Red

Rowan sat by the fireplace in the cottage wrapped in a blanket. She leaned her head against the windowsill, staring out into the night. She hadn't had a taste of fresh air for weeks and it was making her insane. Her grandmother had kept the deadbolt on the door with a lock which only she had the key to. She felt like she was a princess locked away in a tower waiting for her prince to find her.

Suddenly, in the darkness, against the light of the moon, the silhouette of a man appeared. His eyes shone in the moonlight as he stared at her. She turned to look at her grandmother’s bedroom door and seeing that the candle had either burned out or her grandmother had blown it out, Rowan began to search for the key to unlock the deadbolt.

She almost yelled with triumph when she discovered it under her grandmother’s favorite book but she managed to contain herself. She ran to the door, slipping on her cloak and old boots, and put the key in the lockpad. She turned the key and sighed when she heard the click of it unlocking. She shoved the old iron deadbolt to the side and swung the door open. She stepped onto the porch and closed the door.

She sighed, breathing in the cool night air. She felt like she hadn't been outside in months.

“Red,” the man breathed out.

“Pardon?” Rowan asked, approaching him slowly.

Something about the wild look in his eyes reminded her of the boy in the clearing from a few weeks ago. The difference being this man was a man and not a boy, and his eyes were silver. They didn't resemble the dark ones the boy had. The voice, however, seemed quite similar…

“ I've been waiting for you for a very long time, Red,” he told her.

“Where did you hear that name from? Only one person knows of it, and he is a boy.”

“It does not matter. Will you come with me?”

“Where are you going to take me?”

“I would very much like to show you something,” the man told Rowan.

Rowan hesitated and stared at the man, still unable to see anything but his eyes and height. She chose to follow him, so she nodded. He grabbed her hand and gently tugged her along behind him.



Soon, they were in that very same clearing where Rowan had met the boy a few weeks ago. She looked around and noticed that there was something different about it. It seemed as though the surrounding trees were darker. Almost as though they were covered in something…

“This is where I met you for the first time,” the man said, making Rowan jump. She had almost forgotten he was there with her as well.

“That is impossible. I've never met you before, sir,” Rowan responded, confused.

“Except you have,” he said, staring at her.

“Well, enlighten me, sir. Who are you?”

He laughed, a deep rumbling, almost growl like laugh, and his eyes brightening to an almost impossible degree.

“There is so much I must tell you, Red.”

“Rowan!” she heard faintly. “Rowan!” she listened as someone yelled her name desperately.

She turned around, trying to see through the dark trees. Suddenly, her grandmother erupted through the trees, covered in a dark red substance.

“You devil child, you! What are you doing here? Do you ever listen to me?” Mrs. Whalen demanded. Her eyes got wide as she spotted the man standing at Rowan’s side.

“Phoenix,” Mrs. Whalen growled. The man beside Rowan seemed to growl back.

“Grandmama, why are you covered in blood?” Rowan asked, afraid to know the answer. She ignored the man beside her who began to twitch.

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Whalen asked, confused. She reached up and touched her cheek only to find her hand covered in blood. Mrs. Whalen turned around and looked at the trees she had come through. She touched one of its pines and when she pulled her hand away, there was more blood on it than there was originally.

“I think the trees are covered in blood, Rowan. Really, we mustn't stay here long. Come with me. Phoenix is dangerous to be around. Come with me, Rowan!” Mrs. Whalen demanded of her.

“Stop using my name so lightly, you foolish old women!” the man beside her growled out. Rowan jumped. Something about this man frightened her.

She sensed that he had grown taller in the last few minutes. It was hard to tell with such a minimal amount of light. It didn't help that he blended into his surroundings well.

Rowan slowly turned her head to the side on which he was only to find a large, black wolf standing beside her.

“Rowan, come home with me now,” her grandmother said, her eyes wide. The man/wolf growled.

“She will not be going anywhere with you. She doesn't belong to you. She belongs to us!”

Rowan stared at the wolf, her eyes widening. How could she belong to someone she had never met? Who was this ‘us’ he spoke of?

Her grandmother growled and very soon, a battle between the two had begun. It was a mix of a verbal and physical fight. They yelled insults and facts at each other while throwing fists (claws in the man/wolf’s case), and so on. Blood was splattered all around them as the continued to fight.

Rowan had long ago frozen, unsure of what was happening, and remained that way for a very long time.



Beep. Beep. Beep.

Rowan awoke with a painful headache and the brightness of the walls wasn't helping it much. She groaned, shutting her eyes and lied there until the door in whatever room she was in swung open.

“Red?” a man whispered.

She opened one eye lazily and stared at him. It was that boy. The boy from the forest.

“Yes?” she said, her throat dry and scratchy as she spoke. The boy walked further into the room and picked up the glass of water that sat by her bedside. He dipped his finger in and seeming satisfied, took it out and handed the glass to her.

“Here. It’s still cold. I guess the nurses refilled it not long ago,” he said.

“What are nurses?” she asked him.

“It doesn't matter, Red. We are in a different time now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember anything of what happened before you… blacked out?” he asked.

She watched as he sat down in the chair by her bedside. He had grown in the last few weeks. His hair was longer; he was taller and resembled more of an 18 year old than a 12 year old now. He no longer had that wild look in his eyes either.

“I don’t remember much. I only remember something happening between a wolf and my grandmother. The wolf spoke too. He told her that I didn't belong to her but to him, or some ‘us’ that I did not understand,” she stared at him, her eyes wide and sad. “What is going on? Please tell me.”

“I’m afraid your grandmother has passed away. The wolf ate her.”

“He did what?”

“He ate her. You also did belong to him and whatever ‘us’ he was referring to. Phoenix is, and always will be, your biological father.”

Rowan stared at him. How could she be related to that monster?

“Your grandmother knew too. She tried to keep you away from that side of the forest for so long. She had also tried to keep your mother away from it too. Unfortunately, much like you, your mother didn't listen and went in anyway. That is where she met your father. As soon as you were born, he decided to do away with her.”

Rowan shook her head. She refused to believe what this boy – man – was telling her.

“Red, there’s something else,” the boy told her.

“What?” she asked, her voice still hoarse.

“The villagers killed your father. They heard your grandmother’s screaming and came to the rescue. You’d already been in the clearing for too long. By the time they got there, it was like centuries had passed. You were no longer there in their time but in the time of today, frozen. Your father remained in their time, however...,” he said, trailing off. He was unsure what he should tell her.

Rowan stared at him. What was he trying to say?

“You were stuck in a time loop for 10 centuries, Red. It is the year 2400,” he stated sadly.

“Your name,” was all she said.

“What?” he asked.

“Your name,” she said again.

“If I tell you it, you can never utter it again. Do you understand me?”

“Your name,” she repeated once more. He nodded and took a deep breath.

“Grim,” he said darkly.

“Grim,” Rowan repeated.

His eyes became wide and frightened as he stared at her. All she did was shrug. His body began to convulse and she just continued to stare at him. She got out of the bed she had been laying in and pulled on her red hooded cloak that lay at the end of her bed.

Suddenly, in front of her, there stood a tall, dark wolf much like the one her supposed father had been.

“Grim,” she repeated dreamily.

She was like her mother in all the wrong ways.