Gargoyles and Guilt - Ch. 02

The next day, they both got ready in a grave silence. Looking through her closet, Abigail was dreading what to wear. It was meant to be a humdrum day with a busy night out. Saturday night mass was a constant ritual she couldn't avoid, but afterwards Abigail had begrudgingly agreed to join her younger sister Hayden at a party. After how horrible last night ended, she wanted to wear the plainest thing imaginable to avoid getting noticed by Father Michael or any wandering eyes at the party. She knew she'd have to ward off at least a few douchey college "bros" that would try to get into her and Hayden's pants. Their often wandering, drunken hands definitely ruled out any skirts or dresses she owned. She considered going super comfortable for the day with some black leggings to comfort her foul mood, but then she remembered how many people she usually caught looking at her ass in those. It would have to be a pair of jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Completing the outfit with her curtain of black hair put up in a messy bun, she hoped the combination would be her camouflage for the day.

She left the apartment without a word to Gale and headed out to run her morning errands before mass began at 5 pm. She walked past their gothic church, St. Peter's, to get to the shopping district. There used to be no place she longed for more. First, St. Peter's was a place of community and rejuvenation for her as she struggled and stressed over her bachelor's. Then, all she felt were butterflies as she approached and knew that Gale waited for her inside.

Now, she felt nothing but dread as she walked by and looked on its terrible spires. Each of them rose 6 stories into the air and were capped with the remains of stone gargoyles carved decades ago. The gargoyles were decapitated, bisected, or crumbling from the wear and tear of the elements over the years. Each of their gray talons were stained a dark red from the rust that ran off from the main, iron roof of the church in between and above all of them. She noticed only one of them remained fully intact now. It was hard to tell how big it really was from so far down on the ground, but she judged its body to be about the size of a person hunched over. It had wide stone wings that were swept back, so they could be supported by the stone of its back. It clung to its perch with 4 muscular limbs. Its back legs wrapped sharp eagle-like talons around its pedestal. Its two arms ended in similar, avian claws that it had extended straight under its chest. It gave the whole creature a posture like a silverback gorilla standing on all four of its limbs. Its chest and groin were totally obscured by the 4 brawny limbs that held it up on the perch. Its face was hard to make out from this distance other than it had a curly mane of hair that circled a face totally contorted in rage or agony. She couldn't tell which. Looking at the debris of the damaged gargoyles and the single intact one, she figured they must be made from large blocks of grey limestone and not a cheaper concrete cast.

She had always had a great interest in big larger-than-life things like bridges, skyscrapers, and churches. That's what pushed her to go into civil engineering and study concrete, structures, and steel. In every city she ever visited, the first attraction she always saw was the tourist roof or deck of the tallest thing in the city they'd let the public into. Heights never bothered her. In fact, they thrilled her. It was another thing her and Gale never quite agreed on since he was terrified of heights.

The day wore on and the sun fell as pregnant grey clouds began to fill the sky above the church. By the time mass ended, Abigail and Hayden were walking out into a cold drizzle of rain on their way to the party with just a single umbrella between them. Neither were the best planners in the world and hadn't prepared for the 20 minute walk through the rain in the setting sun. Abigail held the umbrella tightly to her as her younger sister crowded next to her under it. Hayden whined about the rain, but her sister felt little sympathy for her since she'd decided to just wear a pair of tight black leggings and matching halter top that hugged her thin, willowy frame like a second skin. Her sister was short like her, but Hayden lacked any of the curves of her older sister. She was rail thin and liked to show off the runner's figure she still cultivated. That, and her long dark hair that was meticulously curled and layered about her chest, shoulders, and back, were her best assets. She was still in the exploratory phase of her college experience, and Abigail knew her sister was going to relish every pupil that struggled to drag itself off of her petite body.

As soon as they were alone and in the rain together, Hayden shouted over the rain and launched her interrogation of her sister. "How're things going with Gale? You two seemed a little tense today. Are you not putting out for him anymore?" she asked.

Mortified by her sister's crass accusation, Abigail flushed a deep red on her pale cheeks and shouted back "You nosy bitch! No! That's not it!"

Hayden pressed further with a sadistic grin on her face "Oh so he's not performing right? Too lazy? Always too tired to get it up?"

