EMBERS : the umbrella academy [2] [COMPLETE]

II

     "ALLISON?" VANYA ASKED, voice full of hope.

     "No!" Carla blurted, "No, no, no, that's not me. I'm Carla."

     "Oh," Vanya frowned slightly, "Are you a sibling?"

     "No," she said, again, "I'm friends with Klaus, and I helped try to stop the 2019 apocalypse."

     "Cool," Vanya smiled, "Um, it's nice to meet you, Carla."

     Carla found herself freezing, thinking back to that week in 2019. She had tried to bury the immense guilt she felt, but seeing Vanya brought it all back.

     She was responsible for Vanya causing the end of the world, in pretty much every sense.

     Her and Sarah had faked their deaths, leading to Harold's instability reaching a peak. He had been the one to manipulate Vanya.

     As well as that, upon arriving at the Academy, Carla had made Vanya feel alienated, as though she were being replaced as Number Seven, despite that never being Carla's intentions.

     To top it all off, Carla had been the one to shoot fire at Vanya, leading her to blast the moon.

     Her stomach lurched.

     "Are you okay?" Vanya asked cautiously, upon seeing the teen's ashen face, "Oh god, did I do something to you before? If so, I'm sorry, you seem super sweet and-"

     "It's fine," she said, getting to her feet, "I just don't feel too good."

     With that, she walked away, towards the spare room she had slept in the night before.

     As she was walking down the small hall, she passed Diego, who was frowning deeply.

     She looked at him in confusion, and when his gaze landed on her, his features hardened, a strange look in his eyes.

     He seemed disgusted, betrayed, upset, and all at Carla, though she had no idea why.

     Deciding not to press, Carla entered the room, mostly used for storing TVs, a single bed pushed up against one wall.

     She reached into her bra, pulling out a cigarette, and went to a window, cracking it open.

     Using a finger to light the end of the cigarette, she took a a quick drag, exhaling out the window.

     Almost instantly, her body seemed to calm, and she felt her eyes flutter shut with relief.

     She had waited two years for this moment - to be reunited with everyone, but the past feelings she had tried to conceal came bubbling up.

     And Klaus.

     A part of her wanted to see him more than words could describe, but the other part of her wanted to run and never look back.

     To put it simply, she was ashamed of what she had become, and didn't want Klaus to see her like that. She was hurt that he hadn't tried to find her, instead deciding on spending time with his cult.

     It made her hands start to spark.

     Hastily, Carla tried to regain control of her emotions, and gazed out of the window pensively.

     She could hear layers of voices coming from the main part of the store, and assumed Klaus and Allison had arrived.

     Slowly, she took a final drag, before crushing the cigarette butt against the windowsill, and throwing it out the window.