Chapter 15

We're Innocent

Kassidy and Holden were thrown to the ground next to Shade and Marina. Kassidy was about to look up, but she felt talons pin her hands and wings to the ground and she grunted, trying to break loose from whatever was holding her down. Using magic was of no use because her hands were pinned down.

She then heard cooing and when she looked up she saw angry pigeons staring down at her and her friends. Their captors were also staring down at them furiously. Wooden beams crisscrossed overhead like a giant web. Her eyes widened in shock but it confused her as to why they grabbed them. She knew bats were allowed to fly out at night and it was their time to fly tonight, so why were they doing this?

They were in some kind of pit, covered with sticky bird droppings. The stench was so overpowering that it was like smelling the inside of a barn. Instead, though, they were inside the clock tower.

Kassidy looked at her friends and Shade was on his back as his captor held him by his wings using his talons. Marina and Holden were held down by only their one wing by their captors and they were all struggling as well as they were looking up.

"Pigeons," Marina said.

Shade looked at Marina, Kassidy, and Holden. "Guys, what're we gonna do?"

"I-" Marina grunted as the pigeon holding her down scrunched his talons into her. "I don't know."

"What the hell's going on?" Holden shouted but then he grunted when the pigeon that was holding him down also scrunched him.

The pigeons that were holding all four of them down then threw them to the ground and then pinned their wings so they wouldn't move. "Captain, these are the four renegades that Hegland saw kill our friend," the one pinning Shade said.

Kill? Kassidy thought. What the hell is he talking about?

They then looked back up and a pigeon glided down from a beam and landed in front of them. Kassidy realized that he must've been the Captain. The Captain then turned around to face the other pigeons. "Silence, give me more light!"

A pigeon near them pulled back a sheet of paper and as soon as he did, some light came through the hole that made Kassidy have to squint her eyes. A shadow then came down on all four of the friends and they looked to see that the Captain was inspecting them. He looked at Shade and then he pulled at his hair and Shade cried out in pain. The Captain then looked at Marina and he hit her on the head with his wing and Marina then grunted. He then looked at Holden and then he used his beak and pecked him on the head and Holden cried out in pain. The Captain then looked at Kassidy and as soon as he looked at her he looked shocked.

Kassidy didn't know what to do but she didn't want to use her magic this instant until she figured out what was going on. This whole thing did not make any sense to her.

Without doing anything to Kassidy, the Captain then stood up straight. "Hegland, come forward."

The four of them heard footsteps and they saw a pigeon with his head down-which Kassidy assumed was Hegland-and he looked scared. As soon as Hegland looked at them, Kassidy saw a scratch mark on the side of his neck. "Uh… these aren't the ones. There were two of them, not four! I-I told you, they were huge!"

"Are you sure? Tch- what am I saying? You're never sure."

"Oh… what if the giant bats come back? Their wings-"

"Enough!"

The four friends looked at each other confused. Kassidy knew a lot of different types of bats, including giant ones, but she's never heard of giant bats flying around a city. She thought that maybe this pigeon was seeing things. But how did he get that scratch mark? Kassidy thought that maybe he scratched his neck on something or he got scratched by an animal that looked like a bat but was pretty huge.

Or was he telling the truth?

Kassidy, Shade, and Marina were staring at the Captain with some anger, but Holden looked so nervous. The Captain noticed Holden and he leaned his head towards him and Holden's eyes widened even more. "How about it, Silverwing? You seem like you know something that the rest of us don't know about."

Holden gulped and he started to stutter. The Captain then looked at the pigeon that was holding down Holden and he nodded. The pigeon holding down Holden then tightened his grip around Holden's arms and Holden bared his teeth and grunted in pain.

"Hey, featherhead," Shade shouted with courage at the Captain. "Leave him alone!"

The Captain was about to stomp on Shade's head and Kassidy was about to use her magic on him until she heard someone speak. "He's arrived, sir!"

The Captain put down his foot and he turned around. The four friends looked to where the Captain was looking and Kassidy was shocked to see who it was and her jaw dropped. No…

Stepping out from the shadows was none other than Brutus himself.

The Captain saluted to Brutus and then Brutus looked at the four of them. When he saw them he stepped forward and looked at Shade, Holden, and Kassidy and he especially looked at Kassidy with the same anger in his eyes when he looked at Kassidy for the first time. "You three!"

"B-Brutus," Shade said.

Holden cussed out loud without even thinking and that earned a look from Brutus. Holden then pressed his lips together nervously.

