THE MISFITS

Chapter 6

My cleft throbbed, and my panties were a wringing, wet write-off. My n*****s were puckered so hard I wasn't sure they'd soften without some oral attention. I was tempted to lock myself in a cubicle and stroke the bud between my legs to relieve some of the s****l tension. I abstained. As aroused as I found myself, I enjoyed the sensation, for it meant I wasn't just a monster who fed on s*x and lust. I could want and need pleasure, the pleasure that came with touching and f*****g, because I was a woman. A woman with needs. It turned out I just needed the right man - make that men - to trigger them.

Going through my clothes in the locker, I lamented the fact that nothing I had stored was appropriate for a dinner out. My least shocking ensemble consisted of a black skirt that barely hid my ass, a ruby red blouse, and ballerina flats - which I used in my college coed routine.

Tucking the blouse into the skirt instead of tying it under my boobs, toning down my makeup and securing my hair into a neat chignon, I managed to look like a high-priced hooker instead of a street one. Shrugging, I gave up my battle with my clothes and hoped I wouldn't suffer the embarrassment of being refused service for being underdressed.

Maybe I can suggest we pick up Chinese food and head back to their place.

Having made plans to meet them out in the alley so as to not get delayed by clients looking for lap dances, among other things, I headed out the rear door manned by Bruno, who lamented the fact Bernie had walked off the job and not returned. Poor Bernie.

"Nice act tonight," the club manager said, holding open the door for me.

"Who says it's an act?" I replied, blowing him a kiss.

Bruno just shook his head. For a man who managed a strip club, he was pretty straight.

The guys waited for me just outside, and I smiled upon seeing them.

Gene's eyes lit with mischief as he looked me up and down. "And here I was hoping you'd still be wearing the latex."

"Oh, but I am," I replied impishly.

Simon's eyes flared bright for a moment, and I warmed at his interest. With Gene, I knew where I stood, but with Simon, I had to pay closer attention. Such different personalities, and yet I was drawn to both.

We stepped out of the alley, and I felt like the gooey, creamy filling sandwiched between the two of them. We commenced walking, and to my surprise, Simon's thick fingers found and curled around mine. To say his holding my hand pleased me was a vast understatement. It almost made me want to cry.

Say what you would, there was something about holding hands that was intimate, cozy - it made me feel like a precious thing, and I preened under the glow of his attention. Not to mention, because of my illness, I'd never done the whole dating thing with boys. And since my change into a walking menace to society, I didn't so much date as f**k for food and run.

We'd walked only a few blocks when a dark shadow stepped out from an alley, a hideous creature that I recoiled from - not that I got to see it for long. Simon, who surely had some ancient knight's blood roaring through his veins, tucked me behind him, shielding me with his own body.

I swear the man knew how to press my emotional buttons. If I wasn't careful, the big guy would have me falling for him. And would that be so bad?

Gene didn't slack off either as my escort. A ball of flame formed in the palm of his hand, and he tossed the fiery orb back and forth, his casual threat more menacing than words.

I should add his nonchalant threat was totally hot too.

I peered around Simon's large form, shuddering as the vision of Hell before me brought back memories of my incarceration - and my past meeting with the benefactor who'd unwillingly provided the darkness to my DNA.

Taller than my gentle giant, the demon stood before us, a hulking, evil presence, whose oily, murky aura ringed him fatly. If I read his shroud correctly, he was as least as old as Simon, but, judging by the darkness in his colors, nasty.

Bright red eyes stared right at me, the evil promise in them wringing an involuntary shudder. The thing sniffed loudly through two holes in its face, the lack of nose giving it an alien visage. The disgusting creature flicked out a black, ridged tongue to lick the tips of its pointed fangs.

The demon didn't speak so much as it hissed. "Step away from the female. My business lies with her."

An obvious showman, Gene spun his fireball on the tip of a finger, Globetrotter style, and replied in a soft voice, "Consider your business cancelled. The woman is with us."

A rusty chuckle from the evil one saw me clenching Simon's shirt as I tried not to react vocally - screaming didn't seem like a good idea, yet. Super sexy succubus and part vampire I might be, but faced with a creature from Hell - yes, Hades did exist - I was a shivering coward. I still well remembered the words of the captive demon upon our forced meeting.

Human b***h, know that when I escape, I shall tear open your body and feast on your innards. I shall abuse every orifice in your body and create new ones. I shall...

Needless to say, the demon the government had captured and used in its experiments wasn't happy they'd donated his DNA to mere humans. When they'd accidentally killed him when testing his reaction to an injection of angelic blood, I'd breathed a sigh of relief because I'd had no doubt the confined one would live up to his promises. But apparently, his death had not been the end.

With a mental shake, I forced myself not to let my mind stray as I paid attention to what happened before me.

"Foolish Ifrit. The abomination cannot be allowed to live."

Wait a second, he was talking about me!

It seemed I wasn't the only one not happy with his words. Simon growled, drawing the attention of the demon. "You will leave the woman alone."

