Little Red Hoodie

Once upon a time there was a young girl named Little Red Hoodie. This wasn't her real name, but because she always wore a red hoodie they named her Little Red Hoodie. She had short curly brown hair and green eyes. She wasn't anything special but that didn't stop her.

One day her best friend, Rubie, was terribly ill and asked whether Little Red Hoodie could come over. She was dying to listen to some music so Little Red Hoodie decided to bring her iPod along with her.

Just before she left her mother cried out,

"Darling! I don't want you taking any short cuts! You need to stay safe! Who knows what you could encounter!!!"

Little Red Hoodie scoffed at this but agreed to do her mother's bidding.

She gently tugged at her hood and placed it delicately onto her dainty little head. She stepped outside into the warm summers breeze.

The birds were chirping happily in the trees and the cars on the road zoomed by. The bright yellow sun was high in the sky which was such a dazzling blue and was so bright it forced Little Red Hoodie to look away.

There was a yellow stain in her vision and she couldn't see anything so she blinked rapidly *one, two, three* and her sight slowly crept back to normal.

There was no one in the streets and the birds had stopped singing. It looked and felt like a ghost town. Little Red Hoodie pondered about whether she should return home; it was only a couple of steps away.

She shook her head and surged on. She ran across the road as quickly as possible. Once she got to the other side there, in front of her, was the alleyway.

A foreboding feeling emanated from it and chilled poor Little Red Hoodie to the bone. She looked around her but, again, there was no one there. Only houses.

There were two choices now. The safe route or the alternate dangerous route.

She took a deep calming breath and shoved all dire thoughts into the back of her mind. She stepped forward and as her foot touched the ground she unknowingly sealed her fate.

It was dark and there were grey, gruesome rats which scuttled by. Little Red Hoodie thought she heard the rats talking,

"Turn around girl! Go! Quickly before its too late!"

She ignored their pleas and carried on walking to her doom.

She heard movement behind her and she froze instantly. Her ears strained to detect any sounds which weren't there before.

Nothing.

She spun around in a flash and she saw a dark shadow leaning casually against the wall. All she could see was that whoever this person was, he was smirking at her.

"W-who are y-you?"

She spluttered and stuttered but she managed to somehow force the words out. She saw the gleam of metal where she presumed his hand was. It looked like a sharp object - but then again, in this light, who could tell.

"Your worst nightmare."

This sent her fleeing. He sounded like a wolf stalking its prey - ready to pounce and tear her apart; limb from limb. His laughter a low, deep rumble - it sounded nothing like what an average laugh would. It was like he was mocking her - that he was better than her. She was just a piece of meat and he was the bear.

In a flash Little Red Hoodie fled as swiflty as she could. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel and she forced herself to go faster.

The light at the end got bigger and bigger until she was finally out in the open. No one could get her now that she was safe - there were too many people. The hustle and bustle of rush hour ensured that there would always be an eye-witness if anything happened.

Turning around Litlle Red Hoodie could identify that no one was there. Meaning that he hadn't followed her out.

She cautiously stepped forwards and walked - almost non chalant - so that  no one would notice her. Stealthily she crossed the road and made sure that the man wasn't anywhere.

Her friends house was in her sights and she all but leapt onto the doorbell.

*Ding Dong!*

The door creaked open to reveal a young man whom Little Red Hoodie had never seen before. He smirked and Little Red Hoodie took a sharp intake of breath and started to panic. She'd seen that exact smirk not that long ago.

It seemed like he'd realised this, meaning he could lose his prey any moment. His window of opportunity was slowly closing and he had to make his move soon.

"Are you here to see Rubie?"

His voice was sweeter than before but he couldn't mask the pleasure that his prey was back. One more death. His mind twisted, dark like an ominous bank of clouds. If you got lost in there you'd never find your way out. Stuck forever in such a mind could crush a person's soul.

Little Red Hoodie was pulled into the house, his strong grip on her ensured that she wouldn't be able to escape.

"You must be Little Red Hoodie! I'm Aaron, Rubie's brother."

This calmed Little Red Hoodie and she reached out to shake the hand which he had thrust at her.

Wait.

Didn't Rubie have small doe eyes? Surely her brother would have the same eyes too.

"Wow! What big eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with!"

He seemed too nice, too happy, heck, too reasuring!

"Wow! What a gigantic smirk you have!"

Again he smiled at her, he stepped closer and replied,

"All the better to make you happy with!"

Again another step, flash a knife. Step, knife, step, knife, step, knife.

"Wow! What a big knife you have!"

His face twisted and morphed into something so gruesome it would leave a child with nightmares for years. He lunged at her. All joy and reassurance gone. He laughed again and she only saw the flash of the knife then the searing pain. Her stomach on fire burning her from the inside out. She crumpled to the ground, useless. Blood seeped out of her wound and her hoodie turned a brighter crimson.

He sneered at her and then, towering over her, his face the only thing she could see, he snarled,

"All the better to stab you with!"

Spit flew out of his mouth. He pulled the knife out. Pain like a hot iron spread through her body. There was a puddle of blood next to her. She tried to get up but she felt another sharp sting, she couldn't even scream. This time she had been stabbed in the thigh.

He pulled back again but a shot rang out and he fell to the ground, lifeless. The man who was never right in his mind was now dead because of his insanity. A man in uniform ran in. He felt the man's pulse, he was definitely gone. His eyes looking up at the ceiling drained of all life.

Little Red Hoodie could feel herslef slowly slipping away. Black dots danced across her vision making it hard to see anything. But the last thing she saw was her friend's face. Cheeks streaked with tears, hair in all directions and a gag hanging loosely around her neck. But the one thing that stood out was that she hadn't been hurt in any way at all.

After many weeks in intensive care Little Red Hoodie managed to survive and finally live her happily ever after.