Red as Blood || A Snow White Retelling

Chapter Twelve - The Stalker and The Visitant

But, thankfully, the monster went back to its eating, growling and baring its needle like teeth at one of its siblings to steal a piece of lung. Still, I held my breath in my lungs, waiting a few more moments before opening the door some more. The space I had wasn't ideal, but I didn't have the time to be picky. When I threw the lantern I'd need to close the door and lock it shut quickly before any of the children could get out.

Gripping the lantern in my hand, I took a steadying breath, bringing it out slowly in front of me as I prepared to swing it into the barn. But before I could, I was snatched away from the door, long claws digging into my shoulders, and thrown away from it. I gasped as I hit the frozen earth, my head spinning and the lantern falling out of grasp and landing a few feet away.

Braxton towered above me, no longer the quiet boy who had taken our horses. His clothes hung from his thin frame, his skin the same wrinkled, corpse like skin as his siblings. His large black eyes stared at me menacingly and his teeth, no his fangs, were dripping with drool.

With a jolt I realized I had nothing to defend myself with. No weapon, no Beck. I was at the mercy of Braxton, and he had everything but mercy in his eyes.

He screeched at me, his jaw unhinging and opening impossibly long as he started stalking towards me. I scrambled backward, trying desperately to get my feet out from under me but my legs wouldn't move right. Fear settled like a thick fog in my mind, replacing any logic and leaving me full of terror and adrenaline.

I was going to die. And not even at the hands of the monster I was hunting.

A low whistle flew through the icy air, and a wet thunk followed shortly after. Braxton arched his back, a strangled cry of pain leaving his cavernous mouth. He whipped around, and I finally saw why. A crossbow bolt was lodged firmly between his shoulder blades, black blood dripping down from the wound.

Braxton and I both turned to see the attacker. I fully expected it to be Marcus, or even Beck, but someone else stood in their stead.

A woman.

She looked around my age. Slight in frame, her heavy furs and leather damn near dwarfed her. All but her fingers and face were covered, and she quickly put another bolt in her crossbow. Brown hair, cropped to her jaw and untamed flew in her face and she quickly blew it out of the way. Her eyes were alight with what I could only assume was excitement and a chaotic grin played across her lips. A necklace like the one Marcus had was around her neck.

"Alright, beastie," Her accent thick and vaguely familiar. "Let's go."

Braxton let out another bone chilling screech and ran towards her. She leveled her crossbow at him but he was too fast, and batted it out of the way. It tumbled to the ground, only a few feet away. The woman stumbled back a few steps, grabbing one of many glass flasks at her waist and tossing it at him. It shattered on his skin, whatever liquid that was in it burning and eating at his skin and leaving ugly black scars where ever it spread. Braxton screamed. I could smell his flesh from where I was.

"The barn!" She shouted at me, not taking her eyes off of Braxton and pulling out another flask. "Light it up, quickly!"

Before I could respond, she turned and ran behind the inn, Braxton chasing after her. Ignoring the pain in my shoulders, I got up and ran for the lantern. Thankfully, it was still lit, although barely. I picked it up, letting it flicker back to its full potential and then ran back to the barn.