Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There You See Her, Sitting There Across the Way

“Abbadon, can I tell you something?”

This was how it all started. Abaddon rocked back on his heels and turned to Heather in mild surprise. She sat on the curb with her hair pulled into long braids, scrolling absently through her phone. They were waiting for Esther, who had gone to the school store to browse its black market offerings. With the school year ending and her thirteenth birthday approaching, Esther wanted to treat herself. Both Heather and Abaddon knew she'd be a while.

“Hmm? Tell me something?” Abaddon asked, pointing to himself. Heather’s cheeks darkened as she shyly looked up.

“Yeah. It’s about… it’s about Esther.” Abaddon blinked.

“What about Esther?” he asked. Heather looked away, taking deep breaths, as if steeling herself for something. “Is something wrong with her?”

"No! No, nothing is wrong with her," Heather said, twisting a loose strand of hair between her fingers. She exhaled sharply through her nose and turned toward Abaddon, though her eyes remained fixed on the road. "Look, you're my only other friend besides Esther, and I just—I have to tell someone."

Abaddon opened his mouth to respond but found himself speechless. Heather considered him a friend? Warmth spread through his chest. He liked Heather—she was smart, learned quickly, and usually went along with his and Esther's ideas. He felt his cheeks grow hot.

“Yes, friends,” he agreed, shifting awkwardly. “Of course. What would you like to tell me about Esther?”

“I…” Heather bit her lower lip. “I—Ihavecrusher.” The words came out jumbled together, and Abaddon couldn’t make them out.

“You want to crush her?” Abaddon asked, tilting his head. Heather blushed harder and shook her head.

“No, I have a—crush. On her.” Heather finally looked up at Abaddon, locking eyes. Abaddon just stared. Crush? This sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place the term.

“You want to crush her… how?” Abaddon tried, slipping his hands into his pockets. Heather shook her head and sighed.

“Right, you probably used a different term,” she said, rubbing the edges of her nose underneath her glasses. “A crush is… being interested in someone. Romantically.” Abaddon quirked his eyebrow. “I am interested in Esther. Romantically.”

“Ah!” Abaddon said, “do you wish to date her? Like Katherine dates Joel?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly it!” Heather said brightly. “I didn’t really realize it until earlier this year, and like I think I’ve liked her for a while? But I didn’t realize it? I don’t know, she’s so fun and pretty—and now we’re gonna be teenagers and teenagers like, date and stuff? And—I don’t know if I’m ready for all that!” Heather breathlessly wrung her hands in her lap as the words spilled from her. Abaddon said nothing, just standing and listening to Heather divulge. He was still reeling from being considered a ‘friend’. He nodded as if he understood, but he really only somewhat followed her excited babbling.

“And, Abaddon—you can’t tell her, got it?” Heather added, grasping his hand. She extended her pointer and pinky fingers towards him. “Deal?” Abaddon returned the gesture and tapped his fingers with hers.

“Of course,” he said, “I will hold this friendship secret close to my chest, away from the prying eyes of Esther.” He thumped his chest twice and stared at Heather, who smiled gratefully.

“Hey! What’re you guys doing?” A voice caught both of their ears, and they turned to see Esther approaching them with a plastic bag hanging from her elbow. “Is Abaddon promising our souls to Baphomet again?”

“No, not today,” Heather said quickly, grinning as Esther joined them by the curb. Esther pulled the plastic bag from her arm and opened it to share the contents with her friends.

“Well that’s a relief, because you need to watch these amazing Japanese horror flicks someone torrented for me,” Esther said, showing off three blank DVD cases. “I promised to keep his name secret, but it rhymes with ‘crying’ and I paid him twenty bucks for these.” Abaddon watched as Heather pawed through the cases, nearly flinching every time Esther’s hand brushed her own. Abaddon hadn’t really noticed it before, but he supposed Heather did exhibit some romantic tendencies around Esther.

