Gargoyle: A Reawakening (Briarcliff Series, #2)

by Lorraine Beaumont

  “How’s it going,” another guy said. She turned back around quickly, prepared to give him a snarky look but this one, at least was actually smiling at her and it wasn’t a crappy, you’re a freak smile either. It looked almost, that is, if she wasn’t mistaken, like he may have thought she was kind-of cute. Some of her tension eased and she smiled back shyly.

  “Good, I’m doin good,” she answered, playing with the lid on her water bottle, stealing glances at him, trying to be inconspicuous.

  One of the rubber mats thwapped loudly on the ground as he dropped it. Kneeling down he pulled off a strip of duct tape, the length fluttered in the wind before he pressed it down onto the seam of the mat. Standing, he brushed off his jeans and gave her a wink before moving on towards another part of the stage.

  Smiling at his retreating form, she began to feel better than she had all day. At least it bolstered her smashed ego, a little. Maybe she wasn’t a pariah after all. She was starting to think the underside of a rock would be a great place to hide like …forever.

  “Check, check—one—two –check,” rang out, loud, and clear as someone tested the sound. The brisk breeze seized hold of leaves, ripping them from branches above. They spun out of control, tumbling and whirling in the air in a blur of bright colors. Another loud thud vibrated over to her left as another piece of the stage was slammed together.

  Moriah said the creepers decided to set everything up outside since the vocals would sound better that way. That was where all the bands would be playing. Apparently the carload of guys that showed earlier, were with the creeps, hence the name creepers.

  A rattling noise sounded behind her. She turned. Barnaby’s thick black curls, bounced up and down as he trotted up the drive. The big-wheeled cart he pulled wobbled back and forth unsteadily as he pulled it over the rocks, making the bottles inside clank together loudly. He looked wide-eyed and fresh-faced. Clearly, he was ready for the evening, reminding her that she still needed to change and take a shower. That didn’t matter right now though; she had some payback to give. “Jerk.” She stalked over across the drive and stopped directly in front of him.

  “Hey Evie,” Barnaby said, smiling down at her.

  Evie looked up and gave him the crappiest look she could manage and then punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

  “Ow, Evie, what’d you do that for?” he said, rubbing his arm, staring at her in disbelief. Her bright green eyes flashed with anger. She looked hot when she was pissed; he had to give her that.

  “What was in my drink, Barnaby?” she asked, glaring into his wire-rimmed glass-covered eyes.

  “Um, rum, assorted juices, a little bit of everything actually.” He shrugged, eyeing her warily.

  Evie didn’t believe him for a second. She narrowed her eyes at him. “What else?”

  “Um, I did inject the cherries with grain. Why? Did you eat one?”

  “Well yeah, I was starving,” she snapped, tapping her foot. “What kind of drugs did you slip in my drink?”

  He swung his head around and looked at her. “Nothing—I mean it had a ton of alcohol, but no drugs, promise.”

  “Right,” she scoffed, not believing a word of his bullshit.

  “I swear, I wouldn’t do that to you Evie,” he said, looking sincere. “Actually, I stopped messing in that shit a while ago,” he said and shoved his hand into his front pocket, pulling out her car keys. “Thanks for letting me use your car,” he said, handing them to her. “I, um, got your window fixed by the way.”

  Evie snatched the keys from his hand and stuffed them into her jean skirt pocket. She was so mad. It took a moment for what he said to sink in. She shook her head turning back towards him. “What? Noway! How’d you do that?”

  He lifted his hand and rubbed his arm. “A friend of my cousin works over at the garage on the outskirts of town. He had an extra window that would fit your car and he installed it for me.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, even though his cousin really had to hook him up for it. He owed him big now.

  “Wow, Barnaby that was really sweet of you. You didn’t have to do that, you know,” she said, suddenly feeling like a big bitch for accusing him of drugging her.

