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Leap years don’t happen to often and the humans in the city like to make a big deal. Some of the shops even had one day, all day, Leap Year’s sales. Some humans even made jokes about how those who were born on the 29th can only celebrate their birthday every four years. While it also meant rare and special birthday’s it also meant winter was one day longer.

The frigid temperature affected a few members of the castle. The gargoyles noticed a slight chill to the air and shrugged it off. It was not going to keep them from protecting the city. The humans and the weregoyles suffered from the brunt of the temperature. The frozen air bit through their skin and froze their bones. They spent as little time as outside as possible, and did not leave the warm shelters of the castle or their places of business without wearing a ton of clothes and carry a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa.

Dominique Destine spent the entire day in her office and the morning and late afternoon in her limousine. She tried not to focus on how cold she felt or the icy wind blowing into her eyes. She wanted to get home to her family and did not reflect on what day it was until her ride neared the tower. A measly four years have never effected Demona before. Ten years, twenty years, fifty years, and centuries have had an impression on the immortal gargoyle. She took advantage of the new technology developed by the humans to use against them. As the centuries went by she would take the opportunity to learn about the new inventions and discoveries and plot on how she could use them against the humans. She used to love the irony on how, in a way, they were dying by their own hands.

Demona had no reason to dwell on leap years as the passed by before Angela came into her life. Four years after she was introduced to her daughter she reflected on the time that went by. She tried to destroy Goliath several times, tried to destroy the humans, fought the quarrymen, transformed humans into weregoyles, fell in love, received a new mate ,and most importantly became a mother again.

Time did affect the children the most. Since the last leap year Charlie grew from a curious toddler to a still curious five year old. He became braver and stronger, and she knew he was going to become a fine warrior someday. Charlie was also an excellent older brother. He helped his mother with the feeding and bathing of Holly.

"Her first birthday is coming up," Demona smiled as she sat down in the padded chair in front of her computer, her tail curled around the thin neck of the back rest and touched the floor. She was going to plan something small and basic for both her and Deirdre, the daughter of Gloria and Jerry. Broadway would bake a small chocolate cake. They always had to make sure an infant had a chocolate cake on their first birthday. She envisioned streaks of chocolate across the golden face of her daughter. Holly’s chestnut colored hair would be brushed until it shone and a ribbon tied into her hair, forming a bow. Knowing her mother in law she would have brought over a pretty birthday dress with a section cut out in the back for her curved bronze wigs, the same shape as hers, and a section for her tail.

"And one week later Charlie turns six." She turned on her computer wondering what kind of party her son would want. He was going to probably want to have something lavish like Alex and have it be focused on a theme. Hopefully it would be sports or dinosaurs and not one of those shows were a group of children competes with other groups of children using robots, animals, or enchanted cards. She still had months to plan.

She clicked on the icon that resembled a book on her screen. The screen turned pale blue and five smaller icons appeared She clicked on the square icon with an image of pencil in it and a white page appeared, framed with a deeper shade of blue and a flashing cursor.

It has a been a week since I wrote, but I have been busy with finishing up finance reports and preparing for the meeting with the Gruder corporation in few days. I also had to revilitaliz my worthless employee list and chop of a third of it. I take a great pleasure in firing those incompetent and pathetic humans. I believe Mary Anne enjoys it just as much. She waits outside my office at her desk, a phone in one hand and her other hand on her keyboard. She is ready to strike and summon security if any of my former employers refuse to accept the fact they have been terminated.

I haven’t just been busy with work. My life at the castle had been non stop action. The court of the dark faeries have formed and the clan does not know when they will strike next. We have put up information for the Network. Xanatos sent information to his employees in Xanatopia to inform the Mayan clan and a few members of the Chinese clan have promised they will inform the Pukhan clan.

I do not worry to much about it. Gargoyles are powerful warriors who have a better chance to stand up against these unseelie, far better than any human. Xanatos has powerful security and still has a few of his iron clan robots. He plans on making several more, including several that would resemble Lexington. The Coldstone and Coldfire robots would not be much of any use and I asked to have them stored in my private storage chamber. We have promised help in other forms. Melusine had promised the clan that she and the other outcasts would help and Hallie keeps checking in from time to time.

Owen and Hallie have given us a small list of all who would possibly join their group. I have already known about the four who were sealed together and Angela had told me about Raven. I have learned a few details from Mab and the others from Owen. I did not directly approach the fool and demand him to give me the information, I just merely listen on to him. With the exemption of Puck I have rarely come across any of them: neither the tricksters, the chaos gods, nor any who indulge in the misfortune of humans.

I may have just lied recently, and then again, I may not have. I have came across the London clan a few centuries ago after the massacre of several humans. They had told me about the creature called the Gargoyle Sidhe and her sister. The clan did not settle in London until after they came in contact with the Sidhe. They had informed me of who they were before the Sidhe had passed through. In a way I should be thankful that such a creature exists, but her manner of destroying humanity is not what I would have approved on during my darkest days. The second time I have heard of the beast was after she and her sister had been sealed.

No onto some more lighter news. Bronx fell into the pool in the atrium last night. The trickster was doing laundry and left a few ties to dry on the wooden drying rack. The blue beast decided to play a game and snatched one of the dark red ones, dangling from just a finches above his nose.

I had never seen the Owen run at any kind of surpassing speed before, but according to those who had witnessed the event, His knees were striking against his chest and his legs looked like they were trying to extend. He wouldn’t even try, not if he wants Oberon to apparate into the room and snatch him by the cuff of his collar like the dog he is.

Bronx was enjoying his mischief. He ran all over the castle, ducking under tables and leaping over chairs. He managed to knock over the couch. His left rear leg got caught on the back rest and he took it down with him. Mercutio had a bowl of popcorn resting on the cushions and when Bronx knocked it over he sent the bowl flying. Mercutio kept slipping on his buttered up talons when he joined in on the chase.

Mercutio was the one who told me about why everyone was chasing Bronx. I did not chase after him. I was a bit preoccupied with Holly in the nursery. He told me how after Bronx fell in he glided down and tried to help him out. The water was three feet deep, enough to cushion his fall, but he did strike his talons too hard against the bottom. That servant of Xanatos’s had no right to berate the poor creature while he was limping through the castle. He learned from his mistakes unlike most humans.

