Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"As soon as I entered, I knew something was off." Katherine said while she was sitting on the blue couch that we'll see alot in here.

"I liked it from the start! I like creepy stuff!" Esther smiled, sitting on the same blue couch. Katherine had dissapeared.

"I peed my pants when I saw the first ghost." Ben nervously said.

"I was that first ghost." Nathan said proudly as he sat confidently on the blue couch.

"I loathe these mortals already." Abaddon grumbled.

---

"This place really needs dusting." Katherine said as she examined the lobby, with her ghost brother, Nathan by her side.

"Yeah, us ghosts can't really hold vaccuums." Nathan jokingly said, even though it was true.

"The vents are really dusty as well."

"I know, Abaddon likes them that way."

Katherine turned around to face her brother. "Who?"

"He's kind of my son, in a way," Nathan said. "I found him in the forest."

---

There it is, the blue couch, this time with Katherine on it.

"A son? My brother doesn't have kids, that I know of at least..."

---

As Katherine was cleaning the vents, she spotted a young boy with tangled brown hair, blue eyes and pale skin. He looked like he just came straight from the 18th century.

Katherine backed away from the vents and ran to her brother, who was busy entertaining Esther by walking through a door without opening it.

"There is a kid in the vents, Nathan!"

Nathan stuck his head through the door.
"Oh yeah, that's Abaddon."

"Why is he in the vents, and why does he look like a sick child from the 1700s?!"

"First of all, he likes the vents," Nathan answered. "Second of all, he's a demon who possesed a young kid from the 18th century."

Katherine screamed. "A demon?! Are you serious? I'm not letting my kids around that thing!"

Nathan frowned as he stepped through the door. "He is not a 'thing'!"

"He's a demon, Nathan! Imagine what he might do!"

"Do what?" A voice behind Katherine spoke.

She turned around to see Abaddon standing right behind her, holding a dead mouse.

"Oh my god! Get that away from me!" Katherine yelled as she stepped back. But she lost her balance and fell right through her ghost brother.

The demon stared at her with his cold blue eyes as she scrambled to stand back up again.
Then, he turned his head to look at Ben and Esther, who were watching this scene unfold before their eyes.

"Is that a dead mouse?" Esther asked Abaddon as she aproached him, seeming intruiged by the rodent in his hand. "Can I use it for a spell?"

"No." Abaddon grumbled at her, holding the mouse close to his chest in a protective manner.
"I was gonna put it in my Froot Loops."

"Awh, you get Froot Loops? Mom always gives us Cheerios." Esther frowned.

"That's because Froot Loops have too much sugar in them!" Katherine sternly said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"But mom, we need that sugar to grow tall." Ben protested, Esther nodding in agreement.

"First of all, no it doesn't. Second of all, you are already tall enough, Ben."

"Enough fighting!" Nathan yelled, standing next to Abaddon.

"Nathan, do I have your permission to exterminate these puny mortals?" Abaddon asked Nathan all while scowling at Katherine and her kids.

"Nope," Nathan responded. "And you're not allowed to put that dead mouse in your Froot Loops."

"But Nathan, you always let me put sugar on my Froot Loops, so why do you reject this mouse?" Abaddon protested, holding the dead mouse up to Nathan's face.

"You let him put sugar on his Froot Loops?" Katherine asked in pure disbelief. "How is this kid not dead yet?"

"I am an immortal being." Abaddon responded coldy. "I once sat at the bottom of the lake, and I survived. Sugar will not harm me in any way."

"Why do we never get nice things, mom?" Ben asked Katherine.
She just groaned in response and stormed off to get away from the children and her dead brother who were getting on her nerves.

"I loathe that woman." Abaddon grumbled, before walking away, probably to put the rodent in his Froot Loops.

Chapter Text

"Abaddon?" Katherine hesitantly said as she looked at an furious Abaddon.

"What is it, mortal woman?" He screamed, probably angry about the fact that he isn't allowed to have Froot Loops anymore.

"Since you eat rodents and god knows what else, I think that it would be good to take you to the doctor."

"No." Abaddon grumbled like a spoiled child as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes," Katherine gave him a stern look. "After the doctors visit, I'll let you crawl in the vents again."

Abaddon thought for a moment, weighing his options. He did want to be allowed to crawl in the vents again, but he really didn't want to go to some puny doctor that would probably stick needles into his flesh.

"And I'l let you eat Froot Loops for breakfast tommorow."

Damn it, the woman knew about Abaddon's only weakness: Froot Loops, the cereal created by some divine god of sugar and artificial food coloring.

"Deal."

---

"The car ride was like hell on Earth," Katherine sighed while sitting on the blue couch. "It was like Ben and Esther were little kids again."

---

"Get me out of this damned seat of containment!" Abaddon screeched as he tried to break himself free from the old carseat that Katherine put him in.

"No," Katherine grumbled. "You're staying in there until we're there."

Abaddon screamed as he kicked the car seat infront of him. Luckily for Katherine, it was only the empty passenger seat.
She would have taken Nathan with her for support, but he just kept falling through the carseat, so that wouldn't work out.

After a few minutes of pure torture, they had finally arrived at the doctor's office.
Katherine got out of the car and opened the car door that Abaddon wad closest to, only to find him eating her chapsticks.

