When Ray got up the next morning, he went to check in on the cameras and found that Brooklyn wasn't in there and the door was wide open. His eyes widened and he sounded an alarm.

"Escape alert!" The red lights went off. Ray ran out of the room in a hurry. Surely, the gargoyle didn't know his way out of here. He would find him and put him back.

When Ray went to Melina's headquarters, he found her all bloody on her face and body. Melina had injured herself to make her story more believable.

"Melina, you were left in charge of Brooklyn last night. What happened?" He demanded to know.

"I came into his room to deliver his supper and he turned on me. He got away, Sir." Melina declared in a lie.

Ray was still skeptical but he turned and walked out and ordered all his men to find the gargoyle. He had to be in the facility somewhere. He had been taken deep underground and wouldn't know his way out without help. Melina was ordered to get treated by the doctor.

"Wherever you have gotten to, Brooklyn, you aren't getting away from me so easily." Ray growled. Brooklyn carried something he wanted more than anything. He would get him back.

As for Melina, she hoped Brooklyn was able to get far enough away from here before sunrise or else he would be dragged right back in here and would be kept under constant restraint. That wouldn't be good for his condition. She should have gotten him out before the experiment had happened.

Later in the day, when Brooklyn hadn't been located anywhere inside the compound, some men went outside to start looking for signs he had been brought outside. And indeed, there were his footprints in the sand.

One of the men held a talk radio. He held it to his mouth and said, "Sir, we have gargoyle footprints in the sand outside."

Ray was shocked that Brooklyn had found the entrance but at the same time, he was suspicious that a certain someone might have helped him escape. He then ordered, "Follow those footprints. He couldn't have gotten far."

Five men left the facility to track Brooklyn down by following his prints in the sand and dirt, but after a few miles, his marks disappeared altogether. Given the rocky outcrop they were near, it was obvious that the gargoyle had taken to the air. There was no tracking him down now.

Ray knew he had to face Melina again. She was resting in the doctor's quarters right now. He stormed over there. He smacked her in the face, waking her. She yelped in pain.

"Boss!" She gasped as she held her face.

"You lied to me! You helped Brooklyn escape, didn't you?!" Ray demanded in anger.

She knew she was busted. "Yes, I did! Ray, he was miserable here. Why not let him go?"

"Because he has what I want! If he runs into trouble out there, he's endangering more than his own life, he's doing it to the child too!" Ray exclaimed.

"I'm sure he can find someone to help him." Melina said.

"No, it won't be so easy. Most humans would think of him as a demon, given his looks. We have to find him, and you are not looking after him anymore when we do find him!" Ray snarled. "Pack your things and clear out of here!"

Melina knew she had been taking a chance by helping Brooklyn escape. After her boss left, she began to do as he said, she packed up her things and got out. She could be killed if she didn't.

…

Brooklyn woke up from his stone sleep in the cave and remembered where he was. He had gotten out of the facility at last with Melina's help. Now he needed to head to Arizona. That was south of here and he needed to determine which way was which.

He looked to the sky, looking for the north star. But if there were clouds in the sky and they were moving, he might get a better vantage point. It was a cloudy night tonight. There were no stars to be seen. Or he could just head east and not bother Beth at all. He hadn't been told much about where Elisa's sister lived down there.

"I should just head east. But which way is east?" he asked himself. He looked up at the clouds. Usually, they moved from west to east. It was a little windy tonight, but it was warm out. He saw the clouds heading a certain direction. It must have been east. "I'll just head that way then." Brooklyn said.

He put the bag down and took out a water bottle. He opened it and took a drink of water. He looked at the food in there. He decided to wait a little longer before he would eat something out of there. He wasn't famished yet. He drank some more water and put it back in the bag before putting it on. He began to look for a high rise so he could get airborne.

Right now, Brooklyn didn't care exactly where he ended up as long as he was heading east. He might find out town's names on the way home, especially if he had to stay for any days on end. He was mainly on his own journey to get home but he would still protect those that needed protecting.

He would find a way to get home as quickly as he could. If he had money on him, he could find a payphone and call Xanatos or Elisa, but he had no money on him and it would be unlikely that any other human would help him. He would try to befriend some humans along the way, but what human would help him? He would just do what he could, even if it meant not getting the gratitude he deserved. He was used to it.

He soon got to a high rocky outcrop and climbed it, then jumped off and got to the air.

This was the middle of the month of September right now. The baby would be due sometime next spring and he didn't even know about it yet.

Brooklyn was glad that Melina had packed him some food and water supplies for him. He would have to ration these things out. While gliding, he tried to think of possible ways to get home faster. Gliding so much could put a strain on his wings but he would do what he could.

He had glided in storms before all his life, but if a storm would hit, he would try to find shelter from it. Being rained on could make even a gargoyle feel cold after a while, especially if it was a cold rain. It would soon start getting colder out as time went on.

Brooklyn would have liked to follow a road that led to a town or city. He would be passing through lots of towns and cities on his way home unless Elisa or Xanatos could be reached somehow. Gliding was the best way to travel versus walking on the ground. He would also be avoiding most predators. Right now, he just wanted to avoid most humans until he got further away from that facility.

Beneath him, there were now some trees and more rocks around. It was dry and sandy. He would keep on gliding until his wings got tired, then land and rest them. He took a look around and then took a timeout for drinking more water and have some food. His stomach was voicing it was hungry by now. It was well after 9 pm; still plenty of night left to get traveling done. This journey was only just beginning.

