Number Eight: Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy)

11

2019 (well, technically 1955)
Martin invited Heather to a fancy restaurant outside of the court house located in the year 1955. She felt very awkward, especially when she compared the food prices into 2019 prices. This place was so fancy and expensive, even for 1955 she could tell it was high end. She and Martin got seated by a young woman, and before the young woman left, she smiled, "I hope you and your father have a pleasant evening." Heather was speechless, not because this young innocent woman called a famous legend her father, but for everything: the restaurant, the prices, the lighting, her companion.

Martin looked over the menu and asked, "you seem rather quiet, have a lot on your mind?" Heather, who just realized she was staring around with her mouth slightly open, readjusted her sitting position and spoke, "my apologies, I didn't mean any disrespect." Martin smiled as he kept the menu up at and angle that covered only his tux, "I'm not offended, instead intrigued." Heather picked up the menu and followed his example then asked, "intrigued?" Martin smiled at the menu, "now you sound intrigued, Mrs. Scott." Heather looked up from the menu and met the old man's deep and curious eyes, then played dumb, "just merely curious, nothing more." Martin smiled. The young woman came back to take their orders, Heather, of course went with the cheapest thing on the menu. As they waited for their food Martin asked, "do you use cards, Mrs. Scott?" Heather scowled slightly in confusion, "cards?" Martin, like a magician, pulled out his deck of fortune cards from his crisp sleeve, "yes, cards. I heard a rumour that you were very good at predicting the future." Heather looked at the cards being shuffled in his hands, then he asked, "tell me, what card am I going to pick? What will be my future?" Heather concentrated on the cards, her ears seemed to open to the little voice that told her he was going to pick the card with a young girl standing in front of a burning house in the middle of a green grass field. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and she began to see the event. She shuffling if the cards seemed to radiate in her ears as the sound of burning wood became present, the smell of smoke filled her nose, and she heard the small child shout for her parents while crying outside the burning building. It was all so much, she felt so much pain, so she stopped.

Martin was still shuffling the large purple diamond shaded cards, and the question had only been asked a few seconds ago. She answered distractedly, "I don't know which card you will pick." Martin, not believing her, nodded, and then chose a card, and when he placed it face up, it was the exact card Heather had pictured. Martin asked in awe, "you have a gift." Heather tried to dismiss the very accurate observation, "no, I don't have any gifts, you probably just picked that card by chance." He looked at her, she seemed scared, and then he took the rest of his cards and put them face up to show her, "all of these cards use to match." Heather looked at them, they were all blank, there wasn't a single image on any of them, just the same purple shaded diamonds design as on the back of them.

Now that Heather looked at the cards, she could see that these were not the same ones Martin had before the council meeting, these ones had larger and fewer diamonds. Her face went pale, and Martin grabbed the card with a design on it and said, "I was given these on a mission to New England in 1663 by a woman who's mother was suspected of practicing witchcraft and burned at the stake. She told me when her mother used them to predict the future, images would appear on the cards. I never believed her until now." Heather stayed silent, not knowing what to say. Martin looked closely at the card, "you have a very accurate gift to, that is exactly what my granddaughter, Delila, looks like." His heart sank as the image remained on the card, and he told her, "if the image doesn't disappear within a few minutes, then the future imprinted upon the card has not yet come true."

The food came, interrupting the silence between them. Martin packed up his blank cards and smiled at his meal being set down before him, Heather followed in suit, but also thanking the young waitress before she left. The two ate quietly, Martin was trying to figure Heather out while Heather was thinking how to respectfully but abruptly leave this table and conversation while never encountering Mr. Sykes again.