The Stone Beast

 

"The Stone Beast" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

Madison had lived in the oldest part of the city since she was a kid. She’d managed to find her own place, but it wasn’t much. A studio apartment at the top of one of the oldest buildings in town. One of the first, to be exact. She loved the old architecture, but was always afraid that pieces would start crumbling away at any moment. 

She worked in a bakery, so she was always up before the sun. She needed to be at work by 5 a.m., so she was usually up by 3. It was still dark, still quiet, the calm before the city came to life. It was her favorite time of day. 

As usual, Madison poured herself a cup of coffee and went to her Eastern window. It opened out onto a small balcony. It was a breathtaking view and her only luxury in life. Sitting to the right of her window was one of the original gargoyles put in place all those years ago. It had become her morning companion and confidant. 

She stood at the railing and took in a deep breath of morning air. “Aw, Sydney,” she said with a coo in her tone, “if only I could find someone like you. Stoic, brave, a good listener, and handsome. What do I have to do to find someone like you in my life?” 

She took a sip of her coffee, eyes half closed, then heard, “Well, you might offer me some of that coffee.” 

Madison froze in place for a moment, then screamed at the top of her lungs. The cup fell over the railing as she frantically tried to get back into the apartment. Once inside, she ran to the other side of the couch, then hid. 

Who had said that? Was there someone out there? Was there someone in her apartment? Terror gripped her soul. 

She calmed down a bit and looked around her room. Nothing. She didn’t see anyone in her apartment, and there weren’t many places to hide. She looked at the windows, and there was nobody out there. She was eighteen stories up and knew nobody could have climbed up that high. So who had talked to her? 

She slowly walked back to the window, looking out to only see the gargoyle who’d sat outside her window since day one. 

She opened the window and slowly stepped outside. “Okay, Sydney. Unless it was you talking to me, I think I’m losing my mind.” 

“It was me,” she heard replied. 

She shot a look at the gargoyle, which was sitting there staring back at her. Her fear gripped her to the point she couldn’t move or scream. 

“Please, don’t scream,” the gargoyle continued. “I won’t hurt you. I’m sorry if I scared you, but you’re the first person to talk to me in almost five hundred years.” 

“You…you can talk?” Madison still couldn’t move, but her fear was beginning to subside. 

“Yeah, we all can,” the gargoyle noted with a gesturing hand. “We just choose not to do so. But, I like it when you talk to me, so I…” His voice trailed off. 

Madison’s fear had vanished, and her curiosity had been piqued. “So, does that mean you can get up and fly?” 

“No,” the gargoyle replied with his head down. “We can get up and stretch throughout the night, and wander around the roof, but we can’t leave…ever. It’s our job to protect the tower.” 

Madison nervously laughed, “Protect it from what?” 

The stone beast turned his face toward the rising sun. “Pray you never have to find out.” With that, he became as stone again. 

Madison felt a shiver run up her spine. She looked at her watch and realized she needed to get to work. As she made her way through the window once again, she lost her footing and fell headlong into one of her end tables. 

She tried to get up off the floor, but to no avail. The room began to spin, and soon, all went black.

 ~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~ 

“Madison?” a strange voice bellowed. “Madison, can you hear me?” 

As she came to, Madison heard a cacophony of voices and sounds around her. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to make out the situation, finally focusing on an older woman in a uniform jacket. 

“There you are,” the lady said with a smile. “Do you remember what happened?” 

“Who are you?” Madison mumbled. “My name is Melissa, and I’m an EMT. Your friend, Carlie, called us. You’ve got a pretty nasty bump on your head and lost quite a bit of blood. We’re going to take you to the hospital.” 

As they lifted Madison onto the gurney, she glanced out the window, seeing the old gargoyle sitting on his ledge. Had she really had a conversation with him, or had it all been a hallucination? She thought she noticed the stone beast glance at her out of the corner of his eye, but she couldn’t be sure. Then she had another thought. 

What were they protecting the building from?

The Days of Old

 

"Days of Old" by Christine Graves via NightCafe Studio

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

As the morning sun crept up through the hills, Dee made her way to the patio, sitting down at the little table that had been there for years. 

“What, you can’t help bring anything out with you?”, Dee heard from the house. As she turned around, her cousin, Cate, stepped through the door with a large tray, filled with pastries, two teacups, and a teapot. She set the tray down and poured them both a cup. 

“I don’t know, Catie, something just doesn’t feel right. I can’t put my finger on it just yet, but something just feels off”. Dee took a sip of her tea, staring off into the horizon. 

“Yes,” Cate replied, “I feel it too. There is something brewing in the air, something dark. Speaking of dark, I see you got a letter from your oldest daughter. I hope she is well.” 

Dee gave a side-eyed glance at her cousin. “Going through my mail now?” She giggled at her own joke. “Yea, she just wrote to let me know that some of her artwork will be on display at some gallery in New York and invited me to the opening night.” 

“And you’re going, right?” Cate’s response was more a demand than a question. 

“I don’t know. You know I don’t like big cities. Too many people, not enough trees. No, I’ll probably stay right here and get some work done.” 

Cate shook her head. “It’s no wonder you and your daughter have such a strained relationship. Go, see her work, and tell her how proud you are of her. Remind her that you love her just as much as you do her sister.” 

