Sunday, Moonday

 Sunday, Moonday

It wasn’t exactly a lazy weekend, but he had a difficult time getting out of bed. He didn’t have any memory of the past few nights and it wasn’t the first time he had these blackouts. Blackouts — was that right? He didn’t have another word for what was happening to him. Jim did have some flashes of memory. Running, possibly being chased, a carousel were all in these visions. And then there was the scratch on his arm. Actually, it was three long scratches about one inch apart. Jim had tended them for days as they continued to fester and looked like they were healing funny. He thought about going to the Urgent Care but wasn’t sure what he’d tell them. All he knew was every few weeks he had those blackouts and they all stemmed from the first blackout about four months ago.

He remembered he was hiking in the woods. He had some recall of running through the woods and then stumbling onto a carousel. He remembered a movie about a carousel that saved two kids from a monster. And then he remembered waking up with the mysterious festering scratches on his right forearm.

Another thing that struck Jim as strange was that he could remember what he did all day, it was just the nights he couldn’t recall. It wasn’t just forgetting what happened those few nights every month or so, but also the fact he woke up from these blackouts naked and often covered in dirt and leaves. The last one was even worse. He woke covered in blood and fur with the remains of a rabbit near his bed. This time there was no rabbit but he did notice some dried blood mixed with the dirt this morning when he finally left his bed stumbling into the bathroom.

While he was in the bathroom, the phone rang.

“Hello,” Jim said in a husky, quiet voice.

“I know your secret,” said a sultry voice on the other end. “I can help you.”

“What. What secret?”

“You were scratched and infected with the lycanthropic virus,” the woman said.

“Lycan-what? What does that mean?”

“It means you’re a werewolf.”

Jim dropped the phone but knew it was true. It was the only thing that made sense.