The Little Girl

Crunch, rustle, rustle, crunch. Crunch, rustle, rustle, crunch. She was startled awake. She wasn’t quite sure of what she thought she had heard. As she opened her eyes she realized it was dawn and that she was outside. She was outside and she was covered in leaves. She was also covered in blood and she was naked. What had happened? How had she gotten here? Who’s blood is this and where were her clothes?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of harried footfalls shuffling through the leaves and fallen branches.
“Thank the Lord above there you are.” A very petite man walked up to her. He had a gray wool blanket draped over his arm.
“Who are you?” She asked. The fact that she was naked dawned on her and she tried to cover herself with leaves.
The little man seemed unphased. He held out his hand to help her up. She stared at him horrified.
He shook his head in pity and rolled his eyes. “Really Pepper? Do we have to go through this every time?” He wrapped the blanket around her and drug her up onto her feet. She was taller than him by about a head.He had a round bald spot right in the center of his head.
“Who are you?” she asked again. He looked like a stereotypical elf, like the ones from Fairy Tales. He was wearing a velvety green suit with a white and green striped shirt and matching socks. He looked out of place. “Are you an elf?”
“Damn it Pepper. You know I hate that elf crap. You say it so often it’s starting to hurt my feelings. I can’t help that I like cultured fashion. Anyway we better get you cleaned up and dressed.” He had her by the arm and tried to lead her away from where they were standing.
“What is your name?” He sighed, “If I tell you can we please get the hell out of here?” She nodded slowly. “Well, you call me Gingy but my name is actually Wickham.” She wrinkled her nose. She smiling, she reached out and patted the crimson hair that haloed his head. He shuddered and she laughed.Wickham lead them through what appeared to a forest or deeply wooded area. Four miles later they stopped at a tiny cabin. Pepper clutched the blanket around herself and looked uneasily at Wickham.
“Well are you waiting for an invitation princess?” Wickham put his hands on hips little hips. He waved his arms out. “This is where we live.”
Irritated he stomped inside leaving her. She could hear hushed arguing. She stood and took in her surroundings. Trees, trees and more trees. Green as far as the eye could see. Several piles of copper and gold leaves like the one she was found in, scattered around in miscellaneous places.
A man of Spanish descent came out of the cabin. He spoke in a soft accented voice. “It is me, Raul. Ms. Pepper you really should come inside now. You need to bathe and put some clothes on.” She followed Raul inside the cabin.
This continued on for several months, every fortnight Wickham fetching a naked and usually bloody Pepper from a pile of leaves, wrapping her in a blanket and walking her back home to the cabin.
She sat in front the fireplace, staring into it deep in thought. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked. Raul and Wickham stared at each other. Had the dreaded day finally came when they must tell her the truth? She continued, “I’m always covered in blood but never have any scratches or marks on me. I never remember leaving the cabin but I don’t even remember how I got here in the first place.”
Wickham started to open his mouth and Raul stopped him. In his tender voice he told Pepper a tale of a beautiful young girl. Everyone in the village where the young girl lived adored her and she them. She had a very kind and innocent heart but she was a very curious girl. Late one dusky summer evening she was wandering through a forest or wooded area.She found a man that she didn't recognize slumped under a tree. Thinking he was injured or possibly dead she stopped and went to check if he was still breathing. When she turned him over she discovered that he was very handsome and didn’t seem to be injured.His eyes popped open. They were a golden buttery color, glowing in the dark at her. He grabbed her and attacked her. Biting her on the shoulder and leaving her for dead. The next morning a couple going for their daily walk found the girl slumped under the same tree. The picked her up and carried her to their home. She was still alive. She burned with a fever, moaning and writhing in pain for days. They thought she was dying and decided to have a priest come give her, her last rites. None of them were Catholic but felt the girl should have a proper send off. The two left the priest and the girl alone in the room she had been staying in. The could hear him saying the prayer to her and her moaning and whimpering. Then there was silence. As they walked to the room to make sure everything was alright they heard a blood curdling scream. They ran to the room and burst through the door. The priest was face down on the bed and the girl was gone.
Wickham put his arms around Raul. “Would you like me to continue?” his voice held an audible shake. Never turning her gaze from the fire she nodded.
The taller of the couple flipped the priest over revealing that his throat had been ripped out. He cried out and turned into his lover’s arms. They knew they had to go and find the little girl. They found her at dawn. She was naked and bloody lying under the same tree where they first found her. Instinctively the smaller of the couple had brought a blanket with him and they wrapped the girl in it and took her home. Raul was visibly choked up so he got up from his seat and left the room.
“Gingy?” Pepper whispered. “Am I that little girl?” He pretended not to hear her. She walked over to where he was sitting. “Is that story about me?” Wickham avoided her eyes. “It’s just a story.” he replied.
They had lost track of the moon cycle. Raul would track it and plan ahead but he had forgotten. He was so distraught after telling Pepper the story. Pepper lied in bed tossing and thrashing. She felt on fire she was so hot. Her skin felt as though it were being stretched and ripped farther than it could possibly go.
Raul lay awake. He also had tossed and turned from a nightmare he had. He heard Pepper whimpering and moaning in her room. It wasn’t until she cried out loudly that he realized he had forgotten to watch the moon cycles. He heard the door crash open as though it was turn off of its hinges. He knew she was gone.
Raul put his face in his hands and cried. His crying woke up Wickham. “What is it?” he yawned. He heard a distinct howling in the distance. “Oh.” He put his arms around Raul.
They held each other and cried as they always did every full moon when the she-wolf abducted their little girl and took her away from them.