Empathy [Ben Hargreeves]

Episode Four. Part II.

"Man on the Moon"

Klaus was sober for the first time since he was a young teenager, and the withdrawal was eating him alive. Plus the trauma of being locked in a mausoleum with ghosts as a child had him shaking in his towel. The flashbacks attacked him like gnats to fruit, and Elle wasn't conscious to work her magic. She was wrapped up in her own nightmares caused by the pressing emotions from Klaus.

Ben could do little to help his Elle, but he would do what he could for Klaus who was having a panic attack from being in the dark, confined space. He tried to calm his brother down: "Breathe, you're in the worst of it now. Just try and stay calm."

A vacuum cleaner suddenly clicked on in the motel room and began to whirl across the carpet. Klaus screamed against the binding against his lips to get her attention, but the motel cleaning lady had pop music blaring into her ears.

"She can't hear you," Ben said calmly.

Klaus whined low in his throat, then screamed futilely again.

"You know what the worst part of being dead is? You're stuck. No where to go. No where to change. That's the real torture, if you gotta know." Ben was purposely trying to distract Klaus from his panic attack; he didn't often talk about what it was like on the other side. "Watching your brother take for granted everything you lost -- and pissing it all away."

Klaus sniffled and whimpered.

"You've got everything, man, even my girl, and you can't even protect her."

Klaus wanted to argue. He hadn't hooked up with Elle since before she was with Ben, but his abilities didn't extend to telepathic projections so Ben had free reign to rant. Klaus felt guilty that he wasn't strong enough to keep Eloise safe.

☆☆☆

A bucket of ice cold water was unceremoniously dumped onto Eloise's head. She gasped and sputtered at the rude awakening; her eyes snapped open with brown hues of annoyance. "What the hell!"

For the briefest of moments, Elle had forgotten where she was. She remembered quickly about being kidnapped when she tried to wipe the wet blonde strands away from her eyes but was stopped by her hands being tied to the chair again.

"Now, sweetie," a voice said mockingly. Cha-Cha had already revealed her face, so she was no longer wearing the pink dog mask as she stared Elle down. Somehow she was even scarier without the mask. "Klaus gave us information that proved useful. What can you give us?"

"A black eye," Elle suggested idly. She expected the following harsh slap of skin against her cheekbone but cursed nonetheless.

"Hey, hey," Klaus cut in from where his chair was situated adjacent to Elle's. He was within arm's distance, but she had to crane her neck around to see his face. His lip was swollen, and he was covered in a slick layer of sweat. "I already gave you what you wanted. Just, please. Please, let us go. Please."