The next day, I got up pretty late. After we got home, I cleaned Klaus' wound. We decided to watch some movies. We stayed up late and fell asleep next to each other. I know I woke up early this morning. I could feel the heat from Klaus' body. He was still asleep with his arm around my waist. I moved a little, and Klaus' grip tightened as he tried to pull me closer to him. I smiled to myself and moved closer to him. Within seconds, I was asleep again.
Later, Klaus gently woke me up and said he had some work to do and would see me later. I don't know what he was talking about, but I was so tired that I just mumbled 'okay' and went back to sleep.
When I woke up later, everyone was gone. I hope they didn't all go on a family trip without me.
I took a quick shower and went to get something to eat. Mom was in the kitchen humming a song.
,,Hi, Mom." I smiled at her.
,,Hi, Rory. Are you hungry?" She asked me.
,,I'm starving." I chuckled.
When I finished eating, my mom took my empty plate.
,,Do you want some help, mom?" I asked her.
,,No, it's okay, honey." She said with a smile and continued with the dishes. I got a book from the library and sat down in the living room. I was so engrossed in my reading that I almost didn't notice that Diego was back.
He sat down next to me.
,,Hi, sis." He said. "Hi. Where were you? It seems like forever since we've seen each other." I smiled at him.
,,I've been working. You know," he said.
,,Hmm. Saving the city?" I joked.
,,Well, I'm actually looking into a case right now. Something doesn't feel right. You remember Patch? We worked on it together today. She doesn't like it very much." He snickered.
,,I remember her. And I know she doesn't like it. I've bailed you out several times because you got in her way." I teased him.
,,Yeah. Anyway, it was some shooting at the store. The bullets that were there were also in the diner where the dead body was recently found." He explained.
,,Really? Huh." I said thoughtfully.
,,What?" He asked me.
,,Well, recently my death radio turned on again." I started. When we were younger, we didn't know how to call these abilities in general. And I thought this was kind of funny. Diego and Klaus agreed. Of course they did.
,,I heard gunshots. And then.. death. Do you think it could have been the same thing?" I looked at him.
,,It could be." He said.
,,You know, I've been getting this weird feeling lately. It's something big. I just can't put my finger on it. But it started when Five showed up. Or maybe it was earlier, and I just managed to ignore it." I continued.
,,Do you think Five is up to something?" He asked
,,I don't know." I sighed.
,,I think it's too much of a coincidence, you know." He said. We just sat there for a while.
,,Oh. And I don't know if you know that. But we have another family meeting today. Any minute now." Diego suddenly remembered.
,,Oh really? You think Luther's gonna accuse me of murder again?" I asked him with amusement.
,,He can try." He winked at me.
As if on cue, Luther came to us with Klaus right behind him.
,,Is Allison here yet?" He asked.
,,Hello to you, too. No, she's not here." I said. I'm actually not surprised that he's ignoring the rest of us. I got up and went to hug Klaus. He also had chips in his hand, so I had to join the food source.
Allison and Vanya arrived a few minutes later.
,,Okay. Five's not coming, so let's get started." Luther said and turned on the TV.
,,It's about dad's murder."
,,Oh, my God." Diego and I stuttered. Luther ignored us and played the footage from dad's bedroom. We all watched to see what was going on. Allison was having a drink. Klaus and I were eating chips, and Diego watched the tape without being surprised.
The video showed our mom at dad's bedside. She leaned over him but didn't touch him. Moments later, dad had a heart attack. I can see where this is going. Jesus fuckin Christ.
,,I mean, do you really think mom would hurt dad?" Vanya asked.
,,You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya." Luther looked at her and then back at the video. ,,Maybe you don't know Grace anymore." He added. Grace? Why does he call her by her first name and not mom?
,,If he was poisened, it would have shown in the coroner's report." Diego tried to explain to him.
,,Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes." He snapped at him.
,,Maybe all that low gravity in space messed up your vision." Diego responded. I snorted. He went to the TV and paused the video.
,,Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone. She wasn't poisoning him. She was.. taking it. To clear it." He explained and stepped away from the TV.
,,Then where is it?" Luther asked him. ,,No, I've searched the house, including all her things." She doesn't have it." He added.
,,You did what?" I asked him in disbelief. Luther looked ashamed for a moment. Good. Diego sighed.
