Delvis, Joe, Tirado, Alex, Lu and Junior reached the top floor when they spotted something.
"Hey look," said Delvis. "Another gargoyle?"
"What?" said Lu as he got in front of the group. "It looks like the one from the roof."
"No way," said Junior. "Mom would have never taken her eyes off it."
Lu went to the window and poked his head out. "Mom," he called out. "Is that gargoyle still on the roof?"
"No," yelled Celi. "I lost sight of it. You guys need to be careful."
"It's fine. We found it. We won't lose sight of it."
"Good job, boys. Stay safe."
"Is it me or are they acting strange?" Tirado whispered to Joe.
"Hill people," said Joe. "They're just weird in general."
"You two," said Junior to Tirado and Joe. "Help me strap this thing down."
Junior, Tirado and Joe went to the gargoyle and started to strap it down.
"What about the one on the roof?" asked Delvis.
"This is the one on the roof," said Lu.
"Huh?" said Delvis. There was a loud crash in the building, causing everyone except Junior, who kept his eyes on the gargoyle, to look down the hall.
"What was that?" asked Alex.
"Probably another gargoyle," said Junior as he continued to strap down the one in front of him.
"We need to hurry," said Lu as he turned around to help his brother.
There was another crash in another part of the building. This time everyone but the brothers turned to look. The brother finished strapping the gargoyle to the two wheeler.
"Is there something else here?" said Alex.
"Yeah," said Lu as he pushed the gargoyle forward. "More gargoyles."
"Make sure you keep your eyes on your surroundings," said Junior. "Don't let anything sneak up on you."
Just as Junior said those words, something snatched Delvis into the darkness. It happened so quickly no one saw what took him.
"Delvis!" screamed out Joe as he tried to follow.
Alex pulled his gun out and followed Joe into the hall. Junior followed as well.
"What the hell just happened?" asked Tirado, who stayed behind with Lu.
"Gargoyles," answered Lu. "Aren't you listening?"
"Are you saying they're alive?"
"Exactly."
Tirado took a step away from the gargoyle strapped to the two wheeler. "Should we be worried about that thing?" he said, pointing at the strapped gargoyle.
"Not as long as you don't take your eyes away from it."
Junior returned with Alex and Joe. They returned without Delvis. Both Junior and Alex had their guns out.
"Where's Delvis?" asked Tirado.
"We couldn't find him," answered Junior. "We need to move quickly."
"Not without Delvis," said Alex.
"Agreed," said Joe.
"I'm sorry, but it's too late for him," said Junior.
Alex aimed his gun at Junior. "We're not going anywhere without Delvis. You guys need to tell us what is going on."
There were crashes throughout the building causing the group to look around. Lu and Junior never took their sights from the strapped gargoyle.
"What the hell is that?" said Joe.
"If we don't get out of this building, you're going to find out," said Lu.
"But what about Delvis?" asked Joe.
"Sorry, but he's gone," said Junior. "There's nothing we can do for him."
There were more crashes throughout the building, some way too close.
"Can we go now?" asked Lu.
Tirado and Joe looked towards Alex for his answer.
"Fine," said Alex. "Go."
Everyone moved forward, but Joe grabbed Alex's arm. "What about Delvis?"
"We'll figure it out outside," said Alex. "Right now I don't feel safe in this building." Joe doesn't say anything and just stands still as everyone else is making their way downstairs. Alex pulled Joe along. "Move."
The first one outside was Tirado, who ran to Celi and Papo.
"What's wrong?" asked Papo.
"There's something else in there," said Tirado as he hid behind one of the vehicles.
Celi brought out her gun as Lu and Junior came out of the building with the strapped down gargoyle. She went to one of the vehicles and opened its trunk. Lu and Junior brought the gargoyle to the back of the vehicle.
Alex was the next person to come out of the building. Joe was right behind him, but before he could get outside, something snatched him right back in. No one saw what did it. Alex went right back inside and started firing his gun.
"What the hell was that?" asked Papo as he looked at Tirado.
"They said gargoyles," he answered.
