III: Loss
by Zzilly14
"How about Susan Anne if it's a girl, and Michael Brian if it's a boy?" I asked.
"Those names are too... bland, hon. Sorry."
"Then what are your suggestions, hm?" I asked with a huge grin.
John thought for a moment. "Boy... Neptune Apollo. Girl... Minerva Venus."
"Are you being serious?"
"Not really," he giggled. "But you must admit, they're original!"
"They sound like Greek gods!" I exclaimed.
He laughed. "They're Roman gods, actually."
The two of us were walking around an unpopulated park, excited about the bundle of joy that was on its way. It had been two weeks since I found out about the pregnancy. Since then John and I had spent every night together on dates. Elisa had suggested that the park was a really romantic place, so we decided to check it out.
I smiled back at John. "I guess it's going to take a while to think of good names, huh?"
"Well, we've got seven and a half months to figure it out."
I smiled as I leaned against John. "You're right. We've got plenty of time." He began to play with my hair. "It's pretty soft, huh? I used some new shampoo that makes it extremely touchable."
"It's getting long," he said. "You should wear it up in a braid or something."
I sighed. "You know I can't braid my own hair!"
"I can braid it," he smiled.
I took John's hands and stroked them. "Are you sure? You haven't braided my hair in a long time..."
"I still remember how to do it."
"That's not what I meant," I spoke softly. "I meant... your hands. They're different now..."
"And you think just because my hands are larger and have claws mean that I can't braid hair anymore? Turn around."
"What?"
"You heard me, Greek goddess, turn around. I promise not to pull your hair too tight, okay?"
Reluctantly, but with a smile, I turned away from John. I felt him delicately pulling my hair back into a French braid. After a few minutes I heard him deeply growl.
"Is everything okay?"
"I forgot to get a rubber band or something to hold it."
I burst into laughter and forced John to let go of my hair. I turned to face him and gave him a hug. "You're so cute when you're angry, you know that? You're even cuter as an angry gargoyle!"
John gradually began to smile. "It was kind of funny, wasn't it? But hey, it proves I'm still the Braid Master!"
"And I'm the master of..."
"No, no, please don't..." John said, holding his hands in the air and backing away. "Don't come near me!"
"TICKLING!" I jumped onto John, causing him to knock over. I proceeded in tickling him all around his chest.
"Make it stop, make it stop!" he laughed hysterically. "I beg you!"
I gave in and rested my head on his chest. "But I only stopped because I wanted to," I winked.
Then I felt his two hands closing in on my sides. And then they tickled me.
"Ahh!" I screamed. "That TICKLES!"
"That's the point!" he laughed manically. He finally stopped, so I got up off of him and sighed heavily.
"I haven't had that much fun in a long time!" I giggled. I reached out my hand to John to help him up off the ground. "I'm sorry if I hurt you when I attacked," I said, "but I couldn't resist."
We smiled at each other, looking into each other's eyes.
Suddenly John roared in pain. I looked at his arm and saw that it had a burn mark. Laser blasts came in our direction. John quickly grabbed my hand and we ran.
"Is your arm okay?" I asked worriedly.
"I'll live," he said angrily. "I need to get to higher ground. Get on my back." I did what he told and he began to climb one of the walls surrounding the park. Then we glided off.
"Where are we going? This isn't the way to the clocktower!"
"I know," he seethed. "I'm taking you somewhere safe. Then I'll get the rest of the clan to take care of Demona." We landed on top of Macbeth's castle and John stared at me. "You must stay here, for now, okay?"
I held him tightly. "Be safe, John. Please don't get hurt or do anything stupid, okay? I couldn't bear to lose you again. Neither could our child."
He kissed me on the top of my head then cradled my face in his hands. "I'll be fine. We're going to finish Demona once and for all. She's not going to win, I won't let her."
"Just be careful!" I cried. "I love you!"
"I love you too, Mia. Now go inside, and find Macbeth. You'll be safer here."
He turned from me and took to the air.
I went inside of the castle, yelling Macbeth's name as I walked around. Finally he found me.
"What's wrong? Who was that gargoyle that brought you here?"
"Demona attacked us, so John thought it safe that I stay here."
Macbeth was surprised. "That was John?"
I filled him on the details of the past couple of weeks since I'd seen him.
"I could've prevented Demona from doing the spell, if only I had found her..."
"What's done is done," I said. "Although it's going to be hard, I'm going to stick by him and support him and be the best wife I can be to him."
"You're a good person, Mia. John's lucky to have you."
I smiled. "Thanks... I just hope he's okay. He went to get the rest of the clan to take care of Demona. He better not get hurt."
"Don't worry, Mia," Macbeth said gently. "He's strong. I imagine he's even stronger as a gargoyle... He can take care of himself."