"Wasn't breaking the law enough for you, bats?" Brutus said. "You and your colony have now graduated to murder."

Shade looked at Brutus confused. "Murder? My colony would never murder!"

Brutus looked at Shade. "So, you admit it was just you and your friends here."

Kassidy bared her teeth at Brutus. "We didn't do anything!"

"My sentry described them as giant bats," the Captain said. "Unlike these four."

Brutus stood up straight. "Preposterous! The Silverwings are obviously killing innocent pigeons as retribution to our burning of Tree Haven."

"That's insane," Shade said with anger. "No bat can kill a pigeon!"

"No one bat perhaps." Brutus then eyed Kassidy with a cold glare. "But perhaps one with magic can." Kassidy's eyes widened at the remark Brutus said. "Or perhaps she used her magic to hypnotize the colony into ambushing a pigeon. Besides, I've heard tales of witches using magic for many evil purposes. A witch will do anything within their power to get what they want. It would make sense for you to hypnotize many of the Silverwings like Frieda to do your bidding. It would explain why Frieda didn't hand you or your friends over and it would also explain why these three are with a devil like you."

Kassidy continued to bare her teeth at Brutus in anger.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Holden shouted out loud no longer looking nervous. "She's never even done that!"

Marina looked at Holden with her eyes narrowed. "Holden, shut up!"

Brutus then looked at Holden and Holden went back to being nervous and he had his ears lowered. "If I was you, I'd listen to your wise little friend here."

"Look I don't want to get on your bad side, man," Holden said nervously. "I just don't believe that she would do anything like that. Let alone-"

"Silence!"

Holden lowered his head scared. "I'll keep my mouth shut…"

Brutus rolled his eyes and then he looked at Shade. "Tell me where your colony is, now!"

"I don't know," Shade said.

Brutus then looked at Marina and Marina had her eyes widened. "Why exactly is a Brightwing in league with these criminals?"

Marina looked at Kassidy, Holden, and Shade. Kassidy tried to keep her temper under control because she didn't want to cause more trouble than there already was but she couldn't handle the fact that now Brutus thought that she was the reason for a pigeon's death. Never in her life had she ever hypnotized anyone to do things for her, she didn't even know how to do that.

"Answer the General," the Captain shouted.

Marina flinched but then she looked at Brutus bravely. "They're not criminals!"

Brutus looked at Marina not satisfied. "Ugh, bats! Your ancestors couldn't see who to decide with and neither can you! You, creatures, make me sick."

At this point, Kassidy had enough to hear from Brutus. "We make you sick? Here's something you should know 'Brutus', you make me sick."

"Kass," Marina shouted.

Brutus looked at Kassidy and got near her and Kassidy didn't even change her expression as his face got near hers. "Is that right, witch?"

"Well I'm not going to be silent now am I? That war was a long time ago, Brutus! I'm pretty much sure we've learned our lessons."

"So you think you bats have learned your lessons by killing a pigeon? An outrage is what it is!"

"We didn't do it, Brutus, and I never use my magic for any type of murder. You think because I look like this and have magic I would be capable of doing bad causes? Well, I can tell you this; I'm not a bad witch. There are such things as good witches. You obviously can't see that because you don't even give me a chance. He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees."

Everyone looked at Kassidy confused at the last part she just said. The pigeons started to whisper with one another. Brutus looked at the Captain and he just shrugged his shoulders. Brutus looked back at Kassidy. "What does that mean?"

"It basically means if you want to live in peace and comfort you shouldn't be a know it all and not be so judgmental or have a strong opinion on everything you see. It's obvious though that's what you're doing right now. You are no General whatsoever and you can go to Hell."

Shade, Holden, and Marina looked at Kassidy shocked. Brutus looked at Kassidy more furiously and Kassidy didn't look away from him. "I knew there was something about you that I didn't like. You will regret you ever said those words to me, witch." Brutus then looked back at the Captain. "Captain, post sentries all over the city."

"It's already been done, General," the Captain said.

"Fine, capture and arrest all Silverwings!"

"No," Shade shouted.

Brutus then started to walk away. "I will alert the owls in the northern forest. Oh, and Captain-" Brutus then looked back at the Captain, "torture those two Silverwing males and the Brightwing until they reveal the colony's whereabouts." Brutus then looked at Kassidy. "And as for the witch, kill her and then throw her corpse in the nearest garbage you can find for the cats to feed on." Brutus then took off and flew out of the clock tower.

