Wolf Read online

  SOUND:

  Lonnie slides out.

  LONNIE:

  (off-mic) Happy hunting, Mr. Wolff!

  ANNOUNCER:

  We’ll return to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories – after this.

  ANNOUNCER:

  And now back to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories and the conclusion to “Wolf.”

  NARRATOR:

  So you wait and watch, Jack, as the evening wears on, and Mr. and Mrs. Mullins take part in a program of ballroom dancing.

  MUSIC:

  Big band music.

  NARRATOR:

  Mrs. Mullins has finally stopped nagging at her husband, and they are dancing now, fully occupied as Jack slips outside, feeling the eyes of so many women on him. He know he looks good enough to eat in that tux. But tonight he will be doing the eating….

  SOUND:

  Night sounds. Footsteps on cobblestones. Knock on door.

  Another. Then several more knocks, more insistent.

  WOLFF:

  Damn.

  SOUND:

  Door jiggle as Jack tries it.

  ANNA:

  (way-off mic) Jack!

  WOLFF:

  Annie!

  ANNA:

  (off-mic) Back here!

  NARRATOR:

  All the window shutters are wired shut, but Jack follows Anna’s voice.

  ANNA:

  (off-mic) I’m in here!…(off-mic but louder) This window, Jack!

  NARRATOR:

  The moon is hidden by streaky gray clouds gliding by like witches on broomsticks. That moon would show its face soon. Which is good for Jack he does his best work in the moonlight…

  WOLFF:

  (working) Don’t have anything to…to cut these wires with…but I can untwist them….Brother, did your folks try to make sure you’d be spending tonight alone.

  ANNA:

  (a little off-mic) Hurry, Jack! They might be here any second. Hurry!

  WOLFF:

  (working) Almost got it, baby.

  Almost got it….there!

  SOUND:

  Wooden shutters opening.

  NARRATOR:

  And there she is, framed perfectly in the window, a vision of radiant blonde loveliness, in the same halter top and lacy-trimmed shorts. She almost glides out into Jack’s waiting arms, like a bride eager to be carried over a threshold. But instead of crossing a threshold, Jack carries the lovely little bundle toward the nearby bushes.

  ANNA:

  Where are you taking me?

  WOLFF:

  I have to have you, Annie. I may look like a gentleman, but I have animal urges. You can struggle if you like….

  ANNA:

  (warmly sensual) I don’t want to struggle. I’ve been wanting you to do this, hoping you would do this, ever since I first saw you…kiss me. Please kiss me, Jack.

  SOUND:

  A lingering, moaning, lip-smacking kiss.

  WOLFF:

  (murmuring) How sinfully sweet…I guess a young girl can have her own animals urges, too…

  NARRATOR:

  Jack carries little Anna into the woods, back to that hedgerow forming an outdoor room where he can have her, all to himself. Under the stars. And moon.

  SOUND:

  Jack moving through brush. Setting the young woman down.

  ANNA:

  (breathing hard) Rip my clothes off, Jack. Rip them!

  SOUND:

  Tearing clothing.

  ANNA:

  (plays under ripping)

  Yes!…Yes!…Tear them off me.

  NARRATOR:

  Her pale flesh is so beautiful in cloud-filtered moonlight that finds its way through the shade trees. Anna is indeed a real blonde. She is so supple…so rounded…so young….

  SOUND:

  Jack is breathing hard. Anna ad-libs, “Yes…oh yes…” Her pants of joy and moans of sexual urgency are heard over Wolff’s next line.

  WOLFF:

  (breathless) Let me…just let me get out of…out of these things….

  SOUND:

  Unbuckling. Unzipping. Clothes rustle.

  NARRATOR:

  As Jack is about to lower himself over her, he wonders – how many conquests does this make? Could he even hope to count them?

  SOUND:

  Anna is breathing hard, but the joyful sexual sounds build and grow…grow into the roar of the werewolf (as heard in our opening scene).

  WOLFF:

  What…? No…no!

  NARRATOR:

  The smothering, abusive parents, Jack – they had a reason for keeping their daughter on such a short leash. For locking her away on…certain moon- swept nights….

  ANNA:

  (very growly, processed voice; also mocking him) Jack…Jack…don’t you know?

  WOLFF:

  What…what are you – my God!

  ANNA:

  (lower-pitched, processed, growly)…don’t you know a mere wolf is no match for a were-wolf?

