**I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's one of my favorites; and is one of the fastest paced chapter, or so I hope. Keep those reviews coming and shine on. P.S. A bit more rated M language in this one. **
~Chapter Twenty-Five~
The Chase
Brooklyn was gliding furiously along the Manhattan skyline, with eyes glowing white, searching for Rose's murderous husband, Kevin. He couldn't believe that one hour before this had hellish nightmare had occurred, him and Rose were taking an awesome and romantic ride on his new motorcycle,and had decided on an official wedding date for their mating ceremony. Everything seemed to be taking a turn towards the light, until this. Kevin's attack on the castle, Rose's personal space in her room, and Elisa's patrol car being bombed, was sending him into a downward spiral of hatred, rage and pure vengeance.
He didn't know how Kevin had found Rose, or any of his Clan, but it was unnerving to him. Brooklyn couldn't wrap his head around how Kevin had gone completely unnoticed by anyone. Brooklyn felt personally attacked; and couldn't imagine how Rose was feeling. As he thought of her, he hadn't meant to leave her so abruptly; but seeing that Kevin had found where she was living and sleeping, had enraged him more than he could believe. The anger was more powerful than what he felt with the gunman, more than the rapist gang members even.
Kevin hadn't put his hands on Rose; nor any of the Clan, but he came and apparently left Rose a few messages in her bedroom. Brooklyn left so suddenly in his rage to find Kevin and put an end to the games and acts of terrorism, that he didn't know what Kevin did to Rose's room. Part of him almost didn't want to know, either.
As Brooklyn thought of Rose; his heart gave a painful lurch. He had left her alone, with Elisa, Angela and Akira… and hadn't thought to console her fully. His rage and lust for vengeance took over completely, and only wanted Kevin dead. Though he longed to go back to the castle to hold Rose in his arms, he knew that he had to eliminate Kevin from the equation. It was taking his every willpower and strength to keep telling himself that he was doing the greater good out here, searching for this evil Human. Only then would Rose be completely safe. Brooklyn's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Goliath glided up next to him.
"Brooklyn… where do you want to start looking?"
Brooklyn blinked a few times in surprise and turned to his leader. Goliath had never stepped back to let him take charge before. However, seeing as this was Brooklyn's problem to correct, for Rose's sake, Goliath was letting him make the decisions, for the most part.
He looked back at the rest of the Clan and saw that they were all flying around him.
At first, he was really annoyed that they had followed him out, and even brought Bronx along, but eventually was thankful for all of them. It was a lesson he was learning right now, leadership wasn't a solitary act- but was teamwork oriented. They were his Clan; and as such, they were a family. They would stick together, no matter what.
Brooklyn's eyes stopped glowing as he said, "We seem to be getting nowhere by flight alone. We should probably take this hunt to the ground, as much as we can. Let's quickly return to the castle to let Bronx smell around Rose's room and get Kevin's scent in his system, only then can he can help guide us where Kevin went. We need to be very quick before the trail goes cold."
Goliath glanced warily at his Second-in-Command; and said, "We will go back and do that… however; I do not think you should come in and see what Kevin had done to Rose's room. I do not wish for you to see it… you're already in great pain."
Brooklyn glared at his leader and his pity; and said with a slight snap, "Thanks for your concern, Goliath, but no. I need to see this through. I'm already pissed off and worried for Rose. Whatever messages Kevin left for her, I must know. They could possibly lead us to him. The most important thing to me is keeping Rose away from it all. She has dealt with enough as it is."
"No need to turn back!" Lexington yelled out pointing his talon down at the street below. "There is a silver Honda Civic right below us. It looks like the same one Xanatos described to us!"
"Lex, there are at least a couple hundred of those models of cars down below." Broadway argued. "How do we know it's the right one?"
"By checking it out." Brooklyn snarled, already making his descent towards the car on the streets below, his eye blazing in rage. The car below them was sitting at the entrance of 66th and Central Park, and if it was Kevin, Brooklyn was not going to let him get away.
Kevin was sitting at his spot, waiting for Adam to bring Rose to him, and was slowly drinking his vodka keeping watch. The Quarrymen stated that they would meet him at 4:30 AM, at their secured location, and he would surely have Rose by then. He couldn't take out the Gargoyles easily by then, so he figured he would still recruit their help. Kevin laughed at himself and was amazed by how easy the night had gone by, but he was no one's fool. Something, eventually was going to screw up, and he was just waiting for it.
Suddenly, as he sat there, he heard an ethereal sound of roars and war cries coming towards him, echoing loudly all around him in the night. Blinking, and throwing his vodka down, he looked at his side mirrors, tilted the driver's one up and saw something that he never would have believed before tonight. Five winged-Gargoyles were diving at an accelerated rate towards him, a red-skinned Gargoyle with white hair, horns, a beaked mouth and glowing white eyes leading the charge.
Kevin grinned evilly at the sight and laughed at himself.
"Oh yes…." He snarled, turning his car on. "Finally, some real action. Come and play then, beast."
With a quick pull on his transmission, he peeled his car out as fast as he could and tore down the street, flooring his gas pedal to the floor; driving as fast as his car would allow. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his semi-automatic gun, which held much more ammunition, cocked it, and readied it for his use.
Brooklyn and the other Gargoyles were tearing towards the car, and Brooklyn was leading the charge, a lot faster and with more aggression; when suddenly the car turned on, and quickly peeled out; making him have to stop suddenly. Flapping his wings and flailing his feet and hands, Brooklyn quickly came to a stop and hovered in the air for a moment. His shackles raised up as he saw a man in a hat, smile at him through the side mirror, and instantly a hot hatred pulsed through him.
Charging himself forward again, he yelled out, "IT'S HIM! Don't let him get away!"
The other Gargoyles grabbed onto his arms and gave him a boost with their speed to keep a good speed for gliding.
"How do you know it's him?" Broadway asked Brooklyn, when they got him back up in the air currents, chasing the car."We probably just scared a random citizen."
Just then, the 'random citizen' pointed a semi-automatic gun out his window and began firing shots up at them. Brooklyn and the others gasped out, and began to dodge the bullets. Brooklyn growled ferociously at him, his eyes still glowing bright white, as Lexington teased, "Random citizen?"
"Yeah, okay." Broadway said, coming back over. "Never mind."
"Do not let him get away!" Brooklyn yelled out. "Tonight it ends! Capture him, but he's mine. I am going to kill him."
"Brooklyn-" Goliath called out.
"No, Goliath," Brooklyn growled back. "You're not going to change my mind, I refuse to let him live-"
Goliath glided closer to him and said, smiling darkly, "I was going to say that we are with you. No matter what. I agree with you; it ends tonight."
Brooklyn gave him a dark smile back, and then ordered, "Okay. Keep tight on him. We're doing this together. He may be strong, cunning and a monster… but we are Gargoyles. Tonight, we are the true monsters, and he is our prey. My prey."
They followed the speeding car, easily keeping on his tail, as they raised themselves higher in the air. They were just out of reach of his gun, while keeping him still in sight. As minutes passed, Brooklyn could see that Kevin was getting anxious, as his driving became more aggressive and risky, trying to lose them. Suddenly, the car took a sudden turn to the right and was heading for an underground metro.
"NO!" Brooklyn roared, diving towards the car. "He can't go underground! We'll lose our advantage. Lex, Broadway, fly ahead and distract him, try to force him to crash somewhere, Hudson put Bronx down and let him follow on foot. Goliath and I will take on the car. Stop it before he gets underground!"
Everyone nodded and followed his lead, while Brooklyn and Goliath continued to dive towards the car, as Lexington and Broadway took turns in swooping in front of the car. When Brooklyn and Goliath came closer, they both roared out in rage. Goliath landed on top of the car, and ripped his claws into the metal hood, while Brooklyn landed in front of the car, facing Kevin head on. Brooklyn's rage-filled white eyes met Kevin's black ones and to his further rage, Kevin was grinning amusingly as if he was having a blast. Brooklyn made a fist and roared, while sending it through the windshield as hard as he could. His first punch shattered the entire windshield, but not enough to get a hold of Kevin yet.
Inside the car, Kevin looked up at the claws pulling the top of his car apart, to the red demon in front of him, smashing his windshield.
"I don't think so…" He growled to himself.
Kevin slammed his foot down on the break, while pulling on his emergency break, and rotated his wheel, so his entire car did a three-sixty turn; sending both the monster on top of his car and the red demon in front of him, flying off.
Out on the street, Kevin's sudden maneuver tossed both Goliath and Brooklyn off the car, sending them both flying across the street. Goliath hit into a street pole, snapping the metal in half, and it slammed to the ground, breaking; while Brooklyn crashed roughly onto the gravel and rolled a few times, and then hit into the side of another car, smashing mirrors to pieces and sounding its car alarm.
Brooklyn growled to himself, rubbed his head in pain, and then stood; and watched in sudden horror as Kevin's car took off into an underground tunnel, losing Lexington and Broadway who had to pull up as their were no wind currents to keep them afloat. Hudson was running on foot towards him and Goliath, while Bronx took off sprinting at full animal speed after Kevin's car through the tunnel.
"No BRONX!" Goliath yelled out, but the beast was already gone, still tearing after Kevin's car, like a dog to a mailman,barking, snarling and gnashing his teeth hungrily.
"Lads are you alright?" Hudson asked them breathlessly, as Goliath and Brooklyn stood and were groaning in pain. Brooklyn's eyes were bright white as he roared, "DAMN IT! We need to follow that tunnel! Where does it lead out?!"
Lexington and Broadway landed next to them, and Lexington stepped forward.
"Just north of 116th S." He answered.
"Then, let's go!" Brooklyn yelled, running. "We can't let him get away!"
Brooklyn ran as fast as he could, jumped on top of a car, and used that to get some form of air. It was a long shot, but he wasn't wasting any time. Flapping his wings with as much energy and power as he could, he finally got himself as high as he could. Goliath and Lexington took off after Brooklyn, using the same tactic to get high up into the air, while Broadway and Hudson had to quickly scale up a building, in order to get enough air to take off.
For the next few minutes, the Clan flew quickly to the other end of the tunnel and touched down. Brooklyn rushed forward to look into the edge, but didn't hear anything… at any moment, Kevin was going to come tearing past the tunnel, and once he did; he was going to die.
Kevin laughed out loud as how stupid the monsters were, as he sped quickly through the tunnel. However, he wasn't going to be that obvious to them. Seeing the dog-like beast tearing after him, getting closer and closer to his car, he grinned and knew how to take care of the giant puppy. When he saw the beast right on his bumper, he slammed his car breaks down to the floor, skidding to the car to a sudden stop, and instantly the beast came slamming into his car with an injured cry and whine. The tough impact sounded like a large deer slammed into his car, breaking his back window and crunching his back bumper in.
"Holy shit!" Kevin yelled out, laughing and amazed by how much loud the impact sounded. He hoped it hurt the beast more than it did his car. When his car came sliding to a stop, he put his car into reverse, ran over the beast, and once he could see him from his front lights, he grinned as the beast was lying on his side whining and crying out in pain.
Kevin thrust his car back into drive and took off towards the way he first came in, and tore back out onto the street, speeding away.. Looking around at all of his mirrors, he laughed out loud again and tore back towards Central Park, having successfully fooled the winged-monsters. As he drove to Central Park, he took a left and entered through the middle section and drove quickly into hiding. After close to fifteen minutes of driving, he stopped near a grove of trees, backed in, and then shut off his lights; waiting silently. Just as he parked, his cell phone rang and though he didn't recognize the number, he answered it.
"Hello?"
"Scott, it's Adam." The familiar voice said in a rush. "I have Rose, I'm on my way to you now, with her."
"Good!" Kevin said, grinning evilly and then had to stop himself from laughing as he lied wildly. "Just in time too, you cut it too close. The building full of people was about to explode in two minutes."
"I know!" Adam cried out, sound extra whiny on the phone. "I tried to hurry! Please don't hurt anyone. I have your wife and am coming to 66th and Central Park-"
"No," Kevin suddenly interjected. "I had those Gargoyle monsters on my tail, and just barely lost them. I'm sitting in the center of Central Park. Come there, and once I have Rose in my hands, I will let you go, free and clear. No one to be hurt, no bomb."
"Got it." Adam said, before hanging up.
Kevin grinned evilly as he snapped his cell phone shut and was thoroughly pleased with himself. Rose was being brought to her by a stupid college kid, and he had stumped the Gargoyle monsters. Everything was going smoothly and according to plan.
As he sat in silence, he slowly drank his vodka, and waited for close to another ten-minutes for the kid to show up with Rose; and with every second passing, he felt himself growing even more impatient. Kevin was about to call the kid back when he suddenly saw and heard a car speeding towards him. He pulled a pair of binoculars out and watched as a white Ford Taurus was speeding towards them and as he looked into the windshield, he saw it was the kid. Smiling, Kevin put down the binoculars and knew he was about to get everything he ever wished, but his smile faded and he suddenly saw the kid's car began to swerve dangerously, and then the car sped past his, serving and crashing into smaller statues, and kept going. Kevin watched as the car went close to a half mile down the road, before it crashed into a fountain up head with an extremely hard impact.
"What the…?" He muttered to himself, but stayed put. As he pulled out his binoculars, he saw the back seat door open, and a young woman, with long. curly auburn hair rolled out of the car, obviously in pain and looking dazed.
Kevin slowly lowered his binoculars and grinned evilly. "Hello, my Rose. Come to me…"
Brooklyn waited outside of the tunnel for a few more minutes and was pacing impatiently. There was still no sign of Kevin or Bronx for that matter. His hearing couldn't hear the sound of an engine, no speeding car; nothing. After five minutes of waiting there, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach, and was thinking hard of what was holding them up. Had Bronx stopped him in the middle of the tunnel? Or something else?
"Where is he?" Broadway asked quietly, breaking their silence, playing with his talons anxiously. "Surely he should have come out by now with going the speed he was going? And even if he beat us to it, wouldn't Bronx have come out by now as well?"
Brooklyn stood there staring, not blinking, at the tunnel exit, and slowly lowered to one knee placing a palm on the ground. Though he wasn't as good a tracker as Hudson or Goliath was, he had picked up a few tricks over the years. The asphalt road was ice-cold to the touch, with no feeling of vibration through it, which would tell him if a vehicle was travelling towards them, and for that matter no tire tracks were present on the light layer of snow. As he stayed on his knee, racking his brain, he suddenly had a thought, which made his blood run cold.
"Or maybe…" Brooklyn whispered, a horrible realization coming to him. "That's what he wanted us to think… "
Everyone stayed silent for a moment, as Broadway and Lexington looked at each other with wide eyes, realizing as well what Brooklyn was saying.
"Do you think he turned around and headed back the same way he came in?" Lexington asked anxiously, getting onto Brooklyn's same thought process.
"I think that's exactly what he did." Goliath chimed in, darkly, his eyes lit up brightly in white rage. He had been patient through this whole thing, but now that this Human was planning games, he was well over it. "Lexington, Broadway, stay here and see if he does still come. Hudson, Brooklyn, with me!"
"But, what about Bronx?" Broadway asked, as Brooklyn, Hudson and Goliath all began running towards the side of a building to collect enough height to glide.
"Search for him, we will do the same on our end." Goliath ordered. "Radio back what you find, and we'll rendezvous in a little bit. He can't have gotten lost. It's a straight tunnel… one way or another, he'll have to come out!"
All three of them climbed the walls, and then took off gliding towards the beginning of the tunnel a few miles south. Hudson, Goliath and Brooklyn flew quickly until they finally came to the south end of the tunnel, where they first lost Kevin in. All touched down, and Brooklyn rushed forward to the edge of the tunnel, looking and listening for anything. But just like at the North end, this same end was just as silent. Hudson and Goliath knelt down where they were standing and Hudson ran a claw over some black tire skid marks.
"These tire marks are heading in the South direction… and are not from when he entered." Hudson explained seriously. "That much I am certain of. I think Kevin did exactly what you guys just suspected. I think he went into the tunnel, and then turned right back around, coming back out this end."
Brooklyn gritted his sharp teeth as his eyes lit up, and curled his fists up. "NOOOO!" He roared out, bringing his fists down upon the ground, breaking up the concrete with his fists. "WE WERE SO CLOSE!"
"Brooklyn, stay calm!" Goliath said, rushing forward, and placing a claw on his shoulder. "This night isn't over, and he hasn't won anything yet. We will follow his tracks and we'll not let him go again." He then paused, grabbed his necklace microphone and spoke into it. "Lexington, Broadway- it is as we suspected. Kevin turned around, and exited back out the end in which he entered. We are on the South entrance, meet up with us, and we will continue to track him."
"You got it. We're on our way." Lexington answered back.
Brooklyn was fuming, shaking his head and was very angry with himself for being so stupid to let Kevin slip past him, but his fuming was put on hold when he suddenly heard a cry come from deep inside the tunnel. Hudson and Goliath stopped talking, as Brooklyn stood up; staring into the darkly lit tunnel with wide eyes.
"Was that-?" Hudson began to question, as Goliath stepped forward next to Brooklyn and stared into the tunnel. Then, suddenly another whine was heard, and Goliath cried out in worry, "It's Bronx!"
Brooklyn, Goliath, and Hudson took off on all fours to reach their Gargoyle Beast as quickly as they could, and after running for a few minutes, they all reached where Bronx was lying and all skidded to a stop and gasped out loud. Bronx was lying on his side, with blood coming out of his mouth, whimpering; not bothering to move. His front leg was bent in a sickeningly unnatural way, telling them that their beast had been severely injured. To their further heartbreak, his little stub of a tail moved in excitement to see his family there, despite his obvious pain.
"Ahhh, noo." Brooklyn cried out painfully, tears filling his eyes, while crawling forward and placed his claw gently on Bronx's head and gently patted his skin. "Bronx… buddy…"
Bronx kept whimpering and was breathing rapidly as if he was extremely injured, and kept still, his eyes closing every time Brooklyn touched him gently. Tears filled Brooklyn's eyes and sorrow clung to his heart. "What?… What did he do to you?"
Hudson knelt down and gently gathered the beast's head in his lap and petted his face, not saying anything, and tears were falling down his face silently. The sorrow on Hudson's face was enough to make Brooklyn burst into full-blown sobs. Above their lamenting, Goliath was standing still, staring down at his beloved pet and companion, and suddenly snapped inside of him. Before he could speak, Lexington and Broadway ran inside the tunnel and both gasped when they saw Bronx lying on the ground.
"Bronx?" Broadway gasped. "Ohh no…"
"What's wrong with him?!" Lexington asked. "Why won't he get up!?"
Goliath's eyes lit up, and his own fangs were bared, and he clenched his fists.
"That bastard of a Human did this to him. Ran him over with his car, most likely." Goliath growled as he turned away, trying to keep his own tears from falling. As the other Gargoyles knelt down next to Bronx and offered them more comfort, Goliath suddenly turned back to them and opened his wings. His claws were in fists, his eyes lit brightly up and was baring his teeth.
"From Elisa's life being put into danger, to Rose's,… to one of our very own… I will no longer tolerate this madness." He paused, bared his fangs and then ordered, "From this moment on, I will be helping Brooklyn hunt Kevin down. The rest of you will return to the Castle and stay there! Tonight it ends. Tonight myself and Brooklyn will hunt Kevin down… and WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE!"
With Goliath's roaring battlecry, Brooklyn stood and followed Goliath out of the tunnel, while the other Gargoyles carefully lifted Bronx up, all carrying him to keep him steady. When everyone was out of the tunnel, when they all stopped as their communicators staticked and then Elisa's voice was heard.
"Goliath, it's Elisa."
Goliath stopped running, turned to face the Clan, lifted his communicator necklace up and spoke into it, as everyone else stopped to listen.
"Yes, Elisa. I'm here." He answered. "What's going on?"
"Where are you guys all at?" She asked him, in a loud voice.
"The Clan and myself are just North of Central Park. We've tried to tail Kevin, but lost him. Bronx has been critically injured and the others are bringing him back to the Castle. Angela and Akira are staying over at Emily's to protect her family, while Brooklyn and I finish the hunt for Kevin." He explained.
"I need you guys to all come back!" Elisa yelled out, her voice trying to yell over something, which sounded like a loud humming on the communicators. Brooklyn narrowed his eyes and stared at Goliath, as he looked back at Brooklyn with confused eyes.
"Why?" He asked her seriously.
"We've been attacked, Goliath!" Elisa yelled, over the loud humming. "The guard that let Kevin up, came up and told us that Kevin threatened to blow up the building with a bomb if Rose didn't get delivered to him by the end of the hour! I'm in Xanatos' chopper, with Fox and Alex, and Xanatos is trying to evacuate every employee and all of my department as well as SWAT. They are on the hundredth floor, with no easy way out. Fox is flying the chopper a nearby rooftop, that's where I'll be. Everyone else should stay away until this bomb is located and shut off."
