Impress Me

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Chapter 10 – Always Found, Forever Lost

All the world was silent, seemingly to mourn this one death; to mourn her passing and curse their fate with eyes that will never again open and dreams that will never come to be. All the world was silent when the breath of the human race vanished in an instant.

Goliath held onto Elisa. He was trapped even then between gripping her tighter to help ease his pain and of holding her limp frame loosely so as not to break her further. In that quiet world, the only sounds were the sobs of a gargoyle that lost his beloved. Lexington tried to ease him, "Um, Goliath…"

The giant lifted his face from her chest, "Leave me be."

"But Goliath," he persisted, "We might be able to save her and humanity."

"What do you mean? Is it possible? We can save her?" he looked on with frantic hope; his voice elevating with each question. Hudson rested his well-aged hand on the giant's shoulder. "Easy, Goliath. Let the lad finish."

Lexington continued, "Well, I don't know for sure. It was just a legend after all but we could still try?"

"What legend?" inserted Broadway. Lexington focused his gaze on Goliath, "It'd probably be easier to show you, but you have to trust me completely."

Goliath took note of Lexington's hand clenching tighter around the dagger. Was he to defile her body only to have it not work? Goliath cupped her face. The warmth in Elisa's cheek was beginning to fade away. He clasped his eyes shut as his hand took hers, bringing her cold fingers to press against his lips. What other choice was there? "Do it."

Lexington took in a sharp breath and heaved it out before he approached. Goliath lay Elisa flat on the ground to give him free access. He knelt down beside her and lifted the dagger over the wound in her stomach. The others gawked with eyes wide and unbelieving. Lexington understood that he had to get it on the first try and the pressure was building. He took in a deep breath and held it there. With one swift move, Lexington stabbed the dagger into the wound and quickly pulled it out, afraid he might have failed. There were many objections for his actions but all remained silent in anticipation of Elisa's revival. Moments passed and hope grew evanescent. Nothing; her eyes still remained closed, her breath still broken, and her heart still absent of a beat. Goliath could not bear to look any longer. He rose to be alone when there was suddenly a white glow emitting from the wound in her abdomen. Unbeknownst to them all, all the world glowed with that same white light, every place where there once was life. Goliath spun around and stayed by her side. He took her hand into both of his as the glow calmed and dimmed; waiting to see those brown eyes once more. Everything in its entirety was muted in that instant when her fingers moved in his grasp, "Hey, big guy."

Every face there lit up with joy but none so much as Goliath's, "Elisa! You're alive!" Goliath took her into his arms too afraid to let go ever again. Elisa gasped at the sudden grip, "Not for long if I can't breathe."

Goliath eased his grip to allow her to sit up on her own. He looked to Lexington for an answer to this miracle, "How…?

Just then, a deafening shriek when out that could be heard throughout the city. A long pause and then attention fell on Lexington as he took a moment to explain, "The artifacts Demona stole were the Crest of the Fallen and the Folgorite dagger. The Crest of the Fallen was found on the shores of Denmark and brought to a museum in Manhatten. It was displayed as the seal of a lost king but when I found a file containing scanned pages of the Grimorum in Xanatos' computer, it read otherwise. The Crest of the Fallen was a lost treasure in the cave of Grendel's mother. It's not a seal; it's a vial. She made it with a spell to contain the blood of every living creature so she could 'hold the world in her hands'.

"The other artifact is the Folgorite dagger. Legend has it that a frost giant named Folgora mocked Thor but they were equal in power. Loki decided to help him by giving him a dagger that will kill as fast as lightning on the first strike. So when Thor challenged Folgora again, he beat him in one blow but he didn't stop until he took out his entire family. When he cornered Folgora's wife, she asked how he came upon such great power. Thor told her that his new power was forged by the greatness of his might and killed her. When Loki heard, he became angry and cursed the dagger to forever undo any death blow upon the second strike. Then he tricked Thor into believing that Folgora still lived. He dared him to try and hit the same place twice, mocking him until Thor couldn't stand it any longer. Thor struck the same place and revived Folgora. Though it worked on other frost giants, he tried many times later to undo his mistake but Folgora was forever immune to the dagger's malee and mocked him until the end of his days.

