hellhouse | [Action + Audio] IC-CHECK IN

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Ben feels sick when he sees the TERMINATED photo on the wall. He'd woken up alone in the room he and Klaus had shared. Now, he sat in a hall way, feeling sick. Feeling like this place truly was hell. With his back pressed to one side of a wall, he let his head tilt back and he stared at the image projected on the wall of Klaus. His eyes moved to the 'Good Bye' tattoo on his one hand, frowning at it.

Ben could be found in the hallway outside of the bedrooms he, his little group and others had started to share. To gather in. He was seated there, feet on the floor, knees up, eyes red and staring at the picture. This was hell. That was for sure.

Sometime later he's collect himself and make a audio post for everyone on the network.

[He did audio because he didn't want anyone to see him. Not like this. He started softly, but cleared his throat and spoke a bit louder.]

You might have noticed there is another face on the wall this week. That's my brother. He was actually here, and now I don't think he is anymore. [He took a moment to take a breath.] I can... actually say I know he was here. Terminated has me worried. I think we need another check in. And I think we need to do it more often.

So, I'll... start. Ben Hargreeves, still here.

Diego? Where are you...?

[He's leaving a text of everyone who has checked in]

C H E C K E D I N:
Ben Hargreeves
Rikki
Cleo
Derek
Carrie White
Jared Jacobs
Lydia Deetz
Malach
Betty
Carol
Diego Hargreeves

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( When she'd woken up that morning and seen the familiar face of Ben's brother, Klaus, on the wall with the same ominous TERMINATED message stenciled across his image, her stomach dropped. It had been one thing when it had been a man no one could remember having met. It was entirely another having met and known the person on the wall. For Ben, this would be like if she woke up and saw Cleo on the wall. Her heart was already broken for him when she moved to the door, exiting the room she and Cleo were sharing and almost immediately spying Ben sitting on the floor, staring at Klaus on the wall.

For the first time since arriving, Rikki almost wanted to cry. Klaus wasn't her brother, so she wouldn't; she would keep it together and be a good friend. If his other brother showed up, she would politely excuse herself so that they could have a family moment, but until then, Rikki moved beside Ben and slid down the wall to sit down beside him.

She said nothing. Instead, she silently took his hand in hers and leaned slightly against him to let him know that she was there. Rikki didn't require conversation, but she wanted her friend to know that he wasn't alone right now, even if he probably wanted to be. He shouldn't have to be. She'd stay until he told her to leave or Diego showed up, whichever came first, and she wouldn't say a word unless he gave her reason to think that he wanted her to. )

[ Derek doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news, so he's glad when Ben admits on the post that he doesn't think Klaus is here anymore. Derek can confirm it. The smell of the flamboyant Hargreeves is gone as though he'd never been there at all. It's actually really disconcerting. ]

I'm sorry, Ben. This is Derek. I'm still here. Maybe it just means he was terminated from whatever sick experiment this house must be and they sent him back home.

( Her voice is quiet and grave. As far as she's concerned, this place is just a pit stop. What that means for Ben Hargreeves' brother is probably not good. )

I'm Carrie White. I'm here.

...I'll pray for you. And for him. For both of you.

Shit...

[ Damn, he actually liked Klaus. He was a cool guy. TERMINATED was concerning, to say the least. ]

Jared Jacobs, still here. I'm sorry, man. Klaus was cool as shit. I'm sorry he's gone.

It's a blow for sure. He's not sure what to do either. There wasn't much point in running around yelling his name, was there? And when he tried to contact him on the network it failed. His arm device thing couldn't connect to him. It made him feel sick.

He barely noticed Rikki walking up to him. Barely noticed her slide down the wall beside him. It was as she took his hand that he looked over to her. As she leaned into him he leaned back, resting his head on her's lightly, staring up at the image again. His fingers curled into her hand and held on.

"Well, we know the other guy must have been here, now, right?" He said, voice breaking when he started, so he had cleared his throat to finish it. "Maybe he's home. For the better."

[He's like to know, for a fact, but he was sure the other wasn't there.]

Good to hear from you, Derek. I'm hoping he's just home and not dead. I don't care for the terminology.

[He hadn't heard this one before. For a moment he just adds her name to the list.]

