It was already a little after midnight in Manhattan. The year was 1999, and somewhere in the city of Manhattan a building that looked like an abandoned warehouse. Three armed men were inside. Two of them wore a white T-shirt, black leather jackets, blue jean pants and the third was an older man with a thin body, dark hair, blue eyes and wore a white lab coat. He appeared to be a doctor or scientist but it was hard to tell.
They were sitting around at a makeshift table made of wood as if discussing their plans.
"So what do we do with the punk? Waste him?" asked one of the men in leather.
The man in the lab coat grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and gave him an oddly calm yet frightening look.
"We need him alive. He may have been one of them anonymous witnesses that testified against us but he's got a power that I'm trying to transfer into a drug for us to use. We need him alive. He's been here for five days and we've gotten nothing out of him. If any of you kill him, than both of you will be six feet under, got it!" said the man in the lab coat with a tone of anger.
"Yes sir! What ever Kurata says." said the man in leather.
Kurata released his grip of his shirt. Kurata had a deep voice with a Romanian accent. They apparently kidnapped a child from the substance of their conversation.
"Did he say anything else?" asked Kurata.
"He hasn't said anything. He'd get too scared to answer. You know kids, when too afraid, they can't think straight. All they can do is run, cry for help and hope that someone comes to their side." answered the other man in leather.
"What if he doesn't know and he's the only one who testified? What if we can extract his power?" asked one of the men in leather.
Kurata popped his neck twice and cracked his knuckled loudly.
"Than the kid pray hope that he has super strength and bullet proof skin." said Kurata with an evil grin. "One of you go check on the brat."
"I'll do it." said one of the men in leather.
One of them walked off down a hallway and made it towards a part of the warehouse that looked like it led to a room that had a cage. He had grabbed a small bag of what looked like apples.
"Hey shorty? Time to eat." said the man in leather.
He entered the room and saw what looked like a huge cage big enough to be a holding cell. To his shock, the cell door was busted open, and what looked like red digested chunks all over the floor of the cell. He walked over and saw that the kid wasn't in there but it looked like he puked as the remains smelled horribly.
"Oh shit! He escaped! And he puked, ewwwwww! It smells like someone farted in a horses mouth with bad breath." said the man in leather.
He looked around to see if the kid was hiding anywhere and he didn't find him. He was about to turn around till he got hit in the face with an old plank of wood, sending the thug to the ground.
"Yow! Holy shit, that hurts!" the thug groaned.
He was about to get up and that's when he saw who knocked him out making a break for it out of the room and down the hallway.
"He's escaping! The kid's out of the cage!" yelled the thug.
He managed to get up and try to find the kid but he didn't find him. He lost his trail but he went to inform Kurata who was irate about this and was ranting in Romanian while uttering a lot of swear words.
"After him! If he finds another police officer. They'll know we've escape if that Micul rahat blabs." said Kurata pulling out a handgun.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Manhattan
Both Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington were flying around in the night air which the wind helped them glide as they were exploring the area. They saw a lot of traffic going around the streets, people exploring the area on the ground and a lot of lights on nearby buildings.
They flew around the sky and made their way to Central Park after they landed on some huge and strong tree branches.
"Who won!" asked Brooklyn looking thrilled.
"You did." answered Lexington.
"Whose idea was it to race here?" asked Broadway.
"Brooklyn!" answered Lexington.
Brooklyn blushed a bit but it was hard to tell if he was blushing since his skin color was nearly the same shade as anyone's blushing cheeks.
"That was probably an immature idea on my part." said Brooklyn showing remorse.
"Well, we haven't been around Central Park in a while." said Broadway showing a positive note.
They suddenly heard what sounded like music playing nearby which they saw from a distance that some people were playing what sounded like old rock and roll music and three twenty something males were dancing to the music. They heard the music and it sounded pleasant and peaceful.
"Some humans love the oldies." said Broadway.
"So does Hudson." joked Brooklyn.
The three male gargoyles laughed about the joke for a bit till Lexington saw something in the distance that didn't look good. He saw what looked like a young male human walking funny. He looked exhausted, his left hand was holding onto his right shoulder as if he hurt it.
The young male human looked like he was wearing a motorcycle helmet with a mirror like visor covering his face but blonde hair was showing beyond the helmet as it looked like he had shoulder length hair. He wore a grey camo T-shirt, blue jean pants, sporty looking shoes and he looked to be five feet and seven inches tall. His age was unknown due the fact the helmet hidden his face.
"Hey guys, something doesn't look right." Lexington pointed out.
"The dude in the helmet?" said Brooklyn noticing.
"Jeremy! Get your ass over here, right now!" came a sharp male's voice.
The young male with a helmet picked up his pace as he ran as if running from who ever was calling out to him. He tried running towards the forested area of the park. The three male gargoyles could tell that who ever this Jeremy was had to be the male wearing the motorcycle helmet.
They climbed down from the tree and made it the ground. They sensed that who ever was calling out to this young male had bad intentions and knew something wasn't right.
"Should we follow him?" asked Broadway.
"Yes!" said Brooklyn and Lexington in unison.
The three male gargoyles made sure they weren't seen by anyone as they followed this Jeremy. This young male human they followed wasn't running very fast as it looked like his walking shown signs of physical weakness as if he was hurt or sick. They could hear muffled groans coming from him.
"Jeremy! Where the fuck are you?" called the male who sounded irate.
"Yeah! You got two choices, take your punishment like a man or we have our boss shoot you up your ass!" came another male's voice.
Jeremy stopped near a few trees and placed one of his hands against them. He was leaning against one of them and loud gurgling sounds came from his stomach which them gargoyles could hear once they made their way to him. Lexington was the first to approach Jeremy as kindly placed a hand on his arm.
"Jeremy?" said Lexington.
In a swift swing, the young male human with the helmet pulled his arm out of Lexington's grip. He was about to turn to face them but he collapsed to the ground. Jeremy was slightly shaking and breathing slightly heavily as they could tell from his stomach raising and lowering repeatedly.
"Ether he's afraid or he's really wiped out." said Broadway.
Broadway approached him and attempted to remove the helmet but Jeremy weakly struggled to prevent him from doing so. Jeremy groaned in a muffled voice, he tried to push his hands away from him but Broadway managed to get his hands on his helmet.
"Attesa!" Jeremy groaned.
Broadway got his helmet off and the young male human's face was revealed. They saw he had really thick, full, voluminous blonde hair that was straight and was shoulder length, he had bright blue eyes and appeared to be sixteen years old. He was sweating all over his face, looking weak, dehydrated and was in bad shape. The three male gargoyles could tell he was not well once Broadway placed a hand on his forehead and the temperature to his skin was appearing to be warmer than usual.
"He's just a child." said Lexington taking notice.
"He's burning up." Broadway stated.
Jeremy suddenly felt his stomach gurgle so loud that he couldn't hold it in to more as he puked all over the ground. He let out a lot of chunks and eventually stopped.
"No kidding. He just up chucked, big time." said Brooklyn looking a bit grossed out.
The remains of the kid's vomit had a foul smell but while they were distracted. Jeremy tried to get up and attempted to run as he had an expression of fear in his eyes. They attempted to stopped Jeremy but he was still terrified out of mind at the sight of them.
"Wait." said Broadway.
"Tieni le mani lontane da me." said Jeremy finally with fear in his voice. "You're really going to take me out in cold blood."
Jeremy had a bit of deep voice with Italian Brooklyn accent. The tone in his voice even sounded like they can tell he was sick.
"No, don't be afraid. Just calm down. It's going to be alright." Brooklyn attempted to reassure.
Brooklyn slowly reached his hand out to him and placed his large hand on Jeremy's left shoulder but the boy reacted with fear as he grabbed hold of the large male gargoyle's wrist as if attempting to apply painful pressure to get him to let go of him but his grip was weakened by the unspecified illness he had. Jeremy's vision was getting blurry as he let go and just collapsed to the ground but Brooklyn was quick to act as he caught him in his arms. Jeremy was now too weak to fight back or to even stand for too long.
He felt Jeremy's forehead and felt the same temperatures that Broadway felt when he felt his forehead. It felt warm and sweaty.
"Broadway's right. He's burning up with a fever. He shouldn't be out here." said Brooklyn voicing his concern.
Suddenly, they heard what sounded like gunfire going off. Two loud shots were fired into the air which left locals ether running for cover or just running away screaming.
"Hey you fucking freaks!" called one of the male's voices.
The three male gargoyles turned to see two men wearing a black leather jacket and they had handguns pointing straight at them. It wasn't long till a man in a lab coat showed up as it was Kurata. The three gargoyles had a look of worry from the sight of them.
"You have something of ours. Hand him over." said one of the thugs.
"What did you do to him?" asked Lexington looking angry.
"We're not responsible for that blabbermouth getting sick as a dog but we have business with him. Hand him over or we'll make you." said one of the thugs.
"Stai puțin." said Kurata raising a hand.
Kurata appeared to be taller than his two thugs he hired as he popped his neck twice and cracked his knuckles loudly.
"Did the boy say anything concerning?" asked Kurata.
They were silent and knew the three armed men did something to Jeremy. Broadway was feeling angry that they drew their guns out and were wanting them to hand the boy over when Jeremy was frightened out of his mind, sick and weak with no other way to defend himself. Brooklyn was helping Jeremy stand.
"They don't know. That's fine. Hand the brat over." Kurata demanded as he pulled out his gun. "Maybe this will help you focus."
Without warning, that's when Jeremy was laughing yet wheezing at the same time. This confused everyone but from the corner of Broadway's eye, he saw what looked like three police officers silently approaching the three thugs. One of them was Elisa Maza, she place a finger to his lips to signal them to not say anything. Jeremy muttered something that was directed at Kurata and the thugs he was with. Kurata was curious to what he was telling him.
"What did you say Băiat?" asked Kurata with a grin.
"I got your guns." groaned Jeremy.
The three thugs were confused but they attempted to shoot them. They thought this was it but when Kurata and his men were about to fire their guns. Jeremy gathered what was left of his strength faced the three thugs with an irate face. He managed to stand up on his feet on his own for the time being raised his hands up, making it look like he pulled something to him and that's when they all saw that the three thugs guns were pulled out of their hands and floating in the air, much to everyone's shock.
"Oh, la naiba!" cried Kurata.
Their guns were taken apart like they were dismantled by some invisible force. One they were completely dismantled, all the gun parts fell to the ground. Everyone was in shock but the three thugs were now looking they were the ones who were afraid. The kid was starting to make lion like growls and grunts that sounded angry.
"Oh shit!" said one of the thugs horrified.
Just when Jeremy looked like he'd unleash his wrath upon the three thugs, his legs felt weak like jelly as he collapsed to the ground. That's when Broadway and Brooklyn capitalized on the moment and charged at three gunman with loud animal like roars, taking their guns from them while they destroyed their firearms with their hands by mashing them, making their guns useless.
They proceeded to sucker punch the three men which with their strength, their punches were enough to cause them to bleed from their mouths, knocking them to the ground. The two men wearing leather were out cold but Kurata quickly pulled out a large knife and pushed a button on it that made the blade came out from it's side. He had a switchblade but he heard someone cock a gun at him.
"Freeze! Drop the weapon!" said Elisa sharply.
Kurata looked up and saw Elisa and the other police officers. Each one of them pointed a gun at all three of the thugs. Kurata dropped his knife to the ground and raised his hands up to show he was unarmed.
"Vlad Kurata, that's the guy who broke out." said one of the officers.
"What's going on?" asked Brooklyn.
"It's kind of a long story. We followed them when we saw they were stalking a kid. Speaking of which, where's the kid?" said Elisa.
Elisa, Broadway, Brooklyn and Lexington turned to see that Jeremy was on his feet again, barely, and he attempted to run but he stopped as he retched loudly and puked again on the ground. They knew he was feeling sick and he probably was getting worse.
"Sick as a dog?" guessed Elisa.
"Yes!" said the three gargoyles in unison.
"Fuck this! I'm out of here!" said Jeremy panicking.
"Wait!" Elisa called out.
Without warning, Jeremy stopped and placed his hands up over his head. He was showing submission but was still scared out of his mind but just as Elisa put her gun away and approached Jeremy was when the boy groaned and fell to the ground again.
"Help me." groaned Jeremy weakly.
Elisa caught him in her arms before he hit the ground and Jeremy got a look at her even with a blurry vision. He was dizzy, running a high fever, sweating, puked a few times before and too weak in the body to move much by now.
"Stay with me. It's alright. We're here to help you and get you away from Kurata." reassured Elisa.
Jeremy finally submitted as he shed a few tears till he completely lost consciousness. The three gargoyles approached them, looking worried about Jeremy's safety and his health. He was still breathing but his breathing was heavy and his face was red.
"He's getting worse." said Broadway looking worried.
"He's not." Lexington began in alarm.
"He's just out cold. We have to take him with us since we don't know where his folks are." Elisa advised. "I'll meet you at the tower."
Brooklyn was the one who picked up Jeremy and carried him in his arms. The three gargoyles raised their wings up into the air and flapped them as they ascended into the air and flew off.
During the time they three gargoyles were flying their way to the tower. Jeremy would be sleeping in and out of consciousness as his vision was dizzy and blurry which he barely saw the surroundings of the city below him or the gargoyles that he was flying with. He was assuming he was dreaming or hallucinating.
"Vola come un'aquila." said Jeremy slowly.
"Wish we could understand what he's saying. I don't know what language he's speaking." said Broadway looking clueless.
"I heard that language before. It's Italian but I don't know the language so I can't translate." said Lexington sadly.
They eventually made it to the tower and landed on top of the building. After landing on top of the building was when they made it inside through another door. They were greeted by Goliath once inside.
"Your back early. What happened?" asked Goliath.
Goliath spotted Jeremy as Brooklyn was still carrying him and again, Jeremy puked as he retched loudly which Goliath saw the vomit land on the floor. He shown visible concern as he grew curious about the situation.
"What happened to the child?" asked Goliath.
"Some thugs with guns tried to kidnap him. He was feeling sick through out the whole stint." explained Lexington. "Brooklyn, I think he got a little bit on your back."
"Great." said Brooklyn rolling his eyes.
Jeremy was muttering something in Italian which they didn't understand nor did they know the language. They began to walk off while Brooklyn carried him.
"Let's get him to lay down and try to cool his body temperature down." Goliath suggested.
"And if he pukes again?" asked Broadway.
"I'll get Hudson to get a trashcan he can throw up in." Goliath answered.
A couple of hours later was when they laid Jeremy down on a couch and the rest of the gargoyles had arrived. Goliath, Broadway, Brooklyn, Lexington, Hudson, Bronx and Angela were in the same room. One of them placed a blue ice bag on his forehead in an attempt to cool his body down or to lower his body temperature. Many were curious and worried about what happened to Jeremy.
"What happened to the lad?" asked Hudson. "He looks so pale and weak."
"We don't know much but there's very little we do know. It more than likely would sound like a lost child situation." answered Lexington.
The three explained the situation from when they first saw a sign of trouble, running into Jeremy, discovering he was ill and being pursued by three armed gunman who demanded them to hand him over, knowing the thugs had evil intentions for him till they witnessed Jeremy used some form of telekinesis to dismantle the thugs guns till Elisa and some police officers came and arrested them when their guns jammed for unknown reasons.
"Anyone know his name?" asked Angela.
"We found out his name is Jeremy." answered Broadway.
"Any injuries?" asked Angela.
"Don't think so. He just somehow came down with a fever and got sick." answered Brooklyn. "He was too afraid to listen to anyone but when Elisa talked to him, he immediately listened and obeyed."
Angela looked at Jeremy with curiosity as if she immediately knew something that gets the boy to calm down and listen.
"Any idea how he got sick?" asked Hudson.
"We don't know." said Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington in unison.
Bronx approached Jeremy and was nuzzling his head against the boy's face, letting out a few dog like grunts as if he could sense there was a lot of good in the boy along with sensing he was needing help.
"Bronx, leave him alone. He's needing rest." Hudson instructed.
"Sit ragazzo." said Jeremy slowly in his sleep.
Bronx immediately sat down like how all dogs do when told to sit. They were all surprised to see that Bronx obeyed a human, even Hudson wasn't expecting this.
"I take it the lad doesn't know English." guessed Hudson.
"He knows it. I think when his fever is high, he just speaks in a different language but that's just my guess." answered Lexington.
"What do we do with him?" asked Angela curiously.
They looked at the boy who appeared to have calmed down and his fever was slowly reducing. His breathing was calm and he had a peaceful expression on his face.
"Lord...forgive me...of my sins." said Jeremy slowly in English. "Father...I have sinned."
"He'll have to stay with us till he wakes up. We can't get any answers out of him while he's asleep or in a fever stricken condition. We can only make sure we break his fever for now." answered Goliath.
They suddenly heard a loud and audible farting sound which left many of them to blush.
"That's never happened before." said Goliath.
