Cold, Hot Winter

Author's Note: I wrote this chapter in record time for me. Two and a half hours. Kind of short maybe but its just laying the foundation of chapter three! Enjoy!

Chapter Two:
Monster


It was almost two o'clock in the morning when the phone rang, awaking Raven from her forty-two minute slumber. Groaning aloud in a sleepy, grumpy frustration, she rolled onto her back, and reached over. Grasping the wireless phone, she pressed the 'answer' button and position the phone again her ear, her shoulder cradling it. “Hello?” She croaked out, rubbing the particles of sleep from her eyes.

“Why hello there, deary.” Her grandmother's chipper voice could be heard on the other end of the line, the musical sounds of the Las Vegas slot machines in the background.

“Oh hey, grandma.” Raven greeted before yawning aloud, arching her back into a slight curve, moaning softly as she felt the vertebral column crackle softly from the stretch.

“Did you settle in nicely?” Her grandmother questioned before quickly adding a loud 'god damn it'. “This machine is fucking rigged!” She exclaimed angrily, a 'slam' following after. “Um, miss. Can you please refrain yourself from damaging hotel property?” A male asked on the other side of the line. “Oh shut the hell up!” Her grandmother replied gruffly.

A grin quirked onto Raven's lips at her grandmother's fiery attitude. “Anyways, back to what I was saying.”

“I settled in just fine, grandma. Thanks for letting me stay here while you are away with your friends. How is Las Vegas?” Raven asked politely, her eyes glued to the ceiling as she awaited an answer.

“Vegas has a hell hole. Prostitutes, gambling, and is expensive as fuck. My kind of place.” Her grandmother chuckled, Raven shook her head, continuing to weakly grin at her grandmother's words. “Any problems so far though?”

“No, not really. Well expect I almost got mauled by a wolf.” A shiver crept down her spine at the mere mention of the scary-as-fuck experience. Now she probably knew exactly how those people that travel the world in search of uncovering ghostly mysterious and usually were scared shitless but she didn't get paid nor did she have a television show on Sci-Fi.

“Yeah, that is a common little problem. But stand very still and don't look them in the eye. If you run, they will most likely devour your ass and if you look them in the eye, they will think you are challenging them and will go all alpha wolf on you.” Her grandmother informed. “Doris! Me and the girls are going about to go back to the room and get dressed for some partyin'. You in or out?” A southern female voice chimed in the background.

“Nah, I am good where I am. If luck is a man tonight, this machine is my one-night stand and I want come out on top!” Her grandmother interjected. “Anyways, deary. I gotta go. Talk to you later!” With that, the phone line went dead.

Sighing softly, Raven placed the wireless phone back onto its charging station before rolling over onto her side once more and quickly drifted off to sleep.

---

The morning sun crept up the sky, its soft, vibrant rays spilling from the curtains onto the bed, illuminating her face. The warm rays somehow managed to seep through her eyelids causing her to stir awake. As her eyes fluttered open, the air condition kicked in, cold air flood into the room.

Lazily, she stretched like a cat before she slipped from the bed, making her way over to the drawn curtains and glanced out of the window at the world of icy snow. Just looking at the land of snow below made her shiver at the thought of going outside. Her attention lingered on scenery before running her slim fingers through her ebony hair and turned her heel, bee-lining her way to the bathroom to begin her morning rituals.

In hour or so later, she descended down the stairs and into the kitchen where she began to mental check off all of her rituals, one by one, making sure she didn't miss anything while she searching through the cabinets for some coffee. Raven had always been organized, she had to have something done a certain way or she would go crazy like some autistic child straying from their daily routines.

Shower. Check.
Brushed teeth. Check.
Hassles with hair. Check.
Dressed for whatever. Check.
Coffee. Shit. No coffee.

Her brilliant green eyes widened in shock. No coffee? This was true hell! She had to have her coffee everyday or she wouldn't be to function properly (or so she thought). She had to put three tablespoons of sugar and a splash of cream into the dark richness of her favorite beverage . She just had to!

She tilted her head back and groaned before not before stomping her feet down onto the kitchen floor, wanting to start a start temper tantrum. Pouting heavily, she closed the door to the wooden cabinet. What a wonderful way to the start the morning.

---


The blacktop roads of South Vermont were covered with ice, something Raven wasn't quite used to. She was used to the sunny beaches, the roaring waves crashing onto the sand, the sea gulfs flapping around looking for someone to drop any crumb of food. But for complicated reasons, she was temporarily settling herself down into the comfy home of Grandma Doris. Complicated reasons include her ex-fiance, his confession of sleeping with other women and men, the cancellation of their wedding slash engagement and the planned death of her cat, Taffy.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tight, her knuckles were almost a ghostly white. Just the thought of her ex-fiancé's made her stomach churn into painful knots, his betrayal sickened her but she had to move on. Raven figured quitting the nasty habit of smoking, weaning herself from heavenly goodness of coffee, and masturbating as much as possible would help her get over the cancellation of her possible-to-be life. And sadly, two of three of her resolutions were unsuccessful, however her determination of masturbating was more than successful. She even bought her favorite play toy, Big Red, to help her.

The sight of a general store caused her to squeal happily in excitement. Turning the forest green Jeep into the small parking lot, she parked the vehicle before exiting it. Her black high heel boots clicked against the ground as she entered the store. The bell 'dinged' signifying her presence. No one other than her was present in the store but she knew someone was probably in the back considering the faint sound of the television.

