"Midwinter" by Kiki the Weird Cass moves to Conneticut and meets a new friend, named Lissa. Demona captures Lissa and a gargoyle, so she can sacrifice them to a demon. Gargoyles characters belong to Disney, Q belongs to Star Trek, and Paramount, and the rest (except for a few references) are MINE! If you want to use them please email me. Anyone who knows anything about Catholic schools will have a good laugh over Demona's opinions about Catholic schools. Oh! I keep forgetting. This is a parallel universe to the Gargoyles universe. The Goliath Chronicles never happened except for the Quarrymen. "Angels of the Night" never happened and the public isn't so sure about the existence of gargoyles. The general opinion is that the newstape, of the clan during the explosion, was a hoax. Midwinter Dear Everybody, I miss you all. I still can't believe that my mother sent me to an Catholic boarding school in Connecticut. St. Dolores is a real pain. Sara, you know Latin, so explain the pun to everyone else! The food is terrible and the rules are more constricting than a corset. The uniforms are really ugly: forest green skirts with yellow blouses. I've met a friend who's name is Lissa. We both like the same of books and music. Finally! Someone who knows what I'm quoting. Fortunately I've been able to sneak out of this place for my practice sessions. I would have gone nuts if I didn't get to fight out my stress. I'd rather be back in New York. This place is driving me insane. Miss you! Your slightly insane super-heroine Cass Cass ran down the hall. She still hadn't worked out her schedule yet and was always late. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going until... WHAM! She collided with something. There was a young woman about her age of seventeen. The woman was blonde and brown eyed. She was a few inches taller than the five foot five inched Cass. She also had a nervous air about her. They both lowered to the ground to pick up their papers and books which had fallen to the ground. "I'm sorry! I wasn't..." Cass quickly stopped the woman's apology. "No, it was my fault. I got lost and was running without looking where I was going." "You're new here. My name is Melissa Anderson but I prefer to be called Lissa." "My name's Cassandra Jensen but please call me Cass. But please DON'T call me Cassie. A...sort of...friend calls me that and it annoys me." "As long as you don't call me Missy." "Deal! Could you show me the way to room 42?" "Ugh Mrs. Woodworm's US history class! She really knows how to bore an audience." Cass laughed as the two girls walked down the hall. * * * Lissa pushed her hair out of her eyes. She had just finished an English paper. Ms. Holden loved to spring these papers on her class but they never seemed to phase Cass. Ms. Holden and several other teachers loved to try and break Cass. But Cass always faced all of these matters with a calm cold confidence. She did all of her work but her attitude made it perfectly clear that she wasn't your normal supplicating student. Cass had a will and mind of her own. But she almost never did anything punishable. She'd do all of her work, would not misbehave, and treat most of the teachers with cool sense of respect. Lissa wished that she could have Cass' confidence but usually she was a nervous wreck. She'd start a sentence and end up stuttering out the rest of the sentence. She hated going to social events. In fact she'd rather read a good book. Most of their senior class called her the "Human Mess". And they called Cass, "Miss Freeze" or "Frosty the Snow Bitch". But there was one thing that Lissa could do. She think up and tell stories. She was a born storyteller but only when she wasn't nervous. When she was calm, Lissa's voice was smooth and rich but when she was nervous she started to squeak. Lissa shook her head and pulled out a book. * * * Demona was tired but she drove on. She had to find a young human virgin. But where? Some business for Nightstone had taken her to Connecticut. So she looked around and was inspired. A Catholic high school! She had heard about how human religion objected to premarital sex. There were probably many virgins there. She had to sacrifice a virgin from each of the three races to Garroun. A little while after she had been made immortal, Demona had called upon the demon Garroun to protect her and to grant her power. Every thousand years, Demona had to make the same sacrifice. . She already had a gargoyle. Demona gave off an evil laugh. It was one of Valkria's clan. If there was anything recognizable left of body, she'd just might give them a nice little present the next time they met. Garroun had told her all about the Moongrove clan and Goliath's clan. He also told her about Elisa and Goliath turning into gargoyle by night - human by day. The puzzling part was that Garroun did not know how it was done. She stopped the car. Demona opened the school door and walked to the office. An older woman stood up. "Hello Ms. Destine! I hear you are interested in our school but I don't remember ever hearing anything about you having children. I don't mean to intrude." Demona bit her lip. "I was thinking of adopting a