This is a fanfic based on the Gargoyles universe created by Greg Wiseman and Michael Reeves. Gargoyles and related characters are registered trademarks of Buena Vista Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. The stories and characters not described above are original creations of T'Layna MacMathain and Poison Thorns Productions. Copyright © 2000 All rights reserved.
The Library Incident
By
T'Layna MacMathian
It was an unusually warm day In San Francisco. Normally, the daytime highs rarely exceed 75º, but there was a strong high over the fertile Central Valley that prevented the cooling Pacific breeze from getting to the city. Today was the fourth day of a record heat wave, and though it was only 11:00, it was already well above 80º and expected to reach 100º. Because of San Francisco's normally cool climate, very few homes in the city have air conditioners, and this goes in spades for homeless shelters. It was one of these homeless shelters that Lisa Davenport spent her nights.
Lisa Davenport was a somewhat heavyset woman in her late thirties with ratty brown hair in a rather long braid that ended midway down her back. She looked a lot like everyone's aunt or grandmother. Her innocuous exterior belied a very dark and bitter person within. Just a few months ago, she was just another average divorcee just eking out a living. She certainly had no desire to ever get involved with another man as long as she could draw another breath! Though she was homophobic and racist, she almost could understand why a woman would go lesbian. Men like her ex-husband would certainly be a good reason why. The very thought of her ex made her sick. That and life in a shelter full of mostly blacks and Chinese people she couldn't stand. She often wished she had died at the hospital.
Six months earlier, she was working for a marketing firm while going to school part time to become a network administrator. One day she became sick at work and was wheeled out in an ambulance with a high fever. During her stay at San Francisco General, the doctors discovered she had a life-threatening heart condition and told her she was unable to work. While the bureaucrats in Social Security lollygaged about for the last eight months with her application, she was forced onto public assistance and unable to pay her rent. Her landlord evicted her, and she was now one of the homeless bums on the street she often loathed when she was working for a living.
Homeless shelters only allow people to sleep in them, not hang out there during the day. Usually after the morning meal, the people would be chased out until the evening. Normally, Lisa could hang out with friends or she had a couple of regular activities that would keep her busy and provide a temporary respite from the crushing, depressing life of the homeless. Hot weather like today's also posed a serious health risk as well. On days like this, she would go to the public library and find a couple of books to read, then retire to a secluded part of the library on the fourth floor and wait out the heat of the day. Lisa didn't have a particularly restful sleep the previous night, for one never does in homeless shelters, and it wasn't long before she had nodded off in the pleasantly cool library.
She awoke with a start and looked out the window and suddenly realized it was no longer daylight! In fact, it was well into the evening. She looked around and saw that only a few lights were on inside and in fact the library itself looked like it was closed for the night. Had she been locked in by accident? Damn! I am not going to be able to get back into the shelter now! Shit! That meant a night of no dinner. First of all, I need to get out of this place, she thought. She had figured out that the only way out of here was through the front doors on the Larkin Street side. She smiled. Considering the hot weather, maybe she ought to stay inside. At least here I won't have to worry about somebody trying to steal my stuff. She was so lost in her thought; she didn't see the security guard approaching from behind.
"What in the name of God?" was all he stammered as he reached for his sidearm. Lisa turned and saw the security guard draw his .38. "I don't know who or what the hell you are, but don't move!" Lisa was taken aback at the reaction of the guard. That crazy son of a bitch was going to shoot her! She no longer thought consciously. Her own survival instinct took over and the first thing that came to her mind was flight. She turned to her left and leaped with power and with a grace she never knew existed within her. Her leap had carried her over two tables and she landed atop a low-topped bookshelf more than fifteen feet away. The guard had wheeled around and sent a shot in her direction but had missed her by more than six feet.
"Why are you shooting at me?" Lisa screamed, her voice markedly different. The guard fired again, this time his aim improving as the bullet struck a plastic display sign just inches away from her, shattering the sign into fragments. She once again leaped this time to another low shelf unit near the open atrium area in the center of the floor. She couldn't understand why this guard was calling her names like 'demon' and 'monster', much less trying to kill her! She suddenly heard a noise off to her left as the guard popped up from behind another bookshelf, his .38 roaring. She suddenly felt a searing pain as a bullet struck her in a place she never knew existed before. Odd, she thought, it was though I was hit three feet away. Instinct once again took over and she leaped over toward the atrium and fell. She screamed, or more precisely, she roared. Did I just make that hellish sound she thought?
