SONG: Phantom Of The Opera- The Umbrella Academy (Number Seven-Vanya)
"You did amazing Vanya! Truly inspiring piece!" I hyped up my closest friend in this city, Vanya Hargreeves. We met about a year ago when I decided to try and take up being a violinist as a hobby, but it didn't really pan out that well, so instead we decided to just stay friends.
"You're only saying that because you know you're terrible at playing," Vanya showed the hint of a smile at my shower of compliments, to which I rolled my eyes.
"That may be a reason, but not the reason. Seriously, I've never seen anyone play any instrument with as much passion as you do. I wish I had your talent with literally anything," I said, bumping shoulders with her as we walked down the dark sidewalk. It was raining, but I could be anywhere with her and not be sad. Vanya was too sweet to be sad around, or angry at. I don't think we'd ever gotten into a single argument, other than maybe what movie we should watch.
"Okay, okay. Are you just trying to butter me up to get some free food out of it?" she raised an eyebrow at me.
"That wasn't the intention, but if free food is on the table I will gladly take up that offer," I nodded, grinning at her.
"Want to go to the diner around the corner? It'll get us out of the rain," she offered.
"I like where your head's at," I tapped my temple twice and then pointed at her, but she abruptly stopped, staring off beside me as the smile on her face dropped. I began to turn around when she walked past me and to a shop window. I looked through to see a Television screen that read Breaking News: Sir Reginald Hargreeves is Dead.
I'd known Vanya long enough for her to have told me about her family and how dysfunctional it was. It still didn't change the fact that growing up, I always wanted to be a part of it, from the accident to the abandonment, all I wanted was to be a part of a family who would accept me for who I was, but after Vanya told me about their family issues, I realized that might not have been the case for everyone. I stepped up behind my friend as I heard her whisper a soft, "Dad?"
"Shit..." I mumbled, my eyes going over the screen a few times more. I then looked back at her, "Vanya, maybe I'll pay for the food this time," I said and she shook her head, turning around.
"I actually think I might just go home and get some rest, Luce," she replied. I nodded.
"Yeah, no, that's fine. We don't need to get any food. Just make sure you feel better," I put a friendly hand on her shoulder as she nodded, then walked past me to call a cab. I sighed and stayed behind her until I knew she was safe in a taxi and not some perverts car seeing as Vanya was a small thing and would probably be easy to kidnap. I then made my way down the street, thinking about the News Headline.
This could be my chance.
The next morning I put my plan into play. I hated thinking I was going to try and use Vanya to get to her family, but to be fair, that wasn't the plan from the get-go. I just... Wanted to feel like I was a part of a team.
So, I got up early, knowing Vanya would probably be off some time early morning. I spent about thirty minutes baking some box mix "chocolate chip cookies", while getting ready to leave my flat (or apartment, whatever floats your goat), and made my way to Vanya's. She had been the only person I'd really talked to since moving here, and she knew that. I felt like we were close enough that she would maybe let me tag along around her family at this point... At least, I hoped.
When I arrived, I knocked on the door. A pretty rushed looking Vanya opened it for me, looking at me before down at the biscuits in my arms. She tried to hide a small smile by shaking her head.
"Luce, I-"
"Vanya, if you don't accept the softie biscuits my heart will break into two, and we both know you wouldn't want that. Besides, I'm trying to be a good friend, and what good friend would let their best pal go through shit times without biscuits?" I cut her off, rambling as I so often did. She smiled at me and nodded, opening the door wider for me to step in. I immediately made my way to the kitchen to set down the batch in my arms as she began to speak again.
"I really appreciate it, but I'm in a really big rush right now. My family... Well, we're meeting up at the old house to talk about plans and whatnot," she said, throwing on some shoes and I nodded, thinking of how to manipulate my words the right way.
"I understand, Vanya. If you ever need anything, just know I'm always here to help," I said, leaning onto my tippy toes for a second before falling back down on the balls of my feet as I let my arms swing loosely. She nodded and flattened down her hair that was pulled back into a loose bun at the base of her skull. She grabbed a jacket as I began slowly making my way to the door, before she stopped me.
"Actually... Luce," I let my eyes close as I silently celebrated, assuming I knew what Vanya was about to say. Which I did.
"Yeah?" I asked, turning back to her as she fidgeted nervously, which she did pretty often, more so when she was about to ask a favor.
"Would you maybe want to come with me? I mean... It's been a while since I've seen my family, I don't know what they'll think of me... And I know you used to be a fan of the Umbrella Academy, so... You don't have to," she said, doing various nervous ticks.
