April 3, 2019 – 18:00

Cha-Cha bends over a large box and ruffles through, periodically selecting an odd item or two and placing it aside. Klaus is still passed out. The chair had been dragged a few yards out of the closet, leaving a trail of bloody streaks behind.

Ben observes the scene before him. He can do little else, with his translator out cold. But at least Klaus is breathing now. He is breathing. And he will live. They will escape at the first opportunity. Ben is watching and waiting for the chance. Ben has been an observer since his death, after all.

Cha-Cha must have found what she was looking for because she hums in agreement and stands up, stepping over the pile she gathered and grabbing the room card by the door. She looks back at Klaus for a second before stepping out. The "Do Not Disturb" sign flaps on the knob of the door in the breeze until both Cha-Cha and the doorhanger disappear on the other side.

Ben loses a little tension that had gathered from Klaus's kidnapper's presence. He walks closer to Klaus, touching his shoulders as if he could shake him awake. Klaus is pale and gray and even though he is breathing again, he has lost a lot of blood. Bruises from the cracked ribs show through on the skin that is not covered in blood. The bleeding has mostly stopped at this point with the lack of movement. The only bright side, if Ben can even say that anything in this situation is positive, is that Klaus seems to be breathing more easily, at least in comparison to before, and that he is feeling less pain now. Unfortunately, Klaus needs to wake up.

"Klaus? Klaus? Wake up. She's gone. Cha-Cha's gone."

Nothing.

Ben does not want to wake Klaus up. In Klaus's current state and predicament, this is as much peace as he is going to get. But if there is a chance Klaus can get away before his torturer gets back, then they need to take advantage of it. Klaus is in no condition to fight if the opportunity arises. Flight is his best option.

Ben still wants to put his faith in his siblings, but their past behavior has not given him any cause for hope. He really did expect them to notice Klaus's disappearance this time. But where are they? Five is a genius. Is Klaus really that hard to find? Ben saw the motel name on the desk. They haven't left the city. They haven't even gone more than a mile from the theater! Maybe his family cares even less for Klaus than he thought. Maybe they will notice eventually, but it might be too late by then. It already is too late. Klaus died once in Cha-Cha's captivity. And sure, he came back, but Klaus's resurrections are a complete mystery to Ben. He can't ask Klaus about the schematics of revitalization at the moment, and he can't bank on Klaus being okay just because he seems to come back after a hiatus.

Ben is broken from his musings with the opening of the door. Cha-Cha walks in backwards, hands full with what looks to be a... coffee maker? One of those large ones at banks or hotel lobbies that offer free, cheap coffee in Styrofoam cups to customers. The kind of coffee that would put Five in a homicidal rage before blinking out for a higher-quality beverage.

Cha-Cha sets the application down on the table and grabs the ice bucket. She fumbles with the plug for a minute, flipping it in both directions twice before getting it to fit into the outlet. Then, as if there wasn't a bloody man tied to a chair two feet away, Cha-Cha hits a few buttons and hot water dispenses into the waiting cup. Mechanically, she does this three more times, dumping the contents into the waiting ice bucket. The coffee machine jams on the fifth try and Cha-Cha shakes it before giving up and hoisting up the mostly full ice bucket. She upends the contents over Klaus's head, burning the skin on his face, neck, and shoulders. Klaus jolts back into consciousness.

"Beauty sleep is over."

Klaus's eyes roam about the room, unfocused. Cha-Cha snaps her fingers in his face and his eyes focus in on her. She yanks the tape off his mouth and Klaus flinches from the sting.

"Ready to cooperate?"

Klaus nods hurriedly, his face scrunches up from the motion. Klaus opens his mouth to respond, closes it, and tries again.

In barely above a whisper, "There's ghosts here."

"Oh really?" Cha-Cha replies in a disbelieving tone.

"Yeah."

"And where are these so-called ghosts?"

Klaus inclines his head towards Ben besides him.

Cha-Cha's eyes move to the spot indicated and back again. She slaps Klaus across the face.

"I can't believe you are actually lying to me. Did you not learn anything?" She angrily grabs one of the paper cups off the table, crushes it in her hand, and throws the ball at Klaus.

"Since you didn't learn your lesson the first time..."

Cha-Cha picks an item off the ground and jabs it into Klaus's neck. Klaus's eyes widen and his frame becomes ramrod straight as he lets out a high-pitched scream. Cha-Cha removes the stun gun and Klaus slumps in his binds. Cha-Cha turns away to sit on the bed.

"All I want is for you to use your powers, trigger the apocalypse, and then you will never see me again."

"I told you already," Klaus starts huskily, "I'm the useless one of the family. The disappointment. And you expect me to start the apocalypse, round two? I wouldn't be able to do that even if I wanted," Klaus ends on a hysterical tone.

"The Commission does not take no for an answer, and neither do I."

Cha-Cha selects the bat besides her on the bed. The bat flies through the air and hits its target with a resounding crack. Klaus's blood-curling screams follow like an echo. Cha-Cha continues the motion again, leaving behind a mangled kneecap. As the bat collides for a third time, Klaus's hands, pinned down at his sides, flash blue and Ben and a random victim flicker into the physical plane. Ben does not waste a second and releases the Horror. The Horror swings throughout the room, knocking pictures off the walls, upending the desk, and shattering the lamps. The room is pitched into darkness just as a tentacle bodies Cha-Cha against the wall. Ben and company flicker out.