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Lines of Shadow: Sequel to Somewhere Between	By : AceMaxwell Category: G through L > Hellboy Views: 4117 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellboy or any related character and make no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Prophecies
- 2-Reunion
- 3-Artifact
- 4-Inferno
- 5-Flightless
- 6-Valhalla
- 7-Fate
- 8-Broken
- 9-Seduction
- 10-Unleashed
- 11-Traitor
- 12-Overrun
- 13-Vows
- 14-Escape
- 15-War
- 16-Humanity
- 17-Ragnarok
- 18-Judgment
- 13
- 14
- 15
Oh my god, another chapter in just a few days! It's a Christmas miracle in June! Mary Kroll has kindly offered to beta for me, but I finished this chapter before I got her email. Sorry Mary, I'm always twitchy to get a chapter out as soon as possible. If you find mistakes, it's because I type too fast and don't proofread well. Just point them out.

- HB

I stay curled up with John for hours. He sleeps soundly, not even twitching. A bomb could go off in our room right now, I doubt he'd stir. It's been an exhausting day for both of us and not just physically exhausting either. I wish I could sleep, but I know I won't. New York City burns in my mind. I killed millions…

A plan is forming in the back of my head. I can't fix the damage I've caused, but maybe I can keep the rest of the world from getting overrun. I have to close the gate I opened. If I can stop the flow of demons, maybe the gods can clear out the city and people can start rebuilding. It doesn't really solve the problem of Gabriel, but it's best to go one step at a time.

Only problem with my plan is that I've got to break the promise I just made to John. I have to leave him alone and there's a good chance I'm not coming back. I kiss his neck and wrap my arms more tightly around him, my chest aching from the thought. I'm tempted to leave my ring with him, but that would be like I was admitting I can't keep my promises.

John shifts in my arms and a soft sound slips from his mouth. It was some half-formed word that I think might've been "Red', but I'm not sure.

"I'm here, baby. Go back to sleep," I murmur against the side of his face.

After a minute or so, his breathing evens out and I know he's drifted off again. I gently run my fingers through his hair for a few minutes while I try to summon up the resolve to get out of bed. A long time goes by before I carefully unwind myself from around John. He whimpers faintly at the loss of my body heat, but I pull the blankets up around his chin and he quiets down. I grab my jacket and my shoes and ease out the door.

When the latch clicks home, I just stand there. I should get going, but I can't. Laying my head against the door, I strain my ears to catch any noises from 'Scout that signal him waking up. If he realizes I'm leaving, I can't go. I won't be able to make him understand why I need to do this. I lick my lips and take a deep breath as I realize that he hasn't noticed I'm gone. It's for the best… I think.

I yank my jacket on and start down the elaborate hallway, cussing at myself for what I'm doing to Boyscout. I can only imagine the reaction he'll have when he wakes up in the morning. Actually, knowing him the way I do, I can picture it pretty well. He won't be bothered at first, he'll just go looking for me. Only when he realizes that I'm not in the building will he start to freak out.

I stop at a chair to pull my boots on, yanking the laces hard enough that I snap one. "Great," I mutter, fooling with the frayed remnant for a moment before I tuck it into the top of the boot.

"I know what you're doing," the very British voice echoes off the marble walls. Lazarus steps out of an open doorway, a sad smirk on his face, "And you can't honestly think that you're going alone."

I finish lacing up my other boot and prop my elbows on my knees, giving him a long, hard look. "You should stay here."

"Ah, but I'm the perfect companion for a suicide mission."

My gaze goes to the polished floor. There are no tiles; it seems like one solid piece of marble. Must've come from one hell of a quarry. Lazarus crouches down directly in my line of sight, interrupting my scrutiny of the floor.

"If you die while trying to commit a noble act, you're still dead. Don't be a nutter."

I arch my brow, "Nutter?"

"A nutcase, a loon, a crazy person… you know, for being born in England, you really don't know much," he jokes with a smile. Lazarus studies me and sighs, his smile vanishing, "You're still going though, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let me fetch my swords and we'll be on our way," he says as he gets to his feet.

