The Werewolf Whisperer (12 page)

I sat there and listened to Tommy cry into the night.  He did this for hours, three to be exact. I wondered if this was some kind of ritual—where werewolves go through some kind of grief period—at the beginning of their werewolf cycle.

I sat about 15 feet away from him in the other room: completely perplexed, completely dumbfound, the entire time. Then suddenly, he stopped.

The next thing that happened was even more bizarre than the crying. He fell asleep. I could hear the giant dog snoring.

This was not how I thought this night was going to start. Tommy slept for a good hour. We were now four hours into Tommy’s werewolf transformation and I had no clue what to make of it.

I dozed off myself.  I was sitting in a big, comfy chair. Tommy’s snore had put me in a sleepy, hypnotic state. I was suddenly startled out of my somber by a deafening, crazed, growl. This wasn’t any growl.
This was the growl of a fucking werewolf.

Tommy was no longer sleeping. He was now a beast, a killer, something that would want no more than to tear a Mani from limb to limb.

I took about ten deep breaths and got up out of my chair and crept over to the room. I slowly stuck my head in the door. Tommy saw me and immediately went absolutely ape-shit. I could hear the chains scraping against the bars of the cage. He zeroed in on me with his fierce, yellow demonic eyes. I nearly peed my pants. This was not my friend. This rabid beast had one goal; kill anything in its way.

I needed for this beast to get used to the sight of me. He needed to know I wasn’t here to harm him. I needed to stay in the room no matter how intense it got.
Eventually, just like all living things, he will tire out.
So that’s what I did – I stayed in the room.

This werewolf screamed bloody murder at me as it snarled, growled, and even bit the air in my direction. I calmly and lovingly looked at him and didn’t say a single word.

I just gave him a caring, empathetic smile.  Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the overgrown canine finally shut up.  I was still looking at him. The wolf stared back at me confused; about every ten seconds he would do a small little grunt. He looked at me as if I was prey, determining which level if ferocity he would engage me in.

I figured this was the moment where the alpha is decided in the animal kingdom. I had to act now. I had to be larger than life. I had to make him submit to my commands.  Hopefully, he will recall something we had done earlier when he submitted to me in his Carni form. I stood up and yelled “TOMMY! SUBMIT!”

Tommy lunged in my direction and was pulled back by the chains. The odd part about it, he did this without making a sound.  I took that as a sign of weakness. “TOMMY!” I yelled even louder. “YOU NEED TO SUBMIT! This time he growled—not an attacking growl, but a growl to let me know that he was still there and he would defend himself if need be. This was good. He was no longer on the offense. He was now playing defense.

This was progress.  This was damn good progress. “TOMMY!” I yelled one more time, “SUBMIT!” This time Tommy, the werewolf, lowered his eyes. He was well aware that I could be the enemy. I was aware I was still dealing with a wild animal.

“TOMMY! SIT!” I bellowed. Tommy took a step to the left and then another to the right. He stared at me unsure. He was listening. So, I calmly said, “Tommy. Sit.”

Then it happened.  Tommy lowered his head and sat on the floor.
Holy shit, he fully submitted
. I immediately continued my commands.   “Tommy,” I said with authority. “Look up at me!”

Tommy looked up at me.  He no longer had the devil eyes ready to devour anything in its way. Instead he looked at me the way a dog would look at its owner.  They were still as yellow as the night was dark.

“Stand!” I commanded him.  Tommy immediately stood up on all fours
. This was amazing.
  How amazing? I did not know. But this was definitely a breakthrough.

I proceeded to give the werewolf basic commands such as speak, roll over, and walk on two legs. Tommy was not only obeying, Tommy was having fun with it.  I even saw his tail wag at some point.

It was nearing daylight and Tommy would turn back into his Carni form. I wanted to raise the stakes before that happened. I began asking Tommy questions, and having him raise his
left
paw for ‘yes’ and his
right
paw for ‘no’.

I stared at this amazing beast. “Tommy,” I said. “Are you older than me in years? Tommy stared and then slowly raised his
left
paw. That meant ‘yes’. Tommy had answered it correctly.

