Happy Holidays, hoshi_ryo!
Dec. 7th, 2019 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Recipient: hoshi_ryo
Rating: PG
Word Count: 9,006
Summary: After helping to avert Armageddon and starting their own lives on Earth, Aziraphale and Crowley open an occult detective business. Their first case comes from Shadwell and is rather straightforward: scout out an isolated house with a strange woman living there who may or may not be a witch. What starts out as an easy investigation takes a much darker turn as they uncover the truth about the woman and the isolated house.
Characters: Aziraphale, Crowley, Shadwell appears in the first scene, OC
Warnings: Horror elements, mild language
Author’s Note: Thanks to Mod Luna for beta reading my story and providing great feedback! As a fan of Good Omens and the horror genre, this was a lot of fun to write. I combined the first and second prompt because I loved the idea of Aziraphale and Crowley investigating a case as occult detectives, only to realize the problem is a lot darker and heavier than they thought. To hoshi_ryo, I hope I did your prompts justice, and happy holidays!
* * *
Crowley lowered his sunglasses and rolled his eyes. “For the last time, angel, tartan patterns and occult offices do not mix.”
Aziraphale huffed and removed his tartan blanket from the sleek leather couch. The brown cloth contrasted against the black leather quite nicely in the angel’s eyes. Unfortunately, while Crowley had allowed him to supply half of the decorations, he refused to even see the aesthetic value of tartan. Instead of arguing, Aziraphale tucked the blanket under the couch cushions. Who knew? Maybe one day, a client would need a blanket.
After watching Crowley place the last potted plant in the corner, Aziraphale stood at the entryway to the office and scanned the small space. His bookshop had an unfinished second floor, but he’d never gotten around to doing anything with it. He hadn’t seen much need to, given that he spent most of his time among his book collection. Combined with his essential tasks of completing Heaven’s work, maintaining the Arrangement with Crowley, and preventing people from buying his books, he hadn’t had much time for renovations.
Now, neither he nor Crowley had received any word from their superiors. They no longer had divine or diabolical duties, and by a stroke of luck (translation: the help of a certain ex-Antichrist), the number of people trying to buy his books had decreased. With the unprecedented opportunity to build their own lives, and Crowley wanting to find a way to make money aside from tempting humans or stealing it himself, they’d set their sights on opening an occult detective service. It didn’t take long to find an open space to turn into an office. While moving in furniture and decorations took longer, soon they were flipping the open sign to their new business.
“Why, thank you.” Aziraphale stood next to the windows facing the street and glanced around. “Hopefully, the humans will see the advertisements that I placed in the newspapers.”
“I told you we should’ve done something with the internet.” Crowley stood next to him and glanced out. “Knowing humans, they’ll be flocking around it for sure. They always flock around the latest and greatest technology.”
“You and your technology.” Aziraphale glanced up at the ceiling before studying him. “We shall find out if the ads were successful. In the meantime, I will check on my bookstore periodically.”
“Ah, it’s the Southern Pansy.”
Aziraphale turned around to find Shadwell standing at the foot of the stairs. He looked the same as he had when they prepared to fight Adam Young’s supernatural father, the Devil. His hair looked a bit nicer, and his clothes didn’t have any condensed milk stains from what he could see. Then, he realized what Shadwell had called him, and a question sprung to mind.
“Greetings, Shadwell.” He did his best to keep his tone friendly and upbeat. He was speaking as the co-owner of an occult detective office now. “I hope you have been doing well. Er, how do you know that phrase?”
“After decades of experience, I know a southern pansy when I see one.” He glanced up the stairs and stepped on the first one. “So, where’s this new office you’ve got? Heard it’s for witches.”
“It’s an occult detective office, where we investigate matters related to the occult. It could involve witches.” Aziraphale tried not to think about what happened the last time he and Shadwell interacted in the book shop. He gestured up the stairs. “The office is not far from here. Would you like to discuss matters there?”
Shadwell waved a hand, which held a large envelope. “Don’t have time. Just here to drop off a case file. It’s a witch.”
Aziraphale took the envelope and inspected it. At the same time, a question occurred to him. “Wait, what happened to your Witchfinder Army? I thought you usually investigate cases like this?”
“I’ve retired, though I still drop in from time to time. Majors Milk and Cupboard are still adjusting to their new roles as leaders.” Aziraphale thought he might start rambling. Instead, he pointed at the envelope. “‘Nyways, not long ago, I found a lead on a potential witch. All the details are in the envelope.”
The man turned and headed toward the exit. “Now, I’ve got to do what I told the Jezebel I would do: find furniture for Shangri-La.”
“All that’s in the envelope,” he replied without turning around.
As he returned to the office, Aziraphale wondered what was in the envelope. He wanted to read its contents to determine what kind of case they were dealing with and whether Shadwell had really found a witch. Instead, he went looking for Crowley so they could review the details together. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find him. He was sitting on the couch in the waiting area, eyeing the new potted plant with thinly veiled disdain.
Aziraphale waved the envelope. “We got our first case. It’s from our dear friend, Shadwell.”
“From your tone, I can definitely tell.” Crowley stood up and walked over. “Really? What is it?”
“I don’t know. When I tried asking, he just said to read what was in the envelope.”
“I’m surprised his organization can afford envelopes,” Crowley muttered. He then said more loudly, “Well, I got a few emails, but most of them are junk or bogus. Might as well humor the man.”
