Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to present you all a short story that was requested for me to write a while ago, a werewolf romance with a touch of fantasy, and maybe some mystery. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this draft and any thoughts, comments, and more. Feel free to read this excerpt. Stay tuned for next week!

“Werediamond Shine”

By Sally Barrilla

His eyes were dark in the moonlight, his pale skin shined like diamonds, and he made my heart race just at first glance. He didn’t notice me at first since I was standing in the midst of the crowd. I was aiming to remain hidden, what would he notice in someone like me? Pop music blasting all over my best friend’s Ramona’s tiny apartment. 

“BANG!” I accidentally knocked down a random flower pot. All eyes including his immediately turned over to me. In that moment, our eyes locked and his smile slowly reached his dimples. My heart stopped in an instant. He walks over to me and smiles so brightly at me, I think it rivaled the sun. He lifted his hand to me, introducing himself to me.

“Hi there. My name is Justin, what’s yours?” I didn’t respond too quickly, I just stared at him. He must have noticed because he raised his eyebrows.

“Uhh… your name?” I jumped up and shook his hand.

“Oh sorry! My name’s Sasha. Just plain old Sasha, hehe.” 

“No, no one’s ever plain. But that is a nice name, Sasha and may I say you are extremely gorgeous.” 

“Why, thank you, Justin. That’s very kind of you.” He winked at me and my heart dropped down to my stomach. Looking down, I realized that our hands were still connected and I released his hand. He was still looking at me, the intensity of his stare was nerve wracking but also immensely intimate.

“Hey Sasha, it’s kinda loud in here. I know we just met but do you want to get out of here? We can grab some coffee or maybe a bite to eat. Is that okay with you?” I was flabbergasted.

“Uhh, sure why not. It would be great to get out for a bit.” His winning smile once again caught me off guard.

“Great, let’s head out,” said Justin, offering me his arm. I took it willingly. We walk outside of the apartment and out of the elevator. The gentle breeze of the wind welcomes my face like a small kiss on the cheek. 

“I thought we could walk to my car and maybe go out to a nearby cafe I like, if that’s cool.”

“Of course, lead the way.” We walked a few blocks to his car, which I had to admit, it was quite nice. A gray Tesla that was so cozy, I could have easily fallen asleep, thankfully I did not. The drive wasn’t relatively long, but the beacon of shining lights welcomed me. Justin put the car in park and leaned over to me.

“Well, here we are. Cafe LeBauc, it’s absolutely incredible and cozy. Food and drinks are amazing, I guarantee we will have a good time.” We go inside and I am stunned by the ease of it all, we end up dancing, chatting, and eating for several hours. When we got there, it was close to 9 P.M. but it was nearing 11:30. Justin leaned in close and said to me, “Do you want to get out of here? Maybe go see the stars for a bit?” I nodded in agreement. We walked out of the cafe and headed back to the car. My smile would not leave my face, I was having such an amazing night, I didn’t want it to end. 

“Where are we going? I asked Justin, he looked at me with a small smile. 

“A small picnic area in Forest Park, if that’s okay.”

“That’s perfect.” We pulled into the park, walked in holding hands, and sat down on a bench overlooking a pond with fishes.

“Sasha, I have to admit something to you,” said Justin whose voice began to tremble.

“What is it, Justin? Are you okay?”

“Actually, no. Well, it depends how you look at it, it’s a part of me. I wish I could change this about myself but unfortunately I cannot. The only thing I can say is that I will not harm you at all, that’s the good thing about this. Even when I change, I still hold my conscious thoughts and can think for myself. So, I can control myself and not be completely crazy.” 

“What? What? What are you talking about Justin? I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in. But I promise you, you are completely safe with me.”

“You aren’t making any sense.”

“Sasha, this will all make more sense in a few minutes.”

“You are now scaring the hell out of me.”

“Sasha, can you trust me?”

“What? How can I—”

“Can you trust me? Please?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Please? Please try?”

“Okay, for you. I can’t promise anything.”

“That’s all I can ask of you, it’s starting now,” said Justin as he stood up straighter. He began to face the moon, I had to admit, the blinding whiteness was quite a sight. Justin turned around to me.

“Sasha, I promise you that you are safe.” He immediately turned around again to the moon. In an instant, Justin’s form began to completely change. His light hazel eyes began to transform into nearly black. His straight brown hair was gone and throughout his body, a giant stack of fur took over. His nails turned into claws. His teeth transformed into fangs and he then made a loud growl that I think even China could have heard his sounds. Justin was gone and in his place, a huge creature was in front of me. 

“Aah! Aah! Oh my god!” I screamed to the top of my lungs, immediately this creature raised his hands up close to both sides of its face. 

“Sasha, it’s me. It’s still me, I promise,” said the creature as it came towards me. I had to admit, the creature had his voice, Justin’s voice. Did that mean that somewhere inside of it, Justin was there? I took a few steps back. I couldn’t explain why but I felt braver for some reason.

“Prove it.”

“How can I prove to you I’m Justin?”

“I know we just met, but tell me something Justin would know about me, something no one else knows about me.”

“You said earlier that the reason why you didn’t trust so easily.”

“Why?”

“Because you felt that your heart would get broken too fast, but I told you that you were just sheltering yourself so that you can be ready for the right person.” 

“I—”

“I also think it’s because your heart is subconsciously waiting for me, because since I first laid eyes on you, I couldn’t help but notice that you were the most beautiful woman I ever saw. You made my heart race within the first three seconds of looking at you, when I heard your voice, my head did somersaults because I couldn’t believe that you were real, when I touched you when we danced, I realized I was already so in love with you and that it seemed too good to be true. But you were and are everything to me, that I will understand if you decide this is too much even if it breaks—-” I immediately cut him off with a kiss as carefully as I could with his fangs. But this was him, this was my Justin. His arms tightened around me and his lips felt like heaven on Earth. 

“I love you too, I’m so in love with you, I can’t explain it either and I don’t care what you are but I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!” Tears streamed down my face and with a claw, Justin gently wiped it away before nuzzling my cheek. 

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that, I was born this way and I never thought I would ever find anyone to accept and love as I am.” 

“Shh, you never have to worry about that again. I love you.”

“I love you more and don’t worry, I’ll be normal and handsome by tomorrow morning.” I shook my head.

“You are already handsome and normal, I don’t care what you are or what you become, just stay with me.”

“Always,” and we continued in our little bubble of bliss.