The Wolf At My Door

by Sam Hall

“And I’m his other dad, Adam. Johnny and Bill will be pissed they missed you. Did you have any plans on tonight? We’re having a BBQ.”

  “Janice just invited me. Yes, that would be lovely.”

  “So, how long have you known our son?” Duke asked.

  “Duke, don’t give the girl the third degree,” Adam said.

  “You’re going to make the girl nervous,” Janice said.

  “Mum, Dad and Dad, I know you’d like to grill Julie, but we have more deliveries to make. Phyllis will have rung the front office and made a complaint right about…” he looked at his phone as it began to ring, “now. I’ll bring her by tonight and you can talk to her, respectfully, without asking a million invasive questions.”

  “Son, we just want to get to know the new lady in your life,” Duke said.

  “Well, she won’t be in my life if you guys have your way, so cool it. Think back to grandma and the grandpas…” Duke and Adam winced at that. “Exactly, so chill. Anything you want us to bring?”

  “Just Julie,” Janice said with a warm smile. “We’ll see you later.”

  “Sorry for the parental overkill. Every time I’m seen with a girl, they lose their shit. Duke gets all ‘who are you that wants to see my son’s junk’ and Janice and Adam act like cheerleaders, overexcited by everything. John’s much more low key, he’ll just offer you a beer, and Bill’s usually too stressed out with running the mine to worry about what I’m doing.”

  “So, that’s who you grew up with. What happened when you wanted permission to do something? Did you have to ask every single one of them?”

  “Nah, just Mum. Though if I knew she’d say no, I’d ask Adam or Bill. If they said no, I’d just keep asking, hoping to get a better answer.”

  “That sounds…so confusing.”

  “Not really. If Bill was my only dad, I wouldn’t have had much of a male role model growing up. I love him, don’t get me wrong. He makes tremendous sacrifices to keep the family going, but having multiple dads meant there was always someone to care for us kids. Duke made sure we got our homework done and brushed our teeth, John patched up scraped knees and told us stories every night before bed, Adam got us drunk the first time. Said he wanted us to do it under supervision, but Mum freaked out.”

  “Us? You have siblings?”

  “Yeah, a twin sister, Brady. I know, Brandon and Brady is naff as hell, but Mum liked it. You’ll meet her tonight, she’ll bring her husbands and the kids, especially now you’re coming.”

  “I’m starting to feel a bit intimidated.”

  “Don’t be. People want to have a gawk at anyone new, it’s too small a community not to, but they won’t get too crazy. Just say hello. Here we are, Queen Phyllis’s.”

  He pulled the truck up outside a very large house with a perfectly manicured lawn and fence around the perimeter. An older woman came barrelling out as soon as we arrived, striding over in a cloud of orange chiffon. “Where have you been, Brandon Meares! I was told you would be here by ten o’clock at the very latest. You know you are supposed to come to my house first. I have a formal dinner tonight and it’s now 11:30. I don’t know how I’ll get it ready in time.”

  “Delivery times are estimates only,” Brandon said, getting out of the cab.

  “That is not what head office said. They definitely said 10 o’clock. I even got the officious little snip, Karen, to send me an email in writing confirming this.”

  “Better take that up with Karen,” he said, rolling the back door up and jumping in to start sorting out the goods.

  “And what’s this?” she snapped, turning those scary green eyes on me. “I don’t know you. Are you…? You’re that single girl who wants to break up happy marriages! How dare you bring someone like that here? And with some flea bitten mutt in tow. There are mothers and children!”

  “What the fuck?” I said. “You crazy... Oh! Hi, Al.”

  A stream of men came out the front door and made their way down to the truck. Al, the married guy I’d met at the mess, was one of them. “Hey, Julie. You giving Brandon a hand today?”

  “Yep, I think this is yours,” I said, passing him a box of produce.

  Her eyes went from Al to me, and then narrowed. “You know this woman? This is what I keep telling Kelly. We need to create separate settlements! There’s no reason for settled packs and the single to mix at all…”

  “Which means you wouldn’t see the kids at all,” one of the men said to her. “Love, go inside and have a drink and calm down. The girl is delivering groceries, not hawking her wares on a street corner.”

