AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve brought you Mama’s bak—” A sharp backhand to the cheek cut Red off, her grandmother’s rings slicing into her skin. She reached up to clutch her bleeding cheek. Her grandmother yanked the wicker basket from her arm, chafing her tender forearms through her sleeves.
“You’re an hour late,” she snapped. “What were you doing? Did you stray from the path?”
The old woman grabbed a fistful of Red’s hair, bringing it to her nose and inhaling. Searching for the smell of earth and bonfire smoke.
Her grandmother shuffled away, placing the basket on the table. She did not immediately take out the bread as usual and instead disappeared. When she returned, she brought out a stick. Red whimpered, tears burning the fresh cut on her cheek. The gentle sting was nothing compared to what was coming.
“Please, I did not stray!” Red cried. “I promise!”
A slap to her other cheek made Red turn away. She clutched the swollen flesh and looked up pleadingly at her grandmother.
“You speak out of turn,” the old woman growled, then dropped the stick. It clattered loudly on the ground. “Kneel.”
Red bit her lip to hold back the sobs as she shuffled towards the stick, placing her knees atop it. The warped and knotted wood dug into her knees. No matter how she shifted her body, it dug into a sensitive part of the joint and made her cry out. The worn-down cartilage in her knees sparked with pain, yesterday’s bruises sending agony shooting through her like a bolt of lightning.
Her grandmother sat at the table and smiled as she watched her granddaughter’s torment. She pulled out the bread and other freshly baked goods, the scent wafting through the house. Red’s stomach growled. The crunch of crust and crumbs dropping to the floor were the only sounds beyond the occasional crackle of the fire and Red’s quiet sobs.
“Disobedience is as wicked and foul as witchcraft,” her grandmother snarled as she wiped butter grease from her face with the hem of her shawl. A feral grin curled at the corners of her thin, concave lips. “Do you know what happens to disobedient girls? The Wolf will come and snatch them away, never to be seen again.”
Red would have scowled if she wasn’t gritting her teeth to hold back her tears. Stories from her childhood bubbled up to the forefront of her mind: tales of a Wolf called upon to decimate an entire bloodline through a sacrifice. No one knew if it was true. Some believed the Wolf would eat the young women who strayed from the path their parents put them on.
It’s just a bedtime story, Red thought. But when she looked up at her grandmother smiling through her gluttony, she began to doubt herself.
“You’re going to regret being such a wretched child. Don’t you worry. Justice is coming for you.”
Red shifted, and a small knot caused a spark of pain to rip through her. Hot tears continued to slip down the torn flesh of her cheeks. Thoughts of the Wolf filled her head again at her grandmother’s words. She did not know for how long she knelt. All she knew was that the sun was long gone by the time she was free to go.
As she limped miserably through the woods, she was struck by a thought: compared to the horrors she faced from her own flesh and blood, witchcraft and the things that stirred in the night no longer seemed so frightening.
3
OCLEAU
THE YEAR OF THE CURSE
MATTHIAS
A tense silence filled the Luca household; only the crackling fire made any noise. Matthias carefully considered the decision before him, wondering if his life would be worth living if he had to remain in Ocleau.
Years ago, he vowed never to return, no matter how desperate he became. But the curse now running through his veins was more dire than any consequence he had ever faced. Balancing his limited options quickly in his head, he found few reasons to stay, but the weight of being freed from this curse was certainly worth considering.
Then he thought of her and what Azalea did to her. His hands curled into fists until his knuckles turned white.
Matthias had been young but not entirely blinded by love. He was mature enough to know that she was the only person he wanted in this world, so he had waited for her all those months. Full of hope for their future, he had gone down to the river where they always met, knowing they would soon leave Ocleau together. The rocks along the shore shifted under his feet, threatening to twist an ankle if he wasn’t careful. He scanned the riverbed in search of her. His chest expanded with a wretched terror when he eventually found a womanly frame half-submerged in the water. The rapids pulled at her dress and legs, but enough of her body rested ashore that she wasn’t swept away. As if someone placed her there so he would see.
He raced toward her, his ankle inevitably twisting on a rock that gave out beneath him. The pain didn’t register until later. Matthias collapsed beside his lover’s body; her skin was slick with river slime, her striking features lost beneath the bloat.
While he could never find evidence that his mother committed the crime, he left everything behind all the same. The townsfolk of Ocleau believed him guilty so he was forced to leave, unable to prove his mother was the reason she was dead. His mother drove him away when she killed the woman he loved, but it was the townsfolk who forced him to stay gone. He hoped, after all these years, they’d have forgotten the murder and his face.
Matthias banished the memories, but his chest tightened, protecting his heart. He couldn’t bear the thought of living out the remainder of his life at a murderer’s beck and call.
As though she read his mind, she said, “The wolves that attacked you are most likely a pack. There is a good chance they will return for you when the full moon rises. I can see that you believe this might not be as bad as you thought; a pack of people just like you.” She stared at him. “Only they are not like you, Matthias. You are an honest, righteous man. The people who choose the cursed life—”
“People like you?” he asked, his tone bitter. “People who choose to do evil, who do witchcraft and kill innocents?”
Azalea narrowed her brown eyes. “I have never killed an innocent person.”
“I beg to differ,” Matthias growled as he stood up, towering over his mother.
