Chapter 2

the Wheels On The Bus…

Klaus had a very good idea of what shock felt like. He had felt it the first time he saw violence, not the “normal” violence so un-dauntingly administered by the seniors at the orphanage when they bullied. No, the shock of unbridled, inhuman like violence perpetrated by a rival gang against the one most of the older kids had joined from his orphanage.

He had been seven at the time when it happened. Like every morning, they all went to wait at the nearest bus stop to go to the public school they were enrolled in. It was a day like any other for Klaus, almost perfect even because he would be getting results for a quiz they had to complete the previous week.

He was standing with Macy, a girl one year younger than himself. She had become his friend as soon as she joined the orphanage. At first, he wanted nothing to do with her, but her inquisitiveness and unending bubbliness won him over in a matter of hours. So, he had taken it upon himself to take care of her as much as someone his age could. He did it the only way he knew how; through helping her with schoolwork and hiding food. They would take turns to do so and then share what was left. It was his first and last friendship.

They both were barefoot and dressed in hand me downs, carrying bags far too big for them on backs far too small. They were always first at the bus stop as per the urging of Klaus. The seniors soon joined them and that’s when everything went wrong.

He remembers it so vividly. First, there was the loud and booming music. Second, the squeal of tires and like puppets on a string controlled by a master puppeteer, everyone at the bus stopped and turned to the sound as one. Then there were the shouts of the seniors. He can’t remember what was shouted no matter how hard he tries, but what followed would stay with him forever. Sharp claps went off, kids screamed. At first, he thought it was fireworks, his small mind never comprehending the danger until he saw the red. It bloomed like flowers all around him, it was so quick that one moment there was nothing and the next, it was everywhere. As fast as they sprouted they wilted quicker still and with their wilting came the reaping of lives.

Among all of them, that stood there only himself and one other boy survived. It was the first time he learned what death truly was and it shocked him to the core. It was then that the school bus arrived. So deep was he in shock that he climbed on as soon as the bus came to a halt. The bus driver had gotten out as soon as he stopped. The man was frantic and on the phone with the police. Only later did they find little Klaus on the usual spot that Macy and Klaus had claimed as their own. Singing a song that they always sang. “The wheels on the bus…”

It took a year of therapy before Klaus properly started talking to people again. He would do his schoolwork just fine, but anything else left him in a zombie-like state.

Sitting in the train across the strange woman, it was the first thing that came to mind when he started to feel the numbness of shock, but he fought it down. ‘It is not the time to get lost in my own world. I need information.’

When he looked at her once more he could see the worry in her eyes. It confused and irritated him. “If you care, why do this?”

She quickly shook off the images she had just seen in his mind. She was there that day and she was the reason he lived, but she knew saying as much would only cause him to distrust her more. Knowing she saved him and not his friend. She did not want to open that can of worms.

“It is because I care that I am here. I have been watching over you for a long time, preparing a long time all for this day.”

“Watching over me? Tch, please I have been looking after myself and even if you were, why show yourself now? Why come out of the woodworks when my life is finally.” He stopped the sentence halfway but finished it in his mind. ‘Worth living.’

She snorted at him. “Is it not obvious?”

It dawned on him even before she finished her words. “The mind-reading, because of these strange things happening to me?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. “Strange things?”

The question made him shut his mouth. He was a fool, thinking. ‘If they know about the mind-reading how can they not know about the other things.’ Too late he remembered she could read his mind.

“Klaus, it is of the utmost importance that you tell me about the other things.”

“No.” He replied, adamantly crossing his arms and reciting a poem in his head.

The half-smile she had on, quickly turned into a frown at his behavior. “This childishness won’t help you, only I can. The sooner you come to terms with that the sooner we can move onto what’s important.”

This time it was his turn to raise an eyebrow in question. He unflinchingly still kept his mouth shut while reciting the poem.

“Urg, you test me. I am talking about your origins, where you come from. Who you are.”

If there ever was something that would get his attention, that would be it. Since young he had wondered what he could have done to be abandoned and if not him. What circumstances could have prompted anyone to drop a defenseless baby at that horrid place.

She sighed. Breaking eye contact and looking away. “I will be honest and completely frank. Your father is dead. Your mother, we have no record off. No one knows who she was. Your abilities may give me an idea, but if you don’t share them my hands are tied.”

‘Dead?’ The numbness came again as he listened to those words. How many times had he wondered about his father? Every time he looked in the mirror, he would speculate and try to draw a picture in his imagination from the features he had. When he looked at himself, the first thing he noticed was his stark and almost glacial blue eyes. His eyebrows were slightly slanted downward giving them a sharp appearance. Slightly curly raven black hair that was perpetually almost too long framed a strong jaw, but there was a touch of femininity to it that hinted at what he could only think was his mother. The girls would usually give him attention until they figured out his status and it did not take long due to the shabby and worn clothes he was forced to wear most of his life.

Two soft hands took his. She had come closer to him and had he been in his right mind he would have shrugged the hands-off, but he could not care less at the moment. “Klaus, I promise you my aim is not to hurt you but to protect. If not for you awakening now you would have gone on to live a normal life, but that and anything you ascribe to your idea of “normal” is lost to you now. If you want to live you need to learn to trust or at least follow me for now.”

‘Trust, I do not have the ability.’

By the look he was giving her, she did not need to read his mind in order to know what he was thinking. She was just about to try and continue convincing him, but he interrupted.

“Fine, I will come with you willingly, however, do not expect me to trust you. I need proof of the things you are saying. I need proof of my father’s death and I want to know what is going on with me and why you are so insistent that I go along with you.”

She smiled then, but to him, it was not a beautiful thing. It was more akin to what he imagined a wolf would give its prey before devouring it whole. “I am glad you chose the easy way, Klaus. The hard way would have been filled with unpleasantness.”

“Are you not supposed to make it easier for me to trust you?” Klaus, could not help but ask, after all, what would be the point of all this. Little did he know that the woman before him was making an investment.

“Oh, my dear Klaus my job was never to make you trust me, but to keep you safe. This way I would not have to resort to other means, means that could make you angry with me.”

“Why would that bother you?” He asked baffled.

She smirked at that and turned the hand she was holding his with into a handshake. “Tell me about the other things first and then I will tell you, a simple trade if you will.”

“Deal. I think I have little choice in the matter.” Klaus said, feeling caught in a spider’s web.

She did not reply, but simply leaned back adopting the same relaxed posture, which bordered on indifference.

“It started about four months ago. The visions were not the first things to happen. I noticed that I was growing stronger, faster. Not just in body but in mind as well. Things that took me ages to study became easier. Math problems would sometimes feel like they solved themselves and my memory… it seemed as though I could remember being in my mother’s womb sometimes. It happened sporadically at first. Mostly when I felt stressed or anxious, but it soon branched out to other strong emotions. Happiness, sadness and anger.”

The last one he said with shame lacing his voice. Reading his memory like an open book, the woman gave an amused chuckle. “The boy with the broken arm?”

“Yes, it happened so fast. He took a swing and I simply wanted to block and hold his arm, but it broke like brittle kindling. That’s not all, unlike the visions or thoughts as you call them I forced my will over his own. Swept his thoughts away like an avalanche would a twig. It felt unnatural, wrong in so many ways I don’t want to bring myself to even think of it. I wanted them to leave, to go away and leave me alone and so he did without a word of protest. The others were spooked by this and soon followed.”

In his mind, the events played out. It had been when he followed Clarissa. After confronting them one of the rich kids attacked him and Klaus defended himself. The whole exchange lasted less than a minute, but everyone was shaken by how easily he had taken care of what seemed the most aggressive boy there. They soon followed him, all except for Clarissa who was crying and looking at Klaus in shock. He left her like that.

The woman had remained silent through all of the talk and thoughts, showed no expression except for the chuckle, but when he mentioned the last thing her eyes grew troubled. Klaus did not miss that.

“What you speak of is a compulsion. It’s what I did to them.” She said lifting a lazy finger to point at the people dazedly standing as far away from them as they could.

Disgust flickered over his face. He remembered that feeling, it is hard to forget. It felt dirty, wrong and disgusting to the highest degree.

She did not miss the look and sighed before saying. “Don’t look at me that way. It is different for me. I am of the Dalmora bloodline and compulsion is kind of my bloodline’s specialty. It is harder to do it to other bloodlines though. With humans, it’s as easy as the flick of my hand.”

Klaus committed everything she said to memory. “So my mother was one of you then?” A part of him could not believe he was buying into this, but just looking at those people and what he had been experiencing the past few months was convincing enough.

She shrugged and looked at her nails. They were painted a dark purple, the same color as her eyes. “No, not necessarily. There are countless bloodlines out there and each year new ones are being born. The eldest remain the strongest, though.”

Klaus swallowed hard. “What is mine, I mean my father’s?”

Looking up from her nails, her eyes bore into him, the world grew silent for them. Sound retreated and the light grew still, and then he heard it as a bare whisper of a whisper. His heart thumped, his blood boiled and the word seemed to thrum and embrace his very soul. “Sephiroth.”

