#my dad thinks dying hair is objectively terrible and makeup is okay

[justatiredghost]

Unsolved Academy Ch6

It’s time for Klaus and Dave to film the next episode of their ghost hunting show! Unfortunately, there are some unforeseen consequences waiting for them. - Both Vanya and Ben were filming today; they were working on their editing, trying to make things more dynamic or whatever, Klaus wasn’t really sure. He wasn’t very involved with that part of the process, he was mostly in charge of the social media side of things and let Dave and Ben and sometimes Vanya take care of the editing.

“Okay, let’s get this party started!” Klaus said, punching the air in his excitement.

This was promising to be a great episode and he couldn’t wait to get going. They took their positions in front of the old building and the moment Ben gave the signal that they were ready, Dave launched into the introduction.

“Hey everyone, we’re back with a brand new episode. Sorry we took such a long break there, but we have a special treat for you all. Today we are joined by two famous actresses! Welcome, Allison and Claire Hargreeves, so glad you could join us today.”

“It’s a pleasure to be here, thank you for having us,” Allison said with a radiant smile.

“I’m not famous,” Claire objected.

“Yet,” Dave said. “So! Tell us what we’ve got here, Miss Hargreeves. Allison,” he clarified.

“Well, this old abandoned office building behind us has had a surprisingly dark history. Even after it’s closing there have been rumors of ghost sightings. That’s why it was chosen for the location of our new movie.”

“Ghosts Like Us, a lovely romcom starring our very own Allison Hargreeves,” Dave said. “I can’t wait to see it!”

And I’m not just saying that because I’m dating your brother.”

“Well thank you,” Allison laughed.

“Seriously, he’s a big fan,” Klaus said.

“One of the first things I did when I got here was marathon all of your movies,” Dave said.

“And we’re definitely going to have a watch party when this one comes out,” Klaus added.

“Oh, god,” Allison said with an embarrassed laugh.

“But back to the task at hand,” Klaus leaned down, resting his hands on his knees so he was closer to Claire’s level. “Claire! I heard you’ve been allowed to wander around the set. Have you seen anything strange?”

“I don’t think so,” Claire said doubtfully. “I think I saw a ghost in the basement while I was exploring when I wasn’t supposed to be.” Looking guilty, she glanced over at Allison but avoided eye contact. “But that might have just been one of the actors in makeup, I’m not sure because mom was calling me and I had to go. And it’s creepy down there.”

“Here’s hoping we get to see whoever it was again tonight,” Klaus said. “Now, I know Dave here, giant nerd that he is, usually gives the rundown of the history of the building, but since this one’s yours, why don’t you go ahead, Allison.”

“I’d be happy to,” she said. “Like I mentioned, it used to be an office building, but freak accidents kept happening, people getting hurt or dying. I mean, it’s an office building, it shouldn’t have been that dangerous.”

“So we’re thinking a curse, ghosts, or OSHA violations?” Dave asked.

“Exactly,” Allison laughed. “No one was arrested, but I’m not sure that really means much. Regardless, enough people died that the company had to close up shop. Several other businesses have moved in over the years, but they all eventually moved out after suffering high casualties as well. None of them ever made it a full year.”

“Well, seems like there’s certainly plenty of reasons for the place to be haunted,” Dave said.

“That’s for sure. The story goes that the main ghost spotted here is that of a repairman who died when the basement collapsed in on him. They didn’t find his body for weeks. He’s said to slam doors and push people down stairs”

“Great, well, let’s go piss off a ghost! Maybe if we’re really lucky we’ll get him to chuck us down a few stairways!” Klaus said, throwing his arms in the air.

“Cut,” Ben said. “Great job everyone. Especially you, Claire.”

“I did okay?” Claire asked.

“You bet you did,” Klaus said. “Are you trying to steal the spotlight?”

“Maybe,” she replied

“That’s my girl,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Come on, I think Uncle Diego is here to pick you up, I’ll give you a piggyback ride to his car.”

“Aw, can’t I stay?” she asked.

