Page 19 of Etched in Stone
The gargoyle statue was back. Had he already gone back into being a statue? Was it a night time sun thing? She shook her head. She’d definitely seen Ray in the day and the night, so it was something he could control.
Jesse walked over and poked the statue. It fizzled and wiggled, like she was touching reflection, but she met with nothing solid.
He had a hologram… of himself, to cover when he was covered with a hologram of Ray. Her gargoyle was becoming more mysterious the more she learned.
8
FR E L INR AY
Jesse was cool, calm and collected. Ray was ready to tear chunks out of the wall and hurl them down on the unsuspecting asshole that had decided to mess with Jesse. No, that was too distant, too cold. He wanted to grab a hold on that chunky pastel asshole and fly him up to the top of his limit and drop him, watching his pretty corpse make a big red splotch on the pavement. They’d pick him up with a mop. No, there’d be too many questions. He’d have to drop him in the river. He’d be one more suicide in a long line of floating corpses.
How was she so calm? She was already out there painting. The moment he realized she’d gone over the edge, he’d sprung into action out of shear fear. He hadn’t cared who saw or what cameras might have picked him up as he swooped down, caught her and flown to his safety spot.
When he’d bought the buildings in the 1940’s, he’d walled off the top floor of the tallest one.
There was literally no way to get to it unless one had wings. Of course now, someone could probably land a small helicopter anywhere they pleased, but back then, he’d been sure that if Rose ever came looking for him again, he’d have a safe place at least to gather his thoughts and mount a defense from.
He’d grown too complacent, set down too many roots. Olivia had not been one that wanted to move. He’d fought her over it more than once but always been on the losing side. Go, she had said, but she was staying.
He had no intention of ever leaving her side again. Now, he had Jesse to think of. And he couldn’t stop thinking of her. He hadn’t meant to claim a kiss, but he did not regret it, couldn’t regret what still burned on his lips and drove him crazy even now. And yet she’d just gone to answer the door as if she kissed him every day.
Part of him was rejoicing though. She didn’t think he was a monster. In fact, she’d pretty easily accepted his form as fact. He knew she had questions, but sitting still was not much of an option for him. He had to keep busy to keep from wrapping his wings around her and spreading her legs with his tail so that he could plunge hilt deep into her with his hard cock.
When she came in from painting, she brewed them a pot of tea and asked him to sit down on the couch like a civilized couple carrying on a perfectly normal conversation. It was Olivia’s couch, so it was hardy enough for him to sit comfortably and not worry about snapping the legs if he gave it his full weight.
“I have a list,” Jessie said.
He smiled. There was something cute about her making a list.
She held up a hand and ticked off fingers. “First of all, how old are you? And are you an alien or a mutant? And do you actually turn to stone? Why? How? And is Ray your real name? I mean, you don’t exactly look like a Ray.”
Ray held a finger and she stopped talking.
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” he started.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. Try again,” she chuckled.
“It’s true though. A very long - centuries long - time ago, my planet was at war with another, and many ships were sent out to look for supplies or alternative options for settlements.”
“And you landed here.”
“We crashed here. Most of us didn’t survive. Those that did tried to make peace with the humans, but our leader and his negotiation party were slaughtered. That’s when we decided that ‘hide and wait’ would be our best option of survival.”
“Hide in plain sight. As statues,” Jesse said, nodding.
“We have the ability to stone sleep. Durammna, we call it. To rest and turn ourselves to living stone. Some can turn only parts of themselves to stone at will. I can’t really.”
“All or nothing, eh?”
It felt good to get everything out in the open, to explain and stop hiding himself from Jesse.
“How many of you are there?” she asked.
“I don’t know how many are left. At least a dozen, I think. We scattered. And some decided not to wait. They claimed a mate, started a family and lived their life without stone sleep.”
“They mated? They, you can do that?”
She still had no clue just how much he burned to do that.
