Chapter Text
The apocalypse.
I was standing smack-dab in the middle of it.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: Oh, no! Apocalypse?! How did this happen? Well, I actually have no idea at the moment, so I can’t answer your question. You’re also probably thinking: How did I end up here? Fortunately, that’s a question I have an answer to.
It’s a long story, but basically I’m a bit of a hero (and if some scrawny, cranky, little thirteen-year-old boy tries to tell you otherwise, then don’t listen to him). I’m not what you would consider a normal human being. Honestly, I’m probably the furthest thing from it. Since birth, I’ve been raised to be a hero, to save those in need and to use my abilities for good. All my siblings were, too. They’re also far from normal.
You know what? Perhaps it’s best if I start from the very beginning---you’ll be less confused that way. Sit down, because this may take a while...
On October 1, 1989, forty-three women all over the world simultaneously gave birth. Weird, right? You wanna know what’s even weirder? None of them showed any signs of being pregnant when the day began. Pretty freaky, if you ask me.
The thing is, one of those women was my birth mother---whoever she may be.
An eccentric billionaire named Sir Reginald Hargreeves made it his personal mission to find and adopt as many of these children as possible. Why? That’s tough to explain. If he’d had his way, he probably would’ve gotten his hands on all forty-three of them.
He got eight of them instead.
And, as you can most likely guess, I was one of those eight.
Now you’re probably thinking: How nice of this man to adopt so many children! Well, he was rich, his house was huge and fancy, and we never went hungry. I supposed we were lucky, in a way. But, if you knew what our lives were like under his roof, then you probably wouldn’t be so happy for us.
He called it the Umbrella Academy.
Life there wasn’t terrible, but Reginald Hargreeves isn’t exactly father of the year. He didn’t even give us real names, he just called us by number. I was Number Eight. It was our mother who gave us all real names.
No, she wasn’t his wife. Our mother was...well...she was an android. “Robotic nanny” would probably be a better term. Her name was Grace. She looked human, sounded human, but wasn’t truly human. She was very nice to us, was there for us in every way a mother should’ve been. She cared for all our needs, and paid far more attention to us than our father ever did.
She named me Adeline. Adeline Hargreeves.
...Actually, that hadn’t been her first choice of name for me. Originally, she came up with the name Dolores. You can assume that I didn’t take to it happily. I mean, Dolores? Really? It sounded like an old grandma’s name. Thankfully, after gently expressing my distaste for the name, our mother gave me one more to my liking, and that’s the name I carry today.
Although, one annoying soul in particular still insists on calling me “Dolores” for…really no reason whatsoever.
There was also Pogo, the master of the house. You thought an android mother was weird? Well, get this: Pogo is a chimpanzee. A walking, talking chimpanzee that wears clothes and is just as human as you or me.
I found it best not to ask.
Anyway, he was pretty nice, too. He helped raise us alongside Grace, acting as our mentor, counselor, friend---he basically filled every position Grace didn’t. If I were being really honest and sentimental, I’d tell you I considered him more of a father figure than our adoptive father.
So, as you can see, just like the rest of my life, my family is anything but normal. A strict father who trained us and only paid attention to us when it suited him, a kind android mother, an intelligent chimpanzee, and seven siblings the same age as me, all with powers.
Yes, that’s right. Powers.
Now, you’re probably thinking: You guys had actual superpowers? Yes, we did. No wonder our father wanted to adopt us so badly, right?
You’re probably still a little confused. Don’t worry. It’s time to skip ahead to where my story truly begins, to the year when the Umbrella Academy first saw the light...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 19, 2002 (Oh, Here We Go)
What was the Umbrella Academy’s first-ever mission?
The answer to that is actually really cliché.
Our very first mission...was stopping a bank robbery.
And I was beside myself with excitement.
I quietly crept inside the bank through the back exit alongside my siblings. We weren’t noticed coming in, but I knew it was only a matter of time until we made ourselves known once we put our plan into action.
It didn’t take long at all to find the main room, where several heavily-armed robbers had cornered a large group of civilian hostages in the center of the foyer. They were clearly terrified, huddling together as the robbers aimed AK-47s at their faces.
A bald man, presumably the ringleader of the criminals, stomped into the room, holding a walkie-talkie to his ear.
“Hey, get them behind the counter!” he ordered.
The other robbers immediately ushered the petrified group of hostages behind the teller’s counter on the right side of the room.
The bald man growled into the walkie-talkie. “Now you’ve put me in a position where I gotta do something I don’t wanna do. Hmm?” He pulled the device away from his ear, enraged. “Shit!”
I grinned as nobody noticed the little dark-skinned girl casually walking up to him with a spring in her step. She stopped at his left, smiling innocently up at him. That was when he finally noticed her, turning to face her.
“Hey, get back with the others,” he growled, pointing over to the counter.
The girl lowered her head. “I heard a rumor,” she mumbled.
“What?” the man exclaimed. “What did you say?”
The girl smirked, leaning closer to him and putting a hand by her mouth to amplify her voice. “I heard a rumor,” she repeated, this time in a powerful voice that echoed, “that you shot your friend in the foot.”
The man’s eyes glazed over, and for a moment he didn’t move. He then immediately turned toward another robber a few feet behind the girl, aiming his pistol at him.
