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Souls of the Night – Vol 3

22.

I crouched on the tiled floor although I didn't know when my legs had given way beneath me, breathing deeply many times. It was probably only a few seconds instead of minutes while my member shrank, I heard the water pattering on me again and gradually began to feel my injuries again. One by one my higher brain functions switched back on and I slowly emerged from the black disorienting swamp of shock and waded back through the sludge of myself. I took a deep breath and smelled my favorite frog prince for the first time.

"Lex," I whispered, infatuated with the thought that he could be here with me after my panic attack.

I heard his soft, low laugh that sounded VERY satisfied and when I opened my eyes in bewilderment, he was lying beneath me with an equally satisfied, somehow disheveled smile. The water was splashing on both of us and he shielded his eyes with a hand to keep it out. But ... although he was wearing a shirt, he had nothing else on. And I was deep inside him!

"Welcome back, Nate," he purred with a sex-drunk blissful chuckle where cold horror gripped me as I realized what I'd done. I straightened my upper body, which automatically caused my cock to slip out of him. He took a deep breath, wriggled a little on the floor and touched his olive green belly where the water was washing away his own cum.

He flashed me a wider, wry but rather overwhelmed grin.

"That was. Wow. Something completely new. I'm not saying I never want to be Top again. But I hereby make a request to swap regularly, please," he said, so cheeky and content that I felt like I was in a wacky parallel universe. It was only when I saw the white juice oozing out of him and immediately disappearing down the drain that I came to my senses. I held my hand over my mouth, gasping for air. My head and eyes hurt because I had already cried so much, but I couldn't stop right now. Whimpering, I leaned forward in deep despair and rested my forehead on his chest.

I felt him stroking my head.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I'm so sorry."

"Nate. I get it. I get that you weren't quite yourself just now. That was the shock. I love you, I'm not mad at you. "

I looked up and closed my eyes as he kissed me on the brow. How could he do that after I had done to him what Jussuf had done to me for years? What Brentwood had almost done to me? How could he still look at me, how could he still joke, how could he tell me he loved me? I swallowed down the immense urge to vomit that I couldn't even give in to because my stomach was completely empty.

"How can you keep looking at me like that?"

"Well, you're not bad to look at. Okay, you're a little bruised right now, but tomorrow night you'll be yourself again."

"PHA!" I blurted out in self loathing. Myself!? I hadn't been myself since February. He huffed in amusement, heaved himself up with a groan, reaching for the faucet to finally turn off the water, slipped past me and walked with a painful-looking waddle past me to the pile of towels, one of which he put around his shoulders and came to me with another. Even now after I had almost literally ripped his ass open, he was taking care of me. That was SO upsetting. I hated this fucking body driven by its instincts, constantly running amok, constantly bursting into flames, constantly giving in to its desires, and now it had hurt the person who was dearest to me. The brief sight of his back scratched by the tiles made me break again.

"I raped you!" I let out a series of hiccups, too powerless to go into another crying fit and pressed the warm towel against my face.

"That wasn't rape. You just couldn't control it. How can I be angry with someone who didn't know what he was doing? And it didn't hurt all the time. After two or three minutes, I was all in, believe me. You surprised me. But I went along with it. We both came. It was good."

"It wasn't good! I didn't prepare you, I hurt you!"

"It was okay, Nate. I'm not that fragile. Now please tell me what happened to you? Did you have an accident? Why are you so upset?"

I shook my head, seeing the shattered tiles where I'd pressed Lex against them and wanting to scream in disgust at myself.

"I was just," I started to recount, not wanting to crack, "- what I experienced today. He tricked me. He was right. I'm a horny little bitch. I am just that. I'm so disgusting. And I felt so weak afterwards. So infinitely weak and angry at the same time. I hurt him and in that second I felt fantastic and justified and I wanted to kill him but he was wearing YOUR face and the thought caught up with me here in the shower and I - I couldn't wash away the feeling of his hands on me! I couldn't!"

