It was a plain business envelope, with only his name written on it.
It wasn't Daniela's handwriting, and who else would send it to the
station, or even know to send it there? He opened it and found
a single sheet of paper with a short note:
Brooklyn,
Your friend Daniela is my guest in the crown of the Statue of Liberty.
Party crashers will not be tolerated.
Demona
Brooklyn read it twice, and felt as if his legs would give out
from beneath him. He handed the letter back to Elisa and went to the
ledge and looked down at the city lights. Elisa read the note to the
rest of the clan, and the general consensus was that it had to be a trap.
Brooklyn hardly heard any of it. They were discussing attack strategies
when he interrupted.
"I'm going. The rest of you don't have to follow."
"Brooklyn, wait," said Goliath. "Demona knows we would never allow
you to go alone, so she probably has some sort of massive attack waiting
for us all. Alone you would not be able to save her." The others
agreed with this, and Brooklyn knew he was right. It was hard to think
straight. All he could think of was Daniela.
He sighed. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well..." Goliath looked over at his daughter. The others caught
on, and Goliath explained his idea.
* * *
The gargoyles landed on the torch and looked down at the statue's
headpiece. They could see Demona pacing back and forth in front of the
windows. Goliath gave the signal. He led Broadway, Lex and Angela to
one side window, while Brooklyn snuck around to a back window.
Daniela saw the clan move into position. She stuck her fingers
through the bars, trying warn Brooklyn not to do anything stupid.
Brooklyn ushered her to be silent, and then smiled. Trust me,
she could almost hear him say to her. He climbed quietly through the
window. Daniela knew they had a plan, and prayed it was successful.
"Demona!," Brooklyn called out.
This is the plan?, Daniela thought to herself.
Demona turned quickly. "Ah, Brooklyn, so you are as stupid as I
thought. That was free advice I gave you, to stay away...." They
traded insults and threats for a few seconds, and the rest of the clan
climbed through the window while Demona's attention was diverted.
Goliath got ready to stop Demona, while the others made their way
towards the mirror and the Grimorum.
"Demona, it's been nice 'chatting' with you, but now Daniela and I
must be going." Brooklyn walked over to Daniela's cage, keeping an eye
on Demona. Then he turned to try and free her, and Demona pulled a
blaster from over her shoulder and aimed for them.
"Now!," cried Goliath. He pounced on Demona and tried to pry the
gun from her hands.
Demona growled, "now the party can really begin." She pushed
Goliath away, recited a spell, and electric blasts began shooting from
her fist at Goliath. Goliath, unprepared for this attack, stumbled
back, dazed.
Brooklyn clawed at the iron, trying to free Daniela from the
doorless cage.
Demona saw the others going for the magic talismans, and blasted
them as well. They dodged the energy, but Demona attacked again. A
bolt of energy hit Lex, and he fell to the ground unconscious.
Broadway lunged at Demona while Angela pulled Lex to safety. Demona
and Broadway struggled for a while, but then she threw Broadway into
Goliath. They both collapsed, and Demona laughed triumphantly.
Brooklyn finally broke through, and Daniela crawled out and fell
into his arms. They used the cage as a shield, watching the nearby
battle and trying to decide on a new strategy. They had to stop Demona,
plus recover the book and mirror.
Both of Demona's fists were now glowing with energy, and she had
them aimed straight at Broadway and Goliath.
"Mother, no!," cried Angela.
"Keep out of this, Angela!" Demona told her to chose one to die,
purposely torturing her own daughter. Brooklyn shook his head in
disgust.
Daniela looked across the room. The mirror had fallen pretty near
to a window; Lex was conscious again, and dragging it out of the statue.
She looked at the Grimorum. Then she whispered, "Brooklyn, I can
get the book, while she's distracted."
"No," he said, "you stay here, I'll get it."
"No, you have to free Puck," she indicated the other cage. Puck had
been watching the whole scene idly. Demona was probably stealing some
of his power, so they couldn't leave him her prisoner. "I know I can
get the book."
Brooklyn agreed and said seriously, "be careful." Daniela kissed
his cheek and said, "you too." Then they crawled away from the broken
cage.
Angela now stood where Broadway and Goliath were, still in a verbal
battle with Demona. Daniela reached for the Grimorum, and as
soon as she touched it, Demona's hands began dimming. She whirled
around and saw Daniela, free and with the book. She shot the last of
the energy at Daniela. Daniela dodged the blast, and it hit the display
case, shattering the glass.
Seconds before, Brooklyn had freed Puck. Puck instantly disappeared.
