Sorry about the delay, I have been VERY busy! I hope you like this chapter! The next should be very interesting as well. Please let me know what you think!
Darwin
Chapter Ten: Decisions, Decisions….
Michelle stood again wondering vaguely what she was going to do now. She looked down at her clothes, noting that they were covered in a gray powdery substance, especially where she had leaned against Tanner on their blind flight through the park. She concluded it was Tanner's blood, turned to a stony dust by the light of day. She patted at it watching as much of it rose as fine dust, thought the majority of it still stained her shirt; stiffening the fabric.
"Get out of these clothes first," She muttered, "Good thing I brought my gym clothes along today."
She had been of the intention of going to the gym after their date last night and brought a set of appropriate garments with her. Now they provided her with a means of getting out of the obviously stained clothes that she was wearing; so as not to be conspicuous.
Michelle kneeled down and pulled the garments from her carry-all purse. She set the garments atop one of the boxes and started to unbutton her shirt. She paused when she caught a glimpse of Tanner's stony form on the floor. His unseeing eyes were fixed on her and she had the unnerving thought suddenly that he might be able to see her. She picked up the outfit and sidled behind a fairly tall set of crates.
"Sorry, guy," She said softly, "I'm not taking any chances."
She changed quickly, hastily folding her dressier clothes and stuffing them into the bag, now bulging from the extra mass. Michelle moved closer to Tanner, intent on taking a look at the sleeping gargoyle up close, but she jumped back as something under her feet cracked loudly. Confused, she knelt down trying to get a better look at what she had broken.
All around Tanner's form was a thin sheet of what looked like concrete runoff, and Michelle picked up a section looking at it closely, "What in the world?" She uttered, looking around her again. She didn't remember this being here when they had arrived. Michelle had a sudden flash image of her shirt, of how Tanner's blood had turned to dust in the daylight. Her hand went to her mouth in realization, again glancing around his body.
He had been bleeding all night! While she had known he had been hurt, she had naturally assumed that the wounds would scab over sometime during the night. The room had been dark and it had been hard to see, and Tanner had not complained that he was hurt worse than minor scratches, so she had thought that he was going to be OK. She knew that he was bad when he had collapsed that morning…that he had been weak, but she didn't realize that he had been that far gone.
Michelle wondered with dread, just how close he had been to death when the sun had risen? Was he so close that he would not awaken again? That thought sent a chill through her body as an image of the one they had called Hudson came to mind. She had seen that on the web site as well, how the old Gargoyle had gone to sleep one dawn, never to wake again. There had been a picture accompanying the story, one of a portly stone gargoyle sitting atop the highest point of the Eerie Tower while the moon shined over his shoulder. If the stories were to be believed that is. After all pictures could be doctored and stories often padded to sound more exciting or heart wrenching than they really were.
Somehow that story had rung with validity. That in turn scared her, because if Tanner had been far enough gone, he might not wake either. Kneeling next to him she ran a hand over his stony face, "You'd better be OK," She said softly.
Michelle wished there was some way to know for sure what his condition was going to be when he woke tonight.
The question recurred to her, what was she going to do for the remainder of the day?
That madwoman…gargoyle whatever she was…and if Tanner could be taken at his word, was still out there and hunting them both. Eventually she would check this shack for their presence, and then what?
Tanner said that she became human during the day, what harm could she be? Michelle's lips thinned, thinking of several answers for that and that none of them were positive. Perhaps she should tell someone what had happened…But who? She couldn't go to the police, they were not amenable to helping Gargoyles and they would probably treat her like a nutcase. Then where? The Eerie Building! Of course! The man Xanatos would help her out, he was their ally.
That decided, she started gathering her things together. Most of her purse she could leave here, but she was sure to pack her gun, replacing the bullet that she had expended shooting the creature last night and checking her supply of extra's. If she ran across this woman while getting to the Eerie Building she wanted to be prepared.
She looked back to Tanner momentarily, "I'll be back, Tanner, I swear, and hopefully with some help."
She retreated out the tumbled section of wall that they had first come into the building by. The front door had been solidly blocked, and even Tanner with his strength had been unable to budge the door. In desperation they had searched the perimeter of the building for another entrance to their only hope to wait out the day. At first they couldn't find anything, but Tanner had stumbled over a crate stacked outside and revealed the stones tumbled into a pile and the dark hole that gave them a way in. It was easily large enough for Michelle to get into, but Tanner had to stoop and hunch his shoulders to squeeze into the small opening.
