Chapter Fourteen:
Kiona say silently in bed, watching the television across from her room play on the screen in front of her. Sans sat beside her and watched the silly television show as well.
There was a knock at the door and Kiona tensed, but the woman came in after Sans said, "It's okay, come in!"
The woman smiled at Kiona who did not look happy. She had never seen this woman before. Who was this?
Almost like Mrs. Zavaleta, she wore a very dark suit and a knee length black skirt. Underneath, was white which sharply contrasted her extremely dark skin.
Kiona shied away immediately, but Sans gently squeezed her hand. "It's okay. She just wants to talk. Can you do that?" Kiona didn't reply. She looked back at the television and relaxed a little. Sans nodded the woman over and she came to the opposite side of Kiona, pulling up a chair.
"Hello, Kiona. I'm Ms. Gladiolus. Would you mind answering a few questions?"
Kiona gave a small nod, but shifted away from her, pulling her knees closer to her. "Alright," she pulled out a notebook and a pen.
"We watch giraffe?" Kiona asked, but Ms. Gladiolus shook her head.
"No, not right now," she told her. "How fox your mother take you Kiona? Do you remember?"
"Kiona hear Mommy. Kiona went outside to Mommy," She looked at the woman. "Is mommy here?"
"No, dear. When your mother took you, did her boyfriend Zackiery do anything to you?" Kiona's eyes widened and panic spread on her face.
"No! No!" She began to say, her heart rate monitor shooting up. They had the sound cut off hours ago.
"He's not here," the woman assured. "He's not here. What did he do, Kiona?"
"He..." Tears formed in her eyes. Kiona held her throat and choked. "He-He-" she stuck a finger down her throat and made a choking noise. "I don't-stop-he-I-"
"Alright, alright," Ms. Gladiolus said. "After... That, what did your mother do?" Kiona had curled away from the woman and did not answer her. Her body was trembling and she was staring at nothing.
"Hey, kiddo," Sans said gently beside her, rubbing her arm. Kiona looked at him, tears in her eyes. "S'gonna be alright. He isn't here anymore. He can't hurt you anymore." Kiona sniffed, her lip trembling.
"Did you mother attempt to sell you, Kiona?" The woman asked.
"I love mommy!" Kiona said immediately. "I... Mommy, I..."
"Did she ask you to show the men your magic?" Kiona nodded.
"Mommy ask Kiona, and Kiona did. Then, Kiona hear a loud bang."
"Yes, one of the accomplices were shot and killed. "Then, what happened?"
Kiona made a whirring sound and the woman nodded. "Then, the police arrived." .
"I head hit and quiet." Kiona frowned, but the woman urged her on.
"After that?" Kiona shook her head, her heart racing again as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Kiona."
"That's enough," Sans said. Kiona obviously wasn't going to give anymore information.
"We still need her account in the warehouse," the woman urged.
"I said, no," Sans said again, annoyed now. "She can't take it." Kiona was beginning to cry again.
"Cold," she whispered. "Chair. Hurt." At the thought of the chair sucking the every life out of her, Kiona nearly screamed. She began to sob, hugging herself, her teeth biting down on her lip so hard that it broke skin and began to bleed.
"Kiona! Kiona, shh, s'okay. S'okay," Sans said, hugging her to him and rubbing circles on her back. Kiona was obviously struggling to breathe. Sans shot the woman a glare, but she simply smiled back at bim.
"I got everything I needed," she promised as she stood to leave. "Thank you, Kiona." The sobbing girl didn't reply as the woman left the hospital room.
~•~•~•~•~
"She just left?" Toriel asked later that afternoon. Sans nodded, his arms crowded tight over his chest.
"She came in, asked too many questions for 'er to handle, an' then left 'er like tha'," Sans said, eye sockets dark as he recalled the event earlier that day. "I got 'er to sleep, eventually, but it everyone is gonna act like that towards 'er, then I don't want anyone else 'ere askin' questions."
"I agree," Toriel said. "But, in any case, I must hurry to heal her. Alphys said that with a few more days of rest, magic, and some butterscotch-cinnamon pie, she should be fine. Or, at least well enough to attend school again."
"Are you going to send her back to that public school?" Sans asked, shocked.
"No, not at all," Toriel shook her head. "The faculty is absolutely awful and the teachers don't care for children like Kiona. They don't even have a system for Special Needs children, and when I asked the principal, he blamed it on the lack of funding! The liars ― did you see their gym―!"
