The Savage

   Roger and Crissy walked arm in arm down the main street sidewalk. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the couple had absolutely no plans. Roger glanced at the building in front of them, the movie theater.

   "Wanna take in a movie?" Roger asked. Crissy looked up at the marquee. It was a special weekend matinee, THE MONOLITH MONSTERS and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, plus selected cartoons. The place would be full of kids.

   "I'm game," Crissy smiled, "but I hear these kiddie matinees aren't the best way to enjoy a picture."

   "I'm sure the kids will quiet down once the werewolf makes the scene."  At this, Crissy giggled, prompting a raised eyebrow from her husband. Crissy explained.

   "I can see why annies are never cast in these kinds of movies. If you were a werewolf, how would anyone know it?" Crissy broke into light laughter. Roger found Crissy amusing. It wasn't that funny of a remark, but Crissy's child-like delight in it made the whole scene rather charming.

   Then a woman screamed. Just up the walk a few yards was a pretty annie with the features of a squirrel. She was screaming her head off as she pointed directly at Roger. "That's him! That's the man who attacked us!" With her was a pair of plainclothes officers, one of whom was a good friend of Roger's. Jack was uneasy as he looked at Roger, and then back to the girl. "Are you sure?" Jack grabbed her shoulders and forced Mary to look him in the eye. "Are you absolutely sure, Mrs. Road?" Mary looked back at Roger, who was still frozen in confusion, then back to Jack.

   "That's him, Sergeant. I'd know him anywhere." Jack was took a breath and nodded to Mary before he turned toward Roger and Crissy. "You'll have to come with me, Roger," Jack pulled back his jacket to make visible his holster, "you've just been accused of assault and attempted murder." Roger's eyes bugged. So did Crissy's before they narrowed into an incredulous scowl.

   "That's ridiculous, Jack!" Crissy defended her husband, "You know Rog!" Jack took a breath as he made clear he had his duty to do.

   "I'm sorry, Crissy, but he's been identified by Mrs. Road as the suspect. He'll have to come downtown." Downtown was actually in the next town over, Ludley. Ludley was a bit larger than Creek Bend, but it was still small. Still, it had an actual police building staffed by more than a Sheriff and his single deputy. A holding cell was right in the main office where Jack typed out his report. Crissy stood by, helplessly looking at Roger behind the bars. Roger was still bug-eyed, everything had happened so fast.

   "Did you really have to lock him up, Jack?" Crissy was so confused by the situation. Jack looked up as he finished his report.

   "I'm just following S.O.P., Crissy. Roger knows that. He's been accused of attempted murder and we have to hold onto him until we can prove he isn't our suspect." Roger looked around the cell, then back to Jack as the detective picked up the report listing the charges.

   "Just what am I supposed to've done, Jack?"

   "According to Mrs. Road, she and her husband were walking home from a movie last night at approximately 10:02. As they passed through the park, a wolf jumped out of the bushes and tore at Mary's blouse. Her husband Harry made to fight off the wolf, but he was overpowered and mauled. A beat cop heard Mrs. Road's screams and came running, which scared off the attacker before he could kill Mr. Road."

   "You know she saw another wolf." Roger offered. "We tend to look about the same in the dark."

   "This attack happened directly under a lamppost," Jack explained, "Mrs. Road got a good look at the guy, and described him in vivid detail. I have to admit, the description does match you, Rog. The first thing you need to do is establish your whereabouts when the attack took place. Where were you at ten last night?"

   "I was at home."

   "He was with me," Crissy held onto Roger's hands as he palmed the bars, "all night."

   "Doing what?" Jack asked.

   "We're married," Crissy offered, "what do you think we were doing?"

   "If only you'd gone to a poker game or something," Jack looked to Roger again, "any place where there'd be more than one witness to your location at the time of the attack."

   "My word isn't good enough?" Crissy was slightly offended. "I'm his wife, I should know, shouldn't I?"

   "Unfortunately," Jack sighed, "a good prosecutor will have no trouble convincing a jury that you're just covering for your husband. And that's only the start of Roger's troubles where jury opinion is concerned."

   Roger hung his head. He knew Jack was right. Crissy continued to defend him. "What do you mean?"

   "Crime rates among annie wolves have risen frighteningly in the last decade. The victims were squirrels, so the sympathy will be with them. And most people still associate social violence among annies with wolves because the first annie to commit mass murder was a wolf and the stigma remains. And most damning, Roger's own sister is locked away for trying to kill and eat YOU. They'll use that to say you're emotionally unstable, so much so that you married a man you knew could kill you. It won't be hard to swing a jury against Roger. The only defense he'll have is character witnesses."

   "My husband is his own man. He's not one of those others."

   "Crissy," Roger sounded defeated, "I'll be under oath. The right questions and they'll be able to make a case about me. If they go all the way back to my Army days, they'll be able to note that I killed a lot of huns in Europe and then a lot of reds in Korea. They'll be able to twist things so I come off sounding like someone who became kill-crazy because of the wars I fought in. They've done that to other guys. And then there's what happened after I got back to Creek Bend."

   Crissy and Jack were listening intently now, Crissy even a little shaken. "What do you mean, Rog?"

