Although my legs took me to the bookshelf behind his desk, my eyes wandered over to the pictures on the wall. I ignored my urge to look at the framed images on the wall though. I told myself I'd check the bookshelf and desk before I went back to the photos.

My brown eyes scanned over the title on the spine of each book in the shelf, but every book was either about science or history like the ones we found in the library. There was nothing useful here so I shifted over to Silas' desk.

A pristine layer of glass sparkled over the dark, wooden table. There were a three files stacked neatly on the glass. The first manila folded was labeled Section A. I opened the file up and saw seven different pieces of laminated paper. The first page had a picture of Eleanor on it with her full name. There were bulleted notes below her picture. The words were written in a simple, cursive handwriting, which was hard for me to decipher depending on how fancy the words were. I read the paper in my head:

• Eleanor - Subject A1
• The first of Section A for experimentation
• Subject A1 underwent first surgery
• Surgery consisted of DNA reconstruction
• Minor issues with surgery but overall success
• Subject is alive and healthy
• Special abilities are unknown.. for now
• No physical differences
• Week one - still no signs of any special abilities
• Week two - Subject seems to be showing behavioral differences
• Week three - Special abilities have been detected; Subject A1 has been gifted with precognition
• Subject A1 is ready to be placed back into Section A
• The rest of Section A will begin to undergo experiments soon

My heart was beating faster with every note I read. I felt my stomach drop from nerves when I read the word 'soon.' I already knew about the human experiments, but there was something eery about reading Silas' plans beforehand. At least I was blessed with ignorance when I experienced this the first time around.

I glanced through the rest of the beige files. There was a page for all of my friends, but unlike Eleanor's they were void of the cursive, bulleted notes because none of us were tested on yet.

After I organized the files back into their original places, I pulled open the wide drawer under Silas' desk. There were even more files inside, probably the ones of the kids from Section B and C. I skipped over the folders though under the assumption that they would be empty. Only the first subject number was tested on in each Section, and I already looked through Eleanor's notes. I figured searching through the others was pointless.

I found a small, black recorder beside the folders. I picked up the old piece of technology and shifted it around in my hand. My thumb pressed the play button on the side of the recorder and, surprisingly, a woman's voice began to play. "My name is Elaine Williams and this is day one of my recordings in regards to human experimentations... I've decided to follow in my colleague's footsteps and adopt a child, specifically one that was born on October first, 1989. The last time we met, I was informed that there were about forty-three spontaneous pregnancies on that exact date, and each child born was gifted with a special ability, almost like a superpower. At first, I was skeptical about the claim, but when I adopted my first child, Gem, I soon found out that she was able to manipulate light. Fascinated by her powers, I began to take samples of her DNA and cells, in an attempt to figure out how she is able to perform such a task."

My eyebrows crinkled in confusion. 'Elaine Williams,' I repeated in my head. That was Silas' mother's name but they didn't share the same last name. I knew she was a scientists, who specialized in the reconstruction of DNA, but I figured she worked for an actual laboratory and not her own curiosity. Maybe that's where Silas' motivation came from for creating the Order.

I was also a bit confused as to who Elaine's colleague was. I tried thinking of anyone that could have possibly known her, but I had no idea who she was talking about.

Then, there was the mention of Gem, Silas' adoptive sister. I didn't know that she was one of those kids born on October first of 1989. Maybe she knew the Hargreeves siblings since she shared their birthday and the genetics for special abilities. I wondered if Silas was also gifted. If he was, he certainly didn't show it.

I resumed Elaine's recordings and continued to listen to what she had to say, "Day two: After analyzing Gem's DNA and cellular structure, I realized that my data wouldn't be entirely correct if I didn't have another subject to compare it to. I've decided that in addition to adopting a gifted child, I chose to adopt another kid, Silas, who is just ordinary." I guess that answers my question from before.

