Lycanthrope

I look down at the scattered papers on the table in front of me and take a bite out of a french fry, frustration overwhelming my body. The day that Mr. Saltzman had assigned the folklore project, I began doing research on werewolves only to end up with a number of pages saying entirely different things.

Leaning back in my chair, I continue to eat the french fries that I ordered minutes ago while I wait for the arrival of Tyler. We agreed to meet at the Grill around noon so we could discuss the project a little bit and it was now nearing one o’clock.

A few minutes pass when Tyler finally comes strolling into the Grill, a smirk plastered on his face which causes me to roll my eyes. I cross my arms over my chest as Tyler pulls out the chair across from me and say, “You’re late.”

“I had things to do,” he shrugs while sitting down on the chair before adding in, “besides, Mr. Saltzman said this is just a small, side project that won’t be due for a while. So, what’s the rush in getting started now?”

“I’m trying to get out of the habit of procrastinating and this stuff fascinates me.”

Tyler simply rolls his eyes and I can tell by his expression that he’s thinking how big of a nerd I must be for me to be interested in folklore. Crossing his arms on the table, he leans forwards and asks, “What have you got there?”

“Nothing really,” I begin while looking down at the papers and grabbing various ones, “everything says something different. The only thing that people can really agree on is that werewolves and vampires are natural enemies.”

“Have you had lunch yet?” Tyler asks, changing the topic completely. I narrow my eyes at him and shake my head causing him to wave down a waitress. When she reaches our table, Tyler says to her, “We would like two cheeseburgers, two Cokes, and some more french fries. Thanks.”

The waitress writes down the order and once she has walked away, I look at Tyler with my eyebrows slightly elevated. “What are you doing?”

“Ordering us lunch. You said you didn’t eat.”

“Whatever,” I mumble while looking back down at the papers in front of me, “like I was saying, some sites say tha-”

“Where’d you move from?” Tyler interrupts once more, grabbing one of my french fries and taking a bite.

A frustrated sigh passes through my lips as I run my hand through my hair and say, “Connecticut. Getting back to the proj-”

“Why’d you move?”

“We’re not gonna get any work done, are we?” I ask, avoiding Tyler’s question.

He simply shakes his head no, leaning back in his chair as the waitress places our food in front of us. “You going to tell me why you moved or not?” Tyler asks before taking a rather large bite out of his burger.

“My mom just felt like moving,” I answer, deciding to leave out the reason to why she wanted to move.

Tyler and I continue to talk throughout our meal. We discuss minor things such as our interests and we do so without having the urge to strangle the other. For the first time since I’ve met Tyler, we are civil with each other and it’s nice for a change.

As we finish our cheeseburgers, the waitress returns with a large manilla folder and asks, “Excuse me, but are you Sydney?” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and simply nod my head. She hands the folder to me and says, “Someone wanted me to give you this.”

I take the folder from her hands and place it on the table in front of me. Looking down at the folder, I notice a post-it attached with my name written on it in black ink. I open up the folder and see a small stack of papers inside. On top of the papers is a note addressed to me.

Sydney,

I noticed that you’re doing a project on werewolves and thought that you need this more than I do. Here is all that you need to know about werewolves. The real, true information about them.

-D

Swallowing hard, I look around the Grill and wave the waitress back over. When she reaches me, I ask, “Who gave you this?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs her shoulders, “he didn’t give me a name. He just pointed you out and asked me to give you this.”

“Is he still here?” I ask, nerves swelling up in my stomach. She simply shakes her head no. “Okay, thanks.”

The waitress walks away and my gaze falls back down on the folder containing papers. I tap my fingers nervously on the table and I’m soon brought out of my daze when I hear Tyler ask, “What is it?” I simply hand Tyler the note, allowing him to read it for himself. When he’s done, he asks, “Who is D?”

“I have no idea.”

His eyes widen a little bit as he hands the note back to me and shakes his head. “Sounds like someone has a little stalker.”

“Thank you, Tyler. You sure do know how to calm a person down,” I say sarcastically while grabbing the paper out of his hands and placing in on the table causing Tyler to roll his eyes.

I begin to look through the papers in the folder to see what kind of information they might contain. One paper talks about an old Aztec curse that was created which makes werewolves servants of the moon and vampires slaves to the sun. As I’m reading about the curse, I hear an unfamiliar man’s voice say something from directly behind me which causes me to jump.

“Whoa, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” the man says coming to the side of the table.

Before I get a chance to say anything, Tyler immediately asks, “What are you doing here?”

“I came for a drink and saw you here so I just came to say hi,” the man answers before averting his eyes to me and says, “and I don’t believe we have ever met.”

“Sydney Brown,” I introduce myself, extending my hand out.

He takes my small hand in his large one and as we’re shaking hands, Tyler says, “Sydney, this is Mason, my uncle.”

“You said Brown, right?” Mason asks, pulling his hand away. I simply nod my head and he asks, “Are you related to a David Brown by any chance?”

I furrow my eyebrows slightly and nod my head. “He’s my father. How do you know him?”

“I met him briefly Sunday night just a couple minutes outside of town.”

My jaw drops slightly and my eyes widen a bit. Brushing my bangs out of my eyes, I shake my head while saying, “That’s not possible. My dad walked out on me and said he was going somewhere far. Like, other side of the country kind of far.”

“Maybe I’m thinking of another David Brown then,” he replies, placing his hands in his pockets as a small smirk tugs on his lips.

“Yeah, probably.” I nod my hand and begin gathering my things. Once I have everything together, I look up at Tyler to find him watching me and say, “I need to go. We’ll get together some other time to work on this.”

“Uh, yeah. Okay, I’ll give you a call or text you sometime.” I go into my purse to get money out to pay for my food when Tyler says, “Don’t worry about it, I got it.”

I smile thankfully and nod my head. Rising to my feet, I grab the manilla folder and hold it close to my chest. “It was nice meeting you, Mason.”

“Likewise,” he smiles and nods his head.

Waving goodbye to Tyler, I walk in the direction of the door to leave. I place my hand on the door, ready to push it open and take one last glance at Mason. His words keep replaying in my mind and confusion sweeps through me. Shaking my head, I turn back around and push the door open.

There’s no way the David Brown that Mason was talking about meeting is the same one that is my father.