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...

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[just_aces]

Charles knew that he needed a moment to think, he needed some kind of plan, he needed to be able to go about this with a clear head, but with cold dread and hot panic coursing through him in turns, emotions clogging the back of his throat and his mind, he couldn't catch his breath, literally or metaphorically, and he just felt like he was drowning all over again. So he did the only thing he could do, he buried his face in his hands and he screamed, and if for a moment it sounded like the dismayed baying of a Hellhound, well that just made sense, didn't it?

He did feel a little better once he'd done so, like some kind of emergency pressure release had been opened on a boiler about to overheat, he still didn't have an actual plan, but he knew he couldn't stay in the hotel any more than he could stay in the mirror maze. More than that, the fact that he was still reeling, and had already convinced himself of what was true, meant that it didn't even occur to him that the bonds were still in place, they were an afterthought, and Edwin was probably setting up whatever he needed to break them without Charles actually present.

It also didn't occur to him that he could just walk back to the office the normal way to retrieve the backpack or ask what had happened, not that he would have tried even if it had occurred to him to do so, he knew the front door was warded just as strongly as the mirror now was and there was no going back.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, he knew he couldn't get back through the mirror he'd fallen through, as it was on the ceiling, but there were others in the building, he could go back into the maze and find somewhere else to go. But that meant he'd have to get up off the floor first, and he wasn't sure he had the strength to do that.

He gave himself a count of five before forcing himself to roll over and get to his feet, taking only a moment to find the nearest mirror and a moment more to actually concentrate enough to be able to open the portal, easier since he wasn't trying to come up with an end point, just to get back into the maze.

It was only when he tried coming up with an exit point that the warehouse swam into view on the other side of the nearest portal, and that just had the panic clawing its way back up his ribs and into his throat, bitter and sharp in a way that had him lashing out with a sharp: "No!" It had the mirror shattering spectacularly, the maze itself was still intact, but that portal was no longer there, which meant that the mirror in the office, still connected to that exit point, returned to being inert once more, not that Charles had any way of knowing it, already moving forward, looking for somewhere else to go.

[uptightboy]

If Edwin wasn't spiraling before, him seeing the mirror connection break definitely did it. He moved to it, pressing his hand on the glass just to find that the mirror in the warehouse must have been broken, as he couldn't open a portal there.

"Charles!" Edwin yelled again, as if that would have helped anything. As if calling Charles's name would have waken him from this nightmare. He was shaking, his thoughts were racing, throwing action plans at him at lighting speed. So fast and so much that Edwin just stood there, numb and in panic. He needed to go, he needed to do something! He needed... anything, something. He closed his eyes and forced himself to open a mirror to Crystal's place because where else Charles could have gone?

The screaming that happened after was... not nice. Once Edwin realized Charles wasn't there, and when Crystal realized Charles was missing and both of them worried out of their minds resulted in one of their nastiest fights up to date. It took them a while to calm down, agreeing on a plan. At least Edwin wasn't stuck in panic anymore, he had plans! Places to visit! Crystal could go and check a few places on her own too. They agreed on that. So Edwin mirrorhopped to his next destination - to the witches.

After that nasty meeting, and realizing that some of the witches were actively trying to take Charles, Edwin didn't think about the consequences, he needed to know if they had anything to do with Charles missing. It was his luck to run into Daphne first who tried to calm him down, with little luck, but she offered she listened around the inner coven if she had heard anything. But she advised Edwin not to linger about without Charles by his side because that would just show how 'incompetent' he was. So after Daphne confirmed she would contact him the first thing she knew something Edwin was convinced to go look at other places. Though, on his way back to the office, Daphne also told him that if he still has the 'leash' on Charles he may be able to order him back, almost like saying 'heel'. And that sounded horrifying to Edwin...

It took Edwin and Crystal days to confirm that Charles was absolutely nowhere to be found. They checked everywhere, talked to every person, even harrassed the dead postman about it. Nobody knew a thing...