The tone she used when she described him as 'ordinary' made me think of Vanya. Though we never made much of a connection, I always felt bad for her. She was constantly left out of family matters and all of her siblings made her feel different for not being special like they were. In all honesty, I can understand her reasoning for being so angry at her brothers and sister. Personally though, I wouldn't have taken my feelings out on the rest of the world by causing the apocalypse.. Still, I pitied Vanya, which made me feel the same way about Silas, knowing that he must've gone through the same treatment as her.

With a soft sigh, I decided that I was finished listening to Elaine's recordings. I was starting to feel a bit depressed because of them. I thought back to when Silas revealed to me that both his mother and sister were dead. I wasn't exactly sure how they had passed, but based on his expressions I knew that he felt mournful of the death of his mother and anger for his sister. Maybe Silas had something to do with his sister's passing. The idea definitely didn't seem too off-base for him, but I really wanted to believe that he wasn't as heartless as I thought he was. Then again, Vanya almost killed all of her own siblings and even me.

As I placed the recorder back into its previous spot in the drawer, I noticed a corner of a grey newspaper. My eyes widened as I carefully pulled the papers out. It was the missing newspaper that we had came here for. The date at the top read October 1, 1989. I briefly skimmed over the article and read about the forty-three women who gave birth on that date. I reached for the next thing that Silas had tucked away in his drawers, and found the cutout articles and images Henry was talking about. Each story was about Reginald Hargreeves and how he created a group of superhero kids: The Umbrella Academy. I glanced through some of the old photos and saw all of the Hargreeves siblings as kids in their matching uniforms. The picture made me smile slightly when my eyes landed on Five. I missed him.

I placed everything back into the drawer, making sure that all of the papers were organized back into their previous places. Then, I walked over to the pictures hung on the wall. I pulled the framed photo of Elaine off the wall and a two other laminated images fell out. The first picture I came across was of Elaine, Gem, and Silas. The two adopted siblings were just young kids then. They all posed for their picture in front of an elegant fireplace. It appeared to be sometime during December because I noticed Christmas decorations scattered around the room in the picture. Elaine and Gem wore matching smiles, while Silas had on a stoic face. The trio almost looked like a real family, but I could tell by expression, which basically confirmed that he must've felt left out of his own family. It was upsetting just how bad some people could make you feel.

I placed the family photo behind the next image. When I saw the old photo, my jaw nearly dropped. It was a picture of Reginald Hargreeves and Elaine Williams together, smiling at some fancy event. Each of them were dressed nicely for whatever the occasion was. Elaine wore a simple navy dress that stopped right above her knees. She wore a matching navy jacket that had subtle shoulder pads. Reginald was dressed in an expensive-looking suit with his monocle placed over his eye.

I was shocked to see the two of them together. I wondered how Elaine and Reginald knew each other until it all hit me.. he was the colleague she was talking about in her recording. Reginald was the man who adopted seven special kids. He was the one who influenced Elaine into adopting Gem and Silas for her own experiments. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about him.

Suddenly, another thought played out through my mind. If Reginald Hargreeves was the colleague who gave Elaine the idea to adopt children, and Elaine was the one who inspired Silas to continue on with her experiments, then that meant only meant one thing.. the existence of the Umbrella Academy must've influenced Silas to create the Horror Order. In an instant, everything came full circle and was starting to make sense to me. All of the information that I had just come across was beginning to overwhelm me, but I didn't have much time to act because I heard Henry call out to me from the hallway, "Alexa! Mayday! Mayday!"

My eyes went wide as my head snapped towards the door. In that same moment, I dropped the two pictures on the floor. I gasped softly and dropped to my knees, grabbing the photos and placing them back under the framed image of Elaine as fast as I could. My hands grew shaky from the stress I was suddenly put under. I felt my heart beating a million miles per hour.

Without a second glance, I quickly ran out of the room and back into the hallway. I turned down the corner and rejoined Henry. Leo was back from wherever he had dragged Silas to. Both boys began firing questions at me, but I ignored them as I caught my breath. I hadn't realized how riled up my near-death experience had gotten me until I was hidden behind the corner of a wall, only a few feet away from Silas and the office I had just broken into.