Sheep's Clothing

by Gary Lewis

  #Janice#

  David's eyes stared into another realm as Janice sat beside him at the large, brick fountain in the center of the park. "You know," she said. "I can't count how many photos I've done at this very spot." She waited for his thoughts to form words, only to be met with a slight nod. "This would make the perfect shot, Janice," she said as she air-quoted with her fingers.

  "I'm sorry, babe. I've just got all this on my mind." He stood and reached for her hand as she rose beside him without his help.

  "It's times like these," David said. "I wish Tony was here." She reached to grasp his still open fingers within her grip as she looked up into his eyes.

  "He is here, David." The sunlight blanketed their skin with a warmth that incinerated every dark shadow that stood between them and she opened herself up to him. "I can still feel him right here with us." With her hand, she pulled his to press just below her chest.

  David's other arm firmly wrapped around her lower back as he pulled her in. She let him take her as she drifted into his embrace and felt his lips squeeze between hers. When they slowly backed apart, still locked in each other's arms, David spoke up, looking intently into her eyes. "We need to find somewhere safe to go, Jan."

  #Sarah#

  The sun hung low above the fire tower by the time Sarah managed the hike from the lake. The scent of burnt wood filled the slight breeze as she strolled closer at a casual pace. When she approached the place they previously camped, wisps of white smoke rose from the blackened pile of wood. A fresh pile of sticks laid mere feet from where she once slept.

  Sarah paused to scan her surroundings, listening closely for the slightest sign of life. Only the occasional snap from the crackling embers could be heard. Large, heavy boot prints circled the camp where thick branches had been snapped in half next to the fire pit. "Big guy, huh?" she said as she slowly circled the area. "These are definitely recent." Drops of blood, still red, sprinkled the ground around the tracks as she followed them to the tower where red smears decorated the steel ladder holds. She jogged back to the camp where she could see the top of the fire tower. Sarah used her hand to block the setting sun while she focused her eyes on the top platform. "No sign of anyone up there now."

  She sat down on the thick, rotten log that was once Terry's bench and stared across the woodline for motion. "This was our place. Nobody comes up here." Sarah cuffed her hands around her mouth with a deep inhale. "Hello!" she shouted in every direction. There was no reply from the dense forest.

  The sky dimmed as the outline of Bluff Mountain glowed a bright red. The sun dropped further below its peak by the minute. Sarah rose to her feet, striding past the smoldering wood until a gleam caught her eye from a large, flat rock on the ground. A silver watch laid beside a crinkled plastic water bottle. "It couldn't be," she said, stepping slowly to it. She lifted the familiar piece as she saw the inscription reverse of its face. "Tony G." it read. Her eyes opened wide as she clasped it tightly and began the hike back to her car.

  The clouds above Bluff Mountain shined with a deep pink while the sky became dark blue. A few stars were now visible. As the trail narrowed, surrounded by tall brush, visibility disappeared. The air was now getting humid and the sounds of insects grew louder. Sarah neared a familiar bend with a shear drop to her left, offering a perfect view of town. "Almost back to the lake," she said. A wall of hesitation stopped her in place as the forest grew quiet. A calm strength grew deep within her chest as she turned for a final look.

  More stars were now visible in the dusk sky where the moon was once again almost full. A bright cluster of lights twinkled from the isolated town of Pine Bluff. Tiny headlights sparkled between little houses and the yellow sign of the sunset diner glowed alone in a stretch of dim buildings. Her eyes set deeply into the center of town. "Just go about life like usual," she said. "Taking for granted everything you've been given until it's gone."

  #Janice#

  David walked Janice up the carport steps. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay over?"

  "I'll be fine, David," she said, offering a soft smile. She wrapped her arms around him and he squeezed back, pulling her tightly against his chest. Time froze into a snapshot of what might have been while she rested her ear against his beating heart, savoring the moment they would inevitably lose.

  "I love you, Jan." His words echoed deep inside her as she looked up at his face. "I love you, David. Please be careful." She turned to the door as he walked back to his car.