“Tommy,” I said. Did I win; when we fought our only professional, mixed martial fight together?”  Tommy looked at me with a familiar look. For a second, I saw one of Tommy’s expressions when he was being cocky. Tommy raised his
right
paw proudly. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Tommy.” I said, “Are you a Carni?” Tommy raised his
left
paw.

“Tommy,” I said, “Am I your best friend?” Tommy stared at me and I saw his yellow eyes gleam. He raised his
left
paw
. This was fantastic!
Tommy not only answered all my questions correctly, he was connecting to them on a emotional level.

I decided to once again raise the stakes. “Tommy, I said. “Is it okay to kill a helpless Tandra, Mani or Carni?” Once again Tommy’s eyes looked up at me. This time he had a noble stare. He raised his
right
paw. Which was ‘no’.

“Tommy, have you been rejected by your own people?” Tommy didn’t like that question. Tommy barked and growled.

“Easy, Tom,” I said, “I’m sorry. I’ll ask you a different question.” But before I could ask another question, this amazing werewolf, slowly raised his
left
’ paw. He didn’t want to and I could see it in his body language. But he answered the question anyway.

“One more question, Tommy,” I said. “Do you trust me?”

Tommy calmly raised his
left
paw.

“That’s a good boy,” I said. Then it dawned on me, he must had been starving. He hadn’t eaten all night. “I’ll be right back.” I said. We had some leftover chicken breasts in the fridge. I heated them up in the microwave.

I brought a plate full of chicken to Tommy. One by one, I threw them in to him. He ate them up like they were chicken nuggets. I grabbed a breast and ate one myself. I leaned against the wall and stared down at my best friend. I had a smile on my face bigger than the full moon itself.

I’d had an exhausting night and I was resting against the front wall. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I was startled by a brush of wind hitting my face. I opened my eyes and was no longer in the room with Tommy; I was back at the castle. I was having my second vision.

Once again it was foggy. This time the fog was thick and had a distinct smell: a combination of morning dew and auto exhaust. The castle was about a hundred feet away. There was a siren in the distance.  I definitely did not care to know what that siren meant; it was more annoying than a car alarm. I wondered if the siren was real or just a ringing in my head.

I got to my feet and walked up the hill towards the castle. The castle had layers to it and almost appeared to resemble a
mission.
I hadn’t remembered this detail from the last dream. At the front of the castle was distinct writing that was chiseled into gate. I could barely make out the letters , ‘B’ and ‘R’. The rest was blurry as if water and age had deteriorated the remaining letters.

I worked my way up the steep hill and stood at the front of this magnificent castle. I approached the great castle and the doorway that the blue gnome had previously stood was now closed. The blue gnome was nowhere to be found. I open the unlocked door and walked inside the glorious castle. I was surprised to see the door led me to a middle courtyard.  It was spectacular with a cathedral-like quality.  At the other side of the courtyard was another door that was open.  I decided to enter the door; I wasn’t sure what to expect entering such a glorious castle. As I made my way through the corridor, I could barely see. It was dark and I felt my way by touching the walls.  The walls were coarse and prickly.  It was like touching coral at the bottom of the ocean.  I made my way to an open room in the back of the castle. I could hear someone talking inside the room. I peeked in and there he was—the blue gnome.

“Who are you talking to?” I asked.

“I was talking to you,” he replied.

“How did you know I was here?”

“How could I not. This is your dream.” The Blue Gnome sighed and got up to greet me. I motioned for him to sit back down.

“Have you tamed the wolf?” he inquired.

“Not yet, I’m working on it.”

“Very good. You must build a bond and then the wolf will break free.”

I was pleased to know my instincts were right and it was Tommy who was to be tamed. “What then?” I asked.

“When you are done, you must come back and see me. Then we will start your training.”

“Visit you? I asked. “In my dreams?”

“No, Josiah, you’ll need to find me here. I will be here… waiting.”

“Here?   Where?”

“Josiah!” Someone screamed loudly.  I woke up instantly.  It was Tommy. He had transformed back into a Carni and was drenched in what appeared to be water or sweat. His long, brown hair looked as if he dipped his head in a pool.

