Chapter 2

  The woman came in all flustered, talking very fast in a thick Spanish accent. It took Lady Mirabelle almost 5 minutes to calm her down. The only thing that worked was stuffing her mouth with cake and offering her hot tea.

  Even then, she spoke fast and incomprehensibly.

  “This crazy man”, she said, “he says I'm Red Riding Hood, and that the big wolf will kill me in the forest. I think he's crazy, but then that evil bastard tried to kill me today. I got away thanks to this young girl Yuki here. But then this crazy man turned up again, he says I'm still marked for death, and that I must seek your help, keeps calling me Red Riding Hood. I keep telling him my name is Isabella, not Red Riding Hood. I think he is crazy, and I don't know what he means by a wolf trying to kill me.”

  “Sshhhhh,” said Mirabella. “Relax, have more cake, I’ll put on more tea. Start from the beginning, who are you?”

  The woman in red, as Yuki knew her, was called Isabella. She started telling her story.

  “I come from Spain originally. My father had a business that failed, and we fell on hard times. This big London company offered me a job as an assistant, and I took it. For the first few months, it was great - they paid me well, and the job was good. But then suddenly one day I went in, and the door was shut - the business had closed without warning. The guy who got me a job said I needed to pay them ￡50,000 for my travel costs. I said it was bullshit, but he just beat me and locked me in a room.” She started crying as she said that. “They said I'd have to pay by, by, by, you know…”

  Mirabelle kept her hand on her shoulder. “We understand, dear. How did you end up running in the woods today when my assistant found you?”

  “They kept us in a closed room and only let us out once a day, always with a bodyguard, so we didn't escape. We had to service at least 10 clients a day, and it was humiliating, but I didn't know what to do. Today was my day out, and I got a chance and escaped. The guy with me is a really violent man; he was going to kill me if I tried to escape, and he would've killed me in the forest. But then, this beautiful girl saved me.”

  She gave Yuki a big hug, and Yuki blushed. “It's not a big deal,” she managed to mumble.

  “I didn't know what to do. I saw my bodyguard run over by a bus, so I thought I was free. But then I remembered they have my sister as well. They tricked my sister by telling her she was visiting me and captured her. If I try to escape, they say they will harm my sister. She's only 11 years old. I don't know what to do. I was crying by the side of the road when this other guy comes up and says, ‘I am Red Riding Hood, and the wolf is still coming after me.’ Who is he?”

  “Yuki asked me the same thing. He's the Storyteller, and his magic is very strange. He sees stories everywhere, and the stories he sees come true. If he says you're the Red Riding Hood, that means you have become stuck in a fairy tale story. You say a bodyguard who tried to kill you. He had a big beard and long hair, right? He's playing the wolf in the story. He might have died but somebody else will take their role and try to kill you; and now Yuki is in danger as well. Tell me more about these people. This seems like a very sophisticated operation, tricking you into coming here and then kidnapping your sister too. Normal human traffickers don’t go to this much trouble.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Yes, they're very strange people. They worship some strange type of gods. I saw my sister once. They keep her locked with other girls, and all the girls were wearing white robes. They're treated very well, given nice foods to eat, they can play video games all day, but they cannot leave the building they are held in. Most girls are happy because they come from poor backgrounds, and eating food all day and playing video games is like heaven for them.”

  Mirabelle had been putting more tea into a cup when she just paused and put the kettle down. Yuki smelled jasmine tea which she only made when she wanted her customers to calm down and relax.

  “Wait! Go back a step. What do you mean they worship some strange type of gods?”

  “I cannot explain it, they were bowing before some strange symbol and offering food and flowers to it. But I had never seen that symbol in any religion. I mean I studied comparative religions of the world at school, I know about all the main religions, even less popular ones like the Native American ones or the religions of Old African tribes. This one I never seen. It was a strange sort of symbol. It gave me shivers to just look at it.”

  Mirabelle paused for what looked like a long time, then she ran and brought a file and took out a page. “Did it look like this?”

  Isabella looked at it. “Yes, yes, something like this, more complex, more detailed, more colourful, but roughly like this. This looks like a child's drawing version of it.”

  Mirabelle paused. She looked at the file and took out another sheet. “Is your sister's name on this list?”

  Isabella jumped and screamed. “Yes, but how? How is this possible? Who are you, woman? First, this girl rescues me, and now you have my sister's name on a list. Are you police? Are you detective? Are you some secret agency?”

  “Nothing like that, dear. We’re just two young English women running a cosy corner new age shop.” She closed the file. “I'm sorry, Isabella. I have bad news. Your sister is in extreme danger.”

  “Yes, I know. These men are dangerous. They kidnap a lot of young women and force them to work in the brothels.”

  “Oh yes, but I think that's just a side business for them, something to fund their main operation. The girls on this list, the one you said you saw your sister with, were they all young girls of ages between 11 to 13?”

  “The few I saw were as young as eight, but certainly none looked older than thirteen. Why?”

  Mirabelle closed her eyes, as if hesitant to say, “My dear, why don't you have some jasmine tea? And then let's go out for early dinner.”

  Yuki realised she was hiding something, and Isabella realised it too. She jumped up and grabbed Mirabelle's hand. “Please tell me, is my sister in danger?”

  Mirabelle looked straight into her eyes and said, “Your sister is in extreme danger. Even more danger than you could ever imagine. For your own safety I don't want to tell you anymore. Is there a place you can hide? Do you know anyone locally?”

  “I know no one in this country. Unfortunately, that's why I'm stuck.”

  “Can we send you back to Spain? I could buy your ticket.”

  “No, I'm not leaving without my sister.”

  “Okay, I see. I'll find you a place to hide. If the Storyteller says your life is in danger, then it is. Meanwhile, darling, do me a favour: stop wearing red. He warned you that you are Red Riding Hood, and not only are you wearing a red dress, you are wearing red lipstick, red nail polish, and a red hairband. For the next few weeks, keep a low profile and never wear anything that's red.”