Gargoyles Fan Fiction ❯ Wings And Things ❯ Life Sucks, Then You Fly ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Rinean

Chapter Two

Life Sucks, Then You Fly

Things that have made my life hell:

1. My parents died when I was seventeen in a car crash that left them so horribly mangled they had to use their vehicle registration to identify them.

2. My ex-fiancee three years ago went to Las Vegas with his buddies and ended up marrying a stripper named Candy.

3. Said ex-fiancee is still happily married and expecting their second kid.

4. I walked in on my latest ex having a foursome with one girl and two other guys. Ew.

5. I just met a bunch of mythological creatures in Elisa's living room.

Gargoyles? Seriously?

I opened my eyes to see I had been carried back into my room and laid on my bed. Elisa was sitting next to me. "Please tell me that there were not a bunch of gargoyles in your apartment," I groaned.

"I'd be lying if I said that," she replied. "I have to tell you, you took the news worse than when my parents found out that Derek wasn't human anymore," Elisa said.

"Whaaaaat?" I said loudly.

"JalepeÃ±a, there's a lot to tell you."

Dear God, what was going on? I knew that Elisa had gone missing for a while just months ago, her mom had called every relative she knew to see if they'd heard from her, and of course that list had included me. Did that "trip" have anything to do with the gargoyles?

"Okay, start with the beginning."

We sat there for a couple hours as she told me everything, about David Xanatos, Anton Sevarius, the mutates that were the result of his experiments, clones of the gargoyles that were led by one named Thailog who was presumed dead, the Labyrinth, Avalon and its master Oberon...

I stared at her as she talked, jaw droping milimeter by milimeter. Her last story was the real reason she had moved from the old apartment - it just wasn't safe anymore after a new enemy, the Quarrymen, had attacked her and Goliath there.

"Do you believe any of this?" she asked afterward.

"I really met them earlier, right?"

"Yep."

"I believe you."

"Are you going to faint if we go out there and two of them are still here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I'll try not to."

We walked out to the living room, where the large one, Goliath, and the red one were sitting on the sofa watching late night talk shows. Elisa's cat, Cagney, was curled up in Goliath's lap as he stroked it gently. The red one, whose name I couldn't remember, gave me a smile. "Hi," he said, giving me a little wave again. "Uh, I'd stand up, but this couch isn't quite big enough for Goliath to sit next to - well - anyone. I'm pinned."

I laughed nervously and followed Elisa into the kitchen. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" I growled under my breath at her.

"Try talking to them," Elisa answered, giving me a "duh" face.

I glanced back at them over my shoulder. "That one - Goliath? - is freaking huge. And scary."

"Yeah," Elisa said with a chuckle. "But he's just a big sweetie." I noticed her expression as she said "sweetie." Oh my. My cousin's in love with a gargoyle. Which, even though they sat in the living room, I still wasn't totally convinced they were real.

"Uh, Goliath?" I heard the red one say. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry," Goliath replied, and he squeezed over on the sofa as far as he could to let the smaller gargoyle up. He tentatively approached the entryway to the kitchen.

"So whatcha cookin'?" the red one asked Elisa.

"Spaghetti," Elisa answered. "Brooklyn, why don't you show Riley the sights?"

"Excuse me?" I said in a high pitched tone.

Brooklyn looked at me sheepishly. "I don't know, Elisa. She looks like she might have an aneurism if I even try to touch her."

Elisa gave me a look that plainly said "you can trust these guys." "Does showing me the city involve being hundreds of feet in the air and the possibility of falling to my death?"

"Well aren't you optimistic," Brooklyn said with a laugh. "I won't drop you. I'm much stronger than I look."

"Yeah, that makes me feel better," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You guys have some things in common," Elisa offered. "Like Brooklyn reads your new comic book religiously every month."

"And having you tell her that isn't embarrassing in the slightest," Brooklyn groaned.

"It's not like I write it..." I said, embarrassed as well, but surprisingly flattered. "I'm just the artist..."

"But you're an amazing artist! You're like, like the Michelangelo of comic books, only a girl!" Brooklyn said. I would never have pegged a gargoyle as being a comic nerd like myself.

"You read Nights of Fury too?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I can't believe that Fury turned out to be Angel's brother!" Brooklyn exclaimed, a big smile on his face. Oh yeah, he's a nerd. Not many people even know what Nights of Fury is.

"Okay, okay, you're getting nerd all over my kitchen," Elisa laughed. "Go chat elsewhere." She shooed us out of the room with her ladel.

"So..." Brooklyn said shyly. "The offer's still on the table. You know, go see the sights, fly around the city a bit..."

"Um..." Was he blushing? I mean, as much as was possible, since he was red in the first place. Well, it did seem like I was an idol of his. Celebrity artist and all that. "Yeah," I said, finally making up my mind. "Yeah, let's go."

We walked over to the balcony, the arcadia door of which Elisa left open for the breeze. Suddenly Brooklyn scooped me up in his arms; startled, I threw my arms around his neck. He gave a chuckle, then leapt up to the wall, thrusting out his wings, which had been clasped around his shoulders. Then he jumped. I willed myself not to scream.

We stopped and sat on the edge of a building in Times Square. "That was so awesome!" I said above the noise from below. I couldn't stop grinning; the flight here had been amazing, feeling all my stress leave through the air that passed us. I stared down at all the tourists and bright lights, my eyes coming to rest on the large Coca-Cola sign.

"You almost pissed yourself, didn't you," Brooklyn said with a snicker. I punched him in the arm. "Oh yeah, that hurt." He rolled his eyes.

I let out a deep sigh. "I never would have thought I'd be comfortable around something I believed was just architecture an hour ago."

He raised a hairless eyebrow at me. I glared at him; I envied people who could raise one eyebrow, and now gargoyles are doing it to me. "Something?"

"Yes, you are now my own personal airplane."

"Oh ha ha."