Daughter to Demons

by Jeffrey M. Mahr and Levanah

Chapter Five:
It was Never This Hard for Nancy Drew

The axe forgets what the tree remembers.
― African Proverb

George staggered out into the living room a bit after noon wearing nothing but jockey shorts and a tired smile. Frank and Jackie, relaxing on the couch watching television, both gave guilty starts and then greeted him.

“Way to go, jerk-face. Do you believe me now? You promised not to take advantage of her, asshole,” Jackie said angrily.

“Either you’re telling the truth, or that was one hell of a great dream.” George’s smile grew bigger, if that was possible.

“Where’s Julie?” Frank asked.

“She’s still sleeping. I must have really worn her out.” George dropped into the lounge chair in the living room and scratched himself absently, which ticked Jackie off.

“Yes, George. She’s still asleep. She’ll stay sleeping until we agree what to do about her.”

“Huh?”

“As it turns out, she didn’t need much persuading, because she already had a crazy crush on you, but thought that you were always busy with other women so you kept blowing her off. I presume that was you playing Mister Macho Man to impress her, which it did, but not the way you thought it did. What are you going to do about it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s under the impression that you’re deeply in love with her now, and formed the crazy scheme of having one of your ex-girlfriends visit her to inform her of your secret passion, so she thinks this is a serious, once-in-a-lifetime love affair that drove you to desperation, so I want to know, is it?”

“Hey! What business is this of yours?” he said.

“Cut it out, George” Frank interjected. “Jackie’s right. She’s only here because Jackie made her come here to prove herself to you, because you were being an asshole, and it sounds like Julie’s formed the impression that you set her up as a go-between, so Jackie’s asking if you’re prepared to follow through like a man.”

“True, but I didn’t force her to come here; Jackie did. I love her. I always have.” George seemed rather proud of his logic.

Frank bit his lip knowing that Jackie would have to respond to those comments and that it wasn’t going to be pretty. He was right. It only took her the time to take a deep breath.

“Okay, you horse’s ass. I know you love her. I had to get as far as possible from your bedroom because I couldn’t stand the pain of the pure unadulterated love in that room, but does she? I had to feed off Frank, but I’m feeling guilty about both things, because I may have meddled in some woman’s life in such a way that she could be hurt.”

Frank had blushed when she mentioned ‘feeding,’ but nodded to confirm that part of her statement.

His discomfort was not lessened by George’s “Way to go, horn dog.”

She glared at him with a look that could have blistered paint. “I’m warning you, George, if you treat her like dirt, I’ll have your ‘horn-dog’ ass in a sling for the next fifty years.”

George just smirked and said, “And what’s more, Miss Smarty-Pants, you don’t know everything, because she loves me too! So there!”

Jackie frowned and asked, “She loves you? How do you know? I shouldn’t be able to do that at all.”

“None-the-less, she does. She told me so last night, and you didn’t do it, so there! Just like I’ve been acting like a goofball, because I was afraid to tell her how I really felt, she’s been afraid to tell me how she felt, because I was acting as if I was such a hot stud that she felt intimidated, because she thought she’d never be able to measure up to the raving beauties she imagined I was having every night. I felt like a putz. She was trying to pretend that I was persona non grata because she was sure I’d just laugh at her. She wouldn’t talk to me because she thought I was being smug and condescending. She was always giggling to her girl friends when I was around because she was embarrassed. She never even dated any other guys. We all thought she was a lesbian.”

“It’s true.” Julie was leaning against the bedroom doorframe in the baby doll nightgown in which she had arrived earlier that morning. She sauntered over to George, dropped down into his lap and placed her arms around his neck possessively. “I don’t know how she knew it,” Julie gave a nod of her head in Jackie’s direction, “and I can’t imagine how she persuaded me to build up enough nerve to come up here and throw myself at you — especially when I’ve never even seen her before — but I’m glad I did and I do love you.”

