CHAPTER 5: A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SUKI
She was quite overwhelmed by the loud blasting music at first. How could anyone stand listening to this kind of music and scream their lungs out without fearing that they would lose their hearing and their voices? She was even taken aback by the people who were playing the music: such shouting colours on their clothes, such weird attire, such weird hairstyle, such oddity before.
Now she stared at Brooklyn and the other gargoyles who were with them. They seemed to enjoy the music as much as the screaming people down there. The ones called Broadway and Lexington were actually moving their bodies to the beat of the song. The one named Angela was also moving her body to the beat of this outrageous loud music. Brooklyn was even more outrageous—he was actually making guitar movements with his hands whenever that man in the guitar played his tune and blasting throughout the whole place.
Suddenly she saw Broadway standing up and held out his hand to Angela. She smiled and took it. As she continued to watch, she noticed that Broadway was actually dancing with Angela happily to the music. They looked like they were having so much fun. Lexington soon joined the fun and danced, cutting in occasionally and dancing with Angela. She smiled. She hoped she could have that much fun too.
That was when Brooklyn held out his hand to her and smiled at her.
The trio, Angela and Suki were in the grand stadium where the latest craze band called ‘The Headhunters’ were performing their concert at the Stadium of Manhattan. Lexington told them that they were having a premiere tonight and he would love him and the gang experienced it first hand. They all climbed onto the top part of the stadium where all the lightings were managed and sat there to enjoy this free music.
Suki didn’t start out liking the music at first. As soon as she heard the blasting noises, she almost went frantic and thought they were under attack or something. She struggled to get away from it all and go back to the lesser noise of the busy streets of Manhattan but Brooklyn tried to calm her down, telling her that there was no harm in here. To prove it to her, he let go off Suki’s hand and walked on the pathway of the lightings and stood there, coaxing her to come near. At first she was hesitant to go, but she couldn’t bear to be away from the protection and the security of Brooklyn’s wing, so slowly she inched her way towards Brooklyn. Brooklyn kept backing away until he had joined his fellow gargoyles who were just feet away above the audience’s heads, egging Suki on to come closer to him. As soon as she could feel her fingers touching Brooklyn’s wing, she grasped on it tightly and held it on for her dear life before she realized that she was actually with the gang above the audience.
The gargoyles were definitely enjoying their music, judging by the way they moved to the beat and even sang along with it to their hearts’ content. Suki didn’t move an inch from her spot; she still didn’t like the music and the loud noises around her. Then Broadway suddenly stood up and was beginning to dance, holding his hand out to Angela.
“Come on! Let’s dance!” Broadway tried to outwit the loud music by yelling.
“You don’t know how to dance!” Angela yelled back, laughing.
“It wouldn’t hurt to try! Come on!”
Angela smiled and took his hands, dancing to the beat. Lexington joined in, cutting in once in a while. Brooklyn continued to do his guitar stunt as The Headhunters below sang their next number. It was still a loud song, but it sounded much slower. Brooklyn finally stood up and held out his hand to Suki.
“Come on, Suki. You wanna dance?”
“Huh? Suki no dance. Suki not know.”
“It’s OK, I can teach you,” Brooklyn smiled, taking her hand and standing her up. “Come on, it’s very easy.”
“Brooklyn teach Suki dance?” Suki asked, moving tentatively towards the beat Brooklyn was leading her.
“Yeah, I’m teaching you to dance. It’s very easy. It’s OK, I’m right here. Come on, just move with me.”
And so she did. With her eyes looking at Brooklyn’s moving feet, she danced to the beat and listened to his kind voice guiding her as she took her steps slowly. She stepped on his feet a few times at first but soon she got the hang of it. In fact she got the hang of it pretty fast that she was actually moving to the beat much easier than she was when she was petrified at everything. She even got a little lot better than Brooklyn. Brooklyn stared in awe at the way her nimble body danced agilely to the song and moving perfectly in tune. Broadway and Lexington cheered at her and Angela laughed happily at how accustomed to life in Manhattan so far.
“Suki! You’re actually dancing! You tricked me, didn’t you? You already know how to dance!” Brooklyn laughed nervously at what he saw before him.
“Suki not know!” Suki denied at first, then admitted timidly, “Suki maybe know. Suki think…Suki remember how to dance. Suki not know first, but now Suki know.”
“You mean you remembered how to dance? You used to dance before?” Brooklyn asked in surprise.
“Maybe. Suki not sure. Suki…not know…”
Broadway, Lexington and Angela were too engrossed in their enjoyment dancing to the beat, but unbeknownst to them, deep down inside this white-haired gargoyle’s heart, he couldn’t help feeling slightly hurt. Hurt and afraid because if he and the gang continues to let her tour down Manhattan’s walk of life, she would start remembering everything and might start wanting to leave the clan and find a cure.
Just like what Maggie Reed did.
He wanted so much for her not to remember.
“What was her name again, lass?”
Elisa has printed out the information on Suki she got from the Techtro Industries files and was now in the clock tower sowing Goliath and Hudson the prints. Bronx sniffed at them for a second and sneezed. Elisa chuckled.
“Sorry, Bronx. I ran out of paper and had to use these scented ones. Her name is Yusuki Hamasaki, a member at the biochemical department of Techtro Industries. Techtro Industries is one of the largest well-known industrial companies that manufactures and sells medicinal products. The biochemical department is where the medicines are created and tested out.”
“So this has to mean that Suki was human,” Goliath rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “and she has to be one of the members of this biochemical (this word he pronounced it a little slowly) department to work on all human medicinal cures.”
“Exactly,” Elisa replied. “She was the youngest, most talented member there is. Her records shows that she has finished college—her highest education—in the study of Biochemistry and Science when she was only 13 years old, and a year after finishing college, she was immediately given a job offer at Techtro Industries. She exceeded all expectations of the industry and can produce quality medicines for us all, and still have time to go out on clubbing nights with friends!”
