Demon Girl

by Lisa M. Cronkhite

  He pulled up ten minutes after I got there. As he walked up, he called out, “Charlene, you made it.”

  As he walked over to me, we both took a seat on the bench under the street lamp. Instantly, I felt more and more energy building inside, as if my wings would burst out.

  “Why did you leave us?”I started asking him right away.

  “Your mother…” He paused. “Your mother wanted me out.”

  “That’s not how I remember it. From what my mother told me you chose to leave.”

  “You never knew?”

  “Knew what? That you abandoned your only daughter for over twenty years? Jesus Christ, Dad…if I should even call you Dad.”

  “Look,“ he said raising his hands. “Your mother wanted me out of there. She cheated on me. Did she tell you that?”

  “What? Why would she want you out, then? Shouldn’t it have been the other way around?”

  “Your mother didn’t love me anymore, Charlene. It didn’t work out between us.”

  “Why would you want to leave me, your only daughter?”

  “Your mother wanted it that way, so, foolishly I stayed away, trying to please her—in the hope she would take me back. As the time passed, and then the years, it just got harder and harder to take. She would mail me a postcard of you as you grew, but after she met Adam, everything stopped. I never heard from her again. I lost track of you.”

  “You never stopped loving me then?”

  “Never, Charlene.”

  My heart surged with energetic beats, yet I felt a funny feeling on my back. I heard a crack. Dear God, I was changing right in front of him!

  I got up quickly. “I gotta go, Dad, there is something I need to do.”

  Crack. Crack. My back cracked. It was happening again. I stepped backwards a few steps.

  “Well, okay…but will we talk again?”

  “Don’t know…” I said, rushing off.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I was fully formed into demon shape again, crouched over in agony. There I hid in the forest until I heard a noise. At first I thought it was a deer or some other animal, but then the shadow got closer.

  I looked up and saw Benjamin. “Miss me?” he asked.

  Actually, I did, and he knew it. I didn’t have to say anything. He picked me up and off we flew back to his lair.

  Once we got back to his place of hiding, he placed me on a smooth bed of rock.

  “I know it’s not as comfortable as the real one, but it will do.”

  “Thank you…”

  “Don’t thank me; thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For giving me purpose.”

  I pondered on that thought a while. What did Benjamin want with me after all? Maybe he was just looking for a companion, like me, but I wanted to live. He didn’t care anymore about his demon form. He was so used to it after so many hundreds of years, it didn’t matter to him. Besides, he had become somewhat human anyway.

  As he lit a fire, I gazed into the light.

  I saw a young man, perhaps the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. He was wearing a seventeenth-century tailored jacket, black slacks and slick knee-high boots. He walked over to his horse and got ready to ride in the middle of the night. There was a full moon as the fog rolled in. He galloped in the forest in search of something or someone. He got off his horse, tied the reins to a tree and walked over to a small pond. He sat down by an old rotted oak tree and looked into his reflection in the pool of water. “Here’s to you,” he said, and then pulled out a thin vial of liquid from inside his jacket pocket and slurped it down.

  “It was a stupid thing to do, I know, but that is how I did it,” Benjamin said.

  “Poison?”

  “None other!”

  “You do like that phrase don’t you.”

  “Well, what else shall I say?”

  “Please, Benjamin, not now.”

  “Yes, you are right. Not now. You must rest. I’ll be here when you wake.”

  I curled up again and closed my eyes. I could no longer think. I was still drained from everything that had happened to me; with Jesse, with my Dad—with everything basically. Benjamin was right. I did need to rest, to regain my strength, but the depression of being in my demon form again overwhelmed me. Just when I thought it was over, I got sucked down to an even deeper low. Dawn was breaking as the sun cut the earth with its light, and I still wasn’t changing back again. It was slower now. The sun burned into my eyelids, yet it felt strangely good. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.

  I awoke in a bed of silken sheets. The room was dimly lit by the dying flames in the fireplace, and I could hear soft classical music playing in the background. There he stood in the corner of the room with his back turned. I couldn’t make out who it was. His hair was long and wavy as he wore a tattered white shirt and black trousers.

  “Are you comfortable?” he asked.

  As I sat up in bed, he turned around and walked closer to me. The man I had been staring at was the same man as in the visions of Benjamin’s previous life.

  “Benjamin?”

  “Yes, my love?”

  Dear God, I thought. Was this another dream? Another vision?

  As I limbered up, weak and barely able to move, I started to glide myself to the mirror. Beside the bed was a night stand with a wash basin. The ornate china bowl was filled with fresh water, and the fire heated the room in a soft, warm glow.

  Once I got close enough, I looked into the mirror. My hair was a dark raven-like color, long and curling at the ends. I was dressed in a sheer white nightgown and could see through my clothes as the fire illuminated my body. Who was I? Whoever I was, she was beautiful, and then I suddenly remembered the visions from before—the first time Benjamin showed me.

  “Beth, you must rest now,” Benjamin said, guiding me back to the bed.

