It was unfathomable as to why that was. The shipping department didn’t like me because I was friendly; these individuals didn’t like me merely because of what department I was in. Was this small-town syndrome where it just happened to be everyone in town hated they were a part of a small town? Did central Wisconsinites hate friendly people? I couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
Before I knew it, weeks passed while working in the conference center. I vocalized my thoughts to Darren one afternoon. “Do people think the setup department is a cult?” He and I were still bonding when we worked the same shifts. We had the same love for movies and books, and I felt more comfortable with Darren than anyone else I had met in the department. Today we were the only two outdoors setting a wedding ceremony. Two hundred and fifty white fold-up chairs needed to be settled facing the white arches up front. It was a tiring, tedious process making sure every chair lined up evenly. Our other coworkers were inside the ballroom setting the reception that was to take place after the wedding tomorrow. Personally, I thought it was too chilly to have a wedding outdoors, but Darren explained the outdoor weddings occur well into December in Wisconsin.
Darren laughed at my question. “Feels like it, doesn’t it? I guess this department is ignored because everyone knows it’s full of morons. You know, minus us, of course.” He winked.
I laughed. “Seriously, though, the entire group is just…weird.”
I didn’t know the opinion of others, but it seemed like the group of boys only got along with each other and no one else. No other department liked them, and the setup boys couldn’t care less about that. Part of me even doubted any of the young men had friends outside of their little clique here at work. They seemed too close with inside jokes and their mocking of each other. “I think I’ll die if I wind up stuck with Matt as a brother-in-law,” I muttered as I spotted Matt through the window of the ballroom. He was laughing with the guys inside the building at something Cale was saying. Another guy who looked like Jamie whipped what looked like a biscuit at the back of Cale’s head. Once it made impact, everyone howled with laughter. I rolled my eyes, trying not to be annoyed that all of them were goofing off while only Darren and I worked.
Darren stopped setting his row of chairs to look at me funny. “Say again?”
“Matt’s dating my sister.”
Darren snorted. “You sure about that?”
“Um, yeah. He was in my house picking my sister up.”
“Huh.”
There was a tone attached to his comment. “What?”
Darren shrugged as he returned to setting chairs down. He unfolded two and set them down before speaking. “From what I’ve learned of Matt, he doesn’t like people.”
“What are you talking about? He gets along with our idiot coworkers…”
“Yes,” Darren agreed with a nod. “Our idiot coworkers. Anyone else? No. The guy’s a loner. Hates everyone and prefers to be alone.”
“Seemed pretty cozy with my sister,” I recalled. Granted, I haven’t asked for details of Miranda’s newest relationship. Ever since the fiasco of Matt picking her up, Miranda’s been very careful not to divulge to me anything about the two of them. She won’t even mention him to me. It seemed plenty obvious to her that I didn’t approve and would have nothing kind to say about Matt.
“Then that’s very uncharacteristic of him,” noted Darren. He and I made it to the last row of chairs. We both set down a few more before I thought of something.
“Do you know something about him that you’re not saying?”
“Nope,” Darren replied as he finished the rest of his line.
Together we finished out the remainder of my line. He didn’t say anything else, but I strangely couldn’t help but feel Darren wasn’t being honest with me.
CHAPTER 5
At the grocery store the following day, I had collected everything around the market to make fettuccine Alfredo for dinner. Sure, I could afford to lose a few pounds, but I was not about to sacrifice my carbs in the process. I would instead make sure to cut down on my Oreos and Doritos, I thought cheerily, proud of myself that I had walked past the snack aisle without placing either in my cart. As I pushed the cart toward the first available checkout, someone intentionally moved their cart faster to cut me off from the line.
“Wow,” I murmured to the rude stranger. The old man that stood in front of me whipped his head back to cock a glare.
“You say somethin’?” he snarled. Taken aback by his hostility given he was the jerk in this situation, I didn’t back down.
