Max darted out of his seat and began to pace. “But what you’re saying...”
“Doesn’t seem possible, I know. I’ve had two days of sitting in my room thinking about how much this doesn’t seem possible, but I saw it with my own two eyes. We all did.”
“So, what exactly is this, do you think?”
“That’s what the book is for,” I said and threw it at the end of the couch.
He picked the library book up and then eyeballed me. “Folklore?” He stopped and was about to smile, but it faded. “We’re talking werewolves?”
“Go ahead and laugh, but what else gets bitten by a pack of animals and then has its body broken down into some kind of creature? These may be legends, but they originate from somewhere, don’t they?”
“But werewolves? That’s just...”
“Fiction? Yeah, I thought so, too,” I replied and hugged my knees. “Have one encounter and I promise you, you’ll change your views in a snap. I, literally, can’t sleep anymore, can’t focus, I think I ate one piece of toast today. Whenever I try to eat, I see Scott’s face staring at me with all the blood... my stomach feels rotten inside.”
Max stopped pacing and sat on the coffee table in front of me. “For the record, I want you to know I don’t think you’re outright bullshitting me. It’s the werewolf part I’m having a hard time with.”
“What else, then?”
“Maybe he was on acid.”
I scoffed. “I’m from Detroit, I think I’ve seen a few people on acid before. This is nothing like that. I saw his skin peel and tear off his back like he was shedding. I’d never heard screams like this in my entire life. It was like someone was breaking him apart from the inside.”
Max put his hand over his mouth and looked like he was getting lost in his thoughts. “There has to be an explanation for this. It has to be some kind of disease that made him go nuts and kill that cop.”
“What about the body changing, though?”
He had no answer and threw his hands up. “I don’t know.”
I lowered my head until I created a veil of hair around me that I couldn’t see past. “All my life I was taught things like monsters and Santa Claus were works of fiction and I had nothing to be afraid of. But that was all a lie. The stuff that seemed too weird to be true was actually the truth all along. And if that’s the case... what else is out there then? Aliens? Ghosts? Freaking vampires? God, where does it end?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s got to be a logical explanation behind this, even if it is as messed up as it looks. Maybe it is some kind of disease or illness.”
“Lycanthropy.”
Max hesitated to continue. “Or that...”
“I should have taken my camera and snapped a shot. Maybe then you’d believe me.”
“I don’t not believe you.”
“I don’t even completely blame you. It sounds ludicrous. I wouldn’t believe me, either. If only I had taken my camera.”
“Because flashing lights in the face of a crazed killer is a good idea.”
I curled my lips in tight. “Point taken.”
“I gotta say, I’m surprised you’d even tell me this, considering how I reacted to your first claim.”
“Like I said, you already thought pretty low of me, so what could it hurt? But I had to tell somebody this. I didn’t even leave my house yesterday, I was so terrified.”
“Your grandma didn’t think anything was off?”
“She thought I was in bed all day because my lady friend visited.”
He looked legitimately puzzled. “Priscilla?”
“No, my period.”
Max put both hands up like he didn’t want to hear another word. “Gotcha.”
“I laid there with the door locked, the blinds closed, wishing I was back in one of the country’s most dangerous cities. How messed up is that?”
“Wanting to live in Detroit? Pretty messed up.”
“I just wanted to go home so bad, but then I thought about leaving my grandma behind and what could happen to her if no one was there to protect her. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Tell her she has to sell her home of over forty years because the woods are full of werewolves? My grandma can be pretty out there, but I think even she would laugh at that.”
“Tell her the house is beyond repair.”
“You obviously don’t know my grandma very well. She’s stubborn about everything and would rather die in her house than sell it. At this rate that may just happen.”
“Nothing is going to happen to Wendy, I promise.”
“The cops could barely stop a half-turned Scott. What are us normal people supposed to do on a full moon?”
“So, you’re really believing this full moon thing?”
“When I was attacked, the moon was the biggest, brightest, full moon I had seen in years. I remember even having that thought right before I was attacked. It’s not a coincidence. I know that now.”
“This guy didn’t turn under a full moon.”
“The first time, you don’t. It’s all in the book.”
He picked it back up and scanned the whole thing back to cover. “Who the hell even wrote this thing? Some dick in a trench coat who lives in the forest?”
“Somebody in the know, that’s for sure. I was starting to read the book when you found me at the park. I didn’t get as far as I’d like.”
“If I had known what I was interrupting, I may have left you alone.”
“So, basically, you think I’m a nutjob?”
Max leaned his head to the side and gave me a sympathetic smirk. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I probably should, but for some reason, I don’t. Maybe I’m crazy, too.”
I could tell he was trying to make me feel better, and it was working a little bit. “I’m starting to wish I was just crazy. It’d make things a lot easier.”
“Have the cops talked to you about what happened?”
