It’s finally time, friends! We’ve made it through the madness of a hyper-partisan US election and partway through a global pandemic, and now it’s time for you to read my brand new werewolf conspiracy theory breakup story, “When It Happens” in the 10th anniversary issue of DARK MOON DIGEST!
Want an excerpt? Of course you do!
WHEN IT HAPPENS
Kate cringed as the emergency room doctor pulled a needle through Michael’s wound. His skin swelled against the stitches. Blood and pus oozed through the broken flesh. The doctor dressed the wound in gauze, its white mesh layers covering the bite like a white flag.
Michael’s fists clenched when the doctor drew a full dose of the lycanthropy vaccine into a fresh syringe. “It was just a wolf,” he protested.
The doctor nodded at the bandage. “It’s a precaution, Mr. Freeman. You’re better off vaccinated than infected, and our records show that you haven’t been—”
“Werewolves don’t exist,” Michael said.
Kate reached for her husband but Michael swatted her away.
The doctor straightened. “Were you not aware of the reported sighting in the area?”
“I knew,” Kate said.
Posters had littered every post along the hiking trail. Everyone else heeded the warnings, but Michael always knew better. Paranoia was control and he refused to give in to it. He’d insisted they go hiking after dinner under the full moon. It was their wedding anniversary, after all. What Kate failed to mention was that her period had just started, and she was sure that the smell of the blood was what drew the wolf near.
“I’m not taking that vaccine,” Michael said to the doctor.
“Mr. Freeman, you have to understand—”
“The moon isn’t real,” Michael insisted. “Werewolves can’t exist if the moon isn’t real.”
“Michael, please don’t do this here.” Kate met her husband’s gaze but his expression only hardened. The vein pulsed in his neck.
“There’s proof,” he said. “There are videos on the Internet that clearly explain the moon is a hologram.”