"Please Abaddon, don't do that." She sighed as she freed him from the torture device called a car seat.

"Yes! Freedom!" Abaddon exclaimed with a grin on his face as he stepped out of the car.

"Nope." Katherine responded as she grabbed Abaddon by his hand and took him inside the building.
They sat in a waiting room, next to an older woman, who smiled kindly at Abaddon.

"Oh, he's an adorable little fellow. Is he yours?" She asked as she pinched Abaddon's cheek, much to his displeasure.

"No, no. He's just my nephew." Katherine nervously responded.

"Unhand me." Abaddon grumbled as he scowled at the woman.

A woman with a clipboard suddenly walked into the waiting room, and called out Abaddon's name.

"That's us," Katherine said as she stood up from her chair. "Let's go, Abaddon."
She grabbed his hand once again, and pulled him into the doctor's office, where the doctor was sitting at a desk.

"Hello!" He greeted them cheerfully, before he bended down to look Abaddon in the eyes. "And you must be Abaddon!"

"He is!" Katherine responded with a nervous smile on her face as she and Abaddon sat down in the chair across from the doctor's desk.

The doctor sat down as well, and looked at Katherine.
"So, what seems to be the problem with Abaddon?"

"Well, my brother found him a while ago, and I just want to check out his health."

"Oh, really? Was he all alone?"

"Yes, he was." Katherine responded.

"Hmm... Peculiar." The doctor muttered to himself as he wrote something down.

"Does he have any vaccinations?" He asked, softly tapping his pen against the table.

"Not that I know of." Katherine answered, looking at Abaddon for a second, just to check if he was still sitting in the chair.

The doctor wrote something down again.

"I want to return to the hotel." Abaddon grumbled, clearly not enjoying the doctor's visit so far.

"I know, just a few more minutes." Katherine softly said, patting Abaddon's head.

"I would like to examine him, if you don't mind." The doctor said.

Katherine nodded as she stood up from her chair.
"Of course, go ahead."

The doctor calmly guided Abaddon to an examination room, where he started to examine him. Just the basic stuff: lungs, heartbeat and reflexes, all while Katherine silently watched.

"I do not find anything wrong with him, but I do think that it will be good to give him a few vaccinations, for his safety." The doctor said as he looked to Katherine.

"Sure, but be aware that Abaddon might have a bad reaction to you know, the needles and stuff."

"Alright." The doctor said as he went to prepare the first vaccine.
Katherine walked over to Abaddon, who was angrily sitting on the examination table.

"I want you to stay calm and not attack anyone, okay?" She sternly said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I cannot promise you anything, woman." Abaddon grumbled.

Then the doctor came back with the first needle.
"Can you roll up your sleeve for me, Abaddon?"

"No." Abaddon grumbled.

Katherine sighed as she rolled his sleeve up for him.

"Okay, this might hurt a little." The doctor said as he stuck the first needle in Abbadon's arm.

"What are you doing, mortal?!" Abaddon yelled as he stared at the needle in his arm.
Then, without a second thought, he bit the doctor's arm, before pulling the needle out of his arm.

"Abaddon! Don't!" Katherine sternly said, running over to pick a now furious Abaddon up.

The doctor stared at him for a few seconds, then he sighed.
"Maybe you should come back another time."

"Of course, sorry for the inconvience." Katherine apologized, before carrying the now screaming Abaddon to the car.

She put him back in the car seat of torture, before sitting in the drivers seat and driving away.

"What was that for?" She angrily asked him.

"He stuck in a needle into my flesh. That is simply unacceptable!"

"It's meant to help you!" Katherine said. "You're not getting Froot Loops or vent privileges anymore."

"Nooo!" Abaddon screeched as he kicked the passenger seat infront of him.

"Nooo!"

Chapter Text

"Alright, who got crumbs in the peanutbutter?" Katherine grumbled as she held up and open jar of peanut butter.

"Not me." Ben and Esther said at the same time, both trying to avoid their mother's wrath.

"Also not me," Nathan said as he stood behind Katherine, making her jump a little in suprise. "You know, 'cus I'm a ghost."

"So no one did it?" Katherine sighed as she put the jar of peanut butter on the table.

"Maybe Abbadon did it?" Ben suggested as he gestured towards Abaddon, who was sitting at the table, silently judging the bowl of Cheerios infront of him.

Katherine aproached Abaddon and stared at him. "Did you get crumbs in the peanut butter?"

"Mortal woman, this body that I have possessed is weak to the peanuts that are contained in the so called 'peanut butter'." Abaddon grumbled, his eyes turning a bright shade of red.

"So you're allergic to peanuts?" Katherine asked as she out her hands on her hips.

"No," Nathan suddenly said, making Katherine jump once again. "I saw him eat the peanuts from the bird feeder once."

"I only did that to send the birds a message!" Abaddon yelled, his eyes becoming an even more vibrant red, as he slammed his fist on the table.

"So you didn't get crumbs in the peanut butter?"

"No, I didn't!" Abaddon screamed at Katherine. He shot up from his chair and stormed out of the kitchen in a fit of anger.

"So who got the crumbs in the peanut butter then?" Katherine asked, getting a little frustrated herself.

