Here is chapter 3 of my story, I hope everyone enjoys it. I will try and keep my chapters somewhere around 3000-4000 words so it doesn't overload the reader but is also big enough to satisfy.
Special thanks to my beta "London Bai" for editing it!
Brandon awoke to the sound of his wristwatch's alarm going off at the usual time of five fifteen. He sat up on the couch and groaned in the unsightly pain the couch caused since it wasn't really the greatest thing to sleep on, but he made it through the night, it seemed.
Turning his head, he saw that the drapes were open. "Well, guess she's gone this time."
Remembering what had happened the last time he thought that she was gone, he had better cautiously check first. He stood up, sliding his pants back on before walking into the kitchen to get his morning shake and banana.
"Damn... I forgot to make it last night." He exclaimed. "Oh well, no time like the present." He began to mix the drink while eating a perfectly ripe banana. Yawning a little after creating the shake, he rubbed his eyes and walked down the hall towards his bedroom. The door was open, which was a good indication she had left, yet he still very carefully peeked inside.
"Demona?" He said softly, just in case she was asleep, but the bed was empty and the bathroom door was open with no light on. "She really is gone this time." He said, somewhat relieved, but also a little disappointed. He quickly downed his shake and walked to the bed, which had tossed sheets down by the foot of the bed.
Raising an eyebrow, he commented at the sight before him. "I know she saw that this was neatly tucked in before she ruined it, she could have, at least, made the bed."
But, he wasn't really upset. After all, it was just simply tucking the sheets back in and it was automatically fixed. The condition of the sheets aren't what plagued his mind at that moment, though. It was the thought that a gargoyle, namely Demona, had slept in his bed is what occupied his mind. Brandon made the bed and gathered his gym bag, picking out a random shirt and pair of workout shorts to put them on for his ritualistic trip to the gym. He walked into the bathroom to clean his face and slick his hair so he could brush it slightly to where it didn't look like he had slept on the couch when he looked around the area. "Hmm..." Her clothing that had been hung up was gone, but she hadn't left the clothes she borrowed.
"Haha. Oh man, not only did she eat my food and sleep in my bed, but she took my clothes, too." He said with an airy laugh. It really wasn't a big deal, he just thought that the entire night had been rather strange and hilarious. He took a mental note of the night's events as he chuckled to himself.
'Saw a gargoyle, let that gargoyle into my home, let the gargoyle shower, saw the gargoyle completely naked...' His thoughts paused on that particular instance for a moment before continuing. 'Let her borrow some clothes and fed her, then let her sleep in my bed. And to top it all off, she then takes my clothes and doesn't even say goodbye. I won't be telling that story to anyone anytime soon. Others would think I am a complete nutcase.' He chuckled as he walked out the front door on his way to the gym.
A few days go by as life continued on as normal for Brandon, who was still ever vigilant in his workouts, still trying desperately to sell his paintings. The Veteran's Benefits he was receiving for his injuries wouldn't be enough this month to cover all his expenses, and rent was coming up next week. Still keeping positive in his outlook on life, he was sure something would come up... hopefully.
Just as the morning before and the morning before that, Brandon returned home at his usual time of eight-thirty from the gym. He greeted his cat as usual and poured some food and water into her bowls as he prepared his own breakfast. After his breakfast, he sat down in front of his easel and began work on a painting that he had started the day after he met the gargoyle, Demona.
"Hmm, needs a little more red here... and hmm, maybe some darker shading there..." He mumbled to himself while mixing colors to get the desired shades he wanted on the picture.
A few hours had past when the phone began to ring. Brandon checked his watch, checking it twice just to be sure of the time. "Almost noon, I wonder who this could be." He asked as he picked up the receiver.
"Hello? Yes... yes, absolutely. What time? Yes, I can make it, thank you." Brandon hung up the phone with a wide smile on his face. "Well, Snuggles, we might be making some money here, shortly." Brandon said to his cat in which all he received in return from the feline was a blank stare and a quiet meow.
"That's right, I might have someone interested in buying some paintings, and if all goes well, you can get some new cat toys and I can pay the rent." His appointment was for three this very day, which meant that he had enough time to have lunch and gather his books which contained pictures of everything he had painted that were available to purchase.