“Yeah, I’m marveling at how rude you were for cutting me off.”
“Shoulda moved faster,” sniffed the old man indifferently.
“I hate this town,” I muttered under my breath.
“Whatcha say about me, girlie?” he asked as he whipped his head back around. His face held many wrinkles, and his head held liver spots under his one tuft of snow-white hair. Suddenly, recognition was made for both me and the old man. It was Mr. Thompson, my neighbor. Mr. Thompson recognized me as well, for he smiled. “If it isn’t one of the Davis kids. Your parents raised a mighty brat, didn’t they?”
I snorted. My words next vomited out before I could stop myself. No, word vomiting would be better. I released a horrid case of verbal diarrhea that was unnecessary.
“I could’ve wound up a crotchety a-hole like yourself. Life could be worse.” I sniffed indifferently.
The old man turned back around to stare at me. The poor high school-aged cashier that was scanning his items hurried her motions. She was looking afraid of our arguing. She probably wanted to get us both out of her line as fast as possible.
As I mentally prepared myself for another verbal blow from the old grouch, he instead smiled at me. His teeth were yellow, and a cavity was crawling up one of his bottom front canines. His breath smelled like an unfriendly mixture of cigarettes and whiskey.
“I like you,” the old man breathed. “You’ve got girl balls.” The now-blushing me didn’t quite know what to say, so I quietly watched my cart instead. I focused on the containers of heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese, carefully avoiding eye contact with Mr. Thompson. I hoped the old man would just pay and leave so I could avoid speaking to him again, but Mr. Thompson turned back to eye me. “It’s best you’s a brave soul in a town like this,” he muttered.
“And why is that?” I didn’t quite know why I was even bothering to engage the old man in conversation.
Mr. Thompson snorted as he paid in cash. When the cashier handed it back to him, he counted his change with precise accuracy before accepting his receipt. He tipped his newsboy cap to the cashier before heading off. As if suddenly remembering I spoke, he turned back to glance at me. “There’s monsters out there, girlie. Brave people last longer than weak ones.”
He left after that with his plastic bags swinging in his grip as he walked out of the store. Something he said registered with me. I hurried after the old man after promising the cashier I would be back to pay. I hurried out the doors of the market just as Mr. Thompson was loading his items into his rusty pick-up truck in a parking space near the market’s exit.
“What do you mean, there are monsters out there?” Hearing that, my mind had automatically drifted to the werewolf.
“It’s a figure of speech, kid.”
He didn’t make eye contact as he said it, but I was still very alarmed. It wasn’t a figure of speech. That much I could tell. “So, like…people?”
“Again, figure of speech.” He didn’t pay me attention as he shut the tailgate of his truck. He started to hobble around to the front of the vehicle. There was a limp to his walk that I had never noticed. I thought carefully of what I should say next.
“Or do you mean monster as in something like vampires…mummies…werewolves?”
It was the last word that caused the old man to stop in his tracks. He turned around to look at me. Mr. Thompson raised a sandy eyebrow. Underneath were two wise-looking brow
n eyes. The old man snorted; a disgusting sound was heard as he did. He faced himself fully to look at me. “So, you knows somethin’s in those woods, dontcha?”
I could feel my green eyes going wide as I nodded. The old man smiled at my fearful expression. “Whatcha see?”
My words came tumbling out of me. “It ate a deer right in front of my brother and me.” I felt compelled to tell him what I knew even though I didn’t really know this character. The old man gave me another toothy grin.
“Be grateful ya’ll walked away with your lives. Animals and sometimes people ’round these parts don’t always get so lucky.” The old man spoke as though this was a completely normal conversation and not one that was giving me goosebumps.
“It ripped open a deer carcass right next to my house.”
The old man had gotten into his truck but looked out his open window with wide eyes. “Huh,” he breathed. “Lemme guess, ripped open belly, uneaten, displayed like a neat little package in a place where no normal animal would have left it, eh?”