Goliath's eyes lit up bright white now and growled loudly, "Is everyone safe?"
"For the time being." Elisa answered. "So far, the bomb hasn't gone off, but we are taking all precautions. But, as for the really bad news. I… I'm alive… but the guard came up and shot me in the shoulder."
"WHAT?!" Goliath roared out, looking around at his Clan as if he couldn't believe what was all happening in one hours time, and suddenly, Goliath's face was twisted up in pain and worry. "My love, are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm okay! I promise!" Elisa said loudly, "I've had way worse injuries than this… don't worry about me! You need to worry about Rose!"
Goliath suddenly whipped his head up and stared up at Brooklyn, who's worried and terrified eyes suddenly widened even more.
"What of Rose? Brooklyn asked, grabbing his own walkie-talkie and spoke into it, feeling true fear pulse through him. "Elisa! WHAT'S HAPPENED!?"
"The guard, who helped Kevin with this whole thing, came up and took Rose." Elisa explained over the communicator. "I'm so sorry… I tried so hard to help her, but he had shot me. Rose was putting up a good fight against him until he knocked her unconscious with a taser. I fear he is delivering her to Kevin."
At that news, Brooklyn's world seemed to collapse, and he couldn't hear anymore of what Elisa was saying. The walkie-talkie slipped from his claw and went crashing to the ground, as if in slow motion, and he couldn't hear anything accept his breathing and frantic heart, and felt like he was going to be ill.
There was another pawn in Kevin's game? Brooklyn thought to himself, feeling like he was free-falling. And he's kidnapped Rose, and I wasn't there to protect her…
"No..." Brooklyn gasped out loud now; his whole body feeling numb, and then suddenly he couldn't take it. "Rose… gone? Missing? I- He-"
Brooklyn kept stampering for a few minutes, as tears filled his eyes. He gritted his teeth, shaking in rage, pain and uncontrollable fear, and clenched his fists up into fists and held them against his forehead. Now that he had processed what Elisa knew; his eyes lit up bright white, spread his wings and roared out in pain and anguish; filling the night with his howls of rage; and fell to his knees.
"No! Nooo! ROSE! PLEASE, NOOOO!"
Fear for her pulsed through his entire body and he couldn't believe that he had left her alone at the Castle. He had pushed her to the side and gave into his lust for vengeance against Kevin; and now, she was paying for that decision. The price that she would pay was so high, he didn't know if he could ever forgive himself. His only purpose was to protect her, and now; like that realistic nightmare she had a few weeks ago suddenly came to his mind. Rose had told him what Kevin told her in the dream…
""He was telling me… that… you no longer wanted me, and so you gave me back to him." Rose had told him, tearfully, as if it were true. "He also said that I was his, and not yours..."
"I've told you once, and I'll keep telling you…" He had replied passionately, meaning every word. "I love you and I will never let you go. You have my heart, now and forever. I would never give you to him… and will not let anything happen to you. It can't be the future you saw… I would die first before I let anything happen to you… "
As that conversation crept back into his mind, his heart sank and suddenly felt like vomiting. Not only had he failed her, but he had broken his promise to her, and that nightmare suddenly seemed to be the hell he was living right now. In a sense, due to him picking hatred and vengeance; all while leaving Rose alone with Elisa, he had essentially given her to Kevin to take. Since Akira and Angela left to protect Emily, most likely for Rose's comfort, it left it incredibly easy for someone else to come and take her. If Rose had been taken by this guard, and couldn't fight him off; he couldn't seem to fathom what would happen when Kevin got his hands on her. The horror was so real, that Brooklyn didn't know what to do. His love and betrothed mate was in mortal danger, and he had no idea where she was, or what was happening to her.
As he braced himself against the ground, he couldn't help but let his mind wander into the darkest parts of him. After dealing with Kevin, briefly, and seeing his gleefully gaunt face, taunting and playing with him and the Clan, he couldn't bare to think about what he was going to do Rose when he got his hands upon her. Then, his mind took off unwillingly. Though he knew she was strong, images suddenly entered his head as if he saw what she had endured in the past or the future, he couldn't tell….
Rose trying to fight off Kevin, but was unsuccessful as he beat her; harming her immensely, and touched her in ways that made Brooklyn want to vomit. His high-pitched laughter drowning out her shrieks and screams of pain and horror…
The images were so real, and disturbing that he suddenly leaned over and truly did vomit; as the thought of her in his grasp upset him so much. The Clan looked over at him with great concern, and once he was done, he breathed heavily and suddenly felt a hot-fire like hatred and rage enter his body, taking over that worry with rage; fueling him.
"Nooooo…" Brooklyn suddenly snarled to himself, his shackles raising dangerously; growling terrifyingly. "I won't let him take her… I will keep my promise to her! She belongs with me… not to him… never him…"
Hudson, Lexington and Broadway all looked over at each other, while holding their injured beast, with great worry, as Brooklyn had seemed to lose his nerve. He dug his claws into the asphalt, creating claw-marked holes in the ground, and held onto fistfuls of gravel.
Goliath stared down at his Second-in-Command, feeling his own rage and worry flow through him. The night had just gone from bad to horrible, to the worst-case scenario; as Kevin seemed to have planned it out perfectly. Tonight was truly a battle in his eyes. His Clan and fellow warriors were dodging explosions and attacks from every angle, and weren't able to keep up with it all. Regardless of their efforts, people they loved were getting hurt, gunned down; and they were overwhelmed.
Goliath clenched the necklace radio and asked frantically, "Elisa… where did the guard take Rose?"
"I think Central Park. Or that's where the Guard said Kevin wanted him to go." She answered. "As for us, we are just barely landing on a rooftop a few blocks South of the Eyrie Building. If you guys search for the chopper, you'll see it. We are safe for now. Fox is patching up my shoulder; and I think I'll be okay. The bullet is out of my shoulder; and unless I am unable to move it after it heals, I shouldn't need surgery. So, all in all, I'll live."
Goliath growled, his own rage almost uncontrollable at the thought of his mate injured, his Clan partially injured and worried for their own safety, and his Second-in-Command in full blown meltdown as his betrothed mate was missing and in serious danger. Goliath clenched his fists and growled, wanting to shed Kevin's blood everywhere and end this night.
"My love," Goliath urged, "Broadway, Lexington, Hudson and Bronx will head over to you. Bronx has also been injured… please tend to him, and Brooklyn and I will return soon."
"Oh no… poor thing. Okay, I will do all I can…. Elisa said quietly, the took a pause and suddenly sounded very scared. "Goliath… what else is going to happen?"
Goliath clenched his jaw strongly and felt more rage and protection flow through him and desired to be next to Elisa, and take her in his arms, never to let go. "Kevin is going to die, that is what is going to happen next. Be safe, my love. I'll see you soon. I love you."
"I love you too," Elisa replied, and then the communicator went silent. However, before Goliath could speak to the Clan again, it staticked again.
"Goliath, it's Angela." Angela said over the radio. "Akira and I are still staying at Emily's house, and have heard everything. It's quiet and peaceful over here. Do you want us to stay or would you like our help? Sounds like everything has fallen apart on your guys' end."
"Yes," Goliath answered. "Kevin is most likely here in Central Park. Head with Akira back to where Elisa is, and where the other are going to rendezvous. Take care of Bronx; and help Xanatos with anything with this bomb. Brooklyn and I are going to deal with Kevin, right now. Be safe, my daughter."
"You too, father." Angela replied, before the microphone silenced.
Goliath glanced up at the other Gargoyles and silently nodded at them, silently telling them to get going. They all gently lifted Bronx up from the ground, and glided away, with Broadway and Hudson using their stronger wings in over time to find a wind current strong enough to help them. Finally, they did, and Goliath watched them glide away. Once they were out of sight, he turned to Brooklyn who was still on the ground, walked up to him and placed his claw on his shoulder.
"Are you ready?" Goliath asked him in a very dark voice. Slowly, Brooklyn raised his face and his eyes were glowing white with rage as well, his sharp teeth clenched and bared.
"Yes," he whispered darkly.
"Let's hunt and kill us a monster, then." Goliath snarled.
Clenching his fists, Brooklyn stood, spread his wings, and followed Goliath up into the air. They flew over Central Park for a few minutes and the whole time, Brooklyn felt numb. However, if he wanted to find Rose; he needed to be in tune with his emotions, in tune with Rose. Together, they both flew quickly through the air, heading over Central Park. They descended lower towards the paths, but still high enough up that they could cover more ground.
They flew for a while, starting at the North end, near the Ravine, and were keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of Kevin. Regardless of how angry he felt at Kevin, Brooklyn couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Rose, as it made him want to find his own grave and bury himself deep inside, instead of face that pain. Him and Goliath had been flying over and around Central Park for close to fifteen minutes, and were coming up empty. However, as they came near the center of Central Park, just south of the North Central Reservoir Lake, they saw a car smoking slightly; crashed against a fountain wall.
"Look!" Goliath called out, pointing his claw. "Down there!"
Both of them descended to the ground, and once they landed, they both gasped and looked around at the wreckage around them. The night was quiet around them, and could only smell the burnt rubber and metallic smoke from the car. No one seemed to be around, and somehow the car had crashed into the fountain. As Brooklyn looked it over, it was a white Ford Taurus, and wasn't the same as Kevin's, to his great relief.
Stepping forward, he placed his claw upon the metal frame of the car and was breathing deeply. Upon inspection around it, Brooklyn immediately noticed that the front engine compartment of the car was crunched in, and all front airbags had been deployed, which told him that the car was travelling at a fast speed. From the skid marks in the snow, to a few broken statues and street lights, to the crashed car; it all made sense. Brooklyn furrowed his eyebrows, stepped backwards, and then opened the back door to look inside the back seat, and there, he saw more of a mess and gasped.
Patches of blood was lining the back windshield with it partially shattered, blood was pooled on the seat, and left a trail out in the snow from the opposite door. Clenching his jaw and fists, he catapulted himself over the car, jumping over it, and landed on the opposite side. The door was open ajar slightly, and as he wretched it open completely, there was a trail of blood, as well as footprints in the snow at his clawed feet. He clenched his fists and followed the trail of blood, which was heading East, in the direction of the Castle.
Goliath followed behind him, as Brooklyn suddenly saw more blood on the footprints, and it was obvious the footprint and blood all came from the same person. With that, he gasped. Kneeling down, he gently traced the footprint and could see the footprint was from a heeled boot,and looked to be about Rose's foot size. When the pieces fit in his puzzled mind, he felt like passing out again.
