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“I’m sorry.”
Klaus could hear the words, they were soft and broken, coming from Vanya’s room. It sounded like his sister was crying, her voice wavering and soft hiccuping sobs coming out every once in a while.
It was past dinner by an hour or two and most of the Hargreeves’ were already in bed, sleeping off a day’s work of training. Klaus himself was only awake because he had felt the itching urge beneath his skin, and the sickening feeling that something was coming, most likely an angry dead. He had snuck out to find his stash, hidden in increasingly harder to find spots to avoid Pogo from finding it.
“Oh God, I’m sorry.”
Klaus kind of wished he was high, drugs were quickly becoming essential to his way of life. He wanted to be lying on his bed a joint between his fingers and sticky hot smoke filling his lungs. He shouldn’t be the one to deal with Vanya’s sobs. He was the least qualified person to help her anyway.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was so broken.
“Shit.” Klaus muttered, because he wasn’t getting high tonight. Sometimes he hated how much he loved his siblings.
Klaus stormed over to the bathroom, too angry about having to console his sister to have much tact when storming in. He didn’t know what he was expecting, she was after all sobbing alone in the bathroom, but he wasn’t expecting this.
Vanya was sitting in the center of the bathroom her back to the door, she was crouched in on herself, a impossibly small ball, The moon illuminated her impossibly slight frame. God, Klaus wondered when Vanya had gotten so damn skinny. Her hair was damp with sweat. She was rocking back and forth.
The bathroom itself was too cold for the early fog night, the chill permeating ominously. It was quiet, so quiet, and the type that is unnatural and unsettling.
“Vans,” Klaus spoke watching trying to add his usual flair to his tone. His tone fell flat, because everything just felt so incredibly wrong. “Hey Vanya?”
Klaus took a step closer, his hand out stretched , but Vanya jumped away, standing so she was in front of the bathroom window. Her back was still to him, she was still holding herself. Klaus wondered what would happen if she let go, would she simply crumple into herself?
“You shouldn’t be here Klaus.” Vanya spoke between pitiful sniveles.
“In the bathroom?” He answered back dumbly.
Klaus took another step closer, he suddenly felt the need to reach out and touch her, make sure she was okay. He needed to reassure himself more than her, if he could just hug her close feel her warmth then it would all be okay.
“Klaus.” Vanya said warningly, but it was too late. Klaus had already closed the device between them. “Please don’t. Please.”
She was crying again, cries that were shaking her entire slight frame, and Klaus could feel tears coming too, because suddenly he knew. But he didn’t want to.
His hand reached out, mere centimeters from her back, Vanya was screaming, saying she was sorry. Klaus reached down, his hand should have gently clapped her shoulder, should have provided a reassuring touch.
But instead his fingers touched cold air, slid through nothing. And Vayna was sobbing.
“Vanya…” Klaus stated his voice shaking, he could hear her snivel more, “Vanya turn around.”
She let out a shuttering sob, “Klaus, I’m sor-”
“Turn around!” He was shouting he was so angry, his vision turned red and his body was practically vibrating.
Vanya flinched, but she did as she was told, she turned slowly.
Klaus almost threw up.
Because before him was the ghost of his sister, his always loving, ever kind sister. She was pale, paler than usual, her skin almost translucent in its whiteness. Her large doe brown eyes were sunken in and rimmed in red from sobs. But the most terrible part was the scarlet color seeping into the fabric of her clothes and down her arms in long bloody lines.
Klaus stumbled back, and watched as Vanya tried to hold herself together. She was sobbing like a baby, and he could feel hot stinging tears welling in his own eyes.
“No, no no.” Klaus spoke in a tone of disbelief, but he couldn’t deny the obvious. Vanya, sweet little Vanya, had killed herself.
And Klaus didn’t know he was shouting until his brothers and his remaining sister ran into the room, all in varying states of annoyance.
“What is it now Klaus?” Five asked impatiently, but Klaus didn’t speak, couldn’t speak.
Vanya was screaming, her voice raw and broken, “I’m sorry!”
“Vanya…” Klaus tried, but he didn’t know what to say, how to say it. All he could do was stare at the bloody form of his sister.
“What about Vanya?” Ben asked, worry seeping into his tone, Klaus could feel the agitation growing.
And then he heard the pop that meant Five had just travelled. Klaus waited for a scream, and seconds later their was another pop and Five was back cradling a limp pale Vanya in his arms.
Allison gasped hiding her face into Luther’s shoulder, who held her tightly. Ben fell to his knees. Diego threw up into the adjacent toilet. Five held the body close to him, he was crying. And Klaus was staring at the ghostly Vanya who was still apologizing.
“No, no no!” Five shouted holing Vanya impossibly close, “I can save you. Your not dead Vanya! You can’t be dead!”
“I’m sorry!” Vanya shouted again.
There was a sudden anger in Klaus’ chest, one that he never really felt before. It was an explosion of everything, every emotion raw and open spilling from him like a live battery. Klaus was staring angrily at his sister, “Sorry doesn’t bring you back! Sorry doesn’t stop you from being dead.”
Vanya recoiled at his venomous words. Everyone was staring at him, expect for five who was now feverishly trying to preform CPR on Vanya’s body.
Vanya was shaking and crying, she opened her mouth to say something. Klaus hoped it wasn’t another apology. But Vanya never had a chance to say anything because something from behind Kalus’ head caught her eye and she suddenly disappeared, like a rainbow as the rain stops falling.
“Children.” Reginald’s voice sounded from behind them all, and the kids all looked at him with shocked and weary faces, “Return to your rooms. I will attend to number seven.”
It took a little convincing (AKA yelling) but Reginald got Five to relinquish Vanya’s body and ushered the children to their rooms.
Klaus wasn’t tired, he doubted the rest of his siblings would be sleeping either. He lay on his bed, eyes wide open staring up at a dull boring ceiling. His body itched for a hit, but his heart ached and wouldn’t allow him to move, wouldn’t allow him to do anything but stare up and think about his sisters blood, his brother’s pain, and his father’s indifference.
“It was his fault you know.” Vanya’s voice came from the darkness, she wasn’t crying anymore but she sounded so sad and broken.
Klaus was suddenly looking up, his eyes landed on Vanya who was sitting cross legged on the floor next to his bed. She was idly playing with the sleeves of her pyjama’s trying to get them to hide her blood.
“I may have done the deed.” Vanya said darkly, “But he made me do it.”
“Nobody made you do it Vanya.” Klaus whispered into the night, his voice almost lost in the silence, but Vanya heard him and smiled ever so softly.
“No, their wasn’t a gun to my head. He didn’t give me the knife to do it, but I could only be told I was ordinary so many times.”