Many tales profess to be mine, but I must tell you there are many inaccuracies.
For one, Little Red Riding Hood is quite a stretch from my true title. I am The Red Hood. I am also not little, but I am a Riding, though I'm not sure how my last name fits into the odd title. My family tree goes on for many centuries, the limbs reaching even to dip into the blood of royalty.
My full name is Lilred Riding, so perhaps that's how I got the quip of a name.
I myself am a poor girl that lives in a small village. I've never met any of my royal relatives, nor do I want to. That would mean I'd have to reveal my true identity. The word would spread. Everyone would know.
He would know. He would find me.
And that can't happen. Not yet.
He goes by many names: Seducer, Raven's Hunger, Fang, Silver Tongue, and, oh, my personal favorite; the Bottomless Dog. But there is one name he is most well known by. A name that instills fear in everyone that listens to the tales.
The Wolf.
Devourer of souls.
He is quite like the Grim Reaper, only he enjoys reaping his well earned spoils.
The Wolf had an insatiable appetite, and a particular, acquired taste for Riding souls. He'd taken the soul of my grandmother, the person I loved most in this world. My mother died after my birth, so he'd never had the chance to steal her life, but I know he would have tried. And he would have succeeded. No one can resist the seduction of the Wolf.
Least of all, Ridings.
But I intend to be different. Sure, I keep my identity secret, but it is only a matter of time before he finds me. I, The Red Hood, am prepared. Since the passing of my grandmother, I practiced the skills necessary to cause death. I know how to handle a bow better than most. I trained myself in the art of seduction as well. If I couldn't kill the Wolf first, I'd beat him at his own game.
And now, I am on the hunt for the only person left alive that has their own reasons for wanting the Wolf dead.
"Watch where you's goin'!"
"Sorry, sir! Wasn't paying attention!" I say, then dodge across the street before the man could berate me.
The village of Veirdan lay spread out before me, dirty and dank, but nonetheless hospitable. It smells of soil and unwashed people.
I stroll across the boardwalk, searching faces discreetly. It was something I'd gotten used to; seeing the same expression on different people. Everywhere I looked, I saw survivors. People who didn't know the meaning of life, but wanted to preserve it anyway. I'd once been like them until I lost the meaning of my life and had to rebuild it on my own.
My grandmother had been my world, and now the Wolf would pay. Tenfold.
Suddenly, I feel a hand take mine. I gasp and look over.
Impossible green eyes pierce the dirt that are my own.
It looks as though the hunted had sought out the hunter. And I'd thought it would take me all day to find him.
Nathan Sudor grins. "Looking for me, Red?"
I take my hand back, pulling it from his gentle grasp. "Not anymore, it seems."
He rolls his eyes, that dumb grin still on his face.
I keep walking.
That catches him by surprise, bringing a smile to my own face. "Keep up, Green Eyes."
He trots up beside me. "Where are we going?"
"We need to talk, and we're not doing it here in the middle of town."
Nathan sighs. "Guess we're going into the woods then."
"Righto."
We travel together outside of the city limits. Weeping Willows ahead provide us perfect privacy. Thank you, Mother Nature.
Once under the cover of the floor length gown of leaves, I spin on my heel and face Nathan. He's inches away. I pretend it doesn't stir up any rebellious butterflies.
"What do you want to talk about?"
I hesitate. I've been thinking about exactly what I wanted to say for months, but now that the time is here, my mouth feels dry. How could I do this gently?
Apparently, Nathan mistakes my silence for something else. He takes my hand again. I let him, watching to see what he would do. He places my palm on his heart.
"When I see you, my heart races."
My left eyebrow lifts in unbelief. "I'm round and wear a red cloak. I look like an apple."
He shakes his head. "No," he says with a smile that makes my knees weak. "You look like a heart." He massages my hand. "Does yours race when you see me?" His voice is so tender, I don't want to let him down by not answering.
"No," I say. "It stops. All I can do is stand and stare, knowing we can never be together."
His brows knit. "Why?"
"Because no one could love their father's killer."
Nathan's eyes widen with realization and he releases my hand. Now it feels cold. "That's why you're here."
I nod, feeling ashamed.
"You want to kill him."
"Is that really a surprise? I've trained every day until my muscles felt like lead — and I will not let all that effort go to waste." I frown at my outburst, worry stinging my chest. This isn't gentle at all. My next question steps into tricky territory. "Will you help me?"
Nathan takes a step past me, turning to lean back against the trunk of the Willow. At least he's not leaving me without an answer.
