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

[uptightboy]

Edwin pursed his lips, pointedly looking at the books in his hands. He knew he wanted to get to the end of this. He wanted to know what Charles was, partly to be prepared for anything. Because it was time they faced it. But... a binding circle? And who knew what kind of memories would surface then?

Though, as Charles put his hand on his shoulder he looked at him again. It was awful. He was still waiting for these little touches. So what would happen if Charles wasn't there anymore to give them?

"Well," Edwin sighed, trying to focus on just one torture at a time... "That is true. But I also am not in a hurry to run questionable experiments on you," he added. "I won't be long, I believe these books may have all I'm looking for. And then we shall return," he added. He usually never borrowed the books from his archive, and only noted down some of his findings in his notebook. Mostly because he respected the owners of his place and he was aware that others were also using this archive as a library. So it was mutual respect. "Just a few ticks," he assured Charles.

Those few ticks turned into a couple of hours because Edwin wanted to write down everything he had found. Which wasn't that much but there were a whole lot of books to get through. He was still missing information on witch history but that could come later when they find out exactly when Charles was summoned.

[just_aces]

He couldn't help but snort with amusement, smiling broad and toothy at the mention of 'questionable experiments', but nodded all the same, "Yeah, alright, probably a better idea anyway."

After the first few minutes of standing still, Charles left the dome light for Edwin so that he could go wandering, as if to give lie to his previous statement that sitting still for a while wouldn't actually be torture. He didn't stray far, occasionally out of direct line of sight, but never out of earshot, skimming titles as he went, which had, in turn, led to becoming fully engrossed in an oversized volume on reliquaries, ossuaries, relics and similar repositories for remains of religious significance.

He only belatedly realized that he couldn't hear Edwin taking notes anymore and blinked up, gently closing the book and returning it to the shelf.

[uptightboy]

By the time Edwin considered their trip to be done, he had half the cabinet's books lying around him in a circle. If he was alive his pen would have stained his fingers to dark blue or black. But he was a ghost and he gathered all the library offered on hellhouds and binding circles, and some summoning techniques too. Incidentally, he also had to brush up on sacrificial rituals. Fun reading.

Edwin put all the books where he found them and pocketed his notebook. He looked around for Charles, knowing he wasn't far.

"I apologize, that took longer than I expected," he said when he found the book, carrying the light with him. "Now, let's go and put our new knowledge to use."

[just_aces]

Charles flashed him an easy smile, "I found something to keep myself occupied, always do, don't I?" He did, but not always something productive, which was part of the problem.

He nodded at the rest, tucking the dome light back into the backpack before shouldering it, "Lead the way." He could probably find his way back to the cafe's mirror without too much trouble, but it was easier to just follow Edwin who definitely knew where he was going.

Upon returning to the office he shrugged out of both backpack and coat, rubbing his hands together, "Right then, what do you need me to do?"

[uptightboy]

The fond 'Yes, you always do,' is silent from Edwin's part, but they both know it was there. He led them back to the office with a heavy heart, however, knowing that there was no turning back from here.

"Right," Edwin nodded, walking to their desk. He got his notebook again as if he didn't just remember everything he had taken notes of just now. But flipping through the pages he did notice himself just stilling so he stopped. "Right," he repeated, then looked around. "Let us go with the sheet method, I'd rather not draw such a circle on our floor after all," he said and already went to fetch that sheet from their closet. "The circle itself doesn't work, only when it is complete so there should be no harm drawing it. And it shall be finished while you are inside."

[just_aces]

He considered this for about as long as it took Edwin to actually fetch one of the spare sheets -and they had a stockpile, along with a few that had already-completed circles for various things- and he nodded in agreement, "Makes sense, yeah."

A little shrug, "And that way if I start feeling off while I'm drawing it I can just, not finish it." Which he hadn't actually thought of as a possibility until he was actually saying it, brow creasing a little, "Huh." That was as far as the consideration got, not about to get ahead of himself with what-ifs, especially the bad ones, not right now.

