Red

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who everyone called “Red” because of her long, ginger curls that touched her breasts. She despised the nickname at first, but she began to embrace it by making red her signature color. She incorporated the color into every outfit and makeup look that she could, and she was told by men that red was a flattering color on her.

That’s why she was wearing a skin-tight red dress, red kitten heeled boots, and a thin red jacket to keep her warm from the anticipated mid-fall breeze. If only she had bothered to check her Weather app, because she didn’t realize that it would suddenly downpour.

Just my damn luck. She thought to herself as she exited the Flatbush Ave subway station. She pulled the hood of her jacket over her head, making a mental note to herself to buy an umbrella on the way back home if it was still raining. The man she was meeting up with, who she only knew by his nickname, “Wolf,” swore that his house was not to far of a walk from the train station.

It did bother Red a bit that he couldn’t be bothered to pick her up from the train station, but she reminded herself that she could not expect such things from someone who was meant to be a casual Tinder hookup.

Red had been talking to Wolf on Tinder for two weeks, and their interactions were mostly spicy conversations that consisted of flirting and sexting with each other. The buildup from the heated conversations and a desperate need to recover from the nightmare of a year she just had was what led to Red walking through the damp, empty streets of Brooklyn.

Red could feel her legs start to wobble, and she wasn’t sure if it was because she was cold, or if it was because of nerves. Either way, she pulled the flask she kept in her purse as liquor courage and downed a long sip of vodka, her drink of choice for the day. She swallowed it and could feel the warmth spread across her body. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and felt the heaviness that had been weighing her down for the past few months lifting off her. She exhaled, smiled, and continued to walk.

Red’s phone began to ring, and she took a quick glance to check if it was Wolf checking up on her. Instead, it was her grandma. She rolled her eyes and declined the call, then put her phone on Silent. Red was twenty-two years old, yet her grandma treated her like a child that was incapable of taking care of herself or making her own decisions.

Red knew why her grandmother was overprotective, and that she meant well. Her daughter, Red’s mother, was murdered by a psychotic boyfriend who then turned the gun to himself, too much of a coward to face justice for what he had done. Red was taken in by her grandmother as a baby and was only six when her mother died, so she didn’t feel as affected by her mother’s death as she felt she was supposed to. Her grandmother, however, was devastated by the loss of her daughter and only child. She vowed to protect Red from developing the same dangerous habits that her mother developed.

Red grimaced as she thought about how her grandmother’s fears were validated last year when her ex-boyfriend nearly caused her to meet the same fate as her mother. Even though he was no longer in her life, she was left with scars that serve as a reminder of the man she gave her heart to that took her innocence in return.

Red grabbed her flask and took another sip, her heart thumping against her chest as she walked faster. She refused to let her mind go there, especially after he plagued every sober thought she had since the incident.

Red could see Wolf’s house in the distance, and she tried to focus her mind on getting to see him. His big green eyes, full lips, brown curls, abs, chiseled arms, and tight thighs. She had already seen his whole body in his pictures, and now she was about to see it all in person.

Suddenly, Red felt a snap underneath her heel, and then her foot slid back. She raised her arms to catch her balance, but it was too late. She fell face first into the ground, and she felt a sharp pain against her head. Then, everything went black.

____________________________________________________________________________________

It took a few hours for Red to open her eyes, but when she did, she could barely see anything. Her vision was blurred, and she felt burning pressure on her head. There was a weighing pressure on her wrists and stomach. Her leg felt damp, but she couldn’t figure out why. She just knew that the worn-out chair she was sitting in and the plain white walls were unfamiliar to her. The entire room smelled like a mixture of Old Spice and hydrogen peroxide. Where was she, and what the hell happened to her?

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching her and the loud creaking of floorboards. A figure appeared before her, but Red could barely make out who they were. All she could see was that they were stocky, but still so tall that they towered over her. They had shaggy black hair that went down to their shoulders, and a beard that went down to their chest. She squinted her eyes and tried to focus as though she were looking through a camera lens, but she was still struggling to see clearly.

“Well, well, look who’s awake.”

His voice was deep and unrecognizable. He put his hand on Red’s leg, which felt cold and sweaty. His arms were so hairy that she could barely see his skin. Her heart was racing, and when she opened her mouth to speak, she could barely push words out.

“W-who, who are you? Where am I?” Red stuttered.

Her vision was becoming less fuzzy, and she could see his face a bit more clearly. His thin lips curled into a smirk, which caused a chill down Red’s spine. “You don’t recognize me, huh? Well, you did take a pretty bad fall out there, and I guess I don’t look too much like my photos huh?”

Red’s whole body froze. Suddenly, she remembered what she was doing before she passed out. “W-wolf?”

Wolf chuckled. His big, meaty hands squeezed her calf, causing Red to wince in pain. She didn’t realize it, but she had a cut across the bottom of her leg from the fall. “Not what you were expecting, huh? Well, I hope me saving your life made up for it. Imagine if some stranger had found you laying in the street like this?” He rubbed his hand up her leg. “They might not be able to help themselves with that body of yours.”

Red’s heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Get away from me.”

“Awe, come on, don’t be like that, beautiful. I’m not gonna hurt you, unless you want me to.”

