True Freedom

Eli woke from his restless sleep. He quickly grabbed his things for school and made for his window. He throws one end of his rope out of his window. After affirmation that he had everything for the day he took the rope into one hand. He puts his backpack on properly and proceeds to climb down the rope. When he gets to the bottom he hides the rope with the vines growing on the side of the house. He looks back at his window, then takes off for his safe haven.

Eli never needed to use his window as an escape when he was younger. It was the best kind of environment for a kid to grow up. Two loving parents for three excessively rambunctious children. Eli was the youngest of a set of triplets. He had two older identical sisters. They spoiled him and dragged him everywhere. Eli never minded this, he just basked in the attention.

Then 9/11 happened. His mother and sisters were on a flight that crashed that day. Just like the many other families who lost someone that day, Eli and his dad lost the brightest lights in their lives.

Things just weren’t the same after that. Eli and his dad both fell into depression. Their relationship was strained and declined. His dad was overwhelmed by the stress of work and everyday life. He lacked the time for an outlet to decrease the stress on himself. Then he snapped and blamed everything on Eli. His physical abuse became emotional, then found a fuel in substance abuse. His addiction to drugs and alcohol was a saving grace to Eli. His coordination suffered and sometimes his strength was not delivered to the fullest. Eli had a feeling it was the closest thing to a break he was going to get.

Now his dad was barely home. When he was home he was passed out somewhere on their property. One time he was passed out on the sidewalk and was required to move him upon the request of the authorities. On his active nights he would try to break down Eli’s door. Thus the reason that his door was reinforced by every scrap material he found and his window was the main access to the house.

After finding an open public restroom he grabbed some breakfast. As day broke he made his way to his safe haven. There was a statue garden in town. Eli would help out as a young kid with free labor. He would help with weed control. It closed down since the owner fell ill. However, she knew Eli’s connection to the place so she gave him a spare key. Now he stopped by before and after school. Nobody really ventured to that part of the town so it was his little peaceful piece of heaven.

Eli entered through one of the side gates. It gave him the best path to take in every statue in the little selection before he got to his favorite. Eli could never understand it, but he felt a feeling of ease whenever he was near the statue. It was amongst the least appealing of the collection. It was a gargoyle. When you get past the fact that it was not attached to a church or mansion you could really appreciate the hunk of stone. Most found it creepy. Eli never had that feeling. He always felt too relaxed near the statue. The most sleep he has gotten in the past 7 years was next to that statue. Something about it would always just lull him to sleep. It was also his favorite place to think. All his brainstorming to figure out how to finally leave this horrid place was done while leaning on the soothing stone.

He pushed the leaves around and took a seat next to the statue. Just another year before he was able to leave. He didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to leave. He didn’t want this stupid little town to be his grave. His dad was probably okay with it, but Eli refused to die here. He leaned back and looked up at the gargoyle.

At times like this he wished gargoyles were real. He wished he was one. Sure, in some cases they only had free roam during the night; they still had more freedom than he felt he had. He wanted to fly away from this place.

“Even as a statue I envy you.” He spoke to the statue.

After a while his alarm on his watch goes off. It was time for him to get to school. Before he could completely wake, he heard the honk of a car horn. He shook the sleep out of his mind and got up. He stretched and grinned at the statue.

“See you after school.” He bid before running to the road.

He saw Stephanie through her windshield. His beautiful and spunky fake girlfriend bopping her head to her music. He ran to the passenger seat and got in. Sugarcult blasted throughout the car. His ears were accustomed to the volume. By the time the car moved they were both jamming out to the music. They sang to ‘Bouncing Of the Walls’ on their way to school.

Stephanie was his only and best friend. Thanks to her he had the ‘Bad Boy’ reputation. Their relationship was just a way for Stephanie to enjoy the many things that her parents didn’t approve of. Music that summoned the devil, junk foods that led to early death, R rated movies and t.v. shows, and other things that were frowned upon in her conservative household. At the beginning their simple friendship offered those same benefits. Then her parents would try to introduce her to successful children of their successful friends. They both agreed and have been dating for the past 2 years. Nobody really piqued their interest here so it was fine. Their agreement proved to be very advantageous. They were never romantically approached and Stephanie enjoyed seeing the reaction of people when they find out that she was still not pregnant with the bad boy’s baby.

“So how was your other best friend?” Stephanie teased Eli.

“If you mean my only best friend, then he is doing great. Still stone.” He smirked back.

“Hey, it might listen to your woes and watch you water the grass, but did it give you the best reputation in town? I don’t think so.” She retorted with a pout.

“You mean my reputation as the sex crazed bad boy who probably suffers from erectile dysfunction because his girlfriend of 2 years is still not surrounded by his brood of demon children?” He sarcastically listed.

“Yeah my parents got me tested to prove to the rest of the church that my parts work, so of course it’s your fault.” She giggled.

They both tried to fight their fits of laughter. Eli failed.

