Page 4 of Big Bad Wolf

Nope.

“That’s right. And it’s not just fairytales, either. Myths… legends… every creature you conceive of can be found in its shadows.”

I lift my eyebrows. “Even Santa Claus?”

She jerks her head. Another nod.

Holy shit. When I read someone’s story about how they met Krampus and Santa Claus in the forest—and that Krampus was the good guy while Santa was a fucking cuck—I thought that JOSIE521 was screwing with us. I actually sent her a DM to get more details… I mean, she made it sound like she fell in love with Krampus during her three-day stay in Blackmoor which, you know, insane… but she made a goodbye post in December of that year and never posted another message again, let alone answered my nosy ass.

“Depending on your path,” Sandy continues, “you can avoid most of them. The forest likes to guide its visitors the right way for them if it can. It expects a lot of you, but I’m sure you understand. When you expect your greatest wish at the end of your trial, you have to be worthy of it. And in this case, it’s the monsters who will be your biggest test.”

Monsters? Sure. Besides, I’ve dealt with plenty of human monsters. If all I have to do is avoid Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I’ve got this. As long as they⁠—

Hang on.

“Wait. Are you telling me that I’m in? That I get to go into the forest so I can get my wish?”

“That’s right.”

I swallow a whoop of delight. I don’t want to look too eager in case Sandy thinks I’m not taking it as seriously as she obviously is.

So instead, I clear my throat. “I accept.”

“There are other details to go over before tomorrow.” Sandy pulls open one of the drawers of the desk she’s sitting behind. She grabs a thick—and I mean thick—rolled-up piece of paper. “You’ll need to go through this. It’s a standard contract. You read it, then sign at the bottom.”

I take the scroll. “Got a pen?”

She finds one, passing it over to me. As she watches me peel the bottom edge away from the roll, finding a line marked by a small ‘x’, she says, “Aren’t you going to read it first?”

What’s the point? Nothing is stopping me from going into the woods, and I’m pretty sure this is a standard contract to cover their asses. They probably don’t want any of my family members coming after them if I get myself eaten up by monsters in a magical forest.

Good news for them. I don’t have any family members. If anything, it might be Goldie looking for me, but I told her I’d be back in the States by the time summer was over—and I plan on sticking to it.

Three days? I got this.

“Nah. I get it. I screw up, the monsters might eat me.”

“Among other things,” Sandy murmurs.

What? “Huh?”

She shakes her head, taking the scroll and her pen back once I’m done scrawling my name on the line. “You’ll see.” Then, before I can ask for further clarification, she gets up and moves to the other side of the small room where I’ve met each and every one of the council members to ‘chat’.

There are two doors in here. One is the entrance/exit that leads to the outdoors. I don’t think I ever wondered what was behind the other one, but I guess it must be a closet because, after Sandy disappears inside of it for a moment, she returns holding a floor-length cloak.

It’s a deep red color with a snap that goes under the wearer’s chin, plus a hood that would go up and over their head. It’s not a light cloak, either. There’s weight to it, and I’m just thinking it would be awesome to wear something like that through a Northeast winter when Sandy says, “This is what you will wear when you enter Blackmoor tomorrow.”

I blink. “A winter cloak? In August?”

“Yes. The forest insists.”

Okay. Maybe this is getting a little weird… “I mean, if it insists⁠—”

“It does. And you must not be the one to remove it. Trust me, Charlotte. Blackmoor will know.”

Yeah. I don’t doubt that. “Okay. I won’t take it off. So, what? I just put it on over my clothes and⁠—”

Before I can finish my thought, she shakes out her other hand. I didn’t even know she was holding on to a ball of silky black fabric until she reveals a flimsy, teeny-tiny black nightgown that looks way more like a piece of lingerie than an LBD.