Alex came back outside and went straight to the escorts. He put his gun up to Lu's head and took his gun away. He pointed the other gun at Junior, who was still handling the gargoyle. "You guys are going to tell me right now what's going on?" yelled Alex.
"I don't think now is a good time for this," said Lu.
Alex smacked Lu in the back of the head with the gun, causing him to drop to his knees. "Now is the perfect time for this. What took Delvis and Joe?"
"You let those things take Delvis?" Celi asked Junior.
"Sorry, I had my eyes on this guy," he said, referring to the gargoyle.
"Damn it, Junior. Delvis was the one guy who wasn't expendable. You were supposed to protect him."
"We found a gargoyle and I kept my eyes on it. I can't both protect Delvis and keep my eyes on the gargoyle. Plus, he's the one whose job was protecting Delvis." Junior gestured towards Alex. "Get mad at him."
"Excuse me," said Alex as he aimed both guns at Junior.
"Hey, don't get mad at me. It wasn't my decision to keep you guys out of the loop."
"No, that was my decision," said Celi as she took a step between Junior and the guns. "The gargoyles are alive, but they can only move as long as you're not looking at them. That's the reason we haven't stopped looking at this one."
"If this is a joke, it's not funny," said Alex.
"It's not a joke. Junior, put the gargoyle in the trunk and close it."
"Are you sure?" asked Junior.
"Yes, it's the only way they're going to believe us."
Junior put the two wheeler, with the gargoyle, inside of the trunk and hesitated for a second before shutting it. He took a couple of steps away from the trunk and nothing happened.
"What now?" asked Tirado and suddenly the vehicle started to shake, causing everyone to jump back.
"What the fuck?" said Alex as he aimed his gun at the trunk.
Just as suddenly the trunk started shaking, it stopped. Celi walked over to Alex and showed him her cellphone, which had footage of the gargoyle in the trunk.
"I have a camera in the trunk so we can watch it," said Celi. "Like I said before, they can't move if someone is watching them."
"This has to be some sort of trick."
"Guys," said Tirado as he pointed towards the building.
They all turned to look at the building and to their horror, there were multiple gargoyles standing at the windows.
"Those things weren't there a second ago," said Papo as he was about to get inside the vehicle with Mutt Daimon.
"Don't panic," said Celi. "They can't move as long as we're looking at them."
"It's time for us to go," said Junior as he helped his brother to his feet.
Lu went over to Alex and put out his hand. "Can I have my gun back?" Lu asked Alex, who was not taking his eyes off of the gargoyles in the building.
"Sure." Alex handed Lu his gun back.
"Let's move, boys," said Celi as she got in the passenger's side of the vehicle with the gargoyle.
Junior got in the driver's seat while the others all went to the other vehicle. Lu was in the driver's seat while Papo sat next to him and in the back were Alex, Tirado and Mutt Daimon. Junior took off driving and Lu followed. Alex was not taking his eyes off of the gargoyles in the building until they were out of sight.
"I have a stupid question," said Papo. "Why the hell are we taking one of those things with us?"
"I would like to know the answer to that question as well," said Alex as he continued to look around at his surroundings. He noticed Tirado had his head down so Alex smacked him. "Eyes out. I don't want any of those monsters sneaking up on us."
Tirado did as he was told.
"We want proof," said Lu. "We've been trying to get the military to bomb this place for years, but they don't believe us."
"What the fuck," said Alex. "Just don't come here. Do these gargoyles come down to your village or something?"
"No, but they got my older brother. We tried to just kill these things ourselves, but that didn't go well. The people who went with us last time got wiped out."
"Who were the last group to go with you? Were they trained?"
"There were some ex-military among us."
"And they didn't survive?"
"No."
"And you thought it was a good idea to bring us?" asked Tirado.
"We aren't here to fight them," said Lu. "We're here to capture one and bring it back. We needed you guys to afford the trip. All this equipment we brought was afforded because of Delvis."
"And it cost him his life, because you didn't tell us the whole story," said Alex.
"I'm sorry, but we did what we thought we had to."
