Opposites of a Different Kind

Hellboy scooped her motionless body in his massive arms and placed her on the carpet before him. Kneeling down he lifted her chin and started CPR. Abe quickly crawled over the couch and sat adjacent from Hellboy, Myers in tow.



“I don’t understand that has never happened before why did she stop breathing? We were just watching?” Abe started helping with the compressions as Hellboy continued with the breathing. His red lips covered hers blowing much needed air into her lungs.



“I think she was feelin it all. She was screaming I’m surprised none of the agents came running.” Hellboy barked between breathes. “She was glowing too. That ever happen before?”



“Not that I can recall.”



Hellboy continued to blow air into her lungs while Abe sustained chest compressions. Abe could still feel her heart beating and it was going lightning fast. Faster then anything he had ever heard before. It was beginning to worry him, could her heart keep up with this deadly pace or would it give out? Finally her lungs burst forth drawing in the air she needed desperately. Stopping their work Myers dropped next to them and took her wrist in his hand.



“Jesus Christ her heart! It’s gonna pound right out of her chest! We need to get her to the infirmary!”



Without hesitation Hellboy gathered her up in his arms once again and strode out into the hallways towards the infirmary. Bursting through the doors he scared Laurel right out of his seat.



“Fuck H.B. what’s goin on?”



“Something’s wrong with her.” Hellboy laid her down on the med table and as he stood back up he realized she was looking at him. She had woken up in his arms and was completely calm. Her haunting purple eyes searched his. Myers rushed to her side and re checked her pulse.



“Normal, it’s back to normal?”



“How do you feel?” Hellboy leaned down and placed his human hand on her forehead. She was clammy but her temp had gone down. Suddenly her hand was on his cheek, her slender fingers ran over the grooves of his skin as if to memorize the contours of his face.



“I won’t hurt you.” She said softly and her eyes closed her head lulling to the side.



Hellboy’s fingers found her pulse, it was normal she must of passed out from all the stress to her body.



Myers took the spot next to Hellboy and put his hand on her forehead as well, “I want to get an MRI see if any unusual brain activity is happening. Doctor Laurel pulled the table to the MRI machine and started to hook her up. Hellboy stood back and watched them work on Anessa pushing her unconscious body into the MRI Machine. What did she mean she wouldn’t hurt him? She couldn’t hurt him it was physically impossible.



Hellboy suddenly realized he wasn’t alone Abe was standing next to him.



“So what did you see in there? Her head I mean.”



“She watched all her men be executed in front of her point blank, it was horrible. Then suddenly she was off the wall like there were no shackles she ripped them as if they were nothing. And then she proceeded to slaughter them like sheep. A sword I think is what she had. It appeared out of nowhere as did some white objects on her peripheral vision. White tips marred with blood reaching to the sky. If I had to guess with they were I’d say feathers.”



“Feathers?” Myers intruded into their private conversation. “Do you think that’s what they were cause that would actually make some sense at this point.” He disappeared from the room for a few seconds and came back with a thick folder. Opening it up he paged threw a few documents and stopped. “I finally got the report on her rescue and the soldiers saw white and black feathers in the blood. It made no sense since there were no kinds of live stock let alone birds in the building. We just got to figure out what they were saying.”



“What who were saying?” Hellboy asked playing with goatee.



Myers closed the folder and pinched the bridge of his nose, “The terrorists kept saying this phrase after she came off the wall.” Myers repeated the saying and looked to Hellboy for a translation.



“Angel of death.”



Hellboy’s mind began to race, visions of his dream started shooting through his mind. Her white and black wings, her mouth, her breath……it couldn’t be. His eyes moved to her prone body inside the MRI.



“Geez that doesn’t sound too friendly. Well I guess the only way we’ll ever know is if we start pushing her body, with her permission of course. Maybe start her in on some training get her heart rate up. Hellboy maybe you can spar with her see if you can get her to remember her skills with the sword.” Myers began spouting out ideas pacing the floor. The pen occupying his hand tapped wildly on his chin.



“Whoa, whoa there Boy Scout! Me? Why me?”



“Cause Hellboy you’re the only one who knows how to use a sword. And you’re the only one probably strong enough to fend her off if she goes all feathers and swords on us.” Abe chimed.



“You’re going to need to push her, get her to defend herself but don’t kill her. Pushing her to her limit seems to get a reaction out of her. We can’t help her control it if we can’t bring it out of her.”



