Family Comes First- ASOUE

Chapter 49: Alarming Behavior

*Duncan's POV*

"Where are they??" Violet mumbled, pacing back and forth.

"It's so late..." I added, bouncing my leg anxiously as I sat.

"Are Klaus and Isadora back yet?" Phil asked us. "The lights go off in a few moments."

"No, they aren't back yet..." Violet said. "I'm really getting scared..."

"This is usually how long Dr. Orwell's appointments last..." Phil informed us. "He'll make his way over, I know it, especially with Isadora with him."

"It is?!"

"That must be a very thorough examination..." I said hesitantly.

"Yup! But it feels over before you know it."

The lights shut off as Phil walked away and blew out the candles. Violet and I stayed silent for a few minutes, sitting and feeling worried. I had considered that they could have gone off somewhere, Izzie's idea no doubt, but there were several reasons why that couldn't have been the case. Even with Phil saying this was normal to them, we were such a close-knit group that this was an absolutely terrifying scenario, and any theory I had on what happened didn't make sense except for one, and hoped to God that wasn't the case. I heard the door swing open and the moonlight shone into the dormitory. The silhouettes of Klaus and Izzie were clear, but there was something odd. Klaus seemed too stiff, and Izzie was scrunched up. Violet and I stood and practically ran towards them.

"Klaus." Violet said in relief.

"Izzie, thank God..." I huffed, hugging her tight. "We were so damn worried. Where have you been?"

Klaus didn't answer, and Izzie just sniffled. Was she... Crying?

"What happened?" Violet asked, taking her into a hug too. Izzie shook her head, not looking up. I looked at Klaus. Why was Violet the one consoling Izzie? Klaus was usually there to comfort Izzie as soon as he saw a sign of her being upset.

"Are your glasses still being fixed?" I asked him, seeing he wasn't wearing them. He didn't answer me, and just stared at me with a blank expression. I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. What was up with him???

"What was it like in there?" Violet asked. "Klaus?"

Klaus turned to her and smiled. "I'm happy to be here, Sir." He said.

"What? Klaus, that's not Sir. That's your sister..." I said. Klaus went to go sit on his bed. I followed him "While you two were gone, we heard Sir talking to Charles. He said he made a deal to cover something up..."

Klaus laid down and I knelt down next to his bed. "There's something bigger going on here."

"Shh!"

"Quiet!"

I ignored the other workers. "Did you hear me??" I whisper-yelled to Klaus. He still didn't answer me. "You seem sick," I commented. I felt his forehead and he didn't feel warm. "I guess you've had a long day. Would you like to go to bed?"

"Yes, Sir."

I blinked at him, confused. He had left his shoes on too, and he was acting so strange, but my sister was extremely upset and I had to find out what happened. I walked back over to the girls and Izzie was shaking from trying to keep in her sobs and Violet was looking five times as worried as she had when we didn't know where they were. "Let's talk outside..." I said. I held the door open and the two of them shuffled out together. I closed the door and we sat on the steps, letting Izzie cry until she was ready to tell us what we missed.

"Better...?" Violet asked once her sobs turned into sniffles.

"Fucking hardly..." Izzie whined.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Isn't that the million dollar question..." My sister mumbled. "So we met Dr. Orwell and she immediately tried to get an appointment out of me too after Phil left, and so I told her off and told her we were there for Klaus and then she basically insulted me and took Klaus upstairs for hours and then when he came back down he was all zombie-like and I tried to talk to him but he was giving me the silent treatment and he just wouldn't talk to me so I started crying and you'd fucking think that he'd get all concerned and start telling me not to cry but no he didn't say a word, so she must've done or said something to him and at first I thought she just said something about me and then he started hating me out of nowhere or something but he started ignoring you guys too which makes me feel even worse because your his sister and his best friend and why would he ignore you guys? I'm so fucking scared; I don't know what's wrong or what was said to him but something is seriously fucking wrong. That is not our Klaus. He wouldn't just ignore us like that for no reason; something is so, so wrong but I don't know what. And I fucking could have stopped it because he went upstairs normal and I could have stopped them from taking him up there but I just waited downstairs for hours instead of doing anything. I could have done something, I could have told him it wasn't worth it and there were other options than optometrists, or this one specifically, but no I didn't do a thing and now he isn't okay and I'm sitting here feeling like it's all my fault even though I know it isn't!"

"I promised Mother and Father I'd always look out for Klaus..." Violet recalled. "He wanted to leave but I'm part of the reason he stayed... And now something's wrong."

"Girls..." I said softly. They looked at me and I could see they felt guilty.

"Duncan... What do we do?" Violet asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

I huffed uncomfortably. How was I supposed to know??? I've never seen someone act so uncharacteristically so suddenly, and he was my best friend. I was just as worried and confused as them. "Um... I don't know... Please, just stop blaming yourselves, please, it's not your fault, either of you. Dr. Orwell had to have done something to him, and I don't know but I feel like Count Olaf is involved. Blame them, not yourselves, please?"

"But I didn't see Count Olaf there," Izzie whined. "How could he be involved?"

"Working from the shadows? I don't know... I have just as much information as you guys; I don't know..."

There was a long moment of silence. I took a deep breath and spoke again.

"The best we can hope for is that he's back to himself in the morning..." I said, staring out across the mill grounds. "It's all we can hope for..."

"And if he isn't?"

I looked up at them and tried to force a brave smile over my upset expression. "I think it's time for bed..." I said instead of answering. I didn't want to make them feel worse by making them hear another 'I don't know'... I hugged both of them as tight as possible before we turned in for the night, even though sleep seemed like it'd be a foreign concept at that point.