Junior and Lu arrived by the truck and they all got out of their vehicles as they looked to the sky. Lu, Junior and Celi gathered behind the trunk. Alex, Papo and Tirado were gathered together next to Mutt Daimon who still wouldn't come outside.
Tirado looked towards the city's sky. "We should just take this vehicle and go," said Tirado.
"We're not going anywhere as long as that truck is blocking our way," said Alex.
Lu and Junior pulled out the gargoyle and pushed it into the back of the truck. There were loud noises coming from the city. Celi got in the back of the truck with the gargoyle.
"What are you doing?" asked Junior.
"I'm riding with the gargoyle," said Celi.
"That's not necessary. We have cameras watching it."
"I'm going to keep my eyes on it until we make it all the way down the mountain."
"Great," said Lu. "One of the guests will have to drive one of the cars. I'll go break the news to them." Lu joined the others. "Hey, one of you guys is going to have to drive that vehicle."
"Why?" asked Papo.
"Mom is going to be in the back of the truck with the gargoyle so she won't be able to drive, hence one of you will have to."
"Fine," said Alex. "I'll drive."
"Stay close. One way trip all the way down the mountain." Lu was about to go to his vehicle when Papo stopped him.
"Wait a second," said Papo. "Are you going to be driving by yourself?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'll tag along with you."
"Papo, you're leaving us?" asked Tirado.
"Best we stay two to each vehicle."
"Sure," said Alex. "You're just going where you think is safest."
"Do you blame me?"
There were more crashes coming from the city.
"We don't have time for this," said Lu. "Let's move."
Everyone went into their vehicles.
Junior was in the driver's seat looking at one of the cameras inside the back of the truck. His mother was glaring at the gargoyle. "You okay back there, mom?" he said into the radio.
"I'm fine," said Celi. "Take off."
Junior looked at the side mirrors and could see the shadows coming from the sky. "They're coming," he said into the radio.
"Then hurry!"
Junior slowly drove onto the ramp and into the snowstorm. A little after, Lu went through the ramp and last was Alex. Junior drove as fast as he could, followed by the two other vehicles.
In Alex's vehicle, Tirado tried to look outside. "I can't see anything," said Tirado.
"All we can do is pay attention to the lights in front of us," said Alex.
"I think they're out there."
"Let's hope they can't get to us in here."
Junior continued to go as fast as he could when he hit a bump. Junior did everything he could to keep control of the vehicle and managed to get back on track. He grabbed his cellphone and tried to look at the camera. He saw his mother was holding herself up, her sights locked on the strapped gargoyle. He grabbed the radio.
"Are you alright back there?"
"Yes, just keep your eyes forward."
"Yes, mom," said Junior as he saw the lights go off on the cameras. "Mom, please tell me only the cameras went down." There was no answer. "Mom?"
There was a loud crash at the back of the truck and Junior slammed on the breaks. Lu and Alex almost crashed into the truck and had to swerve out of the way. The three vehicles were at a stop.
Lu and Junior got out of their vehicles and went to the back of the truck. Papo stayed in his vehicle. They found the back doors to the truck were smashed open.
"What the hell happened?" asked Lu.
"The lights went out," said Junior.
Lu and Junior climbed into the truck, shining their flashlights inside.
Alex drove his vehicle next to Lu and saw Papo was the only one inside. Alex lowered his window and had to signal Papo to do the same. Papo hesitated, but lowered it.
"What happened?" asked Alex.
"I have absolutely no idea," said Papo. "The truck suddenly stopped so we stopped. Lu got out of the vehicle to check what's going on."
"Great. Just fucking great."
"What do we do now?" asked Tirado.
"I don't know. Papo, you better get in this vehicle with us."
"There's no way I'm going outside," said Papo.
"Suit yourself."
Alex drove off when they heard gunshots going off. Alex drove faster and got to the back of the truck just in time to see something snatch Junior away. Lu fired his gun into the air as he screamed.
"Get in the car," yelled Alex, but Lu continued to fire into the air. "Lu, get in the vehicle!"
