle, Erinna shushes them quietly. Shaking her head. The village chief walked towards Rosabella.
The Chief was a bulky man with long brown hair that was pulled back in a small strip of leather. He had green eyes with a dark tanned skin from being under the sun. A dark blue sash strapped across his chest, over his brown vest. He looked troubled.
“Where is your Grandmère?”
With a sigh, Rosabella answered. “Grandmère said she was too old to stand in the sun all day. And that a shaman will solve nothing.”
The Chief only frowns. “I thought I told you to drag her by her wrinkly old skin if you had too.”
“To which she promptly told me to tell you, ‘Come get me yourself if it’s so bloody important.’”
The mothers gasped in shock and shook their heads in disdain. The Shaman stopped his incense waving to glare at Rose as well. Rosabella looked down to her hands, it was always like this. The Chief merely scoffed before he walked away. Rosabella sighed in relief. The Shaman carried on with his incense, he walked slowly. Rose’s nose twitched, the smell grew strong as he got closer.
When the Shaman was right in front of Rose, he paused. His head turning to look at her closer. Studying the red streaks of hair, the pale skin and large blue eyes. His eyes narrowed for what seemed like eternity for Rose. She could hear the women whispering amongst themselves, some nodding their heads. Some even looked smug. As if they were not surprised the Shaman stopped at her. That everything they ever scrutinized about her, the way she looked, the way she acted and spoke, was proof enough about how strange she was.
“You.” Was the verdict. One simple word and her blood turned ice.
“Me?” Rosabella asked, her head snapped up, her eyes wide.
The Shaman didn’t bother to answer her, only to turn to the rest of the villagers.
“I know why the wolf has plagued your village!” He shouted. “She has the mark of the wolf!” He pointed to Rosabella.
Rose starred in fear and shock. How? “What?!” But the Shaman ignored her and carried on with his proclamation.
“Her hair is stained with the blood of the wolf’s victims! She was born to be the sacrifice! To pay for the wolf’s crimes! Build an altar and offer the child to the wolf! Then will your village finally be free of the wolf! The Bride of the Wolf will free you from this curse!”
The villager’s gasp and one woman even says “I knew it! She’s the cause of all this!”
Quickly, two men grabbed onto Rosabella’s arms. Rose couldn’t move, she was frozen in terror. Her mouth agape, her eyes wide in fear.
“No! You’re lying!” Cassandra cries out desperately, eyes wide with tears threatening to fall. “Let her go!”
Rosabella shakes her head frantically, pulling against the men. “Please… I have done nothing wrong! I am not the wolf’s bride!”
“Please! Leave her alone! She’s innocent!”
“Hush Cassandra.” Royce grips his daughter’s arm as Rosabella is dragged away. “Or he’ll say you’re the bride as well!” He frowned.
“Better than letting her die!” Cassandra protests, pulling against her father’s grip.
“Cassandra don’t test me! This is not one of your stories where speaking up for someone will save them, it will only drag you down with them.” He only wraps his arms across her chest to stop her from running towards Rose. He only pitted the girl. She was strange yes, but she didn’t deserve this fate.
“Papá please… I can’t lose her!” She pleads, losing the battle against her tears that streamed down her face. This couldn’t be happening, this wasn’t fair. Failing over and over to remove her father’s arms, she stops her protests and sobs as her friend grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
The villagers ignore their protests, they begin to follow the men taking Rosabella away to the barn.
“Please! I didn’t do anything!” Rosabella pleaded. The men simply tossed to her to the ground, a sob escaped her lips. The men chained her wrists and legs. The Shaman left a bowl of incense in front of Rose.
“Please… I’m innocent!” She sobbed, her eyes pleading with the Shaman.
“I know you are innocent, but only the blood of the innocent can pay for the crimes of the wolf. Think of your village, your sacrifice will free them from the curse.” The Shaman patted her head.
Her shoulders fell. “My village…”
The men joined the group outside of the barn as they watched. Some woman gave her a pitying look. The Shaman joined them.
“We have three days to prepare an altar before Wolf’s Time. I suggest you not try anything.” The doors slammed shut.