They sat down on the couch. Aziraphale placed the envelope contents on the coffee table before them. Considering how large the envelope was, he was surprised that it only contained a few pages of typed paper and a handful of photographs. The first page depicted a map of the UK with an area in Ireland circled. A small stack of stapled papers talked about a woman who was most likely a witch living in a remote house. The photographs depicted a house surrounded by trees. The low quality of the pictures made it difficult to discern details, but Aziraphale could tell it was around two stories tall and was rather shabby.
Aziraphale glanced up from the photographs at Crowley, who was scribbling notes in the margin of the document. When he set the document down, the angel scanned it.
“So, are we going to investigate this further?” Aziraphale turned the photographs to face Crowley. “The map gives us some idea, but not a lot of details. The photographs don’t help, either.”
Crowley stared at the pictures with a thoughtful expression. Then, he said, “Interesting, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of this woman, which is odd considering that Below likes to keep tabs on her lot.”
Aziraphale raised an eyebrow. “Elaborate.”
“Below likes to keep an eye on witches, real or fake, because they tend to help in collecting souls. Above and their followers can get bent out of shape at the thought of witches, and certain witches can help in encouraging sinful behavior in themselves and others.” He met Aziraphale’s gaze and held his hands up. “Not that I’m involved in that anymore. Just something I know.”
Aziraphale nodded. “You do have a point. Above never mentioned her, either. Maybe she’s a newer witch, and they didn’t bother with her because they were busy building up to Armageddon.”
“Maybe she’s not a witch at all, and Shadwell’s just being his usual eccentric self.” Crowley stretched his arms and leaned back. “Nonetheless, I say we check this out. It’s the first case we’ve received. We even have actual information and pictures. What do you say?”
Aziraphale couldn’t think of a reason to disagree. “Well, taking a look won’t hurt. Where is this woman?”
“Mourne Mountains, which still gives us a lot of area to cover.” Crowley picked up the stapled document again. “Whoever wrote this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Shadwell, didn’t include a lot of specifics. If we search the entire Mourne Mountain area, it will take forever to locate the house, much less the woman.”
Aziraphale stood. “I can look through my book collection. I’m sure one of them will help narrow it down.”
He scoured through his book collection, sorted in a way that only he understood, and found several atlases. Several hours of looking at similar maps of Ireland produced no results. By the time he finished, he knew the southeastern area of Northern Ireland like the back of his hand. Hopefully, Crowley’d had better luck. He headed back upstairs to find Crowley sitting in front of the computer.
“Angel, come check this out.” Crowley gestured to the screen, which showed a grayscale aerial photograph of the Mourne Mountains. “So, I opened up Terraserver and searched for the house. I didn’t find anything, but when I searched for the trees surrounding the house, I found some interesting results.”
Aziraphale furrowed his eyebrows. “What is a Terraserver?”
“An interactive satellite map of the world. Microsoft created it.” He smiled. “It’s not available to the public yet, but I got my hands on a version with some connections and favors. Now, I can finally put it to use.”
Questions buzzed in the angel’s mind, but he pushed them away to focus on the main issue. “Alright, what is the interesting thing?”
Even with his technologically untrained eye, Aziraphale recognized the grass as off. “You think the house is hidden there somehow? It’s not just a problem with the camera?”
“One way to find out.”
The next day, they arrived at the office with packed bags. Aziraphale brought a few books on Mourne Mountains and witches. Since they didn’t even know if the woman was a witch, and he figured their combined powers would be more than enough, he’d packed lightly. They found the nearest empty area, an open lawn with a nearby lake, before manifesting their wings and soaring into the air. Crowley had wanted to drive to the Mourne Mountains in his Bentley. The lack of bridges connecting England and North Ireland convinced him to hold off on driving for their first case.
Before they took off, they used minor miracles to conceal themselves from view. Aziraphale didn’t want a reprimanding from Heaven for using miracles, and he guessed Crowley felt the same about his side. However, if either side heard about humans panicking from flying winged humanoids, they would get worse than reprimands. Plus, it would help conceal their arrival to the Mourne Mountains. In the off chance the woman actually was a witch, they wanted surprise on their side.
They touched down inside the Mourne Mountain boundaries. Smooth grass-covered mountains stretched off in all directions. A blue stream meandered between the mountains. With the breathtaking view and the serene atmosphere, Aziraphale didn’t blame the woman for choosing to live there. He questioned whether people could even own land here but dismissed it as trivial.
“Walking would take a lot longer, but it would at least give us some degree of subtlety.” He scanned the surroundings for a house to no avail. “You wouldn’t have happened to have spotted a house while flying over the mountains, did you?”
“Don’t need to.” Crowley smirked and held up a print of the aerial photograph. “I brought this with us.”
Between the photograph and the two of them scouting out the Mourne Mountains from an aerial perspective, it didn’t take long to find the right location. A small gathering of trees stood in an almost circle, the neat shape of their format hinting that they were planted there intentionally. Mountains flanked it in all directions, each one even more covered in plants. Had Aziraphale and Crowley not been searching for that specific tree formation, they might have passed over it in favor of its surroundings, which was likely the point.
