Broken Masks

Chapter 21 - Return of The Assassin

(A/N: TIS I! THE LORD HIGH PROCRASTINATOR. BOW DOWN TO ME ALL THOSE MENTALLY PREPARED FOLK WHO PROBABLY DRINK ACTIVIA LIKE ITS A FUCKING MEDICATION)

It had been three months. Three long, dragging months of psychiatrists and therapists. Of hospital gowns and blank walls. Of sleepless nights and joints seized up from lack of movement.

And Klaus was getting worse.

His PTSD had become increasingly severe, and every night he'd wake up screaming from nightmares. He was isolating himself from everyone more and more, including TJ, and he hadn't attended any of his university lectures since the kidnapping. Everyday, TJ would give him papers and homework from the day, and Klaus would do them, put the work on the dining table, and return to his room. He'd jump at even the slightest noise, and he had been having frequent panic attacks. TJ was getting stressed but he had to protect his boyfriend. And if that meant having to quit uni for him, so be it.

"Hey babe? You ok?" TJ asked, smiling softly. Klaus looked up from the food in front of him. TJ's plate was empty, his cutlery set neatly toward him. Klaus's however, was barely touched. He hadn't eaten much since he had left the hospital four weeks prior.

"I'm fine. Just not hungry."

TJ looked downcast, his worry for his boyfriend clear as day.

"Please baby, you have to eat..."

Klaus shook his head.

"I can't. I'm sorry." He got up and left the table, wandering back to his bedroom to sit in the rocking chair and stare into space like he always did.

TJ slumped back in hid dining chair, running a hand through his hair and pulling at it with frustration.

His and Klaus's relationship had been crumbling since the kidnapping; with Klaus becoming more and more distant from the boy he loved, and TJ standing on the gap between wanting to help, but also following the doctor's order of not forcing the other boy to 'snap out' of the PTSD. TJ understood the only thing he could do to help was be supportive and patient, but Klaus's continued distance made him scared. What if Klaus had stopped loving him? What if Seth had scarred him so badly he forgot the love between them? TJ felt tears drip down his face.

* * *

Klaus stared at the wall.

His voice broken and horse and he pulled at the shackles.

He moved his hands from the arm rests to his lap.

Thrashing side to side, his screams echoing.

He stretched his stiff legs out in front of him.

Repeated taunts ringing in his ears.

The silence in the room was suffocating.

His arms burned with the pain of the knives.

The stars outside his bedroom window sparkled like glitter.

Seth's cackle burning holed in his skull.

The click of the door handle made Klaus jump up, backing quickly from the door.

"Hey babe, we ran out of soap so I'm gonna..." TJ trailed off, looking at Klaus, who was cowering by the opposite wall, "hey, are you ok?" Klaus's head was twitching to the side, his neck clicking painfully at the involuntary movement.

He slowly walked back to the rocking chair, his hand shaking slightly.

"I'm fine." He mumbled. TJ hurried over to the boy and knelt down in front of him.

"Babe look at me. This has been going on for months now. Please, talk to me about this." TJ coddled. Klaus looked up, his eyes scrunched.

"I said I'm fine." Klaus realised that he had actually snapped those words at his boyfriend a few seconds later. TJ was stunned, and Klaus could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He broke down into sobs as TJ continued to look shocked.

"Just.. just go. I don't want to hurt you. Go."

TJ turned, letting out a small sniff as tears started brimming his eyes.

"Fine. I'll be at Lena's."

And he left, the door slamming shut behind him with a bang. Klaus felt numb. Empty. His mind raced with the thoughts that TJ would leave him. What was the point? He had no life any more.

A familiar buzzing from under the bed brought Klaus out of his trance. He hadn't heard that sound in over 4 months, and he knew what it meant. A tiny smile crept over his face as he realised maybe he did have a life.

A life apart from Klaus Abbey.

He got up with surprising force and dove under the bed. There, tucked away behind boxes of old school books and stuffed toys, was a phone. It was small, black and pretty easy to miss if you weren't looking for it.

Klaus fished it out and pressed answer.

"Hello, may I order a Thai black curry under the name of Mr Smith?" The voice through the phone asked.

The code was simple. Mr Smith meant the White Dragon gang, and the rest was cover. Klaus just had to answer with the set confirmation response.

"We ran out sir. Would you be interested in the masala?" Klaus answered in his Machiavellian voice. A laugh came through the phone; warm and familiar. It was Flynn, head of the White Dragons.

"Good to hear from you again Mac. Thought you'd been arrested!"

Klaus smiled at the man's cheerful voice.

"Not yet. So what're you planning?"

(A/N YEEE EXTRACT 1 IS COMING!!! I wrote it ages ago and I can't wait to show it! I'm really going for it now so now we'll be back to our weekly updates again!)