The Savior Rises

by Christopher C. Payne

  I am Sorry, but are You Insane?

  Stefani arrived at the hotel, panicked and scared, not sure what had just occurred. She gave the taxi driver two $20 bills, tossing them through his window as she bolted from the car. Room 254. She had never listened to anyone in her life’ yet, for some reason, she was here at a hotel, for no other reason than a guy in her strip club told her to show up.

  She wondered if she’d lost her mind. She strolled into the lobby and realized she was still in her devil stripper costume. No wonder everyone eyed her like she was some kind of leper. The pompous trash that frequented this hotel was much too high class to associate with a stripper, at least in the light of day. Ironically, most of her fondling clients were probably these very same men.

  Luckily, she had a change of clothes in her bag. Once in the ladies room, she pushed herself into her size 2 jeans, wiggling her butt the last few inches as she pulled them home. She might not be dating anyone, but she still did enjoy looking good. Her bra was still in her cubby at the club, but she had a tank top and a pull-over sweater. That would be fine. She didn’t wear a bra half of the time anyway. At her age, it wasn’t a necessity.

  She quickly ran a brush through her hair, splashed some water on her face, and dabbed a little gloss on her lips. Just like that she was transformed into the everyday girl who could easily fit into high society’s snobbish circle. She was sure to get more than her fair share of looks the second she stepped out of the bathroom door. She didn’t feel elitist, but she knew darn well that she was stunningly beautiful.

  She sauntered over to the hotel desk, her hips rocking back and forth like a cruise ship in a tropical storm, and dropped $100 on the counter.

  “I forgot my room key, handsome,” she said to the boyish clerk staring back at her. “Room 254, if you would kindly make me another.”

  She smiled with her mockingly gorgeous lips and winked at him. Then, she let go of one of the most seductive, meet-me-in-the- back-room smiles that she held in her vast repertoire. It really was almost too easy being gorgeous, young, and having the ability to manipulate males of any age. Pea-brained men only seemed to think with their crotches.

  The clerk started to stammer something, looked around, and then made the key. What the heck did he care? He was going out tonight, and the hundred bucks would come in handy. If the girl wanted to surprise some dude in his room, more power to her. If she showed up looking for him, he wouldn’t care how she got there. He felt himself getting a little excited just thinking about it.

  Stefani walked down the hallway, wondering what to do next. Should she just enter the room? Should she stake it out for a while? Finally, she decided to just tap on the door and see if anyone were around. She stood in the dimly lit luminous hallway, staring at the outdated carpet, facing the door. She felt nervous. Room 254 – why did she feel like her life was about to change?

  She tapped gently with the knuckles of her left hand, whispering softly, “Hello, is anyone here?”

  Nobody answered. She repeated the process a couple of times and then finally used the electronic key. The green light flashed. I guess it’s now or never, she thought to herself.

  She slowly opened the door, again whispering “Hello, is anyone here?”

  Her question was met with silence. It seemed like her savior was nowhere to be found. What if he didn’t show up? What if he were somehow killed, wounded, shot, or captured by whomever or whatever had attacked them? The possibilities free-flowed through her mind.

  She flipped on the TV, found a local channel, and hoped to catch any news. When that ended with no tangible results, she poked around, wondering if she could discover any clues into who this guy was and what he might have in store for her.

  She went into the bathroom, looked at his shaving kit, and noticed a pair of tweezers on the countertop. What would a guy have tweezers for? Do men really pluck hair? Are they really as vain as women, but they just don’t show it? Stefani never would understand the thought process of the opposite sex.

  Not finding anything exciting, she roamed back to the bed area and picked up his black suitcase. She placed it on the pillow-top mattress, flipped open the unzipped lid and rummaged through his clothes. Nothing special – a couple pairs of designer jeans, some flip flops, a dozen pairs of spandex boxer briefs, and several T-shirts. It seemed like the bag of any normal, everyday traveling guy on holiday. Who was this dude?