He straightened up for the first time and stared at me with his mouth open. His eyes were so different from Brentwood's but ... I avoided his gaze and babbled on mindlessly even though my words didn't even make much sense to me. "And I- and I- I felt so dirty and my damn dick didn't listen to me. But when you did the closed reduction on my tail- and your hands like his- God, I'm- I wasn't myself anymore, just fear and anger and I just didn't want to feel so exposed again. But I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't even know what was going on with me."

I held my hand over my mouth in disgust. "God, that's EXACTLY what a rapist would say."

Lexington pulled me to my feet, which felt like a young fawn's, and moved me to the toilet where he placed me.

"You are NOT a rapist! Will you stop it now? Tell me what happened to you. Who was right? And ... What was that with my face?"

"Him! But... I- I can't talk about it."

He took a deep breath with a dissatisfied look on his face, then walked out of the room. But before I could panic that he was going to leave me out of disappointment, he came back with clothes. He gave me a new pair of underpants and put on one of the loose T-shirts he had stashed here for such clothing emergencies ( a must-have for creatures with claws).

He helped me to maneuver my still aching tail, which I couldn't get out of its resting position, through the hole in my underpants, dabbing my body with another towel in slow, delicate movements, although I guessed how hard he had to pull himself together to keep his gestures gentle. I could see from his grim expression how frustrated he was. None of my wounds were particularly deep, the claw marks had long since stopped bleeding, my tail and the blow to my head were probably my biggest injuries (physical injuries). I avoided looking at the bleeding holes that I had probably torn into his upper arms in my derangement. It was only when he led me out and sat me on the bed that I realized I was really dizzy and how nice it would be to sleep, to sleep for a long time. When did the sun rise? I didn't want to stain the pillows with any blood, so I wrapped the towel around my head. Only then did Lex speak again, his voice low and stern.

"Nathaniel ... I need to know who did this to you?"

"Doctor Davis told me never to be pressured into talking," I tried to divert him, but his disheartened look made me lower my gaze.

"The one who saw us. Having sex. On the roof in the Village," I admitted as he sat down next to me.

Lexington blinked, puzzled. "In the Village? Mhmmm."

I grabbed my head. "Oh by Allah, you need to think about which roof!"

"Well, there were several."

"I know! He was right. I AM a slut. If my lover has to think about which rooftop in the Village he fucked me on."

His laugh sounded desperate and apologetic.

"There are plenty of good rooftops - what am I supposed to do?"

"Please, no jokes Lex, no jokes."

"I'm not joking! I want to know who called my boyfriend a bitch now. And the face thing? I told Xanatos Media back then not to make masks that look exactly like us - that would be totally disgusting. Who was it? Was he white? Black? Did you see his real face? Tell me where he assaulted you, I'll track the cell phones in that area during this hour. We'll find that bastard."

I heard myself laugh. It sounded as bitter as bile. Lex was so possessive and invasive. "You'd just want revenge."

"Of course. I'll make sure that guy regrets ever looking at you."

"I think I've already taken care of that."

"Yeah?"

"I've - I've already hurt him. I burst into flames, broke the chains and burned the skin on his neck where I grabbed him."

"Your chains?!" He growled, narrowing his eyes. "Nathaniel, tell me what happened. Who put chains on you? Who called you that? Who cut you up like that? If he's hurt - good - then we'll find him even easier. Tell me now," he commanded, his voice as dark and rumbling as an approaching summer storm.

I sniffled again. "I'll only tell you ... if you promise to stay with me afterward. No revenge."

"But-."

"PLEASE Lex. I need you. I've already made him pay."

"Okay ... Good. Now tell me."

I took another deep breath and put my heavy, aching head in one of my hands.

"It was...it was Brentwood."

I looked to the side as Lex shifted to sit up straighter. He was staring at me. His mouth wide open, his ears drooping in mute horror. I cringed under that stare.

"Please don't look at me like that. I know what that sounds like."

