Koda

Part 7

It was a warm, sunny March day. The birds were singing, the sky was blue and filled with puffy clouds, the trees were gently swaying in the breeze. . .

But Koda's mind was a very dark and cold place. You'd think that since nothing had happened yet she'd start to relax and open up, but to her, it was the opposite. It felt like a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. Her anxiety grew the more they were kind to her. They would hurt her eventually, she just didn't know when. She'd rather just go ahead and get it over with instead of playing this weird 'niceness' game.

They were in the Sedan, on the way to the mall. Emory was trying to contain his eagerness, (he loved shopping, and was excited to spend time with Koda and Kieran,)so that he didn't overwhelm her. Kieran was less enthusiastic about the actual shopping part, but he couldn't help but be affected by Emory's mood. Bubbliness practically spilled out of him, like his personality was too much for his small body to contain. Kieran smiled, and glanced in the rearview mirror at Koda.

She seemed to be lost in thought, but wasn't as hunched over and scared as she'd been on their first car ride. That was good, right? Progress. He just hoped it would last.

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"Which one do you like?" Emory held up two identical hoodies, but one was red and one was black. They'd already gotten a few pairs of jeans, some shorts, t-shirts and tank tops, socks, etc. They were almost finished here. 

"The red one, I guess," Koda murmured, feeling like this was too much. "Are you sure this is okay? It seems like a lot of money to spend. . . "

"It's fine! You need them. And Kieran and I both have high paying jobs, so don't worry about the money." He chuckled. "Just last week, Kieran spent quite a bit to get me new plants I've been wanting. He does that, secret little things for people. He's a gift-giver."

Kieran returned from the bathroom. "Are you talking about me?" He squinted his eyes playfully at Emory and Koda, earning a small giggle from both of them. When Koda looked away, the couple shared a happy glance. She'd laughed! Progress.

They headed towards the register, where the cashier stared at them for a moment. "You guys are beautiful," He said, somewhat in awe as he began to ring them up. They were a gorgeous family, the tall man with thick black hair and vivid green eyes, the shorter one looked like a fae with warm brown eyes, blond curls, and freckles dusted over his cheeks and nose, and their daughter with long, glossy black waves of hair and two different-colored eyes.

"Aw, thank you," Kieran said as he fished his wallet out of his pocket. They carried their bags out of the mall, loading them into the back. They decided to get lunch out before heading to the house.

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Back in their cozy home, they helped Koda get the bags of clothes and other things upstairs, then left her to unpack and have some alone time. She sat in the of her room, a half circle of bags in front of her. Tears dripped onto her knees. 

She'd thanked them profusely in the car, but they'd waved it away, saying it was no big deal, they'd had a good time, etc. But her heart ached. This was the first time in her life that someone was taking care of her. She couldn't quite fathom why they were treating her so well, but logically, they wouldn't do this for someone they were going to hurt later on, right? Was she wrong about them? Or would they go to such lengths to earn her trust to use her later on?