Got you, Carrie. Thank you for checking in. And for the prayers.

Jarad Jacobs. Added. And, yeah... he is pretty cool. A good brother.

[He sounds a little flat.] I just hope he's home and not actually dead.

Lydia Deetz, checking in.

[Death didn't FEEL anyone removed from the house. Didn't feel anyone DIE, but this place was messing with his senses so badly he wasn't really sure if he could project that or not. So instead, he simply spoke back, softly.]

I hope he's home. Better to not be here.

My name's Malach.

Got you added

Rikki closed her eyes against the prickle of tears because she wasn't willing to give in. This was Ben's moment to be grieving and to lean on someone. She was going to stay strong and be his pillar and that was all. Her eyes opened again as he cleared his throat and she leaned back against his head with her own, giving his hand a gentle squeeze of what she hoped was reassurance.

"That's probably all it is, mate," she said softly. Rikki wasn't actually entirely sure that she believed that herself, but she wasn't going to tell Ben that. If he wanted to think that Klaus was safe at home, then Rikki was going to latch onto that and will herself to feel that it was true. A couple of years ago, her lack of tact would've had her blurting out that terminated, by definition, probably meant Klaus had been killed. Fortunately, her time as friends with Cleo, Emma, and Bella had taught her a lot and she'd gotten a lot better about thinking her words through before actually saying them.

Her eyes moved to the wall, shifting back and forth between Klaus's hands.

Hello. Goodbye.

He'd crashed into her life as quickly as this awful house had and although they hadn't gotten on all the time, they got on well enough and he'd always made her smile.

Hello.

She took a deep breath and frowned slightly. What if he was dead? Or what if he came from a different sort of dimension or something and she'd never see him — or Ben, for that matter — again once she got out of this place? In Klaus's case, she wouldn't ever see him again starting now.

Goodbye.

She tore her eyes from the image on the wall and lifted her head slightly to look over at Ben. "All right, Ben...?" she asked with concern and empathy. It was a stupid question because he probably wasn't, but she couldn't help asking, anyway. It was kind of reflexive.

[He didn't want to talk about home. But he was glad people were checking in.]

Thanks, Malach. Got you added.

Of course.

Thanks, man. I believe it.

[ short, uncomfortable pause. ]

I think the verbiage is just to freak us out, man, that's all.

Yeah, I don't either, but it's probably just another psychological thing like practically everything else in this nightmare.

He sat there leaning into her silent for the moment. He wasn't sure he believe he was at home either. Terminated meant dead. Not here anymore. Dead. This was a house of hell, right? Hell house. Terminated. Dead.

He just... he didn't want to think about that.

Dead, dead, dead.

It wasn't suppose to be this way. Ben was suppose to be the dead one. Not Klaus. Ben was the ghost, not Klaus. His hand squeezed a bit harder with out meaning to, and he was fighting the urge to cry. His head tilted back and he sniffed, trying to blink back tears.

This was going to hit him harder later. This was going to hit him so hard later, he jsut knew it. Right now he just felt numb.

"When we were 13, we lost our brother, Five. But he wasn't dead. Just lost. Missing. Jumped through time wrong. We didn't know that of course, but he just up and ran away and never came back. Then I died at 16." he sniffed again, looking up at the ceiling. "I've never... it's not... --Losing Five was bad, but there was that chance he'd come back. Losing Klaus right now feels-- It's like..."

Words were hard. "He's dead, isn't he? I've never lost anyone like this." He finally said, and his hand loosened on his grip at last, sniffing one more time.

Rikki felt Ben's hand squeezing harder and her brow creased with sympathy when he leaned his head back like that. The sniff smacked so hard of her own typical attempts to keep from crying that it felt like a punch in her gut. Rikki hadn't ever been good at this; consoling people. She'd never been good at feelings. Ever since her mum had left, she'd learned that it hurt less to just shut things down before they could escalate. She'd learned that talking about her feelings only made her dad more upset when he thought about it. So at the tender age of seven, Rikki taught herself that acknowledging feelings was bad.

