Welcome Home

First off, I don't own any of the characters from Hellboy. I wish I did because they are amazing characters, but I don't. So I can't claim that they are mine. But I do own Calypso (Callie), so please don't take her. :]

It had been such a long time since she had been home. The woman sighed as she set her bags gently on the ground. She had been gone six, maybe seven years. It was hard to remember how long it had taken her to get back home where she belonged. With a nearly audible sigh, she quickly unlocked the door with a quick glance behind her at the dark that threatened to swallow her whole. She knew too well how the dark could grab your soul and throw you down a pit that took far too long to get out of.

Her name was Calypso, but she never wanted people to call her that. No, her name was Callie, and if anyone called her anything else she could burst a blood vessel. She'd been traveling all these years, and she hadn't told anyone where she was going. Yes, she should have felt guilty for doing this to her friends, to her family. But at the time it seemed like the right thing to do, and she hoped to God that she wasn't wrong.

Her home was in a tiny suburb right outside of New York City. It was small, and quaint, but it was exactly what she needed. After all these years, she was glad that she had kept the home, paid the bills when it they were due. She was twenty three now, god she felt so much older. She had left home when she was seventeen, the day she graduated from high school. Callie was very young to start kindergarten, four years old to be precise. But she didn't mind that she was always the youngest of her class, and she excelled in everything that she took. Her teachers all wanted her to go to college to major in their class, but instead she had disappeared. It was possible that everyone thought she had died, more then possible, but she couldn't think of that right now. Picking up her bags, she hip checked the door open and walked into her home.

It was in worse condition that she had thought it would be. Everything was exactly how she left it thank God, but it was all old. The white sheets still covered everything, and she could remember every sheet that she had laid down. Walking into the room, she gently set her bags next to the door and went to check out how the rest of the house was holding up. The stairs were holding up well, it looked like someone had recently repaired a few of them. It had probably been one of her family members, hoping that she would eventually return to the place where she belonged. Letting the tips of her toes touch the first step she sighed loudly when the creak echoed from deep in the wood work. Yeah, she was going to have to do a lot of work to wake this house up. But for now, it was time to assess the damage her being gone for so long had caused.

Hearing a scuttling sound behind her, she whirled around. Mice were something that Callie really didn't like, and she wasn't sure that she could deal with mice by herself. But all she saw behind her were her own footprints outlined by dust. "Hmm," she whispered.

Making her way up the stairs, she lightly trailed her fingers against the railing on the straight stairs. The grime of six years stuck to the tips of her fingers, but she couldn't make herself care at this point. It was like being home all over again, and what a wonderful homecoming. True there was no one here to welcome her home, but Callie had never been one for big homecomings. She liked to simply be welcomed home by the house itself, and she couldn't help but think that just maybe the house was as happy to see her as she was to see it. At the top of the stairs there were only two doors, both pale with age. One led to her bathroom, and the other to her bedroom. But it was the bedroom that she was so anxious to see. Opening the creaking door, Callie stepped into the room that she had missed so much in all the six years.

Since it was dark out she couldn't see as much as she would have wished, but the she knew the room like the back of her hand. Walking over to the lamp that was on the bedside table, she flipped the switch back and forth. "No lights?" She murmured. That was odd, there should have still been electricity in the house, she was paying the bills for it and she best well have it. Getting on her hands and knees, she followed the wire to the wall where she felt the tear in the cord. She held the cord up to her face so she could see in the faint moonlight that streamed through the window she whispered, "God damn mice."

She wouldn't be spending the night in her room then, Callie sighed. Ever since she was little she had what she called the nighttime jitters. She couldn't sleep in any room without a light, even if it was just a small one. Her friends used to get incredibly mad at her because they couldn't sleep with a light on in their rooms. But Callie would somehow always get them to turn on a light for her so that she could sleep well, even if they didn't sleep at all. If there only reason that the light wouldn't turn on in this room was because of a chewed cord, everything would be alright. If there really was no electricity in this house, then she would have to go and spend the night in an inn or motel. Darkness and Callie didn't mix, and she would do anything to not have to spend the night without the lights that she needed so badly.