"I hope you're right," I said with worry.
"The question is, can you?" We both turned around to see Demona. "I saw how snuggly you and John were, and couldn't resist ruining it for you."
"Run!" yelled Macbeth. So I ran and ran, finally escaping to the outside. I stopped to catch my breath.
Then a laser blast hit me in the leg, causing me to fall. I looked up to see Demona laughing as she walked towards me.
I slowly got up, staring at her. "I know what your problem is. You can't stand seeing anyone else happy – because you're not. Being alone, not having friends – kind of stinks, huh?"
She scratched me across the face. "I survive. That's all that matters, you pathetic human. Once you've been around for a thousand years, I'd like to see what you think about love then."
"John is a perfect example, you know. He's had his ups and downs in his long life, I'm sure. But even if you make mistakes and think that loneliness is the way to go, you might meet someone that'll change your perspective. For John, that someone was me."
Demona growled, her eyes glowing an evil red. "You know nothing about me, what I've been through! What I've lost."
"I know you lost Goliath."
"And you can see how upset I am about that, human. Goliath is a fool, always thinking about the humans. He means nothing to me now."
"But he used to, didn't he? Before the curse. You were together."
"That was a long time ago. Times change, people change." After a few moments of silence, Demona screamed. "Argh! You've gotten me distracted! It's time for you to die, you're annoying me."
She raised her gun at me, preparing to fire at my heart, when a laser blast hit her in the stomach.
"Oww!" she yelled, cowering over in pain. I looked over to where the laser was shot from, and saw Macbeth holding his stomach. Then he ran over to Demona to knock her down. Both of them winced in pain.
After fighting for a few minutes, Demona finally caused Macbeth to go unconscious. She collapsed as well, but woke up before he did.
She glared at me. "This isn't over, human." Then Demona escaped just as I heard the sound of the other gargoyles. John was the first one, and he instantly came to me and held me.
"Demona tricked us. I'm so sorry I put you in danger. Did she hurt you?"
"My leg's hurt, and she scratched my face, but I'll be fine. Macbeth," I said, pointing to the unconscious body, "he saved my life."
"Macbeth?" John said in shock. "I haven't seen him... for a long time. Is he okay?"
As if on cue, Macbeth opened his eyes and painfully got up. John let Elisa help me while he ran over to his old friend.
"It's good to see you, Macbeth," John smiled. "I don't know if you remember me... I kind of look different now..."
"John," he grinned, shaking his hand. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Mia told me all about what happened."
The two friends talked some more before we all went back to the clocktower. Lex bandaged up my leg while Elisa cleaned the claw marks on my right cheek.
After getting fixed up, the clan plus Macbeth crowded around me.
"We will find Demona," Goliath growled. "She will not get away with this."
I sighed. "Look, I don't want you guys to go looking for trouble."
John stroked my left cheek. "But what if she tries to hurt you again? We can't risk it, hon."
I nodded reluctantly.
Suddenly we heard the sound of gargoyles landing from outside. The figure of a female appeared in the doorway.
"Don't let her near Mia!" John yelled as he attacked the gargoyle. A second gargoyle grabbed John and threw him away from the female.
"Who are you?" the male asked. He stepped into the light – he had sea-green colored skin and had a little bit of a belly. He growled at John as his eyes glowed white. "Why did you attack my wife?"
John painfully got up. "Wife?"
The female gargoyle stepped next to the other one. She had the same color skin as Goliath, and it was then I realized who she was.
"You must be Angela and Broadway," I said.
"Yes," Angela replied. "I thought we'd be welcomed back after our honeymoon, not attacked!"
Goliath ran over to his daughter and hugged her. "Welcome home, Angela. I missed you."
"It's good to be home, Father. Who is that new gargoyle? And who is that woman? And what's Macbeth doing here?"
We filled the couple in on the happenings of the past few weeks.
"Why must Demona continue to harass us?" exclaimed Angela. "I wish she'd just leave and never come back!"
"I agree," growled John. "No one messes with my wife and gets away with it!"
Broadway sighed. "Well, we'll have to deal with Demona tomorrow. It's almost sunrise."
"I'll take care of Mia while you guys get some sleep," said Elisa.
Macbeth smiled. "And I'm going to find that beast before she does anything else."
Ten minutes later it was just the Elisa and I inside the clocktower. We entertained ourselves watching a couple of wacky TV shows.
"How's your face doing?" Elisa asked after the credits rolled for "Whose Line is It Anyway?"
"Still hurts a little. But it'll be okay."
"Good... well, I'm exhausted. You don't mind if I snooze a little do you?"
"Go ahead," I said between yawns. I'm pretty tired myself."
Elisa sat in the recliner while I slept in the couch.
