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Adventures In Living With The Mythical |
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A military veteran is adopted by a werewolf and brought into his pack. Insanity ensues. About "Life With A Werewolf" Life with a werewolf is a dramatic blog. As such the characters in this blog are not real but maybe loosely based on real people. The situations represented are not real but maybe loosely based on real things that have happened in my life. There are a multitude of ways to view life, this is simply one of the ways I have chosen to view mine. Updated Every Friday unless I can't or don't want to. If this is your first time reading this...start here: https://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/1040400-Welcome-To-The-Pack First compilation book will be available soon on Amazon. My book, "Dreamers of The Sea" is available now on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0uz7xa3 |
| It was a couple days later. Once again, I was back in the squad car, sitting in the back. There was a binder sitting next to me. He grabbed me this time as I was making my way towards the grocery store. Last time I had just been out on a walk. "Officer Smith, you keep this up and people are going to talk," I said. He gave me a smirk but didn't respond. We wound up at the same open field. When he opened the door for me, he opened the binder, and I walked towards the woods. "Quote....A county werewolf, if ever finds a population to be duly unruly or ill, may invoke a culling. In this act, the county representative will destroy as many citizens as he deems necessary until the threat has been passed. End quote." He handed it to me open to the page. The regulation looked official, alright. At least to my semi-trained eye in such things. But anyone can fake a regulation. I looked towards the woods and took a couple steps towards it. "Regulations can easily be faked," I said. "Especially when they're in a three ring binder." I thumbed through the binder a bit as he spoke again. "Doesn't child molestation count as an illness?" "I don't know what Crash's job entails. What I do know, Officer, is that you have a sworn duty to uphold the law, to protect the public. If you think something is going on, then report it!" He snarled at me, stepping close. "Don't you think I've already tried that?! Every day, my daughter gets worse, and they tell me nothing is happening! Nothing's going on, there's no evidence. She's almost catatonic now! She won't go to school anymore. I can't get her to leave the damn house!" "What do you want me to do about it?!" "Tell Crash to invoke the culling. To kill that piece of shit that the cops won't." One of many red flags struck me. "Aren't you the cops?" He just continued to glare. He turned towards the woods, pulling his arms around himself. "You know what I mean," he said eventually. It sounded like he was on the verge of tears again. "Look, Officer. Crash will be awake at five. Be at the house about five thirty, you can talk to him then." "I can't. I have an appointment with my daughter out of town. We won't be back in town till seven tonight the earliest." I examined the binder he handed me. It was in black and white, it did look official. I snapped a photograph of the page on my phone when he wasn't looking. "Okay, okay. I'll tell Crash to investigate. His word on this, whether he chooses to investigate anything or not will be final, and this matter will be settled, alright?" He kept his arms around himself, still staring at the woods. "That sounds perfect," he said. Then he dropped me off back home. He even flashed the lights once when turning into the house, though I'm not sure what that was even about. It took a couple of minutes before Crash was up and around. He went to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal. I was waiting. I knew I needed to talk to him about Officer Smith and his weirdness, but I didn't want to surprise him immediately when he got up. Instead, I went into the kitchen, and poured myself a cup of coffee. Crash was thumbing through messages on his phone as he ate. "Jason, we have to talk." "Yeah, Crash. I think we do," I said. "You're lucky. You could have been arrested," Crash said. I was stunned. "For what?" "Come on, Jason. You didn't think anyone would notice you stalking around the school campus? You're very lucky." "Oh, come on! I was no where near any school campus! I was going to the store when I got picked up." "That's strange, considering it says you were stalking Derek Styles." "Who the fuck is that?!" Crash showed me a picture. It was a familiar picture, the same one that Officer Smith showed me earlier. "You got to leave that man alone, Jason. He could have pressed charges." I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist. "Who made the complaint? Let me guess, officer Smith?" "The one who nearly arrested you? Yes, he filed the damn report! You're really lucky." "Crash, will you just listen to me for a second?! I wasn't near any damn school! I don't know Derek Styles, and I didn't ever even