“Hey, dude,” the other guy warned, halting in his tracks as his ally aimed a gun at his foot. “What the hell?”
The bald man pulled the trigger, shooting his friend in the foot. The man collapsed to the floor as the hostages screamed in terror at the gunshot. The girl merely watched it all happen, a pleased smile on her face.
Number Three. My sister, Allison.
Allison had the power of mind control---or, as we liked to call it, “rumoring someone.” All she had to do was tell her victim the phrase “I heard a rumor…” followed by whatever she wanted them to do, and they would proceed to do so without hesitation. It was an incredibly amazing power---and you definitely didn’t want to get on her bad side, believe me.
She and I were like two peas in a pod, sisters in every way but blood.
Before the bank robbers could figure out what was going on, something crashed through the glass skylight. It was a tall blond boy, who used the armed robber guarding the hostages behind the counter to break his fall. As soon as he was on his feet, he yanked the man up, bashing his head in with his fist. He then tossed him over to the main entrance in an unbelievable feat of strength, and the poor guy went flying out the window.
Number One. My brother, Luther.
As you can probably already guess, Luther had superhuman strength. And boy, did he know how to use it. He was the team leader, and he did a fair enough job. However, he was a little bit of a meathead sometimes, and preferred to think with his actions rather than his brain. But he was also a big, loveable dork.
He was the self-proclaimed big brother of our family, and I knew I could count on him if I ever needed him.
The remaining robbers aimed their weapons at Luther, ready to shoot him down. Before they could, however, a dark-haired boy came sprinting from the shadows on the far side of the foyer.
“Guns are for sissies,” he stated as he charged into the room. “Real men throw knives!”
He skidded to a stop, bringing up his right arm and tossing two small throwing knives. They sailed toward the bald man next to Allison, but after a moment, they abruptly veered to the left, impaling a well-dressed robber that had been standing near an office door. The forceful impact of the knives slammed him against the wall, and he collapsed to the floor.
Number Two. My brother, Diego.
He had the ability of perfect aim. Really, it was uncanny. He could manipulate the trajectory of any object he threw and strike his targets with deadly accuracy. As you can see, he loved to use his power to throw knives at his enemies. If it’s one thing you can count on, it’s Diego always having a knife on him.
He was quick-tempered, but he was the most protective brother you’ll ever find.
“Stay back, you freaks!” the bald man from earlier shouted, now standing on top of the counter. Luther still stood with the hostages, and Diego and Allison stood next to each other below the bald man, smirking even as he aimed his pistol at their heads. Another boy appeared on Allison’s other side, grinning like a kid in a candy store.
Number Four. My brother, Klaus.
Klaus had the power to communicate with the dead. Not very useful in a fight, true, but he still knew all the basic combat moves our father had drilled into us from a young age. He knew how to speak with ghosts, but our father insisted that he could do so much more with his power, that he had massive untapped potential. Klaus didn’t really believe him.
Our moral standards were as different as day and night, but our personalities complimented each other so well that you’d think we were actually related.
Watching Luther from behind my domino mask, I saw him pointedly glance in my direction, giving me an almost imperceptible nod. My resulting grin was as bright as the sun.
Showtime!
I glanced at all of the light fixtures hanging off the walls and the ceiling, and connected with the light energy within them. Then with a flick of my wrist, they were all snuffed out at the same moment.
The remaining bank robbers all whirled around in every direction, startled as the lights suddenly went out. There was still bright sunlight streaming through the skylight and windows, so you could still see fairly well.
“What the---?” one of them exclaimed.
“Who turned out the lights?!” the bald man standing on the counter demanded.
I cackled, my laughter ominously echoing around the room. As the men frantically looked about, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, I stepped out of the shadows, still grinning.
“What’s the matter?” I asked them in an innocent manner. “Afraid of the dark?”
I began walking toward where my siblings were gathered. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the robbers aim his AK-47 at me. I immediately held out my hand, focusing. A flash of light flew from the sunlight streaming in through a nearby window to the palm of my hand---it was so lightning-fast that you would’ve missed it if you blinked. Now holding a glowing mass in hand, I turned and shot a beam of bright light straight at the man’s chest. He was sent flying backwards, crashing against a pillar before collapsing on the floor.
I sighed, shaking my head at him in disapproval before crossing the room to join my siblings.
(I should probably explain my powers before we go any further. I had the ability of light manipulation, which meant that I could control any type of light you could think of: sunlight, electric light, you name it. As you already saw, I could control the brightness of a room, making all the light vanish or glow brighter than the sun if I wanted to. I could also gather small amounts of light in a physical form and use it to fight. I have to admit, shooting people with beams of light was pretty fun, even though I always required a present source of light to do it.
Anyway, you get the point. My powers were neat.)
“Hey, be careful up there, buddy,” Diego teased the bald man as he shuffled his feet. He was still standing on the counter, pointing his gun down at the four of us as I walked over to stand beside Allison.
“Yeah, wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Allison added.
“Get back now!” Baldy demanded.
“Or what?”
The voice came out of nowhere, right before a raven-haired boy materialized on the counter next to Baldy. He sat cross-legged, cheekily smirking up at the man, who had turned around to aim his pistol down at him. My smirk only grew wider.