Now I want to talk about Holly. Last night while Bronx was giving Owen some decent exorcise I was watching my daughter walking on her hind legs. She walked ten whole steps before she sat down, and just when I thought I couldn’t have been more proud she stood back up and took two steps without using her tail to brace herself. I was so proud I picked her up and went to search for her father and that was when I came across Mercutio.

She’s speaking. The last time I wrote she said ball for the first time. Tonight she said bottle. It was more like "batta", but I knew what she was trying to say. I came into the nursery for her evening feeding and she was standing up in her crib and pointing at the bottle and she said batta.

She has adapted to the bottle much better than I had hoped. She drinks my milk in the bottles except for in the morning and in the afternoon when I get off work, then I give her formula. I give her an actual breast feeding when she wakes up in the middle of the night, but that is the only time. My mate and I believe we should wait a few more months till we wean her onto the cups with the plastic spouts.

Speaking of which, guess who just entered our room. I don’t even have to turn around to know he is here. I can smell him. His sweat, his after shave, and his gargoyle skin. He still has a hint of wet concrete to his natural aroma from when he was a true gargoyle and turned to stone at dawn. I loved his scent before, but now he has the fragrance of a true gargoyle.

He called me beloved and told me he loves me. I called him my love and expressed how much I missed him. Now he is going to take a shower. It will remove the sweat but not his true scent.

I am very tempted to join him. I would love to have the warm water spray against our naked forms. I can imagined him scrubbing my body with his large hands while his tail is wrapped around my thigh and the way the water trickles down his rippled stomach. I could just slip off my clothes and step in behind him, but I have to finish this. I want to get down my thoughts.

Right now all I can think about is my mate. As he was taking off his cloths he told me about how Holly giggled when he kissed her stomach. He told me how he held her in his arms as he rocked her to sleep. I have seen him do the same with Charlie when our son was that age. He is such a good father. After rocking Holly to sleep he told a cop story to Charlie. His cop stories are not based on what he deals with. They are made up stories. Some are based on a few of his assignments, but he makes most of it up. He feels the children are too young to hear about some of the details that go along with the job. He also thinks his true cases are dull compared to his stories.

I cannot count how many times I thanked the dragon he came across the steel clan robot I stole from Xanatos, and he has thanked me for changing him. I don’t feel like I changed his form, but corrected it. All his life he was a gargoyle trapped in a human body and now he can be his true form at night.

Some may ask me why I feel he is a true gargoyle. One of the reasons is because he adapted so quickly to his gargoyle form. I watched him on the security camera along with the others. He impressed me when he raced on all fours to the steps and roared my name. I still have that vision of him in my mind: eyes blazing and full gargoyle rage exiting from his lungs. That was when I knew I had to sleep with him. I felt him the night before but that was just teasing.

Adapted in the bedroom. He already knew how to use his tail to make me feel good while I tasted him. He made me feel good with other techniques. Such a talented creature with his tongue. He fills me up just right. We made love five times that night, different positions and I knew it was the heat but he later confessed he was enjoying every second of it.

That second night when I went Quarryman hunting he tracked me down along with my daughter and her mate. He fit in with the two of them and he hunted down two of the quarrymen with me. We ran side by side and I killed one without a second thought. A quick snap of the neck. He nearly killed one that night. He saw them as a threat too his species, our species and he slammed him against the wall. I hoped that filth is still in a coma.

I love everything about my mate. His large wings as they carry him through the air currents when we glide and when he wraps them around me. I love his talons when the are tearing through the flesh of the humans he is after and when they are brushing over my body. I love his hair when it his short during the day and long at night. It smells wonderful when I place my nose in it and it feels silky when I run my talons through it. I love his tail when he uses it to push Holly in her swing and when he is making love to me.

I love his human form. We blend well together during the day time with our pale skin and red hair. He is a bit more rough when we have sex, never holding anything back. He has admit the only reason he is not that rough at night is because he is afraid his talons may cut me too much. He knows I heal, but he doesn't want me to feel any form of pain, even for a second. He cares about me so much.

I love his mind and the way he thinks. He often tells me about the cases he was assigned to during the day and I always kept a number of how many times he figured out who the guilty person was. He doesn’t just have a clever and analytical mind. He posseses a fun mind as well. His sarchastic wit had brought laughter to my throat several times in the past and he can be so creative

I worry about him too. Every day he goes to work, knowing he could get shot at, but he isn’t a coward. If he agreed the humans were not worth protecting and quit his job he would not be the weregoyle I mated and married.

I worry less about him at night, but I still worry .He has returned from patrols with gun shot wounds in his wings and broken limbs. He once nearly had the end of his tail shot off. He tells me he had to go out there. He is a part of Goliath’s clan and like the others he has to protect.

I have lost that feeling a long time ago. There were a few times in my past when I nearly tore down my shields to save a human’s life, but all that ended four centuries ago. The only creature I will lift a talon to save are my own fellow species. I may save a dog a cat, or even a horse, but never a human. If a gargoyles has to protect then I protect other gargoyles, mostly my family.

He has finished his shower and he is not getting dressed. His hair is sticking to the back of his neck and he is just watching me. I believe I saw something in his eyes. Maybe he wants me to come into bed and sleep with him, or maybe he wants something more. It depends on how tired he is. He had confessed to me that before he became a weregoyle he never slept in the nude. How I changed that.

We enjoy our company. We separate after dinner and he transforms. He goes on patrol for a few hours and I spend time with our children. Charlie and I played a few rounds of Chutes and Ladders and then we dueled with swords made out of that spongy Nerf material. It pleases me to see he wants to learn how to swing a sword early. I will ask If we have some wooden swords somewhere. Nerf is for human children. A hatchling starts out with a wooden sword when they are eight or nine.

Now this is interesting. My mate is standing right next to me, rubbing my arm. He‘s asking me to come into bed. I had to tell him I need to finish this, but he can be persistent when he is in the mood. Ah yes. There he goes. His tail is brushing against my thigh.. Soon he will be using that amazing tongue of his or perhaps rub right between my wings.

I know the last time I wrote I mentioned how we had great morning sex, but don’t think we always make love. Sometimes we will lay in bed and watch television, or read a few books. Last night he gave me an amazing massage. I should return the favor, perhaps another night.