"Brentwood," he repeated, blinking a few times as the moments stretched to infinity. Then he stood up on wobbly legs, grabbed another blanket and wrapped it around me as if I were a fragile egg. Then he set about moving the blankets and pillows that were already on the bed, crumpling them up and arranging them in a circle on one side of the bed. It looked ... like he was building a nest. And my gargoyle side loved that he was doing that. I frowned as he beat one of the pillows "into shape" in barely contained anger. But although I suspected he was keeping quiet so as not to put me under more pressure, it didn't make me feel any better. What was he thinking? How did he see me now that he knew that I had been in the hands - literally in the hands - of his own clone and had therefore forced him to have sex to reclaim power over my body and over the situation. To get rid of this disgust. This disgust for someone who looked like him in many ways.

With gentle pulling and pushing, he maneuvered me into the pillow and blanket nest where I immediately curled up in the fetal position because it felt so right. Then he pulled the blanket off my shoulders, spread it over me and lay himself down next to me but above the blanket. Then he closed his eyes. I blinked, bewildered. Wasn't he going to say anything? Did he want to... What could he possibly say to make it better?

"Please," I pressed out. "Please say something. I'm sorry. Please say something."

He opened his eyes again and looked at me with his lips pressed together, making it clear how hard he was trying to stay calm.

"What are you sorry for? What are you apologizing for?"

"I - that I - I don't even know exactly. You're angry and I don't want you to be angry. But you have every right to be." My tears started to well up again. Every time I thought I couldn't cry anymore, it started again. I hadn't cried for so long while suffering under Jussuf. Thanks to my depression, I had been able to push almost all my outer feelings away or numb them with medication. But since I was a gargoyle, I couldn't turn off these miserable, pathetic reactions. I was also at the mercy of them.

Lex hesitated for a moment but then put a hand on my cheek.

"HE did this to you. I AM angry. I want to rant and rave and puke and preferably build a super laser, shoot it into space and burn this freak to a pile of ash from above the stratosphere and then laugh about it like a supervillain." He and I were both snorting without being able to muster more than half-hearted pained smiles. It was a joke but somehow it wasn't. Lex shook his head grimly. "But I'm not mad at you. Quite the opposite. If I had understood right away, I would never have tried to touch you - sexually. And I would have gotten someone else to fix your tail - Angela or Katana. You were - are - so traumatized and someone who looks like HIM hurt you again against your will. I was so stupid. And blind. Again."

"YOU don't look like him! HE looks like you - a bit. And he's a disgusting, cheap, rotten copy!" I was outraged and groaned because I had wanted to sit up but now that they'd had the luxury of relaxing neither my bruised wings nor my tail cooperated.

"It was perfectly natural to freak out after that and try to ... well - take control of the situation and the person who hurt you. The sex-"

"The rape"

He tugged at my frayed ear reprimandingly. "The SEX, the fucking good, brain-blasting sex was just an outlet for it ... Maybe ... it's not good for me to be close to you right now. I don't want to add to your trauma."

He wanted to rise but I grabbed his wrist.

"No, please stay with me. I - I'm not afraid of you. I could never be afraid of you. You - you look alike but you are different from him in the most important ways. You are gentle and caring and warm and attentive and ... can you hold my hand and give me a kiss, please. Please." I let out a shaky sigh as Lex moved closer to me and kissed me slowly and tenderly. A chaste, wonderfully sweet kiss that even soothed my headache as if Lex was channeling magic into me.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked without pressure, just as Davis had recommended. I rubbed my hands over my hot face, still feeling the small holes where Brentwood had pressed his claws into my cheeks. Was that what I wanted? I had just said no. But at the same time, I knew I HAD to tell him. I had to share the events so that they didn't become a new millstone weighing on my psyche. And I couldn't share something like that with the others. Yes - they were my clan as they kept emphasizing. But this was too private, too disgusting, and I feared that every single one of them would rush to hold Brentwood accountable and make this even bigger than it already was. Lexington, on the other hand, had promised to stay with me. Of course I would tell Davis about it ... Eventually. But I needed to discuss it now or it would eat me up.

"I don't know where to start," I admitted.

Lexington took my trembling hands in his.

