by Bria Lexor
“I-I think so,” I said shaking violently as I was nearly shot to death again. Abel walked over to a scarlet envelope lying on the ground and picked it up. From the look on his face, I could tell the letter was addressed to me. Abel came back to my side, and I opened the envelope with shaky hands and read the letter aloud.
Dear Miss. Fox,
I regret to inform you the necklace you have has been stolen from me, and I would kindly like it back. You can see this is not a joke, hand it over or you will die.
The Hunters.
“Damn it!” Abel said angrily as he read the letter to himself. My mind was racing with a million thoughts, and now I was totally afraid for my life.
“They know everything about you, Shinka,” Abel said crumpling the letter in his fist. “And, they won’t stop hunting you until they get what they want.”
“I’m scared, Abel. Maybe I should just give them...”
“No!” Abel growled. “Shinka, you have to protect the Alarica jewel, no matter what.” He paused for a moment. “And I promise I’ll protect you with my life.”
“How Abel?” I asked as the fear crept into my voice. I wanted to believe him, but he was just a normal guy, right?
“You’re staying at my place tonight,” Abel said guiding me toward the passenger’s seat before I knew what was going on.
“Abel, I can’t drag you into this...” I trailed off as Abel started the engine; it was too late to
turn back now.
“The Hunters are after me, Shinka, not you...” Abel said staring straight ahead as we waited for the light to change.
“You?” I asked not knowing what Abel was talking about. “I’ll explain everything once we’re home...”
Chapter Four
Abel pulled into the garage of a huge house that was incredibly beautiful; he cut the engine and got out, waiting for me at the front door. I sat there for a moment, not sure how today had gotten so out of control. Finally, I got out and apologized for the wait as he opened a lid next to the door and placed his hand on it. I heard a clicking sound, and the door unlocked. Abel gestured for me to go in first, and I was surprised at how the rooms were so well kept. From the looks of it, it probably had to be his parent’s house.
I looked around and noticed the Xbox One S and a huge flat screen TV. The carpeting was black, and all the furniture was red velvet. I noticed a painting on the wall and went to look at it up close. It was of a beautiful woman with long flowing brown hair who was smiling up at a large, winged creature that was a gargoyle. He handed a blue necklace to her, and I realized it was the exact same necklace I was wearing around my neck.
“Who’s that woman in the painting?” I asked Abel, pointing to the portrait.
“Come and sit down, Shinka.” Abel gestured towards the couch. “It’s a long story.” I sat beside him, and he gently placed his hand over mine.
“The tale I’m about to tell you is real. It happened thousands of years ago,” Abel stated. “King Adeon became so infuriated with the gargoyle prince because he wasn’t human and fell in love with his daughter, that he summoned his strongest sorceress to place a spell on his daughter and her unborn child. When Princess Llewellyn was giving birth, the spell went into effect. Princess Llewellyn began to transform into a gargoyle, and she almost lost her child.”
“That’s horrible,” I said, feeling sad about the Princess and her newborn child.
“The baby barely survived, but his mother had turned to stone when day broke. Princess Llewellyn’s father, King Adeon, ordered his army to kill the gargoyle, Prince Lapis Lazuli, and they did just that. When night fell, Princess Llewellyn awoke to find her mother holding the baby, who had also been transformed into a gargoyle.
“Queen Tara told the princess the bad news and ordered her to flee with the child and to never return or she would face death as well as her child.
“Prince Lapis Lazuli’s clan took in the princess and her newborn child, and they became a part of the Haven Clan. Princess Llewellyn was heartbroken, and she shed crystal tears. Twelve jewels were formed from them. Whoever possesses a jewel can control one gargoyle; if you possess them all, you control the whole clan.”
“This is real? Nothing is making sense... So, I have one of those jewels?” I asked picking the jewel up and gazing at it.
“Yes,” Abel replied, sighing inwardly. “And that’s the main reason why you must protect it with your life.” Abel stood up as night began to fall. “I have something I need to show you,” he said. I followed him up the stairs and was in for the shock of a lifetime.
Chapter Five
I followed Abel into his bedroom and outside onto a huge balcony. I walked past him to look at the huge gargoyle statues that were placed on the ledge. A few of them looked mean. I was ready to go back in, when suddenly, I heard stone crack and crumble to the ground.
Confused, I looked around at the statues or what I thought were statues as they started coming to life. I turned around to the one person who would protect me. And to my horror, he had transformed before my very eyes.
I freaked out and quickly climbed onto the ledge. I tried to stand, lost my balance, and I began to fall. I screamed in terror as my life flashed before my eyes. Was this the end?
I looked up to see a creature swoop down. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close to his chest. I could hear his heart beating. As we landed, he gently unwrapped his arms from around my trembling body.
As I calmed myself, I finally looked at my savior. He looked deep into my eyes and smiled. Suddenly, I realized I knew his secret. As a huge, clawed hand came towards my face, I closed my eyes and waited to die. I waited for the pain, and when it did not come, I opened my eyes slowly to find two gargoyles fighting.
“Let me kill her!” one of them yelled.
