Hello, everyone! I will apologize for taking a little longer with this chapter. I was kept busy with final projects, final exams, and other final assignments for the end of spring 2015 college semester. That gave me not a lot of time to work on this chapter. After the exams, my brain was dead tired of thinking and my right arm was tired of writing and typing stuff. So I took a break from everything that dealt with writing. I did house and yard work during my break from writing. However, my right arm was still acting up. This resulted in going to an arm specialist and was diagnosed Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. This means that whenever I bend my elbow, I am pitching a nerve that causes numbness, abnormal sensations like tingling, pain, weakness, and sometimes severe swelling. These symptoms can affect these areas of the arm: elbow, forearm, wrist, ring finger, and pinky finger. How in the world did this happen? Long story short, an old injury that was never fully healed right about 9 years ago. After some tears and following many of the doctor's orders, I was given a sign to continue this all thanks to a fortune cookie saying "Create your own stage. Your audience awaits."

Now onto Chapter 4 and see what is going with Asha. Enjoy!


Chapter 4

After crying for a few hours, I went to grab my backpack and brought it to the bedroom. Not knowing if Terra, Adam, or Hazel had a spare key, I closed the bedroom door and turned on the lights where needed. I opened my backpack and grabbed a new pair of clothes to set them on the bed. I went to the bathroom and found towels in the enclosed tall cabinet next to the sink. I also found a new shampoo bottle, a new hair brush with the tag still on it, and a bar of soap in its sealed box underneath the sink cabinet. I took off my dirty clothes after turning on the shower. When the water was at a comfortable temperature, I jumped in the shower. I closed my eyes to the relief of water touching my body with its magical, life-giving song. I slowly cleaned myself, letting the water wash away the rough past few days with its calming touch. Once I was done, I turned off the water and dried myself while being careful with my scars. I noticed that the mirror fogged up and I was glad. I was not in the best of moods to be reminded more of my past with the scars that cover my body.

I got dressed in new clothes and let my hair dry the way it is since I hate hairbrushes. I put away the rest of my clean clothes in the dresser in the bedroom. Remembering something from my spiritual journey, I opened the third drawer and grabbed the sealed file envelope that had my name written on it. I can only guess that Adam or Terra left put it there. Based on the handwriting, I would say it was Terra. I opened the envelope to see a cellphone, an order that says that I have a top of the line laptop being delivered in three days, a list of job offerings that didn't require much paperwork, and then a note with a picture attached to it. I suddenly started shaking as I read the note: 'Now, I understand why you are holding back secrets. Based on what I have seen, some people hurt you very badly. One day, however, you have to tell us how exactly you got these scars and how you are walking or even alive. Only Ophir, Keziah, Adam, and I know about them. We will keep it secret until you are ready to tell people for yourself. We discovered them when taking off your boots and your shirt decided to shift. Please forgive us if we upset you in any way. –Terra'

I closed my eyes in order to calm my shaking body. With my eyes closed, I shifted the note behind the picture and walked backward to the bed to lay on it. Taking a very deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes to look at the picture. The picture was me unconscious on the bed, slightly laying on my right side. My socks were removed to the side of the bed. My pants legs were rolled up to my knees, showing my scars that I have gained from a spiked whip many years ago. The scars were nearly healed almost but still very noticeable due to the holes from the spikes on the whip. My shirt had shifted in two places. The collar of the shirt has shifted down to show the top half of a bullet wound that is near my heart. The bottom of my shirt shifted up. I felt my eyes prickle with tears at being reminded of how I lost my unborn child as well as probably never to be able to produce children again. Even though I only saw part of the two knife wounds that appear above my pants line in the photo, I subconsciously shifted my hand to my abdomen to touch those two knife wounds all the way and the three others that are covered. All of them are near my uterus. Even though I was glad that they didn't tell people, held back from looking for more scars, didn't ask about them at a questionable time and knew that they didn't mean to upset me, I still curled up in a ball and cried at being a failure of not protecting my new family from my enemies. The pain was still raw even though I received those knife scars and the bullet wound eight years ago.

Suddenly, there was buzzing sound. I stopped crying and looked around. I was a bit confused, not sure where the sound came from. I looked out the window to realize that my crying cause the weather to rain. Oops, I thought to myself. The buzzing noise happened again and I realized that it was echoing throughout the apartment. There is only one explanation for it: the doorbell for the apartment. I got up, dried my eyes, hide the photo as well as the note in the envelope, put the envelope back in the drawer, and grabbed my new cellphone before going to open the doors. The doorbell buzzed again as I was halfway down the stairs.

"I'm coming, wait a minute," I said as I unlocked the door.

I heard a familiar laugh, knowing it belonged to Hazel. I smiled at her when I finally opened the door. She smiled back as she looked me over, "I see that you have cleaned up. Go get your shoes and come to my café. There is someone who I want you to meet."

Before I could respond, she walked away. I guess that she didn't want me to say no. I shook my head at her with a smile on my face. I went inside to grab my combat boots and Adam's coat to put them on. I put my pocket knife, keys, wallet, and new cell phone in the one of the coat's pockets. Before I headed out, I grabbed the envelope again and took out the picture of me that showed my scars as well as Terra's note. I grabbed my cigarette lighter from my backpack and went to the empty fireplace unit in my apartment. As soon as I struck a flame from the lighter, I allow the photo and note to hover over the flame until they started to catch on fire. Then, I put the slow burning items in the fireplace and watched them turn into ash before a wind drift came through to suck the ashes up the chimney towards the sky.

