by E G McNally
Before Major Bradshaw made anymore introductions Jake peered quickly to the others and noticed one thing they all had in common, their skin tones matched the tones of their eyes only separated from the gray tone that would normally be the whites of someone’s eyes. They all seemed to have wings and tails, although he couldn’t see them on the ones hidden behind the table. And although their eyes matched their skin tones, none of them had the same exact skin tone or texture, like he’d already noticed with Lt Dawson and Marshall with the differences being that of scale or velvet leather.
“Captains, Sean Paul, and Seth Paul, brothers of course,” the Major Continued, noticing little of the changes of Jakes face as he fixated on each strangely unique gargoyle in front of him.
“Watch out, I bite,” the one on the right lurched at him. Jake could only assume it was Sean, by the order of the introduction. Jake stepped back startled by the gesture, gasping for a breath.
“Ha ha ha, he’s only kidding kid,” the second one broke down in laughter, which must have been Seth, obviously pleased with his brother’s act.
“Oh, ha ha, yeah. . . that was funny,” Jake forced out a weak laugh, glancing first at the gray leather body of Sean and then back to the splotched silver and white body of Seth, hopefully not blushing from the embarrassment. This broke the ice, a little, easing the tension in the room. Because although Jake was starring at six basically well mannered, obedient and somewhat normal soldiers, something about their boned crowned foreheads, vibrant colored and oddly textured skins, and gargoyle wings and tails, gave off a very inhuman hell bound feeling of dread, and that was tough to get over. But fortunately, the little joke gave the room a slightly more human undertone, and put Jake at ease.
“Sergeant Mathews and Lieutenant Gordon,” Major Bradshaw interrupted his thoughts, finishing the introductions. “Lt Gordon is in charge of the team and you will report to him with any issues or concerns.”
“Welcome to the team kid,” Lt Gordon surprised Jake with his very warm, welcoming tone, that seemed out of place coming from a large reddish brown gargoyle, tattered with scales and large bone claws. The other, Sergeant Mathews, was covered in a bumpy lizard like texture that appeared at first to be a cream color but then after Lt Gordon made his welcome a strange ripple ran over his body and it changed into a more brown color as if his skin was in agreement with Lt Gordon’s welcome.
“Glad to be of assistance, I think.” Jake mumbled, settling his nerves more comfortably in the scene around him.
“This is the Viper Task Force which you are now a part of, your mission is to locate and persuade Taylor Saskia to hand over the stone. Once she and the stone are safely in custody you are to inform me immediately. I thank you for joining our team and hope that you will not disappoint me, or our great nation, in bringing the stone back into the right hands. If you run into any deserters, our policy is to kill them on the spot.” Major Bradshaw cut down to business, stating the obvious, but once he was finished he turned the command over to Lt Gordon and was out of the room at once.
“Deserter list,” Jake looked up at Lt Gordon’s deep red-brown eyes, “what is he talking about?”
“Don’t get yourself worked up about it too much, just know that some of our old buddies basically followed Dr. Ambler when he took off with the stone, leaving us horribly figured like we are now, and they are wanted for treason. They shouldn’t be a problem though, don’t you fret, our concern is Taylor, and don’t forget it.” Lt Gordon warmly and calmly assured Jake.
“We’ve got some training to do, let’s go kid.” Lt Gordon ushered him and the rest of the team followed out the hall door and back to the elevator.
Feeling more comfortable with the six gargoyle soldiers at his side, Jake became inquisitive while they rode up the elevator and walked out of the building, marching rapidly through the snow, back towards the Estate.
“So what happened to you guys, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jake commented.
“What do you mean?” Seth replied, more at ease in conversation with Jake then any of the rest, aside from Lt Gordon who had a father like commanding presence.
“I mean like, why did you need to volunteer for the experiment trials, what happened to you guys?” He explained his question more clearly.