  “Puhlease… it was no big deal,” he replied easily, lying his ass off. “Thanks for letting me borrow your wheels.” He gave her a lopsided grin, and then turned quickly back towards the stage as one of the last pieces was thrown into place.

  She stood there a minute running her finger along the top of her water bottle. “So, you really didn’t put anything in my drink that would make me, like, see things that weren’t real?” she asked lamely, suddenly not feeling very well.

  He barked out a laugh. “Ah…no!” His hazel eyes twinkled under the clear lenses. He shoved his hands back into his front pockets. The wind tossed his black curls back and forth. His eyes turned serious, watching her face go paler. “Evie, are you alright?”

  She bit her lip and shook her head seeing the confused look on his face. He obviously didn’t know what she was talking about. Not knowing what to do or say, she turned back towards the stage.

  “What happened?” he asked, sounding concerned and leaned closer.

  Her mind was spinning. So if he didn’t put anything into her drink, did all that shit really happen? Oh shit, she really was going to be sick.

  “Evie…”

  She turned back towards him. “Well… actually some crazy shit happened last night… I thought I was drugged.” She made a face and shrugged her shoulders.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What kind of shit? “ Did Colton do something to you?” he ground out the question. “Wait, did he do that to your face?”

  “Oh God no!” she said and shook her head, touching her chin. Barnaby looked relieved. She opened her mouth to speak again, but suddenly felt like it was too much to relay. Besides, he looked really upset and she didn’t want to go into all the Colton shit again. “Nah, it was fine. He left me here, though.”

  “What the hell?” He shook his head and shoved his hand through his hair. “Damn, I’m sorry Evie. If I had known I would’ve come back with your car.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

  “Still…”

  Evie didn’t like seeing him upset. Actually, she couldn’t stand seeing anyone upset. She leaned forward and picked a leaf out of his hair. “Don’t worry about it. I’m still alive… see.” She lifted her brows up and down like Groucho Marx, while rolling her eyes around, making stupid faces.

  “God, you’re so awesome,” he laughed and then froze. He suddenly looked like he had just stepped on a landmine and if he lifted his foot he would blow to bits.

  Evie pushed his arm. “So are you,” she teased, smiling.

  “Right, yeah, I am pretty awesome,” he said laughing like it was all a big joke.

  “Hey, we are both pretty awesome.” She cleared her throat when he looked like he was going to say something else. What that something might be, she wasn’t real sure she had an answer to. So instead, she blurted out something else, something she couldn’t even begin to imagine asking anyone in a million years. “So what do you know about gargoyles?”

  “Gargoyles?” he asked for clarification, giving her an odd look.

  She nodded her head.

  “Ah…you mean like stone creatures that are stuck to the side of buildings?” he asked, lifting his hand to brush his hair out of his face when the wind pushed it forward.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Huh? Decoration maybe?” he answered and shrugged, lifting his shoulders like he didn’t know what else to say. “Wait…” he said suddenly. “ I think they were also used to divert water from buildings, back in the day too,” he finished seemingly surprised by his vast knowledge on statuary. “Why do you ask?”

  Great. What to do? Go all in or lie. Oh, screw it! She was already half way in at this point anyway. “Have you ever heard anything about them coming…alive?”

  He let out a whoop of laughter. “Y
ou’re a trip.” He lifted his eyes to hers; swallowing back another peel of laughter when he saw her face go paler then it had moments before. “Serious?”

  Ohmigod, why did I say that? She couldn’t believe she had even said that. But now that the cat was outta the bag so to speak… “Yeah, crazy-weird, right,” she added, scrunching up her face.

  Barnaby suddenly looked like he had someplace to be. He shifted nervously on his feet and then kicked a small rock, launching it in the air. It hit a tree and fell back down to the ground with a small thud. He blew out a breath and turned back towards her, raking his hand through his hair, making his dark curls stick out. “Ummm…,” he trailed off awkwardly looking suddenly fascinated with the dirt around his foot. A few moments later he lifted his head and gave her a curious stare, it immediately reminded her of the guy she met last night.