“I’ve goooot… A better copy of Noroi, Black Rat, and Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder from Hell,” Esther continued, shrugging her backpack to the ground. Her auburn ponytail, now past her shoulders, whipped at Heather’s arm lightly, and she flushed. Abaddon stepped off the curb and walked to Esther’s front, where he could look up at her more easily. She seemed to not notice Heather’s obvious interest, which he found fascinating. Perhaps it was because she was now so much taller than both of them, having sprinted past five feet tall at the beginning of seventh grade earlier in the year.

“Did you only get movies, or did you get snacks, too?” Heather asked, placing a gentle hand on Esther’s arm. Esther grinned wickedly.

“Oh, I’ve got snacks, all right,” she said, pulling a bag of Doritos and a bag of Ruffles from her backpack. “Aaaaand party supplies,” she said, and she angled her bag to show off three wine coolers at the very bottom. Heather gasped, shocked.

“Esther!” She hissed. “Those have alcohol in them!” Esther’s grin deepened.

“I know,” she said, piling everything back into her backpack and grabbing both Heather and Abaddon’s wrists. “C’mon, we have to get to the hotel and get this Friday Night Movie started!” Heather looked happy to be tugged along, and Abaddon continued to say nothing, only watching Heather watch Esther.

“Well, I can only stay until ten,” Heather reminded them as they walked.

“Not a problem,” Esther said. “Right, Abaddon? We’ll get her home safe before the Wendigo comes out tonight.”

“The what?” Heather asked, but Esther simply turned her grin to Abaddon.

“She’s joking,” Abaddon said, although he wouldn’t mind a wendigo encounter himself. “The only true threat in those woods is me—and I live indoors now.” This caused Esther to laugh, which made Heather laugh, which made Abaddon laugh, although he wasn’t entirely sure why.

Several hours and one and a half movies later, Heather's dad came to pick her up just before ten p.m. Movie night had been a huge success. Although the films were typical human horror fare, many of the ghosts joined in anyway, if only to watch something different on television for once. Esther, Heather, and Abaddon squeezed together on the loveseat by the window, which gave Abaddon the perfect vantage point to observe the two girls. Esther was engrossed in the film and didn't seem to notice how Heather's leg pressed against hers, or how their fingers brushed when they reached for popcorn. When Heather called her dad, Esther protested, but Heather soothed her by rubbing her arms—something both girls seemed to enjoy.

After Heather left, Esther and Abaddon remained outside in the warm summer evening, watching bats swoop through the twilight to catch flies. Esther had finished one of the wine coolers and was practically glowing red, her eyelids heavy from the mild buzz. She turned the second bottle between her fingers—the one Heather had sipped from cautiously before leaving. Abaddon watched as she stared at the rim, chewing absently on her lip.

“Hey, Abs,” Esther said after prolonged silence. A bat whizzed by her ear, but she hardly noticed. “D’you think Heather is pretty?” Abaddon could tell from Esther’s inflection that the correct answer was yes, but he wasn’t sure why. He recalled Ben demanding the same of him about Annabelle in the past.

“Yes,” he said, “Heather is pretty.” Esther’s eyes sparkled as she took a sip from the open bottle in her hand.

"Yeah, she is," she said dreamily. Another bat dipped into view, and Abaddon leapt up and snatched it from the air. The bat thrashed in his hands, startled by the sudden capture. He examined it quickly, then released it back into the night. It wasn't plump enough for his liking.

“Is there a reason you’re asking me to our friend’s looks?” Abaddon asked, emphasizing our. He wanted to make sure Esther was aware of his new friendship status with Heather. Esther took another syrupy swig of the wine cooler and stared down the driveway, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

“She’s prettier than pretty. She’s beautiful,” she said. “I want to be with her.” Abaddon had been poised to catch another bat, but missed, startled by Esther’s admission.

“Heather—” he started, but clapped a hand over his mouth. He cannot betray Heather’s trust! Esther glanced towards Abaddon.

“Yeah, Heather,” she said, sighing. “I dunno, Abaddon, it’s like I can suddenly see how pretty she is, y’know?” He didn’t know, but he let her continue. “I wanna be around her all the time. I wanna talk to her all the time. I can’t stand it when she’s doing something without me.” Esther’s cheeks darkened as she spoke, and her arms tightened around herself, like she was suddenly cold.

