THROUGH TIME & SPACE ★ FIVE HARGREEVES X READER

CH. XXIII

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MAN ON THE MOON

"hello, it's so good to see you,
we met before, but nice to meet you"

2019

"KLAUS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

(Y/N) stepped through the dark mausoleum, keeping sure not to slip on the wet floor due to the leaking of rain from the outside. She held up her torchlight and flashed it across the walls of the standing structure.

The constant trickling echo of water combined with the darkness was gut-wrenching.

"Klaus?"

It wasn't unexpected for a child of (Y/N)'s age to have chills run down her spine from hearing her voice echo and bounce across the walls. It was almost silent to the ear, but she swore she could've heard an extra few hints of voices that shouldn't have been there.

"(Y/N)?"

"Klaus!" She jumped, turning to the corner of the room where she found her brother curled up by the corner of the room, drenched in sweat and shivering in terror. Her eyes softened as she kneeled down to his height and pat him on the shoulders. "H— Hey, buddy. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Don't worry."

"T— Thanks, (Y/N)..."

"Don't sweat it, just keep quiet and I'll get you out of here..." (Y/N) gently propped Klaus up by the arm, "I'm going to get you back to looking fresh as ever... Allison's bringing us to Griddy's to hide out for a bit since we know we're going to get a hell of a scolding later on if Dad finds you missing."

Klaus only hummed in response.

"You're alright... Right..?"

"Th— The voices... They were scaring me again."

"I'm so sorry, Klaus..."

'I'm sorry.' That was all she could've said. It wasn't like she could've put a stop to it, she was just as helpless as Klaus himself. They were just children... but normal children didn't have to go through this kind of thing. It wasn't a 'normal' thing to even have superpowers in the first place.

"Why does Dad keep me in here for so long..?"

(Y/N) was unsure of how to reply. She knew it was wrong, for sure, to put someone through this kind of trauma, but she also understood their father's thought process on how Klaus might've gotten over his fear of ghosts after keeping him in there. The only problem was that it wasn't exactly effective for everyone. "I don't know, but he says that it's the only way you'll get over your fear of the spirits," she replied. Though, it wasn't much of an answer.

"B— But what if I never do?" Klaus mumbled, lightly rubbing over his eyes. "What if he keeps me in here forever?"

"I promise I won't let that happen to you, okay?"

"Okay."

(Y/N) threw an arm over her brother and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Trust me."

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ON THE OTHER SIDE OF town, decades later, silence had fallen over a small motel secluded by trees just by the outskirts. It was a lazy old building, barely visible in the darkness. The place probably hadn't been cleaned for years, as the place radiated heat and sweat, despite New York's cold weather throughout the whole day. The place was almost out of business...