Woe of the Red Wolf

Once upon a time, a little girl traveled in a forest with her father to see her ailing grandmother. The little girl frolicked about throughout the woods without a care in the world; her father stood by and watched her enjoy her youth.

As she roams the forest smelling flowers, gazing at each different plant, and picking berries for her grandmother, and yet, she was unaware of the danger that awaits her.

Her father, walking behind her, he begins to feel a slight nerve-wracking presence, as if someone or something is following them. The father looks in the direction of the trees that are following along the path. He tunes in on the forest. It grows silent but hears a snapping of a twig.

"Bonabelle, sweetie, stay right here for a second, Daddy has to use the garderobe, okay?" he says. She replies, "Okay, daddy!" As he merges himself into the depths of the forest, he senses a familiar presence. "Okay, come on out, I heard you, not only that I can smell you too…" there's a faint chuckle, then appears a shadow figure In the shape of a wolf standing on its hind legs.

"Well, hello Donovan, I see your instincts are still fully functional." the shadow figure's shade dissipates, and It can now be seen, as a wolf, twelve feet tall, with bulky muscles, with a nice suit, and golden yellow eyes.

"What do you want, Big Bad?" Donovan asks with a thick tone, "Why the hostility? Can't I just chat with one of my top dogs?" he says as he hunches down and wraps his arm around Donovan's shoulder. "I have a job for you,…" "Forget it!" he exclaimed, cutting off Big Bad.

"I'm thru with you, done, and I'm not coming back," Donovan says as he swats Big Bad's arm off of him. Bonabelle calls out to Donovan, "Daddy! ~ Come on, grandma is waiting." She shouts. "In a minute, sweet pea, daddy's almost finished with his business!" he replied, turning his body halfway toward the direction of her voice.

"Oh! ~ Right, you have a family now, a lovely wife and beautiful daughter, how is young Natalie?" asked Big Bad. "Don't worry about her." Donovan replies with the same tone, "Again with the hostility, although, your daughter, you know Donovan; I wonder how she would suffice as one of us…" Donovan quickly turns back to face Big Bad.

He steps up close and looks at him directly in his eyes with a grim look on his face, protruding fangs and claws unhinged from his fingertips. "DON'T YOU EVER THINK ABOUT-!" "Relax." Big Bad interrupts. "I won't touch your daughter unless you don't do this job for me," he says with a smug grin. Donovan, still leering at Big Bad, not budging an inch, angrily says, "Fine!"

Big Bad reaches into his suit and pulls out a slim hourglass shape vial. "All I need you to do is inhale this new blood essence we created." "That's it?" Donovan asks. "Yes, that's it. Then report to me what the results are and what happens, side effects, oh you know how this goes after you're still my top Dog."

Donovan, a bit confused, takes the vial and places it in his pocket. "Alright, I'll do it, but not now. I'll do it later," he says aggressively. "That's all I ask of you; now, if you must excuse me, I must head back to HQ, you know with me gone, those fools are always having troubles."

Big Bad begins to walk away and back into the forest steadily, and before becoming a shadowy figure once. Again, he shouts out, "Don't forget now, Donovan!" His words faded ever so slightly as he sinks into the forest.

As Big Bad ultimately emerges into the forest, Donovan returns to his daughter, feeling unsettled with the confrontation. "Daddy," says Bonabelle, "did you drink too much milk? Did you go number two?" giving off a slight laugh, Donovan replies with, "Yes hon', and I just needed to find a way to hide the evidence." Both continue to walk the path toward grandmother's house.

Once they have reached the home, Bonabelle immediately knocks on the door and shouts, "Grandma! We're here! Are you okay?" as her tiny pubescent hands strike the door, Donovan comes right behind her, removing a key from his pocket. "Not too loud little one, you'll wake the animals of the forest." She covers her mouth by pressing her hands down on her lips.

As Donovan inserts the key into the door, unlocking it, he pushes on up against the door. As the door swings open, both Donovan and Bonabelle enter, they hear the creaking noise coming from above them.

They make their way to the stairs and up. As they reach the top of the stairs, a peering light comes from underneath a door off their far left. They walk to the door; Donovan pushes the door with as his other hand is on Bonabelle's shoulder as she walks just inches in front of him. The door completely opens, "Grandma!" Bonabelle says excitedly. She runs up to her and plops her head onto her lap. "I got you these berries!" she says as she raises the basket full of berries.