Nathan was the Wolf's first and only child. He was to be the next Seducer, but he'd refused after finding out the dubious facts of his mother's alleged disappearance. The Wolf told him that she'd abandoned him, when in fact she'd been a victim of his soul-stealing. So, Nathan had ran away. Right into me. I'd been grieving, he'd been scared. And our relationship had grown, built on honesty and trust.
And right now, I'm asking for honesty. Will he accept the chance to seek justice for his mother?
"I never really got to know her," Nathan says, like he's reading my mind. "Not in the way that a child should know their mother, anyway. She was gone before I turned four. She was just the woman that gave me food and hugs. I do remember the last thing she said to me though. 'True love is stronger than hunger for power'. The Wolf, my father, hungers for power. He only used my mother to get me. He never loved her, not really. So I didn't know what true love looked like." His eyes lift to mine. "Not until I met you, that is."
My breath hitches in my chest. I turn away, tears in my eyes. "You're insufferable, you know that?"
Nathan leaps into action and I feel his hand in mine yet again. He pulls me towards him. I pinch my eyes closed, keeping the tears and the sight of him back. Clamping my ears shut to block out his words sounded like a good idea too, but Nathan held me too close. I feel his nose nuzzle the corner of my wincing eye.
That does it. I have to look.
I melt in his gaze.
"I don't deserve you."
Nathan presses his forehead to mine. "I should be saying that to you."
"Can we stay like this forever? No responsibilities, no worries, no one else but you and I?"
"I wish," he said, brushing a calloused thumb across my lips. "I wish a lot of things. I wish my mother was still alive. I wish my father wasn't who he is. I wish. . ." His voice drifts, not completely away, but the softer it becomes, the more I have to focus to hear him. "I wish I could kiss you."
My heart shatters. I lean my head on his racing chest. "We both know that can't happen."
His chin bumps the top of my head as he nods. "No harm in wishing, though."
"No," I say, barely breathing. "I guess not."
For a long moment, we just stand there, existing in a paradox that could not reach a resolve. Why couldn't this love be normal?
"So. . ." I hesitate, letting the silence scurry away. "What will you do? Have you decided?"
Nathan shifts, then pulls back just a step. "You think we'd be happier with him dead?"
I lift my shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe."
"You'd murder someone on a maybe?"
I glare at him. "How many people has he murdered without question? How many tears has he drawn because someone lost their loved one?"
"It doesn't weigh him down. Morals don't exist for him, but they do for you," Nathan says. "My concern isn't for him, it's for you. You'd have to live with the burden of taking a life for the rest of your own."
My eyes travel over his face, finally landing on a freckle on his right cheek. It's shaped like an arrow, pointing down to his mouth. I follow the sightline, then look away.
"How far would we have to run for him not to be able to hurt us ever again?"
Nathan shrugs. "I don't know. Does distance matter to a hungry monster?"
"Please," I say. I can't hide my desperation. "Take me to him."
"No." His eyes plead with me. "He'll-"
"I won't let him."
"You can't guarantee that."
"What choice do I have? The only way I can get close to the Wolf is to become his victim."
There's a long, tense silence. I don't know what to do — I don't want to bring Nathan pain, but I also didn't want more people to suffer. Every breath the Wolf breathed was another opportunity for him to steal a soul.
"Please," I whisper.
Nathan's grip tightens. "Fine. I'll show you the way."
~~~
My first step into the mouth of the cave is a shaky one.
Within, a thief awaits.
Nathan's last warning to me was, "Make him think he's the one in control. Only then will he play into your hand." Meanwhile, he will wait outside until I reappear from the cold crevice in the earth.
My steps echo throughout the dank halls of a hidden settlement. Vines grow, reaching towards the light dripping in through a hole in the ceiling of the cave. Nathan had said the Wolf had stolen the souls of every villager here. He hadn't had to seduce back then. With a wave of his hand, people fell dead. A Riding enchanter had cursed him after that with the kiss of death. Sadly, he'd passed that curse onto Nathan. The Wolf abused his power and paid the price. After he kissed his one and only true love, she died in his arms. Soulless for eternity.
To an extent, I could understand his rampage on Ridings. But I also understood why he'd been punished. He'd deserved it.
And my goal is to punish him further. Kill him. If it isn't the ultimate punishment, it's the ultimate mercy, putting him out of his misery.
Another set of footsteps ricochets on the cave walls and bounces into my ears. I hesitate then round a corner.
His eyes hit me first. Green and enchanting. Another thing Nathan had inherited. His gaze relaxed as he raised an eyebrow. "Wandered away from home, have you, petal?"
"My home is not a place." I manage a calm smile. "Lilred Riding, at your service."
His sureness wavers. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Fate."
The Wolf bares his teeth in a playful grin. "Fate is a game."
A corner of my mouth lifts. "One I enjoy playing."
