Moon: Part 3

The sun peeks up from behind a small building. The town of Fallbrook is bustling and busy. Kids are playing and dogs are barking. The difference between daytime and nighttime in Fallbrook is uncanny. Nobody really likes or helps outsiders, when Lily shows up looking for her sister she doesn’t get much help. Lily parks her car and walks up to the first person she sees.

“Excuse me, can you help me find The Sheriff?”

“Well you happen to be lucky because here I am”

“Oh great, I’m looking for my sister’s house Jennifer Caisley” 

She hands the picture to The Sheriff.  He doesn’t look at the picture for two seconds and gives it back.

“Nope, never seen her here.”

“That’s strange she said she was moving here.”

“Sorry, No Jennifer Caisley lives here”

“Are you certain? she came here about a week ago”

“Yes, it’s a small town. I would know”

The Sheriff walks across the street to his car and drives off.

“Okay well he’s definitely hiding something”

Lily walked over to a small store with bright neon lights. The sign was very hard to read and she couldn’t tell what kind of store it was. She walked in with hesitation and walked up to the woman at the register.

“Excuse me?”

“What can I help you with?”

“Mmm I’m not buying anything I just want to know have you seen this girl”

Lily hands the woman the picture and the woman seems to recognize Jennifer but she doesn’t say anything.

“Soooo no?” Lily asks

“No … nope.”

Lily doesn’t believe her. She saw it in her eyes. She knows something but doesn’t want to speak. She looks as if she will get in trouble if she says anything.

“Please … she is my sister. I'm all the family she’s got… she hasn’t answered the phone in a couple of days. I’m worried about her.” 

The woman says nothing, she looks away and stares at the nearest window pretending to not see Lily.

“This town is weird…” Lily says in annoyance. 

Lily waits for the woman to even glance at her but gets impatient instead. She rolls her eyes and turns around. 

“Stupid small town with rude ass people”

Lily leaves the store in annoyance. She walks over to her car. 

Right as she reaches for the handle someone grabs her arm and pulls her into a small alleyway. 

“Get off me!”

She sees it is the woman from the store. 

The woman lets go of her arm and looks around. 

“What is your problem! And what are you looking for?”

“Keep your voice down, I'm trying to help. The sheriff can’t see us talking … I know what happened to your sister.”

Lily is silent. 

“Your sister came to our store last night during closing … my dad didn’t let her in, it was after hours… I tried to help her.”

“What happened to her?”

“She’s dead…I’m so … so sorry”

Lily begins to tear up. 

“You’re lying … She's alive and this is a sick joke because you small town people hate outsiders. Well fuck you!”

Lily tries to walk off but the woman grabs her arm and pulls her back.

“Listen to me ! I’m not lying, your sister is dead. Shot by the sheriff for seeing something she wasn’t supposed to… she should’ve just stayed in the house. There is a curfew for a reason.”

Lily just stands there taking it all in. She balls up her fists while the tears run down her face. Heartbroken she swallows her pain because she has to know more.

“What did she see?”

The woman looks at her in concern. 

“I can’t tell you… besides you won’t believe me if I did tell you”

“Tell me right now!”

“A werewolf”

Lily looks at her in annoyance. She unballs her fists.

“A fucking werewolf … really? Do I look like I want to play right now?”

The woman just stares at Lily with a serious face. Lily stares back. 

“I’m telling you the truth, werewolves exist especially here and we try to keep them under control but one got out when your sister came to our store and he tried to get her but I stopped him.”

“Time out okay say I believe you. You’re trying to tell me werewolves exist and you’re some kind of werewolf hunter?”

“No… not really. Listen, you have to go home.”

“What about my dead sister!”

“She’s dead now you can’t help her but you can help yourself. Go home!”

The woman leaves the alleyway in a hurry and runs back to the store. Lily leaves the alleyway shortly after but not before the sheriff sees her. 

“Hey, still looking for your missing sister.” He yells

Lily just looks at him. All the rage building up inside her felt like it was going to burst. She didn’t respond and she walked back to her car quickly. The sheriff wouldn’t let her go without a conversation. As Lily got in the car and slammed the door, he leaned in the window which made Lily even more upset.

“So what were you and Ms Davina doing in that alleyway?” 

Lily remembered what Davina said about the sheriff.

“I was asking her where to get drugs in a small town like this… you know the legal kind.”

Lily pops her left eyebrow and gives a crooked smile.

The sheriff takes a deep breath.

“Drugs huh?”

“Yes”

Lily starts the car and reaches for her seatbelt. 

The sheriff steps back from the car and reaches for his gun.

“Step out of the car!”

“Wait …what the fuck why!”

“Step out of the car now!”

Lily turns the car off and steps out. Her palms get sweaty as she holds them up so he can see. He walks over to search her pockets and whispers in her ear.

“I know you know”

Lily takes a deep breath. Tears fill her eyes.

“Why did you kill my sister!”

“She saw too much”

“You bastard she was living here you could’ve told her about your stupid little werewolves.”

The sheriff looks surprised. 

“Davina told you about werewolves?”

“Yes. Why don’t you just kill them, the town will be safe once you get rid of all of them.”

“Little girl, you think werewolves are just mindless creatures. They are people! My family!”

Lily looked shocked. 

“Come on, let's go!”

“Where are we going?”

“Right to a place where you can see your sister.”

Lily looked confused. Davina told her, her sister is dead. The sheriff pushes Lily in the back of his car. The leather seats are peeling and it reeked of cigarettes and coffee. The smell almost made her vomit. Gum stuck to the bottom of her left shoe and the windows were dirty. The car was old and neglected, anybody can tell it doesn’t get cleaned. The sheriff got in the car and quickly made a U-turn. Lily could see Davina through the window staring; she looked worried. Lily sighed. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to get bed bugs from sitting in here. Does your house look like this too?”

The sheriff ignores her.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. This is gross, this gum is fresh … that’s stuck to my shoe. It’s like today fresh… did you know it was back here?”

“Shut up”

Lily crosses her arms. 

The drive wasn’t far , they stopped right outside a bright blue house with a white door. The house looked like the one Jessica was showing her except more worn down. 

“Here we are!”