by Angela Foxxe
It was important to him that he never get too spoiled by the excesses he was able to afford and the excesses that were often thrown his way for free. He had seen too many people take those things for granted, and when their ship had sailed, their lives were in utter shambles. The fortune, the fame, his athletic abilities—all might be gone at any moment. He realized that, and though his superhuman condition meant that his athletic prowess would probably never really wane, he still hoped that one day he might find a cure of some sort. He hated being a freak. He despised the fact that he was just not like everyone else, but he was forced to constantly be on stage, especially with his career choice. He often wondered if he had made the wrong decision to go into a career in professional sports, but he loved it. It was his passion and had been long before the curse was forced upon him.
It was a choice he’d made, but the thought still lingered. He knew that one day he would have to retire, even though he was not really going to age much, if at all, and his body would instantly heal from any injuries. This was not at all normal, and he would have to fake the aging process somehow and eventually retire. In the meantime, he was going to live fairly frugally and save his money.
He started to open the door, but at the last second, he decided to look through the peephole first.
What the hell?
It was Michelle. What in the world was she doing at his door in the middle of the night? What the hell was she even doing in Cincinnati? He’d made it very clear to her that he wasn’t going to give her the time of day, and he’d hoped she’d taken the hint that he wasn’t even interested in giving her a story for her magazine spread that she was working on. She’d flown that kite when she’d refused to take no for an answer with her romantic leanings.
He sighed heavily and decided to open the door just to get rid of her. A woman of that kind of tenacity would have just made a scene and continued to ring the bell and bang on his door. He just wanted to go back to sleep and be left alone. It had taken a while for him to calm his body down enough to just relax and let sleep overtake him. At night, it was always hard; his natural instincts were those of the wolf, especially at night. He wanted to be outside running and screaming at the dark sky. But his human side wanted to remain inside, alone and safe. It was a strong contradiction that he’d had to get used to.
He opened the door slowly and leaned against the frame; his face contained a dead expression which he purposely cast forth to showcase his displeasure.
“Michelle, what a surprise,” John said.
“Oh, I’ll bet it’s a surprise. How are you?” Michelle asked, an evil-looking grin on her smug face.
“What do you want? What are you even doing here?”
“I guess you are just too irresistible to stay away from,” Michelle said, reaching out and stroking John’s pec with her finger.
John ignored it. “It’s the middle of the night. I don’t think we really have anything to say to each other. Why are you here?”
“I think we need to talk,” Michelle said ominously.
“I just told you we have nothing to say to each other. Are you deaf? Are you incapable of hearing the word no?”
“Oh, I can hear it just fine; I just don’t allow it to mean anything in my world.”
“I always knew you didn’t live in the same reality as the rest of us,” John said.
“I’m a firm believer in making your own reality. I think you know something about that as well,” Michelle said as she walked past him, elbowing him out of the way.
John grunted and let her past; he didn’t want to make any more of a scene in the hallway and possibly wake up his neighbors.
Michelle walked to the bar, poured herself a scotch on the rocks, and then sat down on the couch.
“Oh, by all means, help yourself,” John said, closing the door.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Michelle said. She smiled that glaring smile that was uniquely hers. It was an odd mixture of hatred and giddy self-confidence. It made John’s skin crawl. The contrast between the ugly expression and the beautiful face was odd to deal with.
“So, are you ever going to tell me why you’re here? Or do you want to continue playing twenty questions?” John asked, sitting on the adjoining chair.
“How long has it been?” Michelle asked.
“What?” John asked. What was she getting at?
“How long has it been since you’ve been carrying this secret?”
“What secret? What are you talking about?” John asked. He was starting to get worried.
“I know all about it,” Michelle said in between sips of her scotch. “I know all about who you really are, John Wild.”
John laughed and shook his head. “Are you on drugs? You having a nervous breakdown or something?”
“No, but I almost did when I found out. Just think, America’s hero John Wild isn’t remotely the man that everyone thinks he is.”
“What are you talking about, Michelle? I don’t know what crap you think you’ve dug up on me, but I don’t respond to threats. I just want you to leave me alone.”
“Oh, I’ll leave you alone, but I don’t think everyone else will. At least, not when they see this,” Michelle said as she pulled out her phone. She unlocked the screen and brought up something. Suddenly, sound started to emanate from the phone as she flipped it around so John could see the screen. Michelle was smiling widely.
John felt the entire world collapse around him as he saw what was on the screen.
It was his cage. He was changing into the wolf. It was all on film.
Michelle had broken into his home and obtained this footage. The bitch had completely violated his privacy, and she now intended to show the whole world.
“What the hell? What kind of game are you playing?”
