DISCLAIMER: I do not own any original BPRD character. I just own the plot and the OCs. i do not think I own Ruddy either: he has a kind of life on his own.

This is another BPRD-centric chapter, with some more Abe having motion-sickness-related problems and some gore at the end. (but it is all Ruddy's fault) He will make a short, quite cute, appearance as well towards the end.

Thanks to Hoodoo for the review. She is the only one that cares.

Challenge's still up: who Ruddy really is?

Enjoy!


The support team arrived later that night and they camped at an abandoned ranch near a strange flat hill, with the intention of performing a thorough search of the area the following morning.

It had been an exhausting day for everybody, especially for Abe, who was now resting in the old ranch's abandoned well, since there was no way of filling the tank which was in the support truck.
The water was a little murky but cool and pure, and it would do for some days, or at least until the support team managed to fill the tank somehow.
Tonight he'd sleep with a family of newts, which were quite lovely, to tell the truth.

The following day was tiring as well.
They followed the faint tracks of the pack of coyotes Abe had been able to identify the day before.
He had discovered that animals also left sensory memories he could catch, only they were less coherent and vivid.
This just confirmed his first impression about the creature, whose memories were so unlike those of humans as they were different from those of his pack.
The pack had marched a long way trough the arid plain: he could feel the coyotes' tiredness and confusion and also affection, from one of the females.
All he could sense from the creature were a grim determination that made him march despite the wounded leg and sense of responsibility.

They followed the tracks all day long on their vehicles.
The road was as horrible as it had been the previous day but Abe had taken a drug against motion-sickness before embarking and was feeling quite good, though it made him feel sleepy.

It was early afternoon when they found a place where the pack had stopped for a while.
All the team descended from the truck to examine the place.
There were prints everywhere, all mixed up together.
"They look new, no more than a day old." said Daisy, thoughtfully.
"How do you know it, Doc?" asked Hellboy who was a city person anyway.
She pointed at some small tracks crossing the coyotes'. "Look, – she explained – these have been made by insects and rodents which only come out at night. The prints are still very defined so it must have been last night."
Hellboy was positively impressed by her competence.
She read tracks as well as any ranger though she looked more like a high-school maths teacher.

Daisy motioned for Abe to come closer.
"It looks like they stopped here for a while and then the tracks split. - she commented – Maybe you could tell us what happened." her voice held a not-so-subtle hint of admiration.
"With immense pleasure, Doctor Marsh." he replied and set immediately to the task.

He concentrated and laid his bare hand on the ground, eyes closed, breathing evenly as if performing some meditation exercise.
Then he let out a cry and fell to the ground.
"Abe!" Liz screamed, rushing towards him.
Everybody crowded around him, until Liz yelled them away.
Abe stirred lightly, groaning. "I think I should never take motion-sickness pills before using my gift anymore." he mumbled.
"How are you feeling, Blue?" Hellboy was quite worried, kneeling in the dirt beside Liz.
Abe grimaced. "It looks like a combination between a hangover and flu." he replied, rather dismally and struggled to his feet.
Daisy Marsh gave him a hand up, carefully not touching any exposed skin, not to trigger another fainting.

"Did you see anything, Mr Sapien?" she asked, while leading him to the truck. She made him seat on the floor of the back compartment, opened a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him, holding it with a cloth.
Abe drank his fill of water and thanked her with a nod.
"Thank you, doctor Marsh – he said with a flimsy smile – And as for you question, yes, I saw them."
Daisy seated herself near him, but not too close, and encouraged him with a warm smile.
"He knows we are after him. - he sighed – That's why he left the pack and continued on his own."
She mused about this piece of information pacing in front of him. "How could he know?" she asked, more to herself than to really be answered.
She had lapsed into addressing the creature as 'he', as Sherman had done and Abe was doing.
"I do not have the least idea, – Abe continued – but he does, and he didn't want to put the pack in danger, so he left them. And now he is alone again."
"He doesn't think like an animal at all." Daisy commented, thrilled.
Abe nodded. "He doesn't feel like one, but neither like a human or fey."
He sighed, thinking at what had felt like holding Nuala's hand in his own.

