PROLOGUE

Some stories start with the tragic, I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me … then I left him now what… 

-this one starts with gargoyles…

My brain snapped awake but my body didn’t respond. I tried to sit up but I couldn’t even open my eyes. What happened?

And then I remembered the gargoyles.

Gargoyles? No, there was no way that had just happened. 

My mind jumped to the talon slicing through my arm. Surely I must be bleeding to death, but I had no pain in my arm. How could that be?

I tried to get my eyes to open again, no response. I would have to use my other senses. I wasn’t on hard ground, in fact, I felt cushioned, was I in the car?

I managed to get one eye to open for a moment, yes, I was in the car.

Okay. 

I tried again to move but opening my eye was all the energy I’d had.

I heard footsteps coming toward me and voices but couldn't make out anything they were saying. Then the sound of the car door opening and the breeze coming in from outside.

"And then she just passed out,” a voice said. The driver, that was the voice of the driver, I couldn’t forget that voice.

"She's what we've been waiting for." An unfamiliar male voice spoke.

"How can you be so sure she actually closed that portal?" a woman with a rickety voice said.

"Legoria, do you think I can't recognize that kind of power when I see it? You of all people." The unknown man said. He sounded pretty indignant.

So the lady must be my Aunt Legoria.

"The gargoyles just disappeared as soon as they got near her. She screamed that horrible sound and they just crumbled into a bunch of rocks. I’ve never seen anything like it." The driver said.

"Not before they sliced her arm open," the unknown man said.

"How badly?" Aunt Legoria said.

"The Colonel sealed it back up but it was pretty bad. It was nearly tore off completely." The driver said.

I felt a bony hand run its fingers along my forearm. "It's scarred, Colonel, you did a terrible job."

"Well, Legoria it's been awhile since I've had to do battlefield healing, and it's not exactly easy with paws instead of hands." The unknown voice snapped.

Paws? Battlefield? What in the world?

I struggled again to open my eyes, it was useless.

"Why were you there?" Aunt Legoria said, her tone accusing.

"Yes, it's nice to see you too, Legoria. It's been so long. I was out catching crabs." The voice with paws said.

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"The kind you eat I hope?" Aunt Legoria snapped.

"Yes, dearie, the kind you eat. It's good to know you're not holding a grudge."

"I don't hold grudges dear, I just call things like I see them." Aunt Legoria snipped.

"Can we get going here, the DMV is going to show up any minute and I'm on probation as it is." The driver said.

"You let me worry about those sour-faced pickles from the DMV, they've got bigger things to worry about than a license infraction. There are gargoyles attacking in midday. Besides, Rickman, as I've explained to you ad nauseam, your probation is suspended as long as you're in my employ. As long as you didn't cast any illegal spells they won't care." Aunt Legoria said.

"Yes, as grateful as I am for this opportunity to be your indentured servant I have other plans for my life." The driver said.

"Could you two put aside your domestic argument for long enough to handle this situation? How long do you think she'll be out for?" the voice with paws said.

"Closing a portal takes it out of even the most elite witches, she could be out for days," the driver said.

Days! I wasn't out, just paralyzed.

Wait did they mean lying here like this for days?

Ever feel claustrophobic in your own skin? I have.

I struggled with all my might to make a sound. "I'm not out!" I screamed in my brain, but it was useless.

Crickets.

"Colonel, you're going to have to resuscitate her. Rickman, drive them back to the edge of town and keep watch while the Colonel takes care of things."

"Back where we just fought off the two hell-beasts? I don't think so." The driver said.

I was with him.

"Don't argue with me Rickman, you yourself said she dusted the beasts and closed the portal. Now, do as I say."

"What the devil is going on here, Legoria?" the voice with paws said. I figured he was the Colonel.  

"Colonel, you'll have to wipe her memory as well, we can't have her remembering any of this. I need her in that house." Aunt Legoria said, completely ignoring the question.

Okay. So if the voice with paws was the Colonel that must mean Rickman was the driver..

"Do you really think you can just take off for a hundred years and waltz back into town like nothing ever happened?" Aunt Legoria said.

"Nobody's waltzing Gory, we're running away from gargoyles in the middle of the afternoon. Don't you think you have some explaining to do? Where's George, why isn't he here?" The Colonel asked.

"He's gone." Rickman spat.

"What do you mean gone?" the Colonel said.

"Out of town," Aunt Legoria snapped, "Thank you Rickman, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep that to yourself, in fact, Totalis Obscurum."

What in the world was going on above my head?

"Oh very nice Gory," the Colonel said.

"It had to be done and don't call me Gory," Aunt Legoria said.

"What had to be done?" Rickman asked, sounding considerably cheerier than a moment ago.

"Nothing." Aunt Legoria and the Colonel spat in unison.

"Who's she?" Rickman asked.

"She's my niece Everly, she got into the liquor in the back of the car and passed out on the way here, listen, I need you to drive this cat out to the edge of town and drop him off," Aunt Legoria said.

“What? You want me to drop this poor cat off at the edge of town? Why? What’s going on? Why is your niece in the back of the car? I didn’t even know you had a niece,” Rickman spat. “What am I supposed to do with her?”

"Oh, just let her sleep it off, I'm sure she'll be awake by the time you return." Aunt Legoria said, "Go on now." 

“Fine,” he snapped, mumbling something under his breath as he left. 

I lay there, wanting to shake but unable to. She'd just wiped that poor driver's memory with two little words. What else was she going to do? My heart didn't seem paralyzed anymore, it was about to bounce right out of my chest.

"Listen Gory," the Colonel said, after Rickman had gotten back into the driver’s seat.  "I've stayed under the radar for a long time now. Why can't you just resuscitate her?"

"Because I can't. You just have to trust me," Aunt Legoria said.

I wanted to scream. Please just let me scream. "I'm awake, I'm awake, please don't hurt me."

"If this gets me in a heap of trouble, you know you're the first one I'm pointing the finger at,” the Colonel said.

"Don't you mean paw?" Aunt Legoria said, with the confidence of someone who could get away with anything. "Just get it done Colonel. You'll have to trust me on this." The car door slammed, and we began moving.

I felt the cat pounce on my chest and start kneading me with his paws. He began a rhythmic chant, "Totalis Obscurum, Totalis Obscurum." Before I could remember that I should be terrified a warm feeling of relaxation came over me and I felt myself slipping into slumber. Losing control of consciousness yet again. I thought about that mind eraser thing in that movie with the aliens where they put on sunglasses and erase people’s memories. Didn’t they say something about that causing brain damage?