“Don’t even think about touching her!” The other screamed back. “You’re a fool, Lapis!” the second one growled at the first.
“Go back to the others, I’ll be there shortly.”
The second gargoyle shot me a look and flew back up towards the balcony. “Sorry about that,” he said. Turning towards me, he extended me his hand, and I knew he had been the one who had rescued me from my apartment the other night. I slowly took his hand, and he flew back towards the others placing me, gently, far away from them.
“Lapis, what is the meaning of this?” A female voice came from behind the others, and they all stepped aside to let her pass. I stared at her, and she looked at me for a moment then turned towards the gargoyle who stood beside me.
“Forgive me, mother,” he said. Placing his hand over his heart, he bent down to one knee. “This girl has an Alarica jewel.” The other gargoyles gasped in surprise.
“And which one does she possess?” the female asked looking toward me again. “Mine,” he said lowering his head as the gargoyles gasped again.
“I see ...” She said, and I jumped into the conversation without even thinking.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” I said bowing slightly. “I don’t want to control your son; I just want to set him free from whatever binds him to me...” I paused and looked at the lone gargoyle, who I figured was probably Abel. “And, for the record, I want to set all of you free from whoever binds you to them.”
“Shinka ...” Abel whispered trying to get me to shut up, but it did not work out the way he planned. The other gargoyles snickered under their breath at me, but I did not care what they thought of me right now.
“And just how do you intend to do this, Miss?” the royal asked inquisitively.
“Shinka,” I said feeling foolish for putting myself out there to protect Abel. But I felt I needed to since I was now his caretaker. “I don’t know, but I will, I promise I’ll find a way.”
“Lapis, a word please?” his mother said to him as the other gargoyles flew off into the night sky.
“Yes, mother,” Abel replied following her towards an empty corner. “Shinka, please wait for me inside,” Abel said turning towards m
e as he was walking. “I should be back soon.”
I nodded and went back inside, waiting in Abel’s room for him to return with the verdict on my sudden appearance into his world. A world that was hidden from humans for so long. I hid behind the French doors and watched them fly off after the other gargoyles.
It was late now, and I was tired. It was around four in the morning, I think, when I finally laid down on Abel’s bed and was overcome by sleep. When I opened my eyes and looked around, I did not recognize my surroundings. I sat up with a jolt remembering I was in Abel Lapis’ house. I got out of bed and looked down. I was not in the clothes I had worn the previous day. I was now dressed in a long black tee shirt and my pale pink panties, and I suddenly got embarrassed.
OMG! Abel changed me into one of his shirts last night!...
The doors leading to the balcony were now closed and covered by dark blue curtain, I moved a piece over and peeked outside to see the gargoyles had returned to statues again. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized Abel was not one of them. I walked out of the room, through the long hallway, down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen. That is where I found Abel, cooking breakfast.
“Morning, Sunshine!” Abel said to me without turning, as if he knew I was there.
“Good morning,” I stated. I walked to the island and sat down on one of the tall black stools, watching as Abel poured me a glass of orange juice. The room was filled with the scent of bacon, eggs, and hash browns. My stomach grumbled, and I realized I really was starving, after all. “Um. Where are my clothes?” I asked, crossing my legs, not wanting to expose any more of myself than I had to.
“I hung them up on my door upstairs,” Abel replied. “Don’t worry. My sister, Aura Nova, changed you while you were sleeping.” Abel grinned slightly, and my heart skipped a beat. “She didn’t want your clothes to get wrinkled or anything.”
“Oh,” I replied, feeling stupid for thinking Abel had changed me; I felt better knowing he had not. Abel came back and placed a plate in front of me with the eggs, bacon, and hash browns formed into a smiley face.
“Thank you,” I said warmly, but I did not touch my food. I just looked at it is wondering if I should ask Abel why he had chosen me to be his jewel holder.
“What’s the matter?” Abel inquired, looking down at me from his lofty height. “You don’t like it, do you?” Abel looked bummed out and did not hide the disappointment in his voice. That made me feel even worse for not taking a bite of his gourmet meal.
“No,” I sighed as I looked out the window. “I do but it’s just...” I trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. I looked at Abel, and he stayed patient as he waited for me to finish my sentence. “Why didn’t you tell me?” was all I could think of.
Abel sat down across from me and was silent for a moment. Probably trying to figure out his own words of wisdom. When Abel finally did speak, it was not quite what I expected him to say.
“Shinka, your mother didn’t send you to the academy...” Abel slightly lowered his head. “I did.”
“You what?” I asked, snapping my head up to look at him. The anger came back in full force, and I did not know what to do. “Why would you do something like that to me?”
Abel shrugged. “Because I knew you had my jewel, and I needed you to come to me.” Abel leaned on his arm, looking at me from across the table. “I didn’t mean to deceive you, Shinka.”
“Damn it, Abel!” I yelled. “Did you break into my car too?” I asked, outraged at him for everything that had gone wrong up to this point.
“Oh no,” Abel said calmly. “But your friend Kaitlin did.”
“What?” I asked Abel in disbelief. “Kaitlin wouldn’t do something like that to me!”