  WOLFF:

  Noooooooooo!!!

  SOUND:

  Go to town with flesh-ripping, bones snapping, blood splashing, savage growling from the werewolf, whimpering from the victim that cuts off in gurgles. Much like the opening scene but even more over the top.

  NARRATOR:

  The terrible sounds attract attention, and before long the state police have been called, and the two officers working the previous murder are back on the scene.

  SOUND:

  Feet moving through brush. Several people.

  LONNIE:

  It’s…it’s over here…the body…if…if you can call it that.

  HERRIN:

  Okay, son. We won’t be needing you anymore.

  LONNIE:

  (off-mic) Good.

  SOUND:

  Lonnie moving off through woods.

  JONES:

  My God, lieutenant…what could have happened here?

  HERRIN:

  Horrible…could a human being have done that?…Clemens! Washington! Secure this scene for forensics – Jones, there’s nothing we can do for this poor bastard….

  JONES:

  The victim…hard to tell, but – is that Jack Wolff?

  HERRIN:

  It used to be….Jones, we have the jump on this. We’re going to start investigating right now….

  NARRATOR:

  The two officers walk away from the remains of a certain man of leisure, a predator who has more than met his match…and perhaps no one really cares that a cruelly selfish man like Jack Wolff is gone. But the two local lawmen have a job to do.

  SOUND:

  Knock on cabin door. Another knock.

  Several more insistent ones. Door opens.

  ANNA’S DAD:

  Yes?

  HERRIN:

  Mr. Mullins?

  ANNA’S DAD:

  Yes….Do you people realize what time it is?

  ANNA’S MOM:

  (off-mic) What is it, dear?

  ANNA’S DAD:

  (off-mic) I don’t know. Couple of policemen, I think.

  ANNA’S MOM:

  (on-mic; worried) Officers, is there a problem?

  HERRIN:

  We are sorry to bother you, ma’am.

  Sir. I’m Lt. Herrin, and this is Officer Jones. Afraid there’s been another murder here at the lodge.

  ANNA’S MOM:

  Oh no! How terrible…

  HERRIN:

  This happened within the last hour, so the killer may still be around here somewhere, right now. We’re here to caution you.

  ANNA’S DAD:

  Well, we appreciate that, Lieutenant.

  HERRIN:

  I’m afraid I do have to ask you where you were an hour, hour-and-a-half ago.

  ANNA’S DAD:

  We were in ballroom.

  ANNA’S MOM:

  Dancing. Thank God we weren’t out on the grounds somewhere!

  HERRIN:

  Yes, well, we understand your daughter is her
e with you – Anna?

  ANNA’S DAD:

  That’s right.

  HERRIN:

  Was she with you at the ballroom this evening?

  ANNA’S MOM:

  No. She isn’t…isn’t feeling at all well. She’s been in all evening.

  HERRIN:

  Well, we really do need to speak with her.

  ANNA’S DAD:

  I’m afraid that’s impossible right now.

  ANNA’S MOM:

  (brightly) She should be fine in the morning, though.

  HERRIN:

  (pleasant) Well, then, we’ll be back.

  Thank you, folks.

  ANNA’S DAD:

  No problem, Lieutenant. Thanks for the heads up.

  ANNA’S MOM:

  Thank you, Lieutenant.

  SOUND:

  Door closes.

  HERRIN:

  Seem like nice people.

  JONES:

  They’re lucky it wasn’t their daughter who got dragged off and butchered tonight.

  SOUND:

  Very muffled werewolf howl.

  JONES:

  What the hell was that?

  HERRIN:

  Just some wild animal. But it’s odd…you could almost swear it came from inside that cabin….

  JONES:

  (amused) I, uh…I don’t think it’s likely, Lieutenant, that the Mullins family has a wild animal chained up in there.

  HERRIN:

  (chuckles) No. Not likely.

  JONES:

  Anyway, we’ll talk to the girl tomorrow. Wouldn’t mind meeting her myself. She’s a doll.

  HERRIN:

  Oh, I wouldn’t bother, Jones.

  JONES:

  Why not, sir?

  HERRIN:

  Don’t you get it, son? She doesn’t feel well. She was in all night?…It’s obviously her time of the month.

  SOUND:

  A beat, then another distant howl.

  MUSIC:

  Sting. Then into Fangoria Theme.

  ANNOUNCER:

  “Wolf” was adapted for radio by Max Allan Collins and based on his short story. Heard in the cast were: