Eight Days

Summary: Vanya gets kidnapped eight days before the apocalypse.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Vanya woke up to her alarm clock shattering whatever dream she had with its painfully annoying sound.

She sighed and turned it off rolling to her back and wondering what she dreamt about, but she couldn't remember. Lately, she rarely remembered any of her dreams to be completely honest.

She looked at the time, she still had thirty minutes for a quick shower and breakfast. As she watched the time, she started to count. She could have ten more minutes in bed if she only had cereal. Then she would have five extra minutes if she made the shower even quicker than she usually did. How much time would she have if she skipped it?

She rolled to her side again closing her eyes and enjoying the extra minutes before she was forced to get out. She skipped breakfast and the shower prioritizing that bed was more important and just threw on the first clothes which looked clean enough. She lost interested in doing anything with her hair or wardrobe years ago. What would be the point?

Vanya took her violin case and left the apartment walking straight to the work. She lived close by to walk which was a good thing since she tried to avoid spending money as much as possible.

For a brief moment, she was passed by a group of kids from a catholic school with a nun in the front leading them. They all wore uniforms and chatted in lines of two. It made her think about her siblings even if just for a second before she pulled her violin case tighter to her back and carried on trying to fill her head with her students and rehearsals and anything else really. Nowadays she tried to avoid thinking about her family. Some scars shouldn't be scratched.

She was close. One street. She knew the shops she was passing by heart now. A bookstore, a coffee house, fishing equipment, hardware store-

She was close to the alley when it happened. One second she thought she heard something. It was a familiar sound but she couldn't place it. It was like the wind but also a zap. Before she could turn around and satisfy her short-lived curiosity, she felt someone covered her mouth and dragged her to the alley. One hand was covering her mouth muffling every attempt she had to scream while the other was around her waists pulling her deeper into the alley away from the people.

Vanya tried to scream or break free. It was maybe a second as someone taller and stronger than her forced the violin case off her shoulder and then she felt something sharp dug into her neck. A needle.

She panicked trying to trash her whole body from whoever was holding her before she felt and saw nothing. Maybe this was what she dreamt about. Maybe it was coming back to her.

When Vanya woke up or started to be aware of her surroundings, she found herself inside a trunk. She figured it was a truck because when she started to move she found the space around her being incredibly small. She couldn't even stretch her legs or arms, which was also when she realized she had cuffs on her wrists as the cold metal dug into her skin.

She was shocked and terrified as she realized it was true. She was kidnapped and now she was inside someone's truck.

At that moment she wondered if she was just born under an unlucky star or cursed during her life. She would think her misfortune would have ended with her taking that last step out of the Academy, but apparently, bad luck has grown a habit of finding her.

How else would she have explained the situation she was currently in?

Screaming has proven to be unaffected as she only got her throat to hurt, but nothing much happened.

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes which were pointless since it was just as dark inside the trunk as it was when she closed her eyes.

Taking a deep breath she tried to calm down.

Yeah, right calm down when you're being kidnapped by some man in the truck of his car.

She closed her eyes harder trying to push back to tears which started to gather in her eyes and fall down her cheeks and think.

She went over her day and what happened in hopes to calm her beating hard enough that her brain would start to logically think and find a way out of this situation.

So she woke up, skipped breakfast, went to work, but before she would get there some guy grabbed her and forced her something, maybe a needle into her neck, and now she woke up inside a moving car.

She shrieked again without a pause until her own ears hurt from the sound before her throat gave up and locked itself again. She would lose her voice soon if she carried on like this, but if there was even the slightest, tiniest chance that maybe by some miracle someone would hear her she had to take the risk.

She tossed around and tried to hit the car with her hands or kick around. It felt like besides her there wasn't anything else in the trunk. No leverage to use. Nothing.

She tried to dig through her pockets. Her phone and keys were gone, but right there at the bottom, she felt the pen she carried around as a reminder of the book she wrote exposing her father and family. She could use the pen to open the trunk from the inside even if the car was moving, it might have given her a chance. Maybe someone would see her, maybe the man would slow down and she would jump out of the truck. Literally anything was a better option than to stay in the trunk.

What did she have to lose?

Your life.

She felt the movement around her slow down until it stopped, and Vanya swallowed hard realizing her screams might not have been heard by a potential saver but most likely by her kidnapper.

Her mind feverishly tried to go over different scenarios of what to do as she waited for almost ages until she heard footsteps coming closer to the back and her. She was surprised she heard them at all as her heart was beating ready to burst out of her chest and leave her there no doubt.

Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.

She begged silently God and anyone and anything she could think of, that somehow she would survive this. She didn't want to die. She couldn't just die. She still...she didn't do anything yet. She didn't talk to her family yet. She just... she couldn't die. Even if she had nothing right now she could think off to live for. She didn't want to die!

The truck finally opened and a tall man was looking down at her, and she froze. Whatever great plan she had about kicking him and running away, about screaming one more time from the top of her lungs, about calling for help, about begging about literally doing anything went out of the window the moment, she saw him.

The sun momentarily blinded her and forced her to narrow her eyes to see him properly.

She tried to think if people usually knew their kidnappers or not. Looking at the man, she had no idea who he was or why did he take her. He looked pretty average. Dark hair, bright green eyes, nothing to give him away if she would try to describe him to a sketch artist later. It was just then that she realized he let her see his face. Her heartbeat tripped as she realized if he let her see his face, he didn't care that she could identify him later because-because...

She went to scream again, but before she could he shoved duct tape against her mouth and the sound got lost.

'You're ridiculous,' he told her and shut the truck forcing her once again to stay in the dark. Now she finally allowed herself to cry as it was obvious she wouldn't get out of this alive.

Even with her mouth covered she tried to use the pen to her advantage. She couldn't find the trunk release which meant the car had to be old. She started to kick around and feel the car around her, until she finally got to the panel covering the brake lights. Since the car was older she managed to pull the panel off with her feet and then kicked as hard as she could against the brakes until finally she felt fall out and cold air from the outside hit her leg.

She took in a deep breath and tried to do the same with the one by her head, but the panel there looked more stuck.

Vanya tried to rotate to get to the hole in the trunk, but it didn't help so she just pushed her leg out hoping someone would notice it and call the cops while she worked on the other panel.

She didn't know how long she cried or how long they were on the road, all she knew was that the car continued to drive giving her enough time to try to calm herself panic again and calm herself again.

Vanya tried to be logical. She got kidnapped by someone she didn't know. He used a needle, had a car, and was wearing a suit. To her best knowledge, she could tell he was a professional, or so she assumed. If he was just planning to kill her he could have done it already. He was most likely taking her somewhere out of the city to keep her there. Maybe it was because of ransom? Gosh, she didn't know if that would be a good or a bad thing. She was broke. Apart from playing in Icarus, she had to start teaching kids from home. For someone who put this much effort into it, she assumed he had to want money. Alright, so she was out of the question. Could it be that he wanted ransom from dad? But they haven't spoken in years. Surely, if someone knew of her connection to the Umbrella Academy and dad they would try to kidnap her sooner and not now, after so many years.

She swallowed a bit realizing that if this man did think dad would pay was in for a hell of a surprise. Her mind momentarily drifted to the other time she got taken while she was still in the academy, but she quickly shook that thought away. It was a very long time ago and completely different. Anyway if dad wouldn't pay and he wanted money, who would? Allison? Again, someone, she hadn't spoken in years. As for the rest of her siblings the last she saw them they didn't have more money than her so...

Another horrifying thought crossed her mind that it wasn't about money at all. Maybe he was interested in her. Just as quickly as the idea entered her mind, Vanya tried to shove it away. Why the hell would he be interested in her? She couldn't get a boyfriend let alone a stalker-kidnapper, and she would know if she had a stalker, didn't they usually leave gifts and went to people's houses?

She continued to think until she felt the car stopped once again. They must have been driving for at least three hours. If that was true, they were out of the city by now.

Dread settled in her stomach as she once again heard the approaching footsteps to the truck. Again her eyes were shocked by the light after so many hours of dark and it took a while for her to adjust them.

The man looked at her passively before he reached for her shoulder and pulled her up causing her to sit on her knees. Even now she was smaller than him.

She took in her surroundings. There were woods around them, but in the distance, she could see a building with a neon sign Motel.

He put his hand on the back of her head which caused her to look at him all panicked.

'Alright,' he said slowly his voice sounding a bit annoyed, 'I'm gonna put the tape away and you're gonna nice and pretty sit next to me on the passenger's seat. If you try anything I will shot you on the spot, got it?'

He asked, but it took a while for her to answer as once again she was shocked by him and his presence.

He let out an irritated sigh and asked again a bit more demanding suddenly something pressed against her stomach, 'Do you understand?'

She nodded before her eyes went down, and she spotted the gun pressed against her side.

Her eyes quickly rose as she tried not to cry once she saw the gun. She never really saw one before. As ridiculous as it was living with her superhero siblings, she was always kept behind the closed doors when they were dealing with weapons of any kind and in her 29-years of living in the city, she was never robbed or mugged with a gun. Even when she was kidnapped before, the men didn't have guns. Their words were mostly the treats, and she was too scared to do anything anyway still thinking her siblings would come for her back then.

He watched her for a moment before he seemed to be satisfied with her answer and pulled the duct tape away causing her to let out a pained sound. The tape was still fresh, so it hurt.

He pushed it into his pocket before he suddenly blinked and his hand moved to the side of her neck and face. His thumb touched her lower lip where it hurt the most.

'You cut it,' he said, and she assumed he meant her lip. Still, she was shocked again when his thumb went over the hurt spot, and he put it into his mouth licking out her blood from the cut on her lip.

She watched him her eyes wide and confused.

'You should use lipstick,' he told her before his other hand moved to her back and he easily got her out of the trunk.

Her head was spinning from all which was happening as he got her to her seat and closed the door on her. She had half the time to try to escape but from the looks of it, the only thing in miles away was the motel.

Once he was behind the wheel, he locked all the doors and drove to the motel. He didn't comment on the broken light, but with no car in sight she assumed, he didn't worry about it much now.

She was left in absolute silence although she was pretty sure he could hear her speeded heart as well. He didn't say anything the whole way, and Vanya took some time looking over at him. Now that her eyes adjusted to the day, she could do so freely. Still, she didn't know how he was, but if by some chance he would let her go or she would be able to escape she wanted to be able to identify him to the police.

'Try to lick your lips,' he said suddenly, and she blinked before she realized he was referring to the cut.

She felt too self-aware so she looked away as she did as she was told noticing her violin case a small black bag was on the backseats. She was glad he didn't throw the case away or left it in the alley.

In another small moment of defiance and bravery, she breathed on the glass but was stopped in leaving her message as she felt his gaze on her again.

As they came into the motel, he parked the car and brought some sort of blanket from the back putting it over her cuffed hands, 'Don't do anything stupid.'

She nodded as he got out unlocking the door for her. It was raining a little bit as they walked directly to a room ignoring the reception. She figured he was here before as he unlocked the door 304 and told her to get in. The motel was big, but so far they didn't meet anyone.

The room was a simple two-bed one and Vanya felt so relieved she might as well collapsed because if he had two beds he wouldn't rape her or so she assumed anyway.

'Sit down,' he told her and putting the bag and her violin case under the bed before he went to the mini-fridge and came back with a bottle of water for her.

He gave it to her without another word, and she wondered if she should have thanked him or not, but she still couldn't bring herself to talk the shock and strangeness of the whole situation making her speechless.

She took the bottle from him and opened it carefully with her cuffed hands before she drank. She didn't even realize how thirsty or hungry or in need of the bathroom she was until the water rolled down her sore from screaming throat.

Vanya drank the whole bottle before she dared to look at her kidnapper. He was standing with his back pressed against the wall looking at her frowning. She wasn't sure if he was frowning because he was upset or just thinking. The expression oddly reminded her of her long lost brother. He also had that thinking face which looked like he was angry when in reality he was going over his formulas and equations. Since then she met a few people who had a similar thinking face. None quite the same as Number Five's though.

She looked away to the bathroom. She really needed to go. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn't peed herself already. Maybe she did a little bit though. She wondered if she was allowed to stand up and go, or if that would startle him and make him aggressive toward her.

'Do you need to go?' he asked luckily saving her from making a decision. Again, she just nodded quickly, and he motioned for her to come to the bathroom with him.

Inside he undid the shower curtain revealing a very small window. Maybe not enough for her to try and escape, but then again, she was very small, so maybe she would be able to make it.

He stepped away momentarily stopping in front of her to look at her. Standing right now she noted how much taller he was than her as he towered over her causing her to feel even smaller than she was, causing her to feel even more vulnerable than she already did.