The demon flicked its forked tongue and narrowed its eyes. "You keep interesting company, 's dreki. And here we thought your kind extinct. My master will be most interested in knowing of your existence. Now, do the smart thing and hand the female over. You wouldn't want to draw the annoyed attention of the one I serve."

"Perhaps it is you and your master who should tread cautiously," Gene replied. "The girl is under our protection. So, if you want her, you'll have to go through me and my friend here first. Somehow, I think the prognosis for your success and continued stain upon the world isn't so good."

The demon looked as baffled as I did. Gene, with his flowery words, had confused the subject. Simon cleared it up with a simple, "Touch her and die."

Some part of me must really be warped because his simple announcement totally made me feel all warm and mushy inside.

The demon gnashed his teeth, and his eyes flared bright, but he stayed his hands - make that big, nasty claws. "Have you forgotten the words engraved on both the walls of Heaven and Hell?"

"Whence walks the one tainted unnaturally with the essence of darkness and light, the world shall tremble and the planes known as Heaven and Hell shall cease to exist out of time. Hail beautus unus, suus cruor vadum attero fines finium..." Gene recited some strange passage that started in English and then went all gibberishy.

It made absolutely no sense to me but seemed familiar to them. Just another thing that I didn't know since I'd never gotten my membership card to join the club of f****d-up Beings.

"She must be destroyed like the rest of her brethren in the great cleansing."

"No." Simon bristled in front of me. "She's different than those tainted creatures. Look at her and see her humanity. She is not like those twisted ones."

The beast hissed and snaked a slimy tongue in my direction. "She is the seed of our destruction, and now that I know her scent, I shall not stop the hunt until she breathes her last."

"Then you've signed your death warrant," said Gene, shaking his head.

Simon didn't reply - he acted. The other night, busy fighting for my life, I'd not watched Simon in action. What a mistake.

If it was possible, he seemed bigger all of a sudden as he charged the nasty demon. His shirt strained around muscles that bunched and rippled. I caught a glimpse of long, almost silvery claws, extending from his fingers, sharp talons that he used to s***h at the creature.

My would-be knight and the evil villain battled, their weapon of choice - claws, which they wielded like a many pronged sword. The clicking sound and grunts as they jousted back and forth held me riveted until I noticed Gene standing still.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "Help him before he gets hurt."

Gene turned to me with a look of surprise. "You don't actually think that thing can hurt him, do you?" He chuckled. "Simon's just toying with him."

I fumed. "I don't care. What if someone calls the cops? Or the slime ball gets a lucky shot?"

"Fine, I'll help, but just so you know, I've had a protective shield around us since the fight started to prevent any humans from observing."

Really? I looked around, saw nothing. A growl brought my attention back to the fight.

With a flurry of slashes and pivots, which at times seemed physically impossible, Simon finally struck a killing blow, one that made the demon's eyes widen as it sank to its knees, black ichor gushing from the fatal wound in its chest.

I rushed over to Simon and hugged him while furtively checking for injury. Thus did I hear the demon's last whispery words - even though I wished I hadn't.

"Protect her if you will for now," it hissed. "But know we will return, for we are Legion, and we will kill her before she destroys us all."

Then the light in the demon's eyes went out, rendering them dark and lifeless. A swirling black mist surrounded the demon and with a gagging, sulphuric stench, the corpse disappeared, taking my false sense of security with him.

Reassured Simon was in one piece, I stepped back from him, and placing my hands on my hips, I glared at both men. "Does someone want to explain to me what the f**k just happened? Why does a demon from Hell want to kill me?"

"The information you are asking for isn't the kind of conversation to be had over dinner. Do you mind if we adjourn somewhere more private?" Gene asked with a creased brow that told me, without words, I wouldn't like what they had to tell me.

My first impulse was to say no, but I needed answers. I also wanted the security and familiarity of home and family. While Claire was still at work, Lana was home and would provide an extra pair of ears. "Fine, we'll go back to my place. I've got hard liquor to soften whatever it is you've got to tell me."

"Huddle up then," Gene ordered. Simon tucked me under his arm, his warm solidity reassuring. Gene grabbed us in a hug, and in a shake of Jeannie's ponytail, we were outside my apartment complex.

They followed me upstairs. I led the way, my arousal slowly seeping back as I walked up the stairs, conscious of my short skirt and the view I knew they were enjoying. What they had to tell me must be serious because Gene didn't crack a single joke.

We walked in to find Lana, with her feet soaking, watching Jaws - a favorite of hers. She especially enjoyed grossing us out by saying she'd do the shark if she could ever figure out how to change into her tail. Another siren issue she was dealing with, along with thalassophobia.

Her eyes widened as she took in my two companions. I smirked at her and gestured absently at them. "Lana, meet Simon and Gene. Our dinner plans got waylaid because of a run-in with a demon."

"A what?" Lana's screech followed me into the kitchen where I pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured myself a shot. I downed the burning liquor before grabbing a few more shot glasses and carrying everything out to the living room.

