The Devil Inside Me (2 page)

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ANTICHRIST
The Lucky Devil Bar

Caitlyn ripped the card in half and tossed it in the trash. She sat down when she began to hyperventilate. Once she’d calmed, she said the most sincere, fervent prayer she could, asking God to help Amber. She promised to do whatever He wanted of her, for the rest of her life.

A dull feeling at the base of her neck signaled a migraine coming on and Caitlyn gave up on the idea of sleep. She needed to be at the hospital, to be with her sister. She popped a couple of Vicodins to try to knock back the headache, then took a cab to pick up her car near the Lucky Devil. The bar’s neon sign gave her the shivers as she drove away. Its letter “L” branched into a pitchfork at the top, the “y” ended in a forked tail, and the “D” had two bright red horns.

Her mother was surprised to see Caitlyn back earlier than they’d planned. She informed her that Amber was now comatose, a development the doctor had predicted. “She’ll get worse before she gets better,” he’d said. Caitlyn told her mom to go home and sleep until morning, but knew that she’d be back long before then.

When her mother left, Caitlyn got a washcloth and wet it with cool water, returning to Amber’s bedside to gently wash her sister’s face. That’s when she saw the blood, a thin trace of it along both of Amber’s lower eyelids. She screamed for the nurse, then watched as a dark red rivulet ran down Amber’s face. A nurse arrived and called a doctor, who showed up immediately. He told Caitlyn to wait outside and the nurse escorted her out and closed the door behind her.

A few minutes later, the doctor found Caitlyn waiting outside the room. He said “this sort of thing” wasn’t entirely unexpected for a virus like this: internal bleeding, and sometimes bleeding from the eyes or other mucous membranes. Amber, the doctor said, was slowly succumbing to the virus. His assurances that they were doing everything they could didn’t make her feel any better. He said that Amber would need to be isolated in a negative-pressure room, which meant Caitlyn could no longer keep her bedside vigil. She watched with tremendous anxiety and helplessness as the nurses wheeled Amber away.

She decided not to call her mother, but rather to let her sleep and give her the news when she arrived at the hospital later. Caitlyn would wait for her in the lobby seating area and intercept her when she came from the parking garage. As she waited, her head began pounding worse than ever and she burst into tears.

Through her sobs she remembered Chris Titan’s words: “I can make her well.”

The door of the Lucky Devil flew open and Caitlyn barged in, finding Chris at the same place at the small side of the bar. He looked up and smiled, a smile that both terrified her and irritated the fuck out of her.

“Nice little stunt with the business card. So what’s your story?” she demanded, half shouting. “You’re a satanist with some kind of connection to the devil himself? Is that it?”

“Back so soon?” Chris asked, offering her the barstool next to his. Caitlyn chose to remain standing, arms folder across her chest. “I don’t have a connection to Satan, my dear.
I am Satan
,” Chris said, the words sounding oily as they slid off his tongue. “Or Lucifer, Beelzebub, Baphomet, Iblis, Belial, blah, blah, blah. I’ve been called hundreds of names, but I prefer Satan. ‘Iblis worshipper’ doesn’t have that ring to it.”

Caitlyn’s felt her legs quivering. She didn’t believe he was the devil,
that
Satan, but she knew he was evil. She could see it. “You said you can help my sister,” she said.

“I can do more than help,” he said. “I can make her well again. No side effects or lingering symptoms.”

“Did you cause this? Did you make her sick?” Caitlyn was getting riled, and the continuing dull throb at the base of her skull wasn’t helping matters.

Chris laughed. “No, child. That wasn’t me — that was
Him
.” His tone became sarcastic. “The Divine One can be wickedly petty sometimes. And of course, He could
cure
her, too, but as you’ve already discovered, He tends to be rather hard of hearing when one really needs Him.”

“And what do you want in return?” Caitlyn asked. “My soul?” She meant it to sound derisive, but her fear gave it a trembling she hadn’t intended.

Chris burst into laughter, so loud and deep that everyone in the bar looked over. “Old wive’s tale, I’m afraid,” he said. “I get plenty of souls as it is. I prefer more earthly rewards for my favors.” He leaned toward her and when he whispered she smelled his ashen breath. “I want your cunt.”

Caitlyn’s stomach knotted up and she considered running, but held her ground.

