It's day 29 of Donna Henderson's curse (as introduced in one of my other stories on this site: The LIAR and the WITCH Bk. 01-03), and she and her husband Randy are having a costume party for their closest friends, who have been told to push the boundaries of the couples theme. Donna is in full control of her new mind control abilities, and has decided to give her friends a treat, by magically enabling them to live out the erotic fantasies associated with their choice of outfits.
As Donna explains, "I've given them all a fantasy to live out. I outlined basic instructions, and told them to use their imaginations to fill in the rest of the details. I expect that it will likely feel very real for each of them. I can only imagine what's going on inside their minds, but I suspect it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch them act it out..."
Sherrie and Steve have dressed up as one of the most famous couples of all time: Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. Here is the fantasy as it plays out in Sherrie's head.
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"You again?" spat Little Red Riding Hood at the lithe form of the wolf who was currently circling her lazily. "Didn't we teach you a lesson last time? Didn't we warn you never to come near the village or my Grandmother's house ever again?"
The wolf laughed. It was the only other sound in the tiny glade, and it echoed off the trees and the rocks and the grass. It seemed that even the birds had deserted Red the moment the wolf had appeared, when he had made his presence known by way of a menacing growl so low that she was surprised that she'd even heard it.
"I won't forget what your boyfriend did to me anytime soon," snarled the wolf, a slight limp in his languid gait illustrating his point. "But don't you worry, my dear, I'm not in violation of the terms of my, oh so ignominious defeat. Surely you're aware that we're currently nowhere near either the village or your Grandmother's house?"
Damn. He's right,
Red realized soberly, shivering despite the warmth of the bright summer morning.
Come to think of it, where exactly am I in the forest?
The confused girl scanned the trees. The forest ahead of her was thick and foreboding, opening up in the distance into a swampy area. To her right, she could see clear blue sky, with the white shadow of last night's full moon still visible in the early morning. To her left, a thick, slow-moving stream bordered the glade she currently found herself a prisoner in. The entire place smelled dank and swampy, not at all like the oak-dominated forests around the village where she lived with Blaze, the woodsman who had saved her from this very wolf just a few short months back.
Despite being able to observe her surroundings and recall some details of the last few months, Red was feeling kind of muddled otherwise. Her short term memory was a mess. As for her self-confidence? Well, for some reason, it had gone to pieces the moment the wolf sauntered out of the shadows smiling and leering at her at the same time, licking his drooling, grey lips noisily.
And just what is going on with the wolf's voice? Since when had it become so deep and commanding? And what is that smell on the air? Some kind of musk?
The wolf continued to circle; the pads of his huge paws making no noise whatsoever on the damp earth of the forest floor. "Oh relax," he rumbled in that odd cultured voice of his. "I promised your
boyfriend
that I wouldn't ever touch you. Whatever else you may think of me, I am a beast of honour. A wolf of my word, if you will." He smiled toothily. If he was trying to be kind, the sight of his canines was making it difficult. "Now, back to my point. Do you know where you are Red?"
Red was trembling now, her body shuddering as she gasped for breath. At first, she thought it was fear, but somehow, it was beginning to feel different than that, like she was perversely excited about something.
Quietly, the redheaded teen pondered the wolf's question.
Do I know where I am?
Again, Red looked around desperately. The last hour of her walk in the forest had been a fog, she now realized. It was like she had just woken up the moment the wolf had appeared, looking for all the world as if he had been expecting her.
Where was I headed?
The last thing Red could clearly remember was getting ready to leave her home earlier this morning. She had wanted to surprise Blaze, who was currently at his hunt camp deep in the woods. That was why her basket was full of a sumptuous romantic feast, and why she was wearing next to nothing, other than her favourite racy red lingerie, under her oversized red hood and cape.
How long have I been walking?
In fact, the last hour had been a fog. She had so been looking forward to the pleasures of the flesh that awaited her at Blaze's hunt campโhe had, after all, been without companionship of a sexual nature for a fortnight, and so, for that matter, had she. A fog, because she was thinking only of the sex that awaited her, and not, apparently, where she was headed.
