Part II: My baby left me

Chapter: The Great Goddess

Kat's desperate pain ripped through the air, through all of Margot's defenses and cut straight to her heart.

She couldn't help it. Tears welled in her eyes, fell to her cheeks, and her throat was burning.

No, this can't be.

This can't be happening. Not to Kat, no way!

It's your fault. A horrible guilt crushed Margot's chest. You caused this by dragging Kat to Europe.

Hellboy lay dead on the stone table, his flesh arm hanging over the table's edge. Kat had thrown herself partly on top of him, and she was sobbing hysterically, desperately calling his name. Hellboy's blood had been drained, Margot realized, following his arm with her gaze. Dark liquid was still dripping from his fingertips to the floor. There was a pool under the table, that had collected his blood, but it was empty now. Just some dark, clotted remains stuck to the edges. And in the middle of the pool, a drain to collect the blood and lead it to the lower levels of the pyramid.

"I love you!" Kat was wailing. "Damn it, HB, you can't do this to me!"

But there was no answer, just the eerie echo of her voice from the stone walls.

Margot had to look away from Kat's face. It was too much, she felt her grief in her heart as it was, and the tears just kept flowing.

Your fault. Margot's inner voice mocked. You should've remembered - bat shit happens to people you care about.

Slowly she walked to her best friend, and laid her hand on her blue shoulder.

"Kat." she said silently, her voice thick with tears. "We must go. The job is not finished."

But it was like Kat didn't even hear her. She didn't look up, there was nothing but Hellboy's dead body for her, nothing but her enormous loss.

"Kat." Margot tried again. "We can't help him anymore. But John-"

She stopped mid sentence. Kat wasn't paying her any attention at all. She had wrapped her slender, blue arms around Red's neck, buried her face on his shoulder, and her whole body was shaking with her sobs.

Suddenly Margot felt like an intruder. Kat was mourning - it was a private moment. Hesitantly she took a step back, and let go off Kat's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, sis." She said silently. "I'll take care of it."

She wiped off her tears, and closed her eyes.

No one messes with my friends.

Time to get mad, she told herself. Time to lose your temper.

She felt her anger stirring, restless, like a small spark of fire in her soul - and she breathed on it. It caught fire, and in a heartbeat the power filled her from head to toe. She felt different, like reborn, and she knew she could rip this place to pieces with her will. The tears were gone now, as was her weakness. Resolute, she turned her back to Kat and Hellboy, and headed to a staircase on the other side of the chamber.

She knew just where to find Botox - and John.

The first thing Margot noticed when stepping into the room, was John Myers.

He was chained to a stone pillar, opposite to the entrance, and he looked like Hell.

His hands were cuffed behind his back, and he had been gagged. He was wearing a pair of black pants and boots - his combat gear - but his black T-shirt had been cut open in front, revealing his naked chest and abdomen. The red, thick scar on his collarbone was clearly visible on his pale skin.

There was a large bad looking wound on his temple, and the blood had fell to his face and his bare chest. Leaning the back of his head to the pillar, he looked barely conscious.

But he was alive.

Margot felt the pattern of his thoughts in the air, so familiar, so achingly longed for, that it made her heart skip a beat.

He is alive!

Oh, Christ, oh thank God! Thank God, I got here in time.

The relief was so overwhelming, it almost made Margot lose her guard. She had to force herself to look away from him.

The job was anything but done. No time to be sentimental.

And then she saw Beatrix Connelly, and her heart sunk.

She was standing by a some kind of an altar, with a shallow pool that was full of blood. Hellboy's blood, Margot instinctively knew. The room was dimly lit, with torches on the wall, but the blood glimmered dark red and menacing.

A pool of blood. Never, ever a good thing.

The tall, blond woman was wearing practically nothing. Her upper body was naked, except for decorative jewellery that seemed to be made of gold and turquoises, revealing her beautiful, large breasts. She had a short skirt that glimmered with gold when she moved, and in her hair, she wore a huge crown made of exotic feathers and gold, with a large, green bird resembling an owl in the middle of it. Her legs were bare, her toenails painted with red that matched the blood of the pool.

"Man, you should've sticked with pencil skirts and blouses." Margot stated, walking closer. "'Cause I've got to tell you, you look like an ass."

"You?" Connelly turned around, clearly surprised. "Didn't I take care of you already?

"No such luck." Margot walked slowly closer, pretending to be cooler than she actually was. "Perhaps you should've killed me. Like you did Hellboy."

"Ah." Connelly stated, and turned her back to the glimmering blood pool on the altar. "That upset you? I thought you weren't that attached to that red monkey."

"My friend was. So you kinda made this personal."

Connelly gave a sly smile. "Too bad. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"And what is it exactly, that you're going to do here?" Margot asked, walking to a small stone table nearby. There was a long, curvy obsidian knife placed on it, and she picked it up with her gloved fingers as if it was nothing but a fruit knife. "What you gonna do with the knife? Human sacrifice?"

