The ax fell down upon the beast’s neck, severing its head from its body. The head rolled a few inches on the ground and the large, hulking form squirmed for a bit before falling still. Skye took multiple deep breathes in an attempt to calm her rapid heart beats. She had just killed a wolf. She had just killed something.

She shakily let go of the ax and looked at her hands. When she had come into the room, all she saw was her dog rolling on the ground and biting a larger beast. she had just stood by and watched at first, but then she heard a voice call out to her, telling her to shoot her arrow.

She had obediently done so, but after the first one had been shot, she could keep her hands still enough to shoot a second one. Despite this, she at least had the presence of mind to grab the ax to protect her dog.

Skye looked back at the wolf’s corpse. She expected to feel nausea as soon as she looked again ,but surprisingly, it never came. There was no blood, there were no organs, in fact, the inside of the head and body seemed to be hollow. Before she had time to ponder this, she remembered the voice that had told her to shoot.¹

She turned around to see Finn laying on the ground, his eyes on the fallen beast. His gaze shifted to her and the two stared at each other in silence.

Diana barked and strode towards Finn. She put her paws on his shoulders and began to lick his scratched cheek.

“Ouch,” winced Finn. He pushed the dog back before stopping and getting a good look at it. “Oh, you’re the dog from the library!” he said as he recognized the German shepherd. He pulled the dog towards him and hugged it around the neck. “Thanks, girl.” He buried his face in the dog’s fur and took a moment to calm himself by breathing her scent in.

Skye cleared her throat. Finn removed his face from the dog’s fur and looked at the girl. Skye crossed her arms and glared at Finn in an attempt to hide how shaken she was.

“Mind telling me what’s going on?”

Finn frowned and sat up. “Gee, thanks for worrying about my wellbeing,” he said sarcastically.

“I’m in no mood for pleasantries.”

Finn narrowed his eyes ,but held back a retort. “For your information, what you just witnessed was the first fairy tale we were supposed go through.”

A shiver went down Skye’s spine ,but Skye tossed her head and scoffed anyway. “Fairy tales? I knew you’re head was stuck in the clouds, but blaming this situation on fantasies is a new low!”

Finn gritted his teeth before he decided to continue. “Then tell me, when was the last time a wolf was found in the area around our town? Let alone one that looked this human?” he said, pointing at the furry anthropomorphic corpse.

“Er….”

Skye tried to find some way to justify what had happened ,but couldn’t find a response. She couldn’t deny that she had just killed a werewolf or at least some wolf-like creature.

“Exactly,” said Finn as he got up. “After seeing this, do you believe me about the Wizard now?”

Skye looked back and forth between the boy and the corpse. Seeing that she still looked unsure, Finn sucked in a breath and began to attempt to clean himself. He brushed the fur off of his jeans before moving upwards to his torso. He moved to brush off his hoodie when he paused in the process. His eyes widened in realization.

“SOBO-CHAN!”

Skye looked up in surprise as Finn ran out of the room. She didn’t know what Sobo-San meant ,but she didn’t feel comfortable being alone with the wolf corpse so she followed after him.

“SOBO-CHAN?!” called out Finn as he checked every room in the house. Though he checked everywhere, there was no sign of his grandmother.

“Where is she?!” questioned Finn as he searched his grandmother’s room. He had already come up with a few theories as to what had happened to his grandmother.

1. His grandmother wasn’t home when the wolf entered.

2. His grandmother was eaten by the wolf.

3. His grandmother is the wolf.

He looked on the ground and in the closet. He prayed that two or three weren’t the case. Tears started to bubble in his eyes as he realized there was a distinct possibility that either one had happened.

There were no bloodstains in the bedroom. Finn sighed a bit in relief. At least his grandmother hadn’t been mauled. His relief didn’t last however as he remembered that the other possibility was still was still open. He quickly took out his phone and rapidly began dialing his grandmother’s cell phone number. He put the phone to his ear and waited. He was vaguely aware Skye and Diana entering the room ,but he didn’t pay the two any mind. As he waited for someone to pick up, he heard the sound of faint ringing coming from one of the the other room. His expression turned to one of absolute anguish before he sprinted out of the room back to the living room.

