Prophecy | The Umbrella Academy |

Chapter Sixteen- 4: Klaus

Number Four: Klaus Hargreeves

Cassandra ran out of the gym, practically shoving people out of the way as she went. Luther and Five ran after her. Five, in his little body, struggled to keep up. Luther and Five must have thought Cassandra was crazy as she paced down street after street after street in search of Klaus. Although it's not much of a search is you already know exactly where he is. Just as Cassandra had seen, Klaus was curled up in a ball on the side of the road, a brief case had been discarded under a bench by his head. Klaus hugged his legs to his chest and lay on the sidewalk, silently sobbing. It made Cassandra's heart lurch to see him like this. His cheeks were stained with tears and his eyes were red with hurt.

Cassandra knelt beside him and lifted his head off the sidewalk and rested it on her lap. She gently picked off strands of Klaus' hair and freed it from the mat of blood and dust and let it fall softly at the side of his head.

"I'm so sorry, Klaus." She whispered as she held him close to her and gently stroked the back of his head, "But he's not gone forever. You just need to get clean first."

*

Although it had barely been a day since Cassandra had been home, it seemed like a lifetime. Luther had made sure that Klaus got back safely, he had scooped him off the side of the road and carried his weeping body home. Luther had taken his straight to his bedroom to rest even though he had protested that he could look after himself.

Cassandra had gone straight to her bedroom and now stood facing her vanity mirror, deciding what she was going to pack and take with her. She realised now, after that conversation in the library, that she couldn't stay living at home any longer. Her case lay open on her bed. The emptiness staring back ominously at her. She had no idea what to take with her. What do functioning adults even need? She stared at the box of pills on her vanity table and picked them up. She brushed them aside, and out the window, vowing not to think about them anymore.

From the other room, she could hear Klaus running a bath. The sound of the rushing water seemed clearer. In fact, all her senses had started to become clearer since she had stopped taking her medication. Cassandra tossed a handful of clothes into her case and haphazardly closed it, the zip not quite doing up all the way.

On her way downstairs, Cassandra quite literally bumped into Diego. Cassandra rubbed her forehead and looked up at him. He was a mess, his eyes were hollow and sunken and...had he been crying?

"Are you okay?" Cassandra asked, looking at him in earnest concern. He couldn't meet her gaze.

"I'm fine." he responded, pushing past her and heading up the stairs.

"I've been saying the same thing long enough to know when it's a lie." Cassandra called up after him, "I know it hurts, Diego, but-"

"No, you don't know!" He snapped, turning around to face her once he had reached the top of the stairs. "You don't know anything. You've never left this house, you've always been protected. You never made any knew friends. You can't know how this feels!" He shouted, all regard for human emotion had been thrown out the window. Cassandra exhaled deeply and set her case down on the step.

"Yeah you're right." She admitted perfectly calmly, "I never left. So I figured it was about time." She said simply, picked up her case and headed for the door. She heard Diego's quick steps on the stairs behind her.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked as she turned the latch on the door and opened it a fraction. She stopped only to look at him when she answered.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out as I go." Cassandra said boldly, "I was actually going to ask to crash with you for a while, just until I get some place sorted but now..."

"Cass, wait. I didn't mean-"

"That's the thing, Diego. You kind of did." Cassandra said, smiling softly but sadly as she opened the door fully, "Before I go, can you keep an eye on Klaus? He's going to have a tough time and you're going to need to help him. I can't stay anymore. Tell him I'm sorry?" Cassandra asked as she stepped out of the house, pausing on the top step. 

Diego looked at her and she looked back. She had made up her mind, she couldn't give up now. He nodded his head, knowing there was no stopping her. She smiled back at him, opened the gate, and walked off down the street.