There was nothing.
What had once been the office of Professor Broom filled with various trinkets and artifacts and a wide assortment of books was completely empty. The shelves were bare, the comfortable furniture was missing, and the warm glow of the ever-present fire had been replaced with darkness. Even the tank seemed eerily still.
Kate wandered into the deserted room.
"Hello?" she yelled into the darkness.
With each step she took, an immense fear was beginning to seize her.
Suddenly, she was unable to move. She made a vain attempt to move her legs, but her feet were planted firmly in place.
The room was rapidly becoming colder and Kate desperately wanted to leave. It was then that she realized she wasn't alone.
A dull laughter was ringing in her ears, and she frantically looked about for its source.
"Your fear warms my soul," said a dark voice.
The laughter resumed.
"Who are you?" Kate whispered, now more afraid than ever.
The laughter came to an abrupt halt and when the voice came again, it was directly behind her.
"The question, my dear, is who are you?"
Kate knew she shouldn't answer. A sudden wave of pain came over her and she felt as though someone had given a strong blow to the back of her head, but no one had touched her.
"Answer me!" the voice screamed.
Kate visibly flinched, but did not reply.
The pain washed over her again, and this time she fell forward. Her breathing was shallow as she pulled herself up off the floor. As she did so, she glanced at the tank in front of her and saw the reflection of a golden glow which disappeared as quickly as she had seen it.
"What do you want?" Kate yelled, now completely terrified.
The room filled with wicked laughter that continued to grow louder. Kate covered her ears and felt tears sting her eyes.
"Stop! Please…" she cried.
An alarm pulled Kate from the nightmare.
Rolling over, she looked at the clock. It was already eight in the morning.
She sat up slowly and realized she had never bothered to change for she was still in the suit she had worn yesterday. Kate stretched and cracked her knuckles. She rose from the bed, took her glasses from the nightstand and put them on, and made her way over to the bathroom.
As she brushed her teeth, Kate glanced at herself in the mirror. To say that she was pale would have been putting it lightly. Her hair had fallen from her tight bun and now was tangled and unruly. Even her eyes seemed dull. If that wasn't enough, she had a throbbing headache.
Kate decided she would feel better after having a shower. She had been washing her hair when she discovered the large bruise on the back of her head.
Huh, she thought, I must have fallen out of bed last night.
After her shower, she chose a conservative pantsuit from her closet, pulled her hair into her traditional bun, slipped on a pair of heels, and left her room.
Kate surprised herself when she stumbled upon the kitchen with ease and popped in to grab a cup of coffee. She hadn't noticed the room was already occupied until she after she poured her coffee. With a start, she noticed Hellboy leaning back in a chair, casually drinking a beer. Greatly startled, she'd almost spilled the contents of her cup. Hellboy watched her with a smirk but said nothing. Kate glared at him. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be patronized for being jumpy this morning after the night she had.
"A little early for a beer, isn't it?" she said, turning back to the counter and dumping a few spoonfuls of sugar in her cup.
Hellboy took a long gulp before responding.
"It's never too early for a beer," he retorted.
Kate faced him again and rolled her eyes before heading for the door.
She stopped when she heard him say, "What's the rush?"
Kate looked back at him. "I was going to get a head start searching for some background information on Andres Hardy before-"
"Nothing's gonna happen in the next five minutes," he interrupted, indicating the chair across from him at the table.
Kate sighed and took a seat.
"How can you be so calm about all of this?" she asked, appalled.
Hellboy took another drink.
"I've been working here a lot longer than you have and I've learned something; these monsters don't think like you or me. They don't plan. It doesn't take research to bring down a monster 'cause research isn't gonna get you anywhere. All it takes is brute strength," he explained before getting up to grab another beer from the fridge.
"But, how do you know that these monsters can't strategize or have motives or reasons for what they do?" Kate asked, watching him open a new can of beer.
Hellboy leaned against the counter. "'Cause monsters kill for two reasons and two reasons only; they kill for food, or they kill for the sake of killing."
"But what about Ystehogol? It wasn't just coincidence that he killed a man who was previously a B.P.R.D. agent."
Hellboy watched her incredulously. "Look, you and Abe don't get it. Ystehogol is a myth. You're wasting your time if you think he's the one behind this 'cause he doesn't exist."
