Page 2 of Hated By the Gargoyle

That uneasy feeling crept up my throat, tightening it. This wasn’t normal.

I was aware that paranormal creatures lived alongside humans. Vampires, shifters, and an array of other things lived as normal their lives as humans did. But I’d never seen something like that before.

“Um, Carlota?” I lowered my camera, my anxiety pumping through my veins. This time, the creature behind her didn’t seem to care that I was staring anymore. It unfurled itself, like a statue coming to life. It creaked, giant wings unfurling like the petals on a flower.

Carlota glared at me then. “Just take the damn picture, Luz.”

I gritted my teeth, unsure what to do. But then, the creature came to life, its body jolting, a roar consuming the air around us and shaking the ground like a small earthquake. I gasped, taking a nervous step back.

“Carlota…”

The creature was already facing us, its black, soulless eyes in our direction. A scream crawled up my throat but got stuck. The thing flew in our direction, its monstrous face set in a snarl that revealed too many sharp teeth.

“Carlota, run!” But even as the words left my lips, she was already running, shoving past me, pushing me to the side to get ahead.

I didn’t have time to contemplate that betrayal. I was too focused on the monster. I didn’t know what it was, but some instinct in me told me it was after Carlota. It wanted her. Its focus was on her and her alone. And then it stretched out its arms like it meant to grab her…

My feet moved of their own volition, something protective rising in me as I barrelled Carlota’s way. She was in heels, so I caught up fast, shoving her aside with a “Look out!” just as the monster reached…

I’d put myself in the path where Carlota once stood, and the monster’s body rammed into mine. My entire being jolted, my brain rattling in my skull at the impact. I gasped, my lungs expanding in an attempt to fill with air. It was like being hit by a small car, like being shoved hard in front of a brick wall. The monster’s arms were around me, the momentum of our collision pushing it towards the sky.

The ground bottomed away as we rose up… up… up…

I gasped, trying to get breath into my chest, but it didn’t come. The panic set in and I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t. All I could do was pray the monster didn’t drop me. All I could do was fight to stay conscious as darkness crept along the edges of my vision.

All I could do was watch as a black tear ripped through the sky, opening what appeared to be a portal to somewhere else, somewhere with darkness and hell fire. And as the monster flew inside it, it felt like every limb of mine was being ripped apart.

And then I finally lost the battle and was swept through the darkness.

The Underworld greeted me on the other side of the portal I had opened in the sky. The harsh sun scorched my skin, creating cracked filaments along the surface–a rather unpleasant feeling. As unpleasant as the rage that tore through my insides like a storm at the realization of what had just occurred.

Fool, I cursed myself, and then did so again.

I turned mid-air, but it was already far too late. The portal I had come through was already closed and to open another required great, powerful magic. The likes of which I did not possess. It had taken me many months to build up my reserve in order to open a door between realms so I would slip into the human world, and many more to come back home. I had calculated everything to perfection, from the second of its opening and closing down to the exact angle in which it would do so.

Though in all my planning, I had not anticipated her.

Already, the magic that travelled through the blood beneath my skin was diminishing, even as my anger was rising.

A true fool I was, for I had failed at the one task I had set out alongside my brothers to complete.

A tiny human lay within the curve of my arms. A dainty little thing.

An unwanted little thing.

She was familiar. The little creature that was always trailing behind the one I truly wanted.

My wings gave a violent push as I circled the air in preparation for a landing. All the while I could not remove my sight from the creature. I knew her dark hair, I knew of her face, but she had always faded into the background like an insignificant shadow or a particularly monotonous worm.

The woman held a head of untamed hair that appeared to resemble more of a demon’s nest than actual human hair. Her skin was the same shade as the earth of the Underworld, a light brown with yellow undertones. Her hair was a darker, almost violent shade.

She did not compare to the other human, the one who was named Carlota.

No, Carlota was perfect. Tall enough to meet my own frame, with hair that was smooth enough to slide over the delicate curve of her shoulders like water sliding across a river. The curvature of her body, the details of her face… She was like an angel I had never seen but always dreamt of.

This human was imperfect, with teeth that were slightly crooked and boasted a gap in the middle. She was dull.

Ugly.