by Rach Elle
“When you told me of the prophecy I accepted it as fact because I had always thought there was something wrong with me. I had been plagued with nightmares of what I thought were demonic creatures for years. I figured this had to be the explanation; but now that I know it’s not I’m grateful to be alive, and that’s something I never thought I’d feel. Does that make any sense?” She looked to Junior as he nodded slowly. “I want to forgive Kingsley for all he’s done, but to be honest I’m just too exhausted to even try. I do forgive you though. Do I trust you enough to go for another stroll in the park; no.” She chuckled lightly and walked toward him, bent down and placed a small jewelry box on the ground in front of him. “Maybe in time,” she turned and passed under the wrought iron alter.
Junior watched Awilda walk through the threshold of the glass door and head back up the spiral staircase.
He looked down at the small box sitting in front of him and reached for it. With a heavy heart he opened it to see a wooden, carved chess queen. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he turned back to his mother’s cross.
With his bare hands he dug a small grave and submerged the piece gently before covering it with dirt. “Hey mom,” he whispered, “it’s been a long time.”
48
Sunders used what was left of his strength to open the window to Corey and Madge’s office space. He climbed into the dark room from the fire escape and steadied himself on his shaky legs. He didn’t want anyone in the office to see him. His face was badly beaten and bruised and his left eye was swollen shut. He knew he was going to get a lot of questions in the morning. For now, however, he didn’t have the energy to answer any of them. With his one good eye Sunders squinted in the dark to locate Madge’s computer. He pulled open her top desk drawer and began rifling through with a small penlight. After pushing aside note pads, old grocery lists, and an abundance of markers and highlighters he found a folded piece of paper with the information he’d been searching for; the password to unlock her computer. He gambled that Madge didn’t trust her own memory and it paid off. In the palm of his hand he held her password; as well as a pin number and what looked to be a locker combination. Without turning on the lights he powered up her computer and entered the password to unlock it. He accessed the recorded satellite footage of the hotel and cued it to the time the tracer left the building. He watched as Awilda walked through the front door with a man and hailed a cab.
His right eyelid was growing heavy, begging him to get some sleep; or perhaps that was swelling shut too. He couldn’t be too sure at this point. He tried to recall every little detail from earlier in the night. He wasn’t looking forward to facing the Protectors; they were clearly pissed at the way he intruded on their business. He denied them a kill. Hell, they’d probably end his life if they knew he told Awilda to remove her tracers; but he couldn’t let the Protectors near those gargoyles again. He had never been so close to those creatures before. He finally had a chance to learn about them; to study them. The Protectors were only interested in a trophy kill; an accolade to expand their already inflated egos.
Ten minutes passed without any activity on the computer monitor when suddenly a man and woman exited the building arm in arm. Sunders relaxed in his chair, assuming they were of no interest to him. A moment later the ugly Limrid from the park jumped onto the car in front of the old woman. The man saw the creature and took after him and that’s when the unthinkable happened. Sunders had to stop the tape, rewind and watch it again. Oh my god. He breathed. The man, before his very eyes sprouted wings and a tail; the appendages slicing through his clothing. His feet grew and morphed into dinosaur-like claws which he used to dig into the side of the hotel and scale the building. Sunders, exasperated, leaned back in his chair. Gargoyles can shift into humans.
Sunders thought back to the gargoyle that pinned him to a tree and rescued him from Wade’s blade. That face. It was too familiar; he squeezed his eye shut and recalled every moment since meeting Awilda Rose. He opened it suddenly as the image of the old woman’s kitchen wall flooded his mind; Junior Cross.
Sunders reached into a drawer and grabbed a flash drive. He loaded it into the computer before downloading the footage onto it. He then erased the recording. The Protectors didn’t need this information. He slipped the drive into a paper sleeve and put it in his pocket. He locked the computer and left the office to head home for a take away and some much needed rest. Tomorrow he would resume his quest. Awilda was wrong; his journey would not end here - it had just begun.
49
Junior sat at the bar in the living room in darkness. Everyone had retreated to their bedrooms, but like hell he was going to be able to sleep tonight. He’d almost killed the woman he loved. He took another drink of whiskey as the moonlight poured through the stained glass window behind him. He was vaguely aware that someone was in the room with him.
“What do you want?” He scowled.
