Chapter Text
It’s been said that the wingbeat of a butterfly could trigger something as detrimental as a tornado.
For Abaddon, memory was a fickle thing. People who made a great impression on him rarely were forgotten. It could be that he’d enticed a particularly strong fear response, or they had entertained him well by some foolish act. Sometimes, a rare individual would commit a great act of bravery (or stupidity) that captured even his attention. Many times, those he cared to recall had wronged him, such as that priest.
Kindness was something Abaddon had never known before his accursed little boy vessel. It was a word spoken of but never understood by the demon. He was born for a singular purpose, to destroy and punish and sow chaos. He fed off the emotions of Man. Before he had come to Earth on his unwilling exile, good people were weak and strange in his eyes.
Yet Nathan Freeling and his family had become Abaddon’s whole world.
He had made an unspoken promise to Esther that he would not fail. He would save her and this family, but by Hell he deserved his glory alongside it. Yet it was funny, in his mind even the recollections of his time as a great lord of the underworld were somehow distant.
The Freelings brought order to Abaddon, something both blasphemous and dangerous to a demon. Yet part of him craved it despite knowing how it was changing him. A metamorphosis of his own design.
His memories of them sustained him for all the long, lonely years wandering the earth. The evolving people that passed him by left little impressions on him. He couldn’t afford to grow connections lest he change the timeline somehow, yet it was all worth it in the end when Nathan arrived to free him from that sad prison of dirt and rock.
Abaddon was very careful to go by a certain script.
To act as he always was, wary of strangers, despite his relief and genuine joy at being back at the man’s side. Wild and reckless as he once was, despite having been somewhat humbled by the dozens of times watching the world rise and fall, watching those he cared for die again and again.
He had lost the Freelings thirty-eight times. Thirty-eight times he watched them succumb to the worst deaths imaginable. Sometimes he would dream about it, like a movie on repeat. The good times and the bad times.
By now he could recite every day in his head and how he was supposed to behave. For instance, even if he knew how to recognize his reflection, he would still lay waste to the lobby. Even if he knew Nathan would die, he could not afford to damage the true course of events if he tried to get him to live a little longer. It never worked in his favor otherwise.
It was always mid spring when they met. Cool, sweet air of the blossoming season. Nathan’s familiar blue sweater was what he wore when they met in every timeline, and what he wore when he died. Abaddon tried not to view the poetic irony in that. That sweater saw Abaddon’s best day and the worst.
Nathan was a very fair caretaker. The ghosts had a begrudging respect for him, too. He always left at least one TV on, made food they enjoyed smelling, and when he made cake he would let Abaddon eat as much batter as he wanted. Though Abaddon knew many human behaviors, like using chairs and utensils and how to tie shoes, he deliberately acted ignorant to such things. This was how it was the first time, and this was how it must be in every new timeline.
Nathan always taught him these things.
And deep down, Abaddon enjoyed the repetitive familiarity. It was a limbo of his own making. If he revealed that he was more learned than he was the first time, what else would Nathan spend so much of their time together doing?
But there were smaller things that even escaped Abaddon’s memory. Maybe there was a squirrel he was meant to catch but didn’t leap far enough, maybe there were words he was meant to say but forgot. It didn’t matter, he believed. Too small to be of consideration.
But on this thirty-eighth run, determined to have everything go to plan, it became clear to Abaddon that even he was capable of making mistakes. Ones that spiraled into catastrophes.
He had been with Nathan for over a year when it happened, and it would be several months until Nathan was supposed to die.
It started one evening when a mouse decided to burrow its way into the snack cabinet while he and Nathan were eating breakfast. There were five soggy Froot Loops floating in his milk, which he poked at with his spoon.
Nathan suddenly tensed. Alarmed by this, the demon looked up and saw the small rodent dashing across the floor from the cabinet to the wall. He knew this mouse. Saw the single piece of cereal in its mouth. This exact event had happened before—every time. Thirty-seven other times before.
He had forgotten! How could he? It dug into HIS cereal. This mouse was memorable due to its missing tail and the one pale spot on its back. He remembers, vaguely, hunting and killing the pest at night. Yet last night, when Nathan had asked if Abaddon wanted to sit with him in the TV room, the demon had accepted. Furious at the snack thief and his own fumble, Abaddon threw his spoon.
The spoon missed its mark with a loud clatter, but the mouse squeaked and spun in the opposite direction.
Abaddon leapt from his chair and gave chase.
“Yeah, that’s it, buddy!” Nathan exclaimed after him, spurring Abaddon on. He dropped to all fours and sped after it. The mouse ran to the lobby, down a hallway, and Abaddon was right behind it. Over furniture and around corners, weaving in and out of rooms.
