I woke to the moon. It was aligned perfectly with my window. I motioned to take the blanket off of me, but found it was on the floor. Nightmares. I got them constantly. I stood from my bed and walked to mirror. My eyes were shining brightly in the light. I turned towards the window. The clouds were covering most of it, but I could make out the faint outline of the moon.
I tried to keep my mind off it, but the thought always crept up in me. Why am I concealed from everything? Why am I treated differently from everyone? I felt like crying again, but no tears came. Nothing felt real. Nothing made sense. I felt at that moment as if this were a dream. It wasn't.
I looked up at the moon once more. A perfect circle that illuminated my room. I closed my eyes. I asked myself a lot of things then. Why is Granny a nutcase? What are fairy tales? Are they... Real? I swallowed hard. I felt dizzy. The clouds began to part. The light surround me in a beam of white. I looked at my bed where my bright red cape lay. I wasn't wearing it. What would happen? What would Granny do- my thoughts stopped mid sentence. I didn't care. Not anymore. I looked at the window again.
My vision became blurry, but I swear I could see a glint of silver in my eyes as the moon escaped from my sight.
***
I awoke on the floor. My mouth tasted strange. Salty. I stood up slowly; my limbs shaking. I somehow made my way to the mirror. I opened my mouth to look inside.
I wish I hadn't.
Blood covered my teeth like paint. I resisted the urge to gag. I covered my mouth and ran to the bathroom. Granny was sitting beside the table, knitting, and luckily she didn't notice me. I opened the handle to the bathroom. It was cold, as if no one had ever used it before. I leaned over the toilet on the tile flooring and watched as my body disgorged blood. I wiped away the red from my mouth with my sleeve. I stood up. I dared to not look down.
But I did, and I wished the same thing when I looked in the mirror.
A finger. It was a blood covered finger. My limbs faltered and I hit the tile. I could feel my limbs shaking in a tremulous pattern. My breaths shortened as I gasped for air. My chest tightened. I crawled towards the sink and tried to stand.
The door suddenly shot open and nailed me in the head.
YOU ARE READING
Red Riding Hood (#wattys2016)
WerewolfI shuddered. It had never been so dark, nor so quiet before. There was always the light of the moon to guide me. The sound of the wind against the trees. I shook the thought from my mind and continued further into the wood. Then I saw it. A whi...