I was right. He’s licking my ear. One hand is behind my back and the other is slipping beneath my halter top. His warm palms are against my skin. He’s taking the tip into his mouth. I can feel his need.

Tomorrow I will take Charlie for a glide and then I will give my husband a massage, return the favor he gave me last night. Right now I’m going to sign off and allow him to carry me to bed.

"I’m signing off," Demon’s voice came out in a sensual purr as she saved her diary and began to shut down her computer. She could feel her mates lips brush against the back of her neck.

"I’m about to pull you out of your chair," Matt’s voice barely rose above a murmur. He held her hair in his talons while he continued his kisses.

"You don’t need to," she sprung out of her seat and landed against her chest. Her legs wrapped around his middle while he grabbed her firmly around her back. She was ready to play in the bed with him, but he had to carry her to it first.

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Being the clan leader meant one had to think of the safety of the others. That doesn’t mean the leader shouldn’t think about his own safety. Goliath shook his head at the thought he had forgotten about that detail when his patrol group came across a few quarrymen. He shoved Rayne out of the way of the hammer only to have it strike against his thigh.

The bone did not appear to be broken in Dr. Jones’s X-ray. There was not even a sign of any hair thin cracks on the ghostly image of the bone. There were, however, torn ligaments and extensive bruising. Dr. Jones gave Goliath prompt orders to take it easy until dawn. That specifically meant no more patrolling.

‘That will give me more time to spend with Elisa," the lavender gargoyle thought as he limped towards Elisa’s bedroom. ‘Perhaps she will allow me to borrow her bath." A warm soak in the tub might ease his wounded muscles.

Goliath opened the door to Elisa’s by a crack. He didn’t want to accidentally wake his wife up if she was a sleep, nor did he want to disturb her if she was watching a show on her television, or reading a book. When he returned form his patrol he asked the others as well as the medical team to not tell Elisa. He did not want to worry her. Peeking in he could see the lovely form of his wife sitting in the middle of her room, surrounded by a half dozen of cardboard boxes. There was no way he was going to avoid her and he wouldn’t be able to step over the boxes with his injured leg.

"Can I borrow your bathtub for an hour?" Goliath shuffled into her room, hoping his sore leg would not be noticeable.

"If you give me a minute I can join you," Elisa had her head buried in one of the boxes. She had removed her red bomber jacket and placed it on her bed. Her black shirt was tight against her chest.

Goliath couldn’t reing in his rising curiosity. He had to know what she was up to. "May I ask what you are doing?"

"I decided to go through some of my old things. Stir up a few classic memories." She sat up. A dusty book was in her hand. Her smile faded when she noticed how swollen her mate’s left leg was and the eggplant and reddish purple cloud covering most of his thigh. "What happened to you?"

He knew she was going to notice it. "We had another encounter with the Quarrymen." He closed his eyes, not wanting too see her sorrow.

"When did you get back?" She set the book down on the plush carpet and rose to her feet. "Don’t move. Let me make a path for you."

"About a half hour ago," he watched her push some of the boxes back, knowing full well she was going to ask why wasn’t she informed sooner.

"Why didn’t anyone tell me?"

"I didn’t want to worry you." He limped towards her bathroom, pausing when his talons came across the book she set down.. The tips of his talons scraped away the dust, revealing the title. Golden lettering amongst the shimmering pink had titled the book as a diary or a journal. "You have never mentioned the fact you keep a diary."

"I used to when I was younger. This one is from when I was sixteen until I was twenty." She picked up the book so he wouldn’t have to hobble around it. "Lean on me big guy." She handed the book to him.

"I shouldn’t be touching this."

She rolled her eyes. "It’s ancient history. I don’t care if you look at it, touch it or read it from cover to cover."

"But it’s your diary."

"It’s from my highschool and college days. I was a different person back then." She shoved the book back into his talons, the corners pushing against his palms. "And besides, everything in there I have told you about already."

He noticed the hints, both in the tone of her voice and the twinkle in her eyes. "You want me to read your diary?"

"I was thinking of laying back in your warm arms while we read it together." She cradled his arm and lead him towards the bathroom. "But since you are sore I’m going to let you read it while I clean you."

"Are you not afraid I may get it wet?"

"I trust you." Her answer answered both questions, including the one he didn’t ask. A greater appreciation for his mate developed. She trusted him to the point he would not loose his temper when he read about her past history with relationships.

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Goliath sat on her toilet while cradling Elisa’s diary in his lap. If he did not remove his gaze from Elisa’s round, and fully clothed bottom he was going to need to use the book to cover up the rising that was developing under his loin cloth. She was still clad in denim and her black t-shirt as she turned on the faucets and reached for the shower caddies and shelves for her bath supplies.

"I don’t quite need a bubble bath," Goliath studied the colorful jars and bottles that lined the small shelves on the sides of the showerstall and the shower caddy.

"It’s not a bubblebath," she turned around with a box of peppermint tea bags in her hand.

"Tea?"

"The menthol in the mint will help soothe your muscles." She pulled out a few bags and dropped them right into the rising bath water. "I’m going to add a few cups of sea salt also."

"Did you learn how to heal with mint and salt from Zaffiro?" The natraul ingredients being added to his bath reminded him of how the Guatemalan gargoyles used the plants near their home to heal Bronx. The gash in the gargoyle beast’s leg appeared more purple than blue when the pollen came in contact with the wound. If they new wich flowers could heal cuts then they would know wich plants would heal bruises.

"I read it in Glamour." She placed in a couple of more tea-bags. "It’s going to be a few more minutes until your bath is ready."

Goliath nodded as he opened her diary. He might as well kill some time.

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Oh my God! I’m so glad Mom and Dad got me a new Diary. I’m about to explode. I seriously am going to explode unless I write this now. I know that maybe I shouldn’t have wasted the last two pages in my old diary to talk about how Mr. Arnold had a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoe in Chemistry a couple weeks ago or how that bitch, Nadine Brusk’s perm turned into cotton candy when it rained. (And dear diary, it served her right!)

Okay. I calmed down a bit. I have to explain why I’m going out of control. We were assigned math partners today in Geometry. Do you know who they put me with? Tony Dracon. It’s not bad enough they stick me with a lower clansman but it had to be that dork.

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"Elisa?" Goliath lowered the book. He could not believe his beloved Elisa could have written the passage. He had read her recent reports and letters. The flow of words from her pen matched the eloquent way she spoke. He could never see her speaking like a teenage girl. "What grade were you in when you first wrote this?"