“Are you alright?” Abaddon asked. “You don’t look well.”

“It’s just the wine,” Esther said, eyeing the bottle. “And the, y’know. Feelings. It’s embarrassing, Abs.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“I just like her so much…” Esther blew a raspberry into the night. “I gotta figure this out. You can’t mention this to her, Abaddon. You got it?” She extended her forefinger and raised her thumb, mimicking a gun. She ‘cocked’ the barrel and ‘shot’ at Abaddon, blowing over the tip as if huffing out the smoke.

“Is that what you think would kill me?” Abaddon asked, staring down at her ‘gun’. “Even after all this time?”

“I’m kidding, Abs, but also not,” Esther said, dropping her ‘gun’ and crossing her arms again. More bats were gathered in the trees lining the driveway, swooping in and out of newly restored bat houses. Another brushed close to Esther, and she grimaced.

“You can’t tell Heather. Please.”

“I will not tell Heather.”

“Do you promise?”

“…”

“Abaddon.”

“…I promise.” It hurt his mouth to be so… accommodating. It was worth it for his Freelings, but it was still annoying. “I, Abaddon of the Undervale, High Priest of—”

“Abs, please, I know you’re just making titles up now,” Esther interrupted, dumping out the rest of the wine cooler onto the driveway. There wasn’t much left, but he could see plainly that Esther had had more than enough for one evening. Abaddon took her arm led her back up to the front door, where they took one last look at the feasting bats.

“What am I gonna do, Abaddon?” Esther asked, her expression, for once, serious. “I really like her. I think it could be love.” She sighed. “I know that people say I’m too young for that, but Heather is… special.” Esther brought her hand to her chest, placing it over her heart. “I can feel it, y’know? I don’t want to let that go.”

“I understand. We are both often underestimated,” Abaddon said as he pulled open the front door. “Now, normally I don’t care what you do, but the bats are saying very rude things about you, so I suggest you come inside.” He released the door behind him and scurried into the closest vent, emerging in the kitchen where Nathan and Ben were sitting over a pizza. Nathan ‘twirled’ an olive in his fingers while listening to Ben’s story, whose mouth was full of crust. The box had one slice left.

“—and like, I’m just supposed to know that Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood aren’t the same person?” Ben was saying as Abaddon grabbed the last slice and began picking toppings off. “Oh, hey, Abaddon, movie night over?”

“Yes,” Abaddon said, licking a green pepper and tossing it aside. “Esther is outside. She drank that sweet wine, so she’s being annoying right now.” Ben looked from Abaddon to Nathan in surprise.

“What sweet wine?” he asked, looking back to Abaddon. The demon pointed to the sink, where two empty bottles bearing B&J stood by the tap. Nathan’s eyes widened as he realized what they were.

“That’s not wine,” he said, standing up. “Those are wine coolers, which normally have malt liquor.” Nathan gave them a worried look. “Uh oh.”

“That would explain all her warbling,” Abaddon said as Ben rose from his seat.

“Oh my God, is Esther drunk?” Ben asked, eyebrows knitted together. “Oh my God, Mom is going to kill me.”

“What do you mean, warbling?” Nathan asked as Ben ran to the sink with a glass for Esther. Abaddon took a bite of the now vegetable-less pizza and frowned.

“She was telling me about Heather,” he explained. “That she—” he stopped. He did promise.

Well. He promised he wouldn’t tell Heather. “Esther has romantic feelings for Heather.” Telling Nathan didn’t count, of course.

“Ohhhh, finally realized it, huh?” Nathan said, unsurprised. “Well, I’m happy for Esther. Did Heather, uh, reciprocate?” Abaddon stared at Nathan for a moment, perplexed.

“No, no exchange with Heather occurred,” he said. “Although, Heather spoke to me, earlier today.” He pushed the rest of the slice into his mouth. “She told me she has feelings for Esther.” Nathan and Ben exchanged a look from across the kitchen.

