Nobody would've ever thought that Maria Davenport would stay with a monster for a husband like Jeremy Davenport. What the hell did she do to deserve a guy like this? He'd come home from a long day of working with his other fellow welders, just wanting to relax, drink rotgut liquor and watch TV. on some certain days when he didn't get what he wanted, he would always end up smacking and slapping around poor Maria, and a few minutes later, apologize in the most sincerest way. Other passersby and neighbors that heard Maria screaming and yelping from blows being landed often check up on her to make sure they didn't need to call the police. And Maria's own response-- always the same, "he's just tired, he didn't mean it."
So why stay with a son of a bitch like Jeremy anyway? Reason being, Maria always believed that Jeremy would change and never hit her anymore. But has he changed at all? Has he ever lived up to his word, promising he'd never hit his wife anymore? Hell, no. To make matters worse, the Davenport's little girl, 8-year-old Crystal, just stands by and watches in horror as her daddy beat, punch, hit, and smack her mother over no big deal stuff. Like ordering in food like Chinese or Pizza when she had to work an extra few hours and didn't have time to make dinner at home, despite the fact that Jeremy liked home cooking only. Little Crystal didn't so much as care if it was home cooking or take out. Either way, she was always happy with the other.
Right now, it is eleven minutes to midnight, so that means that Maria and Crystal have the house to themselves because Jeremy's having to work third shift. Which took a load off the two's shoulder. Crystal fell asleep in her mother's lap while watching the Disney/Pixar movie Madagascar. I guess since her daddy was not there, Crystal managed to fall asleep in peace, even if it was watching a movie with her mom. If he worked like this all the time, I'd be safe... Maria thought to herself. But it wouldn't always be like this unless Jeremy straightened his ass up and stop treating her like a human punching bag. So was Maria going to give her husband one more chance? If he blew it, she'd be ready to file for divorce, but she's always been too terrified to do so because having fear of Jeremy killing her.
The next day, Maria awoke from a peaceful slumber as a result of her husband coming in around 4:00 in the morning without disturbing her. As far as husbands were concerned, Jeremy had a Jekyll & Hyde personality. Half the time, he is nice, caring, sweet, and never abusive to his wife and daughter. But when things don't go his way, this son of a bitch abuses Maria, leaving poor little Crystal to watch and not do anything about it. Why the hell is Jeremy like this? An alcoholic mother and abusive father that made him this way? Nobody knew for sure. In Jeremy's truck, he displayed a sterling silver crucifix necklace as a sign of his faith, but there was nothing Christian about verbally and physically assaulting your wife to make you feel like a man.
Maria had everything cleaned up and picked up to make presentable for her husband. But more over to keep him quiet. But the question is, why would a woman, who is a victim of domestic violence be forced to clean up a house to keep her husband from hurting her?
"Place looks good," Jeremy's voice said as he came down stairs. He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a shirt that said
"South Carolina University." Maria went to the fridge to get herself a Red Bull to drink and a bowl of left-over tuna salad she made herself. At this moment, even though Jeremy appeared pleasant and just waking up, Maria was scared.
"Hi, honey... D-d-did you sleep well?" she asked timidly.
She only made half eye contact, only looking in a different direction. "Back hurts from last night, but I should be okay." Jeremy said. Maria sat at her kitchen table like a frightened child about to face punishment from a school teacher, but she only kept it partially hidden from Jeremy. Her mood automatically sparked sympathy and concern within him.
"Sweetie," Jeremy said, as though to a infant, "I didn't mean to give you a black eye night before. Honest to God, I didn't. I was just having a bad day at work, my boss was being an asshole, and it just all exploded. I'm sorry... God, I'm so sorry."
Maria lifted her head up and managed to look Jeremy in the eye. Was this genuine, him actually apologizing for once? If so, this is an answer to Maria's prayer.
"It's okay, darlin'. I forgive you." she said nervously.
"Let me look at your eye." he said.
