Gargoyle: A Reawakening (Briarcliff Series, #2)

by Lorraine Beaumont

  “He’s losing it,” Alistair commented, pulling his own shirt off over his head. He leaned forward and scooped up handfuls of water to clean his chest and arms off. Once the sticky residue was gone, he turned back to Adriane, noting that in another time, he would have decimated that very same beast in no time at all. They were mere foreplay to what was coming. But apparently, times had changed. He contemplated the meaning behind that thought.

  Simon crossed his arms across his muscled bare chest, stroking his chin. He wondered which would work better, the Everclear or Captain Morgan’s Silver spiced rum.

  “Simon what are you doing?”

  “Trying to decide which one of these will get the stink off my shirt.”

  Alistair eyed the bottles. “Why don’t you smell them?”

  “Huh, hadn’t thought about that.” He lifted up the bottle that said Everclear, unscrewed the lid, and took a sniff. He pulled his face back, wrinkling his nose. Not very appealing but it would do the trick. It was definitely better than the alternative.

  Alistair draped his own shirt over the silver barrel with the black hose hanging down the side. He lifted the other bottle, removed the lid, and took a sniff. It wasn’t an unpleasant odor. “This one smells decent,” he said, handing the bottle out to Simon.

  Simon grabbed it and took a sniff. “Oh, yeah…” he nodded his head up and down. “ This’ll do the trick,” he said and then glanced over to Adriane. “Oh Snap!” Simon heckled, dumping the rum over his shirt. “There you go, show him whose boss,” he called out, while Adriane twisted the creature’s neck back and forth.

  Alistair hit him in the arm.

  Simon turned. “What’d you do that for?”

  “Enough!” Alistair commanded, a fierce protectiveness emerging.

  “Why? He deserves it after the shit he pulled with you earlier,” Simon argued defensively.

  “That is my battle to fight. Not yours,” Alistair warned.

  “Excuse me for trying to help a brother out.”

  “I am not your brother, any more than you are mine.” Alistair sighed. “Listen, we are in this together whether we like it or not.”

  “Yeah, yeah—I know,” Simon, replied sounding dejected. “You want me to help him?”

  “No. Let’s see what he is made of, shall we?” Alistair made sure to keep a watchful eye on Adriane…just in case and dumped the rum over his shirt.

  Simon lifted his shirt up, after he dipped it back into the water and was now, wringing it out. He looked around. The place had emptied out rather quickly. He was kind-of hoping some of the human girls had stuck around, since he may have a bit of time on his hands before the other’s showed.

  Alastair cocked his head to the side, following Simon’s line of vision. The party had obviously turned into a bust. He was having a good time too. The girl whoever she was, made him forget, even if it was merely for a moment.

  “I wonder what made them all run.” Simon asked, waving his shirt, airing it out.

  “I’m not sure.” Alistair said and he wasn’t. He and Simon had run to fight the beasts but they were far enough away not to bring attention to themselves. One beast slipped by, which is why Adriane was battling one now. Seriously, why should he and Simon get stuck doing all the dirty work. They were a team. Each of them held their own separate expertise. There should be no leader. They were equals and if Adriane hadn’t come to that conclusion on his own before, he certainly would now. Alistair was teaching him a lesson. Adriane needed to learn they each needed one another to survive what was coming. He let out a heavy sigh, turning his attention back to Adriane as he finally finished the beast off. He watched Adriane stand and kick the beast once more for good measure. Rocks flew upward into the air, falling heavily back to the ground. The act brought a smile to Alistair’s normally stoic face. That was the only good thing about Degare’ hell dogs, after they were gone, they turned back to what they once were…Stone. Alistair wondered if the same would happen to them if they were the ones defeated. Well one thing was certain, he would find that out soon enough

  INDECISION

  SATURDAY * 10:45 PM

  Inside Barnaby fought with all he had, swinging his fists, and kicking his feet.

  “Man, stop kicking me,” Chance yelled. “I am trying to help you here.”

  The voice finally registered in Barnaby’s terrified mind and he quit fighting. “Chance…is that you?”

  “Yeah it’s me.” Chance rubbed his stomach.

  “Oh thank God man.” Barnaby stood up. “What are you doing in here?”

  “We’re hiding out.” Chance answered.

  “Who’s hiding?” Barnaby asked bending over and running his hands over the floor to look for his glasses.

  “Evie and me,” Chance added.

  “Where?” he asked, squinting into the dim room. He finally found his glasses and put them on, adjusting them on his face.

  Evie felt her way across the room. “Hey Barnaby,” she said, trying not to run into the furniture.

  “Evie…hey,” he said relieved. “What are you two hiding from? Did you see it too?”

  “See what?” Evie asked.

  “The hell dog or whatever it was.”

  Evie froze. Tighty whitey wasn’t tripping…shit.

  “What dog?” Chance asked confused.

  ‘You guys didn’t see it?” Barnaby asked surprised.

  “Nah man, Evie got me from under the stage and we came in here. Everyone’s gone.”

  “Where did you see it?” Evie asked wondering if that was why Adriane had told her to run and if so, where was he now? Was he all right or did something happen to him? She started freaking out all over again and had to squash it down. He was fine. He had to be fine.

  “Colton and I saw it over by the drink table,” Barnaby rushed on. “It was nasty… crazy ugly bastard.” He shuddered.

  “Where’s Colton?” Evie heard herself asking.

  “Shit! He’s outside.” Barnaby felt his way past a few pieces of furniture over to the window. He leaned out and called quietly, “Colton you there?”

  Colton nearly pissed himself again when he saw what looked like the disembodied head of his friend. “Barnaby…” his voice shook.

  “Dude it’s all right,” Barnaby reassured him.

  “Thank God man. You okay.” Colton asked relief washing over him.

  “Yeah I’m good,” Barnaby said.

  Colton heard a twig snap and jerked his head over his shoulder, his heart thumping wildly. “Shit! Man—hurry up and help me inside…something is out here with me,” he said, his voice sounding unusually shrill.

  Barnaby peered further out the window. He didn’t see anything. “Calm down man…I don’t see anything.”

  “Easy for you to say, your ass is inside,” Colton complained.

  “Dude quit your bitching, you’re starting to sound like a girl,” Barnaby laughed out and then swallowed hard. His own voice sounded just as shrill. “Give me your hands,” he said, and leaned out the window to grab hold of Colton’s hands, trying to pull him up. He couldn’t lift him he was dead weight.

  “Pull me up man,” Colton yelled, trying to scramble up the wall, his sneakers slipping on the stone.

  Barnaby let go of Colton’s hands.

  “Ow shit!” Colton groaned in pain as his stomach connected with a sharp edge of a stick.

  Barnaby flinched. “Sorry dude. Hold on a minute.”

  Colton rubbed his sore belly. “Hurry up!” he whispered into the darkness.

  Barnaby stuck his head back out again after a minute. “Chance is going to help me.”

  “Chance is in there too?”

  “Yeah,” Barnaby answered and stuck his hands out the window and grabbed hold of Colton’s hands once more.

  Chance stepped forward and grabbed hold of Barnaby’s belt, pulling backward.

  Even Evie helped. She wrapped her arms around Chances’ waist, her boobs squishing against his back, trying to help pull backwar
d. “Sorry Chance.”

  “Not a problem,” he assured her, his face breaking into a momentary smile.

  They were like a tug of war rope, each person pulled backward. After a few failed attempts, they finally managed to get Colton inside the window.

  Colton slid through the window, his body thumping loudly on the floor. He rolled, jumping to his feet. “Ah-HA!” he yelled out, slicing his hands in the air.

  Barnaby ducked, Colton’s hand barely missed the side of his head. “What in the hell are you doing Colton? Trying to knock the shit out of me?”

  “That’s my stealth Ninja move…you like?” Colton preened.

  “Oh yeah, it’s great. Where’d you learn that?” Barnaby asked.

  “I taught myself. I watch Bruce all the time.”

  “Who the boss…?” Chance asked.

