Chapter 2: S.O.L.

Kade was down on his luck. With women, with money, and most of all, with where to go on a Saturday night. On the one hand, he was a real big fan of bar culture, but all the good bars had closed, that is, the bars where he could at least sip the cheapest, shittiest vodka until his money ran out. He’d already spent most of his last paycheck on a motel after he got kicked out of his apartment, and tomorrow he’d be moving back in with his parents.

He rubbed his head and wondered–how could this happen? It had seemed just a few years ago, he was on an upward trajectory in life, and then everything just stopped mattering to him. Where before he’d been the top performer at work, he just stopped caring. He may have even lied a little, just so his boss wouldn’t catch on, but that only works for so long.

He’d been caught empty-handed at his performance review, and that was the end. They did give him two weeks, but told him not to come in. They probably were expecting zero work and didn’t want him using up their coffee budget, which he couldn’t blame them for. It was pretty good coffee and all.

He sighed as he rolled back on the bed. He took one of the packages of ramen he’d brought from his apartment and put it in the microwave with some of the water from the motel room’s bathroom sink. He really had to get out of here, it was bumming him out, plus the lock on the room’s door was broken and he didn’t want to test being in there for too long.

He looked up bars, and trying to discern ones nearby from his cracked phone screen, he eventually decided on one about half a mile’s walk down the side of the highway, King Lycanos. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He probably was just never close enough to justify visiting. But it looked like they did serve cheap vodka, so there it was!

He pulled a t-shirt on, shaved his face, and walked out of the door, trying his best to make the lock on the door appear actually locked, though he knew there was really nothing to steal other than whatever clothes he could pack into suitcases.

“One last ride,” he muttered to himself, “before I go back home.”

As he walked down the shoulder, ignoring various jeers from drunk college students, he found himself sweating. He always hated how he could never seem to walk anywhere anymore without smelling like he’d just come back from a marathon. He wiped the sweat away and kept walking, eventually finding himself, according to his phone, at the place. The symbol of the crown and the two wolf ears should’ve clued him in about what was to come, but no such luck. It was more packed than he’d ever seen a bar before.

He walked up to the entrance, where a bouncer waved at him. The bouncer was…a wolf-person, whatever they called themselves. Oh, right, it was Lycanthropes, wait–the name of the–

“How can I help you, young man?” the bouncer asked gruffly.

“Hi, um, I’m so sorry, I came here for a drink, but I just realized this probably isn’t my space,” he replied.

“Just here for booze?” the wolf asked.

“Yeah,” he replied and sighed, “figured I’d get one more before I gotta move back in with my folks, it’s been a rough week and in this economy, finding a new job’s a bit tough.”

The bouncer glanced behind him and grinned at him, placing his paw on Kade’s shoulder, “Look, young fella, don’t bother any of the ladies in there and you’ll be able to go in there just fine. If anyone asks, tell ‘em you had your first change a month ago and you’re meeting the community.”

“Oh, um, thank you…”

“Ernie,” the wolf replied, “the name’s Ernie.”

“Right, thank you Ernie!”

“Take care, kid,” the bouncer said, “I’ll need your ID still, though.”

Kade nodded as he fumbled with his wallet and pulled out his driver’s license, the photo making him cringe. Ernie took a look at it and handed it back to him shortly after reading the birth date. He motioned for Kade to walk on through.

It was really a party in there, lights flashing, people dancing, the whole nine yards. He never liked that scene, he was always more for the casual talk with random regulars. He sat down at the bar, waiting for a bartender, before a wolf lady who looked, from what he knew of wolves, to be about the same age as him.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” she asked, looking almost unamused.

“Uh, just whatever’s cheapest with your vodka,” he replied.

She nodded, before sliding his drink to him. As he gulped it down, he noticed her lingering, almost nervously. “Hey,” he asked, “is there something wrong?”

“You’re not, like, a wolf chaser or anything, are you?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t even know what that is,” he replied.

“You’re not just hanging here because I’m a wolf? I can kind of tell you aren’t one of us,” she replied.

“You can tell that easily? Boy, everyone in here must think I’m a real jerk,” he muttered as he sat the shot glass down, “no, I’m just a drunk.”

“Oh, I’m like, I have a gift for reading people, don’t worry about it,” she replied, “your secret’s safe with me.”

“Oh, well, why do you ask?”

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“I don’t know, I just want someone to talk to so the ‘regulars’ don’t try and talk me up again,” she replied with a frustrated sigh, “and I just wanted someone who would look intimidating enough that he could ward ‘em off.”

Kade looked down at his muscles and winced, then nodded. “I see what you mean.”

She gave him a funny look, but then continued, “I’m Laura, by the way.”

“Kade, good to meet ya,” he replied.

“You from around here?” she asked as she poured him another shot, “don’t worry, this one’s on me. I see you counting your money.”

“Alright, appreciate it, Laura,” Kade said has he sipped it gently, wanting to make it last, “what’re you doing working here if you hate the patrons so much? The economy?”

“Mostly, yeah, you know how it is with things right now. This pays the bills for my college, and that’s about all that keeps me here. Plus, occasionally I make friends and acquaintances, like Ernie, who you probably met out there,” she said, gesturing towards the door.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I never did answer your question. I’m from around here, yeah. I’ll be moving back to my folks’ house in the morning once my motel stay runs out,” he replied as he rubbed his head. The bass from the other side of the bar was giving him a headache.

“That’s rough,” she said curtly as she looked over his shoulder. Kade turned to see a group of men that were leering at her.

“Those the ‘regulars’?” he asked.

“Yeah, they’re uh, persistent,” she replied, “very persistent.”

“How can I help?” he asked.

“Well, unless you can find me a new job,” she replied as she sighed and turned halfway around, keeping them in her peripherals, “keep talkin’ to me.”

“Alright, can do,” he replied.

Eventually, the group seemed to get tired of waiting and made their way out the door, as Laura sighed in relief. She smiled at Ernie and said, “you can go do other things, if you want, looks like they’re done for the night.”

“If you don’t mind,” he replied, “I’d like to stay and chat. Never much been one for dancing, besides, I’m such a klutz, I’d probably step on someone’s tail.”

“I don’t mind,” she said as she gave him another shot, “really, though, this is the last one that’s on me. I gotta pay bills too.”

“Oh, pfft, please then,” he said as he dug out his last few bills.

“You sure?”

“Keep the rest as a tip, yeah,” he replied as he took a swig.

“Well,” she said, “I may have an idea of how to thank you. I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to give this away, but my friend at the university is doing testing on a serum that may be able to lycanthropize humans. You seem pretty cool with wolves, though you could be the control group. Either way, they’ll pay you $4000/month to monitor you for a year. Funded by the government.”

She handed him the business card and turned around, wiping down the bar and stacking cups.

“O..okay, thanks,” he said as he felt a familiar pit drop in his stomach, signaling that it was most definitely time to go, “I gotta go but, see you around.”

“See you around, Kade!” she said as she waved at him.

He fumbled with the business card in his hand. This was going to be interesting, but $4000 was good enough for him. And besides, there was about a one out of two chance he’d be a wolf. He’d never thought about the possibility, it was something that he considered a rarity. Had happened to a few folks in high school, and he had seen some at uni, but never really befriended any. Being one, well, it would give him more excuses to go back to the bar and make some new friends, at least. And the worst that could happen was $48000 while he looked for a new job.

But for now, he made the sleep trek back to his room. He crashed on the bed and texted his father about where to pick him up, before zonking out entirely.

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