She bounded through the air and landed on her feet. After a deep breath she exploded into another round of flips and mid-air twists. Her hair flew around her head like splashes of gold paint.

She could feel the beat of the loud music pounding through her. The strong fast beat of the hip hop/rap music was the best sound in the world. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she flipped across the mat. She stopped and began to do quick martial arts, making her way across the room with hard punches and spin kicks. She panted as every muscle in her body strained and flexed.

Suddenly the music stopped, the beat died away. Kristia turned around quickly, her blonde hair throwing small droplets of sweat into the air. �Hey! What happened to......!� she stopped when she noticed who it was.

Lexington stood next to the stereo, hand still on it from where he had turned it off. The rest of the clan stood beside him. Goliath stepped forward. �I see you�ve found the gym.� he smirked.

Kristia took a deep breath and walked over to the bench where the stereo sat. She grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off her face. She was in human form, dressed in black and blue windbreaker shorts with a white tee shirt.

It had been about two weeks since she had joined the Manhattan Clan and the gargress was becoming very happy in her new life, but still not saying anything about her past one.

�Its nice, love the floor being completely covered in mats.� she stopped and stared at the clan. �I had no idea it was already dark.� she said smiling.

�Those were some impressive moves.....who taught you that?� Brooklyn asked.

Kristia�s eyes saddened. She thought and then quickly muttered an answer. �An old friend.�

Brooklyn frowned but didn�t say anything more.

�Are you going on patrol tonight?� Goliath asked, quickly changing the subject.

Kristia smiled once again. �Yes.�

Moments later the clan was standing on the highest tower of Castle Wyvern. Kristia had turned into her gargoyle form, cleaned up, changed clothes, and was chatting happily with Angela.

�So who is this Elisa I�ve heard about?� Kristia asked.

�She�s a New York City Detective and a friend to the clan. Pretty much a member of the clan actually.� Angela stated.

�What did Goliath mean when I first met him when he said �she has something in common with Elisa already�?�

Angela proceeded to tell Kristia about Goliath�s first encounter with Elisa.

Kristia laughed. �That is a big similarity!�

Angela nodded and smiled. She looked over her shoulder. �Talk about good timing.� she said with a smirk.

Kristia followed Angela�s gaze. Elisa Maza emerged from the stairway that lead to the tower. Goliath was immediately at her side, taking hold of her hand gently.

A questioning look enveloped Kristia�s face. Angela realized her silent question. She leaned over and whispered in Kristia�s ear. �Elisa and Father are very.....close.�

Kristia watched the human detective closely. She saw Goliath point towards her and Elisa follow his direction. Elisa�s eyes widened as she spotted the new gargress. The dark-skinned female walked over to Kristia, Goliath at her side.

�Hello Kristia, I�m Elisa Maza.�

Kristia was in a trance she was so deep in thought. Angela poked her elbow into Kristia�s side. �Oh! um...hello.� Kristia�s face reddened.

�So is what Goliath tells me true? About what you are?�

Kristia nodded. �Yeah....that would be me. The term is �a human, gargoyle hybrid�.�

�But I didn�t think gargoyles and humans could have children?� Elisa asked, looking at Goliath through the side of her vision.

Kristia sighed. She was tired of answering this question. �Their not suppose to....�

Elisa looked at her pondering the answer. Kristia turned her head and looked out at the city. She was wanting to leave, she was tired of Elisa staring at her and thinking.

Suddenly a booming crash and animal shriek interrupted everyone�s conversations. Kristia�s ears had perked up and she was running towards the inside of the castle before she even realized it. �Please don�t let it be Noah....please don�t let it be Noah.....� she whispered feverishly as she ran. The rest of the clan was behind her as she dashed threw the halls, following the source of many howls and hisses.

Kristia groaned as the noises lead her into the kitchen. Food lay spilled everywhere. Cabinets were open and spilled out. The refrigerator was open, its contents scattered threw out the room. Kristia groaned even louder when she spotted the source of the mess.

Bronx stood under the kitchen chandelier, jumping and growling upwards. Perched up in the chandelier was Noah in garg-cat form, both were covered in food.

�NOAH!!!!� Kristia screamed so angrily that even Bronx stopped and whined apologetically.

Goliath stood directly behind Kristia. He winced at her angry shriek, but placed his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her. She walked away from him and into the room.

�I�m tired of this!� she yelled at both Noah and Bronx. �You two will have to get along!�

Noah meowed sadly. She glanced up. �Get down here!� Kristia yelled up at him. The cat-like creature spread his wings and leaped to the ground beside her. The gargress peered down at her pet. �Well? Do you have any good reason for how this got started.� Noah�s whole body slumped downwards like a child who knows he�s in trouble. He shook his head.