Baldy fired the gun, but ended up shooting at empty space as the boy vanished into thin air. He shot the empty air a few more times for good measure, making the hostages cower nearby. After he was done, the boy appeared behind him, standing up this time. Baldy immediately brought up his arm to shoot again, but to his surprise, instead of a gunshot there was only a quiet click click. In his hand, where his pistol had been a moment ago, was now a harmless stapler.
The boy smirked. “Ooh! That’s one badass stapler!”
I let out a quiet snicker of amusement.
He grabbed Baldy’s hand, shoving it forward so that he bashed his own bald head with the stapler. Baldy recoiled, swaying uneasily before falling backwards, collapsing onto the floor behind the counter, out cold. The boy hopped down from the counter to join us on the ground.
Number Five. My brother...Five.
Yes, his name is Five. Just Five. Don’t ask why. It’s complicated.
Five had the power to travel through both space and time. Pretty cool, right? He could teleport wherever he wanted, “blinking” across a room in less than a second. He also had the incredible ability to time travel---but he hadn’t actually been able to do it yet. He really wanted to travel through time though, and practiced his spatial jumps almost nonstop, trying to gain better control over his power. But our father continued to forbid it, claiming that he was not ready for time travel.
We really considered ourselves best friends rather than siblings---despite him kind of being my polar opposite. When we weren’t bickering, he was my loyal partner in crime.
All of the robbers in the room had been incapacitated, but more still remained in the bank vault. As Luther ushered the terrified hostages out from behind the counter, a timid Asian boy joined the party, walking over to the vault door. He turned and saw our expectant looks, hesitating.
“Do we really have to do this?” he asked.
“Come on, Ben,” Luther urged. “There’s more guys in the vault.”
I offered him an encouraging smile. “You can do this, Ben.”
The boy sighed, turning back to the door and trudging through it. “I didn’t sign up for this…” He closed the door behind him once he was inside.
The six of us outside gathered together as we heard shouting from inside the vault. The next moment, there was a loud, horrible roar, and long shadows stretched out behind the frosted windows. As the tentacle-like shadows danced around, there were multiple screams of terror accompanied by more monstrous roaring. Blood splattered on the windows, and a body slammed into the glass, sliding down to the floor. After a few long moments of this, the screaming and roaring stopped, leaving only silence.
The door then cracked open, the Asian boy peeking out of it. He was absolutely drenched in blood, but seemed oddly unbothered by it. I cringed at the sight.
He sighed again, his breathing shaky. “Can we go home now?” he mumbled.
Number Six. My brother, Ben.
His super skill was slightly more obscure. He had the power to summon horrifying tentacled monsters from his body, and could use them to brutally take down his enemies. He kind of hated his power, but was willing to use it in order to save others. Not that our father really gave him any choice in the matter...
Ben was an absolute sweetheart with a great sense of humor, and I had the honor of being his best friend.
With all of the would-be bank robbers finally dispatched, we were clear to release the hostages. They immediately stampeded out the front doors, screaming and running for their lives despite not being in any more danger. Knowing what we had to do next, my siblings and I all calmly filed out behind them. We emerged into the sunlight, spreading out across the bank steps. An army of SWAT teams and news reporters were there to greet us, and they all looked bewildered to see seven similarly-dressed kids emerging from a dangerous hostage situation.
We all lined up next to each other in order, which meant that I stood on the far left next to a blood-soaked Ben. He looked uncomfortable at all the attention we were grabbing, so I put my hand on his arm to comfort him, not minding that it was covered in blood. He gave me a grateful look, to which I responded with a reassuring smile. On Ben’s other side, Five beamed at the reporters interrogating us as a taller Klaus used his shoulder as an armrest. At one point, he looked my way, sending me a triumphant grin. I responded with a bright smile of my own.
The reporters didn’t take long to start their barrage of questions.
“Who are you?”
“How did you get inside the bank?”
“What happened inside?”
Cameras snapped countless pictures of us, and I found myself posing for some of them. After so much training, we had finally gotten our first chance to do some real hero work, and it had been just as fun as I’d imagined it. I also really liked wearing a mask. It made me feel pretty mysterious.
It wasn’t long before our so-called father approached the scene, walking over to stand in front of us on the steps of the bank. Pretty soon, all attention was on Sir Reginald Hargreeves as he addressed the people.
“Our world is changing,” he loudly stated. “Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children.” He then gestured back to us. “I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.”
The reporters exploded with more questions, shoving microphones into our father’s face.
“Mr. Hargreeves!” one lady exclaimed. “Channel Nine news. What happened to their parents?”
“They were suitably compensated,” he assured her, stepping back to stand beside us.
“Are you concerned about the welfare of the children?” another woman asked.
“Of course,” our father replied. “As I am for the fate of the world.”
The fate of the world? Did he think that we were capable of saving the whole world? I hope so. It would be pretty amazing if we actually saved the world one day.
As the barrage of questions continued, I zoned them out, turning my attention to the roof of a nearby building. A small, solitary figure stood at the corner of it, looking down at us. I wanted to wave at her, but my father would probably scold me for it, so I didn’t. I felt a familiar pang of sympathy for her.