Aziraphale landed between two trees, and Crowley landed behind them. “Alright, angel.” Crowley pulled out a crumpled up packet and scanned it. “Shadwell didn’t give us many details on what the witch – assuming she’s a witch – can do. We don’t know what we’re going up against. Even if she doesn’t have magic, she may still have the resources to discorporate us if we’re not careful.”
“Good to know.” Aziraphale scanned the house. Up close, it didn’t look like much: a two story house made of wood and stone, a simplistic and old fashioned design, in need of maintenance but not too shabby. “What do you suggest we do then?”
“I suggest we sneak in through the windows. One of us can go in through the ground floor while the other can enter through a first floor window. This provides us the benefit of stealth.”
Aziraphale felt inclined to disagree. “Won’t she notice if someone is floating in front of one of her first story windows?”
As he continued rambling, Aziraphale resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn’t detect signs of the woman around or within the house. Come to think of it, he couldn’t detect much of anything from the house. No traces of energy or auras, not even a wisp. Curiosity piqued, he started toward the front entrance.
Hurried footsteps behind him alerted him to Crowley following. “Hey, what are you doing? You can’t just walk up to the door like that.”
“Watch me.” He stepped onto the front porch. When no traps activated, mundane or magical, he turned with his arms out. “See? Guess our concealing powers work.”
Crowley grumbled to himself before standing next to him. “I still think we should’ve snuck in through the windows.” He glanced at Aziraphale, who had raised his eyebrow, and said, “Well, you were the one who got here first. You have the honors.”
He sniffed. “I shall.”
He rapped his knuckles against the wooden door three times. A deep and hollow sound rang through the air. Aziraphale strained his ears for footsteps or a woman’s voice from behind the door. Aside from a persistent low hum, the other side was dead silent. He turned to Crowley, and the demon’s focused expression suggested that he’d detected the same.
“Well, it was worth a shot.” Aziraphale turned away from the door. “What do you suggest we do instead…”
He’d barely finished his question when a low creak cut him off. Crowley placed a hand on his shoulder. “Angel, you’re going to want to see this.”
He didn’t need to turn around to know what he would see. The front door stood open, leading to a long hallway. Between the shadows and the dark wallpaper, Aziraphale struggled to discern details. Nonetheless, he could detect vague shapes of furniture farther down the hall. Again, his attempt to scour for any traces of energy turned up blank. What was with the house?
“Well, it’s now or never.” Aziraphale gestured forward. “After you, dear boy.”
Crowley looked like he wanted to object, but he stepped inside without a word. Aziraphale shut the door behind them before peering into the gloomy interior. The first thing that he noticed was that despite the worn exterior, the interior actually looked comfortable. A mixture of blues and grays colored the space, and a few plants decorated the walls. If not for the faded stains and darkness, Aziraphale wouldn’t have minded living in the house.
Speaking of lights, the second thing he noticed was that the house didn’t have any. Crowley always jabbed him about being behind in terms of technology, but he wasn’t aware of any technology that superseded the lightbulb. Neither the walls nor ceilings had any electric lights. How did the woman see in here, especially at night?
“Come on, angel,” Crowley whispered. He stood several feet down the hall and gestured for him to follow. “We need to start our investigation now. Who knows how long we have until the woman returns?”
Crowley had a point. They started scouting out the first floor. Despite the entrance area being closed off, the rest of the house had a more open layout. The parlor and dining rooms stood next to each other, a rounded archway connecting the two spaces, and a short hallway led to the kitchen. Aziraphale guessed that a small room with a tub and sink functioned as a laundry room, and it didn’t take long to find the guest bathroom. The rooms had minimal furnishing, with few amenities and next to no decorations. Otherwise, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Had they not been there on a mission, he wouldn’t have guessed the place belonged to a witch.
“Well, this is underwhelming.” Aziraphale walked over to Crowley, who poked through the cupboards in the kitchen. “I would’ve expected something a bit more, you know, witchy.”
“Of course, you would. Have you checked the broom closet?” He smiled when Aziraphale rolled his eyes. “Well, what do you suggest we do next? Should we explore more or chalk this case up as one of Shadwell’s delusions?”
As much as Aziraphale would’ve preferred returning to the comfort of his bookshop, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Surely by now, he would’ve picked up on some energy in the house. Humans didn’t leave large traces wherever they went, especially if they lived alone, but they usually left something behind. Besides, he didn’t want to have traveled all the way to Ireland only to turn back when their first search didn’t yield immediate results.
“I say we keep searching. If we don’t find anything, then we can chalk it up to a dud.” Aziraphale glanced at the ceiling. “We should probably head upstairs. I wouldn’t be surprised if she kept her witching materials upstairs, out of sight from visitors.”
“What visitors would she get around here?” Crowley shrugged before returning to a serious demeanor. “I was going to suggest we head to the basement. I passed the stairwell heading through the entrance hallway. Somehow, it looked even darker than the rest of the house.”
Aziraphale suppressed a gulp. “Well, which one should we choose? I’m guessing splitting up is a no?”
“Try a Hel – Heav – somewhere no. This isn’t Scooby Doo.” He must’ve noticed the angel’s confused look, for he waved a hand. “It’s an American cartoon. I’ll show you once we get back to the office. Right now, we need to decide whether we’ll go up or down.”
Aziraphale felt inclined to point out that going upstairs would at least allow them to escape through the window if something went wrong. Before he could, a low rumbling through the house caught his attention. He recognized it as the humming he’d heard earlier. When he tried to trace its source, he realized it came from all around the house, traveling through the walls and vibrating the floors. Whatever caused it was likely huge.
