Page 7 of Gaming with the Gargoyle in Hallow's Cove

It feels…weird that I am not more upset. But honestly, all this shit with Preston just makes me feel more justified for wanting to leave him. My mother always acted like I should be grateful that such a rich and powerful man wanted me of all people.

“Well, that was a punch in the face. How are you?” Gabe has settled into his usual seat at the table.

“You could say that... or you could say that it was kind of a resounding confirmation of everything I had been having gut feelings about.”

“Well that too, but forgive me for trying to be sensitive instead of screaming ‘I knew he was a worthless asshole!’”

I smile at him, throw my arms out into the rapidly chilling night air and scream. “I fucking knew he was a worthless asshole!”

Gabe laughs and stands from his chair. “Want to take a celebratory lap?” He flaps his massive wings, making me giggle as it blows my hair around.

“Always!”

Going on flights with Gabe has always been something I loved. I never ask to fly, I know that it’s bad etiquette in gargoyle circles. But when he offers, I always take him up on it. There was a period of time during our teens where he was not yet strong enough to lift me, but when he came home from college, he’d filled out considerably and I’d been so excited to fly again... But Preston hadn’t liked it. He always mentioned how Gabe could accidentally drop me and I would plummet to my death. Gabe would point out, of course, that he would never drop me, but it had been a significant bone of contention.

We’d still flown together, because to me it had never seemed like a big deal. Like so much over the last month or so, I realized how much Preston had been limiting my life. Because for once, when Gabe asked me if I wanted to fly, I didn’t feel even a single second of hesitation.

Gabe scoops me up, holding me across his body in a bridal carry. In seconds, we’re in the air, and Hallow’s Cove is spread out beneath us. From up here, I can see the shape of the cove that gave this town its name, just how small it is, and even the last bits of snow that stubbornly clinging to Twilight Peak. Lights pass underneath us as we sword out of town and over the water.

When we were younger, I’d ask Gabe why we never flew over the manse, and he’d explained that Barnaby didn’t appreciate anyone else in his airspace. He explained that doing so would be next to suicide. He was a big guy, but Barnaby Hollow had hundreds of years on him. I still kind of thought that he could hold his own, until he had pointed out that he couldn’t exactly fight very well while holding me.

The moon and stars envelop us on above and reflect back off the cove beneath, welcoming us into the night as old friends.

“I never get tired of flying with you,” he whispers in my ear.

I shiver, because I won’t either.

I won’t… but it also feels tenuous. I never felt that guilty for going flying behind Preston’s back, but would it be the same with someone else? In hindsight, it occurs to me that I hadn’t ever actually liked Preston that much. Sure he’d been incredibly handsome, and the attention had been exhilarating. I was a somewhat awkward child, a bit of a nerd with baby fat that hung around when the rest of the girls shed theirs. I’ve had some really unfortunate style choices, and frankly, little interest in romance until after high school.

When Preston had asked me out, I didn’t even realize it was a date until he kissed me at the end of the night. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either, so I just sort of figured that I would learn to like it. It was like anything else, right? If you didn’t know how to do it, of course it was terrible.

Things had always just happened with Preston, and I think a part of me never stopped looking at him as Gabe’s older brother, who we idolized, but never really let in on all of our secrets. It had felt natural not to tell him. But with someone else? Would I feel comfortable keeping such secrets from a future partner? I’m not so sure.

The knowledge makes this flight feel bittersweet. I know it’s not our last, but it does feel as if my days of flying might be limited.

And my days flying are not the only thing. When Gabe went away to school, I’d stuck around town. My dad had been sick, and it had been important to him that my mom continue their research. For the next four years, while Gabe was at school, I cared for my dying father. I had a high school diploma, and I’d originally planned to go away to school eventually, but then Preston and I had started dating and he bought me and Gabe the game shop as an engagement present. If I don’t have the game shop, I don’t know what I’ll do.

And then, the enormity of it all really hits me.

I’m going to lose everything. My job, my apartment above the shop, even the house that I don’t live in. I’ll be homeless and jobless and it’s all Preston’s fucking fault. Preston would’ve been a terrible father, but right now, I’m pretty pissed that I never managed to get pregnant. Because apparently, a baby would be the solution to all of my problems. There’s no question in my mind that I would be a great mom, or that Gabe would be their father for all intents and purposes. I know that he would help me, and that he would love any child of mine as if it were his own. Gabe had plenty of experience with a shitty father, but his mom was great.

When I think about it, I get angry all over again, because if only I had known, maybe things would have turned out differently. Because for whatever reason, I know that if I fight, I’m probably going to lose. From what Brooks said about this other woman, Cecelia seems to have a lot more connections than I do. Hallow’s Cove has one singular lawyer, and it’s not like I have any money to pay him.

I’m not even enjoying the flight because I’m so angry. Gabe is quiet too, as he circles back and lands on the balcony. He sets me down on my feet, and instead of letting me go, he pulls me in for a hug. I can’t hold back then the tears pour out of me like rain. The grief that I should’ve felt at Preston’s death is hitting me now, because this feels like the death of my life, of everything that I love. Without the shop, I’ll probably have to move away. I have basically no marketable skills and Hallow’s Cove is so small that they’re really aren’t many jobs.

And if I move away? Would Gabe come with me? I want him to, but suddenly that seems ridiculous. Friends are important, even best friends, but expecting your friend to move with you seems ridiculous. But then leaving Gabe seems ridiculous. I need him, like air, like water, like sleep. The worst part is, it’s not hard for me to imagine what my life would be like without Gabe. I lived that life while he was away at school, and I hated it. It’s no wonder that I sought solace wherever I could, that I’d been duped into marrying Preston, because I had been so miserable.

I try to imagine it differently, perhaps I’d go to the big city and find work, I would meet someone, and we’d settle down, maybe we’d have some kids. I had always wanted them, at least until I’d imagine raising them with Preston. But it all feels hollow without Gabe. Even the perfect image of the life I had dreamed of as a little girl feels empty without Gabe in it.

How am I meant to try new things if I don’t have Gabe to tease me into it? How am I meant to go to sleep at night without knowing he’s watching over me? How am I meant to raise a child without him to talk sense to me when I get hysterical?

I can’t move away, I can’t leave Gabe, but if we lose everything, I might not be able to stay.

If only I’d had a baby. Or hell, thinking of the words of the letter, if only Gabe had had one.

“You don’t have any stray baby gargoyles you left anywhere from college in Europe laying around do you?” I tease, even though I know he doesn’t. Gargoyles mature later sexually than humans, so I doubt he was really even sexually active at that point… or if he has been at all, for that matter.

“No, why?” he asks to the top of my head.