The Next Door Neighbour
Tomorrow is the fourth Full Moon of 2021 which coincides with the first Super Moon of this year. So time for another werewolf story aka tale of the Wolfmoon. Again, based on a Daily Prompt app story starter which implied writing about something that happened after a party. Keep reading to find out what I came up with.
The Next Door Neighbour
The last guest left way past 2am. Sean was tired, though happy for the fun he had had at his house warming. He had decided to go big as it’s not every day you buy your first flat. Even his neighbour, Mr Grey, a middle aged man who had lived in the neighbourhood for 40 years, turned up with a bottle of red wine to welcome his new neighbour. He didn’t stay for long though.
“Time for an old man like me to go now.” he said just before 9pm. “Age has no mercy and I need my sleep.”
Now Sean was just staring at the huge mess of dirty dishes, empty glasses, bottles and cans, several stains on both the tablecloth and carpet, crumbles, pieces of napkins and all sorts of rubbish all over the place.
“Gosh, I have a big task ahead of me tomorrow.” he said to himself while staring at the mess and lighting a cigarette. He walked to the door and decided to have the smoke at his porch, the night was cool and bright and he needed to unwind.
He stared at the park right in front. He could see the shape of the trees as the moon was shedding its milky light on it. Suddenly, for a split second, he thought he had seen the shape of a huge dog among the trees. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
“How odd...” he thought in between drags. The people in the neighbourhood had animals and took real good care of them. They certainly wouldn’t have let a dog roam alone in the park and it couldn’t be an abandoned animal either. Could it be lost?
The shape reappeared and disappeared again, a bit closer now.
“I must have drunk too much.” Sean thought, throwing the cigarette butt away. He went back inside and closed the door.
He heard a howling outside but was too tired to find it weird. It was just a dog after all.
———
Sean woke up just before dawn, with the sound of keys opening a door. It was Mr Grey. Where could he have been? He had said he had to go to sleep. Maybe he had felt sick?
“Geez... what a hangover.” Sean moaned, taking his palm to his forehead.
He got up and thought maybe he should check on his neighbour. The old man was nice anyway, maybe he needed something. He opened the door and welcomed the cool morning breeze as he looked to the horizon that the sun was already painting with the colours of a new day.
Knock knock.
“Mr Grey, I hope I’m not being nosy but I’m finding it strange that you’re coming back home at this time. Are you ok? Do you need help?”
He had an almost immediate reply.
“I am fine, son, please go away.” the old mad said in a hoarse voice, a bit different from the voice Sean had got used to.
The young man was puzzled. Mr Grey was always so welcoming, why was he telling him to go?
“Are you sure, Mr Grey? Please if you need help...”
“Just go away, son.”
Sean didn’t get the sudden change but decided not to insist and went back home. Much to his surprise, a police car stopped in front of Mr Grey’s house not even an hour later. They knocked but got no reply.
“Mr Tobias Grey, it’s the police and we know you’re here and who you are. Open or we’ll have to force our entry.” the tallest one shouted.
From his window, Sean was perplexed and confused. What could the police want from his old neighbour? He couldn’t believe the friendly man might be involved in anything dodgy. He took another cigarette and opened the door, determined to find out more.
“What’s going on so early on a Sunday morning, officers?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
The cops turned their heads at the same time and stared at him.
“How long have you known your neighbour?” the same tall officer asked.
Sean shrugged his shoulders and took a drag.
“Not long. I’ve been here for just three weeks.”
“Ever noticed anything strange about your neighbour?”
“Not really. Always been nice to me. Why?”
The tall cop approached him and took a pack of photos from his interior jacket pocket. Sean gasped when he saw them. It was the dead, gored body of a woman. She looked half eaten, with pieces of flesh missing here and there.
“We have reasons to believe your neighbour did this.”
What? Mr Grey a murderer? No, man, this woman looked like she had been attacked by a bear or some huge wild animal. Not an old man. Sean suddenly stopped and stared at the cops. That huge dog he had seen last night. The howling. No, it couldn’t be. Those creatures don’t exist.
“We urge you to tell us all you know about your neighbour, young man.”
Suddenly Mr Grey’s door was slammed open. A huge dark grey dog, more like a huge wolf, came running from inside. Sean gasped again, his eyes widening in his sockets. The cops took their guns and shot against the beast, but it ran away as fast as the speed of light and disappeared into the woods behind the park. Silence fell for a few long seconds.
“What the heck was that?” Sean finally dared ask. His cigarette had completely burned.
“We had been suspicious for long but no proof. But yesterday this bastard was caught killing this woman. It must have thought it had fooled us but it didn’t. Unwise of him to come back home but here we are.”
Shock muted Sean. He couldn’t believe friendly Mr Grey was that beast. That was why he had left so early. Because he was going to transform. It all made sense now.
“It was full moon yesterday.” the shortest cop added. “Please let us know if he comes back or if you hear or see anything suspicious. We have a dangerous creature on the loose now and more lives can be lost if we don’t catch it soon.”
Sean went back home a few moments later after agreeing to contact the police if he noticed anything suspicious. Mr Grey never came back. A month later when he opened the newspaper, he read the news that his neighbour had been found dead in the woods, cause still unknown.
________________
Enjoyed this story? Check my other Werewolf Stories, which I post every Full
Moon:
Officer
Brooks' Creepy Blue Eyes
Midnight
Shift at the Zoology Museum
Or some of my non-werewolf stories:
Fluffy,
the Spiteful Cat
Behold
the Brave New World
Comments
Post a Comment