Welcome back, Readers!

Not much to say about this chapter, besides it's the second one, and I hope you enjoy it!

Note: Conversations in sign language will be written in italics, as well as words that are lipread. I'll usually say when someone is signing/lip-reading, but just a heads up.

A Monster Calls

A week after moving in with his uncle, Elijah was waiting for something exciting to happen.

Back in Galveston, there was always something to do; there was the boardwalk, the historic downtown full of museums and shops [not that he shopped; he just looked in the windows at all the cool stuff they were selling], and even a large candy store modeled after a 1920's parlor that had daily taffy pullings. And, of course, there was the beach that stretched out the whole 27 mile length of the island, bordering the muddy-brown water of the Gulf of Mexico. Add that to the occasional hurricane or tropical storm every few years, life was never dull.

New York state was the exact opposite. New York City was probably an interesting place, but the teen would not know, since they lived several miles North of the city, the bright lights a mere spec in the distance. His Uncle Jeffrey had mentioned a small town that was nearby, but the most interesting it had there was a recently built supermarket replacing the old grocery store. There was the ocean and private beach about forty yards or so away from the back of the house, but it was so different from the crowded, littered, crazy beach back home, he hadn't gone out there yet.

Since his uncle slept in most of the morning, Elijah was able to explore the rest of the house undisturbed, hoping to find some sort of locked room or mystery that could occupy his time. However, he was surely disappointed with his findings; there were no locked rooms, no hidden passageways in the library, and the attic was just a dusty storage space. The only interesting place he found was a railed balcony accessible from one of the empty guest rooms, and he sometimes sat up there, staring out at the ocean in the distance.

His Uncle Jeffrey was obviously trying hard to make sure that his time here was enjoyable. He took him to the town one day, and they rented a movie [Clue; one of the teen's favorites], but besides that, they did not do much. The blind author spent most of the time in his library, pouring over large volumes as he used some sort of Braille typing machine to write. The teen, having finished his uncle's book by now, was free to read his favorite genre of books: mysteries. His uncle had several volumes in the library, but the majority of them were in Braille. Besides, the place smelled of aging paper, leather, and something that reminded the teen of the concrete. He needed something to happen, or else he would die of boredom.

That interesting something happened near the end of the week. The computer in his room was equipped with a webcam, and he was finally able to call one of his old friends back home; June, his only deaf friend from his neighborhood. When her face appeared on the screen, he could not help but grin as he waved his hand at her; she was fully deaf, so she did not wear hearing aids, which was why they were communicating via ASL and webcam. Unlike him, she was homeschooled [her mon taught deaf kids, including Elijah when his hearing first started to go] while he had gone to the regular public school.

"You're alive," she said, her hands in thumbs up, lifting them slightly from her waist to her chest, a smile on her face. "I can't believe it's only been a week; it feels like forever since I last saw you! How was the flight?"

"Long," he replied, dragging his right index finger along his left forearm. "But interesting; I got to see the skyline of New York City on my way to my Uncle's house."

"Does he live in the City?"

"No. He lives by himself in some mansion by the sea several miles North of the City," he explained. "Though it's not as interesting as you'd think; there are no creepy rooms, dead bodies in the closets, or hidden passageways."

"Isn't he a famous author or something," she asked, giving him a questioning expression.

"Yeah, and a Vietnam vet. And a Purple Heart recipient. AND blind, too. He may have won a Pulitzer Prize, I don't even know. He mainly fantasy novels, so they're not exactly my forte, but I've read some of them in case he asks me about them."

"Still prefer mysteries?"

He grinned. "You know me!"

June shook her head, but she was smiling as well. "Is your uncle nice, at least?"

"He's nice, I guess; at least for someone who hasn't been a part of my life for a long time. It was kinda freaky at first, since he wears those blind people glasses all the time, but he's pretty normal besides that. He works most of the day, though."

"On a new novel?"

"I think so; he spends all day in the library doing research and taking notes."

"Well don't be an introvert," she chastised him, giving him a slight frown. "You live there now, and you haven't known this guy you're whole life. I say you should open up to him."

"He's a stranger," Elijah argued back, making a 'C' hand near his face before bringing both hands down in a straight line in front of him. "And it's awkward just being in the same room with him! We only really talk at meals, but what do you say to someone who'd never made an effort to visit you in the past fifteen years of your life?"

"Wasn't that because your dad was mad at him or something?"

"Or because he was mad at my dad; I don't know which is true! And even if it was my dad's fault, my uncle made no effort to try and call or visit or write!"

"You're just gonna have to make the most of it," she told him, giving him a small smile. "Things'll get better for you."

"You're probably right. That reminds me," he added, "how're things at home?"

June's face grew dark, and her hands trembled as she signed her reply. "Better, I guess. Jerry's still..." She lowered her fingers, her face full of sadness. Her older brother had cancer, and was currently undergoing chemotherapy; he was a cool guy, and Elijah had looked up to him as a roll model before he was diagnosed a year-and-a-half ago.

"I'm sorry," the boy replied, rubbing his fist on his chest in a small circle. "Any… any improvement?"

"Some," she replied, "but he's still far from getting better." They were both silent for a bit, neither of them signing anything.

