Sheep's Clothing

by Gary Lewis

  Chapter 15

  The empty hallways of Pine Bluff High were eerily silent as she finished arranging her desk. She turned the pocket-sized portrait around to look at it. The words "Ms. Tanner" were etched across the bottom of the brass stand that framed it. Her name was Susan. Nobody had called her that in many years. Wrinkles now formed around her cheeks, making the old photo a picture of someone else. It portrayed someone who had seen many years of bustling hallways filled with noisy crowds of young faces changing classes. She now wore the face of someone who had watched many children grow up to have their own that would, in turn, visit these same halls.

  A few weeks until open house, but it's never too soon to prepare. She looked at the hands of her antique wristwatch. Almost four in the morning. The streets would still be as silent as the school by the time she locked up to leave. Plenty of time to visit the cafeteria snack machine.

  After a brief stroll to the lunchroom, she slid in her change and typed her selection. The large metal spiral that held the double pack of cupcakes began to slowly turn and the package leaned forward to a stop against the plastic window. She waited for a second, pressing her mouth and eyebrows into a scold before she lurched forward to give the machine a light bang with her fist.

  A dark form swept across near the hallway intersection in the corner of her eye. She raised to look, adjusting her wireframe glasses. The window flickered with a flash from outside followed by a light rumble of thunder. Several sections of hallway were still unlit. "Hello?" She shouted before taking a brief pause. "Must be losing my mind," she said as she sat in the floor and tried to reach her arm up through the trap door of the snack machine. After twisting on the floor, she pushed upward until her attempts finally managed to shove her bony elbow above the sharp edges of durable plastic flap that guarded her midnight snack. She reached harder, wiggling her fingers to brush against the edge of the wrapper.

  When she turned to reposition onto her side, the door jammed her arm in place. It locked harder into her skin with every tug as she yanked to pull herself free. She took a deep breath and continued wrestling her shoulder away from the machine. Feelings of impending embarrassment flushed through her skin as she glanced at the pocket that held her phone. After laying in the floor, pulling for several long minutes that stung into the sore skin of her arm, she stopped to catch her breath. Ms. Tanner lowered her head to its side to rest against the shiny, white tile surface of the cafeteria floor and gazed out into the dim hallway.

  A loud, metallic slam pounded the floor. It came from somewhere beyond the darkened corner. Crackling snarls traversed the walls to brush across her skin with a rush of fright. An ear pounding roar blasted through the halls. Ms. Tanner gasped in fear as its intensity pounded in her chest, sending tingling terror down her trembling arms and legs. Is it a lion? The thin air became hard to gasp as she yanked at her shoulder with renewed force.

  The sound of paws tapping against the tile floor grew louder until a tall, hairy form emerged from around the unlit corner. With a pause, it snorted at the air with its long snout. Ms. Tanner let out a loud, shock-filled scream and its long ears twitched back. It turned toward her to curl its lips, baring huge, white fangs. A growl began to rumble with an intensity that shook her skin while it slowly walked closer to the cafeteria. Lowering its nose just below its chest, the beast fixated its menacing stare on her while she wriggled frantically, kicking and jerking back from where she laid screaming in the floor.

  The creature stepped into the light. Rows of tufted hair visibly stood out from its shoulders. Ms. Tanner pressed her feet against the machine and pushed, afraid to look back at the dark form that filled more of her peripheral vision. Its closing presence grew closer until it masked the flickering florescent light from the hallway.

  Thin, red streams of blood trickled down to her shoulder as the trap door pushed deeper into the skin of her arm, stretched above. In a panic, she shoved her arm upward, knocking her pack of cupcakes loose from its cell. The plastic flap jammed open and released her arm as the snack toppled out onto her lap.

  A slimy liquid drizzled down onto her black slacks. It drooled out from jaws fixed with a bite force that held back the ferocity that was in store. She cried as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, unable to face the spiteful growl that rattled from white knives of hell above the side of her tilted forehead.

