FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After my third cup of coffee, I began to feel a little more like a walking corpse than one that died several days ago. The administration building I’d be doing half of my work in was closer to the road. It was a musty, two-room cabin with an old computer, a loud window unit, a corded phone, and satellite internet access. Perhaps I’d driven so far into nothing, I managed to time travel back into the nineties.

The thought actually made me smile as I took another sip of cheap pre ground coffee while scrolling through run-down real estate valued several hundred thousand dollars above what any sane person would actually pay.

After what happened last night, I decided to check out the rental market around the county. There were a few homes in one of the larger towns about an hour away, and I’d have definitely made the drive, but they were either overpriced slums or short term rentals. So much for my time travel theory because this was definitely still 2024..

I’d opened the windows earlier to let in some cool morning air only to get a whiff of stale piss. The entire perimeter of the cabin reeked. The smell had permeated everything, and even in the shower while lathering with fragrant soap and shampoo, there was always a note of piss still lingering. There was a metaphor for my life here, somewhere.

I had to be careful. If I overreacted, it would just add fuel to the fire and the ‘pranks’ wouldn’t stop. Hell, just thinking about lining those huge bumpkins in a row for several minutes of berating almost made me want to bully myself. I knew how those guys worked, and I wasn’t going to give them the entertainment they craved.

I needed to do something subtle and effective. They needed to wrap the nooses around their own necks, but I had absolutely no clue how to go about doing that. If they were all owners of this place, I couldn’t fire any of them. They’re not motivated by money. Even without management, they’d kept this place afloat for years—somehow. This whole situation was a nightmare, and I began to understand the meaning behind Kane’s warning yesterday.

He said they had to get rid of five managers already. Was the job itself some kind of elaborate prank? There wasn’t even an HR department, and I had no leverage. Of course any manager they hired wouldn’t have been able to do their jobs under these circumstances.

A knock at the door startled me enough that I spilled some of my coffee on my shirt. They had already gotten into my head, whether I wanted to admit it or not, and this was only the first day. I sat my mug down on the counter and dragged myself to the front door, half knowing who was on the other side.

Old hinges squealed as I slowly pushed the heavy wooden door open.

“Mornin’ boss,” Kane said enthusiastically as he brushed me aside and walked all the way into the house. “Coffee smells a lot better than outside.”

“Yeah.” I closed the door and followed him. “Do you want any?”

“Heck no. That stuff’s poison.”

“Well, I’ll probably die of a stroke before cancer, so you might be right,” I muttered before taking another sip of what was left in my mug. “I was just about to head to the office.”

Kane cracked a grin, and my neck hair stood on end. The expression was something mischievous that I couldn’t quite grasp. The man hadn’t changed out of the clothes he wore yesterday, since he had that same sweaty, musky smell he tried to cover up with weak cologne. Those jeans were definitely going to be a problem, and I needed to keep my eyes occupied with anything above his waist.

“Just wanted to see how your first night was.”

“It was great.” The tone of my voice obviously said otherwise. “Slept like a fucking baby.”

“Much better than the city, huh?”

“Okay, let’s stow the small talk. What did the other managers try that they failed at, and what do you recommend to keep the farmhands in line?”

Kane leaned back against the counter before making a scene of adjusting himself in his pants. I wasn’t exactly dumb to suggestive hints, and this could have been another test. It had been over a year since I’d been with anyone, and I was so pent-up and touch starved that I’d have probably been on my knees by now if I wasn’t so damn tired.

Thank God for that.

“They never had the backbone to stand up to anyone here, and if you don’t hold your own, they’ll pick up on it.” He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to him. “They want you to fail.”

I pushed him away before stepping up to the guy, pointing at his face. “Don’t ever grab me again.” The regret soon kicked in as I took a step backward. This man could destroy me, and I had the nerve to snap at him. “I mean—”

“No!” he said, giving me a reassuring nod. “Do not ever walk back a command. I ain’t blind. I know you ain’t gonna stand a chance against anyone here that wants a piece of you. You’re gonna need to keep them docile and obedient. You’re gonna need to take command, but also give a little somethin’ in return.”

“I don’t understand this shit. Just tell me what I need to do.”

