ZERO! the umbrella academy

cinquante-cinq

DOOMSDAY

THE ELEVATOR DINGED AS we stepped inside. The doors slid closed behind us, and Allison pressed the button for the top floor. "I hope we find Vanya in time."

I stood at the back of the elevator next to Diego, nervously tapping my fingers against the handle of the briefcase. He took notice and looked down at it. "What's with the briefcase?"

"It's a long story." I sighed, adjusting my grip on it. "I'll tell it to you if we make it out of here alive."

He fell silent after that.

We watched the numbers above the doors light up as the elevator rose higher and higher. Suddenly, the lights flickered, and the box we were confined to started to rattle and shake.

"That's not normal, is it?" Klaus asked.

The elevator slowed to a stop with a rumble. The doors opened, and we were immediately hit with a wave of energy that slammed us back against the walls. It was like we were being pinned down by some invisible force we couldn't see.

Just beyond the doors was a long hallway leading to a room where I guessed Vanya was being held. I could see a bright white glow coming from inside the room through the frosted glass windows. The walls were smeared with blood, and the corpses of FBI agents were littered across the hallway.

Klaus grabbed onto the frame of the doorway, trying to fight against the waves of energy coming towards us like the unrelenting tide of the ocean. Allison ran out and managed to duck behind a desk. Klaus scrambled after her but missed, slipping on the floor. She reached out to him. He took her hand, and she pulled him next to her.

Diego grabbed my hand and tugged me along with him. We stepped out into the hallway, and the handle of the briefcase was immediately ripped from my grip. I turned my head to watch as it was blown past me. It crashed into the wall behind me, splintering into a million pieces.

Well, if Vanya doesn't kill me, Five sure as hell is going to.

We took shelter behind the desk with Klaus and Allison, huddled in the small space. "Question, guys: who are we trying to save Vanya from?" Klaus asked.

"The FBI!" Allison and Diego shouted over the crackle of energy in unison.

"But if they're all sucking ceiling right now, why hasn't she stopped?"

I looked up, and sure enough, there was a man glued to the ceiling, his mouth wide open with blood running out of sockets where his eyes should've been like runny egg yolk. I let out a small gasp of horror.

It was obvious: Vanya had lost control again. Klaus chose an interesting time to finally be right about something.

Diego noticed what I was looking at and shifted to obscure the man from my view. "Vanya's in the room at the end of the hall."