Luminance || The Umbrella Academy

౨ৎ shadows and smoke

The mansion was quieter than usual. With the team off on their latest mission, Eight found herself alone, again. She’d slipped into the kitchen, absently watching the steam rise from a cup of tea she’d poured hours ago but never touched.

Her fingers traced the rim of the mug as her thoughts swirled with everything that had been said—and everything that had been left unsaid. She wasn’t part of the team. She wasn’t part of this family.

The silence was suffocating.

A soft knock echoed through the hallway, followed by the creak of the door. Eight didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

"You’re still here?" Klaus asked, stepping inside with a small grin plastered on his face. His eyes were a little too glazed, a little too distant.

Eight raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak. He was holding something behind his back—something small, cylindrical, and smelling like rebellion.

"Got something for you," Klaus said, pulling a joint from behind his back. He took a long drag, blowing out the smoke like it was the answer to everything.

She stared at it for a long moment, her gaze flicking to his. "Don’t you think you’re smoking too much?"

Klaus chuckled, taking another hit. "Hey, you live in this crazy place with all these crazy people, and you tell me you wouldn't be smoking to get through it." He exhaled dramatically. "Besides, you're not as innocent as you look."

Eight hesitated but took the joint from his hand. Her fingers brushed his lightly. She wasn't entirely sure why, but something about his relaxed demeanor calmed the chaos in her chest. Maybe it was the smoke or maybe it was just the absence of Reginald’s cold scrutiny, but for once, she felt like she could breathe.

She took a long, slow drag, feeling the smoke swirl around her lungs before she exhaled. It was as if everything inside her—every worry, every ounce of self-doubt—was momentarily lifted.

Klaus was right. It was a temporary escape.

But then, something shifted.

At first, it was subtle—like the edges of the room began to blur, the corners flickering. She blinked, but the sensation didn’t go away. In fact, it grew stronger. The air seemed to hum around her, charged with an electric feeling she couldn’t quite place.

“Klaus?” she murmured, her voice sounding distant even to her own ears.

"Yeah?" Klaus answered, but his voice was warped, echoing slightly.

"Something’s... off," she said, standing up slowly, her eyes scanning the room. The walls flickered in and out of focus like a poorly tuned TV.

"Off how?" Klaus asked, leaning back and clearly unbothered.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, her breath catching. Her hand moved instinctively to her chest, feeling her pulse race. The room spun, but this wasn’t like being high. Something was wrong.

The shadows in the room began to stretch unnaturally, elongating like they had a life of their own. Her vision was clouded with light, but the light wasn't coming from her—she could feel it pulling from somewhere else, like an invisible force was feeding off her energy.

Klaus raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk on his lips. “You smoke too much, you know that? That’s what happens when you try to escape your feelings, babe.”

Eight’s eyes widened as the light in the room burst, casting strange, distorted patterns on the walls—shapes and figures that didn’t belong. One of them, a tall, shadowy figure, seemed to flicker in and out of existence.

She gasped, stepping back, but the figure only grew stronger, its edges solidifying. It was her.

Not her, but her—a twisted reflection of herself.

The shadowy version of Eight reached toward her, its fingers stretching unnaturally long. Eight stumbled back, her mind racing to make sense of what was happening. Was it the smoke? Her powers? Or something else entirely?

“Klaus!” she shouted, but her voice felt so far away.

Klaus’s smirk faltered as he noticed the strange phenomenon. “Okay, I think we need to lay off the—" He cut himself off as the figure lunged toward Eight, its face contorting into something unrecognizable.

In a panic, Eight thrust her hand forward, instinctively trying to control the light, to push the figure away. The force of it sent a surge of light blasting through the room, the walls shaking as the shadowy figure dissipated into a puff of smoke.

The room fell silent again.

Eight collapsed against the wall, her breath coming in short gasps. Her powers had gone out of control, just like they always did. But this time, it felt different. It wasn’t just the usual flicker of light or small bursts of energy—it was a presence that had been awakened, something she wasn’t sure she could control.

Klaus, looking more serious than she had ever seen him, stared at her. “Alright, I think you need to take a break from the smokes. For everyone’s sake, yeah?”