“Wait, so they don’t know that they like each other?” Ben asked as he grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Nothing?” said Abaddon.

“True love?” said Nathan.

Ben made a face at them both.

“What? No, what is wrong with our family?” he lamented. “No, no, this is our chance to have our Disney moment. We can be like the sea creatures during ‘Kiss the Girl’ in The Little Mermaid.”  He gestured to himself using the water glass. “I’ll be Sebastian, naturally. You two can be like the fish or whatever.”

“Or whatever?” Nathan asked, while Abaddon stared blankly. “I’m at least as good as a Sebastian!”

“Look, we have an opportunity to make Esther’s thirteenth birthday amazing,” Ben said as he headed for the door. “They like each other, they just need a little push. Just like in The Little Mermaid! Ugh, this is going to be amazing.” Ben sighed happily. “Let’s plan it tomorrow. Uncle Nathan, you can be our idea man. Me and Abaddon can execute.” With that, Ben elbowed his way out of the room and back into the foyer, looking for Esther.

“Sounds good, Ben!” Nathan called after him. He turned to Abaddon, who was eying the slice on Nathan’s plate. “You excited to make Esther’s whole year, bud?”

“I suppose,” Abaddon said, although his disinterest was false at best. He was intrigued to see where this would go, and what a The Little Mermaid was, and how it all fit together with Esther and Heather’s feelings for each other. They were his friends, and the idea of them being happy together was… good.

This feeling is still so new for Abaddon that he almost gagged. But instead, he caught a glimpse of Ben trying to push Esther into the elevator, and Esther red-cheeked and giggling, poking Ben in the side, causing him to jump. Abaddon snatched Nathan’s pizza slice and ducked into the vents once again, pulling himself up into the heart of the hotel, where he could hear Ben and Esther grappling in the elevator shaft.

Happy together… good. He looked forward to tomorrow.

Chapter Text

She Don’t Got A Lot to Say, But There’s Something About Her

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, though one wouldn’t know if they'd seen Esther. Abaddon hopped onto her bed at ten A.M. and was surprised to see her still wrapped up in blankets.

“Esther,” Abaddon said, pushing on her legs. “Katherine wants to take you someplace.”

“Ugh, who cares?” Esther whined from within her blanket cocoon. Abaddon could tell the alcohol did not agree with her, which he had predicted the night before.

Nathan had convinced Katherine to take Esther to town that morning, giving him time to plan the perfect romantic evening for the girls. Katherine had let slip that Heather was coming over that afternoon for homework—“and exploring!” according to Esther's enthusiastic addition—so timing would be everything.

“Okay, Abaddon, you have to do reconnaissance for us,” Nathan announced after Ben served them both peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Abaddon made a face at the thick banana slices but ate them anyway.

While he chewed, Ben flipped through a photo album of the Undervale and stopped at a picture in the Grounds section.

“This gazebo is somewhere out in the woods,” Nathan explained, pointing to the faded photo of a weathered wooden structure. “It's old, but with some TLC, we can get it looking amazing. Next Saturday, we'll lure Esther and Heather out to the gazebo and serve them a candlelit dessert for Esther's birthday. It'll be like the last scene of Sixteen Candles!” Ben hummed thoughtfully.

“I know Mom has a string of battery powered fairy lights,” Ben offered. “And doesn’t the hotel have holiday decorations?”

“It does, and they’re fancy ones, too,” Nathan said. “Sadly, the good ones are lost somewhere in a back closet. I think they’ve been mislabeled, so it’s a crapshoot on which box to open.” Nathan shuddered, causing his form to flicker. “I spent like six hours up there one day and only got through a fraction of the boxes. I just gave up in the end.”

“Ugh, opening all those boxes would suck,” Ben agreed. Abaddon stared at the two, eyebrows raised.

“Is Nathan not a ghost?” He eventually asked. “Can’t he look through the boxes?”

“Hey, Abaddon’s right!” Nathan said. “I don’t have to open boxes anymore!”