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Her whole body hurt, every muscle screamed as she tried moving her limps. Her eyes refused to open and her mouth refused to cooperate. Anessa could feel her warm tears run down her face. Memories, horrible memories invaded her subconscious reminding her of that day. The pain the distress, all the bodies and blood. She could feel her throat trying to vomit but the muscles wouldn’t comply with her brains request. What the hell was happening to her? Every inch of her body started to crawl and itch. Her fingers slowly started to respond scratching slightly at the cloth lying beneath her. Anessa could feel it start to bunch in her palm. Her feet were the next to comply with her demands. Moving ever which way she could get them to move to get the feeling back in them. Light, she could see some light her eyes were starting to open. Slowly her body started to respond her paralysis wearing off. Sounds were starting to register, a slow and steady beep. A heart monitor maybe…..her heart monitor? Her eyes opened to reveal the infirmary, why was she no longer in the library with Abe and Myers? Gingerly Anessa lifted her arms from the med bed pulling slightly at the IV stuck in her arm. Wincing she reached over and pulled the needle from her flesh. With every last ounce of strength she pushed herself up and ripped the heart patched from her chest. Her red hair tumbled into her vision as she leaned forward and the cold tile connected with her bare feet.



No one was in the room with her, not even the Doc. Willing her feet to move they skidded across the tile floor towards the two swinging doors. Her whole body still tingling she pushed herself out into the hallway her feet dragging lazily beneath her. The lights were flickering, a broken bulb swung haphazardly from its holster in the ceiling. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. The cold hallways lay early silent like death roamed them. Suddenly her feet were colder then usual….and wet. Looking down she was stepping through a very deep puddle. Why was there so much water on the floor?

Then it hit her, “Abe!” Bursting forward she made her way toward the library ignoring her screaming limbs. She launched herself through the doors and saw him lying on his side facing away from her. Kneeling beside him she rolled him over and screamed. His eyes were open with a shocked expression permanently etched into his features. A large gash ran across his chest and his blue blood coated the thick red carpet of the library. His eyes held a dead stare his gills unmoving. Her fingers frantically looked for a pulse but found none. She was too late he was dead. Stumbling to her feet Anessa backed up she gasped at the site of his tank. All the glass in his tank was shattered completely broken shards lay strewn around the library. Her mind in chaos she thought of Hellboy. Like a bolt of lightning she tore from the room. Agents bodies littered the hallways their eyes all open with the same shocked expression Abe had.



She saw Mannings and Myers amongst the carnage quickly getting to their sides she rolled them both on their back, the same expression Abe had. And then she noticed a beautiful woman laying next to Myers her short black hair fanned out across her face partially masking her features, a Polaroid camera clutched in her left hand. A dark crimson blood trail pooled underneath her long black coat Anessa didn’t recognize the woman. She couldn’t help these people. Again she fell into a run for Hellboy’s room. Finally reaching his large metal door she saw it was open partially an agent lay at its base.



“Hellboy?” she called pulling the giant door open further.



Cats roamed about the messy room, several TV’s sat in selves and smashed on the floors around the room there volumes hushed to a whisper. Papers and crushed red bull cans littered the ground. Then she saw his red tail sticking out from underneath what looked like a large truck bed.



“Hellboy!” her fingers found the edge of the bed and tried to push it off of him. No answer came from beneath the overturned truck, his tail lay motionless. She called for him again pushing harder on the frame. It didn’t budge from its place. This was not happening they all couldn’t be dead they couldn’t be; now she couldn’t get to Hellboy. Was he unconscious was he dead? He was a few inched from her face and she couldn’t help him. Then she thought of Iraq and her strength, she needed that strength right now. Concentrating she began to think of that day what was she feeling what triggered the outburst? Anger started to rush through her veins her heart beat quickened. She could feel adrenaline coarsening through her. Looking down she saw his boot and the pool of blood that surrounded it.



“No!” she screamed and burst of light blinded her for a moment, then the once heavy truck bed flew across the room as if it weighted nothing. Quickly she pulled the black sheet from his body, tears began to fall when she saw him. His giant red body lay sprawled on the floor his yellow eyes lay open staring at nothing. His human hand clutched a large white feather which was now stained in blood……his blood. Looking to his chest she saw a large hole where his heart would have been, someone had brutally ripped it out.



“You could of saved them.” A voice behind her growled.



Anessa whirled around to see a strange woman. Her hair was long and blond with bright blue eyes. The blue dress that clung to her thin shape was soaked with blood. In her right hand a large bloody heart still pumping, Hellboy’s heart.



“What did you do?! You killed them all!” Anessa’s anger bloomed into a blinding rage. Lunging forward she flew threw the air at the woman tackling her to the ground. Hellboy’s heart was dislodged from the woman’s hand and landed near a frightened cat. Two white objects came into view as Anessa held the woman down, her hand closing over the woman’s wind pipe.



“If you would have stayed Angel of death you could have saved them.” The strange woman gasped from her constricting throat.



“What the hell do you mean Angel of death?” That’s when she looked at the white objects. Wings, large white wings peppered with black feathers came from behind her. She had wings! With a scream Anessa lurched forward into the arms of Myers.



“Whoa calm down.”



Anessa’s eyes darted around the room. She was back in the infirmary lying in the med bed. Myers, Abe and Dr. Laurel were by her bed side. Hellboy sat across the room sitting in front of a large TV hanging on the wall his eyes now on her.



“What the fuck?!”