The Hour of Separation - Chapter Thirteen

[safaiagemwriting]

The Hour of Separation - Chapter Thirteen

Charles was having a hard time stringing together any coherent thoughts. So much had happened in just the last couple of days that he thought his brain was going to explode or he was going to run into the game closet at the office and never come out. When Edwin ran off by himself when Charles was trying to fight off his father, it was one of the most terrifying moments of his life, and his father saw his fear.

"I knew you were one of them," his father hissed as Charles tried to keep himself from being stabbed with an iron knife. "I should have beaten you more; I should have left you in that basement to rot." Charles refused to respond to any of it, mainly because he couldn't find the right words. In life, he couldn't stand up to his father, and now, in death, it was the same thing. He was still the scared little boy who flinched when his father moved a certain way.

The pain from the knife was blinding, but Johanna had managed to get ahold of his father. However, she couldn't banish him with another ghost in the room. Edwin appeared unharmed, and they got out of the room. He saw the red lights of hell and knew that his father was gone for good. Charles also knew he had to see his mum, and he wasn't sure what he wanted to find when he got there.

The complete absence of his own existence in the house he was born in stung, and seeing his mother mourning his father like he was a man worth shedding tears over cut deep. She loved and still loved him, even after everything he had done. Edwin was there every step of the way and let Charles lean on him when he felt like he was too weak to stand. Charles also knew that he was flinching whenever Edwin went to touch him; he knew he was jumping at loud noises, but he couldn't make himself stop. It left him eventually when he first died, and Charles hoped it would happen again.

Quentin locking him behind a barrier so all Charles could do was watch Edwin fight for his afterlife was the kind of scenario that made Charles wonder if he and Edwin ever really escaped hell. No matter how loud he screamed or how hard he slammed his fists into the barrier, nothing helped, and when Quentin said Death was coming to collect him, Charles collapsed to the ground. He tried to get Edwin to leave, he couldn't risk his partner getting sent back to hell, but Edwin was too fucking stubborn and refused to go.

He had caught brief sightings of Death over the years, but being in her presence was calming and peaceful, even if Charles felt like his entire world was ending. She broke the rune that was holding him in place, and Charles wrapped his arms around Edwin. If they were going to be separated, this was the last thing Charles wanted embedded into his very essence. She wasn't separating them; if anything, she seemed a little amused and respected their work. Death said she wasn't going to take them until they were ready and vanished.

Charles wasn't sure how long he and Edwin had sat on the floor of the school, just holding each other. The sun came up, so it had been hours, but Charles felt like his brain had the consistency of baby food. Every atom of his being felt exhausted in a way that dead shouldn't feel; that was concerning, but judging from how Edwin looked at him, he wasn't the only one.

"He's still out there," Edwin said softly.

"Yeah, right, asshole that he is," Charles replied. "We're about to get an earful from pretty much everyone, aren't we." Johanna insisted they not go after Quentin without her, and she seemed like the type that would yell at them. Hob had all the trappings of a man who mastered a "not angry, just disappointed" face. Niko and Crystal would yell at them for being stupid in general and not taking advantage of the help put in front of them. Jenny would probably yell at them for making Crystal and Niko angry. Thomas probably wouldn't yell at them, but he also wasn't keen on talking to them anytime soon.

"Yes, that seems likely," Edwin agreed. "He didn't stay to see you or me get taken, so there is a chance that he believes he has won. For the first time, we have the upper hand on him. Perhaps, if Johanna and Hob are still willing to help us, we can use that to our advantage."

"We aren't hiding from Death, so we don't have to worry about their connections to the Endless," Charles said. He did not like the idea of being around anyone connected to the Endless. While Johanna might have said that the Endless didn't interact much, it wasn't a risk either of them was willing to take. "He wanted to isolate us like my dad did to my mum so we wouldn't have any help."

"Yes, and I believe it's time for us to start accepting help again now that the identity of our stalker is no longer unknown," Edwin replied. They helped each other up and carefully avoided all of the iron in the room. Charles grabbed his bag, and they made their way out of the cafeteria and into the school. Finding a bathroom with a mirror that returned them to the extra flat in The New Inn wasn't hard. It was early, but Charles felt their absence didn't go unnoticed. He was right because Johanna and Hob glared at them the second they phased through the door.

"Where the hell were you? Did you go alone even though I specifically told you not to do that?" Johanna snapped. "What happened to listening to your elders?"

