CRACKS IN THE MIRROR

“Okay listen, I want you to calm down. And tell me what happened?”

“Zach is drun-k. He’s gone mad-“ Shit.

“I’m coming.”

I hang up and run out the door instantly, wounding my hair into a rough bun, just taking my cell phone and some money with me. I book a cab and burst my knuckles nervously.

“Hayden Mansion. 512, Upper Side. I’m in a hurry.”

Be okay, please. Everything, please be okay. Zach has hurt enough. Himself and others. And I just don’t want him to anymore. He has to be okay.

It takes me thirty minutes and I reach the place, looking completely peaceful, not giving away anything that might be going inside. I walk straight in through the door.

“Brit?”

A loud clanking and shattering of glass on the wall beside my head shocks me to the core as I gasp and clutch my chest, while stumbling backwards.

Holy hell!

I take a few scared steps inside and Brit instantly runs into me, hugging me tightly. She cries onto my shoulder, shaking with fear. I rub her back and then look front, only to feel her fear too.

Zach is kicking the wall, violently and throwing away all the stuff around.

Glasses fall down with loud noises and the table cloth slides away messily. He finishes the liquid in his hand and then goes on to throw the bottle too! God.

I leave Brit, to walk up to him, to try to get him to stop, a bit afraid myself.

“Zac-“

I am cut off as he throws a vase down and I jump. I run a hand through my hair, and swallow nervously, trying to put up a tough front.

“Stop it, Zach.” I say out louder and he turns to look at me, angry and dangerous. His face is full of disgust and hatred and I shudder.

I have never seen Zach with so much of negative emotions on his face. It’s immeasurable detestation. Raw fury. Zach looks like he could kill.

I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit, when he looks at me like that.

Blood gushes through his hands unrestrained and then I suddenly realise that, only, he’s not looking at me.

I follow his gaze behind me to find two people standing, with horror struck faces, one male and one female, who seem to just walk in the door I entered through.

Parents, I’m assuming.

It feels I’ve seen them before.

“Zach, what on earth is going on here?!” The man booms out angrily and Brit retracts.

“Just what we needed. No meetings to be in? Dad?”

Zach paces out to reach him in two long strides, passing me and roars venomously.

And I stand stunned to the core. THIS, is his father?

“Have you lost your mind?”

The man replies yet again authoritatively, not backing away, while the woman seems equally shocked.

“I didn’t know the right was exclusive to you.”

“Watch your tone!”

“Son, are you drunk? You’ve hurt yourse-“ Finally Mrs. Hayden speaks out, her voice somewhat softer and concerned, yet sophisticated and classy.

“Shut up! Just shut up! Cut the act, okay? Nobody’s watching!” He shouts too loud this time, moving dangerously towards her, and I rush to hold him back before he hurts her.

Fuck.

“Zach!”

*

It all happens too fast.

I cry out, holding on to his arm with all my might, and he stops somewhat. Brit gasps loudly and Mrs. Hayden stumbles behind.

A minute of silent shock passes around, while Zach still continues to glare her down.

I have always known Zach to be angry. And lose all senses when he is. But I can never imagine him physically hurting a woman, let alone his own mother.

And this thought is terrifying. It’s terrifying to think that Zach is that person.

Today, I am starting to question my judgement on him. Especially after being with Nathaniel, seeing how he treats people, I just want to save Zach from the person he’s becoming.

“You have crossed all limits today. I’m ashamed to even call you my son.” He says, still platonically but loud.

I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t stopped Zach. Would he really hurt his mother? Zach replies with equal determination, violently pushing me off.

“No, I’m surprised you even remember you have children! Everyday for as long as we’ve remembered, you both have never been here.

Do you know how hard it has been, growing up on our own?

Every time needing parents and not having them because your dad is a money obsessed businessman and your mom is a high class socialite!”

Zach kicks away the rug at the end of his angry words. The whole room shakes with the loudness of his yelling and hearing his words, I think that I shouldn’t have been here.

This was probably a private moment and I feel like I’m intruding, even though I want to know what has made Zach become this.

“We have just been trying to create the life you both deserve, for you. Who do you think we’ve been working fo-“

“Brit and I have lived as orphans, Dad. Because you two never even had five minutes to ask us how our day was.

