Ghost Light

At the top of the hill, I rang the buzzer beside the door of The Emporium.  The store was closed, but Kaye never left the place unprotected.  Someone or something manned the door, ready to carry a message back to their boss.  I preferred coming to the store during business hours when Arachne, Kaye’s human employee, ran the shop.  Visiting after hours was…unpredictable.

I think Kaye liked playing with her visitors just as much as she enjoyed toying with her employees.  Bothering the witch at night only added to her fun.  I suppose I should be glad she didn’t blast me into dust for the intrusion.

I waited, itching to press the buzzer again, but not wanting to push my luck.  I raked a gloved hand through my hair and sighed.  Patience was not my strong suit and, in my defense, it had been a very long day.  As my sigh puffed out to mix with cool night air, I heard a scratching sound overhead.

I held my breath and listened, slowly tilting my head back to look up.  I untangled my hands from my hair and lowered them to hip height, keeping my arms loose and hands ready to receive my knives.

Click, click, scratch.

There it was again, like claws tapping and scratching at stone.  And it was definitely coming from above, not from the street below.  That ruled out a human taking their dog for a walk.  No, this was not a normal city sound at all.

The door to The Emporium stood at the corner of the building, walls towering overhead and roads running back at angles to the left and right.  I scanned the stone and brick walls, searching for what was making the sound.  My mouth fell open at the sight of a gargoyle crawling down the building toward me, stone nails clicking on brick, stone, and mortar.  Though the creature must weigh a ton, it moved with surprising agility and speed—like a bat out of Hell.

A giggle rose in my throat and I snorted.  The idiom was apt.  Bat-like wings sprouted from the back of the demonic form.  If the faerie hadn’t been made of stone, I might have wondered if it was indeed Hellspawn—a bat demon rushing out of Hell and straight at me.

The gargoyle’s face was grotesque, an amalgam of canine, bat, and goat.  Rams horns rose from its head and large teeth protruded from a rounded snout.  The teeth were impressive, but I focused on the muscled arms and legs racing toward me, each ending in sharp claws—claws that rent through brick and stone.

I longed to palm my knives, but traffic continued to swish past on my right and left, humans oblivious to the creature rushing toward me.  Not to mention the futility of stabbing a gargoyle with a common blade.  If I resorted to violence, I’d have to wait for the gargoyle to suffer the effects of iron poisoning from the iron tips of my knives.  I didn’t think I’d survive that long.

I blinked away stone dust, and risked a glance at Kaye’s door.  I shouldn’t have to face the gargoyle alone.  Where was the doorman?  Unless…  Could the gargoyle be working for Kaye?

When dealing with the supernatural it can be difficult to tell friend from foe.  The best indication of enemy is when the creature with big teeth tries to eat you.  And I wasn’t about to wait that long.  I had no desire to be a gargoyle’s chew toy.

I also didn’t want to disembowel one of Kaye’s employees, if the creature was in fact working for the witch.  I had a nagging suspicion that doing so would piss her off.  With only seconds left before the beast was on top of me, I did the one thing I could do.  I screamed at the wall.

At least, that’s what passerby would witness.  A crazy lady yelling at a brick wall.

“Halt!” I yelled.  “Identify yourself.”

Jenna’s military-style phrasing was starting to rub off on me.  I suppose that’s what happens when you spend too much time with Hunters.  Next I’d be referring to the gargoyle as my target.  Though honestly, if the gargoyle wasn’t friendly, I was screwed.  I brushed the fingertips of my glove along the grip of my throwing knife, wishing I had a jackhammer up my sleeve instead.

“Thaaat isss myyy liiine,” the gargoyle said.  He grinned.  At least, I hoped it was a grin.  His lips pulled back to reveal more teeth.  “Madammme Kaaaye willll seeee youuu nowww.”

His words were like rocks grating on one another.  The sound made my head ache, but at least the creature wasn’t going to kill me.  There was that.  The gargoyle made a bowing motion, even though he was still hanging upside down on the vertical wall, and waved toward the door with one paw.  At his gesture the door clicked open.

Kaye’s love of theatrics was really starting to piss me off.  She could have spelled the door to unlock when I first knocked.  I grunted at the gargoyle sentry and trudged inside.  The faerie raised a stone eyebrow at my rudeness, but I didn’t have the energy or patience for pleasantries.