Despite the situation, I find myself smiling as I watch him go. There aren't too many people that will march into a certain-death situation with you. I know he'll survive no matter what, but Lazarus still feels pain when he gets hurt and he's risking a hell of a lot considering that resurrection is not a good thing when there are millions of demons ready to keep eating you.

Anubis speaks beside me, making me yank back my stone fist in preparation to hit him, "Shadows have ears, you know."

"Fuck! Don't do that!" I shout. As my blood pressure returns to normal, I say, "Figured the ears would be asleep by now. Although, I guess they're big enough that a mouse fart would wake you up."

He rolls his eyes at the statement, not even bothering to comment on it, "You'll need a ride across the river."

"So? You offering?"

"I might be."

"What's with you people? If you all know I'm doing something really fucking stupid, why do you want to come with me?"

Anubis moves around me and into the light so I can see that he's already decked out in full armor, the spear-thing he uses is strapped on his back. "Well," he starts, his ears flicking towards the door off to our right as Lazarus comes back through it. "When a friend is willing to sacrifice himself to make things right with the world, I figure I should make sure he's got enough backup to get the job done."

No surprise, but behind Lazarus is Torque. I guess I'm going to have a lot of backup. "You're all idiots," I say, only partially meaning it.

"Better to face something dodgy than to run from it, I always say," Lazarus states.

Torque is quick with an answer (well, quick for Torque), "That's because you'll just get back up no matter what happens. The rest of us have to heal the normal way."

"You tell your wife you're leaving?" I ask Lazarus, knowing there's no way he woke Yvette up for anything. I've heard what happens when someone gets her out of bed before she's ready.

"Are you kidding? Did you tell yours?"

I laugh but it's forced.

"Right," Anubis draws out the word. "We should probably go."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

We come out of the shadows in an empty subway tunnel. The emergency lighting is still working, for which I'm grateful. I didn't think to bring a flashlight. It takes me a few minutes to get my bearings, but I figure out that we're in a redline tunnel near Canal street, a long way from the gate.

"This is as close as you could get us?" I grunt as I start walking.

Anubis snaps at me, "If you didn't want to be trampled by demons the moment we stepped into the open, then yes."

Down here, you almost can't tell that there's something wrong. Except for the bloody station platform we pass, everything is the way it's always been: filthy and infested with rats. I've spent so much damn time chasing stuff around these tunnels that I know them better than the people that run the trains. The boarded up areas from the early years of the city are not as familiar to me, but can find them and get into them. Half the old tunnels are flooded with water anyway, so it limits what paths we can take.

I cut into a service tunnel, stepping over a half-eaten ribcage I don't want to give much thought to. It's possible it was some bum that got lost and eaten by rats, but I doubt it. Lazarus and Anubis step over the body nimbly, while Torque just steps on it. He makes a disgusted sound and scrapes off the bottom of his foot with his sledgehammer.

"Yeah, watch out for the corpse," I quip darkly.

"It's a little late."

The lights must be out of juice in this area. The farther we go from the platform, the less I can see. "Fuck," I hiss and dig through my pockets in the hopes that I have a flare or a glow stick or something.

I can feel Anubis get rigid beside me. He leans forward into the darkness and whispers, "Does anyone else hear the scraping sound?"

"I do," is Torque's deep, almost nervous reply.

"It's probably just rats. They're as big as dogs down here," I tell them with a little crow of victory as my fingers close on a magnesium flare. "They'll take off when I light this baby."

I turn my eyes away as I ignite the flare so I'm not blinded when it goes off. The burn starts white and then settles into the vivid orange glow that lights up the tunnel like a sunset. The light reflects off of eyes and wet blood. A dozen or so demons screech and cluster more tightly around whatever they're eating, their narrow features pulled back to show rows and rows of teeth.

They scatter as we approach, two of them working together to drag the lower half of a man up one of the walls and into a pipe. The left foot is dangling by a thin group of tendons that snap as it gets caught on the edge of the metal. It falls to the ground with a wet 'thump'.

"That was disturbing," Lazarus says after the silence drags on awhile.