Abigail scowled at her sister and yanked the umbrella away from her out of spite.

"No! No! I'm sorry! I'll be nice!" her sister shrieked as she rushed back under the umbrella and tried to protect her hair from the downpour.

"He's not too tired, but he's upset we aren't married yet." Abigail said with exasperation.

"Well, I don't remember him proposing either, and I sure as shit don't see a ring." Hayden said with gruff support for her sister.

"No, I told him I didn't want him to yet. I just don't think I'm ready yet with where we are at and everything I have going on." Abigail said as she agonized over how long the wait would still be.

"If he's not willing to wait on you without taking it out on you, then you should join me in my hunt for a good man tonight. So long as I still get first dibs." Hayden said with a wry smile and an elbowing of her sister.

Abigail laughed and rolled her eyes as they turned the corner on the block. Her mission for the night was still camouflage. She planned to be as still and lifeless as that gargoyle up on the roof back... that... way... Looking back at the church through the rain as they turned at the intersection, she struggled to see the intact gargoyle she had studied earlier. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and it was raining, but she still for a moment thought it wasn't there anymore. She hurried forward and continued on as her brief pause left her sister unprotected from the cold rain again by her umbrella.

At the 5th story brick apartment where the party was held, Abigail awkwardly shook her soaked umbrella out at the front door while Hayden quickly tried to introduce her to her friends hosting the party. Hayden practically dragged her through the place, which was a fashionably furnished 2-floor loft in the city, to find a drink ASAP. Abigail marveled at what kind of income the parents of Hayden's friends must make to afford this practical mansion in the city, but Hayden had her eyes on the prize. She immediately got them thrust into the next round of shots with a few guys who had just started pouring. Most of their eyes stayed glued to Hayden as she flirted with a few of them. Clearly, she hadn't quite made up her mind who was the best catch of the bunch. Abigail did her best to fade into the background as she sipped on drink after drink alone. She always dreaded parties like this, even when she was Hayden's age. Her crowded solitude next to the 2nd floor balcony, outside of the kitchen, went uninterrupted as she stood watch over her sister's drinks in between her bathroom breaks for an hour or two.

Then, a bolt of lightning and its following clap of thunder rocked the windows of the building and glass door of the balcony. All the lights in the loft went out, and the music stopped as the crowded loft groaned and lamented the loss of power. Abigail watched as a few guys rushed in from the balcony to see what the commotion was. They'd been rotating out there to try to vape and smoke outside despite the rain. One final silhouette caught her eye as he trudged into the black apartment behind the others in no hurry at all and a few steps behind. She could see he was tall, and he had a long coat that hung almost down to his feet. Then, her eyes darted back to the center of the room where cheers had erupted as someone broke out a battery-powered speaker. The party started again in earnest despite the darkness.

Abigail tried to shuffle her way through the dark back to the kitchen to hopefully find her sister and maybe a refill for her empty cup. She tripped on someone else as she stumbled through the dark and began to fall forward. Suddenly she was caught by a steel grip on her sweatshirt hood and hauled back to her feet.

"Are you alright?" a baritone voice boomed in her ear over the music as the tall guy in the coat hunched down to reach his lips to her ear.

She felt his long fingers holding both her shoulders to steady her after her near tumble. "I'm fine." she squeaked out.

He pulled his firm, long hands away from her short frame, and she felt a momentary thrill as one of his fingers dragged across her covered breast on its way. "Take my arm." he commanded with his deep voice as he held out his thick, trunk-like arm for her.

She hesitated for a moment, but then she figured she'd already proven to herself she was too clumsy or drunk to find her own way in the dark. She wrapped her dainty hands around his arm and found it bare, frigid, and rough to the touch. She figured he must have rolled up the sleeves of his long coat for a certain look and the rain had frozen him to the bone. She leaned up to his ear in the dark as he plowed his way forward, but on her tip toes she couldn't reach it. Instead, she felt her face brush up against a thick, bushy beard that hung all around his face. She smelled his thick beard as she prepared to speak, and was surprised how much it smelled like a damp cave. Somewhere fresh like a stream but pungent. She told him "You're freezing! You should've come inside sooner!"

