Chapter 36 :D

Chapter thirty-six—Bloody Riding Hood

Give me a reason that you’re fully dead, I thought, as I stared at the top of my canopy bed, unable to sleep. Abby had gone back to her rooms, and Nikki was writing at my desk by candlelight. We did not speak; we did not know how to protect ourselves now.

Give me a reason, I thought, as envisioned the dream Nikki had experienced. Was this the future, as our dreams have been?

Give me a reason that you’re fully dead, as I thought of my mother. Could she possibly be alive? Was the woman in Nikki’s dream actually a demon?

I held the knife to my chest calmly, besides my amulet, its cold metal burning into my skin. I remembered the softly spoken words my mother gave me, and I knew even in death our love lives on.

They didn’t hear you singing to me. I closed my eyes, and tried to think. I remembered that they buried her in Unicorn Way, and that the Headmaster had built a monument for her. A large unicorn in the Unicorn Way Park. My heart ached; I wanted to go home so bad. How could I be so homesick, when I truly have no home?

And I couldn’t miss or love my deceased family anymore than I do, but I wish that I could love them enough to let go of them.

If I saw her again, I knew my weakness would give in. I would want to go with her, stay forever with her, and listen to her sweet lullabies. Nobody knew me like she did, nobody knows the memories I had of her but me.

I remembered laying my head on her lap when the night came, too tired to go to bed. She would stroke my face, and when she thought I’d fallen asleep, she’d pick me up and put me in my bed. Then, she’d kiss me on the forehead and close the door quietly. Even then, I could feel the warm press of her lips on my forehead, and I mourned for her warmth and love again. I wanted my mama back.

I sighed, and rolled over in my bed, the knife still branding itself onto my chest. Slowly, I closed my eyes, but I did not fall asleep. I only saw blackness, and listened to the rhythm of Nikki’s quill on the parchment.

My sister was everything I needed to see; she was the smile and sunlight in my view.

My mother was love reincarnated, and was the beauty in everything that was life.

The constant voice within my heart was them. I fell into peace, knowing one way or another, they would always be there.

Then I fell asleep in the sea of hope.

The next day was complicated. Abby certainly had been correct about not seeing each other; I couldn’t find her even if I tried. However, I had Nikki to help me with the evidence.

I saw Rachel running around, trying to suck up to Courtney. It looked as though she was trying to mooch something out of her; probably money. I’ve learned that that was Rachel’s normal schedule.

Before we were ordered to go to the Observatory, I had made a quick trip to the mail. With wonderful glee, there was a vile from Alhazred in a spellbound envelope, ready for tracking. I snuck it into my purse, and hurried off to the Observatory.

I told Nikki quickly and quietly when I arrived. She looked as though she was about to scream and jump in happiness, but she only put on a pair of silver gloves, and could barely contain her smile.

Together, we studied the clothes the victim’s were wearing the night of the crime scene. Dried blood covered most of the clothing, and some of it was in shreds.  

When Nikki found a black hair, I stared at her with doubt. “The woman’s hair was black.”

“The woman’s hair was silver-ish black, Mary.” She stuck the hair in my face, making my eyes go slightly cross-eyed. “It would have been silver in the root of the hair. This is pure black.”

I shrugged. “There’s barely anything worthwhile on these clothes.”

“Well, we aren’t finished yet.” She put the hair under a scanning device, searching its DNA. The machine beeped, and it lit up negative.

I stared in disbelief. “How could it not be the victim’s hair?”

“Because,” Nikki replied, putting the hair into a plastic bag. “It is the S.A.’s hair.”

I didn’t hear her. “What about this?”

I picked up a tuft of thick hair from a shredded part of the clothing, hidden under the baby’s blanket. Its hair shined ebony in the lamplight, as though it was almost a midnight blue.

I saw Nikki pale. “I think we are talking about… No, I cant believe it would be possible.”

“What is it?” I asked simply, still staring at the fur.

“I think we are talking about Red Riding Hood.”

“What? You mean the Fairytale curse? How?” I felt the blood drain out of my face.

“The tuft of hair you are holding right now, Mary,” Nikki spoke through gritted teeth. “Is Wolf hair. Malistaire’s curse made our next S.A. Little Red Riding Hood.”

“How could you be so sure about this?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Because,” Nikki took the hair, examining its fur in the light. “There is only one Fairytale related to the Angel of Battle and the Hunt; and that is where the Wolf hunts the Girl in the Forest.”

“And the Wolf has been hunting the Mysterious Woman on the rooftops.” I gasped. “It all makes sense!”

Nikki lifted up the baby boy’s shredded clothing. “It has claws as big as a grown elephant’s foot.” She touched the mother’s clothing where the stomach would have been. “And its teeth are as sharp as needles, sharp enough to rip out somebody’s stomach in one bite.”

I winced. “What do we do now?”

Nikki put the clothes down gently, with pity. “We shall use the tracking potion Alhazred gave us on the night of the Enforcement Ball; that’s when everybody will be preoccupied.”

I nodded. “And then we shall meet our blood sister.”

Nikki nodded. “We shall.”