  In a clamber, she turned across the floor. Bladed fingers swiped through her sides. Shrilled screams cried out from her throat as she twisted to cover her face. Ms. Tanner felt the force of a vice clamp onto her arm and her shoulder socket popped. Her body was shaken violently, banging her arms and legs against the machine and floor. With a long swoop, her vision stained red with the life that poured free from her wounds. It spattered her years of experience across the cafeteria tables. One more clawed smack busted her lifeless body through the front of the snack machine. Plastic shards slid through puddles of death surrounding the creature.

  It let out a ferocious howl that echoed through the halls of Pine Bluff High. A clap of thunder rang across the metal roof before the patter of rain drowned the silent sound of death that remained.

  #Sarah#

  The old push mower puttered to a stop in the tall, wet grass. Sarah wiped the cold sweat from her burning forehead as she exhaled a long sigh. Only a single, wide strip remained to be cut, a carpet of knee high, bright green blades still sparkling with raindrops from the morning storm.

  She looked beyond the mountains where the deep gray clouds had passed. The distant flicker of lightning was probably counties away, having long forgotten the town that it recently washed through. If something as simple as a storm can leave what it's done behind so easily... then why can't I? She shook her head before letting out a sigh and pushing the mower back toward the side of her home. "Why do I have to be so damn complicated."

  As she pushed the lawn mower closer to the corner of her house, the sound of David's car crashed through the damp gravel of her driveway. After a reluctant glance, she returned to shoving it through her backyard.

  "I couldn't get you on your phone." The sound of David's voice from behind did nothing to slow her approach to the shambled shed.

  When she reached the door, Sarah shot David a narrowed look. "How's it feel?" She tilted the mower back to shove it inside before closing the door.

  As Sarah clicked the padlock shut, David gestured back to his car. "I had a rough night, okay. Just wanted to make sure you were alright." She pressed her lips to hold her thoughts inside. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

  "What's wrong?" Sarah asked, waiting for her chance to cut him short. "Can't go cry about it to Janice?" she asked just as David began to open his mouth. "Did her mommy ground her?" Sarah mocked a pouting frown at him before walking right past, paying him as much regard as the thin bridge of air that swished between them.

  A chime sounded from David's pocket and Sarah looked at him. "Perfect timing," she said before her phone buzzed in her pocket and they looked at each other for a moment.

  Terry's message in the group chat lit up her notification bar. "Something big is going on at the school and they're saying Ms. Tanner is missing."

  Sarah read it aloud as David quickly dug his phone from his pocket.

  As her investigative gears began to turn, she reluctantly turned toward David. "What's everyone doing?"

  He cleared his throat as he squinted intently at his phone. "Terry said he's going to talk to some people from the church and see what they know. I guess everyone else is still asleep." With a tap of his power button David's screen went black and he put the device away to quietly look back at her.

  Sarah rolled her eyes. "Fine. I have to take a shower first," she said, drifting into a turn toward the house. "But you're driving. I'm low on gas."

  Only the coldest of showers could desensitize her from the harsh reality that froze her world solid, leaving her trapped within the narrow crevasse that crushed at her from both sides. David's strange response re
played in her mind. I guess everyone else is still asleep. The frigid water trickled from her chin and breasts, caressing the fiery sensation that lived beneath her skin. Everyone? Her eyebrows tensed. Why not just say Vance and Jan?

  After quickly drying off, Sarah rushed into her favorite black laced bra and panties. A matching set with an intricate red petal design around the trim. She complimented it with a faded white shirt top and her tightest cut off blue jean shorts as she paused one more time in the mirror. "What the hell," she said, adding a touch of blood red lipstick on the way out.

  David lifted his eyes from his casual slouch on her sofa. "That was fast," he said as he stood to rattle his keys.

  She looked away from him with a silent huff before strolling toward the front door.

  David backed the car all the way onto the gravel road and stopped. "I'm not sure what we'll be able to figure out by going to the school. It's not like they're going to let us waltz right in there."