,,That's because I took it from her. After the funeral." He said. We all looked at him. Okay, I didn't see that coming.
,,You've had the monocle this whole time? What the hell, Diego?" Allison asked with anger.
,,Hey, calm down, Alli. I'm sure he has an explanation." I said in a calm but cautionary tone.
,,Give it to me." Luther said and held out his hand.
,,I threw it away." Diego replied. Well, I saw that one coming.
,,You what?" Luther and Allison scoffed.
,,Look, I knew that if you found it on mom, you'd lose your shit, just like you're doing right now." Diego pointed his dagger at him as Luther approached him.
,,Diego, you son of a bitch." Luther snapped at him and it looked like they were about to start fighting.
,,Hey. No. Calm down." Vanya said.
,,Look, I know dad wasn't exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing he said." She continued. Klaus offered me more chips. I winked at him and took some. We leaned against a pillar and continued with conversation.
,,And what did he say?" I asked.
,,Mom was designed to be a caretaker, but also as a protector." She answered.
,,What does that mean?" Allison asked.
,,She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy." Vanya explained.
,,Well, if her hardware is degrading, then...we need to turn her off." Luther said without hesitation.
,,Are you crazy?!" I yelled at him.
,,Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet. She feels things. I've seen it." Diego shouted.
,,She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die." Luther fired back.
,,I'm with Luther." Allison interrupted them.
,,Shocking." I rolled my eyes.
,,Surprise, surprise." Diego sent her a fake smile.
,,Shut up." Allison said. We all looked at Vanya.
,,I- I don't- " Vanya stammered.
,,Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote." Diego said.
,,Diego." I hissed at him.
,,I was gonna say that I agree with you." She said. Luther rolled his eyes.
,,Okay. She should get a vote." Diego replied and turned to Klaus.
,,What about you, stoner boy?" What do you got?" He asked. Klaus looked around.
,,Oh, so, what? You need my help now? Oh, "Get out the van, Klaus!" "Welcome back to the van." He said.
,,What van?" Allison asked, as confused as I was.
Luther scoffed ,,What's it gonna be Klaus?"
,,I'm with Diego, because screw you, Luther!" Klaus snapped at him. Diego pointed at Klaus proudly.
,,And if Ben was here, he'd agree with me." He added. And then he hissed off to the side. Well, I'd say Ben has a different opinion. Luther shook his head.
"What about you, Rory?" He asked me. I snorted.
"You're crazy, man. She's our mom. I'm with Diego. Like Klaus said. Screw you." I said.
,,Hell Yeah." Klaus chuckled and high-fived me.
,,So that's four against two." Diego said.
,,Wait. Votes not final yet." Allison protested.
,,What?" Diego asked.
,,Five's not here. The whole family has to vote. We owe each other that." She responded.
,,Right. No we should wait." Luther agreed.
,,Even if Five agrees with you, you're outvoted. So it doesn't make much sense. But fine, whatever." I shrugged.
Allison, Luther and Klaus then left.
Vanya and I stayed with Diego. I could tell he was scared. I don't blame him. What's stopping Luther from doing it his way. Diego turned around and my mom was standing behind us. We all came to her.
,,Hey. How long have you been here?" He asked her. I didn't notice her either. ,,You all seem upset. I'll make cookies." She smiled and left. As we stood there, we exchanged glances.
,,Do you ever wonder... All those moments with mom, the things she said. Like was it her, or was it really dad?" Vanya asked.
,,What do you mean?" I asked her.
,,Well, he built her. And programmed her to be our mom. Sometimes when I looked at her, I just see him." She explained.
,,Maybe that was true at first. But she evolved." Diego said.
,,But how do you know?" She asked again.
,,Because dad only loved himself." I responded with smirk and I squeezed her hand.
,,Exactly." Diego agreed and left. I sent a warm smile to Vanya and started to leave too.
I was gonna go see Klaus, but he was in the bathtub. I went into the kitchen to get a drink. I sat down at the table. Suddenly a feeling came over me. Something was wrong. There were gunshots from somewhere in the house. I ran after the sound of gunfire. Diego, Luther and Allison were hiding to avoid being hit by two freaks in masks.
,,Who the hell are these guys?!" I yelled.
