TANSTAV part 20

Chapter Six
I gain some assistance, and a visit from Freaky Zealot Girl

When I got back down to the front desk, I requested that the imp give me a copy of the security tape I had seen in Jessup's room (Did I mention that?  I don't think I did.  Sorry.).  The tape would show whether or not he had gotten out- or if anyone had gotten in.  She seemed startled by my request, but yet another hundred to both she and Flavius removed any lingering doubts they might have had in cooperating with me (thankfully the last, there wasn’t much money left).  Soon, the tape was in my pocket (my shirt pocket this time, as my pants pockets were bulging with baggies), and I was out of there.

I approached the mirror, which was still waiting for me.  Where to go now?  Common sense decreed I take the evidence to the station, let the magic people and forensics examine it, watch the tape.  My heart wanted to be back with Xen, and maybe check on Calla.  Heart won.  You saw that coming, didn't you?

Upon rematerializing in the bathroom, I very nearly lost my lunch.  However, I stubbornly choked it back down again, which I count as one of the top ten most disgusting things I have ever done in my life.  Even more disgusting than the time when I had to claw open the corpse of a giant carnivorous slug in order to find a piece of vital evidence, so I could clear up a (totally different) missing person case.  Then, when the last wrenching of my guts dissipated, I went into the living room and found Xen.  She was stretched out on the sofa, fast asleep.

It was quite understandable, since typically, she was nocturnal (though she had been trying to adjust her schedule so we could spend more time together).  It must have been a great effort for her to have stayed awake for so long.  I crossed the room softly, and knelt by her side, staring at her.  Like all gargoyles, Xen turned to stone when she fell asleep.  But because she was half fae, she had some oddities in slumber.  For one thing, she breathed.  Her chest rose and fell, and I could hear her quiet exhalations.  Sometimes she would murmur to herself, or twitch. She was a statue come to life.  And, even in stone, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.

Hey, have any of you readers noticed that I never mention turning on any lights in my apartment?  If so, bravo!  That's because I don't.  Gargoyle eyes can naturally see in the dark, and electric light hurts anyway, so I hardly ever use them.  Just checking your skills in observation.

Watching Xen sleep, I could feel my anger and frustration melting away, leaving me at peace.  She looked so sweet and perfect...my mind was dripping with mushiness.  If you are easily disgusted by mushiness, I would advise that you not read the rest of this next paragraph, and perhaps not anything until the end of this page.  I caressed her face with my thumb claw; it was cold and hard, of course.  But as I did so, it warmed and softened.  That meant she was waking up.  Color crept back into her hair, and her eyelids flickered.  She inhaled deeply, and then her small mouth lifted in a smile.  Xen recognized me by smell.  I leaned down, and gently placed a line of kisses up her throat, over her jaw, and ending at her mouth.  I felt her fingers entwine in my hair, and warmth flooded my system.

When I finally pulled away, I looked at Xen.  Her eyes were open now, bathing her face in a soft lavender hue.  She grinned widely.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi, honey," I replied.  Normally, I avoid mushy sentiments like that, but at the moment I felt the need to be more affectionate than usual.  Noticing this, she frowned.

"What happened?"

"It's been a very rough day," I replied.

Xen sat up so that I could join her, and get up from my crouching position, which was starting to hurt.


"Why did you go see him?" she asked, referencing Jessup.  She's known me long enough to recognize the signs.  Draping my arm around her shoulders, I explained everything.

TANSTAV part 19

 Chapter 5 part 5

Through gritted fangs, I answered, "She is just fine."

"Oh, good!"  I glanced over my shoulder; Jessup gave me what was masquerading as a nostalgic smile.  "It's a shame I didn't get a chance to play with her a little before you caught up with us, Wormwood.  It would have been such fun for me.  You wouldn't believe the sort of excitement I can create."

"I'd prefer not to know," I muttered.  I wanted to leave, but the taunting voice of the demon kept me trapped in place.

"That tiny body of hers is so fragile.  Almost as much as a human's (Well, if he thought that, he didn't know her that well, obviously.  Not that I'd want him to).  One false step for them on a flight of stairs, and there can be a torn tendon, or a broken neck, or even a cracked skull!  It's really quite fascinating.  Every species has so many ways it can be killed, if you think about it.  I've studied them all, and thought them all out.  Even the many ways you could kill me, right here, right now.  You'd like that, wouldn't you, Wormwood?"

