Daughter to Demons by Jeffrey M. Mahr ©1999 Jeffrey M. Mahr -- all rights reserved All legends have some basis in reality, unfortunately most have been changed and distorted over time. Was there a flood of biblical proportions as described in Genesis 7 through 9 or is it possible that the local newspapers back then didn't cover the whole world and they only thought everything had flooded? This story suggests the truth behind a couple of legends.

"And so my brethren, I leave you this day with a quote from Ephesians 6:16, "In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all flaming arrows of the evil one."

Jack Renfrew politely applauded and rose from his seat on the heavy wood bench along with the thirty or so other parishioners, but rather than complete the Sunday morning experience with the usual greetings and milling about in front of the church, he struggled against the flow of humanity about him to exit through one of the side doors leaving his roommate Frank to document his other room mate George's next failure to convince Julie to date him. Blonde, beautiful, and also in pre-med, she never seemed to have time for anything but classes and studying. Jack ran his fingers through his dark brown hair while using his arm to prevent George from seeing him snicker.

It was a matter of seconds for Jack to reach his car and, after the a brief prayer for a fast start, turn the key. This time the engine caught the first try and he headed out of the parking lot to the blaring sounds of Steppenwolf on the golden oldies station. Just because it was Sunday didn't mean it was a day of rest for everyone and Jack had a major paper to complete before Friday morning. For the next five days he was going to eat, sleep, and breathe demonology if he was going to complete his paper entitled "Explaining the Myths and Misunderstandings that Resulted in Devil Worship."

"Jack, it's the day after 'over-the-hump-day' and it's time to unwind." George Dombrowski and Frank Ahtram were at the door to Jack's bedroom in the apartment-style dormitory they shared. "Come on and join us at the Arlington. There'll be female-type creatures there."

"Yeah, and at least a few of them won't be Julie Oliver." George was still down from his latest failure with Julie.

"Sorry guys," Jack rubbed his sore eyes and blinked several times. "I'd love to but I can't. I've got a major paper due tomorrow and I haven't even finished the foot notes or bibliography."

"Okay. We'll let you slide this once, but you owe us some quality party time tomorrow night. No excuses."

"You got it. I'll even try to come up with something special for our TGIF celebration." Jack laughed as they closed the door to his bedroom. Jack stretched and stood to work the kinks out of his back. The stretch was not enough and so it was time for a stage two work break, he paced. Three paces brought him to the unmade bed and three more to the far wall and the Playmate Collage poster on the back of the door. Finally, after about five minutes of pacing, he headed back to his desk. It was even harder to get back to work with thoughts of missing out on party time flitting through his head.

With the paper done and handed in it was truly time to celebrate. Jack had promised something extra special and he was driving so they ended up cruising the South Side of town. It was the opposite end of town from the University so they rarely got there often, but he had gotten a recommendation from one of the folks in his class on Mythology. The area was... well, not seedy, there were no street people urinating on the dumpsters, or cars slowly cruising the women standing by the street corners, but it wasn't exactly pristine either. The place was called "Calaca E." and from the sound emanating from it's dark interior the "joint was jumpin'" as Professor Long would have said.

Inside there was the standard bar and dance floor, but this place had a stage also. The other surprise, was the motif, a panache of Aztec and Mayan art and statuary lined the walls of the club, along with that of at least one other, early American civilization they could not name. Jack hadn't mentioned anything about the place as he had wanted to surprise them, and it worked. Even he was a bit surprised by the extent to which the club had been transformed to appear to be like some ancient temple.

Once they gave him a moment Jack explained that Pedro, the guy from his Mythology class, had said that it was a great place to go, but warned us not to try to pick up any of the girls there. Apparently there was a large group of locals who frequented the place and were a bit on the possessive side.

After that warning I told them what the name meant and they almost decided to leave then. "Calaca E." stands for "Calaca Extraordinario" which meant "Grim Reaper Plus" or "Strange Killer" depending upon how you translated it.

The bar was as crowded as the dance floor. Frank grumbled about it, but finally agreed to get drinks while the other two found someplace to settle in. They ended up right next to the stage since it was the only area not overflowing with people.

Three rounds and they were all loose enough to find someone and get out on the dance floor. Frank had been searching out unattached girls since they had first arrived taking care to seek out dark haired beauties for himself and blondes for George and Jack. He had found several trios meeting their requirements that seemed to be awaiting their attentions but, every time the boys approached a group, some of the locals would get there before them. Each time they would head back to their table and have yet another beer. The beer buzz was getting noticeable and they were getting annoyed with being shut out by the locals. George was finally sufficiently fed up to suggest heading back to one of their regular haunts when the lights dimmed and a hidden loudspeaker announced the start of the stage show.

"Did you know there was a stage show?" Frank settled back into his seat.

"Nope."

"Let's get out of here." George stood by the table waiting for us to join him. "We can't even talk to the women here."

