UMBRA ━ NUMBER FIVE

SEVENTEEN

—𝘾𝙃𝙀𝘿𝘿𝘼𝙍 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙎𝙀!

❛❛ 𝙄'𝙈 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝘾𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝙁𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙒 𝙃𝙀𝙍
𝘼𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿. ❜❜

~  ☂︎︎  ~

"𝙈𝙔 𝙒𝙄𝙁𝙀 𝙄𝙎𝙉'𝙏 going to believe this!"

I sighed in exasperation. The man was probably going to fangirl over my sister, and I knew that would take a long time.

"And you! I can't believe I'm meeting two people who were in the Umbrella Academy!"

And now he's fangirl over both of us. Oh god.

"What are you two doing at a murder scene anyway?" I looked to Allison. Her acting skills would definitely come into use. "That's actually why were here. I'm here to research a role, a law enforcement role. But, I also had to watch my sister," Allison lied to the officer. I was about to elbow her for the babysitting lie, but restrained myself to keep up the act. "Jackpine Cove? We haven't had a murder here in years." The man eyed us suspiciously. "It's about a small town, big issues, perfect for research," I butted in. There was no way I was losing this lead. We were so close to finding out what happened to Harold and Vanya.

The man gave us another look. And of course, because it's "Allison freaking Hargreeves," he couldn't decline the chance to help her. "Follow me," he said with a smile, leading us to a car. "Ok Officer..." I snorted. "Officer Cheddar." Allison gave me a pointed look, and we hopped in the car.

~  ☂︎︎  ~

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙉 𝙒𝙃𝙊 lay on the bed was covered in scars and bruises. His face had a pained expression, his chest rising and falling a little unevenly. Whatever happened with Harold must mean something really bad for Vanya.

"Mr. Luntz? Can you hear me?" Officer Cheddar asked the man. He groaned, slowly blinking his eyes open. When he looked up, he saw the three of us watching him carefully. "Who um...who are you?" The man asked groggily. "I'm Sergeant Cheddar, this is my associate," he said, gesturing to Allison. He gave her a not so subtle wink. The dumbass must think he's so cool because he's "acting."

"And the kid?" I rolled my eyes. "I'm forced to follow her around," I said, pointing to Allison.

"Just have a couple of questions for you," Officer Cheddar intervened. "Am I in trouble?" The prisoner asks, a look of fear and anxiousness invading his eyes. "No trouble, nothin' like that," the cop said, his accent become a little thicker throughout the sentence. "I just wanted to ask you about the accident in the Bearskin Tavern parking lot last night," he stated, hands reaching for a notepad to record details.

"You're a cop, you gotta protect me no matter what, right?" Cheddar nodded. "It's my sworn duty."

The man took in a shaky breath. "It was no accident," the man finally shared. Cheddar gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked. He pulled out a pen to write notes down on his small pad of paper. "This guys hired us to start a fight." Must have been Jenkins. "He wanted us to rough him up in front of his girlfriend." Vanya. "He paid real good, up front. We got drunk. Took it a little too far. Started to hassle the girl, too. And then, all hell broke loose."

"The guy who paid you, what did he look like? Brown hair, light scruff, slight build?" I asked, staring intensely in the man's eyes.

He looked up, searching through his brain for memories of last night. "Yeah, yeah, that's him," he quickly confirmed. Cheddar scribbled down some notes before turning to me. "Well, that's a really good guess," the officer said, eyeing me a little too suspiciously.

"Is this the girlfriend?" Allison asked, pulling out a picture form her coat pocket. The cop was surprised to see what she had, and immediately grabbed her wrist to pull her aside. "Hey, uh. Just, just a moment." He led Allison out of hearing range.

Great, she blew our cover completely.

This left me alone with "Mr. Luntz." I walked up to him, my gaze still intense. "Was that picture she showed you the girlfriend?" The man looked a little puzzled, and he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to answer to a thirteen year-old now. I sighed, and walked up to him. I pulled at the shadows and created a knife. "Lemme ask again, was that the girlfriend?" The man eyed the knife at his neck and let out a whimper.

"Y-Yeah, that's her."

~  ☂︎︎  ~

𝙄 𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 car while Allison was being interrogated by the police officer. Of course she had to blow our cover. I mean, I did expose us a little bit at first, but at least I was a tiny bit more subtle. Luckily, I had gathered enough information to conclude that Harold Jenkins had a plan, whether it included powers of his own or something we haven't seen in Vanya, it was bad.

I looked at myself in the mirror. It was weird knowing that I had been this age for so long, and I was still unaware if I was aging now. I noticed my uniform hung a little loosely on my body, though I don't know why I didn't see that before. Probably because of being in a coma for 16 years.

My thoughts were interrupted by the rushed footsteps coming towards the car. I looked out the window to see Allison running quickly with worried expression on her face. "What's happening?" I asked, watching her frantically trying to push the keys into the car. "Luntz is missing, we need to find Vanya. Now." Allison slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. I jolted forward, due to my lack of a seatbelt. I quickly recovered, fastening it across my body. I looked over to my sister, only to see her eyes glistening with tears.

—𝘼𝙐𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀!
Oh look, I'm alive. I'm sosososososososo sorry for the lack of updates this last month. It was my last bit of summer, so I gave myself a break. Then the chaos of school started, and I didn't find myself wanting to write. I hope you enjoyed this long overdue chapter. Expect another in the next two weeks.
-AJ

P.S.
WTF 20k AHHHHHHH

QOTD: Essential piece of clothing?

AOTD: Any plaid/flannel. I currently have 9 in my closet, and (against my mother's wishes) wear one almost everyday.