Satisfied, I turned off the lights and locked up the apartment. I burned the photo and note for a good reason. I had a feeling that if I didn't, other people will find out and use those items against me for whatever reason. Through the window, I saw only one person in the café. The person was a male with medium brown hair, sitting and drinking a coffee drink at one of the tables. I had a feeling that he is Hazel's son. I didn't expect her to tell him about me so soon and for him to come here so soon. The question was: where was his wife?

He definitely was Hazel's son as he looked up with Hazel's eye color when I entered the café. I guess today was his day off or just got off his shift recently since he was not wearing his cop uniform. Despite his clothes, his facial expression is all cop. I knew what he is doing. He was trying to figure out if I am a threat or not by trying to ask me a lot of questions without showing any emotion. Hazel came out with two roast beef sandwiches and put them on the same table that her son was sitting at. It made me notice the cup of Earl Gray Tea already sitting on the table.

"Asha, please come sit," she said before gesturing, "This is my son, Scott Romano. I would love to stay but I have prepare for the dinner crowd."

I just stared at her retreating form just as I heard a low chuckle. I turned to Scott, who trying to hide a smile by drinking his coffee.

"Is she always like this?" I asked.

"More than you know," He said. "Please sit and eat with me, Asha. I would like to ask you some questions."

Without an argument, I walked over and sat down while keeping an eye on Scott.

"Some hesitation but only because you are being cautious," He noted. "From my understanding, you had a rough time. Even though I heard the story from my mother and Terra, I would like to hear it from you. If that is alright?"

"I don't mind but I will tell you that I don't remember much," I answered.

"Try your best," he commented.

Knowing the cover story, I decided to tell him some added details, "I was working on a case undercover in a gang when a rival gang came and attacked. The rival gang kidnapped me and drugged me a lot in order to get me to tell them any information that I know. I don't remember how I escaped but I did. By the time that people found and healed me, any documentation about me was erased. When someone contact my old work place, we said that they never heard of me."

"Undercover?" He sounded shock. "You must have been good if you became an undercover cop."

"I was actually an undercover FBI agent," I corrected. I hoped that telling one truth won't bite me in the butt later on.

Scott blinked a few times before saying, "If you are a FBI agent, shouldn't they have alerted everyone to know that you were missing?"

"They could but it would cost me my life and they probably couldn't risk it since I was one of the best undercover agents that they had in a long time," I explained.

"And now, they don't remember you and you have no documentation to prove otherwise," He stated, pausing to think. "How can I know that you are telling me the truth about being a FBI agent?"

"Are you basically asking me to profile you?" I countered.

"I didn't say those exact words but go ahead," he replied with a tone that said he was not going to be impressed. Just wait until you hear what I have to say, I thought to myself.

"You are anywhere from your late 20s to early 30s. You have mother, who is a successful business owner and a very determined women. It probably caused you to follow her example of not giving up on your dreams as a child. It caused you to excel at your education and your job. You must gotten out of work recently since you still have your badge, forgotten to put on your wedding ring, and one gun hidden underneath your pants leg," He looked up in shock when I said something about his gun but I continued, "You also were in rush to go to work since your clothes still have some glitter on them. I am guessing that you and your wife have a young daughter between the ages of seven through nine. Judging by how strong that coffee smells and the dark circles under your eyes, it seems that you had rough couple of weeks but you are doing the best that you can to get through whatever is going on."

"You are not going to guess what my problems are?" Scott asked, trying to not to smile.

"They can be work, family, or something else totally different but I have to watch for more clues. Or you can tell me which I know that you probably won't since you don't know me well enough," I replied.

Scott sat back in disbelieve, "You are good."

I was about to make a comment but he started to rub his hands all over his face. I know that body language anywhere. He is about to make a decision to help me even though it is going to cost him something. Something bad happened before he came here and after Hazel left me. That meant one thing and one thing only.

"Your wife is planning to arrest me on the assumption that I am an illegal immigrant as well as a possible terrorist, isn't she?" I asked.

The look on Scott's face said it all and that was I knew that the answer was yes. Bad timing or not, I was not the only who noticed.

"What?" exclaimed Hazel, "Scott, please tell me that Jennifer hasn't gone that far into the deep end since she became Chief Superintendent. Please tell me that the daughter-in-law who I love is not letting power get to her head like she promised."

Scott bowed his head in shame almost, "It's not power. It anger and rage. First, her sister disappears and no one knows what happened to her. Second, her brother-in-law died in a mysterious way while checking out suspicious activity. Third, People reported of blue lights going into the sky, loud roars, fire going into the ground, and property being damaged. Fourth, Adam Frankenstein shows up and he has no documentation. Fifth, he rescued Terra who is the only survivor of the Wessex Institute which fell through a gigantic hole in the ground for some strange reason. Fifth, a mysterious secret government agency with two agents telling us that the scene is off limits to us. When we asked the government, the government said that they never really heard of the agency until we told them. They can't find any paperwork that deals with the agency but still are looking. Sixth, we are getting hit by abnormal natural disasters that even have our top scientists scratching their heads."

He looked up at us and continued, "Now, we have Asha here. Five days ago, we had reports of people running on rooftops, fire going towards the ground, an abnormal thunderstorm which destroyed a chimney, screams of pain, and ghostly howls. Four days ago, all types of animals suddenly appear in our woods in the mountains when they used to not be there for decades or should not even be here since it is not their usual territory. We almost had another abnormal thunderstorm that day too. Three days ago, you got a call from Terra about Asha. The next day, Jennifer and I heard whispers about Asha from your customers. Since then, Jennifer has been planning on to arrest Asha to see if she had any part in the last five days. Discovering that Asha has no documentation of her existence and is probably Middle Eastern decent just gave Jennifer more of a reason to arrest Asha. Luckily, Jennifer hasn't discovered that Asha lives here yet since you only called me."

