Red Hood (Book One)

Chapter Eleven

I was watching 'True Nightmares' when I heard a knock at the front door. Who the hell was here this late? When I opened the door, Brandon was standing on the porch. He smirked at me deviously. I stepped aside and let him in.

He rolled up the sleeve of his red shirt. Then, he opened the knife and handed it to me. I looked at him with a knitted brow. Did he really want me to cut him?

"Are you for real?" I asked.

He stared at me with a straight face. "Yeah. Go ahead."

I grabbed his arm with one hand and cut him with the other. Blood slowly spilled from the small cut. I closed the knife and set it on the coffee table. Then, I grabbed a first aid kit from the laundry room. By the time I went back to the living room, the cut was gone.

I secretly pinched myself. This was the most unbelievable thing I'd ever seen. I put the first aid kit back in the laundry room. He had the nerve to laugh.

"You should see the look on your look on your face right now," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Am I a joke to you?"

"No, Candy. I was just trying to see something."

He took two steps closer to me and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head on his chest, his scent like that of cinnamon. My body tingles from his touch. I held my breath as our lips were nearly touching. In that moment, the curse didn't matter.

His phone rang. He let go of me and answered it. The moment was over.

The curse was finally lifted. Everything was fine for once. My phone chimed from the couch. I sat down and checked it. A message from Beverley popped up on the screen.

Are you okay?

I noticed that I already responded with 'yes.' Then, I told her what just happened. Brandon came back with a charming smile on his face. I got up and walked behind him to the front door. He turned around, pulling me close to him.

"You want to have lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah. But where?" I responded.

"Red Lobster. I'll pick y'all up at two."

"Hold up. What you mean, y'all?"

"You and your granny. Good night."

He let go of me and walked off into the darkness. I closed the front door quietly. As soon as I turned around, Grandma was coming out of the dining room, holding a glass of water. All the time, I thought she was asleep. She stood by the couch and took a couple of sips.

For a whole minute, we stared at each other. I closed my black robe. She started chuckling out of nowhere. How long was she awake?

"Is that the man from the movies?"

"Yeah. How much of that did you see?" I replied.

"Not too much. But since we got plans tomorrow, I'm going back to bed. Good night."

"See you in the morning, Grandma."

After she walked back to her bedroom, I turned the tv off. I went to my bedroom and put my phone on the nightstand. When I looked out the window behind the bed, there was a crescent moon in the clear night sky. No wonder Brandon didn't shift tonight. Not that I was complaining, though.

I took my robe off and put my black bonnet on. As I laid down between the sheets, Brandon's cut snuck into my mind. Why did he want me to cut him? I just laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was surprisingly quiet for most of the night.