"Enter Malcom"

by Jade Griffin

12-28-97 to ??

The FBI. It had it’s perks, and the occasional excitement… Unlike now.

Finishing up the tedious, if required, report on his most recent case, Susan City FBI Agent Malcom stood and caught the print-out on his way to the Director’s office.

The Bureau Director, Ann Red-tail, was a tall, jet black-haired woman originally of the Miwok tribe that once lived in this area of northern California. She had a cold silence about her most times. Hard as nails and too sharp. She was reading a news article at her desk when he knocked.

"Come in." she answered dully, not bothering to look up.

He set the report on her desk and glanced at the article but she obviously didn’t care much for people reading over her shoulder, or in front of her.

She frowned up at him. "Yes, Malcom?"

"Well, I’m done a little early today…" he smiled innocently.

"And you want to go through Storage."

She knew him too well. But then anybody knew that’s where you found Agent Malcom if he had any spare time for himself. Red-tail grudgingly allowed it, as the young man tended to pull off amazing feats of deduction from his time in the basement.

Her expression, however, didn’t change. "Go ahead. But you had better be out of there by six. You don’t have another case right now because your vacation time starts tomorrow, whether you want it or not, so you’d better use it."

His grin dropped. She didn’t seem to be in a good mood. "I will." Not wishing to press his luck, Malcom left for the bureau basement, and the Stores.

The dark-haired young man grinned with open glee as he shut the door to the Bureau’s storage basement, where they placed all the junk from previous and current cases. But it was neat junk, and he had access to almost all of it. He couldn’t mess with the stuff from the other agent’s cases unless they wanted help but all the old stuff (usually unsolved) he could dig through whenever he had the time and inclination. Which was any chance he could get. The best part was, he’d discovered a few leads and cracked two cases by going through the stuff down here, piecing things together that nobody else had. Yeah, that’s what he liked best in this job: solving cases by delving into peoples’ lives.

Rubbing his hands together in absent anticipation, Malcom headed for the next box on his mental list: three shelves down, fifth row, case file C-1557-465.

"Malcom!" yelled a man’s familiar voice from the other end of the room.

He looked up from pondering the contents of a small box in his lap. Levinczek stood at the end of the row of shelves.

"You better get outta here before Red-tail comes after your tail."

Malcom checked his watch. Just when he thought he was getting somewhere… "Thanks. I’ll be out in a minute."

"Sure ya will." replied the older agent, coming toward him. The balding man stared down at him a moment, then took the papers out of his hands, dumping them unceremoniously back into the box. "Put it away, kid. It isn’t going anywhere!"

He was about to complain when Levinczek started again.

"C’mon. Ya got four days off. I don’t know anyone who’d rather work than take a vacation; except maybe you."

Levinczek was half-right. Digging around in the Stores wasn’t really work. Not like doing reports or taking statements. Examining all the old solved and unsolved cases always revealed something new, and was endlessly fascinating. It was also a challenge, to see if he could piece anything together or turn up new ideas from bits within each box or folder. The other parts of his job—first-hand investigation, research, and surveillance—were mostly like that: exciting, new, and a chance to get into a case. The Stores were different, though. He really could get too caught up in whittling away at the data. And Levinczek was usually the one to grab him up before Red-tail, so he couldn’t really get mad. The guy was trying to save him a tongue-lashing; again.

"Okay," Malcom relented, getting up to place the box on the proper numbered shelf. "I’m going."

Levinczek walked with him as they headed for the door. "I think you like this job a little too much. I’ll bet you spend the whole vacation mulling over this stuff." He waved a hand at all the shelves of boxes.

"I’m not that bad. I have a life outside of here."

"Oh, yeah? So whaddaya do?" He pretended disbelief, goading the younger man on.

Malcom grinned and spread his arms wide. "Commune with nature."

Driving out the next morning, before dawn, he laughed to himself at his conversation with Levinczek. ‘Commune with nature’ was just something to throw the other agent for a whirl. He’d been with the Bureau two years now and giving little clues like that, they still didn’t know how to place him. I mean, he liked working with the other guys but he preferred to be the odd one out. He was never one to follow others without a question at his lips. Besides, it was fun to play mystery man.