The four friends gasped as the pigeons stared down at them ready to do their work. They were especially getting ready to kill off Kassidy. One by one, pigeons began to drop from their perches and began to crowd in.

The air was chilly. But what was even chillier was how the house was abandoned. Just looking at it now sent bad vibes to Raymond, crime scene tape was around the yard of the house but no cop was seen around here. Stella managed to find the house they were looking for and when they got the location and everything, Raymond used his transportation spell to materialize him, Stella, and Sylvester to the house.

The three of them then made their way to the inside of the house and they had to cross the crime scene tape in order to get near the house. Raymond and Stella made sure to wear gloves because they didn't want their fingerprints on anything. When they reached the door of the house, Raymond opened the door and then they all went in and Raymond made sure to shut the door. When they looked around them it was as they expected it to be when they arrived. It was a total wreck and cobwebs were found in certain places and dust was everywhere.

"Jesus, they did some damage here," Sylvester said.

Stella looked at Raymond. "What now?"

Raymond looked at Stella. "We need to know exactly what happened here. I'll use a hologram spell to playback the events in which this all happened."

Raymond then looked around him and then he took a deep breath. He then raised his arms and got in the details of what he wanted to do. He pictured what was around him and imagined himself playing back something like a video. As he did so he then used his one hand to go back and forth and as he did, people began to appear like they were ghosts, but instead, they were the people that were here some time ago. Raymond kept using his hand to go back to what happened and he tried to find something. He then saw something that caught his eye and he stopped.

Raymond's eyes widened when he saw that the culprits they were looking for were smashing and breaking things all over the place and they were entirely covered in black, but he couldn't see their faces. He then saw a man, a woman, and two little girls tied up with their backs against each other on the ground. He also saw a dog locked up in a cage and the dog was growling and barking. He saw that the girls were crying very scared and the man and woman were shouting at the culprits. He then saw that one of the culprits was writing on a sheet of paper-which was the male one-and as soon as the culprit was done, the culprit left the sheet of paper on the kitchen table and the culprit and his companion got near the man, the woman, the two girls, and the dog and the male culprit swished his hand in the air and as soon as the culprit did, magic surrounded them and then as soon as the magic disappeared, they were all gone.

"My god," Sylvester said. "This is not good."

Raymond used his hand to fast forward a little until Stella said: "Wait, stop." Raymond stopped and he looked at Stella and she was pointing at something. "Look."

Raymond and Sylvester looked to where Stella was pointing and they saw three bats near a window. He then saw that one of the bats used magic to open the window and she looked worried. She was flying around very fast going from one room to another and the two bats that were with her were watching her. Raymond then heard them talking and he was glad that he and Stella had the animal tongue spell on them because humans did not understand animal tongue. The more he looked at the female the more he realized that her using magic could only mean one thing: it was Kassidy Kimler.

Yes, it was definitely Kassidy and he knew that one of the male bats was Holden Brooks but he didn't know which one it was. Raymond thought that one of the males was a friend that Kassidy and Holden made. He did notice though that Kassidy wasn't wearing a necklace but instead she was wearing a choker. Raymond then realized that she must've lost her necklace and that's why she and Holden were now bats.

He then saw Kassidy look to the kitchen table and she then took off and then landed on the table. He saw as Kassidy was reading the note and the two male bats came over to her and landed next to her. After a few moments of silence, Kassidy then started to rip the paper into shreds. She looked angry and Raymond was a little surprised that she didn't burst into flames. Usually, when it comes to emotions, Raymond and others like him make a potion to drink so their magic wouldn't get out of control in any situation and he realized that if she didn't have that potion to drink, her magic would definitely get out of control. If she got too out of control, Raymond couldn't even imagine what would happen.

Raymond used his hand to backtrack the scenes a little and then he paused everything while tapping the air like it was a touch screen. He walked over to the kitchen table and as soon as he did he began to read the letter on the table and as he read it he couldn't believe what was on here.

He then looked at Sylvester and Stella. "You need to read this."

Stella and Sylvester walked over to the kitchen table and Stella got next to Raymond while Sylvester hopped on a chair and then hopped onto the kitchen table and together they began to read the letter. As they read it their eyes widened and as soon as they were done reading it they looked at Raymond.

"What does he mean by 'You don't know me but soon you will'?" Sylvester asked.

Raymond put his hand on his chin and he started to think. "My guess is, is that he somehow knows them but they don't know him. For whatever reason he and his partner are willing to reveal themselves to the Kimlers, but why? And why haven't they kidnapped Kassidy when they had the chance?"

