Super Sensitive - The Umbrella Academy (♡Klaus)《ON HOLD》

☂️Chapter 16☂️

《•••The Present•••》

The word concussion originates from the Latin word concutere which means 'to shake violently.' To shake violently is basically what happens most of the time when someone gets a concussion. They hit their head hard, which can happen when playing sports, or when one is involved in a car crash, or a plain crash, or when they simply fall down the stairs or get themselves slammed against a concrete pillar in one of their house's living rooms by a masked assassin that is looking for their adopted brother in order to kill him and stop him from stopping their employer from causing the apocalyps.
     When one is suffering from a concussion, one may experience the following symptoms: memory problems; feeling confused, drowsy, sluggish or dizzy; headaches; blurred or dubbel vision; having trouble with their balance; sensitivity for light or sound; nausea or vomiting; and last a slow reactions to stimuli, which is why most people aren't allowed to drive a car or any kind of transport devise for at least 24 hours. Sometimes, but this is different for everyone, the person will pass out. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, if it wasn't possible for someone with a concussion to fall into a coma. Because of this, Diego and Allison had been taking turns, waking up Kiara from her sleep every few hours to make sure she hadn't fallen into a coma. While she was awake, they would see if she was able to answer their questions. During the night, Kiara had gagged a few times, but to her relief, she hadn't vomited anymore since the first time in the living room. After a night of barely getting any sleep, I'm happy to inform you that Kiara didn't fall into a coma, beside from this, the young woman also didn't sustain any long term damage to her brain or body. Unfortunately, Kiara would wake up to get yet another painful kick in the stomach. At least, a metaphorical kick to the stomach. This time.

One single ray of sunshine broke through the curtains in Kiara's room. The small stroke of bright morning light falling directly on the closed eyes of the sleeping woman, waking her up. When Kiara opened her blue eyes, she immediately squeezed them shut, turning away from the light as quick as possible. Only the moment she did so, she regretted her decision. The sudden movement made a wave of nausea and pain shoot through her body. With a groan, Kiara pushed herself up against the metal headboard, giving her body a moment to adjust to her new position. Her headache and dizziness was less then she remembered it being last night, but they were still there. There was one specific place on the back of her head where the pain was worse, and when she carefully brushed her fingers over the spot, she felt the swollen skin, there was a wound as well, dried blood attached to her skin and hair.
     Still feeling a bit drowsy, Kiara tried to remember what happened the night before. The first thing that came to mind, were the two intruders wearing these freaky masks. A woman, with a pink dog like mask. Cha-Cha, that's what the man called her. The man... He was big and wearing a blue mask... Luther? No, he definitely wasn't her adopted brother, he was there too... There was something going on with him, she knew that much, but she couldn't put her finger on it just yet. Kiara tried to remember if everyone was okay, she knew Diego was, he carried her to her room and checked up on her all night, just like Allison. Diego told her Klaus and Five weren't home during the attack... Vanya... Vanya was okay. Kiara remembered her sister helping her stand and walk after the attack... They walked to the other room, and saw... Ow God. Kiara remembered what was bothering her about Luther. His body... It wasn't human. It looked more like the one of a gorilla. But did that really happen? Or was it just something weird her mind made up due to the concussion? Kiara was questioning herself, what she thought she remembered about her adopted brother was something weird, weirder than usual at least. Wanting to get more answers, Kiara got out of her bed, groaning because of the increased pain in her back while she noticed it was hard for her to keep her balance and not start staggering on her feet. Again, the woman held on to something, this time the wall that was closest to her, to let her body get used to standing, giving it time to let the blood flow to her head.
     "Kiara, you're awake." Allison's voice sounded through her room. Even though she wasn't talking very loud, the sound of her voice did make Kiara wince a little. Just like the sunlight that shone right into her eyes, it seemed like Kiara was a bit more sensitive to it than normal. 
     "Am I? I hadn't noticed." The sarcasm in her voice was clear, which made her sister let out a slightly annoyed sigh. Kiara realized she was being a little harsh on her adopted sister, "sorry. That was uncalled for. Just got out on the wrong side of the bed."
     Allison nodded, still standing in the doorway. "That's okay. How are you feeling?" 
