Everly Academy

by V. B. Marlowe

  They crept along quietly for what seemed like almost an hour. Molly kept a tight look at her watch and wondered how long the entire ordeal was going to take. She had no desire to spend twelve hours in such a grim place.

  Scarlett stopped suddenly. “You guys keep walking. I’ll catch up.” She hurried behind a tree.

  The girls exchanged looks and moved a few feet forward and paused. “We should wait. No one should be alone here.” Molly knew that Scarlett shifted at night, but she had never been around when it happened. Was Scarlett dangerous? Was she going to turn on them? There was a reason she had to stay away from the house once she turned.

  From behind them came the sounds of painful grunting. After a moment, the grunting was replaced by a low howl. A beautiful gray wolf emerged from the shadows. Dru went behind the tree to gather the clothes Scarlett had been wearing along with Scarlett’s pack. She stuffed the clothes away and put Scarlett’s pack on her back.

  As they moved on, the night grew colder. Molly felt in her gut that there was something sinister afoot, although she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. This was the calm before the storm. Suddenly, the crows stopped cawing. Their noise was replaced by the crying of a child. No one said a word as they kept moving onward.

  Lily pointed at something in the distance that appeared to be a lump, but upon further inspection, Molly realized that it was a little girl with her legs curled up and her head buried in her knees. The girl wore a bright-red cloak. On instinct Molly took a step toward the girl, but Dru grabbed her arm and shook her head. Scarlett’s back hunched, and she released a threatening growl. The little girl cried harder.

  Molly realized that Dru was right. There was something wrong with this situation. Why would a little girl be alone by herself in the forest? But still, what if she were really in trouble . . .

  Blond tresses poked out from underneath the girl’s red velvet cloak. Lily aimed her bow at the child, which seemed so wrong to Molly. Scarlett moved toward her, still growling as the girl’s body heaved from sobbing so hard. Molly couldn’t take it anymore. She approached the child.

  She knelt a couple of feet away from the little girl and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hello. What’s the matter?” She immediately regretted her decision. The girl lifted her head and hissed at Molly, baring her sharp teeth. It only took Molly a moment to discover that this wasn’t a little girl at all. Though the being was short, she had grayish-green shriveled-up skin and blood-red eyes. Molly jumped back as the tiny creature leapt to her feet.

  Lily launched a fiery arrow at her. It struck her in the chest, sending her backwards. She lay on the ground, motionless. Just then, more shrieks filled the air as tiny heads popped up from behind the creepy trees, all cloaked in red.

  Molly tightened her grip around the handle of the sword, trying to remember everything the girls had taught her on how to use it.

  The air went still, and everything fell silent. Jolie reached into her pack to retrieve her mirror. She held it out in front of her. Tress stood frozen, looking straight ahead. Lily pointed her arrow in all directions, waiting for one of the creatures to pounce. Clutching her sword, Dru leaned against the trunk of a towering tree. Her skin immediately took on the tone and texture of the bark. All Molly could make out were her eyes. Growling, Scarlett stepped in front of the group.

  A sinister giggle broke the silence. One of the cloaked creatures leapt from a tree branch and landed before them with a hiss. It lunged at Jolie. She held up her mirror. The creature’s eyes widened at the sight of its reflection. It froze and then shattered like broken glass.

  With trembling hands, Molly held her sword out, wondering what her next move should be.

  That was the cue for the others to attack. Within seconds, the little monsters had the group surrounded. Lily shot arrow after arrow, taking them out with master accuracy. One of the creatures descended from the trees, landing on Lily’s back. Just as it reared its head back, preparing to take a bite out of Lily’s neck, Tress’s long braid wrapped itself around the creature’s neck like a rope. The braid tightened, causing the monster’s eyes to bulge. Its tiny body thrashed as it shrieked angrily for a few moments before becoming completely still. Tress released the creature, and its lifeless body dropped to the ground.

