Free Falling | [THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY]

a sudden death

Joy carefully studied her movements in the long dressing room mirror as she did some last stretching exercises. This had, of course, become a routine of hers over the years. She started dancing a lot later than other kids, so she had to work twice as hard to catch up.

Tonight would hopefully be another successful recital. All of the previous ones had been after all. Something she did pride herself on. Joy knew she would never be as famous as Allison and Vanya had become, but she had made a name for herself alright. It was enough in her world.

She knew her brother Klaus may be in the audience. He usually always was - Ben by his side. What was left of Ben anyways. She wasn't supposed to know, but during one of Klaus's many benders he had spilled the beans to his now little sister that the ghost of their brother Ben had still stuck around, something Joy had kept to herself out of respect.

Klaus would only come if he was sober, which is why he had come to watch less and less in the last couple of months.

It made her sad, but she had tried to help her brother time and time again, and he always ended up back at the bottom. It had become tiring.

Just as she was about to start dwelling on the past again, her duet partner, Leon, knocked on her door. He poked his head in. There was the slightest hint of glitter-dusted onto his dark face. His hazel eyes gleamed as he flashed her a smile.

"Five minutes," he reminded her. "You ready?"

Joy smiled at him. Leon was the only other person she felt safe around outside of Jill and Jinx. And Aiden. The thought of her ex-boyfriend sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn't let more past issues get the best of her. It may be a smaller theatre, but people still came to see a well-performed show, not a train wreck main performer.

"You're still asking?"

Leon chuckled, winking at her before he closed the door.

Joy sighed, walking over to her vanity one last time. She checked her make-up for any kind of flaw. Then her costume. Everything was perfect. If only her father could see her now. Not a strand of hair out of place.

She shook off the last nerves one more time. She couldn't even recall how many times she had done this exact recital. Just why she still got nervous every time would never be clear to her but she knew it would probably never go away. It comes with the territory.

She walked out of the dressing room and down the narrow hallway backstage, smiling and greeting the crew as she walked along, and finally took her spot behind the curtain as always.

Joy and Leon nodded at each other one last time.

The curtain went up and the music started. Joy rarely focused on the audience when she danced, trying to focus on her work instead, but tonight was different.

Something felt different as soon as the curtain went up, it felt as though there were more eyes on her than ever before.

She focused on Leon, her gaze wandering out into the audience every once in a while.

Klaus wasn't there. Joy wasn't surprised anymore. She had no time to think about it anyway. She had to focus on this dance. It paid her bills after all.

If Klaus wasn't there, then he was probably busy elsewhere. Maybe he was finally tired of watching the same routine over and over again.

Or maybe he was out buying drugs again. Or maybe...maybe he had overdosed again.

Her heart started racing as the music became more intense. She started putting all of her might into the routine. All eyes were fixated on her and only her, and she didn't understand why. Usually, people loved to watch the piece they do together, but tonight felt like Leon was getting ignored entirely.