Living Amongst Nightmares

Chapter One

On the 12th hour on the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began.

Sir Reginald Hargreaves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

He got 8 of them.

—

Monsters don't live under your bed, they live inside your head.

Seph didn't know what the time was, she didn't want to. If it wasn't for the light of the moon shining through her open window she wouldn't have known it was past sundown. The clock on top of her desk in the corner had been covered by a spare dust sheet, muffling the irritating ticking. The rhythm pounded at the back of her skull, a throbbing headache was developing beneath her temple. Closing her eyes Seph fell into a pattern of controlled breaths as she tried to fight off the wave of nausea that she knew all too well would soon develop, but the second her eyes closed she was at the mercy of the nightmares. Images flooded her mind so quickly that they merged into one, she felt as if she was being pushed down by a heavy force.

Pushed, or dragged?

Opening her eyes Seph winced the light of the moon almost blinding her, throwing her paintbrush down on the floor in aggravation she stormed over to the desk, ripped the dust sheet off the clock in one simple pull, and slammed the clock down so hard that the batteries fell out from the back. Staring that the unmoving hands of the clock Seph finally acknowledged the time: 2 am she had been at the studio for well over 18 hours, leaving her apartment at 7.30 am that morning she must have lost track of time. Suddenly very aware of how quiet it had become Seph moved back over to where her current canvas was set up and turned on the small radio, waited until her art space was lightly filled with the soothing sounds of the classical music channel she had allowed Vanya to tune it to, before picking up her paintbrush and continued to complete her current piece.

She had been working on this piece for a few hours now and it was almost starting to resemble its final image: The Monster Under the Bed. Was not her first choice of a title, after all, it wasn't her nightmare they were never hers. She just needed to get the images out of her head and this was the only way to do so, ever since she was 8 years old this was her escape. Did it help that now she was getting paid for them, of course, rent wasn't cheap and Seph tried to accommodate as many commissions as she could handle. With each new person who came to her with their nightmares begging for them to be taken away Seph promised she would do everything she could to help them, she would not make the same mistake as she had once done. A mistake that had haunted her for years.

Another 30 minutes passed, the finished painting had now been put aside to dry along with the 4 others that Seph had completed that day, each image as terrifying as the other. Vanya would always ask Seph how she was ever able to sleep after seeing those terror-filled visuals play out in her head. Seph would just shrug her shoulders and say that they had never bothered her, that she was used to them, however, in reality, sleep never came easy for her. She was too scared to allow herself to succumb to sleep in case more nightmares waited to ambush and trap her in her mind, leaving her helpless, unable to fight her way out. A healthy sleep schedule was a beautiful dream, unfortunately, it was one that would never happen. Coffee had become her new best friend, in all honesty, Seph couldn't even remember the last time she had a peaceful sleep, it might have been before she left the academy, before Ben's... before Five….

She tried to focus on cleaning her brushes, determined to shake her mind from the painful memories that were threatening to return after years of locking them away, concentrating on the music coming from the radio, she wouldn't cry, she wouldn't let allow herself to cry, no point in wasting tears on things she had no control of. She was in the middle of packing her rucksack, getting ready to leave for home when she heard it. Coming from the radio.

'Moments ago, police reported the death of the most eccentric and reclusive billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreaves: Olympic gold medalist for fencing, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for his work in the cerebral advancement of the chimpanzee….'

Seph froze and stared at the radio there was no point in listening anymore to the reporter as he continued to list Sir Reginald's accomplishments. All that was repeating in her head was "police reported the death of the most eccentric and reclusive billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreaves...reported the death...Sir Reginald Hargreaves...death"

"Shit."

—

We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait for you? We can travel back to the house together, I don't mind waiting." Seph called out from her room as she finished getting dressed, just for the occasion she decided to wear her black baggy work dungarees and a white t-shirt underneath, deciding on the black pair for it was a memorial service after all. She didn't care that she still had dried paint all over them, she didn't care for him why would she, he was a prick.

"No it's fine I only have two students today that I couldn't reschedule, anyway they pretty much know everything so I won't be that long, then I will head down, you should go I'm sure the others will already be there. Better you go first anyway." Vanya called back, the shuffling sounds of the coffee table being pushed back quickly followed as Vanya was preparing for her first student. Seph rolled her eyes and made her way to the living room, snatching her bag off her bed as she went, watching Vanya as she fiddled with her violin, lost in her own world. One of the main things they bonded over when they were children was the passion they had for their art. Seph would sit in Vanya's room for hours as she practiced, listening to the soft, sweet melodies as she in return would sketch, sometimes it would be random objects, sometimes it would be portraits of Vanya as she played but on most days it would be whatever nightmare was plaguing her at the time. Seph was only pulled out of her thoughts when a knocking came from the door.