"Well," Elijah finally signed, not comfortable with talking about death at the moment, "I better be going now."

"Why," she asked, giving him a sly grin, all sadness gone from her face. "Got another friend up there already?"

"As if," he replied, rolling his eye. "The nearby town is quite a walk from here, and school doesn't start until early September up here. But it's lunch time here, and Uncle J-E-F-F-R-E-Y is a pretty decent cook." He finger spelled his uncle's name so she could tell how it was spelled; most deaf people had a specific unique sign for their own name and those for other people they were friends with, but he hadn't come up with one for his uncle yet.

"It starts in SEPTEMBER?! That's crazy!" She looked off screen, signing something to someone behind the camera before turning back to him. "Gotta go; we're going to the Boardwalk today."

"You mock my pain," he signed dramatically, both of them laughing at the movie reference. "Talk to you later?"

"E-mail me," she told him. "Bye!"

"Bye!" He disconnected the camera, feeling more miserable and alone since he'd arrived. He knew he'd probably wait a while before talking to her again, and he looked out the window at the gathering storm clouds; it looked like a New England storm was on the way.

Funny, he thought a few moments later, turning off the computer and heading towards the stairs to get some lunch, I don't remember seeing that gargoyle statue on the wall before.

[][][]

Later that night, the promised storm arrived, sending torrents of rain and wind to the earth, and several waves crashing on the beach outside. It was pretty interesting at how quickly the storm had descended upon them, and Elijah could not help but be reminded of one of those classic mystery novel lines: "It was a dark and stormy night…"

Though it was not night yet; it was only seven, but the sky was pretty dark, clouds blocking out the sun. It was almost mesmerizing to watch, and he stared out the glass-paned door of the library, starting a little as a giant arc of lighting crossed the sky. They had ordered pizza for dinner, and he could not help but feel sorry for the poor delivery driver that had to make his way through this squall.

"Do you have storms like this in Texas," Jeffrey asked, sitting nearby, his fingers moving swiftly across the page of the book he was reading.

"Sometimes," the teen replied. "We've had hurricanes and Tropical storms, but we usually go up North if things get too bad. You get used to it."

"Any bad ones recently?"

"Not really."

"Hmm," his uncle muttered, feeling the watch on his wrist, "Hudson should be here soon; shame to have to travel in this weather." He got up from his chair. "Care to join us this evening?"

"I'm good," Elijah said quickly. "I may watch a movie in the living room, though."

"And I suppose you don't want us to bother you," the blind man asked, giving him a small smile. "You know, we're not just old fuddy-duddies; we can tell when someone's avoiding us."

The teen's cheeks flushed a little, and he couldn't help but look guilty. "I… I didn't m-mean it like-"

"I understand," his uncle said genially, nodding and grabbing his cane. "I'm going to make some snacks; would you like some as well?"

"You don't have to-"

"I don't mind," he said kindly, leaving the room.

Elijah sighed, turning back towards the storm outside, watching more lightning arch across the sky. Sure, it was probably rude of him to keep skipping meeting his uncle's friend each night, but he had no desire to meet anyone else right now. Besides, he never even saw a glance of this guy; he never came downstairs whenever the man was here, he had never seen a picture of the guy. And, now that he thought about it, he had never even seen a car pull up at the front of the house, and had never heard the front door open. Maybe the guy came in through the back door, which would explain why Elijah had never seen-

A sudden thought came to him, and he looked outside again. The teen squinted in the rain, noticing that the gate leading to the walled-in back driveway was closed, which meant that when this Hudson guy showed up in his car, he would not be able to get in.

"Great," the teen muttered, knowing what he would have to do, but knew that it was the right thing to do. An old guy like his uncle's friend was probably unable to open the gates on his own, and even if he could, he would get drenched in water. Elijah did not have a coat, but he resolved to be quick, taking out his hearing aids so they would not get wet. Bracing himself, he quickly opened the door, closing it behind him as he stepped outside.

He was instantly soaked, and it was kind of eerie, not being able to hear the thunder above him, nor the pattering of the raindrops. He could feel the vibrations, however, and he quickly dashed across the back driveway, heading towards the gate. Reaching it, he fumbled at the latch, unlocking it as the gates swung open in the wind, nearly knocking him over. Noticing that he needed to attach the open gates to the walls so they would not swing back in, he walked towards the first one, bending down to attach it to the wall hook.

Suddenly, something struck him on the arm, and he fell back in surprise, giving a cry of pain as he looked at a long cut that had appeared on his arm. Looking around, he noticed a long, jagged piece of something that looked like concrete lying nearby, a few smaller ones around to him. Elijah frowned; he knew that those things were not there before, and picking up one of the pieces, he looked up, staring at something even more confusing.

The gargoyle statue, the one he had noticed for the first time earlier, was gone.

For a second, he stared at the empty space, wondering if he had only imagined the stone figure earlier, but then another thought struck him.

Crap, he thought, looking back down at the stone piece in his hand. Did the storm blow it over? Did it break? I need to tell his Uncle Jeffrey, just in case it-

He turned around, slammed into something, and fell to the ground. Groaning, wondering if the gate had somehow swung around and hit him, he looked back up and froze when he did not see the gate. He gaped at the figure standing in front of him, not sure if he was imagining things or not.