When he came back into the living room, the sound of ringing had gotten louder. It seemed to come from the wolf corpse in the center of the room.

“No, no, NO!” he exclaimed. “SOBO-CHAN!”

He ran to the corpse and hurriedly stuck his hands into where Skye had cut the wolf open. As he tried to tear the opening wider, blood got on his face, hands, and sweater, but he didn’t care, there was a good chance that his grandmother was swallowed whole by the wolf. When Skye came into the room, she almost gagged at the sight of Finn rummaging through the corpse.

“What the hell are you doing?!” she exclaimed, pulling him by his shoulders away from the corpse.

“Let go of me!” he shouted as he pulled himself out of her grip. He tried to scramble back to the corpse, but Skye grabbed him once again, this time around his waist. Finn squirmed within her grasp but Skye was both bigger and stronger than him.

“Hayashi! You’re rummaging through a CORPSE!”

“My grandmother’s in there!” he replied.

“Wha-?”

“Haven’t you ever read Little Red Riding Hood, Boke²?!” he said with a glare.

Just then, Diana started barking loudly. The two quarreling teens looked towards where the dog was only to see that the corpse was slowly fading away. In its place lay an old woman and a teenage boy.

“Sobo-chan!” exclaimed Finn. He tore himself from Skye’s grip and kneeled by his grandmother’s side. He desperately shook the old woman. “Sobo-san?! Sobo-San please wake up!”

Though Skye was a bit worried for the old woman, it was the teenage boy that had appeared that caught her attention. Where did he come from? The appearance of the old lady had a bit of explanation ,but not the boy’s. She kneeled beside him and took a closer look at his face. Her eyes widened in surprise as she recognized his face. It was Bruce.

‘How did he get here?’ wondered Skye. She then shook her head. ‘Never mind that. I have to make sure he’s alive!’

Skye placed her head on his chest and listened for a heartbeat. She then lifted her head and checked to see if he was breathing. To her relief, he was.

“Mā, nani ga okotta no ka?”(What happened?)

Skye turned to see Finn helping the old woman up.

“Soko ni kantan ni, Sobo-chan…(Easy there, Grandmother)” said Finn as he gently brought her to her feet.

“Mago o arigatōgozaimasu. Nani ga okotta? Naze heya wa mechakuchadesu ka?(Thank you ,grandson. What happened? Why is this place a mess?)” she asked as she looked around.

“Er….” Finn hesitated to tell his grandmother the truth. What had happened was pretty hard to believe, but he didn’t particularly like lying to his grandmother. “Sobo-chan….”

“Good job completing the first fairy tale!” exclaimed a voice out of nowhere.

Skye and Finn looked around, searching for it’s source.

“Don’t bother looking around. You can’t see me through the dimensional barrier. Thanks for the show. I look forward to the next one,” continued the voice.

“It’s Reese,” murmured Finn. He checked to see if his grandmother could hear the voice, but the old woman was frozen stiff. Finn tried to tug on her arm, but was surprised to find that it wouldn’t move.

“What have you done Sobo-san?!” said Finn with a scowl.

“Relax,” said Reese nonchalantly. “I just froze her for a bit. You wouldn’t want to get others involved in your performance would you?”

“You turned Bruce into a wolf and had him eat an old lady, people are already involved!” pointed out Skye.

“Oh relax, these people are just pawns. After their duties are done they won’t remember what happened and everything will go back to normal. See?”

As the voice said those words, the living room, which had been a total mess, began to straighten itself out. The furniture was put back in order and any evidence of claw marks disappeared. Finn looked down to see that his jacket was mending itself and all of his cuts were closing.

“Now isn’t that grand?” said Reese. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to prepare the next challenge for you two. Toodles!”

“Wait a second!” called out Skye, but it was too late, Reese’s voice was gone.

