The night was deep and still.
From the orphanage’s front courtyard, the glow of a streetlamp shone faintly through the side windows, casting pale light into the dim hallway. The daytime clamor felt far away, and tonight’s silence brought a quiet sense of safety.
Little Red Riding Hood walked slowly along the corridor, pausing every now and then at each door. She glanced in through the small observation window, checking the rooms to make sure everything was in order before moving on.
As the “parent” on night patrol, she had to complete two rounds . Later, someone else would take over, patrolling three more times until morning finally chased away the darkness.
She heard the soft tread of footsteps approaching from the opposite end of the hallway. Looking up, she recognized a petite figure coming toward her—short, chin-length hair and clearly a bit younger than she was. It was the girl who had spoken to her at dinner earlier: Snow White.
“Snow White?” Little Red Riding Hood asked, surprised. “Tonight isn’t your turn to patrol. Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d walk around,” Snow White replied. “Then I remembered you’d be patrolling this side of the East Wing, so I came to see you.”
Little Red Riding Hood nodded. “Alright.” Without another word, she continued her rounds, Snow White falling into step beside her.
By the organization’s rules, everyone under fourteen—or who hadn’t yet “awakened”—had to go to bed by ten o’clock. But Snow White, considered a “parent” within the Fairy Tale group, was an exception. She understood her responsibilities, and Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t one to lecture.
Little Red Riding Hood merely answered with a soft hum.
“As we get older, sleep gets harder. Just two or three hours a day can feel like enough,” Snow White went on quietly. “And those two or three hours become really dangerous. Peaceful dreams vanish, and it’s almost guaranteed we’ll enter the Fairy Tale at night. Every time we sleep, it’s a risk.” She hesitated before adding, “I heard from the King that you only started having trouble this month, right? Last month was still okay?”
Little Red Riding Hood’s voice stayed calm. “My birthday is next month. It’s normal.”
Snow White pressed her lips together, then asked in a low voice, “Are you scared?”
“A little, but I have my wolf with me,” Little Red Riding Hood replied, meeting Snow White’s gaze in the weak light. “But why the sudden questions? You’re usually not this chatty.”
They continued along the hallway for a moment without speaking. Then Snow White said, “Did you notice the new child today?”
“I did,” Little Red Riding Hood answered. “She doesn’t talk much and seems very tense. The people who brought her said she was at a public orphanage in the North District. She’d been having nightmares, and those nightmares triggered… strange events. That got the Special Affairs Bureau’s attention, so they sent her here. Why? Did you see something odd about her?”
“Matchstick was with her earlier,” Snow White explained. “She told me the child can’t remember her dreams very well yet, but when they looked at picture books, she freaked out at anything about wolves—pictures, words, the lot.”
Little Red Riding Hood hesitated for a split second before carrying on.
Snow White continued, “That child… might turn out to be the next Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Then we need to take good care of her,” Little Red Riding Hood said solemnly, “just like I took care of you.”
Snow White immediately puffed up in annoyance. “You’re only two and a half years older than me!”
“And yet I’ve been your ‘parent’ for two and a half years,” Little Red Riding Hood teased, eyeing her friend. “You really need to eat more. You’re so small that soon the younger kids won’t listen to you.”
“I do eat! I just don’t gain weight, okay?”
They walked on, chatting lightly until they both fell quiet. Eventually, Snow White spoke again. “Adults have made it in the organization before, you know. There’s no reason to lose hope. The King’s over forty if you count human years, and the Cinderella before last managed to see her twenty-sixth birthday. We’ve even had two Little Red Riding Hoods alive at the same time.” ꞦἈꞐòꞖЕṣ
Little Red Riding Hood listened silently. She’d often heard these words—Dr. Lin had told her similar things, and she’d tried to comfort herself with them. But… it never really eased her fears.
Still, there was something different tonight. Hearing Snow White’s encouragement, Little Red Riding Hood felt a new idea stirring in her thoughts—one she’d never fully allowed before.
Her mind wandered back to her call with Yu Sheng and the things he’d said.
“Maybe…” she began suddenly.
Snow White was busy thinking of more ways to cheer her up and didn’t catch the quiet word at first. She rattled off another sentence or two before pausing. “Huh? Did you say something?”
Little Red Riding Hood took a steady breath, then looked at Snow White. “Maybe things won’t be as bad as we think. Maybe something good can happen.”
Snow White blinked in surprise. She wasn’t sure why, but there was a hint of hope in Little Red Riding Hood’s calm eyes—something she’d never seen in them before.
“Well… I hope you’re right,” Snow White said, nodding.
“Tomorrow, I’m having a friend over,” Little Red Riding Hood said seriously.
“A friend?” Snow White echoed in shock. “You rarely invite anyone here! Someone from school? Is he going to stay in the East Wing?”
“He’s an adult,” Little Red Riding Hood clarified.
For a moment, Snow White stared, speechless.
“He’ll arrive around noon,” Little Red Riding Hood went on. “That way, we avoid the more dangerous times in the morning and evening. He already knows about me—some of my situation, anyway. There’s no school tomorrow, so I’ll show him around the orphanage.”
“You should have told us during dinner!” Snow White exclaimed. “We’ll need to rearrange a few things in the morning—move some of the riskier kids to the West Wing—”
“There’s no need,” Little Red Riding Hood reassured her. “He’s a spirit realm detective. We’ve worked together. He already knows some details about Fairy Tale. Remember me mentioning him before? Yu Sheng.”
“The one who eats entities raw?!”
Little Red Riding Hood nodded. “He usually cooks them first, actually.”
Snow White stared at her for a moment, speechless.
Little Red Riding Hood began walking again.
It took Snow White a few seconds to snap out of her daze. Then she hurried after her, peppering her with questions:
“How does he know so much about Fairy Tale? Did you tell him? You’re usually so secretive!”
“What’s he coming here for? Just to see the orphanage?”
“Are you thinking of dragging him into this? That’s too dangerous!”
“Does Dr. Lin know about this? Shouldn’t we run it past her first?”
Little Red Riding Hood waved off her worries with vague replies. After a moment, Snow White went quiet. Then she muttered under her breath, “Anybody who’s ever tried to help us ended up dying…”
This time, Little Red Riding Hood stopped. She turned and spoke with quiet resolve. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
Snow White bit her lip but said no more. Together, they looked ahead, realizing they had passed the sleeping rooms and the dining hall. Now, they stood outside a wide classroom.
The lights were still on.
“Someone forgot to switch off the lights in the activity room again,” Snow White grumbled. “It’s a waste of electricity.”
Little Red Riding Hood pushed open the door and peeked inside.
The room was big, divided into a few sections. The northeast corner held rows of worn desks and chairs. In the northwest corner, shelves brimming with picture books and toy sets lined the wall. Closer to the entrance, a small blackboard displayed colorful sketches the children had drawn earlier, still not erased. Around the edges of the board clung bits of colored paper—wish cards the kids had created during class.
Each slip held a simple wish: a slice of cake, a new toy, a pretty outfit, a day out, or an entire afternoon to watch cartoons.
The writing was clumsy, with some pinyin sprinkled here and there. Some weren’t much more than rough drawings.
Children’s dreams could be so silly, yet so wonderful.
Little Red Riding Hood smiled a little. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one card torn off and crumpled in a corner of the supply box.
She reached over and gently smoothed the paper flat.
“I want to grow up,” it read, in shaky handwriting.
“The lights are off now,” Snow White called behind her.
With a soft click, darkness swallowed the room. The card, and the wish scrawled on it, vanished into the shadows.
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation