Chapter Four: When All Dreams End
Armed to the teeth with defense and subduing gear, Myers and Abe headed ahead to cut off Olivia's trail while Liz and Hellboy went to stop her escape. Abe and John waited in position , making final adjustments to their net trap. Abe was fiddling with the cooling settings on his water preserver as John loaded up a round of paralyzing bullets. A buzzing soon rang through both the headphones they wore.
"We've spotted the target, Red's closing in. Stay in position unless she changes course" Liz's voice spoke through.
"Affirmative."
With a slight snarl at the strange man, Olivia took backward steps. No doubt a dog from the Bureau.
"Listen kiddo," he began with a rough voice, "Just cool your jets. We don't need to get ugly here," Olivia wrinkled her nose at the smoke that floated from his cigar, making her look even more vicious. She felt her hair stand up on end, and with her short, choppy hair, she imagined she looked like an agitated porcupine. She had never let anyone boss her around since she was seven, and she refused to let that change so quickly. Leaping as far as she could, she darted off through the woods again, ignoring her bleeding arm, her opponent's gun, and the fact he was twice her size. She barely heard him sigh in annoyance, before an audible pair of footsteps came pounding from behind...wait, a pair?
With an ear-splitting crack, an enormous explosion sent Olivia flying.
Howling she slammed into a tree and fell smoking to the ground. From the burning sting on her arm, the burns weren't permanent, but still sent sharp pains up her arm as they scratched at the sharp foliage and bark. Snapping her head up, she saw someone else, a woman with a burning hand. The red demon patted her on the back.
"Nice shot Sparky,"
"Don't mention it,"
Wincing, Olivia clambered back onto her feet and stood her ground. If they wanted a fight...
The woman made a move to fire again before a giant stone hand stopped her in her tracks. Crushing the burning cigar, he stepped foward. If Olivia was going to join their ranks, he may as well figure out what she was made of. Holstering away his gun, he charged. Olivia followed at suit and ran headfirst, intending to knock the wind out of him. But as he lifted his enormous right hand-
CRACK
With an echoing shriek Olivia was clutching at her left horn. Flakes of bone snowed down and caught in her eyelashes as she thrashed in pain. While her right horn managed to escape to blow, the sheer force of his stone hand had fractured her horn. She felt a deep dent in the horn which sent out electric waves of pain and she flailed and trembled at the man's feet. She felt him approach her as she shuddered away, desperate to keep him away, to escape. A sharp needle pricked into her neck, and then...darkness...
Liz frowned. Hellboy could be awfully rough.
"Someone's gonna be cranky in the morning," Hellboy muttered smugly, lighting up another cigar. Liz rolled her eyes at his pride and contacted Abe and Myers. Target captured. She pulled out a blanket and rolled up Olivia gently.
As Myers and Abe gathered up their makeshift net, shaking out leaves and small branches, Myers inquired Abe of something that plagued him since their arrival.
"Why do you think the Lowans want Olivia gone so badly?" Abe thought about John's question for a moment before shrugging slightly.
"It's hard to say, I looked into the Lowans memories, and apparently Olivia didn't see this new opportunity as well as they did. Perhaps they merely wished for someone...well, you know..."
"Normal," John finished. He had seen the picture of the young Olivia, and to have a child like that would be hard for any parent.
"Do you think they ever even tried?" Myers asked. Abe looked off towards the house, barely visible through the trees.
"I don't believe I ever checked."
They made their way quickly to Hellboy and Liz, who already had Olivia down and wrapped in a long blanket of coarse fabric, drugged and unconscious. Abe looked curiously at their catch. Awake he was sure she was fierce, and even in sleep her eyebrows furrowed in anger, teeth bared as a faint, sleepy growl trembled from her throat. Pressing his hand lightly agaisnt the back of her neck, feeling tickling hairs, he probed.
Visions flashed and vanished like flipping channels on a TV. A small Olivia, clambered in her father's lap. Manning and Broom in a living room with her parents as they revealed their promise. A crying Olivia curled up in the forest. Bark flying as she unleashed her rage on nearby trees. Lifting his hand from her neck, he felt as if he was betraying this suffering creature. But even as they walked away from the woods and loaded everything into the trucks, even as Abe saw Olivia's mother from the window, crying and trembling slightly at the sight of her only child being packed away forever, Abe knew that all was as it was. There was simply nothing to be done.