Rosebella stayed there frozen for hours. With a deep breath, Rose slowly layed down to her side, curled up tightly. She sobbed silently for hours. Praying for anyone to stop this. To wake her up and tell her it was all a nightmare. But no one came.
Cassandra had hardly moved from her bedroom, the door remained tightly shut. She couldn’t stop crying. It was as if her heart had split in two. And, a burning anger wanted to rise from deep inside her. The only time she truly left, sneaking out from her room whilst her father was out in the village, and her mother was busy in the living room. She hardly ate the food her mother offered, actively avoided running into her father, and could not find solace in her books like she used to.
She lay down upon her bed, silently looking out the window. Watching the snowfall on the day that should’ve been happy for her friend, but in fact was the opposite. How horrible, she mused. The day of Rosabella’s birth was now the day of her death.
A thought crosses Cassandra’s mind. Does Grandmère know? She sits up. What if Grandmère didn’t know and has been waiting for Rosabella to come home? Looking back out the window, she knew someone had to tell her. Better her than someone from the village… She looked towards her bedroom door, listening silently to her parents faint voices for a moment, then pushed herself off the bed. She grabs her satchel, putting it both on before putting on her long violet cloak over her dress. With a deep breath, she unlocks her door.
“Cassandra!” Her mother gasps in surprise as she looks over to see her child descending down the stairs. Erinna had been in the midst of preparing lunch for her family, the ladle dropping to the floor in her shock. Erinna quickly took notice of her cloak. “Where are you going?” She asks, concern etched on her face.
Cassandra pauses at the base of the stairs, clutching the strap of her satchel before looking to her mother. “Grandmeré’s.” She says softly.
“Oh…” Erinna looked as if she wanted to say more, but she stopped herself. “... Don’t be out too late… I’m sure she’s not in the best of moods.”
Cassandra only stares blankly at her mother before she walks out the door. The walk to the cottage was silent and full of dread. So lost in her thoughts, Cassandra didn’t notice that she was standing at the front door. Her eyes glazed over. She knocks on the door.
No one answers.
Cassandra frowns. She knocks again.
“Go away!” A familiar voice yells out. The sound of things crashing is clear.
Cassandra takes a breath before she yells out, “Grandmère, it’s Cassandra…” There is no answer, only a loud clatter.
With a sigh, she places a hand upon the door handle - finding it to be unlocked and opens the door, stepping inside. “Is everything alright?” Her eyes widened as she looked at the state of the dining table, there were weapons all over it. Daggers, a crossbow, pistols, bullets. “What are you-?”
“Think child! Where’s all your intelligence you so proudly show off! What does it look like I’m doing?! I’m going to break Rosabella out of her prison!”
Grandmère was a thin, tall woman with a sharp pair of green eyes behind round glasses. Her hair was stark white, her skin was pale, and her lips were in a firm line. She looked frail with her long bony fingers, but Cassandra knew better than to underestimate the strength of the older woman. She was dressed in a dark grey dress with a white shall, and black boots. Grandmère had aged well.
“Getting a shaman, ha! As if a shaman will solve their problems! I told them, you need to use silver to kill that monster, but did they listen to me? No! It’s not as if I’ve hunted those blasted wolves for nearly sixty years of my life. What could I know?” The old woman grumbles out.
Cassandra watches the old woman she’s come to know carefully, observing the weapons all over the dining table once again. She walks closer to the table, her eyes shining with newfound hope. “Let me help.”
Grandmère scoffed, she grabbed a pistol to clean as she eyed Cassandra. “How can a child help me? Have you ever broken someone out of their prison?” She raises a thin grey brow.
Cassandra’s eyes narrow slightly. “No, I haven’t. But I can learn!”
Grandmère lowers the pistol as she looks over the child. “Even if I did accept your help, you’re far too young! You’ll be fumbling about more than you actually helping me!”
“Too young? I’m not a little girl anymore.” She says with a scoff. “And you’re too old to be sneaking about at night. What if you trip over a pebble, then where would you be? On the ground because you can’t get up.”
Grandmère glares at the little girl. “You’re too noisy.”
“And you're too skinny.”