"Okay, kitty, time for me to go. I'll see ya later and hopefully I come back with a big check for us both!" Brandon said with a smile, hours later, as he gathered his things and left for his appointment.
Shortly before sundown, a Miss Dominique Destine was finishing up some last minute paperwork in her executive office at Nightstone Unlimited before she pushed a small button on her desk which opened up a secret doorway behind her office bookshelves. Once inside, the sun finally set, the woman had began her transformation from the human CEO known as Dominique Destine to the gargoyle known as Demona. After the painful ordeal, she removed her torn red business suit and replaced it with her traditional top and loincloth that she had always wore. Demona didn't know what had possessed her to do it, but she had brought a small bag containing the very clothes she had borrowed from the human that night and felt compelled to return them on this night.
"I will just drop them off, thank him, and leave." She told to herself.
She opened the window to her office and took to the night sky with the bag tight in hand. She really didn't know why she was doing this; they were only clothes, and he was just a human. But, something about this one fascinated her as he was one of the few that had been actually nice to her and wanted nothing in return. The sight of a gargoyle didn't really phase him that much either, so why wasn't he afraid like most humans? She wanted to find out why he was not afraid of her. Demona carefully navigated through the buildings, watching for any signs of the hunters. She didn't want a repeat of the previous night.
Carefully gliding down onto a rooftop across the street from Brandon's apartment, she looked around for any signs of the hunters before gliding down to his balcony. The drapes were half open as she looked inside seeing that the lights were on but seemed that nobody was home. For a moment, she thought of just leaving the bag on the balcony and gliding off into the horizon, but that wouldn't satisfy her curiosity so she tapped on the glass to see if he would come.
"Hmm, where is he?" Demona exclaimed.
A light tapping came from the inside of the door as she looked down, it was his cat pawing at the glass. Demona bent down and tapped back at the cat, "Hello, little one. Where is your owner?" She asked.
Looking up at the handle to the door she tugged on it, surprisingly the door was unlocked so she slid it open enough and walked inside. "Hello?" Demona said as she caped her wings around herself, still with no answer, she shut the door behind her and walked around. The cat meowed and rubbed against Demona's legs, lightly playing with her anklet, so she picked the tabby up and pet it momentarily before setting her back down. Demona looked at the clock on the cable box which read seven-thirty.
'Where is he, I wonder.'
Demona set the bag down next to his couch and looked over at something that had caught her eye. She walked towards an easel with a new canvas resting on it. There sat a painting, a painting of Demona. She picked it up and inspected it closely.
The picture was of herself wrapped in her wings, standing atop a building with the moon's glow highlighting the gargoyle's body. In the painting, she had no clothing but her wings covered her just enough to be tastefully pleasing yet wildly seductive. Demona began to clench the sides of the canvas with her talons, her emotions on the verge to get very angry.
"This human! What gives him the right to paint me, let alone like this?" Any notions she had that this human was different than the rest started to fade. Demona was about to shred the picture into pieces with her talons until she glanced down at the title that Brandon gave to all his pictures.
"Beauty not Beast" was written beautifully at the bottom of the picture.
Demona's anger quickly subsided as she read this and lightened her death grip upon the canvas.
"Not a beast..." Demona said softly.
'Why did he do this?' She pondered, another question to be asked for later.
Just then, the lock on the front door began to unlock, Demona quickly sat the painting back down and backed up to the balcony windows drapes keeping her wings caped around her.
"What a shitty day," Brandon said depressingly as he walked in and shut the door.
"Bad day, hmm?" A familiar, yet unexpected, voice said startling Brandon.
"Demona!" He exclaimed, looking at the gargoyle. "How did you..."
"The balcony door was open, so I let myself in. I hope you don't mind." She stated.
"No, I am just surprised to see you is all. I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again, actually." Brandon said still looking depressed.
Demona picked up the bag she had left by the couch and handed it to Brandon. "I just wanted to return your clothes that you so kindly let me borrow and to thank you for letting me stay the night is all."
"Thanks for returning them, and it was my pleasure Demona," Brandon said graciously. Quickly glancing out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the painting he had left on his easel.
