The Moonlight Beat

"Let's see. It's close to midnight, and farms are being ransacked. Who do they send on the job? Any of the seasoned veterans, or the young recruit who is just getting started and is scared to death?"

Those words came out of Ramona Dawson, who was serving as a recruit under town sheriff Rita Mendes. Rita was tough but fair, but Ramona seemed to sense extra gruffness from Rita when it came to her. Maybe it came with the job; Rita had 30 years of experience. Maybe it was well-meaning ribbing. Ramona didn't know and tried her best not to dwell on it. Her main focus was searching for whoever was wrecking the farms.

And after 45 minutes on the site, that's when Ramona heard it: a blood-curdling howl.

Ramona's heart started racing at that moment. It was clearly a wolf, but no ordinary wolf sounded like that. This was guttural. This was ominous. It was nearly demonic! It all matched descriptions that had been heard before by the townspeople, but all that did was make Ramona determined to head closer to where the sounds were coming from. She rushed to the farm and saw something creeping outside the henhouse, and ended up seeing two things: a barrage of feathers, and glowing red eyes.

The red eyes were attached to a snarling wolf creature, who lunged at Ramona but never harmed her, only running past Ramona, who heard the creature's demonic howl. Ramona couldn't believe it. Was she really sent to investigate the attacks of a werewolf? As Ramona arrived at the station on the following morning, she knew this: there was no way she could actually divulge something like this to any of her peers, let alone Rita.

Sure enough...

"Well, young Dawson," Rita said to the alarmed Ramona, "I see you made it through last night. Barely." Rita motioned for Ramona to enter her office, and once Ramona acquiesced, the questions started.

"So, tell me," Rita said, "who was out there last night? Tell me everything." Ramona wanted to open her mouth, but she couldn't. How could she tell Rita, a seasoned and decorated sheriff, that she actually saw something supernatural? Her career would be over before it even started.

"Come on, Dawson," said Rita. "Give me something! I mean, people are jumping to all sorts of conclusions out there. There are even people believing that a werewolf is out at night!" The last statement drew a laugh from Rita, who later walked towards Ramona. "But you don't believe that, do you?"

"It's impossible," said Ramona. "Werewolves aren't real." Rita placed her hand on Ramona's shoulder, but noticed that the arm was bandaged.

"Ramona," Rita said, "I know what you're thinking. It does seem like I'm being extra harsh on you, but I know you. You're a hard worker, just like your dad. Something tells me that you have this solved already, don't you?" Ramona saw Rita's smile, and cracked one herself, showing a lot of confidence.

"Yes, I believe I have."

The next night saw Ramona back in that same farmland area, this time with no trepidations. She was ready for what was coming. She was prepared to expect the unexpected. The full moon was up, and Ramona heard the howl, but remained focused.

"Come on out!" shouted Ramona. "I'm not afraid of you!" She made a beeline in the direction of the farmhouse, basically going after the beast, who suddenly leapt towards Ramona. The young recruit fell, but was backing away from the beast, who crept towards Ramona slowly. Ramona, strangely, smiled--the same smile she flashed earlier in the day.

"I think you better look behind you," Ramona said, pointing up to the sky. A rare eclipse was starting, and the creature was groaning as it was making its way into the farmhouse, with Ramona on the pursuit. Ramona actually witnessed the werewolf shifting to its human form, and it was just as she expected.

"Hey, Sheriff."

Just as Ramona figured, the ominous werewolf was none other than her sheriff, Rita Mendes, and while she noticed Rita's bandaged arm earlier today, a lot more things added up. Rita had been taking certain nights off for the last five months, which was right before Ramona ended up under her mentorship. And as Ramona thought, this does explain Rita's somewhat "snarly" demeanor as of late.

"I knew you had it figured out, Ramona," said Rita.

"How long?" asked Ramona.

"Only a few months," Rita said between breaths. "I thought it was some sort of dog that bit me; didn't realize what it really was until I first changed. But I made sure I would never harm humans. Those nights that I took off, I made sure to get away and chain myself up." As the moon started to appear, Rita started screaming, as her transformation was reigniting.

"You should go, NOW!" shouted Rita.

"I just want to know!" said Ramona. "Why the attacks?" As Ramona waited for her answer, Rita's body was halfway covered with black fur, and her face took on that partial wolf-like appearance, complete with glowing red eyes.

"The beast in me does hunger, little one," Rita said in a sinister tone. "Plus, I'm not going to lie, I do enjoy scaring you, little prodigy. You're in my precinct now, and I'll make sure you work for it!" A slightly evil chuckle emerged from Rita's fang-filled lips, and upon seeing that the full moon was nearly complete, Ramona rushed out of the farmhouse as Rita completed her transformation, padlocking the door after escaping.

Ramona ended up sleeping outside the farmhouse, waking up at the door just a half an hour after sunrise. The first thing she thought of was Rita, but just as she was about to search for her sheriff, she suddenly saw Rita appear to her, in full uniform.

"Girl's gotta have a spare," said Rita, right before she and Ramona walked out of the area together.

"I just have one more question," said Ramona. "Why me?"

"Honestly?" Rita answered, "because I knew you could handle it. Because I wanted to tell someone. And because, well, I wanted to give you a good scare." Rita walked towards Ramona, this time looking at her recruit with deep admiration.

"I see a lot of your dad in you," Rita commented. "Austin and I started up at the same time, and he went on to become one of the town's greatest sheriffs. I was honored to have served as his deputy." Ramona nodded over Rita's emotional endorsement of her father, Austin Dawson, whose footsteps Ramona was attempting to follow.

"I can't believe it's been two years since...," began Ramona. "I wonder what he'd say about all of this."

"I would have told him about this right after I first changed," said Rita. "It made letting you know sound fitting. And if I was a bit too scary, I want to apologize."

"You're perfect, Rita," said Ramona, "and I've got your back."

Ramona meant those words to her sheriff. On full moons, Ramona kept Rita locked up, and for a while, her secret was shared only between the two of them. The raids on farms stopped, and after two months of full moons locked away, Rita decided on her own to reveal her secret to the town, and even as a werewolf, she still received praise and acclaim from the people; most of all, Ramona, who quickly became Rita's deputy. What started as a town sheriff carrying a supernatural curse, and a young recruit on a dangerous mission, ended up becoming two women bonded together on several moonlight beats.

* * *

Thank you for reading my story, which I entered in Sasha Desideri's Summer Mystery Unofficial Challenge: