The Beginning

As night began to fall over the city of New York, dark and disturbing clouds had started to roll in from the west, baring a sudden feeling of the bitterness and cold that would soon come to the city. People rushed home to their families and warm homes to avoid getting caught in the approaching storm. Shops began to close while others opened up, ignoring the fact that the storm would make business slow that night. As the clouds moved closer, fewer people were seen on the streets, except for a few who were heading somewhere and a handful of others unfortunate enough not to have a place to go. As the wind picked up and raindrops began to fall, a woman emerged from the subway.

This particular lady could somewhat easily stand out in a crowd. With naturally wavy red hair and striking green eyes, as well as pale skin and red lips, she was quite beautiful. Even her faded pair of jeans and black rain jacket gave her a look of mysteriousness and elegance. The wind picked again, blowing her hair in front of her face. She brushed it aside, continuing through the approaching storm. Along the way, she kept saying in her head,

I do hope Trev has dinner ready. I mean, it's his turn to make it, since I've been doing it all bloody week.

The rain began to pour and the wind picked up speed. Luckily for her, she had arrived at her boyfriend's apartment complex, just as the storm became too unbearable.

Shaking her coat off at the door, she made her way up the stairs to the apartment. She walked down the hall to see a note was posted on his door.

Mr. Trevor Cameron and Miss Nicole Kent,

As of today, your apartment is now under foreclosure.

You have exactly 48 hours to clear out your living space before immediate action will be issued.

Sincerely,

Management.

Nicole stared at the door with disbelieve.

This has to be a mistake...I mean, Trevor paid the rent this month...didn't he?

Nicole jammed the key in the slot and pushed the door open. Inside, a young man was sitting on the couch, having fallen asleep. His extremely long black hair was swaying as he snored. He wore only a white muscle shirt and a pair of black boxers. He yellow teeth grinned together while his bony fingers lay folded on his stomach.

"Trevor!" Nicole yelled loudly, waking up Trevor with a jolt.

"Wha...?" he groaned.

"Did you see the sign on your door? The apartment is being foreclosed! I thought you paid the rent!"

"Yea...I did...at least I'm sure I did..."

"You're smoking weed again, aren't you?"

"Nah man..."

"Don't lie to me! You were supposed to pay your share of the rent and you go blow it on weed? I mean, you haven't even had a job in two months! I would think you would save the last bit of your money for this," she exclaimed as her angry grew.

"Well I don't see you doing anything...about a job you know..." Trevor mumbled as he got up from his spot on the couch.

"Excuse me? I just spent all day at three job interviews and have been searching for an opening while you sit on your lazy ass all day. I'm the one who's paying for everything!"

Nicole stormed into their bedroom, where Trevor followed her.

"Come on babe, can we talk about this?"

"Well that depends, I-" Nicole stopped herself.

Beside the bed, there was a bra that wasn't hers. It was a pink bra that was at least a C cup.

"Who's is this?" she asked quietly as she pointed to it. When Trevor didn't reply, she repeated it louder.

"Who's is this? Answer me!"

"I...uh..."

"You've been cheating on me?" she whispered, trying her hardest to hold back her tears.

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't so 'tired' all the time," Trevor boldly said.

"I'm tired all day because I have to go find a job to support us and then do all the chores here, which you never help with."

"Yea, but then you come home and write some stupid fantasy story that still hasn't been published yet!"

He reached over to the desk across from the door where he picked up a booklet with loose leaf paper.

"It's not a stupid story. For all we know, this book could get me rich and famous."

"Yes, because in modern New York, a story about fairy tales is gonna get you famous. Face the facts, you're nothing but a dreamer who will never accomplish her goal, and if she does a couple of kids and fantasy dorks are going to be deciding your fate. You should be lucky that I even dated a failure like you!"

Nicole caught her breath once his hurtful words crept in.

"Fine, you know what, fine." She said angrily as she strolled across the room, sliding past Trevor and towards the door.

"Wait, stop," Trevor grabbed her wrist to stop her. With her free hand, Nicole slapped Trevor across the face.

"Don't you dare fucking touch me! We are through Trevor! I can't put up with this anymore! I'll send for my stuff tomorrow."