The huge canine paced around the befuddled teen noiselessly, waiting for her to reply. Finally, Red answered the wolf's question with a subtle shake of her head. He responded with a laugh so predatory that she gripped the canister of bear spray hidden in a pocket of her hood even tighter.
"I thought not," said the wolf triumphantly. "Tell me Red, how much do you actually remember about our first encounter?"
"I don't see what that possibly has to..."
"Tell me, Red!" barked the wolf in a commanding tone. "Tell me exactly what happened that day!"
Red's mouth opened immediately in obeisance, and almost purely of its own accord, began to submit to the wolf's directive, spewing forth a breathless account of the events of the day that had changed so many lives in their mythical forest home.
"About three months ago, in early spring, you met me on the forest path when I was on my way to my Granny's with my picnic basket," gushed Little Red Riding Hood, turning in place as she spoke to keep her eyes on the circling predator. "When you found out where I was headed, you rushed there ahead of me and took my Granny's place in her bed. When I found you there, I knew it was you and I was scared, but I played along, letting you think that your disguise was fooling me, but I was only stalling until help could arrive."
Slowly, the wolf continued to silently plod his wide round path around the young woman clad in red, as she recited a very familiar story.
"I called you Granny, and told you that you had big eyes, and you said..."
"All the better to see you with," finished the wolf.
Red swallowed hard. She was sweating now, dizzy from spinning in place, at least she assumed that that was why she was suddenly feeling light headed. "Yes. So, then I said, 'What a big nose you have...' "
"Such a precocious thing to say really," interrupted the wolf. "But I nonetheless replied that it was better to smell the goodies in your basket with."
"Uh huh," said Red, shuddering, a dull ache descending into her lower back, warming as it went. "So, then I said, 'What big teeth you have, Granny, and you ... well, you said..."
"ALL THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH..."
Red flinched as if expecting an attack, but none came. "Excellent," praised the predator calmly instead. "Pray, continue, my little one. What happened next?"
"Well ... um, you attacked me," continued Little Red Riding Hood, almost petulantly. "But Blaze burst into the cottage and shot you."
The wolf was growling now at the memory of that near miss, and the pain in his haunch that would never go away.
"Yes," he grumbled, still pacing slowly. "And it's a good thing that your dear boyfriend is such a poor shot. Good for me that is. What you have told me is correct. Mostly..."
"Mostly?"
"Yes, you seemed to have forgotten one very important point. You see, I actually bit you that day, Red. Not hard. Just enough to draw blood. Just enough for my saliva to mix with your blood and seep into your bloodstream."
Red was rubbing her neck now at the memory. Blaze had bandaged that spot afterwards, but she'd thought nothing of it at the time. Everything had just happened so fast, she'd just assumed that she'd been randomly hurt in the melee, cut by flying glass or something. The tiny wound had actually healed very quickly, and hadn't even left so much as a blemish, which is why she'd completely forgotten about it until now.
"It was never my intent to kill you that day, Red. In fact, everything, except for getting shot, went just according to my plan."
Red pressed the back of her left hand to her mouth as she gasped at the realization. Wolf saliva in her bloodstream. That could only mean one thing...
"Yes, Red. I can see your face. You're just figuring it out. You have my blood in you now. Wolf blood. That means that there's a wolf inside you now."
Oh Lord, he's right.
All of a sudden Red realized that her senses were heightened, as they had been all morning, which is why, even now, she could hear mice scurrying through the underbrush, see the glint of sunlight off water through the trees well in the distance, and smell the swamp a mile away. She could also smell the wolf's musk. So close. Circling her.
A sudden thought dawned on Red. This change in her body hadn't happened overnight either. Before Blaze had left for the hunt camp a few weeks back, they'd gone out for dinner and she had ordered steak, and for the first time in her life, she had asked for it rare. Super rare; almost blue actually. Blaze had looked at her so strangely while they ate, as she'd torn at the meat on her plate like... well, a carnivore. If he'd had any concerns though, she'd silenced him that night when she'd offered herself to him on her hands and kneesโlike a she-wolf. And, as he pounded into her from behind, grunting his approval, she'd lost all train of thought beyond how natural it felt. How perfectly feral.
There's a wolf inside you now,
the wolf had just said, and she was starting to realize that he was right.