"If we're being technical, I believe you are the youngest in the room," Edwin replied because, for Edwin, being technically right was the best kind of right. Johanna, however, looked deeply unimpressed. Hob reached over and touched her arm, which seemed to calm her down a little.

"You knew we wanted to help; why didn't you come and get us?" Hob asked.

"He threatened everyone," Charles explained. "And we didn't know what he would do if he saw we brought back up." He glanced at his partner to see if they would talk about this. "Your connection to the Endless made us nervous, and we didn't trust you completely."

"And what changed?" Johanna asked.

"Your connection to the Endless is no longer something that concerns us, but Quentin did get away," Edwin replied. "However, I do think that he believes he won, and that could put us at an advantage."

"We'd like to accept your help this time if you're still willing to give it," Charles said. Hob and Johanna looked at each other and smiled.

"Tell us everything that happened and let's nail this asshole," Johanna said.

+++

It turned out that they were very fortunate that Johanna and Hob were forgiving and wanted to help them, but Charles also knew that the worst of the tongue-lashing would come from the girls once they all reunited. They didn't know what kind of reach Quentin had regarding his abilities and were trying to figure out a way to end this once and for all. Edwin jumped back to the office and handed the paper with the addresses to Johanna and Hob.

"That's why we did not come to you for help," Edwin explained.

"Yes, I imagine him saying he knows exactly where everyone is can be threatening," Johanna replied. "I have to wonder if he knows who he is threatening, though."

"Do magic users gossip or share stories? Is that how he heard of you?" Charles asked because Johanna was properly terrifying, and he could understand why Quentin should be afraid of her once he knew what was coming. Johanna, however, smiled; it was the kind of smile you could cut yourself on.

"I never said I was talking about me," she said, looking at Hob. He frowned for a moment, and then it dawned on him.

"Oh, yeah, he's going to be very cross about that," Hob said. Charles wondered if this was how Crystal and Niko felt being in a room with him and Edwin because it was quite clear he was only hearing half of the conversation.

"Care to fill us in on this conversation, or should Charles and I start to guess who and what you're referring to?" Edwin asked.

"The Endless aren't supposed to be directly involved with human affairs, but my continued existence proves they are very much involved," Hob explained. "Dream doesn't like to get involved; he's a stickler about following the rules, but he did very much involve himself when dealing with a man named Richard Madoc."

"The story is long and complicated, but the short version is that Dream does not take kindly to those that threaten or harm the people he cares about," Johanna said. "He's also wonderfully creative when it comes to punishments. That being said, he can be a bit elusive at times, so it would be best if we didn't wait for him to come and instead dealt with this ourselves. Dream will come if and when he wants to, and rest assured, if he does, Quentin will be punished for threatening Hob and me. Once we explain what he did to you boys and those you care about, I think he might make it worse if he sees that we care about you."

Charles wasn't sure how he felt about another one of the Endless having any sort of opinion on them. He knew that Edwin had briefly met Despair in hell, and she mentioned that they were "friends." Death had said she wouldn't split them up, but Charles didn't want to test that theory if possible and decided it would still be best to stay out of her way. Now, Johanna and Hob wanted to alert another Endless that they were around. He didn't like it; it felt a lot like hell in the sense that the Endless were something he couldn't fight off. Edwin didn't look thrilled either, but Charles knew they both wanted this done and over with. Quentin had stolen enough from them.

"Right now, he believes he won," Edwin said. "Either both of us were sent away, or Charles was, and he will no doubt believe that I would have saved myself when given the opportunity because that is what a man like him believes love is. We know that he has runes that are attempting to bring people back from the afterlife, so I should seek him out and demand those runes and his research. It's a reckless thing to do, which is why I believe it will work."

"Yes, that seems like it would work," Charles replied. They discussed a few more things before Johanna and Hob said they were heading downstairs to get something to eat. Edwin and Charles stayed behind as Charles tried to settle his nerves. They hadn't had any time to figure out any of this. They had gone from one thing to another, stressing him out even more.

"We can't be seen together," Edwin said softly. "We cannot risk Quentin finding out that he failed. The man is mad, and we don't know what he could do if he found out he lost."

"I don't like the idea of you confronting him alone," Charles replied, but he sighed heavily. "It's a good plan because if you were taken away from me and I didn't know you were at peace, I'd do something stupid like hunt down the person stalking us for answers."