“So, we should go to the closet and find the stuff?” Ben asked, already putting his plate in the sink. “And then while we’re gone, Abaddon can go look in the woods for the gazebo!”

“Oooooor he might know where it is…?” Nathan asked, leaning over to Abaddon. Abaddon looked down at the photo album; he’d seen something similar once, but couldn’t remember when.

“I have seen it, but I am not familiar with its current location,” Abaddon offered. “I do have some sun-bleached bones to tend to in the woods, so I suppose I can look for this structure as well.” Abaddon slid the photo from its plastic sleeve and studied it closely. The gazebo was bathed in dappled sunlight, nestled in a small clearing surrounded by short, young trees. Flowers encircled the base, breaking at the small opening that led to the inside. It did look idyllic.

“Perfect,” Nathan said, ‘clapping’ his hand onto Abaddon’s shoulder. “Once you find it, we’ll go take a look and see what we’re working with.”

“This plan is amazing,” Ben gushed as he grabbed Abaddon’s plate. “I have always wanted to do something like this. We are seriously making one of my life goals come true!” He twirled to the sink in excitement. Abaddon was starting to wonder if telling Nathan had been a mistake.

“I imagine Esther and Katherine will be back soon,” Nathan said. “Esther did not look like she was having a fun morning.”

“Yeah, because she got accidentally drunk last night, because she’s twelve!” Ben said, shooting a look towards Abaddon. “I can’t believe you let her do that!”

“I do not let Esther do anything,” Abaddon said with a scoff. “Besides, I am unaffected by alcohol. How was I supposed to know that it would make Esther all… that.” He waved his hand above him to symbolize her staggering from the night before.

“Abaddon, no more under-aged drinking,” Nathan said. “And Ben, don’t get so mad when Abaddon doesn’t know something no one has explained to him.”

“Okay, fine, fair,” Ben mumbled, looking at his phone. “Mom texted she’ll be back in ten minutes, with Heather. Uncle Nathan, we should go look for the decorations!”

“Yes! Let’s root around in some boxes,” Nathan declared, jumping to his feet. “Abaddon, you go check out the woods, okay? Goooo team!” Nathan put his hand out over the table, where Ben joined him. They looked expectantly to Abaddon, who shrugged and added his hand to the pile.

“Okay, one more time: gooooo team!” Nathan said, and they lifted their hands in unison. “Awesome! Ben, I’ll meet ya in the parlor. Maybe wait for your mom to get home so we can avoid Esther and Heather.”

“Good call,” Ben said, and Nathan disappeared through the wall to go upstairs. Abaddon remained sitting while Ben made his way towards the door.

“C’mon, Abaddon, let’s go meet them,” Ben said. “She might have brought us a snack.” ‘Snack’ made Abaddon pay attention.

“Yes! Snacks!” Abaddon said, and quickly followed Ben out to the foyer.

Two hours later, Abaddon found himself deep in the woods with Esther and Heather, heading for the Bleaching Rock. It had been several weeks since he checked the bones, and if he was correct, there would be many for them to carry back. He could use all the help he could get.

“So, where did these bones come from, again?” Heather asked as they walked. She offered a piece of chocolate from her trail mix to Abaddon, who took it happily.

“Various places,” Abaddon explained. “Dead animals, forgotten grave sites, cult offerings at the altar.”

“The what?” Heather asked, but Esther waved the question away.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’ve got some deer bones I’m working into a ritual headpiece. It’s gonna look sick as hell.” Heather smiled, her cheeks glowing the faintest pink. Abaddon wondered how Esther didn’t notice Heather’s obvious interest; were all humans this dense? Perhaps he had overestimated them.

They walked deeper into the woods, the underbrush thickening and growing wild the farther they ventured from the hotel. Esther chattered away while Heather listened with rapt attention, twirling one of her braids loosely around her fingers.

Abaddon fell behind, his pace slowing as he scanned for the gazebo. If he remembered correctly, he'd seen it years ago near his bone-bleaching rock, which meant it had to be somewhere in this area. He peered through the trees, searching for shapes that didn't belong, but saw only tree trunks and leaves.

