Page 6 of The Gargoyle in the College

The trees at the roadside can’t be that deep, but those look to be forming a forest by now.

Maybe a monster will jump out of the trees and bite my ass.

I clench tighter at the handle of the bucket. I’m already outside of the dorm building, may as well keep going.

It is quiet, despite my heartbeat racing as if drums going off at my ears.

There’s nothing to be worried about except there are no street lights between the dorm building and the gate. The only lights are on the far end of the road, which isn’t too helpful, yet.

I walk as fast as I can without spilling the water.

This is all the gargoyle’s fault.

At the statue, the cream is still on it. Some of the cream has melted and dripped onto its chest. This poor thing can’t even clean himself.

“Look at you... You’re lucky I’m dumb enough to be here.”

I wet the towel and wipe the cream off the statue’s face. It looks better this way.

I rinse the towel, lifting it again at the moss on its arms and body as a whole. “No one cares about how you look, huh?”

It says nothing, which... What am I even doing? Talking to a statue?

Speaking of which...

The statue feels warm despite the towel and the water. It isn’t cold out here given the time of the year, but the statue is still warmer than it should be.

I dip a finger into the water. It is pretty cool.

I stare at the statue, rubbing the arm, where I just wiped. It still feels warmer than it should be. Maybe it is the remaining heat from earlier in the day, despite... the water I used on it.

“You can’t be alive, right?” I poke its ear, which...

Maybe I’ve studied too hard to get into this college and it’s driving me insane. Or it is the few drinks I had at the party.

I wet the towel again, moving onto the rest of the statue’s body.

I stand on the base of the statue, reaching for the wings. Hopefully, no one will see this.

There’s no rule saying that one must not clean the statue, but there are probably rules somewhere that no climbing is allowed.

I pick off the last piece of moss from the wings. “You look better now.”

I take a step back to stare at my work. Maybe I should clean the rest of the statue while I’m here.

The gargoyle still looks... scary.

I wet the towel again, going to the statue when...

Something moved at my side.

I spin around, but there’s nothing.

The statue and I are the only thing in sight.

I poke the chest of the statue. “This can’t be a living gargoyle, right?”

It says nothing in reply.

---