by Natavia
“Wow, I’m impressed,” Brick said, and I agreed.
“Well, what can I say. I have to stay ahead,” Odega said.
“Is he calling me special because he thinks I’m retarded?” Risha asked me.
“It was a comeback for calling us monsters. We are even now,” Odega smirked.
“I want them out of this domain!” Casha yelled.
“Can we jump her?” Risha asked me.
“You are not the queen of this domain,” Odega said to Casha.
“I’m the queen as long as I’m here, monster!” Casha yelled at Odega.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Brick yelled at Casha, and she jumped.
“I came here to talk to you,” I said to Brick.
“Go in the kitchen, and I’ll be there,” he replied.
I grabbed Risha’s hand, and led her to the kitchen.
“What the fuck, Nabila! What did you get yourself into? How, when? I need answers,” Risha said. I told her everything, and I didn't leave anything out.
“I’m not telling Brick about the baby. I can’t do it. I don’t want to be that girl that drops a bomb because another woman is in the picture. He has visions, so he’ll see for himself,” I replied.
“Are you sure about this?” Risha asked.
“Look at me, Risha. I’m a wreck. I have been through a lot in a short period of time. I’ll wait to tell him because I don’t feel comfortable doing it while Casha is on Earth,” I replied.
“As long as you tell him is all that matters. So, do you have wings too?” Risha asked.
“Yes, I have them,” I replied.
“Will you get old?” she asked with tears falling from her eyes. Her body was trembling, and I knew she was scared. She tried to remain calm, but it was hard knowing there were creatures in the house.
“No,” I said sadly.
“I thought we were going to get old together,” Risha said, and wiped her eyes.
“We are in this together. I will find a way for us to be friends forever,” I replied.
“I’m the only human in this house?” Risha asked me.
“Yes, you are. I know it feels like a dream, but it’s all real,” I said.
“What do you all eat?” Risha asked while reaching for a knife.
“Regular food. Why are you grabbing that knife?” I asked. Brick came into the kitchen, and Risha swung the knife at him. The knife bent in half, and she dropped it.
“It was my reflexes. Please don’t eat me,” Risha begged Brick.
“I’m afraid I’ll die if I ate you, and it's not easy killing me,” Brick said, and Risha rolled her eyes.
“I came to visit you, but I didn’t want anything. I have to go,” I said to Brick. I grabbed Risha’s hand, and stormed out of the kitchen.
“Wait, a minute!” Brick called out to me, but I kept walking. He stood in the doorway of his house, and watched me leave. I saw Casha looking down at me from the window inside of Brick’s room.
Be leery of the poisonous plants that surround you; I heard a voice.
“What are you going to do now?” Risha asked as she sped down the dirt road.
“Continue to follow the signs. Brick is up to something, and I can sense it. I’m afraid for him,” I replied.
“We will figure this out,” Risha said.
“I hope so,” I replied.
“I still can’t believe this shit. My only friend is a vampire,” Risha said. Tears fell down her face, and she wiped them away. Her hands were trembling while she was driving. I touched her, and she jumped. The car swerved off the road and almost into a ditch.
“I’m not a monster, Risha,” I said.
“I know that, but this is scary. I had a feeling another kind lived amongst us, but to see it with your own eyes is frightening,” she replied.
“I felt the same way, but they are gentle giants. You have nothing to be worried about,” I said.
“I believe you,” she replied.
I didn’t need family or other friends in my life because I had Risha. She had her wild moments, but her spirit was beautiful. I told her everything on our way home to the city, so she could be comfortable around the gargoyles. I also didn’t want her to feel left out because she was a part of me too.
Rudan
“D AMNIT!” I yelled out when my body slammed into a statue in front of Brick’s domain. It took days for me to locate him, although I followed the golden streak he left in the sky. The door opened, and Eagle walked out of the house. He slammed my face down in the soil and stepped on my head.
“What do you want traitor?” Eagle seethed.
“I come in peace!” I muffled.
“I can’t hear you,” he replied.
“Let him go, Eagle,” Brick said. Eagle picked me up by the back of my neck to stand me up. Brick looked down at me, and I couldn’t look him in the eyes. I was ashamed of what I had done.
“A coward is what you are. A traitor of his own kind, and a disgrace to the planet who created you. I will take your head if you don’t tell me what you want. You can’t take Casha until I get the water, so tell your king she’s considered dead at the moment,” Brick said.
“I didn’t come here for Casha. I came here for you,” I replied.
“I’ll take it from here, Eagle,” Brick said. Eagle walked into the house, and slammed the door.
“Eagle is getting strong,” I chuckled.
“What the fuck do you want?” he asked.
“To tell you the truth. I will accept whatever punishment you have in store for me,” I replied.
