Challenge Submission What Happens in the Woods, Stays in the Woods.

[ellas.asleep]

You waken in a darkened meadow, head aching, with no memory of how you got there or what might be rustling in the brush behind you...
with the delightful @CainMightySword ​

"Mom," Rose complained, her face twisting into a frown. Drumming her fingers against the table impatiently, she glared at her mother from the dining table. "Grandma's like, totally fine on her own. She's not even retired yet, why do I need to check up on her?" Getting up, she slid her phone into her pocket before crossing the dining room to retrieve one of her mother's delectable muffins, half of which she stuffed straight into her mouth. "It's not like she's even senile, you know."

"Lord God, hear me now," her mother muttered under her breath, slamming the frying pan on the stove angrily as she turned to face her daughter, "Rose Hood, you are going to go and visit your grandmother before you go back to college if it's the last thing you do, you hear? She may not be retired yet, but she's getting old. You won't get many more chances to see her again, you know."

"Yeah, mom, I know," Rose groaned, rolling her eyes. When she was younger, she had been pretty close with her grandma, but once she had started to go to an out-of-state college, they didn't get to talk as much. The fact that her grandmother was awful with technology didn't help, either. "Should I bring her some of your muffins? Maybe some fruit, fresh bread, whiskey and wine... Grandma moved past her vodka phase, right?"

"If you bring the muffins, you'll eat them all," her mom said with a dry chuckle. "But yeah, go ahead. I'll call your grandmother and let her know that you're coming to visit. Pack a cooler, or whatever; hit the road by 2:00 and you'll get there before sundown, got it?"

"Great. Bye, mom!"

~
​

After the three-hour drive, Rose finally pulled in to her grandmother's secluded little cabin in the woods. Hauling her ass, the cooler, and her suitcase out of the car, she dragged everything rather reluctantly to the front door. Dropping the cooler on the front step, she banged on the front door three times. "Granny?" she called out loudly, glancing around the forest that she'd practically grown up in.

Every weekend she could remember, Rose had come here to spend time with her grandmother. She had spent her entire childhood running rampant among the deer and the bunnies, and gone to sleep howling along with the wolves and coyotes. Even though she had made such a fuss about coming here, to be honest, she was secretly glad that her mother had forced her to. College was absolutely exhausting for her, and so emotionally draining. She was looking forward to her weekend in nature before being subjected to another horrifying semester trying to find her place as an adult in the modern world.

"Granny," she called out again, "It's me, Rose. I've got alcohol for you! Plus, I brought along some of mom's muffins. Now will you let me in?"

 

[CainMightySword]

It was almost exactly three weeks ago that Granny had been bitten. A rather large wolf tearing into her left arm, making it useless for about an hour. She had thought it to be a bad dream. The bite was gone the next morning and the only remaining mark was a fever that never left. The whole world was too God- too freaking hot. Granny still held to her values. Never take His name in vain. Don't swear. Classic old woman who lived in the woods alone values. She missed her grandchildren, her children as well but more so Rose. Rose had always been her special one.



Expect now she was at her door the day after Granny found out about what she truly was. Decorated in a fur coat, goats from the farm that Granny used to keep up herself back when she had extra money from the insurance company. That only lasted a year or two. Black and white sleek fur glistened in the dark, which Granny didn't notice anymore because her eyes simply were better in the dark. No lights were turned on. Her old body didn't creak in pain nearly as much. Granny didn't know the extent to which this bite has effected her yet, but she knew one thing. Rose's cooler was not the thing that hungered her. It was the smell of young blood just asking to be chewed between razor sharp canines- stretching until the tendons snapped. No. No! No no no no. Not her Rose. Anything but her. The cats had left the house long ago though and there simply wasn't any animals slow enough for a old wolf to catch.



Reluctantly, Granny opened the door to show herself. White hair flowing down her back, grey not being an option when you are born a redhead it seemed. Skin set in laugh lines and crows feet. White teeth smeared in a smile that seemed a bit pained. "Rose, you really shouldn't come in at the moment. I'm um sick! Yes.. Sick. I will be for a few days too." She spoke with a fake cough. Granny was never good at lying. Even worse now. But you can't just say "Don't come in I might eat you.". That just wasn't right. It was rude.

 

[ellas.asleep]

Scoffing at Granny's obvious lie, Rose shouldered her way past her grandmother into the house. "Nonsense!" she exclaimed with a laugh, glancing around the place she'd grown up in with a fond smile. "Mom already called ahead, remember? Stop trying to dodge me, I'm still the same kid as I was fifteen years ago." Leaving her suitcase, duffel bag, and cooler by the door, she continued on into the house, kicking her shoes off and stretching out her shoulders. "Damn, Granny, why're all the lights off? I didn't realize you were senile already." She laughed and flipped the light switch, turning around to grin broadly at her grandmother.