He glanced at Crowley. “You heard that?”
“Don’t need to ask me twice. I say we try to trace its source.” Crowley brought his hands up and stepped forward. “I’m guessing that wherever that noise came from, that’s where the woman is.”
Aziraphale agreed with the second part, though the first section caused him to hesitate. “Sounds like a plan, then. Did you hear where the noise came from?”
“It was louder toward the ceiling. Most likely, the witch is doing something on the second floor, something big.”
He wanted to point out that the noise came from all around them, but soft footfalls behind him caused him to freeze. A light voice started muttering a phrase in an ancient language. In his current tense state, Aziraphale struggled to recognize it. Nonetheless, he didn’t wait for the speaker to finish. Turning around with his hand raised, he willed for a shield to form before them.
A wave of energy, invisible to the naked eye but perceptible through his supernatural sight, traveled toward them. It bounced off his shield and dispersed outward. The caster, whom Aziraphale recognized as the young woman from the documents, widened her eyes before holding her hands out again. A larger ball of energy formed between her hands.
Aziraphale was about to warn Crowley, but he’d already spotted the woman. The demon snapped his fingers, and glowing red threads wrapped around the woman, binding her hands to her sides. She struggled against them to no avail. When she saw her ball of energy dissolve, she cursed under her breath.
Crowley stood next to him. “Ah, good catch, angel. You found the witch, or perhaps she found you.”
“Who are you two?” Her voice was low and harsh, and she spoke with an accent that Aziraphale couldn’t quite place. “How did you find this place, and what are you doing here?”
He realized he hadn’t answered her and crossed his arms. “We have some questions for you, miss. Are you a witch, and what are you using your powers for?”
Crowley stared at Aziraphale, which he ignored. Likewise, the woman rolled her eyes. “If my spells earlier didn’t make it obvious, I am a witch. I can see that you two aren’t fully human either. Who are you to judge me for how I use my powers?”
When she said it like that, Aziraphale realized their actions could come off as hypocritical. He raised his hands. “Alright, you got us. We’re not going to get you in trouble, provided you tell us who you are and what you are doing here.”
“Eda Sampson. I’ve lived in this house for around a year.” She strained against her bindings again with the same lack of results. After glancing between them, she asked with more urgency, “Who are you two? How did you find this place, and what are you doing here?”
The rumbling from before started again, this time louder. “What is that noise?” Crowley asked. “I hear it again. It’s been going on since we set foot in here.”
“We can find that out later.” Aziraphale studied Eda. To his surprise, she looked more scared than angry. Additionally, she seemed to stare at a point behind them. “Alright, I’ll give you some information, but then you’ll need to answer our questions, too. Does that sound fair?”
“Yeah, whatever. Just answer the questions.”
“My name is Aziraphale, and this is my friend Crowley.” Aziraphale gave a short wave. “We are business partners working at an occult detective agency. We investigate cases related to the supernatural and the occult. An informant told us to scout out the house. We are simply here to look for information, nothing more.” He tried not to think about how he would react if someone had broken into his bookshop and given him that flimsy justification.
“Seems like a bit much information you’re giving,” Crowley muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “wouldn’t you say?”
“Relax,” Aziraphale replied in a similar fashion, “we can erase her memories if she tries talking to others, or we could use it as free marketing.”
“Um, I can hear you two.” Exasperation filled Eda’s tone. “For the record, I have counterspells against memory erasure. Way to announce your plans out loud. Second, I have no interest in exposing – or promoting, whatever you want to call it – your business. I just want to get out before –”
Another groan vibrated through the walls. Aziraphale started to feel it in his chest, and he spun in a circle trying to find the source. Crowley lowered his sunglasses, likely not caring who saw his serpentine yellow eyes, and likewise started studying the room. By the end of their search, they exchanged a shrug indicating that neither had reached a satisfactory conclusion. Maybe Eda knew what was going on. They turned back to see she had an expression of pure terror.
Aziraphale frowned. “Miss, is something wrong?”
“You two need to leave now, and unbind me.” She strained against her binds again before cursing and muttering to herself again. “Now.”
Crowley’s binding spell surrounding her began to fade. Before it could disappear, Aziraphale used his own powers to strengthen the bind. Glowing blue threads of power intertwined with the red ones, and the mixture of ethereal and occult powers set off a few sparks. They eventually meshed together, and when Eda tried muttering again, nothing happened.
Eda alternated between glaring and widening her eyes. “What are you doing? Let me out!”
Despite directing her words at them, she kept her gaze fixed behind them. Aziraphale traced her gaze to the wall, and he turned to inspect it. What about the wall warranted so much attention from her? From what he could see, it was blank, with no remarkable features aside from a small potted plant on a shelf. He turned to Crowley to ask what to do next, but he froze when he saw Crowley’s grim expression.
“My dear, what should we do?” He hoped he sounded more certain than he felt. “The poor woman seems terrified of us, and I don’t want to make the problem worse, but we cannot let her escape or throw us out before we find answers.”
To his surprise, Crowley shook his head. “No, she’s not scared of us. I can sense her fear, and it’s from something else, whatever is causing the rumbling.”
