a mannequin and a boy • the umbrella academy ON HOLD

volume two, issue 9

"I look pretty good for a dead-" 

"Dolores!" 

The inside of Reginald's car was as classy as a car in 1963 could be, but with Dolores's blood all over it, it looked and smelled like a slaughterhouse.

It took about half a day for the man to finally find her corpse, but considering the fact that she got tired and eventually hauled herself to a whites-only diner also helped. 

The seller immediately gasped at the sight of the pale girl with a hole at the side of her head, but Dolores casually sat down. Everyone fled the building, which only confused Dolores. 

"Is it because I'm Asian?" She asked the seller, who was standing as far away from her as he could get. 

"Yes, and- and the fact that you're dead!" He hollered with horror and terror in his tone. 

Dolores finally reached up to the source of the blood coming out of her head with a dazed expression. 

"Oh, yeah. That happened." He ran out in a rush, and Dolores shrugged, helping herself to food and some water behind the counter. 

After a while, Dolores noticed another patron at the diner, one that was oh so familiar. 

"Klaus?" She finally said, tilting her head. She hadn't seen him ever since he got arrested.

"Dolores! Ben's been worried sick!" He said, standing up. He looked like his heart had just been broken. 

"He has?"

"Yes! And now you show up, with a bullet in your head, and I don't think I conjured you!"

Dolores furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't feel dead. She had a light headache, sure, but nothing else. 

"No, you didn't."

"Hey, I gotta go, but stay here!" Klaus said, before dashing out the door. Confused, Dolores sat back down at the counter, her bullet wound facing the window. 

Eventually, both the police and Reginald showed up. Reginald dismissed her wound, claiming it to be special makeup for a movie, and so the cops wanted autographs, and after an hour of signing things, Dolores was out of there in the car. 

"Oh, lighten up," she muttered after he shot down her joke. 

"I need you to assist me again tonight," he told her after a moment of driving. Upon further inspection, Dolores noticed that a monkey was driving.

"No, last time I worked for you I got shot," she countered, crossing her arms defiantly. 

"Oh, but you're here and healthy, aren't you? And bleeding everywhere." Dolores scowled. 

"Whats in it for me?" 

"You don't get sent to the nearest lab."

"Not good enough."

Reginald sighed, looking back at her for a moment. "You're obviously fond of the boy. I'll get you him, safe, as long as you don't let him get in our way."

"Diego too?"

"Who?"

"The knife guy."

"He could be useful, but... sure."

Dolores smiled, satisfied with that. Although, it wasn't very characteristic of Reginald to be trustworthy, but she was too blinded with the thought of reuniting with Five. 

( a timeskip )

Holding Five back was a lot harder than Dolores expected, especially since it took about half her energy to even physically touch him.

But there she was, holding him back from the Swedish man and hoping that he'd go easy on the boy. 

She knew that whatever Five could do to any of the blonde boys, Reginald would do to him threefold. 

She was not expecting another girl, around Diego's age, to pop in, though. 

Her headache had gradually gotten worse throughout the day, so her head was pounding and her arms were sore, but when Diego looked to be in more trouble than anyone else, she knew she had to step in. 

Five and the new girl escaped despite Dolores's actions, but Diego hadn't. She charged at the blonde man that was actually armed, punching him right in the face, but she barely even got him to stumble before he immediately hit her back with his rings.

Dolores fell to the ground, groaning and clutching her stomach. Her shirt started dampening with new, fresh blood, but she found herself slowly crawling out as Diego fought off the guys.

The car was right there, waiting for her, outside the door. She didn't want to go back with Reginald. She wanted to go back to Five, where she felt at least a little safe.

But would he ever forgive her? Would she ever bring herself to tell him all that she's done in the last few days?

Dolores hauled herself back to the car, a trail of blood following her as she entered. All she could think about was what just happened and the events of today. 

She woke up with a hole in her head. She didn't know how she survived the gunshot, nor how Vanya could just leave like that. 

But she wasn't hurt. The bullet was still there, but she easily pulled it out. 

Now, she had two major wounds, but the punch hurt way more than the shot.

Dolores assumed this was part of her powers, which she was actually getting the hang of now. 

She'd rather have to solve this all with Five, though. Not alone, like she's always been.

authors note

surprise, she's alive. you knew that though. I have a good idea planned for a few chapters ahead, so stick around to see that, pleaseeee. 

Question of the Chapter: what's the hardest part about reading or writing?

My answer: writing these questions are hard because I'm always so antsy to get the chapter up. and with reading, I get distracted very easily. 

thats all! thanks for reading!