Monsters in the Mountains Ch. 04

Jordan looked up at her, and then in the direction she had left. "She was sizing me up. She's going to teach me to fight." He responded.

"She was sizing you up for something. Maybe fighting is just foreplay to her." Megan joined the teasing.

"It doesn't matter anyways." Jordan said. "I've got you two, and with Jane back, six Bigfoot to keep up with. I'm a happy man."

They soon arrived at the mine entrance. Jordan pulled the little male down from the saddle and stooped to carry him inside.

The entire group was in a circle around Jane, touching and stroking her fur. Her hands were moving slowly, but her eyes were still closed.

Jordan lay the male down on the nest. He left him and joined the circle around Jane. Her eyes opened half-way, and then closed, then opened all the way, unfocused as the drugs slowly wore off.

Within a few minutes of blinking, she began looking around, taking in the faces around her. She paused on Jordan's face, making eye contact with him. In an instant, he could tell that she was going to be alright. Her gaze was human, and communicated the same meaning he was sending back to her.

"Wow." Kaitlin distracted him. "You two really are in love, aren't you?" Jordan nodded and looked back at Jane, who hadn't taken her eyes off him.

A growl came from the male next to him, and Jordan pulled himself away from Jane to attend to the little guy. Jordan remembered that he was found starving, the last survivor of his family group.

His eyes were still unfocused. Megan Joined Jordan, then Kaitlin, then Ginger.

"Have you thought of a name for him?" Megan asked as he slowly came to life.

"I was thinking about keeping up the Flintstones theme." Jordan said with a smile. "How about Barney?"

"Would that make Wilma his wife?" Kaitlin asked.

Hearing her name, Wilma came over to look over the slowly writhing body of little Barney.

Barney's eyes finally came open, and focused on the three humans standing over him.

"HOOT!" He let out a warning at them.

Ginger growled protectively, and Barney seemed to shrink at her warning. Slowly, he rolled over, away from the humans, and started crawling out of the nest. He sniffed the air, and seemed to decide which direction held the exit. With each crawling stumble, he gained a little more coordination. Jordan stood to follow him, but Megan grabbed his hand.

He saw the camera, recording Barney's fear and flight from the Humans and Bigfoot. "Let him go." Megan whispered. "We can't force him to stay if he doesn't want to. He won't get far, especially in daylight."

Barney stopped at the mine entrance, looking back and growling at the humans. He rested for a moment before finding his feet, and he stumbled out into the sunlight.

"The horses!" Kaitlin said, and she ran after him. Jordan and Megan followed.

Barney had walked past the horses, and was ambling in the direction of the other mine - The mausoleum, which was blocked. They watched as he found the entrance and crawled inside.

"You knew he would run off?" Jordan asked her.

"Well yeah. Jordan, normal Bigfoot are terrified of people. If he wanders too far away, BFRO will track him and bring him back or find him another home. We can't force him to fight his instincts and accept humans like your girls have.

"Let's try this." Megan ran to her horse and opened the saddle bag, coming back with two apples. "He should be starved right now. I'm going to put these outside the mine entrance, then come back up here."

Megan climbed along the hillside until she reached the hole in the rock where Barney had disappeared. She came back empty handed, walking backwards with her camera pointing at the opening. A few minutes passed before they saw a little black-furred hand reach out and take the fruit.

Megan let out a happy little squeal as she saw him accept. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." She quoted. "And that was a big step for him."

"I'm going to go get the horses squared away." Kaitlin informed them, and left riding Dixie, leading the other two.

Jordan went back into the cave, and Megan followed. Jane was sitting up now, and several females were grooming her, picking at the pink scar on her head. She tried to stand as Jordan approached, but her feet wobbled, and Missy caught her.

Jordan embraced her, burying his face in her neck. She pulled him back and kissed him, pursing her lips and making a smacking noise. Jordan stroked her stomach next. There were no outward signs of the little life within, but he knew it was there.

Megan greeted Jane as well, and she seemed to be glad to see the human woman, sniffing her hair and grooming the hair tie and bobby pins out, causing Megan's pony tail to fall. She then set out grooming the long blonde hair with fumbling fingers.

A feeling of calm happiness fell over the cave. The intangible injury of Jane's absence to the group was healed, and with it, a euphoria seemed to grip the cave inhabitants, human and Bigfoot alike.

Kaitlin broke the peace and quiet when she returned. Jane stiffened at the sound of the newcomer, and Jordan and Megan both felt the change in her demeanor.

"Jane hasn't met you yet." Megan whispered to Kaitlin. Jane had been missing when Kaitlin had first met the Bigfoot group, and this was her first time meeting the human female.

Megan stood and Jordan joined her. They took turns hugging and 'claiming' Kaitlin, then to their surprise, Ginger also stood and claimed the redhead.

Jane stood on shaky feet, and sniffed Kaitlin. She grunted, then let out a weak roar. Kaitlin had been through the dominance display before, and kept her eyes down until Jane stumbled back to the nest. Kaitlin's place in the pecking order was secure at the bottom.

Jordan and Megan Joined Jane, and they were soon enveloped in a mass of furry bodies as everyone moved to cuddle with their lost sister. It was daytime, and they were supposed to be sleeping. It took several minutes for everyone to stop shifting and get comfortable.

"Jordan, can I borrow your computer to check my email?" Kaitlin asked when she saw his eyes were still open.

Jordan nodded, and soon the light of the screen lit up the mine ceiling above the nest.

Jordan was almost asleep when he heard the musical beeping of an incoming Skype call.

"It's Dr. Stein." Kaitlin said.

