Chapter Text
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Epilogue - New Year’s Eve
“Come on, Sunny, you’re not even trying.”
Sunny huffed, looking up at Klaus. “Sorbeo.” she muttered, meaning, “But I can absorb information by touching the book! Why do I need to know how to read it?”
They were sitting up in an abandoned loft. A broken-down barn that still smelled faintly of horses wasn’t exactly the best place to spend New Year’s Eve, but it hadn’t snowed here, and the blankets Carmelita had swiped two weeks before were definitely coming in handy. Klaus had also managed to swipe a couple books from the Library they’d slept in a few days before, and though he still felt a bit guilty for that, it was better than keeping Sunny uneducated. And, well, the other books really helped pass the time.
“You need to read, Sunny, it’s a very important life skill.” Klaus said. “And it’s fun.”
“Meh.”
“Sunny!”
“Kla!”
“Come on, Sunny, just read it.”
Sunny groaned, then looked down at the page. She huffed again, reading out loud, “S-E-E-”
There was a triple knock at the door, and a call. “Hey, cakesniffer, it’s cold as fuck! Let us in!”
Sunny beamed and tossed the book over her shoulder. Klaus sighed, before picking her up and descending from a ladder they’d managed to lay against the loft. He pulled the door open, and Carmelita raced in first. “Outta my way, I got dibs on the blanket pile!”
“We have to share!” Fiona called. She walked in, holding their food bag.
“Did you get everything?” Klaus asked, as Duncan and Isadora walked in, holding hands and whispering about something.
“This’ll last us til our next safe place.” Fiona said. “We’ll be able to drive for a while.”
“You didn’t have to kill anyone, did you?” Klaus asked.
“No.” Isadora said quickly, giving him a pained smile and a pat on the shoulder. “That’s what me and Carmelita are for.”
“Yeah, but it was Izzy’s turn this time, so I got to steal some headbands while she made a guy to sleep.” Carmelita said, smiling slightly.
“Remember, you gotta store those in your own bag.” Fiona called, hanging the bag on a hook by the wall.
“Yeah, I’ll just ditch some of that food.” Carmelita shrugged. “Or that box you guys gave me, no idea what it’s for.”
“It’s pads, you idiot!” Isadora rolled her eyes, sitting against a wall. Duncan slid next to her, pulling out his notebook and flipping through it.
“And…” Klaus moved, sitting next to Duncan. “You find anything on the Lab?”
Duncan shook his head. “Only paper that mentioned them just said that the Department of Energy was rebuilding it. Meaning they’ll be up and running soon.”
“What about…” Klaus hesitated. “Did… you find anything on Violet? Or Quigley?”
Isadora stared hard at the ground, and Duncan took a sharp breath. “No. Isadora tried to- to reach out and find them, but-”
“Nothing.” Isadora said. “Maybe my emotional powers don’t work long distance.”
“They worked across dimensions.” Fiona said, moving to sit in front of them. “I’m sure a few hundred miles won’t cause problems.”
“Maybe they’re closer than that.” Klaus said quietly.
“Maybe.” Fiona said.
“Or maybe there’s another reason I can’t reach them.” Isadora murmured under her breath.
They sat in awkwardness for a second, and then Duncan said, “It’ll be the New Year soon. 1984.”
Klaus smirked slightly. “The second the clock hits midnight, the world’s gonna fall to a totalitarian government.”
“Big Brother’s watching you.” Isadora laughed.
Carmelita jumped down from the loft, hugging a blanket to her shoulders like a cape. “The fuck does that mean?”
“We’ll steal that book for you next time we’re at a Library.” Klaus said, as Sunny giggled from his lap.
“Yeah, not likely.” Carmelita sighed, sitting next to Fiona and wrapping the blanket around herself.
They were silent for a moment, and then Fiona said, “Klaus, you wanna try some exercises?”
“Not exactly.” Klaus sighed.
“Come on.” Fiona said. “Duncan and Isadora did theirs while we were out.”
“I actually got Carmelita’s thoughts and nobody else’s!” Duncan said proudly, rocking back-and-forth in excitement. “Starting on the drive over.”
“And it only took him an hour to shut that off, which was not fun.” Carmelita muttered.
“And I managed to make the employee fall asleep.” Isadora beamed. “Made swiping shit so much easier.”
