Read Sisters Red for Free Online

"John and Mary were born in a cave and lived in the cave their entire lives. They always stayed far back in the cave in the near darkness, because if they tried to leave, they saw giant dark monsters on the wall. John and Mary didn't know it, but the monsters were only shadows."
    "Why were they scared of shadows?" Rosie cut in.
    "Because they didn't know that the monsters were merely shadows, schatzi. They thought they were real, live monsters that would hurt them if they got too close. Anyhow, one day their grandmother came into the cave. She grabbed John and Mary by the hands and led them to the monsters, then explained how the monsters were only shadows, like the ones on the walls in here," Oma March said, pointing to the far wall where the branches of a nearby crape myrtle cast fingery shadows on the paint.
    "Then," she continued, "their grandmother took them outside into the bright, bright sunlight. It hurt 39 and burned their eyes because it was the first time they'd ever seen the sun after living in the dark for so long. In fact, it hurt so badly that John thought he must be dreaming. He decided that the sun and the shadows were only a dream and that the cave and the monsters must be real. So John ran back inside the cave, sure that the grandmother was just playing tricks. But Mary stayed outside, and even though it hurt, she waited until her eyes got used to the bright sunshine.
    "So, schatzi, who made the wiser choice? John, who refused to believe in the sunshine because it was strange and new, or Mary, who let her eyes get used to the light?"
    Of course, I didn't realize that Oma March was talking to us about Plato at the time, but it forever changed the way I saw the sunshine. I look down at the shadow I'm casting across the rows of carrots that Rosie and I planted together a few weeks ago. Even in shadow, you can see the raised scars on my arms. My scars are my sunlight: I know the truth about the Fenris, while so much of the world still lives in the cave, in total, blissful ignorance.
    God, sometimes I envy them, the freedom to go on with life without knowing about the monsters lurking in their midst. But I can't be John. How could I possibly try to pretend the sunlight doesn't exist, now that it's taken so much of me?
    40
    And I'm not stupid--I realize what I'm giving up. At first it was just a drive to kill all the wolves in Ellison. When that was done, Rosie and I started camping in nearby towns, taking the occasional night trip to Atlanta to fight them there. The farther we traveled, the more successful we were--until they returned to Ellison. I inhale, letting the cool morning air swirl through my lungs, then return to the cottage.
    I pause as the screen door slams shut behind me. Something is different. I furrow my eyebrows and scan the room, my senses on high alert. There--the door to Oma March's bedroom is cracked.
    I step forward, muscles tensed and ready for whatever lurks on the other side. I grab a kitchen knife from the block and slink across the room, eyes locked on Oma March's door. I reach it and listen for a moment, waiting for the sound of haggard breathing to reach my ears or a corpselike stench to reach my nose, to let me know about the wolf on the other side.
    But there's nothing. No scent, no sound, nothing to do but open the door and prepare to fight.
    I ready myself. Count to three. And fling the door open.
    Rosie screams as I charge forward, stopping me in my tracks. "God, Scarlett, you scared the hell out of me."
    I sigh, heart still pounding, and lower the kitchen knife.
    "Screwtape chased a mouse toy in here," she explains, annoyed. Her bare feet are brushing the exact spot where it happened. "I didn't mean to scare you."
    I shake my head; my hair clings to the sweat on my forehead.
    41
    "You don't need to explain. This is your house too--you can go where you want," I reply. I smile as best I can. "Except my room, of course."
    "Why, you'll stab me with a kitchen knife if I do?" she