"I believe that was the start of my junior year."

"Thank you," perhaps she did speak like a teenager when she was in highschool..

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Why couldn’t they have paired me with one of the math nerds? At least my grades would have improved. No. They had to pair me off with Dracon. The loser still plays with rubberbands. He and his loser friends were doing that to poor Linda as she was trying to find a place to eat lunch. She was holding onto her tray trying to her friends and those dorks were snapping rubber bands. One got caught in her hair and one landed right in her applesauce. They only pick on her because she’s good at science and she’s shy and quiet. I almost wish she had powers like Carrie. The rubber bands could spin around in the air and come back to them like boomeranges, or they could possibly fly in the air and land on their skulls. That would teach them, or maybe if she was like one of those scanners and she made their heads explode. I could just see their faces turn read while every vein on their face and neck becomes visible, a few seconds before their skulls burst like a grape that was squeezed.

He also can’t dress. He has the worst fashion sense in the world. He’s always wearing a shirt with a sport’s team on it. Two days ago it was hockey and yesterday it was the Giants and today it was the Mets. He also has shirts with the Yankees on it. How can anyone be a Yankees and a Mets fan? He also wears pants that are too long for him. He has to roll the cuff up three times. Today he wore dark blue jeans with patches on his knees and they were not just any patches. They were pale green patches, and you should see his shoes: bright red sneakers. They were not like hight tops, they were red all over, even the souls and the shoelaces. All red sneakers? I would barf if I had to wear shoes like that.

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"Your bath is ready." Elisa stirred the warm water with her fingers before she stood up.

"You had a bit of a fashion sense back then." Goliath closed the book and handed it back to it’s orignal owner. He stepped into the tub with his good leg first. The water was a warm hand that formed a soft grip around his leg.

"Are you saying I’m not fashionable now?" She raised her eyebrows as she slipped her dry fingers inside the book to mark her husband’s place.

"I love your taste in clothes. The younger members of the clan would say you look really cool in them." He closed his eyes as he tried to lift his sore leg. Tiny jolts cut through both his mind and radiated from the point of injury as he carefully hauled it into the tub. "I was just pointing out you were different back then."

"I told you."

"You had a thing against red sneakers." He slowly lowered himself into the warm water, anticipating another surge of pain. His leg radiated out more agony, but it was not as intense as before. The second his bruised thigh sank beneath the surface the pain became less intense.

"Oh lord," Elisa cradled his forehead, pushing back her hair with her fingertips before she handed the book back to him. "I can’t believe I once talked that way."

"I think it was very cute." He turned a few pages while keeping the book high above the water level.

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I promised to not write so much about stupid stuff. I don’t want to go through diaries like I go through Oreo’s, but there were two things that happened today. We had our first test today in Geometry, not one of those ten question quizzes we get every other week, but a real test. There were thirty questions. Some of them were easy, some were okay some were a little hard and some fried my brain. I actually pictured the inside of my brain as the little cells shoot off electricity to each other but when I came across those problems they all became electrified and then their power went out, poof. That only happened twice. Maybe those study sessions with Dracon are going to pay off. I’m going to have to wait until Monday to get the test results.

The study sessions with Tony are not so bad. Ms Potosky gives us the last ten minutes in class to study with our partners and she encourages us to study together whenever we have study hall. The only problem is Dracon and I have different study hall schedules.

We don’t talk too much, except about our assignments. He did ask about my parents and what they did. He thought it was cool that my mother did research on our Nigerian history and told stories about tribal mythology at the library.

That didn’t last when I talked about my father. He was like "So your father is a cop?" and acted all smug about it like it was a joke. Unbelievable. My father risks his life to put away lowlifes and he treats it like a big deal. I shouldn’t be surprised considering his family business. He says his father is a businessman. Yeah right. Daddy told me about what kind of business his family was involved in. He thinks he is such a big shot. If he thought he was cool and suave why doesn’t he improve his clothes?

Now I have to tell you what else happened today. Lunch had started and we had just sat down at our table, the table we been sitting at since the start of the semester, when Nadine and her flock of sheep came prancing up to us like she owned the school. We knew what she was up to. Usualy she sits at her table in the center of the cafeteria, but every other week she and her group commandeer someone elses table for the day. She expects everyone to roll over and kiss her ass and usually the other people end up trying to find some other place to sit.

Today she thought she was going to get away with it again. She set her tray right next to mine and said she and her friends were eating there. Vicky told her sorry we were there first and we were not leaving until we were finished. We didn’t look at them as we ate and they didn’t move. The bitch didn’t give up. She thinks that because her father owns a bank and she’s captain of the junior varsity cheer squad that she is the queen and we have to do whatever she wants.

After a few minutes some of her bimbo friends picked up their trays and one of them suggested they should sit at their usual table, but no that would mean Nadine had lost. She called in her boyfriend from the JV football team and he brought in a couple of his friends. They threatened they were going to pull us out of our chairs unless we moved.

What Nadine didn’t know was that we prepared for this. Shortly after her jock made his threat Tricia and Vikki’s boyfriends from the Varsity basketball team approached our table along with a few of their buddies and sat with us. It was a tight squeeze but we had this barrier and Anita ‘s boyfriend who was on the Varsity, not JV, but actual Varsity got in the face of Nadine’s goon. He preached about JV was making the football team look bad by filling in the stereotype of the football player being a bully.

We stayed at our table until we all had finished eating and then marched to the garbage can and tray drop off. Nearly everyone in the cafeteria applauded us. Nadine and her friends did sit down, but they only had about five minutes to actually eat. Some of the Nadette’s started to eat while they stood.

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‘That is my Elisa,’ Goliath smirked as he glanced up at his mate. She was lathering up a backbrush. ‘She even stood up for her beliefs back then.’

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I’m getting a little better and not wasting space. I could have just wrote in the tiny events that happened to me all week, but they would have just been a single line. So here is the rehash.

Monday we got our tests back. I got a B. An actual B, not a B-. I guess all this studying with Tony is starting to pay off.

Tuesday: Student class council is putting up posters for the Homecoming dance in November. They are pinning them up next to the month old announcement off the Halloween dance. I just realized I need to work on my costume for the dance.

