The Dark Fur Of The Forest: The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Chapter 5: Pretty boy with secrets

I woke up to a clatter coming in the general direction of the kitchen. Wait! Where am I? I felt my wrist throbbing but not as bad as before. I cracked my eyes opened to feel bright lights shine into them.

I quickly shut my eyes again. I heard footsteps coming my way and I went back to my normal breathing as if I was asleep.

" I know you're awake." I sighed and forced my eyes open against the lights. I looked over to where I heard the voice. It was Irvin. Instantly, I recalled all that happened before I had passed out.

" What did you do to grandma and to me!?" I yelled at him. He was holding a glass of water, which I realized that my throat was dry. I glared at him instead. He calmly put the water on the table that he must have set up. I looked around and saw that I was in the living room. I must be on the couch. But how did he lift it up when I recalled that it took both grandma and me to bring that couch in the house in the first place. It was super heavy.

" Are you going to answer me?!" I uttered out at last from the long silence of my last outburst. He let out a long breath and finally replied.

" Look, I will explain everything. But you have to listen and drink this." He grabbed what looked like water but I was no fool.

" You poisoned that! I am not going to drink it." I said in outrage.

" Its just water. It should help you after you had passed out from losing that much blood. Plus why would I want to hurt you when I could have long ago." he explained. I hated to admit it but he was right. I saw that my wrist was stitched up. Wow, he even helped my wrist and all I did was accuse him. Yet he can't blame me for being cautioned against him. I happened to stare past his shoulder to the door. It was fixed as new.

" Okay, I think we did get off the wrong foot, but that still doesn't mean that trust you. I need answers." I finally said. He was still holding out the water to me. I took it and drank. Its coldness washed down my throat leaving me feeling fresh and clear-headed.

" Okay, please explained to me why there was dried up blood all over the house and why grandma has amnesia," I stated.

" Yes, I will get to that but first let me tell you about me and how I came to help out your grandma."

" Okay," I said.

" This isn't supposed to be a sob story but my childhood wasn't the greatest.....I used to be part of a group of travelers. That roamed the world selling their trade and whatnot, " Irvin explained while waving his hand in the air.

" My dad had died on the road when I was about 5. My brother, Darce, was 7 at the time. My mom raised us and so did the whole group of people we traveled with. One day we were going to your town, I was 10 and my brother 12 at the time. We decided to go through the forest as a shortcut. We didn't know about the dangers of these woods and made a mistake of going in. I felt as if I belonged in the woods and so did my brother. We both played around and had fun while our group went further into the woods. It didn't take long before we realized we were going in circles. At the same time, people were disappearing at random. My mom got worried and made us stay by her at all time. Soon the group was down to only ten." Wow! That must be scary.

" Then the thing came for my mom. . . . she hid us in a tree and told us to stay. We did. It was a mistake. She never came back. My brother and I waited till the thing was gone and came out to our small camp. " He stopped and looked down at the ground with his hands clenched into fists.

" The camp was destroyed same with everyone else.....nothing was left except blood. My brother and I tried to leave the forest but it seemed to not want us to leave. In the end, this place became our home. The woods always provided us for what we needed. " he finished and looked up at me with sad eyes.

" That still doesn't explain what happened to my grandma or how you came to know her?" I questioned. Wow, that is horrible! I am glad that I never had to go through something like that. Just to think of what would happen to mom or dad. Even Alex!

" I have been in these woods for almost 10 years and the magic has been absorbed in me. It makes me able not to get the flu or cold. However, there is a thing called too much magic injection. Which means that people who lived here who aren't native to the woods get the illness. Its like chicken pox's, you only have to get it once and then you never get it again. We call it Darkbloom fever. It starts as a fever that gets worse to the point person practically has amnesia." he explained. That's what grandma has!

" The only way to get better is by the plants that only live here in the woods. That is why I freaked out when you told me you gave some meds to your grandma. The thing is your grandma saved my life. I had known for years that she lived here but was too shy to go talk to her at all. I then got the case of the Darkbloom fever. It hit very sudden. My brother didn't know what to do and so brought me to your grandma's house. My brother had to tie me up because I went after him like he was an animal trying to hurt me. That explains the blood and doors. Your grandma helped me and healed me. After I was better, I thanked her and left. All too soon I passed by her house A few days later and discovered that everything looked the same as when I was there. To say the least I would have thought she would at least fix the front door." I frown as he paused.

" Why didn't you help her repair the house, especially since she healed you?!" I said in a stern tone.

" Yeah well . . . my brother wouldn't let me out of his sight and still doesn't trust your grandma. That is why you see me here and just me. Anyways, I went to her house and discovered her to have the fever. So I decided to help her out and then you came. You know the rest." He finally finished. His green eyes flashed over to me as if he knew what I was going to say next. I decided to trust him. Not completely, but enough.

" Okay. I guess since I am here now I can take over." I replied. I sat up and felt only a bit of pain.

" First I need to show you how to make the potion for your grandmother, then I will leave you to it." he stood up from his chair and I stood up too. I walked after him to grandma's room. He then took out each plant from underneath the desk and describe the properties of each one.

There were four plants that were needed to make the potion. Irvin showed me how to mashed the plants and finally let me took over. Finally satisfied with my work he said goodbye and left. I finished the potion and gave some to grandma. I looked over to her window and saw that night time had come.

I softly said goodnight to her and left the room. I was too tired to eat and went into my room. The room was bare except for a window, bed, and another door that led to the closet. I draped myself across the bed and only had time to kick off my shoes before darkness consumed me into a dreamless state of mind.