The truth of it was, he was heading out on a nature watch. He loved his job but he also loved the country. He was city-born but had the heart of a country boy. Yeah, all those clichés. Camping, hiking, mountain climbing, and surveying the natural world; especially after dark; was what he liked to do when he had time. And, his Chevy loaded with assorted gear and supplies, he was headed for his cabin-away-from-home.

Everything was unpacked, the cabin stocked and settled, before 8 am. He’d even stuffed his pack before then. After a few hours sleep, the alarm woke him. He ate lunch, did a few quick exercises, then headed out the door, loaded down by his pack.

Jackrabbit, mule deer, a few quail. He counted off the animals he’d seen pass by. Earlier, he’s spotted a coyote, tons of ground squirrels, woodpeckers, song birds; but they were everywhere. There’d been some coyote and deer track off the trail, and what might have been some from a house cat. Tracking was part of it, this nature trek. And it was about time to do some more. Darkfall in an hour or so.

Malcom dropped out of the tree he was in, put his pack back on from where it lay against the tree, and started off down the mountain, spotting the occasional track and contemplating on whether to try and follow to their source or not.

At least an hour into full dark, the full moon shining bright enough to see by, Malcom shifted his prone position. He’d staked out this ridge-top as a good viewing place. It overlooked a long grassy valley with a few trees on the far end. He’d been laying here since at least sunset, waiting for the night creatures to come out. At dusk, a hawk had settled on the far fence to his left. He’d taken out his greenspecs to see it clearly (One of those perks about working with the FBI was the acquisition of nightvision equipment). About six mule deer had migrated down the valley, grazing. They were still there as he stretched the stiffness out of his neck. No bucks. Deer season would start in about a month or so. He tried to figure out how the population was doing by recalling how many he’d seen the last time he was out here, about five weeks—

The deer jumped, spooked. Ears and eyes alert to some unknown presence, they sprung around on anxious legs, then dashed away as quick as they could. Malcom eyed the opposite direction of their retreat. He was downwind, of which there was hardly any. Mountain lion? There were supposed to be a few bears around, too. It was off to his right, whatever it was. He listened, froze where he lay but tense. No sound reached his ears. Go check it out? He considered. Why not.

Malcom rose slowly, carrying his pack in his hand, and started quietly in the direction the deer had sensed a threat. He topped the hill he’d been watching from, went around a rock ridge, sticking close to open spaces. He saw it before he heard it. An occasional flash of white, not light but something white in color, out in a far field. Whatever it was, it was moving. Away.

He moved in a little faster. He couldn’t see it anymore because it went around the side of a low hill separating them. He even ran a ways, afraid he’d lose track of the mystery. Slowing to a walk as he came around the hill, he slowed even more as he crept around it. Would it still be there? Or had it heard him and took off? To his ears, he’d made a lot of noise running over here.

That’s when he heard it. A laugh. More like a giggle. A child’s laughter. If this was just some kids playing in the dark… He sighed, feeling humility’s edge while pulling out his greenspecs. He eased around for a look but didn’t see a kid. It looked like… well, he wasn’t sure what it looked like! The white he’d seen were two leathery wings attached to a semi-human-looking body with a tail. Only the color white could be distinguished through the specs so he couldn’t tell from this distance what dark color the rest of it was. And the face was hard to make out, but it had one. And it was wearing clothes of some kind.

He eased back around out of sight, his mind awhirl. Just what is that thing?! It looked—and sounded—almost human. But—The distant laughter was heard again.

It hadn’t seen him. Still not quite believing, he looked back at the… the creature. What was it doing? It laughed again and danced around something on the ground, obviously having a blast. A lot like a kid. A lot like a kid. It was small, probably coming up to about his waist.

Well, what now? Malcom thought to himself. He didn’t really have any weapons on him, not that he thought he should engage it. It didn’t look too dangerous. But he did want a closer look. It was risky but worth it. Maybe he could catch it. Then what, smart guy? You might be looking at something no one’s ever seen before! What the heck would he do with it if he caught it? Couldn’t show it to anyone. And he knew exactly what would happen if other people found it. So he had to figure out what it was first, and then… then take it from there. Okay. Don’t catch it. Just try and figure out what it might be.