Wednesday: Mom doesn’t mind sewing the costume as long as I find the materials.

Friday: Nothing out of the usual happened on Thursday, but on Friday Anita, Tricia, and Vikki offered the rest of us, AKA the dateless wonders, their guys on the Halloween dance. Well we get to have one dance with them each, but it was a sweet offer and hey, I get to dance with three guys.

I bought the material from thrift shops and stuff. I originally wanted to dress like Elvira, but mom didn’t want her teenage daughter to dress like a skank with her breasts hanging out. She is so old fashioned like that sometimes. I thought about a dress like Tina Turner’s character from Beyond Thunderdome, but I don’t want to use a half a can of aquanet to get my hair to stand up like that. I finally went with a female version of Zorro, or should I say Zorra. I found a long black skirt with a matching blouse. Mom is going to sew together to make into a dress. She is going to add a thick ruffle around the neck and sleeves and she’s going to add a few sequins to the skirt part. The mask and cape were an easy find and I found a hat in this little store on 42nd street. I already have the shoes. I’m still thinking about gloves.

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"I’m reading about your upcoming Halloween dance," Goliath felt the soft bristles against his wing arms and the back of his leathery wings. It was hard for him to focus on the diary with her scrubbing his sensitive spot.

"My junior dance," Elisa squeezed a dollop of apricot scented shower gel into the middle of her bath mitt. Her fingers curled into the center of the glove, the soft material with mesh material worked the gel into a foamy, white lather, each squeeze released more of the fruity scent of the gel . "I don’t think you have gotten to my senior year yet. Unless you skipped over all the rehashes."

"I was trying to imagine you in your Zorra outfit," he smiled at her as she glided the mitt over his shoulders. The lather felt like a light paste  until the soft cotton of the mitt spread it across his skin.. He didn’t need cleaning and Elisa knew it but he enjoyed her soft caressing touch, even if it meant smelling like a bag of hard candy. "How many re-hashes are there?"

"I think half of it are rehashes." She paused to brush a few of her bluish black bangs from out of her warm brown eyes with her free hand. "Maybe next Halloween. I’ll wear that costume. How is your leg?"

Goliath hadn’t notice any discomfort from his wounded leg. Not once since he sat down in the tub did it bother him. The blotchy bruise wa still plain to view beneath the wobbling surface. "It’ is not bothering me. Either I’m too preoccupied with what you were like in highschool, or this bath is doing it’s magic."

"Maybe it’s both."

"Or it could also be your touch."

"I’m going to scrub your arms and chest and then let you soak for a few more minutes." She decided to try to ignore his suggestion, but the rosy tint to her cheeks, and her half developed smile, betrayed her true emotions to him.

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I can barely keep my eyes open as I write this, but I can’t wait till the morning. I just returned from the dance. Im tired. I want to get out this dress, remove these itchy panty hose and kick off my shoes. Me feet are starting to ache.

We arrived twenty minutes early. There was me, Anita, Jessica, Vikki, and Tricia. The Fantastic Five arrived dressed as drop dead, knock them out gorgeous, heroines. Anita was Wonder Woman, but because her mother is as old-fashioned as mine she dressed up as the classic wonderwoman with the long blue skirt. Tricia was Bat girl. Her black skirt was a stunning and her halter top was made out of leather. I do NOT know where she found it, or how she was able to convince her parents to let her own it. Their boyfriends were the Green Lantern and Batman. Vikki with her bright red hair was Jean Gray and her boyfriend was not Cyclops, but Wolverine. I had to agree how Jean should be with Logan and not that loser Scott, good lord that guy could use a personality transplant. Jessica was dressed as Princess Leia with her white evening gown.

"I’m going to find me a Han Solo to play with tonight," she told us as we entered the gym.

The night was almost like something from a fairy tale. It started with the vice principal trying to act cool and it backfired at him. He tried to do the "Moonwalk", and he nearlly fell backwards. I actually felt sorry for the guy and barely laughed. I gave him a friendly clap.

I danced along with the crowd until I was out of breath and then got myself some punch. They had the She Hulk from the cafeteria watching over the snack table. She loomed over the punchbowl like a hawk. A large bloated hawk. She looked like she was sure someone was going to try spike it. Her tiny little pig eyes were on me when I filled my cup. I swear I could almost see death rays shooting from them.

There were seven times to dance slowly and closely with a guy, but the only time I wanted to be with a guy, any guy was when they played "Drive", and that was after I had my one dance with the heroes. Everyone was dancing, even Jessica. Jessica found her Han.

I was about to place myself against the wall when Tony Dracon walked through the crowd. You know how it was in movies and books when everyone else seems to stop like they were frozen in time except for the heroine and the hero approaching her. That’s what it felt like when Tony approached me.

He said the following words. "A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be standing alone when a pretty song is playing." And then he held out his hand. I couldn’t refuse.

Now I know what you are thinking diary. Is This the same Tony who you didn’t want to be partnered with? And I have to answer yes and no. He was like a toad who became a prince. His messy hair with those stringy bangs looked like it was combed back but it didn’t look like he was using any hair gel or hair spray. It almost looked natraul. He was the first Dracula I have seen without any greasy hair.

He was a perfect gentleman throughout the dance. He didn’t press to close so he could feel my breasts through my costume and he didn’t try to grab my butt. I should mention he could dance. It was like we were walking on a cloud and when it was over he gave me a kiss on the top of my hand and bowed, before he backed away. I was right about calling dances like these fairytales that come true, because there was magic that night. Only magic could turn a toad like Tony into a prince.

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The following pages were rehashes. A single page with the days of thawed written down in a list form with a few words describing what had happened to Elisa that day. Goliath flipped through them, carefully. He did not want to miss an actual entry.

___________________________________________________________________________

Wow a post that isn’t just quick run-by. When was the last time I made one of those? Oh yeah, on Halloween

We were talking about the upcoming Homecoming dance. I’m probably going to wear the black gown my mother made me for Halloween. It will save on both time and money. I’m also going to ask my Aunt Rebecca to style my hair for me. She may guilt trip me into baby-sitting her children but it will be worth it.

