Ripped Apart Part 4
By Princess Alexandria Princess_alex24@hotmail.com
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Brenna felt a bit nervous as she packed her overnight bag. This was the first time in a long time that she'd spend the night somewhere besides home. She wasn't feeling comfortable leaving Dominique alone for a night. It was usually night when the woman got hurt.
She zipped the bag up slowly and carried it in one hand, with her book bag in the other as she walked down the stairs. She left both bags by the front door as she went to join Dominique for breakfast.
It was the last day of school today and Gencie had managed to get tickets for a concert in Madison Square Gardens tonight. She'd won six of them in some raffle she didn't even remember entering, and it was one of Brenna's favorite singers. She'd had to let Dominique listen to the CD she had, and explain how Gencie's big brother was going to take them and watch out for them. She explained how all her friends were going and that she'd never been to a concert before. She'd talked Dominique into letting her go, and now she had second thoughts.
It was Dominique that told her if she went she couldn't get the Salter's to drive her home. It would be night and they couldn't cover up that Brenna's guardian was a gargoyle. So Brenna ended up with the invitation to stay the night with Gencie.
"Brenna, you're all packed?" Dominique was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Yeah… I…" Brenna stammered a bit. She almost said she didn't want to go, but she did. She just felt like something would go wrong if she weren't here. "I'm all ready."
"Well, good. Eat up we don't want to be late." Dominique didn't seem at all concerned about this. It helped Brenna relax a bit. She was probably just nervous because she hadn't spent the night at anyone's place in years.
********
Demona watched Brenna's friends move to walk with her into the school, each talking excitedly about the plans for the night. Demona wasn't exactly comfortable with letting Brenna go, but she couldn't keep the girl locked up at home every night. She'd just reinforced the rules. Brenna couldn't wander around the city once the concert was over, she had to go straight to Gencie's. The chances of accidently bumping into the clan were slim, but staying inside would help decrease that.
Brenna had done well when faced with Maza's visit. She'd gotten away from the detective and then called Demona as soon as she was able to. It was that reaction, and the obvious respect for Demona's rules even when Brenna didn't understand them that made Demona think giving her girl this chance to see this singer would be alright. It would also free Demona up to take care of a little problem. It might take a while to deal with Maza. Demona didn't want to search for the detective while being distracted by the fact that her child was home alone and worrying.
********
"So your Gencie's friend Brenna?" An older woman asked her. Brenna just smiled, keeping her surprise at the fact Gencie's mother was so much older to herself.
"Yeah."
"Mom, we have to get ready." Gencie was practically bouncing on her feet.
"Well, it's nice to meet you." Gencie's mom smiled and Gencie started to pull Brenna further down the hall and into her bedroom. "Tim will be here in an hour." Her mother called out to them before Gencie shut the door.
"Tim's my brother." Gencie explained while flopping down on a rather feminine bed. "So… this is my room." Gencie smiled teasingly, "And you can sit on my bed if you want."
"Oh." Brenna set her bags down next to Gencie's and moved to sit. She felt a bit awkward, even though Gencie was her friend. This bedroom wasn't what she'd expected, far too feminine with doll figurines, a white dresser, and canopy bed.
"We'll meet Allaine and Lily at the restaurant." Gencie leaned up against her headboard. "And Tim is bringing his friend Greg."
"Cool." Brenna didn't really know how to respond to that. She didn't know them, but they were older and were supposed to keep them out of trouble. It was Gencie's mom's idea.
Gencie's grin grew wicked and Brenna started to worry. "So… are you and Allaine… you know, together?"
"What?" Brenna's eyebrows drew together as Gencie said that. Why did everyone assume that? "No."
"Why not? Isn't he your type?" Gencie's questions were making Brenna wish it were already time to go. She hated these type of questions.
"He's just a friend."
"He likes you, you know."
That made Brenna fell like a lead weight had fallen on her chest. She didn't like him like that. She'd hoped that he understood that. When she didn't say anything, Gencie rolled onto her side to stare up at her. "So what is your type?"
"I don't have a type." Brenna felt an embarrassed flush on her face. Gencie hadn't gotten this personal before, and it seemed to come out of no where.
"Oh, you must like someone. Even if it's just someone from T.V." Gencie got a slightly dreamy look on her face. "I like Dean Cain, from Lois and Clark. He is so hot."
"Um, yeah. He was kinda hot." Brenna spoke a bit nervously. He was attractive, but Brenna wasn't really that interested. It started a monologue where Gencie talked about the virtues of his body and the way he smiled for at least a half hour. Gencie then started to talk about other male actors that she wished she could be with. Brenna just smiled and put in small comments once in a while when she thought she had something she could add. The truth of the matter was there weren't a lot of people that Brenna considered sexy in the way that Gencie seemed to consider so many male actors sexy.
********
Demona had changed into her night clothes early and was currently in the basement getting prepared for the evening. Half of the large basement held her magic books and other magical item, while the half she was currently in held her weaponry. She set out the gun she wanted for that evening. Unfortunately it wasn't one designed to kill, but she couldn't kill the detective right now, or Goliath in his anger would ensure that Demona lost custody of Brenna. She was going to try something else.
She hadn't spent a millennium studying magic for nothing. An evil grin crossed her face as she set the gun down to go finish up the preparations for her spell. It was ready. It had taken her a while to find this spell in her books. She'd originally deemed it useless when she first found it, but it had its uses. It was complex, used up a lot of resources, and didn't give her that much control. That was why this wasn't the one she'd tried to use on Goliath, opting instead for complete control of his mind at the time. This time though, she needed Maza to seem like herself. If no one suspected the detective was her puppet she'd have a lot more freedom to stop them from interfering. That human had a lot of influence with the clan, influence that really should have been Demona's, but it would be Demona's now.
She'd tranquilize the human, cast her spell, and give her instructions tonight. Maza would then help her keep the clan and Xanatos out of her business. Maza would be very helpful.
********
Gencie must worship her brother. Brenna watched the girl smile at him when he said something quietly into Gencie's ear. Tim was a bit older, and in college. Brenna was an only child, she didn't have this kind of relationship that Gencie had. She remembered being little and asking for a little brother. She'd wanted a brother because girls were so boring, and a brother would have been able to play with her. She was disappointed that year when a little brother wasn't sitting under the Christmas tree for her to play with when she woke up. Kids had funny ideas about things. A small sad smile came to her as she remembered talking to her mother about that.
"Pizza's here." Allaine spoke to her and Brenna was embarrassed that she had to pull her eyes away from Gencie talking with her brother to see the waiter setting it down. "You alright? You seem sad." Allaine's voice held a hint of boyfriend to it and it made Brenna want to cringe. She'd never heard it before… never noticed. With everything else going on in her life, this had escaped her.
"I'm fine." She smiled at him, while taking a piece of the pizza. It was still a little too hot to actually eat. "This concert is going to be great."
"Oh yeah." He was quickly pulled into changing the topic.
********
Elisa paid the cabbie and barely nodded to the security guard at the door as she marched past him to the elevator. She hated to say it, but it looked like Fox's plan might actually work. Brenna hadn't gone home tonight, she'd gone to her friend Gencie's. Gencie lived in the city, which was much more convenient than trying to get to Brenna in what was bound to be a heavily guarded mansion.
The concert would get out at eleven, and it would be fully night by then.
Elisa found Fox actually out waiting for Angela to wake up. That was relatively unusual, but then all their plans for tonight centered around the female gargoyle.
Shortly after sunset the clan all came towards Elisa and Fox. "We could all go." Brooklyn spoke.
"And scare her." Lex added less than quietly.
"She's not afraid of gargoyles."
"But she's been told to avoid the clan." Elisa interjected before this became a huge debate. She knew that Brooklyn was eager to save Brenna. He felt some sort of kinship to the girl because she was being tricked by Demona. Still this had to be Angela's show. "She already knows Angela, but if you all go to her it will just reinforce whatever lies Demona's been telling her." She couldn't help but think about how her own eagerness to help had just managed to push Brenna away. Demona had done a good job of getting Brenna too cautious for her or the clan to talk to. Her voice got softer with her understanding of his frustrated desire to help. "She met Angela before she met Demona. This is really the best way to go."
