Sheep's Clothing

by Gary Lewis

  "Don't go anywhere until I get it cranked," he said, cautiously opening her passenger door to creep toward his car.

  It didn't take long for him to give it a quick start and pull up beside her with his window down. "I'm going to head to the house. Let me know if you learn anything new," he shouted before driving down the dark, deserted hill until his lights disappeared into the void below.

  Sarah made a careful three point turn on the mud-soaked gravel, mindful of the treacherous drop-off that she narrowly avoided. Turned around and ready to return to civilization, she stopped for a moment. Finally, she was all alone. She turned off the ignition and stepped out of the car slowly, removing her shoes and socks as she walked the damp earth toward the edge of the road. The lights of the town glowed brightly below and she could feel the cold rocks embedded within the dirt that stuck to her feet. Here, she could become one with the abysmal black sky that filled the ridges and valleys with cascading shadows cast by the bright moon. It felt just like the deepest corners of her own dark caves that she held deep within.

  Chapter 10

  #Vance#

  The blazing summer sun sparkled across the surface of Moss Lake where Vance found a discreet parking spot to leave his truck nestled in the shade of the giant elm trees that hugged the sky above the far corner of the parking lot. It was just a little closer to the hiking trails than the beach. But as tempting as the cool, refreshing water looked, he had other plans today. He threw his backpack over one shoulder and locked the doors as he set out in the opposite direction of the distant sounds of children shouting and splashing. It had taken him a few hours of driving around before finally spotting David's car parked at the Big Rock Nature Trail and he wasn't about to mess this up with a direct approach. A few extra minutes of walking in the heat was worth getting the jump on David.

  Just as Vance strolled around the curve, out of view from the parking lot, he caught a glimpse through the trees of a police cruiser slowly rolling up to where his truck was parked. "Shit. Worst timing ever," Vance huffed while striding quickly up the hill into the cover of the woods. He couldn't tell if it came to a stop at his truck or not, but he didn't feel like waiting around to find out. Officer Benning didn't have anything on him, but it would be another long day if his pack got searched.

  Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he picked up the pace through the cool breeze that swept across his face. After jogging the hike through steep terrain, even Vance needed to take a breather in the humid cluster of trees. He dropped his hefty pack to the soft moss-covered earth that had given the nearby lake its namesake. A large oak trunk became a sturdy backrest as he sat to unzip his backpack. From the side pouch, he first removed a shiny .45 caliber revolver and laid it at his side before shoving his hand through clanking glass bottles.

  Vance tilted his head back to gaze at the canopy for a moment while he caught his breath and popped the cap off of the beer he pulled from his bag. "Bottoms up," he said, chugging at the dark glass bottle. Years of memories that place had to offer washed down his throat in a whirlpool of booze that went straight from his stomach to his brain. "Not here to reminisce," he said, followed by a loud belch that blew from his gut to echo across the trees. An inferno of vengeance cooked its way into his arms, focusing into his singular goal. He slowly lifted his revolver before standing to tuck it in the back of his jeans.

  When Vance emerged onto the Big Rock Trail the fresh signs of travel were evident, leading uphill toward the power line clearing that went up the side of the mountain. "Heading up to the fire tower,” Vance said aloud. "I knew it." He powered his way up the steep section of trail, hiking beyond where David had obviously left the path to the parallel clearing that stretched straight up the hill to the right.

  "You'll never even see me coming."

  #David#

  The cool breeze felt refreshing under the shade of the steel canopy that covered the top of the fire tower where the view stretched from Moss Lake down to the town below. The courthouse was plainly visible on Central Avenue, a tiny looking street lined with shops and a yellow sign that poked out from between them. Traffic was flowing into the Sunset Diner as usual for mid-morning. David adjusted his telescope to view the wide-open pastures to the left of the town where they narrowed into the gorges that led to the mountainous wilderness.

