Chapter 4

My sleep is not as peaceful as I wished for, however, for in the middle of the night I have an uneasy sensation, my body feels heavy, and yet with my mind foggy in a half awake half asleep state that makes me able to be somewhat aware of my surroundings and yet unable to move or to free myself from this state, almost like a spectator through my own body and eyes.

And yet it is not quite the same… but it is not the first time that this sensation overcomes me… and plays inside my mind without consent, hitting me like a racking ball, no barriers to stop the motions that follow, and the feelings that will disappear at the blink of an awaken mind.

But at that moment, I played at the mercy of the memories from my past life.

I'm lost, I know I am, the fog obscuring my vision as I can barely see the outline of trees and branches surrounding me, their leaves and wood cracking like whispering voices when the wind picks up.

Cold and hungry I advance, no point in turning back now, and my hopes rise when I see the outline off a big house in front of me, but as I approach am unsure if I should advance or not, the imposing nature of the place grows with each step and it is too much for my little self to absorb.

But then the front door opens, and with it a velvet voice resonates from inside:

"Ah, welcome little one, we meet at least." My mind fogs further, and I don't know if is the dream escaping me or the hunger of my past self that makes my vision darken, but I can clearly remember the last words that resonate through my mind before I'm sudelly jolt awake.

"I have long waited for you…My mate."

And that voice shudders me awake.

It takes me some time to realize that I'm back in my room, especially since this place still feels weird and new, it's ceiling with small cracks being the first thing my eyes meet from the freezing dream, and as I try to calm my racing heart and cover my eyes with my arm, chasing the strange vision away, my ears catch something odd, a creak on this old floor, sounding close by.

I freeze with the sound, but my mind utters many curses when, frowning, I look down towards the door and past my bed, expecting some creaking floor problem only for me blink twice at the image of a pair of white eyes staring back at me from the edge of my bed, close to my feet.

"…"

"…"

Then I scream, of course.

"Shh, shh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scary you, don't scream, you will awake the neighbors!"

"G-g-g-g-ghost! Y-you are a-…Wait… a ghost!" After the first scare passes and I properly look at the grey white figure barely popping its head at the edge of my bed the excitement of having my first real contact with the supernatural makes me forget the situation I'm.

"Ghost? Oh no, I'm not that, no no no, I'm Ragid, I'm a gargoyle, nice to meet you!" He says, pointing with his thumb at the window then to himself and finally standing up, giving me a clear view of the rest of his greyish body.

His body seems to have a strange texture, from smooth white skin to rough grey stone crumps that cover some parts of his body, from his clawed arms and legs to the bulge between his legs, hard in more ways than one.

I look away, blushing, oh boy he is naked alright, even though he looks like the statue outside, with stone horns and wings, I still cannot help but look away.

It didn't seem like they would have those, but I guess their crouched position serves to cover that area as well…

"M-mister Ragid, w-what are you doing here at this hour?" And why the hell naked?! Does he not perceive his body as other creatures? Because he does not look fazed at all, actually a little curious about my aversion to look at his direction since, well, the eyes go down on their own you know, is not my fault!

"Oh, right, sorry sorry, you are new to the town right? I'm, uhm… your committee receptionist?" Is that supposed to be an answer or a question now?

"A committee reception?" I cannot help but ask, which brings a bright smile to the boyish gargoyle faces in front of me as he inclines forward, getting over the edge of the bed and showing more cleavage down below, which makes my gaze shot to a very interesting stain on the wall.

He ignores that, or does not even notice, his long tail moving back and forth, excited, as he says: "Yes! You see, every new person around here must pass this, uhm, test on their first day in the city!"

A test? At this hour, really? "A… test?" I say low, but thankfully the creature does not need much to keep talking.

"Right! Is a small thing really, will end in a jiffy!"

Wha- wait, hold on a second, things are going a little too fast? And why is he climbing further into my bed?

"S-sorry if I'm a little clumsy at first, you are my first client too after all, so it may hurt a bit." First? Hurt? What is he up to? And why do I have a feeling that I'll not like it?

"Wait, hold on a second Mister Ragid, y-you are going too fast, care to explain?" I manage to say when he has crawled up enough now to trap me between the wall and himself, and by the time my mind picks up what is happening my ears are already burning red.

"Hm? Too fast? How so?" He says, looking more at lost than myself, and like a puppy he is completely honest with himself and, once he understands that something is wrong, his eyes look gloomy and his smile fades, somehow making me feel guilty even though he is the one in the wrong.

"I-I mean, you invaded my bed in the middle of the night, that is just…"

"Oh, sorry, I'm actually quite new to this, you know, being alive thing." I found it odd at first that such city would have so many statues all around, but having my suspicious confirmed only brings other questions with it, after all gargoyles are only born from years of immobility later, statues that after years of contact with the energy of the living, plus enchanted here and there by the supernatural energy of the place, so it should not have been a surprise to me that many of these managed to grown a conscious inside such mysterious Foggy City in the first place.

So what, they are like security cameras all around? That's a creepy thought to have while walking about later and having their unblinking gaze set upon me…

But still, I've never thought I would encounter one of those so soon, and a newborn at that!

With that in mind I try to look pass my own shyness and pass the fact that he was still sitting on my side naked in the middle of the night and ask:

"H-how old are you?"

"Uhm… two hours old?" That young?! Wow, I mean, damn, now I understand his clumsiness at dealing with me, plus how innocent and naïve he is, very easy to ready too.

Like a puppy indeed…

"Sigh, do you need to do that? That test?" When I ask his eyes go up again and his bright smiles surges once more as he says:

"Yes! I'll be in trouble if I don't! You see, we gargoils have to test the blood of every new person around for, uhm… reasons?"

"Is the Lord of the city command?"

"Yeah! He is very kind you know, he gives us his blood from time to time to accelerate our coming to be process! That's why there are so many of my kind here, and we are all loyal and grateful for his protection!"

"Is that so?" Well, that is smart of him to do, having an army around plus a security supernatural force loyal to him, but still it must very draining, even for him, to give blood out all the time like that uhm…

"Yeah, but if I can't even complete my first mission, I'm sure he will be mad, what to do, what to do…"

I sigh again, already knowing where things are leading to.

"Alright."

"Uhm? What is alright?"

"I'll let you test me." Hurry up so I can go back to sleep, how will I end up showing up on my first day of work if you keep talking all night long?

He answers me with a full smile that reaches his eyes, but only if I knew the consequences of saying yes that day, maybe things would have turned out very differently…

But at that moment only tiredness was on my thoughts, and I just wanted to finish this off quickly at that point, so I let him do his business and be done with it…or so I thought.