  A monster made a beeline toward Molly, baring its sharp teeth. The thought of those teeth ripping through her skin sent terror pulsing through her body. She lifted the sword and swung it. She missed the creature. It pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. The thing was a lot heavier than it looked because it had knocked the breath out of her. Molly raised the sword and the creature landed on the tip, sliding down and coming face-to-face with Molly. She waited for a painful bite, but none came. She stared into the creature’s bulging eyes, glossy and yellow like butterscotch candies. Its pupils doubled in size, and then Molly felt the full weight of the creature on top of her. Relieved that it was dead, she rolled it off her with a grunt. Placing a foot on the lifeless body, Molly removed her sword from its belly, feeling triumphant, but she knew this was just the tip of the iceberg.

  Molly sat up to survey the current scene. Dru was much more fluid with the sword than she was. She watched her spin and twist, slicing creatures in half as if it were something she did every day.

  Jolie used her mirror to freeze the monsters left and right, while Tress’s hair picked them up and slammed them into trees. Scarlett ripped every creature she could get her paws on into shreds. Molly shuddered at the sight of Scarlett’s blood-covered snout.

  Lily released another arrow which made contact with its target, piercing its head.

  Molly took a swing at another incoming creature, batting it away like a baseball. “Let’s keep moving. Who knows how many of these things there are?” She didn’t want them to become overpowered by the hideous creatures.

  The girls agreed as they moved through the darkness, taking out every creature that came into view. After a few moments, everything went still again. Either the creatures had decided to retreat or there weren’t any more of them.

  “Can we rest for a minute?” Tress asked. Without waiting for an answer, she dropped to the ground and removed a water canteen from her bag. The others joined her. Molly looked at her watch. They still had plenty of time, but Molly was still concerned. They had no idea how long it would take them to get to the Big Bad Wolf or how long it would take them to defeat him. After fifteen minutes, the group moved on. They trudged on for about an hour making small talk here and there, but mostly everyone was lost in their thoughts about the mission. Molly didn’t like the not knowing. Usually she liked impulsiveness and the unexpected, but at that moment she needed to know what was coming next.

  Lily rubbed her arm where there were three long scratches Molly hadn’t noticed before. “One of those damned things scratched me.”

  “That looks terrible,” Tress said. “Like absolutely awful.” Her comment was both unhelpful and truthful.

  Jolie tightened her ponytail that had loosened. “I was going to say that Dr. Meyer could take care of it when we get back, but you know. I wonder who will take care of stuff like that now.”

  It was an interesting concern and something Molly hadn’t thought of. Would Bea go out and find a new doctor to replace Dr. Meyer?

  “What’s that sound?” Dru asked. Everyone stopped moving to listen. Scarlett’s ears rose, and then she took off running.

  “Scarlett, wait!” Lily called, running behind her. “That’s the sound of running water.”

  The group followed them, trying their best to not lose track of Scarlett. By the time they made it to the brook, Scarlett was already lapping up the water as if she hadn’t had a drink in days. Lily knelt at the edge of the brook, scooping water into her hand and letting it wash over her wounds.

  “It looks like we have to cross this,” Tress said. She managed to wrap her hair back up into a bun. Molly looked to her right and her left and realized Tress was right. There was no other way to move forwar
d without crossing the stream.

  “How are we supposed to do that?” Jolie asked. “The current is much too strong for us to swim across.”

  “Wait,” Lily said. She approached a cluster of small boulders not far from the stream’s edge. Molly watched as Lily placed both her palms on the boulders and closed her eyes. A minute later, the ground shook beneath their feet. Tress latched onto Molly to keep her balance.

  Before them, several boulders rose from underneath the waters of the stream, forming a straight path for them to cross. Without hesitation, Scarlett took off across the rocks, disappearing into the darkness.

  Lily stepped up next. “Be careful. The rocks are slippery.” Tress went after her, followed by Jolie. Molly went after Jolie since Dru wanted to pull up the rear with her sword just in case.

  Molly struggled to keep her balance as her boots almost slipped on the wet rocks several times. She held her arms out at her sides, remembering the times she had to walk across the balance beams in her gymnastics class. She remembered what her teacher always told her. “Look straight ahead, and don’t look down.”