  “Dude,” she said out loud, remembering one man calling him Dennis. Darn, now that was odd. The guy attacking them had known his name. Jesus, maybe this was all a set up. Maybe they knew each other, and this was some sick ploy to get her back to their room. She had seen movies about women being kidnapped, killed, or sold into slavery. Now she was beginning to get a little nervous. Suddenly coming here no longer felt like it made any sense.

  It was now time to leave and see if she couldn’t figure things out on her own. Everything had been going ok until Dennis showed up. Avoiding him altogether might be better. Maybe she could move. She had no ties to this city or anywhere, really. She had always wanted to go to New York. Maybe change her name, find a new apartment, and figure out a way to actually start her life.

  She quickly headed to the door, twisted the handle, opened it, and ran straight into Dennis. He didn’t even flinch, didn’t even budge. It was like running into a brick wall that stopped you cold in your tracks. She stumbled back slightly, trying to gather herself and figure out what was going on.

  “You’re leaving so soon?” he asked, entering and shutting the door behind him. “I realize you have a lot of questions. I can only promise you that I’m trying to help you. You’re in a lot of trouble. Not trouble really. Danger, I guess, would be more appropriate. The guys you saw won’t stop until they find you. If you give me a chance, I’ll explain the best I can. It’s up to you.”

  Stefani slowly backed away as he talked, retraced her steps, and stared at him the entire time. She quickly found herself falling backwards into the waiting chair, not saying a word. She just stared. How could she possibly understand what was going on? None of this made any sense. It was like some bizarre movie, and things like this just didn’t happen in real life. She started to say something and then felt sick.

  She clutched her mouth with both hands and ran to the bathroom, throwing open the lid just in time to hurl thick black liquid all over the toilet. It was as if a jet engine suddenly flipped a switch and erupted out of her mouth. She sat on her knees heaving, trying her best at this point to keep her hair pulled back.

  ”I guess the transformation has started already,” Dennis said. “That makes sense given your age. Don’t worry though, the sickness should only last a short time.”

  With that, she kicked the bathroom door shut with her left foot and sat on the floor until the repulsive liquid ceased its violent upheaval.

  Who the heck is this guy, and what is he talking about, she kept thinking. Jesus, none of this made sense. She quickly wiped herself off, opened the door, and saw Dennis sitting on the bed staring at her.

  “This is the deal. You have 10 minutes to talk and explain to me what the heck is going on. After that, if I don’t feel comfortable, I leave. If you try and stop me, I will mace you,” she said threateningly.

  She flipped open a can from her bag and held it ready with her finger twitching slightly. As an adult, she’d never been nervous, but she now felt her entire insides rebelling against her.

  “Fine,” he said. “I really only want to help you. I know this is all a bit much. Honestly, I don’t really understand everything yet, but I will tell you all I know.”

  “Jesus, just start the explanation,” she yelled. She was quickly losing patience with this moronic hick of a savior.

  “My clan has been in existence for thousands of years. Most of us have lived for several hundred. My father, the leader of our clan, is over 2,000 years old. He’s discovered the Chosen One – the one who will unite us or destroy us, depending on what choices are made. We’ve
been waiting for this person as a group…”

  “What the heck are you talking about?” Stefani asked. “Are you freaking insane?”

  “We are gargoyles. We are from the Litwana clan. We are the…”

  “You are fricking nuts is what you are, and I’m leaving now. You are one sick guy.”

  Stefani held the can of mace in front of her as she headed for the door, draping her bag over her shoulder. Dennis just sat on the bed, staring back at her. At this point he was so tired he didn’t have any idea what to do. His mission was to find her, to keep her safe, and to bring her home. He was just lost on how to accomplish this.

  Then, he smelled them. Maybe his senses were returning, even though his growing exhaustion remained.

  He moved quickly, knocking the can of mace out of Stefani’s hand, shoving her against the wall, holding his forearm over her throat.