"Easy, you know grandma is sick, don't be too rough with her." he says, "Now now Donovan, it's quite all right," she says, "My little red is just glad to see her grandmother is all." She gazes upon Bonabelle, while her head lies upon her lap. She begins to stroke the top of her head, "Such a sweet one, you are."

"So Muriel, how are you really?" he asks. "I'm doing quite fine actually," she replied. "though I still have the slight aches and pains, that shall subside soon." "Why do you choose to stay like this?" Donovan asks, "I just wanted to experience what it was like, this feeling, but I shall return to my natural roots."

"But grandma, you're not a tree you don't have roots." says Bonabelle, "Of course not, that'd be silly." She says with a smile on her face. The room grows silent. Bonabelle drifts off to sleep from tender care and touches from her grandmother.

"So precious this child is, I'm glad to see her so bright a cheerful, even though this world is a cruel one, Cherish these moments, Donovan, as she shall not stay this way forever." She says while looking out the window as the night begins to fall.

"Don't worry, I plan on protecting her at all cost." he responds, "I'm well aware of that, but are you capable? You know how the world is. She may face unwanted danger earlier than she needs to, are you prepared for what fate has in store for her?"

The conversation between Muriel and Donovan quickly subsides by Bonabelle yawning and stretching, "Daddy, Grandma, I'm tired." she says while her eyes are still shut, "Okay, sweet pea, let's go to bed." "Yes, let us all go to sleep. We can all talk tomorrow in the morning.

Darkness falls onto the forest. The only light is the light of the moon, slightly glimmering throughout the woods. As Bonabelle and Muriel are fast asleep, Donovan remains awake lying in bed with the slim hourglass vial in his hand in the air, with his other hand propped underneath his pillow, he goes into deep thought with a curious expression on his face.

He grips the vial, places it back in his pocket, and makes his way out of bed and toward the downstairs front door, leaving without a trace. Donovan goes little ways into the forest, eventually coming across a flat ground cascade.

He pulls out the vial and shatters it in his hand; the blood essence surrounds Donovan as if it was a mist of some sort. Donovan exhales heavily then slowly and profoundly inhales the volatile blood substances around him. Donovan then returns to his regular breathing pattern. He finds a rock to sit on while being engulfed by the moonlight waiting for the essence's results.

Twenty minutes go by, and there are no results. Donovan felt as he wasted his time, "So much for that…" he says in an annoyed tone. He starts heading back to the house with many questions roaming his head. "Seems like him and the other dogs are slipping," Donovan spouts, "this essence served no purpose, what a waste…" as Donovan nearly reaches the house, Donovan begins to feel his body tighten a bit.

"Oh...took it long enough," he says while stopping in his tracks. His body grows tighter with every movement, "Is this the only result-..." Donovan stops mid-sentence and begins to kneel, "Okay, this is a little different from the usual vials…" his fangs protrude from his mouth, and claws unhinged from his fingers and toes. He's now wary of what his body is about to do.

"Okay... This essence is way beyond what I expected…" he becomes hesitant with his words. He tries to regain control of his body, but his efforts were not. He stumbles across the forest floor. Teetering back and forth against trees, breaking branches as he tries to stay up, trying to claw his way back to the house, hoping something in Muriel's house can aid him in his current condition.

As Donovan reaches for the last tree he and stops just before making it home, he is now finding his body becoming tenser, and he struggles to regain control of his body. He begins to groan in pain, muscles starting to pulsate, veins popping, "What's...happening...to...me…?!" Donovan yells out a blood-curdling scream, sending the sleeping wildlife into a panic, before losing consciences as he still stands with his claws impaled in a tree.

Inside the house, lies Bonabelle, who is suddenly awoken by her father's scream, "D-Daddy?" she says tearfully. She jumps out of bed, rubbing her eyes towards her bedroom door. She reaches for the knob to open the door. As the door opens, she peeks her head out and looks both directs of the hall. Bonabelle sees that her father's door is slightly cracked open; she exits her room and runs to her father's.

"Daddy, are you okay?" she says while pushing open the door. The door is open and revealed to her is an empty room, and she remains confused. "Where is he?" she asks herself, turns back, and leaves. As she shuts his door, her attention heads toward the front door. "Daddy?" She says with concern in her voice, with her feet pitter-pattering down the stairs, she leaps at the last step. She walks to the door, reaches for the knob, and opens the door.