  “Not Springsteen…Lee,” Colton admonished, proudly.

  “Right…” Barnaby said distractedly, his eyes searching the room.

  “You’re just jealous.” Colton accused.

  “Dude, I am so not jealous of you,” Barnaby said.

  “Neither am I,” Chance added almost as an afterthought.

  “Well, you both should be,” Colton, said with a smug tone.

  “Why?” Chance asked, scratching his belly.

  “Waa!” Colton yelled out, slicing the air with his hands and kicking out his foot. “These are lethal. They should be registered as weapons,” he boasted, as he sliced the air a few more times with his hands.

  “Yeah um…okay,” Barnaby said simply to placate Colton. He was hoping there was a collection of guns hidden away in here somewhere. Colton could use his hands and feet as lethal weapons. Barnaby wanted a fucking’ Uzi.

  COMPLICATION

  SATURDAY * 10:55 PM

  The overwhelming amount of books in the room spanned from the floor to the ceiling in cases lining the walls. In the corner, a wrought iron spiral staircase wound up to a second level balcony, which housed even more books. A wooden ladder hooked to brass rails with wheels on the bottom reached the second level. It reminded Evie of the one at the coffeehouse except this was much larger and of course fancier. A huge brass telescope was perched on a tripod at far end of the balcony that pointed into the middle of a plate glass and iron doomed ceiling. Dark clouds blotted out most of the moon with the exception of the eerie blue slipping out the sides. The color made the room have a strange dream like quality, and was another reminder of the time she had spent with him. She wished she knew where he was and was debating whether to slip out and look for him when a loud, “Waa,” split the air. She rolled her eyes and tried her best to ignore Colton while he “Practiced his mad skillz.” She even resorted to biting her lip to stop herself from groaning out loud. It made her sick to think she had even considered sleeping with him and for her first time no less…gross… a little bit of puke slid up her throat. Now he was gobbing about how cool he was. She turned away and rolled her eyes again. Conceited dick.

  “Where did all the people go?” Chance blurted out from across the room.

  “They left Chance, remember?” Evie said, leaning forward to brace her hands on top of the desk.

  “Nah,” he said shaking his head. “You said some came inside…where are they?”

  “Oh right,” she said absently. She had been so preoccupied she had completely forgotten about the ten or so people she saw pushing through the front door. “I don’t know.”

  Chance opened up the door and peeked out into the foyer. He looked up at the massive chandelier that was swinging slightly making the chain rattle. Listening, he cocked his head to the side and could swear he heard footsteps coming down the stairs but when he looked over to the stairwell nothing was there. Quickly he shut the door again and shivered.

  Barnaby adjusted his glasses on his face. “Are we really to only ones left?”

  Evie noticed he left out the… OH SHIT! Are we really the only ones left? She felt the same; with one small exception—if Adriane was still here… she was glad she was here too.

  “Dude—do you see anyone else?” Colton said and pushed off the wall, sending the ladder sliding down the length of bookcases.

  Evie watched Barnaby shake his head and mumble something under his breath—she could swear it was dumbass. She agreed wholeheartedly.

  ***

  It was quiet as a tomb with the exception of a “Waa” being screamed in the air from Colton’s lame ass. Evie needed to do something to occupy herself so she walked over, pulled a few books down, and then carried them a safe distance away from Colton and put them on the desk. There were several on the history of Briarcliff Manor and the surrounding area. Most dated back to the early eighteen hundreds. There were some that didn’t even have copyrights so she had no idea how old those might be. She had no idea there was so much history on the place. On a normal day, she would have enjoyed reading up on it all, but at the moment, she couldn’t even appreciate any of it. She was too worried about Adriane. She wanted to go and look for him, but wasn’t sure going out alone in the dark would be the wisest move on her part and she didn’t think any of the guys would be in too big of a hurry to help her either. So instead, she simply kept her mouth shut and kept looking for anything that might be useful, which was hard considering she had no idea what she was looking for. She was going on a hunch. In the movies, people always looked in books to find the answers, so maybe it would work for her too.

