by E G McNally
“Okay, I guess I won’t do that anytime soon, not unless I get it under control,” she noted to herself. She scanned the ground some more. From what she knew of traveling she must still be in the Northern part of the country, maybe still Canada, hopefully. The night was cold and the thick blanket of trees and random empty fields covered with snow suggested that she was in the northern hemisphere. It was mid February and most of the southern states, if they even got snow, had lost it by now. But up here, wherever here was, was thickly covered with heavy layers of snow and there was no real hint of the spring coming at all.
Taylor’s eyes were beginning to strain from the intensive gazing through the cold air, but finally, after close to an hour of soaring around, keeping close to the trees for cover, she spotted what must be a little town, and where there was a town there was most definitely some place for shelter, and just in the nick of time too, because it was starting to snow out. First the snow lightly fluttered from above swirling around in delicate little dancing patterns, but then almost instantly the snowflakes quadrupled in number and size and the wind picked up, pouring them sideways against Taylor’s flight, causing her to work twice as hard and blurring her vision.
The cold was finally starting to effect Taylor, with the wind blowing, the temperature must have been in the negatives, she could feel little icicles forming around her eyelids and nostrils, and the previous warmth that filled her vessels keeping her extremities comfortable in the minor cold, was replaced with a tingly pinching feeling that hurt as she slowly began to lose feeling in her fingers and toes, which had shredded the shoes she wore when she made her transformation back at the gym.
“Hmm, what’s that?” Taylor felt something warm slowly and softly surge through her body causing her head to instinctively turn towards the direction it was coming from. She saw a dim glow off in the distance, one of the few things she could see in the blizzard. She changed direction and began flapping her long black wings, forcing her body against the wind, to find safety and shelter near the warm glow. As she got closer she could see it more clearly. A large building, house, no, mansion of some sort, with open fields around it, and other buildings sporadically spaced among the trees in the surrounding area. But it, the warm glow, was a fire. A fire inside a large room, someplace where she could warm up and fall asleep.
She flew in closer until she was only meters away from the room with the roaring fire, exposed by a large open window. She noticed a cleft that ran along the entire outside of the mansion supporting various stone gargoyle statues at corner points among the building.
“That’s so funny,” she commented, picturing the gargoyle statues bursting alive and becoming like her. Snickering at the statues, she swung her legs forward, and grasped with her black claws, the cleft, landing ever so perfectly.
One by one, she placed each hand on the brickwork, scooting sideways, like a gecko in a terrarium moving along the plated glass, toward the window in order to get a better idea of how to get in and warm up, or to see whether the room was even empty in order to warm up.
She peered inside carefully, the warm fuzzy feeling more intensely surging through her body, and noticed a man, an older man standing inside. He looked a lot like the man in her old dreams, the one that had appeared at her hearing, dressed in a nice business suit accompanied by military types.
She wondered if that was Major Bradshaw, forgetting her caution, pressing her black cat like ear up against the window, listening closely to the chatter inside.
She couldn’t hear well, but it sounded like someone was coming. It was a boy, someone roughly her age. She couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like Jake.
“No way,” she paused, gazing at the figure more precisely. He had tight golden brown curly hair, blue eyes, a chiseled face, a soccer player body, lean masculine muscles, and his sensitive face. It had to be Jake.
“She’s here,” the words slipped out of his mouth, as he turned his gaze towards the window. “I can feel her.” She managed to hear the words, muffled through the glass, as he kept his gaze.
Locked in a trance together, his sensitive baby blue eyes were melting away the cold she felt, smothering the fear and blowing away the sorrow trapped deep inside her soul. Gazing deep into his eyes, she could feel it all disappear, creating an almost tangible warm feeling pulsing through her body. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this was Jake. It seemed that even her soul remembered him, connected by some ancient force, unexplainable, strong and bonding. They gazed at each other, while the other man, searching frantically through the glass, blinded by the crystalline facets in the window, stood silently by, until; “Crap...” She mumbled, ducking behind the wall disappearing away from the window realizing that she had just been seen.
Chapter XVIII: United
“Oh crap, crap, crap, crap … I think he saw me - not me, but me – a gargoyle. . . Now what do I do?” She quickly scurried along the side of the building until she was far enough from the room that no one would be able to see her.
She glanced down at the ground, still heavily snowing outside, and found a spot clear of trees and then released the building landing in a crouch, two feet into the snow.
After getting up and shaking off the cold flecks that clung to various parts of her already damp clothing, icing over from the cold, she wrapped her wings around her chest again, and sped off towards a barn she remembered spying nearby, hoping to find a warm hideout.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Taylor kept repeating the words to herself, afraid of the consequences of being seen. She found the barn approximately a mile from the mansion, and noticed that nothing was open, except for a small shutter door, propped only inches open toward the top of the barn. She crawled up the side and allowed herself in through a shutter. It was a loft, perfect for the nap she needed. She crawled into the thick piles of hay, prickly but dry, above the animals and pulled close the shutter door, crouching in the fetal position, with wings tightly wrapped around her body, trying desperately to warm up.
