Clentine:
Mom asked to take my little brother out for a walk, so I did.
I held him in my arms and rocked him back and forth with difficulty while he giggled at .
He was adorable. He always giggled, laughed, and tried to say jumbled words when he looked at . He even touched my face, grabbed my nose, and pulled my hair.
He was really cute.
"Okay, what story do you want to tell you today?" I asked my little brother as I reached the main road.
There were warriors everywhere, and I knew they were keeping an eye on , my mother, and my little brother because they were afraid we would run away or escape my father’s control.
"How about I tell you about Little Red Riding Hood again?"
As soon as I said that, my brother let out a small coo, and I laughed at how cute he was.
He was still a baby, but I treated him like he was only a month old.
"Pstt! Listen to ."
I heard a barely ford voice from the woods, and my head snapped toward the trees.
"Who is there?" I asked, looking around to make sure I was not imagining things.
"Co here," soone called, making look around in confusion.
"Co here. I will tell you the Little Red Riding Hood story."
The voice sounded strange, as if the person had just learned how to speak.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I mumbled.
As I walked toward the woods, I noticed the warriors were busy talking, which was probably why this person chose to speak to when they were distracted.
"Who are you?" I called out again when the person did not respond.
"Keep coming. I want to speak with you," the person continued.
I reached a tree and looked behind it. Instantly, my heart seed to stop at the sight of a very old-looking, strange man I had never seen before.
I stepped back at once and let out a quiet groan in horror.
"What are you?" I asked softly.
"I’m a friend," he replied.
His mannerisms and body language were odd. He looked human from what I could tell, but he was not like anyone I had seen before.
There was sothing about him that confused . He looked old, but he was not. His voice sounded young, yet it also sounded like soone who had not spoken much before.
Overall, he was terrifying.
"What do you want?" I asked, still holding my baby brother close to my chest.
"I want you to co with ."
The mont he said that and reached toward , I stepped back.
"No," I refused, watching an unsettling look cross his face before he forced a creepy smile.
"Hush. Nobody will find out. Just co with ," he muttered, holding his hand out to .
At that mont, I rembered sothing my mother had told . She had always warned never to follow anyone who did not look human.
I used to think she was just trying to scare with stories of monsters.
She often said she ca from a place where she had seen many monsters, but my father claid she was lying.
I never knew what the truth was. But now, looking at this man, I rembered all of my mother’s warnings.
"Co on. But if you do not want to co, that is fine. Give him to . He needs care, and I can take care of him," the man said, pointing at my brother.
"No, you will kill him," I cried.
My vision blurred with tears and panic.
"I will not. Trust , I will keep him safe."
His face twisted into sothing uglier, and that was when I noticed his hands. His fingers were long and scaly, almost bony, with strange pointed tips. I realized then that he was a monster.
"No. I will not give him to you. Not this ti."
As I shouted, he tried to rush at , but he suddenly stopped when soone ca from behind and struck him hard on the back of the head with a log. His eye patch fell off too.
My mother kept hitting him, but he would not pass out.
When he fell to the ground, sothing rolled out of his pocket, and my mother lunged for it.
I was screaming, but when I looked at my mother, I covered my mouth because I did not want the warriors to co and get us in trouble.
My mother rushed toward the watch while the monster reached for it at the sa ti.
Right before my eyes, my mother stepped on the watch before the monster could grab it, and suddenly he was gone.
It was like I blinked and he disappeared.
Even the small scream he let out when he saw my mother step on the watch was cut off.
"What just happened?" I cried.
My mother hurried to , took my baby brother from my arms, and hugged as she dropped to her knees beside .
"Oh goodness. It has already started," my mother whispered while rubbing my back.
"What has started? What was it? Who was it?" I asked, crying hard.
I did not know what it was about that monster, but it left feeling like sothing had been stolen from , maybe even my heartbeat.
"It could be anything. It is all right," my mother said, biting her bottom lip.
"But what was it? Who was it, Mom?" I asked again, letting out a small, shaky yelp.
"These are the monsters of the north," my mother whispered into my ear. "But do not worry. You are too young to think about it for now. Just rember, when the ti cos, you are going to fight, and you are going to fight harder and harder."
Her words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
That was when I jolted awake.
I was still in Yorick’s bedroom. He was sleeping in a different room now because he wanted to respect my privacy.
But sothing bothered . Why had I dread of such a distant mory again?
That had happened when I was a child. I had completely forgotten that mont until now, when a monster had tried to take my brother from .
Then I rembered my mother’s words.
I rubbed my arms and then the back of my neck before looking around.
Where was Yorick now?
Last ti I saw him, he was acting strange, screaming at his mother and telling her that she had poisoned .
Then I heard the door creak open, and his mother stord inside, pointing at .
"What the hell did you do? What did you do?" she shouted.
I leaned back against the headboard and stared at her in confusion.
I had no clue what she was talking about.
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