  “I might have to cancel tonight,” Phyllis said, her voice starting to waver. “I’m feeling one of my spells coming on.”

  “Buck, walk her back to her room. Don’t let her take anything,” Al said to one of the other guys. “Dom, Earl, get the patio ready. Make sure you’re careful at the corners. You know how she freaks if there’s any dirt there. Jock, Henry, put the groceries away and we’ll start on the dinner. Thanks Brandon, appreciate you making us second on the list.”

  “No problems, Al. See you next weekend.”

  The goods disappeared into the hands of the many men, as fast as Brandon could hand them out. Earl took Phyllis by the arm and marched her back up into the house, and she whimpered the whole way.

  “Something to keep in mind if you go with a big pack,” Brandon said once we got inside the truck, “everyone’s sure the constant histrionics are Phyllis’s attempts to maintain control of her blokes. There’s three more out at the mine, so she’s got eight in total. Eight sounds awesome at the beginning, when it’s all red hot passion, but once kids start coming… Her chances of getting to all of them and meeting their needs is not good. Instead she runs around being a ball busting bitch to keep everyone beholden to her, rather than there for love.”

  “There must be more to it than that,” I said, looking out the window. “Al seemed like a reasonable bloke, he’s not going to be emotionally blackmailed into staying.”

  “Maybe she gives head like a vacuum cleaner,” Brandon said, laughing when I started to make gagging noises. “Yeah, just like that.”

  “Ew! Ew! Ew!”

  15

  The rest of the deliveries went without a drama. There was one young family with a new baby that was super cute. Mum was breastfeeding bubs as we came inside, the three dads rushing around, trying to take the boxes from us, fussing over the mother, and managing to trip over each other in the process. When the child started crying, a dad dropped the box he was carrying, thankfully not the one with the eggs in it. Mum just reassured him calmly, getting the baby back on the nipple and redirected him to the job at hand. She thanked us for the delivery and asked idly how I was going. I mumbled something appropriate, transfixed by her placid beauty, completely absorbed in feeding her child.

  “OK, we’ve got to head back and pick up the next load from the warehouse, then we’re heading out to the farm.”

  “So there’s a whole farm connected to the Sanctuary? I had no idea this was a whole self-sustaining community when I came for the job. I figured everything got shipped in.”

  “Some of it,” Brandon said. “You’re about to see where the supplies are kept.”

  We pulled into a shed I’d never been to before. It was filled with floor to ceiling industrial shelving that contained household goods of every description. “How does this all get here?”

  “Someone does a run with one of the long haul trucks,” he said. “I do it sometimes. You could come if you wanted, return to civilisation for a day. Alright, maybe get out and stretch your legs as stacking the truck is going to take a bit.” He yanked his shirt off and tucked it into the back of his jeans.

  “And you need to do this shirtless?” I asked, my eyes running across his bare chest. He wasn’t as puffed up as some of the other guys, but he was all muscle and sinew.

  “It’s hot, shitty work, but it’s all made a whole lot better when you look at me like that.” He grinned and
then loped off into the shed.

  “C’mon Bud, let’s get some food,” I said. He sprang to his feet and ran in the direction of the mess hall. I was just starting to put something on my plate when the sirens began to wail. My head jerked up, and I saw everyone drop what they were doing and run for the entrance. Bud started to circle and howl, obviously distressed by the noise. I followed the group outside at a slower pace.

  Bam! I turned to see the gate to the mine rattle on its frame as something massive slammed against it. “Get the guns! Get the guns!” people yelled, running to the various buildings. Bam! Bam! Bam! What the fuck was that? Brandon had said I would be safe, that no harm would come to me on the full moon, then why were people flying around in a mad panic, looking for guns? It was like World War III was about to break out. I walked slowly towards the barrier, avoiding the flurry of people around me, peering past the mesh into the darkness beyond it, trying to work out what was battering its way through the gate. Bam! I heard a scrabbling noise, then a god awful screech, like something sharp dragging itself against metal. Bam! Bam! I should’ve been worried, tearing off and screaming from here, because I could see the pins on the frame were starting to bend. Bam! Bam! Bam! Then I heard it, a sound that had my blood running cold. An unearthly howl, like a wolf’s, yet totally unlike. It was as if it came from a throat coated with broken glass, forced through vocal cords made of barbed wire. Too late I realised that moving closer to something that was making that sound was not wise, that everyone was racing to find weapons for a reason. Smash! The gate flew wide and something that looked like it had crawled from the gates of hell stepped out.