  “They’re here. If you don’t do exactly as I say, we might both be killed,” Dennis said. “I can’t fight all of them, and you aren’t as strong as you think you are, not yet anyway.”

  “Who…,” Stefani began when the room suddenly exploded with shards of window glass spewing forth in all directions. Dennis threw open the door, grabbed Stefani by her left wrist and pulled her behind him as he ran for the stairs. He had scoped out his escape route. He always scoped out an escape route. It was becoming his second nature.

  He reached into his coat with his right hand and pulled out his 9MM, throwing Stefani against the stairwell door in the process.

  “Open the door, now!” he yelled.

  As Stefani twisted the handle and pulled it towards her, two things burst through the door from room 254. They paused for a second, facing Stefani and Dennis, as drool slid from their mouths to the floor, quickly forming puddles.

  She stopped what she was doing and just stared. The creatures looking back at her were on all fours. They might have been some form of dogs, but they were huge. They were almost as big as horses, but they somehow looked more like giant pit-bulls.

  Suddenly, she heard herself scream, wailing as she frantically twisted the knob, doing everything she could to open the door. She agreed with Dennis on one thing at least, they needed to get the heck out of there.

  The two beasts charged forward as Dennis unloaded a full clip, exchanging rounds between the two charging animals. Neither one of them seemed to slow down until she saw one of their eyes explode, and the thing skidded against the wall, tripping the other one. They both rolled over in a heap.

  “You have to hit them in the eyes,” Dennis smirked. “Their skin is impenetrable. It’s the only way to bring them down.”

  He shoved Stefani through the open door just as one snarling animal regained its feet and resumed the charge. She instinctively headed down as Dennis grabbed her by the back of her sweater, yelling, “Up, we have to go up, just follow me.”

  They sprinted up two flights of stairs, opened the door and headed into another hallway that looked identical to the one they had just escaped. This one was empty, though the quiet seemed eerie and unnatural. Dennis knelt down, and at that point, Stefani screamed again.

  At first the coloring of his skin changed. It became grey, almost like some kind of leather. His face grew and his ears elongated, forming points at the very tips. His body expanded, and he now seemed closer to 8 feet tall versus the 6-foot plus man with whom she leapt up the stairs only seconds before. His clothes ripped apart and within a few seconds a monster stood before her, wearing nothing but black boxer briefs that stretched with his body as he grew.

  “I was hoping to show you this in a calmer situation,” Dennis said. “Please don’t panic.”

  With that, he knelt down, and two massive wings sprouted from his shoulders, erupting with such force they shot through the ceiling before coming back down to rest on his back, folded neatly back into place.

  Stefani fainted – she passed out cold. Dennis picked her up, kicked open the closest room door, and walked in. It was currently unoccupied, but clothes were strewn over the bed, and an open suitcase was lying on the floor by the dresser. He picked up a chair with his left hand and heaved it through the window, quickly poking his head out to view the terrain.

  He could smell them. He knew they were out there. The only question was could they escape? He knew there were too many to fight off by himself. His only chance was to fly as fast and as low as possible, even if it meant being seen.

  Holding Stefani tightly against his body, he jumped, opening his wings as he did, speeding directly down. He flew a mere 10 feet off the ground. He navigated through a few blocks, took a couple of turns around some buildings, and skidded to a halt in an alley. There was a bum sitting on the curb by a trashcan, which he hoped would be filled with the rotted guts of chicken remains. He saw the sign for a Chinese restaurant hovering above an opened back door, and the smell was overwhelmingly obnoxious.

  He quickly stripped the bum of his clothes, jumped into the oversized garbage container, and rolled around in the decaying flesh of rotten chicken for a few seconds. He had to mask his smell quickly. He just didn’t know if he had done so in time. While he thrashed around, he finished the change back to human form. Stefani was still out cold from the shock as he scooped her back in his arms and ran down the block without stopping or looking back.

