Breaking Boundaries

Chapter 23 - Knowledge is Powerful

       Oh no. He's home. I stagger back and loose my balance as my back hits the billboard. I've seen enough things to rattle my insides but this look he's giving me is doing a lot more than rattling. Invading privacy especially when it comes to law is a felony and I am aware of that but what I don't know is the outcome of all this. Like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar, I hide whatever I have in my hands behind my back. I stole the picture of Salvatore from his file. Why, I don't know. Klaus closes the door behind him deliberately slowly, and stalks towards me with eyes that can kill. Literally.  My body breaks out in sweat. How long have I been here snooping? How long has he been there watching me?

"What you're doing is...isn't right," I whisper, words coming out of my mouth like a freight train. It shoots out so fast I don't have time to digest the possibility of an outcome. I shouldn't have said that. But my mouth seems to have lost the filter. Klaus stops in front of me, lips tight and thin, pupils dilated, and jaw clenched. He glares at me, eyes challenging me to repeat my audacity. Wisely, I keep my mouth shut. But I have a lot of questions to answers I might not be blessed with.

"Maya. Don't push my buttons." His hand pushes forward to grab me and possibly drag me out of the room but my instincts kick in and my feet and body move accordingly to the other side of the room. I dodge him. I want answers.

"When people die they come on the news. People are aware of murders. Why are these men not noticed? What did you do to them?" My audacity gets the best of me and I'm well aware of the outcome of my stupidity. Klaus fumes, fire splitting out of his eyes.

"Maya," he warns. Please, shut up.

"Tell me what you are doing, please," I press. He growls and lunges towards me but I dodge him again, this time moving straight to this files. I pull out the unforgiving picture of his sister's dead body. My heart aches and the pain brings a tear to my eyes that slip down. I understand that everything he did was to get revenge. But why did this happen?

"They didn't do her right. Why did he do this to her? What was her fault?" I ask, myself, bereft as if this happened to me and not him. Too caught in the act of grieving for someone I don't know, Klaus is in front of me in a flash, taking the photograph from my hand, and pushing me roughly against the table with a hand grabbing my throat. I gasp, too much in shock to comprehend. I pushed his buttons and I'm well aware of it. His eyes are flaming red, fumes coming out of his body and engulfing me. I've never seen him like this before—deadly, lethal, unforgiving, and relentless with one thing evident in his eyes: murder. Oh my god, he's going to kill me. He presses against my throat, and I flinch.

"That's enough!" He roars, rattling my organs from inside of me.

"The date circled on the calendar. It's...it's her birthday today, isn't it?" I mumble, hoping to god he lets go of me before I pass out. And like a splash of cold water on his face, he lets go, stepping back from me. I take the opportunity to collect myself and stand up straight. Something flashes through his eyes at the mention of his sister. I've realized he's been callous, and Salvatore did this to him. He destroyed my poor Klaus. I want to reach out to grab him but am afraid of the repercussion. His silence indicates that I'm right. I push the bloody photograph of his dead sister back in the file and pull out the appropriate picture of his family portrait. He had a family I never had. I only had a mother who was taken from me in a car accident. But, he had everyone and everyone were taken from him in a blink of an eye. The animosity towards these men and Salvatore is suddenly justified the more I look at Klaus. I can't blame him for all the wrongful killing he did, but I cannot look past the man who even took matters in his own hands. That's monstrous. Daringly, I make my way slowly to him and hand him the frame. He takes it, his anger dissipating a fraction.