"I... I think these footprints belong to Rose…" Brooklyn whispered, tears filling his eyes. "Which means… this blood… belongs to… "
He stopped and couldn't utter the words that were going through his mind. If she had been in the back seat of that car, then she had been injured. Goliath knelt down next to him, and used his training from Hudson to help Brooklyn determine more about what happened, and lightly touched the imprint in the snow.
"Rose." Goliath finished quietly, looking warily over at Brooklyn. "If these footprints are hers… then she's been badly injured."
Brooklyn closed his eyes, and placed his claw on his beak, and forced himself to take deep breaths, calming himself down. He needed to find her… and couldn't stand to stay still. As long as he kept moving, his anxiety didn't threaten to swallow him up whole, but when he didn't, it was hard to breathe. After taking a few breaths, he remembered about his connection to her, and willed himself to find her. However, as worked up as he still was, he couldn't seem to awaken that connection. Which only made his anxiety worse. Because it was either him that was unable to access it, or there was no soulmate alive to connect to…
Growling at himself and damning his thoughts, he opened his eyes and stood, looking around; refusing to give in and give up on her. There was another set of footprints, from the driver's side that was going North, and knew that those belonged to the driver; the one who kidnapped Rose in the first place. Growling and seething, he began to follow them, as Goliath grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"I know what you're thinking…" Goliath said firmly. "This car most likely belongs to the guard who kidnapped her, and it's obvious that there was a struggle. But look around you… her footprints are going back towards the Castle; while his are going North. Elisa said Rose was fighting the guard back at the Castle before he tased her, and could have been injured from that. But, this blood, here in the snow is fresh and the engine is still hot from the car. Which means, this happened within a half-hour range, or less. From the shattered back windshield, she must have forced him to crash the car and was injured from the impact, but escaped. He isn't worth following, but her footprints are. If we follow them, we may have a shot in finding her before Kevin does."
Sighing heavily, Brooklyn nodded, turned and faced his leader his jaw set.
"Okay." He said darkly. "You're right. Let's follow her tracks and see where she went…"
Together, they followed the tracks and blood, and Brooklyn felt himself getting more worried with every step. Rose had been injured, and for that; he wanted to hunt down the guard who hurt her and snap his neck in half; but the other half of him wanted desperately to find her, hold her in his arms and never let go. They followed the footprints southeast, heading towards the central lawns of the Park; and then, when they were out in the middle of a large piece of lawn, the footprints led them to another crashed car. This time, it was silver vehicle and had crashed into a large tree on the edge of the forested trail. As they stepped closer, they both froze and gasped.
In front of them, was a silver Honda Civic. The very same, Kevin had been driving.
When Brooklyn saw it, he froze and the night had seemed to reach the lowest and darkest point. There, was Kevin's car, crashed into the tree; and all around them was more blood, a smudged amount of footprints, and golden bullet casings. Seeing the destruction, blood and bullets around them, fear overtook his heart and threatened to stop it all together, and began to hyperventilate. As he looked around and gasping for air, all while tears filled his eyes; he spotted something nearby in the snow. He stopped breathing for a moment, and froze again at the sight of it. Though his legs felt weak, he crouched his way over to it, and what he saw in the snow, finally did him in.
In the snow, surrounded by more fresh blood, was Rose's necklace; the very same he gave her the night he proposed to her. It's red heart stuck out in the snow, with the silver wings wrapped around it. Sinking to his knees, he scooped the necklace up in his claw and held it, all while hyperventilating even worse. Tears streamed down his face in rage, pain and terror. He looked up into the sky, closed his eyes, forced himself to take a deep breath and let out a deafening howl, roaring into the night, all while holding the necklace to his chest. When he finished his lament, Goliath ran up behind him and peered over his shoulder, seeing the necklace and more blood in the snow.
"Brooklyn…?" Goliath asked warily, reaching for him.
"He has her, Goliath." Brooklyn gasped out, clenching her necklace in his fists, his eyes lighting up in rage. "Kevin has Rose!"
Rose had been running through Central Park for a while, trying to make her way back to the Castle, but found there was no easy path. There wasn't a soul in the park, as far as she could see; and though the park had some street lights, it was very dark. She stopped running and slowed to a stop, allowing her heart to catch up with her intense breathing. She placed her hands on the top of her legs and bent over, all while grabbing her long, thick auburn hair, and pulled it over her right shoulder to keep it out of her face, and felt like she could easily vomit.
Gasping for air, she straightened up, and willed her breathing to slow down; but still couldn't seem to stay calm. Blood was dripping onto the snow from her arm, and face; and as she looked behind her, she saw that she was trailing blood along with her footsteps. Confused, she touched her forehead, and found that she had been sliced it open, over her eyebrow, and blood was streaming down her face. Walking quickly over to a fountain nearby, she looked into the water and saw that she looked like Carrie from Stephen King.
Exhaling out, she scooped up some ice-cold water and splashed her face clean. The laceration on her eyebrow was still bleeding, but at least her face didn't look as bloodied. She dried her face with her sleeve, and looked around the dark Park; and felt fear grasp onto her heart. Though she could see the New York skyline all around her, she didn't know where she was or how exactly to get back to the Castle. She had been trying to make her way back to the street, but all the walkways seemed to take her in circles. Some would continue taking her South, and not East.
As Rose looked around, holding herself, she longed to be back in Brooklyn's arms. Though she couldn't feel him, or their connection, she knew that he was out here somewhere, searching for Kevin. And this whole time, he probably had no idea that she had failed to keep his promise, which was to stay safe. Though she tried so hard to fight Adam away, she still failed. And here she was; like a lost child in the middle of a large and scary world, with a murderous husband out there somewhere, wanting her dead, and no whereabouts on her Gargoyle lover and protector. Rose didn't know what to do, and wrapped her arms around herself. She was cold, lost, alone and felt extremely unsafe.
There was too much fear and anxiety that Rose didn't know what she could or should do anymore; the cold darkness around her seemed to match her own soul. Tears came into her eyes suddenly and she felt her throat close up with grief and fear. She tried to keep her breaths calm, but she started to hyperventilate and couldn't seem to get her breathing to slow or calm down.
"Come on, Rose." She breathed to herself, through constricted vocal chords. "Breathe… just breathe…"
She hadn't had to talk herself out of a panic attack for some time now, and hated that she had to do it again. She kept her eyes closed, and worked through as much of the panic attack, as she could, placed her hands on her lower back, thrusting her chest out; and forcing her rib cage physically open and force air into her lungs. Then, once the air started to come back in, she forced herself to keep breathing, and kept walking along the path. For the next few minutes, she followed the path, walking through the snow, until she reached an open lawn area. Not only was she following the Skyline, but the tire tracks from Adam's car. He came from the streets, and the tracks would lead her back home.
She kept walking quickly, following them through the open area, when suddenly a two bright lights shone in the night; instantly blinding her. Rose cried out and shielded her eyes from the sudden light. Then she heard an engine roaring to life, tires squealing against the sidewalk in sudden speed, and the roar of an engine speeding up, faster and faster; coming for her.
She opened her eyes in panic and saw the lights and roar of the engine coming straight for her with ferocious ; she dove out of the way to the ground to avoid getting hit, right as a car came flying past her. There was another series of screeching tire sounds; this time from the use of emergency braking, and then a deafening CRUNCH.
Rose looked up in shock from the ground, and saw a silver Honda Civic crashed and totaled against a large tree. It's whole front engine had been smashed in, was smoking, and every air bag in the front, had been deployed much like Adam's car had.
Rose blinked a few times and was breathing deeply once again, fear threatening to take over her. She didn't know where this car had come from and never saw it as she had been running. Cars weren't even allowed on his portion of the park; so it made Rose very suspicious. She slowly stood up, and walked over to the driver's side of the car; approaching it with great caution, as she didn't know who would be sitting in a dark car, in an un-drivable part of the park, hoping to run her over… other than one person.
Rose slowly and cautiously approached the driver's side of the car, from the back bumper, holding her breath and was praying that the driver would be unconscious. When she was near the back passenger door, The man, who had tried to kill her, was awake and stumbled out of the driver's seat, grimacing and grunting in pain. He was wearing dark clothing, a bullet proof vest, a baseball hat, and was breathing deeply. He then straightened his back, stood, and suddenly faced her, and when she saw who it was, she froze; terror and horror gripping her heart.
Rose gasped at the sight of him, and as much as she needed to run and scream for help, she could not seem to move. This fear was stronger and more immobilizing than any gunman or rapist. There, right in front of her, was Rose's greatest fear.
The true monster in her life.
Kevin.
His dark eyes slowly gazed up into hers, and the moment they did; they seemed to hold her hostage. She couldn't feel her body anymore; the fear was too real, too intense. Here he was, finally in front of her… and she could barely move to escape from him, nor could she hardly recognize him, for that matter. Kevin slowly raised his hands to his hat and took it off his head, and Rose saw that he had shaved his thick head of dark brown hair, so that he was now bald; making him look like a true murderer and serial killer. He had lost a great deal of weight, had seriously paled in his skin tone; and had large dark circles under his eyes; giving his face a skeletal look. The only thing that was terrifying familiar to her was his monster-like, black eyes. They seemed to glisten in the darkness, like a spider's eyes. As she stared helplessly into his face, he looked like the physical representation of death.
He smiled triumphantly when his eyes met hers; making his tight skin stretch over his facial bones as he flashed his still, unnaturally white teeth at her. He seemed to be breathless and overly- excited, and had obviously been waiting for this moment for a long time.
"Hello, my Rose." He breathed, looking at her with great hunger. Rose slowly lifted her hands up to her mouth and stared at him, with wide eyes, in horror.
"Kevin?" Rose gasped, still not believing her eyes. As she stared at him, he looked truly horrible; and she was unbelievably shocked that this was her same husband, she left two months ago. As she stared him up and down in horror, he was doing the same to her, but from his eyes, it was with great desire and hunger, as though he was imagining her naked.
"Oh-ho… you're killing me here, baby. You look so good… so beautiful… " He breathed out deeply and mused. "What I wouldn't give to have one more night with you. To have your luscious body under mine..."
Rose lowered her hands, as he was stepping towards her, and held a hand out to him.
"Stop." She warned, and he, for once, listened to her and froze. "Don't come any closer to me."
However; he was at least a foot-closer to her and Rose could immediately smell the familiar smell of booze and cigarette smoke off of him; as that is what he had probably been living off of. It was the most sickening smell and brought back massive PTSD. He laughed out loud now and held his arms, as to offer himself to her.
"Oh, come on, baby." He mocked, drunkenly. "Aren't you going to greet your husband? I've missed you, it's been too long since we've been together."
