Chapter Ten- The Transfer
Castaway hung around the police station for the next couple of nights, waiting for Servarius to be transferred, but so far no sign. What Castaway didn't know was that Chavez and Matt planned to move Servarius during the day. Matt made a backup plan with the clan. He wanted at least two of them nearby in case they had to move Servarius at night and the Quarrymen were lying in wait. He didn't mention Castaway being a gargoyle and regretted not doing so. The clan had a right to know and he resolved to tell them after transferring Servarius.
"Bluestone," Chavez called on the third night. "The prison's ready to receive Servarius. We are to transfer him tonight in about thirty minutes."
"All right, Captain." Matt waited until Chavez was back in her office before activating his communicator. "Elisa? It's Matt."
"I'm here. What's up?"
"We're moving Servarius tonight in thirty minutes."
"All right. Goliath, Angela, and I will be there."
"Thanks." Matt clicked off the communicator before preparing the paperwork for the transfer.
Elisa went to the living room where Hudson, Bronx, Goliath, and Angela were seated, watching TV. They looked over when she entered and Goliath could tell from her face the reason she came here.
"They're moving him tonight," Goliath stated. His mate nodded. "Very well. Angela, Elisa. Let's go." Goliath stood and left the room with the two females in tow.
The three of them arrived at the station five minutes before the transfer time. A group of four police cars were parked at the front doors. The gargoyles landed on the roof of a building across from the station. The station doors opened five minutes later with Servarius flanked with two officers in front and behind him. A sudden explosion of sound came from the alley beside the gargoyles just as the police opened the door of the lead car to put Servarius inside: It sounded like voices as well as charged hammers.
Goliath let out a battle cry before leaping down into the alley, eyes glowing. Elisa and Angela followed and found themselves facing at least a dozen Quarrymen ringed around the figure of an unconscious royal blue gargoyle! A fury seized Elisa at seeing a fellow gargoyle being attacked for no reason aside from his race. Elisa's eyes glowed and low growl sounded.
The Quarrymen abandoned their current victim and charged the trio of gargoyles en masse. They yelled battle cries and swung at the gargoyles with their charged hammers. Elisa found two Quarrymen rushing at her from either side. She waited until the last moment and then leaped upward and the two men collided with each other, hit the ground, and then were shocked unconscious as their charged hammers touched each other.
Angela ducked the hammer of a Quarryman before sweeping him off his feet with her tail. Goliath was knocking Quarrymen into each other, rendering them unconscious. He looked across the road to see all the police cars gone. Despite his feelings for the doctor, Goliath was relieved that Servarius was unharmed- which was more than he could say for the new gargoyle. He scooped up the gargoyle and bounded up the fire escape with Elisa and Angela behind him.
He placed the body on the rooftop and looked at him. The most prominent feature was the pair of devil-like horns on his head as well as the mustache. The mustache intrigued Goliath. Gargoyles rarely sported mustaches; beards, yes but mustaches?
Elisa crouched beside Goliath and looked at the stranger. She tilted her head and said, "You know with his hair and mustache he looks like a gargoyle Castaway."
"He does bear a resemblance to Castaway," Angela said thoughtfully. Goliath had to agree, but surely it was just a coincidence. Just then, the gargoyle's eyes fluttered open and focused on them.
Castaway crouched in an alley close to the police station. There seemed to be unusual activity tonight. Could this be the moment he had been waiting for? He narrowed his eyes in order to spot Servarius quickly and therefore be able to react just as quickly. His plan was to use the fire escape to access the roof from where he would glide toward Servarius and make off with him.
The sound of charging hammers from behind him made Castaway stiffen. No, it couldn't be. Not an unauthorized attack and not directed at him! Slowly, he rose from his crouch and turned to see at least a dozen of his men all hooded and armed.
"Kill the monster!" one of them shouted.
"Now, wait a minute," Castaway said, but his words were drowned out by the shouting of the Quarrymen. They charged at him and although Castaway tried to avoid the attacks, several of them landed blows to his head and back. He yelled in pain before hitting the ground and passing out.
He heard voices above him, but he couldn't identify them. He fluttered his eyes open to see blurred figures. He blinked and they came into focus. He inwardly cursed- He had been saved by Goliath and two females. He recognized the lavender female as Goliath's daughter. The other bore a resemblance to Maza and concluded that it had to be Maza.
He leaped to his feet and fired a look of intense hatred at them. "Get away from me, you monsters!" he spat.
A look of shocked recognition registered on all three of them. "Oh my God," Elisa said. "Castaway!?"
Castaway nodded before saying, "What prison is Servarius going to?"
"We don't know," Elisa said. "Even if we did know, we wouldn't tell you."
"I must know! He needs to design a cure and pay for what he did!"
"There is no cure," Elisa stated firmly. "A friend had his best doctors look over a blood sample, but they couldn't find a way to reverse it."