  I was too weak to argue. I couldn’t tell if it was another dream or whether I was possessing Beth’s body.

  He took my hands and sat down beside me, caressing my skin and hair.

  “I know,” he said. “You don’t have to speak.”

  I thought of being trapped in Sarah’s body again, but this time it was different. I could feel everything and maneuver Beth’s body like it was my own.

  He laid me on the bed and bent down beside me. “I love you more than you will ever know…” he whispered in my ear.

  Then we kissed.

  Slowly, he moved his hands down my body, unbuttoning my gown. As he peeled off the layers of my clothing, he began to kiss me down my neck and chest.

  “No…wait…”

  It all felt so real. Was it? I had to tell Benjamin that I wasn’t Beth. I was trapped inside her body. This can’t be happening, I thought.

  “Shh…it’s all right. I know,” he whispered.

  “But, Benjamin, I’m not…”

  “Shh…you are with me now, and you are safe.”

  He crawled above my body and continued to kiss and caress me. It felt incredibly good, but I felt sinful I hadn’t told him who I truly was underneath the layers of Beth’s skin. Somehow he knew.

  As he crawled in bed beside me and under the covers, he placed his warm body against mine. Softly he molded himself onto my bare skin as the two of us made love.

  “So, was the dream good?” Benjamin asked as he stoked the fire. We were still in his lair.

  I sat up, holding my head. “Was that a dream?”

  “No, actually, it wasn’t,” he said with a smile.

  “What was it then?”

  “It was my gift to you. Did you enjoy it?”

  “Benjamin, stop! I am just trying to figure all this out.”

  He gave me a glazed look and then turned away. He looked down and into a pool of water on the ground. “I thought you would like to know…” He paused for a few moments.

  “Know what? What was it you wanted me to know? That you could seduce me in my dreams, or whatever you call it to be?”

  “You di
dn’t stop me from doing it. I thought you wanted to know more of me.”

  “I do…but not necessarily like that.”

  I got up and caressed his shoulder. “It must have been hard on you…losing her like that.”

  “I see her everywhere I go. She is in all things untouched. She is the sky and the falling snow. I feel her presence sometimes when I am alone…and then I think of you.”

  I was surprised he was speaking so vulnerably. He looked saddened by the very words he spoke, and yet so beautiful as his large eyes peered through me.

  “You must get back. They are looking for you.”

  For a while there I lost all track of time. There was no way of knowing that. All the days seemed to have melted into each other.

  “I will take you back as you are still weak,” he said.

  I looked down at myself and realized I was still changing back to my natural form, yet it was light outside. I wondered why the process was taking longer.

  “You are getting further and further away,” he said as he picked me up.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The older you become, the more you become the other.”

  Again, the riddles, but this time I knew what he meant. My body was changing as I got older, forming both human and demon. In years to come, I might never be able to change back into complete human form.

  As he picked me up and carried me away, I could sense despair in his eyes. Finally, I was starting to feel for him. I was beginning to read his mind. “I fly so high and yet I am falling,” he said through his thoughts.

  “Falling for you, my Charlene,” he told me again through his eyes, glancing at me while we soared thousands of feet above the ocean’s surface.

  Chapter Seventeen

  After Benjamin brought me home that day, I checked my apartment. I was still concerned about the breakin, and wanted to be careful.

  The answering machine was blinking like crazy, and the place smelled damp and musty, like I had left all the windows and doors open—but that wasn’t the case. Everything was sealed shut.

  To try to regain some normalcy, I checked the date and time. I still didn’t know what day it was.

  I went over to the clock in the kitchen. The glowing digital numbers read 5:55 a.m. It was still morning, yet I wasn’t fully changed back into my human form. The process was much slower this time. My fingernails were a slick and shiny blue, like I had just painted them. My skin had tanned into a tinge of burnt orange. The sun had discolored it while I was still in transformation.

  On the counter was my purse. I grabbed it, looking for my cell phone to check the date—November eighteenth, three days after my annual and the same time I had been gone.

  I opened my cell phone and could see it was flooded with text messages and missed calls. I checked my text messages. The first one was from my father, reading: Charlene, you left in such a hurry the other day, I hope you are okay. Please call me when you can.

  The next few messages were from Jan. I had forgotten all about work. In her texts, she was concerned. They all pretty much said the same thing: I am worried about you, Char. Please return my calls.

  I felt awful that I missed work all these days without calling her, but how could I? By now, I thought, my job was over, yet Jan didn’t mention I was fired or anything. I picked up the phone and called. My nerves were bundled inside my stomach as the phone rang.

  “Lucky’s Diner, Jan speaking.”

  “Jan! It’s Charlene.”

  “Oh, my God! Charlene, where have you been?”

  “I was out of town. Sorry I didn’t call you sooner.”

  “You had me worried. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, well, I think so…”

  Jan went on to say my job would be waiting for me when I got back, but I could hear in the tone of her voice she was disappointed in me. She told me we’d have to talk over my schedule, mentioning my hours would be cut down. Peggy and the other girls had taken over my time slot so Jan offered I could still work, but later in the afternoon instead.

