Detective Murray downed another shot of brown liquor. With some slosh still left over, he slammed it on the bar and knocked it sideways, nearly toppling himself off the bar stool.
“All you cops get this fucked up?”
He didn’t recognize the woman’s voice.
“Yeah, one Bud Heavy, thanks,” she said, alternating her attention between the disheveled detective and the bartender.
“Va fangool, bitch,” Detective Murray groaned as he scooted away from her.
“Cheers!” She chuckled and held her drink toward him. Eyeing the shot glass on its side, she shrugged and took a swig.
“That was a big parade today, fella,” she said in between sips. “Bet you guys love that shit, don’t ya’?”
Detective Murray shook his head but had to push his foot down to keep himself from falling. “Reardon was a good dick—the best we had.” He hung his head and swallowed. “A friend…a gentleman…a—”
“Mangled mess…”
Detective Murray squinted at her. “How you know ‘bout how he went, lady?”
“Oh! The whole town knows. Heard about the bite marks, only half a torso—the whole nine-yards!”
And how’d you know I was a cop? He wasn’t sure if he’d said it out loud. He leaned back on his stool and scanned the lady from head to toe. The floor boards creaked beneath her as she shifted her weight against the bar. Ordinarily, Detective Murray would pass on such a large and intimidating woman, but perhaps tonight he could make an exception.
He puffed out his cheeks and stared into the mirror behind the liquor rack. His salmon-red eyes blinked back at him. While rubbing his temples with his thumbs, he slid his elbows forward on the bar, noticing the woman had no reflection in the mirror.
“Wh…Why you ain’t got—”
“You’re toasted, big man.” She reached over and rubbed his back. Her touch distracted him from the mirror.
“Big man?” Detective Murray chuckled. You’re twice my size, sweetie.
“How about we get you home?”
“I live far from here, lady. Just… just leave me be. I’m the poor asshole that’s gotta work Reardon’s case anyway…”
“Oh, we’re not heading to your place,” she said, choosing not to acknowledge his last comment. She yanked him by his shoulders off the bar stool, supporting him with just one hand. “We’re crashing in my cave tonight.”
Detective Murray felt a shot of adrenaline pulse through his veins. But it wasn’t a feeling of sensual desire; her inhuman brawn filled him with fearful apprehension.
“Christ, you’re strong!” He said as he was dragged from the bar toward the backdoor. “Hey! What’s your name anyway?”
“Sabelina Wymarc.”
“Sabe…what? Sounds exotic—”
“Medieval.”
“Old-fashioned parents I’m guessing?”
Sabelina smiled and clutched the detective at his rib cage. “They were the oldest on the block.” A vein popped on her neck. “And they’re still alive!”
Sabelina produced a guttural laugh and launched the detective onto her shoulder. It happened so fast that Detective Murray—while still discombobulated in a drunken stupor—barely had time to protest. She sprinted for the trees that aligned the bar’s parking lot with the detective bouncing on her back.
The light from the full moon flickered between the tree trunks, shining just enough for the detective to see in front of Sabelina’s path. Thick strands of hair poked him in his eyes as he maneuvered his neck to peer over her shoulder.
“What the—”
Before he could finish, Sabelina grunted and transitioned into a gallop. Her back arched as she began to propel herself forward with one hand still gripping the detective.
Beyond the store fronts sat a modest incline—not quite a mountain—but bigger than a hill. While Sabelina climbed up its spine, Detective Murray fought his nausea, managing only to lift his head slightly.
Sabelina slowed to a trot and in one swift motion, unfurled the detective’s body from the bramble of hair that now occupied her back. After stumbling to his feet, he circled his head around the rock-covered knoll and said, “Sabe…Sabe—sweetie, where’s your pad? What’d ya’ call it? Cave—”
Detective Murray felt a fist pummel his back, thrusting him into a crevice on the underside of a low-lying crag.
***
Tasting the dirt collect on his tongue, the detective began to cough and feel around his surroundings. He massaged the back of his head and shoulders—sore to the touch.
He overheard crunching noises intermingled with grunts and uneven breathing. The shadow of a human-like figure undulated on the rock walls of the cavern, the details of which brightened behind orange dancing flames.
Having sobered up from his post-funeral parade binge, the detective dragged his feet over the gravel toward the shadowy figure. As it became easier to see, Detective Murray stopped in his tracks and had to place his hands over his mouth, forcing himself not to vomit. Human bones and clothing scraps were piled in unending mounds, stacked haphazardly atop one another against the walls of the cave. The stench tinged his nostrils and made him dry heave. Suddenly, he felt the urge to sneeze on top of his queasiness. He held it in, just as the distant crunching and grunting came to a halt.