Last but not least, Number Seven. My sister, Vanya.
She had no powers whatsoever.
Which baffled me immensely. She was just like us, one of the forty-three spontaneous births that had happened in 1989---but she had no powers or abilities at all. If we were all gifted with extraordinary abilities, how come she didn’t get one? Why was she the one exception?
Since she had no powers of her own, our father saw little to no use for her. She was excluded from almost everything, and was isolated from us a lot. She never got to eat breakfast with us, wasn’t allowed to be in our family portrait, and was excluded from our public debut today. She also hadn’t been forced to get an umbrella tattoo like the rest of us (which I’d assured her was a good thing, it had hurt ). She was allowed to have dinner with us, and helped our father train us, but that was about it.
I considered her treatment totally unfair. Our father didn’t have to rub it in that she didn’t have any powers. He said she wasn’t special, but she was probably the most special of us all. She was smarter than anybody gave her credit for, and had taken to playing the violin. But our father just never gave her a chance.
She was the quiet sister that I strived to be there for whenever I could.
My siblings and I were only twelve years old, going on thirteen, and we were superheroes. It didn’t take long for the Umbrella Academy to become celebrities in the eyes of the public, our popularity growing as we appeared in public again and again to save the day. We soon adorned the covers of magazines and amassed legions of fans. They even made comic books and action figures of us.
It was kind of cool, being a celebrity. But honestly, I was just enjoying being a hero and getting to use my powers to save people. It was a career I wouldn’t have minded doing for the rest of my life.
So...is my life crazy enough for you yet?
Well, buckle up. Because it only gets much crazier from here.
~~~~~
October 28, 2002 (I Think We’re Alone Now)
How about a healthy dose of normality before we get into the really crazy stuff?
Life at the Umbrella Academy was...interesting, to say the least. It pretty much operated like any other old private academy did, except it was also the place we called home. And it was for kids with superpowers.
With a strict father like Reginald Hargreeves, you can imagine what our days were like. We had to wake up early, quickly eat breakfast, and then get started with the day’s training. Everyone trained together for the basic stuff like learning combat moves, increasing speed and stamina, and other things like that. As for training with our powers, our father usually instructed us one-on-one on a certain day of the week after daily training was finished. My day was Sunday.
When we weren’t training, we were being taught a whole bunch of subjects to “keep us well-rounded.” Math, english, science, history, psychology, astrology, biology, foreign languages, battle tactics---you name it, there’s a good chance we were learning it. This meant a lot of studying. Like, a lot of studying. So much studying.
By the time we’d finished all of this, it was dinnertime. After we were finally excused from dinner--if our father didn’t make any of us train more because he felt we hadn’t met his expectations for the day--we were left to our own devices. The evenings after dinner were basically the only free time we usually had. We almost never had a day off, either.
I always tried to make time for each of my siblings during the week, while also making time for myself. Between goofing off with them and training and studying every single day, I was pretty physically and mentally exhausted by bedtime. Sometimes, despite being very tired, I stayed up anyway---if there was probable cause.
Like sneaking out with my siblings to go to the local donut shop and eat donuts until we all puked our guts out. That was definitely a probable cause. It didn’t matter if I was dead on my feet. If Klaus barged into my room and announced that we were going on a midnight donut run, I’d suddenly be wide awake and ready for action.
We sometimes even competed to see who could eat the most donuts before they made themselves sick. Luther usually won.
Nowadays, we were all officially teenagers. If I wasn’t hanging out with Ben, who was the best company and could always make me laugh, then I was almost certainly hanging out with Five.
Five was...different. When we were little, we actually never really spent any time together. However, that changed as we grew older, and somehow we became best friends along the way. They say that opposites attract, and they must be right, because Five was kind of my polar opposite. Whenever we weren’t bickering over something, we were partners in crime.
Out of all our siblings, I liked to train with him the most. We would get into these intense spars to perfect our combat moves and the use of our powers. They’d always be full of witty banter and insults, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Our banter wasn’t just confined to training, though. We would often banter with each other in passing or casual conversation, and even called each other names. Remember how I told you I hated the first name our mom had given me? Well, in order to annoy me, Five refused to call me by any name but Dolores. He annoyingly insisted it was the best name for me. I couldn’t remember ever hearing him utter my actual name in my presence, not even once. He always called me Dolores, and it never ceased to get on my nerves.
But after a while, with him…it just stuck.
Speaking of Five, that finally leads me to the present day. After being sent off to our rooms for bedtime, instead of changing into my pajamas I laid on my bed reading a book, still in uniform. I kept glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, anxiously waiting for it to strike midnight.
Earlier that day, Five had approached me during study time.
“Hey, are you busy tonight?” he’d inquired.
“I don’t think so,” I’d replied. “Unless Luther asks me to keep watch for him and Allison again. Why?”
“Can you meet me in the kitchen tonight?” he’d asked. “For a midnight snack?”
I’d smiled at him. “I’ll be there.”
For us, the term “midnight snack” was code for us to meet up so I could help him get extra practice in for his spatial jumps (and probably eat marshmallow and peanut butter sandwiches while we practiced). He wanted to time travel so badly, but despite his pleading with our father again and again, the old man still refused to let him. He’d asked me to help him practice a while back, and we’d been meeting up in secret like this for months now.
