The next day, Kate found herself flipping through books in Professor Broom's library.

Knowing nothing about monsters or any type of paranormal being, she decided to do some reading and prepare herself. Being the library assistant she was, she had been cataloging books as she explored, allowing for easy reference. The more she studied, the more she began to understand about the paranormal world. The creatures were fascinating. Kate was especially fascinated with the power of mind control that some beings possessed.

The entire day, Kate had hardly spoken with anyone. She had spoken briefly a few times with Agent Sapien when a question about her reading arose. Since her short meeting with Professor Broom, Kate had not seen him. Hellboy, she heard, was confined to his room. Myers mentioned that Professor Broom grounded Hellboy after being shown the photos Kate had seen Manning with.

Sighing and closing the book in her hands, Kate leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Nothing eventful happened all day. She was told that an alarm would be raised when an emergency, such as an otherworldly appearance, presented itself. Kate found it incredibly tense, waiting for something to happen. Myers was the only one that seemed to understand her nervousness. The night before, they had shared with each other their experiences arriving at the B.P.R.D., and she was grateful that he was going out of his way to make her feel comfortable.

Kate grabbed a stack of books and placed them in her bag which was sitting on the floor next to her. She sighed again, grabbed her bag, and stood up, planning on heading back to her room. Grabbing one more book from the desk, Kate made her way out of the library and into the chrome hallway.

As she walked, she opened the book and began to read. On the page she opened to was one of the most interesting creatures she'd seen yet. The being was surprisingly anthropomorphic with the exception of the ghostly qualities it possessed. The caption below its picture described the creature as shadowy, almost wraith-like with skin that absorbed light. Its golden eyes were mere slits, giving it the gift of enhanced vision and resistance to glare. While not a ghost, this creature was spirit-like, possessing the ability to glide along and pass through solid objects. Not only could it do this, but the being also had the extraordinary power of mind assault, which allowed it to cause extreme damage or any type of emotion in another's mind. Unlike some of the monsters she had read about, the book mentioned that this creature was not unintelligent either. Its brain was just as advanced as any human brain.

Kate wasn't able to study the being more closely for she abruptly collided with something rock hard and fell flat on her bottom. Stunned, Kate glanced up from her position on the floor and was surprised to see Hellboy staring down at her. After straightening her glasses which had become askew during the collision, she glared at him.

"Aren't you grounded?" she asked with a satisfied grin, knowing he was not supposed to be outside of his room.

Rolling his eyes, Hellboy held a hand out to help her up. Kate ignored his hand and lifted herself off the floor.

"Listen. Don't tell anyone, okay?" Hellboy said, and continued on his way.

Kate watched him go in astonishment. How could he let her jeopardize her job to cover for him?

"What makes you think I won't run into someone on the way back to my room and tell them you've gone?" she called to him with a smirk.

Hellboy paused and turned back to face her.

"Damn. You really can't make this easy on me, can you?" he said, sighing.

Kate placed her hands on her hips and watched him think. She didn't expect him to walk towards her and grab her arm. Kate struggled against his hold as he dragged her down the hallway.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled, trying to pull free.

He continued walking and didn't face her when he spoke.

"You can't tell anyone I'm gone if I take you with me," he replied coolly.

Kate stopped struggling and let him pull her. "I am not going to lose my job because you wanted to sneak out. I'll just tell Clay when I get back and-"

Hellboy stopped abruptly and peered at her, inches from her face.

"I wouldn't if I were you. I can either make your life hell here, or we can at least try to play nice. Got it?" he warned.

Trying her best not to appear intimidated, Kate nodded and followed him closely as they moved quietly through various hallways. Kate realized Hellboy must have done this often when they were outside the B.P.R.D. in less than fifteen minutes. Side by side, they strode down the street and away from the Bureau. Kate breathed in the crisp October air and glanced up at Hellboy who seemed to be deep in thought. Uncomfortable with the silence, Kate reached into her bag and pulled out the book she'd been reading to distract herself. She began flipping through the pages, trying to find the creature she'd been reading about earlier, but was unable to find it. The noise Kate had been making with the pages must have caught Hellboy's attention because he suddenly grabbed the book out of her hands and glanced at the cover.

"What are you reading?" he asked, opening the book and studying the pages.

Kate yanked the book back from him.

"I was trying to study before you walked into me," Kate snapped, shoving the book back into her bag.

Hellboy stopped. "Look, I get it. You don't like me. The fact is, we'll eventually have to work together and we might as well at least try to get along, okay?"

Kate studied him. "I'm only treating you the way you've been treating me since I arrived. If you want us to get along, then I suggest you start showing me some respect and I'll treat you the same," she spat, trying to no avail to keep her temper.