     "Been worse." Kiara answered with a shrug. "A bit sensitive to light, and sounds. A bit dizzy. And I have a bit of trouble remembering everything from last night. But I'm sure it'll get back to me. Could you- Could you just answer one question though?" 
     Again, Allison nodded to her adopted sister, this time while shooting her a smile. "Of course."
     "Okay." Kiara inhaled sharply, "if this didn't happen, it's gonna sound pretty fucking crazy. But... Did Luther have a... monkey body... beneath all the long sleeved layers?" Before Kiara could even finish her entire sentence, Allison was already nodding her head with a sad and worried expression. "Ow... That's... um..." Kiara was at a loss of words, she didn't know what was custom to say when you find out one of your adopted brother had half of his body turned into the one of a gorilla. 
     Allison didn't really know either. She just looked down at the ground for a moment, finding a really interesting crack in the wood of the floor, mumbling a "yeah..." 
     "But, how did that happen? I'm pretty sure our very own Captain America had a, you know, human torso the last time I saw him." 
     Allison was still looking at the crack in the wood, "I don't know. Haven't talked to him yet." She spoke with a soft voice, a little trace of guilt in her voice. Only Kiara didn't need to notice her tone of voice to know her adopted sister was feeling guilty about the matter. Not only guilty, but also confused, worried and there was something else. Kiara could sense it. Only she didn't think it had to do with Luther. Allison was sad and... In pain, mental pain. There also was a hint of grieve in her mix of emotions, making Kiara worry. Didn't she also sense grieve coming from Diego last night?
     "What's wrong?" Kiara eventually asked her sister carefully. "I can tell there is more than just Luther. Which is actually kind of a big deal. You should talk to him about it, he'll talk to you before any of us-"
     "I need to show you something." Allison interrupted the blue haired woman, looking up from her staring spot on the ground. The pain now even more visible in her eyes. This made Kiara's concern only grow. 
     "Okay, lead the way, big sis." Kiara said before starting to follow Allison. 
     Kiara barely called Allison 'big sis' anymore. Not that that was something she called her a lot when they were growing up since they all were born on exactly the same moment. But even though that small detail, the three sisters always had this feeling that Allison was the 'big sister', Kiara was the middle sister and Vanya the little sister. The never really talked about it, but somehow at some point, it was just a thing they silently agreed on and it wasn't weird to anyone. 
     Kiara did her best to keep her balance and hide her clumsiness from her sister, which she succeeded in pretty well. Allison didn't notice Kiara had trouble with it, but Kiara figured that could be because her adopted sister was deep in thought. A troubled expression of her own on her face. Walking down another set of stairs, the two woman reached the first floor. Without hesitation, Allison lead her sister to the reload spot of their mother. The cable that was supposed to do so was build inside a round, red, velvet couch that stood in front of big, green walls that were filled with paintings of landscapes. One single portrait of a lady in a dress was in the middle of the landscapes. Kiara remembered talking with Grace about the paintings, her mother absolutely loved them, her favorite was the painting of the lady, she always told her children that she lived in a place where the landscaped were the worlds she lived in. As a small child, who grew up inside a family of siblings with super powers, Kiara believed her mother, but as time passed, the girl started to think Grace just told them that to amuse them.
     As the two woman approached the couch, Kiara's eyes fell on Grace, she was sitting facing the paintings, making Kiara only able to see the woman's back. Kiara wanted to greed her mother, but once they got closer she noticed there was something wrong. Grace wasn't moving. Her head was hanging low, and as Kiara hurriedly walked around the couch, she could see Grace wasn't functioning. There was a big cut in her arm, revealing all the wires on her inside. Some of the wires were pulled out or cut, resulting in her shutting down entirely. "Mom..." Kiara mumbled, kneeling down in front of Grace, the pain and grieve her sister was feeling started to make their way into Kiara now as well. "Who did this to her?" Kiara asked with anger in her voice, turning her head to Allison. Who shook her head, shrugging her shoulders with her arms crossed over her chest.
     "I don't know, I found her like this this morning. I though... Maybe you could... You know." Allison made an attempt to ask her adopted sister to use her power to relive strong emotions, it wasn't very convincing, but Kiara understood anyway. With a frown, Kiara looked back at her now dead mother. 
