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

car roll out of her driveway her attention returned to the tightly pulled strings of copper that she continued to attach to her trap. The sun climbed higher and the tears that once dotted the green earth faded into the air.

"Finally," Sarah said as she squeezed her rusty wire cutters to bite the final wire free with a sharp snap. She walked closer to the house, lifting the ends of two thick, black drop cords. Sarah paused for a moment before plugging them together. A loud pop killed the power. "Fuck."

Sarah shook her head as she unhooked the cords and threw them against the ground. Opening her cigarette pack, she let out a long sigh before walking beyond her makeshift electrical fence. One step after another, she inched closer to the wandering wilderness that stretched further into her yard each month. She stopped and stared between the tightly gathered trees before venturing further.

Each stride brought her deeper into the wilds that slowly swallowed the civility that she barely held onto inside her home as it was. It won't be long... Her dampening eyes lowered to the foliage filled ground at the edge of the woods. Until I have nothing left to protect. 

#Janice#

Boiling spaghetti noodles rolled with the turmoil that replayed in Janice's thoughts as she turned the eye of the stove down halfway, stepping back with a huff. "Just a little longer until it's done."

A soft knock startled her attention to the carport kitchen door. She glanced at the bubbling pot, wondering if it was loud enough to cover the sound from her driveway. Another knock came a bit louder this time as Janice walked to the door. David's form took shape beyond the transparently curtained window.

"What do you want?" Janice asked through the door.

"I just want to talk, Janice. Please." His voice sounded with a sincerity that took hold of her hand. She paused with a long breath as she reluctantly turned the doorknob.

She watched David slowly step into the kitchen and look at the stove.

"Where's your mom?" he asked. "I saw her van." He casually aimed his thumb over the back of his shoulder.

"Why?" Janice asked suspiciously.

"Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have asked?" David said with a tone of confusion.

Janice folded her arms as she pressed her eyes intently toward his face. "Where's Tony?" she shot back at him, studying his reaction.

David's eyes squinted as he looked down into hers. "Look, I don't know what you're accusing me of, but Terry can vouch that it's not me."

Janice took a moment to poke her head out the door, looking at David's car as her vision slid slowly across the front yard. She shut the door and turned the deadbolt locked. "Mom's on vacay in Florida with Aunt Carol."

She folded her arms and walked back to the once boiling noodles that had turned with a fury that burned in her heart. It now settled to a simmer, but the source of the heat was still there.

"You and Sarah ruined my life, David." Her words came out a little faster than she intended. As she waited for a reply to sound from behind, her impatience welled from somewhere deep within. The silence hit like a blade of disrespect slicing through her soul. "And you have nothing to say?!" she shouted without a turn from her pending meal as she stirred a large metal ladle through the softening noodles before reaching over to shut off the eye that held the well finished ground beef that popped and sizzled to her left.

She sniffled, wiping her moist eyes as she turned to watch David slump into his usual seat at her kitchen table. He rested his elbows on the dark, shiny hardwood finish to prop his face into his hands.

"It's not that, Janice," he said. "What can I say? How can anything I could possibly say undo what's happened or change things for you? I want to help you feel better, but how can I?" He looked at her with open hands. “Please, just tell me what to do.”

Janice raised her hand strongly, putting a stop to his voice. "That's just it. You can't!"

She dumped the steaming noodles into a steel strainer over the sink, shaking it violently until only tiny droplets still fell. The sound of David's chair slid from the floor behind her. "You're not even going to stay and eat?" she asked, turning to look once more.

David looked back at her with bewildered eyes. "I... guess... Yeah?"

"You're not even sure?" she shot back.

"I mean, I thought you probably didn't want me to." David hesitantly sat back down at the table while she placed a ceramic plate firmly in front of him before dropping his fork and knife beside it.

Janice drifted in thought as she combined the pile of seasoned beef, tomatoes and onions with the tangled ball of long spaghetti noodles. His words blended with the distant television show playing in the living room that went without notice until finally returning to her ears. "Things have been tough, lately," he said. "With everything that happened last year coming to the surface at once. Tony gone and the killings, of course. But now Sarah's acting strange."

Janice set the large bowl of food between them and sat down just across. David glanced to her usual seat beside him for a split second before nodding. "Sarah?" Janice asked.

David continued piling his plate with a mountain of food as he spoke. "She lied about being with me the night before. Sarah rushed me out before the sun went down." She watched him sift through the noodles, rolling them into a ball at the end of his fork before he continued. "The night of the last attacks."

Janice took a small bite of her food, taking her time to enjoy its flavor before gulping it down. "Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. It's closer than you know."

"Hmm?" David asked as he worked a cheek full of spaghetti around in his mouth, looking up at her with eyebrows pressed in confusion.

"It's something Dad used