I could only gape at him. “How did you…”
“Get in,” said the old man gruffly. I had him wait a few minutes as I went back into the store to collect my groceries. As I came out, I was partially surprised he was still waiting for me in his truck. I placed my groceries in my own car before getting into his vehicle. I briefly thought about the dangers of not getting in a car with strangers, but I needed to know what the old man was thinking. “Took you long enough,” mocked Mr. Thompson. He cocked a brow to stare at me. “You got yourself a problem, missy.”
“Yeah, I figure. How has no one figured out there’s a man-sized wolf running around Adams County?”
To my great surprise, the old man only laughed at me. He wheezed the sounds, his disgusting breath of cigarettes and whiskey filling up the small cab. “It ain’t the wolf you gotta worry about, missy. It’s what it wants that’s your problem.”
“What it…wants?” I instantly went from feeling relieved the old man believed me to instantly feeling suspicious he was just a crackpot. Maybe I was helping feed into his insanity.
The old man nodded glumly. “Your wolf left a present.”
Now he had lost me. “What are you talking about?”
The man rolled his eyes as if he thought I was stupid.
“How many times has you heard of a carnivorous animal like a wolf, coyote, or mountain lion rippin’ open a deer, leaving it completely intact, and not eating it?”
“Its guts were on the outside,” I recalled grimly. “So, it was probably eating it…”
“Naw. Its guts were open and exposed to make eating it easier.” The old man smiled. “Your wolf wanted to make sure its target was fed.”
Now I officially thought the old man was insane. I sighed as I opened the truck door to get out. “And here I thought you could help me.” I removed myself from the cab and was about to slam the door before the old man snickered. He shook his head as his torso rumbled with his own mocking laughter.
“There ain’t no helping you, girl. The wolf is looking for an alpha female before mating season.” He cackled with laughter as I slammed the door shut.
CHAPTER 6
During the ride home, I solely focused on the road while driving. I didn’t dare look out at the massive forest on both sides. Wisconsin Dells was mostly surrounded by forest once you got out of the tourist-trap downtown area. All of Adams County was surrounded by thick, dense trees and brush. My family’s house sat perched smack between the Dells and Adams. It was surrounded by lush green forest in all directions. The woods were frightening to me as I drove. All I could think of was the monster possibly lurking in the forest, watching as I drove past. Once I got home, I thought about telling Simon about my encounter at the store, but to my surprise, Simon was already outside. The gangly teenager held a shovel and looked to be laying down the final patch of dirt on a hole he had dug. He lazily slapped down the dark dirt one last time before stabbing the shovel into the ground.
“What are you doing?”
Simon raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. “I found three dead squirrels on our front porch when I got home. Miranda had me bury them so no more ‘coyotes’ came around.”
I found myself flinching. So, the wolf had left another present. With wide eyes, I replayed the conversation to Simon that I had with the crotchety Mr. Thompson. By the time I was finished, Simon had eyes just as comically wide as mine. He ran into the house while motioning for me to follow him. I did. My brother was fast. He zoomed up the stairs two at a time, and I followed him, huffing once I finally got to the top of the stairs.
“I need to run more,” I complained once I reached his room. Simon was running around like a maniac. Once he finally found his iPad, he brought it over to show me. “What am I looking at?” I examined the werewolf lore Simon had obviously been reading.
“Alpha males look for alpha females,” said Simon as he pointed to the articles. My eyes scanned the articles before I scowled.
“This is all make-believe!”
“We saw a werewolf!” Simon snapped impatiently. “Don’t pretend it wasn’t that. Miranda isn’t in the room.” My head was spinning.
“So…what? That creepy old man is right? Not only is there a werewolf but it wants a female? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Maybe not,” Simon reasoned. “Look how much teen fiction or lore is on the internet about werewolves. Alpha males, alpha females, betas, packs. Maybe the reason there’s so many stories out there is because there’s some reality to them, Ev.”
