by Joe Solmo

               Justin walked towards his car zipping up his pants. Illuminated by the dashboard lights, he could make out his date’s face. Janet was beautiful, he thought. She was the perfect match for him. Most of the girls in his area, a rural Adirondack town, weren’t up to his caliber. It pained him to look at the prospects. Dating was brutal in small towns, he thought with a frown.

               He yanked the door open on his new car. He just had the dealership detail it again, he had spilled some fries under the seat and lied to them, saying he found them there. They swore they went over the car meticulously this time. They better, he thought as he plopped onto the leather seat. He turned towards his date.

               “All better, I had to jettison some extra fuel, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink and put the key into the ignition. It might seem silly to take the keys just to go ten feet for a piss on a backwoods dirt road but there was no way he was going to trust her with the keys. She was probably dating him for his car anyway. It was quite a catch, just like him, he thought.

               Janet pursed her lips and reached into her jacket pocket. She pulled out her cellphone and scrolled through social media while Justin talked about himself and drove them further down the bumpy dirt road. He was so absorbed in his own story; he didn’t notice her texting her friends instead of paying attention to him. Who wouldn’t want to hear his stories? He was a great story teller.

               “Well babe, here we are,” Justin said cranking the wheel and punching the gas to make the car spin out on the dirt road before parking. In the bright headlights they could see the rustic looking cabin, wrapped with a rickety front porch, set back in the tall grass, surrounded by dark pines.

               “Jennifer and Michael are meeting us here,” she said putting her phone into her small leather purse. She reached for the door handle but was stopped when Justin reached across her and placed his warm hand on hers. An awkward moment passed in silence as he made eye contact with her. A quick chill ran down her spine, but she held his gaze.

               “How about a quick kiss before we go inside?” Justin said hopefully, his face only inches from hers. She looked at him for a second and the particles of leftover chips in his beard from the bag he ate on the way up, not offering her any. She shook her head no and wrenched the door open, breaking his touch and jumped out.

               “Easy on the door,” he called out as she walked down the overgrown path towards the cabin. Bitch!

               “Sorry, babe,” she said sarcastically over her shoulder.

               “Bitch better put out,” Justin mumbled and got out of the car, staring at her ass as he did so. He carefully closed the door and hit the alarm button on the fob. “Wait up!” he called out and jogged towards Janet who was almost to the cabin already.

               When they reached the rustic cabin, Janet reached under the windowsill where the key was supposed to be. “Here it is,” she said and moved towards the ancient, weathered door. Years of use have left its mark on the rough-cut wooden planks that made up the door.

               “Are you sure this place is safe?” Justin asked looking at the way the cabin leaned a little to the right. Just enough to notice, but not enough to stick the door when Janet opened it.

               “Safe?” she repeated.

               “Yeah, it looks like it will cave in at any moment,” Justin said.

               “Oh,” she laughed. “Yeah it’s safe. Solid construction,” she said and patted the old board and batten siding. “This thing has been standing for a long time.”

               They entered the dark cabin. Justin stumbled around for a few seconds until his eyes adjusted enough to see where the couch was located. “I can’t see shit in here,” he said and fell onto the old musty cushions. An explosion of dust erupted into the air.

               “Oh, you’re such a big baby,” Janet said from farther in, and suddenly there was dim light. She walked the candle over and placed it on an end table. Its flames dancing to the forest sounds outside. She sat on the opposite side of the couch from him, in the darkness. She sneezed from the dust.

               “Come closer,” Justin said. “This is supposed to be a date, isn’t it?” he said and raised an eyebrow. She was acting awfully cold towards him all of a sudden. That’s not like girls that date him.

               “Sorry,” she said and scooted a little closer to him on the couch. He met her halfway and placed his arm around her. She could smell that he was sweaty.

               “Now that’s better,” he said. “It’s dark. We have romantic candlelight and not another person around for miles. I bet you could get away with murder up here,” he joked. At least he thought it was funny, Janet didn’t visibly react to him. What was this bitch’s problem? Normally women loved his sense of humor.

               “I hope they get here soon. They were bringing the beer,” Janet said and checked her phone, but there was no signal this far from town. She put it pack into her purse and put her purse between them.

               “I am sure we can think of something to pass the time,” Justin said and pulled on her shoulder, drawing her nearer. The space between them disappeared as he squeezed her into her bag.

               “Want to play a game?” Janet asked, looking at a bookshelf on the far wall.

               “Let’s play doctor,” he said and leaned in and kissed her. She had turned her face just enough so the kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips. Justin let out an annoyed sigh.