  “I know, I’ll ask my Mom. She really digs that kind of shit, so I can ask her if she has heard any legends or lore on the subject.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Really—you would do that for me?” she asked. He shook his head eagerly. “That would be awesome.”

  He lifted his hand, placed it on top of hers, and then suddenly dropped it back to his side.

  She dropped her hand too, feeling weird.

  “Hold on.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. She was about to tell him not to bother but who knew, maybe he had better service. She watched as he punched a few of the buttons, shaking his head in frustration. “Well, I would’ve called, but the cell reception here sucks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “You know what…” he said. “ I need to go back to town to pick up a few more things. I can ask her then if you want.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  Again, he gave her a curious stare and shook his head.

  She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a huge hug. She felt him reach around and hug her back. Momentarily they stood there, pressed against each other, and then she pulled away, feeling like a giant dork.

  Barnaby smiled, the act nearly splitting his face. “No problemo, anything for you.” He lowered his eyes to the ground quickly. “I mean… if I can help.”

  “I really appreciate it,” she said, feeling better than she had all day. The tightness in her chest lessened considerably. Barnaby’s mom would know something. She was like crazy into antiques and shit. She would totally know. She blew out a stream of air and then smiled up at him.

  He gave her a warm smile in return. “Okay then, let me just drop this off, then I’ll go.” He was about to leave but stopped. “Wait, you wanna come with?”

  “Ohmigod yes!” she practically yelled and then tried to pull back some of her over the top enthusiasm. She didn’t want him to think she was a complete weirdo, since he probably already thought she was a borderline one from her gargoyle fascination.

  Barnaby smiled wider, making the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Sure no problem, but… do you mind if I borrow your wheels again?”

  “Oh sure—no problem,” she said. Hell, he fixed her window. “Of course you can,” she reassured him.

  “Sweet,” he said, sounding relieved.

  She glanced down at herself almost forgetting that she needed to shower and change. “Hey,” she said and touched his arm.

  His eyes flickered down to her hand. “Ah…” her mind went blank for a sec. And then she remembered what she wanted to say. “Can you…” she pulled back her hand. “ I mean, would you mind, dropping me at my place instead and then you can fill me in later?” she asked, suddenly feeling like a giant user even though he was using her car. Truth was she hated driving down the mountain, or up the mountain. And she definitely didn’t want to talk to Barnaby’s mother. She kind of freaked Evie out. Especially since she was sure his mom knew she was eavesdropping the other day at the coffee house when she was talking to Kingston’s mom. She made a face and plucked at her dirty clothes. “I really need to shower and change for tonight.”

  “I think you look great.” He stepped on a leaf, crushing it underfoot and then flicked his gaze away from her, like he couldn’t believe he had just said that.

  His face looked a little red. Evie felt like hers was on fire. “Aw, thanks, you’re so nice,” she said in a pitch too high, trying ease the awkwardness.

  “Okay, give me a minute so I can drop this off,” he said, angling his head to the cart behind him. “And then we can take off, ‘kay?”

  “Yeah, okay. I gotta let Moriah know I’m leaving anyway so she doesn’t have heart failure,” she said, giving him another small smile. “I’ll meet you back here in a few?”

  “Sure.” He gave her another lopsided grin. “See you in a couple.”

  “See you.” She watched him walk away. He stopped and fist-bumped one of the guys. The freaky-cool girl slid over to Barnaby and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a big boob-squishing hug. He easily lifted her off the ground and swung her around, making the muscles in his arms bulge.

  Evie gawked at him. Wow. He was strong and kind-of hot. How did she never notice before? She pulled her eyes away, not sure, where that had come from. “I need a drink.” Apparently being sober wasn’t working out too well for her today. She walked away to find Moriah.

  MEMORIES

  SATURDAY * 4:17 PM

  The stone façade of the mansion was rough under his hands as he clung to its side. Four-legged beasts hung above, their massive bodies frozen in time. They were much bigger now than he remembered. “Oh come on,” he groaned angrily. “Really?” he asked, looking up, seeking answers.