The word was not spoken in the common language, but something he knew in his heart was far, far older, it was something ancient. After the word, the air left his lungs and his heart felt constricted yet at the same time, free. For that one moment, he was whole and then it was gone.

A naughty giggle brought him out the stupor he had found himself in for that moment. “What, what is so funny?” He managed to get out past his desperate lungs. He could hardly hear his own voice past the beating drum that was his heart.

“Well if I was not sure, I certainly am now. You surely are a Roth. Oh, what a great day it is, a new Roth right in this twice damned world. It was a test little Klaus, a test you passed with flying colors.”

“You could have warned me.” Croaked Klaus.

“Yes, I could have.” She then shrugged mischievously. “What would the fun have been in that.” Then she looked at her watch. “Come, our stop is coming up and my people are already waiting for us.”

“What danger am I facing?” Klaus asked, barely starting to get back his full faculties.

The train’s brakes started to screech. “All in due time.” She replied over her shoulder, before making her way over to the exit. The other people in the cart were starting to stir. “Chop, chop little Klaus. I do not like being delayed.”

‘Bitch.’ Thought Klaus, vehemently.

“I heard that.”

“I was hoping you did.”

As soon as the doors opened they were out. She cut a straight path through the many throngs of people. They made way for her, but none of them seemed to see her. It was all he could do to keep up as people jostled and bumped into him, yet around her there seemed to be a bubble that was impenetrable by the multitudes of humans living their daily lives.

‘I need to learn that trick.’ He thought to himself and he was not sure but he could swear he heard a giggle coming from her.

‘I also need to learn how to block you.’

‘Want to get rid of me so quickly, do you? You are breaking my heart little Klaus.’

He wanted to hit her with a witty comeback, but all thought left him as soon as they reached the exit of the train station and saw where they were headed. Four lavish cars stood in wait. One seemed to stretch on forever and the others were large trucks. All in black and looking as ominous as could be. Klaus saw a couple standing and taking selfies with the cars behind them. Looking around, he noticed that they were not the only ones.

A soon as they were noticed more men in suits appeared and opened the doors. Others ushered the crowd away and as if in a dream, Klaus found himself in the lavish car next to her. The door closed and they were off.

He took a second to investigate his surroundings. The car had that smell that only a brand new one could emit. The upholstery was decorated with mostly black but had gold undertones. The paneling looked like some kind of dark wood, smooth to the touch a polished to a shine. A crest in the shape of a gargoyle looking creature, sitting on a three towered castle with wings outstretched and curved downward; almost as if protecting it was predominantly everywhere.

Seeing him looking at it, she commented. “The Dalmora crest, I personally find it a bit ugly and gaudy, but tradition and all that. My great aunt insists that it should be on everything we own. Everything not in the public eye, of course.”

Klaus, for his part hardly heard anything she said. He was too busy gawking at the sheer opulence he was surrounded by. On the other side of them was a large television. Next to it a small fridge with all the main brand beverages. “Who are you?”

“Oh, silly me. I never properly introduced myself. I am Lilith Lacroix Dalmora, at your service.” She gave a slight bow and if Klaus did not know better he would have thought she would curtsey if they were not in the car.

“Lacroix?” Klaus could not help but ask with a bit of trepidation.

“Yes, I would imagine the name is familiar to you. Clarissa is one of us but not quite one of us if you get my meaning. She has shown no sign of awakening so she will never get involved with the Dalmora side of things.”

“She could still awaken?” Klaus, half stated and half asked.

Lilith waved her hand in dismissal. “Not a chance I am afraid, the poor thing is already eighteen and not a lick of our powers resides in her blood.” Seeing his confusion, she continued. “If you don’t awaken before the age of eighteen, you never awaken at all. I myself awoke at the age of thirteen, suppressed it as long as I could, it nearly killed me.” She added, rather seriously.

“Why would you want to suppress it?”

Turning to him, she almost placed her hand on his cheek, but the wary look he gave her made her lower it. “It’s adorable and somewhat vexing how little you know. The older you awaken the more powerful you are, but the harder it is for you to advance.”

‘Advance? Powerful? This is all so much, what have I gotten myself into? What is going to happen to me?’ Klaus knew he was in over his head. Every question answered only brought on more questions, things felt like they were just moving too fast. He felt queasy, overwhelmed, but what scared him the most about it all was his excitement. ‘A chance, no matter how slim to find my mother and hear more about my father. Even if I could just learn a little, it would be worth it. After that, I could still pursue my goals. I can save others from the same fate I had. The same fate Macy and all the others had.