She noticed he looked down at her from his towering height because she could see his eyes and the white grin of his exposed teeth reflected the little light in the room back at her. Abigail's heart fluttered for a moment as she earned the slight smile from her guide. It was more admiration than she had earned from Gale in weeks.

Reaching the kitchen, he patted her hand and asked "Is this where you wanted to be?"

A bit drunkenly, she replied "Honestly, I'd love to get out of here."

Immediately after she said it, she looked down and pulled her hands off of him in embarrassment. She cursed herself for how stupid she'd just sounded. "I practically just told this guy, I just met, to take me to his and fuck me." she thought. "I really just meant I hated the party. I'll just laugh it off and tell him that." she told herself quickly, but when she looked up at him he leaned down to her again.

He put his face very close to hers. He raised his hands back up to her and, very much like an eagle grabbing its prey, wrapped his long fingers around her upper arms so that she felt his thumbs and fingers intertwine. Then, he said very earnestly with his dark, brown eyes looking right through hers "I can take you away from this place anytime you want, if that is what you want."

She thought she should feel scared with his strong hands holding her in such a controlling way, but he sounded totally sincere and calming. It made her want to bear her soul to him and answer with complete honesty. "I want to find my sister first and check on her before I leave at least." she blurted out with her eyes still locked on his.

He nodded, released his odd hold, and said with a grin "I'll start looking for the second most beautiful woman here."

She laughed at his joke and again lost herself in his earnest charm. She took his frigid arm again as he offered it in the dark room and began to lead her through the crowd once more.

She tried to study his figure and face further as they moved, but all she could make out between the flashes of party-goers' phones was that his coat was some sort of black leather and his whole face was circled in a thick mane of curly black hair that reached low, maybe to his coat's collar. He was tall, probably basketball-player-tall like 6' 5" or something judging by how he towered over others. She thought they must make a silly pair since he was more than a foot taller than her. They were like a father dragging his child around through a crowd.

She assumed he didn't actually know where her sister might be and that they were aimlessly searching, but he took her right to her sister in a direct line inexplicably. He pulled her forward in front of him and then leaned his lips down by her ear again. She felt his beard tickle her neck as he then put one hand on her shoulder again and outstretched his other to try to point out her sister in front of them through the darkness. She leaned her back and ass against him in the crowded centre of the room. People danced madly all around them, and she strained her eyes to see his pointing hand and her sister in the dark. Leaning against him, she felt his long fingers stretch across her small frame almost reaching her stiffening nipple.

His lips grazed her ear as he whispered "Do you see here, there?"

She looked and finally saw by the flash of a phone that Hayden was there just 5 feet in front of them past a few other people.

She watched as her sister danced with the guy behind her. She grinded her thinly covered ass against his groin as he held her tightly to him with two of his hands firmly locked onto her narrow waste. She watched between phone flashes with her guardian's breath in her ear as her sister's dancing partner slowly ran his hands up from her waist onto her top covering her tits. Then, he snuck one hand down her shirt and gripped one of her tits tightly. Hayden's mouth moved over his arm and kissed and bit it. She saw Hayden's head lean back against his shoulder as his other hand snuck down her elastic waistband into her waiting snatch. They watched as her sister writhed against him as her leggings gave him total freedom to reach and curl his fingers up into her walls.

Abigail knew she should be imagining Gale doing the same to her here, if she imagined anything. All she could picture though was her colossal guide's frame wrapped around her with his cold fingers rubbing her firm nipples as she moved her ass against his hopefully, proportionally sized cock under his dark coat. She imagined them mirroring her sister. They could be totally unnoticed in this sunless room. She could have everything she'd been denied by Gale from a nameless someone she could never see again if she wanted. She visualized him turning her around and running his cold hands under her clothes and up her back. She wanted him to envelop her under his billowing coat. Under there and hidden from everyone, she could feel safe to strip her clothes all off. Then totally bare except for her sneakers, she could squat down and unbutton his pants. Underneath, she knew he'd have a mess of that same mane of thick, pungent hair circling his shaft. She knew it would still be warm and throbbing as she ran her fingers around it. She hoped that she wouldn't be able to get one hand all the way around it. She could feel how shameless and turned on she'd be as her bare pussy dripped its nectar onto the floor under them. All while one of his iron hands came down and forced her drooling mouth down on his throbbing cock.