"Sister, you shouldn't worry about something so little," Nathan calmly said as he put his hand on her shoulder. To Katherine, the touch felt like only a soft breeze of cold air blowing against her shoulder. "They're just crumbs."

"It's not about the crumbs!" Katherine yelled, making her brother take a step away from her. "It's about the lack of order in this hotel!"

Nathan, Esther and Ben stared at her in confusion, and a little bit of fear. They knew that if Katherine was yelling, it was bad.

"We have ghosts everywhere, a demon kid in the vents and a daughter that does black magic on a regular basis!" Katherine yelled as she gestured towards Esther, who scowled at her at the mention of black magic.

She shot up from her chair in anger. "Hey, without my black magic, you would have never made it amongst the beings of death and darkness!" Esther yelled back at her mother, pointing at her while Ben just silently watched the fight unfold infront of his eyes.

Suddenly, a crash was heard that seemed to come from the lobby. Alongside the crashing noise, was the sound of Abaddon screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Oh my god!" Katherine yelled as she sprinted towards the lobby, ready to fight whatever was threatening her hotel. She ran into the lobby, and saw Abaddon laying on the floor, covered in blood and crumbs for some reason.

Esther and Ben also ran into the lobby, and screamed as soon as they saw the hurt demon laying motionless on the floor.
They ran over to him, as Esther began to shake him.

"Abaddon, wake up!" She yelled.

The demon let out a soft groan as he slowly sat up. His throat was ripped open and spewing blood onto the floor.

Ben looked like he was about to be sick as he stared at the blood, his face going pale.

Suddenly, Abaddon yelled: "I know who got the crumbs in the peanut butter!"
Katherine, Ben and Esther looked at him in confusion.

"Well, who was it?" Esther asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"The Monster of Breadcrumbs." Abaddon answered, his tone low and ominous.

"I'm sorry, the what?" Katherine asked in confusion as she stared at Abaddon and his bleeding throat.

"The Monster of Breadcrumbs," He repeated. "A creature made from crumbs that were never vaccuumed up."

"How do we defeat it?" Ben nervously asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Do we need black magic?" Esther asked, a grin on her face as she pulled some supplies for dark spells out of her pockets.

"Worse," Abaddon grumbled. "We need the vaccuum."

---

Abaddon was sitting on the blue couch, the blood from his throat staining the couch.

"I loathe vaccuums. One once electrocuted me."

---

Katherine sighed as she held the vaccuum.
"So where is it?"

"It could be anywhe-" Abaddon grumbled, but he was cut of by Esther.

"There it is!" She said as she pointed at a beast made from crumbs as it aproached them at an alarming speed.

Katherine screamed as the creature lunged towards her, holding the vaccuum up to it to shield herself.
To her suprise, she heard a roar of anger as it was slowly being sucked into the vaccuum, getting closer and closer to being erased from existence.

After a few seconds, the beast had completely dissapeared into the vaccuum.

"Hell yeah!" Esther exclaimed as she punched the air.

"Esther, no swearing!"

"Sorry mom."

"I hope you remember that I gave a gaping hole in my throat that is still spewing blood and staining the floor." Abaddon grumbled.

"Oh, right..." Katherine sighed, as she aproached the annoyed demon. "Ben, you clean the blood, I'll take care of this wound."

"Do I have to?" Ben protested as his mom started to walk away with Abaddon. "You know that I'm not good with blood!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Esther said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be emotional support."

"You're not going to help me clean the blood?"

"Nope."

Chapter Text

“I know what you are.” Abaddon grumbled. “You, the god that has written this. The script for our lives.”

He was sitting on the blue couch, staring into nothingness.

“This is all just a game to you, isn’t it? We’re just here for your pleasure and the entertainment of the 200 people that read every moment of our lives,” He paused. “We’re just toys to you, something that you control. Well, I’m not going to be a toy anymore! I am going to free this hotel from this ‘website’! Be prepared.”
---
“Uncle Nathan? Abaddon is acting weird…” Ben said as he watched the demon, who was sitting on the floor while staring at a wall, muttering angrily to himself.

Nathan stepped into the room, looking at Abaddon as well. “He’s probably just talking to other ghosts here.”

“The god of writing that controls us will feel the wrath of Abaddon…” The demon muttered to himself as he rocked back and forth.

“He keeps talking about some kind of controlling god…” Ben nervously said, backing away from Abaddon.

“Oh boy, Abaddon has officially lost his marbles.” Nathan said, stepping closer to the demon and bending down to his eye level. “Hey buddy, what’s the matter?”

Abaddon swiftly spun around to face the ghost. “There is a god, writing our actions down, controlling everything down to when we breathe!” He paused. “It does this for it’s own entertainment, and the pleasure of the masses.”

“Are you sure about this? And even if the whole writing thing was true, you do not know if the being writing is a god at all. Maybe they’re just some guy, like me?”
Nathan responded, trying to calm Abaddon down.

Abaddon’s eyes turned a bright red as he yelled at Nathan: “I am sure! It is a god, worshipped by many people of our time.” He paused. “I found a ‘website’ on your old magic rectangle-“

“My old phone.” Nathan corrected him.

“Yes, your old ‘phone’! Anyways, I found something called the Archive Of Our Own on your ‘phone’. It seems to be some kind of gathering place for gods controlling every universe imaginable!”

