Untitled Hellboy Fanfiction

Chapter 1 - Four months later...

Relocating from the small office in Italy to a larger bureau in New Jersey wasn't easy for the Angela family. The fact that it came so suddenly was a surprise all on it's own. It would seem that the Bureau had been three members short for the past four months and would be in dire need of new agents. Holly Angela, being the founder of an obscure paranormal investigation business, had sent the Bureau her resume and records for she and both of her daughters. She was certainly caught by surprise when the director of the BPRD responded as quickly as he did.

He had hired them. All three of them. And they were expected to arrive in a month's time, leaving behind their home and country for an entirely new world. And that month went by much faster than any of them had expected.

It was no doubt going to be hard to say farewell to their cozy little home. A small cabin in a rural Italian town, pretty as a picture, with it's four bedrooms, small kitchen, and small front and backyard gardens. The home always smelled of the fresh country air, wild flowers, and Holly's cooking. Though mixing the pleasures of a comfortable home with the risky nature of their business was not entirely a wise decision, the small family of three managed to make it work. Paranormal investigators by night, and a happy family by day, things seemed to work just well for them. And with this new opportunity, hopefully things could only get better…

Holly had finished loading the last of her items into a small cardboard box. She was in her mid-forties and her age was beginning to show: strands of gray hair had begun to appear in her thick, curly blonde hair and a few wrinkles and lines had formed around her nose and mouth. And the last time she had weighed herself, she cursed at the extra pounds she gained over the years. Yes, getting old certainly wasn't fun. Despite all the surprises her eventful and unusual life brought her, in the end, she was really no different from any other woman her age: dealing with getting old, hoping to live long enough to see the next day, and working hard enough to keep her family alive and well. Unfortunately this included moving all the way to the other side of the planet to find work at a US organization.

Just as Holly began to say her silent farewells to her bedroom and office, a familiar voice filled the room. A voice belonging to her eldest daughter, Magdalena.

"Already hating this decision?"

"Don't start."

"That was a yes."

Magdalena was a slim, leggy blonde in her mid twenties. She was much taller than her mother and was fortunate enough to have inherited her good looks, but certainly didn't take the pain of leaving her home very well. Very rarely did Magdalena (or Mal, as she preferred to be called) ever show a bad attitude about things. For the most part she was a rather optimistic, happy person. Yet leaving behind a home that she had lived in since birth offered little room for happiness or optimism. And quite frankly, Holly wasn't in the mood for it.

"We've been over this before," Holly said, her tone very firm. "They will pay us better, and they will offer us a safer environment to live in. I won't have to worry about any more...... accidents...." she chose her words carefully. If Mal was anything, she was sensitive about her situation, and the events that occurred in the past couple of months. The fact that she began wearing scarves and chokers almost every day made that very apparent.

Mal shook her head and crossed her arms. "I know, I know..." she sighed, leaning against the wall. "I just don't like it, that's all. I hate moving. I hate the idea of leaving this place."

"I know, you've made that very clear." Holly shook her head. She had heard this all before and it was getting tiresome. She would have been a whole lot more sensitive to her daughter's feelings had Mal not beat this dead horse every chance she could get.

"And we're not gonna know anybody." it was another excuse, another attempt to make them stay. "They're probably just a bunch of horny old men who want three hot girls to look at. I bet they didn't even look at our profiles and records. They just saw our pictures and hired us right off the bat…"

"Don't say such stupid things." Holly groaned. Her patience was wearing thin. She hoisted the box into her arms and turned around. "Don't think for a second that this is easy on me either, sugar. But it's something we have to do. I want to protect my family and I want to make sure we're all safe. That's more important to me than this house."

For a long time Holly and Magdalena kept eye contact. They had the same eyes: a very light shade of blue, like a pair of aquamarines. At the moment, Holly's eyes seemed to betray her tone: though she had sounded firm and impatient, her eyes were full of compassion and understanding. This wasn't easy for any of them, but it was necessary. And though Mal was looking for any reason at all to stay behind, she knew this to be true as well.

With a sigh, Mal turned and exited the room. Holly followed close behind as the two proceeded through the now empty home and into the front yard. A black truck was parked infront of the house, loaded with supplies and everything they owned. And leaning against the truck was a small girl who seemed to have inherited Holly's wild, curly blonde hair. Lilianna Angela was staring down at whatever she was holding in her gloved hands, seemingly unaware that her mother and sister were approaching. When they came near, they saw that she held a rather large spider cupped in her small hands. The sight caused Mal to jump back a few feet, and caused Lili to give her sister a puzzled glance.

"Magda…" she sighed, shaking her head. "After everything we've seen, don't you think spiders wouldn't be so scary anymore?"

Mal groaned. "It's not scary… it's just weird looking… and freaky…" her front teeth sank into her bottom lip as she peered over her sister's hands to view the insect. No sooner did she see it again, she flinched away from it as it made a single movement. "Ick…! Jesus, nothing alive should have that many legs!"

Lili sighed and moved away from the car, heading in the direction of the garden. "It's not their fault they look this way…" she sighed, putting the insect on the leaf of a tulip and watching as it crawl away. "…And it's the last time I'm ever going to look for bugs in our garden… I wanted to say goodbye to something…"

Mal's eyebrows rose and she turned her head to Holly with a big fake grin on her face. "Hey, one more reason to stay! Lili has more bugs to find!"

Holly responded by thumping her daughter in the middle of her forehead. "Get in the car."

Magdalena groaned, rubbing the sore spot with her two fingertips, and then glanced back at Lili. "Oh alright… Lili! It's time to go!"

The younger sister approached the truck. As her hand touched the door, her body froze for a moment. She sighed as her eyes caught the reflection of the house in the window of the truck. For the last time, she turned to look at her home. She had lived there for sixteen years. This was always her sanctuary, her place of rest and comfort… and she was leaving it forever. Lilianna took in everything: the small house, the large tree, the tire-swing, the gardens, the small picket fence… it was like something right out of a fairy tale. They would have to be crazy in order to leave it.

"Hey…" a soft, husky voice came from her side. Lili looked up to see her mother stroking her shoulder and cheek. "…Say goodbye," she whispered, her tone much softer this time.

Lili sighed, looking back up into her mother's blue eyes before they shifted back onto the house. She was stiff for a moment, but then bowed her head. "….Bye…."

A warm yet sad smile formed on Holly's lips. She opened the door to the truck, stroking Lilianna's back as the girl climbed in. She closed the door, then proceeded to the driver's seat. From here they would go to the airport in Rome. And after that, to America…