Red Trails

Chapter 1

Walking down the dimly lit hallway, I get a taste of the rich snobby life Cinderella and Snow White live, their marble white floors and crystal chandeliers enough to pay for one's annual rent, yet she lives in this penthouse in the centre of London with her prince charming, 'how lucky' I roll my eyes wanting to get in and out as quick as I could.

Did I mention that I was working for these idiots? No? Sorry I tend to keep to myself ever since mankind has pushed forward and the fairy tales stopped, societies developed and every princess, every villain, anyone who was involved in the old classic fairy tales now live in this new modern society (More like dystopia), unfortunately some of the princesses (including Cinderella and Snow White) strayed away from their honest and kind paths to follow a more profitable money making stupidly OUTRAGEOUS SELFISH BI-... The door opens, and I jump replacing the anger off my face with a fake smile "Ah Cinderella, it's lovely to see you, my my... What a lovely house". Cinderella scoffed back with her mouth full of scones "Actually Anne, it's a penthouse, not like you know what one is. Please come in, we have important business to discuss" she toddles away in her expensive grey dress, about as dull as her personality which she's now decided to replace with a Rolex. Their penthouse was stunning, wooden furniture to remember the old times, glass tables and fancy décor, Snow White laid on the sofa like she was being drawn by a French artist in the middle of Paris... "Oh please, tell me you didn't hire her Cindy" Snow White stared at me like I was a cat that dragged in a dead bird, I stood impatiently with my arms crossed in a buttoned white shirt tucked into my black jeans. "I know Snow, but she is the only private investigator in this city with a fairy tale background" Cindy looked at Snow, then back at me disappointedly.

The nerve of these girls made me want to leave them with their problems and then not answer their calls when they beg for help, I couldn't help but interrupt "Excuse me ladies, can we just get straight to the point?"

"Yes, we need you to investigate a crime for us", I widened my eyes and raised a brow "Hm? I'm listening" informing them that I was the authority here. Cinderella or 'Cindy' as her so called best friend calls her replied "Murder... Something I worried about, it keeps me awake at night" which shook me a little. Worrying Cinderella one of the kindest princesses of them all, a murder of a fairy tale creature hasn't happened in decades, it could bring the London police which arouses suspicion of our secret fairy tale society hiding in the penthouses and slums of London. Snow rudely butted in to mock "Murder... At your granny's house", a slow inhale intruded into my lungs and it felt like a sack of bricks sat on my chest, I could see the flashbacks of the ghastly wolf standing in front of me at least 7ft long and its teeth sharper than the kitchen knives we tried to stab it with "Take it back..." I almost cried at the fact, knowing she was talking about the wolf that ate me and my granny, at the same time I wanted to assault her but knew it wouldn't be in my finest interest so looking away from her arrogant face will have to do. Cindy gave Snow a concerned look making Snow follow up with a pathetic apology "Fine, not like she died anyways", my brow twitched, and I replied "You'd probably want that you psycho, knowing the way you punished the evil queen, hmm? Red hot iron slippers was it?" suddenly I wasn't the authority and this was a silly school ground argument into the fairy tale past, Cinderella being the teacher breaking up the heated discussion "Right you two! That is enough! The three-little piggy's died last night, reported by Hans who skipped by the house, poor child saw everything- Go and investigate this miss Hallow".

"Fine, tell me the address" I demanded them as they both looked around as though they had no idea what I was talking about, so I continued "Do I have to remind you that we don't know everything?" I stabbed at her.

"Ah yes, um... 322 Revington street" she snarled looking down her nose at me.

Her light baby blue eyes stared at me with a passion for me to get going, I could tell she didn't care about the murder, there was something in it for them as Cinderella's desperation overshadowed her sympathy. The reason is probably because they lose out on money, that's all they ever care about. Cinderella's 'Crystal potion: Anyone can be a princess' product, a magic potion that makes any creature from any fairy tale look realistically human, a smart way to survive in the unforgivable world today. However, this product is expensive and compulsory by law for non-human fairy tale creatures such as the three-little piggy's. Great, nice to see that when innocent creatures die, the princess that makes money from them questions it and attempts to portray herself as the caring angel when really, they're all about self-interest. Snow White is the princess that can speak to animals and even she didn't bat an eye lid to the deaths of these pigs, what a mess... I had to get out of here, the stench of greed was overwhelming, I placed the red cloak over my shoulders and raised the hood walking out of their enormous penthouse into the rainy Monday morning.