by Gary Lewis
Steam coated the cracked bathroom mirror as the shower heated up and Vance looked down at his phone where it sat at the countertop beside the sink. He slid his thumb across the screen, tensing his eyebrows as he scrolled through a mile of missed messages. Then he saw it. The heat that rushed through his now widened eyes rushed into his hands as he snatched up the phone to make the call.
"What the hell were you thinking last night?"
"What do you mean?" Janice asked, her meek voice barely audible over the phone.
"So, David stayed the night at your place?"
"It's not even like that. Sarah was here too," Janice said. Her tone of frustration crackled across the phone. "Besides, I tried calling you all night and you wouldn't answer. I'm getting tired of this. You only think about yourself."
"How can you say that? I've been busting ass on your car all morning."
"Keep it. I need a break," she said. A click killed the noise at the other end.
"Fine. Have it your way," Vance said to the silent speaker in his ear.
###
The sun rose high into the afternoon as Vance visited the Sunset Diner for his usual double bacon cheeseburger, a half-pound course of beef and grease, coated with molten cheese. It was a meal fit for a carnivore.
"Better watch that diet," Tony said, walking over to greet him.
"It's good, man. I'm bulking. Anything new on the monster thing?"
"I'm pulling a double today so I wouldn't know." Tony leaned forward. "What's eating you, Vance?"
"Nothing," Vance said, forcefully tapping his cup to the countertop. "Just bullshit."
"Same here, bro,” Tony said, turning back toward the kitchen. “Same here."
"Hey." Vance said. "Tell your boy David to watch his back."
Tony started to walk back over to him, but halted halfway. "I know you're not threatening my family."
"Nah. Just saying." Vance slapped a small pile of crinkled five-dollar bills on the bar and tightened his smug expression before turning away and walking back toward the large, glass double-doored entrance.
###
Loud heavy metal blasted from the speakers of Vance's pickup as he slowed down beside the shopping center near the gym. Something caught his eye in the parking lot. David's red, two-door coupe sat parked close to the entrance of the grocery store. "Suppose I have a few minutes to warm up." He reached to turn down the music as he slowly rolled into the back of the parking section where he found the perfect spot to pull up beside a large camper. It was just enough to conceal most of his truck, still giving him the perfect view of the entrance doorway.
As Vance sat in his pickup, he watched the automatic sliding doors as one person emerged after another. Each time, another unfamiliar face would exit the store carrying bags of groceries or pushing a cart. The past hour really only consisted of about fifteen minutes as his frustration heated along with the summer sun that was cooking him alive inside the cab of his old pickup. "I could be pushing out all this sweat at the bench today," he said to himself as he reached to start his truck.
Just then, David's tall, thin figure emerged from the entrance of the store, walking briskly in the direction of his car. Vance watched as David popped the trunk, tossed in the only two bags he carried and paused to look around. When he climbed into his car and backed out, Vance started his truck. He followed David through the school zone at an inconspicuous distance.
Eventually, David pulled into the old recreation center. It had sat abandoned since the fire destroyed most of the central building the year before. "The hell you up to?" Vance continued around the block to an unused dirt drive on the other side of the park before coming to a gradual stop. He parked beside the unmanaged shrubbery that had reclaimed its natural state, hanging prickly branches wildly in all directions.
Vance quietly shut his door and snuck in the direction of the dirt drive where David pulled in, being careful to stay at a distance. He caught sight of David's car parked alone in the arid, red dirt near the rundown dugouts. They were once filled with life where players, parents and coaches would shout into the evening and the games would go on into the night, but now the life had been smothered from a dusty old place where crushed beer cans and wadded fast-food bags littered the concrete walkway that led to the demolished remains of burnt boards that still piled in the center between the ballfields. It stood as a memorial of what used to be. A silent ghost of the sounds of cheers that once filled the air. David's red car seemed much the same. If he hadn't just watched him pull in, he'd swear it was abandoned long ago.
Vance walked silently toward the car. As he got closer, he began looking around, scanning across the fields to the edge of the forest, woods that stretched across town to fill every vacant niche that wasn't being used. It seemed the trees would completely swallow Pine Bluff if not for the roads and buildings that occupied its place. Perhaps they swallowed David already, as he was still nowhere to be seen and the words Vance held in his throat now seemed pointless.
He squinted into the windows of David's car as he paced around it. The bright gleam of the summer sun reflected from the glass to shield its contents from view. "Alright then," he said as he tried one door handle after another. "Of course. The driver side." Vance slowly opened the door as his head swiveled this way and that before he crouched slowly into the seat and pulled the door shut.
While reaching around under the seats, he brushed his hand through the garbage underneath. Old wrappers, receipts, change, and a small pocket knife were among the debris that was David's road life.
"Waste of time," Vance said before reaching over to pop the trunk. "Almost forgot the dead hooker compartment.” He walked around to the back to lift it up. Only one of the grocery bags still remained. Three rolls of duct tape and a bottle of charcoal starter were among the contents. He closed the trunk and looked around again. As he walked toward the open driver side door, ready to close it back, he saw something laying with the rest of the garbage in the backseat floor. A familiar button.