Castaway shook his head in denial which aggravated the pain in his head. No, she's wrong. There has to be a cure! I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a gargoyle! He ran to the roof's edge and glided away from the scene.
The gargoyles stared after Castaway's retreating form. Elisa felt sorry for him, despite the aggravation he caused for her and the clan. She wished there was something she could do to help him adjust, but she knew he wouldn't accept her help and he would refuse to adjust.
He's learned to glide. That's something at least. You know, maybe there is a way to cure him.
"Come," Goliath spoke up. "Let's go home." The three of them leaped skyward and headed for the castle.
Matt breathed a silent sigh of relief as he drove Servarius to prison. Getting Servarius into the car had been relatively smooth despite the sounds coming from the alley.
He glanced in his rearview mirror at his prisoner who was staring out the window. He cleared his throat to catch Servarius's attention. "Doctor, is there truly no cure for Elisa or Castaway?"
"That's correct. I usually don't make formulas that could easily be reversed. Both Elisa and Castaway are gargoyles for the rest of their lives, but of course you knew that."
"Yeah, I did. I thought I'd ask anyway."
"Owen, I have a question," Elisa said.
"Of course, Detective. How may I be of service?"
"Well, first, just call me Elisa."
"As you wish, Det-uh, Elisa."
"Goliath, Angela, and I found out that Servarius turned Castaway into a gargoyle. I was wondering if magic could be a cure."
"I'm afraid not, Elisa. I too examined the blood sample myself. Doctor Servarius used a good deal of iron in his serum."
"Oh," Elisa said, comprehension in her voice. "Right. Well, it didn't hurt to ask. Thanks, Owen."
"You are quite welcome."
Elisa walked away, deep in thought. So, a lot of iron was in the formula and since fay are vulnerable to iron, their magic wouldn't reverse the change. So, the only option is to accept one's new form and adapt. But, adapting is the last thing Castaway wants to do.
Perhaps the clan's acceptance by the people could be helped by this development. If Castaway ends up learning that not all gargoyles are evil, he might disband the Quarrymen and maybe claim that gargoyles are harmless, save for Demona.
Castaway glided about aimlessly, his mind still reeling from what Maza had said to him. At the time, he flatly refused to accept what she said, but now he was starting to rethink his thoughts.
Is it really possible that there's no cure? I have no reason to believe Maza. She fell in love with a gargoyle so she wouldn't be bothered about being a gargoyle. I want to destroy them so obviously it bothers me that now I'm one of them.
He glared at his claws. He hated every inch of his body- except his wings. They were the only part he actually enjoyed. It was cool to be airborne without worrying about running out of fuel, but he didn't consider losing his humanity to a worthwhile trade-off.
He landed on a rooftop to rest his wings and truly consider his options. He couldn't hope to get a cure while Servarius was in jail and he didn't know how long the prison sentence would last. If there truly was no cure, his only choice was to accept his new form, but he would never adapt to a gargoyle lifestyle. His body may be gargoyle, but his mind was still human.
"So, there you are my mysterious gargoyle," a female voice spoke up, causing Castaway to stiffen at the voice: It was the Demon!"
Demona smiled when she spotted the new male on a rooftop. Here was her chance to introduce herself and persuade the male to join her cause. He's quite handsome, she thought as she landed silently behind her quarry. She admired his deep blue skin, his pterodactyl wings, the muscular tail, and the horns on his head.
"So, there you are my mysterious gargoyle," she said. She noticed that he stiffened which was curious.
The male turned to her with a look of pure hatred and disgust. Demona took a step back out of surprise. Was it possible he had already met up with Goliath and the others? The answer seemed to be yes, based on his expression.
She held up her hands, palms outstretched. "I mean you no harm. I thought we could be friends. My name's Demona."
"I know who you are, Demon," the male hissed.
Demona's mouth dropped. "Hunter?" she gasped.
"Aye, it's me."
Demona sized him up again, smirked, and then laughed-hard. "Oh," she gasped between laughs. "This is too perfect."
"Is it?" Castaway folded his arms across his chest with a sour look on his face.
Demona chuckled one last time before replying, "It is. You've become what you hate. I'm guessing Servarius did this." The response was a nod. "In that case, you're stuck as a gargoyle. I know for a fact that Servarius is in jail and that when he creates a formula, he never designs a cure." With these words, Demona turned, headed to an edge of the roof, and launched herself into the sky.
Castaway growled softly as Demona glided away. That was the second gargoyle to tell him there was no cure. He truly had to accept that he was trapped as a gargoyle. There's no choice left, but to walk, or rather glide the path before me, Castaway thought as he took to the air and headed home.
Well, he's finally accepted that there's no cure, but that's all. There's still two more chapters until the end, so next update will be the last.