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

heading straight up Main Street, right through the center of town." With a tight tug he double knotted his sneakers before rising to his feet. "Senior year track is too important to let some rabid bear get me out of shape." Randy strolled with a smug grin that hooked the side of his face as he strutted out the door.

The buzz of flickering streetlights was almost audible as Randy slowed his pace beside a row of well-trimmed bushes lining the sidewalk. He began catching his breath in the silent air that hung around him like a blanket of doom that wrapped along the edges of visibility. Something he couldn't explain had gotten under his skin. He could feel its eyes on the top of his spine, to the point he was afraid to turn around. But each time he did, only the vacant darkness followed.

He picked up his pace into a brisk jog, turning onto Oak Ridge Avenue, close to the park where he ran laps every summer morning. Distant, strobing flashes of blue lights caught his attention further down the street. It was too far away to know exactly where they were parked. "Wonder what that's about," he said as he ventured into the empty park.

Despite the dense cover of foliage that surrounded most of the park, he felt secure in his familiar space where he could escape the world and push his frustrations and fears into the paved walkway. He started his laps and everything else faded from thought.

A distant, long ring became louder as Randy slowed to a brisk walk and the siren became clear. Through the bushes across the park, he watched several police cars speed down the street toward the others. Must be pretty bad. He continued along the paved track where the open grass became thick with bushes in the dark where the dense forest surrounded. It was a natural border between the edge of the park and the old recreation center.

As he listened, his senses snapped to a noise in the woods just ahead. The sound of footsteps was unmistakable. Then they stopped. As he waited for them to begin again, his thoughts had no such patience. They raced with images of the recent headlines. But several moments of silence started to calm his body. Randy took a huge huff before loosening his shoulders and resuming into a gentle stroll.

Branches shuffled against the wooded wall of trees that surrounded the track. He leaned forward and strained his eyes deep into the gap of darkness between the trees where a black form stood in place, tall and foreboding. More movement from the brush revealed a glimpse of bright eyes and teeth. An arm shrugged the branches aside.

Randy bolted in the opposite direction. While his feet carried him faster than ever before, he tried desperately to unsee the image of the beast now burned permanently into his mind. The black outline of its long snout and ears, its dark, shaggy fur, arms brandishing blade like claws and the bright yellow eyes, all penetrated his mind as he ran, gasping for air.

A cold fear sucked the life from Randy's stomach, forcing it into his legs as he broke records without thought. He dashed over the nearest hill, breaking into the thin line of forest that separated the park from the old recreation center, jumping and dodging between bushes and limbs, putting distance between him and everything behind as quickly as possible. As he outran the wind itself, the foliage began to open into a clearing. The old recreation center was just ahead, but the fear that shook him deep inside burst into his feet as he leapt and slid over a muddy creek bed, coming to sliding stop at an abandoned fire pit.

He huffed for air to slow the heartbeat exploding in his chest. Randy looked over the litter and burnt debris. The fire wasn't very old. Melted, plastic-coated burnt sticks from a used bottle of charcoal starter, stacks of burned photos and bundles of tape had partially survived the blaze. Nighttime boating pictures, it seemed.

Curiously reaching toward the strange pile of destroyed items, Randy was startled by a sharp snap in the woods to his left. He stepped slowly backward toward the clearing, not daring to turn his back to the sound. Each long, slow, backward stride brought him a couple feet closer to the open ballfield behind him.

Randy burst into a turn to dash toward the field. A large, hairy impact exploded into him the moment he turned. His body pounded into the dirt beside the fire pit. It had been right behind him. As he tried to roll onto his feet, sharp pains wrapped around his sides and chest. He could feel his broken ribs grind against one another with each painfully gargled breath. Struggling to raise his head from the dark earth, he stared across.

From the ground, he could see large paws stepping toward him from canine legs. With the dim, pale blue glow of daylight approaching, its form silhouetted into a tall, dark, growling beast. It continued snarling with every paw pounding step closer. Randy's shirt felt warm inside as his wet clothes clung to his skin, soaking with blood every time he exhaled. Large gashes revealed themselves across his side as he strained to roll over and opened his mouth.

Screams were cut short as the force of jaws clamped like a vice onto his shoulder and jerked him up. It shook him violently. He could no longer breathe as the sapling sticks broke all around him. They matched the cracking ribs that were tearing through his insides while he was slung through dead branches. Teeth sunk deeper into his shoulder, releasing and clamping back down for several more bone cracking bites. Claws slapped wildly into his sides. He could feel them ripping away pieces before the feeling went cold and left his body.

#Sarah#

The sound of hammering wood forced Sarah's groggy eyes open as she squinted from the couch to look across the living room