Chapter Four
Waking to silence, I opened my eyes to see a stone ceiling. Sitting up, I found myself in a simple bedroom, only the necessities filling it. Putting my hand to my head, I frowned as I felt cloth, looking at my hand to see a bandage. Looking myself over, I found all my wounds tended to. My head was throbbing as I tried to comprehend what had happened. Maybe I really had lost my mind. Maybe I had finally broken and I was locked inside my own mind while in reality I was in a straightjacket in an insane asylum. Slowly getting off the bed, I looked down at myself. My clothes were dirty, torn, and still blood ridden. So it had actually happened. Seeing my jacket draped over the back of a chair, I gripped it, slowly putting it on as every one of my muscles ached in protest.
"Son of a bitch." I whispered to myself, closing my eyes, and clenching my jaw as I waited for the pain to dull.
Running my fingers through my hair, I took a long deep breath before moving toward the door. Opening it, I was met with two faces, looking at me from where they stood on either side of it. They were dressed the same as the others I had seen; their scapulars were dark red in color. Past them there was a woman and another man. Her eyes intense and as dark as her hair. Her skin darker than mine. Her companion had longer hair, partially pulled back, a light goatee encircling his mouth.
Nodding at them, I closed it again, pacing the room in an attempt to make sense of what was happening. I was softly laughing at myself when the woman came in. She watched me closely before closing the door behind her. Stopping, I watched her walk to the bed and sit down. She didn't say anything, she simply watched me. Continuing to pace, I held the tip of my thumb between my teeth, my eyes never leaving her.
"How are you feeling?" She finally asked; her voice soft and gentle. Laughing, I bit my lip to keep myself from crying as I faced her with my hands on my hips. I had meant to reply but instead I just shook my head, starting to pace again. "I realize that this must be a bit of a shock."
"A bit of a shock?" I shot at her, a tear sliding down my cheek. "Where am I?"
"You're in the cathedral." She replied. Shaking my head, I started to pace again. "You were hurt. Gideon brought you here." She explained.
"Gideon?" I frowned.
"The first one you saw." She stated.
Laughing, I bit my lip again, remembering the alley. Remembering that I had finally found both Gargoyles and Demons. They were both real. They existed and I had stumbled upon both in one day. Feeling like I was going insane, I ran my fingers through my hair, gripping it as I slouched against the wall, my knees pressing against my chest.
"The Professor was right." I said softly.
"About what?" She asked gently.
"Sometimes we look so hard for the answers that when we finally get them they are nothing like we thought they would be." I whispered his words. She smiled and nodded at me.
Putting my forehead against my knees, I wrapped my arms around my head, shutting my eyes as I processed what had happened. Demons. Gargoyles. I was simply a human caught up in the middle of what I could only assume was some sort of war. Everything I believed had been proven right in just a matter of hours. I had wanted to prove it so badly and now that both were right in front of me I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to process this. Could I trust them? Could they trust me? What were they going to do with me?
"We're not going to hurt you." The woman told me as if reading my mind. Looking up at her, I wiped the tears from my cheeks as I nodded at her, folding my arms across my knees. Sighing, she stood and walked to me, squatting as she put her hands gently on my knees. "You're safe here."
"Am I?" I frowned at her. "If I'm so safe then why are there guards at the door?"
"To protect you." She replied.
"From what?" I countered. "There are only gargoyles here, right?" She just looked at me before nodding. "I wanna go home." I said as more tears slid down my cheeks.
"What's your name?" She asked gently.
"Does it matter?" I frowned at her.
"Please?" She smiled.
Sighing, I held her eyes for a moment, seeing the sincerity in them. "Melina. My name is Melina."
"Beautiful." She said as her smile grew.
"Thank you." I told her looking away. "What's yours?"
"Keziah." She replied.
Taking a deep breath, I met her eyes again, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You as well." She said, sitting on her heels, taking her hands from my knees. She watched me for a few minutes before standing, "Are you hungry?"
Shaking my head, I started to rock back and forth gently, "No. But I am thirsty."