Finally, he stepped aside and she could move inside immediately noticing that he remained in the doorway just looking toward the room instead of her. She felt humiliated as she started to wordlessly unbutton her jeans. Her bad luck had seemingly no end as they got stuck on her thighs along with her underwear. She felt like throwing up all of a sudden or crying again the whole bizarre and terribly situation getting to her again. She wanted this to end. She wanted to wake up and figure out it was all a dream and she was in her bed, and not in some shady motel room standing with her fly open in the bathroom feeling embarrassed like she was a child who misbehaved. She was never good with situations, not just this, but in general, that was why she liked to stay at home so much. Behind closed doors, in her apartment, she could do whatever she wanted without being judged or looked at weirdly. She never felt like the odd one when she was alone there. She never felt hot in the face and ready to cry in frustration because her stupid pants got stuck, and she needed to pee and there was a man in the doorway who wouldn't even let her close the stupid door and-

Suddenly she found him looking over at her. With one quick glance down which made Vanya want to cover herself, he assessed the problem and walked toward her. He kept on looking at her the whole time as he pushed her jeans and underwear down to her knees and went back to the doorway ignoring her. She was grateful for it.

Finally, she managed to use the bathroom with how much she needed to go. She wasn't even too shy to pee with him standing there.

Once she was done he helped her pull her clothing up, but left her to zip and button herself on her own. Thank God.

She washed her hands and walked back to the room sitting down on the same bed, and the same spot as before while looking at him.

He watched her for a moment before he went to the fridge again, 'Are you hungry?'

She nodded, and he pulled out some sandwich slowly unwrapping it for her before he opened it and pulled out a pickle setting it on the side.

It caused her to blink confused for a moment before she took it from him and started to eat.

How did he know she didn't like pickles?

She was a choosy eater. She knew for a fact all the nannies and mom had trouble getting her to eat. There were a few things she hated even now like pickles, the pumpkin flavor in literally anything, out meal and a bunch of other stuff.

Vanya chewed in silence wondering how he could know as he picked out for himself set down by the small table and ate avoiding looking at her. She didn't have any friends. It was a gloomy thought, but true. She was friendly with a few people in the orchestra, but she never spent time with them out of work. She never called them or they her, so it was safe to say, they weren't friends. In college, it was the same. She had a couple of people she liked to spend time with, but all in all, they weren't that close and lost touch completely after graduation. She rarely went on dates. As pathetic as it was in her logical analyses of the situation she had to be honest with herself and admit her last one was two years who. The very few partners she had were very brief maybe one knew that she didn't like pickles and even he was out of her life for a very long time. She supposed if he was a stalker, he could figure out her eating rituals by her orders. But as hard as it was to admit in her 29 years Vanya would rather just take the food pay for it and push whatever she didn't like to the end of the plate before she would throw it to the garbage. She knew it was a waste, but if she ordered and asked that they didn't put something and they forgot and she got it, in the end, she would feel worse. It was just...easier that way. He might have gone over her trash, but seriously? She had a hard time believing this man was her stalker. He looked so clean and composed and wouldn't he try to be intimate with her? So far he looked just as embarrassed as she felt that he had to help her with her jeans and underwear.

Vanya stopped chewing and looked at him again. She never wrote about it in her book, she knew that for sure. Five thought her that in math she had to eliminate all the false results and roads which led to nowhere. The only one which stayed had to be the right approach. By that idea, the only one who could have told her kidnapper that she hated pickles were her family.

She swallowed a bit and quickly looked away as she felt the man's eyes move to her. Her family had to order her kidnapping. Was she insane? That didn't sound right. Why the hell would they? Maybe it was all a coincidence, and she was just focusing on it so she would think about something else than the fact that she was kidnapped and held hostage. Who would want to kidnap her and why? Was it dad? Did he do it in hopes he would bring the others together again?

She felt like chuckling. Like hell, they would come together for her. They didn't come the first time. Just then it occurred to her, that so far she was only playing with the thought that either the man would let go or she would escape. Not once did it cross her mind that she might be rescued by her siblings.

Because you learned from last time that they wouldn't come.

'Aren't you hungry?' asked the man, and Vanya realized she stopped eating.

She took a large bite from her sandwich ignoring the pain she shallow felt inside as she chewed her food. She would think after 29 years she would stop feeling this way. She would also think she would stop being disappointed by her siblings. She guessed some things never changed.

Later he turned on the TV and sat down on the other bed silently watching it with her. Some cop show was on. Vanya would have found it as the cherry on top of the irony if the episode was about kidnapping or hostage situations but luckily it was no such thing.

She silently let herself get numbed the show when during a news break her eyes caught something in little letters moving.

