Chapter Text
Annabelle had never been very observant. Even in life, she had a hard time noticing when someone was feeling down. The decades she'd spent trapped in the Undervale had only soured her disposition and further diminished her already short temper. That's why, unless someone told her directly, she found it impossible to gauge other people's moods.
Not that she cared much.
In her more than one hundred years of existence, she'd met many people, and every single one of them had tried to take advantage of her one way or another. By this point, she'd endured too many hits. Too many disappointments. She had enough on her plate just looking after herself; the last thing she needed was to worry about someone else.
That's why the first time Ben mentioned his bully, she didn't even give it a second thought. Nor did she the second, third, or twenty-ninth time. She simply brushed the thought away from her mind like a pesky fly.
Besides, her boyfriend talked about it so casually that, for her, calling it “bullying” was hyperbolic. A weird joke about someone who was nothing more than a rude friend. If it were an actual problem Ben would try to do something about it, right?
And who knows, maybe the meaning of the word "bullying" had changed in the last thirty years and she just hadn't realized it yet.
That day, however, she couldn't ignore it.
She was, as usual, in Ben's room waiting for him to come home from school. She didn't mind spending her mornings there. Over time, it had become her little refuge, a place where they shared kisses and secrets in equal measure. Even in those moments when she was alone, she could entertain herself with the videos Ben had prepared for her on his computer.
And there she sat for an hour, and then another hour. She watched the whole playlist. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that the door finally burst open. Annabelle opened her arms, expecting Ben's embrace, but he barely noticed her. He simply walked into the room, carelessly dropped his backpack, and collapsed onto the bed, phasing through her.
He didn’t even see her? Seriously?
The girl frowned. Ben had better have an excuse for ignoring her like that after making her wait that long. She decided to clear her throat a little to get his attention.
"Huh?" Ben turned his head and jumped when he saw her. "Ah! Annabelle!"
"What are you doing?" She sounded pissed.
The boy lowered his head and clasped his hands, pleading for mercy.
"Sorrysorrysorry! I didn't see you. I swear!"
The apologies did little to calm her down; if anything, they irritated her even more. They weren't what she wanted to hear.
"Are you going to tell me why you took so long to get here?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I missed my favorite show BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Ben flinched at the scream. Any other time, he would have responded with a nervous chuckle and a truth laced with flattery, but he was exhausted. The boy didn't even have the strength to sit up, much less argue or defend himself. He ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
"Um… piano lessons?"
Annabelle forced a smile.
"Ben. Honey. Sweetheart. Light of my heart."
"Yes?" he hopefully asked.
"I know your schedule Ben. By heart." Ben seemed to have "oh right" written all over his face. "Now tell me the truth, or I swear I'll walk right out that door and you'll never see me again."
Her ultimatum, devoid of any real intent but dripping with venom, seemed to be the push the boy needed to finally open up.
"Okay, fine…" he sat up with some effort. "Now, you remember who Zeff is, right?"
His partner’s confused expression suggested she didn’t, so Ben continued his story.
“He’s my bully” he explained, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “The thing is, today I had a… uh… incident with him.”
She nodded and looked him in the eyes, waiting for him to continue. Ben avoided her gaze and nervously scratched the back of his neck before going on.
“I have no idea why, I guess he was in a bad mood today or something. But the thing is, when we were leaving he… cornered me.”
The wrinkle on the girl’s forehead deepened.
“…What?”
“I don’t know what he wanted, because he’d already taken my lunch, like always. But I noticed he was starting to follow me, so I uh… hid in the bathroom.”
Ben fidgeted with his fingers, nervous. He took a breath before continuing.
“He chased me, but I managed to lock myself in a stall before he could do anything. I waited in there until I was sure he was gone.”
“And was he?”
“Yeah, but he’d locked the door.”
She let out an “Oh” tinged equally with pity, anger, and comprehension. The gesture made Ben feel better.
"So that's why you're so late? Because you were locked inside?"
Ben let out a nervous chuckle and looked away.
"Yeah... I only managed to get out because the janitor heard me banging on the door. But hey, I'm here now, so who cares?."