Unbeknownst to Klaus, Lilith was clenching her fists when she heard that thought. She had dropped him off at the orphanage, left the letter and fake birth certificate with his names just as she was instructed. At the time she could not care less. She owed his father a great deal, which was eighteen years to the long life she had lived and will most probably still live.

Yes, she owed him, however, not his son. In fact a part of her was angry at being saddled with the infant. So she had completed his last request to the letter. Nothing more nor less and how she regretted it now. She had watched him grow, watched him struggle as a mortal. For eighteen years she stood watching the little boy grow and go through all his troubles and through all those years she grew to hate herself more and more. Because the light which was vibrant and full of life in the boy, at first, was slowly but surely dying. In the beginning she found the light loathsome, she had failed and lost nearly everything so when the boy failed or lost it would give her a sense of satisfaction.

‘How could I be so callous, so irresponsible. If only I had given a damn before reading his mind.’

She watched him struggle and fight, witnessed his growth and as he did, he also grew on her. The change happened slowly at first, but it truly set in when he was sixteen and she read his mind for the first time. The care and importance he placed on the girl far outshining the care she had ever given anything except herself. She realised light came back to him along with the girl, she gave him something to live for.

Then it happened that fateful day. The booming music, the screeching tires. The bark of their puny weapons as they reaped innocent lives for nothing other than the right to gain access to and extort a tiny street of vendors.

She broke the rules that day and paid dearly for it. Just as Klaus recovered she also needed to. At the time she did not feel anything for Klaus and only saved him out of duty. The rules are absolute and the Secret Worlds bind them to it. If the power she used was not to save then she would most probably be dead.

How loathsome she found herself years later after reading his mind. She had watched him once more with all the light gone except for a simple candle flickering in the wind. It was no surprise then that she was surprised and a little impressed when it rekindled when he found his purpose again.

At first his purpose was unclear, but the more Klaus advanced on his path the more curious she got until she finally read his mind and everything changed. It was a purpose as noble as any. To save others from his fate. To save others from what she had done to him. All she needed to do was a little research in order to find a better place, a safer place. It would forever be her shame and burden to bear, unfortunately, because of her actions… she knew it was also his.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Klaus’ voice broke her rather dark musings and she quickly put on her smile. Seeing that some of the grief at the news of his father had already left him, she felt better herself.

“Just thinking about home, I am sure your presence will come as a surprise.” She did not need to read his thoughts to notice the horror he felt at the prospect, she almost burst out laughing.

“They don’t know we are coming, how long have you been gone? What will they say?” His rapid-fire questions only served to amuse her more and he could see it.

“I am glad you find this amusing because I certainly don’t.” The Lacroix, to Klaus, was not just some family off of the street. In fact, the very city they were in was named after them. When he told Clarissa that they came from different worlds, he meant every word of it.

“Take heart, young Klaus once your identity is known your status will not be any lower than mine and I am an Elder in the family. As for money, we barely have a tenth of your family's estate.”

Klause was flabbergasted for lack of a better word. He wanted to know more but was interrupted when the car suddenly started to speed up.

Looking at Lilith, he saw her frown. ‘Something is up?’

“We are being followed.” She answered his question even though he only thought it.

He turned in his seat to look behind them but could see nothing due to one of the trucks, following them from behind.

“Klaus!” Lilith shouted and threw herself towards him.

He was shocked at the action, but when he looked out of his side window he saw why. A bus, a bright yellow school bus was rocketing towards them. ‘Why a bus.’

Was all he could think before the driver slammed on the brakes and the truck hit them. The driver had been aiming for the back of the car, realizing this- the limo driver slammed on the brakes causing the bus to miss and hit closer to the middle instead.

The sound of screeching and wailing metal filled the street as the car folded around the bus nearly breaking in two. The bus driver was killed instantly on impact.

Klaus, hit his head against the window causing it to crack. It was not the end. The bus pushed the previously pristine limo into oncoming traffic and they were hit once, twice and a third time. The last hit finally serving to break apart the car and separate them from the bus, sending them spinning out of control and onto the sidewalk amongst a sea of sparks as angry metal met asphalt and concrete. They finally came to a stop.

Klaus let out a groggy moan at the pain in his head and right arm. He wanted to move, but his body would not listen so he remained still. He nearly gave in to the sweet darkness that wanted to swallow him whole.

Angry and incessant buzzes refused to let him do so. They bore into his mind and pulled at his faculties. At first, he felt irritated, but then grew alarmed. He had recognized that sound. Gunfire.

With a force of will laced with driving fear, he opened his eyes. What he saw was mundane and an almost everyday thing. The wheels on the bus.