  In the kitchen, Janice kicked off her shoes and let her hair down as she watched David's taillights fade into the darkness down her street. A scurry from just beyond the backdoor caught her attention. She drifted slowly across the room and gave the knob a gradual turn. Silently, she opened the door and stepped onto the wooden deck. A few white clouds smeared across the starlit sky where the nearly full moon shined down upon them.

  One step after another, she made her way down the stairs onto the cool, dark earth. She could feel every cold stone beneath the soles of her feet. With a deep, refreshing breath, she strolled closer to the open pastures. A small mound of disturbed dirt brought her to a halt. It was packed tightly around its circumference. Janice's arm stretched down while she dropped to a kneel where she pressed her right hand firmly against the smooth ground. "Peetie." The sound of her soft voice couldn't have carried far in the breeze.

  The crack of a stick caught her attention toward the tall trees behind the shed. It was a black space from which branches and leaves emerged to stretch into the sky. They waved slightly to the movement in the air. Her eyes turned further as she peered deeply into the open pastures adjacent to her backyard. Past the nearest hills, nothing could be seen through the darkness aside from the jagged horizon of wooded wilderness.

  #Werewolf#

  It lifted its long snout to sample the midnight air. Bright moonlight filled the black breeze with a hunger that could never be satisfied. While exhaling a burning hatred, it stepped out from the cover of pine and spruce scented evergreens onto the edge of the ballfield at the old recreation center. The creature panned its face side to side in search for what it craved more than life itself. With a hard sniff, it stopped, eyes wide. Fear. The scent of despair drew its focus beyond the dust filled dugouts, bent metal fencing and tilted bleachers that still stood in disrepair.

  All was perfectly visible through the darkness as it lurked closer to the old bleachers, peering out to the small, dirt parking area on the other side. Two voices, male and female broke into argument beside a dark, four door car. The hood was propped open where the overweight man bent to lean his hands against the grille, still raising his angry voice to the whimpering cries of the woman as she sat just beyond an open driver door.

  The beast continued to slowly step one long stride after another to the end of the rusted metal beams nearest the front of the car. Vague human memories flashed of the cheering crowds that once sat there, but they were quickly overtaken by a vicious anger that filled claws, urging to rip through prey.

  Several unkept bushes grew between the bleachers and the car. Leafed branches that hadn't seen a set of shears since another time stretched in all directions. The monster slipped behind their cover, creeping closer to the calamitous couple.

  The man's dark blue uniform reeked of burnt automotive oil and sweat. It almost covered the odor of his blood, but not entirely. His heart pumped quickly with a discontent that cried out to be ripped from his chest. The smell of cheap perfume and laundry detergent drifted with salty tears, an ocean of sad servitude that yearned to spill with red rivers of life.

  "Where the fuck you think you're going?" The man's hoarse voice stunk of cheap cigarettes and beer. From the dense foliage, just a few feet behind, the creature squatted to slope forward. It slipped its long face between the bushes as it watched him twist the radiator cap back into place. The car door slammed just before clacking heels stormed further away by the second. "Hey!" the man shouted as he rounded the front of the car, just out of vie
w.

  Teeth pressed tightly together, drooling onto the powder soft dirt drive where it tilted its nose downward before emerging from the bushes. Fingers brandishing blades stretched outward at its sides while one paw stepped in front of the other, bringing it to the raised hood where the man stood seconds ago.

  "Let go!" The lady's scream twitched the beast's ear to attention as it swung its head to the driver side. It crept around to see him tugging at her arm. A few yards behind him, it stood and stared down its next victim. As they pulled and pushed at one another, their voices broke into incoherent obscenities. The struggle of contempt and fear rumbled into the empty pit in the creature's stomach as its mouth watered even more for the flavor of pain.

  The woman's eyes lit with fright. Her screams turned the man, still clinging onto her arm with his right hand. It bolted toward him in two bounds. "No!" he shouted, left arm outstretched in defense. It clamped its bite onto his arm. The beast slammed him onto the ground as it felt bones snap in the force of its jaws.

