Kiara could not comprehend what happened few moments before as she sat in the car. The entire scene replaying in her head where She sat along with her brothers at the table listening to the lady who invited Mr. Thompson on stage to give a welcome speech. Mr. Thompson took his leisure time to explain each and every detail about the jewelries displayed and finally concluded his speech with a thank you. He bowed a little to show his gratitude when all of a sudden, a sword came spiraling down from right above Robert's head and slashed right through his neck. His blood splashed all around. Mostly on her and her brothers who sat nearest to the stage. The beautiful white statue which she admired before was now dripping with his blood. There was a moment of silence in the hall before someone screamed somewhere. There was chaos all over; people could not understand what the hell happened suddenly. Mr. Thompson's head rolled and landed right at victor's feet while his body continued to struggle for few seconds before completely falling still. It was a traumatizing scene to watch. She sat there numb as the shouts blurred.
Someone grabbed her and pulled her down the chair. It was Lisa. She accessed kiara thoroughly before grabbing her hand and immediately escorting her to the SUV along with the youngest three brothers.
And here she was, sitting on the backseat between the twins while Kevin occupied the passenger seat and Lisa drove. She had wiped all the blood that covered Kiara as soon as she sat inside the SUV. But what about the dress? How will she wipe out the evidence of that gruesome scene from the dress which was now more red than pink? That gown will forever remind kiara of this whenever she will look at it. The gruesome scene can't be wiped away from her brain in the same way as this blood can't be wiped away from the dress.
It will forever be tainted. Her dress and her brain both......
She jerked away from her thoughts when a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked at Alex who was asking her something, his eyes reflecting concern.
"w-what?"
" I asked are you ok?" he repeated.
Kiara simply nodded in return and looked ahead. Where Alex and Aiden were shocked with the turn of events along with her, Kevin looked rather...worried. Kiara observed that Kevin spoke to Lisa, his expression tightened with tension and Lisa nodded every now and then.
Something really wrong is going on.
********
Victor looked at other members who surrounded Mr. Thompson's body in a circle. The members who were from nearby were also invited along with him. They were still in that hall where that gruesome murder happened. He turned and looked towards his son who laid near him. His eyes still reflected fear. In the matter of seconds, the whole Thompson family was destroyed. Mr. Thompson was actually the younger brother of Rikkard Thompson who died in an accidental plane crash two years ago. Since, he didn't had a child of his own; robert took his place and made his son Austin, his heir.
One more member less in elites. What the fuck is happening?!
"other members are demanding for an immediate meeting." James murmured in his elder brother's ear as they both watched thompson's bodies getting rolled out by the group of medics.
Victor simply nodded in return.
This is gonna be a long night.
*********
" kia, please eat something....." Alex pleaded his sister for nth time.
" I will throw up if I even look at food." She pleaded with her puppy eyes so that they could leave her alone. Since victor and James were still at the venue, they had strictly ordered that kiara shall have a meal before going to bed at night. The brothers surrounded her as she sat on her bed trying various methods to feed her. But the girl was refused to listen to them.
"do you need your gift or not kia?" Alex asked faking anger.
" I don't need your gift....keep it with yourself." She replied and turned her face away.
"eat or I will shove it down your throat." Aiden growled having enough of her tantrums.
" then I will puke on you." She gave him a sarcastic smile.
Irritated Aiden was ready to do as he promised but stopped when Kevin held his shoulders. Kevin turned towards her and warned her,
"if you won't eat then I am calling victor.....and you know how punctual he is with meals."
Kiara fell quiet for a second. She knew victor was very strict regarding meals. No one is allowed to go to bed empty stomach. He always made sure of that even if he was away, he would call the house help and inquire about it from them. Avoiding meals was simply out of question.
She finally let out a deep breath and looked at her brothers who were watching her with raised brows.
"so, what's your answer?" Kevin asked.
"c'mon it's your favorite pizza." Alex insisted.
Kiara took a deep breath and nodded finally.
" fine give it to me." She took the plate of pizza from his hands and stared at it. Even her favorite dish looked the most disgusting food ever to her today.
"here take some ketchup." Alex poured some ketchup over the pizza and gave it back to her. While putting the bottle away, some ketchup fell on his white t-shirt.
Alex cursed and started searching for tissue to wipe the thing off. While he was searching, he heard a panicked voice of Aiden calling for his sister.
Alex immediately looked up in alarm to find his sister's eyes trained on him or the stain of his t-shirt to be more specific. Her hands that held the plate shook uncontrollably. Slowly slowly, her eyes became unfocused and she started to hyperventilate.
" midget??" Alex shook her but he got no response.
The plate fell from her hands and now laid on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. The brothers didn't know what to do. They panicked and called her name repeatedly but it was as if kiara could not hear them at all. Her eyes remained unfocused and she shook uncontrollably. Her breath started becoming rapid and she went in the state of shock. Her trembling body and rapid breaths were a sign for the upcoming panic attacks and none of the brothers knew how to pull her out of it.
Alex shook kiara vigorously in hope that she will come out of the trance she had gone into.
"no. stop shaking her." Rough hands separated kiara from Alex's hold.
" give her some space to breathe. Get away." Lisa commanded. The brothers obliged and let Lisa take control of the situation.
Lisa turned to kiara and instructed calmly.
"miss king, take deep breaths ok. Follow my breathing pattern." She instructed her.
For few early minutes, kiara didn't respond but Lisa kept on encouraging her while slowly rubbing her back.
"start backward counting with me. With each count, inhale and exhale. Come on kiara, you are brave. Do with me."
All that time, Lisa was extremely patient and gentle with her. She took the little girl in her arms and rubbed her back.
Suddenly kiara wrenched herself away from Lisa and ran towards bathroom. She bent towards pot and emptied all her stomach contents. Thought it was mostly liquid since she hadn't eaten anything after lunch. She felt drained as she leaned on Aiden who helped her wash her face and brought her back to bed.
"you ok little one?" Kevin asked as he sat beside her.
Kiara closed her eyes and nodded in return, "I want to just sleep." She mumbled.
" this won't do. we can't let her sleep empty stomach." Alex looked at Kevin worriedly.
"milk would do." Lisa entered the room with a glass of warm milk with her hands and forwarded it to Kevin who held it infront of his little sister.
Kiara groaned but drank it anyway. She knew her brothers won't go away until they had ensured that she had consumed anything.
"I will stay near her all night. You all should go and take rest." Lisa said as they came out of kiara's room.
"thank you Lisa. We were scared for a second." Kevin thanked her.
" it's my duty." She said simply.
" by the way, how do you know how to calm a person who is having panic attack?" Alex asked sounding curious.
Lisa looked at him and said emotionlessly,
Experience.