Chapter 1
Red Riding HoodStrange events had surrounded D.O since the day he was born.
It was a harsh winter night that chilled the towns folk to their very bones. D.O's mother had already experienced 2 miscarriages and a still born, and she was still without child.
After a long and difficult birth, the attending nurse maid took the babe and wrapped him in a towel. His mother prayed to God with all her might that her baby would cry. The nurse maid spanked the child but his eyes remained closed.
She handed the silent babe to his mother who clutched him tight to her and shook with sorrow. The nurse wished to console her with promises of more children, but any more pregnancies would most likely kill her.
At that moment the clouds parted to reveal a brilliant full moon, and the long fierce howl of the wolf was heard. D.O's fingers began to move, another howl came, so loud the wolf seemed to be just outside the house. D.O opened his eyes and began to cry.
His mother wept with joy, and called for her husband to tell him their child had survived. While they wept and celebrated the nurse could not help but ponder the strange affect the howl seemed to have upon the child.
She also heard something different in the wolfs howl, it was strong and fierce like always, but today it sounded closer than ever before, and dare she say it, lonely.
The villagers were overjoyed for the couple, as they were well respected members of the community, but all regarded the child with a mild suspicion. They had all heard the rumors surrounding the night he was born, and the more they looked at the child the more their suspicions grew.
His eyes seemed to large and intelligent for his age, he was too quiet and he rarely smiled. Those who were jealous of the family, went so far as to say he had been cursed by the wolf and would surely bring ruin to the family. But his parents would hear none of it for they loved him fiercely.
As D.O grew older his grandmother would frequently visit the young boy, and she did little to discourage these rumors. On her visits she would bring him various charms, like wolfsbane, a red birds foot, and a dream catcher made of fox fur; and she always left him with cryptic sayings like, never bathe a chicken before sunrise and lies hide behind a beautiful smile in a handsome mans face.
She even made him his scarlet cloak on his 13th birthday that almost seemed to grow with him.
Despite her oddities and all his fathers claims that his mother in law was nothing more than a superstitious old woman, and that wearing his cloak would make the villagers uncomfortable, D.O adored and respected his grandmother.He frequently traveled through the woods to visit her, causing more rumors to circulate.
When he turned 14 and his nightmares were so frequent that he could not sleep through the night, she was the one he told.
“What do you mean by nightmares”
“I say nightmares, but the dream is always the same”
“Why have you not spoken to me about this before” D.O was silent for a moment
“I didn’t want them too mean anything” Grandmother nodded understandingly
“Tell me what happens”
“Well..... I’m walking through the woods at night, going somewhere, I think” D.O paused for a moment, taking a deep breath
“Someone grabs me from behind and I feel a blade cold against my neck, I’m terrified but I can not move, He slices my throat I feel a burning pain, and I see my blood land on the snow, and.......
“And what?”
“...and nothing. I wake up”
“D.O, I can not help you if you are determined to lie to me”
“................right as he slits my throat.... as I fall too the ground, and my blood stains the snow, I hear the wolf howl... he sounds like he is in pain and my heart hurts for him...... I always wake sweaty and crying”
“How do you know it is a man who cuts your throat, did you see him?”
“No, I never saw his face, I just know that it is”
D.O’s grandmother stood very slowly “Try not to worry about this dream, I can give you some herbs to help you sleep nights” D.O breathed a sigh of relief
“But D.O I want you to sleep in your cloak from now on, and never step outside without it on. Do you understand?”
“Yes Grandmother”
two years passed and D.O was true to his word, he was never seen without his cloak, and the townspeople, only spoke to him to be polite or when strictly necessary, but D.O was not bothered.He felt out of place among these people, and preferred his own company.
Soon after D.O had his 16th birthday, a stranger moved into town. He called himself the huntsman.
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