[Don't mind all the updates :). Listen to the song as you read, if you'd like.]
"She's waking up."
"Maybe she'll be more willing to talk."
Katrine groaned as her eyes opened. They slowly focused to see that she was in a dark room. "Where's my brother?" She asked slowly, mentally having to focus on speaking each word.
"Right here." Klaus said.
Katrine slowly turned to see him, mentally cursing her head. She looked at her brother to see that his face was bloody. Sweat was dripping down his body, gathering around his towel. She glanced down at herself to see that she'd been stripped down to her underclothes.
Before she had a chance to talk to Klaus, her face was grabbed. "Where's the boy?"
Even though she knew what boy they were talking about, she decided to play dumb. "What boy?"
She was punched in the face and Klaus let out a scream.
"I said, where is the boy?" The figure in the dog mask said again.
Katrine narrowed her eyes. "And I said what boy."
Her face was grabbed harshly once again. "The boy. Now."
Katrine glared. "Fine. I'll play along. But first, tell me why you're looking for Five."
"Just answer the question, and we'll let you two go."
Katrine's glare deepened. "I don't know where he is. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Let us go. People are going to be looking for us."
"For you." Klaus said.
She frowned at her brother and focused on their captors. "The girl is as stubborn as the boy."
"I knew she wouldn't be willing to talk."
Meanwhile, Katrine turned to Klaus, still trying to ignore the throbbing in her head. "Klaus? Are you alright? I should have shot at them, but it was like I froze."
"Kat, it's okay. I don't blame you for freezing up. I probably would have done the same."
Ben looked at Katrine and frowned. He looked at his brother. "Klaus, she's not doing well."
Klaus sighed. "Yeah, I can see that. Kat, stay with me."
Katrine shut her eyes for a moment. "My head is pounding, Klaus. And I keep hearing all these thoughts in my head."
"Look at the back of her head."
Klaus did as Ben suggested and he saw blood. "Kat, you're bleeding."
She nodded slowly. "I'm aware. I feel the blood dripping down my neck. I can only hope backup gets here soon."
The figures appeared from the bathroom and the smaller one said, "Torturing works best when you know who you're torturing."
Katrine and Klaus stared at the figures as they walked closer. The smaller one moved behind Katrine and gripped her hair; right near where her head was throbbing. She screamed and Klaus glared at the smaller masked figure. "Let her go!"
Something Katrine couldn't see was wrapped tightly and she started to gasp for air. The smaller figure said, "I guess the girl doesn't have the same kinks."
Katrine coughed and managed, "Let me go." The cord got tighter and Katrine could feel herself choking and getting faint. She was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Klaus, you need to say something. Save her."
Klaus let out an irritated sigh. "Fine. I'll talk. Just leave her alone."
Her throat relaxed as she coughed and breathed. She listened as Klaus spoke, praying he wouldn't reveal too much.
Klaus glanced down as he said, "Okay, fine. I don't...I don't know where Five is. I wasn't lying about that. But I can tell you that he--he hasn't been making much sense since he came back."
Katrine coughed again, closing her eyes as she tried to dull the pain. That only made it worse.
The taller figure said simply, "Elaborate."
Klaus started stuttering as he continued. "He's--he's just been acting like a--a lunatic. He's been sitting in the van in front of a--a lab or something and looking for the owner of an eyeball. One of those fake ones."
"That makes no sense."
The smaller figure said, "Hold on, just hold on. Tell us more about this eye and why it is so important."
Klaus glanced at Katrine to see tears falling down her face. He couldn't read minds, but he could tell that she was in serious pain.
"Continue." The smaller figure demanded.
Klaus sighed, hating to see his little sister in pain. "He said it had something to do with the end of times or something."
The two figures in masks glanced at each other before grabbing the chairs and dragging them into a closet. The door was shut, and then Katrine heard the front door close.
Being locked in a closet brought Klaus back to that mausoleum he'd been locked in as a kid. He remembered the screams and moans of the dead. He remembered their hands reaching for him. He remembered screaming for anyone to come help him. He especially remembered his little sister wondering why she couldn't see her big brother. Hearing her small voice wonder why she couldn't play with him broke his heart.
"Katrine, you've got to calm him down. He's not listening to me. I know you're tired and in pain, but Klaus needs help. He can't focus. His past trauma is affecting him."
She nodded at the voice. "Klaus, listen to me. We're going to get out of here, okay?"
"How do you know?"
"Because I do. Do you hear that?"
Klaus nodded, hearing a vacuum cleaner. He started shouting under his tape.
Katrine started feeling dizzy and she rested her head and closed her eyes a moment.
When she woke up, she was out of the closet and the formerly masked figures were no longer masked. Their two captors were a tall pale man with a scruffy beard and curly brown hair and a tall black woman with a bob cut.
Katrine frowned, hearing a woman saying something she couldn't understand.
Klaus started saying something and the tape was ripped from his mouth. "What are you saying?"
He started laughing and said, "You guys are scarier without the masks."
The woman slapped Klaus across the cheek and Katrine screamed in protest. The man gave her a look before saying, "That's no way to say hello to your old friends, is it?"
