𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter Thirty Eight ~

Klaus continued running down the sidewalk, trying to hold back his tears as the flashback of Dave hitting him replayed in his head. Out of all the time they spent together before his died in Vietnam, he had never seen Dave say or do something so violent to a person. Eventually, he ran out of breath, pressing his back against the brick wall of a random building. He slid onto the ground, feeling tears trickle down his face. Ben was equally shocked by what had happened in there. Part of him wanted to give Klaus the "I told you so," talk, but he knew this was not the time nor place to do this.

Klaus sat on the ground for a few minutes longer, feeling all that sadness and disbelief numb his body. He slowly got up and could see a nearby liquor store in the distance. Wanting to numb the pain a little bit longer, he stood outside the front doors for a second before bursting in and immediately rushing over to a random shelf with the best alcohol. "It's not too late, Klaus. Do you really want to throw three years of sobriety out the window?" Ben questioned as Klaus searched through the alcohol bottles.

"In case you didn't notice, the last three years have been a royal shitshow," he laughed. "And this will only make it worse," Ben added. "Maybe, but we're about to find out!" Klaus heavily sighed as he continued his search for some good booze, secretly drank a few bottles when the cashier wasn't looking, and danced around like a maniac. By the time he had made it back to the mansion, he noticed the door was slightly open, his eyes widened as he wondered who could've gotten in.

He looked to his right, seeing the Destiny's Children bus parked in the driveway. "Oh no, oh goddamn it. How did they find me?" he muttered. Before he could think, the door opened a bit further, revealing some of his followers, who instantly gasped at the sight of him. "It's him! The prophet has returned!" They shouted with glee, rushing towards him despite Klaus's protests to stay inside. More followers kept pouring out of the mansion like a running waterfall.

With no other options, Klaus ran for it, having to get rid of the bag of alcohol that was slowing him down, and only one big bottle remained with him. He ran for a while, hoping the followers would either become tired or lose sight of him. It took him about ten minutes for them to lose him as he ducked into a nearby bush. He waited for the pattering of footsteps to become a reasonable distance away and carefully climbed out, keeping an eye out in case they decided to come back.

"You're not going to be able to avoid them forever, Klaus. You're going to have to come back to them eventually," Ben said, startling his brother. "Shut up! They might still be here!" Klaus hissed, cautiously looking around as he continued to take sip after sip from his remaining bottle of alcohol, not caring about the hangover he would get the next morning. When nightfall came, he stumbled through Allison's neighborhood, reaching her front door and rapped on the wooden door.

Within a few seconds, the door opened and for a moment, Allison thought that Ray had come home. "Hola! Esta Allison, en casa buena?" The drunken Klaus asked, leaning up against the wooden doorframe. "Oh sweet Jesus," Allison sighed as she let her brother in, the smell of the alcohol making her nose scrunch up in disgust. "I just need a place to crash for one night," He slurred. "Couch is all yours," Allison pointed out. Klaus set his bottle of alcohol on the ground before diving into the couch pillows, muttering nonsense before passing out.

Allison stared at him for a moment before taking a blanket from the head of the couch and covering him in it as he began to let out soft snores. "Dusky... Wusky..." He mumbled as he shifted his weight on the couch. Allison grew surprised. She had never heard him call his best friend that, thinking Songbird was the only nickname he had given her. It soon became apparent to the rumor that the more Klaus talked in his sleep about the raven beauty, Allison had a hunch that he was secretly in love with her.