"Let's at least see what kind of show they've got here. If we still want to leave after the first act we can." Jack was actually proud of himself for being so logical after a half a dozen beers.

"Ladies and gentlemen. The Calaca E. is proud to present the dance stylings of Lilith."

"Oh great." George grumbled. "'Dance stylings.' I can't wait."

Music replaced the announcer's voice, slow, sensuous, erotic music. None of them recognized it, but it was so blatantly sexual that it made Ravel's "Bolero" sound like a nursery rhyme. George and his complaints were forgotten as they all stared at the fantastic looking raven haired beauty who flowed onto the stage with indescribable grace. They had all read stories about people exuding sexuality, but this was the first time they had ever encountered it. The boys were mesmerized. They had no idea what she actually did on the stage. It was all a blur except for one vague memory of her permitting Jack to place a dollar bill in what might have been a gee string if it were larger.

They slowly came out of their trance as the sounds of applause faded away. A bit shaky and confused, they finished off the last of their beers and headed back to the dorm. No one seemed to want to extend the evening and they all went directly to bed upon their return.

Jack dreamed of her that night, vivid dreams, erotic dreams, impossible dreams. She came to him dressed in the sheerest of gauzy negligees, floating in the air above his bed with her hair flowing gloriously about her. An alabaster hand gently reached out as she touched his cheek. Like a faint breeze her hand slowly slid down Jack's neck to his hirsute chest, pausing briefly to lightly graze each nipple before sliding downward following the contour of his stomach hair down to his navel and below.

Her touch was the most erotic thing Jack had ever felt. His nipples were rock hard in the wake of her hand's gentle, teasing passage. He was painfully excited before she reached his navel and exploded at the first touch of her hand to his genitals. The orgasm was incredible, both in how it felt and in its duration. It went on and on, draining him. It was like his life force was being slowly sucked away by this vision of femininity. When it finally ended Jack was so exhausted he lay in a stupor, not seeing her slowly fade away.

The next thing Jack remembered was being shaken by George. "Jack. Wake up. Are you alright? It's nearly dusk. You've been asleep the entire day."

"Wha? Go 'way. Lemme sleep." The words were barely intelligible.

"Your choice guy. Get up now or live with a cold dinner."

"Alright, alright." The words were only a bit louder or more coherent. "I'm coming. Give me five minutes to clean up."

"Hey George. Really great hot meal." Jack looked at the hot dogs with a side of macaroni and cheese on the paper plate in front of him with distaste. Frank ignored the others and kept shoveling in macaroni.

"Hey, if you don't like it now, wait an hour and then try eating it cold, congealed, and rubbery." They all shivered a bit at that thought.

"That's okay. I'm not really hungry anyway." He weakly pushed the plate away and struggled to rise. "Actually, what I really want is to go back to sleep. I'm bushed." George and Frank glanced at each other.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Sure. I feel fine. I just didn't get a good night's sleep last night, although I've got to admit it was an interesting night. Wow, what a dream."

"Huh?"

"I dreamt that stripper from the Calaca E. came floating into my bedroom and gave me some of the best sex I've ever had." The grin on Jack's face kept growing as he thought about it.

"That's funny." Frank spoke around the food in his mouth. "I dreamt about her too, but I guess she didn't like me as much as you. She just floated through my room and left, but what a fox."

"Me too." The three stared at each other before laughing.

"That's cool. We all had the same dream."

"No, I had the same dream as Frank, but I got the feeling she was looking for something because in my dream she passed through my room without stopping."

The other two returned to their food, but Jack slid his chair back and stood. "I'm going back to my bedroom and rack out. See ya, guys."

"Say hello to the babe if she comes back." Frank grinned lasciviously along with George.

"Hey Jack. Did you spill something in chem lab yesterday afternoon?"

"Nope." Jack turned back puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"You've got a huge light spot on the hair on the back of your head."

"I do?" Jack reached back and stroked his hair as he tried to get a better view of the back of his head in the darkened window over the kitchenette's sink. He couldn't see anything, but noticed that his hair was much shaggier than he remembered.

"I better check it out." He headed for the bathroom. "And I guess I also better get a hair cut tomorrow." A huge yawn. "But for now, I need some serious rack time. I'm dead on my feet."

"But he doesn't want to go anywhere."

"Damn it George, I don't care what he wants. He's not eating, he's slept most of the last two days, and he looks... different."

"So what do we do?"

"We call the university health clinic and make an appointment, then we get him there even if it means carrying him there."

"I don't know if I want to carry him. Maybe he's contagious."

"Yeah, and maybe he's really a voodoo zombie waiting to steal our hearts for his... his... oh hell, I can't even remember what they call someone who makes and controls a zombie."

"You mean a witch doctor?"

"Nope."

"A shaman?"

"Nah."

"Then I don't know. Well have to ask Jack."