Detective Murray placed his shirt collar over his nose and knelt beside a pile, concealing himself behind a collection of femurs. The crunching noises started again.
“Is that chewing?” he whispered to himself. “How’d I get here?”
While shuffling his feet, he caught a glimmer of something protruding from the bone pile. He held back another dry heave-sneeze combination and reached out with his hand, plucking out a piece of metal covered in a slimy residue. The contours of the object came into view with the fire light that trickled over the bone pile.
“Detective…”
He pushed his other hand into the bone pile and extracted the remains of another shining object. The detective’s worst fear was confirmed as he rode his fingers over the corners of shield-shaped metal. The already corroding badge quivered between his fingers as he read the words engraved within its metal.
“Reardon…”
The chewing noises ceased, followed by a thump and a belch. And the firelight sizzled into darkness.
Detective Murray tossed the badge to the side and reached back for his gun, only for his fingers to jam against the leather of his empty holster. The sound of the steps grew louder, followed by labored breathing and dripping saliva.
“You stay back! Police!” he shouted.
The detective tripped backward over a bone pile, landing on all fours. He dug his fingers into the dirt, crawling back to where he had awakened earlier. A single strand of sunlight peeked over the beast’s shoulders as it stepped toward him.
A way out! But how?
Detective Murray burped and tasted liquor in his mouth, mixed with the lingering stench of rancid flesh. He began to dry heave, only for the sensation to be overpowered by a colossal sneeze that he fired right into the beast’s face.
After wiping the snot from his nose, he scampered to his feet, nearly scraping his head against the top of the cave as he attempted to stand. The creature barked and moaned.
He reached into the rancid pile and pulled out a pelvic bone still attached to the spine by half-eaten ligaments. Gripping it by the tail bone, he swung it forward and struck the beast against the opposite wall.
“Detective!” the beast screeched in a familiar feminine voice.
“Ah, shit!” he shouted as he limped over the rocks. The memories cascaded back into his consciousness.
“Sabe-shithead Wehrmacht. Fuckin’ werewolf lady!” He sneezed again and shouted, “Sorry, babe! You ain’t my type!”
Sabelina bellowed loud enough to shake Detective Murray’s eardrums. Apart from her shrieks, he could hear her pounding footsteps gaining momentum behind him. More light poured in through the cave’s entrance; it was daytime.
He felt her claws dig into his shoulders as he was shoved to the ground, right at the foot of the cave’s entrance. She flipped him over onto his back and revealed her muscular frame. The saliva dripped from her fangs onto the detective’s face, forcing him to cough and sneeze into her muzzle.
Sabelina straddled him, coughing and fighting through the fluids as Detective Murray did the same. He shoved his hands against her hairy thighs, pushing himself into the light.
Sabelina attempted to crawl forward but the light singed her leathery skin. Detective Murray stumbled to his feet, stepping backward while staring—mouth agape—at Sabelina’s transformation. He watched her fall to her knees—her body steaming as it shrunk to human proportions. Her hair receded into her whitening skin.
Detective Murray turned around and sprinted down the mountain.
***
“A werewolf!” Detective Parsons laughed between bits of donuts falling from his lips.
“A goddamn idiot!” Detective Smalls replied. He shook his head. “Had his whole life set out for him. Now he’s in the looney bin.”
Smalls lifted the newspaper from his desk and scanned the headlines. “Penny Saver says here that he was last seen on the East Side, over by that plaza—”
“He escaped?” Parsons paused his chewing.
“Yeah, like I was sayin’—don’t interrupt me, you dumb shmuck.” Smalls rustled the paper and glared at Parsons. “…running around the hills on the East Side, fully nude—”
“We got ourselves an exhibitionist? Dickin’ around!” Parsons slammed his fists into the desk.
“Would you shut the fuck up already? Christ…he was accompanied by a woman…” Smalls’s eyebrows arched. “Also, nude—broad shouldered and generally unkempt…”
“So, Murray ran away with a skell into the mountains?”
Smalls rubbed his chin. “I’m startin’ to think maybe Murray was on to somethin’. He was assigned Reardon’s case. And he did claim it was werewolves—”
“Maybe he’s still searchin’ for ‘em?”
“Or maybe he’s become one?”
The detectives busted out in laughter. Parsons rose to his feet and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. “Hey Smallsy, let’s get a drink over on the East Side. Maybe we can catch of glimpse of Murray the Wolfman!”
Smalls snorted. “See some fine broads while we’re at it!”
***
The lights dimmed in the police precinct as the moon climbed the night sky. Smalls and Parsons slammed the patrol car’s doors and headed to the bar. As they reached for the door handle, two howls pierced the evening quiet.
by 
His published work and visual art can be found here: https://michaeldioguardisciencefiction.tumblr.com/.
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