Little Red Wolf

Chapter Six~

                                                                                 Chapter Six~

Rebecca went to school that day, but she felt detached from everything that happened. Archer kept trying to include her, a fact that didn't go unnoticed. Many of the girls whispered about how undeserving of a boy like Archer, that Red girl was. Rebecca also heard speculation about her Grandmother's body and what it had looked like.

Those whispers were stopped quickly by both the teacher and Archer. Rebecca felt an odd thrill of pride at Archer standing up for her benefit. She humoured him throughout the day, participating as much as she could in the lessons and eating several bites of a lunch packed for both by Lara and sent along with Mr. March on his way to work.

The stew tasted even better the second time, and Rebecca managed a whole five bites before she pushed it towards Archer. Archer had refused to eat until she had, and Rebecca didn't know if she could stomach anymore regular food.

Despite how delicious the meal was, Rebecca could feel it churning in her stomach, threatening to come back up on display for her classmates in what she was sure would be a fantastic display of horrible shades of muted brown. She wasn't sure for how long she could keep it down.

Sometime around the middle of the afternoon, Rebecca was staring at a wall, the noises surrounding her washed straight over her head. Most of the conversations were still about Grandmother and a few of the boys now knew about her altercation with the mayor, but nobody was talking about how Rebecca might be feeling.

In fact, Rebecca wasn't sure what she was feeling anymore. Her anger still simmered in her blood, racing through her veins for stretches at a time and then slowing to a snail-pace and leaving her feeling winded. It was like being constantly sucker-punched in the stomach. And when the anger was crawling through her veins, sadness seemed to be seeping out of her every pore. Rebecca was constantly on the verge of tears, but she never let any slip out. She couldn't afford a lapse in emotion like that. A break of that sort would be disastrous to her self-control.

"Do you remember that old wolf legend?" Heidi, a short, round girl with perpetually pink cheeks and her brown hair always pulled back into stiff braids looked around the room with anticipation. "Remember when we would go to the library on Saturday mornings and visit Ms. Davis who'd tell us the legend?"

Rebecca didn't mind Heidi. She was a sweet girl and always friendly with everyone. Rebecca was annoyed by her at the moment, however, because Heidi's father had been the one to ruin her morning with the bleak news. Heidi Ainsley was the woodcutter's daughter, and therefore Rebecca was cross with her. She tried to ignore Heidi, but the words seemed to sink into her mind and bounce off her skull.

Several of the girls surrounding Heidi bobbed their heads enthusiastically. "Yeah," Melanie chimed in, "Ms. Davis would give all of us a cookie or use shadow puppets to tell the story."

"It's a legend," Heidi corrected importantly. "My grandfather told me he knew a man who had actually seen the wolf." This caused most of the room to fall silent with a few breathless gasps of wonder.

Rebecca felt a knot in her stomach twist up and she tried to look as impressed as everyone else.

"It's fifty years this year," Archer called out, his voice echoing around the square room. "Red and I were just talking about it last night." Heads swiveled to peer at Rebecca who felt like she should be in the zoo. Archer meant well, and while he soothed most of her worries while he was near, he was making it worse for her. She clamped her lips together and tried to shrug.

"What's so special about this wolf anyways?" She asked. More gasps followed her words and the knot in her stomach compressed all her organs and opened up a pit. Darkness started creeping out of the pit, and Rebecca had to wrap her arms around herself to stop from jumping up.

"If the legend is real, it means the wolf will make a comeback this weekend!" Heidi looked thrilled at the possibility. "Wouldn't it be so cool?" There was a shy chorus of murmurs backing up Heidi's statements.

"Sure," Rebecca managed to say softly. "Cool for everyone except the girl who gets killed."

Archer shot her a look letting her know that he'd heard her whispered words. He moved over to her silently, abandoning the group of boys he'd been talking with. "Do you want to leave?" he asked, leaning against the desk she was sitting upon. Their legs brushed and the point of contact captured Rebecca's attention.

She didn't answer, but she felt he darkness rising higher out of the pit. Her back began to ache, as did her shoulders. Her legs were cramping up, and she stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going?" Archer asked quietly, grabbing her wrist lightly and forcing her to look him in the eye. Rebecca's eyes were beginning to water and she knew that in seconds they would be turning the same colour as they had at dinner last night.

"I'm going for a run," Rebecca panted out, already breathless. She broke free of Archer's loose grip and rushed out the door. Once she was alone outside, she leaned against a tree and tried to catch her breath.

Rebecca watched Archer exit the building and start towards her. She turned silently, and slipped between the trees, her pace growing faster and her strides longer. When she looked back and couldn't see Archer, the pit exploded inside of her.

Darkness clung to every piece of Rebecca's being and forced its' way out. Pain that she had thought she remembered took over her body and it was a thousand times worse. Rebecca imagined that being stuck with a thousand red hot pokers would hurt less than the pain the darkness presented.

With a gasp, she was flung forwards, lying face down in the dirt. Her breaths were harsh and ragged, but slowed rapidly. She closed her eyes, afraid to look up and see a reflection of herself. Instead, she pushed herself up to her forearms with her eyes still shut tight.

When she opened her eyes, Rebecca saw the same reflection that had stared back at her in her dream. The onyx fur, the glowing eyes, the power and strength contained in the reflection seemed to resonate in the air around her. With a whimper, Rebecca scrambled away from her reflection, away from the monster staring back at her, and her arms gave out underneath of her. Her face hit the dirt, a cloud puffing up around her and causing Rebecca to cough.

"I'm a monster," She whispered before finally letting all her emotions take over. Rebecca lay on the ground and sobbed. Her tears mingled with the dry dirt, creating rivulets beneath her and soaking into the fur coating her entire body. Rebecca no longer felt anger. The only thing she felt was a pain deep inside of her, and she curled up and cried in the hopes that the pain would disappear.

Even while she cried, Rebecca knew it wouldn't happen. The pain would persist until she succumbed fully to the beast that had broken free of the mental chains she'd placed on it. The pain was accompanied by a hunger, a burning, so great that Rebecca began to gnaw on her own hand, her own paw.

The beast was awake, hungry, and ready to kill.