If it is not my family bloodline, gender, or supernatural gifts, it is my skin color and my Middle Eastern accent that will get me into trouble. I just can't win anywhere when I move around from location to location.

"How long before she discovers that I am here?" I asked.

"About a week or two. Longer if you stay low, out of trouble, and my mom can keep silent about you," Scott answered even though he looked at his mother when he said the last part.

"Why are you helping me instead of arresting me like your job requires you to do so?" I asked.

"One, I am off-duty. Two, you notice things that other people don't. Three, even though you are paying attention to me, you are also paying attention to everything that is happening in this café. Four, even though you are showing guarded body language, you show enough emotion to show that you are not a criminal of any kind besides being at a wrong place at the wrong time. Also, not everyone notices my hidden gun. In fact, you are the first person to know about it besides my daughter," Scott explained.

"Let me guess, you just got it recently and always walked like you had weights tied to your ankles," I said.

He smiled, "Right on the first try." Then he frowned, "What are you going to do if my wife discovers that you live here?"

"Is she going to stack false evidence against me in court in order for me to stay behind bars?" I countered

His perplexed face gave me the answer of that he wasn't sure if Jennifer will go that far.

"Based on your facial expression gave me my answer to your question. I will find a place where police and criminals can't find me," I said.

Scott frowned, "You do know that running and hiding from police is never a good idea."

"It is also not a good idea to put a person behind bars based on assumptions and possibly false evidence," I countered.

"Touché," He tipped his coffee towards me before drinking it.

I looked at our plates to see that they were empty. I quickly looked around to see where Hazel disappeared to and saw her talking to another costumer. I quickly took the opportunity to bring out my wallet and grabbed the right about of change to hide it under the plate.

Scott raised an eyebrow at my actions, "Do I want to know?"

I sighed before explaining while making sure Hazel was out of ear shot, "Terra gave me the money. I didn't steal it nor did I expect her to give me it since I didn't ask. When I first came here and had my first meal here, Hazel said it was for free since I am living in the upstairs apartment and wants me to spend the money elsewhere. As much as I would do the same thing for someone else, I like repay them for their help the best way I can."

He just smiled a knowing smile and I quickly became puzzled. He waved his hand in the air, drawing the attention of Hazel.

"Want some coffee to go?" Hazel asked when she reached our table.

"No," Scott replied and then flashed a teasing smile which reached to his eyes. "Check please?"

Hazel playfully smacked him on the arm, "You do know that you never have to pay a single meal here since you're family. Stop playing around with me as I work. Oh, Asha, this meal is also on the house. So don't try to pay for it or for your earlier meal either."

She walked away while I sighed in defeat and Scott laughed. I took back the money and got up. Scott stopped laughing and had a slight shocked look as I put on Adam's jacket.

"Adam barely lets anyone outside of Terra and my daughter, Kelly, burrow his stuff," Scott commented.

"He gave me it and I didn't feel like trying to refuse generosity from him," I said.

"Smart move on your part." Scott replied. "I am shocked that he gave you it even though he knew you for about five days. Granted, he knew Terra for one day and gave her a weapon to defend herself with. Still, it took him five months to warm up to anyone else and four more months of babysitting Kelly with Terra before he let Kelly burrowed something of his. He must have seen something in you that made you trustworthy in his eyes."

I thought of the times that Adam saw me outrunning him as well as the Gargoyles and demons, descending demons without difficulty, win fights against gargoyles almost with little problems, defuse dangerous situations, prove my loyalty to certain people, prove that I was a fighter even against body weakness, and knows that I have scars given to me by people who hurt me. I could see why Scott would say that.

I shrugged, "I guess so. Now, I have to go and adventure around town to see the stores."

"Looking for something?" Scott asked.

"Clothes, better shoes, and crystals," I answered.

"Clothing stores and shoe stores are easy to get to on foot. The crystal shop, not so much," Scott commented.

"By the sound of that tone, you are going to offer me ride rather I like it or not," I said, trying to keep the sight dread and guilt out of my voice.

"Right on the first try again," He said as he walked me to his car.

"What about your daughter?" I asked.

"I already texted Terra about me being late to pick her up. Plus, I want you to meet her. Get in the car," Scott ordered.

Defeated, I sighed and climbed in. Scott started up his car and pulled away.


It wasn't until after I bought new clothes, new shoes, eight crystals, and one emerald bracelet that I realized the place that Scott was picking up Kelly from was the Cathedral. I wasn't really happy about it and had no desire to be back. I kept my thoughts to myself about it, knowing that the Gargoyles are still trying to hide from most humans. Plus, I was stuck with Scott since he has my stuff in the truck of his car until I get back to my apartment. The only things out of my new items that I have on me was my shoes on my feet, my new rain coat, a pair of gloves in the pockets of the coat, and the bracelet in its small bag stashed in the left pocket of my coat. I had Adam's jacket folded on my lap.

At least, I am returning something, I grumbled in my thoughts as Scott paralleled parked his car.

Since I know resistance was not going to win, I followed Scott inside the cathedral with Adam's jacket tucked under my arm. I heard laughter when we opened the doors. Scott smiled brightly hearing the laughter as I walked beside him father into the open room. I saw Adam and Terra having fun with Kelly, who had Scott's hair but had blue eyes. The trio looked up when they heard the door closed.

