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“I’m going into the void!” Ben yelled, throwing his hands up defensively.
Klaus was so infuriated he threw his lit cigarette directly through Ben. Of course it did nothing, but it’s the thought that counts. This seemed to have been Ben’s logic too, as he looked scandalised, as though he actually felt the thing. “Stop holding the fucking void against me!” Klaus shrieked.
“Well then don’t do it!” Ben roared, wishing he could punch his brother in the face - hard enough to leave a bruise, to mess with his vanity. At times like this, it was very tempting to go into the light. Sometimes he would purposefully irritate Klaus, as some sort of fucked up revenge.
Klaus stomped his foot like a child. “Are you fucking dad?!” he shouted, throwing his hands around like a mad man. He made a circle with his finger and thumb and held it to his eye like a monocle, “Number Four,” he barked in a British accent “don’t be a naughty boy or I shall send you to the void!”
Ben let out a humorless laugh. “That doesn’t even make sense!” he spat, chuckling bitterly with the ridiculousness of the situation “I don’t send you to the void, I go into it!”
Clearly caught off guard, Klaus stood wide eyed and slack jawed for a moment of extremely rare silence. He scowled, evidently unable to think of a good comeback. “Fine!” he finally squeaked, shrugging dramatically “Go into the void,” he gestured an angered shooing motion towards his brother. “Shoo!” he shrieked, almost falling over with how violently he was gesturing.
Brow furrowed so deeply he could see his own eyebrows, Ben gave his brother the finger and stormed off into the night. “Dead prick!” he heard Klaus shout in the distance.
— Three Weeks Later —
Klaus knew his brother was stuck with him, no pearly white gates for Ben. But often when Ben didn’t want Klaus to do something, he’d threaten to enter ”the void” - and the man has the audacity to call Klaus the drama queen! Klaus didn’t actually know what the void was, which is why it infuriated him so much. It was like an ominous timeout Ben placed Klaus in, one in which he was stuck wandering around alone with no ghost to talk to. Not knowing was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. After years of having Ben on his heels, it was extremely difficult not to just have him there to mutter to. It was hard enough for Klaus to keep his thoughts inside his own head, even before he received an emotional support ghost - now, it was near impossible.
He needed to find out what the void was, so he could made sure Ben could never threaten him with it again. He was sure sometimes Ben just threatened it as some kind of bizarre power move. Klaus never really paid attention in dad’s lessons, but he was pretty sure there were never any discussions of an ambiguous void. If anything, Klaus was the void, as he was the middle between life and death. So why was Ben lying? Klaus had been attempting to plan this for a while, but it was hard to keep track of his thoughts when he was trying to drown them all out anyway. He had a vague idea... he couldn’t be too obvious, no ”I’m going to go shoot sewage into my veins whilst I dance on the ledge of a bridge” and so forth.
Klaus and Ben left the doors of rehab, with Ben nagging as usual. Klaus mostly just tuned him out when he was like this, he always said the same things anyway. He’d just been forced into a 72 hour stay in rehab after an unintentional overdose, so Ben was already highly strung. It wouldn’t take much to have him throw a hissy fit and enter the void. Cue dramatic horror music.
Ben’s nagging was interrupted by Klaus airily announcing “I’ve had a wonderful idea.” Ben paused, raising a dubious eyebrow.
“Why do I think we have different definitions of wonderful?” he murmured, narrowing his eyes at Klaus, wondering what inane nonsense he was going to suggest now.
Klaus tried not to look too smug that his plan was falling into motion. Ben was so predictable, but he supposed they had been stuck together for years. He simply grinned at his brother and continued wandering down the block. Ben sighed wearily, already irritated. There was an alley just around the corner, which Klaus skulked into, turning around to flash a smirk at his brother before entering. Halfway down the alley was a dealer he knew very well. Ben knew of him too, he wasn’t a fan.
“Jason!” Klaus greeted him enthusiastically, pulling him in for a tight hug. Klaus stole some baggies from his pocket whilst he was there, that wasn’t part of the plan but he couldn’t turn down a good opportunity when it presented itself. He pulled away, grinning flirtatiously.