Rose shook her head, trying to breathe normally now.
"You're no longer my husband, Kevin. I thought I made that clear to you when I wrote you my good-bye note."
He licked his dry, white lips, looked down at his feet, and laughed a deep laugh.
"Oh yeah. Of course; that note. Sure, I read it. But, unfortunately for you, a note doesn't grant a legal divorce, so technically we are still married… and you are still mine."
Rose tightened her lips and internally was begging for more courage to tell him off. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No, I'm not. The moment you raised your fists to me, on our honeymoon night… I haven't been married to you."
Kevin was looking dramatically confused and was looking at her like she was a naughty four-year-old, and then rolled his eyes.
"Oh… this again." He mocked. "Seriously Rose, that was almost a year ago! Are you still going to hold that over my head? Huh? Why can't you just let it go?"
"I have." Rose told him, standing frozen with tears in her eyes. "I've let you go, and that's made all the difference in my attempt to heal from the damage you inflicted upon me."
He smacked his lips together and said, sarcastically. "You've let me go? By what? Running away…? Sorry, babe. We're still married."
"No, we aren't." Rose whispered, shaking in fear. "I've moved on and refuse to be married to you any longer."
Kevin stared at her, only a few feet from her, and suddenly began to cackle a horribly high-pitched laugh, all while stepping towards her. Gasping, she finally found her legs and began to stumble away from him, as he still laughed amusingly.
"That isn't how any of this works… babe." He laughed. "Let me teach you something really big here… and please, try to keep up, ok? There's lots that needs to get done tonight. I know you have…problems… with understanding things and listening, but I'll try my very best here to not beat it into your head the first time." He paused and stared at her, all while never blinking, making her heart pound insanely hard, as she couldn't seem to break eye contact with his cold, black eyes.
"When a man and a woman get married; they sign a marriage license, alright? That document… or… piece of paper, is a legal document. In order for, said man and woman, to get a divorce; they would have to appear before a judge and get the divorce granted…"
Rose was slowly kept backing away from him, as he walked closer to her, his glistening black eyes peering deeply into hers. The closer he got to her, the more terrifying he looked to her. He was smiling humorously at her now; flashing those teeth that she absolutely hated.
"Now, have we been to court to see a judge for a divorce?" He asked her, mockingly. He stopped walking and was letting her answer him; and slowly, with tears in her eyes, she shook her head, answering his question, making him gasp out loud.
"Oh… very good, Rose!" He exclaimed, dramatically and demeaningly, before he continued to speak darkly and venomously at her. "No, we haven't. So… since we haven't been through a legitimate divorce, we are still married and I am still your husband." He then paused and looked dangerously at her, his black eyes flashing furiously. "Which means that... YOU WILL HONOR ME."
He suddenly pulled a large, black, handgun out of his jacket and pointed it at her forehead. Rose gasped and jumped back from him. He was pointing it straight at her head and was advancing towards her; all while she kept backing away from him.
"So, my darling wife..." He said sharply; his anger was becoming more and more apparent, getting even closer to her. "Honoring your husband, means that you will be faithful to him at all times." He paused and then leapt forward to grab her, and suddenly grabbed her by the back of the neck with a pierce-like grasp.
Rose cried out in pain and fear as he pulled her long hair down, elongating her neck, and gently caressed the tip of the gun against her temple; running down the front of her face, breathing his nasty breath in her face."... And I would consider a romantic relationship with a winged- monster a massive betrayal of our marriage, and a reason for great consequence."
Rose blinked a few times, and desperately needed to trick him from knowing about Brooklyn. She gasped in pain as he was still holding her by the back of her neck.
"I…" She gasped. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He smiled evilly at her and breathed, "Sure you don't… "
He then brought his fist back and punched her in the face as hard as he could, blood spurting out of her mouth. She screamed out in pain as she fell, painfully, to the ground. Instantly, he stooped down and picked her back up by the back of the neck once again into a standing position; grabbed her long hair, forcing her to look up into his black eyes, and was gazing hungrily into her beautiful hazel eyes. He licked his lips once again; and grabbed Rose's backside to press her body into his.
She bit her lip even harder, to keep herself from screaming out in fright, as everything about him felt wrong to her. Now that she had chosen Brooklyn; she felt completely disconnected from Kevin and felt grossly violated as he held her against his body.
"I saw your monsters tonight…" He whispered dangerously, his nasty boozy breath in her face. "They attacked my car, as I was waiting for my little stooge, Adam, to naively bring you to me. I don't know what you see in them… they are very dull creatures. I easily lost them, and am happy to report that they don't know where I am… or you for that matter."
Rose's eyes widened as he told her about the Clan.
They found Kevin? She thought to herself in panic. Are they all right? Brooklyn…
Almost, as if he could read her thoughts, he exhaled dramatically, and mused, "Oh, don't worry Rose. They are safe from me, for now. I have you… and don't feel like exterminating their disgusting kind, until I get my fill of you. They have their death coming… but I have recruited a bit more help with that. So, for now, you and I get to enjoy a romantic night together, as husband and wife. How does that sound?"
With him holding onto her, she was gasping out with gritted teeth, trying to get away from him, and didn't say anything. However, knowing Kevin, he kept pushing her; wanting a reaction out of her.
"Let's get back in my car, and go somewhere more private." Kevin whispered, his gun pressing deeply into her temple. "Before I kill you tonight… I want to feel your body again. I want to stick myself into your sweet, sensitive center, and fuck you so hard until you can't walk or think straight…"
Crying out in rage and disgust, Rose kneeled Kevin as hard as she could in his privates, and wrenched herself out of his grasp, and stumbled away from him. However, as he yelled out in pain; he began laughing and launched himself at her again, body-slamming her onto the ground. Rose grunted loudly as she fell onto her back into the snow. Kevin pinned her down, and held her into the snow, with blood still coming out of her eyebrow laceration, and mouth when he punched her. Kevin's black eyes were piercing hers with great disdain and his white teeth were gritted, baring like an animal at her.
"Oh, I see how it's going to be." Kevin continued to growl at her. "So… tell me, which one of those monsters I saw tonight is your precious… Brooklyn?"
Rose gasped and stopped struggling, looking into his eyes with wide eyes, and felt her heart almost stop with fear. He knew everything… and she didn't know how. At her reaction, he began laughing hysterically again.
"Oh yes… I found out about him." He told her coldly. "And boy… do I have plans for him." He paused once again, still holding her tightly down on the ground and continued, "He is the red-skinned freak, with horns, and a beak for a mouth, is he not? When they were chasing me… he was leading the charge and looked to be the most pissed off… almost as if I had personally attacked him."
"I'm not telling you… anything…" Rose snarled, gritting her teeth at him in hatred.
Kevin bared his teeth at her, held the gun to her neck, and then pulled a knife out of his pocket and held it up. Rose's eyes widened as he suddenly brought it down into her thigh; stabbing her, and suddenly the pain she remembered feeling from her nightmare was real. She screamed out in the quiet night and felt her muscles cramping around the knife blade. Trying to get away from him, while screaming, howling and shrieking in pain, he pushed the knife deeper into her leg, all while she was screaming and crying.
"Ohh, yes that's it." He whispered, almost getting turned on by her pain. "Remember to scream like that for me tonight… okay? It turns me on…"
"You're disgusting! I HATE YOU!" Rose screamed out in rage, shaking her head at him, trying to get herself out of his grip. "You… evil… twisted, bastard! You were never this bad before… you need help…!"
"Don't worry about me, babe." Kevin breathed, pulling the knife out of her leg, and then brought the bloodied knife tip up to her neck; all while pinning her down with his aroused groin. "You're helping heal my troubled soul right now."
As the knife touched her neck, he suddenly spotted her necklace sitting on her chest, resting in between her breasts. He slowly brought her hands up her shirt; lifting it up, exposing her with just her bra, and grabbed the necklace in his hand and examined it interestingly in between his fingers.
"This is cute." He mocked, twisting it around in his fingers. "Did your monster get this for you? Oh… he did! Look… wings encapsulating a red heart…I get it now. How… sweet… and romantic. If your tastes have changed from diamonds, to dollar store toys, I could have saved a lot of money, a hell of a lot earlier..."
Rose was grunting and still trying to fight him off, but the pain in her leg was extreme. Blood was pouring out into the snow, and her muscle was still cramping painfully around the stab wound. With one quick tug, he broke the chain off her neck and held it in his hand, as he pressed the knife harder into her neck, and lowered his face so it was inches from hers, still taking control of her. She closed her eyes, and was trying to come up with a plan to escape from him, but he had her held down and wasn't letting her go.
"Tell me, my Rose…" he growled in her ear. "How does it feel when the monster touches you and makes you scream out in pleasure? Hmm? What does this freak of nature do to you that I don't, to make you want him more than me?"
Tears came to Rose's eyes as he was taunting her with Brooklyn. He didn't know and would never understand that Brooklyn actually loved and cared for Rose; he wanted her happy, and that they were best friends as well as soulmates. She closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep her from crying out. Suddenly; he lowered his lips to her neck and started greedily kissing and biting her neck. She cried out in pain, and pulled away from him. However; he grabbed her and sharply jerked her towards him once again, and kept the gun hand against her back; as his other hand painfully grabbed her neck, pressing the knife deeper onto her skin, almost breaking the skin.
"Hmm? Rose… what does he do that I don't?" Kevin suddenly yelled in her face, his anger back; pushing down on the knife hard now, breaking some skin. She screamed out and tried to tear away from him, but he slapped her across the face, with a sharp and stinging motion. She exhaled sharply; and needed to get away from him as quickly as possible. He wasn't wanting to talk anymore; and only wanted to abuse and possibly rape her.
"He… doesn't… hurt me." Rose spat through gritted teeth; looking into his black eyes with great anger. Kevin's eyes widened again; and seemed surprised that she actually answered him.
"What?" Kevin breathed in her face, laughing, not believing her. He ran the gun back across her face, gently and started to talk to her like she was a stupid, naive child. His tone was dripping with malice sarcasm, and condescension.
"Oh, come on; Rose, be serious, now. He's not even a Human! He's a monster… an animal. Surely, he fucks like any other animal in heat? Hmmm? Without feeling and without any regard to his submissive?" Kevin laughed a dry laugh and then said, "Don't tell me he actually has Human-like feelings?"
Rose closed her eyes, ignoring him, and didn't want to think of Brooklyn like that. She didn't want Kevin putting that fear into her head, because she truly didn't know how Brooklyn would be when they did decide to mate. That was, however; if she actually lived past this hellish night. She opened her eyes, gritted her teeth and glared up into his black eyes with pure hatred.
