Abe Sapien and the Witch

Chapter 34

Abes healing was slow, and it was another week or more before he was up and about. He spent his days drifting in listless circles around his tank or walking through the gardens to stand at the edge of the pond, never swimming in it.

He didn't speak much at all. He had no interest in solving his Rubik's cube, or eating his favourite food, rotten eggs. "I just can't taste them, not without her..." he had said as Johann popped one into his tank through the usual funnel. He had watched its slow drift to the chamber floor, where it bobbed around for a while like a sad, dying goldfish.

Every lead they found, each clue they managed to glean kept turning up nothing, until there were no more new clues or leads to go on. In the evenings, Abe took to scouring through old books on witchcraft, hoping to find some clue hidden in the ancient texts as to where Laufey might have taken her, where they would go.

Soon he stopped sleeping altogether and took to walking the hallways of the compound through the night like a lost puppy, without aim or reason. He yearned for her presence, for her warm body lying beside his at night or for her shy smile when he would tell her about the latest book that he was reading.

The rest of the group had worked without rest to find clues and when there were no other options to follow, their time had to be shared with doing their usual job of ridding the world of evil creatures and keeping the people safe.

Red would try his best to talk to Abe and raise his spirits, but he seldom got much more than a word or two for an answer. He didn't know what he could do to help his friend- he was a heartbroken man and it was clear to his friends that being without his mate was killing him, ever so gradually.

Summer rolled into winter, the pond froze over from the severe cold and still Abe would stand at its edge, trying to think of something, anything that he might have missed. There must be a clue, even a tiny crumb of information, anything. Yet nothing came to mind as his scars healed over, his skin returned to its usual blue colour and his movements became less painful with each passing each day.

*****

"I sink I hav found somethink!" Johann shouted, barging into the library holding an electronic tablet aloft. Red had been talking to Abe, who had been floating in his tank listening to sad music over his earphones beforehand. "What is it?" he asked, his voice hopeful for the first time over the last few months, and Red grabbed the tablet from Johanns grip, studying it up close.

"Satanic holidays.... Blood and sex orgy...what the hell, Johann?" he asked, pushing the tablet back towards the man, "I don't wanna know what kinda weird google searches you have going..."

"Yes, but vait- look!" he said, tapping at the screen with his gloves, "it says here zat All Hallows eve und November first are special holidays for zose of the dark faith- ignore ze sex orgies, look underneas!"

Red rolled his eyes and looked again, leaning down over the man and tablet now. "Covens gather on these two nights in their most sacred space to...yeah yeah, orgies...wait, so, you don't think?"

"I sink zat on zese dates, ze coven will return to the mansion to celebrate zere holiday. It makes sense to me, und it's an idea!"

Abes eyes lit up as the two men thought out loud, and he began counting down the days, "seven, eight...well All Hallows eve is only eight days away! What if we get there before them, hide and then manage to sneak her out somehow?"

"Well, wait buddy, we don't know for sure if she's gonna be there or not..."

"We have to try!" Abe said, swimming to the exit of his tank to head for the books and study the witch's dark holiday in more detail.