Kelly ran towards Scott while screaming, "Daddy!"

Scott bend down to pick her up to hug her. Kelly did a clicking noise and lifted her head to look in my direction. The clicking noise and Kelly's unfocused eyes made me realize that Kelly was blind.

"Daddy, who is beside you?" Kelly asked as Scott put her down.

"Her name is Asha. She is new here and I gave her some help with some shopping," Scott answered as Kelly walked towards me. "Asha, this curious girl is my daughter, Kelly."

I crotched down to her height, put Adam's jacket to the left side of me before I put my hands on my thighs as I said, "Nice to meet you."

Kelly does her clicking noise and stretches out her hands. Scott was about to say something but I stopped him by signaling him with my hand without Kelly noticing. It was not easy since Kelly was constantly clicking. Echolocation is a powerful tool that is not easy to avoid. Luckily for me, Kelly didn't notice or if she did, she knew that I was stopping her dad.

Her hands touched the top of my head first to feel the texture of my hair. Her touch gentle, cautious, curious, and quizzical. I kept still as much as possible while Kelly investigated my face with her touch. When she felt the scar that went over my eye, she paused for a few moments before going around my eye sockets to touch my cheeks. I knew what that meant. Kelly was about to ask me some questions and can detect lies by feeling certain movements in my cheeks.

While rubbing the scar on my face, she asked, "How did you gain this scar?"

I looked at Scott to see him looking at me. He was not the only one. I felt eyes watching me from the halls which have looking at me since I came through the front door. However, most the gargoyles were in their gargoyle form, pretending to be decorations all around the cathedral. Even Leonore, who was a top the doorway of the auditorium. It was a bit odd to see her in disguise as a decoration. I guess she is making sure that no one fell out of line with a blind child and other humans entering the cathedral.

Not knowing how much her parents tell Kelly about the horrors of police work at times, I answered, "Let's say some very bad people gave me this scar a long time ago."

"Does it still hurt?" she asked.

"No, not really. It can bug me though when I have to wear make-up to cover it," I replied.

She paused, "There are more scars on you, isn't there?"

"Yes," I answered as calmly as possible.

I felt her flinch. I guess she felt the anger, sadness, guilt, and pain. It takes a lot of talent to do that.

She tried to apologize but I interrupted, "If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. The memories of how I gained these scars still affect me today but I know better to take it out on someone even accidently. Especially a young girl like you."

"What is special about me?" she asked.

"Everything," I answered. "One trait that I find interesting is how good you can detect stuff…"

"Even though I am blind," Kelly finished.

I smiled, "Yes."

She smiled back but it quickly disappeared, "Is taking about your scars a taboo topic like with Adam?"

Even I felt my face contort as if saying I was not sure, I still answered her question, "Not really. I probably will talk about them when I know I am safe here."

Her expression turned sad and I wanted to kick myself for it, "Are bad people after you?"

I looked at Scott, who nodded, before I answered, "Maybe, but I don't truly know. Until I do, I must stay low and not look for trouble."

"Why did your face contorted at the trouble statement?" Kelly asked.

"Honestly?" I countered.

She nodded.

I sighed, "It is because I know my luck. I may not look for trouble at times but trouble always seem to find me."

Kelly turned to Scott so fast that I thought that she was going to fall over.

"Dad, I like her," She said.

Scott smiled, "I know."

"Then why mom is so intent on arresting her?" she asked.

Scott was in shock that it looked like he wasn't expecting Kelly to know. So I answered for him, "It is due to the situation of how I came to this city with all of my papers being non-existent. It is also knowing that I used to be an undercover FBI agent whose agency has seem to have no memories of me."

She turned to me with a disbelief look, "Usually, she has respect for undercover agents since my aunt was one."

That statement alone made me feel like a light bulb on top of my head suddenly just turned on. It got me thinking what if Jennifer wasn't arresting me for being an illegal immigrant but arresting me because she thinks I am part of the her sister's disappearance. I don't know if the thought should comfort me or not.

"Which reminds me," Scott interrupted Kelly from any further questioning of me. "Adam, Terra, did you two set up any targets with 3-inch thick wood boards behind them like I asked?"

"Yes, we did but we are curious as to why," Terra answered.

"Let's say that I want to test Asha's shooting abilities with a gun," he replied as he stepped towards me.

As he begin to bring out his gun, I asked, "Are you sure this is good idea? People can hear a gunshot very easily from here. Plus, I don't want to make people deaf."

He replies by showing his silencer that can fit his gun before putting it on. As he did that, I put on my gloves. He had a puzzled look.

"Do you really want my fingerprints on your gun when Jennifer may decide to check it for whatever reason?" I asked.

His facial expression gave me the answer I needed as I said, "Thought so. What are my targets?"

"Ugly chipped vases," Terra answered as I take the gun from Scott.

"I assume that they are in various places in this room and only this room," I guessed.

"Yes," Terra replied.

I checked the gun for any mishandling just in case. I discover that the bullets were blanks. I briefly wondered if Scott knew about testing me before he met me today. I shook the thought from my head as I found my first target. It was on the second floor railing. Like Terra said, it was an ugly chipped vase that made me slightly wonder who in the world would buy that. I got into proper position and fired my first shot. The bullet hit the center of the vase, causing it to shutter. It continued like that. I wound find another vase in a different location around the open room and hit the center of each one. I surprised everyone when I hit the vase on the fourth floor eastern railing. That was nine vases and I have one more blank in the magazine if I was counting correctly. I found the tenth vase and I lowered Scott's gun both in horror and in shock.