  He ran for a few miles until they ended up in Golden Gate Park. By then, dusk was waning. Dennis knew they would be more vulnerable at night. There were creatures that would hunt them during the darkness that did not dare come out during the day.

  He saw a guy leaving a townhouse with what appeared to be a suitcase. After the cab had safely driven off, Dennis busted open the front door with his foot, hoping nobody saw or heard him. He closed it behind him as best he could on its now-bent hinges, walked into the living room, and collapsed on the floor, exhausted. The lack of sleep, changing back and forth, and his recent marathon run got the better of him. He fell asleep immediately, as his closing eyes rested on the girl lying next to him. God, she is so beautiful, he thought to himself, right before he passed out.

  Greg sat in his car, his driver asking him what to do next. The remains of his now dead dog were being loaded into a waiting cargo van; the other was corralled back into its cage.

  How could they have escaped? The plan had been hastily put together, but Dennis and Stefani should never have found a way out without one of his idiot slaves grabbing them.

  Jeff tapped on his window. He was really a worthless Rogul, but Greg rolled it down anyway so he could vent his frustration.

  “We can’t…,” Jeff said.

  Greg grabbed him around his throat and pierced him in the left eye with his dagger.

  “This man will never fail me again,” Greg said out loud to nobody in particular. He was tired of failure. He had been too close, and God only knew when they would get another chance like this.

  Time was running out. The girl had something of his. Something her mother had taken from him, and he would kill anyone he had to in order to get it back. The defining moment was now quickly approaching.

  “Take me back to the office, you moron,” he said to the driver. The driver nervously started the car, his hands shaking as he turned the key. He had no desire to die. This job paid well, but at some point he really had to find a new occupation. He had seen too many things that he couldn’t explain, and no amount of money was worth this anymore.

  As they pulled away from the curb, he realized he had wet himself. Jesus, was he really the same guy who killed two people in prison? He felt like a scared schoolgirl who wanted nothing more than to go home and be left alone.

  Time for an Explanation

  Stefani again woke up feeling nauseated; and for the first time, there seemed to be a legitimate reason. She had no idea where she was, and it took her several minutes to even remember what was going on. She wasn’t used to beginning her day in strange houses with unknown men lying next to her. It was just not her thing.

  Dennis
smelled like he had rolled in the sewer; and while she wanted to let him sleep, she couldn’t stand to be around him any longer. She found some towels in a spare closet and took a shower. The water, as always, made her feel peaceful, but she needed to rummage through the kitchen and, hopefully, find something to eat, as well. It was already after 10 a.m., and she was beginning to get hungry.

  After locating some eggs and bread, she whipped up a couple of omelets and toast. She also found some strawberries to slice, adding a little color and fruit to her ensemble. As she cooked, she took a quick break, went into the living room and nudged Dennis with her foot. She had no desire to touch any part of his body until he cleaned up.

  Not that she was dreaming about his physique – his very hot, toned, tanned form. He is very good looking, she thought to herself. Still, she had a hard time believing this guy had turned into a… what the hell had he turned into, anyway? Was he some kind of flying demon? Was he from Hell? Was she dead? Everything in her world seemed at odds with reality at this point.

  “Hey, lizard boy. Can you, please, get in the shower? Hey, Dennis, get up, please.”

  “Ok, ok,” he finally muttered, pushing her foot away with his hand.

  “You really need to clean up quickly before I get sick again. Please, for God’s sake. You smell awful,” she pleaded.

  Dennis didn’t say another word. He slowly sat up and made his way to the bathroom. He had to admit, even for him, the smell was atrocious. It must have worked, though. They made it through the night alive. That alone was a huge step in the right direction. He had to find out the time and date Stefani was born so he knew exactly how long they had to hold out. It was all about getting her to her 21st birthday alive.

  After he showered, he rummaged through a closet and found some clothes that actually fit quite well. He had lived on the road for a long time now, and borrowing items here and there was becoming natural.