Working his way down the stairwell, cautious despite knowing the room well even though he was there only once, Abe felt his entire body tense from dread. Each one of his scales tingled, and his gills quivered lightly as he entered what felt like a completely different place. The walls seemed to darken around him and felt reminiscent of the inside of a cave, or the insides of some massive beast. Two rooms he'd not noticed before were on either side of the hall, and both were open to reveal a forge in one, and what appeared to be a small laboratory on the other. The forge only had the slightest of glow, and likely hadn't been used in a long time, the lab had something bubbling in one round glass vial, brilliant red and emitting vapor that rose and travelled down a spiralling glass tube into another vial that dripped the condensed vapor into another red liquid that appeared to be slowly turning purple. He shook himself, knowing that Locke would explain his small home and hobbies later, turning to the room at the end of the hall, sitting open and emitting a pale turquoise glow.
As he entered the room itself, the brilliant Turquoise stone was the only light source, and it cast an eerie illumination over the room. The electronics on the desk to his right appeared to be off, as no green or red lights came from them, and the blood in the room seemed to coat the floor around the door and center of the room. The table with its candle sconce had been moved aside, the rug rolled up and moved, to clear the floor for what looked like a large suitcase. Upon further inspection, Abe noticed that the nailed crate had been busted open, likely by large claws, and sat empty, before he then realized that the suitcase on the floor, was not truly a suitcase.
He knelt down, looking around more, seeing that the bed was untouched by the blood, which indicated that Locke had not slept there. He examined the large black object, noting its length, height and shape. He frowned, standing again and moved to the smaller end, and gasped.
Locke kept a coffin that could keep a man easily taller than Hellboy comfortable. What made things worse, was that Locke's bloody handprints were all over one side of it, the trail of blood starting from that same side.
Abe shook himself, realizing that Locke would tell him everything once he unlocked the seals on that stone block, and needed to move fast. He turned to the Runestone, blinking when its symbols changed suddenly, a pair of eyes briefly appearing within the crystal itself. He moved closer, shifting the tablet to his left hand, reaching out carefully with his right.
"There you go. It took you a while." Came a playful feminine voice when his fingers contacted the stone. He recoiled, before he cautiously moved to close his hand around the stone. There was slight resistance to his pulling it closer to inspect it, the floating runes and swirling patterns withdrawing to form a swirling central vortex of sorts within the confines of the stone. It reminded him of his dreams and the rune pool of the patron, Abe jumping and tilting his head to one side when a harmonious giggle resounded in his mind. "You're cute. I see why keeper likes you."
"What? Who are you?" Abe asked, blinking at the beautiful stone.
"I am Aureiahnna, a gift to keeper from the patron. My true form is hidden for now, but I can help you break the seals hiding keeper's freedom. Hurry, child of Oannes, I feel he is fading even now." Came the voice again, and Abe followed as he was told, quickly running back up the stairwell, being careful about his stepping in the blood on the stairs. He ran down the halls, the Tablet clutched tightly in his left hand, feeling slowly growing warmth within it, and the stone, that looked like a beautiful crystal, with a sentient mind and immense power, in his right hand.
Little did he know, something waited for him to crack open that seal. Something that had waited for a decade and had grown infuriated with simply waiting, and hungry with all those years. It sniffed at the cross with the ever-bleeding limbs hanging from it, lapped at the blood, which nearly made it gag, instead turning back to what would be a doorway and yawned.
It soon shifted its muscled bulk, tested its talons, and continued to wait.