A Tale of Red Riding: Rise of the Alpha Huntress (The Alpha Huntress Series Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter 19

Red was overcome with a paralyzing rush of fear as her arm was pulled through the black mirror by her own reflection. With her face pressed against the glass, she couldn’t call for help. Her desperate attempt to pull away proved to be a futile effort. She could only watch as the reflection closely inspected her palm. A disturbing tingling sensation rushed through her body. It felt as if her reflection’s black eyes were peering right into her soul.

“Your linage has been confirmed, granddaughter of Grenda Stalk,” Red’s reflected self said.

The mirror vanished from sight, leaving Red standing with her arm awkwardly extended. The missing door then appeared. Red stood frozen, trying to calm her shaken nerves. The ordeal was so strange that she had to fight the urge to dash down the stairs and right out the front door.

“What’s got you so rattled?” Grenda said from behind Red.

Deathly startled, Red spun around just as Grenda stepped out of the bathroom door. She wore a fuzzy bathrobe and had a towel wrapped around her head.

“Granny, you gotta stop startling me like that.”

“You gotta stop startling me by staying out all night.” Grenda opened her bedroom door and stepped inside. “Now get in here and tell me what happened this time.”

The door swung shut with a slam right after Red stepped through it, leaving her friends waiting out in the hallway. Grenda began rummaging through a dresser drawer, carelessly tossing clothes aside.

Her Granny’s bedroom wasn’t at all what Red expected. Unlike the rest of the house, it was a cluttered mess with piles of dirty laundry. The shelves were overflowing with random trinkets, strange knickknacks, and disorganized stacks of books.

“So, out with it, Red. From the look of you, it must have been one thrill of a night,” Grenda said.

“Things got out of control at the ball.” Red frowned as she looked at her tattered dress. “Ice Seether tried to force me to give her the Alpha Power.”

“
Ha!
I had a feeling that girl was up to mischief,” Grenda said.

“You knew that could have happen and let me go anyway?”

“Well, you’re not going to learn how to deal with these sorts of things if I go coddling you all the time.”

Red gasped. “Granny, we barely escaped with our lives.”

“Don’t mean to sound harsh, Red. It’s just that you’d best get used to things like that if you’re going to take up this Alpha calling. Now turn around, unless you want to see a mighty frightful sight.”

Red spun around just as she heard Grenda drop her robe to the floor. “Could Ice have taken the powers from me?”

“Not on her own, she couldn’t have. That girl uses what us real witches call borrowed power. It comes from mystical jewels and other trinkets she probably bought or stole.”

Red recalled how Ice was dominating the battle until she lost her jeweled scepter. “What if I had willingly agreed? Then could she have taken it?”

“It’s possible, if she really had the resources to pull off such a thing. It would take a mighty powerful spellcraft that would send you straight to your maker. It’s a good thing you would never do something so foolish.”

Red sat on the edge of Grenda’s bed. “I ask because I’m afraid she could use my friends against me. I don’t know if I could overcome that sort of thing.”

Now wearing a loose-fitting flowered dress, Grenda sat down next to Red. “That’s always going to be a risk. Not just with somebody trying to force you to give up your powers. Every time you lead folks into a fight, you’re putting their lives in danger.”

Red wiped a tear from her eye. “How can I ask my friends to do that? It’s not right that they should have to risk so much for my sake.”

“This isn’t about you, Red Riding. It’s about all the people and creatures of Wayward that will suffer if you don’t do what has to be done. If your friends don’t understand that, you have to make it good and clear. If they still decide to follow you, all you can do is be the best leader you can be for them.”

“What if I fail, Granny?”

“Then we all go down fighting together.”

Red looked to Grenda, a little surprised. “All of us?”

“That’s right, Red. You’re the Alpha. That makes you our leader. Even I must abide by your decisions.” Grenda put a comforting arm around Red. “It’s okay to be afraid. When the time is right, you’ll know what to do, and you will do it courageously. Never forget that the blood and the spirit of the one who faced this before lives inside you. She will not abandon you, even in the darkest hours. And neither will I.”

