Aftyn center, part 1
“Good morning!” she says, with an effervescence that belies the fact it is mid-afternoon. “Welcome to the Aftyn Center for Integrative Health!”
“Hi, uh, yeah, good morning,” you manage. “Is this… Do I have the right place? The ad said 3114 Cloverleaf Way.”
“The ad?” She looks momentarily confused, a tiny storm passing over an otherwise cloudless sea. “Oh! Oh, the ad. Yes, so you’re here about—” She drops her head to look around for anyone who might overhear; her voice drops to a low whisper. “—about the demons?”
“Yes, ma’am—” Before you can continue, she shushes you with a single finger pressed to your lips. The sudden contact startles you. You stumble back. “Um…?”
The beautiful smile returns to her face, so quickly you wonder if you imagined the previous exchange. “So great to have you! You can call me OG Aftyn. Let me show you around!”
“OG?” you ask.
“Office Girl!” she exclaims. “I handle the administrative duties here at the Center.”
She’s so vivid. It’s like the sun shines through her smile. “Nice to meet you. Aftyn, did you say?”
“That’s right! OG Aftyn.” She starts leading you through the building. The smallish brick office building looks like it houses six offices, based on the directory plaque. “Dr Rose founded this Center in 2017, based on her groundbreaking work in the therapeutic value of ear licking. Since then—”
“Sorry, did you say ear licking?”
OG Aftyn turns back to face you. “That’s right! It’s really quite a miracle!”
Her face is so open, so trusting, you wonder if cynicism even exists in her world. You bite back your follow-up question. You wonder in silence how such a cheery person came to work in a building haunted by demons.
“You’d be amazed the variety of conditions that can be treated!” Her smile fades momentarily. “If only those eggheads at the FDA…” It brightens back up as you arrive at the first office. “Oh! Over here we have our first guest resident, Dr Aff, optometrist.”
Dr Aff rises from her desk to greet you. She’s young, early 20s. Can she really be a doctor? You hold out your hand for a shake. She wraps your hand in both of hers, a surprisingly intimate gesture. “Hello, and welcome! Are you here to get your eyes tested? Your beautiful, beautiful eyes?” She blushes as she speaks. She has apparently forgotten to release your hand.
OG Aftyn steps in. “He’s here for the ad. He’s going to solve our… night problems.”
“Oh my!” exclaims Dr Aff. “So brave! Can you really do it?”
You wonder that yourself. You’ve seen all the movies about exorcising demons, even attended a few ceremonies, but it’s not like you’ve ever attempted it on your own. OG Aftyn used the word “demons” — plural. You’ve never known more than one to be present. Frankly, you’re terrified. But somehow seeing these lovely young women holding it together in the face of such horror gives you the conviction to press on. “I’m going to try my best, ma’am.”
“Call me Aftyn,” she says. She suddenly startles from her reverie of staring into your eyes. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I should give your hand back!”
“It’s all right,” you say. In truth, you wouldn’t mind looking into her eyes a little longer. Maybe you are due for a check-up… “Aftyn, you say? Are you two related?”
Before they can answer, another young woman comes rushing around the corner, colliding with you and scattering a stack of papers she was carrying. “Aaaahhh!” she screams as she falls. As if in slow motion, you take in the details. The white nurse’s uniform with fewer buttons fastened than you might expect, the charts and printouts flying into the air, the woman’s face — shockingly similar to both OG Aftyn and Dr Aff. She tumbles to the floor in an ungainly pile, landing with a plop on her butt. The bottom of her dress has slid up, and before you can look away, you catch a glimpse of something black and lacy between her thighs.
You can feel the heat rush to your cheeks. You try to hide your face by bending over to help pick up the lost papers. “I’m so sorry, miss…?”
She springs back to her feet with remarkable agility. “No! It’s completely my fault! Clumsy Aftyn! So clumsy! You should watch where you’re going!” She pitches in to the document retrieval process, her face now inches from your own. You still burn with embarrassment.
The other two onlookers, you notice, have not deigned to help. OG Aftyn’s sunny smile has turned into a frown, perhaps having seen this scene play out too many times before. Dr Aff turns back into her office with a barely perceptible sigh. By the time you’re done scraping together the lost paperwork, the fire in your face has returned to a dull crackle. You hand them back to Nurse Aftyn. She continues to mutter epithets to and about herself.
“Aftyn, did you say your name was?” you ask, at least in part to interrupt her from insulting herself.
“Uh huh.” She smiles sweetly. “Pleased to meet you.” She holds out a hand for you to shake.
