I do not own Gargoyles, or any of the characters which appeared in the cartoon. All original characters seen here were created by me, but everyone else is not. This writing is for pleasure, not for profit...Please don't sue.
The Nightmares Saga Chapter 2: "Helpless"
Elisa lay on a strange bed, with her hands cuffed to the headboard, in her eyes focused on the man she loathed even more than Xanatos: Anthony Dracon.
"Marry you? What are you playing at, Tony?" Elisa asked, an air of complete confusion lacing her voice. The turbulence that shook the plane slightly from time to time didn't help her nerves one bit, either.
"Simple, Sugar." Tony pulled a chair from the side of the room and brought it over to the left side of the bed where Elisa lay. She had to keep reminding herself that she was on a plane, because the room had all the amenities of a normal bedroom, and she hardly felt the turbulence because of the waterbed that held her.
Dracon sat down on the chair and rested his folded hands in his lap before he continued. His eyes, Elisa noticed, were glowing with a look of malice which only could come from a Dracon. He inhaled deeply, releasing his breath slowly in order to annoy and anger Elisa further at the delay. Then, he began.
"You see, Maza, once upon a time I had this Great Uncle Joe. He died a few months ago while he was living on this island. I was notified a week ago that I was the sole beneficiary to his vast estate. The problem is that he stipulated that I had to be married to get most of the money. That's where you come in, Maza." He looked pleased with himself.
"I guess there was no clause in the will saying that the woman had to want to get married to a snake like you, right?"
"Obviously, Great Uncle Joe wasn't picky about how I did it. As long as I did…" He smiled his devious smile. Elisa shook her head, closing her eyes tightly at the unimaginable idea of her marrying someone like Tony. He continued.
"So, the judge I bribed will be already at the compound when we land. I got you a ring and everything, Sugar—wanted to make this a real marriage." He reached up over her head to where her left hand was cuffed to the other hand against the headboard of the bed and held her left hand in his. Elisa tried to move it away from his, but the awkward position her hand was in didn't allow for much movement, and it was basically stuck in Dracon's hand.
"Don't touch me, Tony!" Elisa spat at him, trying to loosen her constraints. His dark eyes met hers. Instead of answering her with words, he stroked her hand gently with his. If Elisa didn't know any better, she could swear he looked wistful just then.
"We're going to be a great team, Maza—"Tony said, the wistful look disappearing from his face. "—the best team, honey."
"Yeah, that all sounds wonderful and everything, but why are we flying to Portugal? Were all the flights to Paris booked up?" Elisa questioned, the bitterness bouncing off the walls.
"Not only was this island home to my great uncle Joe, but it is actually where your future in-laws vacationed for their honeymoon. They never stopped raving about how gorgeous the scenery was. Hell, I was probably conceived in this very country."
Just then, there was a buzzing sound followed by a man, most likely the pilot, saying, "Mr. Dracon, we'll be landing in Ponta Delgada in ten minutes. Please prepare to land, sir." Dracon looked down at Elisa, smiling.
"Well, I better take my seat. You just stay there. We'll be home soon." He got up from his chair, and disappeared behind a dark blue curtain, leaving Elisa cuffed to the bed, with a face full of hate for the man who put her there.
The Manhattan skyline grew darker as the sun set for another day. High above the city, the gargoyles woke. One by one, they shook off their stone skin and began preparing for their evening. Jumping off his perch, Broadway stretched contentedly.
"Hey guys! I'm feeling in the mood for waffles before we go on patrol! Anyone want some?" He asked the clan. Brooklyn, Lexington and Angela smiled.
"Mmm…you know I never say no to your waffles!" Angela replied. The others were nodding as well.
"Alright guys, let's go!" Broadway exclaimed. Goliath flew down from his perch as the trio and Angela walked into the castle. Hudson waved to him to join them in the living area where the television and computer were situated.
"Evening, lad." Hudson said, addressing Goliath. As he took his seat in front of the television, Bronx made his way beside him, and plopped himself down on the floor.
"Good evening, my friend." Goliath replied. "Aren't they patrolling tonight?" He motioned to the kitchen, referring to the young clan members.
"Yes, it sounded ta me like they were wantin' a bit of food before headin' out fer the evening." Hudson answered in his rich Scottish accent. Goliath nodded. He was about to take a stroll outside the castle when he noticed the lack of Elisa's presence when he woke. She is on duty most likely, Goliath thought. Perhaps I can aid her in some way if that is the case. With that thought, he unfurled his wings and jumped off the edge of the castle wall, using the wind currents to soar into the night to find his love.