  Long forgotten memories of the overbearing steel structure played past experiences with Tony and childhood friends. "How did we drift so far?" David gave the focus dial just a hint of a twist before checking through the lens once more. "Not the same as spending the night up here as a kid looking at the stars, but I suppose it will do." As he stared across the treetops, it didn't seem like very long ago when they all used to sneak out and race to the top of the cold, steel ladder. "Back before Vance was an asshole," he said with a chuckle as his stare wandered across the view of town. "Luckily, you're the last one I'd be caught hanging out up here with now." His eyes continued to drift where he found the speck of neighborhood that held Janice's place somewhere between the trees, grass, gardens and rooftops, barely visible from the distance he stood. But now it was a distance he could cross, he thought to himself.

  A loud clank startled David from below. It could be felt almost as much as heard. As it got louder, it became evident that someone was coming up the metal ladder that led to the trap door. Caught off guard, his mind raced as his eyes darted to focus on the small latch that would lock it from above. David pounced in the direction of the hatch with his arm stretched down. Too late. The large metal panel started to raise up, blocking the view of who or what was about to emerge from the other side. A thick hand grabbed the deck and tossed out a sporty looking camouflage backpack.

  "Shoulda’ locked this damn thing if you were so worried," grunted a familiar voice that filled David's stomach with dread. Vance emerged from below the hatch, climbing onto the metal platform before standing to his feet. David's eyes quickly darted in the direction of the trailhead down below, clearly visible from his vantage point.

  "Yeah. I thought you'd see me if I parked there, so I took the long way," Vance said calmly with a grin out the side of his tilted back face as he sidestepped onto the trap door, holding it down under his weight. It was the only way back down, aside from a sixty-foot fall from the side.

  "So, you saw I was here and decided to follow me?" David asked, trying to sound confident as he forced a slow, natural breath.

  "Nah, man." Vance smiled even bigger as he rocked his head side to side. "I came here for revenge." The odor of beer accompanied his words.

  David watched Vance reach behind and pull out a shiny, silver colored gun. Aiming it downward, he popped the cylinder out the side, revealing each fully loaded chamber before he effortlessly spun it and slapped it back in place like second nature. David's heart pounded into his throat. There was no longer any need to hold his composure, he thought to himself.

  David's thoughts raced as he watched Vance crouch down to reach into his bag. What the hell is he going to pull out now? A grenade? He struggled to find the right words. "Vance. I think you're taking this way too far, man."

  "The hell I am," Vance said as he continued to reach around in his bag. "Nobody eats my best quarterback and gets away with it." He pulled out a beer and handed it to David. "How goes the hunt so far?"

  David's heart still pounded in his head as the tension left his body only to be replaced with something else. "That wasn't funny." Vance's laughter confirmed his intentions. "You did that on purpose," David said as he shot narrowed eyes in Vance's direction.

  "Why so jumpy? Drink it or I will," Vance insisted.

  "Nah." David waved his hand to casually dismiss him. "Quit last year."

  "Come on," Vance shoved it in his direction. "Pussy."

  "No," David said firmly. "Never again."

  "Your loss," Vance said followed by a huge swig, that killed a third of the bottle in an instant.

  David thought for a minute, unsure exactly where to start. "After what
happened to the other camera traps, I thought this would be a good place to- Hey, be careful with that," David said as Vance poked around at his perfectly mounted scope.

  "Chill. I'm just taking a look."

  David's frustration rose with the temperature that seemed to be amplified by the constant buzz of cicadas. It was like being in a noisy oven. "You messed it up," David said. "Thanks a lot."

  "It needs to be over here," Vance said. "Where the meadow dips. Path of least resistance."

  "But now it's all blurry," Vance said while fumbling around with the scope. "What the hell?"

  "It took me five minutes just to adjust it last time and you just ruined it," David said, shaking his head.

  Vance smiled. "You're such a dork, sometimes."

  David took a few minutes to adjust the focus on his scope while he tried to block out Vance's loud rambling. But the desert in his mouth wouldn't let him concentrate on anything else. "Feel like hiking back to the lake when I get this fixed?" David asked, clearing his parched throat. "Maybe the drink machines are working."