So, Edwin found himself once again with so little clues on what to do. Though, there was one place he had not checked. But why would Charles be there? He was also considering what Daphne had said... about yanking a leash.

[just_aces]

It didn't take long for Charles to lose track of time, partly because it didn't really exist in the mirror-maze, not the way it did outside of it, but by Edwin and Crystal's second day of searching, something interesting had started to happen. Mirrors that Edwin and Charles used with any degree of regularity were all turning up broken.

Not in any kind of trackable order, not by distance or by regularity of use, maybe by chronology of when they'd first been set up -as many of them had been placed by the boys themselves- but even that fell apart on closer inspection. The only two that didn't end up broken were the office mirror, and the garden globe nearest the Coven's manor. Even the spare inside the backpack shattered spectacularly, not that Edwin would know it, and that had been a particularly dark few hours for Charles, when he'd realized that he couldn't even get through that one, either as it was covered by the ward on the office door.

Even the mirror Crystal had set up for them split two days in, a nasty spider-web pattern from an impact point at about face-level, as if it had been punched.

Three days in, Charles -already exhausted- even found himself back in Port Townsend for a time, and he didn't bother breaking that mirror, halfway down an alley in a pile of other junk, chances were good it would get broken by something else before long, and it wasn't like Edwin would actually think to look for him there. Unfortunately there were also a pair of cats in that alley, and Charles knew he couldn't actually stay anywhere they had allies, so he'd just slipped back into the maze again.

It was a full five days after he realized he'd been effectively banished that Charles, about as depleted of energy as he could get without Edwin having used it for a spell, toppled out of a mirror, taking the dust-cloth covering it to the floor with him. It took him a long moment to realize where he was, and it was only the blue-grey light streaming through the window that did it.

Somehow, against all odds, and thirty-some years later, Saint Hilarions was still standing, and the attic he'd died in hadn't changed much, still cluttered, though the detritus stacked in haphazard piles wasn't all the same as it had been that night, some of it definitely still was.

He laughed, tight and broken, and hauled himself to his feet once more, reasoning that there was no way Edwin would come looking for him here, he could rest for a while before getting back to it. He just dragged the dust-cloth from the mirror with him to go curl up under the window, just shifting to hound shape as he did. Things were simpler that way, and if anyone from the school came looking, a dog was scarier than a person, which meant he was less likely to be bothered.

[uptightboy]

Halfway through the chase, Edwin did notice the breaking mirrors. Especially after Crystal confirmed hers broke out of nowhere. It was like something or someone was going around breaking mirrors, and Edwin wondered why all those mirrors were on places they were frequent to. Was this a trap? Or was Charles trying to tell him something? Or he was completely thrown off by another thing?

Edwin did not stop. The notes he took were excessive and fairy unreadable even to him at some point. Books didn't help. When Daphne confirmed that the witches knew nothing he felt sick. Because if it wasn't the witches what was it? What happened? Why would Charles leave him? And yes, there was a time, a short one, where Edwin did feel angry too. Because Charles was keeping quiet about something again? Was he hiding something? His panic attacks got more frequent and horrible, even if he knew he couldn't die, he still felt like it. It felt like Hell was closer than ever and at one point Edwin had to force himself to walk through the mirror to his next place, in vain.

After the fifth day, Edwin had to realize that this was the longest without knowing where Charles was. Which was funny, yes, funny... He had a leash on him, he could command him if he wanted... and he lost him. Edwin felt another attack grip him as he was thinking about it. So to stop it, he got up and walked to the mirror. He wondered to drop in on Crystal who said to find him whenever he needed. But instead, Edwin opened a mirror to the last place he hadn't checked. To that dreadful attic. He was slightly surprised when it opened, however.

So with the last scrapes of hope he still possessed, Edwin walked through the mirror. The attic was dark and more cluttered than the last time he was here. Thirty years ago. For a moment he just stood there, looking around, barely paying attention to anything at this point. Because Charles was nowhere... Edwin shook his head at himself for being such a fool, looking over to the window. And then he spotted it. The small bundle, of dog and sheet.

