The Wisconsin Werewolf

by Alex Gedgaudas

  I smiled weakly. Little did she know he was a ninety-nine-year-old in a young man’s body. “He would even ask about the family.” Miranda sighed as she began to clean the countertops with a rag and cleaner. It was her go-to move when stressed. She liked to clean. But it was the last of what Miranda said that caught my full attention.

  “Ask about the family?”

  “Yeah. You know, typical stuff. Asking about why I was at home with you and Simon, how long you have both lived here, stuff like that.”

  As Miranda prattled on some more about her ridiculous mind games she planned on playing, all I could do was sit and wonder about Matt’s possible motives. I now knew he had excellent hearing. Maybe he started asking our sister about Simon and me after overhearing us talk about werewolves inside of our house that one afternoon.

  There was no time to give too much thought to Matt’s possible ulterior motives in asking about Simon and me. My brother came bounding down the stairs, brightly explaining to Miranda that he needed to borrow me. He really wanted to show me the new graphics for a video game that was coming out next summer.

  I enthusiastically agreed to go look as Miranda snorted. As we left, she was mumbling about us being the biggest nerds. As soon as I was upstairs and inside of his room, Simon closed the door and locked it. “What, no graphics?”

  He snorted at my words. “Guess who found another dead deer today?”

  I paled as he showed me the picture he took of it. I would have preferred to look at video game graphics than the horrific sight on his phone. This deer was like the others that were killed. It wasn’t eaten. It was merely cut open with its organs and guts exposed on display. “You cleaned it up?”

  “Erik helped me. We buried it in the backyard before you got home. This isn’t like werewolves on the internet,” Simon muttered as he pulled his laptop off the bed to make it come alive. “There’s no full moon they have to wait for. There’s no mark of the beast on their hands.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly. Granted, there were quite a few things that were generally wrong with the conversations we had been having as of late, but Simon seemed really worried as he fiddled around on his laptop.

  “I’m now wondering if silver would even work to kill the alpha.”

  He was right to worry. It didn’t seem that the werewolves were in any way traditional. There was no full moon to wait for, no obvious signs to reveal what the set-up guys secretly were.

  It was then that I told Simon everything that happened that afternoon. In the course of two hours, I explained everything that happened with Matt. I then went on to explain what happened with Cale, how he had come to the house and just about admitted to murdering our neighbor. By the time I was finished with my story, Simon closed his laptop and gently tossed it onto his bed. His face was pale as he watched the floor beneath his feet. He was quiet for a few moments as he seemed to be digesting everything I had told him.

  “I think it’s safe to assume Cale didn’t find our house in the employee records.”

  “I think it’s safe to assume the whole pack now knows how to find us,” I murmured. Just like that, all thoughts of boy talk with Miranda were long gone. We were back to the ugly crux of things. I lowered my voice. “I’m terrified to talk loud in case they’re outside right now.” That wasn’t an exaggeration on my part. There was no way to tell if Cale or one of the others was still outside listening in on our conversations.

  I didn’t think Simon’s face could go paler. I was wrong. His eyes were wide and bug-like, his face a sickly green color. But as disturbed as my brother was, he was quick on his feet with ideas. His eyes widened. “What if it’s like Fright Night or Cursed?” He jumped up from his spot to hurry over to his desk. Simon pulled a piece of paper out before grabbing a nearby pen. He began scribbling something.

  “What are you talking about?” It was stupid to relate what we were going through to movies. Hollywood wasn’t at all the same as real life.

  But Simon didn’t answer me. He raised a single finger to his lips to motion for me to keep silent. He finished his scribbling, his words a messy scrawl as I read what he wrote.

  I don’t want to talk in case Cale can hear us. In theory, if you kill the alpha, everyone returns to normal. Everyone would return HUMAN.

  I had to hand it to my brother, he wasn’t dumb. This was actually solid logic even if it did stem from Hollywood. I took the pen from him to begin scribbling my own message.

