by Gary Lewis
"Yeah," Janice said with a smile. "I didn't even risk Mom's van on this road."
The small talk didn't do much to alleviate the silence that became weighted in the clean interior of his car. Not a speck of dust rested along the shiny, black dashboard. An ashtray that had never seen a cigarette was filled with quarters and a piney smell came from the air freshener that dangled from the rearview mirror.
"Sure is clean in here," Janice said.
Terry smiled as he briefly nodded his head to the side. "Well, I'm trying to keep it that way. I clean it out every day." He turned his face to her. "You know what they say about cleanliness."
Janice pressed her lips into a tight smile and raised her eyebrows as she slowly nodded up and down at him. "Godliness."
She adjusted the tightly positioned seat as she scooted to the side, cramming her hand into her pocket to tug her phone loose.
"Sorry," Terry said with a quirky smile. "New car and all." He turned his eyes back to the dirt road ahead. "You're actually the first passenger."
"Oh, it's fine." Janice said, stretching a smile at him.
She scrolled through social media and tapped on a picture of Sarah. There was always something about you that didn't feel right. Janice sighed as she lowered her phone and looked at the dashboard.
She tapped her hand on her knee as she cautiously lifted her eyes in Terry's direction.
"What do you think about Sarah?" she asked.
"She's definitely a fighter, huh?" Terry said with a chuckle.
"I mean, every time there's been an attack, she was either there or alone until now." Janice raised her hand to her chin and pressed her eyebrows in thought. "But I've known David for a long time. He would have spoken up for her if they were together all night."
"He was awful quiet when she said that," Terry said. "And I didn't really feel like she was being completely honest either."
"His reaction to that was... I don't know. Different." She drifted the end of her sentence with her eyes as she turned to stare into the passing woods.
He glanced at her again, before speaking. "I can't rule anyone out except myself, my brother and David," Terry said, now focusing solely on the road ahead. "And since we're so sure that it's someone who was in the room during your meeting..."
"Sarah's meeting," Janice said firmly. "She's been acting so different since this whole thing started. There was even a book about werewolf legends sitting on her table. It was checked out from school a long time ago."
"That's definitely suspicious," Terry said with renewed interest in his voice. "But she was taking the lead on getting to the bottom of this since it started."
"Exactly," Janice said. "Think about it."
Things got quiet again as they approached the street. "If you turn right,” Janice said with a point of her finger. “I'm parked at that little gas station down the road.”
"She was the one who found the destroyed camera traps beside your place, right?" Terry asked with pressed eyebrows that squeezed his forehead.
Janice thought for a second. "Yeah. Why didn't David see them, when he got there first? He's the most observant person I know."
Terry looked at her with a nod as he took a smooth right into the street, easing onto the flat pavement where they continued to the gas station.
Terry came to a gentle park beside her mother's van before reaching to withdraw his phone from his shirt pocket.
"Thanks for the ride, Terry," Janice said. "I really appreciate it."
"Hang on, Janice." His voice sounded with a curious confusion.
"What is it?" She asked as she watched him turn his phone around, lifting the screen to her face. The group chat was open to the bottom message. It was the last one Terry sent. "I don't understand,” she said. “I already read it."
His tone became much more serious. "Yeah, but look who else has too."
###
As the fiery sun was replaced by the pale glow of the moon, a dry chill swept into Pine Bluff below the clear, black sky that revealed every star it held. Tiny specks of infinity had gathered above to bear witness to the events that would unfold below.
Blinding floodlights beamed through the tall grass as several four-wheel drive pickups rumbled their way into the center of a field just outside of town. Heavy doors and tailgates slammed metal, disrupting the quiet stillness with country music and barking hound dogs. "Over here!" Roy Perkins shouted as he waved the rifle and shotgun toting posse toward the flattened vegetation that pressed in a line toward the forest.
One of the voices spoke up. "We'll get that sum'bitch tonight, Roy."
"Damn right," said another. "For what happened to your brother."
They continued marching toward the distant wall of trees that rose black against a wisp of pale clouds that streaked the horizon. The dark shape of Bluff Mountain stood beyond as the dogs scurried through the grass that was growing taller as they trekked further.
"He went through here," a voice yelled through the tall, green blades of grass now standing as high as them.
"Fuckin' shame we bag this thing tonight," a burly voice blurted from Roy's left. "Cousin's got a shipment of military grade shit coming just for this thing."
Roy wrestled the tall plant life aside as he pressed forward through the light of the group's bright headlamps and they navigated the otherwise pitch-black night.
The widely spread trail of pressed overgrowth came to a dead stop where they crowded between tightly packed, green stalks that now stood taller than them. "Alright, y'all," Roy shouted. "Spread out."
The group separated from one another, shoving through the high grass while Roy stood in place, issuing commands from the center between shouts and barks.
An ear ripping howl rang from the night. "It's close!" shouted one of the others. Roy readied his rifle, swinging it to the left and then the right. "Here!" yelled another. A loud, ferocious growl rumbled the air through his chest. Roy's heart beat harder. His fingers tingled as he bit his teeth together.
