Chapter Five: Trapped
It was that dream again. The dream that filled Olivia with such unbelievable drive. With dancing satyrs, overflowing plates of succulent, and the giant ram god sitting atop the mountain, pleased to watch his subjects dance away their troubles and drown their cares in the endless rivers of wine. The music that seemed to come from nowhere drew a distant Olivia closer to their party, the giant fire luring Olivia like a moth to the flame. She reached for the strong hands of handsome satyr youths... only to see chains. Gaping as an invisible force pulled her cuffed arms back into penetrating darkness, the party faded farther away as she pulled into the dark. A cage formed out of nowhere, and even as she rammed and clawed with all her might, there was no escape...
No escape...
"How's she doin' back there?" Hellboy asked as he reclined in his seat, the van now bouncing back down the desolate road to civilization once more. Abe had applied antibiotic cream to the cuts and burns on her body as well as her horn, wrapping it up in a plaster. It would heal, but it would hurt for a while. Liz helped in putting restraints on her hands and feet, and now that all the wounds outside were checked over, Abe performed a diagnostic test to make sure nothing went wrong inside. A steady pulse, healthy blood pressure, and no dislocated joints confirmed that excluding the burns, scratches, and fracture on her horn, she was in perfect health.
"Very healthy. Banged up yes, but with proper treatment she'll be butting heads with you again I dare say." Hellboy chuckled before lighting up another cigar. Once they arrived at the airport Abe would need to apply another dose of chloroform to keep her asleep during the flight back to the Bureau, unless she proved more resistant to the drug when they arrived. Were that the case, he'd have to be in the same crate to insure she didn't go berserk on the flight. He hoped not, he'd prefer to read his new book and listen to the classics rather than watch over a wild child.
But damn she was stubborn.
Ten minutes before they arrived at the airport, she began to wake up, twitching her hands in growing anger, teeth becoming more and more clenched. Abe muffled a steadily growing growl with a cloth damp with chloroform. He hated to force Olivia into submission, but it was essential she came back to the Bureau. There, Manning was the boss, and what Manning says, goes. With one last defiant twitch, Olivia finally fell back into the drug-induced sleep, and Abe lifted the smelly cloth from her nose again.
"It'll be interesting to see her in the work field," Hellboy commented after the small bout of resistance.
"You'll have to wait a while. Manning insisted that Olivia was trained for a month or two before being allowed on the field. And after today I won't be surprised if she gets grounded." Liz said, not looking away from the new comrade. She was relieved before at the news of another female being taken on, what with all her comrades being men. But after today she doubted she'd get much help from Olivia. If anything, she could make everything worse.
Hellboy found it all very intriguing. Olivia would obviously place him as public enemy number one, unless Manning beat him in that department. With the new change in environment, Olivia would have to adjust from her natural settings and come up with new ways to survive. If anything, Olivia would become a worthwhile comrade, or at least fuel the general amusement. Unfortunately for her, nothing beat the Right Hand of Doom.
Once loaded up and in the air, Abe made sure that Olivia was firmly cuffed and wrapped up before reading to his book, turning on a handy booklight. Every few minutes he looked over and checked that Olivia remained asleep. At every twitch, he took no risks and pressed the chloroform cloth to her mouth. It happened every so often, and Abe found his attention having to be almost constantly on Olivia. Luckily, it was a short flight as everyone was loaded back into a van again and back at the Bureau. Just as Liz had predicted, Manning decided solitary confinement for one month was proper punishment before she began training. She was carted off gingerly by agents and locked up in a room similarly built to Hellboy's.
It wasn't long before a loud screech of rage pentrated the usual peace at the Bureau.
Even from the safety of their rooms, it was hard to miss the shrieks and crashes that echoed from the tightly locked door. No doubt Olivia was getting "acquainted" with the furniture. In any case, Manning wouldn't be coming around as long as her rage was audible.
Inside the locked room, Olivia was enflamed with fury. All that work to escape, and all that strength to subdue her foe, and all she got was a locked room and a cracked horn. The room had one light, no windows, and smelled of chemical cleaner that made Olivia want to vomit. Even if she did manage to take down the door, how would the outside be any different? She could smell it already, the air soaked with wasted gases, plastic trees propped up everywhere, the topsoil dry and dusty, with no quality! If home was anywhere, it most definitely wasn't here! Grabbing her new bed by the posts, she threw it at the door, satisfied to hear it crack and shatter, but even more furious to see it barely scratched the door.
The destructive noises continued to echo from Olivia's now ruined room for two more hours, afterwards she simply screamed herself hoarse. She'd simply run out of furniture. Defeated and exhausted, both mentally and physically, she took up the ripped sheets and blankets and made a makeshift nest to curl up in. She panted for a long while before finally feeling dizzy with sleep. But since her horrorfic dream from her capture, she was afraid, afraid for the first time since she was little. Fear drove from the idea that she may never be able to run in vast fields, or gallop in the naturally scented woods, or be able to actually walk outside again. No doubt she'd be dissected and injected with all kinds of horrid drugs. Trembling like a rabbit before a wolf, she eased herself to sleep.
Since she met her new comrades, she had not spoken one true word to them yet.