Breathlessly, she answered him by saying "I don't see her." She desperately wanted to extend this indulgent, harmless moment with him. She moved her lips back to his ear as he craned his neck down to her again and purposely moved her lips across his ear when she said it. She began to push her ass back into him further in an exaggerated way as she moved her head back down. Things were rapidly exiting harmless. Between her ass cheeks she felt there was something thick and proportional growing under his leathery coat. It was then she felt him freeze up and hold her stiffly. She knew he'd noticed her maneuvers, but she didn't care if anyone knew what she wanted right now. She moved her hand up and tugged lightly on his beard to bring his head back down to her and whispered into his ear "My name's Abigail. What's yours?" She bit and sucked on his earlobe as she moved her mouth away from him. Then, she felt him pull her very tightly to him with his left hand over her stomach, and his right gripped the back of her head by the hair.

He turned her ear up to him like he was manipulating a doll and whispered back into her ear "My name is Gabriel, but I think your sister needs you. She is heading to the kitchen right now." He relinquished his hold and offered his arm one more time.

Frustrated for a moment but quickly sobering up when he said her little sister might need her, Abigail took his arm again and gestured for him to lead the way. On reaching the kitchen again, they found Hayden quite drunk as her dancing partner made another drink in the dark. Abigail was no prude and knew her sister intended to take this bloke home to fuck him regardless of how drunk she was, but she also needed to check in with her and make sure she was together enough to handle that. Before she could say a word to Hayden, she jumped as she saw a figure slam into the kitchen wall next to them. It looked like Gabriel had grabbed Hayden's dancing partner and slammed him up against the wall. His massive frame almost completely covered up the guy and she put her hand on one of Gabriel's arms and leaned up to urgently ask him "What happened?"

Gabriel didn't turn from his quarry, and she heard him growl in his deep voice "I saw you poison that girl's drink, cretin."

Immediately, she saw the pinned guy kick upwards and push Gabriel back away from the wall. He lunged forwards again and this time grabbed the guy by the throat. She watched as he picked up the guy solely from the neck and slammed his head into the brick wall. The guy swung his arm out wildly at Gabriel, but his other arm grabbed it in the dark. She couldn't see why, but the man shrieked as Gabriel tightened his grip on his arm. The shrieking stopped as Gabriel's grip tightened on his throat. Now, heads were turning back towards the kitchen. Abigail feared her gentle giant was going to kill this guy. She rushed Gabriel and tried vainly to pull his choking grasp away from the man, but the man began flailing violently again the minute she touched Gabriel. Gabriel lashed out with his free arm at the man in the dark and caught Abigail's left hand at the end of his swing. She yelped and jumped back. She had been cut by something terribly sharp, and blood began gushing from her hand. She looked up and saw Gabriel's eyes widen in shock. He hurled the man across the counter and sent the glass bottles of beer and liquor scattering across the kitchen floor.

Now, flashlights came on all across the room and illuminated him fully as he approached Abigail. Gasps filled the room as the light struck his grey, monstrous form. She looked at him with eyes wide and saw it was no leather duster that covered him. It was leathery wings wrapped all around his torso that hung down almost to his eagle-like feet. His muscular arms ended in hands of the same avian scales and claws that now were raised up to shield his eyes from the bright lights aimed at him. His face was brutish with a heavy brow, thick nose, and strong jaw, but otherwise human. He looked down at Abigail in front of him again but with deep sadness on his face.

He mouthed "I'm sorry." over the noise of the crowd and then grabbed the battered man again and dragged him out onto the balcony next to her.

She watched as his "coat" unfolded into leathery, bat-like wings that connected to his human-like frame as a second set of thick shoulders on top of where his arms ended. She saw that beneath his wings there had been nothing separating his skin, and even his cock, from rubbing against her. Then, his great wings flapped once as he leapt off of the balcony with the shrieking man held in the sharp talons of his feet. They disappeared into the dark storm.

The party dispersed quickly after the attendees witnessed such a shocking and terror-inducing sight. Abigail quickly bandaged her hand with a hand towel in the kitchen and rushed her drugged and drunken sister back to her and Gale's apartment a block away.