W H Y?《Umbrella Academy》

No. 16

Klaus and James were put facing each other in the closet. James hadn't let his guard down while his kidnappers were around, and even now, they weren't there, he still kept his guard up. ready to fight if necessary. Hot salty tears poured down his face, overflowing from the dark lashes protecting his eyes from the dim light and the sight of his love in front of him. The salty liquid cleared the blood and sweat from his face, neck, and chest. The pale man looked up towards the ceiling and took a shuttering breath. He hadn't bothered attempting to sleep since he was kidnapped, the panic and adrenaline keeping him awake. After he caused a power outage throughout the motel, he was beaten and threatened.

"DADDY! YOU'VE GOTTA HEAR 'BOUT MY DAY AT SCHOOL! I PUNCHED MY BULLY!" A young girl, around 6 ran into the apartment, an envelope clutched tightly in her hand. The door shut behind her, and she came bounding into the kitchen, her black mary-janes hitting the floor with each step. She threw her backpack on the floor and proudly presented the envelope, one of her front teeth missing. James grabbed it from his daughter and looked over the delicate writing of 'to the parent or guardians of Lilly Hargreevess," in purple ink. He slid a nail under the flap and pulled up. He opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside,

'Dear parent or guardian of Lilly Hargreeves,

I'm writing to you to let you know that your daughter got into a fight today. At recess today, she got into a verbal argument with a couple of other students. Lilly then punched one of the girls and then proceeded to pass the blame onto the other girls. She has been making these claims for months that the girls have been picking on her, but she has a record of lying to teachers. This is the first time their little arguments have gone from verbal to physical. We would like you to come in to talk with everyone involved, including the staff and students involved. If this happens again, we will have no choice to expel your child.

Best regards, Hamilton K-12 enrichment school headmaster, Lillian-Jean King.'

James remembered that day, Miles had punched a girl who had been picking on him for the whole school year, and even outside of school, on the soccer field. He had taken his son the next day and talked to the principal and the kid's families. Thinking back on the past was the only thing keeping him sane while he was being held captive by two psychopaths. Klaus sat across from him, observing his love stare off, eyes hazy and glassy. Ben stood behind him, leaning against the closet wall, "Is he okay? Or is this something he does?" Ben asked Klaus studied the male's movements, before shaking his head. "I- I think- I think he's going through,- uh. I don't know. Maybe shock? He's never done that before. The only time he did this was after you died." Ben nodded and watched his brother. The crimson-colored, metallic-tasting liquid began dripping out of James's nose, and Klaus watched in concern as James looked so broken and helpless, weak.

The sound of a vacuum cleaner shook the males out of their thoughts. The cleaning lady was outside and tending to the room. Klaus screamed and made any noise he could with a duck-taped mouth, but his efforts served futile because the woman never heard him. "Klaus, she can't hear you." Ben tried, but Klaus continued screaming. James looked at him through hazy eyes. His eyes were half-lidded and if Klaus didn't know any better, he would say he looked high. But Klaus did know, James would go into a hazy, trance-like state after missions, or after something traumatic happened. It was something he did, even as a kid. Outside of the closet, the maid bent down, and picked up a screw, she looked around and saw the vent. But didn't think anything of it, she just placed the screw onto the table and went back to vacuuming. "You know what the worst part of being dead is? You're stuck. Nowhere to go." Ben started, watching his brother struggle and fight against the bonds keeping him to the chair. "Nowhere to change. That's the real torture if you gotta know." 

James looked up, and stared directly at Ben, a questioning look of his features, before realization struck him. Klaus looked away from the hoodie-clad man and faced James, who was staring above him. Ben paused and looked at him, the two adoptive brothers making eye contact. James froze, 'No. That can't be. He's dead. I watched him die. How- what... Why am I seeing him?' "Watching your brother take for granted, everything you lost and pissing it all away." Klaus sniffled, and looked away, eyes glazing over as he looked at his lap. Ben looked up, and faced his white-haired friend, and gave him a solemn look. James whimpered and then hissed when the tape around his wrists irritated the skin as he tried to reach for Ben. He looked down and saw his skin was bright red and purple. James squeezed his eyes shut and threw his head back. He screamed and screamed. The tape muffled the sound, but he still screamed. He went until he couldn't any longer. His chest heaved as he took in gasps of air. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs, and he noticed black dots clouding his vision. He passed out.