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

with me." He gestured a zip across his lips. "Not a word, buddy," he continued shouting from the vehicle at the road.

Janice's shimmering wet eyes bulged as she pressed them together. "What in the hell is he talking about?" in hushed friction that burned through David's heart.

"Guess it don't matter," Vance's voice once again interrupted any hope of peace that David might have wished for. With that his engine grumbled to a start and his tires squealed through the dust he left behind, a cloud of devastation that David feared would never settle as Janice continued her grimaced face directed at him, shattering his perfect paradise into the crumbled dirt Vance's tires had spun apart.

"Did you kill my dad?" she asked. David searched for the answers he should say, littered amongst the mess of the truth and attempted to piece them together as she continued to press. "And my clothes?" She leaned to look into his car. David reached to her shoulder.

Janice smacked his arm away from her with a sting that traveled much deeper than the skin. "Don't touch me!" Her voice rippled through tears. "You can rot in hell!"

"Janice, please. Let me explain."

"Leave!" she screamed as she trotted back to the porch and David looked upon the mess of burned pictures that shivered in the breeze. The slam of her door startled him and he swiftly began scooping up the mess and tossing it into the garbage bag Vance discarded before jumping into the car with it all.

###

David turned up the loud rock music that blasted through his speakers as he started to suffocate on the tears that bled from his heart. He raced to escape from everything and everyone. His world was collapsing onto his chest as he gasped for breaths through the anger that he could only direct at himself. Bluff Mountain rose above the horizon as he sped through the traffic light, leaving town behind. The rocky outcroppings of the cliffs became visible at the top of the mountain that loomed overhead.

A white vehicle gained on him, quickly closing in on his rear end. Bright blue lights flickered in his eyes from the rearview mirror as his interior started flashing and the series of bleeps from a police siren broke through the music David reached to turn down. Did Janice call the police? Was it Vance? David wondered what he should do. Nothing but disgust poured from his mind, so he relented gradually to the side of the road where he put the car in park as he sniffled and dried his face, waiting for whatever came next.

After what seemed like an eternity of sitting in front of the strobing lights with his hands resting on the steering wheel in surrender, a uniform stepped into view in his side mirror. The officer marched procedurally toward David's car, stopping briefly to touch his trunk before continuing to David's door and stooping down to tap on the window. It was Officer Benning, sunglasses and all.

"Turn off the engine and roll down your window," his voice muffled behind the glass.

David rolled down his manual window as he killed the engine and looked Benning in the face.

"License and registration, please," he said with a snap as he extended two of his fingers.

David slowly pulled out his wallet and opened the console before handing over his documentation.

"So, what's the hurry, huh?" Benning asked with a smack of his chewing gum.

"Was I speeding?" David asked.

"Damn right you were, kid. Zipped right through that light back there at about fifty."

"About? You didn't clock my speed then?" David asked.

Officer Benning slowly bent back down to look at David. "Don't skirt around on thin ice with me, boy. I got you on my dash cam running that light if you want to play that shit."

David remained silent as Benning strolled stiffly back to his patrol car. He waited, looking back at the flashing lights in his mirror. No matter how many times he cussed and shook his head, nothing sped the process as he sat in his parked car. Finally, Benning stepped out and briskly jogged toward David's window. David spread his fingers visible on the steering wheel in surrender and lowered his head in defeat.

"Lucky day, kid," Benning said quickly. David felt his license and papers hit his lap and he looked up to see the cop rush back to his car. The siren blared as he skidded into a reverse spin and screeched back toward town.

David rolled back onto the pavement, cruising his car past the lake. The afternoon was becoming darker as the ominous forests called him to their boughs. A mysterious evil had stirred from within this evergreen prison, breaking free into Pine Bluff to drag innocent and guilty alike back into its dungeon of torment. It shredded apart the cloak of humanity that they all wore, revealing the beast that resided within everyone's hearts. The mountain road began to widen as the he ascended the steep overlook and parked his car at the cliffs, worlds apart from the town below, waiting for the starlit night to swallow the sun.

###

The edge of Moss Lake swished in the moonlight as Cory Littleton shouted back at the picnic tables. The canopies were now distant black pyramids that stood above the hill.

"Grace," he yelled. "What's taking so long? Loud bullfrogs croaked endlessly from the lake just behind him. "Hurry up before we get caught!"

He wrestled to pull free from the Pine Bluff High shirt that squeezed his lean, muscular body before tossing it on the white towel that spread on the ground. Hopping on one foot, he pulled his shoe free and it tumbled to rest beside a shiny black purse and thin, green cheerleader jacket.

"Grace?" he shouted again. "Where you at, babe?" Now even the frogs ceased to answer his call.

A low-pitched thump alerted him in the direction of the car where one dim streetlight flickered to hang onto life.

"Leave your swimsuit in the trunk?" Cory laughed as he leaned back to tap on his phone. The bright