Chapter 20

"It's been two weeks," Birdie stood in front of her father's home office and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why, thank you time-master," Heyder looked up. "I would have never known without your gracious generosity and willingness to share your knowledge."

"Why is he not waking up yet?" Birdie narrowed her eyes.

"Who are we talking about?"

"My brother," Birdie stepped into the room. "Your first born!"

"It's....complicated," Heyder put down the dagger he had been inspecting.

"Mom said he was just tired," Birdie walked up to her dad and placed her hands on the table in front of him.

"Don't touch the iron," Heyder said, pushing her hand back with the dagger.

"Nora is healing," Birdie clicked her tongue. "Why isn't Hayden?"

"Do I look like I know everything?" Heyder raised a brow.

"You're supposed to!" Birdie snapped, her eyes clouding over with emotions she couldn't handle. "You're supposed to make everything better!"

Heyder let go of a deep sigh and put the dagger down. He walked around the table and held his arm out as Birdie dived in.

"I'm sorry," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Baba is trying. I'll make everything better, I promise."

"He's never been like this before," Birdie said in a quiet little voice. "I'm really worried about him."

"You've been keeping him company?"

Birdie nodded, "I hate seeing him like this."

"He's healing," Heyder said. "Slowly. Very slowly."

"Why is that?"

"We're not sure," Heyder tucked Birdie's head under his chin. "He's fine physically. Everything is healed....but he won't wake up."

"Can a half jinn and fey go into a coma?"

"This isn't a coma," Heyder said. "But it's something..."

Birdie wrapped her arms around her father and sighed. She couldn't stop the one tear that slowly fell down her face as she thought about her last conversation with her brother.

"Maybe we should bring Nora here," the girl suggested.

"Why?" Heyder pulled back and looked at his daughter.

"I don't know," Birdie shrugged. "Hayden likes her right...maybe hearing her voice or having her near might help?"

"You're brother is handsome but he's not sleeping beauty," Heyder laughed.

"It's worth a shot."

"She's not healed enough to move yet," Heyder shook his head. "She's barely able to stay conscious for more than 30 seconds at a time."

"Maybe when she's better?"

"I'm praying Hayden will beat her to the finish line," Heyder sighed.

_______________________

Clare knocked on the closed door twice before turning the knob and entering the small neat office.

"Dr. Ming?" She said. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Oh, Clare!" The doctor jumped up. "You didn't have to come all the way down here. You could have just called me up."

"I needed the walk," Clare smiled. "My husband is driving me insane upstairs. He's cleaning."

"He must be stressed about something," Dr. Ming smiled.

"I'm sure he is," Clare nodded. "We all are."

"Right," the doctor nodded.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Ah, yes," Dr. Ming held up a finger and began to dig through the files on his desk. "I was....reading through Dr. Trystan's files on Kiara and I couldn't help but notice some of the notes are not dated."

"Is that important?"

"Yes," the doctor chuckled. "I would like to see the pattern of her behavior. Looking at these notes, I can't tell what happened in what order."

"What do you mean?"

"Dr. Trystan took excellent notes," Dr. Ming adjusted the glasses he wore. "Very detailed and very in depth. How long had she been working with Kiara?"

"Just a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" Dr. Ming's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow. It's amazing how much information she gathered with so little time."

"Back to the dates, doctor..." Clare was intrigued.

"Yes, yes," Dr. Ming nodded. "Dates would have been very helpful. I know you had mentioned that all sessions are recorded...would I be able to have access to the sessions with Kiara?"

"Of course," Clare smiled. "You are the lead doctor on the case now. Whatever you need. They're all on Dr. Trystan's computer. And if she took her work laptop home then you can ask the IT department downstairs to help you access the files from the main server."

"Thank you."

"Anytime," Clare nodded.