"You know, it is a really nice night out isn't it." He said, pointing out his balcony window trying to get Demona to turn so that he could flip the painting around.
"I already saw the painting, so there is no reason to hide it." Demona noted with a unreadable expression.
Brandon stood gaping, not sure what to say or how she would react. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have painted it."
"Then, why did you?" She looked at him; not with an angry stare, but one of genuine curiosity. "Why do you not fear me, either? You are very tolerant for a human."
"I have no reason to fear you. Mankind is horrible enough by itself to have to worry about something else." He said, while pulling out the bottle of wine from the previous night. "A glass?" He offered. Demona accepted as he poured two glasses and handed one to her. "Would you like to have a seat?" Brandon pointed to the couch while pushing the button on his blinking answering machine. The tape rolled back and played the message from his landlord reminding him not to be late with the rent and that it was due next Friday.
"I know, I KNOW!" He angrily shouted, pushing the delete button.
"Still having money troubles?" Demona asked, relaxing unto a seat on the couch as Brandon walked over and sat next to her, leaving a cushion in between them. He took a drink from his glass and set it on the coffee table while crossing one leg over the other with a smile.
"Well, I had a prospective buyer for some paintings today. Unfortunately, he didn't like any of my work, so once again I made no money and the money I do make from the Veteran's Benefits won't be enough to cover my expenses for this month. So, as of right now, I'm pretty much screwed. I guess the buyer was looking for one of those standard paintings of a giant blue box with a tiny red circle in the center or some crap."
Demona saw at the dismay darken his face. "I am sure something will come up before you know it."
"Thanks." His eyes fell upon Demona; he could tell she had wanted answers to the questions she asked before. "You certainly have a lot of questions. I will answer them if you will answer my questions after, deal?"
"Deal." Demona agreed, taking a small sip from her glass. Just then, a certain tabby made her way onto the couch, and to Brandon's surprise decided to curl up on Demona's lap instead of his.
"Well, it seems she likes you, which is funny because I named her Snuggles for the sole reason that she never snuggles. All she ever did was lay within petting distance, but... I guess she doesn't mind with you. Anyways, what did you want to know?"
"I want to know why you do not fear me, why you are so tolerant towards gargoyles. I want to know why you stopped dropped the talk about what gave you those scars."
"Well, that's three questions, but they all have the same answer." Brandon smiled warmly at Demona, picking up his wine glass to take another sip from it and sat back into the couch. "Better get comfy, this is one hell of a story.
"You saw my medals, so you know I was in the military, more specifically the Army Special Forces. My team and I were given a mission, standard search and rescue of a high priority nature. A church group had gone to spread their word of God to some local tribes in southern Asia and it just so happened that these tribes were on the edge of a war-zone. Eventually, the church had lost contact with the group. Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue for the United States government, but a certain member of this group was a US Senator's son. So, with that being said, my team was brought up to speed on the situation and dispatched towards southern Asia. The mission was simple: track them, find them, and bring them home with as little conflict as possible.
"It didn't take us long to find out what had happened; a neighboring war chief had raided the tribe and slaughtered everyone but the church group, it seemed. So, we picked up the trail and found what we were looking for about a day after. Before my team was a well fortified and heavily guarded camp of about thirty militia, so we laid low, did our recon of the area. We found the church group, or what seemed to be left of them anyways. Five members were being held in a makeshift bamboo cage just outside one of the huts. So, the plan was established to get in and out from the rear of the campsite, a night strike would be best so we could use the cover of darkness. We watched the camps movements closely that day, keeping track of how many guards they had and what the normal patrol route was for them. The sun went down and all was going according to plan; my team and I moved down the hill we posted on near the cage. The camp only had one entrance, which was guarded by two watch towers with the rest of the boundaries fenced off.
"We moved to the fence, cut it with wire cutters, and infiltrated the camp. The one guard stationed by the prisoners had his back to us, though, which made dealing with him easy. After one of my men dealt with him, we hid the body and moved to the jailed prisoners. They were kept in what seemed like a pig pen almost; the ground was wet and muddy and they were covered in the filth, so seeing if the Senator's son had survived would have had to wait until after my team led the remaining people of the group to safety. I cut the lock on the cage and waved them out, but they wouldn't come."
