Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Abaddon and Esther were in the parlor. After the demon attack, the two spent the next day cleaning up and restocking supplies. Esther has a habit of getting distracted easily, so of course, she was busy making a real talisman.

“Hey, Abaddon, what would happen if we put this on you?” She said, turning around with the necklace in her hand. “Nothing, I suppose, I’m bound to this vessel so that I would assume nothing,” Abaddon was hanging upside down from the shelf that housed the supplies.

Esther’s eyes lit up with mischief. “What if we try…” she proposed. Abaddon dropped down from his post, suspicious about the sudden change in tone. “I would rather not do that,” he backed up away from the girl.

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Nathan and Ben were talking at the kitchen table while Katherine was cooking. “And that’s the time I trained a cat to use a water jet,” Nathan said before chaos erupted. Esther and Abaddon burst through the door. Abaddon ran and crawled all around while Esther chased him.

“Esther! Abaddon! Sit down!” Katherine said while pulling Abaddon off the refrigerator. “Yes, Mom,” Esther sat down next to Ben. “What are you two doing?” Nathan asks. Abaddon, who was now seated on the opposite side, away from Esther, responded. “Esther was trying to place a talisman on me to observe what would happen,”

Suddenly, the girl appeared behind the demon boy and quickly placed the necklace around his neck. Abaddon stood from his chair abruptly and reached for the talisman. “You betrayed me! I shall wear your head around my neck and take your-” Suddenly, he collapsed and his head hit the table.

“So what now?” Ben says.

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Esther followed her mom as she placed an unconscious Abaddon down on the couch. “What do we do now?” Katherine placed her index finger and thumb on the bridge of her nose. “We could always just remove the talisman,” Ben reaches for the assortment of items that were tied into a necklace.

Suddenly, the demon boy awoke and swatted the hand away. “Abaddon! You're okay!” Nathan steps forward and places his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Abaddon? I don’t go by such a name,” Everyone froze. Who is this boy?

“Where am I? What's happening?” Instead of the deep, middle-aged man's voice that Abbadon possesses, it was a childish voice that spoke. “Hold up, what happened to Abaddon?” Esther asks, grabbing the boy's shoulders. “Is that the name of the demon that fooled me?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Wait, am I free from the grasp of the demon?” He looked down at his hands, moving them around. Katherine’s eyes widened with realization. “You're the kid that Abbadon possessed!” She announced while pointing at the boy. “How is that possible? I thought Abaddon was ‘bound’ to this form?” Ben asked. “Hey, buddy? If you're not Abaddon, who are you?” Nathen

“I go by the name…” He began to tell them his name, but abruptly stopped. “I… I don’t know,” Everyone seemed confused by this response. “Why don’t you know your own name?” Esther asked. The boy never responded. “Hey, bud, how about we call you something else for now?” The Victorian child nods to Nathan’s idea.

“The demon calls me ‘The Vessel,’ so I don’t think I would mind being called that,” The vessel observes his surroundings. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘the demon calls me the vessel’? Does that mean you can hear Abaddon?” Esther asks. “Not quite, it’s quiet,”

Everyone, except Esther, looked at each other with a concerned expression. “What happened to Abaddon?” Ben said. The Vessel got up from the couch and tried to walk around, but it seemed he was not in complete control of his body because he stumbled back onto the couch. “I am unsure about that.” The vessel got distracted trying to get up rather than give a real answer.

“May I ask more about my surroundings? The demon would only give me bits and pieces of what was going on.” Everyone seemed to have the same thoughts, ‘What does this kid know?’. A really awkward pause hung in the air, and to move away from this topic, Katherine suggested making a PB and J sandwich.

The Vessel was guided to the kitchen by Katherine and Nathan while Esther was left with Ben in the living room. “Is Abaddon still in there?” Ben placed his hand on the quiet girl. “I think he is still there; the talisman could not be that strong enough to get rid of the curse,” Esther responded while moving to her spell book, which lay on the floor.

“Should we take off the talisman and see if Abaddon will come back?” Ben peeked over his sister’s shoulders. “I would do that, but I wonder what we can find out about the ‘vessel’,” Esther sounded worried, but her curiosity was too strong.