“Me? You’re asking me what game I’m playing. You’re a freaking monster. You’re a freak of nature pretending to be a normal man. Now, I don’t know how this happened to you—I have to admit, it threw me for a loop. I mean, who the hell in their right mind would ever suspect that werewolves are real? But, of course, that’s what you count on every day to keep your secret.”
John had never felt more defeated in his life than he did right then. The thought of ripping her throat out was very real to him for a brief second, but he knew that he could never kill another person, no matter how much they deserved it, unless it was in absolute self-defense.
“What do you want? What do you want to keep this quiet?” John asked.
“I want what I’ve always wanted. I want you. I want full access to you. You see, I always get my way. I want you in every way. I want your body, I want your fame, and I want your money.”
“You’re crazy. Does it feel good knowing the only way you can get me is extortion? Is that respectable to you? That just reaffirms what I had already figured out about you. You’re nothing but common street trash, Michelle. Shiny, pretty trash—but trash all the same.”
“I would watch my words carefully, if I were you,” Michelle said. “I could send this to the world with the flip of my finger.”
“You think I would let you do that?” John said. He could feel the anger coursing through his veins like hot lava. He wanted to erupt. The wolf wanted to be free. He had to keep it together, though. He couldn’t allow himself to lose control.
Michelle smiled. “Of course I have copies of this, so if you’re getting ideas about destroying my phone, go right ahead. It won’t do you any good. You can’t stop me. I own your ass now.”
“What makes you think that I will give in to your demands? Maybe I don’t care anymore.”
“Oh, you care. You wouldn’t have worked so hard to keep it a secret to just throw in the towel like this.”
John didn’t say anything for a moment. He sat there in the quiet room, fifty miles from his hometown, thinking about how he’d gone from being so happy to have rekindled a friendship, possibly more, with the love of his life who had gotten away, to now having everything he had work
ed so hard for, and everything he had, being threatened. He had fought so hard and so long to keep his real identity a secret from the world, and he was exhausted. A part of him was tingling with excitement at the possibility that maybe he could just let it out. Maybe it was time to stop running and hiding. What good was having everything you wanted if you had to be a fake person to get it?
He was done with this. And he was done with Michelle in every possible way.
John spoke slowly. “You know, I thought that keeping the secret was the most important thing, but now I’m not so sure. Self-respect is a very powerful thing. You can call it bull-headed male pride if you want, but I’m not playing this game. You go ahead and send out your little video. Do you think anyone will believe it’s real? And hell, even if they do believe it, I don’t care. I’m not doing a damn thing for you. I’m done. Get the hell out of here.”
Michelle laughed. “I almost believed you for a second.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not; I’m serious. I’m done with this. You can take that film, and you can go straight to hell.”
Michelle glared at him, but the look on her face was curious, too. He could see the gears churning in her mind as she tried to decide how much he was bluffing.
“You aren’t serious. You think I’m joking? Do you really think I won’t put this online?”
“I don’t care. I’m sure you will. I’m done hiding. Now get the hell out of my room and stay the hell out of my life,” John said. He walked to the door and opened it, motioning for her to get lost.
Michelle sat her drink down and walked to the door. “You’re making a huge mistake. You will pay for this.”
She barely got the words out before John slammed the door in her face and locked it behind him.
He made himself a drink and sat down to think about what he’d done. Was it worth it? Did he make the right call here?
He supposed that only time was going to tell on this one. He wondered if he should call Keith to give him a heads-up. It was extremely late, but with something like this, he figured it was enough of an emergency that it couldn’t wait. Better he hear it now so he had time to prepare some sort of a press release or at least be a little prepared to help John answer some questions.
A groggy Keith picked up after four rings.
“Keith, it's John. I hope you’re sitting down.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Dammit!” Heather screamed, pulling her thumb away and jamming it into her mouth. The pain instantly started to subside. She had just slammed her thumb in the cash register for what had to be the sixth time that day. The stupid thing was broken, and it kept jamming so that her thumb would slip into it when she shut it, and when it did slam shut a second later, her thumb was right in the way.
“Trouble in paradise?” Marcy Rhodes said, grabbing a few cups from the rack overhead.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Heather said.
“Are you sure? You seem like you’re a little bit off today.”
“I’m just tired,” Heather said.
“Oh, I thought you might have your head in the clouds about that mystery man from last night.”
“What’re you talking about?” Heather said.
“The buzz is that Mr. John Wild was in here last night and you two were getting awful chummy,” Marcy said with a giggle.
Heather gave her a playful slap on the arm. “You need to mind your business.”
“Oh, so it’s true!”
“I didn’t say that!” Heather protested.
“You didn’t have to; I can see it written all over your face. You’re feeling the buzz.”
Buzz was perhaps Marcy’s favorite word, and she used it in almost every possible way that anyone had ever thought of. Heather hardly even noticed it anymore.
“You’re so wrong. He’s just an old friend. We went to school together.”