There was only slight blackness around her eye. She'd been sleeping with an ice pack over her eye to speed up the healing process on the swollen area. Though her eye hurt abit, it wasn't too severe.
"I'm sorry, Marie. I promise I'll go get anger management. No more putting it off. I swear." he said solemnly.
"I've an appointment schedueled for you for day after tomorrow. Now promise me you will go, love. Don't just put it off and put it off. I want to save our marriage. I don't want us to split up. How will Crystal survive?" she asked with a somber tone.
"Tell you what," Jeremy said, getting himself a can of Budweiser to drink. He didn't drink to get drunk and end up hurting his wife. "If I slap you or punch you for any reason, I give you permission to beat the living crap out of me with whatever you find. A belt, chair, candleholder, I don't care. Not enough to kill me, but to knock me out on my sorry ass." he reassured her. This seemed to give Maria a sense of freedom and security, even if it was from her husband.
She nodded.
"That's my girl." he smiled, gave her a kiss on her eye that was near returning to normal.
"Honey, I ordered some Panda Inn for dinner tonight, is that okay?"
"Sounds good to me, Marie." he said cheerfully.
"I'm gonna go to my study and check my e-mail." Maria said.
"Okay."
Maria left her husband to relax and watch TV while she checked her e-mail.
Jeremy understood when his wife spent time doing WordPerfect documents on her computerand checking her e-mails, so he never bothered her unless she was inactive at the keyboard. While Maria checked her e-mail, there was an animated web banner on her Google page advertisinga babysitting service, as seen on ABC Family's Nanny 911. What is this... she thought. Once Maria clicked the banner, hoping not to get a popup or survey to fill out,
it took her to this website:
www.babysittersofamerica.org/
Babysitters of America Welcomes You!
On this website were a list of available babysitters with descriptions, how much they got paid by the hour, where they were from, what they specialized in, and how long they've worked watching children and managing homes where parents couldn't stabelize the behavior of their kids without the help of these young nannies. All of these nannies that Maria looked at on the site were not old hags, but young women from their teens up to their 30's. This was too good to be true. No more inviting babysitters over to her house in person to interview? Just point, click, and call the babysitter of your choice on this URL? There was a link that caught Maria's attention and she decided to look at it for herself. The babysitter's profile featured a picture of a very beautiful, gorgeous, lucious Japanese American woman who looked more like a supermodel than a babysitter.
Name: Lucy Ferrell
Age: 22
Height: '5' 4"
Weight: 115lbs
From Nagasaki, Japan, Lucy became interested in watching children at age 14 and became this site's member at age 17 after receiving praise and reccomendation from parents all over the Myrtle Beach area. Her interests include Disney/Pixar movies, Asian cooking (i.e. making Sushi, Chinese, and Japanese food), drawing, hiking, poetry, reading, listening to Adult Contemporary music, watching National Geographic, and walking on the beach with friends. Her special secret: she can make the children she's babysitting fall over on the floor laughing!
Maria liked what she saw and gave Lucy a call. Over the phone, Lucy's voice sounded like that of an angel, very gentle, very soft-spoken. This gave Maria peace of mind and comfort, knowing that her daughter was safe in the hands of Lucy. Downstairs, Jeremy answered the door for a Chinese Food Delivery Person who bought the couple their food and gave the person, who was a young man. Funny how Jeremy never bullied around men, but always his wife. The two setteled down to eat. During the discussion, Maria bought up Lucy.
"I just thought it would be nice to have a babysitter for Lucy while you take sometime off from your job and get regenerated, honey. You know, get a hotel, take your mind off work. It'll do wonders for you." Maria commented.
Jeremy had half an eggroll in his hand, and just about crushed it.
"Sounds good, but I don't wanna go. I made a promise to my boss to finish up till the day of his retirement." he said, hiding an irritable tone in his voice.
"But, Jeremy, you really need a vacation. You haven't had one in over three years." she said.
"I don't wanna go." he replied.
"Please, I'm asking you, Jeremy, take some time off, will you?" Maria insisted.