Angela nodded. The girl was looking like she was going out on a very important mission. Her determination was clear to everyone. Angela wouldn't let this opportunity slip away. It wasn't easy to separate Brenna from Demona at night, and it could take a while to do it again if they didn't make this night count.
Fox had spent a lot of money getting Brenna's favorite singer to change his mind and schedule one concert in New York. She also made sure that Gencie, Brenna's best friend, got more than enough tickets so that Brenna would be invited.
"Angela." Goliath spoke gently to his daughter. "Bring the girl here so that we can all talk to her. We can help her, she needs to know that."
"I will father."
Elisa tried to calm her unease. This was too close to kidnapping in her mind, but nothing else had worked. They needed to force Brenna to listen to them. If they couldn't get through to the girl, Brenna might not live to be an adult. But with Brenna's help they could stop the adoption proceedings and find the girl a safer home. They might end up having to hide Brenna for a while if Demona felt like retaliating, but Xanatos had already said he'd do whatever he could to make sure the girl stayed safe.
"Angela." Fox was staring at Angela. "Don't push her too hard or too fast. Brenna is cautious and she'll need to be gently convinced to come with you." Fox then glanced around at the clan. "And when she gets here, we can't just start telling her that her guardian is evil incarnate. She'll stop listening to us at that point. Demona's had months to gain her trust. We aren't going to be able to get past that in five minutes." Fox was mostly staring at Brooklyn. Elisa moved to nod at him. It was true. Maybe if they'd found Brenna shortly after her mother died they could just warn her, but it had been three months the girl was living with Demona, and Brenna didn't want to leave her. If her pleading at the school was any indication, this would have to be done carefully. God Damn Demona. They were going to have to break Brenna's heart tonight.
********
Demona found herself gliding over Madison Square Gardens before she even realized she'd shifted her course. That was where Brenna was right now. The concert must have just started. She did a small sweep of the area and was glad to see so many cops on the streets. Brenna should be safe leaving there. She then continued her journey to see if she got lucky and Maza was at home.
She grimaced as she noticed the lack of lights in Maza's apartment, but she landed anyhow. It was too much to hope she'd be here right away. Demona could spend hours hunting for the woman's beat up car, but Maza would have to come back home at some point, even if it were early morning. She could borrow clothes from her new minion after she'd completed the spell and still be home before Brenna got there.
The sound of something moving drew her aim, but she just saw Maza's gray cat jumping up onto the couch. Demona watched it glance at her briefly before settling down for a nap. "Just like Lacey. You don't even notice me." Brenna's cat for the most part stayed in the girl's room, but on the few occasions that Demona had crossed paths with it, Lacey walked around her like she were furniture.
"Well, lets see if Maza has anything interesting to look at." Demona used the guns shoulder strap to sling it over her shoulder as she headed for the detective's bedroom. It was a good place to start.
********
"Okay, the concert is over." Lex's voice came over the head set that Elisa was wearing. He was one of the gargoyles watching Madison Square Gardens.
"Good." Elisa glanced over at Angela. The girl was just standing on the castle wall staring out at the sky. She walked over to her slowly. "Are you alright?" Angela just glanced at her briefly before returning to staring out over the city now.
"Brenna… it's just hard to believe Demona is doing this. There's just something off about this." Elisa sighed as she watched the female. "We still don't even know what she wants with Brenna."
"It doesn't really matter what she wants with Brenna." Elisa moved to rest a hand on Angela's arm. "Whatever it is, can't be good for Brenna."
"That's it Elisa." Angela turned to finally look at her. "If she has some big plans, why go through the trouble of adopting her? Why didn't she just kidnap her and keep Brenna locked up. We would never have known if she'd done that."
"Maybe she's taunting us. Maybe she wants us to find out, because she thinks she has that strong of a hold on Brenna." Elisa spoke, but that actually sounded more like something that Xanatos would do.
"Or maybe…" Angela sighed and went quiet for a moment. "Well, I better get going if I want to get to Gencie's before they get home."