  "Better not," Vance said. "We're being tailed."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Benning, I think," he said nonchalantly waving his palm. "Rolled up on my truck right when I cut trail and ducked in the brush."

  "Oh, by the way..." David said. "We're being followed by the cops. Just thought I'd let you know," David shook his head after smacking the hot metal railing that surrounded them, just out of the canopy's shadow.

  Vance smiled and looked back at him for a minute before finally shrugging his shoulders. "We can go check out the game trail and I can catch a ride back with you in your mommy-mobile."

  David finished setting up the camera on the telescope lens. "You're heading down first," David said. "Last thing I need is your heavy, half drunk ass falling from above."

  David looked to his right on the way down the ladder. Step by step, he watched the town sink below dark green treetops as he got about halfway. To his left the cliffs were still visible, looming as a foreboding reminder of what he saw, of the night they were stranded, and of when they used to hangout. It stood the same, reluctant of everything that had happened, a testament to the absolute nature of the world and of the way that nature doesn't care how fast things can go from normal to upside down in a pool of blood. Nature just remains to continue on.

  Back on the ground, David felt the light of the sun bearing down on the side of his face while he waited for Vance to throw on his pack. "If we take the direct approach," David said. "It's a lot of uphill before we get over the top and head down the ridge." He then turned opposite to point downhill. "Or we could head down, back to my car, grab something to drink and just drive over there."

  "You're such a puss," Vance said. "There's a creek up this way. Runs straight down from the cliffs. Anything heading up that way from the pastures would probably stick close to it."

  As David tried to think of a counterargument, Vance slung his pack onto both shoulders and started marching without looking back.

  David shook his head in the overwhelming heat as he looked at the ground. "It's no use." His feet felt heavy as he marched to follow. The ice-cold trickle of a mountain spring creek rushed through his mind with such vividness, he could feel its frigid sensation in his throat as the sweltering air propelled David to follow Vance up the steep hill.

  "A lot harder than sitting around at your computer with the air conditioner, huh?” Vance asked without a glance back.

  "Help me edit my videos some time and we'll revisit that," David said, pushing himself even harder, straightening his legs into each step with renewed vigor.

  "Don't be scared to shout if you need a break," Vance said. "It's okay to be a wimp."

  His words just drove David's determination to new levels as he huffed the hot, dense air to catch his breath, looking up at Vance who was now waiting at the top of the hill. David's limbs felt weak and numb. His peripheral vision began to get fuzzy. But at least he didn't feel thirsty anymore. How did Vance get there that fast? His thoughts blurred. How long was he there?

  "You still with me, man?" Vance asked as the pitch of his voice became higher and the sound more distant. It seemed to reverberate as though they were in a tunnel. David gasped to get his breath and catch up, but everything except his legs had gone limp.

  "Looking kinda pale on..." Vance's words seemed to fade into the distance as the world closed into darkness and disappeared. Everything ceased to exist.

  ###

  David laid on the cool, damp ground, staring at the midnight sky. Large, ominous clouds flashed in the distance, but an open expanse of stars still stretched above. How much time went by? How did I even get here? Beside his face, dark green blades of grass swayed in the cool breeze and a serene, repetitive splash continuously sounded from beyond the nearby hill. I've been here before.

  "Yes. This is the place." Sarah's voice sounded more cheerful and full of spirit than it had in a long time. He felt her tug at his hand to pull him to his feet. "Come on, lazy ass," she laughed as she gleefully led him along toward the sound of the lake. "I tried the water, but it's already cold." Her exaggerated giddiness couldn't be overlooked as he pressed his eyebrows in confusion, listening to her words. "I can't wait until next summer."