"He's not a monster, Kevin." She hissed through gritted teeth. "You are… and it's you who wouldn't know what true love feels like. You are just an empty shell of a Human. A very poor excuse for a man and husband, and it is you that will never know what true love feels like; nor true happiness. For that… I feel sorry for you."
A very tense silence passed between them; and for once, Rose seemed to have won. She could tell that she had struck a very strong nerve with him and he was struggling to come up with anything good to come back at her. He took a deep breath, and looked down at her lips. He was going to change his tactics up and either was going to sexually assault her or beat her within an inch of death.
"You'd really rather be a monster's whore?" Kevin asked her dangerously, in a very low and silky voice; pointing the gun in her face. Rose took another breath of courage and air and spat, smiling darkly.
"Yes. I'd rather be his whore, than your wife."
Kevin's eyes flashed dangerously, as he held her in his iron tight grip. Rose breathed deeply, forcing herself to face him and his cold, empty, black eyes; and then he punched her hard in her face once again, her head smacking onto the ground. She grunted out in pain; having been used to being hit so many times. Her skull and face was already swelling up; and Rose could feel fresh blood pouring out from her skin. Then, she remembered something that could allow her to escape.
Her magic.
Just like against Adam, she could blast Kevin away from her and give herself a chance to escape. Closing her eyes, and trying to relax as he kept smacking her; over and over again, and tried to conjure up her magic, willing it to enter her hands, but then, her head suddenly split in half with pain. Rose cried out finally; making Kevin stop, and was holding her neck tightly in his hands, as she remembered that Adam had done a number on her too, by shooting her head with a taser. Since then, her brain and magic ability did not seem coexist at the moment.
As Rose realized that she was at the mercy of Kevin once again, and didn't have any magic to help her out yet, she gasped and didn't know what to do. With a swift movement, Kevin pressed his thumbs into her windpipe; cutting off her air.
"Enough talk, then." Kevin snarled; still pressing the knife into her neck, as she gasped out in panic, her eyes widening, as her oxygen was cut off. "I haven't been searching for you for all these months to just talk. You deserve to be tortured for what you've done to me… you deserve to die a slow and painful death."
"How did you find me?" Rose gasped, using what air she could grasp, changing the subject. She wanted to know everything and hopefully come up with some escape plan. She didn't feel any tingling from her connection with Brooklyn; and didn't know how to activate it willingly, especially now that her oxygen was being deprived. He laughed a high-pitched laugh, which sent shivers down her spine; letting up on her airway for a moment, and pressed the gun into her forehead instead.
"Oh… right… got it." He laughed dangerously. " This is the part where I tell you all of my cunning secrets. Am I right? You're trying to stall so you can snag the slim chance to run away from me. Isn't that how all those 'action' movies go? Well…" He paused and then continued to spat at her in a vicious way. ""I've got news for you, babe. I have found you because I never stopped searching and investigating. I had a very specific reason to find you, so when I found out where you lived, and with whom you lived with... Mr. Billionaire Xanatos and those Gargoyle monsters, I never gave up until I found a plan to get you from them. I didn't think anything of those monsters either… until I saw the love note from your monster lover, Brooklyn. On top of finding all that bullshit out that, I booby trapped Emily's phone one night while searching for you. And on one of those recordings, I heard a conversation you had with your precious Emily. You were gushing about how you met a new lover… and were begging her to look at him with open eyes and with an open heart. It wasn't hard to put the evidence together… nor was it hard to locate the number you called from. And now that I've found you and your monster lover, I'm going to destroy you and him… and there's nothing you or him can do to stop me."
Rose's eyes got huge, as she remembered that conversation with Emily. She was worried, at the time that he had, somehow, booby trapped the phone. To her horror, she realized now that he truly did, and had found out about her and Brooklyn when she called Emily to finally let her know that she was alright. This whole time, that innocent moment of wanting to reach out to her best friend, had brought his hell upon them all and was the reason, he found her.
Rose closed her eyes and felt herself growing smaller and smaller, hating herself. She had put herself, the Clan, and everyone else in danger because she reached out to Emily and risked that phone call. She knew it was risky, but didn't care at the time, and now, a few months later, she was here; in front of her murderous and vengeful husband.
She gritted her teeth and snapped back at him, with her own rage pulsing through her.
"Brooklyn will find me, and he's going to kill you. I hope you enjoy this night with me, Kev, because it will be your last night alive. You found me, only to perish."
He leaned in closer to her, his eyes blazing with fury and rage, holding her neck.
"Oh my darling Rose, you put too much trust and faith into your monster." He snarled back into her face. "You all are so far behind my plans that it's quite pathetic. I knew he would come after me… so I staged a trap for them. You see, I've made a little phone call tonight; and have created a partnership with someone that also hates Gargoyles. Have you ever heard of the Quarrymen, Rose? You know, the infamous Gargoyle hunters? Well, they've been struggling to locate them, and since I happened upon their home, while trying to find you, I've graciously passed on where they are living to the Quarrymen, and in return, they promised that they would help me destroy them. So you see… after I'm finished with you tonight, your monster lover and his other kind will not make it to you. As he and his kind will be dead very soon, as will you."
As Kevin muttered those words, Rose's heart sank and she suddenly felt very afraid for Brooklyn and the Clan, and knew he wasn't bluffing. Him finding the Quarrymen was something she wasn't expecting; nor were the other Gargoyles, and they were all now in very real danger as well.
Her eyes widened up at him, as he smiled down nastily at her and continued to press his control over her. "I've found you, Rose, because you're too stupid to ever outsmart me. You were too distracted by your fairytale love life with a monster that you never saw me, or this army of hunters behind me, coming for all of you. And now that I have you once again, you're mine, and are never going to see your precious Brooklyn ever again."
Rose found her moment; and knew that it was now or never, and wouldn't let him or the Quarrymen kill Brooklyn or the Clan. A great surge of power flowed through her suddenly, but as it heated her hands, her head seemed to split open in pain, not allowing her magic out. Crying out in pain again, she bared her teeth at him, and used that energy to force him off her, by her own strength instead of magic. No matter how much it hurt her, she had to fight. She had promised Brooklyn earlier that night, that she wouldn't give up, that no matter how hopeless, or difficult the situation was. She needed to survive; for him, as he was doing for her.
She cried out in effort, kicked Kevin in the crotch as hard as she could, and then punched him in his face, knocking him down to the ground; her necklace shot out of his hand and into the bloody snow around them, a few feet away. He cried out in surprise and pain, by her strength and sudden attack on him, and fell down on his back. She took the opportunity, now that he was down, to stand up, and began running from him; going as fast as her feet would take her.
Screaming out in pain and rage, at the pain in her leg; and limped, unable to run on it. She gritted her teeth, crying out and grunting in effort, she still tried to run away, but her leg wasn't seeming to work. With tears streaming down her face, she couldn't give up. He would surely kill her. She forced herself to keep going, to limp through her running; but as her muscles warmed up, she evened out and then broke into sudden sprinting.
As she ran, Kevin's high-pitched laugh echoed in the night air around them, making her run even faster away from him. She was in a wide-open space, which made it very difficult to run from him to hide; or dodge any bullets if he fired his gun. Her magic shot through her, as if her fast beating heart was pulsing it through her bloodstream, energizing her. Despite her bleeding leg, she could keep going. In front of her was an opening of the trees, and she pushed herself as quickly as she could towards them.
Then, she felt her magic warn her of something; like a chill on the back of her neck. Shocked by the sensation, she slowed her running and turned her head around to look at what Kevin was doing, and as she did that; her heart dropped, and she screamed out loud.
Kevin had stood up from where she left him, a few meters away, was smiling brightly and had the gun raised; pointing it straight at her. Right then, a series of loud BANGS shot out in the night, and Rose dove to the ground, covering her head, as he shot the gun multiple times. With a cry in shock, she felt and heard the 'whoosh' of the bullets fly past her head, and couldn't believe how close that was. More fear pulsed through her, and knew she needed to run and keep running. He had gotten good at shooting, and must have been practicing while she was hidden from him.
When she looked back up at him, he looked enraged that he had missed killing her by inches, once again. But instead of re-filling the gun, he threw the hand gun to the ground, and pulled out another, large gun, out of his belt and cocked it. Time seemed to go by in slow motion as she watched him to do, and then once he did so, he raised his head with a sharp whip-like action, and then took off sprinting towards her, faster than she ever thought was possible of him. His face looked deranged, his teeth bared like he a wild-animal coming in for the kill of its prey, and it made her heart drop.
She cried out in fear, leapt quickly up to her feet, and sprinted as fast as she could towards the trees away from him, willing the pain in her leg to go away. She had to distance herself from Kevin and his gun, and get out of the open. Rose could hear his fast breathing behind him, coming closer and closer to her, motivating herself to push herself harder and faster away from him. She finally made it into the safety of the trees, and sprinted through the forested area of the Park, running for her life. During the chase, she gasped out, panting in panic and effort at her sprinting, and looked around in panic for anywhere to go to escape Kevin. As she looked around, she gritted her teeth, and willed her entire self to reach out to Brooklyn through their connection. Since he left, she hadn't felt it, and now; more than ever, she needed him to feel her.
If he didn't come, then she wasn't sure if she was going to make it out of this nightmare alive.
Back in the clearing, a half-hour later, Brooklyn was clenching Rose's necklace in the bloodied snow and was crying earnestly; the fear of losing Rose swallowing him up whole in grief and fear. Goliath growled, looked around the clearing, sniffing, and tried to find anything that would lead them quickly to Rose and Kevin. However, as he sniffed, there was no known scent around the scene, as it had most likely been too long. He stepped up to the scuffle of footsteps and knelt down. All around him was blood, and a few bullet casings. He picked one up and felt that it was cold, which gave him no time frame of when they were fired.
Sighing in frustration, he looked around some more, and then spotted a black handgun lying close to them. He stood, walked over and gently picked it up. Having been with Elisa, he had been taught how to handle a gun if he wasn't trying to destroy it. Sniffing it slightly, he could smell a strong liquor smell coming off it, and as he opened up the case; all bullets were empty.