approach the guy!" Crash steps forward then. He leans in, and takes a sniff. A dark look crosses his face. "Where were you?" "I was just walking. Officer Smith picked me up." I showed Crash the photograph. "That's....not regulation. That's not even legal," Crash said looking down at the image. "Crash, what's a culling?" "I told you," he said. "No, you didn't. You danced around it and gave me a rumor. You told me it's something you don't ever want to do." Crash started stripping as he raced towards his room. When he got there, he shut the door, and I could hear him beginning to shift into his werewolf form. "Crash, what the hell is going on?!" "I can't....." he started. A bone popped and he gasped. "I can't....talk about...." he gasped again, and something else shifted. "Then tell me what a culling is," I said. He threw open the door in his werewolf form. "No," Crash said. Then raced out of the house. I was left there, holding my phone, staring down at the image of that fake regulation. Crash was gone. I still had questions. What was a culling? Why was Crash so terrified of telling me what that was? What was up with Officer Smith? What was going on?! |
| It wasn't my first time riding in the back of a cop car. It certainly was my first time doing so sober. It was also the first time I had ridden in one without being handcuffed. "It's just easier like this," the officer told me up front. He had a grizzled face that made him look about a billion years old. But in truth, he was probably only in his late twenties. Hard jobs have a way of aging you and causing you to turn to substances that age. Alcohol, cigarettes, Other items that's even worse for your body. Officer Smith up front was no different. We rode out to a small out of the way clearing. The sun was just getting ready to set. "I hope you brought the picnic basket and blanket, cause I didn't pack a thing for this date," I said. "Nope, just handcuffs." "Kinky," I replied. He just shook his head. He let me out, and guided me some distance away from his patrol car. "Sorry to pick you up like this." There was a hangdog look to his face, as if his entire world was crumbling around him and he was just barely holding it together. "I need Crash's help. I need a werewolf." "You literally have his phone number." He put his hands on his head, and turned towards the trees in the distance. Slowly, he began to rub the back of his head. "She came home crying. She never cried before. Not for years. 'Little girls cry' is what she told me." "So, her boyfriend?" "I think it was her math teacher," he said. "Bastard was always so understanding. A huge feminist, always big on female empowerment. But, in the couple of times I met him he just had this look in his eyes. This creepy look that I've learned means 'I'm going to do something horrible. And laugh about it.'" "What was she doing when she came home crying? Was it a date?" "No. She used to be so active in school. She was in the debate club, the glee club. She was on the student council. Now, she's withdrawn from everything. Won't talk to me, and of course I have no evidence, no cause to talk to anyone." "Officer. Why come to me with all of this?" He shook his head for a moment, and walked towards the woods. I could tell he was fighting back tears. His shoulders slumped, his arms wrapped around himself like he was hugging himself. His head bowed for a moment. Then he stepped back, his eyes red. "Cause, I'm hoping you can talk him into something." "You want him dead." He gritted his teeth. "I want him eviscerated. I want his guts strewn across that fuckin campus. I want Crash to eat his black heart and drink his blood." We stared at each other for a moment. "That would mean Crash would lose his life." He blinked. "What?" "Crash can't just go out and..." "That's bullshit. Of course he can! He's a county werewolf, he can literally kill anyone he wants to! He'd just have to write the paperwork after. He can kill your entire household if he got tired of all of you one day, and then come into work gnawing on your thigh bone. No one would say a thing to him. It's part of his job. Culling they call it. Ask Crash about it." "I don't understand every part of Crash's job officer, but I do understand there's severe repercussions for..." He growled low in his throat. It grew louder until it over rode my statement. "Look, just ask him, okay? Please?" It was a long awkward ride home. I didn't say another word, and he didn't either. When I'd gotten home, Crash was already out and about at his office doing the office work portion of his job. This kind of information wasn't the type that I was going to bother the other guys with. But it did eat at me. That what if. I know Crash has said in the past that he'd have severe repercussions for harming humans. But, is there a reason and way he could get away with it? Was there something to what that cop told me? At the time I didn't want to admit it, but he managed to give me some doubts. When Crash eventually came home that day, the sun was already setting. He was always more than a little irritable on those days and that