The two had arrived to the house. They searched everywhere, starting with the kitchen first then heading into the other rooms. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Burt took a look outside and noticed that there was a trail of some sort that was made by something that swept the sand as if something didn't want it to be followed or know its footprints.
"Did you find anything?" Tyler asked as he watched Burt look off into the horizon.
"There's a swept over trail hiding the footprints, could be a tail, it heads off in this direction but the wind has helped hide the rest of it," Burt clenched his fist. "We need to gather more information. This thing comes out at night, so we need to stay here until night comes. Let's get back inside and find good spots to hide. It has come into her kitchen twice."
The two waited in the room around the corner. Nothing came into the place. The two stayed up until dawn and still nothing was ever found. Burt and Tyler packed up and headed back to Perfection.
"Do you think this Patricia is just messing with us? She's cute but sometimes the cute ones are even trouble," Tyler yawned.
"Jodi said she was in a state of shock," Burt shook his head. "We need more information."
Patricia was waiting at Chang's for the two to come back. Jodi was waiting there with her. Rose and Wes had come in to get some supplies.
"Oh, those two make a nice couple," Patricia whispered to Jodi. "Who are they? Why would a young couple want to live in this sort of town?"
"Oh, you know it's different and interesting, and these two are thrill seekers," Jodi tried to make up a story.
Wes overheard them and placed his hand on Rose's shoulder as he steadied her while turning an aisle. She scolded him but left it on. Two finished their shopping and headed back to her facility. They had just transferred the specimens over to government officials to take into a different lab. They were at Chang's to get ingredients for the food they were going to prepare for the potluck the town usually had in a few days. The two had visited Dr. Casey Mathews at her facility. There she checked Rose's bandages and vitals to make sure everything was healing correctly. Casey took snapshots of her abdomen and how it was healing. Rose still had marks from the tentacles.
Rose was still weak and needed to rest. The pain wasn't subsiding. The three communicated with the doctor that saw her on the mission. He prescribed pain medicine and some other medication that would help her.
Back at the market place the Jody was trying to get information. "So, Patricia, what made you want to buy a house way out here?" Jodi tried to switch the subject.
"Oh, I love to renovate houses and that guy Melvin, from the Perfection Valley Ranchettes, gave me a good deal on it too," she smiled.
Wes gave into instinct and pulled Rose in closer as she was about to squat down for an item. He could see her sway. Rose got out of his grip and gave him a glare. "I can do it myself," Rose hinted at him to back off.
Jodi leaned over on the counter. "Melvin you say?" She tried to keep the focus on her and not the two in the aisle.
"Yeah, oh and he was so nice, he said he was going to stop by once I renovate it and help me sell it," Patricia added.
"Oh, how nice," Jodi tried to smile.
Patricia whispered. "Maybe these two would like to buy it?"
Jodi feigned a smile. "Who knows?"
Patricia moved out of the way to let the two get up to the cash register. The two nodded to her and headed out to the vehicle.
Rose got into the passenger side while Wes got into the driver's side.
"What was that all about?" Rose wanted to know. She could handle herself.
"Have you ever met Melvin?" Wes started up the vehicle.
Rose looked over to him. "Let me be more specific, why did you felt the need to stabilize me?"
"Oh," Wes backed up. "That. There's already enough eyes on us, it wouldn't help if you stumbled and fell to the ground."
"So you have something against Melvin?" Rose inclined after hearing his answer.
"You ever read his file?" Wes glanced at her.
"I have read his file, he is trying his best to make himself better," Rose answered. "Not the town's favorite, but he was there when the first documented graboid attack happened. His goal was to make this place a home for others just like it was for him."
"As I thought," Wes backed up the vehicle. "I met him on the way to Perfection. He has that going from him but he seems off putting. From the files, Melvin was the reason why dad got swallowed whole during the discovery of the third evolution of the graboids. He's uneducated and in risky situations will cause a horrible outcome. Hence my example."
"I don't think we will see much of him," Rose ignored his warning. "The files showed that he had tried and failed many times with Perfection and nearby towns surrounding it. He knows when to quit. Plus the government has this place protected. No suburbia or a town greater than thirty will ever grow here."
"You sure you don't want to go to the ER," Wes started to drive off. "Get a second opinion?"