"When Demona combined these two items, she held in her hand the power to destroy an entire race. When she stabbed Elisa…" Elisa finished his sentence, "She effectively killed all of humanity. She finally did it."

Brooklyn took a turn, "So when Lex stabbed you again, he brought everyone back."

"And now humanity is immune." Angela impeded, "So she can't use this again."

"That's why she let Lex and the dagger fall in the water." Haven examined, "The waters of the Hudson are too dark for any average gargoyle to find and by morning, the current would have swept the dagger out to sea."

Elisa's voice was weak, "She was very careful not to convey her plans. She was probably banking on us not knowing the significance of the artifacts."

Suddenly, realization impaled Haven like a plethora of knives, "Kale. A few moments ago he was…" Brooklyn instantly became aware of her thoughts, "Let's go…"

And they were gone ten minutes ago. Goliath seemed to understand as well and organized the clan accordingly, "Lexington, Broadway, join them in the search for Kale."

Not a second later, the two were off to search the city. "Hudson, take Elisa home and guard her." Goliath continued, "Angela, you're with me."

"Perhaps the lass is finally coming around to humans." Hudson analyzed.

"Hmm, I hope you are right." Goliath agreed, "We would not want her to become like Demona." They took to the skies in a city that had found a new life and a new reason to 'stay awake'.

Kale awoke from death on the side walk like most people out that night. The city was in an uproar; everyone fussing about waking up on the ground or in their car. News report all over came to a complete halt to cover this new story but absolutely no one had an answer. Even when they looked back at the tapes, they couldn't give a legitimate answer to the confused citizens. Police forces that were heading towards the beacon of light near the Hudson River were swarmed by people demanding answers as if they knew.

Kale groggily stood to find his balance when he saw a flicker of hair that looked familiar to hi. A woman stopped to check the street, turning his way for a moment. It was only a moment but he knew with 120% certainty that this was her. He ran after her, struggling to keep up with her longer legs. He called out to her but she didn't seem to hear. With the few children currently out with they're mothers in this panic, how could she expect to hear a call to herself.

He followed her around a corner, down a block, across the street, and into an apartment building. By now she was very far away but still in his sights. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath so Kale used his youthful energy to his advantage and got closer. His heart was leaping in his chest for joy and from running. Just as he was across the street from her and about to call her out again, she went into the building and started up the stairs. Kale was short on breath but he pressed forward, too excited to stop. The echo of her heels reverberated off the walls far louder than his sneakers did so his footsteps went nearly unheard down a few flights. She stopped climbing on the seventh floor. He was so close, just one more flight. He could hear her catching her breath before opening the door. Just as she came into sight, the door opened for her and a man stood there. He grabbed her and held her in his arms with her name on his lips, "Cielo."

Kale was about to charge this strange man when his mom embraced back calling out to him, "It's okay, Grey. I'm fine."

Grey led her in and shut the door behind them. Kale ran up the door and placed his ear to it. Everything was muffled and there were no openings or cracks where he could peep through. A few yards down the hall was a window. He went to the window to find a fire escape to the left and took no time to jump over to it. The window at the fire escape led straight to the apartment. He peered through the window and saw his mom kissing this strange man. "How could she betray dad like this?"

Cielo asked where some 'Angel' was so Grey went into another room and brought back out a baby boy. Cielo kissed and held the child the exact same way she held Kale in the picture. Kale stood unbelieving at the window. This was the one thing his dad ever told him that was truth; his mother left him and started a new family. He had been replaced and forgotten.

His eyes could not believe it. They never wanted to see what they were witnessing now but there was no denying it. It was right in front of him; the mother he idolized in that picture holding him, the mother who stood faithfully next to his father, she was now in the arms of another man with a new child. It was as if a new family portrait was taken and his was thrown out with no reason or explanation.

The infant held tightly to her index as she kissed his tiny knuckles. Kale could watch no more. In that instant, it seemed as if his heart gave out, but then why was he still alive to suffer through it? He turned away from the window and slumped against the side of the building, his rear thumping against the metal of the fire escape.

