Cycle of the Werewolf
JANUARY
The moon is full tonight. But here, in the city of Tarker’s Mills, there is a terrible January snow storm. The sky is full of snow, and the moon is invisible. The wind is blowing hard in the town. The streets are quickly filling with snow.
Arnie Westrum works on the railroad. The snow storm arrives before he can leave, and now he is stuck. He is waiting for the storm to end in a small railroad maintenance building about 15 kilometers from town.
He is alone, and he is playing solitaire with a pack of old playing cards. Westrum stops playing cards and raises his head. He listens, then looks back down at his game again. It is only the wind, after all… But the wind does not scratch at doors, or whine like a dog who wants someone to open the door to let him inside.
He stands up. He is tall and skinny. He is wearing a heavy wool jacket and worker coveralls. There is a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. The light from the kerosene lamp shines on his face. He has many wrinkles from working many years outside in the weather.
The scratching sound comes again. He thinks it must be someone’s dog that is lost. It is freezing cold outside. The dog must want to come inside. That’s all it is… but he pauses. It would be cruel to leave the dog outside in the cold night.
It is not much warmer in here, he thinks. There is a small heater in the room, but he can still see his breath when he breathes out. But still he does not go to the door. He feels afraid. This has been a bad season in Tarker’s Mills.
Bad things have happened, evil things. He does not like how things feel in the town. But before he can decide what to do about his visitor, the whining sound changes to a deep snarl. There is a loud bang. Something very heavy hits the door. It moves away… and hits again!
The door shakes, and snow blows in from the top. Arnie Westrum looks around. He looks for something to put against the door. But before he can pick up the plastic chair he was sitting on, the growling thing hits the door again with incredible force. The door cracks from top to bottom!
There is a large hole in the door now. And there is something in the hole. Something is trying to get into the room where Arnie is. There is a snout. Its lips are pulled back in a terrible growl. There are eyes, bright, burning yellow eyes. It is the biggest wolf Arnie has ever seen.
And the snarls and growls sound very much like human words. The door cracks some more. The thing will be able to come inside soon. In the corner of the room there are many tools. There is an ax leaning against the wall.
Arnie reaches for the ax and picks it up just as the wolf jumps inside and stops. Its yellow eyes are glowing at the man in the corner. Its ears are laying flat against its head. Its tongue is hanging out of its mouth. Behind the thing the wind blows snow in through the door. It jumps with a terrible growl, and Arne swings the ax. Once.
Outside the building, the small light shines on the snow through the broken door. The wind swirls and howls. The screams begin. Something inhuman has come to Tarker’s Mills. It is the Werewolf. There is no reason for it to come now. No more reason than the arrival of cancer, or a psychopath who wants to kill and murder, or a destructive tornado.
Its time is now. Its place is here, in this little town in Maine where the people go to church every Sunday. Where small girls and boys bring apples to their teachers. Where the local paper prints headlines about the Senior Citizens’ Club. Next week the paper will print headlines about a different kind of news.
Outside the building, the snow begins to fall harder. It begins to fill in the footprints. The scream of the wind seems primal. There is no God or Light in the sound - it is all black winter and dark ice. The cycle of the Werewolf has begun.
JANUARY
