#0.08 : The Mimic //COMPLETE//

0.8 - The Storm

Klaus

Yesterday

Klaus climbed out of the tub, grabbing his CD player off the ledge. He dried himself off, not once stopping to take his headphones off. The towel wound tightly around his waist as he danced through the house. His hips swayed with the beat as he moved through the hallways and back into his room. He let the towel fall to the floor and slid on a pair of bright purple briefs and a pair of dark leather pants.

He slid a V-neck over his head and turned around to face a woman in a pink bunny mask. She smacked him over the head and the world faded to black.

When he reawakened, he was in the trunk of a car. His hands were bound and his mouth was duct taped shut. A bulkier man was standing in front of him when the door had finally opened. He was wearing a blue bear mask, which was terrifying to a Klaus that was starting to come down from his high.

The man hoisted him over his shoulder and carried him into a room on the top floor of the motel. The room stank like a litter box, but as the decor and the walls were concerned it was bland. The walls were plain and the bed sheets were standard motel room patterns. Klaus had been in enough motel rooms to know.

He was thrown into the desk chair and tied to it, the rope so tight it scraped his wrists and ankles raw as he tried to move them and struggle to get out. Blood seeped down his wrist from the tiny scrapes he was producing.

"You aren't going anywhere, kid," the man said, he was across the room, Klaus could tell. His back was toward the wall the beds were pressed up against. The woman, standing in front of him, smacked him across the face so hard that his teeth cut into his cheek.

"Tell us where the kid is, and we'll let you go," She demanded, pulling her hand back to slap him again.

Klaus was confused. "Kid? What kid?" That earned him another snack across the face. Then he realized what they meant. "Oh you mean Number Five? I have no idea where he is. Nobody tells me anything."

"You have to know something!" The lady exclaimed, starting to get irritated. She pulled the man aside and they had a conversation in the bathroom.

Klaus glanced over at Ben, wishing he could do something. Ben was leaning against the wall, and to his right was a Russian lady, staring out the window and muttering things in her native language. Her hair was tied back in a babushka.

"What's up with the Russian lady?" Ben asked. Klaus just shrugged. He could feel the drugs starting to wear off. Sweat started to bead on his forehead.

His thoughts wandered back to Claudia. Oh how he wished she was here now. She could save him, protect him. He wished for her guidance more than anything. He missed her more than anyone else in the family. He needed her.

He could picture her in his head. Her brown locks of hair falling in her face as she giggled. You have to focus, silly. Get your shit together. She would say. You can do so much more than speak to Ben.

He had just started to regain his focus when his captors returned. The woman had a wet rag in her hand, her mask discarded. The man had removed his as well. Klaus took note of their features. The woman was short with a bob hairstyle, her skin a shade of light brown. The man was taller, his hair a mess without the mask on. He was caucasian, with darker hair.

The woman covered his face with the rag and wrang it out over his face, a half-baked attempt at waterboarding. Klaus lapped up the water that fell from the rag, licking his lips. "Aahhh I was so parched," he smiled.

The woman frowned. "This isn't working."

"Man, you guys really picked the wrong guy to kidnap," Klaus laughed. "No one is even going to know I'm gone." Except Claudia. He thought. She was probably looking for him right now. God, he hoped she would know how to find him.

The woman smacked him again, duct taping his mouth shut again. She dragged the chair and him into the closet and shut the door. He heard the door to the room shut, and his mind started to wander.

"Ben, " he started, but realized the words were lost while his mouth was sealed shut. Claudia, please. I need you. Save me. A tear slipped out of his eye when he thought of her. He had taken her for granted too many times. He was a horrible person to her, constantly dumping his feelings and drug-induced frenzies on her.

He had to be better, for her. His rage built as he shook the chair. The door to the room opened again, and he tried to scream through the duct tape. A vacuum started up. House cleaning. Maybe they'll help me.

He yelled again, louder and louder until it felt like his vocal chords would give out, yet still the closet door didn't open.

"Klaus! She can't hear you," Ben observed. "Stop it." Klaus started to cry again, rocking the chair back and forth, slamming the feet of it into the carpet. After the housekeeper left, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. Hours? Days? The door opened again and he was dragged back out of the closet.

He pulled all of his focus together, trying to conjure someone, anyone. He tried pulling off of the Russian, and to his surprise, ten more spirits showed up. They were all grotesque looking, open wounds with bloodstains around them decorated all of them.

He tuned his captors out to focus on their stories. "Huh, so you kill people," he started, going through each one's story. The look on the woman's face twisted, and he could see the man getting uncomfortable. Oh, if Claudia could see me now, he thought to himself. He had finally done it, willingly conjured a spirit. Multiple, at that.

The pair moved into the bathroom, muttering hissed insults at each other. He couldn't quite hear what they were discussing, but he was drawn from his thoughts when the door busted open. A Hispanic female stood in front of him. He had no clue who she was or how she got there, but he thanked her greatly for untying him and removing the duct tape from his mouth.

"Go, go now!" She whispered, nudging him toward the door. Klaus bit his lip and looked toward the vent in the corner. It was missing a screw, which struck him as odd. He darted over and unscrewed the other one, pulling a briefcase out of the vent.

Oh, sweet, sweet drug money. He thought, quickly hugging it to his chest and running out of the room. On his way down the stairs, he heard gunshots behind him. He paused only for a second, before shaking his head and booking it to a bus station.

He had made it just in time to catch the next bus. He didn't even care where it was going, he just needed to get out. He sprinted onto the bus and dumped his fare into the till, plopping himself in a seat close to the front of the bus. He smiled. I made it. I made it out. All on my own. God, I can't wait to tell Claudia.

He clutched the case tightly to his chest, catching the glance of the lady across from him. He smiled at her and proceeded to open the briefcase. He told himself it would be just a peek, but once he opened the briefcase, he vanished.

He was on a different bus now, an older one. Everyone was dressed in the custom of the past. Odd. He peeked in the briefcase again, and next thing he knew, he was in an army tent. It was night now.

The tent was silent, but his appearance had woken one of the soldiers. Klaus had to blink a few times, just to make sure he was seeing it right.

The man staring back at him was perfect. The way he smiled at Klaus made his heart skip a beat. It was as if time itself had stopped for the two of them. Klaus opened his mouth to introduce himself, but a siren cut off his words. His hands shot to his ears to mute the sound but it was hardly helpful.

The next thing he knew, he was being screamed at to change. An army uniform was thrown at him. All of the stimuli hit him at once. He didn't know what to do, so he just blindly followed. Claudia, help me. Please.