Prey For Me Ch. 01

Joshua no longer took Rachael for rides on the Harleys because he didn't trust his bike riding skills much anymore. He was bad enough with a car.

"Honey, go get a helmet out of the house." She took off like a speeding bullet. "And go to the bathroom!" he yelled after her.

"Mister, you sure you can handle that baby?" Joshua inquired dubiously.

"You mean the suicide clutch, right?" was the stranger's response. "Peter Fonda did OK did he not? Why not me? Been there and done that. You extend the forks a few more inches and do more chrome and some stars and stripes and you got his bike in Easy Rider it looks like to me."

Joshua nodded and muttered, "OK, OK, I believe you, I just wanted to make sure, you know, with the kid tagging along. Actually, the '51's were far safer than the 52's, the first year for the foot shift and hand clutch. Big Problems with the shifter rod and lever."

The stranger and Rachael were gone for more than two hours and Joshua was beside himself with worry. Then to top it off, Rachael's mother arrived to pick her up. Laurie was livid.

"You let Rachael ride on that frigging motorcycle with a total stranger?" she snarled.

Joshua became a little perturbed himself at Laurie's attitude. "Rachael insisted and he's OK. Check him out for yourself. I'll anxiously be awaiting your apology and won't that be a first." But he thanked the Lord when they returned a few minutes later, just as Joshua was being thoroughly cussed out.

Rachael was smiling and laughing and hanging all over the stranger. Laurie stopped her complaining when she saw him.

Laurie smiled demurely and said, "Well, thank you for entertaining my daughter. Looks like she had a bunch of fun."

"Oh, mommy, he's so cool! We stopped and got ice cream. He told me stories about Egypt. He was there and will help me with my homework. You know, that big project I have to do for geography on Egypt." She ran into the house.

The stranger slowly approached the porch. "My name is Danel."

Laurie snarled, "Hey slick, what does a biker know about Egypt? What are you, a Hell's Angel?" She was still a little miffed yet intrigued by the stranger.

Danel sat on the steps and began spinning yarns about the Great Pyramid of Giza. Rachael heard his voice and came back outside and sat on the steps beside him, snuggling as close as she could get, as he put his arm around her.

Laurie raised her eyebrows at Joshua. He thought she was going to go into one of her rant and rages.

Danel talked on and on about his travels, telling of his exploits riding his Harley from Cairo to Jerusalem. Laurie became captivated by his charm, obvious intelligence and warm wit, just as her daughter had.

Laurie couldn't take her eyes off the stranger. She asked Rachael, "Hey, how about you and me go make the nice man and Pappy some lunch?"

"Could you guys go for a bite to eat?" she said, looking at the wrinkled old man and the drop-dead gorgeous stranger.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Danel. "Please take your time. Mr. Marshall and I have some business to discuss."

"Oh, I almost forgot, Joshua," Laurie added reluctantly. "Here's another book Marvin wants you and Rachael to read. It's called Apollyon by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins and is a sequel to that other book he sent over, Left Behind. It's all about locusts who torture unbelievers who are left after the rapture or some such thing."

"Mom," Rachael added excitedly, "Joshua and I were just reading and talking about the locusts and Apollyon."

"Now isn't that a coincidence, Honey," Laurie replied curtly. "But you two better not let your imagination run wild again with this stuff. You know how upset Marvin gets about your tall tales. Next thing you know you'll be talking to these locusts."

The girl and her mother went off to make lunch. The stranger said matter-of-factly, "Just name your price, Mr. Marshall."

"$20,000 would be in the ballpark," Joshua stated hopefully.

The giant went to the bag on the back of his Fatboy and pulled out a large envelope. He took out a wad of $100 bills and began placing them in Joshua's hands as he counted them. When he got to 200 he added a few more for the taxes and transfer fees.

The stranger gave Joshua all the information necessary to transfer ownership. The name on his California driver's license was Danel Jones. Joshua commented, Didn't they make a typo on your license, shouldn't it be Daniel?"

