With a wave, the ghost turned away. Then it came to him, one final thought for his nephew.
"Oh, yeah," he said, turning back to Hellboy. "Tell him don't take any wooden nickels."
"Wooden nickels. Got it."
With those final words, Steve moved on, letting himself slip from the world he had known since birth, the world that he had refused to leave in death. A place that he certainly would miss.
Like a balloon, he felt himself drifting, and for a moment he feared where the winds of change would take him. But that was only for a moment, for he knew that something different--a whole new mystery, was waiting for him.
There was nothing better than a good mystery.
The Chinook had returned refueled, along with the usual cast of characters and a BPRD response team. Hellboy watched as members of the team assisted the formerly possessed couple back to the chopper. They looked like they were in pretty good shape, despite what they'd gone through. A little while ago he'd heard a thank God from them, and they hugged each other. He guessed they'd probably learned that their kids were all right and waiting for them back onshore.
The family was pretty much intact, except for the dog. They had found its broken body underneath some rocks where the final battle had taken place, the ghost that had been possessing it having flown the coop. He recalled the talking animal with the mechanical hands and stifled a chill. That thing had given him the creeps.
He glanced over to see Manning finishing up a conversation with Liz and Abe. They had given him a brief rundown as to what they had gone through in Lynn, and he was eager to hear all the details over beer and pizza back at his place, but first they had to wrap things up here. There were pieces of giant metal Archon strewn all over the island, and then of course there were all the dead fish. Hellboy wondered if there was as much cleaning up on cases that didn't involve him. It was something he was going to have ask about one of these days.
Manning approached him, hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his heavy winter coat. The sun was going down, and it was getting colder on Egg Rock.
"Good job today," he said, coming to stand beside him.
"Thanks," Hellboy answered.
The two were silent, but Hellboy knew that Manning was dying to ask.
"Looking for Steve?"
"Yes," Manning answered. "I was looking around and didn't see..."
"He's gone," Hellboy said. "Said that it was time for him to leave, that he'd caused you enough problems."
Hellboy watched the disappointment on Manning's face.
"Also said that he was proud of you," he added.
Manning nodded, the beginnings of a smile cracking his usual all-business demeanor.
"I've gotta go and ask Abe a favor," Hellboy said, excusing himself, but then remembered that he hadn't given Manning the full message.
"Oh yeah, your uncle said to tell you one more thing."
"Don't take any wooden nickels," Tom Manning said with a grin.
Hellboy didn't know if it was only a reaction to the cold, but there were tears in Manning's eyes. Maybe the guy was human after all.
Epilogue
I t had snowed again, a nor'easter dropping a good seven inches of the white stuff on the Massachusetts coast before finally coming to an end. The weathermen were talking about another one possibly coming in that weekend.
It's shaping up to be one of those winters, Hellboy thought as he made his way across Don Kramer's snow-covered backyard in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
His arms were full, and he bent with the weight. The tarpaulin-wrapped object that he carried weighed at least five hundred pounds. Hellboy trudged through the fresh accumulation to the far end of the yard, careful not to lose his footing.
"Is that it?" Kramer called, and he turned to see the man standing on the deck, bundled in a coat that appeared to be two sizes too big. He looked like hell, his beard having grown out. Hellboy thought he'd lost quite a bit of weight.
"I've been waiting out here for hours," the man said. "What took you so long?"
Hellboy could have smacked him but decided to cut the guy some slack. It was obvious that he'd been under some strain since the disappearance of the stone. He could only begin to imagine what it would be like having to live with angry Graken Spriggin.
"Got slowed down on account of the snow," he said, at last reaching the far back of the yard. "You might want to stay up on that porch until we know they're satisfied."
With a grunt he set the tarp-covered stone down at his feet. "You know how they can get."
Hellboy stood there in knee-high snow and, using what he could see of the trees and bushes, tried to recall where the Graken's stone had rested.
Not finding the stone initially, he'd remembered that some of the metal giant's stomach contents had fallen into the ocean around the island, and he had asked Abe to help with the retrieval process. It hadn't taken all that long to locate, and with the help of the Chinook, they had hauled it up from the sea.