"Whose idea is it to put a vase on top the head of the gargoyle statue?" I exclaimed.

The gargoyle statue in question was on a ledge of a pillar. The ledge was three floors high and the near the auditorium entrance. Judging by my spiritual powers, the gargoyle is Gideon. He was covered in chains. Even though Gideon and I don't really like each other, I seriously hoped of what I am seeing isn't a joke. If it is, I am not laughing.

Adam answered, "Neither Terra or I put it there. I guess Keziah or Ophir did it but we weren't watching."

Keziah and Ophir appeared from around the corner, wearing human business suits. They looked at the gargoyle statue in question and both frowned.

"Judging by those frowns, you two didn't put the vase there?" I asked.

"No, we didn't," Keziah answered while Ophir scratched his head in confusion.

"Then, someone else must have did it," Scott commented. "Asha, are you going to shoot that vase anyway?"

I frowned slightly in anger, "No."

I turned the gun's safety back on and gave it to Scott. I took off my gloves and jacket.

"Asha, what are you doing?" Scott asked suspiciously as I took my pocket knife out to put in my pants pocket.

"I am going to get the vase and unchained the gargoyle statue," I replied.

"Michael chained the statue," said Adam.

Even though I understood that Michael is the Archangel, it perplexed me that he would chained up one of his creations.

I looked at Adam, noticing that he was wearing his jacket again, and asked, "Why?"

Adam shrugged with 'I-really-don't-know-don't-ask-me' look on his face. I sighed and started walking towards the wall.

"Asha, we can get the ladder," Ophir offered as he stepped in my path.

"Nah, it will take you too long," I said as I tried to walk around him.

He grabbed my arm and whispered for me only to hear, "Archangel Michael chained Gideon like that as a punishment for things that Gideon did during your short time here and before you came. Somehow, Archangel discover a way to punish us thanks to you when you touched Gideon's soul with your powers. In fact, many gargoyles are trapped as statues for questioning Archangel Michael's and Leonore's actions when it came towards you."

"Ophir, I don't care if you are a part of a secret government agency or not. It doesn't give the right to grab anyone like you did with Asha. So please let her go before I arrest you for assault," Scott explained in a hard voice.

Ophir let me go but I used my spiritual gift to speak, As much as I respect an Archangel, I don't like that chains are involved like they are on Gideon. They are bit overkill.

Ophir didn't looked one inch surprised and smiled at me, Leonore warned us about this gift of yours. Good thing that Keziah and I agreed to keep our minds open to you. More privacy this way. Be careful.

Always, I said as I continued walking.

"So, Asha, have you done this before?" Scott asked.

"A number of times," I answered as I began to climb the wall.

"Without rope or safety nets?"

"Yep."

"Are you afraid of anything?"

"Yes, but I do my best not to show it," I said as I reached the second floor railing.

"For you to be that fast at climbing without sounding out of breathe when speaking, you had to have a lot of practice from somewhere," Scott commented.

I looked at him, accessing how much I can share with him. It was hard since he is a cop and married to another cop who wants to arrest me. Plus, his daughter is there. There are some details that aren't exactly child appropriate. Sure, I saw horrible things done to children and went through horrible things as a child. I didn't want Kelly to know about them unless her parents said it is okay and she was old enough to understand. Yes, she may look and sound like 10 but I don't know what her age really is and I don't want to give her nightmares. I decided to tell him some details but not every single one as I continued climbing.

"Even though this won't help me, I am a nomad from the Middle East where my father taught me many other things including climbing before he passed away. Thanks to the skills he taught me, I learned to survive in a land where women are not treated nicely in most cases. When I went to US legally, I kept most of my training up and used those skills in my undercover work," I explained.

"How come I have a feeling that you are not telling me everything that you know?" Scott asked.

"One, I don't know if any of my enemies followed me here or not. Two, everything that I know or saw is probably not very suitable for your daughter to hear. Three, if I shared everything that know or saw right now, even you would have a difficult time processing it and may arrest me until you know what to think of me," I explained as I reached the third floor railing.

"Once again, you state the obvious," he said as I began to carefully to climb horizontally. "I maybe a bit late to the party on warning you. Even though I heard little about this Michael character, I am more concern about Gideon finding out what you are doing. From what I heard about Gideon here, you don't want to mess with him or anything against what he says even though I've never seen him myself."

"I have seen him and I can handle him," I stated.

In the corner of my eye, I see Scott turned to Ophir asked, "Is this true?"

"Yes, it is. Out of the four physical fights that Gideon started, Asha won two, Gideon won one and one battle was a tie. As for verbal arguments, I lost count but I believe Asha is the winner since she spoke the truth, wisdom, and authority that even made Leonore listen," Ophir replied.

Scott whistled in amazement and shock, "From what I heard from Terra about Adam's fights with Gideon, I guess that is a first."

"Yes and Asha is the first female to beat Gideon with minimal help or no help at all," Keziah replied.

I looked towards Keziah in shock, "Really?"

She nodded her head before saying with thoughts, we know why Archangel Michael made almost everyone as a gargoyle and froze them as a decoration. We don't truly know why Archangel Michael decided to put Gideon in chains compare to the others. I just hope you freeing Gideon doesn't make Archangel Michael mad with you.

Trust me when I say that you are not the only one with that hope, I replied as I got onto the railing.

