Big Gator: A BBW shape shifter paranormal romance (20 page)

             
He
shook his head no, that he didn't mind.  Strangely, he
understood what she might be feeling.

             
Brandy
smiled softly and kissed him.  Then she pulled away.  She
stretched a little and then shifted.  She swam off, circling
around him at a distance. She just needed to clear her head, and she
also wanted to make sure that the territory around them was clear. 
Probably she should have done that before they made love, but she had
been too caught up in the moment.

             
Jake
watched her with amazement.
This
is going to be a complicated relationship
,
he thought,
but
that's what makes it so worthwhile
.

Chapter 21

             
Rachel's
mother, as expected, was an overbearing and icy.   She
expressed her deep disappointment with how her daughter had failed to
handle her man. Rather than being angry at her mother, Rachel grew
bitter towards Jake. She was no longer sure that she really wanted
him, but she increasingly wanted to make sure that he didn't walk
away so easily.

             “
You're
a LaBelle,” her mother had reminded her over the phone. “And no
woman in our family allows herself to be cast aside. Any man you have
should be on his knees kissing the ground you walk on.”

             “
What
should I do?”

             “
Well,
it's been a long time since a LaBelle woman let herself be treated
like this,” her mother replied. Her condescension toward her
daughter was palpable.  “So, we're a bit rusty in that
regard.  It will take a little research.”

             
When
Rachel left her house one morning, she had no idea she was being
tailed. Jenny's two bounty hunters had been watching her all week,
ready to make a move when the timing seemed right. Jenny had brought
talismans from another source in New Orleans that should protect all
of them, if Rachel LaBelle had any real power and decided to pull a
fast one.

             
The
bounty hunters were waiting for when the pretty Conjure Woman would
be away predictably long enough for them to break in and check out
her house.  They had studied her schedule for a few days, and on
this morning they did not follow her, because they were reasonably
sure she would be away all day.

             
They
slipped into Rachel's house to see what she had in stock – any
paraphernalia on hand that would indicate her regular activities. 
The bounty hunters found some ritual candles in an alcove kept locked
off the kitchen, where Rachel had setup up a home alter.  This
also was where she kept a number of jars of unidentifiable
ingredients, some of which smelled good and some of which most
certainly didn't.   Some of the jars contained plain dirt,
while others oddly contained spare change. The bounty hunters also
found lodestones – magnetized pieces of magnetite.

             
Searching
the house further, they found some scattered items in various drawers
and closets – and some items on the table next to her bed. 
They removed everything from the rest of the house and stored them in
the alcove.  That way, they could control Rachel LaBelle's
access to everything if it was all in one place.

             
When
Rachel came home that night, her house was completely dark. She was
too tired to notice that anything had been rearranged. She took her
makeup off in the bathroom, changed into her PJ's and went to bed.
The bounty hunters waited until she was in a deep sleep.  Then
they tied her to the bed, carefully and gently.

             
When
Rachel suddenly woke up abruptly, she saw Jenny sitting at the foot
of her bed. She tried to scream, but one of the Cliburns immediately
gagged her.

             “
There's
only one question I want to ask you for the moment,” Jenny said.
“And you don't need to speak to answer it.  You can just nod
your head yes or no.  We already know the answer, so you should
be honest.”

             
Rachel
stared at her wide-eyed with fear.

             “
Are
you – or are you not – descended from a woman named Madame Eve
LaBelle?”

             
Rachel's
eyes widened even further.  But, rather than play games, she
slowly nodded.

             “
Have
you ever heard of the Guyette family?” Jenny asked.

             
The
name sounded familiar, but Rachel couldn't place it.  So she was
being mostly honest when she shook her head 'no'.

             “
How
about the Powells or the Cliburns?”

             
Still
no.

             “
The
Renoux?”

             
No.

             “
Maybe
the McAlisters, the Slaters or the Quackenbushes?”

             
Rachel
kept shaking her head 'no'.

             “
Well,
we
all
remember
your great-great-great grandmother,” Jenny said. “And we need you
to take care of some business on her behalf.”

             
Rachel
was terrified, but now she realized she probably was physically safe
for the most part, if these people needed her.  The redheaded
bully to her left, however, was holding a taser.  This wasn't so
promising.