*image by Night Shade

Kristia sighed. �Didn�t think so.� She kneeled down infront of him. �I raised you better than this Noah, you know that. Please try.� She petted his head softly. She turned up to look at Bronx, who was in the process of getting a scolding himself from Hudson and Goliath.

Hudson was left at the castle with Broadway to clean up the mess caused by the pets. Kristia made sure Noah was doing his fair share of cleaning before she followed the rest of the clan unto the top tower.

Goliath announced that they were going on patrol tonight. He assigned Kristia to fly with Angela and Lexington. She smiled to herself as Lexington grinned at her sweetly.

She knew he liked her, she had noticed it from when she first arrived. She had only been at the castle a few days, but Lexington had dropped hints. He had shown Kristia his computer to which she responded by asking him who his internet server was.

Kristia suppressed a laugh as she thought about the look on his face when she had asked that. He had been so shocked that she knew about the internet. Then he was thrilled however that he had someone who understood him and his computer.

He�s a great friend, a best friend......even a brother. She shook her head while thinking to herself. .....but nothing more than that.

They were right over the heart of New York city when Kristia had an urge to be alone. She was a fairly solitary creature at heart. She loved to be with friends and family (she especially enjoyed Noah), but she always loved to seep into loneliness at least for a while. She changed the angle of her wings and began to fly away from Angela and Lexington.

�Kris! Where ya goin?! You see somethin!?� Lexington yelled.

She heard his cry and turned her head. �I want to be alone for just a while. I�ll be back later tonight. Bye.� she turned her head back around and continued flying away.

�Wait.......!� Lexington started after her, only to be stopped by Angela.

�Let her go Lex, everyone�s been constantly around her the past week. She needs some time just for herself.� Angela said gently.

Lexington growled lightly but then sighed.....defeated.

Kristia sighed and smiled. �Its nice to be alone.�

But its nice to have a family too.......

She sighed again and looked down, watching the buildings pass beneath her. She couldn�t help but start to think of him. He was gorgeous to her. She was falling in love, but would she ever be able to admit loving him?

Suddenly on a high rooftop she saw a lone figure standing on the roof. She narrowed her eyes and looked harder at the figure. It was obviously gargoyle.

Who is it?

She dove to the roof and landed gracefully about 10 feet from the gargoyle. It was about Goliath�s height and build. �Hello? Goliath is that you?� she asked the figure. It has to be him.....nobody looks that much like him except those robots Angela told me about.

The figure did not move. She crept up slowly. Kristia was about 6 feet from it now. �Goliath?�

Suddenly the figure spun around. Kristia gasped and took a step back.

�No, not Goliath.....Thailog.� the figure said.

Kristia gasped again. Despite only being at the castle a couple of weeks, Angela had already told her almost everything about the clan, including about the clone of Goliath....Thailog.

Thailog stayed calm and composed. He looked at Kristia and smiled. �Where did you come from?�

�uhh...um...� Kristia stuttered surprised by the question. She then straightened and became serious. �I think a better question would be where did you come from?� She slowly shifted her body so that she could spring into a series of fighting flips and twists if necessary.

Thailog laughed. �No need to be uptight, I don�t have any quarrel with you.�

She kept her position and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Thailog smirked and began to look her over. Kristia felt his eyes go from the tips of her talons to the ends of her hair. A shiver ran up her spine.

Thailog laughed lightly. �The Night Angel is modest.�

Her eyes flared red for a second, but then died down to their usual intense green. �Why are you here? Answer me!� she asked angrily.

�Just here to enjoy the scenery, but it seems I�ve already found a lovely view.� he smiled at her.

Kristia rolled her eyes and glanced to the side disqusted with the male shovanist pig attitude.

�Wrong move.� Thailog stated.

Kristia�s snapped her gaze back to him and she tried to throw her leg into a kick. Too late. An electric net exploded from a gun hidden in Thailog�s armor.

Kristia screamed as she struggled to be released from the pain of the net. She stopped struggling when she could feel her consciousness leaving her. The last thing the gargress saw before sinking into darkness was Thailog�s happy smirk.

Angela landed gracefully on the castle tower. She smoothed her windblown hair and began to walk into the castle. She was met by Brooklyn at the door. �Hi Brooklyn. You�re back from patrol already?� she asked.

�Hey Angela. Yep, nothing much was happening tonight. Say, have you seen Kristia? I was wanting to see if she wanted to go to the movies tonight. The movie �Ever After� was just released.� he said smiling.