The snow began to pick up and they were losing sight of Lu.
"He's gone," said Tirado. "He was just there and now he's gone."
"Shit," said Alex as he turned the vehicle around.
Something slammed into the car's door, causing Alex and Tirado to jump. It was Papo.
"Let me in," he said as he continued to hit the window.
Tirado went to open the door as Papo got snatched away. Alex took off full speed away from the area.
"Fuck," said Tirado as he put his head between his legs.
"Eyes up," said Alex.
Tirado looked up. "They're all gone. We're screwed."
"Stop that. We're still alive. All we have to do is get to the bottom of the mountain. They won't follow us into the village."
"We can't even see where we're going."
"Down. We're going down. All we have to do is keep going down."
Alex continued to drive down while Tirado looked in the back seat. Mutt Daimon was hiding under the seat.
"This dog is no help."
"We're fighting stone monsters," said Alex. "What do you expect him to do?"
Something slammed into the vehicle causing it to flip and roll down the mountain. The vehicle flipped around three times before crashing into a tree. The vehicle was upside down and Alex and Tirado were hanging by their seat belts. Mutt Daimon licked Alex's face.
"Alex," said Tirado. "Please tell me you're alright?"
"I'm still alive."
"Now what?"
Alex released himself from his seat belt and landed on top of Mutt Daimon. The dog didn't seem to mind as he leaned into Alex. "We're going to have to continue on foot."
"But they'll get us outside."
"They're going to get us in here." Alex took Tirado's seat belt off and he fell hard onto the roof of the car. "Our best chance is to book it the rest of the way down. We stick together. Watch each other's backs. You sense something coming, you look in that direction. Remember what they said, if we're looking at them, they can't move."
Tirado didn't say anything as he looked outside into the storm.
Alex gave Tirado a shake. "Tirado, are you with me?"
"Yes. Lead the way."
Alex crawled out the window, followed by Mutt Daimon then Tirado. Mutt Daimon stayed close to Alex as he and Tirado looked towards the sky.
"Now what?" asked Tirado.
"We go down."
Alex led the way down the mountain while Tirado had his back to him. Mutt Daimon ran ahead, giving Alex a place to follow. Alex and Tirado were on high alert as they watched their surroundings.
"Almost there," said Alex when something snatched him by the shoulders. He was tossed into the storm, but managed to see the claws that had gotten a hold of him. The gargoyle dropped into the snow. Alex shot twice into the gargoyle. The gunshots didn't seem to do anything, but put two dents in the gargoyle.
"Alex!" yelled Tirado.
"Over here," yelled Alex when something else snatched him from behind.
Alex was being pulled into the sky when he heard Mutt Daimon barking. The gargoyle froze and he and Alex dropped back to the snow. Mutt Daimon ran to Alex who was laying on top of the gargoyle.
"The gargoyle froze at your gaze," Alex said to Mutt Daimon.
Mutt Daimon continued to bark as he quickly turned all around. It seemed anytime something neared, Mutt Daimon barked in its direction. Soon Tirado joined them, finding them thanks to Mutt Daimon's barking.
"Thank God, you're still alive," said Tirado.
"Yeah, thanks to Mutt Daimon. His reflexes are too fast for the gargoyles. We're going to survive this. He's no longer scared of them."
Alex and Tirado watched as Mutt Daimon continued to run in circles, stopping anything from getting closer. Alex, Tirado and Mutt Daimon made it to the bottom of the mountain and into the village. The snowstorm was no longer around and they were safe.
"We've made it," said Tirado.
"Yes and it was thanks to this guy," said Alex as he gave Mutt Daimon a good rub down.
"What do we do now?"
"We go home and pretend like this never happened."
"What? But what about the others?"
"There's nothing we can do for them. They're already gone."
"We can tell -"
"Who can we tell?" said Alex, cutting Tirado off. "No one is going to believe us. We would be making the same mistake Celi and her group made. I'm just grateful to still be alive. I'm moving on. I recommend you do the same."
Tirado didn't say a word as he watched Alex and Mutt Daimon leave.