November 18, 1990
"Tresh'ne mit..."
The whispering voice in her head drowned out all other sound.
"Ser j mox lemdeq..."
Tossing in her sleep, fingers felt like they were tightening around her throat, digging into her mind.
"ZEH FI KROMAT, KATKRIO."
She shot upright and took a deep breathe of chilling air into her lungs, sweat made her hair cling to her face. Her breath was hot, but she was cold to her core.
Throwing off the dirty blanket, she rolled over to the floor. Her home was a dilapidated building that had been quarantined after a bug infestation that was taken care of years ago. No one came back to claim the home after that so, barren and torn apart after years of homeless looters and tagging by various gangs, it became a lesser known shelter. But for Neeka, it was a sanctuary.
She pulled her dry and stale clothing from the rafters above, where she had placed them the night before after she cleaned them in the nearby river. The hour was early, and she had work to do.
:: :: ::
Hellboy hated mornings like these; waking up at three for some Godforsake'n bullshit and dry coffee. The alarm went off while he was in the deepest part of REM, and he didn't much care for that.
"You'll be all right, Big Guy." Kate spoke softly as she held open a box of doughnuts for the beast.
"Yea, tell that to my subconscious." He responded gruffly as he grabbed the entire box.
She smirked, "It's a simple job; a group of Gamayun have flown a bit too close to our flock."
"So," Red grunted with a mouthful of food, "I jus' kill'em?"
"You and a few other guys are going to go see what they want." Manning spoke as he entered the room. "They have no reason to be this far south." He gave a motion with his head, "So, let's get going so I can go back to sleep. Agent Sapien is meeting us upstairs."
Red rolled his yellow eyes, he hoped this would be simple but he doubted his luck.
:: :: ::
Perched on the tallest building on the street, Neeka kept on alert. Her ears faced north and her eyes scanned the horizon. She was beginning to grow irritated as she watched the rays of fresh sun begin to rise. They should have been here by now, she spoke internally, this is bull-
The sound of approaching vehicles silenced all thought. Eyes flicked forward towards the street below as people came out of the trucks. Odd Neeka thought, Who is awake at this hour? This would ruin everything, they needed to go.
-;-
Hellboy delicately put each bullet into the cylinder of the Samaritan, all glowing a magnificent white.
Abe blinked, "Petroleum Nitrate?"
"You betcha," Red gave a wink and a sleepy grin, "Along with a few other additives. Explosive shit, literally."
A slide opened where Hellboy could peek through and see the driver, except Manning's face appeared. "Now, no messing around. I want to get in, get out. Understood?"
"Eh, aye captain." HB said with a sarcastically pleasing smile.
"Good." He let the slide slam shut.
"Prick." Red murmured as the truck came to a halt.
:: :: ::
Neeka watched as the men climbed out, when she saw him... She should have expected the rumors were true, but seeing was believing. The tall red... being stepped under a streetlight where Neeka could get a better view of him; long trench coat, shaved down stubs on his forehead, a large rock-like weapon in his right hand, and a thick red and hairless tail. What was he?
He glanced up as if checking the skies and she hid. The fuck were they doing here? No one else should be here, something was wrong.
Then she picked up their sound.
"Ya hear that, Blue?" HB said as he pointed up with a stone finger.
Abe tilted his head to allow noise from above reach his ear holes better. "The squawking?"
"That's our pals, the Gamayun." He gave a motion at him, "Better check your little Boyscout book, ya might learn somethin'."
The fishman gave him a look before grabbing the yellowed and withered thing, flicking through it for the correct page.
Moments later, a winged beast nearly fell to the ground in landing, giving out a shrill cry. It had the body of a bird the size of a small car, but the chest and head of a beautiful woman, eyes all black and pale white skin. Feathers were black but greying.
All men took aim and waited for an order, but Hellboy simply cocked his gun. "Bye bye, fella." He positioned and shut one eye for good measure and when it wasn't looking...
A single loud blast, soft tissue contact before a larger explosion. Hellboy smirked, pleased.
The Gamayun gave out a sharp yell, the features on the seemingly female upper torso appeared to age dramatically. Wings flapping up in surprise before lowering its head to the ground, gagging, and finally vomiting onto itself.
Red made a face, "Blue, whatthehell is it doing?"
