Shifter Mountain: A BBW Paranormal Romance (8 page)

"Let me worry about that.  We'll get your costuming ready before we head up, but I'm not having your makeup done until we get up the spot where we're shooting."

"Speaking of that," Kay said, "how are you going to get all that equipment up there?  The last part of the way you have to go on foot. You've got some massive equipment.  It looks like you've even got a big crane out there!"

"Yeah, that's for a boom shot,"  Gina explained. "An overhead shot.  Don't worry — we'll get it up there. And we won't all have to go on foot. Our production company bought a couple of old military vehicles for this sort of situation.  And we've got some ex-marines working for us as part of the film crew.  They're mapping out the mountain now, and believe me, these guys can get in and out of
anywhere
in the world.  Scopes Mountain is child's play to them."

Chapter 9

Cephas stood on a ridge looking at an unsettling scene below.

The production crew had loaded up the military trucks, and everyone was making their way to the overlook
at Slacum's Holler.

"Who the hell do t
hese people think they are?"  Cephas demanded of no one in particular.

His brother Daryl shrugged his shoulders.

"I told you that Lawless guy was up to no good."

Cephas
' shoulder was bandaged up underneath his shirt, and it still hurt pretty bad after he got shot up by Kay, but he was out and about ever since last night.  Ever since Daryl told him his wife had come out of hiding and was fraternizing with strangers.

"Well, I don't like what happened the other night, that's for sure
," said Cephas' younger brother Johnny. "If this guy is who I think he is, then we're in for some changes around here, and that's not going to be good for us."

The three brothers resembled each other both in their looks and in their meanness.
Their father had beaten any possible good sentiment out of them when they were young. Now, they had become just like him.  Worse even. All three were married.  And all three were terrible husbands.

"How is it possible that a Country and Western singer out of Nashville
is 'the 'Man-in-the-Mountain'?"  Daryl asked.

"Old Man Cowell said he was bor
n here," Cephas answered.  "Then his mother took him away when he was young.  Daddy told me about Rufus Lawless when he was 'the Man-in-the-Mountain.'  But then he died and no one took his place.  Until now."

"Well, Kay's a bitch for letting another man take your place at her table.  Cookin' for him and all that."

"Kay's a pathetic cow. And I'll put her out pasture soon enough.  I've got her land, her moonshine, all that's rightfully mine as her husband."

"The moonshine I get, but there's no money in this land," Daryl said.  "There's no coal, and nothing else that makes a mountain worth much."

"Don't be a dumbass. We've got more ginseng growing on this mountain than anywhere else in Appalachia."

"Well, yeah, but it's still not as lucrative as coal."

"Alright, genius, let me tell you something else. There's no coal all right, but there's coltan. It's worth more than coal these days, and nobody's tapped it yet."

"Coltan? What the hell is that?"

"It's a metal ore they use for computers.  Right now Apple and Microsoft and other companies get it from Africa.  But it turns out, we've got it right here buried in Scopes Mountain.  Right under our feet."

"So what do we do?"

"We've got to stop this Lawless fella before he transforms fully," Cephas said.  "Before he knows who he really is.  He's still vulnerable."

Cephas' body trembled as he went into a shift. The air around him shimmered and suddenly he morphed into a hawk, soaring upward above the treetops.

"You shouldn't be trying to fly!" Daryl yelled after him. "It's too dangerous.  It's one thing to be a panther with that injury, but it's a whole other thing to be a bird!"

"I'm fine, goddamn it!"

Cephas' shoulder did hurt, and he really had to favor that particular wing over the other. But he was a tough son-of-a-bitch, and he could do whatever was necessary to take care of business.

His brothers
then each followed suit, shifting into hawks, and catching a high wind and wheeling over the production crew down below.  They flew overhead the whole way, following them up the mountain, towards its most picturesque and most unreachable point.

When they reached the holler and the production crew settled in, Cephas, Daryl and Johnny alighted on opposing tree branches, high up in a spruce tree.

Below, in a makeshift tent, Gina was finishing up Kay's makeup.

"We're just at 3 p.m. now," she said, "Which means some good light up here.  Can't shoot with the sun overhead at noon.  Too glaring, and unflattering.  Okay, now take a look at yourself."

Gina produced a large handheld mirror for Kay.  When Kay saw her reflection, she gasped.

"It doesn't even look like me!"

"Sure it does!  It looks like you with makeup, is all.  And you have some great bone structure. I barely had to use a contour stick on you."

"What's that?"

"It's a base makeup that you use to create shadow when you need to invent bone structure when there is none.  Well, everyone technically has bone structure, but some people's faces are, to put it mildly, uninteresting.  Not yours, though!"

"My eyes look really....
blue
."

"Well, they
are
blue, sugar!  But now they pop out with the contrast of the eye shadow.  Have you never worn makeup before?"

"I wasn't allowed to growing up, and then I just never learned how to do makeup when I got older."

"Well, some people thinking painting your face is only for people who have something to hide — like they're hiding behind some kind of mask.  Not me. With makeup, now people can really see you.  All I did was enhance what you've got.  No shame in that."

"It feels weird to have this goop on my lips."

"It's not goop!" Gina laughed.  "Well, it kind of is.  It's lip-gloss.  And with that lip liner, ohmygod do you look like you've got a mouth that would make a man beg for mercy.  Sorry for the nasty talk, but that's really how men think sometimes."

"How would I make a man beg for mercy?"

"Uh, you know, the things that...a woman can...do with her mouth?"

"Like, talk?"

"Never mind.  You want to get dressed?  Then I've got a robe to keep you covered and dirt-free until it's your shot."

"Could I have some privacy?"

"Uh, no.  Sorry can't oblige.  I have to make sure everything fits right."