"Unfortunately, no one can blame that on a dog." said Broadway trying not to laugh.
Jeremy looked like he started to reach for something on him but his hand and arm fell limp but a white bottle fell out from one of his pockets, making a loud clanking sound as it hit the floor. Angela was the first to see what it was as she picked up small white bottle that appeared to be medicine for patients that were recovering from a type of surgery that they take temporarily until they're fully recovered.
"What is that?" asked Goliath.
"It's medicine for patients who are recovering from a heart transplant surgery. They only take it temporarily during recovery or at least till they've fully recovered." explained Angela. "Elisa told me about a little bit about it."
They were now made aware that the kid must be recovering from a heart transplant for some unknown reasons. The boy groaned and looked as though he was falling back to sleep. Angela shook the bottle and it was empty. Jeremy spoke something before falling asleep.
"Praise God...Praise the Lord." Jeremy slowly said weakly.
He fell asleep and they wondered if the kid was talking to them or talking to the lord.
"We might have a religious one here. I've seen and heard people talk about God or pray to him. This kid might be religious but like Goliath said. We're not going to get anyone answers out of him while he's asleep." Angela pointed out. "Till he wakes up or recovers from his fever or both, we'll try to talk to him but try to gentle with him. He's only a kid."
"Agreed!" they all said in unison.
Three days later
During the three days that Jeremy was with the gargoyles. He would slip in and out of consciousness while they would look after him but Jeremy was mostly asleep. Elisa would inform them about what she found out about Kurata and his thugs.
"Vlad Kurata, he was a brilliant scientist but his experiments were highly illegal. Illegal experimentation on animals, kidnapping, his goons were guilty of armed robbery, kidnapping, and lots of assault charges. They sometimes almost killed people but the people who they almost killed survived to testify later. They kept going from one place to another in America to run from the authorities so that's resisting arrest. His two thugs. Tony Stiletto and Joe Mateo, both of them have a history of violent behavior since they're street thugs, there's even multiple crimes of arson on them. With the three of them guilty of the crimes along with more counts of kidnapping and more. We finally can put those two away for good." explained Elisa.
"Why weren't they arrested long time ago?" asked Hudson.
"They were but they broke out. They were kept in a minimum-security institution till they could be given their judgement but they escaped. They're wanted in about several states but they're now going to be put away for good in an maximum security prison for their crimes. I just hope they didn't do anything to the kid." Elisa told them.
"I checked him out and so far. There's no wounds or anything or any signs of harm. But we found out he's a patient recovering from heart transplant surgery." Angela explained.
Elisa turned to Angela with a look of alarm.
"I think he's been recovering from this for months. Long before those thugs kidnapped him. If they did anything that shown signs of them removing or stealing an organ from him. There would've been surgical scars or he'd probably already be dead. He's only recovering from a fever right now which he's stopped vomiting." reassured Angela with a word of comfort.
Elisa let out a sigh of relief while Goliath placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure Elisa which seemed to work.
"How is he?" asked Elisa.
"He's been in and out consciousness. His fever has been greatly reduced but he's still asleep. I think he'll be fine." reassured Hudson.
"Did anyone notice how afraid he was of people but appeared to obey Elisa?" stated Brooklyn.
"I remember that. No matter how much we tried to calm him, he was too afraid to listen but when Elisa talked to him. He shown submission." Lexington pointed out.
"So this could mean what?" said Goliath.
"Maybe he's more comfortable around women?" Broadway guessed.
They all looked up and looked at Broadway as if he was onto something.
"Comfortable around a woman but was too terrified out of his mind when anyone else tried to interact with him. You may be onto something, Broadway." said Elisa.
"I was kind of joking but probably not a good idea to joke about that on my part." said Broadway blushing.
"Relax, I've joked around before but probably not good idea right now." said Brooklyn reassuring Broadway.
"What did they want with the kid?" asked Lexington curiously.
"Well, turns out the kid was one of those who testified against the three goons and despite anyone who testified anonymously. They found out he was one of them and must've nabbed him off the streets yet they said something about extracting a power from him for drug uses. That's at least what one of them said when we interrogated them." Elisa explained. "They were probably going to kill him. We found out where their hideout was and it's an old, abandoned warehouse that's not too far away from the docks. We already got plenty of people in uniform investigating the place."
They knew this was probably nothing new for them to hear about as they've heard or encountered plenty of people who kidnapped other innocent people for reasons of the same or similar nature but hearing that criminals were going to kill an innocent child for revenge, a child that was sick and recovering from heart transplant surgery? They knew that was wrong beyond so many levels.
"When he wakes up. Maybe it's best I talk to him at first." Elisa suggested.
"I'll check on the kid." Brooklyn volunteered. "He's probably still asleep."
Brooklyn walked out of the room and headed down a hallway and another till he reached the room that Jeremy was asleep in. He saw he was still asleep like he stated. He knelt down on one knee and looked right at him with a concerned expression. He placed a hand on his forehead and his temperature wasn't so high, his body had cooled down, he stopped sweating, the color in his face returned and his condition had improved like Hudson stated.
"He was so frightened. What did those thugs put him through? Who could hurt an innocent child like him?" said Brooklyn in a whisper.
"It's so beautiful out here in the cornfield." said Jeremy slowly in his sleep.
Brooklyn giggled a little bit as he could tell that since Jeremy had what sounded like an Italian Brooklyn accent, he had to be a local or from Italy yet he was probably dreaming about being in the countryside or a farming community.
"Maybe we should wake him? Nah, probably a bad idea." Brooklyn thought to himself. "But he sure has a lot of hair."
Brooklyn placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and he was starting to feel his sense of compassion for him growing as well as his curiosity. He was about to place his hand where the boy's heart was but the kid stirred, groaning as if about to wake up. Brooklyn froze and didn't know if he should go get Angela or Elisa but was somewhat expecting Jeremy to fall back asleep. He had an idea to soothe the kid by reaching out to gently rub his shoulder to calm him which made the kid show a peaceful smile.
"Good kid." whispered Brooklyn.
"Is it morning already?" said Jeremy suddenly waking up.
Before Brooklyn could react, think, say or do anything. Jeremy jerked awake, wide eyed and he saw the tall, muscular male gargoyle in front of him who had a face of alarm. Fear was filling up the boy's mind and body.
"Now calm down. I mean you no harm. So just try to..." Brooklyn began.
In a swift move was when Jeremy jumped high into the air and fell back to the floor, landing on his feet. He was slowly backing away from him while Brooklyn attempted to reassure him.
"Stay back." said Jeremy showing fear.
Brooklyn raised his arms and hands up to show he wasn't armed.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna talk." said Brooklyn.
When Jeremy saw that there was an exit to the room, he booked it out of there and ran.
"Wait!" called Brooklyn.
"Aiutare! Mostro!" screamed Jeremy.
He screamed loud enough for anyone nearby to hear him. He tried to frantically look for a place to hide or escape. He heard Brooklyn call out "Hey kid, wait a minute! You got the wrong idea!" but Jeremy was too scared to listen.
"Ufficiale!" screamed Jeremy.
He ran down another hallway till he bumped into someone. The someone he bumped into grabbed hold of him and pulled him into their arms in an attempt to console him. He looked up to see it was Angela, a female gargoyle.
"Remain calm. It's alright. No one's going to hurt you. You need to calm down. You're recovering from a fever and you need to calm yourself, you wouldn't want your heart to suffer." Angela told him in a calm tone.
Jeremy finally calmed down and submitted, breathing in and out calmly as she placed his head against her chest. He herd the beating of her heart which was working in relaxing and comforting him of any fear. Brooklyn caught up with them and that's when Goliath, Hudson, Broadway, Lexington, Bronx and Elisa shown up.
"Mi dispiace tanto." Jeremy whispered to her. "I'm sorry."
"Well, there's good news and bad news." said Brooklyn.
"The kid's awake?" guessed Lexington.
"Yes, bad news is he freaked out a little." Brooklyn stated.
"Jeremy, is that your name?" asked Angela.
He nodded his head twice in response. Angela managed to convince Jeremy to calm down but he would barely speak out loud to anyone. They took him to a room to try and talk to him but for the next couple of hours. They had some difficulty with getting Jeremy to talk. He was silent the whole time. When ever any of them tried to talk to him, get him to talk, or even coax him to tell them anything, he would remain silent, his back facing them. He'd barely say a word to Angela or Elisa.
"Do you think he's still scared? Maybe that's why he won't talk." guessed Goliath.
"He barely spoke to me or Angela but so far. Something tells me this is going deeper than what we think." stated Elisa.