Tauggle smirked and crooked an eyebrow, “Just a little friendly conversation.” His voice was melodic with a hint of an old European accent.
“Not in the mood.” Junior took another swallow.
“Understandable; you’ve had a trying night.”
Moments passed in complete silence, but Junior could still sense the Limrid’s presence. He wanted to ignore it, but in the end it was Tauggle that saved his ass in the park; and Awilda’s. With a deep sigh he swiveled on his barstool to see the pale man with white hair standing in the middle of the room. “What?” He barked. “You obviously want to say something.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Tauggle began, “I just wanted to know, is your god a man?”
Junior groaned; the last thing he needed was a religious debate with a Limrid.
“I’m just curious,” Tauggle continued, “Is your god a man or is He divine?”
“Divine.” Junior grumbled.
“And yet man worships Him anyway; interesting. I guess our kings and queens need not be the same as their peasants.”
Junior downed the rest of his whiskey. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing,” Tauggle shrugged. “It’s just that the old man had it wrong.” Junior put down his glass and narrowed his eyes at the creature in the middle of the dark living room. Tauggle’s face lost expression, “And so it was prophesized; every five-hundredth year a queen will emerge as leader of the gargoyles and through her Satan shall manifest to rule on earth. Nowhere does it specify the queen must herself be a gargoyle. Either your friend was only telling you what you wanted to hear – or he was reading between lines that simply are not there.” He began to step toward Junior, a spark of interest forming in his eyes, “The funny thing is, the old man had it right the first time.” He chuckled lightly.
Junior scowled and turned back around on his stool. He lifted his glass only to drop it to the floor, shattering it into tiny shards at his feet. He grabbed the sides of his head as a sharp, piercing tone seared his brain. He stumbled off of his barstool and backed up into the wall, buckling over at the waist from pain. His eyes flashed red and his fangs elongated. He groaned through gritted teeth as the frequency centered between his eyes. He looked up to see the pale Limrid staring at him. “You,” Junior managed to say. “You’re doing this; why?”
Tauggle narrowed his eyes as images began flashing through Junior’s mind too rapidly to make sense of. He saw horrific visions of bloody rivers, dragons and death. They repeated over and over until finally settling on one image; Awilda. She looked at him as the wind swirled around her head, her hair blowing to the side. She gave him momentary relief as he focused on her features. Soon the piercing tone faded away; taking her with it. Junior released his hands from the sides of his head and looked up at Tauggle; the castle suddenly too quiet.
The Limrid began walking toward him slowly, methodically. “The endless winter,” he began, “reveal to the masses, true minions will flock.” His lips parted and stretched across his face, revealing his perfectly white, fanged teeth
. “Best be ready savior,” he smiled, “they’re coming.”
To Be Continued…
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Playlist
I don’t think I could write without music. I know it sounds weird… feel free to judge me here… but often times when I listen to music I see music videos featuring my characters unfolding in my head. Usually the song’s lyrics are relatable to my stories; and sometimes not. Sometimes the song is seemingly out of left field and makes no sense whatsoever within the context. I don’t try to figure out why I’m drawn to any particular song… I just go with it.
I’ve narrowed this “playlist” for those who are interested in the inspiration behind some of these characters down to a handful of songs. But I would feel terrible if I didn’t credit the groups that provide awesome music on my Pandora every time I sit down to write. I absolutely love listening to Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Three Days Grace, My Darkest Days, and Halestorm – not necessarily in that order.
Now, with that being said – here is my playlist for Gargoyles I
The Cranberries – “Zombie”
Kingsley’s song
Hoobastank – “The Reason”
Junior’s song
Skillet – “Monster”
Awilda’s song
Ladytron – “Runaway”
This is one of those ‘out of left field’ choices. There’s just something about it that gives me the inspiration to write
Dark Angel Alliance
Gargoyles
Part II
Rach Elle
Copyright 2014
Players
Shifters
Junior Cross
The prophesized savior of the human race
Kingsley Leon
At 300 years of age he cannot defy the Lord’s plan for him and end his long, tiresome life
Cooper Vanderburen
She is the owner of the Vanderburen Castle in London, England
Zeff Crystol
The mysterious, scarred shifter
Bawli Mandeen
“Bawls” for short; the heavy shifter without a Responsibility
Limrids
Tauggle
Now claimed by Awilda Rose, Tauggle has vast powers that he may only use upon her command
Humans
Elizabeth Tucker
Elderly woman; she is Kingsley’s lover and Junior’s Responsibility
Sunders Harper
A Finder within the Dark Angel Alliance; he has at long last discovered the gargoyles
Bill Maines
Sunders’ superior in the Dark Angel Alliance
Chase and Wade
The two Protectors that attacked Awilda, Junior and Kingsley in the park in London
Madge and Corey
Sunders’ subordinates
Roderick
A Finder within the Dark Angel Alliance; he has been tasked with researching the explosion at a DAA facility in the United States
Dr. Simon Crispin PhD
Awilda’s therapist after her grandfather tried to kill her. He later became a resident doctor at the Bain Asylum where she spent the next five years of her life.
