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CHAPTER 13
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BPRD's HQ was an underground facility with more than 18,000 square meters of floor, space and room for more than 500 people.
It was well equipped with such amenities as private apartments and dormitories for the agents, library, gym, cafeterias, hospitals and situation rooms, distributed on the first floor. The second one contained a modern complex with labs, storage units and cells, so its personnel was able to develop and build special weapons, vehicles and just as well perform tests on paranormal beings eventually brought dead or held alive in its cells. At its lower lever, the water purification system, the power reservoir and a small lake fed by fresh water from underground springs, could be found.
Its entrance was located at a series of isolated tunnels on the city industrial area, reached only through an abandoned elevator shaft inside a Post Office warehouse. Finally, it was heavy guarded by a "control tower" at the building's front gate. Despite its capability, in the present days the headquarter housed only 300 people that worked in round shifts as agents, nurses, doctors, scientists, techs.
That was the information that Sanders had provided to Dominic during his interrogation, alongside his personal knowledge on Director Tom Manning, Hellboy, Abraham Sapiens – BPRD resident demons – and John Myers. He was unaware that Dominic already knew the last one, but that wasn't relevant.
A plan was slowly forming in Dominic's mind, but its success would demand more resources that Dominic first anticipated. To bring BPRD down, he not only needed more pack members – in order to create a diversion long enough for him to destroy the building, but he also needed some explosives to plant at it. That would take some time and money.
Fortunately to him he had both and not only those but he already had found a reliably source of human specimens to transform and the perfect opportunity to do so.
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The Military Skills Competition was a prestigious bi-annual event promoted since 1967 by the local military academy. It was a series of challenging military tasks during a rapid, tactical move along a partly-prescribed 9 Kilometer route located at the county limits, a sort of war-game between Americans and British soldiers.
This year, there were four different teams – with 9 members each – conducting those exercises under the severe temperatures of the winter. As the competition began, a strong winter storm formed on the area, effectively stopping the competition and forcing the authorities to block the roads around it.
Keeping teams safe and warm quickly became a primary focus for the competition leaders. They had chosen to seek shelter in two wood cabins constructed inside the woods and wait there for good weather. But they still had to fight the blizzard to find the cabins.
By the time the blizzard lifted, around 08:00 pm, two entire teams were missing. The survivors had found the pieces of 8mm cords that the missing cadets used to tied themselves in order to prevent straying from each other. They strongly believe that, since cold fingers don't tie knots very well, half of the competitors were lost to the storm.
Reports about wolves sighting where dismissed by the competent authorities since no wolves were ever found in the area. However, when the information reached the BPRD, alarms sounded through its corridors summoning all the active agents.
BPRD had already confiscated the cord pieces recuperated by the rescue teams, interrogated the survivors and the officers responsible by the competition, giving special attention to those who reported the wolf sightings in the area.
As the evening progressed, there was only one thing left to do: sweep the area in hopes of retrieving any blood, limb or dead body they could possibly find. It was an one hour long walk to the cabins from each team starting point. They expected to cover the 9 kilometer area faster this way. Fifteen to thirty inches of white snow had not only erased any footprints from the ground but was slowing down the human agents' progress inside the woods.
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Hellboy's seven-foot tall figured could be seen hunting among the woods, leading one of the three teams BPRD had sent to the area. The others two teams were been lead by Abe Sapiens and John Myers.
By the size of the werewolves attack, they were sure that the pack had at least for more members and every hunter on the team had silver bullets loaded weapons. They would shoot first and ask questions later. Under strictly orders from Manning, all the hunters had to keep constant communication on the radio, announcing their positions at ever 4 minutes. In case of attack, the others teams would give backup to the one under fire.
The first half hour past without incident, no sighs of werewolf or attack been found. It was around 09:00 pm when the team led by Abe heard a howling coming from the woods. Confirming that the Red and John had heard it too and giving them his own position, he try to locate its source with the help of his team.
To determine its location, however, he had to abandon their original course.
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CHAPTER 14
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Hellboy wasn't entirely happy with current situation; he preferred to keep John at arms reach since the young man was so prone in getting himself on dangerous situations. But there was no other option and the job had to be done.
At least the time apart gave him a chance to think about the newfound aspect of their relationship. He was mulling a few ideas over his head when he heard the howling.
Abe and John radioed their respective positions and he lifted the Samaritan grunting in satisfaction. He didn't enjoy mind games, preferring a much more direct approach on missions. He looking over his shoulders, he saw the five other agents of his team holding their guns and assuming a defense position.
The howling came again, this time closer. To him, it was clear the werewolf was coming towards his team, stating the information on radio and getting an ETA of ten minutes from the others teams. He had just returned his radio to his coat when he heard the others agents whispered derogatory comment on Myers "Lucky thing baby boy ain't here or else he might get himself another set of wounds." The others showed their agreement with this particular assessment, nodding their heads at the comment.