"Okay, if you're sure. I will meet you there then." Reaching for the door handle Seph looked back to Vanya and lowered her voice to a small whisper so only Vanya could hear her, "And just remember, you're their teacher, don't let these little fuckers give you grief." The small chuckle from Vanya satisfied her and Seph opened the door quickly before Vanya had a chance to respond. Seph watched as the small preppy child walked into the flat violin in hand, the child had the audacity to not even acknowledge Seph or say thank you for letting her in. Before she could say or do anything she would regret she slipped out the door and headed in the direction she really didn't want to take today.

It had been 11 years since both Seph and Vanya had left home, 11 years since she had set foot in the mansion that she had once been told to call her home. It felt odd now looking up at the many windows all of them had their curtains drawn, forbidding the light to enter. Normal people when they go back to their childhood home would feel happy and full of nostalgia, not for Seph, she could feel a migraine forming, just looking at the building was bringing back unwelcome memories. Yes, Seph could argue she had some better memories from that place however the bad always seemed to outweigh the good. Realising that she had been standing in front of the door for longer than one should Seph pushed down all thoughts that were forming in her mind and moved forward, pushing the doors open and entered the mansion. The door was unlocked Seph observed, she wasn't the first one back, it would be interesting to see who was already here.

Nothing had changed, that much was certain, dear old Reg was never one for modern interior design. Without thinking Seph allowed herself to move forward and soon she found herself in the dining room, the long table and chairs positioned out in front of her, she noticed that she had found herself stood behind the chair that was designated to her when she joined the academy in 1997. If she wanted to Seph could have closed her eyes and she could have pictured it well, all the mornings she would be sat there with the rest of them in silence, forced to listen to whatever record the old man had wanted the team to learn from that morning. To her left at the top of the table would be Vanya her head lowered, not wanting to be picked on if Reg ever decided to question any of them about their current lesson. On her right would be Ben fully focused on his book, how he could focus on the words on the page whilst the record player was on full volume Seph never found out. Opposite her would be Five, he never fully listened to the information that was being played aloud. Seph remembered the way his eyes were always squinted, a dead giveaway that he was deep in thought and it was always about his powers - time travel in particular. Somehow whilst being lost in her thoughts Seph had found herself now sat in her old seat and as if almost by coincidence she was taken back to a particular memory, a particular last conversation.

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknown of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing water and reappearing as an acorn."

"Well, I don't get it."

"Hence the reason you're not ready."

"I'm not afraid."

"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable. Now I forbid you to talk about this anymore."

"Seph?"

"Number Five."

"Sephy?"

"You haven't been excused!"

"Hello, Earth to Persephone!" A hand had suddenly appeared on her shoulder snapping Seph back to reality, causing her to jump up in fright turning around to face whoever had disturbed her a fist raised ready to strike.

"Whoa, whoa easy there day-dreamer, it's just us!"

"Klaus? Jesus Christ, don't do that." Of course it was him, only he was brave enough to try and disturb Seph when she was lost in her thoughts, others ended up with a bruised eye or broken nose. Lowering her fist Seph returned her chair back in place and put all her attention on the man in front of her. She hadn't seen Klaus in just over a month, rehab she could only guess judging by the luminous yellow wristband contrasting again his black attire. But he looked just as he did when she last saw him, bright-eyed, a lopsided grin on his face, his messy curls sticking out all over the place.

"Us? Ben's still here then, I'm surprised he hasn't wanted to be rid of your stupid ass by now."

"Oh, well, you know how it is, loves me too much to - yes, yes, yes I know, I know you don't have to go on about it. Ben says 'Hi" by the way." Seph watched on with a smirk as Klaus then proceeded to have a whole other argument with Ben. Seph had been the only one Klaus had confided in when he found out he was able to bring Ben back, she was the only one he knew would believe him and Seph was happy with the amount of trust Klaus clearly had in her not to automatically dismiss him as crazy or high or just seeking attention. Letting out a small chuckle Seph gave a quick wave over in the direction Klaus was looking in, she hoped that Ben saw her response. Whatever Ben had said to Klaus it clearly made an impact as his attention had returned back to her and the table behind her.

"What are you doing in here anyway, the alcohol is in the other room, and I don't know about you but I think an occasion such as today deserves the good stuff."

"I just was thinking about the last time we were all together. Feels wrong now, only 6 of us being here not 8." She didn't meet Klaus's eyes but she could sense his mood change, the dip from being amused to... pity was it? Klaus in turn quickly picked up on what day she had been thinking of, he may not have been sober for the majority of his childhood but remembered most things, he would even joke that the day Five disappeared was just the start of the chain of unfortunate events that cursed the academy. Extending his arms out wide he allowed Seph to curl up around his side and the two of them stayed there for some time, it was rare that the Hargreaves family showed any form of affection to each other, but Seph was a special case. Technically she wasn't family, so she could have all the hugs she liked from Klaus.

