by Jade White
“Anyway, I think that covers it,” Betty said while standing up. “You girls can head on home. Kim, can you stay here and help me tidy up? Rusty won’t be back for a little bit, but it’s getting late and I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Kim nodded as the two girls shuffled out the front door. They seemed a bit nervous about the upcoming ceremony, for good reason.
“Look, I won’t play games with you,” Betty said. “I know you’re pregnant, it’s not really a secret. We don’t have those around these parts anyway.”
Kim blushed furiously as she looked at her feet in shame.
“Now dear, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” The old woman soothed her as she put a wrinkled hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “It happens. You have sex, you’re bound to fall pregnant after a little bit if you’re able to. Looks like you’re able to.”
“But...I don’t want to be.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. You’re actually pretty damn happy to be pregnant, or you would be, if it weren’t for that damn stalker of yours lurking around every corner.”
“Yeah, you have that right,” Kim said. “If it weren’t for him wanting to kill me, and everyone around me, I’d probably feel a bit better about this whole situation.”
“Exactly. So do you know who the father could be?”
Kim shook her head sadly. “Nope, it’s either Keith or Tony. Those are the only ones I slept with since moving here.”
Betty paused thoughtfully as she put the pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. “You know, my husband could probably divine who the father is, before you have the baby. You’re due sometime in early spring, and that’s after the time you need to tie the knot with one of the men. The choice has been made for you, my dear, now we just find out who the lucky man is,” she said with a smile.
“Yeah...” Kim said as she put some plastic wrap over the veggie tray. “It does make it a little easier doesn’t it?”
“True, but if your heart lies with the other one, it won’t be an easy road. You could grow to love the man you mate; love is a choice, you know. We teach that from the cradle here. You choose to love the person you’re with. Falling in love and choosing to stay in it are two different things entirely. Remember that.” The old lady said as she put the vegetables in the fridge.
Kim didn’t answer the elder as she placed the lid on the dip container. She had no idea what to think at this particular point in time.
“We can get Rusty to divine the baby’s father after the shifting ceremony. He needs to be on his game for that and a divination can throw him off for days, depending on how difficult it is, and finding out who a baby’s father is, is one of the hardest ones.”
“That works,” Kim replied softly. “I don’t know who to hope for.”
“How about this. Let the Universe decide. Don’t hope for a certain one. If you do, you’re bound to be disappointed. Just let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. You care for both, right?”
“Yeah,” Kim said sullenly.
“Now you should be getting on home. It’s getting late and you need to get some sleep. You have some pretty busy days ahead of you.”
Kim nodded and grabbed her cell phone from her pocket to text Tony to come walk her home. Betty placed her wizened hand on Kim’s to stop her. “Let Junior walk you home. The men are still at their meeting and there’s no reason to interrupt them.”
Junior stepped out of the hallway and into the kitchen, bending over slightly to get through the doorframe. He waved shyly at Kim as he made eye contact with her.
“Junior,” Betty said slowly and deliberately, “you are to walk Kim back to her house and keep her safe.” Each word Betty said to her disabled son was drawn out and exaggerated. “Do you understand?” She nodded her head for emphasis.
Junior looked at Kim with a sarcastic expression and nodded his head, indicating he understood the task that was given to him.
“Good! You have Junior here to keep you safe from that psycho while you walk home. He might not be good for much, but he’s pretty decent at being a big sack of muscle when you need it,” Betty said. “Now both of you get on your way. We’ll talk again later.”
*
Junior opened the front door for Kim. She smiled warmly at the large man and stepped through into the cool mountain night. They strolled down the street signing away at each other.
“You know,” Junior said, “Mom and Dad just want to help you. They don’t mean to embarrass you or anything.”
“Yeah, I know. I just find it crazy that they know everything that goes on around here.”
“Yeah, they’ve been around for a very long time. I don’t remember a time they were as young as you,” he signed back.
“You mean...”
“Yeah, they were super old when I was born. I have no idea how old they really are. Those two are timeless.”
The crickets chirped in the night as they strolled through the dark streets, the crisp night air invigorated their senses. There was a thin mist clinging to the postage stamp front lawns of the modest houses of the reservation.
“See, Mom and Dad, they’ve been here since the beginning,” Junior explained. “Almost everyone in the village is descended directly from them.”
Kim looked a little queasy at the thought of the incestuous implication of Junior’s revelation.
“No, no, it’s not like that. There are those descended from my parents, and then there are some outsiders, like yourself, and there are some descended from the rest of the original settlers that aren’t Mom and Dad, so there is no brother-sister or first cousin thing going on up here, it’s just that there is pretty close blood. Sometimes things go wrong.” The pain in his eyes cut Kim to her very soul.
“Junior, you didn’t go wrong,” she assured him while placing her small hand on his large one. “You were born with a disability and weren’t given the chance to grow. That’s all. You found your own way to communicate, and taught yourself everything you wanted and needed to know.”
“It’s not enough. No one in this village respects me. They all think I’m a moron, even Mom and Dad. Just because I can’t hear or talk doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I can read their lips; I know exactly what they say about me.”
