Werewolf Chronicles

by Traci Briery

  "Roxanne," Phyllis said, stroking her friend's cheek briefly, "You shouldn't worry so much about me."

  "Where were you last night?"

  "I was just… at different places."

  "Why didn't you call?"

  "Jeez, Rox, do you call me every time you take off somewhere? I don't worry when you go off to Linda's."

  "But I always tell you when I'm at Linda's," Roxanne said. "I just—all these things that have happened to you these past few days. Getting lost. Not knowing where you'd been. Cops taking you home. Why wouldn't I be worried to death about you this time?"

  Phyllis glanced at her friend, then looked down and stifled an embarrassed laugh. She rubbed the back of her neck absent-mindedly.

  "Oh, boy," she whispered, then looked up. "You really do like to worry about me, don't you?"

  "I care about you," Roxanne said. "You're the best roommate I've ever had, and I'm worried about what's been happening to you. I've been thinking about this, even though I don't like where it's leading, but I have to ask you. Whatever's happening to you, I want to help you."

  "I know," Phyllis said softly. "You always do."

  "No, dammit, I mean it this time," Roxanne said. "I know that—that you've been under so much stress lately. No steady work, that attack, the bills, the—

  "It's nothing new with me, I suppose," Phyllis said.

  "This is different," Roxanne said. "This other stuff that's been happening. It's not like you."

  "So what have you been thinking about?"

  Phyllis watched her roommate try to form words, but the effort looked almost painful to Roxanne.

  "I was wondering if_" Roxanne began, "if maybe… maybe you've—gotten involved with something. Something like—like—"

  "Drugs?" Phyllis offered. Roxanne looked surprised, then relaxed her features and nodded quickly. Phyllis looked down and fought a smile.

  "Sometimes I wish it were something that simple," she murmured.

  "Hunh?"

  "Nothing," Phyllis said, and shook her head. "No," she said. "It isn't drugs. That would make things easy to fix, though, wouldn't it?"

  "Since when are drugs 'easy to fix?' "

  "Do you have to be anywhere this morning?"

  "I canceled a job," Roxanne said. "I don't have to be anywhere."

  "What? Why did you do that?"

  "Because I wanted to make sure I was here when you got back."

  Phyllis had no response at the moment. She was touched and angered by her roommate's efforts to find her, and momentarily disappointed in herself. It was possible that Phyllis would not have made that great a sacrifice just because she thought Roxanne went off somewhere one night.

  "Jeez, I didn't think you'd be so upset that you'd cancel a job," she said quietly.

  "Well, it was done," Roxanne said with a sigh. "So maybe you can tell me what happened. It's something you can tell me, isn't it?"

  "I told you what it was before," Phyllis said. "After the first night. About those weird dreams? God, has it only been three days?" she whispered to herself.

  "You dreamed about being big and strong and running through crowds, or something like that," Roxanne said. "Right?"

  "They weren't dreams," Phyllis said. "They were real. It happened last night, too."

  "What? What happened?" Roxanne asked in frustration.

  "I turned into an animal," Phyllis said. "For three nights in a row, I've been… blacking out, but not really. I remember what I do, but it's always hazy, like it was a dream. Like a dream, but after last night, I know that I'm not just dreaming this.

  "Did you say you changed into an animal?" Roxanne asked. "As in… changed?" she added, spreading out her arms as though that would make a better picture.

  "I turned into a wolf," Phyllis said. "Since that first night, I've been changing into a big… big, hairy wolf and running around and… and… God, I don't know what. Killing things, I think."

  "What?? Killing things? Like people?"

  "But that's the problem," Phyllis said. "I remember… running in crowds, and pushing people away, and hitting them, but I don't know if I've killed anyone! I've hurt something every night, though, because I always had blood on my hands when I woke up in the morning!"

  "Blood?—real blood, like—"

  "What other kind of blood would I have?" Phyllis said. "Look," she said, reaching for her roommate's hands, "I know this sounds bizarre, but it's true. Last night I—I—" she began, then stopped to switch her train of thought. "Every time I've changed, it's been painful. Very painful, and very hot. It's the heat that hurt the most. It always felt like I was going to burst into flames. Seriously! But last night, I went out to the woods—or the best thing that L. A. has for woods—and tried to meditate. That's why I was asking you about it. I figured maybe I could figure out what was happening to me if I relaxed, and kept my mind clear, and you know what?"