“That explains why she looked so young,” Goliath remembered the teenage look on her face.
“She’s an all-rounder, a genius, a girl every other girl wants to be,” Elisa said in leveled admiration. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a whole rack of trophies and awards in her room for outstanding performances or gotten from any science contest or science convention.”
“But what could have happened to that child to turn her into such oddity?” Hudson asked. “If she was human, there is no way she could’ve turned into a gargoyle just like that, and I’m sure it is not the work of sorcery.”
“I agree, Hudson,” Goliath nodded his head. “There is no inkling whatsoever that could connect her to sorcery. She has to be some poor experimental subject. Xanatos, perhaps?”
“I wish,” Elisa rolled her eyes. “As soon as I found out about Suki’s background, I did a slight investigation on Xanatos first thing. Or, to be more honest, I did a little interrogation on Owen, his faithful secretary. This time he’s clean.”
“Then it has to be something to do with the place she was working in. There cannot be any other explanation if even our main suspect is out of the list,” Goliath said, quite befuddled about Xanatos actually having nothing to do with Suki’s weird physical nature.
“I thought so too, so my partner and I went over to the Techtro Industries to check it out. Turned out that there had been a robbery attempt by some drug addicts and somehow it must have scared the hell out of our Suki here because she stopped coming to work the next day.”
“‘Tis not surprising for her to be afraid,” Hudson replied. “That poor lass is already as jumpy as a goat kid who lost its mother.”
“I’ll say,” Elisa grinned, remembering the way she clung onto Brooklyn’s wing and hid behind his back like her life depended on him. “After the robbery incident, the members of the biochemical department hadn’t seen her since. She stopped coming to work and wouldn’t answer their calls. She left no resignation letter, no form of indication that she was quitting the job. When they finally resorted to go to her house to find her, she wasn’t there. Gone without a trace. It was as if she had disappeared from the face of the earth. Well, I guess we’ve found their missing piece of the company’s puzzle.”
“But if she is a gifted child of intelligence,” Goliath noted, “shouldn’t she be speaking in a more proper language? She speaks as if she had never spoken English before.”
“Well, that is a mystery though,” Elisa admitted. “It could be the trauma that triggered her to forget certain grammars in her language, or it could be that transformation that has blocked out some of her intelligence. Whatever it is, I think our biochemical department has just lost their brightest star. That I’ll have to investigate even further.”
“Then at the meantime, we can inform Suki about this new information and then…” Goliath’s words were stopped by Elisa shaking her head.
“I wouldn’t advise that yet. She had only just grown accustomed to your clan and is still trying to adjust to her new self and her new way of life. I wouldn’t want to burden her mind any further. Give her some time and give me more time to investigate more on Suki before we start jumping into conclusions.”
Goliath nodded and replied, “You’re right, Elisa. She must not be burdened. We’ll have to take our time.” When Elisa was about to leave, he stopped her at her feet and said, “Uh, Elisa. I was wondering about the upcoming Halloween night. Uh, well, since Halloween is about 2 nights away, I was thinking maybe…well, maybe we could…you know…”
Elisa smiled softly and laid a hand on Goliath’s strong arm, saying, “I understand, Goliath, and I’m honoured to be walking in the streets again with you, without worrying about any crimes in Manhattan again, that is. So, I’ll be seeing you around.”
Before she left, she did that hand stroke again on Goliath’s hand, sending him into another all smiles. Somehow, he loved it when she did that. It was like some sort of a romantic ritual between them whenever she wanted to leave. A few moments later, the gang of teenage gargoyles came back. Goliath and Hudson went out of the tower to see them and were quite surprised to see Suki in her new outfit.
“I see you have been doing a little…shopping in the lands of Manhattan,” Goliath said as his eyes trailed up and down Suki’s new Demona-style outfit. Bronx walked over towards her and purred, asking for a pet on the head. Suki giggled and did as he wanted him.
“Yeah, isn’t she a beauty?” Brooklyn replied, admiring her from afar. Broadway and the rest were laughing with her and were talking excitedly about The Headhunters whose concert they just went to. Suki seemed like she had finally got acquainted with the gargoyles around her and Brooklyn could finally be at a distance from her for a while.
“She is quite a marvel to look at,” Goliath agreed before switching to a solemn face. “But as much as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you shouldn’t be too attached to that beauty, for she will one day be out of your sight.”
“Goliath…?” Brooklyn looked at his eldest brother questioningly. He could tell from the poetic tone that he was trying to tell him something he wished he would never hear.
“Elisa has some information about Suki, and until she has gathered more evidence to confirm this information, she will refrain from revealing it to Suki. Until then, she will remain with us. But you must remember that during these times, Suki is still prone to relapses and memory returns and will soon leave the clan to live a life of her own.”
“But, Goliath, I…”
“Goliath is right, lad,” Hudson agreed. “She had a life of her own and she has the right to choose which life to live. And you can’t stop the lass from remembering her past. You have no control of that.”
Brooklyn looked at Suki with a hurt feeling as she, on the other hand, was doing the guitar stunt Brooklyn just did and the others were laughing like crazy at the way she imitated Brooklyn. If she remembers, she might leave the clan. She said she liked him and he was sure that she really meant it, because he, too, was beginning to like and feel a deep connection towards her and her wellbeing. He felt more than just protective towards her. He felt…like…
“I know you feel a certain attachment towards Suki,” Goliath said, putting his hand on his shoulder. “But you must also learn how to let go and know when to let go.”
“Yeah…Yeah, I understand…” Brooklyn’s voice trailed away as he continued to stare at Suki.
His Suki.
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