"Brooklyn!" He urged, standing up and stepping towards him. "This gun is empty; which means all these casings were shot out and emptied." He paused and then looked around, piecing the mystery together. "There was a struggle here. She was fighting him off…and… "
Brooklyn looked up into Goliath's eyes, truly terrified, and was shaking, tears coming down his face, and gasped shakily, "If you are about to tell me that she shot her, and is dead somewhere… please… I can't handle it. If she dies, then I will surely die here and now… "
"No, Brooklyn." Goliath said, kneeling down next to him and placing his claws upon his shoulders and keeping him steady. "I do not believe she is dead. Injured, yes. But, look at these footprints. More blood has been shed, which most likely is from her, yes, but also from him. There are no bodies here, so I do not believe no one died; and more than that. I think she ran from him... and he followed."
Brooklyn whipped his head up and looked around through his tears, as he continued to shake with fear.
"How do you know this?" Brooklyn asked him shakily.
"These footsteps," Goliath said, pointing to the bloody footsteps that were running back into the forested area. "Are new, as is the blood. They are slightly stretched out, which means she is running. And with this larger booted footprint," Goliath paused as he was explaining and then gazed up into the forested set of trees to the South. "Is Kevin's; and he followed her… so… heading South, is our best bet in finding them. Come… let's take to the air. We might be able to find them if we hurry."
"Goliath…" Brooklyn said from the ground, closing his eyes. "I don't know if I can do this. The fear is too real… I can't handle it if I find Rose's body somewhere, dead. I can barely breathe right now…"
Goliath turned back to face his younger warrior who clutching his betrothed mate's necklace, to the opening of the trees, and then back to Brooklyn. Setting his jaw, he stepped up to Brooklyn, and knelt down next to him, and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look at him.
"Brooklyn… who are you?" Goliath asked him, seriously.
Confused, and slightly in a haze, he looked up into Goliath's face and furrowed his eye bones at him.
"A… Gargoyle?" He answered a bit lamely, not knowing where Goliath was really asking.
"Yes," Goliath answered heatedly. "And what do Gargoyles do?"
"We,,, defend and protect those who need our help." Brooklyn answered, understanding now where his leader was going with the conversation, and was letting him. Any fuel to get him up was needed.
"Precisely…" Goliath said, holding onto his shoulders tightly now. "Now… somewhere out here; cold, and being attacked by her monster husband is Rose. Your betrothed mate. This altercation did not happen too long ago; but with every moment you stay on this ground, the closer she becomes to death. Rose is fighting for her life, Brooklyn and needs you… and now… it's your duty and responsibility to protect and defend her, especially being your chosen mate. So… with all that in mind... are you going to allow to just her to die?"
"Never…" Brooklyn whispered, rage entering his being, and fueling his purpose back up, taking over the fear.
"Then…" Goliath yelled. "GET OFF the ground and DEFEND HER LIFE!"
Brooklyn's eyes lit up, stood, and opened his wings up, pocketed her necklace in his loincloth; and then stared at Goliath; who stood up and looked proudly down at him.
"Good choice." Goliath said, smiling proudly at him. "I know how scary this is, almost losing the ones we love; but we must put it to the side and continue to fight…"
"I refuse to give up on her, and let her die." He answered Goliath, seething. 'I will defend and fight for her; and will not allow Kevin to harm her anymore."
"Good." Goliath said. "Let's get going then…" He paused, turned and then pointed to the trees. "They headed South; but to save time, try to connect with her again. Maybe now, you'll feel something. A warning… anything, to better help us find them in time. You knew where she was the night of the Brooklyn Bridge. Channel that same thing, and try to find her."
Brooklyn set his jaw firmly, closed his eyes and forced himself to relax, and to encapsulate his entire thought and mind around Rose. Willing their connection to awaken.
I will do anything to fight for her… Brooklyn thought to himself. She is my life, my love… please… help me find her. Rose… Rose… My love, my mate…. ROSE, WHERE ARE YOU?!
Suddenly, as he willed himself with a great strength; to think of her, and nothing of her in his arms safe and sound, his body suddenly charged to life. Electricity and the tingling sensation flowed through him like a hot liquid and tingled his talons; going up and down his entire body. Smiling at himself, he willed himself to locate her, and then; just as he did, he could feel himself connect with her, and the fear that was pulsing through her was the same as the same fear he felt inside himself a few minutes ago.
Her heart was pulsing fast, and could tell she was running as fast as she could. The tingling sensation tore through him, making him gasp out in pain at how strong it was. Every time he felt it, it amazed him. However, this pain and urgency was now the strongest he ever felt before. It charged and stung him more than the Brooklyn Bridge, more than the night of the rapists… this was terrifying. As he willed his mind to find her, she was running towards the Queensborough Bridge, just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, still over the East River. She was in a great amount of pain, and was screaming out for him, pleading for him, and it made his heart stop.
If he didn't get there to her right now, she was going to die. Blinking, he suddenly stumbled backwards and clenched his heart, as if he truly was going to have a heart-attack.
"Brooklyn…? Goliath asked him, reaching out for him in worry.
"The Queensborough Bridge!" Brooklyn gasped out, his eyes lighting up brightly in rage and fear. "They are there! QUICKLY! BEFORE HE KILLS HER!"
He didn't wait for Goliath, as he ran as fast as his legs would take him, and forced himself to catch air; and flapped his wings furiously to get high enough up to get the wind currents. Once he did, he charged as fast as he could towards the Queensborough Bridge, hoping that he wasn't too late…
"I'm coming, Rose!" Brooklyn yelled out, his eyes lit up and reaching his connection out to her, hoping, praying and urging her to feel him coming for her. "Hang on, my love! Keep fighting, don't give up! I'm coming!"
Rose seemed to be having an out of body experience as she sprinted as fast as she could away from Kevin, through the forested Park. Time seemed to be passing by in slow motion, and she still felt numb of all emotion except true and pure fear. Kevin was still on her tail- and was closing in on her with every step they took. She couldn't seem to hear anything except her own heavy breathing and pulsing heartbeat in her ears. She dove in and out of trees, sprinting as quickly as she could, and allowed her adrenaline to almost fly her through the woodland type setting, trying to be stronger and faster than him, despite her injured leg. Suddenly, another shot rang out and hit the tree in which she ran past, exploding bark and dust all around her.
She screamed, and looked back just enough to see that Kevin had tried to shoot her again; but missed her by inches. Kevin roared out in rage; but kept running after her, coming closer and closer with every step, re-cocking the gun while he ran. Crying out in panic, she kept running, weaving through the trees with great speed and frantic movements. Rose's heart and lungs felt as though they were about to explode and wasn't sure how much longer she could keep running. Her breathing was panicked and shallow, and suddenly felt herself tire and slow down slightly, her leg giving in, which instantly damned her.
Without warning; Kevin's body slammed into hers with a great grunt of effort from behind, and his momentum threw them both off the trail, down a small hill. Rolling in a ball, over each other and the Earth, crashing into tree branches and rocks; which effectively cut up Rose's face, neck, arms, and knees. They went barreling down the hill, until they both landed on the ground below the hill. Rose landed painfully on her back, which forced the wind out of her lungs. She groaned and cried out in pain; as her body was overcoming the shock of being beaten down like that, but knew that she had to rise and keep going. Grimacing in pain, she forced herself to stand, despite all the pain she was in, and how tired she was; and looked around in frantic desperation.
She had been forced off the trail in which she was near and was in a forested part of the park. It didn't even feel like she was in New York anymore, but the mountains somewhere out in the wild. Rose gasped out in fear, and tried to calm her frantic breathing, when she felt Kevin move next to her. She looked over, into the dark, and started to quickly crawl away from him.
However; before she could escape again, Kevin jumped up from the ground, roaring out like an animal and was on top of her, hitting her and trying to harm her. She screamed out in panic, but he silenced her by punching her over and over again in the face, and every other body part he could effectively harm and maim.
To her luck, if she could call it that, Kevin had lost the gun; and was back to harming her in the ways she was the most used to. Though it was painful, she learned to breathe through the pain, and to keep fighting. With a great cry; she punched him in the face and tried to push him off her. However; nothing seemed to work; and Kevin was now reaching for her airway; choking her again, effectively stopping her airway. She was gasping for breath as he was staring down at her face, with a gleeful look; and was grinning evilly at her. He was achieving everything that he had set out to do. She couldn't allow him to kill her; she wouldn't allow it.
She suddenly thought of Brooklyn and what he would do if he lost her, their beautiful future together was about to abruptly and traumatically end, if she didn't do something. Electricity started to flow through her again, as she thought of Brooklyn, and instantly was filled with power and strength again, like before. She still couldn't will her magic out, thanks to the taser injury to her head, but it would give her enough strength to force him off her. With each heartbeat, the survivor inside her, was forcing her magic to slowly wake back up. As Kevin was choking her out, and had been without oxygen for a few seconds; her mind had never been more clear.
Rose reached all around her and found a fist-sized rock, lying next to her leg. She grabbed and slammed it against his head as hard as she could, over and over again with all her might, until he let go of her. He yelled out in great pain with each blow; and seemed to immediately be dazed, which allowed her to kick him off her. She gasped in a deep breath of fresh air; and instantly jumped up and ran, blindly, away from him through the darkness, again ignoring her leg pulsing painfully. The world around her was spinning as oxygen was trying to reach her brain and lungs.
As she was suddenly breathing frantically again, her eyes started to see again; but were filled with stars. She reached out with her mind with the electricity sensation; and to her great surprise, it seemed to effortlessly stretch out and guide her away from Kevin, through the maze of trees and forest, towards safety. She didn't know how she had the strength to keep her legs running; but again, the electricity-sensation seemed to fuel her with power and strength to keep going. Rose looked back a few times, as she weaved through trees, and saw Kevin looking wildly around the forest floor for his gun. With wide-wild eyes, he found the gun near him, grabbed it and then took off after Rose again.
Rose gasped in fear; and kept pushing herself to keep sprinting, knowing she hadn't won yet, however, neither had he won yet, she wasn't dead.
Keep going! She kept screaming to herself, to her connection, and to Brooklyn. Don't stop! Don't give up! Survive!… think of Brooklyn… Brooklyn!.. .Brooklyn! WHERE ARE YOU!?
She was feeling sweat and blood running down her leg, arms and face, and was in a great deal of pain, but kept going; as her very survival depended on it. She could no longer hear Kevin behind her, as she suddenly ran under a small bridge and there were statues and large boulders all over her. There were enough statues, that she felt she could hide for a chance at survival. Running towards a nearby statue, she dove behind it to hide from him, and listened for him.
She placed one hand over her heart, and the other over the mouth to silence her loud and wild breathing; closed her eyes, trying to keep as quiet as possible, as she risked this moment to rest. A few minutes went by in silence, before she heard fast footsteps and his heavy breathing approach, but then skidded to a stop near her. She opened her eyes, keeping her hands over her mouth, and slowly peeked a centimeter past of the edge of the statue. Kevin was suddenly in sight, and he was walking around the area slowly, looking around with wide eyes, with his gun raised at the ready. With all the statues around, he knew she was hiding somewhere.
