by Dan Dillard
Chapter 2
Jason snapped out of his trance and sat up startled. No one else noticed him in the sweaty training-slash-lunchroom. The large meeting table served only to keep seven drowsy heads from crashing into the floor. He stared at its Formica surface while a balding manager droned on about sexual harassment or whatever the topic was that week. His colleagues to the left and right were equally invested in their daydreams. One, an older man who served more as a greeter than a salesman, snored lightly.
Jason was restless and it was time to move on. Staying in one place too long had become dangerous for those around him, so he moved every nine to twelve months. The intensity of his condition increased through spring and summer, culminating in the fall, and then diminishing in the winter months. Jason equated it with hibernation, although the changes came with each new moon.
He'd had the same dreams about the wolf pack and the Native family ever since he was thirteen. The first dream came after his first feeding. It was not a diet he was proud of. Rats, small wildlife, sometimes farm animals and lately, people. He tried raw meat from the store, but it only satisfied his hunger temporarily, and may have made him more violent when he finally gave in.
Somehow he knew the visions were connected to his condition but could never get past the feeling of obsession. The wolf always watched the young family and then grew attached to them. After that, his dreams became a blank canvas for him to fill with speculation. In the wildest versions, he became one of them. In his darkest, he fed on the woman. The darker visions came when he was changing. Crazed, abstract images with moments of depraved clarity.
Over the past twelve years, Jason had become used to his solitary existence. Still, each new place brought him to a breaking point and he needed to move on. Deep down he thought he might like to feed on those who bored him, opposed him, those who got to live normal lives. He resented them all, but his jealousy came with hope that he might one day be rid of the curse as quickly as he had acquired it.
He smacked his palm on the conference table and walked out of the meeting.
"Jason?" the manager called after him. "Jason?"
He ignored it, grinning and dropping his nametag on the floor of the retail box store. 'Assistant Manager' it said. Ass Man is what his team called him. He would miss that, but he walked out the door as he'd done so many other times and resolved never to look back.
The sun comforted him as he walked the short distance from work to his apartment. Jason looked at his short shadow in the morning light and stopped for a moment to hold his hands up, making his shadow look like he had big, toothy jaws. He growled at the image on the sidewalk and then laughed to himself.
A quick jiggle of the key and the lock tumbled. He shoved the door open and looked around at his meager furnishings. A futon and a small television sitting on top of a cardboard box stared back. Several thousand dollars in twenty and fifty dollar bills were stashed in his closet. He gathered them quickly and then stuffed the money and his clothes into a large duffel bag.
A box of envelopes sat on the kitchen counter next to plastic salt and pepper shakers. He pulled one open and stuffed two months' worth of rent inside along with his key and scribbled a quick note.
Mrs. Hughes,
I'm sorry, something's come up at home and I have to get back to my family. I hope this is enough to cover until you find a new tenant. Thanks for everything,
Jason
Old Mrs. Hughes was at her door before he could leave it. She looked him up and down with concern and patted him on the shoulder.
"I had a feeling you wasn't staying too long," she said. "Mos' folks don't."
Then she counted the money and handed half of it back.
"Ms. Hughes, I'm trying to hold up my end of the deal here. There are still two months left on my lease," he said.
He stretched his hand out with the cash inside and she curled her fingers over his.
"You take care of yours, honey. I'll rent this place, don't you worry. Heck, I might move in that unit myself. It's bigger'n this one."
He smiled and gave her a quick hug. She'd been as kind to him as a grandmother since handing him that key ten months ago. In return, he kept his apartment as neat as an operating room. After all, blood brings police.
She patted his cheek. One bag held his funds, the other, his clothes and a single dream catcher he'd bought in Arizona. He turned as he opened the door to the taxi and waved at Mrs. Hughes. She waved back with her easy smile. Something tugged at Jason's insides. Most places didn't feel like home. He was going to miss this one.
"Bus station," he said.
The driver put the dingy minivan in gear.
"Sure thing. Where you off to?"
"Away."
"Fair enough. 'Bout a twenty minute ride."