Senses dulled from the bitter cold, Taylor couldn’t hear much above the howling of the snow as it pounded the sides of the barn. Shuddering in the cold bundle of hay she found, she was left only with her imagination to connect the points that would draw Jake into the ensuing war.
“W-what are y-you doing out h-here Jake? H-he’s gonna k-kill you.” She stammered to herself, barely hearing her own thoughts, numbed from the cold. Her thoughts began to go black as the freezing cold began to drag Taylor deep into unconsciousness.
“Taylor . . . Come to me,” the comforting familiar voice beckoned to her in the cold darkness she had fallen into. A misty shadow appeared in her mind motioning for her to follow.
She felt the pain in her body return as the cold became real again, but she ignored it and followed the dark shrouding figure. She rose from the huddled spot she’d passed out in, in the hay, and pushed open the small loft door looking out into the night, eyes closed as if she were following something in her sleep. The bitter cold brushed against her face as the howling wind pushed a flurry of snow into the barn, and sent a shudder down her already frozen spine, and in her dream made her cross her arms, holding in the little warmth she felt as she followed the mysterious figure.
She leapt into the air and began soaring, soaring to a destination she was unaware of, in a place she couldn’t see. Her eyes still closed, in a walking sleep, she felt comfort as she followed the figure.
“Where are we going?” She asked, still following the figure, for what seemed like hours.
“Somewhere familiar, somewhere right, somewhere where we both belong, somewhere happy and real away from this bad dream.” The voice echoed through her mind, as the dark light began to brighten into a warm glowing light, and the shrouded figure began to form into a person. She followed until it stopped and she was finally able to catch up to it.
She landed gracefully outside a school, a darkened school, lights out and empty from the night.
T
he figure faded away as she began to open her eyes. She glanced around, noticing a green mountain sign with a cowboy and the name Roughriders underneath, suddenly feeling comfortable and calm in the familiar place and caught a glimpse of her hand as the last remnants of leathery skin on her claws shimmered and shifted into her familiar ivory fingers, and she relaxed, standing right outside the Port Angeles High School.
“You can have this all back,” the familiar voice caught her off guard.
“Jake,” she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Surprised to see him standing beside her outside of their old school, together and human, she broke down into a silent stream of tears.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he consoled her. “Come on,” he placed an arm around her waist and guided her through the school. “Remember Mr. Cadine used to teach Math in there, his crazy hair. You still have to finish up that class this year.” He pointed into one of the classrooms down the long corridor lined with lockers.
A smile formed across Taylor’s teary face, “Yeah, he was a pretty cool teacher.” She left the comfort of Jake’s arm and crossed the hall to one of the lockers, placing her hand on the little dial of the lock spinning it around a couple of times. “This must be another one of my strange dreams.” She mumbled, still fiddling with the lock on the locker.
Jake snickered, “Come on, I’ve got more to show you.” He wrapped his arm around her waist again, and escorted her out of the school down across the street to his very familiar old car. “Go on, get in girly.” He popped open his door and shoved the keys into the ignition.
“Where are we going now?” Taylor asked, excited to be home.
“A surprise,” Jake responded.
Content with the response, Taylor quieted herself, enjoying the peaceful ease of being in Jake’s presence, neither of them bothered by the silence. Still sure that this was all a dream, Taylor traced the ridges of Jake’s hand gently and smiled at the thought of being his girlfriend.
Jake seemed just as pleased with the idea that was silently drifting between them, but kept his attention on the road driving down a couple of different streets cluttered with everyday ordinary houses until he found one with a large multi-angled hillside wall. He parked on the road above the house and escorted her around the back of it, to a part that was level with a large cascade window.
He quietly pushed aside some bushes and crept up alongside the eccentric house.
“Shhh. . . Look,” Jake pointed into a corner of the window at the old couple sleeping silently in bed. One had a long tube connected to his nose with the other end hooked up to a breathing machine at one side of the bed and the other had a large bandage covering most of her arm.
“Grandma, Grandpa,” Taylor squealed, loud enough for the old women to toss in bed as a response to the nose outside.
“Shhhh, I said,” Jake grabbed Taylor, holding her back, placing one hand over her mouth. “They moved up here as soon as the doctors released them from the hospital, they were hoping that if you ran away, then maybe you returned here. They’ve been hoping to find you, but you can’t see them. Not unless you make a choice.” He explained, holding Taylor dearly.
“But they’re alive, they’re okay, they’re here, why can’t I have them.” She began tearing up again, this time difficultly holding back the sobs.
“You know you can’t see them while your, um, dangerous,” he paused looking down at Taylor. “Now, come on,” he lightly whispered, as he helped Taylor up and walked her back to the car, stopping to wipe some of the tears away every few moments. Jake helped Taylor into the car. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you like this. I just want to let you know that they’re not dead, and that you can have a normal life again. You can have everything back. You just have to make a decision.” He finished starting the car and drove off in the night heading west, out of town.
