Chapter Text
Wint’r Abraham decides, is one of the most WONDROUS seasons for playing. Snowmen, snoweth forts, snoweth angels, skating on the lake, sliding on a wooden planks down the hills! Abraham recalled a time when Edith had swept so fast down a snow and ice covered hill that once he could no longer find her that maybe she be gone, taken by some winter spirit to another realm.
”Edith!” He’d called, “Art thee good now? Wh’re art thee?” His panicked calls were met by excited cackling as Edith had popped out of a mound of snow at the bottom of the steep hill. “I am good now dram broth’r, I am not did injure in any way! ‘T wast excit’ment! Thee tryeth!” Her smile contagious as she pulled herself out of the snow, brushing what she could off of her woollen skirts.
Nerves overwhelm him for only a moment before Abraham sits upon his own wooden plank, scooting closer toward the sliding path of the hill, then all at once he’s plummeting down, down, down far faster than he’s ever moved before. Abraham can’t help but let out a giddy high pitched squeal before being stopped by a mound of snow far too fast, tipping head first into it himself. Nearly as soon as Abraham finds himself face first in the pile of snow his sister is dragging him out by the back of his frock coat, laughing maniacally at his misfortune.
In the distance the two of them hear the unmistakable sound of their mothers kitchen bell ringing, a signal for all five of the children to return for their evening meal.
As Abaddon opened his eye’s he briefly wondered how long he’d been asleep, sleeping was not a new activity for the being but it was an uncommon one; that being said it seemed that whatever transition he was going through required sleep at a much higher rate. The dreaming was relatively new, though this felt less like a dream and more like a memory that wasn’t his. Abraham… Abaddon recalled the name of his vessels soul, his own soul.
He wondered how often these images would plague his mind, whether they would all be pleasant or if there would be less kind ones in the future as Abaddon pulled himself out from under his knitted dinosaur blanket, it still felt odd to the boy to have a room to himself and he much preferred to stay in small confined spaces but he supposed it was nice to have a bed. Oddly his bodies new aches and pains went away faster if he laid in the bed for a period of time. The floor boards were chilled against his small feet and he once again found himself missing his proper clothes, though Katherine and Isaac had said something about visiting the Amish as soon as they could; Abaddon didn’t understand why they couldn’t just go now. He supposed they were afraid of the snow.
Before Abaddon has a chance to think of getting up the rest of the way, his bedroom door is opening and Katherine is entering with a quiet “Hello, oh you’re awake.” She walks toward the bed where Abaddon sits facing the window, he’s wearing some of Esthers sweatpants and a cotton long sleeve shirt as it’s all that’s available that even slightly fit’s and doesn’t make the child want to rip his own flesh off. “Here,” Katherine says, “let’s get you bundled up.” She wraps his dinosaur blanket around him, pulling a large portion over his head like a hood before scooping his body off the bed where he’d been sitting only a moment earlier and tucking him against her hip.
I am capable of walk, matriarch. You do not have to treat me as an infant… Abaddon wishes to say but no such words come out, nothing but a sullen sulk on a far too hot face. He’s unsure as to why, but the words he wishes to release unto others have been trapped like flies in molasses ever since the incident at the old collapsed church, the sound of his own voice that day echoing through his head like a stranger “I wish to go back to the hotel” far too high pitched, young and frightened and fragile to be Abaddon himself.
Katherine is gently stroking his back as she carries him toward the kitchen, her demeanour having changed significantly ever since Abaddons custody had been signed over to her. Isaac had come to visit twice already, his concern for Abaddons seeming refusal to speak matching that of Katherine and Nathans, but today seemed to be quiet.
As they entered the kitchen Abaddon noticed that Esther and Ben were already dressed as if going out, Nathan looming over Ben’s shoulder watching him eat his cereal. Katherine gently deposited Abaddon in his usual spot before pouring out a bowl of cereal for him along with milk and placing a spoon inside, leaving the box on the table, although Abaddon found his nose to be stuffy he could just barely make out the sweet smell of Froot Loops before him. Attempting to read the name on the box was confusing, the ‘O’ in Abaddons name made an ‘Aw’ sound but it seemed these ‘O’s made ‘Ooo’ sounds, he’d need to ask about that as soon as his voice returned to him.