I shook my head. “Not since that night. Might be my fault. I told grandma I wasn’t taking any phone calls and wanted to be left alone. For all I know, they have some cover story they want me to go along with, but I wasn’t there to talk to.” I groaned loudly. “I pray they aren’t going for a cover story. I don’t think I could hold this in forever. It’s why I had to tell somebody, even when I was told not to.”
“You didn’t tell Owen?”
“He doesn’t even know about my first attack. We got into that fight the next morning and I just never got around to telling him. The longer you go without saying something, the more it feels like it’s what you should be doing.”
“I just thought you guys were close.”
“So did I,” I replied doubtfully. Owen and I seemed to hit it off right away, but even I couldn’t deny that after that fight, everything had changed. The familiarity and wholesomeness to our relationship dissipated. “It’s probably for the best just to leave him out of all this. Then again, if he ends up dead, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“I don’t like the guy, but he’s managed all right, so far.”
“Which makes me wonder where they came from. Why did this all start when I showed up? Am I some kind of bad omen?”
“Your luck is shit, I won’t deny that, but all the weird stuff really started happening when they started messing around with the forest and cutting everything down. It must have pissed off whatever this is.”
“Which also makes me wonder what exactly it is. Are they people turned or are these mere animals running around infecting people so they turn into beasts? Is what I saw that night on the road a person transformed into a wolf, and if it was, who was it? Are there people living in this town who turn every full moon?”
“You’re gonna creep yourself out.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“I think the problem is, we have more questions than answers.”
“I think the problem is, we have more problems than solutions,” I countered. “If there are people in this town t
urning under a full moon, how do you stop it? How do you cure it? Can you cure it?”
“Everything I ever knew implied no.”
“So, then what? You just learn to live with these things?”
“Or you... stop it.”
“You mean kill it?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “But I saw Scott. He didn’t look like he wanted to be doing anything that he was doing. One minute, he was complaining about having a fever and the next, he was on top of people, hurting them. When he looked at me, it wasn’t like I was looking at him, but this thing that took over his brain completely. He was cursed, not a monster.”
“A curse that nearly killed you.”
“What if I had been bitten? Would you just shoot me, no questions?”
“Wouldn’t you want me to?”
I said nothing. I didn’t agree with murdering anyone, animal or person, but yet, he had a point. I could still hear the anguish in Scott’s voice as he cried out for help, unable to fight against the curse that was taking over his body and bending it to its liking. He never said it, but I could see in Scott’s eyes that he wanted our help, but we could do nothing. He died a murderer because of this. Because no one acted quickly enough.
“Oh, God, the forest,” I blurted out and covered my mouth with my hand. “You hunt in the forest. You can’t do that anymore. It’s dangerous.”
“I do it in the mornings and have never seen anything weird. Besides, from what you’re implying, all the crazy shit happens at night or on a full moon.”
“That’s the one thing we can find comfort in that this stuff only occurs when there’s a full moon. Luckily, we just had one two weeks ago or whenever that was.”
Max cocked his head to the side and scrunched his nose. “Not so lucky. You’re forgetting about a blue moon.”
“What?”
“You know, every once in a blue moon? It’s that rare time where you get two in one month, and uh, we’re due for one.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Sorry. This Saturday, actually.”
The color didn’t just fade from my skin, it rushed off like it were being chased. “Oh, God, now I know you have to be kidding.”
“Just lock up your house and get a gun.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean,” I said and ripped myself up off his couch and started pacing. “The date auction is this Saturday.”
“No way.”
“Yes way! It was supposed to be on a Friday, but Priscilla said it got moved. Oh, God, this is not good, not good at all.”
Max stood up to join me, putting his hands up in an effort to calm me down. “Now, there’s no reason to get bent out of shape about it.”
“There isn’t? Because I’m pretty sure there’s a pack of werewolves on the loose and we’re all going to be crammed into one building like a bunch of sardines. With the decorations and lights, we may as well be hanging a piece of meat above their nose.”
“Think safety in numbers. We don’t know anything about their hunting technique. One came after you when you were isolated and not expecting it. Maybe they prefer to lurk in the darkness and don’t want to display themselves like that.”
I practically chewed my nails off. “Yeah, maybe...”
“Yes, exactly. No need to stress out about what we don’t know.”
“Or act blasé, either. It’s not like I’m imagining the danger here. As long as there’s a full moon, this town is the most dangerous place on the Earth. But you’re right, maybe with a lot of people, we’ll be safer with more defenses. I have to think positively. Maybe the odds of these attacks are like sharks. Maybe, since I’ve already had run-ins with them, it’ll never happen again? I could delude myself, right?”
He was blank faced. “Right.”
I steadily made my way back to the couch with my nails still placed tightly between my teeth. Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I said, “Molly.”
Max looked to me. “Excuse me?”