"Stop it," I whispered.

"No, really!  It would be fun!  All you'd have to do is grab my neck in one hand, and my head in the other, twist, and snap!  No more me.  Or if you prefer suffocation, that'd be easy too.  Or even tearing me limb from limb.  You can do almost anything to me here.  No one would notice, and probably no one would even care.  After all, what's one criminal, more or less?  You'd just love that, I know you would.  Being rid of me, and doing it with your own hands, after I took your girlfriend so cruelly.  She was really scared, let me tell you.  Thought you wouldn't find her in time, before I could-"

"STOP IT!!"

I spun around, started towards him, claws outstretched, and then stopped myself.  Jessup grinned in delight at having got to me so easily.

I stood there and fumed for a few moments, repressing my urge to throw Jessup to the ground (which wouldn't work, anyway, since those restraints kept him stuck up there), and stomp on his head.  I wasn't an animal.  I was a rational, intelligent gargoyle, and as temperamental as I was, I was not ruled by instinct.  And I certainly wouldn't let a cheeky, psychotic demon bring me down to his level of wickedness.  Especially because doing so would also land me in prison, which was most likely his intention in baiting me.  It would not do me, Xen or Calla any favors.

"I'm no murderer, Jessup.  Not even of you.  Sorry."

I turned away (again), and started to leave (again), but he stopped me (again).

"You think you're so much better than me?  All it takes is a little push, and you're just as bad."

"Have fun in your cell," I replied.  This time I really left.  Outside, I told Flavius, "I'm done here."  And then I slammed a clenched fist on the RELEASE button, hearing a satisfactorily startled cry as Jessup hit the floor of his cell.

TANSTAV part 18

Chapter 5 part 4

"Nice outfit," I said as I slid the door shut behind me.  "It really brings out your eyes."

The outfit in question was a loose-fitting, unflattering gray jumpsuit, the attire of all prisoners, so my comment could only be described as sarcastic.  Jessup recognized me at once, of course.  For a brief moment, his expression darkened in anger, and his hands clenched, as if they would love to be wrapped around my throat.  But I knew I was safe.  I could see the pale blue lines of the spell holding him in place, gripping his wrists and ankles.  There was no chance of his getting loose.  And even if he did, well, I wouldn't mind a good scrap with him.

However, Jessup was just as quick to regain his composure.  His face relaxed into its typical sardonic expression: eyes drooping lazily, mouth curled upwards into a sideways smirk, one eyebrow half raised.

"Well, if it isn't Detective Wormwood," he murmured in his soft, silky tones.  "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, just thought I'd drop in, see how life is treating you, maybe bring some news of the outside world," I replied.

"I'm honored."

I came closer, looking Jessup over just as closely as he was scrutinizing me.  Prison life had made him a great deal thinner, and he’d lost a bit of muscle, but he was still in comparatively good condition.  I suddenly jabbed him in the leg with one claw.  Flesh and blood, and cloth.  He really was there; no illusion.  So how had he gotten out of the cell and back in?  Had he even left?  It was possible to make molds of feet.  Maybe the tracks had been faked?

Jessup was smirking.

"Trying to see if I'm really here?  You're getting too paranoid, Wormwood."

A sudden impulse led me to ask, "You won't mind, will you, if I have a look at the bottoms of your feet?"

Jessup looked startled by this; however, since he is an expert liar and actor, I took his expression cum grano salis (for you non-Latin speakers, that means "with a grain of salt".  I took a course of that in high school too; it was required in order to graduate).

"What?"

"You heard me."  Without further ado, I crouched down and began to inspect them.  Sure enough, in the cleft of his hoof, I found a blade of grass.  Retrieving my tweezers, I tugged it free, placing it in a ready baggie.  On his claw, I found traces of earth, which I added to the baggie.  Standing up, I waved it under Jessup's aristocratic nose.

"Care to explain these?"

The demon shrugged as best he could with the restraints.

"I'm a criminal, not a horticulturist."

Rolling my eyes, I placed it in my pocket, with the other baggies.  As I looked down, I saw- another piece of black and red magic!  It was lying just below Jessup.  Was the magic coming from him?  That didn't make sense; he didn't have any magic powers, except a small ability to make people do what he wanted, and it wasn’t as effective if they knew about it.  I bagged the magic, and then demanded, "How have you been getting out?"