In retrospect, that made sense. “Really? I thought that was her doing? Why would she be scared of that?”
“I can still hear you.” Growing fear undercut her previous snarkiness. “Yes, what’s causing the rumbling in the walls was my doing, but it was not what I wanted. Trust me when I say that I would’ve preferred many different things to live in my walls compared to what’s actually there.”
Neither of them spoke at first. Then, they said at the same time, “What?”
Eda took a breath to answer, but a loud groan cut her off. It shook the walls and reverberated through the empty space. A deep thrumming formed within Aziraphale’s chest, and from Crowley and Eda’s expressions, he guessed that they felt it, too. Whatever caused the earlier rumbling was larger than they thought, and Aziraphale dreaded to encounter it.
The groaning faded, replaced by creaking. Unfortunately, Aziraphale struggled to see with the darkness. Holding a hand up, he said, “Let there be light.”
A small glowing orb formed in his palm. He held his hand up and nearly jumped back at what he saw. A few feet away, the wall warped and distorted. Some areas of the blank surface started to cave in, a few of them beyond what he would’ve expected from a thin wall. At the same time, large extrusions started to stretch the wall outward. By some miracle, the wall itself stayed intact. The two different features swapped forms several times, each one at a faster pace. Then, with a visible and audible heave, the entire wall started to stretch toward them.
Aziraphale’s heart froze – whether literally or metaphorically, he couldn’t tell – and a frigid hand seized his insides. “Lord, help us all.”
He regained enough mental clarity to step away from the walls. Behind him, Crowley did likewise. Unfortunately, they bumped into the counter behind them, which didn’t warp or heave in a similar manner but stood as a blockade between them and getting as far away as possible. They could escape to a different room, but where would they go from there?
An inaudible screech shook the air. Before Aziraphale could determine where it came from, a force knocked him to the side. He hit the ground with a thud, but he at least had the foresight to roll with whatever had run into him. Within a few seconds, he got onto his hands and knees and scanned the area for what knocked him over. Crowley lay dazed a few feet away, and Eda lay on top of him.
“Hey!” Aziraphale crawled forward until he was less than a foot from them. He squinted at Eda as she struggled to reorient herself. “Did you knock us over? What was that about?”
Instead of replying, she jutted her chin at the wall. Several curved tendrils vaguely resembling claws stuck from the surface. As the screech from earlier intensified, the tendrils stretched further outward. Their deliberate movements suggested that they either struggled to move, or they were searching for something.
Aziraphale gulped. “Well, thanks for that. Should’ve seen that coming.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re not finished yet.” She pointed across the room. “Look.”
The opposite wall had several clawlike tendrils wrapping around the countertop. The polished stone surface blinked a few times, quickly enough that Aziraphale would’ve missed it if he hadn’t paid attention, before starting to rumble and heave in a similar manner.
Crowley crawled up next to him. Aziraphale gestured to the monstrosity unfolding before him, figuring words were not necessary. His prediction turned out to be correct. Crowley took one glance at where he pointed before jerking back and cursing under his breath.
“We need to do something, my dear.” Aziraphale opened his bag and started searching through it. “If I’d known this would be our problem, I would’ve brought some haunted house books, or maybe some Lovecraft.”
“Hate to burst your bubble, angel, but by the time you find the correct book, we might be wall decorations.” Crowley held his hands up again. Behind his sunglasses, a faint red glow illuminated part of his face. “I say we do this old school.”
Aziraphale nodded and returned his focus to the wall. He imagined the settings returning to normal and willed for it to become reality. Crowley also focused on the walls. Between the two of them working together, the tendrils started withdrawing and sinking back into the walls.
“Well, that was eventful.” Aziraphale turned to Eda, who stared forward with widened eyes. “At least, we managed to take care of it.”
Instead of agreeing, Eda pointed a finger forward. “About that, I’d say we still have problems.”
He was about to ask what she meant, but something tapped his shoulder. The thought of one of the wall tendrils grabbing him caused him to jump, but he was relieved to see it was only Crowley. His relief didn’t last long, as the look of fear on Crowley’s expression matched Eda’s to a tee.
A glance across the room revealed the cause: the twisting wall was starting to turn translucent, allowing a glimpse into the house’s support system. That wasn’t what caught his attention. Between the support walls, he caught glimpses of a flickering, writhing mass. Its appearance changed every time Aziraphale blinked. One second, it looked like a horde of spiders crawling in unison, then it changed to a cloud of oily black smoke, then to a viscous puddle with trails oozing from the center. Whenever it pressed against the wall, it would distort and reached outward. While it didn’t do much at first, as the walls grew more translucent, it had a greater effect on the surroundings.
Aziraphale gaped at the monstrosity. “Bugger, what layer of Hell did that creature crawl out of?”
“Angel, I’ve been to Hell. There’s a lot of nasty business down there, but believe me when I say that this is not one of those things.” Crowley turned to Eda. “Any ideas on what it is or where it came from?”
She glanced up in thought. “Some of my research books brought up the possibility of creatures from outside of the world as we know it. They had a lot of speculation, but few concrete facts. As for where it came from, I’m guessing it only recently popped into our world.”
The angel studied her while keeping the warping wall in his peripheral vision. “How do you know that?”
“If something like that was wandering around unrestrained, how long do you think it would take before it reached civilization and caused an uproar with its mere presence?”
