Rules for Werewolves by Kirk Lynn Page A

built a permanent shelter—of any kind—if you propped up a corrugated aluminum sheet of metal as a wall and sloped a tarp down from it to make a triangle, the cops would come along during the day while we were away and tear it down.”
    —What do we do with Susan if the cops come?
    —You’re safe, Susan. The cops won’t come.
    —Did Malcolm say anything about that what if?
    —Susan, if the cops come we have a plan about what to do with you.
    —No, we don’t.
    —I’m just trying to tell her good stuff.
    —But it’s not true.
    —It is true. If the cops come I’ll make it true.
    —You’re in love.
    —Shut up and listen. “Doug was having a rough night. We
all
drank a lot. Especially in the winter, ’cause, as you know, it does get cold down here in winter. And we were sitting around the fire and Doug just all of a sudden got really mean and started hitting people.”
    —Sounds like Malcolm.
    —You think Malcolm wrote this?
    —I mean, this guy Doug turning mean and hitting people. That sounds like Malcolm.
    —Yeah, but who do you think wrote this?
    —Could be Malcolm, I guess.
    —’Cause it sounds way nicer than Malcolm. Kind of sad.
    —You mean nostalgic.
    —Maybe.
    —Keep going.
    —“Doug was going crazy. He was falling into the fire and hitting people.”
    —That’s what Susan would be doing if we let her go.
    —Susan wouldn’t hit anybody.
    —Wanna bet?
    —Everybody’s different.
    —But the change is the same.
    —Let me finish. You keep saying “keep going” and then you interrupt.
    —Fine.
    —“Doug was the sweetest guy in the world and even, usually, a sweet drunk. But once he started changing, he was swinging a log from the fire, flaming on one end, and he hit this woman named Val—”
    —See? Doug was sweet like Susan.
    —Shut up.
    —Go on.
    —“And then Malcolm just became Malcolm.” So it’s not written by him. It’s by somebody about him.
    —It could be propaganda. He writes it from some other point of view about how badass he is and then gives it to you as a historical artifact.
    —Maybe.
    —Go on.
    —See?!
    —I won’t say another word.
    —“He started telling us to get one of the ropes we used to put up the tarps and he lured Doug away from the fire. He tackled him and we tied him up and Malcolm started talking to him.”
    —What was that sound? Did you hear that? Oh, sorry. Go on.
    —“And in the firelight you could see Doug’s teeth grow longer, all of them, not just like fangs, but like his mouth was growing out like a snout. And he bit Malcolm more than once, so there was blood. And Doug’s eyes were crazy. I mean, we didn’t know what was happening back then, but you could tell Doug wasn’t human. Not when he was changing. And his hair thickened up. Like every hair follicle on his body doubled in size.”
    —I bet it itches.
    —“Doug was shaking and struggling. And Malcolm was straddled over him, sort of riding him, keeping him away from the fire. And he was asking him over and over again, stuff like ‘What are you fighting against?’ And ‘What are you afraid of?’ And ‘What’s the most important thing in the world to you?’ And we were all so scared we started answering Malcolm’s questions—for Doug—to Doug.”
    —All right. Is that it?
    —It says: “He changed back after three days, but he was so burned, and that got infected. He wouldn’t let us take him to the hospital. He just wanted to stay drunk for his last few days and have us tell him about the change and imagine what he could have done with all that power.” That’s it.
    —All right. Let’s rewind it and see what we sound like.

27
Tanya tells Malcolm what she found when she went to feed Susan .
    —Malcolm, baby, wake up.
    —I’m awake.
    —Bobert’s gone.
    —Where?
    —I don’t know.
    —What do you mean, he’s gone?
    —I’m telling you straight—I woke up and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I went down to the kitchen, and they have fresh fruit.