My flare's not going to last long, so I keep moving. I've only got two others in my pocket and we need to get into an area that's still lit. The others follow me a bit more tentatively, all of them watching the pipe for any signs of the demons. Torque takes a few swings at the edges of the metal, crumpling it in on itself. When he's satisfied they're not going to get out behind us, he catches up.

I stop at an intersection of two tunnels, swinging the flare slowly from one to the other. As I pass over the far left tunnel, imps scatter out of the light just like the rats used to do. Seems like a good bet. The flare starts to sputter in my hand. I reach into my jacket to grab another just as it goes out.

- John

There's shouting out in the hall. I sit up, still to groggy to separate out the voices and figure out what they're saying. "Red," I mumble, reaching a hand back to shake him awake, but my hand doesn't touch anything but empty sheets.

A little spike of adrenaline hits me and sparks some life in my brain. I turn to search the empty room. His clothes and shoes are gone. I don't get much of a chance to wonder where he is because the door to the room slams open and a goddess I'm not familiar with fills the frame. Her alarm is evident in her face as well as her voice.

"The angels are lifting one of the bridges from the water. Athena wants everyone outside now!"

My heart leaps into full-speed. I scramble out of bed and search the room for my things. I'm wearing my blue jeans, but I can't find my shoes. Responding to my panic, the armor snaps into place. It pretty much eliminates the need for anything else. My sword slides down onto my palm as I dart out into the crowded hallway.

I follow the rush of the masses out of Zeus's palace and into a starless night. In minutes, I'm out on the dark cement of the Brooklyn Bridge, surrounded by creatures far more powerful than I could ever hope to be. We all watch the aerial battle going on above the surface of the river. Gabriel is hovering near the center of where the bridge used to be, his hands raised, and on either side of him are Uriel and another angel I'm guessing might be Raphael.

Gabriel isn't fighting, but the other angels are knocking down every attack we send their way. The handful of gods that can fly are barreling towards them, firing arrows, throwing spears and bolts of lightning. Uriel is a better shot than they are. The flaming arrows that fly from his bow strike the other arrows out of the air and keep going. Several sink into a dragon-like creature with colorful plumage that drops out of the sky.

The god I saw yesterday with the flying stag gets met by Raphael, who takes out the stags legs with a heavy blow from his golden shield. The animal bellows loud enough for everyone to hear, but keeps flying. The god on its back knocks away Raphael's spear with his sword.

While they're engaged, a god with four arms and a chariot drawn by four horses makes a run at Gabriel. Before he can reach him, Uriel whirls and rapidly fires a half-dozen arrows into the god's back. Several more sink into the horses' flanks, making them go wild. The horses all try to go in different directions, bucking and thrashing as the arrows keep raining down on them.

The i-beam of the chariot snaps from the strain, pitching the god and his weapons into the air. He manages to grab one of the horses on the way down, barely catching the animal's hoof. Panicked, the flying horse lashes out and kicks its master in the head. He takes the long fall that the others did.

Water rushes off of the large pieces of bridge as they lift out of the river. On the other side, scores of demons are gathering. Some don't wait until the pieces are in their proper places to rush across. They jump from one chunk of bridge to the next, brining the roiling sky with them. The smoke and fire above the city spreads to our bank just as the masses of demons reach the front line.

Flesh slams against shield and sword with a sound I can feel in my chest. I'm several rows back from the front, but it's only seconds before they reach me. They crawl over the front line, too numerous to kill. With every demon that hits the ground three more take its place. I scream and shove my sword into a dark smear of mouth that comes flying at me. The demon drops at my feet, gurgling.

The quarters are tight. I get jostled more than once as a bigger god throws his weight into his attack. I've only seen this kind of battle in the movies. I try to keep my sword tight to my side and keep my thrusts controlled so I don't hit anyone I'm not meant to. The battle is more chaos than anything. Shouts and screams and the crunch of bone and wet sound of separating flesh fill my ears. My vision narrows to the pale, hideous creatures that dive for me one after another. I cut them down as fast I as I can, my arm already aching from the effort.

A massive demon like the one Hellboy was riding reaches the front line with a bellow I can feel more than hear. Its massive mouth closes on a jaguar adorned in heavy lengths of turquoise and gold jewelry. The big cat claws desperately at the demon's face as he's being swallowed. Throwing its head back, the demon gulps the spotted cat down and starts looking for its next meal.

