𝐗𝐕
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𝟏𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕
"Y/n, wait!" Klaus yelled to me, as I made my way down the stairs, "I'm coming too!"
"Why the change of heart?" I called back, as he skipped down to me. He simply shrugged, before we both hurried out into the back alley, just in time to see Vanya start the engine. I rushed over and opened the door, Klaus at my heel.
"So, so, so...Ben, huh? Gone forever." Klaus said, as I got into the middle seat, and he sat beside me. "Isn't he?"
This confused me, since I thought Klaus could see the dead, but I didn't pry. It seemed like an upsetting topic.
"He traded his life for mine...while he saved the world in the process." Vanya sighed. '"life"? I thought he was dead-'
"Pfft. Show-off." Klaus rolled his eyes, "But did he...say anything about...me?"
Vanya nodded, causing Klaus to furrow his eyebrows. "He wanted me to tell you that he was too scared to go to the light...It wasn't you that made him stay."
Klaus chuckled softly, "Oh, that little shit-heel." He scoffed. "All these years and I thought it was my fault that he didn't take his ticket to heaven."
Klaus laughed again as Vanya apologized, "Look, I'm sorry but...you two should get out cause I need to-"
"Oh, no. No, we're coming with," I smiled.
Klaus agreed as he said, "We can't let you face the unknown alone, right?"
"Exactly." I agreed, earning a soft smile from Vanya.
The two car doors behind us suddenly opened, and we turned to see Diego and Allison getting in.
"You got room for two more?" Allison asked, shutting the door and smiling.
"What about The Commission?" Vanya asked, concerned.
"Well, might as well do some good before we die horribly." Diego answered, as Klaus cheered. I laughed at his enthusiasm.
Five opened the passenger door, and stuck his head down to see Vanya, as Klaus fell back onto me.
"Five, you...you don't have to-"
"I know. You owe me one, sis." Five smiled, "Children ride in the back." He said as Klaus climbed over the seat.
"I'm not moving." I crossed my arms, sticking my tongue out at him playfully.
"Fine by me," He chuckled, before taking Klaus' seat beside me.
Klaus finally tumbled back between Allison and Diego, and Vanya turned to face everyone.
"Guys, I don't know what to say."
Just then, Luther opened the trunk, and clambered in, causing the whole car to lurch backwards.
"Anyone makes a fat joke, and I'm outta here." Luther mumbled, causing me to burst into a fit of laughter. I'd tried, unsuccessfully, to hold it, but his comment was so unexpected that I couldn't. Five and Vanya grinned, before turning back to face the front of the car. She pulled out of the alley, and began the journey to Sissy's farm.
𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐏
"Holy shit..." I breathed, as we approached the farm. I leaned over in my seat to see out the window. Above the farm was a huge gray cloud, with a tunnel of blue light leading to the barn. Underneath the area of the cloud, a thick layer of frost and snow covered the ground.
"You think whatever's going on inside is causing the cold front?" Diego asked, as we all piled out of the car. The energy crackled, and upon further observation, it appeared to be lightning.
"Well the correlation is high," Five said, as I slammed the door behind me. We all moved around to the front of the car, as a blonde woman ran out, holding a shotgun.
"Sissy!" Vanya yelled, as she ran towards us, pointing the gun between us all.
"Get back!" The woman yelled. Vanya called her again. "All of you, just get the hell back!" Sissy shouted again.
"Hey! Hey, what's wrong?" Vanya asked, her voice panicked.
"Carl..." Sissy hissed, still pointing the gun between us.
"What did he do to you?"
Sissy shook her head, her breathing unsteady, "He's...He's dead."
Vanya straightened and lowered her hand as Sissy continued, "Harlan tossed him aside like a rag doll, same way you sent those policemen flyin'. What did you do to him?"
Vanya shook her head in defense, "No-"
"Vanya, what the hell did you do to my son?!" Sissy's voice was cold.
"We don't have time for this, Vanya." Diego began walking forwards, until Sissy pointed the gun at him.
"Where d'you think you're going, mister?"
"Stop!" Vanya pleaded, but not to anyone in particular. Both Diego and Sissy ignored her.
"To help your son." Diego raised a hand in defense.
"Look, Sissy, I found my family." Vanya said, gaining Sissy's attention, "These are my brothers and my sister, and my friend."
Sissy slowly lowered the gun, though she kept a firm grip on it.
Luther nodded in a friendly manner, "Ma'am."
"We're you lyin' to me...the whole time?" Sissy asked, her face upset.
"Of course not!" Vanya reassured, "Look, I didn't know who I was. But I do now. And we are not the monsters that they say we are. We did not kill the president. We are not terrorists. We're not here to hurt anyone." She explained.
"Then...who are you?" Sissy shook her head, solemnly.
"The only one who can help Harlan."
Sissy swallowed her nerves, and led us into the barn. Vanya hurried in first, Sissy close behind, before the rest of us. In the middle of the barn, was a swirl of wind, and blue and gold light. It looked like a small hurricane. In the centre, a boy was floating just a few feet above the ground, looking as through he was being possessed.
"Harlan!" Vanya called to the little boy, "Harlan! It's me, Vanya!"
The wind was strong enough that I almost fell into the hay behind me, though I managed to catch myself.
"Look, Harlan, I know you're scared, but I can help you!" Vanya shouted, "I need you to listen to me, okay? Can you do that?"