“Sorry, honey, it’s getting late and it’s a school night,” Allison said.

She seemed disappointed, but was giggling again by the time Klaus ran her over to her ride.

-

“Now, there’s a lot of filming equipment and props already set up, but check this out, this was here when we first arrived.” Allison pointed out a large bulletin board as they entered, filled with notices and flyers.

“Hell yeah, Taco Tuesday!” Klaus said.

“Oh nice,” Dave said, looking over his shoulder. “Any chance we can get in on that? Although I guess the business putting it on is probably long gone.”

“Unless you want ghost tacos. Probably not that appetizing.”

“No not that,” Allison said with a long suffering sigh. “That.”

Above the lunch schedule was a notice with ‘Warning’ written at the top in large red letters.

“‘The owners of this property are not liable for any injuries or damages that occur after business hours’,” Dave read.

“Is that even legal?” Klaus asked.

“Aw man,” Dave said. “That ‘s gonna make it kinda hard for us to sue them if we get killed.”

-

Allison was amazing at this, full of energy and enthusiasm, weaving stories, the three of them able to play off of each other with ease. Klaus had no doubt this would be one of their more popular episodes and he was having a blast. They could definitely learn a thing or two from her and he made a mental note to talk to her about lessons or something later. If nothing else maybe she could recommend some improv classes. Maybe even get them a much needed discount.

“Hey, thank you for this by the way,” Klaus said during a lull as they swapped out the batteries in the equipment.

“It’s nothing, really,” she said, waving a hand. “It didn’t even take any convincing on the producer’s part. She seemed pretty excited about the whole idea. Maybe because I let Claire do the asking.”

“Ooh, roping your daughter into doing your dirty work, hmm?”

“Oh not at all, this was all her idea!” Allison said proudly

“Wait, really?”

“Of course! She is a big fan, after all. I should be thanking you guys though, this has been a lot of fun.”

“We’re glad to have you,” he said, hand on her arm, glad that they were getting the chance to be closer after all these years. He’d missed what they used to have.

-

“Down this way is the basement,” Allison said, leading the way. “Apparently police have already searched but some stories insist there are still bodies from missing employees buried under here.”

The dark was a familiar thing to Klaus. Of course it was, his dad had locked him in enough mausoleums over the years that it was pretty much a home away from home. He was getting better, though, now that he actually had the support system for it, working on how to deal with the fears and the nightmares instead of just trying to force himself to endure until the panic attacks kicked in. Sure, he still slept with a nightlight on, but that was part of the point, getting to choose for himself when he faced it.

He still hated the dark and he probably always would. And as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he hated it more than usual. He was just hit with too much, too fast. It was dark, so dark, and the air was filled with the smell of mildew, damp and thick. It brought with it memories, clawing hands grasping at him, voices begging and screaming. He’d apparently never be free of his nightmares of graveyards.

But there was more. The mold and the dark, the low ceiling and the walls that seemed to push in on him made him feel like he was trapped in a tiny motel room again, shoved into a closet for hours, tortured and tortured until he could barely remember what it was to be anywhere else. He staggered back, overwhelmed, and almost bumping into Vanya. Dave was at his side almost immediately, steadying him.

“Woah, woah, hey,” Dave said, rubbing his arm soothingly. “You okay?”

Klaus looked  to Vanya and somehow she looked the way he felt. He had done his best not to think about the little box Luther had locked her inside, it was too terrible to even imagine. How many days, how many weeks had she spent trapped in there when they were children, with nothing but the sound of her own heartbeat?

“Vanya?” Dave asked, spotting her expression as well. He glanced between the two of them, obviously concerned.

“I think you guys can handle this bit without us, right?” Klaus said.

He didn’t want to pull out of Dave’s warm and comforting arms, but he couldn’t leave Vanya like this either, so he took her hand and led her back up the stairs, back into the light. They’d been in musty places before, of course they had, it was practically their job now, so Klaus wasn’t really sure why this out of all the places they’d visited was the one that did it. Maybe it was just too much all at once.