"Charles?" Edwin whispered, his eyes widening.

[just_aces]

Charles' head lifted at the sound of his voice, looking startled more than anything, gaze darting from Edwin to the mirror, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make it through, he was too tired, energy all but gone, and Edwin was between him and that escape route.

More than that, he couldn't imagine why Edwin was even there, unless it was just because the bonds couldn't be broken without him being present to do so, and he had noticed that they'd remained in place no matter where he went, but that was the only conclusion he'd been able to pull together, that Edwin couldn't cut him loose without him being there.

It was why he just whined softly, shrinking back into the tangle of sheet he'd made a nest for himself out of, head lowering to his paws, effectively hiding both the collar and the cuffs, even though Edwin had sent him away -and had followed him to finish the job- he still didn't want to lose that connection.

[uptightboy]

For a split second, Edwin thought he had made a mistake. If that dog wasn't Charles... But he only needed to take a step closer to be sure that it was Charles. What made Edwin hesitate was the reaction he had gotten. As if Charles wasn't expecting him. As if he didn't want to see him... Was he hurt? No. No, if Charles was hurt Edwin would feel it from this close. There wasn't any spell buzzing in the air either. Was this a trap?

"Charles..." Edwin whispered, wanting to feel relief but the way Charles looked he couldn't let go of his nerves just yet. He felt his throat tighten. "Charles I was looking for you," he said and finally decided to go closer. Edwin fell on his knees by Charles, reaching for him. He could feel how tired he was... was he being chased? Edwin gently put his hand on the hound's head. "What happened?"

[just_aces]

He actually shivered at that touch, eyes still closed, another low whine curling out of his throat, because despite everything that he'd convinced himself of, he had missed Edwin, the closeness, the thirty years of ease with each other.

But the question just confused him, Edwin knew what had happened, didn't he? The fact that Edwin seemed as lost in the situation as Charles now felt certainly didn't clear things up, and he knew, despite things being simpler in this shape, that he was going to have to change back so they could actually talk.

He twisted himself around, sitting up, knees drawn to his chest, leaning back against the wall under the window. He looked more tired like this than he had in the hound shape, almost gaunt in a way he didn't usually get, he'd clearly been running himself ragged the whole time he'd been running. Ghosts didn't need to sleep and technically Charles didn't really either, but he hadn't really been keeping himself fed the past few days on top of not letting himself rest and it showed.

His voice was a rough near-croak when he finally spoke, "You locked me out."

[uptightboy]

Seeing Charles react to his touch was breaking Edwin's heart. It also made him realize that he was going to go mad if he wouldn't have found him. Not literally... Charles was keeping him sane all these years. He was by his side no matter what happened.

Edwin realized his hands were trembling as he watched Charles shift back to his boy form. Because he reached for him but he didn't dare to touch him again. Not yet. And Charles didn't look good. And Edwin's eyes widened. The question 'who did this to you' got stuck on his tongue as Charles spoke.

"I... what?" Edwin asked, shocked. "Charles, I..." he started but then he remembered. The spell. The warding spell... It was working. It was working too well! "No, Charles, no... I did not know the spell would ward against you too. I did not know," he gasped, reaching for Charles's face. Edwin moved closer holding Charles's cheek in both of his hands, his eyes filling with tears. "I went back to the warehouse but you weren't there, I kept searching for you, I thought- I thought something happened to you."

[just_aces]

A string of expressions crossed Charles' face, prompted by the tumble and tangle of emotions rolling across the surface of his mind, even he couldn't track all of them, there were simply too many and he was vaguely surprised to find that none of them were anger. He'd run out of that on day one, it had been replaced by despair and determination.

But now? Now it was something like relief. There was an edge of distrust, but it was fleeting, he'd almost always trusted Edwin more than his own mind, and he just leaned forward into Edwin's hands, as if that might press the truth of those words more deeply into his consciousness. What he finally managed to say, voice thick with emotion was: "Guess we both focused on the worst possible outcome this time." He tried to laugh, but it came out as something closer to a sob, eyes closing, head tilting forward into Edwin's hands, brow pressing against his partner's, voice a little shaky as he added, "Missed you. So much."