Simon and Gene sat at opposite ends of one couch with a tempting spot between them just right for me. I bypassed the invitation and sat beside Lana.

I poured everyone a generous dollop of whiskey and raised my glass, saying, "Salut."

My friends followed suit, and we slapped our empty glasses down on the table. Fortified by the alcohol, I spilled the encounter with the demon to Lana, whose eyes grew rounder and rounder.

"Ah s**t, Beth. That doesn't sound good."

"We'll protect her," rumbled Simon.

"Excuse me," Lana said, and I almost smiled, knowing they were about to see why it was best to leave annoyed sirens alone. "But first off, you just met Beth, and I have a hard time understanding your motives in wanting to protect her in what is surely a deadly endeavor. Second, you both seem to know an awful lot about what she is and what's going on, which I find pretty freaking suspicious."

"We will explain if you give us a moment," interjected Gene. He shut up, though, when Lana, with a high-pitched hummed note, glared at him.

I snickered. My friend did not like to be interrupted when on a roll.

"And finally, exactly how are two guys supposed to stop the hordes of Hell if what the fiend said was true?" When the boys didn't immediately answer - probably too cowed to reply - she let out a shrill whistle that would have probably caused a school of fish to commit suicide.

Gene winced at the strident sound. "Again, Beth, I must say your friends are interesting. I don't think I've ever met a siren who lived so far from the sea."

Lana blanched, and I hastened to shut him up. "Ixnay on the biggay water thingy," I said in very poor pig Latin. I think the finger drawn across my throat with the accompanying gurgle sound got the point across better, as Gene clamped his lips shut.

The smarter of the pair, Simon said not a word, but I could read the mirth in his eyes. Yeah, my friends were special - not quite hockey helmet special, but close. Was it any wonder I loved them?

"Lana's right. You guys know stuff and need to spill." As queries went, I should have probably been more specific, but there was too damned much I didn't know, so I figured any information was better than nothing at this point.

"Where would you like me to start?" Gene asked. "You heard the prophecy. The demon thinks you might be the one mentioned in it and wants to kill you. What I don't understand is how you don't know about the message. Anyone with an ounce of special in their blood knows of the prophecy."

"Humor me," I said, not willing to get into why I'd missed my membership to the supernatural club. "Why is there such a hoopla about some stupid message? Did it never occur to them that maybe someone was playing a joke - a really mean one?"

Gene appeared shocked at what I thought was a reasonable question. "You're a creature of both light and dark. Even if raised by only one side, you should know the message carved using the words of creation themselves - a power beyond even the Lords of Light and Dark means serious business."

I squirmed. Their assumption that my state of being came from natural means made me uncomfortable, but exactly how should I explain my creation at the hands of mad scientists? I hedged. "So what if some unknown super dude posted a message? I still don't understand why that demon and his friends want to kill me. And what's this about cleansing others like me?"

"About two thousand years ago, when the words appeared on the walls around Heaven and Hell, there was panic. The forces for good and evil, fearing the end was nigh, set out to destroy those they believed the prophecy spoke of."

"The cleansing?" Lana interjected.

"Exactly," said Gene with a sage nod. "All Nephilim, whose blood by birth contained the seeds of both good and evil, were destroyed, hunted down like the vilest of vermin and eliminated. Once the world and the various realms were cleansed of their presence, a ban on matings between angels and demons was put in effect with the verdict of immediate death if anyone chose to ignore it."

"So I'm a Neflim?" I replied, scrunching up my nose at the awkward name.

"Nephilim," Simon corrected. "How can you be so ignorant of your own history?"

He said it in a wondering tone, but I could read Gene's confusion. The moment of my outing fast approached.

"Well, I was kind of raised by humans," I admitted, releasing a bit of the truth.

"Ah, that would explain a lot. Your mother must have been an angel forcefully seduced by a dark one. Giving you up would have been her only option to let you live. I guess your upbringing explains why you seem so human."

I fidgeted at his mistaken assumption. "Isn't there any other way for me to have gotten my powers?"

Gene frowned at me. "Anything other than birth would be unnatural."

I almost snorted. "Unnatural? That's kind if funny coming from a genie."

"You're hiding something." Simon's rumble drew attention to the fact that I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Leave her alone. She doesn't have to tell you if she doesn't want to." Lana came to my defense.

But, the thing was, if I truly wanted to understand, I'd have to divulge the truth.

The very thought terrified me, but, then again, so did getting sliced and diced by a demon.

I drew in a deep breath and decided the time had come to reveal my dark secret. I just hoped they wouldn't regard me as some kind of Frankenstein creation. Then again, I wouldn't blame them because there were times I cried at what those doctors had done to me.

"What if I wasn't born this way? What if I was created?" I whispered the words, ashamed and afraid of their reaction.

"What do you mean, created?" Simon gazed at me in confusion, but I could see dawning understanding - and horror - on Gene's face. Those looks were quickly followed by pity.

So much for thinking I'd be accepted and find answers to who I was. Even among the freaks, I was an outcast.