Red Riding Hood

~Chapter 5~

I had worked hours in the forge and it was now time to head home. I was tired from all the work. My arms ached when i opened the door to my house. Working at a forge sure does waste your energy.

I didn't even bother to change clothes as I walked to my bedroom with half closed eyes. I don't even think I reached my bed before I past out.

"Wh-...Wo-...H-nt..." was all I could hear in my sleep. I missed most of the words except some sounds. Not even enough to make out one word. It sounded like a voice was trying to talk to someone but it was too quiet to hear.

Soon, the voice started to fade away and I found myself waking up. To say I was shocked was a understatement. I lay with my head on my bed and the rest of my body sprawled on the floor. But that wasn't what I was shocked about. I was still home. I didn't wake up at the edge of the forest like usual.

I knew that my hopes grew again as got up from the bed I hadn't waken up in in so long. It felt like a new change for once. Even though I was happy I still felt like today was not going to be normal. There must be a reason for it. But I shook the thought as quickly as it came. I don't need more stuff to worry about.

When I got off my bed, or half of the bed, I went to my closet and picked a white top with faded jeans. Nothing too special.

Once I was ready I grabbed my bag and headed to the market. Several times on the way to the market I kept getting the nagging feeling that something was going to happen. Nothing bad.. I don't think at least.

As soon as I got to the market I went around looking for anyone who needed help with anything. It went like that for the whole day and soon started to turn dark. The day was like any other day. So why did it feel different?

I just sighed at the thought and was about to leave the market since everyone had left already but soon stopped as someone, a man in a black cloak, came running out into the empty clearing. He panted heavily as he came to a stop in the clearing.

"Are you alright? what's wrong?" I ask him as he tries to catch his breath. It took a couple seconds before he could muster any words out.

"I-I'm Fine. I need to hurry before they find me." The man says and looks around. Probably to find a place to hide.

"Whose they? And why do you need to hurry?" I ask him while I try to calm him down.

I never got a reply. Instead he just got up and stared straight into my eyes as if he was looking for something.

"Umm, What are y-" I got cut off as he suddenly placed something heavy in my hands.

"Here, Take this and whatever you do, don't let anyone know you have it! Am I clear?" He says sternly.

"Yeah but-" I begin to say. "I said am I clear? This is a life or death situation! Understand! If anyone finds out you have this" He shows me the item, which appears to be a old book. " Our entire race could end. So I repeat. Am. I. Clear?" He asks me not breaking eye contact.

"Yes" I say quietly, wondering what mess I got myself into this time.

"Okay" He nods to me. "I want you to run to your house and don't stop. Once you get there hide the book where no one would ever look. Only read it when you think its safe. But don't read it out loud. Only read it out loud when you know what the book means." He says to me and I try to remember everything he had just said.

He was about to run away but stopped in his tracks. "Oh, and here." He hands me a small box. " It will keep you safe." He tells me and I shove it into my pocket.

"Now go!" He yells to me and I run doing everything he had just told me. When I turned the corner I could hear yelling from other people whom I didn't recognize. I wanted to look back but I knew that would be a mistake.

As soon as I saw the house I sprinted until I reached the house and locked the door behind me. I tried to slow my breathing to a normal rate as I thought of what had just happened.

"What if the people who where yelling saw me? What if they found out where I live?" I started to think but soon stopped. I hadn't done anything wrong so there was no reason for them to follow me.

I just sat with my back on the door trying to hold in the tears. I was scared. Confused. I felt vulnerable. I always hated that feeling. It was a feeling I hadn't felt for a while now. 

I was about to start crying until I heard a soft "Thump". The sound surprised me until I looked for where the sound had came from. It was the book I had received from the mysterious man.

I remembered he had told me not to open it until I thought I was safe. I knew I was here so I decided to look at it.

The book was a dark brownish red color with markings on it. The cover of the book felt like rough leather that had to be years old. I had never seen this kind of leather before so he must have traveled far to find it.  I flipped the book over to the back of it to see a symbol. It was a circle with a star in the middle reminding me of the constellations.

After taking in the appearance I opened the book and dust came out and ended up in a coughing fit. The book had probably not been open for as long it had been made. After my coughing fit I looked at the words only to find out it was ancient writing. How could I ever be able to understand this?! No one in the town, even the elders cant understand ancient writing!

 I internally groan and place the book down. "The box!" I thought to myself. I rushed my hand to my pocket to find it was still there. Good thing I didn't loose it. I was curious to know what was in the box. Curiosity is what gets the best of me and I am surprised I didn't look back earlier when I ran home. It was probably because I was scared at what the man told me.

I took the box out of my pocket and looked at it. It was a small wooden box that was probably to hold something small. I slowly opened it just in case something was going to pop out at me. When nothing happened the first couple seconds I opened it fully to find a necklace. 

It was a thin chain with the same emblem on it like the book. "It was probably made by the same person who made the book as well. I wonder what the sign means." I thought to myself as I inspected it. The necklace looked old but it didn't have a single scratch on it. Just like the book, it was a different kind of material I had never seen before. The metal was smooth and you could tell it wouldn't break easily.

I sighted and got up from the ground. I wont be able to figure this out tonight so I will have to go to the library tomorrow and maybe I will be lucky and find something. But for now I will have to hide it somewhere. "Where" was the question thought. But then I got a good idea. I could hide it under the wooden floor.

There was a spot in my room that the floor was starting to open and I could hide it there. I used to hide my stuff there a long time ago that I didn't want anyone taking when I left home. I dug it out a long time ago and I think I would be able to fit both the book and the necklace in it.

After deciding that's where I would hide it I went up to my room and looked for the spot. It took a couple of seconds to find it but once I did I opened it slightly and place them both in.

 All of this had happened to fast. I was going to have a headache if this kept happening. "Now lets just hope I don't wake up in front of the forest again." I thought and covered myself with my bed covers and silently fell into a deep sleep.

Hello my amazing readers! Its DJ! If this is confusion for you right now don't worry it will all make sense later in the story! This will all connect together in the end so no worry's! Comment and maybe a Vote? Bye!