Much to Lisa's surprise, she didn't fall. A flapping snap like that of leather sheets in the wind filled her ears. Instead of falling, Lisa leveled off in a glide and took a banking turn and rose on the rising warm air from the floors below. She felt a strange sensation on her back as her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a huge black bat's wing stretched on a turquoise frame. Lisa also noticed that her arm was now the same turquoise color as the wing frame she glanced at just a moment ago. Lisa spotted the guard and a blood-chilling roar that sounded like a blend of a lion's roar and a scream of the eagle shattered the silence. She immediately circled and dove, her eyes aglow with a sinister crimson shade.
"Oh shit!" the security guard yelped, his eyes bugging out in alarm. The rent-a-cop realized he was now in great danger, as his quarry suddenly became the hunter. He snap-fired at the charging apparition once more, the bullet whipping past Lisa's ear with an evil crack. A split-second later, he felt a tremendous impact at Lisa slammed into him with such force the guard was literally knocked backward several feet, the revolver loosened from his grip and clattering on the floor. Lisa picked herself up and checked the now unconscious security guard. Lisa retrieved the .38 before he had a chance to grab it and start shooting again. Angrily, she closed her hand over the weapon, crushing the steel firearm as though it was a cream puff. What on earth is going on here?
Lisa was alarmed at the sudden development in her life. She was also disturbed at the changes she saw in her already. With trepidation, she ventured into the ladies room. Just when Lisa thought things couldn't get worse, they did. The mirror reflected something right out of a nightmare. She was indeed a turquoise color all over, and she saw the black bat wings, and they were attached to her! Her clothing had changed as well. She was now dressed in a brown leather halter-top and a loincloth of similar material secured by a black leather belt. The creature appeared to be at least fifteen years younger than Lisa was, and in far better trim. For a monster, she wasn't all that bad looking.
Lisa also noticed a red spot on one wing just below the double fingerlike appendages at the apex joint, and it was bleeding. She had indeed been shot. Lisa suppressed the urge to scream as she noticed that the creature had her face, but also sported two long, horns that curved over her head. Lisa opened her mouth as though to scream, and saw the four fangs now in her mouth where her canines used to be. Her ears were now long and pointed like the ears one would expect to see on a pixie or an elf. As she inspected the remainder of her form, she noticed the three-toed talons on fetlocks where here feet should have been. Lisa also saw that she had one less digit on each hand (paw?) and large, wicked-looking barbs on the knees, elbows and heel of the fetlocks. Lisa also noticed she had grown a tail! Lisa realized it was no small wonder why the guard freaked out and started calling her 'demon' and 'monster'. What in the name of heaven happened to me?
Something tickled the deeper recesses of her memory. There was something vaguely familiar about her form. Something clicked in her mind. Yes, now she remembered. Lisa remembered that creatures resembling her new form were also seen in New York City, mainly in Manhattan. What were they called? Lisa remembered reading about them in the San Francisco papers about five or six years ago. They were called Gargoyles. They were once believed to be an urban legend like the infamous alligators in the sewers. The papers said they attacked a clock tower in Manhattan, totally destroying the structure. She thought that was so senseless then. Now she was one of them! She silently prayed that she would be changed back into a human being. She certainly didn't want to look like a Halloween nightmare for the rest of her life.
Lisa knew one thing; she had to get out of the library. When she left the women's room, she noticed the security guard was gone. It was a sure bet that the San Francisco police were on their way. Exiting via street level was out of the question, that's where she most likely would run into the police, and Lisa doubted they would be in any mood to listen to what is a totally unbelievable story despite her appearance. If they were anything like that rent-a-cop, they might open fire on her as well, and they'll have shotguns in those squad cars as well. She thought about the roof, after all, why not take advantage of these wings? A real possibility, but she didn't know how to get there. Inspiration struck, and a wide grin spread across her face. The emergency ventilation system!
