#0.08 : The Mimic //COMPLETE//

0.0 - The Mimic

Seventeen years ago

Claudia glanced anxiously at the clock next to her. It was almost time for her weekly walk with Ben and Klaus from next door. If she had to be honest with herself, they were her only two friends.

Claudia's mother had homeschooled her from the beginning. She hardly left the small apartment, save for the few times she needed to run to the convenience store for her mother or when her friends dropped by to walk with her.

Her father was out of the picture. He had left just days after her spontaneous birth. She didn't even know what the man looked like, nor did she care to. If he never cared, why should she?

When Claudia glanced back out the window she spotted Klaus and Ben exiting the house across the street. She gathered her things, and when her hand landed on the doorknob, her mother spoke up from the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going? You still have lessons to finish from this week," she hissed, looking away from the TV in the living room.

Claudia twisted the knob and opened the door anyway, "I'm going to hang out with my friends."

Her mother's voice rose to a yell as the door swung open to reveal the two teens she was going to hang out with. Their faces fell a little when they realized they'd been let into a tense situation.

"Young lady, you get back in this house right now!" She shouted, causing Claudia to start to tremble.

Claudia moved her gaze from her feet to meet Ben and Klaus's stares. Her eyes were normally a dark shade of brown, but now they appeared almost black. There was no telling where her irises ended and her pupils began. Rage shot through her as if she'd been injected with it. She turned to face her mother, her hands starting to glow a dim red.

Ben recognized the sign immediately and shoved an elbow into Klaus's side. "Dude, that's my power," he muttered, stepping forward to get ready to intervene.

Klaus just stared on, dumbfounded at the whole situation. He watched as the familiar tentacles reached out of. a chest that did not belong to his brother, Ben. They wrapped around Claudia's mother's waist and threw her at the wall. That's what it took for his brain to comprehend what was going on. "Ben! Stop her!" He yelled as he reached out to try and restrain Claudia.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and yanked her back toward the door. She fought with him, trying to grab at her mother again with the tentacles. Her mother was at least unconscious, and there was a gash on the back of her head from where it had bounced off the edge of the China cabinet that held the family's 'Jesus collection' as Claudia deemed it.

Ben reacted in the only way he could think of, snatching a vase off of the nearby end table. He quickly smacked the glassware over her head, knocking her unconscious. The tentacles disappeared as quickly as they had appeared and her eyes returned to their normal color before they fluttered shut.

"What do we do?" Klaus asked, struggling to hold Claudia up. "She can't stay here."

Ben was just as shocked as his brother. The girl was usually so mild mannered, though she kept up with Klaus' humor. She had expressed a distaste for her mother numerous times but she never seemed the type to get that angry.

The only viable plan he came up with fell out of his mouth, "Bring her home. Tell dad about her abilities."

"After all he's put us through?" Klaus couldn't believe this was their best option. "We can hide her in one of our rooms?"

"Yeah, because Mom or Pogo won't find her there," Ben rolled his eyes. "Look, we can't leave her here and we can't leave her out on the streets. We have to take her home."