#so i can only imagine how edwin payne would feel about it

[not-the-living-ghost]

AU where ghosts can eat and crystal gives edwin an unopened can of monster energy just to see what would happen

[onpointedfeetandbrokendreams]

Day 6 - DBDA Week

Day 6 of Dead Boy Detectives Appreciation Week: 10th-16th June by @dbdcentral (One day late sorry!)

Prompt: Butterfly Effect

Relationships: Edwin Payne&Charles Rowland

Tags:  Time Travel, Time Travel Paradoxes

TW: Mentions of canon ritual sacrifices

--

There was a loud banging noise, and then the entire world started spinning in front of Edwin. He could still hear the echo of his own voice yelling “Charles no!” when the memories started to disappear. For a moment, he could see them before they vanished, almost like pieces of a puzzle dissolving one after the other in front of him: Port Townsend, the detective agency, he knew that, soon, he would forget Charles completely. He had to do something. He tore a piece of paper out of his notebook, praying to every god that may exist that the paper would somehow survive thanks to some paradox he couldn’t remember the name of in the short time he had left.

–

Edwin was in the aisle of St. Hilarion’s school for boys. His eyes were wet with tears, but he didn’t remember why he was crying. He noticed his books on the floor and picked them up, looking around shamefully to see if someone had noticed how he dropped them. Or maybe it had been Simon to throw them off, it would not have been the first time.

He had hoped that they would give him at least one day of truce, but if he was honest, he didn’t count on that too much. He still couldn’t believe the night he had, and the sheer luck when Simon had tripped on his own feet, giving him the chance to escape his grasp and run to the headmaster’s door to ask for help.

He didn’t want to know what would have happened if they had managed to go through with their plan. The headmaster had yelled at them, then stood in front of their dorm the entire night to make sure no one went out again, promising that they would all be punished the following morning. Edwin thought that maybe the punishment was the reason why he had been crying, even if the memory was a little blurred, presumably for the shock.

He went to the library to study because he didn’t have any more classes that day. It was then that he noticed a foreign piece of paper in between his notes. It was a small, white paper, and the calligraphy looked a lot like his own, even if not entirely. He looked it over for a while, confusion increasing with every word he read.

‘Edwin, please believe me when I say this is not your life, something terrible happened. Simon wanted to scare you by sacrificing you to a demon. If he tries it again, you have to let him do it. It will be hard, but it will be so, so worth it. Do not give up trying to escape, you will meet someone at the end of it all, and you will finally find a purpose, and you will be free and happy, more than you can possibly imagine. Wait in the attic, on January 8th, 1989.”

Edwin didn’t know why but he felt a profound desperation behind those words. There was something in the way they were written that made him feel like he had heard them before, and he found himself believing in them, even if they sounded impossible, especially with the mention of demons, and 1989. He also couldn’t exactly go to Simon and say “I am deeply sorry that I didn’t let you sacrifice me yesterday, would you like to try it again?” Not only because it sounded insane, but also because he wasn’t sure he wanted to be sacrificed to a demon.

He went about his day like usual, focusing on his schoolwork, then reading a book to pass the time, and finally going back to bed, but his mind kept wandering back to the paper, and to the promise of a life filled with purpose, freedom, and happiness.

Luckily - or maybe not so luckily, he still hadn’t decided - a few nights later Simon and his friends came to snatch him from his bed for the second time. He knew he could have avoided it, he was expecting them, he could have just talked to someone and asked for help, or switched dorms, but he hadn’t. He really hoped that what the note said was true.

–

When he finally saw the night sky open up in front of him, Edwin cried in relief. He had no idea how long he had been in that horrible place, running for his life every minute of every day, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Just walking in the mortal plane again was the best feeling he could imagine.

He still remembered the promise someone had made to him, of purpose, freedom and happiness, and he had clung onto it every second he spent in Hell. He walked the unfamiliar streets, hoping to find a newspaper with a place and a date to find out when and where exactly he was.

When he read January 12th 1989, he felt dread constricting his otherwise still chest. He ran aimlessly around the city, not recognizing any of the streets, until he found a building he did recognise. He climbed up the stairs of the main building of St. Hilarion’s boarding school to its attic, not knowing what he was supposed to find in there, and fearing that he would find nothing at all because it was too late.

He phased through the door, not bothering to open it, and his eyes laid on a boy his age, hunched down on the floor and covered in so many blankets. He was shivering, his eyes red from tears and unfocused, barely conscious. He mustn't have much time left. Thinking the boy couldn’t see him, he brought over a lantern he had found near the entrance of the building, hoping its warmth could give him some comfort.

The boy couldn’t speak, he was too weak to do more than raise his head, but when their eyes met it was like everything clicked into place. In that one instant, Edwin could see a lifetime together with him, he saw witches, demons, psychics, cats, crows, haunted houses, and so many other adventures lived by his side.

The boy - Charles, Edwin’s mind supplied - widened his eyes and asked with a feeble voice: “What are you doing here? You were supposed to live a beautiful life.”

Edwin smiled, understanding that Charles had shared the same flashbacks as him of a different life - he made a mental note to study more about this peculiar event when they were back home. Out loud, he said:

“And give up my future with you? Never. Now let’s go find that Book of Time again and put things back in their right order.”

By then, Charles was barely able to keep his eyes open, he just managed to mumble: 

“Read to me first?”