Finally, the clock hands both struck twelve, and I leapt from my bed as soon as they did. I quietly opened my door, closing it behind me before tiptoeing down the hallway. I glided down the stairs as quiet as a mouse would’ve, and eventually made it down to the kitchen. Thankfully I encountered nobody on the way and arrived safely.
As soon as I walked over to the table, Five appeared in a flash of blue light.
“Whoa,” I exclaimed, smiling in greeting. “You’re getting good at that! I’m impressed.”
“Glad someone is,” Five replied.
I glanced at the entryway one more time to make sure nobody had followed me, then turned back to Five. “Sandwiches or practice first?”
Five hummed in thought, then suggested, “Sandwiches while we practice?”
I giggled. “Great idea!”
The two of us went for the kitchen cabinets and fridge, falling into our usual sandwich-making routine. When it was first mentioned to me, the idea of a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich sounded disgusting. But after Five made me try one, I discovered how delicious they tasted, and I was instantly converted.
Our sandwiches were made, and they sat on separate plates at the end of the long table while we began practicing. Well, Five began practicing, and I helped him however I could, the two of us munching on our sandwiches as we did. I’d help by doing things such as running to different spots around the room, seeing if he could teleport into my path every time. Or I’d give him a room in the mansion to teleport to and from, and he’d bring something back to prove he made it there.
“I meant what I said earlier,” I told him about an hour into practicing. “You’re getting really good at your spatial jumps.”
“And yet our father still doesn’t think I’m ready for time travel,” he reminded me, scowling at the thought.
I sighed. “Time-traveling is pretty dangerous, Five.”
“I know that!” he exclaimed. “I understand the dangers perfectly well, but he doesn’t think I do! He’s always shutting me down whenever I ask to time travel, claiming that I’m too inexperienced---but I’m thirteen now! I’m ready! I know I am!”
I wasn’t sure what to say for a moment. I believed in Five and his abilities, but he did have a history of being overconfident. He claimed that he was ready, but with time travel there were so many things that could go wrong. Was he truly ready?
It would be awful if anything bad happened to him. I could confidently say that I was the closest person to him, as he felt comfortable ranting about his problems to me and often told me things that he didn’t tell our siblings. Despite our occasional fights and stubbornness, we were kind of inseparable. I’d be heartbroken if he tried to time travel and it went horribly wrong somehow.
“I suppose you know your power better than anybody,” was what eventually came out of my mouth. “If you think you’re ready for time travel, then I believe you. But...there’s plenty of reasons why Dad won’t let you try.”
Five sighed. “Yes, I know, but I’ve studied everything there is to study about time travel. How am I supposed to learn if I don’t ever try?”
I thoughtfully hummed. “Good point,” I admitted. Maybe I was worrying over nothing. Maybe he was ready.
He and I seemed to have the same thought at the same time, as we both moved over to the table to eat a few more bites of our sandwiches. We sat in comfortable silence for a minute, then Five spoke up again.
“I’m gonna ask him again soon,” he announced, zoning out with his gaze on the far wall. “I’m gonna ask him, and I’m not gonna take no for an answer this time.”
I smiled at him. “You’re nothing if not determined, Five.”
He tore his gaze away from the wall to look at me. “Thank you,” he told me, sounding sincere. “You didn’t have to sacrifice sleep to help me out with this, but you did.”
I feigned surprise. “Wow. An actual ‘thank you!’” I smirked. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Five rolled his eyes. “It was a one-time thing, Dolores. Won’t happen again.”
I laughed.
Just then, as we grew quiet, the faint sound of music began to play through the mansion. It was one of Luther’s records, echoing throughout the house. Five and I both looked up at the sound of it, surprised to be hearing any songs this late. Since we were teenagers, we all did have the tendency to stay up very late.
After listening to it for a minute, I smiled when I realized what song it was. “Yes!” I softly exclaimed, stepping away from the table. “I love this song!”
As “ I Think We’re Alone Now ” began its chorus, I began dancing in the middle of the room, swaying to the beat and humming along with the words. I wasn’t sure why I was dancing in front of somebody else, since I usually never did that. It was either because my body was at that stage where it was so tired that it made me hyper or it might’ve been because of all the sugar from the peanut butter and marshmallows.
Five gave me a look as I danced around. “Why do you like this song?” he asked me. “It’s kind of annoying.”
“It is not!” I argued. “It’s catchy!” I made a summoning motion with my hand. “Come dance! You’ll see why I like it so much.”
He frowned at the suggestion. “I’ll pass.”
“Oh come on,” I whined. “Have a little fun! You’ve been so serious lately.”
“No, I’ve been focused,” Five corrected, still not budging. “Besides, I don’t like this song. I don’t even like to dance.”
My gaze went down to his feet, and what I saw made me smirk. “Then why are you tapping your foot?”
Five looked down at his feet and seemed to realize for the first time that yes, he was subconsciously tapping his foot to the beat. He immediately stopped, hiding the accused foot behind his other leg. “I’m not tapping my foot.”
“Yes you are!” I exclaimed. “I saw you!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stubbornly insisted.
I made an exasperated noise, rolling my eyes. “You’re such a stick-in-the-mud.”