  Great idea, big problem. We still don’t know who the alpha is.

  Simon nodded as he read my message, his brows knitted as he thought.

  He scribbled once more before showing off his handiwork.

  Until we know more, we act smart.

  As I looked at the message, I was perplexed by what he meant until he wrote some more.

  We boobytrap the house and the yard and make it werewolf-proof.

  CHAPTER 16

  The next day, I woke up late. Simon poked me awake and then we got started on preparing the house for possible werewolf attacks. A simple Google search for “How to kill a werewolf” was less than helpful. There were hundreds of thousands of articles that popped up online, but the majority of them were just stupid forums where people discussed werewolves.

  Simon’s friend Erik decided to tag along with us on our way to the hardware store. As much as I didn’t like that there was another person in on the knowledge that my old department was a pack of wolves, having someone else in on the loop was a tad comforting. Erik had the idea that the reason Old Man Thompson was killed was because he knew the identity of the alpha wolf.

  “Maybe the old man knew how to kill it, too,” said Simon as we drove. The great part about being in a moving car was that we didn’t have to speak in hushed voices or low volumes like we did at home. On the highway, we could freely speak about the idea of killing the alpha wolf. If Simon’s hypothesis held any truth to it, killing the head wolf could turn the rest of the department human again. The dull voice of the radio could softly be heard, talking about a jogger who hadn’t been seen since the other day.

  It was only as we were pulling into the parking lot that my brother made mention of the articles online. “You know, you can’t really tell if anyone on here has a real werewolf problem or not.”

  Erik nodded. He and Simon had been reading the same articles earlier. “Some of the people on the internet could have a legit monster problem.”

  The boys were probably on to something. Even though the internet was filled with whack jobs or trolls, that didn’t necessarily mean any and all forums on the internet were fake. Someone, maybe a lot of people, could be dealing with the same problems we were having.

  “Possibly,” I allowed, causing Erik to beam as I half gave light to his theory. “But I doubt anyone online is in the same boat we are.”

  “But what if they are?” Simon pushed as we pulled into the parking lot of the store. “What if somewhere out there people are dealing with werewolves as well? Maybe someone out there knows a sure-fire way to kill it!”

  “Shooting it with a gun might help,” reasoned Erik as he slid his oversized glasses back up his nose.

  “Matt said he shot at the wolf that turned him,” I muttered as I shut off the car and put it in park. “It didn’t do anything. The wolf still killed his friend.”

  None of us spoke as we headed into the store with a cart and a crazy list at hand. We were going to swing by multiple places to secure everything on our list. First was the hardware store; the next was a church.

  As our unlikely trio split up in the store to cover more ground, I made it to the electrical department before I spotted someone familiar. My stomach clenched uncomfortably as I spotted Perry browsing wall outlets. I slowly backed away, hoping he didn’t see me.

  I shouldn’t have bothered. Perry was a werewolf. Like Matt, his hearing was excellent. “Ms. Davis.” Perry smiled as he faced me. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  “You as well.” I made to tu
rn around and leave the aisle, inwardly deciding to abort the mission of buying everything we needed from this particular store. Perry walked beside my cart. He looked as if he was still on the clock for work. His sharp charcoal gray suit and red tie stood out among the random people around us simply shopping. Perry walked beside me, inspiring me to pause. I could see Simon and Erik about to enter an aisle a few lanes over, but I didn’t want to lead Perry to them.

  “Pity you don’t wish to stay in our department. Some of the boys have grown fond of you.”

  That was laughable, but a smile didn’t cross my face. I really hadn’t spoken to the boys during the length of my employment. Most of the time I had been in the same room with them, I was met with silence. The occasional time Bobby or Nico would talk to me was when they would ask me to toss them a roll of tape for them to secure HDMI cables to the floor during room set up. If Cale spoke, it was almost always to insult me or someone else. I didn’t say anything to Perry, inspiring him to continue. “Are you quite sure you don’t wish to reconsider?”

