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The road to town gets less bumpy the closer one gets.
Esther sighs as the scenery changes from familiar watercolor-esque woods to old buildings, some boarded up and graffitied from lack of use. They get more modern and well-kept the farther into town they drive, until all the buildings are as sparkly and clean as Charlie’s bed and breakfast.
Esther honestly prefers the hotel.
Ben's up in the front seat, and Abaddon's buckled into Esther’s old car seat. (She likes it, as much as he hates it; it makes her feel like a big sister.)
“Mooom,” Esther calls, spotting a particular pair of golden arches. She presses her nose to the window, watching it disappear as they keep driving. “Can we get McDonalds?”
Katherine sighs. “No, Esty. We're here to buy lamps, since your brother has apparently been selling them all.” She gives a quick glare to Ben, who sheepishly smiles. “I wouldn't have brought any of you if I trusted you enough not to engage with - with that guest.”
Esther steeples her fingers under her chin. “Mom, I know we were wrong about Jeremy, but this time I know this guy is a mimic.”
“Case in point.”
Abaddon whines, kicking Ben's seat. “But I want McDonalds!”
Ben, despite the chair kicking, joins in. “Pleeeease, mom?”
“Please please please,” Esther adds on, locking pleading eyes with her mom through the rear view mirror.
Katherine sighs. “Fine.” There's a chorus of cheers. “If. If I drop you guys off at the park and Abaddon doesn't hurt anyone and you -” she points her thumb at Esther "don't engage in any black magic, then you guys can have McDonalds when I’m done.”
Esther and Abaddon look at each other, considering.
Ben turns around in his seat, grasping it desperately. “Cmon guys. McDonalds!”
Esther nods.
Abaddon nods back.
“You have a deal,” Abaddon mumbles, holding out his hand. Black wisps of smoke curl around his wrist and snake up to his fingertips, signifying the formation of a demonic deal.
“I - I can't shake your hand, I’m driving.”
Abaddon pulls his hands back, black wisps disappearing. “Very well.”
Esther pumps her fists into the air. “Yay!”
The car slows as Katherine pulls into the parking lot. In front of them, the park looms, full of children with nothing better to do on the weekends.
What naive little sheep, Esther thinks.
Katherine rests her head on the steering wheel for a moment. “Please don't make any scenes,” she pleads. “Or no McDonalds.”
“Got it,” Esther agrees.
“Yessir,” Ben salutes.
The three children (kind of) depart from the car, watching as it pulls away. Katherine rolls down the passenger side window before taking off. “I'll be back in thirty minutes,” she says. And then she's gone.
Ben turns to the park, sighing. He puts his hands on his hips. “I haven't seen one of these in years,” he says wistfully, looking up into the sky and shaking his head.
“Uh-huh,” Esther says, taking his hand and pulling him toward the swings. “Now do under-dog.”
Esther hops onto the swing, kicking her feet excitedly. From behind, Ben pushes her as high as he can, and then runs out from underneath her, allowing her to fall back suddenly and begin swinging. She smiles at the sensation, her stomach flipping momentarily like a roller coaster.
Abaddon hops onto the swing next to hers. “I would like the underdog,” he exclaims urgently. Ben complies, repeating the process with Abaddon. He screeches with delight at the drop, immediately craning his neck to find Ben again. “Again!”
“Just one more,” Ben says. “I don't want to push you guys this entire time.”
Ben does it once more with Esther, and then with Abaddon, before taking a seat on his own swing. He kicks lazily, hardly moving much at all.
Abaddon, on the other hand, manages to get himself tangled up in the chains in about five minutes.
Esther laughs at the sight of him struggling before offering any help. When he is disentangled, he hisses, retreating several feet from the swingset. “I do not like those! It trapped me!”
“It didn't trap me,” Esther goads. “Maybe it just doesn't like you.”
Abaddon growls, turning away from the swingset.
Ben kicks his feet, still lazily swinging. “Maybe you guys should do something else.”
“Maybe you should get off your butt, Ben,” Esther retorts teasingly.
“Yes, Ben,” Abaddon agrees, though Esther is sure he doesn't know what he's agreeing with.
Ben rolls his eyes and says nothing, so Esther guides Abaddon to the play structure. She examines it with a hand to her chin. “It's not as big as the one we had in our old town…” a pang of homesickness turns her tummy. She shakes it away, thrusting her hands out in front of her. “How are we gonna spend thirty minutes here? This is gonna be so boring!”
Abaddon points at the fourth graders lined up for the slide. “We should run them off. We must claim the structure for ourselves.”
Esther sighs. “No. She didn't say it, but mom wouldn't like it if we scared them.”
Abaddon gasps. “Unspoken rules? Next time, I must acquire a written contract before making such a deal.”
Esther nods. “Yeah.” She taps her foot, thinking. “What about hide and seek?”
Abaddon raises an eyebrow.
“You give me thirty seconds to hide somewhere in the park, and then you come and find me.”
“Sounds…simple.”
“Good! Close your eyes and start counting!” Esther runs off before she sees if he’s actually closed his eyes, but she hears him begin counting out loud. There aren't many spaces to hide out, but that just makes it more challenging. Esther decides to save her better ideas for later rounds, and squeezes underneath a park bench close behind the swingset. She can hear Ben humming to himself from her spot.
Abaddon finishes counting, but he begins heading in the opposite direction. Esther chuckles to herself.
