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

said. “I think it's Terry and Blane." The screams echoed through the ridges, becoming clearer and more terrifying.

"Terry and Blane?” David asked. “Pastor Fowler's kids?" He placed his palm onto the back of his shaking head with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah. I know. It's a long story," Jake said as he turned and they jogged in the direction of the voices.

"I think it stopped," David said with a somber voice that despite the warm summer night, still gave Jake the chills. As they slowed to listen, the sounds of the wilderness became louder until a distant honking rang out through the hills.

"Damn." David turned behind to look back up the road. "My car."

"No,” Jake said. “That's coming from below, where we're heading," He motioned down the road with his arm. "It doesn't sound like Vance's alarm, so it must be old man Sam's truck."

"Are you serious?” David swung his palms out. "Sam came too?"

Jake laughed at the image David conjured into his mind. "No. Like I said, it's a long story. Terry and Blane came up here with Tony in Sam's truck."

"How long ago did you and Vance split up?" David asked. "Was it before you heard the sounds behind you?"

"Yeah. It was." Jake said, uncertain what David was getting at. "But Vance can handle himself."

"Maybe it would be best to stay up here," David said, hanging back several yards behind while Jake slowed to turn to him.

"What's going on, man?" Jake asked with a brisk turn. "I mean, really."

Just as David's shoulders slumped and he opened his mouth to speak, a heavy rustle from the bushes startled them both to attention. Branches snapped loudly from the edge of the road to their right. The bushes rustled sharply to the motion of something climbing up the wooded slope. He noticed David stepping slowly back. A thin figure hoisted itself up onto the gravel. Blonde hair shook itself out as a girl stood in dirt covered, wet jeans and a dark t-shirt.

"Sarah!" David shouted from behind Jake as his footsteps approached.

"What the hell, David?" Sarah asked, wiping chunks of mud from her light blue jeans. "Just take off and leave me behind, why don't you?"

"I thought you were just beside me. I swear," David said.

"One of you want to explain what's really going on out here?" Jake asked.

"Sure,” Sarah said. “Why not?"

Jake scowled at her smart tone while David covered his face.

"We were out here hunting for a werewolf when," Sarah theatrically waved her arms around as she spoke. "All the sudden, this freak storm hit us out of nowhere and we got stuck. Nothing out of the ordinary." She rolled her eyes as David quietly turned away.

Jake shook his head. Are they serious or is this some kind of joke? "Well, I'm going to go find the others. Y'all are free to come with me or stay here. I don't care anymore." Traveling alone out here doesn't seem so bad after all.

As Jake walked back toward the bottom, he could hear David explaining to Sarah and their argument faded behind him as he got further. "Fine. I'll go by myself then." Sarah’s now distant voice was barely audible.

###

Some time passed before Jake came to a large bolder that he recognized. "Finally, close to the truck," he said to himself as he walked faster.

Running steps beat through the mud behind him quickly.

"Took y'all long enough," Jake said with a turn. A blur of darkness slammed into his side. His body bounced through the mud on his belly. Jake quickly clambered to his feet and turned his head to see where it had come from. He slowly scanned his vision across the edge of the forest, searching for a hint of movement. As he watched with caution, he grabbed a long stick from the ground. Jake walked to the nearest tree and with one swing, cracked it into a sharp, splintery point.

He paused quietly as he looked to his left and right. The trucks were just visible on the other side of the felled trees. With a huge gasp of air, he dashed for the truck. An impact to his right tackled him with the force of a train. It slammed his body into the slick mud. Jake was overpowered by the heavy mass on top of him. A growling mass of hatred dripped hot drool from above. Pressed into the ground, he tried to turn his head and face his attacker. The weight let up from his body and a vicious bite crushed into his face. The squeezing pressure cracked bones in his skull. It jerked with a tug and all became dark.

#David#

The eastern horizon glowed a little brighter, but the stars that surrounded the moon reminded David that the sun wasn't ready to rescue them just yet and his wet surroundings were still shrouded in darkness, making his search all the more difficult.

"Sarah!" he shouted, cuffing his hands around his mouth. "Where the hell did you go now?" He kicked a pile of rocks into the darkness below the side of the road.

"Hey!" Sarah's distant shout came from beyond the sharp bend ahead where the muddy drive curved sharply around a rocky outcrop to the right. On the left a steep drop led down to the trickling sound of overflowing mountain springs.

"Sarah?" David yelled as he approached the slope and glared down into the dark drop. "You down there?" He stepped to the edge, bending his knees as he slowly crouched. Wet boulders, covered in moss, piled against the side of the ravine and dense mountain laurel clustered around to conceal the area below. He took one big breath and shouted downward. "Say something!"

"Something." Jolting his heart from just behind, Sarah stood with a look of comical confusion. David jumped to his feet and turned around to her covering a snickering mouth.

"You trying to kill me or what?"

She laughed even harder. "You should have seen your face. What the hell were you doing down there, anyway?"

"Where the hell have you been?" David raised his arm toward the