  Without thinking too much about it, Molly scurried over the rocks, her heart racing. She didn’t stop until her feet were on solid ground.

  The group moved on. Scarlett would stop here and there to sniff the ground or to howl at something.

  “We must be getting closer to it,” Jolie said.

  After another long stretch of silent walking, Scarlett came to an abrupt halt. Her body leaned forward, and she released a low growl. Dru pointed at the path ahead. “Look.”

  Yards away, blending into the darkness was a black mound—a cave. “The Big Bad Wolf must be in there,” Tress said.

  Scarlett lurched forward, and the group followed. Molly’s heart sank as Scarlett disappeared into the darkness of the cave. It was like she had no fear at all, and Molly envied that. The girls removed the flashlights from their packs. Molly aimed her beam at the opening of the cave. It reminded her of an open mouth ready to devour her whole.

  The floor of the cave was moist with mud. Their shoes made squeaking sounds with each step they took. If the wolf hadn’t known they were there already, it would certainly hear them coming. Molly shone her light in front of her. Scarlett was nowhere to be seen. “Scarlett,” Molly called as loud as she could without shouting.

  “Hey,” Tress said from beside Molly. “Something just dripped on my head.”

  Everyone looked up to the ceiling of the cave. At first there appeared to be nothing there, but then something moved.

  “There’s something up there,” Lily said. Whatever it was moved again, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes. One pair of eyes quickly turned into twenty, and before Molly could do anything else, a pair of them came soaring at her. It only took her a second to realize that the ceiling of the cave was covered with bats—huge bats the size of eagles.

  Molly removed her sword from its holster and began swinging wildly. While Lily hit several of the bats with her arrow and Jolie attempted to freeze them with her mirror, it quickly became evident that the swords were going to be most effective.

  Screaming, Molly covered her head with one arm while aiming her swords at the bats. “Control your blade, Ms. Dillinger,” Dru shouted.

  Molly took a look at what she was doing. Dru was using her sword to slice through the oncoming bats. Her swings never missed as the bats were ripped in half. They dropped to the ground in pieces looking like black tissue paper.

  “Stop cowering,” Molly said to herself. She stood tall and swung her sword at a bat swooping down at her head. The bat bounced off her blade and slammed against the wall of the cave. Another bat descended upon her, baring sharp, yellow fangs. This time Molly took a second to get her aim right, and when she swung, she managed to separate the bat’s head from its body.

  They moved through the cave, taking out bats the best they could. After a few moments, a monstrous growl caused the entire cave to vibrate. The remainder of the shrieking bats retreated to the entrance of the cave.

  “What was that?” Tress whispered, her voice wavering. She sounded as frightened as Molly felt.

  “One hundred percent sure it’s the Big Bag Wolf,” Lily said.

  Molly tightened her grip on her sword. “A wolf? That loud? That was a sound I’ve never heard before.” To her the growl had sounded as loud as an oncoming train.

  Jolie took tentative steps forward. “I think it’s safe to say that the wolf is probably the size of a bus.”

  Of course. Molly should have known better than to be expecting a regular-sized wolf. That would have been too easy.

  Scarlett lifted her head toward the beam from Tress’s flashlight and barked. “Oh,” Tress said. “I think she’s saying we should put the lights out.”

  Obediently, everyone turned off their flashlights, making the journey through the cave even more terrifying. Molly held her sword in one hand and extended her other arm in front of her so she wouldn’t bump into anything.

  Scarlett growled and stopped moving. Molly heard her sniffing the muddy floor of the cave. Scarlett growled again and then took off.

  “Oh, come on, Scar!” Dru wailed. It was almost impossible to keep up with her in the darkness when the group had no way of seeing where they were going. Molly found it easier to run her free hand along the wall of the cave. That way she could tell the direction in which the cave was moving. She found herself pulling up the rear, but she could still hear the girls not too far ahead of her.

  “Can you see Scarlett?” Jolie asked.

  “No,” Lily said. “But I can smell her.”

