by Gary Lewis
Sarah sighed as she noticed the large yellow sign above the Sunset Diner and began to slow down. "I can't go with what my heart says right now."
"My brother and I were with Tony the night he died." Terry slowly rocked his head back and forth. "I suspected him, before. But I’ve had time to think about it. He was too concerned about you and David."
Sarah shook her head. "I'm not trying to pin it on him. It's just that this thing hides among us. It uses our weakness against us for cover."
"If having human compassion and trust is a weakness,” Terry said. “Then I volunteer to be the first one to go."
Sarah pulled into the parking lot at the Sunset Diner. It was still a couple hours before lunch rush would begin and a vacant row of parking spaces welcomed her from the burden of her journey where she had steered through her feelings for longer than she could remember.
"Back to the motive," Terry said. "So many things have happened to and between all of you, it's hard to draw a connection." He began extending fingers to count, one after another. "The fire at the old rec, David's mom and step dad divorcing, you and David, Vance and his dad, his mother... How did she even die?"
"It was drug related." Sarah said. "He doesn't really talk about it much."
"I guess that's understandable, but I keep getting the feeling that all of this ties together a lot deeper and I'm only seeing the surface." Terry rubbed his head. "Where do you fit into all this, Sarah?"
There was a time, I thought I would never fit into anything... never belong. She huffed a sigh of frustration that brushed against the skin of her hands where they still rested on the steering wheel of her parked car. I really wish that I didn't fit into this.
"Sarah?" Terry's voice became a glowing exit door from the weight on her shoulders that she knew she could never escape from. She looked at him for a moment, trying to discern the boundary between what she could say and what must remain hidden for all time.
#David#
Having dropped off Janice just before her mother returned home, David found himself back at his house. Hours passed as he continuously got up from his bed to pace in deep thought. His room became the collateral damage of the rollercoaster that life had spun him into. The computer was left on, home to an abandoned video channel that he hadn't updated in quite some time. Blurry digital images of the werewolf were still opened on his desktop and empty coke cans stood on top of opened notebooks piled upon one another on his desk. It all rested beside a bed that hadn't been made in weeks.
"Damn," he said, sliding through a mountain of missed calls and unread messages. "What's your deal, Sarah?"
One read, "Well I'm glad you're okay. Thanks a lot for letting me know you were leaving and not, you know, spread in pieces all over the woods." Above it were a few messages about what time they were going to show up at the fire tower. Further back, an entire paragraph about how she's happy he's out with Janice and that they make a great couple. But as he scrolled further up, another read, “You can forget about ever mowing my lawn!” David felt his blood pressure rise, so he just deleted the entire conversation.
"Everything good baby?" he sent to Janice before rushing to his voicemail to replay Tony's recording about the cliffs gathering. It's the only thing I have left to hold onto. Just then, a reply popped up, reminding him that it wasn't.
"Yes. Want to come over later?" from Janice.
"Let me take a shower first," he sent back, followed by a quick "I love you."
He rushed to the bathroom, clothes in hand, to see his mom relaxing on the living room recliner, watching reruns of decades old sitcoms. She lifted the remote and the television muted. "You really need to eat something, dear. Where have you been all the time?"
"I'm heading over to Jan's," he said, rubbing his groggy eyes. "I'll eat there."
As he threw his shirt off within the steaming bathroom, his phone dinged.
"I love you too," Janice replied.
He scrolled through social media and saw that Vance had posted an odd selfie. Cracking his usual grin, he pointed his finger at the camera in the shape of a gun. The abandoned ballfield of the old rec center stood behind him. Is it because I accused him of the old rec fire? It definitely means something, coming from him.
###
David turned up the soft rock that resounded through his mind with the memories it replayed. It was now as refreshing as the wind that blew through his wavy hair until Janice's road came into view. No longer did his heart pound with fear when this stop sign emerged into existence. Now a warm strength surged from his chest, empowering his path.
