Lotus |1| The Umbrella Academy

Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four:

Diego sped all the way to Leonard Peabody's house, or the house that Allison claimed belonged to him. They all filed out and rushed to the front door, Five slowly following behind.

"Be careful, ok?" Allison said leading them up the porch, "We don't know what Peabody's capable of."

Diego clicked his tongue, "Yeah. He didn't seem dangerous when I saw him. A little scrawny, actually."

"Yeah, well, so are most mass murderers and serial killers." Allison pointed out.

Lotus snorted, "She's right. I mean, look at him." She pointed at Five who finally made it up the porch steps.

The house looked nice, the outside was well kept and there seemed to be no signs of something odd.

"Good point." Diego nodded, "So what does this guy want with Vanya?"

"Don't know."

"How about we ask him after we kill him." Diego took a step back and charged at the door, he stopped as Lotus grabbed his arm. A crease forming in Lotus' brows, "Woah, woah—"

"Hey, look, I'm gonna burst through—" He never got to explain himself as Five disappeared in thin air, Diego shared an annoyed look with Lotus before mumbling, "You know what? It would be nice if people stuck to the plan."

The glass shattered as he flew through the pane, landing on the floor with a thud. Lotus sucked in a breath, her eyes wide as she peeked in to make sure he wasn't dead. Diego groaned pulling himself up, he shook out his shirt and shards of glass came tumbling to the floor. Allison walked up behind her brother and shook her head while Five joined her, he reached out and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it open.

"Subtle." Five chuckled, "You know, the door was unlocked."

"Yeah, well my way worked just fine."

Five opened the door fully and Lotus came walking in, careful not to step in large piles of glass. "Spread out." Diego huffed walking down the hall, "Yell if your in trouble."

"Inspiring leadership." Lotus watched as he disappeared around the corner, "Allison laughed, "One of the greats."

She turned and rushed up the stairs, her heels clicking on the hardwood. Lotus wandered her way into the living room, Five limping behind her. She lifted up couch cushions and dug threw piles of random papers on the coffee table. Five was in the kitchen, she could his footsteps hard against the tile. They searched for a few more minutes before Diego poked his head in, "Nothing in the basement."

"Guys!" Allison's voice floated down from upstairs, "You need to see this!"

They all rushed up the stairs, seeing Allison's face peek out of the square that lead to the attic. Five disappeared behind her and Diego was already up, Lotus trudged after them. Allison was towards the back of the small space, a finger tracing something.

"All our faces are burnt off."

Lotus shook her head staring at the posters on the wall. It was of the Umbrella Academy, each individual child. There was full sized posters and magazine clippings, even some photos that the strange man must of took himself. Each had something in common, and that was the fact that their eyes were all scratched or burnt off.

"Because that's not creepy." Diego tapped on a poster of himself, "This dudes got some serious issues."

"This was never about Vanya. This is about us." Five declared, clicking the pieces only he could see together.

"Let's go. We should find her." Lotus said already making her way down the ladder, but Allison and Diego both called, "Wait a minute."

Her shoes hit the floor and she stumbled against the wall, Five followed her down, breathing heavily.