After nearly an hour of gliding to the normal spots, trying to locate her very memorable and unique Ford Fairlane, Goliath was beginning to think she had taken ill and gone home. Her car was not parked in her usual spot in front of the police station, nor was it near that warehouse she had mentioned the previous night. Goliath decided to check up on her in her apartment. He was beginning to grow uneasy with knowing that she might be ill. As he glided towards her apartment, his mind raced with visions of her beauty and the kiss they shared on the night of the Hunter's moon. Well, he thought, the kiss that she gave me. He didn't have time to react to it properly, and ever since then, they hadn't really discussed their feelings for one another. The only thing they both knew was that their growing relationship was something that they both wanted to explore and nurture. Sure, she had kissed him on the cheek a few times since then, but with her hectic schedule at the police station, the few moments they had with one another tended to deal with matters far removed from the heart. Tonight, perhaps, they would finally discuss their feelings and move past the polite formalities once and for all. Goliath was nearing Elisa's apartment window when that last thought flew through his mind. He looked down towards the parking lot she always left her car when she was home, and it was there in the usual spot. A relieved sigh escaped his lips, but something was still out of place—as he got closer to the apartment, he noticed that the large window that he and the other gargoyles usually used to enter her apartment was wide open. He landed smoothly on the balcony and stepped into the apartment.
"Elisa?" he called out, followed by silence. "Are you here, Elisa?" Followed by more silence. Cagney, Elisa's cat, purred, and ran towards Goliath. He leaned down and held him in his arms, stroking the cat's fur very slowly.
"Where is your mistress, Cagney?" Holding the cat still, he walked from the living room, to the kitchen, back to the living room, then venturing to walk to the bedroom. He bent down a little and let the cat down, then straightened up and pushed the door to the bedroom door open. The small lamp on the table beside the bed was on, and the room looked orderly, except for the fact that the bed was unmade. This wasn't odd in itself, since Elisa was hardly renowned for her tidiness, but it was strange that the lamp would have remained on, since it would have been morning when she went on duty. Puzzled, Goliath turned again to inspect the room from a different angle. At that moment, there was a 'beep' that was audible from the living room. Goliath knew instantly that this sound came from the machine attached to the phone that recorded messages when Elisa was not available to answer the phone. He walked over to the living room, and leaned over the answering machine. It beeped again.
Goliath read the button that said "listen to messages" and pressed it. The machine then said, "You have three new messages." Goliath's concern grew at that. The machine began playing the first message. It came from a familiar voice.
"Hey Elisa, rise and shine, girl, it's Matt! It's 9:30, where are you? Call me back so I can at least cover for you…but it better be good...uh…ok, bye." Beep. The next message played.
"Elisa, seriously now, it's 11. Where the hell are you? Chavez is going to have your ass if you don't at least call in! Come on, partner, call the station. Alright? ok…bye." Beep. The third message played. As it began, Goliath growled with worry. Where could she have been all day?
"Alright, Elisa, it's now 5 o'clock, and I don't know where my partner is. Your car is outside, so it's not like I don't know you're home. Call me!" Beep. The machine then said, "End of messages…" Goliath's concern mounted to no end. But where could she be? Why wouldn't she at least leave a message with Matt or write a note and leave it in her apartment? And why would she have left the window wide open in the middle of November? Just then, there was a loud knocking on the door.
"Open up, Elisa! Come on! Honestly, I know you're there…" It was Matt, pleading to get inside the apartment. Goliath walked towards the door and looked into the peephole to ensure Matt was alone. He was indeed alone, so Goliath opened the door.
"Goliath! Jeez, I didn't expect to see you here…do you know where Elisa has been all day?" Matt asked as he hurried inside the apartment and closed and locked the door behind him. Goliath shook his troubled head.
"No, Matt. That is why I came here. She did not greet me as I awoke, and I became worried when I did not see her along the normal patrol routes."
"Great," Matt said, "We've got one detective, unaccounted for. Have you searched the place, looking for anything that could tell us where she is?" He asked as he surveyed the room quickly with his eyes at first, then by walking around to the different rooms as Goliath had done moments before. When Matt reached the kitchen, he stopped, frowned and looked up at Goliath. Matt pointed down to Cagney's food and water bowls.
"These are empty. Elisa NEVER leaves these empty, even when she's on shift. She makes us stop to refill these almost every night. Something is wrong here." He kneeled to the floor in front of the sink where she kept Cagney's dry cat food, and poured out some into one of the empty bowls, then grabbed the water bowl, washed it quickly and filled it to the brim with fresh water. Cagney obviously noticed these actions, because almost immediately he rushed over to where Matt was standing. Goliath growled at that revelation. Matt then walked over to the window that Goliath noticed was wide open and crossed his arms.
"No wonder it was freezing in here! This window was left…wait a minute. There are jagged pieces of glass here. This window was broken into, and whoever did it got rid of all the smashed pieces of glass remaining on the floor and on the pane." Matt exclaimed. Goliath nodded silently, though inside, a struggle to yell and scream began, and only ended when he and Matt went to speak with David Xanatos.
"Gentlemen, I really do wish that I could do more to help, but her communicator is offline, and has been for a few hours now. I had Owen confirm that the last signal came when she was in her apartment at around 3:02 am last night." David Xanatos stated, trying to sound more like a friend than a businessman. Goliath and Matt had gone to the clan and told them their suspicions, which led to their asking Xanatos to track her communicator using the signal it omitted. It had worked in tracking the Hunters a few weeks previously.
"This is strange." Lexington said. "Her car is still at the apartment, the window was broken, Cagney hasn't been fed in nearly 24 hours, and she didn't show for work at all today. That is completely out of character." He finished his thought, summing up exactly what was on everyone else's mind at that exact moment.
