My Demon Spawn

by Tammy Cox

Her green eyes seemed dull, almost lifeless as she stared at the ceiling. Every day started the same since she had been there... wake up, stare into space, and relive the flashbacks. The only movement ever made was the occasional blink to moisten her eyes.

Serena remembered when it all began. Less than two years ago, college life led to many parties for her and the sorority sisters. She used to be one of the most popular girls on campus and the leader of her sorority. Her blond streaked hair was always cut in the latest trend. Clothing and jewelry was the best she could buy. The midnight blue mustang convertible that boomed with the best music system around. The body of a goddess which she had worked to the core since junior high. She had it all: looks, brains, and money. Life was great... until that night.

Serena had been invited to a huge bash at one of the frat houses, sisters included. Of course there had been all sorts of alcoholic refreshments, practically enough for the entire campus. There wasn’t one person there who hadn’t been drunk or damn close to it.

Devin was new to campus, but his looks had gained him immediate popularity. His muscles were chiseled to perfection as biceps bulged and abs rippled beneath his shirts. Girls seemed to flock around him wherever he went. Serena had been fully aware of his boyfriend potential, and she had noticed him noticing her.

“Hey there,” Devin said as he sat down on the sofa next to her. “You’re Serena, right?”

She played it smooth and pretended not to care. “Yeah. Why?” She turned her face, arched one eyebrow up, and took a sip of the Smirnoff Ice.

“No reason,” he answered. “I’ve seen you around and thought I’d make a play. That’s all.” He smiled coolly.

“What makes you so confident that I’d go for someone like you?” she asked sarcastically.

“I’ve seen you watching me.”

“Yeah. Okay,” she snorted. “I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

“Not nearly enough.” He watched her intensely for a moment. “You wanna go upstairs and talk?”

“I guess,” she said as she partially shrugged. She set her drink on the end stand as Devin took her hand and led her up the staircase.

“Here we are,” he said as he pushed the door open and flipped on the lights. His room was neater than most of the other boys rooms that she had ever been in. Maybe he was lucky and got paired with a wanna-be butler, she thought as she scanned the room. The walls, plastered with posters of scantily clad women and fast cars, represented the rest of the male youth.

“Which side is yours?” Serena asked. Devin pointed to the bed with the black down comforter. She went over to his dresser beside the bed and opened the top drawer. “Hmm... what are these for?” she asked childishly as she pulled out a box of condoms. “Water balloons?”

“They’re for whatever you wanna use them for,” he said as he approached her. He put his hands around her small waist as he moved in for a kiss. She eagerly accepted as his soft, warm lips parted hers and he slowly eased her onto his bed.

“I can’t do this,” she said as she broke the tongue lock.

“Yes you can, and you know you want to,” his whispered as he traced circles on her neck with his tongue.

“Yes. Yes, I think I do,” she moaned.

* * *

That was how it began. The beginning of the end. Her end. They had made love that night, or so she thought. He conveniently forgot the condom, but she was on birth control so she wasn’t too worried. They hadn’t spoken since that night. Heck, she hadn’t even seen Devin on campus after that.

Reeling from hugging the porcelain god for the past month, she decided to take a pregnancy test. One of the other girls had left one in the medicine cabinet. After she peed on the little white stick, the result was immediate. Pink. Pregnant.

“Oh no. What am I gonna do?” Serena asked herself as she flung the test into the garbage can. “One month pregnant.” She knew it was approximate because Devin had been the only one she slept with in the last year.

She called her mother to tell her the devastating news. Her mother didn’t sound as upset as Serena thought she would be. As a matter of fact, she seemed quite thrilled with the prospect of having a grandchild. With that taken care of, she needed to make her regular doctor visits and wait out the term until it was time to deliver the child.

Her pregnancy didn’t go as it should have. The first four months consisted of morning sickness. Actually, it was all day sickness which made her totally resent ever having sex in the first place. Not to mention, he was gone without any trace of ever having existed.

Her fifth month wasn’t any better. Serena found out she had gestational diabetes and had to pee on a little stick each morning and pick her finger five times a day. She had to record each result in a journal given to her by the nurse so it could be evaluated every time she went to the doctor.

The sixth month sent her on a trip to the Emergency Room. She had been suffering from pain that seemed to radiate around her whole mid section and thought she may have been in labor. She found out after twelve hours of pains that she had gallstones. That meant another diet. This is just so marvelous, she thought to herself as the doctor kindly explained that the stones may pass, or she may need surgery, but for the meantime there was nothing that could be done except to watch the food she ate.