The truck's satellitar phone rang loudly, tearing him away from his sad thoughts.
Ash ran to the driver's seat and answered it.
"Yes, boss." the young agent said.
He remained silent for a while, listening intently and then scribbled an hasty note on the notepad screwed to the dashboard. "Hudson ranch, 1117 Interstate road, Moon Hill. - he carefully repeated – That's right boss, we're going to check." he hung the phone and flung himself out of the truck, excitement painted on his youthful face.

"Hey, guys! - he yelled, waving his arms in the air to get everyone's attention – The thing has struck again last night. We're moving!"
The team rushed to their seats, as Ash turned on the engine and searched their destination on the GPS system.
The place was 45 miles of desert from the place they currently were.
"He walks fast, the bastard!" growled Hellboy, holding to his seat for dear life, as the truck rocked and pitched and bounced on the uneven terrain.
Abe groaned, the effect of the pill, fading away.
"I'm heading to the interstate, it will be over soon." shouted Ash, overcoming the noise of the engine.

The Hudson ranch was just an old farm, well kept and with a nice porch, nothing like the Sherman's.
Its owners were Timothy and Arabella Hudson, which had called the police in the morning, after waking up in the stable, amidst their slaughtered goats.
They were being questioned in their house by two agents of the support squad, while the others inspected the "crime scene" so to speak.

The five goats were in a very bad shape.
Blood and gore were everywhere, and the place stank.
"It is almost unbelievable that a single animal had managed to make such a slaughter." Liz commented, disgusted.
Daisy Marsh, instead, was thrilled.
She squatted on the blood-soaked ground, examining the wounds on the goats.
The creature had apparently killed the goats by opening their throats and subsequently savaged them, eating a bit here and there and licking the blood.
This unchecked savagery fit in her theory.
Maybe it was time to tell his colleagues about it.

Abe watched her investigate, unmoved by the carnage, so concentrated on her task.
He felt quite sick, instead. It was not as gruesome as it had been in the Museum, when Nuada unleashed the tooth fairies on the visitors, but it was close.
And all the mess had been done by a single being, who however had not harmed the two humans.
The Hudsons told the police that they saw a flash of blinding light before passing out, and the beast was still inside the stable.
Apparently he had just walked away afterwards.
It was so strange.
He hovered his hand on the bloodstained wall, it was enough to feel. He didn't want to be sucked in again.

He felt enjoyment, hunger finally sated, thorough satisfaction.
The creature felt it was a job well done.
He knew his pack would be safe now, as "they" would chase after him alone.

Abe staggered, stepping on something that was not meant to be rolling on the floor. the thing squished under his boot and he slipped.
His hand flew to the wall to steady him and then he saw.

He saw the creature sleeping contentedly, laying on his side, legs twitching, dreaming whatever alien dogs dreamed.
He was hiding in a cave under a gnarled old tree, on a solitary hill lost in the middle of the plain.
His fur was red, and not from blood, it was his natural color.
He had long square tipped ears, a curved snout, which remined him of Bull Terriers, and an odd forked tail, which twitched in his slumber.

He got back from his visions with a victorious smile and a sticky, bloody hand.
He knew that the creature was still there, sleeping and he would not wake before sunset.

Daisy gave him an interrogative look and a tissue, which he promptly used to clean his hand.

"I have good news, doctor Marsh. - he announced proudly – I know where to find the creature now."
Daisy Marsh let out a cry of joy.
"You are unvaluable, Mr. Sapien!" she exclaimed and she hugged him.
It left him breathless, pleasantly surprised and also slightly embarassed.
But it felt good.

Did you enjoy this chapter?
Do you want to try and solve the challenge?
Please review. It helps me make progresses.

More Ruddy in the next chapter and also we'll know what the hell he is. (but not who, as this is up to you to discover)