“And what?”
“And evidently teen fiction has it wrong where these things change into actual wolves. They don’t. They change into half-human half-wolf monsters.”
“Say I’m believing all of this,” I said as I began to pace. “So, teen fiction has it all wrong? These are terrifying monsters and not hot guys who like to take their shirts off? Dang. I’m really disappointed now.”
Simon caught on to my sarcasm. “Don’t be an a-hole. You know what we saw was real.” He wasn’t wrong. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, what we saw wasn’t fake.
“Fine. So, what do we do? No one’s going to ever believe us. I hardly believe us.”
“We’ve already got one person,” Simon recalled. “Old Man Thompson. Let’s go see him tomorrow.”
“The town grouch?”
“Yeah, why not? Maybe he knows a lot more than what you got out of him. We should also hit up the library to see what we’re up against…”
As Simon happily yapped about doing research as if this was an exciting project and not something utterly terrifying, it was me who reached the horrible conclusion I had yet to grasp earlier. Ironically enough, I reached it as soon as the doorbell rang. Rushing over to Simon’s bedroom window overlooking the front house, I found Matt’s black Chevy truck was parked out front.
“Simon…” I said slowly, pieces of the puzzle starting to shift together. “If the werewolf is looking for an alpha female…” I trailed off.
“Dang. Yeah, he probably wants you.” Simon nodded seriously as he guessed my thoughts. “You’re screwed.”
“No, you idiot,” I chastised. “An alpha female. Think of the slang for that. She’d be a dominant female in a group. She dates as many males as she wants, is strong and confident, thinks she’s always right, feels she’s more intelligent and better than almost everyone…” That wasn’t me. I was a mouthy person, but I didn’t hold any personality traits that an alpha had. I was too awkward and uncomfortable in my own skin.
“That’s Miranda!” Simon concluded with wide eyes. He swore under his breath. He seemed to be clicking together the same thoughts that I was having. His eyes widened. “That night we hit the deer, maybe the werewolf followed us home, and then it saw Miranda!” Neither of us spoke for a minute as we watched one another. Things were strangely kicking together and slowly making sense in a bizarre way. Simon came over to the window to watch as Matt and M
iranda walked out of the house and toward the truck. His eyes widened as he slapped his forehead. “Holy crap. Miranda started dating this dude right around the time we first saw the werewolf!”
Something bizarre happened next. I had been watching Matt and Miranda retreat to the truck. Miranda was talking a mile a minute, beaming while doing so. Matt politely opened the truck door for her, and she slid inside. But at the same time Simon had exclaimed his thought about the werewolf, Matt turned around, and his eyes flickered to where Simon and I were standing in the window. Given it was still light outside and dark in Simon’s room, Matt shouldn’t have been able to see us through the window. But it was as though not only had he heard our comments, but he could also see us from so far away. As Matt’s powder-blue eyes locked onto me, I shivered. His gaze was momentary, but I knew he could see me. Matt soon looked away and went to the driver’s side to allow himself in. After that, he and Miranda pulled out of the long driveway and took off down the road.
“He heard us!” Simon exclaimed in a horrified whisper. Obviously, he had just witnessed the exact same thing I had. Simon next started rambling that such a thing should be impossible, but I wasn’t listening. For a very eerie moment that was near unexplainable, I didn’t believe I was looking at Matt, my supervisor. I thought I had been looking back at the werewolf from that one night.
CHAPTER 7
The next day before Simon was about to get on the bus to go to school, he plopped down in a seat next to me at the kitchen table. “Well, Google was useless when I looked up ‘what to do when your big sister is dating a werewolf.’”
“You are stupid, aren’t you?” I muttered as I typed away at my own laptop. He wasn’t thinking this through. I was now at the extremely impossible idea that Matt was a werewolf. But unlike him, I was thinking this through one step at a time. “First, we have to establish if we’re right.”
The Wisconsin Werewolf Page 5