Now, as an adult, she didn't know how to help people who were upset. Sometimes, if she knew the person well enough, she could stumble through it passably. Like when Cleo's mum and dad divorced, Rikki had been able to help with that a little because she'd known what it felt like to have her mum leave. But Ben's brother disappearing and potentially dead? That was not something in Rikki's wheelhouse.

But he was her friend, so she was going to try.

It surprised her a little to have Ben open up to her and she pushed away the question, your brother's name was Five? before she could accidentally ask it, because that was hardly the focal point of this conversation. Nor was the next question that bubbled up and Rikki swallowed down, what do you mean traveled through time wrong? so she ignored that one, too. Ben said he died when he was sixteen years old — maybe that was why he looked closer to her age than to Klaus's, in her opinion — and she realized that when she'd been sixteen, it hadn't been that long ago. She already lived longer than Ben had, by several years. She'd fallen in love. She'd fallen out of love. She ran a business. She graduated.

By the time he'd been sixteen, he'd lost a brother and died and he'd only been alive again for a couple of months' time before this with Klaus. Rikki couldn't even wrap her head around that realization and so how the hell was she supposed to make him feel better about it?

Ben's question made Rikki's stomach turn and twist as he loosened his grip and she, in turn, tightened hers, squeezing his hand again. Ben would probably want to hear her insist that no, Klaus was definitely back home. He couldn't be dead. Ben had gotten to know Rikki well enough over the past couple months, though, that even he would see right through it if she did. So, she didn't. She was honest.

"I dunno, mate. I really hope not," she whispered because her voice betrayed her for the lump forming in the back of her throat, not necessarily for Klaus — a bit for Klaus, obviously — but for the idea of being in Ben's shoes right now and seeing Cleo's face up on that wall instead. "I really, really hope not. It doesn't make sense to me that they'd bring us here and then kill us off after having to provide for us for the last couple of months," she added. "Maybe they were bored of him and the other guy and so they've just sent them back to make room for new people, I honestly don't know. I wish I did."

She leaned her head back against the wall beside Ben's, shifting her hand in his to lace her fingers through his instead of simply holding his palm against her own. "I'm sorry about Five," she added belatedly, turning her head to look at him. "And Klaus. And you, dying so young."

Edited 2019-08-05 22:56 (UTC)

While Rikki was struggling with what to say and how to say it, Ben was blankly staring up at the ceiling now, trying to clear his eyes. Trying to get a proper breath with out a sniff. Got to be strong. Got to buck up. Can't fall apart.

Must not fall apart.

Her answer was good enough though. He was pretty sure Klaus was dead. This place was hell after all. Might as well live up to it's name. Not unless that Dean gun and Klaus found a way out, but Klaus wouldn't have left Ben.

He nodded, frowning as he looked back to the picture. "I hope not as well, but I also can't put it past this place. We've been here months. Ghosts and crazy hall ways. What else would it do to try to mess with us? Take someone away? Maybe." He sighed. "I don't know. I'm just... going to hope he's home."

Yeah. That would work. Right? Hope.

He felt her hand intertwine with his and he turned his hand enough to comfortably hold hers. He let out a long slow breath, then took one in. "Five came back. Just recently though, but he managed to come back just after our fathers death. Tried to warn us about the end of the world."

"Sounds hard to believe. Literally everything that comes out of my mouth sounds impossible, doesn't it?"

Just talking helped, at least.

"They haven't actually hurt any of us, though. Not really," she pointed out almost hopefully. Cleo would be so proud of her moment of optimism if she were here to hear it. "They make us think we're going to be hurt, but they don't actually hurt us."

Maybe that was enough to suggest that they'd simply sent Klaus and Dean on their ways and keeping Ben here was a bonus because it meant that Ben would be grieving and emotionally compromised. Double your pleasure, double your fun.

And, as Ben went on, apparently also his father recently died and the end of the world was coming. Christ, could this get worse? Actually, she didn't want to ask that because she was afraid if she asked it, she'd validate it and it would, in fact, get worse. She felt for Ben enough as it was.

In spite of herself and the situation, Rikki smiled a little, nudging his shoulder gently with her own. "It's okay that you're completely full of it, Ben, I still like you." She was joking and the grin on her face suggested as much. It lasted only long enough for her to be sure that he knew she was kidding before it fell away again and she leaned her head back once more. "You want to hear the story of how I became a mermaid, so we can both sound like we're full of it?" she offered quietly, half in an effort to get his mind off his pain and half just because he'd been sharing so much and she felt like she ought to reciprocate.

