Here is chapter 4 of my story.

Special thanks to my beta "London Bai" for editing it!


The next day, Brandon returned home after his morning workout to find his answering machine was blinking. "Most likely the landlord reminding me of my rent again." 'Nobody else would call me this early in the morning.' He thought to himself. Pressing the button, he was surprised that it wasn't his landlord at all.

"Hello, this is Mandi Baker. I work for Miss Dominique Destine at Nightstone Unlimited and I was asked to call you regarding our front lobby and Ms. Destine's personal office. We understand you have some artwork that may be of interest to us and would like to set up an appointment for tomorrow morning at 10:00am. If you can just give me a call back to confirm, I would appreciate it. The number is 555-9154 extension 143. Thank you for your time."

Brandon quickly picked up the phone and dialed the number to confirm that he would indeed make the appointment. Perhaps things would start to go his way sooner than he thought.

The day calmly progressed, in preparation for tomorrow he put his picture books together and in a briefcase so he wouldn't forget them and set it next to the front door. Tomorrow should be a good day, it was his off day from the gym so he could get little extra sleep, and then hopefully make enough money selling some art to pay the bills.

"Hmm, time for some lunch," he said looking at his watch.

It was just after noon when he decided to cook what was left of the takeout from the previous night. Going through his fridge he also figured he would hit the store, it was kind of bare and maybe he would pick something up for dinner tonight. Since he was having Demona as company again this evening he thought it would be polite to offer some proper dinner.

'I'll get the essentials, but what to eat tonight, hmm... I guess you can't go wrong with pork chops and mashed potatoes, yea that's a plan.'

Finishing his lunch, he set off for the grocery store just down the street. Walking outside of his building he looked up at the afternoon sky which was clouding up.

"Well, guess I'm taking the car. Not gonna get stuck walking if it rains."


Meanwhile, at Nightstone Unlimited Miss Destine had returned from a business meeting she had attended all morning and afternoon. She quickly walked from the elevator down to her secretary and office.

"Did you call Mr. Brown like I asked you to?"

The secretary quickly stood up to address her boss. "Yes, Ms. Destine, I left him a message and he called back shortly after to confirm that he will be here tomorrow at 10:00am."

"Good." And that is all she said to her secretary as she walked into her office and closed her door.

She sat down behind her desk and shuffled through some paperwork that had been set on her desk, but her mind wasn't on the papers in front of her, it was on Brandon. After listening to his story last night, she began to feel a connection between the two of them. His past was full of pain and anger, but it had also given him his tolerant outlook on life. He had been hurt by the few, but didn't hold the many responsible. Maybe he was right, maybe not all humans are truly bad. She sat there in thought for a moment.

She wasn't sure why, but she wanted to share her own past with him, to relate to him. Deep down she wouldn't admit it, but she just wanted one person to understand her pain, just one person to accept her, in over 1000 years no-one person had ever understood her.

Looking out her office window, she saw the clouds covering the late afternoon sky. 'Great, hopefully it doesn't rain tonight, I would rather not show up wet again.'

She looked at her watch. "Three more hours. Please don't rain for three more hours."

Shortly after seven in the evening, Brandon heard tapping on his balcony window, looking up from the kitchen he saw Demona standing regally outside and waved her in.

She slid the door open and stepped inside. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it without getting caught in the rain," she said while closing the balcony window.

"Well, I'm glad you did." Brandon said smiling at Demona.

She caught a whiff of something. "Cooking?"

"Yes, pork chops and mashed potatoes actually. Hope you like it because that's dinner." He said, winking at her.

Demona walked over towards the kitchen and peeked over the counter-top, "Looks good." She noticed he was in a pleasant and happy mood, she most likely knew the reason but figured she would ask anyways. "Having a good day I take it?"

He gave her a Cheshire Cat smile. "Fantastic so far. I got a call early this morning from a company looking to purchase some artwork, so I have an appointment tomorrow morning."

"I am glad to hear things are looking up for you."

"Please, have a seat; the food is ready."

Demona caped her wings around herself as she sat down at the dining table. Brandon set the plates on the table and a smaller one on the floor for his cat.

"Giving your cat pork chops too?"

"Haha, well, I don't want her to get jealous." He said suavely.

"This is very good," Demona said as she ate a piece of the very tender meat.

"Glad you like it, it should be good, it certainly cost enough. I figured I would splurge on a nice dinner since so far, things are looking good."

Demona looked over towards Brandon to catch his eyes looking back at her. "What?" she asked.

"I am pretty sure you promised to answer some of my questions hmm?"

She knowingly smiled. "Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I?" She took a napkin to wipe at the corners of her mouth. "What is it that you wanted to know?"

"I want to know where you come from, how long you live, what are you doing here in Manhattan, and why you hate humanity so much?"