  "Um… what?"

  "It worked, but to a point," Phyllis said. "It started to hurt, and get incredibly hot, but I kept trying to calm down and clear my head, and it stopped hurting. I was warm, but not hot, and I was able to… well, to 'stay awake' longer than the other times. The last thing I remember is looking at my arms. They were… they were like_" she said, examining her arms again as though expecting the same thing, "They were bigger, and longer, and so was the rest of me. And furry! I swear to God there was fur all over me!"

  "Fur? What kind of fur? You didn't do something horrible like buy a fur coat, did you?" Roxanne asked.

  "I didn't," Phyllis said. "It was my fur. I tell you I changed!"

  "But into what??"

  "A wolf!" she said. "I swear I turned into a wolf! What else could I have been?"

  "Um, yeah, what else…"

  "So how can anyone help me?" Phyllis asked. "I figured I was going crazy from these weird dreams and the waking up naked in God knows where, and… and cops everywhere I go. Do you think I like getting rides home from cops every morning?"

  "Is that what happened this morning?"

  "No, I drove myself home this time. And get this! I woke up next to my car! In fact I… remember trying to get back to it…"

  "This is too weird," Roxanne said, shaking her head and backing away.

  "Do you think I don't think this is weird?" Phyllis asked, moving toward her.

  "Well, no, I… just…"

  "You're afraid of me now, aren't you?" Phyllis asked quietly when her friend kept up her backward pace. Roxanne stopped and fumbled for words.

  "No, I'm—" she said, "Of course not, I'm—I'm confused," she finished. "People don't 'change' into other animals. They act like them most of the time, but they don't become them."

  "Looks like they do now."

  "But how?"

  Phyllis shrugged. "One hair at a time?" she offered.

  "How can you be so… cool about this?" Roxanne said. "You said you think you might have killed somebody! You can joke about that?"

  "But I don't know if I've killed anybody, or even hurt anybody," Phyllis said. "I remember attacking other animals. Small animals… some dogs…" The memories became more vivid, and more disturbing for her. She remembered enjoying the hunting, and the killing, and especially the blood, but now that her human feelings had returned…

  "No people," she said quietly, shaking her head. "I don't remember killing anyone, please believe me."

  "I'm trying to…"

  "Ah, Gawd, Rox, if I make any jokes it's because I'm scared to death!" Phyllis said. "I don't believe in any of this shit! I know that there are people who do act like animals, but nobody turns into one! Nobody gets all furry and huge and—and grows huge teeth! So how can this be happening to me?"

  "I-I don't know…" Roxanne said feebly. It was only now that Phyllis noticed the pools of sweat on her roommate's face. Roxanne was afraid of her, even if she was trying not to be.

  "I-I think maybe…" she offered, wringing her hands, "maybe you should see someone. See someone about this. You know: a prof
essional of some kind, who could help you figure this out. I've been trying, but I don't know how to help other than that."

  Phyllis smiled sadly and put a comforting hand on Roxanne's shoulder.

  "How is some 'professional' supposed to help me?" she asked softly. "What can a therapist do to cure a werewolf?"

  "A w—? You actually think you're a werewolf?" Roxanne asked.

  "It sounds ridiculous, but I guess that's the only thing you can call someone who changes into animals," Phyllis said. "How is a psychiatrist supposed to help me with that?"

  "I-I don't know, I just thought—maybe he could help you… figure out why," Roxanne suggested. "Why you've been having these dreams about—err, why you've been… 'changing.' "

  Phyllis turned away from her friend and became lost in thought. Roxanne resumed wringing her hands nervously and fought for other suggestions, or even words of comfort.

  "Full moons make me change," Phyllis said, but mostly to herself.

  "Hnh? What was that?"

  "I said," she said, turning toward Roxanne, "full moons make people turn into werewolves. We've had full moons for the past three nights, haven't we?"

