John was wandering the streets on a dark, cold winter night. “God, if you’re there I really need you now,” said John. John wasn’t always in this predicament. This just seemed to be the climax to his gambling habit.

The cost for his addiction this time was high, for he did not simply lose money. John lost everything, his family, his job, his inheritance. John came from a wealthy family where he was well taken care of. When he was a young lad he fell in with the wrong sort of crowd and they steered his interests to things of a darker nature. He started taking drugs and gambling. He was pulled from this life by his beautiful wife Jenny. Jennifer was a nurse working at a local hospital he found himself in one night after a binge. He woke up to a light around her face making her out to be an angel. She smiled and welcomed him back into the world of the living.

From then on, he worked very hard to win her over. John thought to himself that he would give up all his wealth and prestige just to be with her. One day after much pestering she agreed to go on a date with him. He opened himself up to her and let her in. She was a healing hand that patched and mended all the damage that had been done. John from the first date with Jennifer didn’t touch drugs and wouldn’t gamble for fear of losing her. She swore if he ever did drugs or gambled again, she would leave him. Up until last night he complied with all her wishes and didn’t gamble. There was something pulling him to Wolfbend Casino this night. The only way John could describe what happened was he was being led to the Casino. The doors of the Casino opened without his touch and his coat was off before he could turn around.

     As he walked through the Casino to the poker table, he passed many onlookers watching him. He found his seat at the table and took out his cash ready to play. The dealer looked at John and said, “I’m sorry, son, but your money is no good here.” “Well, what is the buy-in?” John asked. “We pay in blood here, boy” said the dealer. John stared at the dealer nodded his head not knowing what he meant. The dealer passed the cards and before he knew it, he lost. The dealer looked at John and said, “We will retrieve what is owed to us by the end of the night.” John was dumbfounded and could not for the life of him understand what that meant. He got up from the table and made his way to the exit. Before he reached it, he bumped into the most peculiar man that was wearing a trench coat with biker goggles on. John said, “Excuse me, sir, I am sorry.” The man replied, “Not to worry, no harm done” in a very shrill voice.

      John made his way home thinking about what the dealer meant and what Jenny would say. He decided that he just wouldn’t tell her since he had not lost any real money. If no money was at stake, then it couldn’t possibly be gambling now could it? When he pulled into the driveway, he saw the front door ajar hanging by a single hinge with scratch marks raked across the door. He ran inside to find his house torn apart and Jenny was gone. He ran to the neighbor and asked them if they had seen her. He frantically messaged and called her phone praying she would pick up. The dealer’s words came back to his mind, “We pay in blood.” He drove back to the casino in hopes of finding his wife.

When he arrived he found nothing. John sprinted around the empty lot in search of a hidden door or possibly a person who would know where it had gone. He found instead snow and mud. He wandered around the lot hopelessly sobbing knowing that his wife was forever gone. A man appeared out of the gloom. He stepped forward and tapped him on the shoulder. John grabbed him by the collar and begged him for his help in finding his wife. The man said, “I can help but there will be a cost.” John beside himself yelled, “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, just tell me what to do.” The man smiled and said, “I’m glad to hear it, John. Here is a ring that will help you.” “I do not believe that I told you my name, sir. What is this about a ring? I asked for directions.” “John, there isn’t time. Do you want my help or not?” asked the man. “Fine, give me the ring.” John grabbed the ring and put it on and out of nowhere came the casino. He plunged through the doors and before he knew it, he was on all fours. He was lost to the wolf inside that he failed to realize he was a no longer a man. He bulldozed through the casino knocking over people left and right. The people around him just watched without moving or fear. He reached the back of the casino and plowed through the two guards, following the smell of Jenny.

     He ran down the long hallway making a left into one of the rooms to find Jennifer bound and hanging by a hook in the center of the room. He growled a guttural roar and jumped to her and was swatted away, as if he was but a toy. On wobbly legs he stood up to see the dealer before him smile a most devilish smile. He said, “John, John I told you the price and you gambled.” John looked up unable to speak but, in his mind said, "Take me instead of Jenny." The man smiled and said, “You are already ours John. Your service is what we need from you. Do you agree to serve your king from this day to your last?” John gave a howl of agreement as a tear rolled out of his eye onto the pavement. The dealer smiled and clapped his hands saying, “It is done.” Jenny vanished and just then the ring fell from John’s hand. “What had he gotten himself into?" he thought. “A lifetime of servitude starting now, John. Pick up your clan ring and follow me. This is where your journey begins, my hound of death.”

 

Author’s Note: The original text is about a man who puts on a belt that transforms him into a werewolf. In this state he goes on a rampage and kills many women and children. He was put on trial to reveal the number they thought he murdered. Their number was lower than the actual amount. I decided to make a werewolf story where the main character became a werewolf using a ring instead of a belt. This comes from legend of a werewolf belt that men would put on to transform. I also changed what happens when the ring is worn. Instead of the ring making the person a bloodthirsty monster it is used to aid in the rescue of his wife. John is also quite lucid in my story compared to the man in the original story. In my story the main character didn’t put on the ring to kill people or to take on the form of a wolf. He put on the ring to save his wife. I also tried to incorporate a moral through it being that one should know what they are agreeing to before simply agreeing. He not once but twice took a deal he did not know the consequences of. I also decided to make the dealer the devil in this story. The casino is a kind of den of evil where evil things meet. This is why they looked at him as if he was out of place when he first walked in because he was not a creature. At the end of the story, however, he was now one of them and fit in.

 

Bibliography: Werwolf Wiki, Germany's Brutal Werwolf Belt

 

Image Info: Gambar Tajaan by Photo-graphe