"Was Thailog with him? Did Thailog do something to you?"

"No. He was alone. He had - it was a trap. A woman's voice on a recorder that made me land at Green Wood Cemetery. He knocked me out and I woke up tied up."

"You wanted to rush to the aid of someone in distress? "

"I know that's against Brooklyn's duo rule. I didn't have my body cam on and my two way wasn't working and my cell phone had no reception. But ... I thought I could handle the situation. But ... I couldn't - as always. I was stupid from A to Z. But-."

"-You wanted to help a person in need - like a real gargoyle," Lex said and smiled at me lovingly - and also a little proudly at the thought that I had tried to pull off the old gargoyle tradition of vigilante defense on my own.

"What happened then? He knocked you down." He slipped his hand under the towel around my head and I turned my head so he could look at the spot again. The growl that came from his throat rang through my spine. I put a hand on his chest and continued to speak in a whisper with my head down.

"When I woke up, I was tied up with iron chains. Pierremont monument or something. And Brentwood showed up and at first I thought it was you. But he- I was so scared. Those eyes. And those black teeth."

I started shivering again even though I really wasn't cold. Lex, despite lying on the blanket and me underneath, put his arm over me, automatically spreading his flying skin over my upper body and cooing comforting words for a few minutes.

Then I continued to speak quietly, safe in the darkness of his wings and soothed by his scent.

"He didn't rape me. Not really. He didn't penetrate me. He took his time, played with me. Nothing I said had any meaning for him. He even laughed after I almost scolded his neck and fled. He ... it seemed to me as if everything - every scratch he inflicted on me, every insult had a different meaning for him than it did for me. As if he would do anything ... in a perverse, amorous way."

"He is sick. Twisted. He always was. Plus the influence of Thailog. It took me many, many years to accept that someone built from my DNA could be like this and turn out worse."

"You are not responsible for him. Or his actions."

"I know that. But ... He's like a tumor. Every time I think he's been cut out of my life, he pops up again and - just looking at him disgusts me. As if something nasty had been ripped out of me that was tiny at first but then grew and became visible to everyone. His very existence shames me."

"He has nothing in common with your personality. Everyone knows that. I know that."

"Now you're comforting me, but it should be the other way around. "

I smiled at him in the semi-darkness of his wing and he smiled back.

Then I spoke further. "Brentwood said - in that clumsy way - that he'd seen us. How you took me in the Village. And he wanted to know my name and which clan I was from. And I didn't tell him anything and tried to reason with him. Clones are supposed to be simple but - although his language was primitive - he seemed different. He said what I had done with you, I should now do with him. There would be no difference for me. But it is a difference. It is."

I caressed his back, feeling through the loose shirt his cuts and scratches from the broken tiles I had pushed him into.

"I wish I could erase your terrible memories," he whispered. "I wish I could dash off, track him down and lock him away forever where I and everyone else will never have to see him again and where he can do no more harm." Lexington frowned and shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

"It's weird. Brentwood is really just ... well - Thailog's sidekick. He's never done anything on his own or for his own benefit. But you said he was alone? And what would Thailog get out of Brentwood raping you? It doesn't make sense."

I cleared my throat uncomfortably and felt the blush creep up my face.

"He, well, he said he wanted me as a mate. Not just sex. He was just as entitled to a mate and love as you are."

Our nest was briefly illuminated by his glowing eyes. Lexington had to digest this first, breathing shuddering breaths that I couldn't tell if they came from disgust at this realization or from trying to suppress his anger. Then he nodded grimly.

"Okay. Probably seeing me with you triggered this desire in him. That's why he acted alone. It was and is terrible, but we can be glad that Thailog obviously wasn't involved in the planning, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to escape or they would have kidnapped you straight away. Fortunately, he doesn't dare come near us as long as he's a child."

I must have made a rather stupid, questioning face, because he grinned and raised his hand to close my wide-open mouth.

"Tha-Thailog is a child? In Goliath's book -Is this Thailog a new Thailog? A clone? Or a robot?"