Kay froze
.  She looked down uncomfortably.  Then she finally stood up.

"Something wrong?"

"You're going to see something if I get dressed in front of you, and if you could — don't ask me any questions about it."

It was a strange request, but Gina already was well aware that Kay was not someone who was comfortable with herself.

"That's fine.  I'll keep my focus on what we're here for.  And I won't ask."

Gina gathered the ensemble she had pulled together for Kay, while Kay got up the nerve to start stripping down.  When she got down to her bra and panties, she turned away to make sure she didn't see the look on Gina's face when Gina turned around.

What Gina saw almost made her drop the clothes that were gathered up in her arms.

Kay's entire torso, front and back, were bruised.  Her upper thighs also were black, blue and green. And not all these bruises were new.  Gina knew this, because many years ago she herself had been the victim of domestic abuse, until she got away from the man who was beating her.

So Gina knew enough not to question her, or push her on the matter, if she wasn't ready to discuss it with a stranger.  But she couldn't entirely ignore it.

"Okay, I said I won't ask questions.  But we've got a practical matter to deal with here," Gina said.  "Some of this might show on camera.  We've got a long skirt here, but it's meant to blow in the wind, so there might be a choice flash of your thigh."

Kay looked alarmed.

"I can't - I can't show my body like that!"

"It's harmless, not a porn shoot," Gina said.  "Look, not to worry.  That's what body makeup is for.  I've got stuff that's used to cover up tattoos. If you trust me, I can make all of this look like it never happened.  At least for the rest of the day — for the rest of the shoot — you will look like this never happened."

Kay started tearing up.  Her chest heaved as she fought to hold back tears.

"Just trust me."

Gina sent a message to Bob that she needed another half hour.  Bob sent a message back that this was fine, since they were fil
ming sequences of Jordan alone, singing and playing his guitar. 

Gina worked gently and patiently, and before the half-hour was up, Kay appeared to not have a single bruise on her body.  Gina then angled a full-length mirror for her, so that Kay could see the result.

"I don't really look at myself in the mirror much," Kay admitted. "In fact, I don't know when is the last time I looked at my body when it was nearly naked."

Kay was amazed at the mirage that Gina had created.  That her skin looked untouched.

"You really are an artist," Kay said softly.

Gina then helped her get dressed.  She had selected for Kay one of her own dresses, with a subtle ruffle and crochet edging.  It was a soft cream, which highlighted Kay's natural medium-tone. The skirt was definitely going to blow in the wind, Gina thought happily.

"We call this a 'cantina-style' dress," Gina said.

"I haven't worn this in years," Kay replied.

"Well, the scoop neck, and the way it fits around your rib cage, is going to show off what the Good Lord gave you, that's for sure?"

"Oh my God, you're right — my boobs look huge!"

"You say that like that's a bad thing."

"What am I wearing for shoes?"

"You're not.  That's why we gave you that pedicure.  We gave you French toenails because on camera we want it to look like you've had NO pedicure.  Just cute feet."

Kay shook her head.  This was all beyond surreal to her.

When Kay and Gina exited their tent, from high above Cephas didn't even recognize his own wife at first. He peered at them with disinterest, and then turned his gaze back toward Jordan, and Bob who was directing him.

The two women headed over just as Bob called "Cut!" on Jordan's scene.

When Jordan saw Kay, he felt a knot in his stomach and had to put down his guitar before he dropped it.  He stared at her more aggressively than he meant to as he walked over.

"Girl, you'
re a 10," he said.

"What do mean a 10?"
Kay asked.

Jordan realized she really was that innocent when it came to how a healthy, well-adjusted man thinks of a woman he's desperately attracted to.

"On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being tops, you are the 10," Jordan explained.

Kay felt butterflies in her stomach.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, first they shoot you, probably walking through the meadow, standing over the overhang, etcetera.  They're going to want you to have certain facial expressions — looking moody, looking lost, looking sad, sometimes look happy.  It's all acting.  Just go with it."

"I think I can do that," Kay said. "At least I will try."

"Trust the ca
mera.  And trust the director. It will come out right."

"And then?"

"And then they're going to shoot us together."

"Okay."

Kay's shoot went more smoothly than she thought it would, although sometimes she felt goofy.  She realized that she spent most of her life feeling sad, but today she was now starting to have so much fun that it was hard to look sad on demand.  Who would have thought that she could be really happy about anything?  But she had been happy for two straight days now, since Jordan Lawless showed up in her life.

"Okay, you two," Bob said, catching Jordan and Kay grabbing some coffee on a 15-minute break.  "It's time for the money shot."

"The money shot?" Kay asked Jordan.

"He thinks this next sequence is going to be the best part of the video."

"Should I be nervous?"

"Nah."

The crew set their scene with the wide expanse of the opposite three peaks in the background.  Kay wasn't sure what to expect at all, but Jordan guided her every step of the way.

"Okay, here's the thing.  Don't laugh at me.  But I'm going to hold your hand, bring it close to my lips, and then I'm going to lip sync a bit."

"Why would I laugh?"

"Good —
don't."

The film crew started rolling, and Jordan did exactly as he said he would.  His recorded version of
High on a Mountain
played in the background, and he mouthed the words to her as he looked into her eyes with total adoration.

Right at the point where he reached the phrase "High on a mountain top standing all alone...", Kay broke her promise.  She bust a gut and started giggling uncontrollably.

"Cut! Cut!" Bob shouted, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!  This is so cheesy!"  Kay exclaimed.

"I told you not to laugh at me!" Jordan retorted.

"You've got these dopey, basset hound eyes!" Kay teased. "And, please, you don't really look like that when you're singing.  You looked like a normal human being the other night, and now you look like a puffer fish gulping for air!"

"Ouch!" Jordan said. "My ego has just totally deflated."