He gave me a big, cheeky grin. “And a proud one at that.”
I rolled my eyes again, but caught his contagious smile. I swiped the remainder of my sandwich off the plate and ate it as I danced around the kitchen. Five watched as I did, shaking his head at my silliness---but I did catch him tapping his foot again.
The song ended, and the two of us finished our midnight snacks, deciding to call it a night once we did. My body agreed, my fatigue catching up with me as the insomnia and sugar wore off.
“I have a question,” Five announced before I could bid him goodnight. “Why do you hate the name Dolores so much?’”
I yawned, shaking my head at him. I was too tired for this conversation. “Really? That name was popular in, like, the thirties. It’s a name your grandma’s sister would have. It’s not modern.”
“It can be modern,” he argued.
I shrugged as I began to walk from the room. “Eh, I’m inclined to disagree. Admit it, you just like calling me that because it gets on my nerves.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad of a name.”
“And I’m rapidly falling asleep, so bye.”
“Why are your standards so weird?”
“Goodnight, Five.”
~~~~~
November 10, 2002
After a hard day’s training, I was actually looking forward to the nightly dinner with Dad. My stomach was in a mood, grumbling for sustenance and blaming me for having a light lunch. It wasn’t my fault. I’d been super busy today.
As soon as I heard Mom ring the dinner bell from downstairs, I shot out of my room like a bullet. My rapid footsteps joined several others as all my siblings immediately answered the call as well. The eight of us all scurried down the stairs, reaching the first floor in record time and filing into the foyer, where the dinner table was set up and Herr Carlson was softly playing in the background. Mom smiled warmly at each and every one of us as we walked past her, everybody zooming over to stand behind their designated seats.
My spot was between Five and Vanya, who sat at the end of the table by herself. I stood behind my chair, eyeing the food that waited down on my plate. It smelled amazing, and the wonderful aroma was only making my stomach growl more. However, just like during every dinner, we weren’t allowed to sit down until our father arrived and gave us permission. We also weren’t allowed to leave until he excused us.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before I heard the telltale heavy footsteps of our father descending the creaky wooden stairs. He soon appeared in the doorway, walking into the room with his ever-present scowl on his face. He stopped behind his chair at the head of the table, his gaze sweeping over each of us in turn. My siblings and I obediently stood silent, waiting expectantly for his cue.
Finally, our father said, “Sit!”
Everyone immediately pulled out their chairs and sat down, wasting no time before digging into their dinner. I tried to keep my proper etiquette in check as I cut into my food, eager to satisfy my growling stomach.
From where I sat, I was directly across from Ben. Our gazes met as we ate, and we shared a smile. When our father wasn’t looking, Ben made a silly face, causing me to let out a silent giggle. Then, after glancing at our father, I made a ridiculous face in return, making him struggle to hold in a laugh.
Meanwhile, I failed to notice Five next to me. He wasn’t eating. Instead, he was watching the exchange between me and Ben. He frowned. After a minute, he turned his gaze to Reginald Hargreeves at the head of the table. After a long moment, he tightly gripped the steak knife he was holding and loudly jammed it into the table. The whole table shook, and the knife was stuck straight up when he let go of it.
The loud noise jerked my attention off of Ben and onto Five. Everyone’s eyes were on him now, and I studied his gaze as he stared our father down. Everyone else was confused, but it only took me a moment to realize what was happening.
He was going to ask to time travel again.
Our father spared him a mere glance before returning his gaze back down to his dinner. “Number Five?”
“I have a question,” Five announced, a challenging edge to his tone.
“Knowledge is an admirable goal,” our father admitted, “but you know the rules. No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson.”
Five would not be so easily dismissed. He shoved his plate away from himself, making me freeze. I exchanged a nervous look with Vanya. She seemed just as worried as I was.
“I want to time travel,” Five demanded.
“No,” Dad tiredly answered, having denied him multiple times already.
Five’s eyes narrowed. “But I’m ready,” he insisted. He scooted his chair backward, standing up. “I’ve been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said.” He then concentrated, clenching his fists. After straining himself for a moment, he vanished in a flash of blue, reappearing instantly at Dad’s right side at the head of the table. I was quietly proud of him. “See?”
Despite Five’s display, our father still didn’t spare him a glance. “A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel,” he said. “One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn.”
...Huh? His analogy made my brain hurt.
Five didn’t seem to understand, either. “Well, I don’t get it,” he muttered, looking annoyed.
“Hence the reason you’re not ready,” Dad stated.
Five wore an odd wide smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He glared down at our father, who still wasn’t looking at him even as he talked to him. Then he glanced in my direction, and our gazes met. There was a look in his eye, something dangerous and bold. He didn’t want to back down, but our father’s stubborn refusal was deterring him.
I found myself supporting him. I gave him a nod of encouragement, reminding him of the intense determination he’d shown that night a few weeks back.
“I’m gonna ask him, and I’m not gonna take no for an answer.”
He shot me a grateful look, his resolve returning. Turning back to our father, he stated, “I’m not afraid.”
“Fear isn’t the issue,” Dad told him. “The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable.” He suddenly threw his knife and fork down, growing more agitated as he spoke. He turned to Five to give him a stern look. “Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore!”