Brooklyn saw Demona take a shot at Daniela and lunged at her, eyeswith rage. Her power was gone; the hand to hand fight was fair
again. But everyone had gotten used to Demona's glowing fists,
forgetting that she still had a blaster slung over her shoulder. Demona
fired at Brooklyn at nearly point blank range, and he fell to the ground
unconscious. Demona prepared to fire again, when Daniela snuck up behind
her, and with all her force hit Demona over the head with the Grimorum.
Demona was dazed long enough for Goliath to take her out. It was now
quiet in the room.
Daniela knelt next to Brooklyn's crumpled form. His breathing was
labored, and he was bleeding from many places. Daniela used her socks
to try and clean his wounds. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and
looked up to see Goliath's concerned face.
"Daniela, the sun will heal him, but..."
"...but dawn's not for another three hours." She sighed and put her
hand on his face. He was already running a fever. She tried not to
think about what might happen if he didn't make it to sunrise...
Lex had returned with Hudson. They picked up Demona and took her to
the Labyrinth prison. Broadway was limping, but otherwise alright, so he
went on ahead to the castle. Goliath carefully picked up Brooklyn and
followed Broadway. Daniela held onto the Grimorum, and Angela
carried her back to the castle.
* * *
The clan stood around, helplessly waiting for the sun to rise.
None of them had ever wanted to see dawn so much in their lives.
Brooklyn lay on a mat on the floor of the main hall, his condition
neither better nor worse. Daniela sat by his side, changed his bandages
every now and then, and silently called upon every power she'd read of
to help him.
Finally it was daybreak, and all the gargoyles turned to stone.
The Xanatos' and Elisa breathed a sigh of relief.
Daniela sat for a moment in silence. He was alright now. She was
tired and in shock, but he was all right. She was shaking. She put her
head on her knees and cried for a few minutes, releasing the immense
emotional tension of the past hours.
Elisa brought her a cup of coffee, which Daniela never touched, and
a blanket. They left her alone in the room. Daniela laid down next to
Brooklyn on the floor and fell asleep. Around noon, Elisa returned and
woke her. She wanted to take Daniela to lunch, but Daniela refused to
leave. She sat up for a while, thinking. Then she went back to sleep.
She awoke to the sound of cracking stone, and sat up quickly. The
gargoyles were shedding their stone skins. They all looked at Brooklyn,
and Brooklyn sat up slowly. He looked around at them, then put his hand
to his head and said, "jalapena, what a headache," and they all laughed.
He sat and tried to clear his head for a moment. Then he looked at
Daniela, seated beside him, and took her hand.
"You were right here the whole day," he whispered. "Even in sleep,
I knew you were here with me..."
"I'm always with you, dearest, just like you're always with me."
They embraced, no longer aware that there was anyone else in the room
besides them.
Brooklyn was weak that night, but otherwise fine.
The next night it was as if it never happened.
* * *
About a week later, the clan was gathered on the balcony an hour
before dawn, when Puck suddenly appeared hovering in the air. He was
very excitable. He thanked them all profusely for getting him away
from Demona.
"I've decided to grant one wish to the gargoyle of your choosing,"
he told them. "Now no bickering over who gets it..."
They all looked around at each other. Puck must've been extremely
grateful, they all thought.
"I think I'll pass my bid on to the younger generation," said Hudson.
Goliath looked at Elisa, sighed, and said, "I too will pass."
Broadway and Angela looked at each other and, joining hands, silently
decided also to decline. They looked at Lexington.
"I can't really think of anything to wish for," Lex said, shrugging
his shoulders.
Brooklyn glanced around at the clan. He looked at Daniela. Her
sweet smile was all it took to make the decision. He stepped forward.
"Make me human," he said confidently.
The clan was stunned. They realized just how strongly Brooklyn felt
for Daniela, but to make a life-altering decision like this? This was
rash, not thought through, and not really like Brooklyn at all. They
tried to get him to reconsider.
"Brooklyn, are you sure..."
"Now think about this..."
"Enough," he told them, "I've decided." He looked up at Puck and
said, "do it." Puck raised a hand and was about to speak the magic when
a voice from the back of the crowd interrupted.
"Wait." Daniela stepped forward. She looked around at the clan,
then at Puck, considering what she was about to say. Then she looked at
Brooklyn seriously. "No..."
"Daniela, I..."
"I know." She gazed into his eyes, whispering, "but no matter how
much either of us may want this....you can't change who you are." She
couldn't hold back her tears. He gently wiped them from her cheek.
Neither of them knew what to say. So close, yet always so far... They
held each other, protecting each other from this unpleasant paradox.
The clan stood around them, looking on silently. Goliath and Elisa
looked at each other, both understanding what the young lovers were
going through. They knew what it meant to be able to share each other's
worlds. But the painful decisions that went along with the opportunity
could tear you apart inside, and they couldn't be avoided. Elisa had
been thinking about all of this when she got her idea.