"A-Are you sure, Vanya? I wouldn't want to impose on your family meeting," I said, feigning concern while on the inside, I was freaking out, hoping they'd accept me if I came with their sister.
"No, no. It'd be fine. We aren't really a family to begin with; the only thing keeping us in that category was that we were all adopted by the same man," she smiled softly at me, which I returned.
"Then I would love to."
☂☂☂
About halfway through the ride there and I started fidgeting in my seat. It began with me tapping my foot, then escalated to messing with bracelets covering my wrists before finally picking at the loose strands on my black jeans and creating holes that weren't supposed to be there. I couldn't stop thinking about what they'd all look like without the mask, and how they'd be. I figured they wouldn't be as perfect as I thought they were in my childhood, based on what Vanya had told me, but they couldn't be horrible, could they? It wasn't until I felt her place her hand over mine that my fidgeting stopped and I looked over at her. Poor Vanya. She looked just as nerve wracked as I felt, only I knew it was for a completely different reason.
"Stop worrying. You aren't imposing," she spoke softly to me. If only she knew my actual concerns, unfortunately she probably wouldn't even want to be in this car with me. I swallowed down my nerves and fears and nodded at her.
"I'm just not used to meeting new people, is all. You're the first and only person I've talked to in a year, other than coworkers," I expressed, trying to lie as little as possible to her. I hated lying, it always tore people apart in the long run, but how could I possibly keep my friendship with her if I told her the truth? She'd think I'd been lying to her the whole time.
We finally made it to the giant mansion. It was bigger than anything I'd ever lived in, except maybe the "hospital"(dad's word, not mine). We made our way to the big iron gates and I looked at Vanya, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Whatever they think about you in there, it doesn't matter Vanya. You're here because it's your right, not for them," I said softly. She took my hand and smiled before pushing open the gates and walking up to the main doors to open those. She held one open for me to walk through, which I appreciatively thanked her for.
As soon as we were inside, I looked around in awe. It was huge, and beautiful. There were hallways leading every which way. Directly in front of us was a giant staircase that went up to a balcony like walkway to other hallways. Above us hung a chandelier with what looked like over 20 lights at first glance. It was gorgeous.
"Bloody hell, Vanya. You grew up here?" I asked and she smiled sheepishly.
"It's not that great once you get used to it. When there were seven of us, it was always still cramped."
"Stop being humble, this place is amazing," I grinned at her and squeezed her hand. We took a few steps into the building and she dropped my hand, stuffing hers into her pocket as she turned around to take a look, taking it in as she hadn't been here in years. She stopped when her eyes landed on something, and I looked in the direction she was looking to see a very young, beautiful blonde woman sitting in another room.
"Hey, Mom," she said, taking a few steps closer to said room. That's their mum? She must not have been the woman that raised them, she looked the same age as us. Maybe she got work done? Her mum didn't answer, she just stared into a burning fireplace as Vanya stopped and glanced at me for a moment before back at the blonde woman, "Mom?"
"Vanya?" I heard from behind us and turned to see a beautiful tall, dark skinned woman who I recognized not only from the umbrella academy, but also from the numerous movies and television shows she'd been in as Allison Hargreeves, "You're actually here. And you brought a friend," Allison chuckled softly and I waved at her awkwardly from behind Vanya.
"Hey, Allison... This is Luce," Vanya introduced me and Allison waved back.
"Hey, Luce," she greeted me before looking back at Vanya, "Hey, sis," the closer she got, the more I realized just how tall she was as she towered over Vanya's 5'1 stature and my 5'2. I watched as she leaned down and hugged Vanya and I looked around, now understanding just how awkward I was going to be during this family reunion. It wasn't even like Vanya and I were anything, we had tried that for a month and decided we were just better off friends, so maybe it was just a mistake coming here.
"No," I thought, "If I ever want anything from life, I need to take it for myself. I can't just sit around and wait for it to happen."
"Ah," I heard someone and looked to the right of us to see a tall man wearing all black leather making his way into the room, "What is she doing here? You don't belong here. Not after what you did," he told Vanya without even taking a second glance at her. I felt anger bubble up inside me as I clenched my fists, but once I saw the lights on the chandelier flicker I bit my lip, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath, letting all the heat inside me subside. I didn't need another episode, not today, and not ever.
"You're seriously going to do this today?" Allison stood up for Vanya, making me smile softly. I cared for Vanya too much to let anyone treat her like trash, but I knew it wasn't my place to talk on a family matter like that... Allison, however, could say whatever she wanted, and it made me happy to know she was on Vanya's side. The man didn't answer, only made his way up the staircase Allison had come down moments before. I could semi-recognize him, but I couldn't place any names with faces from Vanya's stories and the old umbrella academy headlines, "Way to dress for the occasion, by the way," Allison added.