As they ate, Demona explained she and her clan had originally come from Scotland, in the year 994 AD. She told him that gargoyles normally aged twice as slow as humans did, which of course intrigued Brandon as to how she had lived over one thousand years ago, but that was also eventually explained too. The story of how she was granted immortality and linked with a man named Macbeth until one of them killed the other was strange but he had no reason to not believe such a claim.

As she continued her story, Brandon began to clear the table of their plates and eventually they moved to the couch to continue. As she spoke, Brandon never took his eyes from her but for a moment to grab his drink, he was truly interested in what she said. The story of the betrayal by the human, who was the Captain of the Guard at the castle they protected brought sadness to Demona's face. The destruction of her clan, the one thousand year stone sleep of the remaining gargoyles, and how she was now alone and still alone today made Brandon feel sympathy for her.

One thousand years worth of story telling had taken time, it was nearly half past midnight when she finished.

"Now you know just about everything," Demona said looking at Brandon.

"Seems your past has been riddled with pain and anger to, but that still doesn't explain why you hate all humans."

"I suppose I don't hate ALL humans... you're not so bad." Demona said grinning at Brandon. "But I do suppose that only a few are the problem, the general population may not be so bad."

"I don't know if I am a beacon of morality for humans, but at least I try my best."

Demona looked past Brandon towards the balcony window, it had started to rain again, and pretty hard tonight.

Brandon looked behind him and knew what she was thinking. "You can stay here tonight again, if you want. I know you don't want to fly home in the rain."

Demona smiled. "Thank you, but I can't fly. Our bodies are too heavy for our wings, so we can only glide on air currents, but if you are good enough at it you can stay in the air for a very long time."

"Seems that's one more thing I now know about you. Must be nice to glide out in the open air, seeing everything around you. I have only experienced it from helicopters or jumping out of them, but never truly being in the air."

"Well, maybe one night when the skies are clear we can go gliding." Demona said smiling warmly.

Getting up from the couch Brandon got an extra pillow and blanket from the hallway closet. "You can take the bed again, I'll just crash on the couch." Demona started to walk past him towards the bedroom when he lightly grabbed her arm to stop her. "I was just wondering, will you be gone again when I wake up?"

"It would be best if I was." She said seeing his face sadden. "But we'll see each other again."

"Well... I would like that, very much." Brandon said with a smile. "Sleep well, Demona."

Demona walked down to the bedroom door and looked back at Brandon, her cheeks reddened slightly as she saw him looking back at her. Without saying a word, she continued into the bedroom and shut the door.

As she undressed, her mind was running circles with thoughts of these feelings she had started to have. 'Why do I feel this way, he is a human and I am... not.' She put her loincloth and top on the edge of the bed and slid under the soft cool sheets. She felt peaceful in his bed, being around this human in general. She must had been a little more tired than she thought as she did have a very busy day, as she laid there she began to drift off to sleep, but not before having some little less than moral thoughts about Brandon enter her mind. 'Touch me... caress me...'

Morning rolled around as Demona opened her eyes slowly. Still sleepy, she looked around the room she was in and remembered where she was. She turned over to see the nightstand clock which read five forty-seven, then noticing the rays of sunlight coming through the bedroom window she quickly sat up and gasped.

"Oh, shit!" She said, quickly as a complete sunrise was only moments from happening and she hadn't been able to leave in time. Not even ten seconds later, an agonizing pain ran through Demona's body as her transformation from gargoyle to human had begun. She let out a scream as she began changing to human form.

Brandon was sharply awakened by Demona's scream from his bedroom as he quickly sprung up from his couch. What was happening in his bedroom he didn't know, perhaps the hunters had found out she was here?

'But how?!' He ran to his kitchen table to reach under it for the holstered firearm he kept there for emergencies. He quickly paced down the hallway and listened for anything coming from his bedroom as it was now quiet. Brandon heard some soft labored panting coming from inside. With his back pressed against the wall, he used his heel to kick the door open and swiveled inside.

"FREEZE!" He shouted as he pointed his weapon at the standing figure while surveying the room from side to side for anyone else. Brandon tried adjusting his eyes as the sun was now glaring through the window.

He heard a familiar voice. "It's me, Brandon." It was Demona's voice coming from the figure in the sunlight. He quickly moved inside of the bedroom and out of the glare of the sun to see a nude pale skinned redhead standing in front of him. "You can put the gun down now," Demona said. Brandon lowered his weapon slightly and had nothing but questions. Demona looked at him and instead of a long drawn out explanation she said. "You know how gargoyles normally turn to stone during day? Well... I turn into this, a human, and it is quite painful and rather annoying."

Brandon ran his eyes up and down the pale skinned body that claimed to be Demona. "You really are her, aren't you?" She had the same ruby red hair, her body was just as toned as it was as a gargoyle, he even noticed that same neatly trimmed patch of red curly hair covering her sex that he had seen the previous night.