She radiated love to the point that Jackie winced. Then she turned back to George and the glow was gone. She snarled and slapped him as hard as she could. “But that’s for even thinking I was a lesbian, and for being such a jerk.”

George was shocked. He reached up to rub his smarting cheek and said, “I sorry, baby, because I was a jerk. I was just as scared as you were. All that macho stud stuff was just the same as what you were doing, in a way. Ask either of these two. I have exactly zero ‘success’ with girls, so I pretended to be Mister Irresistible so I didn’t feel like such a failure, and with my luck, I figured you must be completely unavailable, because the only woman I really wanted would have to be. I’m very sorry. I should have stood up for myself and told you how I felt instead of acting like a stupid schmuck.”

Her anger faded as quickly as it had appeared and she gently took his hand in hers and kissed the already reddening cheek. “I know you are, Sweetie. Come to Mama so I can kiss it better.” She glared at Jackie with fierce protectiveness and said, “Did you guys really laugh at him?”

Frank answered first, embarrassed. “Well, not exactly, but we did tease him a bit,” he admitted, “because he was carrying such a torch for you and didn’t know what to do about it. I probably helped along his delusion, for which I apologize. I should have been more supportive, but I was having problems of my own at the time. You know how guys are, don’t you? In Grammar school we ride our bikes into walls to get the girl’s attention, then in high school we do stupid things with cars. ‘Goofball’ is sort of our default setting. It takes time to grow out of it.”

Jackie coughed politely to get everyone’s attention. “Gee, guys, it’s been really neat seeing as how everything is hunky-dory between you after all this angst, and I hate to be whiny, but could we talk about me now?”

Julie and George both glared at her, and even Frank rolled his eyes.

It took quite a while to convince Julie that Jackie used to be the guy she’d seen with Frank and George, but when she levitated for them, she started thinking that it was a possibility, and after she’d talked with her for about five minutes on their own, she admitted that no real girl could possibly be as stupid as she was, so she had to be a former guy.

Which brought them up to their present situation.

“What the heck are we doing here?” George muttered to himself. “We must be crazy.”

Julie and George were huddled behind a dumpster next to the rear entrance to Calaca E. Julie shivered from the unseasonably cold wind blowing through the alley and George stopped muttering and complaining long enough to unzip his coat and offer her the opportunity to huddle inside it with him to share the warmth. The plan was simple: Beard the demon in its own den, so to speak. Julie and George were out back, as near the back door as possible. Given that they were dealing with a creature that could become invisible and float through walls, their job was not so much to stop it as to encourage it to go in a different direction in order to avoid the pain of their “true love.” The hope was that the other direction would be one that would bring it closer to Jackie. In the meantime, Frank and Jackie were going in the front door. Frank, with his athlete’s body, was to act as Jackie’s escort and keep the human wolves away while Jackie tried to find her maker. The plan wasn’t all that great, but it was the best they’d been able to devise.

The first signs that the plan was coming undone came in the form of laughter and shouting from behind Julie and George. Turning, they saw a group of five tough-looking young men strutting down the alley toward them.

“They won’t see us here behind this dumpster,” George whispered hopefully to Julie.

“Sure. No problem.” Julie shivered again and huddled even closer to George.

“Hey, boys. Lookie here! Two darling little love birds. How precious!”

Julie yipped and jerked when the dumpster was suddenly pulled away and uncovered their hiding place.

“Hey, darlin’, give us a little kiss.” One of the men pointed to his cheek and made kissing sounds while the others laughed uproariously.

When there was no response he pointed to another part of his anatomy. “I said give me a kiss, cunt. Share the wealth, girlie.”

George stood up, flexing his muscles and stretching to his full five-foot eleven as he moved between Julie and the taunting men.

“Hey, guys. Get a load of Captain America! I’m shaking in my boots, man, but where’s your magic shield? And shouldn’t you be wearing shiny tights?” He sneered and the others snickered.

“Yeah, Macho Man here scares us all to death,” one said.