[uptightboy]

Edwin did worry about what had prompted Charles to react so badly to a small mistake. Why couldn't he wait. Why did he run... But right now, as Charles was pressing close, Edwin focused on somehow telling him, signaling him that he was wanted, he was missed, he was important, more than anything.

"We did," Edwin agreed, quietly, his voice feeling like a stranger's in his throat. It was weak and broken. He held Charles for a moment, pressing their foreheads together before he felt it wasn't enough. He sat by him, pressing close, and gathered him in his arms. He caressed Charles's forehead with his lips, peppering him with gentle, barely there kisses. "I missed you too, Charles, I missed you," Edwin whispered, closing his eyes as he held Charles closer. His magic reacted too, not yanking on the bonds, but holding them tighter, as if he wanted to reassure Charles in all kinds of ways he possibly could.

[just_aces]

That additional weight-pressure-presence to the bonds was more of a reassurance than anything else had been, and the rest definitely had been as well, even if he hadn't been, still wasn't, able to fully process the scattering of kisses, which had initially caused a faint whine in the back of his throat.

It wasn't pain or upset, it was just not fully being able to process the gesture even as he pushed himself closer into the loop of Edwin's arms, clinging to his coat like a lifeline. He'd be able to explain himself eventually, after some rest, maybe a day or two to actually settle again, but all he managed to say after a few long minutes of trembling silence was: "Going to need to find a new mirror for the backpack." A pause, brow creasing, "Probably owe Crystal one, too."

[uptightboy]

Edwin held Charles as if he would bolt anytime. Though he closed his eyes for a moment when mentioned Crystal. Of course. Yes... right. He let out a sigh.

"She was also worried," Edwin whispered. Because that was more important than mirrors. "And she will probably yell at you when we bring you back," he added. Before anything they needed to break the ward on the mirror of the office which might be problematic because Edwin felt he could not let Charles go anytime soon.

"How did the mirrors break, Charles?" Edwin asked instead.

[just_aces]

"I did it." It was the simplest answer, he didn't need to explain that it was because Edwin wasn't supposed to find him, because he thought that was the idea in the first place, because he needed to make sure Edwin couldn't follow him so they could both stay safe.

He wasn't going to try explaining any of that just yet because he was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that none of it was actually true, and that was going to take a while, especially as tired as he was.

[uptightboy]

But if Charles missed him, why would he destroy all the means to find Edwin again? Edwin frowned as less and less things made sense now that he had found Charles again. He waited for an explanation but Charles didn't seem like he wanted to give it.

"Charles..." Edwin muttered, closing his eyes and squeezing the other. "I believe we need to talk after we get home," he said. "You are scaring me," Edwin added. He was scared if there was something in the magic of Charles, or in the bonds he was wearing. Or maybe the Duchess was involved. Either way, Charles was acting strange and Edwin knew better than to pressure him right now but it took all his strength not to. "Why did you come here? To this horrible place..."

[just_aces]

Charles seemed to shrink in on himself a little at Edwin's admission of being scared of him, because that wasn't what he'd intended at all and was part of the reason he'd stayed away despite missing Edwin like missing a limb, but the fact that Edwin held onto him even despite claiming to be afraid of him helped. It confused him, but it still helped.

The actual question got a broken little laugh out of him, shaking his head, "Wasn't on purpose. Never was good at navigating the maze." It was possible that Edwin didn't actually see the space between mirror portals as a maze the same way Charles did, or if he did it was a much simpler one, point A to point B with only the occasional detour to somewhere visually similar if he was distracted, unlike Charles who had to work at it every time, and could really only travel to familiar places.

[uptightboy]

Edwin looked over to the mirror they both had arrived through. He noted that this mirror didn't break. Charles didn't break it. Not like the others. Which was alarming. All those mirrors were leading to familiar places. Places they knew and loved in some cases. One of those mirrors was in Crystal's place. Charles claimed he wasn't good at navigating the mirrors which was true. But that doesn't mean he couldn't end up where he wanted after a while, maybe even unintentionally.

