April 13, 2004
Lanara
was busy blending Expressos and Lattes behind the bar at "The Last
Mug" when Gwen strode into the shop. Jeffrey Warman looked up at her over
his coke. Gwen marched directly up to Jeffrey, put her paws on the table, and
began snarling at Jeffrey. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO LANARA?!!!"
Lanara's
ears perked at the mention of her name. "Do to me? He didn't do anything
to me."
Jeffrey
looked at Gwen impassively. "What makes you think I did something?"
"Why
does she suddenly think she's been a gargoyle all her life?" Gwen pressed.
Lanara's
eyebrows narrowed. "That's because I AM a gargoyle, Gwen. Hatched and
raised that way."
Gwen
regarded the two with a mixed expression of hostility and curiosity. Lanara
positioned herself between Gwen and Jeffrey. "WAS she a gargoyle all her
life?" Gwen inquired of Jeffrey.
"As
long as I'VE known her."
Gwen
looked crestfallen, and turned toward the door to leave. "Then you lied to
me, Lanara. You're not the Lanara I knew - someone stole her from me."
Gasping
in protest, Lanara blocked Gwen's path to the door. "WHAT?!!! Richard...
STOP! I am Lanara!" she protested. "Who else should I be? What's
wrong with you?"
"The
Lanara I knew was like me, someone human, changed into a gargoyle by the same
people who changed me."
Jeffrey
laced his fingers together. "You have nothing between you without that,
Gwen? Your relationship is based on a mutual situation?"
Gwen
turned to Lanara. "Why did you lie to me?"
Lanara shook her
head in disbelief, her voice breaking with desperation. "I would NEVER lie
to you, my love! I have never BEEN human! I've never told you any
differently!" Gwen could not have been hit harder by those words that by a
cross-town bus. "Gwen, I love you! You know how much I value
honesty!" Lanara was on the verge of tears now.
In
frustration, Gwen clapped her paws over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut,
unwilling to believe what was happening. She turned to Jeffrey with a snarl.
"What have you DONE?"
"Why
do you keep blaming me? You know I could never hurt her." Jeffrey's voice
rose a little.
"Hurt
her? The Lanara I knew would never lie like this! You've ALREADY hurt
her!" Gwen protested.
Lanara's
jaw fell. They were talking about her as though she weren't even there!
"What... have you all gone CRAZY?"
"I
have a gift for knowing when someone knows they are lying, and everyone here
thinks they are telling the truth as they saw it. Besides, I never saw YOU as a
human." Jeffrey observed.
"The
truth as they saw it? That's pretty far from the truth! How could she have been
born twice?"
"Alternate
universes, perhaps?" Jeffrey suggested, idly.
"Now
you're playing word games! How can two different origins be considered truth?
They're like black and white!"
"If
you love each other, then you SHOULD be able to work past this."
"Past
WHAT? You have YET to explain how this happened to her!"
"Why
do you keep assuming I know?"
"Because
you are the ONLY one who is hinting at SENSE!"
Lanara
looked back and forth at her two fighting friends, and it simply became too
much for her. She scampered out of the restaurant, scaled the building, and
dived into the atmosphere. Gwen spun around and saw Lanara leave, but turned
back, grabbed Jeffrey's collar, and pushed him back against the wall.
"Come on. We've got to bring her back."
Jeffrey
was uncertain at first - afraid of heights. He swallowed his fear however, and
grabbed onto Gwen as she rushed up the side of the building after Lanara. When
Lanara realized she was being chased, she knew she had the advantage and began
dancing in and out of the maze of skyscrapers. She cut sharp corners and
doubled back on them a couple times. Gwen, however, was persistent.
"Wait,
Lacy!!!" Jeffrey shouted, trying to get her to slow down. He hoped that
the use of her old name might trigger her memories, and slow her down.
Something
in Lanara snapped. "L... Lacy...?" the gargoyle girl asked aloud,
paused in mid-air, and suddenly began to plummet.
"LANARA!!!"
Gwen and Jeffrey both screamed. Gwen dived after the girl as Lanara crashed
down into a railway yard. Looking up, it was Lacy Myers who saw Gwen and
Jeffrey chasing her. Lacy took off down
the railroad tunnel, eyes wide with abject terror. Gwen dropped off her
passenger, and they began to follow the other into the tunnel on foot. "Oh
God..." Gwen muttered.
"Lacy,
stop!" Jeffrey tried again. "Please, come back!"
At
the sound of her name, Lacy stopped running and melted into the darkness, in a
utility recess in the subway wall. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" she warned,
looking down the tunnel at them like a deer in front of headlights.
"No
one is going to hurt you." Gwen reassured her.
"WHO
ARE YOU?"
"I'm
Jeffrey. Your friend." Jeffrey added, following closely behind Gwen, who
was following the sound of Lanara's voice.
"H...
How did I get here?" Lacy asked.
"What's
the last thing you remember?" Jeffrey asked.
"Getting
talked to by some cops at work into going to this new job... oooooooh GOD!!!
What's happened to me?!!!" she moaned.
Gwen
tried. "Do you remember me?"
Lacy
was shaking in her hiding place. "I don't know either of you."