An opening clears and the thing sets its empty eye sockets on me. A spear glances off its shoulder as it studies me, which it doesn't notice. I slash through a lesser demon that grabs for my helmet, taking several steps back into the armies to try and shake the thing's gaze.

The mount bellows again and charges me, liquid fire flowing down the sides of its face as it runs. I take in a gasp of breath and tense. It crushes several of the imps under foot as it races towards me. Another god takes a swipe at the beast with a long curved blade. Blood explodes out of its flank, but it doesn't stop.

I leap straight up as it reaches me, coming down on the demon's back. It nearly throws me when it careens into a retaining wall. I grab hold of one of its spines and shove my sword into the back of its neck. Heat pours off the black blood that spills out of it.

The demon throws its head up and a whip-like tail slices through the air towards me. I manage to duck it the first time it comes by, but it's very agile, changing direction in a heartbeat. The thick appendage slams into my side, knocking me off my perch.

I land hard and keep rolling, knowing that thing is looking to swallow me. When I get my feet under me, it's almost on top of me already. A long, grey tongue darts out of its mouth and wraps around my sword arm. I dig my feet in against the pull. My vision is taken up by the demons massive, gaping maw. Deep in its throat, I can see fire burning.

My feet start to slide across the cement as the demon shifts its weight back. Breathing in ragged pants, I scrabble at the thick, slimy piece of flesh wound around me. I can't get a good grip on it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a goddess running my way, but she's not going to get to me fast enough.

The armor on my other arm shifts and changes, the gauntlet growing sharp edges. I grab the tongue higher up and just twist my hand. The flesh rips with a loud pop, sending me stumbling back onto my ass. Roaring, the demon throws its head from side to side, slinging blood and fire in every direction.

A splatter heads straight for me. I throw up my arm instinctually, the armor spreading to become a shield. The blood hits the metal with a hiss like water hitting a hot skillet. I get up and make the shield into a secondary sword, sprinting for the demon before it can recover. I stick both blades into the side of its neck and use my momentum to slide underneath its head, dragging the swords from one side to the other. Blood pours onto the concrete in a fountain, dark smoke curling into the air as it scorches the ground.

I don't wait for it to fall, I know it's dead. I sling the blood from my blades and launch back into the fray with a scream.

- HB

When a layer of bone replaces the rock floor, I know we're close. The smell of decaying flesh fills my nostrils, making me flex my stone hand involuntarily. We're a few miles beneath the city now, in natural caverns carved by water and time. A few of the old subway tracks have fallen in on these caves, which is part of the reason why the deepest tunnels have been sealed off. Plus, a number of creepy-crawlies came out of these caverns when the miners found them in the early fifties. I wasn't old enough to get dispatched then, but I heard about it for years afterwards. The horror stories of New York's underbelly were the talk of the Bureau for a long time.

The number of demons has thinned considerably, making our travel much easier. We haven't run across a reason for them to flee in mass numbers, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled. I suspect the city is just much more exciting than being stuck by the gate.

Anubis has taken the lead since my flares ran out, his eyes much keener in the dark than mine are. There's a faint, red glow here that has to be coming from the gate. It illuminates the litter of bones in an eerie way that makes it look like the bones are crawling with some kind of shadowy vermin. As the light gets better, and one of the little bastards tries to crawl up my pant leg, I realize that the bones are crawling with vermin.

They're not rats, but I have no idea what the fuck they are. I bat the one off my leg before I get a good look at it. My fingers don't come in contact with fur, just warm flesh. Mostly, they keep to the bones, gnawing at what little flesh is left. Their tiny eyes glimmer yellow in the light coming from the end of the tunnel.

"Well, that's foul," Lazarus mutters as he picks his way through the bones.

I flick one of the little creatures off of Anubis's back and mention, "My cats would love it down here."

The way the tunnel curves, all we can see of the next room is the light itself. As we come to the edge, Anubis puts his hand out, motioning for us to stop. He crouches low and peers around the corner into the cavern beyond.