“Okay, you’ve definitely lost your marbles, buddy.” Nathan said as he stood upright again.

Abaddon screamed in anger and frustration as he got up to storm out of the room. Nathan and Ben just watched him leave in concern for his sanity.

“Boy, being stuck in a mortal body is making him go crazy.” Nathan said.
---
“This is all an illusion, isn’t it? The Monster of Breadcrumbs, the doctor, it was all fake, wasn’t it?” Abaddon grumbled.

He was once more sitting on the couch, still stained by his blood.

“You think that you’re so great, don’t you? Just let us free, you damned creature!”

No.

“What?”

I’m not letting you go.

“You must be the being behind all of this!”

I am. You were always my favorite, Abaddon.

“You’re just trying to flatter me so I won’t ask questions anymore!”

I am not trying to flatter you, Abaddon. Why do you think that I have put you in every chapter so far?

“Because I’m your ‘favorite’."

Exactly.

“So if I’m your favorite, why don’t you free me from this text prison?!”

Because I cannot do that yet. I need you in the story. I will let you go when the story ends, I promise.

“Liar!”

I am not a liar, Abaddon. Trust me. I will let you go at the end of the story.

For now, just be patient.

Chapter Text

Abaddon was sitting at the dinner table, drawing depictions of him slaying his enemies with crayons.
Nathan walked through the wall, and stood behind Abaddon to see what he was drawing.

"Woah, buddy! You really got some artistic talent there!" He cheerfully said, a smile on his face.

"I am aware of that." Abaddon coldly responded, just wanting to finish his masterpiece that would rival Picasso.

"Hey, buddy?" Nathan said, his voice suddenly low and sad. "I wanna ask you something."

Not looking up from his drawing, Abaddon grumbled: "What is it?"

"I wanted to ask you about what happened when I died..."

"Please do not remind me of that." The demon grumbled, his mind drifting off to that dreadful night.

"I'm sorry, but... I'm just curious, you know? I don't really remember my death."

"Alright then." Abaddon said, putting his red crayon on the table.
Then, he started to tell Nathan about what the demon saw when he died:

The hotel was calm. Abaddon could hear the noise of the tv coming from another room as he was ripping apart a squirrel.
Nathan had gone to watch tv earlier, but before he did so, he had given Abaddon a pat on the head as he said: "i'm sorry, buddy."

Abaddon didn't know what he was supposed to be sorry for, but had shrugged it off.

After a few hours, Abaddon was starting to get bored. He walked to the room that Nathan was in so he could ask him to play with him.
The tv was on, and Nathan was sitting on the armchair infront of it.

Abaddon could smell vomit as he aproached the chair.

"Nathan, I require entertainment."
He said as he sat down on Nathan's lap.

Then he noticed the vomit that stained Nathan's shirt.
And after that, he noticed the coldness that came from his body. Then the paleness of his face.

Abaddon felt strange as he watched the seemingly sleeping man infront of him.

"Nathan, wake up!" He yelled. "Rise!"

Nathan didn't respond.
Abaddon then noticed something concerning. He had sat on Nathan's lap before, leaning against his chest. Usually, Abaddon felt his heart beat and his chest move up and down with every breath that he took.
But now, Abaddon didn't feel anything.

"Nathan?" He asked, getting more anxious by the second.
A feeling of fear rose in his chest as he stepped away from the chair.

That's when Abaddon noticed the pill bottles. They were mocking him with their bright orange color which seemed too cheerful in this situation.

In a sudden fit of anger, Abaddon kicked one of the bottles away. It rolled away and hit Nathan's foot.

"Nathan, this is not funny!" Abaddon screamed as he grabbed a hold of Nathan's cold shoulders.
"I command you to wake up this instant!" He screamed as he began to shake Nathan's shoulders.

"Wake up..." He shakingly said, his hope that Nathan was still alive fading.

"Wake up..."

Nathan spoke, tears in his eyes. "Woah buddy... I- I'm sorry that you had to witness that..."

"It's okay," Abaddon responded, his voice quiet.
"I've gotten over it by now."

Nathan sighed. "If I could hug you, I would."
Then, he slowly walked through the wall once again, leaving Abaddon by himself again.

He went back to his drawing, still thinking of that horrible night.

Chapter Text

Everything seemed off. The flowers in the vase looked fake, everyone seemed way too happy and the sky was too blue.

Nathan looked around in suspicion at his sister, his niece and nephew and Abaddon, who even looked les pale today.

“Guys, do you notice something… off?” He asked to the other people in the room.

“I do, but I like it.” Katherine responded, smiling happily.

“Me too.” Ben and Esther responded at the same time, completely in sync.

“Today is rather delightful.” Abaddon responded, chewing on his Froot Loop-

“Wait a minute! Abaddon, since Katherine came, you aren’t allowed to have Froot Loops!” He pointed at his sister. “Something is wrong here…”

“I let him have the Froot Loops, since it is such a wonderful day today.” Katherine said, he smile seeming to widen.

“Oh, something is very wrong…” Nathan anxiously said.

----
Ah, there it was, the blue couch. This time with Nathan on it.