He brushed past me, gently knocking my shoulder with his arm. “You’re the boss.” Kane turned back toward me, wrinkling his nose into something like a snarl. “Figure it out.”

With that, he walked outside, closing the door behind him, leaving me a trembling mess. There was something wrong with that man. He seemed to be holding something back, his personality waffling between light-hearted and aggressive. Every time we spoke, it became clearer that they didn’t want a manager in the traditional sense. I didn’t know what they wanted, but it seemed Kane wasn’t going to give me a lot of time to figure it out.

And if I couldn’t, I’d need to start looking for another job.

***

I finished going over the inventory list while familiarizing myself with the vendors and maintenance companies the farm used. There was also a list of favored clients who had pre-ordered different high quality goods. Kane wasn’t joking when he said they could charge anything they wanted. Why were eggs nearly four hundred dollars a dozen? Were they made of gold?

It was then I was struck by another terrible thought. What if this wasn’t a farm at all? What if this was a money laundering operation and the farm was just a front for the police? Nothing about this place made sense any other way, unless I was just wrong about the value and these eggs had magical properties. It wasn’t like I knew anything about any of this stuff.

As soon as I was done with the checklist of office tasks, I’d need to take a lunch break before enduring the other half of the task list. That part was going to be difficult because I had to actually supervise. I didn’t even want to eat because the thought made me nauseous. Those men broke into my house last night in an attempt to intimidate me, and soon I’d have to face all of them alone.

Instead of going back to the house to eat, I decided to walk around the farm. I stuck to the clear areas, keeping away from the dense woods that surrounded the property. Even though the trees had been planted neatly in rows, there was still a lot of undergrowth making it difficult to tell what could have been lurking out there.

Usually tree farms specialized in conifers, but the trees surrounding the pastures were tall paper birches with their iconic white bark dotted with blackened, eye-shaped scars. The silence of this place was unnerving, like the land itself swallowed all the birds and insects. The only sounds heard were hushed whispers of leaves in the gentle spring breeze.

There was someone up ahead, though I could only see him from the back as he relieved himself on an oak next to the chicken pen, but I knew he was one of the brothers by what he wore and the color of his hair. He wore sleeveless flannel, a tan cowboy hat, knee-high denim shorts but no shoes.

Keeping my distance, I continued along the perimeter of the property, but I watched him out of the corner of my eye, that wild stare following me. Since I’d already gotten his attention, I decided to at least try to strike up a friendly conversation.

“Hey, Charlie was it?” I asked, expecting some kind of positive change in his expression, but his brows furrowed as he grunted in response.

“Pretty day, huh?”

He didn’t say a word as he looked me over. The guy was absolutely massive, towering almost an entire foot over my head. His hands and feet were stained black with dirt, and the rest of him was just nothing but thick body hair and pure muscle.

“Are you able to speak?”

One of his massive hands caught my throat as he pressed me against the tree. The movement was so unexpectedly quick that I couldn’t react in time. He just stood there, his sweaty bare chest pressed against me as he leaned in, his yellow eyes wider than before.

This was unnatural, something so primal that it caused my very core to tremble. His sheer strength kept me pinned, but his hold on my neck loosened enough to allow me to breathe. Charlie continued to stare at me as if waiting for something to happen.

“You’re gonna need to take command…”

Kane’s words rang through my thoughts as I clutched the man’s wrist, squeezing as hard as I could.

“Let me go, right now!”

Charlie’s hold weakened, and he took a single step back.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I gasped out, still in shock by what just transpired. This nearly seven-foot-tall monster of a man went from aggressive to docile in an instant. His once wild stare faded to a softer, more relaxed gaze.

I backed away, nearly tripping over one of the oak tree’s roots before turning to run. That ended up being a huge mistake as heavy footsteps rushed after me. I glanced back only for a moment to see Charlie’s wild eyes, his mouth open in a sharp-toothed grin as he gave chase, but a loud whistle from the farm caught his attention.

He lost interest in the chase and ran back to the buildings, leaving me bewildered and shaking. That wasn’t a man, that was something else. I felt like a zookeeper that lost control over a big cat during a routine feeding. There was nothing at all human about him aside from the way he looked.