"So drinks?"

—

After about an hour and three or four strong whiskeys, Klaus left Seph in the main living area to go off and wander the house. Seph knew that he would be trying to find things to sell, she could read him like a book but didn't try to stop him for she had been thinking about doing the same. A few minutes went by and soon her fingers started to twitch, maybe it had been the whiskey or the long overdue catch up with Klaus but now that she sat there at the bar in silence her mind had floated back to her memories from before, this time more aggressively and Seph knew she had to act quickly. Reaching into her bag Seph brought out the small blank art pad and the first pencil she could find and allowed her hand and mind to get to work and soon the blank white page had transformed into the last few moments of the faithful morning 14 years ago. Another hour had passed and soon the all the noise that had been hounding her and causing her to feel trapped had left her head and Seph felt at peace as the pencil danced across the page, she had been so focused on her task at hand that she didn't even hear the doors open and close several times, it was only when she heard Vanya's voice that Seph turned her eyes away from the page in front of her.

"Hey Mom, hello?"

"Vanya? You're actually here."

Leaving her stuff where it was at the bar, Seph made her way back over into the hallway where she found both Vanya and Alison staring across the room at each other as if in their own personal stand-off. For a brief moment Seph was confused, when had Alison arrived, had she been here the whole time? Before she even had a chance to ask, the two of them had carried on with their own conversation. It was short but it was a vast improvement from the last time the sisters had spoken Seph thought.

"Hey, Alison."

"Hey, sis."

They then proceeded to hug, which looked painful in Seph's eyes, Alison's eyes flickered over to where Seph was standing under the archway and sent over a small smile and quick nod, roughly translating into "Hi Seph it's nice to see you, what has it been like 5 years?". The small quiet moment suddenly was ruined by the sounds of heavy boots on the wooden floor and the slam of the front door.

"What is she doing here? You don't belong here after what you did." Diego 'Number 2' Hargreaves waltzed past all three of the women and started to make his way up the stairs, Seph rolled her eyes, this family honestly needed to stop it with the dramatics. It was Alison who responded to Diego's statement,

"You're seriously going to do this today? Way to dress for the occasion by the way." She was of course commenting on his all-black leather getup, something that Seph wasn't surprised at by this point, every time she saw Diego out in the streets he was wearing the same thing or something similar.

"At least I'm wearing black." And without even looking in her direction he pointed over to where Seph was standing, "Seph over there clearly also got the memo."

"Nice to know you still acknowledge me, for a second I thought you were purposely ignoring me."

Pausing on the steps Diego looked back behind him to find that Seph had now positioned herself next to Vanya.

"Yeah well, just because you helped me out that one time doesn't mean I still can't be mad at you."

Letting out a breathy laugh Seph shook her head and quickly retorted back "Let's see how long that lasts shall we Mr. Dark Knight?" Diego looked like he wanted to say something back but had decided not to, instead, he continued up the stairs, and soon enough the sound of his loud steps filtered out until he was completely gone.

The silence that surrounded the three women was torture, but Vanya quickly broke that silence with a quiet yet clear

"You know what? Maybe he's right. And I shouldn't - -"

"Hell no, you're not leaving now."

"Forget about him." Both Seph and Alison proclaimed together Seph even reaching out to grab Vanya's hand stopping her from moving before she even had a chance to head towards the exit.

"I'm glad your here." Alison finished, the look she gave Vanya spoke a thousand words and Seph could feel it as she was standing so close to her. Nodding in agreement Seph squeezed Vanya's hand and added on to Alison's last sentence.

"Yeah, besides if you go now Alison and I will be outnumbered. Stay, please." With Vanya's small nod as her decision made Seph released her hand and walked back into the living area, back to her seat at the bar, and continued her sketch. She had no reason now to finish the drawing as the negative thoughts that had suffocated her had long gone, she just couldn't handle unfinished work. She sensed Vanya slowly walking into the room towards the bookshelf, Seph knew what she was looking for, she remembered the day Vanya posted the package addressed to the man who claimed to be her father. She tried to warn Vanya that he would never read it, that he wouldn't even be interested but Vanya at times could be too optimistic for her own good.

"Welcome home Ms. Vanya, Ms. Persephone." The warm tone of voice that appeared from nowhere brought Seph's attention up immediately and a wide smile formed on her face.

"Pogo."

Making her from her seat at the bar Seph slowly made her way towards the gentle chimpanzee who had caught Vanya up in the first welcoming exchange the family had given her. Leaving them to take their time Seph's smile grew even larger when Pogo released Vanya and engulfed Seph in her own hug.

"So good to see you both."

