Work Text:
You couldn’t believe he was gone. Of course, you knew how old he was and you knew he didn’t have much time left, but he always seemed so energetic and eager to see you, that part of you thought his sheer force of will would keep him going. But now he was dead, and the only thing to comfort you was the mildly entertaining radio you had put on as you drove down the dusty country paths. He was an amazing man, your grandpa. At least, you thought he was. He was odd and eccentric, with strange fixations on obscure topics that only helped keep him as the socially inept black sheep of your family, but you never saw him that way. All you saw was the passion that lit up his eyes like fire when he talked about his work. In many ways, he was everything you wished you had been. Confident, smart, and most importantly, hard to ignore.
“Maybe that’s why I liked him.” You sighed to yourself as you took a left turn, following your GPS to the large estate he had lived in all his life. The rest of your family couldn’t believe it when his will said that he’d be buried on the grounds of his manor, but the place had such significance to him. Every old tome and strange artefact he had collected in his life was in that house, and you knew your grandfather well enough to know that he would never just leave his life’s work behind. It was the one thing he valued the most in this world, aside from his conversations with you of course.
By this point, you were already fairly close to the estate and in a couple of minutes, you had pulled into the gravel driveway, taking the flowers you had gotten for his grave and stepping out of the car. Everything was exactly as you remembered it, but in a way that offered no comfort and instead reminded you of what you lost. The iron gate was still rusted and old, and past it you could see the dark and weathered brickwork of the house, looming over you in a way that would have anyone else convinced this was the hideout of a vicious serial killer. The cobble walls that surrounded the house and unkempt lawn were also the same, overgrown with ivy and moss that grew in any crevice it could find. Your eyes followed the trail of one vine of ivy before you stopped, feeling your brow crease in confusion as you stared at what was perched on the top of the wall.
A huge gargoyle squatted on top of the pillar that the left part of the gate was bolted into. It had ornate, floral patterns carved into its arms and back, running smoothly across the sculpted muscles that rippled and bulged so realistically, you almost couldn’t believe it was a statue. Its rough and bat-like wings were spread wide, casting a shadow that seemed much too pronounced for the little amount of light the grey autumn sky provided. Its mouth was bared in a snarl that was clearly meant to intimidate trespassers. Which was odd since it didn’t seem like your grandfather to intentionally scare off any interested visitors. While the moss that grew on the walls had always been thick and verdant, the gargoyle seemed to encourage something about its growth, and it was thicker and more earthy smelling when it grew around and on the gargoyle, even growing on its head and cascading down like long braids that smelled of wood and fresh mud. It wasn’t as monstrous as the image of a gargoyle you had in your head was, and besides from the bird-like talons it had for feet, it really just looked like a well muscled woman with horns and wings. Still, something about it put you on edge, and the way the cold, granite eyes seemed to glare down at you set a heavy feeling in your chest and made you avert your gaze a second later.
You felt a shiver run down your spine as you reached for the key in your pocket, mentally chastising yourself for being so irrationally freaked out by a statue. You slowly pushed the key into the lock, turning it gently and letting the gates creak open. You took a deep breath as you saw the headstone in the garden, where your grandfather was. You mustered up all the courage you could to walk past the gate, ignoring the way your eyes pricked with tears and-
You heard a sonorous crack above your head, and you looked up and behind you in the blink of an eye. There was nothing there. But still, your blood ran cold. Because where there was nothing, there should have been the gargoyle.
Suddenly the world flipped as you were knocked to your back, and the air was forced out of your lungs. Two clawed hands dug into your arms and pressed them into your sides, and you heard a low growl that reminded you of grinding stone coming from above you. You blearily looked up, and your eyes shot wide open. The gargoyle from earlier crouched over your form, the once solid and cold stone of its face contorted in a vicious snarl. You stared in absolute horror at the monster that growled in your face, and promptly squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. But nothing happened. Instead, you heard the creature stop growling. And when you hesitantly opened your eyes, you saw that it had pulled back a little to study you. Its face scrunched as it scrutinised you, and then it spoke in an intrigued tone with a voice that reminded you of tumbling rocks.
“Wait… I’ve seen you before.”
You stiffened up, unsure of what to say; But eventually, you swallowed heavily and managed to squeak out a timid “w-what?” While you felt the claws keeping your arms pinned to your side loosen a bit.
You got no response, and it only leaned in what looked like an attempt to try and jog its memory, making you shrink back reflexively. Suddenly, it gasped and let you go, and in the blink of an eye you had scrabbled to your feet and took off running.
The creature immediately started getting to its feet, yelling after you with a surprised cry of “shit! hold on a second!” As you bolted away, pressing yourself against the gate like a cat that didn’t want to be pet. It got up and carefully made its way towards you as you panicked and fumbled with the keys to the now locked gate you had accidentally slammed shut. You heard the voice behind you ring out again in that low gravelly timbre. “Look, just calm down okay? I know this is weird but if you just let me-“ abruptly you whirled around and covered your face with your arms, wailing and babbling pleas to not be eaten and that you would never tell anyone about this and you vaguely heard the creature try to slip in a word throughout your meltdown before it abruptly spat out, “y-your grandfather made me!”
Those words made you stop crying, and you looked back up at the creature in confusion for the second time today, waiting for it to… explain? Maybe? You weren’t really sure, but the gargoyle seemed relieved as its broad shoulders slumped with a heavy sigh, and it knelt down on one knee to speak at your level.
“Please, just let me explain okay? I promise I wont hurt you.”