Katrine groaned as the tape was ripped from her mouth. She immediately took the opportunity to say, "Let. Us. Go! You got the information you wanted."
The woman looked down at her. "We want your brother." She turned back to Klaus. "Is your brother here now?"
Klaus glanced at the bed and laughed. "You're gonna have to be more specific on that."
Katrine sighed. "Look, psychos. Five isn't coming. He's not stupid. No one is coming. Our siblings will suspect Klaus is getting high and that I'm at the station. They're not worried about us."
The captors stared at the siblings. "Well, Number Five knows now. We left him a message. And when he comes for you two, we'll be ready."
The man walked over to the curtains and closed them. At the same time, the woman turned off the lights.
Klaus suddenly started whimpering. "No, no, no, no..."
Katrine winced as voices flooded her mind. She tried to block them out, but she couldn't. She whimpered softly. She was supposed to be strong, being a deputy and all, but right now, she felt about as weak as a little kid.
She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Klaus, talk to them. Please. All these voices. I can't. It's driving me insane. I can't." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Please."
Klaus glanced at her. She wasn't doing well at all. Her head was still bleeding and he could tell that all the voices going through her head was driving her crazy. She was losing control. It was only a matter of time before she passed out. He knew Ben was worried about her as well. He didn't even have to look at his brother's face to determine that.
Klaus suddenly got an idea. He needed to get Katrine out safely. He shuffled his chair to the table.
He noticed the shadow of a person walking by and hit his head on the table.
The door opened moments later and a woman walked inside. She saw the half-dressed siblings and her eyes widened when she saw her friend and partner. "Katrine?!" She then turned to the man. "Are you Diego's brother?"
Klaus nodded and the woman released a breath. "I'm Detective Patch."
Katrine jerked her back in the direction of the bathroom door, letting Patch know that their captors were still there. Patch nodded and pulled out a switchblade. She cut their bindings and Katrine massaged her wrists. She glanced at her brother and he gave her a nod to tell her he was okay.
The bathroom door opened and the man shot into the room. Katrine felt for her gun and realized they'd taken it. Guess they're not stupid.
Patch raised her gun and immediately shot back. Klaus and Katrine ducked for cover behind the far bed.
"Police!" Patch yelled. "Drop the gun, or you're going down!"
The man's gun dropped and he stepped into the room. "I'm coming out. Don't shoot."
Katrine studied the room to find a way out. She knew she had to get Klaus out safely. She noticed a vent and turned to Klaus. "The vent should take you outside. Go."
He frowned at her. "Not without you."
"Please. Go. I don't want to use manipulation to get you to go."
Klaus sighed and nodded, knowing she hated doing such. He kissed his sister's cheek. "See you soon, sis."
He climbed into the vent and pushed the briefcase out of the way before deciding to take it with him. He glanced back at Katrine and she gave him a small wave which he returned.
Katrine turned back to Patch and said, "There's another one."
As soon as the words left her mouth, the woman stepped into the room. Katrine instinctively pushed the detective down. She let out a pained scream as a bullet shot through her back. She fell to the ground and saw Patch lying next to the table. She crawled over to Patch and sighed in relief. She's just unconscious.
The man stood up and gave Katrine an apologetic look and the woman said, "Forget it. She'll die before help comes. Both of them will. We got a bigger problem. The briefcase."
"Shit." The woman answered as they rushed out.
Katrine winced and brought a hand up to her chest and looked at it. There was blood. She hoped Klaus had escaped. Her mind started getting foggy and she tried keeping her eyes open. Between the wound on her head and the gunshot, she was amazed she was still awake; even more that she was still alive.
As soon as Patch woke up, she leaned over Katrine and immediately grabbed a towel to put pressure on her friend's wound. "Oh, God, oh, God, Katrine!"
Katrine felt tired and her eyes started to close. "You need to stay awake. It's just a little longer."
As Katrine's eyes closed, Patch found herself struggling not to cry. Her best friend was dying, and she couldn't do a damned thing about it. She found herself thinking of the most recent events. Katrine had pushed her down, and as she had blacked out, she'd heard a gunshot. Patch noticed that the towel she was using to stop the bleeding on Katrine's wound was completely soaked.
She heard footsteps and hoped that help was coming. Diego stood in the doorway and glanced at Patch, relieved she was okay. He then looked down at his sister. "Katrine."
Diego felt her pulse and frowned, feeling how faint it was. He met Patch's eye. "W--what h--happened?"
Patch looked sadly at her friend. "She pushed me out of the way. They were going to shoot me, Diego."
Diego was relieved that Eudora was okay, but he was worried about his sister. He wiped his eyes quickly and picked her up bridal style and left.
Patch's voice stopped him. "Wait. Where are you going?"
"To the only place she can get help. H--home." He mentally cursed his stutter. The sound of sirens caught his attention and he knew the police would be there soon. "M--my sister is dying and needs help. I--I have to go." Patch nodded and he darted out of the room.
Patch studied her hands, still covered in Katrine's blood. She knew she should get out of there, but unfortunately, she was a witness in her best friend's attempted murder.
[So, Patch is okay. Katrine, well, we'll see. I thought this song was perfect for Katrine and Diego. They're siblings, and best friends. He'll always find her and he'll always protect his little sister.]