Thea woke up to the sound of someone choking. She let out a groan at the pounding of her head. It felt like she'd taken a sledgehammer straight to the forehead. She scrunched her eyes tight at the throbbing.
'She's waking up.'
'Wonder what took so long.'
'Finally.'
'Now we can get answers.'
'Let's see if this one will talk.'
Thea shook her head at the sudden influx of voices in her head. The pain was making it difficult to concentrate on blocking anything out. She didn't recognise any of them and wondered where she'd woken up this time.
'Oh god, Thea, please be okay, please, please...' that one voice drew Thea's attention. She knew that voice... Thea's eyes snapped open and she let out a gasp. "Klaus!"
Thea blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision and she cried at what she saw. Klaus. Practically naked and tied to a chair, blood dripping down his sweaty face and body. His eyes were on her and they were wide with fright. Thea tried to move toward him but couldn't. She frowned and looked down at herself in confusion, only to see that she was tied up too. She had nothing on but her undergarments and her wrists and ankles were tied to a wooden chair. Thea opened her mouth to speak and was slapped across the face.
"Listen up missy. We're sick and tired of your brother over there and his games, so it's your turn. Where's the boy?" asked a figure wearing a mask. Thea recognised it as the same dog mask she'd seen the night before.
"Huh?" Thea asked stupidly. She was slapped again. Klaus let out a yell in protest.
"I said, where is the boy?" Thea struggled to follow their conversation as her head was pounding against her skull. She blinked a few more times before answering. "What boy?"
The masked figure gripped Thea's chin harshly, "Your brother. That boy."
"Five?" Thea asked in confusion. "What do you want with Five?"
"That's none of your business. Now just tell us where he is, and you can both go free." The figure said.
Thea let out a humourless chuckle. "I don't know what the hell you want with Five, but if you think I'm gonna help you get within one mile of him then you're more delusional than I originally thought." Thea spat at the figures masked face. She was slapped again and her lip split. Thea spat out the blood onto the floor beside her.
The masked figure walked across the room to their accomplice. "She's just as stubborn as him. What shall we do?" They both walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Thea ignored them and looked over at her brother in worry. "Oh my god, Klaus, are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time."
Klaus shook his head at his sister's worries. He wished she'd have stayed knocked out, at least then they'd only focus on him and not her. Ben stood beside her, biting his lip worryingly. "I'm fine, I don't even know where Five is to tell them anything. What about you? Are you okay? How's your head?"
Thea's eyebrows furrowed at the reminder of the dull throbbing against her skull. "It feels like I've been punched in the face by Luther." She muttered.
'The back of her head's bleeding. She'll need it seeing to before it gets infected.' Klaus heard Ben say.
Thea's head snapped to the side where Ben stood, her eyes wide. Klaus looked on equally as shocked. "W-what?" she muttered.
Klaus was wide-eyed, "Y-you can see him?" Thea didn't turn away from the empty spot she was looking at. "S-say something again." She whispered out.
Ben stood frozen in place, staring directly back at Thea. "Say something!" she pleaded.
Ben looked at Klaus before stuttering, 'I-I don't know what to say...'
Thea burst into tears at hearing his voice. She couldn't see him, but Klaus could, and she could hear his voice in Klaus' mind. Klaus was still baffled at what was happening and voiced his confusion.
'It seems she can't concentrate because of the pain and so she isn't able to block out your thoughts anymore. When you hear me, you visualise what you're seeing and hearing, and now so can Thea. To an extent.' Ben explained. He'd helped Thea with her power a lot growing up, and so knew a lot of the limits and tricks of her ability.
Thea couldn't get out any words and just nodded whilst she cried, whispering his name under her breath. Hearing his voice again after so long...she couldn't handle it. She'd missed him so much.
Klaus and Ben looked at Thea in sadness. This is exactly why they hadn't wanted to tell her. They didn't think it was healthy to know Ben was around without being able to touch or interact with him. Klaus sighed. This was the worst time for her to have found out.
"Thea, look. I know this is a big thing and I swear we can talk all about it once we get out of here, but to do that, we need to actually, y'know, get out of here."
Thea sniffled and nodded her head. She tried regaining her composure. She looked up at Klaus, "Okay, but don't think you're getting out of that talk. I want to know what's going on. Both of you." She added glancing to where she thought Ben stood. Klaus nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but at that moment the bathroom door opened.
The two figures walked out, the smaller one muttering, "torturing works best when you know who you're torturing."
Thea and Klaus watched them approach. The smaller figure stood behind Thea and grabbed her hair, yanking it back. Thea let out a shout at the sudden pain. Klaus shuffled in his bindings, "Hey, let her go!"