"I'll get you some water." She smiled warmly before leaving the room.
Staying where I was, the silence was nearly deafening as I waited for her to come back. I was terrified and yet she had been kind, her voice making me feel like I could trust her. She was a gargoyle after all. If I could trust anyone I had hoped it would be them.
Getting to my feet, I started to pace, wrapping my arms around myself while I waited for Keziah to return. Lingering near the door, I heard footsteps before they stopped, hearing voices.
"Gideon." Keziah's voice said surprised.
"What are you doing?" He asked with a hard tone, his voice pleasurable despite the hardness of it.
Putting my hands against the door, I could hear Keziah shift her feet. "She's thirsty."
"We know nothing about her." He shot at her. "We don't know what she is."
"She is no demon, Gideon." Keziah told him, anger in her tone. "She is human. She needs our help and our protection."
There was silence before Gideon spoke again, "Bring her to Leonore. She'll be in the tower." He told her before his heavy steps moved away from us.
Stepping back, the door opened and Keziah stepped inside, closing it before handing me the glass of water she held. "Thank you." I told her. She smiled back at me. "Who's Leonore?"
"She's our spiritual leader and our connection to the archangels." She replied.
"Archangels?" I frowned.
"The archangel Michael created us to keep watch over the human race. That is our purpose." She elaborated.
"Are there others?" I asked.
"Yes. But our numbers are dwindling in the face of the demon hordes that roam the earth." Sitting on the edge of the bed, I put the glass down without touching it. "You need to drink something. Eating would be wise as well."
"I'm suddenly neither thirsty nor hungry." I said putting my hands in my lap, staring at them.
Sighing, she stepped toward me. "I must bring you to Leonore." The door opened and we both looked up to see the man she was standing with before. "This is Ophir. He is my cohort, in a sense." She told me. "He will help me keep you safe."
"From your own kind?" I frowned at her.
"As you have heard, some of us aren't as open minded as others." She told me with a slight frown.
"And Ophir?" I asked looking at him. "Where does he stand?"
He simply stared at me before holding out his hand, "We should go."
"I don't have a choice, do I?" I asked.
He shook his head, not moving. Slowly reaching my hand out toward his, he took a step forward and gently gripped my bicep, leading me from the room. Keziah followed at my other side, every so often touching my forearm as if to reassure me. All I wanted to do was go home. Alice and Marty were waiting for me to come home and that's all I wanted. All I wanted was to go home.
"Please." I whispered as I looked at Keziah pleadingly.
"There is nothing I can do." She replied sadly.
"There is." I told her sorrowfully. "Let me go."
"There is no point." She stated. "Gideon's mind is made up. If not his then Leonore's is. They are the final word of this order."
"Bullshit." I frowned at her. "I am human."
"Gideon thinks otherwise." Ophir spoke.
"What?" I frowned at him. "Is he serious?" I asked Keziah. "How can he not think I am human?"
"You descended four demons on your own. Up until today we thought that impossible." Ophir explained.
"I was lucky!" I said struggling against him. "I didn't know what I was doing!"
Yanking me from the middle of the hallway, Ophir flattened me against the wall, his hands on either side of me. "Do not fight this." He told me gently but with seriousness, his eyes averted from mine, pausing before he raised his head, his eyes now meeting mine. "You will only make things worse. Speak to them. Tell them what happened and we will attempt to get you out of here."
Nodding at him, he pulled me from the wall, swinging me back in between him and Keziah. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder. She was kind and gentle. She was everything I had thought Gargoyles would be. She was strong and selfless. I truly believed that she would protect me. Ophir was harder but I believed that he too would protect me. But that was my problem. I believed too much. I put too much faith in the power of God and the forces of good and evil that he put upon this earth.
The hallway is partially domed, thick stone ribs lining the ceiling. There were several thick stone tables that told several candles on each one, lighting the corridor. A window here and there. Lanterns lit with candles in the smaller corridors off the main hall we were walking down. I saw the triple cross being used to hold candles for light in the alcoves where the arches were. They weren't all doors but were all patterned the same.