"I am pretty sure, besides the hospitals aren't going to have what I need and how it's going to be too long to explain for a second opinion," Rose sighed and thought about the other situation. "I wonder how Burt and Tyler are doing with their current monster hunt." Rose wanted to speak to them over the radio but Wes grabbed it out of her hand.
Burt and Tyler made it into Chang's. Patricia was still talking up a storm to Jodi. She spotted the two coming in.
"Did you find anything?" Patricia sucked in a breath waiting for an answer.
"Some but nothing that would lead us to whatever it is that is harassing you," Burt explained. "We did find a trail but the wind carried it away. Nothing came into to your house. We didn't find any traces of anything either. You didn't smell anything or hear anything unusual?"
"No, wait maybe," Patricia was now thinking about it. "There was like a wet dog kind of smell." Burt and Tyler looked at one another at that comment.
"Okay, you stay here one more night, we have a plan," Tyler told Patricia. The two turned around and headed out. Tyler muttered to Burt. "We do have a plan, right?'
Burt nodded as he headed to his vehicle to get his radio. "Rose and Wes we need your assistance, over."
Wes gave Rose a knowing look as he pulled the hummer over. "You had to bring them up. Speak of the devil and they appear." Wes grabbed the radio. "Wes here, over."
"You sure one of your creatures didn't take a stroll while you were away, over," Burt looked to the mountains.
Rose rolled her eyes. "None of my monitors have shown any signs of life coming in or out of the facility. If he asks one more time-"
"-Still nothing, over," Wes winked.
"Ugh," Rose looked out the window. An itching sensation came over her abdomen as it always has with her current situation. She was about to itch it when Wes slapped her hand. "You did not just slap my hand away."
"No itching," he warned her waiting for the response from Burt.
"It would have been better if we never met and stayed anonymous," Rose muttered.
"You're not the only one," Wes agreed.
Rose put on headphones to listen to the sounds that she had recorded from the facility. If they were waiting for Burt she was at least going to try to work and drown out the irritating questions that already had an answer.
"Damn," Burt was trying to think on his feet. "Alright, I tried not to need you for this but I may have to have you come with me on this one. We have found nothing besides a cold trail. Over."
Wes thought about it. "Alright, it comes out at night right? I'll meet your there when its dark. Over." He looked over to Rose who had her eyes closed. She's going to hate me even more.
That evening, Tyler and Burt were at the house waiting for Wes to arrive. He was in the hummer and not his vehicle. He got out to meet up with the two.
"So she let you off her leash?" Tyler was joking around.
"Actually, she's sleeping the back of the hummer," Wes walked past him to go into the house. Tyler looked to the hummer then to him.
"How in the hell did you manage that?" Tyler couldn't believe it.
"She takes the pain medication at night to sleep better and she's mostly out," Wes started to check around the house with Tyler on his trail. Burt was taking the other side. "She doesn't know that I brought her."
"M-mostly out?" Tyler stammered. "What do you mean mostly out?"
Wes let out a breath. "Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night. She hallucinates and has vivid dreams which can make her wake up."
"And you brought her out here, where there is a possible monster that could get her," Tyler was getting worried. "What are you thinking?"
"I could have left her and let something horrible get her there too, this way she will be in close proximity," Wes argued.
Burt came around hearing them chatter back and forth. "You keep raising your voices and whatever we need to find is going to run away."
Tyler went over to Burt. "He brought her along. She's asleep in the back of the hummer and she doesn't know she's here."
"You WHAT?" Burt exclaimed. The two tried to shush him next. Burt jerked around to see any movement coming from the hummer. "You brought her here without her consent?" Burt tried to whisper as much as he could without trying to wake her up. "In the middle of trying to catch something. Are you insane?"
Wes got into a protective stance before explaining. He used his hands to describe the situation. "I can't let her out of my sight. This was the best scenario I could come up with."
"Doesn't she know about this?" Tyler whispered.
"No, she had headphones on when we were talking about this," Wes looked at them with pleading eyes. "It will be fine."
"You better hope so, I am more afraid of what will happen when she finds out then what kind creature we will find," Tyler looked over to the hummer.
"Alright, let's get back to work before she wakes up," Burt ordered them. The three split up to take on different spots. Tyler had the upstairs to spot anything. Burt was on the outside by the house while Wes was hidden in one of the hallways to the kitchen.
