by Gary Lewis
"Whoa," Vance said as he stopped at Sarah’s driveway and turned his face toward her unmowed yard. “She really lets this place go, doesn't she?"
"Think so?" Janice smiled. "Wait until you see how nice it is inside."
"If you say so," he said with a half grin. "Guess I'll do her a favor and park on the grass." He squeezed his truck into the tall turf that Tony and David had left between their cars.
Maybe Sarah likes her yard this way. If she does, then so do I.
As the front porch creaked to their presence, the door swung open from inside. "Get in here,” Sarah said with bright eyes as she waved them inside. “Check this out."
"Get ready to eat your words," Janice said under her breath. But as they rounded to the dining area, a cluttered disaster awaited them at the table. Maps with thumbtacks, scribbled papers, a laptop, books, and an ashtray filled with Sarah's cigarette butts all littered the room. Vance turned to Janice, cracking a long grin across his face before turning to strut toward the table where everyone stood.
Janice followed him, counting empty cans of energy drinks and beer, some with ashes on top of them. Her eyes darted to a book about werewolves open on the table among the rest of the clutter.
Waiting to hear what they had to say, she took note of David sitting on a stool, Tony standing with his arms crossed and Sarah speaking at the same rapid pace as her steps took around the room. She went over every event in chronological order, pinpointing each location along the way.
Her rant was cut short by Vance. "So, what exactly are you getting at? That there's some kind of monster roaming the backwoods of Pine Bluff?" He picked up the werewolf book and turned it to face the others with a chuckle.
"We didn't rule that out,” Sarah said. “But everyone has their own theories.”
"Come on, Sarah." Vance's continued to snicker as he smiled behind the fist he pressed against his chin.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Will you just shut up already and listen?" The pitch of Sarah's voice turned Janice's stomach as she continued.
"Ms. Tanner said she saw a monster at the barn fire. Something attacked Brad and killed him at the cliffs. The police aren't telling us anything except that they don't want to hear any more wild stories about howling and wolves. Danny's truck was literally ripped apart and we're hearing they only found pieces of his-"
"And we have this." David's voice interrupted Sarah from the other side of the table where he slid Sarah's laptop across the shiny, hardwood surface, toward them. He opened it, turning it around to face the group as the dark screen lit up with a flickering flash. Janice watched, feeling slightly claustrophobic while everyone gathered close around her to see. As the video began to play, a late-night forest scene came into view. The bright full moon clearly lit the dirt road that cut diagonally through the center of the frame, surrounded by a black wall of woods on each side.
David reached over to skip through hours of footage until Vance opened his mouth. "What exactly are we lookin' at here?"
"Hush," Janice whispered at him.
David glanced at them before returning to his search. "Here!" David shouted as he gradually skipped back. Janice noticed a dark figure blur past in reverse, catching a flash of white light from the night vision camera.
"There," Sarah said, taking a jab at the air with her finger. "Play it from there."
Frame by frame, a large, blurry figure lurched from the forest to step into the secluded gravel road. Posturing through the pixelated, low quality footage, it plainly walked on two dog-like legs. Its arms extended out from its fur covered body to its sides, brandishing bladed claws. Tall, wolven ears sprung up to attention and it swung its head to the side, raising a long, canine snout to the air. A quick turn ended its pause as it continued across the rocky gravel drive back to the forest until it vanished into the wooded void from which it emerged.
"Fuck yeah," Vance said with a flexing lift of his arm. "That's definitely a werewolf."
Janice looked to him, unsure where the blurry line between his sarcasm and sincerity began. She rolled her eyes at Vance before speaking up. "Is that from the moon camera that you set up?"
"Yeah," David said. "Sarah and I checked it yesterday when we swung by my place."
Tony slowly swayed his arms open. "But that was the only full moon. The night of the cattle mutilations. What about Brad?"
Sarah lifted her head. "But we don't even know if the moon has anything to do with it. For that matter, what the hell this thing even is. What if it's just a-"
Vance interrupted. "Well, I'm not sure if you guys need your vision checked, but..." He motioned his hand toward the laptop.
The room erupted with voices arguing over one another.
"Hold up!” Tony said. “Settle down." He held his palms forward. "We don't know what's going on yet. It's best we hear everyone's opinions and let everybody speak."
Vance smirked into a wide grin. "Isn't this a job for animal control?"
David spoke up. "In the meantime, we're getting knocked off and the authorities can't seem to figure out if it's even a person."
Janice watched Vance look in David's direction, nodding his head up and down, seemingly considering what he had to say.
"What do you think, Jan?" David asked.
Her mind raced with blank ideas as her eyes bounced around the room. "I don't know. I'm just trying to take all this in.” She looked at the map. “Peetie was killed about here." Janice pointed between the marks that Sarah had scribbled onto the creased paper. "But he was missing for a day, so it could have been the same night the cows died right over here," she said, sliding her finger just a bit north.
"Okay. Good,” Sarah said, scribbling her poster board with the marker. “We'll change the date on Peetie."
David stood to talk, sliding his hand over the map. "Speaking of the cattle incident, anyone from around here would've known the Perkins started keeping every one of their cattle in this small pen over here at night." He ran his finger in a circle over a very small bit of the map. "It would make more sense to attack them there than the field that got hit, wouldn't it?"