Michelle was cautious as she stepped out into the brightening day, peering around the restacked crates that gave the illusion that there was nothing there. She carefully stepped around them and dashed for a close-by bush. She repeated this process several more times, until she considered herself far enough away not to attract attention to the shack where Tanner's lifeless form lay hidden.
Michelle approached the building, anxious and awed all at the same time. She had read so much about the history of this building, and the Gargoyles who had once and again called the castle at its pinnacle home. She had wanted to come to New York, not just to become a dancer, not just because she wanted to help Tyler get established over here, but she had wanted to meet the gargoyles…again.
They probably did not remember the events of the night that they met, because they were always saving people. But for Michelle it was vividly etched in her mind.
She had been ten at the time, and she her mom and dad had gone to San Francisco for a combination of business with Dad's work and vacation. They had been in china town, one of the many Touristy stops that they had gone to on their weeklong stay there. They had been salmon fishing, and shopping, and sightseeing. By the time they hit ten o'clock in Chinatown Michelle had been exhausted and more than ready to go back to the amenities of the hotel room, including Cartoon Network on the cable selections.
Michelle did not know why the gargoyles were in 'Frisco, and even now she was never certain about their business there. At the time of the event she had never even heard the word Gargoyles except as legends about protecting homes and buildings from evil spirits.
They had been just leaving when a very bad element had come into the neighborhood. She had thought a first that the gang had come for them, upstanding and very wealthy looking American family. But the truth had ended up being far worse. Dad had turned them around, deciding to find another way out of the place only to find that a rival gang was blocking that way out. Michelle had never been so scared in her life. She could feel the tension mounting around them, the almost palpable sensation of foreboding.
Then a miracle occurred, the sound of swooshing wings filled the air only outdone by growls and howls of rage. Four winged figures had swooped out of the night sky surrounding her family like a fleshy wall. Through the shifting forms around her she could see the gang member stepping back. She was too awed by the creatures protecting them that she did not feel her mom's fingers digging heavily into her shoulder.
Suddenly the creatures leapt toward both sides of the gang fight, fighting off and chasing away the would-be assailants of her family. But one hung back. He was smaller, tan in color, but taller than she was, nearly as tall as her mom. He had graceful brow tines that encircled his head, and dark hair that fell to just above where his wings started.
"It's Ok," His young voice said, rather high, but full of confidence in his actions, "Come with me, I will lead you to safety."
Though they were all apprehensive they knew instinctively that anything was better than staying where they were. He moved quickly and they had to run to keep up with his long strides. They only moved several hundred yards away from the action and then the young gargoyle slowed. It was a dead end and he ushered them into it and then stood like a sentry before them to prevent any harm befalling them.
"We'll wait here," he said sternly. It seemed like such a long time as they waited there, the gargoyle watching the pitch beyond their hiding place, his tail twitching rapidly, and every now and again he would rock up onto the balls of his feet as if trying to get a better look around them.
It wasn't too long before a deep voice called out of the darkness, "Tanner?"
"Father!" The young Gargoyle cried happily, leaping forward, and covering the ground on all fours. He skidded to a stop at the entrance to the alley calling, "Over here!"
Three figures hove into view, one very tall and broad, with a wide stern face and broad shoulders. Another was female, of the same skin tone as the tallest thought her hair was a shade or so lighter. The other was much older than the other three, imposing despite his years.
The tallest Gargoyle smiled down at the smaller gargoyle as if proud of him, "Well done, Tanner," he said aloud then looked to her family, "Are you all alright?"
Michelle heard her mom and dad utter sounds that nearly sounded positive, looking up to see them nodding in jerky ways.
In the distance sirens sounded as the police finally caught the hint that something was wrong in their area of responsibility.
The big gargoyle glanced toward the sound then back to those with him, "Time for us to go."
The rest around them nodded and in awe Michelle watched as they began to scale the very building they stood next to. The littlest paused turning back toward them, and stepped up close to Michelle. He tilted his head to one side looking at her in an oddly curious way.
"Tanner!" The large one called down, now very high up the building.
"Coming Father!" The little one called. But he turned back toward her one more time, "Bye."