teenage girl." This human was aggravating her. "Oh! That is nice. You have a very Christian spirit. I'll give you a tour." * * * She remembered waking up. Her head was spinning and a terrible noise was grating against her ears. When she began to focus, she realized that a man was screaming. She heard a loud explosion. Another man had entered the room and was holding a strange black metal object in his hands. There was another explosion and she felt a pain in her arm. Her arm was slashed and bleeding and the strange object in the man's hands began to give off smoke. Fear gripped her. She ran to what looked like a door but could not push or pull it open. She saw a window. She crashed into the glass and a great noise arose. There was another explosion. She tried to run until a great metal monster appeared. The monster blinded her sensitive eyes with bright lights and deafened her keen ears with more noises. Several men emerged from the monster. They had several of the metal objects that caused the explosions. The men pointed the objects at her. She ran away, her heart leaping with fear each time she heard the explosions. * * * Lissa awoke slowly. Her head was throbbing. All she remembered was watching Sister Mary May showing some woman around. Lissa had gone to the restroom to freshen up. The woman then grabbed her and put some evil smelling rag over her nose and mouth. Lissa felt dizzy and passed out. Lissa regarded her surroundings. She was in a metal room that in the middle of it was a steaming cauldron. And next to the cauldron was a large sealed silver vase. Lissa was chained to a wall and next to her was a cage. There was a green male gargoyle, at least that was what she thought he was, with black hair. She didn't know if he could speak since all he did was growl so far. Lisa was very frightened. * * * Elisa's celluar rang. She made a quick yet clumsy landing and answered it. "Hello?" she asked. "Elisa, Matt here. I'm being sent upstate to investiagate a possible gargoyle sighting. I'm being sent since our precinct seems to have a lot of gargoyle experience." "What happened?" "Some little antique shop was restoring a statue when it came to life. But here's the weird part, the statue came to life only and hour ago." "But that's three hours after sunset! Do you think that the statue was one of Valkria's clan or another enchanted gargoyle?" "Anything's possible. I got to go now. I'll check in later." * * * Things were going smoothly. Demona had already taken blood from the human and the gargoyle. Taking the blood was hard. She had to carve an infinity sign with a slash through it. If she did not the spell would have been ruined. Demons! They were such slaves to ceremony and ritual. It was easy taking the blood from the human. She was so frightened that she didn't move. The gargoyle, though, put up quite a fight but it got done. * * * It was hot in the room. Sweat was rolling out of Lissa's every pore. She moved one of her manacled hands, to wipe some of the sweat, and she recieved a shock. Her sweat slickened hand nearly slipped out of the manacle. Lissa grabbed the manacle with her other hand. She twisted and turned it until it was off. Quickly she slid out off the second manacle. She was free! Lissa began to head toward the door but stopped. *You can't leave, Lissa. What about that gargoyle? He's probably a prisoner just like yourself. He wasn't too willing to let that female take the blood from him. I don't care what those idiotic Quarrymen said. There are good humans and bad humans, so there could be good and bad of gargoyles.* Lissa walked over to the wall and grabbed the key from its peg. Slowly, Lissa walked toward the gargoyle's cage. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to free you. My name is Lissa, what's your's?" But the gargoyle didn't answer. Lissa continued, "Is your arm okay? Mine still hurts." Lissa's hands were shaking as she opened the cage door. She slowly approached the gargoyle. Lissa noticed the razor sharp talons on his hands and feet. *If he were to hit me or kick me, he'd slice me into ribbons." The gargoyle regarded her coldly as she finished releasing his feet. She reached for his hands. Reluctantly he gave them to her. While she was uncuffing his hands, Lissa was silent. She couldn't think of a thing to say, she was scared, and her throat was so dry. Finally he was free. He stood up to about six and a half feet tall. Lissa was still sitting on the ground. She sat open mouthed in terror. "My kind have no names," he announced, "What is the way out of here?" "I...I...I don't know. I was drugged when I was brought here." "Then we'll have to find our own way out of here." "We? You're taking me with you." "You freed me. I thought that you'd might like some protection when you find your way out. But if you don't want me to..." "NO! I mean that I'd love some protection. I just thought that you'd leave me now that your free." "We, gargoyles, have a sense of honor! I will repay my debts. Don't you know anything about us?" "Other than a few faerie tale, no. This is the nineties, more practical people have better things to do than to listen to a few lunatics." "Nineties? What do you mean?" Lissa shook her head and smiled, "It's 1997 AD." To this, the gargoyle turned pale. "Nine hundred years! My clan is probably gone. Are there any gargoyle clans left?" "I've heard a few stories but almost all of them were untrue. I'm sorry." "I'm alone." Lissa put her hand on his shoulder. "Isn't this cute. I'm sorry that I have to disturb you but..." They both turned around to see the female gargoyle. She had a gun in her hand. They both looked around. "Look," Lissa pointed up at the vent shaft. The male grabbed her and dashed over to the wall. "Put your arms around my neck," he ordered. He then scaled up the wall to the vent. Lissa held on for dear life. The male had to keep dodging the shots fired by the female so the ride was rocky. He ripped the cover off of the vent shaft and helped her in. He soon followed. It was pitch black, inside the vent, and very dusty. Lissa sneezed but there was no response. "Hello?" she asked. "I am here." "I can't see you." "But I can see you. I forgot what limited vision you humans have. I'll lead." They started to crawl through the vent shaft. * * * After he got the story from the antique shop owners, Matt knew that female was one of Valkria's clan. He had tried to call Elisa's celluar but he was too out of range. Matt then decided to find the female himself and bring her to the clan. Matt began by exploring the woods Whap! A tree branch struck him directly in the face. "Ow! If I wanted this much nature then I would have been a Boy Scout." He rubbed the aching spot. Carefully, he walked through the dense woods. Something in the bushes rustled. Matt jumped. A squirrel ran out chittering. "I should have stayed in New York," Matt muttered. Then something slammed into Matt. He fell to the ground. There was a dusty-rose skinned, brown haired gargoyle female on top of him. And her talons were poised at her throat. "Look I know that you're scared but I'm a friend of Valkria's and I can help you!" "I do not believe you. Why should I trust you?" "Because you have no choice. You've been asleep for about nine hundred years and things have changed. There are people out there that hate gargoyles. I'm the only one who can reunite you with your clan." The female let him loose. "You've been shot. Please let me help." Matt took the female's arm. "It looks like the bullet passed through your arm. I'll bandage it and your stone sleep should take care of the rest. If you'll follow me to my car..." "NO!" The female's eyes flashed bright red. "Fine, I'll go get the first aid kit and bring it here. Wait for me." * * * Cass slumped down in the chair and typed. "Another essay, Cass?" Cass turned around to see Artemis standing behind there. "Yeah, the only week-end I get to come to New York is the week-end that everyone of my teachers decides to give me homework. Funny thing though, my friend Lissa cut out early. She never does that but I guess there's a first time for everything. But something about it still bothers me. Oh well! There's probably a reason for everything." Artemis shrugged, "I'm going to go to the library. I think Xanatos has the newest Crighton novel. I want to get it before Lex does." Artemis left and Cass turned back to the computer. * * * They finally got out of the vent shaft. The male helped Lissa out and they walked down a long metal hallway, lost. "What do you mean that you kind have no names?" "Only the clan leaders have name because they must deal with the humans. Humans like to complicate things too much." "It's not that. Names make people and things easier to identify. Say you were in a crowd and I wanted you to come over to me. How would I do that if you have no name." The male stopped suddenly. "I would not answer your call like some dog! I also don't like being called a thing!" Lissa lost her shyness and exploded, "STOP IT! Stop reading hate into my words. If I disliked you, I would have let you rot in that cage! I consider you a person not a thing. And I would call you over as I would a friend. But maybe now I don't want to. Take your prejudged ideas about humans and go! Your debt has been paid off. You helped me get away from that female." Lissa strode down the hallway. She paused when she heard something. "I'm sorry." She looked back to see that the male was staring at her. "I'm sorry, too. I'm just so tired; I haven't slept in a day." "At least you get choose when to sleep." He had a wry smile on his face. "What?" "Gargoyles sleep during the day. We turn to stone when the sun rises and break out of that stone when the sun sets. It's one of our vulnerablities." "If the stone is smashed then you'll die?" The male noticed the gentle concern in Lissa's voice. But he did not find this concern to be patornizing. He nodded. Lissa held out her hand. He took it and they walked down the hall. * * * Matt cursed. When he had returned with the first aid kit, the female was gone. Now he was following her trail of blood. Matt turned his head quickly. He thought that he heard a gunshot. "Sorry man! I thought you were one of those winged freaks." Out of the bushes walked a large overweight man. He was wearing cowboy boots and hat, filthy