Sabrina and the Gargoyle

by Marie Dry

  Kratos looked right at her and Sabrina nearly wet her pants. She could live a million years happily if this creature never looked at her again with that strange green gaze that seemed made up of minerals, as if his body had been composed of different elements than a human’s.

  “Come here.”

  She felt no compulsion to obey, but thought it wise to hide how much resistance she had to him. She tried to move as jerkily as Simon had, praying all the while the creature wouldn’t touch her with those slimy fingers that bent forward and backward.

  Kratos looked down into her eyes and Sabrina chanted every Klingon word she could think of. It was like falling into a pit of slimy evil, that green mineral gaze holding her captive there.

  Still, she was aware of herself, somehow knew he couldn’t read her.

  “The last time I rose, no human was closed to me. Now I find two.” He absently touched her neck, as if debating choking her and then moved away. “A gargoyle was closed to me once, but my children eventually managed to kill him. Though not before he stopped me rising. I had to punish them.”

  Sabrina didn’t like the implication that he was powerful even before he rose. And she rather thought he talked about Mark’s father. She banished any thought of Mark from her mind, concentrated on showing fear, and chanting in Klingon.

  “You will be my sacrifice. The one that will set my goddess free.”

  “No I will not be your sacrifice.” She had a hard time chanting in Klingon with his mind battering at hers with much more force than the drogge had. And it was hard concealing her shock at his appearance. She’d spoken without thinking.

  His face was that of a lizard, his long body seemed to be scaled from what she could see from his neck and arms not covered by his long robe. The worst were his eyes. Cold, reptilian, they regarded her with no emotion she could discern. His presence filled the room with malevolence.

  “Do you wish to amend that statement?” The quiet cultured query coming from a being that reeked of evil was almost obscene.

  She wanted to tell him that he could go to hell, that she would not be his slave, and she’d escape, and kill his acolytes--but that way lay disaster. She swallowed her fear and pride. “Yes.”

  “Your owner already offered to trade you for one of my drogge.”

  She started, not able to hide her relief. Mark knew he had her and had found a way to get her back.

  His lips pulled into something she thought might be meant to be a smile, but with the jagged edges that seemed almost carved out of stone and his crooked sharp teeth, it was truly frightening. “I didn’t think he was strong enough to capture one of mine.”

  “Mark is stronger than you think. He’ll come for me and wipe you and your precious children off the face of the earth.”

  Simon moved, almost as if he wanted her to be quiet.

  “Silence,” Kratos boomed. “Kneel.”

  Sabrina forced herself to kneel jerkily, to appear under his influence. Could merely chanting in Klingon really block such a powerful being?

  He walked up and down in front of her. “It takes a long time for my incubators to provide me with children that are worthy to bring my goddess back. And all of them worthless sterile drogge. But they do have their uses while I wait for the right sacrifice.”

  She wanted to scream at him that she wasn’t something that could be owned. Instead, she chanted in Klingon. Why did he seem to want to talk?

  He walked forward and, unlike his drogge he didn’t shuffle. Instead, he reminded her of a crocodile. A crocodile that was double jointed. He smiled and she had to concentrate not to recoil from those sharp teeth. He lifted a strand of her hair and she half expected it to turn gray like it did when the Drogge touched her.

  “You are strong, you will be the one to bring back--” His eyes narrowed on her and she instinctively leaned back from him, but stopped the movement when she realized it gave away the fact that she wasn’t under his control. “You are resisting my control. How?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Inside her head she frantically chanted in Klingon. If this monster got into her head just once, she’d be done for. How could she distract him? “What are you?”

  He leaned over her, that same strange bending of his skeleton that he did with Simon earlier. “Most people don’t have the courage to ask me that. I am the first. Long before humans became a plague on the earth and long before the continents broke up into seven pieces I was made by Jahi, I was her son.” For the first time she heard something other than evil in his voice. It was almost sadness.

  “What happened?”

  “I ate the abomination she made to replace me, and she called me a monster. Me, her son, she wanted to replace with that thing.”

  Her stomach turned. Did he eat a human? “Did you kill her?” She regretted the question the moment it left her lips and frantically chanted. Accusing him of killing his mother slash goddess will not end well for her.

  He moved up and down in front of her, his movements agitated, his knees bending this way then that. “She’s my mother, I would never kill her. I love her above all others. I will sacrifice you and have her back.

  Obviously his mind was as wrong as his body. She pitied the woman taken over by him and his horrific drogge. “How long have you been in South Africa?” If she could just keep him talking long enough, Mark would have time to find her and figure out a way to kill this monster.

  “I sent my drogge here, this land is a young and new hunting ground for my children, after I sensed my sacrifice here. Your husband followed them here. Every time I rise, his kind hunts me, this time I’m hunting him.” His lips moved in a parody of a smile, whatever that macabre baring of his teeth was meant to be, he obviously wasn’t smiling. “I have his property and his ally is willing to betray him.”

  “I’m not his property, I’m his wife.” She wouldn’t mention that she was a pretend wife, especially not with that traitor Simon standing there. But if one more of these called her property or said Mark owned her, she would not be responsible for what she did to them. She glared at Simon. “And he’s a worthless traitor that will get his punishment.” She smiled sweetly at Simon while she said to Kratos, “Why don’t you sacrifice him first? For a practice run?