Lex chortled.

"You'd hardly believe the story if I told it to you. On a night with less stress, trouble, anger and regret, I'll tell you the story in peace."

He expelled air through his slightly pursed lips and sounded dead tired.

"You're tired?" I asked.

Lexington shrugged his shoulder, which wasn't buried in pillows and blankets. "Well, not tired. But ... maybe we could close our eyes for an hour. Until dinner. But if you don't want to eat with the others, that's okay too. I'll explain it to them. So, no details but that you had a run-in with Brentwood, taught him a fiery lesson but need your rest because of it."

I snuggled closer to him and we embraced each other gently.

"That sounds good. An hour or two of cuddling with you. With my original perfect sweet Lex," I mumbled and closed my eyes. He kissed me again, snapping his fingers twice so that the light went out and we were left alone with each other and our quietly beating hearts. It was warm and cozy and I could almost have imagined that nothing had happened earlier. But my head didn't go along with it. I tried to concentrate on Lexington's slowing breath. On his scent. On his eyes twitching behind his eyelids. He really had sunk into one of those rather rare deep Gargoyle Night Rem phases. I didn't have that blessing. My thoughts kept circling and spiraling. I tormented myself for more than two hours. Normally I loved lying next to my lover even when we weren't doing anything. Now it was torture.

Slowly, when I was really sure I wouldn't wake him, I released my arm from his grip and slipped off the bed. I shivered in pain and bit my tongue painfully just to keep from groaning as my injuries made themselves known. In the semi-darkness of the room, lit only by the glow of light from the bathroom, I picked out the baggiest sweatpants and shirt I had (made in Tachi's expectation that Broadway would feed me fatter than he already had). With that, I slipped out the door and changed in the hallway. I was sorry to do this. I was sorry not to do it with Lexington. I knew he would want to be there. But his presence might make me buckle. I was soft as butter when it came to him. He knew that. Maybe he was working with that in his subliminally manipulative way. He would be disappointed that I was going ahead with it without him, but it wasn't as if we had signed a contract on how it should be done. We hadn't even talked about it yet. Me because I had been procrastinating and shied away from the partial return to my old life. He because he hoped that I wouldn't go back there at all.

But I couldn't stay that way. This night had proved that. I would always be a point of attack in this clan, always the weak link, physically and mentally. In combination with these dangerous powers and tonight I had gotten so out of control that I had raped Lexington. I had been so uninhibited, uncontrolled and oblivious regarding my own body and actions that I had committed one of the worst crimes. Something I had suffered from myself - so I knew what I was talking about. I didn't care if Lex made it sound nice - I had forced myself on him. Just because he hadn't been able to say no, it hadn't been a yes. I had to turn things around NOW and tonight or I would lose myself completely. I didn't want to know what I would do next time if I lost control. Who would I hurt? What would I burn down? Who would die? Lex didn't see that. But what ... I stumbled on my way through the castle at the thought ... what if I set the castle on fire, including the eggs in the rookery? What if one of the others, human or gargoyle, died trying to get to safety or save another?

.

I had reached my destination at last, my hand already raised to knock, I hesitated again.

No! I had to stop being so selfish. I wasn't good, I wasn't right for this clan. I loved them too much to remain one of them. Even if I got my powers under better control, I might not be a mortal danger, but I would always be frail. Pathetic. No gain. A clan needed something else. Anything else but Nathaniel Sharif.

My raised hand trembled. Why was I acting like this? What I wanted to do wasn't a betrayal, everyone knew I wanted to do it, would do it. Tonight, tomorrow night, next week? But I'd rather do it now than continue to drown in my doubts. This was the right thing to do. This was the way it was supposed to be, I should never have become a gargoyle, I-

-jumped against the opposite wall of the corridor when a guy (Thing? Creature?) ripped open the door and almost pounced on me. Three inches from my face, the creature stopped, its long white hair flowing into my face, which, like its whole body, seemed not to be affected by gravity.

