Monsters in the Midwest (Book 2): Northwoods Wolfman

by Burtness, Scott

  I’m a monster, he had howled again and again. A goddamn monster. The full moon agreed, and so he ran.

  When the setting moon finally released its hold on him, his human legs continued to push him northeast, further and further into the wilderness. When exhaustion finally claimed him, he curled up in the leaves under a broad-limbed elm and cried until he slept. The full moon turned him again that night, so he hunted. The following morning, he woke next to the eviscerated corpse of a stag. Drying blood and bits of entrails covered the ground, each piece of torn flesh a gory reminder of Dan and Colton and what Dallas had become. The sun had trekked halfway across the sky before he was able to look away and continue on.

  Dallas figured he’d head east across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula until he reached Sault Ste. Marie. From there, he could jump the Canadian border and lose himself in southern Ontario. There were easier ways to hike across Michigan, but he forced himself far up into the mountains. With any luck, he’d fall off a cliff or get eaten by a bear. At the very least, he’d be far away from anyone else.

  Now, two weeks into the wilderness, he stood staring at the deep, wide forest. The quiet landscape offered little distraction and allowed his thoughts to find their stubborn way back to Aletia. He knew she was out there somewhere, rounding up the Society and planning an all-out assault on Trappersville. He only hoped Lois, Herb, and Stanley would be long gone before then.

  Thinking of his friends brought a flood of unbidden memories. Drinking and playing pool with the guys. Lois’s first day on the job at Ronnie’s when she bent over to refill his coffee and he got a peek down her shirt. Seeing Deloris for the first time at the dealership, freshly washed and only six miles on the odometer. Hauling Herb up onto the bar to give the big toast after the bowling tourney. So many moments, so many normal, human moments.

  “All gone now, I suppose,” he said out loud. If the forest below had a different opinion, it kept it to itself.

  He only had two more weeks until the next full moon. When it came, he wanted to be as far away from civilization as possible. With a heavy sigh, Dallas set his shoulders and headed down the far side of the hill toward the waiting trees.

  He hiked during the day and slept beneath the stars at night. He drank from streams and snare-trapped rabbits and squirrels for food. He got wet when it rained, cold when the season’s first snow came down, and warmed himself on a wide rock when the sun returned. As the days passed, the man that was Dallas: lover, brawler, champion bowler, professional beer drinker, recreational pool hustler, HVAC repairman, member of the Society, and Hero of Trappersville, fell away piece by piece. Lost among the sticks and leaves and moss-covered rocks, they left only a shell of a man. Inside that shell, the wolf waited for the next full moon.

  The End…?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Scott Burtness lives in the Midwest with his wonderful wife, Liz and their pitt/boxer mix, Frank.

  Find Scott on:

  www.twitter.com/SWBauthor

  www.facebook.com/SWBauthor

  www.goodreads.com/SWBauthor

  www.amazon.com/author/swbauthor

  Or visit: Bowling alleys and karaoke bars in the Midwest

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