She had a point. As much as Aziraphale wanted to ask more questions, he could feel the monster pressing against his efforts to keep it constrained. Concentrating harder worked somewhat, but then the walls turned translucent again, and his hold would start to slide off.
Crowley cursed under his breath. “I can’t keep a grip on it. Whatever it’s doing to turn the walls translucent is allowing it to escape our powers.”
“Good to know.” Aziraphale glanced at Eda. “This is your house. You wouldn’t happen to have any suggestions, would you?”
“I have some ideas on how I can help,” she stared at him, “but you’re going to have to release me.”
She’d barely finished her sentence when Aziraphale released his hold on her. Crowley did the same, and the binds around her disappeared. She shot to her feet and sprinted out the archway leading to the entrance hall. For a second, Aziraphale feared that she might escape and leave them behind.
Instead, she turned and flicked her hands up. “Come on! We need to hurry.”
An invisible force pulled Aziraphale and Crowley to their feet. They didn’t object to this witchy assistance and ran to catch up with her. Up ahead, the front doorway stood shut. The way the door rattled and shook on its hinges destroyed any hope that they could use it to escape. He considered the possibility of other exits, but chances were that whatever controlled the house also knew of its exit points. They weren’t going to escape that easily.
Eda stood in front of the plant decoration from earlier. Part of the wall had started to envelop the supporting shelf and the part of the pot closest to it. Meanwhile, Eda poised one hand in front of it while muttering under her breath. A soft glow formed around the plant. While her powers kept the wall at bay, it didn’t cause it to retreat.
Aziraphale stood next to her. “What are you trying to do?”
She flinched, and the glow went away. The wall enveloped the potted plant, and with a loud crunch, the crushed remains fell to the floor. Some dirt, plant materials, and plastic pieces covered the ground, but none of them paid any attention to it.
“Get that.” She rooted through the remains of the crushed plant and pulled out a small rock. “I want to get these before the monster can. These are what it wants.”
“What are those?” Aziraphale leaned forward to study it.
“Angel, not the time.” Crowley moved him to the side in time to avoid a wall tendril reaching out to him. “So, all your plants have these things? How many do you have?”
“A few in each room. I’ll show you where they are.”
She ran down the length of the hallway, staying as close to the center as she could. Aziraphale and Crowley followed after her, holding their hands out to the side and willing the walls to stay still. While it didn’t stop all the wall movements, it at least slowed them down.
When she returned to them, she held a few more rocks. “The hallway is the easy part. The difficult part will be dodging all the furniture in the parlor and dining room. Shall we go?”
“What if we split up?” Aziraphale asked. “We can cover more ground.”
“More like we’ll make it easier for the monster to pick us off one by one.” Eda walked past them. “You two can keep doing what you’re doing. I know where the plants are.”
They entered the parlor room to find it a nightmarish funhouse version of what they saw before. The backs of the walls pushed up against the couches and chairs, and their armrests started stretching towards the main table. A collection of potted plants stood on top of the table, and Eda jumped over the warping furniture to reach it.
Aziraphale tripped over an armrest and fell face first into the couch. The soft cloth clung to his skin, and his attempts to pull away caused more of the cushion to stick to him. Not seeing much choice, he summoned a flame and burned the top part of the pillow off. After the cloth burned, the stuffing inside reached toward him. Fortunately, he scrambled to his feet, using the table to right himself.
“You’re struggling to push it back, too?” Crowley’s voice sounded more strained. “I don’t know how long this will work.”
“Just a little longer.” Eda grabbed some more rocks and balanced them in her hands. “We have the dining room to visit, then the second floor, and lastly the basement.”
“You’re sure you don’t want help carrying those?” Aziraphale noticed how a few threatened to slide between her fingers. “We still have our hands free.”
“I’ll be fine,” she replied, sounding anything but fine.
With how stretched everything looked, they struggled to even enter the dining room. Again, Aziraphale and Crowley willed for the furniture to stay still while Eda visited all the plants. Unfortunately, any doubts Aziraphale had about Crowley’s earlier claim disappeared when the walls and furniture continued to inch forward despite him directing his full concentration at them. Despite not needing to sweat, a few beads formed on his hairline. Crowley’s eyes started to glow with more intensity, and his hands began to tremble. The house was wearing them down, and they couldn’t hold up indefinitely.
“Shit!” Eda held a cracked rock between her fingertips. She pressed her other arm to her body, and the previous rocks balanced on her wrist. “It already broke one. That explains why it’s so bad.”
“Let me see.” Aziraphale held a hand out, and when she handed him the rock, he looked it over. The crack nearly cut through it, but the two halves maintained some connection. He waved a hand over the crack, and it disappeared. “Good, now we need to go –”
Another screech shook through the house. Aziraphale and Crowley braced themselves, struggling to maintain their shield against the mysterious force while Eda placed her free arm on top of her wrist, keeping the rocks in place. For a second, the house returned to normal shape.
Then, a shrill sound echoed through the room, and all the walls contorted at once. Large mounds swelled beneath the older wallpaper, stretching it until it nearly cracked. Some of the mounds caved in near the center, and their forms reminded Aziraphale of eyes. He ignored the thought of them being just that. At the same time, jagged spikes formed circles ranging in size from tennis ball to nearly half the wall’s height. Some of the spikes stretched outward in deadly points, others weaved through the air in a creeping fashion. One of the larger circles concaved several feet, more than the wall’s thickness should’ve allowed. The surroundings spikes curved inward, and Aziraphale tried not to picture a gaping maw preparing to devour them.