...
At sunset I smiled when John came to me and kissed me sweetly on the lips.
"Hey honey," I beamed.
He hugged me. "It's good to see that you're feeling better."
Goliath came in and kissed Elisa. "Good evening, my love."
"Hey big guy," she replied. "Good sleep?"
"Yes, but I'm glad to be awake now."
The rest of the clan walked in, eager to make sure I was okay.
"Did Macbeth find Demona?" Angela wondered as she held hands with Broadway.
"He hasn't returned yet," I said. "But he'll find her."
John growled. "Unless I find her first."
I sighed, "John, don't let rage consume you. Yes, she deserves punishment. But it's not like she hurt me severely. I'm okay, John. You don't need to get all bloodthirsty!"
"It's just, when I saw you there on the ground, I thought maybe I lost you!"
"You didn't," I said firmly. "And you won't lose me."
We felt it better to spend our evening at the clocktower rather than going out. For one thing, I was still healing. The other reason was because Demona was still a threat.
"She's smart enough to know that she can't face all eight gargoyles by herself," John assured me. "It's wise for you to chill out here for a while."
"As long as I'm with you," I grinned. "That's all that matters."
"Don't forget the little one too!" he replied, rubbing my belly.
The rest of the night was spent listening to John tell stories of his past – of the people he met, the things he saw... I was amazed at how much he had endured.
"You'd make a great history professor," I remarked. "You've actually been there! I don't think a lot of people can boast that!"
He laughed. "Well, I don't think they have many gargoyle teachers out there either!"
Another sunrise came and I wished the whole clan a wonderful sleep. Elisa had to do some paperwork downstairs, so I was left alone to my own devices. I saw a book on the couch that Brooklyn had been reading every night – "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" – and decided it was my turn to get some good comic relief.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep with it in my hands, only open at page five.
...
A few hours later I woke up with a sudden excruciating pain in my abdomen. I opened my eyes to see the human Demona holding a bloodied knife. It was then I realized she had stabbed me.
"Told you I'd come back," she snickered.
"My baby!" I cried. "My child!" I doubled over, tears gushing from my eyes. Through my tears I saw her drop the knife in shock.
She looked terrified as she stared at her hands, backing away. "What have I done? What have I done?"
Elisa had luckily finished her duties a few minutes before and had just entered the room, pointing her gun at Demona. "Get out of here, bitch."
The last thing I saw before passing out was an upset Demona running away.
When I was aware again, I was in the hospital – for the second time in two weeks. I turned to my right and saw John holding my hand, crying.
"John," I rasped, "it'll be okay."
He looked at me with a weak smile and tear-filled eyes. "Yes, you will. But..."
"The baby..." I acknowledged.
"I should've known she'd come after you in the daylight hours.... I should've been there to protect you! If only I were human again..."
"Shhh," I said, putting my fingers on John's lips. "Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done."
"Now there's no way we can have children," he cried sadly. "I've failed you, Mia. I've failed." He gave me a kiss on the forehead, and started towards the window.
"Don't leave, John," I insisted. "I need you!"
He looked at me sadly before he glided out the window. I sobbed terribly – everything wonderful to me was being taken away. I couldn't bear it.
I cried myself to sleep, and awoke an hour later to the sound of my window opening. I opened my eyes quickly.
"Brooklyn..." I said, seeing the crimson gargoyle. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to check up on you, make sure you were okay. Demona's going to pay for this!"
"I don't blame her," I said.
"But she's the one who hurt you!"
I nodded. "Yeah... but I should have known good things don't last. I should have expected I'd lose my child. I should have figured John wouldn't want to be around me. I should have..."
"You know," Brooklyn stated, "you sound a lot like John with all the 'should have' statements. He came by the clocktower after visiting you. He was so sad, wondering about what he 'should have' done. He blames himself. And you blame yourself. Stop focusing on who's to blame for this. Sometimes bad things happen. You've got to begin healing."
"That's why I'm in the hospital," I said condescendingly.
"Not only physical healing." he said. "But emotional healing... it'll be a hard thing to get past losing your child, but you and John have to get through it – together."
"Well why don't you tell him that?" I shouted. "He's the one who left me here by myself!"
"I was going to talk to him, but he flew off before I could. Listen, you two seriously need to talk about this. It's something you need to face together."
"Well I can't exactly walk out of here to go find him, so why don't you just leave me alone! And if he decides to stop by the tower before sunrise, tell him I'd appreciate it if he came by again."
"Fine, fine," Brooklyn said, holding up his hands. "I'm out of here."
After he left, I sobbed so hard that the nurses had to bring in a dry pillowcase for me.
"Why is this happening to me?" I cried silently.
TO BE CONCLUDED...