"HelloHelloHello! HERE'S PUCK!" shouted the delicate figure, which seemed to vibrate with energy as it whizzed through the corridor, then floated back to me and around me, trying to poke me here and there with a pointed finger. I hopped around (clumsy and generally bad at keeping my balance with my physical condition) so that it (HE!) didn't touch me and the creature laughed at this. He literally herded me into the open room he had come from.

"We've been waiting for you, you wondrous creature in blue! Not the best of nights, I see, but my pupil will fix you."

He grabbed my face so that I made a fish mouth and stared deep into my eyes with a fleeting serious expression as if he was looking for something behind them. Before his grin grew so wide that it almost reached his huge pointed ears.

"Okay, time is precious, everything looks good, the coast is clear, let's mend everything the way it should."

He pushed me into the room where Alexander was standing, looking at me apologetically. I stumbled to him while the creature I had never met but knew was Owen Burnett's Fey side bolted the door and floated towards me, grinning devilishly. I took refuge behind Alexander who stood in the room looking as innocuous as Puck looked menacing. Ares and Flora sat on the bed, present but uninvolved in what the Fey knew I was there for.

"Hello Nathaniel," Alexander said. "It's okay if Puck helps, isn't it? I know he can be overwhelming, especially when he's excited about something. I'm not quite back up to speed yet and it's easier for me to channel the energy with him."

I didn't even wonder why everyone knew why I was there and that I had just turned up at the door - proof of how much my world view had changed in the last few months. I looked from him to Puck, who was still hovering but very close to the ground, striking a delicate pose like that of a ballet dancer standing on tiptoe with his palms clasped together towards his face.

"How could you not trust this charming countenance," he whispered, but he didn't sound innocent at all. Lex had told me that he was a trickster. But... Alexander was here. Puck wouldn't do any mischief with me or my body if Alex was here.

"Of - of course. Thank you. And sorry to bother you s-so late," I stuttered uncertainly and managed (with Alexander as a shield) not to flinch as Puck approached me again and let his eyes wander over me. I felt naked under his gaze and fought the heat that wanted to rise from stress back into the depths of my body. Something inside me reared up at the proximity of the Fey. It was strange. Part of me wanted to flee, another part wanted to grab the fey and burn him to ashes so he wouldn't touch me. And another part ... wanted to hug him as if he was an old, well-meaning but long-unseen relative.

"Ohhh, apologies aren't necessary!" Puck hummed softly, leaning over Alexander so that he almost looked like a child hanging over an adult's shoulder and stroking my jaw horns with one finger so that I shuddered. "We thank you for your cooperation! We don't want to press but let's make it quick before sleeping dogs awaken and ancient powers shoot us into third race nirvana. The only thing Alex and I need from you is a single yes."

"Yes?" I asked and suddenly the room was FULL!

Puck's cheering was drowned out by a loud puffing sound as he disintegrated into a purple cloud of smoke that instantly took solid form as long, thick tentacles with countless suction cups burst out and nearly filled the room, making a beeline for Alex and me, who clung to him in terror.

"Don't worry, Nate, he's just being dramatic. Let him show his antics, it won't affect the magic," said Alex, who stoically accepted the sight and demeanor of his play-acting tutor and even smirked in amusement. Music came out of nowhere, which I recognized from the first sounds and which left my mouth open because I simply couldn't believe it. The performance was too sureal, laughable and upsetting. But when the purple smoke changed completely into Puck's new form, I realized it wasn't a joke. Though still skinny, everything below his creamy white arms was the body of a fat octopus with black outer skin and the underside of his tentacles purple. His hair shorter, tailored to his current role, swirled around as he moved to the beat of the music, flexing his massive tentacles - eight - as befitting half an octopus. Now there wasn't one or two fingers poking me, but eight limbs to torment me. I yelped as a tentacle moved over my wings and a couple of suction cups clung to them and then detached with popping noises.

Alexander put his arm around me and said something to Puck that sounded like, "not so rambunctious, my mentor", but it was drowned out by the music getting louder.

"He can't be serious!" I exclaimed with wide eyes and saw Puck raise his arms and grin with glee, his teeth sharper than before.