Two boys approach Ben. They look like eighth graders; they must be in Ben's classes.
“Hey! Finally crawl out of your freaky hotel,” one boy asks. He's about the same height and build as Ben.
The other one, slightly taller than the other two, tags in before Ben can actually answer the question. “And you chose to come to the park? Alone?” He laughs, one eyebrow raised. “How old are you, six?”
Ben huffs. “Actually, I'm here with my sister…” He looks around, but he obviously doesn't see Esther anywhere. “...I just don't know where she is right now.”
“Sure,” the first boy says, sharing a mean sort of look with the second. They each take a seat on a swing, caging Ben in the middle. Esther narrows her eyes, shooting a look at Abaddon. He's still nowhere near her.
“So, how long do you think it'll take for all the mold in your hotel to affect your brain?”
“Oh I'm sure it already has.”
Ben stays quiet through the exchange. His idle swinging has ceased, and his hands clench the chains. Esther can't see her face.
“Anyways, Benny. About that essay you said you'd write for me.”
She rushes from her hiding spot. She's sure to spray sand towards the boy nearest to her as she passes, but she doesn't stop to confront the boys herself. Ben didn't appreciate the last time she tried. He said it makes him look worse to have his little sister standing up for him.
But that doesn't mean she can't do it secretly.
“Abaddon,” she calls, approaching the demonic boy.
He points his finger at her. “I have found you! I win!”
“Yeah sure,” Esther agrees. She throws an arm over his shoulders. “Those boys with Ben? We've gotta take ‘em down.”
Abaddon shrugs out of her grasp. He narrows his eyes warily. “Katherine said I cannot hurt anyone. I want McDonalds, Esther. I want it.”
Esther places her hands on her hips in a superior sort of pose. “She said no black magic and no hurting people. And I know I said you can't scare those kids, but this is different! These kids are mean.”
Abaddon nods in understanding.
“So, are you in? We’re just gonna…scare them.”
Abaddon smiles mischievously. “What did you have in mind?”
Once their plan is set and ready, Esther takes a deep breath. Then, she runs up to Ben on his swing, ignoring the other two boys and pretending to be out of breath.
“Ben! Something got Abaddon! It took him into those trees over there!” She points at a small copse of trees framing the park. They're just thick enough to obscure whatever is on the other side.
Ben raises his eyebrows in surprise. Then, they narrow in suspicion. Esther curses his intuition when it comes to her; they know each other too well.
“C'mon, Ben,” she urges. “It's probably eating him right now!”
Ben crosses his arms. “We're supposed to stay in the park.”
The second boy places a hand on Esther’s shoulder, rising from the swing. She wishes she could bite it. “What your brother's trying to say is that he's too scared to investigate. We've got this.”
Esther secretly grins.
Ben rolls his eyes, rising from his seat as Esther begins leading the three boys toward the thicket of trees. He catches up to her, leaning down just enough to speak to her without being overheard. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing,” Esther squeaks.
“Mmhmm.”
Esther stops at the entrance of the trees. “It took him in there,” she says, putting on her best approximation of fear.
One of the boys shoves Ben back a step. “Just stay here.” They both enter the small stretch of woods, quickly disappearing into overgrown shrubbery.
“Whatever this is, it's not a good idea,” Ben says, arms crossing again.
“It’s a great idea.”
Not even a minute later, a high pitched shriek splits through the park. Another joins soon after. Esther grins. The boys beat a hasty retreat, tripping over their feet in their rush to get away. Their heads are soaked in blood, dripping like rainwater down their faces. “It - it killed him!”
Several fearful children run to their parents as the boys keep running from the park. Others look curiously at Esther and Ben.
Abaddon walks calmly into the sunlight. The front of his shirt is covered in blood. There's a clean cut through his neck, severing the carotid arteries. Blood continues pooling at his feet. He looks at Esther. “There were no squirrels to use.”
Ben sighs, put out.
“You look just like mom,” Esther teases.
“She won't be happy,” Ben says.
Esther shrugs, putting her hands in her pockets victoriously. “Hey, she never said Abaddon couldn't hurt himself.”
“Isn't that kind of implied?”
“Naaaah.”
Ben removes his hoodie. He pulls it down over Abaddon's head. “We shouldn't let people see…that.”
Abaddon nods solemnly. The effect is ruined since his arms are too short for the sleeves.
There's a beep of a horn from the parking lot. When they turn to look, Katherine is waving them forward from the front seat.
Esther pumps her fists into the air. “McDonalds time!”
The three begin their walk back to the car.
“Hey,” Ben says. Esther looks up at her big brother. “Thank you guys.”
Esther holds her head up high. “It’s no problem, Benny boy.”
They all get into the car, greeted by an anxious look from their mom. “So? Any…maiming? Am I gonna get any calls?”
“Nope!”
“Nuhuh.”
“You underestimate me.”
Katherine nods. “Alright then,” she says, putting the car in reverse. “Let's get some lunch then.”
“I would like a toy,” Abaddon says.
Esther smiles, satisfied with her accomplishments.
~ ~ ~
As Esther carries her happy meal back into the hotel, she is greeted by an eerie silence uncharacteristic of the normally rambunctious hotel.
Their only current guest turns around from his perch on the front desk, grinning manically. Then, he lunges at the group, only held off when Esther produces a bundle of Goldthread from her pocket, waving it in front of herself to ward it off.
Esther sighs. “Told you mom. Skinwalker.”