Chocolate

The trees are turned to a fiery gold as the sun starts to set behind the mountains. The fire crackles lively as it listens in on Red and Jerard.

"Um...oh, how did you two meet?"

"How we met? Hm..." He stares off at the blank TV screen putting a hand to his chin as he tries to remember as best he can.

...

The sun had just finished setting. I was making my way to town to go get something to eat before heading home. That's when I saw her near the edge of the woods. A blue hoodie covered her face, but her flowing golden hair seemed to glow like the sun and her eyes were so vibrantly brown. She was shaking as she stepped into the forest, a basket in her hands. She looked so scared...

...

"Dad...dad?" Red asks, gently poking his shoulder.

"Huh, what?" He says snapping out of his thoughts.

"Don't tell me you can't remember," She says with worry.

"Oh, don't worry I remember, just trying to think of where to start. Ah, I know," He says with a smile, "It was a nice summer day. I was...visiting the town,"

"What for?" Red asks with eyes full or curiosity

"I was visiting...as a little get away trip from home, though it didn't take long for me to realize that this place was home. I was walking through the streets just enjoying the fresh air when I smelled the most delicious thing in the world, chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"Yup, chocolate. I was by Sheran's bakery and the smell itself practically pulled me inside. I was looking at all the baked goods displayed when I saw the reflection of something golden,"

"Huh," Red gasps, "Was it mom?" Jerard lets out a small chuckle.

"It sure was. I started to turn around when I heard the bell so I quickly turned back to the display, though I managed to see her face in the glass' reflection. For the first time, my heart skipped a beat. I almost jumped when she spoke to me,"

"What'd she say?"

"She said...'The chocolate bars here are the best in world' and than she ordered a cake I think and left without another word,"

"What happened after that?"

"I got a chocolate bar, and it was the best in the world,"

"Not that, with mom. Did you go after her?"

"Oh yeah. At first I couldn't find her, so I went back to the bakery and asked about her, that's when I was told about her and her blue hoodie that she always wore, she made it herself just like she made your red one," He gestures to it, "I was only suppose to be visiting here for a week, but I've lived here ever since that day,"

"Wow..." She says with amazement. Jerard looks out the window and sees how late it's getting.

"It's starting to get late Red, come on," He gets up, "I'll show you to your room,"

She gets up and the two of them head upstairs. At the top of the stairs they make a right and head to a door at the end of the walkway on the left side.

"Here's you room," He opens the door, turning on the light to show a room with pinkish-white walls. A bed with fluffy blankets and lots of pillows lays next to a white nightstand with a lamp on it. She turns to her dad when she hears him yawn, "I'm gonna head to bed, I've got a lot of work to do on the truck tomorrow. Goodnight," He says giving Red a kiss on the top of her head, "Love ya,"

"Love ya too," She hugs him before he goes. She grabs her bag from downstairs and spends the next hour unpacking her stuff and admiring everything in the room. It's ten o'clock by the time she changes into her pajamas and heads to bed. Turning off the lights she squeezes under the blankets wrapping herself up in their warmth.

...

A scream wakes Red up. Her mind starts racing at a million miles per hour as she tries to think of what it could have been. It didn't sound like the ones from...the other night...this sounded like someone getting scared during a horror movie or something. Maybe dad lied and he's watching scary movies in his room. Yeah. She thinks to herself, trying to calm down.

She listens carefully when she hears footsteps coming from somewhere on the second floor. She tucks herself into the blankets and pillows as the sound of a doorknob turning can be faintly heard.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The footsteps sound to be getting closer. She holds onto the blankets with all her might as she hears the doorknob to her room start turning. The door opens. Than it closes.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The footsteps move away from her room. Than they seem to go downstairs. Her thoughts scare her out of bed and she quietly unravels herself from the sheets and tip-toes to the door. After slowly turning the knob she gently pulls on the door. As she steps out into the hall she looks down towards the kitchen. The lights are on. She sees her father in a loose tee shirt and sweatpants opening a cabinet. The clanking of glass moves through the house as he takes a bottle from it, than closes the cabinet. He opens the bottle up, and starts drinking straight from it.

Though worried about the sight, she's relieved to find out what was making the noise. She quickly and quietly sneaks back into her room and goes back to bed. After for what seemed like forever laying with her eyes closed, she's finally about to fall asleep, when she hears a faint, but bone chilling, howl. She quickly sits up in bed, turning on the lamp. She opens her door and heads to the stairs.

"R-red, what are you doing up?" Jerard says as she rushes down the stairs.

"I can't sleep," She replies as she walks up to him, "I heard a howl from outside,"

"That was just a wolf sweety," He kneels down in front of her, and puts his hands on her shoulders, "I will never let anything hurt you, not even got your Granny, I promise," He says with with a stern but caring voice, "You're perfectly safe here," He gets up and offers a hand for her to hold onto, "Now let's get you back to bed,"

She takes his hand and he walks her back to her room. He tucks her into bed and gives her another kiss goodnight. It's not till after he closes the door and she closes her eyes that she realizes he wasn't wearing the tee shirt he had on earlier. Though it's kind of odd, she just shrugs it off and manages to drift off to sleep.