The Curse of Little Red Riding Hood

I stood shivering in front of my grandmother's house, clutching the basket filled with food tightly in my hands. My knuckles turned white from the force. At this moment, my heart was filled with fear, and my legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. Every breath I took was accompanied by a tremor. A thick, nauseating smell of blood continuously seeped out from the crack of the door. The smell was so strong that it was as if one could see the bloody mist floating in the air. It was mixed with the stench of rotting meat, which drilled straight into my nostrils. Instantly, my stomach churned violently, and I almost vomited up the food from the night before.

Three days ago, my mother handed me this basket of food with a worried expression, entrusting me to deliver it to my sick grandmother. At that time, the sun was shining brightly, and the birds were singing merrily in the branches. I could never have imagined that this journey would turn into a terrifying nightmare. I should have been able to reach my grandmother's house smoothly on the same day, but fate took a turn into the abyss of darkness at this moment.

That evening, the twilight was like a huge black curtain slowly covering the forest. I hummed a little tune and walked briskly on the forest path, completely unaware that danger was quietly approaching. Suddenly, a group of wolves rushed out from all directions and surrounded me. Their green eyes sparkled with greed and ferocity in the twilight, like will-o'-the-wisps, exuding a bone-chilling chill. I was so scared that I stood there rooted to the spot, and my heart was pounding wildly in my chest as if it was about to burst out.

I looked around in a panic and finally spotted a hollow tree. I rushed towards it desperately and squeezed in with all my might. The narrow tree hole exuded a musty smell. I curled up inside, not daring to make a sound. The wolves paced back and forth outside the tree hole and howled. Each shrill howl pierced the night sky as if it were going to tear my soul apart. I tightly covered my ears, closed my eyes, and prayed for the dawn to come quickly. The long night seemed as endless as a century, and every second was filled with fear and despair.

Finally, when dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight shone on the ground, the wolves gradually dispersed. I crawled out of the tree hole with weak legs, almost unable to stand. Looking at the still quiet forest around me, the fear in my heart subsided a little, and I continued walking towards my grandmother's house.

At this moment, standing in front of this door that exuded an overwhelming sense of horror, after much hesitation, I finally summoned up the courage and said in a trembling voice, "Grandmother, I'm here." My voice was as soft as a feather falling, but it sounded particularly abrupt in this deathly silence.

"Come in, my dear," came my grandmother's hoarse voice from inside the door. The voice seemed to come from the depths of the netherworld, much lower than usual, and there was an indescribable eerie feeling about it.

I slowly pushed the door open, and a cold, damp air rushed towards me. The room was dimly lit. The thick curtains tightly blocked out the sunlight, as if trying to keep all the light out. The flames in the fireplace flickered weakly, casting a fitful light that made the walls around look shadowy, as if countless ghosts were dancing.

My grandmother was lying on the bed, the quilt pulled up high, revealing only a pair of cloudy eyes. There was a strange and sinister look in those eyes. "Grandmother, are you okay?" I suppressed the fear in my heart, walked closer to the bed, and placed the basket on the bedside table. At that moment, I noticed a glass on the table, filled with a dark red liquid that glowed eerily in the firelight, like congealed blood, exuding a terrifying aura.

"I'm fine, my dear," my grandmother's voice seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of her throat, and every word had a sticky texture. "Close the curtains, dear. The light is hurting my eyes."

I turned around to close the curtains, my movements stiff and slow. Just then, a rustling sound came from behind me, like the sound of countless insects crawling, making my scalp tingle. I instinctively turned around and saw my grandmother slowly sitting up in bed. The quilt slid off, revealing her extremely large body. Her nightgown hung loosely on her, and a tuft of gray hair was exposed at the collar. The hair was messy and rough, giving off a pungent, fishy smell.

"Grandmother, why have your ears become so big?" I took a step back in horror, and my heart started pounding violently, as if it was about to jump out of my throat.

"To hear you better, my dear," she tilted her head, and the corners of her mouth stretched into an exaggerated, almost distorted smile, revealing a row of uneven teeth. Only then did I notice that her teeth had become sharp and long, like sharp blades, glinting with a cold light in the dim light, as if they could tear my flesh and blood apart with just a gentle bite.