Billion philanthropist Reginald Hargreeves has passed away yesterday.

Vanya couldn't contain the small gasp which escaped her lips.

Dad...

He was dead.

Dad died, and she wasn't there. Was anyone there? She felt... confused more than anything. Did people usually feel like this? She didn't feel relieved or angry or sad. To be completely honest she felt nothing. Why was it? Was it because she was a bad person? Was that the reason she never got any powers because instead of a hero she would be the villain? Ben used to say she was a good sister. She was a good person, but Vanya didn't think so. He didn't know what was going on inside her head. The thoughts she had. The anger she sometimes felt before she numbed it with the pills. He didn't know. No one knew, just her, and even she tried to push it away. Good people don't think about what it would be like if they were single children. Good people don't think what would happen if their siblings didn't return from a mission. Good people don't think what it would be like if their fathers stopped their brothers from running away. As far as Vanya could tell, she wasn't a good person when she didn't feel like crying upon watching the news of her father's passing.

She watched those words as they appeared again after a couple of seconds before the man turned on a different channel.

Once again she was painfully aware of her situation and the fact that she didn't have a pill in several hours. She felt the familiar headache she usually had when she had withdrawn because she forgot to take one or didn't have time.

Even with the headache, she couldn't help, but wonder was that the reason why she was taken? Was there supposed to be some sort of family meeting about the inheritance someone wanted her out of? Her thoughts were running wild creating different scenarios of what could have happened. She didn't see her siblings for five years some even longer. She hadn't seen mom and Pogo since she left the house. Was any one of them the type of person who would have her kidnapped if yes why?

She turned to her kidnapper who was apparently looking at her the whole time. Neither of them said anything. Vanya hoped her gaze would somehow get him to talk, but the man must not have been one to break under pressure easily. Then again, he was a kidnapper so he had to be skilled.

They continued to watch one another for a while before she got weak again and returned her eyes to the TV where it was safe to look. Whatever was going on, she wouldn't be able to figure it out like this. She could only hope he would let her go soon. She could only hope he wouldn't kill her.

Night came, and the man uncuffed her wrist so she would be able to put down her jacket and take off her shoes before he cuffed one of her wrists to the head of the bed.

Vanya wondered if she had a wrong approach. Maybe she should have talked to him to figure out what he wanted or try to see her as a human being and grow to care for her.

'I won't hurt you unless you do something stupid,' he said, and she looked up. He looked a bit tired now also less lost in thoughts. He must have figured something out or maybe just wanted to sleep. Was he trying to make her feel better?

I won't hurt you unless you make me?

Well, that sounded very abusive in Vanya's opinion, but she kept it to herself.

She nodded slightly. She was already planning an escape. Did he know? Was he warning her not to try it that he had her figured out?

'You'll just stay here for a while, and then I will let you go, and explain everything, understood?' he asked his voice now a bit...calmer. Not as sharp or commanding as before. Was this a trick? Did he try to control her by playing a good guy a bit? And what the hell did he mean that? He will let her go and explain everything? What?

She nodded anyway as he put the blanket over her and went to turn off the lights.

She lied down but kept her eyes on him as he undid his suit jacket and put it over a nearby chair then his tie and then his shirt and shoes. He took something out of his jacket pocket. She wasn't sure what because he put his back to her, but she heard the sound of him drinking and swallowing and then he put something small back to his jacket. She guessed it was a flask.

He lied down just as her facing her, and she couldn't help, but feel like she should look away, but at the same time remain looking at him capturing him in her stare just as he was her.

His eyes looked strange in the dark. Different. Like only in the dark he could be someone else. Who was he? He didn't even tell her a name to call him. Did he even want her to call him by any name? He never addressed her. Maybe it was all a mistake, but he turned off the TV when the news about her dad was on. He had to know.

It was the first time in years since Vanya slept with someone else in the room. Every breath he took was too loud. She could have sworn she heard his heartbeat, but that must have been just her imagination. How could she?

It felt like ages until she finally saw him close his eyes and even longer until she gathered enough courage to take the pen she had been keeping the pocket of her jeans since this morning and carefully try to open it and get to the ink chamber before she as quiet as possible started to work on the cuffs.

Pokračovanie nabudúce...

A.N: Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. I will have the next chapter by the end of the week...hopefully. Before that I might finish the Silence Game so I might post it first. If you want leave some feedback.