“We don’t want any trouble so why don’t you just go wherever you were going?” George struggled to keep his voice from cracking. He was not weak and he was not small, but he was only one man against five. Julie moved up behind him to clutch him for protection and that added to his worries as he tried to protect her too.

“So sorry, fairy boy. You found it. Now move out of the way and let your pretty little slut show us how good she is. If she’s really good we’ll even let you have sloppy seconds later.” They moved closer, beginning to circle their victims. Suddenly a knife appeared in the leader’s hand.

“Oh shit.” George had muttered the word so quietly even Julie hadn’t heard, but the leader must have, or at least guessed what he meant from his moving lips, because his sneer grew even broader. The gang began to close in.

Frank and Jackie pressed, apparently aimlessly, through the crowd in the nightclub. Frank was leading, but he was moving according to gentle guidance from behind as Jackie tried to sense and locate the faint traces of magic that might be the succubus that had created her. She hadn’t even known she could do it until she had glanced out the window of the car as they drove to the club and realized that every now and then there was a glow that should not have been there. When she had concentrated she had found that specific people and objects seemed to have the glow and wondered why. At first, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason, but then it had come to her. It was a logical assumption, but there had been no time to prove it. She only hoped that her guess had been correct — that it was some kind of magic aura — because that hypothesis was now being put to the test as they meandered through the club looking for an aura similar to her own.

There was nothing. Jackie had seen more auras on the drive then in the club, some brighter than others and speculated that the brighter auras meant more power. They had swept the bar area and the dance floor without success. All that was left were the bathroom and the employee areas. With Frank waiting by the entry hall leading to the bathrooms and beyond, Jackie checked the ladies’ room. Still nothing.

“I’m going to check out the men’s room and then the employee areas. Wait here.”

Frank nodded and then blinked as she faded into invisibility. Seeing it happen made it no less unbelievable.

“I think we’re in trouble,” Julie whispered from behind George. If he had any doubt about her feelings, Julie’s fear could be felt in the death grip she had on George’s arm. The young Galahad carefully watched the men threatening them while he struggled to get Julie to release his arm long enough to remove his jacket without making her think he was abandoning her. He desperately wanted to have it wrapped around his arm as a protection against the knife the gang leader was brandishing.

The leader paused to encourage his troops. “It’s ‘pussy time’ guys! Watch my style!” They cheered and he turned back to the frightened couple, unbuttoning his Levis with one hand while he menaced them with the knife.

“Eep!” Julie squeaked as she unexpectedly backed into the wall as she retreated from his advance.

A woman’s voice, as low and sultry as a teenage boy’s wet dream, cut through the fear like a strong wind. “Oooh! Just look at that huge knife. Oh my, you must be a brave one. Is that supposed to make up for what you lack below?” The entire gang stopped advancing on the couple and turned as one toward the new voice. Jackie was posed enticingly against the back door, the unshielded fixture above the frame casting bold shadows down her front that highlighted her more-than-ample ‘headlights.’ Her arms were held languidly above her head, as if she were cooling off after heavy exertion, and her breasts thrust out provocatively in a pose straight out of a girlie magazine. You could even see the extra shadow that molded her prominent nipples, as if she were … excited. George thought he saw a faint glow as she smiled at the gang members, most of whom were transfixed by her allure.

“Just stay there, bitch, and we’ll take care of you next. Paul, Mike, get that bitch and hold her while Arty and Al help me take care of these two.”

“No problem, Ricky.” The two gang-members closest to Jackie shook themselves, and then rapidly closed on her. Each grabbed one of her arms — and instantly collapsed with matching grunts as they ejaculated in their pants and fell unconscious.

“What the hell?” Arty’s exclamation grabbed the others attention and they again stopped advancing on George and Julie as they turned to see what had happened to their associates.

Jackie stepped daintily over the fallen men. “Yum, yum. They were tasty tidbits, although I’m glad I didn’t actually have to touch them. What’s the matter, boys? Am I too hot for you? Can’t you handle a real woman?”

“Arty, Al, get that bitch,” he growled, “and hurt her.”

