'That's seven unauthorised absences off every month for three months. Is there something you want to tell me about? Is there some sort of problem at home? Or a medical issue?' The HR manager, a woman called Dierdre, stared at Val. Her words were kind but her tone was unsympathetic.
'No, there's nothing,' Val said. Something twitched inside her. She felt the hairs on her back start to prickle. Not here, she told herself, remembering the moon rising high earlier on. Not at her meeting with HR to discuss why she was having so much time off.
'I'll improve my performance for next month,' she said. 'I've just been having some difficult times. I had to sell my house as part of the divorce. I'm renting somewhere from a guy, and he's pretty weird. My kids are growing up and going to uni. I...'
'Well, do you want to reduce your hours?' Dierdre said. 'If you're finding things hard, maybe you should. Or, maybe you should think of whether the pressure of this fast paced environment is right for you.'
That was a pretty strong hint. Val couldn't really afford to reduce her hours. Les, her landlord, was some sort of socialist; he'd be all right. But the prices of everything had risen too much. It sounded like Dierdre was suggesting she found another job.
'Reducing my hours could be a solution, yes.' It was only 10.39 on a Monday morning, and as Val left Dierdre's office, walked downstairs to the ladies' toilets and slammed the door, she knew another unauthorised absence was about to begin. This was the one which would be worse than all the others. This, she knew, as she scrambled for the toilet, would be the one to get her fired. She'd usually managed to make some excuse so she was out of the office when it happened, but this time there was no excuse.
Thick, silver hairs began sprouting from her face and arms. The bones in her nose lengthened. She howled in misery as the teeth in her mouth sunk down and were replaced by a more canine set. The fingers on her hands disappeared and became furred claws. Her pants ripped as a long, fluffy tail emerged from the base of her spine. Her clothing lay in a ripped heap as she jumped for the door, barking and howling.
As a wolf, Val ran out of the toilets. The security guard looked the other way. She had left her bag and keys in the toilets at work. She could not control when this change happened, and it seemed to be getting worse. There were no forests anywhere near Symantech Enterprises. The nearest there was was a small park down the road. She bounded towards the park. Her canine senses gave her special abilities. Although there was no phone, the lamp post in the alley was the next best thing. She spent several minutes sniffing it and keeping up with the latest news. Most of it was boring, it was about where to find cats, rabbits and pigeons. There were some flirtatious messages.
She'd had enough. She left a message of her own, although she doubted that anyone who frequented the alley would be able to help. 'I have lycanthropy! Does anyone here know how to help? Can anyone find a cure?'
The truth was, Val didn't really want a cure. She liked the freedom of going about on all fours, being able to do things humans couldn't, she loved being able to communicate with dogs, and she loved the old legends of the seven hundred year war with the vampires and its tales of heroism.
But now lycanthropy was ruining her life. The change would come on without warning. It would disappear just as suddenly. Once she had returned to human at the same time she had sniffed her neighbour's dog's bum. That had been almost impossible to explain, and the neighbour had never spoken to her again.
She didn't know anyone who would understand. She couldn't remember the last time she had met another like her. The old packs were gone, dispersed and kept themselves quiet - and that was an optimistic view. Her father had been one of the last.
