Hood

I finished buttoning my shirt and fixing the collar. I brushed out the wrinkles on my slacks, using my hands. I fixed my hair, parting it evenly to make myself look more mature. I had to present myself so they couldn’t win this.

Imagine that, a Jewish murderer.

Leaving my cabin, I walked to the police station and they took me into the interrogation room for questioning. Sitting down, I looked at them and folded my hands on the table. “I know why I’m here.”

“You did it?” the cop asked, straightening his file papers.

“No. I didn’t. I simply said I know why I’m here. It’s not hard to guess that you suspect me for another murder.” I showed him my arm, exposing the bite wounds. My bandage was removed last night.

“What’s this?” He looked at my arm.

“These are wounds. This is from a couple of nights ago when I was attacked by a wolf on the way home. I then got home after he chased me, proceeding to go straight to the hospital when the coast was clear. I did not kill that man.” I sat back, now, crossing my arms.

He pulled out more of my file and put it in front of me. “Would you look at that? It’s a picture of you at the hospital. We know where you were. However, we also know other things.”

I eyed him warily. “What other things?”

He showed me a paper, pointing to a weird structure. “This was taken from the man’s DNA. He’s not fully human, Hood. He’s part wolf. That’s the same wolf that attacked you, correct?”

I shifted in my seat, swallowing. This looked extremely bad on my part. “So, you proved werewolves exist and the one that attacked me is dead. What are you saying? Whether he chased me or not still proves I was at the hospital during the time of his real death. He chased me back home and I waited until he was gone to go to the hospital. I did not kill him,” I repeated the last sentence slowly.

His eyes lingered on me, giving me the absolute creeps. There was no doubt that if this cop killed or raped me, nobody would give a shit. They wouldn’t so much as bat an eye. I’m sure it would be ruled as suicide or someone defending themselves against me.

He looked at my file and studied it for a few seconds longer. “You’re really interesting, Hood. You seem to be involved with a lot of killings.”

“I’m not involved with anything. These people attack me, I fight back and we all walk away alive. Someone proceeds to kill them after I’m gone and it looks as if I was the culprit. Someone is framing me because I’m easy to frame and everyone believes the lies. Everyone in this damn town is so gullible.” I rolled my eyes.

“Why would someone frame you?”

“I have multiple theories, but the easiest to understand is that maybe they’re a smart criminal. They’re a friend or someone you would never suspect. I’m not a friend; I’m a foe. You suspect me first thing and that makes it easier for the actual killer to continue to hide. It’s just a shame because if you lock me away with no real evidence,” I paused. “Then that means the killer no longer has me to hide behind. The killings may continue and you’ll have absolutely nothing to help you solve this case because the innocent weirdo is locked up for a crime she never committed. It’s so thoughtful that you think about me, truly.” I put my hand over my heart, gently patting it. “But I haven’t killed anyone since I started existing in this world.”

Without any more questions or real evidence to hold me here, the police let me leave.

Phillip ran over, catching up to me as I walked away from the building. “What happened?”

“Nothing. They have no proof that I killed that man. People will just have to face the facts that I am not the bad guy here. I might smoke. I might hate people. I might have that look that says I’m a bitch. I’m not. I’m not a bad guy. I don’t kill people. I only defend myself against attacks.” I shoved my hands into my pockets.

“Anything else?” he asked.

I laughed a bit. “You would never believe me. You would run and accuse me of being mental.”

“I wouldn’t. Tell me,” he urged.

I took a deep breath. “Well, the man that died is the same wolf that attacked me. The police know he’s a werewolf. So, I have a bigger connection to the murder now and people know what I know. Werewolves exist.”

Phillip laughed a bit. “You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

“Thought so.” I shook my head.

I rubbed my eyes, looking up at the sky. “I should probably go home and get ready for work. Maggie asked me to cover an extra shift.” I rolled my eyes. “One girl called out sick, again.”

Phillip nodded. “I shall see you then.”

“I’ll come back when I get a chance. I’ll order a Philly from my Philly.”

He looked at me. “What?”

“Philly... Your name is Phillip, I love Phillies and I was thinking, why not name you Philly? It fits perfectly.”

He chuckled. “You see me as food now?”

“You do make some damn good sandwiches.” I smirked. “I will see you later.” I waved goodbye and went back to my cabin to pick up my apron. I went to work and clocked on, looking at the time. “Tonight looks extra busy.”

“Everyone must be going somewhere,” Maggie said. She cleaned up a table and went to the counter. I knew it was going to be an extremely long night.

“Steve, get that food on the pan, now! We have people waiting,” I yelled to the chef.