  Of course I was sure. Even though Perry was a werewolf, he couldn’t possibly expect me to remain in the department now that I knew the truth. It was definitely a safety hazard to continue working with any of them, especially Cale.

  “I’m not telling anyone what you all are if that’s why we’re talking.” I wanted to sound brave, but instead I sounded afraid.

  Perry smiled at my fear. “Oh, I know you won’t be. I managed to pull some strings for you if you didn’t wish to reconsider.” My brows furrowed as he continued. “Tim needs another employee in shipping. Since it’s your old stomping grounds, I figured you’d probably enjoy going back to that department.” I was shaking my head, about to say that I didn’t wish to go back to work at the hotel, before Perry was again speaking. “Don’t you worry, my dear, it’ll only be you and the blonde one working from now on.”

  Jonna was my old coworker that was blonde. But it was irrelevant. Even if I wasn’t fearful of the set-up department’s werewolves, I still wouldn’t go back to shipping. Laurel the supervisor had irrationally despised me. She played head games where she purposely wouldn’t answer me if I spoke. Or worse, when she did speak, all she had was a very snotty tone. Going back to shipping would just put me in the exact miserable situation I was in prior to my transfer. Still, curiosity got the better of me as Perry started to walk away without hearing from me.

  “Did Laurel leave?”

  It was as though Perry was waiting for me to ask exactly this question. He ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair as he turned to me. He smiled warmly. “No. Damndest thing, she’s gone missing.” My eyes widened as I tried to process how this could be. Perry watched my fearful expression, a slow smile developing. “What a dangerous world we live in,” he said softly. “Hopefully a grisly demise hasn’t befallen the poor young woman.”

  At this point, I was shaking with fear. I had a very bad feeling that was exactly what had happened to Laurel. Even though I didn’t necessarily like her, I would never wish her any harm. Perry nodded slowly as he analyzed how frightened I now was. It amused him.

  “How very lucky such an event transpired for you.” He grinned. “Now you can stay at the hotel.” Perry walked away after that. I could only stand in a stunned stupor for a few moments after his departure.

  After collecting the items on the list Simon had made, I made him and Erik check out with me before we quickly exited the store. We were missing wooden stakes, but Simon and I didn’t think that Erik properly thought through what it was we were up against. Stakes went along with vampire myths. Stabbing them with a wooden stake through the heart supposedly killed them. That would be helpful if we had ourselves a vampire problem. A part of me then gave life to the idea that there was far more to the world than I previously thought. Maybe vampires, witches, and other curses were real as well. The other—stronger—part of me realized I couldn’t spend time thinking about the what-ifs. There was already one monster problem to deal with; I couldn’t scare myself about the other hypotheticals out there in the world.

  But even if the wooden stakes worked for killing werewolves, I didn’t relish the idea of getting close to any of the guys while they were in full transition to try to stab them. In order to stab Cale with a stake, I would have to be right next to him to accomplish the task.

  I didn’t see Perry again in the store, but that didn’t matter. I was still afraid. He accomplished exactly what he wanted in telling me about Laurel.

  I drove straight back to our house instead of stopping by the local Catholic church. Simon protested we needed to collect holy water and have the squirt guns he bought blessed by a priest, but I couldn’t pay him any attention. I needed to see for myself if what Perry had said was true. Part of me knew it was; he wouldn’t have told me if he didn’t know for certain.

  I would have simply looked up Laurel’s name on my cell phone, but mobile internet was surprisingly limited in the Dells. You couldn’t pull anything up. During the trip home, I explained to Simon and Erik what had happened. What Perry said, how it was as though he was trying to scare me. Both boys were freaked out as well. With their being so young, I hated scaring them, but telling them the truth was better than sugarcoating anything.

  When we got home, I made Simon look up the name Laurel Reed on an internet search. I went up to my room and dug through some papers on my desk. By the time I found my old coworker Jonna’s phone number, Simon had found multiple articles about Laurel that had been uploaded just that morning.