Now I’m going to have four guys to dance with. Jessica’s new boyfriend (AKA Han Solo) Asked her to the dance. That is good news but that means I’m now the only dateless wonder in the group. What does that leave me with? Tony Dracon?The magic from Halloween didn’t last. Back at school He returned back to his old self: bad manners, bad jokes, bad hair and bad clothes. I wondered if one of the pod people put him away for one night and retreated back into it’s pod once the night was over. He is only semi decent when we have our study sessions. He did ask if we could have one dance together at homecoming and I told him we can have two dances.

I decided to get a full night sleep before I write about Homecoming. Half of us wanted to shell out for limousine but my father insisted on taking me in his car. He is so cheap sometimes. He won’t even let me have my own car. So here I am arriving in my fathers crappy car. I asked him to drop me off a few blocks away from the school, but he refused. I swear he is trying to ruin my life! I managed to keep my self stuck in a shadow until he drove off before I allowed anyone to see me.

The others were waiting for me and Anita and Blaine, (they were also the only ones who didn’t ride in the limo) Anita was dressed in a nice blue gown. Jessica also had turned her Halloween gown into a homecoming dresse. Vicki wore the same silver gown she wore to Homecoming last year, still fit her nicely and it still shone like moonlight, and Tricia had this new black gown that was kind of short. Came only halfway to her knees. When Anita finally showed up it was about time we entered the Gym.

They did a better job decorating the gym for this year’s homecoming than last year. It had a grand circus theme The hung brightly colored blankets from the ceiling in the shape off circus tents. Lots and lots of balloons.There were ballons held together in clusters that resembled flowers. The even made an actual rainbow of ballons in the entrance. The buffet table looked like a clown’s fire truck and each table had a circus horse figurine to serve as a centerpiece.

We even had a clown in the form of Nadine. She was wearing this ridiculous pink puffy, frilly dress that was the same shade of pink as that peppermint flavored antacid. It was the exact same color. She looked like a life sized version of a Barbie doll.

They had the same woman watching over the snack table again. What’s a circus without a fat lady? This time when I went to get my punch I stared back at her, counteracting her heat rays with my frozen glare. I think I won. She blinked first.

The funniest thing that happened that evening was when Billy Pearlmutter, the class clown, was trying to breakdance and split the seat of his pants. KAAA-RIP! Right down the center. I almost felt sorry for the guy, except he’s Billy Pearlmutter. He got back on his feet and continued laughing. Whenever someone pointed at his ruined pants he smiled at them and stuck his butt to towards them.

"Check out my boxers. They are brand new." Was his first answer. His second, third and fourth were. "Do you think red is my color? Do my new boxer’s make my butt look like a baboons? Like my boxers? Would you like to get into them?" I’m thankful I have him in my English class. His smart ass answers keep us from falling asleep at Mrs. Leaf’s dull monotone.

The second funniest thing that happened that night, besides Nadine’s hair was Nadine’s dancing. She was wearing new shoes and by the way she was walking you could tell her toes were being pinched and the heels were digging into her skin. As I write this I bet she’s slapping bandages on her feet. That dress she was wearing wasn’t helping either. Several times she nearly tripped on the bottom hem and once she stumbled into the arms of her date.

Once again the magic spell that affected Tony last Halloween returned to him. We had our first dance before I had my chance with the other guys and right after, but that wasn’t the last dance. There were a few more songs played and Tony smoked up the dance floor. I had no idea where he learned how to dance like that and I never knew he could be so amazing on his feet, and just when he had to catch his breath the last song of the evening played. It was the theme from the Breakfast Club. Tony had this friendly look in his eyes.

"One more dance?" He offered me his hand and I accepted.

I’m writing because I’m estatic. I got an A on my vocabulary test and we were paired of into two groups to practice telephone conversations in Spanish. We had our desks facing each other and pretend were on the telephone. We gave out names of other classmates, their fictional numbers and where they might be and the Senior Lopez was pleased with mine and Tricia’s performance.

We have another test coming up in Geometry and Tony wants to schedule an afterschool meeting where we can study. I suggested Flip N Scoops. Its between my apartment and the school. We can have few milkshakes.

Mom has already assigned us our roles for Thanksgiving. She was almost like a drill sergeant assigning orders to us, or like a great warrior hero giving specific and important tasks to their comrades before the upcoming grand battle. Beth is going to put her girlscout knowledge to work and set the table and she has the back breaking task of opening the can of cranberry sauce. What else can a ten year old do? Derek is going to set up the snack tray with crackers and cheese, pickles and olives so we can have stuff to nibble on until dinner. Once again he is going to peel and mash the potatoes. He better not go through the whole bag again like last year and mom wants him to leave some of the skins in. She says they taste great but Beth was making faces. I have to make the stuffing, make the salad and bake the rolls. Mom is going to take care of the corn, stringbean casserole and pies and Dad gets to cook the turkey.

The study session was okay. It was better than okay it was nice. Tony suggested I bring my past home work assignments and tests, along with our math books. I had to rearrange my desk to find most of them and you will not believe this. Tony had all of them, neatly arranged in his Trapper Keeper. I know most of the students with Trappers, and theirs were big messes. Assignments were scrunched up in the pockets and other papers were falling out.

We went over the problems we got wrong and went over the steps to figure out where we went wrong and how to do them properly. We had an interesting conversation while we studied.

Tony said the following. "So, Elisa, are you going to winter dance this year?"

My reply. "I was going ice skating with my friends. Why? Are you looking forward to a couple more dances with me?"

He blushed. His cheeks actually turned bright pink. "Maybe one dance or two if you accepted."

"Maybe I might have danced with you all night." His whole face turned pink. I think he may have a crush on me.

"I guess I wont know since you are not going."

"You know a good-looking guy like you who can dance real well shouldn’t be alone." I can’t believe I said that, but it was true. He’s an excellent dancer and he is kind of cute. He has these dark brown soulfull eyes, and a sexy smile."Why don’t you come skating with us that night."

"Why are you inviting me?"

"I said I was a skating with my friends, and I think we are growing into friends."

"You are like sugar and spice. Sometimes you are spicy and other times you are sweet."

"You are not going to start calling me pepper now?"

"What about sugar?"

"Sugar is fine."

Oh my god. He gave me a nickname. I don’t think I ever had a nickname before. My parents never called m pumpkin or anything like that, and now I sort of have a date with Tony Dracon. I wasn’t lying about him being a friend, maybe I can bring out that sweet guy who only appears at dances, and maybe I can teach him how to dress.