“I still can’t believe they really did that.” Eli cackled.

Stephanie laughed along with him. By the time they got into school their cheeks were red from laughing too much. When the school bell rang, Eli walked Stephanie to her class. They exchanged the usual kiss before separating. Something that Eli just got used to. When they didn’t kiss in public, there were rumors about a potential break up. Thankfully that was always Stephanie’s job. Eli found it hard to always look pissed all the time, so he put Stephanie in charge of their romantic interactions. He just followed her lead.

The rest of the school day was uneventful. They ate lunch together the same way. Stephanie sat on his lap as they ate lunch together. She would alternatively feed him while she ate. Their peers thought it was gross and sweet. Little did they know, the little whispers and adorable smile from Stephanie before Eli took the offered food into his mouth were whispered threats. The rest of the day passed and Eli and Stephanie were walking out of school with their fingers intertwined. They did their homework at the garden together until going home before sunset. They separated from there. Eli lived in the opposite direction so he always chose to walk.

By the time he got home, it was already dark. He quietly got back into his room when he saw that his dad was home. Then he tripped and fell on his floor. The sound practically boomed in the house. Heavy rushed steps followed. Eli cursed to himself. He made things even worse if he woke him up.

“Eli?” His dad calmly called out.

Eli was instantly confused. It had been years since he heard him so calm. Normally he yelled at Eli and furiously showered the door with punches. This was different. Eli didn’t know what to think.

“Eli, please.” His dad pleaded.

Eli was frozen. It reminded him of the day they got the news. His dad begging Eli to talk to him. That time it led to a tight hug and both of them crying for their losses. This time around, his skin was crawling.

“Eli, I am sorry.” He apologized.

Eli didn’t dare answer.

“I found a way for things to be better for us again.” He cried.

Eli got closer to the door. That’s all he wanted after the accident. It didn’t give him enough reason to open the door. There was a part of him that was telling him not to open the door. He waited.

His dad’s desperate pleas turned into demands of rage. He was now kicking at the door and wiggling the door knob. Eli just rolled his eyes as he went back to his bed. It was apparently one of those days. He needed to look for more scrap tomorrow. Before he could think of places to find material a gun shot rang out. He stumbled onto the floor from the startling noise. He saw his door knob barely hanging on.

His instincts screamed at him. He forgot about his shoes. He just took off and scrambled for his window. He quickly made his way down his rope in record time. He heard the front door slam open and took off running. Another shot rang out but he kept running. He knew his dad was not going to run after him. He was definitely going to get his car which was enough time for Eli to lose him.

He ran to the garden. It was the first time he ever came in the middle of the night, but he needed it. He could barely see with just moonlight, but he could make out the shapes. He also had the pathways memorized. The pathway next to the gargoyle was cracked. Eli subconsciously picked at the smaller fraction when he got stuck in thought. The path was uneven and a bit was loose. When he found the loose fragment he saw nothing there.

He felt the grass and the indentation was present along with flattened grass. He was even more confused. His heart was pounding and his mind was still frazzled. He knew his dad was abusive and cruel. He never felt any murderous intent. This was something else and it terrified him. He stared down at the grass between his fingers. Tears fell on his hands. Then a shadow was cast over him. He heard the rough flapping of big wings. Something was floating above him.

Eli turned around with a slight quiver. He looked up to see the gargoyle hovering above him. He could barely see it but it was moving. It was the same size he remembered. It was obviously breathing with its stomach extending with each breath it took. He just stared at him. He couldn’t see much detail, but Eli was captured by his eyes that just seemed to glow.

“Do you still want to leave this wretched place?” The gargoyle asked.

Eli vigorously nodded without hesitation. Before he could process anything the gargoyle landed. The moon seemed to shine brighter. He could see the gargoyle better. The normal snarl it had as a statue was somehow softer. Eli could barely distinguish the exact color but it seemed to a be a dark shade. Its wings resembled ones of dragons. It extended its wings and it lowered the rest of its body to the ground.

“What are you waiting for?” The gargoyle asked.

Eli was going to board the beast. Then he thought of Stephanie. They promised to leave this place together.

“She always wanted you to experience freedom, even without her.” The gargoyle assured him.

Eli felt at ease. He approached the gargoyle and climbed on. With a strong flap of its wings the gargoyle left the ground. Eli could feel all of his problems leave. Every misfortune, every regret, every burden, everything. He felt it fall from his mind as he glided through the free night air. He was finally at peace.

The next morning Stephanie pulled up to the statue garden like any other day. She honked her horn. Instead of seeing a running Eli, she got no response. Stephanie knew he was always there. She got out of her car and went around back to the garden. She looked through the fence to see if Eli just ignored his alarm. It normally took him more to wake up when he was sick. She entered the garden and went straight to the gargoyle statue. When she got to it she fell to her knees. She fell onto Eli’s still and cold body. She bawled into Eli’s blood soaked shirt. Her sorrowful cries were filled of mourning for her dearest friend.