"Okay." Elisa just watched Angela leap off the building and glide away. This was not easy on Angela. Elisa wished that they could have done this without making Angela a part of it. The female obviously still held out some hope that Demona would change, in spite of what that hope had gotten her last time.
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Brenna waved as Allaine, Lily and Tim's friend Greg got out of the subway. Greg lived closer to Allaine and Lily and was going to make sure they got home. Brenna hadn't even known those two lived within blocks of each other. It was beginning to feel like she was the only student at Cordova that lived so far away.
"Thanks for inviting me squirt." Tim smiled at Gencie. Brenna just stared out the subway windows, feeling a little out of place. "Oh Brenna. Don't let her start talking or you won't get any sleep tonight." Tim smiled at her and Brenna just nodded. It wasn't like she went to bed early normally anyhow.
They were almost there when Brenna heard the sound of wings. It wasn't something she'd mistake or miss. She stopped walking and Gencie and her brother hadn't noticed right away since she'd been walking behind them. The shadow that glided into the nearby alley looked like Demona. Was something wrong? Brenna grimaced as she had to make a quick decision. If Demona were hurt enough to actually seek Brenna out then she wasn't going to want Gencie or Tim seeing her like that. They were close to Gencie's house. Dammit. Brenna darted into the alley quietly and moved towards the sound of fluttering wings.
"Dominique?" Brenna spoke quietly. "Are you okay?"
"Brenna?!" Gencie's nervous and loud voice made Brenna stop her trip into the alley. "What are you doing? Ms. Destine will kill me if I lose you." It was only a half joke.
"I thought I saw a cat." It was a lame excuse and Brenna's eyes trailed over the darkness again as she backed out of the alley. "She looked hurt."
"Well, we don't go checking out dark alleys at night." Tim interrupted them. Brenna's fist clenched. Dominique might need her, but she couldn't go to her right now.
"Okay, sorry. You're right." Brenna moved to follow them, but turned to face the darkness for a moment. "I'll check later." She told the shadows. She needed to sneak out and make sure Dominique was alright.
********
Elisa sat on a rooftop nearby the girl's home with Goliath. "She'll be back." Angela's voice carried to them. "She sounded worried and thought I was my mother." Elisa watched Goliath's normal reaction to Angela calling Demona that. His body tensed up for a moment.
"Okay, keep us informed." Elisa answered. They were just there as backup, in case something like Quarrymen or Demona decided to interfere.
"She calls her Dominique." Angela spoke, obviously setting herself up for a wait. It might take Brenna a while to escape her friend.
"Well, maybe she doesn't know her real name." Elisa sat down on the buildings edge to chat. It would be boring for everyone now, and while she was used to stake outs, the clan spent more time in motion.
"Hmmm, yeah could be."
********
Brenna felt bad when she told Gencie she was too tired to stay up and talk. She felt like she'd let her down, but she needed to get out of the apartment and check on Dominique. After some firm declarations that she was fine and if Gencie wanted to go visit her brother she could, but Brenna was going to bed, Gencie finally left her alone.
Brenna opened the window as quietly as she could, and just knew that someone would notice her missing just seconds after she left. It was just the way things went. She used the fire escape to get down to the ground and moved quickly back to where she'd run into the gargoyle.
The alley was uncomfortably dark. The lights had burned out or been broken. Brenna walked slowly, while listening cautiously for any danger. "Dominique, I'm here. Are you okay?" It had taken an hour. An hour that her… family could have been hurting and alone. Every second that she had to reassure or convince Gencie that she was alright, just tired was tense.
"It's not Dominique." A feminine voice answered her. Brenna turned around to find the shape of a female gargoyle stepping out of the shadows. "It's Angela."
Brenna just stared for a moment as the gargoyle came closer. It was Angela. She hadn't seen her in months, but she was right here. "Brenna are you alright?" Angela sounded a bit concerned.
"Oh… Um…" Brenna felt a blush cover her cheeks as Angela seemed to study her, making sure she wasn't hurt. "You remember me?" Brenna nibbled on her lip, a bit embarrassed at the shy tone of her voice.
