Sanguis • Ben Hargreeves¹

ten

Wednesday. 8:15 am (... again)

Time went backwards. It rushed, but it never slowed nor stopped. Not until Five made it to the specific time he wanted. Once he made it, the boy came crashing down onto the counter; surprising the absent-minded ginger woman and the occupied-in-conversation others.

"Je-Jesus!" Allison stuttered, stepping back like the rest of them.

"Fucking-" Eden cut herself off, holding a hand to her heart.

"You guys, am I still high, or do you see him, too?" Klaus groaned.

"Five, where have you been?" Luther growled.

"Let the boy be, he looks beat." Eden muttered, helping Five up as soon as he fell down; along with Allison.

"Are you alright?" Allison asked.

"Who did this?" Luther questioned.

"Irrelevant." Five told them, snatching the coffee cup from Allison's hand.

They all watched as Five chugged the coffee, slurping violently as soon as there was none left in the cup. He sighed out and turned around to face them.

"So the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us." Five stated.

"The Umbrella Academy." Eden murmured while Luther said it at a normal volume.

"Yeah, but with me, obviously. So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us?" Five said.

"No!" Eden cheered, looking around as the focus landed on her. "Sorry, thought it was an interactive pep-talk. My bad."

"And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead." He held up a piece of paper. "I know who's responsible for the apocalypse."

Allison took the note from Five and read it. "Harold Jenkins?"

"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego stared at Five.

Five continued to slurp the cup, though there was nothing left inside. He threw it across the room and the lid came off as he did so. "I don't know... Yet. But I do know that he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now."

"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asked.

"Does it really matter, Luther? He ends the world, if we kill him he doesn't. It's as simple as that." Eden said, arms crossed.

✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

Eden decided to not leave, and instead she stayed with Luther and Klaus. She was sat up in Ben's room, looking through the few books sat on his desk. One book stood out to her, her favorite book as a kid; The Rainbow Fish. She laughed and opened the book only for a piece of folded paper to fall out. Eden picked it up and opened it.

She saw it was a letter addressed to... Her from Ben. It read;

-•-

Eden

I'm writing this to tell you everything. You're my first thought in the morning and I hold you in my last breath in the evening. I need you more and more each day, you're like air to me; I have to have you to survive. You were with me in my darkest, and you were with me in my brightest.

I love you.

Yours, Ben x

-•-

Eden racked in sobs. She hadn't realized Ben was this... Poetic? She didn't know the word she was looking for, but what Eden did know was he had felt the same as her; he always felt the same. This made her regret not telling him when they were younger, maybe if she had Ben wouldn't have died.

The woman sighed, tears streaming down her lightly flushed face. Eden pocketed the small piece of paper and stood up, wiped the water from her cheeks as she was walking out of the bedroom door. As she strode down the hall she glided a hand on the wall, the same action Eden had done many times during her childhood.

Once on the ground floor, where the front door was, Eden turned into the living room. She went over to the bar and leaned against it. She stayed in silence for a minute before sighing. Eden, as reluctant as she was, picked up a bottle of vodka and a shot glass and placed them infront of herself.

She stared at the two items in contemplation until she finally grabbed the vodka and poured it into the shot glass, tipping her head back quickly. The immediate taste of the burning alcohol sent her into a coughing fit, but it wasn't enough for her to stop. It reminded her of the first time she ever tried alcohol... With Ben.

-

Eden, Ben, and Klaus snuck through the halls and up into the attic. Klaus carried a bottle of vodka while Eden held three shot glasses; Ben, on the other hand, wasn't holding anything. The boy thought he might drop something so he insisted the other two take everything.

Once up in the secluded room, the three sat in a circle. Klaus and Eden placed the things onto the floor, and Klaus was the first to speak. "Alright, let's get this party started."

"How do we get this party started?" Ben questioned, nervousness evident in his voice.

"We..." Klaus poured vodka into the three shot glasses effortlessly. "Drink."

He handed one to Eden, then one to Ben, and finally picked one up himself. They all clinked and shot the alcohol back, Eden and Ben having disgusted reactions while Klaus had none at all.

"God, that's gross." Eden grimaced, placing the glass down.

"I know." Smiled Klaus. "Isn't it great?!"

Ben looked towards Eden, laughing at her reaction; all the while having the exact same one. Soon enough, all three teens were more drunk than skunks. Klaus was starting to pass out, being the most drunk out of them. Both Eden and Ben were trying to stay quiet, but it was hard.

When they settled down, Ben looked at Eden. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world, no matter how cheesy or cliché he thought it sounded. The ginger could feel eyes on her so she turned and found Ben staring at her. During usual circumstances the boy would have gotten flustered and turned away from her, but he was too drunk to think.

Ben moved closer to Eden, an inch from her face.

He took her face in his right hand.

She leaned into his touch.

Their hot breath wafted into each others faces.

Eden looked down at Ben's lips, him doing the same. Their faces slowly moved closer and their lips were half an inch apart, only stopping when Klaus shot back up from his short slumber.

"Whoa, what a rush!" Klaus exclaimed as the two teens quickly scooted away from each other.

-

Now drunk, Eden stumbled around the house. She threw on a record, not caring enough to look at the title, and started to dance to it. She moved, and jammed, and swayed; whatever you wanted to call it. She was so busy being in her mind she hadn't noticed anyone walking through the front door, nor had she noticed them walking up the stairs.