CHAPTER 3: STAYING WITH BROOKLYN
She looked around her with curiosity at everyone standing before her. Who are these beings? What kind of creatures are they? They looked somewhat like her, but there is still a big difference between her and them. They were something that she had never encountered before in her entire life. The only oddity she had ever seen so far was herself. Looking at herself in front of the mirror when she became what she had become.
A monster. A she-devil. A total freak of nature.
Although that seemed to be quite a distant memory to her now. The only thing she could remember was smashing glasses and broken fragments.
She was afraid. Afraid of the creatures before her and the place she was in. Afraid of everything that was about her. She had never seen this place before and she had never been with such a strange crowd that looked different besides herself. They didn’t seem dangerous but she feared them all the same. She wasn’t taking any chances. If they ever try to get near her, she swore that she would rip their hearts out.
Well, except this white-haired creature, though. There was something about him that made her feel very secure when she was beside him. His wing was the most reassuring of all. Somehow she felt safe whenever he was around and have his wing for her to hold on to. That deep and kind voice that came out of his beak-like mouth made her feel like she was beside a knight in shining armour. As long as he was around and his wing ready in her grasp, she knew she would be in good hands.
She couldn’t help smiling at him.
Elisa didn’t come that night, and they seriously need to do something to find out more about this being who called herself Suki, so Lexington and Broadway volunteered to fly to Elisa’s house or look for her at her work place to bring her here to the clock tower. While waiting, they try to find out more about Suki by themselves.
“Suki, you don’t have to be afraid,” Brooklyn said for almost the umpteenth time. Suki, with her hand still gripping on his wing, was cowering away from Goliath who was trying to go closer to her so that he could talk to her properly. “Goliath is not going to hurt you. He’s the leader of the clan and he knows what he’s doing. Come on, Suki, stop hiding behind me.”
“It’s alright, Suki,” Goliath said reassuringly in his deep rumbling voice. “I mean you no harm. I just want to ask where you come from and where do you live so that we can take you home.”
Suki shook her head and hid again behind Brooklyn. Hudson sighed tiredly.
“She is like a small child, lad. She is too scared out of her wits and by far too afraid to even speak to people of her own kind.”
“She sure doesn’t look like of our kind,” Angela said. “Look how different she is to us. Like Lexington said, she’s a hybrid or an experimental subject.”
“She is not an experimental subject,” Brooklyn said in a hurt tone, laying a hand on hers. He wished deeply that she wasn’t; he had started to show a small liking for this child-like being and could help feeling protective over her. He turned to her and said, “Suki, you gotta tell us who you really are and where you come from. Do you know where do you live?”
Suki shook her head and replied briefly in non-fluent English, “Suki not remember.”
“You’re telling us that you don’t know where you live? You don’t even know where your home is?” Goliath asked, surprised.
Again, Suki shook her head and turned back to Brooklyn, “Not know where. Not remember. Suki not know home. Suki tell Brooklyn only.”
“OK, OK, we get the point,” Brooklyn replied. A few moments later, Broadway and Lexington came back to the clock tower holding Elisa an arm each. Judging by her usual maroon jacket and her jeans, she was at her work place all right. They lowered her slowly to the ground and she got right down to business.
“Alright. What seems to be the problem here? Broadway and Lexington here told me something about a gargoyle hybrid appearing at your doorstep or something.”
“Here she is,” Goliath said as he pointed towards Suki who was hiding behind Brooklyn, obviously terrified at another person who had come to her presence. Elisa walked slowly and cautiously towards her so as not to frighten her any further.
“It’s alright, girl,” Elisa said as she held out her hand to her.
“Go on, Suki,” Brooklyn said as he took Suki’s hand and moved her towards Elisa. “That’s Elisa. She’s a detective. She can help you.”
Tentatively, Suki moved away from Brooklyn’s protective wings and was seated in front of the investigative-looking Elisa Maza. She took her chin and scrutinized her face, checked her arms and legs, looked at her neck for any signs of puncture wounds that could be caused by syringes through experimental testing, opened her mouth to take a look at her fangs, looked at her ears and marveled at her features and clothes from a far speculation. Throughout the inspection, Brooklyn had his hands on her shoulders, assuring her that he wasn’t going anywhere. She then sat back down in front of Suki again.
“Suki, is ‘Suki’ your real name or do you have other names? Other than Suki? A full name, maybe?”
“Suki tell Brooklyn only,” Suki put on an indignant face, not wanting to look at her. Elisa could tell from her face that she wouldn’t get what she wants if she didn’t cooperate with her.
“Alright, tell Brooklyn then.”
Suki whispered to Brooklyn’s ear. Then Brooklyn told her answer out loud for Elisa to hear, “She said that the name ‘Suki’ is all that she could remember.”
“OK, then where does she live? Does she remember an address to her home or maybe her work place? Because I can tell from her hands that she used to be a working person. Her hands and also her torn-up office-like clothes had given away her identity slightly.”
“What? Then that has to mean that she used to be a human!” Broadway exclaimed.
“We’ve already asked her where she lives,” Goliath replied. “She doesn’t know either.”
