Opposites of a Different Kind

The conference room filled quickly with agents followed by Abe, Hellboy and Anessa. After a few moments Manning and Myers entered the room. Both sat at the front of the table their faces solemn.



Meyers broke his frown for a few minutes and looked at Hellboy and Anessa, “Anything happen?”



Hellboy nodded quickly and smacked the back of her head lightly, “We had a break through today, I think the kids got potential.”



Rubbing the back of her neck Anessa kicked him beneath the table, maybe she should of cut him, “I found my strength, I whooped his ass.” Returning the favor she smacked the back of his red skull. She was rewarded with a vicious glare.



“Very good you two, now down to business. We just got a call from our contacts in Germany there’s a little village called Selb, just on the boarder of the Czech Republic. They’ve been having trouble with a band of Ogres. I guess they’ve decided they needed something more substantial to eat. So far seven men have disappeared and one woman. No bodies have been recovered yet but we can only guess what is happening to them. Hellboy and Abe you will take a group of agents and disband them indefinitely.”



“What about me?”



Manning turned to Anessa he could see the concern in her eyes but knew she wasn’t ready for what they do in the field. He shook his head and smiled, “I’m sorry my dear but you simply are not ready. You may have had a break through today but you have a long way to go before you accompany them out into the field. You will stay behind and continue your training.”



Hellboy chuckled deep in his chest and ruffled his huge flesh hand through her hair messing it up, “Don’t worry kid I’ll bring ya back something special.”



Anessa reached up with both hands and bated frantically at his red hand messing her hair. Yep she was going to kill him. She was going to strangle that thick red neck of his.



“Well boys the plane leaves in two hours, be ready to go.” Myers closed his folder and turned to Anessa who was now fuming in her seat, “I will be joining them on this trip Anessa I will have some people come in to help train you while we are gone. Please feel free to go to the library and start doing some research on the paranormal. Cause you never know when you might need it.”



Gradually the room emptied leaving Abe and Hellboy behind with a few still spinning chairs. The rooms temp was still thick from all the bodies that had just occupied the space. Hellboy now had the folder open and was reading the paperwork. Abe too had a copy but his attention was on the red demon sitting before him.



“Don’t.”



“What?” Abe smiled back innocently.



“I don’t need you saying anything Blue.”



“I didn’t say anything.”



“Good keep it that way.”



****************************************



It had been two weeks since they left she continued her training with random experts. She was learning skills very quickly, too quickly if you asked her. All she needed was a few hours and she soaked up the information like a sponge. A martial arts master came in and in a matter on five hours Master Kang Lou had given her a black belt. She had learned the technique of meditation in two hours. Kang Lou was very impressed which made her very happy. In her spare time she would go to the sparing room and concentrate on her strength trying to control it and keep it from taking over. She had managed to destroy eighteen sparing dummies. To her disappointment she couldn’t seem to get the wings to return. That most of all she wanted to see and remember. Each time she would try harder and harder but nothing seemed to work. It frustrated her to no end.



Every other day she would spend hours in the vast library reading sometimes till four in the morning. It was amazing all the literature in the room. So much she had no idea it existed let alone fathom it as real. Her eyes would gaze to the large tank and the large leather sofa in front of it. Even though they were annoying she missed Abe and Hellboy.



By the third week of their absence she was beginning to worry and was combing the halls for some answers. Finally an agent made his way down the hallway, quickly she stopped him.



“Hey it’s been three weeks were are they? Did they finish? Tell me something!”



The agent looked in dire need of sleep. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, “We haven’t had contact with them in two weeks. The last transmission was Myers informing us Hellboy and Abe had gone missing. That was the last time we heard from them. We contacted our people in Germany and they sent in a team to look for them. They too have disappeared.”



“Manning where is Manning I need to talk to him.”



“He’s actually here I believe he is looking for you. Go to the main office down the hall and take a left. When you reach the large silver door buzz the buzzer and they’ll let you in.” and with that the agent left her standing alone in the vast silent hallway.



Wasting no time she headed off to find Manning. The large silver door loomed over her she had never seen it before; it must have been Mannings office or a vault of some sort. Pressing the buzzer the door clicked open and she stepped inside.



Inside was a large wooden desk, it looked old but kept in very good condition. A 22” LCD screen sat on the left hand corner of the desk alone with a picture of a beautiful older woman. A large humidor sat at the back of the office it lid propped open and a box of wood matches sat open on the ledge. The room was dark except for a large window on the north end of the room. Outside the weather looked depressing grey clouds hovered closely to the ground threatening a nasty storm. The rain fell against the glass of the window leaving long wet trails to the frame work below. Stepping further inside she noticed a red glowing ember floating in the air in the dark.



“Dismal day outside isn’t it.” She heard Mannings low voice rumble in the dark. She could hear the hint of worry in the undertones.



She nodded running her fingers over the woodwork of the guest chair.



“Please sit we need to talk.”



Anessa pulled out the chair and sat down on the soft cushion crossing her legs underneath the chair. She waited patiently for the news or bad news.



Manning came into view from the shadows and sat down in his large brown leather chair. There were dark circles under his eyes; it looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Taking a long pull of his cigar he let out a deep sigh and sunk into the leather.



“I’m sure you’ve noticed their long absence.”



“Yes sir I was just coming to ask you if they were alright.” She played nervously with a long strand of her hair that had fallen in her eyes.



“I’m afraid it isn’t good news my dear, we have been out of contact with them for almost two weeks. The last transmission we had was Myers informing us Hellboy and Abe had disappeared down a labyrinth of caves. He had sent in two search parties to look for them and none had returned. I could hear the panic in his voice and it takes a lot for that kid to panic. Well that was the last thing we heard from them. I called our contacts and they too sent a party to look for them. Before disappearing themselves they reported back in the trucks were abandoned no sign of any of them.” Manning ran his hand over his bald head and took a shaky breath and took another pull from his cigar. “My dear I hate to ask this of you since you’ve only been here for a little while. But I don’t know what else to do. I need you and our other agent Liz to go to Selb Germany to retrieve our boys. Whether it be a rescue or a recovery mission.”



“Sir you don’t even need to ask. I would be honored to go. I have been training hard and I feel I am ready for this.”



“Very good you will leave immediately as soon as agent Sherman arrives.”