Page 21 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

CHAPTER EIGHT No Place Like Home

Jeff was skeptical as to the methods by which Bulent could observe and be of service. It sounded completely implausible even to him. It seemed to give Rita’s inner circle comfort to know they were getting the friends and family discount for not just one but two magic-kind, each of legendary status among their kin. So, he decided to compromise his M.O. Just this once.

Bulent hovered high above Hallow Hill in that space that few knew about; the space between dimensions also known as neither here nor there. The wind was so strong it tried to unfurl his wings, but he was so strong that there was no limit on the amount of time he could resist. He was also able to ignore the wind’s howling and focus on hearing Jeff, should he direct a thought his way.

Gargoyles were a secretive lot and multitalented. There weren’t enough supernaturals who knew the extent of their gifts to even start a rumor.

Early in the history of humankind building, one of Bulent’s ancestors had shown himself to a man. The man, who was working on the site of a European religious structure, conveyed what he saw to the architect. Thinking the visage of such creatures would frighten away even the most dreadful of demons, the architect had two gargoyles, loosely resembling Bulent’s clan, fashioned as decorative façade.

As the centuries passed, featuring gargoyles on churches, government buildings, et cetera, became trendy. Humansreasoned that, since few demons had been spotted in these structures, it must be working.

Once the practice of prominently displaying gargoyles took hold, real gargoyles could indulge in their favorite hobby – observing the human world – virtually invisible to those they watched. Especially at night. Since darkness was their bailiwick, all the better. Bulent, for one, never got tired of this, no matter that he was very, very old. Humans were unpredictable enough to be an endless font of entertainment.

He, like his kin, was a chameleon in nature. Like many species, they lacked a range of abilities and had to be protected from predators like dragons. But as adults, they could change color, size, and density at will. They could effortlessly match their bodies to the materials and color of the buildings on which they perched. Once old enough to make their bodies concrete, they were virtually invincible. If you see a dragon missing teeth, it’s most likely the result of attempting to chomp a mature gargoyle.

One of the factors that made gargoyle spectate recreationally was their ability to see through structures. Nothing being hidden was one of the talents that made Bulent so valuable to Jeff’s hunt, even in Jeff didn’t know it yet.

From his post in neither here nor there, Bulent watched Jeff’s body dissolve into a fine mist and enter Rita’s brain through her nostril. It was the shortest distance to the seahorse shaped part of the brain called the hippocampus, where dreams and imagining occur. Jeff didn’t learn this from a course in anatomy. He was born with encyclopedic knowledge of how organic entities are put together. That instinct is rudimentary, involuntary really, for generic shifters.

Jeff knew he had to proceed with extreme caution because even damage to a few cells in that area of the brain could cause amnesia. Not the best attribute for the person chosen to bemagistrate presiding over all non-human, intelligent creatures. Once he’d reached the hippocampus he slowed to stop-motion pace.

There was some sort of barrier. It was like a psychic membrane that formed a virtual wall for a nightmare prison. Penetration wasn’t difficult for Jeff. All he had to do was match his composition to the membrane and move slowly.

“You there, gargoyle?”

“I am.” Jeff noted that when Bulent spoke without the impediment of physical vocal cords, his voice was a crystal-clear baritone. “Do you want me to tell you what I’m seeing?”

“Unnecessary. I can see what you see.”

“Really? Wow. That’s… useful. But also, creepy.”

Bulent’s chuckle rattled so that Jeff imagined he felt it in his chest even though, at the moment, he had no chest in which to feel anything.

“I get the feeling you don’t mind seeming creepy,”Jeff said.

Bulent saw no reason to respond to that.

Even at a snail’s pace it didn’t take long until Jeff was inside the theater of Rita’s dreams, experiencing what she experienced in every detail both visually and physically.

In this case, there was quite literally nothing to see. The blackness was profound. So much so that it was discomforting even for the famed Lorcan hunter. Tracking her was easy. All he had to do was follow the sound of her breathing, which was too fast, almost panting.

“She’s here,”Jeff said.“And scared.”

“Forget about it. Do not relate to her emotion.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job, gargoyle.”

Bulent silently grinned at the Lorcan’s impudence, but said nothing. He absent-mindedly stroked his goatee, as was his unconscious habit, and waited to see how the shifter wouldhandle the somewhat delicate situation. He’d volunteered his service, but the job was also squarely in the wheelhouse of his favorite pastime - watching humans to see what would happen next. Best reality show ever.

Jeff strongly suspected that various aspects of environment could be manipulated so that, hopefully, she’d be freed, but he was just as sure that she had to do it herself. So far as he could tell they were alone, nothing and no one to stop the judge from liberating herself except the proper tools.

He heard her cry out once. Yes. She was afraid of something. What he couldn’t tell.

A flash of light appeared off to the side, a tiny ribbon in the darkness. He could tell by the rustle of Rita’s clothes and her elevated heartbeat that she was running for it. He could alsofeelher anguish and disappointment when the light disappeared.

So that’s the game, he thought.“Did you see that?”he asked Bulent.

Over millennia, the gargoyle had born witness to every manner of torture humans could devise and found all of it distasteful. A few of his kind enjoyed viewing cruelty. Bulent did not.

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