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Dee knew that Cate was right. 

Dee Masterson had lived a long, illustrious life. She was a widowed mother of four children, an amazing horticulturist, and one of the best attorneys in the world. Though she no longer practiced in a courtroom, she still took on cases and helped people through the Internet. 

Her cousin, Cate Marinatos, was an old-school, Greek matron who was more like a mother to Dee than her own had ever been. As a child, Cate took Dee in after her parents had another one of their physical altercations. This time, however, Dee’s father nearly killed her and all of her siblings. Because of this, all of the children went to live with other family members, and Dee never saw her parents again. It was because of this event that she went on to become an attorney. 

As the years wore by, Dee and Cate became more like sisters than cousins. Though she’d see her siblings ever now and again, Dee chose to live a quiet life alone. Cate would come and go as she pleased, but claimed residency in an old German castle. She was one of the world’s most renowned book collectors and had a collection that would rival any modern library. 

Dee had four children, two girls and two boys. Her eldest child was her daughter, Dessie. She was a highly paid artist, but lived a very dark lifestyle. Most of Dessie’s life was a mystery, but her mother knew she was strong enough to handle anything her daughter got herself into.

Next, Dee gave birth to twin boys who turned out to be as different as day and night. The eldest of the two, PT, was just a beautiful child. He had bright blue eyes, pink little cheeks, and everyone always seemed to want to be around him. His twin, Philly, had a darker complexion with dark eyes and a quiet manner. They were complete opposites, and as they grew older, this became much more obvious.

Finally, Dee gave birth to her youngest daughter, Daisy. Dee coddled her new baby, causing a lot of jealousy in her other children. Daisy was the light of Dee’s life, so when her baby grew up and ran off with an older man, it broke Dee’s heart to the core. It took months for Dee to come out of her depression, but with Cate’s help, she finally managed. 

“Hello? Earth to DeeDee. Are you still with me?” Cate’s chiding brought Dee out of her deep thoughts. 

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the kids. I still worry about them. Dessie’s in New York, PT just bought another hotel in Dubai, Philly’s still running around the world digging up the past, and Daisy…” Her thoughts dropped off. 

“You need to let that go, my dear. They’ve been married for a very long time now, and he’s never been mean to her or hurt her in any way. Whether you like it or not, he loves her, and she loves him.” 

“I know”, Dee quipped with a snap, “but that doesn’t make it any easier. He took advantage of my baby, and I’ll never forgive him for it.” 

“Bullshit”, Cate snapped back. “You’re mad because you were wrong. It’s time to let it go. Now, come. Help me get this cleaned up. I want to get some of those herbs in your garden up to dry before I have to leave tomorrow. I have some new books arriving in a few days, and I want to be there when they come in. There might even be a couple in there you’ll appreciate.” 

The ladies finished off their tea and cleaned up the mess. They went out to the garden, pruned a few of the herbs, and hung them up in the shed. They spent the rest of the day puttering around the house and yard, giggling and talking like schoolgirls. Dee was in her element. As evening came around, Cate made them a little dinner and poured them each a glass of wine. They sat across the table from each other, neither saying a word. Finally, Dee looked up at Cate and smiled. 

“What?” Cate asked with a smirk. 

“It’s amazing to me that after all these years, you still know how to help me get my mind off my troubles.” 

Cate blushed a little as she giggled. “Well, I’ve had plenty of practice over the years, my dear. But it’s high time you remember who you are. Not who the world thinks you are, but who you truly are.” 

Dee blushed and turned her head away. “That’s not me anymore.” 

“Oh, but it is. It is who you are and who you will always be. You said it yourself this morning. There’s something in the air, and it feels wrong. Maybe it’s time for you to break out of your self-imposed prison and do something about it.” 

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?” Dee glared at Cate, a feeling of dread coming over her. 

“Of course I do. Well, I know something’s coming, and I have a feeling you and I will be right in the middle of it.” 

“Is this going to involve my brothers and sisters? My children? You need to tell me what’s going on.” 

Cate just laughed. “Why must you always be so serious? Yes, this is going to involve our entire family, which is why you and I need to be at the top of our game. I’m leaving for Germany tomorrow, but I’ll be back in a few weeks with the books I was telling you about.” 

“What if the world isn’t ready for us? You know they’re all going to either mock us or try to destroy us. I’ve worked very hard to keep my children safe. The world doesn’t want us anymore.” 

“Rubbish,” squeaked Cate. “The world has never stopped loving you. Even in these modern times, the world still loves you. They may not know you, but they know what this world would be without you. You are the goddess Demeter, Mother Earth, the spirit of the land itself. It’s time to take your place once again.” 

Dee took her cousin by the hands and kissed them gently. “Thank you, Hecate, for always being by my side. I hope that whatever’s coming our way knows what it’s getting into. Let’s bring back the world we once knew and make it whole again.” 

The two goddesses embraced, releasing a soft, cosmic glow that called to all the members of their family, from the Primordials to the other Olympians and beyond. It was time to come out of hiding. It was time to return to the days of old.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

This is part 1 of a new serial I'm putting together called Return of the Spirit. As I post each episode, I'll add a link to the full series. I hope you'll come along and join Demeter and Hecate as they work to bring order back to an unruly world.