As you arrive home, you set the vial on the shelf by the bookcase by the door and toss your jacket on the chair beside it, as always. It was another cool, autumn day and you find yourself pacing in your apartment, waiting until, under the veil of darkness, you could again become the wolf and go play and hunt in the woods.
In the mid afternoon, a knock at the door startled you. You opened the door to see Ron, the building manager standing there with a stack of papers.
"Hey, Ron, what's up?" you ask.
"Oh not much," he says and hands you a single sheet. "We think we may have a wild animal loose in the woods back there. Diane and Luke Thompson from down the hall stumbled on a dead deer while hiking. The thing had been mauled and half eaten. So, we're alerting residents so they know what's going on."
"Oh, umm...thanks," you say nervously.
"It's probably moved on, because we didn't see anything in the woods when we checked it out, but still, you can never be too careful," said Ron.
"Right...any idea what kind of animal it was?" you ask.
"Well, the wild life guy said the markings were consistent with a wolf, but the size of the wounds, and paw marks were much, much larger than any known wolf," said Ron.
"Huh, well, I'll keep an eye out," you reply and Ron moves on to the next apartment. You close the door and sigh. "I guess I'll have to be more careful in the future."
You decide after that run in to do something to take your mind off things. Laundry seems like a good idea, so you gather your dirty clothes and decide to keep the tattered jeans to wear for your next transformation, not quite feeling ready to expose your wolf dork to the world yet.
You walk into the laundry room and are startled to find someone else there as well. Mike is his name. He's a fifteen year old boy, and lives a floor above you.
As you slowly load the washer, he watches the items go in. He walks over after he spies the tattered jeans.
"I know what you are," he whispers. "I saw you this morning."
"Oh yeah, and what is that?" you reply.
"You're a werewolf," he says and smiles.
"Yeah, right? And what makes you so sure?"
"You came out of the woods, all dirty and bloody, wearing only those torn jeans. And they found a mauled and half eaten deer. To me, that adds up to...werewolf," he says.
"That's an interesting theory," you reply. "Very interesting."
"And I only want one thing..." he started.