Janice’s house came into view where he saw her relaxing on the front porch swing. Her bright yellow t-shirt clashed against her tiny red shorts in a way that could only look so beautiful on her tan, smooth legs. He parked behind her mom's minivan and stepped out as Janice pranced down the steps.
The heavy roar of an engine shook apart David's serenity. He turned to see a red pickup truck slow to a halt in the street, just in front of Janice's driveway. It was dusted with light, reddish brown dirt, undoubtedly from the old ballfield parking spot. Vance stepped out slowly and David turned see Janice standing solid in place, staring toward him.
"What do you want?" David asked. His heart raced as Vance pulled a black bag from the rear cab. David spread his arms below his waist. "Look. If you want me to apologize for the other night, I'm sorry."
Vance smiled as he glanced up. "Water under the bridge," he said as he continued closer up the driveway, brandishing the large crinkled plastic trash bag.
"Can you just leave already?" Janice said, spreading out her arms.
"Sure can." Vance stopped, dropping the bag with a twist that unraveled it open, its secretive contents still an unnerving mystery to David. "But first, maybe you'll want to ask David about your dad's boat."
David's chest pounded as his skin flushed with face numbing ice that chilled his throat closed. It silenced him as he watched Vance pull out a firm stack of burnt papers. With a flick of his wrist, Vance tossed partial photographs, mostly charred, into a hundred frisbees that scattered around Janice's driveway as she tiptoed closer. All David could do was breathe as he stood paralyzed in the sun that shined onto the secret world that he promised to never see the light.
"What the hell is this?" Janice asked with a voice David had never become familiar with. She held an old photo of him climbing on her dad's boat in the dark of night. Most of the others she flipped through looked indiscernible from where David stood. "These had to be before the accident that killed dad," her voice became shrill with a sharp pain that sliced through David's mind. Janice drew one of the burnt photos close to her eyes. "That towel," she said. "I hung it there the last time that-" Her words stopped dead.
"Sure went through a lot of trouble too." Vance's voice traveled through the air almost as quickly as the stink of beer that blew from his mouth. "Trying to get rid of it all. Followed him to the old rec center a while back and saw him burnin' the shit in the woods."
"They said someone tampered with his boat," Janice said before sniffling and wiping the side of her face with her wrist. "But mom thought the mechanic did it by mistake." Her angry eyes rose through the flood that trickled down her cheeks and she cast the fire in her face toward David. "Say something!"
Vance lifted his hand dismissively. "You know, it was shortly after we got together, he died. Come to find out, this creep was sneaking around on the boat at night." His hand swiped in David's direction.
"Were these taken with my camera?" Janice stepped closer, shaking the burnt photos erratically at David's face. "What the hell did you do?"
His mouth opened to emit his empty voice as his trembling fingers squeezed shut into cold weightless fists. "I didn't mean for..." The air became too thin for his gasps to draw in. "Janice, please." He barely managed the words from the top of his throat.
Vance covered his face as he shook it slowly at the gravel with a snicker. "No," he said loudly. "Of course you didn't, bud
dy." He strolled toward David with a laugh. "Got a little carried away tryin' to microwave daddy when you got rejected," he said through his drunken cackle. "Who could blame you," his voice slurred as his attempted shoulder pat was violently smacked back by David.
David's face lit fire under the pressure that crushed at him from both directions and he stepped back to point his finger at Vance. "All three of us know who really killed those firefighters at the rec last year, you stupid prick. So, you don't have any room to talk," he shouted. "You think I don't live with this shit every day?" The words took on a life of their own as they spewed forth.
Janice looked, eyes wide with surprise at David and then steered to Vance. Vance shrugged his shoulders at her. "Had to been you. I haven't said shit."
"Vance!" Janice shouted sternly. "Get the hell out of here before I call the cops," she said to the shrugging statue of arrogance that stood in defiance of everything David loved. "Now!" She screamed, throwing the blackened papers at Vance.