Skye let out a grunt of frustration. Finn sighed and scratched his head in annoyance.

“Mago, are these your friends?”

Finn turned to see his grandmother unfrozen and looking at Skye and the comatose Bruce.

“Is he alright?” she inquired in a thick Asian accent as she took a few steps toward the boy.

Skye stepped between the old woman and Bruce. “Yes, yes, he’s fine! He’s just…tired! He’s had a pretty active day so he’s pretty tired.”

“Oh, very well. Perhaps we should move him to the couch then? Finn-kun, could you please help her?” said Finn’s grandmother.

“No need,” said Skye with a wave of her hand.

Skye crouched down and pulled Bruce’s comatose body onto her back with ease.

“My, so strong….” remarked Finn’s grandmother as Skye carried Bruce to the couch.

Finn rubbed his arm, suddenly conscious of his nonexistent muscles.

“Would you like to have some tea and cookies? It’s the first time Finn has brought a friend over….”

“Sobo-chan!” exclaimed Finn.

“Er….Actually, I should probably go…” said Skye.

“Nonsense! I’d very much like to get to know you, dear.” The old woman gave Skye a smile and Skye was finding it hard to resist her.

“O-okay,” said Skye.

“It’s a pleasure to have you er….”

“Skye, Skye Daniels.”

“Nice to meet you Skye-chan,” said the old woman as she walked into the kitchen.

Skye and Finn followed her into the kitchen and sat at the table awkwardly. They listened to the old woman as she readied the tea and cookies and hummed to herself.

“What kind of tea would you like? I have green, maple, black…”

“Green please,” said Finn and Skye in unison. The two looked at each other.

The old woman smiled. “You have some good taste.”

She set down three tea cups and a plate full of matcha cookies. Skye looked at. The green cookies curiously.

Seeing the look on her face, the old woman spoke. “They’re matcha cookies. Their color comes from the green tea leaves inside them.”

“Oh, thank you Mrs…..Hayashi?”

Mrs. Hayashi (Sr.) nodded her head. “It’s no problem Skye-chan.” The old woman looked at Skye with a perplexed expression on her face. “I know this isn’t something unusual around these parts but I believe I’ve seen you and that dog around town before,” she said, glancing down at Diana, who lay under the table. “Your name is familiar too. I think Finn used to talk about you a lot…”

Skye raised an eyebrow and turned to Finn. Finn’s eyes widened.

“I’m glad you two get along now.”

“Yeah…” agreed Skye, taking a long sip of her tea. She didn’t have the heart to tell the old woman that he hated her grandson’s guts.

The three sat in silence, drinking tea and eating cookies. Skye and Finn both tried to find something to say, but nothing came to mind. Finn had never been this uncomfortable in his grandmother’s house before and it was all because of Skye’s presence. He hid his grimace behind his cup. He couldn’t help but feel like Skye had invaded his private sanctum. He knew getting angry about it was irrational ,but he’d rather not be around Skye in a place that was so special to him.

Luckily, Skye wasn’t exactly enjoying her presence there anyway. The tea and cookies were good and the old woman made nice company, but the circumstances of which she had gotten into this situation were less than ideal and she needed answers. Plus, the situation was starting to feel awkward.

“May be excused? My father doesn’t know that I’m here and Bruce needs to return home,” asked Skye.

“Of course dear, but I don’t believe your friend has woken up yet. It will be hard for you to get back to town without any help. Finn-kun, could you please escort your friend back to town?”

Finn glanced at Skye before nodding his head. “Hai, Sobo-chan”

To be honest, Finn would’ve rather Skye head back to town with Bruce on her own, but at least the walk would allow the two to talk about their situation in private.

The two went into the living room and each slung one of Bruce’s arms over their shoulders. Finn waved to his grandmother before both he and Skye left the house. When the house disappeared behind a bend, Finn decided that it was a good time to talk.

“Skye, as much as I hate to say it, we’re stuck with each other. We’re going to have to work together. Once this is over, we never have to associate with each there again.”