"Nothing to cheer up my monday like giving a life for the Great Goddess." Connelly replied. "She has a thing for fresh, beating hearts."

"Ah, don't they all. So, you have a heart picked out already?"

Margot put the knife down, and took a look of Myers again. Oh, he was conscious now, alright. His eyes following her every move, and it made Margot suddenly nervous. She turned her back at him, pretending not to care at all.

"Since the beginning of this year, sweetie." Connelly replied. "Your ex has just the heart I need, pure and pretty, perfect for the occasion."

"Not so sure about the pure." Margot stated grimly. "He did fall for you."

"Still holding a grudge about that? In that case you'll be delighted to see how he dies, no?"

"Yeah, about that." Margot winced. "Can't let you do that, really. There's only one person in this room who has the right to rip John's heart out, and that's me."

Connelly laughed, the sound of her laughter was cold and sharp, echoing on the stone walls.

"Oh, yes. You've done your share of heart ripping haven't you? I know you've killed, and I know you've enjoyed it. You haven't admitted it to anyone, have you? That it made you feel good, taking the lives of those men in Prague. It made you feel powerful, and you didn't even stop to hesitate before spilling their blood. And there have been others, haven't there?"

"Yeah." Margot kept her poker face. There was no way she'd let that bitch notice, her words had gotten to her. "Like your guards outside. Their brains are on the walls right now, by the way."

"Thought as much." Connelly shrugged. "Just proves my point - we are the same, you and I. I have no quarrel with you."

"Um, no." Margot replied. "We're not the same. You're an evil bitch who has no sense of fashion."

"Says the girl who wears Cthulhu T-shirts?"

"Hey! What's wrong with my T-shirts?!" Margot was offended. "At least I'm real. You're plastic."

"That's low. We are both women, who take what we want - Come on, Margerie Duval. How many times have you disobeyed the stupid rules of society? Or of Europol? You are not a human, you are so much above them, that their lives should mean nothing to you. You and I both have something the The Great Goddess appreciates in her followers, and she could reward you open handedly. It's not too late to change sides."

For a heartbeat or so, Margot hesitated.

Yes, she could see what Connelly meant. There was an appeal to it, the calling of the dark side. She had taken a peek of that side, ten years ago, and sometimes it still came to her dreams.

She could have power, unlimited power. She'd never have to be afraid again.

No one would dare to hurt her, ever again.

But then, a look at John. His bare chest, blood on his face. Pure fear and hope in his beautiful blue eyes.

And Kat.

Her one and only best friend, no, not a friend - a sister. Kat had been there for her, through this nightmare of a summer, every miserable day of it. Where would she be without Kat, she didn't even want to know.

And now Kat had been beaten. Her heart crushed, she was weeping over Hellboy's dead body.

It was this bitch, who had done that to Kat, and that was something Margot knew she'd never be able to live with.

"Sorry, no deal." she stated. "I've picked my foxhole, and I ain't changing it."

"Still standing by that loser?" Connelly tilted her head, taking a look at Myers. "I thought he was old news."

"Yeah, he is an ass, but he's with me." Margot's voice was stern. "And you ain't cutting his heart out, not without going through me, bitch."

"Suit yourself." Connelly replied, and before Margot had time to answer, she struck.

A burst of dark purple flames flew from her outstretched hands, and it almost got to Margot. It took all her power to make a protective shield around herself to stop the attack.

"Christ!" she cursed, wincing, but the shield held.

As soon as she felt the fire diminishing, she draw from her own powers, and aimed a fierce telekinetic blow towards Connelly. A blow strong enough to rip an elephant to atoms.

But Connelly laughed. There was no effect on her of any kind. Margot's blow went around it's target, and hit the back wall crumbling the stone to pieces.

"Disappointing." Connelly shrugged. "After hearing so much about your incredible powers, I expected-"

"Shut your pie hole!" Margot grimaced.

The sound of her gun ripped through the air, and Connelly's brain flew to the back wall.

Another shot, and a third one. Margot's hand was stable, her aim without flaws.

Without a sound, Connelly went down. Her limp body fell backwards to the pool of blood, but Margot didn't stop firing.

When she reached her side, there was hardly anything left of the blond woman's face. Her brains were scattered all over the glimmering red liquid, lumps of white and pale pink tissue floating on the surface.

"That was for Kat." Margot hissed, and lowered her gun.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, her hands now shaking slightly.

"I know you've killed, and I know you've enjoyed it. You haven't admitted it to anyone, have you? That it made you feel good, taking the lives of those men in Prague. It made you feel powerful, and you didn't even stop to hesitate before spilling their blood. And there have been others, haven't there?" Margot heard Connelly's words in her mind.

Yeah, it did make her feel good. Killing.

But not killing innocent people, like Connelly had thought. Just the bad guys, just the bitches who tried to bring on the Apocalypse. And that was something she'd have to learn to live with.