"It's more of that poetic justice that Quentin seems to think he's getting." Edwin leaned back on the couch, but Charles could see how tense he was. "I believe I heard Niko refer to it as 'main character syndrome,' and if we think about this like a novel or a film, Quentin does seem to believe he is the main character." Charles reached over and took Edwin's hand into his. They were both trembling, and it hadn't passed when Hob and Johanna joined them with plates of food not long after.

+++

To the surprise of no one, it didn't take long for Quentin to start lurking in places where he thought Edwin might be. He was brazen enough to walk into The New Inn one early afternoon just after they opened. He had a drink and acted like he had no idea who Hob was, as Hob acted like he had no idea who this man was. Charles disliked this as any time it took for this man to catch on was time he had to stay behind while Edwin was out and about. Johanna also went home, which left Charles very much alone with his thoughts in Hob's flat.

His thoughts were the last thing he wanted to be left, though. In some sick ways, he wanted to go to the police station and see if any progress was made on her father's case. Charles wanted to see his mother again and see if she might integrate him back into the house now that his father was gone. The idea that she wouldn't try to bring back his memory and that she was fine with his erasure was another one of those moments Charles didn't want to deal with. Johanna left him some books that he was going through to see if he could improve his cricket bat some more, but he couldn't focus on it.

"This is not who I was expecting to find in this flat," a voice said from behind him, and Charles nearly jumped out of his skin. His cricket bat was in hand, and he was met with what he could only assume was another one of the Endless. There was something about them that was just off; Edwin referred to it as the uncanny valley, like they had all of the trappings of a human being, but something was missing there. Only one of the Endless would turn up to Hob's apartment unannounced, and that was Dream.

"If you're looking for Hob, he's downstairs. Someone didn't turn up for a shift, and he's helping," Charles said, and if anyone asked, his voice did not shake, not even a little.

"I know where he is," Dream replied as he tilted his head. It felt like he was looking through Charles. "I'm wondering why a ghost that my sister should have picked up a long time ago is sitting in his flat."

"It's kind of a long story," Charles started, very much hoping that Dream would take the hint and ask Hob to explain it. However, he just raised an unimpressed eyebrow and stared at Charles. "Which I guess I'll take the time to tell you." This was how Charles spent the afternoon explaining the events of the last couple of weeks to Dream of the Endless and trying not to squirm too much under his impressive stare. Charles remembered what Johanna had said about Dream being very unhappy that someone had threatened her and Hob, and when Charles got to that portion of the story, Dream's entire expression changed. He went from mostly stoic to a rage that made Charles want to run in the other direction as fast as he could.

"So what do you plan to do once you lure this man into the open?" Dream asked, and wasn't that the fucking question of the day. Despite being dead, Edwin and Charles weren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of committing murder. Johanna seemed much more amendable to the cold-blooded murder angle. Hob, however, thought there was perhaps a way to point Scottland Yard in the right direction regarding one of the killings and see if they could do anything to turn off his magic while doing so.

"Edwin seems to think he's going to bite much quicker than anyone thinks," Charles said after explaining the options they had come up with. "He's going to love the idea of seeing Edwin desperate to bring me back like he was desperate to bring Lizzie back. He knows, and he knows we know, that the runes won't work, and he won't be able to resist giving Edwin materials he knows aren't going to work."

"You managed to find yourself quite the interesting enemy," Dream said. "This performance and facade he is putting on are things that I have seen before, and they are always a mask for weakness. It is the mark of a true coward that he was so willing to force his desires on an innocent woman who said, 'no,' and then turned that ire onto two children he believes wronged him." Charles blinked because he hadn't thought of himself and Edwin as children for a long time. They had been around for decades, but in many ways, he supposed they were still children.

"Not sure if 'interesting' is the word I'd use, but that about sums it up," Charles replied.

"I have a particular dislike of men who seek to control and bind unwilling women for their own selfish needs," Dream said. Charles was not an idiot. There was something there that ran so much deeper than anything they had spoken about, but he wasn't about to touch that with a ten-foot pole. "I am needed elsewhere right now," Dream said with a frown as he stood up. Charles thought he would have waited for Hob to join them, but apparently not. It was good to meet another of my sister's favored souls." He was gone in a whirl of sand before Charles could say a word. The only evidence he had been there at all was a few tiny grains of sand left on the carpet, and he just stared at them until Hob came back upstairs.