Seconds before he could leap upon his prey, something wrapped around his waist like a vise. Jessica. The creature had been named by Nathan to make it ‘less spooky’, but naming it didn’t make Jessica any less hostile. Abaddon must have gone over one of the vents that it was currently inhabiting. It did not take kindly to Abaddon, and thrashed him back and forth like a ragdoll. Very humiliating.
“Gah, let me go, fiend!” Abaddon snarled, barely registering how Nathan ran into the hallway with a broom in an attempt to beat the tentacled abomination off. Eventually Jessica obeyed (or got bored shaking the boy) and tossed him aside, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. Wood splintered around him.
“Oh, Abaddon! Are you okay!?” The man fussed, reaching into the hole to free his ward. Abaddon spat out wall insulation and cobwebbing as he was gingerly hoisted out. Before his feet could touch the ground, something fell out the wall behind him. He recognized the sound before it slumped over him: a skeleton. Barley held together by withered tendons. “Oh, goodness,” Nathan murmured.
Abaddon was pleased. Maybe he’d lost his prey, but fate gifted him new bones to enjoy? A great boon.
Until he saw what hung from the skeleton’s neck. A large diamond necklace. The same one he and Esther were supposed to hunt for through Ben. It was how Ben met Annabelle. It was destined to be dragged to Hell.
Abaddon felt his throat clamp shut as he watched Nathan go from shock to excitement, calling out to various ghosts to see whose body had just been discovered. A gaggle of spirits came from all directions to see what the commotion was about. Inquiry made. When Annabella came forward to claim the body as her own, both gleeful and shocked to see her own bones on display, the demon could hardly believe what he was seeing.
This was no minor incident.
This wasn’t going to script at all.
~
Nathan laid Annabelle’s body to rest in the backyard in an unmarked grave. A jovial funeral was held by the hotel’s inhabitants. The girl, clearly just happy to have so much spotlight on her, gave a long speech that Abaddon forgot every word to. It wasn’t noteworthy. All he could think was how this would alter the timeline, if at all.
Abaddon eventually decided that it was nothing grand. Ben would meet Annabelle in some other fashion. There would be another shiny item for Esther to fixate on.
As for the diamond necklace, Annabelle happily said Nathan could do with it as he pleased as a reward for burying her bones (Abaddon was disappointed he couldn’t keep any). It was clear even to the demon that the man was hesitant, but ultimately gave in.
The cost of such a valuable piece of jewelry would be immensely appreciated.
Nathan took Abaddon with him to the town’s jeweler. He could hardly move, frozen with bewilderment by this new turn of events; all he could do was stick to his caretaker’s side as Nathan spoke at length, eyes widening with every minute as he and the shopkeeper spoke. The demon watched as things were passed between hands, voices grew with awed excitement, and what looked like a very thick envelope given to Nathan. “And this isn’t even half of it, bud,” the man said with a stunned look as they walked back to the car.
Before Abaddon knew what was happening, things started to change at the hotel.
There were new bedsheets, fresh paint on the walls, more food in the fridge, and Nathan bought “advertisement”. Even a maid was hired to clean in the evenings!
Abaddon did not care for the woman at first, but she snuck Abaddon candy when Nathan wasn’t looking so he supposed she wasn’t awful. She did not belong in this timeline or any timeline of Abaddon’s. But, with the appropriate offering, he could tolerate the foreigner’s presence.
The guest revenue ticked up after awhile. However small, it still made Nathan smile brightly. It wasn’t an insanely large change, but Abaddon’s wariness grew every day. Nothing was going according to plan. According to what was right. What he was familiar with.
One night, a group of young adults came to the hotel. They were the only guests that night, and were loud and rambunctious and Abaddon grew bored very quickly at how obnoxious they were. Nathan or the maid couldn’t really do much to stop them from blasting their music. Besides, the man didn’t seem willing to stop them as they were paying guests, but did question if they were even legal to drink.
Abaddon should have seen the pattern. That faceless, hand rake-wielding psychopath wasn’t due to show up for another year and some months. And yet, drawn by the lustful group of young people, he had descended upon the manor with murder on the mind. Abaddon might’ve praised his technique once, long ago, but his family was at stake. And he did steal Abaddon’s trilby nine years ago and thwarted every attempt to get it back until that night.
Abaddon fought the man with relentless determination, blood flying and an arm lost somewhere as their battle raged through the hallways. Paintings were knocked over and doors kicked in. The teens were ushered out by the maid and Nathan was panicking on the phone with authorities.