  After I got off the phone with Jan, I wondered again about Jesse. I still had feelings for him, but they were of sympathy and regret. I did love him, just not the way that I hoped, nor the way he hoped either.

  I went to the computer to see if he was online, but nothing. I had ruined everything between us. There wasn’t a chance in hell in this strange world I was living in I was ever going to be human again, not with Jesse, but I sent him an e-mail anyway:

  Jesse,

  Look, I am so very sorry for what happened the last time we talked. I was glad you came to see me, but I was unprepared. I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me. I am going through some changes, and I still want us to communicate. I need a friend, Jesse. I need you.

  Charlene

  Everything was so overwhelming to me, I could barely take it. I prayed for Delmara to come back, but she didn’t. There was nothing more I could do. I was lost. Benjamin had been my only hope of trying to find the answers to all of this, yet he too was holding back something. The more I changed, the more I sensed it.

  I closed my eyes tightly as I lay on the couch. Tears oozed down my face, sealing my eyes shut.

  “I must warn you,” a voice said. “Choose your road wisely.”

  “Delmara?” I called out in the darkness. All I could see were flashing silver streaks dancing across my closed eyes, and then a hand reached out to me. “Walk with me, and I will show you the way…”the voice continued.

  Through the darkness of my mind, I walked. Doors had formed in the blackness, and I reached out to open the first door.

  “Remember, choose wisely…”the voice whispered again.

  I couldn’t tell if it was Delmara or not. The voice was lower, like that of a man.

  As I stood there and stared at the three doors before me, I walked up to each one. The first door was warm to the touch and smelled like magnolias. I thought of Delmara. She had to be there, that was her scent, but something was telling me to check the two other doors instead.

  The second door was ice cold and dripping with frost. Underneath the crack of the door, a ribbon-like fog plumed out. I could hear voices of laughter and singing, but they were so faint, I couldn’t make out the words. The last door was tepid and smelled like the outdoors.

  I wasn’t sure which door to open, so I just went with my gut. I decided to open the last door.

  A soft breeze drifted through me as I opened the door. All I could see were cotton-like clouds. Below the doorway rolled in a green fog. Suddenly, I was pushed through and falling.

  The green fog stung my eyes as my mind raced with thoughts of dread. The elevator-like drop made my heart pound even faster. Had I made the wrong choice?

  I tried desperately to change into demon form so I could fly, but all I could do to force my feelings out was to scream, yet my scream was silent. There was a numbing hum in my brain. I descended slowly, and suffered from windburn.

  Everything seemed to stop. The green had turned into leaves, and the leaves had turned into trees. As the trees became a green path of thick foliage, blades of grass began to form. A forest was forming.

  “Charlene,” Delmara softly whispered, yet I could not see her. Her voice echoed off the trees as leaves began to rain down. “You are now ready for phase two.”

  I looked around trying to find something to step onto, like a rock or tree trunk, but the ground seemed hollow as I floated above the surface. It was hard to maneuver my body as it was tossed and turned by the wind.

  “Please, Delmara, what do you mean? I beg of you. Please answer me.”

  “You will know, Charlene. Just as you’ve known all along.”

  With that, she was gone.

  I rubbed my eyes, peeling away my lids, but it wasn’t my eyelids that I thought I was peeling off. It was the glue-like tears I had cried myself to sleep with. As I removed the crusted layers, I opened my eyes to see I was back in my apartment.

  That’
s when I heard the phone ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Charlene?”

  “Yes, may I help you?”

  “You don’t know me, but we need to talk. My name is Sarah Hudson.”

  In shock, I nearly dropped the phone. My voice trembled a little with my response. “Yes?”

  “I’m a friend of Jesse’s. I understand that you know him?”

  “Yes…why do you ask?”

  “I hope you don’t mind. I found your number in one of his phone books. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “Why? What’s wrong? Is Jesse okay?”

  “He’s gone missing.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I didn’t know what to do. I was shocked Sarah had even called in the first place. The only person I could think of calling was Benjamin. Maybe he would know where Jesse had gone to. Was he still alive? Why had he gone off the deep end like that? Had I caused all this to happen?

  My mind whipped around the room so hard I felt dizzy and began to faint. As I fell, arms reached out to grab me.

  “Benjamin!”

  “At your service, dear miss.”

  “How in the world?” I looked at him with excitement and could see he was pleased too.

  “Come on, DemonChick! You can figure me out by now. All you need to do is think about it, and I am there!”

  He laid me on the couch and caressed my face. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”

  “I do, Benjamin, I’m sorry.”

  “You should find him then.”

  “How?”

  “Use your new senses. That’s what they are there for.”

  I gave him a puzzled glance. “I don’t know how to use my senses yet. I don’t even know what kind of senses I have anymore, Benjamin. I am falling apart.”

  “Want me to glue you back together again, Humpty Dumpty?”

  “Ha! Quit it. I am being serious. What if he’s in danger?”

  “My senses tell me you will make it right again.”