Leaving his pack and everything behind, except a small pocket flashlight, Malcom began his risky creep toward the small, white-winged creature. Its back was to him so he was safe there. Just don’t turn around.

It bent down suddenly, poking at something on the ground. He glanced at his own feet as he crept closer. About shin-high grass and then the regular short stuff up ahead. Wet dirt and some mud in lotsa places. Something jumped in front of him, scaring the bajeebees out of him! Breath froze, he stared at the thing. A frog. A lousy frog. His eyes darted back to the unknown creature thirty yards away. It bent over to the ground again, giggling, then started to chase what could only be a large frog. The jerkiness of the chase was unmistakable. He knew because he’d done it before, as a boy. So that’s what it was doing! He smiled at the revelation. It had to be a kid. But its pursuit of the frog turned and it was coming straight toward him. Before he could duck down or take other cover, it was too late. It spotted him, and stopped dead in its tracks, only thirty feet away.

They stared at one another for a long moment. It just stood there so he took a cautious step forward. It didn’t do anything so he took another, and another. It was so close… Oh, yeah. He got a good look at it.

It was dark green in color. The hands and feet were hard to see, even in the moonlight. Its little tail flicked back and forth—nervous?—and he saw it had a tuft of hair on its end, like a lion’s tail. It wore clothing he could only describe as old—ancient in design—and way too big. Child eyes blinked at him from under two horn ridges instead of eyebrows. Except for being green, the rest of the face looked like any kid’s; all but the ears and little horns curving over its head. The expression was tense. And it hair. Red-brown, it looked like. Yeah. He’d guarantee no one’s ever seen this before! He tried to leave that out of his mind as he racked his brains for a good idea of what to do next.

It wasn’t afraid of him. Not like an animal. Had it ever seen a person before? And if it wasn’t afraid, how close could he get. Malcom made a decision and took a slow step toward it.

It had obviously thought he was close enough because it turned in place and ran in the opposite direction from him, on all fours! Without a thought, Malcom gave chase. He knew that if it got away now, he’d never see it again.

Actually, he was gaining on it. As it cut up into the slope of the hill, he pursued, matching its speed despite the incline. He was pretty fit, running about two miles a day. Even so, he was breathing hard when it crested the hill.

It was headed for the higher mountains. With rocks and trees for cover, he could search all night and never find it. He was closer to it than it was to reaching the cover, but it was gonna be close.

He was right behind it when it decided to jump to the left, toward a mound of boulders perched on the side of the slope. He tried to turn also, grabbing for a leg as it made for the rocks. He caught it, all right. But it yanked the leg free, pulling him off his feet and overbalancing itself mid-jump. While he landed face first in the dirt and grass just inches from hard rock, it went over the mound, trying to correct with little white wings.

Scraping wet dirt off himself, Malcom got up. What had he done? If it was hurt… He stepped onto the rocks, looked over and down, but saw nothing.

The six-year-old-bodied Jade Griffin fell, but not far. She landed almost hands and knees on a large rock. The pain shook her at first but it was nothing more than scrapes and bruises. All would heal easily. She paused in her thinking. The child had retreated. She was in control again. It would go quietly now, back to that corner of her brain it occupied unless called out or built up so much it released itself. Like it had done this time. But she was in control now. She put the child fully away and her adult body returned.

Jade Griffin glanced up the slope. It was nearly a shear drop of 15 feet. That human! Anger flared inside of her, eyes burnt white in the darkness. He would try to catch her at her weakest state, a child?! We’ll see about that!

Malcom was still looking down when a larger version of the little creature jumped up out of nowhere onto the rocks. He backed out of its—no, her. That was obvious.—way before she knocked him down.

"Whoa. Mama." he said under his breath, a little fright beginning to brew. The little one had to be her kid, but this one was a lot bigger, almost taller than him.

Jade Griffin heard his mutterance. It was perfectly fine by her if he considered her younger self to be another separate gargoyle, and her child. He was in a perfect position, shocked into simply staring at her, so before he decided to run, she grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him closer for a better view of glowing eyes and growling teeth. "Just what do you think you’re doing?"

