Voltiana

Chapter Five: Morino

Dachii and Marachii were visibly shocked by their mother's revelation. Dachii eyed her and asked the big question: "Huh? How?"

Kia tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she spoke. "My job has fired me. I...don't have enough time to pay the bills. I'm...sorry..."

She nearly collapsed in her seat as Dachii used his right arm to pat her on the back. "Don't we have anywhere else to go, Mom?"

Dachii had a hopeful look on his face, but Kia just shook her head. "Not...exactly..." The two brothers looked at each other, the weight of the situation sinking in. Marachii had a thought but was reluctant to say it.

When Kia nearly fainted from all the stress, he decided to speak up.

"What about Grandfather?"

Dachii rubbed his chin and nodded. "Yeah, doesn't he have a house...that we've never seen?" Dachii hadn't seen their grandfather for quite a few months, but when he did, it was always at their house.

Kia's eyes went wide.

"Children---!"

They seemed confused. Dachii rubbed his head, twisting one of his dreads. "What? Did he get hurt? Did he move or something?"

"No, but---"

She stopped instantly when she heard Marachii calling someone. "Hey Grandfather, we need your help, it's urgent..." A voice was heard on the other end, and then Marachii said bye and hung the phone up. "He's on his way, Mom."

"SON!" Her nervousness was evident, but she tried to hide it. "I mean, that's kind of you to ask, but really, it's okay---"

"Well, he says he'll be here in 20 minutes. How close does he stay?"

Kia fainted. When she came to, she'd found that Dachii and Marachii had laid her in the backseat. Marachii handed her some water. "Mother, are you okay?"

"Ugh. Please don't tell me..." Her worst fears came true. A tap on the window, and she saw his face. "Hello, hello!"

Marachii rolled down the front window.

"Grandfather!" An older, toned, fancy-dressing man was giving the kids a friendly wave. Kia slowly sat up, rubbing her head. "Oh. Hi, dad..."

"Is that my little Kia? You look stressed, dear. Have you been doing yoga? Your face is all—-"

"Anyways! Father, glad to see you, but some stuff came up, so I need the time to figure it all out, so..."

She attempted to get out of the car and get back to the driver's seat, but her father stopped her. "Hey, I know about the house. If you want, you know my place is still open." As he put his hand on her shoulders, waves of terrible memories flooded her. The pain, the abuse, the torture.

She stumbled back and nearly fell over, and as her dad caught her, Dachii poked his head out the window. "Mom, you seem scared. Why?" She managed to stand.

"Kids, look. Just know, there are places you should under NO circumstances visit." Marachii and Dachii just looked at her in confusion, and then they looked at their grandfather: Morino.

"Grandfather, do you know what she's talking about?"

Morino simply pressed a button and his car rolled up. A nice car, it seemed to be a mix of a Lamborghini and a Porsche. The fact that it automatically rolled up at the press of a button slightly surprised Dachii, but he didn't know much about cars, so he let it go.

"Come on you guys. Let's take a trip."

Morino got in his car, and after much effort, Dachii was put in the backseat and Kia was convinced to get in. "You guys want some food?" The boys nodded, so they went off to get some pizza. Kia was in the front seat, just staring.