"Father, do you think someone may have caused her harm?" Angela asked, holding onto Goliath's massive bicep. She looked to Elisa as a best friend, or, even still, a mother figure. With the prospect that she might be hurt, Angela needed to know she would be alright. Goliath gave her a look of comfort, yet did not feel it himself.
"If someone has harmed Elisa, we will surely make him pay, however, for the time being, we all need to keep our hopes up. Perhaps she was stranded somewhere or was lost." Goliath mentioned, knowing all too well that, with their luck, that was not what had happened to Elisa. "That is why we should double our patrols until we find her. Everyone, if you find any trace of her, report back to either Xanatos or me. Understand?" Goliath asked the clan. They all either nodded or said "yes, Goliath."
"Xanatos," Goliath said, as the others filed out of the office and onto their patrols, "if you hear anything, will you let me know?"
"Of course, Goliath. I know what it is like to worry about someone you love." He nodded.
"Yes, I do love her...Thank you, Xanatos."
Shortly after landing on the island, a blue gas filled the room where Elisa lay handcuffed to the bed, causing her to lose consciousness. When she came to, she found herself in another room, only this one much more comfortable and homey than the last, and bathed in a rich sunlight that poured in through a medium sized window. Hanging from the window were very delicate-looking white drapes, shielding her eyes from the more powerful rays of sunlight. There was a large television set in front of the bed. If she had been there for any other reason, she probably would have considered the bedroom the perfect place for a honeymoon, but given the circumstances, she thought everything in the room was repulsive. Elisa stretched after her forced sleep, to find that her hands were again bound, but instead of handcuffs, they were bound with a soft fabric. Thinking that she could break through this material, she began trying to pull it off or snap it, only to find that the strain caused great soreness to both her wrists, so she quickly ceased trying. She noticed that she was no longer dressed in the night clothes that she was wearing on the plane, but instead, she was dressed in a dainty light blue nightgown, with very thin spaghetti straps and a lower-than-normal neckline. She shuddered at the thought of who could have changed her into that. Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and there stood Tony Dracon, looking as smug as ever.
"Hey, Maza, you clean up real nice. I hope you like that colour. Consider that a wedding present." He walked up to her and touched her face.
"Fuck you, Tony. I already told you. I'm not marrying you. You're out of your goddamned mind." She said, trying to move her face out of range of his hands. He then took her head in both his hands and kissed her hard on the lips. There was nothing she could do to prevent it. She felt repulsed the second his lips touched hers, bringing with them a taste of alcohol and cigarettes. After this kiss, Dracon's face owned a renewed sense of arrogance. Elisa noticed this and asked, "Why so smug, Tony? Never kissed a girl before? And by the way, that SUCKED." He turned toward the judge standing in the doorway. He had managed to creep quietly into the room without Elisa hearing him. Dracon pointed to him.
"Because, Maza, he just married us." He grabbed her hand somewhat forcefully, and slid a gold wedding band on her left hand's ring finger. It matched the wedding band on Dracon's left ring finger. He then ran a hand through her long blue-black hair. Suddenly, making a face, he withdrew his hand from her hair and pulled something out—the communicator she used to speak with Goliath. Dracon held it closer to his eyes to take a good look at it.
"Ha. This is a cute little thing, isn't it? Too bad the signal blockers I had installed here on this compound stop all radars from receiving any signals from things like this." He walked over to the window and chucked the communicator out of it. Elisa didn't even have enough time to get her hopes up before they were squashed. She had completely forgotten to take the communicator off before going to bed last night, and it must have gotten caught in her hair.
"So, I guess you get your money now, huh? All's well that ends well, right? What happens next?" Elisa asked, still trying to get that disgusting taste of zambucca and cigarettes out of her mouth.
"It's not that simple, wifey." He mocked. "Great Uncle Joe had a few more stipulations: namely that I have to remain married for longer than six months…"
"What!" Elisa screamed. "You mean I have to stay here for six months—"
"Sugar, you're here permanently. I told you that already when we were on the plane. You'll learn to love me…you'll see." He laughed. "Now, I have to run some errands. Enjoy the day. I will let you do as you please in this room. If you leave this room, the guards outside will have to teach you to listen to me and I don't want my wifey bruised and beaten, you know?"
He leaned over, almost gently, undid the bindings on her wrists, caressed Elisa's face, turned and walked out the door. Elisa couldn't believe what she had just heard. All her life, she was a strong, independent woman, taught that a man was never to stifle her nature, but to nurture it and support it. Now, as she sat upright on this king sized bed, in a dainty nightgown, against her will, she felt powerless—utterly powerless—and it scared her terribly. How was she going to get herself out of this one? Her mind turned to Goliath. Was he out looking for her? Did he even know she was missing? How long would it take before he forgot about her? She closed her eyes tightly, and tried to drift into sleep, only to be tormented with the nightmare of falling off the dam on the night of the Hunter's Moon…she had no rest that night, nor did she get any meaningful rest for the next few weeks...