Chapter 19

Spinning the Bottle

Klaus knew that Red Tree Industries was powerful, but he never truly understood what it was capable of. It was when a stoic human guard handed him a cellphone with Pain on the other side that he truly understood.

He had suddenly come to understand what he held in his hands. He had also come to understand that the demons were a double-edged sword. He had changed yes, but that did not mean he could live with committing a massacre.

He wondered how many people would have died if he did not convince Pain not to bomb half of the world. He still had the goal of changing the lives of many children like him- children who were suffering and hurting under the creul whims of others. So it came as a large shock to him that Pain was planning on turning many children into orphans.

As he sat there drum stick in one hand and the phone in the other, he thought of the speech he had given. How he believed that it would be his only opportunity to reach the future leaders of the world or at least the leaders of the country he was in, Now he was one of them- If not the biggest.

He knew he could not save the world. 'I don't have all the answers and I cant save all the people in the world, but if I can just spare one kid from going through what I had to- it would be worth it.'

He took another bite of his drumstick while Klaus contemplated. His thoughts drifted to what happened and how he had nearly died. How Liz was nearly killed for simply being associated with him and a familiar fire started to burn in his veins.

'The Roth will pay.'

Chanelle was taken away to be kept under guard- a hostage of sorts. Klaus did not know what she would be worth, but he had received word that a Roth elder was coming to see him. He just did not know when.

A smell of lavender mixed with something else caught his attention and broke his train of thought. A moment of waiting rewarded his senses with the sight of the one responsible for it.

The stern and tight look on Klaus' face turned into a smile when Liz stepped through a door leading to his room.

She had clearly taken a shower and changed into pajamas. Something which drew his eyes to her like moths to a flame and her buxom and curvy build served as a very bright fire.

Her pajamas consisted of thrilly pink shorts that reached the middle of her thighs. With a matching top that left her surprising flat and toned belly open. 'It makes her look sexy and innocent all at the same time. That does not even make sense.'

He watched her silently as she came closer, her gait was even and unhurried. Klaus did notice that her shoulders were a little slumped and when he tried to look at her eyes she did not want to make eye contact.

'Is something bothering her?'

The young woman stopped at a respectable distance and just stood there for a moment.

'Maybe its because of the state I am in?'

Klaus looked down at himself. His chest had one of those large plasters on to cover his wound while the rest of him was covered in a smattering of food stains and specks of blood. He knew he had grease on his lips from all the meat he had devoured.

When he first started to eat- it was desperate and hurried so there was no time for manners. The hunger he felt was hard to explain.

He put down the drumstick in his hand and to his horror noticed all the plates and myriad of dishes and cutlery, which he had mostly ignored in favor of just eating as much as he could.

'Nothing I can do about it now.' He thought before clearing his throat to break the awkward silence.

"I am sorry for the state I am in. I don't know why this happened-"

Liz suddenly took a step forward and held her hands out as if to calm a wild horse. "No, no please don't be. I am happy for this, whatever this is." She said gesturing in Klaus' general direction,

Her head lowered and Klaus noticed that her hair was done up in a bun. She played with her hands like a nervous child would after being told to go wait in their room for their scolding.

"I am the one that should apologize. My power was useless tonight."

She finally mumbled out.

Klaus smiled. "Are you kidding me. You basically saved my life. The way you handled the situation and the guns." Klaus felt himself blushing and then took a deep breath before saying. "You were amazing Liz. Thank you."

She looked up and gave Klaus the brightest smile he had ever seen. She looked around for a moment and then took a tentative step forward.

Seeing her intention, Klaus cleared away some of the plates by stacking them on each other. He felt very self-conscious but figured she had already seen him in this state and maybe even worse- when he just started eating.

She sat down and to his surprise took a drumstick from the pile in front of him before taking a dainty bite. She closed her eyes in appreciation.

"Yeah, the food here is pretty good," Klaus said with a smile and appreciation of his own. Her actions made him feel less self-conscious.

The two started to chat animatedly.

Not far from the hotel five unmarked black SUVs were speeding towards where the party took place. In the SUV situated in the middle of the convoy, sat two very angry Roth and a self-satisfied Lilith.