"Look, how many times do I have to tell you, I'm keeping a promise to my boss and I don't wanna go on vacation, OKAY?!" he grabbed a handful of Maria's hair about to jerk her down.
"You son of a bitch, LET GO OF ME!" Maria said angrily.
"This is for your own good." he said.
Jeremy jerked Maria by her hair and threw her on the couch. Maria picked up a glass candle holder and threw it right at Jeremy, breaking his nose. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Who the hell could that be?" Jeremy said, holding his nose in pain. "Get the door." he whined.
Outdoors, the evening sky changed from a star-filled night sky to a mixture of deep crimson and purple. Thunder was booming and lightning struck outside. Was it going to storm tonight? Maria didn't recall any weather forecast. She opened the door to find a young Japanese American woman in all dark purple, almost black clothes. Wearing black mascara and blood-red lipstick. The car that the young lady drove in was a 1957 Chevy Thunderbird, Fire Engine Red. The thunder calmed down outside.
"Mrs. Davenport?" the young lady said. There was a mixture of a young woman's voice along with a deep, low-pitched male voice when this lady talked.
"That's me."
"Hi there, I'm Lucy Ferrell. The babysitter you requested."
"Do you have a sore throat, honey?" Maria asked in concern.
Lucy coughed, clearing her throat. A regular female voice was all she heard.
"Sorry about that. Allergies." Lucy replied.
"I understand. There might be some cough drops in the medicine cabinet upstairs if you need any."
"I'll be okay." Lucy said.
Lucy examined the house, admiring its palatial beauty. Lucy asked Maria where her daughter was,and Maria called her out.
"Crystal, come meet you new babysitter!"
Crystal came out all giddy, seeing Lucy.
"Hi, Crystal, I'm Lucy!" she said happily, giving Crystal a hug.
Maria smiled, seeing as how her daughter quickly befriended Lucy. Jeremy came out holding his nose with a paper towel, stopping the bleeding, he saw Lucy.
"Mr. Davenport," Lucy said extending her hand to shake hands with Jeremy. "I'm Lucy." Jeremy, still holding his nose with one hand managed to shake hands with Lucy.
"So you're the babysitter that Maria told me all about."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir... What happened to your nose?" she asked.
"Some jackass punched me in the nose on the job."
"Ouch. I'm sorry to hear that. You gonna be okay?" Lucy asked in concern.
"I'll be fine."
"Oh, I have a gift for you two," Lucy said, taking something out of her pocket.
"What is it?" Jeremy asked curiously, taking his blood-soaked paper towel away from his nose, which has stopped bleeding.
"A coupon book containing coupons and gift certificates to any restaurant of your choice."
"Lucy, you didn't have to do this." Maria said, smiling.
"My treat. Go to any restaurant you want, go see a movie. It's good for any place you want." Lucy commented.
"Well, I would like to go to TGI Fridays," Jeremy said.
"Why don't we, dear?" Maria asked.
"I do need some out of the house time anyway." Jeremy suggested.
"Okay," Maria said, looking at Lucy giving her daughter a teddy bear, "We'll do it." she had a smile on her face.
"Excellent. You two have a great time. Me and Crystal will be okay."
"Have fun, you two." Maria said cheerfully to her daughter and Lucy.
The couple went out of the house and went out for the night. Chinese Food wasn't enough to fill Jeremy up, so he thought something from TGI Fridays would do it.
Lucy was having fun with Crystal, who was no trouble at all, pulling out movies like Chicken Run, Dumbo, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Sound of Music, and Charolette's Web. Lucy cooked for herself and for her new friend Crystal. It was quite interesting how Lucy introduced Crystal to sushi and how great it tasted. Crystal was a little hesitant at first, but dug right in and enjoyed it. After dinner and a movie of their choice, Lucy took Crystal upstairs to give her a bath. Crystal splashed water at Lucy who was all smiles and laughing. She was playing with a rubber Panda bear that Lucy gave her to play with in the tub as a sign of friendship. Lucy treated Crystal like her own daughter instead of a child being watched. She protected her more than her sorry ass daddy ever would've.