She walked out of the office and slowly made her way back up to the top floor. The construction people were still busy at work redoing the room Kiara had destroyed. Clare was just thankful none of the students downstairs were seriously hurt. They had minor cuts and bruises but nothing to sever. Tobias had come in exactly at the right time. Any minute longer and it would have been a catastrophe.

"Casandra!" Ares called from their joint office as soon as he picked up her scent. "Where is that photo of Cara in my helmet?"

Clare took in a deep breath and walked into the room. She leaned against the door and stared at her husband as he stood around with his hands on his hips and his desk a total mess.

"I thought it was on your desk," she said.

"It was," Ares shook his head. "Not any more."

"You'll find it once you finish cleaning up."

"What did Dr. Ming want?"

"He wanted to listen to the recording of Dr. Trystan's sessions with Kiara."

"Why?"

"He wants to see the pattern in her behaviors," Clare said, silently chewing on her bottom lip.

Ares turned and raised a brow, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

The corner of Ares lips curved up as he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Clare, "You answered way too fast. And that is how I know something is definitely up."

"I just...." Clare rolled her eyes. She let out another breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"That's natural," Ares said, comforting her with small kisses. "You watched her grow up. It's hard on all of us."

"No, it's not that," Clare shook her head.

"Then what is it?"

"Kiara wasn't lying," Clare looked up at Ares.

"What do you mean?" Ares arched a brow.

"When we sat down with Dr. Ming and we asked her if she went to Dr. Trystan's house....she said no....and she wasn't lying."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure!" Clare frowned. "I would know if she was lying...but she wasn't. That's the thing."

"How can that be?" Ares asked. "Trystan says kiara was at her house and Kiara says she wasn't."

"And they're both telling the truth..." Clare began to chew on her bottom lip once more. "And then there was the voice."

"Right," Ares nodded. "The voice. Did we figure out what that was yet?"

Clare's frown slowly deepened, "Magic has memory....I speak to Gemma. She thinks whatever or whomever was speaking to Kiara was not her conscience...it was the magic's memory."

"It's taking on a personality," Ares felt his insides twist. "Becoming its own person."

"Ares..." Clare's voice wavered. She turned her eyes to the god and placed her fear and vulnerability in her eyes. "Do you....do you think I caused this?"

"No," Ares shook his head and pulled Clare closer. "Of course not. This is centuries of magic and memory we're talking about. You could have done nothing to stop it."

"But Kiara..." Clare's heart shook. "I just....Why do I feel like I did something horribly wrong?"

"Because you think you have to save everyone," Ares said gently. "Clare, it's not your job to undo every wrong in this world. Stop placing that burden on yourself. Even the gods are humbled by the fates....there is nothing we could have done to stop this from happening."

"I don't believe that," Clare shook her head. "I can't...I can't bear to look at Posey and Tobias...I think about Cara and my heart stops. What if we lost our daughter right in front of her and we couldn't do anything to stop it."

"That will never happen," Ares said firmly. "And we didn't lose Kiara. She's still in her head....somewhere in there. We just have to get her back to the driver's seat."

"And what about the rest?" Clare asked. "What do we do when she's back and she hates us all for wanting to help her?"

"I hate to be the dick here, but it's either she cooperates with her and we help her or....she stays in Pandora's box.."

Clare flinched from the harsh reality.

"We have to think of others," Ares said. "We can't risk having her killing everyone."

Just then, the phone on Clare's desk began to ring. Ares teased her by holding onto her a little tighter and refusing to budge. Clare twisted away and pushed him back playfully before running to her desk and picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Clare?" Dr. Ming's voice spoke up. "This is Dr. Ming."

"Yeah, hi," Clare cleared her throat. "Did you find everything?"

"Ah yeah...about that...." Dr. Ming hesitated. "These recordings are useless."

"Wh...excuse me?"

"You can't hear anything," Ming said. "Just muffled sounds and noises....it's like Dr. Trystan hit discord and then shoved the device into the sofa."

"Maybe her mic was broken?" Clare's mind began to race. The uneasy feeling she had in her heart was starting to grow. "What about her other recordings?"