The old woman and child glare at each in silence for a long moment before Cassandra breaks into a smile. “Just trust me!”
Grandmère’s eyes narrowed her eyes, she sighs. She looks back to her weapons.
“Where did you get all this stuff?”
“I’m a hunter, dear. It’s mine, from my youth.” She answers as she cleans another dagger.
Cassandra gasps in surprise, “You were a hunter?!”
“Not just any old hunter girl, I hunted monsters. Monsters like that wolf.”
Cassandra’s eyes widened even more if it was possible. She had so many questions, and she was about to ask before she noticed a large leather bag on the floor by Grandmère’s feet. Her shoulders slumped. It was as if the pain from Rosabella’s situation resurfaced inside her. She was going to be alone, wasn’t she? She’d never see them again…
“You’re leaving, aren’t you…”
“Well we can’t very well stay here now can we? This would be the very first place they’d search. I have to take Rosabella someplace safe.”
Cassandra understood. She didn’t like it, not at all, but she understood and oh how she wished she didn’t. A thought comes to mind. “If you hunt monsters like these wolves… then how come you didn’t kill Rose? Isn’t she one of them?”
The old woman finally stopped. Slowly lowering the dagger. “She’s not one of them.”
Cassandra frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s different, she can change at will without pain. The others can shift when the moon is full. And when they shift they always howl from pain.” Her hand reached for another pistol.
“But why would you risk it?” Cassandra placed her hand on the pistol.
“Move the hand girly.”
“I will, once you answer.” She says, her gaze unwavering.
Grandmère glared, after a long moment she looked away. With a sigh, the old woman spoke at last. “... The life of a hunter… is a life you live alone… everyone I knew died from some monster… I was the only one left.” The old woman paused. Her breathing slowed. “I was lonely… and I had stumbled upon this village by mere chance. But they thought I was strange so they sent me away to live in this old cottage. But oh did they come crying to me whenever someone fell ill.” She tsked, “But when the Chief brought Rosebella in that tiny blanket, I fell in love. I learned quickly what she was, and she was different. I had never seen hair like heirs before. Nor had I seen a wolf pup with such blue eyes.” She finally looked back to Cassandra. “It was a chance to have someone, and I took it. Fate brought her to me, it was a risk I knew how to deal with… if Rose was the same as those monsters.” She pulled the pistol from under Cassandra’s hand. “And she wasn’t.”
Cassandra grew quiet as she listened to the old woman’s tale. She could imagine it clearly, like she was there herself. In a way, she understood. Thoughts ran through her mind slowly as she listened to the old woman’s explanation, and she watched Grandmère pull the pistol from under her hand. Looking back down to the leather bag at the floor, a thought comes to mind. Albeit it was incredibly reckless, and she doubts Grandmeré will accept, but it’s the only one she had. “Take me with you, please.”
Grandmère froze, she stared at Cassandra. “And what about your parents? They would know I took you with me.”
“I don’t care. Rose is my best friend, and she's the only one who has ever understood me.” She says with a shake of her head. I’m strange too. “And I can’t go pretending that everything is alright, in this small minded village, if she’s not here.”
“If you come with us, you’ll probably never see your parents again.” She tilts her head, looking her over. “Are you really willing to never see them again?”
“I know, and I’ll miss them.” She admits, keeping her gaze locked onto the old woman. “But that won’t change my mind.”
The old woman stared at the girl for a long time, searching for something. Cassandra did her best to not look away. Grandmère’s gaze was intense, as if it was piercing in her very soul. She relaxed her gaze when she seemed to have found what she was looking for. She continues her task of cleaning her weapons.
“Go home. Pack one bag. Go to your bed in your day clothes. When your parents are asleep, sneak out.” She says nothing more. Cassandra hugged her.
“BUT DON’T BE SMILING AND OBVIOUS ABOUT IT!” Cassandra only giggled. “So, what’s the plan?”
After spending the day with the old woman, Cassandra did just as she was told. She went back home. She packed one bag. She got into her bed in her day clothes. She allowed her parents to tuck her into bed. And when her parents were asleep, she rose from her bed.