Edwin pursed his lips as he was wondering if Charles, in his desperate wandering, thought that this was the place he deserved to be. After he thought he was locked out... It may have been the past days, or something else, but he felt anger warm his chest.

"This is no place for you, Charles," Edwin said. "This is no place for anyone..." he continued. Maybe it was a way to do something with the helpless feeling that gripped him the past days but Edwin did not want this place to stay as it was.

[just_aces]

Really he just hadn't broken that one yet because he hadn't expected Edwin to find it any more easily than he had, and he'd been too tired to try navigating back through to somewhere else and still needed the exit available once he'd rested. It wasn't anything more nefarious than that. Which he'd probably add to the explanation once he was actually able to give it, but right at the moment Edwin's statement was a puzzling one and his brow furrowed, "Not like I was going to move in." He replied, still sounding tired more than confused.

The statement was followed by an equally confused: "Hang on a tick, how'd you even think to look for me here? I wasn't trying to get here in the first place." He hadn't really been trying to get anywhere, which was probably part of the problem.

[uptightboy]

Edwin pursed his lips. With all the mirrors broken, except this one, he indeed thought Charles was going to stay. Apparently, he just caught him in time... at the last place he thought of. If Charles had moved on, Edwin probably had to use other, more violent methods to locate him.

"Charles, I was... I was so desperate," Edwin admitted quietly, tilting his head to look at Charles. He knew that he was dancing dangerously close to insanity when he saw Despair's eyes in every reflection in the office, and outside of it. She was watching again, drinking in his pain. "I have searched everywhere I knew there was a mirror. I mean it. This was the last place I hadn't looked and we both..." he trailed off. "We both know this place. It was... I suppose it was a lucky guess, however horrible it may sound."

With a trembling breath, he didn't need, he pulled away just a bit.

"Are you ready to come home?" he asked quietly.

[just_aces]

His brow furrowed more deeply at that, though he curled his fingers around Edwin's wrist, not about to let go now, "I wasn't... I mean, I just..." He shook his head, he couldn't even sort out what it was he was trying to say, he hadn't been going anywhere in particular, he'd just broken mirrors in the places he knew Edwin would look for him so that he wouldn't get back to those places accidentally himself, "Wasn't here on purpose." He finally concluded, just so that he wasn't rambling pointlessly.

He nodded at the question, however, "Yes, please." And then, hating how unsure he sounded when he asked, he added: "Is the ward gone?" If it wasn't, it meant that Edwin would have to return first to remove it and come back for him, and that was how things had gone wrong in the first place, and he hated how even just thinking it had that dread pooling in the pit of his stomach again, some kind of anxiousness prickling up his spine.

[uptightboy]

Charles ending up in this attic by accident was even worse, Edwin wondered. He truly didn't deserve it, and Edwin felt responsible. So he just sighed, nodding that he understood.

"It is not," Edwin admitted gently. He tightened his hold on Charles, along with the bonds. He absolutely hated how his voice sounded. To know that it was his stupid mistake that threw Charles into such a fit... "I shall take you to Crystal until I remove the ward. Then we can go to the office. I am not about to leave you here. Never here," he added. "Let's get you up, come on." He was going to feel calmer once Charles was back in the office, where he belonged. Then Edwin could finally think. He could sort out what happened, and why.

[just_aces]

He nodded at that, he could handle staying with Crystal for a while, however long it took Edwin to clear the ward on the mirror, though it stung a little knowing that he wouldn't be able to help, it was starting to sink in that Edwin looked almost as tired as Charles felt, and he should be able to lend his own energy for something like that, it was what a Hound was for, after all, but he knew even saying it would just make things worse right when they were tentatively starting to feel balanced again, "Yeah, that'll work. Let her have her chance to yell at me good and proper and then go home."