  Molly rounded a corner before she slammed into something hard. She realized too late that it was Tress. Everyone was standing still and silent.

  Molly removed her flashlight from her pack. “What’s going on?” She flicked on the light.

  There about twenty feet away, taking up the entire corner of the cave, was a sleeping wolf.

  Molly took a good look at it before gasping and shutting off her light. Its fur was brown and matted, and its long, bushy tail was curled around it. Jolie had been right although it was probably slightly larger than a school bus. Molly’s blood turned ice-cold in her veins, and she put every ounce of strength she had into not turning and escaping from the cave.

  “Everyone get ready,” Lily whispered.

  “Why can’t we just kill it in its sleep?” Tress asked.

  Molly raised her sword, ignoring her fear. “That thing’s not asleep. It growled just a minute ago. It knows we’re here.”

  Molly shone her light on the wolf again. It was like it understood what they were saying. The giant creature opened one yellow eye, and one side of its mouth pulled up into a smile. Slowly, the wolf rose on its paws, licking its lips. Without a moment’s hesitation, Scarlett went flying toward the wolf. The wolf yawned, batting Scarlett away with its paw like it was swatting a fly. Molly noted how the wolf’s paw was bigger than Scarlett’s entire being. Scarlett slammed against a wall, yelping like a puppy.

  The wolf pounced on the group, scattering the remaining four in different directions. Jolie held her mirror up, but the wolf swung its tail across the cavern, knocking Jolie off her feet. Her mirror went clattering into the darkness. Lily shot an arrow at the wolf. It connected with its side, but the wolf didn’t even flinch.

  Tress’s braid extended, searching for the wolf, but the creature managed to avoid its lethal grip. Dru tried to swing her sword at the wolf, but it wouldn’t stay still long enough.

  Scarlett growled and took another shot at the wolf, emerging from the darkness and latching on to the wolf’s neck with her sharp teeth. The wolf growled, causing the entire place to shake.

  Molly figured that would be the perfect time to make a move while Scarlett had it distracted. Taking a deep breath, Molly raised her sword above her head. She pushed away any doubts or reservations about what she was about to do. She charged toward the wolf, but before she could reach it, the wolf swung
its tail out, colliding with Molly.

  She slid along the ground of the cave. By the time she saw it, it was too late to stop herself. There was a hole in floor of the cave, and there was no telling how deep the hole went. Just as Molly went over the edge, she managed to dig her fingers into the earth to keep herself from falling. She’d lost hold of her sword. Molly watched it fall beneath her. It disappeared from sight. There was no sound of it landing, so who knew how deep the hole went.

  Scarlett, Lily, and Dru struggled with the wolf while Jolie was on all fours looking for her mirror.

  “Hold on, Ms. Dillinger,” Tress said. Her braid moved toward Molly like a rope. Molly held on to it, and Tress pulled her up slowly. Once Molly was safely out of the hole, she lay on her back, trying to catch her breath. That was when she saw the words. Three words were crudely carved into the ceiling of the cavern.

  By the book.

  Molly pointed toward the words. “By the book. What does that mean?”

  Dru looked up just as she managed to dodge the Wolf’s tail. “By the book. By the book. We have to kill the wolf the way he was killed in Little Red Cap.”

  Molly thought back to the Grimms’ version of the story. After the wolf had eaten Little Red Cap and her grandmother, he’d fallen asleep. A huntsman had come by and found the wolf in the grandmother’s bed. It was obvious that the wolf had feasted on the poor old woman, so the huntsman sliced open the wolf’s belly to see if he could save her.

  “We have to slice his stomach open,” Molly called.

  Dru held up her sword. “I can do it. It’ll be like performing surgery. I just need help getting the wolf on its back.”

  “Okay,” Lily said. “Tress, get ready.” Lily shot a fiery arrow straight into the wolf’s eye. The wolf howled in pain, bringing its paw to its eyes. Tress used the opportunity to wrap her braid around the wolf’s thick neck. She tightened it, bringing the wolf down on its belly and then turning it on its side.