  “You find anything?” Barnaby asked, walking up beside her and shoving his hands in his pockets.

  She glanced up at him and couldn’t help but smile. His glasses were fogged up. “Can you see?”

  Barnaby exhaled. “Hold on,” he said, pulling his glasses off and then lifted his shirt to wipe the lenses off.

  Evie’s eyes drifted down reflexively. She blinked a few times. “Wow,” she mouthed staring. Not only was Barnaby pretty cute and strong, but he had one of those sexy stomachs too. The kind you see in the magazine ads with the cut hips dipping down into the tops of jeans. She cleared her throat. “Hey Barnaby, how good can you see without your glasses?”

  “I can’t see shit,” he breathed sounding frustrated. “Why?”

  “Oh, just wondering.” Somehow, she managed to tear her eyes away from his magazine ad stomach and lifted her eyes to his face thinking that would be safer. Turns out, she should have probably just stared at the ground. His dark hair was curling crazily around his head. He looked really sweet and cute at the same time. His long lashes cast down on his cheeks. It was a crime for a guy to have lashes that long. She leaned forward, suddenly wondering what color his eyes were.

  Barnaby put his glasses back on and let out an awkward laugh.

  Evie jerked back away and lifted one of the books off the desk; flipping the pages back and forth like she found something really interesting, trying to cover her gawking moment.

  “So have you found anything on um…?” he said, leaning forward. Gargoyles?” he whispered.

  The warmth of his breath wafted against her face, making her shiver. It wasn’t like how she felt with Adriane, but it was still a bit…unsettling. “Um, no, not yet,” she said and then took a step backward. He was too close. An awkward silence followed.

  She shifted on her feet, and glanced up at him. And then instantly regretted it. He was giving her a look, she wasn’t sure what kind of a look it was either but it kind of reminded her of a little puppy dog. One she might of accidentally kicked. “Ohmigod! I can’t believe I forgot.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “What did your mom say, I mean you were going to tell me earlier remember, before…?” she asked, hoping against hope his expression would snap back to normal. It did.

  Barnaby ran his hand through his hair making his curls stick up even more. “You mean before that big ass thing swooped in front of us.”

  “I know, what was that?” She shivered, remembering their near brush with death.

  “You saw it too?” He laughed shakily. “I
thought my ass was seeing things, but then again I have been seeing a lot of weird shit since we got on this mountain.”

  “I know, I mean, I don’t really know, before when Adriane told me to run, I couldn’t see what I was running from.”

  “Adriane?” he asked clearly confused. “Oh right,” he said. “So that was the guy you were with by the, ah…trees,” he asked, suddenly feeling like a loser for knowing even that much, but couldn’t help himself.

  “Yeah, he is um, the guy…I was hanging with,” she finished stupidly, lying, not wanting to say anything more.

  “So what is his deal? I mean where did he come from, and the other two guys, the ones with Heather and Moriah? Who were they?”

  Evie shook her head. “I don’t know. Who?” she asked not knowing what he was talking about.

  “Oh so you didn’t see them…” He left his statement open ended, his brows creasing together.

  “Nah…wait what? Was there something to see?” She didn’t worry about being too close this time. She stepped forward and turned her head, giving him her ear so he could tell her quietly. She couldn’t believe she was even interested in what Heather had been doing—but Moriah? What was that all about?

  Barnaby laughed, shaking his head and leaned down cupping his hand to her ear. “Yeah, Heather was all over this guy. Actually, he um, looked a lot like the um…the guy you were with, too.”

  Evie leaned away, her face blank. “Ah, I did see Heather talking to some guy over by the drinks.” It couldn’t have been Adriane, could it? She suddenly felt sick.

  “Hey, that is where Colton and I saw her, before that thing came creeping out from the bushes.”

  “What thing?”

  “The dog I was telling you all about. At least I think it was a dog.” He shook his head. “I am not kidding Evie. That thing was nasty, and huge. I have never seen anything like it except in the movies. It totally reminded me of CUJO, except bigger and uglier.”