Chapter Three - Unseen.
Ben looked down at Klaus with an expression which was half annoyance and half pity.
The brother in question was currently sprawled awkwardly on the park bench, mouth agape, eyes closed and with a half empty bottle of vodka threatening to fall from the limp grasp of his right hand.
The night was still and cool and pleasant enough that Ben wouldn't have minded whiling away a few hours in the tranquility of the surrounding park. That was, if he was there of his own volition and if he was not currently being subject to Klaus' snoring.
Ben knew well enough that his brother's improvised sleeping place would be short-lived once the cops came round on their nightly patrol to rid the public seating areas of any supposed vagrants. Then it would become a night of drunken searching for alternative accommodation for Klaus and one of ignored pleas and petitioning for Ben.
Ben understood, of course. Or at the very least he could empathise; he had seen (better than most) the strain and stress Klaus' powers put him under. Not to mention the so-called 'training' their father had subjected him to. Ben knew it terrified him, he saw it every time Klaus inadvertently sobered up. He just wished his brother had chosen a better way to run from it than drugs and alcohol.
Shaking his head and sparing his sleeping sibling another pitying glance, Ben gracefully folded his legs beneath him and sat on the grass a few feet away.
He absent mindedly reached forwards, took a blade of grass between finger and thumb and pulled upwards. He hoped for the customary snap and the momentary whiff of fresh cut grass, but nothing happened; the blade remained unmoving, much to his chagrin.
Ben took a breath and turned his gaze skywards, wondering if he should try to wake Klaus and ask him to conjure a book.
This thought dissipated in a moment however as Ben's attention snapped to a momentary noise. It sounded like a stifled scream, or at the very least, a gasp, and he searched the surrounding area for its source.
He located it in a second; near a stone built bridge there stood two figures, or rather there had, only a moment ago. Ben felt his brow furrowing, trying to work out if his senses were working correctly or whether they had been dulled somehow by Klaus' condition.
He was sure he heard a scream, but there was an unsettling feeling that it had come at the wrong time; he had seen two figures, one looked male, the other was smaller, possibly female.
They had been standing, he was sure of it. Then the man had vanished, slumping to the ground as he had run at the girl, reaching out for her, first for her arm and then for her torso.
The two silhouettes had connected and Ben's logical mind tried to tell him that he had heard the scream at this moment; exactly when the larger figure connected with the smaller one.
But something in his gut told him this was wrong.
Somehow, it told him that the scream had not come until the man had collapsed. Ben's other senses kicked in then and he turned to Klaus, placing hands on his shoulders and trying to shake him awake to no effect.
'Klaus! Klaus! Wake up! Come on!'
Ben flicked his gaze upwards at the scuffling sound of footsteps.
'Klaus!' Ben tried again, bringing his face closer to his brother's ear, but trying to keep his gaze trained on the strange occurrence happening before him. 'Wake up!' He shouted, imploring with all the force he could muster, for him to wake up.
Ben felt his brow crease further as the female figure approached the crumpled dark mass on the ground. She reached out hesitantly, but Ben couldn't see what for. He saw her recoil a moment later though as if she had just touched something white hot.
She was standing within a second, seemingly withdrawing in on herself before looking around for a second or two.
If Ben had had a beating heart it would have skipped as the woman turned and fixed her gaze on the park bench.
If he hadn't known any better, he would have said she was looking straight at him. Realisation dawned however as she then started to walk towards him, or rather, towards Klaus.
Her gait was quick and small and she hunched her shoulders in what he assumed was an effort to make herself as small and as unnoticeable as possible.
Ben's eyes widened as his mind raced, calculating all possibilities, and not liking one bit the conclusion he reached…
The man at the bridge was dead.
The woman had killed him. Somehow.
But, she had taken time to look around her instead of fleeing the scene instantly.
For what? Ben wondered.
Wait...
If she had just killed someone then, presumably, she would want to get away with it.
So what would she be looking for?
The word came to him, jagged but slick with bile: Witnesses.
'Wake up, Klaus…' Ben tried again, 'You're in danger, you idiot! Wake up!'
Ben's heart would have swelled at Klaus' subconsciously furrowed brow but would have also sunk a moment later as his brother shook his head without so much as opening his eyes and shifted his position to face the backrest of the bench, clutching the bottle as if it were a teddy bear.
Ben looked up to find the woman almost upon them, her pace slowing.
She only stopped as she came alongside the bench and Ben rounded it in an instant, coming between her and his brother, hoping with every fibre of what was left of his being, that he could somehow prevent an attack if needed.
He narrowed his eyes at her, studying each feature, just in case he needed, in the seemingly slim chance that Klaus would escape unscathed, to explain what his attacker looked like.
She had dark hair, long, which fell about her face in, what he assumed was an effort to obscure her features as much as possible. He couldn't make out the colour of her eyes, the lack of light causing her irises to swell, but instinctively thought they were hazel green.
She was dressed simply; jeans, sweatshirt, jacket, trainers and she had a well worn rucksack slung over one shoulder which she secured with her left hand.
In the other, she was inexplicably clutching what appeared to be an empty jam jar, but Ben could not come to a logical conclusion as to why this would be.
Surprisingly, the woman's expression was not angered or determined, as he had expected, but was somewhat melancholy and he swore he could see the slight sheen of tearfall on her cheeks.
The woman leaned forward then and tilted her head to one side.
Ben was certain she was looking straight through him at his brother. He found himself bracing subconsciously, readying for a fight.
The woman lingered only a moment longer before taking a breath and turning away, continuing in her trajectory along the concrete footpath.
Author's Note: Just a quick one to say thank you to WiseGirlDivergence46 for the continued support and reviews for this fic. Thank you so much! You keep me writing this! :) Sorry it's a short chapter; I have some more written so hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! xx