The large man’s fury and sorrow were apparent. “Not only that, but because I couldn’t hear the drums, only feel the vibrations, I almost got stuck during my first transformation.” He looked at her with panic in his dark brown eyes. The breeze took a strand of his long black hair out of its elastic and played with it in the light of the waxing moon. “It’s terrifying. If I didn’t remember to feel for the vibrations through my paws, I might be out in the woods with everyone else...”
Kim looked up at the giant man with empathy in her eyes. She felt awful for Junior. Living in such a small town with the type of disability he had must have been heart wrenching.
“You know,” he continued signing, “some days I wish I had gotten stuck. Some days I wish I would shift, and get stuck and just go out and never come back. I wouldn’t last long out there with my coloration, but still, it would be better than being trapped here for my entire life, being made fun of, treated like a retard...”
Junior wrung his hands in distress. Kim was the first and only person to accept him and understand him. He needed to unload his emotional burden on someone because after all these years of silence, he had a friend.
Kim reached up and gave the shaking man a warm hug. He heaved silent sobs into her shoulder as he finally managed to say what he had wanted to say ever since he could remember. The poor man just wanted to be treated like a human being for once in his life. He had found a valuable asset in Kim.
“I promise I’ll speak up when someone starts treating you like that again. I just didn’t know what to say tonight...now I do,” Kim whispered into Junior’s ear as he sobbed.
Junior stood up and wiped his nose on his sleeve, gratitude shining in his dark eyes. “Thank you,” he signed. “That’
s all I ask. You can be my voice because you can understand me. No one else wants to.”
Kim smiled at the man. “You know. Maybe you’ll find a mate someday. Someone who really wants to learn to communicate with you. Who knows?”
Junior laughed a silent laugh. “I doubt it. Mom and Dad never let me go to the city to meet anyone. They’re ashamed of me.”
“Well, maybe one day you and I can go to the city. Take you out to the mall, let you see the sights and take in the pretty ladies. Who knows, you might find someone special as well?”
Junior looked at Kim forlornly. He knew it was dangerous for him to fall for her so he kept his emotions strictly in check. He knew she had to pick between Keith and Tony and didn’t want to add the burden of adding himself to the choice as well. “Yeah, maybe,” he signed lamely. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.
They continued on their walk to Kim’s house. The lights were still on inside and she saw a tall lanky figure silhouetted against the blinds.
Kim stopped cold and reached for her cell phone. She sent Tony a hurried text asking if he was the one in her house. She watched the shadow reach into its pocket and pull something out. A few seconds later, she felt her phone buzz in her hand. It was Tony waiting for her in her home. She sighed a sigh of relief and continued on towards her house. She looked up at Junior and smiled as he walked next to her. He still was somewhat troubled, but his emotions were clearing up and he began to cheer up.
Kim looked at Junior as she reached her front door. “Hey, thanks for the walk home and thanks for trusting me enough with all that.”
Junior choked back another round of tears, the internal wound still raw from the lancing. He had found an ally in Kim, and he was grateful. Maybe soon he’ll be treated like a human being instead of a waste of space by the band.
She opened the door and saw Tony standing on the other side, smiling warmly. He looked at Junior and nodded. “Thanks for walking her home, son. It’s much appreciated.”
Junior smiled at Tony’s praise. Tony was one of the few people in the village that had treated him like a human being instead of a burden. When Junior wasn’t working at the store, Tony was always giving him small jobs in the police station to tend to; mostly filing paperwork and whatnot, but it was more than just menial labor.
Kim put her hand on Junior's and smiled warmly right before she stepped into the house. “Thanks again, really. Stay safe out there, please?”
Junior waved her concerns off as he started down the driveway. He was a big man, towering well over six feet seven inches tall, his shoulders were as broad as a linebacker’s and he was muscular like one, too, due to his life of physical labor in the general store.
He walked down the streets, unable to hear the songs the crickets played for one another. He couldn’t hear the alarm call of the great grey owl as a slender shape slunk through the shadows.
He did, however, feel the vibrations of the light footsteps through the soles of his thin shoes. Out of habit, he shifted into his mountain lion form. The large black and white mountain lion padded through the village square, sniffing the air and feeling for any kind of vibrations through his sensitive paws, to alert him to the intruder. He might not be able to hear, but his other senses were developed to the point of unearthly clarity. Junior sniffed the air some more and caught a whiff of rank unwashed human.
He curled his lip and let out a silent growl as he recognized the stench. It was Smiley. For some reason that man had not left town after he had burned down the general store. Maybe he was hoping to catch Kim unguarded for once, and carry out his sinister plan of ending her life, once and for all.
Junior caught the horrible man’s disgusting scent trail and decided to follow it. If he could find where that psycho was hiding, he could tell Tony and finally remove this pall that has been hanging over his village once and for all.
Some might think Junior foolish for tracking the unstable human on his own, but this is where he excelled. He didn’t need to rely on his hearing. He could feel the vibrations of any movement through his large paws, and his nose was second to none. Not even the most highly trained police canine units were able to match him. Due to his unusual coloration, he blended into the night much easier than the rest of the villagers in their tawny and silvery coats. He might look like a tuxedo patterned house cat, but his dark fur blended into the night perfectly.
