Myths and Legends - Beastin

*Author's note*

Hey all. Wanted to apologize for not posting anything sooner. This last month has been crazy busy with my son's, wife's, and my birthdays all happening within a few days of each other. Not to mention the last two weeks of work have kept me so busy I've not been able to get any writing done at all. It's been pretty much get up, go to work, end the day, eat dinner, and go to bed. Additionally, with the coming holidays, the gap between submissions will most likely widen even further until after the first of the year.

That being said, Chapter two of Beastkin is finally done. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. Happy reading!

~Ghost Dream~

Chapter 2

Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa

Belle Rivière Boutique Hôtel

Jake woke up with a gorgeous redhead snuggling into him on his left, a gorgeous brunette drooling on his arm on his right, a goddess of a platinum-blonde molded to his right leg between his feet, and a sexy honey-blonde curled up adorably on his chest. Sleep still fogged his mind as he wondered how he ended up in the same bed with all four women, not to mention that they all fit somehow.

He remembered waking up a few hours after passing out with Lenore on top of him. She and Xāda had been slumbering adorably in the bed they'd fallen asleep in. Since they were sleeping soundly and his erection wasn't anywhere near going down on its own, he'd decided to start the morning party with Tatiana and Sestia a little early. After making love to them for a couple of hours, giving them plenty of orgasms and baby batter, they'd passed out together in their room.

Sometime while they slept, Xāda and Lenore must have decided they wanted to be as near to him as possible and managed to squeeze themselves into the bed with the trio of lovers.

The morning sunlight was trickling through the curtains and flickering in his eyes, telling him it was probably past time to get up. With his hands already laying along Sestia and Tatiana's backs, it took little effort for him to gently rub and squeeze the delectable flesh of their asses as he kissed Lenore on the top of her head. The three women groaned as their bodies responded to his touch.

"Five more minutes," Xāda pouted from between his legs with her head on his thigh and dangerously close to his junk. Her warm breath tickled the hair on his balls as she exhaled a sigh when he denied her request.

"Today's the day," he told the women. "The commissioner will be here soon. We gotta get up and get showers before we leave. I don't think the commissioner and chief inspector would appreciate us smelling like cum, sex, and morning breath all the way to Kole."

"Fine," Sestia pouted but instead of getting up, she rolled over and pressed her plush backside into his naked hip.

Lenore giggled sleepily as she slid off of Jake when he pulled himself toward the headboard to a sitting position. From there, he stood up at the head of the bed. The women groaned in protest when he stepped around them to hop down from the bed.

Turning on the water and checking for the correct temperature, Jake thought about the previous day's conversation. He sighed with a heavy heart when he remembered the single dot of light on the map that hadn't moved all evening.

[It's possible that she has moved around in the same general area and because the map is so big it didn't register,] Jake thought, [but something tells me that's not the case.]

He had a sinking suspicion that whoever the dot was connected to was so depressed that she barely took care of herself. The more he thought about it, the more the theory solidified in his mind. He stood under the shower head with his hands against the wall, letting the hot water cascade down his naked flesh when a pair of arms wrapped around his midsection and a supple, naked body molded itself to his back.

Jake sighed in contentment as he eased off the wall and turned to behold the hazel eyes that enraptured him on so many occasions. He offered Xāda a forlorn smile. She returned his smile with one of acceptance as she cupped his cheek.

"We'll find her," Xāda reassured him. "Both of them."

"I know," Jake replied. "I just... I feel bad, you know? I mean, we're here enjoying the luxuries of life and each other while they and the rest are out there suffering and struggling to survive."

"We don't know for certain the rest are struggling, do we?"

"Not for certain, no," Jake replied. "A couple, maybe. There's one in what appears to be the deep jungle of northern Canada and another in the Outback of Australia that might be. The remaining two seem to be—if not in, then close to—populated areas."

"Such as?" Xāda asked.

"One is in Japan and the other in Europe. That's all I remember right now."

"Japan, huh? I've never been."

"Really?" Jake asked with a playful smirk. "I thought you'd been everywhere."

"No. Always wanted to go, though. It's been a lifelong dream to climb Mount Fuji."

"That's where she is!" Jake exclaimed as she snapped his fingers.