The boy gasped as Vanya looked over to Sissy. She nodded and Vanya squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them, to reveal that they had become an icy blue shade. She bowed her head and balled her fists, before pushing through the circle of wind and light.
"Careful!" Five warned, as Vanya called to the boy again. Simultaneously, I heard a weird zapping noise from outside the barn. Klaus seemed to hear it too, as he looked in the same direction, before we both exchanged confused glances.
I followed him to a gap in the walls of the barn, to see two familiar figures stood alone in the field. Shit.
"Uh...Guys!" Klaus called, gaining the attention of Luther, Five, Diego and Allison.
"Who are they?" Klaus asked.
"The one with good style is the Handler," I told Klaus, before Five finished my sentence.
"The other's Diego's girlfriend."
"Lila. That's my ex-girlfriend." Diego corrected, putting emphasis on the 'ex', as Klaus looked back, confused.
"What?"
"You know, what? Doesn't matter." Luther began, "They both look angry."
"Yeah."
"Well, our brother has that effect on people." Allison sighed.
"Alright, I'm gonna go find out what they want." Five said, turning to us, "You guys stay here with Vanya and the kid."
"We're coming with you, too." Diego said, grabbing my hand, "Come on."
"Oh...Wait, why?" I said, irritated that I'd have to face them again, "I don't want to."
"Tough luck," Diego pulled me along, ignoring my useless efforts to snatch my hand back, "You were at the Commission with me. You have to come too."
Five followed as Diego continued to drag me. I gave up trying and accepted that I wasn't getting out of Diego's grasp. He reluctantly let go of me, but by this point we were only feet away from Lila and the Handler, so there was no point in turning back. The Handler chuckled as we approached.
"I love the smell of that fresh country air, don't you, darling?"
"Makes me want to vomit." Lila muttered bluntly.
"What do you want?" Five asked, irritation clear in his voice. We came to a stop before the two.
"To watch you suffer."
"What about me?" Diego chimed in.
"You aren't even worth my wrath." I nearly laughed at her choice of words. Nearly.
"Easy." The Handler interrupted, "We're here on official business."
Five adjusted his stance slightly, "And what business is that?"
The Handler smiled mockingly, "As the head of the Commission, I've decided to eliminate the criminals responsible for the assassination of the former board of directors."
"Yeah, right." Diego chuckled, "We didn't kill the board."
"Uh, actually, Diego, that's not entirely accurate." Five pressed his lips together into a tight line as both Diego and I looked at him incredulously.
"You didn't tell them?" The Handler asked, her voice teasing, "Oh, Five."
"Five, what the hell did you do?" Diego hissed, voicing my thoughts. He seemed to have a very useful habit of doing that. Saved me wasting my breath.
"What I had to to get my family home. Until somebody reneged on our deal."
"Somebody wouldn't have reneged on our deal, if somebody could've met a simple deadline. Alas."
"You set me up to fail." Five uttered, as Diego and I watched on in confusion. Neither of us had known about 'the deal'.
"You set yourself up to fail, friend. You and your brothers and sisters. Kinda the running theme of your little life, isn't it?" The Handler laughed, venom laced on her tone.
"I can't believe you killed the board of directors. You have no idea how messed up the Commission is right now!" I scolded, as Five glared at the Handler.
"Messed up? Who's saying that?" The Handler demanded.
Diego and I both answered in unison, "Everybody!"
"Christ, even the janitors think it's going to shit!" Diego added, glaring at the Handler.
"That's not all he killed." Lila's voice was filled with hatred. We all turned to look at her.
"What are you talking about?" Five queried.
The Handler rolled her eyes as Lila continued, "Don't play dumb, you pubescent piece of shit."
"Enough!" The Handler demanded, placing her briefcase on the floor. It looked identical to the one that Diego, Herb and I had used to escape from the Commission.
"The point is, all of you are going to die today. Hm?"
"Oh. Well, I don't like your chances." Diego mocked, "Eight of us, two of you."
Something felt wrong when Diego said that. He was right, their chances didn't look good, but they were smart. They must've known they would be outnumbered. So where were their reinforcements?
"You know, you're right. Let's change that." The Handler said, and snapped her fingers. The field was suddenly filled with thousands of blue and white flashes, as an uncountable number of people in dark blue suits appeared. Each and every one of them held either a briefcase, a gun, or both, and a number of them had animal masks on. So...that answered my question then.
"So, what do we do now?" Diego whispered, as the last of the zapping noises stopped, indicating that everyone had arrived.
"Well, we got two choices: fight and die now or run and die later. Either way, we're food for worms." Five answered, his voice also a whisper.
"Preference?" Diego asked us.
"Wouldn't mind a few more minutes breathing air through the old windbags." Five answered, before looking to me, "Y/n?"
I nodded in agreement, unable to move my mouth. My entire body seemed frozen in fear, but I reminded myself that the Hargreeves all had powers, and as far as I was aware, no one in the Commission did.
I cleared my throat, before answering in a small voice, "Yeah, same."
"Alright. Let's get this over with, shall we?" The Handler held up a red piece of cloth, as Five grabbed my hand.
"Run!"
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next chapter gets interesting 👀
i'm gonna publish the last few chapters on wednesday, and then next friday i'll release book 2 :)
love u guys <33
-eva xoxo