***
"Layne!"
Brooklyn couldn't believe it. It was her. Demona had turned her into a gargoyle. He suddenly felt very dizzy. Damn Demona, she crossed the line this time, for the last time.
"What's going on? Where am I? Brooklyn?" The clan looked at each other, except for Brooklyn, who kept staring at Layne.
She put her hand on his shoulder in order to shake him out of his trace, and caught sight of her hand. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. She sat up and continued to stare at her hands. "What happened to me? I've been turned into a gargoyle!"
Brooklyn took hold of her hands. Layne looked up at him, questioning with her eyes. "Demona kidnapped you," he told her. "She's the one who did this to you. We rescued you, and you're here in the castle, with the clan." Brooklyn pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry, you're safe now."
Layne looked around at the others in the room and smiled weakly. "Sorry I couldn't make our meeting."
"It's quiet all right, considering," Goliath said, slowly, still trying to grasp this new information. "What do you remember?"
"It's pretty hazy," she raised her hand to her forehead, and was only slightly surprised to find a heavy browridge over her eyes. "I remember Sevarius and his goons coming to get me. They shot me. Then I remember a slicing pain and a bright light."
Goliath nodded. "That was part of the spell Demona was casting. Go on."
"The next thing I remember, I woke up here, with you. Like this." Brooklyn still had his arms around her. He seemed more upset by the recent events than she was.
"We'll find her and make her pay," Brooklyn promised. Layne relaxed into her love's arms as the others left them alone.
***
Dominique Destine kicked the lab doors open. They banged against the walls and swung for several moments before settling back in place. Her eyes glowed red. She had to be incredibly angry for her eyes to glow in her human form. Sevarius considered a strategic retreat but was too slow. Dominique stormed past him, still dressed in her tattered loincloth and top, and went straight for the refrigerator. She pulled out a green bottle.
"Did it go as planned?" Sevarius asked. The gargoyle-turned-human took a long drink from the bottle. "You could at least use a glass." The bottle came flying towards him and he barely ducked in time before the bottle smashed against the wall.
"I take it that it didn't work. Where's the specimen?"
"Gone. Brooklyn and that fool Goliath interfered. When I came to, they were gone, along with the girl. All my plans, up in smoke." She slammed her fist down on the table.
"You let them take her? My best work!" He went to the refrigerator and pulled out another bottle. He also brought over two glasses. "I'll join you in that drink."
***
Layne looked around her old apartment one last time. She was going to miss this place. It wasn't much, but it had been hers. Her first real place, away from her parents.
She knelt down and pulled a picture from an open box. It was a picture of her, her old self, her human self.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Brooklyn knelt beside her. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to miss this. My whole life was here. True, I had just quit my job, but now I have to quit school too. But I guess it could be worse."
Brooklyn put his arm around her. "I'm sorry this happened to you, and I'm sorry Xanatos can't make you human again, but I think you might like being a gargoyle." I know I'll like you being a gargoyle, he added silently.
Layne let out a small laugh and put the picture back in the box before closing it up. She stood up and walked across the room. She pulled a bedsheet off a full-length mirror and stared at her reflection. She had kept her coloring and basic features, but other than that, she was almost unrecognizable. Her browridge was similar to Demona's, unbroken across her forehead and ending with two upward spikes at either end. Locks of hair fell between the spikes on either side, framing her face. She had spikes at her elbows and knees. Her wings, delicately capped around her shoulders, where the same style as Demona's except different colors, black on the back and dark gray inside. She wore a pair of old denim shorts, cut for her tail, and a navy halter-top two sizes too small. Most of her clothes would need to be either altered or given away.
She smiled as Brooklyn wrapped his arms around her waist. She was now a few inches taller than her old five and a half feet. "You know, I've been like this for only twenty-four hours, but I think I just might enjoy being a gargoyle." She swished her tail. "However, I think I'll enjoy being a goddess more."
"What did Puck have to say about that?" Brooklyn asked.
Layne shook her head. "He said he'd teach me as much as he could within his restrictions, but I'm pretty much on my own with my powers. It's kinda scary, having all this power. I can feel it inside me, and it's so powerful. I'm not even mortal anymore."
Brooklyn kissed the top of her head. "You're strong, you'll do fine. Hey, look who's back." He pointed to the window as Leviatha stepped through. She walked up to Layne, sniffed, then rubbed up against her leg.