Well, he grimly thought to himself, you wanted things to be more interesting around here.

What could be more interesting than a real-life monster standing in front of you?

[][][]

This was what he got for wishing for something interesting to happen; now there was a gargoyle in front of him. It was definitely the same one he had seen as a statue earlier, but he could not understand how it was suddenly alive, towering over him.

It was big, maybe six feet tall, and heavyset as well. It wore a rough tunic-like shirt, along with a loincloth around its waist; Elijah noticed that a sword hung form its belt. It had tan-colored skin, along with long white hair, including a beard, and the teen assumed it was older. This was confirmed with some wrinkles on its face, but his eyes were drawn to it's left eye, which had a long scar crossing it, the pupil itself yellow and pale. He also noticed that the monster had mini horns on either side of its head, as well as the long claws on the monster's hands and bare feet. However, the most prominent feature was its wings; they were large, bat-like, and nearly as tall as the creature itself, and a tail poked out from behind the creature.

The boy gasped, scrambling back a few feet in an effort to get away, panicking when his back hit the stone wall behind him. Of course, he was not expecting the stone monster to suddenly come to life, so he was not sure what it wanted, or if it even ate humans. The fact that he could not hear anything that was happening around him made this worse, and probably explained why it was able to sneak up on him.

"S-Stay b-b-back," he stammered aloud, holding up the jagged piece of concrete in his hand, now soaked to the skin from the rain, shivering out of fear and the cold.

He suddenly noticed a ight turn on, and he looked around the gargoyle, noticing the outside lights near the library door had turned on, illuminating the raindrops as they fell. The door opened, and his Uncle Jeffrey poked his head out, his mouth opening in a way that indicated yelling; probably his name. The gargoyle turned towards the blind man, and the teen realized that it might go after his uncle, his legal guardian, and he knew he could not let that happen, no matter how much he disliked the man

"UNCLE JEFFREY GET BACK INSIDE," Elijah yelled, hoping his uncle could hear him over the sound of the storm around him. "LOCK THE DOOR, GET BACK INSIDE!" He then stared in horror as his uncle, seeming to had not heard his cries, call Gilly to his side, stick his cane out in front of him, and step into the rain.

"NO," the the yelled, tossing the bit of concrete at the distracted monster, scrambling to his feet and running towards his uncle. "GET BACK INSIDE!"

"-ere are you," he saw his uncle saying once he got close enough, walking slowly across the ground. When he reached the blind man, Elijah stumbled to a stop, and, perhaps hearing him, the author grabbed his arm for support.

"We gotta get back inside," the teen told his uncle, trying to pull him towards the door.

"What's going on-" Jeffrey was still trying to say something.

"Just come with me there's a-"

A shadow moved nearby, and Elijah felt something swipe his feet out from under him, sending him tumbling to the ground. Landing hard on his back, the air rushed out of him and for a short while, he struggled to breathe as he stared at the stormy sky above him, blinking raindrops from his eyes. Eventually catching his breath, he sat up, and saw the strangest thing he had ever seen, more so than the gargoyle statue suddenly coming to life.

The said monster was helping his uncle to his feet, saying something to him as he bent down and picked up the blind author's cane, handing it to him. Gilly, instead of growling or acting scared, actually appeared to be barking at the creature in a friendly manner, walking around its legs. The teen squinted through the rain, trying to catch what they were saying, but they were not facing him all the way, though he noticed that the winged gargoyle did not look mad or threatening at all. As they talked, he managed to catch part of their conversation.

"-ad no idea he was standin' there," the monster was saying.

"It's fine," his uncle replied. "Did he have his-"

"No-"

They both turned towards him, and the boy froze, wondering what was happening and why the world had gone crazy. His Uncle Jeffrey walked over towards him, using his cane to guide him until he tapped the teen's foot, stooping down and looking a little over the teen's left shoulder.

"Elijah," his uncle said clearly and slowly, allowing the teen to read his lips. "Can you hear me?"

"N-N-No," Elijah replied, his voice probably louder and off-pitch because he could not hear, teeth chattering in the cold. "I t-t-took my hearing aids off so t-t-they wouldn't get wet." He shot a quick glance at the gargoyle, then turned back to his uncle. "T-T-There's a mon-"

"I know," the blind man interrupted him. "He's my friend. Let's go inside; I probably have some explaining to do."

He held out his hand, and the boy took it, climbing to his feet and staring at the gargoyle, the pieces starting to fall together. But... how? However, when the winged creature bent down to pet Gilly, he gasped. They way the monster had helped Jeffrey, Gilly's obvious trust in the creature, and the friend comment … it suddenly made sense.

"You… you're Hudson?"

The gargoyle simply nodded, the rain continuing to fall around the trio as the teen stared at him in shock.

Finally, Elijah and Hudson meet! The next chapter's gonna focus on their actual meeting and talk with one another, so keep your eye out for it!

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Have a great day!

I do NOT own Clue or A Monster Calls in ANY way, shape or form.

-aggiefrogger