               “I meant one of those,” she said pointing at the bookshelf. “There is monopoly, chutes n ladders…” she said.

               “How the fuck can you see in the dark over there. I can’t make out shit,” he said. “Those are kids games anyway. I want to play adult games,” he said and stretched. He pulled his shirt off over his head revealing a hairy chest sweater. “Sure is warm tonight.”

               “It’s not that warm,” Janet said and stood, his smell grew without the protective layer of the shirt. “Ah here they come,” she finished and headed towards the front door to get a breath of fresh air.

               “I don’t hear shit!” he said and followed her onto the small wooden porch. The sound of Michael’s old truck faintly reached Justin’s ears after another few seconds. Its old springs bouncing on the dirt road.

               “How the hell did you hear that from inside?” he asked, looking at her with a dumbfounded look on his face.

               “I just shut my mouth and listened,” she replied with a hefty amount of snark.

               “Ha. Very funny,” he said as the lights from the truck lit up the porch. Its engine cutting out on top of the awesome burnout Justin had done. Wonder if they noticed it? He looked at Janet’s ass as she ran off to meet Michael and Jennifer. “This is a waste of time,” he mumbled to himself. That bitch is way too stuck up. She wasn’t going to give him anything tonight. He would have to work for it, probably for weeks. There were other girls out there he could get with a lot less effort, he thought. One’s that would appreciate a catch like him.

               He thought about leaving. Just jumping in his car and going. It wasn’t like he was going to strand the bitch here, she had friends to give her a ride home. He waved at Michael as their gazes met. Fuck off you asshole, he thought as he looked across the grass. He hated both of them, Michael and Jennifer.

               He hated Michael back in high school, and Jennifer was just a bitch. She turned him down freshman year a few times, even though she was single. She had an attitude problem. At least there was beer. That might make the night a little better, he thought.

               Michael reached into the back of the truck and pulled a twelve pack out before heading towards the cabin. “That’s it?” Justin asked as Michael stepped onto the porch.

               “What’s that?” Michael asked facing Justin with disdain.

               “Is that all the beer you brought?” Justin asked, pointing to the twelve pack in Michael’s hand. He noticed it was already opened.

               “Yeah, why? Was I supposed to supply you with beer too?” Michael asked and stepped into the cabin. Justin stood there, his blood starting to boil. The audacity of that jerk, talking to him that way. Justin was the whole reason they were invited up here. Janet wanted to come up the cabin, but didn’t want to do it alone for their first date, so they turned it into a double date. If it wasn’t for Justin insisting that Janet went out with him tonight, they wouldn’t have gotten the invite.

               “Hi Justin,” Jennifer said as she walked way past him. She kept a five-foot distance from him. Did he have the plague for fucks sake?

               “Janet, they didn’t bring any beer for us. Let’s go. We can grab some and go out to the lake, I know the perfect spot, we can be alone,” he said.

               “You would rather get shitfaced and drive me home?” she asked then entered the cabin. More candles illuminated the inside now.

               Justin followed her inside and closed the door behind him. He traced his fingers over several deep grooves in the door. His imagination running wild with speculation. He saw a dark discoloration to the wood, an old stain. He turned back to the party.

               “Here man,” Michael said and tossed him a beer. Justin caught it and opened it away from himself so he didn’t spill it on his new shirt. The careless asshole Michael almost owed him a new shirt.

               “What have you been doing since school?” Jennifer asked him as he took a seat on the arm of the chair near Janet, who stood up to get her own beer from the twelver since no one offered her one yet.

               “Working, hunting white tail,” he said and slapped Janet on the ass. “If you know what I mean.”

               “Yeah, I think we do,” Jennifer said with disgust in her voice. Michael groaned.

               “What about you? I thought you were with Roger,” Justin asked.

               “We broke up almost a year ago,” she replied and took a sip of her beer.

               “And you didn’t call me?” Justin said giving her a look over and shaking his head. “Shame.”

               “Ugh, are you serious?” Janet asked.

               “Relax, I am with you now, that’s all that matters,” Justin said. “Whose cabin is this anyway?”

               “It belongs to my family,” Janet explained. “My family came here sometime during the sixteen hundreds and were some of the first white settlers to the area. They made peace with the native tribe that lived here, I can’t remember their name. Something like Okwa..Okwaho. Something like that. They were a small tribe of one village, shunned by the other natives. My family lived with them for a time, learning their customs. The cabin burned down in the mid eighteen hundreds, but my family rebuilt it on the same spot. We don’t come up here much anymore though. In fact the last time I was here I was a very small girl.