It was probably the same for Vanya. She had a strong stomach, so few things bothered her and as far as he knew, she wasn’t all that claustrophobic. Klaus was angry with himself that this was getting to him so badly, and no doubt she felt the same. She held the camera tight against her chest and Klaus stretched in the newfound freedom of the wide hallway, breathing deeply as the others filed back up the stairs behind them. Allison went to Vanya, but she waved her away with an embarrassed smile

“Hey,” Dave said, rubbing Klaus’ back and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“We’re fine, all good,” Klaus said, leaning against him briefly. “Why don’t you guys just film this bit without us?”

“Are you sure?” Dave asked, looking between the two of them. “We can stay here for a bit, or we don’t even have to do the basement, we can just do the rest of the building.”

“We’ll be fine,” Vanya said, mustering up a reassuring smile.

“See?” Klaus said. “Now off you go, you have an episode to film.”

“Okay,” Dave said, popping his collar and turning to the others. “Let’s go get this ghost. Punk won’t know what hit him.”

“Punk?” Klaus echoed, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, Claire is gonna  be watching this episode. I’m trying to keep things PG.”

“Right,” Klaus said with a fond smile as he straightened Dave’s collar, folding it back down, before giving him a gentle shove in the direction of the basement. “Just go already.”

He knew Dave was being silly on purpose, trying to make him and Vanya smile and Klaus loved him for it. He had the same impulse, to make others laugh when they were upset. Having someone else do that for him instead, knowing Dave would always make sure he was able to smile, meant more to him than he thought it could and he probably had a ridiculous grin on his face as he watched him leave.

“I appreciate the thought,” Allison said to Dave with a laugh as they headed downstairs.

Vanya slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor so Klaus dropped down beside her. He let out a heavy sigh, resting his head back against the wall. Thankfully he hadn’t had a full blown panic attack, but he still felt rattled. He just focused on his breathing, trying to calm his pounding heart.

“Thank you,” Vanya said, voice small.

“No sweat,” he replied, flashing her a smile. “I don’t really like dark, cramped places either. With how often we were locked up, I’m starting to wonder if dad had some sort of obsession.”

“Wait, you were locked up too?” she asked, horrified.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, glancing away and waving a hand dismissively. “You know dad, it was no big deal.”

Klaus had a problem with not talking about things. He had never seen much of a point, everyone had their own problems they were dealing with, they didn’t need Klaus’ on top of that. So instead he’d always just made jokes, exaggerated and tried to make people laugh. In the end, people stopped believing anything he said. Even on the few occasions he truly did go to them for help. At some point he just gave up trying, assuming none of them would care. Except maybe Ben.

Dave cared, though, and he wouldn’t let him do that. Klaus was getting better at not just trying to hide it all away, but that didn’t mean he was as open with the rest of his family. That was a much longer work in progress, there were still too many bridges to rebuild there. Besides, he still didn’t know how much he should share, it still felt like they probably didn’t want to know. .

“Knowing dad, I kinda doubt that,” Vanya said, leaning over to bump against his shoulder. He smiled at her, grateful. “Did he build a box for you too?”

“Nah, it was a crypt for me,” he said.

“What the fuck,” Vanya whispered.

“It was only overnight. You got kept in your little prison for weeks, right?”

“Still fucked up,” she said.

“That’s fair,” he said, climbing back to this feet to stretch. “Thankfully, he’s dead now so we can leave whenever we want.”

“What, you want to go get ice cream again?” she chuckled.

“Unfortunately I’m on the clock, you can take me out next time.”

“Deal,” she said, standing to join him when they heard the others approaching.

They were laughing and talking as they climbed the stairs and Klaus couldn’t help but smile. Once he once might have felt left out but right now more than anything he was glad they were all getting along. Knowing he actually had a place and wasn’t going to get abandoned helped too. He knew Dave and Ben especially would never do that to him. He had a place here, and people who cared about him.

-

“Overall that was a pretty uneventful night,” Klaus said, stretching.

