 Welcome to Microterrorz. Scary stories for kids, where it's always the spooky season. Full of chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks. Microterrorz are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up. And while our stories are for younger years, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night. And some children may not be able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended. Now for tonight's Microterrorz. Night of the Gargoyle. The smell of a sleepover was in the air. Milo couldn't have been more excited. For the first time in years, he was allowed to have his two best friends over for a night of pizza, Marvel movies, and Fortnite. He anxiously waited at the window for his friends to arrive. Then, right on time, Jamie came bouncing down the sidewalk from up the street. He lived the closest, only a few doors down. By the time he reached the driveway, a car pulled up in front of the house. It was Bucky being dropped off by his dad. Milo pushed up the window sash and let the warmth of the spring evening flood in. Hey, guys! He called out to his friends over the moon, excited. Jamie waved with a huge smile and ascended the porch steps. Bucky climbed out of the car, and Milo heard his dad say, Have fun! Thanks, Dad! Bucky exclaimed, grabbing his backpack from the passenger seat floor before closing the car door and jogging up to the house. Milo watched Bucky's dad drive off as his son and Jamie gave each other a series of sloppy high fives on the porch. Milo opened the front door and the sleepover was officially underway. The doors stay locked. No one leaves and no one extra comes in. Milo's dad said sternly. His mother stood next to him, sipping on a hot cup of tea. Am I understood? Yes, Milo said. No one in, no one out. Got it. His dad could sense a bit of sarcasm in his son's voice, which made him feel the need to repeat his stipulations. I'm serious, Milo. They haven't caught that thief yet, and the Gibronas a couple of walks away were just hit a few days ago. I got it, Dad, Milo said, turning it back so his dad would either believe him or just leave them alone. His dad smiled and winked. Okay, have fun, boys. We'll be in the guesthouse out back as not to cramp your style. Is that still a phrase? Cramping your style? The three boys shrugged. Well, either way, your style will remain intact for the night. Anyway, have fun. Milo's dad and mom left for the guesthouse out back. Milo was quick to lock the back door. What if they need to come back in? Jamie asked. Milo laughed. That's their problem. He told me to keep the doors locked. No one in, no one out. Remember? That includes my parents now. The boys chuckled, but then Bucky's laugh trailed off. What guy is your dad talking about? What thief? Milo rolled his eyes. There's a burglar who's been terrorizing the neighborhood for like a month now. They call him the gargoyle because he leaves that moniker scrawled on the walls of the homes that he hits. The Geronias are friends of my dad. They got hit last week. What he thing is, they were home during the burglary, but don't remember anything about it. Almost like their minds were wiped clean afterwards. Sounds like supervillain stuff. Jamie joked. Maybe, Milo said. Whoever it is definitely has some unorthodox methods of burglarizing. But the doors are locked, my parents are locked out, and we have the house to ourselves for the night, so let's sleep over. The night began with the pizzas that arrived moments before Milo's friends did. Three large pepperoni and bacon pizza pies were gone in under ten minutes. Next up was a Marvel movie, the latest Spider-Man adventure. After that was a two-hour block of Fortnite before coming back to the MCU. Outside the house, a car sat in the shadows across the street. Someone had eyes on the house. The person in the front seat took out a pair of binoculars and looked into the upstairs window where a light was on. Through the magnified lenses, the boys could be seen watching the superhero movie on a large wall-mounted TV. Jamie squirmed in his seat. I have to go to the bathroom. Can you guys pause it? Oh man, hurry up! Bucky complained. All the good stuff's about to happen. Sorry, Jamie said, uncomfortably scurrying out of the room. The bathroom door in the hallway slammed shut. Bucky leaned back in his seat and sighed. What's that? Milo said, sitting up and squinting out into the hallway. Some kind of object was on the floor. What's what? Bucky said, leaning forward to try and see what Milo was seeing. Milo walked into the hall and picked up the object. Oh man, you broke it, Jamie! Broke what? Jamie's voice echoed from the bathroom. But the more Milo looked at the object, he wasn't exactly sure what was broke. He initially assumed it was a piece of the very expensive yet gaudy decor that his mom plastered all over their home. But now, up close, it looked like a piece of stone that had been chipped at the top. Bucky joined his side and looked at the stone. Are those feet? They were feet. The stone object now looked like the lower part of a small, doll-sized statue. Yeah, Milo said. They look like claws or something. The toilet flushed in the bathroom and then the sink briefly ran. When the door opened, Jamie stood there with another stone piece in his hand. What's this? He asked. It was on the floor next to the toilet. Milo and Bucky looked at it. He definitely looked like another part of the same stone object. But the one Jamie held looked more like the midsection of some kind of mythical beast. There were stone wings curled on its back and a tail with a spade-like end like the devil's tail. Put it together, Bucky said. Huh? Milo said. It's all a part of the same thing, Bucky said. He snatched each part out of his friend's hands and placed the midsection on top of its foot base. Now we just need the head. Where did your mom keep this thing? Milo didn't know what to say. He'd never seen this particular piece of decor before. He