_________________________________________________________________________

Goliath felt the water level dropping before the gurgling in the drain became noticeable for both his and Elisa’s ears. The pull of the drain felt like it was trying to suck him in, his skin felt compressed as the water level diminished.

"Now we have to get you on your feet," Elisa gently whisked away the book and placed it on top of the counter near her sink. "Can you stand?"

"I can try." His large hands took a hold of the smooth sides of the bathtub, careful to not push down to hard, less he wanted to break her tub. He pushed himself up, standing on his good leg first before he put any weight on his injured leg. A sharp jolt of pain radiated through his leg. It was painful, but not as bad as before, perhaps the painkillers Dr. Jones gave him finally kicked in, or maybe it was the combined effort of the medicine and the bath.

"Do you need my help?" Elisa said the instant second she saw her husband cringe in pain, his eyes closed tightly while he bared his teeth. She noted he didn’t growl like he did when he first got in.

"I’ll be fine." He did leave an arm across her shoulders as he lifted his injured leg over the side of the tub.

Elisa quickly dried him with one of her large red towels and replaced his loincloth before she lead him to her bed. Her husband crawled on top of the mattress without any difficulty and sat up, his head and back against the headboard, while his lower back was cushioned by several pillows.

"I don’t know if this will help," Elisa selected one of her decorative pillows and placed it next to his leg. She hated having to make him move any more than he had to, but he raised it, just enough for her to slide the pillow underneath.

"It is extremely comfortable," Goliath smiled at her. "You always go out of your way to make me feel comfortable."

"I know you would do the same for me," she peeled off her shirt as she approached her pine wood dresser. "Now all I want to do right now is climb into bed with my husband."

"I have always wanted to lay next to you while you fall asleep."

"Are you sure you don’t want to finish reading my diary?" Elisa pulled out a light blue nightgown made out of a mix of polyester and cotton. "Would you like me to bring it to you?"

"I want to hold you in my arms and stroke your hair," Goliath watched as she pulled her gown over her head as she slipped her pants off, wishing she had waited to put her nightgown on after she had removed her pants. "I can’t do that if I’m reading."

Elisa crawled onto her side of the large bed and placed her head onto top of Goliath’s chest, allowing his muscles to cushin her head. "I can lay like this for an hour."

"An hour?"

"Until I brush my teeth," she stared up at him, and into his eyes.

"I can understand why you began to actually date Dracon," his large talons combed throug her dark bluish black hair. "I am beginging to wonder if this was the same person."

"He was sweet and kind."

"A good dancer," Goliath repeated what she had wrote. "Even from these few pages I understand why he was your first."

"I couldn’t drive around in a Porshe until I cruised in a Volkswagon."

Golaith could feel his cheeks darken to a shade of eggplant. "I’m that good?"

"You are the best," she kissed his chest before she rolled out of his arms, towards to the night stand where she had set her remote.

Goliath couldn’t keep from grinning, the feeling of his wife’s lips were still on his chest. He only hoped his tented loincloth would settle by the time Elisa found something good. He didn’t want to block their vision.

__________________________________________________________________________

The brush was carved out of fine wood and imbedded with bristles from the stiff hair of a boar. Fox could have used a cheaper brush, but she instead the boars hair was gentle to her silky hair and it swept up just enough oils to keep her scalp moisturized, besides why would anyone who was married to one of the richest men in the country own a drug store brush? Fox gave the ends of her vibrant hair, just one last sweep with the bristles before she set the brush down on the black and gold marble that served as a counter top to her and her husband’s bathroom.

"Fox?" David’s voice carried into the bathroom as Fox had grabbed onto a ribbon made out of pure velvet for her hair. She could sleep with her hair loose and have her hair pool around her shoulders and spread back over her pillows, although she preferred to keep it up. As always, she would grab it and twisted it up into a ponytail, and use a gentle ribbon to keep it in place. "Are you putting up your hair?"

"Just about to finish," she pulled on the ends, keeping the ribbon tight.

"Are you going to put anything on your face?"

"Just going to cleanse it," She examined her face, leaning towards the mirror in search of any imperfection. "Are you in the mood for any thing?"

"Only if you are. I don’t want to push you into anything you might not be up for."

"I am kind of tired," she squirted a dollop of expensive cleaner into her palms and gathered enough water to have it form into a lather.

"Nothing wrong with that."

Nothing wrong with that? Fox wondered what her husband was thinking as she quickly scrubbed her face and rinsed off . "What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

"You are up to something," she left the bathroom, hands were on the buttons of her silk bathrobe. She had a feeling her husband was trying to use some form of psychosis on her, to try to get her in the mood.

David wasn’t even looking at her when she exited. He was facing the flat screen of his monitor. He had shed his clothing and exchanged it for his black cotton pajamas. One hand was cradling the mouse while the other was holding a glass of scotch on the rocks.

"What are you up too?" Fox crossed her arms.

"I’m getting ready for my on like chess game. I just have to finish the last bit of work first." Xanatos spun the chair half way around to face her. "I wasn’t going to play if you were not in the mood."

"Oh," she felt her arms drop. "I had though you were playing a game with me."

"Don’t have to apologies. You just happen to know me too well."

"We’ve been married for nearly ten years." she crawled into bed. "We should know each other’s habits by now."

"Are you going to mention are visitor in your diary?"

"Maybe," he did know her too well.

"Don’t have to worry if you can’t spell Maeliron," he turned around to face the screen. "I don’t even know if I can’t spell it right."

Fox just shrugged as she sat back on the two cylinder shaped pillows on top of her and her husband’s large bed. The robe was the same shade of red as her hair and her Vera Wang nightgown was the same shade of blue as the fox head tattoo around her right eye. The cherry wood bed with tall spiraled bed posts was fit for a king. Both she and her husband stored their favorite books on the shelves built into the headboard and the large mirrored section in the middle contained a few bottles of ammaretto, brandy and sherry along with a few expensive crystal tumblers and an ice bucket. There had been many nights when they blended the liquor with soda, a perfect appetizer for a long night of sex.

Fox peeked over at David as he hunched over his desk and stared into the computer screen. She hoped his vision wasn’t weakening although she would admit he would look still as sexy in glasses. His mouth, framed by a neatly trimmed combination of a goatee and a mustache was turned up into a frown. She tried to get a good look at his eyes, deep brown in color, as they stared at the screen.  He deserves to have his fun if he couldn’t have sex with his wife. She would make it up too him the following night, perhaps he did use his form of psychology to convince her.