Brandon paused the telling of his memory and took another drink from his glass, looking at Demona. "You're the first person I have ever told this story to, and it's not an easy story to tell." Sighing deeply, he set his glass back down on the table. Demona didn't know why, but she felt compelled to put her hand on his, for comfort. "Thanks." Brandon said with a smile.
"Anyways, the prisoners wouldn't come out. I waved them out again and urging them to move. The five of them knelt down and pulled from the mud AK-47s, aiming them at us. Then, one of them yelled out in a tribal language and search lights blinded us while armed men ran out from the huts, instantly surrounding my team and myself. The lights had illuminated the prisoners, only they weren't prisoners at all. It was a trap, there never were any prisoners!
"Shortly after a sinister laugh came from the hut closest to us, it was the warlord for this group. He spoke in English to throw our weapons down. Seeing how we were greatly out numbered, I ordered my team to disarm, in high hopes that we would live to fight another day. I asked him what he had done with the group of people from the church, to which he responded with an answer I somewhat I already knew. He butchered them and burned the bodies. He figured someone would come, which is why he set the trap. He had us gathered up and forced us into one of the large huts. Recognizing me as the ranking officer, he most likely figured I would be more valuable to him, so I was tied up and strung up above the floor by my hands.
"The things he had his men do to my team right in front of my eyes. The immense pain that he caused to those soldiers before he finally..."
Demona listened to the things that Brandon said, even she was shocked that someone could be as cruel as that warlord and do the things that he described. Sure, she attempted to destroy all of humanity before, but she never bloodied her own hands with such brutality, even that was beyond her.
"After his men had finished, he told them to leave. Then he, himself, focused his attention on me. He asked for information that I would never give him, which only angered him. He stripped me down, beat me up, whipped me brutally. I took what I thought was his best, but a scolding hot knife slicing through the raw and bloody flesh on my back was a step further. I endured this pain for five days before a second team managed to track us and raid the camp. I survived my ordeal, but my team... did not."
Brandon stared into Demona's eyes, making sure to connect their lines of sight. "You wanted to know why I don't fear you, how I can tolerate gargoyles?" He broke away from the eye contact, staring into the far distance beyond the walls of his home. "When one has stared true evil in the face, made peace with whoever one needs to, just to make peace with and accept their fate, then survive, what else is there to fear?
"After I was brought back to states and recovered, I was medically discharged from the military for post-traumatic stress syndrome. The suggestion from the therapist was to paint for it would help keep my mind clear, and it's a calm hobby. They said try and find things that are beautiful to you. The world is full of anger and hatred, but if you can find the good, the beauty in that, then you are well on your way to recovering not just your body, but your mind as well after such an experience, a brush... no, a dance with death.
"So, to answer your other question about why I chose to paint you. Gargoyles are made out to be monsters, that they kill humans on site and steal babies from there cribs, they say. When I saw you hiding on my balcony from those hunters, though, I didn't see a killer or a monster. Instead, I saw someone who was being hunted by killers, by monsters. I see the beauty in the so called 'beast."
Demona sat silent for a moment staring at Brandon, he had just bared his soul, his experiences, his pain with her. He really was the exception to her rule of humanity.
"Thank you," Demona said. Brandon looked at Demona curiously. "For sharing your story, I understand you better now. Part of me had thought perhaps you were hiding something, maybe you weren't as nice as you seemed, but you are."
Demona just looked at him and smiled. "Well, it is late and I should get back to my own home"
"Hey now, wait a minute, I just unloaded my emotional baggage and you're going to leave? What happened to my questions? I want to know why you hate humanity so much, where you come from..."
"Tomorrow," Demona said cutting him off, "It's nearly 1:00am and you should get to bed."
"Tomorrow, huh? You promise?" Brandon said watching Demona get up from the couch and walk towards the balcony.
She turned and smiled as she opened the glass door. "I promise," she said closing the door behind her and taking to the night sky.
Once again I really would like to thank the readers for taking the time to review what they have read and give me your thoughts, perhaps it will give me ideas for future chapters/stories surrounding these two characters.