"Of course I remember you." Angela smiled at her. "I don't get to talk about books with many girls. In fact, I don't even know many females around here."
"Oh." Brenna started to glance at Angela. "I thought… are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." Angela took another step closer. It was when she was standing right in front of Brenna that she remembered the rules. She wasn't supposed to talk to Angela. "I've been worried about you though." Angela spoke softly. It did sound like she really had been worrying.
"I'm fine." Brenna was a little stunned that Angela had even been thinking about her. The gargoyle must run into so many humans, and she remembered Brenna.
"I heard about your mother Brenna." Brenna clenched her fist so that the sympathy in Angela's voice wouldn't make her tear up. "I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, well… shit happens." Brenna looked away from Angela and stared at the alley walls while taking deep breaths. She didn't want to cry like a baby just because Angela cared. She didn't want to look like a kid.
"It shouldn't though." Angela's touch was tentative as she wiped the tear Brenna hadn't been able to stop off of her cheek. It reminded Brenna of Dominique. "And I want you to know I'm sorry the world has treated you so badly lately."
"It's not all bad stuff." Brenna took a deep breath, completely eager to talk with Angela. "I'm going to a good school and Dominique is…" oh, Brenna's eyes widened and a stricken look crossed her face. "I'm not supposed to talk to you." It hurt to even say it. She should have remembered it before. God, she finally got to see Angela again, and she wasn't supposed to talk to her.
"So she told you to avoid me too?" Angela sounded a bit bitter about that for a moment and there was a flash of angry red in her eyes before her features calmed. "I'm just checking on you. I just want to make sure you're safe."
Brenna hated the rules, hated Dominique for just a brief moment as she realized that she had to leave. Dominique wouldn't have told her to avoid Angela for no reason, she told herself that. "I need to get back before Gencie realizes I snuck out." Brenna took a step to walk around Angela, while wondering if she'd ever see her again.
"She's my mother. Did you know that?" Angela spoke in flat tone and Brenna froze, to turn and stare at Angela. "Her real name is Demona."
"I know about that name." Brenna just stared at Angela in disbelief. Dominique had never said who her daughter was. In all the time that Brenna had talked about meeting Angela, she'd never said. "She's great." Brenna gave Angela a small smile, and was a bit confused when Angela didn't return it. "I didn't know…" But now that she thought about it she should have. Talking about Angela always made Demona look pained.
"So she didn't talk about me?" Angela sounded a bit bitter and Brenna felt bad for her.
"No, she just didn't tell me that…" Brenna didn't want to say anything to make Angela feel bad or get Dominique into trouble with her daughter. Her daughter. "You're gonna be my sister." Brenna blinked in surprise as that registered in her mind, and she didn't notice the shocked look Angela gave her at that moment. She did notice it after a moment. "Oh… I…" Brenna suddenly worried that Angela wouldn't like that Dominique was adopting her. She still wasn't so comfortable with the idea that Angela would become her sister. It was one thing to know that Dominique had a daughter, but for it to be Angela was just too weird. Brenna tried to break this to her gently. "She's going to adopt me."
"I heard about that." Angela was staring a little too hard. "I wanted to talk to you about that." The slight disapproving tone in Angela's voice reminded Brenna that Dominique had said the entire clan would have a problem with the adoption, including Angela.
"I'm glad she's going to adopt me." Brenna stood just a little taller. She fidgeted a little and took another step towards the street. She should leave, she really should.
"You love her?" Angela's voice stopped her once again. Brenna nibbled on her lip, unsure of what to do. She wanted to stay… she really wanted to stay.
"Yes. She's my family now." Brenna answered a little defensively. She was talking to Angela, and she knew she shouldn't be. Her heart was beating a little faster in the feeling of guilt she had. Her words just got tense silence. Brenna took another step towards the street.
"My family is called a clan." Angela started to speak a little louder. Brenna found herself stopping her retreat to look at the pretty female. "There aren't really a lot of us, but we watch out for each other."
Brenna stared into Angela's gentle eyes. "Maybe if you guys didn't…" She trailed off. It wasn't really up to her to tell them how to live, but she remembered being scared when the police captured Angela. She remembered the things she was afraid that they'd do to the female.
