Gargoyles I, II, III: Dark Angel Alliance

by Rach Elle

  “You won’t reach your limits. Awilda, order it to stay on the castle property.”

  Awilda jolted slightly. “Um, I’m not really comfortable with ordering Tauggle to do anything. I don’t really like being his master.” She cringed at the word.

  “Well then you shouldn’t have claimed it.” Cooper began, “if you’re going to stay here then I need to know it’s under control.”

  Awilda bit her bottom lip nervously. She looked up to meet Junior’s eyes. He nodded once. She turned toward Tauggle. The Limrid smiled nicely and whispered, “It’s quite alright.”

  Awilda took a deep breath, “Tauggle; I order you not to leave this property unless I say or I, myself leave.”

  Cooper smirked and opened her mouth to address everyone else when…

  “And furthermore,” Awilda continued, “you are allowed to use your powers as you see fit as long as they don’t directly affect any living being or until I say otherwise.”

  A sea of gasps and groans were heard around the table. “Have you gone mad?” Cooper’s eyes popped in surprise.

  Awilda lifted her chin, “I told you; I don’t feel comfortable with commanding him all the time.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  “I know that if it weren’t for Tauggle several of us might be dead right now. He saved our lives last night and doesn’t deserve to be treated like a menace or a prisoner. I figured this was as close as I could come to freeing him altogether; which I would have done, except I’m afraid we might need him if this whole DAA thing doesn’t just blow over like we’re all hoping.”

  Cooper wanted to scream. She wanted to throw things and storm out of the dining hall; but the girl was actually making some sense. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. After a moment she lifted her head and looked at Awilda with concession, “Keep him under control.” She looked to everyone else, “That’s all I really wanted to say…”

  “Awe,” Tauggle’s jovial, accented voice cooed. “You called me ‘him’.”

  “What?” Cooper snipped.

  “You always call me an ‘it’ or a ‘thing’; but you just called me a ‘him’. I think you’re starting to like me.”

  “Not on your life,” she bit back.

  “Oh come on, you’re warming up to the idea.”

  “I’d rather pour Tabasco sauce in my eyes before I touch you with a ten foot pole.”

  “Whoa, slow down,” Tauggle mocked. “I’m just not ready for a commitment right now.” He looked at Awilda out of the corner of his eye and winked. She chuckled lightly as Cooper stormed off in a huff.

  Everyone stood from their chairs as Tauggle still levitated in a seated position with a large smile spread across his thin face. “She’s fun,” he said to no one in particular.

  The group began filing out of the room. Junior rounded the corner and stood just outside the threshold, waiting to see which direction Awilda was going to head in; he wanted to keep tabs on her whereabouts, especially after that scene in the forgotten ballroom.

  Awilda waited until Zeff left the room before turning to Tauggle. “Why did you have to say all that? About Zeff and me getting married; it was embarrassing.”

  “Why?” Tauggle cocked his head to the side. “I thought humans regarded marriage as an inevitability; why not with him?”

  “Because you have to be in love to get married.”

  Junior’s heart danced as a smile reached his lips.

  “Love?” Tauggle scoffed, “Love is the worst human emotion. It weakens your entire race.”

  “I take it you’ve never been in love before?” Awilda crooked a brow.

  “Of course not; you have to have a soul for that. But alas, here I float; soulless.”

  “Don’t you find that sad?” She asked.

  Tauggle shook his head, “When facing your toughest decisions the most dangerous thing you could do is factor love into the equation; I’ve witnessed it first hand. Mark my words my dear,” his expression turned grave, “it will lead you to the wrong answer every time.”

  “But isn’t that why you wanted to be claimed?”

  The Limrid crooked a brow. Awilda continued, “I thought that was the most important property of a Limrid; once you’re claimed you can learn humility and earn your spot in Heaven.”

  Tauggle laughed, “Oh you are a naive little one, aren’t you?” When Awilda didn’t share in his laughter he softened his voice and looked away. “I’ve wandered this earth for centuries. You humans have a saying; you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Well, you can’t teach an ancient one to garner a soul, either.” He looked back to Awilda and met her eyes. “You haven’t seen the things I’ve seen; done the things I’ve done. Believe me when I say there will never be a place in Heaven for a Limrid. We’re regarded as vile, despicable creatures; always will be.”

  “But people can change.”

  “People, perhaps,” Tauggle lowered his eyes, “Limrids; afraid not.”

  15

  Las Vegas, Nevada…

  The strip was bright and alive as the sun began to rise over the desert. Hundreds of people still walked the sidewalks and marveled at the attractions that casinos used to compete with one another. The people watching was itself an attraction as tourists and locals; drunks, cokeheads and prostitutes; adorned the city’s pavement retreat from the real world.

  BeStone Soltan sat in a crummy hotel room a few blocks away from the strip. His room sat in the back corner of the building; too far away to see the lights or hear the commotion of a typical Vegas morning. He liked it that way. People annoyed him.