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Nathan was asking questions about the Vessel while the kid tried to respond the best he could. “So what was it like being possessed?” Nathan asked, and Katherine was behind them, spreading jelly on one slice of bread. “It felt… Cold,” The Vessel looked around the kitchen when he spotted the drawings on the fridge. “I could feel things around me, but I could not see or hear what was happening,”

Nathan noticed what the boy was staring at, and just in case, he sat down, blocking the view. “The de-Abaddon’ would talk to me every once in a while, but he spoke very vaguely about what was going on,” The Victorian boy snapped back and continued gathering his surroundings.

Katherine was barely listening, too busy trying to think what was happening. Nathan was alarmed, but he was not surprised by the weird occurrences in the hotel. The Vessel started to feel around the table and his clothing. “Strangely, I can feel now,” He ran a finger through his hair.

Katherine placed a plate down with the sandwich. “What do you know so far? What did Abaddon tell you?” The woman took a seat by Aba- The Vessel. “Recently, he told me about a murderer who stole his… ‘trillby’?” A confused look took over the boy’s face.

“Anything about us?” Nathan asks. “Judging by the description, you are Nathan?” The Vessel points at the ghost. “And you are Esther?” He points at Katherine next. Nathan chuckles while Katherine corrects the Victorian boy. It was probably the fact that they had a similar look, which is why he mistook Katherine.

“He spoke about two other children that took residence here,” The boy was about to respond, but a bell ringing echoed through the house. “A guest! Nathan, go find a room, and Ben, go help him.” Katherine was about to leave when she turned around. “Esther, please watch Abad- The Vessel,” Esther sent her mom a thumbs up.

Now Esther and the Vessel are alone. “So… Does Abaddon talk to you often?” Esther sat down across from the boy, leaning forward a bit. “Not quite, but it recently started to update me more than usual.” Esther’s eyes lit up. If Abaddon isn’t here, Esther could find out more about the demon.

“Hey, does Abaddon talk about the vents?”

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Esther held a flashlight with her mouth as she crawled through the vents. Abaddon had more experience since he used these vents for who knows how long. The Vessel was behind the girl. Although he didn’t have the same experience as the demon, he seemed to have some kind of recollection of the vents.

“He takes a right from here,” The boy instructs. Esther takes a right, and she ends up falling down a chute. She lands at the bottom, dropping the flashlight. When she turns it back on, she is greeted with tons of bones. Right behind her was the Victorian boy.

“We found Abaddon’s bone collection!” The tiny crawl space was a bit wider, which allowed piles of bones that were sorted out by type to take over the space. Esther crawled a bit further down, and the boy followed along. “I don’t remember what was down here,” The boy’s eyes widened with surprise.

When the piles started to get larger, Esther spotted something shining in one of the piles. She reached forward and pulled out a vase. A familiar pattern struck as odd. Turning the vase to face her, she noticed it had the words. ‘Nathan Freeling’, Why did Abaddon have Uncle Nathan’s Ashes?

Better to just keep going and return the Ashes to mom. The vessel was curious about what Esther found, but it didn’t comment. The two continued going forward, vase in hand. Finally, when they made it to the end of the vents. Esther pushed open the lid to the vents and fell through. 

“Huh, it leads to the basement," Esther commented. The Vent was suspended above the floor, so Esther landed on the floor. Suddenly, the boy landed on top of Esther. “Ow!” The two get up and are covered in dust. “What is this dust?” The Vessel waved his hand to ward off the dust in the air. “I don’t think that's dust,” Esther says, holding up broken pieces of the vase.

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When the old elevator brought the two kids up to the top floor, Katherine was walking past. “Kids! Why are you covered in dust?”The mom glared slightly. “Let's just say we found what Abaddon hides in the vents,” Esther said, sweeping the ashes with her hands. “I guess since Abaddon is not ‘here’ we can give him a proper bath,” Katherine said.

“Bath?” It was weird to see Abaddon so quiet and patient. Esther went off to take a shower while Katherine took the Vessel to the bathroom. “ I remember the demon talking about this,” The boy held the woman’s hand as she opened the door and turned on the lights to the bathroom.

“You wouldn’t mind taking off your shirt, would you?” Katherine remembered trying to take it off Abaddon when she gave him his first and last bath. “I don’t, but would it be alright if I keep the ‘talisman’ on?” The Victorian boy unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to Katherine. This would be a lot easier than Katherine anticipated.