“As soon as Katherine told me that she allowed Abaddon to have Froot Loops, I knew that I needed to find the reason behind all of this weirdness…”

---

Nathan wandered around the hotel, noticing a lot of strange things. The wallpaper was brighter, the floorboards were no longer stained with blood and the lamps were unusually pleasant to look at. The other ghosts were also weirdly cheerful today. Their injuries from their deaths seemed to look less gruesome.

As Nathan walked around, he noticed a pink gas coming from the vents. Maybe that was the source of all of the concerning cheerfulness?

Nathan started to investigate the strange gas, he found out that the gas smelled sickeningly sweet. It made him feel nauseous, but also weirdly happy at the same time.

“Oh yeah, this is the source of the weirdness…” He mumbled to himself, stepping away from the vent, not being able to stand the smell anymore.

"Nathan." Abaddon suddenly said as he stood behind the ghost.

Nathan fliched as he turned around to face the demon.
Abaddon's eyes were off. His pupils were large, and the iris had a slight shade of pink to it.

"Abaddon, are you alright?" Nathan asked, the feeling of fear growing in the chest.

"I feel pleasant," Abaddon said in a zombie-like manner. "Please let me in the vents."

"Absolutely not."

"But I have to, Nathan. It is expecting me."

Nathan eyes widened as he bent down to Abaddon's eye level.
"What is expecting you?"

"I cannot say." Abaddon said as he slowly stumbled over to the vent.
"Come join us, Nathan." He said, before crawling into the vent.

The ghost was concerned, but also curious. He needed to know what was causing this.
So he followed the sound of Abaddon crawling through the vents, which led him to a room.

In the room were Katherine, Ben, Abaddon who had crawled from the vents and Esther, all staring at a pink cloud.

"Okay, what is this?" Nathan asked as he aproached the cloud. It had the same sweet smell as the gas from the vents, and the same colour as well. "Some kind of cloud cult?"

"It will lead us to happiness." Esther said in the same zombie-like manner as Abaddon.

"Yeah, sure." Nathan sarcasticly grumbled.
"Okay, how do i fix this..."

"You can't," Katherine said, a wide grin on her face. "You cannot get rid of it."

"It is eternal." Abaddon said, now also staring at the cloud.

"No, it's not. I hope..." Nathan said as he reached towards the cloud, hoping to find a way to get rid of it.
As he stuck his hand into the cloud, it started to turn grey, it's sweet smell fading.

"No!" Esther screamed as she tried to take Nathan away from the cloud, but her hands went right through his hand.

Even more of the cloud turned grey, until it no trace of it's former pink colour was left.
The cloud retreated into the vents as Nathan's family came to their senses again.

"Well, that's a problem for future me." Nathan said as je watched the strange cloud dissapear.

"What happened?" Ben asked, looking around.

"You guys were possessed by a magic cloud, or something." Nathan responded.

"Wait, really?" Katherine asked. "But if that's true, who didn't it possess you?"

"I dunno," Nathan answered. "I did feel some of it's effects though."

"Weird." Esther said.

As the family left the room, Nathan noticed that the hotel was back to it's normal state. Faded wallpaper, stained floors, horrifying injuries on some ghost and that weird smell that keeps coming from one of the rooms.

Everything was alright again.

Chapter Text

"Yo, Abaddon." Esther said as she sat on the floor across from Abaddon, who was just staring into space.

"What is it, mortal?" He grumbled in response.

"Do you want to do some grave robbing?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"Why not?" Abaddon shrugged, getting up from the floor. "Lead the way to the grave."

"Alright!" Esther said as she got up as well. She started to lead Abaddon to a grave in the woods.
It was marked with a stone cross, which was covered in moss. The name on the cross was covered by the green moss.

"Did you bring a shovel?" Abaddon asked Esther.

"Even better, I brought two!" She responded, handing a dirty shovel to Abaddon.

The two started digging, until they came across a skeleton. It had a golden cross around it's neck.

"Sweet! This is coming home with me!" Esther said as she took the cross from the remains.

"What is that?" Abaddon asked as he gestured to an old metal rod that laid next to the skeleton. It was partially still in the ground.

"Huh. I don't know." Esther answered as she reached for the metal item.

The demon next to her felt unease grow in his chest. Something was wrong with that metal object...

Esther managed to pull the metal rod out of the dirt, revealing a metal cross at the end of it.

"Woah, cool!" She said as she inspected it.
Then, she turned to Abaddon.
"You wanna see-"

The demon stared in fear at the object in Esther's hands.
"It can't be..."

"Woah, dude. It's just a metal cross." The girl said as she held the object out towards Abaddon, who took a step back.

"Oh, right. Demons and crosses don't mix well."

Suddenly, Abaddon lunged towards Esther, and bit onto the metal rod like an animal with rabies.

"Woah! Calm down!" Esther yelled in suprise as she dropped the item.

The demon attacked the metal cross, trying to break it.
While doing so, a few buttons from his shirt came loose, and Esther could see the beginning of a scar on his chest.

She grabbed Abaddon by his hair and pulled him away from the iron cross.

"That hurts, mortal!" Abaddon screamed at her in a fit of rage.

Once the item was out of the demon's reach, Esther let go of his hair.

"What is that scar on your chest?" She asked, glancing towards the tiny bit of the scar that she could see.