  MISSING HIKER PRESUMED DEAD

  The article went into detail how Laurel had disappeared the day before yesterday. She had been hiking one of the many trails by Devil’s Lake by herself. No one had seen or heard from her since she left her apartment. Search and rescue teams had failed to locate her, but her ripped clothes and a bloody shoe had been found.

  My phone call with Jonna had been brief. She was barely audible while crying on the phone. Word of mouth confirmed that Laurel was most likely dead. Jonna had spoken to Laurel’s sister, who had come back from the coroner. The reason why she was believed to be dead was that inside of her shoe was the bloody remains of her foot.

  All I could do was stare at my phone in stunned silence after I hung up. “Why her…?” I wondered aloud as Erik and Simon made their way into my room. “Why would the wolves kill Laurel?”

  “We don’t know it was the werewolves,” reasoned Erik before Simon and I shot him dirty looks.

  He shrugged weakly. “I’m trying to get you guys not to panic.”

  “Too late, it’s the perfect time to panic!”

  I buried my head into my hands.

  Simon broke the tension-filled atmosphere. “Most likely the lady didn’t get eaten by a bear,” he reasoned. Erik helped himself to the contents of our fridge. He casually searched for a snack as if we weren’t in the middle of discussing a sudden mysterious death by the hands of monsters.

  “So the werewolves killed her, but why…” wondered Simon as he started scribbling in a notebook.

  My brother was oblivious to his friend raiding our fridge. Erik grabbed a stack of cheese, a few pieces of peppered turkey, and then a few pieces of pepperoni. After getting himself a plate to lay his pile of food, Erik proceeded to head to the pantry in search of bread. Simon was still talking, but all I could do was watch Erik proceed to make three large sandwiches. Each sandwich looked as big as two sandwiches high.

  Erik sat himself down at the bar before finding that Simon and I had stopped talking to watch him.

  “Oh. Did you guys want me to make you one, too?”

  Simon glared. “Focus, man. Why would they kill Everly’s old coworker?”

  “Well, that’s obvious,” Erik said around a mouthful. He swallowed his massive bite of food before taking another oversized bite. His cheeks looked like an inflated chipmunk’s as he chewed.

  Simon and I waited as he ate. My impatient brother even waved his hand to get his friend to ans
wer faster. “There’s three possible reasons,” said Erik with a full mouth. “One, the werewolves want you to join the pack,” he reasoned as he finally swallowed his bite. “They want you to join, but you quit.”

  “So what the hell does killing Laurel accomplish?”

  “A way to get you back to the hotel.” Erik shrugged. “With her gone, it provided an opportunity for you to go back to the original department. Maybe one of the werewolves had the idea if they can get you back to working at the hotel, they can keep an eye on you.”

  “That’s really reaching,” said Simon sourly.

  “Not necessarily,” reasoned Erik as he slid his glasses back up his nose. “Option two, it could be an intimidation factor. Maybe the chick was in the woods and one of the wolves recognized her scent. Wrong place at the right time, the wolf killed her knowing it that it would spook you to find out she had been killed.”

  Simon thought this theory through. He nodded as if this were possible, but none of it was making sense to me. I rubbed my forehead wearily. “What’s option number three?”

  Erik took a slow bite, chewing even slower. He spared me a sad glance before he spoke. “One of the werewolves did it to impress you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Erik in no way looked like a professional in anything. Anytime I had seen the kid, he always wore baggy cargo pants and army camouflage shirts. But Simon kept reassuring me that Erik knew a lot about monsters from reading comic books as well as his years of watching the Syfy channel. Here and now, I could believe that he knew what he was taking about. Erik was very sure in the way he spoke, confident in his knowledge. He took another large bite and talked in between chewing. “Maybe we were wrong in our original theory that Matt was trying to mate with your sister. Maybe, he or another wolf are really after you.”