Chapter 1
Alfred woke up one morning during the bitterly chilling winter season. His whole body was shaking with cold, and he saw that a window in his house had been open the whole night.
“What is going on?”, Alfred thought. “Did someone break into my house while I was sleeping?”
Crime was on the rise in that small town which was called ‘Howl Tooth’’. “I had better call my girlfriend”, he decided. “I need to make sure that she is safe.” Alfred looked around his room for his phone, but it wasn’t there. He walked into the living room, and it looked like a tornado had hit it. “Woah, what is happening here?!”, he asked himself. Quickly rummaging through clothing, stationary items, and cushions, Alfred finally found his phone. He dialed his girlfriend’s number, and waited. Five seconds had past. Then ten seconds. Eventually, he heard her voice: “Hey, you’ve reached Michelle. If you’re important enough to me, I’ll get back to you. Bye!” And then a loud and an eerie BEEP shouted out at him. Alfred decided to leave his own message. “Hey babe, its me… Alfred. Is everything ok? Listen… I think someone broke into my home last night. The place is a mess. I just wanted to check that you’re ok. Please call me back as soon as you get this message. I love you…”, BEEP. He let out a worried ‘sigh’, and put his phone on the table. Alfred picked up the TV remote control, and turned it onto the news channel. The TV was very fuzzy, and although he couldn’t see the picture properly, he could clearly hear what the reporter was saying: “.......Eye witness reports have indeed confirmed that a werewolf is at large, in the town of Howl Tooth. Several bodies have been found in the area, although no victims have yet been identified....” “Oh my goodness… this can’t be happening… this can’t be happening”, panicked Alfred. “How can this be real? I had better stay inside as much as possible. Oh no… MICHELLE!!” He quickly jumped to his feet and threw on himself any clothing that he could find. “What do I need? Ok… wallet...cell phone… car keys… Ok Alfred”, he told himself. “You need to calm down. Michelle is fine. She probably just slept in or something.”
He grabbed everything he needed and then headed towards the door, but suddenly paused at the doorway. “I’d better bring a sharp knife”, he said. “Just in case”. Alfred walked back past the living and into the kitchen. He opened the knife draw, pulled out the largest knife that he could find, threw it into his bag, and left the house. Once he was inside his car, he turned on the engine and drove away. After only about 5 minutes, the car started shaking. “What the…” Soon after this the car started getting slower and slower, before finally grinding to a halt. “Oh come on!! Stupid piece of junk!” Alfred shouted as he pounded the steering wheel with his fist. A small red blinking light got his attention, and after focusing on the red light he realized that his car had run out of gas.
“You freaking idiot!”, he said to himself as he climbed out of the car, and made off towards Michelle’s house. After two hours of walking, he reached his girlfriend’s home, where are horrifying scene met his eyes. The front door of her house had been smashed into pieces, and claw mark scratches were found all around the doorway. “No….it can’t be…” Alfred ran inside her house and found Michelle lying on the living floor on a pool of blood. He let out a painful scream as he knelt down and covered his face with his hands, trying so hard to make the tragic reality disappear. When it finally dawned on him that this was not going away, he leaned over Michelle, gave her one last kiss and a hug, and headed out of her house again, making his way back home. Passing his car, he noticed a few claw marks around the door handle. His eyes widened as he zoomed in on the claw marks. “What the hell?”, he thought. “Was the werewolf hunting me too? If that is the case, why am I still alive?”
Alfred started sprinting back home as fast as he could. He needed answers. Back at his house, he saw more claw marks around his house door… and the window! Instinctively he pulled out his knife, and walked slowly inside… not knowing what to expect. Day had turned into night as Alfred shuddered when he looked up into the sky and saw that the full moon was still partially covered by clouds. Silence greeted him at the doorway; except for the creaking of the door when he slowly opened it. “ARGHHHHH!!”, he screamed, hoping to scare off the werewolf; if it was in his house. But silence followed. Alfred walked up to the drawers near the entrance, and looked into the mirror as he put down his car keys. He quickly jumped backwards after he saw that his eyes had a yellow glow...he slowly turned his finger tips towards himself and saw that there was a bit of blood on each of them. “BANG BANG!”, a knock at the door gave Alfred a scare. He opened the door, wondering who on earth this could be… it was Michelle!! “WHAT?! Michelle… I thought you were dead! I saw you lying in a pool of blood at your house! What’s going on Michelle?!” “Hahah!”, Michelle laughed. She pulled out a small pot of red ink. “April fools day!”, she declared. “There is no werewolf; it’s not real!! Last night I snuck into your house, made a mess in the living room, left the window open, put some claw marks on your car, house window and door, and I also used some yellow coloured eye drops for your eyes, and red ink for your fingertips!” “OH MY GOSH!”, shouted Alfred. “All of this was just a prank?! I thought I was a werewolf, and I thought I killed you!!” He turned his back on Michelle and complained to her, “I can’t believe you would do this to me! What is wrong…. Wait a minute. The werewolf… it.. it must be real… I saw it on the news… several bodies have been found. Michelle… we gotta be really careful; we don’t know who the werewolf is.” Alfred looked up at the sky, and saw that the clouds had parted and revealed a full moon. “Michelle, look!”, he pointed to the sky, turned back towards Michelle, and saw that she was now standing face to face with him; her eyes turning black, her face changing shape, and her claws starting to break out of her fingertips. Outside of his house, a few strangers could hear terrifying screams and howling, and crashing around. About a week later, as Alfred lay dead on his living room floor, his tv was still on, and the news channel popped up. “....The werewolf in the town of Howl Tooth has reportedly been caught and killed two days ago. The body of the werewolf has been burned and disposed of, so citizens of Howl Tooth are now being encouraged to go back to their regular way of life. I am Michelle Were. , and for all of us here at WDE news, goodnight.”
