Red

Akane quietly slipped into the large building that contained The Old Post Delivery and glanced from side to side before slipping on her hooded red cloak. Hopefully, no one had noticed she was late to work.

The building was full of post boxes and mail bags. Different sized packages were being hauled up to the upper levels with pulleys and several letters were being brought to different rooms by conveyer belts.

Another of the red cloaked workers walked into the main room shoving a stack of letters into a satchel. “Akane, were you late again?” He looked at her exasperatedly.

“Shhhh! I promise this is the last time.”

“Sure it is...” And with that he left the building to deliver his letters.

Akane ran into the mail sorting room. Since she had only been working at The Old Post Delivery for four weeks she was still on sorting duty, but very soon she would be making delivery rounds.

“Akane, are you seriously just now getting here?”

“I promise this is the last time. Je-”

“Maybe if you didn't take so long to get ready in the morning...” She eyed Akane's burgundy lolita dress. There was no doubt it took her a long time to get dressed in the morning.

“Will you just shut up.” She rolled her eyes and began to sort mail. Not even a minute after this exchange her boss walked into the mail room.

He was a very tall man with glasses. His dark hair was thinning and beginning to gray. He always wore a nice suit, and there was always something red in his outfit, it was the shirt today.

“Akane, will you step into my office for a minute?”

All eyes moved to her face, and in unison, every voice went 'Oooohhhh'. They all knew she was in trouble.

“Get back to work.” Mr. Adams barked at the workers as he held the door open for Akane.

She sat down in the large office. Everything in it was dark colored. The chairs were dark brown leather, the desk was made of dark wood, the carpet was burgundy, the walls were brown. A bookcase filled with leather bound volumes was on one wall, family pictures were on the other. A large window took up the entire back wall, it over looked the busy city surrounding the large brick delivery service.

Mr. Adams shut the door and began talking. “Akane, you've been late almost every day that you've worked here.” He walked over to the dark leather chair behind his desk and sat down.

“I-i know. I'm really sorry! I promise it won't happen again!”

“I know it won't.” He smiled kindly at her.

“I'll just go back to work now...” She started to get back up.

“Akane, I would like you to deliver this.” He handed her one single letter.

A huge smile spread across her face as she took the letter. “You mean it!? I'm on delivery detail!?”

He simply nodded his head and she read the envelope. Her smile slowly faded as she looked at the address.

“Th-this is on the other side of The Woods...”

“Nothing goes unpunished...” Mr. Adams' smile was gone now. He stared at Akane with a grim face. “Maybe now you'll learn to be on time.”

The Woods were at the edge of town. One solitary path cut straight through the middle, this path was the only safe way through them. During Word War Three the government had fused the DNA of animals with that of several humans in an attempt to create 'super soldiers'. These animal/human hybrids had been unstable and hard to control, they were quickly dumped into The Woods and it was declared a dangerous zone. An electric barrier had been put around The Woods that kept anything with animal DNA from crossing the border into town or onto the path.

“But-”

Mr. Adams interrupted her. “Go.” He pointed toward the door.

“Y-yes sir...” She hurried out the door and past all of the sorting room workers. She grabbed one of the red satchels from the pegs by the door and shoved the letter into it.

“As long as I stay on the path I'll be fine...” She repeated this to herself over and over again as she left the building and rushed down the sidewalk.

Most of the people in town stopped and waved at her. The cheery red hoods of The Old Post Delivery service were a welcome site. The farther into town she walked the more people stopped waving and began to stare. Where could she possibly be going? Eventually she made it to the border between town and The Woods. She stared at the dark trees and swallowed hard. An old sign sat next to the path. IF YOU MUST ENTER AT ALL, PLEASE ENTERE HERE

Akane took a deep breath and stepped onto the path.

“As long as I stay on the path I'll be fine...” She was saying it out loud now. She pulled her cloak around herself and began to walk down the path. The only sound was that of her shoes and her nervous breathing. For an area filled with unstable and dangerous creatures, it was oddly peaceful.

She heard the sound of leaves rustling and quickly turned in the direction of the sound, a small gasp escaping her mouth. A small gray bird came chirping out of the trees. She let out a sigh of relief just before it hit the barrier by the path. There was a loud sound of coursing electricity, the bird convulsed, and it fell just beside the path.

“Birdy!”

Completely forgetting her mission Akane stepped off the path and knelt down next to the little bird. It was dead.

“Please...” A small voice said from behind Akane.

Remembering where she was she turned around wide eyed in fear. A very thin girl, no younger than Akane, stood behind her. Everything about her was white. A white dress, white stockings, white shoes, white gloves. Her hair hung in dark curls and she looked at Akane with sad eyes.

“Please...go back to the path. You'll die if you don't...” She continued to stare at her with large, sad, unblinking eyes.

“But why are you-” Before Akane could finish there was a loud growling and a dark brown streak lunged toward the two girls.

Akane screamed and ran deeper into The Woods before she could see the attacker.