"Really? Hiding from me again?..." Kevin yelled out, panting heavily, as if the cardio was insanely painful for him. "That didn't work out so well last time, now did it? I will always find you…"
Rose stayed silent, and kept her hand over her mouth to keep herself silent from him, as she heard his boots crunch over head leaves and some piles of icy snow. Her heart kept racing as he crept closer to her hiding place. Then, as his footsteps got closer to her, his voice was suddenly heard in a soft murmur.
"Rose?… Oh, Rose?" Kevin called out in a sing-songy type voice. "Come out, come out; wherever you are..."
She slowly moved away from the edge of the statue; keeping herself low, and tried to hold her breath, and as suddenly as she did that, another gun shot rang out in the night. Jumping in fright, she had to slap her hand over her mouth even harder, so she didn't scream out, as it scared her. He had shot a nearby statue, and was seeing if it scared her out of hiding. However, when it didn't, he kept walking slowly towards her, looking around.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be." He mused happily. "I know you're here somewhere… why prolong the inevitable? Hm? You're mine to control, and thus, mine to kill if I so desire… and right now, there's nothing I desire more than to watch you die… "
Rose opened her eyes, still forcing her breathing to be silent, as she heard his footsteps creeping closer and closer to her. Looking around, she had no choice of where to go if he found her. Hdiding, she realized was stupid and wouldn't assist her at all. She had to run and pray that he didn't kill her where she ran, or fight him.
Suddenly, before she could make up her mind, another gunshot ran through the night, but this time it seemed like it was shot right next to her head, and she was sent flying backwards as the gun exploded a piece of her statue off. Shards of cement and stone cut up her face; regardless of her covering her face, and she cried out in surprise at the noise; falling down hard on her shoulder.
Kevin whipped his head around at the sound of her cry, and though he hadn't seen her behind the statue; he wanted to see if his gunshot shocked her out of her hiding place again; like a pack of birds flying away from a loud noise, and was amused when it worked. Kevin laughed evilly; and began to run for her.
"Gotcha!" He yelled out, re-cocking his gun, as she dove away from her hiding place, forced herself to stand, and then they were at it again, running as fast as they could in their cat and mouse game. Rose could see the skyscrapers coming closer and closer to her; and noticed that she almost out of Central Park. Soon, they were going to hit the streets, and to her horror; she realized that there weren't a lot of places to hide. If he shot her; he would most likely succeed. More gunshots rang out in the night, and blew past her head, but she kept urging herself forward. Refusing to give in, wanting to fight him until she couldn't anymore.
She finally made it to the streets and ran down the 59th Street, sprinting as fast as she could away from the Park. She looked up to the skies and didn't see Brooklyn or the Gargoyles anywhere, and didn't know if she was going to survive without them there. This night had turned into a complete and utter nightmare and she needed to make it somewhere safe, and fast. She kept weaving in and out of cars, to avoid his gunshots, as he shot at her, each time missing her by inches. Bullets ricocheted off cars, fire hydrants, and building bricks; blasting debris and water all over the place. With each failure, Kevin would scream out in rage and kept coming for her, faster and faster, wanting and desiring her death more than anything now.
Rose kept pushing herself, faster, and was sliding on snow and ice, and was terrified as it kept slowing her down. Whipping her head around, making her long hair blow in her face, she saw Kevin just a few meters behind her; and she knew she was going to die. His grunts, growls and breathing was coming closer to her and she was running out of options.
"Brooklyn!" Rose screamed out into the night sky; willing herself to connect with him, begging and pleading for her connection to have him feel her. "I need you, my love…! PLEASE! HELP ME!"
Running for her life, she suddenly realized that she was in even bigger trouble. She had just run past her last street, before she was running towards the Queensborough Bridge. The large bridge sat right in front of her, and was a straight shot to her death. This night was reminding her greatly of the first night she met Brooklyn, at the Brooklyn Bridge; when he saved her from jumping. Now, she was back at the East River, just North of the Brooklyn Bridge, and was hoping to be saved, but looked unlikely. The only option she had was to be shot, or to throw herself off the bridge. Both of which, she wasn't willing to accept as her fate.
Rose kept running, pushing herself and her screaming lungs, and was crying now. Looking around and trying to find somewhere she could go; anywhere to give her a chance at survival. Now, running over the bridge, she saw a spire, in which she could attempt to climb, quickly; to bring herself to the top and pray her love found her. However, it was very unlikely that she would make it, especially if Kevin kept shooting at her. Looking back, she screamed out in panic, as Kevin was now just a few feet from her and his face was terrifyingly murderous.
I'm going to die! She screamed to herself unwillingly; but then she felt something that was her saving grace. The familiar tingling sensation awakened in her fingers, and then exploded through her body, giving her purpose, making her cry out in relief; tears spilling down her face. The connected sensation was shooting through her body; and it was the familiar sensation that Brooklyn was aware of her and was coming to save her. As she ran, she could almost feel his incredible love and strength and could even hear his voice in her head, or so she thought.
I'm coming, Rose! He yelled in panic. I'm coming, my love! Don't give up, keep fighting! I'm coming!
Looking up, with tears streaming down her face, she remembered her original promise to him that she would keep fighting, and that's what she would do. Looking over, she saw a spire to her right, and then she made up her mind. Crying out, she leapt over a few cables, and then jumped up on the edge of the bridge and began to frantically climb, using her strength to climb. She wasn't quite over the ledge of the river; but would be, once she reached the top. She didn't hear or see Kevin behind her; and thought she lost him, and was hoping to use height as an advantage, as she was now getting used to climbing heights to be with Brooklyn. She wasn't quite half-way up to the top of the bridge, when she heard another gunshot ring into the night.
She thought that he was hoping to scare her again; to hear if she would scream, but this time was different; much different. She heard the shot; but then seconds later, a hot-blade like sensation shot past her left arm, barely missing her ear and side of her head. Rose screamed out in pain; and was immediately blasted in the face with her own blood.
Then, she was falling. She had lost all grip on the bars in which she felt, and had only climbed about five feet up in the air, but was immediately sent rolling downwards, into the other metal-plated bridge, and then fell to the asphalt road with a bone crushing force.
Rose gasped out in pain, and cried out, and couldn't seem to feel her body for a moment; as the breath was knocked out from her lungs again. Her eyesight kept going in and out for a few moments, before she blinked, and all sight and hearing came back to her senses. She quickly rolled over, despite the horrendous pain in her arm; where the bullet grazed her arm, and stabbed leg; and watched as Kevin was stalking towards her; with the gun raised, grinning evilly. He re-cocked it and was aiming it at her head, and was laughing.
"Really? You thought it was smart to climb up a goddamn bridge to escape me?" He laughed and panting. "Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me…"
He then stopped talking, and looked up at the night sky suddenly with wide eyes. The once quiet night was filled with Brooklyn's roar of anguish, rage, and fury, and was circling all around them. Rose couldn't help but cry out in relief once again, once she heard his roars, and knew the connection was real and not just a desire of her mind.
Brooklyn was coming for her, and would stop Kevin and then they would finally be together in a state of blissful, passionate and romantic love. However; the nightmare still rolled on as Brooklyn seemed to still be so far away. Kevin turned back to face her, his face screwed up in rage, and his white teeth was bared at her.
"Well, Rose. Thanks for the exercise. I enjoyed our night run… but I've got to cut this short. Your monster is here to save the day." He stooped down, in a crouch, and pointed the gun at her head and snarled in her face, "Once I'm through with you, there won't be anything left for him to save..."
She was gasping out; and couldn't seem to feel anything but the pain she was in. Blood was pouring out of her wound and was soaking her shirt, and she had a couple small scratches and lacerations to her face, as well as bruises and swelling from his punches to her face.
Don't give up…! Brooklyn's voice from his promise earlier tonight, rang in her mind. No matter how hopeless it seems, no matter how hard… don't give into him…!
Rose exhaled deeply, closed her eyes for a second, allowing calm enter her soul, before whispering to herself, "I won't give up… I won't give up, Brooklyn… "
Kevin was still coming at her when she gritted her teeth and kicked him, with all her might, in his face. He cried out in pain, took a couple steps away from her, and leaned over grasping his nose. She quickly stood from the ground, and ran as fast as she could towards the edge of the Bridge. When she reached the edge, she whipped herself back around to face Kevin, and to her horror, he was standing now; facing her and was pointing his gun at her, with his face still screwed up in pain and hatred.
Rose gasped, as Brooklyn's roar of rage and horror was heard, but he was too late. Rose looked at Brooklyn just then, wanting to see him one last time, for she knew that this was it for her, her time was up. His eyes were glowing brightly; and his claws were out, ready to attack and maim Kevin; but he was also in shock as he realized, as well, that he would be too late.
Rose's eyes filled with tears as she looked longingly at her love, and closed her eyes as a shot rang out in the night. The next thing she felt was the tearing sensation of a bullet entering through her upper left shoulder, blasting through her chest, above her heart. She cried out in fear and pain; and felt herself falling backwards, and suddenly fell over the edge of the bridge, falling towards the icy waters below.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Brooklyn was screaming out; and the night was filled with his roars of horror. Rose fell; faster and faster, towards the icy waters below, her eyes filled with tears, as she closed them.
I love you, Brooklyn. She whispered in her mind; willing it to reach him through their connection, as she couldn't seem to speak, before she fell through the icy waters. I tried to fight him, I'm sorry I failed. I love you… forever...
With her eyes closed, she suddenly felt strong arms around her body, making her fall even faster; but before she could process who or what it was, her body and the weight attached to her; crashed through the thick ice-covered, frigid black waters, and instantly the ice water hit her body like a thousand more knives were being thrust and stabbed into her body. Rose wanted to scream out at the pain, but the cold was so intense and instantly overtook her body, and all her senses; leaving her to feel numb.
The frigid black water was all over her, and she felt like she was still falling, deeper into the cold abyss, that she was sure was her hell. She opened her eyes weakly, and saw the moonlight in a circle above the icy blackness around her, and it reminded her of the world above, of Brooklyn. Then, her eyes closed, and then the light faded, encapsulating her in total darkness, as she continued to fall, deeper into her watery grave, and willed Brooklyn and his love to be her last, parting thought, before fading away into death's cold grasp.
** Sorry for last chapter's cliff-hanger, but this one's worse... :) You're welcome. More to come... hang in there... **