BK93: OMG I'M BAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAACK!! With another one of my zany and bizarre stories of the unusual kind! Yay!

Hellboy: And she dragged us along.

Abe: No kidding. This may get weird…

BK93: Dude, you guys are already weird. Matter of fact, I think you have the copyright on weird. Really.

DISCLAIMER: I do not, repeat, do NOT own the awesomeness that is my new obsession, Hellboy. Dark Horse comics owns their asses. I just use them, possibly against their will, for entertainment purposes.

Any questions? BEGIN!

There was a great amount of commotion throughout the BPRD building as a young woman was dragged down a hallway by two armed guards.

"Let go of me!" She shouted angrily, kicking and flailing to break free of the guards, who basically drug the girl down the hallway, a guard on each arm, her hands cuffed behind her back and the handcuff chain looped into the belt loop on the back of her dark-wash denim jeans. The guards had learned quickly that even handcuffed, the girl was trouble. The guards led her through a set of gold-tinted double doors.

"Hellboy!" One guard called out. "You in?"

"Yeah yeah yeah don't yell, I'm right here." The young girl's eyes widened at the sight of the humongous monster, power sander in hand. "Had to sand these down up here. Liz is sleepin'." He said, flicking one of his cut-down red horns.

"We caught this girl trespassing. What should we do with her?" One guard pushed the girl forward. She stumbled slightly and glared up at Hellboy, who merely sneered back.

"I get that look all the time, honey, try something else. It might've worked on those pansies, but not me." The girl scowled even more and kicked Hellboy in the knee. She smirked as he bent over in pain to inspect the damage. The guards grabbed her again and her smirk was instantly gone. She struggled to get away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The girl didn't answer, only glaring. "Who is she?!" Hellboy shouted at the guards.

"We don't know, Red. It changed every time we asked." One guard said.

"Really now?" Hellboy knelt down in front of the girl and gripped her chin with his human hand. "What's your name, princess?" He asked snidely.

"Naomi Campbell. What do you think it is, dipshit?" She replied.

"Why I oughtta…" Hellboy raised his stone hand to strike the girl. She wasn't afraid.

"Go ahead! Hit me! You're no different from any of the others!" She cried out. Hellboy lowered his arm.

"What?" He sounded incredulous. The girl's face turned about as red as he was.

"Nothing." She said defiantly. Hellboy grabbed her by the front of her black tank top.

"All right, little lady, I want a straight answer out of you, so cut the crap. Who are you?"

"Karasu Yoru." She replied.

"What?"

"Karasu Yoru."

"You don't look Japanese. Quit playin' with me. I'm not in the mood for games."

"Fine. My name is Raven Night. Karasu Yoru is the Japanese translation."

"Clever. Now, why were you trespassin' here?" Hellboy asked.

"I wasn't trespassing! If these jerks will let go, I have something to give you." Raven glared at the guards.

"You heard the little lady. Let her go." Hellboy said. The guards released her arms, but not the handcuffs. She glared at them again.

"Gee, thanks. It's in my back pocket on the left, but the way they got me set up, I can't reach it." Raven turned her backside towards Hellboy. A small, folded piece of paper stuck out of her pocket. Hellboy took it and unfolded it and read it.

"What is going on here?! Why is this young lady handcuffed?" Abe stormed over angrily, having been walking past to find a new book to replace the one he had just finshed.

"That's what I wanted to know." Raven uttered.

"She was trespassin', Blue. Here, read this. Doesn't make much sense, though." Hellboy pressed the note into Abe's webbed hands and walked away. Before he could get far, Raven began to cough violently. She doubled over and fell to a heap on the floor. Hellboy turned, surprised, and took two short strides back to the girl's side.

"You alright?" Raven was hyperventilating now. She definitely wasn't alright.

"Water!" She choked out. Abe knelt beside the girl as a guard hurried to find her some water. His fingers brushed her forehead. Her skin was cold and clammy, and she needed much more than a drink of water.

"Get her uncuffed, now!" Abe shouted. The guards hurried to remove the girl's delicate wrists from the cuffs, leaving them looped through her pants. "Hellboy, pick her up!" Hellboy scooped up Raven's spasming body.

"What the hell's going on here, Abe?!" He demanded.