"Fine." He stepped back and turned to strut toward his truck. "By the way, David," he shouted over his shoulder with a smile. "You should be happy. I didn't say a word about her buttons in your backseat, back when she was with me." He gestured a zip across his lips. "Not a word, buddy," he continued shouting from the vehicle at the road.
Janice's shimmering wet eyes bulged as she pressed them together. "What in the hell is he talking about?" in hushed friction that burned through David's heart.
"Guess it don't matter," Vance's voice once again interrupted any hope of peace that David might have wished for. With that his engine grumbled to a start and his tires squealed through the dust he left behind, a cloud of devastation that David feared would never settle as Janice continued her grimaced face directed at him, shattering his perfect paradise into the crumbled dirt Vance's tires had spun apart.
"Did you kill my dad?" she asked. David searched for the answers he should say, littered amongst the mess of the truth and attempted to piece them together as she continued to press. "And my clothes?" She leaned to look into his car. David reached to her shoulder.
Janice smacked his arm away from her with a sting that traveled much deeper than the skin. "Don't touch me!" Her voice rippled through tears. "You can rot in hell!"
"Janice, please. Let me explain."
"Leave!" she screamed as she trotted back to the porch and David looked upon the mess of burned pictures that shivered in the breeze. The slam of her door startled him and he swiftly began scooping up the mess and tossing it into the garbage bag Vance discarded before jumping into the car with it all.
###
David turned up the loud rock music that blasted through his speakers as he started to suffocate on the tears that bled from his heart. He raced to escape from everything and everyone. His world was collapsing onto his chest as he gasped for breaths through the anger that he could only direct at himself. Bluff Mountain rose above the horizon as he sped through the traffic light, leaving town behind. The rocky outcroppings of the cliffs became visible at the top of the mountain that loomed overhead.
A white vehicle gained on him, quickly closing in on his rear end. Bright blue lights flickered in his eyes from the rearview mirror as his interior started flashing and the series of bleeps from a police siren broke through the music David reached to turn down. Did Janice call the police? Was it Vance? David wondered what he should do. Nothing but disgust poured from his mind, so he relented gradually to the side of the road where he put the car in park as he sniffled and dried his face, waiting for whatever came next.
After what seemed like an eternity of sitting in front of the strobing lights with his hands resting on the steering wheel in surrender, a uniform stepped into view in his side mirror. The officer marched procedurally toward David's car, stopping briefly to touch his trunk before continuing to David's door and stooping down to tap on the window. It was Officer Benning, sunglasses and all.
"Turn off the engine and roll down your window," his voice muffled behind the glass.
David rolled down his manual window as he killed the engine and looked Benning in the face.
"License and registration, please," he said with a snap as he extended two of his fingers.
David slowly pulled out his wallet and opened the console before handing over his documentation.
"So, what's the hurry, huh?" Benning asked with a smack of his chewing gum.
"Was I speeding?" David asked.
"Damn right you were, kid. Zipped right through that light back there at about fifty."
"About? You didn't clock my speed then?" David asked.
Officer Benning slowly bent back down to look at David. "Don't skirt around on thin ice with me, boy. I got you on my dash cam running that light if you want to play that shit."
David remained silent as Benning strolled stiffly back to his patrol car. He waited, looking back at the flashing lights in his mirror. No matter how many times he cussed and shook his head, nothing sped the process as he sat in his parked car. Finally, Benning stepped out and briskly jogged toward David's window. David spread his fingers visible on the steering wheel in surrender and lowered his head in defeat.
"Lucky day, kid," Benning said quickly. David felt his license and papers hit his lap and he looked up to see the cop rush back to his car. The siren blared as he skidded into a reverse spin and screeched back toward town.
David rolled back onto the pavement, cruising his car past the lake. The afternoon was becoming darker as the ominous forests called him to their boughs. A mysterious evil had stirred from within this evergreen prison, breaking free into Pine Bluff to drag innocent and guilty alike back into its dungeon of torment. It shredded apart the cloak of humanity that they all wore, revealing the beast that resided within everyone's hearts. The mountain road began to widen as the he ascended the steep overlook and parked his car at the cliffs, worlds apart from the town below, waiting for the starlit night to swallow the sun.