He grumbled and tried to cook more. Maggie went to a few tables to try and offer some things up to please customers.

Some customers got pretty irritated but most were pretty understanding. Our food was always cooked fresh and everyone loved to wait for fresh food. Well, here they did.

I grabbed more trays and served the tables, apologizing for the wait.

One older man stopped me and his hand shook as he pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “This is for you, darling. You’ve been extra generous tonight and I want you to know your kindness is appreciated.”

“Oh, sir, that’s so sweet.” I always found it rude to refuse tips. I smiled at the cute old man and pocketed the money. “Enjoy your meal.” I walked back to the back and looked at Steve who worked alongside David.

Maggie came over and looked at the two of them. “You two need to pick up the pace and stop goofing. We have customers who came for food and they deserve our business. If you want to get paid, pick up the slack.” She rolled her arm in a circle to gesture them speeding up.

She looked at me and patted my arm. “Thank you so much for coming in early. We really needed the help tonight.”

I shrugged. “It was either this or acknowledging the judgmental stares from the townspeople. I’d much rather work.”

Even with high heels on, Maggie was still shorter than me. I had always been on the taller end of the scale for females and it was one reason as to why I hated high heels. I also just hated the pain they caused my feet.

We continued to serve the customers and traveling tourists throughout the night.

Steve and David cleaned up the kitchen while Maggie and I cleaned up out here. She finished washing off the tables. “There we go. I would say we did a damn good job tonight and we made a good profit. Good job everyone.”

Steve crossed his arms. “You threatened to deduct my pay.”

“If you can’t do your job, why should I keep you on the clock? I was going to send you home early. Customers must come first. It’s easy for you to argue that it’s okay to slack because you don’t have to deal with angry customers but I do. I don’t want to have to give everyone a free meal because they waited an hour. I want my customers to smile and leave good reviews. Good reviews bring more business. That’s how it works. I’m running a business here, Steve. I’m going to make it work.”

I laughed and shook my head. Maggie always told him off. He was such a slacker.

“I’m ready to go home. Let’s get our crap and get the hell out of here,” Maggie said, grabbing her purse.

I walked out with the three of them and Maggie offered me a ride. This time, I didn’t bother arguing.

“One of these days you need to get a car.” She didn’t look at me as she spoke. Instead, her eyes were focused on the road.

“I’m working on it. But the bills are expensive, too. They really are. It’s a struggle.” I wanted a car but I feared what the town would do to it. It’s not as if the police would fine anyone for vandalism or destruction of property, as long as I was the owner of said property.

She dropped me off at the cabin and went home to her own place. I went inside and saw a girl in the kitchen. She looked at me and smiled. “You must be Jason’s sister.”

“Everyone just calls me Hood. I’m sure you have heard a lot about me.” I shrugged.

“I have. He told me that what the town says about you is false. He knows you better than those on the outside looking in.” She continued to make some kind of stir fry for who I assumed was my brother.

“Ah, so he still talks about me,” I uttered under my breath.

I sat down on the couch.

“You two look so alike. It’s incredible how you guys are mere twins of each other but as the opposite sex.” She looked back at me.

I snickered. Twins. Little did she know. How has he really not told her? Was I shameful?

I coughed, shaking my head. “Well, nice meeting you. I shall go to bed.” I went to my room and slumped as I sat on my bed. I rarely ever saw Jason. I wanted to see him more often but he was always so busy. It didn’t feel as if we were even related. We were strangers.

Did he know about the most recent murder? No. Did he know I was interrogated? No. Did he know I was attacked by a werewolf? No. He didn’t know anything about my life. That was what saddened me the most. My brother was just a roommate I never interacted with.

I thought back to Philly, remembering his thoughts. He didn’t believe I killed that man but he also didn’t believe in werewolves. It was a strange concept. What would he do when he found out I was one of them? Would he run? Would he hide? I was going to lose my only friend.

I looked around my room and laid back on my bed. I took a deep breath. It was crazy how much had happened in just two weeks. I had a friend. I was a werewolf.

I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do about this werewolf situation. I needed to somehow find out more about them. The only people I knew who knew about werewolves other than werewolves themselves, was the police. They knew and they had to have some kind of information on them. I was going to have to go to the police to find out more about werewolves. Were werewolves bad or did people understand there were good ones, like me?

Would I be suspected or killed if I went to the police to ask for information on them? It was risky. I didn’t know which direction to go. I would have to find one soon because the werewolves that were after me were not going to stop anytime soon. Something told me they were persistent to hurt me for what kind of werewolf I was.