Author's Note: I'm actually staying on schedule here. I decided to make use of the garbage truck that Abe and Hellboy use in the movie. Also, just to clarify about the tank in library, it's not where Abe lives like in the movie, he has regular quarters like in the comic, but I thought he should have something to swim around in. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimers: Hellboy et al belong to Mike Mignola and Dark Horse Comics, while any movie details are property of Sony Pictures.
December 4, 8:28pm
Audrey stepped into the library and was surprised to be bathed in dancing light. The aquarium took up a whole wall, and the water inside reflected what little artificial light was available underground. Audrey stepped closer and saw the lithe figure swimming serenely in the tank. She knocked gently on the glass and was rewarded when the figure stopped short and swam towards her. She waved and Abe waved back.
"Hi," she said, "As promised, I brought the hell hounds for you to meet."
She gestured at her waist where her two Great Danes stood formidably.
"Excellent," Abe said smiling, "I'll be right out."
He then swam towards the surface where Audrey assumed there was access to the library. He came down moments later, still dripping wet, with a towel around his shoulders. He was clad only in his shorts, and Audrey had to keep from staring at his slender, yet muscled physique.
"So these are the infamous Cerberus and Mauthe," he said as he let the dogs sniff his hands. He was oblivious to the fact that Audrey was had her eyes locked on the ground. "Hellboy warned me that they were huge."
Audrey smiled and nodded her head, "Yeah, they're big, but they're both teddy bears. Most people don't want to mess with one Great Dane, much less two. I'm not as afraid to go out walking by myself when I have them to protect me. I don't know what I'd do with out them."
Abe continued to scratch both dogs behind the ears. The awkward silence that followed was soon interrupted by a flashing red light and an alarm, which made both of them jump.
"Code Red. Code Red. Code Red."
Hellboy poked his head in the door and called out, "C'mon Abe, let's go fight some monsters. We're going to a place near your apartment, Audrey, so we can drop you off if you want," he added.
Audrey nodded and followed Abe out the door.
The drive to the location of the red alert was not long, and Hellboy, Abe and Audrey sat on the benches in the garbage truck in silence. Hellboy kept looking from Abe to Audrey, as if he was going to say something, but seemed to decide against it, and kept quiet. Audrey sat with Cerberus and Mauthe sitting at her feet and Abe busied himself getting everything together that they would need for the mission. Someone had been attempting some amateur black magic in a run-down hotel, and had accidentally summoned a lesser demon. The summoner had already been 'taken care of', so all he and Hellboy had to do was round up the demon. The truck slowed to a stop, and Hellboy stood up.
"Well, let's get this over with so I can go back to watching Fear Factor. They were just about to make them eat live cockroaches, and I really don't want to miss that." He turned to Audrey, "See ya later."
Audrey waved goodbye and stood up.
"I'd better be getting home. It was nice seeing you again, Abe. Good night."
She stepped out of the truck before Abe had a chance to say anything in return. He sighed, and followed Hellboy into the abandoned hotel.
Inside the hotel was pitch black, the wiring for the lights useless after years of neglect. The flashlights they had cast a brief glow over the peeling paint and graffiti on the walls.
"Here demon, demon, demon." Hellboy cooed sarcastically, cocking the Samaritan. "You know Abe, sometimes I think we're just glorified dog catchers."
"Yeah," Abe agreed, "Except the dogs we catch could rip someone's head off in one swipe."
"That just makes it all the more interesting," Hellboy grinned. "So, were you and Audrey able to have a more private conversation this time?"
Abe stepped over a rotten beam on the floor in front of him.
"If by conversation you mean awkward silence, then yes, we did."
He ducked under a painters tarp hanging from a doorway.
"I still don't think that she's interested."
Hellboy followed Abe through the doorway.
"Trust me on this one. If I had a dollar for every-"
Abe put a hand up to silence him. He pointed to the back corner of the room they had just entered. In the dim beam of his flashlight stood the demon they were looking for. It had black scales covering it's body and five long, black talons on each of it's paws. It's body resemble that of a bulldog, but about four times the size; muscular and compact, with it's elbows turning out to the sides. It's face was snubbed, and it's oversized bottom canines protruded over it's upper lips in an underbite. It's red eyes were squinted into slits as the demon growled menacingly, whipping it's forked tail from side to side.
"Aww, don't you just want to pick him up and cuddle him?" Hellboy gushed, holding up his gun.
Abe held up his own gun and aimed it at the demon, "This is one dog I don't want following me home."
Audrey had just about made it around the corner when she heard the gun shots.
'I guess they found what they were looking for,' she mused continuing on her way. Then she heard another shot. And another.
She turned around, puzzled, to try and see what was going on in the hotel. It was too dark outside to see much, so she started moving back towards the garbage truck to get a better view. Then she saw something dark come crashing though the front of the hotel in a shower of plaster and rotten wood. Whatever it was landed on its feet and looked around thrashing it's...forked tail? She squinted in the dark as the thing looked around, trying to decide where to go next. Then she heard the growling.
It started low, but began to get louder. The thing whipped it's head in her direction and that's when she realized that it was Cerberus and Mauthe that were growling. The two dogs had their hackles up and their heads down, feet planted formidably. The demon growled back, and began to move towards her. The dogs started barking, straining on their leashes, and as the demon got closer and closer, they lunged at it. Audrey couldn't keep a hold on their leashes and they charged at the demon.
She heard more gunshots and running as Hellboy and Abe lept through the hole in the building created by the demon. Audrey stood where she was, frozen to the spot as her dogs attacked a predator twice their size. They were a mass of black, twisting and snapping, claws and teeth digging into scales and fur. She heard one of the dogs yelp as the demon ripped into him, and that was when Abe finally reached her.
"Don't look," he said, pulling her towards the truck. He quickly opened the back and pushed her in as another yelp rang through the street. Then Abe heard a shot, and everything went quiet.