“Hey Abs!” Esther called, knocking him out of his thoughts. “You’re falling behind!” Abaddon re-focused and realized Esther and Heather were far ahead of him, crouching over an upturned stone. Esther was pointing to an apparent fissure in the stone.

“If we crack this, I bet there’ll be a fossil inside,” Esther was saying as Abaddon re-joined them. As he looked down at the rock, he caught something in his peripheral vision: a strangely straight tree, far in the distance off to the left.

“I went fossil hunting, once,” Heather said as she crouched and touched the fissure. “But I think the fossils were placed there ahead of time. It was kind of a scam.”

“Wait, scam fossils? Were they real fossils, at least?”

“You know, I’m not sure now… Abaddon?” Heather’s voice drifted into Abaddon’s ears. He turned and looked at the girls; he’d been listening, hadn’t he? “Do you see something?”

“I do,” Abaddon said, and he pointed into the trees. “There is something back there.”

“Sweet,” Esther said, kicking the stone so it rolled back onto the ground. “If Abaddon sees something, that must mean it’s good. His eyesight isn’t great.” Abaddon wanted to be offended, but she wasn’t wrong. He squinted, trying to make out what he was seeing. Was it the gazebo? Another abandoned structure?

“C'mon,” Esther urged, stepping into the brush. “Lead the way, Abs.”

Abaddon stepped gingerly forward with Esther close behind and Heather bringing up the rear. The trio picked their way through the undergrowth into a part of the woods where the trees grew taller and thicker, ancient compared to their usual paths. The energy here felt older, too; stronger, almost sentient.

Finally, they found a clearing where the straight object stood half-buried in weeds.

The gazebo. It was overgrown and listing slightly to one side, its paint flaking away, but there it was—just as it appeared in the photograph. Abaddon pulled the photo from his pocket to compare as Esther stepped into the clearing. The flowers were long gone, and the trees had matured considerably, but it was unmistakably the same place.

“Is this what you saw, Abaddon?” she asked, reaching out to touch the old building. Her fingers caused more of the old white paint to flake into the grass. “This is so cool. We could do rituals in here. Hey—!” Esther jumped back into the brush, staring at something on the ground. “Oh my God! Guys!”

“What is it?” Heather asked as she and Abaddon followed Esther. She was standing on the edge of the clearing and staring down at the ground; her feet were on the edge of a large circle of gray and brown mushrooms that abutted the gazebo’s opening.

“It’s a fairy ring,” Esther said, pulling out her phone to take pictures. “I’ve never seen one like this, though.” She nudged one of the larger mushrooms with her toe. “I bet there’s some serious power packed into this thing.” Heather crouched and inspected the mushrooms. Abaddon walked around the circle and climbed into the downtrodden gazebo, inspecting the inside.

The floor was solid, albeit covered in moss, and the inner structure appeared to be intact. The floor began to sag at the edge that was listing, but Abaddon dragged his foot through the moss and made a marker to prevent any accidents, for now. He supposed wthat ith some decorations and lights, this would look fairly nice.

“Okay, I’m dropping a pin,” Heather said as Abaddon exited the structure. She leaned on Esther to show the screen, and both girls flushed at the contact. Abaddon was overcome with the desire to roll his eyes like Esther did at Ben and Annabelle, but he kept it to himself. His friends were in love! It made him warm in an unusual way, like his stomach was on fire.

“Good enough,” Esther said as Heather pocketed her phone. “This is amazing. Great find, Abs!” Esther and Heather paused for a moment, relishing the contact between their shoulders, and then parted, looking sheepish.

“Time for bones?” Abaddon asked, trying to ‘read the room’ as Nathan had tried to show him before. Esther grinned at him and did their demon sign, with Heather copying.

“Bone time!”

Back at the hotel, Nathan was knee-deep in a pile of old boxes that had been shoved into a closet years earlier. Outside the door, Ben worked at the lock with Esther's lock-picking kit. The key had been lost sometime after Katherine and the kids moved in, and aside from a few of Nathan's old belongings, everything inside had been left to gather dust.