"Maybe he's just shy." Broadway chimed in.
"A lot of kids are not always very confident in themselves. He seems to be more comfortable around women. Maybe Angela or Elisa could coax him to talk?" Brooklyn suggested.
They looked towards Jeremy who was looking out a window that covered the entire wall. He was silently praying in Italian.
"Signore perdonami perché ho peccato." Jeremy prayed.
"I'll try to talk to him." Elisa volunteered.
Elisa approached Jeremy and stood behind him. She was at least four feet away from him.
"You okay, Jeremy?" asked Elisa.
He nodded once in a response. She knew this was a good pace to go for.
"Are you religious at all?" asked Elisa.
He was silent at first but than started to speak.
"Than David said to the Philistines "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand." Jeremy told them.
They knew they had their answer when he told them a bible verse about David and Goliath. Though they knew that the Goliath he spoke of was of a different Goliath other than the gargoyle leader.
"I'll take that as yes." said Elisa.
"Which one of you is charge here? Your leader?" asked Jeremy. "I take it your leader would be the noble one with the thick, white beard."
Hudson let out a cough as if to hide a laugh and he did his best not to blush.
"I used to be the leader of the pack, lad. Now I'm the advisor to our current leader." answered Hudson feeling a sense of pride.
They didn't see the surprised, wide eyed expression on Jeremy's face when he found out he made the wrong guess.
"Their leader would be me." Goliath chimed in.
"Tall, huge, full head of dark, raven hair. Bigger than Michael Clarke Duncan?" Jeremy guessed while shaking.
Goliath knew he was huge but he had no idea who Jeremy compared him to.
"Who?" asked Goliath looking clueless.
"He's an actor." answered Elisa.
Goliath understood now but was showing to be stoic. He could tell that Jeremy was afraid of him just by hearing the the sound of his voice or from seeing his body give a shake from a possible chill.
"Are you afraid of me and my clan?" asked Goliath.
Jeremy froze, his body stopped shaking and he dared not to look at anyone. They didn't see it but he was wide eyed with terror. Goliath could tell he guessed the truth.
"Look, you're not in trouble. We're just here to help and find out what happened. I know Kurata and his goons kidnapped you because they found out you testified against them for a crime we do not know about. Goliath and his clan are good people, they'd never hurt an innocent person nor would they hurt an innocent child." Elisa attempted to reassure him.
Elisa's words seemed to show a sense of comfort to Jeremy's mind.
"It's not their appearances that scares me." Jeremy told them.
Now they were really confused. They figured he was afraid of them because of their appearances but now that wasn't the case. Broadway suspected he knew why he was afraid of them.
"It's because you're shy, isn't it?" guessed Broadway.
Jeremy let out a loud hiccup as if his reaction was the answer to his question. Elisa would come closer to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"There's nothing wrong with being shy around people. I was shy when I was little and look at me now. I've turned out alright." reassured Elisa. "Is that why you're afraid?"
Jeremy gave a nod to respond. That explains why he was afraid of Goliath and his clan of gargoyles.
"Why are you more comfortable around a lady?" asked Angela.
"They were the first to show me love." Jeremy told her. "I was taught to respect a woman and how it's impolite to hit a lady. I shall not lie to a woman nor would I lay a hand on them. Any man who hits a lady is nothing but a brute who will be struck down by the lord with great vengeance and furious anger by God. And he will know that his name is the Lord when he lays his vengeance upon them."
Both Angela and Elisa were blinking twice at this and blushed a little. A boy who was taught to respect a lady and to never lie or harm them was something they never knew about many men out there. Elisa knew that Goliath would never hurt her as they were romantically involved. Even the male gargoyles didn't expect to hear this from him.
"Did your father teach you such views, lad?" asked Hudson.
Jeremy was now met with a sense of sadness as he shook his head.
"No, I never had a dad, even if my dad was out there. I don't know who or where he is." said Jeremy sadly.
Hudson shown visible concern as he could tell that something about Jeremy's life was not sounding good. He suspected that it's possible that Jeremy's dad abandoned him, died or maybe something else happened. He figured it was best to change the subject.
"What did those thugs want with you?" asked Hudson.
As he felt silent. Elisa attempted to coax him to feel comfortable in telling them anything as she was rubbing Jeremy's shoulder with her thumb. This only seem to feel like relieving any built up pressure in his mind and body.
"I witnessed a current crime they have committed and they found out I testified against them. I was out on the streets and they saw something they wanted from me but it was something no one but me knew about, so them madmen grabbed me off the streets, knocked me out, and imprisoned me in a cage that was in a warehouse. They figured I knew who else ratted them out that got them arrested for what I witnessed but I knew that I was the only one who testified against them. If they knew that." Jeremy told them.
"If they knew that. They would kill you?" guessed Angela.
"And they wouldn't lose a day of sleep over it. But they kept taking a blood sample from me for reasons that I heard was for an unknown experiment. But what they were doing was..." Jeremy stopped.
They could tell that this was bad. Hurting a child was bad but killing a child was worse, much worse. And they knew that Kurata and his thugs probably got physically violent with him which was also a form of child abuse but taking a blood sample from him for some sort of sinister and twisted experiment was sounding like a nightmarish experience for the kid. Broadway was the next to walk over to him as he placed a gentle hand on Jeremy's other shoulder which he flinched at first, but felt a strange sense of comfort. He sensed that Broadway was attempting to convince him to trust him.
"What did they do?" asked Broadway.
"They did anything to scare me to death. They ether pulled the gun out on me, fired a shot in the air or the wall, there was at one point where one of them put the gun to my face, pulled the trigger but the gun ran out of ammo or the gun must've jammed." Jeremy confessed while his body shook with a chill. "They kept saying something about extracting a power from my body but didn't matter how much blood they took, they couldn't get the results they were after or their experiment was probably going to be failure and they'd learn the hard way."
They were all wide eyed at hearing such torture that Kurata and his thugs used on him knew this was attempted murder in some way or form and experimentation on a child.
"Monsters!" groaned Angela.
"Il diavolo." Jeremy replied.
"How did you escape?" asked Lexington curiously.
"One of them dropped something that I could use to pick the lock of the cage they had me in. When I escaped, one of them came into the room but I knocked him out with a two by four board. It knocked him out long enough for me to get out." Jeremy told him. "But they followed me till you guys found me?"
"I know that was self-defense. But how did you get sick?" asked Elisa.
"I don't know. It just sort of happened on it's own. I started to feel sick when I was with them on the fourth day. No offense but feeling that way sucked." said Jeremy. "I think I go a little bit of it on one of your comrades."
"A little on my back but I washed off afterwards." Brooklyn told him.
"I'm sorry." apologized Jeremy.
"Not to worry, I don't think anyone can catch a fever from someone else. Unless it was brought on by a cold or flu." said Brooklyn showing forgiveness.
The boy let out another loud hiccup and he was blushing from it. They felt like they were getting somewhere with Jeremy since Elisa and Angela managed to convince him to open up a bit and he was starting to talk to some of them. Yet they knew it would be a challenge to convince him to look anyone else in the eye without fear.
"Jeremy, we don't mean to pry but where are your parents, your family?" asked Angela curiously.
Jeremy felt a sense of sadness wash over him but he didn't shed a tear this time. He was stoic.
"I don't know. Where I was growing up...I don't want to go back. I'm scared to go back. I took off weeks ago after I fully recovered from my heart transplant. I kept wandering from place to place for a while from California to New York." said Jeremy feeling his sadness trying to break out.
From what the boy told them. They could tell he was ether a runaway, a drifter or a homeless teenager that ran from a possibly horrible life. No idea who his parents or family is, took off running from somewhere in California all the way to New York for quite some time, shy and afraid of people, been kidnapped by a crazed scientist and his thugs for some sort of sinister purpose. Frightened out of his mind. They could tell his situation wasn't painting a bright picture.
"I need to be alone." said Jeremy sadly.
Broadway had an idea on how to try and get Jeremy to let go of his fear and shyness which was a bit of a leap of faith. He gently turned Jeremy around and pulled him in his arms to hug him. This caused Jeremy to flinch and shake all over, closing his eyes as if afraid someone would hurt him but he didn't feel nor see any form of harm come to him. Elisa could see that Broadway was taking the first step in convincing Jeremy to trust him or give him a reason to trust him. Broadway was attempting to console the kid.
"It's alright. You can trust us. You're safe with us." Broadway reassured in a calm tone.