"If we didn't what?" Angela took a step closer. She looked at Brenna like she was the most important person around at that moment. It made Brenna blush again and her heart beat just a little faster.
"If you didn't risk your lives saving humans maybe you'd be safer." Brenna watched as Angela actually seemed surprised at that. It just made sense. Brenna's voice got softer. "I was so worried when the police arrested you."
"Everything turned out alright though." Angela seemed to squat down a little so that Brenna didn't have to stare up at her so much. Gargoyles were all so tall. Brenna would never even be considered tall for a human.
"Do you have any idea how bad that could have gone?" Brenna just stared at Angela with a faint look of horror on her face. "Do you know what the government would have done to you just because you aren't human?" Angela didn't seem cautious enough, and that scared Brenna.
Angela glanced down for a moment, and Brenna could swear she heard voices, but there weren't other people around and she couldn't really make it out. Maybe it was from down the street, or she was hearing things. "I know what could have happened. I couldn't help but think about it while I was locked up." Angela spoke and the slight fear in her voice made Brenna move closer. She felt so bad for the fear the gargoyles must have to live with. Brenna lived with that fear now too, because she worried about Dominique, but at least she was immortal. Angela wasn't. "It was horrible." Brenna reached out to rest a comforting hand on Angela's arm while staring at her in concern.
The sound of loud and very male laughter from the street startled Brenna and Angela tensed up and took a step back into the shadows. "Get out of the light." Angela whispered to her, and Brenna moved to the same shadows Angela had. The street light from across the street had illuminated some of the alley. Brenna watched as the men seemed to stop right in the opening of the alley.
"Man, shame Castaway died." One guy muttered. "He had the right idea." Brenna tensed up and glanced nervously at Angela. The gargoyle leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"I'm going to climb up the wall. Hold onto my back. I don't want to leave you here around them." Brenna just nodded and held on tightly while Angela slowly, quietly made her way up the four story building. The Quarrymen, they must be quarrymen, were still standing there talking.
Once they were on the rooftop, Angela leaned over to let Brenna off. "Not every battle needs to be fought." Angela gave Brenna a tense smile. When some rude comments about gargoyles reached their ears Brenna felt so bad for Angela. The female didn't try to hide that it hurt her.
"They're just stupid." Brenna murmured softly. "Humans can be really stupid sometimes."
********
Elisa held the binoculars to her eyes, while envying that Goliath didn't need them to see Angela and Brenna. "Fox's actors are pretty handy." She moved her focus to the rough looking trio of men standing in the alley opening. This was a bit too staged for her to be comfortable with, but Fox was right. It looked like it was working.
They were listening in on the conversation on the other rooftop through Angela's comm. Device. Elisa hated to admit it, but Fox really was a good judge of character. Brenna had obviously struggled with the fact that she'd been told to avoid Angela, but she still stayed. They were using one female gargoyle to combat the other's influence. It was just a shame it had to be Angela. While Angela was definitely smart enough and sensitive enough for this job, it was far too close to home. Elisa hadn't missed the comments about her mother and the tone of Angela's voice.
"She still needs to get Brenna to agree to glide with her to the castle." Goliath spoke quietly while watching Brenna trying to comfort his daughter. They both watched that. Brenna really was a sweet girl. She didn't realize that the comments the actors saying were staged, or that while Angela didn't care for the deception, her hurt reaction was an act as well.
"Well if anyone can." Elisa muttered. From that building Brenna wasn't getting down unless a gargoyle helped her down. She had to listen now.
********
Brenna started to walk further away from the side of the building those men were on, hoping that Angela wouldn't be able to hear them that way. The female gargoyle walked with her.
"So, how did you end up with my mother?" Angela asked while sitting down on the ledge. Brenna paced a little in front of the gargoyle. It was only talking, and maybe she could make Angela see that whatever problem they had with Dominique didn't mean they had the right to try and rip them apart.
