Legacy of the Wolf
Chapter 1. MollyJay Bijou

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

The sound of an alarm clock rings off the walls of a small run down studio apartment. Tucked at theback of the 3rd floor of a building that should have been condemned and torn down by now,except for the fact that the greasy landlord still made money off of those who couldn't affordanything else in this gutter swamp of a town.

A sleepy Mj rolls out of bed and sets her feet on the floor “COLD” she gasps as she pulls her feetback under the covers. "OOO so warm” is the last thing that trickles across her mind as she laysback down and drifts off to sleep once again.

The sound of sirens and yelling through thin walls jerked her back awake. She sat up with a startand looked at her alarm clock “SHIT” was all that came out as she saw that it was now 7:30 and shewas already over half an hour late for work on a normal day but today she was supposed to be upextra early.

"Great", she thought as she rushed to pull on her shirt and pants and stuff the wild dirty blonde hairon her head into a messy bun and rush out the door.

MollyJay was a woman lost in the world around her, at almost 30 years of age she lived on her own,no family to speak of and very few friends, if she could even call them that as they were all thepeople she worked with. She was an ordinary enough girl, about 5ft 3 with dull blue green eyes,pretty generic neutral skin and dirty blonde hair. She was the poster child of forgotten. And for themost part that was ok by her.

Mj watched the people on the street as she made her way toward the center of town. All the hustleand bustle of people and their messy lives.

"It was hard enough to live day to day with the crap around them let alone involve someone in thatmess." She thought, watching as people scolded their kids for being late for school. Or as a couplehad a very public argument about someone cheating on someone else while clothes and dishesthrown from a nearby apartment window to the unlucky adulteress below.

"Thankfully" she thought "I dont have to deal with any of that stupid shit, just my own stupid selfand the inabilty to wake up on time.

When the fuck am i gonna grow up?" she huffed to herself with the realization she was now in herlate twenties, working in a slaughter house in the same town she had been in for over 20 years!

She had little education outside of high school and had no other real world experience. "So reallydoing anything else with her life didn't seem possible anyway".The depressing thought lingered asshe made her way to work.

M.J worked 3 jobs at the moment. A part time job at the slaughterhouse, a part time job as abutchers assistant and a night job as a bartender. It kept her pretty busy so a more social life wasn'tsomething she missed. But on mornings like this one sometimes she wondered what it would belike to have someone to talk to

The town of Lowder wasn't very big so Mj never bothered with a car. She would have had tomaintain it and pay for insurance,and buying new shoes every couple months seemed more costeffective and much less headache to deal with.

She reached the butcher shop and took a deep breath before pulling the door open “that better beone MollyJay Bijou” a yell came from the back room. An older man in his late 60s snakes his headaround the door jam and threw one hand up in the air. “What the fuck? You were supposed to behere at 4 to approve the new shipment of cutlets but instead I have a sorry we missed you notehung on my door this morning, care to explain?”

Mj hung her head, of all the mornings to oversleep it had to be the morning Lou was getting a newshipment “I'm really sorry Lou” Mj mumbles as she stuffed her hands in her pockets “I hit the snoozeon the alarm clock and fell asleep”.

Mj felt really guilty, Lou was a really easy going boss, and a better person. Lou didn't have muchfamily aside from his sister Beth, as far as MJ knew or if he didn't like to talk about them or spendany time with them at all.

Mj had worked for Lou for almost 3 years and he was always at the shop. Even on holidays, it wasone thing Lou liked about Mj, that she would work any day of the week no matter what time of yearbut every holiday season Lou would give Mj a primo cut of whatever new meat he was hooked onthat month and always made the excuse that a customer special ordered it and never picked it up.

" Punk kids and their damn prank calls!” Lou would grumble and hand her a neatly wrappedpackage that lasted Mj until the next holiday. Mj caught on to what he was doing about a year agoand confronted him about it. She didn't think it was a big deal to ask him why he gave her thingsbut Lou, the normally gentle giant of a man he was, absolutely lost his mind

He yelled and screamed and broke the front door to the shop. He screamed and wagged his fingerin her face “I never gave anybody anything in they whole damn life MollyJay, what the hell makesyou think I would start now".

It's true that Lou was a large man both in stature and girth, but he was such a solitary man onealmost forgot how terrifying he could be, even for his age. Although Mj was never truly afraid ofLou, be it that his outbursts were far and few between or that they were usually caused by peculiaror silly things and the only objects that ever suffered any physical wrath were the shop itself.

“Look Lou, if you want I can take the truck down to the slaughterhouse and pick it up right now”, Mjsaid while looking at the ground “you can even take the gas money out of my pay” she offered as away to help sooth the irritated man that was now engulfing the doorway he had peeked out from.“Fuckin aye right you will missy!” Lou said as he crossed his arms and pointed his chin at her “andafter that you will wash the shop front windows and the sign”.

Mj rolled her eyes and nodded, Lou reached into his pocket and tossed her a set of keys. Mjfumbled to get her hands out of her pockets and the keys hit the floor. “Could you be any moreclumsy?” Lou said, through a belly laugh that made Mj giggle a little, she shrugged “don't have tobe quick to cut up what's already dead, and don't call me MollyJay Old man". She threw a little gutbehind the last two words.

Mj hated her name, and not just her first name but her last name too. “What the hell kind of personnames their kid MollyJay Bijou anyway?" She would have changed it but MJ was found after a floodwhen she was about 4 and she was afraid that if she did and her family ever came looking for herthey wouldn't know who to look for. But she was almost 30 now and still had found knowone, “afterall how many people could have that name anyway?” She wasn't even sure it was her real name, it'sjust the only name she could remember. Mj had a vague vision of her mother, sitting with her undera tree stroking her face and singing to her “MollyJay Bijou, little bird i love you” but nothing elseafter that.

"Alright Moll just get ur ass movin we got lots of work ta do” Lou said in fatherly tone that made Mjsmile, she wasn't really fond of being called Moll either, but Lou was the only one who did and itwas better than the alternative so she let it slide “you got it boss” she chirped as she bent over andscooped up the keys.