“Yeah, did you even see any ghosts?” Dave asked.

“Well,” Klaus glanced over at the only ghost in the room. He was standing around awkwardly, face an unpleasant blue. “No historical ghosts, but there is a guy who died out back choking on a sandwich.”

“A sandwich? Well that’s not ideal,” Dave said.

“It would have been nice to see a ghost that could confirm the stories but I think we still got a pretty good episode,” Allison said.

“It’s almost time for us to get out of here,” Vanya said. “Shall we get packed up and head out?

“Roger that,” Dave said, giving a solute.

They all started grabbing bags and equipment, carrying it outside to the car. Dave ran up to Klaus before he could do the same, hand on his arm to get his attention.

“What’s up?” Klaus asked.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, all good,” he said with a smile and was surprised to realize that he meant it. He brought his hands up to rest on Dave’s shoulders, always seeking to physically reassure, for both of their sakes. Sometimes these things could take a day or so to really hit him, and he supposed that was still possible, but he really did feel okay right now.

“What was it?” Dave asked.

“Just-- all of the basement,” Klaus said gestured broadly. “I didn’t realize the mustiness would get to me so badly. I guess that’s what happens when you’re tortured in a shitty motel.”

“Oh, love,” Dave said, pain in his voice as he cupped Klaus’ face, thumb brushing across his cheek.

“I’m fine, really,” he said, leaning into the touch before placing a quick kiss to Dave’s lips.

“I wish I could take your nightmares, you have too many,” Dave said.

“No way I’d let that happen,” Klaus scoffed. “You already have plenty of your own.”

“Fair enough,” Dave laughed.

-

It was a little sad, having to say goodbye to Allison and Vanya. It was one of those nights Klaus just didn’t want to end. He waved as they drove away, putting his arm around Dave as he leaned into him.

“Hey, we should go get breakfast,” Klaus said.

“Is it breakfast or dinner at this point?” Dave asked. “Either way, I could eat.”

“Oh, shoot,” Ben said, counting bags in the trunk of their car. “I think I left a mic upstairs. Hang on, I’ll only be a sec.” He sprinted off towards the house.

“Aw, he took the keys with him,” Klaus said as he tried the door. They leaned back against the car together, hand in hand as they waited. Dave leaned over and kissed his shoulder.

That’s when Klaus saw it; a familiar figure crawling across the grass towards him, leaving a trail of blood, most of his face missing as he screamed in agony.

“No,” Klaus said, flinching into Dave as he averted his eyes. “I didn’t summon you, how are you here?”

“What is it?” Dave asked, wrapping an arm securely around him.

Klaus wanted to fold himself into those \arms and disappear, but the screaming was loud, too loud, it was everywhere. It went beyond sound, in his very skull. It shouldn’t be like this anymore. Normally if Klaus poured enough of himself into a ghost it became more solid, more human as they regained awareness, but something was wrong, it felt too terrified, too frantic. How--

No, it couldn’t be. His grip on Dave tightened and he felt frozen to his very core.

“Dave, I think-- I think we’re in trouble.”

“What?” Dave said, looking around quickly and Klaus could see him slip back into the role of the soldier, assessing the situation, looking for cover. He knew Dave hated that that still happened on occasion, they both wanted to forget their time in the military, but right now Klaus was grateful for it.

“The ghost from the crime scene is here, but there’s no reason for him to be. Unless the person he’s attached to is also here.”

“I thought he’d been attached to a location?”

“That must have changed somehow. Unless buildings have suddenly learned to move, in which case I think we have much bigger problems,” Klaus said, unable to stop himself from falling back on jokes.

“Does that mean his killer is here?” Dave asked, horrified. “But why? How?”

“I don’t know, maybe they somehow found out that we talked to the cops and followed us? Ohhh wait, shit,” Klaus said, smacking himself on the forehead. “I may have kinda sorta accidentally talked about it on our blog.”

“Really?” Dave said, but he looked impressed instead of angry. “You’ve been doing great with that, by the way.”