In case of an air conditioner failure, there were gangs of motorized windows that could be opened by pressing a button. She had seen them used once when the air conditioner was under repair. Lisa went to the Fulton street side of the library and leaped up to the control mechanism that was mounted about eight feet above the floor and she pressed the 'open' button. The servo responded with a grinding growl, the bank of windows slowly opening. As Lisa waited for the windows to open enough for her to slip out, she saw a black van and a black SUV pull up and park. Ten people in black robes with matching black hoods similar to those worn by the Ku Klux Klan poured out of the two vehicles. I n the center of the chest of each robe was a gold symbol similar to a letter Q, with a sledgehammer as the crossbar. Lisa suddenly felt her blood run cold. She recognized them as Quarrymen, a vicious hate group whose sole mission in life was to rid the planet of Gargoyles. What the hell are they doing in San Francisco? She knew most of them were in Manhattan. The leader started handing each one of them a sledgehammer. She knew only one thing: they would consider her a Gargoyle, and therefore a target. Suddenly, she realized what it is like to truly be hated to the point where people actually wanted to kill her for nothing more than being who she is.
"There's a Gargoyle in the Library," the Quarrymen's leader exhorted to his gang, "The night watchman has graciously allowed us entry to rid the building of the pest! Come on, Quarrymen, let's go kill a monster!" He raised his hammer and energized it. His henchmen followed his lead and powered up their hammers, the electric energy crackling and dancing like demon whips of some demented sadist across their polished heads. One of the hooded thugs had spotted the movement of the windows and cried out as he pointed to Lisa. Holy shit! They've seen me! Time to make a hasty retreat.
The Quarrymen's leader issued orders and the Quarrymen split into five pairs. Four of the pairs of Quarrymen deployed them to cover the entrances. The leader and another Quarryman rushed to the doors where Lisa had been spotted. Lisa retreated back inside the library. One Gargoyle against ten thugs armed with electric sledgehammers wasn't very good odds. Lisa also suspected they had a lot more than sledgehammers they could hurt her with. Probably half, if not all of them carried guns as well, the bullet hole in her wing painfully reminding her that she was not bulletproof by any stretch of the imagination.
The hum of an electric motor shattered the silence of the library. She crossed the expanse of the lobby of the library to the south entrance in two powerful leaps. She has spotted the treacherous rent-a-cop by the security gate control box, his key in the lock, and he was raising the gate! Two Quarrymen entered the gate, hammers at the ready. She realized he had probably allowed all of them in from each entrance. Lisa also noted with dismay that one of the Quarrymen carried an extra hammer and he gave it to the security guard. With the ease borne of long practice, the guard took the offered hammer and energized it with one hand. That sonuvabitch is one of them! Lisa's eyes flared an angry red color.
"Aha! Monster at one o'clock!" shouted the cry of an excited Quarryman pointing out Lisa's location to his companion, their hammers held high as they charged the Gargoyle. Masks or not, Lisa had no trouble recognizing the chilling bloodlust in the eyes of the hooded thugs. With a powerful vertical leap, she leaped to the second floor as though it were only a foot above the floor, her powerful paws grabbing the top and adroitly pulling herself over the retaining wall. She knew it would only be a temporary respite. As she leaped, she heard the static-laced burst of a radio. As she looked around, she noticed a camera on a motorized pan-and-tilt rig changing position. That SOB security guard is controlling them, and he is telling the hammerheads where she is! She picked up one of the heavy wood chairs from the floor and tossed it at the camera with the accuracy of a major-league pitcher, shattering both the chair and camera.
"Team Two, this is Eyeball One," the security guard's voice crackled from the radio, "Target on second floor near the computers. Shit! The monster just destroyed the camera. Approach with caution."
"Teams Three and Four, this is Hammer One," the leader of the Quarrymen barked into the radio net, "Go to the third floor. Team One and Team Three stay on the ground floor." His teams acknowledging his orders.
Lisa became angrier than she had ever felt in her life. Not too long ago, she would have joined these thugs, just as her father and her grandfather joined the Ku Klux Klan when the family lived in rural South Carolina two decades ago. Lisa had nothing to do with being a Gargoyle! It just happened, and she sure as hell had no choice in the matter. She also knew that the Quarrymen would never accept her, even if she was to prove she was the victim of some kind of horrible curse or whatever demon force changed her into a Gargoyle. To the Quarrymen, her wings and tail would be justification for a death sentence.