She strolled down the aisles, one by one, searching for a can of rich coffee. And luckily, her search came to an end as she found what she was looking for. Squatting onto the ground, she retrieved the can of coffee before raising with a satisfied grin on her face. Her eyes were glued to the red can of coffee as she walked towards the cashier. “Will that be all, ma'am?” A deep, husky voice asked her in which she jerked her attention to the mountain of a man before her.

Jesus. He was fucking huge but in a good way. He was very tall, probably six-two, six-three. His eyes were the most grayest shade she had ever since and his short hair was same color as hers, ebony. His skin tone was way pale than her golden tan but he was attractive by her standards.

A look of amusement painted onto his face as he looked down at her, watching her as her eyes were as wide as sauce pans and her mouth was gaping open and close like she were a fish out of water. He chuckled softly, bringing her back to reality. The deep, husky sound that rumbled in his chest was music to her ears.

“Aah, aah.” She tried to search for words but her brain wasn't functioning properly, a small wheel in her pretty little head stopped churning as to finding a proper response. “Um, yes.” She quickly nodded her head and placed the can of coffee onto counter. He rung up the item before saying, “that will be five-fifty-two, ma'am.”

As she pulled out a twenty dollar bill, her eyes ventured over to a small stand on the counter that displayed a pack of cigarettes. She licked her lips at the temptation considering she had smoked most of her cigarettes the night before but Raven quickly remained herself that she had a goal to stop smoking. 'Okay. You can handle this. You can totally handle this. Just drink as much coffee as you can and you will eventually forgot about smoking!' She tried to convince herself.

She placed the money onto the counter before waiting for him to give her the can of coffee and her change. But she was so desperate to get the coffee, she was tempted to leave the change, and go about her day. “He must be a lucky man.” The man then said as he busied himself in the task of gathering her change. “Huh?” She quirked an eyebrow. What was he talking about?

His gray eyes glued themselves on the engagement ring on her finger and a rush of pain hit her like a ton of bricks. Shit, she forgot to take the damn thing off. Raven then tugged the ring off of her finger with force and tossed it onto the ground. “Not anymore.” She replied, taking the change from him as well as the can of coffee. “Have a nice day.” And with that, she left the store.

---

After Raven had consumed two cups of coffee, she settled in the kitchen for the remainder of the day, writing out responses for the women who wanted her advice but little did she know, a storm was in the making. By night, she tell by the distant sound of thunder that it was going to be a rough. She never could sleep through storms, not even hurricanes.

Thunder rumbled throughout the house and lightning briefly lit the dark corners of her bedroom. The wind howled against the house, causing her to curl into a fetus position beneath the warm covers and in the comforts of her bed. Snuggling her head into her pillow, she tried to sleep but the attempt failed miserably. This had to be one of her worst fears but she tried so hard not to acknowledge it. The winter house creaked constantly against the weather conditions it was being faced with and it scared her to no end.

It was then a loud bang could be heard, echoing throughout the house which caused her to shoot in an upward position in shock. Her heart pounded violently in her chest as she quietly slipped from the bed, her bare foot gently padding against the cold wooden floors as she crept over to her bedroom, and opened it slowly. Her body tensing as when the door opened, her body stiffened as she feared that someone had heard her.

'Don't kid yourself, Raven. You are the only damn person in this house! Grandma is gambling her ass in Las Vegas! Get a hold of yourself.' She mentally tried to convince herself, wanting the telepathic words to melt away her fears and give her the courage to exit her bedroom without wanting to drop dead on the floor from fright.

Taking a deep breath, she quietly walked out of her room, and down the dark hallway. Her green eyes scanned through the dark, her hands trailing against the wall as she led herself to the stairway the lead downstairs to the first floor where the bang could be heard. Gulping down hard, she crept down the stairs, glancing around in all directions to satisfy the small child within her that was scared of the dark and believed that monsters lived in the closet and under the bed.

Once she was on the first floor, goosebumps prickled onto her skin as she felt that something wasn't quite right as though someone or something was staring her in the dark corners of the living room but when she glanced around, nothing could be seen. A icy breeze howled throughout the living room, its source being the surprisingly open backdoor that fluttered and smashed against a wall.

Rushing into the kitchen, she quickly shut the door, and locked it. Smiling weakly, she rested her forehead against the door for a brief moment. "Just a false alarm, Raven. No monsters are going tonight." She told herself breathlessly before she released the knob of the door and slowly backed away. About to turn, a black leather gloved hand appeared out of nowhere, and pressed against her mouth, muffling her scream.

"You got a monster right here." A husky, male voice whispered in her ear as the stranger pressed her backside into his clad chest. Her vibrate eyes widened in shock as she couldn't believe this was happening to her.

---

Author's Note: Hello! Second chapter is up, I have chapter three partially written but I am not quite sure when I will be able to post the complete product of the chapter. Anyways, thank you for reading my story! Feedback would be nice if you have the time. Speaking of feedback. Onto the reviews.

Godblessemohair: Wow, my first review! ;D Hopefully I answered your question about Raven's stay at her grandmother's but as for her name. I didn't really think about the Robin Hood think until now, lol. But I named her Raven because it was the closest thing to the Little Red Riding Hood, her full name is Raven “Red” Hood.

Happy reading,

Mother Goose