Actually, they were about the same height, he thought upon being hefted closer, his heart beating like a rabbit. She was a lot stronger, however. She’d pulled him clear off his feet and set him down again, four sharp-looking black-tipped talons wrapped around his shirt collar as she glared at him with glowing eyes, folding her wings almost like a cloak. And she was waiting for an answer.

"Uh… I…" What could he say that wouldn’t make her more mad! "I just wanted to see what… what it was. Is… is the kid all right?"

She lifted him again off his feet. His hands grabbed at hers, to keep his balance and steady himself, mentally. Her skin was… warm. It was a surprise. But then she set him down and pegged him with those glowing white eyes until he let go.

"Is this a close enough look for you?" she asked, leaning closer, her grip still tight.

He nodded quickly.

"Good. Do you know what will happen to you if you tell anyone about me, or her?"

"You’ll rip my face off?" he guessed.

Jade Griffin just grinned evilly. He’s the one that said it. Not that she’d actually do anything to him, but a threat would work really good in this instance. Threat implied, she let the human go.

She let him go. Just like that. Her eyes stopped glowing, too. Man, did the daughter look like the mother! The kid… "Is she all right? I mean, did she get hurt?"

Well, he didn’t run away yelling and screaming. That was good and bad. Good because he may not go straight to the first person he sees ranting about a big winged green creature. Bad because sticking around could mean any number of worse things. But he did ask about her younger self (the adult of which still bore the signs of the younger’s tumble. He hadn’t caught that, thankfully). She tried to make no further judgements, yet.

"She’s fine." the gargoyle answered.

"I didn’t mean to make her fall, or scare her. I just… wanted to know what she is."

She stared at the human a moment, then started to walk away, uphill. She was beginning to see what type of human he was. He wasn’t afraid, and he wasn’t stupid. He wanted something and that made him dangerous.

"Wait!" he called, jogging after her. "I still wanna know what you are."

She didn’t look over at him as he caught up with her fast pace. "I’m a gargoyle." She stopped then to look into his eyes.

Malcom decided to keep his mouth shut for a minute. A gargoyle?? Weren’t those the old stone statues on buildings in places like England and France? Now he was real confused. If she was a gargoyle, like she said, that opened up a whole barrel-full of possibilities, and questions. How could a statue come to life? He had to dig into his imagination for that. He knew about urban legends, monster tales, cultural myths, etc. but this was real, and talking and standing right next to him. So anything could be possible…

He had to know more.

"Do you have a name? I’m Malcom." he offered.

"What is your last name?" She wanted to know at least as much about him as he wanted to know about her.

"Um.. that is my last name," He really didn’t want to get into his first name. "but call me Malcom anyway. What’s yours?"

"Jade Griffin, and we don’t have last names." Talking with the human made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to stick around much longer. He could be a reporter for all she knew. And she really didn’t want any nosey human finding out where she lived.

She kept looking off toward the rocks. He wondered why, but then remembered that was where her daughter was. "Where are you from?"

"Here, just like you." And before he could say anything else, she started for the rocks at a run. She’d judged the height to be sufficient.

"Hey! Wait!" he called as he ran after her.

But her adult self was faster than the human, plus she had a head start downhill. Jumping off the edge of a jutting rock, the dark green gargoyle spread her white wings and caught an updraft.

"Good-bye, Malcom." she called teasingly to the human, smiling at her wit as she rose higher and soared away.

Standing about where she’d taken off, Malcom watched her disappear into the night sky. She was headed east.

With a sigh, he sat himself down on the hard rock. Ya blew it, you know. he berated himself. You asked too many questions. Or maybe because he hadn’t been afraid of her. Which brought up something else. Why hadn’t he been terrified? Aw, be realistic. When’s the last time something scared me? When he remembered, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. That frog, about fifteen minutes ago. Fifteen minutes? All that in fifteen minutes… Now he was totally blown away. He fell back onto the ground, feigning exasperation. Man, what a night!