  He sat at a small table reading Catcher in the Rye; a book he had read thousands of times. His accomplice stood on the balcony overlooking the hotel’s small and underwhelming pool. He could tell his old friend wasn’t happy. He wanted to be out on the strip. After all, where else in the world could two shifted gargoyles roam the open streets and not cause a widespread panic? With all of the lunatics dressed insanely in costumes, the two of them could blend right in with the cartoon characters, impersonators and superheroes; but BeStone didn’t care about blending in. He had spent most of his life in the shadows. Today would be no different.

  The sliding glass door opened and Parag stepped inside. At nearly seven feet tall he was a massive gargoyle; muscular and broad with an angled face permanently cast in shadows. His dark, tanned skin supported his lengthy black hair, thick eyebrows and nearly black eyes. The loin cloth he wore hung as low as his knees and sat cinched across his waist with a leather belt. His usual trench coat with slits down the back to accommodate his large wings was draped over a chair in the corner of the room. He looked to it and asked flatly, “Another day stuck in this hotel room then?” His Indian accent barely had an inflection.

  “You can leave any time you want.” BeStone said without lifting his eyes from his book.

  “You could have at least sprung for better accommodations.”

  “We didn’t come here to partake in human luxuries Parag; you know this.”

  Parag sighed, “Sometimes I grow very tired of your nonconformity.”

  “Humans will only accept us if they think we’re one of them. The moment they find out we are not they will stab us with their knives and shoot us with their guns. It is their way and the only way they know.”

  “Humans are pigs; I am not arguing with you on this; but the city is offering us a chance to be one of them. Are you not at least a little bit interested to walk among them undetected?”

  “No; I have no desire to be near them. As you said, they are swine.”

  BeStone’s cell phone rang in the pocket of Parag’s trench coat. His friend retrieved it and tossed it to him. “What is the status?” BeStone answered.

  “They’re not here.”

  BeStone’s jaw hardened, “Tell me the flight was delayed.”

  “No, it was right on time.” the voice on the other end sounded uneasy, “We didn’t see them leave the airport and they
didn’t check into the hotel. Wait, hold on,” the voice paused for a moment, “Shit,” he cursed.

  “What.” BeStone asked flatly.

  “He cancelled his reservation. They won’t be checking in at all.”

  “Has there been any other activity; credit cards; withdrawals?”

  “No, not that we can see; shit Stone, I think they played us.”

  “Keep looking for them and monitor all activity; hers as well. Let me know when you find something.” BeStone hung up and stared down at the cheaply carpeted floor. “The brothers lost them,” he said to his friend who stood silently in the corner. His brow lowered and his breathing deepened. “Bad move James,” he growled under his breath, “you’ve just made a very dangerous enemy.”

  16

  London, England…

  James Rose sat nervously on an airplane that had been circling over London’s Heathrow airport for the past hour. Finally the pilot announced that the heavy fog had cleared enough for landing. He had to wake Regina who slept soundly next to him. Her green eyes flittered open and a yawn escaped through her pink lips. She looked up at James. He looked exhausted. “Have you slept at all?” She asked. James shook his head. She sighed with empathy. “Don’t worry James, there’s no way they followed us.”

  James hoped Regina was right. He remembered heading toward the airport after getting a text that Dr. Crispin, the man who he believed was his only shot at finding his daughter Awilda, was in London. He had told Regina that somehow the gargoyles who had threatened him on the balcony of his Vegas condo the other night had followed him to Portland, Oregon. “They’re watching us right now.” He told her as they drove down the freeway and took the exit toward the airport.

  “Then we need to lose them.”

  “How are we supposed to do that?”

  Once they arrived to the airport they used his credit card to purchase two plane tickets to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil then called a hotel in the city to make a reservation under the same name. After arriving in Charleston, South Carolina for a layover they used Regina’s debit card to withdraw enough money to purchase plane tickets to London, England with the hopes the gargoyles would only be able to track credit activity and not flight manifests. The two then boarded a different flight than their original tickets suggested. And about an hour ago James called the hotel to cancel his reservation.

  Regina’s plan was nearly bullet-proof. The gargoyle probably wouldn’t even realize he had followed the wrong bunny trail until he was basking in the humidity of Brazil.

  James smiled to himself; Regina was a force to be reckoned with. She was smart, sexy, and quick thinking. Still, there was uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. Maybe once they landed he could relax; and maybe once they checked into their hotel he would finally go to sleep. Regina raised her arms over her head and stretched, arching her back and craning her neck; her breasts threatening to tear through the thin fabric that covered them. He licked his lips; or maybe not.

  17

  Sunders sat in his office with his head resting on his desk. He felt like shit; not just because he was still recovering from a hangover, either; because he’d lost his most important piece of evidence. There was one bright side, however. Now there was no way the Protectors could catch him red-handed with the missing footage. They would surely kill him then.

  The image of the old man shifting kept replaying in his mind over and over. He tried to remember every detail of the video. There had to be something he could pick out from the grainy footage; some clue that could get him a bead.

  Sunders’ eyes flipped open and he slowly lifted his head from his desk. The only aspect different from the erased footage and the footage that still existed was the old man, which he had embedded in his brain. Everything else was the same. He pushed himself out of his seat and walked to his door. He left his office as casually as possible so as not to draw any attention.