This time, Eda didn’t need to say anything. All three of them sprinted out of the dining room, only scanning their surroundings enough to avoid touching any warped surfaces, before reaching the hallway. The ceiling stood several feet shorter, and the space between the walls now barely fit one person comfortably.
“So much for reaching the upstairs.” Eda turned around, only to find the archways in similarly cramped conditions. “Any other tricks you got?”
As much as Aziraphale wanted to say that he did, his mind turned up blank. For the first time since Armageddon’t, he had no clue how he would walk out of the fight alive. Unlike then, he had no clue who or what his opponent was, and he didn’t have the advantage of his flaming sword. When he glanced at Crowley, he noticed his widened eyes and flexing fingers, both signs that the demon had tried and failed to create another plan.
For the first time since Armageddon, they feared death.
“Uh, what are you two thinking of?” Eda snapped her fingers. “I hope it’s a new plan.”
Aziraphale exchanged a glance with Crowley. They nodded and grabbed each other’s hands. Despite the growing terror, the simple gesture gave him some reassurance.
“We do.” Aziraphale held his other hand, which still held the rock, in the air. “If we are going to die, we will not go down without a fight.”
Eda scoffed. “Well, that’s noble.” She glanced around before holding up her free hand. “Might as well have a last grand gesture, though.”
A section of the wall lunged at them. Not separating their hands, Aziraphale and Crowley pointed at it. Nothing changed at first, but then the wall slowed and stopped an inch in front of them. Aziraphale gulped and was about to step back. However, he doubted that whatever stood behind them would be any safer. Instead, he launched some more energy at the wall, and it didn’t take long for Crowley to do the same.
The rock within his palm started to glow. A similar mark glowed on the wall, and a shriek pierced the air as the wall retreated. As it returned to its original position, a hollow thud rang through the hallway. Despite a few bumps forming in the wallpaper, it stayed in place.
Eda stared at them, her eyes widened. “How did you…?”
“I don’t know. I just did what I’ve been doing already.” Aziraphale studied the rock again. Upon closer inspection, he started to recognize some of the markings. “Remind me of what these do, please?”
“These runes draw their power from living entities. They latch onto whatever they’re targeting and keep the target in place. Through a complex ritual involving several of my colleagues,” for a second, her gaze lost its focus, “we bound the monster within the walls of the house. As long as the runes are keeping it in the walls, it cannot dematerialize all the way and escape.”
Living entities? That explained all the plants. Crowley asked, “Wait, you got all this power from plants?”
“Not just plants. I also channel my soul.”
For a moment, the only sound came from the groaning in the walls. Then, Aziraphale regained his thoughts and said, “Wait, why would you want to bind your eternal soul to such a foul abomination? Surely, there is a better way to keep the monster contained without bringing your soul into it.”
“The answer to your question is that I don’t want to, but I also don’t want it to escape and wreak havoc on the world.” She started sorting her rune rocks. “As for your second point, at the time, we didn’t have many options for keeping the monster contained. It was either use my soul to bind it in the walls, or let it consume us and prey on the rest of the world. My colleagues drop by to provide materials and help with research, but we haven’t had much luck finding alternative methods of containing it.”
Aziraphale nodded. Then, a sinking feeling entered his gut. “So, when we bound you earlier…?”
“You gave the monster a window to escape.” She studied his expression, which no doubt showed the guilt and horror coursing through him. “We don’t have time to point fingers now. Anyways, when you bound my powers, the monster got the chance to break free from some of its runes. It’s still contained, otherwise it would’ve killed us all by now, but I don’t have the power to reactivate the rest of the runes on my own.”
“That’s helpful to know.” Crowley gritted his teeth when he spoke, making his voice strained. He held a hand out and gestured for Aziraphale to do the same. “What if we took more of the rune rocks from you? Maybe we can channel our power through them.”
Reluctance popped up in her expression, but she replaced it with grim determination and nodded. Keeping her movements slow to avoid dropping the rune rocks, she grabbed a handful. Aziraphale and Crowley disconnected their hands and held them out side by side, and she deposited the rocks into their open palms. For a second, the markings glowed with energy. Then, they grew dim and faded.
“Come on.” Aziraphale waved his free hand over them. “I did this once before.”
He added the first rock to the small pile and cupped his hand over top. Next to him, Crowley did the same. Every time, the runes lit up for a few seconds, pushing the monster back, before fading. Although they could channel their powers through the runes, nothing they did lasted long.
They turned to Eda, and her frown spoke volumes. “I feared that would be the case. When I made the runes, I knew that the monster would try to hijack them however it could. As a result, I made them so they would only channel power from my soul.” She gestured to them. “Your powers can work temporarily, but unless you want to stay here as living power generators, we need a different plan.”
That scenario caused Aziraphale’s stomach to churn. Crowley’s grimace suggested he agreed. “So, let me get this straight,” the angel said. “You don’t have enough power to reactivate the runes on your own. Crowley and I do, but because the runes only respond to you, we can’t channel our powers through them for long.”
“Exactly.”
They exchanged a glance, nodded, then stepped forward with their hands open again. “What if we channeled our power through you?” asked Crowley. “Would that be enough?”