"Listen
very carefully." Jeffrey instructed. "You were attacked - that's when
you were changed. You've been working at the coffee shop, and we became
friends."
Gwen
turned angrily toward Jeffrey. "You fool! Look at what your careless mind
raping has done! You allowed this to happen!"
"I
allowed it to happen? You pushed her - I warned you about it!" Jeffrey
protested.
"You're
the one who hypnotized her! You opened the door, you idiot - just because
someone walked through it doesn't mean you're not responsible."
"Gwen,
I think you should leave. I'll take care of this. You're scaring her."
"You've
done just MARVELOUSLY so far, and I'm not going ANYWHERE." Gwen turned
back to the tunnel, her voice tender now. "Come on, Lanara - talk to
me."
However
during the midst of their argument, Lacy took the advantage of the distraction
to slip further down the tunnel unnoticed. When her two pursuers came to the
maintenance recess where she had been curled, she was no longer there.
"LACY!" Jeffrey shouts after her. "Please come back! What will
convince you to stop running?"
Gwen
paused, thinking. Lacy. The name was unfamiliar to her. "What's going
on?" he inquired of Jeffrey.
"She's
gone the other way, thanks to you. She's forgotten everything that happened
after she was transformed." Jeffrey explained.
"I'M
NOT GOING BACK TO MY AUNT!" Lacy protested.
"I
promise you, I won't call any of your relatives unless you want me to. Gwen is
also your friend."
"Gwen?"
Lacy whispered to herself, the name striking a chord in her memory.
"Gwen
is the other person here with me."
"Wh...
Who are you Gwen?" Lacy asked.
"I'm..."
Gwen turned to Jeffrey, in a bitter tone. "the one who's in love with
you."
"Gwen."
Jeffrey whispered to her. "I wouldn't give her more information than she
can deal with."
"We
met when I was turned into a gargoyle. You helped me down from a great height.
You were trying to help me, when I was accidentally changed into a girl."
Gwen explained.
"Lacy?
Will you please come out - I promise we won't hurt you." Jeffrey added,
again.
"What...
what am I? What have they done to me? What did they DO to my body?!!! Why did
you change me?" Lacy was in tears.
"No,
we're you're friend - we didn't change you. I didn't even meet you until after
it happened." Jeffrey explained.
"What
am I?"
Jeffrey
followed the sound of the voice. "A gargoyle."
"What's
that?"
"You
are. Gwen is. You have changed species."
Gwen
had slipped into the shadows by this time, trying to slip up quietly on Lacy.
"Changed species? You mean I'm not human anymore? I'm a monster!"
Lacy wailed.
"No,
you're not human anymore, but you're not a monster either - you're simply
different. You're still the same person."
That
was when Gwen's night-vision spotted the little gargoyle - hiding between the
pylons that line the graffiti-covered sides of the very old tunnel. "Who
did this to me?"
"A
group of scientists... for their own evil intentions."
"Who
else knows I've been deformed?"
"Your
mother."
"MY
MOTHER?!!!" Lacy exclaimed, crouching down into her hiding place.
"She
accepted it, and returned to L.A." Jeffrey lied.
"She...
accepted it?" Lacy asked with disbelief plain in her voice
"It
wasn't easy."
Not
believing a word of it, Lacy bolted from her hiding spot and continued racing
down the tracks in the darkness. Gwen and Jeffrey heard the sounds of her
footprints, and began moving towards them.
Jeffrey
turned to Gwen. "Haven't you done enough?"
Gwen
looked back at him, steel in her voice. "That's MY line, Jeffrey."
"Is
it? You may be in love with Lanara, Richard - but you certainly aren't her
friend."
A
light appeared, at the far end of the tunnel, and the rails began to make a
barely audible ringing sound. Gwen's ears heard the sound of the train coming
before Jeffrey did. Then there was one more sound - a fumbling sound very close
to Gwen and Jeffrey. Gwen turned to one side, inspecting a maintenance recess
in the wall and discovered Lacy passed out from freight. Gwen picked up the
gargoyle girl, and turned to Jeffrey. "Jeffrey, I've got news for you. I'd
love to stay here and tell you what I think of you, but I've got to catch a
train."
"It's
always excuses with you, isn't it? We'll settle this one of these days!"
Jeffrey vowed.
The
train came racing at them at easily fifty miles an hour. In the limited light
of the subway, the conductor never made out the figures in the maintenance
recess, and never saw Gwen reach out one claw and grab onto the metal surface.
Gwen had to use all her gargoyle strength to keep her arm from being torn from
its socket. She held on for dear life, holding a wing around Lanara to protect
her from the wind and the tunnel's hazards as they went along.
Jeffrey
realized that he was now alone in the subway tunnel. He sighed, and began to
long trudge back to the nearest subway platform. "I hope Gwen realizes she
doesn't know her."
Gwen
carried Lanara to a chapel near the first station they sped past. She carried
Lanara up toward the front of the hall. The building was dark, but Gwen lit
some of the candles that had been left out. She gently laid Lanara on one of
the pews, knelt next to her, bowing her head and closing her eyes for a time.