  The moonlight sparkled in the lake ahead. "Jan's boat!" she said in a hushed laugh. "Come on. She'll never know." Her mischievous eyes shined as brightly as her huge smile. But there was more to the sound of her giggling speech than that. Something wasn't right. Of course. He finally remembered. She had a few drinks at the party before we came to the lake. David gave his head a shake. So did I. His strides struggled to remain on course as she pulled at his arm, ushering him forward. Explains why my weight keeps shifting side to side. "Come on! She ditched you for Vance. Hurry up," Sarah insisted in a silly slur as she tugged at David's arm.

  They stumbled in the dark through the soft grass that swayed in the cool autumn breeze until the creaky wooden boards of the boating dock led them to rest against the side of the white hull of Janice's dad's boat. Sarah's arms swept around the back of his shoulders as he held her hips firmly and pushed his face into her neck, tasting at her skin all the way up to her cheeks. She turned in for the kiss and his tongue rolled against hers beyond the soft lips he felt pressing and sliding through his.

  David guided her by the waist as they stumbled onto the deck. Janice's waterproof camera case laid in one of the brown leather seats.

  "Wait!" She said, grasping his shoulders. Sarah’s giggle wrapped her flushed red cheeks so tightly that it squinted her blue eyes. "I have an idea!"

  It was hard to understand her through her giddy laughter.

  David lost interest in what Sarah was doing as he began to stare back into the night sky. The distant boom of thunder could barely be heard from the west. To the east, the clear space twinkled across a deep, dark blue void that held a bright orange moon in the center.

  "The stars aren't in the right place for fall," David said. "But wait, is it fall?"

  "Of course, it is," Sarah said with drunken laughter. "It's my birthday, remember?"

  "For some reason, I thought it was summer." He lifted open the case, taking the heavy, black camera out and raising the lens to focus on Sarah's butt. He grinned as she bent over to fumble around in the metal toolbox mounted to the deck. Her black, leather pants gleamed where they fit tightly against her skinny figure. He watched her belly shirt slip up and down the smooth skin of her lower back as the jingling clank of tools rattled below.

  She turned her head to look up at him with a smile. "Like what you see?"

  David smiled as he turned back to the sky. "You were right. The stars are right for fall now." He squinted his eyebrows together. Wait, what? How much did I have to drink?

  Something large floated closer in the shimmering water of the lake cast bright by the large full moon that hung above. He wasn't sure why, but the moon seemed so huge and ominous. As he continued to watc
h, the shining reflection grew larger. The orange gleam of moonlight turned red with blood that clouded the watery surface. The object became more familiar as it continued drifting toward them. A person? Is he dead? The blood spread outward, filling the entire lake as the body began to take on a familiar shape. It bumped against the boat as David looked down. Tony! David’s jaw dropped as Tony’s floating mangled corpse continuously rocked into the side of the boat. Blood spewed into the lake from his throat, ripped wide open as his blank stare gazed up at him.

  "Don't let it scare you," Sarah reassured him from somewhere beyond the back of his shoulder. "It won't take very long." She sounded sober all of the sudden. Then David remembered why he was afraid. He turned to see Sarah's blue eyes take on an unnatural yellow. With a stumble, he fell back, slamming into the deck. He frantically grasped for anything he could wrap his fingers around. All he could do was flail around the floor no matter how hard he tried to get up. Sarah's teeth grew longer with the popping sounds of her bones contorting into a different form. Her back raised high with hands reaching low to the sides, baring claws. "No! Please!" David screamed as dark fur began to sprout from her once elegant face, even replacing her blonde hair. He could feel the rumble of the snarling growl that issued forth from deep in her chest while her yellow eyes glared intently at David who found himself unable to move. She was now more creature than Sarah. It bared its sharp looking, long, white teeth, slinging its head side to side as the snout slowly popped to become longer.

  By now, no matter what he might say, there was no getting through to Sarah. It wasn't even her anymore. Perhaps she never even was. He curled into a fetal position and squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could. Accepting that he would die a horrible death wouldn't be enough. He didn't know how much longer he could stand the sight of that horrible beast as he cried as loud as he could, still unable to obscure the sound of its snapping growl or of Sarah's clothes ripping apart.