As Dad went back to his dinner, I anxiously watched Five. I had no idea how he was going to react. Despite all the arguing, despite all the late nights spent training, despite proving himself, our father had still denied him permission to time travel. I didn’t know why the old man wouldn’t at least let him try. He had a point about the dangers of the effects of time travel, but like Five had told me, how was he supposed to learn if he wasn’t allowed to try?
Five looked down at the ground, pressing his lips together in contempt. He let out a silent sigh, seeming to come to some sort of decision. I think I realized a millisecond before it happened what he was about to do.
Without a word, Five turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.
Everyone immediately took notice.
“Number Five!” our father angrily called. “You haven’t been excused!”
Five ignored him, breaking into a run as he headed out of the archway and to the front doors.
It was in that small span of a few quick seconds that I made the most important decision of my life. I wasn’t sure if it was impulse, instinct, or otherwise, but I instantly knew what I had to do. By the time I heard Five open the front door, my mind was made up. After catching Ben’s gaze and shooting him an apologetic look, I quickly stood up and scurried after Five.
“Number Eight!” Dad yelled after me as I ran. “You haven’t been excused either! Come back here at once!”
For the first time in my thirteen years of life, I deliberately disobeyed my father.
And it felt pretty dang good.
I was so in for it when I came back, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was making sure that Five didn’t go and do something he regretted.
I barely caught the door before it swung shut, quickly slipping through it and closing it behind me. I leapt over the three steps to the gate, wrenching it open and bursting out onto the sidewalk. It didn’t take me long to spot Five, striding down the sidewalk heading west. I sprinted after him.
“Five!” I called out. “Wait!”
Five swiveled his head around, but didn’t stop walking. He spotted me, and looked a little surprised. “Dolores?”
I quickly caught up with him, for once ignoring his use of my not-name. “Five, you have to go back,” I urged him.
He gave me an incredulous look. “And why should I?” he asked. “The old man doesn’t say I’m ready. Well, I’m gonna prove him wrong!”
I sighed, torn between my loyalty to Five and my rationality. “Five, I believe in you. You say that you’re ready, but are you really sure? Dad knows a lot more about time travel than we do---more than he’s letting on. I know it’s incredibly unfair for him to keep denying you, but shouldn’t you at least trust his judgment?”
Five rolled his eyes to high heaven. “His ‘judgment’ is faulty! He’s not the one with the power to time travel--- I am! I know my own abilities better than he does. I know when I’m ready!”
“Five, please,” I pleaded, not wanting him to do something he would regret. “Can’t you just stop and think about this for a moment?”
“I have thought about it, Dolores,” Five assured me. “And I’m going to time travel.”
I was losing the battle here. The question was whether or not that was okay. Five did know his powers well, and he was great at what he could already do. I wanted him to try, wanted him to achieve his goal---but was it worth the risk? He said he was ready, but was he really ready?
Five marched forward with a purpose, and I sighed again, placing a hand on his shoulder as he picked up speed.
“Five, just wait for one---”
I was cut off as Five clenched his fists, grunted, then blinked, taking me along for the ride. The two of us were briefly surrounded by a blue glow, and I felt my molecules abruptly jolt. Then it was gone, and we were suddenly standing in a much different day than we’d previously come from.
Five and I both stopped, and my hand fell off of his shoulder as I gazed around, open-mouthed. It was still the same street, but everything and everyone looked so different. It was noon now instead of evening, and a lot of the buildings looked either newer or older.
We’d actually freaking time-traveled.
“Holy crap!” I exclaimed, my eyes as wide as the moon. “Five, you--- You actually did it! Wow!”
Five was looking at our surroundings in astonishment, also shocked at what he’d done, and I waved my arms around in excitement.
“Incredible!” I praised. “Not only did you just time travel for the first time, but you were able to take me along with you!”
A wide grin spread across his face as he processed all of this. “I had no idea I could blink anybody but myself,” he admitted, seemingly shocked that he’d dragged me along with him.
I beamed, not only proud of Five, but also amazed that I had just traveled through freaking time. The others will be so jealous!
Five was still grinning, looking smug. “I’m not ready, my ass,” he grumbled, verbally sticking it to our father.
“Looks like all the training paid off,” I pointed out, still smiling at Five. “I’m so proud of you! I don’t know why I even doubted. I knew you could do it.” It seemed like all my worries and warnings had been uncalled for.
Five preened at my praise. He then extended a hand toward me in invitation. “Come on,” he urged. “You helped me get here. It’s only fair that you get to see it through with me.”
Not that I really had any choice, as I definitely didn’t want to be stuck in a time that wasn’t ours. But his gesture really touched me anyway, and I gave him a warm smile as I put my hand in his. “Let’s go!”
Five mirrored my smile, and together, the two of us ran down the sidewalk. It wasn’t long before Five jumped again, traveling to a different time. Just like the first attempt, it was successful. We arrived on the same sidewalk in the middle of a snowstorm. We once again gazed at our surroundings, taking it all in with glee. I stretched out my free arm and turned my face to the sky, laughing in delight as the freezing cold snowflakes landed on my face.
For those few blissful seconds, traveling through time with Five, I was having the time of my life.