”So what’s the plan today Esther?” Katherine asks as she pours herself a bowl of Cheerios, Esther swallows a large mouthful of cereal before answering with a grin “Joel’s gonna pick us up to go to town, there’s a few occult stores I wanna check out and see if maybe they have anything interesting on Black Magic. Plus maybe I can find something on Abaddons situation, maybe help him feel better!” Abaddon studies the witch, there’s an excited gleam in her eye’s as if ready for a challenge as she shovels another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
Abaddon takes a spoonful of his own Froot Loops as Katherine turns to Ben, “And what about you Ben, what are your plans for today’s trip?” He clears his throat before answering, “To be honest,” he says “I need to learn more about this conduit thing so I’m gonna see what I can find about it while we’re at the occult stores. Maybe I’ll come across something insightful.” Just as Ben gets up from the table to take his bowl and spoon to the sink, they hear the front door to the hotel open and a distant familiar voice call in letting them know who it is. Not long after Joel is making his way into the kitchen with a potted poinsettia in his hand, “Hi,” he elongates, greeting everyone happily. Abaddon just stares, he feels like his mind is slipping away and his body is made of static. “This is for you, I’ll leave it on the counter and you can decide where to put it later.” Joel places the potted plant next to the sink before turning back to the family.
He wants to pay attention to what’s happening, Abaddon truly does but he’s tired. For a moment it’s like the world around him goes foggy and blank and distant before he blinks and he’s suddenly almost face first in his cereal and Katherine is standing next to him with a hand on his chest keeping him upright. Esther and Ben have left with Joel while Nathan appears to be watching, never having gotten up from his seat. “Food’s not for sleeping in Bud.” Nathan laughs from the other end of the table, his chin in his hand as he watches Katherine and Abaddon, the later of which whines in protest.
Abaddon isn’t sure what happened, he was eating one moment then nearly passing out the next. If this is what the human illnesses felt like all the time Abaddon would be sure to never suffer another in his entire existence. “Can you eat anymore?” Katherine asks. He’d only eaten a few spoonfuls at this point but Abaddon found his stomach twisting at the idea of forcing anymore down his throat, shaking his head the boy didn’t voice a complaint as he was scooped up once again by Katherine.
Instead Abaddon found himself pressing into his guardians chest, attempting to absorb as much body heat as physically possible while she walked them both toward the lounge, Nathan following closely beside her. Nathan was saying something in a hushed voice to Katherine that Abaddon couldn’t make out, Annabelle was sitting in the lounge when they arrived and although she looked frustrated she said nothing when Abaddon was sat upon one of the couches still wrapped neatly in his knitted dinosaur blanket.
The tired boy, far too tired to be normal in his books; could tell there were words being exchanged between the three of them before Katherine and Nathan made their departure, more than likely to begin their hotel duties for the day while Annabelle stayed by his side as Abaddon lay watching the prison box people she had already been watching before he’d arrived.
Katherines worry is sustained throughout the day’s since getting Abaddon back, he’s clearly experiencing something new that he can’t get through on his own but the mother of two isn’t sure her personal experience with childhood illnesses is going to help her with this one. Abaddon hasn’t spoken since asking to come him, only whines or grumbles in protest; sometimes she swears she can hear him trying to talk in his sleep but Katherine can’t make out what he’s saying. He has a fever almost all the time, his face showing the discomfort of illness in a flush along with sweat coating his forehead and cheeks. He’s paler than usual but part of her wonders if it’s due to the contrast, and recently he’s been having these spells where he just stares off into space.
Katherine is getting up from her seat just as Esther and Ben are leaving with Joel for their day trip when Nathan says “Man I’m jealous, I want to go to an occult store! Wouldn’t that be fun? You ever been to an occult store Abaddon?” To which there is no response.
”Abaddon?” Nathan tries again, looking over Katherine sees that the boys eyes are half lidded and unfocused, his hand lax around his spoon as it hangs out of the bowl, cereal and milk spilling onto the tabletop as he slowly begins leaning forward. Katherine quickly moves to stand next to Abaddon, placing a hand in the centre of his chest in order to stop him from the face plant he’d surely be taking into his cereal otherwise. Just as quietly as he had slipped into his own thoughts Abaddon was back, blinking up at Katherine with a confused frown, then at Nathan as her brother laughed “Food’s not for sleeping in bud.” Abaddon whines at the comment and Katherine didn’t find it funny at all, these little moments of exhaustion or daydreaming or whatever it was that Abaddon was experiencing were getting more frequent and more intense, and she was becoming seriously concerned.
”Can you eat anymore?” Katherine asked, the answer almost always was no but she still felt it important to give him the opportunity just in case he may still be hungry. At the shake of his head the woman scooped her nephew up and began making her way to the lounge, Abaddon cuddling into her chest as they made their way down the halls.
“I think he’s gonna be okay. Might as well absorb this cuteness while we have the chance!” Nathan’s giggle was at least semi reassuring if only a little.