"Maybe they're trying to scare them?" Stella said. "We all know how toxic they can be. Maybe they're also trying to play with Kassidy just so they can get to her."

"That may be, but since they don't have Kassidy we might be able to track her down and find her at a fast rate if we work together and somehow stop the culprits from doing what they're doing. They probably even have her necklace and that's why she doesn't have it. No matter who or what anyone is, those two can't be trusted. They're drugs that no one can quit on."

Raymond played the scene and he and his partners continued to watch the three bats and hopefully find a way to find them and save them from the enemies. Whatever these culprits wanted, it was clear that they wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted.

Standing on one of the city towers in the darkness, the male figure managed to see through Kassidy's vision and he kind of expected her to use the spell to block anyone from seeing through her eyes but he was delighted to know that he could now look through her eyes. As he was doing it his partner was watching him and waited for him to say what was happening.

He then got out of seeing through Kassidy's eyes and he couldn't help but smile because now Kassidy and her friends were now in deep trouble because the General thought that the Silverwings are the reasons behind a pigeon being killed. The conclusion that Brutus made was that Kassidy used her magic to do some evil biddings.

This made him laugh.

He then thought about the part about one of the pigeons saying that he saw giant bats. As he thought about this he thought this sounded like a great opportunity for him and his partner to do something they lusted for a lot.

Hunting.

He turned his head to his partner with his smile and his partner tilted her head to the side as if to ask what he was thinking. He knew exactly what he was thinking and he thought this was a pretty good idea. He wanted this to be their only form from now on and until they were in their forms, he would put his necklace at their secret hiding place.

Holden's ears twitched in terror as he saw pigeons sharpening their beaks against stone. He already had a scar on his back and he wasn't planning on getting anymore tonight. He didn't want any of this, but already this was happening. He couldn't believe that Brutus was here and that he declared that all Silverwings would be captured. He thought that all of this was crazy.

He looked at his friends and they were looking at the pigeons nervous about what they were going to do, all except for Kassidy. She was staring at the pigeons with a determined look on her face looking around. He was surprised that Kassidy didn't look worried about any of this, even when Brutus told the Captain to kill her. But if she was thinking of a way out, Holden hoped it would be worth her effort.

"Guys, what do we do?" Marina asked while whispering.

"Get out of here," Shade whispered. "As fast as possible."

"How?" Holden whispered. "This whole place is guarded with pigeons and it would be impossible to get out without them noticing us."

"Wait a minute, that's it," Kassidy whispered.

Shade looked at Kassidy confused. "What?"

Kassidy used her head to point to the sheet of paper that was near the hole. "Pigeons can't see in the dark."

Holden looked to the hole and he then smiled at Kassidy. "Kass, you're brilliant."

Shade and Marina smiled at Kassidy in acknowledgment as well. Kassidy slightly nodded but didn't smile. "No one move, I got this."

Holden looked at Kassidy and he watched as Kassidy was concentrating on the sheet of paper with her eyes and her hand and as she did, Holden saw that the paper was moving a little. Then with all her effort, Kassidy swished her hand to the right and the sheet of paper covered the hole, turning the room into darkness.

The pigeons were now momentarily blind as they started to freak out. They were bumping into one another and were flying around panicked.

"Don't let the prisoners escape," one of the pigeons shouted.

The four friends then bit into their captors' claws and the captors cooed in pain and then Kassidy swished her hand to the right hard and sent the four pigeons crashing into other pigeons. They then took off into the air.

"Way to go, guys," Shade said.

"Let's move," Marina said.

The four of them then began to make their way out of the clock tower fast and they used their sound vision to scan the turret. They almost flew into a couple of pigeons a couple of time but they did all they could to get out but Holden was having a hard time keeping up with Kassidy, Shade, and Marina. Pigeons were everywhere and it was a complete ruckus in here.

Before he could look anywhere else he all the sudden bumped into something and he lost his flight and he screamed while falling from the air and then he all the sudden crashed down onto a beam.

Kassidy, Shade, and Marina managed to get out of the clock tower and they were breathing hard. Kassidy looked at her friends and she realized that Holden wasn't with them. "Guys, where's Holden?"

They all stopped and they looked back at the clock tower shocked, realizing where Holden was. He was still in the clock tower.

"Guys," they all heard Holden shouting.

Without wasting any time, they all went back into the clock tower to save Holden. They beat their wings hard and as soon as they got in they saw that Holden was trying to fly past a pigeon and the pigeon was blocking him. Holden looked scared for his life.

