GARGOYLE
Part II: The Specimen

Chapter 3

As Bade had predicted, what was once a light sprinkle was now reaching hurricane proportions. The too-often flashes of lightning accompanied roars of thunder, and rain cascaded from the thick blanket of clouds to crash into the flooding streets, which became more like rivers with every minute. Any other evening, Bade would have allowed himself the distraction of it all; much could be said, he knew, for how his foresight of this storm’s progression well symbolized his nocturnal operation. But his current focus stuck on his master’s prize prisoner, sitting across from him in the black limousine.

He couldn’t see her face; she’d dipped her head forward to her knees, dark hair slipping off her shaking shoulders. The young boy watched with an air of hesitance, afraid to actually touch her. His wide eyes kept shooting from her, to Bade, out into the storm, and then again to the girl.

Opposite to the growing fear he could sense coming from both of the captives, Bade felt calm. For him the hard part was over, though he didn’t quite like the idea of handing this tortured girl, hardly grown, to Jonathan. He liked handing over the boy, aged maybe ten years, even less. Bade always held certain amounts of pity for the young. He did, however, acknowledge that this girl was a target for reasons she was most assuredly aware of, and they were reasons that had to be brought to attention now.

He shifted uncomfortably. Bade was not only sympathetic with children but also inexperienced. He couldn’t remember the last time children had been involved with the Ansel. He’d have to tread lightly here, since he didn’t want to make things worse. Grudgingly, he assumed that to be his master’s job.

“…May I call you Hannah?”

Kind words did nothing to ease the tension. In fact, they seemed to strengthen it. Her shaking ceased, and the girl’s body went rigid as she listened carefully for Bade to speak again. The boy, appearing to give up, brought his legs up onto his seat and stared blankly out the window, defeated.

Bade took the silence as an answer. “Miss Wallstone,” he began, taking delicate tones. “When judging your reaction, one might say you were not surprised to see us…Expecting us, even. You know who we are. You know what we are. And you know why we are here.”

No reaction whatsoever this time. It crossed Bade’s mind that she was blocking him out, and simply talking would do little to help. He reached to the seat on his left and lifted a vanilla work folder onto his lap, then opened it and began to read aloud.

“Hannah Wallstone, aged 17 years human. Accused by Mr. Jonathan Sicari and therefore all of the Ansel Vampire community of the breaking of several Human Acts, including spying, allying to a terrorist resistance, and accomplice to the murder of an Ansel Vampire.” He closed the folder and looked at her, finding that she had raised her head to look at him, dazed. “You’ve been very busy for a human girl of your age.”

Her eyes glazed over and she slowly lowered her head again. Bade could practically see the will to live slipping away from her. He knew it would only get worse for her, too; she would be seeing Jonathan tonight.

Strangely enough, he was uncomfortable with this mission. Normally he wasn’t like this. Normally he was loyal and devoted to Jonathan Sicari, constantly ready and willing to accept whatever orders he was given, but he couldn’t remember any mission that had ever been like this. Nervous inside, stoic out, he let his attention wander to the boy and found him already staring back.

His face was easy to read. He was just a confused and scared child. Such strong emotions from someone so young made Bade shiver. The fear and contempt in his eyes was so shockingly apparent that Bade was thrown off guard. He’d never connected with a child like that before, and it made him nervous. He thought it very uncharacteristic of himself and decided he needed a better grip on all of this. So he would get it with a furtive old trick that had always served him well.

“And your name is…Donny?”

Bade locked onto his eyes, keeping the connection. He could see the boy was already folding under his hypnotist’s pressure, drooping sleepily. If he pushed just a little…

But out of the corner of his vision he saw the jerking motion of the girl’s hand flying to the boy’s arm. The boy jumped and gave a frightened yelp as she squeezed hard. Bade frowned, his mind’s union with the boy broken. The girl had lifted her head to glare at him, and Bade noticed for the first time that she wasn’t holding eye contact for longer than a few seconds at a time. This drew a smile from the old Vampire.

“You have been busy,” he said. “You know exactly what do around us, don’t you?”

The girl bit her lip, but said nothing. As expected.

“…Listen Miss Wallstone,” Bade said, giving up on trying to relate to children for now. “I understand that this has been a terrible ordeal for you. Thus far your cooperation has been appreciated. But in case you were under the delusion that you could do anything to help anyone, allow me to check you back into reality.” He pointed out the window, where the lights of the Sicari tower were fast approaching. “One way or the other, by the time this night is over, your life will be lost.”

Slow down, he told himself. Keep a steady pace. It was difficult. It wasn’t that he had lost his temper. It was nothing of the sort. It was that now that he had dropped all pretenses with her, he felt he had to tell her everything. But it may have been spilling forth too quickly. The girl’s face fell into shock, fear, and dread. She knew what he meant, and that his goal wasn’t to scare her, but they both knew she was done for.

“But if there is hope for any of us here, I want to be able to give it to this boy.” Bade said softly.

Now it was the boy’s turn to appear shocked. The girl looked at him wearily, and then in shame at her feet.

Bade leaned back in his seat, folding his arms over his chest and crossing his legs. There was little else he could now if she had decided to turn stubborn. The limousine was engulfed in silence as they pulled in through the gates of the Sicari building, and Bade felt stung.

It was when they pulled up to the curb, where Ansel guards were waiting, that the girl choked out a heave, dropped her head into her hands, and said, “Donovan Torres.”

Bade faltered. “Pardon?”

“His name is Donovan Torres,” she sobbed. “We were all he had.”

Bade stared at the boy. He looked back, scared of what his friend’s words would mean for him. Bade could see the tears welling up.

The limousine stopped, and the girl let out a shaking sigh. He found her really rather admirable, what with her level of acceptance. A person in denial would never have divulged such precious information. Bade knew that from first-hand experience with full grown men and women under similar circumstances. And yet here sat a weak, resigned girl who would do what she could to protect all she had left. Quite admirable, Bade thought.

The guards were visible through the tinted windows, stepping forward. When one of them tried to open the door, Bade grabbed the door handle and shut it again. The girl and boy stared, stunned.

Bade was suddenly desperate to get these words across. He didn’t want to think that he could no longer help, especially because he was really the only one who would try. The rest was up to Jonathan, and Bade didn’t want to think about what would happen if Jonathan was given a child. So he held his open hands to the boy.

“Please, Donovan,” Bade whispered. “Miss Wallstone is going to have to leave you, and it will be very dangerous. I will keep you safe. But you have to take my hand, and you can’t run away, no matter how scared you are. Do you understand?”

He focused intently into the boy’s eyes, which went slightly foggy the longer he looked. Finally he felt his connection with the boy’s mind slip, and the child dropped his hand lightly into Bade’s. The Vampire smiled softly at Hannah, who was watching Bade’s spell with a resigned expression.

“I will take care of him,” Bade said, trying to be reassuring. He reached over and opened the car door, and the loud patter of falling rain met their ears. Outside, Ansel guards straightened into attention. Bade stepped out, guiding the hypnotized child over the curb. The girl followed, and instantly the guards took hold of her arms. She looked down at the little boy, and leaned forward just enough to kiss his forehead.

“Take her to Mr. Sicari.” Bade said firmly, regret lining his features. He watched as the Ansel guards marched to the front doors, the girl between them. He stood there, child clinging to his hand in the rain, and wondered whether or not he ever wanted to see that girl again.