He managed to push himself to his feet, leaning heavily on Edwin for support as he did, only realizing once he was upright again just how tired he still was. He knew he'd gotten at least part of a nap between ending up here and Edwin finding him, but he didn't think it had been much of one, and he still wasn't sure just how long it was that he'd been running, either.

[uptightboy]

As Charles leaned heavily on him, Edwin got his arm and guided around his shoulders to carry him back to the mirror. Charles was heavy but in a way that weighed on Edwin's chest too. And yet, it felt good to have him close. To feel his presence, magical and otherwise.

Edwin took Charles through the mirror, barely noting the maze Charles was talking about. It truly was for those who got either lost or specifically wanted to enter that maze. Edwin knew better than to mess with it. He brought Charles to Crystal, through the newly brought mirror, and left him with her. Let them have their time for now.

By the time Edwin arrived back at the office, he was shaking. He turned around to face the mirror, closing the connection for the time he went to get rid of the ward. It should have been easy. A quick work. Because he was the one who put it there. It should have been easy. But the way his hand trembled, the way his vision was cloudy because of unshed tears, and the way he was so distracted did not help. It has been rare that he felt such a mix of emotions; relief and anger, and frustration and panic. It took too long and when Edwin stepped through the mirror back to Charles and Crystal he felt like he just finished fighting a war.

"Well then, whenever you are ready, Charles," Edwin sighed, setting his jacket straighter.

[just_aces]

Crystal hadn't yelled at him, not really, but mostly because he'd dropped back to hound shape almost as soon as Edwin was gone, flopping down in front of the mirror with his chin on his folded paws and Crystal's only response to that was, "Oh, you're real tired." And had promptly dropped to sit next to him, cautiously running a hand over his head and down the back of his neck, mostly just to make sure she wouldn't get an accidental read off of him the way she sometimes did with animals, relieved when she didn't.

She'd even smiled when he shifted over onto his side to press his shoulders into her hip, feet sticking straight out instead before relaxing into a doze. Which was still where they were when Edwin returned, Charles snoring softly with his head on Crystal's knee, where she was rubbing one of his ears idly between finger and thumb. She arched a brow at Edwin's return, "You two are going to fill me in once you figure all this out, right? We're not doing this again."

Charles stirred at the voices, though due to the doze he hadn't actually processed what had been said, grumbling softly and rolling to his feet, sitting upright and practically vibrating with his full attention on Edwin, waiting for the all-clear that had already been given, he just hadn't heard.

[uptightboy]

Edwin stopped still as he was looking at the pair. He was glad Charles stayed, only just realizing that he was slightly afraid he won't find him when he returned.

"Indeed, we shall," Edwin assured Crystal quietly, with a clear of his throat. "Thank you for taking care of him," he added as Charles sat up. "I apologize for worrying you."

Edwin wringed his hand still with remaining worry as he turned his attention to Charles. He knew the ward was gone and that he was able to travel now. Yet, he was still nervous.

"Come on, Charles, let's get you home now," Edwin called, holding out a hand to usher him. "You go ahead, I will be right behind you."

[just_aces]

There was a soft whine at that suggestion, because while he knew Edwin would have taken off the ward, and that the portal back to the office was already in place, no navigation on his part required, he was still running on the past few days of panic and adrenaline -though both were well and truly depleted at that point.

There was also the fact that if Edwin was behind him, he wouldn't be able to get lost because Edwin would catch him if he did, redirect him, but he was still cautious as he stepped forward into the mirror, tumbling through into the office as himself again as if he'd tripped over some unseen, ankle-high barrier, though that was more due to his own state than any actual problem.

He managed to get to his feet again, dusting himself off and taking a deep, unnecessary but still steadying breath, brow creasing just a little at the state of the office, Edwin really had been looking for him the whole time, and he wasn't sure what to make of that, it was just one too many things and he caught Edwin's wrist as soon as he was through the mirror as well, tugging him to the couch, "C'mon, we're going to sleep for at least an hour, then we'll get all this" a vague gesture at the office, "sorted. Then we'll figure out the rest."