"Couldn't some kind of compromise be reached?," she asked. The
entire clan looked at her. Lexington added, "like maybe he could be
human for only a little while."
Brooklyn smiled at Daniela, and said to Puck and everyone else there,
"yes! Give us a week..." He was almost pleading with them all. He
looked to Daniela, "...just a week, and then I'll change back."
Daniela grinned, agreeing, and hugged him.
The clan stood back as Puck cast the spell. Brooklyn would be human
until sunset a week later. A gentle white light flowed from Puck to
Brooklyn, blinding them all for a moment. Brooklyn felt an energy
running through him, not really painful, but strong. Then for an
instant he felt nothing, as if he were floating. Then the light dimmed.
Puck was gone, and a human knelt, catching his breath, where Brooklyn
had been standing moments earlier.
Daniela went to him and knelt beside him. He looked up at her with
the same beautiful eyes she'd gotten lost in a hundred times before.
She sighed and smiled warmly, and helped him to stand.
Soon the sun was rising. Brooklyn watched the gargoyles turn to
stone with child-like amazement. He faced the dawn, and felt the warm
rays of the sun on his face. How warm and bright! He stood for a
moment, absorbing the golden beams through every pore. Daniela slipped
her hand into his, and he turned to her. She was so beautiful with the
sunlight on her face, the sharp shadows on her skin moving as she smiled.
Xanatos appeared with a set of clothes for Brooklyn, slacks and a
loose fitting dress shirt. Soon after they rode the elevator down to the
main level. Hand in hand, Brooklyn and Daniela walked out onto the street
together, and the entire week lay before them.
* * *
Neither of them could remember a time when they were happier. They
went everywhere and saw everything together. Daniela showed him an
entirely new city that didn't exist at night. They went on museum
tours, and to the beach, and every day they went for a stroll in
Central Park. Brooklyn saw that it was crowded, but still pleasant.
They watched older men and women play chess, and they watched young
children feed the ducks and run around on the grass. Once they walked
past the very spot where they had first met. A comfortable silence
fell upon them as they remembered the night that had changed their
lives forever. Daniela faced him and kissed him tenderly. They
gazed at each other with a love that shone brighter than the sun and the
moon combined. Brooklyn passionately returned the kiss. That evening
they stood on their rooftop, in each other's arms, and watched the sun
set in an orange, magenta and purple-blue finale.
* * *
They'd stayed out most of the night, and now it was early
and they were trudging into Daniela's house. Daniela went into the
bedroom and flopped down on the bed. Brooklyn followed and sank into
a chair next to the bed.
"I'm exhausted," Daniela said, muffled because she was face down on
the mattress.
Brooklyn smiled, and rested his chin in his hand, thoughtful. "Last
day," he mused.
Daniela propped herself up on her elbows to face him. "What do you
want to do today?"
"Actually, I wouldn't mind just hanging around the house," he said
yawning. Daniela giggled. Then she noticed the look on Brooklyn's face.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"It's just that....this week has been so great....I'm kinda sad to
see it end..."
Daniela agreed, but she knew him better than that. She sat up and
took one of his hands. She said quietly, "what else?"
Brooklyn gazed at her and sighed. He'd been meaning to say this to
her for a while, but always worried about choosing the right words.
Now the words just flowed.
"Before I met you," he started, "my soul was being torn apart by my
loneliness. It seemed everyone had someone except me. I'd even thought
of leaving the clan, to find someone who could fill in the missing gaps
in my life. But I never did, and I thought I'd just have to get used to
the idea that I'd be alone forever." He paused, and she squeezed his
hand. "But then when we got to know each other better, more and more I
thought to myself 'I'm not alone anymore...she's my missing half'. I
never imagined that I could love a..." He stopped abruptly, not wanting
to offend her.
"...a human," she filled in for him. He nodded.
"But then it didn't matter. And now, after spending a week in the
sunlight with you, I realize it'll never matter." He put his other hand
to her face, caressing her cheek, and wiping from it a tear that had
fallen. "No matter what form we're in," he whispered, "our souls are
one, joined forever."
She leaned in and kissed him. She looked into his eyes, smiling
and almost crying, and said, "now how can I top that?" He smiled and
laughed. She thought for a moment, then took a deep breath and said,
laughing, "I can't." He laughed, kissed her again, and sat on the bed
next to her. She gazed lovingly at him and said more seriously, "my
dearest, you introduced me to your world. A world I've dreamt of being
a part of all my life. Sometimes I thought that that's what I was
falling in love with; the idea of you, like a favorite story." She
looked down at her hands, locked in his. "But it really was always
you..." She looked up at him again, and echoed his words, "our souls
are one, joined forever."
The morning light looked dim compared to the light their love made,
and their union outshone the heavens.
Continue...