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

scattered debris from the night before. They were the remains of what must have been a ferocious battle with the beast that hunted them all, stalking them from within their own social circles. This seemed the fitting place and time for them to meet their demise, David thought as he impatiently waited for what came next.

Janice finally broke the silence with her soft voice. "The fire at the old rec," she said with a sniffle. "Vance didn't do it. It was me." He watched her press her eyebrows together more firmly as he heard Sarah let out a long-held breath from behind. It was certainly good to know Janice wasn't about to sprout fangs and claws, but her words weren't matching up to the Janice he knew.

"But why, Jan?" David asked. "I don't understand."

"Hey. It's alright," Sarah said with a hint of relief. "We've all accidentally done things we regret, right?" Her hesitant words still shook with a subtle uneasiness.

"When I missed school, after the accident..." Janice's voice rubbed sarcasm in Sarah's direction. "They were going to take away my photography awards... cancel my scholarship. I was upset."

"Upset?" Sarah asked with raised eyebrows.

"It's fine, Jan," David said, sliding his hand over his forehead, pushing back his hair. "You didn't expect anyone to get hurt."

David watched Janice's eyes return to the ground as she tapped her foot against a large metal bracket that was once part of Vance's trap.

"I didn't care." Janice said. "I walked to the old rec from my house. The gas jug was sitting beside the mowers. All I could think about was everything that was taken from me. I was so upset." Janice's words started to break apart into sobs as she continued pointing her face down out of view. "They had so much of my work hanging up inside that old building. Before I knew what I did, I got trapped inside. The smoke and heat overcame me so fast." Her words trailed into silence as if she had ended the story.

"And...?" Sarah finally spoke up as she stepped forward, taking a close spot beside David.

"And what?" Janice asked, raising her head to wipe her teared face with her arm.

"How did you escape?" David asked, eager to hear the rest.

"Vance showed up just in time. It was just after we started talking." She said it so quickly that David wondered why she didn't get into that part of the story.

"Was there something about Vance that seemed..." David struggled to find the right words. "Out of the ordinary?"

"Not really," she said, standing up and turning away from them as she took a couple steps to face the old well, a distance away, near the travel path they had entered.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Sarah asked. "Janice?"

The sound of a car engine came from the dirt road and the white paint of Terry's new car reflected light through the trees as it cruised up to the opening before coming to a stop. Shortly after his car door shut, Terry came shuffling down the concealed path, passing the stone well.

"Hey guys! Did you find anythi-" Terry stopped midsentence as he beheld the pile of destruction in which they stood. "Incredible."

"Well,” Sarah said. “That's one way to put it.”

"I see you guys finally worked things out," Terry said with a friendly smile as he nodded at Janice.

"I wouldn't go that far," Janice said, folding her arms as she glanced the other way.

The tension pulled the air in tight knots around David's breath. "So anyway..." David said, clearing his throat. There's a trail of blood over that way, then all of this." David motioned toward the field side edge of the woods then circled over to the broken cage. Though he was speaking to Terry, everyone went silent to listen. "We think he lured it over there where he already had this 'gauntlet' or whatever he called it laid out. It's probably where the bear traps were." David cleared his throat again before proceeding. "All these tangled, rusted wires get dragged over to this thing." He walked over and gave the cage a light kick.

"Looks like he got him," Terry said, lifting his eyebrows as he walked up to squeeze one of the warped bars, giving it a firm tug and shake.

"Not for long, though," David added as he swayed his arm in the direction of the littered ground.

Terry pressed his lips narrowly together and nodded his head. "I see an arrow in that tree over there," Terry said, adjusting his glasses while he pointed with his other hand. David turned to see a small, black rod stuck about ten feet high in the bark of a maple tree.

"So you give up on the idea that it's Vance?" Terry asked David.

"I don't know. His dad got killed," David said. "Vance definitely had motive for that. But if his truck wrecked into the chicken house over there, then all of this." David spread his hands in a wide motion. "It just seems like too much trouble for him. Vance wouldn't do all this just to convince us that it wasn't him and then just disappear."

"That's definitely not Vance's style," Janice added.

Terry let out a somber sigh as he lowered his eyes. "You think he's dead?"

David pulled the corner of his lip to the side of his face. "Probably."

Terry walked around the scene for a few minutes, occasionally squatting to look at the ground as David found a spot to sit beside Sarah who had now stolen his place on the log.

"Let’s suppose it's Tony…," Terry said. David shook his head but elected to remain quiet as Terry continued. "Tony sends Vance a message to meet at his place, says the werewolf is someone else and also kills his father. Maybe he knew something."

"I don't know. It just doesn't seem right to me," David said. "That's not Tony."

"I agree," Terry said. "But it's just not enough to rule him out.”

"I don't think it's Tony, either." Janice spoke up softly. It was the first time David had heard her voice return to its sweeter side.

"Thanks,"