Intertwining Destinies

Chapter 12

Back again in his room, Hellboy turned on as many of his television sets as he could see from his bed, and sat there with a can of beer to watch the night's news broadcasts. Liz and Abraham had arrived to join him, being just as interested in what every local channel had to report on the forest god fiasco in the streets at the east side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Should Hellboy be allowed to walk free in the streets?" blared from one television. "He's a demon and he must be staked and burned."

"What's with the guy with a toilet seat around his neck?" was a comedian's question.

"This is not a toilet seat!" Miffed, Abraham's hands shot to the bubbling device he wore. "It is a breathing apparatus," he corrected, as if the speaker of the insult could hear him. Hellboy drank deeply from his beer can and looked over at Abraham.

"The babe in black was kinda hot though..." continued the late night TV host. Liz rolled her eyes at the statement.

"I hate it when people call me babe," she muttered.

Hellboy drank some more and laughed at the reactions of his friends, but stopped short as another news anchor began to describe him as if he were a wild beast marauding in the cities and mauling citizens, which needed to be put down.

"Don't listen to them, Red," Liz comforted as she gently wrapped her arms around Hellboy's slumped shoulders.

"Ya know, I just don't want them to be afraid of me," he replied softly.

Abraham watched them together and kept silent, giving his colleagues a moment. Being a creature of mysterious origin, he had accepted that humans would never see him as anything but a freakish being that could walk and talk. They might never believe or care that he possessed a high intellect. He knew that his appearance disgusted some. "But not Miss Emerald," he thought. "She was very kind to me." He cleared his throat loudly to get his friends' attention.

Liz and Hellboy turned to look at him. Abraham coiled his webbed fingers as he contemplated what he needed to say. He wanted to avoid exciting Hellboy again after all that they had to endure on that evening's mission.

"What?" Hellboy grunted.

"It's about Miss Bruttenholm. The agents who were assigned to look for her in the Brooklyn area have just sent in their report," Abe revealed.

Hellboy now waited expectantly to hear more. Taking his cue, the merman said, "They found your coat on the sidewalk and the gun she was issued with underneath it."

"What about Em? Did they find her?"

"Unfortunately, no. They didn't find any trace of her. It looks like she ran from there of her own volition."

"Do you think the media circus scared her away?" asked Liz.

Everyone fell silent. The evening's mission had taken a toll on them all.

"Do you think his royal assness has something to do with it?" Hellboy asked gruffly.

"Nuada would not have left her gun and coat behind, like he was surrendering them. However, I will ask Princess Nuala for more information about Prince Nuada after she's had a rest."

"I still think he has something to do with this," said Hellboy stubbornly. He got up with a slight stagger. Liz shot an arm immediately around his waist to steady him.

"We all should rest for now," Abe suggested. "We can ask Manning to send a team to her house tomorrow morning."

"What if she's not there in the morning?" Hellboy erupted. "What if the bastards already have her? I can't sit on my ass and do nothing! I'm going to Manning right now!"