The boy tried to lighten the mood with another chuckle, but got no response. Annabelle was still frowning, feeling her nonexistent blood boil and block her thoughts.
"Belle-belle?" A hand waving in front of her face snapped her out of her trance. "Are you there?"
She instinctively recoiled, letting out a whimper. She didn't like having anyone so close without warning, and her boyfriend was no exception.
"Yeah, yeah, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just that you were making a face that…” He tugged at his neckline “Oof. Scary." The boy held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "But it isn't that big of a deal! Really! You don't have to get so worked up!"
"And how do you expect me to get? Maybe you don't care if that jerk chases you down the halls like some dingbat ape who had his bananas stolen, but I do." The girl clenched her fist and raised it slightly. "If someone ever treated me like that they wouldn't live to see another day."
Ben instinctively tugged at his hoodie strings, trying to calm himself. Annabelle made it sound so easy. A fight. With Zeff. Of course. How had he not thought of that?
"It's not that simple..."
"It's not? I think it is. Anyone can learn to leave you alone after the first broken tooth, trust me." Annabelle's lips curled into a sinister smile. "And you don't even have to win the fight. Just make it not worth the trouble to mess with you, and he'll leave you alone, you'll see."
"Well, if you say so... I'll try."
Ben sighed and gave her a smile that looked… Grateful? Tired? Touched? It wasn't quite clear. That gesture of his was usually adorable, but now it irritated her. Annabelle clenched her jaw. Ben had only said yes not because he was going to take her advice, but because he wanted her to stop talking about it. He'd already given up.
She remained in frustrated silence. What else could she say? All the responses that came to mind would inevitably end in a fight, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Weird. Any other day she would have loved to stomp out of the room with her chin held high, knowing that in less than half an hour she'd have the boy groveling for her forgiveness.
But today there was something that frustrated her. A thought. An idea fluttering nervously at the edge of her mind. If she stretched out her fingers she could almost reach it.
She wanted to help Ben, but didn't know how.
Annabelle stared at her translucent hands, her fingers flexing slightly. She wrinkled her nose, annoyed.
"Mmph…"
"Did you say something?"
"Huh?" For a second, she'd forgotten Ben was even there.
"No, it's nothing."
The girl got off the bed, smoothing down her dress.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
Ben knew those words were actually a code that meant "I need to be alone for a while, don't bother me." So he just nodded slightly, murmuring, "Oh, okay." He didn't even bother to watch her as she phased through the door.
Annabelle didn't stay in the bathroom. She went through the wall and down the hallways with a clear objective: Esther's room. If anyone could help with this, it’d be her.
She didn't take long to get there, one of the advantages of walls not being an obstacle. Luckily, the little girl was there, drawing a symbol on the floor with a substance the ghost couldn't identify. Nor did she care.
Esther didn't seem to notice her arrival, and didn't until her hand met the newcomer's foot, making her look up.
"What do you want?" she asked bluntly. "Because you want something, otherwise you'd be eating Ben’s face right now"
"I want you to make Ben's bully leave him alone."
Esther stared at her, brush in hand, for a few seconds before giving an answer.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because he's your brother, maybe? Because someone in this hotel has to do something, I'd say."
The redhead went back to what she was doing, paying more attention to the ritual circle than to Annabelle's request.
"Uh-huh. And did Ben tell you to ask me for help on his behalf?"
Annabelle opened her mouth to reply, but quickly closed it. Nothing came to mind. Nothing that didn't sound stupid, at least.
The girl gritted her teeth and turned her back on Esther, crossing her arms.
"What does it matter? You're his sister, act like it."
"Excuse me?" The little girl didn't even bother to hide her chuckle. "Did 'sister' mean something else a hundred years ago?"
Luckily for both of them, she didn't give Annabelle time to get angry about the joke.
"As for your question, it's not that easy." The sound of her strokes seemed to pause for a moment before she continued. "For starters, since the Rollyfluff fiasco Mom checks that I don’t bring monsters or magic objects to school, so you tell me how I'm going to get that guy to leave him alone. To f—"
"So what?" Annabelle interrupted. "It's not that hard to hide something. You're making excuses!"
