Red Riding Hood; Editing

The Deal

     My voice was caught in my throat as I stared at her, was she serious? All those tales told by my father were true. My... second mother was a fairy?

     "It's true, why would I lie?" She said and I nodded still speechless.

     "So the stories my father told me were true?"

    "Your father knew as soon as he saw me, your mother just thought I was a herbalist, but of course your father told your mother and they agreed to my deal."

    "A deal? I thought you blessed my mother though."

    "Yes, but not everything is free, everything has a price."

    "What price did they pay?" I was starting to feel very sick as I stared at this beautiful fairy woman.

     "It was a blessing but they had to agree on a price, and I knew that you would be part mine, and I would watch you grow from afar, so the deal was, on your eighteenth birthday you would be given a decision, one you would have to make. You could either stay with your parents, or you could come with me, to learn about your powers and see things you could never imagine seeing."

     "But my parents never told me!" I was saddened and angry my parents never told me about any of this, I had a right to know.

    "They should have, but I understood why they did not. They love you very much."

    "My father is dead. How can he love me now?" I asked bitterly.

    She hesitated and I gasped, but she said softly "I felt you father enter the forest and then he just... I could not feel him after that. I could not sense his presence."

     "So he is dead?" She closed her eyes and sighed. I knew that she thought he was. "Why are you telling me this now?"

    "Things are changing, evil is in the air. I can sense it, and it's after you."

    "The wolf." I gasped.

    "Yes, and it's not the one your in love with either." She laughed at the look of horror on my face.

    "Um... so you know about Aaron?" I blushed as I said his name.

    "I have been watching you all your life, of course I know about the wolf man my daughter loves."  I flinched at the word daughter but she did not notice instead she went on about how cute and sweet it was that I had a love life, finally.

    "So, you know about the wolf that is after me?"

    "Yes." She turned serious.

    "I need your help then." I cried out desperately.

    "Anything I can do to keep you safe, I will do."

    "Aaron tried to kill it, but he was to strong. We need a weapon, something that will kill it right away." I breathed and she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

    "I can do that, but it's very powerful and does not come free, you will have to make a deal for it." She looked up and I had a feeling that it would not come cheap.

    "What would be the cost?" I said quietly.

     "Your my daughter, and I don't want to take something you need like your eye sight, or your beautiful hair."  I almost fainted thinking of being blind or hairless. "Your memories are precious to you, and I don't need a child since I have you and that would be cruel to take your first born child." I gulped, did people really trade their first born child?

     "What would be the price, please tell me."

    "It's endless, one of your emotions, your powers, your love, anything that I could benefit from. Something worthy of the weapon that can kill the beast." I did not want to lose any of that, their was nothing special I could really give her. I couldn't give my hair up, or my eyesight. My eyes.

     "The color of my eyes."

    "What?" She blinked and stared at me weridly.

    "It's a rare color, and the best of my features. The only other person who has it is my grandmamma, you could benefit from that."

    "Yes, I guess, but, are you sure?"

    "Yes, I mean, would my eyes be black then, no color at all."

    "well, yes, but I could put a simpler color in if you wanted, blue, green, or maybe brown."

     "Blue, you could take my eye color as compensation and replace it with a simple color of blue?"

    "Yes, are you sure that's what you want?"

    "Yes, it's a deal." I say as she places her hand over my eyes softly, I don't feel anything really, maybe like I am missing something, a part of me. It was replaced with a feeling of something that did not belong there. She lifted her hand and tilted her head and nodded.

    "It's done." she said and I looked to find my eyes staring back at me.

    I felt sadness at the thought of something, even though it was small was missing from me, but then we needed this, "Now the weapon." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch and gave it to me. I opened it to find what looked like shiny powder.

    "What do I do with this?"

    "The dagger that is in your bag, dip the blade into this and anything of an evil purpose, if you cut, or stab him with it, it will kill him instantly. It's very powerful, and very deadly, so be careful." She warned.

    "What is it?"

     "Fairy Dust."