Once upon a time there was a village built within the woods, separated from the rest of the world. Within this village lived the Red Sisters. A completely female civilization ran by a single elder that was known to them as Grandmother.
The men of this realm were barbaric, and so Grandmother gave them all a place where they would be safe and protected, concealed within the woods where the men would never find them.
However, such a gift came with a curse. Within these woods lived beasts that threatened the peaceful existence of the Red Sisters.
Grandmother was gifted with magic, she was able to protect the Red Sister from the outside threat with a protective aura and with this aura she granted the Red Sister eternal life. But one day Grandmother fell ill. Very ill. Her magic was beginning to fade, the village’s protective aura weakened and began to falter. Not only were the Red Sisters no longer protected, but they felt their gift of eternal life begin to sway with it. The oldest among the Red Sisters began to age. The defected Red Sisters began to fall ill.
Smelling mortality, illness and possible death, the beasts from within the woods took on disguises of man. But these men were not like the barbaric men they had all escaped. They were fine, noble, caring and kind. They offered the Red Sisters protection, and with Grandmother falling more and more ill every day, they had no choice but to accept the help of these new kind men, whom they did not know were beasts in disguise.
Several moons passed. The Red Sisters were protected and they began to continue their lives in peace, despite growing old and ill themselves.
Then on one night, the first blue moon of the year, they all vanished. And with them Grandmother too had vanished.
The Red Sisters were in a panic. They were exposed, vulnerable without protection. What would they do to protect themselves from the beasts of the woods?
It didn’t take long before their town was invaded. Their houses burned to the ground. Their crops destroyed. These beasts were that of a wolf, but stood like man. They herded the Red Sisters up and encaged them within the fields. Every night the beasts would come to their cages and select one. They would drag the screaming Red Sister to the last standing building, where they would then hear their sister get devoured.
They had all but lost hope when one Red Sister gathered her courage and stepped before them all. She was the natural youngest of them all. She had yet to be given the Red Hood of initiation, as she was not yet ready. She was also a very small petite thing. She was small enough to slip through the bars and escape the beasts of the woods.
Her and her sister had escaped to Grandmother when they ran away from home where their abusive father lived. Since they joined the sisterhood of the Red Sisters she was known as Little, for her small size.
Upon standing before all the Red Sisters, they all fell silent from their cries, sobs and screams. They all fell silent seeing the smallest and youngest of them all being the one with the biggest of courage.
“I’m small enough to escape. I can go and find Grandmother, she’s still alive, and I can feel it. She will know what to do. When I find her we will free the rest of you.” She announced to the group.
They stayed silent, until the silence was broken by Little’s sister. She knelt in front of her sister, taking off her initiation red hood and tied the tie around Little’s neck. With a heavy heart and a tear in her eye, she mustered a smile to her sister, Little, and told her to be careful. If anything, at least her sister would survive this.
Putting up her hood, she waited until after the beasts took their victim for that night, for they always rested shortly after dining, and slipped out of the bars and ran straight into the woods.
There was a pathway made by the beasts when they came to the town, so she followed the path throughout the night until she found a cottage in the woods. Its front lantern was lit, its fireplace spewing out smoke from the chimney. It looked so warm and comforting.
Seeing how welcoming it looked, she decided to knock. Perhaps she would find help.
The door opened, to her surprise standing at the door was one of the noble men that had protected them for several months, but disappeared with the rest. He looked just as surprised as she did to see him.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked her after slight hesitation.
“Please, you need to help me, the beasts from the woods took over our village and Grandmother vanished when all of you did. We need help, they are killing us one at a time every night!” she begged the man, falling to her knees, her sadness finally catching up with herself.
The man picked her up to her feet by her arm and walked her into his cottage. It was so warm inside. A pot of stew was cooking over the fireplace, the smell filled the air. He sat her down and offered her some stew and bread, which she took hungrily. She was starving.
“Why did you leave us?” She asked, choking back tears after eating in silence for a bit. “And where did Grandmother go?”
The man looked at her for a bit, considering how he was going to answer her question. He stood up, walking to a bare wall and looked at the fireplace. Little stared at him, noticing it was like he was protecting something, or blocking something that was by the wall, but the wall was empty.
“We had to leave. It was no longer safe for us there. But Grandmother is safe, I promise you. You should head back home soon and let the others know that Grandmother is safe.” He reassured her, now staring at her.
Her chewing slowed down. He was lying. She knew he was lying. “No.. she’s not safe. She’s not okay. You guys took her, didn’t you?” she asked, putting her bowl and bread down slowly, planning a route of escape.