"Why does the teenage ghost in my flat look like he just saw a ghost?" Hob asked as he followed Charles's line of sight. "Ah, I think I understand now," he said as Hob knelt down and slowly began picking up the sand grains. Charles watched him do this and add the sand to a small vile with other grains of sand in it. "Do I need to have words with him about interacting with people who aren't Johanna and me?"

"What? No, it was all right, I guess. He's a bit intense," Charles said, and Hob gave him a look that screamed, 'That's an understatement.' "He wanted to know why a ghost was sitting in your flat, so I told him what was going on. You were right. He did seem really mad when he found out that Quentin threatened you and Johanna, but he didn't stay either."

"I'm sure I'll be hearing all about that," Hob muttered when Edwin jumped through the mirror and stared at them with wide eyes.

"It worked; he's set up a meeting place to give the materials to bring a soul back from the afterlife," Edwin said. Charles clenched his fists and tried not to panic too much. They would have backup this time; they weren't going in alone, and they had the upper hand on Quentin for the first time. The tiny issue was that they hadn't reached a consensus on how to deal with him just yet.

+++

Edwin looked particularly disturbed by the fact that Dream of the Endless was in the same room as Charles, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Johanna joined them once Hob told her that Edwin had managed to set up a meeting time. Now, they just had to wait for her to join them so they could figure out what to do.

"I need to tell you something that I am a little ashamed of," Edwin said as they waited for Johanna. Charles couldn't think of anything Edwin had done recently that would warrant shame, and his expression must have said as much. "We try not to kill people in cold blood, but I must confess, I want to kill Quentin. He made you suffer, he hurt Niko's mother, he tried to destroy Crystal's life, and he tried to take you away from me; I cannot find it in myself to extend any amount of forgiveness toward him."

"And you're ashamed of that? Why?" Charles asked, more than a little bewildered. "Mate, I want to smash his head in with my bat. If you're ashamed, then I should be, too."

"I'm not going to try and lecture you boys on revenge or anything like that," Hob replied. "I've been around long enough to tell you that some people just shouldn't be left in the world." Charles agreed with that, and it was becoming increasingly likely that they would be taking a life tonight. He just wondered which one of them would end up doing it. Johanna joined them not long after as Edwin explained where and when Quentin told Edwin to meet so he could hand over the documents.

"Dream was here? Oh, this is going to be interesting," Johanna said. They didn't want to spook Quentin, so having Johanna go with Edwin wasn't going to happen, and they wanted him to think that Charles was gone. They were the "heavy hitters" of this operation, so it was decided that Hob would accompany Edwin to the meeting. It would be a logical step considering everything that had happened, and it was clear that he knew about Hob, at least on some level.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Hob said to Charles quietly, trying to soothe Charles's worries without vocalizing them. The meeting was just across the street from the office because Quentin apparently wanted all of them to know that he was in charge. It took some work, but after Edwin and Hob left, Charles mirror-hopped and kept moving between buildings to prevent Quentin from seeing him. Johanna found a spot with a decent vantage point of the meeting. It was in an alley, which no one was happy about, but Quentin might have thought he would be safer in public.

"I'll do it," Johanna said as they silently waited. Charles didn't ask what she was staying; she would do it, and he appreciated her offering. As much as he and Edwin might want to get personal revenge on Quentin, it wasn't something they wanted to carry around for the rest of their afterlives either. Johanna drew a circle on the ground that cloaked their presence, and they were hidden in the dark corner of the alley. It appeared Quentin would be the last to arrive as Edwin and Hob joined them. Neither group acknowledged the other. Ten minutes after the scheduled time, Quentin finally appeared.

"You're late," Edwin said. The tone of his voice was something Charles had only heard a few times; he sounded desperate and afraid. It was all pretend, and Edwin was just fine; he needed to remind himself of that.

"And you're not alone," Quentin replied as he looked at Hob. Hob smirked but didn't say anything; he stood casually with his hands in his pockets like he didn't care in the world.

"Considering our history, I'm not sure why you're surprised. Now, hand over the things you promised me immediately," Edwin snapped.

"Have some patience, kid; you know what these things can do. I know you've looked into them," Quentin said. "Are you really so willing to bind your little boyfriend to yourself for the rest of your afterlives? Are you willing to bring back some twisted version of him? None of this sounds very heroic of you or like justice."