“Molly,” I repeated. “Priscilla said that when the date of the auction got switched that Molly had a total freakout. It’d make sense if she knew a full moon were coming.” I stopped speaking and slowly looked up at Max, who looked anxious to hear what I had to say. “Do you think Molly knows about this stuff?”
“About the wolves?”
“Yeah. It’d be understandable why she’d be so upset that it got moved to a Saturday instead of her original moonless day.” I gasped loudly when I had another thought. “She did try to get me out of her house really fast right before I first saw one of those things.”
“You can’t look too deeply into Molly’s behavior. I’m sure a psychiatrist could analyze her and think she lived the life of a serial killer. She’s just a very emotional and controlling woman. If she’s pissed because the day of her party changed, it’s because everything isn’t perfect in her little Molly world.”
“But what if she knows? She and Owen have been living here for quite a while. You’d think one of them would have seen or heard something by now.”
“I haven’t.”
“Which is odd, honestly. All that time in the woods and nothing?”
“What do you want me to say? I see animals day in and day out. I wasn’t about to start thinking they were bloodthirsty monsters.”
“But you’d think you would have seen something.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
I collected my purse and books off the couch and headed straight for the door. “I need to go and study up on this stuff”
“It’s still early.”
“I can’t risk being out at night, no matter what.” I twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open. It was a relief to see the overwhelming light from the sun getting in my eyes. “Thank you for listening and not laughing at me. It feels better to not have all this stuff bottled up.”
“Just do yourself a favor and don’t become a hermit.”
I clutched onto my library book. “Joe was right. We should have just left them alone.” I then stepped out onto the porch and rushed to my car.
My conversation with Max gave me a lot to think about. One thing in particular was Molly. I had always found her an erratic person, but what if her erratic-ness was all due to a secret she had been keeping all along? What if she knew about the werewolves and was just doing a horrible job at hiding it? Okay, maybe not a horrible job, since it took me this long to figure it out, but a not so efficient job. And if she knew, did that mean Owen did as well? How ironic that I decided to keep this all from him only for him to know more than I did.
My dating application was tucked away neatly in my purse in the passenger seat, and I was about to pass Molly’s house, anyway, so what better time to swing by uninvited? I promised myself I would never return, but I was on this road already, and as Max pointed out, it was the afternoon.
I went with my gut, ignored my doubts, and did a quick turn into their driveway. I grabbed my purse with the forms in it, sneaked to the back of my car, and retrieved a baseball bat from the trunk. If a beast was going to creep up on me, the least I could do was attempt to bash his brains in.
“Cora,” Molly greeted with a fake smile through the screen door. Her eyes trailed down to the bat in my hand and her smile faded. “Carrying weapons, are we?”
“I’m on my way to play baseball.”
“With children? Surely, the neighbors will talk.”
“Luckily, I left my creeper trench coat in the laundry,” I kidded. Somehow, I don’t think she thought I was. “I brought the questionnaire you gave me.”
“About time.”
I tried to hand her the stack of papers, but the screen got in the way and she wasn’t looking too eager to open the door. “How does this work? Is it like a bank where I put it into one of those things that sucks it up through a tube?”
Molly opened the door just a few inches and reached her arm around the edge to grab my papers. “There.”
&nb
sp; “That wasn’t weird at all,” I noted dryly.
“The house is a mess. I don’t usually have visitors over unless they’re invited. You should have called.”
“I figured you getting those papers was more important. Though you will have an extra day, what with the day of the party being pushed back.”
Molly rolled her eyes heavily. “Yes. I am not happy about that.”
“Why’s that?” I questioned. Hopefully, she slipped out that her fear of werewolves was the cause.
“I’ve been planning this for a month now, and they have the gall to tell me I have to change the day? It completely changes the structure of the entire party. One of the girls who was going to be bid on had to bail because she has a wedding that day now.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Ups my chances of getting bought, though,” I joked.
“Definitely. She’s gorgeous.”
I grinded my teeth sourly. “I wasn’t expecting a serious response.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Where’s Owen?”
“Out shopping. He had the day off since, apparently, you weren’t feeling well, yet here you are on my porch ready to play baseball.”
“I got better,” I lied with a cartoonish grin.
“Hmm. Enough to go hang out at Max’s?”
I cocked my head to the side. Boy, word really did travel fast. “Max’s?”
“Why else would you be driving from that direction? Everything beyond his house is a dead end, and I know you weren’t frolicking in the woods.”
“You’ve obviously never spent a weekend with me, then,” I countered with my hands on my hips. Molly just looked me up and down and moaned like she was so sure of herself. Her attitude was kind of getting on my last nerve. “You do know that Max isn’t your property, right? I’m not seeing him, but if I were, it’d be none of your business.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Is there anything else I can help you with? I have a party to plan.”
“No, I’m good,” I said in a very condescending tone and saluted her. I finally nailed a gesture of goodbye, but I had to be a bitch to do it right.
Lunar Rampage (Lunar Rampage Series Book 1) Page 17