"Post-nut clarity?" Xāda asked with a playful wink.

Jake chuckled softly as she shook his head. "It would have to actually be post-nut to be considered," he replied.

"We could make it happen for real," Xāda offered with a devious smile as she cupped his balls.

Jake's smile widened. "Leave it to you to think about sex at a time like this."

"Oh, that's all of us," she replied flippantly. "The world could be crashing down around us and all we'd care about is getting dicked one more time," she teased him as she turned. "Wash my back?"

Jake smiled as he complied. "You're pretty good at that, you know."

"What?" she asked.

"Getting me out of my funk."

"Well, it helps to be beautiful and intuitive."

"Not to mention smart as a whip."

"That, too," Xāda said over her shoulder, winking playfully at him.

"Room for one more?" Tatiana asked, her heavy Greek accent fluttering into the room.

"Barely," Xāda replied as she backed into Jake, pressing his back against the wall of the shower. "Come on in and I'll wash your back while our king fondles me as he attempts to wash my front."

Jake looked toward the bathroom door when the redhead joined them. "They are using the other bathing room, my king." Jake nodded. "Should we discuss what to do when we find our lost sister?"

"Probably a good idea," Jake replied. "Though there are any number of scenarios we might encounter when we find her."

"You said she's not moving around, right?" Xāda asked.

"She doesn't seem to be. I'll know for sure when I get my hands on a smaller map of the area."

"If that is the case, then it is likely we will be able to find her easily if she glows for you like Xāda did," Tatiana speculated.

"That's what I'm hoping for, though I'm not counting on it," Jake replied. "Xāda's glowing might just have been a fluke. If she does glow, though, it might be better to travel at night once we close in on her location."

"Is that wise in the thick forest, Jake?" Xāda asked. "There are any number of threats we might encounter."

Jake chuckled. "I seriously doubt it. I mean, for all intents and purposes we're superheroes. There's not much that can threaten us short of rockets and missiles."

The three finished bathing, and even though Jake would have loved to give them "a good dicking", as Xāda so eloquently put it, he reigned in his raging libido in favor of finding the endangered women he came to rescue.

Jake was dressed first and waited by the door to their rooms for the women to finish. With packs in hand, the four Amazon warriors filed past Jake one at a time, kissing him before exiting the room. Sestia was last out the door in front of Jake and he couldn't resist smacking her plump backside. Her shriek of surprise devolved into a moan as the slap echoed into the hall.

"Do that again, my king, and I will have you bending me over in front of the other hotel guests," Sestia threatened with a purr.

Jake laughed as he followed them out into the hallway. He watched, having to temper his libido again as four plump asses jiggled in skin-tight leggings down the corridor in front of him. [I'm gonna have to take point during the hike in the forest,] he thought wryly. [We'll be having to stop every few minutes otherwise. Damn you and your gift sometimes, Liliana.]

Commissioner Mutombo and Chief Inspector Kasongo waited for them outside the hotel, each standing beside a box-looking Land Rover-type vehicle. The commissioner smiled as he caught sight of them.

"Sorry for the delay," Jake apologized. "I hope you weren't waiting long."

"Non, Monsieur," the older man replied. "Ready to go? You have, er, what do you call, camping supplies? There are no hotels where we are going, and if you are entering the jungle, you will need them if you don't want to sleep on the ground."

"We can swing by my plane at the airport if we have time," Jake offered. "It won't take us long since we have our rucksacks already packed and ready to go."

"That should not be a problem, Monsieur. It will only delay us by an hour or so. Plenty of time to get to Kole if the river ferry is not too busy."

An hour later, the two vehicles were traveling north along highway N4, leaving modern civilization behind for the most part. They crossed the ferry between the town of Banalia and the village of Bobende. The road north of Bobende progressively deteriorated, in some cases becoming so bad that they had to slow to a crawl to prevent bouncing out of the vehicles.

Jake pored over the maps the commissioner brought with him, memorizing the places of the deep jungle where the dot that indicated his target showed up. He showed the maps to Xāda and Tatiana in the backseat, pointing out the location with his finger so they could see. Tatiana, for the most part, was oblivious to what he was trying to show her, but Xāda helped her out by explaining it.