He went to get the paint out of the supply cabinet, pausing only when he'd grabbed the usual pot of black tempera and ash, "Wait, are we going to need something besides the normal?"

[uptightboy]

As Charles got the paint, Edwin laid the sheet out for them.

"Yes, we need to be very careful about this," he warned, pulling at the sheet a little nervously to flatten it even more. As the question he looked up from where he was crouching. "You said Esther used simple chalk, right? It is entirely possible you do not need anything special while you are in your current state. If it does not work, however, we shall look for other tools to create the circle."

Other tools... iron? Fire? Literally creating a circle out of metal...? Edwin hoped it wouldn't come to that.

So with a determined look, he stood back up and opened his notebook to show the circle to Charles. Some of the sigils they knew from other kinds of rituals, but Edwin did note a few new ones, probably connected to the nature of the thing the circle should bound.

"The method is the same as with the others. Start from the outside and keep working toward the middle," Edwin reminded Charles. "And if you feel anything strange, or you remember anything, we stop."

[just_aces]

"I think so?" He shook his head, "Woke up already in it, and dragging my bag across it was enough to disrupt the lines, so if it wasn't plain chalk it was as good as." He made sure the lid on the jar was tight -as if he would have put it away haphazardly in the first place- before shaking it steadily with one hand, flicking the fingers of his other for Edwin's notes, and his comment of: "Let's see it, then." Dissolved into a warm smile at the fact that Edwin was already holding them ready.

It didn't seem to be any more complex than any other circles he'd drawn out, most runes were fairly simple, a couple he didn't recognize, but they were easy enough to copy down. Even as he started working, brow creased in concentration he said, "You'll probably notice before I do if I start getting sluggish or anything, so obviously just say something." Not that he thought Edwin wouldn't but keeping them both on the same page was important.

[uptightboy]

"Right, good thinking, Charles," Edwin nodded, letting the boy start working.

Any kind of magical circle was tricky to create. That was why Edwin was annoyed when some of the movies they watched the characters just simply drew ritual circles without reference or with such neglect. If a magical circle was wrongly made it could have had disastrous consequences. It wasn't once they also ran into trouble with Charles about this, especially at the beginning of their detective careers but they have gotten better. They worked out a proper system for it. Now they could do it quickly and effectively, and almost as second nature. And yet, Edwin felt like they were doing it the first time. Maybe because it was related to Charles's case?

Charles knew what to look for, and Edwin could also instruct him when something was off, or if he felt the circle start to fill with power.

"You are doing excellent so far," Edwin muttered, keeping a careful eye on the picture in his notebook and the one Charles was creating on their sheet.

[just_aces]

Charles, for his part, had made himself slow down from the practiced speed he usually used, needing to not just get this one right, but make sure he was paying attention to how he was feeling while in the middle of it.

The thing was, there was no change while he was working, maybe a little prickle of anticipation up his spine, but that was normal enough that he didn't think it was because of the circle.

It was only when he'd finished and capped the paint again that he barked his knuckles on an invisible barrier trying to set it on the floor beside the sheet. It was enough of a startle that he dropped the jar, though as it was already closed it didn't spill, just rolled harmlessly to the floor where he'd meant to set it. His brow furrowed, reaching for it cautiously only to come up against that invisible edge again at the outer bounds of the circle.

All he had to say was: "Well, looks like it's working."

[uptightboy]

Edwin was so focused on the circle being perfect he jumped when Charles suddenly dropped the paint. He looked up alarmed from his notebook, just in time to hear Charles declare victory. Edwin once again checked his notes and cross-checked the circle if it was the one they needed. Just in case. And it was.

With a nervous sigh, he stepped closer to Charles. After a moment of hesitation, he attempted to reach inside. He had to confirm if the circle was working as intended. If it was, it had no effect on ghosts, or humans actually.