  None came.

  He didn’t know what he expected.

  Sighing heavily, he climbed higher until he was almost at the top. Full-bellied clouds pressed down upon his head. If he lifted out his hand, he could touch them. It would be pointless. They were just another illusion, to taunt, to torment.

  Penance was a bitch…

  …and then there was the girl named Evie. As soon as an image of her face formed in his mind, it felt like a ton of bricks dropped from the heavens on top of his head, breaking his grip.

  “Oh Hell!” Frantically he tried to grab hold of anything to slow his descent but his hands kept coming up empty. Stones ripped away at the skin on his hands, arms, and stomach as he continued to slide at an alarming rate.

  He may be a lot of things but indestructible was not one of them. He could manage fifty feet in this state on a good day but he was already weakened from his fight last night—but a straight drop from eighty…well…that was pushing his luck. His body continued to slide, ripping off more pieces of his flesh, the ground quickly coming into focus. Using every bit of his strength, he tried to alter, but his body merely rippled. His shirt slid up higher and more of his skin ripped off as he continued to plummet. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t alter. He was done for.

  “Oomph,” he groaned. Something broke his fall. Limply he hung in the air, his arms, and feet dangling. He was only twenty or so feet from the ground now. Slowly he slid over the edge of the outcropping and then dropped the rest of the way to the ground, making the slightest thud as he landed.

  Straightening, he looked upward. Noting it was nothing short of a miracle that the almost nonexistent railing from the balcony had somehow saved him….or…he looked up. “Thanks… I guess.”

  Wincing, he lifted his shirt to inspect the damage. The shirt was in pretty good shape, his stomach, not so much. A bloody rash covered most of it. He released the shirt and turned over his hands, they too were in bad shape, along with his forearms.

  “Damn! Back to the pit,” he grumbled. He had already been there most of the day thanks to his unexpected encounter with one of them. He raked his hand through his hair in aggravation and turned, disappearing into the shadows of the mansion once again.

  PREOCCUPIED

  SATURDAY * 5:33 PM

  The ride back to town was uneventful. Barnaby promised he would be back within the hour, which
didn’t leave much time to get ready. Once he dropped her off, she hit the stairs to her apartment, running. As soon as she banged through the door, she ripped off her clothes and jumped in the shower.

  It took two applications and a complete comb through with conditioner in her hair to get all the tangles out. “Clocks ticking,” she reminded herself, trying to move out from under the warm spray of the shower soothing her aching—everything. Grudgingly she reached over and turned off the faucet. The water spit for a few seconds more before it finally released down into the tub. The plastic fish curtain stuck to her hand as she pushed it aside and grabbed her Balboa Island, “Jaws” towel off the rack. It wasn’t really jaws, it was just a big ass shark hidden in the waves about to chomp a surfer in half. It was still her favorite. No matter how many times it went through the washer and dryer it stayed soft while the rest of her towels felt like cardboard. It was one of those unsolved mysteries.

  After she toweled off she gave herself a once over, inspecting her body for damage. A pretty nasty purple bruise was on her right side and on her right knee. She lifted her foot up and placed it on the rim of the tub. There were more bruises around her ankle; these were darker, almost black in color. Surprisingly, none of them hurt too badly. Tightening her towel more firmly under her arms, she walked over to the sink and wiped the fog off the mirror with the palm of her hand.

  Perfect.

  The right side of her face was riddled with color—purple, red, yellow, black, even a hint of green. It looked like she’d fallen asleep on a pile of jellybeans.

  “Evie takes a licking and keeps on ticking,” she muttered out in a deep announcer voice and then laughed. Things had to be pretty-bad for her to start quoting a damn battery commercial. This was probably the first signs of starvation—ignorant commercial imitation.

  Her phone buzzed.

  She slid across the damp tiles out of the bathroom, dashed across her room, and grabbed up her phone.