  "Uh, I don't know," Roxanne said. "I guess so. That is, I haven't been paying attention to it."

  "Well, I have," Phyllis said. "I haven't had much of a choice. Now I remember some more. The first two nights, I was looking at the moon, and that's when things always started getting fuzzy."

  "Did you… see it last night, too?"

  "I don't remember," Phyllis said. "But I don't think I need to to change. It just has to be there, that's all."

  "Oh. I didn't know that," Roxanne said.

  "And that's my problem, too," Phyllis said. "I don't know. I don't know anything about werewolves except from movies, and I've only seen one! I gotta find out as much as I can."

  "What are you gonna do? Rent a bunch of movies?"

  "Movies? They won't tell me shit," Phyllis said. "I'm gonna go to a bookstore. I'm—no, not even that. I'm gonna try the library."

  "You're gonna read a bunch of werewolf books?"

  "Well, things about them," Phyllis said. "Like, maybe Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Werewolves. I don't know, but I need to do something to figure this out! There has to be something that'll help me get rid of this!"

  Roxanne had nothing to say for a long time. There was nothing to say, until one small question popped into her head.

  "Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Werewolves?" she said.

  "So what are they saying?" Roxanne asked after many long minutes. Phyllis did not look up from her books.

  "Hm?" she grunted. Roxanne looked around nervously, then shook her head. She had insisted on accompanying her friend to the library, but was regretting the decision more and more. She was bored, for one thing.

  "Nothing," Roxanne mumbled. She passed away some more time by reading the comments that bored scholars had penned on their desks. She was soon disgusted by the abhorrently and unapologetically sexist and racist comments, and sat back to try and lose herself in her thoughts. Phyllis looked up from her books and, seeing her friend's furrowed brow, put a consoling hand on hers.

  "Roxanne," she whispered, "you don't have to do this with me. All I'm doing is reading. I promise not to do anything… weird or anything."

  Roxanne took the hand on top of hers and squeezed it gently. She opened her mouth to speak, then turned away a little. Phyllis's comforting smile faded quickly.

  "What's wrong?" she asked. Roxanne shook her head and stood up.

  "Nothing," she whispered. "You're right, I'm… you'll be home soon, right?"

  "Yeah," Phyllis said. "I think I'll check these two out. Wait…" she added. Roxanne hovered hesitantly. "Don't leave yet," Phyllis said. "I can check these out now. We'll go home together, okay? Okay?"

  Roxanne shrugged. "Sure," she said. "Okay."

  Chapter Sixteen

  "Check this out," Phyllis said, shoving her open book across the table. Roxanne, who had been lost in thought, snapped to attention. Phyllis pointed to a passage.

  "This describes a lot of the stuff that's been happening to me," she said. "Look at this: it talks about the transformation. This is exactly what's been happening to me!"

  Roxanne rubbed her eyes before taking the book wordlessly. She had trouble finding the passage until Phyllis pointed it out. Phyllis watched her read, looking for some recognition or understanding, but Roxanne's face was blank. She finished and looked up.

  "Looks great, Phyl," she said, scooting back the book. Phyllis took it and shut the pages. She watched her friend, who began to fidget nervously.

  "I'm not sure what to say about it,'* Roxanne said.

  "Just say you understand it," Phyllis said. "Just say you believe me. And I know this all sounds too bizarre, but it's true. I wouldn't be doing any of this crap if it weren't! Look at me! When was the last time you saw me with a book?"

  "I-I don't know…"

  "Probably never," Phyllis said, forcing a smile. "Listen to me: I need to get help somehow. I don't know if I can do this myself."

  "Oh, good," Roxanne said, sitting up. "I-I mean, I'm glad that you want to get help. You know I'll do what I can, but you need someone who… who's a professional about this stuff. Someone who knows how to help you—

  "I'm not talking about a shrink, Rox," Phyllis said. "I don't know who to look for, but there's gotta be someone who's like some authority on… monsters."

  "You're not a monster," Roxanne said half-convincingly.

  "Werewolves are considered monsters, aren't they?"

  "I don't know," Roxanne said, fidgeting. "I've never met one, I guess," she added, laughing nervously.

