The Sherriff knows

Marshall IV is sitting on the passenger seat of a silver 2021 Chevy 5500 HD with another man in the driver's seat, they were speeding past many cars on the highway. Marshall IV tilted his head to the left to look at the man driving, the man looked almost the same age as him, but he was dark-skinned and had an enormous beard but was bald. The sun's reflection could be seen on his head as he turned the steering, the car was quiet until the man talked.

"I don't understand your angle here Marshall."

"James, how long have we known each other?" Marshall asked the man in the car with him.

"Since we were kids, bro," James replied as he squeezed his face slightly because he was confused why Marshall would ask him such a question out of the blue.

"All these years and you still don't trust me?" Marshall asked, James scoffed. "Nobody is saying anything about trust here bro. I just want to understand why you would want to tell the Sherriff all this shit." James replied with his eyes still on the road.

"Just trust me, when the time is right you will understand," Marshall stated. James looks like he was not ready for an argument because he did not say a word again as he shrugged and continued driving, they did not say much to each other again as they drove to the precinct and James parked the car. Marshall came down and slammed the car door, he bent over to talk to James through the window from the passenger seat.

"You know what you have to do right?" James nods as they both shook hands and then James drove away, Marshall stood there and stared at the precinct for a while before he dipped his hands in his pockets and walked in. He met a policewoman at the front desk, he smiled at her as he leaned forward to support himself with the desk in front of him and she smiled back.

"I would love to see the Sherriff dear," Marshall said calmly with a voice he would use if he wanted to flirt with a lady and it seems to be working because the lady was already blushing and stammering.

"The Sherriff...He...The Sherriff is..."

"Who are you? A voice asked and Marshall turned around swiftly, and it was the Sherriff standing behind him. The Sherriff stared at the policewoman who was feeling embarrassed already, the Sherriff exhaled and then returned his stare at Marshall.

"I'm Marshall." Marshall stretched his right hand for a handshake and the Sherriff shook him reluctantly.

"Marshall IV?" The Sherriff asked with a surprise on his face and Marshall nods

"I've heard a lot about your family, the greatest hunters in this town before y'all moved out. The animals in the woods won't be happy that you're back" The Sherriff said with a chuckle and Marshall laughed too.

"So how can I help you? Make it quick because I was on my out." The Sherriff said as he released Marshall's hands.

"I don't think I can make it quick," Marshall said as the Sherriff was about to talk but Marshall already knows what he might say so he interrupted him immediately with something he knew would prick his attention.

"It's about the animal attacks in the woods." Marshall could see the Sherriff's eyes widen as he heard the 'animal attacks' and he could tell that he got his attention, the Sherriff stared at him for a while to make sure that he was not just trying to pull his legs.

"Let's go to my office please." The Sherriff said as he gestured the way, he walked to his office and Marshall followed from behind.

"Please have a seat." The Sherriff said as he walked to his seat and pointed to one of the seats in front of his office desk where Marshall could sit. The Sherriff removed his coat and hung it at the back of his seat before he sat down and Marshall walked to his seat and sat down too.

"So what do you have to say about the animal attacks a few months ago?" The Sherriff asked immediately after Marshall sat down. Marshall was looking for how to break everything to him so he would believe him and won't just see him as a psychopath who is just saying things that do not make sense.

"You know, animals aren't the only thing my family hunts." Marshall starts but the Sherriff was confused because he does not know what else there is to hunt if not animals.

"What else do you guys hunt? Are you also bounty hunters?"

"No, far from that," Marshall replied with a giggle. The Sherriff's office was quiet for a minute as Marshall rubbed his chin, he was contemplating if this was a good idea, but he seems to have thought it through already.

"We hunt werewolves too," Marshall stated, The Sherriff did not move an inch or say anything. He was waiting for Marshall to tell him it was just a bad joke but he was not smiling, he was looking at him like he meant what he said but the Sherriff was still trying to process that piece of information.

"All the animal attacks and killings are not just animals but werewolves." Marshall went on but the Sherriff was not talking yet, he has always thought that the animal attacks were weird and something was off so he agrees with Marshall on that one but where he seems to have issues was believing that werewolves are the answer.

"Werewolves?" The Sherriff was finally able to say something, and Marshall nods.

"Like a human that can turn to werewolves?" The Sherriff asked again and Marshall nods again. The office was quiet again, Marshall understood how unbelievable all these would sound to the Sherriff and he did not expect him to believe him without proof. The Sherriff stood up and picked up the coat that he hung behind him as he put it on.

"I don't know what this is but I don't have time for practical jokes so please leave my office if this is why you came here." The Sherriff said but Marshall was not standing up, he dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out his phone. Marshall unlocked his phone and tapped on the screen severally before he hands it over to the Sherriff who took it reluctantly as he peeped on the screen and there was a video playing on the phone.

"What am I watching?" The Sherriff asked as he kept looking at Marshall and the phone in his hand.

"That's a video of a werewolf that we caught last week," Marshall replied as he relaxed waiting to see the Sherriff's reaction. All the Sherriff could see was a man hanging by a rope tied on his both hands, his legs were not touching the floor. The Sherriff watched as another man walked to him and tased him and the man hanging lifted his head momentarily as he yelled in pain. As he lifted his head and yelled, the Sherriff could see his eyes glow and he had fangs like that of a wild animal. The Sherriff sat down on his chair as he watched them repeat the action and he would see it clearer the more he watched it, he even looked closer to see that his claws grew longer too and it was not normal at all. The Sherriff paused the video as he looked at Marshall who was watching him waiting for a reply, the Sherriff exhales as he wipes his face with his palm and dropped the phone on his desk.

"This..." The Sherriff paused as he looked at the phone he just dropped on his desk and then looked at Marshall.

"This does not prove anything; I have seen edited videos better and more real than this." The Sherriff stated. The Sherriff knew that there was no way that Marshall would be telling him all this if it was not true but he could not believe it so he was trying to convince himself that it was not real. He has heard about werewolves in folklore only but here he is now, and someone is trying to tell him that they exist. The Sherriff thought about all that happened that night that they were attacked in the woods that was too fast to be a human or even a bear, but it had claws like a bear's own and he also thought about the attack at the hospital and his officers said that the man in the hood had extra claws. The Sherriff could see it would make sense to believe that all that was caused by a werewolf but if he was going to believe something this impossible then he would need hard proof better than a video on the phone. Marshall knew that the video on his phone might not be enough to convince the Sherriff so he had another plan which was to take him to one of their lairs so he could see a werewolf face to face, that would be enough to convince him.

"Come to the park tonight," Marshall told him as he stretched out his hand and took his phone as he stood up to leave.

"If I was to believe all these, why are you telling me this now?" The Sherriff asked as Marshall was about to open the door.

"Because there is a war coming to this town, you need to know what you would be fighting first," Marshall replied.

"Do you know Beckham Alvin?" The Sherriff asked, he has always thought that Mr. Beckham had something to do about all these.

"Yeah."

"Is he one of..." The Sherriff could not get himself to say the 'W'-word yet, so he paused as he looked at Marshall expecting him to understand what he meant, and he did.

"Werewolf? Yeah, but he was not the one behind the killings, it was the dead kid you found that night." Marshall replied as he turned and left. The Sherriff had lots of questions to ask but he did not know where to start first, he just sat there and watched Marshall leave, he would have to ask him all the questions when they meet later tonight. He leaned back in his seat as he wiped his face with both palms and exhaled, he was still shocked.