Do you care if I made into the basketball team? Do you know how many friends she has?

And even after all, ALL of that, how can you ever explain last year? Tell me you have an answer for that. You can’t, because you don’t have one!

So don’t bullshit me on this! All you’ve both cared about and still do is plain old money and your fucking selves!”

Brit hits the wall and cries silently while I’m too shocked to even move. Zach’s words ring inside my head with a frightening chill.

I had always known Zach’s relationship with his parents to be strained. And I knew they had improved last year.

But this, is not improvement.

Last year. What happened last year? What is he hiding? Did they fall out again?

And suddenly it all starts to make sense. It’s not Zach’s fault. It never has been. This, is not Zach. Something did happen and now it has created this shell out of him, where he lives alone and vulnerable, shutting everything out with anger and cruelty.

Zach didn’t hurt people for the sake of it. Zach hurt people so that they don’t hurt him.

“The only time we hear your voices is on the phone. Hell, I don’t even remember the sound of it! Not that I even, in my whole goddammned life, want to!

Birthday presents, ‘love, Charles and Patricia Hayden, like are you fucking serious? The last one I remember, was the basketball, when I was ten!

The only reason I moved out to Cambridge was because I couldn’t stand you two anymore. But you had to follow me there too.

And then again, after that whole grand scheme, the greatest in the century, when you were finally, FINALLY, out of my sight, I had to return to Liverpool, AGAIN! Only because of that girl you call your daughter who has been in therapy, ever since!”

Zach howls out, and the whole room resonates with his voice. Every word gets louder, angrier, fiercer.

It feels like he has been broken and shattered and every piece lies had been holding onto each other by one little string. Which has broken.

Zach has exploded like a grenade, and his pain is searing through my head, every passing moment.

Drops of tears heat my face that I didn’t even realise had fallen. I have never in my life, seen someone so heartbreakingly in pain before. I can’t even imagine this person to be Zach.

And I would give anything to steal him away from it all.

Could it be, that this was the same basketball that I-

“And just so you know, Brit was nearly molested. I fainted due to low sugar. All the while you were busy printing just more notes.

For all I know, we could really die and you both would never even get to know about it! Or you would probably want us to die with proof, so at least you get the fucking trust fund!

And you have the nerve to tell me that you do this all for US? I wanna fucking kill y-“

“ZACH! Stop it! No!”

Zach lunges forward at his dad violently. He holds his collars aggressively and I push him back with all my body weight on his chest, but even drunk, he’s too strong.

“Zach, listen to us!”

His mother speaks out crying by now while his dad stands shocked. While I struggle against his force, when he let’s go of his father.

“I’m just done! I couldn’t do anything then, but I swear I’m not letting this go. We, are not done yet!” He walks up again and I push him back a few steps forcefully, up to safe territory.

“Zach, enough. That’s enough.” I clutch both his arms tightly and he makes another move.

“Just fucking leave me!”

“I’m not leaving you, just calm down.” I hold his neck in between my hands, trying to get him to look at me, which he does.

He looks at me for a minute, before speaking again. His eyes turn glassy.

“You don’t know what they’ve done. They’re monsters!”

And that hushed, whisper in that single moment breaks something in me.

His face is completely red, stained with tears. His eyes are bloodshot, mixed with pain, anger and most of all fear.

Raw, vulnerable, hurt Zach pierces through my heart, the one he has broken himself. But even that, doesn’t match up to this.

Break my heart, Zach. But don’t break, yourself.

I move further taking him in an embrace, holding him. I wrap my arms around him completely, almost as if wanting to shield him from the world, no matter how stupid it sounds.

He doesn’t respond immediately, but after a minute he places both his arms round my waist tightly and buries his face into the crook of my neck.

“Shhh… It’s okay.” I whisper out, gently ruffling through his hair, and he continuously shakes.

His mother holds Brit, taking her away. Mr. Hayden just continues to look ahead into nothing, his face blank and shaken and ultimately goes up the stairs absentmindedly.

“They’re bad Ado, I swear.”

I still, for a moment. Did he just call me-

Author's note:

This has been such an intense chapter for me to write. I feel so drained and I’m not even Zach.

Doesn’t it always come down to a past. No one, is born cruel.

Every Klaus Mikaelson has a story, you don’t know.

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