Nathan felt horrible for his little boy. Only nine years old and having gone through so much, how could he let this happen? Why didn't he fight harder for him back then?
There was no use dwelling on his mistakes in the present now, he needs to be there for his one and only son, Humphrey. Or as the boy himself insists is his real name; Abaddon. It hurt knowing the little boy felt so far from himself nowadays, he used to be so open, so curious, so bright…now he's dull, lifeless and cruel. What had those heartless monsters done to his precious boy?
Nathan's blood boiled remembering what little he did know of what happened to his son, by the hands of the boy's own mother and disgusting excuse of a step father no less. The smallest flash of the branding scar on the young boys torso makes him nauseous with rage, what the hell was wrong with them? Who would do such a thing to a child?
The front door to the lobby creaking open loudly brings him out of his thoughts.
"Welcome to The Undervale! What can I…" Nathan trails off seeing his sister, Katherine, speed up to the front desk seemingly in extreme distress. "Whoa whoa whoa! What happened sis?" Nathan walks around the desk to comfort his little sister as she catches her breath.
"Nate, I…I need your help.." Katherine begs through gasps staring at her older brother with pleading eyes. "What'd you need help with Kathy?"
Katherine stood straight, shifting uncomfortably in place before answering him "Ron is…You remember me complaining about how much I wanted a divorce? Um…well…we've gotten divorced, but now he's kicking all of us out of the house…" Nathan met her eyes with sympathy and sorrow, how cruel life had been to all of the Freelings.
"Oh Kathy…I'm so sorry, I mean, I told you Ron was no good but still…if you need a place to stay, I've got plenty of space for you and the kids here Katherine. Stay as long as you need" he gave her a warm smile.
"Thank you so much Nathan…you have no idea how much this means…"
Both adults jump at the sudden sound of clattering from the upper level. "HUMPHREY!" Nathan dashed past his sister, leaving her in the lobby as he ran up the curved staircase to find wherever his son was. "HUMPHREY?! WHERE ARE YOU?! HUMPHREY?" Nathan went around frantically throwing open doors till he found the room that contained his son.
"Humphrey! There you are!" He ran over and collapsed by his son's side enveloping his small frame in a tight embrace. "What happened buddy? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He pulled away from the boy and searched him for any signs of injury. "I am alright Nathan." Abaddon answered flatly as the man fussed over him.
"Bud, we've talked about this, I'm dad, not Nathan. But I'm glad you're okay…What happened bug?" Nathan looked around the room, finally taking in the disarray that it held. A tall shelf had been toppled over, most of it's contents spilled out onto the floor. Part of the bed frame was crushed beneath the shelf's weight having caused a massive split in the wood. Nathan let out a frustrated sigh, "buddy…what on earth were you doing?" He looked at Abaddon with slight disappointment, but mostly concern.
"I was trying to get a book off of the top shelf." He spoke low and flat, almost lifelessly monotone. "You could have gotten seriously hurt Humphrey…you should have come and gotten me if you wanted to reach something like that hun." Nathan groaned as he stood up, his knees and back popping crudely as he did so.
"Come on bud, your aunt Kathy is here, we'll deal with this later.." In one smooth motion, he scooped up the boy and carried him downstairs to the lobby where the boys aunt still stood. "So sorry about that Kathy…Humphrey here knocked over a shelf upstairs…"
" Oh my god?? Is he okay???" Katherine rushed over to her brother, looking at the boy in her brother's arms trying to see if he needed more assistance. Wait…who even was this kid? He looks like he's straight out of some pilgrim town from the 1700s. Dark, shoulder length hair that's hiding most of his face as it's tucked against her brother's chest. An off white ruffled undercoat peeks out from beneath a navy blue long sleeve wool button up tucked into high-waisted brown corduroy pants that came out towards the middle of his calves, before dipping inward to a fitted cuff just above high length white socks.
Nathan never told her about having a kid…But it has been almost a decade since they last spoke at length…but still…she'd hoped if he had something like a kid he'd tell her about it. "Oh, right" as if coming to the same realization that she did, Nathan spoke out.
"This, is Humphrey, my son. I uh…had him I think, a year or so after we last spoke…" he shifted the boy to be on his hip, scratching his neck awkwardly as he explained.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Katherine asked, her voice cracking towards the end. It hurt her deeply that he hadn't told her sooner, she would have loved to be there for him, and her nephew.
"I guess. I don't know why I didn't tell you…I didn't tell anyone really…the townsfolk figured it out after they'd seen me with him and my ex-wife during shopping trips, and I just…never thought to let you or our parents know about the development…I'm sorry Kat…" he glanced away bashfully, as if choking back tears that threatened to cascade from his eyes.
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The siblings and the older's son sat around the kitchen table. The adults catching up on what else they'd missed over the last decade. Abaddon sat between the two, coloring lazily as he blocked both of them out. A fallen angel and demon of the abyss didn't need to waste energy on such meaningless mortal mingling.
"Humphrey!" Abaddon gave his caretaker more of his attention to let him know he was listening now. "What's up buddy, you haven't really spoke to me lately…" Nathan pouted at the boy, wounded at the distance between the two. He still remembers how clingy the boy used to be, barely able to do anything without the man without losing his mind. Nathan used to be his safe haven, what happened to that? What happened to his little boy?…
"I have little need to waste my breath on worthless conversations." Abaddon responded dismissively, turning his attention back to coloring, though it was hard when all the colors just looked like such similar shades of grey. He'd sometimes stumble down steps or into door frames because it was hard to tell where things really where in relation to him. But he can deal with it, it's not like he has any other choice.