Quietly sliding the blade from his back, Anubis whispers back at us, "There are a few of the bigger demons nesting near the gate, six of them from what I can see."

I slide as close to the entrance as I can, leaning over Anubis so I can see in. The gate and the room are almost as I remember them. When we marched through the first time, there were fewer dead bodies. The gate itself is a massive, curved piece of stone that is split down the center.

I can feel the heat of Hell's fire even from across the room. Stretching out on the other side of the gate is a pathway that rises out of a lake of magma. The sides are sheer. Memories of demons pushing each other off that edge as they jockeyed for position flash to mind. I can't remember much of the march out of Hell, for which I'm grateful, but I remember that winding, narrow road.

There are some large demons curled up near the gate. They're very serpentine, which is probably why they decided to make a den near the heat of the magma. The thick, black scales catch the light as they slide and shift in their nest of bones. One lifts its arrow-shaped head and yawns while another gulps down a body it has twisted in its coils. It's hard for me to judge their length without one of them stretched out, but each one is as big around as a tractor tire. Watching these giant demons, I realize for the first time since we left that I forgot to bring Lucifer's sword. It really would've been helpful.

I pull my head back and huddle with my team, "Alright, I want to do this all at once so we can catch them off guard. Torque, you take the two on the far right, but make sure you deal the blow to the head or they won't go down. Anubis, you and Lazarus take care of the two on the left. Leave the big boy that's eating for last 'cause he'll be slower anyway. I'll take the others."

They all nod in agreement and we ease around the corner in a tight group. The moment the first demon spots us, we break into a run. Torque leaps into the air, coming down on the closest demon with a thud and crunch. The ground spikes up beneath the snake's head as Torque's hammer comes down on top of it, crushing it like a melon in between.

One of the serpents whips across the floor towards me. I yank back my stone hand as it gets close, but a massive tremor shakes the entire room. Dust and small bits of stone shower us from the ceiling. I manage to stay on my feet, but I see Anubis crouch down to steady himself. I look to Torque, thinking it was his powers that caused it.

"What the fuck, was that you?" I shout.

He shakes his head, horn whipping through the air, "No."

Another tremor jolts the ground and the serpents that are left slither away with fearful screeches. I brush some of the dust off the shoulders of my jacket and look back at the gate in time to see the narrow bridge collapsing into the lake of magma. A shape emerges from the lake right in front of the door, blocking almost all of the light that was spilling in. I stare at the shape, unable to figure out what it is.

"Shut the bloody door!" Lazarus screams, giving me a solid shove to my back to get me moving.

I run to the keyholes, pushing my stone hand into the lock. No matter how hard I try to twist it, the lock turns slowly. When I yank my hand free, the door on that side starts to slide across the opening. As I run to the other side, a clawed hand shoves through the doorway to grab at me. It's so big that it breaks off some of the stone as it pushes its way in. I tuck into a roll, but one of the talons pins my coat to the floor. My roll stops short with a painful jerk on my shoulders.

I shrug out of the coat. It's a shame to lose it, but I've got to stop whatever is trying to enter our world. I push my key into the second lock. Torque and Anubis are on the far side, shoving at the door to get it to shut faster. The scaled hand slides back into Hell, leaving gouges deep enough for a grown man to fall into.

The lock clicks and the second door starts its achingly slow path across the gateway. I shove my shoulder against the edge, putting every bit of my weight and strength into it, but I swear it doesn't move any faster. The first door bangs into place and Torque comes across to help me.

A black shadow ripples across the opening and a cackling laugh booms through the room, "Ah, my would-be assassin. So pleasant to see you again." The voice is nothing like Lucifer's tenor, it's deep and loud with a growl to it that's like stone stones grinding on one another, but I know it's him. He's become something else.

The doors slide closer, the light escaping from Hell thinning into just a sliver before it disappears entirely. I start to breathe a sigh of relief when both doors explode into the room in dozens of pieces. A serpentine head pushes past what rock is left, barely able to squeeze through the massive doorway.

One giant, red eye fixes on me and Lucifer hisses, "You will suffer, lesser."

