#0.08 : The Mimic //COMPLETE//

0.4 - The Glass Eye

Claudia's eyes fluttered open. The poster she had taped to her childhood ceiling stared back at her. The plaster in the corners of the ceiling was cracking, but overall, the bedroom remained unchanged. Her CD player was still on the desk, covered in a fine film of dust.

She rolled out of bed and rubbed her eyes. She changed into a plaid flannel and a pair of jeans, emerging from her room in a haze of voices. They whispered in her ears, the bodies surrounding her as she pushed through them to find Klaus.

"Claudia, wait," Luther called out from behind her. The panic had set in already this morning, and she had forgotten her medicines at her apartment. When she turned to look at him she could only imagine what her face must have looked like. "Are you okay? You look.. terrible."

Claudia shook her head, offering a pained smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just forgot my medicine at home. The voices are loud today."

Luther nodded. "I just wanted to let you know, I know you would never have done anything to dad."

"Thank you, Luther. That means a lot to me," she smiled and turned away, "I have to go find Klaus. I want to make sure he's alright."

She found him downstairs, laying across the couch in only his rainbow underwear and mumbling in his sleep. The voices were just a whisper here, but they started to get louder when she entered. She spied Ben sitting on the chair across from him.

Ben looked up when she entered. "What did he do last night?" Claudia asked him, kneeling on the floor next to Klaus. Her fingers found his wavy brown locks.

"I think you know the answer to that question," Ben replied.

Just as he had, Klaus bolted awake, breathing heavily. He sat up and started digging through the pockets of the duster he was wearing yesterday.

"Klaus, you know you're out of drugs," Ben pointed out.

"God damn it," Klaus and Claudia said in unison. Klaus turned and gave her a confused look.

"What?" He asked, pulling out his cigarette pack and lighting one.

"Give me," Claudia extended her hand toward him, and he dropped another cigarette and the lighter into it. "The voices are loud, and I forgot my medical stash at home. I just wanted one.. so I could have something to make them stop."

Klaus flitted his way over to the China cabinet, prying one of the doors open to examine the pieces inside. Claudia spotted Pogo walking into the room just then.

"Master Klaus," he started.

Oh boy, here we go. It was just like old times. She knew he had done something wrong.

"An ornate box with pearl inlay has seemed to have disappeared from your father's study," Pogo explained.

"Oh jeez, Pogo, I really wish I could help, but I don't know what you're talking about," Klaus brushed him off. Claudia raised an eyebrow at him.

"If it were to find its way back to the office with all of its contents intact, the person in question would be waived of any consequences," Pogo said, taking his leave.

"Klaus," Claudia started to scold him, when Five appeared in the doorway.

"I need your help," the 13 year old said, "Both of you."

"For?" Claudia asked, turning to face him. His face was exactly how she remembered, but there was something else floating just under the surface of the confidence he normally exuded. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Change into your best clothes and meet me in my room," he vanished into a blue-green flash.

Claudia and Klaus exchanged glances and parted ways to change clothes. When they regrouped in Five's room, he shoved them into the wardrobe, muttering something about hiding from Vanya.