Jeremy managed to slowly open his eyes and saw that Broadway was a kindly gargoyle who meant no harm to the innocent. His body stopped shaking and it felt as though his fear was disappearing as he looked into Broadway's eyes for moment and all he saw was a gentle nature, no evil, no malice, only compassion. He embraced the heavyset male gargoyle as he lowered his head down.
"I never got anyone's name." said Jeremy.
"I'm Goliath, the one who told you he was once our leader with the beard, he's Hudson, the one whose hugging you is Broadway, the one whose in red, he's Brooklyn, the smallest of us is Lexington, the canine like gargoyle you see is Bronx, he belongs to Hudson, the female of our kind if my daughter Angela, and the other woman before you is Elisa." Goliath introduced everyone to him.
"Jeremy, did you ever happen to find out about your last name?" asked Elisa curiously.
"Gargulio. So far, I only know that means I'm Italian. Some people say I sound like I'm from Brooklyn but I've never set foot there. All I know is that I was born somewhere in California but don't know where." said Jeremy.
"You swear you're telling us the truth?" asked Goliath.
As Jeremy froze for a moment, he struggled to look Goliath in the eye as he was working on trying not to be afraid of him or any of the gargoyles or any of them that looked intimidating. He nodded once in a response. Goliath could tell he was afraid of him but working on no longer fearing him.
A loud gurgling sound came from Jeremy and they all suspected he was probably about to throw up again.
"I think he's going to hurl." said Broadway alarmed.
"That's not where it's coming from." groaned Jeremy. "Gabinetto!"
"What now?" asked Brooklyn.
Without another word, they all saw that Jeremy had took off running at such a fast speed that it was like he ran at a super sonic speed limit that they barely saw him move.
"Did he just run faster than a human should?" said Goliath rhetorically.
"He took apart those thug's guns with what looked like a telekinetic ability and if he can run this fast, makes me wonder what other abilities he possesses." stated Brooklyn.
They were all suddenly starting to suspect that Jeremy may possess more powers than he's shown them so far. Yet they knew that he was homeless and without a family yet working on trying not to be afraid of any of them. It was slow going but a slow pace was better than no pace at all.
For the next few of days or more. They figured that Jeremy would be better off living with them in the tower. Yet so far, he warmed up to Broadway, was comfortable around Elisa and Angela but he was still working on feeling comfortable around Goliath, Hudson, Lexington, Bronx and Brooklyn.
Hudson was looking right at something from a window but his vision was looking as though he was ether visually impaired or possibly going blind. Bronx was letting out a few grunts and shown concern for his master.
"I know, Bronx. You're worried, if my vision was better when I was younger. Especially today, maybe things would be different." said Hudson showing a grim face.
He patted Bronx on his head which left him painting happily. Hudson could sense he wasn't alone with Bronx from the room he's in.
"Something on your mind, lad? I know you're there even with my back facing you." called out Hudson.
Jeremy was showing and feeling a sense of hesitancy as he knew the older male gargoyle knew he stood nearby.
"Am I intruding, sir?" said Jeremy sheepishly.
"Not at all. Something on your mind?" asked Hudson again.
The boy walked over to him till he was standing next to him. Bronx greeted him with a nuzzling to his right leg. Hudson grinned as Jeremy blushed deeply.
"You know, you don't have to afraid of me or my clan. I wouldn't harm children." reassured Hudson. "Seems like Bronx has taking a shine to you."
Jeremy was still silent and he looked out the large window as Bronx looked at Jeremy with curiosity. He looked at Bronx who seemed to know what was on the boy's mind as the dog like gargoyle was showing him a compassionate expression as is understanding what was on his mind.
"Sir, something's bothering you, isn't it?" asked Jeremy.
"What gave you that idea?" said Hudson.
"I can't explain it but it might be some strange instinct. I've had that sort of thing for so long. I don't know anything else better to call it. But I sense something is bothering you, no matter how much you don't want to admit it. Someone once taught me with age comes wisdom and that our elders know more than a stubborn and arrogant young man or woman care to acknowledge yet our elders got to grow old because they know better. I learned it from an older gentlemen who used to be a military colonel." explained Jeremy. "Forgive me for butting into your personal business and I know this is none of my business, I get it. But this instinct is something that can't be ignored."
His words seem to be showing some compassion for the old male gargoyle which Hudson could tell that he was trying not to upset him while trying to be understanding. He let go of his pride and shown a compassionate expression.
"You know, when someone grows old, they sometimes look back on the days they were young but I've learned that getting older isn't so bad. Yet I'll admit, sometimes an elder can be a bit stubborn but I see your words speak compassion for this older gargoyle. Tell me, lad. What brought you to me?" said Hudson.
Jeremy turned to face him and let out a breath. He was attempting to let go of his fear.
"Bronx, scoot indietro un po." instructed Jeremy.
Bronx nodded and stepped back a couple of feet. Hudson was curious now as he too faced the boy. With his impaired vision being what it is. He figured Jeremy was up to something with good intentions.
"What are about to do?" asked Hudson curiously.
The kid muttered something in Italian and raised his hands up a bit which they started to glow a gold light. Hudson was now seeing this and had no idea what to expect.
"Just hold still and relax." instructed Jeremy kindly.
He stepped closed to him and placed his glowing hands on the sides of Hudson's head as he felt a strange yet oddly relaxing feeling in his eyes. His eyes were now glowing a bright gold light. He felt no pain, no discomfort, but only felt a strange weightlessness.
It wasn't long till the glowing light from Jeremy's hands dissipated along with Hudson's eyes as they stopped glowing and his vision started to show it was much clearer. He could see everything clearly as if he had twenty-twenty vision. He removed his hands from the gargoyles face and Hudson looked at him with surprise.
"My vision. It's clearer." said Hudson taking notice. "Lad, what did you just do to me?"
"Only through faith shall we pull through." said Jeremy with some mysterious meaning.
As Jeremy was looking down at his feet. Hudson didn't know what the boy meant by his words but he oddly understood it. He placed his hands on Jeremy and pulled him in for an embrace which the boy flinched a bit from shyness and fear but Hudson was showing a gentler moment with him.
"Lad, I may not know what you did but somehow, I'm grateful for what you did. It's alright, you have nothing to fear from me." said Hudson with a word of comfort.
As Jeremy stopped shaking, he started to feel his fear disappear from him. He felt a sense of consolation from how Hudson was subtly warming up to him as he warmed up to him as well.
Later on during one of them nights. Brooklyn, Lexington and Broadway were contemplating about Jeremy and some of his abilities that they knew humans would never possess let alone know about.
"So the kid did something to heal Hudson's of his visual impairment?" said Lexington.
"That's what Hudson said. He stated that Jeremy was respecting his elders as if trying to be honorable." said Brooklyn.
"Makes me wonder how he did it?" asked Broadway curiously.
"Hudson didn't say much yet it was kind of cryptic." answered Brooklyn. "Do you think he's still scared of us?"
"He's warmed up to me, Hudson and Bronx." Broadway pointed out.
"Speaking of which. Where is the little guy?" asked Lexington.
Before their question could be answered. That's when they heard what sounded like a sneeze from nearby and knew they were not alone. They turned to look at the exit of the room they were in and suspected that Jeremy was listening in.
"Jeremy?" Brooklyn called out.
They heard a loud hiccup being uttered and they knew that it was Jeremy. They knew he heard their conversation and suspected he was afraid.
"Jeremy, it's alright. We just want to talk about something." called Broadway with a word of comfort.
It happened faster than any of them could blink as they saw Jeremy run so fast into the room that it was like he could run faster than speeding race car. He kept his gaze down at the floor as if nervous to look Brooklyn in the eye. They were still getting used to seeing him run that fast. They could tell he was afraid or nervous.
"Were you hearing everything?" asked Lexington.
He nodded in a response once. They now knew he knew they were curious about how he healed Hudson of his visual impairment and possibly more than that. Broadway signaled them to let him be the one to handle this which they agreed since he had warmed up to him.
"Jeremy, how did you know about Hudson's failing eyesight?" asked Broadway.
"I sensed it. I don't know how it got started but for a long time. I've had this instinct that I couldn't ignore." answered Jeremy.
"And what does instinct tell you everytime you sense something?" asked Lexington.
"It would tell me to do something for the said person that I sense they're dealing with an affliction of some sort. Hudson didn't tell me about his visual impairment but I sensed it. The first time I sensed something like this was years ago when I was little. I sensed it in a man." Jeremy explained.
"An old man?" guessed Broadway.