"So, she's about two miles or so northeast of the village," Jake said. "We'll have to go through thick brush and over almost impassable terrain to get to her."

"How long will it take?" Tatiana asked.

"We'll most likely spend the rest of the day today interviewing the villagers," Jake explained and the commissioner confirmed it with a nod of his head as they bounced along the rough road. "If we leave at first light and use our abilities to help us along, we should make it to her by nightfall."

"Was that a small clearing I saw that you pointed out where she was?" Xāda asked.

"It looked like it," Jake replied with a nod. "Barely visible. Good eye. I'm gonna see if I can't sketch the area when we get to it if there's still light enough."

"Why a sketch?" Xāda asked.

"To see how intricate my ability to see the dot on the map is," Jake replied with a grin. "If I sketch the area accurately enough, she might show up on the sketch, allowing us to narrow down where she is to a few yards' radius."

"If you get that close, my king, will you not be able to see her glowing?" Tatiana asked.

"I'm not sure," Jake replied. "The only time it happened before was at night with Jessie and it disappeared after we, um, you know." He glanced at the commissioner. Xāda smiled knowingly and offered him a playful wink. "The glow might not be visible during the day."

"I will stay in the village while you are gone," the commissioner commented.

"The whole time?" Jake asked. "We might be gone for days. Maybe even a few weeks."

"I can stay a week, then we have to go back to Kisangani," the commissioner informed them. "We will leave you one of the cars. If you are not back in a month, we will have to come and get the car."

"Thank you," Jake replied. "Hopefully it won't take that long, but we understand. Is there a bus that runs that direction regularly?"

"I think so, but I will have to check with the village elder for certain."

"Sounds like a plan. We'll cross that bridge if we have to, though."

"My Jake, if you can see her glow, does that not mean we should travel at night?" Tatiana asked.

"That's not a bad idea, Tat, but that will make the going more difficult than it needs to be," Jake answered. "We know she's near that clearing we saw on the map, so I planned to hike to there and use that small clearing as a sort of base of operations. We can scout at night from there to find her."

"Unless she moved on, or moves on when we get closer," Xāda speculated.

"Either way, it's a start," Jake replied. "Commissioner, what kinds of animals do we need to be wary of in the jungle?"

"Eh, snakes mostly," he replied. "Maybe some gorillas or baboons if you get too close to their nests. Crocodiles or buffalo if you get near large bodies of water."

"What about big cats?" Xāda asked.

"Those are more on the north side of Africa," the commissioner replied. "Though there have been rare sightings of leopards or panthers. Even more rare are tigers and lions."

"But there have been sightings of them?" Xāda asked.

"Yes. Though, as I said, they are extremely rare. With your strength, though, you shouldn't have any problems with any of the wildlife as long as you avoid them as much as possible."

As the commissioner finished speaking, the road opened up to reveal a small village. Square mud buildings with thatched or metal roofs dotted the landscape. The village appeared to be in disrepair for the most part, with sparse grass and the occasional shrub here and there dotting the hard-packed red dirt. The road bisected the center of the village of Kole from southeast and curved back straight west.

The people were mostly friendly, with happy, welcoming smiles and bright, interested eyes. The children of the village ran alongside the two vehicles trailing sticks in their hands, making light gouges in the dirt at their feet while laughing and slapping the doors as they lumbered along.

Jake smiled at the sight of the children's happy faces as the commissioner pulled his Land Rover up to a large, round, squat building adjacent to the road. The building was larger than any of the other domiciles of the village and had a rusted metal roof jutting at a sharp angle to the center of the diameter of the roof.

As Jake and the women exited the vehicles, they were swarmed by loud, happy children, pulling on them and touching them everywhere they could. Xāda allowed herself to be separated from the rest of them by the children and when she got their attention, she bent down and said something in a low voice so only the children could hear. When she looked at Tatiana, Sestia, and Lenore, the children did likewise before swarming the three women. Xāda laughed as, one by one, the three women allowed themselves to be led away.

Tatiana, Sestia, and Lenore had mixed expressions on their faces, though they looked mostly happy. Xāda laughed and waved to her sisters as they were dragged into an impromptu game by the energetic kids.