blue jeans, and a plaid shirt. The man also reeked of cheap liquor. "No, even worse, I'm a police officer. Do you have a permit for that weapon?" Matt then pulled out his badge. "Hey man! You can't blame a guy for wanting protection especially with those monsters about." "The only monster, I see is a drunken idot in front of me. Get lost or I'll haul you in for assaulting an officer." The man stalked away muttering about "freak lovers". That was when Matt saw a small movement. He turned quickly. There was the female, sitting in a patch of small flowers. Matt started to tend to her arm. After a few minutes, Matt saw a few tears fall from her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked. "This world scares me. It's so different and I'm so alone." "You're not alone. There are still some of Valkria's clan left and they've joined another good clan. Let me help you." The female nodded. Absentmindedly, she picked a flower and stared at it. Matt saw that she was still not reassured. So he began to talk. "You ought to choose a name. I know that it's not the gargoyle way to have names but the rest of your clan has choosen names. The world is a different place. Although some things have stayed the same." "What is the name of this flower?" "I think it's called a primrose." She smiled. "Then that will be my name as well." * * * They had heard the scream about an hour ago and assumed that it came from the lab. After Lissa and the male had made there way back, they found the body. It was a tall, thin, androgynous, pointy eared, and completely drained of its blood. But the shocking part was that it had the same mark as they did on their arms. "What did this? Was it that female?" Lissa was almost crying. "Gargoyles don't usually do this." "We have to think this through or the same thing might happen to us." Lissa looked around the lab when she saw... "Look! This was the vase that was in here." Lissa gestured to a pile of silver crumbled rocks. "But why is it destroyed? Maybe there's an answer in these books. Here, look in this one." The gargoyle turned his back, "I can't read." "Oh, keep a lookout while I do some research." "There's no need to patronize!" "I'm not patronizing you! There's nothing for you to be ashamed of! You said it yourself, you've been asleep nine hundred years. Nine hundred years ago, not very many people could read. But you will have to learn. In this world, you can't get anywhere without knowing how to read. When we get out of this mess, I'll teach you how to read." "Why!?!" "Because I'd like to consider you as a friend and friends do these things for each other. And I don't expect anything in return. So don't worry about me trying to take advantage of you." She turned to the book. A few minutes later, "I found it." The gargoyle perked his head up. He saw Lissa's face. "What is it, Lissa?" "That vase contained the demon Garroun. Garroun can only freed on at Midwinter's day. He needs three sacrifices one from each of the three races. The potion that frees him needs a bit of blood from each of sacrifices. The blood must be taken by making a mark and taking the blood from there. Then Garroun is released. He then hunts down the sacrifices and sucks all of their blood out." "Can we stop him?" "Yes, one of the sacrifices must taken the remains of the vase and magically bind it to Garroun. The spell's right here." She pointed to a page in the book. "I guess I'll be the one who does that." "What do we do now?" "The best thing would be to get out of here and get help...." Lissa stopped when they both heard a strange growling behind them. They veered around to see Garroun. He was a huge wolf-like creature but even more frightening. Garroun was the size of a horse with teeth and claws like daggers. Slowly Garroun stalked toward them. Quickly he jumped in the air to attack Lissa but the male jumped on him. Garroun slashed at the male's chest. But the male kicked him back off of him. While they were fighting, Lissa ran over to the vase. After stripping off her skirt, (thank goodness, she had a pair of shorts underneath), she put the vase's remains in a makeshift bag, she created out of the skirt. Carefully she walked over to the book and ripped out some of the pages. The male threw Garroun across the room. Upon impact, Garroun fell to the ground unconscious. "Let's go. He won't stay that way for long." Lissa handed the vase remains to the male. Hurriedly, they left the room, sealing it behind them. * * * "Wait a minute! You mean faeries are real! Right, and I bet that they're ruled by Oberon and Titania." "Actually, Oberon and Titania rule Avalon and the children of Oberon. Queen Mab rules the Fey." To this Lissa started to laugh. The male looked at her questioningly. "Why are you laughing?" "I just found out that one of my favorite stories is true. It's called 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. OH! I just thought of the perfect name for you." She then stopped but continued and stammered, "I mean if you wouldn't mind having a name. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so presumptuous." "No, maybe I should take a name. I might have to adapt to human customs if....if there are no gargoyles left." Lissa patted his arm reassuringly. "If that does happen, I'll always be here for you, as a friend. But I forgot to tell you about the name. I'd like to call you Lysander." "Lysander, Why that name?" "It's one of the characters in that story. I'll tell it to you as we go." Lissa told him the story as they walked down the hallway. Finally they reached a door. Lysander ripped the door off of it's hinges. They walked out into an alleyway. Lissa looked around and saw that they had been in an abandoned factory and now they were somewhere in New York City. "Dawn is coming soon and I shall have to sleep." "We should find someplace safe. I'll guard you during the day." "No. If Garroun finds me he can't drink any blood from me. All he can do is smash me into little pieces of stone. He won't so he won't be denied his meal. You have to find help. I doubt we could fight Garroun alone." "All right." * * * Lissa wandered through the streets of New York. She was tired, dirty, hungry and freezing cold. Who could she go to for help? The police would think that she was insane. She didn't know anyone in the City. She walked on until someone bumped into her. "Got a light?" "Lissa looked up and saw a tall man wearing a dirty leather jacket. "I'm sorry...b-bb-but I don't smoke." Lissa tried to walk away but the man held on to her arm. "A pretty little girl like you should have a nice job." He tried to yank her toward the alley but Lissa resisted. Slowly she began to slip. * * * Elisa was driving Cass to her sister's rehearsal. She was on duty and not supposed to giving out rides. Thank goodness, Captain Chavez was understanding and put her on the dayshift. If she had to give up her job, she'd kill that Q. Matt had brought Primrose home last night. After a tearful reunion, her arm was tended. She was now stone surrounded by her clan, new and old. She seemed nice. Usually Elisa had a sort of sixth sense about people. It came in real handy on the job. A cop has to rely on her instincts. And all of Elisa's instincts were positive about Primrose. "What's that!?!" Elisa swerved and finally saw what Cass was pointing out. A young woman was struggling against some man who was trying to drag her away. Elisa stopped the car and stepped out. She flashed her badge. "Detective Maza, any problem here?" The man hurried up and spoke, "My sister ran away and I'm trying to bring her home. Anything wrong detective?" "Bullshit!" Cass stood there with her hands on her hips. The young woman's face lit up when she saw her. "Lissa, are you all right?" Cass asked. "Yes," Lissa answered. "What are you doing in New York?" "I'm in trouble and I need to talk to you alone." "What about?" "It's private." They both looked over to see that Elisa was chewing the guy out. "Come to the car and we'll talk." Cass led Lissa over to the car. Lissa began to speak. "Do you remember a year or two ago when that New York Police department blew up?" Seeing Cass nod, Lissa continued. "They tried to blame the explosion on some creature called gargoyles. Eventually, this was thought of as a hoax and people thought that gargoyles don't exist. They're wrong. I've met two last night. One of them is my friend and the other...I'd prefer not to meet her again. We're in a bit trouble. The female tried to sacrifice us to a demon and now the demon is hunting us. I know that I'm babbling and sound insane. I know this sounds totally weird but it's true." "No, it doesn't sound weird. I have something to tell you. We'd better go somewhere and meet some friends of mine." Elisa walked over to the two. Cass looked over at Elisa. "There's a change in plans. We're going to the Eyrie Building." * * * Cass, Elisa, Goliath, and Lissa waited by Lysander's statue. Lissa had told them everything and in turn they had told her about their clan and the Anncarra. At first she didn't believe her until Q made one of his unexpected visits. Slowly the sun sank in the sky until it had completely vanished. Elisa and Goliath doubled over in pain as Lysander's statue cracked. Lysander broke free with a roar. He looked around to see Lissa, a human female and two strange gargoyles. "Lissa, are you all right? Did Garroun attack you?" "No, I wonder where he is." "Behind you." They all looked to see that the raspy voice can from a huge wolf. "Let me guess, Garroun, right?" Cass shook her head, "Etonai Anncarra." She transformed. After drawing out her sword she attacked and so did the garoyles. But Garroun was unstoppable. He threw Elisa off. Cass managed to chop off a limb with her sword but was shocked when it grew back. Lysander was slashed in the gut and Golaith was bitten. Lissa watched the battle in horror but quickly did her part. As planned, she put the rocks down and pulled out the spell. She chanted it as quickly as possible. When she was finished, The rocks moved and flew through the air in a glowing whirlwind. The whirlwind flew around Garroun and surrounded him. He screamed as he was trapped by the vase. The vase stood there waiting as Lissa picked it up. She turned to Lysander. "Lysander, we're free and even better than that we found your clan." The End