"No. He had to be eighteen at the time. He turned out to have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and I don't know what possessed me to do this but I managed to get his attention. Once I did, I pulled him close to me and we were literally glowing a gold light. I had no idea what was going on at the time, it was like someone was instructing me to do this. Afterwards, I just ran off. Later on, I heard what ever terminal illness he had, it was completely gone from his body." explained Jeremy.
The three of them knew that this meant Jeremy has healed people before in terms of the methods he used. They wondered if this meant something that they could or couldn't understand.
"You've done that before, haven't you?" asked Brooklyn.
"I have. But that wasn't all that I started to figure out I can do." Jeremy confessed.
"We don't mean to pry or anything but what else has this strange power allowed you to do?" asked Lexington curiously.
He fell silent. They knew that there was more he could do but appeared to afraid to show them or tell them for that matter. Brooklyn figured that the only way for the kid to let go of his fear of him or for him to warm up to him was to be the next person to take the next step. He reached out a hand to place upon Jeremy's face who flinched briefly and shook in the body, breathing in and out heavily for a brief moment.
"It's alright, nothing to fear. Nothing to be scared of." reassured Brooklyn.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw Brooklyn's kind and compassionate expression.
"I can show you." Jeremy told them. "But not in this room."
They looked at one another and knew immediately what he meant. They immediately took him to the great hall of the castle which there was more space for them to move around in. Jeremy stood in the middle of the room and he was starting to demonstrate what else this power of his allowed him to do.
"Volare!" cried Jeremy.
What they saw was a bit of a shocker for them. He shot up into the air like he was flying. Jeremy was actually flying and didn't have wings as he flew around the room near the ceiling like he was swimming in water. Jeremy even sang out an operatic note that sounded like he had the voice of an angel but it was also oddly haunting.
"He can fly without wings? That's new." said Broadway looking surprised.
He flew back down to the floor and made a safe landing as his operatic singing stopped. He shown them another ability that was another surprise to them. He muttered a word in Italian and that's when his eyes turned completely gold while the nails on his fingers grew to be sharp looking claws, he grew lion like fangs from his mouth while his ears formed to be longer and pointed like a cat and his blonde hair which was shoulder length suddenly grew longer, thicker, fuller, much more voluminous and it stopped once it reached down to his back and he looked as though he was a human lion, a rather handsome looking one at that. They were wide eyed at what they saw.
"Whoa!" the three male gargoyles said.
"Gli empi fuggono quando nessuno lo insegue, ma i giusti sono audaci come un leone." said Jeremy.
"Does anyone else know about...this?" asked Lexington looking curious but concerned.
Jeremy shook his head.
"I've never shown nor told anyone about this. I knew that people wouldn't be too comfortable finding out some kid has a strange power that no other human has." said Jeremy showing a stoic face.
"Did Kurata do this to you or is this some sort of mutation?" asked Brooklyn.
"Neither. I don't know how this happened. No one else knows about this and believe me when I say this. I don't like hiding this from you guys but judging from what I heard Goliath mention here and there. You guys have seen and experienced some unbelievable events that not even skeptical scientist would believe it even if they saw it." Jeremy explained. "Is he for real with this?"
"Uhhhhh yeah." the three said in unison.
That's when the kid transformed back to his normal form as his hair went back to being shoulder length, his eyes turned back to blue, the claws on his fingers turned back to human nails, his fangs turned back to the normal human teeth, his ears formed to be round again and he was finally back to his normal human form. He shown visible fear when ever he found out everything Goliath has said about the events they've been through was correct. They already could see he was afraid of Goliath.
"Jeremy, are you afraid of Goliath?" asked Brooklyn.
As he was silent once more. They knew his silence already answered their question immediately. He looked back down at his feet as if ashamed to look anyone in the eye for even letting anyone know this. One of them was about to say or do something to reassure him but Lexington raised a hand to let them know he'll take it from here. The small male gargoyle approached the human teenager as he reached out to take hold of his hand as if to reassure him. He shown him a comforting expression.
"You know Goliath wouldn't hurt you. He may be a bit stoic but he's a good guy. He's even got a daughter." Lexington attempted to reassure.
"That explains why him and Angela look a lot alike. Yet Angela's personality isn't as serious as his. That might explain why he said something about Angela being raised by humans in a place called Avalon but joined the clan here to get to know her dad better." said Jeremy remembering one of them mentioned such an event.
As they knew he was probably eavesdropping on Goliath a few times or suspected he was. Lexington knew that looking at him that both him and Jeremy were not so different from their height. He had an idea that could help Jeremy overcome his fear of Goliath.
"Jeremy, was there ever something that made you feel fearless?" asked Lexington.
The question made the boy blush. He knew there was something or someone that made him fearless. They noticed that his blushing meant he was embarrassed to tell them.
"Forget about it." said Jeremy.
"What? You can tell us." Lexington insisted.
"You'd probably laugh at me." said Jeremy being stubborn.
"Who better to tell anyone about this than us. We won't laugh." said Broadway reassuring him.
Jeremy let out a sigh and knew they meant well and figured he could at least level with them. He motioned them over and pulled them aside as he whispered to them what it was that made him feel fearless or at least if it was someone that made him feel fearless. He told them that it was something that made him feel fearless.
"Oh, you mean like earlier when you shown your ability to fly?" said Lexington.
Jeremy nodded once and began to sing that same operatic note but this time, it was longer. His operatic singing sounded like it was in some foreign language that not even people of today knew existed. His operatic singing voice sounded beautiful but oddly haunting as if it was just as beautifully haunting as someone playing the organ piano.
That's when they saw what looked like a white wave of energy forming in front of them as Jeremy continued. The white energy wave formed into a silhouette of a what looked like a tall, slender and beautiful woman that stood in front of Jeremy and formed a grin. The white silhouette woman walked forwards and embraced Jeremy in her arms as if reuniting with her one true love. He eventually stopped as his operatic singing came to an end. He muttered something in Italian that sounded like "Sono innamorato di una bella donna" than the white silhouette of a woman disappeared in a puff of white smoke that also cleared instantly. The three male gargoyles were amazed by the sight but were a little surprised at what they've witnessed.
"Who says opera is dead?" said Jeremy feeling a sense of confidence in himself.
"Whoa! Did someone teach you that?" asked Broadway curiously.
"No one taught me." said Jeremy.
This left them a bit surprised as they knew people only learn from what others teach but someone who learned without someone teaching them? That wasn't always possible. Lexington approached him again and pulled him in his arms to embrace him. This time, Jeremy didn't flinch nor did he shake from fear. They all saw this had to be some form of positive improvement or development.
"He didn't flinch." said Broadway taking notice.
"Probably because Lexington isn't fearsome to him." joked Brooklyn lightly.
"I may be small but I can still kick it to someone." Lexington joked.
"True!" said Brooklyn and Broadway in unison.
During another one of them nights. Jeremy was trying to think of a way to let go of his fear of Goliath when ever he was around or even if he was talking to him. He knew that the operatic singing was one thing that made him feel fearless but he knew he couldn't just break out into it. He knew that if he was interacting with Goliath in any other way or form, he knew that he had to try and show no fear but he wasn't sure if he was ready for that. Lexington shown to be quite the kind comrade towards Jeremy which he instantly warmed up to the small male gargoyle.
Jeremy was somewhere in the area between The Great Hall and The Atrium. He was alone and pacing back and forth, thinking yet attempting to figure out how to overcome his fear of Goliath.
"I can't just approach him out of nowhere." said Jeremy under his breath.
More ideas came to his mind and each one of them was ether having chances of succeeding or failing. He couldn't begin to know what he should say or do or where to start.
"Merda, I can't do it. Why did Goliath have to look so stoic, huge and fearsome? He probably sees me as nothing more than some scared kid." said Jeremy sharply.
"Do you always talk to yourself when frustrated?" came Angela's voice.
Jeremy let out a hiccup as he shook. He wasn't afraid of Angela but he was a little startled that she just showed up without warning or without him knowing.
"How much of that did you see?" asked Jeremy feeling embarrassed.
"Everything from when you first started to enter this part of the building." giggled Angela.
Jeremy turned to face her while Angela was already in front of him now. She placed a hand on his cheek as if to reassure him or to show some form of affection. She proceeded to pull him in her arms to embrace him as if to comfort him which Jeremy wasn't bothered by this at all.
"How do say your last name again?" asked Angela.
"Gargulio." answered Jeremy. "Gargiulo is an Italian surname from Southern Italy, primarily Naples, but also common in South America, especially Argentina. A small number of people with that name have change the spelling to Corjulo when they immigrated to the United States. The pronunciation is gar-CHEW-lee-oh. Italian pronunciations may look like you say it one way but it's pronounced differently, same as the Hispanics but they have a distinction."
