The New Home ((G/T))

Chapter Twelve

Kiana sits on the couch in the living room, Anny sitting beside her with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. "H-How do you deal with looking at the world this way?" She whispered.

Kiana turned her gaze to the tiny teen and frowns. "I was born like that, so I'm used to it." She said softly. "I've never had to be afraid of everything being bigger, I just have to afraid of what people would do to me since I'm smaller."

Abby listened with a frown, holding her knees even tighter to her chest. "O-Oh." 

"But, your mom and dad, my master and mistress, they're the nicest humans have ever been to me. Besides the store clerk, she was very nice too." A small sad smile fell on the child's face. "She took care of me when I was brought back by a lot of humans...three at most." 

"You were returned three times...? That means you would have..." Abby trailed off, looking up at the Neko who nodded sadly.

"I would have gone to the breeding facilities, had your dad not adopted me from the store. I-I owe your parents too much." Her brown eyes began to glimmer as she tried to force back tears, but a few strayed and rolled down her cheeks.

Abby remained silent, lowering her head. So much has happened to this young girl, and she treated her like that. Guilt began to swell in her chest and eyes as tears began to brim in them. But she fought them off and cleared her throat quietly. "I doubt you owe them anything." 

Kiana simply shrugged when the doorbell rang. Both she and the teen tensed as the door began to slowly open. "Abby?" It was Martha's voice. 

Kiana scooped up the tiny teen into her hands gently and took off up the stairs to Abigail's room. "Is she allowed to just come in?" She whispered with a panicked tone to her.

"I-I told her to text me first but my phone is huge now compared to me! Sh-She must have just come over when I didn't text back!" Abby responded with the same panicked tone and found herself clutching onto Kiana's fingers. 

Kiana sat in the corner of the corner of the bedroom, her ears twitching as her sensitive hearing picked up footsteps on the stairs. "Don't worry. I-I'll take care of her." She whispered, placing Abby on the floor beside her just as Martha stepped into the room.

Martha's gaze fixed on Kiana before spotting the tiny figure on the floor, then looked back to Kiana and laughed. "I don't know what happened, but this is pretty funny." A smirk slightly crossed her face as she walked over, kneeling down and looking at Abby, roughly poking her in the stomach.

Abigail stumbled backward as she hissed in pain. "Martha, back off. I-I don't know what happened either but I need you to leave, right now."

"Awe, come on, I'm your best friend," Martha said with a grin as her hand wrapped around the teen's body.

"M-Martha, stop!" Abby shouted, panicked. She hated the claustrophobic feeling the closed hand offered. 

Kiana reacted swiftly, taking Abby from Martha's hand with a frown. "Leave her alone." She said quietly, holding her gently in her palm and keeping her close to herself. 

"Shut it, you're just the pet." She said with a growl and tried to snatch the teen from the Neko's grasp.

Kiana's free hand seemed to fly on its own and struck Martha across the face. After a few seconds, three long red scratches appeared on her cheek from Kiana's long nails. "I told you to leave her alone!" She shouted with tears beginning to well in her eyes. She knew she was just the pet, but hated being reminded of it.

Martha's eyes grew dark and she tackled the young Neko to the floor. Abby rolled from Kiana's hand and under the dresser, where she remained to hide as she watched the horrifying scene unfold.

Martha was using one hand to hold her down while her other repeatedly punched Kiana in the face. Mercilessly, she slammed her fist into her even while Kiana's own hands tried to defend herself.

Meanwhile, however, Lily was arriving home and ran inside, just leaving the groceries in the car for now. She made a mad dash up the stairs and stopped in her tracks in the doorway of her daughter's room.

There on the floor was Martha, slamming a bloodied fist into a child's face, who was crying and struggling to escape. She ran over and yanked the teen off of the child. "Get out of my house!" She shouted.

Martha stared at Lily, breathing heavily before she turned and hightailed it out of the building. Lily then turned and was barely able to recognize Kiana under all the blood that was covering her forehead, cheeks, nose, and mouth. "Oh, Kiana..." She whispered, taking the child in her arms. "W-Where's Abby, what happened?" 

Abby slowly walked out from under the dresser, her whole body shaking. "T-Take care of her. We'll explain later." She said softly. Her mind was racing, as was her heart. Kiana had protected her and taken the fall. She was horrified at what Martha had done and now wanted nothing to do with her. Kiana's blood was spattered on her hardwood floor. And now the Neko was being carried out of the room by her equally horrified mother. She felt guilty. She felt scared. And she was most certainly, confused.