"They're all here," Dr. Ming said. "With Killian and others....but just the ones with Kiara...."

"Have someone look at the recordings," Clare's hand began to shake. "Maybe they can pick up something from it."

"Will do," Dr. Ming said before hanging up.

Clare put the phone back and slowly turned around. She held the edge of the desk to keep her hands from shaking as she looked up at Ares.

"What's wrong?" the god asked.

"I...I need to talk to Dr. Trystan."

___________________________

Kiara's eyes were permanently gold.

Or they have been ever since she woke up inside Killian's childhood home in Pandora's box. Her hair was in a constant state of rebellion as she left it out in a wild curly messy. Her skin was dull and lifeless. Her full bottom lip was covered every other day a cut or two.

As Killian sat across from her, he began to notice how much weight she was losing. Her collarbones here poking out of her skin. Her cheeks were hollow and her fingers were bony. She looked so....wrong.

There was barely any meat in her arms as she placed her hand on her bump and stared at the painted windows. Killian would have given anything to have her look at him. Just once so he could breathe properly again.

"Kia," he called to her when he noticed she hadn't touched her food.

Kiara slowly turned her head and fixed those golden eyes on him. Her brow arched as she waited for him to speak.

"You haven't touched your food," Killian handed her the fork.

"A fork?" Kiara said dryly. "You know what I could do with a fork?"

Killian didn't reply as he took her hand and placed the fork on her palm.

"I could gut you right now and pluck your eyes out for ever looking at me," Kiara said, her eyes staring at the fork.

Killian's heart shattered. Again. For the hundredth time. The corner of Kiara's mouth curved up as she noticed the pain in the boy's eyes.

"But I don't," she smiled. "Because I'm a good girl."

"Please eat," Killian moved his chair a bit closer.

"I can't swallow this," Kiara pushed her plate back.

"Then what would you like?"

"Hmm," Kiara tilted her head and pondered. "I want....to drive a blade through your chest and drain you in my bathtub."

"That's not food."

"Aw you are so smart, little cookie," Kiara cooed.

"You need to eat, Kia."

"I need to get out of here," Kiara smiled.

Killian swallowed the lump in his throat and reminded himself the smile on Kiara's face was not the smile he fell in love with. No matter how hard it was, he needed to keep reminding himself that the being sitting in front of him was just the shell of the girl he would have killed for.

"Kia..." Killian sighed and took her hand. "Please, just eat your food. For Lila, please."

"What would you do for your daughter?" Kiara arched a brow.

"Anything," Killian said, taking the fork back and picking up a piece of chicken.

"Killian," Kiara rolled her eyes. "We taught you better than this."

Killian looked up with a deep frown on his lips.

"Never say you will do anything when making deals with the devil," Kiara leaned forward and whispered. "Be specific."

"I'm not making deals with the devil," Killian said, placing the fork down. "I'm just trying to get the mother of my child to eat her food."

"Mmmm," Kiara picked up the fork and took a bite of the chicken. "So? What can you do for your daughter?"

"Nothing you have in mind."

"I have a lot in mind," Kiara chewed slowly and nodded. "Kiara thinks too much."

Killian's eyes snapped up to find Kiara watching him.

"Oh boy, does she hate you right now," Kiara laughed. "All of you. The whole rotten bunch."

Killian flinched as Kiara's gaze pinned him to his seat and twisted the knife in his chest. His hands felt numb as he sat watching Kiara pick through her food and mutter under her breath. His lungs were beyond working properly. He took shallow breaths that barely did anything to make the dizziness in his head go away.

"What if I kill her?" Kiara suddenly looked up after a while.

"What?" Killian's heart stumbled.

"Not Kiara," Kiara shook her head. "Don't worry. I will protect my girl. I'm talking about your girl."

Killian's eyes narrowed as she pointed her fork at him.