  Sunders entered his team’s workroom and headed over to Madge, who was cleaning out her desk. He winced at the sight of her puffy eyes underneath her large rimmed glasses; only an hour before he had demoted her to receptionist for the fourth floor. He thought it was a brilliant idea. He could reprimand her without actually firing or suspending her; plus, the fourth floor needed its own receptionist anyway; someone to direct people in the right direction and to verify the proper clearance and avoid intruders or busybodies. Unfortunately, he could tell she didn’t think the plan was as brilliant as he did. Now he was asking her for a favor and he had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well.

  “Madge?” He got her attention. “Would you mind helping me for a minute?”

  Madge looked up to her former supervisor, perturbed as hell. “Do I still work for you?” She snipped.

  “Oh Madge, come on; I told you this will only be temporary. Just long enough for things to calm down around here.”

  “Mr. Harper you know I didn’t erase that footage…”

  “I know; and that’s why I created a new position for you instead of letting you go like what was expected of me.”

  Madge’s lips pursed as she sighed. “What do you need?” She asked flatly.

  “I need you to log onto your computer and access the hotel footage from last night.”

  “You sure you trust me?” She rolled her eyes as she entered her password to unlock her computer.

  Sunders ignored the comment, “Cue it up to a few minutes before the missing piece.”

  Madge did just that. “Is there anything else? I still need to move all of my stuff to my new desk.” She obviously felt uncomfortable being anywhere near that video.

  “Nah, that’s alright; I’ll take it from here, thank you.”

  Madge stood with her cardboard box of belongings and office supplies and left the room. Sunders took her seat and began studying the footage. He considered trying to track down the car they used. Or going to the hotel and trying to get someone to tell him what name they made their reservation under; but instead he decided to make the most of the information he currently had. He rewound the video to the beginning and hit ‘play’. He sped up the recording by twenty percent and watched diligently. He slowed it down to normal speed at the sight of the old man and woman exiting the hotel; but neither Awilda nor Junior was with them. He sped it back up and watched as the two returned and their rental was valet parked. He was just about to start second guessing his method when suddenly the old couple left the hotel again; only this time they were accompanied by the girl and escaped convict. He watched as they piled into the car and drove away.

  Sunders jumped from his seat and quickly returned to his office. He rummaged through one of his filing cabinets and pulled out a map of London and surrounding areas. He spread it over his desk and pinpointed the location of the hotel. He ran his finger along the street in the direction of the rental car until he came to an intersection.

  Sunders picked up his phone and dialed a number he knew off the top of his head. It rang only twice before a retail clerk answered, “Royal Fittings how may I…”

  “I need to speak to Chaz,” Sunders cut him off.

  “I’m sorry sir, there’s no one here by that name.”

  “Tell him its Sonny; it’s very important.”

  After a moment of silence the clerk responded, “One moment sir.”

  Sunders couldn’t stand still; he felt jittery and anxious as he listened to some god awful hold music. Finally a familiar voice answered. “We agreed to only meet in person.”

  “I know, but I need a favor and I need it fast.”

  “You know I don’t like conducting business over the phone.”

  “I will owe you; anything you want; just help me now, please.”

  Sunders could hear Chaz’s heavy English accent even through his aggravated sigh, “What is it?”

  “I need streetlight footage from an intersection.”

  “Now you want me to hack our city’s transportation system?”

  “Aye.”

  “Why not get one o
f your higher-ups to do it? They might be able to get the clearance.”

  “Because they’ll want to know why.”

  Sunders could almost hear the smirk on Chaz’s lips. “They are a bit nosey at the DAA, aren’t they?”

  “Aye.”

  “Fine, what date and time do you need?”

  Sunders gave Chaz all the information and within the minute the man was sending him the recording. Sunders pulled it up on his computer and watched closely until the same rental car approached the intersection and continued straight. “Brilliant,” he breathed. He looked at his map and moved his finger straight to the next intersection. “Now I need only a moment later but at a different cross street.”

  “Is this going to take long?”

  “Depends on how good you are.”

  Chaz laughed, “Well played; alright, let me see.”

  Sunders kept Chaz on the phone for half an hour as he continued to list off each intersection based on the direction of the rental car. Finally his suspects turned off of the main roads and headed away from the London city grid. “Thanks mate,” Sunders said.

  “Certainly,” Chaz hung up.

  Sunders looked at his map and saw the road the rental car had turned onto eventually came to a fork. At the corner sat a petrol station and therefore his next destination. He grabbed his sport coat and cringed at the thought of asking Madge for yet another favor.

  Sunders arrived at the small petrol station in Madge’s car forty-five minutes later. He walked into the little building with as much confidence as he could muster. He approached the counter and flashed his badge.

  All notable employees of the DAA were issued badges that were made to not only express status, but to also resemble the metal carried by law enforcement. They proved useful in acquiring information to conduct investigations. Thankfully one glance at the badge had the boy behind the counter tensing.

  “Can I help you?” He asked.

  “I’m Detective Harper,” Sunders began, “I’m tracking down a suspect and I think he may have driven through here recently. Do any of your security cameras point to the street?”