"At least I'm wearing black," he said, walking off. I looked to Vanya to see her contemplating.
"You know what? I--Maybe-"
"Vanya Hargreeves, remember what I told you literally two minutes ago while we were outside?" I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Don't get inside that head of yours and back up. What he thinks doesn't matter. He just looks like a Batman wannabe anyways," I rambled, trying to cheer her up, and was thankful when she flashed me a small grin.
"Yeah, Luce is right. Forget about him. I'm glad you're here," Allison added, as I let my arm drop off of Vanya's shoulders. Vanya nodded and looked in my direction.
"If you want, feel free to explore," Vanya said and I nodded. That would be awesome.
"Just... Be careful about anything you touch. I haven't seen Luther yet today, but when I last heard from him, he was still all cautious about Dad and his things," Allison added.
"I won't touch anything, I pinky swear," I held up my pinkie to them. Vanya rolled her eyes and intertwined our pinkies together before dropping her hand and I held the pinkie out to Allison. Allison smiled at me and did the same before I looked back at Vanya, "You know the code if you need me."
"I am not doing it, Luce," she chuckled.
"No, no, no, you've got to do it," I grinned and winked at her before turning to explore, "Otherwise I just might accidentally have to let you die," I joked and held up heart hands to her, making my way out of the room. This was my chance to finally look around and see what all I missed these years. If only my mum and dad would've given me up when I was born. Then they wouldn't have had to deal with me all these years.
"Mum, dad, I want to go see the Umbrella Academy," I held the newspaper clipping up to my parents. My mum was the first to grab it from me, looking at it.
"Why's that sweet heart?" she asked with a confused look on her face, "They're all the way in America. A flight would be too expensive."
"I think they're like me. I think... I was meant to be there," I explained to them. They hadn't seen what I could do yet, but I'd been practicing when I was alone. I could light a candle without a match. I could control it, or at least, I felt like I could. My dad scoffed and I looked over at him, "What?"
"The Umbrella Academy are all a bunch of freaks, Luce. I will not be having my daughter associating herself with monsters, end of story," he said. I felt anger boil up inside me, my veins felt like they were on fire.
"They aren't freaks or monsters! And I'm just like them!"
I shook out of the memory, finding myself in front of a doorway. I hadn't even realized where I'd been walking up until this moment, and shrugged as I pushed my way inside. I heard a voice in the room, mumbling to itself, but didn't see where it was coming from. The room seemed like a big spacious office, with a giant portrait of Sir Reginald Hargreeves above a wide desk. I furrowed my brows at the voice.
"Hello?" I questioned and heard a thud.
"Ow!" a man exclaimed before standing up from behind the desk, rubbing at the back of his head, "Didn't anyone ever teach ya' to knock," he said before focusing his eyes on me, looking me up and down, "Hey, who are you?" the man asked. I assumed he was one of Vanya's brothers. He had extremely messy dark brown, almost black hair, looked like he was wearing guy-liner (though it surely suited him), wore a fluffy parka-esque coat over a black crop top and had a scarf hanging around his neck. He was thin, with a hipster goatee. Overall, though, he was pretty cute.
"I'm Luce Liddell, Vanya's friend. Here for emotional support," I said slightly awkwardly, swinging my fist like I was in some old commercial with a somewhat forced smile. Liddell wasn't my actual last name, only the one I had been using since I came to America. It was a reference off of Alice in Wonderland, which is one of the only books they allowed in the "hospital". I looked the man in the eyes as I took a couple steps closer, "You?"
"Klaus," he introduced simply, "I'm Vanya's brother," the way the man, Klaus, spoke and moved made me believe he was under some kind of influence, though I couldn't tell if it was drugs or alcohol... Or both. I looked him over once more, noticing a band on his wrist, but I wasn't about to say anything about it.
"Well," I said, standing awkwardly before waving, "Nice to meet you," I said, turning on my heel to leave, though for some reason I didn't want to. He just had a sort of... Safe feeling about him.
"Wait, uh, Luce, you said? You wouldn't happen to have any cash on you that I could use to maybe... Get a snack with?" he asked, and was very obviously a horrible liar. I stopped, tapping my chin as I pretended to think about it.
"Well, since you asked," I turned back to him, seeing hope on his face that he was about to get the next payment for his next hit, "Nope. I'm broke," I grinned.
"Klaus?" I heard behind me, turning to see Allison, "What are you doing in here?"