  Simon didn’t react, but if this Kratos creature could laugh, she supposed that’s what it was.

  “What are you going to do to me?”

  Faster than her eyes could follow he grabbed her close and put his misshapen hand on her stomach. “You will be the one. The one that will bring back my Jahi, my mother. It was foretold that one who had a strong mind will incubate her.”

  Nausea cramped in her stomach. She was too frightened to do anything but chant. Those awful cold fingers traced the contours of her abdomen. “Your womb is healthy, ready to provide for me. When I break your mind, I will place my essence here.” He pressed into her gut and she whimpered.

  She closed her eyes and chanted. When he forced some vile concoction down her throat, she chanted.

  “Tomorrow we will bring back Jahi,” Kratos said, glee and yearning in his voice.

  Sabrina kept chanting while they took her back to her room.

  Simon came and knelt at her feet. “I can’t get you out yet. They don’t trust me enough. I don’t know how you resist their minds, but whatever you are doing, keep doing it. You can’t sleep tonight, you can’t relax. If you do, it will take over your body, make you ready to receive his vile spawn.”

  “Why should I trust you? You’re probably only saying this to gain my trust. To help that creature.” She wanted Mark. If he was with her, she could be brave.

  “No, you have to listen to me. You can trust me. But whether you do or don’t, make sure you do whatever you must to keep them out of your mind. I’ll try to get you something to keep you awake.”

  “I won’t trust you, no matter what you say.”

  He muttered and glanced at the window where the sun was coming up. “They should be going down fo
r the day.” He picked her up and carried her out of the room.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Not so loud. I’m showing you the basement.”

  He carried her effortlessly and, to her horror, her body reacted to him, readied itself to take his. She whimpered and then pressed her lips together. Her body was all messed up. That was the only explanation. She glared down at her clenched fists to resist the horrific impulse to kiss this traitor.

  They walked down some steps and the stench hit her long before he walked through the open door. It was obscene that the door stood open, that they didn’t even try to hide what evil they’d done.

  “Look at them. When you get sleepy tonight, remember this and keep concentrating.”

  She opened her eyes and continued to chant. They were in a basement, she’d been aware of the smell from the moment he opened the door. Still chanting, she looked around and almost faltered in her recital of every stupid Klingon word she could think of.

  They lay on the floor as if a giant had taken them and carelessly strewn them across the floor. Dried-out husks of bodies that used to be beautiful young women. She saw the distinctive blonde hair on one of the husks, the color of Jo’s hair. Slightly faded now. Sabrina’s stomach turned. “Put me down or I’m throwing up on you.”

  He hastily put her down and she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. It would serve him right.

  She stumbled away from that horrific scene, the terrible smell of rotting and death and suffering. Getting as far away from that nightmare as she could, Sabrina turned and expelled her stomach.

  Simon merely stood and waited for her. “Don’t lose focus, throw up if you must, but keep doing whatever you do to keep them out of your mind,” Simon commanded. Never in her life did she want to hurt anyone as much as she wanted to hurt him right now.

  She continued the chanting and sobbed when she realized she’d forgotten to for what must have been seconds. In those seconds, something took root in her mind. Something that tried to grow. “I feel it, something is happening. You have to get me out of here.”

  “Mark will come. Between us, we will get you out. In the meantime, you have to be strong. Your only concern is keeping that thing out of your head. If you can keep him out of your head, you can keep him out of your body.”

  “He’s already in, traitor.”

  “It takes time for them to take root in a mind. Keep resisting it, and it will go away.”

  He took her back to her room, told her to sit and stare in front of her, and left.

  Simon returned with a tray of food. He stood, quiet, while she forced herself to eat. She couldn’t take much more of this. She hadn’t slept, dreaded when Kratos would send for her, and wanted to go home to Mark.

  “When will Mark come for me?” She didn’t trust Simon, but prayed with every fiber of her being that he was telling the truth and that Mark sent him here.

  “Soon.”

  She knew Mark would come for her, but she worried that he will be too late. “Have I mentioned before that I really, really don’t like you.”

  “Several times.” He walked over to the window and when he frowned, she went to join him, listening for the drogge’s shuffling footsteps.

  Silence reigned while they both watched the drogge walking around in strange meandering circles. She couldn’t understand why she would be so attracted to Simon. In spite of her love for Mark, their situation, and her hatred of Simon whenever he came near her, her body prepared itself for sex.

  “I wonder what they’re doing. They walk around like that for hours.”

  “I suspect that’s how they summon Kratos. Only one of them knows he’s here. The rest of them are functioning with just one thought in their head. Summoning their father,” Simon told her.

  “Why wouldn’t he let them know he’s here?”

  Kratos made no secret of his disgust for his creations. She’d been surprised to find that he thought them inferior and planned to kill them when he manage to resurrect his mother.

  “Mark made contact. He’s coming for you, you need to be ready.”

  Sabrina sucked in her breath. “Do you know what the plan is?”

