werewolvesversus:

From David McCoy’s story from WEREWOLVES VERSUS: THE CIRCUS: Johnny works up the courage to share something personal with his boyfriend while on a date at the fair, but a mysterious prize booth might complicate things…

Cass found the prize-booth nestled in a far corner. The stall’s sign read “Silver Bullet,” rendered with a grim font in metallic grey despite the surrounding plush toys. It was a simple shooting gallery with elevating rows and suburban homes on each end. There were no other customers lining up to brandish a plastic light gun.

The slim man behind the counter caught Cass’s gaze. Rather than barking out some corny advertising, the man just nodded. A silent invitation to pull the trigger.

“They made a game off that movie?” Johnny remarked.

“What movie?”

“The Stephen King one.” Cass couldn’t tell if his look of surprise was fake or not. “It’s real goofy. We’ll watch it tonight.”

“Not sure if more movies is a good idea.”

“Hey, you two!” The booth attendant called. “If y'all want a good idea, might I suggest…” he waved his arms, showing off the game. Then he held out his hand. “Five bucks for a round.”

Affordable, but Cass spied his boyfriend’s skeptical reaction. Before Johnny could object, Cass took out his wallet.

“I don’t need to explain a shooting range, right?” the attendant continued as he took the money. “Fifteen points for the top shelf prizes, ten for the middle, etcetera.” He turned a key below the counter. “Shoot the moon to start.”

Cass aimed at the moon beside the score display and pulled the trigger. A small laser dot blipped on its surface then a poorly recorded howl played. Quickly, cutouts of a kid in a wheelchair, a little girl, and a man with a bottle popped up. Between them, werewolves dashed from houses on each row. For five bucks it was over just as it began, and Cass’s score of four sat under the threshold for the lowest-tiered prize.

“Woof. Didn’t say it was easy, bud,” the attendant shrugged. “Five to try again.”

Johnny side-hugged Cass. “There’s other games, babe.”

“Hang on!” The man behind the booth lit up. “You guys’re really a couple?”

Cass and Johnny exchanged a look. Johnny was right. Cass set the gun back and would’ve checked out the other stalls for a present, but the attendant pulled a small box onto the counter.

“Wait, no, that’s perfect, ya see. Listen,” he quickly said, “I have a, uh, couple’s special! Worth more than any of this stuffed trash.”

Cass looked back at this offer. The attendant held a necklace by the string, weighed down by an iridescent, thumbnail-sized jewel set into a shining grey pendant. It was beautiful enough to reel Cass back in.

“It’s a genuine moonstone, and real silver.” The attendant let the couple get a better look. The stone became the eye for the silver wolf-shape. Its opulent quality enthralled Cass. It was infinitely superior to the toys hanging on the booth. Even the string had a reddish-brown hue, like a strip of faux leather rather than a cheap thread. Hanging from Johnny’s neck it’d be perfect. “Or so some lady told me,“ the man continued. “Her family apparently makes them and when she took a loss here, too, she insisted I take it. But I’m not into stuff like this, and maybe y’all are, if ya wanna try for it!”

Read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: THE CIRCUS, available for $1 or more at Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.

You can find David on Twitter, and more of his work here.