Jason looked Klaus up and down, feeling rightfully suspicious. As long as he didn’t notice his pockets were lighter, Klaus would be fine. “Thirty.” Jason announced, reaching into his pocket, thankfully not the one Klaus pinched from. Klaus put a hand on his wrist to stop him.
“No, I want heroin.” he demanded politely, subtly swivelling to give Ben a nice big smile. Ben’s jaw clenched so fiercely he would have steam coming out of his ears, had this been a cartoon.
“What the fuck are you doing, Klaus?!” he grunted, throwing his head back in sheer despair. His brother completely ignored him and continued with his deal. “Klaus, stop, I mean it.” Still no response, he didn’t even turn to look at him “This is a mistake, you’re never gonna get off it once you start!” His brother pulled Jason into another embrace, purely to distract him from the middle finger he threw at Ben.
He shoved the heroin in his pocket, and skulked back out of the alley. Ben was nagging, as expected. This whole plan was actually going a lot smoother than anticipated. “I’m going to go to Shaun’s place.” Klaus casually announced. Ben wasn’t a fan of Shaun either, he was the cause of their huge blow out a few weeks back. That appeared to be the straw that broke the camels back, as Ben stopped walking and glared at his brother.
“I’m going into the void.” he predictably grumbled. Klaus scowled back, knowing he had to act at least a little annoyed, just so Ben didn’t grow suspicious. They had a bit of a standoff, like in those old spaghetti westerns, until Ben gave in and stormed off. Klaus grinned like a Cheshire Cat, helping himself to the stolen baggies of his usual goodies.
—
Klaus had been following his brother for twenty-five minutes, and all he’d done was wander around the streets aimlessly. The knowledge that he had heroin in his pocket was constantly pouncing into his mind. He was tempted to throw it down a drain so he wouldn’t lose out to his willpower. Apparently he hadn’t planned this as well as he thought, as he didn’t factor in the fact that he was a junkie. Heroin was too expensive, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t afford the habit. He knew Ben was right, if he did it once, he’d never stop. But... maybe he could do it just the once, just to try it. It doesn’t even count if it’s a one time thing. His internal debate was cut short by seeing Ben phase through the walls of an apartment building.
Running was hard at the best of times for Klaus, but especially when he had just overdosed - he was still breathing like his lungs were on vacation. He forced himself to do it though, so he wouldn’t lose track of Ben. People were shooting out of his way on the street, probably assuming he’d committed a crime - any other day they’d be correct. He barged into the doors of the building, but they were locked. Frantically, he scanned the names on the buzzers, but they were all faded. Maybe Ben was just people watching, which was a bit creepy, but to each their own...
He needed to know what the fucking void was, it was eating him up. Klaus manically scanned the area for something to grab. This part of the block was quite secluded, only a few people passing by. There was a man walking the other way from the apartment building, and he had a backpack; sticking out of which was an umbrella. Klaus had a quick giggle at the aptness, before bolting over to stealthily yank it from the man’s back. Surprisingly, the idiot didn’t notice, probably because he was listening to his Walkman. Klaus looked at the umbrella in his hand as though he hadn’t been the one to just grab it. After giving his brain a few seconds to catch up, he rushed over to the apartment doors and smashed through the window with the handle of the umbrella.
He stuck his arm through the gap, ignoring the few scrapes, and opened the door from the inside. Once he’d staggered within the building, he suddenly realised he had no idea what to do now. Could he just knock on all the doors, scope out their apartments for a ghost? No... that probably wouldn’t be well received. Maybe he could pull the fire alarm... but that wouldn’t make Ben come out, he’s already dead! Klaus stood wide eyed, clutching the umbrella as he tried to get his brain to actually work for once. It was his fault really, he’d destroyed it with all the drugs... speaking of which, he had heroin right in his pocket! Klaus slapped himself, trying to get his thoughts back into order. Forget about the heroin.
As he was about to slip into a full blown crisis, he heard a very familiar sound. Something he hadn’t heard in quite a long time. A sound he used to beg to hear, to drown out the voices of the dead. He nervously followed the noise, like a sniffer dog with drugs... with heroin. Klaus slapped himself again, growing irritated with his own consciousness. This nonsense was why he needed Ben, why he needed him to stop running off. He slowly staggered up the stairs, leaving a small trail of blood from his arm - until he reached the floor the sound was originating from. Klaus tentatively made his way to the door, staring at it like he could suddenly develop X-ray vision.
