repressed love | ben hargreeves

16

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I woke up with a pounding headache, taking in my surroundings. I was on the couch, but not in my room. To be honest, I had no idea what room I was in. I sat up, trying to soothe my headache by rubbing my head with my hands, although it did nothing. What happened last night? Ben and I kissed. "Shit." A loud knock at the door sent more pain straight to my head, Dad letting himself in. Great. What is he doing here? He came over to my couch with a plate of food, with water and a cup of coffee. "What do you want?" I asked, rubbing my head from the pain.

"Well, I presume you are hungover from last night's festivities. So, I brought you food to help you recover, alongside some medication." He placed the food on the table, handing me a bottle of Advil before taking a seat on the chair across from me. "You must recover quickly for today's events."

"What events?" I asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Family meeting, noon. You will be there." He stated, as if it was a fact.

"Why would I be there?" I asked, challenging him.

"I noticed you and Ben have gotten awfully close. He'll be there, so I hope you will as well." He stood up, beginning to walk to the door. "I know you hold a grudge and keep your defense up because of the version of me that you grew up with. I respect that, actually. I hope you find it in you to push past that and give me a chance. Your brother spoke highly of you, that you always see it in people to give them a chance, even if they don't deserve it." With that, he left the room, gently closing the door as he left me with my thoughts. As much as I didn't trust him, it wouldn't hurt to hear him out. Plus, with what Klaus told him, I couldn't let Klaus down. With the exception of his intrusion yesterday morning, he did seem slightly different to the person I grew up with. I better not regret this.

I put on a white button-down blouse, loosely tucked into a pair of blue jeans. I put on the same black heeled boots Sloane had leant me the other day and left my hair down. I made my way down to the lobby, seeing the remainder of the siblings, excluding Five sitting around, waiting for Dad. I stood next to Viktor, noticing Ben's annoyed expression from a few feet away. As if on cue, Dad and Five walked in seconds later from outside.

"Woo! Five! Yeah!" Klaus cheered, the rest of us cheering alongside him.

"That speech last night! Wow!" Diego clapped.

"Brought me to tears, you big softy." Lila clapped. It was true, I had never seen Five so emotional. Obviously, he doesn't remember it, which makes it ten times more funny.

"I especially liked it when you referred to us as a family bound by destiny and love." Viktor added.

"I knew you loved us deep down in that 58 year old heart," I joked.

"Okay, enough. It was the booze talking." Five deflected. "In the light of day, you're all still deplorable."

"And your day's about to get worse." Dad spoke, getting our attention. "The Norse had eight sleepers. The Blackfoot, eight stars. As a boy, I heard the legend of the eight bells. All these stories are the same. The village is under threat by flood, by fire, by a night that never ends. A shaman brings his disciples to a sacred cave. He tells them if they can ring the eight magic bells, the village will be saved, and all will be restored just as it was."

"Reggie?" Lila asked, raising her hand. "Can we get a little less Brothers Grimm and more 'What the hell does this have to do with us?'"

"There is a truth to these myths. None of you can deny what's going on around us. All of existence will be gone by the end of the day, but whoever or whatever wove together space and time, they left a way to put things back together if the universe ever faced total annihilation." Dad explained.

"So, let me get this straight." I began, Dad looking at me. "You think we can stop this with a kids bedtime story?"

"It is not a kid's bedtime story, it is an ancient myth." He deflected. "There is a portal in the universe. I built this hotel around it, and on the other side is the answer."

"And..we're supposed to, what? Just stroll in there, ring some bells, and fix this shit?" Luther asked.

"Sarcasm aside, you are mostly right. Except for the guardian." Dad spoke, voice lowering at the last sentence.

"What kind of guardian?" Viktor asked.

"Kinda guardian that does this." Diego answered, showing his bandaged hand. "He had a sword."

"It is a force to be reckoned with." Dad added.

"See, yeah. This is where you lose me." Luther spoke, fed up.

"This is where he loses you? I checked out at the sacred cave." Lila replied.

"Why would the builders of this 'back door' need to have a guardian?" Viktor asked.

"Ah! To protect it from people who want to use it for nefarious means." Sloane guessed.

"That is correct, Sloane." Dad answered.

"So it's gonna take all of us to defeat the thing protecting the bells." Allison added.

"You're actually buying his crap?" Five asked.

"How is a guardian and bells any crazier than time-traveling briefcases and assassins with cartoon masks?" She quipped back.

"Actually, she's got you there." Luther spoke.

Ben stood, standing next to Dad. "I'm in," he spoke. Not shocking.

"Me too," Diego stood, earning an 'ow' from Lila. "But I think some of us should stay back. Like Lila."

"Uh...or you can stay, and I can go." Lila stood.

"No. This is much bigger than all of us. Nobody can stay back." Allison spoke, turning down Diego's idea.

"You, my children, are all that stands between us and oblivion." Dad explained. "Are we ready to go?"

"Let's vote on it." I proposed.

"I agree with that, let's vote." Viktor agreed.

"This isn't a democracy." Ben retorted. "Dad's calling the shots."

"Well, he can't make the decision for us," I spoke, pointing at Dad.

"He's our father," Ben replied.

"No, he's your father. Technically, a different version of him is my father, who is dead. So I say we vote." I spoke.

"I'm with Viktor and Sadie. We vote." Five agreed.

"The world is ending, and you want to count hands?" Dad asked.

"You're asking us to risk our lives." Luther pointed out. "I think it's only fair if you give us time to discuss it. Privately." Dad scoffed before leaving, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Why don't we meet back here in an hour?"

"Agreed." Five spoke. We all departed, I headed towards the bar, despite still recovering from my hangover. Alcohol seems to be like a life support nowadays.

I poured myself a shot, moving to grab the glass before someone took it from me. Ben drank the liquor, setting the glass down. "Seriously?" I ask, "you could've asked."

"You're going to go, right?" He asked, leaning against the bar.

"Don't know yet, why?"

"We have a couple hours left to die, and you don't even want to try?"

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?" Ben pressed.

"I'm just sick of fighting. I'm tired of it. Maybe we are just meant to die at the end of all of this."

"What? So you could be with your Ben?" He spoke with malice. I scoffed, walking away from him, not allowing him to run after me. Maybe I did want to, but that wasn't the point. It's my vote, my decision. He doesn't get to judge me.