  Screams from the woman became more distant as she ran toward the road. The werewolf let go of the struggling man and raised its head in her direction. He scrambled to his feet beside the car. Blood sprayed from his gashed arm, dangling a barely attached hand. The creature swiftly ripped its left claws into his chest. Fingers dug between ribs as it slammed him into the driver side back window, exploding glass onto the dirt. As he laid prone through the window, gargling in pools of blood, it gripped his breastbone. With a loud crack, it yanked his chest cavity open. The beast shoved its face inside the gaping hole and chewed its way to his heart, tugging it free with a shake of its head. Raising its face to the sky, it gave two chomps before swallowing with a single gulp. The large, yellow orb in the sky locked its gaze and it let out a howl that echoed across the entire nightscape it dominated.

  "Help!" Female cries rang from the distance where her tiny form rushed to the right under the streetlight. The baggy, pale blue shirt made her clearly visible above her dark skirt as she screamed her way down the street in the direction of the darkened library, flailing her fragile arms in the air.

  Pounding paws splashed through a puddle as the beast bounded toward the road, its swift sprint carried the carnivore through a swoosh of wind that flew through its fur. While the creature darted through the dirt into the damp grass, the lady's frantic shouts became louder.

  The embankment that rose up to the street grew closer by the second. Trampling over her discarded high heel shoes, the werewolf gained on the woman until her fright filled face locked eyes with it. It leapt onto the steep hill, kicking dirt with every bound. She stumbled with a scream and tripped onto her side. The werewolf stopped at the edge of the pavement.

  As it watched her squirm backward on her side, hand held high, shielding sobs of terror, it fixated its sadistic stare and stepped one paw closer, then another. The flickering streetlight just behind cast the creature's shadow over her, accentuating its long ears as it spread its claws wide at its sides. "No, please," she cried with a shaky voice that pattered into a whimper. The smell of urine replaced the civilized scents that she hid behind into a puddle that seeped around her kicking legs. But the aroma of her blood still screamed out to be released from its prison of pain.

  "My baby." The words broke through her sobs as she wrapped her hands around her belly. Its legs halted in place for a moment as it stood in the street looking at her. A cold emptiness extinguished the craving within and it took a step back. But then a fierce stinging pleasure burned its way back into the beast's fingers and jaws and it tightened its snout, baring teeth that it snarled fiercely through. It leaned down, feet from her, flexing fingers in fury, ready to rip into flesh.

  The heavy sound of an engine swung the creature's head to the right. Through the darkness, flashing blue lights blocked the street and a dark brown tactical truck backed into the library. The monster looked quickly to its left to see more police cars lighting up the road. Anger welled in its belly, erupting into a growl and the werewolf turned to bolt back toward the old recreation center.

  As it dashed down the small dirt drive, the ruins of leaning fences stood high in the moonlight. Radio chatter sounded from ahead to the right. From the dark, abandoned car, beams of light swung about the perimeter from a group of dark jump suits wearing long masks. The creature stopped with a loud, threatening howl, its attention now turned toward them. Several tiny flashes preceded popping sounds. Their feeble firearms had already proven to be no threat. It stepped closer until a sharp pain ripped through the monster's right shoulder. It grazed the skin with a liquid fire down its entire arm. These are different.

  The werewolf shot through the darkness in the direction of the forest as another group could be heard moving in from the library to cut it off. Three sharp thumps were followed by clanking canisters that skipped across the ground. The objects hissed out a dark yellow cloud that stung like acid in the beast's nose and throat until everything went dark. "Over here!" a muffled voice shouted from close by.

  The creature charged with all of its strength through the cloud. It slammed into a metal wired wall. The old fencing flexed before popping loose from its posts. Running amidst the shower of gunshots behind, it rushed the edge of the forest. The werewolf leapt into the barricade of foliage and trees that stood from the ground and it crashed through sticks until the safety of its sanctuary surrounded it.

