Hellhound AU

[just_aces]

Sometime round about 1900, a witch summoned a hellhound as a familiar.

He didn't mind it, hellhounds are loyal after all, and if some of her spells left him tired and drained, well, that was what he was there for, to keep her from using too much of her own energy for things. That and to eat the souls of her victims, sometimes.

But then, in the early 1970s, she ran afoul of a much stronger coven.

She was quite quickly banished to hell, but the hellhound couldn't be allowed to go with her, because, well, hellhounds are loyal and she was powerful and would have been able to use him to escape.

So the hellhound was made human, figuring that sixty, seventy, even eighty years if he was lucky would be enough time for the witch to have been consumed, so that even when the human-that-had-been-a-hellhound died, and Death herself realized that he was definitely not where, or what, he was supposed to be, she'd send him back.

But then one Charles Rowland kind of fucked up that whole plan by dying young and immediately running away from Death herself.

So the ghost-who-was-the-boy-who-was-the-hellhound has no idea what he was, or still is, under it all.

But, after a trip through hell to save his best friend (Hellhounds are loyal, after all) and time spent in a familiar position -though not a familiar kitchen- after that has been enough to knock a few things loose...

Comments

For @UptightBoy

[just_aces]

Ghosts didn't really need to sleep, there was some argument whether they actually could, but there was a reason that the couch in the office was actually comfortable despite the residents not actually needing it to be. The reason being that Charles liked naps.

Or, he had, before Port Townsend, before a day trip to Hell and back and before the terrifying few hours in Esther's house after that, after things had looked like they were going to turn out.

Which was to say that Charles' afternoon nap ended abruptly with less of a startle towards wakefulness and more of just rolling from the couch into a coiled-ready crouch, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there partly because he wasn't wearing his coat and partly because he hadn't had time to replace the bat after it had been shattered by Esther Finch's snake.

He blinked slowly, swallowing back the instinct to growl, the sensation he could feel building somewhere in his chest, the back of his throat, not sure what it was that hadn't just startled him from his doze, but had shaken him into borderline attack mode. The office was the same as it ever was, even the downstairs neighbors weren't acting up as far as he could tell and he could only surmise that something in the dream -though he shouldn't have dreams any more than he needed to sleep- had shaken him, not that he could remember any of the specifics now that he was awake.

<3

[uptightboy]

If Edwin was brutally honest, which he kind of was, he liked when Charles took a nap. It gave him time to think. For just a little while that ball of energy stopped and was silent. And it was good. Thankfully, Edwin never needed to rest like that; partly because ghosts don't nap, and partly because the last time he slept he was sacrificed to a demon. So. That was a bit hard to get over. So he used this time to study or do something that required a bit more focus than usual.

This time too, he was back by their bookcase, flipping through one of the older tomes of their collection. And he almost dropped it when he heard a growl, just before Charles rolled off the couch as if he sensed danger. Sensed in the most animalistic way possible.

Edwin turned to look at him, fully expecting his form to be changed... Which was a strange thought to have. But not an unreasonable one, Edwin admitted to himself. He had his suspicions and he tried to ignore them for all these years but their little trip to Port Townsend didn't help about it.

"Charles, is everything alright?" Edwin asked, still not moving from his spot. And he hated it. Because why was he suddenly afraid?

[just_aces]

Charles almost startled again at the question, only just then registering Edwin's presence, though that shouldn't have been a surprise to him either. He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again, brow furrowing as he unfolded from that crouch, slow, a little disjointed and finally managing a quiet, "I don't know?"

He hadn't meant it as a question, not really, still unexpectedly shaken, and confused by the fact that he was shaken when there was no clear reason for it, "I... might have been dreaming?" That one was almost meant as a question, because Edwin had been a ghost longer than he had, but more than that, had squirreled away all sorts of arcane knowledge that Charles only knew the edges of, so while he hadn't heard of ghosts being able to dream, Edwin might have.

[uptightboy]

"How ridiculous, ghosts cannot..." Edwin started but immediately stopped himself. Ghosts can't dream, period. Because they can't sleep. Can't nap. Edwin licked his lips as he remembered that little remark Esther had made while he was being tortured on that table and Charles was screaming his spectral lungs out.

'Quite a loud puppy, isn't he.' Which could have been just a rude comment but with what Edwin had gathered the past years, or even during those days in Port Townsend, it might have been more. She knew something.

And now Charles just told him he was bloody dreaming. Edwin turned a little more toward Charles, holding the book in his hands, partly to ground himself for what he was about to say.

"Ghosts cannot dream, Charles," Edwin finished the sentence. Because that part was true.