“Oh, well, Lt Dawson, I know, lost both of her legs on a supply run in Kuwait. A band of refugees attacked her convoy killing everyone on the supply run and taking all the supplies. They must have thought she was dead when they left, because usually they capture prisoners for negotiations, but she was left there, so they must have thought she was dead. My team showed up on a medical chopper to assist, but she was the only person alive when we arrived and we had to amputate both her legs. I mean they were practically hanging by strings anyway, but with this new technology, both her legs grew back. It was really awesome at first but then this happened.” He motioned at his body and then the others.
“I’m not saying it isn’t really awesome, it’s just strange, and we have no control over our appearance. There are definitely some benefits to this though,” Seth was drawn off topic, indulging in the niceties of being a gargoyle.
“For instance, these wings,” he stretched open his large splotched silver and white wings, bursting them open, showing off their unique elegance. “They’re great for flying and you wouldn’t believe how awesome it feels to sore through the air, as a single unit, like a bird.” He reminisced.
He leapt almost ten feet to a nearby snow covered evergreen tree, and quickly worked his way towards the top, like a cat, and then in an instant threw the whole of his body off the side of the tree and the large silver and white splotched wings caught the air. Like shaking out linens, his wings echoed downward while he took six or seven large flaps and climbed the air, until he was just above the treetops, easing into a glide.
Jake picked up his pace, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest, clenching to the warmth of his body, only wearing jeans and a shirt. Staggering through the thick cold snow, falling only a little behind the rest, he glanced around hoping they were getting near the estate, he had no idea why they wanted him to walk. They all moved so easily in the snow, with their large padded feet for grip and long tails for balance, he wasn’t sure why they dragged him along outside when he could have just taken a car back, and it probably would have been quicker, without him stumbling through the snow and all.
“Pretty cool don’t you think?” Seth shouted back.
“So aren’t you guys cold,” Jake asked, stumbling up beside Lt Dawson.
She glared at him briefly catching a glimpse of white steam puffing out of his mouth as he talked. “Ha,” she laughed at him, “Not really. I mean, it’s cold out here for us, but it kind of feels like a chilly day in April that’s all really, not freezing as it is for you.”
He was surprised by her answer, assuming that she was more hostile towards him then the others, but was pleased that she was talking to him as well.
They could see the estate only half a mile or so ahead of them, and Jake was relieved because he was starting to lose feeling in his fingertips. Before they were maybe a quarter mile from the estate they all turned off the road and walked less than an eighth of a mile, before the trees around them revealed a large conventional gym looking building.
The five gargoyles on the ground bounded ahead to the main entrance, closing the distance in nearly seconds, and the sixth one dived down toward the roof of the building, landing perfectly in the snow.
“Come on inside, you’ve got a choice to make.” Lt Gordon waved to him.
“R-r-right,” Jake stuttered, shivering from the cold. At least they were going to be inside now, he was bitter that they couldn’t feel how cold outside it was, and that they made him walk the entire distance, which must have been around four or five miles.
He walked inside; a heavy sigh of relief escaped his mouth when he was greeted by a burst of warm air, surging through the building. He walked around the room, observing the wa
rm lounge-like appearance. The room was large and thickly carpeted in a coarse brown and cream speckled pattern. There were two long wooden cherry tables with several matching chairs in this room and a large wood burning fireplace roaring in one corner. The lighting was good, probably for the reading, and along the walls were built in bookcases, overflowing with books, which appeared to be in no particular order. Aside from the two tables, there were two large sofas arranged back to back and several chairs scattered about the room. The room was clearly for reading or research, but was very much out of place with what was on the other side of the room.
At the far end of the room, directly across from the main entrance, were two large sliding glass double doors and a large window on each side which displayed the finely constructed gym, clearly organized for obstacle training on the other side. Jake wasn’t even sure what most of the obstacles were for, but he didn’t question any of the items he saw, and drew his attention towards Lt Gordon who obviously had something to talk to Jake about.