The rock above and below the gate fractures and crumbles as Lucifer forces his claws in just beneath his head. He scrapes the rock away, making space for another head to nose into the opening. I back up as the room starts collapsing, not even sure I'll be able to outrun the cave in. Lazarus and Torque are already running for the tunnels.

Anubis grabs my arm, shouting, "We have to go! He's going to bring the subway down on our heads!"

- John

The demons and gods are spread out across the base of the bridge, making it easier to spot my enemies before they get to me. I've lost count of how many I've killed. The hoard coming towards us is still thicker than the crowd waiting for the Thanksgiving Day parade, so I guess it's the gods that have thinned out. This close fight has made it nearly impossible for most of them to use their power. They've been limited to hand-to-hand weapons.

I'm not sure whether it's the armor, or my survival instincts, but I'm honestly surprised that I've lasted this long. I never would've thought I could do something like this. In most battles, I'm the first one to get thrown aside or knocked unconscious, as is made evident by Red's refusal to acknowledge me as a capable fighter.

Speaking of which, I still haven't seen Red since this struggle began. I keep expecting to spot him in the crowd, that he'd somehow gotten out of bed before me and joined the gods going to help. I try not to let worry cloud my judgment. I have to stay focused on the battle or I'll end up underneath a pile of imps that want to eat me alive.

I slash open one demon's belly as it lunges in for me, cutting off another's head with the back swing. Even though I could fly out of this, I stick to the ground. Enough gods have already tried their hand at taking out the archangels so I doubt I'd do much better. They're just hovering there above the bridge, watching the fight with indifference. No one has attacked them in almost an hour, but they haven't gone after us either. I guess they figure that the demons will overwhelm us eventually.

The ground starts to vibrate under my feet. I pause and whip my head around to see if there's another mount thumping its way towards me. They're the only thing I've encounter so far that's heavy enough to shake the bridge. The only thing near me is imps and a small handful of the large, heavyset demons with under-bites.

The bridge shudders again, but this time I hear a loud rumble with it. I look towards Manhattan as several buildings collapse. A dark shape emerges from the dust, spreading red leather wings that cover a city block. Seven long, skinny necks rise like a nest of snakes above the skyline, all but one of them topped with a triangular head that breathes smoke. The neck nearest to the middle ends in a cauterized, black stump. The six remaining heads roar in unison, the wings flexing wide enough to blot out the sky.

"Dear god," I breathe.

All around me, every god from every religion has a different name for the dragon. I hear "Apophis" and "Tiamat" and "Jormungand", each name whispered with as much reverence and fear as the last. The demons, however, let out a feral cheer and attack us with renewed vigor.

I stumble back as a dozen of them attack me at once. Their claws fall on my armor and their teeth snap in my face. I grab one by the neck and rip him off of me, throwing him into the hoard. Using my two swords like a pair of sheers, I move each one in a different direction, catching two imps in the middle. Both fall in uneven halves to the cement.

I look up to find that most of the gods are running. I'm one of the only ones left fighting. I turn to follow them, but I'm surrounded by imps. If I pull out my wings, they'll rip me to shreds before I can take off. All I can do is keep killing them until they drag me down.

My shouts are hoarse as I keep stabbing and slashing. I try to walk toward the edge of the bridge, but they're too numerous. I can't take a step in any direction. They jump on my back, hands scrabbling against the seams of the armor. As more leap onto my legs and grab my arms, I fall to my knees.

The first time I hear the shout, I swear I'm hallucinating, but the second time it's much louder, much closer, "John!"

"I'm here!" I scream, my voice barely rising above the angry chatter of the imps.

I push and grab at them, trying to get them off of my helmet so I can see. A flash of red shows through their pale, speckled bodies and then HB's stone hand pushes through them to grab my waist. He yanks me out from under the pile. Torque and Anubis are clearing the area around us and Lazarus is hacking a path in the direction of Brooklyn. The moment I'm clear, we all run as fast and as hard as we can.

- TBC

Hopefully the other chapters won't require any splitting. If I've judged them well, there are three left. If there's too much stuff to squeeze into my planned chapters, it could be as many as six chapters.
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Lines of Shadow: Sequel to Somewhere Between