This is the sequel I wrote to that one. I think It's a lot better. More beleivable plot, I think. Maybe. Perhaps.
Werewolves of
New York
"I'm not going to."
"Please? Cripes,
Virginia! Remember last time?"
"I do. I'm still not going to."
"You promised."
"I'm sorry, Wolf, but I'm still not gonna chain you up, moon or no moon. It's just not… I don't know. Decent."
"We'll see how much you care about decency when there's a wolf loose in
New York City!"
"I'm still not gonna tie you up."
"YOU ARE BEING SO STUBBORN! Fine. Since YOU know everything, why don't YOU tell me what to do. You're underestimating the situation because you know I wouldn't hurt YOU." Wolf glared, and almost immediately repented.
"I'm sorry. I just don't want to do any thing like, well, like the chickens in Little Lamb Village. To tell you the truth, I really didn't know whether I had killed Sally Peep or not."
Virginia came across the room and sat beside him on the green couch.
"It's OK. We'll find a way to make this work. You always have before, right?"
He smiled weakly.
Dinner that night was tense. Virginia could tell he was trying hard not to snap at her. She had cooked his meat even less today than normal. Every few minutes, he would grit his teeth, and she knew he was going through the early stages of his change. More precisely, horrible cramps. He wasn't complaining, although she wouldn't have blamed him if he had. Finally, he groaned, and grabbed his stomach.
"I've gotta go to bed. Right now." He stood up, and almost immediately doubled over. She helped him as best she could. He staggered to the bedroom and collapsed onto the queen-sized bed. She brought him a sleeping pill, which he sniffed, shuddered, and swallowed. Almost immediately, he dropped off to sleep.
Virginia changed for bed, and then slipped under the warm covers. She had closed the normally open blinds, so the moon didn't shine in. She sighed. Would the baby be like this? It was only ¼ wolf. She put her hand on her stomach. She had to stop calling the baby an 'it' Wolf had said it was a he, but she thought it was a girl. Nothing to do but wait and see.
Wolf ran down the street. Shouts of "Kill it!" and "Burn the wolf!' echoed from the streets behind him. What had he done? He turned down an ally that became Virginia's apartment building. He ran toward her apartment, but when he opened the door, there was the room in Wendell's castle where the Queen had stayed. The mirrors were glowing, and reflected in them was an image of Sally Peep, singing 'Little Bo Peep" then the mob was behind him again, coddling heaps of sticks and brush. He looked up, and the full moon was there. The roof was gone, and stars twinkled from the sky. When he looked back, Wilfred Peep was there, trying to light the pile of sticks that had appeared under him.
"I didn't kill her! " he shouted. "Wilfred killed her, not me!" But the townspeople looked at him quizzically.
"Nonsense!" shouted Wilf. "Why would I kill your girlfriend?"
Wolf gasped. There behind them, was a girl lying on the ground. But it wasn't Sally. It was Virginia. Something sharp dug into his arm, and he twisted, not seeing well in the smoky air. He realized with a start that the pile was on fire. The Queen was behind him, laughing.
"I knew you were really loyal to me!" she cackled. " You've done exactly as I ordered. Don't worry about her. You didn't think she loved you, did you? No no, no. She was using you to protect herself. She wouldn't love a half-breed wolf, or his cross-bred child. That's why she took the child to New York. You know what they can do to babies there, don't you? Yes."
The Queen disappeared into the smoke. Wolf chocked, coughed, and woke up. He took almost a minute catching his breath, and then rolled over. Virginia wasn't there.
Virginia adjusted the pillow she had brought with her to the couch. She hoped she wouldn't get sick again. The clock next to her read 12:04. So, technically, this could be morning sickness. Or it could be the 2 month baby reacting to the moon. She looked at the tiny lump on her stomach.
" I guess there's 7 more months of this, huh?" She asked it. Then she felt another wave of nausea. She jumped off the couch and ran for the bathroom. She tried to be quiet for Wolf, but sometimes you gotta hurry.
Wolf's mind reeled. There had to be a reasonable explanation for Virginia's absence. Maybe she went to the bathroom.