Kate shook her head. "I think you're wrong."
She took a sip of her coffee while she watched Hellboy shrug.
"Fine. Think whatever you want."
Kate put her head in her hands. With the splitting headache she had she was in no condition to argue and decided to give it up. The two were silent for a minute or so before Hellboy decided to speak.
"So, you excited for your date tonight?" he asked sarcastically.
Kate perked up immediately. "You were eavesdropping?"
Hellboy held up his hands in defense. "Hey, I was just going to my room when I heard you two in here."
"Okay, so you were eavesdropping," Kate stated.
Rolling his eyes in defeat, Hellboy said, "Yeah, okay, fine. I was eavesdropping."
There was a pause before he continued. "You and Myers getting close?"
Kate shrugged and began tracing the rim of her cup with her finger. She wasn't going to make Hellboy think that something was going on between her and Myers that wasn't. God, would he have a field day with that. No, if she got defensive about him prying into her personal life he'd just assume he struck a nerve.
"Not really. But, at least he treats me like I belong here," she answered nonchalantly while giving Hellboy a knowing glare.
Kate was tired of Hellboy belittling her and making her feel unwanted at the Bureau. She couldn't believe he'd already gone as far as to say research was pointless in their field.
The sarcastic laugh that resonated from Hellboy only annoyed her further.
"Damn. You must like him a lot if you're trying to be this casual about it."
Kate couldn't believe it. Not only had he thought her dismissal of his question was reason to believe she and Myers were on the verge of a relationship, but he completely ignored her obvious attempt to let him know that his disapproval of her was becoming hurtful. Truthfully, she wasn't sure why it hurt so much for him to not want her working at the B.P.R.D., and she was quickly becoming frustrated with herself for being so affected by his words.
She hardly even realized she'd stood up and headed for the door. The hand that grasped her shoulder brought her to an abrupt halt.
"Hey, kid, you mad?" asked Hellboy from behind her.
Kate sighed and shrugged his hand off her shoulder. More than anything, Kate was furious with herself. The fact that Hellboy seemed to have a power over her was making her feel weak. Her whole life she'd been a strong person and the idea that someone could so easily have this power over her emotions was unnerving. It was too much.
Kate took a shaky breath and couldn't find the words to respond to him.
Instead, he spoke again. "It's none of my business, I guess."
She knew this was Hellboy's attempt to apologize for prying.
After calming herself down, Kate turned around.
With a laugh, she said, "I guess you're going to be tapping my phone line next, huh?"
Hellboy seemed to have understood the masked acceptance to his apology and smirked down at her.
"You're okay, kid," he complimented, rather awkwardly.
Neither one knowing what to do after the warm moment, Kate cleared her throat while Hellboy scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, I'd better get started on that research. I'll see you later…I suppose."
Kate turned around and smacked her forehead in embarrassment.
As she made her way out of the kitchen, she heard Hellboy whisper sarcastically, "Have fun on your date."
She heard him snickering. Quickly, she looked back at him and stuck out her tongue before leaving.
Satisfied, Kate continued down the hallway. It had taken a lot of searching and quickly asking directions from Agent Clay whom she passed, but eventually she ended up in the archive room. The completely chrome room contained nothing but files and a computer positioned directly in the center. About three hours of browsing through files passed before Kate realized that finding information on Andres Hardy wasn't going to be easy.
Ugh, Manning had to insist on getting rid of the stupid files, she thought.
When she understood searching though files wasn't going to get her anywhere, Kate moved on to the computer. An hour later, this proved to be no more successful than the files.
Kate pounded the keyboard in frustration.
How was she going to find Ystehogol's motive for this murder if there was no information anywhere on Andres Hardy?
The solution came to her just as she had almost given up. His wife would have known him better than anyone. The information Kate needed would have to come from a visit to the Hardy household.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only twelve thirty in the afternoon. Perfect. There was plenty of time to go interview Mrs. Hardy.
With her objective in mind, Kate quickly stopped by her room to grab a notebook, pen, and her bag before setting out to pay Mrs. Hardy a visit.
A/N: Please take the time to write a review. It doesn't take long, but just tell me how you feel about the story. Thank you! :D