“Thank you, Granny. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, my dear.”

Red recalled the things Ice had told her during their battle. The one that stuck out above all was Ice’s claim that the lunar deities decide who gets the Alpha Power, and that it isn’t passed down through her family line. “Granny, there’s something important I need to ask you about.”

Grenda stood up. “You’ll have to ask later. I need to get dinner on the stove.”

“But it will only take a minute.”

The door swung open as Grenda approached. “There’s no such thing as important questions that only take a minute.”

“I suppose not.”

“Don’t fret, Red. All things will be revealed in their proper time.” Grenda stepped out into the hallway. “And the next time you come across a strange mirror, it would be best not to go touching it.”

The door slammed shut.

For the next few minutes, Red sat alone, thinking about all the things her Granny had said. It was scary enough to think that the fate of Wayward was in her hands. The idea that something bad could happen to her friends was more than she could endure.

It occurred to Red that she might never have a better chance to snoop around her Granny’s room. The prospect was quite intriguing, but it felt best to venture down that road another time. After the strange encounter with the mirror, she wasn’t sure her nerves could deal with anything bizarre that would surely be found.

As Red stepped into the hallway, the door slammed itself shut and locked with a click. It was a startling thrill to see, as it was likely the result of a spellcraft. For all of Red’s life, magic existed only in her dreams and fantasies. On many occasions, she had tried without success to move things with her mind.

Red heard the muffled laughs of Ash and Dote coming from behind her bedroom door. They were joking about a time when the three of them had gotten into Granny’s potion cabinet and unleashed some serious mischief.

As much as Red wanted to listen to all the wonderful memories, the idea of getting some rest was a bit more appealing at the moment. She figured there would be plenty of time to hear all the funny stories of her childhood when things finally settled down.

With Wolfgang still hanging around downstairs, there was only one place to avoid being disturbed. Taking a nervous breath, she nudged open the door of her parents’ bedroom and stepped inside. It felt a little odd being in their room because in many ways they were strangers to her. She hoped that surrounding herself with their worldly possessions would bring back memories of their time together.

Every object in the room told Red many things about her parents. She first deduced that her mother was most fond of the color green. It was also quite clear that she preferred to wear dresses and skirts over pants and shorts.

Judging by the size of her father’s clothes, he was a large man. Red figured he must have been the rugged type because his pants and shirts were all mended and patched in numerous places.

Red began to create stories of how her parents came to possess the various trinkets around the room. She picked up a pearl necklace and decided that her father had made it himself, after diving deep into the sea to collect oysters. It was a special gift that he had given to her mother on perhaps a birthday or anniversary.

Under the bed, Red found a wooden box filled with an odd assortment of colorful rocks. She decided that her parents had collected them during long hikes in the woods. Each was from a different place where they had stopped to rest.

She then went on to decide that a rather bizarre set of masks that hung on the wall were once worn by her parents to a big costume party.

Flopping down on the bed, she sank several inches into the soft mattress. Her mind was abuzz with so many thoughts that there wasn’t much chance of falling asleep. She picked up a book from the nightstand and blew the dust away from the cover. It was titled
The Very Strange Tales from the Distant Land of Your Own Imagination
. She tried to make out the author’s name, but it was too faded to read.

The brittle spine cracked a bit as Red opened the cover. On the first page was an inscription handwritten in black ink that read:
Let it be known that the tales contained within this book may cause dreams that will awake you with a fright.

The yellowed pages were so frail that Red had to be extra careful not to rip any as she flipped through them. It was hard picking a place to begin because the titles of the tales were all quite strange and intriguing. She stopped upon coming to a page that was dog-eared in the corner. It was on the first page of a story titled
The Boy Called Lie
.

The story told of a young man who always told the truth and yet, no matter how hard he tried, nobody ever believed a word he said. Things got so bad that people began calling him “Lie.” The elders eventually shoved Lie down a well and sealed it shut, knowing full well that he would die. Through many strange happenings that followed, Lie survived and grew to be a man with great power and a terrible desire for vengeance. He ultimately burned the town to the ground, assuring that all who lived within its walls would perish.

