Two-Legged Freaks (Sarah J.)

“Excuse me!” Gina shouted, scampering across the empty street as her only lead ducked down an alleyway. Walking down alleys at night, bad idea. Gina leapt onto the sidewalk and peered down the dark alley, large brown eyes seeming black in the darkness, “Excuse me!”

The girl was already well into the alleyway, and Gina refused to follow. You couldn’t see well, in those dark, dank corridors. Scary people could be down there. The gargoyle tilted her head skywards, and looked around. Up above, the buildings were uniform cigar boxes, and very little obstructed her path. Nobody stood too close to her. Gina bent her legs, kneeling closer to the ground and spreading her wings. She leapt, and her wings took in air before pushing it away from her.

Whoooooosh.

She was propelled skyward, soaring past the face of the building with a few, simple wingbeats. When she came the roofs of the buildings, Gina sailed along the roof so that she ran parallel to the alley, and didn’t cast a shadow down below. Last thing she needed was for the other girl to get spooked before the gargoyle could even ask directions. Gina flew the length of the alleyway in record-time, and dove towards the sidewalk as she reached the other end, wings spreading to create drag as she plummeted. Just before landing, Gina turned so that her feet were below her, and she landed fluidly.

It was as though she’d been on this street the entire time. She slouched against a wall and looked at her phone as it hummed with another text. This street was just as bright as the other, and the lights reflected off of her front screen as she saw that it was a text message, probably from her sister. The dark-haired girl exited the alley, and Gina perked up.

“Excuse me,” Gina said, her voice crisp and noticeable, “I’m in need of some directions, could you possibly help me?”

Gina could tell the woman’s reaction before her brain even connected to her body and compelled her to run. She froze, her face falling and eyes going wide. At least she didn’t scream. She just shouted an apology and bolted. Ginas’ shoulders sagged. Thus was one of many problems of looking the way she looked at all hours of the day—people screamed at you with greater frequency when it was dark outside. It was even more difficult to find visibly mutated at this hour—at least a mutant who looked the part would come to her aid, but they were so scarce on the streets. Everyone looked human, which meant that hardly anyone would help Gina. Anyone with a brain, that is.

"Whatever," the gargoyle grunted in exasperation.

Gina sighed and took to the air again, however slowly this time. She fluttered to the roof, and curled her feet around the ledge, balancing herself with her tail as she thought. She’d have to sit up there until she spotted a visibly-mutated individual, ask them for directions. Or call Agnes, and get her to look directions up online. The realization dawned-on Gina, and she suddenly felt very foolish. She wasn’t as technologically minded as her cohorts, thus coming to this conclusion didn’t come as rapidly as the girl had hoped. Gina sighed and fished her phone out again. Strolling onto the roof as she held the receiver to her ear. It rang… and rang again… and rang a third time, before someone picked up.

>> “Gina?! Is everything okay?”

“Hi Agnes,” Gina greeted, “I just realized that I could ask you directions and you could look them up online.”

Her sister sighed in exasperation and excused herself to go fishing for a writing utensil. There was a crash down below, and Gina peered down distractedly. The girl had toppled over, but Gina didn’t see the three men at the mouth of the alley. The other girl just fell, that was it. Gina sat on the wall, her bare, taloned feet teasing a pile of bricks in front of her. Apparently, someone was building planter boxes on their roof. What a great idea.

Gina realized when the woman got up and began to run in the direction that Gina had been lingering. Something had to be really bad for a woman to scurry back to a demon-girl. Gina would have smirked at the wryness if her heart hadn’t sunk to the pit of her stomach just then. A trio of men were closing-in upon the girl that had turned and run from her closing in upon her.

>> “What’s the address, sis?”

“Hold on,” Gina murmured, her voice dropping to a hum.

>> “Gina?”

Gina didn’t answer. Her eyes thinned and her ears strained at the words that the men were shouting, calling after the other lady. They had to stick up for one another, had to keep one another safe. It was like the unspoken truce of mutants—mutants looked out for their own. In the same regards, women protected other women, be it from opposing women or men. This wasn’t good.

Gina wriggled out of her messenger bag, her body moving before her brain registered what it was about to do. She unhooked the strap and dropped the bag onto the roof, keeping the phone to her ear.

“Something’s happening,” Gina said vaguely.

