Sheep's Clothing by Gary Lewis (dark books to read TXT) 📗

walk up the stairs with her dripping hair and damp skin, he walked over to the living room where he paced in circles, thinking of things to say. He was all alone with Janice at her home in the middle of the night. Just the two of them. It was obvious by then that Vance didn't care enough to be there for her. This night is perfect. 

Janice came down the stairs, dressed in a silky smooth, pink bed gown. Her long, brown hair, darkened by its dampness, was now brushed out. "Sorry it took so long."

"No. You're fine," David said.

"I just keep thinking about dad being gone and now with the murders and Peetie," Janice said, grabbing her forehead as she looked to the floor. "I just don't know what to do."

David listened as she began spilling her problems with a graceful pace around the dimly lit room. He watched her perfectly shaped body move around as she talked and her bed gown slid across her hips and plump breasts. He loved the way her soft lips pressed together when she spoke.

"Where is Vance in all this?" David blurted out. "I mean, does he even care?"

"I'm sorry. You're right," Janice said softly as she dropped her eyes. "I shouldn't bother you with everything."

"That's not what I meant, Jan,” David said while his voice filled with a longing for what was right. “Are you sure he's right for you?"

"I don't know,” she said. “He always seems too busy.”

Beating in his chest, David's heart guided his words. This is it. "I'm not," David said. "I'll never be too busy for you, Jan."

Time froze still as she continued staring back with no reply.

A loud thump outside shattered the moment, jolting their eyes toward the kitchen. "It came from out back," David said, walking slowly across the dining section. He opened the appliance cabinet and grabbed the bright blue flashlight that stood in the front.

"No. Don't go outside," Janice said, pulling his shoulder back. "Please stay with me."

"Come here." David hugged her snuggly and pressed his lips against her forehead. "Stay inside with the door locked. Have your phone ready," he told her before turning to face the wall of unseen dread beyond the backdoor that attempted to barricade him inside.

The cool midnight air brushed against his skin as he stepped out into the darkness onto the large, wooden deck. Hoots from an owl joined the sound of crickets as David listened closely. He shined the lightweight flashlight across the railing. A shattered vase sprawled dirt and fragments across the smoothly finished boards of the deck. "Surely it didn't fall over all by itself," he said quietly to himself.

While making his way down the steps, he saw the small, tin work shed that Janice's father used to use. "Maybe I can find something useful in there." He swept the light along the damp ground and continued traveling toward the shed in the dark. A trail of large tracks led away from the house, toward the field. Giant paw prints pushed heavily into the soft earth. They looked exactly like a dog's tracks, but the size of a man's.

David quickly dug his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of the prints up close. He sent them in the group chat. "Werewolf. Jan's house. Now." After hitting send, it suddenly occurred to him that Vance was also on the group chat. "Oh well. He was bound to find out soon anyway," David said to himself.

As he slowly opened the loudly creaking door to the shed, a glint of light shined across the black metal of a crowbar hanging from the rack. He swiftly snatched it as he heard the sound of movement from behind the shed. Somewhere between the trees and bushes that bordered the yard from the field just behind the shed, something or someone was moving.

David readied the crowbar in his right hand, shining his light with the other as he walked toward the sound, no longer afraid of what the unknown may have in store. He would protect Janice with his life if need be. Strength was pulsing through his arms and legs as he got closer. When he came right up to the brush behind the shed, he quickly lifted his light, shining it toward the darkness.

A sudden movement burst through the overgrown weeds. David jumped back as a raccoon leapt from the foliage and scurried across the field. "It was nothing," he said to himself with relief.

After a moment to collect himself, he strolled around the house, constantly shining his light side to side. The hard dirt in the front yard didn't hold clear tracks the way the soft soil out back did. He struggled to work out what direction they came in from.

As he returned to approach the backdoor, he checked the group chat. His message had been seen by Janice and Sarah. That left Tony and Vance. What are the odds that it killed Brad after we were at the cliffs and now it's at Jan's? "What if it's one of us?" He locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket.

Janice rushed to the backdoor and swung it open for David. "It's okay," he said, gently setting the crowbar on the kitchen counter. "All I saw were its tracks. They headed out toward the field, but I couldn't tell where they came in from. I must've scared it off when I went outside."

"Thank you so much," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Jan," he said, sliding his hands up and down her back as he squeezed her tightly.

A bright flash of light shot across the living room through a gap in the curtains. Tires crackled up the driveway. Her wide, green eyes looked up at his. "Who could it be at this hour?" Janice asked. David noticed the old, wooden clock on the wall. It was past 2:00 AM. It sounded too quiet to be Vance, he