     "I don't know if that'll work... Her emotions- if she had them- work different that ours, remember? And if it were one of the two lunatics, I doubt they cared at all." 
     "But you could try? Right?" Allison asked hopeful. 
      Kiara thought about it a little longer, but eventually nodded her head. "I'll try, I mean, it's not like I'll feel my heart stop beating, or my body bleed out. She doesn't work like that. So I guess I'm safe. All things considered..." 
     The moment Kiara had agreed to use her powers, a little spark of hope came in Allison's eyes. She wanted to know what happened to her mother as well. "Okay, great. I'll go get Luther. I don't think he knows about this, but he should know." Kiara nodded, shooting a small smile at her adopted sister before the dark haired woman turned around and walked away.
     The moment Allison had disappeared around the corner, Kiara placed herself on the velvet couch beside her mother. Not wanting her siblings with her as she used her powers like this, she took off her right glove. "Okay, let's find out who did this to you, mom." Kiara placed her fingers on her mother's cold arm, touching the ripped apart skin and wires closest to it. Kiara didn't think it would work, but it did. A few seconds after she touched Grace's arm, the tattoos on her skin and her eyes lit up with the same, deep red color while the now familiar pull dragged the woman into a new environment. It only wasn't an entirely new environment. Kiara was in the same space, only this time, she was sitting a few inches to the right, sitting where Grace was sitting. Kiara wasn't reliving the memory of the person who had killed her mother, but a memory from her mother. It was weird, Kiara could feel her mother's emotions, or something that she thought were Grace's emotions, they felt different and it was hard to make out completely, but Kiara could swear Grace was scared and... worried; while the android woman looked at her own arm, a small, sharp knife cutting the skin apart. The movement was slowly, almost hesitant. There was a tingling sensation where the knife slid almost effortlessly through her arm, like the soft crackling of electricity. The sound of someone's shaky breath could be heard, before Grace opened her mouth.
     "Diego? What are you doing?" At the same time, Grace looked up from her arm, looking into the eyes of her son. A wave of shock and disbelieve came over Kiara, Diego? But- Why? This can't be right... Kiara thought as she looked into the eyes of her adopted brother through the eyes of their mother. Diego's eyes were filling with tears as he looked at Grace, pain and regret already filling his brown orbs. Kiara could feel Diego was messing with Grace's wires while soft beeps came from her body.
     "It's gonna be o-" Diego tried to talk, but his stutter made it hard for him to get the words out. Kiara could feel her heart shatter at the sight, only it wasn't her emotions she was feeling, and even though the woman didn't had a real heart, that didn't keep her from feeling it break into a million pieces as her beloved son started crying softly in front of her. 
     "Remember what we worked on. Just picture the word in your mind." Grace smiled her bright smile at Diego, but Kiara knew, Grace was hurting, already knowing what Diego was doing, but still trying to make it easier on him. 
      "It's gonna be okay-" Diego started again, but couldn't help the short stutter in his sentence. "-Mom." Diego finished what he wanted to say at the same time as he cut off more wires. That did the trick. Kiara could feel the electricity crackle inside her mother, the power draining quickly. More beeping came from her body, together with more flashes of electricity that snapped through her head. 
     "Di- e- go. Re- mem- ber-" Was the last thing Grace was able to stutter, before Kiara felt all the energy leave her body, her head jolting while her eyes slowly closed.
     Kiara was back in reality, back in her own body. She was shaking, tears stinging in her eyes. Her head was hurting more, the use of her powers clearly hadn't done anything for her concussion. It only had made all the symptoms she had been experiencing before worse. Even though she was feeling physically unwell, her mind wasn't bothered with it. No, she was thinking about what she just experienced. That was intense. More than she thought it would be. Even though Grace wasn't human, feeling her body jolting, feeling the electricity titillate inside her while the energy drained away completely... It felt like dying. A whole different kind of dying Kiara had never experience before and hopefully never would again. 