Blood pounded on Hellboy's veins and his hold on the Samaritan increasing unconsciously. He would've turn and shove the commentary down the agent's ass if the werewolf hadn't barged into his forest perimeter and charged against him.
The werewolf sprang at the red demon, aiming for his jugular. Without conscious thought Hellboy lifted his tone hand, protecting itself from the furious attack. Noticing that his efforts gave him no leverage in the battle, the werewolf leaped away from monster hunter plunged against the closest agent, tearing wide his throat and, in a terrific motion, killing a second man.
Hellboy, who couldn't shot his Samaritan at risk at hitting the agents, tried to follow the beast's rapids moves. However the creature refused to be stopped and tried again to tear and destroy the demon, successfully biting his left arm.
As Hellboy howled for the pain cursing through his arm, the remaining three agents shot at the werewolf, silver bullets hitting their targets, but merely scratching the beast. A big stone hand went strongly down at the biting head, forcing the werewolf release his prey. Then, the attack stopped.
"What's the matter? Got too used to scary little lost girls in the woods? Can't you fight better than this?" Hellboy tossed him while they were sizing each others prowess for what felt like long minutes. "Stop dancing around already, you oversized mutt!" That hit a nerve and when they were about to resume the fight when a team arrival was heard. At that moment, the werewolf left, annoyed at the interruption.
John looked the forest as daylight faded. His walk in the woods had showed him trees destroyed by the blizzard, while others seemed to surrender to its old ages. His ears got use to the silence presently reigning through the woods. He remembered a passage from Jack London's White Fang: 'The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness – a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life.' The howling put a definitive stop to his silent contemplations and set adrenalin running trough his veins.
When the communicators broadcasted Hellboy's team was under attack, he had run as fast as he could in order to deliver assistance to them, his heart jumping at the shots echoing around the forest. His teammates had trouble accompanying his rhythm and were a few seconds behind him, distance increasing without they eve realized it.
At some point, John stopped to bring out his flashlight and when he turned to resume his running the light caught a yellow pair of eyes looking straight at him. He froze. The werewolf revealed himself stepping away from the shadows, a few small trails of blood coming from his sides. He moved silently sniffling towards John and growling at the agent's attempt to lift his gun into position.
John stepped few inches back, all attention set in hearing his teammates footsteps. He had to warn them before they got in unprepared to face the situation. No such luck. The men were about to arrive at any given time, risking themselves been killed. John had to act and fast! He was about to launch an attack when a single shot hit the ground at the werewolf's claws
"Don't move John!"
"Abe!" John looked at his left and saw Abe surrounded his team, all of them holding the beast at gun point.
The werewolf looked one last time to John before moved swiftly to put him directly at the other agents' line of fire. Unable to shoot Abe satisfied himself by passing their location by radio. Before anyone could do a thing, the huge beast had already disappeared among the shadows.
Hellboy arrived good thirty seconds later nursing his left arm. He had came as soon as he heard about John and Abe's meeting with the werewolf and wanted nothing more than to be sure his lover was unharmed, thoughts of hunting and ripping his teams agents' heads long forgotten.
The minute John saw him, he frowned and sort of accused him "You're hurt." Hellboy looked John's face and realized that the "dove's eyes" expression could only be applied to the young man at certain occasions. 'Not his one, tough' he concluded after seeing the heated gaze John had given him. He felt a little nervous drop of sweat coming down his head's side.
Abe, seeing the way his friends were acting, intervened on Hellboy's behalf extremely amused at the change of pace between their dynamics. "Maybe we should finished our search and ask for another team to clean the traces."
Hellboy cleared his throat and took the easy way out that Blue offered "Yeah, is getting late…Did you got anything from him Abe?" HE was deliberately trying to distract John from his injured arm.
"Nothing useful, I'm afraid. This werewolf felt old – ancient ever. His mental barriers were too strong for me to get into his mind. But I did pick up his interest in John…" He turned to his smaller friend and said "Like he was amused to see you here, John."
"That's odd." The young agent pondered.
"Not really, Scout. You know what they say about mythical creatures and their attraction over unprotected virgins walking through forests under the moon." Hellboy explained snickering, while looking at a blushing John.
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CHAPTER 15
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People used to depend on John Myers since his early days: they would come to him searching for help, money, and advice or even for a confident. They would trust in him and never be disappointed. Only then, they would notice that it was just his nature. His family and friends weren't surprise when he decided to become a law enforcement officer. The idea of the young man risking himself to protect lives wasn't preposterous, but they didn't think he would succeed in exercise authority when the situation needed or handle well dangerous and stressful situations. They believed him too sweet and gentle for that.