The creature that had been there a few nights before hand was traveling back to the house. This time the creature had taken a different route. He came by the vehicles. Wes had cracked a few windows for Rose. The creature walked past the hummer but stopped when he heard the soft breathing of Rose. It backed up, swishing the white cloth it wore. The creature looked through the windows. Rose moved in her sleep. The creature was curious. It stepped around to the back where she was at. The creature found out how to open the door. He opened it without making too much noise. He pulled to door open to find bare feet. His eyes followed up to see what it was exactly.
The creature was curious. He has never been this close to human. He poked her foot. Rose jolted up into a sitting position. "Don't you dare tickle my feet Wes, or I'll," Rose's body was on auto defense. She was still asleep when she talked. Rose fell back over going into slumber. This had scared the creature that it slammed its back against Burt's vehicle sounding off the alarm. This didn't help the situation. The creature ran off with the cloth falling to the ground. He didn't even notice it had flown off. The three heard the ruckus and headed to the vehicles. Rose didn't wake up to the noise.
Burt was the first one on the scene. He rushed over shutting off the alarm while looking into the hummer. He saw that Rose was still in there before looking around for any clues. He looked down to see giant footprints. Wes got there next with Tyler hot on his trail. Wes opened the other door to find Rose was still there. He let out a breath in relief.
"You didn't lock the doors?" Tyler looked over Rose. Burt was following the foot prints.
"I forgot but at least I didn't have the alarm system on," Wes pointed out. Tyler looked around for Burt. He saw that he was following something. Tyler motioned to Wes to follow. The two left the doors open while they headed to him.
Burt came to an abrupt halt as the footprints were swept away by the wind. "Damn." He looked around with his flashlight to see that there was nothing out there.
"Did you find anything?" Tyler panted.
"No, trail ended up cold just like last time," Burt informed them. "Is she alright?"
"Yeah, still knocked out," Wes nodded.
"There's something out there alright," Burt did another sweep again. The three headed back to further inspect. Burt looked at the dent in his jeep. He whistled at the size of the dent. He took out plaster for one of the footprints. Wes shut the doors on her.
Tyler went around the house making sure there was nothing in there before heading back over. "Nothing in the house or around it."
"We scared it off, I doubt it will come back but we will check again," Burt informed. "You better get her home before she wakes up and scares us." Wes nodded. He got in the hummer to head out. Burt and Tyler waited for the plaster to dry before picking it up. The two stared in disbelief to see the shape of a human foot only three times the size of a male's foot.
"Do you believe in urban legends?" Tyler gulped.
"It has to be something else," Burt didn't want to believe it.
"Is there such thing as a desert sasquatch?" Tyler asked.
"I don't know?" Burt placed it in his jeep. He looked down to see a white sheet. He picked it up to see two holes cut out of it. "White sheet?"
"She said it was so white that she couldn't see through it," Tyler saw the eye wholes. "You don't think?"
"We've seen so called people think aliens are abducting them," Burt shook his head. "Let's bring this to Dr. Mathews, maybe she could get some skin cells or hair from this." The two headed back into the jeep to visit her in the morning.
Rose didn't wake up as Wes put her back in bed. He slept in as she woke up early. Rose started to work through her daily routines. The clicking noises were there again. Rose wanted to know what creature was making it. She was itching to get down there again.
Wes started to stir a few hours later. He stretched to find that she wasn't there. He jerked around to see spot her sitting in the chair typing away.
"I didn't leave," Rose comforted him. "There is no need to worry. By the way, you didn't happen to touch my foot last night, did you?" She cast her eyes upon him with a hint of threat.
"No," Wes shook his head. "Must have been hallucinating again." So it touched her foot, he thought.
"I could have sworn you were going to tickle me," Rose went back to the laptop.
"And that would have been bad?" Wes got out of bed.
"For you yes, I dislike having my body put forth it defense mechanism," Rose informed him.
"Being ticklish is a defense mechanism?" Wes cocked his head to the side. "Why am I even asking? You know way too many interesting facts. Which did you hallucinate anything else last night?"
"I remember a breeze," Rose looked up to think about last night. "Somehow I was in a lucid state where I felt someone poke my foot with a finger. I instinctively lurch forward threatening you about tickling me and that was it."
"Oh," Wes blinked. "You threatened me about touching you."
"We had boundaries set up," Rose looked through papers. "I dislike those who cross the line. That was more than crossing the line."
