When the Wolf Comes Home

 

Jess, an aspiring actress in L.A., is having a terrible day. She's working the late shift at a crappy diner when one of their regulars makes a mess in the bathroom. She and her coworker make a deal: if Jess goes and cleans it up, she can go home. While cleaning the bathroom (which was described in all too graphic detail), she accidentally pricks her finger on the used needle the customer hid behind the toilet. 

Well that sucks.

Jess goes home and tries to work up the courage to go to the hospital to get checked out, but then all Hell breaks loose. A giant wolf rampages through the apartment complex, killing a bunch of people. Jess manages to escape, taking along a little boy she found hiding in the bushes. 

Jess and the nameless boy (he claims he doesn't have a name) go on the run but unfortunately, everywhere they go the wolf follows and kills. Soon Jess realizes that the little boy can make things happen by believing in them. His fears come true (hence the big bad wolf, who is actually just his dad). He watches a cartoon on TV and the characters jump out of the TV and start terrorizing the hotel they're at. Jess isn't sure how to keep him (and the rest of the world) safe from his own mind. 

It was really good, I enjoyed it, even if the ending felt a little anticlimactic. It's really hard with these types of stories. I've read a lot of them where the ending just falls flat.