Number Zero- The Umbrella Academy (Book 1)

☂15☂

17 years ago... 

Five walked through the destroyed house. He had been traveling for days, trying to find his way back to the academy, holding on to the tiny sliver of hope that they were still alive. Making his way through the rubble, Five came to a sudden halt as he spotted a gloved hand raised in the air. As the boy took a closer look, he noticed the fingers latched onto a bloodied prosthetic eye as if it had been pulled out of someone.

Five stepped over to where the hand was before prying the eye out of the person's hand. As he studied the eye, his own eyes flickered over to the person's face. His throat grew tight as he stared at the man, realizing he looked like an older version of his brother, Luther.

Standing up, the boy's eyes darted around before finally landing on two more bodies a few feet away. Five quickly put the eye in his pocket and hurried over to the bodies.

One was a woman with long curly hair that looked like his sister and a man who had a knife clutched in his hand. Five shook the man hoping he would wake up, thinking that it was his brother Diego only older. When the man didn't respond, he shook him once more desperately but to no avail.

He fell back on a pile of rubble as tears began to slide down his face, the realization of what he was witnessing started to set in.

Five quickly stood up, not giving up on finding the rest of his family.

As he looked around, he saw a large pile of rocks nearby and saw another body lying in the dirt. Five almost fell a few times as he scrambled over to the other side, as he caught sight of a familiar umbrella tattoo on the arm of what had to be Klaus, causing his breath to catch in his throat.

He looked over at all of them, realizing once again that they were his siblings. Luther, Allison, Diego, and Klaus. But there were still two people missing.

He continued to search, moving rocks and dirt, digging frantically for the last people who were missing. Until the glimmer of something shiny caught his eye.

Five ran over to it, and as he got closer, he felt like the air had been knocked out of him as his face contorted into one of pain. As he stared at the body that would have been in the living room. Tears began to fall freely as he staggered over to the boy, who looked almost identical to what he had when he vanished.

He couldn't believe any of it. The boy wished it was some nightmare that he would wake up in his bed and see his family again at any moment.

A look of grief passed through his eyes as he fell to his knees beside the boy. Then, eventually, he noticed a weird-looking watch in the teenager's hand. It was what had caught his attention as if calling him to find his brother. Five reached out to grab the watch until he saw something that made him stumble back in fear. He looked at Zero's face, noticing that dried blood covered his eyes, nose, and ears.

What had happened to him? The boy thought in horror.

In front of him was his brother, his best friend, the only person with whom he didn't have to hide how he felt, and the only person who knew who he really was as a person.

As a sob left his mouth, the boy knew that no matter how much he wished it was just a bad dream, he was gone. They were all gone, and he hadn't been there to protect them.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I shouldn't have ran away like that!" He yelled out, slamming his fist on the ground as he cried out in grief.

Five broke down in tears where he was. He cried out as loud as he could, knowing there was no one alive to hear him. He slammed his fist on the ground angrily until his knuckles were raw and covered in blood and dirt. "I'm sorry..." He whispered, his voice cracking.