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

Sarah continued striding ahead. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," she snapped at him.

"David?" a hushed voice came from the lights. "Sarah? It's Terry." Terry's voice grew clearer as they pushed closer between soaked trees.

"It's us," Sarah said aloud.

Terry snuck over to them frantically, his complexion sapped from his sheet white skin. "We have to get out of here right now.” He repeatedly shoved his pointed finger away. “You won't believe what my brother and I just saw," he said, swinging his arm toward the roadway.

“Let me guess,” Sarah said as she stared upward as if lost in thought. "A werewolf?" David dropped his head in embarrassment.

"How did you know?" Terry asked with eyes as wide as golf balls.

"Just a wild guess," she said.

"Just cut it out, Sarah," David said.

She swung her arm out as they walked through the dark forest. "I'm just annoyed that everyone else gets to see the damn thing."

"You can have my sighting," Terry said. "I don't want it."

"If we head this way, it should take us to service road forty-one," David said, pointing ahead. "From there, we can head toward Moss Lake and be practically home."

"How much charge is on your phone?" David asked.

Terry tilted the screen toward him. "It's at sixty-two percent so far. But still no signal."

The hills began to level out as they descended, their voices filling the air with the many stories they amassed over the week. Thick, spongy, moss cushioned sections of earth and bark spread throughout as the trickle of a mountain spring could always be heard from somewhere nearby. David pointed forward. "I know we're getting close to the service road. See those clear cuts ahead?"

Blane waved his phone around in the air, looking closely at the screen.

David shook his head at them. "It's no use. A tower must have taken a hit last night. We'll just have to get help in town."

The dark air began to take on a hazy blur as the foursome finally made it to the small dirt road reserved for forestry personnel. David's attention turned to Terry, who smacked his forehead. "What is it, Terry?"

"The lake!" He paused before pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turning to face David. "Early in the morning, after the rain. Think about it."

He’s right. It completely slipped David's mind. "We covered a lot of ground," David said with some uncertainty. "Surely we put plenty of distance between us and that thing."

Sarah's face tensed as she turned to them. "What are y'all talking about?"

"Yeah. What's going on?" Blane asked, folding his arms.

Terry stretched his arm ahead. "See for yourself. Out there."

Beyond the clearing of cut timber, the woodline was barely visible beyond the mist of fog that hung in the air.

"That's not bad," Blane said. "I can't even tell up close."

David watched Sarah's eyes widen with concern.

"Wait 'til we get down there, y'all,” David said. “You'll be lucky to see fifteen feet." He turned to Blane. "And those lights won't help you."

"Well,” Sarah said, walking out ahead of them. “We can keep moving toward civilization or we can wait around in the woods in the dark."

"Why does she have to be so stubborn?" David turned to Terry and Blane, only to see that they were also marching forward. He looked back into the forest behind him for a moment. "Hey, guys," he said. "Wait up."

The forest became thicker as the group struggled between small trees packed tightly together.

"Are you guys sure we're not going the wrong way?" Sarah asked, squeezing through the bending saplings ahead.

"I think this is all new growth pine that surrounds the lake," David said just before a thin branch sprung back and smacked him across the face. "Damn. Watch it."

"Oops," Sarah said.

They finally stumbled out into an open parking lot and David saw that the sky was beginning to brighten a bit through the haze overhead.

Dense fog clouded the secluded, paved parking lot, a canvas for the bright white and yellow circles that spread above. The street lamps did little to illuminate the gray mist that surrounded the outskirts of asphalt surface. It wrapped in a hazy blur that concealed the forest just beyond. Frogs and crickets filled the air with noise, an audible signpost for the nearby lake.

David sat on the curb, watching everyone spread out and embrace the open space in their own way.

"I suppose if we wait long enough, someone will pull in," Sarah said.

"I'm down with that plan," Blane said. "My legs are killing me."

David looked toward Terry and his brother. "You two came looking for us with Tony, right?"

"Yeah, yesterday evening," Terry said as he sat in the grass behind the curb, beside his younger brother.

"After that," David said. "Vance came up here with Jake." He thought for a moment. "So that leaves Tony and Jake still out there."

"What about Vance?" asked Sarah, tilting her head at him with crossed arms.

"What about him?" David went on. "I mean, he's probably the one, anyway." David waited for Sarah's reply, but she just shook her head at him.

Blane and Sarah wandered across the parking lot in search of any sign of life as Terry sat down beside David. "This werewolf..." Terry said as he pressed his glasses up against his eyes. "So, it's a person?"

David paused for a brief moment. "Has to be." He looked in Sarah's direction where her and Blane walked across the dark, empty lot and he lowered his voice before returning his face to Terry's direction. "We found the remnants of Brad's attack. Saw the human footprints become giant wolf paws in the mud."

Terry shook his head up and down. "I see."

David bumped the side of Terry's shoulder with the back of his hand. "Wait. There's more."

He rose to his feet and patted the dirt from his clothes as Terry stood as well, his face still peering for answers. "It's been targeting people we know," David said quietly. "Visiting our homes." He watched Terry fold his arms with a nod. "We set a trap for it