"Yes, yes it seems like we did it," Edwin confirmed as he did not feel the barrier, not in the way Charles had felt it. He could feel the swirling of magic energies but they left his existence alone but not Charles's. It did confirm Charles's nature pretty clearly. He tried not to think about how Charles was kept in a circle that he could not get out but anyone could get in... "So, do you feel anything, Charles?"

[just_aces]

He shook his head even as he shifted over to sit upright instead of kneeling as he had been while painting, knees drawn up and arms just draped across them, stretching his fingers a little from where he'd initially smacked them into the barrier, "No? Little weird, not like, magic weird, just like, it's weird to know I'm stuck here, for now."

Of course the initial plan of just bunching the sheet up to break the lines of the circle was still viable, since it seemed that only the outer edge was what was stopping him.

He took a deep breath, just in case that might help, but shook his head a moment later, "Nothing. Should probably give it a few minutes though, yeah?"

[uptightboy]

"Hmm," Edwin hummed. He was afraid of this, yes. That it might take more time to trigger anything, if anything was to be triggered at all. He slowly sat by the circle too, as close as he could without disturbing it. "Well, that may be true. But do remember, I'm here, so if you feel anything strange please tell me immediately," he said, taking the pen from his notebook to write a few things down.

Then he quickly went through his notes. The circle was simple, there was nothing more about it. Witches had used it for decades to trap creatures summoned from Hell. Most of his notes were about hellhounds in general. Familiars to witches and sources of magical energy. Used for protection and for magical battery. And anything else the witch needed a beast as such for. And they were loyal. So what happened? When a witch died, summoned familiars returned to their original plane of existence a little after. So how come Charles was still roaming as a ghost?

"Charles, what if your..." Edwin started but he suddenly couldn't say the word. "The one who summoned you still exists somewhere?"

[just_aces]

Oh he didn't like that idea, even a little, and he shook his head, "Most witches aren't immortal though, yeah? Esther was kind of a special case." Some of them were rather long-lived, certainly, but he doubted -or, rather, didn't want to think- she was still alive after almost half a century without her familiar.

He shifted, settling cross-legged instead of with his knees drawn up, trying to be comfortable as best he could, "Should probably work out what kind of witch is going to do something like summon a Hellhound for a familiar, that's not kitchen-witch territory, doubt most hedge-witches would, "What kind of witch would need low-level demonic energy for spells?" Because that was the thing, it wouldn't just be arcane magic the way trapping some other magical creature as a familiar would be, but outright demonic, "And one that'd need a Hellhound more than a wraith or an imp, but not enough to make a pact with a demon."

He wasn't sure if that was something he was remembering from before or if it was just one of the things he'd picked up from the years of working with Edwin.

[uptightboy]

"Not immortal, no," Edwin agreed. "But maybe not proceeded to their afterlife," he added with a bit of worry. Existing as a ghost or something that was devoid of life was an option. Especially for those who were familiar with the arcane, familiar with Hell's powers and creatures.

"A pact with a demon is- that demands a lot from the summoner," Edwin continued. "It is a contract demanding a soul. But summoning a Hellhound is an easier way to manage demonic energy." But he agreed that while wraiths and imps would also serve this purpose, a Hellhound was stronger. And if the summoner was strong enough, the Hellhound could be controlled more easily. But he was impressed Charles remembered these things about witch familiars.

"Hell's energy, demonic magic usually used by those with the dark arcane," Edwin said after a moment of pause, looking at Charles. "I mean dark magic, Charles, forbidden spells. Spells and magic that can tamper with death and life itself."

[just_aces]

He just nodded, biting the inside of his cheek briefly, as if chewing that information over physically would help it sink in, "Which means she might still be about." He didn't like that idea one bit.

It hadn't even been five minutes of sitting still and he was already getting restless, gaze darting from place to place around the office and it was, of all things, the bookshelf that caught his attention, that newly-bound set of Hardy boys, he'd done them each in a different color, with contrasting imprint color for the titles, something that sparked a memory, glancing from the circle he was sitting in to the books and back, brow creasing a little.

