Justin Cairns - Little Red

‘What does that mean?’

‘I’m not sure, it’s not sloppiness or accidental. He’s very precise and organised. The other two were taken only days before the full moon. Megan was taken, what, four, five days before……I’m just unsure of why!’

‘You’re the brains mate’ he assured

‘If you, we, find him…..what then, see, I know what you’re planning on doing, I see that now. But when it’s done,…..what then?’

Richard shrugged his shoulders, the thought not crossing his mind. In his head he watched his own homemade video; this one consisted of him removing limbs and other essential parts from the Wolf’s body.

‘Not sure, I haven’t planned that far ahead’

‘You’d be on the run….for a long time. Is that what you want for your daughter?’

‘I want my daughter back where she belongs, with me. If it means dragging her around endless hotels or B and B’s then, I’ll do it. Look, we lost her mother, my wife, four years ago to cancer. It destroyed us, she was the reason I signed off from the military, I wanted to take care of them both. Now I just have the one to look after, and there’s no way in hell that any harm is coming to her!’ the anger building within, his face turned a dark red colour.

‘Okay, I’ll leave it there’ spoke Nathan softly, feeling sympathy for the man to his side.

They sat in silence as the four by four drove around the outskirts of London, the day was slowly pulling to an end, thick tufts of grey formed in the sky.

‘Richard?’

‘Yep’

‘Where exactly are we going?’

‘I spoke to my source yesterday, he found several addresses for me, and we’re going to them’

‘Addresses,….belonging to who?’

‘I’ll tell you when we get there!’

***

The pictures he had taken earlier that morning had been observed and judged. He found himself feeling slightly disappointed at the results. It was the first time he had taken his snaps without the mask or glove. Usually the girl would be overwhelmed by fear, the sight of the beast moving in and clawing away normally struck them from the moment they laid eyes upon it. This time was different, the girls face held no emotion, no signs of the terror his others displayed. He studied each one carefully, digging deep into the details, searching for a slight resemblance of fear. He couldn’t see any.

They fear the Beast….not you!

‘I am the Beast…..it’s me they fear!’

His words were drowned out by the sudden realisation. The statement from his invisible guest had kicked him hard. He self-modified his appearance, he ate live animals and drank their life…..he had felt the power of what he was becoming. But this girl had not seen it, the beast had not appeared to her.

He heard the voice, again, taunting him. He tried to block it, to remove its fierce words.

You are NOT becoming…You are NOT becoming…

He refused to believe the repetition of insults. He had seen it with his own eyes, through the beasts eyes. He had started to transform….he was becoming what he longed to be. He sat quietly, blocking the inner voice.

‘ She is the reason!’ the thought coming to him

‘She refuses to see me….she thinks she’s tough, that she can handle what I am….she will see me……….she will see me now !’

The door had opened, the light turned off. His shadow was cast into the room as the stairs light shone behind him. Megan looked up, her body aching from his last visit. He stepped forward and grabbed the Polaroid camera. His filming equipment remained poised for shooting, the lens aimed at her face. He moved in the darkness, their surroundings had swallowed him from view. She searched frantically, he had disappeared. The shuffling sound came from behind; she turned to see what had created the noise. Nothing appeared.

Her attention was brought back to the door as the beast came into sight, it’s head, larger than before, the hair spiked up before the light behind it. Its head turned to the side, the long nose becoming prominent; the sharp teeth caused a rush of panic through her heart.

Seeeeee meeeeeeee…..Fear meeeeeeeeee.

The room was illuminated and her focus became slightly blurred. It moved with speed, striking her face several times. The blood ejaculated from her mouth, the spray struck wall and gave a dripping sound as it fell to the floor. The cries fell on deaf ears; they were alone, the girl and the Wolf.

Her head hung limp from the beating. He stepped back and watched his prey weep tears of pain. The music boomed through the speakers, the record button was pressed on the camera’s side.

Hooowwwwwwwl…………Who’s that I see walking in these woods...why it’s little red riding hood …..Hey there little red riding hood….you sure are looking good…you’re everything, a big bad wolf could want….hooowwwwwwl.

The pictures were captured, he felt no need to check them right away….he could the see the fear; he could smell it oozing from her pale skin.

Now she seeeeeeees me…….now she does!

***

Richard pulled the vehicle onto the curb and switched off the engine. The night had pulled in as they drove to the East end of London. They sat under a street lamp, the orange glow felt warming to look at.

‘So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?’

‘I said I would Nathan’ removing a smoke from the packet, he offered one to Nathan and he accepted. The window crept down slightly as Richard lowered both sides, a vacuum was created to allow the smoke to exit the interior.

‘My source did some homework for me. I told him about the situation with Megan and he offered to help’

‘What does your source do Richard?’

‘Look, like I said when we first met, there are things I can’t discuss with you, you know that!’

‘I do, but it’s nice to be kept in some sort of loop’

‘I agree. Okay, he works for the Government, a good friend from my army days. I’ve done him favours in the past, he owed me one’.

‘Government, like….MI5?’

‘Maybe’ he smiled, ‘Anyway, he came up with an idea that could possible help with finding a location of the Wolf. He said it was a long shot, but it had worked before on previous investigations’.

‘Right, go on’

‘You may be aware, as an ex-copper, that there is a team that monitor certain internet sites and chat sites for any illegal behaviour. This team can type a specific word into the computer and it will run a detailed search of all known illegal sites, coming up with any addresses that have used that specific word. It can be back-dated for months, so they do find many old messages that may hold no relevance’.

‘You’re talking about pornographic material aren’t you?’

‘Yeah, the sick stuff though Nathan’ the fag burned to the filter and was thrown from the window.

‘Well, my source had typed the word, Wolf, into the search bar. It came up with three addresses within London, these were people who had accessed an illegal and monitored Child pornography site and were chatting on a forum’.

‘Hang on a moment. You’re saying that the Wolf may have been on one of these sites and discussed his intentions?’

‘Not likely, but someone who may know of his intentions could have blurted it out onto one of these sites. They may know where he lives and who he is!’

‘Jesus, is that legal, you know, to watch what people are accessing?’

‘Nathan, I know you’re getting on a bit, but the internet is the best source we have for finding and tracking suspects. It tells us everything. The internet has all your personal information on it, mad I know, but someone can look up anything they want about you…if they wanted to!’