Going up flights of stairs, down more hallways and up more stairs, we came to the top of a tower. The tower was a circular room with four thick wooden beams. There were doors and alcoves with several candles lit for light. A large opening was in the side of it. Wooden floors. Stone walls. Patterns along the doorways with spirals. Stained glass in some of the windows.
The first I looked at was Gideon, his expression as hard as it had been the moment I met him. Next to him, standing in the open doorway, was a woman. She was beautiful. Her long blond hair pulled partially back. She wore a long, elegant gown. Nothing like I had expected but she was a queen after all.
"Hello." Leonore said with a smile. Her voice was musical and yet held more authority than any I had previously heard. I didn't respond to her. "What's your name?"
"Why am I here?" I countered, gaining a look from both Keziah and Ophir.
"You descended four demons all on your own." Leonore stated.
"Yes, I remember. I was there." I frowned at her. Ophir nudged me with his shoulder. Glaring at him, I attempted to not react so defensively.
"I want to know how." Leonore stated. I just glared at her.
"How did you know what they were?" The one known as Gideon asked. "And how did you know how to descend them?"
Looking at Keziah, she nodded at me reassuringly and Ophir nudged my with his shoulder again. "I spoke to Angie Denum. One of you had saved her from a demon attack a few months ago. Whoever it was dropped a dagger. The triple cross etched into it." I said and paused, seeing a look pass between the queen and her commander. "She told me what happened to her. I've been trying to find proof of gargoyles and demons. Only now that I have I'm more than happy to forget that it ever happened. I will stop looking. I'll stop all my research. I'll stop. I promise I'll stop." My voice was pleading by the end.
"It's not about you stopping." Leonore stated. "It's about keeping you safe."
"I'll be safe if you just let me go home." I told her with furrowed brows. "I just want to forget that any of this happened."
"Do you think it's that simple?" Gideon shot at me.
"It should be." I shot back at him. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"No, but you did possess this." Leonore said holding up the dagger. "How did you know this would kill them?"
"I didn't. I had read about the triple cross and the meaning behind it. But how could I know for sure it would work when I had yet proven that demons existed?" I replied.
"You must have believed they were real if you'd put so much time into discovering them." Leonore stated. "As well as us."
I nodded. "I wanted to believe. I wanted to believe and prove it so badly. And when enough sources and eye accounts start saying the same thing, you start to believe that they're true." Leonore and Gideon shared a look that made me nervous. "When can I leave?"
"You can't." Gideon stated.
"Excuse me?" I said looking at him. "I think I misunderstood you."
"You understood me just fine." He glared, taking a few steps toward me. Leonore put her hand up, silencing him.
"What do you mean I can't leave?" I said looking between them. "I didn't do anything wrong. All I did was kill a few demons. It was the gargoyles who showed themselves." Pausing, I could see that they didn't care. "I just want to go home. I've had my fill of the supernatural."
Leonore looked at Gideon whose eyes were still locked on me with suspicion. "I'm afraid you cannot be permitted to leave until you're safe to and proven that you can be trusted with our secret. Our war is meant to be fought in the shadows. Not in alleyways were all can see."
"Are you kidding me?" I frowned harder. "I killed demons. I wouldn't have done that if I was on their side. Isn't that enough proof of trust?"
"Not the point." Gideon chimed in. "I may have been pure luck or a ploy to gain access to the cathedral. For all we know they're using you, sending you in to attack us when we weren't looking."
Matching Keziah's confounded expression; I looked at Gideon as my anger started to boil. "That's ridiculous!" I yelled at him. "I'm human! Aren't you supposed to protect and watch over the human race? Because from where I'm standing all you've done is manage to kidnap one."
"It is for your protection." Leonore replied. "And the protection of your kind."
"I'm not going to tell anybody!" I yelled at her. Making Gideon take another step toward me. "Stay the hell away from me." I told him with raised brows, pointing at him.
"Gideon." Leonore said roughly and he took a step back.