“Urane and Neoth are my real parents. I’m the son of a God and Goddess. I was enslaved as a soldier on planet Vada to destroy what my parents built. I slaughtered my kind to protect Vada’s water, but all they wanted was what belonged to them. I know what I need to know, but tell me why,” he said.
“I was deformed, so our kind stayed away from me. They belittled me, and didn’t think I was strong enough to go into battle. Neoth was opposite of me, and everyone feared him. Urane made him her king, and he left me on the ground while he looked down at me from his tower. My brother betrayed me, so I returned the favor. Jonelius snuck onto our planet one day while I was feasting in the forest. He promised me his father’s wings in exchange for bringing Neoth down as king. I thought about myself, and did what I felt was right at the time. I became a protector of Vada. Neoth had a weakness, and that weakness was you. He did everything he could to protect you because you were a different breed. He feared that the Peots would hunt you, if he didn’t kill them all,” I replied.
“Why didn’t Jonelius kill me?” he asked.
“I talked him out of it. I told him you are more useful alive. Your strength, and size is what intimidates our enemies,” I replied.
“You mean intimidate our kind because we sided with the enemy. What is my real name?” Brick asked.
“Midas, but nobody knew you were the real Midas. They thought you were a copycat,” I shamefully replied. Brick slammed his fist into my stomach. My body went sailing into a row of trees. He picked me up by my hair and tossed me into another tree. He stood me up by the neck, and squeezed until I couldn’t breathe. He dropped me on the ground, and I clutched my neck.
“Where are my parents?” he asked.
“Neoth is here on Earth,” I replied.
“Take me to him,” Brick replied.
“It’s a place a gargoyle should never go. It freezes us forever,” I said.
“How did you capture someone like my father?” he asked.
“We used you. Your flesh wasn’t strong enough to heal on its own. I held a knife to your throat, while Jonelius’s men surrounded him. Neoth surrendered, and said he’d do anything to keep you alive. It was your life or his, and he chose yours. Jonelius’s men carried him through the sky, and dropped him on Earth. Urane went into depression. She gave the sky her life, and her soul lives through the birds,” I replied.
“Take me to my father,” he said.
&n
bsp; “You will freeze,” I said.
“I don’t give a fuck! Take me to him, and do it now. It’s the least you can do. I have to make this right because I helped y’all muthafuckas destroy everything,” Brick yelled.
“He’s in Antarctica,” I replied.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Brick said.
“I know you got the rock with the symbol of the stars. It was carved out of your father’s chest after he froze. The symbol was the medallion he wore around his neck. Urane gave it to him for protection, and it also gave him magic. Jonelius wanted it for the magic, but nobody could crack the rock open,” I said.
“What’s wrong with my visions? Did one of y’all fuck with that too?” Brick asked.
“Casha, is poisonous,” I said.
“WHAT!” Brick roared.
“Your visions are not clear because you have been poisoned. You have your visions; you just can’t remember them when you do,” I replied.
“What type of shit is that?” he asked.
“Peots are poisonous to other species. Neoth didn’t want them a part of his kingdom because of it,” I replied.
“It’s because I was intimate with her?” he asked, and I nodded my head.
“How can I cure this?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t think there is a cure,” I replied.
“Follow me,” Brick said.
I followed him into his domain, and Odega threatened me by showing me his sharp teeth. Brick closed the door after we entered a room with a lot of instruments.
“What place is this?” I asked.
“My workshop. I have my own business on Earth,” he replied. I looked around, and he told me not to touch anything. He left out of the room, and came back minutes later with a silver tool in his hand.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Shut the fuck up, and watch,” he seethed.
He dropped the rock of Neoth’s medallion inside of the silver tool.
“The moisture and steam from the boiling water should thin it out,” Brick said.
“Do you love the human?” I asked.
“That’s not any of your concern,” he spat. He pulled the rock out of the hot water and laid it on the table. He used another tool and its sound pained my ears.
“Got it!”
He wiped the rest of the residue off Neoth’s medallion. The glow from the gold hurt my eyes. Brick placed the necklace over his head, and his body lit up before he disappeared. The medallion opened the portal to planet, Lacas—it took him home.
Brick
“W here the fuck am I?” I asked myself as I looked around. I was inside of a stone castle without a roof. I looked to the sky, and there were no stars. I walked down a long hallway and pushed opened a set of double doors. In front of me was a large glass window with the star pattern on it. The pattern was twelve planets in the shape of a star. The star pattern was the window into the kingdom —my real home. I heard something behind me, so I turned around.
“Who is there?” I asked.
A dragon size bird stepped out of the shadows. It kneeled in front of me, and I touched its head. Tears of joy slid out of her eyes, and I wiped them away.
