Jigsaw World (17 page)

Charla had been very quiet ever since the
vision quest. Veritasia seemed about the same, other than being
slightly more clingy than usual, but with a body like hers, no
straight man in his right mind was going to mind. Vera seemed to be
trying to fit into the feminine stereotype more than she usually
did, also since the quest. Tom noticed that Markus was sitting
quietly simply observing the behaviors of the women, doubtless
trying to divine what precisely was going on in those pretty little
pointed heads.

“
Welcome to the mythic town of
Fouke, home of the Fouke Monster.” Tom quipped. “In our typical
counterproductive way, we are taking up Charlie’s offer of the use
of the cabin for the night, right here in the middle of monster
central, instead of fleeing like any nominally sane person
would.”

As he said this, they rolled up the driveway
to the little cabin in the woods. A small creek ran less than five
hundred feet from the cabin, and it looked to have a couple of
likely fishing spots on it, if one didn’t mind fishing for the
little creek fish that it likely contained. Tom didn’t mind, as
long as the beer cooler stayed well stocked.

The five of them got out and started the
process of transferring the overnight necessities into the cabin.
The cabin had three small bedrooms, so Tom and Veritasia got the
first one, Markus and Vera took the second, and it looked as if
Charla planned to use the third to store her stuff, while she
seemed intent on camping out in the small living room. Once the
necessary vices of life, those being tobacco products and liquors,
were distributed, it was shaping up to be livable
accommodations.

Over the next hour, they all settled back to
relax, and one by one, they recounted the events that happened to
them on their vision quests. Tom told his tale, and with some
coaxing and a few messy tears, Veritasia went next. Markus told his
tale, and seemed a little frustrated that he could not convey to
his satisfaction the significance of the experience. Vera had
almost totally worked through her own experience, and so she
related her vision quest with a minimal number of tears.

It was finally Charla’s turn. She started off
stumbling over the description of the events after she established
the altar bondage scene, before the sex. Once she finally got past
the beginning of the sexual violation, the words flooded out. She
told the group of her fear that she was pregnant, and her sensation
that whatever was in her womb was not human, but instead, some form
of monstrous creature.

Charla apparently did not want to have a
monster-baby. She was not the one among the girls who hailed from a
1950’sesque town, but she was choosing to act like a 1950s
potential Mom, and live hearty with her fair share of smoking and
drinking. While they might not have been healthy habits, they
certainly helped to steady her nerves.

They were all sitting out on the veranda
(which was actually just an old wooden porch with swing) smoking
Pall Malls and Rollies, and drinking Scotch whiskey from pint Mason
jars and beer from cans, when a pickup truck came trundling up the
driveway. It contained a medium sized guy in black jeans and shirt,
who introduced himself as Rafe.

Tom asked Rafe what he could do for him. Rafe
said that he had come on behalf of the Sage, who had been in touch
with one of his friends called the Seer, who had sent Rafe to
Charlie, to find out where to find the group.

“
The Sage says that I must take
Veritasia into shadow to train for an upcoming event.” Rafe said.
“I will take good care of her, and she will return safely to you
after a short while. She needs to visit the Seer in his cave, and
see what he would show her.”

He turned to Veritasia. “Will you come with
me?” He asked. “It is vital that you do so.” She looked
questioningly to Tom, who nodded.

“
I guess that I will go.” She
agreed. “But you have to spring for all meals, and buy me suitable
luxuries along the way.” She grinned.

They spent a few more minutes establishing the
logistics of the trip for Veritasia. After a while, they had
discussed every nuance of the subject that they could come up with,
and had plied Rafe with suitable quantities of whiskey and
cigarettes. It was finally time for Veritasia and Rafe to leave on
their little trip, and they got into the pickup. It rolled back
down the driveway, returning the way whence it came.

Tom, Markus, Charla and Vera continued to sit
on the porch, drinking and smoking, and enjoying the cool shading
of the surrounding trees, the faint scent of the creek water in the
distance, the sounds of the birds in the thickets, and the quiet
moments in which they were not pressed to do something
important.

It was just becoming dark, and they were
starting to consider whether to move the party indoors, or to
continue the festivities in the semidarkness of the porch. In that
time that the Scots would call the gloaming, they saw it moving
near in the brush. At first Tom thought it to be a man, checking
out the surplus of womanly flesh on display, but he was to consider
in a few moments that he may have been only half right.

At his nearest approach to the group, he
rushed out of the brush directly at Charla. She shrieked and lunged
backwards to avoid the beastly figure that was reaching for her.
Tom noted with a certain sensation of irony that the primate (for
that was what it surely was) exuded a stench not unlike a watered
down skunk smell. He guessed that if it had appeared anywhere else,
it would have been called a Big Foot. He also noted two other
relevant facts; it is true what they say about big feet equaling
big sex organs, and he was obviously intent on Charla becoming his
sex monkey.

The animal was almost in contact with Charla
when he suddenly stopped and started to back away. He looked scared
of her, and desperate to get away. He stepped to one side, and
tried to grab Vera. Tom had to give the beast props for not giving
up easily, but he still pulled the revolver clear and fired off a
couple of rounds, hitting the beast at least once in the shoulder,
and causing equal amounts fear in both the beast and in Vera. The
animal let go of the woman, and ran off back toward the brush. As
the creature approached cover, mists started to suddenly appear. He
dived into the midst of the mist, which promptly vanished. Where
the creature was, was still a ways from the cover, but the creature
was nowhere to be seen.