Barking dogs tore into ferocious battle somewhere beyond the grass. Roy sprung around, aiming his weapon into the dark, standing greenery. Yelps and shouts came from his left. Several pops of gunfire exploded into the air. Snarling fury screamed from beyond.
Something bounced across the ground in the darkness and Roy jolted into a turn, peering at the huge, dark lump in the mud where it laid between separated grass. Gunshots continued with screams of horror and something else fell on the ground beside him. Busted bits of rifle butt rested, twisted and contorted. The shots became fewer and far between while a horrible roar cut through the air.
Roy's fear shook cold and clammy in his knees as he paced slowly away from the warzone hidden past the tall grass. He kicked into something on the damp ground and aimed his headlamp to the earth. An arm laid haphazardly bent backward at the elbow. A head rested beside it. Its features were indiscernible through ripped red flesh that coated the skull. More screams of horror followed snarling fury. Another object thudded behind him. A bloodied boot with meat covered bone extending out. "Help!" a voice screamed, abruptly cut short. Roy looked to the sky as another limb flung flipping into the air. He gasped before turning to run through the grass. The thuds of raining body parts crashed around him in the dark as he ran.
The night got quiet and Roy stopped to catch his breath. Tall grass rustled behind. Roy started to turn. A football sized mass flew straight at him. It pounded his chest, knocking him instantly to the wet ground. A hound's hind legs stretched in bloody contortion beside him as he laid in the mud. Its spine dangled from torn hips. Roy started gasping uncontrollably for breath as he pushed himself up through the sharp pain of fractured ribs cracking through his side. A snarling gallop rushed him from beside. Before he could turn, long fangs slammed into his neck. It squeezed with a force that crushed everything he had ever known until nothing was left.
Chapter 21
#Sarah#
It was early and the dew still clung in droplets that dott
ed blades of grass with a glistening sparkle, beautiful tears that mourned for the earth itself. Sarah pulled her spool of thick, ten-gauge copper wire across the backyard, wrapping it tightly around a metal fence post. The metal bar was mounted in a concrete filled bucket that rested on top of a stack of old tires. She slapped her hands together with a sigh. "Four more to go." She looked across her back yard. The damp grass was already beginning to rise once more where several fence posts stood the same way, spread evenly, just feet from the woodline of the forest.
The slam of a car door from around front did little to surprise her. She already knew who it was.
"What the hell do I have to do to get you to answer the phone?" David's voice rounded the corner as she saw him come to an abrupt stop. "What is all this?" he asked, holding his hand outright toward her work.
"Don't worry about it," Sarah said, tossing the bulky spool of wire into the tall, wet grass behind her. "It's not your problem."
"Look, Sarah," David said as he took a step forward, still half the yard away. "I just want to know what's going on with us."
"Oh. So that's it." Her smile pressed back her true feelings beneath her face as she bent to lift the spool and get back to work.
"So you're just going to ignore me now?" David asked loudly.
"Yes, David," she said sternly. "You're free to go do what you want. We both know what that is."
"What's that supposed to mean?" David shrugged his arms.
The weight of what she wanted to say crushed her throat with silence as she stared intently away from him and hooked the next wire onto a metal rod. From the corner of her eye, David dropped his hands down to his sides and kicked the grass before walking away. The slam of his door stung in her chest almost as much as the crank of his ignition. But as she listened to his car roll out of her driveway her attention returned to the tightly pulled strings of copper that she continued to attach to her trap. The sun climbed higher and the tears that once dotted the green earth faded into the air.
"Finally," Sarah said as she squeezed her rusty wire cutters to bite the final wire free with a sharp snap. She walked closer to the house, lifting the ends of two thick, black drop cords. Sarah paused for a moment before plugging them together. A loud pop killed the power. "Fuck."
Sarah shook her head as she unhooked the cords and threw them against the ground. Opening her cigarette pack, she let out a long sigh before walking beyond her makeshift electrical fence. One step after another, she inched closer to the wandering wilderness that stretched further into her yard each month. She stopped and stared between the tightly gathered trees before venturing further.
Each stride brought her deeper into the wilds that slowly swallowed the civility that she barely held onto inside her home as it was. It won't be long... Her dampening eyes lowered to the foliage filled ground at the edge of the woods. Until I have nothing left to protect.
#Janice#
Boiling spaghetti noodles rolled with the turmoil that replayed in Janice's thoughts as she turned the eye of the stove down halfway, stepping back with a huff. "Just a little longer until it's done."
A soft knock startled her attention to the carport kitchen door. She glanced at the bubbling pot, wondering if it was loud enough to cover the sound from her driveway. Another knock came a bit louder this time as Janice walked to the door. David's form took shape beyond the transparently curtained window.
"What do you want?" Janice asked through the door.
"I just want to talk, Janice. Please." His voice sounded with a sincerity that took hold of her hand. She paused with a long breath as she reluctantly turned the doorknob.
She watched David slowly step into the kitchen and look at the stove.
"Where's your mom?" he asked. "I saw her van." He casually aimed his thumb over the back of his shoulder.
"Why?" Janice asked suspiciously.
"Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have asked?" David said with a tone of confusion.