She knew that she held all the cards now or rather that Pain did. Her plan was to join a veteran group from the Roth side to go into the Secret Worlds again. There was a specific world she wanted to go to though and she was trying to convince the others of the merit to go there when James' son pulled his stunt.

She was not a fool and knew they could not be trusted, however, now that Pain had shown what backing she had- she felt like she had less to fear.

They soon arrived and guards poured out of the SUVs and surrounded the place to make sure it was safe before they were given the go-ahead to get out. It was not a surprise to find that most of the guests had left already.

Meribeth was bristling with anger when they made their way through the reception area and past a fountain. A boy lying passed out half in and half out did not improve her mood.

She turned to James with dangerously narrowed eyes that promised violence before pointing at the boy. "It is clear to me that you have raised a savage."

James wanted to object, but it was already a lost cause- he only hoped that his son was in a better state.

His hope proved to be a false one a moment later.

Lilith saw a blonde boy without a shirt on stage making out with a girl she did not recognize while other teens in various states of undress were shouting encouragement from below. She did recognize Elise who was sitting at the table and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the girl still had all her clothes on.

'She is looking rather sullen. I wonder what happened?' Lilith found herself thinking.

In the middle of the table, they were all sitting around Lilith saw an empty bottle and everything else started to make sense. 'These idiots are playing spin the bottle.'

For a moment Meribeth just stood there while taking it all in. Lilith took a few steps back since the other woman seemed like she was just about to have an aneurism from the way a vein was pounding at her temple. Her face was red and her hands in tightly clenched fists.

When she spoke it was through clenched teeth. "James go and retrieve your offspring."

James looked just like Meribeth if not worse.

The teens realized too late that they were there. Lilith saw the realization grow in their eyes. A short mousy boy tapped the shoulder of one next to him and then pointed without a word. The other looked and Lilith could almost see the drunkenness evaporate right out of him.

James reached the stage and his son's eyes grew into saucers, but before the boy could say a word. James slapped him.

It was hard and fast with all the supernatural strength James could muster into it. Lilith mused about it and would again. The angle was perfect. The impact, sublime. The sound of it was able to be heard even over the loud booming music which came to a stop right after.

The boy's feet swept to the right while his head rocketed to the left. Lilith thought the boy would do a full cartwheel before crashing to the ground but instead the podium the little Roth crashed into, got in the way.

With the crash and sprawled out Roth boy everything else came to a stuttering halt.

Elise took the chance while everyone was focused on what was happening to slip the Necklace from Rohit's neck. Her aunt had told her to wait until they reached the Secret Worlds, but the girl had judged by his groping hands and incessant kisses that she would not survive until then and neither would her virginity. He had asked her more than once if they could get a room somewhere.

So she had allowed his groping while making sure his glass was full all the time. It was no surprise that Rohit was passed out at the table as a result, but everyone had exchanged contact information and she did not want to risk taking the necklace with even a slim chance of someone noticing.

Someone did, however. Her aunt whom she thought she would never see again brushed against her mind. The familiar feeling brought her hands to a standstill and her head whipped around. For a moment Elise wanted to sprint into her arms but then she remembered everything that happened.

Lilith made her way closer to the table of the now panicking and dumbstruck teens and spoke directly into her mind.

"Who is this?"

Elise looked at Rohit. He was face-planted into a bowl of peanuts and drooling. "My fiance, Rohit Jambavana."

Lilith just nodded as if understanding, but in truth, she did not. 'Do I even want to understand?'

Elise spoke into Lilith's mind. "Aunt, please tell Klaus that I am sorry. It wasn't me that gave the idiot on stage the information about the demons. It was Rohit."

With the words, Elise sent memories of what happened and opened up her mind so Lilith could see the truth.

Lilith found herself feeling for the girl so she thought she would give her a warning. "I will tell him, but Elise you have more than that to worry about." With her words, Lilith sent everything that happened to her and why they were there through her mind.

Elise closed her eyes and then looked at the stage. Where James had just slung his now unconscious and possibly dead son over his shoulder. "What do I do?"

The question was not pointed at Lilith but the desperation the girl felt bled through. Lilith wanted to help but knew it was too late. Klaus would never trust her niece. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder before saying only one word along with all the determination and strength she could muster into it.