"Did you see me tickle you?" Wes changed into his day clothes.
"I was half asleep, I didn't see anything," Rose shook her head. "If I did, then I would have known that it was you."
"Well, it wasn't me, maybe a bug," Wes went for food.
Rose looked up. It better not have been a bug.
Patricia was allowed to go home for the day. She was informed from Tyler that they did find something and were taking the clues to Dr. Mathews to further investigate.
Casey was looking at the foot cast. Roger whistled as he saw the size of it. "This is what you found?" She looked to the two of them.
"And a white sheet that may have hairs belonging to the creature," Tyler added. "You should also check the jeep for the dent it left."
The four went out to the jeep to see the dent. Casey started to take pictures of it. "Can you leave it here for a bit?"
"Do whatever you need," Tyler answered. Burt shot him a look. "Yeah, we can leave it for a bit." He shrugged at Burt.
Roger went back inside to get any hair and dead skin off of the white sheet. Casey took the skin cells and stained them to look under the microscope better. She found microbes and bacteria that were common on mammals. The hair that she saw under the microscope was coarse and thick similar again to mammals. Casey shook her head back and forth.
"It all points to a mammalian of some type," Casey began to believe that it could be possibly the urban legend. "I mean it could be."
Wes had some time away from Rose. He radioed the others. "I have some important information, over."
"What is it? Over," Burt replied.
"It touched her foot," Wes replied. "She thought it was me and decided to threaten me, I am guessing that it got scared bumped into your jeep and sounded the alarm, over."
"It touched her foot?" Roger crossed his arms. "It touched her, the scientist? He brought her out there. You guys are really asking for it."
"It must have been curious then," Casey was mulling it over. "It ate this lady's left overs. Didn't even mess up the house coming in or out. Hid its footprints. Wears a white sheet with eye holes cut out of it. I think it's safe to say that it's not threatening. Just curious and hungry."
Patricia was rummaging in her home for food when she found a note with exceptional penmanship. She read it as it explained an apology for causing a disturbance and eating her food. It would no longer bother her. She didn't have to hire out guards to protect her. It then described how tasty her food was and wished her good luck on renovating the house.
Patricia called Jodi to tell her the news. Jodi listened with wide eyes and an open mouth. She thanked her for the information before hanging up. Patricia told Jodi that she no longer needed Burt's help. Jodi took a breather before she radioed Burt.
"Burt, come in, Jodi here, over," Jodi waited for the response.
"What now," Burt grabbed the radio. "Burt here, over."
"Patricia got a note left by her ghost saying it would not bother her anymore and it complemented her on her cooking skill and wished her good luck on her renovation, over," Jodi relayed the message.
The four looked at the radio, stunned about what they just heard.
"It knows how to write," Tyler couldn't believe what he was hearing. "An intelligent sasquatch."
"It makes sense doesn't it?" Casey tried to make it sound logical. "It knew how to do human things, hid as a ghost, open doors, read, write, and hide its trail. I think it can be tangible."
Wes had heard Jodi's message. He was about to reply when he heard the door opening and Rose was coming back into the trailer. He switched it to another channel. Rose saw him flinch.
"Am I that scary?" She went back to working on the side dish for the pot luck today.
"N-no," Wes tried to play it cool.
"Sure," Rose nodded her head as if she agreed.
"Did you see anything odd while hallucinating? Something big and white or hairy?" Wes tried to be subtle.
Rose stopped what she was doing. "You might as well tell me what happened last night. Your question almost seemed phallic." She went back to working on the dish.
Wes didn't know what to say at first. "I'm not going to get fired for this?"
"Fired?" Rose looked to him. "What exactly happened?"
"I may have taken you to the place where Burt and Tyler were hired out to find a monster," Wes answered her while waiting for her anger.
"I can conclude that I was knocked out enough for you to put me in a vehicle, correct?" Rose stirred the dish around.
"Yes," Wes nodded. "And that the creature opened up the hummer's doors and poked your foot." He explained watching in anticipation.
"Creature touched my foot?" Rose stopped. She looked down at her foot. "So it was a bug?"
"No, more mammalian," Wes lifted an eyebrow to her strange behavior. She sat on the floor and took off her shoes. "What are you doing?" She took off her socks and examined her foot. Rose looked off into space before looking at the other foot.
"You said it touched my foot, did you even inspect my foot there after?" Rose saw nothing. She got up and rummaged through some drawers.