  "You have now," Phyllis said. "Me, remember?"

  "Okay, okay," Roxanne said, standing up abruptly, "Wait, wait, wait, waaaaaaait a minute," she said. "Phyl, please… please listen to me. I don't know how much longer I can listen to this. I swear I've—I've been trying to, I swear I have! But how can you expect me to? What would you do if I was telling you this stuff? Would you believe me?"

  "I guess this means that you don't, huh?"

  "Good God, what do you think?" Roxanne cried, tugging at her hair. "If you told me that you were having weird blackouts and sleepwalking, I could believe you, but this—! What proof do you have of this?"

  "Look at this!" Phyllis said, pointing to her open book.

  "Well, what about that?? What if I read some medical book and told you that I had every disease listed in there? People do things like that all the time!"

  "This isn't a 'medical book,' this is—"

  "Everything You Wanted to Know About Werewolves, I know."

  "Well, not exactly, but if you'd just look at—

  "What about the tryout?" Roxanne said. "Shouldn't you be trying to work on a routine? Or maybe… maybe you've been working too hard."

  "Are you talking about the Tamara Taylor thing?"

  "Yes, that, and any other job that comes our way. Look, Phyllis… you know that I'm just trying to help you. What you really need to help you is to get out of this slump!"

  Phyllis responded by sighing loudly and leaning back into her chair. She closed her book and rubbed the top of her head.

  " 'Slump?' " she muttered. "Yeah, this is one hell of a 'slump.' It just keeps getting better and better. I know what you're gonna say when I say this, but—

  The phone interrupted the discussion. Roxanne was closest and motioned to her friend to hold her words. It wasn't until she reached the kitchen that she remembered about their new answering machine. She answered in an unusually surly manner, then calmed down once Linda announced herself. Roxanne's face brightened, and Phyllis decided to resume her research.

  Her concentration was broken by a tap on the shoulder. She turned around to see Roxanne, the phone cradled in her hand.

  "Um…" she said, shuffling back and forth, "I was kind of wondering if… if it'd be okay for Linda to come over tonight."


  "Fine," Phyllis mumbled. "But I'm not leaving tonight."

  "Oh no, no, no, see…" Roxanne said quickly. "See, I figured she could come over tonight, and then we could… I don't know, keep you company tonight. Is it okay if we do that? Could she come over?"

  Phyllis did not voice her first thought. Her roommate—her friend—was afraid of her, and wanted someone with her to protect her against the Big Bad Werewolf. She blinked her eyes slowly and fought off tears while speaking.

  "She can come over," Phyllis whispered, then turned back to her studies and bit her upper lip hard. She tried to continue her reading, but soon gave up and gathered her books to head for her room and shut the door.

  She tossed the books onto her futon and slumped down next to them. She shut her eyes and tried to piece through the still-murky memories of the past few nights, but all that was left were dreamlike images. After a few moments of empty thoughts, she sat up and rolled off of the futon to check her schedule. Her true intention was to check her calendar for the little full moon symbol that most of them had. This one was no different; the full moon was noted, and from two days ago. If last night hadn't been a full moon, according to the calendar, then why had she changed? Phyllis kicked herself mentally for not checking out anything about the moon. It was late afternoon now. Roxanne probably had great reason to be so afraid.

  Roxanne was just hanging up the phone when Phyllis bolted from her room. Roxanne started and almost dropped the phone. Phyllis stopped in her tracks.

  "Aaah!" Roxanne cried. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

  "Uh… uh…" Phyllis stammered, then calmed herself. "No," she said, straightening up. "I was just thinking of something, and I figured that I should leave right away, but—I think tonight will be okay. I think there won't be any 'repeat' of those other nights. It's just a feeling. But what if I'm wrong?"

  "Um…" Roxanne said, moving slowly toward her friend, "Linda says she'll be here soon. I told her we don't have much food or anything. She might pick something up on the way over."

  "She doesn't have to do that."

  "She made a casserole last night, and… and…" Roxanne said, but her voice faltered away to a squeak. She sniffled once then looked away. Phyllis put a hand on her shoulder, and Roxanne whirled around suddenly to fall into her arms, sobbing.