A Hellhound in Manhattan: Part 1

Chapter 10

The two winged beings hugged one another as they hadn't seen each other in so long.

Maggie noticed the wide-eyed Goth girl behind him. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh." Brooklyn reached out his arm. "Maggie, this is Loona. Loona? Maggie?"

Loona hesitantly stepped forward.

"Hello, Loona."

"Hi..." Loona said in a low voice. She shrank back behind Brooklyn.

"It's okay, Maggie," Brooklyn reassured. "We can trust her. Any news from Talon?"

"No. No word on the werewolf yet," Maggie replied.

Loona lifted her head.

"Well, I suppose it's good to know it's not attacking the homeless," Brooklyn remarked.

Maggie nodded. "We've mostly been focusing our efforts on sheltering them. Since that sighting the other night the Quarrymen have been cracking down like we're all werewolves."

A lump formed in Loona's throat. She hoped that this Maggie didn't sniff her out right then and there. Meanwhile the homeless girl wouldn't stop looking over at her. She feared that the kid suspected her.

"The Quarrymen haven't found the Labyrinth, have they?" Brooklyn asked.

"Thank God, no," Maggie answered. "But we're being stretched thin. We don't have enough to guard those on food runs."

Brooklyn growled. Of course the Quarrymen would attack those who couldn't even fight back.

"But we'll keep you posted if we find it," Maggie concluded.

"Alright. Thanks, Maggie."

Maggie lifted his chin in a reassuring manner. "Hey, you and yours be careful out there, okay?"

Brooklyn smiled.

Maggie turned and guided the girl further down the alley.

Loona waited until they were gone.

"So... She your girlfriend...?"

"What!? What makes you think that?"

Loona blushed. "I dunno! You two just seemed very... very chummy is all." She brushed her hair forward to hide her face.

"Well, it's nothing like that, all right?"

Brooklyn unfolded his wings and invited her to climb on his back again. However, still mad at him, she instead opted to take the fire escape ladder back to the roof, leaving him to climb up the brick wall on his own. He had hoped maybe she would say something on the way back up, but Loona remained in stubborn silence with each floor.

He caught up with her on the rooftop.

"Look, Loona, I'm sorry I bit your head off back there. I know you were just looking out for me, but you really gotta be more careful when innocent people get dragged into these things."

Loona glanced back at were Maggie and the girl disappeared to. "You and Maggie. What really happened between you two?"

Brooklyn sighed. "It's kind of a long story. Maggie... used to be human. She was abducted by this man, Sevarius. He was trying to create his own gargoyles and she was one of his test subjects. I... I thought I was trying to help her, but really I was thinking of myself... What I wanted, not what she wanted."

"Hmm... You two seem to be on good terms now."

"Yeah. Being second-in-command means having to make all the hard decisions when left in charge. Putting others' needs before your own."

Loona looked away. She wouldn't know anything about that.

"You said the other night that you thought gargoyles were just some kind of publicity stunt," Brooklyn remarked. "If that were the case I doubt the Quarrymen would be involved."

"So is that what that weirdo was? One of the Quarrymen?"

Brooklyn nodded solemnly as he glared out towards the city once more. "They're a terrorist group all about destroying gargoyles. Apparently the news doesn't like to talk about them."

"Oh, my God...." Loona made a disgusted face. "So, what? They're also attacking random homeless people now?"

"Looks like it. They don't care who gets in their way. If you happen to be a friend to us..."

"So now they hate this werewolf that's got everybody freaked out...?"

"Or it's just their latest excuse for hurting people."

Loona scoffed and stared down at the street where trash cans had been tipped over. All manner of rubbish had spilled about and raccoons were fighting over a half-eaten can of tuna. "Has it occurred to them that maybe this wolf was just hungry? Animals gotta eat, you know."

Loona was used to hurting people when she lashed out at them in anger or self-defense, but not like this. Her chest tightened. She knew damn well it wasn't her fault. So why did she feel so queasy at the thought of some poor dumb bystander getting hurt because of something she did?

Such a concept was so alien to Loona, that her actions could indirectly harm others. She had to look out for herself for so long it was no wonder her feelings for Brooklyn had been so alarming before.

She glanced at him again. What about him? He was the one the Quarrymen were out hunting in the first place.

"So, you can't, like, disguise yourself?" Loona asked. "I mean, like turn into a human? Or an animal?"

Brooklyn chuckled. "Sometimes I wish. Actually, there was this one time I was human, though it involved the meddling of one of Oberon's children."

Loona laughed. "A fairy turned you human?"

"Yeah. Word of advice. Never trust the fair folk to actually play fair."

Loona made a pained grimace and lightly smacked his shoulder. "That was bad! Bad pun! Shame on you!"

They both laughed, and Loona rubbed at her eye with her palm. She was about ready to call it a night.

"Look, Loona," Brooklyn suggested, "if it might help, you could stay with us. Me and my clan. I'm sure they'd be okay with it if it meant keeping you safe."

Loona frowned. "No."

Brooklyn sighed, but he understood her reluctance. "Well, can I at least take you home this time? So I know where to find you in case something happens?"

Loona lowered her shoulders. "Okay."

***

Just a few blocks away the Quarryman had removed his hood to make a call from the payphone on the corner.

"Did you put the tracking device on the gargoyle, Kenneth?" Dr. Anton Sevarius asked on the other end.

"No, but I think I found something else," Kenneth replied. He looked at bruised bite mark on his forearm. "You know that werewolf you told us to keep an eye out for? Well, I think I found her..."

He adjusted the Quarryman pin on his jacket. His camera caught everything.