"I told them you were coming," he heard Kramer yell from the porch, just as the snow around him suddenly seemed to come to life with movement.
Once again the Graken were dressed for war in their soda can armor, junk-drawer weapons ready to draw blood in battle, but this time there was a difference.
Hellboy said nothing as they emerged from their hiding places beneath the snow, and strangely enough, neither did they. The Graken moved slowly, as if tired. The few of the pint-sized creatures who managed to glance his way somehow looked older.
The army took formation on either side as the snow-covered bushes in front of him rustled and shook. The snow that had collected there cascaded down to be added to the accumulation below. King Seamus's rabbit steed emerged from a tunnel in the snow beneath the bushes, the old king slumped dangerously to one side in his saddle. Hellboy was afraid he just might tumble off.
But the king held on, bringing his ride to a stop before him. Two Graken soldiers left their ranks to come to the king, helping him to dismount.
The two soldiers returned to their ranks, leaving the king standing alone. Hellboy noticed that the old Spriggin was wearing armor as well, his fashioned from an Old Milwaukee beer can, and there was a sword dangling at Seamus's side that, if he wasn't mistaken, had at one time been the big hand from an old Grandfather clock.
"Are you guys all right?" he asked the king.
"Silence!" the old Graken's voice boomed. Well, as much as a guy who was six inches tall could boom.
"Here we go again," Hellboy muttered, not sure if he had the patience today for the Graken's malarkey.
"The lifeblood of our kind has been stolen away," King Seamus went on. "And we stand on the brink of war."
More like the brink of a nap, he thought, crossing his arms and waiting for the old-timer to finish. He hoped it was soon; his feet were getting cold.
"But a promise was sworn atop the head of the blessed woodchuck."
He knew it was a woodchuck.
"And the fearsome legions of the Graken Spriggin held their righteous thirst for battle in check, allowing the one who had vowed to return to them what had been stolen to fulfill his sacred oath."
It became eerily silent in the yard, the snow doing that weird thing where it seemed to take away all the sound.
"And did you?" King Seamus then asked, a look of intense anticipation on his dark, weathered features. "Was the sacred oath fulfilled?"
He thought about busting them a bit, telling them that he didn't find their special rock, but he did get them all their very own lawn gnome, then decided against it. These guys were looking a bit rough, and he was sure that it was tied to the missing Sheela-Na Gig.
"It was," Hellboy said, and he glanced down at the large, tarp-covered object at his feet.
A collective sigh went up through the gathered Graken, and King Seamus started to cry.
The tiny king raised his arms above his head, and a strange lilting song filled the quiet void of the yard. It spread amon
g the other Graken, and in a matter of seconds they were all singing as one.
A sudden wind kicked up, whipping about the top layers of the snow, and he watched with surprise as a miniature twister slowly began to take form, the magical vortex clearing away the inches of snow from the area of ground where he believed the Graken's special stone had rested.
The naked earth exposed, the Spriggin folk stepped back, giving him room to come forward.
"There," King Seamus said, pointing to the lifeless winter ground. "Return our blessed mum to the bed whence she was taken."
Hellboy picked up the stone and brought it to the waiting Graken. Carefully he lowered the great rock down into the impression, trying to place it precisely as it had been.
"Let us see her," Seamus said excitedly, the other Graken eagerly gathering at the sides of their king. "Uncover her loving face."
Hellboy did as he was told, ripping the tarpaulin away to expose the stone beneath.
"She's been through a lot," Hellboy said, reaching down to pat the sacred rock. "But I got her back to you. Just like I promised."
Seamus remained silent, gingerly going to the stone and laying a tiny hand upon it. He then pressed the side of his face to the smooth surface, and closed his eyes.
He remained like that for what seemed like hours. Hellboy found himself getting a little antsy, pulling up the sleeve of his coat to look at his watch.
"Would you look at the time?" he said. "I've got at least a two-hour drive back to..."
King Seamus opened his eyes, removing his face from Sheela-Na Gig.
"She's weak," he said sternly. "Some of her magic was stolen by forces that cared not for her well-being."
Hellboy nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. There was nothing I could do--but at least you got her back, right? That's gotta count for something."