"Bring her to my tank!"

"And then what?!"

"Drop her in!" Hellboy did as he was told. Raven floated for a moment in the crystal blue water.

"What the hell, Abe?"

"Watch. You'll see." Before Hellboy could ask again, something overtook Raven. He legs fused together and her dark brown braid had come undone. Gill slits became apparent on her neck. Turquoise eyes became chrome. Raven took a deep, gasping breath before curling up into a little ball. Her mouth moved, but all that came out was a high-pitched squealing noise.

"What was that?" Hellboy asked Abe.

"She said don't look at her. She's embarrassed. She doesn't like this form." Hellboy, Abe, and the two guards averted their eyes. Abe remembered the guards and turned to them. "Thank you, gentlemen, you may leave now." Hellboy kept trying not to stare.

"She's a mermaid."

"Yes. Lovely creature, isn't she?" Abe said. There was more screeching from the tank.

"Ow. What'd she say?"

"She says don't look directly into her eyes in this form. Mermaids are notorious for killing sailors by looking into their eyes."

"Hm. I always thought it was their voice."

"Mermaids actually do have rather beautiful singing voices. Their regular voice…not so much. Keep an eye on her. I'll be right back." Abe left the room. Hellboy watched as the beautiful creature before him flitted about so effortlessly in the water, her eyes closed. She swam to the far side of the tank, where the water was a little darker, and curled up in a ball. There was another screech.

"Catch any of that?" Hellboy shouted.

"Not really." Abe lied as he entered the room with a blanket and several towels. The words uttered were ones of such complete self-loathing that he didn't want to repeat them. "I'll go talk to her." Abe entered the tank quietly and swam over to Raven. Hellboy watched as the two exchanged words unheard by the great red monster, for they were speaking in hushed whispers. Raven shook her head, causing her inky-colored hair to toss and float around her prettily. Abe raised his hands in like he was trying to convince her of something. Raven's head hung as she said something. Abe backed away, obviously shocked. Hellboy tapped the glass to get their attention. Abe turned around and swam toward him.

"What'd she say?" Hellboy asked. "I feel kind of left out, not being able to swim very well and all." After thinking for a moment, he came up with another question. "Why aren't you dead yet?"

"Mermaids kill by luring their victims into the water and drowning them. It has no effect on other water-breathers." Abe explained.

"Okay, what else did she say?"

"She doesn't want you or Liz or anyone else to look into her eyes when she's in this form."

"Why?"

"She's feeling intense amounts of guilt for the last person she killed."

"What?" Hellboy was shocked. "Bring her over here before she starts explaining. I want to hear this." He said, forgetting momentarily that her words only came out as screeches and shrieks.

"I'm not going to put her through that, Red! It's obvious the poor child has been through a lot. She was sent to deliver a message to us and she was handcuffed. She tries to explain herself and almost dehydrates. I'm not going to make the child list her past sins and transgressions unless she wants to tell us."

"Child? Wait a minute, how old did she say she was?"

"She didn't say, I learned it when I touched her. She's sixteen, Red, a child."

"What else did you learn about her, then, and why didn't you say anything about her killin' a guy before I dropped her in the tank?" Hellboy was getting agitated.

"I told you, Red, she was dehydrating, very bad thing! We didn't have the moment to pause and interrogate her. Moving would have killed her."

"Okay, then, how did she kill him?"

"By accident. She can explain later if she wants." Abe said. Raven had drifted over into hearing distance and had heard every word exchanged between the great red demon and the blue icthyo sapien.

"No one's stood up for me since my papa left." She said softly, causing Abe to quickly turn around in the water. To Hellboy, the words still sounded like a screech. The softer she spoke to Abe, the more delicate and sweet her voice became, almost like a hum, like a song…Hellboy found himself entranced by her softly-spoken words. The hum became a song, the siren's song. He had to get closer to it…that voice…Raven looked up out of the corner of her eye and saw Hellboy walking forward, eyes hazy. A loud, piercing scream erupted from her very soul and she hurried away, pressing her back against the glass on the other side. Hellboy walked straight into the glass blindly. He took a few steps back and shook his head.