  Buddy dropped down into an aggressive stance, growling ferociously at the beast that had broken down the gate. It was big and black and somehow, indistinct, as if made from smoke as well as flesh. It had four paws that moved slowly, almost gracefully towards me, bright red eyes that glowed within its smoky form and a long snout, like a wolf’s, that was currently scenting the air, scenting me. “Oh fuck!” I finally gasped, my brain now realising how much danger I was in.

  “Julie! Julie!” I heard people call dimly, but I couldn’t heed them.

  “Buddy!” I cried as he slunk closer to the beast. He dropped down into a crouch, his legs coiling. “Buddy, no!”

  I threw myself at my dog, but he leapt at the same time, jaws open wide. The black thing’s eyes flicked to my pup for just a moment, and that was all it took for it to pluck him from its flesh and throw him wide. “Buddy!” I sobbed, seeing him lying there, motionless. I ran over to his side, no longer caring about the hell beast, but it did not return my sentiment. I was slammed to the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt for my trouble, gasping for breath but unable to get any air, as I had been completely winded. Can’t breathe! Can’t breathe! I thought hysterically, fighting to fill my lungs, but I was no match for the huge weight on my spine. The horrific growl was now deafening in my ears, so much so that the sound of guns being fired was almost a muted counterpoint. I felt my shirt rip as I managed to wriggle free enough to lie on my back, and was greeted by the monstrous face of the beast. The red eyes bore into mine, it’s stinking breath washing over me. I tried to shimmy away from it, tears flowing freely, but it placed both of its paws on each of my arms. I screamed when its claws buried themselves into my skin, using air I didn’t have. My vision was starting to fail as I gasped, my lungs fighting to fill as the beast’s head drew closer and closer. “No!” I whimpered, “no!” I lost consciousness just as those terrible jaws descended.

  16

  I woke with a start in a room I’d never seen before. I was lying on a metal gurney, attached to a whole lot of machines that went ping. I looked at the IV in my arm, the curtain surrounding my bed and realised, I was in a hospital. I plucked the shapeless green gown away from my body and saw long rows of stitches. It was weird, the moment I looked at them was when I felt the deep aches and superficial itches on each wound site. What the hell… I thought, and then it came back. The smoke beast had hurt me. I glanced at my wrists and sure enough, there were thick bandages around them from where the animal had clawed me. Oh, god, I thought, tears beginning to rise. What had happened to Buddy? “Buddy…” I cried softly, my vision overwhelmed with a flood. I’d had him since he was a pup, all fluffy and falling all over the place. I remembered having to puppy proof the fence four times before I could stop him from trying to come to work with me. Then it was a kaleidoscope of images, of Buddy asleep with his head on my lap, of him running away with a stinking rabbit corpse, not letting me take it, of having to wash him afterwards and him woo wooing as I did so. Buddy curled up in a ball, sitting on the passenger seat of my car, looking excitedly down the road as we travelled, searching for a new home. “God, Bud,” I sobbed, “I’m sorry…”

  Yelp! My head whipped up and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest as I heard the clatter of doggy steps on the concrete floor. Woo woo! The green curtain was pulled aside as my dog barrelled in, whining and crying so much I started crying too. He tried to leap up on my bed but it took two goes before he landed on me, whimpering and licking and snuggling in as close as he could. “Bud,” I said, holding his wiggling body to me. “Buddy boy!”

