Number Eight {The Umbrella Academy} -- [On Hold]

Nine

"Up and at 'em, kiddo."

Cold liquid was poured on my face, which woke me up instantly.

I shot to a sitting position, banging my head on the car in the process, and spluttered, trying to breath through the water. Before I had a moment to recover, I was being lifted out of the car and pulled towards the motel. I only briefly recognized that it was morning outside before I was inside a room, and being forced into a chair next to Klaus.

I was half asleep, blinking sleep from my eyes, but I could still tell he had been through some shit. He was soaked in sweat, with blood stains dotting his body and the towel (thankfully) still wrapped around his waist.

"No, she doesn't know anything either, don't-" A duct tape gag cut him off, and Mr. Mask pulled off the tape restraining him to the chair. The burly man picked my brother up off of the chair and half carried-half dragged him out the door, Klaus weakly protesting as Ms. Mask was taping me to the chair.

A minute or so later Mr. Mask returned, and the duo stood before me.

"What've you got for us?" he asked, leaning back against the TV stand.

"I don't know anything, dumbass. I was at the place because my granddad died, and my mom wanted to go to his funeral. I don't know why the hell you guys wanted me and my uncle, but we're not in on any of the family secrets, incase you wanted the brownie recipe. Look, could you just let us go?" I rambled on in an exasperated tone.

"We've seen the other kid jump through space. He's an assassin. The dumb teen act isn't gonna work," the woman said, examining her gun. 

"Look, yeah, he's weird, the whole family is, but my mom left that life a long time ago. I didn't even know half my uncles existed before, like, two days ago."

"Your 'uncle' out there says he's your brother," Mr. Mask informed me, and I internally groaned.

"He also says that he's a chicken, sometimes. Doesn't make it true."

Mr. Mask and Ms. Mask exchanged a glance, then Ms. Mask lunged forward, and a sharp pain flared up from my nose to the end of my jaw as she slid her knife across my cheek. I winced, more so at the fact that I was going to have a massive scar than at the pain. I then remembered that I was acting like a clueless teen, and cried out. A slightly delayed reaction, but it would work.

"Ow! What the hell, lady! You guys are so gonna be arrested for this!"

"What do you know about the boy?" Ms. Mask questioned, wiping the knife on a rag that had already been soaked in Klaus' blood.

"He's my uncle! He's insane, uh, likes guns and booze, I dunno! I'd only seen him in pictures until earlier this week! What do you want me to tell you?"

"Where he is? What he's planning? Anything remotely useful?" Mr. Mask prompted.

"I know where he lives, but so do you. Uh- I have no clue where he is, or what he's planning-or even what the hell he's planning for. I swear! I didn't see him all day yesterday."

The masked kidnappers exchanged a glance, then walked off towards the bathroom.

I fell into a slump against the back of the chair, sighing as blood dripped down my face and stained my shirt. It was a nice one that I'd been given by Allison when she grew to be an adult physically, and it was being wrecked. How annoying.

My question was how the hell nobody had managed to see Klaus and I as we were moved from the house to the car to the motel. Like, we had been out in the open plenty of times. Did they just assume that since Mr. and Ms. Mask were wearing suits that they were professionals? The ignorance is bliss thing is really inconvenient sometimes.