As she steps out on the night ground, she starts looking at her surroundings as she has never seen the outside covered in the nightlight. Captivated by the sights, she begins to twirl and dance while basking in the moonlit lights. She giggles without a care, then a sudden snap of a twig is heard. She stops and turns she had listened to the crack and ran over to the direction of the sound.

"Daddy is that you?" she asks, there is no response. "Daddy?" she tilts her head in confusion from getting no response. "If it's not daddy, maybe it's a bunny rabbit." she jumps into the wilderness of the forest. As she looks at the woods, her expression becomes rooted concern now, seeing all the broken branches and claw marks alongside the trees' bark. Sensing that she may be in danger, she decides to return to her grandmother's home.

Donovan, still standing, regains consciences; however, his state of mind is fading. He's fighting with himself mentally trying to fight back the raging killer instinct that wants to overcome him; his breaths were becoming dense and short. "What's happening to me? I need to…" before finishing his thought; there's a quick jolt sent throughout his entire body.

He begins to scream yet again; his eyes turn a golden yellow then transition into a crimson red, the fur starts to grow on his whole body, his teeth and claws become lengthier than average. His body begins to change shape, turning into a complete wolf. "No!" he shouts, "No! No! No! Nooooooooo!" Donovan has lost himself as he howls at the night sky.

As Bonabelle was heading back toward the house, she hears her father screams and rushes in the direction of his cry. She makes her way to the side of the house and cries out, "Daddy! Daddy! Where are you?!" in a panic, she looks in all directions, while crying out, "Daddy, Daddy, Dadd-" she suddenly stops. She freezes in fear, and her heart begins to pound at the sight of a wolf.

Standing at seven feet tall, with a menacing look on its face. It just catches a glimpse of Bonabelle as she was crying out for her father. She locks eyes with the crimson eyed wolf, but doesn't budge an inch; she is petrified. The wolf turns his body toward her, now facing Bonabelle, it begins to step forward slowly approaching her.

Realizing that it is now coming, Bonabelle unfreezes but cautiously steps back. The wolf starts to growl aggressively with its teeth showing. Bonabelle's eyes being to water, as she fears for her life. The wolf takes a few more steps. As Bonabelle steps back, the wolf quickly lunges in the sky and drops right in front of Bonabelle. Dust bursts from underneath the wolf, the dust in front of it casts a shadow image of the wolf. 

Bonabelle loses her balance at the wolf's sudden landing and shaking of the ground beneath her feet. She rubs her eyes from the sudden burst of dust. As she stops rubbing, the dirt begins to clear, and as it does, the wolf hunches down quickly with its muzzle in the face of Bonabelle.

She starts to tremble; her eyes widen; tears slide down her face. The wolf begins to sniff as it gains her scent; it speaks, "Pure..." it lets out a wicked grin and howls. It opens its mouth slowly and lunges at Bonabelle. "Ahhhh!!" Bonabelle screams in fear, curling into a ball with her hands on her head, and her eyes shut. Before clamping its teeth down, the wolf is smacked away by a large, thick branch of a tree. The wolf flew across the scene, then his back crashing into another tree.

Bonabelle looks up and sees that the wolf is up against a tree; she also notices a tree branch above her head extended out extraordinarily from the base of the tree. "Red Run!" she turns to see her grandmother inside the doorway of the house with her hand extending out and glowing a light forest green color. "Get inside the house quickly!" Muriel commands Bonabelle. She scrambles toward the house, rushes to her room, locks the door, and hides under her bed.

Muriel steps outside towards the wolf, Muriel waves her hands around her waist, then her chest, which binds the wolf in the tree its back has hit. "So Big Bad is still sending the lesser to do his dirty work aye?" she asks. "So tell me, because I know you're still conscious, what does he want." The wolf's eyes dart open, and he breaks free from the bind of the tree and lunges at Muriel, who quickly reacts and swiftly waves her hands in a figure-eight motion, roots from The ground latch onto the wolf, lifting it and squeezes it.

"You're in no mood to talk, but I have ways of making you speak." She says in a somber tone while approaching it. The wolf becomes even more enraged and once again breaks free, jumping back and landing straight on the ground. It glares at Muriel and shouts, "You old hag! I'll enjoy picking your skin from my fangs!" Muriel holds her guard as she summons more roots from the ground.

