Greg Krojac - WTF?

She tried calling Trevor. The calling tone rang three times and then she heard Trevor’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Hi, Adrienne. How are you?”

“A little bit scared to be honest. There’s an animal outside. I know it sounds silly but I think it’s watching me. I tried calling Arnie but he’s not answering.”

“You mean he’s not at home?”

“I don’t know but he’s not answering his phone. Aren’t you at home?”

Trevor’s worst fear was being confirmed.

“No. We’re in Torchester. Listen, Adrienne. Stay inside and lock all your doors and windows. All of them. We’re on our way.”

Trevor hung up, grabbed Tracey by the hand and ran back to their car, which was parked on a side street in Torchester. He turned the key in the ignition whilst fastening his safety belt. Slamming the car into gear, he wheel spun out of his parking space and accelerated down the road.

Tracey was confused.

“What’s going on, Trev. Where are we going?”

“Put your seatbelt on, please.”

Tracey did as her husband said.

“Where are we going? What’s going on, Trev?”

Trev threw the car around a right-hand bend.

“Tracey, when we left, was Arnold’s bedroom door locked?”

“What?”

“Was it locked?”

“Well it was, but I unlocked it.”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why did you do that?”

Tracey couldn’t see what the fuss was about.

“Arnold’s a grown man, not a kid. Why would you want to lock him in? And with a padlock too.”

“Because he’s a werewolf.”

“You what?”

“I said he’s a fucking werewolf.”

The car bounced over a couple of speed humps that Trev didn’t slow down for. Tracey didn’t understand.

“He’s half-zombie half-vampire. He’s not half-werewolf too.”

“That’s exactly what he is.”

The car screamed through a red light attracting a crescendo of car horns.

Tracey wasn’t sure if she was angry or worried – she was probably a mixture of the two.

“How?”

Trev glanced over at his wife.

“Me.”

“How can it have been you? You’re not a werewolf.”

“No. But my mum was.”

Tracey couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“And you’ve decided to tell me this about your mother now?”

“I thought perhaps the line had died with my mother. I don’t turn at the full moon. But it looks like I may be a carrier. You know, I don’t suffer from the actual condition but I can pass it on.”

A sharp left, an equally sharp right, and the car was on the main road heading back to the village.

Back at her house, Adrienne checked that all the doors and windows were shut, closing the two that hadn’t been secured, and only then did she allow herself the luxury of breathing. She lay back on her bed in an attempt to get her breathing back to normal. Suddenly, a loud crash from the kitchen startled her. Somebody was in the house.

She almost called out but realised that would give up her location. Whoever was in her house wasn’t supposed to be there. Not even Arnold had a key. She took her phone and pressed the icon to call the emergency services.

The call was answered almost immediately.

“What service do you require, please?”

“Police.”

“We have your number logged. Can you give me your location please?”

“4, Alucard Drive, Nissington. My name’s Adrienne Brise.”

“And what’s the nature of the emergency?”

“There’s someone in my house. I live alone and I can hear him downstairs.”

“Ok. Stay where you are and try not to make any undue noise. A car is on its way to your address.”

Another crashing noise.

Adrienne gave a little shriek.

“I know it’s difficult, Adrienne, but try to stay calm. Police officers are on their way.”

“I think he’s coming up the stairs. I can hear footsteps. Except they’re not footsteps. It’s more like a padding sound.”

That was something Anne, the dispatcher, did not want to hear. She was aware of the recent killings and the fact that paw prints, not footprints had been found. Adrienne was panicking at the other end of the line.

“It’s on the landing. I think it’s some kind of animal. I can hear it sniffing.”

Anne felt helpless. She contacted the unit that was on its way to Nissington.

“Echo-two-four, what’s your ETA?”

“About three minutes.”

Anne silently prayed that Adrienne could hold out that long.

“Listen, Adrienne. The police will be there very soon. Don’t talk but leave your phone switched on and the call connected. OK? I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere. We just don’t want to give the intruder any clues as to where you are. Can you do that for me?”

Adrienne nodded, forgetting that Anne couldn’t see her.

“Adrienne, can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

At the despatch centre, Anne’s stomach was doing somersaults. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes the dispatchers were eavesdroppers to real-time incidents. That was the worst part of the job – the feeling of helplessness that the dispatchers sometimes felt.

A loud thud brought the urgency of Adrienne’s situation to the fore.

“What was that noise, Adrienne? Are you ok?”

Adrienne whispered into the phone.

“It’s trying to get in. I think it’s taking a run up and throwing itself against the door.”

“The door is locked, I hope.”

“Yes. But it’s not very strong.”

Another loud thud interrupted the conversation.

“Adrienne, is there anything in the room that you can use as a weapon?”

Adrienne looked around the room. It was a bedroom and wasn’t the kind of place where you could be expected to find something with which to arm yourself.

“There’s a lava lamp.”

“Is there anything heavy? Like an ornament or something?”

“I collect paperweights. They’re pretty heavy. I’ve got about fifteen. If you could see me, you wouldn’t think I’m the kind of girl who’d collect paperweights.”

“Ok, Adrienne. Gather them together on the bed –“

“And the lava lamp?”

“Anything that can be used as a weapon, yes. If the intruder gets into your room, throw the paperweights at his forehead, between the eyes. Make every shot count.”

There was another loud crash as Adrienne’s bedroom door gave way to another assault and the wolf found himself face to face with his prey. It blinked its eyes, one blue and one brown as it snarled and drooled, sizing up its quarry.

Adrienne looked at his paw and saw a ring of industrial staples securing his gaffer tape wrapped foot to his leg.

She recognised the beast.

The wolf took a step forward.

Adrienne held up a paperweight, ready to throw it.

“Arnie? That is you, isn’t it? You know me. Adrienne. Your girlfriend. You don’t want to hurt me, do you?”

Arnold heard noises coming from the human but his brain could no longer translate the words into anything meaningful.

“I know you’re in there somewhere, Arnie. You don’t want to kill me. You don’t need to do this.”

Arnold cocked his head to one side as if he was listening to what the woman was saying. Then, without warning, he hurled himself at his best friend.

Anne’s eyes welled up with tears as she could only listen to what happened next. She heard the wolf’s razor-sharp teeth tear Adrienne’s cheek off. She heard the cracking of bones as the wolf dragged the screaming girl around the room. She heard the gurgle of Adrienne’s last breaths as blood poured from her throat where Arnold had sliced it open. She heard Adrienne’s body battered against the walls as Arnold took her whole head in his jaws, worrying it like a puppy might play with an old soft toy until her spinal cord snapped.