09.08.98; 07:23; Destine Manor:
Demona, with Shade in her arms, and Darlene with her kids on her tail, landed in the garden of her mansion.
"That was cool!" Jarred stated at once. "How often...?"
He was stopped by Shade's loud growl.
Darlene and her children, even Gem, looked shocked at the beast with her blood-red eyes, while Demona was one step further, looking at the glass door of her mansion.Before Darlene could say anything on this, her mother already went ahead, opening the door and entering with Shade following reluctantly.
Jarred was going to follow his grandmother, but his mother's claw on his shoulder stopped him?
"No." she told him, looking through the class door, at how her mother studied the room.
She didn't know what her mother was looking at, but what she had just gone through with Lucifia had made her cautious, especially with her children involved.
Maybe she has placed a bomb somewhere, Darlene guessed, maybe she just wants to blow the whole mansion up?
A part of her mind told her not to be paranoid, while the other told her that maybe it was worse.
It's a good thing that mother is immortal.
Then she saw her mother going to the hidden shelf in the wall, now open, and taking something.
Darlene's curiosity, one of her plenty heritage from her mother took over and she handed over Gem to her eldest daughter before following Demona in.
"Mother?" she asked the immortal.
Demona, who had been staring on the paper as if it had the answers on all questions in the world, looked up shortly, handing over Darlene the paper and then, speechless, moved into the direction of the stairs, her beast following.
Darlene stared on the paper, which was indeed a little letter consisting of just one sentence.
"Dear Mother, next time I will bring the swords again."
Darlene shuddered.
09.08.98; 07:41; Hidden level under Demona's mansion:
Demona stared at an opponent, which didn't exist, swinging her sword, a katana, in a way she had once learned in a country far away. She liked these secret rooms beneath her mansion, more than she had ever liked the mansion itself because it was distant to the noises of the human world. She liked this room, which allowed her to relax in a special way, after days of dealing with humans again.
Watched by her loyal gargbeast, even when the immortal didn't notice her in her concentration, she launched a final attack on the non-existent opponent, digging the sword into the stony ground of the training room, imaging to go through its... her stomach.
Such she stayed, kneeling down on one leg on the earth, the other near her fast moving breast, her eyes closed and all her senses as sharp as ever in a battle. It was these senses, which sensed someone coming nearer, hearing the claw-steps, even feeling the little vibration in the earth and smelling...
Demona stopped for a second, smelling something strange, but nevertheless familiar with her sensitive nose. But then it was gone and she just smelled the scent of a gargoyle that she knew very well.
The immortal warrior held her position and didn't open her eyes, hoping foolishly that she would go away.
"Mother?"
Demona suppressed a growl of frustration and opened her eyes, looking up to Darlene standing at the entrance of the training room.
"What?" the immortal asked with the hint of a snarl.
"We have to talk." Darlene replied calmly, ignoring her mother's hostile tone, knowing that this night had left its mark on her.
Demona looked on her biologically eldest child for a second, then she sighed in frustration.
"About what?" she asked calmly, as she placed the katana back on its place on the wall.
Darlene had at least 1000 questions to ask her mother, most in which a certain gargoyle called Lucifia took place, but since she felt that dawn was near, she concentrated on the closest.
"What shall we do now?" she began. "With Lucifia out there?"
Demona crossed her arms.
"We have to wait until Lucifia makes her next move," she admitted, her voice making clear how much she hated this.
"Is this all we can do?" Darlene asked, even when in her heart she had come to such a solution on their flight back to the mansion, when she had searched in the shadows of houses and dark alleys for signs of her dark sister.
"I will bring a detector from my lab to search the mansion for bugs." Demona replied.
Darlene frowned, as she had forgotten about her mother's bugs and that most likely they were eavesdropping at this moment, like the whole time before.
"Can we speak openly?" she asked, trying not to look around since she knew that she most likely wouldn't see the bugs.
Demona nodded.
"If it is important." she explained.
"Mother," Darlene began, "could you stay home?"
On the critical look of her mother, she continued quickly.
"At least for the day." she explained. "The children and I would feel more secure."
"I could order one of my employees to bring me the detector." Demona replied.
"Thank you." Darlene said with a warm smile.
Her mother replied this by shaking her head.
"I can't protect you and the children, Darlene." she revealed. "Even if I'm here the whole day."
"You think she is flesh by day?" Darlene asked.
"I don't know." Demona replied openly. "But she could just order someone to attack for her, or..."
Frustrated, the immortal shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know."
Darlene looked at her mother and saw, for a moment, helplessness in her mother's eyes... or maybe it was just her own feelings reflected. She had never feared dawn and the stone-sleep in her whole life, but this time she would.
"Anything else?" her mother asked emotionless.
"Lana." Darlene began anew.
"What about her?" Demona wanted to know.
"She needs training." her daughter explained.
"I've been telling you this for six months." Demona noted.
"There was no reason to force her to do that, until now." Darlene replied, knowing that her mother was at least partly right. "But things have changed and I would feel better if Lana would at least know the basics of self-defense."
Demona nodded.
"I can do it after Jarred's magic lessons." she explained, but Darlene shook her head. "I would prefer it that one of the Manhattan clan does so."
Her mother's look said more than anything of what she thought of this.
"Why?" she asked icily.
"Because she needs friends." Darlene replied. "There are plenty gargoyles of her own age in the clan, but it will need time for her to come in contact with them."
And I will make her whether she wants to or not. she added mentally, being fully aware of how happy her eldest daughter would be when she told her this.
Darlene had somehow expected resistance from her mother about the idea to let both her grandchildren be trained by the clan, but instead she just gave her a nod, not even looking to her, but somewhere ahead of her.
Okay, Darlene thought.
"I will look after the children for the morning." she told her mother.
Her mother didn't react, but stared ahead.
"Mom!" Darlene exclaimed louder.
This brought Darlene her mother's attention and Demona looked on her with tired green eyes.
"You know, you can always talk to me." she reminded her. "To me, Angela, or your sister... You're not alone."
Her mother replied this with a half-hearty nod, looking back to the wall.
Darlene sighed, knowing that the night hadn't enough time left to try a new conversation, and went off, leaving her mother alone.
Demona stayed in her position seconds after Darlene had left, her mind not really focussed on anything.
"...You're not alone."
Her daughter's voice rang through Demona's head, but they sounded meaningless, far away.
Suddenly, she felt something warm and damp touching her left claw and looking down surprised. She saw Shade standing by her side, licking her friend's claw as if to bring her back to this world.
It had actually worked.
Demona gave the scarred beast one of her rare smiles, even when it was a very weak one and knelt down, stroking Shade the way she knew the beast liked it, which she replied through loud purring.
She did so until sunrise robbed her of this companion, leaving her alone in the darkness of her cellar and her pain.
To be continued...