ZERO! the umbrella academy

vingt-quatre

HAPPY

MY HANDS WERE RED and raw from trying to turn the wheel on the door so many times, but it hadn't even budged. Not even an inch. No matter how much I scratched and clawed and pulled with all my might, it stayed still. It made me feel helpless, almost as helpless as my sister who was frozen on the other side.

Of course, Luther knew that I would try to stop time in order to free Vanya, which is why he was counting on the wheel on the door to stop me. He was right; it did. He was the only one strong enough to open it, and unlike him, I wasn't going to threaten to throw someone out a window in order to get what I want.

The wheel slipped from my grip again, and my arms gave out. I took a step back and wiped the salty tears that had left trails down my cheeks with the back of my hand. I blinked rapidly and looked at Vanya through my blurry vision. Her hands were pressed against the glass of the door, and her eyes were wild and desperate. She doesn't deserve to be in here. She doesn't deserve this.

I closed my eyes, and time resumed. I whirled around and punched Luther in the face, my knuckles connecting with his jaw. It probably hurt me more than him, but I didn't care. I wanted him to feel it.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I screamed, spit flying everywhere. My blood felt like hot lava coursing through my veins.

Diego grabbed my arms, restraining me. "Lee, calm down."

"Calm down?" I thrashed against Diego's hold on me. "How am I supposed to calm down when our sister is locked up in a cage like some wild animal?"

Luther barely seemed affected by the punch. "She hurt Allison."

"It wasn't her fault!" I raised my voice.

He clenched his jaw. "What if it was Five?"

I relaxed under Diego's hands. "That's not fair."

"What's not fair is that Allison may never be able to speak again, and it's all because of her." He jutted his chin in the direction of Vanya in the cage.

"Whoa, whoa. Let's just calm down for a second, okay?" Klaus ran his hands through his hair. "Think through this rationally."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "When have you ever thought through anything rationally?"

"Klaus is right." Diego let go of me, purposefully pushing me away from Luther and Klaus. "You locked up our sister because you think she has powers."

"No, I know she does," Luther insisted. "Pogo told me. He's always known, and so did Dad."

Diego pressed a hand against the door. "Why would they hide this from us? I mean, am I the only one that didn't know this place existed?"

Klaus leaned in and stared at Vanya. "He hid so much from us."