Hellboy III: Twins of the Paranormal
READ!!!! (Author's note: Ok, this is one of my very first stories, and of course, I had to do it about Hellboy, the ultimate superhero. So, this takes place after the second movie (I'm warning you guys now: spoiler for the second movie. WATCH IT!!!)
So, the only thing I own in this story is the character I created. Don't hate me, but I did add a new character – a main character – into the mix. I know, a lot of stories suck when they have more than the original characters, but come on, give it a chance.
So, my character – the one who's telling the story – is named 'Snowflake' or 'Snow' for short. (Actually, her real name is Eira, but only Abe and Johann Kraus calls her that)
She was abandoned when she was a kid, her parents finally having enough of her, and Professor Broom took her in. She was practically raised in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. So she grew up with Red, Liz, and Abe. In the very beginning – Chapter 1 – she's about fifteen or so, and her age changes as the story goes on. She looks normal, except for her unnatural blue eyes, but she is totally different than any average human. She controls ice – snow powers, duh. She's invulnerable to the cold, and can't take too much heat. That's pretty much it about her. You'll learn more later. I'll get on with the story now.
"Oh, we are not getting them a gun."
"Oh, come on, I think it's a good idea. Red would love it."
"Eira, please; we're going to a baby shower, not on a mission."
I sighed, putting the gun down. Abe was right. As much as I knew that Hellboy had his eye on this gun for months, I also knew that we were going to Liz's baby shower. Bringing a gun to a shower? That sounds like I'm giving them a bad omen.
I groaned. Abe and I were in the troll market in Ireland, not far from the country house that we shared. It had been about nine months now since we left the BPRD. Liz was due any day now. Normally, Abe and I would have thrown them the shower months ago, but the lack of a residence was kind of a set back. We had been staying in a few apartments underground, connected to the troll market, while we had a country house built. That was literally hell on Earth. Abe was constantly getting sick because the water source that we had was polluted, Red hated being confined in such a small place without any fresh air, Liz was pregnant and was going through the usual mood swings and food cravings, Johann was angry that he had no real source of entertainment – library of course – and the apartment rooms were so hot! I thought I'd literally melt away. I can't tell you how many times I woke up to the four looking over me, ice rolled into bags and dumped on top of me to cool me down as I regained consciousness. It was horrible. But eventually, we moved out and up. The lot that we had picked out was huge – over a hundred acres – with two houses built on it. One was for Liz, Red, and the kids, when they came. The other was for me, Abe, and Johann. I wasn't too happy about that, but at least I got my own room, upstairs too. While the other two slept downstairs.
I have to admit, when the six of us quit working at the BPRD, I was a little worried that we would eventually split apart, taking our own paths. But when Liz and Red announced that they wanted Abe and Johann to be the godfathers – Abe because we've all known him nearly all of our lives, Johann to thank him for helping save Red's life – and for me to be the godmother, we all decided to live close by. Wasn't thinking that it would be that close, but we didn't have too much money – thank goodness for Johann's bank account and Liz's savings – so we had to take what we could get.
With the twins due any day, Abe and I were a little worried about being so far away from the house. Sure, Red could call us at anytime, and Johann was there to help until the doctor could arrive, but still, we both wanted to be there, so we decided to make this little shopping trip short.
"Um…sure, baby clothes are a good idea," I said in comment to Abe's suggestion as he held up an outfit. "But do you honestly think the kids are going to have five legs and eight arms?"
Abe inspected the clothes, gave a 'ha' sound – his way of laughing – and folded them neatly, placing them back to where they were. He looked at the small area we were orbiting around. There were lots of interesting things – doo dads and such – but nothing good for a shower. I was getting frustrated. Red and Liz were so different than a normal couple, so normal gifts were nearly completely unacceptable. Besides, we had no idea what these two would look like. I mean, would any take after Red? Would any grow horns and a tail and have a giant right hand? Or would they take more after Liz, looking more human than their father, and yet still not quite there, human whys, I mean. How are we supposed to buy something for the twins when we don't even know what they'll be like?
"How about a toaster oven?" Abe asked suddenly, breaking my thoughts. I shrugged. "I guess that's…ok. But…remember, we're the godparents. We have to get them the best."
"Honestly, Eira, it's not like we're competing with anyone. Who else will be at the shower besides Doctor Kraus?"
"Um…the twins, maybe?" I asked, a little petrified as I pointed to Abe's belt. His cell phone – a cheap thing, but still decent enough – was lighting his pocket up. And only one person would call Abe.
It was a hell of a run, but eventually, we made it out of town and into the couple's country house. Not a mile away and we could already hear screams, shouts, and swears. Most from Liz, but I did hear Red's voice thrown in a couple of times. When we got inside, we went straight to the main bedroom, and there was Liz, on the bed, holding Red's hand, which seemed to be turning purple. Johann was holding the phone up to his "head", speaking quickly into the receiver. Not ten minutes later, and the doctor – a short, whitey troll that had been giving Liz's annual checkups for months now – showed up.
