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?