He just sat there for a moment or two when he heard "…hear something?" and the window opening next to him. Kale gasped as his eyes met with his mother's. She seemed overtly shocked to see him sitting there outside her apartment of all places. Kale's eye filled with water despite him wishing they didn't in front of her. As she opened her mouth to call "Kale?" he shot up and dashed down the fire escape.

Down one step ladder, around to the next, and the down another; Kale raced down those seven stories ignoring her calls to him. He realized that once she stopped, she was coming down to meet him which made him all the more frantic to get away. The last ladder was stuck like most fire escape ladders in NYC. How he cursed the accuracy of the movies and games with fire escapes. He was too high up to just jump so he pushed with everything he had. The ladder budged only few inches but abruptly enough to make Kale lose his balance and grip and fall twenty and two feet to the alley floor.

His shoulder broke his fall and he sat there for a moment grunting and groaning, waiting for the pain to pass. Before it could though, his mom burst out of the front door of her apartment complex and rounded the corner to find him. As she neared him, Kale brushed off the pain, got up, and ran as if she were some beast coming to devour him. Holding his arm to limit its movement and the pain, he just ran.

He turned around just once to see her just standing over where he landed holding his picture. When did he drop it? He didn't care; he had no further use for it. The pain in his shoulder kept creeping up on him until he realized that it wasn't just his shoulder, it was his entire arm. It was pulsating and bleeding but he had no time to worry about that. He looked back once more and couldn't see her. Not paying attention to where he was going, he tripped over his own feet and fell forward. It started to rain and any other time he would look for shelter but he didn't care right then. Kale just lay there on the sidewalk wallowing in self-pity.

Half of him wanted her to find him and take care of him and justify to him all he had just seen. He wanted her to make everything alright and repair his image of her. The other half questioned how she dared to call his name with some other brat fresh off her lips. He wanted to never see her again; didn't care whether she lived or died just as long as he wasn't a part of it. Then he thought she had no right to follow. She had been alive this whole time and made no effort to see him or explain why he left. She just left him and his dad to make another happily ever after. Then he thought about how she knew who he was on first glance. He looked nothing like when he was a baby and could have been any random boy to her so how did she know? The only reason he could think of was that she had been watching him or had stayed in contact with his dad but if that were true, why did his dad lie and why didn't she come see him? How dare she recognize him.

People walked by but no one stopped to help him or give any notion that they cared if a child was hurt on the ground in the rain in New York. After a while, his mind just ran blank and he decided to get up and walk away. Where could he go? Back to his dad, no, Kale didn't want to see him either. He didn't have any relatives that he knew about. His dad kept him from them all if he had any. He just walked until he came back to a well acquainted part of the city. Stopping next to a familiar alleyway, he saw the boxes he was living in not so long ago. A lot of them were gone and only two of them remained but what were twelve or two boxes when at the end of the day they were still boxes. He just curled himself up in one. By now, his arm had gone numb, no doubt it was broken but who cared. He just sat there watching the rain fall until sleep took him.

It didn't stop raining all throughout that night or the day after.

(A/N) Combined chapters 10 and 11 because I felt chapter 11 was WAY too short and chapter 12 was long enough. I honestly feel this is how a child would see a situation like this. I should know since I work with them almost on the daily. It's a sad thing to see a child so troubled. The ones that don't kill themselves, you GOT to admire their courage. I think that's what the moral of this whole thing is: Courage. Courage to face fears, to forgive, to accept hardships, and to live despite the dark clouds up ahead...But enough of that Deep sh**. Thank you, my lovelyz, for having the courage to last this long. I know how hard it can be to pick up a story and pray it doesn't suck. Sadly, I've given up on Hollywood because everything's become a gold rush and quality has gone down drastically. Everything HAS to be a franchise and who cares if the writing goes down the toilet. But I still care, so that's why when you read an Empress Creation, it's the best she has.

Go to my deviantArt page to see the updated Haven. I gave her an earring, fixed the eyebrow problem, and made the wings a little larger. My sister's a budding animator and she drew the original but I upgraded it and changed quite a bit. I've never taken an art class to learn how to do this stuff so I'll ask for help from time to time but the more recent ones and some of the old ones are purely my work...A~nd then there's that one I just cheated on all together. The link is below, copy and paste, delete the space, and don't forget the dot-com. And enjoy.

xai16. deviantart

/gallery/33636029