'The sheets are cold.' nagged a voice in his brain.
Maybe she couldn't sleep. Maybe she was hungry. Maybe there was a late show…
'Maybe she hates you.' nagged the voice. It sounded slightly like queen Christine. 'Maybe she's gone to her father. Maybe she thinks you'll hurt her. Maybe you have. You know you can never remember anything.' But he hadn't changed. He knew it. And he could always remember what happened when he hadn't changed.
"NO! Virginia loves me. And the cub…" He said it with less conviction than he normally would have. Could she hate him? She had said she wasn't ready for children. What if she blamed him? His worry was only slightly tainted but he calling of the moon. It crooned to him, but his love for his mate was stronger. He couldn't even follow her scent; the whole room smelled of Virginia. So he got up to look for her. He made a quick stop in the kitchen for some full-moon food Virginia had made earlier. It was cooked only to the point of avoiding 'salmonella'. He picked up a piece of chicken, and wolfed it down. And then he saw Virginia on the couch.
Virginia felt someone shake her lightly. With this realization came the nausea again. She pushed herself up, and ran for the bathroom. She was amazed that there was anything left to throw up, but there was.
Wolf felt sick himself. She really did hate him. The sight of him made her sick. How could this have happened? What had he done wrong? He went to the table by the couch and picked up the only thing of value to him. The butterfly frame, with the pictures in it. The first time he had ever seen her face. He put it in his pocket, and left the apartment. There was nothing for him there.
He walked down the New York street. Toward the moon. Toward the park. His cramps had stopped, so he figured that he would change soon. So he should head out of the city. Because…because… He couldn't remember. The moon called to him. It sounded like his mother. Tired. So tired. Why…? Oh, the thing Virginia had given him. That smelled bad. He hurried to the park. His eyes were adapting to the dark the way no humans could. He could see almost perfectly. He sat on a bench, almost in the middle of the park. Like generations of his family before him, he howled his sadness to the moon.
Chuck Downing got some weird calls. That happens when you're in the police business. But seriously. Twenty-nine calls of a werewolf in Central Park? In less than two hours? He had sent out the obligatory police dispatch, but all they had found was the remains of some poor bunny. That could have been done by a dog. A really hungry dog. But the howling…
He checked his watch. 2:30 AM. Half hour 'till shift change. Woo-hoo. The phone rang. He picked it up. It was a worried woman.
"Hello, I'd like to report-"
"If this is about the werewolf in Central park, don't worry. We've got men on it. Men with guns. Lots of them." The chief told him to say that. Guns made the people feel safer. This lady didn't sound comforted at all. Actually, she swore and hung up. The radio sputtered to life.
"This is dispatch 116. Comin' back from the park. No werewolf, but we found some guy growlin' at people. We're bringing him in. Man, this guy is weird. Over"
"Yeah. Maybe he's the werewolf. Over"
"Too early for jokes, man. 116, over and out.'
Virginia ran down another random path, alternately whistling and shouting wolf's name. She didn't know if wolves came to whistles like dogs did, but it couldn't hurt, could it? He had to be here. It was too much of a coincidence. Wolf missing, full moon, and a werewolf in the park? It had to be him. Oh, god. What if they had shot him? What if he had killed someone? She was no lawyer, and there was no wishing well here. She kicked herself mentally. This is what he had warned against. Why hadn't she listened? She should have tied him up. This was all her fault.
Wolf found himself in the whitest, plainest rooms he had ever been in. He didn't think he had changed all the way yet. But the wolf half of him was definitely starting to take over. He began to pace the tiny room, but that soon gave way to walking in circles. The wolf half was definatly coming out. He looked through the mirror on one side of the room. Humans would have seen it as a mirror, but his wolf eyes stared right through it. There were two people inside the tiny room on the other side. One was a policeman. And that's when he realized. He was back in prison.
Barb Caska fumed. She was going to lose her reputation for this. But the editor wanted a werewolf story, he was gonna get one. As a reporter, it was her job to make stories appear. But really. A werewolf that the police hadn't even found? There was no evidence, let alone proof. All there was a bunch of calls, and heaven knows that they were most likely pranks. In a city the size of New York, there were always bands of kids out looking for kicks. She headed for the police station. Just as she was reaching it, she got a call that would change her whole outlook.