     "Kiara?" The low voice of her brother startled her. Kiara jerked her neck around, seeing her two adopted siblings, Allison and Luther. Both staring at her with a worried, but curious expression. "What did you see?" Kiara started to panic, should she tell them what happened? Should she tell them it was Diego who basically killed their mother? Would they accept it, or would they call him out for it? Knowing her siblings, Kiara quickly realized they would probably demand answers and seeing Luther and Diego's history, that wasn't going to go well. Should it be better if she talked to their adopted brother alone, without the other's knowledge of the event? Probably.
     "Kiki?" Allison asked Kiara to explain by only saying her nickname. Still overwhelmed by her mother's emotions, mixed with her own and the fear of what would happen if Allison and Luther found out, Kiara decided to do the one thing she thought she had to. With a shaky breath, Kiara answered while putting her black glove back on.
     "It was the one with the pink mask. Cha-Cha. She used a knife she found to kill her." Luther's and Allison's attitude immediately changed. Their curiosity and worry made place for pain, anger and confusion. 
     "Why would they do that?" Allison asked to no one in particular. "They were here for Five. That they tried to kill us, I can understand. We tried to stop them. But why kill mom?" 
     "Maybe she fought back," Luther suggested. But Allison dismissed that idea rather quickly.
     "Fight back? Look at her. She was still working on her embroidery." While she said that, she gestured into the direction of the decorated piece of white, woven cloth in her lifeless hand. "What exactly happened?" The dark skinned woman asked her adopted sister, looking questioning at her, just like their brother did.
     Kiara looked away from them, taking a sharp breath, "the freak took a knife, ripped through mom's arm and that shut her down. That's all I know." Kiara spat out, wanting to get this over with as fast as possible. The blue eyed woman pushed herself up from the couch, swaying a little on her legs as she tried to keep balance. "I need a shower. Get that dried blood out of my hair." She had mumbled the last part, but her siblings noticed she was still weak from her concussion.
     "You're not taking a shower. You need to lay down." Allison said with a worried voice. 
      Kiara sighed annoyed in response. "Fine! I'll lay down. In a bath tub. I'm pretty sure Klaus won't mind if I use his." While she said it, Kiara had already started to make her way to Klaus's bathroom.
     In a mansion as big as the Umbrella Academy, there were a lot of bathrooms, Almost every bedroom had their own bathroom attached. Kiara's bathroom had a shower, which was a good thing since she always preferred to take showers. But since her siblings wanted her to 'lay down' Kiara made her way to the closest bathroom that had a bath. That one was attached to Klaus's room. Normally, Kiara would've knocked on her friend's door, but it was standing wide open.
     "Klaus?" Kiara called out for her brother, peeking her head around the corner, but she didn't see him. "Okay..." The woman mumbled, finding it a little weird her adopted brother still wasn't here. Especially since he also hadn't been home last night. Shrugging it off, Kiara walked to the closed door that led to the bathroom. Thinking he might be inside, she knocked on the door, "Klaus?" Kiara called a little louder in order to be heard on the other side of the door. But no reaction came. "Klausy?" Kiara tried again, but still got no reaction. "Klaus, if you're in there, heads up, 'cause I'm coming in." Giving a final warning, Kiara opened the white door and peeked behind it, but she soon saw that the bathroom was also empty.
     "Where is the guy?" Kiara asked herself in a mumble. A bad feeling made its way through Kiara, but she, again, tried to shake it off as she locked the door. The woman turned on the water and took some of Klaus's soap to put in it. Only when she reached for the soap, she noticed Klaus's pants, or better said, Kiara's pants that Klaus had stolen from her, laying on the ground. Weird... Kiara thought, He never just leaves this laying around like this... The bad feeling got even stronger. Not able to ignore it anymore, Kiara turned off the water and made her way back into her friend's room, deciding to take a better look around. Sitting down on Klaus's bed, she now also noticed Klaus had left his favorite black coat on the chair and his once white converse stood beneath the same chair. True, his other coat that normally hung on the headboard of the bed was gone, but somehow this only made Kiara's feeling get worse. Did something happen? Why are his shoes here, but he isn't? Kiara tried to remember if Klaus had other shoes, but couldn't focus enough to remember. One thing she did know, though. She needed to know where her friend was, and she needed to know it now.