"She gave me a job…" Brenna made her decision to talk. She turned to face Angela. The gargoyle's sitting on that ledge actually made Angela more Brenna's height. "and she'd help me out with my homework before my mom…" died. She didn't finish that sentence, there really was no point. "When the police officer came to my house… I didn't know who else to call. She was…" Brenna's body shook and she wrapped her arms around herself as she stood still and took a few deep breaths. "She was the only other person that cared about me. She came and took me in. It was only supposed to be until my mother was… buried." Brenna glanced up at Angela and could see she had the gargoyle's undivided attention. "she had such strange rules." Brenna gave Angela a weak smile. "I had to stay in my room at night. She put so much in my room so that I wouldn't need to leave. T.V., computer, fridge. It's still like a little apartment."
"How did you find out she was a gargoyle?"
Brenna moved to stand a little closer to Angela. Angela must know about the immortality. Dominique wouldn't tell Brenna something she hadn't told her own daughter. "She came home after someone shot her and… she was really hurt. She… I heard her smash through her window and found her on the floor…" Brenna's body shuddered at the remembered fear. "bleeding so much. I didn't know it was her at first."
They both sat silently for a while. Until Brenna spoke softly. "She stopped trying to get rid of me after that."
"Trying to get RID of you?" Angela's head seemed to snap up and she stared into Brenna's eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I know why she was like that now." Brenna moved to sit beside Angela and stared down at the roof. It had hurt when Dominique had acted like she didn't want Brenna around. "She was trying to get the social workers to hurry up and find me a home. She called them almost every day. But they never found anything good." Brenna's eyes pleaded with Angela. "But I have something good now."
"So she was going to let you go, until you found out what she was." Angela sounded a bit too stunned and Brenna didn't like the way she said that. As if she were a prisoner now.
********
Elisa's eyes widened a little as she listened to the conversation on the other rooftop. Things were a bit more complicated than they had thought.
"She has become even more devious." Goliath grumbled as he continued to watch, but Elisa lowered her binoculars for a moment. Was Demona just pretending to try and get rid of the girl and had always planned to keep her for some reason, or had a… good deed… gotten out of hand? Could Demona have actually taken in Brenna to help? That didn't seem right. Why would Demona help a human kid? Elisa was starting to feel a little uneasy about this. At the very least Angela would have doubts now. That girl always wanted to give Demona the benefit of the doubt. Elisa was inclined to agree with Goliath that Demona had worked very hard to manipulate the girl.
She pulled her binoculars back up to her eyes. But if it were true…
The sound of a rocket pack reached her ears before she saw it. Her. Damn it, what was Fox doing? The ex-mercenary was heading right for them. The exosuit she wore covered her face and her hair was in a ponytail. This wasn't part of the plan. They were supposed to talk Brenna into leaving with Angela, not fake an attack and force the girl's hand.
"I really wish she'd told me the ENTIRE plan." Elisa said between gritted teeth.
********
The noise startled Brenna and she looked up to see an angry looking woman in some sort of suit staring down at them. "Gargoyle." The one word held such hatred. Brenna moved a step to the left without even thinking about it. Standing between Angela and this woman.
"What Are you…" Angela stared at the hovering woman for a second sounding confused. This wasn't good. Obviously this was some sort of Quarryman. When the woman moved to raise an arm Brenna felt like her heart was going to stop. She was right in the line of fire.
"Stop." Brenna yelled out, while fighting with the desire to move. She held her ground and her words seemed to startle the woman into stopping for a moment. Too bad Brenna couldn't think of other words to follow up with. Please don't kill us didn't sound nearly forceful enough. She didn't dare move, because maybe, just maybe this woman would have a problem shooting her to get to Angela. She was keeping the woman from being able to take that shot.
While she was struggling to come up with something to do, Angela wrapped her arms around her and pulled Brenna with her off of the building. The air rushed past them as Angela moved to get a better hold on Brenna and Brenna moved to grab her just like she'd grabbed Dominique while they glided. "We'll try to outrun her." Angela spoke and she sounded more than a little mad. Of course Brenna was sure once her fear faded a bit more she'd be pissed too.
Gliding with Angela was nothing like gliding with Dominique. Angela moved faster, while dodging the laser fire that seemed to follow them and just miss them every time. Brenna buried her head in Angela's shoulder and prayed that Dominique would find them… save them.