Wolf was claustrophobic, although he didn't know the technical word for it. All he knew was that he was trapped in a very small room. And it was just like Snow White Memorial Prison. The only difference was that, there, there was a huge padlock he could try to pick. Here, there was nothing. No lock, and no bone shards to pick it with. At least at SWMP, there were always bone shards to do things with. He felt sick again. This day was going from worse to even worser. He couldn't control his wolf side. These people knew he was a wolf, or he wouldn't be here. And they didn't know the worst part of it. They didn't know he could change. But they were gonna learn, very soon. He could feel it.
"This is totally weird, chief. Come look at this." Zack gestured at the video screen he was watching. "Look at this guy in E. There is something seriously wrong with this guy. On the screen, the wan was clutching his stomach and groaning. He uttered a long string of curses and sunk to the floor. Then, as the two men watched with fascination and horror, the man on the screen became a wolf, a wild beast. Zack turned to his superior.
"We are looking at something serious here. There is no way this should happen. No way at all."
His captain was silent for a long time.
"This isn't happening. Put a loop through that camera. And never mention it again."
"But sir, what about-"
"NOT A WORD."
The chief of the New York police shut off the camera, and stalked out of the room. Zack hit he eject button on the screen, and picked up the phone. Half an hour later, he met Barb in the alley behind the station.
"You're sure? She asked.
"Positive. Clear as the nose on my face, this guy turned into a wolf." Barb reached for the tape, but Zack withdrew it. She rolled her eyes, and handed him the money. With a flourish, he handed her the tape. She hurried off. This story had to be printed in an hour.
Virginia had checked every restaurant, petting zoo, pet shop and park accessible by foot. Almost all were closed, and Wolf was not at any of them. So there was nowhere left to go but the police station, and hope they didn't redirect her to the morgue. She climbed up the tall steps to the front door. It gaped ominously in front of her. She pushed it open, and walked purposefully to the front desk.
"Hello, I'm looking for a missing person, and I think he is here."
"We just got a few people in the cells. What's he look like?"
"He's tall, black hair, green eyes…"
"Yeah, I think-" The first man started, but he second man elbowed him
"No, nobody like that, sorry. Now if you'll fill out these forms I'll-"
"No, no, I'm sure of it." The first man interrupted. Ben, his tag said. " Yeah, that guy that they picked up in central park? I'm positive." He hit a few keys on a keyboard. "That's weird. His camera's jammed. Crap. Now I'll have to restart the whole system…"
The screen turned black, then flickered back to life. Virginia watched him switch through the different cameras. At E, he stopped dead and gasped.
"Holy CRAP! That's him! He's the werewolf! Look what he's done!" Virginia's blood ran cold. Ben slowly rotated the screen so she could see. But there was nothing really unusual about the scene shown. Unless you count the fact that where Wolf had been, there was now a huge, shaggy wolf. Virginia thought it looked like a dog. She would have called it cute, had the fact that it was her fiancé not presented itself.
"Yeah," Zack said in a toneless voice. "He changed about an hour ago. The chief's trying to keep it quiet. He hasn't succeeded, I see." Virginia followed his gaze. Outside the New York police Department, a large crowd had begun to form. Several people carried signs. One man was selling silver bullets. He was making a fortune.
"We gotta get him out of here." Virginia said, horrified.
"Good luck" Said Zack. "This was in the New York Times. Everyone who reads it is gonna be here. They want to see the werewolf. And they are not to be deterred."
"If we can get him to Central Park, We'll be Ok." Virginia said. "But we have to be there before 6:00." Ben looked at his watch. It was 4:00 AM.