  “I wondered what all the noise was about. You’re feeling better, I hope?” Doc Hobbes had joined us, pulling the green curtain back to reveal Finn and Kelly as well. She picked up the chart at the end of the bed and then consulted the various machines around me. “We’ll leave the IV in for the moment, but I think we can remove these now,” she said, reaching inside my gown to pull sticky sensors from my skin. “Now, would you like a drink?”

  “Yeah. Buddy, sit down! Yes, but first, I want some answers. Just what the hell is going on? What was that thing that attacked me? Is that what you are keeping at this place? Is this what the full moon is about?”

  “No, no, Julie, please lie down and let Doctor Hobbes finish her observations…” Kelly said.

  “If you think I’m going to stick around for the next few weeks to find out what happens on the mysterious full moon…”

  “You won’t have to. We’ve talked and we’ll let you know as soon as the Doctor finishes. She needs to sign off that getting news like this won’t impede your progress.”

  “She should be fine,” Doc said. “I’ve had a look at her stitches, she still has a day or two before they are ready to come out, but they’re all healing well, no sign of infection.” She turned to me. “You’ll need to take some antibiotics. Always with food, and don’t miss any. The infection you’re fighting can be virulent, we’ve already had to give you some intravenously since you were brought in. I’ll talk to you about how to care for your wounds after you’ve spoken to these two.”

  “Ok,” I said, looking at Kelly and Finn. “Talk.”

  Instead, Finn started to pull his shirt off. “Are you serious? Is the answer sexual or a strip show?” I snapped.

  “He can leave his clothes on if you prefer, but they will be shredded in the change. In the hope of reducing our clothing bill, we usually strip down before we do this.”

  “Do what?” I asked, my eyes flicking wildly between the two of them.

  “Can he take his uniform off and show you? He won’t touch you, not for a moment, I promise,” Kelly said.

  “Fine.” I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I watched Finn get naked without a twinge of arousal. They were scaring the shit out of me. The only things I could think of that they might need to show me nude were porn related or monster of the week kind of stuff. Apparently, option number 2 was the correct one. I watched open mouthed as he hunched over, his body moving in a series of lightning fast stretching, snapping, shifting motions until a huge white version of what had struck me down at the gate stood where Finn was. Buddy was up on his feet, then down at the foot of the bed, sniffing wildly. All I could do was stare.

  “This is what the Sanctuary is for,” Kelly said. “This is what we keep safe. This is what we all are, what we believe
you are.”

  I didn’t waste any time. I yanked the IV from my arm, which stung a lot more than when they show people doing that on TV, and jumped free of the bed. “Julie!” I heard Kelly call as I ran, pushing aside the curtain and flying down the ward, past empty beds and other cordoned off areas. I saw the big shed door exit and started to really put on speed, Buddy sprinting beside me. I emerged out into the light, eyes blinking, looking wildly around to see where to run to next. Instead I saw my car, idling, just outside the hospital with Brandon sitting in the driver’s seat. “Julie!” he called and opened the passenger seat door.

  He’s one of them! my brain insisted. Yep, he was, and he was in control of my only way out of this crazy place. I jumped into the seat, letting Buddy into the back, and slammed it shut before locking it. “Julie, I know you’re panicking. The car is full of petrol, and I have some money for you.” He handed me a wad of cash in an envelope. “That’s 1000 bucks. It’ll get you to the next town and keep you going until you can get a new job, if that’s what you want to do. If you want me to drive, I’ll stay. If you want to go on your own, I’ll get out and you can take the wheel. What do you want to do?” I looked back at the hospital and saw Kelly and Finn, still in white beast form, emerge in the doorway.

  “Just drive!” I snapped.

  For a while, all I could hear was the hum of the engine, the rasp of my lungs as I tried to catch my breath and Buddy’s panting. We peeled out of the Sanctuary complex and headed out onto the highway, back the way I’d originally come. I watched the trees and scrub flick by, until my heart rate slowed down to normal. Brandon turned to look at me, as if sensing the immediate crisis was over, and smiled tentatively.

  “You’re one of the them too, aren’t you?” I said flatly.

  “Yep, everyone you’ve met is in some degree a wolf.”

  “So that’s what that is, a werewolf?”