[just_aces]

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He replied, straightening fully and scrubbing a hand up over his face, giving a shake of his head as if to shake that unease off, though the smile that followed was thin and strained, "Guess I should probably stop trying to have an afternoon kip if I'm just going to wake up ready to bite things."

That wasn't a realization he'd actually had until he was saying it out loud, and it was enough to have even that thread-thin smile fading, brow creasing again, just prodding the edges of his teeth with the tip of his tongue, having had the unexplainable instinct that they should have been sharper than they were, shaking his head again, "Guess I'm not all settled again after everything."

It wasn't an actual explanation and he knew it, but it was what he was going to cling to at the moment. It made enough sense that he could make himself believe it and not have to worry about anything deeper, for now.

[uptightboy]

Edwin watched Charles with a bit of tension in his shoulders. He felt like he was betraying him in a way, watching him for clues. But it was already clear that whatever this was it was ripe for investigation. The only thing was... where would it leave them in the end?

"No, Charles, I think... I believe you are actually starting to settle," Edwin said and slowly put the tome back on the shelf. Just to look for another one. "Do you remember anything about your dream? Did you bite something?"

[just_aces]

That line of questioning made him fidgety, and not the usual kind of too-much-energy fidgety he usually was, but an older, less often seen sort of anxious fidgety, a waiting for the other shoe to drop kind of tension he hadn't often carried in his unlife but had been second nature while he'd still been alive.

"No." He shook his head all the same, moving to dig a deck of playing cards out of a desk drawer so that he had something to do with his hands in an attempt to distract himself so that tension could dissipate again. Another little head shake, as if realizing that wasn't enough of an answer, "No I don't remember, not no I didn't bite anything. I might have done."

[uptightboy]

Edwin sent a look at Charles, then continued looking for that exact book he had in mind. About familiars. It was a guide for witches; not a thorough one, but Edwin remembered it may have some of the details he was looking for in his suspicion.

"No need to get riled up, Charles, I'm only asking," he said. "You have been like this since we came back," he added, wondering if that bloody book was in Charles's backpack or if he was just too preoccupied to find it? Or maybe he was just afraid to find it...

[just_aces]

"No, I know." Another quick little shake of his head, fingers curling tightly against that pack of cards, trying to will some of that anxious energy away and only sort-of managing, "I know you're asking because you've got some kind of idea in there, not because you're waiting for me to get an answer wrong."

Maybe more of an admission than he'd meant to give, but Edwin needed to know the frustration was due to not knowing things he felt like he should, and not at Edwin for trying to clarify.

He leaned one hip against the edge of the desk so that he could set to actually shuffling and cutting the deck of cards, both hands, then one hand, then both hands, then the other hand, giving himself something to focus on even as he asked, "Which one are you looking for? We reorganized some last week when the reference books started taking up more space than before." Not that he didn't think Edwin remembered, but he knew how ingrained habits worked that sometimes he'd look for something where it used to be instead of where it was.

[uptightboy]

Edwin stopped at that, looking at Charles again. He knew he would've let that remark pass in the past, and he has the urge to do it now too. But they both swore to do better... Edwin swore to do better. Crystal was right screaming about Charles to him, to finally see him in a different light. And Edwin going into this was also a part of that.

"I apologize, I did not wish to agitate you," Edwin muttered. He took a breath, mostly out of habit. "I'm looking for the 'VVitches Circle', the first edition." An older book, definitely not fit for carrying around a backpack. It was about to fall apart, too, and Edwin was thinking many times about making a copy by hand or asking Crystal to help them photocopy it sometime. "I believe it has some answers for us. For you."

[just_aces]

Whatever his initial response to the apology was going to be -likely an attempt to brush it aside- was derailed by the actual answer, and his brow creased briefly, "First edition, binding's coming off that one, it's in the repair pile." One of many things Charles had taken upon himself to learn as time permitted, bookbinding, or at least some level of manuscript conservation, too much of the library was too precious to let it fall to complete disrepair.

But it was slow going, and he wasn't yet at a level where he trusted himself to actually fix most of them. He had put sturdier covers on the Hardy Boys collection, just to make sure he could without risking something that might actually bite him back for trying.

[uptightboy]

Ah, the repair pile, Edwin should have guessed. So without further questions, he went to carefully rummage through said pile. All those books were about to fall apart and it was actually the most precious of Charles to try and save them. In retrospect, Edwin did realise it was one of the things that made him fall in love. Despite... everything. Charles was saving him, them, one book at a time.

Finding the book, Edwin brought it over to the desk. He stepped next to Charles as he put the book down and carefully opened it.