“I’ll make this look like home again,” I said. She flapped her wings, and shrieked. I flew on her back, and grabbed hold of the saddle. She flapped her wings, to push herself up from the ground. The trees were dead, the flowers were black and a few remains of gargoyles laid in the soil. My heart ached when I saw a few babies lying next to their parents. I dropped down to my knees, and the bird lifted my head with her wing. She had faith in me, but I didn’t have faith in myself. I slept with the enemy, and she poisoned me. I was in love with Casha, but I couldn’t see the person she really was. Rudan betrayed me, and his kind.
“I’m losing my ability to predict the future, and I lost some from my past. What if it takes over my body as time goes on? I’ll forget everything. The gargoyles and the peots are supposed to be segregated, and now I see why; they are our biggest downfall,” I said to the bird. I climbed on her back, and she took me into a cave. A skeleton with wings laid on a bed of dead flowers. I knew who it was by the long hair. It was my mother, Urane. I kneeled next to her, but I was afraid to touch her because of her fragile bones. Her hair is what kept her spirit alive. I took the ring she had on her finger. It was a blue diamond on a gold band.
“I must go back home, but I will be back,” I said. The bird laid next to Urane’s remains, and wept. The bird followed me out of the cave.
“You can’t go to Earth with me. You are too big, and my domain is not big enough to hide you,” I said. I turned around to walk away, but someone called my name. A woman wearing a cape stood in front of me. She looked like the vision of my mother except she had green eyes.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Urane’s sister. My name is, Tundra. I have been stuck on this planet for many years waiting for you to come home,” she said.
“My mother was a bird?” I asked, and she smiled.
“Your mother is all birds plus more, and I’m just one. We hatched from the same egg in a magical forest many years ago. Your father came from an unknown world too. A world that’s greater than everything around us. They were gods and goddesses who existed way before our time. We will never know our purpose, so it’s a must that we create our own,” Tundra said.
“You can come back to Earth with me,” I replied.
“I’m too weak to travel, Midas. I’m dying too. It’s time for me to join my sister. I stayed alive only to see you again,” she said.
“I will carry you to my planet, and give you the rest of the water I have in my domain. You will not die because I won’t let you. I destroyed enough of my kind,” I replied.
“You are your father’s son. He was a great protector, but he wasn’t the easiest to get along with,” she said. I picked her up, and she held on to me. I stretched my wings before I flew into the sky. Lacas was a long journey from Earth. The light from Tundra’s eyes guided me through dark sky.
Casha
“W hat is he doing here?” I asked Odega. Rudan sat in the dungeon with his wings nailed to the wall.
“He’s a prisoner until Brick comes back,” Eagle replied.
“I don’t trust him,” I said.
“We don’t trust you neither, so shut the fuck up!” Odega yelled at me.
“Awwww, the baby is upset,” I poked my lip out.
“What are you doing down here?” Eagle asked me.
“I followed the noise. I was awakened out of my sleep,” I replied.
“Go back to sleep,” Eagle said.
I pushed him out of the way, and headed up the stairs. I heard a loud bang when I walked down the hall. I opened the front door, and Brick climbed out of a smoking hole in the ground with a creature.
“Who is that?” I asked. He stood the creature up, and she looked around. Her dark-skin shimmered, and her pretty eyes glowed. Her wild, and jet-black hair stopped at her hips. She walked over to me, and sniffed me. I backed away from her as she stared at me.
“She’s my aunt,” Brick replied. He led her into the house, but her eyes were glued to me. I went upstairs to the room, and placed my ear to the floor where I heard echoes come from. Brick knew what I was. I heard everything Rudan said to him about me. I was walking down the hall when I heard him, and Brick talking inside of the room he called his “work shop”. I needed a way to get back to my planet to warn Jonelius of Brick’s father being on Earth. I heard stories about, Neoth. We wouldn’t have had a home if Brick’s father was alive. He was a monster, and cared nothing for our dying planet, so we took from his to rebuild our home. I wasn’t expecting to fall for Brick, but I couldn’t resist him. I knew what he was capable of, so I gave him my body to disconnect him from his real world. I didn’t want him to figure out his past, but I was too late. Nabila’s dreams turned Brick against me, and I wanted her to die because of it. I panicked when Brick told Odega and Eagle I was a prisoner
. He brought me to Earth to use me against my kingdom. I broke the window and leaped into the air. I flew through the trees in the woods, but a shadow covered me from above. I looked up, and it was Brick.
“Where am I going?” I cried. I ran into a tree, and fell down the branches. I hit my head on a rock, and my vision was blurry. Brick stood over me, with his eyes glowing at me. The bright gold medallion on his chest burned my eyes, and I screamed.