He nods. "What brings you to me on this fine day?"
"A proposition."
"Such as?"
"Breaking your curse."
The Wolf lifts his head, looking down at me. I smile. Confidence is key.
I continue onto a different topic, letting the bait bob in front of him. "This really is an interesting place you have here. I've never seen anything like it. It must have cost you everything." Easy, now. Don't hurt him until you have to.
His gaze rakes over me and I have to fight a shiver. It feels like he's touching me.
"Care to show me around?"
"Most women are afraid to be alone with me."
I step towards him. "I'm not most."
His eyes grow lazy and a grin dimples his cheeks. The Wolf offers me his arm and I take it. He guides me into the abandoned city. A weathered path leads through the bones of his long ago victims. More hate towards him roiled in my gut.
To feint fear and seek comfort, I leant into him as we walked. He stiffened, then relaxed at my touch. I hide my satisfaction. He doesn't know what to expect-
Suddenly, he swings me out in front of him. "Are you an enchantress?"
I swallow my surprised sputtering, trying to remain calm. "In a way, yes."
"How would you break the curse? Why would you?"
"Old things should be put to rest. You shouldn't have to suffer anymore for things long past."
He frowns, his brows bending inward. "You shouldn't have come."
"Why?"
"Because I'm hungry." He places a smooth hand on my neck and leans forward. I gently swerve, keeping up my aloof facade.
"Fight it, would you?"
He's still behind me, I feel his breath on my hair. "You smell of him. His stench coats your skin."
Nathan.
I step away from him and turn.
He looks cockier still. "So, that's why you've come."
"I told you, I came here to break the curse."
"I don't want it to be broken. I don't need it to be broken. My reason for wanting to be rid of this curse is already gone. And now the Ridings will pay."
I tame my panic. "You're not doing a very good job of seducing me."
"Why should I? You've already fallen for a part of me, whether you realize it or not. To make matters worse, for you that is, you've come into my den. Who's to rescue you? Surely not my son. He's powerless against me. I need only to remind of his pathetic whore of a mother and he will fall to his knees at my feet, weeping for mercy."
"You underestimate him."
The Wolf laughs. "And I overestimated you. You're the only Riding that has managed to escape my clutches. I thought you'd be smarter, yet here you are. Blindly giving up."
Well, this isn't going as planned.
"Do you know how I killed Nathan's mother?"
I brace, quietly reaching for the dagger hidden within my red cloak.
A devilish grin spreads on the Wolf's handsome face. "Like this!" He leaps towards me and I pull out my blade to protect myself. I close my eyes as he crashes into me. We fall to the ground.
For a dreadful moment, I just lay there, waiting. He doesn't move and my dagger feels stuck. Inside. Him.
Blood seeps into my already red cloak. I can't help but scream.
He's dead. Dead, dead, dead. I killed him. I killed him.
I push the Wolf's body away and run. But the truth chases me. I killed him.
I nearly fall on my face five times before I reach Nathan. The first thing that registers on his face is relief, and then realization and worry.
At the sight of him, I collapse to the ground, sobbing.
He rushes over to support me. When he takes me in his arms, I nestle into his warmth and strength.
"He's gone, he's gone," I cry. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I thought I could kill him without question, but all I could do was defend myself. And even now, I'm in pain."
"I should have been with you."
I squeeze my eyes shut. "You were right. I can't bear this."
Nathan grabs hold of my shoulders and pushes me away. "You can and you will. I won't let you give up. You'll endure." He lifts my chin so our gazes can meet. "We both will."
I sniff, wiping away my tears. "Together?"
"Always."
I take a deep breath and my cries go quiet. I see tears on Nathan's cheeks and wipe them away also. "Did- did the curse lift? Is it broken?"
His gaze lands on my mouth and my heart stops, the familiar flutter returning to my stomach. "Only one way to find out."
I can only stare. Scared for my life, but dying to express my deep love.
"You know I love you, right?"
I nodded. "And I love you."
Nathan hovers a hand on my cheek and we're inches apart.
His voice drops to a whisper. His breath tickles my skin. "What if-"
I shake my head. "It will have been worth it."
In a wavering second, Nathan hesitates. But then our lips touch. I tense and we both pull away in surprise.
His eyes are wide, shifting back and forth between mine, realizing what just happened. I can't help but let my relief show. Nothing happened. I'm still alive. He's still Nathan. We're still together.
Always.
He kisses me again. Passionately this time. Butterfly wings beat so loud I can hear them. Nathan doesn't steal my soul, but breathes in a piece of it just the same. And I know, as sure as our hearts are tied to each other, it will be his forever.
This is my story. . .what's yours?