Red Riding Hood (#wattys2016)

Chapter Ten

Peter stared at me; his eyes wide with confusion.

"Damn," is all he can muster. He puts his hand to his forehead and wiped the sweat from his brow. The color in his face had disappeared completely. "Red, I- I really don't know how to take this."

"I never believed it at first myself." I really didn't know how to take it either. It took a while for him to respond.

"Well Red..." his voice trailed, "what'd we do now? With the guys and all? They'll believe zip."

"We don't tell them," I responded.

"What? I'll lose their trust, Red."

"Peter! What's more important? The trust of your so called friends? Or the sake of the town?"

"Or what about us, Red? If I'm a... werewolf, then what're we gonna do about me?" He was right. What were we going to do? I couldn't lose Peter. Not now. Not after I had just got to meet him. The silence of the shack had made me shudder, so I left, Peter yelling after me. I started to run. Ran away from the truth. Ran away from it all.

Eventually my legs gave to the dirt and soil beneath me.

***

We knew we could fix it. We didn't know how. But Granny keeps a book of myths in the cabinet. Peter, Gretel, and I read through most of chapter three, which contained information on werewolves. If we could prove Peter was a werewolf, we'd have to create some antivirus to remove the gene that created the DNA strand. It was very complicated. It might as well have taken months to prepare.

But it didn't. First we'll prove that Peter is a werewolf. Tonight. And we didn't go back to think about it. We were gonna save the town.

Peter needed to be tied to something and with something. I decided the oak tree near The Cliff would do and I knew Granny kept rope in the storage room.

I would stay with Peter in the woods overnight until he turned. From there, we haven't came with a plan. But there's no time. We're going now.

***

Gretel stayed in my room underneath the sheets so Granny wouldn't be suspicious as Peter and I headed towards The Cliff. It was quiet between me and him until we got there. Our breaths weren't in unison as they always were. We weren't whole anymore. I felt some distance between him and I.

I tied the rope around Peter's wrists and tightly around the trunk of the tree. He sat down, his head down, and breathed heavily. I sat down across from him. The sky was full of dancing stars that night, but Peter failed to notice them.

"I'm going to die," he said abruptly. I turned quickly towards him.

"Peter! You know I won't let that happen." He laughs to himself and smiles in my direction.

"We both know it has to happen though." He was right. He was going to die, just like them all. Just like everyone in the town. I was crying. I knew it. And I didn't stop it. Tears streamed down my cheeks like droplets of hot saltwater. My eyes were almost swollen shut as I leaned across Peter's lap.

It felt as if hours passed. I wanted the pain to end. How badly I wanted it to end. But it would never end.

"I love you," Peter whispered in my ear. I grabbed Peter by the hem of his shirt and watched as our lips met one another.

And right as our kiss had begun it had ended.

It had ended with his face fading from my mind.

***

I woke on the ground; a bright red cloth over my head.

My cape.

It was still dark out and I couldn't see Peter from under my cloak. I clenched the cape with both of my hands and peered over the hem like I did when I was young. When I thought monsters had hid in my closet. I expected to see Peter laying by the tree I had tied him to. I expected to see his bright smile, beckoning to me.

What I saw was not Peter.

This isn't real.

What I saw was horrific.

This isn't real.

What I saw was unspeakable.

This isn't real.

What I saw was sickening.

This is real.

What I saw was Peter's dead corpse.