Janice watched as everyone silently looked at one another.
"I didn't know that," Tony said. "Did you, Sarah?"
"Not really," she answered.
"Yeah,” said Vance with a shrug of his arm. “Me neither."
"Okay," Sarah said. "It was a good idea, David, but it just doesn't work. We don't even know if it's a person."
"Just how long have y'all been awake anyway?" Vance asked the group. "You better be taking care of yourself." Vance stoically stuck his finger in Tony's direction. “We need you in top shape in a couple months."
"Hey, I'm good, bro," Tony said. "It's just these two going 'round the clock."
David turned to the map once again. "I have an idea. Tony, do you still have all those trail cams from our old place?"
"Yeah, bro. I can dig them out." Tony stood, silently looking at David as he stared at the map for a moment.
"What if we set them up on each tree in this field, facing the cattle pen?" David asked, leaving his finger planted onto the map as he turned to Tony.
"I don't know, little bro. It's a long shot," Tony said, brushing his palm across the back of his short, curly hair. "Chances that it'll take the bait in the right time and place are slim."
“David might be onto something,” Vance said, drawing surprise from Janice. “See, these fields are a wide, open path straight to Bluff Mountain.” His hand brushed across the map. “It’s an easy game path from the cattle to where Brad died.”
"Yeah. It's not even a problem," Tony said. "I'll get permission from Roy and Willy Perkins as soon as we leave and set them up."
Janice listened as Vance spoke up once again. "Got a few big bear traps hidden under the back porch. Maybe we can do something with those."
"That might not be such a great idea," Tony said. "Imagine if somebody stepped in one."
Vance paused with a nod. "Ok. So, if it's a
werewolf, that would mean it could be a person. Maybe someone we know?"
Janice couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even Vance? He can't seriously be considering this. The last thing she needed was a busy boyfriend, out hunting werewolves.
The room got quiet as everyone looked 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 walk up the stairs with her dripping hair and damp skin, he walked over to the living room where he paced in circles, thinking of things to say. He was all alone with Janice at her home in the middle of the night. Just the two of them. It was obvious by then that Vance didn't care enough to be there for her. This night is perfect.
Janice came down the stairs, dressed in a silky smooth, pink bed gown. Her long, brown hair, darkened by its dampness, was now brushed out. "Sorry it took so long."
"No. You're fine," David said.
"I just keep thinking about dad being gone and now with the murders and Peetie," Janice said, grabbing her forehead as she looked to the floor. "I just don't know what to do."
David listened as she began spilling her problems with a graceful pace around the dimly lit room. He watched her perfectly shaped body move around as she talked and her bed gown slid across her hips and plump breasts. He loved the way her soft lips pressed together when she spoke.
"Where is Vance in all this?" David blurted out. "I mean, does he even care?"
"I'm sorry. You're right," Janice said softly as she dropped her eyes. "I shouldn't bother you with everything."
"That's not what I meant, Jan,” David said while his voice filled with a longing for what was right. “Are you sure he's right for you?"
"I don't know,” she said. “He always seems too busy.”
Beating in his chest, David's heart guided his words. This is it. "I'm not," David said. "I'll never be too busy for you, Jan."
Time froze still as she continued staring back with no reply.
A loud thump outside shattered the moment, jolting their eyes toward the kitchen. "It came from out back," David said, walking slowly across the dining section. He opened the appliance cabinet and grabbed the brigh
t blue flashlight that stood in the front.
"No. Don't go outside," Janice said, pulling his shoulder back. "Please stay with me."
"Come here." David hugged her snuggly and pressed his lips against her forehead. "Stay inside with the door locked. Have your phone ready," he told her before turning to face the wall of unseen dread beyond the backdoor that attempted to barricade him inside.
The cool midnight air brushed against his skin as he stepped out into the darkness onto the large, wooden deck. Hoots from an owl joined the sound of crickets as David listened closely. He shined the lightweight flashlight across the railing. A shattered vase sprawled dirt and fragments across the smoothly finished boards of the deck. "Surely it didn't fall over all by itself," he said quietly to himself.
While making his way down the steps, he saw the small, tin work shed that Janice's father used to use. "Maybe I can find something useful in there." He swept the light along the damp ground and continued traveling toward the shed in the dark. A trail of large tracks led away from the house, toward the field. Giant paw prints pushed heavily into the soft earth. They looked exactly like a dog's tracks, but the size of a man's.
David quickly dug his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of the prints up close. He sent them in the group chat. "Werewolf. Jan's house. Now." After hitting send, it suddenly occurred to him that Vance was also on the group chat. "Oh well. He was bound to find out soon anyway," David said to himself.
As he slowly opened the loudly creaking door to the shed, a glint of light shined across the black metal of a crowbar hanging from the rack. He swiftly snatched it as he heard the sound of movement from behind the shed. Somewhere between the trees and bushes that bordered the yard from the field just behind the shed, something or someone was moving.
David readied the crowbar in his right hand, shining his light with the other as he walked toward the sound, no longer afraid of what the unknown may have in store. He would protect Janice with his life if need be. Strength was pulsing through his arms and legs as he got closer. When he came right up to the brush behind the shed, he quickly lifted his light, shining it toward the darkness.
