Little Red Riding Hood

Chapter 2

~
" the roses are wilted, the violets are dead, the demons are running circles, round and round your head "
~

Alec sat back in his chair, staring at the fire. He was nursing a bottle of whiskey perched on the armchair.

Around him the drawing room was in disaray. Broken pieces of glass littered the wooden floors and paintings were ripped apart and flung across the room. Amongst the chaos a vase of red roses lay trampled on the floor.

"Alec?" He heard Robert's voice. "Go upstairs, take your sister." He told one of the younger children before he stepped into the room. Joseph and Aaron was trailing behind him.

The doctor came into the room having hear them arrive. "He's been like this for an hour. Smashed nearly everything in the bedroom aswell."

Robert walked to the man he concidered a friend, kneeling beside him. "We're gonna catch this bastard, you hear me." His eyes flickered to the boys. "We're gonna catch him and kill him."

Alec chuckled darkly. "It's not going to bring her back. Nothing is."

Robert grabbed Alec by the back of his neck and turned him towards him. "It won't bring her back, but you'll sure as hell feel a lot better."

Alec pushed Robert away from him, he struggled to his feet, swaying under the heavy clasp of alcohol. "I'm going to bed." He stumbled past his sons and walked blindly up the stairs. They followed him.

He stopped at Angelica's bedroom, peering in through the door as the little girl leaned on the windowsill watching as raindrop trickled down the glass. She was humming a tune, a old french song Marchelle would sing to her children as they fell asleep.

She suddenly stopped, turning to face her father. "Where is Mama?"

Joseph stepped forward, briskly walking towards his sister and picking her up. "Its time for bed."

The little girl pouted. "But I'm not tired." She fussed.

Robert lead Alec away and towards his bedroom. The state of the room was as bad as the drawing room, though it seemed one of the maids had already cleaned up the glass. Marchelle's dresses were ripped and thrown on the floor, hair clips scattered all around and the mirror on the vanity shattered.

Alec climbed unto the bed crossing his arms as he closed his eyes. Robert sighed, leading the other two men outside. Joseph had just come from Angelica's room and softly closed the door behind him.

"Doc, mind if I go take a look at the body?" Robert asked and the doctor's eyes widened.

Reluctantly he agreed. Observing a body was not something anyone asked to do, hell there had never been need for it. People in the town didn't die of unexplained circumstances, they died of old age or illness. Simple.

Marchelle's body was kept in one of the cool rooms in the local doctor's office. When they entered the metalic stench of blood hung heavily in the air. Robert winced. It smelt like death, humid and decaying.

Marchelle had been stripped of her tattered gown, her once delicate body was ripped apart. Large bloody gashes ran up her body from below her breasts to her shoulders as if the creature grabbed her from behind.

Robert stepped forward, lifting her head slightly and feeling around her back and shoulders. "Help me flip her over." He ordered the doctor who lifted the woman with shaky hands. Bite marks folded under and over her shoulderblades as if the the beast wanted to drag her.

His fingers brushed over the bitemarks. He was sure she would not turn. The body had to remain alive for the transformation to be possible. But he had to be sure.

"We will have to burn her." He told the doctor. "We can't risk burrying her."

The doctor frowned. "What are you-."

Robert grabbed him by the collar. "I said, we are burning her." He snarled through clenched teeth.

As midnight settled over the town casting a dark shadow over the town. The rain had stopped pouring down and the dark clouds had begun to draw back allowing the vexing moon to light the path.

Robert walked through the town into the woods, carrying Marchelle's body over his shoulder, wrapped in a white sheet. His trusted axe was held tightly by his free hand.

A large bonfire was lit, awaiting the sacrifice to the darkness.

Her body hit the burning logs as Robert tossed her into the fire. He watched as the sheet burned and the smell of burning flesh circled through the air.

"Mr Robert?" He heard the sweet voice of Angelica coming from behind him.

"What are you doing here little one?" He asked walking towards her and scooping her into his arms.

She sniffled, shivvering slightly. "I was looking for Mama." Robert wrapped her in his coat, holding her head away from the fire.

"Your Mama is not here."

Her little arms wrapped around his neck. "Can you take me home?"

He nodded carrying her through the dark. "Promise me sweet girl, that you will never go outside alone."

"I promise." She whispered before drifting off to sleep in his arms.

From the dark a pair of glowing red eyes watched them. Its eyes trained on the girl.

Mayor Browne held the lantern closer to his chest as he peered narrow eyed into the shadows. He had heard the growls and snarls, and his need to protect his wife had aroused a unnatural curiosity within him.

A whimper, like that of a dog came from the forestry and the old man stepped forward.

It moved swiftly, silently, a single feral growl as a warning before it pounced.

The old man screamed as the beast knocked him to the ground, sharp claws digging into his back.

Dagger like teeth tore into the flesh of his neck ripping flesh from bone. The old man's screams turned to gasps of air.

Blood poured from his mouth colouring the ground red. The beast didn't stop.

It mutilated the old man, nearly decapitating him.

They were the actions of a fledgeling. A newly turned who did not yet understand its own purpose. There was a underlining need to form a bond, a pack, and yet the young wolf did not know how to accomplish his goal leaving a trail of bodies in his wake.

When the last beat of the old man's hear thumped in his chest, the sound so heavy in the beast's ear, it lifted his head to the skies releasing a howl.