She took the rune rocks back and frowned. “Hard to say. We don’t have a better option, though.”
Eda turned her back to them, and they placed their hands on her shoulders. Faint ringlets of power traveled down their arms before dispersing over her. The mixture of holy and hellish power created some sparks and caused Eda to flinch, but she eventually settled down enough to focus. With her hands outstretched, she started reciting an incantation. Faint light formed at her fingertips. Aziraphale and Crowley’s power traveled up her arms, and when they mixed with her magic, the faint lights grew until they encompassed her fingers. Then, they spread down her fingers and reached her palms, which glowed with a multicolored light.
Glowing runes snaked across the walls and formed a grid pattern of intricate lines. An eerie shriek echoed off the walls as they distorted and shook with new energy. Despite the outward chaos and internal panic pulling at his concentration, Aziraphale focused on channeling his energy into Eda. Likewise, Crowley did not take his gaze off of her, and she did not pause in her recitation. The movements of the walls slowed down, and the walls themselves shrunk back before returning to their original positions.
Several minutes of silence passed. Aziraphale felt tempted to ask if it was over, but he didn’t dare voice his question out loud.
Eda glanced over her shoulder at them. “It worked. The runes are back and working.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Aziraphale and Crowley sprinted to the front entrance. The door flew open, and they took deep breaths as they soaked in the Mourne Mountains stretching to the horizon.
“Ah, I never thought I’d love the view of mountains so much.” Crowley sounded genuinely happy, without a trace of his usual sarcasm or snark.
Aziraphale was about to agree until he realized Eda no longer stood with them. He turned back to find her standing in the doorway. “Do you want to join us? We can find you a place to stay in London, or maybe you can search for flats in Ireland if you wish to stay here.”
To his shock, she shook her head. “I’d love to, but I can’t. The runes are still bound to my soul. If I leave, the monster will break free again.”
He glanced at Crowley, who had a similar frown. “Can’t you take the runes with you?” the demon asked. “As long as you have them on your person, your soul should still power them.”
“True, but then the runes have to be connected to the walls, or at least within the vicinity. That’s how it stays trapped in the walls.” She shook her head. “My colleagues and I barely managed to contain it the first time, and not without a steep cost. This time, we got luckier, but I’d rather not test my luck any further.”
“And you’re sure you’re okay with this?” Aziraphale’s eyes widened.
Despite her grim expression, she nodded. “I would rather live in this house than watch the monster escape and kill me along with the rest of the world. Plus, I’d rather not inflict this fate on one of my colleagues, or anyone else for that matter.”
She had a point. Still, Aziraphale wasn’t satisfied. “Is there a way that we can help? We caused some of the trouble. It’s the least we can do.”
“There is, actually.” She crossed her arms. “If you could leave behind a little bit of your power, it would make keeping the runes running a lot easier.”
“That is doable.” Aziraphale studied her. “Do you have a container?”
She disappeared into the house and returned with two elaborate ceramic jars. Aziraphale and Crowley placed their hands over the jar openings. After depositing a ball of light and a small flame respectively into the jars, Eda studied them.
“Hm, this’ll certainly make the next few weeks less difficult.” She sealed and pocketed the jars before focusing on them again. “Next, if you happen to have the connections, remove all traces of the house. I don’t know how you found out about it in the first place, but I’d rather people not get themselves or others killed wandering here.”
“Don’t need to tell us twice.” Crowley made a note on the packet. Amidst the chaos, Aziraphale had forgotten about it. “We’ll make sure nobody knows about it.”
Eda nodded and crossed her arms. “You know, you’re not exactly what I expected from an angel and a demon, but you’re not too bad.”
They froze. “What?” Aziraphale asked. “When did you find out?”
“For sure? When you two channeled your power through me. Before then, I had some suspicion, though I didn’t want to make assumptions.” She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t forget that I have experience with the occult, and it stretches back through my family history.”
“Not bad.” Crowley nodded. “You seem rather casual about that fact.”
She scoffed and waved a hand. “Hey, compared to the monstrosity living in my house, angels and demons don’t seem so bad.”
They nodded in agreement.
“Well, I don’t want to keep you two any longer. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to leave this house as soon as possible.” She stepped inside and waved. “Not sure what would be an appropriate sendoff, but thanks for helping. Hopefully, this hasn’t ruined your impression of Mourne Mountains, and if you decide to visit again, it’ll be under better circumstances.”
After exchanging a last farewell, they walked back between the trees and studied the house. Again, Aziraphale detected no energies from the house. As the earlier ordeal taught him, his detection was anything but the truth.
“So, here’s what we tell Shadwell,” Crowley said. “There is no house, those photographs are fakes, and the woman is a hiker who likes to camp here often. Sound like a good cover up?”
Although Aziraphale knew he should discourage lying, he nodded. “Sounds like a good cover up.”
They took off and flew back in the direction of England. As they soared away, they kept the sinister house in sight until it faded from view.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-07 11:41 pm (UTC)Poor Eda, though. This is why you make sure you read through the spellbook, silently, before attempting any spells. And make sure your translation's correct. I mean, some mess-ups like accidentally summoning an unexpectedly literally heavenly cheese sandwich might be overall enjoyable, but...
(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-08 05:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-08 09:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-24 02:11 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for sharing and participating!!
~threequarters