"I would do anything in this world and any other to bring Charles back to me, hence why I am standing here, speaking to you. Now, hand over the material." Edwin took a deep breath, like he was trying to calm himself down. "You got what you wanted; you took him away from me, and you won. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Johanna touched his hand and moved her boot to drop the circle that was cloaking them. Quentin seemed to relax, and he looked so damn pleased with himself. His guard was down, and he truly thought he had won. Charles clenched his bat as tightly as possible and looked forward to proving him wrong. Johanna scuffed the edge of the rune with her boot. Charles felt the entire thing fall, and he ran. The look of surprise on Quentin's face was one that Charles would cherish for a long time. He struggled to fight back, but he was quickly overwhelmed by them. He may have cast an imposing shadow over all of them, but now Charles could see the weak and cowardly man before them.

"I'm sure this is the moment when he is going to try and beg for mercy," Johanna said. Her hand was shaking just as little as she was the one holding Quentin in the binding spell. "You don't deserve any mercy from anyone, but specifically these two boys."

"What kind of coward goes after actual children in some grand scheme of revenge?" Hob snapped. Charles glanced at Edwin, who seemed as surprised as he was by all the vitriol. They had spent so much time just relying on each other that Charles thought they were a little surprised when someone else appeared to care about them as much as they did.

"He's too dangerous to keep around with that magic," Charles said.

"Even without his magic, he's too dangerous," Edwin said. I can't think of anything more dangerous for the women of this city than a man like this." Quentin stuttered words like he thought he could convince them to spare his life, but Charles knew there wasn't any going back for this man, not after what he had done.

"I couldn't agree more," a familiar voice said from just down the alley. They all turned and saw Dream of the Endless walking slowly toward them. He had the same expression on his face that he had when Charles told him about Quentin threatening Johanna and Hob and that Quentin was a man who didn't seem to understand that no meant no. Quentin immediately looked like he was seeing the devil, while Johanna and Hob both smiled warmly.

"I had a feeling you'd turn up," Hob said. "I heard Charles filled you in, but you should know the magic he was working on is the same one Burgess used in the 1900s." Charles wasn't sure how it was possible, but that made Dream even angrier. "We just got him to hand over everything he had." Edwin looked a little nervous when Dream turned his attention to him, but he stepped forward and offered Dream the books and papers without flinching.

"Thank you, Edwin Payne; I will ensure this is kept somewhere secure where mortal hands can no longer touch it. These spells and modifications are barbaric," Dream said.

"I was planning on just killing him and letting hell take care of him," Johanna said, "But I have a feeling you might have something else in mind for him even if Lucifer does have a claim on his soul." Dream turned his attention to Quentin, who looked so afraid that he could not say anything. Charles carefully walked over and pressed his arm against Edwin's because he had some experience with the kind of intense energy that Dream of the Endless has.

"The dreams and nightmares of a man desperate to see seen and be loved by someone," Dream whispered, almost too quiet for anyone to hear. "You studied magic to become powerful so people would see and flock to you. You wanted something to control them. You wanted their focus and their adoration. The dreams of a man so desperate for the attention of women that he would ignore their dismissal because he claimed to know better.

"Your magic is lacking, and that knowledge is easily taken away and locked away in your mind," Dream continued. "That desperation to be seen, beloved, that cannot be locked away. You were willing to distort an innocent woman's soul to bind her to yourself for selfish gains; that is how much you need people to see you. That's why you did this silly little revenge scheme; it made you the sole focus on these two boys, and you reveled in it. You think I'm going to kill you? Or I'm going to let someone here kill you, but I won't. Instead, you will spend the rest of your days without being perceived. People will look right through you; you will have no interactions with anyone; they will not feel your touch or hear your voice, and you will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to get anyone to even make eye contact with you. And no one will."

Dream snapped his fingers, and Quentin crumbled to the ground. Charles didn't know how to explain how he knew Dream was telling the truth and that this would be the last time anyone perceived Quentin, but it was like he was getting harder and harder to focus on the longer they looked. Within two minutes, there wasn't anyone there, and just like that, he faded from their afterlives like smoke.

Notes: I know, I know, but is anyone really surprised at this point? Probably not. The good news is that nearly all of the plot stuff is wrapped up, so now the last chapter will be an extended epilogue with reunions, fluff, smut, and all of that fun stuff. It might take a little while to get here because I do leave for a work trip tomorrow [I'm an entertainment journalist, and I am flying out to cover the D23 Expo], so I'm not sure how much if any, time I'll have to write before Monday. I also don't know if there will be any posting on my Tumblr either, but I'll do my best. As always, your support means the world and then some to me.