Vance's face grew hot. Knowing that he didn't have the self-control to hear the reason for it yet, he slammed David's car door shut and strode with purpose back toward his truck.
#David#
The moon still looked full as it became visible above town in the darkening sky. It was 8:46 and David was early as he pulled up to the deserted, rocky parking area at the cliffs. Torn yellow tape and white signs with red lettering that said "Trail Closed," were the only sign of recent activity in a place still heavy with the feeling of death.
The orange light from the buried sun still glowed just over the mountain behind him as the shadows grew larger from every bush and tree. They stretched across the rocky parking space near the trailhead until there was no light left to cast them. The forest became noisy with insects, rustling leaves and every unknown creature that scurried through the edge of the woods.
Fueled by the unanswered turmoil that wrestled in his chest and spread into his restless legs, David got out of the car to walk in circles. "Seriously? Of all the places and times." While looking to see if he had signal, he realized how dangerous this situation could potentially become. "Why have me meet here at night, where there’s no signal?" Nobody knew where he was. Not even Janice or Sarah.
Periods of hair-raising silence were shattered by every sound that snapped at David's ears to jump through his spine. He eventually returned to wait inside his car, unsure why as he recalled what happened to Danny's truck. His truck... and his body.
It was 9:15. Tony should have been here already. David watched the moon, a smoke covered yellow ball veiled behind a deep gray, translucent blanket of thin clouds that floated across the sky.
The air got louder until it rumbled, becoming the sound of a car rolling up with dim headlights that shined across the gravel drive. Tony had finally arrived. After his dark green car parked, David wondered if he would ever step out before his door opened and he strolled slowly toward where David now stood.
"Listen, l
ittle bro. I'm gonna tell you, but there's something important first."
David shook his head. "You're not getting out of this that easy."
"It's Vance. He's after you and I think he really means it, bro."
Undistracted, he pressed for answers. "It's you, isn't it, Tony?"
"What's me?" Tony spread his arms out. "What are you saying?"
"Look," David said, slapping his hand against his chest. "It's me. You know you can tell me anything."
Tony looked at the ground with a shake of his head. "You've got it all wrong. It's nothing to do with that."
David tried to think of what to do next. Tony was definitely hiding something. But what is it? Why is he taking so long to get to the point?
"It's about Pops and your mom," Tony said. "I was the one who covered for him when he was out cheating on her. I came up with excuses and lied about where he was all the time."
"So what? You didn't know any better,” David said with a long pause. “How were you supposed to know?"
There was a long pause before Tony spoke again. "That's it, little bro. I did know."
David’s heart blew fire as his words went blank. "And you kept it a secret the whole time?” David asked, his fists becoming tight boulders, eyes swimming in a pool of deceit “Even helped him?"
"Listen." Tony's words blurred into the fiery rage that rushed through David's arms. He slammed his fist into Tony's face.
"Wait!" Tony's voice shouted as David swung wildly through the dark.
A howl blasted from the darkness that brought the two of them to a standstill. It rang like a siren of impending danger from the forest behind them.
"Could you tell how far away it was?" David asked.
"No. Maybe a mile. It's hard to say."
A second howl, much louder than the first, hit David’s stomach with shock.
"Pretty sure that’s closer than a mile," David said.
"Yeah. I think you're right, little bro."
"Don't call me that!" David said, forcefully pointing his finger at Tony.
"Either way, we gotta go," Tony said, stepping backward toward his car. "Sooner the better."
While heading back to their cars, David stopped. "Wait,” he said. “Who else knew we were coming here?"
"Nobody I can think of." Tony paused before raising his arms out at his sides. "Why?"
"Think harder," David said.
"What are you getting at?"
David paused before finally saying it. “I think that it's someone close to us."
Another howl erupted from the forest, followed by the sharp crack of nearby branches.
"Hey, I got plenty of reason to believe a lot of things right now," Tony shouted from his open car door as he climbed inside. "But how about we get the hell outta here and regroup?"
"Yeah. I'll follow," David said, hurrying into his car.
Tony spun out down the gravel drive as David turned the ignition. His starter screeched. "You can't be serious!" he said as he smacked his steering wheel. "Come on!" He tried again, to no avail.
At the forest's dark edge, limbs rustled about, swinging back and forth as David turned on his brights and looked up in fear at the large shape that began to emerge. He gave the key another turn. Finally, his engine roared and he stomped the gas, sliding into a fishtail on his way out. His hands straightened the course of his car as it flung gravel behind while adrenaline pounded through his chest and tingled across his fingers as his bright headlights burned their way down the tunnel of wooded dirt road where tires slammed through every hole.
After an eternity of tumbling through the gravel mountain road, it smoothed into flat pavement. The long, narrow bridge across the shimmering surface of Moss Lake now reflected the bright moon. David stopped his car halfway across the bridge and got out his phone. "Saw it. Cliffs. Barely escaped. Definitely werewolf," he added to the group chat. Nobody had been active for over an hour.
###
After knocking at Sarah's door, David walked back and forth across the creaking front porch. There was no answer. "But her car is here," he said to himself while his eyes traveled back and forth. The light from her windows casted shadows through the tall grass, making most of her yard invisible to him. "I'll try Janice's.”
