Introducing Luis the werewolf-er, were-mammal

It’s tough enough to gather dozens of disparate personalities and make them all get along

under one roof.

Now do the same with people of disparate powers that range from casting spells to

transforming into various mammals. Throw in some very short fuses and you have the powder

keg known as Upton Arms, a retirement home for supernaturals.

Now meet the reason it hasn’t blown up – Luis and his voice of reason. The clear-headed

leader is president of the residents’ association, and the only one to sign an oath to maintain

Upton Arms as a murder- and fatality-free home.

“I feel good about how that separates me from the pack,” he notes. “But all bets are off

when I go werewolf.”

Nor is that a concern, as the lupine admits he hasn’t been able to go full fangs and claws

for decades. Even on super moon nights, Luis gets no further than ferret, albeit one that looks as

if it had been irradiated.

“Don’t get me started on what he becomes when the moon isn’t out,” says one woman

familiar with the situation, refusing to identify herself for fear of being bitten by mutant vermin.

“Imagine a weasel born and bred in Chernobyl. Now imagine it twice as hideous. I don’t even

know why he tries.”

Luis considers his waning powers more a help than a hindrance. It gives him a balance in

life, one he didn’t have in days when, on an angry whim, he could instantly become an eight-

foot-tall beast with an attitude and mounting body count. He regrets those youthful days when

emotions exceeded rationality.

Luis chokes up as he recalls hit aha moment, the one that convinced him to become a

pacifist werewolf. It occurred shortly before midnight at a New Year’s Eve party hosted by

friends when someone spilled a drink on him.

“Next thing I know, three people are bleeding out and someone was screaming about

silver bullets.” Luis chokes up. “I knew right then I had to control myself and stop letting petty

arguments end in bloodshed.”

While refusing to admit to weakening powers, Luis is grateful for being in a position to

identify with those adjusting to old age.

“I find myself more accepting of others,” he says. “Compromise shows mutual respect,

and that’s a much better outcome than one involving paramedics and confused police officers.”