“Goodbye Mamá, Papá… I love you…” She turns to the window, opening it, a cold breeze filling her room, but she ignores her urge to shiver as she sits on the edge of the window. Reaching behind her bed, she grabs the packed bag and throws the strap over her shoulder. She looks back into her room that she’s known all her life. “I’m sorry.”
She closes the window behind her before jumping down to the snow, landing with a soft oof.
A sigh filled her ears. “You couldn’t have chosen the door? Like a normal person?” Grandmère scowled.
Cassandra merely rolled her eyes, “If by normal you mean a girl who looks at boys all day? Or dreams about boys? Then no. I’m not normal.”
With a scoff from the old woman, the pair went off to the barn.
Rosebella slept. And when she didn’t sleep she only stared at the walls of the barn. She didn’t know if it was day or night, only that she was alone and cold. And hungry.
It was for the village. Her thoughts would remind her the reason for her suffering. It’s for the best. She couldn’t disagree. They never never liked her anyway. But, did she really have to die? Clearly she must. The shaman said so. But... I don’t want to die.
Now that wasn’t really her choice now was it? Rosabella pulled on her chains, she was exhausted and weak from the lack of food. You’d think a sacrifice would be treated better. Well… at least they didn’t chain her to a tree. Her eyes hurt from crying, she closed her eyes, it hurt to think. She just wanted to sleep.
When Rosabella awoke, she was being carried into the village bath house. Her head rolled, her eyes stung from the sunlight, she hadn’t seen the sun in days. The woman who carried her stripped her of her dress and proceeded to wash her body clean. The bath water smelled of rose petals. She tried to pull herself free but the women only shushed her, and carried on.
Once the bath was finished, they dried her up and dressed in a simple red dress with a hood. It didn’t fit her well. They didn’t even have the courtesy to make her a dress that fit? Rosabella found herself unable to care. They brushed and braided her hair, painted red paint to her lips and took her outside.
There the villagers were waiting. An altar was built in the center of the village, she swallowed thickly.
“Please… don’t do this…” They all ignored her.
She was set upon the altar, and chained up once more. Her eyes searched the crowd, but she saw neither Cassandra or Grandmère. Good. She didn’t want them to see her. To see her as a sacrificial lamb.
The Shaman did his prayer that Rosabella didn’t bother to listen too. It was just a formality in her opinion. A nice way to send someone to their death. Afterwards, the Shaman sent everyone off to their homes when the sun began to set.
Well, it won’t be long now. She closed her eyes.
The next time she opened her eyes, it was deep into the night, she saw a figure looming over her. “... Cassandra?”
Cassandra smiles. “Hello Rose!” She whispered. She looked to another figure, who was pulling on the chains.
Rosabella gasps, she sits up. “Grandmère… What are you both doing here?!”
“Hush! We’re breaking you free, what else does it look like?” She says in a low voice. Grandmère turned her attention back to picking the locks. The chains fall to the altar.
“But!”
“I don’t want to hear a word about you being a sacrifice! It’s looney that’s what it is.” She grumbles. Rosabella stared in wonder.
“We better hurry.” She says as she pulls Rosabella up, quickly taking her hand and guiding her away.
“I’m not letting those fools murder my grandchild.”
The old woman leads the two girls through the woods, past her cottage. On the edge of the forest a dirt path comes to view with an open carriage with a horse waiting for them. Grandmère lifts the girls into the carriage She groans a bit picking up the girls before she climbs in. Once they settle she reaches into her satchel and pulls out a beautiful bright red embroidered cloak and hands it to Rosabella.
“I was saving this for your 16th birthday, but now you’ll just have to grow into it.” The old woman smiles gently as she cups her granddaughter’s cheek.”
Rosabella stared at the beautiful cloak. Gently stroking it before putting it on, she smiles. “It's wonderful, Grandmère, thank you.”
The old woman smiles before she looks at Cassandra. “Are you still sure?”
Cassandra nods with a smile of her own, “There’s no turning back.”
The old woman nods before she reaches into her dress pocket, pulling out a piece of parchment and handing it to the driver. “Go to the city. No stops.”
The driver nods before he looks to forward. The carriage moves departs, the old woman and two girls escape the village, just as a wolf howls. They were free.