I was close to the pillar but I need to either jump or cross the chains that connect the distance between the pillar and the railing. Since jumping didn't seem like a smart idea, I decided to cross the chains. As soon as I stepped on them, I heard everyone below suck in their breath briefly. I looked towards them. They all look like they want to say something but reframed from doing so, fearing it will cause me to lose balance. I slightly shook my head at them and began to cross. It was a bit nerve-wrecking since I has being watched by gargoyles, including Gideon. He was watching me more closely out of everyone. I couldn't get a good read on his emotions since they are all over the place and directed towards a lot of things. I did sense anger, sadness, confusion, some guilt, some curiosity, and hopelessness.

"What happened to you?' I whispered to myself or so I thought.

As I landed on the pillar, I heard a low rumble from Gideon. I didn't know if he was trying to answer me or giving me a warning.

"Where did that low rumble come from?" asked Kelly.

"What low rumble?" everyone else asked, severely confused.

I glared at Gideon and whispered to him as I went to grab the vase off of his head, "Be careful next time. You almost exposed yourself and other gargoyles. She is blind but she is not deaf. In fact, many blind people are get better hearing. Be glad, it was just her who heard you."

Even though I didn't hear it, I felt him exhaled a breath of annoyance. I rolled my eyes at him when he wasn't looking at me. I grabbed the vase and looked down to see Ophir below.

"I wouldn't be there if I were you," I said.

"Just drop the vase. I will catch it," he said.

I sighed and let the vase fall from my hand towards him. Ophir somehow did catch the vase without it breaking. Keziah got the vase from Ophir before she moved out the way. Ophir stayed in place. I knew what he was doing. He was staying there to catch me in case I slipped and fell. I rolled my eyes at him while turning to the matter at hand.

I saw that, Ophir grumbly said.

Good, I replied as I locate all the locks.

There were eight locks. I brought out my pocket knife. Gideon was about to growl but I shushed him and pointed with my eyes towards Kelly. He stopped his growl but his eyes said it all. He did not like that I was near him with a knife while he was chained up and defenseless to do anything about it. I guess he didn't believe me when I said that I was going to get the chains off of him.

"Relax, I am not going to hurt you," I whispered to him as I started picking at the lock that was under his chin.

I felt his stare but I ignored it as I successfully picked the lock. I slightly frowned. I usually have some sort of trouble picking lock with a pocket knife and I always had to use my gifts to help me. I expected the same with these locks. However, it seems like these locks wanted to open for me since all I did was put my knife in the key hole and turned once. I briefly wondered what Archangel Michael had in store for me and Gideon. I was bit afraid that Archangel Michael discovered something that I hope he wouldn't find if he really entered my soul while I attached to Gideon's soul with my powers. Unfortunately, I can't really contact him until I get my amulet back. Sure, I can send one of my spirit guides to send him a message but I prefer to have a face-to-face conversation. Without help of the ancient spirit inside the amulet, I have to wait.

"Hey, Asha," said Kelly as I took the lock off of just one of the chains.

"Yes, Kelly" I replied as I took the chain off of Gideon's neck.

The chains were beginning to leave impressions. It showed me that they were on him awhile and heavy only towards him. The impressions disappeared as Gideon's healing abilities took over. Without meaning to, I rubbed where the impressions used to be. Even though I didn't hear him, I felt Gideon grumble at me for touching him. I withdrew my hand quickly and looked at it like it was my enemy.

"Why is it important to you to unchain the gargoyle statue?" Kelly asked as I went to pick another lock that was in the intersection of where his left wing and back meet.

"The main reason is that I hate chains with a passion at times. Chains are often used for negative purposes. Sure, they can help in some ways. In my experience and throughout history, I believe that chains were mostly used for evil. Anytime that I see people or things in chains, I want to free them," I answered as removed the chain from Gideon's left wing.

"Even those who deserved to be chained?" She asked as I picked at the lock holding the two chains between Gideon's left forearm and left leg.

I paused to make sure no anger came through my voice as I said, "No one deserves to be in chains. No matter their crime."

"I guess you were chained a few times," Scott assumed as I picked at the lock between Gideon's feet.

"Yes, even when I haven't done anything wrong," I explained as I went towards Gideon right side to pick at the lock between his right leg and right forearm.

"Why do you think the gargoyle statue was chained by Michael?" Kelly asked.

Of course, she had to ask a tough question. I understand a child's curiosity but I hate the tough questions that I have no idea if I should answer it.

"I really have no clue. Maybe he thought the gargoyle did something wrong or is cursed," I answered as I picked at the lock between the intersection of Gideon's right wing and back.

As I put my pocket knife in my pocket, I heard her smile in her voice, "If that is so, does that mean the gargoyle will hurt you when you successfully free him?"

Even though I highly doubt Gideon expose himself like that, he did do a lot of things that wasn't right both in and out of the cathedral. I hope that I wasn't playing with fire with my answer, "I don't know. We will find out when I done doing the craziest trust exercise ever in my life."

"You believe in magic?" Kelly sounded surprise. It caused me to pause when I was moving the chains around. I frowned in disbelieve and confusion. Even though Gideon couldn't change his expression, I could tell that he had the same emotions in his eyes. I knew that he was probably thinking the same thing that I was: Who in their right mind would tell a child that magic doesn't exist?

"Yeah, why not?" I asked, slightly turning towards her while still keeping an eye on Gideon.

"Well, mom said that magic is only for children," Kelly sadly answered.

I turned away and closed my eyes to take a few deep breathes to calm the anger that I was feeling. I am starting not like Jennifer and I haven't even met her yet. I know that I would be no better than her to make assumptions and the world is not fair but I hate when people say there is no magic or magic is only for children. It gets on my nerves. There is magic everywhere, even though many people call it a different names: miracles, nature, or God.