"N-no," Wes flipped the radio channel back.
Rose found a blue light LED flashlight with orange glasses. She sat down on her chair to inspect each foot. On the foot she found a latent fingerprint. She smiled first then laughed.
"Ugh, are you okay?" Wes looked between her foot and her.
"Get me the rest of the forensic kit please," Rose laughed. "I found a finger print. Mmm." She laughed again. "It's on my foot. And here I thought it was you. My deepest apologies."
Wes gave her the kit. She swabbed that area with fine powder that was fluorescent. She gently brushed away the excess powder. Next she grabbed a clear piece of tape to get the print off of her and set it down on a microscope slide. Rose looked at it then looked to him.
"If you are looking for clues, make sure you look," Rose smirked. "You never know what you are going to find."
"Make sure you wash your feet before you leave," Wes teased as he picked up the slide to look at it.
"Yes, mother," Rose headed over to the sink. She got a rag to wipe her foot off. He then explained the whole situation to her and the possible findings of a Sasquatch.
"A shocking discovery in science," Wes breathed.
"No, keep this quiet," Rose put her shoes and socks back on.
"Why? No one has that much proof on Bigfoot and now we do," Wes set it down.
"Some things are better left to mystery," Rose put the food in a dish and grabbed serving spoons. She headed out to put it into the vehicle.
He called out to her. "This is coming from the person who seeks out the unique and the weird."
"Sasquatch should be left in peace," Rose checked her wrist seismo to see where El Blanco was at. "If they had hidden from humans for hundreds of years, then it should stay that way."
Wes grabbed the radio while locking up the trailer. "Humans are making discoveries every day, especially you."
"Seventy-five to seventy percent of the world's ocean have not been searched," Rose started to get into the passenger seat.
"New technology, new discoveries," Wes teased. The two headed to Nancy's.
Nancy and Jodi were setting up her house to accommodate the guests. Harlow and Rosalita had just shown up.
"Hey, we're here," Rosalita knocked.
"Oh, come in, come in," Nancy waved her in. The two came in with food in their hands. Harlow had brought fry bread he made. Rosalita had brought dessert, arroz con leche. "Those look good. Set them here. The others should be here soon."
The four were talking about the things happening in town while Wes and Rose had pulled up. Rose grabbed the dish and serving utensil. Wes knocked on the door and was called to come in. He opened the door to let Rose head in first.
"Well hello," Nancy was surprised that they did show up. "Thanks for coming! The other two aren't here yet but that's okay. They usually bring beer anyways." Nancy took the dish from Rose's hands knowing that she was still hurt. The two followed Nancy to greet the rest of the town.
"So I hear that your brother Roberto is coming over to visit," Nancy talked to Rosalita in line getting food.
"Yeah, he was wanting to come check up on me and the ranch but I told him everything was fine," Rosalita dished some food onto her plate.
"Do you think he will still come?" Jodi added.
"I hope not," Rosalita put a carrot in her mouth. "He just brings trouble."
"So have you found out who keeps calling you?" Nancy switched subjects. She turned to Jodi.
"No, and they keep asking about El Blanco and the tours and just random information," Jodi explained. "They call, ask and then hang up. I don't understand."
"Where's your assistant, Larry?" Wes asked while getting food.
"Visiting his mother, thankfully," Jodi was relieved for a break. "But these phone calls and random men in suits are making it seem like there is something else going on."
Rose took in this information as much as she could. She had read the files the government had on each of them and knew that something was up. She knew about Rosalita's past. It wasn't her part to tell everyone about it. She didn't care but she did care about the safety of the town. If there were devious occurrences, her superiors wanted to be told first for it to be handled properly. They had heard about the attempts of killing the endangered albino graboid. Her mission was dedicated to ground zero however, there was a clause stating if there are any new information or threats to the graboid, headquarters were the first to hear.
"You wouldn't be able to hack phone records can you?" Rosalita looked to Rose.
"I am here for science," Rose sighed. "Town troubles are not my jurisdiction. You would have to talk to your government official for that kind of matter."
"Perfect," Jodi blew out a breath. "The only thing he will do is tell us to stop our income and just evict us."
The group sat around the table and kept the conversations going. Burt and Tyler finally came into the house with beer in tow. The two were taken aback as they spotted Rose and Wes. The two then went on as if nothing happened.