"Hellboy, if you don't pay more attention you are going to wind up somethings dinner." It had been quite a while since I received a scolding from my father.
"He's right Red, the creatures lurking in the water certainly seemed hungry enough to cause you harm." Blue added. "Hey now, no need for both of you to scold me. One is enough." I slide my hand down my chest, flicking water and goo off in the process. With a grunt of disgust, I shook my hand clean and followed Blue back to the water's edge.
"Nasty mermaid-wannabe." I grumbled, peering into the murky polluted water.
Villa de Epecuén, Argentina- abandoned city, flooded, and now the home of something that killed a hand full of vacationing college kids. Apparently, outsiders were not welcome. Blue was supposed to be back home but the situation here had become more complicated than we previously believed.
Father observed patiently as Abe examined a piece of flesh I had torn off the beast that attacked me. My own patience was wearing very thin. "Let us not forget the severity of the situation, Hellboy. Continue your work." Father took the sample from Abe and headed back to the base camp we had temporarily set up in one of the cities plazas.
"With the two of us working the case, we should be done in no time, Red." Abe spoke up, clearly becoming annoyed by my pacing back in forth behind him. "I am not annoyed; it is just a little distracting." He commented, reading my thoughts.
I let Blue do his thing and took a seat on the remains of what most likely use to be a building. With a few rocks in hand, I decided to pass the time flicking them out across the water. Patience wasn't my best attribute.
"We will be home before you know it." Abe commented, attempting to be cheerful. I grunted in response. "You have never been one to complain about going out on assignment. Funny how that seemed to change." He continue to talk as he picked up a large stone and ran his hand over it. The stone clearly didn't hold any useful information as Abe dropped it and moved on to another one. He was picking the crime scene and now he wanted to pick my brain. I chose not to reply as I tossed another pebble out in the water.
"You have been very distracted Red. The Professor was right when he said you need to be more careful. I'm simply hoping to help sort through that distraction." He said it like he already knew. Things had been so hectic lately, Abe and I hadn't found any time to sit and talk like we use to. There were a lot of things going on in my head that I was struggling to process.
"Where exactly do you want me to start, Blue?" I grumbled as I leaned back to rest my back against the crumbling wall of the destitute structure.
"That would be entirely up to you. However, my suggestion would be to start with your current distraction. You weren't happy to see me here because you had hoped I would be back taking care of Agent Lightning. I can assure you that she is well." Abe gave me a look and, as inexpressive as he was, I knew he was calling me out. He knew exactly what was going through my head, he was just too damn polite to admit it. I rolled my eyes.
"Alright, Abe. You got me. I'm worried about Sparky. She attracts chaos, can't blame a guy for being concerned about that." I explained. He still wasn't buying it but he moved on.
"What did Liz say to you that has made you so unfocused? I know how her leaving affects you. It affects all of us in different ways," Abe said sadly. "But something is different this time."
It took me a moment to reply. "She told me she knows how I feel about her. She doesn't feel the same way but then she said I'm missing something that's right in front of me. And it's driving me crazy because... something is right in front of me and I can't figure out what it is. I can't see it." My voice rose with my frustration. Abe simple nodded. With his investigation of the shore put on hold, he made his way over to where I was sitting.
As he stood in front of me I thought back to when I was telling Rai about that conversation. She had tried to cheer me up. She always tried to cheer me up. I felt a wave of something like homesickness. It had been so long since I had seen her and talked to her. Spending time with her lately seemed to clear my head. I needed some of that right now. I felt like my head was going to explode.
"You are certain that you can't see it?" Abe asked after a long pause in the conversation. I locked eyes with him and tried to figure out what he meant. "I just told you that, Blue. I don't know." When he continued to stare at me with that same question evident in his face, I felt my temper rise again. What did he know that I didn't?
"We best get back to the camp and report what we found to the professor." Abe said, suddenly pulling us back to the mission. I hadn't realized we had found anything. Abe held a piece of coral in his hand. Apparently, it was important. I followed his lead as he walked through the ruins back to where the base camp was set up. Before we got too close, Abe turned back towards me and stopped me in my tracks. "Perhaps you are looking too hard, Red. Or perhaps you are denying the answer you have already discovered. Either way, that individual wouldn't want you risking your life over a distraction such as this. Neither do I."
With that, the conversation was over and Abe left me to think on my own. A person, Liz said it and now Abe. But who? I had already ruled out Clay and Father, now Abe. Who was left...
There was a clock somewhere in the office that was ticking too loud. I tried to block it out but it was drilling into my brain like a jack hammer.