Janice folded her arms as she pressed her eyes intently toward his face. "Where's Tony?" she shot back at him, studying his reaction.
David's eyes squinted as he looked down into hers. "Look, I don't know what you're accusing me of, but Terry can vouch that it's not me."
Janice took a moment to poke her head out the door, looking at David's car as her vision slid slowly across the front yard. She shut the door and turned the deadbolt locked. "Mom's on vacay in Florida with Aunt Carol."
She folded her arms and walked back to the once boiling noodles that had turned with a fury that burned in her heart. It now settled to a simmer, but the source of the heat was still there.
"You and Sarah ruined my life, David." Her words came out a little faster than she intended. As she waited for a reply to sound from behind, her impatience welled from somewhere deep within. The silence hit like a blade of disrespect slicing through her soul. "And you have nothing to say?!" she shouted without a turn from her pending meal as she stirred a large metal ladle through the softening noodles before reaching over to shut off the eye that held the well finished ground beef that popped and sizzled to her left.
She sniffled, wiping her moist eyes as she turned to watch David slump into his usual seat at her kitchen table. He rested his elbows on the dark, shiny hardwood finish to prop his face into his hands.
"It's not that, Janice," he said. "What can I say? How can anything I could possibly say undo what's happened or change things for you? I want to help you feel better, but how can I?" He looked at her with open hands. “Please, just tell me what to do.”
Janice raised her hand strongly, putting a stop to his voice. "That's just it. You can't!"
She dumped the steaming noodles into a steel strainer over the sink, shaking it violently until only tiny droplets still fell. The sound of David's chair slid from the floor behind her. "You're not even going to stay and eat?" she asked, turning to look once more.
David looked back at her with bewildered eyes. "I... guess... Yeah?"
"You're not even sure?" she shot back.
"I mean, I thought you probably didn't want me to." David hesitantly sat back down at the table while she placed a ceramic plate firmly in front of him before dropping his fork and knife beside it.
Janice drifted in thought as she combined the pile of seasoned beef, tomatoes and onions with the tangled ball of long spaghetti noodles. His words blended with the distant television show playing in the living room that went without notice until finally returning to her ears. "Things have been tough, lately," he said. "With everything that happened last year coming to the surface at once. Tony gone and the killings, of course. But now Sarah's acting strange."
Janice set the large bowl of food between them and sat down just across. David glanced to her usual seat beside him for a split second before nodding. "Sarah?" Janice asked.
David continued piling his plate with a mountain of food as he spoke. "She lied about being with me the night before. Sarah rushed me out before the sun went down." She watched him sift through the noodles, rolling them into a ball at the end of his fork before he continued. "The night of the last attacks."
Janice took a small bite of her food, taking her time to enjoy its flavor before gulping it down. "Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. It's closer than you know."
"Hmm?" David asked as he worked a cheek full of spaghetti around in his mouth, looking up at her with eyebrows pressed in confusion.
"It's something Dad used to tell me about people you can't trust."
Janice wasn't halfway done with her meal when David started scooping his fork around the final portion of his. She raised her eyebrows, as if studying a strange alien creature. "Hungry?"
"Haven't eaten since yesterday," he mumbled while scarfing down what was left.
She nodded in still unsteady understanding.
"It's just so hard for me to wrap my head around," he said with a shake of his head.
"What? Sarah?" she asked. "I'd be surprised if anyone could."
"I mean, Sarah?" David asked raising his hands in the air. "Can you really picture her doing all that?"
"Oh. Kill people?" she asked. "Lie about her whereabouts?" Janice shook her head and glanced away. "Never."
"I guess I see where you're coming from." David's eyes lowered to his plate as he stacked the dirty silverware on top and carried it to the sink.
The many days of tension had accumulated in Janice's skull. It pressed against the inside of her eye sockets, wrapping around her forehead in a constant throb. "I don't feel good," she said, scooting her plate away. David quickly returned to the table.
"You done, Jan?" He reached for her plate slowly as he looked down at her.
Janice looked up at him from between her fingers, now wrapped around her head. "Yeah. I think I'm going to lay on the couch," she groaned. Her migraine began to spread from her head to her stomach in a heavy nauseating wave of pressure that throbbed hot from her eyes.
As David lifted the plate and strolled to the garbage can, his tone softened even more. "Would it be okay if I stay here for a little while, Janice?"
"Why? Are you okay?" she asked, squeezing her forehead as she imagined that she could place ice cubes behind her eyeballs to sooth the ache.
David's eyebrows lifted with sincerity. “I just want to make sure that you are.” His face drifted toward the television still playing in the living room. He then slowly brought his eyes back to hers. "The truth is, Jan... I've missed you a lot."
Rummaging through her mixed bag of feelings was the last thing she wanted to do, but staying a little longer sounded good at the time. Her headache was growing by the minute. "Sure. Can you get me a cold, wet washcloth, please?" she asked as she rose up from her seat to stroll into the living room. David's footsteps tapped up the stairs as she laid on the couch and closed her eyes.
Janice's mind raced with memories and thoughts that combined together and broke apart, spilling out a wide array of feelings as time became lost to her.
###