What is a Gargoyle? (Part Two)

After seeing the demon boy turning into a stone gargoyle in front of her own eyes, Trinity was too stunned to move. She remained sitting against the balcony railing for several hours, still unable to believe what her own eyes had witnessed. Her eyes were telling her one thing, but her brain refused to process it, refusing to believe what she had seen was real.

'What is any of this supposed to mean?' she thought to herself.

Nervous, she looked around at each of the stone gargoyles that perched on the rooftops and across the balcony. 'Did all of these gargoyles used to be a demon?'

She shook her head from the absurd thought. 'No! That's impossible! Surely the church would have ordered these from a landscaping company that makes concrete and cement decorations. But then, how did he...?' her thoughts trailed off as she looked back up at the stone gargoyle that was once previously a living, breathing demon.

She held both hands to her head as she rocked back and forth, struggling with what was true and what was real. 'No! Don't let him get to you! This is just one of his mind tricks. Don't let him win again!'

Then another thought crept into her mind. 'But, what if he stays like this? What if he did this to himself, to avoid the wrath of the angel that he knew was nearby? Would he maybe have chosen to die in stone, rather than meet his death to the angel?'

She began to perk up at this thought. This answer made the most sense to her. Surely death by turning into stone would be less painful than an angel's vengeance.

Trinity opened the palm of her right hand, as she brought it in front of her face to inspect. 'The lady earlier, said that I had created a light in my hands that I had shot at the demon, and that he had welcomed it. Could this be the result of that? Did he need a human's help to die? He must have gone to my father, pleading for death, when he flew into the church.'

She clenched her right hand, tight against her chest. 'That must be the reason!' she thought to herself.

She continued to sit there, unable to tear her eyes away from the stone statue for too long. She didn't know what to expect from it. Would he stay like this, or would he return? Although she originally wanted to refuse his command of staying by his side for the next few hours. She felt compelled to stay, even if it were only to figure out the result of whether he would remain in this state. She felt she had to stay. She had to know for sure.

"Trinity! Trinity, where are you?"

Down below, she could see her father frantically calling for her. She stood up and waved to her father, below. "I'm up here, dad!"

Worry quickly left his face, replaced with relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright! Stay right there, don't move. I'm coming up!"

He quickly dashed into the church. Sounds of his feet running along the stone steps could be heard as he finally reached the top floor of the church.

"Trinity!" he shouted again as he ran through the french doors before embracing his daughter in a big bear hug. "I was so worried! I woke up and you weren't in your room, nor were you in the house. I feared the worst that the demon had come back and taken you away from me!"

He stepped back and brushed her hair back away from her face. "Are you ok?"

Trinity smiled meekly and nodded. "Yeah dad, I'm ok! But-"

"That's good, that's good!" He held her close as he wrapped her in his arms again. "I promise I will never allow that to happen to you again! I'm so sorry for what you must have experienced."

Father Kiran was beside himself with worry. He felt responsible for what his daughter must have experienced. Never did he ever want to put her in harms way. He had been wanting to make this world a better place for his daughter, and for everyone; and he blamed himself for failing and allowing this demon to enter their world.

Trinity sighed inwardly. She felt that she would have to repeat this same information many more times to others, before they finally realized, she truly didn't remember anything. She had been certain that this was due to the demon trying to cover his tracks, but something he said earlier just didn't fit right with that. He had seemed disappointed that she had forgotten her memories.

Trinity shook her head. "Honestly dad, I really don't remember any of it. The last thing I remember, I was in the church, and the next thing I'm waking up in my bed. I do not remember anything else that happened. But dad, I really need to tell-"

"That's good. Let's keep it that way! No need to force up any unpleasant memories. Now, let's go on back home for a bit, shall we?"

"Dad!" she almost screamed.

Father Kiran froze in his tracks. "What is it, dear?" he asked with worry in his voice again.

Trinity opened up her mouth to speak, to explain everything that had just happened with the demon turning to stone. She wanted to warn him that he was able to remain in the church unharmed. But as she tried to speak, the words wouldn't come out. Her voice seemed to betray her as soon as she attempted to speak the words against him.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" he repeated.