Malcom couldn’t sleep with the sun in his eyes. He’d forgotten to draw the shades. Might as well get up. The clock by the bed read 10:00am. That would usually be late for him, but he’d gotten in at 5 am.

Stretching, he flipped the covers off and made for the shower. He was more than a little dirty and sweaty from all his adventuring last night. After the gargoyle flew off, he’d climbed down the rocks to see if the little one was around. He’d lost his grip on the way down and fell hard on his butt. All for nothing, too. The daughter was long gone, probably left when he and mama were talking.

Ahh… The water felt good pounding on his back. He was more than a little sore from last night, despite regular exercise. Man, that was something, watching her leap out and fly off. He’d spent the rest of the night wandering around, half hoping to find some clue, some trace of them. He’d even gone back to where he’d first spotted the young one, to see the muddy tracks, just to make sure it was all real. With a lot on his mind, he’d retrieved his pack and headed back to the cabin.

He’d gone through their whole conversation in his head a hundred times before falling asleep. Jade Griffin… She spoke English like it was her own. And she was strong, but knew how to use just enough not to hurt him. That was it, too. She didn’t want to hurt him. And she really didn’t want him to tell anyone what he’d seen. He didn’t blame her. He could guess what would happen if anyone believed him! But he really didn’t tell people half the stuff he’d figured out for himself. He wondered how many of these ‘gargoyles’ there were. She’d said ‘"we" don’t have last names’. She knew a lot about people—humans. In fact, she acted a lot like any person. Stop right there, Malcom. You’re no sci-fi expert. Leave the theories alone. But the unknowns continued to plague him. What ‘here’ did she mean she was from? Where did she live to stay hidden for so long? And how was he gonna find her again to ask?

He turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. Even thinking through it all, it was a lot to take in. And he still didn’t know much. But there was no doubt in his mind how he’d be spending the rest of his vacation. First he’d pay the library a visit, then he’d go back to the area and camp to see if he could spot either of them again, or someone new.

It took Malcom six hours of research, digging through countless books on even remotely similar topics, to discover the blatantly obvious fact. These creatures don’t exist in the ‘human world’. Only slight mention was given in faerie tales and ancient myths. And he couldn’t take them seriously because none sounding anything like what he’d seen. Plus the fact that all the tales were written by humans. Malcom wondered if Jade Griffin's people had stories like them, but about humans.

Even in myth and faerie tale, the gargoyle wasn’t an often-used creature. Goblins and trolls got more publicity. Odd… But six hours was enough to tell him he was getting no where here. He drove the forty-five minute distance back to the cabin. His computer there was registered into the FBI system, limited access. Maybe there was legitimate info to be found in there.

Frustrated at the computer’s ability to limit his search and denials of pull up restricted files, Malcom did not note the passage of time, or that the sun was setting.

Jade Griffin burst forth from stone sleep, releasing a vibrant roar. Two of her four cats scattered from about her legs, used to the nightly ritual. She stretched a bit more but was not in a mood to pet them, having awakened a little jittery. She’d had a dream.

Gargoyles don’t dream much but she did. This one had that human, Malcom, in it. He’d told others about her and they’d found her and… and that was all. But it left her feeling vulnerable and jumpy. No, she didn’t feel like petting the cats tonight. She didn’t want to be anywhere near home when she didn’t know anything about that human.

Taking only a minute to grab something to eat, the dark green gargoyle jogged out to the opening of her cliff home and jumped out across the water below. She was going to find him before he found her.

It shouldn’t be that hard to find him. She knew the location of all the houses and cabins in the valley. He’d been on foot last night so he might live somewhere in that area. She’d start there and then spread out if she didn’t find anything.

As she used the light breeze around her, the dark green gargoyle considered the possibility that her dream had made her paranoid, but it was realistic to assume he’d told someone. And one of her only true defenses was lack of knowledge on the humans’ part. So she kept up her search of the home of the one that had found her.

She knew so little about him. Too calm in her presence. And too smart. He thought before he answered, or asked, a question. But his eyes… There was something there she couldn’t place. A familiarity she could not answer. Jade Griffin shook her head. That was for thinking on later. Here was the first house. She dove in to land close to the trees.

