Abe Sapien and the Witch

Chapter 41

Chapter forty- one

She hid some more food from the table in a napkin at supper time, which Red and Liz also noticed though they knew better than to mention it aloud. She looked pale, and Abe could tell that she was drained from the day. He escorted her back to her own bedroom after they ate, so that she could cuddle up in her bed while he met up with the others in the library to talk.

He knew that she would be eating the food she had hid earlier while he was gone. He could sense her guarding her pockets by shying her body away from him when he drew near to her. He explained this to the rest of the group, who found it as worrying a sign as he did.

"He must have been starving her, the bastard..." Liz said, her metal cross gleaming red against her skin with anger as she paced up and down the library, with her clenched fists balled up at her sides.

"Ve haf no idea vat kind ov psychological tortures he might have exposed her to!" Johann added, his helmet jostling around as he slammed his hand down on the writing desk, disturbing papers and knocking over a pile of letters.

"She is trying to act like she is alright, but I really think that she is far from fine. I mean, she is still functioning alright, it's just...well, there are some things about her behaviour that really do worry me. One minute she is acting relaxed and is laughing, and then she just goes quiet and falls into herself. I am very afraid for her..." Abe said, his fingers wringing together. The four of them looked to each other, nobody quite knowing what to say or suggest next.

"Maybe we should just ask her? Sit down with her and just say it out straight?" Red added. Nobody could fault the suggestion, with Johann nodding along, "I agree. Perhaps she needs to talk about things, und help herself deal viss vat has happened. No?"

Abe sighed, not liking the idea of confronting her, yet not knowing how else to help her.

"Well, she's probably had a bit of a nap by now, right? Why don't we all go and see her? We can just pretend that we are popping by to see how she's doing, and then we can see how we can start a conversation about it?" Liz said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You don't think we might be overcrowding her?" Abe asked.

"Only one vay to know..." Johann said, heading towards the library doors. The rest followed, making their way out into the hallway. One or two BP agents scurried past them in a hurry, which put Abe on full alert. He quickened his pace, beckoning for the others to hurry. He had a sudden, terrible feeling low in his stomach.

They reached the hallway to her bedroom which was filled with about ten different BP agents that were looking to each other, waiting for one of them to decide what to do next. "What is going on here?" Abe asked, pressing his way through the crowd. Nobody got a chance to answer him, as an ear-splitting scream filled the air which made everyone cover their ears, flinching at the high pitch of it.

"I'm coming!" Abe shouted after the scream quietened down, pulling a spare key to her room which he kept in his pocket out. Loud, clattering noises were coming from within, and he hopped back as something heavy thudded against the other end of the door, shaking it.

"No time for that!" Red roared, elbowing his way past to knock down the door with two hard, powerful kicks to the centre of the wood. It flew inwards, shards of it getting caught up in the maelstrom of items inside that were swirling around the room, crashing into walls and breaking against other bits of furniture.

"Stop!" Red shouted, putting an arm out to halt Abe from running inside just as a bedside lamp whirled out through the doorway at high speed, flying over their heads to crash into the far wall.

Another scream filled the hallway, much louder now that the doorway was open. The room was pulsing with flashes of green light that flickered, giving the storm of items whirling around inside an ominous glow. Abe knelt low to the ground, then pistoned himself forward under the barrage of swirling debris towards the bed, where he knew she must be.

He crawled up to the bed to find her lying there with her hands clenching her clothes in tight fists. Her short hair was splaying around her head with what looked like electrical waves of green and purple energy. Her eyes were scrunched shut, and he knew before ever touching her that she was trapped deep in a terrible nightmare, one that caused her so much fear that she was activating her magic in an unconscious effort to protect herself.

He grasped her up from her prone position, pulling her into his chest in a tight embrace as he tried to speak to her, to soothe her. He could feel her heart thumping wild beats through her chest, and hear her breathing which came in deep, ragged breaths. "Sweetheart, please wake up." he begged, fear in his own voice now that he was touching her and could feel the absolute terror that haunted her.

A thick dart hit her in the neck from the doorway, causing her head to jolt backwards as her eyes shot open with the sudden shock of pain. Abe turned to the doorway as the airborne fragments around them clattered to the ground with loud, juddering sounds. Agent John Myers stood in the doorway with his gun pointed directly at them. Abe looked from him back to her neck as her eyes began to roll, her irises flickering from a deep purple back to her natural eye colour as he noticed the tranquiliser dart that was lodged in her neck for the first time, reaching up to pull it out.

His hand was shaking as he held the dart, and he pulled her close to his chest with his other arm, refusing to let her go while Red demanded that the other BP agents 'get lost already, nothing to see here'. Liz stepped over the debris, reaching out to place a tentative hand on her friend's forehead. Her eyes were full of concern as she looked to Abe, "She's burning up..."

"I knew that something was very wrong..." he said, looking from her to the destruction that filled the room around them. "What do we do now?"