One random day in November 2001, a new member joined the Academy. She is given the name of Number 8, and there's much more to her than meets the eye.
As soon as Number 8 and Five meet, they hate one another, always trying to beat the other with thei...
2 months had now passed since that night, Five and I acted as if that night had never happened. I was still slightly embarrassed that he had seen me in that state, but it was too late to go back and change any of that.
During those 2 months, a lot had happened; I mean, we were The Umbrella Academy, after all. Other than an increase in missions that now took us out of the city, Dad started to push Klaus and I even further. For Klaus, he would disappear for days and then return as if nothing happened. At first, it was only me he would confide in; the others did start to see a change in his attitude, but it was only Ben who asked what was going on, leading to Ben now knowing about Klaus' special training.
As for me, it was very rare for Dad to take me away for days. His approach towards my training was to keep me up until the early mornings, sometimes I wouldn't have any sleep. He eventually gave up on the idea that I could breathe underwater, but this didn't mean his other trials were any better. It started with seeing if I could withstand fire. He was very wrong. This little test of his earned me a large burn on my upper arm. Luckily, it was treated before any scarring could accrue.
After that failure, he turned to something much darker. He wanted to see if I could manipulate blood. I could see his logic with this; with blood being a liquid and me having the ability to manipulate water, it made sense. He tested this by bringing in one of the criminals we stopped during a mission and asking me to stop his blood flow.
At first, I protested, knowing I could kill the man, which was something that could easily happen on a mission, but this was a different setting completely. Furious with my disobedience, he put me in a dark room and left me there for nearly 2 days. Once I finally broke, I managed to stop the criminal's blood flow, which killed him.
I could tell Dad was pleased with this outcome, but I couldn't help but feel the blood on my hands. It was after this that I decided to open up to Ben, too. He already had a feeling that I was going through something similar to Klaus, but he wanted to feel like I could open up to him with no pressure.
Even though Dad's training was slowly breaking me, I didn't let it get to me in front of the others. I still wanted to be the funny, smiley girl that they all knew me as. Yes, there were times we all got on each other's nerves, but we still cared about each other, even though there were times when we bickered constantly.
The past 2 months weren't all doom and gloom, though; in fact, there were many late-night trips to Griddys. Sometimes, we went as a group, but there were times Klaus and I decided to sneak out, especially after a rough day of training with Dad. It was often the place where we debriefed each other about what had happened, which, for the most part, contained upsetting and distressing information that we didn't want to share with Ben in case it was too much for him to take in. We would also take the opportunity to make fun of Dad and the others; we both became very competitive about who could make the better Dad impression.
Klaus wasn't the only one I would sneak out to Griddy's with; Diego and I also enjoyed late-night walks and a sweet treat from Griddy's. It was clear that Diego and I were getting close to each other. Luther started pairing me up with Diego on missions, and well, we just naturally got along. Klaus would joke many times that we were just as bad as Luther and Allison, but we just hid it more. I couldn't deny there was something there, but neither of us discussed the matter.
It was fun sneaking out with Diego. I did feel bad that I had to lie to him and hide my special training with Dad, but I knew that if he were to find out, it would make him worry, and that could change the dynamic we had, which I didn't want.
One late night in November, Diego and I snuck out expecting a quiet, uneventful evening. Oh, how wrong we were. Agnes, whom I started to grow rather fond of, had gotten used to us coming in and would often give us an extra treat now and again. Whilst Diego and I were chatting and eating, the door to the diner opened, and two familiar faces entered: Luther and Allison.
Now, Diego and I both knew that something like this may happen eventually, but we thought we would have a bit longer. At first, they both ignored us, but Luther, being Luther, came up to us and asked what we were doing. This, of course, started a small argument between Luther and Diego, which ended in an agreement not to discuss what had occurred to anyone.
As we headed home, I couldn't help but make jokes about the situation. At first, Diego was not amused, but I soon broke through, and we both laughed together, enjoying the moment as much as we could.
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A/N: Slightly different chapter! I wanted to move the story along so thought it best to have this as its own chapter! How awkward for Allison and Charlotte though, can't imagine what they both were thinking.
OUTD: What do you think of Diego and Charlotte's late-night trips?