“Okay, we haaave… candles?” Nathan shouted, his head inside a cardboard box. Damn, it was hard to see inside these boxes with no light source!

“Do they look haunted?” Ben’s voice drifted through the door. Nathan shook his head and stood back up.

“I don’t think so!” He called back. He moved on to the next box and stuck his head inside. This one he knew was here, because he’d packed it himself. Mentions of Katherine’s fairy lights reminded Nathan he had his own long tucked away. He’d tried to re-purpose them for the parlor, but ultimately did nothing with them and packed them away. “Hey Ben! I found more twinkly lights!”

“That’s great, Uncle Nathan,” Ben said as he pulled the tool out of the lock and flopped down with a thud. “Jeeze, this is hard.” He fished around in Esther’s kit for a different tool. “Maybe it would be easier to take my allowance and call a locksmith.”

“We don’t need those guys,” Nathan said as he poked his head through the door. “Besides, I think you’re making progress! The door keeps making clicking sounds.”

“Are those… good sounds?” Ben asked, but Nathan had already disappeared back into the closet. Ben sighed and went to a different lock-picking YouTube video. This one had more diagrams and a slow-motion view, which proved to be the magic touch. The lock made a solid clonk, and it gave under Ben’s tools.

“Ben?” Nathan called, “did you get it?”

“I did it!” Ben cried, quickly dumping the tools back into the kit. “I got it, Uncle Nathan!” He eagerly grabbed the door and yanked it open, flooding the closet with light. Nathan squinted and gave a double thumbs-up.

“Hurry, hurry!” Nathan said, ushering Ben inside. “The lights are right there.”

“This box says ‘Kitchen Crap’, Uncle Nathan.”

“I said the boxes were mis-labeled.” Nathan put his hands on his hips. “Look, organizing is hard when you’re severely depressed. Are you gonna critique my skills, or are you gonna get this stuff outside?”

“I don’t think they’ll be back for a while, the bleaching rock is pretty deep in there,” Ben said as he pushed the fairy light box out into the hallway. “We’ve got at least an hour.”

“Yeah, and we have one person dragging boxes back and forth,” Nathan said. “Although I think there’s a folding dolly in here somewhere…” He bent down and put his head inside of another box. Ben opened a box labeled Important Bins and found the candles Nathan had mentioned earlier. Underneath the candles were electric tea lights, which Ben shoved into his pockets. He pushed the box aside and started on the next one.

They continued working their way around the room in opposite directions, workshopping a name for their project (Operation Teen Romance). They were halfway around the room when Nathan interrupted their chatter with excited yells.

“Ben! Ben! I found them!” he cried, and Ben scrambled across scattered boxes to meet Nathan in the far corner. Nathan was standing in a maple chest with black fixtures, pointing down at it excitedly. “Don’t remember the chest, but what a great find, huh?”

“I'm claiming this,” Ben said, kneeling down to flip open the lid. Inside lay a trove of decorations: a velvet bag filled with dark, polished crescent stones; black metal wall brackets worked in winding filigree; decorative clay and glass beads in deep purples, blues, and blacks; and a set of varnished wall sconces decorated with stars. Several small books and folded linens rested along the bottom, cushioned by the chest's dark suede lining.

“Wowee, that is a box, all right,” Nathan said, leaning over Ben as he sifted through the chest’s items. “Huh, I thought this thing would feel more familiar, but I don’t remember it at all.”

“Maybe it was here already?” Ben suggested as he poured one of the crescent moon stones into his palm. It had a polished sheen and was pleasingly heavy. He counted eleven more in the bag. Perfect. “Esther loves this kinda stuff, Uncle Nathan. This was a great idea!”

“Hmm, I don’t think it was here already,” Nathan said, “because I think those are my initials on the front?” Ben picked the lid up, and sure enough, ERF was engraved in the front.