Layne picked up her cat. "Hey sweetie, where have you been?" Her phone beeped and Layne dug the cell phone out of her back pocket. She hit the on button and put the phone to her pointed ear.
"Hello."
"The movers will be there soon, is everything ready?" Owen asked.
Layne looked around. "Yeah, we'll be leaving soon. Will you tell Mr. Xanatos thanks again for doing this, it's so nice of him to do this. I don't know how I can repay him."
"You can discuss that later. I'll see you later." The line disconnected and Layne put the phone away.
She put the sheet back over the mirror and closed one last box. "That's it. Let's get back." Brooklyn opened the window for her. Layne held Leviatha in her arms as they went back to the castle.
They passed over a large group. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was an anti-gargoyle rally and quickly got out of sight. They hid on the edge of a nearby building, in the shadows.
"Do you think they saw us?" Layne asked.
"If they had, we'd be hearing about it by now." Brooklyn peeked around the corner. He pointed in the direction opposite the crowd. "If we go that way it'll take us longer but they won't see us."
"Sounds good to me." Layne looked at the group. A blonde man spoke to the crowd, she figured that it was Castaway. A Hispanic man cheered him on, making Mr. Castaway rather annoyed. There were two people just outside the crowd, not really participating, but not really ignoring or trying to stop it. Layne squinted at the young couple, a tall man with dirty blonde hair and a short brunette girl. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Leviatha hissed and tried to wriggle free.
"Layne! Are you all right?"
Layne turned back to Brooklyn, who once again looked overly concerned about her. "I'm fine. Let's go."
***
Layne sat in the kitchen with the younger members of the Manhattan clan. They chatted as Broadway cooked them a snack. Brooklyn and Lex were still laughing about an inside joke so Angela and Layne made girl talk.
"How did my mother know you practiced magic?" eventually came up in the conversation.
"Well, I wasn't very secretive about it, and I worked for her awhile back." Brooklyn and Lex stopped laughing. They turned to listen to Layne's story. "I worked as a secretary for awhile, then, for some reason, I was transferred to genetics. I did fine and was there for about two months. Then I quit."
"Why?" Brooklyn asked.
"I found out that the entire time I was there, they had been experimenting on me without my knowledge. Mandatory shots, they said, experimental vaccines. I bought the whole story, but they had lied. When I began changing, I knew something was wrong, so I ran my own tests."
"Changing how?" Angela asked.
"Internal things. I was a bit stronger, but tired during the day. I was more tolerant of the cold, and I could feel my energy increasing, especially when doing magic."
"They must have been slowly turning you into a gargoyle," Lex concluded.
"I tried to quit before, but she wouldn't let me. So, I did it when she was away on a business trip and couldn't stop me because it was processed before she returned. I don't think it made her very happy."
"So she kidnapped you," Brooklyn growled. "How typical."
"But why?" Broadway said, setting the food in the middle of the table. "Wouldn't it be easier just to kill you as a human. Um, I didn't mean it that way, I meant…"
"I know, Broadway. But the spell required a sacrifice to be three things: a gargoyle, a virgin, and a magic user. I guess she thought it would be easier to make one than find one."
"So what are you going to do now?" Angela asked.
"I'm staying here of course. Specifically, I'll have to think about it, but I know where I'll be doing it." She grasped Brooklyn's hand and smiled at him. "Right here with my love and my friends. Besides, I still have to pay back Xanatos for helping me move."
"You don't really have to," Brooklyn said.
"I know, but I'll feel guilty if I don't."
There was a loud crash somewhere nearby and everybody rushed out to see. They followed the noise to the library. Bronx was barking at one of the bookcases. Goliath and Elisa looked up, trying to find what he was barking at. A table had been turned over and several books were sitting on the floor.
Leviatha meowed and leapt off the shelf, bouncing off Layne's head and landing in the doorway. She took off down the hall and Bronx ran after her. They tried to grab him as he went past, but failed. Lex clasped his arms around his neck, but was unable to stop him. He hung on as Bronx raced away, looking a bit like an olive green flag.
"Oh, no," Layne moaned. "We have to stop him before he turns Leviatha into dog chow. Hang on Lex!" She took off down the hall after them.
Angela, Brooklyn, and Broadway followed them. Elisa and Goliath exchanged looks.
Elisa let out a small laugh. "I think things just got a whole lot more interesting around here."
"I'm afraid you're right," Goliath answered. He looked down at Elisa, "I'm glad we had this talk."
Elisa took his hand. "Me too, Big Guy, me too."
***