               “I wonder why, it is falling apart!” Justin said and kicked the door. There was a bang from the other side, like something fell off the porch. “What the fuck was that?”

               “Go outside and find out,” Michael said.

               “Sounded like something fell over,” Jennifer said and set down her beer. “Does anyone else know we are out here?” she asked Janet.

               “Don’t think so,” Janet said and walked to the dirty window to the left of the door. She peered into the darkness and a smile crept across her face. It was almost time.

               “Watch something doesn’t grab you,” Justin said and jumped at her trying to scare her.

               “Jealous?” Janet asked playfully. She saw the hope grow on Justin’s face. He was so easy to play. She turned towards her other friends and nodded. They nodded back. Soon…

               “My family wasn’t the only one. Other settlers also learned the ways of the tribe. Lived and married them. I believe that is how our town was founded. By those families,” Janet continued as if she hadn’t stopped talking earlier.

               “So, is that some hillbilly half-breed cousin of yours out here come to butt rape us?” Justin said glancing around erratically. “Cuz I got some news for him. IT”S EXIT ONLY,” he yelled at the door.

               “Justin, are you scared?” Janet asked as the smile returned to her face. She couldn’t help it. “Because you should be.”

               “What did you say?” Justin said picking up a cast iron pan from the top of the wood stove. The pan was comforting in his hand. No one would mess with him.

               “She said you should be,” Jennifer said and stood. Outside a howl erupted close by. The hairs on Justin’s neck rose. Two more howls answered the first.

               “What the fuck is going on?” he asked, brandishing the pan like a weapon.

               “I think what is going on…” Michael said. “Is that you just pissed your pants.” They all began to laugh as a scratching could be heard on the front door.

               “What is this? Some revenge thing? Witches? Werewolves? What the fuck assholes?” Justin said and took a swing at Jennifer, who was the closest to him. She dodged the attack and laughed.

               “Janet, tell him the rest of the story,” Jennifer said dodging another swing from Justin. The scratching got louder outside.

               “One of the customs our ancestors learned was worshipping nature. The natives watched the wolf hunt, the apex predator. They began to feed it. To earn its trust and draw it close. Soon its hunger grew for only one type of meat. They began to give it their sick and elderly to appease its voracious hunger and to be able to leave the villages without being attacked. Soon the beast began to communicate with the natives. First through gestures, then eventually it spoke. You are what you eat, I guess. The wolf grew from the nourishing human flesh, but it was the brains she craved more. Soon the natives worshipped her as the Wolf Mother. A giant wolf that lived in these forests. She walked with the humans, taught them about hunting, about nature, about the plants, and the animals. She taught them how to use their other senses to see in the dark, to smell the scents of the forest on the slightest of breezes. How to hear the faintest rodent squeak from fifty feet away, but all that information came with a price,” Janet said and walked towards the door. She paused as her hand fell on the handle.

               “Like I said, the wolf is a carnivore. The Wolf Mother craves the rarest of meat. Only the flesh of man can sedate her hunger. Only eating our brains can she continue with her sentience. She is no werewolf, as you erroneously guessed. She is an Aware Wolf. And you, Justin, are our sacrifice to her. As my family has done for hundreds of years, we too will take an asshole from town, and give him to the Wolf Mother. As is the agreement. The Price is now paid!” Janet said and yanked open the door.

               “The price is now paid!” Jennifer and Michael echoed.

               The doorway was full of mangy fur and teeth the size of steak knives. Justin wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, but it was at this time that he actually pissed himself. The massive wolf entered the cabin slowly, its eyes focused on him standing there with the cast iron pan and piss dripping own his leg.

               Entering behind the Wolf Mother was two average sized wolves.  Snarls came from the pair as they closed in around Justin. This is it. He was going to die…

               “Leave now. The price has been paid. The toll accepted. Go now, back into the human world. Your land is protected for two times seven more winters. My children grow hungry,” The Wolf Mother snarled and with lightning reflexes she pinned Justin to the old wooden boards on the floor of the cabin. His entire vision was filled with the massive beast. The sheer weight of her paw on his chest seemed to steal his breath from his body. He wondered if he had enough air in his lungs to scream at this point.

               “Goodbye, Justin,” Janet said totally devoid of emotion. The hunt was over, her part played.

               “Yeah, goodbye asshole,” Jennifer said and Michael laughed.

               The children of the Wolf Mother closed in and started to nip at his head, leaving blood-filled  gashes where their teeth scraped. The pressure on his chest grew as the massive head of the Wolf Mother moved to within inches of his. He could smell death on her breath, his death. Dating was brutal in small towns, he thought and smiled. It was the last thing he did.

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