"I understand, Tori," Sans said, cutting the enraged woman off short before the entire hospital turned into a blaze from her rage. He could already feel the temperature rising from just standing next to her. "But, where is she gonna to go to school if she's not goin' to the public school?"
"She will be with me," Toriel explained. "I'll work it out with her social worker, as well as getting her into a better care home. The doctors said that she needed something familiar, right? If she is with me, we can work on her magic, and she can be around people she actually knows instead of being able to see you once a week for an hour."
Sans nodded, this was a much better plan. And, things were almost ready in terms of the getting his apartment inspected for Kiona. "Thank you, Tori," Sans said sincerely and Toriel smiled, glancing over at the sleeping child.
"We all care for her, Sans," Toriel said softly. "We all love her. If anything else were to happen to her. . ." Toriel didn't finish her sentence, but she didn't have to. Sans understood plenty. "Anyways, I must be on my way ― I have to pick up Frisk from school soon, and they want to come here and see Kiona, if she is awake." Sans' eye sockets darkened, and Toriel sighed, "None of us are. . . proud of Frisk's decision, no matter what they had in mind, but to keep them away from Kiona would be completely out of hand. Familiarity, remember? And, they are best friends. It would be torture to keep them apart."
"I don't believe she forgave them," Sans muttered, his bony arms crossed.
"That is between those two," Toriel said, gathering her belongings. She stepped over to Kiona and planted a warm kiss on her forehead. Kiona twitched in her sleep, and exhaled, but a small smile appeared on her lips. It was soft, and nearly invisible, but it was there.
Toriel smiled to herself. Kiona was a strong girl with a kind heart, and, although it will be hard, she will get better. With this in mind, she headed for the door and gave one last wave to Sans before leaving.
~•~•~•~•~
"Do you wanna draw giraffes?" Frisk asked as Kiona played with Debbie, making the stuffed animal dance and talk. Kiona turned to Frisk and rose an eyebrow, confused. Frisk bent down and dug through their bookbag. "I brought your journal. They, uh, found it in your mom's house ― the police. They let Mom have it, though, so I thought you might want it back?"
"My. . . giraffes?" Kiona whispered as Frisk released the raggedy journal from their backpack and handed it to Kiona. Kiona took it gently and opened the cover. The extremely detailed sketch of the long necked giraffes stared back at her with beady brown eyes ― Kiona used the school's colour pencils to colour it.
Kiona giggled, tracing a finger over the pictures and flipped through more of the pictures and laughed, "Debbie!" She announced, pointing to one of the other picture, then she showed Frisk slightly different giraffes. "Tracy. Ericka. Jessy." She stopped at one picture, near the end of the book, staring at it for a second, all traces of happiness leaving her face.
"Kiona?" Frisk asked, staring at the picture it took them a second to realize what it was. Frisk had fallen asleep in one of their classes and Kiona had sketched them. Their eyes were closed, and their mouth partially opened, drool slipping past their lips. Their hair hanging off their arm, which was tucked under their head.
"Frisk, friend," Kiona whispered, and Frisk tore her eyes from the picture to Kiona. Her eyes were watering, but she was smiling. She was happy. Kiona flipped the page, and it was her mother, and she was hugging a man Frisk has never seen before.
"Daddy," Kiona whispered, touching the picture just as the door opened and a nurse stepped in.
"Hi, Kiona! Hey, Frisk!" The nurse, Claudia, greeted, always perky and smiling.
"Hello Ms. Claudia," Frisk greeted, but it was almost absentmindedly. Did Kiona say 'Daddy'? That was her father?! He was tall, very dark skinned and skinny, but according the picture, he had dark eyes and his hair was dreadlocked like Kiona. His hair was pulled back into a small bun, and was very long.
"I need to check her vitals, kiddo," Claudia reminded Frisk and they jumped.
"Right! Sorry!" Frisk apologized, jumping back.
Claudia shook her head and smiled, "No prob, bob." She pulled out device to check her blood pressure.
As Claudia worked and scratched down writing, Frisk's head was spinning with questions. Kiona said he was dead, but she still recognized him ― and her mother looked a lot happier in that picture than she had the last two times Frisk met her. Exactly how long has he been dead?
Kiona was squirming, and pouted as Claudia checked her vitals, using the stethoscope to check her lungs. "Kiona, can I see your journal?" Frisk asked.
Kiona nodded, handing her the journal and said, "Sharing is caring." Frisk laughed, and flipped through the journal, finding the sketch again. They took out their phone and snapped a photo of the picture.