  She still didn’t trust Simon and his claim that he was sent in to spy by Mark, but she couldn’t suppress a spark of hope.

  “I don’t know what Kratos’s powers are, but Mark insists that he is very dangerous. That he can kill with just a thought. Mark said to tell you to do your mind trick and keep doing it no matter what happens.”

  “Can Kratos be killed?” She couldn’t bear the thought of Kratos killing anymore young women. He needed to be stopped.

  “I don’t know. I suspect Mark knows how to do it and is going to try.”

  “I don’t want to have to be in his presence again, I can’t bear it. He gives off a stench of pure evil. Until I saw that monster, I never thought evil had a stench you could smell.”

  He gave a strained smile and she placed her hand on his arm. “If you are truly not a traitor, I thank you, I would’ve hated being alone in here.” She frowned and considered him. “How do you resist their mind control?”

  “Vampire hunters are born with the ability to resist mind control. Without that ability, we wouldn’t be able to hunt the fuckers.”

  “Why do you hate vampires so much?” She remembered now, Mark had told her the hunters had a natural immunity. Chanting in Klingon all the time was frying her brains. She almost wished Kratos would send for her and get it over with.

  He stiffened and stepped back from her. “A drogge is coming. Sit on the bed.”

  She sat on the bed and projected the nothingness they tried to force on her. They suspected she was resisting them somehow, but couldn’t figure out what she was doing.

  No one would believe her if she told them she was saying random Klingon words in her head and cutting off their hold on her mind. For that matter, if she got away and she told anyone she was in love with a gargoyle that was half vampire as well and about the drogge created by a creature that predated the continents, they’d send her to the funny farm for sure.

  The drogge stepped into the room. “Our father will honor you with an audience.” He snapped his fingers at Simon. “Bring her.”

  Simon grabbed her arm and dragged her through the door. She didn’t have to pretend reluctance. She kicked and screamed and tried to resist, but he was too strong for her. If the drogge had any doubts this should convince them that Simon was a traitor. She screamed every Klingon word she knew and then they were in that laboratory of evil again.

  Kratos stared at the drogge who stared at him with longing eyes. He said something in a language that vaguely reminded her of Klingon and the drogge fell down. She felt Simon stiffen next to her. Kratos focused on him. “There is something strange about you, hunter. I’ve never known one of your breed to turn traitor.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” Simon said but stiffened when Kratos walked up to him. Those long strangely reptilian double jointed fingers touched his face, stroked down his neck. All the while staring into Simon’s unflinching eyes.

  At last, Kratos pushed him, an almost casual gesture that caused Simon to stumble several steps back. Kratos turned away from him. “Stand at the door and don’t move.”

  Simon went to the door and stood with his arms over his chest.

  “You will be quiet,” Kratos said to Sabrina.

  “I will not.”

  He walked up to her, grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her up on her toes. “I don’t know how you resist my commands, but I will make you comply. I existed long before your species befouled the earth, and I will remain long after you are gone.”

  “Let me go,” she told him in Klingon.

  His hand opened and she dropped back on her feet. Sabrina staggered back and clutched her sore neck. His eyes were narrowed, his teeth bared, and she thought it might be his surprised look. It was hard to tell with that lizard/human face.

  He tilted his head, a
nd his eyes became strangely glazed. For a moment, he looked furious, as if he would like to kill her.

  Then he said, his non lips moving over clenched teeth, “What did you do?”

  She held out her hand and backed away from him. “Stay away from me,” she said in Klingon.

  He checked, as if he walked into a wall, and then he visibly shook off whatever hold her words had on him and came at her. “Mother?”

  There was doubt in his voice and terrible evil longing in his eyes. Sabrina didn’t want to even pretend to be his mother, but it might allow her to get the upper hand.

  “Yes, I am your mother. I am disappointed in you for harming the humans.” She tried to sound like a goddess.

  She knew she’d overdone it. He straightened and lunged for her. Then everything happened at once.

  Simon drew a weapon and, even while she screamed at Kratos in Klingon to be helpless, that he couldn’t move, she wondered where Simon had hid the weapon. She’d never seen it on him before. He changed--from one moment to the next, he changed into a gargoyle with red eyes and enormous teeth with what looked like a glittering massive ax in one hand and a short blood red sword in the other.

  He hooked the glimmering axe over Kratos’s shoulder. “Get away from her. You dare try imposing your foul get on my wife? For that you will die.” He swung the axe at Kratos’s neck, and it made contact with a clang, as if the axe had met rock. “This is for my mother, asshole.” He swung again and, this time, she saw something gooey leak from Kratos’s neck. “This is for my wife.

  “Mark?”

  “Keep chanting, Sabrina.”

  This was Mark. He’d been here all the time and he never let her know. Never reassured her. She kept chanting but, this time, she didn’t search for words. She told Mark what she’d do to him, when they got out of here, for not telling her he was there. If they got out of here alive. While she glared daggers at him, she chanted out loud in Klingon, tried to string sentences together that instructed Kratos to not fight Mark, to be weak, to go away. To please go away.

  “I knew something was off with you. You’re a royal gargoyle. I smell it on you now,” Kratos said, spitting the word gargoyle as if it was something foul.