Jackie just smiled. Al waved his stiletto menacingly, but drew back in surprise and confusion when Jackie just kept swaying closer, her hips moving in a slow dance that promised instant bliss and a lifetime of pleasure. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he muttered, “Shit, man. She’s some kind of crazy witch.”

Arty shrugged, and started unbuttoning his fly. Crazy or not, this was one hot broad and he intended to have a piece of her tail.

They lunged as one — and fell through the space Jackie had been occupying. Jackie appeared behind them. “Peek-a-boo, boys,” she called out as she reached out and daintily touched each boy with just the tip of one finger, then took a tissue from between her breasts and fastidiously cleaned her hand and threw the tissue in the dumpster while the boys collapsed, almost like the first two, except that they spent a few moments jerking their hips against the pavement as if they were tying to ram their cocks right into the concrete before they too lost consciousness.

Ricky watched in shock as his gang was incapacitated before his eyes. Then he heard a male voice behind him. “Uhm, excuse me.” Ricky turned back to his original victims with a puzzled expression on his face, which lasted only for an instant before George’s fist slammed into it with all the power of an outraged male athlete. He was unconscious before he hit the pavement, and managed to lose two front teeth in the process.

“Thanks for the help, Jackie.” George turned and enfolded Julie in his arms as she shivered in reaction to her terror. “How’d you know we needed the help?”

“It was weird. I was just about to check the dressing rooms when your glow disappeared.” She paused for a moment. “Oh, did I tell you I can see your love as a golden glow?” She saw their blank looks. “Guess not. Anyway, it seems I see these auras around things. Lust comes out as a reddish glow, love comes off as a golden glow, magic is a pale blue and demons like me are various shades of black.”

“What about the other succubus?” Julie asked.

“I haven’t found her yet.”

“Ah, actually, you have.” A sensual voice from off to one side caused the others to turn as one.

“Déjà vu all over again,” George muttered. Lilith was posing just as Jackie had, by the stage door, and looked, if anything, even more alluring.

“Well, well. I haven’t seen a sister in decades,” the new succubus said as she floated closer to Jackie staring at her. Suddenly, her voice was no longer friendly, “What are you doing here?”

George and Julie glanced at each other. “I guess we’ll be leaving now,” George suggested, as he kept himself between the two demons and Julie. Walking backward, he tried to slowly back out of the alley while Lilith and Jackie warily assessed each other.

“So why are you hunting in my domain?”

“I’m not. I’m trying to find you.”

“Why?” the succubus asked. She stepped back and assumed a crouching defensive stance.

Just as they backed around the corner, leaving the alley for the main street, George and Julie heard Jackie answer, “Because, I think, somehow, I’m your daughter.”

“So what did she say?” Frank sat on the apartment couch beside Jackie, his arm around her shoulders, stroking her neck and shoulder as he gently tried to pull her closer to him.

“She said, my research was pretty good and my guesses about magic auras were even better,” Jackie explained as she shifted position so that Frank was rubbing her shoulder instead of her breast. She had long since stopped trying to keep him from touching her, realizing that he couldn’t help himself. No matter how hard she tried to turn off her sexual magnetism, a lot still seeped out, so Frank really couldn’t be blamed for his attentions, and Jackie had to admit that it felt … good to have him near and touching her. She tried not to suck up his sexual energy, not wishing to treat him as she had the thugs last night. “If I live long enough, I’ll probably even learn enough to do some magic.”

Frank kissed her lightly on the head and Jackie squirmed uncomfortably. George and Julie were in George’s bedroom and there was no question in Jackie’s mind what they were doing. She wished they would stop or she might have to take a walk until they were done. “She also told me to watch out for Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf, because they couldn’t be trusted.”

“Huh?” Frank stopped nuzzling Jackie for a moment. “Who are they?”

“They’re the angels I mentioned earlier, sent by God to destroy Lilith’s demonic children….”

“I thought succubi were demons?”

“Slow down,” Jackie pleaded with a sigh. “Let me tell the story at my own pace.” Frank nodded and started nibbling her ear.