"What if.....I suffocate this tiny little life inside of me right now?" Kiara wiggled her brow. "Or fall down the stairs? Take a knife and cut her out?"

Killian grew ghost pale, "Kiara would never let you do that."

"But Kiara isn't here right now," Kiara leaned forward once more and whispered. She held Killian's gaze for a few tortuous seconds before leaning back and laughing. "Don't worry, daddy. We don't kill little children....or we actively try not to."

Before Killian could think past the sick feeling in his stomach, the door to the box opened and Posey walked in. Kiara looked up, her eyes immediately falling on the small slither of open space looking out into the cave before the door closed.

"Hello, mother," Kiara smiled sweetly.

"Hi, baby," Posey's sorrow filled eyes cracked just a little bit seeing the smile on her daughter's face.

"You're just in time," Kiara looked at Killian and then back at Posey. "We were just talking about killing your grandchild."

Posey gasped, causing Kiara to giggle.

"Don't worry, my queen," Kiara said, tilting her head back and letting out a deep sigh. "I would never hurt Kiara like that."

A few seconds passed as Posey stood frozen by the door. Her nails dug into her palm as she watched the way Kiara sat around without a care in the world. Her daughter was withering away in front of her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Clare's here," she announced once she found her voice. "She wants to talk to you Kiara."

"Ooo Clare," Kiara cheered. "I love Clare!"

"I'll send her in," Posey turned for the door.

"Queenie," Kiara called to her, causing her to halt. "Where is that husband of yours? He doesn't want to see his daughter?"

"If you need him," Posey said slowly, looking over her shoulder. "Tobias will come see you."

Kiara snorted, "I don't need him. He needs me. Without me he has no kingdom. And how does he repay me? By locking me in here?"

"You tried to kill a school full of innocent children!" Posey turned around.

"Not a single one of them in there was innocent," Kiara rolled her eyes. "We lose our innocence as soon as we grow a conscience."

Killian and Posey watched as Kiara touched her belly.

"Isn't that right, my little dove?"

Posey wanted to pull her hand away. Her eyes saw her daughter but her mind saw the monster who had her daughter and granddaughter in her palm.

"I'm sending Clare," she said, unable to stand looking at Kiara any second longer.

"I hope she's not expecting dinner," Kiara said, picking her plate. "I'm not even sure all this is edible."

The door to the box opened once more and Clare walked in. Kiara didn't bother turning to greet the new arrival as she knew they were only here to seek her out. Killian rose from his seat and walked over to where Posey and Clare stood. They began to converse in hushed voices as their eyes flickered with worry to the girl sitting at the table.

"I can hear you," Kiara said, staring at her plate and tracing her fork across it.

Clare was the first to break away. She patted Posey's hand and walked over to the table and took a seat in the chair right across from her.

"Hi...." she said gently.

"You can call me Kiara," Kiara lifted her lashes. "Too many names to remember sometimes."

"I want to speak to Kiara," Clare said, looking into those gold eyes.

"Are you blind or something?" Kiara raised a brow. "You are speaking to Kiara."

"You're not Kiara."

"Then leave a message after the beep, sweetheart," Kiara sighed. "Beep!"

"Please....this is very important," Clare said. "I need to speak to Kiara and find out what happened."

"Was that part of your message?"

Clare's hand balled into fists as her eyes narrowed. She moved her chair closer and cleared her throat, ready to try again.

"Kiara...." she began slowly. "Please....I know you're in there. Fight this. I need to talk to you about Dr. Trystan."

Kiara's golden eyes narrowed slightly. Her mouth twitched as she sat tapping the fork against the plate.

"Was that all?" she asked Clare.

"That was all," Clare said. "I really need to speak to Kiara."

Suddenly, the fork dropped from Kiara's hand and she gasped. Killian jumped forward with worry as she began to laugh.

"Oops, I think I just accidentally deleted the message," she rose from the chair and headed for the stairs. "Better luck next time, Clare Bear."   

I really don't want to go back to work :(