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

who was now waiting at the top of the hill. David's limbs felt weak and numb. His peripheral vision began to get fuzzy. But at least he didn't feel thirsty anymore. How did Vance get there that fast? His thoughts blurred. How long was he there?

"You still with me, man?" Vance asked as the pitch of his voice became higher and the sound more distant. It seemed to reverberate as though they were in a tunnel. David gasped to get his breath and catch up, but everything except his legs had gone limp.

"Looking kinda pale on..." Vance's words seemed to fade into the distance as the world closed into darkness and disappeared. Everything ceased to exist.

###

David laid on the cool, damp ground, staring at the midnight sky. Large, ominous clouds flashed in the distance, but an open expanse of stars still stretched above. How much time went by? How did I even get here? Beside his face, dark green blades of grass swayed in the cool breeze and a serene, repetitive splash continuously sounded from beyond the nearby hill. I've been here before. 

"Yes. This is the place." Sarah's voice sounded more cheerful and full of spirit than it had in a long time. He felt her tug at his hand to pull him to his feet. "Come on, lazy ass," she laughed as she gleefully led him along toward the sound of the lake. "I tried the water, but it's already cold." Her exaggerated giddiness couldn't be overlooked as he pressed his eyebrows in confusion, listening to her words. "I can't wait until next summer."

The moonlight sparkled in the lake ahead. "Jan's boat!" she said in a hushed laugh. "Come on.  She'll never know." Her mischievous eyes shined as brightly as her huge smile. But there was more to the sound of her giggling speech than that. Something wasn't right. Of course. He finally remembered. She had a few drinks at the party before we came to the lake. David gave his head a shake. So did I. His strides struggled to remain on course as she pulled at his arm, ushering him forward. Explains why my weight keeps shifting side to side. "Come on! She ditched you for Vance. Hurry up," Sarah insisted in a silly slur as she tugged at David's arm.

They stumbled in the dark through the soft grass that swayed in the cool autumn breeze until the creaky wooden boards of the boating dock led them to rest against the side of the white hull of Janice's dad's boat. Sarah's arms swept around the back of his shoulders as he held her hips firmly and pushed his face into her neck, tasting at her skin all the way up to her cheeks. She turned in for the kiss and his tongue rolled against hers beyond the soft lips he felt pressing and sliding through his.

David guided her by the waist as they stumbled onto the deck. Janice's waterproof camera case laid in one of the brown leather seats.

"Wait!" She said, grasping his shoulders. Sarah’s giggle wrapped her flushed red cheeks so tightly that it squinted her blue eyes. "I have an idea!"

It was hard to understand her through her giddy laughter.

David lost interest in what Sarah was doing as he began to stare back into the night sky. The distant boom of thunder could barely be heard from the west. To the east, the clear space twinkled across a deep, dark blue void that held a bright orange moon in the center.

"The stars aren't in the right place for fall," David said. "But wait, is it fall?"

"Of course, it is," Sarah said with drunken laughter. "It's my birthday, remember?"

"For some reason, I thought it was summer." He lifted open the case, taking the heavy, black camera out and raising the lens to focus on Sarah's butt. He grinned as she bent over to fumble around in the metal toolbox mounted to the deck. Her black, leather pants gleamed where they fit tightly against her skinny figure. He watched her belly shirt slip up and down the smooth skin of her lower back as the jingling clank of tools rattled below.

She turned her head to look up at him with a smile. "Like what you see?"

David smiled as he turned back to the sky. "You were right. The stars are right for fall now." He squinted his eyebrows together. Wait, what? How much did I have to drink?

Something large floated closer in the shimmering water of the lake cast bright by the large full moon that hung above. He wasn't sure why, but the moon seemed so huge and ominous. As he continued to watch, the shining reflection grew larger. The orange gleam of moonlight turned red with blood that clouded the watery surface. The object became more familiar as it continued drifting toward them.  A person? Is he dead?  The blood spread outward, filling the entire lake as the body began to take on a familiar shape. It bumped against the boat as David looked down. Tony! David’s jaw dropped as Tony’s floating mangled corpse continuously rocked into the side of the boat. Blood spewed into the lake from his throat, ripped wide open as his blank stare gazed up at him.

"Don't let it scare you," Sarah reassured him from somewhere beyond the back of his shoulder. "It won't take very long." She sounded sober all of the sudden. Then David remembered why he was afraid. He turned to see Sarah's blue eyes take on an unnatural yellow. With a stumble, he fell back, slamming into the deck. He frantically grasped for anything he could wrap his fingers around. All he could do was flail around the floor no matter how hard he tried to get up. Sarah's teeth grew longer with the popping sounds of her bones contorting into a different form. Her back raised high with hands reaching low to the sides, baring claws. "No! Please!" David screamed as dark fur began to sprout from her once elegant face, even replacing her blonde hair. He