Behind the young blond, Jake came running to the door, crashing into the frame with a loud bang.
“ERICK! WHAT THE-”.
The blow caused the wall to shake, Cloud felt the blow from his cousin, grimacing in pain. Jake took a couple of steps back and held his head, dizzy, with blurred vision and embarrassed. Klaus slowed down to check on his beloved.
“Jaky, are you okay?”.
“Ugh… my powers are… a little misaligned”.
The young man’s eyes trembled from side to side, in the rush of his worry he had forgotten to take a moment to activate his abilities in the organs that needed it. His eye muscles were weak from birth, as was his visual ability, if he had not been born with holy powers, if he had not been a nephilim, he would be legally and practically blind. Likewise, his sense of balance was unstable.
After a few seconds of concentration, he managed to reorganize his senses, uncovered his face, and turned to look at his boy.
“There. Whatever. Erick, what’s the pro- OH” as he looked at the boy’s shoulder it began to shake again, a phenomenon Jake and Cloud were familiar with.
“WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?”
At the center of the movement on his right shoulder was his birthmark, a pink, three-pointed crown, glowing.
Recognizing the situation, Jake turned around and began to plan how to deal with the emergency.
“Wait here. I’ll call my boss to tell him I won’t be in today.”
Klaus peeked into the room, Cloud gave him a look of contempt, he saw the state of his child and stopped Jake, gently touching his wrist.
“No need, I'm already here. I'll take care of it.”
Feeling the weight lift from his shoulders Jake adopted a more relaxed attitude, yawning as he continued walking towards his room.
“Fine, I'll go take a shower then.”
Cloud peeked through the door into the hallway, making the vampire step back to give him space.
“Wait Jake. Yesterday I think some of our luggage was left in the car of one of your colleagues” his cousin raised an eyebrow “Could we go with you or…”.
Cloud went back into the room, a few murmurs were heard and he peeked again a few seconds later.
“Cloe says the officer's name was Arles.”
“Why didn't you tell me you were coming?” Jake was irritated by the hectic start to his day.
He lifted back his silver hair from his forehead, to see the young blond more clearly.
“My mother deleted your number” Cloud turned his gaze denoting his lie “Besides…” the truth came out on its own “If you had realized what I was planning you would have stopped me”.
The comment left the older cousin dismayed, what Cloud had said surely meant trouble for Klaus and him. He frowned, suspecting the intentions of his cousin who expressed himself nervously.
“Why would I stop you?” Silence “Cloud?...”
Inside the room while they were talking, Cloe approached Erick to give him a couple of shocks directly on his shoulder; the little boy let her, the sensation of the area becoming a little numb, giving him some relief. Klaus supervised the four, taking his eyes from his child to his beloved.
Cloud muttered incomprehensible words between his teeth. Jake stood in front of him, waiting for a clear and honest answer. Seeing his older cousin's attitude, Cloud tried to soften his words with a big smile and a cheerful voice.
“The truth is that… Cloe and I came here to live with you from now on.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY?” both the vampire and the nephilim answered him in a cold voice. Cloud ignored the first to continue focusing on convincing the second.
“It's just that… listen-”.
“NO. You listen. What will happen when Aunt Claire or our grandparents find out that you are here?”
Cloud pouted as Jake approached him, walking firmly. Hearing his words, Erick pushed Cloe's hand away and approached them.
“Aunt? Grandparents?”
Jake changed his attitude to one of concern, his tongue had slipped, revealing facts that he wanted to keep secret from his innocent child.
“So we have family?” He turned to Cloud, his gaze full of hope and shine. “Is this boy family?”
At that, Cloud had become indignant, thinking that Jake had kept his existence hidden from his younger cousin hurt him deeply. He looked at the young man with anger.
“You never told him about me?!”
“It's complicated.”
“What can be so complicated about it?!”
Jake remained silent, thinking about how to explain it to both of them in the best way. Erick got between the two, his eyes still full of hope.
“Jake, will I ever be able to meet our grandparents?”
The two young men shared a look of horror. They then looked at the little boy with anguish and regret.
“Oh… I see the complicated part.”
“Is that a no?”
The boy turned to both of them, the brightness in his eyes diminishing due to their reactions. Imagining the disappointment he would bring to his beloved child, Jake decided to flee the scene, leaving the responsibility to Cloud before running off.
“It’s your fault, you take care of it.”
Erick then spoke directly to the young blond boy.
“You’re Cloud, right? You-”.
“Come on, Cloe! We need to get our things back.” he also ran out of there.
The brazen reaction of both of them left the boy upset. Chloe slowly walked out after Cloud, ruffling Erick’s hair before crossing the door, giving him some comfort.
“Well… See you, Erick.”
Discouraged, he held his shoulder, still shivering and shaking in waves of spasms that were unsettling to the boy. Klaus entered the room and leaned over to speak to him.
“Hey sweetheart, do you have bandages in your bathroom?”
“Ah… yes,” he looked at him hopefully, “Klaus…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll put a layer of crystal over it so you can clean yourself without issues.”
“Thanks, but… about my family…”
“Ask me whatever you want.”
“Thanks! I have a lot of questions,” the boy perked up again.
“By the way, we still have to go to your school. Because of what happened yesterday.”
Klaus entered the bathroom in Erick's room, opened the cabinet he used as a first aid kit and set out to find suitable bandages.
“You won't be taking classes though, at least for today.”
“Well… could you tell me everything you know?”
“No, ask away tho” he found the bandages he was looking for.
“Cloud is-”
“Your cousin, on your mother's side, just like Jake.”
“Oh! And what about the kid from yesterday? When I interacted with him I felt like I already knew him.”
“I think he's Jake's little brother, but it's not sure yet.”
“I knew it!”
The enthusiastic exclamation of his child brought a smile to Klaus. Having the package of bandages already opened, he unfolded one and prepared to wrap Erick's shoulder with it.
“What about Aubrey?” visibly, that was the question that worried him the most.
“You already know, right?” Erick's eyes widened, expectant of what he was about to hear, "She's your twin sister."
"Really?"
"Yes."
A great happiness filled the little boy, the way he felt great confusion when looking at her and interacting with her now made sense, she was the part he was missing, the sister whose face, although very similar to his, he couldn't remember. The girl he had shared his life with since before he was born. Now they could be reunited.
"Finally, I found her..."
"Ha" Klaus remembered Jake's nervousness the night before "yes..."
"Uh.. and..." thinking about his cousins' reaction, Erick was cautious when asking his next question "Claire?"
"She..."
Klaus considered the conversations he had had with Jake before, about how and when he thought it was appropriate to talk about everything to their little one, carefully calculating the information he would give.
“She is your mother’s older sister, younger than Jake’s father.”
“His father… Jake never talks about him.”
“It is painful for him to do so, remember that he died… and we cannot talk about your grandparents.”
“No?”
“And you will not be able to meet them either. It is better this way.”
The vampire covered his boy’s carefully bandaged shoulder with a thin, but resistant, layer of crystal, making sure not to limit his movements and comfort.
“So… are they similar to your father?”
Klaus thought. If he had the option he would have kept his boy ignorant about that too, but unfortunately he himself had witnessed how abusive and terrible the man with whom he shared genes was. He observed his own arms, his marks, his love, his survival, his rebellion, the first time he saw Erick have a panic attack.
“Yeah, something along.”
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