Ink

Chapter 52

What are you doing up here, officer..."

"Walker—" Zeke begins, trying not to let any emotion slip into his voice. Fortunately, he is not betrayed. "Ezekiel Walker."

"Well officer Walker, please state your business in this restricted wing."

Say something you idiot. His mind is blank. Wait—that's it

"I was picking up patrolling duties for officer Landon."

Please buy it

"What happened to Claud?" Asks the officer with genuine concern. Zeke isn't that surprised. Everyone loved Claud. He was a loyal friend and comrade.

"He was killed the night the fugitive Klaus escaped."

"That cant be—" The man whispers in a daze. "I just saw him last week. How could he—"

Zeke furrows his brows, torn on wether or not to tell the truth about the incident. Everyone else that was in that room had been brainwashed to believe something different. If Zeke knew the truth, wasn't it his responsibility to share it, especially now?

"It was Klaus." His mouth moves, sealing the truth far from reach, before he can process what is happening. "That man is truly as dangerous as the king makes him out to be."

The man nods as a dark hatred grows in his eyes.

He had believed him so easily.

No one would ever know the truth. Not unless he did something about it, like Dr. Leona.

"Agreed officer Walker. Please proceed as you were." Zeke simply nods in response and watches his fellow officer walk away, fully believing the lies that had come from his mouth. He feels the weight of the paper on his shoulders even more now.

The truth needs to be told. And he had an idea of how to do it. I need to get to Dimitri.

___

"Klausy?" Caleb's mouth falls open as soon as the door to the conference room opens.

A smirk falls on Klaus' lips. "Did you miss me?"

Caleb runs across the room and wraps him in a tight hug. "I thought you were dead! But I'm glad you're not."

Klaus laughs and gives me a look while Caleb continues to hug him. It is the first time I have seen him reciprocate any of Caleb's advances. The younger boy is both surprised and relieved at the next action in which Klaus returns the tight hug. It is odd seeing a man with such high walls look past his pride for a friend.

Did he really think he was going to die there?

It was a question that I would have to ask later.

After a few more moments, Cleo clears her throat.

"That'll be enough of that. Remember, he is still infected."

"Remember I'm still human." Caleb says in a way that is very—Caleb-y. He seems to realize his sass moments later as his eyes widen and he steps away from Klaus. "I mean, yeah you're right, of course."

It is then that I notice the amount of guards that are lined up against the walls. No doubt as a precaution against Klaus and my father.

Speaking of the father, he had yet to even look in the direction of my sister. Instead, he stood with his head hung low. She, on the other hand, looked like she could honestly careless about how my father felt, as her glare was primarily directed towards Klaus.

"With this new addition to our circumstances, I need to make a decision on the best way to proceed." She begins. "Guards, I would like you to please escort these escapees to the isolation ward until I decide what to do with them."

I shake my head. "Cleo, don't you think they deserve—"

"Don't you think that my people deserve peace of mind that an infected vampire isn't going to attack them in the middle of the night."

"You don't know that he would do that." I retort.

"You don't know that he wouldn't."

"Hold on just a minute." Both mine and Cleo's eyes widen at the sound of my father's voice. He lifts his head and in a moment, I'm brought back to the scoldings of my early childhood. "This man and I have seen many tragedies these past few days. To top it off, I even rode alone with him in a cramped jet just to escape the wrath of the king. If he could control himself while completely starved and in a confined space, I think he can manage on his own."

Cleo makes no move to speak. However, I can see the anger boiling underneath her skin.

"Boom." Caleb whispers.

"Fine," She says suddenly. "But for the safety of the resistance I request that you spend a night in the medical wing for testing. That is my compromise."

My father narrows his eyes. "Deal."

He had always taught us to be strong and never back off of something that you believed in. This has obviously backfired on him just now.

"Klaus?" She asks, uninterested. If he did not agree to her deal he would undoubtably end up in isolation.

With a quick glance down at me he sighs.

"If I must, I must."

"Take them." Cleo says waving a hand towards the door. In a second the guards are holding the arms of Klaus and my father. "Please escort them to the medical wing. Afterwards, find them two rooms."

The guards nod. I watch as my father and Klaus are taken from the room. They already look so beaten down and tired. I knew that Klaus had been trying to hide it from me, but I could see the sleep deprivation that was calling out for rest in his eyes. I couldn't help but think that we could all use some sleep. However, that was not possible at the moment, and I still had some questions I needed to have answered before I could rest.

I lock eyes with my sister from across the conference table.

"Murdock, Walker, can you please give my sister and I a moment alone?"

Both of their eyes land on me, giving me the final decision on whether or not they left.

I nod at them and before long, it is just myself and Cleo left in the room.

"Well." She begins. "What do you want to know." Her tone holds power, and if I had not been her blood, I would have undoubtably taken a more submissive stance in the conversation.

"I want to know why you created a virus to kill off gifted vampires—and it didn't effect me."

Cleo smirks.

"There really is so much that you don't know, isn't there?"

My expression is unmoving.

"Alright, alright." She says after a few moments of silence. "To understand that, we need to go back to the night that this all started."

"The night you were taken?"

She nods and I watch as her expression hardens and for a fleeting second—I feel like I can see a flash of red in her eyes.

"It's time for a shîtty trip down memory lane."

Who noticed?