Markus goes to comfort Vera, leaving Charla
for Tom to relax. He led Charla into the bedroom, and talked to her
in hushed tones while massaging her body, edging in to massage her
tits and her pussy after a time. Once she was suitably aroused, he
allowed her the pleasure of giving him some oral service. He was
somewhat leery of going the whole route, since she had told him the
recent history of where her vagina had been, and he was not
entirely certain that it would be safe to penetrate her there, with
some unknown monster growing in her womb.

She confided in him that the Beast looked like
it was afraid of her
because
of the pregnancy, and she was afraid
that she was going to give birth to a true monster. She said that
there was something unnatural about this fetus, since it had
already just begun to show, and it had only been a day.

Tom suggested to Charla that they should take
her to a doctor to make sure that she was okay. He got on the phone
to Charlie to get some contact information, and got the address of
the local doctor. The next morning, they were rolling down the
drive, headed into town to talk to Dr. Feenie.

A few moments later, after being temporarily
lost on Butler Street, where they got directions from some old
geezer who used the ' past two Oak trees and the pink house, turn
right' directives to get them onto Clarke Street, they found the
old colonial house that they were assured was the business location
of the good doctor. They went in and was greeted by a man who was
somewhere between retirement age and the grave.

The doctor pulled his stethoscope out and
proceeded to give Charla a good going over. He gave out several
abortive 'a hems' and other noises as he examined her. Finally, he
wrapped up the examination.

"There is nothing wrong with you." The doctor
said. "You're perfectly fine for a woman just starting into her
second trimester."

Charla looked shocked, and a little afraid. "I
have only been pregnant for less than two days!" She
said.

"You must be mistaken. You are classic for
about four months along." The doctor reported. "And the sonogram
confirms that the fetus is normal, and the size is right for that
period. You are fine, little lady!"

A couple minutes later, they were standing
outside. Charla was horrified and scared shitless. Tom was starting
to think that he might have to let her give him another blowjob
right then and there to take her mind off of things, but the next
thing that happens derails that train of thought.

As he looked over longingly to where the RV
was parked half obstructing the residential standard street, he saw
a lady walking toward him that rang bells of recognition in his
head. Red hair, green eyes, and a deep and abiding mental picture
matching her description confirmed for him that she was the
One he
awaits
in his dreams. A moment passed, and she
stopped in front of him. It was obvious that she recognized him as
well by the way her eyes widened.

"It is you!" She said. "I was starting to
think that you were imaginary!" She reached out and hugged him
tightly.

"I know you, too!" Tom said. "I am Tom. Tell
me all about you. Don't leave anything out."

Over the next two hours, and at the nearby
cafe, they talked. They talked so much about the mystery of them
knowing each other, and of the same dreams that they had both had,
that Charla forgot to be scared as she listened. The new girl was
named Karla, and she had grown up in Shreveport before moving to
this town in pursuit of the mysteries it held. She was just like
Tom. She saw the monsters that were behind the events these last
few years. She had no family, and no lovers, which relieved Tom no
end.

The last few minutes of their conversation at
the Cafe involved plans for you to come with Tom wherever he would
next go. They all piled into the RV and drove to her apartment,
where she gathered up her sparse belonging, and returned with them
to the cabin.

******

The group had spent the night in varying
emotional states. Charla was extremely frightened at what the
future would bring to her. Markus and Vera were taking everything
in stride, more or less, and were looking more and more like a
couple. As to Tom and Karla, they were ecstatic at having found
each other. In their memories, they had been seeking each other for
centuries. Neither of them knew how that was possible, but it
certainly felt true.

They had already got to the naked wrestling
stage. Their clothes fell off of them virtually as soon as they
found themselves behind a lockable door. Tom wasn’t sure how to
handle the whole Veritasia thing, but he thought that he could
figure something out that did not end with a view of her dead body.
Even with the single-minded obsession that he was feeling regarding
Karla, he would still consider it a shame to waste a prime piece
like Veritasia. If he was lucky, she would have a go at Rafe on
their little mission, and he wouldn’t have any problems.

The morning was bright, and the birds were
singing. Bailey had already found and brought a sulled possum to
Tom. He looked startled when Tom put the possum into the corner
where it had no idea of nearby activities, and the possum started
to move like a zombie coming back to life. Tom went in for another
cup of coffee when the possum and the dog was face to face, with
the possum doing its warning hiss, and the dog sitting with his
head on its feet, barking low and continuously.

When he got inside, the phone was ringing. Tom
knew that it had to be Charlie, because no one else had received
the information for this burner phone except him. It was indeed
Charlie, and he had some information.

The group was to go to Magnolia to see the
Sage. Charlie gave Tom the address, and they discussed the reasons
for the meeting. The group was expected to set things right, to
move the world from its fragmenting and fluctuating nature to a
more stable reality.

Tom wanted to question him as to what there
was about their group that made them the chosen group? Why didn’t
Charlie and the Sage fix things, and let the group get to the
serious business of personal debauchery. Charlie said something to
the effect of he and the Sage not belonging to the world’s chess
board, and only native pieces could make the needed moves. Tom was
pretty sure that was a crock, but how do you argue with
it?

He received the full set of instructions from
the Cherokee/Caddo bastard and hung up. They were expected in
Magnolia in about six hours, where the Sage would give them further
instructions, and send them on the
first task
. It was
maybe a hundred miles to Magnolia from Fouke, so if they hurried,
they should just make it in six hours.