,,No idea." Allison shouted back. It was quiet for a while, and then more shooting started. We all jumped aside.
,,Get out of here! Now!" Luther yelled. We all got away. Me and Allison ran together. One of them came after us.
We ran into the room and hid behind the pool table. Allison quietly took the cue from the pool table. The attacker walked slowly past us. Allison tripped his leg and the bastard fell to the ground and dropped his gun. We stood up and prepared to fight. It was a woman. We fought her for a while. I successfully dodged her attacks. Allison distracted her and I kicked her in the chest. She quickly got up and punched Allison in the stomach and she hit the table. Then she kicked me and I went down right behind Allison.
Suddenly Diego walked into the room like he was going for a walk.
,,You wanna rumor this psycho? Or maybe give her one hell of a scream?" He smirked at us.
,,I don't need to, because this bitch just pissed me off." Allison said.
,,We just want the boy?" The crazy bitch said. Is she talking about Five? What the hell did he do this time?
,,Oh, well in that case..." Allison responded and attacked her again.
I looked at Diego.
,,Will you cover her? I'm gonna go help Luther." I asked him.
,,Sure, but be careful."
,,Always." I winked at him and went to find Luther.
I found him in the middle of a fight with the other giant. I saw another move. It was Vanya, lying on the ground. I ran to her and helped her up.
,,You need to hide, Vanya. Come on." I took her to the wall where she was covered. ,,Stay here, okay?" Vanya just nodded.
I ran back to Luther. He just sent that guy down. He turned his back on him, but the guy got up and was about to jump Luther from behind. But I was faster. I took a breath and pushed him away with my scream. He flew backwards and hit the wall. Luther looked at me gratefully and I nodded at him. The maniac quickly got back to his feet though. Damn, he's got some stamina.
Luther went for him but the guy just picked him up and threw him behind him as if Luther weighed nothing. Who the fuck is this guy? He grabbed me and threw me away. I winced in pain and tried to stand up. This is gonna give me a bruise. Then the guy just walked away.
Allison and Diego came over a little while later and helped us up. Diego got me on my feet, checked to make sure I was okay and went to help Allison and Luther. Luther was looking up and I just saw the chandelier fall on them. Luther pushed them both aside. The chandelier fell right on top of Luther. We saw him move under it. He started to slowly pick himself up. His jacket started tearing against the chandelier. When Luther stood up, he threw the chandelier off of him. We all stared at him in shock. His upper body was mutated, looking like an animal. Oh, my God.
Luther looked at all of us and then quickly ran upstairs.
We stood there in shock and then Vanya spoke up.
,,Did you know?" She asked Allison.
,,No." She replied.
We heard humming. ,,Shit. Mom." Diego said and ran after her.
,,Oh my god. Klaus is here somewhere."
I ran upstairs to the bathroom. The door was open and the bathroom was empty. I went up to his room. It was empty, too. ,,Klaus!" Fear ran through my body.
"Klaus?!" I screamed. "Where are you?" I searched all the rooms, but Klaus was gone. When I came back downstairs. Allison, Diego and Vanya were there too.
,,Guys?" I said. They weren't listening.
,,No, you could've been killed. Or gotten any of us killed." Diego raised his voice at Vanya.
,,She is a liability." He added.
,,Guys!" They kept ignoring me.
,,I think what he's trying to say is that this kind of stuff is dangerous." Allison said to her. ,,You're just-"
,,Not like you." Vanya interrupted her and she got up to leave.
,,Vanya" Allison called after her.
,,Let her go. It's for the best." Diego said.
,,GUYS!" I shouted. They looked at me. Finally.
,,That's not important right now. Klaus is missing." I said. Fear in my voice.
,,He's probably out looking for drugs." Diego replied.
,,Yeah. You know him, Rory." Allison agreed.
,,No, he was in the bathroom. Before these two lunatics showed up. And now he's nowhere to be found. What if they took him?" I panicked. Allison paused for a moment. But neither of them made a big deal out of it.
,,I think he just went out. Don't worry."
,,Wow. This family is really fucking great." I said. Sarcasm dripped from that whole sentence.
,,Okay, fine. I'll find him myself. Thanks for your help." I said a walked away. Tears stung my eyes.
,,Where are you, Klaus?" I whispered.