“Are you going to let me out or what? I have to piss!”

“Oh yeah, where’s the key?”

“It’s in my coat pocket. My coat is hanging on the wall outside the door.”

“How did you get out of the cage the other times?”

“I had a friend do it, someone I trusted.”

“A Mani?” I asked.

“No, an everyday human: a Tandra.”

“It was my sister wasn’t it?”

Tommy looked at me with a desperate look, “yeah it was bro, please let me out. I’m going piss right here.”

“Why are you soaked?” I took the key out of his coat pocket.

“It’s what happens when we turn back. It’s sweat.”

“I think I’m going throw up.” I unlocked the cage door.  I entered the cage and Tommy was still very much chained up. One by one I unlocked his wrists and ankles and then his chest. When I got the last lock off, Tommy bolted past me and ran to the bathroom. I heard him do one of the longest streams of pee I have ever heard anyone do in my life. I swore it took three minutes. He came back into the room with a look of relief on his face.

“Tommy, my sister died two years ago. Who has helped you since then?”

Tommy paused and looked at me. “You don’t know her,” he said. It was someone I trusted and cared about.”

“You have a lot of secrets don’t you?”

“I need my secrets; especially now that I’m flying solo.”

“You’ll never be solo, Tom.”

“We’ll see.” Tommy had a familiarity behind his eyes I hadn’t noticed before. “So how did it go?”

“Do you remember anything?”

Tommy just stared straight ahead. He didn’t say anything.

“Tommy,” I said waving my hand in his face. “Do you remember anything?”

“Josiah, I need to wrap my head around all of this. Let me get some sleep and we’ll talk when I get up.”

“Okay,” I said.  I would have liked an immediate answer, but whatever floated his boat.

Tommy walked past me and went upstairs to his bedroom. That was weird. Then again, why would I expect anything less?

* * *

I went into the guest room where I had been sleeping the last two weeks. There were no windows in the room, so there was zero chance for any kind of sunlight to get in.

I lay down and rested. I fell into deep, peaceful somber. I opened my eyes and it was exactly five hours later. I felt refreshed. I got up and decided to go to the kitchen and grab a glass of water.  I was pretty dehydrated after a very bizarre night

I noticed in the kitchen there was a Styrofoam cup that had some dried up blood still in it. I dipped my finger in the cup and scraped out the remainder of the blood with my finger nail. I raised my finger to my nose—smelt the dry blood—then tasted it. I had to admit, the smell was intoxicating. I licked my finger and it tasted okay.
Probably a lot better warm
.  I liked the taste of strawberry jelly better.

I decided to go take a shower. I peeled off my clothes and walked to the bathroom naked. I felt alive and free being naked. 
I wondered what it feels like to fly naked.
That was definitely something I needed to try.

For now, I was going to take the longest shower known to man. The water was hot as it poured down my body.  I closed my eyes and thought about the night before. I was acting on instinct.  Or was I?  About every five minutes I made the shower hotter and hotter.  The hotter it got, the more soothing I felt.  I loved every minute I stood in underneath the water; it was like having a masseuse applying pressure on my body. When I was done, I put on a pair of jeans and a black tank top.

I walked upstairs and into Tommy’s bedroom. I knocked at the door. “Tom,” I called out.

“Yeah”, Tommy yelled from inside his room.

“You up?”

“Now I am!” He moaned like a teenager.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure, if you want to see me in all my glory.”

“Put some boxers on, weirdo!”

“Come in Josiah, I’m kidding.”

I opened the door slowly to see if he actually was kidding. I wouldn’t put it past him to just be laying there in his best Playgirl pose. He had his boxers on and sitting up.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“I’m a little amped up—and a little exhausted. You know a little bit country—a little bit rock and roll.”

I grinned and sat at the foot of his bed. “So tell me, do you remember anything?”

“I do remember some of it. I remember seeing you. I remember hearing your voice. But I can’t remember details.

“Really?” I said disappointed.

“I usually never remember anything.”

“I was hoping you would remember our questions.”

“You asked me questions?”

“Yes, and you answered them with feeling. You were connected.”