Crimson and Furs

Into the Woods

Ring!

The alarm on Daniel's smartphone blared our when it clocked 7:00am, filling the whole room. The sound aroused Daniel from his sweet sleep, his eyes opening slowly. He reached his right hand to his smartphone and turned the alarm off and then closed his full brown eyes which had sleepiness in them. No one would disturb his sweet dream today. Not even the alarm on his phone.

He had been dreaming about Felicia earlier. In the dream he saw that Felicia confessed her love to him, taking his hands into hers. She then reached to kiss him, her full pink lips covering his narrow lips. She then lay her head on his chest and whispered to his right ear, "I love you so much Dan."

He had been so moved in the dream that he took the initiative to pull her head up, staring into her eyes as he made up his mind to kiss her back. It was at this moment of romance that the alarm rang, jolting him from his sweet dream.

Fuck that alarm, he cussed as he tried hard to sleep again. Maybe I'll see that dream again if I fall asleep.

"Meow," at that moment he heard Carolina meowing as she leaped onto the bed, walking towards him. Daniel hadn't opened his eyes when he felt something cold and sticky slide across his face, drooling it with wetness.

"..."

He opened his eyes only to see Caroline licking his face. He was expressionless as he was filled with so much emotion. This cat was so cute and adorable.

"Good morning, Caroline," he greeted with a warm smile. "You're awake."

Immediately he felt that Caroline replied, "Save your rambling for later, I need food."

"..."

He didn't know how to react. After being told by Evil Buddha that Werewolves would have the uncanny ability to somehow communicate with animals, he didn't have any doubts about his telepathic ability. He believed he could understand what Caroline was saying even though she was just meowing.

"That's a bad way to treat your elders," Daniel said as he got out of bed. "I believe you're not even one-year old."

"I am one-year old actually," Caroline meowed. "So you're wrong."

Daniel didn't argue any further as he believed this was a crazy scene. If anyone came by and saw him talking to a cat, it would confirm their guess that he was a psycho. He would no doubt be kicked into an asylum even though he protested.

Even though I protest? Daniel asked himself. Those bunch of atheists are gonna ask me to prove that I can actually understand what the cat is saying. How am I gonna prove that then? Solve some mathematical equations?

He dressed his bed and looked at his bedroom. It was very much neat and tidy as it was.

Pheeew, Daniel heaved a sigh of relief. He then turned to Caroline, "First things first. We're gonna take a bath!"

At that time he felt Caroline said, "That's actually gross. Never bathed before. It would spoil my golden fur."

"Who cares about your golden fur?" Daniel said as he dragged the cat against its will into the bathroom. Would it be considered cat abuse? Well, that was none of his business (and Caroline's business as well!).

Some minutes later he and Caroline came at dripping with water. He was tying a white towel around his slim waist which almost seemed skinny, his hands clasped around the angry looking Caroline whose golden fur had been matted by the wetness.

"It's all your stupid fault," he felt her complain. "Next time I'm gonna claw your dirty brown eyes!"

"If you do that, who's gonna give you dried mushrooms and milk, hm?" Daniel asked.

"Who gives the fuck about those tasteless mushrooms?! It tastes like shit!"

"..."

Daniel didn't know how to respond. So that was how animals truly were. Since they couldn't speak in human language they couldn't express themselves even though they were placed in an uncanny situation. Thankfully, he could now understand animals.

He quickly dried himself and Caroline up, dressed up and walked to the kitchen to eat. Today he was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of blue shorts and white reebok's sneakers. He looked simple but handsome in the outfit.

He opened the cupboard and took out the far canned sardine in it. He then poured milk into a jug for himself and into a bowl for Caroline.

"Breakfast is served," Daniel said. "You drink the milk while I eat the sardine."

"But you're gonna drink the milk!" Caroline meowed in complaint. "It's unfair!"

"You have share the sardine with me," Daniel said, even though he was greatly pained. He didn't want to share the fat can of sardine with Caroline, even though she was adorable.

"You're so insincere!" he felt Caroline was scoffing at him. "That's how humans are! All the whole bunch of you."

"I said I was gonna share the sardine with you," Daniel made to rub Caroline but she moved away.

"..."

What sort of quarrelling is this? he thought. Hey, I don't quarrel.

He sat down quietly on the counter and began eating the sardine. Although there was a little salt and too much pepper, it tasted just alright. By the time he was done eating, his throat was burning with a delicious spiciness which caused a wetness to surge up there. He drank the jug of milk, gulping it down rapidly before dropping the jug on the kitchen sink. He then let out a loud belch before patting his tummy slowly.

"Now's time to clean up the house," Daniel said. As someone who suffered from tidiness OCD, he wouldn't like to live in an untidy environment. He patted Caroline and dashed to the sitting room to clean it, arranging the whole place. He then went to the two bathrooms in the house. After an hour of intense scrubbing of the marble floor and walls, he was finally done. He then hurried to the kitchen to wash the dishes and arrange it. After towing Caroline out of the well arranged kitchen, he mopped it and went to the sitting room. He sat on one of the red couches in the room, placing both of his legs on the glass table in front of him as he reached out his right hand to pick up the remote, turning on the tv.