"No," Danel corrected him, "That's what my mother put on the birth certificate, Danel." He asked Joshua to have all the paperwork ready the next morning and he said he would be back with someone else to drive the Panhead he just purchased.

The mother and daughter returned with the food. Their leisurely lunch was drawn out considerably by Danel's continued tales of the places he had visited in Israel and Egypt.

The three of them listened in spellbound attention to Danel's description of the Great Pyramid at Giza. He seemed to know so much about the construction and other details of the only remaining wonder of the ancient world.

Danel pulled a one dollar bill out of his wallet. "Rachael, see what's on the back? The Great Pyramid. And a big eyeball. What does that mean do you suppose?"

"I don't know, Danel," the precocious child wondered. "Please tell me?"

"Well, Rachael," Danel explained, "the Great Pyramid covers over 13 acres. It is absolutely the greatest archaeological discovery of all time. Napoleon and his army defeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of the Pyramids in 1798. Only after that and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone by one of Napoleon's officers and the unraveling of hieroglyphics did the Great Pyramid begin to be understood. I know you are a student of the bible. The good book talks about the Great Pyramid."

Danel picked up the bible sitting on the table, turned it to Isaiah 19:19 and read, "In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD." He continued into verse 20, "And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt ..."

"The Great Pyramid," Danel continued, "was never used for a tomb. Nobody was ever buried there. What then was the purpose? Cheops, also known as Khufu, for whom it supposedly was intended was buried elsewhere. Just ask those old historians Herodotus and Diodorus. Who directed the building of this supernatural structure? Job? Enoch? The Nephilim, the fallen angels? The theories are mind-boggling. Why the big eye on the dollar bill? Some say it is a Masonic conspiracy. I think not."

"Danel," Rachael interrupted, "Let me go get my map of Egypt I'm using for my geography project and show me where it is." She quickly ran off and returned in but a few minutes.

"Right there it is," Danel instructed as he pointed to the spot ten miles south of Cairo where the Great Pyramid stands. "The Great Pyramid is the only remaining wonder of the ancient world. There were seven. Now there is one. Modern man does not possess the architectural expertise to build such a structure as the Great Pyramid. So who built it? Maybe I did."

"You are very silly Danel," Rachael giggled.

Joshua, Rachel and Laurie listened in awe as the stranger told of Napoleon and Alexander the Great and their supernatural experiences in the Great Pyramid. "Both were demon-possessed!" Danel exclaimed. "They both wanted to be God and had visions in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid. Those demons were exorcised and both went on to meet their demise as world rulers."

Rachael then asked, "Danel, would you please tell me about the other wonders of the ancient world? Were any others in Egypt?"

"The other wonders of the ancient world, all of which no longer exist, were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Lighthouse was in Egypt so I'll tell you about that one."

"I know about Babylon!" Rachael blurted out. "The Mother of Harlots of Revelation, the great whore."

"Rachael!" Laurie scolded, "I told you not to use that word!"

"OK, OK, Mom. 'And on her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT.' You tell me what was written on her forehead. I know, we'll ask Marvin, God's chosen one, according to him," Rachael said with disgust.

"Well girls," Danel interrupted, "Let me tell you about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar built the gardens to please his beautiful wife, Amyitis. She was the daughter of the king of the Medes and very homesick. Her husband tried to replicate the vaulted terraces, vaults, pillars and rooftop gardens of her homeland. Nebuchadnezzar created a green and leafy artificial mountain that contrasted dramatically with the flat dry topography of Babylon. Watering that garden was a real problem. The king had a huge chain pump constructed to lift water into the air and above the garden. This was all for his lovely queen, Amyitis. She was the fairest of them all, Rachael, just like your mother."

Joshua saw the look in Laurie's eyes. Like a doe blinded by headlights. He thought there was some kind of trouble brewing here.

"Danel," tell me about that other wonder of the ancient world in Egypt. I need this for my report for school. And quit flirting with my mother," Rachael insisted somewhat indignantly. "You are my boyfriend!" she said and broke into a smile.