  Sarah didn't flinch her gaze from the empty swath of tall grass outside the passenger window. "Just drive," she said. Not even David's radio made a sound during the entire trip as the rocky dirt road became beaten, cracked pavement that led onto smooth highway. Vast forested yards with country cabins replaced the rundown, rusted trailers and large, multistory luxury homes with iron gates became a cluster of shops and restaurants as they drove into town.

  Sarah drifted her eyes toward him without turning her head. "Didn't Ms. Tanner fail Tony in social studies once?"

  David's jaw muscles clenched as he turned to her. "She also got on the news saying she saw a monster, didn't she?" He shook his head as they passed the yellow school zone signs. "She was probably as guilty as the cows," he said. "It's just an animal when it does this shit."

  A small crowd stood along the sidewalk as David topped the hill and slowed down for the cop directing traffic from behind a row of dirty orange cones in a detour around the school. The flag pole rose into view above a parking area packed with flashing police cars. An ambulance was parked diagonally beside a firetruck and teams of responders walked dogs around the schoolyard while the small crowd of curious onlookers watched from their side of the yellow tape.

  "I know the perfect spot," David said. He turned left down a small, half wooded neighborhood road where they were waved along by the police officer. David slowed the car beside a playground nestled below hills. It stood between the tennis court and school bus station. "Nobody ever parks here," he said, hooking into a quick turn to park underneath the branches of a large maple tree.

  Sarah smirked at him. "One of your favorite spots?"

  David killed the engine and stepped out. He turned to her as she rose to her feet on the other side of the car. "What's that even mean?"

  "Nothing." She shut the car door louder than she meant to before venturing toward the neighborhood road between them and the school.

  "I don't understand you," David said as he jogged to catch up with her.

  Sarah strolled across the street to the other sidewalk as David's brisk footsteps approached from behind. "It's not far," she said. "So settle down before Benning spots us. I don't need that shit today." Her angry strides carried her along the shady sidewalk through the tree covered neighborhood lined with beige and white picket fences until they reached the next street. The curious crowd of concerned parents and school staff were gathered ahead, just outside the school grounds.

  After they stealthily slipped across the street, they stood just out of earshot from the rest of the people gathered along the sidewalk. The bright summer sun cooked at the skin of her face as Sarah squinted toward the commotion at the school. "Look," a young female voice shouted. "They'll take care of it," shouted a burly male. David turned to her with a look of concern as they glanced at one another and then the road. Two large, black pickup trucks rumbled past slowly, their giant tires littering the road with dried flakes of mud. David leaned his head to her side and raised his eyebrows before whispering. "Those guys sure look like they know what they're doing." Rifled rednecks sat up in the beds of both vehicles. Sarah noticed the words, “Big Buck Hunting Club,” painted on the sides of the trucks before they pulled into the parking lot of the school.

  "Isn't that illegal?" a young girl's voice came from the crowd. "Who cares?" one boy shouted back.

  David turned to her and spoke with a hushed voice. “Maybe they can take

  Sarah shot a sideways glance at him. "Sure. Why don't you just go explain the situation to them?" As David pressed his silent mouth at her, she continued. "Excuse me sir, but there's a werewolf in town eating everyone and my friends and I are the only ones that know about it." His expression tensed with agitation as she rose her hands up to mock him. "Oh and by the way," she said loudly. "It's one of us." Her loud voice accidentally caught a few stares from the nearby crowd.

  "Can you try being any louder?" David said.

  "Why?” Sarah asked. “Are you going to punch me in the face?"

  David’s eyes rose with his voice. "So that's what this is all about." He swayed his arm aside and turned away to walk back across the street.

  Sarah followed with a fire that wasn't ready to go out just yet. "Yeah, David. That's it alright."

  "Well, is it or isn't it?" he asked, turning around to stand in her path as they found themselves once again under the shady oak trees that covered the cool neighborhood sidewalk from the scorching sun.