"Ah, yes," Edwin whispered as he got to the very last pages. Those pages also looked like they were hastily put in there. The poor, very brief description of a Hellhound. While the book contained rituals and practices on summoning and keeping familiars, this entry was seemingly only there to inform about what a Hellhound was, not even a ritual or how to keep it on this plane. Edwin suspected it may have been the writings of an overly excited witch, coming to an abrupt end. But whatever it was, the one-page summary gave him what he needed.

Looking at the illustration of a black dog, Edwin did feel a little silly. Because he could not imagine Charles to be a beast like this. Because what if he was wrong... But years and years of detective intuition told him he was unfortunately on the right track. He also knew when someone or something felt like Hell...

"I... may be wrong," Edwin said slowly, pushing the open book closer to Charles. "But I suggest we start working on what your true nature is. Starting here," he said, tapping the page with his finger.

[just_aces]

A string of expressions crossed Charles' face, various flavors of confusion and disbelief and he wanted to argue that there was no way that was possible, but he also belatedly realized he was running the backs of his knuckles along the side of his neck where the angry weal from the collar Esther had slapped on him was already faded but he'd known even then, even in the brief times when Edwin wasn't screaming in pain in the other room, and Charles' own voice had given out for a few minutes until he could make himself sit still long enough to heal that the position was strangely familiar.

It was just one of many things he'd determined not to think about too hard.

Except, it seemed, that wasn't going to be an option.

Which was why he just sighed, kneading at the bridge of his nose for a moment before sliding the deck of cards back into the box, folding his arms and leaning against the desk, studying Edwin for a moment before asking: "Observations and facts?" He knew Edwin must have some of the first and maybe even some of the second if he'd come to this particular conclusion, and listening to what Edwin had already gathered would be easier to stomach than trying to read even those couple pages.

[uptightboy]

Edwin's gaze went to the movement Charles did on his neck. The collar. He had seen the remaining bruises of it when they escaped the house. And goodness he needed a few minutes after that. This time too he averted his gaze, looking down at the book again.

At Charles's demand for facts, he did send him a look. But not because he wasn't prepared, it was because he was. And he hoped it wouldn't had to come to this. So with a bit of a sassy sigh, he reached into his pocked for his notebook. He flipped it through, and started talking.

"Napping," he said sending a pointed look, and trying to ignore the nagging feeling of betrayal over all this. It wasn't like he wanted to spy on Charles, or anything. But he... he did feel like Hell when they first met. "As we established, no ghosts naps or dreams, Charles." He looked into his notebook again, hesitating. But then he closed his eyes for a moment and continued, just like if this was a case and him presenting the evidence. Like all those great detectives. There must have been a case of Sherlock where he had to read his best doctor friend, right...? "Hell has an imprint on everything that walks it, let it be creatures, objects, or souls. When we first met, you- well, when your spirit was free of your body it was- it struggled to find its form." It was only a second, if Edwin wouldn't have looked up at that exact moment he would have missed it too. "Although, I admit I do not know what form it was struggling with."

Edwin, swallowed uselessly, as he turned the page.

"When we deal with cases that puts us close to Hell this also happens," he said. "Then the... the rage issues. And ever since we came back from Hell, I... I can feel it on you." As if Hell was clinging to every bit of Charles now that it had him back for a while. "And Esther, she, she called you a dog. That gave me the last clue on what kind of..." Edwin trailed off. Because yes, there was a time he had a suspicion that Charles was a demon.

Edwin closed his notebook then, refusing to look at his friend. When he first started taking these notes he had no idea that it would happen like this.

[just_aces]

There was a sort of relief in knowing that Edwin had kept track of these things, that no matter what kind of trouble they ran into, Edwin would have at least part of a solution somewhere in that notebook, even if it was just pieces of three different solutions they had to make fit together, it was still something. And the fact that the puzzle they were working out now was Charles himself didn't change that sense of relief.

He nodded, the tip of his tongue pressing against the edge of his teeth again, "So it's been getting..." He stopped himself from saying 'worse', instead substituting: "More apparent, since..." He wasn't sure why 'Hell' caught on the back of his tongue the way it did, especially when Edwin said it as easily as any other place name, and he just trailed that into: "Everything." A huff of a noise that was a piss-poor attempt at a laugh, "And I have gone and gotten into a brawl every time we've had a demonic possession case, haven't I?" At least until Crystal, and that had been an entirely different problem.

He chewed at the inside of his cheek briefly, just turning that over. If it had only been happening since Crystal and Port Townsend and the trip to Hell and back, there could be another explanation, but Edwin's observations went as far back as when they'd met, which was so much harder to ignore or try to explain away.

