In The End: Gargoyle Saga

Chapter 2: Facing the Demon Within

Chapter 2: Facing the Demon Within

Dawn splashed over my face a few hours after Hadriana's appearance. Irritated at how bright it was, I turned my back on it and tried to remain still. Humans could still see me, as I was still part gargoyle, but the demon in me was helpful to camouflage me amongst the trees. A nice little trick as I found myself like Tarzan's Jane, living in the trees.

'Um, Miss Gargoyle!' I heard Dinglewood squeak below the tree I was trying to sleep in. I ignored him. Maybe he'd go away. 'Miss Verity, I must speaks with you.' My patience for him was growing thin. 'Please, I must speaks with you. Tis important!'

Opening my bleary eyes, I stretched and fell forwards, landing on the soft ground right in front of the quaking Hobgoblin. He yelped and ducked for cover. I'd clearly scared him. 'What do you want, Dinglewood I'm tired?'

'I-I I know, Miss Verity. I have been sent to you f-from Miss Hadriana.'

I sighed. I should have known Dinglewood and Hadriana had known each other. That woman knew everyone. She was bloody old enough to know everyone. 'And?'

'She wishes to speak with you.'

'If that's all she wants, then, of course, I'll have to ignore her. Dinglewood, I am not in the mood to speak to her or know anything about her. I want you and her and everyone to leave me alone. I've done this to myself, and I'm living with it. Let me sulk in peace!'

'It's about the ring,' he added just as I was about to fly up into the tree. 'She wants to help you finds it.'

I was starting to get a headache. 'Enough about this stupid ring.' I knelt down to the Hobgoblin's level and stared at him intensely. 'Dinglewood, do you know what day it is today?'

He tilted his head in confusion, then after a second or two, his eyes bulged and he nodded vigorously. 'Yes, yes! Tis the day of the eclipse.'

'Indeed it is,' I said in a condescending tone. 'Now, I want you to trot back to Hadriana or else you may end up being killed by a demon. You don't want that, do you?'

'N-no miss.'

'Good. So, why don't you go back to Hadriana and then if you feel the need to come back, do so next week, just to check that I am alive and that the door is closed? Okay?'

'Tis a great idea, miss!' he smiled nervously. 'I shall be backs next weeks!' Dinglewood trotted off and I flew back to my branch and sat there wondering who else was going to annoy me.

My internal clock woke me up just after noon. I had a few hours to eat, exercise and set up the church and the graveyard for the onslaught. I had a plan, and I was going to stick to it. Jumping to the leafy ground, I went to the little cool box that I had swiped from a nearby store. I'd buried it deep in the ground so that people wouldn't come across it and packed it full of raw meat. I had planned ahead.

After scoffing my face, a soft mist rolled in that lightly covered the ground of the graveyard and the surrounding forest. It looked spooky but also really relaxing. I always felt that the mist covering the dead leaves was like a gentle painting covering up the artists' mistakes. Sometimes I would lay on the ground surrounded by it and wish that my mistakes were erased, if only for a moment. But then I would sit up and see my talons, my feet, and my tail would poke up through the white swirling air. A painful mistake was ever-present.

I was about to head to the abandoned church when a black tendril burst out of the ground and wrapped around my left ankle. 'What the-' as I bent down to break it off, another one rumbled from underneath and wrapped around my right wrist and it forced me towards the ground. 'Shit, it's a trap.' I threw my wings out to the side and flapped a few times. Breaking the tendril that was wrapped around my left ankle, four more cascaded over me, closing my wings. I fell to the ground with a thump. Soon after, more and more of them wrapped around me like a cocoon. Magic escaped me as I could think of nothing to help. Unable to move and barely able to breathe, I sensed the familiar signs of magic nearby and I smelt gargoyle and human. It was Hadriana and someone else. Wriggling around, trying desperately to break free, I felt the tendrils tighten.