Clomping down the stairs, she realized that maybe her boots where a little ridiculous here in New York. In her travels, she had gotten used to wearing things that didn't draw attention to herself. Usually that consisted of big brown work boots, loose jeans, and flannel shirts that kept her warm. But here in New York she didn't want to do that. Sure it wouldn't draw that much attention. There was more then enough diversity for the entire world in New York City. But before she had left she actually took care of herself well, groomed herself the way prima donnas could. Callie had let that go when she had gone on her travels, wanting to be left alone and try something that she had never done before. But here, it was time to come back to herself.

Once in the living room, she flicked the switch and sighed in relief when the lights flooded on. Almost immediately the phone started ringing. "Well that answers the question if the phone bill was actually paying the phone company," she murmured as she set off to grab the phone.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other side of the phone was harsh, raspy, and a voice that Callie hated more then anything else in the world. "I hope you know you young scoundrel that the house you are in right now belongs to someone and that I'm calling the authorities right now."

Leaning against the wall, Callie answered sarcastically, "Oh but Mrs. Peterson you are on the phone with me. How in the world could you call the authorities right now?"

The spluttering on the other end of the phone was enough to make Callie laugh like she hadn't in a long time. "It's me Mrs. Peterson, Callie Anderson. I'm home for good now."

"You're home! Oh we missed you so much sweetheart." The change in tone was almost something that was impressive. The woman was as good an actress as the rest of the people in Hollywood. Though if you ever mentioned that to her she'd get angrier then a badger would at being poked. She was still trying to get into the acting business, even though she was well into her seventies. The woman could only be described as eccentric. And that was precisely the reason why Callie hated her so much. The woman was a liar to the core, and had been so her entire life.

"Thank you Mrs. Peterson. I'm going to get off of the phone now darling, but I'll call you in the morning. It's quite late you know."

"It's not late!" Callie made a quick glance at her watch and rolled her eyes when she saw that it was nearing eleven o'clock. And eleven o'clock was too late for an old woman like Mrs. Peterson to be up.

"Mrs. Peterson, I'll call you in the morning. Good night!" And with those as her final words, she slammed the phone down on the receiver as hard as she could. Good Lord she hated that woman. She was perhaps the most nosey neighbor in the world! She had been before Callie had left, and it seems that now that her parents were dead and the house was hers she was just as nosey.

But then she heard that noise again, the same one that she had heard when she first stepped into the house. Turning slowly, she waited until the noise happened again. It was coming from inside the kitchen, so she wandered that way keeping as quiet as possible. Again there was the same sound, but this time it was coming from inside the cabinet nearest to her. Grabbing a glass that was still on the table from when she left, and ignoring the ring of dust it made, she slowly opened the cabinet and slammed the glass down on top of what had been making the noise.

"Holy shit," she whispered. Whatever she had just captured was the oddest looking thing that she had ever seen in her life. It had a very tiny head, and more limbs then she could count at the moment. It was whirling around and slamming into the sides of the glass, obviously trying to get out with as much energy as the little thing could give. It was probably the size of her middle finger, but tinged a light green. Tilting her head to the side, Callie patted the counter next to her, trying to find something that she could slide under the glass.

Once a bottom was firmly in place underneath the bottom, she carried the glass and the creature in it back to the living room and set it on top of the coffee table. But as soon as she let go of the top of the glass the thing started to slam into the sides so vigorously that the glass threatened to turn over. Grabbing a dictionary next the phone, she set it on top of the glass gently effectively stilling the creature's movements.

"Now, what in the world are you?" Leaning down closer to the glass, she tapped gently. The creature was the weirdest thing she'd ever seen. Now that she could actually see it under the light, she realized that there was no way that the creature was something that anyone had ever seen before. Its green skin looked more like the mold that grows on bread when you leave it out too long, and its mouth dwarfed its head. Razor sharp teeth filled its mouth, and it was constantly gnawing at the air like it was extremely hungry. Shuddering, she looked at the eight feet it had that ended with sharp points. It walked like a spider, swaying side to side. And at the middle of its back were a set of tiny green wings, but they were so shredded Callie wondered if the creature was able at all to fly.