"Yeah. I suppose that's true." No one had been hurt yet, just mentally messed with. He bit his lip, considering it, wondering if this was just part of his mental torture. Give him the brother he was closest to and remove him later.

Would they do that to Rikki? Take Cleo away? Or worse yet, take Rikki away so poor Cleo was alone. So Ben would be just as upset about losing her as he is Klaus.

But honestly, the more Ben thought about his life, his death, his family and everything in between, the more he realized it was all batshit insane. Why did she put up with his insane stories.

Oh, right. She's a god damn mermaid. When she nudged him and jokingly said she still liked him he gave back a faint smile. A small snort of a breath, but a smile none the less. Sliding down the wall a bit more, his one leg going out and flat, he rested there, head tipped a bit to hers. "Yeah. Tell me the story of how you became a mermaid. It's got to be more entertaining than this, and more believable than my life."

He understood what she was doing. Distracting him from the heart pains. And he was grateful.

"I dunno about more believable," she replied with a small smile, but she took a deep breath, leaned her head back against the wall, tilted just so to the side to meet his, and she closed her eyes to shut out the depressing black and white image of Klaus with that horrible word stenciled over him.

How far back should she really start? "So," she began, "it started with my ex, who hadn't been my boyfriend yet at the time. He was a jerk. He's still a jerk, but he'd been being a jerk, so I'd snuck onto his boat and took out the spark plug so that the engine wouldn't start. Only, he'd tricked Cleo into getting on the boat and then he'd pushed it off from the docks and she'd been stranded."

Her eyes opened again as she thought back on it. Rikki hadn't thought on it in a while, actually, that first day with Cleo and Emma and how poorly she and Emma had gotten on in the beginning.

She went on to tell him how she'd jumped on board and fixed the boat and then stolen it, essentially, to joy ride with Cleo and then also Emma, out to Mako Island. She told Ben how the boat had run out of gas halfway there, stranding them in the middle of the ocean and how they'd had to row to the island so that Emma could call for help. Rikki told Ben how the signal was poor so they'd been walking all over Mako Island, trying to find a good signal and how Cleo had fallen down that hole and then Emma had followed and, because it hadn't occured to her that there was a reason not to, finally Rikki.

Rikki told Ben about the moon pool and how they'd decided to swim out, only while they'd been in there, the full moon had passed over the opening at the top of the volcano in which the moon pool was hidden and how the water had started bubbling around them and that none of them noticed anything different until the next day.

"So I was just minding my own business walking and a sprinkler started going off and hit me. Ten seconds later, I face-planted right there on the grass out in the open, tail and all. I was really lucky that no one came round while I was drying off because that was before I figured out I had my mermaid power," she finished. "So there, now we both sound like crazy people."

She gave his hand another little squeeze. Hopefully, this wouldn't be as difficult as it was today, later on. Hopefully they gave him some sort of sign to suggest that Klaus was just gone from the house; terminated from this particular hellscape but was back home, safe and sound. Maybe he wouldn't even remember being here and wouldn't be crushed to find Ben as a ghost again when Ben eventually got out, too.

He was silent for most of this. Listening to her story, about her Ex who wasn't her boyfriend at the time, and about spark plugs and boats, a island called Mako, the girls, and the moon pool.

It was a wild story, but it also seemed more believable than sudden births of 43 random children with powers. Which he hadn't told her all about yet. It was strange though. He stayed leaned there, hand in hers, fingers curled into hers, and listened, smiling faintly.

"It's a good origin story. Believable, I think. You're lucky you haven't been caught yet. It's got to be so hard avoiding water all the time." He said, using her story as his distraction for sure.

Better than dwelling on where Klaus went. What Terminated meant in this case, or if Rikki or Cleo or Derek will be next.

Yeah, well, it's working.

... but I hope he's just home.

Yeah... that would be for the best.

Well, it's working, because I'm a bit freaked out. Still, I'm... hopeful.

