CHAPTER 2
"That's her"
"No."
"Yeah. Don't you guys believe me?"
"Well, it seems kind of extreme. Are you sure it's true?"
"I swear on my life. It's true." Three kids whispered and pointed as The Girl walked by. She was used to this kind of stuff by now, the hushed talk, the rumors. She thought it was all a bit ridiculous. Everyone has secrets, things they want to hush, things that when mentioned, brings a sick feeling to their stomach. So why did everyone avoid her? Why did mothers turn their children away at the sight of her? Well, she actually did know why. She had heard the stories. She couldn't exactly say they were true, but she couldn't say they were false, either. She could almost feel the stares, burning into her back like lasers. Her feet squished in the wet ground, splattering her old, battered riding boots with mud. Her picnic basket was tucked comfortably in the crook of her elbow, swinging slightly as she walked. This part of the day was about the only time when The Girl was outside, and it was spent to go to the town farmers market and pick up exactly five apples, five oranges, one stick of butter, and, of course, a bag of freshly made chocolate chip cookies. Then she would buy them, stuff them all in a picnic basket, and take them back to her grandmother's house. She did this once a week. As for the other days of the week, for exactly an hour, she would sit on the old, rickety rocking chair on her porch and watch, the chair rocking back, and forth, back, and forth. Sometimes she would bring a pad of paper and a pen, and draw incredible portraits of the children playing, or the dogs barking. Occasionally, she would draw herself, hood down, atop a magnificent stallion, galloping through the meadow. But she knew those drawing would never come true. There's no use trying to dream when you're always awake.
The Girl sighed, walking a bit faster. The three kids watched her as she disappeared into the distance, and then turned back to each other.
"What a creep." One of the children, named Celia, said with a tone of remorse. The two other children, Alec and Penny, nodded in agreement. The three had just been let out of school, and were hanging out at their favorite place, the outskirts of the woods.
"Tell it again, Alec." Penny demanded, itching to hear the story again. She was very into legends and mysteries, stories that made you feel like a spider was crawling up your back. Celia scowled.
"I'm telling you, it's not true." She insisted, crossing her arms. Alec and Penny ignored her, and Alec launched into the story.
"A long time ago. there used to be a small town, further out in the woods. The Girl In The Red Hood lived there with her parents, and her grandmother lived in a house in the woods, outside of the town." Alec began. "Then, her grandmother got sick. She was on death's bed. So The Girl's mother sent her into the woods to bring her grandmother some cookies, jam, and bread. But, as she walked, a wolf saw her. The Wolf followed her to her grandmother' house, and snuck in the back, eager for fresh meat. The Girl walked in right as the wolf was about to eat her grandmother. The wolf attacked her, but she was to quick. She grabbed the bread-cutting knife that was in her basket and chopped the wolf's head clean off in one, fatal, slash. She saved her grandmother's life. But when she got back to the village, she found that the rest of the wolf's pack had attacked the village, and killed everyone. Her and her grandmother were the only survivors. So they moved here. Earlier that day, she had been given that red riding cloak as a present from her mother. I hear she wears it to cover up all the scars. Her grandmother was fine after a couple of weeks, but The Girl, she never got better. All the grief and fear just got to her head, made her go mad. And, well, we all know what she did after that." Alec said, and shuddered, as if he had scared himself. Penny's eyes were as big as chicken eggs. Even Celia didn't have anything to say.
"Wow." Penny whispered after a long minutes of silence. Celia cleared her throat.
"What a load of crap." She growled.
"Oh yeah?" Alec protested.
"Yeah. Three words; It's. Not. True."
"Well if it's not true, then you obviously wouldn't be scared at all to go out there." Alec pointed at the dense trees. Celia snorted, but a flicker of fear crossed her eyes.
"Sure." She said, and marched to the boarder of the woods. There, she hesitated for a second. There could be anything out there, waiting to pounce on her. But determination to win swept over her, and she bravely started forward. She stomped out about ten feet, then turned to Alec and Penny, her hands on her hips.
"There. I'm in the woods." She said. Alec laughed.
"You call THAT far? Please."
"It's farther than you could go!" Celia shouted.
"Oh, really!" Alec puffed out his chest, and without a moments hesitation, marched out to where Celia stood.
"Go on. Beat me." She gestured to the trees ahead.
"Fine." Alec started away. Back at the boarder, an uneasy feeling swept over Penny. She often got these before something really bad happened. She had got this exact feeling right before her brother was hit by a car and paralyzed. Penny didn't have any reason to doubt it now.
"Guys?" She squeaked. "I don't think this is a good idea." Both Alec and Celia ignored her. Alec kept going, angrily pushing branches away as he went. The trees became thicker and thicker, and soon, neither Celia nor Penny could see him anymore. Celia threw up her arms in surrender. There was no way she was going that far.
"Fine, Alec! You win!" She yelled into the trees. No answer.
"Alec, not funny!" She yelled. "Come out! I give up!" Still no answer. Celia looked back at Penny, who was nervously fiddling with her thumbs.
"Alec?" Celia called again, worry seeping into her voice. Then they heard it. The blood-curdling scream that could only belong to one person.
"ALEC!" Celia screamed, charging into the trees. Penny raced after her, catching up quickly. They ran and ran, screaming Alec's name and pushing away the prying hands of the branches as they grabbed their clothes, in a seemingly desperate attempt to stop them from going any further. But the girls kept going. Finally, they stopped in a little clearing, their lungs burning. After they caught their breath, Celia collapsed on the ground, sobbing.
"This is all my fault!" She cried, choking on her tears. "This is all my fault!" Penny wanted to comfort her, but she was frozen, as if she was a statue. For she had noticed something. On nearby tree, there were five, huge slashes in the bark. They looked to Penny like... claw marks. And surrounding the marks, smeared all over the tree, was blood.