Shaking her head, she said to the creature, "You are the weirdest thing I have ever seen. And I have no idea what to do with you." The thing looked at her, but settled down a bit. She thought it settled down a bit at least. It stopped shaking the glass so much, and it stared at her a with wide eyes. But who knew what the creature was actually doing, it wasn't like she could compare it to something that she had seen before.

Putting her hands on her knees, she stood up with a groan. It had been a very long day, and she hadn't slept in at least forty eight hours, probably more. The burden of tiredness apparently thought that snuggling into her back with sharp daggers was something that it could do with ease. "I've really got to go to sleep little one." Leaning down, she winced when her back cracked loudly. "So where am I going to put you?"

The creature looked up at her with its beady eyes, and Callie wondered if it could actually understand what she was saying. Feeling sympathy for the tiny thing, she thought about the hamster cage that should still be sitting her room. There wasn't a hamster in there anymore. She had sold it to the neighbor kids before she left for five bucks. "I know exactly where I'll put you."

Grabbing the glass and its burden, she clomped back up the stairs and into her room. The clouds had finally stopped covering the moonlight, and the full moon shone onto her face like a lover's caress. Callie had always loved the moon; it was something that she couldn't help but love. When she was little, her mother used to tell her that the moon was actually a goddess, sent to watch over all of humanity during the night. It wasn't a bad omen at all when the moon was full, instead it was the moon mother at her full power, protecting all of the humans she watched over. Wandering over to the window, Callie stared up at the moon. "It's so beautiful when it's full like this, don't you think?" She looked down at her passenger and was pleased to see it pressing its tiny hands against the glass and staring up at the moon as well. "I'll put you by the window so you can see the moon all night."

Sliding the paper from the bottom of the glass, she watched as the creature plopped into the hamster cage. "Hopefully this will hold you all night. I wouldn't want you to get out. I think I have mice, and they could probably take a tiny thing like you." She laughed when the creature bared its teeth at her, and carried the hamster cage to the window. "There you go, the moon mother will watch over you all night little one."

Falling onto the bed, she immediately felt sleep welcome her into waiting arms.

At the same time, another woman was receiving a call from an old neighbor.

Groggily she answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Liz, you need to get out here right now!"

Turning on the light, Liz sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Mrs. Peterson? What do you want it's…" Grabbing the clock next to her, she stared down at the time in shock. "It's one o'clock in the morning Mrs. Peterson, and I was asleep." Falling back onto the bed, she pulled away when a giant red arm reached for the phone.

"I am calling because Callie Anderson is back in town! Isn't that wonderful darling? She's finally home after all these years. You know, I thought it was simply someone trying to vandalize her house, people do that a lot these days I heard. But when I called and she answered the phone I was so happy! It's about time that the darling girl came home, six and a half years is such a long time for someone to be away from their home. And she always loved it here. It's such a shame that her parents died in that car crash, they were such nice people and they loved their little girl so much. You know she was the top of her class when she was in high school, even graduated early and got accepted into Harvard and Yale and… Liz? Are you listening?" But all the old woman heard was the loud sound of snoring on the phone. Then a male voice started to talk to her.

"Mrs. Peterson, Liz and I are very busy right now making grandchildren for you to play with, so stop bothering us and get the fuck off of the phone!"

Liz looked up at Red in adoration. "You know, I love it when you do that."

Red grunted loudly. "Do what? Yell at old ladies?" Rolling over so that this back was to Liz he growled, "Oh yeah, real sexy. Go back to sleep."

Liz rolled her eyes and tried to drift back to sleep. But she couldn't help but let a slight shiver run through her body. Callie was back in town? They used to be best friends when they were little, Callie always was such a nice girl and they got along so well. Snuggling into the warmth of her sheets and Red, her last thought before falling back asleep was, "It will be good to have her back home."

Hopefully you enjoyed it! To make it clear, Liz and Calypso knew eachother in high school, and then Calypso left after her parents died. I'm not sure if some people didn't get that, but you never know.

Rate and Review! I love to know what people think of my stories.