…..

Ray was organizing a search party and he and the men would search aggressively for the red gargoyle. He knew where he would be headed. He would be headed east to New York. They had to find him before he got there.

Hopefully, Brooklyn wouldn't get past Carlin, NV. Their search was started.

One man had enough curiosity to ask, "Sir, what exactly do you plan to do with the gargoyle once we find him?"

"Once we have him, we'll bring him back here and he's not going to be allowed loose in his cell anymore. He's going to be on much more restrictions." Ray replied. He was still angry at Melina for allowing him to talk her into letting him go. He thought she would have known better, but then, she was a woman, stupid enough to fall for his words.

"And what are you planning on doing with the baby gargoyle once it's born?"

"I plan to watch its development as it grows up." Ray said.

"And the father?"

"We could take him back to the city he came from, but the baby is mine." Ray decreed.

"And what if the gargoyle won't allow that?"

"It doesn't matter. We will make sure to get the baby away from him and separate them. It's my project to do with as I please!" Ray exclaimed. "But, before I send Brooklyn back to his clan, I intend to know more about his secrets in order to care for the baby properly. That's why we must find him."

….

Brooklyn wished he had a map of where he needed to go. "I've got to keep heading east." He said to himself. He had been taking a break to get his belly full and hydrate himself. Finding a road might be the best way to go so he could glide to a town and find out where he was. Back at the facility, Melina had led him to a backway exit/entrance and that's why he had taken off without seeing the driveway.

He looked up in the sky to see which way the clouds were going to make sure he was going the way they were going; east. He had rested long enough. He needed to get airborne again so he could try to find a main road. Following roads was the best way to go. They would lead him to towns/cities.

He climbed a nearby tree and took to the air once again. He would do the best he could without being seen. He wanted to get home so badly.

After a few more hours of gliding, he soon saw lights in the distance. Oh, that was a welcome site to his eyes. A city or town at last.

As he neared the city, he saw that it had amazing and beautiful lights. He had to find out where he was. Finding a gas station or a phone booth might tell him where he was if he could find a phone book or newspaper. Brooklyn would try to stay out of sight of humans. Without money on him, he couldn't call home.

There were many motels and casinos in the city too. "This city sure is beautiful. But I have to get home," he said.

It was around one am in the morning. The roads were pretty quiet at this time of night, but there was still traffic here and there. He tried looking at the gas stations but they were too well lit up. There could be cameras there too.

He moved on, looking for a motel that was more along the edge of the city. He found one. It had some vacancies, but he knew he wouldn't be welcome there. He tried looking for a phone booth and there was one on the edge of the sidewalk. Brooklyn went to it and grabbed the phone book out of the booth. He read on the label that the book said Elko, Nevada.

"Okay. I'm in Elko. Really nice city to be in. Maybe I can get some more supplies while I'm here." He said.

The ones that Melina had supplied him with probably would last longer than a week. He needed more, but he didn't want the bag so heavy that he couldn't carry it. But how was he going to get the supplies that he needed?

Brooklyn also saw a map in the phone booth too and he snatched it up. He put the book back though. He needed to know where he was going. As he looked at the map a bit further away from the hotel, he saw a main highway and he needed to find it and follow it. He was going to get on I-80 E and I 70 E. He would follow that route for now.

"I would love to stay and visit some more, but I have to get home." Brooklyn declared.

He tucked the map into his belt and he climbed up another tree and took to the air again. Unknown to him, a camera had caught his departure. That wasn't good.

He found the roads that he needed to and followed them. He would glide over the rest of the city of Elko the rest of the night, looking around it for entertainment that he hadn't had in so long, but he would always go back to the highway that would lead him out of the city.

By the time the sky was lighting up, Brooklyn knew he had to get out of the city or find a building to perch on for today. He managed to follow the highway to the outskirts of the city to a river. He hoped no one tried to go fishing here during the day. Maybe he would have been better off on one of the high buildings, but it was too late to reconsider as the sun rose.

….

When a hotel manager came in the next morning, she was looking at the cameras and all was quiet until after 1:30 am. That was when she saw a strange looking creature at the phone booth, snatching the phone book and the map out of it. She freaked out at what this creature was.

It had the body and wings of a monster. It could have done worse than steal a book or map. It put the phone book back in the booth before it took to the air again. What did this creature want?

Of course, it really wanted nothing but directions on how to get out of the city. The lady was overreacting before she told her husband about it. He thought she was making it up until she showed him the video.

They hadn't seen any creatures like those around here before, but there were indeed strange creatures all over the world. But they had never seen one like the gargoyle up until now.

The couple were so freaked out that they called the cops. They came out and saw the video too. This was worrying for them. They would look around the hotel and surrounding areas. But they weren't going to go telling the news crew unless they had something to really worry about.

The police were looking around the city all day to find anything that even resembled the creature they saw in the video. But they didn't need to worry about anything. The red creature wasn't going to be around at all come tomorrow night.

As for the information on the highways and towns and cities that I know I mention in the story, I used real live maps to know them. I looked at pics of them too, for in the case of if I mention any landmarks. They may be in no right place though. It's just fiction after all. But I use maps to help me out some when I'm writing a homeward story.