With that he had climbed back up the building and she was privy to one last glimpse of the four as they took to the sky.
She had never expected to see any of the gargoyles, nor had thought that Tanner and she would have such a close encounter. That was not necessarily a good thing, especially considering the circumstances.
Michelle focused again on the enormously high building looming above her, sighing anxiously. There was a thought that she was going to sound ludicrous trying to enlist David Xanatos' help. But she had to try, and she hoped that she could get help back to Tanner before that Demona woman found him in such a helpless state.
As non-chalantly as she could Michelle walked over to the security desk, pausing and flipping her hair out of her face.
The security guard looked up at her seeming unhappy to have been disturbed, "May I help you?"
"Um, yes," She started, "I need to see Mr. Xanatos."
"Do you have a scheduled appointment?" The man asked blinking slowly.
"Um, no," She watched him lean back his face screwing up in frustration, "But this is rather an emergency."
"You're not the first to claim that lady, and you won't be the last. David Xanatos is a very busy…"
"It's about Tanner," She interrupted, "There's been trouble in the park…Xanatos will know what I am talking about!"
"I'm sorry," he said sounding anything but, and rising from his seat, "I am going to have to ask you to leave."
"But…"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Xanatos strictly prohibits visits with out appointments. Now you either leave or I will have to get security to escort you out. It's your choice."
"Will you at least give him the message for me?"
"Hmph," The man responded, pointing diffidently toward the ornate doors leading back to the street.
Despondently she turned and left, frantic inside about what to do. There was urgency in her to get back to his side before too much time had passed.
Michelle's heart quickened in her chest as she came back to find the boxed that had been neatly piled to hide their entrance, tumbled down and the hole in the wall neatly exposed to even casual onlookers. She stopped dead, but only long enough to retrieve her gun from her bag. She held it ready, but not in the firing position, it was a big gun and heavy, so the less she had to hold it up the better her shots would be if she needed to take them. She sidled to the opening, bringing the gun up and peeking through it before exposing herself to possible danger.
What she saw however made her heart near stop and she jumped into the room intent to stop what was about to happen. There was a woman in the room standing over the stony form of Tanner a large lead pipe held high above her head. She was tall, lithe, and well muscled, and dressed in a skimpy top and rough bottoms. The thought was in the back of her mind that this was Demona, in her human form.
"Stop!" Michelle bellowed at him and the woman jumped at the sound of her voice.
The woman half turned around her wild mane of red hair half covering her face as she regarded Michelle.
"You think you can stop me?" She sneered tensing and sending the pipe suddenly swinging down.
Michelle reacted, pulling the trigger and hitting the woman in the base of the neck. The pipe flew out of her hands hitting the red head twice in the back before she fell awkwardly across Tanner's statue.
"How many times must I shoot you?" Michelle muttered. Then she remembered what else Tanner had told her about this woman…she was immortal, and though the shot she had taken should have killed her, it would not be long before she would rejoin the living. That meant that Michelle would have to get her out of here and somehow barricade herself and Tanner into the building.
She set about dragging the lifeless body of Demona out of the room. Michelle then moved to repairing the wall in order to make it harder for Demona to get back into their hiding spot.
"But," she thought, "It would not take her long to dig her way back in here, especially once night falls."
Thinking hard she glanced around her at all of the crates and boxes that were stacked moldering around her. A light came on in her head, she might not be able to stop Demona from getting in, but there was a way she could hamper her progress.
Michelle began smashing the boxes around her making long sharp splinters out of the planks. She then stepped outside tumbling and stacking boxes around the entrance, both to screen her work and to act as a secondary stalling method. She, as quickly as she could began stacking the tumbled stones back into the gaping hole, wedging them up with some of the larger pieces of planks. When the first layer had been set, sealing the hole she then began to intersperse some of the sharp splinters in amongst the stones. Demona was going to be livid when she came to again, and not thinking she would tear at the weak section of stone, intent on destroying them both utterly as soon as she gained access. With any luck Michelle's plan would cause grievous if temporary injury as the booby trapped stones with their thorns would impale and cut her hands.
Perhaps that would give them enough time for help to have arrived. She looked down a moment as futility engulfed her. There was every possibility that her message had never gotten to her intended recipient. If Xanatos did not get the message, then the Gargoyles would have no idea where their wayward son was.
Michelle turned as she heard the sound of stone cracking open behind her.