“That’s the second time you’ve said that Jake, what decision do I need to make? Whatever it is, I’ll do it, if I can go back to my grandparents – they need me as much as I need them.” The words spilled out her mouth as she was quieting her sobs and clearing up her face. Jake was beating around the bush and it was annoying her. What was he leaving out, that she couldn’t quite pick up on? As a matter of fact how did he know she was going to be here, was he the person calling to her in her strange dream? The thoughts swarmed through her mind while they drove on. Jake refusing to comment more as he kept silent until they finally pulled onto the long dark road that winded around the back side of Lake Crescent.
“It’s a nice night for a walk, you up for it?” He asked Taylor, breaking the silence. He parked the car against a mound of dirt near the trailhead and stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Taylor followed him, closing the door behind her, all the while keeping her eyes cautiously on Jake as he nonchalantly ambled down the trail. “Something’s not right,” she mumbled to herself. When she opened her eyes Jake was standing right there, at the school. She had seen her own finishing changes, so unless she was dreaming, he had to have seen them too, which meant he was in on something. He was acting too casual, something wasn’t right. The strange warning wandering around in her thoughts began to get stronger as she followed him in the dark out to the place she once knew as The Devil’s Punch Bowl. When they finally arrived at the Cliffside, Jake crossed onto the bridge and hung his arms over the railing looking out over the glistening water, from the silvery light of the moon.
“Remember all the fun we used to have out here?” Jake rolled around leaning his back against the railing. “I remember when you first jumped off of that ledge. You scratched up your hand because you didn’t even look when you made it to the top. You just ran off the edge fearless and stubborn, as always.” A smile crossed his face, lighting up the moonlit baby blues, perched above his naturally flawless nose.
“Yeah, that was funny. I didn’t realize you had to get some distance on the jump. Talk about an adrenaline rush.” Taylor forgot herself for a moment, laughing about the good times. “Hey Jake,” Taylor’s face became more serious, drowning out her laughter, she pulled her black hair out of her face, glistening from the moonlight, and back into a pony tail. “What are you doing? I mean – how’d you know where to find me? What’s going on?” She asked, picking up some pebbles and tossing them out onto the cool, shimmering lake, disturbing the shallow waves that brushed across the surface, in the gentle breeze.
“It’s just that, well, I wanted you to know you’re not alone. I’m here to help. I can save you.” He said.
“Save me . . . save me from what, Jake? What are you talking about?” Taylor cocked her head, confused at the thought.
“Um,” he didn’t respond yet, carefully trying to correct his words.
“Save me from what. . . Jake?” Taylor demanded more impatiently. “Jake, save me from what? What’s going on?” She was booming.
“Shh, shh, sorry, calm down, sorry I, uh, worded that wrong. Just, just give me a sec. Maybe its better I show you and then try to explain.” He cuffed Taylor’s shoulders, holding her still until she calmed down. Although he towered a good seven inches over Taylor he starred down into her eyes piercing her soul. “Just watch.”
Locked in his gaze, Taylor quickly loosened up, relaxing her thoughts. Her face twisted into confusion as his baby blues became saturated with a cloud of billowing white, quickly fading away any color that once existed. And then to her amazement the same cloudy white quickly replaced the lightly tanned tone of his skin. A bit taken aback, Taylor stepped back from Jake’s grasp, and watched as his body began to take form of a shape ever more familiar to her.
Taylor fell to a knee as she tripped over a lose board on the bridge stepping back from Jake. Still baffled, she ignored the scratched knee and steadied herself as she watched Jake finish his change. Before the long white leathery wings could jut out from his back, Jake pulled his shirt off over his head, which was no longer covered in tightly knit little golden brown curls, and
revealed the purple blue bruise that sat right above his sternum.
Taylor gasped, “What, what happened to you?” She reached out a hand and placed it on his scar, closing the gap between them, forgetting her caution from before. She flinched, when her hand touched his skin. It was colder than she could remember. She knew that when she was changed she could withstand more cold, but she didn’t realize it was because her body was colder.
His still human hands reached up and grabbed her wrist pressing her hand firmly to his skin. He closed his eyes and filled his chest with the strong delicate smell of her hair which through the change became much stronger and ever more luring to him. Then he opened his eyes, finishing up the change, he released Taylor’s hand, and stepped back as his fingers finally sharpened into deadly razor like bear claws, that could pierce titanium, and his tail slithered down and out past his legs and around Taylor pulling her in closer.
“I can show you how to control it,” the words drifted out of his mouth catching Taylor in a trance.
She was no longer looking at Jake, but at a large white gargoyle, with glacier white eyes. Yet she felt just as calm with this gargoyle as she had with Jake. If angels had to look like demons, that is what Jake looked like. He was strong and pure and full of protection, his very essence felt overpowering.
“The only catch is that you may have to give it up. You would have to agree to one day give it all up. The power, the changes, the breathing underwater, the flying,” his mouth wasn’t moving the words were directed straight into her head, he was talking to her using telepathy.
He paused after each thing showing off the display of talents accumulated by the change. When he said breathing underwater he arched his back and leapt up onto the railing and off into the water disappearing for several minutes. Taylor searched around the glistening surface of the lake for him, only to be surprised when he launched into the air like a dolphin jumping out of water, only instead of re-entering the water he spread out his wings and caught the air swooping down along the water’s surface and around until he landed coolly beside Taylor again.