The grim tale annoyed Red so much that she flung the old book at a wall. The fairy tales she had known ended with a simple moral and people living happily ever after. It made her angry that somebody would write a story that had an outcome so tragic that it could make people feel hopeless and sad.

Refusing to give it another thought, she closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. No more than a minute or two passed before the sound of the door creaking open awoke her. Assuming it was her granny, Red didn’t bother to open her eyes.

“I’m just going to take a short nap. I hope that’s okay,” Red said.

“Take all the time you want, Little Red,” said Wolfgang. “Not like you’re being hunted by a psycho chick that wants your powers.”

Fuming with irritation, Red quickly sat up as Wolfgang began rummaging through the chest of weapons at the end of the bed.

“Get out.” Red demanded. “You are never, ever allowed to come in here.”

Wolfgang strained to hold up a rather large spiked mace. “I wonder how many werewolf skulls your old man bashed open with this thing?”

“What part of
‘you are not welcome here’
did you not understand?” Red leaped up and grabbed the mace from Wolfgang’s hands, nearly collapsing under its great weight. “Whoa, my father must have been really strong to have used this.”

“The guy was killer in battle. Remind me to tell you the gory stories I’ve heard,” Wolfgang said.

Red gave Wolfgang a shove. “Maybe you missed the part when I told you to get out, so I will tell you again. Get out of here this instant.”

“What’s your issue with me?”

“Should I make a list?” Red dropped the mace into the chest and slammed the top shut.

“You don’t know anything about me, but you seem to hate my guts. You push me away and then save my life. These mixed signals are getting a little annoying.”

“I’m so not in the mood for this,” Red muttered.

Wolfgang sat down on the bed. “I guess it’s the stigma of being a Helheim. People just assume the worst. Nobody ever believes a word I say. Some people even call me a born liar.”

Wolfgang’s words made Red shudder as she reflected on the story about Lie. For a brief instant, she wondered if the tale might have meaning, but dismissed it as nothing more than a coincidence. She was certain that the story could not possibly be about him, though it was a little odd that she had read it only minutes before their conversation.

“Listen up, Wolf Boy. This girl’s not buying your little routine here, so don’t even get started.”

“What routine is that, Little Red?”

“The one where you play the tragically misunderstood boy from the wrong side of the woods, and I’m supposed to feel
soooo
bad for you because underneath that rough and tough exterior beats a heart of pure gold,” Red said.

Wolfgang laughed. “Is that what I was doing?”

“You tell me, Wolf Boy.”

“Fine. You got me. It’s not like most of that terrible stuff isn’t true. So do you feel bad for me?” Wolfgang gave Red a flirtatious smile.

“Devastated. I must swoon into your arms and try to mend your bad boy ways through my understanding and compassionate girly nature.”

Wolfgang cracked a grin. “Why did you come back to Wayward?”

“It sure wasn’t to hang out in my parents’ bedroom with you, Wolf Boy.”

“I’m serious.” Wolfgang flopped back on the bed and looked Red in the eyes. “I want to know more about you.”

Red paced around in frustration. “You’re so lucky my father’s mace is too heavy for me to use.”

“I just love your witty sense of humor.”

“Do I look like I’m trying to be funny here?”

“When I saw you the other night, I knew we were destined to be the best of friends,” Wolfgang said.

“When I saw you, I thought you were going to kill me. You almost did when you sped at me like a maniac.”

“For those here who have been keeping score, you sped right back at me.”

“A momentary lapse in judgment. Don’t count on me having another one in my parents’ bedroom.”

“I’m not trying to make a move on you, so just calm down,” Wolfgang said.

Red’s face tightened with anger. “Don’t you tell me to calm down, Wolf Boy. This is
my
house. You’re here uninvited.
I
decide when and if I calm down, or when and if I lose my mind and do something crazy.”

“Don’t hold back. Go crazy.”

Red clenched her teeth. “Maybe I will.”