Abel sighed, obviously annoyed I blamed him for something he had not done. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t believe me.” Abel popped his neck muscles. “So, I recorded the vandalism on my phone.”
Abel pulled out his black iPhone 12 cell and played a video for me. Sure enough, Abel was right. There was Kaitlin destroying my car. I was furious and hurt all at the same time.
“How could she do this to me?” I asked, for sure losing my appetite now.
“I’m sorry, Shinka, but you had to know the truth about her,” Abel said, putting his phone back into his jeans pocket. I wanted to go over to Kaitlin’s right now and give her a piece of my mind, but remembering her creepy father, I stayed glued to my seat and decided against it.
“Is there anything else I should know about you you’re not telling me?” I asked. Crossing my arms in front of me, trying to look intimidating, I waited for Abel to respond.
“Yeah,” Abel said taking a few steps before he stopped in front of me. “Kaitlin’s also a Hunter who wants to kill me and get a hold of your necklace.”
My head was spinning now, and I suddenly felt dizzy. Abel caught me by the arm, led me to the couch in the living room, and returned to the kitchen. He brought me back a cold glass of water. All of this was too much for me to take in. I looked at the painting again and realized Abel’s mother was that young girl. And that meant Abel was the baby. I looked up at Abel and fainted.
Chapter Six
I awoke yet again in Abel’s bed. Only this time Abel was sitting in a chair right beside me. “What time is it?” I asked sitting up as he handed me a backpack full of clothes. He must have gone to my hotel room while I was asleep, but I had the key, didn’t I?
“I borrowed your keys for a moment and gathered some clothes for you,” Abel said pointing to the bathroom across from me. “You can use my shower if you want.”
“Thank you,” I said as I walked towards the bathroom and closed the door behind me. Abel’s bathroom was beautiful. There was a vanity to the right, followed by a crescent shaped shower which could probably fit about six people inside it all at the same time. A small window was in between the shower and the bathtub, which could hold about two people. The slanted skylight was to the left, the toilet was off to the right of the tub.
Everything was, of course, you guessed it, black. I shrugged, starting to get the feeling it was Abel’s favorite color. Hmm, I wondered what would give me that impression. I stepped into the shower, and it was one of the newer models that turn on by itself. That was different, I took a quick shower and got ready. I opened the bathroom door to find Abel waving a bag from Burger King in my face.
“What happened to breakfast?” I asked taking the brown paper bag from his hand. I sat down on his bed and unwrapped a burger and took a huge bite. What? I was hungry. I was not one of those girls who needed to watch their diet, because I had a high metabolism. So, whatever I ate did not matter to my body.
“I ate it,” Abel replied as he sat next to me. I smiled at his joke thinking Abel Lapis was turning out to be a cool guy to have as a friend. I still did not know much about him, remembering what Kaitlin had said about Abel being a vampire. I looked at him, and he was staring out the balcony window.
“Everyone at school thinks you’re weird,” I said taking another bite of my burger.
Abel slowly tore his gaze away from whatever it was he had been staring at and looked at me.
“Do you think I’m weird?” he asked with a serious look on his face.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re different but not weird.” I could tell Abel was not buying it, so I changed the subject. “Do you want to come with me to the studio tomorrow?” I asked, hoping to lighten his mood a little.
“Sure,” Abel replied, giving me one of his winning smiles. “Have you ever been in love, Shinka?” My face turned bright red from his sudden question.
“Uh, not really,” I replied hoping Abel believed me. “Why not?” Abel persisted on with his questioning.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really looked,” I stated running my fingers through my hair, something I did when I was nervous.
“Well, do you love me?” Abel asked as I looked into his beautiful eyes.
“I
think I’m starting to fall in love with you,” I replied with pure honesty, because I was falling for Abel and hard too. Abel smiled. “Cool.”
He leaned forward and kissed me for the first time. You know, a girl could really get used to something like this. I kissed him back, and suddenly I forgot all about the burger. Abel laid me back and he twisted his long fingers through my flowing damp hair. My breath caught in my chest as I felt his lips moving lower and lower down my neck.
It only took me a second to throw my clothes to the floor, and that was it. We were both naked. I was not ashamed of my body, at least not with Abel. My fingers slid down his muscular back as our skin touched. Okay, so I was not a virgin. But I was not a whore either. I did have a couple of boyfriends back home, but none of them ever made me feel the way Abel was making me feel at this very moment.
No, Abel was different. He was the real deal. And, after we were done, I lay my head on his chest and listened to his breathing. Abel rubbed my arm with his hand, and I looked up at him which made him smile. “You are more beautiful to me than words can ever say.”
I smiled and kissed him. Abel was making me feel like I was the only girl in the world, and I knew this would be a particularly good thing for me. Especially when I did not really have a social life with my busy schedule. When darkness fell, we walked out to the balcony together, hand in hand, and I watched the gargoyles awaken. This time though, I was not afraid. I watched Abel transform, and I waited for the queen to speak.
“I see you are amongst us again, Shinka,” Queen Llewellyn replied. I bent to one knee out of respect and stood.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said standing by Abel’s side. I won’t tell anyone about you, I swear.”