Chapter 2
Leading
I swivel my shoulders, minding the wires around me, and face my laptop. Using my telekinesis (which I am quite proficient with, I pull up the screen, and begin moving the cursor.
I have received two emails, a piece of junk, and something from Manning.
I read the brief note, and my eyes widen.
Dear Mr. Sapien,
I am pleased to offer you the position of the head of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense...
They want me to take over the BPRD. I don't really know what to do. I don't know what Professor Broom would want me to do. The letter is vaguely frightening. It tells me- 'you take over now, or we're brining someone else in, and you know Hellboy will flatten them.' Manning knows Hellboy a little better than any of us thought, I guess. I don't reply. Let Manning think I haven't received the mail. When I make up my mind I'll tell him. I want him to think that I can make split second decisions. Indecision, it's one more weakness that no one needs to know about.
I am suddenly in the library. Professor Broom is in front of me. He hands me a new book.
Paranormal Phenomenon through the Ages,
The next few days
The History of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense
Paranormal Pop; a History of 'Unique' Artists who used their powers to influence their music
Saints- from Myth to Reality
And so on...
Finally, I joke to Professor Broom
"I am going to know more about this than you do, Professor."
He smiles, and I catch his thoughts.
'That's the idea'
And he leaves.
He was planning for this? He wanted me to be the new head? He certainly gave me enough information, up to and including several books he had written as a young man. He had always given me more responsibility. At the beginning I thought he was setting me up for failure. Then I believed that he felt sorry for me. Towards the end, I began to realize that he was giving me exactly what I needed to challenge myself, to feel important. It was a responsibility he thought I could handle.
And I couldn't. I failed, I let Sammael catch me, and now I'm trapped here in this glass jar. I failed Professor Broom.
If I failed him in something as simple as a mission, then how could I ever be the director? I'm not a great man; in fact, I'm not even a man, really.
I feel like an over rated gold fish.
Yes, but Rasputin lives.