"Ah, the Pharos of Alexandria. The lighthouse on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria. That lighthouse guided ships into the harbor for 1,500 years but was then destroyed by an earthquake more than six hundred years ago. It was the tallest structure anywhere except for the Great Pyramid. More than five hundred feet high and the view overlooking the Mediterranean Sea was breathtaking."

"And how would you know?' Laurie asked rather rudely. She was becoming impatient with this conversation for some reason and said to Danel, "Do you take big girls on the Harley of yours or just little girls?"

Danel gave her a seductive look that would have made an iceberg melt.

Joshua interjected, "Well, if you two are taking off, how about Rachael and me going to Las Vegas and doing a little shopping. I told her I would get her some school stuff, and it's not all that far off."

Rachael was ecstatic and Laurie said, "Sure but why don't you stay at Granny Johnston's tonight. It will be dark by the time you two get done fooling around and Joshua, you shouldn't be driving at night."

Granny was Marvin's widowed mother who lived in a large house on the outskirts of Vegas. Joshua actually liked her and she acted like she had a schoolgirl crush on him. Rachael and he had stayed overnight at her place on numerous occasions when they visited the big city for one reason or another, and she loved having them as guests.

Joshua began to salivate when he thought about the chilli at Texas Station. He loved all eight varieties. But he dreaded that damn "Race for Atlantis" 3-D ride which Rachael was certain to drag him on again.

Laurie was still wearing her favorite pink polka dot dress. She had worn it to work because there was a little party that morning for her girlfriend who was moving to New York.

"Don't you want to change?" asked Danel, as he inspected her from head to toe, resting his gaze on her pink spiked heels that matched her dress. Her long auburn had a tint of the same color.

Laurie shook her head no. She decided not to change from her favorite dress for one very good reason. Danel was going to get a look at her long and lovely legs.

"Let's go!" she demanded demurely as she picked up the helmet Rachael had tossed on the lawn and got on the back of the Fatboy.

Danel roared out the driveway and headed east on route 372, intending to head toward Death Valley. Laurie held him tightly around the waist. She could not believe how hard and muscular he was.

Rachael talked a mile a minute on the way to Las Vegas and Granny Johnston's. She was usually good for a half-hour of non-stop chatter. Finally she stopped telling Joshua about her new computer and closed her mouth and her eyes.

Joshua popped in one of the Bible tapes he had in the glove compartment. It happened to be Tape One, Genesis, the first ten chapters. They listened in silence to the entire tape. Rachael then rewound it halfway, to the beginning of the sixth chapter.

"1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

Rachael paused the tape after the first two verses and asked, "Pappy, who are these sons of God? Are they angels?"

"Yes, Rachael, angels. Bad angels. They disobeyed God."

"Pappy, they married women?" she asked, very concerned.

Joshua never lied to her about the bible. He answered her as best he understood the good book. He was also somewhat of a Hebrew scholar and Rachael had been getting lessons as of late.

"Rachael, some angels probably married the women. The word 'wives' in verse 2 is not accurately translated from the Hebrew. It should be translated 'women' most scholars say."

Joshua reluctantly went on because he knew Rachael would keep questioning him if he did not. "We know for sure that the angels had sex with the women because they had children. The children and the children's children were giants. Like Goliath. This is why God caused the flood and spared only Noah's family, because they did not disobey God."

Rachael said not a word. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. The remainder of her overnight adventure was uneventful. Not so for her mother.

At this very moment Danel had just turned onto Route 127, heading toward Death Valley Junction. The bike lurched and Laurie's breasts momentarily pressed up against his back.

The pipes on the bike were very loud and Laurie had to get very close to Danel's ear to ask, "Where are going?" She couldn't resist the playful urge to gently stick her tongue in his ear.

Danel didn't reply but just shrugged and gave the bike more gas. He did return her flirtatious gesture with a brief squeeze of her thigh.

Laurie pinched him back roughly and snuggled up as close as she could. Her long auburn hair and her pink and white polka dot dress were blowing in the wind, a sight to behold. She felt a sense of total freedom and exhilaration like she had never felt before.

The supernatural seductions had begun.

To Be Continued...