“What can I say, I’m a natural when it comes to social media,” Klaus said although he didn’t feel proud at all. “The people love me. But right now we should probably get out of here”

“Come on,” Dave said, turning back towards the house. “We should probably go find Be--”

As Dave reached the back of the car, a figure stepped out from behind it, swinging a crowbar. Dave tried to dodge, but it came in too fast, clipping the side of his head with a sickening  thud. Klaus’ blood ran cold in horror as he watched Dave smack into the side of the car and crumple to the ground. He could feel bile rising in the back of his throat, sick with dread. No no please, his mind screamed, he couldn’t lose him, not again.

He screamed Dave’s name and made to scramble to his side, but the stranger was faster. He stepped over Dave, standing between them, as he raised a gun to point at Klaus. He was a large man, wearing all black and even had on a balaclava which would have made Klaus laugh if the circumstances had been different. Right now, though, he needed to act. He reminded himself that he was the target. If Dave was still alive, he might just be able to get away so long as Klaus could provide enough of a distraction.

“Don’t even think about running,” the murderer said, apparently reading his mind.

Without even waiting for a reply, he fired the gun. Pain shot through Klaus’ leg as he stumbled to the ground, a snarl on his lips. He tried to focus, to find something he could use to his advantage. And then he spotted Dave moving, quietly and carefully dragging himself to his feet. He was alive! Klaus tried not to let the relief show on his face as he stared down his attacker.

“You’re the idiot who almost got me caught?” the masked man said with a laugh.

“Normally people at least have the decency to be impressed by the whole talking-to-ghosts thing,” Klaus said, hoping to keep him talking, keep him occupied.

“Pathetic,” the man said. “Well, as much as I’d love to make this nice and slow and painful--”

As he took aim, preparing to fire again, Dave launched himself at the killer, knocking the gun to the side just as it went off, firing a shot into the grass only a few feet from Klaus. Dave was bleeding from a wound along the side of his skull and he was obviously unsteady on his feet, leaning into the killer as they grappled for the gun and Klaus knew they only had a matter of seconds before this went south.

He could try to hobble over there and help, but what if he didn’t make it in time? Or what if the two of them weren’t able to overpower the murderer? Movement caught his eye and he spotted the ghost of the victim still there, hovering just behind them, hand reaching through his murderer as if he was trying to help and Klaus knew exactly what to do.

Acting fast, he channeled every ounce of energy he could into that ghost. It practically fell forward onto the killer, blood pouring from the missing section of his skull, a horrible grin on what was left of his face, his jaw only half attached. The murderer gasped in horror and headbutted Dave who collapsed immediately, stunned. Now that he had the gun free, the murderer turned it on the ghost, firing shot after shot into it. The ghost didn’t even flinch. He was already dead, what was that supposed to do? He just laughed, a horrible gurgling sound.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Klaus lurched to his feet and scrambled forward. He might hate fighting more than anything else, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t good at it. He grabbed the murderer’s wrist that was holding the gun and jabbed him in the throat with his free hand. As he doubled over, Klaus twisted the man’s wrist and managed to rip the gun free, sending it flying out of his hand and well out of reach. The murderer stumbled back, gasping and choking.

And then he drew a second gun from his coat.

You have got to be kidding me, Klaus thought.

Before he could even take aim with the new gun, the murderer was ripped off his feet, pulled backwards and up into the air. Klaus, Dave, and the ghost all looked up to see Ben’s monsters rip the murderer apart, raining bits of blood and gore all around. Klaus had already seen this happen too many times before and took the opportunity to kneel beside Dave, helping support him and checking his injury. Just as quickly as they appeared, the monsters receded back into Ben who immediately ran to their side.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked, breathing heavily.

“Wow,” Dave said in awe. “That,” he pointed at half of the corpse of the killer lying nearby, “is gross. But that,” he pointed at Ben, “was fucking awesome! You have got to teach me that sometime.”

-

(Next chapter)

#klaus hargreeves #dave katz #umbrella academy #the umbrella academy #klave #unsolved academy #fanfic #my fic