"What did you say to them?" Jake asked, grinning as he came alongside Xāda.

"I told them it's been many years since the girls have had a chance to play a game," the platinum-blonde replied. "The children were only too happy to oblige."

"You think they'll be okay?" Jake asked curiously.

"The kids? Absolutely," Xāda replied, then chuckled. "My sisters? Well, we'll just have to wait and see."

Jake and Xāda turned as the commissioner spoke behind them, standing near the entrance to the large building. "Come," he said. "The elder is in here."

Entering the door behind the commissioner, Jake took in the interior of the building. It was one large, open space with wooden folding chairs facing a large podium on the far side of the room. A modest desk sat off to one side of the podium. The whole room reminded Jake of a town hall or a chapel where parishioners might meet for weekly service.

Behind the desk sat a portly, ancient-looking woman with so many wrinkles she could have been mistaken for a Shar-Pei. Her wrinkled cheeks jiggled slightly as she smiled upon seeing the group approaching her. She started speaking, addressing the commissioner in a language Jake couldn't understand. Her voice was dry and raspy, like fall leaves being dragged across wet grass.

"She knows him," Xāda whispered to Jake. "They're catching up with each other at the moment. Oh!" She squinted and bit her bottom lip to stifle a giggle. "She just reminded him how she used to change his diapers."

Jake smiled but didn't laugh. He glanced at the chief inspector to see an amused smile on her face, but she was purposely looking away from the two in conversation.

"Okay," Xāda said. "He very politely cut off her reminiscing to ask her about La Llorona. She says the voice has devolved to being barely audible, like a whisper on the wind. However, in the beginning, it was extremely loud, as if it was just beyond the treeline."

"Is it just screaming and wailing, or are there audible words?" Jake asked.

"Hold on," she replied as she pressed herself into his side, resting her head on his shoulder and hand on his chest as she listened to the conversation in front of them.

"As you wish," Jake replied with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Xāda hummed in contentment as she listened.

A few minutes later, the commissioner turned to them and spoke. "I heard Lady Jessie tell you the first part of my interview. The answer to your question is yes, there are only two discernible words in the whispers from the forest. 'Zazi', and 'nono.'"

"That's it?" Jake asked.

"Oui," the older man answered. "Always together and always 'Zazi' first, followed by 'nono'."

"Would you mind sharing your questions and the answers you received?"

"Not at all, though they are few. They have never seen the entity, though a couple claim to have seen a ghost-like figure floating in the treetops. That could be contributed to the mind playing tricks on them out of fear, though. Since my last report, still no one has gone missing. Although, the village is not taking any chances."

"What do you mean?" Xāda asked.

"When the sun starts to sink low, everyone is required to be in their homes for the evening," the commissioner replied. "They are not allowed to be out after sombre, and are not allowed out of their homes until matin."

"So, martial law," Jake said. "Do they abide by the rule?"

Commissioner Mutombo glanced over his shoulder at the village elder with a twinkle in his eye. "They know better," was all he said.

"Okay. Anything else?" Jake asked.

Before the commissioner could answer, a commotion at the door behind them caused everyone to turn and look. A young man, looking no older than nineteen, was held by the back of the neck by a scowling man. He was trailed by an equally angry woman, who must have been his wife, and a young girl of about the same age as the boy, with her head down. The girl had been crying and wore an expression of wide-eyed horror and shame.

A few seconds later, another older couple entered through the door, their expressions dejected and fearful. The woman hurried past the angry couple and reached the young man, attempting to pull him away from the first older man. As the angry man raised his hand to strike the woman, Chief Inspector Kasongo barked an order, and everyone froze, their wide-eyed stares fixed on the uniformed woman.

Jake and Xāda moved to the side to allow the two families access to their elder and the two police officers. The angry man began an obvious rant as he spoke to the chief inspector, occaisonally shaking the young man for emphasis.

"Oh, no," Xāda spoke in low tones. "That's not good."

"What happened?" Jake asked.

"According to the girl's father, the boy raped his daughter and got her pregnant."

"How long does it take for pregnancy to happen after sex? A few weeks?" Jake asked as Sophie took the boy from the man and handcuffed him to one of the chairs.