In Sheeps Clothing

Billy woke with a start. This time the dream was different. Instead of the normal dream of him and Sarah from down the street this one was bizarre. He was running through the woods being chased by someone he couldn’t see. He woke when whomever it was shot at him and the arrow hit his chest. He looked around his room and realized it was already morning. As he blinked at the sunlight streaming into his room his mom called him for breakfast. He let out a sigh and pulled the covers away. He was suddenly shocked to see his sheets and feet full of mud. “What the heck?” he whispered to himself. “How?” His mom suddenly called again. He started at the sound of her voice. He quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed the clothes he had set out the night before and ran into his bathroom. His mom smiled at him as he walked into the kitchen and sat at the table with his dad who was reading the newspaper. As he sat his mom brought over a plate of eggs and bacon. “ So, Any idea what you want for your birthday tomorrow?” she asked smiling at him. Her smile was so wide it actually made him uncomfortable. It was the kind of smile you did when you were hiding something. “Not that I can think of.” He smiled back and started in on his bacon. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “That’ll be Scott. Gotta go. We’ll talk after school.” He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as he grabbed his backpack and headed out the door. Scott was sitting in his van. He laughed at Billy as he climbed into the passenger seat with a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. “What the hell you laughing at? I’m starving.” He said as he swallowed the bacon almost whole. “Jesus dude, don’t choke on it.” Scott said as they backed out of the driveway. After a few seconds of quiet Billy turned to look at Scott. “Dude, I have to tell you about my dream last night..” “Dude, I don’t want to her about you and Sarah.” Scott chuckled. “No man, This one wasn’t like that. It was…weird.” He looked at him seriously. Scott could see the seriousness mixed with fear on his face. “Okay, what’s up?” “ You gotta promise not to laugh or anything.” “Really?” “I’m serious man.” “ Okay, Okay, I promise.” As they drove Billy proceeded to tell Scott about his dream. He told him about running through the woods feeling hungry. How he suddenly felt like someone he couldn’t see was suddenly watching and following him. How he was suddenly filled with dread and as if his life was in danger. How he woke abruptly after whatever or whoever it was shot him in the chest with an arrow from the shadows. The entire time Scott just sat and listened to the story. Billy finished as they pulled into the school parking lot. As Scott turned off the van he turned and just looked at Billy. Billy looked back. “That’s not even the messed up part. When I pulled off my covers this morning my feet were covered in mud.” He turned to look back at Scott. “Like you were actually…” “Yeah, like I was running through the mud.” “That’s messed up. Are you okay?Yeah, Just confused. It’s weird right?” “Totally, maybe for your birthday you’re losing your mind.” They both laughed as the walked toward the school. Billy suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Who’s that?” he said as he stared off in the distance. Scott stopped and looked in the same direction. “Oh, that must be the new girl I heard about.” Billy just kept looking in the distance. She was tall with long purple hair that was slightly blowing about her face. She wore an entirely black outfit. She stood out compared to all the other girls in their bright colors. Suddenly she looked at Billy. He couldn’t help but smile at her. To his surprise she smiled back as she adjusted the coffin shaped backpack on her shoulder. He was still watching as the entry door closed behind her. “Dude…” Scott jabbed him in the ribs. “Oh, Yeah, Okay.” They walked slowly and quietly into the school. He walked into his first class and sat at his desk as the bell rang. He looked up as the teacher cleared his throat. Just as the teacher was about to start the door opened. The entire class turned to look. It was her. " Ah, You must be Miss Jacobs. Welcome. Guys this is..." the teacher looked at her as she walked to the front of the class. " I'm Trina. My family just moved her about a week ago. I like creepy stuff and rock music.." "and the Devil." someone said from the back of the class. The rest of the class let out a chuckle. Billy felt anger suddenly building in his gut. Trina let out a chuckle. "Actually I don't believe in either. I'm kinda my own thing." she laughed lightly and it made Billy feel good. Suddenly she looked at him and smiled. He felt a weird warmth in his belly as suddenly she sat in the desk next to him as the teacher began his lesson. After the teacher was done Billy leaned over to Trina. "I'm Billy." She stared at him for a second. " You were staring at me as I walked up to school." Billy felt a sudden tinge of fear. She suddenly let out a lite chuckle. "Thanks for the welcome, you're the first." she said as the bell rang and she stood up. "See you around?" she smiled at him and he felt warm again. He smiled back as she turned and walked out the door. He grabbed his backpack and followed. After school Billy was waiting by Scott's van when Trina walked up to him. "I just wanted to say thank you for the welcome this morning." " Oh, it was no big deal. It's nice to have a fresh face." He smiled nervously. Suddenly Scott walked up. "Hey, you need a ride?" Billy asked. "Um, Thanks but I'll walk." Scott put out his hand in her direction. " I'm Scott by the way." He laughed as he smacked Billy on the back. She shook his hand. "Say, if you're not busy tomorrow night Billy here is having a birthday party. He's officially gonna be an old man, he's turning 16." He let out a exaggerated laugh. "Yeah, I guess I could be there. I'm sure it'll be a blast." She suddenly grabbed Billy's hand as she pulled a pen out of her pocket. She quickly wrote her number on the palm if his hand as she smiled at him. He was still staring at his hand as she turned and walked off. He started suddenly as Scott patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get going." He said as he walked around to the drivers side. Billy took one last look at the number on his hand and smiled. He opened the door and climbed in as the van started. Dinner was uneventful with the exception of his mom once again asking about his birthday nervously. After dinner he started to feel funny so he went up to bed. He felt like he was burning up as he climbed into bed. He glanced at his palm as he fell asleep. He opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of the woods. He felt weird, like he was on his hands and knees. He tried to stand up but wasn't able to. A sudden c***k of a tree branch made him turn. In the distance stood a tall man in a trench coat. As Billy stared at him he pulled out a large crossbow. He turned and ran as the man aimed in his direction. As he ran Billy noticed he still wasn't able to stand. He hid behind a tree. He watched as the man approached and stopped to look around. Billy breathed a sigh of relief as the man walked off in the other direction and disappeared into the woods. He tried to stand again but still couldn't. Finally he looked down only to see grayish brown paws where his hands and feet were supposed to be. He tried to scream but a howl came out instead. He noticed a large puddle in the distance and ran to it. As he looked at his reflection he let out another howl. Staring back at him was the face of a wolf. If it wasn't for the fact that it had his eyes he wouldn't have believed it was him. A noise behind him made spin around. There stood the man in the trench coat. "I've got ya now. No more feeding for you." His voice was gruff. He raised the cross bow. Billy jumped as the arrow impacted the ground were his foot was a split second before. As he landed he lost his footing and rolled down a steep embankment. Suddenly he woke as he hit the floor of his bedroom. He sat up and looked around relieved to be in his room again. He took a deep breath and stood up. As he did he looked down to see his feet were covered in fur. He screamed and ran to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror and screamed again. Staring back at him was a face half human and half wolf. He was in shock. A sudden knock made him jump. "Honey? Are you alright? We heard a scream." His moms voice was on the other side of the door. "Go away!" he mumbled through gritted teeth."Bill, I think you need to open the door." It was his dad. "Now son." his dads voice was stern but sounded slightly different. He hesitantly opened the door waiting for a scream. When non came he opened his eyes. There stood his dad but he was part wolf. His fur was mostly gray like his normal hair. His glasses sat on his slightly elongated snout. "Well, Happy Birthday, it looks like we need to talk." His dad put his hand on his shoulder as he led him down stairs.