Hello! I am PhoenixCrystal, and it is a pleasure to be writing for this section. This is the fourth story I've published on , but I haven't finished any of the others yet… Hopefully, I will finish this one, and at least one of the others, as well!

I've been working on this story for a while, but I haven't posted it before this because I wanted to make sure I could get into it. It's fun for me to write, so I hope you enjoy reading it at least half as much. The main body of the story (meaning the real first chapter and on) starts about a month after the first movie, and continues on all the way through the second movie and beyond. I even have an idea for a sequel… but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm going to post the first chapter right after this, because this prologue is a little strange. Hopefully, being able to read the first chapter as well will convince you to continue reading! Thank you for choosing this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Hellboy movies. Or the comics, for that matter, but I'm not basing my story on them…

Prologue: The Rest is Silence

She ran down the alley as fast as she could, desperately calling for him. She knew that she had to find him before their attacker did, because, while she wasn't in much danger from it, he was extremely vulnerable to it. Her voice grew more and more frenzied as she begged him to answer her. She dashed around a corner… and there he was, collapsed on the ground with their attacker lying beside him. She ran to him, preparing to fight the attacker, but he gasped, "It's all right. It's dead."

"Are you all right?" she cried, kneeling beside him and grabbing his hand from where it lay limply across his chest. This action revealed what was under his hand, and answered her question more fully than words ever could have. His chest was covered with lacerations, and just where his hand had been there was an extremely deep wound, almost like a hole bored into him. "No!" she whispered in horror.

"It got me just before I killed it," he murmured, "I'm sorry."

"We have to do something!" she wailed, putting her hands on his chest as though to stop the torrent of blood that was rushing out of him. He grabbed her hands and held them tight.

"There's nothing we can do," he said, "You know that. I'm going to die."

"No!" she repeated, but she sobbed as she said it, for she knew he was right.

"Yes," he said firmly. He gasped suddenly, and his body went rigid.

"No, please!" she cried, "Please don't die! Don't leave me here alone!" His body relaxed as the wave of pain passed over him, and he gave her a slight smile.

"It won't be so bad," he told her, "You'll forget me soon. We only had a few hours anyway."

"But…" she whispered, her mind filling with this horror, "You won't be here when I come back… What will I do without you?"

"You'll be fine," he murmured, "I know you. You'll come up with something." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then she whimpered, "I'm afraid…"

"Don't be," he breathed, "Everything's going to be all right…" And then the light went out of his eyes. He was dead.

She stared down at his body for a few seconds, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Then she burst into a violent storm of sobs, and she flung herself down on him and buried her face in his bloody chest. She had no idea how long she lay like this, until suddenly she felt something inside of her change. She sat up, her eyes widening as she realized that the moment had come. She was going to forget, to forget everything that had ever happened to her… to forget him. She wanted to fight it, but she knew that there was nothing she could do. She gripped his hand tightly, his cold, unresponsive hand, and murmured a phrase that came unbidden into her mind:

"The rest is silence…"

As soon as these words passed her lips, she collapsed forward onto his body, and all memory faded into nothingness…

I know it's odd, but I don't want you to understand exactly what happened yet… Plus, odd is fun! The quote, for those of you who don't know, is from the end of Hamlet.

I love reviews! It's a facet of my personality; they help me write better. You can either 1) Review now, then go on and read the real first chapter, or 2) Go on and read the real first chapter, and then review for both it and this. As long as you review at some point, I am satisfied! Thanks again for reading!