Thea's hair was pulled tighter, her neck bent backwards. She felt something thin wrap around her throat before she suddenly couldn't breathe. Thea choked and struggled against her bindings, her body shaking. "It seems missy here doesn't have the same weird kinks as you do." The figure said to Klaus. Thea let out choked sounds as she struggled for air.
Klaus struggled harder in his hair, his eyes wide and crying, "No, no, no! Please, stop! Stop! Please, listen." Thea's eyes looked straight into his with tears running down her cheeks. "Don't, please."
'Klaus do something.' Ben said urgently. He was pacing, watching Thea being choked and unable to do anything. Klaus was panicking. The second figure came up beside him, "We'll stop, for the low, low price of telling us everything." He taunted.
"Okay, fine! Fine!" Klaus shouted.
Instantly Thea was freed, and she coughed violently, trying to catch her breath. She took deep breaths trying to not pass out. Her throat was throbbing, and a thin red line could be seen around her throat from the wire used to choke her.
Klaus began to cry as both figures stood in front of him. "Okay. 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."
Thea wanted desperately to stop Klaus from talking but she was struggling to breathe let alone control anyone right now.
"Elaborate." The deep voice of the figure wearing a blue bear mask asked.
Klaus spluttered, "he-he's just been acting like a- a lunatic. He's been sitting in this van in front of a- a lab or something...and looking for the owner of an eyeball. One of those fakes ones."
"That makes no sense," the deep voice drawled.
"Hold on, just hold on," the other figure spoke. "Tell us more about this eye, and why is it so important?"
Klaus opened his mouth but stopped when nothing came out. He looked over at Thea whose eyebrows were furrowed and sweat dripped down her face. She was trying her hardest to stop him from telling them more about Five.
Seeing this and knowing the siblings of that house all had abilities of some kind, the smaller figure walked over to Thea and slapped her again, hard. Thea felt blood drip down her eye and winced again at the return of her throbbing migraine.
"Continue," the figure demanded at Klaus.
Klaus gazed at Thea in worry and told them as much as he knew. Anything to get him and his sister out of here. "He said it had something to do with the end of times, or something." He sobbed.
The two figures looked at each other. They nodded before taking a hold of each siblings chair and dragging them to the hotel room closet. Klaus was pushed in first, followed by Thea. They shut the door, and not long afterwards, Thea heard the room door shutting too. They'd left, for now.
Klaus was hyperventilating behind the tape they'd covered both their mouths with. He couldn't help but remember the times their Father would lock him up in the crypts to test his power. He could vividly remember the screams and moans of the dead. Remember their hands reaching and grabbing for him as he couldn't escape. He remembered screaming for Thea to help him. Screaming for Ben and their Dad. Screaming for anybody to come and rescue him.
'Klaus. Klaus. Breathe.' Both siblings could hear Ben now. Thea was still in too much pain to even attempt at blocking Klaus out, not that she was going to now she knew Ben was here.
Klaus moaned behind the tape, wanting to get out.
'Just try and stay calm. You both need to stay calm to get out of here.'
Thea nodded her head. She looked at Klaus and tried to give him her best reassuring look despite blood running down her face and her mouth taped shut. They both stopped moving when they heard the noise of a vacuum cleaner coming from the room. Klaus immediately started shouting again, trying to wriggle out of his bonds. Thea sighed and leaned her head back against the closet wall. She tried breathing in and out to calm her nerves.
'Are you alright?' She heard from somewhere in the closet. Thea just nodded her head, assuming Ben would see. She opened her eyes and nodded towards Klaus, hoping he got what she was trying to say. Only Ben could get Klaus to calm down right now, as she couldn't say anything herself.
'She can't hear you.' Ben told Klaus. Klaus continued to whine and struggle.
'You know what the worst part of being dead is?' Ben asked. 'You're stuck. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to change. That's the real torture if you gotta know.' Klaus started to calm down, listening to Ben. He turned around to where Thea assumed Ben sat.
'Watching your brother take for granted everything you lost and pissing it all away.' Ben was looking at Thea as he said it. Klaus realised he was talking about her.
Thea let out a sob from behind her tape at Ben's admission. Klaus turned to look at his sister and his gaze softened. He whimpered as her teary eyes met his own. They had to get out of here. He had to get Thea out of here. He watched Thea close her eyes and take calming breaths. We need to get out of here, and soon.
Thea's head hit the back of the closet door, waking her up from her fitful sleep. She groaned as she felt the wound on the back of her head reopen. Klaus was sat in front of her. The figures had come back, this time without their masks. One was a tall pale man that had a scruffy beard and curly dark hair. The other a petite black woman with a short bob cut.