"What just happened?" He asked as he rubbed his head. More incredibly loud screeching filled the room. Hellboy couldn't understand a single word she cried, but he knew that the mermaid was frantic. Her tail thrashed in front of her to keep her back pressed against the wall, her hands also pressed against her wall. Her head tossed violently from side to side as she cried.

"Raven, Raven! Calm down!" Abe hurried toward Raven and took hold of her wrists. "You're alright, you're alright, don't shout so, you're fine." Raven still tossed her head, still shouting.

"What the hell is going on here? Did no one get the memo that it's 3:00 in the fucking morning and some people are trying to sleep?!" Liz stormed up the stairs, blue fire engulfing her arms. She spotted Abe and Raven in the back of the tank, Raven thrashing about violently, crying out, and Abe trying desperately to calm her. Liz was about to shout again when she caught sight of a lightly-colored silvery-white tail slapping at Abe's legs. "A…mermaid?"

"Yeah. I zoned out for a minute and she went ballistic. Can't understand what the hell she's screamin', either."

"She's definitely upset over something." Liz said. The pyrokinetic woman and great red demon watched quietly as the icthyo sapien tried desperately to still the screaming mermaid. Slowly, her tail stopped thrashing, her voice lowered, and the tension drained from her body. Her energy was slowly draining away. Finally, Raven sunk down, disappearing from sight in the bottom of the deep tank.

"Raven?" Abe looked down and noticed Raven floating near the bottom, her eyes closed. Raven appeared to be sleeping, and as Abe got closer, he realized she was. Raven tucked herself up into a ball, eyes closed, tail flicking every minute or two to keep her in the cooler, darker water in the bottom of the glass tank. Abe swam back up to be face-to-face with Hellboy. "She fell asleep!"

"All the screamin' and kickin' must've finally worn her down and out." Hellboy said, gesturing to the red marks forming against the bluish-green, scaly skin on the lower parts of Abe's legs. "Looks like the kid has some claws on her, too." Abe looked down at his wrists, where crescent-shaped red marks were forming.

"She has quite a grip and a good deal of force for someone so small." Abe chuckled lightly. "Hello Liz." Abe smiled. "Did we wake you?"

"Well, a loud screeching woke me up, so I guess you did. Or she did, one." Liz leaned up against Hellboy, who put his arm around her. "Where'd she come from?"

"Guards caught her outside and thought she was trespassin'. Thought she might try to vandalize the place or somethin'." Hellboy explained. "She gave us this note and I can't make head or tails of it." Hellboy walked over to where Abe had dropped Raven's note at the start of her dehydration. He walked back over and handed Liz the note.

"It just says "To my dearest, I'm coming back for you soon, my lovely. Until then, my research bids me stay here. I want you to go to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense until I can come home. You'll be safest there, love. Your Nana is growing old and does not understand your needs, Raven. They will. Give my regards to Professor, if you see him. I love you, my dearest, signed, your father, Dr. Xanthus Night." Liz read. Abe, who had just come from the tank, joined his other two agents.

"Why would a father include his full name and title in a letter to his daughter?" Hellboy took the note from Liz. "It hit me as suspicious when I first read it."

"Let me see that." Abe said, extending one webbed hand toward Liz. Liz handed him the note, and instantly he saw the reasoning behind it. "Dr. Night's been kidnapped. He didn't want Raven to know or to be in danger, so he sent her to us. They want Raven to use as a test subject."

"Who, Blue?"

"I don't know. That part's unclear, but they're somewhere in Austria…"

"Not the damn Germans again!" Hellboy sighed, exasperated.

"No, Red, not Germans…that much I do know." Abe said. Hellboy visually relaxed.

"Good. I hate Germans. Freakin' Nazis."

"Not all of them are Nazis, Red."

"Just the ones we've met." Hellboy reminded him.

"Pretty much." Liz piped in. She yawned and stretched. "I'm going back to bed, boys. Not that this wasn't fun and all, but it's 3:30 in the God-blessed A.M. and I'm tired." Liz kissed Hellboy's cheek. "Goodnight."

"Night, babe." Hellboy said as she walked away.

"Don't call me babe!" Abe laughed at the playful banter between the couple.

"Women." Hellboy dismissed her quietly. "I'm gonna crash, too." He said.