The old cabbie met Jason's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"Mind if I close my eyes?" Jason said.
"Nope. I'm used to talking to myself. Radio bother ya?"
"Nope."
Jason's eyes narrowed to slits as the du-wop sounds of the 50's rolled out of the speakers. It brought a slight smile to his face. Within seconds, his eyes shut and the vision began.
Gray watched as the mother bathed her child in the stream. She called out to the child's father who turned and motioned toward his chest, then to the sky. He smiled before walking away. The woman smiled back and continued singing to the tiny child. The man was leaving to hunt as Gray had watched him do many times.
The curious wolf was taken by the loving way in which she cared for the baby and he felt pa strange urge to protect them in the father's absence. He watched into the night, careful not to alert them to his presence. The moon rose and fell, then the sun followed. He worried for his pack, but there was a quality-something so fragile about the woman and her baby-that wouldn't let him leave. Then a crackling sound from behind broke his concentration. His she wolf, white as snow, stared at him from the woods.
Jason woke. He blinked wildly as he realized where he was. The driver's eyes were on him in the mirror.
"Nightmare? You look a little shook up," he said.
Jason rubbed his eyes, "Something like that."
"We're here. Woke just in time."
"Great."
The meter read $42.80. Jason fished out a fifty and tossed it over the seat.
"Thanks," he said.
He took his bags and stepped out of the minivan. The day had warmed considerably and folks milled about the bus station, each with bags of their own. He looked at the arrivals and departures and then walked to a US map which hung on the wall.
"Jersey?" he said to himself. Then he shook his head, "Too crowded."
He glanced around at the other people and wondered where they were off to and if it was possible for him to avoid them all. The scroll above the ticket windows said "Dallas", then "Houston". He'd moved from one end to the other in that state and had enough of Texas. Back to the map. He liked the wide open spaces offered in the Southwest, but it was time for a change.
A young mother and her daughter approached the map and stood just next to him. She explained to her little one where they were and where they were going. Jason smiled at the child, perhaps six or seven years old.
"Say," he said to the girl. "If you were me?where would you go?"
Then he winked at the mother. The child looked at him shyly and then closed her eyes and placed a finger on the map as if she was playing pin the bus on the city. Jason laughed and the mother smiled at her clever child.
"My thoughts exactly," he said. "Adventure starts with the first step! Thank you m' lady." He bowed to the little girl. The little girl grinned, showing a few missing teeth. Her mother also smiled.
Jason approached the ticket counter and spoke to the cashier, "Upon the advice of a brilliant world traveler, I would like one ticket to Bloomington, Indiana."
"Are you sure?" said the woman in the booth with a level of interest that could only have come from handing thousands of tickets to people
who were all going somewhere she wasn't.
Jason looked back at the little girl for a second opinion. She shook her head enthusiastically while the young mother covered her own mouth in part shock, part amusement.
"I'm sure."
"Really?" said the ticket lady.
Jason ignored her sarcasm and asked another question. "How many transfers is that?"
The clerk punched some buttons on the computer and said, "Three. You can leave in about two hours. Bus arrives in Bloomington tomorrow evening at 8:42 pm."
Jason's eyes widened and he sighed as he calculated the travel time in his head. Once he exchanged money for a ticket, he checked the Phase of the Moon app on his cell phone. His face lit up. Sixteen days before the next change. Two days travel left him a couple of weeks to scout the area and prepare.
Once he had his ticket in hand, he relaxed. He waved at the little girl as she and her mother stood waiting for a young man in uniform to step off of the bus. The girl squealed, then showered her daddy with hugs and kisses. Then she babbled and her hands gestured wildly, demonstrating all the things he had missed in his absence.
"And then I showed that man where to go on that map and he's gonna go there!" Jason heard her say.
The soldier did his best to keep up. The exhaustion in his face and his wide smile indicated he had been gone for a very long time.
"I hope you pointed to someplace nice, Butterfly," he said and hugged her tightly.
Jason smiled at the sentiment, and at the nickname "Butterfly". It made him long for family.