Brooklyn looked at Suki who looked back at him with a lost look on her face. Could she be really an experimental subject or that she had no idea that she could be a Third Race or some kind?
“What happened to you? Do you remember anything that might tell us how you have turned into this way?” Elisa asked.
Suki whispered to Brooklyn, who in turn replied, “No. She said she doesn’t remember a thing. She only remembered smashing something and then flying towards this tower, that’s it. She couldn’t remember anything else.”
“Hmm, a slight amnesia, I see,” Elisa rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll try to investigate about her, but I don’t expect to find anything in a hurry, though, what with the lack of information. Right, duty calls now. I’ll keep you guys posted. What are you going to do with her in the meantime?”
“We’re not really sure right now,” Angela replied. “We’re still a little overtaken by all this, and we’re pretty new to her situation. Frankly, we don’t know what to do with her. She seemed easily scared.”
“Maybe I can take her to my home and let her stay with me,” Elisa offered. “I do live alone anyway and since she used to be human, maybe my human lifestyle could trigger her memory a little.”
“That could be a good idea,” Lexington was the first to agree. He sure didn’t fancy having a being who was jumpy 24/7 and might leap at the slightest sound she hears.
“Come on, Suki,” Elisa held out her hand to the slightly relaxed being. “Do you want to come over and stay in my house for the time being?”
Immediately, she stood up abruptly and ran behind Brooklyn, gripping his wings and growled. She shook her head a little and said, “No! Suki not go! Suki stay!”
“It’s alright, Suki. Maybe there’s something in my house that could help you remember…”
“Suki not go! Suki stay!” Suki shook her head again, repeating herself indignantly. “Suki want stay with Brooklyn! Brooklyn, Suki stay with Brooklyn, yes? Suki stay, yes? With Brooklyn, yes?”
“I, uh, I don’t know…” Brooklyn was quite taken aback by this sudden gesture and reaction by someone he only just met for a couple of nights.
“Suki want stay with Brooklyn…yes? Suki stay with Brooklyn, yes?” Suki pleaded, gazing into Brooklyn’s eyes with her dark purple eyes. Everyone who was present chuckled and sniggered at the sight of this, including Goliath who smirked a little. Brooklyn glared venomously at his brothers Broadway and Lexington who were giving him the ‘sly eye’.
“It seems that your new friend here trusts you deeply, Brooklyn,” Goliath commented. “Why don’t you just agree with her? We do not mind another member in our clan, although she was human.”
“Aye, lad,” Hudson agreed. “The more the merrier, as they say.”
Brooklyn finally let out a big sigh of defeat as he said, “Alright, alright, Suki. You…You can stay with me.”
“Thank you! Thank you! Suki like Brooklyn!” Suki beamed as she hugged the white-haired, clay-skinned gargoyle from the back. This time, Broadway and Lexington really guffawed and rolled on the floor with laughter at the sight of this. If Brooklyn’s skin wasn’t the colour tone of clay, you could’ve sworn you saw him blush.
“Alright then, if that’s what she wants, it’s fine with me,” Elisa said as she tried to hide a smile. “I’d better be going then, or else my partner might be wondering who kidnapped me.” And as she passed by Goliath, she ran one of her hands onto Goliath’s big one and gave him a seductive sideways look, which sent Goliath into smiles.
“So, uh, what are we gonna do with her now?” Broadway turned to Goliath after recovering from his fits of laughter.
“I suppose we can always make her feel like home and stop her from being so scared of us,” Goliath replied, rubbing his chin and contemplating.
“Yeah, but how are we going to do that? She leaps at every sound we make and the only person she trusts is our lover boy Brooklyn,” Lexington started with a doubt look on his face first, then snorted when he said the word ‘lover boy’.
“Aye, you can always try by making friends with the poor lass,” Hudson suggested. At that word, Bronx bounded off first towards Suki who, as expected, cowered away from it. Bronx whined and tried to be friendly with Suki. Brooklyn, with his kind voice, knelt down beside Bronx and guided her down too. He petted Bronx and coaxed her to do the same. She was afraid at first, but then slowly she did pet Bronx, and Bronx licked her hand with joy. Suki giggled and petted Bronx some more, looking a little more relaxed now. Lexington, Angela and Broadway took that opportunity to come close to Suki and introduce themselves again to her. With Brooklyn as her protection, she finally smiled and said hi to each of them.
“See, Suki?” Brooklyn turned to her. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
Suki giggled and shook her head.
“Let’s take her out and show her around Manhattan,” Lexington suggested. “Since she’s having amnesia, like Elisa said, we might as well have a head-start on helping her remember.”
“Yeah, we can take her to watch a movie, see the casinos, swoop around the city…” Broadway began to list all the things they could do for tonight.
“So, Suki, do you want to come along with us to see Manhattan?” Brooklyn asked the purple-eyed hybrid.
“Brooklyn go too?” Suki asked him back.
“Yes, I’ll be going too, don’t worry.”
“Brooklyn go, I go.”
Soon the trio, together with Angela holding Broadway’s hand and Suki holding on Brooklyn’s arm, jumped off the clock tower and were soon gliding through the air on another of their night adventures.
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