The man bit his lip a bit then chuckled. “It’s a shame, I was going to let you go back. But now I am going to have to kill you and eat you like my family is eating yours.”
Little gasped and stood, but it was too late. Before her very eyes the man began to change. He bent down slightly as his skin began to darken, hair all over his body began to grow at incredible speeds. She could hear his bones snap and bend as his body changed, growing. He grunted in pain as the speed of his change didn’t allow for a breather. His clothing began to rip as his muscles began to grow in his limbs and body.
Soon his grunts turned to snarls as his mouth hung open, distorting from a mans to a wolves as his drool dripped to the floor.
He stared up at her with blood shot eyes and charged at her. She just barely got out of the way as he clipped her. She tried to regain her footing as she swayed from the hit and found herself where he was standing as he changed. The beast stood back up and turned to her, wasting no time he charged again.
This time Little got completely out of the way and the beast hit the wall, breaking it and falling down a set of steps that was on the other side.
She could hear the beast howl, whimper, then eventually fall silent as its body continued down the steps, ending in a thud.
She stepped to the new pathway and saw that behind the wall was stone walls and steps, leading downward to a dimly lit dungeon.
She made her way down the steps, careful not to step on the body of the beast, and found that it lead to a large dungeon-like room with a bed in the center. On this bed was Grandmother, barely kept alive by mechanical-like devices.
Quickly, Little ran to Grandmothers side. Grandmother’s eyes flickered open weakly when she heard Little cry out to her as she grabbed her hand.
“Grandmother... what did they do to you? Why did they take you?” she asked, wanting answers.
“My dear child… My dear little… They wanted me for my magic. You see, I do not control who gets it, for it is given to all around me. When I fell ill they were able to get past my aura of protection. They gained the trust of the sisterhood and then when my powers had finally weakened enough, they were able to lift me out of the village. They wanted my gift of eternal life. They want to never grow old. And as long as I am alive, they will have it.”
“No… No, Grandmother, they won’t! I won’t let them! I got this far, I escaped them from the village and I escaped one that tried to kill me. I am going to take you back, you’re going to get the beasts out of our home and you’re going to get better.” Little said with a sob.
“No, my dear… I am too weak. We cannot win our village back. I am not powerful enough. I am dying, whether they came and took me or not, I was going to die. Your best chance of survival is to go back and let your sisters out. Flee, escape this place. Find your way back to the realms you all came from. Perhaps time had made man more civilized.”
“No…” Little sobbed. All she could say was this word over and over as she held Grandmothers hand to her face, her tears getting Grandmothers hand wet.
“You must. But before you go, I need you to make sure the beasts of the woods can’t keep my eternal life. They will keep me alive as long as I am here, but I am too weak to move. You must kill me. You have found the courage to make it this far. Now find the courage to do what must be done. Kill me, Little.” Grandmother said, looking at a table nearby with surgical like tools.
Little, sniffling and shocked, turned to where Grandmother had motioned. Little knew she had to. Little knew Grandmother was right. She became numb at the thought. She slowly lowered Grandmothers hand from her face and let go. Turning, she slowly reached for one of the knives. She gripped its metallic handle tightly in her hand. It was cold and unforgiving. It didn’t care whose life it was going to take. It didn’t care.
Turning back to Grandmother, she stared at the knife then back at her in silence.
“Go on dear,” Grandmother told her with a smile, “This needs to be done or the beasts will live forever. You must kill me now and go back and free the others.” She repeated.
Little took a deep breath and placed the knife to Grandmothers throat. Grandmother lifted her head, showing that she was ready. Little shut her eyes tightly and turned her head away as she pulled on the knife that was placed against Grandmothers neck.
Quickly making her way out of the cottage, Little ran to her village, unable to completely wipe the blood from her hands onto the red cape of her hood. It stained her hands.
Upon making it back to the village, she stood at the end of the pathway. Something had happened. There was shouting. Screams. But not just of people, but men. And not just of men, but of beasts as well. There was a battle going on. Men were fighting the beasts.
Many of them carried axes, swinging down at the beasts. They must have taken them by surprise, as the beasts were chaotic, un-uniformed as they were before.
The wind began to blow, pushing Little’s hood off her head. With tears of relief, she watched as these men, who came from the woods, who knew nothing about the sisterhood, were saving them all from the torment of the beasts.
She watched as her sisters of the Red Sisters ran from the cages, holding onto their loved ones that they were separated from in the cages, crying and sobbing in relief as their captors were mutilated.
They tried to escape the horrors of the world, but by doing so they only invited in something worse. They played with their own fates, and fate fought back. The men they had tried so hard to escape to begin with were the ones who would free them.
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