RAMPAGE

Chapter 18 The Day Before

Bill sat at the kitchen table, shirtless, using a mirror to look at his wounds. He removed the gauze from his shoulder and examined the lacerated area. The scratches were deep and long but healed well.
"I don't feel like a werewolf." Bill said to Corey as he continued looking at the scars.
"Do they hurt?" Corey asked.
"Not anymore." Bill said.
"How could you heal so quickly from something like that?" Corey asked. "I still feel it in my back-being slammed against that wall."
"I didn't do anything special. I just kept them as clean as I could." Said Bill, putting his shirt on.
Corey went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He opened it and tossed the cap into the trash.
"Going to Joe's tonight?" He asked Bill before gulping the beer. He sat at the table, waiting for Bill's answer. He doesn't say anything.
"Hell-o?" Corey said, trying to get Bill's attention. He snapped his fingers in his face trying to get him out of the trance he suddenly slipped into. He looked at Corey.
"What'd you say?" Bill asked, coming to.
Corey took a deep swallow of the bottle of beer.
"I saaaaid." Corey replied, "Are you going to Joe's tonight?"
Bill said nothing. Again.
"Come on, Bill." Corey said. "It's been weeks since we hung out. I don't believe you're a werewolf so I'm not gonna tie you up."
"Who said anything about being a werewolf?" Bill asked.
"You did. Five minutes ago." Corey said, throwing the bottle into the trash.
"What have you become, senile?" Cory laughed.
"No." Bill answered.
"Well then, are you, we going to Joe's tonight?"
Bill said nothing. He sat at the table with a blank look on his face. "Maybe it's not time for me to feel like a werewolf." Bill finally said. "The full moon is tomorrow, Corey. Maybe you should tie me down tonight."
"Bud, you're not making any sense" Corey replied, slouching in the chair, relaxed from the drink. " You're still stuck on what that paramedic said."
"But Corey, you saw it too." Bill said.
"Look bruh, I didn't see no stinking werewolf." Corey said, feeling the alcohol take a turn from relaxed to agitated.
"Well what was it that threw you across that room and into the wall?" Bill asked.
"Yo momma, that's what it was!" Corey exclaimed.
"Screw you." Bill said, getting up from the table and hopping onto the countertop.
"No. Screw you, muthafucker." Corey said getting up and going to the door. "Good luck with tying
yourself down." Corey said, then walked out the door.
Bill sat there on the countertop in thought. "I'm not supposed to feel like a werewolf until tomorrow. That fucker, Corey really knows how to fuck things up. He won't even admit to what it was that he saw. I wonder why. He told the sheriffs and the paramedics what happened to him. Why the change?" Bill said to himself. "Whatever the change was, he damn sure needs to fix it. What's on his mind? It damn sure isn't tomorrow night."

The summer heat combined with the humidity was thick. Corey was glad he wore a tank top and shorts even though the clear weather still made him feel sticky as he drove with the windows down.
"That roach. I should have stepped on him before leaving that God foresaken house of his. "He won't even go out anymore since the attack. I don't know what's gotten into him." Corey said, three point-turning on the small rural road. "I'll get it out of him one way or another."
Corey turned into Bill's drive way and parked. He hurried out of his car and stormed to the front door, his body holster gripping the tank top tight. He banged on the door in a frenzy. The door came open with a chain preventing it from opening all the way.
"What do you want Corey?" Asked Bill, keeping the chain lock on the door.
"I. I. I just wanted to apologize. That's all." Cory said.
The door shut. Corey could hear the chain unlocking the door. Slowly the door opened. Corey stayed in place for a moment, almost unsure if he wanted to enter Bill's house, having remembered what happened at Quinton's. Eventually Bill opened the door and welcomed Corey inside.
Bill closed the door behind him.
"Look Bill, I'm sorry for running off at the mouth. I don't know, maybe it was the beer talking but I did just want to know one thing. That's all." He said.
"Corey. I got what that medic said on my mind. It's been almost two weeks and tomorrow the full moon rises. And you want to know if I want to go to Joe's?"
"Maybe it could take some of what you're experiencing off your mind." Corey said, trying to keep calm.
"I'm supposed to turn into a German Shepard hybrid, tomorrow night and you think a game of pool and a little jukebox music is gonna take that off my mind." Bill paused. "I don't think so."
"Do you want to just hangout here?" Corey asked.
"I don't have a pool table and a jukebox but I got beer and we can order take out." Bill said, waking from his dismal attitude.
"Okay. I got the remote!" Corey exclaimed before dropping himself onto the sofa. Immediately he began channel surfing.
Bill sat down and lit a cigarette. He watched his friend inside the world that he created. It was like no one else existed by the way he used the remote and went through the channels.
"Hey. Grab me a beer." Corey told Bill.
"Uh, rule number one, this ain't Joe's Place. Grab it yourself." Bill said.
Corey looked at him in disbelief.
"I oughta knock that cancer stick out of your hand. Here." Corey said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bag of weed and rolling papers and tossed everything to him. "Put out that cig and roll a couple of these." Corey said, getting up and going to the fridge. He came back with two, after handing Bill one, he sat down and continued to channel surf while Bill rolled the cigarettes.
"Don't worry. I'll be here tomorrow to tie you down. Just to let you know, I'm not good at tying knots so if you are a werewolf there's a good chance you'll get away."
Bill didn't like the sound of that.
"After you tie me down, leave." Bill said.
"For what? You won't have anyone to corroborate your story." Said Corey, looking away from the TV.
"I'd rather have you alive than to kill you when it could've been prevented." Bill said, lighting the first joint.
"You're right. After I tie you up, I could hang around and watch you becoming a werewolf, take a few pictures for evidence and then leave." Corey said, turning his attention back to the television.
"But we don't know how long it takes to change. Will it be a quick change or a step by step change? I'll leave that part up to you. Just go if it looks like you're gonna have to run for your life. Okay." Said Bill, sharing the joint and opening his beer.
"Man I can't wait for tomorrow." Corey said.
"Why is that?" Bill asked.
"You get to turn into a werewolf and I get to watch." Corey said as he took a long drag off the joint and then passed it back to Bill who was busy working on the second one.
"Please leave." Bill begged.
"If it gets to hot, I will." Corey said.
"Promise?" Bill asked.
"Sure. Why not? Corey stated, taking what was left of the joint from Bill.