(A reimagining of a classic fairy tale)<\/em><\/p>\n Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Red. ***<\/p>\n Jacob followed Red, some distance behind her, occasionally crossing the road, always keeping her in sight. ***<\/p>\n The following Sunday, at around eight in the morning, Jacob knocked on the door of apartment 3B. ***<\/p>\n \u201cHi, Joy, where\u2019s Red?\u201d the girl\u2019s father, Jack, asked as he plonked himself wearily onto a kitchen chair. Jack was a stevedore on the docks at Newark Bay and had just finished a long night shift. ***<\/p>\n Red slid the key into the lock of apartment 3B, turned it, and opened the door. \u00a0<\/p>\n [Image Credit : Photo by Sven Brandsma<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>]<\/p>\n As a freelance writer, Steve Foreman has been published since 1994 in several UK and African print magazines, including BBC Wildlife magazine, Soldier magazine, Combat & Survival magazine, SCUBA magazine, Church of England Newspaper, African Travel Review magazine, Land Rover World magazine, Your Dog magazine, Travel News and Lifestyle magazine (Kenya), What\u2019s Happening in Dar (Tanzania), Tantravel (Tanzania); The Dar Guide (Tanzania), Daily Mail newspaper (UK), and others.
+++++<\/span>Red lived in a small flat with her mother and father and her three siblings.
+++++<\/span>One day, Red\u2019s mother, Joy, an auxiliary nurse who worked a permanent night shift at Lincoln Medical Centre, said to her daughter, \u201cRed, I managed to steal these medicines from the hospital pharmacy this morning,\u201d she paused, handing Red a paper bag. \u201cTake them over to your grandma. I know Wednesday ain\u2019t your normal visiting day, but a neighbour called me last night at work and told me grandma is feeling even more weak than usual, and these meds will help. I just don\u2019t have the time to go. You\u2019d better leave right now.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red\u2019s grandmother, Martha, lived about ten blocks away in a small apartment in a rundown neighbourhood on East 163rd Street. Joy would have liked her mother-in-law to move in with them, but their cramped apartment was already too small for them all. In fact, Red\u2019s parents had discussed the possibility of their daughter moving out as soon as she was eighteen in order to free up some room for the other younger kids.
+++++<\/span>Within a couple of blocks of her grandmother\u2019s, a stranger fell in beside her as Red was passing through a dismal area of boarded-up windows and abandoned vehicles.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHey there!\u201d he said brightly, with a disarming smile.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHi,\u201d Red replied, quickly sizing him up. She reckoned he was about forty or fifty years old, but it was hard to gauge by his eyes as he wore dark sunglasses. He had a longish face, and his beard and moustache were bristly. Despite his unusual features, he had a pleasant manner.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve not seen you in this \u2018hood before,\u201d the man said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cNo, I don\u2019t actually live \u2018round here,\u201d she said.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhere are you off to, then?\u201d the man enquired casually.
+++++<\/span>\u201cTo my grandmother\u2019s,\u201d Red answered, \u201cshe ain\u2019t well. I\u2019m gonna take her some meds.\u201d She nodded down to the bag at her side.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI\u2019m Sorry to hear that,\u201d he said in a caring tone. \u201cWhere does your grandma live?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red glanced at him warily before answering, but she was met with only an innocent, enquiring look. \u201cAbout two blocks down, in the projects. I visit her every Sunday without fail,\u201d she said, \u201cbut today my mum asked me to bring the medicines.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cOkay. By the way, my name is Jacob. What\u2019s yours?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cMy name\u2019s Alice, but everyone calls me Red coz of the colour of my hair,\u201d she replied.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWell, this is me,\u201d he said, pausing at a corner and nodding down the side street. \u201cI hope your grandma gets well soon. \u2018Bye, Red,\u201d he smiled at her.
+++++<\/span>Red grinned back at him. \u201cThanks, Jacob\u2026 \u2018bye,\u201d she replied<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>She arrived at a scruffy tenement and stepped inside the graffiti-strewn portico. When she was out of sight, Jacob hurried across the street towards the building.
+++++<\/span>Jacob paused inside the doorway, wrinkling his nose at the stale smells of urine and vomit, and listened to the girl\u2019s footsteps ascending the stairs.
+++++<\/span>Silently, he followed. On one landing, he paused, craning his neck around the corner, and on the floor above, he saw Red letting herself into a doorway. As the door closed, Jacob noted the number 3B and, with a wicked grin, quietly retraced his steps down the stairs and left the building.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cWho is there?\u201d spoke a frail voice from within.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI am a friend of Red\u2019s,\u201d he called in a friendly tone. She asked me to pop by to check on you because you haven\u2019t been so well lately.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jacob rested his ear against the door and could hear someone shuffling towards him. The peephole darkened from within, and Jacob gave his friendliest smile. The lock turned, and the door opened a crack.