“When God created man, he also created Lilith, Adam’s first wife, although the names vary in different cultures. Eve was his second wife. Did you know that Cain and Abel weren’t actually brothers? They were only step-brothers?”

Frank shook his head.

“Cain’s mother was Lilith, and he was born before they left the Garden, but Abel’s mother was Eve, so he was born after the Fall. Lilith was made from the same earth that Adam had been made from, at the same time, so there was none of that ‘I was here first!’ or ‘You were made from my rib!’ for Adam to brag about, and Lilith was apparently the world’s first ‘liberated woman.’ ” She thought for only an instant before adding, “First woman, period, but also liberated. She refused to be subservient to Adam, which was sort of contrary to what God had in mind at the time, or at least what Adam expected from her. Lilith’s nose is still a bit bent out of joint about it, and she becomes angry whenever Adam appears in the conversation, so I’m not exactly clear what went down, but evidently Adam thought that her proper rôle in life was as his bedmate and household servant. Lilith disagreed. When Adam tried to force her to obey him, she thumbed her nose at him and then at God, when they both tried to make her act like the supportive ‘little woman.’ There were words spoken and rather than risk being turned into a pillar of salt, she fled. God sent three angels as emissaries to reason with her and get her to return to Adam, but they failed, since by that time she had a new boyfriend, Samael, the Angel of Death, who evidently had all the right moves, to hear Lilith tell it, and wasn’t nearly the idiot that Adam was besides.” Jackie shrugged, momentarily pushing Frank’s hand away. It was creeping towards her breast again.

“Anyway, instead of going back to Adam, Lilith just bugged out and did a lot of begetting, some with angels, and some with a magical race called the Djinni — who were sort of like angels, I think — the Bible left out a lot of stuff, and kept what the compilers thought were ‘the good parts’ — anyway, the Djinni were doing some special projects in a nearby part of the world — the folks that were later known as the genies of Middle Eastern lore, although they have many names in many different places.” Jackie shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. George and Julie must be thinking especially romantic thoughts in the other room. Frank hugged her even more closely and Jackie had to admit that it felt kind of good, now that she had learned how to control her hunger so that she didn’t suck the masculinity out of every male who touched her. Of course there would always be a link between them, now that he had touched her, although Lilith had been rather vague about what that meant. Jackie had formed the distinct impression that Lilith really didn’t care, and thought about men with the same friendly disinterest as a poultry farmer thought about his chickens. As long as they were useful, well and good. If they stopped being useful, well, there were other ways for poultry to pay for their keep.

“So?”

She started, realizing that she’d stopped talking. Frank’s caresses did feel awfully nice. “Oh, sorry. I must have been daydreaming. Anyway, Lilith had thousands — maybe millions — of little demon babies over the years, just to piss off God. Did I tell you she’s also called the Mother of All Demons? Apparently God wasn’t taking his Prozac with any regularity back then, and he was really pissed off about Lilith flipping him off, so he gave the three angels he’d sent to reason with her a different job. They had to kill all Lilith’s children — children like me.”

“Why? Why are you leaving?” Frank was beside himself as he watched Jackie sort through the few possessions she had worth taking. It was down to his class ring and a couple of photographs in which George and Frank were prominently portrayed. George and Julie were in class, apart for one of the few times they had to endure each other’s absence during the day. They were already making plans for a wedding after the spring semester ended.

“We’ve gone over this, Frank. I can’t stay here. Being around those two turtledoves is becoming increasingly painful. In addition, the longer I stay, the more likely I am to slip and suck you dry. I don’t want to hurt my best friends and I much prefer you as you are, rather than as my new gal pal.” There was moisture around Jackie’s eyes and she kept her face turned away from Frank as she spoke.

“If you leave, you’ll be alone. Stay here and we can help you.”

“Against angels?”

“You believe all that crap Lilith fed you?”

“Look at me.” Jackie wearily posed before Frank. “What do you see?”

“My friend.”

