Short stories

Blood Covered Snow

Her skin was as pale as snow, her hair as dark as night, and her lips as red as blood. The blood which she craved and drank with a feverish passion. Blood, which brought her to my brothers and me. And it was blood, which drove her to chase me.

I could hear her crazed giggles behind me as I sprinted through the forest. Blood gushed out of my neck where she had bitten me. The wound would probably become infected, but at the moment, that was the least of my worries.

I thought I was safe; I was only a few meters away from where my brothers hid, ready to spring the trap. But in a flash, there she was. Standing in front of me in all her horrid glory.

Her hair was wild from running after me, and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. With crazed eyes and an eerie grin, she took a step towards me, "You can't run forever, Doc. Why delay the inevitable?"

"I'm not dead yet, Snow." I spun on my heel, and once again took off running. But, it wasn't long before she was in front of me again.

"This is fun," She hissed, "On second thought, feel free to run and fight as much as you want. It'll make it that much sweeter when I finally catch you."

Then, I heard the crack of a stick to my left. Snow's head snapped towards the sound, "Has another little dwarf come out to play?"

My breath hitched, had she discovered my brothers?

She disappeared in a blur; darting into the trees.

I stood completely still, while fear overloaded my brain. Then I felt somebody come up behind me.

"I think you know this one," She whispered gleefully.

Slowly, I turned around; afraid of what I might see. I was right to fear.

In her pale arms, she held the bleeding body of Grumpy. His head lay bent at an unnatural angle, and his lifeless eyes stared at the darkening sky. A single drop of blood fell from Snow's lips and landed on Grumpy.

My chest tightened and I wanted to scream, but I would not give her the satisfaction, "You are a monster."

"Really?" She giggled, "Back at the castle, everybody loved me. Surely one who is loved by so many, couldn't possibly be a monster."

"The queen wasn't fooled by your tricks," I spat.

The grin dropped off her face, "Ah yes. My stepmother." She said with malice in her voice, "She really has tried everything to get me killed," Her eyes glinted red, "It was so nice of her to send me meals."

My gaze dropped to my brother's body once again; the gruesome sight made my vision go red, "You were raised by humans. So how is it that you can take so many lives, and yet stand there so proudly, as if you've done nothing wrong?"

"I may have been raised by humans," She growled, "But I am not one. There are benefits to not having a heart."

I risked a step towards her, "But is it worth it, to never love?"

She faltered, but quickly regained her composure, "It is better to feel nothing, than to hurt my entire life."

The heartless statement made my blood run cold and, for a second, I froze. But now was not the time to be still. I took off in the direction of my other brothers, just praying that the trap was ready.

Behind me, she shrieked with glee, "You can't run forever!" Then I could hear her footsteps pounding behind me.

But this time, I would not let her catch up to me, this time I would make it.

"Be ready!" I yelled, "She's behind me!" My voice wasn't as loud, nor as strong, as I would have liked. But, the cry still rang out in the quiet forest, silencing the insects that forever had buzzed in the trees. It almost seemed like they understood the meaning of the call.

A loud metallic clang cut through the air and I felt wind against my feet. Then came the head splitting screams.

"I will not be captured by the likes of you," She screeched, "I am a thousand years old, I will not be outsmarted by you!"

I stopped running and turned around in time to see my brothers jump out of the trees, grinning like madmen.

On the ground in front of them, was Snow. She fought wildly against the iron chain net that had been dropped on her.

I grinned, "You won't be hurting anyone else Snow."

A few days later

A silent tear rolled down my face as Bashful and Sneezy rolled the stone over the entrance of Grumpy's tomb. We gave him a proper dwarven burial, laying him in a stone tomb fit for a king.

But it was no comfort as I realized that I would never see his face again, nor hear his voice. Never catch the rare glint of happiness in his eyes, never work alongside him again, and never again would we sing as we walked home from work.

We increased his killer in a glass coffin, to remind others of the dangers. The coffin lay in the middle of the forest, where some would see her.

There was little chance of her awakening, as only blood near her lips could stir her from her slumber.

Today, after we had buried Grumpy, we slowly walked to her. But as soon as we came into view, we all froze in our tracks.

The lid on the coffin had fallen to the ground and, sitting up inside, was Snow. She held a man to her lips and thick, red blood gushed everywhere.

Her head snapped up towards us, and a sickening grin graced her face, her soulless eyes never leaving us as she crawled out of the coffin, "Time for a rematch, dwarves." She snarled.

In a flash, she stood in front of me, "Goodbye, Doc."

I felt my neck snap. My head rolled back and I fell to the ground. A singular tear rolled down my face, as I closed my eyes for the last time.