Cycle of the Werewolf
JUNE
Tonight is the shortest night of the year. Alfie Knopfler, who owns the local cafe, is cleaning his counter in his restaurant. His shirt sleeves are rolled up his muscular, tattooed arms. At the moment, the cafe is empty. He finishes cleaning the counter. He looks out the window into the street. There is a bright warm light coming from the full moon.
He thinks about the time he lost his virginity on a warm summer night like this one. The girl had been Arlene McCune, who is now married to one of the state’s most successful lawyers. He remembers how she moved that night in the back seat of his car. And he remembers how the night had smelled.
Alfie thinks that no one is in his restaurant because the Beast is supposed to walk when the moon is full. But Alfie is not scared or worried. He is not scared because he weighs 100 kilograms, and most of his weight is strong Navy muscle.
He is not worried because he knows his regular customers will come in early tomorrow morning to eat their eggs and drink their coffee. Maybe, he thinks to himself, I’ll close the restaurant early tonight. I’ll turn off the coffee machine, lock the door and buy a six-pack of cold beers at the supermarket.
Then maybe I’ll go to the local drive-in and see a movie. June. June with a full moon. It’s a good night to go to the drive-in and watch a movie and drink a few beers. It’s a good night to remember his love conquests from the past.
He moves towards the coffee machine when the door opens. He turns around. Now he will not be able to see the movie. “How are you doing?” he asks the customer who walks in. The customer is one of his regular customers. But he does not normally see this customer any later than ten in the morning.
The customer says hello and the two of them talk for a few moments. “Coffee?” Alfie asks. The customer sits on one of the red counter chairs and answers, “Please.” Well, maybe there will still be time to see that movie, if the customer only wants coffee.
The customer doesn’t look like he will stay too long. He doesn’t look good. He looks tired. He looks a little sick. There is still plenty of time to…Alfie forgets everything he was thinking about. Shock fills his mind. He cannot believe what he is seeing.
The coffee machine is as perfectly clean as everything else in the cafe. The steel cylinder is like a bright metal mirror. And in the reflection from its curved surface he sees something unbelievable and horrifying.
His customer, someone he sees every day, someone everyone in Tarker’s Mills sees every day, is changing. The customer’s face is somehow shifting, melting, becoming longer and wider.
The customer’s cotton shirt is stretching, stretching… and suddenly the shirt begins to pull apart. And all Alfie can think about is that old television program, The Incredible Hulk.
The customer’s pleasant, common face is becoming something that looks like a beast. The customer’s friendly brown eyes have changed color, they become a terrible gold-green. The customer screams, but the scream is interrupted. It changes tone from a high register and falls to a low, rumbling growl of anger.
It - the thing, the Beast, the werewolf, whatever it is - puts its hands on the clean counter and knocks over the salt and pepper shakers. It grabs the napkin holder and throws it against the wall where the cafe specials are placed. It continues to roar in anger.
Alfie turns around quickly and knocks the coffee machine off the shelf. It hits the floor with a metallic CLANG! and hot coffee flies everywhere. It burns his ankles. He cries out in pain and fear. Yes, he is afraid now. His 100 kilograms of Navy muscle are forgotten now.
He has forgotten about his conquest in the backseat of his car. There is only the Beast now. It is here now like some horror-monster from a drive-in movie, a horror-monster that has come off the movie screen and into reality.
The Beast jumps on top of the counter with a terrible muscular ease. Its pants and shirts are ripped pieces of cloth. Alfie can hear keys jingling in the Beast’s pockets. It jumps at Alfie. Alfie tries to jump out of the way, but he trips over the coffee machine and falls onto the floor.
The Beast screams another terrifying roar. Its warm yellow breath flows over Alfie, and then he feels a horrible red pain. The creature bites down with terrible force on his shoulder and rips up with a terrible strength. Blood sprays all over the floor, the walls and the clean white counter.
Alfie comes to his feet with a massive hole in his back and shoulder, blood pours out and down his shirt. He tries to scream. The warm summer moonlight comes in through the front window and fills his eyes. The Beast jumps on him again. Moonlight is the last thing Alfie sees.
JUNE