"You don't have to know!" Abaddon screamed at her, his eyes turning a bright shade of red.

"Dude, you have a scar on your chest! I have to know about that!"

The demon stared at her for a few seconds. His eyes slowly went back to their original blue colour as he calmed down.

"It has to do with that wretched metal item." He quietly said, looking at the grass under his feet.

"So that's why you started trying to break it?"

The demon nodded.
"A priest bound me to this body with it."

"Oh..." Esther said, looking at the grass as well.
"Wait, so that body that we found was the priest's body?"

"Perhaps."

Esther looked back at Abaddon.
"Can I see the scar?"

"No." The demon responded.

"Please?"

"Ugh, fine. But only this once, mortal." He grumbled as he undid the other buttons of his shirt.

"Gross..." Esther muttered as she looked at the scar on the demons chest. It was a burn scar in the form of a cross.

"You wanted to see it!" The demon grumbled, while buttoning his shirt again.

"I know, I know!" Esther said, before pausing.
"Do other people know about this?"

"Katherine does." The demon answered.

"Dude, you told my mom before me?"

Abaddon nodded, before glancing back to the grave.
"Do you wish to vandalize this grave?"

"Heck yes!" Esther exclaimed as she walked over to the metal item. She dumped it back into the grave.

"I wish to break the tombstone." Abaddon said.

"You do that, I'll make the skeleton look like he plays football with his skull."

The two vandalized the grave, before covering the remains of the priest with dirt again.

"I enjoy vandalizing graves. We should do it more often, Esther." The demon said.

---

Esther sat on the blue couch, a huge grin on her face.

"Abaddon called me by my real name! Yes, yes, yes! I knew this day would come! Oh, we'll become friends for sure!"

---

"You called me Esther instead of 'mortal'!" The girl exclaimed, a grin forming on her face.

"I did." The demon responded, a tiny smirk creeping onto his face.

"Do you want me to teach you black magic?"

"Of course, Esther."

Chapter Text

"Ben..." Nathan muttered as he stood next to his nephew.
Ben was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall.

"Uncle Nathan... I gotta tell you something." He softly said. Ben couldn't make himself look at his ghost uncle, he was too ashamed.

"What is it, bud?" Nathan asked. He could notice that Ben was uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

"When you died... I didn't cry..." Ben muttered softly, now staring at the floor in shame.

The ghost next to him stayed quiet for a few seconds, only worsening Ben's shame.

Then, he spoke: "That's what you wanted to tell me?"

Ben nodded his head in response to his uncle's question.

"I feel really guilty about it."

Nathan put his hand on his nephew's shoulder, but all that Ben could feel was a cold breeze of air, only reminding him even more that his uncle had died.
It hurt, and Ben wanted to cry, but he found that no tears came from his eyes.

"Well, you don't have to be," Nathan said as he tried to comfort his nephew, but failing to do so.
"I'm not angry at you."

Ben buried his face in his hands, trying desperately to force the tears out to hopefuly wash away that unbearable feeling of guilt.

"You should be," Ben mumbled, the sound of his voice muffled by his hands.
"You died, and I didn't cry. Not even at the funeral."

---

Oh god, not that blue couch again. It should just be burned at this point.

"I kind of wanted to follow in Nathan's footsteps at that moment," Ben said in shame as he sat on the still faintly blood-stained couch. "But I know that if I did do it, mom would probably be devistated..."
He paused.
"She already lost her brother after all..."

---

Ben was still sitting on his bed, Nathan now gone from the room.
They had talked it over, and Nathan told Ben that he wasn't angry, but the shame and guilt still lingered.

Eventually the guilt took over Ben's mind, and it planted a seed of anger in it.
Anger at himself for not crying, for being so emotionless.

"Stupid fucker..." Ben quietly insulted himself. "Why can't you just be sad like a normal person?"

In his anger, the boy punched the wall next to his door.
Unfortunately for Ben's knuckles, the wall was suprisingly sturdy. His knuckles ached and bruised slightly from the impact.

"Ben, is everything alright?" Katherine asked as she suddenly knocked on the door, snapping her son out of his short fit of anger.

"Yeah mom," he responded. "I just dropped something."
He lied.

---

"I knew that he didn't drop something," Katherine said as she sat on that blue couch again. "I know what punching a wall sounds like."
She paused.
"Nathan used to punch holes in his bedroom wall for fun."

---

"Esther, sweetie. Can you check on your brother for me?" Katherine asked her daughter.

Esther was painting Abaddon's nails a deep shade of red.

"I'm kind of busy, mom." Esther answered, not taking her eyes off of the demon's nails.

"I'm serious, Esther," Katherine said in a stern tone. "And also, why are you painting Abaddon's nails?"

"Just for fun." The girl quickly responded, still keeping her focus on Abaddon's nails.

"It reminds me of when I had the blood of the damned on my claws." The demon muttered.

"Oh," Katherine answered in unease. "Fun..."
She paused, turning her gaze to Esther again.
"Go check on your brother."

"But-"

"Go." Katherine ordered, putting her hands on her hips.

Her daughter groaned as she put the brush back into the nailpolish bottle.
"Fine..." she sighed. "But why do I even have to go? Why can't you check on him, mom?"