Kassidy flew at the pigeon with incredible speed. "Hiya!" She then ax kicked the pigeon to the head and the pigeon hit its head on the board and then fell down to the ground. Kassidy looked at Holden and he looked at her surprised. "Holden, come on!"

Holden started to follow Kassidy and they made their way up and started to follow Shade and Marina. As they were about to make their way out, a pigeon all the sudden grabbed Shade's wing with its beak and Shade cried out in pain. Marina gasped and then she tackled the pigeon that had Shade's wing and then all three of them plummeted to another board. Shade managed to rip his wing out of the pigeon's beak and as he did he cried out more in pain when his wing got ripped and then he pushed the pigeon's head. He and Marina then flew up to catch up with Kassidy and Holden.

As they all flew up, Kassidy and Holden heard Shade grunting in pain and then they saw that he crashed into a wall and then he hit a plank. Kassidy, Holden, and Marina gasped and made their way to him fast. They then landed near Shade.

Marina got on her knees and put her hands on Shade's shoulders. "You okay?"

Shade got up and looked at Marina. "Just fly!"

Together the four of them took off and made their way out of the clock tower and in a matter of moments, they all managed to get out. They flew as far and as fast as they could and they were breathing hard, especially Shade with his ripped wing.

Marina looked at Shade worried. "Do you- do you wanna stop and rest your wing?"

Shade almost fell from the sky but he managed to stay put in the sky. He looked back towards the clock tower mad. "Pigeons, I hate them as almost as I hate those stupid owls!"

Kassidy furrowed her brow at Shade. "Shade, now isn't a good time to think about that!"

"Kass, they were about to kill me back there," Holden said furiously. "Plus they were going to do the same thing to Shade! I hate to admit it but I agree with Shade, I hate the pigeons and the owls!"

"Shade, Holden, revenge isn't worth it," Marina said. "We have to warn your colony."

"Right and we also need to find that cross on that tower you told us about, Shade," Kassidy said.

Holden sighed and he cursed under his breath.

They then all heard a bell ringing and they looked ahead of them. Marina then smiled. "Guys, that's it!"

Shade looked at Marina confused. "What?"

"The tower with the cross! It's from your sound map!"

Kassidy saw the tower and it was magnificent, but it wasn't any tower. It was very gothic and Kassidy loved anything that was gothic. She couldn't wait to get close to it. She also knew it wasn't just any tower.

"It's a cathedral," Kassidy said. "That's what you saw in your sound map, Shade!"

"That's where they were meant to stop," Shade said and he flew ahead of the three of them.

"Smalls, wait up," Holden flew after Shade.

As they were flying, Kassidy then noticed something on the cathedral and as she got a better look at it she saw pigeons were perched on the cathedral. She gasped and so did Marina and they looked at each other and they both knew they were thinking the same thing. They flew to Shade and Holden fast and they grabbed them by their manes and landed them near a ledge of a tower. Kassidy and Marina then landed on the ledge and looked from behind the building to the pigeons that were perched on the cathedral.

"Did they notice us?" Marina asked.

"I don't think so," Kassidy said.

"Hey, what gives?" Shade asked.

"Yeah, why did you make us land here?" Holden asked.

Marina looked at the boys and shushed them then indicated them over with her hand. The boys looked to where Kassidy and Marina were looking and they had their eyes widened when they saw the pigeons that were on patrol. Kassidy recognized one of the pigeons to be Hegland and he was the only one fidgeting on patrol, unlike the others that he was patrolling with.

Holden then threw his hands up and threw them back down. "Great, now what?"

Kassidy noticed a lamp that was under where the pigeons were patrolling and she put her finger on her lip and thought of something. Hegland said he saw giant bats and he was now scared as if he were a child hiding under his blankets when he thought he saw the Boogeyman. What if they could scare them off by putting on a little show for them?

Kassidy slightly smiled and she looked at her friends. "Guys, I got an idea." Kassidy pointed towards the lamp. "See that right there?" The three friends looked to where Kassidy was looking. "Two of us can go down there and make huge shadows to make it look like giant bat ones."

The three of them smiled at Kassidy. "Great idea, Kass," Marina said.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun, I wanna do it," Holden said excitedly.

Kassidy looked at Holden seriously. "No, not you, you and Shade will stay here and Marina and I will create the diversion."

Holden and Shade's smiles went down. "Why can't I do it?" Shade asked.

"Shade, your wing is ripped and I don't want to afford you making it any worse. You need to rest your wing."