Alvin Cordrey
Cooper’s Responsibility
Mason Landers
Zeff’s Responsibility
James Rose
Revealed to be Awilda’s father; he has been tasked by a mysterious, dark gargoyle to find his only daughter. Regrettably, James has decided to end Awilda’s life before she has a chance to end the world.
Regina Wilds
The blonde scientist with a mysterious past – she has joined James on his journey to find and kill his daughter
Awilda Rose
A young, innocent woman that committed herself into a mental hospital five years ago due to debilitating paranoia and nightmares – unbeknownst to her she is the prophesized destroyer of the human race and will one day kill us all.
Glossary
Arav Dave – A sixteenth century artist that both wrote and painted accounts of the Ultimate War and its major players.
Dark Angel Alliance – An underground group funded by unknown wealthy elite. They are committed to the discovery and possible co-existence of supernatural creatures.
David the First – He was the first gargoyle to drop to his knees and pray for forgiveness as well as the strength to revolt against the devil during the Ultimate War.
Finders – The Finder division of the DAA are masked by a company known as United Financial based in London, England.
Limrid – The gargoyles that chose not to revolt against Satan and join God. Once the battle was lost they were banned from Hell and stripped of all dark powers. They are suspended in time and will remain weak and useless until claimed by a human. Only then would they regain their strength and have the chance to learn humility; thus earning their place in Heaven.
Protectors – The division of the DAA dedicated to capturing supernatural creatures before measuring their threat level to the human race. They are broken up into small factions located all over the globe.
Responsibility – The one person a shifter is destined to protect at all costs. Once they pass, their shifter resumes aging and loses all ability to shift.
Shifters – Humans that have the ability to shift into gargoyles. They stop aging and remain suspended in time until their Responsibility dies.
The Ultimate War – A literary piece written by Arav Dave; it chronicles the details of the war between Heaven and Hell. The piece explains the origins of gargoyles and Limrids.
For my non English/Scottish mates:
Ace – Awesome
Aggro – aggravated
Baltic – Cold
Bams – Below average mentality
Barmey – Crazy
Beastly – Ugly
Belt up – Shut up
Bizzie – Police officer
Blether – Babble
Blues and twos – Police officers
Blunder – Mistake
Bonnie - Beautiful
Box - Television
Box your ears – Slap someone on the side of their head
Brill - Brilliant
Bullocks – B.S.
Butchers – Look (Have a butchers = have a look)
Cocked it up – Screwed it up
Cuppa - coffee
Dim - Stupid
Fagged - Bothered
Give way sign – Stop sign
Gobsmacked - Surprised
Hash – mistake (to do something badly)
Havering – Speaking nonsense
Nesh wimp – Pathetic
Nicked – Stole
Nosh - Food
Nowt - Nothing
Nutter – Crazy; mad
Off your onion – Are you crazy?
On the piss – Out to get drunk
Petrol Station – Gas station
Pissed - Drunk
Rammy - Fight
Redundancy - Fired
Row – Fight
Rubbish - Garbage
Sorted – That’s it
Take away – A drink
Tap - Faucet
Tosser – An annoying person
Wanker – A stupid person
Wean
– Young child
Wallapers - Idiots
What you on the day? – How are you today?
The devil’s serpents wrapped their long bodies around David the First. They tightened their holds and sunk their sharp teeth into his blessed flesh. David screamed and clawed at the dirt as they pulled him toward the sin.
Aaron lifted a large blade from the ground and quietly prayed for even more strength than he had been granted. His legs carried him further and faster and soon he yielded his sharp weapon through the air, slicing through the serpents that held David and severing their bodies from their master.