Chapter Text
Esther, one of her days searching for resources for her spells in the forest near the hotel, ends up finding a small, old, weather-worn cabin, almost falling into ruins.
She decided to approach the hut, thinking that inside it might contain bones and very interesting things, like... gold and some jewelry. If she found that, she could sell it for a great price! But then the thought of her mother telling her where she found that money hit her head, making her roll her eyes.
The closer Esther got, the more she felt that something was wrong in the environment, a strange energy, but it seemed like the energy of some ghost, she knew it wasn't any of the ghosts in the hotel, since she knew most of the energy of the spirits there.
— "It must be a new ghost." The thought makes her happy, she really loves meeting new ghosts!
Just as she was about to open the door, nearly falling out of the cabin, a small 'pi' sound came out of her watch, signaling it was time for her to return to the hotel and get ready for school. She hated going to school, but her mother wanted her to be something in life, and she wanted her mother not to disappoint her. So she turned and ran away from the cabin, wanting her mother to scold her.
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— "I swear I felt the presence of a ghost in the forest!" Esther says excitedly, eating her plate of food in a hurry.
— "You know there are strange things in the forest—" Ben is interrupted mid-speech.
— "Yes, I know! But he looked like a ghost with a strong energy. He was definitely something interesting when he was alive." Esther continues with her enthusiastic tone.
— "You know what Nathan says about talking to the ghosts outside the hotel," Katharine says, using that classic mother tone. She was preparing Abaddon's meal; the last time he made it himself, he ended up spilling half of it on the floor.
— "But I haven't talked to the ghost... yet," Esther says, her tone mischievous and provocative.
Katharine carries the plate of food to Abaddon, who was for some reason standing on the chair.
— "Abaddon, sit in the chair." Katharine's voice suggested this was more of an order than a request.
— "How dare you give orders to the prince of darkness, king snake, and the one you have led astray from fear?!" Abaddon and his senseless tantrums. He sometimes didn't even seem like a 10,000-year-old demon .
— "Abaddon, sit on the chair." Katherine seemed to be running out of patience, the thought of forcing the demon in a child's body to sit down by force already crossing her mind.
Abaddon stares at Katharine for a while, considering challenging her before just giving in and sitting down in the chair like a normal person, picking up the spoon that was on the plate and starting to eat.
Katharine let out a sigh of relief, she thought it would be harder to make Abaddon obey a simple order, but it seems he didn't want to resist today.
When the single mother returns to look at her other two children, they're all gone; they'd probably gone to get ready for school. She had a strong desire to send Abaddon to school, not that she wanted to get rid of the boy for a few hours... okay, who's she kidding? Of course she wanted to get rid of Abaddon for a few hours; a mother needs a break sometimes, you know? But this could also help Abaddon improve his writing and reading, since he was terrible at both. She just hasn't done so yet because the demon is a bit aggressive toward... anyone who smiles at him.
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After hours and hours in that prison they called school, Ben and Esther were finally home.
Nathan was waiting for the children outside the hotel, hoping to get a hug from one of his nephews, but his hopes of getting a hug were dashed when Esther ran into the hotel lobby, passing her uncle without even saying 'hi'.
— "Come on, Ben! We need to go after whatever that is in the abandoned cabin!"
Ben follows Esther with quick steps, passing by his uncle and saying 'Hey' as a greeting and then disappearing into the hotel with his sister.
Nathan looks at this in surprise, but just lets out a sigh as if it were the most carefree thing that had ever happened in that hotel.
— "Kids being kids." Nathan lets out a low laugh, before entering the hotel with his nephews.
— "Abaddon!" Esther shouted from the hotel lobby, hoping the demon would hear her.
— "Don't you think it would be better if we just went looking for him?" Ben suggests, the idea is better than shouting a demon's name in a hotel that already doesn't have a very good reputation.
After Ben's speech, a noise can be heard in the vent, and soon after, Abaddon emerges from it, standing behind Esther and Ben. They both turn to look at the demon, and Esther begins to talk about her incredible plan to go to the abandoned cabin.