Abe glanced up from his boyscout book, "A healing method, the acid in its stomach helps-"
"Forget I asked," He raised his gun again...
"Stop!" A female voice urgent shot through the air. Something in it, maybe the determination in the tone, made everyone freeze for a split second. It was almost like a mental vice grip...
Hellboy looked up to see someone jump from a rooftop to the ground in front of the puking creature, her arms stretching out to protect the thing at least triple her size. Quickly running his eyes over her, he singled out a few key features; a long brown, cat-like tail with a white end, ears on the top of her head, and her abnormal, hairless arched feet with clawed toes. He allowed his wrist to reflexively lower his gun from the target, "Who the hell're you?"
Without warning, the creature behind her flared up, outstretching its winged arms and then swiping its foot through the air, digging three long claws deep into her side. The woman yelped when she hit the cement ground, scratching at the thing with her own sharp nails.
Red began to unload when she shouted at him to cease, "Stop! You're ruining everything!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Shoot it!" Tom yelled, "Kill it, now that you've pissed it off!"
"No!" Neeka yelled over him before the Gamayun silenced her by tightening its grip on her side, shrieking its ear-piercing voice directly at her. Neeka covered her ears as Hellboy shot again, striking its wing. The bullet then boom simply pushed it back a moment before he beast flapped in attempt to take flight, but it was grounded.
Now free, Neeka scrambled to her feet. She held her side with one hand as she stood, blood quickly pooling over her fingers. "Эй! Некрасиво!" She shouted.
The 'yun turned and craned its neck. "Что вы хотите, Сука‽" Its voice was raspy and harsh.
"What are they saying?" Abe whispered to Hellboy.
He didn't take his eyes off them, "They're flirting."
Neeka raised her free hand and pointed directly at the Gamayun, "Сердце."
It looked down at its own bare chest-which HB inwardly remarked weren't half bad-and then back up to her, grinning. "Приди получи это." It replied sinisterly.
Neeka suddenly began running as fast as she could at the thing. It raised its wings in response, babying the wounded slightly, as if ready to strike. Although, before it got a chance, Neeka's hand sliced through flesh and clawed deeply into the chest of the creature.
It let out a cough and then another gag before spitting up red, spraying it onto her face. With a twist and wrench of her arm she tore out a bloodied organ, ripping it free from the body as it slumped to the ground. Neeka smirked, "Понял."
"What the hell was that?!" Manning shouted a few moments after the scene had finished. "Who do you think you are, interrupting a government investigation!" It was near four in the morning, Tom didn't give a shit who heard him. But he made a mental note to have his men do a once over before they left, destroy any evidence...
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Neeka barred her teeth, "Attacking a creature that has done you no harm!"
"What? You killed it!"
"No," Abe spoke up, pointing across the open street where the corpse lie. "She didn't."
With much pain, the Gamayun struggled upright again. The men took aim but Neeka raised her dripping red hand, "No, leave it."
Tom gawked at her, "You are not in charge of-"
"Shut up, asshole."
As the Gamayun stood, four others came from the sky and landed beside it. They studied their conrad before looking to Neeka and giving out sharp cries. Neeka held up the heart she had stolen from the beast and they silenced. All lowered their heads for a moment, exchanging glances before taking flight. One 'yun took the injured in its claws, then took off into the night.
"What just happened?" Hellboy said as he put his gun back in its holster and putting another hand out, giving a 'wtf' motion. His eyes were trained on the unfamiliar one.
Abe spoke into his book, "A hierarchy was just established."
"That's one way of putting it." Neeka said as she slung the organ over her shoulder.
"You gonna eat that?" HB asked.
"No, want it?"
"Yes." She threw it at him and he caught it in his stone hand, examining it. "It's so difficult to find a fresh one of these."
Abe grimaced at it before looking over to the woman who was walking away. "Wait!" He shouted after her.
She stopped with a sigh, "What?"
He raised one hand, "You're hurt, let us help you."
"Let her rot." Manning murmured a distance away.
Neeka scoffed, "No thanks, I'm busy."
"But-" Time didn't grant a reply. She jumped up high, landing on the rooftop and disappearing into the receding night. Abe pursed his lips before returning to the truck where Tom and Red were squabbling.