�It was? She�s been wanting to see that, considering how she loves Drew Barymore.�

�Have ya seen her?�

�She went with Lex and me on patrol, but went on her own way about half way through. She should be back later tonight.�

Brooklyn sighed and mumbled sadly. �Guess we could go tomorrow night....� he turned and walked away. �Bye Angela.�

�Bye Brooklyn.� Angela stood there thinking to herself. I wonder if there is anything going on between Brooklyn and Kristia? I know Brooklyn has feelings for Kris and she laughs and jokes with him.....? The purple gargress walked into the castle pondering her notion.

Kristia groaned. She was slowly waking up. Her head felt like it could explode and her body was aching like it never had before. She rolled her head to the side and opened her eyes. She was laying stomach up on the floor. She was still in her gargoyle form and she could feel that it was only about an hour till dawn although she was inside a windowless room. Slowly and painfully she sat up and looked over the room more carefully.

The room was at least 50 by 60 yds. with a 50 foot tall ceiling. It was full of enormous computers which emitted a constant quiet buzz. It reminded her of a laboratory. She herself was within a 10 foot square cage in the center of the room. She reached over and tapped one of the bars. �Ouch!� she yanked her hand back. The bars were, as she had guessed, electrified to prevent escape.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead in pain. Kristia gasped. �My tiara! Where�s my tiara!� She frantically began to search every corner of the cage for the gold band encrusted with a blue jewel.

�Looking for this?�

Kristia jerked her head up and growled. Thailog stood there, holding her tiara in his hand.

�Give me that!� she said coldly as her eyes fumed red.

�If you tell me where you came from.� he answered.

�I won�t.�

�Your choice. I guess I�ll just melt this little trinket down.�

�NO!!!� Kristia threw herself against the bars in anger, forgetting about the electricity. She screamed in pain as her body was thrown off the bars and into the center of the cage by the jolt. Her breath came in sharp gasps as she struggled to get off the floor.

�Oh....that must have hurt.� Thailog laughed. �Here, have your tiara.� He flung the gold band into the cage.

Kristia struggled and grabbed the tiara, pulling it to her body and holding it there. Thailog bent down next to the cage where Kristia had just managed to sit up and put her tiara back on. His manner was calm and filled with the sound of happy victory.

�I know what you are. I know where you came from. I analyzed the jewel in that little trinket. The Calium stone, only found in a small town in the mountains of Southern Europe. With a little research, I could find out more if I wanted.� he said.

Kristia�s eyes widened. He knows where I came from! Her face filled with uncontrollable fury.

�What do you want?� she asked.

Thailog stood up. He started to walk out of the room. He talked in a soft calm voice. �What I want.......... is you.�

Kristia gasped. �What?!�

Thailog walked out the door, leaving Kristia pondering the meaning of his words. What does he want with me?

Noah padded down the hallway of Castle Wyvern. He walked past an open doorway and stopped to look in. Goliath and Hudson sat inside, having a discussion. Noah tilted his head in wonder and slowly walked into the room. He entered so as not to be seen and sat in the shadow of the large recliner Goliath was seated in.

�You realize the lass has still not told us where she came from.� Hudson said.

�I know. She has been very uncomfortable about that subject. I am hesitant to push her into it before she is settled and feels comfortable. We do not know if some tragedy such as the one that happend to us in the past has befallen her. For all we know her clan could have been destroyed and that is why she came here.� Goliath said while sighing.

�I wonder if she�s hiddin somethin.�

�I do not know. I just don�t want to pressure her.�

�Aye, she does have an air of sadness to her smiles.� Hudson said while nodding. �But ye need to ask her soon. We cannot have someone in the clan that has a secret as big as hers.�

Goliath nodded. �I will ask tonight. Do you know where she is?�

Hudson shook his head and stared at the fire blazing in the fire place. �Nay. Infact, I haven�t seen the lass all night except for early this evenin.�

Goliath sighed. �All right.� He rose to leave. �Goodbye my mentor.�

�Goodbye lad.�

Noah shrunk into the shadows as Goliath left. After Goliath was gone Noah watched Hudson to see when he would be able to slip out also. Just as the garg-cat was about to begin his sly exit, Bronx entered the room and sat next to his master blocking the doorway. Noah began to panic. He looked around the room from his secluded hiding place. He finally spotted the open window behind him. Suddenly, when Bronx and Hudson were both not looking, he dashed out the window and glided into the night.

He glided onto the highest battlement and sat on Goliath�s daytime perch. Only a second later Goliath arrived and glanced around looking for the unfound gargress. He spotted Noah and approached the cat-like creature.

�Have you seen your master?� He asked.

Noah shook his head. Goliath released a sigh/growl and turned. He walked back into the castle continuing his search. Noah tilted his head and sat confused.

