You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 5: Blood Bound

        I sat in the driver's seat, contemplating what to do for a solid ten minutes. I could head back to my apartment, pretend all of this never happened and move on. I'd attended the service, I did my duty, I watched things go up in flames. I had no reason to head back there ever again, possibly for the rest of my life. Everyone else had probably already left, too. There really wasn't a point in going back.

As I gripped the wheel, my eyes fluttered down to my left forearm. Some of the full-coverage foundation had started to rub off, revealing the black umbrella tattooed there. If I thought back far enough, I could still remember the pain of it being branded into my skin. My siblings-- with the exception of Vanya, as usual-- had gotten them together, forced by Dad when we were just 13. Though we tried to ignore it, these tattoos bonded us, showing off our relationship to each other.

Still, I just couldn't spend the night there. Not while the tensions were still that high, at least. I could go back in the morning and see everyone, and hope there wouldn't be as much fighting tomorrow. It was unlikely there wouldn't be any, but a diminished amount was better than nothing.

I jumped as Five turned on a lamp in my apartment, sitting on my couch and waiting for me. I knew he had jumped to get in here, but still, it concerned me that he had just let himself in.

"Jesus!" I stumbled back a bit, and as my heart rate slowed down, I stepped inside, eyeing him cautiously.

"You should have locks on your windows."

"I live on the second floor," I argued as I set my keys down on the counter.

"Rapists can climb." I shot him an unamused glance.

"You know, that's exactly what I wanted to hear from my brother. Not disturbing at all." I scoffed as I shut the door. "You are so weird."

I sat down on my couch, ready to interrogate him on why exactly he was in my apartment without telling me first, when my eyes fell to some stain on his collar. The dark red color concerned me, dissolving the hostility.

"Is that blood?" He looked down at the stains casually.

"It's nothing."

"What do you mean it's-- why are you here?" He paused for a moment, shifting his position slightly.

"I've decided you're the only one I can trust." My eyes widened. I understood why he trusted me, I didn't need clarification on that.

"Can you at least let me fix that situation?" I pointed to the blood on his arm.

"Fine," he sighed.

I made my way back into the bathroom and grabbed bandages and disinfectant. He rolled up his sleeve, removing the napkin he'd tied around his forearm wound as a makeshift bandage. I poured some of the disinfecting liquid onto a piece of gauze and turned to cleanse the wound, but when my eyes rested on it, I nearly gagged. It ran deep, as though he'd been cut into. I inhaled sharply through my teeth as I looked over it, growing increasingly concerned and curious as to what happened. Five didn't even flinch as I brushed over the deep gash.

"When I jumped forward and I got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?" His voice trembled slightly as he asked.

"No."

"Nothing." I halted in my movements, processing what he said. "Absolutely nothing. As far as I could tell, I was the last person alive."

That was it. The thing that changed him, made him into this bitter person. Strange how I had been trying so hard to ask him about it, but when it came down to the moment, the words just casually spilled out of him.