>> “What’s going on?”

“I’ll call you back.”

A crack of a gunshot fractured the crisp silence that had hung in the chilled, dusky air. The phone left Gina’s hand and skittered to the roof beside her bag, the call disconnected. Something had snapped in her—memories of being shot, perhaps, and the fear of having someone face a fate like her own. Gina wouldn’t let that happen.

Without so much of a second thought, the gargoyle girl stepped onto the ledge and jumped, spreading her wings and holding them extended, catching air so that she didn’t accelerate too quickly. She was descending, talons spread wide and aiming for the mens’ backs. One dared to kick the other woman, and it was so on. They looked up a few moments too late. Gina landed on top of them, claws curling into the backs of two for leverage, breaking skin with ease.

“You’re going to regret that!” she snarled, her protective instincts rearing their ugly heads. Oh, they were so going down.

The third man, momentarily confused, scrambled for his gun, and Gina swiped at his face, her claws grazing his cheek. She let out her most convincing hiss, which melted in a growl. Good. She wanted them scared of her.

“Run!” the gargoyle shouted at the other lady, “Get out of here, now. Go! I got ‘m!”

Of course, right as Gina said that, the two pinned men managed to throw Gina back, leaving the gargoyle with only shreds of cloth in her talons. Sizeable gashes had been made in their backs where the talons had taken hold, but now Gina was in a poor position for a fight—the ground. The gargoyle scrabbled to her feet, and clumsily grabbed for the greatest threat—the gun. And the third man, too alarmed to retaliate, released it in alarm.

Mine now! The gargoyle sprinted in the direction of the street that the two girls had first been on, grinning at her small victory. Sure, she had a gun now, but what was she supposed to do with it. Make it so they can’t get it.

Gina didn’t know what she was going to do, now that she was running. Sure, she’d broken things up, made them more chaotic, but what now? As she bolted and took to the air, things became blatantly apparent. Her first realization was that Gina didn’t know how to fight, and couldn’t think like somebody who did. She flew haphazardly back to her hiding spot atop the roof, setting the gun down cautiously, before hesitantly peeking back over the edge. Attacking from above wouldn’t work like it had last time.

Gina’s cell phone hummed incessantly as Gina hazarded a glance down. She didn’t need to look at the front screen to see who it was that was calling. The girl was charging forward again, towards the two men that were supposedly pursuing Gina. There was another gunshot, but the gun didn’t strike a living mark. It ricocheted off of a wall with a spark and whizzed on. Somehow, in the scramble, the girl had grabbed a bat and took out one of the men, leaving only two behind.

Gina ran to the street-facing side of the building and ran back into the alley. The woman threw down the gauntlet, telling them to attack. She seemed to have things well under control. Gina still didn’t know where she was, though. She stepped back into the alleyway, announcing herself with a hiss. If they went after the human woman, they'd have to deal with her, too.

Sarah suggested that the guys leave, and leave they did—guess they didn’t expect the two cats to (both literally and figuratively) have claws, Gina noted wryly. They grabbed their friend and scurried back towards Gina, who stepped aside, her eyes thinned into a glare as they passed. A growl rumbled in her chest, low and ominous, and they quickly made themselves scarce. Gina’s tail twitched in minor irritation, and she kept her gaze upon them until they were totally gone. Good riddance.

Gina relaxed her shoulders, glancing towards the other girl. She thanked her, touching her shoulder lightly. Gina smiled faintly—funny, how the story changed, once a gargoyle proved her worth. One second it was, “Oh god, monster!” and the next second, it was, “Thanks for saving me.” Humans were so odd like that.

“No problem,” Gina said casually, shrugging a shoulder, “How’s your shoulder? Getting shot’s nasty business. Need a doctor?”

Gina could see the struggle in the other womans' eyes, and waited for the woman to brush her off. Just try to. Gina waited. She couldn't force the woman to come along with her, but it wouldn't make Gina very happy to leave her here. Just as Gina was certain that the woman would give her the boot, she was pleasantly surprised.

> "You know a good one."

"Know a great one," Gina confirmed, "Won't even know you got shot."

She was, of course, speaking of the Doc Prof.

You know where we are?" Gina inquired, "I don't know how fast we'd get to my school-" because someone didn't give her directions, "But I know DocProf could get to the school in no time."