The next two months didn’t go too bad, just the diets and the tests. The only other concern was that her uterus had been growing too fast. Repeated ultrasounds revealed nothing dangerous.

She went to bed one Friday night only to wake with the most excruciating pain ever. The rest of the night was sleepless as she tried to will the pain away. Tylenol didn’t touch it, so she called the hospital and they advised her to go in. She got up and tried to get ready to go. It took her five minutes to put on a pair of shorts. She walked doubled over, holding her lower abdomen in hopes that it would alleviate the pain. Every little bump in the car ride sent new waves of pain through her stomach.

Tests after tests were performed only to conclude that she had an infection somewhere. She was sent home with pain killers and antibiotics. That night, the pain intensified and she waited until morning again with no sleep in between. This time, the hospital did an ultrasound and more tests. The blood tests showed that the infection had worsened. She was put on an IV antibiotic drip and would be kept overnight. However, as the day progressed, things got worse. Her midwife had decided to induce labor because the baby was at risk and they weren’t sure what was going on. She had just hit her thirty six- week mark.

The pain she described as she begged for an epidural was horrid. She said it felt like a knife was cutting her inside apart, twisting as it tried to dig deeper. Each contraction sent enough pain to make her nauseous and cry at the smallest movement.

Fourteen hours. The epidural ended up getting turned off as labor hadn’t progressed. Serena almost ended up with a caesarean section, even though she had begged for it right from the onset of contractions. She delivered a baby girl, who on the way out took her uterus with her. Serena knew she wouldn’t have any more kids. After what had happened, she didn’t really care.

Her mother brought her and the baby, Sierra, home the next day. Nights were sleepless because Sierra never wanted to sleep unless it was daytime. Serena hated to admit it, even to herself, but she felt no bond with her baby girl and she was sure the baby felt the same about her.

Sierra grew quickly as the months progressed. When she turned six months old, strange things began to happen. She was starting to stand by herself, which the pediatrician said was remarkable for that age. She never said “Mama,” it was “Nana” and “Papa,” and they were clearly her favorites. Small things were often turned up in her crib or playpen and Serena’s mother always said it was just coincidence. A ripped picture of The Last Supper, which was framed, could have been a coincidence, but there was no glass and the picture was quite high above the playpen.

Then there was the cat, Jazz. Serena woke to Sierra’s giggling one morning. She found the little girl playing with the dead cat. His head was twisted completely around, his eyes bulged, and his tongue hung from his mouth. Serena screamed at the sight of her baby playing with the dead cat. Grandma said it was an unfortunate accident, but Serena knew something was wrong with her baby.

The baptism never happened. As soon as Serena and her family approached the church, Sierra screamed and cried as if she was in pain so they left. Each time Serena called to reschedule, the phone went dead. She began to question her sanity.

Depression hit. Serena would stare at her beautiful daughter and think everything was fine. The baby would look at her with a sweet, innocent smile, but her eyes held a spark of evil. Serena would get the sudden urge to kill herself. The third time it happened, she almost succeeded. Luckily, the doctors had been able to connect the severed vein in her wrist.

When she returned home, she tried to tell her parents about all the feelings she had about the baby girl. Her parents refused to listen and told her she needed medication or a good shrink. Serena decided to avoid the baby... until she received a phone call from Devin.

“Are you enjoying my demon spawn?” He laughed, a cold, evil laugh followed by a click.

Serena went to look at Sierra who was lying in her crib. Again, she stared down at the child and suicidal feelings took over. Serena began to pray to God and Sierra began to scream. She knew she had to get rid of the evil child, so she ran to the kitchen to get a knife.

Serena’s parents had been asleep and heard the screaming baby. They raced downstairs to find Serena standing over the crib with a huge meat cleaver. Her father lunged for her as her mother picked up the baby.

“She’s evil! Why can’t you see it? Look at her, Mom! Just look. Kill her!” Serena screamed repeatedly that her child was evil as her father restrained her.

“We’ll get you help, honey. You’ll get better soon,” her father said as he tried to calm her.

Her mother knelt down beside her “Serena, look at this child.” She turned the child to face her mother. “There can be nothing evil about something this innocent.”

Serena looked in her daughter’s eyes. Sierra smiled back as her green eyes turned bright yellow. That was all she remembered. She didn’t remember how she arrived at the institution, or how long she’d been here. All she knew was that she was trapped in her mind and couldn’t get out.