shrugged. Then let's spread out and look for it, Bucky said. Wait, Jamie said. What about the movie? We gotta get back to Fortnight, too. Do we even have time to search the house for a piece of broken rock? Of course we do, Bucky said. All those screens are doing a number of my eyes anyways. Let's take a break. I don't see the fun in this, Jamie grumbled. Outside the house, the shadowy car still sat in the street and its mysterious occupant was counting down the minutes until it was time to strike. The gargoyle was about to claim another house and no one would even remember it happened. Milo wandered through the cluster of upstairs bedrooms looking on the floor for the final piece of the stone puzzle. But so far he was coming up empty. Just dirty clothes scattered about and an empty discarded twizzlers bag next to his dad's side of the parent's bed. Emergency candy, Milo thought. I wish I could have emergency candy. I don't see it anywhere, Milo called out to his friends. Downstairs, Bucky searched the living and dining rooms before moving into the kitchen. He held the two pieces of stone in his hands but sat them down on the breakfast nook before kneeling down to search the cabinets. Jamie meandered in the basement. He knew the missing piece was least likely to be there so that's why he chose it. Well, he didn't know that for sure but he didn't want to be a part of this search party. He just wanted to watch Spider-Man and play Fortnite. That's when he heard the front door on the first floor open. He stopped where he was and then heard the screen door close. No one in or out. That's what Milo's dad said. He made that very clear. So who opened the door? Jamie made his way up the basement stairs and called out to his friends. Milo! Bucky! When he reached the first floor his eyes went straight for the front door which was open. He walked over to it and looked outside. He noticed a car sitting across the street, shrouded by the darkness of the night and even from the glowing street lamps that lined the road he couldn't see anyone inside. Who went outside? Milo shouted as he bounded down the stairs. Jamie looked at him and shrugged. Not me, Jamie said, presenting himself as an innocent party. Where's Bucky? Milo turned to the kitchen. He saw the two pieces of stone on the counter. Bucky! The two boys called out. There was no response. Milo started to feel nervous and Jamie shared that feeling. Whose car is that out there? Jamie asked. But Milo didn't answer. He crossed through the living room and into the kitchen. Sitting on the floor next to an open cabinet was the third and final piece of the stone statue. It was a head, the head of a beast that appeared to share lion and dragon-like features. Milo picked it up and brought it to the other two pieces. He started to put it together like a snowman. On top of its base he placed the midsection. You actually found it? Jamie said, hurriedly walking through the room to join his friends aside. Yeah, Milo said. I don't think this is my mom's though. I've never seen this before. The third and final piece, the head, was then placed on the very top. It's a gargoyle, Jamie said. Suddenly the cracks between the pieces of rock fused together. The eyes of the stone beast radiated a fierce green glow. And then beams of light shot from them like a laser gun encapsulating Milo and Jamie in a state of rigor. Like they themselves were made from stone. Neither boy could speak or move. They could do nothing but stand there looking at the mystical gargoyle that put such a spell on them. Don't worry, it shouldn't hurt, a boy's voice said. It definitely won't hurt after the spell runs its course. Bucky walked into their view, standing between them and the gargoyle. He smiled at his friends. For what it's worth, I didn't want you guys to be a target, but my dad insisted. Your mom has such nice expensive stuff. Bucky's dad dressed all in black, scurried to the house and shoved endless amounts of expensive decor into a duffel bag. We found his statue at a flea market. Bucky said, moving aside so Milo and Jamie could lay their eyes on the gargoyle again. The guy who sold it to us couldn't tell us where it came from, but he said it harnessed a dark power. When we saw what it did, we thought it'd be perfect for the family business. Out of the corner of his eye, Milo watched as Bucky's dad zipped up the duffel bag and then used a black marker to write gargoyle on the wall. With the effect runs off, your short-term memory will be gone, Bucky said. You won't remember any of this. That way we could still be friends. No hard feelings. Bucky's dad looked at his watch. We have maybe 20 seconds, he said in a huff. Better get out of here then, dad. I could take it from here, Bucky said. His dad raced out the front door and across the street. The car started a second or two later and then was gone. Bucky took the gargoyle apart and shoved each piece into the inner lining of his backpack. And not a second after he put his backpack on the other side of the couch, Milo and Jamie collapsed to the ground. Are you guys okay? Bucky exclaimed, rushing to their aid. What happened? Milo groggily asked, holding his head in a spacey daze. Jamie groaned, feeling the same way. Bucky held his head too, a devious smirk was just itching to show itself. Milo looked up and saw the word gargoyle sloppily written on the wall in big black letters. His eyes then shot around the room. A severe lack of his mom's gaudy decor was evident. Mom! Dad! He screamed. Thank you for listening to Microterrorz. Join us each Saturday for another scary story. For more fun visit our website at microterrorz.com where we will also have spooky games you can print out and play like wicked word searches, mysterious mazes and more. Microterrorz.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus you'll learn more about our author Scott Donnelly who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon from Microterrorz. Scary stories for kids.