Paris, France, October 18, 1999
Hellboy and Dr. Corrigan arrived in Paris well before dawn. They had loaded their gear into what appeared to be a courier van. Their driver carefully manoeuvred their truck beneath the Hotel Dieu.
Hellboy, stood in the back of the truck, loading his belt and clips with ammunition. A box filled with various relics and charms lay open, his fingers picking through them. He placed a handful into his coat pocket. Bruttenholms rosary dangled from his left wrist, the small iron cross bouncing off of his hand as he loaded his gun.
"Catacombs or Notre Dame?"
"I need to deliver these, first." Dr. Corrigan grasped the handles of three large tote bags, all brimming with papers and books. "Besides, he did initiate the call."
Hellboy flipped through a tray of sealed vials. He scooped the holy water into his pocket.
"Just one more thing." Kate slid the back door of the van open and watched as Hellboy closed the last of the drawers.
Hellboy tilted the entire box of sealed vials into his other coat pocket as he let out a low rumbling sigh. He lifted the bags with his right hand and set them over his shoulder. "You sure there is nothing else?"
The driver, having disappeared, returned with coffee and cookies in-hand. Kate took the tray and bags and smiled. "Ready. Let's do this."
Hellboy reached out for a coffee cup as Kate pulled the tray out of his reach. Hellboy closed the truck door and locked it.
"An atheist shouldn't be so eager to attend church."
As the odd pair made the short walk to Notre Dame, their reason for being there was readily apparent. Two officials were scooping up the carcass of a dog under guidance of headlights. The fur remained on the bones and nothing more. Not a single drop of blood stained the cobbles upon which it lay. Hellboy watched as clumps of dog fur blew off of the dried bones.
"Crap. Whatever it is, it drains them dry."
Stray dogs walked through the streets, keeping their distance from the police, as well as the two BPRD agents. Hellboy watched a red dog as it ran off with a dead rat, the other stray dogs scattering as it ran toward the river.
The doors were locked, barring entry to the cathedral. Hellboy grasped the wrought handle of the door. Kate jiggled a key, which caused the lock on the portal of St Anne to yield. Hellboy pushed the door open with his left hand.
"That's against fire code." He commented, as the stale air of the cathedral hit his nose.
Kate gently closed the door, leaning against it. It thudded shut, sending a faint echo through the belly of the church. She turned to face into the nave, scanning the darkness for another soul. Only a few candles flickered near the altar.
Hellboy adjusted the bags on his shoulder and snatched a coffee from the tray in Kates hand. There was no use in letting the coffee get cold.
Dr. Corrigan turned toward the spiral staircase toward the tower. Hellboy walked into the darkness toward the altar, sipping his coffee loudly.
"Katie. This way."
Hellboys hooves echoed off the marble floor, his trench coat flapping noisily with his determined walk. Kate ran up behind him as silently as she could, trying not to spill the coffee.
"What are you doing?"
"This is why we came here first." Hellboy kept walking, as noisily as possible. "It's easy to sneak up on a deaf man."
Hellboy plopped the bags down a few meters behind the bell ringer, who was kneeling in prayer. She struggled to see his familiar shape in the dim candlelight.
Hellboy stood silent, his eyes closed as he held the cross of Bruttenholms rosary in his palm. Within a moment, he looked at Kate, then Quasimodo. Hellboy pulled a cookie out of the bag, placing it between his lips. He folded the bags tab into a small dart.
Quasimodo rose to his feet, only to be struck on the shoulder. He turned sharply, his one good eye flashing angrily in the candlelight. As he recognized Kate and Hellboy, his expression softened and he smiled.
"I knew you would come back." Quasimodo limped toward his visitors, Kate opened her arms to him, motioning for him to accept a hug.
"It's so good to see you again." Kate told him, smiling. She held him at a distance for a few moments, taking the time to look into his blue-green eyes. Once he smiled, she felt herself leaning forward, accepting his arms around her.
"I've missed you too." He stepped back. " Much has changed in the past year."
Hellboy knocked him lightly on the shoulder, offering the open bag of cookies from his large, stone right hand. Quasimodo locked his gaze into Hellboys' eyes. He parted his lips slightly as if to speak, then looked at the bag. He gently tugged out a cookie.
"I've been looking forward to seeing you again. Sadly we're not just here to visit." Kate set the rest of the cookies on the table, while waiting for Hellboy. "What happened in here? It feels different."
"The bells are run by motors, now. The clergy have been told by the engineers that the 'structural integrity' of Notre Dame is under threat when they ring. The ropes have been removed."
Quasimodo set down his warm coffee. Kate looked up, only to see that the bells indeed hung naked above her head. Not a single rope adorned the belltower. Quasimodo gestured upward, his hands cutting through the air sharply, almost prayer-like, as he looked up at the shiny new bells. His back straightened somewhat and he appeared taller. While his voice did not raise, his words became pointed.
"There are chimes as well, hammers on motors that ring the bells. There is no joy in the bells anymore - these are not even my beloved bells. These are dead, cold. The songs are mechanical, lifeless and always the same."
"I'm sorry." Kate reached out, touching Quasimodos arm. He looked blankly at the table, the cookie crumbs. His shoulders slumped, his eyes softened, as if ready to form tears. He looked into Kates eyes.
"My beauties are gone, I've been told they are in storage. Even the oldest, Emmanuel. No one has told me where they are, I fear they have been melted down."
"Hellboy and I will see if we can find where they are being kept."
"I would like that."
Kate and Quasimodo sat quietly, studying the many coffee stains on the table. Hellboy plopped three bags between them, breaking the silence.
"We brought you these to help with our little problem. That, and while we were stopping by anyhow, Katie figured your library could use an update." Papers and small books tumbled out of the bags. Hellboy snatched up the last cookie.
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