Angela seemed to be surprised at how educated Jeremy was, especially with how educated he is with his Italian-American heritage. She was educated as well but knew that other humans were well educated while others were still learning.
"Were you one of them more intelligent kids growing up? You sound well educated." asked Angela curiously.
"I kind of went through school faster than other kids. I went to a gifted school but one of the teachers recognized me as Italian-American and he decided to teach me about my roots." explained Jeremy.
"You said you've been drifting here and there since California. Back there, was there anyone around to take care of you?" asked Angela.
There was a silence and Jeremy knew that this wasn't easy for him to admit. Angela looked at him with concern as she knew it was possible that he must've had someone looking after him for a while at some point in his life.
"It was kind of a boarding school. One where gifted kids go all year round but some would live in the dorms while others would go there during the day and go home after school was over for the day. It was basically the only home I had for a while. There were both good people and bad people out there." Jeremy explained looking stoic. "I really don't want to go back."
Angela knew there was a reason why he ran off and she could immediately tell he had no real home to go to nor any family. She placed one of her hands on his chest where she could feel the rhythm of his heart. This left him to blush from her hand being where his chest is.
"You had no one and no home, didn't you?" asked Angela curiously.
He didn't speak a word but he gave one nod which he knew that it wasn't easy for him to admit. Angela knew that this meant that he was a homeless drifter who had an uncertain future that could've turned dark if he continued to be in California without anyone to care for him.
"You were a scared little boy, weren't you?" asked Angela.
"Yes." answered Jeremy.
"Were you bullied?' asked Angela.
"Sometimes." answered Jeremy.
"Is that why your shy around people? Not going to lie. I've noticed you've been bonding with our clan in some way or form but I also heard your scared of my dad." Angela confessed.
He nodded once and Angela could see that he truly meant that he couldn't lie to a woman nor could he harm a woman as it was out of respect for women. She knew it was a form of chivalry. Jeremy knew that she probably knows about the extent of his abilities such as what he spoke of, healing Hudson of his deteriorating visual impairment, his ability to fly and transform into a humanoid like lion and more than that. Even about his beautifully haunting opera singing.
"You know my dad won't hurt you. Even when I first met him. He didn't know we were father and daughter till I later told him. Even though I was raised by humans but joined the clan to get to know my dad more. I'll admit, I was afraid how things would turn out at first because at first we didn't know we were father and daughter for so long and neither of us knew we existed till so many years later." Angela told him with a word of comfort. "Even Elisa and my dad have become romantically involved and that there shown me some hope of humans and gargoyles peacefully coexisting together. And I'm completely accepting of their relationship just like the rest of us."
Jeremy looked up at her with slight shock as his stoic expression visibly faded a little.
"Those two are..." he paused.
"Correct." she answered.
He looked away as if he wasn't expecting this. He heard Goliath mention a few things about what they've all been through but he didn't hear about Goliath and Elisa being together.
"I guess it's just like my teachers said. Stranger things have happened. Makes me wonder how I'll actually find the one woman I'm destined to be with." said Jeremy trying not to laugh.
"Oh? You have a preference for your dream woman?" said Angela with a giggling grin.
He let out his loudest hiccup as if he admitted he preferred a woman that could make him sound like the romantic type.
"I kind of got a preference." said Jeremy nervously.
Angela was reassuring him he could tell her what he prefers in a woman but just as soon as he was about to say it. They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Jeremy knew who it was and so did Angela.
"He's standing right behind us, isn't he?" said Jeremy letting out a hiccup.
"Close. By about twelve feet away." called Goliath. "Angela, I need to have a word with Jeremy alone for a moment."
Jeremy was now panic stricken by the idea. Being alone in a room with Goliath? He felt like he might as well be in the lion's den. He looked up at Angela with a visibly shaken expression but Angela given him a comforting face as she planted her lips to his cheeks, forehead and even his lips. This got him blushing from being kissed on the lips by a woman, a female gargoyle. She pulled her lips off his and she whispered to him "It's going to alright" and Angela removed her arms from him as she turned to walk off towards Goliath but she stopped by the hulking male gargoyle as she whispered to him "Be nice to him" which hearing her advise that left him visibly surprised. She walked out of the room but without Goliath knowing, she hung around nearby as if to eavesdrop.
Goliath approached the human teenager while he looked down at his own feet. He was trying to think of something to say or do but all he could think of was not upsetting the hulking huge gargoyle that stood before him.
"You know why I'm wanting to speak with you?" asked Goliath.
"Did I do something wrong?" guessed Jeremy.
"Not really." answered Goliath.
Jeremy let out a sigh of relief as he felt somewhat a sense of consolation in hearing that.
"I see you've found a way to bond with my clan yet from what I've been told. You've done something to heal Hudson of his visual impairment?" said Goliath.
"Yes I did." said Jeremy his heart pounding.
"What did you do to make that possible?" asked Goliath.
"It's hard to put into words but as simple as I can tell it. As I told Hudson. Only through faith shall we pull through." Jeremy explained.
Goliath knew that the boy was religious or was someone who believed in the lord. Yet somehow, he understood what Jeremy just told him since he's seen plenty of events that were difficult to put into words unless someone was to witness such events.
"It would appear that Hudson is walking with a new spring in his step since you've done that." stated Goliath.
"Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity." stated Jeremy. "As I once said. I was taught to respect my elders as they know more than the young and they know better."
Goliath could tell that he was speaking the truth as he remembered Hudson telling him "The lad seems wise beyond his years yet he shows and speaks out of respect for his elders. You don't see that very often in the youth of today. Go easy on the lad, he's still adjusting to this new lifestyle" which Goliath got along well with Hudson and knew if he speaks good about anyone he doesn't know, than they can trust the said person. Goliath grew curious about other things being spoken about.
"From what more of my clan have told me. You have abilities that might be without limit?" stated Goliath. "Do you know how you've gained such abilities?"
He shook his head and Goliath wondered if he really didn't know or if he did.
"Do you swear to me?" asked Goliath.
"I do. I wish I knew how I got it in me but I don't have an answer." Jeremy said truthfully.
"Can you show me these abilities? From what Broadway, Brooklyn and Lexington has told me. You can fly even though you don't have wings and that you can transform into some kind of lion like creature?" stated Goliath.
Now Jeremy knew that he was curious but he was also nervous in showing Goliath such abilities. But he knew that he had to demonstrate for him to get him to believe that what Broadway, Brooklyn and Lexington have told him is the truth. He started to swallow his fear a little and let out a sigh.
"Be warned, sir. It's kind of a shocker." warned Jeremy.
Jeremy stepped back a couple of feet and Goliath knew that this might be something new for him to witness but he's seen a lot in his time. How could this be any different?
That's when Jeremy swallowed his fear and began to sing his beautifully haunting operatic voice of his and as he did so, his appearance began to show the transformation. His eyes turned completely gold, his fingernails grew to be sharp looking claws, his teeth grew and formed to be lion like fangs from his mouth, his ears formed to be longer and pointed like a cat, his blonde hair grew longer, thicker, fuller, much more voluminous, eventually stopping once it reached his back and he had that handsome like appearance that of a humanoid like lion. He stopped his operatic singing and sucked in a big amount of air and let it out as he let out a loud, realistic lion like roar. Goliath shown a wide eyed expression, he was slightly expecting something different from this but this was far different than he expected.
He muttered an Italian word and he shot up into the air as he flew around in the air which how he was able to fly and move around was like seeing someone doing romantic dancing in such a graceful manner. Goliath couldn't believe what he saw which he heard Jeremy mutter what sounded like "Dio è la mia forza" and that was when Jeremy flew back down on the floor in front of Goliath as he transformed back to his original, human appearance as if it was like seeing a werewolf turn back into a human.
"Are you sure this isn't a mutation or someone didn't do this to you?" asked Goliath looking wide eyed.
"No one did this to me nor was this the result of a mutation. I don't know what caused this or how it came to be. But I've been able to control it." said Jeremy.
"If that's the case. Do you know how to defend yourself? My clan and I have at times had to defend ourselves and others." Goliath told him. "I've heard you used an ability of yours to disarm Kurata and his thugs without having to lay a finger on them."
"I put some crazy mook in a sleeper hold once and it worked." stated Jeremy.
"Was he trying to hurt you?" asked Goliath.
"Actually, this mook stolen something from an older woman and took off with it. So I motored on over to knock this guy out. Long story short. That thieving mook got arrested and the lady got her purse back. I'm surprised she didn't mace him in the face." explained Jeremy.