“No really. What do you see?”

“A beautiful raven-haired woman who’s about five-foot seven-inches tall, my favorite look, by the way.”

“Wearing?”

“A white, form-fitting sweater dress, and you look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Jackie spun around once. “And now what do you see?”

“A five-foot two-inch brunette with hair half way down her back, brown eyes,” he squinted, “or are they hazel?”

“But is it still me?”

“Sure? By the way, nice sweats.”

“So how did I do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stop it!” A dainty foot stomped. “You know what I mean. How can I be two different people?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think you are. You’re just a girl who likes matching outfits, and it doesn’t cost anything, so why not?”

“Yes, you do. Say it.” Jackie crossed her arms and waited petulantly.

“Oh, all right,” Frank sighed. He understood her point, but even this brief refusal to accept the obvious kept her with him a few more moments. “It was magic.”

“Correct. Give the man a cigar.” Jackie smiled and dropped back down onto the couch. “Now if that’s magic, can you accept that I might be a demon?”

Frank was silent for several seconds before answering. “I … I guess you might be slightly demonish, Jackie, but no, not a real demon, not you. You’re too nice. You didn’t even kill those creeps who were threatening our two lovebirds with rape and mayhem, and no court in the land would have blamed you. Hell, the police probably would have given you a medal. Instead, they all of them got off for their trouble — well, except for the one George belted — which is exactly what they’d wanted to do, just not quite as painfully as it actually transpired, and certainly not ending with being hauled off to jail for attempted rape, felony possession of big honking knives, assault, gang activity, and coercion later. I can’t manage to work up any sympathy for them. Smooth move, by the way, ‘persuading’ the cops that you knew Karate, and that they ‘didn’t need to see your ID.’ You stole that line from Star Wars, didn’t you?”

Jackie blushed. “Yes,” she admitted. “But what about angels?”

Frank gave a deep sigh and a grudging answer, “Well, I guess so, but they actually sound like creeps to me — what with picking on girls and all — and much badder citizens than you, so maybe they’re the real demons.”

“Angels who hunt demons, or demons who hunt me, what difference does it make? I’m not paranoid if there really are people out to get me.”

“All right already. You’ve made your point. Not that I have to accept it when it means you’ll want to leave.”

“Thank you, Frank. I’ll always appreciate your friendship. But then you understand why I need to leave.” Jackie stood to return to her old bedroom to finish picking out what to take with her but Frank grabbed her hand and pulled her back down onto the couch.

“No. I understand that you need help and we can help you. You remember help? It’s what friends do.” Suddenly there was a ravening beast slavering over him and he yelped as he rolled off the couch onto the floor.

When the beast didn’t follow he regained a bit of his composure. “Funny. Very funny. You’re shedding on the couch.”

By the time he had gotten to his feet, she was the blonde again. Before he could return to his seat she was in front of him, lifting him off his feet and holding him above her head with her left hand. “What can you do to stop an angel? I can lift you with just one hand. I can walk through walls. I can suck the life out of you without even trying.” She gently put him down and he slumped onto the couch as she began crying. “Damn it, whenever you’re near, I have to make a conscious effort not to hurt you. What can you do to help — against angels — angels who probably have enough power to make my puny abilities seem less than an ant’s?” She dropped down beside him, head in hands, sobbing by now. “Can’t you understand?” she managed to choke out, “you are my friend, my very best friend and I don’t want to see you hurt.”

His hand gently stroked her cheek and she jerked back as if bitten. “But I love you, and I will do whatever I can to help you and protect you.”

“It’s you.” She jumped to her feet and back away from him in shock and pain. “The pain. I thought it was the link with George and Julie, but it’s you. You … you … love me.” She gave out a cry of anguish, then turned and ran to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. Frank could hear her crying on the bed, but she wouldn’t respond to his pleas to open the door and talk to him. After an hour, he dejectedly went to bed himself.

 

Copyright © 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009 by Jeffrey M. Mahr

Copyright © 2011 by Levanah