For at least twelve hours, Abe, Johann and I were sitting, pacing, and standing in the living room, waiting at the tip of patience. We heard shouts and swears again, this time completely from Liz, directed to Hellboy as she blamed him for everything.
"You really are from Hell!" she had called once and I couldn't help but smirk at that one.
Finally though, Liz stopped screaming. Now, all there was was crying, and thankfully, it was from a baby. Then more screaming came, and then cries could be heard. One from the first born, one from the second, and one quietly coming from the Big Ape not too far away.
Eventually, we were all called in, and I was the first at the bedside, standing on Red's right, creeping on tiptoes to see the creature he held. It was a baby girl, wrapped in a pink blanket. She looked very much human, with normal pale skin, windy black hair, and pink cheeks, from crying so hard. She was asleep now, and that much gave her a nice, suddel look. She was – not to be funny or anything – an angel.
Hellboy was holding the baby girl gently, rocking her slightly; not taking his eyes off her. I could see a small tear in his eye, and I smiled warmly. I then walked closer to Liz, hugged her, and looked at the baby she was holding. It was a boy, wrapped in, of course, a blue blanket. He had taken after Hellboy, mostly. His skin was bright red, his hair black of course, and small horn stubs could be seen growing on his forehead.
Ouch. Poor Liz.
After watching Liz rock him for a few minutes, I saw a tail flick out from beneath the bundle, and I laughed. He was a spitting image of Red. Only his eyes were different. While Red's eyes were a topaz yellow – which, I later learned, the baby girl had inherited – this boy's was a very rick olive green, just like Liz. It was amazing how genetics worked.
"So," I whispered after a few minutes of silence. "Do you two have any names picked out?"
Liz looked up at Red, and Red looked down at her. After a few minutes, the two faced us. Red looked like he was trying to hold back a wave of happiness, trying to keep control over himself, while Liz presented us with a smile.
"We decided on Trevor and Nuala," she informed. All three of us in the audience were completely silent as we shuffled the names in our head. Nuala was obviously for the Elf Princess that saved Red's life by giving her own, and hearing her name again made Abe smiled. Not really of course. He can't smile. But I'm sure he would have if he could.
Trevor, however, was a different story, and a much more touching one. After all, that was Professor Broom's first name; Hellboy's father.
We watched as Red took both babies into his arms, rocking them, whispering to them, and kissing their foreheads. It really was a warming sight; a perfect moment.
After maybe fifteen minutes though, Abe, Johann, and I took the kids away, too impatient to wait any longer. It was our turn to hold them now.
I got Trevor first. He was asleep, just like his sister, but he had this little smirk on his face. Just by that smirk, I knew that he had inherited more from his father than just his looks.
He wasn't a heavy baby, but wasn't all too light either. His hands were of normal size – just like his sister's – and he was perfectly healthy – also just like his sister. As I held him, bounced him very lightly, and angled him so Red could come and continue the conversation that he had been having with his son, I heard something that I was dreading to hear, and didn't even know it.
Abe had gasped.
There are a lot of things that a gasp could mean when holding a new born baby. It could mean that the baby had simply spat up, or needed a fresh diaper. It could mean that the baby had slipped the carrier's arms, or that it had accidently pinched the carrier's cheeks. But in Abe's case, I had already crossed all of those out. I knew that it was something more than that. As he held Nuala gently, his hand had brushed across her forehead, and suddenly, he knew something that we were all secretly dreading.
"What's wrong, Blue?" Red asked immediately, already becoming protective. I knew that if he had a gun on him at the time, he would have pulled it out, like there was a monster in the house.
Abe looked up slowly, meeting all of our eyes at once – a very hard trick to learn. I had turned to face him now, holding Trevor tightly against me, as though protecting him. But I couldn't; not from Abe at least.
The sapien walked closer to me and slowly and carefully reached out to touch Trevor on the forehead. He acted like he was looking around the room, watching a fly search for a place to escape from. And then his head slowly came back to a regular position and he stared at us all.
"These two are…conjoined, by the mind. Connected, both physically and mentally. What one dreams, the other does as well. What one feels, the other shall as well. They are…"
"Just like Prince Nuada and his sister," I finished for him, quietly, as though just saying it was bad. Suddenly, I wanted to change Nuala's name and take the two as far away from Ireland as possible. After all, isn't that where all of the Golden Army stuff had taken place? These two were like my younger siblings; my godchildren. I wanted to protect them from the outcome that the other pair of twins had come across.
Red took Trevor away from me and then took him and Nuala back to Liz, to carry, hold, love, and protect. He then turned back towards Abe, staring with cold, terrified eyes.
"What does it mean?" he asked. Abe hesitated. "Most likely it is a coincident. After all, they are twins born in a paranormal world. Perhaps such a connection between the two is common among twins. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."
But he was wrong, and we all knew that.
