Nocturnal Epiphanies | The Umbrella Academy

C H A P T E R . T E N

* WARNING: CHAPTER INCLUDES BLOOD AND TORTURE SO IF ANY OF THAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU SKIP THIS CHAPTER. THANK YOU, PLEASE STAY HAPPY AND HEALTHY*

The man duct tapes Klaus to the chair and I take the opportunity to swing my legs up in an attempt to attack the woman in front of me. This results in nothing but a slap to the face and a punch to the gut. Wow, I think as the pain from the blow finally comes to fruition, I'm really living the life, aren't I?

<<<<<<<<<<

I hold in my screams as the woman glides the blade over my arm for the fifth time in the past 10 minutes. I'd been forced to cut myself before, but I'd always been gentle. These two didn't care if I was hurt, in fact, that was exactly what they wanted.

I clench my hands on the remains of my clothes, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of hearing my pain. After the first few cuts, they'd found the abundance of layers I had been wearing a hindrance to their torture. So for the sake of easier access, they had cut the clothes off. I was left in my bra and underwear, freezing. I would've felt exposed had Klaus not also been wearing a towel as his only article of clothing.

"Ready to talk?" She asks, ripping off the duct tape on my mouth.

"Ask me something new, woman." I plead, "It's getting boring telling you to fuck off."

This resulted in a cut on my shoulder, a place that the woman had been targeting for some time now. "Oh, are you still sad that I stabbed your shoulder? Baby have an ouchie?" I taunt, knowing that it was a dumb move.

The lady doesn't reply, instead taking her knife and cutting a long cut on the inside of my upper thigh. The man rephrases her question, "Where's your friend?"

"Wow, I have friends? That's news to me." I joke. I should really stop annoying my captors, it's a horrible life decision long term.

"Don't play dumb, we saw you running around with him in Gimbels." The lady says unimpressed, "Now speak if you want to survive the night."

"I've been wanting to leave this planet from the moment I left the womb." I laugh, "So go ahead, be my guest."

"Give him up and you're free, just give us what we want and all of this is over." The man says, trying to coax out information.

"How fucking stupid do you bastards think I am?" I ask, amused. "It's more than obvious that you're not letting us go until you get caught or we get killed. Spare me the interrogation and cut to the death." I explain, disappointed. They really weren't trying that hard - not that I wanted them to.

They give me another cut on my chest but ultimately give up, instead bringing their attention to Klaus. They put on the duct tape and then walk out of my line of vision. Luckily, they hadn't been as aggressive with him, aware that I was the one with the information. Despite that fact, Klaus still looked worse for wear. He had a mixture of blood and sweat plastered on his chest, his eye already bruised. Klaus also seemed pretty out of it, probably the result of the drugs beginning to wear off.

Klaus didn't need to be here, they could've let him go. If I had been faster or stronger or more focused he might've had a chance to escape. Maybe, if I'd been better at everything, Klaus wouldn't be in this situation. I didn't mind the pain if that meant Five got to survive but Klaus didn't deserve to be roped in with me.

The bitch rips the duct tape off of Klaus' mouth, grabs a string and ties it around his neck. "Number Five, where is he?" She demands.

"Don't... stop. I'm almost there." Klaus moans. I raise my head suddenly. Klaus, please don't be doing what I think you're doing.