You Better Bring an Umbrella, Vol. 1

Chapter 26: Escape Home

  I swung around the corner, tripping on a couple of stairs as I ran up in an attempt to find my siblings. Given how things had been left, they were likely still in their rooms, attempting to figure out what exactly just happened. None of us had seen Vanya's powers in action before, but something told me that at least Luther had put two and two together and figured out she was causing this. I still refused to believe she was capable of any sort of harm or destruction, but I couldn't discount the pattern that had started emerging.

I had just made it to the staircase that led to my siblings' bedrooms, when I crashed chest-first into two figures, who grunted in pain before falling right to the ground. My eyes widened as I reached my hands down, helping Klaus and Diego back up onto their feet. Diego adjusted his sling slightly as he glared at me.

"Shit. Sorry, guys," I muttered, sheepish.

"No time, no time!" Klaus shouted, already spinning me around and starting to push me away. "We have to find Mom and get out of here!"

"Right, right." The three of us ran to Mom's charging spot, only to find the cushioned seat bare. The beautiful paintings that once sat proud on the wall now swung violently back and forth, tumbling from their places of honor as the golden frames containing them cracked and shattered. I stuck my arms out, attempting to keep myself from falling as another explosion rocked the ground beneath me.

"Mom!" Diego shouted, attempting to call her to us. "Where is she?"

The three of us quickly turned on our heels as a piece of the ceiling fell just inches from me, smashing onto the marble flooring.

"Mom!" I shouted as we crossed the bridge that normally would lead to where all the Umbrella Academy memorabilia had once been housed. The cases had been smashed and any little items buried beneath rubble, but at this point, that wasn't the most pressing issue.

"Mom!"

Just as we headed down the next hallway, a chunk of the ceiling crashed down onto the back of my neck, knocking me off my feet. Klaus and Diego's bodies thudded beside me, with the latter rendered completely unconscious. I tried to pick myself up, but the moment I lifted my fingers, every nerve in me seemed to go dead, forcing me to flop back down like a limp, helpless piece of garbage. I tried to fight again, not wanting to give up on my family that easily, but no matter my willpower, my body refused to move

After one last, fruitless attempt, I closed my eyes, allowing my head to loll to the side. I hadn't completely believed what I had said to Five about being destined to die, but if it's what time wished to happen, then it would. I had hoped so desperately that we changed the timeline, that none of us would be harmed and we could actually fight this catastrophe, but there was nothing else left to do. The necklace I always wore with pride dug into my sternum as I closed my eyes, resigning myself completely.

That's when, suddenly, my body shot forward, feeling as though someone were pulling on my hand. Adrenaline shot through me, forcing me to suddenly jump up just as what appeared to be nearly the entire ceiling came crashing down. Klaus must have gotten up and pulled us out of the way just in time.

I turned to thank my brother, but found him instead staring at the spot next to me with wide eyes, his jaw fallen slack. It took me a second to figure out just what he was staring at, but when it hit me, I turned to the air beside me and gasped a little.

"Holy shit," Klaus muttered as Diego came to. I reached down and helped him to his feet, setting an arm under his shoulders to support him.

"Come on," I shouted, turning my head back to the still-dumbfounded Klaus. "Come on, come on. Klaus!"

I rushed him up the other set of stairs, leading to Five and my rooms and the attic, where the fire escape had been installed. Klaus, Diego, and I fought a little to push ourselves out, but we managed to escape just in time, our feet touching the ground right before the bricks and mortar began to fall away.