Katherine sighs, attempting to put her worries out of her mind for now “Yeah I guess you’re right. I just… I don’t like feeling like I don’t know what’s happening. And it feels like a lot of things are happening that I don’t know about. I mean, Esther already said something about him having humanity now? What does that mean for him? And we still have to figure out who wanted to use him to end the world.” She tightens her grip subconscious as they enter the lounge, Annabelle is there watching Downton Abbey, she appears frustrated at their arrival but doesn’t say anything.
”Annabelle, do you mind keeping an eye on Abaddon? We’ve gotta start our hotel tasks for the day.” Katherine watches as Annabelle gives a slight nod before she and Nathan leave for the front lobby, Annabelle was much like any other ghost in the hotel, she’d do anything for extra T.V. time.
As the two siblings made their way toward the lobby, one for cleaning supplies and the other to stand watch at the front desk Katherine said “I know I can’t fix any of this immediately but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about any of it. And then there’s the kids and what they’ve been through, plus you.”
”Me?” Nathan sounds like a child himself in that moment, like the teacher just called on him to answer a question when his hand was never raised, “I’m fine, never better actually. Cross my heart and hope to… Well.”
”You did that weird glowing angry ghost thing twice. And also not funny.” Katherine takes out a few bathroom supplies, only intending to do some minor tidying as they hadn’t had any guests during the whole debacle. On top of that, her leg was still broken so walking around still ached something fierce. “My anxiety is just up, okay? I can’t help it.” Nathan’s face pinches into one of understanding.
”Kathy, just remember that you’re doing the best you can. Plus you’ve got a team here to help you, that’s why Joels got Esther and Ben out today on a field trip. Plus you’ve got that new friend, uhh… Letitia! Heathers mom.” Nathan encourages.
She can feel the sigh gather in her chest as she carries the few cleaning supplies she needs back towards the ground floor bathroom, having taken Nathans words to heart before leaving him to watch the front desk. Before continuing on to her task she stops by the lounge to peak inside only to see Annabelle staring at Abaddon as he lay on the couch. His hands, although curled up in his blanket were twitching; his face was scrunched in displeasure and flushed with fever and sweat, he also appeared to be having a nightmare.
When Katherine approached Abaddons prone form Annabelle said a quiet “I think he’s having a nightmare…” which Katherine nodded her head to, gently stroking his hair away from his face she found her nephew to be whining a mix of inaudible words in his sleep.
“Mama…ahh.. prithee I begeth Papa…” He whines and curls in on himself, Katherine feels a horrible sense of dread; as if these are the lived experiences of someone long before her, and they probably are but not hers to hear. “Burns… mine own flesh…Mama, Mama!” And Katherine can’t help it, she picks him up blanket and all and without thought begins to rock side to side, giving little hops in order to soothe his heartbreaking cries. It isn’t long before his cries quiet down and Abaddon is awake again, unaware of what had happened yet still exhausted from energy spent all the same.
Katherine considers his voice for a moment as she continues to rock gently from side to side, running her hand up and down his spine in a rhythmic motion. Just like the day they’d nearly lost him, just like the day they finally got him back; he’d sounded so different then and still did now. His voice still sounded like Abaddon just distinctly childlike, it was one of the few things he’d surely not realized about his possession that he’d gotten wrong originally, his voice was too deep to be that of a child’s. But now it was different, almost like someone had taken his voice and turned back the clock on him to match that of the body he now had as his own, Katherines theory was that the reason Abaddon had gone mute was due to this, another part of his demonic self lost outside of his control and in such a vulnerable situation too.
”Do you think you’ll be okay until Esther and Ben get home?” Abaddons head shaking against her neck was enough of an answer for her, it was difficult work with her leg in the state that it was in but she managed to make it out to the front desk to take a seat behind the main computer next to where Nathan was standing. “Nightmare,” she says, indicating toward their shared ward. “We’re gonna wait until Esther and Ben get back so he’s a little more at ease.”
Nathan watches them both for a moment, concentrating on Abaddons hair as he slowly reaches out to place a hand on the top of his son’s head. To their surprise his hand stays steady there for a single moment before going incorporeal again. Abaddon seems to relax at the feeling of Nathans hand in his hair.
”Did you just…” Katherine cant help the shock that laces her voice, though she attempts to keep it steady so as to not upset the already back-to-sleep Abaddon in her lap.
”I… I think I did, yeah. Or I mean, it felt like I touched his hair. But it stopped working like… right away, so I really don’t know I could have imagined it.” Nathan seems sceptical but Katherines almost positive he had touched Abaddons head somehow, part of her wonders if this has something to do with him going all crazy ghost.
For a moment Katherine considers the fact that losing Abaddon for that short period nearly destroyed Nathans whole being, his soul was cracking and he’d become obsessed with finding his son. It makes her wonder just what else his connection with Abaddon could do for him in a positive light, and on top of everything they still didn’t know what a purified Abaddon meant.