“I want you to give it to me, willingly and totally, for one hour.”

“You’re a sick fuck,” Caitlyn replied. “I hope you die.”

She turned and walked briskly toward the door, and just as she opened it she heard Chris’s deep voice say, “Not likely.”

Caitlyn’s mother saw her asleep in a chair in the waiting area when she arrived at two in the morning. They both looked exhausted as they walked to the coffee machine, Caitlyn giving her mom the doctor’s terrible update, along with the news that Amber was now off-limits in an isolation room. Her mother broke down in tears and Caitlyn did her best to reassure her that everything would be all right, though she herself was beginning to have doubts.

The women spoke until sometime in the middle of the night, when her mother fell asleep. Caitlyn was also drained, and on top of everything else, her headache had become so bad that she was starting to feel nauseous. Even worse, she couldn’t get Chris Titan — or Satan, whatever his real name was — off her mind. She remembered the smell of his breath, his irritating grin and slimy voice. Most of all, though, she thought about his offer. What if he was telling the truth? Would she trade her body for her sister’s life? In a heartbeat she would, but this… this was the
devil
. Or at least someone claiming to be him. Caitlyn did the only thing she could think to do in such a bizarre, emotional situation: She turned her attention to God, praying fervently for Amber’s recovery until she eventually fell asleep, too.

In the morning, the two tired women met again with the doctor. Amber’s condition had worsened overnight and she was now in critical condition. Furthermore, the doctor was becoming pessimistic about Amber’s chances of recovery, saying, “We’ve done all we can, but nothing seems to be working. At this point, she may only have hours left. I’m sorry.” He introduced them to a woman who worked in the hospital’s administration, and she gave them the standard suggestions, one of them being to call close relatives to let them know the severity of the situation.

Caitlyn’s mother was admirably calm and refused to leave the hospital, saying that she wanted to be as close to Amber’s side as possible. Caitlyn herself put on a veneer of strength for the sake of her mom. She told her mother she wanted to get some fresh air, then walked straight to the hospital’s chapel. Upon entering, she saw a small, quiet room with four short pews and a fake stained-glass window with an image of a dove, artificially lit from the other side.

Caitlyn sat in the front pew and for the first minute or two, cursed God vehemently, screaming out loud at Him for His lack of attention and uncaring nature. When she calmed down, she quietly apologized and began to pray again.

“That’s useless, you know.”

The voice came from behind, scaring Caitlyn half to death. She recognized it immediately as Chris. How did he get in? She would have heard if anyone had entered the room. She was too afraid to turn around.

“Seriously, He doesn’t listen to you people,” Chris continued. “There are too many of you who want things. Want, want, want… He stopped paying attention centuries ago.”

Caitlyn turned to face him, her head pounding worse than ever. Chris eyed her, then said, “I, on the other hand, am offering you exactly what you want: your sister’s life.”

A tense moment passed as Caitlyn stared at Chris, who continued his attempt to entice her. “Spend an hour in my bed and Amber will recover.”

Caitlyn finally spoke, saying, “How do I know you’ll keep your word? For that matter, how do I know you can do what you say?”

Chris approached her. “You don’t know whether I’ll keep my word. You have to have faith — ironic, isn’t it?” he said with that irritating grin. “As for my ability to cure the sick, you have a bit of a headache right now, do you not?”

She nodded, her head pounding. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

“Tsk, tsk. We can’t have that. I want you at full strength while you’re fucking me. Your migraine will be gone in exactly 5 seconds. 4… 3…”

Caitlyn waited breathlessly. The throbbing ache had her on the verge of vomiting.

“2…”

She felt her stomach churn.

“1…” Chris waved his hand in front of her face.

It was gone.

Instantly. The pain, the nausea — totally gone. She felt fine. Better than fine, in fact, she felt great. She wasn’t even tired anymore. She looked at Chris, astonished. He rolled his eyes and said mockingly, “Oh ye of little faith.”

Chris continued, “I can do the same for Amber. It’s all up to you, my dear Caitlyn.” He extended a hand to her. “Do we have a deal?”

Caitlyn’s heart trembled and her breath caught in her throat as she remembered her sister with the little river of blood trickling down her pale face.

She lowered her head and took Chris’s hand.