Somewhere in the back of her dimwit mind, Rose knew instinctively that something was wrong. Her grandmother had never before turned down a visit from her favorite grandchild, and she was usually waiting with a plate of cookies or brownies for her to stuff her face with until she was bloated and couldn't move. However, she still had enough tact to steer clear of the subject, as she didn't know if her grandmother was comfortable talking about it, or not. She'd rather just spend time with her grandmother while she was here than worry about little things like that.

"Even if you're actually sick," Rose continued, making her way to the kitchen, "Let me fix us some tea." She retrieved the kettle from the cabinet, filling it up with water and putting it on the stove like the good granddaughter that she was. "Come on, Granny. Tell me, what's been happening around here lately? Any spooky ghost stories, or urban legends?"

 

[CainMightySword]

Granny felt a wave of fear come and subside a as instinct took over once more, the predator part of her bringing out a ruder and more... desperate side of her. Rose was falling into a den of wolves. Well, one wolf. One old, cranky wolf. She bared her teeth at the fading form of Rose before blinking in surprise. A wrinkled hand covered her own mouth. How could she. That was simply not Christian! Simply rude! Yet another thing to watch for. Granny smiled back a bit weakly towards her granddaughter, hand falling to go close the door.



"I was taking a nap before you got here, dear. I turned off the lights to fall asleep better." She stated simply as she turned to get to the small kitchen. The cooler should go here. There are probably treats. Rose said something about treats that Granny couldn't remember. Whether that was because of old age or because she simply had other things on her mind was a mystery. She leaned over with ease compared to the months before and grabbed a glass decorative bowl. "Here, for the muffins." She offered with a semi coy smile. Nervous. Granny was not known for being nervous even when she should be.



"Tea.. Tea sounds good. Thank you, Rose." Granny forced out before sitting in her own chair, nervous as if she was guest in her own house. As if she didn't know that the basement once had a leak that Rose's brother tried to "fix" when he was little. Resulting in a small flood of pipes. Or that the children were caught coloring on the walls, but Granny saved it because who the hell cared about what the walls of an unused room looked like anyways. Or that Rose tried to jump from couch to couch as a child and almost broke her leg doing so. Or that the Rocking Chair in the back is a new one since the old was got wood rot in the rain last summer. This was her own house dammit she felt like a stranger. Granny squared her shoulders, fixed a smile on her face and prepared for a few hours of wanting to eat her granddaughter.



"A wolf actually. John, the woodcutter down the road you know him, said he saw a huge wolf. Then his son said that he saw some cubs with her. Which is impossible. It's too late for wolf cubs this time of year. They'd still be puppies for the winter and fall time. So I told 'em to stop making up more and more rumours before this becomes a "Ghost in the Barn" situation. You remember that? When the Robinson's boy saw a dove and drove the whole town mad looking for a ghostly little girl?" She rambled off, seeming more and more like her old apple-pie-making self.

 

[ellas.asleep]

Rose nearly scoffed at her Granny's weak excuse, but she managed to restrain herself, instead choosing to focus on the task at hand- making some damn superb tea for the two of them to gossip over. "Alright, let me get them, Granny. Don't you go tiring yourself out, ya hear?" Grabbing some mugs from the cabinet, she turned to retrieve the muffins from the cooler, transferring them from the Tupperware to the bowl. They could do with a couple of seconds in the microwave, but Rose had always liked them cold, too. "I brought your favorite wine, and some old whiskey mom didn't want... and it doesn't look cheap, either, so I hope you like it."

Placing the bowl of muffins in the center of the dining table, Rose leaned back casually against the counter by the sink as Granny updated her on the going-ons around the little town. "A wolf?" Rose laughed, shaking her head in mild disbelief. "What will they think of next? That ghost was ridiculous enough, but last time I checked, you guys only have coyotes up here. Plenty of racoons, sure, but no wolves." Waiting for the water to boil, Rose's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Maybe John's goin' a little funny in the head... he's getting pretty old now, isn't he? I remember I missed his 50th birthday celebration because of finals... but maybe that would explain it."

The kettle started to whistle, so Rose took it off the heat, before spooning loose tea leaves from the pot by the stove. "You know," she said off-handedly, glancing back at Granny, "I saw some crazy people on my way up here. People seem to think that just because there's gonna be a full moon tonight, they can do whatever the hell they want. It's like some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card for them, but it's just crazy, Granny! Psycho, I tell ya." Grasping the kettle firmly by the handle, ignoring the heat, she swirled its contents a few times before letting it sit and steep. "Seriously, I hate full moons."