The monstrous silhouette from last night flashed through my head like a lucid nightmare, but I shook it away. I wasn’t someone who believed in the supernatural. This was definitely a lack of sleep causing me to hallucinate and believe things that weren’t possible. These were burly country men, living in isolation on a farm. Of course they were going to be violent.

This was the first time I’d ever been physically assaulted by an employee before, but when I gave him that command, he actually listened—if only for a moment. When I displayed dominance, it was effective, but the moment I ran away that all changed.

My breathing slowed enough that I could think a little clearer. I’d have to supervise for the next four hours, but my legs didn’t want to move. It was like I’d just gotten off of an intense roller coaster, only I wasn’t recovering. If they saw how scared I was of them, it was over.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to keep walking, each step a little easier than the last until my knees stopped buckling. In the distance, Kane stood in the middle of the field, his arms crossed while looking at me, a wide—almost eager grin plastered on his rugged face. He didn’t move, and he didn’t shout for me. He simply watched. Had he witnessed the interaction moments ago?

Money or no, I needed to leave. I couldn’t handle this job, and Kane knew it. He should’ve known when he did the video interview, but for whatever reason, he hired me.

As I passed him without a word, he followed before walking alongside me.

“One thing I love about living here is how far away we are from everyone else,” he said. “We can do anything we want out here, and no one can stop us.”

It was like someone had poured ice cold water down the back of my shirt.

“Sounds nice,” I said, silently comprehending the meaning of those words. “It’s not for me though.”

“What’dya mean?”

“I mean, I don’t think I’m the manager you’re looking for. Hire someone more physically capable.”

“The last guy we hired was pretty big. He still didn’t have what it took. Sometimes it’s more instinct than physical.”

“I didn’t sign up to babysit a bunch of grown men that behave like animals.” I stopped and shook my head. “This job wasn’t what was advertised.”

“It sure was, but it ain’t like your city jobs. You can’t fake it ‘til you make it out here.” He turned and rushed at me until his face was almost touching mine. Kane was once again unpredictable, his personality taking on something more aggressive. “Scared again, aren’t ya?”

I swallowed hard, barely able to squeak anything out. “Something’s not right about any of this.”

“You’ve got good instinct, Keith. Listen to that and you'll be okay.”

“I don’t think you understand. I’m quitting. Find someone else.”

Kane stood up straight before taking a step back.

“You sure about that?”

I went to respond, but he cut me off.

“Be careful with the answer, because once it leaves your lips, you can’t take it back.” His breathing grew heavier, and his voice turned to gravel. “Quitting means…submission. It means we’re all above you, forever. So really think about how you’re gonna answer me.”

His pose changed as he leaned slightly forward, his nose pointed at me as if he were prepared to lunge. Kane’s body language gave off a million different warnings, and all I could do was nod before giving the only safe answer—for now.

“I–I’ll stay.”

As if someone had flipped a switch, his body relaxed and a gentle smile replaced the snarl moments ago.

“Say it again, but mean it this time.”

“I’ll fucking stay,” I shouted, shoving him back. Something inside snapped as if every bit of resentfulness poured out at once. The realization of just how fucked I was kicked in, and I wanted to scream. While I didn’t quite understand what would have happened if I quit, I knew deep down that no matter my decision, I likely wouldn’t be allowed to leave. Once I came to terms with that, I turned toward Kane again. “I’ll stay.”

“Alright,” he said, extending his large, callused hand to shake mine. “We still got us a boss.”

***

The men were cutting down trees using handsaws, none of them really communicating in more than nods before looking back at me as if making sure I was still there. I only turned my back on them once, and when that happened, all sounds of work ceased. They gathered behind me as if ready to attack.

The farm hands were like those ghosts in Mario games. The moment I turned back toward them, they stopped advancing and went back to what they were doing. What a strange feeling to be held hostage, and then be forced to oversee the hostage situation. Just who was supervising who?

“Can I at least do something?” I asked, the anxiety making me antsy. “Can I help?”

“I dunno, can you?” the one named Billy asked as he shoved his brother aside before pointing to the other end of the two-man saw embedded into the trunk. “Let’s see how strong you are.”

“Alright.” I grabbed the wooden handle of the saw and tried to pull it toward me. The thing wouldn’t budge. “It’s stuck.”

