A wreck within

Chapter 4

By the time the sun set they had arrived at New York. They arrived at New York a lot sooner than Kiara expected. Natalie had booked a charted airplane. It was the first time Kiara flew on a plane. James' house was next to the highway. So even at 1am where nobody was on the roads there was a lot of noise. But if you thought about it, they were in New York. In the city that never sleeps. Under other circumstances Kiara would be ecstatic that she was in New York. But her father had died. Every time she closed her eyes, her brain revoked the image of her dead father. Her mother was alone in Celestia. She would have to deal with all the enemies of her father. She would have to be alone at his funeral. Kiara was lucky that she managed to escape from Celestia before it was too late.
Kiara woke up from the sound of the sirens. A sound that she did not hear quite often in her castle. She was thankful that she woke up. Her nightmares were awful. Kiara was sleeping in the guest room and it was also used as James little sisters" toy room.
She could hear teenage voices coming from the basement. In haste, she put on the first oversized sweater she found in front of her. Then she made her way to the basement.
She was standing behind the closed door.
James was sitting with his friends and they were all having breakfast. She saw them eating a bunch of dishes she had never smelled or eaten before. But Kiara overheard their talk before going in the room. A talk that she should have never listened.
"James, it's weird. It must be someone from the inside that did it" a female voice pointed out. Kiara started feeling awkward. Imagine how they would feel if they knew that she was listening to what they were saying.
"You can't be sure about that Freya" Another female voice argued. She had a deeper and more confident voice.
"Oh please, It's the King. I bet it was his wife". The first voice said with confidence. The thought that her mother was the reason her father was dead, made Kiara flinch.
James raised his voice "You do not know what you are talking about. She loved him, do not say anything on the subject when Kiara comes. We have to make her feel safe and welcome"
Kiara decided that it was the right time for her to go in. "Kiara I was coming to call you. Let me introduce you to everyone" James said as soon as Kiara arrived.
In the morning, James" eyes had a soft tone on them. He always seemed to be very tense as he had ADHD. But in the mornings his eyes seemed to be very relaxed and his movements much softer. It was like he was a different person.
Kiara soon realized that everyone was staring at her. Especially the blue-eyed girl with the long brown curls.
"I'm Freya and this is Moira, we are living next door. I am sorry for your loss." Freya was beautiful. She had golden blonde waist long straight hair. She had dark blue eyes with golden specks in them and a Scandinavian complexion. Moira from the other hand, her skin tone hints to Latino roots. She had caramel brown eyes that had something very calming on them.
"Freya is a descendant of the Swedish family. I'm Howard" The guy with the messy black curly hair and soft caramel eyes.
"I would not exactly say that I am a descendant of the royal family." Freya said all flustered.
Howard rolled his eyes and then laughed. He seemed to be a simple boy yet very charming in Kiara's eyes.
"He isn't a jerk, only a doofus. And he doesn't know when to stop talking." The girl with the long brown curls replied. She has been tracking Kiara's movements since she came in. She had a very intimidating look on her face. But Kiara had to face the fact that she wouldn't be the richest or the most famous girl from now on.
"She is my twin sister Morgan." Howard replied. She had identical brown eyes with Howard, but something made them seem very unnatural on her.
Then, the back door opened. A boy and a girl came in fighting. The boy stopped arguing with the girl who seemed like his sister. He went towards Kiara and took her hand and kissed it.
"Sebastian Barnes, a pleasure to always meet beautiful girls." The girl looked annoyed with his comment. That is why she rolled her eyes and then pushed him out of her way and sat down next to Freya and started eating a doughnut.
"What did my boyfriend do to you again Liz?" Freya laughed.
Liz glared at the boy and continued eating her doughnut. "He's a big idiot as usual. I still don't know why and how he is my brother"
Kiara wanted to feel included and she tried to comment on the conversation. "I am sure Freya and Moira can relate to that. That is how siblings act, right?" They all stared in confusion and then they started laughing.
"Did I say something wrong or what?" Kiara said feeling the urge to start crying.
Freya smiled. "Mia and I aren't siblings. Her parents got divorced, and my parents had to travel abroad so I moved in with her. She is my best friend though" Freya closed her eye to Moira.
Morgan stood up. "Got to go home, Freya are you coming with me? We have to talk about ... thing" Morgan said careful not to reveal anything in front of Kiara.
Howard and the others understood the message as they all started to play along. "Seb? Do you want to finish the school project?" Howard said, with a slow rhythm. Like he wanted to get caught.
Liz started laughing. "Oh. You are serious. You are going to do a school project. But it's summer."
"We want to get ahead from the others" Seb replied to his sister. He kissed Freya and they left.
Liz stole another doughnut and said "Anyway, as much as I love hanging out with you, but I have to go shopping with Sarah. Goodbye people" She and Sarah left.
Everyone started leaving and Kiara was alone with James. "How did you sleep?" he asked with his reddish- brown hair being all over the place.
"Okay, I guess. So, what are you going to do today? You can go with your friends. I can be alone for a while"
James' face hardened. "I am not leaving you; you are my best friend and it is not a good time for you to be alone. Even if you do not know it, you need some company. It's hard to cope with loss." He stared at her with his blue eyes.
She was grateful that James was on her side. She felt a little confused, as she was certain, he had not someone from his family to die.
Although she would never admit it, she used to have a huge crush on James when they were younger. When they were 5, they got married in a fake wedding game. But now she did not see him as anything more than afraid. All the boys she had met. She never felt that she could be romantic with anyone.
Later that day James decided to introduce Kiara to the modern world. They watched Netflix and she tried premade waffles for the first time.
An hour later Natalie and Mike came downstairs. "Glad you two are alone. The four of us have to discuss some things" James" father said.
Mike Stevens was an ex-soldier and he was in a very high position in the U.S. army. Or that was what Kiara knew. But she had never heard the reason why he retired so soon.
Natalie was a well-trained secret agent in the FBI. Along with her husband they were the co-founders of a secret organization, the ARK. As they said to her, it aimed to protect the world from deadly assassins and any form of danger.
She remembers her mother telling her that Natalie had James when she was 19. How and her mother never mentioned her best friend's double life?
James rolled his eyes when they mentioned the ARK. She also discovered that James had various black belts in many martial arts. The last bit was the one that shocked Kiara the most. James realized that she was getting tense. With gentle moves, he pressed her hand, making her look into his eyes. "That means that I will always be there to protect you and if you want to, I can show you a few moves. James winked and clicked his tongue.
"Training, it is not that important at the moment. Kiara, you will have to go to school with James next week. You will not have a secret identity, but you will not answer any questions about your life in Celestia. If you start answering questions you will let the ones who killed your father discover where you are. Understood?" Mike asked the young girl.
"Sure" she replied. But the truth is that she was afraid. Afraid of forgetting who she was. Afraid of forgetting her name, her family, and the things she loved about herself. But she could not admit it to anyone.