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Abaddon and Esther were in the parlor. After the demon attack, the two spent the next day cleaning up and restocking supplies. Esther has a habit of getting distracted easily, so of course, she was busy making a real talisman.

“Hey, Abaddon, what would happen if we put this on you?” She said, turning around with the necklace in her hand. “Nothing, I suppose, I’m bound to this vessel so that I would assume nothing,” Abaddon was hanging upside down from the shelf that housed the supplies.

Esther’s eyes lit up with mischief. “What if we try…” she proposed. Abaddon dropped down from his post, suspicious about the sudden change in tone. “I would rather not do that,” he backed up away from the girl.

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Nathan and Ben were talking at the kitchen table while Katherine was cooking. “And that’s the time I trained a cat to use a water jet,” Nathan said before chaos erupted. Esther and Abaddon burst through the door. Abaddon ran and crawled all around while Esther chased him.

“Esther! Abaddon! Sit down!” Katherine said while pulling Abaddon off the refrigerator. “Yes, Mom,” Esther sat down next to Ben. “What are you two doing?” Nathan asks. Abaddon, who was now seated on the opposite side, away from Esther, responded. “Esther was trying to place a talisman on me to observe what would happen,”

Suddenly, the girl appeared behind the demon boy and quickly placed the necklace around his neck. Abaddon stood from his chair abruptly and reached for the talisman. “You betrayed me! I shall wear your head around my neck and take your-” Suddenly, he collapsed and his head hit the table.

“So what now?” Ben says.

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Esther followed her mom as she placed an unconscious Abaddon down on the couch. “What do we do now?” Katherine placed her index finger and thumb on the bridge of her nose. “We could always just remove the talisman,” Ben reaches for the assortment of items that were tied into a necklace.

Suddenly, the demon boy awoke and swatted the hand away. “Abaddon! You're okay!” Nathan steps forward and places his hand on the boy’s shoulder. When the hand was placed on Abaddon, he panicked when it faded through. There was an expression of fear that no one had seen on the demon boy before.

“What’s happening? Who are you people?!” Instead of the deep, middle-aged man's voice that Abbadon possesses, it was a childish voice that spoke. Abaddon’s sharp and harsh appearance was smoother. His pale skin had a rosy tone and his eyes had a shine to them instead of the dull shine that made him look dead.

“Hold up, why is Abaddon acting like this?” Esther asks her mom. Katherine, on the other hand, was quiet. She knew exactly what this was.

“I think this is the boy Abaddon possessed!” She exclaimed, the boy’s face went cold, “Wait, how is this possible?” Ben asked. Everyone started to face Katherine as she explained that she didn’t know, but she knew what Abaddon told her. “Excuse me, but I am really confused and I don’t know where I am!” The sudden outburst got the attention of everyone.

“I’m sorry we should get you caught up to what’s happening,” Katherine said. Nathan nodded before saying, “Right now, you are in the 21st century.” The boy’s eyes widened. “And you have been possessed by a demon named Aba-” Nathan continued, but was cut off by the very confused boy.

“My mother and father must be dead by now,” He was quiet now, but that seemed to just confuse everyone else even more. “So you knew that Abaddon was possessing you?” Ben spoke up. “I... Did, but I didn’t know that it would ruin everything.” Tears started welling up and silently falling down the round cheeks.

“Hey, hey, everything is alright, for now, let's focus on your name,” Nathan comforted the boy. Wiping his nose before responding, “I... Can’t remember,” More tears started to fall, and Nathan started to panic since he made it worse. Katherine sighed before quickly suggesting, “How about we get you something to eat?”

The Vessel was guided to the kitchen by Katherine and Nathan while Esther was left with Ben in the living room. “Do you think you got rid of Abaddon?” Ben asked. “No, the talisman was not nearly as strong as the curse that Abaddon was under,” Esther responded while moving to her spell book, which lay on the floor.

“Should we take off the talisman and see if Abaddon will come back?” Ben peeked over his sister’s shoulders. “We could, but let's just see what happens for now,” Esther said with a malicious grin on her face.

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Everyone in the kitchen was silent. The boy was still crying, but he seemed to have calmed down. Nathan was unsure of what to say since he only seemed to make it worse, and Katherine was making a PB and J sandwich. The boy was staring at something and his gaze was unwavering. The drawing on the fridge, which Abaddon drew, hung right in front of the boy.