Just great. No one near the windows. Two vehicles in the driveway. Well, better get it over with. Making sure no one was about, she crept up to the porch (no dogs, thankfully) and knocked on the wooden door, rushing back to the cover of the far trees as quick as she could. A man opened the door a moment later but he had white hair and was much older.

Hm. Could this Malcom be living with other people? Maybe, but he seemed too independent and individual. She’d worry about that possibility later. On to the next house.

This one had the owners near the window. A woman, three children, and a man. But not the one she sought.

There were only three more houses to check around the area where she’d been found out last night. If she was wrong about that then she’d better hurry up. She’d need a lot of time to search all the other houses.

The third human dwelling was a cabin. Lights were on and one vehicle out front. She moved silently to the window where the light was brightest. Peering in cautiously, she saw the human, Malcom, seated at a desk with a computer machine, all engrossed.

Malcom sighed, blinked, and rubbed at his eyes. He leaned back fully in the chair and stretched. Almost 8:30. And still nothing.

The FBI filing system was arranged a little different than most catalogued databases so it wasn’t easy as looking up a book in the library. For one, it was slightly more advanced than current public electronic bulletin systems. Second, there were the restrictions on access. Only one or two non-x "monster" files, and one misplaced article about the amount of flying creatures seen all over the U.S. by a nobody scientist. Sooo… He basically had nothing. Great.

Well, time to cut your losses. He got out of the system and flipped the thing off.. He still had two more days to find them again. Just two more days… He didn’t think about the possibility that it wouldn’t be enough and went to grab his gear.

From high above, Jade Griffin followed the human travelling in his vehicle. When he shut the machine off and started on foot, she landed and continued to follow. As he was surveying the air as well as the land, she could only conclude he was searching for her.

Malcom surveyed the valley field, scanned the spot with night specs where he’d first seen the little one, and even stopped everything to pause and listen to the night. Nothing but what the light breeze was creating. Did he really have a hope of seeing either of them again? Probably not. He tried to put himself in her shoes—er… claws. He’d avoid people at all costs, if he were in her place. And with a kid—

"Why are you looking for me?" She preferred to be direct in this instance.

Malcom whirled to face the voice he instantly recognized. It was her… Just standing there with a taloned hand on her hip. She’d been right behind him.

"You were looking for me." she said, without a questioning tone.

"Uh.. yeah.." A pause fell as he tried to sort out how he’d missed her sneaking up behind him. "How did you know I was looking for you?"

"It’s a little obvious." Even if she hadn’t been following him, it would have been obvious, so she pressed her question. "Why are you looking for me?"

"Uh…" He had to say something. Better make it the truth. A tactful truth. "I’d lie to get you know you, if I can."

"And why’s that?" She wasn’t gonna give him any slack, not when he was a possible threat.

"I’m… I’m curious." he replied innocently. If she shied away for that answer, he didn’t have a hope of getting to know her.

She just looked at him, considering. He was being honest. And she knew what he was asking, even if he didn’t realize it. Further contact with this human could mean another person to talk to. He could be useful, or dangerous. There was no way to change his knowing she was alive, and she really couldn’t do anything if he told anyone. But he appeared honestly accepting. She sighed inside, knowing how suspicious she’d become of any other person. It could and did serve a purpose, protecting her from others’ poor intentions… But it separated her from the good as well as the bad. There are good humans, too. she reminded herself. This one could just as easily be a… a friend. She had to admit that she could use a little company. The only other human who’d found her out was the Chocolate Man, a trusted contact and a friend; but as a lone gargoyle surrounded by only humans, one friend was not a lot.

He watched her face expectantly, waited to see if she would run or stay.

"Alright…" she conceded. "But if anyone finds out about me through you, I’ll guarantee you’ll never see me again."

"I won’t tell anyone. And I haven’t." he answered with utmost sincerity. It was a start, though she didn’t really trust him. What he needed was a good ice-breaker…

His stomach growled. Both heard the very audible noise. She blinked at him and he tried to hold his embarrassed grin. Swinging his pack off, Malcom set it and himself on the ground. He began to rummage through it.