THE BEAST ─ five hargreeves

[ 076 ] in my end is my beginning

XXXVI.

i n   m y   en d
i s   m y   b e g i n n i n g

—IN THE HAZY BLUE snowstorm it was almost impossible to see anything except more snow. It had come gently at first, like little sighs, and then harder and harder, as if someone had ripped open a huge pillow. The sky was perfectly white, and now the ground was, too; the wind blew the snow almost horizontal, and it coated every bare inch of farmland, so that the whole world seemed to turn pale in mere minutes.

The barn, shrouded and muffled, wore a fuzzy circle of light around itself and was the one thing the Umbrella Academy could sight on as they stood staring up at it. If they could not see the enemy, how could they defend themselves?

The snow blew and swirled, passing low over the acres of farmland and rich soil, hugging the ploughed terrain, teasing them as they watched. It was cold and clammy, as unsympathetic as the claws of death, with which it kept close company.

Around the barn there were a few lone trees, their branches already stripped bare by the freezing gales, standing naked and forlorn on the battlefield. It was November in Dallas. Every last bit of this scene was wrong—unnatural—a strange, absurd secret. The snow blanketed it all.

A car came barreling down the road and screeched to a halt before the barn. Two teenagers and a parrot leapt out.

"We're here," said Five, trying valiantly to fix his tie. "All three of us." Kiki landed heavily on Zara's shoulder and gave a cheerful squawk.

Allison frowned. "What took you guys so long?"

"Lemmings," said Zara, and tied her hair back into a ponytail. "You always gotta watch out for lemmings. They might be small but dammit those little guys have a lot of pent up energy."

"Mwah!" said Kiki, wanting to show off her newly acquired repertoire of kissing noises. "Mwah, mwah! Oh, Five—"

"Shhh!" hissed Zara, cheeks burning. She tossed the parrot a toffee. Kiki got to work unwrapping the little candy with her clawed foot, making quiet kissing noises to herself all the while.

Klaus wiggled his eyebrows. "Must've been some wild-ass lemmings, huh, guys?"

"Forget the lemons," said Diego, staring up at the barn. "It's November in Texas. Look, I haven't been in Dallas for as long as some of you guys, but I don't remember blizzards being on the weather forecast."

"It's the barn," said Five. He sounded so solemn, so professional, that it was impossible not to agree with him at once. "There's a strong correlation that whatever's going on is connected to it."

"You—uh, got something right there—" said Allison, and took a handkerchief to wipe at a reddish smudge on his cheek. He tried ducking away. She paused, looked suspiciously at him for a moment, then turned to Zara. "Estée Lauder, lipstick shade Dark Dahlia, 1962's Midnight collection?"

"Yep."

"Nice."

Behind the heavy veil of snow, a woman suddenly appeared. She had come from the barn, and the wind had hidden her approach. Her fingertips had turned blue and her eyes, light-coloured and frantic, looked between them all with fear and suspicion. In her hands was a hunting rifle.

"Sissy!" Vanya ran forward. "Sissy, put the gun down!"

The woman cocked the rifle. "Stay back!" she shouted. "All of you stay back! Stay the hell back or I'll shoot!"

"You're not really going to shoot us," said Zara scornfully, and if it weren't for Five yanking her towards him at the last moment, she would have gone to the hospital with a bullet in her arm. "Oh, wow. She really is going to shoot us."