"Please don't tell me you're going to try to find her dad," Chara hissed in Frisk's ear. Frisk calmly handed the book back, thanking Kiona.
"I'm not," Frisk huffed under their breath. "He's dead."
"But, you're still going to look for him, though?" Frisk didn't deny this and Chara laughed out loud. "Are you serious!? Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried to contact one of her parents? Her mother's a psychopath! Do you really think her dad's any better?"
Frisk rolled their eyes, ignoring Chara, which struck a nerve with them. They huffed, and floated near Kiona who was staring at Frisk curiously. "I mean, look!" Chara motioned to Kiona and her hospital bed. Kiona turned and looked up at the ceiling ― at Chara. "Last time you tried to help, she ended up in a hospital! What next? Dead!? I mean, usually I want you to run towards danger, but this is just getting out of hand! Isn't she your friend?"
"Frisk is friend," Kiona said and Chara looked down at them. It took them a second to realize that Kiona was staring right at Chara. She giggled, "Red floaty. . ."
"What the―!?"
"'Red floaty'?" Claudia chuckled, glancing over from the heart rate monitor to grin at Kiona. "What does that mean?"
"She can see me!?" Chara stared at her, coming down to her level. "I―I. . . how!?" Chara turned to Frisk, but they looked just as shocked.
Kiona reached for Chara's hand, but it passed through. Chara shuddered, stepping away. They hated phasing through people. She frowned, and hovered her hand over Chara's chest.
A small, see-through heart began to slowly fill with colour. Frisk stared in horror as Chara astral, see-through form began to grow slightly solid. Frisk jumped from where they stood, and moved Kiona's hand away. Chara's soul vanished and they began to fade back to into non-existence.
Chara was staring at their hands as it slowly began to be see-through again. Kiona fell back on the bed, breathing heavily. "She. . . she was making me human," Chara didn't seem to be able to believe their own words, "She was making me real." Chara turned to Kiona, who was catching her breath, her eyes closed. "Do it again!"
"No!" Frisk snapped, far too loudly. Claudia turned to them, eyebrows furrowed.
"No, what?" She asked curiously.
"I-I," Frisk glanced around for a answer. "I almost dropped the remote, sorry," Frisk said, rubbing the back of their neck. Claudia gave her a strange look but shook her head.
"Okay, well, I'll be back later with some snacks, alright?" Frisk nodded, and Claudia began to leave. "I'll see you two later, bye," Claudia waved and took her clipboard and equipment with her.
Frisk waited until the woman closed the door before beginning to start talking again. "She hasn't healed yet."
"She was making me human!" Chara snapped.
"You aren't using her like that," Frisk said firmly. Chara was growing redder with anger, black goo filling her mouth.
"She―"
"I know!" Frisk snapped, and running a hand through their hair. "We'll talk to Sans."
"That trash bag!?" Chara scoffed, "You're going to tell him that you've been in contact with me for a year and haven't told anyone?" Frisk inhaled and began to pace. Kiona watched her, confused and worried.
"Frisk, friend?" Kiona asked carefully.
"Okay, first things first," Frisk muttered and turned to Kiona. "Kiona, this is Chara Dreemurr. We're. . . siblings. Kind of." Kiona smiled at Chara.
"Debbie says hi," Kiona grinned. Chara didn't say anything, but they didn't need to. Kiona grabbed her journal and flipped to a fresh page. She grabbed a pencil and rubbed it for a few second before gently beginning to draw.
"What are we going to do?" Chara asked carefully, watching the girl with a lot more interest.
"... We'll talk to Sans," Frisk decided after a moment's hesitation. Chara opened their mouth to protest, but Frisk stopped them. "She wasn't able to see you any other time you were here."
"I've only seen her twice. When Sans and Papyrus brought her to Mom's house, and now. She didn't even blink at me. How is this even. . . she. . .?" Chara said, crossing their arms. The shock was still setting in from someone else being able to actually see them.
Frisk sighed, "I don't know. We have to talk to Sans, alright? He'll know what to do."
"And, are you going to tell him that you're looking for her dad too, or is that going to stay on the 'downlow'?"
"I'll figure it out later, all right!" Frisk snapped loud enough to make Kiona glance up at them frowning. "... Sorry, Kiona," they apologized, rubbing their temple. "I have homework to do. We can do this later."
"Right, yeah, because procrastination always makes everything better, doesn't it?" Frisk ignored them and continued their work. Chara noticed and narrowed their eyes. "Yeah, right, of course. Ignore the floating ghost that's actually trying to help you, for once, whatever." Then they disappeared.