Knocking on the door was his only option. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Immediately after he knocked, he fell into a wide eyed panic. Why did he just do that?! The noise came to a stop, and Klaus heard shuffling from behind the door. When the door had been opened, he stared straight past the occupant, sticking his head inside to try and spot Ben. Sure enough, there he was stood - looking just as confused as Klaus was. Klaus heard his name - which was very confusing, because it definitely wasn’t coming from Ben. He stepped back and looked down at the person who had opened the door. “Vanya?”
—
Awkward wasn’t even the word, Klaus hadn’t seen Vanya since he’d broken into her previous apartment and been sent to prison. He now sat uncomfortably on her couch, whilst she made them a pot of coffee.
”This is the void?!” he shout-whispered at his brother, using air quotes on the final words. It was hard to stop himself from bursting out laughing. All of the goddamn fuss and drama, and the whole time he’s just been spying on their sister! “Isn’t that a bit pervy?” Klaus scoffed, forgetting to speak in hushed tones. Ben began to reply, but stopped when Vanya moved.
She sauntered over to Klaus, looking like a scared mouse. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking deeply perplexed. She was fiddling with the hem of her oversized shirt. Klaus liked her fashion sense - it was the complete opposite to his, but that’s what he liked about it. It was very Vanya.
Her brother replied with a mini clap. “I’m so good!” he threw a swooning hand to his chest. She didn’t seem to believe him, which was understandable. “I was just in the neighborhood...” Klaus attempted to deflect, with a slightly unhinged smile. He just hoped she didn’t ask how he knew her address.
Vanya passed him his mug of coffee, and minutely flinched when a trickle of blood fell from his arm. Klaus hastily pulled his sleeve back down, never having looked so shifty in his life - which was quite an achievement. Ben was glaring at him, presumably trying to understand what the fuck had happened in the last thirty minutes. He began pacing the room, looking like he would’ve kicked something had that been possible.
Vanya supplied a smile that was clearly masking a grimace. “I just... need to call a student.” she mumbled apologetically, before walking into her bedroom and slowly pushing the door closed.
The two brothers immediately met each other’s eyes, both knowing what the other was thinking.
“Run?” Klaus asked.
”Run.” Ben confirmed.
—
”So is it always Vanya, or just this time?” Klaus wondered, blowing a smoke ring. Ben wasn’t angry anymore, they’d both had a chuckle at the absurdity of their lives... or afterlives. He seemed to have relaxed considerably once Klaus explained he was just purposefully pushing him away so he could snoop. He didn’t tell his brother that he still had the heroin in his pocket, or that it was all he could think about. He would slap himself again, but it would just rouse Ben’s suspicion. There wasn’t any point in telling him, he wasn’t going to use it. It would just be wasteful to throw it away, that was all. No point in worrying the guy.
“It’s not always Vanya, sometimes Diego...” Ben sighed gently “if I’m really bored I’ll occasionally check in on Luther.” Klaus wheezed, causing a coughing fit. Ben raised an eyebrow, wondering if he’d ever learn his lesson about overdosing. “Mostly Vanya though... I guess I just miss her.” Ben perched himself on the bench next to Klaus, feeling kind of relieved his brother knew now. Maybe Ben had been a little manipulative, but it was for Klaus’ own good... but when Klaus manipulates Ben, it’s just so he can get his own way.
It’s probably not that great anyway, Klaus thought. But also, it wouldn’t hurt to find out, would it? No... it probably would hurt. He wasn’t going to try it, really, he wasn’t. But since he’d already gone through the effort of buying it, he might as well just do it the once - he’d just be throwing away his money otherwise; it’s just the logical thing to do in this economy. One time, and one time only. Christ Klaus, stop thinking about the fucking heroin! He wouldn’t use it. It was going straight down a drain... tomorrow... without a doubt.
Ben’s brother was a million miles away now, fidgeting like crazy - clearly not paying attention to the answer to a question he asked. Ben breathed out, turning to look up at the dusky sky. He’d still rather be with Klaus than the alternative, maybe one day his brother would finally change. Ben could only hope.