Moonlit whispers

When Past meets present

Chapter 2: When past meets present.

Luna's POV

“What am I looking at?” I asked as I forced my eyes away from the screen of the phone.

“I found that symbol on the corpse,” he replied. “I decided to take it to the coroner to see if I could get more information on it and he looked surprised when he saw it. He went on to tell me that he had seen something similar on the first corpse and I knew without any doubt that both murders were related.”

“Okay. Why are you telling me this, Detective?” I did my best to avoid looking at the symbol again but I knew I was fighting a losing battle.

“Because, apart from this symbol, you are the only thing both murders have in common. Not only did two murders happen shortly after your arrival in this town but I also happened to find you at the scene of both murders. There is no way that is a coincidence.”

“There is no way that what is a coincidence?” someone said from nowhere. Josie suddenly appeared behind the detective and she looked surprised to see him there. “Oh. Detective Carter. What are you doing here?” Then she turned to me, gasped, and said, “Is Luna in trouble?”

“No, she isn't. I just have a few questions for her concerning the recent murders in town,” he replied.

Josie furrowed her brows and said, “The murders? Why do you have questions for Luna about it? She is new to town.”

“Exactly,” the detective said and it took a few seconds for Josie to realize what he was suggesting.

She shook her head slowly when she did. “No, no, that is not possible. Luna can be a lot of things but the last thing she would be is a murderer.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Uh, I think a week,” Josie replied.

The detective raised an eyebrow. “And you already know her well enough to decide she cannot be a murderer?”

At this point, I was beginning to find the detective less attractive than I did when we met at the crime scene. Josie wanted to say something but she struggled to find the words.

“Josie, it's fine,” I said. “If the detective has questions for me then I am willing to answer all of them. He is going to be wasting his time. Not mine.”

“Fine, but I'm staying. He can ask whatever he wants to ask in my presence.”

“Fine with—” the detective started to say but I interrupted.

“Don't worry about it. I can handle him. I'm sure you have more important things to do.”

The detective gave me a strange look but I ignored him and focused on Josie. “Are you sure?” She asked.

I smiled at her and nodded. She smiled back at me and said, “Alright. I'll be in the fiction section. Yell if you need me.” She turned to the detective and gave him a frown. “Be nice to her.”

The detective watched her as she walked away but he didn't seem amused at all. He seemed like a very different person from the person I saw earlier that morning and I wondered what brought about the change. I suspected it was something more than the symbol and I intended to find out whatever caused it.

“So, are you going to tell me what you do know or I have to take you in for that?”

“I will tell you but not here. There's a cafe down the street. Let's go there,” I said.

He agreed and the both of us walked out of the bookstore together. It was sunny outside and there were more people moving about than one would expect to see in a small town like Silver Peak. The walk to the cafe only took three minutes and we took a seat by the window that allowed us a clear view of the street.

He sat in the chair opposite mine and placed his phone on the table. The symbol was still on the screen and I knew he deliberately placed it there for me to see.

“Look, I really don't know how I will explain this to you,” I started. “I think there is more to this than meets the eye and even if I tell you what I think, I know you would not believe me.”

He sat forward in his chair and spoke in low tones. “Let me tell you a story. I lost my little sister many years ago to an unfortunate accident, or that was what I thought. On further investigation, I found out something that rocked me to my core.”

“Which is?” I asked, wondering what his story had to do with why we were there.

“Werewolves. My little sister was killed by a werewolf.” I could hear the hurt in his voice when he said that. “I never found the werewolf that did it,” he continued, “and I couldn't get justice for my sister as a result. I told those that would care to listen about it but they dismissed the idea, saying that I was only suffering from trauma. I kept investigating the case on my own, even after my captain back then had taken me off it. It took me two years before I could finally come to terms with the fact that I was never going to find my sister's killer. Then I saw those two corpses, mauled in the same way as my sister was and I immediately knew that history had repeated itself. So, Luna, are you going to tell me about this symbol or will you leave me to find out by myself which I definitely will?”

“I am sorry about your sister,” I said, feeling bad for him. “You are right about the werewolf.” I pointed at his phone and said, “this symbol belongs to a rogue faction of werewolves and I think the murders are their way of sending a message.”

“What message are they trying to send and who are they sending the message to?”

“Would you believe me if I told you?” I asked him.