“It ain’t stuck. You gotta pull harder.” He gave the saw a slight tug with only one hand and it moved toward him. “Like that.”

Using all of my weight, I pulled the saw toward me and it moved about halfway.

“I guess I’m not that strong.” I stood there, waiting for the mockery that would inevitably ensue, but they just continued working. Charlie took his place back at the other end of the saw, and they worked it back and forth until the tree creaked before falling to the forest floor.

With a heavy sigh, I turned and walked toward my place on the small hill overlooking them, but then I realized I’d once again showed my back as the sawing stopped.

“I’m just going back to my spot. Get your asses back to work,” I shouted, this time without turning around. For a moment I’d forgotten the weirdness, or the fact that my safety was on the line. It was just pure annoyance and anger as I wanted to just kick something or someone.

My angry tone seemed to work as the men resumed what they were doing.

This had to be a game to them or something, like the mean girls rigging prom queen votes in favor of the wallflower, only I was the wallflower waiting in suspense for pig’s blood to fall on my head. I turned back toward the twelve men, folding my arms while pretending to supervise.

Why were they doing this to me? Why was I forced to act this out? What was the point of having a leader if they were already capable of leading themselves? This was nothing more than insanity. I allowed myself to be trapped and isolated in a tiny village of lunatics.

The shift whistle blew in the distance, and everyone stopped what they were doing before turning to me.

“Uh, shift’s over, I guess.”

Silence once again covered everything like a warm, wet duvet as they stared expectantly. Billy stepped forward.

“Don’t forget, the boss has got to pay us for a day’s work.”

“I’m not the one that handles payroll, Billy. Talk to Kane.”

The men now surrounded me, and that intense terror came back in full force.

“Only the boss can pay us.”

“O—kay,” I said carefully, taking a few slow steps backward. “I’ll see about getting some checks made out.” I turned to leave, but ran into Charlie who was directly behind me.

“That’re we gonna do with a check?” Billy asked. “We take our payment one at a time every night from dusk to midnight.”

“Wh—what the hell are you talking about?”

The men broke formation before heading toward the farm, but Billy and Charlie stayed behind with me.

“We marked your bed, so we get first dibs.” He grabbed my arm, his fingernails digging into my skin. “Keep the door unlocked, boss. I’ll be by to collect, and ol’ Charlie there’ll be by tomorrow.”

They sprinted off through the pasture, leaving me alone on the hill feeling as though I’d throw up at any moment. I knew exactly what he meant now, and I’d need to make another visit to Kane. This must have been another scare tactic that I’d need to take control of before I ended up having to pay every guy on that farm for however long I remained here.

Kane once again stood in the middle of the field, his arms crossed with a grin as I ran over to him.

“Alright, we need to talk!”

“What’re you upset about this time?”

“Payment. What the fuck, man?”

“What part of ‘you gotta give something in return’ didn’t you understand? It was in the contract you signed.”

“I’m—I’m not doing it! This is exploitation. This is illegal!”

“So what you’re sayin’ is, you don’t wanna give honest pay for honest work?” His body language shifted and his voice lowered, just as it did earlier. “Doesn’t sound like something a boss would do.”

“Come on. You don’t really expect me to do…that—with all of them!”

His nose wrinkled like a dog snarling at a stranger. “So, let me get this straight. You want out of your contract. You’re quittin’, am I right?”

“N—no! No I’m not quitting, I swear.” My heart was now in my throat as I struggled to speak. “I just can't—”

He leaned in closer, and at first I thought I was hallucinating again, but that wasn’t it. His eyes glowed yellow.

“Go on…” His voice turned to a growl. “Say it. Say that you quit.”

“I’ll–I’ll pay them,” I choked out, not daring to break eye contact.

Once again, Kane’s posture straightened, and he gave an approving smile, his irises dimming back to normal.

“A good leader never gives up.” He spoke as if nothing at all had just happened. “I’ll give you some advice, ‘cause I like ya. Don’t show fear when they come to your door, and don’t ever give anyone more than their fair share. You’re the boss, so you control the method of payment, no matter what.” He left my side and walked ahead toward the longhouses. “Remember that.”