When The Day Met The Night

I sat in the hard wood chair, bouncing my foot up and down while simultaneously studying my nails, waiting for the auction to begin. I still didn't know how they had convinced me to do this. One minute I was chilling in my room, listening to the Black Veil Brides, and the next Red bursts into my room and tosses a green dress at me.

"Get changed," Hellboy had said, "you're going to an auction."

"Wha-," I started, "what are you talking about?"

He smirked and said, "Go ask Manning."

So that's exactly what I did. "What is this monstrosity!?" I had yelled, throwing the dress to the ground.

"You're going to an auction," Manning replied, seemingly unfazed as he glanced at the fallen dress.

"So I've been told," I snapped, placing my hands on my hips.

"The trip has already been sanctioned by the FBI, and you're the only one who can go." Manning continued before I could object. "Liz is unstable and Hellboy and Abe can't go for obvious reasons."

So, that's how I now found myself at the elusive, upscale Blackwoods building in downtown Manhattan, wearing a ridiculously uncomfortable green dress, while outside the rain poured down.

"And now we have the Fertility Goddess blah blah blah," the auctioneer droned on.

I sighed and inspected my nails with renewed interest.

"Next we have a piece of the crown of Bethmoora, a civilization long forgotten."

I sat up straight in my chair and stopped looking at my nails. This was the item I had been sent for. The only good thing about this trip was that I got to spend as much money as I needed to get this item. In other words, I could literally spend millions tonight and not get in trouble for it. Payback would be sweet. The situation was finally looking up when suddenly the lights went out.

"Lost?" A new voice cut through the crowd, easily reaching me in the back of the room. "Not at all. Forgotten by you, perhaps, but very, very much alive."

A man with white hair and pale skin and far too beautiful to be human stepped out from behind the huge Fertility Goddess and advanced towards the auctioneer. Once he stood about three feet from the auctioneer, he set a large box he had been carrying down on the ground.

"W-who are y-you, Sir? Please identify yourself," the auctioneer stuttered.

"I am Prince Nuada Silverlance," the man said proudly, "son of King Balor, and I am here, Sir, to reclaim what is rightfully mine."

Sensing danger, I slowly got up from my seat and, making sure no one noticed my departure, I moved to stand behind the Fertility Goddess. Looking around, I found the door to a balcony just to my left. In front of the door, was the body of one of the security guards.

"That must be how he got in here," I muttered to myself," and that must be the way he plans to leave." I smirked and walked over to the door, stepping over the body. As quietly as I could, I opened the door and slipped outside and into the rain.
Moving to lean against the ledge of the balcony, I made myself comfortable and waited for Mr. Princey Pants to show up. I didn't have to wait long.

Prince Nuada pushed through the door looking completely smug, and I realized with relish, that I was going to enjoy wiping that look off of his face.

"And just where do you think you're going, Mr. Princey Pants?" I asked, pushing my now wet bangs out of my eyes.

Nuada's head snapped in my direction causing me to smirk. He hadn't known that I was there.

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," I said, avoiding his question. "But, really, all I want is for you to hand over that crown piece, and you can be on your way."

Prince Nuada got into a defensive position. "What would a human want with the crown piece of Bethmoora?"

"I don't want the crown piece," I elaborated. "My higher-ups do. And honestly, I don't care what they want it for, I’m just supposed to get it for them."

Prince Nuada studied me intently, as if he were seeing me for the first time. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

I decided the poor guy should know the name of the person who was going to kick his butt, so I introduced myself. "My name is Jessie Broom. I work for the Bureau of Paranormal Defense and Research, and I'm here to stop you."

Prince Nuada slipped the crown piece into the sash at his waist and pulled out a small spear.

"Aw," I said, "don't be that way, Mr. Princey Pants."

'Do not call me that," he snarled, launching himself at me.

"Oooo," I taunted, jumping back, "touchy, touchy."

He ignored me with obvious effort and lunged again.

I laughed and jumped until I was just out of reach. "You're never going to get me like that," I said. "You should really learn to control your temper."

Prince Nuada retracted his spear and smiled. "It appears that you are right," he said, malice glinting in his golden eyes.

'Uh-oh,' I thought. 'Maybe I shouldn't have said that.'

I backed away, holding my hands up in an ‘I surrender’ kind of way. “Woah,” I said, “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I can see that’s it’s not going to be good for me, so, why don’t we settle this with a game?”

Nuada advanced on me, that smile still on his face. “I’m not really one for games.” From inside the building, screams could be heard.

I stiffened and glanced behind Nuada, into the building. “What have you done?” I asked him, dread settling into the pit of my stomach.

“I’ve merely fed an entire colony of tooth fairies,” Nuada said, sounding almost satisfied with himself.

“Oh, God,” I breathed, suddenly feeling queasy. “I have to help them.”

Completely forgetting that Nuada was standing between me and the door, I took off running. I made it about a foot from the door before I was yanked back by my dress. I turned around to get my dress uncaught, only to find that it wasn’t really caught on anything. Instead, my dress was connected to a pale hand. A hand, as it turned out, that belonged to Prince Nuada.

“Let go of me!” I cried, pulling on my dress. It didn’t work. After two minutes I realized that pulling on the dress wasn’t working, I decided to pull on his hand instead. The instant my hand touched his, metaphorical sparks leapt between us. Almost immediately, Nuada and I let go. I stared at the spot where our hands had been only moments before, slightly dazed.

It was the screams that brought me back to reality, suddenly reminding me why I had been trying to get his hand off of my dress. “Crap!” I exclaimed before turning around quickly and heading for the door. Once again, my progress was impeded by the Prince.

“I can’t let you go in there,” he said quietly, wrapping one of his big hands around my upper arm.

“And how are you going to stop me?” I snapped. “I will fight you to the death if I have to.”

Prince Nuada sighed. “Then I guess I have no choice.”

“What-,” I started, before my world went dark.