+++++<\/span>The old woman peered at him through squinted eyes. \u201cWho did you say you were?\u201d she asked.
+++++<\/span>Without answering, Jacob pushed his way in, brusquely shoved the old woman to one side, and then slammed the door behind him.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhat do you want\u2026 who are you?\u201d the old woman\u2019s voice was quivering.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI want your granddaughter,\u201d Jacob hissed vehemently through bared teeth, \u201cI want Red!\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jacob grabbed the old woman, and although he doubted her vocal abilities, he clamped a hand over her mouth in case she screamed. He pulled a roll of duct tape from his pocket and quickly taped up the woman\u2019s mouth. Jacob threw the old woman onto the bed and bound her wrists and ankles. Once she was secure, he bundled her into the small closet, pushing her into a sitting position on the floor. Jacob selected a frayed, diaphanous nightgown from the limited array of old clothes hanging over the woman\u2019s head and shoulders. Before closing the closet door, he whipped the habitual hair net off the old woman\u2019s head.
+++++<\/span>Jacob glanced out the window and drew closed the heavy curtains, plunging the room into virtual darkness. He opened the metal fuse box on the wall and flicked off the contact breakers, cutting power to all the lights.
+++++<\/span>After removing his clothes and stuffing them under the bed, he dressed in the nightgown, scrunched the hairnet onto his head, and climbed into the creaking bed, where he drew the bedcovers up to his neck. In a last-minute precaution, Jacob clicked the switch on the big, old-fashioned, brass bedside lamp to check. It did not light, and with a satisfied sigh, Jacob let his body relax, and there he rested in the faint twilight\u2026waiting for Red to come and visit.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s Sunday, Jack. Have you forgotten? She\u2019s gone to visit your mother, as usual,\u201d Joy replied, turning from the sink with a tea towel in her hands.
+++++<\/span>\u201cOh yeah. Man, I am tired!\u201d He yawned, then said, \u201cI don\u2019t like her going over there to Morrisania. It can be pretty risky in that \u2018hood.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cWell, why don\u2019t you go with her, Jack?\u201d the woman asked. \u201cMartha is your mother, after all.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cI know, but I never know what to say to the old girl these days,\u201d the big man shook his head, \u201cshe just moans about her aches and pains and everything.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cYou could go occasionally\u2026 even just to accompany Red,\u201d Joy remarked.
+++++<\/span>\u201cYeah, you\u2019re right\u2026 but I am just so tired after working a twelve-hour night shift.\u201d Jack rubbed a calloused hand over his face.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHow d\u2019you think I feel, Jack\u2026 I do the same if you remember?\u201d Joy flicked the towel at him. \u201cGo on, it\u2019s weeks since you visited your mother. You could catch up with Red.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cOkay, well, I\u2019ll go now before I fall asleep.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jack heaved his muscular frame out of the chair, retrieved his car keys and left the apartment.<\/p>\n
+++++<\/span>\u201cHi, Grandma. It\u2019s me, Red!\u201d she called as she removed the key. Finding the room in relative darkness, a frown spread quickly across her brow. Red flicked the light switch, but nothing happened.
+++++<\/span>\u201cGrandma, are you okay?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Her question was answered with a croaky murmur, \u201cCome closer, Red, so I can hear you better.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red closed the door and stepped slowly towards the bed.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhat is wrong?\u201d She asked, with a nervous quiver in her voice.
+++++<\/span>A low voice, faint and pained, answered her, \u201cI need you, Red, come closer.\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cYour voice sounds strange, Grandma; what happened to you?\u201d Red asked.
+++++<\/span>\u201cCome closer, dear, so I can see you better,\u201d came a hoarse whisper.
+++++<\/span>She approached the bed and could make out the vague form of her grandmother under the covers.
+++++<\/span>A hand slipped out from under the bedcover. The girl patted the hand gently. \u201cOh, Grandma. Your skin is so tight and rough; whatever is the matter?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Before Red could react, the hand clamped around her wrist, the covers were thrown back, and Red fell back onto the floor under the weight of the figure that had leapt out of her grandmother\u2019s bed.
+++++<\/span>Jacob released her wrist and clamped his hand over Red\u2019s mouth. His other hand held a knife against her throat.
+++++<\/span>\u201cIf you scream, I will kill you and your precious grandma,\u201d Jacob said menacingly, \u201cdo you understand?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red nodded as best she could, and the man removed his hand from her mouth, but the knife blade remained pressed against her throat. Her eyes had now become accustomed to the gloom, and even though he was bizarrely dressed in a voluminous nightdress and flowery hairnet, Red recognised the man as Jacob, who she had met a few days before. Red was about to speak, but Jacob pressed the knife harder against her skin.