Thea hung her head in exhaustion despite her short nap. Klaus' voice was muffled behind the tape.
"What's he saying?" the man asked. The woman walked over and ripped the tape off his mouth. "What're you saying?"
"You guys are scarier without the masks," Klaus chuckled sarcastically. The woman slapped him across the face and Thea shouted in protest behind her still taped mouth. The man glanced at Thea before looking back at Klaus, "That's no way to say hello to your old friends, is it?"
Thea made more noise behind her tape. The woman huffed in frustration before ripping the tape off her mouth too. Thea let out a gasp before looking up at her. "Please, just let us go. He told you what you wanted." No matter how much I wish he hadn't.
"Well, technically, we want your brother." She looked over at Klaus, "Is your brother here now?"
Klaus looked over at the bed where Ben lay. He began to laugh. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific on that."
Thea groaned at Klaus' horrible timing, "Klaus, please, this is no time for jokes." The woman slapped Klaus again. Thea panicked, "Look. Five won't come, okay? As much as I hate to admit it, our siblings probably think Klaus is out getting high and they're just going to assume I'm with him." She sighed, "Nobody's coming."
The man and woman stared at her and Klaus. "Well, Number Five knows now. We left him a message. And when he comes for you both, we'll be ready." The man walked over to the curtains and pulled them closed. The woman turned off the lights.
Thea groaned at the thought of even more waiting for nothing to happen. She was desperately trying to block out the pain from both her headache and the reopened wound, but it was a constant pounding and she was beginning to feel dizzy from it all.
'You went there again, didn't you?' Ben's voice brought Thea's attention to her brother. He had his eyes scrunched tight and was shaking. "No, no, no, no..." he whimpered.
Thea could hear someone shouting in Russian and she shook her head. "Klaus," she whispered. He looked over at her, "who the hell is speaking Russian? It doesn't sound like Ben."
Klaus looked at Thea in confusion. Could she hear the dead woman, too? Although he guessed if she could hear Ben because he could, then it made sense to hear the woman because he could too. "I don't know, it's some crazy woman walking around the room. I can't understand her."
"She's dead? Ugh, great, the last thing I needed was another voice..." she shook her head, "God, I feel like my head's gonna explode."
Klaus was worried. Ben was too. Thea had a head wound that, from the fresh blood dripping down her neck, had reopened and now she could hear everything Klaus could, too. Klaus was worried she was going to pass out from the pain.
'Look at her. How she's looking at them. She's one of their victims.' Ben's soft voice cut in. Thea assumed they were talking about whatever ghost was currently with them. 'We can use this. You haven't been this sober since we were teenagers. This is your chance, Klaus. You can get both of you out. Thea needs medical attention and soon.' Klaus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 'Control them, learn their secrets.'
"Klaus," Thea whispered. "I know you don't like to do it, and I would never ask this of you if it weren't so dire, but please, help us. I'm not sure how long I can stay conscious." Klaus nodded his head and so Thea shut her eyes to keep herself from passing out while he did his thing. She could hear him mumbling to the ghost but drowned him out and focused on breathing.
In. Out.
In. Out.
In. Out.
Thea repeated this to herself. She groaned when she could hear even more voices. Had Klaus summoned more people? God...her head was on fire. It felt like someone was drilling into her skull.
'Thea, are you alright? Just hold on a little longer. Klaus is working on getting you both out.'
"Yeah," she whispered. "It just hurts so much, Ben. My head, it-it hurts so bad." Thea wanted to cry but she'd cried so much within the last 12 hours she wasn't sure she had any tears left. She felt her mouth being taped back up and the bathroom door slamming closed. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Klaus was shuffling his chair over to the table by the window.
A figure walked past, and he began hitting his head against the table to make noise. Thea wanted to join him but felt if she did she'd probably throw up from the pain.
The door opened, and a dark-haired young woman peeked inside. She immediately caught sight of the two siblings who were still mostly naked and tied up.
"Are you Diego's brother and sister?" she whispered.
They both nodded vigorously. She let out a breath, "I'm Detective Patch."
Thea caught the woman's eyes and gestured towards the bathroom with her head, trying to warn her of the danger. Patch nodded and took out a switchblade to cut off their bindings. Thea let out a sigh of relief at finally being able to move her limbs again. She immediately gripped Klaus' hand and cupped his face to check he was okay.
The bathroom door creaked open and the man shot into the room. Detective Patch took out her gun and shot back. Thea and Klaus ducked behind the bed for cover. They were both in no shape to try and fight back.
"Police!" Patch yelled out. "Drop the gun, or you're going down!"