She decided to leave him alone with his game and thumbed through the books on her section before she pulled out her diary. The leather bound book had a pen attached by a tiny gold chain and sealed by a small padlock, only unlockable by the tiny key dangling from Fox’s bracelet.

Good evening Diary it’s been a while.

I’m writing about today’s events. We finally did it. Marle and I have fully booked a fashion show. We hired the models, booked a stage, sent invites out to the press and some fashion experts and the date has been set. In a few weeks we are going to be preparing the Marle Duchamp collection. Marle was afraid she won’t be able to witness the event due to her nightly transformations. Her doubts were erased when we found out it will be in the afternoon.

Marle was more than ecstatic. She was preparing invites to her friends and her father and brother. I knew why she wasn’t going to invite her mother and while I did not ask her to send an invitation to Clarice Duchamp, I did ask her to at least tell her mother. She reluctantly agreed.

After we both sent out the invitations, or rather asked Owen to take them to the post office, we went to Cassios’. It was my treat. She ordered the portablo parmesan meal for the first time. She’s living the highlife and her dreams were coming true. She is entitled to indulge herself, now if I could only persuade Elisa to order something a little bit more expensive off the menu.

This afternoon, after lunch, Alex and I had another magic lesson. We were taught two different lessons and my son is becoming a little gentleman. He allowed me to go first.

Puck started my lesson in defense by creating shields out of the elements.The first shield I created was made out of stone. I summoned the sand and loose pebbles from the stone bricks and floor into my hand. It was like a large lumpy ball of clay, except it was as hard as a rock. I concentrated on it’s form as it flattened and spread out until it became a disc. Puck threw and energy blast against and it didn’t shatter. It didn’t even break. He told me I have good concentration and a strong sense to protect, but I think the energy blast was weak.I didn’t think to mention it. I didn’t want to accus him of thinking I am weak willed. There is a possible chance it was strong.

I created three other shields using the different elements. I gathered the water from the scrying dish and the water vapor off the air and made a shield that was as big as the stone one and was clear as glass. I summoned the air  into a nearly invisible shield and used the flames from the candles to make a sheild of fire. It was the smallest one until Puck said I could use heat from the air to fuel it and increase it’s size. Puck told me I could make a shield no matter where I was.

Alex’s lesson was too further his transforming skills. He moved up through the evolutionary chain to mammals and since I was the only other person in the room I was the guinea pig. He turned me into a dog. I guess that is why they call me a bitch. I was an Irish setter with a glossy red coat. It was strange to walk around on my new legs and I made my tail wag. My senses were heightened. I could smell the burned out wax from the candles and the faint hint of Owen’s cologne still evident on Puck. I could still think like I do when I was human but I felt several urges tugging at my mind. I wanted to sniff and nuzzle against my son and run around in the courtyard. The urges were erased when I was transformed back into my normal halfling self.

Alex’s second lesson was self transformation. He changed himself into a beagle puppy. He was so adorable running around the room, barking and wagging his tail. I was worried he couldn’t transform back, since he couldn’t speak the words to the spell. Puck told me when a person performs a self transforming spell on themselves they do not need to speak it. All they have to do is think of the spell to change them back in their mind and they will have returned to normal.

Before the lesson was officially over Puck asked me to scrye again. I had already replaced the water from my shield making lesson. When I stared into the bowl I was hoping to find out more of the Unseelie. I had yet to receive any messages, via my dreams and they scrying bowl. I did have a dream of a party being interrupted by the presence of a gargoyle. When I looked into the water I saw nothing that resembled members of the third race. I saw groups of gargoyles and humans sitting around in a circle. It looked like the gargoyle council from the descriptions David gave me, but I didn’t understand why I was looking at what happened one month ago when I wanted the future. My guess is that I wasn’t concentrating enough.

I hope to be able to find out any more information on the dark court. I want to learn more about them, their weakness. The only information we have on defeating them lies in iron. Goliath and a few other members of the clan had been searching through the library, trying to look up information on them. David and Lexington had been trying to look up facts on the Internet. They had been through database sights on mythology from around the world. Every time they came across a different culture they read through each member of the pantheon, trying to find out if there was a troublemaker or two.

I hear my husband laughing. It is not a loud, boisterous laugh. It’s small laugh, not quite a chuckle. He must be wining his game. He’s playing chess online against some unknown person. He deserves to have some fun after today. Someone tried to hack into the tower’s systems today. No, the did not get in. All I said was they tried to get in. The firewalls and shields set up by Jerry and Lexington and the crack team of programmers of Xanatos enterprise. Lexington or Jerry test the systems out once a week, trying to either hack or send a virus. We are not going to allow someone like Thailog to breach our systems and attack again.

It’s not as if the clan didn’t enough troubles on their own. There are still my old assosiates from when the Pack was still together. A new gang is trying to take over for Dracon and Brode and there are the quarrymen. Before I retired to my room I had witnessed Goliath limping towards Elisa’s room. If one hammer could do that much damage to Goliath’s leg I can’t think of how much pain it would indulge on me or any other human.

There was also another visitor this early afternoon. He wanted to seek information on where P.I.T was located and wanted to join. He claimed to know of another clan of gargoyles and was friendly with them. He was also curious about the New Olympians and didn’t seem to be upset when we told him that we were not the official place to inquire membership on P.I.T, and learned of the whereabouts of the New Olympian building being located in D.C. He left saying he would go to the capitol when he felt he was ready.

I’m getting tired. I’m going to have to end my thoughts here. Maybe I will right in you again. Until then I bid you goodbye.

Fox felt fatigue grip her jaw, it’s tendrils slipped through her mouth and pried it open in a near silent yawn.

"Sleepy?" Xanatos’s chair spun around. His mouth was set in a smug smile that did not match his tired eyes.

"I’m just about to crawl under the covers," Fox relocked her diary and placed the tiny key onto her bracelet before she slid it into the bookshelf behind her.

"I’m about to claim checkmate," his smile changed into his traditional smirk. "Then I will join you."

"Good night, David." She slid down in her bed and placed her head on the pillow.

"Good night, my dear."

Fox yawned once more before she closed her eyes, and hoped she would have another prediction dream.