+++++<\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t struggle or speak, or I will kill you. Now, stand up and remove your clothes.\u201d
+++++<\/span>He took the knife away from her throat, and Red stood up, whimpering and shaking.
+++++<\/span>\u201cI am serious, girl,\u201d he snarled, \u201cI will kill you if you don\u2019t do as I say.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red began to undress, her wet eyes fixed on the knife blade held inches from her face, and soon, she was standing there in just her bra and panties.
+++++<\/span>Jacob loosened the ties on the nightgown and let it fall to the floor. Red noticed with growing terror that he was now completely naked, and his large penis was erect and threatening, growing out of a bush of hair as thick and bristly as that on his face.
+++++<\/span>Holding the knife at arm\u2019s length towards her, he stepped out of the crumpled nightdress and moved to the window, where he pulled the curtains apart a fraction\u2026 just enough to let in some more light.
+++++<\/span>Still waving the knife at Red, Jacob opened the door to the closet. Red turned her head slightly. She uttered a stifled cry when she caught a glimpse of her bound and gagged grandmother, squashed down on the floor of the cramped space.
+++++<\/span>\u201cOne single word out of you, and she gets this,\u201d Jacob snarled, tapping the blade on the grandmother\u2019s sparse grey hair. The old woman flinched and whimpered behind her gag.
+++++<\/span>He closed the closet door again and stepped back towards the girl.
+++++<\/span>Red could smell him now, his sweat, a feral odour\u2014like the smell of a deep forest on a damp morning.
+++++<\/span>He hooked the sharp knife under her bra strap and sliced through the material. The bra slipped down on that side, exposing Red\u2019s small, teenage breast.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhat nice little titties you have,\u201d Jacob drooled as he peered closely at a rosy nipple with mean, slitted eyes.
+++++<\/span>The girl bit her lip, stopping herself from crying or screaming. Jacob moved the blade down and hooked the tip into the elastic of the girl\u2019s knickers, just below her belly button. He stretched it away from her pale skin and tilted his head to stare into the gap. \u201cWhat a nice little pussy you have,\u201d he said.
+++++<\/span>The girl was shaking in terror and on the verge of collapse.
+++++<\/span>But at that very moment, just as the elasticity was about to surrender to the edge of the sharp blade, there was a banging on the front door, and a loud voice, very familiar to her, called out, \u201cHey Martha\u2026 it\u2019s me, Jack! Red! Its dad. Are you in there?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red, unable to contain herself any longer, screamed loudly, \u201cDaddy, help!\u201d She pushed against Jacob\u2019s chest with both hands, launching herself backwards across the bed. She bounced once on the mattress, back-flipped and landed with a bone-jarring thump on the floor on the far side.
+++++<\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s got a knife!\u201d she screamed, \u201chelp daddy!\u201d
+++++<\/span>Even before Red had finished yelling those last words, the front door crashed open; the lock ripped out of the wooden frame. Light flooded in from the hallway, and Jack stumbled into the room, immediately taking in the figure of the naked man with the knife and the startling red hair of his daughter, just visible over the top of the mattress on the other side of the bed. Without pausing in his forward motion, Jack ploughed into the naked man, heedless of the slashing knife. Even as the blade cut his upper arm, Jack wrestled the assailant to the floor, punching him hard several times in the face, splitting his lips and breaking his nose. Jack wrested the knife out of the man\u2019s grasp.
+++++<\/span>Jacob, naked as he was, squirmed under Jack\u2019s weight and managed to slip out from under, but before he could get up, Jack plunged the knife deep into the man\u2019s rib cage. Blood spurted out of the wound, and Jacob howled in pain and fear, writhing on the floor.
+++++<\/span>Jack clambered to his feet and leaned over the bed. \u201cYou okay, Red?\u201d he asked quickly, looking down at his cowering daughter. The girl looked up into her father\u2019s face and nodded.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhere\u2019s Martha?\u201d Jack asked.
+++++<\/span>She nodded towards the closet, \u201cGrandma\u2019s in there, but she\u2019s okay, I think.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jack stepped towards the closet, but the wounded Jacob reached out, grabbed Jack\u2019s ankle and tripped him over. Jack fell forward with a crash, and the knife skidded away. Jacob sprang and snatched it up, his left hand still clutching his side, blood flowing from between his fingers.
+++++<\/span>Jack rolled over in time to see Jacob lurching above him with the blade raised high\u2026 and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the heavy brass bedside lamp come crashing down onto the back of Jacob\u2019s head.
+++++<\/span>Jacob dropped to the floor.
+++++<\/span>Now standing on the bed, Red let the badly dented remains of the lamp fall from her hands. She sank into a sitting position on the bed, her eyes staring in horror at the bloody mess that she had made of Jacob\u2019s scalp. Jack got up, kicked the knife out of Jacob\u2019s hand, and put a comforting arm around Red\u2019s shoulders.
