Ten years Before Ever After "Hh- Hh- Hi. Wha- Wha- What's your na-me." The little girl looks at the man with more than a little ounce of fear. In reality, he's would never hurt her. Never again. "They call me the wolf. What's your name little one?" A genuine smile roots on his handsome face. His not as scary as everyone misjudged him to be. "What kind of name is that. That's so stupid." The cute little girl looks at him with doe eyes and loose the stutter in her voice. His smile falters some, but it pops back in place replaced by a fake one. He thinks about all of the bad things he's done and all the lives he's ruined. He pulls up the sleeves of his shirt. Intricate tattoos rolled up his arms. Most represented were fairy tales, but in a grotesque way. "This is why little one." The big burly man looks down at her trying to explain in a non-scary way. He doesn't want to frighten her more than he did that one night on accident. "Well, if your the wolf, then I am Red."

When I looked into his eyes, he looked anything but human, and the scariest part was I couldn't find it in me to care. "W-Who are you?" I asked, tilting my head up. He looked at me through narrowed eyes, his pink lips parted as his rough voice sent chills up my spine, "That's not the question you should be asking." "Then what is?" There was a long unsettling silence that had dawned over the two of us. "Not who but what...what am I?" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2014.

Now a digital pilot for SYFY The Society knows when we're going to die. They imprint it on our arms at birth. I was supposed to die yesterday. I'm the girl who's Expired. Winner of the 2020 Readers Choice Awards Cover by @Forcade