day was no exception. Crash came in, his head hung low, his hands balled in fists. "You look like you need a shooting game," I said. He just nodded. And proceeded to tell me...well, I can't talk about it here. But, work related office crap. The political machinations of a small office filled with friends who have to work together on occasion. The conversation carried us from the front door, over to the video game. Zack was still at work, so we had free reign of the television. As we powered up the system, I bit the bullet. "Crash, what's 'Culling'?" He dropped the controller for a moment. Then picked it back up. "Where did you hear that term?" I turned towards him. "What does it mean, Crash?" "It's one of my more hated responsibilities," he said as he chose a game for us both to play. "Crash, come on. What does it mean?" He turned the game on for a moment. I didn't think he was going to answer. Finally, he said, "in the seventies it is rumored that a werewolf and two politicians had drinks. Well, sometimes they're generals not politicians, and sometimes it's not drinks but coke, but you get the idea. They were talking about worst case scenarios and things that could be done about it. The worst case scenario thankfully has never happened and I've never had to use that hidden law." "What's the worst case scenario." Crash didn't answer. "After all the crap you know I've seen and done, you can't trust me with this?" "Jason." He laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. "There's a lot that you still don't know. Hell, there's quite a bit that I don't know. Trust me when I say this. I can't explain it to you, okay? Please?" I didn't like the fact that he kept something from me like that. But I finally agreed and we played a few rounds of the zombie level on Call of Duty. I won of course. We didn't talk about Culling or Officer Smith's daughter and her math teacher problem. To be honest, I wish we did. It feels like there's a weight hanging between us now. I just hope that when it comes crashing down it won't cause a rift. |
| We were sitting in a dining room, trapped within four small walls with Gary, Judith, Darin, and of course, Denise. We tried enjoying our hotdogs and hamburgers, and I remember sitting at the meal thinking about how strange it was to be eating hamburgers with a minotaur not less than five feet from me. To her credit, she did eat a hamburger as well. It was piled high with toppings of course: lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, almost double of every topping on it, and a decent amount of fries. Much of what was eaten was had in silence. We spent most of the time staring down at our plates, waiting for the big occasion to arrive. Judith for her part was trying to do everything to extend the dinner. Offering seconds, thirds. Offering cake, taking out a pie they had yesterday even. But it was delaying the inevitable, and most of us turned the pie down. Crash and Denise afterwards exchanged a look. There was a serious nature to it, but something lay beneath it, something I didn't question at the time. As they headed outside they both had started shifting. They shed their shirts, but was wearing overalls. Denise to her credit had a sports bra on that she kept on, not that the overalls revealed much anyway. The fight was about to be underway, Gary was inside next to me on pins and needles. "Oh dear lord, oh, I never wanted, oh..." he kept saying. I looked over at Gary. "Never wanted what?" Judith was next to Denise outside, trying to talk her future daughter-in-law out of the fight. Darin was in front of her, trying his best to protect his wife. The snow on the ground made everything a bit difficult for Darin and Judith. Crash and Denise barely felt it. The only light they had was the street lamp on the corner. The only audience other than Darin and Judith was a stop sign, the trees in the neighborhood, and us two inside. "I just....I mean..." Gary said. He looked as if he was biting his thumb now in nerves. He started to step outside. I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back in. "Bad idea," I said. "This is my fault. My fault. I just wanted Darin to not suffer the way I did. I only wanted Darin to be happy. Not be trapped in his own mind. To witness himself doing horrible things to his friends and neighbors and have no way of stopping himself. No recourse to...to..." he stopped. Both Crash and Denise were staring at us now. At him. "Gary," I said. "Let me ask you this, does it look like Darin is trapped? Me? I've known Crash for years now. He's never once made me feel that way." "No," Gary muttered, shaking his head. "But, my experience...." "You're experience was with a meth-headed vampire who hates me and Crash and wants us both dead. That is not your, mine, Denise's or Crash's fault." He paused a moment as if my words had struck home. Or if not home, at least they struck something. He nodded a single time, then stepped outside. I tried to grab him, but he didn't listen then. "I must protest," Gary said, stepping between them. "Crash, you are my dearest neighbor and