1
Klaus Hargreeves was 23 years old the third time that he died on October 31st at 10:30 in the evening in a dirty back alley of the city.
Ben watched helplessly as he was attacked, beaten, spit on then left to die of blood loss and shock on the cold pavement. Of course, he hadn’t died immediately and there was an agonizing amount of time where he was lying on the ground wheezing and struggling. In true Klaus fashion, he had started laughing as his attackers walked away and he continued giggling deliriously as his life drained away; pooling underneath him.
Ben sat down next to him and sighed. He couldn’t panic, there was no use in yelling or begging – it’s not like this was the first time he watched his brother die, even if it certainly was the most violent and traumatic. All he could do was try to remain in Klaus’ line of sight so at least he would know that he wasn’t alone.
He had been so high coming back from the random Halloween party that he couldn’t even hear Ben warning him, screaming into his ear that there were people following him. For once Ben hoped that the copious number of drugs in Klaus’ system would help with some of the pain. Maybe they would be good for something.
Klaus stared at him with wide blood shot eyes, but it wasn’t until just before his last breath that something sparked with recognition. And for a moment he looked sorry. He looked scared. Then he died.
Once he was gone Ben allowed himself to cry at the unfairness of it all. Then, he waited.
************************************************
Klaus opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around. He was in a nice meadow area; the sun was shining and it was quiet. He was no longer in agony and he could think clearly. A smile spread across his face and he stood up.
A young girl on a bike rolled up to him. He had met her before and he knew who she was, so he raised his arms, “Heyyy! Long time no see!”
She stared at him blankly and shook her head, “Not long enough.”
Suddenly he was falling and falling and falling and eventually it became relaxing and despite his initial panic and confusion he began to enjoy the experience. He didn’t know how long he was falling when he finally landed, it should have been painful, but he couldn’t feel a thing.
A rush of hot air hit his face and he blinked it away. He had never been here before; gorgeous red and orange mountains towered in the horizon and the air crackled and popped with an all-consuming heat. The ground sizzled under his feet as he stepped forward.
“Oh, come on!”
Klaus whipped around to see a very attractive young man, maybe in his late 20s or early 30s. He was standing in front of a large obsidian desk piled with scrolls. His eyes were a glistening hazel color and his hair was long; Klaus might even say that it was ‘cascading’ around his bare shoulders. The man had impressive horns that pointed towards the fiery sky. Klaus didn’t hate it.
He took in his figure and hummed appreciatively.
Klaus flashed a flirty smile and held out his hand, “I had heard you were the most beautiful angel but I’ve gotta say – the stories didn’t do you justice.”
Satan rolled his eyes.
******************************************************
Klaus shot up and immediately let out an agonizing wheeze as the pain flashed through his body and left him gasping for air. He fell back and whimpered, there wasn’t a single part of his being that wasn’t in pain – he was having trouble figuring out what wasn’t broken at this point.
He glanced up, still writhing against the pavement to see his brother standing over him with his arms crossed. His face was dry and unreadable.
“Wild night, huh?” He quipped but the weakness in his voice betrayed him instantly.
“It took you—” Ben stopped and lowered his arms at the new sound which suddenly filled the area and caused Klaus to jump and scramble backwards into the wall. “What is that?”
Ben moved over his brother and cautiously approached the source of the wailing. Around fifty feet away from them was a baby, bundled in a black blanket. She looked like a newborn and she was wriggling and crying against the confines of the cloth surrounding her tiny body.
Klaus clawed up the side of the wall and limped over to join his brother, he squinted down at the infant in confusion, “What kind of person leave’s their baby next to a dead dude?”
“No one left it here, Klaus – I’ve been watching the whole time.”
Behind Ben’s back Klaus was shaking his fists and silently screaming at the ground in anger. But when he spoke he had composed himself “Kinky.”
“Take this seriously! Where did she come from?!” Ben was circling the area.
Klaus spit some blood off to the side and slumped to his knees, “I don’t know! And quite honestly, I don’t really care… Listen, Hector’s waiting for me – maybe he’ll take me to the clinic.” He stared down at her and cringed as her cries pierced his aching head.
“So you’re just going to Leave her here?” Ben asked, horrified.
“I’m not a monster, Ben – We’ll- we’ll – I don’t know.. Drop her off the police station! Yeah – “ He chuckled, “That’ll work.”
