The soft clank of the weights moving up and down reverberates around his cell. Laying on the bench, he breathes steadily as he works the weights, a slight burn echoing through his shoulders. As he pauses for a moment, his ears catch the sound of boots walking down the hall. A moment later he catches the scent he knows. With a sigh, he sits the weight back in its holder and gets up off the bench. Grabbing a towel off his bunk, he towels the sweat off his head and turns as the man comes into view.
“Hello Henry. It’s not time for our weekly game of chess so to what do I owe the pleasure?” Walking up to the cell door, the man opens it up.
“Yo Mr. W you got some visitors.” At the mention of visitors, his tail twitches.
“I have no friends beside you, Henry. And I’m a convicted felon serving a life sentence. Who would possibly, want to visit me?”
“I got no idea. Alls I know is they asked me to come get you.” Pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt, the guard holds them out towards him.
“Sorry Mr. W but I’m going to haf to ask you to put these on.” With a growl in his throat, he holds out his wrists and allows the cuffs to be clipped on before following the guard from the cell.
Sitting at the desk, she looks over at the door and drums her fingers on the white folder in front of her. Before long, her impatience gets the better of her and begins to pace. The man sitting in the seat next to the one she just vacated looks up from his paperwork with a sigh.
“You didn’t have to come. I could’ve handled this.” Stopping, she turns toward the older man.
“Yes, I did. I’m assigned to this case same as you. Besides, it’s not as if I…” before she can finish a knock sounds at the door. Before she can retake her seat, it opens, and the guard walks in. Right behind him, the shaggy outline of the wolf fills the doorway. Slightly bowing his head, he steps into the room. At the sight of the girl, his golden eyes widen. With a gesture from the seated man, the wolf takes a seat opposite.
“Thank you Henry. We can handle it from here.” With a nod, the guard leaves, closing the door behind him. Looking over at the wolf, the older man scratches his beard before reaching into his jacket pocket. Pulling a badge out, he slides it across the table.
“So your wolf are you. I’m Agent Casper, this is Agent Red. We’re members of the..” Cutting off the man by holding up his hand the wolf talks.
“I know who you are. I didn’t even need to see your badge. Your scent tells me everything I need to know. What It can’t tell me is why you ‘re here. What do you want?” Finally moving from where she was standing, the young woman takes her seat once more. Reaching inside the folder, she pulls out a handful of pictures. Sliding them over the table, she looks the wolf in the eye.
“I want you to look at these. They’re from a recent crime scene we were sent to investigate. We believe you may help with our investigation.” Taking his eyes from the girl, he picks up the photographs. Thumbing through the images, a growl rumbles in his throat.
“That destruction looks like a wolf caused it. But that’s impossible.” Looking up at their questioning eyes, his nose picks up the scent of accusation coming from them. Throwing the pictures back down violently, he slams the table with his fists, denting the steel. Sliding their chairs backwards, the agents’ hands move their weapons. Growling, he replies angrily.
“I had nothing to do with it. I’ve been here since…” his words choke in his throat as he looks at the girl. Her red hair hanging in curls beside her face. Looking back at him, her eyes harden and she finishes the sentence.
“Since you killed my grandmother. I still see it in my dreams you know.” Her words begin to louder as she gets to her feet.
“I still hear the sounds of you tearing her throat out. I still remember the feel of the blood hitting my feet as it dropped from you mouth onto the ground. I remember it all. It’s burned into my memory like a damned brand!” Even though she stands a foot lower than the wolf, he shrinks against her onslaught.
“It’s your fault they put me through the system. You took everything from me. I hope you burn in hell for what you did to me! Argh!” At her shout she hits the table and leans against it, breathing heavily. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, the wolf looks down at the ground. In a small voice, he answers.
“What do you want from me?” Pulling the girl back into her seat, the old man frowns at her before replying.
“We want you to help us catch the one who did this. Like you said, it appears to be caused by a wolf.”
“I also said that’s impossible. There are no more wolves left.”
“Whys that impossible. There are werewolves amongst the Demi-humans. And for all you know another of your kind could have done it.” With a roar the wolf snaps his hand cuffs and throws the table to the side. Drawing himself to his full height, he roars at the old man. Leaping backwards from their chairs, Casper and Red draw their weapons.
“Foolish human! Werewolves are like mere pups compared to us! And for there being no more of my kind I know this because I killed the last one myself.” Coming down, the wolf walks over to the wall and with a loud thump slides down the wall to sit, leaning against it.
“My kind were all destroyed in the black war.” Without holstering his gun, Casper pulls his chair out of the way and moves to stand in front of the wolf.
“What do you mean by that? The black war was over a hundred years ago. It’s impossible for you to have been there.” With a bitter laugh, the wolf talks once more.
“How little you know. My kind live for hundreds of years. Our natural lifespan far exceeds that of ordinary humans. That is why werewolves are nothing like us. Even though we live a long time, we can still die from a mortal injury. For centuries we kept to ourselves. Safe from the prejudices of humanity. Until the uprising began the black war. When the evil queens banded together to cover the world in darkness, many wolves decided they wanted to live in the open. So they joined the armies of dark. Amongst the armies of dark was a general known as the piper. They brought any wolf captured to him to have their mind broken and their will enslaved to the cause. I wanted nothing to with the war, but I became one of the unfortunates who were caught. After months of physical and mental torture, on the brink of death and broken inside, I was freed. By a young lady with red hair. A fighter for the light. She brought me back to the queens of light who used their power to heal my injuries and restore my strength. From then on I fought as hard for the light as I had previously fought to stay clear of the war. I quickly killed my kin on the battlefields of that war. In the last moments of the war I killed a wolf who I once considered my closest friend. He and I were the last of our kind. So it’s impossible for that to have been caused by a wolf.” With a sigh, he finishes speaking. Looking over the wreckage of the room.
“Here’s the deal. If you assist us in tracking down, whoever is responsible for this, the queen has agreed to pardon your crimes.”
“Why would I want to help? That means I need to go out there. Last time I was outside things didn’t work out so well.” Coming over to the wolf, red bends down in front of him. Meeting her eyes, his fill with sadness.
“You’ll help because you owe me.” Head sagging in defeat, the wolf holds up his wrists to have the handcuffs removed. As they hit the ground, he climbs to his feet. Knocking on the door, Casper has a quick word to the guard that appears there. As he runs off, he gestures to the wolf.
“Let’s go.” With a sigh, the wolf follows Casper and Red out of the room and into the world.
Red Riding Hood