"Yeah. If he ever wakes up. I'm calling the clinic. You try to wake him up."

"Wha? Ooh, what's that stench?"

"Good, Mr. Renfrew, you're awake. The aroma is what's left of the ammonia capsule we used to wake you. We need to talk."

"Where am I?"

"You're at the university health center. How are you feeling now?"

"Fine. I'm feeling fine, just tired. Who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Brannigan. You're friends are worried about you. They say you've been losing weight, not eating, and sleeping most of the last week. I also looked at a picture of the three of you taken last month at one of the Greek parties. You've developed a variety of unusual symptoms including: hypersomnia, selective forms of both hypertrichosis and hypotrichosis, gynecomastia, hypogonadism, hypotension, and hypocalcemia. Have you been taking any unusual drugs or herbs?"

"No. I don't do drugs," the doctor's expression was clearly skeptical which annoyed Jack, "and what were all those hyper, hypo things you listed?"

"They mean you're losing hair on some parts of your body and gaining it on others, your blood pressure is dropping to unusually low levels and you are developing what appear to be female secondary sex characteristics." Jack just lay on the hospital bed in shock. "I'd like to do some tests on you, nothing fancy, just a urine sample, some blood work and a small tissue sample. Then, I'd like you to see some people I know at the university hospital."

"Why? What's wrong with me?"

"I," he paused to consider his words, "I don't have the equipment here to do a through diagnostic work-up. This is just a clinic and I'm only a general practitioner. You need to see some experts."

"Fine. I'd rather just go back to my dorm and go to sleep, but I'm too tired to argue with you."

"Good. Please sign here."

"We'd like to see Jack Renfrew please." It had been more than two weeks since Jack's hospitalization and Frank and George had gone through this routine every day since, trying, still unsuccessfully, to see their room mate.

"Are you family?"

"Yes." George kicked Frank before he was corrected. "I'm George Renfrew and this is my brother Frank."

"Very well. He's in room 1514. Let me get you passes. Take the elevator to the fifteenth floor and turn left." The receptionist turned away and, seeing Frank sucking air into his lungs to object, George again signaled Frank to be quiet. The receptionist turned back with the passes and the boys silently accepted them and headed off to the elevators.

Once the elevator doors closed Frank railed at George, "Why did you kick me, and why did you lie? If they checked our IDs we could have been in big trouble."

"I kicked you to stop you from giving us away and I lied because I'm tired of being turned away."

"Well," Frank was obviously still angry, "alright. But next time tell me what you're going to do."

They made it to their friend's floor without further incident and no one was at the nursing station so that wasn't a problem either. Finding the room took a bit longer, but that's mostly because they were intent on other things to watch the room numbers. Frank was still angry about being kicked and George was too busy trying to keep from being kicked in return as they good-naturedly scuffled while walking down the hall. As it was, they only had to double back two rooms.

"Are you sure this is the right room?

"The lady said fifteen fourteen, didn't she?"

"That's what I thought I heard."

"So come on. Let's go in already." George practically dragged the larger man into the darkened hospital room.

"Hey. Cut it out." It seemed funny listening to the large man whine. "And why is it so dark in here."

"You mean besides the fact that the lights are off and the curtains are closed?"

"Yeah, smart ass." The whine was now a growl. "That's what I meant."

"I don't know." Frank flicked on the light switch and they were briefly blinded by the sudden light.

"Hey Jack." The body in the bed gave a muffled groan and rolled over pulling the covers more tightly over itself.

"Shut up George. Can't you see he's sleeping?"

"Sure, but now that we're here it's time to wake him up." They moved over to the bed. Frank examined the covered form with a confused look on his face while the other man grabbed the chart at the end of the bed and began reading it.

"Just because you're pre-med I suppose you're going to tell me you can read that stuff?"

"Sure. It's English." George grinned wolfishly as he paused for effect before continuing. "I just don't necessarily understand it."

"So why are you bothering?" Frank was still staring at the body. Something was bothering him, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Because I am pre-med." He answered without looking up from the chart. "What I don't know I'll look up when we get back to the dorm."

Frank was done examining the body. "George?"

"Umm."

"George!"

"What?" He looked up from the chart.

"Are you sure we're in the right room?"

"I thought we went through that already. It's the right room already."

"Then why does it look like that's a blonde woman in the bed?"

"What?!" George jerked his eyes up from the chart to examine the body. He stared at it carefully for almost a minute before intently flipping through the numerous pages of the chart. "It says Jack Renfrew on each page and there's no one else in the room. Lift the cover and we'll check it out."

"No way. I'm not getting accused of rape or something. Let's get out of here."

"Lift the damn cover. Then we'll be sure."

"I'm sure enough. You lift the cover if you think it's so important. I'm leaving."

"An excellent idea." They turned as one to the door where a nurse was standing, hands on hips. "What are you, ah, gentlemen doing here?"