   "I saw the beginnings of it." Roger became reflective. "The wolves around Creek Bend began packing. We began to think of ourselves as animals. We were proud of being savage because we thought it made us stronger than those around us. I fell into it, too. None of us seemed to be aware that our civility, our humanity was slipping away. We thought of ourselves as wolves. Eventually, we took that to the extreme. Wolves eat other animals. Even I hunted down and ate a few wild animals. The line of distinction became blurred. I know at least two innocent annies were killed by members of the pack... I wasn't a part of those incidents, but I remember being convinced that it was the natural thing to do. I remember walking along the river, looking for something... someone... to kill and eat."

   Crissy's eyes were wide and filling with tears. She couldn't believe what her husband was saying. Jack looked at Crissy, considering that maybe Roger shouldn't tell her any more. Roger reached through the bars and placed a hand on Crissy's shoulder. Crissy was almost afraid, recalling the feelings of terror she felt when Roger first approached her.

   "I remember now," Crissy realized how much her life had changed, "I was terrified of you the first time I saw you. And I don't know why. My dad had a wolf as a business partner for years. Then, the trust slipped away. We all began to distrust wolves as they began packing."

   "You were right to," Roger assured her, "I don't know what happened to us, but there was something affecting our thinking. I truly wanted to kill somebody that day, Crissy... But then I saw you. Splashing around in that little lagoon behind the house. You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I'm not sure what happened, but seeing you snapped me to my senses. I was no longer a wolf, but a man. A man in love. It was like shedding some awful nightmare and waking into the light of day. I'm sure our meeting that day was an act of God, to save me from the direction I was going."

   Crissy raised Roger's hand to her cheek and nestled her face in his gentle fingers. Crissy sighed.

   "I only wish I'd come to my senses at the same time you did. When I saw you at my door, I chased you off with a shotgun. I was so afraid, until I gave you a chance to show me the real you. Jack is right. Unless the jury knows you, they could be swayed against you just because you're a wolf."

   "It'll be a lock once they see Mr. Road's condition," Jack chimed in, "poor man was slashed to ribbons." Crissy perked up. She still held Roger's hand.

   "Slashed? How?"

    "Claws and fangs." Jack displayed dawning awareness of what it was Crissy had realized. "Of course! We've got the wrong man and now we have proof!" Jack rushed to the intercom. Crissy sighed with relief. Roger was eased a bit, but his thoughts remained troubled.

   "I hadn't thought about that dark period for a long time," Roger looked his wife in the eye, "I really did come close to jumping off the edge into savagery."

   "I don't know what's going on with the wolves," Crissy offered, "maybe a disease of some kind, but I do know that you're not a part of it any longer. The twain became one. I know you, Roger. You're not a violent man. You couldn't be."

   Moments later, Jack lit a cigarette as he held up the report Mrs. Road had filled out. Mary kept looking at Roger behind the bars, unable to understand why Crissy continued to stand by him. "Mrs. Road," Jack began, "I want you to take another look at Mr. Ralphwit. Are you absolutely sure he's the man who attacked you?"

   "I couldn't be more sure, Sergeant. He was even wearing the same hat when I saw him on the street this afternoon."

   "About the hat," Jack puffed, "tan fedoras are hardly a rarity. But what I want to call your attention to is the details of your report and the condition of your husband. You state clearly that you saw the suspect's fangs and that his claws ripped into Harry's flesh. There are even fang marks embedded in Harry's forearm."

   "Yes."

   "Look at Roger's hands, Mrs. Road. He hasn't had claws for a long time. He trimmed his nails so he couldn't hurt his wife, even by accident."

   Mary looked to Roger's hands. Crissy even grabbed them and held them out so Mary could see them more clearly. "I know what you're thinking, Mrs. Road," Crissy was sincere, "that he could have trimmed his nails after the attack, and probably would have to remove the evidence of what he'd done. But his fangs he couldn't get rid of as quickly or easily. Roger, smile for Mrs. Road."

   Roger opened his mouth and displayed his even teeth. Mary was shaken as it dawned on her that this indeed was the wrong man. Jack chimed in again.

   "Like his fangs, Roger had his teeth fixed so he couldn't hurt the girl he loved." Mary staggered. Jack helped her into a chair.

   "Then..." Mary gasped for her words, "then the wolf who hurt my Harry is still at large."

   "He won't be for long, Mrs. Road," Jack assured her, "not now that we know for sure what he looks like." Mary looked at Roger again. She was astounded.

   "The resemblance is uncanny."

   Jack motioned for a uniformed officer to let Roger out of the cell. The air on the other side of the bars smelled so much nicer. Crissy wrapped her arms around Roger. The two held each other. Mary made it back to her feet and approached the couple.

   "I'm sorry about this," She offered, knowing that it was insufficient compensation for what she'd put him through, "I'm so sorry."

   "How's your husband?" Roger asked. Mary smiled weakly.

   "He's getting better. It was touch and go, but he's got a strong fighting spirit. He's stable now, and the doctor tells me that's half the battle."

   Jack telephoned. A squad of men were going to track down the real savage. He'd be in custody within the hour.