###
The edge of Moss Lake swished in the moonlight as Cory Littleton shouted back at the picnic tables. The canopies were now distant black pyramids that stood above the hill.
"Grace," he yelled. "What's taking so long? Loud bullfrogs croaked endlessly from the lake just behind him. "Hurry up before we get caught!"
He wrestled to pull free from the Pine Bluff High shirt that squeezed his lean, muscular body before tossing it on the white towel that spread on the ground. Hopping on one foot, he pulled his shoe free and it tumbled to rest beside a shiny black purse and thin, green cheerleader jacket.
"Grace?" he shouted again. "Where you at, babe?" Now even the frogs ceased to answer his call.
A low-pitched thump alerted him in the direction of the car where one dim streetlight flickered to hang onto life.
"Leave your swimsuit in the trunk?" Cory laughed as he leaned back to tap on his phone. The bright light of his screen blinded him of his dark surroundings. He enabled the flash on the camera app as he smiled up at the black screen. Another loud thump broke his concentration. "C'mon already," he mumbled to himself, returning to his phone as he flexed his chest and tilted his head back to the side to pose with a sideways peace sign.
With a touch of his thumb, his flash lit the screen with an image of terror that stood just behind him. Bright yellow eyes bared fangs through a long, dark snout just over his shoulder. Cory tossed the phone and bolted in a scream. His bare feet tore through the rocks and dirt as he raced toward the car. "Grace!" he shouted loudly. The footfalls behind him pounded closer. They gained on him in an instant. Cory's back ripped with a swipe, almost stumbling him off balance as he continued charging to the parking lot.
"Grace!" he screamed, passing the deserted playground before reaching the rough pavement. "Get in the car!"
As his lonely blue sedan became clear through the distant, dim light, what looked like clothes appeared piled over the trunk on the other side. Ignoring the asphalt scraping away at his feet, he tore his toes through a touchdow
n sprint for the vehicle. As he got closer, he could see that Grace was slumped over the back of the car. He slowed to a jog as he huffed to catch his breath.
As he panted to suck the wind into his chest, it filled with a cold shock. Her body laid sprawled over the rear end of the car, arms spread out with a mouth opened as wide as her eyes that blankly stared him in the face. The blood that had splashed against the cracked rear window from her ripped throat spread down the dark blue side panels. The icy fear that gripped Cory's chest turned his stomach weak as he gagged up a fiery, sour liquid from the depths of his last meal.
Cory spun into a frantic circle, bouncing his eyes across the vacant, shadowy parking lot to the large bushes behind his car. Turning further, he felt the sting across his back as the air caught the cool trickle that ran free from his wound. He clambered to rattle his keychain from his pants pocket before pausing to look at Grace one more time. Her dead eyes gazed into his soul. And then came a blink. It startled him back a few steps. Her arm slowly raised and slapped down at the trunk. It raised again, slamming down against the car while her eyes flinched around.
"Grace..." he said, standing in fright. Only his trembling knees weren't paralyzed by the weakness that gripped his spine. "I'm sorry." He rushed to the driver side door. His reflection in the window was a sight that horrified even himself as he struggled with shaky hands to cram the key into the door. The lock turned and Cory glanced up. Reflected in the glass, he could see the werewolf standing behind him. He jerked at the door.
A monstrous snarl barked into a roar behind his naked shoulder blades. He was burst through tiny pieces of shattered glass, landing his face into the seat. The broken glass window sliced through his belly as he kicked and screamed, trying desperately to crawl his legs into the car. A powerful, bone cracking bite clamped through his shin. With one giant tug, he was ripped from the vehicle and he tumbled across the pavement. Cory's vision blurred through the sharp grains of glass that scratched his eyes as he tried to look around. The dark figure approached with a deep, rumbling growl. A final slash ripped through his neck and the night fell silent to the fury that the day had unleashed.