I flipped through some pages in a file and tried to stay focused. This wasn't the one. I dropped it to the floor with several others. I wasn't in the mood to worry about tidiness. Three more files were quickly scanned and then tossed on the floor as well.
I knew it had to be this filing cabinet. One of these had to have an address. If I could just... A knock on the door nearly gave me a heart attack.
"Everything alright in here?" Clay asked as he stood in the door way. I whipped around and tried not to look like I had just been caught doing something I shouldn't. "Yep, fine. Why?" I asked quickly. He gave me a questioning look as he examined me. I saw his gaze drop to my hand where my finger was tapping incessantly on the desktop. When I noticed, I jerked my hand away and stuffed it in my pocket.
"You do know it's almost 3 in the morning, right?" He asked, looking back to my face. I nodded quickly. "Oh, yeah. I just had to finish cleaning something up for one of the secretaries. I'm almost done." I lied, motioning to the mess on the floor as proof of my story. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not. He was still searching my face. I wondered how bad I looked? What do you look like when you haven't slept in over 72 hours? I hadn't stopped at any point to check.
"Are you alright?" Clay finally asked. I shrugged casually. "Yep, fine, a little tired but I'll get to bed soon." I said, hoping that would be enough to send him on his way. "Ok, but you really haven't talked to anyone much these last few days. I've hardly even seen you since you went down there to talk to that goblin. What did he say to you?"
I took in a deep breath to keep my attitude in check. I was too easily irritated right now. I really needed to get rid of Clay, but if I yelled at him, he would know something was wrong and he'd never leave. "I told you everything already Clay. He hardly talked to me and when he did, it was all nonsense. He was my last shot and it failed. So I'm done with this investigation thing. There's nowhere else to look so I'm admitting defeat and moving on. The end." I explained, a little irritation coming through in my tone.
Clay gave me an apologetic look and I stopped him before he could mumble an apology and make me feel worse. "Clay, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired right now. I didn't mean to snap. I just need to get this cleaned up and get to bed." I said with a sigh. He smiled at me kindly. "No problem. Just get to bed soon. Maybe even sleep in tomorrow. You look like you could use it. I'll take care of the cats for you." I returned the smile and thanked him. He left without any more prodding and I jumped back into the hunt. It was hard to lie to Clay like that but I had no choice. This had to be sorted out soon and I couldn't allow protocol and rules to hold me back right now. I was getting too desperate.
"There!" I ripped the page out of the file and examined it once more to reassure it was the right name and address. I stuffed the page into my pocket and reached for the small backpack hidden beneath the desk. With the back pack over my shoulder, I removed my BPRD belt and placed it on one of the office chairs. My fingers lingered over the belt buckle briefly. "I'll be home soon...I hope." I muttered. With that attempt at a promise, I turned my back on the room and headed off to hunt down a monster.
Lightning and thunder woke me up fairly late in the night. "Quite a nasty storm." I mumbled to myself as I wandered into my small kitchen. It was difficult to fall back asleep after being awakened so rudely. My wife's snores weren't even that loud. I could faintly hear her now from down the hall.
That thought aside, I threw the kettle on the stove top and readied myself for a soothing cup of tea. I watched the rain out the small apartment window as I waited for the water to heat. I couldn't help but flinch every time the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled.
I was startled even more by the kettle going off. "Look at me, so jumpy. The wife would be laughing for days if she saw how I was acting." I grumbled, again to myself, as I poured my cup of tea.
I had the cup pressed to my lips for the first drink when I heard it. Ever so quietly, a floor board creaked. I froze. Even with the thunder echoing outside, I knew that sound was in this apartment, and I knew it came from the opposite direction of the bed room. I listened to see if I could still hear my wife. Yes, she was still asleep. So something else had made that noise.
I crept over to the knife block we had just received as a wedding present and found myself a weapon to defend myself and my home.
There was another creak and I nearly fainted. Bracing myself against the countertop I reminded myself that I had faced terror before. I could do this. I could fight. Inching close to the kitchen doorway I prepared myself to turn the corner and face the intruder. 1... 2...3!
The knife was out of my hand in less than a second. To be clear, I didn't throw it, someone took it from me. It was imbedded in the wall right next to my face. I stared at it in horror. Slowly, I trailed my eyes back to the hand that held it and the owner of the hand. My eyes almost popped out of my head as I stared down my attacker. She did not look happy.
"Caleb, we need to talk."
Don't believe everything you read... R/R