OG Aftyn braces your shoulder, pushing you away from the harried nurse. “We should be getting on.”
“Is everyone here named Aftyn?” you ask.
“Yes,” she says. You near another office, this one labeled Dr Rosey, DDS on a brass placard.
“That doesn’t get confusing?”
“No. Why would it?” Her face is entirely without guile. Why would it, indeed? She walks you through the door into the dental office. She introduces you to a striking young woman with the same face as all the others. “This is Dr Rosey, the most enthusiastic dentist practicing. Dr Rosey, this is—”
Even in her lavender scrubs, Dr Rosey is gorgeous. She strides forward. “Please, my friends call me Aftyn.” Her hand is warm in yours. “Let’s get you into the chair.”
It’s a tempting offer. “Um, maybe later?”
OG Aftyn interrupts. “He’s here to chase away our night terrors.”
“Alone?” Dr Rosey asks. Her face suggests that’s a bad idea.
Your head swims with bravado and defensiveness. Father Eduardo said you were ready! But before you are able to say anything, somebody grabs your arm from behind. “He won’t be alone! He’ll have me!”
You turn your head and… Your mind has trouble accepting what you’re seeing. She’s… an anthropomorphic cat girl? She has whiskers and cat eyes, and an otherwise very human, very sexy body. She is barely dressed in a purple micro-bikini. You stiffen to attention, averting your eyes from her. “Meow?” she says. She doesn’t make a meowing sound. She says “Meow?”
“Cat Aftyn! No! It’s much too dangerous. You must leave it to the professional! That is why we hired him!”
Cat Aftyn? This is too much. You’re starting to feel overwhelmed, a sensation that is not helped by having a nearly naked cat-girl pressed up against your back. What is she doing? What the hell is going on here? Is it related to the demon infestation? “Now see here,” you say, wanting to stand up for yourself.
The cat-girl begins to stroke your ears. “You must at least let me lick your ears. For good luck!”
OG Aftyn glares at her. “I will be more than happy to do the ear licking!”
“I can help!” chimes in Dr Rosey.
Nurse Aftyn pokes her head in from the hallway. “Did I hear ear licking? I’m great at that!”
Everyone is crowding around you. Cat Aftyn hasn’t stopped stroking your ears, and you now have a very inconvenient erection beginning to form. Your entire face is flushed, and you can feel it starting to sink down your neck. Is it getting hotter in here? It would definitely be wrong to let these women take advantage of you, but you don’t know how to push them back.
A new voice breaks up the fray. “I will be handling the ear licking. Don’t you agree, girls?” The crowd of Aftyns parts to reveal a new one looking on from the hallway, her arms crossed and her mouth turned down at the corners. Even Cat Aftyn backs away in deference.
“Yes, Dr Rose,” they sing-song in well-practiced unison. They draw away from you. She beckons you to follow her back down the hallway. She brings you to her private office on the complex’s second floor. The name placard reads:
Dr Rose
Hypnotherapist
Founder and Owner
Est. 2017
“Close the door, please,” she says as you follow her in. Her presence is striking. Commanding, you would say. Is it the glasses? It’s got to be the glasses. Otherwise, she looks pretty much like all the others. And yet, there is a demeanor to Dr Rose that brooks no disagreement. You can see how such a woman founded a successful business.
“You’re here about the ad?” You nod. “Good. These… creatures… have had run of this place for far too long.” She says the word “creatures” with obvious distaste.
“Can you tell me how they came to be here?”
“Our overnight patients have been reporting sightings almost since we opened. At first no one believed them, but then Nurse Aftyn had a visit, and she hasn’t been the same since.”
“So they might have had access to this place before you arrived. That is something I will need to research. There are many types of demons. Do you know what they might be?”
She stands up as she speaks, looking out the window. “Oh, assuredly. These are Succubi, intent on sucking the life spirit from weak-willed men by… well, you know how they do it. That is why the ad required a man of the cloth.” As she speaks she moves behind you. She leans in, whispering directly into one ear, then the other. “Only a very strong individual will be able to stand up to their… tender touches. Their kisses. Their licking. Sucking.”
A shiver runs down your scalp. Your breath comes in short bursts.
“Will you be able to resist them? Are you… strong enough?”
When her tongue enters your ear, your heart nearly stops. You bolt upright from the chair and salute like a soldier. “Yes, ma’am! I will repel the demons!”
She laughs a little as she returns to her chair. “I guess we’ll see. And please, call me Aftyn.”