Jake, more relaxed in the reading room, with the warm air flowing about, sat down in one of the wooden chairs beside Lt Gordon at the table.
“Okay I’m all ears,” he commented, watching as Sean and Seth disappeared into the gym like little kids ready for gymnastics, they both began tearing through the gym hitting each obstacle before moving on to the next.
“We need to find Taylor,” he hesitated, “but there’s only one way to do that. One of us could do it, but there is no guarantee that she would listen to us. You could do it, but . . . it will mean change.”
Jake stopped staring at Seth gliding from one rope to the next in midair, clutching tightly to each and allowing it to swing high before releasing to glide over to the next. “Change, you mean change like you guys, am I right?” He asked, now looking into Lt Gordon’s earthen reddish brown eyes.
“Well, yes and no. We all have had the fifty-six fifty-four protein strain serum injections, which have recovered us from our injuries and granted us unique abilities, along with these changes, but we won’t be giving you injections, that is if you agree to do this. There is a quicker more precise and powerful way do attain the changes and unique abilities, it’s my understanding that you would have better control of them as well, and although we cannot confirm it, we believe you would be able to change from gargoyle to human freely, rather than be stuck like we are. The reason for doing this is that it is the only way to find Taylor.” Lt Gordon explained as coolly as she could.
“What is so special about it that it will help you find Taylor?” Jake asked, not sure what to make of the conversation yet.
“The stone . . . it, it calls to itself, and with it one is naturally drawn to the rest of it. We are sure Taylor has the stone on her, and as a result, know that with the part we have we can find her.” Lt Gordon continued to explain.
“Okay so give me the stone and I will find her, sounds simple enough.” Jake triumphed at his idea.
“No, it’s not that simple. We have to insert the stone into you. It has to be a part of you in order to use it and not only that, but it will change you, and we need to train you how to use your abilities if you choose to comply. Granted, with the stone directly a part of you, you’ll be much easier to train. Anyhow, the decision is yours to make. Will you take the stone or not? You can mull over it for the night. We’ll meet here again tomorrow in the morning. This is the research room and that’s the training gym, if you choose to do it, we’ll get started right away. Okay Kid.” Lt Gordon finished. He pushed his chair to the side and stood up, reaching over, he roughly patted Jake on the back with his reddish brown hand. “Just think about it kid,” he said and then walked over to a sofa and collapsed, sprawling one leg over an arm and tossing his wings, like blankets, covering half the couch, and leaving an arm hanging out onto the floor.
“Tell me, will I be able to be normal again?” Jake asked concerned.
“Yeah, as long as you don’t mind us taking the stone out, it would probably be a minor surgery, no big deal.” Lt Gordon lied, knowing full hardy that once the stone was a part of you, death was the only way to remove it, but of course Major Bradshaw had no intentions of keeping Jake around after they got Taylor, he wanted the whole stone united and alone, only the stone and nothing else. It would mean killing Taylor once they had her as well, Lt Gordon knew this, and didn’t care. He was under Major Bradshaw’s explicit control, he and three others, the four original soldiers that Major Bradshaw injected the combined fifty-six fifty-four protein strain injection into.
Jake kicked back in one of the recliner chairs, taking note of Lt Gordon’s actions and relaxed, figuring on some sleep before they got training, knowing full heartedly what his decision already was. Of course he’d do it, take the change, and save Taylor. He didn’t need the night to think about it, before he met Taylor, his life was empty and boring, his parents always fighting, forgetting about his very existence, too caught up in their financial and emotional altercations to even bother feeding him most nights. He fell asleep on the recliner thinking about the first time he’d met Taylor, and how much of a relief she was.
“Mom, Dad, please stop arguing, you’re embarrassing me.” Jake urged his parents, trying to quiet yet another fight they began, while walking down Front Street browsing at the different art displays and enjoying the musical talents of local bands during the Arts Festival in down town Port Angeles. Jake caught a girl maybe a year younger than himself, with beautiful long black hair, dangling on her shoulders and matching jet black eyes, staring over at him with a small smile on her face, almost as if mocking him.