Caitlyn found her mother and told her she was going home to call some of their relatives and that she’d be back in a couple of hours. As she exited the hospital, she found Chris parked outside in a black Ferrari. She climbed in and the engine roared as they pulled away from the curb.

Chris looked at Caitlyn as he drove and saw she was shaking. He reached to take her hand and she instinctively pulled away, then had to force herself to hold his hand. It was exceedingly warm to the touch.

“You’ve made a wise choice,” Chris said. “We are going to have an indecent amount of fun.”

“I need to go home,” Caitlyn said in a quiet voice. “I should shower and change first.”

“You can shower at my place,” Chris replied. “And I have something for you to wear. You will do whatever I ask of you from this point on. Is that clear?”

Caitlyn nodded. Was it her imagination or did his voice sound sexier now? He released her hand and slid his fingers between her thighs, close to her crotch. She could feel the warmth through her jeans. That warmth, the sexy low voice, her relief at her headache being gone, the hope that her sister would soon be okay… Caitlyn relaxed and was surprised to feel the wetness between her legs.

♦

Chris had the penthouse floor of a downtown luxury apartment building with floor-to-ceiling windows all around and a breathtaking view of Lake Erie. There was a black grand piano in his well-appointed living room. An amazing collection of art adorned the walls. Caitlyn felt like she was having an out-of-body experience as she looked the room over.

“When does the hour start?” she asked Chris.

“When we’re naked together,” he replied. “But there’s no rush, my dear. Amber is already getting better.” He saw her startled look and said, “Faith works both ways, you see. I don’t imagine you to be the type of person who would back out on our agreement.”

“No,” Caitlyn said, “I’m not. Thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll do whatever you want.” As she said it, she was surprised to feel a twinge in her lower abdomen, that familiar feeling of sexual anticipation. This was crazy — was she actually looking forward to this?

Chris placed a tumbler filled with ice and whiskey in her hand. “This will help,” he said. “Did you know I invented alcohol?” She took a big drink, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that this man was the devil, Satan himself. He looked like a normal guy, albeit an extremely sexy one.

He lead her to his huge bedroom, which also had floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as a large bed covered with dark red silk sheets. In the spacious bathroom Caitlyn found a towel and the clothing Chris had obviously set out for her earlier. There was also a new toothbrush and her favorite Donna Karan perfume. How had he known she would agree to do this?

“I’ll leave you for now,” Chris said. “Take your time.”

When he shut the bathroom door behind him, Caitlyn looked at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing the same jeans and Cavs shirt she’d had on for the last who-knows-how-many hours. 36? 48? She’d lost count. Staring at her reflection, she told herself that this was for Amber and that a deal was a deal. She had no choice but to go through with it. She downed half the whiskey, then peeled off her clothes and stepped into the shower.

The hot water relaxed her, and the fresh bar of soap was absolutely sublime. Caitlyn had never smelled anything like it. The whiskey in her system lulled her into a blissful state as she soaped her body and imagined what the next hour would be like. She was about to fuck a really hot guy, but he was substantially more than
just a guy
. She had no idea what to expect. Part of her knew she should be frightened — terrified, even — but the reality was that she was excited, tingling with anticipation.

Caitlyn toweled off and picked up the clothing he’d laid out for her. There wasn’t much of it; a black lace bustier with red satin roses across the bustline partially covering her breasts. The sides were red silk, and the bottom flared out like a skirt but barely covered her crotch. There was a pair of mostly sheer black panties to go with it. Caitlyn thought he would have better taste than this tacky outfit, but she put it on and was stunned when she looked in the mirror. The fit was flawless and the lingerie accentuated the best parts of her body — her large, firm breasts and her flawless ass and legs. It wasn’t the kind of thing she would have dared to wear, but she couldn’t deny that it made her look spectacular. Chris certainly knew how to dress a woman, that much was certain.

The sexy lingerie reminded Caitlyn of what was about to occur: She was about to have sex with a man-demon. At age 28, she’d been with a dozen men, six of them while in college. In the last year she’d had sex with only Ryan, her regular friends-with-benefits guy. Caitlyn certainly loved good sex, but she was fearful of the being in the next room. She imagined lying naked with his tall body, hearing that deep voice in her ear. She felt that twinge in her lower abdomen grow and realized she was becoming wet again.