I opened my eyes and saw Gideon was mad too. I also saw that he was uncomfortable of having the same feelings that I am towards the whole magic topic. I slightly smirked a knowing smile and he gave me a glare that almost made laugh. I started moving around the chains again.

"Asha, what are you doing?" Scott asked.

"I'm moving chains out of my way. I don't want to risk tripping over them as I get the last locks," I explained.

"I see where one is. I don't see the other," Scott observed.

"That is because it is between the wings. In order to get to it, I have to climb and touch the gargoyle," I said.

Are you crazy? I heard Leonore, Mariah, Levi, Ophir, and Keziah exclaimed in my thoughts. Gideon didn't look too happy about the idea either.

I whisper to him with a raised eyebrow, "Got a better idea? If so, tell me now."

For the first time since I came into this world, I saw uncertainty in his eyes. What he did next nearly made me jump out of my skin.

Just get the lock and yourself off of me as quickly as you can, He gently said with some defeat in his voice.

Before I could respond back through his mind, I felt him put back his mental wall. I pulled back and slightly nodded at him even though he wasn't really looking at me. I placed my hands on his left shoulder and felt Gideon flinch ever so slightly. I felt the worried tension in the air as I placed my feet on his left knee carefully. I took deep breaths as I moved my right foot on his harness that is on his chest. I took out my pocket knife and put in my mouth to hold it before lifted myself over his shoulder until my stomach was on it. I pulled at the chains until the lock was within my reach. I grabbed with one hand and released the chains with the other. I grabbed my pocket knife and start picking at it. I was a bit difficult to balance all of my weight on my stomach and right foot while trying to pick at a lock without falling over. Using my powers, I was able to do it and heard the lock click open. I put pocket in my mouth and unhook one of the chains off the lock before carefully climbing back the way I came.

"One difficult lock down, one more to go," I said around my pocket knife when I was safe on my feet again on the pillar.

I felt the air reflexed like everyone finally let out their breath that they were holding. I guess some people were either worried about me dying or Gideon doing something stupid. Gideon was probably glad that I was off of him.

"Asha, how is the last lock difficult?" Terra asked as I turned around.

"Well, if I do this," I stepped on the 3-foot open part of the pillar that was in front of Gideon's hands and pushed down heavily, causing it to bend under my weight, "I will fall to my death."

Everyone paled but relaxed when I took my foot off of the open part.

I got on my knees as I continued to explain, "The safest way is to lay flat on my stomach and slowly crawl to the chains that hold the lock. One wrong move and down I go. Anymore questions?"

Everyone shook their heads. I laid flat on my stomach. When my skin touched the stone of pillar, I realized that my shirt shifted again. I felt Gideon nudge me slightly with his foot. I turned to glare at him but I stopped and suddenly understood why he did it. My shirt shifted upwards on my back, exposing my tattoo and some of my fading scars. My tattoo was a blue, yellow, and white spirit wolf running. It was slightly above my right hip and is as big as my hand. My fading scars on my back were gained by being whipped, chained, and stashed by bladed weapons.

I knew his intense gaze was on me as I fixed my shirt. I avoided looking towards his way as I slowly crawled on my stomach because if I did, I probably would see eyes that have questions in them. I stopped crawling as my arms were hanging off the edge. I grabbed the chains to start pulling them carefully towards me until the lock was within reach. The lock was different. Instead of one key hole, there were three. Just as I grabbed my pocket knife out of my mouth, I felt a low rumble that lasted about five seconds. I paused and looked around because that rumble was not a gargoyle rumble. It felt like it came from the earth which did not make sense. There are no fault planes under or near the city. There were no volcanos either. Even though there are mountains, they were miles away from the city. None of them were having mudslides, rock falls, or an avalanche. That only left one last possibility left: magic. More specially, powerful magic being used incorrectly by amateurs.

"Asha, what's wrong?" Scott asked as I started to pick the lock carefully and quickly.

"Do the unnatural storms include earthquakes?" I asked, trying to stay calm while listening for unlocking clicks from the keyholes.

Of course, it doesn't help that there is a specific pattern involved. If I choose the wrong keyhole even once, I had to start all over again. As if the magic heard me, I felt another rumble and it was more powerful. Everyone started moving and shouting but it was too late. This rumble was powerful and lasted long enough to cause the open part of the pillar to collapse right after I successfully picked the lock. I fell with the broken pillar pieces, dragging the chains with me. I knew that I was going to face death and expose another secret of mine. However, my fall was suddenly broken halfway by a cluster of chains that were wrapped around me. I was confused because most of the chains were free from being latched to Gideon as well as the walls. In anger and deep confusion at a lot of things, I cursed out loud in Arabic after the mini earthquake was done.

"I may not speak Arabic but I know that you are cursing. I guess that means you're stuck," Scott commented.

"Cursing in Arabic could mean multiple things when it involves me. In this case, I am mad as well as confused about a lot of things and there is a child here who doesn't speak Arabic. I am not really stuck," I explained.

"Still, can you not curse again in front of my daughter?" he asked.

Kelly tried to say something but I cut her off, "I will do my best."

"Need help?" Scott asked.

"I am fine," I said as I untangled myself carefully from the chains without falling.