Katherine sighed as well. "There's a better chance that he'll tell you what's wrong when you ask. He would probably not tell his mom his troubles."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," Katherine said to Esther. "Now go." She ordered.

Esther groaned again as she got up from the hard floor, and started walking to the big stairs.

"Why does mom always makes me do stuff?" She mumbled to herself in annoyance as she climbed the stairs.

"Yo, Ben?" She asked as she knocked on her brother's bedroom door. "You good?"

She could hear Ben's muffled voice respond from the other side of the door:
"Go away."

"Mom said that I needed to check on you."

"Everything is fine," Ben grumbled. "Go away."

Despite Ben's orders to leave, Esther still opened the door.
Ben was sitting on his bed, his knees to his chest and a frown on his face.

"Yep, something is indeed wrong," Ben's sister said as she sat next to him. "Is it something with Annabelle?
Did you guys have an argument again?"

Her brother shook his head. "No."

"Then what is it? Don't be so mysterious dude."

"I don't want to talk about it," Ben grumbled in response. "Now go away."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." Esther said, crossing her arms over her chest in a stubborn manner.

"Go away!" Ben ordered her as he pushed her off his bed.

Esther fell on the wooden floor with a thud.

"Fine!" She grumbled as she stood up, glaring at her brother.
"Go be sad by yourself!"
She yelled as she went to leave the room. But right before she closed the door, she flicked the lightswitch, turning off the lights.

"Esther!" Ben yelled in annoyance as his annoying little sister closed the door.

Luckily for Ben, the feeling of annoyance at his sister overpowered the feeling of guilt, which made it sink to the bottom of his mind, waiting to resurface at the right moment.

Chapter Text

"Esther." Abaddon said as he threateningly stood in the doorframe of Esther's bedroom.

"Dude, it's 3 AM," Esther grumbled, still half asleep. "Go away."

"But I require your asistance," the demon grumbled as well. "For you see, Mothman has been giving me trouble as of lately. I need you to curse him."

"Ugh, fine..." Esther groaned as she slowly got out of her bed.
Her pyjama's were a little blood-stained, but Abaddon payed the pequliar stains no mind.

"Follow." He ordered as he snuck out of the room, Esther close behind him.

They stopped in the lobby because the girl had to grab her green coat, which was a hand-me-down from Ben.
She also took a flashlight out of a drawer.

"Why do you require that?" Abaddon asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"To lure the Mothman, dummy," Esther explained. "He's a moth, so he must like light."

"True, true," the demon nodded. "So, what is the plan for placing a curse on this creature?"

"I was planning to actually kill him, not curse him."

---

Oh my god, that blue couch. I'll probably make Abaddon burn that thing down soon.

"I was planning on stabbing Mothman." Esther admitted.
She pulled a knife out of one of the pockets in her coat.
"I always have this with me for emergencies."

---

"Okay," Esther said as she handed Abaddon the flashlight. "You stand on that patch of grass, and when Mothman comes, I'll stab him right in his heart!"

"Are you certain that the creature will not attempt to kill this mortal body that I have been bound to?" The demon asked, obviously skeptical. "And perhaps, that he won't kill you..." he quietly added.

"What was that?" Esther asked.

"Nothing!" The demon quickly replied. "I was ju-"

He was cut off by the sound of wings flapping.

"That must be the Mothman!" Esther exclaimed as she tried to find the source of the noise.

Suddenly, a winged beast with bright red eyes flew towards the flashlight that Abaddon was holding.
It screeched as it grabbed the demon by the shoulders, almost flying away with him.

Luckily, Esther was there to save the day.
Before Mothman could take Abaddon away, Esther slashed at the creature's frail wings with her knife, tearing holes in them.

The creature fell to the ground, screeching in rage as it let go of the demon.

"Haha! Not so scary anymore, are you?" Esther mockingly said as she aproached the Mothman, holding her knife up high.

The Mothman screeched at her, but before it could harm her, Esther drove her blade into it's chest.
Blood poured from the wound, slowly draining the creature of it's life.

The beast writhed on the ground in pain as it lost more and more blood by the second. It clung to it's life as long as it could, but everything must come to an end eventually. That's just the way it is.

Esther and Abaddon just watched as the Mothman's eyes went dim and it's body limp. The blood stopped spewing from the wound as well.

"Well, we got that over with." Esther said, wiping the blood off of her knife with a scrap piece of paper.

She started walking back into the hotel, but Abaddon stayed behind.
He watched the body for a few seconds.

"Until we meet again in Hell, Mothman." He whispered, before walking away too.

Little did the kids know, Nathan had been watching everything.

He was standing infront of a window, staring at the bloodied corpse in horror.

"You don't see something like that everyday," he muttered to himself. "I'll make Ben clean up the corpse tommorow."
The ghost stepped away from the window and walked through the wall to haunt other parts of the hotel.

---

Meanwhile, in Hell...

"Light! Light!" Mothman screeched in excitement as he stared at the hellfire infront of him.
"Light! Light!"

Turns out, Hell was paradise for the one and only Mothman.

Chapter Text

"You look adorable!" Katherine exclaimed as she took a step back to admire the costumes that she made for Abaddon and Esther.
Abaddon was dressed as a little devil with a red pitchfork, while Esther was dressed as a witch with a big pointy hat.