The old Graken king looked back to the stone. There was love in his eyes. "Yes, yes it does," he said, reaching out to adoringly stroke the surface of the rock. "And with our love and care she will grow strong again."
Hellboy smiled. "That's the spirit. So the war's been averted?"
"There will be no war," King Seamus said, turning to his gathered people to address them. "There will be no war!"
A wave of cheers went up through the crowd of Graken Spriggin, each of them now rushing forward to lay hands upon the holy object.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Hellboy slowly began to move away, preparing to leave, and to allow the Graken Spriggin the opportunity to get reacquainted with their blessed mother.
"Hold," called a voice behind him, and he turned to see King Seamus riding upon his rabbit mount toward him. Weird, he thought. Even the bunny looks healthier.
"What can I do for you?" Hellboy asked, as the brindle-colored rabbit came to a stop, kicking up a small icy cloud, as the king pulled upon its reins.
"On the night you were born into this world, a terrible tremble was felt by Seelie Court," King Seamus began, his brogue especially thick. "And with your birth we of the old folk feared the end, that you were the harbinger of new times--dark times--and we were afeared."
Hellboy couldn't help but think of the Electricizers and their plans again, and how familiar it all was.
"Perhaps we have much in common, monster," Hellboy heard the words of the Archon Qemu'el rattling around inside his head. "Both summoned to Earth to perform a function--a function of destruction."
He found himself staring at the Graken Spriggin crowding around the stone at the back of the yard. "Just keep your noses clean and there'll be nothing to be afraid of," he said, with all the appropriate bluster.
He had rejected his dark destiny, but it still haunted him, circling like some hungry shark. Hellboy wished he could forget, to put it out of his head completely, but it was always there.
He turned to leave again, feeling the need to get back to the Bureau as soon as he could manage.
"But now, instead of fear, I feel only the joy of gratitude toward ye," King Seamus continued.
Hellboy looked down at the king, sitting astride his rabbit.
"A bringer of darkness that has instead returned the light to our lives," Seamus continued. "'Tis a wondrous thing that has happened."
The king removed his crown of animal teeth, and lowered his head. "And I bow to you in gratitude, and in reverence for all ye have done."
Then the King placed his crown back atop his head and steered his steed toward his people. They cheered as he approached, and Hellboy saw that some had started to dance around the great stone, the beginning of a celebration that he was sure would go on well into the night.
Hellboy left the festivities to the Graken, walking through the snow, suddenly feeling lighter than he had in days. Maybe tonight'll be good for pizza, beer and a little Caltiki, he thought, wondering if he could con Abe and Liz into joining him.
As he passed the porch on his way to the driveway, Don Kramer came out through the sliding door from inside the house, still wearing the coat that looked huge on him.
"Is...is everything all right?" Kramer asked, looking past Hellboy to see what was happening at the back of his yard.
He thought about the man's question, really chewing it over before answering. "Y'know, surprisingly enough," he said, continuing on to where he had parked the van, "Everything's just fine."
Hellboy glanced back one final time.
"Don't take any wooden nickels."
About the Author
THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI is the author of the ground-breaking quartet of teen fantasy novels entitled The Fallen, which is being turned into a trilogy of movies for the ABC Family Channel. His other novels include Force Majeure, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: Monster Island, tying in to the two popular television series, and Angel: The Soul Trade.
With Christopher Golden, he is the coauthor of the dark fantasy series The Menagerie as well as the young readers fantasy series OutCast, recently optioned by Universal Pictures. Sniegoski and Golden also wrote the graphic novel BPRD: Hollow Earth, a spinoff from the fan favorite comic book series Hellboy.
As a comic book writer, his work includes Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails, a prequel miniseries to international hit, Bone. Sniegoski collaborated with Bone creator Jeff Smith on the prequel, making him the only writer Smith has ever asked to work on those characters. He has also written tales featuring such characters as Batman, Daredevil, Wolverine, and the Punisher.
Sniegoski was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his wife LeeAnne and their Labrador retriever, Mulder. He graduated from Northeastern University. He has just completed the two books in his Sleeper Conspiracy, a new series for Penguin Razorbill, and is currently hard at work on the first novel in a new supernatural mystery series called A Kiss Before the Apocalypse. Please visit him at www.sniegoski.com.
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