I climbed the chains, still confused on why they are not all falling to the ground. It wasn't until I got closer to Gideon that I found my reason why and it shock me. I shook my head to clear it and make sure I wasn't imagining things. Before I fell, Gideon's hands were flat against the pillar floor in a loose fist. Now, his hands were holding a few chains tightly in fists. He risked exposing himself as well as the rest of gargoyles to save my life. With my gifts, I could tell that Gideon was concerned, worried, confused, and mad. I can only guess what his feelings are directed towards. I lifted myself over the rough edge and crawled until I was safe on the pillar. I laid down on my back for moment to take deep breathes to calm myself. I open my eyes to only stare right into Gideon's.

"Thank you for saving my life," I whispered to him.

He didn't respond to me but his eyes turned from mine to look at my stomach. I followed his movement and saw that my shirt shifted again. My scars on my abdomen were exposed, showing in a way to Gideon that I have newer scars. I wasn't really happy about it but I wasn't going to complain. Gideon looked back at me with curiosity and maybe respect. I noticed his mental wall was down. I don't know if it was on purpose, accident, or something else. I took the opportunity that it represented.

Gideon, I know this is a lot to ask but can you please keep my scars and tattoo a secret? I asked as I got up and fixed my shirt while looking around for my missing pocket knife.

Gideon's eyes slightly harden before asking, Why should I?

I glared at him, These scars are proof that I have enemies who like nothing more than see me and anyone I care about dead. The tattoo represents an old life that I have lived before and if the wrong people hear about it. Let's say everyone here would be endangered. Less people know about them, the safer everyone is. One day, I will explain everything but not now.

My explanation got him to shut up for the moment. I grabbed the chains from his hands. As I fixed them to made one long continuous chain, I felt Gideon staring beyond me at the group below. I sensed Ophir and Keziah were missing. I guess that they went to check for any damage inside and outside the cathedral.

Do they know? He asked.

I sighed, Terra, Adam, Ophir, and Keziah know only about my two abdomen scars and one other scar that you don't know about.

His eyes shifted to me, How many scars do you have?

More than I care to have, I replied.

I felt Gideon's mind become heavy with questions. I pulled out of his mind to let me think for himself since he needed privacy and I don't get a headache. I lowered the chain to the floor. It made notice that my pocket knife was on the floor. It looked like it was bend out of shape and possibly too damage to use ever again. I need to get to the floor to have a closer look. I wrapped the chain around Gideon's hand before going towards the edge.

Unchain me to only chain me. Why you little…

I blocked him as I began to use the chain to climb down, surprising Gideon. I almost laughed. That is what you get for assuming, I thought to myself. I heard footsteps and I looked down to see Adam. I guess he was only one left able to catch me if I fall. He helped me get down as I got closer to the ground. I saw Kelly playing with the emerald bracelet that I bought today. It spelled out her name. I smiled at her, happy that she is enjoying her little gift.

"You bought that for her when I was distracted didn't you?" Scott asked after I picked up my damaged pocket knife.

"Yes, but how did she found it?" I said as I grabbed my jacket from him and put it on.

"She didn't. I did when checking your jacket for any weapons," he replied. "Speaking of which, your pocket knife is too damage to be use now. You know that right?"

"Yes, I know," I said sadly, looking at the pocket knife.

"Asha?"

"It was my husband's before he passed away," I explained as I put the pocket knife in the bag that had the bracelet in.

"I apologize. I didn't know," Scott said sincerely. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," I said.

Scott and Kelly went ahead of me. Scott was telling her to lie to Jennifer about where the bracelet came from. I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping me before I left. I turned to see Adam.

"Asha, I will warn you that some gargoyles will be watching what you are doing. So please, get that book as fast as you can," he said.

"I will but I need to get to the forest and mountains around the city," I said.

He frowned at me, "Why?"

"I need stones and spring river stream to cleanse the stones as well as the crystals that I bought. I need to do that before I go after the book," I explained.

"And you plan to go there without a weapon or way to get there?" he asked, slightly angry.

"I have a way and I can make a weapon if I need to. Don't worry, I will be safe," I answered before I walked away.

I felt eyes staring at me again. The only one that I didn't felt but knew was staring was Gideon. As I got in Scott's car and buckled up, I thought about the events that happened in the cathedral. Why did Gideon save me? Why did he open his mind to me after I was safe on the pillar again? Why did Archangel Michael put him in chains? Also, who or what is behind all those unnatural storm?

It has been only five days since I have been and already there are too many questions that may never get answered. The thing is I think it is going to get longer.

Asha, you will have two guards coming tomorrow to help you on your journey to get the book. It wasn't my decision. It was Archangel Michael's, I heard Leonore said to me as Scott started up the car.

Who? I asked.

He didn't tell me, she told me just before I got out range for us to speak mind to mind.

Yep, the list of questions just got longer.


This story took longer than it should. Then, I noticed that this chapter is longer than my first three chapters. They were 9-10 pages long. This chapter is 16 pages long with the type of font, size of font, and word processor that I use. I hope everyone enjoyed it. As for the four fights, they are listed below.

Chapter 1 (if you want to consider this one): where Gideon knocks out Asha near the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2: Asha vs. Gargoyle Gideon- Asha wins by turning him into human form. Asha vs. Human Gideon- Asha uses a pressure point on Gideon that knock him out cold but she faints right after. This caused that one tie between them.

Chapter 3 (if you want to consider this one too): where Asha got Gideon off of Adam.

Why am I considering those two? Because in a way, both fights were Asha against many gargoyles and each one ended when she faced Gideon. As for Asha's tattoo, look at my pic that I choose for the cover of this story. The wolf looks like that but a slightly different color pattern as mentioned in this chapter.