He’d seen her a couple times at school off and on, she was a freshman, he thought. She was hard to miss, with her tattered torn up jeans and faded long sleeve shirts with little holes ripped into the wrists so that she could push her thumbs out through her shirt sleeves, almost wearing them like gloves, if that was the sort of thing that caught your eye. Yet he’d never paid any attention to her before.
He looked over at her, sitting on the side of an old rusted headless and armless naked metal woman sculpture, one of many among the downtown streets of Port Angeles, and she wasn’t mocking him, she was giggling at him. More curious then anything else, he left the side of his parents and crossed the street over to where she was slouched, sitting against the fixture.
“What’s so funny,” he huffed at her.
“You, and your parents,” she said, nodding in their direction.
“There fighting in public again, that’s not funny it’s embarrassing.” He exclaimed.
“Yeah, but at least you get to be embarrassed by your parents.” She said.
“What, your parents don’t embarrass you?” He doubted that was possible.
“No, I don’t have any.” She surprised him with this response, her face unchanged as if she’d no real emotions on the subject.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jake felt that awkward silence of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time cover the atmosphere around them.
“Nah, it’s not a big deal, I just like watching other people hate the parts of life, which they don’t even realize other people wish they had.” She explained in an uppity out of place tone.
Jake fell silent unsure of what to say, still awkward from the previous comment and now, more sorry that he took for granted what this girl in front of him wished, she had.
“I’m Taylor, and you are?” She interrupted Jakes uneasy silence.
“Jake, so what are you doing out here?” He asked.
“Same thing you are, enjoying the Arts Festival, right? I mean who doesn’t come down here and look around.” She said presumptuously. “That and my foster parents are playing in that band by the water. They don’t trust me at the house alone, so here I am.” She grimaced.
“Oh, yeah, my parents always insist that I go with them to look at some paintings and what not, make it a family thing. I’m not even sure they know what that means. They fight too much if you ask me. As much as I hate to say it
, I’ve been thinking they might be better off apart, you know, divorced.” He looked down, ashamed at the idea. “Anyhow, wanna ditch the folks and come hang out with me, we could catch a movie or something?” He pointed up the way at the theater which was only a few blocks from where they stood and easily within eye sight of both their parents.
“Sure, I’d love a break.” She pushed off the sculpture, shook her head enough to toss her long black hair behind her shoulders and off her face where he could more easily see her mysterious dark eyes. “Oh and don’t be so hard on your parents, believe it or not you really would miss them if they were gone.” She tossed in the last comment as they walked together up the sidewalk, toward the theater.
Jake woke up to a nudging feeling on his shoulder. Lt Dawson was tapping him, trying patiently to wake him up.
“Hey kid, we need to head back to the Estate, so you can get some sleep and some food in, before it gets any later.” She stepped back, giving Jake a chance to stretch out, slowly waking up.
As Jake prepared his body for the freezing temperatures outside he noticed that aside from Lt Gordon and Dawson everyone else had left, which left him wondering how long he’d been asleep for. The sun was already setting behind the trees and the cool blue of the sky was rapidly diming into a darker grey. They hastily led him back to the Estate, quickly correcting him as he tripped in the unevenly packed snow, making rather hasty efforts to get out of the dark, a little too hasty for these hell like guardians. As if something would threaten them; the idea seeming entirely impossibly.
“I d-don’t know i-if you need the-the answer now, but I-I’ll do it. The st-stone, I-I’ll do it,” Jake stammered, freezing from the cold chill outside, announcing his position to Lt Gordon.
“Great, well if you want, we can get started tonight.” Lt Gordon sounded pleased with the decision. “I’ll let Major Bradshaw know the instant we get back.