"Caroline don't poop on the rug," Daniel said as he pointed at the red rug. He could swear that the cat rolled her eyes. He then returned his focus to the tv. There was a horror movie playing today and it was called: The Exorcist. As a fan of horror movies he was very glad as his eyes were fixed on the tv. He was halfway through the movie when he heard a knock on the door.

"..."

His gaze froze as he remembered the creepy things that happened in the movie. Is that a ghost? he thought as he hesitated, staring at the door with fear.

Creak!

The door opened, making Daniel jump up in fright to run. At that time two young boys the age of Daniel walked into the sitting room.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone wore blank expressions. The two boys were wondering why Daniel wanted to run while Daniel was wondering why the ghost turned out to be his two buddies. These were Ryan and Jackson, his childhood friends.

Ryan was short and fat with a bald hair which seemed like beach ball. A pair of glasses was worn across his grey eyes which seemed to be filled with so much knowledge, his appearance resembling a nerd's. Truly, he was a nerd. Jackson on the other hand was lanky and looked as if he would be blown about by the wind. His face was covered with freckles, his hair jet black and his eyes black in colour. He had a mischievous look and seemed to be like someone who loved adventure. He was the best prankster among the two others and loved pulling pranks.

"Never knew you'd be scared of an ordinary movie," Ryan said after staring at the tv. "I didn't know something as shallow as the Exorcist would cause you to develope a panic attack. I bet you thought we were ghosts."

"I've been through a horror story before," Daniel said as he watched his friends sit down in the other couches. They didn't need to be told to sit down as they took Daniel's home as their home as well. They were very much close and seemed more like brothers instead of friends.

Jackson turned off the tv to Daniel's amusement and crossed his legs as he said, "Let's play a game."

Daniel didn't know whether to be offended or not. Jackson had always been like that and he was used to it. Moreover he was a very interesting person.

"That's not the right thing to do when you're in someone's house," Ryan corrected.

"Yeah," Ryan scoffed. "Like the last time you barged into our kitchen and took the fat sandwich on the counter?"

Ryan immediately kept quiet and allowed Jackson to carry on with his game.

"Let's play truth and dare," Jackson said with a mischievous look on his face.

"No problem," Ryan and Daniel shrugged.

Jackson took out a small bottle from his pocket and placed it on the table. It seemed he was always prepared to play the game and carried the bottle everywhere he went. He spun the bottle with all his strength, all of them watching it swirl rapidly. Slowly it lost its momentum till the bottle head stopped, pointing at Daniel.

"Truth or dare," Jackson still had the mischievous look.

"Truth," Daniel smiled. What did he have to hide?

"Tell us your deepest secret?" Jackson said. At this time Ryan nudged his glasses and became more attentive, sitting upright.

"No way!" Daniel didn't know when he blurted out the word. His deepest secret was his encounter with the Lycanthrope. How was he supposed to share it? He made a decision and hurriedly said, "Dare."

Jackson scoffed as he said, "This is the last chance. Once I dare you, there's no turning back."

His voice seemed to echo throughout the whole sitting room. It felt creepy to Daniel.

"I dare you to head to Crimson Woods alone and return," Jackson said.

"..."

Daniel and Ryan both had fearful expressions.

~

As Daniel walked through the woods, he would turn around to observe his environment. He was very fearful as the event the other day was deeply imprinted within his mind. He couldn't just shake off what had happened even though years passed. As he walked, the scenes of rotting corpses and dry skeletons replayed in his mind like a movie. He remembered himself falling into a pit crawling with corpses, the putrid smell from them digging deep into his nostrils. It was such a nauseous and yet petrifying experience.

"I can do it, I can do it," Daniel muttered to himself as he walked. "I have to overcome my fears. I was meant for this."

He clenched his fists and continued walking. He was still walking when he heard a rattling sound coming from somewhere. His pupils immediately dilated.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart began palpitating, threatening to cough itself out through his mouth. He was gripped by an intense fear which made him shiver. This was the same feeling he got when he encountered the Lycanthrope.

Run! his mind told him. Immediately he got to his feet and began running, dodging trees and webs of vines. Thankfully he hadn't ventured deep into the woods and quickly came out of it, falling before Ryan and Jackson who had surprised expressions.

"What's with that run?" Ryan asked as he nudged his glasses. "It looks as if you encountered a ghost."

"It's a Lycanthrope," Daniel blurted out in fear. "A Lycanthrope. The other day...I...I saw it!"

Ryan and Jackson stared at each other for some time before the latter said with a smile, "Remind me not to allow you watch horror movies again."

"C'mon cowgirl," Jackson pulled Daniel up. "Don't be such a Cinderella."

The trio then made their way away from Crimson Woods. Daniel turned his head back to look in that direction. He could swear that he saw a humanoid shadow looming in the woods. His gaze froze as he turned his head sharply in fear.