His brow furrowed again, "But hellhounds aren't shapeshifters, are they? And can't possess people like an actual demon could, right?" There were some things he'd retained along the way, and he was pretty sure he knew those two facts to be true, but that just added to the puzzle.

[uptightboy]

The fact that Charles had difficulty talking about Hell alerted Edwin. There may have been other clues he had missed, clues only Charles might know. It once again reminded Edwin that while they were together for thirty years, they could still learn a lot about each other. Because there were still so many things - things Crystal noticed, and Edwin didn't. Even if he was the detective. It would forever be a sore spot for Edwin. Especially that he kept notes on Charles's demonic things, and not anything else.

"Indeed. That is where our case shall get interesting," Edwin nodded, turning to Charles. He opened his mouth to continue, telling about hellhounds but he stopped. He fidgeted with the notebook in his hand for a moment. "Charles, before we continue... are you sure about it? If we find out what you are it may... change things."

[just_aces]

"Things are already changing though, aren't they?" It wasn't really a question, or at least not much of one, if it had gotten to the point that he noticed something was going on, that meant Edwin definitely had, "And if..." He didn't even want to think it, but he knew it needed to be said, just to make sure they were absolutely on the same page here, though he unfolded is arms, only to fold his fingers against his palm with the other hand, as if he needed to crack his knuckles, first one side and then the other even as he continued, "If I'm going to somehow be a danger to you, then I'd rather know that sooner before later, yeah?" The 'before something happens' was unsaid, but still there behind the statement.

No matter what else happened, he had to know that he wasn't going to be an inadvertent, heretofore unseen danger to Edwin, either as some kind of beacon to demons who might try to drag him back to hell despite the reprieve they'd been given in working with the Lost & Found Department, or, worse, that he might end up trying to do so himself.

That was what really gnawed at him at the moment, that he'd woken up from an apparent nightmare, already in ready mode and hadn't even registered Edwin's presence until he'd spoken. The one person he'd always been acutely aware of hadn't even pinged as an entity at first and that worried him.

[uptightboy]

Edwin did wonder about that, if Charles would ever be a danger to him. They spent a lifetime together already and some of that time Edwin thought Charles was a demon. And nothing happened. At this point Edwin trusted Charles so much he basically only ran when he told him to, he only moved when Charles moved... And at this point, yes, if Charles would ever try to drag him to Hell, he might succeed. But because Edwin's trust in him never wavered. Not even upon this new discovery.

What Edwin was truly afraid of was that Charles might return to where he truly belonged. Because it was sure as anything, that something went wrong either with his summoning, or with his death, and he, too, had a place to be. And if he was a hellhound he may have less to say about going back than Edwin. But Edwin just nodded, licking his lips nervously.

"Hellhounds are not shapeshifters but only a handful of magic users could summon and tame them," Edwin continued. "Seemingly, witches see them without problem, or, sense them. I had no time to chat about this while I was being tortured after all," he added. "At this point in the investigation, I cannot say I have any plausible explanation of your current state. But I doubt it is a form of possession. We may..." he huffed a little annoyed. They might need outside help with this. Or a psychic's help, actually. "We need more information."

[just_aces]

He gave another dry, rough little laugh at that initial statement, shaking his head, "Bleeding shame that is, Esther loved to hear herself talk. Probably could've gotten everything we needed to know."

He sighed then, rubbing a hand up over his face and through his hair, tired and a little frustrated, but not letting either one win, not at the moment, just nodding, "Library, then?" Which either meant the bookshop many of Edwin's own collection had come from, one of those half-magical shops that never really seemed to be doing any business but somehow still kept running year after year, or could have mean the university archives with the convenient mirror wedged in a corner deep in the stacks.

Though even as he asked, his brow creased a little, "Or did you have something else in mind?" They had contacts, after all, though not many who could be trusted with a concern of this magnitude.

[uptightboy]

With another look at the worn pages of the VVithces Circle, Edwin considered their options. The reason he couldn't conduct proper research on Charles's nature until now was because the possibilities were so vast. Now they had a lead, now he knew what to look for.

"I do believe there will be a point in the investigation where we have to ask for help but for now, I'd rather gather as much information as we can from sources available to us," Edwin said, looking back up at Charles. He tried not to think about this approach as procrastination. But yes, there weren't many people he would trust with this sensitive case. They needed to be very careful about it. Because hellhounds were servants. It meant that they could be controlled with the right tools. "It is good old library time," he smirked. And he knew where to start. One of the smaller museums had an archive in their basement. It was locked but thankfully not with iron locks or chains. It was also forbidden for living visitors. So that didn't stop Edwin from going back to it whenever he needed information specifically on Hell.