"Humphrey…" Nathan placed his hand gently on the boys arm. "My name is Abaddon." Abaddon corrected harshly, yanking his arm towards himself, giving Nathan a look of annoyance. Nathan's frown deepened as he slowly takes his hand away from his son. "Sure bud…sure…"
Abaddon was slow at the best of times, but he wasn't stupid by any means. He knew when Nathan wasn't taking him seriously, and he was not going to take it for even a millisecond longer. Swiftly pushing his chair back and hopping off it's side, he made his way from the kitchen to the elevator, going down into the lower level of the building. Once in the basement, Abaddon made his way into one of it's smaller, more closed off sections where he had made himself a nest of pillows and blankets alongside miscellaneous trinkets and collections he had procured over his time back with his caretaker.
Wrapping himself up in one of the heavier comforters, he curled into a ball atop the mound on the floor. It was dark, and positively reeked of dust and mildew, but he didn't mind. The grime only served to make him feel more at home. He missed Hell, truly he did, even a small part of him wishes he hadn't been cast out of the pearly gates. Being gawked at with terror, analyzing each soul in order to sufficiently decide it's fate. He yearned for those days more and more the longer he was confined to this place.
But now he's here, in a body he despises. One that doesn't feel as if it belongs to him at all. Being left to the sidelines all the time, treated at best like a cherished pet and at worst like a nuisance in need of fixing. He didn't hate Nathan, he just, didn't feel all that invested in the man. He claimed to be his father, but Abaddon wasn't human like he was, he figured it was just best to go along with most of the man's demands and lay low until hell came for him. Letting the scenes of terribly wintry cave like landscapes and the shrill echoes of tortured cries invade his mind, he let sleep sink it's long sharp fangs into his body.
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"Is he always so..uh…'independent'?" Katherine asked her brother with an awkward grimace as she glanced between where Abaddon made his leave and the man sat before her.
Nathan sighed and cupped his face with his hands, resting his elbows on the table. "No. But ever since I got him back he's been like this. The case worker had only really given me vague ideas of what happened, but the major thing was that his step father -who was a priest- tried branding him because he believed he was possessed or something. He almost killed him, Humphrey got sent to the hospital where CPS got called. Josiah was arrested on an attempted murder charge and child abuse charges. Winnie lost custody of Humphrey, so he went back with me."
"Holy shit Nathan, that's horrible…" the thought of anyone, let alone someone's own parent or guardian doing something like that to them was terrifying to Katherine. She's surprised Nathan didn't try and murder the man himself, if Ron did anything even remotely close to that to one of her babies-she's kill him in a heartbeat.
Nathan let out a pained laugh, "You don't even know the half of it sister. Now, he treats me like he barely knows me! He insists his name is Abaddon and goes on these long rants every now and then about how 'He is Abaddon, a fallen angel and a keeper of the abyss' that 'this mortal realm shall not bind him forever and that it's only a matter of time before someone notices his absence and comes to find him'. You wanna know what I think? I think that psycho priest got to his head! I think that man convinced my boy he's a monster, and now he'd go so far as to say that himself!" Nathan vented exasperatedly, gesturing with his hands in dramatic shows of despair and hurt.
"Jeez Nate…I'm so sorry…It seems like you've both been through a lot..are you sure it'd be okay if me and the kids moved in?" Katherine really didn't want to make a burden of herself, especially to her brother.
"No no, it'll be fine. Ever since Winnie and I got divorced and she left with Humphrey, it's been kind of lonely here. It'd be great to have more life in this place, plus! Humphrey was never really good with other kids his age, so it'd be good for him to be able to have some friends for once!" Nathan stood from his chair as he spoke, walking over and putting his hand on Katherine's shoulder to try and ease her worrying mind. She always did have a habit of getting into her head about things.
"Mmm, I don't know about Ben, but Esther defiantly needs a friend, even if he claims he's a demon" she smiled weakly at her brother.
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The shrill ding of the elevator arriving to the basement woke Abaddon from his slumber. Slow, cautious steps approached him where he remained tucked into the pile in the corner. Nathan crouched down beside the child shaped lump covered in blankets, trying his best not to disturb any of the knickknacks strewn about the ground.
"Humphrey bud, are you awake?" Nathan gently nudged the mound to try and stir the boy from his sleep. "I've been looking for you everywhere, why'd you come down here bug? I didn't know you had a little nook down here, looks comfy" he tried lightening the mood so his son hopefully felt safe enough to come out from the comforters.
"mmnggg" Abaddon begrudgingly removed himself from his warm cotton chrysalis, sitting up and giving Nathan a dull glare. "mmwhat do you want" he murmured.
"Heyyy bud, are ya hungry? Kathy's grabbing her kids from the hotel in town and then we'll all be eating take out in the parlor, is there anything that sounds good right now? I'm taking requests" Nathan playfully offered, standing up and ignoring the loud pops from his joints.
"I do not need to eat." the boy stood, dusting himself off before staring up at his caretaker as if he'd asked if the sky was blue. "Not what I asked bud, and yes, you do need to eat bug. I'm not letting you starve yourself just because you're 'a demon' " Nathan chastised the child lightly, slowly starting to reach the end of his rope with the 'demon talk', he just wanted his boy back.
Abaddon shot daggers at the man before him, trying to keep his composure. Neither of them where in the mood to deal with the others perspectives tonight. Shoving passed his guardian and entering the elevator, Abaddon kept his eyes glued to the floor as if looking anywhere but there would cause the building to collapse inward onto itself.
Sighing, Nathan joins his ward in the elevator, pressing the up arrow to head up to the ground floor.