Little Red Wolf

Chapter Eight~

 

                                                                                 Chapter Eight~

Rebecca emerged from the woods silently. She crept around in the shadows, keeping an eye out for anyone who could be coming. A light caught her eye and she swung around, frozen in place.

"Who's there?" A deep voice echoed through the night.

Rebecca breathed out in relief. It was the mayor. She could outrun him no problems. She took off without a second thought, heading for her house. She would be safe there for a few minutes.

Rebecca reached her house without incident. She was reaching for the spare key on the windowsill when a voice startled her. Rebecca jumped, landing in dirt. Mother's flowerbeds were normally well-kept, but now Rebecca's feet trampled the only thing she had left of Mother. Not only were the flowers the only thing left to remind her of Mother, but Rebecca felt that they were the only beautiful things she deserved in life. Monsters did not deserve to hide the ugly behind a façade of beauty, but she would cling to the image it presented as tightly as she would a life raft if she were trapped at sea.

"Red?"

Rebecca turned only to be blinded by a sudden bright light. She turned her face back towards the house and blinked rapidly to clear the spots from her vision.

"Red!"

Rebecca was trapped in a pair of arms. A small part of her hoped it was Archer if only to get the mental reprieve he brought her.

"I'm so glad you're alright," The person continued and Rebecca realized that the voice was distinctly feminine and not Archer. "Archer raced after you, you know, and when he couldn't find you they nearly called out all the men to start searching." This news startled Rebecca. A search party would have been a bad thing.

"I'm alright as you can see," Rebecca said as pleasantly as she could manage, and discovered that her voice was slightly squeaky from not having used it for several hours. She pulled away from the embrace and stepped backwards to study her visitor. "Heidi?"

Heidi reddened. "I hope you don't mind," She said, swinging her lantern around and casting oddly-shaped shadows on the lawn. "Father wanted me to make sure you returned home alright."

"Well I have," Rebecca smiled and reached for the key she'd been trying to grab when Heidi had startled her. "And, if you don't mind, I'm very tired." Rebecca opened the door and slipped inside, shutting it before Heidi could follow. She hated being mean to such a sweet girl, but she had felt the distinct pangs of hunger reaching up from the depths of her belly. Heidi wasn't safe around her.

"Are you sure?" Heidi called through the door. "I can stay if you'd like a friend." Heidi's words surprised Rebecca into silence. Just when she was about to answer, pain ripped through her body. She doubled over and flopped to the floor.

The beast was awaiting the kill. The scent of the flesh was too much to ignore. A low growl emanated from her throat and Rebecca threw her entire body against the door which shook.

"Rebecca? What are you doing?" Heidi sounded both confused and nervous. She didn't call Rebecca by the hated nickname, and fear was pulsing in her throat and constricting her breathing. She swung her light up and tried to peer through the glass at the top of the door.

Rebecca lifted a heavy paw and slammed it against the door, the tips of her razor-sharp claws visible through the glass.

Heidi let out a cross between a whimper and a shriek. Her lip was trembling as she backed away slowly. Rebecca hit the door again and let out a loud, threatening growl. Heidi shrieked louder, her voice rising in the night, and she turned and sprinted back down the path towards her house. Her lantern went flying from her fingers, which were slick with sweat, and thrust her into pitch-black.

Rebecca knew she had only moments to escape. Heidi would run home and tell her father what she had seen, and then Mr. Ainsley would summon the other men and they would come rushing to kill the Wolf. Rebecca knew it inside.

She managed to knock the door down with another heavy, full-body slam against it. Wood splintered and Rebecca charged for the woods. She zigzagged down the path and saw lights flashing in the distance as the men hurried to the Ainsley's house.

She paused at the edge of the woods and looked back. The group of lights had grown bigger and she could hear yelling as the men pumped each other up for the hunt that was coming.

Rebecca turned to go into the woods when a strangled yell rose up. It swirled through the air and sent shards of glass piercing her heart. It was a cry of pure agony, and Rebecca tried to cover her ears to avoid having to listen to it.

The cry was repeated, and each time it got higher and shriller. No matter how much Rebecca tried, she couldn't block it out. It was her name being called out, and she recognized the voice.

Archer was crying her name.

Rebecca couldn't take it anymore. The pain she felt from Archer's cries was almost as bad as the pain when she became the beast. She rose up onto her back feet and clawed at the air in front of her to remain upright. The moon was high above her, and it seemed to pulse in a friendly way.

Rebecca angled her head upwards and howled. The longest howl she'd emitted in fifty years. Her throat ached when she was finished, but she was satisfied.

Now the group would know that Heidi Ainsley wasn't spinning tales. She really had seen the Wolf of the legend in Red Holloway's house. The men would be starting for the woods any minute now, having heard her howling. Spurred on by Archer's anguished cries they would not rest until they had the Wolf's body strung up and burned.

Rebecca dropped back to the ground and loped towards the cave. She needed to rest for a few minutes before she left. For her only choice was to leave. Rebecca had to protect the village. She needed to keep the beast contained, and the only way for that to happen was for her to leave. She would go north, to the cold and the river. She could stay there for a few days and plan her next journey.

She reached the cave and slumped against the wall, breathing hard. Rebecca heard footsteps pounding on the forest floor and she realized they were much closer than she'd thought. She took off again, listening intently for anymore of Archer's cries.

She couldn't hear anything. Archer had stopped calling her name, and Rebecca didn't dare answer him until she was far, far away. She had reached the Great River before she finally replied.

"I'm here, Archer," She said softly, tears streaming down her face as she curled up beneath a fallen tree. "I'm right here."