The Demon Wolf - Chapter 9：The Log House in the Forest

“Red! Breakfast is ready!” A muffled voice says. Red sits up in bed still feeling exhausted, but the smell of fresh pancakes, eggs, and bacon woke her up. Leaving the dark room her eyes are attacked by bright lights when she opens the door. She quickly covers her eyes until they adjust. Putting her hands down, she sees Sheran peeping her head out at the other end of the hallway.

“Have a seat, I’ll fix you a plate,” Sheran says as Red enters the kitchen, which is slightly bigger than the nearby living room in order to make space for an island in the middle of it. The warmth from the heated up stove makes Red realize how cold the rest of the house is.

“Here you go,” Sheran hands her a plate with two pancakes, some eggs and a could pieces of bacon on it, “Would you like anything to drink? I got milk, water, and some orange juice,”

“Randy came by earlier to drop off some clothes for you,” Sheran says as she takes her empty plate to the sink, “You’re welcome to take a shower, soon as you’re ready I’ll take you over to your dad’s,”

“Okay,” Red says through a mouth full of pancake. After eating she takes a shower and changes into the clothes Sheran gave her. A light grey short sleeve, some jeans and her red hoodie. The two then get into Sheran’s car and take off. The sky is rather cloudy like it could rain, which isn’t too uncommon, but the air feels completely different.

Yesterday morning people were out and about doing their daily routines, and she was preparing the cake for her dad. They drive by the town park which the bakery sits near. She remembers there were a couple of people with their kids playing in the large open field, but now it looks baron and lonely. Red notices that many of the shops are closed so she glances at the radio to see that it’s around 8:30, most of the shops should be open by now.

As they leave the gloomy town, they enter the claustrophobic woods, the trees all huddled together as close as they were last night. As she follows a bird flying through the air she notices how nervous Sheran looks.

“Sheran, are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m just still a bit concerned about what happened last night. How are you feeling Red?”

“Scared…” She says as she looks once more into the passing trees, “…Sheran,”

“Yeah?”

“…Do you think, the Demon Wolf is real?” There’s a long pause before she answers.

“…No dear, it’s just something to teach kids not to talk to strangers,” The tone of her voice suggested otherwise. The rest of the ride was quiet with the rather rare sight of a bird flying over the road to make a small ripple of noise. They finally arrive at her dad’s house, a large two story home in a large opening in the woods. The remains of a garden lay to the left side of it, in front of the house sits her dad’s red truck, and her dad is standing next to it.

The house’s paint is a faded turquoise, but it suits the house rather well, making it fit in with the woods more. The front porch has a dirty white on it, the paint hasn’t been kept up with too much, and washing needs to be done. The windows on the second floor are rather dirty but the windows at the bottom are clean and easy to see through.

The two exit the vehicle and walk up to him.

“Thanks Sheran,” Jerard says.

“No problem, don’t be afraid to let me know if you two need anything alright?”

“Will do,” And with that Sheran waves goodbye and heads off, “What do you think of the house kiddo?”

“It’s look amazing,” She says with a smile, she’s always wanted to live in a big home. Seeing her smile makes him smile.

“Well let’s get inside than,” And the two head inside. Walking through the front door the two enter the living room, a very large space with a large couch to the left sitting next to a love seat and in front of a wooden coffee table and a TV. A brick fire place sits in the wall not to far away, a book shelf a couple feet to the right of it. by To the right side against the wall are stairs leading up to the second floor. Red walks inside in aw at the giant open space, but quickly zips up her jacket at how cold it is.

“Let me get a fire started,” Jerard says as he quickly heads over to the fireplace.

As she’s exploring the first floor she sees a picture on the bookshelf full of untouched books. On the top shelf out of reach, sits a picture of Jerard with a woman with blonde hair in a blue shirt. The sound of a fire starting can be heard.

“That’s me and your mom,” Jerard says walking over to her. He takes the picture and hands it down to her, “She loved reading books, but I could never get into any of them,” He says with a smile looking over at the love seat being lit by the fire as he reminisces about old times. In the background of the photo Red can see some of the house. The colors are much more vibrant and what part of the garden she can see is full of life and color as well.

“You wanna go see your room?”

“Um, could you tell a little bit more about what mom was like?” She asks looking up to him.

“Sure, what would you like to know?” He asks as the two of them sit down on the couch as the fire slowly pushes away the cold.

…

As Pierre is sitting at his desk working on paperwork and going over the case again he gets a knock at his door. It’s the scientist who works at the next door morgue. He signals her to come him. As she opens the door he realizes how distraught she looks.

“What’s wrong Lisa?”

“…Gerald’s gone,”

“What?”

“Gerald, his body…it’s gone,”