Little Red

Chapter 8

From outside the dungeon, you could hear loud wailing of townspeople, some weeping or calling out for their children. As I looked around, I remembered the scene from last night as if it was a movie replaying itself slowly in my mind. Vince was still entirely wolf form, but completely unconscious in the center of his cell block. Then there was Nathaniel, who was still pressed up against the bars closet to mine, however, he wasn't asleep.

"My, my. What a shame it is for those poor, poor people." Nat spoke so sternly, and must've knew I was awake.

"What's going on?" I asked quietly, trying not to wake Vince from his well deserved rest.

"The king is escorting everyone to town square for the hanging. You are to watch us be hanged, and then you'll be given the choice of being hung or reclaiming your position as queen." Nat's accent made it harder to understand what he was saying, but for some reason, it felt so clear to my mind.

"We don't have time." I stated, watching Vince, and questioning myself whether or not to wake him up or not.

"Wake beast boy up. You don't have a choice." Nathaniel remarked, as if reading my mind. Slowly getting up, I could partially see the marks Vince engraved into the metal bars. Little sunlight shone from the window above with the metal bars caging us in.

"Vince." I whispered, and his left ear twitched. "Wake up, please." I pleaded and his blue eyes flashed open. He glanced at me just before stretching out his legs, then transformed.

The metal doors swung open, and the king's men flooded in. They unlocked our cages and yanked us out, taking us above ground where the light shone so bright, that it actually burned your pupils.

"Bow." A guard boomed, pushing us down on the ground, and somehow my eyes pondered up to the king.

"Place the disgrace of men onto the platforms, please." The king instructed, and the guards holding Vince and Nat forced them to stand onto this wooden box where their heads where directly placed behind the loops.

"My lady, it's time for you to choose. Die or rule with me,but first, here's a small gift." The king was so forward that it didn't matter how he put it and the "Small Gift" was my red cloak. I rather die then be forced to live in a world without Vince.

"Die." I began walking myself to the platforms beside the two boys and smiled. Vince shook in disapproval and Nat held onto my hand.

"Ladies and gentleman, these fools before you have sent nothing but shame towards the kingdom and they shall pay." This was the signal for them to place our heads into the loops. "Guards, remove the platforms, and let them hang." Before the guard removed my platform, Vince had pushed me out of the way. I fell backwards, loosing my balance, but Nathaniel had caught me.

"Run, now!" His voice was clear, but shaky. A few guards shouted distantly.

Once we reached the wall, Nathaniel and I jumped over.

----

By the time we stopped running, the guards had long before discontinued the pursuit.

"Why- How could we have just left him?" I shouted in shock, with tears clogging my eyes as I sat on a log, watching him build a fire.

"It was his plan." He explained, not looking up at me.

"Vince? Is dead?" I coughed out.

"Yes."

-----

I laid on the forest floor in silence, with my cloak covering most of my body except for my short legs. I was mourning Vince's death; Or was I angry about it?

"Hey, eat something, please?" Nat begged, handing me a roasted rabbit leg. I pushed it away and refused to speak. I felt horrible. "I'll take you to go find his body if that's what you want."

"Screw you." I mumbled.

---

As soon as he fell asleep, I took off back to the kingdom, where I would go searching for Vince alone. The gate wall was hard to get over, but after half an hour of climbing, it was all worth it.

The whole ceremony layout was still displayed in the plaza, but the funny thing is, Vince's box wasn't tipped over like mine and Nat's.

I had everything played out in my mind until a unknown creature pounced on top of me, clawing me fiercely with massive paws but only making a few scratches. The creature howled, like a wolf, before staring me dead on with red eyes.

The sharp teeth grazed on my cheek, and I couldn't move. Finally, this..beast's claws were embedded into my skin.

"Vince." I cried, no longer being able to resist Vince's actions. "Please stop. This isn't you!"

Without notice, my hand met Vince's face for one of the most dramatic slaps ever. He whimpered, and withdrew from my corpse, leaving me in pain until Nathaniel arrived, which was almost a miracle.

"I told you I'd go with." He blabbed on, cleaning my fresh cuts behind a hay barrel. I grinded my teeth every time he applied the cloth.

"Something's wrong with Vince, but he's alive." I corrected him from his previous statement at the camp. "He's full blown wolf." I commented.

"Vince is insane when he's powered like that, he could rip either one of us apart in seconds like how he attacked the bars the night before."

"Be careful! No pulling any stunts." Nat's voice was soothing. By now, the sun was rising, and wolf boy would be roaming around any second now, waiting to kill us. Nat helped me to my feet and we began walking to an abandoned school house, which was merely wooden boards and broken school furniture.

Guards patrolled the area like bees.

"If the bird and the fish fall in love, where would they live?" Nat's gentle voice asked.

"Maybe you should give the fish wings." I dreamed of what life would be as a werewolf, but that was before Vince busted threw the squeaky classroom doors, ready to jump onto us like fresh meat.