Where is Kristia?

She growled as she changed forms. She knew Thailog was probably watching her through cameras, but she had no choice. She did not want to be stone here, it wasn�t safe. Once human she sighed and sat down. All the pain from her several electric shocks had left her dazed and tired. She had used the last of her energy to change into human form. Now she laid down.....worried and exhausted.

Thailog stared at the television monitor. Kristia had fallen asleep. He glanced out the window. The sky was lightening, only a few minutes til dawn. He was going to turn to stone soon. He was sure his plan would work, it would only take a few weeks or so. She had a strong will, it would take longer than he expected to break her.

He turned and stared at the composite glaring on a large computer monitor. He sighed as he looked at it. �It will be perfect.�

He left the room heading for a perch to spend the day on.

Everyone stood on the top tower of Castle Wyvern. They were all waiting for Kristia, wondering where the gargress was. �Where is she?� Brooklyn asked.

Goliath sighed. �I do not know. This worries me.�

Angela was a nervous wreck as she stood watching the oncoming sky. She knew her friend would have called or informed them somehow if she planned to spend the day away from the castle.

The sun rose, leaving the clan frozen in stone. Fox Xanatos walked onto the tower just as the gargoyles froze into their postions. She shook her head in wonder and whispered to herself. �I hope she isn�t in any trouble.�

The sun was setting on the horizon. Shades of purple, pink, and blue filled the sky and made it peaceful and serene. Elisa climbed the tower steps slowly. She had plenty of time to reach the top before the clan awoke. As she stepped out into the top she heard the cracks of stone and loud roars. The clan glanced around seemingly looking for something. Elisa walked up to Goliath. �Whats wrong?�

Goliath looked at her. �Have you seen Kristia?�

Elisa shook her head. �No.�

He growled. �No one has seen her since early yesterday evening.�

Elisa suddenly seemed distressed. Goliath noticed.

�Is something wrong?�

Elisa chewed at her lower lip and said hesitantly. �A robbery was committed on a genetics lab early yesterday evening. The security camera tape was given to Matt and I.......and........� she hesitated.

�And?�

�.....and.......it was Thailog.�

Goliath�s face filled with worry. �This is not good.�

She had slept the entire day in the cold steel cage. About an hour before dawn she had awakened. She sat still in the cage looking around and trying to think of any way to escape. Their was none. She had no way to un-electrify the bars.

Finally after the sun had set (she could feel when it set in the very marrow of her bones), he entered the room. She hadn�t bothered to change into her gargoyle form and stared at him with hateful human eyes. He stood before her cage. His face showed no emotion.

She looked up at him as he plopped down a plate of food just outside the bars within her reach. She looked at the food disgusted.

�Eat.� he said in a harsh tone.

�I�d rather starve.� she spit the words out at him.

He frowned. �I would rather that you didn�t.�

She growled a growl very human yet with a gargoyles ferocity to it. �What do you want with me?�

�Want with you? Simply your looks.� He tossed his head back in laughter. She stared at him in shock and confusion.

�What?!�

He walked over to a computer near her cage and pressed a few buttons. Suddenly a large monitor blinked on. Kristia watched. On the screen their was an image of her gargoyle self, of Thailog, and of another male gargoyle. Thailog pointed to the other male gargoyle on the screen. �Or should I say....your genes. By combining your genes with mine, I could make a beautiful being.� A sly smile spread across his face. �A handsome son.�

Kristia gasped. She was in shock. He wants to have a child?! She couldn�t believe her ears. She choked out a few words. �You....have to be kidding.....�

�Oh...but I�m not. Now, I could just do it by taking some of your blood and create the child by cloning.....but as I am proof of, cloning does not always come out the way it is suppose to. Afraid I�ll just have to borrow one of your eggs to fertilize it and you will have to carry the child yourself.� He smiled at her.

Anger filled her now. She felt it from the tip of her toes to the top of her head. She stood up in the cage and glared at him. �If you think I would ever let you do that you're NUTS! I would rather walk bare foot through hell than carry your child!�

His smile remained. �Ah....I expected no less of a response. That is why I�m well prepared.� Suddenly he lifted a gun and pointed it at her. She heard the loud bang as he pulled the trigger. She gasped as she felt the dart hit in her arm.

�Now when you awake, you�ll be carrying my child. Good night mommy.� Thailog smirked and chuckled evily.

She glared at him as she slowly sunk to the floor. �Never!� she screamed as her eyes began to close. As she fell asleep she whispered, �would rather die......�

To Be Continued....

(c)Krista M. H.

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Story written by Krista Hines. Artwork by Night Shade.