Abe Sapien and the Witch

Chapter 33

The antidote was slow to work. It was a few days before Abe was able to open his eyes without flinching them shut against the light. He was suspended in the medical tank, hooked up to various machines while cooling jets of water were bubbling up from the bottom of the chamber, to regulate his temperature and keep him cool.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice a dim hum as he knocked on the glass. The sound was a tiny dink against the whirr of the machinery around him. With some luck, Johann soon passed by and noticed that he was awake, and called Red and Liz straight in.

"Please..." he whispered, his palms against the glass as he took in the serious expressions of his friends, "where is she? I...need her. I need her here, with me..." His voice trailed off as he saw each of his friends look to the other with grim silence. His gaze stayed on Reds soulful yellow eyes.

"Red, where is she?" he asked, a little louder this time. The man let out a sigh, his hands hanging at his sides. "I'm so sorry, buddy...we went back to that place, with a whole bunch of agents from the BP. We went back, and...and there was no trace of anybody. She wasn't there, Blue..."

"Oh, Abe..." Liz said, her heart thumping a pained beat in her chest at the crestfallen look on his face. "We will find her, I promise, Abe. We are looking everywhere. We have all of our free agents out looking too, checking old coven haunts- we even went into that troll market Red hates so much to get clues. We'll find her, we've got leads to work on."

He nodded back at her, appreciating her attempt to bolster his spirits. "I think I...need to sleep for a little while..." he said with a weak whisper, his head leaning towards his chest as he closed his eyes. "Poor guy..." Red said, placing the tips of two fingers against the cold glass of the tank. "We'll find her, buddy..."

*****

The remaining coven members were gathered in the wide chamber of the underground temple, which was long forgotten by most. They made up a wide circle, with Laufey and his bride-to-be standing in the centre on a painted-on sigil of an upside-down pentagram.

"Well?" he asked, his fingers tight over the hand that he had just placed the obsidian black ring on. "I..." she started, looking around for any last hope of escape. He squeezed her fingers tighter, making her gasp out loud.

"I love you, Laufey..." she said, while the grin unfolded on the mans face like a crazed clown. He took a ceremonial scabbard from the hands of one of his minions and sliced an x shape into the skin of his palm, grabbing her hand to do the same to it.

She winced as he dug the blade of the knife into her skin, then dragged it along her palm twice until a blood-filled x filled her own palm. He took her hand in his so that their blood mixed as he clasped his fingers tight around hers. He pulled her close to his chest with their hands still linked between them. "Blood to blood, vein to vein..." he murmured, before handing back the knife to his minion. With his empty hand, he took hold of the back of her neck and eased her closer, moving close to kiss her.