"We don't need her. I've got this under control." Angela spoke while dodging to the left sharply. Brenna hadn't even realized she'd been saying any of that out loud.
********
"Fox is making this look too real." Elisa muttered as she flinched. That shot was too close to them. The fact that she could hear Brenna begging for Dominique to find her really didn't help her feel any better about this. They'd terrified the girl, and she wanted… her mother figure. This was not going well.
"Fox pull back." Elisa said as soon as she'd found the redhead's comm. signal. Fox couldn't hear what was going on with Angela and Brenna, because she had some ground crews helping her with the special effects. It didn't sound like the laser fire was actually real… from the signals Fox was giving out about when to blow certain parts of building walls. "She's terrified. Pull back." Elisa demanded again and watched as Fox slowed her pursuit. Once she got that woman alone Elisa planned to really express how very much she didn't appreciate being kept out of the loop. She glared at Fox as the woman turned away from Angela and let them escape.
"Tell Angela to tell Brenna it isn't safe to come back to this neighborhood tonight. Tell her to take Brenna to the castle." Fox finally responded.
"All of THIS was to get her to the castle?!" Elisa growled out. Goliath's hand moved to rest on her shoulder and she glanced up at him. He wasn't looking very pleased either. "Angela was going to talk her into it."
"Brenna isn't the type of girl to disobey Demona that easily. She needed a push, I gave it to her."
"Why you…" Elisa's voice started to raise.
"Elisa, maybe we should be getting to the castle. I do not like Fox's methods any more than you do, but that does not change the fact that Brenna will be arriving there soon." Goliath interrupted gently, but it didn't stop Elisa glaring at the redhead as she flew over them. This was far from over.
"Can you drop me off at my apartment on the way?" When he looked at her in surprise at the request she started to talk a little quieter. "I'll be along after a little while, but I need my car…" She felt a bit of shame at the next comment, "and after our last confrontation I think you all will have an easier time getting her to talk if I'm not there right away." Brenna was bound to tense up and suspect something as soon as she saw Elisa.
"You were only trying to help." Goliath spoke softly and Elisa leaned into the gentle caress of her hair. She'd told him about that disaster at the high school, and he'd been more than understanding. Elisa, however, couldn't shake the feeling that she'd made a stupid mistake. "I will drop you off at home if that is what you want, but don't wait too long to come to the castle. We may need you."
********
Demona sat in the dark with the tranquilizer gun draped over her leg. Maza's cat sat next to her, on the arm of the chair, lightly purring as she slowly pet it. She would have thought Maza would have more interesting things to look at in her bedroom, but no.
The sound of wings out on the detective's patio made her sit further back into the shadows. If Goliath chose to come in and visit her plan would be ruined. She'd counted on getting the woman alone. She watched with unblinking eyes as he leaned down to kiss Elisa before gliding off. Maza just stared after him a moment, before moving towards the door.
The cat leapt away from her when her body tensed and she lifted the tranquilizer gun. She had to make sure Maza didn't have a chance to scream, or Goliath might be close enough to hear it.
"Hey Cagney. You hungry?" Elisa spoke to the cat that had moved to greet his mistress. As soon as Maza closed the door Demona risked a glance out the window to see Goliath's shadow had moved away quickly. He must be in a hurry. A slight grin came to her lips as she turned to face Maza again, just moments before the woman was about to turn on the lights.
"Oh, there's no need to do that." Demona felt a thrill of pleasure at the detective's suddenly tense pose, moments before the dart hit her in the neck. Demona's sense of victory was enhanced as those wide eyes stared at her in disbelief while Maza fell to the ground. "You may have stolen my mate Maza, but you won't be getting my Brenna." The cat was screeching in confused fear, but Demona just ignored it, swatting it aside to lean down over the nearly unconscious detective. "I really should have done this long ago." Demona whispered into Elisa's ear before Elisa finally lost consciousness.
She then picked up the woman and moved towards her bedroom. She'd managed to prepare it for the spell while she waited. It wouldn't be long and she'd have her own Maza puppet to control for the rest of Maza's life.