Klaus watched the infant; his expression half exasperation half horror as the truth of the situation broke through the adrenaline and pain. He sighed and looked away, sitting back with a pained groan. “Just… Give me a second... Benny boy..” He added tiredly, letting his eyes drift closed for a moment.
Ben was a few inches from the baby now, inspecting her closely. “You know… She kind of looks like you.”
Klaus leaned forward and picked her up. It took him a few tries, but he was eventually able to gain his footing again, using his shoulder to brace against the wall. He scoffed, “She’s like an hour old, Ben – she doesn’t look like anybody. She looks like a peeled potato that’s been left on
a counter.”
Then he glanced down at the infant’s scrunched up face, “I mean- It’s fine – we all looked like that at one point. You’ll grow out of it in no time.”
He began the arduous and slow walk through the city, limping with the infant against his chest while Ben wondered next to him.
“You know more than you’re letting on.” Ben accused after a few blocks. He had been watching his brother and the strange looks that were cycling through his features.
“Oh, do I now?”
“Yeah. You do – Klaus, no one dropped her off – she just came out of thin air.”
“Well, it is Halloween!” He said with a weak reverb “Maybe one of the ghosties dropped off an All Hollows Eve miracle – some witch somewhere is going to shit themselves when they see her! We’ll put a note with her explaining everything.”
Now Ben definitely knew his brother was hiding something.
“Klaus!”
“Okay, fine!” He snapped, “Look, man, it’s weird, alright? God kicked me out and sent me to hell – I met Satan – Who is a hunk, by the way…”
“Okay…”
“And he didn’t like me either but, look, I didn’t want to come back so I- I buttered him up a little and then… One thing led to another.. And he offered me, like, a wish- I don’t know, he said I could ask for whatever I wanted and he would give it to me as long as I didn’t come back.
Ben stopped dead in the middle of the walkway, “Klaus, you didn’t.” The shock and disbelief in his voice was palpable.
Klaus stalled to turn back to his brother, “Tis the season!” He said sheepishly.
Ben stomped towards his brother, gesturing to the infant, “So-so-so – What does that mean? What does that have to do with her!?”
Klaus sighed, “I asked for a high that would last the rest of my life…” He admitted.
If Ben was alive, he would have vomited. “So he gave you a child?”
“Look, I meant heroin and that slippery bitch knows it! ” He kicked at the ground and immediately regretted it as pain shot up through his injured leg, “Ah! Not this ‘parental love’ bullshit high or whatever.”
Ben threw his hands up, “Oh, so the dark lord isn’t transparent? Who would have thought!” He ran up closer to his brother, “So that means she’s yours though, right?”
He laughed maniacally, “Who cares?! This is just a tricky loophole that the devil used to get back at me for bothering him. So I would stop begging him to stay. For all I know, she could be an illusion… Probably under that--” Klaus pulled her away and looked at her, she stared up at him pensively “...Sweet little face… Is a disgusting goblin creature or something.”
“Klaus.”
“Don’t ‘Klaus’ me, Casper - The sooner we drop her off the sooner we can get back to our life!”
“What life?” Ben mumbled sourly under his breath.
Ben wanted to scream, he wanted to pass out, he wanted to jump through the veil and strangle his stupid brother. Instead he shut up and followed him as he made his way to the back of the police station, dodging people in masks and sexy costumes. Klaus found a quiet spot next to a side door and deemed it the perfect place.
He set her down carefully and pinched her little cheek – “If you’re sore about this in 18 years, feel free to come and murder me – okay? Have a good life!” He winked at her and let out a shaky exhale that his brother didn’t catch and started to hobble away.
Ben stayed next to the little bundle, watching his brother go – “So, what? Nobody wants you so you’re just going to do the same thing to her?” He called out, “Like mother, like son, I guess. Maybe whatever foster home she gets stuck into won’t abuse her as badly as Reginald did to us.”
Klaus stopped and turned slowly, the glare he shot at his brother wasn’t a joke – Maybe the drugs were finally wearing off, but he looked livid. Ben maintained his expression and balled up his fists.
“You did this, Klaus - I get that you hate yourself but what did she do to deserve being abandoned?”
There were several long moments of silence leading up Klaus taking a heavy step forward back towards the infant. He glared at the ground, refusing to look at his dead brother as he limped back to the steps where the baby was settled. He leaned down and picked her up, pressing her against his chest mechanically.
Finally, he looked at Ben, “I hate your stupid face.” He snarled and turned away, shambling painfully into the night with the baby in his arms.
As he turned away, Ben smirked triumphantly.