And with that, Nicole opened the front door, slammed it, walked down the stairs and left the apartment complex. She was met by the bitter, freezing rain, which she didn't worry about. Nicole walked down the streets, not caring where she was going. After a while, she had grown concerned about where she was.

All these streets look the same. I must be in downtown Manhattan by now.

As she was walking, she began to notice that there was a man that had been following her for a while. She couldn't make out his features, but she knew that he was wearing a baseball cap and all black clothes. She turned the corner and speed up her pace. Just as she was coming to an alley way, two more men in black left a convince store and stopped right in front of her. She turned around to see that the man had caught up with her and was right behind her. She turned down the alley way, only to find it was a dead end. The three men had moved into the alley and were closing in. Nicole knew that she had no choice.

She screamed.

Owen Burnett and Alexander Xanatos left the movie theatre along with the crowd, only to be met with the pouring rain. Owen had volunteered to take Alex out so that David and Fox could have a night to themselves. As they made their way to the car, Alexander kept bouncing around Owen, recalling some of the scenes from the movie.

"And did you see the way the hero was like; you're going down bad guy and the bad guys like, no way, then he sets off the bomb! That was so cool!"

The sides of Owen's mouth twitched slightly as the boy continued his retelling. He enjoyed Alexander's curious mind, and the fact he was so entranced by everything he saw.

"But I didn't like the ending."

"And why is that?" Owen asked curiously in his monotone voice.

"Because the girl ends up going for the sidekick in the end. Shouldn't the girl be with the superhero?'

Before Owen could answer him, a scream was heard from an alley way across the street from them.

"Somebody's in trouble! We should help them!"

"I don't think that would be wise. We should not get involved," Owen told Alexander as he turned to the car door to open it. When he turned around again, Alexander was running across the street towards the alleyway.

"Alexander!"

Owen ran across the street towards the boy, but was stopped when a car nearly hit him. He stared at the driver for a split second before he continued after Alex, who had stopped in front of the alleyway.

"Stop fiends! You will not harm that lady!"

Three large men in black had corned a lady into the alley, who could not be seen through the shadows.

"Lookie here boys, this pipsqueak is telling us to stop. And are you gonna stop us tiny man?" One of them asked as they moved closer to Alexander.

"No, but I will," Owen said as he stood beside Alexander, with his stone fist raised and his good hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Well then give it your best shot," the man sneered as he charged at them. Owen waited for a moment before he reached up and slammed his fist right in the middle of the man's face, instantly causing him to fall to the ground. The other two men abandoned the women and came after him.

Owen pushed Alexander beside two trash cans while he prepared for the attack. Alexander moved from his spot and quickly crept over to the lady. She was huddled on the ground, watching the spectacle in front of her. She saw the little boy who had distracted the men come running to her. He looked as though he was no more than six. Concerned for his wellbeing, she reached out her arms and pulled him close to her, turning her back in the process so she could protect him.

Owen punched another man in the jaw, sending him back into the wall. The third man grabbed a steel pipe and came running at Owen before he grabbed the pipe with his good hand and punched the guy in the head. He fell down, unconisous from the punch. The second man came towards him again, only to be punched in the jaw and sent flying into the trash cans. Owen looked over to see that the women and Alexander were huddled together, their backs turned, as the first man crawled over to them.

Acting fast, Owen raised his hand up and a flash of lightning shot out towards the man, stunning him in the process. While the man lay motionless, Owen looked at the scene before he walked over to the women. She was holding Alexander in a protective manner, only looking up and releasing Alexander when Owen came up to them.

"Uncle Owen!" Alexander exclaimed as he hugged Owen's pant leg. Owen placed his good hand on top of Alexander's head. He glanced up to actually see the women for the first time.

She was remarkably beautiful, with red hair, pale skin and green eyes; she looked as though she wasn't even human. She looked at them with a sleepy expression before she fell unconisous, with voices fading in and out before they became no more.

The first chapter of my first Gargoyle story! I'm very excited to write this, since I have had this stored in my brain for the longest time. I have a few chapters already written, but I need to look over them, but I'll be sure to upload them right away. Enjoy! And please R&R!