— "So, let's go to the cabin now! I could hardly wait for class to end to find out what's there." She speaks excitedly, as if nothing dangerous could exist there.
— "You know, Esther, the last time Uncle Nathan, Abaddon, and I went to a cabin in the middle of the woods, we almost died..."
— "You won't die if I'm with you!" She knew she couldn't protect them, but she said it to cheer up the other two.
— "I'm not dying. I've already tried." Abaddon seemed calm about all this, which motivated Esther even more, who was already starting to run out of the hotel lobby.
It took Ben a while to start running after Esther, but after a few seconds, he took Abaddon's hand and started running after his sister.
Abaddon's eyes widened at the regretful grip on his hand, making him try in every way to pull his hand out of Ben's grasp, but unfortunately, he couldn't and only accepted that he would be pulled into the middle of a forest.
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The walk to the cabin was incredibly calm, with only Abaddon grumbling about being pulled and Ben talking about how dangerous the place seemed.
This cabin was not far from the hotel, and was close to a cliff, where if you looked down, you could see bones of animals and even people.
—"We're here!" Esther speaks as if the place were the most interesting and beautiful thing she's ever seen.
— "Don't you think this thing might collapse on our heads if we go in?..-" Ben seemed a little wary of entering the cabin, thinking that it might fall down while they were inside.
— "Oh Ben, stop worrying so much! And if this hasn't fallen apart by now, it won't with us in it."
Ben lets out a sigh, finally letting go of Abaddon's hand, who quickly pulls it closer to his body. "If you say so..." Benjamin still seemed a little reluctant about the idea, but a new adventure was always welcome.
— "First let's look outside, there might be interesting things." While Esther was talking, Abaddon was already on the other side of the house when he found something that looked like an old rosary lying on the ground.
He bends down to pick up the rosary; it wouldn't do anything to him, even though he's a demon.
Abaddon picks up the rosary with one hand, still crouching, until he stands up when he hears a noise coming from the bushes and begins to feel a strange sensation of being present. He looks around, seeing no one, but still remains suspicious. After a few more seconds, he hears nothing more, only the sound of shoulders, and returns to where Esther and Ben are.
— "Abaddon, did you find anything?" Esther asks walking up to Abaddon.
Abaddon lifts the hand that was holding the rosary and shows it to Esther. — "That's all I got."
Esther looked surprised to see Abaddon holding a rosary. — "You should be burning for taking that."
— "That's not how it works, Esther."
While Abaddon and Esther were talking, Ben came running up to them.
— "Guys, I think I saw something inside the cabin!"
Esther's eyes lit up at this information. "Then let's go into the cabin!" she said, already starting to run into the cabin.
Ben doesn't have time to say anything, with Abaddon and Esther already in front of the dry wooden door of the cabin, making him have to follow the two, even though he is reluctant to enter.
Esther, without waiting for Benjamin, kicks the door, which opens it immediately. She is the first to enter the abandoned cabin, looking around and immediately seeing... a tall man with a hole in his chest.
The man wore clothes similar to Abaddon's, he looked like some kind of pilgrim. His hair was dark and long, and he wore a black hat on his head.
Esther knew this man was a ghost, given the huge hole in his chest. She approached the man, making him turn to her.
— "Hello, sir! Who are you?"
The man seemed surprised to see the child, but didn't seem to mind much, given that he had been alone for a long time.
— "My name is Nathaniel Crowe, nice to meet you."
Abbadon stood at the door, seemingly unaware of the ghost's appearance. Ben ran into the cabin, finding his sister talking to a new ghost.
Hearing Ben's footsteps, the ghost looks up from Esther and toward the door. His eyes pass over Ben and rest on Abaddon, who also seems to notice who this new ghost is.
Now Nathaniel was sure that this was his son, or just what was left of him, since little Abel had been possessed by a demon called Abaddon, who killed him when he tried to get the demon out of the poor little boy's body.
The silence in the cabin was heavy.
Nathaniel stared at the demon as if time had stopped — and Abaddon, for a second, didn't know where to hide his gaze.
After many centuries, Abaddon felt something he thought he would never feel. Fear. After all, ghosts have power over demons.