"Then... then why have your eyes become so big too?" My voice was shaking so much that I could barely form a complete sentence.

"To see you better, my dear," her eyes emitted a faint green light in the darkness. That light was cold and evil, just like the eyes of the wolves that surrounded me that night, as if they could see through the fear in my heart.

My palms were already soaked with sweat, and my back was drenched in cold sweat. My clothes clung tightly to my body, and a chill crept up my spine. "Grandmother, why has your mouth also..."

"To eat you better, my dear!" She suddenly threw off the quilt, revealing a body covered in grayish-white fur and sharp claws. Those claws were as long as my palm, extremely sharp, and glinting with a metallic cold light. Only then did I realize that the one in front of me was not my grandmother at all, but a huge werewolf!

I let out a terrified scream and turned around to run for my life. But the werewolf reacted extremely quickly and pounced on me in an instant. Its claws scratched deeply across my back, and a searing pain shot through me, as if countless red-hot iron bars had been driven into my body. I stumbled and knocked over the table heavily, and the food in the basket spilled all over the floor. The bread rolled into a pool of blood, and the apples were stained red with blood, looking extremely terrifying.

The werewolf let out a deafening howl, a howl that seemed to pierce through my soul, making the beams of the house shake violently and the dust on the roof fall簌簌. I ran towards the door desperately, every step filled with despair and struggle. But with a swift leap, the werewolf easily blocked the door, cutting off my escape route.

Saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, and the saliva fell to the ground with a "tick" sound, which was particularly clear in the silent room. Its eyes stared at me intently, filled with greed and ferocity. "Poor Little Red Riding Hood," it said in my grandmother's familiar yet terrifying voice, "do you think you can escape?"

At this critical moment, the sound of footsteps and the barking of hunting dogs suddenly came from outside the door. The werewolf immediately pricked up its ears alertly, and a hint of panic flashed in its eyes. Taking this opportunity, I quickly grabbed the candlestick on the ground and threw it at its eyes with all my strength. The sharp corner of the candlestick stabbed into the werewolf's eye, and the werewolf let out a heart-rending scream. Blood gushed out from its eye socket, splashing onto the wall and my face.

Taking advantage of this moment, I dashed out of the door without hesitation. In my panic, I crashed straight into someone's arms. I looked up and saw that it was a hunter. "Run!" I grabbed the hunter and tried to pull him out, shouting with a sobbing voice, "There's a werewolf inside!"

However, the hunter stood still as if he were a stone statue. He slowly lowered his head and looked at me, and the corners of his mouth curled into a strange smile. Only then did I notice that his eyes were also green, and there was an indescribable evil in that light. His teeth glinted coldly in the moonlight, like the fangs of a wild beast.

"Little Red Riding Hood," he said softly, his voice low and cold, as if coming from the depths of the underworld, "do you think there are only wolves in the forest?"

My heart sank, and in despair, I turned around to run, only to find that green eyes were glowing from all directions. In the moonlight, the villagers slowly emerged from the shadows. Their bodies began to twist and deform, their bones cracking with a "click" sound, and their muscles rolling and surging under their skin. Gray fur grew out from all parts of their bodies, their fingernails grew longer and sharper, turning into sharp claws. Their facial features were distorted, and their originally kind faces became ferocious and terrifying. They let out low growls, like demons from hell.

It turned out that the entire village had already been occupied by werewolves. Behind each seemingly familiar face lurked a bloodthirsty wolf's heart. And I, all alone, was surrounded by these demons, the last human left.

I watched in despair as they slowly approached, each step feeling like it was stepping on my heart. Suddenly, I remembered what my mother had said before I left: "Be sure to take the main road and don't trust anyone..." Unfortunately, I only understood the profound meaning of these words at this moment, but it was already too late.

The pack of wolves surrounded me tightly, leaving me with no chance of escape. I closed my eyes, waiting for death to come. Tears streamed down from the corners of my eyes, and my heart was filled with endless regret and despair. In this final moment, I seemed to see my mother's anxious face and hear her calling, but I could never return to her side again...