"Oooh, you smell so sweet!" Lucy said, grabbing a towel for little Crystal and giving her a kiss on the cheek, tickling her. "Will you read to me before I go to bed, Lucy? Mommy always does." Crystal said, getting her clothes put on by her babysitter with a gentle mother's touch. "Of course, honey." Lucy responded, brushing Crystal's hair. Upstairs, Lucy tucked Crystal in, gave her her plush Pikachu doll and got her a book based on the Nickelodeon cartoon Back at the Barnyard, which always put Crystal in a good mood. "I had fun tonight, Lucy." Crystal said, looking up at her with a peaceful look on her face. "So did I, Crystal. How did you like the Sushi I fixed for you, love?" "It was good, tasted a little raw..." Lucy tickled Crystal playfully. "That's the way Sushi is supposed to taste, you little rascal!" Lucy said, tickling Crystal playfully, making her giggle. "Lucy?" "Yeah?" "I love you..." Crystal said softly. "Awww..." Lucy whispered, picking up Crystal and giving her a hug. "I love you, too, sweetie. I may not be another mommy to you, but I will be your friend." she smiled affectionately, giving her a kiss. "Daddy still hurts mommy." "I won't let anybody hurt you." Lucy assured her, petting her gently, and moving her plush Pikachu doll next to her. "Ready for some 'Back at the Barnyard?'" Lucy said, getting her book opened. "Yeah." Crystal smiled.
Lucy started reading to Crystal who was tucked securely in bed with her Pikachu doll next to her keeping her company. In her heart, Lucy wished that she could do something to keep Crystal's father from hurting his daughter. She knew of Jeremy's monstrous behavior and abuse... Lucy knew... and she was somehow going to put an end to it... once and for all. Crystal fell fast asleep as soon as Lucy read further into the book. All was peaceful. Lucy gave Crystal a soft kiss on her little head and went downstairs, only to be greeted by the sound of a domestic scuffle. Jeremy was bullying around Maria. Reason why, Jeremy had his coffee cup filled too much to the top and ended up attacking a poor waitress and pouring scalding hot coffee on her amidst a crowd of onlookers. The restaurant's manager pulled him off the woman and threw him out. Maria had never been so infuriated and embarrased in her life and scolded Jeremy on her way home. In the living room where Lucy's duffle bag was, containing children's toys and accessories she took when looking after a child, brightening up their day, in the bag was an old ancient book...
Maria, outside, clawed and scratched at Jeremy, getting him to stop because Lucy was still inside.
"Get your ass in there now!" Jeremy said under his teeth, keeping his voice down.
Lucy stood calm and cool.
"We're back." Maria said hesitantly.
"Any problems with Crystal?" Jeremy asked.
"No trouble at all." Lucy said, smiling pleasantly.
"How much do we owe you?" Jeremy said, pulling out his wallet and grabbing a check book.
"Ten dollars an hour, and you were gone for five hours, so that is $50.00."
"Well, I don't have any bills on me, will you take a check?"
"That'll do." Lucy replied.
Jeremy tried to sign the check with his pen, but the ink was dried out.
Lucy offered him a pen that wrote in red.
"Here you go."
"Thank you so much. Mr Davenport, may I please have a word with you alone?" Lucy asked.
"Okay."
Maria went upstairs to go check on her daughter.
Lucy proceeded to take the old ancient book out of her duffle bag and held it at her side.
"I know about you abusing your wife, Mr. Davenport..." Lucy said sternly. The low-pitched monster-type voice began to mix in with her soft-spoken female voice.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jeremy asked, thinking that Lucy was high.
"You always came home from the job, and when nothing went your way, like you didn't get what you wanted for dinner, or if one of your good shirts were ruined, you took it out on poor Maria. Who the fuck do you think you are? How can you do that to someone you're married to?" Lucy's voice grew more petulant and abrasive, despite the fact that her exterior remained calm and laid back.