The wolf howls and rushes head-on toward Muriel stops, jumps, and readies his claws ready to swipe down. Bonabelle is under her bed in tears, crying out for her father, "Daddy…* Sniff Sniff* Where are you?" she asks. "Grandma's in trouble...she needs you…*Sniff Sniff*" her cries become heavier as her worries grow.

She suddenly hears a loud earth-shattering boom coming from the side of the house, now becoming more wearier of her grandmother, she gets out from underneath her bed and rushes to the side window to see her grandmother's condition. As she stands on her tiptoes, she peers outside to see a slugfest happening between her grandmother and the wolf. She is sent into a slight panic seeing as her grandmother is fighting such a dangerous creature.

Muriel dashes back away from the wolf as it attempts to do a fury of claw swipes. Muriel crosses her arms with her fingers extended; vine whips appear from behind her, smacking away the wolf's claws and knocking him back for a few inches.

Muriel skids across the forest ground and stops abruptly. She throws her hands out in various motions, crosses open palms, parted fists, and spread grip; she jerks her arms to her right side and swipes diagonally. With these proposals, a tree suddenly begins to crackle and snap, falling toward the wolf, "Timber." She mutters with a grin on her face. The wolf looks up and sees a tree headed toward it.

"This is your end!" says Muriel. The tree is nearing the wolf's muzzle, but before the tree touches him, he extends its claws and seemingly becomes more extensive as well; he swipes at the tree, which causes it to snap like a twig. "Heh, is that the best you can do?" The wolf asks as the now parted tree hits the ground with a thunderous boom.

"I must say, considering your age, I'm surprised you haven't lost a beat. You're still well in your prime," says the wolf. "But of course, I'm just naturally better than you even with all that power you have." the wolf dusts off his shoulder while taking a few steps closer to Muriel.

"Now you're more vocal, I knew my methods would work," she says with a cocky tone. "Neigh, as I'm only giving you the answer you owe so seek before I end your wretched life," he says with a wicked grin. "Oh, I'm quite sure, so now answer my previously stated question," she demands. "Heh, all he's up to is trying to regain his top dog again, nothing else to it."

Muriel begins to snicker. Annoyed, the wolf asks, "What's so funny?" she replies with "Big Bad is still at it aye? Well, I'll be glad to say that will not happen, nor will you find him, Donovan's not here, he's not going back with you." he begins to step toward Muriel who prepares herself for an attack.

You naïve old hag…" within a blink of an eye, the wolf dashes leaving no trail of dust behind. It's as if he vanished had into thin air. Uncertain of his speed, Muriel begins to move her hands parallel to each other but is interrupted as the wolf phases into her view, meeting eyes for a brief moment before he snatched her by the head. With a triumphed look on its face, it says, "Of course you can't find him...because I am him!"

Muriel looks deep into the wolf's eyes before meeting her inescapable demise. The wolf begins to explain himself, "Big Bad gave me a vial returning me to who I use to be, returning me to the one I've always been! I only seek flesh to feed on! I no longer have a taste for yours. That is not what I desire.

It's the little girl, for my so-called 'daughter'...she has a pure scent, that I'd love to taste her flesh and all. Since I've decided not to feast upon you anymore, seeing as you may be in your prime, but you'd serve no benefit to me to feed upon, so this is a mighty farewell, Muriel. Death is becoming you!"

Donovan's claws expand abnormally in length piercing Muriel's head and leaving multiple holes embedded in her skull. His claws retract, and he drops her body straight to the ground. Her body slightly twitches from her nerves, shutting down.

Donovan howls at the sky and looks up toward the window where Bonabelle is still standing, with tears in her eyes where she has witnessed her grandmother's death at the hands of a wolf. Donovan turns his attention entirely to Bonabelle, and as he gazes at her, she falls back and begins to run. "Now begins the actual hunt!" He says, "Daddy, please, where are you?!"

As she starts to stumble while trying to regain herself, Donovan crouches down and jumps straight thru the window, crashing with shards of glass crashing and clattering to the floor. Bonabelle falls to the floor due to a couple of glass shards knick and cut her legs. Small pints of blood starts to pour from her.

Donovan begins to sniff and says, "Yes, so pure, don't worry, sweet pea...daddy is here." She starts to crawl back, "Yo- You're not my daddy!" she hesitantly says. "Oh, but of course I am, Bonabelle, this is who daddy is, and right now what I want is to eat...you...up."