Nathan noticed what the boy was staring at, and just in case, he sat down, blocking the view. “The de-Abaddon’ would talk to me every once in a while, but it spoke very vaguely about what was going on,” The young boy said, breaking the everlasting silence.

Katherine was barely listening, too busy trying to think what was happening. Nathan was alarmed, but he was not surprised by the weird occurrences in the hotel.

Katherine placed a plate down with the sandwich. “What do you know so far? What did Abaddon tell you?” The woman took a seat by Aba- The kid. “Recently, it told me about a murderer that stole its… ‘trillby’?” A confused look took over the boy’s face.

“Anything about us?” Nathan asks. “Judging by the description, you are Nathan?” The boy points at the ghost. “And you are Esther?” He points at Katherine next. Nathan chuckles while Katherine corrects the Victorian boy. It was probably the fact that they had a similar look, which is why he mistook Katherine. The two children enter the room while this is happening.

“It spoke about two other children that took residence here,” The boy was about to respond, but a bell ringing echoed through the house. “A guest! Nathan, go find a room, and Ben, go help him.” Katherine was about to leave when she turned around. “Esther, please watch Abad- Him,” Esther sent her mom a thumbs up.

Now Esther and the Vessel are alone. “So… Does Abaddon talk to you often?” Esther sat down across from the boy, leaning forward a bit. “Not quite, but it recently started to update me more than usual.” Esther’s eyes lit up. If Abaddon isn’t here, it means Esther could see what Abaddon was hiding in the vents.

“Hey, does Abaddon talk about the vents?”

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Esther held a flashlight with her mouth as she crawled through the vents. Abaddon had more experience as he had used these vents for who knows how long. The Vessel was behind the girl. Although he didn’t have the same experience as the demon, he seemed to have some kind of recollection of the vents.

“He takes a right from here,” The boy instructs. Esther takes a right, and she ends up falling down a chute. She lands at the bottom, dropping the flashlight. When she turns it back on, she is greeted with tons of bones. Right behind her was the Victorian boy.

“We found Abaddon’s bone collection!” The tiny crawl space was a bit wider, which allowed piles of bones that were sorted out by type to take over the space. Esther crawled a bit further down, and the boy followed along. “He wouldn’t tell me that he placed down here, but I didn’t think it would be this morbid,” The boy’s eyes widened with surprise.

When the piles started to get larger, Esther spotted something shining in one of the piles. She reached forward and pulled out a vase. A familiar pattern struck as odd. Turning the vase to face her, she noticed it had the words. ‘Nathan Freeling’, Why did Abaddon have Uncle Nathan’s Ashes?

Better to just keep going and return the Ashes to mom. The vessel was curious about what Esther found, but it didn’t comment. The two continued going forward, vase in hand. Finally, when they made it to the end of the vents. Esther pushed open the lid to the vents and fell through.

“Huh, it leads to the basement," Esther commented. The Vent was suspended above the floor, so Esther landed on the floor. Suddenly, the boy landed on top of Esther. “Ow!” The two get up and are covered in dust. “What is this dust?” The kid waved his hand to ward off the dust in the air. “I don’t think that's dust,” Esther says, holding up broken pieces of the vase.

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When the old elevator brought the two kids up to the top floor, Katherine was walking past. “Kids! Why are you covered in dust?”The mom glared slightly. “Let's just say we found what Abaddon hides in the vents,” Esther said, sweeping the ‘dust’ with her hands. “I guess since Abaddon is not ‘here’ we can give him a proper bath,” Katherine said.

“Bath?” It was weird to see Abaddon so quiet and patient. Esther went off to take a shower while Katherine took the Vessel to the bathroom. “ I remember the demon talking about this,” The boy held the woman’s hand as she opened the door and turned on the lights to the bathroom.

“You wouldn’t mind taking off your shirt, would you?” Katherine remembered trying to take it off of Abaddon when she gave him his first and only bath in the sink. “I don’t, but would it be alright if I keep the ‘talisman’ on?” The Victorian boy unbuttoned his blue top, handing it to Katherine. This would be a lot easier than Katherine anticipated.

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The boy removed his first layer of clothes, and underneath was a white tank top. The talisman was still on, which might be a problem because getting it wet might ruin it. To fix this, Katherine ended up putting a ziplock bag over it and sealing the holes with hot glue.

