𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves¹

22│THE FLAME THAT BURNS THE CANDLE

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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙ. ʙ. ᴇꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ғʟᴀᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ
ʙᴜʀɴs ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀɴᴅʟᴇ ꒱　


❝ WE DON'T TRADE LIVES. ❞

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For what felt like the hundredth time that week Alexa flopped backwards onto her bed as she sighed in exhaustion. As relieved as she was that the apocalypse was over it still felt like there were a million things to do. And besides, being around estranged family with a tight, now-nonexistent deadline was extremely stressful. Five had disappeared somewhere, which was fine. She knew he liked his freedom and respected that but now she was left with no guidance of what to do next.

It seemed like she only closed her eyes for a few seconds when she heard something that sounded suspiciously like an earthquake. While Alexa had never actually experienced one, she could guess the effects it would have on a building. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes to better focus on what was happening. Debris fell from the corners of her room while the building shook as if it were a tree in the breeze. Frowning in confusion, Alexa stood and headed to the doorway of her room and looked down the hall both ways.

Her siblings and Pogo were clustered together near Allison's room so she headed toward the group. "What's going on, guys?"

Luther glanced at her. "Vanya," was all he said for explanation.

She opened her mouth to ask more questions but Pogo cut across her, "we need to get to safety outside the Academy."

As the building shook around them, Alexa's heart sped up. "We need to stay together," she insisted. "I can get us out of here but not in separate groups."

"We have to split up," Luther countered. "Allison's going to be slower and we still have to get mom!"

Alexa hesitated as she looked between her brothers. "Go with them," Luther demanded. "I can get Allison out."

Trusting that he would do as he said, she nodded and rushed after Diego and Klaus. As they rounded the second floor, Alexa began scanning the area for any sign of their mother. Chunks of the ceiling were falling around them, creating dust that made it hard to see very well.

"Where is she?" Diego cried.

The three of them ran through the hallway as they called her name desperately. Suddenly, a large piece of ceiling fell on top of Klaus, causing him to stumble and fall. Diego leapt forward to help him but got hit in the process.

"No!" Alexa cried and she slid towards her brothers. Her senses tingled and immediately, her eyes flicked upwards to see that a large piece of ceiling was cracking above their heads.

Before she could think, her hands flashed out and a blue light shone a few feet above the men on the floor as the chunk came crashing down. Alexa, focused on keeping her shield intact despite the force of collision, didn't see the ghost of her brother pull Diego to safety but somehow, they were out. She let her shield drop and the chunk crash down as the two men stared at the spot where they'd been. "Holy shit."

"We have to get out of here!" she called loudly over the falling house.

Neither of them argued as Klaus helped Diego to his feet. Together, under the protective dome of blue light to ward off falling rubble, the three of them made for the door. By some miracle, they made it out in one piece although others weren't so lucky. Alexa watched numbly as the falling house took Grace with it while her brothers called frantically to the robotic woman.