Well, they were wrong. He's social skills and keen ability to mobilize people in the fight against crime showed them that. Myers didn't need to command, he only had to ask his teammates and they would do it, because he always led by example. Not only that, but he always seemed to work at his best during crises - his attention focusing at the objective: protecting someone's life or bringing the bad guy down. There for, his teammates, first, and his co-workers at FBI, later, they all knew for sure that he would take one for the team if needed, that he was reliable.
Despite of having many friends, John wasn't naïve, observing human behavior and profiling for a leaving will do that for you. So he knew that some people resented him for his successful career inside Quantico and at the Federal Bureau of Investigation or more specifically at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
At first, he could only count with Professor Broom's trust. He was his "pet project" and fighting hard to fulfill his expectations. The BPRD agents, Tom Manning, even Hellboy himself, took his face at value and considered him too young and naive to do his work as Hellboy liaison. After talking to Professor Broom about Hellboy, John pondered about the demons life, the importance of his new job and concluded that his co-workers would come around once he had proved himself as a competent agent.
So, he decided to deal with his problems simply by doing his job and doing it well. That had worked with his team, Abe, Liz, Hellboy and Manning accepted him. And because John was an optimist he waited for the others agents to come around. Professor Broom and Liz had died, but the silent opposition from his co-workers had not ended. Not only that, he also had to adapt to changes in his field procedures, since his missions often involved hunting creatures incredibly more stronger than him.
He was straining, unable to find any balance, the werewolf's constants attacks didn't help it, Hellboy being in the infirmary injured either.
Needing time alone to cope he crossed BPRD corridors silently, trying to reach the library.
He had just witnessed Abe's prime skills on caring ad stitching a furious Hellboy in the infirmary ward. After returning to the headquarters the red demon had remembered his unfinished business with the werewolf and heard at first hand about John's face-to-face time with the beast. After hearing how John ran away and left his tam behind, Hellboy had throw the young man a look that promised dire retribution for being so reckless.
John was lucky he had to leave after few minutes since the cremations of two dead agents needed to be supervised, plus he had to create reasonable excuses to explain their violent deaths to their families. Paperwork needed to be done. In his considerable long walk from the infirmary ward, located in the BPRD second floor, to the Library cleverly positioned between the agents quarters and situations rooms, John met several agents who had been previously informed about BPRD's second unsuccessful attempt to finish the werewolves' problem. The disapproval over John acts was evident on their no subtle looks.
True to his principals, John waited until he had secured the Library doors before started to punch the closest wall. He had lost track of how many times he repeated the action when the bruises made themselves noted. By then, the wall was sporting few spots of blood. The pain in his hands brought him back into reality, thoughts wondering in contemplation on human's fragile nature; his nature. Humans couldn't compare with certain demons muscle force and many didn't possessed any valuable knowledge on spells or curses artifacts. They only had their brains. John heads shot up and he looked at the hundreds, thousands books carefully stored on shelters, all them surrounding him.
Eyes wide in wonder he had finally understood Professor Broom work: men couldn't fight all the evils of this world with their own hands, but they certainly could find a solution by researching and experimenting. After all, he too read a long time ago that 'Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid.'
He would not leave this place until he had found a way to fight the werewolves.
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Morning came and found Abe looking to a sleeping John Myers trough his tanks glass window.
His friend had isolated himself behind Library's closed doors, knowing that not even Hellboy himself would dare to break those carven wood doors that lead to his father's favorite place. So, once they figured the man was safely tucked inside that particular place, they were forced to wait until he was ready to face the world again.
Hellboy waited standing at the doors for hours and hours, until he remembered he had a few businesses to attend to with the agents that participated on his team at the last mission. Maybe he couldn't rip their heads off – maybe he reminded himself – but Hellboy would be able to take his frustration out on them and for as long as it took. And so he did, literally wiping the floor with some agents faces.
And them he hit the Gym, took a shower, sanded down his horn stubs further, cleaned his loved Samaritan, fed his cats, flipped through channels until he lost his patience end put a dent on his quarters wall, yelling to the world that he 'drag John's sorry ass out of the damn Library'.
But he still couldn't break those doors! By Sending Abe to spy John through his tank, he learned that the young man was sleeping exhausted among books and sheet papers at his father's desk. Used to get his ways, Hellboy created an enormous ruckus at the doors, yelling and whistling through the doors in order to wake him.
It was the whistle sound that broke into John sleeping mind and woke him up. An idea forming itself as the various information on werewolves and wolfs crossed fast through his mind. He stood up fast and run to the doors.
Hellboy barely saw the man open the doors, tossed a quick kiss on his lips and fled trough BPRD corridors yelling about a sudden need to visit some local prestigious Vet Scholl department.