[just_aces]

Something that had been coiling tight in his chest, something thorny and harsh uncurled a little at that and he felt like he was able to take a breath for the first time since he woke up, even despite knowing that he didn't actually need to do so.

He pushed himself up from his lean against the desk, clasping Edwin's arm just briefly on the way past to collect his bag, his coat falling into place even as he did. Altering his appearance was one of those things that had come naturally to Charles, he only barely had to think about it these days, which, he supposed, made up for how long it had taken him to learn to walk through walls. Though, there might have been a reason for that that he'd never known about. One more thing to add to the list of evidence, really.

Even as terrifying as the possibility was, Charles wanted to know for sure with a desire that bordered on an actual need, which meant he was ready to start the research immediately, "Right, mirroring or walking?"

[uptightboy]

They have been through literal Hell. Charles held his shoulders and told him they have an eternity to figure things out. And yet, Edwin still felt that bittersweet giddiness every time Charles touched him lately. He watched as the boy put on his coat and got his bag, trying to resist the urge to grab at his chest.

"Just a tick," Edwin said and got a card from the pile on his desk. One that they write the cases on. He quickly scribbled 'Hellhounds' on it and walked to their board with their ongoing and finished cases. He put the card with the ongoing cases. Because it may be easier to handle this like a case and not... something else. Not a possible mistake. "There. Now, we shall go. We are going to visit the small museum near Westminster, it has an archive that may prove useful to us at this point." The closest mirror to it was in a café a few blocks away, so Edwin walked to the mirror to find it. Then once they are through, only a few minutes walking through walls to get to the basement.

[just_aces]

Something about the fact of treating this as any other case caused that knot of unease in his chest to unwind a little further. Oh it was still there, he didn't think it was going to go away until they had some actual answers, until he knew for sure that he wasn't putting Edwin in danger simply by existing in the same space -something that he'd already been doing for decades but that didn't mean much if whatever he was had been suppressed somehow- but it was tolerable for now.

He was doing what he could to hold onto the things that hadn't changed, Edwin already being on-task was one of those, as was the ease with which he led them through the mirror and the underground warren of cellars and basements and empty foundations. Though that was mostly just in a straight line right through anything between them and where they were going. It was more that Edwin's sense of direction was impeccable even underground, while Charles' sense of direction was Edwin, and he wasn't entirely sure when that had happened, though it had probably been all the way back in the attic, when he'd decided to follow Edwin instead of sticking around for Death herself to arrive.

He swung the bag down from his shoulder once they arrived, rummaging around in it for a moment before coming up with a small tap-activated dome-light, "There we are." He said, grinning as he thumped it once to turn it on, it was a warm, yellow glow that wasn't too bright, and wasn't a single beam like a flashlight would be but would allow them to see where they were going as well as whatever books Edwin thought they might need.

[uptightboy]

Indeed. Handling it like a case, the thrill of researching did reach Edwin. It was easier to focus on that rather than anything else. He was trying not to overthink, and reading books was one of the solutions for it. Even if they had to read about hellhounds.

Arriving to the dark room, and Charles already providing some light actually made Edwin calmer too. They were back in London, working on a case, and they still had each other. What else could they need? And yet, somehow those days seemed so far away. Edwin couldn't explain. But maybe it had to do with their trip to Hell. As if a new age was coming. And that feeling was something a ghost had rarely felt, Edwin wondered.

"Thank you, Charles," Edwin nodded and walked up to the shelves to find the books they may need. He had a few in mind, mostly remembered them from other books mentioning them as sources. He had read most of the books on Hell. But this time he needed information about its residents and the rules they shall abide to come to their plane. Demons needed to be summoned mostly, and Edwin found the hellhound article in a book that dealt with familiars. So it meant that if they find how a hellhound could be summoned they could get closer to the solution of this mystery. "Do you think you may have been summoned, Charles?" Edwin asked as he took the book he wanted.

[just_aces]

"Don't reckon I just got lost." He replied, giving a rolling shrug, and, realizing that he was once again running his knuckles against the side of his neck he stopped himself, brow creasing as he tried to sort out what it was he actually wanted to say, how being collared and chained to Esther's kitchen floor had felt familiar in a way he couldn't place, because as awful as his father had been, at least that had never been something he'd had to go through, and it definitely wasn't a punishment at the school that had managed to kill them both.

Finally he just shook his head, "I think I must have been?" Another head-shake, trying to rattle his thoughts into place, voice still low even though there was no one around to overhear, "Chained up in Esther's kitchen it just... dunno, felt like I'd been there before? Had other things to think about at the time, obviously, but it still did. Dunno how to explain it other than that."