Sheep's Clothing by Gary Lewis (free ebook reader for pc txt) 📕

around at one another. "That's actually a great idea," David said to Vance. "Where were you at last night?"

"Real funny, dumbass. I was asleep at home where I am every night.” Vance pointed his thick arm to David. “How about you? What have you been up to every night? Sure as hell ain't sleeping, by the looks of it."

"Alright. Alright," Tony said. "Everyone chill the hell out. Nobody is gonna to hurt anyone. If we catch that beast out, we deal with it when it's like that.”

"So, what's this book say?" Vance asked, circling the decades old hardback to open the cover. "Silver bullets?"

"Did you learn that on TV?" David asked with a shake of his head. "Besides, do any of us even have guns?"

"I go hunting with dad all the time," Vance said.

"Yeah,” Tony said. “Pops keeps an old thirty-thirty deer rifle.”

Vance spoke louder with a slow, horizontal sweep of his hand. "Not even necessary. I say we lure it out at night and I pounce the thing and pound its face in while y'all get it all on video."

"Yeah," David said. "Like you did Brad right before he wound up dead?"

"Sure, prick." Vance's voice got deep as he glared across the room at David. "Maybe it'll happen to you next."

Janice's frustration exploded into her face as she covered it with her hands, backing away from the others.

"Stop!” she shouted. “I can't lose anyone else."

"Listen everyone,” Vance said. “It's been a tough week for her.” He began walking her toward the door. "Start a group chat and add me to it. We'll figure this shit out."

"Sure." David said with a smirk.

#David#

David's displeasure burned with images of Vance acting out. "Why did we have to invite him anyway?" he asked to which Tony shrugged with a smile.

Sarah rolled her eyes "Oh, get over it already."

David glanced in her direction. "Get over what, exactly?"

"We all know what,” she said. “There's no point even saying it.”

He suppressed the fire inside that reignited every time she tried to cut him down. Sometimes it seemed that Sarah's sole purpose in life was to point out everything that he did wrong. David dropped his hands against his sides, blowing out a long huff of frustration. "I'm going to go crash a while."

"Suit yourself," Sarah said with a narrow glance.

"I'm going to head out too,” Tony said. “I think you both need a rest."

As he walked to his car, David was stopped by Tony's voice. "Wait up." Tony stepped closer toward him. "You be careful out there, little bro."

"You too, man," David said, climbing into the driver seat. "We'll figure this out." He slung the door shut and started the car.

###

When he arrived home, David stopped to look at the yard. Surrounding the off-white double wide where he lived with his mother, thick forests lined the edge of the yard; woods that connected to all the locations where everything had happened. He wondered how safe it was inside as images of Danny's truck being pulled to pieces plagued his thoughts.

With a gradual step into the living room, David saw his mother was there to greet him. Her short, dark brown hair was now streaked with the grays that swept above her tired eyes which had seen one too many lonesome, late night infomercials. "Honey, I wish you were here more often,” she said. “You worry me sick with all the terrible news going on. You're always out late and you never call."

"I'm ok, mom. I'm just tired," David said, plopping his sore feet down the hallway to his bedroom.

His messages were empty aside from the group chat he was added to with Sarah, Tony, Janice, and Vance.

"Y'all post it here if there's any news. I'm going to sleep," he typed, laying his head into a comfy pillow on his bed as the world drifted away from his concern.

###

Hours had passed before David awoke at night to his sticky skin begging for a long overdue blast from the shower.

"We'll figure out something to do with these bear traps," Vance posted in the group chat at 1:32 PM.

"Does Tony seem to be acting strange?" from Sarah at 3:15 PM.

"I need you, David. Nobody is answering me," from Janice at 11:21 PM.

As David ran a flow of steaming water, he began his reply to Janice. After many attempts and deletes, he finally settled on "What's up?" and stepped into the hot shower, wishing he could just wash away the past week as though it never happened and let it dissolve down the drain. After anxiously drying off, he hurried to see if he had an answer from Janice. "Can you come over? I think I heard a noise outside and I can't sleep," her reply said.

"Stay put. I'm on my way," David replied, rushing to throw on his clothes. He quickly brushed his teeth, not even bothering to do anything with his hair before jogging out to his car and driving into the night.

###

As he pulled into Janice's driveway, David noticed how dark her yard was. Anything could creep through and go completely unnoticed. After getting out of the car, he looked at the weeping willows slumped over the poorly lit shrubbery around the side of her house. It made for perfect cover at night. From the darkness behind him, an overwhelmingly sinister feeling pressed between his shoulders.

As he rushed through the carport toward the kitchen door, his footsteps tapped the concrete surface until he reached the top of the steps and banged on the door. He listened into the hidden reaches of the night while every sound snapped at his senses, leaving his hair standing on his neck. David knocked again.

Janice finally came to answer the door, wrapped in a red robe, hair dripping wet. "Sorry. I was in the shower."

"That's fine. Are you ok?" David asked with deep concern as he stepped inside.

"Yeah,” she said, looking at the floor. “I just keep thinking about everything." David noticed her glistening, wet neck as she briefly turned her head toward her room. "Let me go upstairs and get dressed and I'll be right down."

After watching her