"Listen, you little whore, I don't know what you're trying to prove or what information you got on me, but the way I talk to my wife and show her what needs to be done is none of your damn business!" Jeremy hollered.
"You know that check you just signed over to me for my services, Mr. Davenport?" Lucy's eyes became more menacing.
"What about it?"
"The ink you signed it in wasn't ink at all..."
"What was it then?" he asked, still drunk with rage.
"Your own blood."
Jeremy's look on his face went from enraged to flabbergasted.
"My own blood? Just what the hell is that supposed to mean, damn it?!"
"Your wife will get $50.00 out of me for taking care of your daughter. But as far as this check you signed me is concerned, you just signed your life over to me."
"Bullshit."
"That's right. For a lifetime of you abusing and beating your wife to death, making her suffer the way you did, your soul is now mine." Lucy went on. Her voice now sounding like a she-demon.
Jeremy picked up a fireplace poker, grabbing it in his hands tightly as if he were to strike.
"I swear to God, I will kill you, you psycho bitch." Jeremy protested.
"See this book right here?" Lucy said showing it to him, "This is the Necronomicon. In other words, THE BOOK OF THE DEAD!"
Lucy opened the book and started reciting a latin phrase. Through recitation and inhuman powers, Jeremy dropped the fireplace poker, ripped his eyes out and started contorting in agony. His stomach grew larger and larger until it bursted, unleashing a horde of grotesque vermin and rats that started eating him up, leaving him a mass of bloody bones and guts.
Jeremy's soul appeared tangible in front of Lucy. He knew something was wrong and he felt like he needed answers right away. Lucy looked at him with a sinister smile on her face, taunting him as if he had no clue what just occured. To keep his wife and daughter from seeing this, Lucy caused the door to lock on Crystal's door to protect her.
"Like I said, once you signed, I get your soul." Lucy said menacingly.
"Oh... my God..." Jeremy said in fear, looking down at his dead body on the floor, then he screams in terror.
"You're not going to see God's Kingdom as you expected, Jeremy."
"Who the hell are you?"
"I basked in the glow of God's love and guarded His throne... Until I rebelled, which was a horrible mistake, and I now run the Netherworlds..."
"Please, let me live. I promise I won't hurt Maria and Crystal again, please, PLEASE LET ME LIVE AGAIN!" Jeremy cried.
"No. It's too late. You had your whole life to stop hurting Maria and become a better father. You see, Mr. Davenport, I'm not a babysitter... And from your eyes, this isn't your home... WELCOME TO HELL, ASSHOLE!"
Her beautiful, sensual Asian girl form started to transform into something more terrifying. Lucy was still beautiful, but she now took on the appearance of a hulking naked she-demon with razor sharp teeth, ice cold eyes, and giant gargoyal wings, laughing at Jeremy's suffering... Lucy motioned to Jeremy to look at the shadows on the walls. The shadows soon turned into distorted shapes, like hooded monks dragging Jeremy's soul away for all eternity to answer for his crimes. Jeremy's dead body vaporizes. He is gone. Lucy shifts back into human form and makes Crystal's door unlock, making her new friend and Maria come out.
"Thank you for everything," Lucy said in her soft-spoken, gentle, sweet female voice, hugged both Maria and Crystal, and went outside. Soon after Lucy left, a police officer came to Maria's door and announced to her,
"Mrs. Davenport?"
"Yes, officer?"
"I have some bad news, ma'am." the officer replied.
"Your husband Jeremy is dead."
Somehow this didn't strike Maria as suprised, but she pretended to express concern.
"How did he die?"
"He suffered a heart attack while driving and crashed his car on the way to his job."
"I don't know what to say..." she said softly.
"I'm very sorry, ma'am."
As Lucy blew a kiss to Maria and Crystal, telling them she loves them both and waves goodbye, she heads into her car and closes the door behind her.
"Whatever it is that killed Jeremy Davenport, something must have scared him shitless.
Lucy drives off into the night, the car vanishes.