  Chapter 24

  The late morning sun scorched the dew from Pine Bluff. Many tears had dried in the place where they began, but the humidity that still hung heavy in the air continued the suffocate the town. Though the ball of fire in the summer sky had shined its light on the shadows, revealing the nature of their darkness, it also glistened upon the blood-stained earth to drown the land with the past. Soon the impending full moon would cast its glow upon how it all would end.

  #Sarah#

  Breakfast rush had just ended at the Sunset Diner and Sarah dangled Tony's watch between her fingers as she sat at her usual booth, sipping her scalding coffee. "Where the hell are you hiding?" She let the shiny timepiece drop beside her foam cup and dug her phone from her pocket. After opening the group chat, her thumbs rapidly fired off the text. "Need to talk. Now. Sunset Diner." It rested beneath her previous lines, still unseen.

  "Sarah?" Old man Sam's voice startled her from where he stood with a hesitant lean. "Mind if I have a seat?" He politely offered his hand to the other side of the table.

  "Sure. Why not," Sarah said, forcing a smile. His wrinkled face held a look of deep concern within a focused stare that hid behind baggy eyelids. "I'm sorry," she said as she rolled her eyes. "I don't mean to be rude. It's been a long month."

  "Tell me about it," Sam said. His eyes turned side to side around the room before he continued quietly. "You been safe, Sarah?"

  She sighed. "Is anyone, really?"

  "S'pose you have a point." He lowered his eyes for a moment before looking up and motioning his feeble hand to the table top between them. "I noticed Tony's watch. Is there anything you can tell me?"

  Sarah stretched her lips to one side as she raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "Not for sale." With a quick clutch, she took the watch and crammed it into her blue jean pocket.

  Sarah stared into the speckled pattern of tiny, dark brown triangles on the surface of the table as Sam continued to speak. "If you could tell me, Sarah," he reached his wrinkled hand to touch hers. "I just want the truth."

  "The truth is too much for anyone to handle, Sam," she said, giving the foam coffee cup a slight turn with her hand. "That's why we're all in this mess to begin with."

  "Try me," he said.

  Sarah rose her eyes to meet his as she leaned forward with a half grin. "Maybe..." She tilted her head to the side as she whispered. "Maybe he's out eating the townsfolk... marinading them in his special sauce." She spread her mouth into a sarcastic smile. "Perhaps he survived a horrible injury and now he's roaming the countryside, howling at the moon." She paused for a
moment. With a sigh, she plopped her back against the seat and looked away with a shake of her head. "Or maybe he's just dead."

  Sam rested his hands on the table between them as he nodded his head. "I see." His somber words were a bit short of what she had expected.

  A wave of customers began walking past the table to line up at the bar. Though they passed closely, they existed in a world apart from the place where Sarah sipped at her coffee. "It's finally cooler than my stove burner," she said.

  "I can get you a couple cubes of ice if you like," Sam said, raising his eyes from his slumped head.

  "I'm fine." Sarah put her phone in her pocket and stood to face the lobby door. "Listen, Sam." She turned to her side, looking down to where he still stared into the empty seat before him. "If you see David..." Her pause created a vacuum that finally drew Sam's wrinkled face to meet hers.

  "Tell him you're looking for him?" he asked.

  "No." She returned her face to the doorway across the lobby. "Don't tell him that you saw me today." As she finished her sentence, she strolled to the large, glass double-doors without even a glance behind.

  To her right, Central Avenue was light with traffic. At her left, the raggedy clothed blind beggar stumbled along the concrete walkway toward her. "Who's there?" His voice scratched. Sarah quickly stepped aside from his path as he reached about. "Beware," he started to ramble as she turned to jog toward her car. "The next blood you spill under the light of the moon will spill yours too..." His continuing words faded behind, but still echoed in her head as she started the engine and backed out in a hurry. With a squeal of her tires, she swung around the building, stopping only to wait for an opening onto the highway.