Hellboy glared at her then continued walking without saying a word. Kate smiled to herself. The fact that he didn't argue must have meant that they had reached an understanding. They walked in silence for another fifteen minutes or so. Kate stared down the empty street. The last thing she thought she'd ever be doing was walking down an empty street at midnight with Hellboy, the comic book character she read about for years. She was so lost in her thoughts that when she looked around she realized that Hellboy wasn't there. Turning around, Kate spotted him standing in the street, staring at a large building. She walked back to him and once she was standing next to him, she followed his gaze. The sign on the building read 'Bellamie Hospital'. Kate glanced at Hellboy and watched him gaze longingly at the building.

"Somebody you know there?" she asked softly.

Hellboy continued to stare at the building. "Yeah."

Kate knew that look. Guessing, she asked, "Who is she?"

She expected him to get angry with her for trying to pry into his personal life, but all he did was sigh.

"It doesn't matter. She won't come back," he whispered sadly, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away from the building. He began walking back down the street.

"C'mon, we should get back," he said solemnly.

Kate looked back at the building. The conversation they had the day before came to mind. In a way, he'd just confided in her as she had in him. It began to dawn on her that the reason for his hostility toward her may be the result of a broken heart. She watched him walking away and then glanced at the building one last time. She doubted she would ever know who this woman was or what she really meant to him, but at least she found out one thing; he wasn't as heartless as he tried to come off.

Kate caught up with him and they walked to the B.P.R.D. in silence. When they arrived back, they began to head separate directions to return to their rooms when Kate surprised herself.

"Agent Hellboy," she called to him down the hallway.

He paused and watched her over his shoulder.

Kate cleared her throat. "I won't uh…I won't tell anyone."

Kate could have sworn she saw his mouth curve into a slight smile.

"Thanks," he responded quietly. He headed to his room.

Kate remained there for a moment, reflecting on what had just happened and then began walking back to her room. She had just reached her door when a blaring alarm sounded. Kate's heart began to pound as she saw the flashing red light on the wall. Immediately, she pulled the radio she'd been given the day before from her bag and turned it on, putting the ear-piece in place afterwards. Not knowing what to do, she began running down the hallway, searching for someone who could tell her what was going on. She spotted Myers first.

"Agent Myers!" she called to him.

He saw her and made his way towards her.

"What is it?" Kate asked worriedly.

Myers glanced at her and then checked to see if his gun was loaded.

"There's been a murder. That's what's weird. We usually deal with break-ins or theft. Someone was murdered and, supposedly, that's it. But, we'll find out for sure when we get there."

Like Kate, he attached his ear-piece and made sure that his radio was on before heading back down the hallway.

Kate watched him. "Do I go?"

Myers turned and smiled sympathetically at her.

"No. Go to the library and stay there. Abe will need you to look up some information depending on what he finds out."

With that, he left, leaving Kate alone.

Once Kate arrived in the library, she watched everyone meet and then leave together, including Professor Broom who placed a comforting hand gently on her shoulder before he left. Kate must have appeared more nervous than she thought. Soon, she was alone in the library, waiting for someone to contact her and tell her what to do. She found that she was constantly wiping her clammy hands on the conservative business suit she wore. It wasn't until an hour later that her radio crackled.

"Hello?" she called into it.

She waited.

"Dr. Hayward. Are you there?" It was Agent Sapien's voice.

"Yes, yes. I'm here. What's going on?" Kate replied.

There was a moment of silence before he responded.

"Dr. Hayward, take this down if you're able. The victim is Andres Hardy. Age: 66. He was found on the living room floor of his apartment, face down. There are no visible injuries, and no obvious cause of death. Listen to this, though. Agent Myers says he has just questioned the man's wife who said that she arrived home and found him dead but saw what she considered to be a ghostly figure fleeing the scene. I've not known any ghost to inflict this type of damage or at least, not without visible injuries to the victim."

Kate had stopped writing after he mentioned a 'ghostly figure'. Quickly, she dived for her bag and found the book she had been reading earlier.

"Agent Sapien," she said into her radio, "did the wife describe the figure in any more detail?"

Kate found the page with the creature she had studied earlier and waited for Agent Sapien's response.

"Agent Myers says she spoke of the figure having bright golden eyes."

"It's just a guess," Kate began, "but I think I know what killed this man. You said there was no obvious cause of death. What if something killed him from the inside? Could something have destroyed his mind?"

Kate waited anxiously for the reply.

"It's possible, I suppose. If a creature possesses a strong power of mind control it's possible that it could have done damage to the central nervous system. What is the name of the creature you're looking at?"

Kate read the name at the top of the page.

"It's called Ystehogol."

Silence followed her answer and Kate began to worry.

"Agent Sapien?"

Finally, he spoke.

"Dr. Hayward, are you sure? If this is Ystehogol we are dealing with, the situation may be more serious than we thought."

A/N: Thank you for the feedback! Review. I appreciate it. :D