𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 | 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞 | 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙽𝚒𝚗𝚎 | 𝚅𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚊

^^^

Klaus, me and Five left the building just 10 minutes later. The only information we got from Lance was that the artificial eye, which now lay quietly at the bottom of Five's pocket, had not yet been manufactured. How ironic. And I wasted more than half a day looking for a man who might not even exist.

We stood in front of the company entrance. Klaus immediately raved about his advanced level of acting, while Five looked like he wanted to jump off the top floor of the building.

"What's with that eye anyway?" I asked the boy, interrupting Klaus' bragging. The brunette looked down at me.

"There's someone out there who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days. They're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it!"

Beads of sweat appeared on the boy's forehead. It didn't put me off from asking the next question.

"Okay, but-- But how do you even know that? AND WHERE DID YOU GET THIS EYE?"

Five glared at me menacingly. I took a step back and bumped into Klaus. I saw dried blood mixed with glitter on his forehead and cheek. He looked comical, but one look from our brother stopped me from cracking a joke.

"Yeah, can I get that 20 bucks like now, or what?"

I snorted and stood next to Five. Klaus reached out his hand.

"Your 20 bucks?" The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, the 20 bucks you promised me!"

Five blinked a few times and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye to make sure he hadn't misheard. I nodded, letting him know he wasn't hallucinating.

"The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is getting high?"

"Actually, we could eat something too," I muttered.

"Tummy's a-rumblin'," Klaus made a strange, guttural sound.

Five gave us a mocking glare.

"You're useless," he snapped at Klaus, then looked at me, "YOU'RE ALL USELESS!"

"Oh, come on, old man. You need to lighten up a bit!"

Klaus was having a fantastic time, but Five's words annoyed me. All the time since he returned from the future, I've done nothing but help him. I was irritated by his high self-esteem and belief that he was superior to us. If I hadn't known Five since I was a kid, I'd have thought he was a completely different person.

Five walked past me, lightly nudging me on the shoulder, and sat on the steps at the entrance to the building. Klaus and I joined him after a few seconds of staring knowingly at each other.

"Hey, you know, I've just now realized why you're so uptight," Klaus said, sitting between me and Five. "You must be horny as hell!"

I snorted, and almost immediately in my mind I saw Five groping Dorothy or whatever her name was. I felt a slight tingle in my throat.

"Years of solitude must have messed with your mind!"

I glanced over at the boy. His eyes were fixed on the cars passing by. I sighed. Apparently, he didn't think Klaus's words were anything but raving.

"Well, I wasn't alone."

So, I was wrong. I wrapped my arms around my knees.

"Oh, pray tell then," Klaus encouraged him, moving a little closer.