Five and I continued running onward, hand-in-hand like excited little kids. In a flash of blue, Five pulled us through time once more.
And when we reappeared, there was nothing.
As soon as we saw what awaited us in the new time, Five and I ground to a halt, our wide smiles vanishing when we took it all in. The entire street we’d just been running along--the entire block, even, as far as our eyes could see--was completely in ruin. Not a single building was left completely intact, and most of them were on fire, the pillars of dark smoke choking the gray sky. Debris was absolutely everywhere, littering the streets and sidewalks alike. The earth was completely desolate, and not a single soul was in sight.
I dropped Five’s hand, bringing my hand up to cover my open mouth as I stared at the devastation lying before us. What… What in the world…? I was shocked beyond words, and for a long moment, I forgot how to speak. What in the world happened?! The city, it’s… It had been completely destroyed.
I glanced at Five, finding him in much the same boat I was. He took a few shocked steps backward, his head flying in every direction as he studied the destroyed world around us.
After a minute, our gazes met, and I think we both realized the same thing at the same time.
“The academy,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Five turned pale, looking just as terrified as I felt. Turning back to the direction we’d come, he began scurrying down the sidewalk. I immediately followed him, right on his tail.
We had to know what’d become of our home.
Ash fell from the sky like snow, landing on my face and getting caught in my hair as we ran. I didn’t care. All I was focused on was sprinting as fast as I could, rushing with Five back to the academy. I hoped and prayed as I ran, willing that somehow our home would still be standing. I think I knew what we would find before we found it, but I refused to believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.
It wasn’t long before Five and I arrived at our destination. The two of us nearly ran right past it. That was how little was left.
The Umbrella Academy was gone.
All that remained were the front steps, the doorway, and the pillars on either side. Beyond the destroyed double doors was a wall of fire, bright orange flames dancing inside where the walls once stood. Smoke and ash blew in our faces as Five and I stopped in front of the academy’s ruins, the devastating sight taking our breath away.
For a few moments, neither of us were able to speak. All we could do was stare at the destruction and at each other, hardly able to believe what was right in front of us. This was something out of a bad nightmare---and something told me that we wouldn’t be waking up from it anytime soon.
Our siblings… The thought struck me, and a cold stone of dread settled in the pit of my stomach. Where were they? What had happened to them? Did I even want to know?
Five began crying out their names. “Vanya!”
I joined in, hoping that by some miracle somebody would answer. “Ben!”
“Dad!” Five shouted.
“Anyone!” I bellowed out at the street laden with debris.
We both waited--hopefully, anxiously--willing somebody, anybody, to answer us. But as our cries echoed and died across the land, no other voice rose up to respond. My eyes began to water, and at first I thought it was from the smoke.
Five turned away from the academy ruins, a desperate glint in his eye. Clenching his fists, he brought them up and tried to summon his power. His fists faintly glowed, like a flashlight running out of batteries. He desperately tried to summon his power so we could travel back through time, back to the year we’d left, back home to our family. His power barely responded, doing no more than glowing around his fists.
“Come on!” he shouted in frustration, gritting his teeth. I helplessly watched as he tried over and over again to manipulate time, hoping that he’d be able to do it, that he’d be able to bring us back. But no matter how much he struggled, his powers refused to work.
Five’s power died in his hands, and his frustration turned into despair. “Shit,” he cursed, his voice now a dismayed whine. His hands fell to his sides, and he stared at the ground, looking like he was about to cry.
My throat had tightened, so it was difficult for me to speak. “Five?”
He looked up, gazing at the destroyed world around us. I saw him rapidly blinking, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. He then turned back to face where the Umbrella Academy had once been, falling to his knees. Gone was my overconfident, arrogant best friend. In his place was a scared little boy that had no idea what to do.
“I can’t,” he whimpered, his voice quiet and strained. “I can’t do it. I can’t take us back.”
Which meant...we were stuck here.
No! I immediately refused to believe it. We can’t be stuck here! There must be a way back! We’re not… We’re not stuck in this time… We can’t be…
The hopelessness and despair quickly set in, and my will to fight it quickly burned out. It was all too much at once: arriving in this horrible desolation, seeing our home in utter ruin, Five’s powers refusing to work, our entire family gone, the suddenly very real possibility that we were stuck here forever… It was too much.
I suddenly felt on the verge of collapsing beneath the weight of all my devastation. I put a hand on one of the pillars to steady myself, slowly sinking to the ground. For a long minute, as I sat there, all I could do was stare at what remained of the entrance of what used to be our home. Then the dam broke, and tears began leaking from my eyes. I couldn’t stop them, so I let them loose. A sob choked its way from my mouth, and I tore my gaze away from the flames consuming the academy, squeezing my eyes shut as I started bawling. I tried to stop myself, tried to bring back any scrap of hope, tried to not just sit there and give up.
But I couldn’t help it. I was only a little girl---one who should’ve never run away from home.
As Five and I sat there on our knees, me crying and him silent with utter shock, a tattered black umbrella flew toward us in the wind. It caught the dead branches of what was once a bush, abruptly halting in its journey. The umbrella was a cruel reminder of who we were, and of the home we had run so far from.
That home was long gone---and here, nothing remained.