Rikki gave him a sheepish sort of smile, looking over at him. "Well," she countered, drawing the word out, a little higher pitched than her normal voice. "There are a handful of people back home who know. But yeah, we've had loads of close calls. It's hard sometimes."

She realized belatedly that she'd been telling him the story to help distract him from his upset and that she'd nearly unwittingly outed Cleo while doing it. She'd only just managed to leave names out of the story. Her stomach clenched with discomfort at that. What if she did slip up? Rikki was sure Cleo would forgive her the error, given the reason it had happened. She looked over at Ben. "Please keep that story between us, yeah?" If he thought Cleo was ignorant to it, then maybe that would buy her friend more time to tell him on her own if she ever felt so inclined.

Her eyes moved back to Klaus's face on the wall. "D'you want to go for a swim?" she asked, looking back at Ben once more. It was what always helped her relax. It likely wouldn't have the same effect for Ben, but one never knew. Maybe it would. "Or we could just stay here a little longer. Whatever you want, mate."

[Betty hears that news and she can't help but feel sympathy - there's a tone, a warmth, to her voice as she responds that she can't help. She's met Ben, after all, in the padded room...and it makes her feel sorry because she can actually place a person with the name. Not that she doesn't think everyone here is real, but it makes it all that much more real.

Nobody'd wish being here on anybody, but it has to be hard to worry that someone you love and care about is terminated literally.]

Oh, Ben, I'm so sorry... I really hope it's just from this sick experiment and that he's home.

[She pauses, knowing nothing she says is going to help.]

Consider this Betty checking in, though. Is there anything I can do or that you need?

[Carol liked Klaus. He was a quirker that's for sure, but he'd been the person she'd woken up with. And seeing Terminated associated with him had absolutely pissed her off and she had literally put a hole through the wall.

It's sad hearing his brother's words and she can't help but feel her heart go out to him on some level.]

I woke up with your brother here initially. [She's keeping most emotion reigned in, controlled.] I'm sorry. Can't blame you worry, though.

I'm Carol, go ahead and check me in. If I can do anything let me know.

I'm here.

[ His voice is rough. Rougher than usual. He'd woken up to the picture of Klaus on the wall and a feeling of panic. He didn't like the word Terminated either and he'd spent most of the day trying to find his brothers to no avail. It would've been easy enough to ask for them, but he was afraid that he wouldn't get an answer.

Hearing Ben's voice though confirms that Klaus is really gone. It's selfish to be glad that Ben's still here, when he doesn't even know what here is or what it has in store for them next. All he knows is Klaus was an easy target and Ben may be an even easier target. And if he ever gets his hands on the person responsible for that picture on the wall, he'll choke them out with his bare hands. ]

Where are you?

[He's not the best for talking right now, but he is glad to hear her voice. And the nice things she was saying. he wasn't sure he believed it, but he hoped she was right.]

I hope that's all it is. That he's home.

Thanks, for checking in I got you marked down. I liked that you did this last time. It helped to see who all is here. I think we need to do this more often.

[He's silent for a moment, just listening for the moment. he then nods, realizing it can't be heard.]

He's a pain in the ass, but I love him anyhow. I'm sure he's just home, not dead. [he doesn't sound so sure.]

But thanks, Carol. I have you put down.

[The sigh he let go was deep and relieved when he heard Diego say he was here. He seemed to slump a bit more on the wall he was resting at. Oh thank the maker.]

[He started to speak but his voice cracks, so he cleared his throat, trying to suck it up for his brother.]

Third floor, near the bedrooms. In the hall, so unless the house is a dick, I'm not hard to find.

You... okay?

[ He lets out a frustrated growl. He knew there was a reason he wasn't being let into that side of the house, but the truth was the place changed so often it was hard to keep up with. ]

It has been a dick. I've been close a couple of times. I'll try again.

[ He swallows, thickly at the question, pausing for a long moment. ]

No. [ Both Klaus and Ben were his responsibility in a way. Even if he couldn't find them half the time in this hell hole. Even if he was pretty sure most of his siblings thought he hated them most of the time. If Klaus was really gone then he'd failed him.] We're getting out of here, Ben. And then we're going to burn this place down.

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[Action + Audio] IC-CHECK IN

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