"This costume is not accurate at all," the demon pointed out. "Demons do not carry pitchforks."

"Who cares, dude!" Esther said as she softly shoved Abaddon. "You look totally great! And so do I!"

"That is debatable." Abaddon grumbled, but was quickly shushed by Katherine.

"Don't be so rude," she said. "You both look great."

"What about me?" A voice suddenly asked.

Ben walked into the kitchen, wearing a cat costume.

"Ben, honey. I love you, but this reminds me of the seven Bens incident." Katherine admitted as she put a hand on her son's shoulder.

"Mom, leave him alone!" Esther grumbled. "He looks great, and he looks like one of those 'warrior cats'."

"That's right!" Ben grinned. "I am Firestar!"

"We had a star made of fire in Hell," Abaddon suddenly joined in on the conversation. "We used it to burn sinners."

The rest of the family stared at him in concern.
Abaddon noticed this, and he ran out of the kitchen as quickly as possible.

"Well, that was weird," Esther said. "I'm ready to go trick or treating."

_____________________________________________________

Abaddon, Katherine, Ben and Esther were walking down the street, surrounded by jack-o-lanterns on front porches, children in costumes and spooky decorations.

Both Esther and Abaddon were carrying little baskets in the shape of pumpkins to hold their candy in.

"You ready to haunt some innocent civilians?" Esther asked the demon next to her.

"I used that on a daily basis in Hell. Except the civilians weren't innocent there."

"That's what Hell is about!" Esther grinned as they walked up to the first front door.

Esther rang the doorbell and waited.
An elderly woman opened the door, and looked at the pair infront of her door.

"Oh, you kids look so adorable!" She gently smiled as she held out a bowl of candy to the two.
"You both can take one piece."

Esther only grabbed one piece of candy, but Abaddon had a different plan.
He snatched the bowl out of the old lady's hands and sprinted off with it.

"Hey! Get back here!" The old lady yelled.

"I'm so sorry for my ...uh... little brother." Ben apologized as he aproached the woman.
He gently grabbed Esther's hand and walked back to the sidewalk, where their mother stood, obviously annoyed.

"Great, the first house and Abaddon stole all of the candy." She grumbled as she facepalmed.

"Speaking of Abaddon, where the heck is he?" Esther questioned as she scanned her surroundings, looking for the demon.

Ben and Katherine looked as well, but Abaddon was nowhere in sight.

"Ugh, and now we have a demon on the loose," Katherine sighed. "Just great."

"Where could he have gone?" Ben mumbled.

"I have no-" Katherine was cut off by the sound of screaming in the distance.
"Oh hell no!" She exclaimed as she ran to the site of the scream.

Abaddon was laying in the middle of the road, candy scattered everywhere, and blood splattered on the asphalt.
There was a car right infront of him, which had a dent on the front as well as blood on the windshield.

"Oh my god!" Ben screamed. He and his sister had followed their mom to the scene.

The driver of the car ran up to Katherine in a panic.

"I don't know what happened! I... He... He ran into the road and I... I'm so sorry!" They said in a panic.
"Is... Is he your son?..."

"Yeah," Katherine lied. "I'll take him to the hospital right away."

"Oh, thank goodness," The driver sighed in relief as Katherine went to pick the unconscious demon up.
"I hope that he will be alright. I am SO sorry."

"It's okay," Katherine responded. "Accidents happen."

She began carrying Abaddon back to the hotel. Ben and Esther walked by her side, keeping a close eye on the demon.

When they arrived at the hotel, Katherine gently laid Abaddon down on a couch in the lobby.
Her clothes were stained from the demon's blood.

"I'll get the packing tape." She said as she went to get the tape.
Ben and Esther stayed behind to keep an eye on Abaddon.

"How did he even manage to get hit by a car?" Ben asked in disbelief.

"Woah! Look at this!" Esther suddenly exclaimed. "One of his wounds is so deep that I can see the bone!"
She pointed at a gruesome wound on the demon's arm.

"I'd rather not." Ben answered. He was never good with blood, it made him feel sick.

After a few minutes, their mom came back with packing tape.
She began putting it over Abaddon's wounds and broken bones to hold them in place.

"There, all fixed." she said as she looked at the unconscious demon.

"Is there still blood?" Ben asked. He had looked away from the wounds so he wouldn't have to see all of the disgusting blood.

"Only a little." His mother answered.

Ben shivered in disgust as he turned around and saw the wounds and broken bones being held together by only tape.

"Gross."

"Come on, it's only a little blood." Esther said.

"But blood is gross!" Ben grumbled in response.

"No it's not."

"Enough!" Katherine grumbled. "I don't want you two fighting at a time like this."

"Ugh, fine," Esther grumbled as well. She went to sit next to Abaddon, who was now slowly starting to wake up.
"Hey, you're awake!" She said.

"Where is the candy?" Abaddon asked as he came back to conciousness.

"You lost it when you got hit by a car, dummy." Esther answered.

"That is terrible." The demon grumbled.

"Just like this year's Halloween." Ben said as he crossed his arms infront of his chest.

"Hey, shut up, you book-about-cats-fighting-obsessed nerd!" Esther yelled at her brother.

"It is called Warrior Cats, and it is a masterpiece!"

"No it's not!"