The Savior Rises by Christopher C. Payne Page B

again. It became harder to breathe. How could she possibly be one of these things? She didn’t have wings, she couldn’t fly. She burned when she was out in the sun too long, for Christ’s sake. There was no way her skin was grey leather. It just wasn’t possible.
    Dennis no longer seemed to care about her mental stability. “We don’t have time for games anymore. I need the ring. You have to think. What do you have from your childhood? What is it that you hold most precious? As he asked her, his grip on her right hand began to hurt. What was it with these gargoyles and crushing her right hand?
    His eyes were no longer focused on her, though. He seemed fixated with her Raggedy Ann doll. The one thing she had kept from her days as a child. The one thing she would never relinquish. It was the only tie she had left to her mother, her life, her sanity.
    Dennis snatched the doll in his left hand and ripped the head off with his right.
    “Nooooooooooo!” she screamed, but as she did so, a necklace fell from the severed neck. A necklace, with a ring attached to one end.
    Dennis laughed.
    “It’s mine,” he said. “It’s finally mine. I’ve found the one thing that can change the course of time and destiny. This is not just a ring. It will be the symbol of a new beginning. We now have the ability to rule. To make things right.”
    His face had contorted into a disgustingly warped mask of grey leathery wrinkles. What the heck? Who was this guy? He turned to her, holding the ring in his left hand, and she felt her world get cut off. His right hand had wrapped around her neck and he squeezed. He squeezed so tightly she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t stop it. Was this how she was going to die? Didn’t he say she was needed alive? Or did he just say they needed her.
    Moments before she thought she would pass out, the pressure released. It was like he let go, but she couldn’t focus very well.
    “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Dennis screamed. “What have you done to me?”
    She thought she saw his face, but it looked as if his skin was melting. His eyeballs had rolled down to his chin, connected by little tentacles clinging to his sockets like strings. He was grabbing his hair with both hands.
    He ran headfirst through the window, plummeting to the parking lot below. There was a loud crash as he landed on his back in the middle of the roof of a Porsche 911 convertible. His massive weight crushed the car as it folded in on itself. Within seconds he jumped up and dashed off into the night, screaming in pain as he ran. His hands were empty.
    “That was close,” the young policeman said. “I thought you said you could trust that guy?”
    “What happened? What did you do to him, his face?” Stefani asked. “It looked like he was decaying right before my eyes. It almost seemed like his skin was peeling from his body.”
    “Gargoyles don’t like salt,” he said matter-of-factly. “Their body content is mostly water, but it’s genetically altered somehow. Salt seems to penetrate their pores and somehow instantly dehydrates them. Sadly, he’ll rejuvenate very quickly. They also seem to heal within minutes or at times possibly hours. It all depends on how much they’re damaged and what kind of access they have to water.
    “OMG, what are you talking about?” she screamed. “Why is this happening to me? I thought Dennis was the good guy. Greg is the bad guy. There is always a good guy and a bad guy in every movie. Dennis rescued me. He…”
    Her voice trailed off as she saw the young officer reach his hand down and pick up the necklace lying on her bed. That was going too far.
    She grabbed his hand, bent it back, watching the necklace and ring fall back into place next to her. The cop’s knees buckled as he dropped to the floor in pain, staring directly into her eyes.
    “Now, let’s get two things straight. I have no idea who you are or what you’re doing here. I will only say this once. The necklace