Red Hooded

Hello, my name is... well, I don't know my name. Pretty pathetic, right? Everyone calls me Red, because of the red hoodie I wear every day. I got it from my grandmother. Only I knew this, but my grandmother is a real life witch. Every female in my family is able to perform spells. Well, not everyone. My mother died in an accident before I was even born, and my father ran off with a hooker a few days after the funeral. Left me alone with poor old grandma, who couldn't teach me to use my magic. So I just forgot about the whole thing. I'm in high school now, and I am hated by nearly everyone at school. The theater teacher (also the music teacher as well), Mrs. Boucher, has always been my favorite teacher. I'm her best student, and everyone hates me for it. I have no friends, and I've never had a boyfriend, or been with a boy. Yes, I'm still a virgin in high school. Lame, am I right? I haven't even had my first kiss yet. I'm saving it for someone special. This is my journal, and it's the only place I can retreat to, to empty my mind of negative thoughts and write down my stories. As you can see, my life is pretty boring. But that was before I met Wolfe Deimon.

Chapter 1: Off to... Errr, the Grocery Store.

"Honey, could you come here for a moment?" my grandmother called to me from the bottom of the staircase. I pulled out my headphones, cutting off Marilyn Manson in the middle of his song "Sweet Dreams". I walked out of my red and black painted room and stood by the top of the stairs.

"Yeah grandma?" I called down.

"Would you be a dear and pick up some groceries for me?" she asked me sweetly.

"Yeah, sure." I replied glumly. I walked down the stairs past my left-handed grandma and grabbed my velvet red hoodie from the table. I slipped it on, comforted by the feel of the soft velvet against my skin. I opened the door and put up my hood to protect against the rain.

"You sure you don't want an umbrella, dear?" grandma asked me. I had my wallet in my Jean pocket and my water-tight sneakers on. They were black and white.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Bye." I called back.

"Be safe!" she replied as I exited the house and into the pouring rain.

I had my iPod with me, so I put my ear buds back in and listened to Hollywood Undead until I got to the store. I grabbed what I knew my grandma would want and paid for it at the counter.

"Later, Red!" The clerk said to me. I nodded.

"Be careful out there! I heard that some muggers were out on the prowl nearby! Wouldn't want you to get hurt, or worse..." the clerk added, but I had exited the store just before he finished. The rain was pouring even harder now, but I ignored it, since I was listening to Hoobastank, my favorite band. I started singing along to "The Reason". I heard a noise and I pulled my ear buds out, and I shut off my iPod. I heard shuffling behind me and turned around to see two boys walking behind me. They were talking and pointing at me. I ignored them and continued to walk towards grandma's house.

"Hey, pretty lady. Where you going?" one of the boys called out to me from behind. I just kept on walking. They were still following me. I turned down an alleyway as a shortcut. They followed me into the alley. My breathing started to quicken as I hurried along.

"Hey, wait for us, little lady!" the boys called out to me. I started to run. I turned a corner and found it was a dead end. Bare concrete walls surrounded me, and the boys were close behind. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two more boys appeared. The other boys caught up, and I held the grocery bag close to my chest.

"There you are!" one of the boys said, smiling. I backed away. I was cornered by four strange boys, and it was getting darker out by the minute. I tried to duck around them, but one of them threw me against the wall. Hard. I slid to the ground, holding my side. One of the boys pulled out a knife. They were gonna kill me. Or worse... I shuddered.

"We got a pretty one, Bill." the one with the knife said.

"Yeah, I wonder what she's wearing under that red hoodie." one of them, supposedly Bill, said. He sauntered over to me. I tried to scramble away, but he lifted me by my hair. I screamed and howled like a cat, hissing and spitting and clawing at Bill. He held me at a close distance.

"Aww, she's no fun anymore." Bill said, slamming me into the wall. His hand wrapped around my neck and tightened. I clawed at his hand but he didn't let go of me. Suddenly, one of the boys screamed. My sight was growing dim and suddenly the hand around my neck in a choke hold let go. I fell to the ground coughing and rubbing my throat. The ground was wet with something, and I smelled something copper. I saw a grisly sight; the four boys all lying on the ground with their throats slit. Among their bodies stood a boy around my age with his clothes torn and covered from head to toe in blood splatters. His eyes were the color of blood; bright, glowing red, then fading to a forest-green. His jeans were torn and his leather jacket stained with blood. He wore a necklace with a pawprint-shaped imprint in the middle of a pendant. He started at me, and I saw that he had no weapons. Just long, curling claws. I shuddered, and fell to the ground. He rushed over and caught me just before I hit the ground. He picked me up bridal-style and carried me out of the alleyway. Something warm dripped down the side of my forehead, and I tasted blood in my mouth.

"It's okay. You're safe now." the boy said to me. He must have been really strong, since he didn't sound strained from carrying me. My head lolled a little as he started walking away from the grisly scene. The few people out at the time, either taking a late jog,or out for a quick smoke, well, I could feel them staring in horror.

"It'll be alright, Miss. I'll keep you safe." he said to me comfortingly, softly holding me closer to him. I lifted me head to look into his forest-green eyes. Darker green in the center, spreading outward from his pupil until it was a pale shade of green. He smiled at me, and I saw that he had pointed canines. Then, I blacked out.