Klaus sighed, then shut his eyes, holding out his hand towards the loft. He waited for a minute, focusing hard, and then Sunny’s book came flying at them. He reached up and caught up, grinning even as Sunny let out a groan.
“Very good.” Fiona said. “How far was that?”
“Quite a few feet.” Isadora said. “Nice work, Klaus!”
“And you didn’t even have that in your sightline!” Duncan said, putting a hand on Klaus’s shoulder, which caused his face to go a bit red. “That was pretty cool!”
“It was alright.” Carmelita said, which was a compliment from her.
“We can test some more tomorrow.” Fiona said. “We’ll bring some old farm equipment out of their storage shed, and Klaus can move that for a bit, and then Sunny can throw it.”
“Svago!” Sunny giggled. “Sounds like fun!”
Klaus nodded slightly. Then, after a second, he said, “Who’s got the radio?”
“I do!” Isadora said, pulling her backpack off and digging inside. “You wanna go first?”
“Yeah!”
Isadora passed the walkie-talkie to Duncan, who passed it to Klaus. Sunny leaned up against Klaus, biting her lip and looking a bit impatient to begin.
Klaus turned to the same channel he did every day, and then began talking.
“It’s Day Forty-Seven. Sunny read three pages before she threw the book.” Klaus said.
Sunny giggled, and everyone watched, waiting for him to continue.
“She’s doing so well, when she pays attention.” Klaus said. “She’s been trying to walk a bit, too. You should see her go. We’re in a barn now. It’s pretty cool; Duncan let me talk about those books I read on horses for a few hours.”
“It really was interesting.” Duncan said supportively.
“It’s New Year’s Eve.” he added. “I… do you remember last year? Sunny and I fell asleep before midnight, and you made us promise to stay up next year. I… we don’t have a clock, I-I don’t know when midnight is, but I’ll try to stay awake.”
He bit his lip and stared down at the radio. This was probably pointless. But it helped.
“I miss you.” he said. “We miss you. Please… please come back to us.”
Sunny leaned up against him, and he said, “Talk to you tomorrow, Violet.”
He hesitated, and then passed the handheld radio to Duncan. “Your turn.”
Duncan nodded solemnly, and then turned the radio on, as Isadora leaned over his shoulder. “Hey, Quigley.” he said quietly. “Day Forty-Seven, huh?”
New Year’s Eve kinda sucked this year.
They didn’t even bother staying up til midnight, instead just getting some rest in the house they happened to find unlocked. They’d leave in the morning, as soon as they could slip away without the neighbors seeing. They’d gotten pretty good at that, which should probably have been worrying.
He couldn’t sleep, though, so he slipped into the bathroom. He turned the faucet on, watching the water run down the drain.
You’re wasting water.
Don’t care.
It was nice to see a sink work, and to make the water warm and run his hands under it, feeling the heat until it was too painful to continue. But sometimes he didn’t even bother with that; it was just nice to watch the water run.
Suddenly, he felt something in his throat, and he started to cough. The coughing didn’t stop after a few moments, though, and before he knew it he was retching, gripping onto the edge of the sink in an effort to remain standing. Tears burned at the edge of his eyes as he continued to gag, feeling like there was something lodged in his throat, choking him. He struggled not to burst into tears, his legs shaking so hard he was convinced that he was going to collapse.
He coughed again, and then threw something up.
Some kind of slug came out of his mouth, landing in the sink. It shrieked as the water hit it, and then it scampered down the drain.
He stared for a moment, breathing hard and still trembling.
Then he blinked, and he was back there.
The world was cold and blue, and vines and roots spread around the room. The sink stopped running, clogged up by roots and mold. He stumbled backwards, hugging himself and shutting his eyes, wishing that the cold was gone. Go back, go back…
“Quigley?”
He blinked again, and he was back in the bathroom.
The sink was still running. The world was still warm.
Quigley turned towards the doorway, and saw her standing there, rubbing her eyes and looking at him in concern.
“Hey. Did something happen again?”
Quigley stared at her, breathing hard, and then he nodded.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” he, and he started to cry. “No, Violet, nothing’s okay.”
She ran forwards and hugged him, and he hugged her back, and, from somewhere in the house, the clock struck midnight.