Sanguis • Ben Hargreeves¹

nine

Wednesday. 8:15 am

The few adults continued to talk amongst each other, but Eden decided not to listen. She didn't think it mattered either way so what they wanted to do she would just follow along with; sort of like how she did it when they were younger.

-

It was game night for the Hargreeves siblings. Sir Reginald Hargreeves had no idea, of course. He wouldn't have approved of this, but the man with the monocle wasn't there to tell them to stop. Everyone was inside of the attic, as they suspected there was no surveillance up there, but the only problem was they had no idea what to play.

"How about Monopoly?" Suggested Vanya, her timid voice coming out only slightly.

"We played that last time." Klaus groaned. "It's a good game, but I want to play a different one."

The group sat to think on it, before Allison's eyes shot open. "How about charades?"

"Great idea!" Luther said, almost immediately.

Diego rolled his eyes, but he still agreed. "It's actually not a bad idea."

"How does everyone else feel?" Allison questioned.

Vanya nodded her head with a smile. "Yeah, it sounds good."

"Fun~" Klaus took a sip of an undisclosed drink, though they all knew it to be alcohol.

"Sure." Ben shrugged, awaiting Eden's response; much like the rest of them.

"Whatever you guys want I'm fine with." She scooted slightly closer to Ben, only him noticing.

Everyone began getting teams together. Luther and Diego insisted on them being team captains because, as they put it, 'they were number one and number two'. Once teams were picked, the game was ready to begin. Luther, Allison, Five, and Vanya were one team while Diego, Klaus, Ben and Eden were on the other.

-

Eden snapped out of her trance when Vanya greeted them all, accompanied by an unknown man. He stood a bit taller than her, and he looked nervous; a weird type of nervous, Eden observed. She watched his movement throughout the back and forth of Vanya and Allison, and she noticed it seemed... Sinister.

Sinister in a way she could not place, but Eden knew it was there. She was a lawyer, after all, it's her job to notice details such as those.

"There's nothing fair about being your sister." Vanya's words dripped in venom, bringing Eden back to the matter at hand. "I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes."

The woman felt her anger bubble slightly. Eden had never left anyone out of anything, they may not be her real siblings but they were her family; she wouldn't ever want them to not feel included. Eden had hopped this wasn't directed at her, that this was just a spur of the moment thing Vanya had said.

Vanya began to walk out, but the man with her lingered a bit. A miniscule smile graced his face for a split second and though she was far away Eden could see it clear as day. Something about this guy is fucked up, she just didn't know what.

"Ouch." Klaus commentated.

"I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain." Allison stated once she walked back over to the tiny group.

"No, wait, there isn't time." Luther stopped her mid-stride. "We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids..."

Luther listed two thing then started going on about the moon, it seemed like he had a love affair with the thing. 'Come to think of it,' Eden thought. 'He might have objectophilia'. She laughed at this a bit, amused by her own jokes. 'Ben would have liked that one'.

"If I'm gonna die, I need to know I killed those bastards first." Diego said to Luther.

"God, it's like watching two teenage girls have a cat fight." Eden mused, standing by the pole next to Klaus.

"Haha, yeah." He laughed, finding the joke hysterical.

Klaus stopped right away, holding his stomach. The woman looked down at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

"What makes you say that? I feel great." Klaus stated, though it seemed to Eden that the answer was not directed to her.

"You sure? If you need help with something I can-"

She didn't finish her sentence, how could she? Klaus walked away halfway through it. Eden watched the man hobble away, until he was stopped by Luther.

"Klaus. Klaus. Klaus!" He repeated.

"Yeah! Sorry." Klaus turned around, hands in the air.

"So, what? You're giving up on the world, too?" Luther asked, arms out at his side.

"Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Mm-hmm." Klaus replied, looking antsy.

"So that's it. You're cool with us all dying in three days?" He said.

Klaus didn't respond verbally, all he did was groan. Luther's eyes trailed to Eden as she stood up and started towards the door.

"You, too?" Luther asked the woman.

"Well, there isn't much to live for." She shrugged, not turning around. "At least this way I can see Ben faster."

With that, Eden walked out. Once again, she went straight up into Ben's bedroom; at this point it might as well be her own since she clearly uses it more. Eden sat on the bed, like many nights before, and began contemplating the end of her life. More specifically, what will happen afterwards.

Scenarios played out in her mind. Most were good, such as; the two would meet in death, have a spectacular reunion, tell each other how they feel, have a passionate kiss, and live like that forever. Others weren't as... Nice, like; they would never be able to find one another or if they did meet Ben wouldn't feel the same way as Eden.

Her thoughts spiraled, causing her to grow more and more anxious for the inevitable — Ben probably never felt the same as her, and he probably never will; especially since he had nothing to live for anymore. Eden thought, just for a split second that maybe, just maybe, she could could be the thing to make him feel alive again.