             
Jenny
noticed that Rachel had caught on to that.

             “
If
we remove the gag and you scream, he's gonna use that on you,”
Jenny warned her. “So we understand each other?  If you do
what we want, you won't get hurt.”

             
The
Cliburns looked at each other.  That wasn't guaranteed to be
true.  The reality was, they could only guess what to do. 
Even if the curse was lifted, Rachel LaBelle could come after them
with something else if she was pissed enough.  Then they'd be
back to Square One.  It was up for debate as to whether Rachel
LaBelle would live or die after-the-fact.

             “
Beau,
go ahead,” Jenny said.  The dark-haired Cliburn removed the
gag.  Rachel remained as silent as a church mouse.

             “
There's
another LaBelle that's still alive,” Jenny said.

             “
My
mother,” Rachel admitted.

             
Jenny
already knew that. 

             “
Anybody
else?”

             “
Not
that I know of, but that doesn't mean we don't have distant cousins
that we haven't met.”

             “
We
know your mother lives in Florida. We need you to call your mother
and get her over here.”

             
Rachel
laughed at that.

             “
My
mother – come to visit me?  That's not going to happen.
Besides, she’s in New York right now.”

             
The
redheaded Cliburn – Paulie – moved in closer with the taser.

             “
Hey!
Stop!” Rachel protested. “I'm telling the truth.  You don't
know my mother.  She's not exactly the motherly type.  I
avoid her as much as I can unless I really need to talk to her for
some reason.”

             “
Is
she more powerful than you?” Jenny asked.

             “
Powerful
how?”

             “
How
do you think?”

             “
Oh,”
Rachel said. “You mean
that.”

             
“
Why
the hell else are we here?!
”
Jenny
spat.

             “
Yeah,
my mother is pretty powerful.  She's better than me.  It's
true.”

             “
Well
then you need to get her to Florida, however which way you can.”

             
Rachel
started shivering with nervousness.

             “
You
look familiar,” said Paulie, eyeballing Rachel up and down.

             
Great,
Rachel
thought.

             “
You're
that lingerie model,” Paulie concluded smugly.

             
Jenny
gave him a dirty look.

             “
Seriously?”
Jenny said. “Can you keep your mind focused here?”

             
Paulie
backed off.

             “
You're
going to have to tell me what this all about,” Rachel pleaded. “You
need to give me specifics.  What did Eve LaBelle do to you all
exactly?”

             “
Should
we
show
her
or
tell
her?”
Beau asked Jenny.

             “
I
don't know...” Jenny said thoughtfully.  She was relishing
this moment a little more than she should. Then she made her
decision.

             “
Let's
show her,” Jenny decided.

             
When
the three of them started pulling off their clothes, Rachel for a
split second thought she was about the get gang-banged.  She
tried to scream, but she was so scared she lost her voice.

             
Then
she saw Jenny, Beau and Paulie drop to the ground, almost like a
belly flop.  Their skin started rippling and then it cracked
into separate segments.

             
Scales?
Rachel
thought.
What
the hell is happening?

             
The
flesh-color of their skin deepened into a greyish green, and the
bones of their jaws popped like someone was cracking his knuckles.
Within seconds, Rachel LaBelle was surrounded by three alligators in
her bedroom.  Her heart started pounding.  This was beyond
anything she had ever seen in terms of the supernatural. Rachel kept
trying to remind herself that these people needed her for something,
so they would have to keep her alive. 

             
Although,
that didn't mean they wouldn't bite her.

             
Can
alligators jump?
she
wondered. If not, she technically was safe up on her bed.

             
Jenny
proved THAT wrong by darting at the foot of the bed high enough that
her two front legs hung on, and she could snap at Rachel. 
Mostly, she was doing this for effect, which worked. Rachel yelped.

             “
Cut
that shit out!” Rachel hollered. “I'm scared enough already,
don't you think?”

             
The
three of them shifted back into human form.  Jenny and Beau got
dressed, but Paulie was in no hurry. He definitely remembered Rachel
in those catalogues, and he was giving her a full frontal view of his
own.