Skye did respond and kept her eyes forward. Finn looked at her.

“This shouldn’t be happening,” she stated angrily. “We’re not characters in some fantasy novel. Bruce and your grandma turning into a wolf should not be possible.”

“Well, apparently it is possible and we have four more stories to go.” As he said that, Finn could help but crack a small smile. It was just the adventure he had always wanted and he was the protagonist.

“I bet you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she said accusingly.

“Well, it’s a nice change of pace. Nothing much happens in this town.”

“So you’re OKAY with this?!” she questioned incredulously.

“I accept it for what it is and believe it could be a source of enjoyment.”

“….I already thought you were an idiot ,but I didn’t think you were so stupid that even you basic instincts didn’t work. Don’t you understand? We could possibly DIE. Not only that ,but God knows what other repercussions there could be!”

“You heard Reese, everything goes back to normal after each one.”

“And you trust him?! He forced us into this to entertain himself! He could be lying for all we know!”

“‘He?’”

“Yeah, he.”

“Reese is woman.”

“No, Reese is a he.”

“She”

“He”

“She!”

“He!”

“Reese has long hair and eyelashes and a slender feminine form and face. Reese is a woman,” concluded Finn.

“Reese is a man. HE’s too tall to be a woman. I saw an enlarged Adam’s apple on him and I don’t believe I saw any boobs on him,” argued Skye.

“Reese is a she!”

“Reese is a he!”

They both groaned in frustration.

“You’re annoying as hell ,you know that?” said Skye.

“And you’re just as annoying if not moreso. It’s not like we can actually tell anything with the robes she or he wears. Next time we’ll ask Reese and see who’s right,” said Finn.

“There won’t be a next time. You may be enjoying this ,but I refuse to be Reese’s toy,” declared Skye. “After we bring home Bruce, I am done.”

“Have fun with that,” said Finn indifferently. He would be just fine if he didn’t have to deal with Skye while doing the stories, but he knew better than to hope that Reese would leave her out because she didn’t want to be involved. He had read and watched enough stories to know that neither of them were going to get out of this easily and that resisting would just be a waste of energy. However, he knew that Skye wouldn’t listen to him if he told her this so he just figured she’d learn this the hard way.

“So anyway, we have no idea when the next fairy tale starts nor which one it will be so there’s very little we can do to prep for it,” continued Finn. “At best we could read up on every fairy tale we can get our hands on.”

“Um, were you not listening? I’m not doing this,” said Skye.

“I’ve already dismissed what you said as soon to be bull crap. I’m glad that you noticed my complete disregard for it,” he said, keeping his eyes on the forest path

Skye gritted her teeth. At the moment she wanted nothing more but to punch him in the face ,but she chose not to act on her desires. As much as she hated Finn, she couldn’t bring herself to punch him after meeting his sweet old grandmother.

Finn and Skye exited the forest with Bruce between them. As they carried the unconscious boy through town, they got quite a bit of questioning stares. Some of the adults even came and questioned them. Skye told them the truth, or as much as anyone would believe anyway. She told them that Bruce had been out cold in the woods and they had no idea how he came to be unconscious, which technically wasn’t a lie. They didn’t know why he hadn’t woken up once he turned human.

One of these adults called Bruce’s mom and she came and took her son home, thanking his two “friends” for helping him. Skye and Finn’s weren’t really friends with Bruce but they decided to let the woman believe what she wanted to. They watched her drive off before Skye turned to walk home. Finn turned to her.

“Don’t forget to read up on the fairy tales!”

“I don’t need to because I’m NOT doing this!” She shouted over her shoulder.

Finn watched her as she walked away before letting out an exasperated sigh.

1. This is a bit too clean for my current writing style. This scenecould have been rougher, more visceral. But it also might make it unsuitable for a younger audience if I rewrote it with more gore.

2. I really had a weird way of using Japanese back then. Using “baka” would have been a lot more recognizable.