“You went to school with a future pro football player and you didn’t latch onto him? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Well, actually, we did date back then, pretty seriously, too.”
“So you were high school sweethearts with a future pro football player and you didn’t latch onto him? Now you’re just plain stupid.”
“We were kids and our lives were just starting. No one knew where they would end up. I had big dreams and so did he. We just didn’t share the same dreams then, and we decided it would be better if we kept in touch but went our separate ways. That’s what eighteen-year-olds do.”
“Well, how did that work out for you?”
“Hey, that’s not fair. You know I moved back here to take care of my dad.”
“Sweetie, your dad is doing fine. He is starting to get his life back together and doesn’t need you nearly as much as you think he does.”
“I’m not so sure about that. He loves having me around.”
“Of course he does. You are his little girl and a great cook at that.”
“Well, I like to take care of him,” Heather said.
She took a drink order from the couple at the bar who were getting a little too frisky for public and grabbed a few glasses.
“Seriously, sweetie. You need to break out of here. You’re too smart to wind up stuck in this little town forever. You came back and took care of your dad like a great daughter does, but now it’s time to live for you.”
“I’ve thought about it. But ever since my mom died, it’s just him and me. I know he could probably live by himself, but with what happened, I just don’t want to leave him alone. I’m not sure I can. It just reminds you of how quickly someone like that can be taken away from you.”
Marcy rolled her eyes. She knew better than to think she was going to win this fight. Heather knew that she cared, and she was probably right. She would be lying if she told Marcy that she’d never thought of it, too. But she wasn’t going to leave her father. Her best hope was that if something came along better in her life, then she could convince her dad to go with her. It wasn’t entirely out of reach to assume that she could reach for the gold and live her dreams. Her dad being close to her happened to be a part of that dream now. She doubted that anyone was ever going to change her mind about that.
“So, tell me more about you and Mr. Football Star,” Marcy said with a grin.
“We are going out tonight,” Heather said. She couldn’t contain a little dance from breaking out in her legs. She hadn’t been this happy or this excited in a while. As soon as she’d heard that he was going to be back in town, something inside of her had just said she had to go for it. She’d been too embarrassed to really make time to meet up with John the last time he was in town. Somehow, she’d always made an excuse that she wasn’t available.
Really, she was just embarrassed to be slinging drinks in a damn bar in the same small town that they had grown up in. She knew that John would understand and that he probably wouldn’t care, but for some reason, it just felt wrong to her. But this time around, it was different. Perhaps she had just matured a bit over the past year. That was possible, but knowing herself, it was very unlikely.
“Wow, that’s awesome. I take it your dad isn’t waiting up? You got a hotel room reserved yet?”
Heather couldn’t hold back the laughter or the blush. Marcy was the type of girl who just said whatever everyone else was thinking. She was hilarious and probably the biggest reason that Heather was able to go to work every day and not stick her head in the deep fryer.
“I doubt we’ll get that sort of action going on. We haven’t dated for years, after all. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
“Stupider than I thought if you pass up the chance to sleep with a gorgeous NFL superstar,” Marcy said.
“You’re impossible,” Heather said.
“I am impossibly sexy and perverted, all rolled into one.”
“That’s the truth!”
Heather finished pouring the beers and sat them down for the couple at the bar. The girl now had her ear being invaded by the biker g
uy’s tongue. If the bar wasn’t mostly empty, she would have probably told them to get a room. It was almost time for the business class to start pouring in with people stopping for a quick beer on their way home from work. She was going to get to miss most of that. She had traded shifts with Jenny so that she could work today instead of her normal night shift. She’d been off yesterday, and it had been great. But the downside here was that she was on like two hours sleep by the time she had left John and driven home.
But the giddiness she felt every time she thought about going out with John tonight gave her the excitement that she needed to get through the day. It was almost over.
When she saw John the night before, he’d looked amazing. It was almost like he hadn’t aged a day. He still looked eighteen but carried himself with an air of confidence and maturity that he had not yet developed when they had started dating in high school.
When she thought about how her life had changed and turned out since then, it boggled her mind. It occasionally got her down, and she wished that she could just wish it all away. It was childish, she supposed, but sometimes she wished that she would stumble upon a magic genie that would grant her the wishes she needed to wish for a better life.
But then she laughed off the childish fantasy and took stock of everything. That was when she realized that her life wasn’t really that bad. She’d taken a detour and had to work her way out of it, but she was confident that she would be able to do so.
If only she had the money right then. John had offered, but she couldn’t take his money. It wasn’t because she couldn’t bring herself to swallow her pride enough to take the charity, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell John about the kind of trouble she was in. The fear she felt was nonstop. She just wished that it would go away.
What had she done? She’d known better. She’d known it was a bad idea from the get go. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
But now she was desperate for a different reason.
A different reason indeed.