"My wing's fine, Kass."

"It's not fine, Shade," Marina said. "You need to give it a rest until the pigeons are gone."

"And why can't I do it?" Holden asked.

Kassidy looked at Holden with her arms crossed. "First of all, because you're not very experienced with flying, and secondly you almost got yourself killed, besides you get yourself distracted too easily." Kassidy saw that Holden was looking towards the pigeons again and she got annoyed. "Holden!"

Holden looked back at Kassidy. "What? I was paying attention."

Kassidy sighed and rolled her eyes and she then grabbed Holden's chin and turned his head towards Shade. "Watch him." She then turned his head back towards her. "Don't let him out of your sight."

Holden sighed and then crossed his arms annoyed. "Fine, I'll be on babysitting duty."

Shade narrowed his eyes at Holden.

Kassidy and Marina then took off and made their way to the lamp. As soon as they got near it they landed near on the ledge of the cathedral. Marina put her finger to her mouth to indicate to Kassidy to be quiet and she pointed at the pigeons. Kassidy nodded and they heard and saw the pigeons teasing and scaring Hegland and they were laughing at him. Hegland didn't like how they were acting towards him but he was still scared. Kassidy honestly felt bad for Hegland.

Kassidy and Marina looked at each other and they nodded. They then flew over the lamp and as soon as they did their shadows appeared on the cathedral and they were pretty big. Hegland was the first to notice them and he screamed and when the other two looked to where Hegland was looking they screamed as well. They bumped into each other and then took off into the night still screaming.

Kassidy and Marina started to laugh at what they just witnessed and as they did, Holden and Shade flew to them and they were laughing as well. "Guys, that was awesome," Holden said. "They fell for it!"

"I thought someone was going to break a wing trying to get away first," Marina said.

They all continued to laugh as they made their way up to a ledge and landed. Kassidy wiped away tears of laughter from her eyes and as she did she began to glow and as she glowed her friends had to shield their eyes. Kassidy saw she was glowing and she stopped smiling and when she did the glow died away. "Sorry." Shade grunted and he held on his wing in pain. The three of them looked at Shade worried. "Shade, you sure you're alright? I'm sure I can patch it up with the right herbs for it."

"I'm fine, Kass," Shade said. "Don't worry about me." Shade looked around him and he was confused. "The colony isn't here…"

Kassidy looked around her and Shade was right. The colony was nowhere to be seen. Kassidy wondered where the colony now was.

"Do you think we missed them already?" Holden asked.

"I don't know…" Shade then looked next to him and he smiled. "Heh, check out Mr. Ugly over there." Shade pointed at a statue of a gargoyle. "Tell me he doesn't look like a giant bat."

Kassidy rolled her eyes but smiled. "Shade, remember when we were talking about gargoyles back at Tree Haven?"

Shade looked at Kassidy confused. "Yeah…"

"That's a gargoyle."

Shade's eyes widened and he looked back at the gargoyle, but then he looked confused again. "Wait, didn't you say when night comes these guys roam around?"

Kassidy chuckled. "I also said that they were part of a fantasy. Fantasy pretty much means its make-believe." Kassidy got near the gargoyle and knocked on it. "And as you can tell, it's hard as a rock."

Shade looked at Kassidy sheepish. "Oh… right."

"When did you guys talk about gargoyles?" Holden asked curiously.

"While you were out cold," Kassidy said.

Marina got next to Shade. "You don't really believe in giant bats, do you? That's just some story made up by 'scared birds'."

"Marina, I hate to break it to you, but there are such things as giant bats," Kassidy said.

Marina got on top of the ledge and spread opened her wings. "Bah, you better dash before I dine!"

Holden chuckled at what Marina acted as, as she landed next to Kassidy and put her hand on Kassidy's shoulder. "Really, Kass, giant bats don't exist."

"Kass, you may be right a lot but I don't think there are such things as giant bats like Marina said," Holden said.

"Really?" The four of them jumped and gasped and when they turned around they heard the voice coming out of the gargoyle statue. "You'd be surprised."

Holden, Shade, and Marina jumped back scared and held on to each other and as they did, Kassidy imagined fire coming out of her hands and on cue, she ignited fire on the palms of her hands and she bared her teeth towards the statue.

A/N- Well that takes care of chapter fifteen. The quote I used in this was when Kassidy told it and it was, "He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees." This quote was by Benjamin Franklin and he has some really good quotes and I thought it would be a good quote to use in this story. Well until then chapter sixteen will be here soon.