Red tried to get up, but she realized that the pressure on her stomach and wrists were thick zip ties bounding her to the chair. “What the fuck?” She said, wiggling her body. “What the hell did you do to me? Let me go!”

“Hey, I thought you liked being tied down. Isn’t that what you said in your messages? I couldn’t find rope, so I figured this would have to do.”

“Let me go!” Red screamed over him. “Please! Or I’ll..”

“You’ll what? You can’t even move.” Wolf let out a menacing laugh. “And don’t even bother screaming, no one can hear you. It’s just us, baby girl.”

“Don’t call me that.” Red scowled. “I’m not your baby girl. I don’t even know you.”

“Yes, you do. Well, you may not have known what I looked like. I’m not the well-endowed stud you were expecting, after all. Gotta love A.I. right? But you know me. All those intimate, filthy conversations where we made love with our words, it was all really me.” Wolf began to run his hands up her legs to her thighs, pushing her dress up slightly, while Red clenched her fists and blinked back tears. “I can see that your pictures were all real though. It was almost hard to resist taking this dress off while you were passed out. Now that you’re awake though…”

Red kicked her legs out, hitting his face hard with her foot. Wolf’s head jerked back, and he let out a loud squeal as he fell backward toward the floor. Red tried to lean her head forward to bite the zip tie, but she could barely move her head without feeling heavy pressure and dizziness.

Wolf flew forward and shoved her head against the chair. He covered her mouth and squeezed her face so that her screams came out as muffles. He used the pressure of his heavy body to press her legs against the chair hard. He put his face close to hers. There was blood dripping down his face onto her legs. Tears began to fall from her eyes onto his blood-soaked hand.

“I should have known, you bitches are all the same.” Wolf scowled through gritted teeth. “You’re willing to get naked and spread your legs for some hot fuckboy, but suddenly you’re disgusted when you see the fat, hairy guy.” Wolf began to tighten his grip on Red’s neck, his eyes so wide now that they looked like they were going to pop out of his head. Red’s head was shaking, and she was loudly groaning and wiggling.

Wolf used his free hand to slap her across the face so hard that her neck felt like it was about to snap off from the impact. She placed her trembling hand on her face, and a flood of tears poured down her stinging face. Wolf walked away for a moment while venting about something that she was unable to hear because of her ears ringing loudly. Her head began to feel lighter, and the room began to spin as she struggled to keep her suddenly heavy eyes open.

Wolf returned with a steak knife in his hand. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not getting the easy way out of this one. You’re going to give me exactly what you owe me, and then…” Wolf did a slicing motion over his neck. “Just like the other girls that were dumb enough to come here. They were willing to give themselves up to a hot stranger but then tried to run away when they saw me. It’s a shame, because I thought maybe you would be different, but you’re just like the rest of them.”

“Just let me go, please.” Red pleaded through her tears. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll give you a chance, I’ll do whatever you want.”

“It’s too late, sweetie.” Wolf placed the knife to her neck. “I have to make sure I rid the world of useless whores like you.”

Red was trembling and gasping for air now. She could feel the cold blade touching her throat as Wolf used his free hand to caress her breasts. She wanted to move, but she knew that he had the upper hand. Her hands were still tied to the chair, and she felt too light-headed to do anything.

She began to think about her ex, and how she was exactly what he said she was. She was weak, stupid, and worthless. If she ever tried to defend herself, she would get slapped and kicked until she admitted that she was wrong. There were never any apologies from him, just him accusing her of “making him hurt her,” and reminders that “she could end up like her mother if she kept pissing him off.”

Maybe he was right, after all. She thought, as the knife dug so hard into her throat that she felt like her skin was going to break open at any second. I got away from him, but I still put myself in the same situation with a different guy.

Suddenly, Wolf let out a loud yelp and dropped the knife. He fell backward as he squealed in pain. Red’s mouth dropped as she saw her grandmother standing in front of her holding a bloody knife.

“Grandma?” Red said, her voice still low and shaky.

Wolf was laying on the floor, his body still squirming. Her grandmother quickly kneeled over his body and jabbed the knife into his heart repeatedly as she screamed, ‘how dare you put your filthy hands on my granddaughter, you perverted freak! I won’t lose her like I lost Nancy, by the hands of a sick man. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!”

“Grandma.” Red said, raising her voice as high as she could over her grandmother’s screams. “Grandma, stop, please. He’s not moving anymore.”

Red’s grandmother looked up and dropped the knife. With tears in her eyes, she got up and ran to pull Red into a tight embrace. “Oh Red, I’m so glad you’re okay. When you didn’t answer the phone, I was worried and used the GPS tracker to find you.”

“I’m so sorry, grandma.” Red sobbed. “This is all my fault. I should have never come here.”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m just grateful that I got here before he could hurt you even more.” Red’s grandma pulled away but held onto her hands. “I’m going to get you to a hospital so they can take care of that concussion, and we’ll make sure they dispose of that bastard’s body. He will never hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

Her grandma pulled out her phone and dialed 911. “Hello? Yes, there’s been an incident at…”

Red’s eyes became too heavy to keep open, but she could not let herself drift off into sleep because she may never wake up again. Earlier, Red might have embraced the idea of death. But seeing her grandmother risk her own life to save hers made her realize that her life had more value than she realized. Even if she was unsure of her own worth, her grandmother was, and that was enough to motivate her to keep going.