"It wasn't always dirt floor. There was tiles later, them real small ones." He snapped his fingers as if that might help him think of what they were called, "Mosaic!" He brightened a little at having actually remembered it, "Those ones. Still in the kitchen, just, more permanent way to keep me in place"

His brow creased then that realization triggering another, somewhat newer memory, "When I was small, two, or three maybe, we went to the really posh market, they had tiles like that in the entryway and I was so scared to walk across them, just started wailing like a banshee." He shook his head, "I was fine once mum picked me up to carry me over, but couldn't do it myself. To scared." It was also one of, if not the, first times his father had slapped him for 'causing a scene', but he didn't need to relay that information at the moment.

"So I must've remembered something when I was still that little." About the age that most kids could still see ghosts, even if only the especially solid ones.

[uptightboy]

"Exactly," Edwin confirmed quietly. Though, he hoped he was wrong. He hoped he was just overthinking, that he was only thinking about the worst-case scenario as Charles always reminded him.

But when Charles talked about the mosaic floor, he noted it down. But when he brought up the other memory, the pen in Edwin's hand stopped. He turned his gaze back to Charles in stunned silence. Right, it was... a good thing that Charles might have remembered when he was little. But then again...

"You must have been so scared for a long time to have such a reaction," Edwin muttered, his brows furrowing. "Right, we are done here. I'm not letting you stay in there any longer." They could have this same result by just studying the picture of the circle. And knowing that the memory would hurt Charles was something Edwin could not bear. And knowing that he remembered more when he was little was just worse. Edwin attempted to disrupt the sheet with the circle on it. "This was a mistake, we should have went with a less direct method."

[just_aces]

He caught Edwin's wrist lightly as the other ghost went about folding the sheet over to disrupt the circle, "I'm alright, Edwin. Promise." And he was, for the most part. The second memory, from his real life, or his human life, he supposed, and that actually stung, thinking of it as something that hadn't been real despite his memories and experiences, that memory had been old enough that any of the fear in it was a distant ache, nothing to concern himself with now.

He did, however, relax a little once he was able to move from the circle, unfolding to his feet and stretching, "I can almost remember the footprint of the kitchen, just can't think about it too hard or I'll lose it." Which was why he snagged the notepad Crystal had taken to using when she was present for a potential client interview, flipping to a clean page and sketching out the rough shape of the room, eyes partly closed as he did, labeling the boxes in it once he had, stove, sink, and the singular circle beside the stove was self-explanatory. There was also an exterior door, and an interior door, and a staircase which he tapped the pen against, "Not sure if it was up to a second floor or down to a cellar, but it was definitely stairs."

He shook his head again, sliding the notepad over, "Don't remember what was in the other room, or what was outside, if it was more houses or just countryside or what. But it's a start, yeah?"

[uptightboy]

Edwin pursed his lips at the touch and the confirmation too. He knew Charles was alright, he always was. He was the smiling one. The one good with people... until he got angry. Until Crystal came about and showed Edwin it wasn't as simple. So he truly hoped Charles was alright, but he will keep an eye on him.

With a tilt of his head, Edwin eyed the drawing of the kitchen. He wondered if Charles really had never seen the other room, or just didn't remember. Edwin wasn't sure which of those options was worse.

"So this kitchen and the mosaic seem to be the most recent memory of that life of yours," Edwin stated out loud, thinking. Mosaic floors started to get popular at the beginning of the 1900's, along with stoves. "The fact that it had indoor plumbing puts it to more recent times than I've expected. It would also indicate that it was either a rich manor or lived somewhere in a city. I would imagine a witch with dark arcane spells could have eligible funds for a house of luxuries in the 20th century." It did help about what part of witch history he should research first. "I think it is a good start, great work, Charles."