"Oh baby deer! That′s what I do. It's what I - we - live for!

To help unfortunate creatures like yourself.

Poor souls with no one else to turn to."

The music swelled and he began to sing, adapting the song for himself.

"I admit that in the past I′ve been a nasty

They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a cheat

But you'll find that nowadays

I′ve mended all my ways

Repented, seen the light, and drum a new beat

To this

True? Yes.

And I fortunately know a little magic

It′s a talent that I always have possessed

And dear little Ifrit , please don't laugh

I and my master pupil use it on behalf

Of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed..."

I cried out as one of Puck's tentacles grabbed me, glimpsed Ares and Flora as I was passed back and forth between the kraken arms, who had taken refuge in the middle of the bed where there were no tentacles, their eyes wide with wonder and anticipation but not really fear. Well - THEY weren't surrounded by wriggling tentacles that tossed them back and forth to the beat of the music. I didn't know whether I was too terrified to feel my pain or whether Puck, Alex or someone else was doing something to me. But I was just scared when his voice turned into melodic thunder that could probably be heard across the island.

"Poor unfortunate souls!

In pain, in need

This one longing to be thinner

That one wants to get the girl

And do I help them?

Yes, indeed

Those poor unfortunate souls

So sad, so true

Once they came flocking to my lady`s mirror

Crying, "Spells, PUCK, please!"

And I help them!

Yes I do!

Now I'm taking a time out

but thanks to Alex there are exceptions like for you!

So I will help, have no doubt.

Until the Lord or higher powers let me off the hook

And I'm a again redeemed bona fide boy in their book!"

He pulled me close to him. "But that's a story for another day, isn't it Ifrit?" he purred, running two of his tentacles over my face and horns so that I could only stare at him in shock.

Why was this so different from my transformation into a gargoyle? Why was everything inside me screaming to let loose a firestorm just to get out of here! I felt myself breathing heavily, felt the fire rising inside me.

Puck's grin vanished for a moment, his gaze resting on me for a moment ... as if he was afraid.

"You have to want it, Nathaniel," he said. "Say you want it! We'll give you back your old life in the sun it will be your benefit. Your life as a human among humans, your life without fear and in safety, but you have to say it!"

"The price!" I groaned.

Puck grinned. "Clever boy."

"My voice?" I asked. Puck and Alex behind us chuckled. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I got goose bumps all over my body when I felt magic building up not only from Puck but even behind me. I turned my head in the embrace of the fat, wriggling tentacles and saw Alex standing there motionless. But now his eyes glowed bright green and he muttered words I couldn't understand.

"Not your voice- dummy. We're not that close to the movie. A price, yes. But not a price you couldn't pay," Puck murmured. "I'm not asking much, just a token really, a trifle you didn't had as a human anyway."

LEX! I thought in alarm and hissed at Puck. "I don't want to forget Lex and the clan!"

Puck in Ursula disguise looked repulsed. "No! There's no way we'd do that to you! You and them are Alex Clan. You'd both would crumble if we separated you and that would increase the risk."

"The risk of what? The risk for whom?"

"The token, don't u have a clue? Your fire. It's bothering you, we'll take it from you."

"My fire?"

"Yes!"

I grinned. "You can have it! Take it!" I shouted and felt the heat from the inside seep out like lava from a volcano. Puck felt it too, is eyes began to flare green, his suction cups also in a display of magical fluorescence.

"Have we got a deal?" he screamed.

"Deal," I yeeled back.

"Then BURN! Birdie. Burn for us, for you and for the whole world!"

And I did. Roaring and too willingly and yet with a screaming voice in my skull as I let my gargoyle body go up in flames.

I'll go to Disney hell for that.

But I can not only morbidly perverse but also magical - I'm as flexible as a tentacle. If you don't know Ursula's song from The Little Mermaid you can find it on Youtube or Spotify. It doesn't matter if you take the cartoon version or the real movie version with Melissa Mc Carthy.

Thanks for reading, Q.T.