Lights from police cruisers flashed in the distance with whirling sirens as Abaddon finally snatched his trilby from the man’s pocket. Victorious, he pulled at the man’s pillow-cased face and laughed maniacally.
Ben usually pushed them out the window by this point. But it was only Nathan there this time, alive and vulnerable, and he cried out an apology as Abaddon, clinging to the killer, went crashing through glass and tumbled to the ground. Stunned, the demon barely registered the killer stumbling off—only to be cornered by swerving police cars—before he got up himself to scramble away unseen.
The maid learned about ghosts and demons that night. She had understandably (and annoyingly) flipped out when Abaddon wandered back inside carrying his amputated arm. Nathan tried to console her as he patched Abaddon up, while the phantom killer rammed his hand rake into his head repeatedly with no success, and the adolescent with the twisted neck danced with triumph at the defeat of his old nemesis.
She yelled at them in Russian for a solid ten minutes before turning to fuss over Abaddon and plant messy kisses on his face, and she and Nathan called him brave and strong. The kissing made his nose wrinkle, but he liked the praise so he tolerated it.
…Things were so strange. No one praised him for this night before. The killer wasn’t supposed to be here yet. Or dead.
Nathan was later hailed as a hero for defeating the serial killer. It baffled Abaddon as he’d been the one to fight that man, but the attention the news heaped upon Nathan was staggering. All he’d done was shove the killer out the window, which led to the Pillow Case Killer being killed in a shootout, (leading his ghost to furiously make jabs at Nathan every half hour).
Abaddon wasn’t sure what really went wrong to alter the timeline as much as it had, so he found himself at a loss. If so much had happened now, how would it affect Katherine and her children? They would still come to the hotel, right?
The attention Nathan and his hotel received after that night was intense. People came to gawk at the place and ask Nathan questions. Hissing at the flashing lights and cameras and nosy journalists didn’t make them go away, even if he hid behind Nathan’s leg.
Guests, lots of guests, came to the hotel. It was loud and busy and it made his head spin. It got so busy that Nathan had to hire some random guy to manage the front desk.
The hallways were filled with living chatter and people going to and fro. Doors opening and closing.
Abaddon was stepped on twice! Twice!!
The forest and the vents were the only safe place left. Even Jessica was startled and subdued by all the activity, and for a brief period they were allies. Until Abaddon recalled this was all Jessica’s fault for throwing him in the wall that day.
So who can blame Abaddon for sticking close to Nathan’s side? The man would smile and ruffle his hair and hold him, something Abaddon had once adamantly hated (insisted he still did). But Abaddon clung to him tightly as all these people flocked to the hotel. He was the only thing now that made any sense to the script. He was his lifeline. And if Nathan died in these bizarre times, who would be there to keep Abaddon grounded? The maid or the desk guy!? Katherine wasn’t scheduled to come until at least a month after Nathan’s death! And that wasn’t due for many, many months!
If demons could get ill, this surely was what it felt like..
It terrified Abaddon that he could no longer anticipate what would happen next.
Eventually the busy revenue slowed down after a few months, but it wasn’t as quiet as it was before.
One night when it was just them for once, Nathan sat with Abaddon in the den as they watched the TV. It was raining lightly outside. Good weather to play in the mud, but he didn’t feel like it tonight.
He wasn’t paying attention to whatever was on the television, but lay curled against Nathan’s side. Abaddon was not an affectionate entity, but the warmth and familiarity of the man was all he cared for now in this strange new timeline.
Lately, Nathan had taken to combing Abaddon’s hair frequently, filing his claws, and insisted on brushing his teeth and washing his clothes more often.
Mealtimes consisted more than sugary cereal and microwave dishes. There were sandwiches like PB&J, and soups and pasta. Sometimes the maid cooked for them. New dishes he wasn’t too familiar with but enjoyed. She made sweet honey cakes and dumplings and thick, savory meat dishes over noodles… the rich sauce currently clung to his tongue.
“You doing okay, bud?” Nathan asked, the TV droning softly in the background.
“I am well, Nathan,” answered Abaddon.
The man opened his mouth to say something, his eyes flickering between the demon’s, when suddenly his phone buzzed in his pocket. Abaddon watched as he dug it out and answered the call. Nathan’s eyes lit up.
“Oh—Hey, Kathy!”
Katherine. Abaddon sat up, ears perked. In previous timelines, the matriarch didn’t often speak to Nathan over the phone when he was alive. Abaddon only got to meet the woman and her children after Nathan’s death, but he spoke of them often. Nathan would visit them once or twice, but he’d always kept his immortal ward a secret from his estranged family. Abaddon never cared for the reasons behind it, only that it is familiar to the script. Even if everything else was strange and confusing, that at least stayed the same.
