Chapter Three: Hunting Satyrs
In the next morning, a familiar white, unadorned van had begun driving up a deteriorating road. In the front seat, a new driver sat, peering across the dashboard of the car, hoping he wasn't lost. The van rattled down the road as it grew rougher and rougher, homes starting to become rarer in his sight. Trees lined crumbling stone fences with great green fields in between. An exceptionally large pothole caused the entire vehicle to bounce uncomfortably. A loud grunt issued from the back as a gruff voice called out from the back.
"Watch those potholes Meyers. Its not all that roomy back here as it is."
"Sorry Red."
John Meyers, slightly matured from his work and adventures with the BPRD, was on his way to the Lowan house in order to retrieve the new recruit, Olivia Lowan. They had been told by Manning that it would be obvious why she was picked when they met, since no picture was available. With the field agents Hellboy, Abe, and Liz in their van, they took the strenous country road to the reclusive farm in Ohio. Finally spotting a farmer on the side of the road with his tractor, he decided to stop and ask for directions. Pulling over and opening his window, John signalled to the farmer, who turned off his rumbling tractor.
"Excuse me? Is this the right way to the Lowan house?"
The farmer paled slightly at the mention of Lowan. Looking both ways, as if afraid a monster was hiding somewhere, he leaned in with a whisper.
"Are you sure you wanna go there sonny?"
"Er, yes. It's very urgent sir." The farmer merely frowned.
"I'd watch my back up there if I were you. All kinds of weird stuff comes from up there."
"Weird stuff? Like what?" John had seen his share of "weird stuff" and was curious to see what local gossip had to say on the said subject. The farmer shivered.
"Strange stuff...like howls in the middle of the night...and some campers thought they saw weird marks on th trees and freaky footprints. If you keep going down this road you'll find the Lowans all right, but watch that you find nothing else." Turning on his engine, he rumbled on down as quickly as he could, turning away from the road leading to the supposed accursed place. John continued on down, before turning to the crew in the back.
"Weird stuff huh?" A snort of disbelief, probably Hellboy, emitted from the back.
"I'd like to see something stranger than what we've already seen."
"There's always a first," chimed Abe.
When John finally pulled up, the Lowan couple greeted him warmly and hurriedly. They welcomed him inside, and John had to leave the agents in the van, not wanting to surprise them quite yet with Olivia's new comrades. Mrs. Lowan brought out fresh coffee and they took a seat in the kitchen. They explained that Olivia was still in her room, probably prepping for her new life. The couple expressed their gratitude that they were able to find a place for their daughter to build herself a future. John accepted the coffee and the thank yous, but remained wary. Their expressions were nervous, almost desperate. They couldn't be this eager to have their only child go could they?
"O-Olivia? It's time." called her mother. She was met with silence. She looked nervous and quizzical at her husband, who shrugged shakily. She tried again as John looked curiously upstairs.
"Olivia? Come on now." Nothing. Face paling, she quickly ascended the stairs, Mr. Lowan and John following. She knocked tepidly at the door.
"Olivia? Sweetie are you there?"
More knocks. With one look at her husband for luck, she cautiously opened the door.
It was empty. No fluttering, disfigured daughter fussing over her bags. The room was simply empty. Most of the clothes stil hung in the wardrobe, but other things had gone missing. First aid, pocketknives, and other tools. But as the Lowans looked upon the wall in shock, there was a mixed reaction. Mrs. Lowan fainted into her husband's arms as he yelled at John to do something. Astounded, John dashed back to the van and swung open the doors. The surprised agents looked at him in asessment as he panted from running out of the house.
"Olivia's gone! A lot of her stuff isn't in her room and well...well come see!"
Without another encouragement they piled out of the van and hurried up the stairs, unnoticed by Mr. Lowan attending to his unconscious wife. As they climbed into the doors, they saw the shocking message carved into the wall above the open window.
GOODBYE
Manning was furious. Ten years of waiting and Olivia chose now to make a break for it. He yelled some on the phone at the apologetic parents before turning onto the agents.
"There was an agreement that must be adhered to. She must be found. Or else!"
Hellboy was pissed off mostly at Manning. If he wanted another agent so bad he could come and scour the forest for Olivia himself. But Olivia was the one who ran away and therefore a source of irritation as well. Abe sighed as Manning lost his temper, again. Liz ran a hand through her hair. This would be a pain. The parents were brought into the living room. The agents needed answers.
"There's something you're not choosing to tell us. Why did Olivia run off the day she knew she had to go?"
The parents looked ashamed and completely riddled with guilt. Fiddling with their hands, they began to explain.
"Our Olly, wasn't made the normal way. She was born with pregnancy like other human babies..." Mr. Lowan explained shakily, "But with a curse. When she came out, she looked like this," He pulled out a photo.
It was of Olivia when she was seven, some months before "the incident". She was in her father's lap, his arms wrapped under little arms. Her goat legs swung out from her small dress and her growing horns jabbed into the space below his stubbly chin. She had an impish grin, golden eyes tinkling slightly. They pased it around, smiling slightly at the sweet youth. When Abe handed it back to Mr. Lowan, he peered through him curiously.
"There's a good reason why you have no more pictures of Olivia?"
Her father paled again, turning over the photo blankly in his hands.
"Olivia...just started to hate us." He quaked under the shocked eyes of the agents. How could a child come to hate their parents?
"When we arranged a future job for Olivia, she became very angry and wild. She wouldn't eat anything we made, pulled pranks and ran off for hours at a time. She just got angrier and stronger, and we couldn't do anything." This time the mother spoke, clutching a hand to her mouth in disgust, thinking about her wild child. Hellboy looked at them with an appraising look. Then suddenly standing up, he moved for the door. The Lowans stuttered...not even making a understandable sentence. Hellboy simply looked back and replied simply.
"If she won't come to us, we'll come to her,"
It was exhilarating. With a fast pace Olivia darted across the thick foliage ripping through bushes and trampling plants in her way. A rucksack was strapped across her back as she galloped in the direction of powerful mountains. It drew her like a fly to honey, with an allure that could only be described as addictive. Her hooves rumbled like thunder against the earthy floor of the forest, scattering dirt in their steps. The mountains looked so close, teasing her with their prescence. She was almost there...
But a single shot snapped her out of the dreamy reverie.
Shocked, she skidded to a halt, sending a wave of earth out from the unpredictable stop. A twinge in her arm rang with the buzz in her ears from the unusually loud noise, and she realized she had been grazed by a bullet. Pounding footsteps behind her. She twirled around and saw the shadowed figure of a massive with sawed horns and red skin...
"Don't you have somewhere to be kid?"