Demona just nodded while looking at him with a smirk.

He realized the obvious fact that once again he had burst in on Demona while she was nude, but for the second time Demona made no attempt to cover herself. Instead, she was just staring back at him with a bit of redness in her face. Brandon covered his eyes again and starting to apologize.

"You know, you really should put some pants on." Demona said pointing downward with an even bigger smirk.

Brandon removed his hand from his eyes and took notice of himself in the bedroom mirror. He had burst into the bedroom completely nude himself guns blazing and all. Granted, being startled and genuinely worried is what most concerned him at the time of jumping off the couch, so putting clothing on was the least of his worries.

Demona let out a devious laugh. "Not bad looking, for a human."

Even though it had come off jokingly, in her mind she took mental notes of the toned muscles and definition he had, among certain other well endowed parts of his body. Since he was already in his bedroom, he turned his back to her and opened his closet to quickly retrieve some clothing while placing his firearm on the shelf inside his closet.

"Nice rear, too." She added.

He blushed and was thankful Demona couldn't see it. He quickly put on a pair of slacks before things got to out of hand and embarrassing things started happening. Demona stepped beside him and shifted through his hung clothing. "I need something to wear out of here, but don't worry I will bring it back," she said with a wink.

Brandon grabbed a shirt and tie from his closet and stepped back to put it on while sneaking glances at Demona's now human form. Oddly enough he preferred the way she looked as a gargoyle, though she was still beautiful even now. She wasn't shy at all about her body which struck him a little off-guard but admired her for not being typically shy about something natural. As Demona found what she would wear in a simple pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt, she turned to him and caught him looking at her.

She playfully snapped at him. "See something you like, human!?"

Brandon quickly snapped back. "You're human now too, ya know! But honestly, I thought you even more beautiful as a gargoyle..."

That blunt and honest statement caught Demona by surprise as he had now seen her in the nude twice, in both forms, and he preferred her as a gargoyle. She, quite obviously, turned red at the statement and turned away quickly. She started to feel the way she did before she fell asleep last night again. 'Why?' Demona thought as she put on the borrowed clothing.

Finally, Demona broke the silence as they both finished getting dressed. "So, what was up with the gun thing, hmm?"

"I heard you scream and thought you were in trouble."

"You always keep a gun handy?"

He turned to her and smiled a little. "It pays to be prepared for anything and with my colorful past, you never know who you managed to piss off."

Demona grinned at him in understanding as she herself had an impressive arsenal of weapons and security systems in her mansion. "I can appreciate that." She said. "Thanks."

"For what?" Brandon asked.

"Even though I wasn't in trouble, it's the thought that counts, right?" Brandon just gave a smile in reply.

Demona walked out of the bedroom as Brandon followed, he looked at the wall clock and noticed the time. "Demona, I have to get going if I want to make this appointment." It was already half past eight in the morning and he needed to eat breakfast, and wash up for his ten o'clock meeting this morning.

He offered to pay for a cab so Demona could go where she needed to go. She accepted, seeing as she had no money due to her overnight stay here. Fifteen minutes later, she walked to his building elevator to go down to the waiting cab that he had sent for her, but Demona looked back at Brandon before she left. "I will see you soon." She said smiling. Before he could answer, she left him yet again.

"See me soon?" Brandon looked at his watch and grimaced. He went back inside his apartment and gathered his briefcase. He quickly put in some toast and had some orange juice while he went into the bathroom to scrub his face.

On the drive to his appointment, Demona filled his thoughts. He really did appreciate her gargoyle form much more than her human one, even though both were beautiful. It wasn't just her body he admired, it was her demeanor; she was tough, but also so delicate. He seriously hoped that he would see her soon.

"Finally." Brandon said, as he pulled out front of the building his appointment was at. Nightstone Unlimited was the name on the outside of the building.

Brandon parked his car and began to walk up the stairs leading to the entrance. From the outside, he was amazed at the size and beauty of the building, it was must have been expensive to create such a place. He looked through the large glass doors and noticed a large white wall on the other side. He lightly tread through the front door and informed security as to his appointment. They cleared him and allowed him to head towards the elevator. Once inside the metal walls, he pushed the button for the top floor. As he stepped out of the elevator, he approached the receptionists' desk and stated his name and business with Ms. Dominique Destine.

"Oh, yes. I am Mandi Baker, we spoke on the phone." She, then, alerted Miss Destine that her appointment was here and buzzed him into the office.

Brandon walked through the large wooden door that had swung open for him and as he entered he almost had a heart attack.

"YOU!" He quickly said, as the door closed behind him.

There sat Miss Dominique Destine in which he also knew her as Demona. Miss Destine sat there with a big grin on her face as she knew they would indeed see each other soon.

"Have a seat and show me this art you think would look good in my building Mister Brown, then we can seal the deal later over an early dinner." Miss Destine said, a light glint in her eyes.