friend. I've known you for years. Denise, you are going to be my daughter-in-law. I can't let this continue." "This is out of your hands, Gary. I have a duty to perform as a duly appointed official of this county and state. I must ask you humans to step inside. Step away from the windows, and wait till this is over." Darin grabbed his fiance, and pressed his forehead to hers. "Don't be bullheaded please," he said. She smiled at him, and set him aside, along with Judith. I pulled everyone back to the house as best I could. "It's out of our hands. We'd only be collateral damage now." Judith looked at me, her eyes heavy. "That means, we're only in the way, right?" I nodded. "Good." She said, then she stepped between them again. She looked at Denise and Crash and said, "fight if you may. But it will be over my dead body." She closed her eyes. Gary stepped in next to her and said "and mine." I looked at Crash and Denise. "I know you're fast enough to literally fight around us and no one will probably get hurt. Or just move to the back yard and we can't keep up. But, I'd rather you not fight either." "Denise, your family loves you," Crash said. "You willing to let this go?" "No." The shift had come strong and hard for her, I heard the bones popping and rearranging as she grew into her form. A gutteral, visceral sound that even made me squeamish. There was the sound of velcro ripping, then a tail sprouted from behind her. Her horns finished growing in last. Both Judith and Gary gasped at the sight of her. "We won't fight till death. We'll fight to first blood," she said, clenching fists. Crash by now had been through the worst of his change as well. His snarling muzzle curled into a smile with his ears. "You're at a disadvantage." He flexed his fingers showing off his claws. "Till first pin. We take it to the back yard." They moved around us. We stayed near the front, watching at a distance. It was something to see. They moved with such speeds and ferocity when unencumbered by us. They started at a distance, Denise drug her foot like a bull on a charge, bent down into a fighters stance, and then...there was a blur. They were locked up together in a wrestlers grip, one trying to over power the other. Then there was another blur. Denise had Crash in a headlock. He turned his head inward towards her, then another blur. He nearly had her in a half-nelson. She bellowed loudly, and then another blur. Even I was amazed the sight of it. They were moving so fast, we couldn't keep track of them. Eventually, Crash had Denise pinned to the ground with his elbow over her chest. He glared at her, snarled something we couldn't hear. She nodded. He stood then grabbed her hand, picking her up. There was no bloodshed. There was...nothing. Judith broke ranks first and began running to her daughter-in-law. Darin moved after her, but got there first. Gary made it there last. Crash stumbled over to me, as if he was hobbling. I gave him a look, but we continued moving until we got to our house. When inside, I said "okay, you can stop acting, they can't see us." He smirked, then started walking upright again as if nothing was wrong. I recognized that ear smirk of his now, the subtle twisting of his ears. "You set the entire thing up, didn't you?" Crash shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." He went further into the house, and I followed. "Don't give me that crap. I've seen you fight. There was about a million ways you could have ended that entire thing far before all of that." His only response was to smirk wider. "I still don't know what you're talking about." "Crash." He stopped and turned to me. "This going in the blog?" I nodded. His smirk became a grin. "Then, I have no clue what you're talking about. You humans and your ideas, I swear." He grabbed a drink and disappeared into the woods afterwards to perform his patrols, or do whatever it is that he does. I didn't see him until the next morning where he still refused to talk about Gary's dinner party. We exchanged a few pleasantries, then he went to bed. Me? I still believe it was theater. I am starting to believe the entire thing was a performance, put on for the benefit of two people. I don't believe Darin was in on it based on his actions. It certainly has changed Gary's and Judith's opinions on Darin's fiance'. I have my own theory about what had happened, but Crash has requested that I keep my theory out of the blog. Perhaps when Denise and Darin have their third wedding anniversary, maybe I'll post it then. Until then, hi Darin, yes I'm as much in the dark still as you on everything. Play acting or not, conspiracy or not, either way it's helped Gary out immensely. He comes around more often now like he used to before the entire vampire invasion. Asking about cars, true, but occasionally I hear him talking to Crash, asking about mythical stuff, various questions on the life. In the end, that may have been his true goal for the entire thing. Can't say I blame him for doing it that way. Still, he could have at least told me afterwards. |
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