Number Zero- The Umbrella Academy (Book 1)

☂8☂

16 years, four months, and fourteen days ago...

The bell rang, signaling for the children and Reginald to come to dinner. They all walked into the room quickly, each of them standing behind their assigned chairs as Reginald walked into the room, pulling out his own chair.

"Sit." He ordered. They all took their seats as they began to eat their dinner. The only sound was the rope-tying informer on the record playing in the background.

Zero had had a bad feeling all day; he knew that something would happen and that nothing would be the same because of it, but he still had yet to figure out what it was.

He sat across from five while Vanya sat at the end of the table next to him and Five. As Zero looked across the table at Five, he could tell that the boy was agitated about something, he tried making eye contact with him, but Five wouldn't look at him.

Zero glanced over at Vanya, who was also tense since she had noticed something was wrong with Five as well. The girl's eyes locked with the blonde's, and she shook her head in confusion.

Suddenly Five stabbed his knife on the table, causing everyone at the table to look up at him in surprise. Hargreeves looked at the boy with annoyance, "Number Five?!" Hargreeves exclaimed.

"I have a question." Five stated in annoyance. Zero sent the boy a questioning look, but he only glanced at him and Vanya before looking back at their father.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules." He told the boy, "No talking during mealtimes. You are interrupting Herr Carlson."

Five put his silverware down, his eyes on Hargreeves. "I want to time travel." Five said, causing Zero to stare at him with wide eyes.

"No." Hargreeves answered without hesitation, but Five didn't like that answer.

"But I'm ready." Five argued, "I've been practicing my spatial jumps, just like you said." Less than a second later, he had disappeared and reappeared on the other end of the table next to Hargreeves. "See?"

Hargreeves didn't even glance at the boy. "A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice; the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn." He said.

"Well, I don't get it." Five told him.

"Hence the reason you're not ready." Hargreeves said.

A look of annoyance passed over Five's face as he looked at the rest of the table. His eyes finally locked with Zeros, who gently shook his head, he knew that Five was upset, but he didn't want him getting into any trouble with their father.

"I'm not afraid." Five declared as he quickly looked away from the boy.

"Fear isn't the issue," Hargreeves told him, "The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind, are far too unpredictable." Hargreeves set his silverware down before looking at Five. "Now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore." He said and then looked away. Five stood there for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief.

Zero watched the boy in silence, waiting for what he would do next, but he could've never imagined what would happen. In the next moment, the boy turned on his heels and left the room. Zero was on his feet and running after the boy without a moment's hesitation.

"Number Five! You haven't been excused! Come back here!" Hargreeves exclaimed as the front door closed; he then caught sight of the boy running after him, "Number Zero! Number Seven"

Zero ignored him and kept running over to the door and throwing it open before running out. He could hear faint footsteps behind him, trying to catch up to him until Vanya ran beside him, a look of worry and fear overtaking her features.

The two could see Five running in the distance, causing them to push themselves even harder, wanting to stop their brother from doing anything too rash. "Five! Wait!" Zero yelled out, bumping into people as he made his way to the boy.

"Five!" Vanya called out.

As he got closer, he reached out to grab him, but he disappeared from thin air in a flash of blue. Zero stopped, his heart pounding in his chest from running as well as the realization he had just had.

Five had done it; he'd just jumped through time.

Zero fell to his knees, knowing that he had just lost one of the most important people in his life. He could hear Vanya breathing heavily as she came to a stop beside him before kneeling down and wrapping her arms around her brother, trying to comfort the boy.

Zero didn't know how much time had passed when he felt a large hand grab his shoulder. He knew it was Hargreeves, but he didn't care; instead, he shoved the man's hand away, getting up on his feet and making sure to pull Vanya along with him, putting some distance between themselves and the man.

The look of resentment in his eyes was undeniable as he stared up at the man, "It's all your fault!" The boy snapped, letting his emotions take hold of him. The man only stared down at him before walking past the two children, knowing they would follow soon enough.

Zero squeezed Vanya's hand tighter, reassuring himself that she was still there before reluctantly following behind the man.