Jessup smirked again, and said snidely, "You're the detective.  You figure it out."

I flapped my wings, lifting myself into the air until I was eye to eye with the demon.  This took a little effort, since I am only 5'9", and he was about two feet off the ground already.

"I will, Jessup.  And when I do, maybe the higher-ups will reconsider whether or not you deserve the death penalty."  With that, I floated to the floor, turned away, and left.

At least, that was my plan.  I did the floating-down and turning-around part perfectly, but before I could do the leaving part, Jessup's query of "How's your girlfriend doing?" stopped me in my tracks.

TANSTAV part 17

Chapter 5 part 3

The elevator creaked and groaned, moving with all the speed of a giant ground sloth going uphill.

You'd think a high-tech prison could afford a better elevator system.

Aside from all the mechanical grumbling, the ride was silent.  The ogre was disinclined towards conversation (which was good, because he would probably take the opportunity to mooch more money off me), leaving me free to examine the contraption in which we stood. Small, cramped, badly lit-hello, what was this?  A particle of that black and red magic, the same as had been at the Skald residence!  Why on earth was it in the elevator?  I looked at Flavius.  He was picking at the sleeve of his jacket in a bored manner, paying no attention to me.  Nonchalantly, I stepped in the direction of the magic, sliding a spare baggie out of my pocket, and standing at such an angle that the ogre couldn't see what I was doing, if he bothered to look at me.  You can never be too careful in this job, after all.  There seemed to be no security cameras, no observation orbs, no nothing in here.  So with a swipe of my hand, the light was captured and sealed.  I slipped the baggie into my pocket, just in time.  At the speed of a racing snail, the elevator ground to a halt.  The doors creaked open, and we exited.

The prison tower we were in was shaped like a rectangle with no middle.  The cells were placed all next to each other against the wall, with a walkway next to them, and a balcony on the opposite side of it.  I peeked over the balcony, to see a long, long drop down to the lobby.  I could just make out the lamps by the receptionist's desk down below.  When I looked up, it seemed to me that there was still lots of room to spare, even though we had gone up 10 flights.  The prison had to be expandable, like Mr. Jorgensen's pocket.  I turned away from the balcony, and looked to the cells.  The doors were all made of magically enhanced steel, with a small slot where food could be sent through.  On the left side of each cell were a blue button and a green button.  The blue had the word RESTRAIN on it, and the green RELEASE.  On the door to the right of the elevator, I could see the number 10000.  To the left of the elevator was cell 19999.  I sighed.  We were going to have to do quite a bit of walking, it was apparent.

I shall spare the (probably impatient) reader the long walk and checking of numbers, before we finally found 10642.  But rest assured, find it we did.  It looked no different from the others, but to me, the knowledge of what abomination it contained added a touch of sinister feeling to it.  If, that is, he was still there.  Flavius was about to push the RESTRAIN button, but I interceded.

"May I?" I asked.

Flavius looked unsure.  But another hundred assuaged his fears.  I pressed the button with my index claw; it lit up a paler blue, and from within I heard a muffled cry of surprise, followed by several oaths.  Good.  That meant someone was in there, and if it was who I hoped, it gave me great pleasure to inconvenience him.  I unlocked the door, keeping the key with me, and went in.  There, hanging in midair, with arms out and legs shoulder-width apart, completely immobilized, was Desmond Jessup.  In person.

To the eyes of one who doesn't know him, Jessup isn't that bad-looking.  In fact, to certain frames of mind he might even be called handsome (though not as much as yours truly, of course).  He's tall, maybe 6'2", and though thin, also muscular.  His skin is perfectly tanned, and almost flawless.  The only mark is on his left bicep: a red diamond-shaped outline tattoo, with a smaller red diamond inside.  It looks like a rather peculiar eye. He has shoulder-length black hair, which I think looks rather hideous (Don't get me wrong, shoulder-length hair is nice.  On women.  On men, I think it looks kind of icky.).  Jessup also has deceptively clear grey eyes, heavy-lidded, like Paul McCartney's.  The kind of eyes that make girls swoon.  All in all, he looks like an unusually handsome human, except for his feet.  The left one is a cloven hoof, and the right one has the clawed talons of a bird, maybe a hawk.  They are the only visible signs of his demon heritage, and needless to say, make him walk rather awkwardly.  Many an innocent (and many a guilty too) has trembled in fear at the sound of his approach.