"Mace?" said Goliath.
"Pepper spray." said Jeremy being more specific.
Goliath shown he understood what pepper spray was once Jeremy was more specific. The boy still wasn't looking Goliath in the eye which he knew it was ether his shyness or fear.
"Are you sure you don't know who your parents or family were?" asked Goliath.
He fell silent before he spoke in a response.
"We never found out who they were. No files, no records, nothing. They even tried to find out who they were under my last name and they found nothing. They searched for years for and found nothing." said Jeremy truthfully.
Goliath now knew this confirmed that Jeremy had no family and no home to go to. He suspected that growing up for him wasn't easy which he knew that other kids were better or worse off. He knew that the kid had to stay with them not just because he had no family and no other home but also because his abilities could have some people ether seeing him as a hero or a monster. Especially since he kept his abilities a secret from people and only shown both him and his entire clan.
"Are you afraid of me?" asked Goliath.
Jeremy started to shake a little but stopped as if he only felt a chill from the question.
"Do you fear me?" asked Goliath again.
Goliath reached out his hand and placed it on Jeremy's shoulder which made him flinch, he looked away with his eyes closed. Goliath saw his question was answered. He tried to reassure him in a way he knew how.
"I'm sorry. It's not your appearance that scares me. I'm not a confident individual but I am afraid of facing one's wrath if I am guilty of something wrong I've done. You and your clan took me in when I had nowhere else to go and I'm grateful for it. I do not wish to upset you or your clan. I do not deny that fear is holding me back. I suspect your someone who fears nothing with how huge and strong you are." said Jeremy breathing in and out slightly heavily as if afraid.
"On the contrary, I may not look like it but even someone like me has fears." reassured Goliath being subtle.
Hearing this somehow managed to make some of his fear dissipate. It was enough for him to look up at Goliath with surprised confusion.
"And I understand that it's none of my business yet it's no one else's business but your own." stated Jeremy.
"Well, you're right about something. It's no one else's business but my own. As for you, a clan at times have a right to know. Well, only if it's something that's bothering them and they see no other option to resolve the said issue when someone else does know a solution to the said problem." explained Goliath. "Although, Hudson may not admit that his deteriorating eye sight bothers him but I can tell that you healed him of his affliction because you knew it bothered him and yet you wanted to help him with it. Hudson may not admit when something is bothering him but he does show when something is bothering him. Since you've healed him of his affliction, his overall health are greatly improved."
"You speak the truth about Hudson's overall health being better than before?" asked Jeremy curiously.
"I do speak the truth about such a thing." answered Goliath.
Jeremy looked away again but only because it was out of surprise that his healing abilities had done more than what he intended.
"Are you willing to let me or anyone in my clan teach you how to defend yourself in forms of self defense. From what little we do know of what you did to defend yourself. We do know you've got very little experience in self defense and with your abilities, they can prove to be useful as well as how useful your intelligent mind appears to be. Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington have spoken about you possessing a higher level of intelligence for your age, even as Hudson states you appear to be wiser beyond your years as he puts it." Goliath continued.
Hearing Goliath's words and what the other gargoyles said about him that were of good seemed to be helping him swallow his fear of Goliath. His heart was pounding from euphoria.
"I guess learning self defense or learning more about it couldn't kill me. I knew a handyman who said that no matter how old we become or what we go through in life, we're still learning as we go along and learning something new was one of them. He had a tendency to get philosophical." Jeremy said accepting the offer.
"Understood. So far, my clan has grown fond of you as you've bonded with them. That's a good sign. I'll admit, we were surprised that you were able to get Bronx to obey you just as he obeys Hudson. Did you happen to have experience with canines?" asked Goliath.
"A little." answered Jeremy.
"Since we've taken you in. There's been a lot of good as a result. That makes you part of us." stated Goliath.
Jeremy had braved the attempt once again to look up at Goliath which he was showing a subtle expression of compassion. His words spoke out of love. Jeremy's fear of him was disappearing.
"You have nothing to fear of me as we don't hurt children nor do we hurt anyone whose an innocent soul. You can trust us. Yet see you're still adjusting to this life you've become part of. We did take some time to adjust to modern day Manhattan. We were only able to do so with Elisa lending a compassionate hand." explained Goliath while speaking out of compassion.
That's when Goliath's hand went from Jeremy's shoulder to his cheek which was a visibly subtle form of trust from him. Jeremy's fear of Goliath had completely gone and he approached Goliath and embraced him in his arms which caught the heavyset male gargoyle off guard. He didn't expect him to hug him but he did see this was an emotional reaction for him. He sees that Jeremy was afraid of him and his clan of gargoyles because he didn't wish to upset them and knew it would kill him inside if he did something wrong and it resulted in harsh words as Goliath knew now that was the last thing Jeremy needed. He wrapped a muscular arm around Jeremy in a one armed embrace.
"Thank the lord for you." said Jeremy in a shaky tone of relief.
As Goliath saw that Jeremy no longer feared him. Angela was watching from a distance as she smiled, feeling proud that Jeremy got over his fear and shyness of Goliath and the rest of the clan.
As a few days or almost a week passed during the nights. The gargoyles would teach Jeremy self defense in the gym. Jeremy would do some sparring sessions them, mainly Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington which sometimes he would lose the match but he shown to get better at it and won.
They even shown that Jeremy had a thickly muscular body for a teenager his age when they saw how big his muscles appeared to be. Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington and Jeremy stopped their sparring as they down a bit of cold water, sweating from the intense sparring session like it was a work out session at a gym.
"You guys sure know how to defend yourselves. It's like you've been taught by Muhammad Ali." said Jeremy letting out a relieved tone. "And he shocked the world when he knocked out George Foreman in the ring."
"Isn't he that professional boxer?" asked Lexington.
"That would be him. Just like he once said when someone asked him how he goes about boxing against his opponents: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Yet he was being metaphorical." explained Jeremy quoting the boxer.
They laughed a bit but knew that Jeremy was right as they heard a few things said about the mentioned boxer. Goliath and Hudson stood nearby as they could see that Jeremy was improving in his self defense lessons.
"The lad's getting stronger." stated Hudson.
"I didn't expect him to have a muscular physique but he's grown on us all." said Goliath.
"Makes me wonder who will give him the talk when ever the time comes." stated Angela.
Both Goliath and Hudson went silent as they knew that "the talk" meant when the human male teenager enters puberty or starts noticing girls or the talk about sex. Both of them visibly blushed at the very mention of the said subject.
"It's best if I talk to him about that. I'm sure he's been through puberty already and already knows about puberty and sex. But he doesn't look like he's dating anyone so if anyone has to give him the talk about girls, it's better if I handle that." stated Goliath.
They two older male gargoyles let out a sigh of relief from hearing that.
"Could be worse. You two could've been giving the talk to a girl." chimed in Elisa.
Hearing that not only had Goliath and Hudson look at one another for a brief moment, they both looked away as if pretending to be distracted by something else.
"That would result in a disaster." Hudson stated awkwardly.
"It was almost like that with me and my dad. My dad couldn't go through with that when it came to me. He figured it was best if my mom gave me the talk. Since than, we've learned that the dads give their sons the talk while the moms give their daughters the talk. It worked out for us." reassured Elisa.
"Sounds like the best option." stated Goliath trying not to blush.
"I can imagine the lady he'd be with but I'll keep that to myself since we can't assume anything yet." chuckled Elisa.
"Even if he finds the right girl. Still, she better not hurt him or break his heart or she'll have to answer to me." warned Angela feeling a mother bear instinct kicking in.
They knew this conversation was out of concern for Jeremy and any future development. But they did feel as though Jeremy was becoming part of the family, even if he was afraid of them at first.
Later on one night. The gargoyles were on the roof of the building along with Jeremy. Jeremy was feeling confident and as both Brooklyn and Broadway flew out into the city to patrol the area or to explore. Jeremy flew with them which Goliath allowed him to go with them since Elisa advised Goliath to let him fly alongside them since he really shown some excitement for it like an eagle feeling the thrill of the flight in the air.
"Woooo hoooooo!" cried Jeremy in excitement.
"Ah youth. When they're excited and feel the thrill, they can't help themselves." said Hudson with a grin.
"He stated he holds no prejudice against anyone or anything yet he feels free as bird." said Goliath.
As Jeremy flown in the sky around the city with his new found family. He felt fearless, strong, bold, confident and felt the love of a family that all families should feel. He found the family he fits in with. Yet they did wonder. One day, he might fall in love with a beautiful woman.
