Empathy [Ben Hargreeves]

Extra-Ordinary

☆☆☆

Eloise Hargreeves wandered down to the living room of the Academy that had been partly restored since the gunfight. The giant chandelier was still the centerpiece of the foyer floor.

The blonde carefully walked to the bar to mix herself a drink in an attempt to numb the pain that was pulsing through her head. The medication from the hospital had worn off completely, so she assumed that the bean pill was the same. She could sense her family throughout the building, if nothing else.

Sitting down on the ancient couch, Elle clinked the ice cubes around the short glass and sighed in exasperation as she caught sight of a familiar autobiography on the coffee table.

Eloise remembered the first time that she had read Vanya's infamous Extra-Ordinary...

☆☆ 2012 ☆☆

"Eloise? Elle, you're going to want to see this," Lucille Min called from the living room - slash - kitchen area.

Twenty-four-year-old Eloise Hargreeves had been sharing a two bedroom apartment above Club CR with Lucille since she was eighteen. The two women were coworkers first, roommates, friends, then on and off again lovers.

Elle stepped out of the shared bathroom with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. "Hm?" Her blonde hair was wrapped into a messy bun on top of her head.

Lucy gestured towards the clunky television in the corner of the room. "Your sister is on the news."

"--several years prior. Today is the official release of the debut novel Extra-Ordinary by the famous Umbrella Academy's very own Vanya Hargreeves. We have Miss Hargreeves on the line to tell us more about the events that inspired her story..."

Elle stared at the TV, her blue eyes flashing several darkened colors at the unsettled feeling in her stomach as Vanya's soft, timid voice started to answer the newscaster's interview questions.

As the news lady and Vanya continued to speak about the "Hargreeves handbook," Elle became increasingly more anxious about what exactly had been written about her adoptive family.

Elle lowered her toothbrush to speak her thoughts. "I have a bad feeling about this, Luce." She rubbed her wrists nervously and left the living room to finish getting dressed and ready for the day. She had work later in the evening, but she needed to make a pitstop before her shift at the club.

"I'll be back soon." Elle pecked Lucille's cherry-flavored lips on the way to the front door of the apartment.

"Bye, babe," Lucy called before the door clicked shut.