Odd Fairytale Pairing: The Cape As Red As Blood

A Memory of a Dream

...Where.. am I?

As I was walking on the cobblestone path, I looked around and saw that birch trees surrounded me. I'm in a forest, then. This looks quite familiar, though. It's as if I've gone through these woods all my life.

I looked ahead to see where I was going. Still no sight of Granny's house. Just, more cobblestone. Wait, "granny"? I was going to Granny's house?

That's odd. My grandparents died of old age. I never even got the chance to meet them.

The birch tree forest was cold. The winds blowing in the air made a low, whistling sound that gave me chills down my spine. Snow covered everything but the cobblestone path. Looking up, there was a huge canvass painted with a mixture of black and deep blue and tiny glowing dots in it.

That's when I heard a loud SNAP!

I stopped and looked around. "Who- who's there?" I asked the forest, hoping someone would answer. Yeah, right. Who am I kidding. Asking the forest if someone is there at night, I must be having a death wish! I walked faster to Granny's house.

Still, I don't know how it's possible to be visiting Granny at this time. Doesn't matter, all I have to do was send these baked goods and wine that Mom told me to send her. It's all good, Keira. You can do it.

I realized I had been running when I stopped to catch my breath as I saw a house on the end of the cobblestone road. Smoke was coming out of the chimney like in those fancy old houses. But this house was a simple cottage with flowerbeds surrounding it. The windows were closed and so was the door. Odd, I've never been to a house like this before. But it seemed this was the only place that the cobblestone path lead to, so here we go. I approached the blue wooden door and knocked it three times, "Granny? Are you there?"

The door suddenly opened, but there was no person behind it. Unwittingly, I stepped inside, as if I haven't been suspicious about the door that just opened. "Granny! I brought you some pie and wine."

I looked around, seeing that there were no fluorescent lights or lamps or electric fans or even a TV. When and where am I?

The whole interior of the house seemed to be illuminated by candles. How.. delightful. Granny wasn't responding to my call, so I call out again to see if she was here. It was just like what happened in the woods earlier, no reply. I went to the kitchen to see if she was there. But no, instead there was a huge cat on the counter that startled me and made me shout. In turn, the cat was startled by my yell and stumbled over some of the unwashed pots and pans in the sink, causing a commotion.

It was then that I heard a cackly voice in the bedroom. "Who's there?"

Wow, why didn't I consider that Granny must have been a really old and tired lady?

"It's me, Keira! I.. brought you something that mother let me send to you." I said as I went to the bedroom where the voice came from.

"Oh! How wonderful. Do come in, child. I'm feeling a slight fever kicking in, so I could not get up from my bed." The voice spoke again. It does sound strange. Sounds like someone's been gargling nails in their free time.

As I opened the door to the bedroom, a thought quickly came to mind. Wait a second, this IS familiar to me. I saw Granny on the bed, confused. Granny looks nothing like a granny at all. She has grey fur all over her body, she had such long ears that pointed upwards, and she had such a.. big, black nose.

I feel it. Something's coming out of my mouth. I try to suppress them by clenching my jaw, but they were too strong. After a moment, I gave in. Dammit.

"Granny! Your voice sounds so odd. Is something the matter?" I asked.

"Oh, it must have been a touch of a cold," said Granny who coughed at the end.

"But Granny! What big ears you have," I said as I edged closer to Granny's bed. Honestly, now that I've gotten closer, they look nothing like human ears. They look more.. animalistic, even.

"The better to hear you with, my dear," replied Granny. Something about what she said made me feel really uncomfortable. I think I know where this is going, but I can't seem to remember where I knew it from.

"But Granny! What big eyes you have," I said. They were yellow eyes. Glowing, yellow eyes. I've never seen such alluring eyes before in my life.

"The better to see you with, my dear," Granny replied.

"But Granny! What big teeth you have," my voice was quivering as I said those words. Big teeth.

Holy cow. Is this a dream?

"The better to eat you with, my dear," Granny smiled widely and leapt out of the bed.

I knew it! I knew something was off, this creature isn't really my Granny.

"Why don't you step inside, Keira? You've been a very good grandchild. It's the least I could do for you." The canine-looking Granny said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, and boy, was it a bad idea.

Granny's bones began to crack and twist until she becomes a totally different creature. She was really huge that her head touched the ceiling, her eyes went from glowing yellow to a blazing red, and she looked like black smoke now. She smiled once again and opened her jaw. It opened so wide, that it touched the wooden floor. It looks like an entrance to the Underworld, oh god please stop this nightmare.

"Why don't you step inside, Keira?" Croaked the monster.

"NO!" I ran for the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. There were no windows in the room to escape to, either.

"Why.. don't you.. step inside.. Keira?"

I'm.. not Keira, am I? Eyeing the table to my left where I had placed the basket, I saw a table knife.

"Stubborn girl.. STEP INTO MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW."

I.. I'm.. Red Riding Hood.

I took the table knife on the small table.. and ran towards the monster's mouth. I found myself inside the red pandemonium of a mouth and instantly, the jaw was shut.

**

"Keira!! Keira!!!"

Oh. It had been just a dream. I guess I'm Keira after all.