My mind was reeling with what was going on. Gargoyles attempting to hold me prisoner after killing demons. They were protecting themselves, not me. If they wanted to protect me then they would let me leave this God forsaken city and let me return home. It was all more than I could take. Every inch of me was telling me that I was in more danger by staying then by leaving. Let the demons have me. The gargoyles were no better than they were.
"I don't have time for this." I stated and turned to leave. Before I could reach the door, my path was blocked by two burly gargoyles. "You can't keep me here. You don't have the right."
"You don't have the same rights within these walls." Leonore stated as she stepped toward me. "We do not answer to the laws of man."
"Clearly." I retorted coldly as I turned to face her. "I don't know why I wanted to find you so badly. All you are is a bunch of pricks with a God complex."
"Watch your tone." Gideon said forcefully as he stepped forward to defend his queen. "She is the Queen of this order and you will show her respect." He added and took another step toward me.
Bowing my head, I gave a soft laugh before stepping up to him. He was taller than I had thought it was. He towered over me and yet didn't frighten me. Meeting his eyes, I spoke softly, "She is not my Queen." Looking at Leonore, I turned and quickly left the room.
"Melina." Keziah said following me. "Melina!"
Seizing my moment of opportunity, I broke into a run, darting for the stairs. Running down corridors and flights of stairs, I attempted to gain my freedom. I knew it was pointless, but I had to try. No one was going to keep me here against my will. Moving as fast as I could, I slowed when I saw Ophir land at the doorway to the nave. As I neared him, he simply stepped to the side, allowing me access to the expansive room. There were no pews, making it easy to run across it, moving toward the transept and my freedom. The doors were in sight, a breeze moving past me, welcoming me to freedom. But before I could reach them, my calves were grabbed by hard hands and I was ripped off my feet. Flying through the air, I landed hard on my left shoulder, rolling until my momentum ran out. My body throbbed with pain, my shoulder more than anything. Hearing steps, I looked up to see Gideon. Glaring at him, he simply glared back at me, as I slowly got to my feet, holding my throbbing shoulder.
"The Queen told you that you could not leave." He stated stepping toward me.
"And I thought you were supposed to protect me. Not hurt me." I retorted.
He scoffed and shook his head at me. "You know nothing of whom or what we are or what we do."
"I've already seen enough." I stated. "You're just as bad as the demons are." His jaw clenched and he looked like he wanted to hit me but refrained. "You don't even think I'm human."
"I think it's farfetched that a human could descend four demons alone."
Feeling blood under my hand, I pulled it away from my shoulder, showing it to him. "I am as human as they come."
He frowned at me, keeping my eyes as he spoke, "Keziah." She stepped up behind him. "Since you seem so fond of her, I'm putting you in charge of keeping an eye on her."
"She's not a prisoner, Gideon." She told him.
His head shot up and he looked at her as a lion looks at a piece of meat. "Speak out of turn again and you'll find yourself in the dungeons." Her jaw clenched but she nodded at him. "Take her to her chambers."
"What chambers?" I frowned as Keziah put her hand on my arm.
He looked at me but didn't reply. Instead he simply turned and walked away. Two took their place by the door, making sure I didn't try anything again. Still panting from what happened, I tried to fight the tears that were brimming in my eyes. Looking at Keziah, I shook my head. She looked at me sympathetically, running her hand down my hair before gently rubbing my back.
"Are you badly injured?" Ophir asked, making me yell in pain as he gripped my shoulder. "I'll fetch some ice for it." Nodding my thanks, I attempted to force a smile but failed miserably. "That was very brave of you. I know no one who has the courage to go against Gideon."
"He's an asshole." I said harshly with a roll of my eyes. Ophir laughed while Keziah ran her hand down my hair again. "I can see how he became commander."
"He is a good leader." Ophir stated. "He simply doesn't know how to interact with humans."
"Or gargoyles." Keziah added, smiling at her friend.
"He knows how to kill demons." Ophir offered.
"That's all he's good for." I frowned at him. Seeing a look pass between them, I was grateful that they didn't defend him. Right now all that would accomplish would be pissing me off.