After a while, Lanara opened her eyes gently, and reached out to touch Lanara's
cheek. Though Gwen was female for the moment, she could still feel the love she
felt for Lanara just as strongly as ever.
Lanara
gently stirred at Gwen's touch, looked into her eyes for several long seconds,
then reached up and touched Gwen's paw. "R... Richard?"
"Yes...
Lanara, it's me." Lanara was silent for another long moment. "Do you
remember me?" Gwen pressed, hoping to God that she would.
"No...
but I feel like I should..."
"It's
okay, Lanara... it's a start. I want you to know something. No matter what
happens, we'll get through this... together. I need you."
There
was a sound from the back of the chapel. Gwen looked up to see that Jeffrey had
just entered the chapel as well. "I'm sorry to say you haven't gotten rid
of me yet." He said. "I'm really close to being mad at you."
Lanara
picked herself up, looking at Jeffrey and Gwen. Gwen stood, facing him. "You?
Mad at me?"
Jeffrey
came up and stood by the pew where Lanara sat upright looking back and forth at
them with confusion. He sighed. "I supposed you don't remember anything
about me... Oh well. World; one million, Jeffrey; zero."
Gwen
looked critically at Jeffrey. "How can you even THINK about self-pity
right now? Lanara's mind is what was messed with - big time - and all you can
think about is yourself?"
"Gwen...
Richard. It is quite clear to me that you don't want me around. She doesn't
remember me anymore. I'm just not up to arguing with you, because you'll just
run away again. What else is left?"
"Do
you really want to be her friend? How important is the truth to you?"
"Do
you really want me to argue about the truth? The truth made her unhappy. You
kept pushing at it, and look at her now. If you want a place to put blame - put
it on yourself for trying to push YOUR values on other people."
Gwen
looked up at the dais, at the cross, and sighed. "You know Jeffrey,
kneeling here gave me time to think, and it suddenly came to me. In fact I'm
amazed I didn't see it before. I remember you talking about Benjamin, and I
always wondered why his name had come up... then it dawned on me. You
hypnotized Lanara - you were forcing YOUR values on HER! You hypocrite."
"I'm
the hypocrite? I did what she asked."
"Yes,
but you failed to realize that what she wanted wasn't what she needed. Not to
mention the fact that you neglected to tell me what was going on when you knew
perfectly well what happened to her. You were reckless and irresponsible."
"How
do you know what she needs, Richard? I did it for her - everything I did was
for HER happiness!" Jeffrey protested.
"Because
I love her." Gwen replied calmly. "I'm going through the same things
she is. I can see it, deep inside myself. You lied, manipulated, and forced
another to accept lies. You did this for you - you even admitted that you did
it, just now."
"When
she is back to normal, ask her that and see if she doesn't agree with me."
Jeffrey pointed out.
"I
will. Undo what you did to her. Now." Gwen commanded him, turning to
Lanara and holding a hand out to her to help her stand.
Lanara
backed away from the offered hand, and suddenly ran from the chapel.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" she wailed to herself - not to the others.
Gwen
was about to chase after her, but Jeffrey put out a hand to stop her. "Her
mind is fighting what you did to it."
"Do
you want to bitch, Jeffrey? Or do you want to help?" Gwen pressed him.
"Choose now. Lanara's life depends on your decision."
"BE
QUIET!" Lanara fell down onto the street, and began twitching in a
catatonic manner.
Gwen
pushed her way past Jeffrey and picked up the girl - carrying her to a nearby
apartment building, quickly rendering the lock useless, and taking Lanara
inside. Jeffrey followed.
Gwen
looked up as Jeffrey entered. "Whatever you did to her, undo it -
PLEASE." She pleaded with him.
Jeffrey
sighed. Lanara began howling like someone possessed. Jeffrey looked into
Lanara's eyes and snapped his fingers. Lanara suddenly was silent, collapsing
into a heap in Gwen's arms - limp as a doll. "Now I want you to remember
everything I told you to forget - your entire life, what you were and what you
are now. I want you to wake up... now."
Lanara
was still for several moments before she slowly opened her eyes. Small tears
fell from the corners of her eyes as she began to softly weep again. "I
wanted to forget..." she bawled quietly.
"Lanara?
Can you hear me?" Gwen asked. She nodded. "Were you hatched as a
gargoyle?"
"I
was born Lacy Myers and changed about a month ago. I wish I were born a
gargoyle, though. I remember you two guys fighting - I was... REALLY angry with
you. You were both talking about me like I wasn't there."
"She's
back." Gwen smiled, relieved. "I'm sorry... I lost my temper. You
can't just erase the past, Lanara - you're got to heal the wounds caused by the
past."
Lanara
abruptly sat up and looked at Gwen in a stern and angry manner. "YOU don't
know what happened to me - NEITHER of you! You can't heal wounds like these! No
one can!"
Gwen
sighed. "I believe that God has a plan for all of us - human and gargoyle
alike. For now, just believe that no matter what happened, whatever faces you,
I'll be right here beside you. I won't leave you. I won't abandon you. I
promise, Lanara."
Lanara
stood, folding her wings around herself. Gently, she reached up to Gwen and took
Gwen into her arms.
