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Ben had just come home from shopping, he bought a few items for the hotel. A decorative vase, new red curtains, bright white pillow cases, and last but not least, a wooden wind chime.
He placed the rather large bag onto the hotel counter, taking a few items out of it, then placing them onto the side to put away later.
"Hey Ben, did you get everything I asked for?" Katherine asked, leaning onto the doorframe.
"Yes, I got the pillow cases, the curtains, a vase... Oh! And I also found a really nice wooden wind chime. I thought it'd look nice on the porch!"
Ben holds up the item, it made a hollow clicking noise as he presented the item to Katherine.
"Very nice... Now, I'm going to make lunch in an hour, would you mind putting the stuff away?"
"Yup!" Ben began placing the items into the storage room, minace the wind chime.
Ben re-entered the lobby, eyeing the object.
He grabbed the wind chime, and opened the door to the entrance of the hotel.
A small hook already stood at the ceiling of the porch. Ben stood on a chair as he placed the wind chime's string over the hook.
"Done." Ben smiled.
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Esther and Abaddon had planned to dig for bones and relics. It was a rather windy day, causing the wind chime to constantly be at work.
They had just stepped outside when the sound of the wooden pipes banging together made Abaddon scurry beneath the porch.
"Abaddon? What're you doing bud?"
No response.
"Abaddon?" Esther repeated.
"Abaddon!"
Still no response.
"I'm gonna go get mom." Esther retreated back inside the hotel, now on a mission to find her mother. "Mom?" Esther called out.
"Mom!"
Esther rounded the corner that led to the kitchen, "Mom!" Esther yelled.
"What is it, Esther?" Katherine didn't look away from her phone.
"Something's wrong with Abaddon."
"Everything's wrong with Abaddon." Katherine replied dryly.
"I'm serious, mom."
Katherine finally looked up, "What do you mean?" Katherine took a sip of her coffee.
"I think something threw him off, just come see for yourself." Esther motioned her mom to follow her.
Katherine drowsily sat up from her chair, stretching out and sliding through the bench behind her.
She made her way to the hotel entrance, staring at her daughter. Worry set in when she saw her expression. "Esther...? Where's Abaddon?"
Esther pointed to the ground as she leaned over the side of the porches' fence.
Katherine peered over the edge, scanning the ground for the demon child. He wasn't there, "where is he?" Katherine yelled over the wind.
"I think he went underneath the porch." Esther yelled back.
Katherine sighed as she stepped off the creaky wood, her fingers gliding off the hand rail.
"Abaddon...?" Katherine sat next to the porch, on the ground. She leaned closer to the grassy floor as she continued to try to get the boy out from under the old wood. "Abaddon!"
Her eyes continued to flick side to side as she searched for the demon, but a small noise could be heard near, possibly a ghost?
A whimpering ghost...? But as her eyes turned to the side, she noticed the little boy sitting in the corner, curled up with his knees held to his chest.
"Abaddon?"
He didn't look up. His nails appeared to be digging into his clothes. "Abaddon what's wrong?" Katherine's voice cracked.
She reached out to her nephew's arm, gently pulling at it, "Abaddon, come here. Let me help you."
Abaddon whined.
Katherine's concern only worsened. But she finally pulled the boy out.
A voice in her head had reminded her of the times when Ben would be scared of something. He'd cower and cry whenever he was afraid.
"Esther, I need you to put that wind chime away."
Esther was about to question why, but seeing her best friend in such a state made her act accordingly.
Katherine pulled Abaddon into a tight hug in hopes of calming him down.
While Esther stood on the rail, reaching for that damned wind chime. After a long stretch and some vulgar words, Esther finally got it down.
Esther jumped from the railing, rushing down the stairs to see if everything was okay.
"Mom? What happened?"
"I don't know, but I think he's scared of the wind chimes." Katherine shrugged, still holding onto the little demon.
He made no effort to get away from the woman, he just stayed in her arms as she rubbed the side of his shoulder.
"Abaddon, it's okay. They're gone now."
Esther crouched down onto the ground, staring worriedly at her best friend.
"I'm going to bring him back inside." Katherine stood up as she began walking to the door.
Esther nodded as she ran back up the porch stairs and held the door open for her mother.
"Thank you Esther." They both walked inside.
"I'll be upstairs." Katherine said while quickly picking up pace as she hurried to the stairs.
Katherine opened the door to her bedroom, quickly closing it behind her.
She tried to place the boy on her bed, but he didn't want to let go.
"Abaddon, just give me a second."
He hesitantly let go, instantly pulling his knees to his chest the second he left contact with Katherine.
She opened her closet door, taking out a warm purple sweater.
Walking back over to Abaddon, "okay, put your arms up."
He slowly raised his arms above his head, still shaking. From the cold, or fear, it was undeniable both.
She slid the sweater over his arms and head, pulling it down to his waist.
"There. Nice and warm." Katherine smiled.
Abaddon looked up at Katherine, giving her an obvious look of fear.
She decided to hold him again, placing him atop her lap. Wrapping her arms around his frail body.
"So, you're gonna tell me what happened back there? Or no?" Katherine looked down towards the boy.
He returned her gaze, only more broken. His eyes were glossy, and irritated. Not to mention the tears that kept pricking at his eyes.
"Abaddon, are you crying...?" Katherine pulled the child closer.
He shielded his face with her chest, not wanting to be seen in such a vulnerable state.
He tightly enclosed his arms around the woman's neck.
"I knew Nathan said you didn't like wind chimes but I didn't think it was this bad..."
Katherine rested her head onto the boys'.
"It's okay, Abaddon." She gently caressed his back, "I've got you, you're okay."
"Just take deep breaths."
He slowly took a long deep breath through his nose, then exhaling through his mouth.
"There you go." Katherine smiled.
Abaddon repeated that calming method for a little while longer before almost fully composing himself.
"Better?" Katherine asked with a growing smile.
Abaddon gradually nodded.
"Good."