He followed the horrific scent from around back of the burnt out general store, almost losing it in the overpowering smell of burnt plastic that lingered around there. He padded into the bushes where the smell of gasoline lingered and picked up the sour scent of Smiley mixed with the accelerant.
He silently slunk through the bushes, padding carefully so he wouldn't snap any branches, something that was instinctual to the cougar part of his brain. He followed the scent trail further through the woods. He didn’t feel any bipedal vibrations as he followed Smiley’s disgusting trail. He noted a few weasels out and about and the thud of an owl as it landed silently on a rodent of some kind. He smelled the slightly acrid scent of a poison ivy plant and managed to avoid it as he moved stealthily through the bush.
After stealthing through the woods for roughly half an hour, Junior came across a wide clearing in the woods. He took a cautious sniff and noticed the scent of wood smoke from a recently doused camp fire mixed with the sour scent of the man he was tracking. This is where he was staying, Junior thought to himself.
In the dark clearing, he could make out the outline of a small one man pop-up tent, a four wheeler, and a strung up deer. Junior’s mouth watered at the smell of a fresh kill, but he shook his head and kept his game face on. He was here for Smiley.
He originally planned to just relay the location of Smiley’s hide out to Tony, but figured one lone human versus a rather large predator shouldn’t be a problem for him. A problem for Smiley, yes, but not for Junior. If anything, he could put a good scare into the man to the point where he might make a mistake and finally get captured. Junior was feeling pretty rash after the evening’s events. He felt he needed to prove to everyone he really was worth something.
He felt a vibration in his paws as a two-legged creature approached. The sour stench of unwashed body wafted towards Junior’s sensitive feline nose and it was everything he could do to not sneeze out the offensive scent and alert Smiley to his presence.
He saw the glow of a lit cigarette approach the clearing and bob up and down as its owner strode to the log near the camp fire pit. He sat down on the log and began to fiddle with some kindling in the darkness. Junior saw the spark of a lighter igniting and the steady glow of a flame from Smiley’s direction. Soon the fire began to sputter to life, filling the clearing with the healthy scent of burning pine logs.
Junior felt this was his chance. He crouched down almost to his belly, coiling his legs like springs underneath him in preparation for a leap. The fire hadn’t caught very well yet so the light in the clearing was still pretty dim. Smiley wouldn’t know what hit him.
Junior uncoiled in one lithe movement and leapt towards the unsuspecting man. The tightly coiled cougar covered the length of the clearing in one elegant leap, and landed on Smiley causing his head to bounce on the loamy ground.
Smiley let out a strangled scream as the giant cat pinned him to the forest floor. Junior’s tail thrashed in anger as he looked down at the man who decimated the general store, and for the time being, the livelihoods of all those who lived in Predator Springs.
The man’s flight or fight instinct short circuited so all he could do was freeze in a panic. Junior lowered his large head down towards Smiley’s and took a couple of sniffs of his greasy head.
Without missing a beat, Junior placed his thoughts directly into Smiley’s head. “You better get going. If you don’t, you won’t live to see the next full moon. Consider this your first and only warning.” With that, Junior turned just as swiftly and bounded off back towards town.
CHAPTER 12
Kim closed
the door as Junior started down the driveway. Tony walked up behind her and gave her a warm hug. “So how did it go?”
“I learned quite a bit actually, and some stuff after the girls went home,” she said, visibly uncomfortable. She didn’t want to tell Tony about it. He probably already knew, but it was just one of those things she felt the need to keep close to her chest.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it,” Tony whispered as he gently stroked her dark hair. “What’s important is, did it answer any questions?”
Kim smiled. “Yeah, it answered quite a few questions actually, and sparked a few more.”
“That’s good,” Tony said while bending down to nuzzle her neck. “Would you like some company tonight?” he asked as he nibbled on her tender earlobe.
Kim felt sparks of arousal jump through her body as she felt Tony’s hot, insistent mouth on her soft flesh. “Mmm, that would be nice,” she responded as she leaned into his lithe body. She inhaled deeply and was taken away by his musky scent. The pull wasn’t as insistent now that she was pregnant, but it was still a very pleasant sensation.
She moaned as his nimble hands reached under her shirt and found her perky breasts. Her nipples were incredibly sensitive, and even the lightest touch sent shockwaves of desire through her body. Tony knew to be gentle so as not to hurt her, so he gently teased her breasts through her lacy bra.
Kim turned around and wrapped her arms around Tony’s shoulders and drew him down for a deep passionate kiss.
Tony growled as he felt Kim’s velvet lips meet his. His rough tongue darted out and eagerly sought admittance to her sweet mouth. He was pleased as she admitted him and caressed him with her own soft...wait rough? Tongue. Tony was taken slightly aback by the new sensation but didn’t dare mention it to her. If anything, it caused his desire to become more insistent.
Kim fiercely kissed Tony as an animalistic demand for release swept over her body. She gently bit down on his tongue and looked him in the eyes with a challenging glare, daring him to take her right there and then. Tony’s eyes went wide as he saw Kim’s blue eyes change into the vertical pupil eyes of a cat.