a mannequin and a boy • the umbrella academy ON HOLD

volume two, issue 10

The following day, Five, Diego and Luther had finally gathered together, minus Lila, who was kicked out of the little squad the moment she didn't help Diego. Harsh.

"No, no, no, I don't understand. They keep following me. They keep following me," Diego complained, already ticking Five off.

"Wait, who?" Luther asked, who was just trying to cook himself breakfast.

"They're Swedish, you idiot. Hired guns paid to eradicate us before we do any more damage to this timeline," Five explained. The boy looked puzzled, but not because of whatever nonsense Luther and Diego were spewing out.

Five couldn't stop recounting the moments of last night. He couldn't stop thinking about it. About her.

He had already started assuming it was Dolores who was the invisible force, but part of him didn't want to believe it. Part of him hoped she was here, of course, but not then. Not there.

"Yeah, but why now? I'm... I'm fine for three months until you showed up," Diego complained, throwing a nasty expression at Five.

"Yeah, I was here for a year and no one messed with me," Luther added, still eating. No surprise there.

"Even if it isn't my fault, which it isn't, we only have six days before the end of the world and the closest anyone's gotten to dad was that driveway at the consort."

"Well, that's not exactly true," Luther cut in.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw him."

You already know the story. The scene of a broken boy with a broken heart that missed his dad. The very same dad that unnecessarily sent him to the moon. And then broke his heart all over again fifty years earlier.

All Five got from the whole thing was that his dad knew something about time travel, something that could get them out of this year before it all goes to dust. Or something that could save the world, again.

Five knew he had to get his siblings back together, even if that meant stalling his quest to look for Dolores.

"Okay, but first, Five, can I talk to you?" Diego asked the boy, leaving Luther to eat and Elliot standing there awkwardly as the two went to an otherwise empty room.

"The other day, when I was stabbed by Dad, I saw someone," Diego started, a little bit of hesitation evident in his voice. Five stared at him with an expression that screamed 'get on with it'.

"Well..." Diego trailed off, gulping.

"Diego, just spit it out, you're really wasting time."

"I saw her," Diego finally said, his eyes flickering from his feet to Five in a bit of fear.

Five gulped, his expression hardening as he stood straighter, approaching the man with a sense of intimidation.

"Saw who, Diego?" He asked without an ounce of foolishness in his tone. His eyes became hard, and almost mournful.

Five didn't forget what he saw yesterday morning. He saw the one person he always had dead on the ground. He tried to hide his pain for the sake of the mission, he tried to hold the grief off until everything went back to normal, but he couldn't.

For Five, life couldn't be normal. He didn't even have a 'normal' to go to.

He had one normal in his life and that was Dolores. And now, he didn't even have her.

"You know who, Five. I saw Dolores," Diego finally admitted, stepping back.

Five took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself down, plopping himself on a table chair as he thought and processed it over.

He felt guilty, accountable even, for her death. If he hadn't been knocked out and had been more careful, maybe he could've met up with her and taken her away, taken her to safety.

"Was anyone else there?" He asked. The boy did still want to know who knocked him out. Upon further analyzing, he shifted the blame to them.

"Other than Dad, no." But Dad didn't have any special powers that could get him to the other side of the warehouse. Maybe he did, but Five ruled that option out.

"I have... a lot to think about," Five finally said, after a few moments of quiet. A few moments of suspense.

"Do you think we can find her?" Diego asked, not knowing what actually happened.

"No."

"Why?" Five was beginning to grow impatient and annoyed. He just teleported himself out pf there, leaving Diego confused.

After a few moments, Five actually came back, with another question on his mind.

"I haven't been too honest. At the party, something was holding me back, allowing me to get hit. The force was timid, shy, didn't seem to want me to get hurt. But they were strong. And at the warehouse, same thing. I got knocked out. Do you think..?" Five trailed off. He for sure saw Dolores dead, but maybe her spirit lived on, somehow.

"Something, or someone, helped me last night. I was saved because of them," Diego added. Five took a deep breath at that, shaking his head.

"I need to think." Five left in an instant, leaving behind a very confused Diego. It's not as if Five was any less confused, especially since he had a lot to think about and nothing made sense.

But first, he needed some coffee. And maybe three shots of vodka. And maybe a time machine. No, most definitely a time machine.

authors note
can we just pretend like it hasn't been three months since I updated? yes, yes we can. please?

anyways. this volume will be over relatively soon, which means that plot twists and new plots will develop a lot, but I have everything under control, I think. there's a lot in store, trust me ;)

Question of the chapter: what's your favorite class you've ever taken so far?

My answer: I took musical theater for two years in middle school, that was really fun.

ps. pls answer the question of the chapter! I love to hear your answers :)

thanks for reading!