###
Now, at Janice's house, it was getting close to 11:00. His adrenaline, still tingling through his skin, pounded in his chest as he beat at the door. "Will someone wake the hell up?" David walked back toward his car.
"I know who's bound to answer," he said as he reluctantly pulled his phone from his pocket with hesitant thumbs. "Where you at?" he typed into the chat box before sending it to Vance. "Let's talk," he sent another.
No reply. This is ridiculous. David felt like he could turn himself in for murder that night and the police wouldn't even notice him.
Chapter 5
The moon still lit the midnight sky as Pine Bluff trembled along with the leaves that shuttered in the breeze passing slowly through town from the deep forests.
The scent of freshly cut oak contrasted that of the of the pine forests at the lumber yard. Jerry Haywood was doing his usual security rounds near the sawmill. He had been a security guard there for nearly a decade, but nothing this small-town job could throw at him ever gave him more than a wiggly smirk of his bushy, white mustache.
A grid of high stacked charges of timber, piles of felled forest awaiting export, lined the yellow stripes painted along the asphalt loading zones. Ten-foot metal fencing topped with coils of barbed wire circled around the premises to meet at the shipping and receiving building beside the front gate.
"Kevin! Jason!” Jerry said as he swept his flashlight back and forth around stacks of freshly cut boards. “Where y'all at?" As the shadows shifted side to side, he adjusted his eyeglasses to double check the motion of his light. "Hate training these kids." He lit a cigarette around a darkly lit corner where he leaned back against a wall and exhaled a while cloud of relief in his momentary break from usual duty.
A loud scream ripped the silence apart from the other end of the yard. Grabbing his flashlight and radio, he charged the direction of the shouts. "Kevin! Come in!" he yelled on the radio, turning a corner into a stumble as he tripped over a pile of dead weight on the ground. Face planted onto the cold, rough, concrete loading pad, he picked himself up by his skinned hands, examining his busted glasses as he recollected himself.
Jerry shouted at the sight of what he tripped over. Kevin's torso, head and a leg were slumped into a pile where they had been slung against the wall, evident by the spatter of blood strewn across. His shaky fingers frantically scurried for pieces of his busted radio. The sound of Jason's screams became louder behind him as running shoes clapped across the pavement. As the noise got closer, Jerry quickly turned off his flashlight and crawled around the corner of a pile of freshly cut lumber.
A loud scream of desperation was cut short by a squash and a thud. Then a roaring howl shook the air through Jerry's squatting legs as his back planted firmly against the wall of stacked wood. Jason's voice was now gone and his struggle seemed over. More thumps continued from what seemed like fifty yards away, just beyond a couple lumber piles. He tried breathing as quietly as possible as his head turned to a passing truck’s headlights on the freeway. Nearby, but still far too distant for him to draw any attention. Things got quiet again and a sense of dread came over him as he no longer had a beat on where the commotion was.
Jerry considered scaling the tall fence nearest to his position. Maybe twenty years ago, but not tonight. The only way out would be the main security gate, but only if he could manage to sneak past the direction where Jason's screams had abruptly stopped.
Another loud thud plopped from behind him. Opposite the direction of the gate, but this sounded much closer. He held his breath and bolted for the first pile of lumber then quickly scooted around the corner, pressing his back against it as hard as he could.
The air got quiet once again as he glanced around at
the piles of cut wood that filled the lot. Every shadow jolted his heart into his throat as he gathered the courage and dashed over to the next stack. Then another. Each short run brought him closer to salvation. From his new vantage point near the trucking lane, the bright lights of the guard gate shined brightly across the yellow lines on the black pavement where a lifeless, uniformed body was sprawled. The arms were spread across a stream of blood that still seeped in a pool around where Jason's remains laid. It happened closer than Jerry thought. But now the gate held so much promise as he could see he was almost halfway there.
Jerry took one last dash toward the gate. This time he would make it all the way. No stopping points. Only freedom ahead. Freedom. Almost there, his legs were going faster than his lungs and heart could keep up. It doesn't matter. Just a little further. Running and gasping as hard as he possibly could, he finally cleared the gate and punched the button.
He impatiently watched as the beeping began and the gate slowly closed. Jerry went for the phone in the guard shack.
A crushing feeling pressed on the center of his chest. It turned sharp and cold from the left into his neck and jaw before spreading to his shoulder. An agonizing shout came from the center of his being as he collapsed onto the pavement.
After a moment that lasted an eternity in body piercing pain, the feeling returned to his arm and the pressure released. Blue lights flashed from the parking entrance, speeding toward where he still laid beside the guard shack. "Thank God," he moaned.
###
As the moon traversed the sky, the night continued to consume Pine Bluff with a darkness that only hungered for more. It lurked in the shadows between the trees, craving to spread its claw baring grip of death across the town.
It was now four in the morning and Randy Williams was getting ready for his early morning jog. "You shouldn't be out in the dark with the animal attacks," his mother said as he was lacing his shoes. "It's ok, mom. I'll be 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.
