You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 16: Breaking Point

 I knocked on Klaus' door twice before he opened it. He still looked a bit pale, but his overall demeanor had improved slightly. It almost gave me hope, until my eyes moved to the rope slung over his shoulder.

"Hey," I greeted awkwardly.

"Oh, Mina! I was just coming to look for you." Well that didn't give me a good feeling about any of this. "Hey. You, uh... you mind helping me out with something?"

"Depends on what it is..." With Klaus, this could get weird very fast, so I had to be cautious about what I agreed to.

"Oh, nothing big. I just need you to tie me up so I can't move." He tossed the rope to me casually, as though I just would agree to do it like that.

"Come again?" I stared from the rope to him, trying to deduct what the hell this was about.

"You know, last time I was sober was that roaring good time when those freaks had me tied up in the motel room." He had to be shitting me. Was this seriously what this was all about? There were better ways to do this. Then again, this was Klaus.

"Wow. You are one twisted bonehead," I sighed.

"Why? You're the one that's like 'Klaus, you need to get sober, bro.'" No way was he about to take my genuine concern and twist it like this.

"There are better ways to get clean, Klaus."

"Not for me, no. I need someone to take away my options." Only now did I notice the intense amount of sweat dotting his skin. He really was suffering, pushing himself to get rid of this deadly dependence... but why? Why now, as opposed to any other time? There was no way he thought that the end of the world was grounds for recovery. Klaus wasn't the sort to suddenly change his mind for something like that. Still, at least he was trying. I had to give him credit for that.

"Fine," I sighed, giving in.

"Okay. Thank you."

Despite how shady this all would seem, I took Klaus up to the attic, where, if he started begging for someone to release him, they wouldn't be able to hear him. I still felt uneasy about this whole situation, but maybe if I did this for him, he'd come back to our side and help fight this thing.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," Klaus muttered as I walked around him, securing the rope.

"I hate this room," I muttered, looking at the dusty corners.

"Oh, it got me high enough. I picked it clean of anything of value after Daddy kicked the bucket. That's it, tighter and higher." Despite my hesitance, I yanked on the rope, making sure it kept his arms bound to his sides. "Ooh. Ouf! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Fine."

"Ooh! Aah! Aah!"

"If I see a boner, I'm out," I warned, glaring at him. As I expected, Klaus just laughed that comment off. "End of the world and you wanna get sober all of a sudden. Don't get me wrong, Klaus. Good by you. But I'd think you'd wanna pop every pill on the planet."

"Oh, the thought did cross my mind, believe me, but... there's something I need to do, and the whole pesky thing doesn't seem to work unless I'm sober." With his arms and legs completely secured, I crouched down and started to tie the rope to the chair.

"Is this about conjuring the one you lost?" I was scared to ask, not wanting to touch a nerve that would set him off, but I genuinely wanted to know what was going on there. He didn't answer, but I knew enough to keep pressing. "What was his name?" Klaus let out a bit of a surprised gasp.