Wolf groaned. Turning back into a human had the same basic side effects of a hangover. Fortunately, they were much more temporary. He looked at his hands. Not Paws. Not scratched. Not bloody. Good. That means he hadn't done anything…Violent. He looked around him again. Still in the same room. Not likely to leave soon. But when he looked through the glass, he saw something that had changed. Virginia was there, along with a new policeman. She was leaning back in the plastic chair, trying to sleep, without actually sleeping, He didn't blame her. It must have been 5:30 in the morning. Two and a half hours was usually his change time. He walked unsteadily over, and tapped on the glass. Virginia sat up with a start. He smiled weakly. He hadn't forgotten the events of the night. Well, concerning Virginia, anyway. He frowned. She probably knew what he had done, even if he hadn't. He had to have done something. New York policemen didn't just arrest people for nothing.
In the time it took Virginia to walk from he tiny mirrored room to his cell, He had changed from glad to see her to embarrassed. He hung his head, but she sat beside him, and pushed it up. It was one of those conversations that don't need words. He hugged her tightly, ignoring all else that was happening.
Ben coughed, ruining the really romantic moment.
"OK, you're the werewolf, right? How much do you know about this morning's events?"
Zack was having problems. Over three hundred people had shown up. Most had brought beer. Many bad brought along shotguns, too. There were several people selling silver bullets. Too bad most of them had turned out to be aluminum. The rioters, for that was what they were, were going completely insane. They were almost attacking him, and the other dozen officers out in crowd control. As he watched, a dozen more people joined in. Oh, boy.
Matt couldn't believe he was doing this. It was just a dare. Who cared about a dare? He crept up the fire escape. Patrick was right behind him, grinning like a loon. He handed Matt the bullhorn. Matt kept climbing. Soon, he had reached the top of the police building. He looked over the edge at the hundreds of people below. no one looked back. Who cared about a dare? He did. He raised the bullhorn to his mouth and howled.
Buck raised his head. It was quickly followed by his gun. He saw others do the same. The howl petered out, and another quickly followed. It was quickly drowned out by the roar of the crowd. There was a shot, and he realized that people were shooting guns in the air. He turned to Hal, who was yelling beside him.
"Man, I don't think this is good."
"Nah, you just need another beer.'
Ben's mind had ceased to function at the mention of a Magic mirror. So he just focused on getting them out of the building. It was not easy. They had to get out of the station un noticed. They had to walk 10 blocks, unnoticed. They had to go through a mirror, unnoticed. An they had to do all this in fifteen minutes, or the mirror would shut down.
"Then we have to kill a dragon, I suppose?" He asked, only half kidding.
"No." Wolf said simply. They came to the back wall of the station. Wolf grabbed the window and pushed it up. As he did, a loud roar came from the crowd. A terrified boy clutching a bullhorn dropped straight past them and disappeared. Ben pulled himself out onto the platform. Wolf followed, and then helped Virginia. They made it down the fire escape unnoticed. Thy made it down four blocks. They were passing a hot dog vendor. He looked at Wolf, then at his paper. Wolf, paper Wolf. And then he started screaming bloody murder. Every head within a twelve block radius looked straight at them. Wolf scooped up his pregnant wife, and started running.
Buck turned his head. And saw the werewolf. Everyone around him did too. He was three blocks away, and running. Buck, and the other three hundred people ran after him. They couldn't even shoot at him. He had a young woman in his arms. Obviously a kidnapper.
Now, Buck was really fast, but the ground kept moving out from under him. Back and forth, like a wave. He ran faster. The werewolf ducked into an alley. Buck and his group followed. The rest of the mob hadn't seen. They split up. They didn't see him run into the park. But Buck, Hal, and the other four had. They ran helter-skelter through the trees.
Wolf slowed just marginally before launching himself through the distorted blotch that marked the mirror. He knocked over a palace attendant that had come to close the mirror. Behind them, Buck stared.
Date: March 19, 1998
Officer: Zachary Orvitz
Notes: In all, 78 calls of a werewolf were reported. Multiple dispatches were sent. No werewolf, or even a prankster were found. A tape was discovered showing a male caucasian known as Warren Wolfson transforming into a wolf. At5:59 AM, this man was seen running into central park, along with a young woman and a group of rioters. The group returned babbling about a blue light. They were seriously drunk, and claims were discarded.
On the note of the "video" it was examined by a professional, and found to be a hoax. The tape has since disappeared.