"Die!" the shout of an enraged Quarryman filling the air as he charged Lisa. She whirled about, but not in time, the electrified hammer connecting with the edge of her wing, sending a massive electrical charge into her body. Lisa roared in pain, as the electricity seemed to inflame every fiber of her being with agony. Lisa leaped, but not with the power she had just a minute ago. She barely cleared the table she leaped over, still trying to shake off the effects of the electric hammer. As she caught a glimpse of the Quarryman charging, she picked up another of the massive chairs and tossed it, knocking the Quarryman down and sending the deadly hammer over the retaining wall to land on the floor below with a loud clang.
Another shout filled her ears as his partner charged. She turned to face the new threat. Unlike the last Quarryman, this one wasn't very bright. He cautiously approached, fearful at attacking such a frightening apparition. Lisa sensed his apprehension, and for the first time tonight, a smile crossed her face. She might have some fun with this one. As he nervously approached, Lisa just cracked a big, sweet smile and gave him the Gargoyle version of a "flipping a bird." Predictably, the Quarryman screamed in rage and charged. When he came close enough, Lisa spun around and broke both of his legs with her thick, muscular tail. He screamed in agony as he went down, his energized hammer landing squarely on his chest, delivering a jolt that rendered him unconscious before the hammer rolled off and lay on the floor, crackling away harmlessly.
"Stupid-ass hammerhead!" Lisa spat with contempt as she picked up the hammer and powering it down. At that moment, she heard the crackling static of a radio and picked up the radio that she saw lying on the floor, apparently dropped by her latest victim.
"Team two, this is Hammer One," the voice hissed from the cheap speaker. Lisa keyed the radio.
"Team two is history, Hammerhead," Lisa said with a lot more confidence than she really felt, "You will be soon. You pissed off the wrong Gargoyle, dork boy! I got one of your hammers, and I am going to stick it where the sun never shines!" She punctuated her last remark with a roaring scream that nobody in the library needed a radio to hear.
Lisa went to the open atrium area and leaped her wings at full spread. As expected, she rose with the rising air currents within the atrium. As she rose past the third floor, gunfire erupted. Lisa turned sharply in the direction of the shot as the gunman fired again. There! Lisa spotted the muzzle flash as the Quarryman fired once more. Lisa folded her wings slightly into a more aerodynamic profile, diving at high speed toward the gunman. Searing pain burned in Lisa's left leg as a bullet found its mark.
Another Quarryman fired from another location above her, his aim also true as two bullets struck her in the wings, each bullet feeling like a branding iron. Lisa once again banked away and ascended to the next floor where she heard a shout. The whole place is crawling with these bastards, she thought. She suddenly felt two sharp impacts on her side and she two small darts, each one with a wire trailing toward yet another hammerhead holding an odd weapon that had fired the darts. Lisa recognized the taser just as the Quarryman turned on the power, delivering an agonizing jolt into her body.
Lisa had never felt anything like this before, as it seemed that every possible nerve, fiber and anything else that could feel pain was. She tried to rise and the Quarryman simply chuckled as he increased the power.
"This is only the second setting, demon," the Quarry gloated, "There are eight more above that." With a laugh that could have been the Devil's own, he increased the power one more level, sending even more agony into a body that was already tortured. Lisa watched in dismay as the Quarrymen began to surround her, their electric hammers crackling like the fires of Hell. She knew that it was all over for her now. She again feebly tried to ask herself how people could hate so much. Her last vision was four Quarrymen raising their hammers.
"Excuse me, Ma'am. The Library is closing in fifteen minutes." Lisa awoke with a jolt, her heart pounding. She looked into the warm eyes and the grandfatherly smile of the aging security guard. "You fell asleep. I don't blame you, it's almost six o'clock and it's still hotter than the Devil out there." Lisa gathered up her belongings and followed the kindly old guard out of the library. The guard wasn't kidding it's still warm out here. She wandered off into the evening heading toward the shelter, and a new outlook on life.