“Weird,” Ben said, shrugging. “Either way, this is definitely the stuff we wanna use. Did you find that dolly?” Ben pulled the lid closed and slapped its top. “Because this sucker is heavy.” Nathan gestured to another box, and with his direction, Ben was able to dig the dolly out and load up the chest. They dragged it out of one of the side doors and hid it in the shed next to the driveway, where they’d have a straight shot into the woods with little view from the front porch.

“Esther doesn’t come in here often, especially now that she has her own shovel,” Ben said as he tucked the chest next to the old lawnmower. “Now we just have to get out and decorate before Saturday. Ugh, why does school not end sooner!”

“Abaddon and I can do it,” Nathan said. He was ‘leaning’ on the shed wall when he heard a sound in the driveway. He popped his head outside to see Esther, flanked by Heather and Abaddon, walking up the driveway carrying reusable bags full of what looked like large building blocks. “Well, speak of the devil!” He popped back inside the shed. “They’re coming!” The pair scurried out of the shed and ducked back into the hotel, where they met the foresting trio at the front desk.

“Ben! Uncle Nathan!” Esther greeted as they walked in. “Do we have a treat for you!” She walked up to the front desk and dumped her grocery bag of bones. “Not only did we have a lot of bones to collect, but we found a fairy ring!” She held her phone out to show the pictures she’d taken.

“What’s a fairy ring?” Ben asked as Katherine exited the kitchen holding her laptop. She stopped in surprise when she saw her entire family standing at the front desk around a large pile of bones.

“Oh,” she said. “There was nobody out here like ten minutes ago. Where did you all come from?”

“The woods,” said Esther.

“Bones,” said Abaddon.

“Nowhere!” squeaked Ben.

“Book club,” said Nathan.

Katherine sighed. “Never mind, I probably don’t want to know.” She turned to Heather. “I was thinking of celebrating Esther’s thirteenth birthday next Saturday, and I’d love for you to join us, Heather.” Ben and Nathan elbowed each other excitedly and caught Abaddon’s eye. Abaddon had been quietly sorting his bones on the floor, and he glanced up when Katherine mentioned Saturday.

“We normally have whatever Esther wants for dinner and then she picks some obscure foreign horror movie for us to watch,” Ben explained, stepping back from the counter as Heather added her bones to the pile.

“Sounds fun, I’d love to come,” Heather said brightly. She nudged Esther. “Which movie are you gonna make us watch?”

“We should go pick one right now,” Esther said, grabbing Heather’s hand. “Depending on the one we pick, we’ll need time to procure it. Abs can deal with the bones for now. C’mon!” Esther pulled Heather up the stairs and then down the hallway, laughing as they went. The rest of the family watched them disappear upstairs.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Katherine asked as soon as Esther and Heather were out of earshot. She pointed at Nathan, then Ben, then Abaddon. “I know you’re scheming, so spill.”

“We’re just planning something for Esther’s birthday, but it’s a surprise,” Nathan explained. “And you just provided the perfect cover!”

“I mean, I did tell you we’d be celebrating on Saturday, so it’s not like, a secret,” Katherine said, but she seemed interested. “Are you gonna tell me what the surprise is?”

“We’ve already said too much!” Ben said, stepping through Nathan to talk to his mother. “The more people know, the more it could get messed up!”

“I’m helping,” Abaddon said as he finished sorting his bones by size and shape on the foyer floor. He hopped onto the counter and pushed the remaining pile of bones to the floor, where they scattered across the room. Katherine pursed her lips.

“So I’m the only one not involved?” she said in a skeptical tone. She thought for a minute, then shrugged. “You know what? It’s probably better that way. Just don’t kill anyone, please.” And she went back into the kitchen, stepping over the strewn bones, muttering something about coffee wasn’t strong enough today for this.

“Okay, let’s recap,” Ben said. “Decorations? Check.”

“Bones?” Abaddon said.

“Check!” Nathan said.

“Gazebo?”

“We found it today,” Abaddon said. “It is run down, but usable.”

“Check!” Ben declared. “Cover story? Check, thank you Mom,” he continued, making a check mark in the air.

“Operation Teen Romance is on track,” Nathan said, putting his arm ‘around’ Ben. “Let’s bring it home, boys!”