The demon watched with great interest as Nathan’s face twisted, hand on his chin. “Ah, I’m great! Home right now, just watching a movie. How are you—? Oh. Oh, Kath, what happened? You sound—“
Nathan was quiet for a long time. To Abaddon's amazement, what looked like anger passed across his face. He leaned up to try and hear what was happening on the other end to possibly elicit such a response from the kindhearted man, but the man held him off with one arm.
“Of course you can, Katherine. You—Right now?” Nathan abruptly stood up. Alarmed, Abaddon slid off the couch and followed after him. When it looked like Nathan would outpace him, he reached out to grab his hand. It tightened around his, so Abaddon squeezed back. “I’m coming down. Door is unlocked.”
The two hurried through the hallways after Nathan hung up. Determination shined in the man’s eye unlike anything Abaddon had seen before. They quickly jogged toward the stairs.
Voices rose from the lobby. Their familiarity stirred deep inside of the demon, a feeling that made his vessel’s heart race and his throat feel tight. Outside of his dreams, Abaddon had not heard that voice in billions of years. He almost let go of Nathan to run downstairs and see for himself, shock and joy and terror roiling inside him all at once.
It shouldn’t be possible. It wasn’t time for them yet. It was too soon. Why—
“Kathy,” Nathan whispered softly as they descended the stairs. Abaddon clung to the back of his sweater as the woman turned to face her brother. Two children, a bit shorter than Abaddon has ever recalled, stood beside her looking like glassy-eyed dolls in rain-drenched clothing. Esther. Ben. His closest companions.
They wouldn’t meet his eye.
But the strangest thing of all, besides their very presence here at this time, was the large, fresh bruise around Katherine’s left eye. She looked different. Tired and defeated, not the determined and no-nonsense woman who had accepted him without question when she moved in. He watched as she and Nathan embraced tightly.
“I’m sorry for coming without notice—“
Nathan patted her back. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, little sis. You don’t need to say anything. I’m here for you.”
Seeing them touch one another was new to Abaddon. Actually touch. In other times, Katherine would try to hug Nathan only to fall through the man’s ghost. Not this time.
He looked at Ben and Esther. Esther was staring down at her shoes, but Ben finally met Abaddon’s gaze. The boy smiled, very faintly, brows knitted together.
Katherine and Nathan finally pulled back. She sniffled and wiped the moisture from her face. Finally, her eyes drifted down to the little boy who stood peaking behind Nathan. She blinked owlishly at him. Abaddon stared back unblinkingly.
“Hey, there’s my favorite niece and nephew,” smiled Nathan, his usual cheer dampened by the sober mood. “It’s so good to see you guys here.” A hand landed on Abaddon’s head.
“Who is this?” Katherine asked in a strained whisper.
“He’s… he’s my son. Adopted him last year. Guys, this is Abaddon. Abie, say hi.”
“Greetings,” he answered begrudgingly. He saw varying degrees of alarm on Katherine and Ben. But not Esther.
“Hi,” Ben said back after a moment with a small wave. Esther still wouldn’t look at him, which terrified Abaddon. She always did before. She always jumped to being friends with him. Wrong. Everything about this was wrong.
Nathan smoothly cut in. “Are you guys hungry? I think my housekeeper Tatiana left some beef stroganoff. There’s also cereal and bread for sandwiches…”
“That would be great, Nathan. Please.”
Nathan gingerly took their coats and hung them up. Esther wouldn’t take off her jacket at first, which seemed to dwarf her more than usual, but her mother finally got her to hand it over. The young girl was dressed in pajamas, Abaddon realized.
“Right this way, guys.” Nathan ushered his family in the kitchen’s direction, but paused with Abaddon a moment. “Hey, buddy. I’m sorry to spring this on you last minute—I know things have been kind of crazy lately. But my sister and her kids are going to stay with us for a few days, okay?”
“Why?” He asked, genuinely baffled. Everything about this was so wrong.
Nathan’s eyes lowered. “I’ll tell you later because I’m not sure of the details myself. Just promise me that you’ll be nice to them, okay? No demon stuff in front of them for now. Maybe make friends. I’m sure your cousins would love that.”
They were already Abaddon’s friends. His family. He couldn’t tell Nathan that, but was this Katherine even the same Katherine as the other timelines? He was thrilled to see them, but… it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Nathan smiled and patted the top of his head before leaving to join the others. Abaddon found himself frozen in place. He couldn’t move.
What had he done wrong?