It was hard working with the talisman around his neck, but he wouldn’t let her take it off. The boy kept his pants and undershirt on before getting in the tube. Last time, Abaddon refused to take off any of his clothes, and Katherine and Esther had to wash him using the kitchen sink.

Katherine helped the boy bathe by setting up the tub and putting shampoo in his hair. Layers of dirt and probably blood came out, making the water murky. After draining and replacing the water, Katherine rinsed and dried the boy, which finally meant he was dirt-free until she let him outside again.

It was very weird to say the least. Abaddon was not fighting back or trying to run away; he sat there patiently and only rubbed his eyes when soap got in his eyes. Katherine was once again reminded that this was not Abaddon; instead, the poor kid the demon possessed.

The boy sat on the floor, a towel wrapped around him, while the hotel owner ran to get some extra clothes so she could wash his old clothes. Esther’s old clothes will have to do for now. The kid was a bit smaller than what his age suggests, and that meant the shirt draped over him, and the pants had to be tied on with some extra strings.

Katherine could see a fresh scar on the boy’s body. The kid removed his tank top to put on the new shirt, and the woman had to hold in a gasp when she saw what lay underneath. It was shaped like a cross, but it looked as if someone had just given it to him.

No one in the hotel could have done that, so it must have been something Abaddon got a long time ago. It made no sense that it was still fresh since the demon could heal quickly than any normal human. Still, Katherine chose not to say anything and instead focused on helping the kid tie the piece of string around his pants.

When the two left the bathroom, the kid ran off to who knows where, while Katherine headed to her office. Nathan came around sometime to remind his sister that it was getting late and she should go to bed. Checking the time, it was around 11 pm.

The woman walked down the hallway, checking on her kids before they went to bed. When she reached Esther’s room, the girl was talking with the Victorian boy. “Oh, hey, Mom! What do we do with him?” Esther pointed out. It was true that Abaddon didn’t sleep anywhere because he didn’t sleep at all. “Oh, right!” Katherine runs down to the check-in and grabs some extra keys.

She comes back, and the two are still there. “Hey, I got some keys, and we can give you a guest room since we don’t have anything else.” When Katherine said that, the kid climbed down from Esther’s bed and followed the woman as she led him to the room number. “So I will have my own room?” The boy asked.

“Yep, and when you wake up, come downstairs into the kitchen.” Katherine felt safe to give the kid his own room because he was behaving better than Abaddon was. “And this is your room! If you need anything, my room is two doors down.” The hotel owner said before leaving the kid to rest and heading to her own room.

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Later that Night, Katherine woke up to someone opening her door. The familiar shape of their guest was standing at the door. “Hello?” Katherine asks, but gets no response. Instead, the boy walks closer to Katherine, which prompts her to get up and check what's going on.

When it gets close enough, she sees what's going on. The boy had tears falling down his face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She puts a hand on his head and crouches down to the kid’s level. This reminded her of when Ben used to get nightmares and would come to her late at night.

“Let’s get you back to bed.” The woman lifts up the boy and carries him back to his room. Carefully places him on the bed. Clearly, he was not ready to fall asleep because quiet sobs left his mouth. “What do you think if I stay here just until you fall asleep?” The boy nods, and Katherine sits down on the edge of the bed.

“Do you mind talking about why you’re crying?” The hotel owner asks. “I... Dreamt of the day... The demon took possession of me.” When those words left the boy’s mouth, the room felt cold. All Abaddon told her was that he took the form of a child who was the son of a powerful priest, but he never explained more.

“What happened?” She asked. The kid looked down at his hands before confessing to the events of that day. “I was playing jump rope after I had supper, when I heard a scuffle in the woods. My father forbade me from playing with women's toys, but I couldn’t help myself.” The boy seemed distant when he said the last sentence.

“I turned to the forests and saw that a tall dark figure stood at the edge. I felt no fear when conversing with it. It told me that it was looking for something, and I could help it.” The boy held out a hand. “I took its long, clawed hand, and... My hands were bound, and Father placed a hot iron cross on my chest.” It was obvious that the figure the boy described was Abaddon.

“I’ve never forgotten what happened to me.” More tears fell, and the boy started to cry even more. Katherine did what she always did back then. She wrapped her arms around the kid and pulled him onto her lap. She sat there humming until sobs were replaced with soft breathing.

Only when the boy was tucked in did she leave to go to her own room.

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