The man dropped his gun and slowly walked out the room unarmed. "I'm coming out, don't shoot."
Thea looked around in a panic. She needed to get Klaus out safely somehow. She looked behind him where they were crouched under the bed and saw the vent. She tapped Klaus urgently and pointed toward it. "Get in, it should lead outside. Hurry." Klaus shook his head, but Thea didn't let him argue. "Look, I'll be right behind you, okay? Now hurry, we don't have time to argue about this. Get in."
Klaus nodded shakily before opening the vent and crawling inside. Pushing the briefcase that was inside in front of him as he went. He heard Thea whisper behind him, "Don't look back. Just keep going. I'm coming now, I'm just putting the vent back on." Klaus couldn't turn around in the vent, so he listened to his sister and kept pushing forward as quickly as he could.
Thea was going to follow her brother when she remembered the detective that had come to save them. She looked back at their saviour, who now held the man at gunpoint. Thea's eyes widened when she realised what was wrong. There were two of them...
Just as she predicted, the woman stepped into the room, she'd somehow gotten from the bathroom and had her gun raised at the detective. Before she could second guess herself, Thea desperately grabbed at the woman's mind to pause her shooting for a few seconds. She couldn't focus enough for total control, but it gave Thea enough time to jump at the detective and push her down as the shot rang out.
Thea felt the pain explode in her stomach, as the bullet went straight through. She heard Patch gasp as Thea pushed her out the way. They both fell to the floor. Patch hitting her head against the table on her way down, knocking her unconscious. Thea struggled to breathe and choked on the blood in her mouth.
The man got up and looked down at Thea, gun raised. "Forget her, that wound will kill her before she can get help. The other, too. We got a bigger problem." She pointed towards the vent. The man sighed in agitation. "The Briefcase."
"Shit." The woman exclaimed and they both rushed out, leaving a bleeding Thea on the floor.
Thea whimpered at the pain but knew it was a clean wound if the bullet had gone straight through. She tried lifting her hands up to cover the wound, but they were shaking too much. She began to cry in fear of what was happening. She looked towards the corner of the room, where she knew the vent lay. At least Klaus got out. That's all that matters. She breathed deeply, her light-headedness coming back. It's okay. I'll see Ben again. And Klaus. I'll see them both again. He's safe. He's safe.
Thea just kept repeating it in her mind. The thought of Klaus being safe helped take her mind off the burning pain in her stomach. She heard a groan and saw Patch sitting up clutching her head. When she turned around, she gasped in shock at the sight of Thea. Patch hurried over and tried putting pressure on the wound.
"Oh my god, oh-oh god are you okay?" she asked shakily. Thea just grit her teeth at the stupid question and gave her a 'do I look okay?' look. Patch laughed shakily at her expression. "Y-yeah, stupid question to ask, sorry. I can't believe you saved me. I don't know what to say...Oh god, Diego. He's going to kill me."
Thea felt like laughing at Patch's rambling if her stomach wasn't currently pouring blood. Her sight was beginning to blur, and she coughed up more blood.
Patch looked down at the girl who had saved her. She would have died without this girl. Diego's sister. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened, but she remembered the girl tackling her and then the sound of a gunshot before her vision went black. Patch was panicking as the girl lost more blood despite her best efforts to stop it.
She heard footsteps coming from outside the room and hoped it wasn't those psychopaths coming back. Diego came running into the room and Patch let out a sigh of relief. He stood frozen when he saw Thea laying on the floor bleeding out, whilst Patch hovered over her, hands covered in the girl's blood.
"Thea!" Diego shouted out. He dropped to his knees beside his sister and cradled her head between his hands. Thea looked up at her brother in confusion. Her eyes were glazed over, and it was obvious she couldn't recognise anything that was going on.
"She's going into shock." Patch said. Diego looked up at her, his eyes wide in fright. "W-what happened?" he stuttered out.
Patch looked down at the girl, "She saved me. They tried shooting me, but she pushed me away at the last minute." Diego took a sharp breath at the thought of Eudora being shot but then let it out shakily at the sight of his sister who was bleeding out. He picked Thea up bridal style and began to hurry out the door.
"Wait. Where are you going?" Patch asked incredulously.
"Home. S-she needs medical attention u-urgently." Sirens could be heard in the distance and Diego knew he had to leave before they arrived. He looked back at Patch with a pleading expression, "Please, my sister is d-dying, and she needs help quickly. Let me go." Patch just nodded, knowing he was right, and Diego ran out of the room with Thea in his arms.
Patch took a shaky breath as the sirens got closer and stared at the pool of blood on the floor from the girl that had saved her life.