"Survive."

Elise wanted to say something but Lilith broke the connection and her mind blocked her out.

Meribeth stepped forward and spoke in a commanding tone, her face was filled with disgust at the sight in front of her. "All of you go home and be assured that your families will hear of this, barbaric behavior."

Just like that the adults took their leave and the teens were left on their own again. The mousy boy who was now soberer than when he arrived plonked down into his chair while grabbing his shirt. "Well, this sucks."

Elise looked down at Rohit. The one word her aunt said playing in her mind. 'Survive.'

She took a deep breath and then gave the most dazzling smile she could muster. "Can someone help me get this one to our room."

More than a few boys were willing to help.

Klaus and Liz were chatting all the while. They had become considerably closer after the event and the talking only helped. His new phone started to ring and he answered after hesitating a moment when he saw who it was.

"Young Master, I realize you are very busy at the moment but please prepare to receive some, troublesome vermin"

Klaus sighed while thinking. 'I thought I would get some sleep, guess that was just wishful thinking.'

"Who is it?" He asked exasperated and a little irritated.

"The Roth are coming to see you, I suggest the Young Master makes them beg and grovel for forgiveness. Maybe set a trap and kill them outright, it would be poetic in a sense."

Klaus snorted. "I need to make you do that first."

Klaus could almost hear Pain's skin stretch with a wretched smile. "I look forward to when the Young Master tries to accomplish this. I would view it as my greatest accomplishment were you to succeed."

Liz watched as Klaus grit his teeth. 'He is taunting me.'

After a long silence Pain spoke again. "Don't dally, Young Master and remember I expect to hear great things."

The phone died and Klaus sat looking at it for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm down.

He then turned to Liz. "We need to get ready."

She tilted her head in question while nibbling on a drumstick.

Klaus smiled at the sight while willing himself to stand which sent spikes of pain through his chest.

Liz made an effort to help steady Klaus. It was impossible due to his weight, but the thought counted,

He slowly, very slowly got down from the bed. "The Roth are coming."

She simply nodded while looking at him in concern. "Do you need help to get to the bathroom?"

"No I think I can-" He took one step without her support and grimaced in pain. "Yep, uh I definitely need help."

She laughed while getting under his arm. He had no doubt that his weight would crush her. 'It's the thought that counts.'

Her close proximity enhanced the soapy lavender scent. He started to feel excited and berated himself. 'Half dead and here I am thinking of other things.'

It still did not stop him from saying something uncharacteristic of him. Klaus smiled and commented. "There is no way I am letting you wash me though."

She blushed at his words. "Who said anything about that!"

When they got to the bathroom Klaus saw something familiar that filled his heart with fright and trepidation. Liz noticed a subtle shiver run through Klaus' body but thought it was due to the pain he was feeling.

Klaus' eyes were fixed on the familiar model of the shower. 'There is no way I am picking the full experience no matter how it taunts me.'

Meribeth clicked her tongue when she spotted the large red tree on the side of the hotel. No matter where in this world she went the tree was always visible somewhere. It was in advertisements, drinks, restuarants, grocers, appliance stores every possible thing that could be sold and bought Red Tree Industries had a hand in. They were everywhere. It was an afront to her and her family but there was nothing she could do about it.

She had grown complacent and she knew it. Confidence in the power they wielded blinded her but the one called Pain had torn down any sense or thought that they were untouchable in mere minutes.

She was calm on the outside but inside she was a nervous bubbling mess of insecurity and dread. Their lives and livelihood depended on the whims of a boy not even twenty. One which her nephew had tried to have killed. It was a scary thought.

Lilith felt excitement. She missed Klaus every second she was away from him. She had watched him for eighteen years. Eighteen years of always being by his side only to suddenly have that taken away due to duty or whatever she felt towards the group that had gone with her the last time she was in the Secret Worlds. Some of them betrayed her yes. The man she loved being the biggest culprit, but others stood by her to the very end.

She was curious to see how he would handle this and she had decided that no matter what he chose. He would have her support. She knew him better than most, they had melded their minds and she understood him like no other. It filled her with a sense of pride and dread. She knew that if he were to make hard decisions it would eat at his conscience.