[just_aces]

That easy praise just had him grinning the wide-open, happy-puppy grin he sometimes got, the one that wrinkled his nose up, "Yeah?" He shook his head, leaning against the edge of the desk again, though leaning back on his hands instead of curling in on folded arms as he had earlier that day, "I'm pretty sure it was the same house the whole time, the dirt floor and the tiles, just got updated. Stove was iron for a long time, one of those, like, pot-belly iron woodstoves at first, and then..."

He shook his head, scratching the back of his neck, "Think it was still iron when the floor was tiles, just blocky-like, square like they are now, only bigger, twice the size of a modern one maybe?" He shook his head, "Had fancy feet on it." That much he remembered because they were right there where he could see them most of the time.

[uptightboy]

"I believe, too, that it was the same house. For a long time, apparently," Edwin nodded. "But the time of your transformation is the most important. It is the most recent event, and it is a key point in this case. Once we know 'when' we may discover the 'why'."

Edwin quickly wrote down some notes. Then went to the bookshelf again to start on their next part of research.

"We may still need to visit another archive but first I shall see how much I can gather from books I have on hand," he explained. "That said, if you remember more, write it down."

[just_aces]

It was only then that something that probably should have been obvious before occurred to him, blinking twice, "I..." A huff of a laugh, "Edwin, I was born in 1973. Can't imagine whatever did this would have like, just held onto a Hellhound for very long, right?"

He shook his head, "And I was born, it's in the file at the Lost and Found Department." That fact, more than anything else, settled him some, knowing that he hadn't just been transformed from a Hellhound to a teenage boy somewhere along the way. He pushed himself up from the desk, already knowing what he was looking for, "The law almanacs, the witch ones, disputes and settlements, do the ones we've got go that recent?"

It was possible, of course, that whatever witch he'd been beholden to wouldn't have done anything that was legally recorded, that happened a lot, it was why the almanacs were so thin, but it was another step in the right direction if nothing else.

[uptightboy]

Edwin blinked. Those books were the exact ones he was planning to have a look at, but it is good Charles also had the same idea. Especially that he tied it to the date of his birth.

"Great deduction, Charles. We've got the past fifty years covered, yes," Edwin nodded and followed Charles to get the almanacs they were thinking of. He took it off the shelf and handed it to the other. God knows it was a rare time Charles himself wanted to open a book, especially a law almanac.

[just_aces]

He smiled, it always warmed him a little when Edwin confirmed that he'd had the same idea, it meant Charles was probably on the right track about something. He accepted the volume, with an easy, "Cheers." Before just sliding down to sit on the floor, leaning back against the shelf and leafing through it to 1970, figuring he could work further back from there if needed to, if he didn't find anything while moving forward.

Knowing key words to look for -removal or collection or even transformation of a familiar or Hellhound- would make his skimming of the pages a little easier, the same way running two fingers along the page as he went, keeping a single line of text between them as he did, helped keep the words from swimming too badly.

Even still it was going to be slow going, especially with the way he had to blink up and re-focus -even despite knowing that ghosts shouldn't be able to get eye fatigue- every couple of pages.

[uptightboy]

As Charles opened the book and sat down, Edwin walked behind him, leaning down to read the pages too. He idly wondered how Charles's Hellhound nature would explain his troubles with reading, and with colors too. But that was for later.

The almanac in question was acquired after a particularly horrible case with a witch. It was questionable if she was as bad as Esther but at least she wasn't immortal. But after that Edwin did feel the need to get more familiar with witches and their history, taken that it could teach them a lot. He was right, they had a few other cases in which knowing some background came in handy. This time too. Though Edwin wished it would have been something less... personal.

"There," Edwin frowned, pointing at a line then. He recognized the coven the entry mentioned - one of the most powerful ones he'd read about in other books too. What got Edwin's attention, however, was the text writing about banishing a witch not part of the coven because of practicing forbidden magic, and scattering her belongings and familiars.