Megan and Jordan rose from their places, and sat on either side of her as she accepted the incoming call. The name said 'Jim Stein,' but the face that greeted them was not him.

"Good afternoon." Said a young man in a suit. "I'm Carter Ashton." He said.

"Where's Jim?" Megan asked, the surprise obvious in her voice.

"After a vote from the Board of Directors, Dr. Stein is no longer employed by the BFRO. I'm the new director." The man said.

"Ashton?" Jordan asked, remembering something that Kaitlin's father, Abe, had said about a former director of the BFRO. "Any relation to Ronald Ashton?"

"Ah, yes." Carter said, more than a hint of pride in his smile. "My father, Senator Ashton used to be the director here before he made his name in politics."

"What happened to Jim?" Megan asked.

"He was asked to resign by the board." Carter said with a malicious smile.

"Why?" Megan was near tears again.

Carter rolled his eyes and sighed. "I was hoping to wait to tell you this, but... congratulations Jordan, you are the father of the baby!" He said in his best mocking daytime trash-TV host voice. "this situation presents some serious problems... as well as opportunities for our organization.

"We... the board... felt that Dr. Stein allowed too much leeway with his subordinates, which led to a preventable situation, and that he wasn't the right candidate to lead the organization into the next generation."

"You fired him because of us?" Kaitlin asked.

"He brought this on himself." Carter said, the smile still in place. "He lacked the leadership to make the hard decisions. Decisions, which I must now make."

"Such as?" Kaitlin asked.

"Such as Jordan treating his research subjects like research subjects instead of an interspecies whorehouse." Carter said with a sneer.

Bam-Bam chose that moment to climb into Jordan's lap, and Carter's eyes shifted to the newcomer. "Cute... but this is what I'm talking about. You're entirely too close to your subjects."

"Jordan isn't studying the Bigfoot. I am." Megan finally said.

"He's employed by us, and he's going to start doing what he's told." Carter snapped. "And the first thing he's going to do is to stop fucking anything that's not human." The look he leveled at the screen was pure derision and disgust. "And if he hopes to have any future within the organization, he is going to have to choose one sexual partner, like the rest of us."

"It's part of our social interactions." Megan pleaded her case. "He's part of their group; our group. Intercourse with the Bigfoot is expected of him."

"Have you tried saying 'no'?" Carter shot back. "Are you even capable of keeping it in your pants? Figure it out, or you can be replaced by someone with a little self-control."

"You... you don't understand what we do here." Jordan said. "It's not like that."

"Jordan, I have a Bigfoot pregnant with a half-human baby. The father has recently been arrested on assault charges, and has not only told his own father about the existence of Bigfoot, but shown him, despite having clear orders not to.

"Add not one, but two human groupies, and this whole situation looks like we let white trash have free reign within our organization. We need professionalism, we need accountability. If you aren't up for the challenge, you can be replaced."

"No." Jordan finally snapped. "No. I can't be replaced. This is my land, and the Bigfoot are my guests here."

Carter Ashton's already wicked smile grew nearly maniacal. "About that. There is a lien against the land. It turns out that your uncle wasn't good about paying property taxes on his family's mining claim. Jim Stein was willing to let our organization pay for it.

"Now, you're all settled up... but it would be a simple legal matter to get the state to refund that amount to us, and return the debt to you." Ashton seemed to relish the leverage he had over Jordan.

"How much debt?" Jordan asked.

"Over the decades? It was only a few hundred thousand dollars. I'm sure you could dig deep into savings and along with Megan there, you two could come up with the money, but is it worth it?" Carter shrugged. "All we ask is that you take a step back. No more sex with the Bigfoot. I think that's reasonable, don't you?

"And in case that's not enough to sway you, consider this: you three have been sucking off the teat of our organization for almost all of your needs. Imagine having to pay for your apartments, phone bills, tuition, food and taxes out of your own pockets.

"We giveth, and we can taketh away. Take some time and think about it. I expect you'll all make the right decision." Carter reached forward and hit a button, and the call dropped.

"That ASSHOLE!" Megan roared, and she was crying.

"Absolute piece of shit." Kaitlin said through gritted teeth and put her arm around Megan.

Jordan just sat there. One phone call, and the joy and euphoria of having Jane back was gone. He was going to have to push them away; push her away. He stood and gathered his backpack, leaving the mine.

The air outside was warm, but storm clouds were gathering, and the mountaintops were shrouded in fast moving clouds. Jordan sat on the flat rock and buried his face in his hands as a cool breeze blew down the mountain.

He thought about Carter's words. Was he right? Was Jordan an immoral man? Was he wrong to have a physical relationship with the Bigfoot? To be in love with them?

Megan and Kaitlin pulled him from his thoughts as they came outside.

"You're not seriously considering it, are you?" Kaitlin asked. "You have a responsibility to them. As alpha of their group."

"What choice do I have?" Jordan said sadly. "He can take everything away. The BFRO is all powerful."

"They can't take us away." Megan said. She was still crying, but there was a strength in her voice. "If money's all they have as leverage against us - they don't have shit."

Jordan smiled up at her. She was right. There was a gold vein inside just waiting to be mined. The feeling was fleeting however, as he realized something: "Money's just the start of it. They have power and influence. Carter Ashton will ruin us."

"We're in this together." Kaitlin said. "If Jim Stein didn't have unlimited power to support us, I doubt Carter Ashton will get unlimited power to destroy us."

Jordan sighed. "So we're really doing this? We're standing up for our rights?"

"Together." Megan and Kaitlin both said at the same time.

***