When they arrived the reception was not friendly. One of the two demons assigned to protect them glared at the Roths as soon as they got out.

'Silence was his name.' Thought Lilith. 'He had always appeared to be the most stable but looking at him now she found herself doubting. The demon was pacing behind armed guards while looking at them. It reminded her of how a predator would pace behind a cage when it could not get to its prey.

'Are the guards here for the Roth or to keep Silence in check?'

The thought drifted away when a commotion broke out at the door. She saw another demon there dressed in a proper maid outfit. Pride.

She was looking at the bristling Meribeth with what Lilith could only describe as boredom.

"How are we supposed to trust you if we cannot even take our guards inside." Asked James.

For the first time, Lilith saw Pride smile. "I don't care, we don't care. You are nothing. The fallen are less than these humans you look down on. You are a waste of the proud bloodline and no better than the oathbreakers of old. Still your tongue and accept your place or leave and wait for us to hunt you down like the dogs you are."

Her voice was even while she spoke. Like describing the weather or how to cook something, but the threat was tangible in the air.

Lilith stepped forward and Pride gave her a proper ladylike courtesy before standing to the side to let her pass. Lilith was surpised since the demon had never done that before.

After walking past and seeing the faces of the Roth she understood why Pride did it. 'Its all to get under their skin.'

She turned to Silence who was still pacing and spoke into his mind. "Where is our charge?"

Silence came to a stop and seemed to see her for the first time. He then looked up. Lilith got the gist of it.

Lilith made her way to the elevator where another guard stood. "Please take me to Klaus."

The man like the other guards was decked out in full combat kit, his face hidden behind a balaclava. He spoke into a mic for a moment and then pressed a button that would take them not to the penthouse like she expected but rather somewhere in the middle of the building.

'Makes sense, people would expect Klaus to be in the penthouse.'

When they reached the floor Lilith had unconsciously spread her mind's awareness through the whole building. She found his alien mind almost instantly and connected. They flowed into each other instantly while her steps grew in haste outpacing the guard which was supposed to guide her.

They shared their experiences in but an instant and by the time she reached the door leading to his room nothing needed to be said.

She burst in through the door and went right into Klaus' arms. He smelled of soap and the strange musk unique to him. She took a deep breath of him while he did the same with her.

For a moment they were content until she felt the speckles of reds lacing through his mind. It was pain, she followed it to the source and found it. She was hurting him through the hug, but he did not complain or say a word.

She loosened the hug and the specks faded to a slow throb with his every heartbeat.

He was the first to speak and with his words the feeling in them pulsed into her. It made her smile. "I missed you."

"I missed you too", she said while taking a small step back to have a good look at him.

His eyes were as strange as ever. Her eyes glided down his face to his chin and finally his chest which had become more buff since she last saw him.

She placed her hand over the wound and said in barely a whisper. "I nearly lost you."

Klaus was overwhelmed by the pinks and reds of love and care that flowed with the words.

Yellows of joy burst in his mind and before he knew what he was doing. His hand was on her chin to lift her head so she could look at him. Behind the yellow rose a sun of red in her mind and their lips met.

Lilith's mind exploded. Uncertainty, lust, shame, confusion all warring to take precedence.

Klaus saw it all but she needed to articulate to say something anything. 'This is madness, I am so much older.'

'You are perfect he thought back.' In his mind, she truly saw that he believed it.

'I left you there at that horrible place!' Images of the orphanage showed in her mind.

'You gave me a chance at life.' A young Klaus stood on a sidewalk, everyone around him dead.

She finally let the weight of what she had done sink to the back of her mind. and sank into him, into the kiss.

She felt him lift her up easily as one would lift a child. The pain it caused Klaus was nothing to laugh at, but Pain had done worse.

Lilith sent him feelings of concern about it but he brushed it aside. Purples of lust overwhelming everything.

She managed to pull away just as he laid her gently on the now neatly made-up bed he had been on earlier.

"You have guests." She said through a haze as she licked her lips tasting him on them.

"Fuck em." Was his quick reply and they kissed once more.

The bed shook as Klaus fell next to her. A bottle of disinfectant left by the doctors fell from the bedside table due to the commotion. It bounced once and span before coming to rest while pointing at them.