The sudden need to have her hands busy filled Seph so she took the book that was in Vanya's hand and looked it over, flicking through the pages not bothering to read any of the paragraphs. She has helped Vanya with the book, helped edit it for her so she practically knew the thing off by heart, Seph even went as far as offering to illustrate it for her as a joke. Vanya appreciated the support at the time, when she first had the idea to put her past down in writing she was so scared, scared of what people would think about her words, her story. Seph wasn't a mind reader, but it didn't take one to know the real reason for her anxiety, after reading the first draft of the manuscript Seph knew that she was going to ruffle a number of feathers in her family. Even the section about her introduction to the academy at 8 years old and all the years following when Seph was with the family was so brutal and blunt Seph wasn't sure if she could carry on helping her, but Seph understood this was what Vanya needed to do, and in a way, it helped bond the two closer.

"Ah, yes, your autobiography." Pogo had carried on speaking with Vanya as Seph had finally landed on the page Vanya had left a small note for her father: Dad, I figured why not? V Seph smiled, she was always too good for him.

"Do you know, um… Did he ever read it?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

There it was. The confirmation Vanya didn't want to know, and the one that Seph had known all along was true. Snapping the book shut a little too forcefully Seph started to make her way back over to her seat at the bar when she caught the start of the next conversation that made her freeze on the spot.

"How long has it been since Five disappeared?"

"It's been 14 years, four months, and 14 days. Your Father insisted I keep track."

"You wanna know something stupid? I always used to leave the lights on for him. I was scared that he would come back, it would be late and the house would be dark and he wouldn't be able to find us, so he'd leave again. So, every night I'd make a little snack and make sure all the lights were on."

"Oh, I remember your snacks. I'm pretty sure I stepped in half those peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches. Your father always believed that Number Five was still out there somewhere. He never lost hope."

"And look where that got him." Vanya took one more glance at the portrait that hung on the top of the fireplace before looking back over in Seph's direction, however, what she saw caused Vanya to suddenly feel a sense of panic form in her.

Seph hadn't moved from the spot she had frozen on, dark smoke had started to form, weaving in and out of her fingers growing thicker and wider by the second, she was facing the opposite direction but Vanya knew that Seph's eyes had started to go dark. Without hesitation Vanya started to move, rushing past Pogo who in turn had also noticed Seph's sudden show of power and moved so that she was now in front of Seph.

"Seph, your okay, your safe. Please wake up, don't give into them, whatever it is, it's not real. It's not real, your safe. It's not real." It was a phrase that Vanya had learned very early on to use whenever Seph fell out of control, she said so many times when they were kids at the start of Seph's Umbrella Academy training days, however, this was the first time in over 2 years Seph had given into to whatever nightmare had trapped her.

"You're safe. It's not real." Vanya repeated the phrases over and over again until Seph's black eyes retracted and settled back to normal; the smoke twirling across her fingertips slowly fading anyway. Vanya waited until Seph was truly calm, grounded back into reality when she slowly reached over and took Seph's hand in her own, just as Seph had previously done for her only minutes ago. Vanya kept her gaze fully on Seph as she watched her eyes flicker across the room as if she wanted to look anywhere else other than directly at Vanya.

"I'm sorry."

It was all that Seph could find the courage to say, quickly dropping her hands from Vanya's gentle grasp Seph rushed out of the room, not even bothering to collect her things from the bar. Both Pogo and Vanya listened to her footsteps as Seph ran quickly up the stairs and headed across to what Vanya could only guess were one of the many bathrooms the mansion had. Pogo during this time had walked over to where Seph's things were scattered across the bar, he had begun to move them over to a corner, making sure everything was all together and packed away neatly. Pogo knew all too well that when Seph would later return downstairs she would want some kind of order and control, if he could help in any way he would at least try and do something that seemed helpful. His attention caught onto the drawing Seph had not quite finished, he smiled, but it was a sad one, he had now understood the reason behind Seph's sudden loss of control.

"They were always so close, Number Five and Ms. Persephone. I would never see one without the other." Pogo looked back over to Vanya, who was still staring out into the hallway. Moving slowly and with a slight caution, Pogo joined Vanya's side and followed her gaze to the hallway. "When the two you left the academy I found a pile of drawings she had hidden in his room. Small sketches depicting moments of life here at the academy, all from the time after he left. Master Klaus's second incident involving Grace's shoes, Miss Alison's first red carpet event. At first, I didn't quite understand what she had left, but then I did."

"She was leaving him a story. So that when he came back, he would be able to catch up on what he had missed." Vanya smiled, but unlike Pogo her smile wasn't sad. Vanya went to speak again but paused, unsure whether she should say what she was going to confess, but she knew Pogo wouldn't repeat it. "She still does it, she doesn't know that I know, but I've seen where she keeps them all. Being secretive was never her forte, but the amount of hope she has, sometimes I envy her."

"A quality both your Father and Ms. Persephone shared it seems."

"This is going to be a long day."