  She looked into David's tired, unshaven face. His stare was filled with a determination that hid behind the rough, bloodshot eyes that probably hadn't seen a decent rest since the last time he brushed his twisted hair. She knew that he wouldn't move until he got an answer.

  Sarah swung her hands out at her sides and spread her fingers apart tightly. "Why the hell did you come to my house this morning?" she shouted before walking briskly past him toward the playground as he stood in place behind her.

  "She knows." His voice cut through her spine.

  Sarah stopped and turned slowly. Her words stumbled in hesitation before emerging from her open mouth. "What are you talking about?"

  David's eyes dropped as his face tilted down. "That I was on her dad’s boat the night before the accident."

  "What?" Sarah shouted. She marched toward him with the gracefulness of a freight train squeezing its brakes on ice.

  David held out his palms in front of him. "Vance found a bunch of old photos I tried to burn and he told her," he said before dropping his hands.

  Sarah punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could.

  "Ow!" David shouted. He bent, reaching to nurse it as if mortally wounded. "What was I supposed to do?"

  "Oh, I don't know..." she said. "Maybe not steal his girl and accuse him of shit in front of everyone..." She tilted her head back to the side. "Hmm... Let's see..." Sarah raised her eyes to the sky as she tapped at her chin. "Oh yeah! Maybe not punch him in the face?"

  David put his hands in his pockets and turned away from her. "I know you don't really care, but it's his fault. He's the reason mom and Tony's dad split."

  Sarah pressed her mouth shut as she studied him for a moment.

  She watched him stare beyond her to the shadowy playground down the street. He lightly kicked a pebble down the sidewalk. "See, the woman Tony's dad had an affair with was Brad's mom... right after Brad's dad-"

  Sarah interrupted him. "Right after Brad's dad died in the old rec fire." She blew out a huff and shook her head. "So, you blame Vance?"

  David nodded. "I mean, it's not like he planned it, but his selfish, reckless actions have consequences for all of us. Think he gives a damn?" David asked as he began to slowly stroll alongside her toward the car.

  "But how can you even be sure Vance set the fire?"

  "Think it's just a coincidence that he likes to burn shit down?" David asked with a roll of his eyes. "They were going to cut him from the team before they had to start over from scratch after the fire," he said. "Besides, I saw it on an old note Janice left on her dresser
. Must've forgot to give it to him."

  Sarah glanced at David before returning her eyes to her shoes as she stepped along the grainy concrete sidewalk. Did he just say "Janice"?

  #Vance#

  Crackling flames could barely be heard over the heavy metal rock music that blasted through the woods as Vance broke a fresh stack of brittle sticks under his knee to throw into the massive fire pit. He stood behind his tailgate and stared into the small, forested clearing ahead.

  "Gonna have to raise that shit higher, Eddie," he said to the straining Pine Bluff High linebacker pulling a thick tow cable down from a giant oak tree. Several others piled on to help as they tugged down with all their weight. A giant steel cage slowly rocked back and forth from the looming limbs above. Eddie grunted in agony as they hoisted it higher.

  "Why the hell doesn't Cory have to help?" Eddie asked between strenuous breaths.

  "I dunno," Vance said. "Anyone heard from Cory?" He asked the group of teenagers fastening Vance's makeshift traps around the camp. He laughed as he turned back across the wooded clearing to Eddie. "Probably buried in a pile of monster shit at the edge of town."

  A couple others from the football team ran to grab the cable and help Eddie heave the huge swinging contraption above the leaf cover. Vance watched as he took a seat beside a busty blonde cheerleader resting in a foldout chair just beside his pickup.

  "What's it all for?" she asked with a silly laugh.

  Vance leaned back and wrapped his arm around her as he tilted his head with a grin. "Shandra, right?"

  She giggled. "Shannon."

  "Well, Shannon... if I told you that..." He leaned his face to the side of hers and whispered in her ear. "I'd have to kill you."

  She laughed again as one of the others spoke up. "Gonna catch us a squatch in this thing, right?"