"Go ahead. I think I'll read a book until Raven wakes up. Or play with this annoying little contraption some more." Abe held up his ever-present, never-solved Rubik's Cube. Hellboy laughed at this.

"You finish that thing before that girl wakes up, Hell will freeze over, Blue." Abe laughed sarcastically at this.

"Thanks for the support, Red." Abe joked. Hellboy dismissed him with a wave of his hand and a smile, heading down to the room he shared with Liz. Abe walked over to the stereo and turned it on, turning the volume down so not to wake up anyone else. One sonata began to play, Tartini's violin sonata in G minor, the Devil's Trill sonata. He sat down on the sofa with his Rubik's Cube, twisting and turning the cube in various directions. He had a line of one color on one side and a line of another on another side, but getting more than one colored line on the same side was a trick he had never quite mastered. A small voice caught his attention.

"Giuseppe Tartini." A voice whispered. Abe looked up and around and noticed Raven, her slender, lily-while hands pressed against the glass keeping her in the tank.

"What?" Abe asked.

"Giuseppe Tartini." Raven repeated. "I like this song. It's so haunting, but so beautiful and demanding. Papa used to play this for me and Nana. He used to get sweaty trying to keep pace with the tempo of the song." Raven hummed with the quick tempo of the music, swirling around in the water, her hair clinging to her face and floating about her, her eyes closed. Her arms rose up as she swirled. Abe watched as Raven lost herself to the music and thought her one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. She swished and twirled, propelled by her elegant silver tail, until she partially opened her eyes to realize that she had an audience. Her arms came down to her sides and her hands were clasped behind her back.

"Forgive me, I forgot myself." Her face was red, a bright contrast to her pale skin. "Nana never did like my dancing. She thought it wasn't proper for a young lady to flit about the dance floor with men looking on."

"Your nana sounds like a wise woman." Abe said.

"She was very starch and upright, a strong, Christian woman. She didn't approve of dancing because she thought it induced lust in young men. She didn't like much of anything. Television, computers, alcohol…she thought alcohol was the creation of the devil. But Papa wasn't as strict. He and I would watch television together when Nana was sleeping. He carried a laptop around with him for his research and he taught me how to use it. Papa was also known to drink. Especially red wine and sake. You put either in front of him and he would drain the bottle in less than an hour. Papa used to tell the funniest stories when he was drunk. About how he met Mama, about how Nana used to scold him when she found him drinking…" Raven sighed, leaning against the glass. Abe heard the small "clink" of metal on glass. "Whoops…" She had gotten so caught up in talking about her family that she had forgotten about her ring. "I hope I didn't scratch the glass…" Raven leaned down to examine the area for any possible damage. Abe walked over.

"What did you hit it with? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Abe showed pure concern, his large, fishlike blue eyes holding some of the emotion.

"No, I'm fine, it was just my ring." Raven held out her thumb to display a silver ring decorated with an intricate Celtic knot. "Papa brought it to me when he went to Ireland. I never take it off." Raven twisted the ring around her thumb. The water made it a bit looser on the digit.

"You can come out of there, if you want." Abe said.

"I know. Papa told me it was best for me to stay in the water for a few hours after I have a close call like that, just in case."

"Good advice." Abe nodded. "Your father is a smart man."

"Thank you." As Raven and her parents always saw it, a compliment to one member of the family was a compliment to all of the family. Her face was tinted pink. Raven rested her palms against the glass, and Abe did the same, his basically on top of hers. Being separated by a wall of Plexiglas, he couldn't read her, but he could see the genuine look of trust on her face.

"You're the first person that's been kind to me since Papa left. Nana looked after me, but I'm not sure that she was ever actually capable of human emotion." Raven laughed. Abe chuckled. "I just wanted to say thank you." Raven kissed the glass quietly. If he could, Abe's face would have turned redder than a cherry tomato. "Thank you." Abe, in turn, didn't know what to say. He stammered foolishly, smitten like a young schoolboy. Still in a bit of shock from Raven's gesture, Abe said nothing and stumbled away, falling on to the sofa. Raven giggled sweetly.

BK93: Now that we have the first part over with, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME AND EAT MY INSIDES!

Love to all y'all if you made it this far.

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Yeah, I know it's not the Blackheart story you were expecting, but it's something, right? Right?

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