She tried once more to explain, and again her voice betrayed her and she found herself not being able to speak. Finally she looked down at the ground in defeat, sighed and said, "I'm fine dad. Nothing's wrong."

Instead, Trinity wanted to try a different approach. If she could just get her father to pay attention to the gargoyles around them. Maybe he would notice the one that most resembled the demon, above. She tilted her head in the direction of all the decorative gargoyles that surrounded them. "Dad, what is a gargoyle?"

Father Kiran followed his daughter's eyes around each of the grotesque monsters. "I can understand why the sudden question. But it isn't just one simple answer though. It all depends on which version of history you are looking into. Gargoyles first began as a type of water spout. Rain gutters, that would divert water away from the walls of the buildings so that their walls did not become waterlogged and swell, destabilizing the structure of the building.

"Later on in history, gargoyles later became symbols of protection. Think of the chimeras posted outside of the egyptian temples, or even the gargoyles placed throughout many of our churches. They became symbols of protection, guarding and warding against evil.

"Now, most people just use them as decoration, but the church still continues on with the tradition of protection."

Her father's words only confirmed what Trinity had already known. But with everything she just witnessed, she seemed skeptical and not sure what to believe anymore. She pressed on with the topic, hoping that he would notice the statue above. "If they are meant to ward against evil, then why do they depict a demonic figure? Wouldn't a statue of the angels be a better ward against evil than a demonic looking beast?"

Father Kiran sighed, not sure how to answer this question. He felt that his daughter must be feeling conflicted about the images, after what she just experienced. "Well, that is a good question. As far as the churches decision goes, they wanted to visualize to the people what evil looked like, and show the people what they would expect to encounter if they went down a path of evil."

Trinity bit her lip, nervously. "And, what if it's not true? What if it doesn't guard or ward against evil? What if it's an invitation for evil?"

Father Kiran wanted so badly to comfort his daughter. He could only imagine what she must experiencing right now. "Now Trinity, I know that what we all witnessed these past few days has been shocking for us all, but there is absolutely no reason to think that a gargoyle is an invitation for evil."

Trinity took a step back. "Dad, how else did the demon get into the church? How is that even possible?"

Father Kiran shook his head. "I wish I knew, sweetie. But maybe we can find Amara later and ask her."

Trinity stared at her dad in confusion. "Who is Amara?"

Father Kiran laughed. "That's right, you wouldn't know this yet. The angel who helped you to expel the demon, her name is Amara."

Trinity nodded. She had already planned to speak with the angel that Pamela had mentioned. She had a lot of questions that she needed to ask her about.

She only hoped that Amara would be able to help ease her mind and verify if he might have done anything while he had possessed her body, and if there were anything she could do to ward and protect herself against him in the future.

Father Kiran held out his hand to his daughter. "For now, let us head back home and enjoy the day together. We can discuss everything with Amara later. She has requested not to be disturbed while she is in her room. So until she leaves and joins us, we can only wait."

Trinity took her father's hand in her own, and smiled. "Thank you, dad! Let's go home."

Her father nodded and smiled at the fact that she was alright. He turned and passed through the doors, and she quickly followed close behind.

However, as she passed through the french doors, she felt a tightness grip at her heart. The air around her seemed to become thin and her breathing accelerated as she tried to catch her breath. She quickly stumbled back out onto the balcony. In her rush, she fell backwards and glared up at the stone gargoyle above, the feeling that overcame her quickly began to dissipate.

She cursed at the demon boy inwardly. This was why he had laughed at her comment when she refused to stay by his side. He had already made it so she wouldn't be allowed to leave.

Her blood boiled at this realization. She swore to herself that she would find a way to break this hold he had over her, one way or another. For now, it seemed that she had no choice but to obey.

Trinity closed her eyes in defeat. "I'm sorry, dad. But I don't think I can join you yet. I need to stay here for just a little bit longer and clear my head. I will join you later."