Author Note: Hellboy, Liz, Kate and BPRD are not mine. I'm a big fan, and that is about it. Some of you may be disappointed. This is the second to last chapter of the story. Please make any suggestions or editing notes for the entire story now, if you have them. As it stands, it will be done by Hallowe'en. Been great fun writing this one. Have to say that it has ended my nightmares about deformed nuns and flesh-eating undead quite nicely.
A stream of water
Hellboy stared down at the dead women, whose bodies, or rather the remains, were distinctly misshapen. Each skeleton held a worn cross in her hand, the ends worn and damaged. A leather-bound book was clutched between two three-fingered hands. Everything else appeared to have been thrown into the small fire in the centre of the room.
A stream of holy water fell from a glass vial and onto the book. The book crumbled to dust and sat ontop of the water, as if ashes on the sea. He continued to pour until the entire litre sat on the floor, forming a meniscus against the dried bones of the nuns. They would not awaken until God was returned.
Hooves teetered on delicate footing as Hellboy made his way through the passageways to a defaced shrine near a broken window. God may have been cast out, yet the elder Gods, those deemed as satanic by the church, may linger on. Hellboy began to fumble with his belt, wrapping a small chain around his left wrist.
"xuey sel ome frelin tse ibu"
Hellboy felt a tug at his wrist.
"It's in the hands of the betrayer."
Hellboy turned to see Kate, soiled, bloodied and clearly agitated. "Where's Liz?"
"Down there" Kate pointed outside to a ball of flame that slowly weaved through the streets of Owsgmina as an orange glow. A crowd of undead followed her.
"She's dying down there!" Shouted Hellboy. "They're going to destroy her."
Kate pulled Hellboys' stone hand. "We must find the eye, then."
Liz walked on through the streets, leading the undead away from Kate and Hellboy. She was in control, yet something about her thoughts did not feel her own. She stared at the last rays of the sun as they disappeared under the earth to heat the hell that lay underneath.
"The earth is not flat" She argued within herself
"Yes it is."
Her fire burned brighter for a brief moment. She held the cross closer to her chest. The only light in Owsgmina was herself.
Hellboy stared into the streets, now poorly lit. "The eye will be in the hands of the betrayer."
"That's what he said."
"I'll bet you nachos for a month that the bastard's underground."
"You know I don't eat nachos." Kate stared down at the large crypt and the spattering of shattered bones on the crumbled floor. "Your respect for history is charming."
"So is the respect for life around here." Hellboy lit a cigar with the burning femur and offered the passageway to Kate. "Ladies first, and you don't need to worry about not liking them."
The pair followed the passage deep into the darkness, coming to a narrow spiral staircase nearly to narrow for Hellboy. No cobwebs or moisture clung to the walls as they followed the steps downward. The air was thick, dry and smelled of sulfur. The femur went out. Kate switched on her flashlight.
"Every church, convent and castle is has an underground equal in size to what lies above. It's where the true soul of the building lies."
Kate was the first to step ino the darkened underground chamber. It was large and full of debris from ages past. Gypsy caravans, knights armour, books, riches from centuries past, artillery, swastika embellished uniforms and bicycles lay in haphazard mounds. Everything was perfectly preserved.
"This has to be worth a fortune."
"Every bit of it is cursed, Katie."
They continued through the large hall, eyes scanning the great mounds of artifacts.
"Where is he, Red?"
"He's guarding the eye." Hellboy held up a small, cheerful gypsy sun. "God may have been cast out, but the elder Gods remain. They're mildly annoyed to say the least." Hellboy grinned. "I'm looking forward to those nachos."
Kate's reply was cut off by the sight of a skeleton in a tattered red robe. It's empty eye sockets lit with a terrible red with the beam of the flashlight. The figure stood up and approached slowly, the sleleton feet dripping blood as it advanced.
"Amemun idah feh ka meh anung un rama."
The robed figure extended his arms toward the ceiling, then pointed toward Hellboy with it's palms.
Hellboy rolled his neck, shoulders and stone wrist. He removed what was left of his jacket, exposing hundreds of small scratches and tears on a muscular back. His ponytail has come unbound and hung as a tassel between his shoulders.
"When will they get the point that I'm not…" An unseen hand knocked him down onto the floor and into a gypsy wagon. He dug his hooves into the rough flooring and gained his balance. He narrowed his eyes on the bloodied figure.
Kate looked on with anxious eyes.
"Son of a -----"