"Stand back, Leh. I'm feeling strong. And this feels so right."
Abby braced herself against the wall opposite the door, levered herself forward with one foot, and drove her shoulder against the metal. Something sparkled in the sealed space between door and frame — static, electricity, something blinking out with the stench of singed hair. She shoved at the door again, growling, feeling the energy rising up in her and powering her muscles. Blood dripped from her mouth as larger teeth began to break through. The fine downy hairs on the backs of her hands grew darker, thicker. Her perception of things grew wider, and looking up she could see her way through metal, the dark blue sky already revealing the ghost of the full moon.
Abby growled louder, shoved the door again, and felt it give beneath her. She tumbled into the room. Hands fell on her shoulders, cold and wet and devoid of life, and something breathed a word into her face.
"Abby," it said.
And Abby thought, Oh shit, Abe, what have I done?
* * *
The rukh had lowered its head back into the hold, leaving Liz and Hellboy staring after it in confusion. One second they were expecting the thing to attack, the next it had turned away, seemingly unconcerned, and dipped back down where it had dropped the car.
The ship moved gently beneath them, smoke from the burning helicopter drifted along the deck, and seagulls buzzed around the bridge structure at the stern.
"So?" Liz said.
Hellboy shrugged. The wounds on his face were terrible, and Liz had to look away. They would heal, she knew, but for now they were not something she wanted to see. Not on the face of a friend, and not so soon after seeing Jim and Hicks taken apart by that dog.
"Well — "
Liz's satellite phone rang, startling both of them. She grabbed it from her pocket and answered. "Abe!"
"Hey, Liz. You guys OK? I tried calling Hellboy, but I got nothing."
"I think a dog ate his phone," Liz said.
"Right. Listen, I'm in London, I was following Abby, and her car was taken away — "
"By a giant bird," Liz finished for him. A lot suddenly became very clear. Hellboy raised his eyebrows, and she nodded at him. "Carried off by a rukh," Liz said. "It brought her to Blake's ship, the New Ark."
"How'd you know all that?"
"Were here right now."
"How are things?"
"About average."
"Oh." Abe's voice crackled. "Liz, will you find her for me? Look after her? I think she's got where she was going anyway, but I'm not sure why she's there."
"I'll do my best, Abe. But HB and I have a lot on our plate right now. And ... " She looked skyward at the deep blue of the fading afternoon. She could feel the touch of the setting sun on the back of her neck.
"I know," Abe said. "It may have happened already."
"Abe, the attacks started on the conference," Liz said. "We passed it in a chopper, and it wasn't looking good."
"Doesn't look good from here either. I reached the Docklands five minutes ago, and I don't think I'll be going much farther."
"Can you see the Anderson Hotel?"
"In the distance, yes. What's left of it. Lots of fire, and smoke, and things flying around. I'm not sure I can even get any closer, there are roadblocks and ... things ... stopping the ... "
"Abe? You're breaking up." Hellboy reached out for the phone, but Liz shook her head. "Abe?"
Static.
"How's my favorite amphibian?" Hellboy asked.
"Worried about Abby. He's in London, close to the Anderson. It sounds bad. HB, we need to find Blake as quickly as we can."
"Yeah."
* * *
Thames Estuary — 1997
ABE DROPPED THE satellite phone back into the car and set off on foot.