"To f—"
"Besides, you're a hypocrite!" she cut again. "Because you were real quick to help your mommy with Phoebe and the rest of the ghosts. Wh—"
"TO FINISH," Esther exclaimed loudly, fed up with the interruptions "How do you think they'd treat Ben at school if his little sister saved him? It would only make it worse."
Esther drew the last stroke on the wooden floor and stood up, satisfied, to admire the finished piece. The girl put her hands on her hips and glanced sideways at Annabelle.
"It didn't turn out half bad huh."
Annabelle didn't return her smile. Instead, she looked away again.
"Don't change the subject," she said indignantly. "Are you going to help or not?"
"Who's changing the subject? I thought I already made it clear I wasn't going to do anything."
"So what am I supposed to do? Let everything stay the same?"
"You're a ghost" Esther shrugged. "It's not like you can do anything else."
As if she didn't know that. Annabelle bit her lip in frustration. Insulting Esther wouldn't do her any good; it would only turn her against her, and that was the last thing any resident of the Undervale wanted.
"So… do you wanna tell me something else or…"
Annabelle didn't bother to stay in the room to hear the rest. Why doesn't Esther care about what's going on? Stupid, ungrateful brat. After everything Ben has done for her… Annabelle hoped whatever she's cooking up in her room blows up in her face.
The girl stomped down the hallway. She had no destination in mind; she wasn’t in the mood to go to the speakeasy, much less see Ben. Her furious stride eventually led her to a dead end. If she could, she'd punch the wall just to let out some of her anger.
"Maybe Katherine will take all this more seriously…" she thought. "At least she'll make the bullying stop, I suppose…"
A metallic creak behind her, followed by a thud, made Annabelle jump. She turned around just in time to see Abaddon get up, bag in hand, and the vent cover dangling over him.
The demon, covered in lint and mysterious stains, barely acknowledged her presence with a slight nod before continuing on his way.
Annabelle was about to let him go, but suddenly she stopped, her fingers finally closing around that elusive thought. It wasn't a good idea, but it was an idea.
"Abaddon, wait!" The girl ran to block his path.
The demon, surprisingly, stopped.
"Manifest your will, ghost" he said bluntly. "Esther requires these bones for her ritual, and we must perform it before nightfall."
"I need your help." Oh, how deeply Annabelle hated that word, but she needed to get Abaddon on her side. "There's a boy at school who's making Ben's life miserable. Someone has to teach him a lesson. Make him suffer and regret what he's done."
The little demon remained silent for a few seconds, as if he were seriously considering the idea. This worried her; Abaddon was usually always eager to inflict physical pain on someone. Or psychological pain. That boy just enjoyed pain.
“Is this boy an enemy?”
Annabelle frowned. Did those technicalities really matter that much?
"He’s certainly mine" she finally muttered. "Are you going to help or not?"
"Is torture allowed?" he asked.
Annabelle hesitated. Just for a second. But long enough to feel the doubt forming a lump in her throat.
Ben wouldn't do this.
But if it were up to Ben, nothing would change.
"Of course torture is allowed," Annabelle conceded, putting her hands on her hips. "What kind of question even is that?"
"Katherine asked me for something similar just to punish me for being obedient" the boy wrinkled his nose, annoyed. "I didn't appreciate it much."
Annabelle rolled her eyes.
"Yeah right, well, I don't care what you do to him."
Abaddon nodded and rubbed his hands together, his lips curling in a malicious smile.
"Okay... and what's this… “boy” like? he asked, his eyes sparkling. “What’s my next victim like?”
Annabelle didn’t know what to think of the word “victim.” She swallowed, hoping it would take the lump away. It didn’t work, but she’d already made up her mind. Now she just had to live with it.
“I don’t know uh… His name’s Zeff. I think he was blond? No idea. You just keep an eye on who’s messing with Ben in school and do your thing when the guy’s alone. Oh, and don’t let anyone in the hotel see you.”
“Okay. We have a deal. I'll do It tomorrow.”
The girl nodded, glad that someone finally understood and wanted to help her.
“I’ll be waiting.”