Best New Werewolf Tales (Vol. 1) Read Free

locksmith come out and change all the locks and change the security code on the alarm. I hired a messenger company to come and take a couple of suitcases of his clothes to the club. Next day I rented a storage unit and hired a moving company to take all of his stuff there. I used the same messenger service to send him the key.”
    “I’m impressed. That was quick thinking.”
    “I—I’d already looked into that stuff before. Until that last stretch where he was nice I was planning to leave him. I’d already talked to my lawyer, and I filed for divorce by the end of that week.”
    “What did David do?”
    “At first? Nothing except for some hysterical messages on my voicemail. He didn’t try to break in, nothing like that. But after a while I started seeing his car behind mine when I was going to work.”
    “Where do you work?”
    “I’m a nurse supervisor at Sunset Grove, the assisted living facility in Jenkintown. Right now I’m on the four to midnight shift. I’ve spotted David’s car a lot, sometimes every night for weeks on end. I’ve seem him drive by when I’m going into the staff entrance, and he’s there again when I get back home.”
    “What makes you think he’s planning to do more than just harass you?”
    “He’s said so.”
    “But––”
    “He didn’t say or do anything at first—but over the last couple of weeks it’s gotten worse. About three weeks ago I came out of work and stopped at a 7-11 for some gum, and when I came out he was leaning against my car. I told him to get away, but he pushed himself off the car and came up to me, smiling his charming smile. He told me that he knew who I was and what I was and that he was going to end me. His words. ‘ I’m going to end you’ . Then he left, still smiling.”
    “Did anyone see this?”
    “At one in the morning? No.”
    Convenience stores have security cameras, I thought. If this thing got messy I could have her lawyer subpoena those tapes. I had her write down the address of the 7-11.
    “That’s how it went for a couple of weeks,” she said. “But last night, he really scared me.”
    “What happened?”
    “He was in my bedroom.”
    “How?”
    “That’s it—I don’t know. The alarms didn’t go off and none of the windows were broken. I heard a sound and I woke up and there he was, standing by the side of my bed. He’s really thin now, and as pale as those Goth kids at his club. He stood there, smiling. I started to scream and put a finger to his lips and made a weird shushing sound. It was so strange that I actually did shut up. Don’t ask me why. The whole thing was like a nightmare.”
    “Are you sure it wasn’t?”
    She hesitated, but she said, “I’m positive. He pointed at me and said that he knew everything about me. Then he started praying.”
    “Praying?”
    “At least I think that’s what he was doing. It was Latin, I think. He saying a long string of things in Latin and then he left.”
    “How’d he get out?”
    “The same way he got in, I guess—but I don’t know how. I was so scared that I almost peed myself and I just lay there in bed for a long time. I don’t know how long. When I finally worked up the nerve, I ran downstairs and got a knife from the kitchen and went through the whole house.”
    “You didn’t call the cops?”
    “I was going to—but the alarm never went off. I checked the system—it was still set. I began wondering if I was dreaming.”
    “But you don’t think so?”
    “No.”
    “Why are you so sure?”
    She fished in her purse and produced a pink cell phone. She flipped it open and pressed a few buttons to call up her text messages. She pointed to the number and then handed me the phone.
    “That’s David’s cell number.”
    The text read: Tonight .
    “Okay,” I said. “Let me see what I can do.”
    “What can you do?” she asked.
    “Well, the best first thing to do is go have a talk with him. See if I can convince him to back off.”
    “And if he