+++++<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s okay, honey,\u201d he purred gruffly, stroking her hair, \u201che\u2019s out like a light.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jack grinned briefly at his own pun, but before Red could get the humour, there came an awful groaning from Jacob. Blood was flowing from both the knife wound in his side and the jagged hole in the back of his head. He had regained consciousness.
+++++<\/span>\u201cDaddy, look at all the blood. He\u2019s gonna die,\u201d Red whimpered.
+++++<\/span>\u201cYeah, you\u2019re probably right,\u201d Jack said, frowning, \u201cand good riddance\u2026 but I\u2019ll phone the police from the call box in the hallway\u2026 if it is working,\u201d he added.
+++++<\/span>But before Jack could move, Jacob suddenly jerked and shuddered, and before their eyes, he began to change. His body twisted and writhed, his knuckles flexed and cracked, the metacarpals elongated, and his hands became like claws. Jacob craned his neck, groaning between clenched jaws; veins and sinews stood out like thin ropes, and knobs of vertebrae began to protrude as the skin of his spine stretched over them. Jacob\u2019s split lips, now stretching around a bloody, slowly extending muzzle, drew back in a terrible grimace, contorting and snarling, to reveal long white canine teeth. Brindle hair sprouted from his calves and forearms.
+++++<\/span>Jack tightened his grip around Red\u2019s shoulders, pulled her off the bed, grabbed her dress and withdrew to the other side of the room, keeping a wary eye on the thing that had been Jacob.
+++++<\/span>The girl was shaking with shock, and Jack was stunned into silence, but neither could tear their gaze away from the horrible transformation that was taking place before their very eyes.
+++++<\/span>Jacob\u2019s ears, hairy now, stretched into points; the bones of his legs took on an awkward distorted aspect; his metatarsals grew in length; bones and sinew audibly creaked as he stood up on all fours. As he transmogrified, coarse grey hair rapidly sprouted all over his body until he was covered in thick fur.
+++++<\/span>And yet, all the time, dark blood flowed freely and incessantly from his wounds, spreading out over the bedroom floor and soaking into the threadbare carpet.
+++++<\/span>Just at the very moment the huge wolf became complete in all its feral magnificence, lifted its head, and gave a fearful, haunting howl, it collapsed back onto the floor, exhausted from the metamorphic exertions and weak from the profuse and continuing loss of blood.
+++++<\/span>And there, lying on its side on a bloody rug in apartment 3B, in a tatty building on East 163rd Street, Jacob died.
+++++<\/span>Jack leaned against the bedroom wall in stunned silence as Red dressed herself. Seconds later, a muffled knocking from the closet caught Jack\u2019s attention, and giving the dead wolf a wide berth, he went to release his mother from captivity.
+++++<\/span>Once the tape was removed from her mouth and the old woman sat in her overstuffed armchair, she recovered quickly. Glancing down at the dead and bloody beast, to the utter surprise of Jack and Red, the old woman remarked stoically, \u201cSo, a wolfman, eh? I always knew they existed, even in the city\u2019s dark places, but never thought I would actually see one in my apartment.\u201d
+++++<\/span>Jack just stared at his mother in amazement.
+++++<\/span>\u201cWhat are we going to do, Daddy?\u201d Red asked, with her arm around her grandma\u2019s bony shoulders. \u201cWill you still call the police?\u201d
+++++<\/span>\u201cNo, honey. I\u2019ll dump this dead canine in the alley, out back, and make an anonymous call to the city sanitation department.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cAnd that will have to be the end of it\u2026 and the end of this story. Are we clear?\u201d
+++++<\/span>Red nodded, gazing at the wolf with a mixture of revulsion and sadness.
+++++<\/span>Jack turned to his mother, \u201cAnd you, Martha\u2026 my dear old mother, you are going to come and live with us!\u201d he said pointedly.
+++++<\/span>And she did.
+++++<\/span>And they all lived happily ever after.<\/p>\n![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.close2thebone.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\"\/ "\\"Share")
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\nSeveral of his horror\/paranormal\/bizarre tales have been published in print and e-zines, including; Blood Moon Rising (issue 56 – 2014); Hellfire Crossroads (Vol 2 – 2014); Aphelion (2014\/02); Twisted Dreams (2015); The Were Traveller (2015)
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\nSteve Foreman has also had short stories published in the following print anthologies:
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\n\u201cBones III\u201d (James Ward Kirk Publishing – 2014); \u201cAmok!\u201d (April Moon Books \u2013 2014); \u201cIll Considered Expeditions\u201d (April Moon Books \u2013 2015); \u201cBetween the Cracks\u201d (Siren\u2019s Call Publications – 2015)\u2019 \u201cThe Grays\u201d (James Ward Kirk Publishing – 2015);<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n